Incarceration Nation Beach Towel

"Incarceration Nation" is an original work of ink, graphite, and wax on paper, by Donald “C-Note” Hooker in 2017. The painting was inspired by the Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March in August of 2017, and is the sequel to his first political work "Black August-Los Angeles." The red dots represent the location of the state sanctioned deaths of: Travon Martin in Florida; Michael Brown in Missouri; Sandra Bland in Texas; Philando Castile in Minnesota; Freddie Gray in Maryland; Ezell Ford, Wakiesha Wilson, Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) & Oscars Grant in California; and Charleen Lyles in Washington State. That same year, this work was used as cover art for the digital publication of a poem bearing the same title. I was inspired by the NFL players “Knee Protest," says C-Note. "I was looking at other iconic American verbal expressions of patriotism,” and ‘My Country, Tis of Thee,’ also known as ‘America,’ is probably third on that list. The creative j...