About Halim Flowers

“In the year of 1997, at the age of 16, I was charged in the District of Columbia as an adult for being an accomplice to a felony murder. My experiences as a child inside of the DC Department of Corrections was filmed in the Emmy award winning documentary “Thug Life In DC”. I was taken to trial and convicted under the accomplice liability doctrine of felony murder and sentenced to a term of 40 years to life imprisonment.

During my incarceration, I discovered my love for the literature & arts. My childhood friend Momolu Stewart encouraged me to start freestyle rapping. Through the encouragement of Anissa Chisley, who started writing me after watching the Thug Life In DC film, I began to write poetry. Transitioning from rap to poetry further intensified my connection with words and using them to creatively express the trauma of growing up in DC during the Crack era when it was known for having the highest murder rate of any city in America and receiving a life sentence as a child.” - Halim

Known for his for his colorful, irreverent, and often politically charged paintings, Halim Flowers is a contemporary visual artist, spoken word performer, and author who has become one of the hottest newcomers in the contemporary art scene. As a minor, Flowers was arrested and wrongfully sentenced to two life sentences in Washington, DC, later to be released under a new juvenile lifer resentencing law. His experiences aired on HBO in the Emmy award-winning documentary Thug Life in DC as well as Kim Kardashian-West's film The Justice Project. Since his release, Flowers has produced a stunning spectrum of paintings expressing his ardent advocacy for human rights, and his resonant, up-lifting mantra “Love is the vaccine”. This beautifully illustrated volume provides the first full treatment of Flower's artistic vision, with insightful interpretation from leading scholars of this star on the rise.