Reimagining Justice This Month: February
Reimagining Justice This Month highlights stories about effective responses to violence — responses that disrupt cycles of violence, heal trauma, and address structural racism.
To fight crime, build an ecosystem of safety, The Advocate
In Baton Rouge, like cities around the country, the current public safety system’s focus on enforcement and incarceration has not addressed the needs of communities experiencing rising violence. But people in these same communities know that models that are locally led can heal trauma, create accountability, and build safety. Nicole Scott, Sateria Tate, and Elizabeth Robinson — members of EJUSA’s Trauma & Healing Network — have all been failed by the system before and after violence, and have responded with programs that are part of an ecosystem of safety capable of staunching the rise in violence and creating thriving communities. Imagine what would be possible if these programs were the norm.
One Million Experiments: MASK, with Tamar Manasseh, Podcast Episode
Tamar Manasseh and others in Chicago have been building Mothers & Men Against Senseless Killings (MASK) for seven years. Together, they interrupt the violence that policing and prisons have been unable to address, while transforming responses to harm in their neighborhood in ways that are making punishment obsolete. Even as our airwaves and newsfeeds continue to be full of stories that ignore the true causes of violence, innovative approaches like MASK are evolving in communities around the country — with much room to grow and thrive.
Much Like the Victims they Try to Help, Gun Violence Prevention Workers Have Scars, Time
Last year, our country suffered over 44,000 deaths due to gun violence, with 40,000 more injuries. Despite the surge, anti-violence workers bravely intervened to break cycles of trauma. These workers are increasingly seen as integral parts of the public safety ecosystem because their programs are effective and because the communities facing violence receive them as credible and trusted. Yet our society undervalues their work, which takes a personal toll. Together, we can change that. (Bonus: learn more about the recent report on what anti-violence workers need to be whole and healthy as they create safety here.)
