The Institute of Research for Social Justice in Action

IRSJA | 2025 Year in Review ✨ IRSJA was established in 2024 by Dr. Jamila T. Davis @jamilatdavis and Angelo Pinto @angelopintoesq after recognizing a critical gap: the need to connect people doing the work on the ground with higher education, formal training, and real capacity-building support. 🎓🤝 In a short period of time, our organization has been able to do meaningful, measurable work alongside communities across the country. 📊 2025 Impact Highlights: • 774 leaders convened • 330+ organizations engaged • 23 states represented • $1.2M+ invested in community-led infrastructure • $260,000 reinvested directly into community organizations • 75+ community practitioners certified through college-aligned cohorts • Official City Recognition Award from Atlantic City for Pull Up For Peace 🏆 • 7.28M media impressions and 499M total audience reach amplifying community-led solutions 📺📰 Through Pull Up For Peace @pullup4peace , our Community Practitioner Certification Program, and partnerships with institutions including Kean University, Miles College, and Medgar Evers College, we are helping build a trained, credentialed frontline workforce grounded in lived experience and practice-based learning. We are deeply grateful to the cities and partners who trusted us to do this work— Special thank you to Newark, New Jersey; New York City; Atlantic City, New Jersey; and Birmingham, Alabama—for the opportunity, the platform, and the commitment to community-led solutions. 🤍 ✨ This is what community-led change looks like. ✨ This is what infrastructure for the field looks like. Join the movement. Follow @theirsja and stay connected as we continue building what’s next.

We knew the system wasn’t built for us — so we built something different! ❤️💪🏽 This week, 33 powerful sisters and brothers, from all 5 boroughs of New York City, 🎓🔥 graduated as Certified Credible Messengers after completing a rigorous 12-week program at Medgar Evers College. Many are justice-impacted. Many were counted out. And now — they’ve turned lived experience into recognized credentials and opened doors to new possibilities 🚪✨ This is the work of Incredible Messenger University @incrediblemessengeruniversity , founded by A.T. Mitchell-Mann @atmitchell_mann . Through partnership with the People’s Police Academy, curriculum development by the Institute of Research for Social Justice in Action @theirsja , and certification by Medgar Evers College — these graduates met the mark and showed the world what transformation looks like in real time 💥 Shoutout to Deputy Mayor Lakeesha Eure @keeshaeure for pouring into our students and gracing us as the keynote speaker. 💗 Healing became leadership. 💪🏾 Lived experience became power. 🌍 Possibility became real. This is what change looks like. And we’re just getting started. 📸 @sylvester.finch

There was a time I was sitting in a prison cell, not knowing how my story would end. Today, I’m featured in Forbes. ✨ And this time, it’s not about who I used to be. It’s about who I became after I came home. When I was incarcerated, I made a promise to God. 🙏🏾 I told Him if He gave me another chance, I would use it the right way. I would serve. I would build. I would become part of the solution. Since my release, I co-founded the Institute of Research for Social Justice in Action. I launched Black Women’s Lives Matter to center and protect our sisters. 🖤 I produced the award-winning documentary Set Her Free 🎥🏆 lifting the voices of incarcerated survivors. This is only a glimpse. This is what a real comeback looks like. 💪🏾 From prison to purpose. From being counted out to building impact. From a mistake to a mission. 🌱 And my message today is simple: To those of you who have been counted out… your story is not over. 📖✨ Keep going. Keep building. Keep believing. God can rewrite the whole narrative. 🔥 Thank you to Walt Pavlo @waltpavlo for continuing to follow my journey. Read the full article. Link in bio. 🔗

Honored to be a moderator at the Federally Impacted Summit at John Jay College of Criminal Justice ✊🏾 As someone who is federally justice-impacted, I know firsthand how hard it can be to rebuild after paying your debt. Too many of us come home to barriers instead of opportunities. This space allowed us to speak truth about reentry, restitution, and what real support should look like. 🗣️ What made this moment even more powerful was being reunited with my prison mom @freemichellewest Michelle West 💕 who came home after receiving clemency from Joe Biden. That alone is a testimony. 🙌🏾 Grateful to stand alongside leaders like Akbar Pray @theakbarpray 💪🏾 and Lance Feurtado, and to connect with Dr. Meade @iamsheenameade doing powerful work around the Clean Slate Act. Big love to my sister Latonya Jones for bringing us together ❤️ This is what it looks like when our community leads the conversation. We are not our past. We are the power in the present. ✨

“I promised God… if He gave me a second chance, I wouldn’t waste it.” 🙏🏾 That’s how Dr. Jamila T. Davis @jamilatdavis begins her story in this powerful interview with Mark Bonamo on News 9. From a $30 million case… To over a decade behind bars… To coming home and building programs, books, and movements that are transforming lives across the country. This is what redemption looks like. This is what purpose looks like. This is what it means to turn pain into power. ✊🏾✨ For every woman who has ever been counted out, overlooked, or defined by her past… You are not disqualified. You are not done. And your story is not over. 🎥 Watch this interview. 💬 Tell us what part touched you. 📲 Then share it with someone who needs this reminder today.

Every space can be a classroom. This past week we turned NJPAC (New Jersey Performing Arts Center) into just that. The Institute of Research for Social Justice in Action brought together NJPAC, John Legend, students from Newark High School’s Law Academy, students from East Orange as well as staff and administrators from all of these institutions for an evening with John Legend. Not only did everyone get tickets to the phenomenal John Legend show but students were also were able to present to John Legend and have a discussion with him before his performance. An evening with John Legend was sponsored and organized by the IRSJA (Institute of Research for Social Justice in Action) and our We Got Us program which focuses on youth led solutions to the mental health crisis our children are currently facing. Some of our law academy students are now working to develop policy to change the laws that impact their mental health. The last slide, shows the new book and curriculum (developed by IRSJA) to turn some of these young folks into policy makers. From Student to Law Makers!!! Go get the book and curriculum! Shout out to Samir, Francois (who is now attending school at Princeton), and the students from University High School and Barringer High School who presented to Mr. Legend. Special thank you to the superintendents of East Orange and Newark High School’s and the Business Administrator of East Orange as well. We Got Us. #njpac #johnlegend #IRSJA

What started as a response to pain during COVID turned into purpose… and now it’s becoming a national movement. On April 21st at NJPAC, our We Got Us students from East Orange and Newark showed up and showed OUT. They didn’t just talk about mental health… they led the conversation. Peer to peer. Student to student. Real conversations that save lives. But they didn’t stop there. They turned pain into art… creating their own theme song. They turned their voices into power… drafting real policy to drive change. They’re not waiting for a seat at the table… they’re building their own. And to sit with John Legend and share this work? That moment meant everything. Special shoutout to East Orange Public Schools, Newark Public Schools, and the City of East Orange for believing in our young people, promoting this vision, and creating space for this work to grow. Thank you NJPAC for hosting us! 🙏🏽 This is bigger than a program. This is a movement. This is a generation choosing healing, creativity, and leadership. If you believe in youth using their voice, their art, and their power to change the world, drop a 💕 and say it loud: We Got Us.

Something powerful happened in Birmingham… and I’m still sitting with it. The Birmingham Peace Summit 2026 brought together leaders, healers, credible messengers, and organizations who are doing the real work from all across the country —on the ground, in the community, and from the heart. And what we witnessed wasn’t just a moment… it was movement. There was alignment. There was strategy. There was healing in action. I’m grateful to stand alongside so many committed leaders who are choosing to build solutions instead of just talking about the problems. Birmingham reminded us what’s possible when we come together with purpose. @livingasuche @marcusmcall @keeshaeure @drchicotill @angelopintoesq @theirsja @councilortate_d9 @the_gatherer_8 This is what great strides look like. This is what community looks like. This is what transformation looks like. Special thank you to @theirsja and @livefreeusa for hosting this powerful event. Shoutout to @cityofbirmingham for prioritizing community violence prevention. To everyone who showed up and poured in—thank you. I’m honored to be in this work with you. And we’re just getting started. Let’s keep building. Let’s keep healing. Let’s keep going. #BirminghamPeaceSummit #PullUpForPeace #CommunityHealing #ViolencePrevention

All roads lead to Birmingham tomorrow. 🛣️ National leaders from across the country are coming together for the Birmingham Peace Summit to build, heal, strategize, and uplift our communities. @angelopintoesq @marcusmcall @drchicotill @keeshaeure @atmitchell_mann @livingasuche Strategy. Community. Healing. Movement. ✊🏽 Birmingham, we’ll see you tomorrow. Pull up. 🔥 #PeaceSummit #CommunityViolenceIntervention #PullUpForPeace #Birmingham

This week was magical, and my heart is full. We screened Set Her Free at NJPAC and over 600 people came out to watch a film about incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women, about survival, about injustice, and about the trauma-to-prison pipeline. To see that room filled with people from all different backgrounds sitting together, listening, learning, and feeling those stories is something I will never forget. First, I have to give thanks to God. This journey has been bigger than me, and I am truly grateful to have been trusted with this work and these stories. Thank you to NJPAC and the PSEG Foundation for creating space for this important conversation. Thank you to our incredible panelists Helen Archontou, Senator Angela V. McKnight, Dr. Darcella Sessomes, and Cass Severe @ms_empath for such a powerful discussion and for the work you continue to do for women and families in our communities. A special shout out to the powerful women of Set Her Free: Donna Hylton @donnahopehylton , Denise Staples, Myrna Diaz, and Dawn Jackson @theofficialdawnjackson . Your courage and honesty made this film what it is. Shout out to Executive Producer Topeka K. Sam @topekaksam and Director J. Love Calderon @jlovecalderon for helping bring this vision to life, and a very special thank you to Kitab Rollins for putting this whole event together and making the night so special. Also, thank you to former Governor Jim McGreevy for coming out and supporting the film and this movement. And thank you to everyone who came out, supported, shared, and continues to support this work. It truly means more than you know. This film started as something I hoped I could create one day. Now I can say I am also a filmmaker, and I am grateful that this story is out in the world doing what it was meant to do. Stories change hearts. Stories change policy. Stories change lives. Set Her Free is more than a film. It’s a movement. And I am just truly grateful to everyone who has been part of this journey.

This is what change looks like. ✊🏾✨ As part of their Incredible Messenger University Capstone Project, the Man Up team created a powerful healing workshop using drama and improv as tools for healing, expression, and transformation. 🎭🗣️💡 What they created was more than a workshop. It was a safe space. 🤝🏾 It was healing. ❤️‍🩹 It was leadership in action. 👑 We are proud of Brother Ricc, Brother Ray, Brother Sheek, Brother Bill, Brother Slapp, Brother Toast, and Brother Tiny for stepping up and creating something that will help others heal and grow. 🌱 This is what Incredible Messengers do. They turn pain into purpose and experience into impact. 🔥➡️🌍 Change makers in action. 💪🏾 #ManUpInc #IncredibleMessengerUniversity #CredibleMessengers #HealingWork #CommunityLeadership

This is what leadership looks like in real time ✊🏾 Our brother and sister team CeAndre, Kayla, John, and Sill stepped into their purpose through their Incredible Messenger University capstone, Blocks to Billboards. What started as an assignment turned into a life-changing experience for our youth. They took young people beyond their everyday environments and showed them new possibilities, new spaces, and a bigger vision for their lives 🌍✨ And in the process, they grew too. This is what happens when credible messengers lead with purpose, love, and vision ❤️ From the block… to the billboard. We see you all. Keep going 👑 #ManUpInc #IncredibleMessengerUniversity #CredibleMessengers #YouthEmpowerment #CommunityLeadership