Wednesday's Schedule for Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break

Below is the schedule of events for the second day of the 2010 Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break, Wednesday, March 17. You may come to all the events or just individual sessions. Everyone is welcome. You do not need to register, just show up for the events. It is all free.

It starts at noon on Wednesday. The location is the Jesse H. Jones Communication Center - CMA room 3.112 on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin. CMA is on the corner of Whitis Avenue and Dean Keeton, (Google Map). The room is located on the entrance level of the building.

Noon - 1:00 Media Workshop with Vincent Villano of Campus Progress. Workshop will give tips on communicating effectively with reporters, writing press releases, organizing press conferences and other topics.

1:00 - 2:00 PM Lobbying Workshop in preparation for next day's lobbying at capitol, with Alison Brock, Chief of Staff to Texas State Representative Sylvester Turner.

2:00 - 2:15 Break

2:15 - 3:15 “Art and Activism” with John Holbrook, photographer of Texas death row, whose work has been exhibited in the Europe and the U.S., including at the Texas Capitol in May 2009. A selection of John's photographs and other death penalty-themed artworks will be on display. John will talk about his experiences photographing people on Texas death row and his 17 years working as a private investigator on Texas capital murder cases.

3:15 - 3:30 Break

3:30 - 4:30 PM Campus Organizing and Coalition Building Workshop with Vincent Villano of Campus Progress. There’s so much more to working in coalition than inviting people to join you in your efforts. It’s hard work and requires skill, understanding and strategy, but the rewards for you, your partners, and your cause are endless (and fun!). Learn the importance of working in coalition, how to identify allies, how to engage non-traditional partners, where coalition building fits in with your campaign plan, and why it might be just what you need to take your issue campaign to the next level.

4:30- 5 PM Discussion of next day's press conference, lobbying visits and rally.·

Dinner break (on your own)

7:00 Screen Printing Workshop with Garry Spitzer of CEDP, plus sign-making session for next day's rally. Screen printing is a method of applying images to signs and t-shirts.

Free Time to enjoy Austin

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Join us March 15-19, 2010 in Austin, Texas for the award-winning Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break.

Special guests will be six innocent death row exoneress: Shujaa Graham, Curtis McCarty, Ron Keine, Derrick Jamison, Perry Cobb and Juan Melendez. They are attending alternative spring break to speak with participants about how innocent people can end up on death row. Altogether, the six exonerees attending the alternative spring break spent a total of about 65 years on death row for crimes they did not commit.

"Images from Texas Death Row " Exhibit at Texas Capitol May 18-22

Please come to the opening day reception for the exhibit of John Holbrook's death row photographs in the Texas Capitol at 6 PM on Monday and the artist's talk at 7 PM.

"Images from Texas Death Row" to be Exhibited in the Ground Floor Rotunda of the Texas Capitol
Monday, May 18 - Friday May 22

Event: Images from Texas Death Row "The Photography of John Holbrook"
Sponsor: Texas Friends and Allies Against the Death Penalty
Dates: May 18 - May 22

Where: The Texas State Capitol Building in the 'Ground Floor Rotunda' (Take elevator down to G)

Reception May 18 at 6 PM in the Texas Capitol Members Lounge - Extension, Room E2.1002 (Take elevator down to E2)

Artist's Talk May 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the Ground Floor Rotunda

Photographer John Holbrook
johnholbrook@sbcglobal.net

Artist’s Statement

These images are of current Texas death row inmates. The photographs were taken in 2008 at the Polunsky and Gatesville units. Ultimately, the message I wish to convey through my art, is simple. The only way we can truly stop suffering is to love and forgive those who have caused that suffering. I have chosen to photograph both those who are clearly guilty of the crimes for which they have been condemned as well as some who have claims of innocence. Guilt or innocence is irrelevant to the point I wish to make with these photographs. My photography is intended to communicate the idea of forgiveness. I want to share this liberating truth that I have learned.

As a private investigator for 17 years, I work capital murder cases. In 1995 I was assigned to a case involving the double homicide of a North Texas teenage couple. The victims were tortured and murdered. I worked on the defense team for one of the defendants. While working the case, I spent hours examining the crime scene evidence, including graphic photographs. Some years later, I started to experience anxiety when I saw anything remotely similar to the injuries done to the victims.

I sought help from a psychologist regarding this anxiety. I was told I likely had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The doctor determined that my photography at that time, pictures of homeless and social outcasts shown in a spiritual light, was a subconscious attempt to correct the 'bad pictures' I saw while working the capital murder case .

Ultimately, I learned that I could overcome PTSD by loving and forgiving those who had caused it.

Some family members of murder victims choose to honor their loved ones by asking prosecutors not to seek the death penalty. However, in other cases in order to get a death sentence, prosecutors sometimes argue that the victim’s loved ones endorse the death of the accused. It is said that the surviving loved ones, “Need closure”. Through my pictures, I argue that this disables the survivors’ ability to forgive and accept reconciliation with the person in the future. To me, execution is a grave injustice. Execution virtually denies us the ability to forgive and reconcile with the convicted in the future … ultimately denying everyone involved the ability to stop suffering.

I maintain that it takes a work of art to ultimately address the collective consciousness. Art is a wonderful medium to encourage and enhance civic engagement and dialogue. It was Uncle Tom’s Cabin that spoke and turned the tide against slavery in America. I hope that my images will modestly follow in its footsteps. I aspire to help turn the tide against the death penalty.

New Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2009. New York and New Jersey have also abolished the death penalty in recent years. Last week, the House of Representatives in Connecticut voted to abolish the death penalty. In 2009, there were two bills filed in the Texas House of Representatives to abolish the death penalty.

www.holbrookphoto.com

Death Row Photography Exhibit at the Capitol