by Mina Llona – The Philadelphia Tribune
The JustUS Ideas Summit for the formerly incarcerated was held in Philadelphia at the BILLY PENN Studios on Friday, Dec. 20.
The first of its kind, the gathering brought together justice-impacted individuals, community leaders, and activists to unite and transform the future of those affected by the criminal justice system.
Marvin Bing, the founder of JustUS, who was incarcerated as a juvenile, created the space to converse about issues and solutions with members of the reentry community.
Bing’s idea for the summit originated from his late father, Malik Aziz, who spent time for drug trafficking and successfully challenged state voting laws for persons with felony convictions.
“As I thought about this moment and the opportunity came my way to create something for this particular community, I thought about him and all the work that he did and all the people that he surrounded himself with and met around the country that’s been doing this work for a long time,” Bing said.
“The idea itself came from just an honor and recognition and memory of my dad, but certainly some of the elders that I had a chance to learn and meet through my dad’s work growing up.”
The summit also attracted members of the music community, like rapper Beanie Sigel. The Philadelphia artist was the age of nine when he first went into the juvenile system. He’s been in and out of jail ever since.
“Where is the rehabilitation at?” Sigel asked. “An alternative for them not to have to leave the society? Prison, jail, supposed to be a place of rehabilitation. Where is the rehabilitation at? There is none. Not when I’m still being charged for a crime that I committed 20, 30 years ago, did my time for, but I can’t get a job because y’all still holding that against me.”
Other speakers included: former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, actor and activist Hill Harper, Time’s 100 Most Influential People honoree Desmond Meade and entrepreneur Blacc Sam.
Kilpatrick’s appearance generated much interest because of his highly publicized trial and jail sentence after a successful career in politics. He was pardoned by then-President Donald Trump in 2021 after serving 76 months behind bars.
The former mayor was transparent about his time in prison and how it changed him, including time in solitary confinement. He called his journey in the state system “grossly unfair, very selective, and very malicious,” but held himself accountable for his actions.
“I can feel the spirit and energy and desire in the room, the desire for change, the desire for something to change in this criminal justice system, but most of all about the people who get trapped in it,” Kilpatrick said. “And so, this is something that’s so necessary.
I want to be a part of it now. I think we need some actionable items to really just say, hey, let’s create the largest, most powerful force that this world has ever seen in politics, government, and policy. That’s what I was most impressed by, how unionization and organization starts with putting people in the room.”