The Plantation: A Poem and Mural by Our Very Own Omar
For many folks, artistic expression serves a critical function in the road to healing. To become whole once again necessitates coming to terms with pain, suffering, and injustice. Wrestling with some of these themes has helped Omar, one of the brothers at Ignacio House, develop his voice through his painting and poetry.
Omar met Fr. Zach while he was incarcerated through Thrive for Life’s spiritual retreats behind the walls. Since his release, Omar has continued his education as a student at New York University where he has sought to deepen his understanding of the liberal arts, particularly as they concern understanding and critiquing oppressive institutions in our country. He finds that art--specifically poetry and imagery--helps to illustrate a picture of the world through the lens of those who too often fall to the wayside.
In one of his most recent works titled “The Plantation”, Omar reflects on the gruesome cruelty of the American carceral state and the havoc it wreaks on those it imprisons. “The psychosis of incarceration can be detrimental,” he explains. Accompanying the raw imagery is an original poem of the same name, in which Omar uses the setting of a plantation as a motif for oppression. He makes a deliberate allusion to slavery in order to underscore the dehumanizing and exploitative nature of American incarceration. “It also is a meditation on white supremacy and how racism is very much alive and well, baked into many of our institutions here in America,” Omar said. “You often see people working for large corporations while incarcerated for little to no money. That’s exploitation.” The poem and mural now hang in Ignacio House.
In addition to this work, Omar is a prolific writer and artist, having successfully published over a dozen original poems. Recognizing the powerful therapeutic and healing potential of art, he hopes to leverage his skills and education to one day start a non-profit of his own that will offer folks handling trauma a means of healing through artistic expression. Omar also hosts a podcast titled Second Chances: Voices of the Unheard, in which he discusses a range of social, political, and economic topics and their intersections with issues concerning race, socioeconomic status, and inequalities more broadly.
Please see below links to Second Chances: Voices of the Unheard, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3nfzHIA
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/38O5hV5
PodPage: https://bit.ly/3l0hcVE
