Exuding both melancholy and hope, Sam Cooke’s 1964 song “A Change Is Gonna Come” has long been considered the anthem for the Civil Rights Movement. So when Cooke’s estate sought to translate the song to picture-book format, Nikkolas Smith—a talent who’s illustrated works by activist Ruby Bridges and 1619 Project architect Nikole Hannah-Jones—was the obvious choice. With A Change Is Gonna Come (Little Bee Books, September 2), Smith made the inspired decision to tell the story from the perspective of a photographer documenting crucial moments in the movement, from the death of Medgar Evers to the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Smith answered our questions via email.

Can you remember the first time you heard “A Change Is Gonna Come”?

My introduction to this song was hearing it as a kid 30 years ago in the Spike Lee film Malcolm X. The combination of the soulful instrumentation and singing with this emotional scene in the film sent chills down my spine every time I watched it. I knew it was a special moment in history. Because “A Change Is Gonna Come”means so much to the Black community, the song followed me throughout my entire life, so I did not take lightly the humbling task of bringing this soulful masterpiece to life visually.

How did you land on the idea of a photographer documenting the Civil Rights Movement as your framing device?

The vintage art style and sweeping brush strokes of each spread have the intended feel of a mid-20th-century oil painting and are heavily inspired by the legendary photographer Gordon Parks, who was a dear friend of Cooke’s. I wanted the main character’s experiences to feel as though they were seen directly through the lens of Parks’ Voigtländer Brillant camera, and I felt it would make sense that as a photographer, the character would find himself in the midst of so many pivotal moments in the Civil Rights era.

How many times did you listen to Cooke’s song while you were working on this book?

I must have listened to it hundreds of times, with the song often on repeat while I tried to soak in the weight and importance of it all. I especially loved going page by page with the accompanying music during the final stages of the illustrations.

Where and when did you illustrate the book?

As this book was digitally painted on my Wacom tablet, which hooks up to my laptop, I could illustrate practically anywhere I happened to be in Los Angeles, but typically I was working at my office desk at home, surrounded by photos of my family and Gordon Parks’ photography books for reference. I would typically have five to six hours to get work done most days, before my 4-year-old got back from school.

What was most challenging about illustrating this book? And most rewarding?

A particular challenge was juxtaposing the depths of injustice and racism with the hope of a just and equitable society, or the first steps toward it.

The most rewarding part was the understanding that many young readers will use this book to reference how far we’ve come and how far we still need to go in order to bring about change.

Mahnaz Dar is a young readers’ editor.