Building Accountable Communities

What do we mean when we talk about transformative justice and accountability? What does a survivor-centered response look like in practice? How can we support those who have caused harm without defaulting to punishment? What does real accountability look like? What has worked, and what obstacles have organizers and community members faced in building this difficult and necessary practice?

Created with Project NIA, these videos are part of the Building Accountable Communities Project, promoting non-punitive responses to harm by developing resources for transformative justice practitioners and organizing convenings and workshops that educate the public.

As the ongoing worldwide protests against police violence so vividly demonstrate, there is an increasing demand to end policing and develop real strategies for keeping each other safe. On October 21, 2020 longtime anti-violence organizers and transformative justice practitioners Shira Hassan and Mimi Kim joined us for a conversation about the history and development of transformative justice, its importance in current movements towards liberation, and everyday practices.

Released Oct 13, 2020
Tags: anti-violence, transformative justice, transforming harm

Everyday Practices of Transformative Justice

Featuring Shira Hassan, Martina Kartman, Rachel Herzing, Mia Mingus, Priya Rai, Lea Roth, and Sonya Shah

Released Oct 13, 2020
Tags: anti-violence, movement history, transformative justice

Modern Roots of Transformative Justice

Featuring Mimi Kim and Shira Hassan

Released Oct 13, 2020
Tags: accountability, transformative justice

What is Accountability?

Featuring Mia Mingus, Priya Rai, RJ Maccani, Esteban Kelly, Sonya Shah, Shira Hassan, Elliott Fukui, adrienne marie brown, Stas Schmiedt, Lea Roth, kai lumumba barrow, Martina Kartman, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, nuri nusrat, and Mimi Kim

Recorded Oct 21, 2020
Tags: accountability, building accountable communities, transformative justice

Transformative Justice in the Era of #DefundPolice: Lessons from the Past, Strategizing for the Future

Online event featuring Shira Hassan and Mimi Kim

In response to heightened levels of abuse and violence experienced by people with disabilities, disability justice organizers have developed tremendous knowledge and creative approaches to care, safety, and preventing and stopping violence without relying on the state. How do disability justice strategies and knowledge inform transformative justice practices? How are disability justice and transformative justice interconnected? On April 10, 2020, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and Elliott Fukui joined us for an online conversation about the intersections of disability justice and transformative justice.

Released Mar 11, 2020
Tags: building accountable communities, disability justice, transformative justice

Intersections of Disability Justice and Transformative Justice

Featuring Elliott Fukui and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Recorded Aug 27, 2020
Tags: accountability, building accountable communities, disability, disability justice, transformative justice

Moving at the Speed of Trust: Disability Justice and Transformative Justice

Featuring Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and Elliott Fukui, with Darryn Hollifield and Natalie Cuddy, ASL interpretation. Introduction by Hope Dector. 

Released Mar 11, 2020
Tags: accountability, building accountable communities, transformative justice

What Does Justice Look Like for Survivors?

Featuring Mimi Kim, Ann Russo, RJ Maccani, and Rachel Herzing

Released Mar 5, 2020
Tags: accountability, building accountable communities, transformative justice

What is Transformative Justice?

Featuring adrienne maree brown, Mia Mingus, Stas Schmiedt, Ann Russo, Esteban Kelly, Martina Kartman, Priya Rai, and Shira Hassan

Released Mar 11, 2020
Tags: accountability, building accountable communities, transformative justice

Centering the Needs of Survivors (Part 1)

Featuring Sonya Shah, Elliott Fukui, adrienne maree brown, Stas Schmiedt, Lea Roth, nuri nusrat, and RJ Maccani

Released Mar 11, 2020
Tags: accountability, building accountable communities, transformative justice

Centering the Needs of Survivors (Part 2)

Featuring RJ Maccani, Priya Rai, Rachel Herzing, and Esteban Kelly

On October 25, 2019, anti-violence and transformative justice organizers Nastassja “Stas” Schmiedt and A. Lea Roth joined Mariame Kaba for an online discussion about supporting harm doers in being accountable, shame and other obstacles to accountability, and the roles of consent and conflict in practicing transformative justice.

Released Oct 10, 2019
Tags: accountability, building accountable communities, transformative justice

How to Support Harm Doers in Being Accountable

Featuring adrienne marie brown, Stas Schmiedt, Lea Roth, Mimi Kim, RJ Maccani, Priya Rai, Mia Mingus, Martina Kartman, Elliott Fukui, Sonya Shah, Rachel Herzing, Shira Hassan, and Ann Russo.

Released Oct 10, 2019
Tags: accountability, building accountable communities

What are Obstacles to Accountability?

Featuring Sonya Shah, nuri nusrat, Mimi Kim, Ann Russo, Esteban Kelly, adrienne marie brown, Rachel Herzing, Stas Schmiedt, Lea Roth, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, and Mia Mingus.

Released Oct 10, 2019
Tags: accountability, building accountable communities, transformative justice

Consent is Accountability

Stas Schmiedt and Lea Roth discuss why they see consent as transformative justice and how we can use consent to learn concrete tools to negotiate power dynamics.

Released Oct 10, 2019
Tags: accountability, building accountable communities, transformative justice

How Shame Can Block Accountability

Stas Schmiedt and Lea Roth talk about how coming from a framework of shame can shut us down and get in the way of authentic accountability.

Recorded Oct 25, 2019
Tags: accountability, building accountable communities, transformative justice

Transforming Harm: Experiments in Accountability

Online event featuring Mariame Kaba, Stas Schmiedt, and Lea Roth

Accountability is a familiar buzz-word in contemporary social movements, but what does it mean? How do we work toward it? In this series of four short videos, anti-violence activists Kiyomi Fujikawa and Shannon Perez-Darby ask and explore: What does it look like to be accountable to survivors without exiling or disposing those who do harm? On October 26, 2018, Kiyomi and Shannon joined Mariame Kaba for the first online discussion in the Building Accountable Communities series.

Released Sep 26, 2018
Tags: accountability, anti-violence, building accountable communities, transformative justice

What is Accountability?

Building Accountabile Communities // Part 1 Conversation featuring Kiyomi Fujikawa and Shannon Perez-Darby

Released Sep 26, 2018
Tags: accountability, anti-violence, building accountable communities, transformative justice

What is Self-Accountability?

Building Accountabile Communities // Part 2 Conversation featuring Kiyomi Fujikawa and Shannon Perez-Darby

Released Sep 26, 2018
Tags: accountability, anti-violence, building accountable communities, transformative justice

Self-Accountability and Survivors

Building Accountabile Communities // Part 3 Conversation featuring Kiyomi Fujikawa and Shannon Perez-Darby

Released Sep 26, 2018
Tags: accountability, anti-violence, building accountable communities, transformative justice

People Who do Harm are not Monsters

Building Accountabile Communities // Part 4 Conversation featuring Kiyomi Fujikawa and Shannon Perez-Darby

Recorded Oct 26, 2018
Tags: Abolition, accountability, building accountable communities, healing, transformative justice

Building Accountable Communities: Online Event

Kiyomi Fujikawa and Shannon Perez-Darby joined us for an online discussion moderated by Mariame Kaba to explore models for building accountable communities for the purpose of healing and repair.