May 12, 2014
(Ed Note: Today we offer several very worthwhile links directly from practitioners. The first is from the Navajo Nation in the US who have established an approach to their schools based on a powerfully simple restorative justice, clearly understood in all its actual day-to-day complexity. The second is Jesuit priest Greg Boyle who is the founder of the Los Angeles Homeboy Industries, an alternative to gang life. He has a presentation called “Tattoos on the heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion.” The video is rather lengthy – the talk itself is about one hour and then a Q & A session- but the site also offers shorter samples of Boyle’s approach. We invite you to take a quiet moment and renew your hope for a better world with these two videos.)
The Navajo STAR Peace Making Program
The link has text but also a 13 minute video that walks the viewer through the approach in the mouths of the children themselves. This is the sort of video that makes so much sense – educational and otherwise – that one wonders why it is not more commonplace, a more singular vision around who we are and how we live. The explanation of the 4 R’s by the children is particularly helpful. At the end of this video embedded in the text there is another group of video links that offer further commentary. http://restorativejusticercp.wordpress.com/2014/05/11/the-navajo-nation-peacemaking-program
Father Greg Boyle
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
The video title is taken from the book by the same name. The focus of the talk is on kinship and is amply illustrated by stories that leave noteworthy and helpful summaries with new insights into what Boyle calls the stereotypes around gangs and crime. The youtube link has other Boyle videos as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqB4yUf8vIU#t=43