Before the Detroit Justice Center became a national leader in the fight to transform the justice system, it was an idea we discussed at the Macomb Prison.
In 2015, I was still serving a life sentence at Macomb when I met Amanda Alexander, who would found DJC years later in 2018.
Dr. Lampert from the University of Michigan-Dearborn had brought the Inside Out Prison Exchange program to a group of 15 incarcerated men.
Through the program, “inside” students and trainers like myself enrolled in a college course of the professor’s choice, mainly Sociology and Criminology courses, alongside our fellow “outside” students and trainers like Amanda.
Together, we wrestled with the role of prisons in American society:
If crime rates had been going down for years, why was incarceration on the rise? If it cost taxpayers more to incarcerate someone than it did to educate them, why did we turn to prisons as the solution to social problems?
I began to understand the systemic causes behind mass incarceration – the role of prisons and police in extracting wealth from Black, brown, and poor communities and repressing movements for revolutionary change.
Amanda was working as a lawyer at the time, representing families divided by the foster care system. She was wrestling with a looming question herself: How could lawyers work with grassroots movements to build power and true community safety?
She brought this question to her peers on the inside. Together, we shaped the “defense, offense, and dreaming” approach that would later guide DJC’s work.
We agreed that lawyers must do what they can to alleviate present suffering created by incarceration, but we all need to focus on what we’re fighting for as well – the new institutions that will one day replace prisons.
It was bittersweet, but I rooted for Amanda when she left our group to found the organization.
I knew back then that DJC was a dream worth pursuing.
Today, I’m so proud to say I’m a Community Legal Advocate at DJC. From helping Detroiters fight illegal home foreclosures to clearing their criminal records, this work is a dream come true for me.
Your solidarity – whether through a one-time gift or a monthly contribution – allows our team of mostly justice-impacted individuals to carry forward an unfinished fight for freedom.
We’re so grateful to have you in this fight with us.
In community,
Chris Delgado
Community Legal Advocate