Moliere Dimanche

Dimanche grew up under financial hardship in Orlando, Florida. At the age of 7, his mother sought refuge with Dimanche and his brothers at the Orlando Union Rescue Mission while she worked to become a cosmetologist and escape poverty with her sons.{{Cite web |title=MAYOR IN THE MAKING — MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: MOLIERE DIMANCHE |date=October 16, 2023 |url=https://www.ourm.org/mayor-in-the-making-mission-accomplished-moliere-dimanche/ |access-date=October 16, 2023}} Dimanche went on to attend West Orange High School.{{Cite web |title=REDEMPTION Behind Bars |date=March 22, 2017 |url=https://folioweekly.com/2017/03/22/redemption-behind-bars/ |access-date=March 22, 2017}}

In 2007, at age 19, Dimanche received a 10-year prison sentence for theft, ultimately serving 8.5 years before his release. In 2016, he was awarded a Pell Grant scholarship{{Cite web |title=Prison Art |url=https://www.staugustine.com/story/news/2016/08/12/2016-08-12-1/16300345007/ |access-date=August 12, 2016}} 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{{cite web |date=August 16, 2016 |title=Moliere DiManche Exhibition Brings Crowds |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2lhaHIaVeE |accessdate=August 17, 2016 |website=www.youtube.com}} throughout Florida's First Coast.

Dimanche entered local politics as a candidate for Mayor of Orlando in the 2023 general election. He also ran for the position of Interim Commissioner after Governor Ron DeSantis suspended Commissioner Regina Hill.{{Cite web |title=Governor Ron DeSantis Issues Executive Order Suspending Regina Hill as Orlando City Commissioner |url=https://www.flgov.com/2024/04/01/governor-ron-desantis-issues-executive-order-suspending-regina-hill-as-orlando-city-commissioner/ |access-date=December 26, 2024 |archive-date=September 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915162457/https://www.flgov.com/2024/04/01/governor-ron-desantis-issues-executive-order-suspending-regina-hill-as-orlando-city-commissioner/ |url-status=dead }} While running for Interim Commissioner, Dimanche publicly defended Hill,{{Cite web |date=April 17, 2024 |title=Deadline to file paperwork for Orlando City Commission District 5 race passes |url=https://www.wesh.com/article/candidates-orlando-commission-district-5-race/60515932 |access-date=April 17, 2024}} suggesting the charges against her were politically motivated.{{Cite web |date=May 7, 2024 |title=The Case Against Regina Hill |url=https://floridasunreview.com/the-case-against-regina-hill/}}

Dimanche did not appear on the ballot in the mayoral race,{{Cite web |date=September 14, 2023 |title=Buddy Dyer faces multiple opponents as he vies for sixth term |url=https://floridapolitics.com/archives/634572-buddy-dyer-faces-multiple-opponents-as-he-vies-for-6th-term/}} or the race for interim commissioner{{Cite web |date=April 16, 2024 |title=At least 7 qualify to run for Regina Hill’s Orlando City Council seat |url=https://floridapolitics.com/archives/669887-at-least-7-qualify-to-run-for-regina-hills-orlando-city-council-seat/}} after being disqualified over technical issues regarding the payment of qualifying fees.

In 2015, Dimanche was involved in Dimanche v. Brown,{{Cite web |date=April 17, 2015 |title=Dimanche v. Brown |url=https://casetext.com/case/dimanche-v-brown-2 |via=Casetext}} decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The court 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.

After the Killing of Dylan Lyons, T'Yonna Major and Nathacha Augustin on February 22, 2023, advocates for public safety in Pine Hills held a town hall expressing their frustration with the lack of law enforcement resources and the failures of the Orange County Sheriff's Office on the day of the triple murder.{{Cite web |title=Pine Hills residents demand answers on deputies' response to 2023 mass shooting |date=February 27, 2025 |url=https://www.wesh.com/article/pine-hills-safety-measures-mass-shooting/63945775 |access-date=March 23, 2025}} Dimanche questioned why the sheriff was not present at the town hall to hear the cries of the family of T'Yonna Major, and proposed incorporating Pine Hills into its own municipality in order to secure a law enforcement presence in the area.

Dimanche asserted that public safety was the top priority in Pine Hills, and that the purpose of the push for incorporation was to put an end to crime in the area.{{Cite web |title=Could Pine Hills become its own city? That's what local leaders are asking |date=March 7, 2025 |url=https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2025/03/08/could-pine-hills-become-its-own-city-thats-what-local-leaders-are-asking/ |access-date=March 23, 2025}} According to University of Central Florida senior lecturer Jim Clark, it had been more than 60 years since the last discussion of incorporating Pine Hills into a municipality took place.

Dimanche has produced investigative vlogs on YouTube, alleging abuse within the Florida Department of Corrections.{{Cite web |date=January 27, 2020 |title=Detienen a guardia de prisión en Florida por tratar de envenenar a recluso |url=https://www.diariolasamericas.com/florida/detienen-guardia-prision-florida-tratar-envenenar-recluso-n4191787}} He has also traveled across the United States, delivering speeches that connect his artistic work to broader discussions about what he describes as systemic injustice in American prisons.{{Cite web |url= https://www.icp.org/events/carceral-aesthetics-vision-and-imprisonment |title=Carceral Aesthetics: Vision and Imprisonment|date=January 8, 2020 }}

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Dimanche's Redemption series, a portfolio of drawings he made while serving time in prison, earned him a scholarship to the Florida School of the Arts{{cite web | title=Former inmate's artwork shines light on Florida's prison system | url=https://www.staugustine.com/story/news/2016/08/12/2016-08-12-1/16300345007/ | website=The St. Augustine Record | date=2016-08-12 | accessdate=2024-12-31}} and has been featured in Folio,{{cite web | title=Institutional Knowledge | url=https://folioweekly.com/2016/08/10/institutional-knowledge/ | website=Folio Weekly | date=2016-08-10 | accessdate=2024-12-31}} Salon.com{{cite web | title=Through his art, a former prisoner diagnoses the systemic sickness of Florida's penitentiaries | url=https://www.salon.com/2018/09/01/through-his-art-a-former-prisoner-diagnoses-the-systemic-sickness-of-floridas-penitentiaries_partner/ | website=Salon | date=2018-09-01 | accessdate=2024-12-31}} and The Conversation.{{cite web | title=Through his art, a former prisoner diagnoses the systemic sickness of Florida's penitentiaries | url=https://theconversation.com/through-his-art-a-former-prisoner-diagnoses-the-systemic-sickness-of-floridas-penitentiaries-101588 | website=The Conversation | date=2018-09-01 | accessdate=2024-12-31}}

• It Takes a Criminal to Know One: How the Inspector General and I are One and the Same, Amazon (2016){{cite book|title=It Takes a Criminal to Know One: How the Inspector General and I are One and the Same |date= 2016 |isbn=978-1541174283 |last1=Dimanche |first1=Moliere |publisher= CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform }}

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• {{url| https://moliereexpressionsdotcom.wordpress.com/|Official website}}

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Category:American writers of Haitian descent

Category:American civil rights activists

Category:American writers

Category:Living people