Tune in to our fantastic conversation with visual artist and formerly incarcerated poet, entrepreneur Halim A. Flowers about growing up in DC, Reaganomics and the myth of the "Superpredator", the importance of education and access beyond Eurocentric knowledge, making space to connect with people as fellow humans, the influence of Jay Z and Basquiat on his work, and how art and culture can change minds and our world.
In 1997, Halim A. Flowers was arrested at the age of 16 and sentenced to two life sentences in the District of Columbia. His experiences were filmed in the Emmy award-winning documentary “Thug Life In DC”.
In 2005, he started his own publishing company SATO Communications, through which he published 11 books.
In 2019, Halim was released from prison after serving 22 years imprisoned. Upon release, Halim began to create visual art in addition to his poetry, writing, and entrepreneurship. He has worked with Kim Kardashian for her documentary “The Justice Project”, done a spoken word performance with Kanye West at his famous Sunday Service, received the Halcyon Arts Lab and Echoing Green fellowships, and spoken at panels at universities and conferences around the country about the impact of the arts and entrepreneurship to correct our criminal injustice system.
In 2020, he signed to be represented by Stella Jones and DTR Modern Galleries for his visual art practice.
