Change Gonna Come has blazing red set against a vintage green wallpaper, and framed in black—a nod to the red, green, and black color motif of the Pan-African flag, a color story similarly invoked by artists included Kerry James Marshall to David Hammons. The green vintage wallpaper however recalls something older, the meticulous and perhaps ostentatious ornamentation of classical buildings, and the etched designs of dollar bills. An eagle is centered in the composition with an American-flag themed shield, reminiscent of wartime propaganda and heroes of the American cultural imagination like Captain America.