The following message from the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice, ILARJ, is displayed: The majority of ILARJ employees are formerly incarcerated. Second chances don’t require cages. As second chance month ends, we must publicly acknowledge second chances need first chances. Addressing barriers to reentry must include closing paths to incarceration. Included is a picture of ILARJ employees and a background of the Chicago skyline.

#SecondChanceMonth is a recognition and public acknowledgement of reentry efforts, but many fail to mention how many people never had a first chance. The best reentry is no entry, and fixing the root harms tied to our social determinants of health will achieve this. #ReimagineAndRemakeJustice

Women’s History Month Spotlight, presented by the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice. An image of Avalon Betts-Gaston, Executive Director of the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice. Included is the following quote: “Advocacy must employ radical imagination to not just reveal injustice, but to show we can remake justice from the ground up.”

Women’s History Month Spotlight, presented by the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice. An image of Mariame Kaba. Included is the following quote: It is time to envision and create alternatives to the hellish conditions our society has brought into being.

Women’s History Month Spotlight, presented by the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice. An image of Angela Davis. Included is the following quote: You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world.

Women’s History Month Spotlight, presented by the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice. An image of Andrea James. Included is the following quote: We need healing, not incarceration.

Effective resistance requires centering those most impacted by detrimental policies combined with a radical reimagining of justice. #WomensHistoryMonth #reimagineandremakejustice

The logo of the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice with the following caption: Reminder: Communities are Built, Not Discovered. ILARJ works every day to build a community that works for all of us. There is a cutout photo of ILARJ staff posing together, with our Executive Director standing arms-crossed in the center of the group.

Standing by and expecting people to just come together is not what we believe in. Community requires organization, education, and mobilization to create real change. Our motto? By Community, For Community, In Community. #ReimagineAndRemakeJustice

An image of Clarence Earl Gideon with a quote from the Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright that reads as follows: That government hires lawyers to prosecute and defendants who have the money hire lawyers to defend are the strongest indications of the widespread belief that lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 344 (1963). Included is the logo for the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice.

It has been sixty-two years since Gideon v. Wainwright guaranteed public defenders for all persons accused of a crime. Gideon’s promise also put an end to some of the exploitation and abuse faced by poor families and communities. #NationalPublicDefenseDay #ReimagineAndRemakeJustice

A picture of Avalon Betts-Gaston, the Executive Director of the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice, standing in front of the United States Capitol. Included in this is a quote: “The idea that we can punish our way to a healthy community is a fallacy”. The ILARJ logo is in the top left.

A picture of Avalon Betts-Gaston, the Executive Director of the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice, with a quote: “Punishment does not and cannot decrease poverty, mental illness, substance abuse”. The ILARJ logo is in the top left.

We know community safety and public health require much more than just teachers, cops, and doctors. We believe in remaking justice by centering community-driven systems of care and accountability. We include the values of reintegration and restoration in all of our work. #ReimagineAndRemakeJustice