Artist, writer and activist; subject of the Emmy-winning documentary, Thug Life in DC
Halim Flowers has quickly become a worldwide known creator. On November 4th he will be sharing some of his work with Reading, PA and offering a live question & answer session about his process, his story, and the impact he is making on the world.
This event is sponsored by John Gallen who will also be sharing his collection of art created by Halim that evening.
In the year of 1997, at the age of 16, Halim was charged in the District of Columbia as an adult for being an accomplice to a felony murder. His experiences as a child inside of the DC Department of Corrections was filmed in the Emmy award winning documentary, Thug Life In DC. He was taken to trial and convicted under the accomplice liability doctrine of felony murder and sentenced to a term of 40 years to life imprisonment.
During his incarceration, he discovered his love for the literature & arts. His childhood friend Momolu Stewart encouraged him to start freestyle rapping. Through the encouragement of Anissa Chisley, who started writing him after watching the Thug Life In DC film, he began to write poetry. Transitioning from rap to poetry further intensified his connection with words and using them to creatively express the trauma of growing up in DC during the Crack era when it was known for having the highest murder rate of any city in America and receiving a life sentence as a child.
In the year of 2005, he started his own publishing company “SATO Communications”, SATO being an acronym for Struggle Against The Odds. Learning entrepreneurship from selling crack cocaine in the streets at the age of 12, he transferred that ambition for self enterprise to spread his message of love beyond the walls that sought to make him invisible. He has published eleven books covering the genres of poetry, self help, financial literacy, and his memoir, Makings of a Menace, Contrition of a Man.
On March 21, 2019, after serving 22 years and 2 months behind bars, he was released back into society. Since his release, he has worked with Kim Kardashian for her documentary The Justice Project, done a spoken word performance with Kanye West at his famous Sunday Service, received the Halcyon Arts Lab and Echoing Green fellowships, and spoken at panels at universities and conferences around the country about the impact of the arts and entrepreneurship to correct our criminal injustice system.