IMPACT ON INNOCENCE: MASS INCARCERATION
FEBRUARY 6–JULY 16, 2020
Over 240,000 people are currently behind bars in California. Impact on Innocence sheds light on the plight of children and families whose loved ones are incarcerated. Artist Deborah McDuff spotlights these stories through larger-than-life, emotionally affecting portraits rendered in charcoal on canvas.
What happens to a mother who suddenly has to find child care with limited funds or assistance? What happens to a grandmother who has to raise another generation of children because her child is behind bars and can’t care for his own children? What happens to an immigrant who, after being imprisoned, is deported and forced to leave her children behind in foster care? What happens to a child who tries to reconnect with her mother re-entering the outside world after being incarcerated?
McDuff’s identity and creativity are a direct reflection of her heritage. She was raised in a community faced with difficult social-justice issues. She strives to communicate a variety of human conditions to raise her audience’s awareness and challenge their views. Her medium, charcoal on canvas, allows her to add, reduce, and blend the emotional impact of loss, abandonment, and burdens placed on children and caretakers. The black-and-white color scheme represents the stark reality of the American atrocity of mass incarceration.
What happens to a mother who suddenly has to find child care with limited funds or assistance? What happens to a grandmother who has to raise another generation of children because her child is behind bars and can’t care for his own children? What happens to an immigrant who, after being imprisoned, is deported and forced to leave her children behind in foster care? What happens to a child who tries to reconnect with her mother re-entering the outside world after being incarcerated?
McDuff’s identity and creativity are a direct reflection of her heritage. She was raised in a community faced with difficult social-justice issues. She strives to communicate a variety of human conditions to raise her audience’s awareness and challenge their views. Her medium, charcoal on canvas, allows her to add, reduce, and blend the emotional impact of loss, abandonment, and burdens placed on children and caretakers. The black-and-white color scheme represents the stark reality of the American atrocity of mass incarceration.
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The Man
Circumstances changed my perspective Lies were told for fear of being caught I am doing time for committed crimes My misdeed was crossing the boundary of no return This badge of honor I earned I am not the mythical Hercules who saved his community His strength does not represent a man like me Should I ask for forgiveness for people I wronged? Should I forgive myself? Should I live with guilt and regret? None of that was done Acceptance and prison life is all I have left |
Deborah McDuff, "The Man," Charcoal on canvas, 8’H x 5’W, 2014.
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Deborah McDuff, "Cambodian Deportation,"
Charcoal on canvas,
6’H x 5’W, 2014.
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Cambodian Deportation
Khmer Rouge is not the makeup you put on your face It was a devastating bomb that resettled Cambodian People to a poor and crime ridden place I could have been naturalized as a citizen If the papers were in a language I could read Immigration was not concerned about my needs Born in America, this action was preplanned Two misdemeanors or a felony Sent me to my families’ homeland Leaving all that I have known Like an orphan, I did not understand traditional customs The unstable lifecycle of an immigrant is troublesome |
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I Pray
Prayer can heal a soul, nation and disappointing effects of any human situation Look into the eyes of people, hear them cry Affected communities feel ancestral pain Triggered by horrendous actions and disdain I pray for children separated from their parents I pray for the mother who loses her parental rights I pray for the abandoned child whose life is unstable I pray for the grandmother and her grandchild’s survival I pray for those who came and are now deportees Let’s pray for the man who lacks hope and freedom Let’s pray for families who are left behind Let’s pray for the day you will not say we are nothing Let’s pray for people to be all they can be Let’s pray for peace and human coexistence |
Deborah McDuff, "I Pray," Charcoal on canvas, 6’H x 5’W, 2014.
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Deborah McDuff, "Latin Distrust," Charcoal on canvas, 6’H x 5’W, 2014.
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Latin Distrust
Tattooed on my skin are images of alarm and affection As you gaze at the brown landscape of my environment Remember this domestic territory was once mine The ICE Reception Does not welcome my return home All of us are thought to be rapists, drug dealers, and killers by misinformed people This assumption is not true I can’t leave my block or stay because of borders and violent behaviors Deceitful words bully newcomers and loyalist into action I cannot understand Black on Brown, Black on Black, White on Brown, Yellow on Brown, Yellow on Yellow, Red on Red, Brown on Brown, White on White disagreements Or why the other only choses the White Gang for privileges and support My cell black family does not nurture me to be my best I must follow the rules of law or the jungle and prove that I am faithful to a system like it or not Who can I trust |
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Life Means Life
Life means life for child and families when loved ones are imprisoned The arm of justice hits the wrong groove Record numbers of sentences are constantly repeated Like a familiar song that ain’t new The oppressive actions of the alt-right Does not make a life sentence right Private prisons and probation firms Make millions off low level crimes Corporate contracts of greed are kept a secret like underwear Politicians continue to sign law and order policies While prisoners hope to be freed The rising costs of collect calls and visits Make it impossible to maintain family needs The powerful rich are draining the poor from swamps Code words enforce the Nationalist views for Whites Remove people of color and America can become great again The rich get richer And the poor prisoners serve a record for life |
Deborah McDuff, "The Arm of Justice Hits the Wrong Groove," Wood, plastic, paint, tape, 4’H x 3’W x 3’D, 2014.
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Deborah McDuff, "The Mother," Charcoal on canvas, 5’H x 5’W, 2014.
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The Mother
She opens herself to a companion Procreation is Nature’s way As sensations run through her body Long suffering pain and joy Comes when her baby is finally born one day She remembers when her baby sat on her lap and when he took afternoon naps As an adult he sits on her heart Once he lived safely in her womb Now he is locked behind bars His imprisonment is tearing her mind apart She hurts when her child hurts She cries when her child cries When he is hungry she feeds Like a savior she tends to her child’s needs No matter what her child does A mother always continues to love |
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Prison Labor
I am expected to do time for a justified or unjustified crime Making products like overseas cheap laborers Our below minimum wage salaries equals a dime Prisons get taxpayer and corporation checks This system needs to be boycotted because it’s a wreck My cell block expenses and child support must be repaid upon my release When my salary comes up short nothing is allocated to my child or family? Where is the trust? Where is the trust fund for children of incarcerated parents? Monetary contributions can alleviate some societal neglect This investment can reap positive outcomes for our children Private prisons can afford to pay and should pay without delay |
Deborah McDuff, "Prison Labor,"
Charcoal on canvas, 5’H x 5’W, 2014.
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Deborah McDuff, "The Child," Charcoal on canvas, 6’H x 5’W, 2014.
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The Child
Born to parents whose choices in life did not protect me Feelings of hurt, anger, rage, and abandonment was all I could see My parents did not love, educate or provide a way for me to escape poverty that leads to criminality Their actions became my tragedy I was systematically bounced like a ball from one home to another The first time I ever felt loved was when a kind stranger took care of me like a mother |
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Anxious Anxiety
What the . . . is going on? Every night I ask why? What went wrong? I want to scream to the top of my lungs My heart is crying for my loved ones It is no right, just, or fair What can be done? Where can I get the needed help? Why are so many people imprisoned? |
Deborah McDuff, "Anxious Anxiety," Charcoal on canvas, 6’H x 5’W, 2014.
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Deborah McDuff, "Seperation," Charcoal on canvas, 6’H x 5’W, 2014.
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Separation
Captured after fleeing from harm into a country that took our freedom and liberty Salvation is needed for DACAs, Dreamers, and Asylees America represented opportunities, safety and success But we were torn from our mother’s breast Taken away by an unfamiliar man We pleaded to hold our parent’s hand Tears did not make our situation better Because we are considered detainees for profit ICE and Border patrol’s treatment towards us is inhumane Overcrowded conditions, and trauma is making us go insane We live in hot buses, freezers using aluminum foil as blankets, in wire boxes, sleeping on the ground, without food or a bath like dogs in a pound Without medical assistance we die That’s what the people in charge want When will my immigrants parents and help be found? |
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Looking Inside and Outside Prison Walls:
from a Child’s Perspective We look at you You look at us Feels like you wonder if we have dreams to become somebody Your contribution was nothing or anything of value We remember visiting our parents in strollers, Metal doors creaking open wide, Prison guards inspecting every part of our being Taking away all sense of our pride Glass windows prevented our embrace Forced to talk through a hole or on a phone My reflection on the glass put me in prison with you This not my vision or what I want to do We drew you a picture of a happy family with their dad The kind of life we wished we had As we wave goodbye, and blow you a kiss Tears run from our eyes Mom, we have missed so many important events together |
Deborah McDuff, "Looking Inside and Outside Prison Walls:
from a Child’s Perspective,"
Charcoal canvas, 6’H x 5’W, 2014
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Deborah McDuff, "Grandmother and Child," Charcoal on canvas, 8’H x 5’W, 2014.
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Grandmother and Child
I raised my adult children Now I am nurturing my grand child He was discarded and disregarded Without consent and to his detriment Foster care, on the streets, or my care Forsaking him a home is a thought I cannot bare I am living on a fixed income The challenge of providing for us is very worrisome But I cherish holding my little one close So he can hear the heart beat of my unending love This connection between us is a special gift That comes from the Lord above |
EDUCATIONAL TOOLS
MEDIA COVERAGE
Exhibit Displays Impact of Mass Incarceration on Children
BY LOUREEN AYYOU
LOS ANGELES, SPECTRUM NEWS 1
MARCH 5, 2020
"LOS ANGELES — Deborah McDuff Williams is hosting a new exhibit at the Los Angeles Museum of Social Justice. As a passionate poet and artist, she hopes her exhibit, entitled “Impact on Innocence: Mass Incarceration,” will help people understand the pain of those behind bars, particularly through the eyes of children whose parents are locked up..."
Complete article and video interview can be found here.
BY LOUREEN AYYOU
LOS ANGELES, SPECTRUM NEWS 1
MARCH 5, 2020
"LOS ANGELES — Deborah McDuff Williams is hosting a new exhibit at the Los Angeles Museum of Social Justice. As a passionate poet and artist, she hopes her exhibit, entitled “Impact on Innocence: Mass Incarceration,” will help people understand the pain of those behind bars, particularly through the eyes of children whose parents are locked up..."
Complete article and video interview can be found here.