Bridging the Gap

Nicole Scott started The BRidge Agency with the goal of it acting as the bridge connecting community members and the resources needed to meet their needs. Her own experience living in Baton Rouge is proof that families that are struggling are often unaware of the help that’s available. Nearing its fifth anniversary, the scope of… Continue reading Bridging the Gap

The Right Path to Justice

A first term president has — officially — 1,460 days to enact an agenda through policy and action for the American people. But the first 100 days have always drawn a huge amount of attention as a traditional measure of what’s to come. They are presented with all the opportunity and hope of a new… Continue reading The Right Path to Justice

The Verdict and True Accountability

Yesterday, many millions of us exhaled with relief. We exhaled for those who can’t: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Duante Wright, Adam Toledo, and so many, many more.  A legal process that has never been applied fairly has convicted Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. It’s a meaningful verdict in part because it’s so… Continue reading The Verdict and True Accountability

EJUSA Applauds NJ’s $10mm Investment in Violence Prevention

Equal Justice USA has been working with a coalition of organizations who are on the ground in several New Jersey communities driving innovative programs and interventions that are reducing violence. Today’s announcement is a critical step toward growing that work and delivering true public safety to communities. “We are on the verge of a new… Continue reading EJUSA Applauds NJ’s $10mm Investment in Violence Prevention

Momentum in New Jersey

Protesters gather in Newark, New Jersey. June 2020. Image by Kalani Mackson [https://www.afrolombian.com/a-fight-for-change]

On April 1, some of New Jersey’s fiercest advocates for community-based violence prevention sat down — virtually — with Gov. Phil Murphy to build out the road ahead and ensure the state remains a national leader on this all-important front.  In addition to myself, the group included Aqeela Sherrills and Solomon Middleton-Williams from the Newark… Continue reading Momentum in New Jersey

Are Life Sentences a Merciful Alternative to the Death Penalty?

Reimagining Justice This Month: March 2021 Reimagining Justice This Month highlights stories about effective responses to violence – responses that disrupt cycles of violence, heal trauma, and address structural racism. Are Life Sentences a Merciful Alternative to the Death Penalty?, Mother Jones Virginia’s recent repeal of the death penalty was both a reckoning with a… Continue reading Are Life Sentences a Merciful Alternative to the Death Penalty?

A city’s commitment to understanding trauma to prevent violence

Protesters gather in Newark, New Jersey. June 2020. Image by Kalani Mackson [https://www.afrolombian.com/a-fight-for-change]

Reimagining Justice This Month | February 2021 Reimagining Justice This Month highlights stories about effective responses to violence – responses that disrupt cycles of violence, heal trauma, and address structural racism. Evaluation Reports Newark Community Street Team’s Efforts are Effective in Crime Reduction, TAPintoNewark Few cities have done as much as Newark, NJ, to think… Continue reading A city’s commitment to understanding trauma to prevent violence

If we want to change our justice system…

the words WORDS with old typewriter keys macro monochrome image

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… Continue reading If we want to change our justice system…

From Lynchings to Executions

This week, our allies at the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) released “Enduring Injustice: The Persistence of Racial Discrimination in the Death Penalty System.” For the ever-growing number of people who pay attention to justice issues, that blunt subtitle does not come as a shock. That doesn’t make this report — written by Ngozi Ndulue,… Continue reading From Lynchings to Executions

Filling Gaps to Save Lives

Lakeesha Eure (right)

EJUSA Trauma and Healing Network member Lakeesha Eure is the director of the Shani Baraka Women’s Resource Center in Newark, NJ. Since co-founding the Newark Anti-Violence Coalition (NAVC) in 2009, Lakeesha has led community-based violence intervention efforts throughout the city NAVC was founded to empower Newark residents with social and political awareness, and to support… Continue reading Filling Gaps to Save Lives