Our Founder and Executive Director Amanda Alexander accepted the 2019 Great Expectations Award at the NAACP Detroit Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner last week. She shared DJC’s work and vision with a crowd of 10,000 attendees.
In receiving the award she made a case for DJC’s work, as well as #NoNewJailsDetroit, saying:
“Along with our clients and partners, we’re making a case to Wayne County and Dan Gilbert that Detroit does not need a new jail or youth jail. Last fall we convened a design summit with young people to design alternatives to the jail. We asked teens, “How could we spend half a billion dollars in your community to make you feel safe, valued, and empowered?” And not one of them said more jails or more police. They said let’s build a mental health spa. And restorative justice centers. They said fix the water pipes in our schools. Pay our teachers. Build affordable housing. Those are freedom dreams. And they are especially sacred because young people inherit the world we create.
Freedom is intergenerational work, and we are honored to do our part at the Detroit Justice Center. Thank you.”