The prison-industrial complex is a multi-million dollar industry in the United States, yet many public schools across the country lack the basic resources and supplies needed for a comprehensive education system. In 2014, Amplifier and Ernesto Yerena teamed up to support the #SchoolsNotPrisons initiative and create artwork supporting better use of public funds.
“Coming from a working class background, I often saw people voting against their own best interests because the media tricked them into thinking that a certain choice was best for them,” says Yerena. “Drawing from my own experiences, I began to ask myself ‘How can we create more critical thought in working class communities?”
The artwork was displayed in a wheatpaste campaigns to publicly demand that federal and state leaders invest back into the communities they are supposed to represent.