THE REENTRY THINK TANK connects formerly incarcerated men and women with artists and advocates to transform the stereotypes, social services, and platforms that impact our lives and communities. As part of their ongoing work, Reentry Think Tank Fellows spent two years interviewing over 1200 Philadelphians with criminal records about their lives, dreams, and demands for a more just world. Each interview began with the question: “If you were in power, what would you do to keep people free?”

These responses have been edited together to create the city’s first Reentry Bill of Rights: A Blueprint for Keeping Us Free. The text in this poster series includes the Preamble to the Bill of Rights which was co-written by Reentry Think Tank Fellows. As a group poem and declaration, it has been read in Philadelphia’s city hall, detention centers, museums, legal clinics, and community spaces across the city. 

The Reentry Bill of Rights is printed on handmade paper made by formerly incarcerated women in the People’s Paper Co-op’s Art and Advocacy Fellowship. Criminal records from legal clinics and public workshops were torn, pulped, and transformed into new sheets of handmade paper that act as blank slates for this collective vision for transformative justice.

The Reentry Bill of Rights has been exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia's City Hall, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), a multitude of galleries and universities and importantly, has been shown at public events, legal clinics, detention centers, church basements, and more.

Reentry Think Tank Fellows 2016-2018: Hiram Jay Adams, Jym Baker, Faith Bartley, Mary Baxter, Deanna Bell, Josette Bennett, Omar Bey, Russell Craig, Aaron Crump, Alphonso Dashiell, David Garvin, Joshua Glenn,  Bobby Harris, Anthony Hirschbuhl, David Jackson, Abd’Allah Lateef, Anthony Lovett, Sheila Michael, Kenneth Pate, Gregory Pettway, Tarrence Swartz, Colwin Williams, Romeeka Williams.

Lead artists: Courtney Bowles and Mark Strandquist​

Getting the Reentry Bill of Rights into Permanent Collections

As the project has been exhibited across the region and beyond, we have helped get the Reentry Bill of Rights included in permanent collections across the United States. In each collection, librarians will use the portfolio as part of education efforts and exhibitions about the criminal justice system.
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The work is in the permanent collections of the following institutions and governmental offices; 
Free Library of Virginia, Philadelphia Defenders Association, Philadelphia's Mayor's Office,  Community Legal Services, Amherst College,  
St Olaf College,  Bainbridge Island Museum of Art,  University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC), University of California at Irvine (UCI), University of Illinois, Chicago,  Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU),  Newberry Library,  Carnegie Mellon, Emory University, 
​The University of Iowa (UIowa), Temple University and more to come!

Throughout the project we connect local, regional and national artists with the Think Tank to help fellows amplify their stories and visions for a more just world. The Reentry Bill of Rights poster above was done in collaboration with artist Kate DeCiccio. If you're interested in collaborating with the Think Tank fellows reach out, we'd love to work together!

THE PREAMBLE: 

We the people. The other side of America. The 70 million plus with criminal records. We exist in multitudes. We lead many lives.

We are all ages 
We are 16, 57, 35 years old.
We are not criminals. We are survivors. Scholars. Artists. The leaders you need. Your Fathers, Mothers, Daughters, Sons, friends and family. We are human beings. We deserve a chance to prove our worth. We work, volunteer, mentor and use our knowledge, experience and skills to give back to the community.
Where am I? You see me in the mall, We sat next to each other at the movies, We shared a smile once in a line at the grocery store, the bank, the church pew. But you put an X on my face. You turned me into a number. See ME
I want a beautiful future. Are you part of it?
Let’s talk close. If I was your child, would you treat me differently?

I am not a slave to my past.  I refuse to be intimidated by your misperceptions. Understand the value I have to contribute. Do not be paralyzed by data, I am real, not numbers. I will not subject myself to fear nor anxiety, but walk boldly. I will prosper.
Let me be free. 
Believe in me and I will be the best parent I never had. I will mobilize communities. Will be a catalyst for change. Will make history. Will achieve all of my goals. Will be a role model for the youth!
We’ve done our time. Let us become who we want to be. 

My mom always told me hurt people will hurt others.
But healing for me is harder than you think. 
Sometimes I feel like I’m reading a story that isn’t mine.
I need those around me to listen, to lend an ear, to try to understand the root causes of violence and crime. 
To help me get support and resources.
Today, I can be a wounded healer. 
I want to apologize. To listen to the people I’ve harmed, to volunteer, to speak out, to teach, to learn, and understand that not everyone is ready to heal. We are hurt, we have harmed, and we have the power to help others heal.

But it’s not black and white.
Some of us came home to housing. Some of us were homeless. Some spent 7 months trying to get an approved home plan while wasting away in halfway houses.  
Some of us struggle finding positive support from family and friends, while others came home to mentors, wives, husbands, and so many open arms.
Even after being out for years we struggle.
I struggle to keep me and my children together.
I struggle to afford more than a room.
I struggle to find a job I’m NOT overqualified for
I struggle to feel human, not looked down upon
I AM we the people. I want you to remember that we need to change people’s environment if we want to change their future.
That we are so much more than our past.
That people need community, not condemnation.
That we need more support to become what we dream of.
That the world is wrong about us. That we’ve already come so far.
That we are learning to forgive ourselves.
And so should you. 
That we can make differences in the lives of others. But we need a chance to prove our worth.
That we are powerful! 

Anything About Us, Without Us, Is against us...
No policies will truly shift and support those in reentry if we are not all seen as complexly, deeply human. Culture must shift before policies ever will and art is the tool and weapon to destroys stereotypes and build that foundation. These posters were made by Reentry Think Tank fellows to help illustrate articles within the Reentry Bill of Rights and have been exhibited across Philadelphia.

Made possible by the time, energy and love of so many people, and through the incredibly generous support of the following organizations