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EJUSA’s Next Chapter

EJUSA Team, 2019

This week, our executive director, Shari Silberstein, shared with you that she would leave EJUSA at the end of the summer after more than 20 years of extraordinary work.

While we are deeply saddened to say goodbye to an amazing leader, I am pleased to announce our search for our next executive director. If you or anyone you know would make an exceptional candidate to lead EJUSA’s exciting next chapter, please encourage them to visit ejusa.org to learn more about this opportunity.

As EJUSA’s board chair, I have worked with Shari, the board, and the senior staff to make this transition smooth and successful. Thanks to your support, EJUSA is in a strong position to deepen our impact at a time when our call to reimagine justice is more urgent than ever. The board has hired Koya Leadership Partners and is committed to an exhaustive and inclusive search. We are determined to find a new leader who reflects both who we are at EJUSA and who we aspire to be.

I also want to take this opportunity on behalf of the Board of Directors to acknowledge and thank Shari for her visionary leadership.

Shari came to work at EJUSA more than 20 years ago, when it was still housed at the Quixote Center. Within a few years, she was driving the program to end the death penalty, learning and honing the strategies that are part of EJUSA’s calling card today.

In 2008, Shari launched EJUSA as a separate, independent entity in order to maximize its impact. This strategic decision came as momentum to repeal the death penalty was mounting. Shari, the EJUSA team, and our partners helped create historic victories in New York and New Jersey in 2007, which signaled to the nation that change was coming.

Even as the achievements accrued, Shari saw that transformation demanded more. The work to repeal capital punishment introduced her to countless families of both murder victims and people who had committed harm. She developed a deep understanding of trauma and the role it plays in perpetuating violence — and the ways that healing could prevent violence.

Shari became a leading national voice in efforts to build survivor-led movements for justice and to find common ground between victims advocates and criminal justice reform advocates. She saw that we could make the current, harmful system obsolete by advancing new approaches to violence and accountability. Those approaches are the cornerstones of EJUSA’s vision today.

Shari has not only built an organization, she has also helped shape a movement.

Her decision to step aside for a new executive director only underscores how much she cares about both. She recognizes that now is the time for EJUSA to be headed by a leader from communities most affected by our justice system. We recognize that this is an extraordinary opportunity to maximize EJUSA’s potential and take our mission and vision to a new level. I look forward to announcing and introducing you to our new executive director later this year.

Until then, from all of us on EJUSA’s Board of Directors, thank you for all you do to support EJUSA and advance justice.

Warm regards,

Jesselyn McCurdy

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Leadership Transition at EJUSA

Sister Helen Prejean and Shari Silberstein
Sister Helen Prejean and Shari Silberstein

 

My heart is full as I write this message. On July 31, 2021, I will step down as the executive director of EJUSA after more than 20 years at this organization that I love.

The events of the last year have intensified the urgency to reverse centuries of racial injustice in our nation. That includes the need to address decades of inequity in the nonprofit sector — and for white leaders like me to step aside.

Mayor Baraka and the BR TeamI made this decision with a strong vision to see EJUSA led by those from communities most affected by our justice system. We’ve already made a lot of progress. EJUSA’s powerful, multiracial leadership team includes survivors of violence, people impacted by mass incarceration, and allied partners. In this pivotal moment for our nation, my transition will deepen our impact even further and take our work to new heights.

From the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others; to the way COVID-19 has ravaged Black and Brown communities; the spate of executions rammed through in Trump's last days; to the global uprising that has forced a long overdue reckoning with white supremacy and systemic racism — the task before us is enormous.

We are ready. EJUSA’s vision, voice, and leadership are more important than ever. We are reimagining justice with new, effective solutions to violence that will make our current system of punishment and cruelty obsolete. The world we are building heals and repairs. It breaks the cycles of trauma and violence that are everywhere. It creates safety in communities that have been deeply harmed. It helps bring about the equity that this nation desperately needs.

I remember when EJUSA was a team of one, then three, then five. We achieved trailblazing victories that ended the death penalty in multiple states and propelled us to this bold, transformative vision.

The EJUSA TeamToday, our brilliant team of gifted leaders is 22 strong and growing, bringing decades of experience and achievements to our mission. We are breaking new ground in cities across the country, supporting community-led strategies to end violence, while continuing to push back against some of the most egregious features of the current system like the death penalty, police violence, and systemic racism. We are also working tirelessly to build an equitable workplace, to ensure that our organization centers healing and reflects internally the vision we are building externally.

I have no doubt that the next 20 years and beyond will be EJUSA’s most critical chapter yet. This moment is too urgent for anything less. There has never been a better or more important time to join us in our vision and build this movement for collective action. Thank you for standing with us.

As we like to say, this is the work of lifetimes. It will always be at the center of mine.

With profound love and gratitude,

Shari

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Forward With Purpose

U.S. Capitol

For two weeks, we waited to see how our nation would show up for inauguration day. Just 14 days separated a moment vital to democracy and one of the most grotesque manifestations of white supremacy in our history.

The images of violence and bigotry will stay with me forever. People taking selfies beside a noose. Confederate flags paraded through the Capitol. Violent white men praying in the Senate’s chambers, affirming their actions in the name of God.

January 6 was the latest installment in white rage, people gripped by hatred and bigotry, lashing out in the false name of liberty.

That day was traumatic. It was a display of hate we’ve known for far too long.

The Capitol riots weren’t an aberration. This is where our country has been, since its inception, starting with the genocide of Indigenous people and the enslavement of African people; through lynchings and Jim Crow and into the mass incarceration era; to the acts of domestic terror we just witnessed, filmed and broadcast for the whole world to see.

This is our truth. It’s part of who we are as a country.

We turned a page with a new president and reimagined hope — even as we are still in the midst of a collective trauma. We now have to ensure that January 20, 2021, holds its own historical weight. We have to make progress.

There shouldn’t be any doubt that racism and white supremacy have deep roots here. It’s up to us to confront and dismantle the hate.

The change we need demands accountability that repairs harm and changes future actions — of people, institutions, and systems.

We must work to transform our justice system into one that centers race equity as a core value, and builds and strengthens solutions that heal, prevent violence, and create safety.

We witnessed rioters at the Capitol bent on destruction. That destruction cannot deter our progress. We must continue to build power in community. We must continue to create space for those most impacted by race inequity to lay the path toward race equity.

Inaugurations deliver symbols of our aspiration, largely through words. A few offered by the poet Amanda Gordon felt particularly right. Pushing back on the idea of a more perfect union, she said, “We are striving to forge our union with purpose.”

We are steadfast in our purpose: equity for all who have long been denied it.

Thank you for standing with us in pursuit of this.

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Pivoting in this Health Crisis

Flyer for EJUSA-supported work in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

At this point, there isn’t any aspect of life in the U.S. that hasn’t been affected by the pandemic. This is especially true in Black and Brown communities. Covid-19 has magnified every inequity. People are struggling to put food on the table, pay their rent, get high-quality health care, and make sure their kids are getting the education they have the right to.

In those same communities, the local organizations on the frontlines tackling violence and healing community trauma are seeing a growing demand for their services even as the work gets much harder.

These are EJUSA’s partners in our shared mission to reimagine justice. These are the leaders who have built the solutions to violence and trauma that will replace the justice system that relies on prisons, police, and executions. So when we heard what our partners needed to move their work forward, we pivoted on our strategy. We couldn’t meet in person with our allies, but we were able to reallocate more than $17,000 in funding to make sure these organizations could meet their community’s needs. I want to share the impact that this has had.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The Butterfly Society, a volunteer-based anti-domestic violence organization, needed emergency funding to relocate survivors who were forced into isolation with abusive partners. Our funding provided financial assistance for women who had no choice but to leave their homes during the pandemic.

When shelter-in-place orders left households without essentials like food and water, The Bridge Agency Inc. held a “Summer Kickoff Essentials Drive-Through” to essential packages to families. EJUSA contributed $5,000 to the effort.

Another organization, The Healing Circle, could no longer meet in person to continue their community therapeutic sessions and would need more volunteers to support post COVID. EJUSA provided the organization with a Zoom subscription to help continue therapy sessions for the community, and for their team to earn a Mental Health First Aid certification. They will continue to educate and support the community as they address trauma and healing post-COVID, increasing the expansion of this service city-wide.

Rapid City, South Dakota

Journey On, an indigenous-led organization focusing on wellness and healing, needed help to support the city’s homeless population. With funding from EJUSA, volunteers distributed sack lunches and backpacks with nonperishable goods, toiletries, clothing, and other basic necessities.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Avenues for Youth supports young people facing homelessness and the trauma that it produces. With EJUSA’s support, the organization provided children with bus passes and gift cards to purchase food and necessities.

Denver, Colorado

In response to COVID-19, the Colorado Center for Change provided virtual programming for women and young people to support their social and emotional well-being during isolation. EJUSA supported this initiative, as well as care package delivery and rental assistance for families in need.

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The Right to Repair

A poster for the event reads "The Right to Repair: Hope and Healing in the Wake of Violence". The words are white text surrounded by a turquoise box. Behind the text, a black and white photo of two hands holding one another.
Right to Repair Draft 2 (3)

Can you imagine a world where we work together to repair the harm that is caused by violence? Where we work to understand the root causes of violence and deliver healing for all those impacted by harm?

That vision is already taking shape! On Tuesday, November 10, EJUSA hosted "The Right to Repair: Hope & Healing in the Wake of Violence." This panel discussion featured leaders who center healing in their work to transform the justice system.

Katherin Hervey is the director of the award-winning film "The Prison Within" explores these topics through the eyes of men who are incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison and violence survivors.

Troy Williams recounts his experiences with restorative justice at San Quentin State Prison in the film. He is now a justice activist and advocate for the power of healing.

Dr. Dorothy Johnson-Speight is the founder of Mothers in Charge, Inc., a Philadelphia-based organization that supports mothers who have lost their children to violence.

Christine Henderson, manager of EJUSA's Trauma and Healing Network, moderated this dynamic panel on the importance of healing, connection, and acknowledgment of trauma in our system.

We invite you to experience the panel and learn how Troy recognized the prison he built within himself, how Dorothy has guided many survivors to the first true healing they've felt after losing a loved one, and how Katherin's film "The Prison Within" documents the full humanity of those who have caused extreme violence.

WATCH THE FULL PANEL
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A Mover of Mountains

The world lost a giant yesterday. Bill Pelke, founder of Journey of Hope…from Violence to Forgiveness, passed away in his home in Alaska after suffering a heart attack.

Bill is the heart behind the anti-death penalty’s powerful mantra “love and compassion for all of humanity.” He came to this vision — and spread the message to countless people around the world — after his grandmother Ruth was murdered by three teenage girls in 1985.

One of the girls, 15-year-old Paula Cooper, was sentenced to death. People across the globe called for her release. A piece about Paula in The Intercept explains:

“One of Paula’s earliest and most unlikely supporters was an Indiana steelworker named Bill Pelke — Ruth Pelke’s grandson. A young devout Christian and Vietnam veteran, Bill had seen his father scrubbing the blood from the walls and carpet in his grandmother’s house. Yet he soon came to believe that his Nana would not have wanted to see this young girl executed. He was particularly haunted by the memory of Paula Cooper’s own grandfather on the day she was sentenced to die. As he would later recount in a 2003 memoir, neither Paula’s mother or father attended the 1986 hearing, but her grandfather had been escorted out of the courtroom, wailing, ‘They are going to kill my baby!’ Pelke later went to visit him and the two looked at photo albums of Paula and her sister, Rhonda. The girls had grown up amid harrowing abuse and neglect.”

Bill’s heart was so big. His ability to see Paula as a child of God extended to everyone — all of humanity. He built the Journey of Hope as a place for those impacted by violence — murder victims’ family members as well as the families of those executed and those wrongly sentenced to death row and later released — to share their stories so others could see there were better solutions to violence. There are ways for us to heal together, when we are able to extend love and compassion.

Long before I met Bill his reputation was firmly established in the anti-death penalty world. He’d written a memoir, appeared on “Oprah,” and travelled the globe to share his message. I had the great pleasure to work directly with Bill in 2013 to help plan a national conference against the death penalty. It was amazing to see him in action. He was a visionary. Bill wasn’t concerned about details like time or money (he left me to fret about those things). He just knew what needed to be brought into the world. And in no small part due to his charismatic personality, it almost always worked out.

Bill was so beloved because he was so loving. His vision for the world wasn’t academic or removed…he lived it. In his gruff steelworker voice he would tell us, “I love you.”

We loved him back fiercely.

I’m going to miss Bill. I’m going to laugh at the ways he drove me crazy — the time I created a meticulous plan, wrote it out for him to implement, walked him through the steps, and when it was time for executing the plan he turned to the group and said, “Now Colleen will tell you what we do next.”

Not the plan. Didn’t matter. Bill wasn’t worried about taking credit or being in charge or stressing about the details. He had faith it would all work out. Because of his vision and faith and tireless work, he’s moved mountains.

Our work is not done. Bill’s memory is another reason to compel us forward.

Bill said he was going to retire in 2013. He most certainly did not. I’m glad he’s getting some rest now. This is probably the only way he ever would, and he’s done more than his share to make the world a better place.

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Facilitation Tools for Virtual Times

Working on the frontlines to build community safety and prevent violence is incredibly hard work in the best of times. The COVID-19 pandemic multiplied the degree of difficulty because the work is about relationships, it’s about seeing people face to face and building trust and camaraderie.

In the first months of the pandemic, we spent a lot of time listening to our community partners, and they told us that they needed help because Zoom and Google Meet weren’t replacing the intimacy of in-person meetings. So we created a free Digital Facilitation Toolkit.

The toolkit is full of ideas for group activities, ice breakers, and discussion topics meant to break down the new barriers created by screens. There are also plenty of tech tips. While we wrote it with our partners in mind, we believe the kit could be useful to any person or organization trying to make human connections. So please download the kit — we hope it helps.

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Healing Trauma to Change Narratives

Dr. Dorothy Johnson-Speight, Mothers in Charge, Inc.

Dear Reader,

In 2001, my son, Khaaliq, was murdered over a parking spot dispute. He was a young social worker, determined to serve children and families in our community. Together, we were going to start an organization that would do just that.

I felt so much grief and trauma after his death, and I thought I could heal best if I connected with people who had also lost their children to violence. When I couldn’t find that organization anywhere in Philadelphia, I started Mother’s in Charge, Inc., in 2003.

Building a successful nonprofit is really hard. I lived and understood the mission, and I knew the people I wanted to reach and help. But things like accounting, putting together grant applications, and getting the word out about our work — the things that are crucial to establishing a strong organization — were completely new challenges for me.

Then I met Equal Justice USA. They understand what organizations like mine need to grow strong. They understand that healing must be delivered to everyone effected by violence in this country. Healing trauma is a foundation of their work to transform our justice system, to reduce violence, and to create safe communities.

I hope you can take a few minutes to read EJUSA’s new report, Healing Trauma, Changing Narratives: EJUSA’s Trauma & Healing Network. In it you’ll find stories about me and four other leaders making a powerful impact in the communities we serve. And you will also understand how YOU make our success possible by investing in EJUSA.

The timing feels right as our nation experiences the biggest need for collective healing in modern history.
I’m so proud and so glad to have met the folks at EJUSA. They are my friends forever.
Warmly,
Dr. Dorothy Johnson-Speight
Founder and Executive Director
Mothers in Charge, Inc.

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If we want to change our justice system…

Reimagining Justice This Month | September 2020

Reimagining Justice This Month highlights stories about effective responses to violence – responses that disrupt cycles of violence, heal trauma, and address structural racism.

If we want to change our justice system, we have to change the way we talk about it, Represent Justice
Words Matter. When we reduce people to labels such as “criminal” and “felon,” how does it shape our beliefs about those who’ve been impacted by the justice system? Represent Justice emphasizes the language that centers humanity instead of harming through labels.

Grief Camp Helps Chicago Kids Find Community, Heal From Trauma After Losing Loved Ones To Violence, Block Club Chicago
For 10 years, Camp Sheila has supported children and families who lost loved ones to homicide. Through its programs, the camp provides resources needed to heal like counseling, community-building, and art therapy.

Dear Beloved: Music & Storytelling with SOL Development & BE-IMAGINATIVE, KQED Arts
In the absence of public support for victims and survivors, Black Bay Area residents are using art to heal with and care for those who have lost loved ones to police and community violence.

EJUSA’s PARTNERS IN ACTION

For those who died and those still living, Miles Mulrain Jr. marches on, Orlando Sentinel
“This isn’t about a hashtag. This is literally about life and death.” EJUSA Trauma & Healing Network member Miles Mulrain is the founder of Let Your Voice Be Heard Orlando. For the past four years, Miles has taken his own experiences with racism, violence, and police brutality to transform his Central Florida community.

Gun violence in Philadelphia: Town Hall Discussion and Resources, ABC 6 Philadelphia
Dr. Dorothy Johnson-Speight is the founder of Mothers in Charge, Inc., an organization that supports parents who have lost their children to gun violence. Earlier this month, Dorothy participated in a town hall with fellow leaders in the city to share her perspectives on how to transform safety. Catch Dorothy at the 45-minute mark.

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Learning the Stories of Trauma

A poster for the film "A Prison Within". A man with a shaved head stands in front of a prison, looking up toward the sky. He is wearing a long sleeved white shirt.

San Quentin State Prison is notorious for a number of reasons. Located north of San Francisco, it is home to the nation’s largest death row — 737 people when Gov. Gavin Newsom put a moratorium on executions in 2019. San Quentin has been featured in movies, books, podcasts, and more, and earlier in 2020 held about 3,700 people.

San Quentin is also home to the Victim Offender Education Group (VOEG), run by the Insight Prison Project. The program brings together victims of violence and people who have caused harm for an intense healing process that begins with the recognition that those two identities often overlap. The group uses restorative justice practices to pursue true accountability by acknowledging harm, taking responsibility for it, and working to repair it.

“The Prison Within” is an amazing new documentary, directed by Katherin Hervey and narrated by Hill Harper, that reveals the healing power of VOEG and the humanity and growth of the men who take its journey.

In becoming the world’s most relentless jailer, the U.S. has in large part disregarded the root causes of violence and our national responsibility in allowing them to sustain and even thrive. The men in this film — Samuel W. Johnson, Sr., Nythell “Nate” Collins, Eddie Herena, to name just a few of the sons, brothers, fathers, and husbands at the heart of the film — tell their stories and reveal the way that unaddressed childhood trauma overpowered them and steered their lives. But they haven’t given up on themselves.

Troy Williams spent 18 years at San Quentin before being released in 2014. Today he is an advocate for justice transformation as well as an accomplished storyteller. In the film he reflects on the trauma so many carry and says, “We have to learn another person’s story before we give up on them and throw them away.”

The trauma is everywhere. “I have yet to meet a person in prison who hasn’t been a victim for most, if not all, of their life,” says Jaimie Karroll, a former facilitator for the Insight Prison Project, herself a childhood kidnapping and assault survivor.
The film features experts like former EJUSA board member Sonya Shah, a founder of the Ahisma Collective, which offers restorative justice practices; Dionne Niemi, an activist who also works with law enforcement to address their trauma; and sujatha baliga, one of the nation’s leading practitioners of restorative justice and a senior fellow at Impact Justice. All are survivors of violence.

“If we don’t have explanations, we can’t possibly figure out how to make sure that [violence] doesn’t happen again,” says baliga in the film.

“The Prison Within” gives viewers a remarkable insight into the explanations but also most crucially the solution…healing.
You can rent this film from a number of media outlets, including Amazon, Apple TV/iTunes, Google, on demand from your cable provider, and more.

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