"Real Time Evolution and Crisis as Birth", from 2009

In 2009, the late and extraordinary Dr. Barbara Marx Hubbard spoke at a conference we produced with an extraordinary and devoted community team in Boise, ID. Dr. Hubbard was a candidate for Vice President and an author of multiple best sellers outlining our moment in time--crisis--as a natural element of conscientious growth.

This is a special, exclusive feature from our archives. In honor of the beauty of Dr. Barbara Marx Hubbard and her visionary and grounded evidence that we are in fact in the midst of an essential transformation: systemically, personally, globally.

In this keynote from 2009 in Boise, Idaho, at the Living in The Fire of Change Conference, James O'Dea recounts in extraordinary detail the power of dialogue, listening, and the imperative of restorative justice, healing justice.

Originally titled "Roots and Stars", we wanted to illuminate the fullness of this hour as a prophetic message for us all during these times. Packed with humor, storytelling, citations of major mystics and philosophers alike, and anecdotes from our world's most blatantly heinous atrocities.. of which James himself almost died, we come to a place of "tea among strangers, amidst the rubble", or the humanity that resides in all of us even amidst suffering and loss.

This podcast is a very special feature, and an honoring, of our dear colleague and friend James O'Dea.

#restorativejustice #metowe #dialogue #heartresonance #gibran

In 2016 Eric Luecking was the first to hear the unthinkable. His brother, Matt (pictured to the right, at left; Eric at right), was dead, murdered. The big brother that lived as an inspiration to so many was gone, just like that.

Since that life-altering day in October 2016 Eric has worked to further the possibility of VOD & restorative justice program implementation and is a national speaker advocating for restorative justice as a surviving family member and brother to Matt whose life was cut way too short.

Matt was an inspiration for the many lives he touched while living. After he passed in 2016, his friends and colleagues continued to spread his “Blessed For Another Day” messages through social media. In his honor, Eric created this website to focus on positivity.

Eric continues to spread Matt's contagious positivity and is a speaker, writer, and advocate for forgiveness, personal healing, and avenues for restorative justice. Since his brother's murder in 2016, he has been on a journey of self-reflection and finding his place again in the world, constantly looking at new ways to approach the hardships that life can bring. By openly sharing his story, he has found a way to re-channel his love for Matt to positively influence friends, family, and anyone else who will listen. Through speaking events at churches, universities, and podcasts, he tells a powerful story about how forgiveness has given him the freedom to move forward and cut any ties that would bind him to self-defeat.

Eric has collaborated with respected RJ practitioner and Michigan State University professor Derrick Franke, whose facilitation and VOD support for another family was part of the CNN Series The Redemption Project with Van Jones. Their collaborative work has included a lecture and discussion on VOD implementation steps in states in the US without that option. Eric is available to speak via web or at your community center or campus by contacting him via the website.

Panel Discussion with Subject/Cinematographer & SOROS Justice Fellow (2018) Troy Williams, Producer, Social Justice Advocate and Attorney Erin Kenway, and Former Los Angeles Public Defender and 1st Filmmaker to have access to VOEG Processes* at San Quentin, Director Katherin Hervey.  Website: www.theprisonwithin.org

Video Interview plus PODCAST/mp3 With Ram Tiwari, the Nepal Forum for Restorative Justice's Chairman, UN & OJJDP Adviser/Working Group Member & RJ Advocate in Nepal

Some of the nuggets from our dialogue include:

Connect with NFRJ on Facebook NFRJ Website & 3rd Annual Conference Information This Special Feature will drop at our website & iTunes podcast streams within the next few days! Ram pictured below with the USA OJJDP Restorative Justice Working Group.

A Conversation with Zach Norris, author of We Keep Us Safe, praised by Just Mercy's Bryan Stevenson with a Foreword from Van Jones. Zach is Executive Director of Ella Baker Center and Co-founder of Restore Oakland

Mini-interview from the NACRJ (National Association of Community and Restorative Justice) conference in Denver USA (June 2019). In this special short, SaulPaul tells us about his experiences as a formerly incarcerated young black man and how it shaped his extraordinary work and music. SaulPaul was a keynote performance featured at this year's (2019) NACRJ conference in Denver, CO and his performances and various works have been featured in major venues and media, inspiring and opening the minds of millions. More about SaulPaul at www.SaulPaul.com

Discussion Series. Episode 3: His daughter was murdered & he sat down with the teen who took her life. With Donald Lacy of the LoveLife Foundation and Karena Montag of Stronghold.

Diane Raptosh is a Professor and cutting-edge advocate and founder of numerous programs relating to transforming our justice system. She teaches writing within prisons and works one to one with male and female inmates struggling to recover their worth and their voice.

She is also co founder of the College of Idaho's Prison Experience Seminar and Course, which has evolved over the past 20 years and has been a leading catalyst within the state of Idaho towards education, advocacy and action. Students have the ability to opt into working within prisons to teach writing and to participate in profoundly insightful forums and discussions on-campus, that have featured leading advocates in the justice transformation movement.

IN THIS DIALOGUE (1:09) Diane shares anecdotes of the power of working creatively to recover voice, self worth, and value in a world of punishment and shame. She shares stories from how she founded the prison writing program, and the impact it has had on everyone involved, including herself equally with the inmates she has workshopped writing with, into discoveries and insights that have brought immense healing and balance.

Join Diane October 24 & 31 as she offers a 2-Part Webinar Series on creative partnerships and writing programs within prisons. She will offer insights into how to start, what the classes explore specifically, and how she works from Class one through the duration of a "semester" within a prison course.  More info coming shortly! Be sure to join the RJ on The Rise Mailing List to get updates and information!

Diane Raptosh’s fourth book of poetry, American Amnesiac (Etruscan Press), was longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award and was a finalist for the Housatonic Book Award. The recipient of three fellowships in literature from the Idaho Commission on the Arts, she served as the Boise Poet Laureate (2013) as well as the Idaho Writer-in-Residence (2013-2016). In 2018 she won the Idaho Governor’s Arts Award in Excellence. A highly active ambassador for poetry, she has given poetry workshops everywhere from riverbanks to maximum security prisons. She teaches creative writing and co-directs the program in Criminal Justice/Prison Studies at The College of Idaho. Her most recent book of poems, Human Directional, was published by Etruscan Press in 2016. Her sixth book of poems, Dear Z: The Zygote Epistles will be published by Etruscan Press in 2020.

More About Diane & Published Works

Lorenn Walker is a Hawai’i based health educator and a restorative & peacemaking lawyer who uses public health and solution-focused approaches to address trauma and deal with social problems commonly addressed by legal and criminal justice systems.

She designs, implements, researches, writes and publishes on a variety of innovations including restorative practices and solution focused approaches. Her purpose is to improve the justice system and individuals’ access to justice. She has a special interest in helping disenfranchised people including foster youth, homeless people, crime victims, incarcerated people, people with substance abuse problems, loved ones of all affected, find what they need for healing.

Much of her research and work is conducted as director of Hawai’i Friends of Restorative Justice, which she has worked with for over 20 years www.hawaiifriends.org. Since 1994, she has been a University of Hawai’i system lecturer teaching a variety of courses including ethics, criminal justice, public and personal speaking.