States of Incarceration Exhibit @ Hunter

Exhibit on histories of mass incarceration and immigrant detention comes to Hunter College Library
Created by students and justice-impacted people from communities across the country

States of Incarceration, a nationally traveling exhibit exploring the roots of mass incarceration in communities across the country, is on view at the Cooperman Library, 6th Floor, East Building of the main Hunter College Campus, until December 15th. A project of the Humanities Action Lab, an initiative newly arrived at Hunter, States of Incarceration is a collaboration of over 800 students and others deeply affected by incarceration in over 25 cities, and counting. They grew up in a United States that incarcerates more of its people, including immigrants, than any country in the world – and at any point in its history. In 2015, when the project began, they witnessed a new bipartisan consensus that the criminal justice system was broken, and an intense conflict over how to fix it.

Students and formerly incarcerated people came together to ask: How did this happen? What new questions does the past challenge us to ask about what is happening now? To find answers, they examined their own communities’ histories. Through courses at universities, local teams share stories, search archives, and visit correctional facilities. Each team created one piece of the exhibit -- and more teams have been adding their stories all along the way.

The exhibit includes portraits and oral histories from the Rikers Public Memory Project, which collects and makes visible the stories of people most impacted by Rikers Island, to mobilize action toward repairing its generational harms and interrupting the dehumanizing narratives about people harmed by Rikers.

To learn more about how to get involved in States of Incarceration and the Rikers Public Memory Project, the Hunter Community is invited to "Co-Creation Cafes." Over food and drink, faculty and students can learn about funding and other support available for them to contribute their stories and work to this national conversation.  Events will be in the Cooperman Library, E617. Please go to  Co-Creation Cafes for information about event dates.