Author (Being Restorative, April 2024) and restorative practitioner Leaf Seligman invites us to the tenderness of humility, listening, and towards the values and principles that unite us as a humanity, as we face intense and urgent polarization and violence in our world. Our host Jabali Stewart of Huayruro, himself a martial artist of nonviolence and unification, weaves us in conversation to implore deepening inquiry into what this thing we call ‘restorative’ really is, how it makes its way into the world, and how it ameliorates connection and context.
Tenderness is often considered weak or scary, and yet it is itself a revolutionary act. Leaf’s work within prisons and communities, as well as her personal experiences as a partially sight-impaired person, illuminate the “lens” and approach to this work that grounds individuals much beyond the field of restorative justice, in times of great upheaval and disconnection. Tenderness is a powerful bridge that acknowledges the other, that asks also of accountability of self first, and of others, yet from an understanding of our global interrelationship as a baseline for life, and life well lived. And alongside her perspective, we keep in mind the indigenous of our world who came long before this movement, knowing we are related to all life, humans and animals, trees, waters, skies, and cosmos. With this there is honor in having responsibility to all. This awareness is welcomed throughout our dialogue.
Oftentimes it is easy to misunderstand restorative as only relating to conflict and the modern justice systems in our world, yet it is a much larger scope of practices that center our common humanity and ask us to hear from one another in ways that build or rebuild, reshaping trust and meaning, offering powerful and sustaining agency for change on every level imagined.
ABOUT
Leaf Seligman
Leaf Seligman is the author of Being Restorative which was published in April 2024 and is available from the publisher, Bauhan Publishing, and online retailers. Leaf considers herself a daughter of the trees, grateful to live in Maple Nation and be close enough to spend time among beloved copper beeches. She has taught in colleges, prisons, and community settings since 1985. As a restorative practitioner, Leaf draws on her experience as a jail chaplain, prisoner educator, congregational minister, college instructor, and human being. She facilitates peacekeeping circles, immersive learning experiences, and restorative processes of accountability, healing, and transformation. Leaf delights in bringing tenderness everywhere. Her previous books include Opening the Window: Sabbath Meditations, A Pocket Book of Prompts, and From the Midway: Unfolding Stories of Redemption and Belonging. She lives in New Hampshire.
Jabali Stewart
Jabali is an organizational consultant, a leadership coach, a public speaker, a youth worker, and a circle keeper. He has kept Peacemaking Circles in schools (K through College), businesses, families, government, and community settings. He has trained in and practices the lineage of Circle Keeping connected to Mark Wedge, Kay Pranis, Barry Stuart and Tahnaga Myers for over a decade. Besides Circle, he also practices other Art of Hosting and Participatory Leadership modalities. Jabali is a former independent school administrator, a public speaker, and has also cultivated a practice of one-on-one counsel. He enjoys collaborative problem-solving, and his work is deeply informed by his belief and practice of sensible, love-based leadership.
Find Jabali on Linkedin
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This episode features Dr. Tema Okun who gives us a brief rundown of the characteristics of White Supremacy Culture, which can be understood in-depth on her website: www.whitesupremacyculture.info
Dr. Tema Okun offers her knowledge of relationships that people may have with White Supremacy Culture as well as suggestions to dismantle this broken system. We welcome listeners to step outside of thinking that these systems are working for us in any shape or form.
The live webinar was recorded on January 23rd, 2025 and it is hosted by Molly Rowan Leach, founder of RJotR, and Logan Ward, Restorative Justice on the Rise’s new Social Media Manager.
Logan then relates a statement from the website to his recently released documentary, Remarkable, Voices from the Trans Community, which covers the similar topic of objectivity’s irrelevance when in dialogue with oppressed (marked) and non-oppressed (unmarked) groups.
Logan’s film can be found on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PpjhMnVsFk
And the subsequent discussion space can both be found on his website: https://www.loganward.net/film
Key notes from this episode:
Dr. Tema Okun recommends that if we are going to engage in restorative justice work we need a:
The instructions from Tema’s mother are:
ABOUT
Tema Okun
Dr. Okun has spent over 40 years working with and for organizations, schools, and community-based institutions as an educator, facilitator, and coach focused on issues of racial justice and equity. She currently facilitates, consults, mentors, and offers talks for and with leaders and organizations locally and nationwide.
She is the author of the award-winning The Emperor Has No Clothes: Teaching About Race and Racism to People Who Don’t Want to Know (2010, IAP) and the widely used article White Supremacy Culture. She has published a revised version of this article on an extended and expanded website at www.whitesupremacyculture.info
Tema is a fierce Jewish advocate for Palestine solidarity as a member of the Triangle Chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. She is on the board of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and belongs to the Bhumisphara Sangha under the leadership of Lama Rod Owens. She is a graduate of the Spiritual Guidance Training Institute. She is an artist, a poet, and a writer. She lives in Durham NC where she is fortunate to reside among beloved community. Her current project is deepening her ability to love her neighbor as herself. She is finding the instruction easy and the follow through challenging, given how we live in a culture that is afraid to help us do either or both.
Reach her on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tema-okun-0a14311a1
Logan Ward
Logan Ward (he/him) is an illustrator, writer, and filmmaker who values dialogue, challenging societal norms, and mutual respect. He graduated with a master’s in Media Design in August 2024, where he studied community-centered and participatory approaches to research and design.
Reach him on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logan-ward-860620218/
Check out his illustrations on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/l.ward.draws/
And also on his website: https://www.loganward.net/
ABOUT RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ON THE RISE
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Public Dialogue On Justice
Restorative Justice on the Rise is an international live dialogue via Webcast and Telecouncil platform that reaches an international constituency of invididuals, organizations, professionals, academics, practitioners, and more. The mission is to provide connection, advocacy, education and inspired action as a public service to individuals and communities seeking to proactively improve relationships and structures within their spheres and our world.