Donald "C-Note" Hooker started doing poetry in his mid-teens for the R&B, Rap, and Country and Western lyrics he would write. These lyrics were quite catchy, and his friends and family would often find themselves singing them. During this time, Luke and Laura was all the rage on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital. This inspired him to become an actor, and would hang out at the world-renowned Pasadena Playhouse. However, he quickly found himself discouraged in this pursuit, as he did not see many African Americans in the industry, let alone, wearing long perms. In his late teens, he found himself in youth prison where he was praised for his short stories. In his early thirties, he found himself in prison with a very long prison sentence as a result of California's three-strikes law. He began the Millennium, January 1st, 2000, in solitary confinement, resulting from a prison riot between the prison guards and African American prisoners. After being released from solitary confinement, he faced a dilemma how to commercialize his raps. With no good options, he picked up drawing, only to discover that poetry and painting are considered sister Arts. The poet paints pictures with words; the painter tell stories with paints.

His first public exposure as an artist came as a playwright; as part of a prison theatrical troupe that put on the play, Redemption In Our State of Blues, in the winter of 2016. [1] Besides local media coverage, [2] [3] Redemption was covered nationally in People. [4] Redemption was a compilation of autobiographical plays, poetry, and spokenword. Its success led to BREAK IT TO MAKE IT (BITMI): Busting Barriers for the Incarcerated Project Los Angeles, CA, a first in the nation prisoner reentry program. The program consists of two years of free housing at the Los Angeles Mission. Two years of free college to earn an Associate degree at the Los Angeles City College. College credits earned by prisoners in theater, and actual paid theatrical work with The Strindberg Laboratory. In the spring of 2016, his visual work Mprisond (2014) was part of Through the Wall: Prison Arts Collective at the CB-1 Guest gallery in downtown Los Angeles. The exhibition was a first of its kind in the Prisoner Art World. Curated by the University of California, San Bernardino. It consisted of the works from prisoner-artists from two Southern California men's prisons and one Southern California women's prison. [5] Following that exhibition in the summer of 2016, his works were a part of the Escaping Time Prisoner Art Exhibition on Governor's Island in New York City. The artist was asked by the curator to create poetry for gift cards of some of the artist's work. This led to the artist creation of the Paintoem.[6] Paintoems are digital works of art that consists of an original painting or drawing combined with a poetry vignette. This digital combination is then given away to the public for their free use; so long as the poet and the painter are given acknowledgement for their creation as part of this free content for public use. Mprisond (2014) was a part of the first paintoem the artist created and whose opening stanza begins with the line, "Rapunzel could let down her hair/because some cared".

In 2017, his poem, Tho Her Name Is Not Gibraltar She's Still Called The Rock, was on display at the architect, Frank Lloyd Wright's, Marin County Civic Center ,Complex at the Marin County Free Library's, Anne T. Kent California Room. [7]

In 2018, his poem from the paintoem, Incarceration Nation, was a part of the poetry recital at the 28th Annual celebration of African-American poets and their poetry in Oakland, California. [8] That same month, as a part of his final dissertation for the University of California, San Bernardino, inaugural spokenword course, C-Note performed the stirring, Can't Black Lives Matter Too???

That same year as a part of the Defy Ventures graduating commencement address, he recited his work Angellic Tempest, in front of venture capitalists, CEOs, and other noteworthy leaders. In 2019, his poem Touched, was recited at the funeral of a young African-American whose life was lost as a result of an encounter with law enforcement.

Notes.

[1] Redemption in Our State of Blues – The Strindberg Laboratory https://strindberglaboratory.com/production/redemption-in-our-state-of-blues/

[2] Program helps inmates express themselves through acting | abc7.com https://abc7.com/1252240/

[3] What Prison Reform Looks Like Inside California State Prison, L.A. County | KCET https://www.kcet.org/shows/departures/what-prison-reform-looks-like-inside-california-state-prison-la-county

[4] Inside the Program Training Actors in California Jails and Prisons | PEOPLE.com https://people.com/celebrity/inside-the-program-training-actors-in-california-jails-and-prisons/

[5] Through the Wall: Prison Arts Collective | California State University, San Bernardino Research | CSUSB ScholarWorks https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/pac/

[6] WHAT ARE PAINTOEMS? | Mprisondthotz https://mprisondthotz.wordpress.com/2016/09/17/what-are-paintoems/

[7]Bay Area’s Frank Lloyd Wright Building Displays Poem by Imprisoned Poet, Donald "C-Note" Hooker https://medium.com/@darealprizonart/bay-areas-frank-lloyd-wright-building-displays-poem-by-imprisoned-poet-donald-c-note-hooker-65195792a83e

[8] Wanda’s Picks for February 2018 | San Francisco Bay View https://sfbayview.com/2018/02/wandas-picks-for-february-2018/

[9] Poem "ANGELIC TEMPEST" by Imprisoned Poet, Donald "C-Note" Hooker, Was Delivered at Defy Venture's 2018 Commencement Address https://medium.com/@darealprizonart/poem-angelic-tempest-by-imprisoned-poet-donald-c-note-hooker-was-delivered-at-defy-ventures-52e8591d3bfe