Adu Ali Abdur Rahman (b. 1950)
Riverbend Maximum Security Institution
Nashville, Tennesse

Untitled (My insight comes from creatures other than human beings)

color pencil on paper, 12 1/16 “x 22 1/4“

Untitled (My insight comes from creatures other than human beings) - Detail

color pencil on paper, 12.125“x22.25“

The Deer

2014, pencil on paper, 12“ x 18“

Untitled (Pigeon's and Hawk’s Teaching)

2014, color pencils on paper, 12 1/8“ x 22 3/8“

To read Abu's Letter, click here. You can learn more about his artwork here and on his website.

“Everybody fears to die especially people who have not yet lived. I have to pass this fear and heal at the same time so that when it is time for me to go, I am ready. Right now I am still going through this journey. But if I continue on the path I am on right now, I will be ready whenever this time comes.” - Abu Ali Abdur Rahman

Abu Ali Abdur Rahman aka James Lee Jones was convicted of murdering a gang member in a youth facility in 1969 and murdering a drug dealer in 1986. He has exhausted his appeals. He was scheduled to be executed in October in 2015, however the Tennessee supreme court suspended all executions because the constitutionality of the State's use of lethal injection and the electric chair was challenged in the courts. You can find more information about his case here and by watching the videos below.

Abu Ali Abdur Rahman

Adu Ali Abdur Rahman (b. 1950)Riverbend Maximum Security InstitutionNashville, Tennesse

Adu Ali Abdur Rahman (b. 1950)
Riverbend Maximum Security Institution
Nashville, Tennesse