Welcome to our first Community Solutions blog, a place where we will periodically explore the important work RVC partners are doing to transform communities!
Today’s conversation centers around Restorative Justice (RJ). On why our communities need it, where we are in King County, why our partners take the approaches they do, and the impact they are seeing in our communities. You will also learn what you can do to support the movement!
Settle in for a beautiful introduction to Restorative Justice as our partners paint a picture of how powerful the RJ movement is in building lasting change and healing in our communities.
In this Episode:
Sierra Parsons (she/her), Strategy & Partnerships Director, Washington Building Leaders of Change (WA-BLOC)
Jasmine Vail (she/her), Communications Coordinator, Restorative Community Pathways (RCP)
Nikkita Oliver (they/them), Executive Director, Creative Justice
Roshni Sampath (she/her), Co-Executive Director, Rooted in Vibrant Communities (RVC)
Shout Out to: Collective Justice, an RVC partner doing powerful work in restorative justice and not featured this time around.
Collective Justice’s mission: “We are a restorative justice organization brought together by a diverse group of survivors and imprisoned community members in Washington State. We build responses to harm that center the dignity and resilience of all people, and harness the collective power of communities impacted by the trauma of violence and mass imprisonment toward cultural and systemic transformation.”
Show Notes
0:55 Definition of Restorative Justice
1:50 Introductions & partners describe what their organizations play in the bigger restorative justice movement
4:49 Why is restorative justice needed in our communities and King County? Why is it a better alternative to the carceral system?
10:43 Why these responses (networks of care, youth arts, skill-building in young people) over punishment?
17:02 What are you seeing, what’s changing in our communities as a result of this work?
24:00 On restitution (the restoration of something lost or stolen to its proper owner, recompense for injury or loss)
26:06 What do you want people to know about how to support the RJ orgs, restorative justice movement? What is needed?
31:33 What is one word that describes what you are doing and why?
Resources
To further explore the range of restorative justice practices, as well as abolitionist visions, check out:
- Amplify RJ
- Circle Keeper’s Handbook by Kay Pranis
- Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice: Black Lives, Healing, and US Social Transformation by Fania E. Davis
- Living Justice Press
- Interrupting Criminalization
