REENTRY ORGANIZATIONS/GROUPS

Underground Ministries - https://undergroundministries.org/ Building on the image of people that are incarcerated have entered the tomb and are thought of as dead to the outside world and as they are released they experience resurrection and new life, UM is committed to building relationships with the incarcerated, the returning citizens, and the outside communities. Through mutual transformation they seek not only the healing and restoration of those with conviction histories returning from the tombs of incarceration, but also helping mainstream faith and business communities unlearn and heal from the sins of white supremacy in our shared history, along with other societal sins that built these very tombs of mass incarceration we now seek to empty.

Civil Survival Project - https://civilsurvival.org/ This group organizes people in the state of Washington who have been directly impacted by the criminal justice system to build connections, gain knowledge and increase political participation. They work to help them have successful reentry and become productive members of the community by removing collateral consequences of mass incarceration.

Faith Action Network - https://fanwa.org/ FAN is an interfaith statewide partnership striving for a just, compassionate, and sustainable world through community building, education, and courageous public action.

National Association of Court Appointed Special Advocates https://nationalcasagal.org/

The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth - https://cfsy.org/

BOOKS

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, Penguin Random House, 2014
“This book is about getting closer to mass incarceration and extreme
punishment in America. It is about how easily we condemn people in this
country and the injustice we create when we allow fear, anger and distance to shape the way we treat the most vulnerable among us.”

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander, The New Press, 2010 "Once in a great while a book comes along that changes the way we see the world and helps to fuel a nationwide social movement. The New Jim Crow is such a book.” Praised by Harvard Law professor Lani Guinier as "brave and bold."

Wanted: A Spiritual Pursuit Through Jail, Among Outlaws, and Across Borders, by Chris Hoke, Executive Director of Underground Ministries. In these stories of “mystical portraiture,” like the old WANTED posters of outlaws, Hoke bears witness to an elusive Presence that is still alive and defiant of official custody. Such portraits offer a new vision of the forgotten souls who have been cast into society’s dumpsters, helping us see beneath even the hardest criminal a fragile desire to be wanted.

VIDEOS

TED Talk by Bryan Stevenson: We Need to Talk About an Injustice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2tOp7OxyQ8

Followers of Christ Church
This ELCA congregation within the Nebraska State Prison offers congregations a window into another world and an opportunity to support an essential, thriving ministry.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a3ao9r
SeU&list=PLC4E2E3CA2B79AA24&index=5

Walk With Me - tells the story of The Church of Gethsemane in Brooklyn, N.Y.,
where prisoners, ex-prisoners and people who have never been in prison,
worship, celebrate and govern their church together. After seeing it, people
may want to talk about the issues that it raises. These issues might include:
viewers' own experiences of feeling unwelcome or unaccepted at some point in their lives, their spiritual journey, or the deep impact the criminal justice system has on people's lives. Go to the website to order a free copy of the film.
http://gethsemanefilm.com/host-a-screening/

FAITH-BASED STUDIES, PROGRAMS AND ORGANIZATIONS

ELCA Racial Justice Ministries - http://www.ELCA.org/Our-Work/Publicly-Engaged-Church/Racial-Justice-Ministries?ga=1.153381883.2105026173.1390844417

American Friends Service Committee
https://www.afsc.org/key-issues/issue/ending-mass-incarceration