Title: Dreams Deferred

Medium: acrylic and mixed media

Topic Abstraction
Dreams Deferred calls into question the fate of African American men
in a society that routinely devalues and criminalizes them. In an age of
mass incarceration, 1 in 3 black men will serve time behind bars at
some point in their lifetime. What does this do to their dreams and
autonomy as human beings? Exploring topics of childhood innocence
and incarceration, this piece begs the question: does this child have a
chance at accomplishing his dreams or will his skin color determine his
fate?

Rationale
This piece was developed in response to the mass incarceration of
people of color in the United States. Michelle Alexander (2010) points
out that 1 in 3 black men will serve time behind bars at some point in
their lifetime. In fact, three-fourths of all people imprisoned for drug
offenses have been black or Latino (Alexander, p. 97).
A felony conviction has irreparable consequence. Once convicted, an
individual is not eligible for public housing or other public assistance
for 5 years. Job opportunities are also slim. All of this has a direct
impact on poverty, making it one of the most significant social issues
of our time. According to researchers Robert DeFina and Lance Hannon
(2013), it may actually explain the persistence of poverty despite an
overall trend in economic growth in the United States. In their
research, they document that most young men are significant
contributors to their household income, helping to keep their families
just above the poverty line. When these same men go to prison, their
families and communities suffer. Incarceration, suggests DeFina and
Hannon, disrupts a neighborhoods social and economic fabric by
breaking up families, removing purchasing power from the
neighborhood, increasing reliance of government support programs,
and generally erecting even higher barriers to legitimate development
and financial well-being (p. 565)

Development
I developed this piece as a way to bring critical awareness to the issue
of mass incarceration. In this way, I would describe my piece as a
prophetic art piece. Originally, I wanted to use a form of printmaking
to develop the piece so that it could be mass-produced and distributed,
therefore reaching a wider audience. As I began the creative process,
however, I felt it was important to create as realistic a depiction of a

young black baby boy as possible in order to elicit sympathy and

create an emotional connection between the subject and audience.
I incorporated collage into the piece to highlight the fragmentation that
mass incarceration produces. I also used vivid colors to draw the
audience in. Furthermore, the baby boy is looking straight at the
audience. His eyes hold us captive and remind us that we cannot walk
away from this issue. His stare is meant to elicit empathy from the
viewer. The child is innocent yet his skin color determines his fate.
The viewer is forced to ask at what point does this child become
criminalized, just another number in system that routinely devalues
people of color.

Intended Audience
I still want to mass-produce this piece and wheat paste it in front of
buildings and institutions that contribute to mass incarceration like the
courthouse. In this way, the audience will be widespread and will
include people of various economic, social, and cultural backgrounds.
This is appropriate because we all need to be reminded that mass
incarceration exists. This system survives because it operates outside
of the public realm.

Challenges
Developing the concept for the piece was probably my greatest
challenge. At first, I wanted the baby boy to be wearing an orange
jumpsuit but as I worked, I realized that his orange outfit did not read
like a prison uniform. This is when I decided to incorporate the word
bubble to juxtapose this boys dreams with reality. The statistic at the
top reminds the audience that although this boy is still in the throws of
childhood innocence, he has a high chance of experiencing life in
prison. I felt that if I focused this piece around dreaming, instead of
mass incarceration specifically, the audience might be more likely to
relate to the young boy. We all have dreams that we want to
accomplish in our lifetime. This piece reminds us that external factors,
like skin color, can inhibit the realization of these dreams.

References
Alexander, M. (2010). The new jim crow: Mass incarceration in the age of
colorblindness. New York, NY: The New Press.
DaFina, R., & Hannon, L. (2013). The impact of mass incarceration on poverty. Crime
&
Delinquency, 59(4), 562-586.