Grant Wood's "American Gothic" portrait would be unremarkable if it hadn't been parodied so many times. My version isn't meant to be a parody (at least not in the humorous sense) so much as an African-American variation on its basic theme. This meant not only giving the couple a race change, but modifying their attire and their background to evoke their African heritage. The implement the man is holding in this is meant to be a hoe like those produced for farming in some West African societies.