Beyond Incarceration

What is the liberatory power of the arts and humanities?

Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet and founder of the organization Freedom Reads, which brings book collections to people in prison. Photo: Alexander Saladrigas for Mellon Foundation

Millions of people in the US face incarceration and criminalization, impacting their relatives, communities, and future generations, and depriving society of their expression, creativity, knowledge, and perspectives. Arts, culture, and humanities work that centers the voices and expertise of people directly affected by the American criminal legal system can uniquely deepen our shared understanding of the system, catalyze us to address the damage it causes, and move us toward justice.

Elizabeth Alexander
President

“We support artists, scholars, and thinkers—both inside and outside—who are countering the inhumanity of incarceration and the broader criminal legal system.”

Imagining Freedom initiative

$125M

Imagining Freedom

A multiyear initiative supporting arts and humanities organizations that engage knowledge and creativity of people impacted by the US criminal legal system.

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University of California at Los Angeles

What Are the Costs of Mass Incarceration in Los Angeles?

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Yale University

Felony and Freedom with Reginald Dwayne Betts

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The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, Inc.

Freedom, Put in Writing

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Rebecca Ginsburg
Associate Professor and Director of the Education Justice Project

“People in prison and those who have been incarcerated are people—deep, complex, and full of promise if given the right opportunities at the right time.”