As an artist, Purvis Young found inspiration in the work of European old masters and in his Miami neighborhood, the Overtown district. Once a thriving Black community, the district was overwhelmed by crime and poverty after being divided by an interstate highway in the 1960s. Similar to other highway projects in US cities at that time, the project displaced Black residents and businesses and lowered the area’s property values. Using scavenged plywood, glass, cardboard, and paper materials, Young painted the hardships endured by his neighbors and, hoping to provide inspiration to others, displayed hundreds of his paintings on the outdoor walls of Goodbread Alley.

"A Good Man" represents a haloed young man who has fallen victim to gun violence, surrounded by dozens of mourners. The artist explained, “He’s a good person who got in the way of gunshot, and the angels are carrying him away.” At the far left, a black void suggests the hole left by the man’s passing, as well as a portal to the afterlife.