Soros Justice Fellowships

Citizens Against Recidivism

Conversions to Islam have become particularly prevalent among incarcerated African Americans. Many incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Muslims attribute their positive behavioral changes to their involvement with Islam; the Muslim community, however, has no formal reentry programs or policy positions. Mika'il DeVeaux will advocate within and on behalf of this community on issues regarding incarceration, reentry, and civic responsibility; link the Islamic community with broader community- and faith-based reentry movements; and encourage Muslims to develop positions and policies that will enhance the reentry opportunities of Muslims returning from prison.

DeVeaux received a BA in Business Administration from Bernard M. Baruch College (CUNY), an MA in Professional Studies from the New York Theological Seminary, and an MA from The College at New Paltz (SUNY). DeVeaux has published papers in New Directions in Evaluation: A Publication of the American Evaluation Association, The Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, and Crescent International. He has presented papers at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology and coauthored a paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Public Health Association. DeVeaux has a published a chapbook of poems and has had several poems featured in various publications. He was released from prison following 25 years of incarceration in New York State maximum-security prisons. Currently, DeVeaux is vice president of Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc. and a data analyst for Philliber Research Associates.

Queens, NY |  One Year |