Description
Black August-Los Angeles,” is an original work of ink on paper done in 2016 by the world’s most prolific prisoner-artist, Donald “C-Note” Hooker. This piece was inspired by the month long Black August , celebrations that were taking place in Los Angeles, in 2016. He first heard of these celebrations on Think Outside the Cage. This was this artist first attempt at Political Art. It makes reference to Beyonce’s “Formation;” the death of prisoners, and prison reform activists, George Jackson, and Hugo “Yogi” Pinell. Both men were murdered in prison. Police shooting death victims, Michael Brown, and Ezell Ford. These kind of deaths have reawakened America’s consciousness on it’s criminal justice system, thus prison reform. The California Coalition of Women Prisoners (CCWP), so that the public doesn’t forget we imprison women too. The Los Angeles Women’s Center, to bring public consciousness, and hopefully funding, to a place that provides services and refuge to women, most likely from the same environmental milieu as those who have been, or will become imprisoned. The Raised Fist, a symbol of Black Power during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. Now a symbol of empowerment during any struggle. And “Mundo Sin Jaulas” (A World Without Cages), in recognition of
the Brown People’s Movement.
Black August – Los Angeles is listed in Wikimedia Commons’s extensive Library as one of only 12 artworks in it’s Black Cultural Archives.