Welcome to the Illinois Alliance for Reentry & Justice
We are accelerating the transformative realignment of power and accountability to reimagine and remake justice through the collective work of the community centering lived experience with participatory democracy models toward an abolitionist future.
By Community, For Community, In Community.
Our motto is, “By Community, For Community, In Community.” This is because we understand that the work needed to bring about “the Beloved Community” that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. imprinted on our imaginations requires working together. Our strength is in the 360-degree perspective offered by our partners, comprised of currently and formerly incarcerated people, nonprofits, service providers, legal professionals, and advocates. We are working in community to develop solutions to the problems our partners are currently facing behind the walls along with the problems faced by those on the other side of those walls. We proudly count over 100 coalition partners in every region of the state including in 5 IDOC facilities.
What We Do
By Community
By community requires that we are intentional about letting the community experts devise and implement solutions. And when it comes to everything related to the criminal legal system, the leading experts are Black people who have been disproportionately criminalized by that system. More often than not, solutions are developed in a top-down process devoid of the voices of those forced to become experts as a result of their experience and not their academics. When this happens, solutions are incomplete and imbue hope that can only exist in the realm of theory versus practice. Additionally, this process is rooted in patriarchy, diminishes the value of the very people intended to help, and generally maintains the status quo.
For Community
Requires that we ensure that the solutions developed “By Community” are for that same community. This means that priority is given during implementation to the community that developed the solutions. We are, therefore, committed to putting the communities driving those solutions at the front of the line as a way to ensure they receive an equitable allocation of those resources.
In Community
Requires that we work against the common practice of working in silos. There are many factors at play trying to pit groups against one another, usually fighting for resources. Our intent is simple: don’t allow these forces to upend community cohesion by being intentional about imagining, dismantling, and building together.
Our Goals
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Redefining Reentry
We are normalizing our new framework for how we support families entangled with the criminal legal system with community designed and delivered holistic support from the earliest point possible.
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Transforming Policies
We are centering harm reduction and reparative outcomes as the focus of policy changes.
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Reclaiming and Shifting Power
We are shifting power dynamics through the politicization of groups generally convinced that they do not have political power and those that have even been deliberately stripped of their political power.
Get Involved
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Email
contactus@ilarj.org
Become a Member of the Alliance
Photos by Antonio Lightfoot with Indigo Portrait Studio