The People's Forum NYC's video: Art of Innocence: The People s Struggle to Abolish the Death Penalty

The People’s Forum, along with a diverse group of artists, activists, and community leaders, spearheaded this event in order to expose Billie Allen’s innocence case, to raise awareness about President Trump’s recent resumption of federal executions, and to amplify the voices of others affected by wrongful convictions and a dehumanizing criminal punishment system. The art exhibit showcases a powerful and multi-faceted body of work created by Billie Allen during his 23 years of incarceration on death row for a crime he did not commit. Billie’s artwork offers a visual story of one man’s fight for freedom and justice, and it illuminates the profound hope and resilience of those who have endured years on death row. The work conveys abstract faces and textures of America, as seen through the eyes and experience of the wrongfully incarcerated. Performances and panel discussion will include Billie Allen’s family, and death row exoneree Derrick Jamison, and family members of other exonerees and prisoners currently on death row. This is a time for us to come together in solidarity through the power of art, to inform ourselves and our communities, and to stand up and speak out against the death penalty.