Harm & Conflict:
System Allyship
RJIM is actively working to build communities of care and accountability as a disruption to the status quo.
We are following the lead of people who have experienced the criminal legal system and the school-to-prison pipeline, especially people disproportionately affected: young people, people with disabilities, people who experience gender-based violence, and Black, Brown and Indigenous people.
The criminal legal system is too big, too powerful, and not effective at reducing harm in communities. In fact, systems of policing and incarceration contribute to community harm and resource scarcity. We can’t be quiet or gentle in our message-- we want the criminal legal system to become smaller, so that resources can be reallocated to prevention, education, and community needs. We have a vision of police and prison abolition.
Schools are still relying on exclusionary discipline. Too many schools are using circles and other forms of restorative justice as programs that actually maintain power-over and ignore racialized harms that happen in schools. We have data and stories to back this up, and we can’t be polite about it anymore.
Still, today, these systems serve a purpose and a role while we are working to build up new systems. We need people inside these systems to stand up for Restorative Justice, to help provide off-ramps and diversions from punishment, and on-ramps to keep kids connected to school and community. We need system allies.
Many school administrators, police, probation officers and district attorneys are learning about the ways the system they work for does harm and carries bias and racist history. These are the people we’re able to collaborate with. It is a powerful way to be a change agent from within.
If that’s you, thank you. This takes courage, integrity, nuance and grace. It’s not easy to work inside a system that is causing harm.
Maybe you’re not an ally yet- but you’re interested in exploring your role in restorative justice. Maybe you’re really offended when people say “defund the police” but you want to learn more about where that comes from and aren’t sure where to ask that’s safe-feeling for you. We are willing to walk with you as you explore, and happy to be a resource as you expand your curiosity. As long as you’re willing to be open to learning, we’re here to partner with you.
Resources
Ally or Accomplice? The Language of Activism
Opportunities for White People in the Fight for Racial Justice
Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind
Maine Youth Justice
