An exhibition titled "Prisoners of Love: Until the Sun of Freedom" by artists Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme is on view at the Bell Gallery at Brown University until May 31. The show centers on a historical misattribution: the poem "Enemy of the Sun," found in the cell of Black Panther George Jackson after his 1971 murder, was long thought to be his work but was actually written by Palestinian poet Samih al-Qasim. Through a video installation featuring interviews with former political prisoners in Palestine, the artists explore what they call "radical kinship" between Black radical thinkers in the U.S. and Palestinian activists. Curators Kate Kraczon and Thea Quiray Tagle, who were terminated from Brown last December, collaborated on the project, which also draws on archival research into mass incarceration.
This exhibition matters because it illuminates a deep, often overlooked historical bond between Black and Palestinian liberation struggles, using art as a tool for resistance and survival in times of global upheaval. By foregrounding the voices of political prisoners and the misattribution of a poem, Abbas and Abou-Rahme challenge dominant narratives and offer a blueprint for solidarity across movements. The show also highlights the ongoing relevance of such cross-cultural connections amid contemporary debates about incarceration, colonization, and creative resistance.