Culture in Motion ★ Art & Remembrance
I have had my eye on Nolan Wells’s story since the news first broke, when it was still a missing-persons case. I watched the questions grow, the rumors circulate, and the story become a national conversation. I noticed the claims connecting him to Ida B. Wells. I also paid attention when individuals who had been with him gave interviews to Brandon Tatum, the commentator known as The Officer Tatum.
Following those developments made the power of media impossible to ignore. The platform, the framing, and the information people choose to share all influence how a story is understood. So does what gets repeated before anyone checks whether it is true.
One thing is certain: a family has lost their son. They deserve clear answers and a transparent account of the investigation. The public deserves accurate information. And until America confronts its very real history of racism, that history will continue to shape how people interpret cases like Nolan’s—and whether they trust the institutions handling them.
That is part of why I am interested in the art being made in his honor. In true Undrgrnd Paparazzi fashion, we are highlighting three creatives paying tribute to Nolan’s life and spirit. Each creates another opportunity for someone to encounter his story and keep paying attention.
Three Tributes ★
- A durag worn by Joce Blake at CultureCon
- A painting by Jerin “Jerk” Beasley
- A song by Aryeè The Gem
A Family Still Seeking Answers
Wells disappeared during a July 4 outing with friends to Horn Island off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. His body was recovered two days later. On September 21, a Jackson County grand jury declined to bring criminal charges, finding insufficient evidence of criminal conduct and describing the circumstances as consistent with drowning. Both the state and independent medical examinations left the cause and manner of death undetermined, according to reporting on the family’s September 22 press conference.
His mother, Christine Wonsley, said District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath informed her by text that evening that the grand jury report had been filed, shortly before releasing the information publicly. Wonsley criticized the way the news was communicated and called for an honest, transparent investigation, The Lens reported.
The family continues to challenge the conclusions and seek further investigation. Reporting published October 6 describes their call for a federal probe.
The Public Response
Wells’s death has prompted public scrutiny, suspicion, and conversations about race and trust in institutions. Some observers suspect foul play; the grand jury found no credible evidence of criminal conduct by the friends who accompanied him. Public concerns must be distinguished from established findings.
That distinction still leaves room to listen to the family. Their demand for answers and the loss they are living with deserve attention without requiring readers to adopt an unproven account of what happened.
The Officer Tatum interviews are one example of how this case has unfolded through media as well as through the investigation. His July interview with Warren Hudson gave one of Nolan’s friends a platform to present his account. An interview can help explain what a person says happened, but it does not independently establish that account as fact.
For me, the question is also how attention is sustained. What happens after people share the headline? How does a name stay present as the news cycle moves forward?
Why Ida B. Wells’s Name Matters Here
The claim that Nolan was related to Ida B. Wells circulated online, but her great-granddaughter, Michelle Duster, publicly rejected it. There is no verified family connection.
Still, seeing her name brought into this conversation made me think about the work she did. Ida B. Wells was a journalist and anti-lynching campaigner who investigated racial violence and challenged the narratives used to justify it. Her reporting put her own safety at risk; a mob destroyed her newspaper office in Memphis in 1892.
She is an inspiration to me because she understood that documenting what happened—and challenging the stories told about Black people—was consequential work. Her legacy belongs in a conversation about journalism, public memory, and accountability. It reminds us why careful reporting and the demand for truth matter.
Art Carries Memory—and Demands for Justice
Art has long been part of the work of social justice. During the civil rights movement, freedom songs helped people organize, sustain courage, and articulate a shared purpose. “We Shall Overcome,” rooted in earlier religious and labor traditions, became a defining anthem of the movement.
That work continues through contemporary art. Learning for Justice’s overview of “The Power of Place: Art as a Tool for Social Justice” describes Alabama artists confronting historical invisibility and reshaping public narratives in their communities. It offers a useful way to think about these tributes: creative work can bring attention to stories people have overlooked and give audiences a reason to engage with them.
Creative expression gives a public concern a form people can carry, repeat, and return to. A song can be sung together. An image can hold someone’s attention. Clothing can bring a name into a room where their story might otherwise go unmentioned.
Those forms do different work. A tribute may mourn, honor, ask a question, or call for action. Its meaning deserves to be understood through the work itself and the creator’s account, rather than assuming every act of remembrance makes the same statement.
In Nolan’s case, that also means remembering that he was a person with a life and people who loved him. His name deserves to remain connected to that humanity as public discussion continues.
Three Forms of Remembrance
01 ★ The Durag
Joce Blake: Carrying His Name Into CultureCon
Joce Blake attended CultureCon wearing a floor-length durag bearing Nolan’s name. In her first-person account for HelloBeautiful, she described wanting to honor him and connected her use of fashion to remembrance and self-expression. She credited local seamstress Southern Girl Styles in developing the look.
Her custom nails also honored Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Sandra Bland, and Tyre Nichols. Each of those names carries its own story. Together, they show how Blake thinks about remembrance: as something you wear, carry, and bring into the room with you.
Blake describes fashion as “a way of honoring ancestors who used adornment itself as defiance and self-affirmation.” That stuck with me. People love to clown CultureCon as a glorified fashion show. But the first time I went, I said out loud that it felt like ancestor veneration: everyone showing up in their best, and then some. Turns out I wasn’t the only one who saw it that way: one CultureCon staff member who stopped to admire Blake’s look called it veneration in fashion form. Seeing Nolan’s name carried into that same room made sense to me.
In a room full of people celebrating Black creativity, the durag put Nolan’s name right where everyone could see it, and it opened up conversations through a language we all speak: style.
02 ★ The Painting
Jerin “Jerk” Beasley: A Painting Honoring Nolan
A face worth remembering. A name worth saying. A family deserving of love, answers, and justice.Jerin “Jerk” Beasley
That is how Jerin introduces his portrait of Nolan.
In the caption accompanying the painting, he explains that painting Nolan’s smile was a way to preserve the warmth and humanity that can disappear when a person’s life becomes a headline. His palette carries that intention: red represents love, pain, and the urgency of demanding justice; deep blues and dark tones express grief and his criticism of the justice system. Teal evokes the water, while warm orange and golden tones honor Nolan’s light. Brighter touches leave room for hope.
Through the portrait, Jerin adds his voice to the demand for accountability and a justice system families can trust.
His focus on Nolan’s smile gives the tribute its emotional center. It asks viewers to remember the person whose life is being discussed, alongside the questions surrounding his death. Jerin ends with a promise: “NO WE NOT going to give up on you.”
03 ★ The Song
Aryeè The Gem: A Song Honoring Nolan
Aryeè The Gem wrote a song for Nolan, crediting @deante.kyle as her inspiration and @djrellyrell for production in the caption accompanying the work.
“Art is supposed to be a little political. Wtf are we really creating for if not to cultivate change?”Aryeè The Gem
Her caption makes the purpose explicit. She questions creating for notoriety and fame, calls art synonymous with activism, and urges artists to stand for something beyond capitalism and speak about issues outside their own lives. She closes with: “Eyes on the children. Justice for Nolan Wells.”
For Aryeè, the song is an expression of the responsibility she believes comes with being an artist. Her words connect this tribute directly to the larger conversation about what creative work can do: direct attention toward a life, a family, and a demand for justice.
Together, the durag, painting, and song offer three different ways of bringing Nolan into public attention. Their significance extends beyond featuring the creatives: each provides a point of connection to the life being remembered and the family still seeking answers.
Keep Paying Attention
Art cannot resolve an investigation. It can help sustain the attention surrounding it, encourage people to seek reliable information, and keep remembrance connected to a human being.
For those encountering Nolan’s story through these works, the next step is to learn the documented timeline, listen to his family’s stated concerns, and follow verified developments. Credit the people making the tributes, while keeping Nolan at the center of the conversation.
Support the Artists ★
- Joce Blake — follow @joce_blake
- Jerin “Jerk” Beasley — follow @jerinthejerk
- Aryeè The Gem — follow @aryeethegem
