Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965 – June 17, 2012) was an African-American man who was a victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, King was beaten by LAPD officers during his arrest, after a high-speed chase, for driving while intoxicated on I-210. An uninvolved individual, George Holliday, filmed the incident from his nearby balcony and sent the footage to local news station KTLA. The footage showed an unarmed King on the ground being beaten after initially evading arrest. The incident was covered by news media around the world and caused a public furor.

Words are very important in the work of Felandus Thames. He is interested in the residual memory of objects and images, the symbolism of which evokes nostalgia and storytelling. Objects and words, deconstructed in the artist's work, carry stories. Stories that must be shown and told, so that they take their rightful place in history and in the collective memory of the present moment. The important thing is not to be silent; not to forget.