Colorizing Restorative Justice: Voicing Our Realities is now published and available from Living Justice Press. This anthology, with 18 chapters, engages issues of colonialization, racism, and systemic harm within the restorative justice movement.

From the introduction by editor Edward C. Valandra: “The twenty authors of color in this book raise unsettling issues about restorative justice...as situated in white supremacist settler societies that sustain deep roots in European invasion and colonizing. The contradiction between restorative practices and the Western, white supremacist, settler societies in which we practice them is inherent. We People of Color and Indigenous Peoples have not created the contradiction. It is there. But we collectively experience this contradiction in ways Whites do not. We feel an urgency about addressing this contradiction that our White settler colleagues seem not to perceive or express. We also feel an urgency about critically informing communities of color and Indigenous communities that this contradiction, while not of our making or choosing, is one we negotiate in restorative justice.”

In this book, older voices join with new voices. “It is my hope that (these voices) land on ears willing to hear their wisdom that will enrich and perhaps even transform the RJ journey, even when the wisdom is uncomfortable.”  - Harley Eagle

Colorizing Restorative Justice: Voicing Our Relaties is now available from Living Justice Press, bookstores and other outlets.

One of the 'moving' highlights of the NACRJ Conference in Denver, Colorado, was a set of dramatic readings put on by Motus Theater. A group of seven people who experienced the harshness of our criminal justice system paired up with professionals in the justice system, jointly reading true life stories written by the 7 participants. Listen to a downloadable audio version of this presentation, and stay tuned for a forthcoming video version.

We now have 18 audio recordings from our Denver Conference!

Also featured during the conference was plenary speaker Adam Foss, a prosecutor from Boston who has also spoken in TED Talk circuits. Christina Swarns presented on "Us" As Victims, Survivors & Offenders: Strategic Advocacy with Restorative Justice Practices.

Dr. Mark Umbreit, past NACRJ president, was recently ranked among 50 notable social workers in United States history. This was announced by the International Association of Schools of Social Work. Mark was also ranked among the 50 most influential contemporary social work faculty in the U.S., by the Journal of Social Service Research based on the depth and range (throughout U.S. and 29 countries) of his restorative justice practice, teaching, research, and publication of 11 books and more than 200 other publications, including many training videos and films. In 1994, he founded the first university-based center for restorative justice in the U.S. the Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking at the University of Minnesota.

Last spring during NACRJ's strategic planning meeting, the board determined to write a positioning statement on Historical Harm which is now fully posted on our website. A positioning statement helps NACRJ to 'position' itself within the currents of modern society where ideas and trends present new challanges as well as new opportunities. By defining our association with respect to the theme of historical harm, the NACRJ is able to not only express greater sensitivity to communities affected by long-standing harm, but also able to promote new initiatives that specifically address historical harm in powerful, constructive, and humane ways.

As a member-driven organization, we certainly invite your thoughts and comments on this issue as we grow in our understandings and responses to historical harm.