Explore TOR's Phase II Report Today!
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Explore TOR's Phase II Report Today! • •
LET'S RECKON WITH RACIAL JUSTICE
The criminal justice system in America is broken. From over-policing certain communities to high rates of incarceration, there are many tangible collateral consequences to the current system that disproportionately affects communities of color.
We need to fix this broken system by bringing together policy makers and community. In order to do this, we need a Time of Reckoning, Healing, Listening, and Action.
The Series
Time of Reckoning is an opportunity for the community to come together for discussions, solutions, and healing. This series of community engagement and healing justice sessions will culminate in a Black-led town hall and policy action roundtable focusing on the criminal justice system and its collateral consequences. The roundtable will include local policy makers who have the power or influence to implement the recommendations brought forth by the community through this process.
It’s time for true “radical re-imagining” of what is possible within our collective efforts to advance racial justice. Be a part of new, community focused policy by joining any and all events in the series.
All events are held via livestream.
Read over a summary report from each past session and download PDFs.
How It Works
Time of Reckoning consists of five critical community healing and policy action engagements that aim to illustrate to the nation what community-centered policy change can look like.
Each session is structured like a congressional hearing with scripted narratives from community members, questions from policy makers, and a live work session with the goal of developing tangible actions and bold visions for Black futures.
Non-Black allies are welcome and expected to respect the space.
Each session consists of 6 key roles:
Facilitators
Dr. Joi Lewis and Dr. Brittany Lewis lead the main session. Members of the TOR core team will lead the breakout work sessions.
Policy Makers
Elected and government officials who have the power to change systems from within the system.
Testifiers
Community members provide scripted narratives structured around the Black family's experience with the criminal justice system.
Black Community Members
Participants in the live work session, who will help shape the action items from the forums.
Contextualizers
Individuals who help shape the testifiers’ statements into policy action items.
Observers
Allies and general public observing this community-led process.
The Team
Dr. Brittany Lewis
Dr. Brittany Lewis is a well-respected community engaged qualitative scholar, thought leader, author, and professor known for bringing those most often locked out of local decision-making processes to the action research table for close to 10 years. Dr. Lewis is the CEO and Founder of Research in Action, an urban research, strategy, coaching and engagement firm, and is currently a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Lewis' is a member of the Metropolitan Council Livable Communities Advisory Committee, the City of Minneapolis Housing Advisory Council, and the State of Minnesota Working Group on Police Deadly Force Encounters. In addition, Dr. Lewis was sought out as a board member for the Minnesota Legal Rights Center and the Minnesota Housing Partnership and her expertise was featured in documentaries such as the Jim Crow of the North (2019) and A Fiery Unrest: Why Plymouth Avenue Burned (2019). Lastly, in 2020 Dr. Lewis was honored with a Bush Foundation Fellowship award, became a History Makers at Home Award by the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department and named one of the Top 100+ Leading Black Women by the Minnesota Black Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Joi Lewis
Dr. Joi Lewis is a visionary community healer and facilitator of Black liberation. As a speaker, author, and the CEO of the consulting company Joi Unlimited, she’s on a mission to put healing in the hands of anyone, anywhere. Dr. Joi helps individuals, institutions, and communities heal from oppression-induced historic and present day trauma, using Healing Justice as an on ramp to reclaim our own humanity and each other’s. Joi Unlimited helps social justice advocates, institutions, and communities heal from racism and its intersection with other forms of oppression-induced trauma -- particularly after civil unrest -- so they feel grounded, seen, and heard. Dr. Joi and her trained Orange Methodologist (OMies) are often called to facilitate and engage community members during traumatic times, including high profile police brutality cases like Jamar Clark, Philando Castille, and George Floyd.
Her work also extends to philanthropy as the President of The Healing Justice Foundation, a non-profit providing individuals, families, organizations, and communities with resources and urgent healing support for Black people to address racial inequities.
Dr. Joi does her work using Healing Justice as an on ramp to reclaim our own humanity and each other’s. Dr. Joi’s book, Healing: The Act of Radical Self-Care, coaches individuals on the Orange Method of Healing Justice, a framework to interrupt historic cycles of oppression through both radical self-care and community care. Orange Methodology is a coaching certification offered globally to healers, leaders, and organizations, as a way to facilitate community healing, along with courses and training.
Core Team
An esteemed team of ten Black thought leaders have helped steward this work, including Lulete Mola, Marcus Owens, Hassan Qais As-Sidiq, Pastor Brian Herron, D.A. Bullock, Leslie E. Redmond, T. Mychael Rambo, Tish Jones, Tomme Beevas, and Hani Ali. For more on our team, visit healingjusticefoundation.org.
Lulete Mola
Tomme Beevas
Marcus Owens
Leslie E. Redmond
Hassan As-Sidiq
T. Mychael Rambo
Pastor Brian Herron
Tish Jones
Communications & Production Team
Shá Cage
Producer
Alex West Steinman
Communications Director
Nyemadi Louise Dunbar
Project Manager
Partners
Time of Reckoning is possible through partnerships with The Pohlad Family Foundation, The Bush Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, GHR Foundation, and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
We’re looking for more partners to help us in our shared vision of a more equitable future through community centered policy. If you’re interested in partnering with us, please contact operations@healingjusticefoundations.org.
DONATE
Let’s continue reclaiming our humanity. You can support with a tax-deductible donation and by sharing this initiative with your network.
Your support will make a difference. Thank you.
In order to continue this important community reckoning, healing, listening, and action initiative, we need your help! Your donation will ensure that the community continues to heal, not only through the Time of Reckoning series, but with ongoing efforts such as (currently virtual) doula services, somatic healing, mental health support, or yoga and meditation. Many of the people offering these services are local justice healers within the Black community.