2023 Re-Storying Justice Jam
APPLY TODAY!
PRIORITY DEADLINE: June 30, 2023
FINAL DEADLINE: August 1, 2023
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
Come join us for an exploration of justice and healing at the 4th Re-Storying Justice Jam! Our 4 day in-person gathering in Northern California will bring together activists, advocates, storytellers, practitioners, community members, persons impacted by the criminal legal system and all who feel called to transform it. We will reflect, share stories, and engage in the kind of collective visioning process that is necessary for us to “re-story” our notions of justice on the path to creating broader systemic change.
We will engage, co-create, tangle & untangle, challenge & be challenged, support, connect, and dream in ways we can’t even predict.
WHY HAVE A RE-STORYING JUSTICE JAM?
Throughout our communities worldwide, a yearning for a different way of dealing with conflict has been emerging. In the United States, many Americans are waking up to how ineffective, wasteful, biased and unjust our criminal legal system is. Exciting ideas about restorative and transformative justice are spreading throughout North America, and at the same time, restorative justice appears to be under attack. As practitioners of these approaches, we are feeling the call to come together to change a vengeful and short-sighted brand of justice to better reflect our shared humanity.
In doing so, we are faced with the challenge of how our own personal values, life experiences, and family histories impact our relationship with wrongdoing and conflict. We all cause harm, break a rule, and are a “wrongdoer” at some point in our lives. When that happens, what is our responsibility to each other?
Can justice be about accountability and healing, instead of punishment?
And if we ourselves have been hurt, how do we ensure we do not perpetuate harm in the ways we show up for the communities we serve?
Where are we growing and where are we struggling in our work around restorative and/or transformative justice?
What is justice and what does it look like in practice? What does a society centered on restorative justice practices and values feel like?
How can we work together toward an alternative justice model that is more equitable, more humane, and more healing centered? Can we leave behind the white supremacist/colonial punitive model of justice that we have inherited?
What are YOUR questions? Bring them to the Jam!
We believe the Re-Storying Justice Jam is the perfect space to engage in this deep work of reflection, exploration and community building.
WHY “RE-STORYING”?
Our ideas about what should happen to people who commit crimes flow directly from our own individual experiences with conflict and wrongdoing, which means that we cannot change our legal system without first exploring our own personal notions of justice and how it pervades our lives.
Through the act of remembering and perhaps re-telling the stories that have shaped our ideas and policies of justice, we have the opportunity to bring healing to old wounds that, if left unhealed, will continue to shape our lives and limit our freedom. And from a place of more self-awareness, we can choose ways of acting that feel more whole and true.
This is Re-Storying, the act of reconnecting with the stories that shaped us and allowing for healing and transformation to emerge. We believe this work is a critical step toward creating the kind of fundamental systemic changes we need to make our justice system worthy of the word “justice.”
WHAT IS A JAM?
In music, a jam is a creative, live gathering of musicians who together, spontaneously create a new sound. Similar to that, YES! Jams are places where diverse leaders and visionaries bring together their passions, openness, and unique perspectives. In spontaneous connection, we weave layers of experience, wisdom, heart, and spirit to create some real magic. Our Re-Storying Justice Jam asks that all the players are present and ready to listen deeply to each other, and together, we create something greater than we as individuals can create alone.
This Jam is different in that we build healthy relationships while mindful of strategy. Other retreats focus on personal transformation but may leave out systemic change. Some trainings work on leadership and power dynamics, but may forget our souls.
YES! brings all three together — we give change-makers tools to build open-hearted, healthy communities where people can be real with each other. The Jam is not a conference, seminar or a typical meeting – it is something unique. It’s dedicated time to think and feel deeply about transformation in our world, in our communities and in ourselves. There are in-depth conversations and there is a lot of fun, art, and creativity. There is dancing and embodiment, group explorations, `and co-creations, as well as solo time and internal reflection.
The Jam works on 3 levels of change & transformation:
1) The Personal. A place for each one of us to explore our own journeys and histories, to heal our individual wounds and to come into our most authentic selves so that we can better fulfill our unique purpose.
2) The Interpersonal. We are harmed in relationships, so we must heal in relationships. We come together to share our collective journeys, our cultures, our ways of grieving and our ways of healing, our histories of struggle and our stories of resilience.
3) The Systemic. Our individual identities and our collective stories are molded in a larger context. By becoming clearer about how these systems influence our lives, we can have a larger impact in the broader world around us.
The facilitation team has collectively co-organized and co-facilitated many different Jams. We call ourselves “facilitants” because we will be fully participating in the Jam, bringing our questions too. We don’t have all the answers (or maybe any of them!). What we do offer is a variety of ways for each of us to arrive at our own answers — and new questions. We’ll use a number of processes and tools and experiment with different ways of being together, all aimed at strengthening our self-awareness, our ability to communicate and work through conflicts, and our ability to vision and put these pieces together. We see the Jam as an experiential journey of the collective wisdom, questions, powers, and differences of everyone who attends.
WHO IS INVITED?
We invite those who have borne witness to the cruelty of our criminal legal system and feel called to do something about it. We invite those who have been impacted by the criminal legal system, directly or indirectly, and who believe that what is happening is unjust, immoral, and in opposition to our fundamental need for human connection. We invite those on either side of “the Line’, law enforcement, prosecutors, defenders, service providers, government workers, and people who are formerly incarcerated who feel hamstrung by an impersonal and bureaucratic system that causes much more harm than good. We invite those who have gone Inside as prisoners, staff, or volunteers, and have come back changed by what they experienced. We invite folks from marginalized communities who have historically suffered the brunt of the injustice and oppression that our criminal legal system has perpetrated. Finally, we invite persons who have caused harm, survivors, and any combination of the two to join us in the profound work of ReStorying. We commit to creating a safe and brave space for our individual and collective work.
We encourage folks from Black, Indigenous, Latinx, immigrant, API, POC, and LGBTQI communities to apply.
Dates, Logistics, and Contribution
Dates, Costs, Travel
The Jam will be held from the afternoon of Sunday, September 24, until the morning of Thursday, September 28, at a retreat space about 90 minutes south of San Francisco. It is a naturally beautiful place, away from the hustle and bustle of modern life, both inspiring and rejuvenating. Please be mindful in your travel plans to arrive before noon at any of the Bay Area airports on the 24th and depart after 3 pm on the 28th.
It is our deepest hope that we will gather in September in person in a safe way for everyone. If you have any concerns around Covid that you would like to share with us, please do mention it in your application and/or write to us at restoryingjusticejam[at]gmail.com, and we will follow up with you directly.
Organizing this event resources but do not let cost be a barrier; we will work out a solution together. The total cost of the jam is $800 per participant ($375 for food, lodging, and local transport; $425 for program costs, including organizing support, childcare, materials, and facilitator honorarium).
If you can pay the entire cost of $800, great! If you can contribute a minimum of $375 to cover food and accommodation, we can work with that! If you cannot pay the minimum participant amount of $375, please still apply and let us know how much you can contribute. We can likely offer a combination of scholarships, work-trade and monthly payment plans to make participating in the Jam work for you.
We also encourage applicants to seek support from their organizations, as many people find a lot of leadership skills development and other professional development happens through their learnings and experiences at the Jam.
And, if you are able to contribute more, wonderful! The extra amount will go towards our scholarship pool.
Also, we welcome children to the Jam; we love having whole families sharing the Jam experience. We will provide childcare and work out the details with you.
I’M IN! WHAT’S NEXT?
APPLY TODAY!
PRIORITY DEADLINE: June 30, 2023
FINAL DEADLINE: August 1, 2023
Organizer
Yaacov Delaney is a social justice advocate and restorative justice practitioner, with lived experience inside of the criminal legal system. While incarcerated, he observed countless men being released back into their communities only to return, some in disturbingly short periods of time. He vowed not to fall victim to that cycle, utilizing his 22 ½ years in the prison system to tutor other men with their educational needs, provide mentorship, and advocate for prisoner/human rights. He worked as a prison law clerk for 14 years and strategically researched solutions to remove systemic collateral barriers that hinder people with criminal records from living fully-free and productive lives.
Following his release, Yaacov spent nearly four years as a paralegal advocate with the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, assisting people with criminal records to remove legal barriers that restricted employment and state-issued licensing. In 2019 he provided compelling testimony to the Illinois House and Senate Judiciary-Civil Committees that helped pass an amendment to the Illinois Human Rights statute to protect people with records from discrimination when seeking housing in the state of Illinois.
Yaacov is a founder of People’s Liberty Project (PLP), a holistic trauma-informed support group. PLP is a community-based, peer-led group which utilizes restorative justice practices to help resolve trauma, provide reintegration support/resources, develop healthy advocates for systemic change and build collective power for people impacted by the criminal legal system.
Yaacov is a 2022 Restory-ing Justice Jam alumni and currently serves as the Director of the Justice, Equity, and Opportunity (JEO) Initiative, within the Office of Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton.
Johnny Perez ,YES Jam Alumni, ‘19, is a criminal justice reform leader drawing on the wisdom of thirteen years of direct involvement with the criminal justice system. Mr. Johnny Perez works as the Director of the U.S. Prisons Program for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, an interfaith membership organization comprised of 325 religious organizations working to end U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Through his leadership, Mr. Perez coordinates NRCAT’s existing campaign efforts to end the torture of solitary confinement, adding value and strategic insight to building the capacity of faith leaders and directly impacted communities to engage in education and legislative advocacy across the United States.
He adds insight and guidance as a proud participant on the Board of Directors of the Juvenile Law Center and the Urban Justice Center, both non-profit public interest law firms advocating for the rights, dignity, equity and opportunities of underserved populations. Additionally, after three years in solitary confinement, he now leads a national movement to end the practice in coalition with the Unlock the Box Campaign. Mr. Perez recently joined as advisory board member and research consultant of the Urban Institute’s Prison Research and Innovation Initiative, a comprehensive effort to spur innovation to make prisons humane, safe, and rehabilitative environments.
Kevin R. Martin [Him / Him] Middle Aged African American Male. Western Buddhist practitioner. Teacher and Community collaborator. Born and raised in the SF Bay Area. Kevin grew up experiencing family and community systems being impacted and limited by the criminal legal system. As a result, his identity and politics centers collective trauma integration and community innovation through a restorative and transformative justice lens. He serves as a Restorative Practice Strategist with Community Works (Oakland, CA), a nonprofit specializing in delivering services using alternative and transformative justice approaches. His work brings dignity and healing to individuals and families impacted by the California state carceral system. Kevin was a participant in the inaugural Restorying Justice Jam in 2019 and a facilitant for the Restorying Justice Zoomy Jam 2021.
Yoana Tchoukleva (she/they) is a civil rights attorney and restorative justice circle keeper, committed to advancing a community-led vision for justice that is based on healing, accountability and transformation. She is a white queer woman immigrant from Bulgaria, living in Oakland on traditional unceded Chochenyo Ohlone land. She dreams of a thriving, diverse and restorative Bay Area where the principles of restorative justice, racial justice and equity are centered, where indigenous land is rematriated, and where we all learn to live in right relationship with one another and the Earth. Most recently, she served as Assistant District Attorney in the Restorative Justice Unit of the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, focusing on expanding access to Restorative Justice diversion for youth and adults facing criminal charges. Previously, she worked as the Judge Constance Baker Motley Civil Rights Fellow at Equal Justice Society where she successfully advocated for legislation mandating implicit bias training for all judges, attorneys and medical professionals in California. Before that, Yoana clerked for Judge Thelton E. Henderson of the Northern District of California, worked on civil rights cases at the ACLU, sought resentencing for individuals serving juvenile life without parole, and held reentry and community healing circles. Yoana is also an elected delegate to the California Democratic Party, the Vice Chair of the Oakland Public Safety and Services Violence Prevention Oversight Commission (SSOC), and a facilitator with YES! When not working, you can find her dancing or dreaming up ways of bringing people together.
Angela Sevin is a white, cis female, rural educated, middle class raised educational consultant, facilitator and visual artist. Passionate about racial equity and stewarding the world we inhabit, she works holistically in collaboration with cutting edge leaders, developing solutions with and for resilient communities. After earning a graduate degree in Experiential Education, she helped found several small democratic schools, co-designed the groundbreaking Pathways to Resilience re-entry project and currently directs the Green Life environmental leadership project with people who are formerly incarcerated. She co-designs and leads white affinity workshops with her colleagues at Beyond Separation to address social and racial equity using systems and design thinking and experiential modalities. Angela is an alumnus of the North America Jam and the Law and Social Change Jam. She is excited to dive deeply with resilient change-makers who will powerfully address the social and environmental issues of our time and help to bring restorative practices to our communities.
Shilpa Jain (she/her) is currently rooting herself in Oakland/Berkeley, CA. For 11+ years, she served as the Executive Director of YES!, working with social changemakers at the meeting point of internal, interpersonal and systemic change, and aiming to co-create thriving, just and balanced ways of life for all. Prior to taking on this role, Shilpa spent two years as the Education and Outreach Coordinator of Other Worlds and ten years as a learning activist with Shikshantar: The Peoples’ Institute for Rethinking Education and Development, based in Udaipur, India, where she served as coordinator of the Swapathgami (Walkouts-Walkons) Network. She has facilitated dozens of transformative leadership gatherings with hundreds of young leaders from over 50 countries. She is passionate about dance and music, organic and natural farming, upcycling and zero waste living, asking appreciative questions and being in community. A focus on healing, forgiveness, compassion, love and wholeness permeates all of her work and life.
Joy George, born and raised in the Bronx as the daughter of Nigerian diaspora, has found herself at the intersections of love, transformation, restoration and social change in her work and activism. A graduate of NYC Public Schools and Swarthmore College now working in the state of Maine at Mindbridge and the Restorative Justice Institute of Maine, she is working towards planting and watering the seeds of restorative culture. After serving as a counselor at Seeds of Peace International Camp in the summer of 2019, Joy attended the 2019 North American Leadership Jam and found herself blessed with radical healing, truth and community– and now she is back again for more!
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