The Incarcerated Mass

 

Portraits by Justin T. Jones

Theatre Y Artistic Director Melissa Lorraine has been working with men serving extreme sentences at Stateville Correctional Center since 2018. With no parole system for natural life sentences, these men will never be released, despite acquiring multiple degrees and starting a non-profit inside: Parole Illinois. (LEARN MORE about THE ENDING OF PAROLE and THE NEW BILL you can support at ParoleIllinois.org!)

(Theatre Y makes a case for Restoring Parole at the 2024 Jeff Awards)


Theatre Y is creating original works with twenty-five men who have been part of the DePaul and PNAP (
Prison+Neighborhood Art Project) Think Tank for many years, and filming the work to introduce the world to these men who have been buried alive and to aid the fight to reinstate Parole in Illinois. Thank you for helping to give voice to some of the thousands of Humans of Life Row in the state of Illinois (one of 16 states without a Parole System).  

Stateville correctional center - think tank - humans of life row photo credit: karl soderstrom

Justin T. Jones portrait

Photo Credit: karl soderstrom

Hands that harmed into hands that H.E.A.L - Higher Education Ameliorates Lives Scholarship and Mentoring Program: www.npcovenant.org/heal
100% of the funds raised go to college or trade school for H.E.A.L Scholars.