Moliere Dimanche
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Moliere Dimanche (born November 7, 1987) is a Haitian-American artist and author renowned for his work addressing issues of brutality in the prison system. His art has been described by The Conversation as shedding light on "the systemic sickness of Florida's penitentiaries."[1]
Moliere Dimanche | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Moliere Dimanche November 7, 1987 Orlando, Florida, US |
| Education | St. Johns River State College (associate degree) |
| Political party | Independent |
| Website | Official website |
Early Life and Education
[edit]Born on November 7, 1987, Dimanche grew up in Orlando, Florida, where financial hardships shaped his early years. At just 14, he took his first job at Winn-Dixie to help support his family. He later attended West Orange High School.[2]
In 2007, at age 19, Dimanche received a 10-year prison sentence for theft, ultimately serving 8.5 years before his release.[3] In 2016, he was awarded a Pell Grant scholarship[4] to the Florida School of the Arts at St. Johns River State College, where he pursued a degree in Studio Art. During this time, he organized pop-up art exhibitions[5] throughout Florida's First Coast and prepared for the release of his debut book, It Takes a Criminal to Know One: How the Inspector General and I are One and the Same.[6]
Political Career
[edit]Dimanche entered local politics as a candidate for Mayor of Orlando in the 2023 general election. He also vied for the position of Interim Commissioner after Governor Ron DeSantis suspended Commissioner Regina Hill.[7] While running for Interim Commissioner, Dimanche publicly defended Hill,[8] suggesting the charges against her were politically motivated.[9] Despite his efforts, Dimanche was disqualified in both elections due to technical issues related to the payment of qualifying fees.[10] He has since announced his candidacy as an independent in the 2026 Florida gubernatorial election.
Civil Rights Litigation
[edit]In 2015, Dimanche was involved in a pivotal case, Dimanche v. Brown[11], decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The court unanimously reversed and remanded a lower court’s decision, establishing new precedent under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The ruling clarified that inmates facing threats or retaliation from staff could bypass the institutional grievance process and appeal directly to an agency's headquarters. To date, the case, which addressed allegations of chemical agent misuse in confinement, has been cited 178 times in United States courts, and applied to administrative processes in various agencies with grievance mechanisms.[12]
Advocacy and Other Ventures
[edit]Beyond his art, Dimanche has produced investigative vlogs on YouTube, exposing abuse within the Florida Department of Corrections.[13] He has also traveled across the United States, delivering speeches that connect his artistic work to broader discussions about of what he describes as systemic injustice in American prisons.[14]
Works
[edit]Redemption
[edit]
Dimanche's Redemption series has been featured in The St. Augustine Record,[15] Folio,[16] Salon.com[17] and The Conversation.[18] This portfolio of drawings he made while serving time in prison earned him a scholarship to the Florida School of the Arts. This body of work has been described as:
...a series of fantastical, highly symbolic, allegorical drawings during his time in solitary confinement. They are bold, cartoonish representations. Filled with dark humor, they provide a sustained lens into the abuses inside Florida’s prison system.
Professor Tim Gilmore, while defining the impact of Dimanche's art, stated:
"Seeing the intricate drawings, packed with layers of personal symbolism, made on whatever materials Dimanche had available in prison, are both shocking and wonderful."
Dimanche's art was featured in Dr. Nicole Fleetwood's bestselling book Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration[19] and described as "complicated and disturbing graphite drawings on the back of prison papers".
Books
[edit]- It Takes a Criminal to Know One: How the Inspector General and I are One and the Same, Amazon (2016)[20]
References
[edit]- ^ "Through his art, a former prisoner diagnoses the systemic sickness of Florida's penitentiaries". August 31, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
- ^ "REDEMPTION Behind Bars". Retrieved March 22, 2017.
- ^ Kader, Joy (April 5, 2017). "First Coast Connect: Former Inmate Turned Prison Reform Activist". WJCT News 89.9. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
- ^ "Prison Art". Retrieved August 12, 2016.
- ^ "Moliere DiManche Exhibition Brings Crowds". www.youtube.com. August 16, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
- ^ Dimanche, Moliere (December 4, 2016). It Takes a Criminal to Know One. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1541174283.
- ^ "Governor Ron DeSantis Issues Executive Order Suspending Regina Hill as Orlando City Commissioner".
- ^ "Deadline to file paperwork for Orlando City Commission District 5 race passes". April 17, 2024. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ "The Case Against Regina Hill". May 7, 2024.
- ^ "Moliere Dimanche". Ballotpedia.
- ^ "Dimanche v. Brown". April 17, 2015 – via Casetext.
- ^ "Dimanche v. Brown Citing Cases". December 25, 2024 – via Casetext.
- ^ "Detienen a guardia de prisión en Florida por tratar de envenenar a recluso". January 27, 2020.
- ^ "Carceral Aesthetics: Vision and Imprisonment". January 8, 2020.
- ^ "Former inmate's artwork shines light on Florida's prison system". The St. Augustine Record. August 12, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
- ^ "Institutional Knowledge". Folio Weekly. August 10, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
- ^ "Through his art, a former prisoner diagnoses the systemic sickness of Florida's penitentiaries". Salon. September 1, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
- ^ "Through his art, a former prisoner diagnoses the systemic sickness of Florida's penitentiaries". The Conversation. September 1, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
- ^ "Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration". Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books. Rutgers University. August 11, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
- ^ Dimanche, Moliere (2016). It Takes a Criminal to Know One: How the Inspector General and I are One and the Same. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1541174283.
External links
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