Untitled by Ben Israel
Medium: Colored Pencil & pen on paper
Size: 12 x 9 inches
Artist statement: “First and foremost, this is my first time submitting to “lets get free”. I submitted a drawing and a poem. I am limited with my medium, and I only have a low-grade pencils, but I tried my best. I’ve not been an artist for a long nor a writer. I’ve been doing this for a few years.
The drawing, I wanted it to tell a story of how Black and Brown communities are in prison and held back from others, well to do communities. They lack what prosperous communities have an abundance of. We continue to rely on fall saviors to bring us out of our predicaments when, in fact, we have the power to do so just lack of knowledge or vision to do and accomplish it. The “do not cross” and police barriers are symbolic of the systems barriers placed on our communities that hold us back, look as under desirable people, and the low of the lowest. You can see other images which you may interpret in other ways symbolic I hope to continue working with your organization in the future. Thank you for your work. Ben Israel.”
Image description: A street scene shows a liquor store next to a store selling admission to heaven, in front of which a person is sleeping on the ground. A man is being arrested and saying “why” while two female figures stand behind a police blockade with speech bubbles that say “no more”.