Thesis project, May 2011
ATL is an art campaign posing as a social justice movement. It aims to expose the corruption that exists in America's criminal justice system, and cries out for reform. Project involved heavy research, writing, screen-printing, and design/development of brand language, logo, symbol, and posters.
MANIFESTO READS: Brothers and sisters of the United States, we are enabling democracy to escape us.
Our criminal justice system was put in place to serve and protect us, to keep us safe from harm, and to bring transgressors to justice. Yet, many officials who uphold this system abuse their authority for their own gain, and betray the public trust. We have given these officials immense power, not only in policy, but in our own minds as well, and to think that none of these officials would misuse this power is naive and dangerous.To believe everything we are told, to remain uninformed, and to accept being protected by a system devoid of truth, reasoning, or morality, is to take power further out of we the people’s hands. Allowing the moral decay of this system to perpetuate is not only undermining the very reason the system exists, it’s also hurting, even reversing our development as a society and as a nation.
Justice is neither a business, an institution, nor is it a dead concept. It is a virtue: the permanent determination to give everyone that which they are owed. Without this virtue, our basic human rights would not exist. Justice is as much the citizens’ responsibility as it is the police or judiciaries’. We need to know our rights, educate others, and emphasize the importance of morality in all aspects of our community.We need to stop fear and apathy from interfering with liberty by understanding our rights and using them.
Should you choose to turn a blind eye to the corruption of justice, you will be throwing her scales off balance, and contributing to the disintegration of the values upon which this country was founded.
Think for yourself, and always question authority.
