Jarrell Daniels ’22 Innovates Intersectional Methods of Justice Reform

“Graduating from Columbia—with a double major in African-American studies and sociology—is something I never could have imagined,” said Jarrell Daniels, who came to GS in 2019 shortly after completing a nearly six-year prison sentence. Daniels, a native of the Bronx, has dedicated himself post-incarceration to a multipronged approach to institutional reform that seeks to simultaneously address inequalities that push disadvantaged youth into dangerous situations, harmful biases within the criminal justice system, and challenges faced by returning citizens.

“It would be a lie if I said life before my incarceration was filled with hope and prosperity,” recalled Daniels. “For most of those 18 years, I lived in a state of fear and uncertainty, not knowing whether this would be the month my family faced another eviction, or if I would have to continue to watch my mother being domestically abused.” The instability of Daniels’s childhood culminated with a run-in with the law as a teenager, which led to his incarceration.

During Daniels’s final days behind bars, he enrolled in Inside Criminal Justice, a seminar run by Columbia’s Center for Justice and the Queensboro Correctional Facility that brought together incarcerated students and prosecutors. “I had never taken a college course but I saw it as a way to redeem myself and prepare to return to society,” said Daniels. “I wanted people in power to see that my life wasn’t disposable.”

After his release, Daniels enrolled at the Borough of Manhattan Community College before transferring to GS. He also deepened his relationship with the Center for Justice as a Justice-in-Education scholar and the founder and program manager of the Justice Ambassadors Youth Council (JAYC) program. JAYC continues the collaborative approach Daniels experienced through Inside Criminal Justice by bringing together disadvantaged youth and local government officials to coauthor transformative policy proposals.

JAYC is only one example of Daniels’s work combating institutional inequities, from giving a TED talk on his personal experiences to collaborating with Columbia University School of Social Work Professor Desmond Patton on a virtual reality project addressing the use of social media to prejudicially profile inner-city youth. Daniels has also received numerous fellowships and awards, including being named a Soros Justice Fellow in 2019; a Truman scholar in 2021; and the winner of the GS Alumni Key Award in 2022 in recognition of exceptional achievement, leadership, and service.

As a recent graduate, Daniels will continue his advocacy and has plans for law school on his way to becoming a civil rights attorney and social enterprise executive. Said Daniels, “My story is not unique; it is one that belongs to generations of Black men in America. My only hope is to change the narrative about people like me. We are more than our worst mistakes. We are human. We deserve to live without the threat of death and we, too, want to contribute to making society more fair and just.”