Artist draws infinite hope in print
Brooklyn DA introduces art for low-level offenses
Brooklyn District Attorney, Eric Gonzalez speaking at the Brooklyn Museum.
Brooklyn DA Offi ce
Caribbean Life, OCTOBER 18-24, 2019 43
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
Before you even begin to
take notes, the page is full of
doodles.
You can’t help it: it’s human
nature to scribble stars and
squiggles, to write your name,
make boxes around words, and
draw silly faces. If there’s a pen
in your hand, you use it, right?
And in “Infinite Hope” by Ashley
Bryan, one man used a pen
to stay alive.
Like every child with some
crayons and paper, Ashley
Bryan loved to make art. Even
his teachers noticed his talent
and they nurtured it but alas,
Bryan couldn’t land a scholarship
to art colleges because
of the color of his skin. It was
the early 1940s, and Jim Crow
laws didn’t allow it.
On the advice of others,
Bryan applied to attend The
Cooper Union in New York
City and he loved it there. The
school helped grow his talents
and he was eager for the
future — but then, at age 19,
he received his draft notice.
Bryan was headed for World
War II.
For someone who grew up
in the North, Basic Training
was quite unexpected. Men at
the military induction center
were told “’Whites on one
side. Blacks on the other’,” and
Bryan was shocked! It took a
minute to understand that the
military was segregated but,
like all Black soldiers then,
he hoped that serving during
wartime might lead to “equal
treatment for all.”
Sometimes, soldiering was
boring, so Bryan drew. He
sketched fellow soldiers, their
bunks, and their jobs. He drew
the children who befriended
him near his first post in Boston.
He painted pictures of the
docks. When he went overseas,
he sketched castles in
Scotland and villages in the
countryside. He wrote letters
home to his cousin, Eva, and
he drew card games and cold
mornings until June 2, 1944,
when Bryan and his brothersin
arms were sent to Normandy.
There, he drew cathedrals,
people, despair, and destruction.
He wrote to Eva about
what he saw and when the war
was over, that was that.
“I left my drawings in the
map-case bureau for forty
years…”
Readers looking for “Infinite
Hope” may be left scratching
their heads. It’s likely to
be found in the teen or even
the kids’ section of your local
library or bookstore — and
yet, this book is absolutely
perfect for any adult.
Without a lot of narrative,
author-illustrator Ashley Bryan
tells a tale of segregation, war,
racism, and horror but while
it’s vividly told, readers aren’t
left aching: threaded in with
every chapter of Bryan’s life
is a also sense of joy. He takes
obvious delight in the people
he meets and he has his art:
soaring sketches, pensive portraits,
and single lines drawn
thick to depict the chaos of
war. These are accompanied,
collage-like, with letters home
that are multi-layered over
the art and that will leave an
impact on newly-aware teens
and adults who remember all
too well.
Either way, give “Infinite
Hope” and then borrow it back
to see yourself. Any reader ages
15 to grandpa, will be quickly
drawn in.
“Infinite Hope: A Black
Artist’s Journey from
World War II to Peace” by
Ashley Bryan
c.2019, Atheneum
Books for Young Readers
$21.99 / $29.99 Canada
108 pages
Book cover of “Infi nite Hope,” by Ashley Bryan.
By Nelson A. King
Brooklyn District Attorney
Eric Gonzalez on Wednesday
announced that Project Reset,
an art-based diversion program
for those arrested for minor
offenses, has been launched in
Brooklyn through a partnership
with the Brooklyn Museum,
the Center for Court Innovation
(CCI), The Legal Aid
Society and Brooklyn Defender
Services.
Gonzalez said the program
allows those charged with certain
misdemeanors who receive
a desk appearance ticket (DAT)
to resolve their cases by completing
the diversion course
without ever having to set foot
in court.
The Brooklyn Museum offers
two courses – one for young
adults up to 25 and another for
adults 26 and up.
To date, Gonzalez said 182
people have completed Project
Reset and had their cases dismissed,
estimating that more
than 1,000 cases will be eligible
annually.
Project Reset, which began
in Brooklyn as a pilot program
in 2015 for 16- and 17-yearolds,
has now been implemented
in Manhattan and a number
of precincts in the Bronx.
Brooklyn is the only borough
where all defendants
who receive DATs are eligible
without restrictions, Gonzalez
said.
“Project Reset aligns with
my commitment to reduce our
reliance on convictions and
incarceration while still holding
offenders accountable,” he
said. “This program addresses
the conduct of those who commit
misdemeanor offenses and
confronts the consequences of
their actions in a more meaningful
way than traditional
court sanctions.
“I am especially proud that
we have partnered with the
Brooklyn Museum because
involving our local communities
and Brooklyn’s incredible
cultural institutions as partners
in justice is one of my
goals as we strive to strengthen
fairness and trust,” he added.
“This partnership helps harness
the transformative power
of art as a response to low-level
crimes,” Gonzalez continued.
“With the forthcoming expansion
of DAT arrests under the
new criminal justice reform
law taking effect next year, this
program will help us handle
misdemeanors more efficiently
and equitably while reducing
the footprint of the criminal
justice system.”
Project Reset is funded
through appropriations from
the New York City Council, the
Cohen Foundation, the Tow
Foundation, and the Art for
Justice Fund.
Gonzalez said the program
is in alignment with Justice
2020, his plan of action aimed
at “keeping Brooklyn safe and
strengthening community
trust by ensuring fairness and
equal justice for all, which calls
for, among other things, making
jail the alternative.”