Resources and information
Workbook Companion and Online Resources for Spiritual Study, Spiritual Study Tool for Students.
Check out the information for building your own Testimony!
Colorizing Restorative Justice
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS, 2020), the number of adults on probation and parole remains the same as in 1998, which was during the height of the systemic trauma on vulnerable communities. 4,399,000 individuals, mostly people of color are coming out now in large numbers with viable skills and beginning to rebuild their families and lives. We want to support the community through restorative justice protecting the most vulnerable! Research shows that it is needed.
- Eagle and Davis (2020) reveal that the RJ field lacks authentic voice of People most underserved in American society, especially as leaders of RJ.
- Over the past 45 years, the mass incarceration of black and brown young people (2.2 mil./rel. 600,000) created more than twice the rate of divorce than whites in similar situations, which caused greater risk of family union instability due to harsher/lengthier sentencing, impacting employment outcomes, single working parent families, education opportunities and community life (Widdowson, Jacobsen, Siennick, & Warren, 2019/journal of Crim 2020).
The reality is we have a family instability crisis in the most vulnerable communities. Many individuals face problems that are challenging. Why do some become so hopeless and depressed as to think of taking their own gift of life?
Prevention and Voice
Over the last decade, suicide related deaths have been high in the United States. The number of people who think about suicide is even higher. According to the Center for Disease Control, 2024 data reveals that suicide has taken 48,824 lives in one year, which is a slight increase from 44,193 suicide deaths in 2015. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. These numbers represent grief, tears, and the broken hearted in this country. Families torn a part by sadness in finding their brother, mother, sister, child, father, cousin, aunt, uncle, or grandparent in a hopeless situation in which they thought their only escape was death. The words, or thoughts, “if only” linger in the unconceivable moment. These cases are not rare but are widespread. “In 2024, an estimated 14.3 million adults seriously thought about suicide, 4.6 million planned a suicide attempt, and 2.2 million attempted suicide” (cdc.gov). There are disparities, those who are more vulnerable, or susceptible to taking their own life out there. Populations that need hope, love, and critical care.
Together we can overcome. Suicide is preventable. Your voice matters. Vulnerable populations, people of color, marginalized communities can always be supported through your voice, your story, your action. For example, women are traumatized by domestic and sexual violence, or a history of prostitution. Statistics reveal, according to the National Library of Medicine (2023), “One in three U.S. women experience physical violence, sexual violence, and/or stalking by a current or former intimate partner over the course of their lifetimes with historically marginalized women shown as the greatest risk: 56.6% of multiracial women, 45.1% of Black women,” Even though, women rarely die by gun suicide, according to National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research (2022), less than 0.5%, while they are victims of gun violence by men. Women are 7-10 times more likely to be killed by men, or police, respectively, than killed by gun suicide (mappingpoliceviolence.org, 2025). Our goal is to restore our families through information by testimonials, in lyrics, creative writings, and sharing events.
Resources available for testimony or teaching testimony
IWitness
Find innovative IWitness resources, integrating testimony-based education with emerging technologies, films, podcasts, and specialized topics.
Open Educational Resources (OER) & Textbook Equity: Criminology & Criminal Justice
Introduction to Criminology: An Equity Lens – Simple Book Publishing
