Death Row Stations of the Cross Program
This piece of art is a commentary on the continuing battle for our collective moral world view. It is a collaborative effort with several of my fellow artists, all of whom reside on Tennessee's death row. Not all are Christians, or even religious. several chose to be anonymous. I asked my fellow community members to help me create this project to begin a conversation about what Justice looks like.
When Jesus was executed, Justice looked different than it does today. However, Justice today has some of the same components as it did back then. The guilty, as are the innocent, are subjected to this State sanctioned process. As we understand it, State sanctioned, means that "we the People"-- collectively speaking -- uphold this system of Justice. So, based upon our support this system of Justice reflects our community's sense of morals and values.
One of the biggest issues my sense of the "Christian" world has is dealing with the fact that Jesus was not a caucasian.
This is also true here on death row, a microcosm of the larger "free-world" community. So we decided not to limit one another's understanding of Jesus' death or appearance. During the two plus months it took to complete this project, we accepted criticism and positive critique from other non-participating community members. Some were fellow prisoners. Some were religious and secular volunteers. Some were correctional officers. It turned into a true community project.
I do not know how many opinions we changed inside during this project, but the dialogue was open and honest, beyond what even I imagined. Safe, open dialogue is a prerequisite for the community model us prisoners have created on this death row, based on the concept of reciprocal education and community healing ("R.E.A.C.H. Coalition") and "Men of Hope." We regularly engage visiting groups to death row on what Justice looks like.
A group of us have educated ourselves on our rights and responsibilities within our local and larger, outside community. We tackle all the positive and destructive social issues that were a part of our lives. We do so with the blessing and cooperation of the Tn. Dept. of Correction officials. How we got to today, finding healing, and making better overall decisions is critical to the security of the prison system and society at large.
We often do outreach on particular equity based, social justice reform issues impacting juveniles, women, men and race. Art is our main out reach tool. We, however, have participated in symposiums at several universities through our writings, even having drafted treatises on the overall criminal justice system.
We invite dialogue from anyone on how to change the paradigms of our collective lives with those that promote healing and reconciliation within our diverse communities.
In the Spirit of Love, Mercy, and Forgiveness,
Death Row Artist
