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Collective Work of The Restorative Justice Project at EJUSA

circle, collective work, healing, RJ

At the Restorative Justice Project of EJUSA, we understand that the strength of our work lies not in individual efforts but in the collective power of our team and partners. Our approach is deeply rooted in collaboration, where each aspect of our work is interconnected and mutually reinforcing, creating a holistic and transformative impact across communities nationwide.

Building Restorative Justice Diversion (RJD) Programs and Partnerships

We provide training, technical assistance, and peer-to-peer support to communities across the nation interested in building front-end restorative justice diversion programs. With our technical assistance, community based organizations develop diversion partnerships with local criminal and youth legal system agencies that refer cases for restorative justice in place of criminal prosecution. To do so, we support the creation of data-driven Memorandums of Understanding, which clearly outline diversion criteria and partnership responsibilities. We assist in creating plans for fundraising, staffing, case referral, communications, and data collection. We deliver targeted training to both community-based organizations and their system partners, ensuring all parties understand their roles in the program. We, even after the program’s launch, continue to offer support by troubleshooting case-specific and general program operations, helping to ensure the long-term success and effectiveness of these critical initiatives.

Transformative Learning Spaces 

Our team is deeply committed to creating transformative and experiential learning spaces for our partners in this work as they seed a nationwide movement for restorative justice. We work to continuously develop and strengthen our curriculum offerings and facilitation skills and ensure both are grounded in our core learning values. These values include orienting around collective wisdom, as well as centering radical belonging and accessibility. We provide a series of restorative justice facilitation trainings to our community-based organization partners, beginning with community circle keeping knowing that community and relationship building is the foundation to restorative justice, and then followed by restorative approaches to harm and restorative community conferencing. We also provide trainings for our referring system partners on restorative pathways to healing, as well as operationalizing diversion and referral processes. We know that we learn and grow best in community where we feel fully seen, heard, and supported – this is our goal for each and every learning space we hold. 

Nurturing a National RJD Movement 

We have the honor of bringing our partners together for peer learning through the National Restorative Justice Diversion Collaborative where folks working on RJD in their own communities can connect with others across the country. Together, they are able to share learned lessons, celebrate successes, troubleshoot challenges, and cultivate a movement for community-held justice, accountability, and healing. The collaborative generates space for deep connection for community based practitioners and system partners separately and creates opportunity for cross pollination amongst the two. The collaborative is seeding a transformative movement to actualize their vision of a future of justice and healing in communities across the nation. Through the Collaborative, we are gifted with the reminder of what transformative work is possible when none of us feel alone in it.

Advancing the Needs of the Restorative Justice Field

Building up restorative justice diversion as a sustainable community-held practice to address harm, promote accountability, and support healing requires us to do more than just develop RJD programs. With over a decade of learning alongside our partners across the country, it is evident that there is more need for the field to evolve to understand and address the key challenges and opportunities for RJD to exist as an effective and sustainable solution. To that end, we are working to ensure that the lessons we’ve learned are channeled into the areas where they can have the greatest impact. 

We are supporting the development of policy coalitions that can identify and advocate for policies that help break down barriers to effective community-held restorative justice practices and ensure that all community members that desire restorative justice as a process to address harm are able to access it. We are working with academic and research spaces that are interested in studying and evaluating restorative justice practices to do so in a manner that uplifts RJ practitioners as experts and utilizes participatory research methods to account for and try to prevent the way that academic research disconnected from practice can actually hurt and limit the comprehensive work of restorative justice. We are seeking to advise funders and other partners about what we have learned about resourcing community-held RJD and supporting its ability to sustain and thrive. All together we are working on sharing and utilizing our lessons in the areas where they can influence efforts to nourish the fertile ground needed for restorative justice diversion to thrive.

At EJUSA, the Restorative Justice Project is more than the sum of its parts. Our work is a tapestry woven from the threads of each team member’s contributions, creating a stronger, more resilient fabric that supports the entire movement. By embracing collaboration and collective action, we are building a future where justice and healing are not just ideals but realities that can be achieved together.

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We All Need the Water

swimming, reflection

I will remember this summer for many things, but three stand out: roller-coaster politics, the Olympics, and the heat. My goodness, the heat. 

When the heat won’t quit, I want to be in the water. I grew up not far from the ocean, learned to swim in a pool at a young age, grew comfortable in the waves, and learned to spot a rip tide and avoid danger. Whether it’s saltwater or fresh, floating on top or slicing just below the surface, the water always feels restorative.

I take that comfort with the water for granted. A beautiful new mini-documentary made me realize how fortunate that experience is. Black Stroke tells the story of three Black adults in England learning to swim, overcoming fear and health concerns to do something they’ve always wanted to do. 

In Great Britain, more than 85% of Black adults, youth, and children cannot swim. Here in the U.S., 64% of Black youth and children cannot swim, a figure 24% higher than white children. (USA Swimming Foundation Announces 5-10 Percent Increase in Swimming Ability, 2017) 

Racial disparities don’t just happen. Not in this country. A not-new book explains a lot. 

“Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America” tells the fascinating stories of community pools. Cities and towns started building pools in the late 1800s, less for swimming and more for bathing. People experiencing poverty didn’t always have access to bathing facilities, so local leaders decided to step in. 

These pools were located in urban areas and segregated but by gender, not race. This didn’t last, though. The first municipal pool to explicitly restrict Black access opened in 1915 in St. Louis. 

Suggestion to edit: In the 1920s and 30s, pool construction increased in small towns and big cities nationwide, with literally thousands of pools. Racism played a huge role in where these pools were built and how they operated. The Highland Park Pool in Pittsburgh is a great example. 

The facility – actually two pools, one a wading pool – opened in 1931. Thousands flocked to the site on opening day, including many Black residents. Officials took a page from the Jim Crow South by asking just the Black people for their “health certificates” before denying them entry. 

This wouldn’t last because the city had many integrated pools. Instead, white residents and pool goers embarked on an organized campaign of violence and intimidation to keep Black residents out of the Highland Park Pool. White people would throw rocks at, punch, and violently dunk Black people, often while police officers stood by and did nothing. 

This racist behavior was not restricted to one city pool; it happened all over the country. Can you imagine the trauma that would inflict? The fear and policing of swimming? 

As participants in our Trauma to Trust workshop know, trauma and fear don’t exist in a vacuum. They don’t dissipate on their own. Both are passed on from one generation to another. 

The harm of this is real. According to the Children’s Safety Network, Black children and youth drown at a rate nearly twice that of white children. 

This is a solvable problem. We can ensure that all kids have access to swim lessons from a young age onward. We can make sure that they have access to pools nearby where they live. 

Swimming is a beautiful thing. If you need a reminder, spend just 12 minutes watching Black Stroke (it’s free) to see how meaningful it can be to learn to swim, at any age. With this kind of heat, we all need the water.

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Setting the Agenda

EJUSA and others standing at capitol

Leading from the back isn’t easy…especially when the voices upfront are powerful, dynamic, and fearless.

Such was indeed the case in April when Will Simpson, EJUSA’s director of community safety and justice, had to ride behind the vortex of passionate progressive leadership that is Congresswoman Cori Bush, a brave survivor of homelessness who transcended her harsh hard times to emerge from the blood and pain of the Ferguson Uprising to the reach and interrupt the halls of the Congress; that is Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Boston who has been courageously and unapologetically putting the brakes of mass incarceration, now coming for Black and Brown women and girls in its sinister onslaught; and Congresswoman Katie Porter, a bold progressive repping Orange County, California, most often a bastion of privilege, conservatism, and wealth—she speaks truth to power for community in the DC battleground.

Not to mention strong community voices like Rukia Lumumba of the Movement for Black Lives, who has the painful distinction of having to organize and advocate in the starkly re-segregated, and at times quite dangerous, Jackson, Mississippi.

The April press conference was a powerful gathering that proudly brought forward the national Community Safety Agenda and its over 70 plus organizations who make up the Community Safety Working Group. This is a growing movement of community forces championing and employing what community-led approaches to violence prevention and intervention look like without the police!

 

The entire advocacy team spent hours before and after the press conference engaging elected officials to move this agenda forward. They held around 15-20 meetings with congressional representatives, including those from Louisiana, New Jersey, and Missouri, emphasizing the importance of these reforms and building support. 

The agenda is sheltered and anchored by the paradigm-shifting Peoples Response Act (PRA), put forth by Rep. Bush. This proposed legislation places this community safety work in the federal government’s Department of Health and Human Services, under a proposed Division on Community Safety, where it belongs. The PRA provides the kind of allocation of resources to help this work reach sustainable space.

The agenda is muscled and built out by Rep. Porter’s Mental Health Justice Act, which aids state and local governments developing response programs that don’t rely on police to address people facing mental health crises, instead of the police. We see these groundbreaking programs in Denver, St. Louis, and Eugene, Oregon. 

And Rep. Pressley’s Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act, which minimizes the police presence in schools, interrupts the school-to-prison pipeline, and instead invests in  much-needed counseling supports instead. Finally, there is the Opening Doors To Youth Act, which expands employment and educational programs and resources for at-risk youth. 

Congress also has the opportunity to pass the Break the Cycle of Violence Act, which directs vital funds to communities impacted by violence to help them implement evidence-based programs that stop violence, heal trauma, and prevent harm.

Will spoke near the end of the press conference and leaned into the Afro-Indigenous principles of the organization, and acknowledged the underappreciated human dimension driving all of this work, the leadership of primarily Black and Brown women, just as we saw in the George Floyd Summer, a season of protests powered by the relentless energy of these women.        

Will then brought the story of Najee Seabrooks. The tragedy that ended his life exemplifies why this work is so critical and why we must continue to push forward, despite the obstacles. Najee was a young vibrant healer and violence interventionist with the Paterson Healing Collective. Paterson police officers killed him when he was experiencing a mental health crisis, even though he called his team to help him. His team came, but police blocked them from doing what they do. A different kind of crisis response, like Rep. Porter’s Mental Health Justice Act,  could have prevented Najee’s death.

Since losing Najee, the New Jersey Violence Intervention and Prevention (NJVIP) coalition won a serious cat fight to get a bill through the often clueless and disconnected New Jersey State Legislature. The new measure pilots community-led emergency response teams in six New Jersey counties. The Seabrooks-Washington Bill, named after Najee and Andrew Washington, who was killed by police in Jersey City recently, was signed into law by Governor Murphy.                                                                                                      

It will be another battle to see to it that it is properly implemented with the resources and care to details it needs to succeed.

Why has that been so difficult?

Because the bill wound up in the administrative law enforcement arms of the State Attorney General, when it really should live in the State’s Department of Health. Unfortunately,  our Department of Health wasn’t ready to receive the tasks of the bill. Perhaps, with more education, they will in the near future.

The Community Safety Agenda, and in particular its anchor, the People’s Response Act, which facilitates a natural and much needed paradigm shift, properly placing this work in public health space, would give this lifesaving work the legs of sustainability it so needs and deserves

Let’s thank all of the 70+ orgs in the Community Safety Working Group that did this work, along with Reps. Bush, Porter, and Pressley. 

Now how about a Reimagined Freedom Summer for Peace in our Streets!

Advance the Community Safety Agenda now!

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A New Era for Safety

On the morning of June 25, while attending the Giffords community violence intervention (CVI) conference, I along with several hundred other leaders, advocates, and practitioners heard the news that U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy had officially announced that gun violence is a public health crisis in our country.

This was huge, a validation to so many in the room that day and across the country—the federal government was doubling down on their support to truly build successful strategies to keep all of us safe. Just last year, the Biden administration established the first federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention, led by survivors and staunch advocates for gun safety. This was now another win for those of us around the country who have been championing a public health approach to addressing gun violence in Black and Brown communities for years!

But what does it mean? Why is it important that gun violence is a public health crisis? The surgeon general’s advisory is more than a symbolic announcement. It recommends that federal, state, and local agencies allocate more funds to data and research around both current statistics of firearm violence as well as toward understanding the short- and long-term impacts of firearm violence. This advisory also urges more investment into research and implementation of evidence-based strategies being used around the country.

Support from the federal government has been key in advancing the field of CVI and broader community safety movement. But even as we feel that the surgeon general’s advisory is a validation, I must note that it was a validation of what so many have already been doing.

For decades now, national and community organizations have been using a public health approach to reduce gun violence; the idea is not new.

Understanding that gun violence is a symptom of deeper inequities and unaddressed trauma has been core to how the work has evolved—and a cornerstone of EJUSA’s mission. The antiquated strategy of using policing, prosecutions, and prisons to address gun violence has been proven ineffective because it actually fails to address the root causes of gun violence. Now, more than ever, state and local governments have begun to acknowledge that we must address root causes if we want to see safer communities. We must increase investments which strengthen our communities and reduce factors that lead to gun violence.

Jurisdictions like Mecklenburg County, NC, have begun to invest differently. The Mecklenburg Office of Violence Prevention (MOVP) is housed with the county’s health department rather than a justice-related office. Because of the investment and where the MOVP is housed, their plan is grounded in public health and emphasizes the need to address the root causes that lead to gun violence. As part of their strategy to scale initiatives that create community safety, the office has started a Peacekeepers Academy where community orgs receive financial support as well as training and technical assistance to expand the impact of their work.

EJUSA has been a part of the public safety ecosystem In Newark, NJ, since 2014. The city hit a 63-year low in homicides in 2023—after historic investments into public health approaches to gun violence. In 2021, Newark invested millions into the city’s first office of violence prevention and trauma recovery. As its name implies the office doesn’t just see violence reduction in a silo but names trauma recovery as key to building safe and well communities.

As we advance into this new era of safety, recognizing gun violence as a public health crisis is a significant milestone, but it’s just the beginning. The federal support for data-driven, evidence-based strategies affirms the relentless efforts of community and national organizations that have long advocated for this approach. By addressing the root causes of gun violence—such as systemic inequities and unaddressed trauma—we can create safer, more resilient communities.

These successes in reducing gun violence highlight the potential of public health strategies, but their application shouldn’t stop there. These principles should extend to other forms of violence as well. When we acknowledge that all violence is rooted in trauma, we can develop more comprehensive solutions. A public health approach should guide our responses to issues like domestic violence and intimate partner violence. It should be central to how we address violence in schools, including bullying, and must steer our approach to mental health crises.

Today, trauma is an ever present part of our lives, whether experienced directly or through the constant stream of news. Police violence, community violence, and political violence all contribute to this pervasive trauma. To ensure safety, we must tackle these traumas at their roots. Combating violence requires us to prioritize racial equity, expand investment into proven strategies, and maintain our commitment to a public health approach. When we do this we will all know what it means to be safe.

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The Intersection of Gun Violence and Intimate Partner Violence

Protest in Detroit for Gun Violence Awareness Month

Last weekend, a booming bass drum and blaring horns filled up the block where I live in Detroit, along with shouts of “No more silence, end gun violence”. It was an unusually hot June day, a marching band led the parade, and folks wearing orange held signs with the faces of loved ones. They were marching to raise awareness about Gun Violence Prevention Month. The echoes of their voices permeated the street, reminding me of the loved ones I have lost to gun violence – a crisis that claims the lives of more than 120 Americans every day. Their declarations and cries also reminded me of the countless victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) who are part of that number. The reality became more harrowing when I learned that another one of my community members lost their life to gun related IPV just three days after the march. 

Gun violence is an intersectional issue. IPV or domestic violence (DV) must be part of the conversation. Gun violence occurs in 61% of domestic violence homicides, however, firearms are used in 72% of domestic violence homicides in the Black community.  It’s often believed that IPV isn’t relevant to gun violence prevention or community-based violence because it happens in “private” or is a “family issue” that stays within the home. On the contrary, having guns in the home creates a greater risk for DV-related homicides, and threatens the safety of everyone in the community. It’s impossible to break cycles of gun violence when one of the most common forms is minimized. 

The intersection of IPV and gun violence exists on a continuum, with few protections and rights for those who are being harmed. Prisons across the country are filled with survivors who have killed their abusers by gun violence. While incarcerated, survivors are at risk of experiencing more violence, degradation, being denied resources, and being isolated from loved ones. There are also survivors of domestic violence like Marissa Alexander, who was incarcerated for firing warning shots to protect herself from her abuser, being revictimized by the criminal legal system. Someone experiencing abuse may be asked, “Why don’t you leave?”. The truth is, it’s not that simple. Abuse can become most dangerous when someone is trying to leave or has already left. A victim of IPV is five times more likely to die when an abusive partner has access to a gun. Community support and awareness can provide better outcomes for folks experiencing abuse, and end cycles of violence. 

What can the community do to address these intersectional forms of violence?

First, we must explore the root causes of gun violence and identify similarities to gun violence, including racism, white supremacy, poverty, and income inequality, inequitable systems including education and health, exposure to violence, and historical trauma. We must also lean into protective factors. At the community level, this looks like engaging in meaningful conversations with community members about IPV, integrating IPV considerations into intervention services, building relationships with domestic violence advocacy organizations, ensuring survivors have access to victims’ rights resources, and redefining our understanding of safety in the community to include survivors of IPV.

As a DV advocate, I know that justice for survivors and victims is rooted in safety, healing, and accountability. Keeping that at the center of how we address IPV will bring us closer to a world where violence is rare. 

 

References

Intimate Partner Violence, Firearm Injuries and Homicides: A Health Justice Approach to Two Intersecting Public Health Crises

Intimate Partner Violence And Gun Violence In The U.S. Are Inextricably Linked.

Domestic Violence Prevention 

Domestic Violence and Firearms 

Innovating Justice

The Facts on Gun and Domestic Violence

The Intersection of Guns and IPV

DV and Gun Violence in the Black Community 

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Black Twitter

Original twitter icon with a black backdrop

Do you remember the 2015 Oscars? I’m guessing no, and that’s okay because that was forever ago. So I’ll remind you: all 20 acting nominations were for white people. For the second straight year!

April Reign was, at the time, a media strategist active on Twitter. When she posted about the stunning absence of Black actors, she tried a new hashtag: #oscarssowhite. And she probably changed the Oscars and the film industry forever. 

That hashtag started thousands of online conversations on Twitter and, well, everywhere. Today, people pay a different kind of attention to the Oscars and awards and other similar cultural events.

Now, that was not the beginning of Black Twitter, but it’s one of the great stories you’ll find in “Black Twitter,” the new docuseries on Hulu that tells the story of Black voices on that platform. But maybe it would help if we go a little further back in time. 

In 2009, early Twitter, then three years old, was a place for rebellion, with punchy and useful content in 140 characters. The Black Twitter community started gaining traction, expanding conversations. In the U.S., especially for Black people, there was a growing sense of disillusionment. When George Bush was in office, Kanye West famously said on a TV show hosted by Mike Myers, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.”  The internet promised a bigger world than real life felt, and on Twitter, one could openly criticize politicians or ideologies. Black people felt more connected than ever, sharing their voices and opinions on Black Twitter, where they were validated by each other and mattered. This marked the rise of Black Twitter in Obama’s America.

Songs by rappers were shared on Black Twitter, uniting Black America, including lyrics from Jeezy’s “My President.” “My President is Black. My lambo’s blue. And I’ll be damned if my rims ain’t too. My money’s light green and my Jordan’s light grey.” This line spread across Twitter, bringing Black communities together in celebration and pride. Reflecting on years of slavery and systemic racism, a Black president had taken the White House. Black communities nationwide began to party and turn up, deeply appreciating a Black man, Obama, leading the country. 

Following Obama’s takeover of the White House, Black Twitter continued to blow up, with a creative emphasis on hashtags that brought Black users on Twitter together virtually around specific topics. For instance,  #YouKnowYoureBlackWhen exploded across the platform, highlighting shared reference points and similarities in Black culture. These hashtag topics allowed users to feel connected in their Black experiences, emphasizing that even in the smallest details, Black people were one; 

  • #YouKnowYourBlackWhen you cancel plans when it’s raining 
  • #YouKnowYourBlackWhen you wear tall tees 
  • #YouKnowYourBlackWhen you can go to a cookout late and still be early
  • #YouKnowYourBlackWhen nobody is allowed to be in the living room 

Up until this point, these hashtags revealed cultural reference points, allowing Black people to see the roots of their identities and connections visually.  

Twitter became a tool to tell Black stories. Black Twitter made the news, blending humor with political discourse. It created a new era of Black media, supporting television shows and hosting watch parties, for shows like Insecure by Issa Rae. Twitter encouraged racial equity by providing a space for these discussions. It also gave access to people you might not meet in real life but could interact with online, including celebrities like Rihanna and Ciara.

Black Twitter was a space for Blackness and Black culture. It fostered linguistic innovation, with words having multiple meanings and meme creation becoming a form of communication. For Black people in America, it created a new internet language and communication style. Black language and gesture were vital, with visual culture playing a huge role. Memes became a way to express Blackness, showcasing creativity and talent using tools like Photoshop.

I invite you to watch Black Twitter. I invite you to remember, reflect, and engage with a dialogue highlighting a virtual space that provided Black users with a community where individuals felt free, relentless, joyful, and powerful. 

Black Twitter became an instrument for the expression of Black people in a country that has so often silenced the Black community and still tries to. 

 

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Celebrate and Interrogate

I recently read a briefing from our allies at the Prison Policy Initiative, and it contained a startling figure: 19 million people in America are living with a felony conviction. That’s nearly equal to the entire population of New York. 

This reminded me of a friend. Her brother was once incarcerated. Since serving his sentence nearly 20 years ago, he’s earned a college degree, then a PhD. He is brilliant. Yet he can’t sit for the professional certification exam in his field because of the conviction on his record. He is one of the 19 million who continue to be punished by being denied the opportunity to thrive and to achieve without limitation. 

I’m sharing this on Juneteenth for a reason. Today is a celebration of Black liberation. Across the nation — which finally recognized the importance of this day just three years ago — Black families and communities will gather in beautiful moments. We will cook out and share stories, we will dance and sing, we will laugh and be together.  

We must celebrate, but we also must interrogate! What does liberation truly mean? How much distance still exists between our community and that ideal? 

Until June 19, 1865, enslaved people in parts of Texas lived without knowing that the Civil War had ended two months before. They had been unaffected by the Emancipation Proclamation, issued two years earlier. On June 19, Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, TX, to let 250,000 human beings know they were finally free from the horrors of slavery. 

But it wouldn’t be so simple. After a brief period of hope and promise for Black Americans, white supremacy re-established its dominance with viciousness. Policing, prosecutions, and prison became a cornerstone, a foundational strategy, in the institutionalization of racial oppression. 

Our criminal justice system today has a direct lineage to our slavery legacy. Slave patrols evolved into what today is a police force. Leaders have long enacted laws–not just in the South–designed to oppress and control Black people. The system’s focus has always been punishment, and that punishment rarely ends once a person is no longer locked behind bars. 

I knew this when I became a federal prosecutor, hoping to drive change inside the system. But that experience revealed the strength of a system that won’t release its grip on racial oppression and retribution. 

We have to build a new system for those 19 million people — one that recognizes that their criminal act was something they did, not who they are. We need a system that recognizes that virtually everyone who causes harm has themselves been harmed. And that they all need healing. 

We need a system that gives people an opportunity to truly be accountable by repairing the harm they have caused and changing so they don’t do it again. That system should recognize the inherent dignity and worth of every person. 

Our punitive system today still trains its sights on Black folks and other marginalized people. Only when we replace it can we achieve true liberation. 

However you recognize Juneteenth today, please do more than celebrate the past. Together, let’s aspire to a future of true liberation. That will be a beautiful moment for all of us. 

Toward justice,

Jamila Hodge 

PS: If you haven’t yet, read about how Maryland Gov. Wes Moore liberated approximately 100,000 people from low-level marijuana convictions–recognizing their humanity and dignity. Read more here.

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EJUSA’s New Board Chair

Organizing Value Icon

I am honored to be elected as Chair of the EJUSA Board, an organization I have long admired.

I was introduced to EJUSA many years ago through its work to end the death penalty, driving repeal campaigns in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and other parts of the country. I became more intimately familiar with its work during my tenure at Open Society Foundations (OSF), where EJUSA was an anchor grantee in our death penalty portfolio.

I vividly recall a conversation I had over lunch one day with founder Shari Silberstein. She spelled out a vision for a criminal legal system that turned away from punishment as its primary response, one that instead focused on healing, safety, and accountability that repairs everyone affected by harm.

At the time, my team at OSF was wrestling with the urgency of reducing the harm and excesses of the current system while at the same time recognizing we needed to support building something concrete in its place, something that provided real community healing and safety. Something that confronted the disproportionate harm that longstanding practices had wreaked on Black and Brown communities. Our job was to invest in those solutions, and we were eager to support EJUSA’s bold vision.

In 2021, after years of witnessing EJUSA evolve and demonstrate how to work with partners to center the community in creating true solutions promoting safety, I discovered that Jami Hodge was taking over for Shari. I knew Jami to be a brilliant thinker, passionate advocate, and effective leader. When she called soon after to ask if I was interested in joining the board, I had no hesitation.

Now, I’ve been elected to be our next board chair, succeeding Jesselyn McCurdy and her six years leading the board. They are big shoes to fill. Jesselyn has been a leader on various social justice issues throughout her career, and a dedicated and tireless chair and champion for EJUSA and its work.

I am committed to building upon her leadership and impact, along with the rest of our outstanding board, visionary leader, and exceptional staff. I am excited about what lies ahead. We continue to beat back the death penalty in multiple states. Our groundbreaking Trauma to Trust program, fostering greater understanding between the community and police, is on the cusp of national expansion. Our new Restorative Justice Project is a powerful pathway to healing that demonstrates our vision for true justice, safety, and accountability that repairs.

I take all this in as I reflect on that question we had at OSF years ago: What organizations are building solutions to a racist, harmful legal system?

In EJUSA, I’ve found one with a distinct, inspiring vision and a strategic plan to make that vision real. I’m honored to offer my experience and leadership as, together, we build the justice system that people need to thrive. My ultimate goal as incoming chair is for you to see that same promise of safety and justice, to inspire a shared investment, and to make our vision reality.

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Equal Justice USA Appoints Leonard Noisette as its Next Board Chair

Lifelong justice strategist and advocate brings experience and passion to organization.

(June 12, 2024) — Equal Justice USA announced today that Leonard Noisette will be the organization’s next board chair, effective immediately. He brings his decades of justice experience, strategic vision, and deep knowledge of financial scaling to EJUSA at a crucial juncture, as the organization expands the reach of a community-centered model for building public safety ecosystems.

“When I became the leader of EJUSA, one of the first things I did was connect with Lenny in hopes of bringing his wisdom and decision-making to the team,” said Jamila Hodge, EJUSA’s CEO. “Lenny’s perspective and intellect, as well as his connections throughout the justice movement, will be even more valuable to us as he takes on more leadership.”

After graduating from New York University Law School, Noisette began a long career in public defense, with nearly two decades at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, where he would eventually rise to the executive director role, leading a staff of 35. Noisette brought that experience to the Open Society Foundation, where he led the U.S. criminal justice program and invested $20 million annually, over 13 years, in organizations reforming and transforming our system. Since leaving OSF, he has continued to teach at Fordham University School of Law while also consulting with other justice leaders.

“After years of witnessing EJUSA evolve, demonstrating how to work with partners to center the community in creating true solutions promoting safety, I’m thrilled to support the team in an expanded capacity as it builds real community healing and safety.” said Noisette. “EJUSA’s vision for true justice and accountability that repairs, manifested through its groundbreaking programs and advocacy, is much needed in this particular moment.”

Noisette succeeds Jesselyn McCurdy, the executive vice president for government affairs at The Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights, who steps down after six years as the board chair, and leaves the board after 14 years of extraordinary service, helping steer the organization as it grew into its current vision.

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Nurturing Mental Health Amidst the Fight for Justice

Water on the wood, healing, water trickling, green back drop

In the ongoing battle against systemic injustice grassroots leaders and social justice professionals are often at the forefront, tirelessly advocating for change. However, amidst the fight for equity and well-being, it’s crucial to emphasize mental health this May and every month for recovery and healing.

Communities of color continue to be disproportionately affected by the devastating impacts of unjust systems. Our collective trauma permeates through generations, manifesting in individual, social, and historical layers of pain. At its core, justice must encompass the holistic well-being of all individuals involved, for those who have experienced harm and those who have caused harm. By centering healing and restoration in our pursuit of justice, we can create pathways toward true reconciliation and transformation.

We show up for our children, our elders, our families, and our friends filled with the power and passion needed to confront the difficulties of enacting change. To bear the losses, to forge on for the victories, and to seize the opportunities and get in good trouble. By prioritizing our mental health, we strengthen our capacity to enact meaningful change while safeguarding our well-being, leaning on one another for support, and sharing our stories and experiences all while taking the crucial steps towards our collective healing and resilience.

As the director of the Healing Justice Program, I too am often reminded by my colleagues of the need to pause and regroup. My village always reminds me of the need for my care and rest and with that nudge, I retreat. I often seek renewal near water. Water’s healing power almost has a transfixed hold on me. I often feel the urge to find it and seek solace within it, when recalibration is needed. The mystery is I’m not sure what lures me to it. I just need it so I go. For me, there is no specific location, where I land is where I need to be. The sound of the ocean calms me, the stillness of the lakes center me, and the ripples of the rivers ignite me. My mental care flows with the rhythm of the waves and the cleansing aroma in the air. This rhythm speaks to my worries, my pain, and my stressors. I can release or I can reflect. I can escape or I can find resolve as I seek guidance with a peaceful mind. From that peaceful state, I can find the energy to continue showing up to the work of changing systems and sustaining other healers and organizers.

As we stand together for one another collectively we must continue to nurture the core of our movement…our people. Recently, in Mecklenburg, NC, a room full of healers explored the benefits of essential oils, sharing their remedies that have been passed on through their lineage, like the power of lemongrass that helps with pain or swelling to ease the long days and nights working tirelessly for the community they love. Others shared the nostalgic memories of a hot cup of chamomile tea that aids in sleepless nights but rekindles memories of a mother’s love as she pours a hot cup of chamomile tea to make us feel better and to rest. We all have those people and experiences in our lives that have helped us to slow down, settle our systems, find a home and connection and heal with each other. It’s important to find those small things – maybe a place, maybe a person, maybe some herbs or oils or a spiritual practice – that help us feel more whole, and to pass on that knowledge collectively to support our people.

it’s imperative that we acknowledge and process the grief and trauma that accompany our work. The perpetual cycle of witnessing injustices, advocating for change, and confronting systemic biases can be emotionally, mentally, and physically taxing, emphasizing the need for intentional self-care and communal support. We must always allow ourselves the space to grieve, to feel, and to heal. And when we step in for others to do the same we pull from our very essence to nurture our own. Through shared tears we hold their hands, in loss, we embrace them through their pain, in solidarity we activate when harmed.

Our communal care fosters environments that promote open dialogue, empathy, appreciation, and understanding of our diverse perspectives and common adversities. Each of those is essential to the soil from which we can generate the systems of care, repair, and safety that our communities need. 

As we commit ourselves to our advocacy and our communities, We must not overlook the importance of nurturing our mental health and fostering spaces of healing and support. By coming together, sharing our experiences, and prioritizing self-care, we support our village and continue to pour into our collective mental care. And in these moments let us not forget about our own place of refuge, either by the water or in a cup of tea, words scribbled in a journal or tapping our feet to our favorite beat. This May, let us commit to paying attention to our mental care as we prioritize our peace individually so we can care for our village collectively.

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