2020

One in three Black males will go to prison in their lifetime. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865 but a loophole clause allowed for enslavement if convicted of a crime. The result is staggering racial disparities in American legislative and criminal justice systems.

The U.S. has 4% of the global population but has 25% of global prison population – the most of any nation with 2.2 million people incarcerated and an additional 4.5 million people on probation or parole. Black Americans make up 13% of general population but 34% under the control of the criminal justice system.

I designed a simple weave pattern to best illustrate Black lives in mass incarceration, as well, to conjure images of abstracted African masks – a symbol of ancestral spirits.

51”h x 38.5”w

Machine-pieced, hand-quilted; recycled tablecloth, cotton, found fabric, thread, batting

3.09.2021 — Accepted into SAQA Global Exhibition Connections. Premieres at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas (October 28 - 31, 2021). This exhibit will tour for 3 years through 2024.