A Bolder Way Forward’s Post

🔵 The phrase “transitional justice” is, perhaps, one of the most frequently used terms that is largely incomprehensible to people outside of the justice sector. Transitional justice work encompasses a wide range of activities aimed at furthering society’s ability to come to terms with the history and impacts of large-scale conflict, repression, and human rights violations. Transitional justice aims to provide recognition to victims, survivors, and families; to rebuild the trust of individuals in state institutions; to reinforce respect for human rights; and to promote the rule of law, all as critical steps towards reconciliation and the prevention of new violations. Find out more about the five pillars of transitional justice and Synergy’s recent work in the area in our May blog post: https://lnkd.in/dpYZZTii

I am so proud of the work the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission (MLTRC) is doing to shed light on buried episodes of racial terrorism in our state’s history while working with communities to create a path towards reconciliation. We just had our first lynching hearing — this one in Frederick County — in over a year, and it was nothing short of phenomenal but please don’t take my word for it. The experts, the descendants, and the community members who testified were profound, passionate, and powerful. Despite the somber topic, witnessing this truth telling felt uplifting and restorative. Please watch the hearing. Please spread the word. Please lift up these voices. I recommend starting at the 39 minute mark for a powerful presentation on the history of lynchings in Frederick County and the circumstances behind the lynchings of James Carroll in 1879, John Biggus in 1887, and James Bowen in 1895. https://lnkd.in/e6d9QTPp Maryland is the first and only state to have a lynching truth and reconciliation commission. I am grateful to serve on it and grateful to live in a state that is unafraid to confront hard truths. We will be holding hearings in every MD county where a documented lynching occurred. If you live in MD, I encourage you to engage in the important work of this groundbreaking commission. We will need your support when we submit our report and recommendations for reconciliation to the MD State legislature. If you live outside of MD, consider petitioning your state legislature to create a commission like this. As always, I am encouraged by the diversity of people who participated in this hearing. Don’t ever let anyone convince you that racial justice is a black versus white issue. There is room for everyone on the side of justice. Onward until victory is won and justice is done. You can keep up with the work of the MLTRC here: https://lnkd.in/eUq4W2gv #blm #blacklivesmatter #truthandreconciliation #historymatters #marylandlynchingtruthandreconciliationcommission #civilrights #socialjustice

On Day 2 of the AUSS-K Seminar themed ‘The Dialogue on Decolonizing Peace, Security and Development: Reclaiming African Voice,' which was organized by the Peace Development Researchers Association (@padrakenya) for APN and NextGen Fellows, I presented a paper on the underappreciated role of Ergo within Maslaha justice process. In the end, this policy-based article seeks to find a balance between how ADR processes can support rule of law principles without undermining their effectiveness and legitimacy in Security and Peace. 

"Individual conscience and freedom, institutional resilience and strength, national democracy and accountability, they have all been under attack and they all need to be defended and upheld if we're to have the future of abundance that this conference is dedicated to providing"

🤝Get to know us a bit more! ⚖️ Here are 5 facts you should know about the Israeli Ministry of Justice. ✅ Comment below what else you would be interested in learning about the Israeli Ministry of Justice!

ICYMI - REPOST GUIDES FOR AMERICAN BUSINESSES AND CORPORATIONS ON COUNTERING ANTISEMITISM Implement the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism  Help all sectors of society utilize the U.S. Action Plan. American Jewish Committee (AJC) has developed multiple guides to help government officials, civil society leaders, educators, and more integrate recommendations from the National Strategy into practice. View and download a Task Force Guide below. 

🚨NEW EPISODE ALERT🚨 This week we are joined by David Stewart, who is the author of “The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the US Constitution.” The Constitution Convention and its final product is one of the greatest compromises in history and birthed the American experiment, which has become a beacon to the rest of the world. Go check it out to learn more about the grimy compromises and how it all began! https://lnkd.in/erEM2H7M

🌀practicing re-orientation & adaptation within emergent justice collective, we have decided to re-open the call for participants for our 2024 Support & Solidarity offering.🌊 find more information about the offering, our reasons for re-opening and how to register below: 🍉 in this moment of struggle for accountability before the international (legal) system, we sit with collective grief for this system’s repeated failure to centre transformative visions of justice & its implication in colonial genocides and other mass/structural violence. where do we move to when the frameworks that are supposed to prevent and protect fail to do either? 🌱 we invite to co-create and hold space for collective grief, reflection & sense-making within the international justice community of practice.🌾visit to https://lnkd.in/dAs4R5fZ learn more about the program & register interest.

For anyone who wants to see the recording of my inaugural lecture last week, on 'the texture of imprisonment', the link is here https://lnkd.in/eqAGipqX

I will be speaking on "Truth Commissions and State Building" at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 10. I will discuss my recent book, which explores the role of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs) in state-building processes. Drawing on Participedia research data, I frame TRCs as deliberative democratic innovations and mechanisms for public participation in specific post-conflict and post-autocratic state-building contexts. https://lnkd.in/gUxByppG