About the Project
Prisoner to Professional
From Prisoner to Professional is a series of six ten-minute episodes illuminating the stories of returning citizens who successfully transitioned into respected professions while combating the stereotypes associated with returning citizens and recidivism.
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About the Humanist
Joshua Jackson
Joshua Jackson is an independent documentary producer and cinematographer. He started his career working at PBS and ABC affiliates. He debuted his short film From State Prisoner to State Professor in 2017, which later was featured at the Black Harvest Film Festival, the Pan African Film Festival, and won Best Short Documentary at the American Filmatic Awards.
Joshua was the cinematographer for Chosen Foe Life, a short film of an inner-city youth conflicted by the neighborhood pressures and school influences, which aired on WTTW. He was a part of the 2018 Kartemquin Diverse Voices in Documentary cohort where he proposed his documentary series From Prisoner to Professor. His passion is filming, which he does through his production company, 720 Films. In addition, he films documentaries for other independent producers.
Learn More About Joshua’s Work and 720 Films
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About Illinois Humanities' Envisioning Justice program
Envisioning Justice brings Illinois together to examine and reimagine the criminal legal system through the arts and humanities.
Envisioning Justice leverages the arts and humanities to envision alternatives to the enduring injustice of mass incarceration. This Illinois Humanities initiative works with communities and people impacted by mass incarceration to spark conversation and illuminate community-based strategies that address our racist and unjust criminal legal system.
From 2017 to 2019, Envisioning Justice was concentrated in Chicago. Moving forward, Illinois Humanities is expanding this initiative and its attendant activities throughout the state. As a part of this next phase of Envisioning Justice, we will host and document community conversations, provide grant opportunities, and commission projects by artists and humanists working to shift the narrative around incarceration and system impacted communities.
Learn more about the Envisioning Justice program, including upcoming events and grant offerings.
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