This past Thursday, a national creative agency aimed to bring awareness to social justice issues in pop culture announced that they will be awarding a $100,000 fellowship for artists who were once incarcerated.
The disparity between the number of blacks and the number of whites who are incarcerated have been well documented and even those who are fortunate enough to see a release date face an unfair hiring bias because of their criminal records.
Which is why the Soze Academy's new fellowship is both ideal and practical.
In an interview with Mic, the Brooklyn-based agency revealed that "The Right of Return USA Fellowship" is a part of their Returning Citizens Project that has the vision of establishing a network of painters, sculptors, filmmakers and performers that specifically come from the prison system. The fellowship will award five artists with a grant of $20,000 each for projects addressing reform of the criminal justice system. They believe this could be the first initiative of its kind in the U.S.
"Artists have always been able to tap into something that is unique and vibrant," Michael Skolnik, co-founder of the Soze Agency, told Mic. "Imagine what artists who have experienced incarceration have to share with the rest of the world."
The Sentencing Project reported in 2015 that nearly 60 percent of previously incarcerated individuals were unemployed a year after release, forcing them to resort to breaking more laws and landing right back in prison. Strides towards prison reform were being made during the Obama era but in light of the new administration and their agenda of investing in private prisons, the Soze Academy found that it was important now more than ever to help keep our men home.
A fellowship like the Soze Academy is proposing to not only take previously incarcerated inmates off the streets but it shows that the only disconnect between a more fruitful life after prison is the opportunity to live one.
"We firmly believe that formerly incarcerated individuals not only have a right to fully return to society but can offer innovative solutions to one of the most pressing issues of our time," Philadelphia-based artists Russell Craig and Jesse Krimes, two of the fellowship's inaugural recipients, said in a joint statement.
The Open Philanthropy Foundation is funding the fellowship, which handed the $216,500 grant to Soze Academy this past December.
Recipients of the fellowship will be required to work alongside with nonprofits that focus on criminal justice system. Interested and eligible individuals have until April 21 to apply for the remaining three spots.
