The atmospheric grays in Traveling resemble clouds in the sky or light and shadow on the ground. To make this drawing, David Hammons collected dirt in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood and applied it to a basketball, which he bounced onto a sheet of paper. Imagine how forceful and precise the artist’s movements must have been. “Traveling” is a rule in basketball that penalizes a player for running with the ball without dribbling it. It also suggests restrictions on movement that have shaped black American experiences. The suitcase behind the drawing expands on the idea of traveling: moving from place to place, or even between social roles.