The deep divide between police and communities of color in the United States can often seem intractable. But EJUSA has a long history of bridging divides that once seemed insurmountable. Our newest project to do this is the Police/Community Initiative on Trauma-Informed Responses to Violence, piloted last year in Newark, NJ. The project was profiled…
Reimagining Justice This Month highlights stories about effective responses to violence – responses that disrupt cycles of violence, heal trauma, and address structural racism. The Racial Trauma of Police-Involved Shootings, Psychology Benefits Society Following the police shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, many are grief-stricken and enraged in communities across the country. The impact of the…
Last month, an African American prosecutor in central Florida received an especially disturbing piece of hate mail: a racist note and a noose. The prosecutor, State Attorney Aramis Ayala, made national news earlier this year when she announced she would not seek the death penalty in future cases. Her constituents broadly supported the decision, and…
Last week EJUSA participated in two collaborations addressing violence and mass incarceration, both hosted by our friends at Common Justice. The first was a panel of crime survivors at Common Justice’s conference, “Accounting for Violence: How to Increase Safety and Break our Failed Reliance on Mass Incarceration.” EJUSA was honored to get a shout on for…
Local and national civil rights and racial justice leaders signed a letter to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, calling on him to halt the series of executions scheduled in the coming weeks. EJUSA Campaign Strategist Mona Cadena was on hand at the Capitol to deliver the letter (left), which outlined the concerns the group has with the death…
Reimagining Justice This Month highlights stories about effective responses to violence – responses that disrupt cycles of violence, heal trauma, and address structural racism. This month, we have a special digest to commemorate National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. This month’s stories focus on crime survivors, their needs in the wake of violence, and challenges facing…
EJUSA’s Police/Community Initiative on Trauma Informed Responses to Violence has been bringing together police officers, residents, survivors of violence, justice-involved citizens, social workers, and faith leaders to discuss the trauma that exists on both sides of the relationship between the police and community. More and more members of the Newark community are eager to participate in…
Our current criminal justice system harms millions of people – from crime survivors to the justice-involved and their families. Reimagining Justice This Month highlights communities that are organizing for effective responses to violence – responses that disrupt cycles of violence, heal trauma, and address structural racism. “When Killer and Victim’s Mother Meet, Paths From Grief,…
African American State Legislators Cite Disproportionate Sentencing The National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) has passed its first-ever resolution supporting repeal of the death penalty in the United States. The historic vote took place during the NBCSL 40th Annual Legislative Conference in New Orleans, LA. It is an escalation of the organization’s previous call for…
Working for justice is hard. Sometimes it feels overwhelming. You know that because you’ve been in the trenches with EJUSA for more than two decades. But we always go on because we feel strongly and passionately that we must change the conversation about violence – its causes and solutions. And today, we are at an…