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In conjunction with Coby Kennedy’s Summer 2021 exhibition Kalief Browder: The Box, Pioneer Works, For Freedoms, and Negative Space presented Beyond The Box, a four-part program series that considered the realities of mass incarceration through the lens of art and activism. Over the course of four weeks, The Broadcast is releasing Beyond The Box’s accompanying video series, each paired with a newly commissioned text that further elaborates on the thematic pillars charted by For Freedoms: Awakening, Listening, Healing, and Justice. Below, for Listening, Pastor Isaac Scott speaks to the harms of incarceration and introduces works by several writers whom he’s worked with through his program The Confined Arts.
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OP-ED BY PASTOR ISAAC SCOTT IN THE COLUMBIA DAILY SPECTATOR  There are generational implications for Black and Indigenous people of color when they are misrepresented in the arts by predominantly white producers and narrators who pass down procedural techniques, essentially laying the foundation for standards in contemporary art and design. More importantly, this is significant because in popular American culture, eurocentric narratives and stereotypes about people of African descent continue to shape cultural aesthetics. Representation is always at stake for Black people, and stereotypical portrayals of African Americans continue to evolve in the 21st century.
 When it comes to community grassroots organizing and coalition building for equity and inclusion, we must be mindful to never overlook smaller, less structurally developed advocacy groups, especially before we understand their on-the-ground impacts on the lives of people they serve.
OP-ED BY PASTOR ISAAC SCOTT IN THE COLUMBIA DAILY SPECTATOR  America is a violent, petty nation. The people of this country call for humane justice from the highest hills, but “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” is the way this nation handles its own failures. I’ve said much in the past about the hypocrisies of the current movement to abolish prisons. Until we clearly define exactly what true justice looks like for every group of people, we will continue to see people protest against systemic oppression in the form of incarceration for some people and justify state violence incarceration as a system of punishment.
OP-ED BY PASTOR ISAAC SCOTT IN THE COLUMBIA DAILY SPECTATOR  Too often, the role of strategic arts engagement as a transformative tool for social justice is overlooked and undervalued by leaders who don’t traditionally take artistic approaches to social change within their own work strategies. However, when it comes to creating more informed and culturally inclusive policies, the role of the arts in the social justice landscape cannot continue to be minimized to supplemental involvements, which only feature artistic activities as a secondary option for social engagement. Instead, art should be in every change agent’s toolbox as a means to change perception, build relationships, and foster action.
You perpetuate systemic oppression through your elite standards and unrealistic expectations3/1/2021 OP-ED BY PASTOR ISAAC SCOTT IN THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR  Long-standing institutions that seek to move toward social correctness in 2021 are often proud to declare that those who are closest to the issue are closest to the solution and should be driving the change. While true, in its current application, this proximity to justice and advocacy rhetoric for the oppressed manifests only in mere concept. It is nothing more than rubber-stamped language re-articulated from organization to organization that expresses understanding and empathy.
OP-ED BY PASTOR ISAAC SCOTT IN THE COLUMBIA DAILY SPECTATOR  I believe that combatting the stigmas associated with poverty will encourage people who did not previously use state or government supplemental nutrition programs to take advantage of the food pantry and food program resources that they may need immediately.
 While the world remains captivated by the now-famous fly that spotted Pence as the perfect matter of decay to feed on, I pose this question: Can we as Black and Indigenous families, whose lives depend upon policy change, truly expect to see legal justice, neighborhood development, and real community sustainability from either the Republican or Democratic presidential candidates?
 In order for you, in the fullness of your privilege, to not perpetuate subtle racism, it is important to begin gaining knowledge through actively listening to and accepting the testimonies of Black Americans without considering or offering counterarguments that would undermine the very purpose of seeking out a different point of view....
 Performative activism has been widely discussed on Columbia’s campus, but what about another type of activism that is similarly misguided—one that has all the necessary components but lacks the backing of experiential knowledge? Nowadays, many “activists” who jump on the bandwagon of popular ideas like criminal justice reform and prison abolition aren’t able to provide comprehensive solutions that fully grasp the scope and nuances of the issues at hand because they aren’t from the impacted communities
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