HOLISTIC DEFENSE: WHERE ARE WE HEADED?
This is the third and final installment in our series giving a sneak preview of the program for our Healing Injustice conference on Oct. 28-29! To experience more, conference registration is free and open to the public, and closes the afternoon of Monday, October 24!
While we work to realize “holistic defense” through legal and social needs, we hope to begin driving the definition even further. Trauma-informed counseling is the next component pioneered by Restoring Justice, which offers every client free therapy. Recognition of the scientifically supported benefits of human spirituality is the next step. If our focus is healing, vulnerability is required. Vulnerability is driven by people’s belief systems and these belief systems are often the only things that speak hope into broken places. Restorative justice practices originated with indigenous practices and customs. For instance, healing circles are the driving force behind restorative justice practices and compassionate activism. This is why our keynote speakers are Dr. James McLeary and Antong Lucky, national leaders in healing circles and compassionate activism.
We are moving towards holistic defense by not only acknowledging harms and real trauma but eliminating those harms and taking steps towards repairing our community. This is individual and collective work. Holistic defense is moving towards addressing the true causes of crime and building spaces that allow communication, healing, and forgiveness. We dream of a day when justice does not happen in systems designed to punish and oppress. The United States is haunted by a legacy of disparities and injustices. We hope for a future in which conflict is resolved long before court trials in collaborative and restorative ways. We believe that by raising awareness and healing structural violence (e.g., lack of affordable housing, structural racism, inequitable education), reliance on the “criminal justice system” as it currently exists will no longer be necessary. We are excited about your participation and engagement, and we hope that you will continue to move this important work forward.
Thank you for leaning in and we will see you at the conference! In Freedom’s name!