Lessons Superpredators Teach Us

DTR Modern GalleriesHalim FlowersAutodidact, Halim A. Flowers (b. 1980, Washington, DC) visual artist, spoken word performer, businessman, and author of eleven published non-fiction works, is married to L. Patrice McKinney, raising a family in Washington, DC. A Member of the Board of Directors of The Frederick Douglass Project for Justice and Cultural DC, he is an ardent advocate for human rights and is best known for his quote, “Love is the Antibody”. In the short time since the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act of 2016 effectuated his 2019 release from prison, he has created a stunning spectrum of paintings and spoken word comprised of a benevolent mission forged and galvanized over decades in a pressure cooker.In 1997, as a minor, Halim A. Flowers was arrested and wrongfully sentenced to two life sentences in Washington, DC. His experiences aired on HBO in the Emmy award-winning documentary “Thug Life in DC”. Released under a new juvenile lifer resentencing law, Flowers’ 2019 freedom was documented by Kim Kardashian-West’s “The Justice Project” film. Upon release, he was awarded the Halcyon Arts Lab and Echoing Green fellowship awards. In 2020, Flowers’ TEDx Talk, “Criminal Justice Reform”, and his prolific production and exhibition of his visual art, e.g., The Museum of Modern Art’s “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” exhibit, continue to advance his mission to promote love among all humans. A beneficiary of Georgetown University’s Prison and Justice Initiative, Flowers studied Government, Philosophy, Reparations: African-American Literature, and English 101 in a mentorship with academic advisor, Professor Marc Morjé Howard (2018-2019). More recently, as a grant recipient from the Art for Justice Fund, Flowers was featured as a “Justice Ambassador” in the film “Halim’s Hope” (2020).Elizabeth Howard is the host and producer of the Short Fuse Podcast.  Elizabeth has never had barriers between her life, work, art and writing. Experience, sense of place and exploration define the choices she makes, seeking collaboration, flexibility, spontaneity and responsiveness in the projects she designs and engages with.   As the host and producer of the Short Fuse Podcast, she engages individuals in lively and provocative conversations around how the arts can affect social change.Music for the Short Fuse PodcastJeannine Otis recorded the music for this episode of the Short Fuse Podcast. Music has always been a part of Jeannine's life.  Her mother was a musical director and her family  includes the Jones Brothers, Hank, Thad, and Elvin who formed the basis of exposure to music that began a career that started with Jeannine’s debut as a vocalist with the Detroit Symphony with American Youth Performs at age 12.She has shared the stage with great musicians of every genre (especially jazz) who have served as mentors including Grover Washington Jr., Arthur Prysock, Kool and the Gang, Joe Chambers and Donald Byrd, Rudy Mwangozi, Saul Ruin, Stanley Banks bassist, Finnish Jazz composer Heikki Sarmanto and Vishnu Wood, bassist, and his band Safari East.She has been a featured vocalist at many jazz festivals including the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland, JazzMobile with Safari East, and the Universal Temple of the Arts yearly jazz festival and trombonist Art Baron and Friends. Jeannine has also appeared on Broadway in THIS JOINT IS JUMPIN’ at the Supper Club in the Edison Hotel with Larry Marshall and the Michael E Smith Big Band and the New York Big Band at Tavern on the Green.She has toured extensively worldwide as a featured vocalist, in theater, and with her own ensemble. Anthony Tomassini of the New York Times labeled Jeannine a “show-stopper” in a review of a Downtown Music Production’s version of THE CRADLE WILL ROCK. As the STRAWBERRY WOMAN in Porgy and Bess, Jeannine toured extensively in Europe singing in many of the great opera houses in Europe including those in Rome, Cologne, Venice, and Modena—home of Luciano Pavorotti.Her “little” book THE GATHERING was made into a Musical Theater piece entitled WHO AM I, and debuted at The La MaMa Theater in 2014. She is an honors graduate of Wellesley College (BA) and of Emerson College (MA) and the Director of Music at Saint Marks Church, known for its progressive outreach programming through the arts. Alex Waters is a technical producer  for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at the  Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts such as The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living. Alex lives in Brooklyn.  You can reach him with inquiries by emailing [email protected].