Introduction to Restorative Justice

Part of the The Janine Soleil Abolitionist Youth Organizing Institute (AYO, NYC!)—a collaboration between Project NIA & EFA Project Space.

Restorative Justice challenges us to recognize each other’s humanity and to concern ourselves with accountability rather than punishment. It is a way of being that is reflected not just in the political but also the personal. We are restorative, we don’t do restorative. This workshop will review the restorative practices continuum, the three paradigms (retributive, restorative, transformative) and its indigenous roots (African + Native American) and the proactive work required through restorative practices. We will also discuss community conferencing, an accountability process on the restorative practices continuum.

Facilitator: Bilphena Yahwon – on Twitter @GoldWomyn

Bilphena Yahwon is a Baltimore based writer, abolitionist and restorative practices specialist born in Liberia, West Africa. Yahwon is the co-creator of For Black Girls Considering Womanism Because Feminism Is Not Enuf and a core member of publishing initiative Press Press. Her online library, The Womanist Reader, is dedicated to archiving free texts from Black women across the diaspora. Bilphena’s work uses a womanist approach and centers women’s health and well-being, intersectionality and abolition.