Date of Dialogue: October 2013

Description: Fania Davis and Destiny Shabazz (a youth participant at RJOY-Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth) share powerful examples of how their program is making significant progress in the Bay Area and modeling a restorative justice program for schools and beyond. Destiny’s insights as to how it works for the youth she is working with, and how it supports and helps transform even the most challenging issues is inspiring, informative, and truly insightful. Hearing from youth voices such as Destiny’s is a great way to find out more about implementation and process, typical challenges and some victories.

Brief Bios: Fania Davis Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Fania E. Davis came of age in the 1950s, during the social ferment of the civil rights era. Two close childhood friends were murdered in the 1963 Sunday School bombing by the Ku Klux Klan. This crystallized within her a passionate commitment to social transformation, and, for the next decades, she was active in the civil rights, Black power, Black students', women's, prisoners', anti-apartheid, and socialist movements. Currently, she is an activist in the international restorative justice movement. She is currently Executive Director of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth.

Destiny Shabazz is a high school freshman in Oakland CA and is an inspiring youth voice for Restorative justice. Her keynote at last year’s National Conference was received with a standing ovation. She is a participant and facilitator in restorative processes with RJOY.

RJOY Website: www.rjoyoakland.orgRJOY Videos (RJ In a Nutshell; RJ in Oakland Schools; more) http://rjoyoakland.org/videos/