Repairing The Harm And Breaking The Cycle, Using Best Practices In South African Apartheid Healing
Repairing The Harm And Breaking The Cycle, Using Best Practices In South African Apartheid Healing
On Monday, January 21, the Darren B. Easterling Center for Restorative Practices hosted its second Truth and Reconciliation Summit in the Skyline Conference Room of the Lawndale Christian Conference Center located on 3750 West Ogden Avenue in Chicago.
North Lawndale is one of many communities consistently ranked as one of Chicago’s most dangerous and underserved areas of the city.
Through the practice of forgiveness, the Center recently sought to give rise to both healing and reconciliation with survivors, perpetrators, and community leaders in an environment that developed a sense of connectedness.
During the recent summit, the goal was to focus on moving the community forward by planting seeds to help and heal its past.
A panel discussion was lead by Robin Robinson, director of community affairs for the Chicago Police Department, who served as host and moderator.
Additionally, there was an open apology segment for representatives of various public entities and community members who were invited to acknowledge their role in any past wrongdoings which affected the health and wellbeing of the community, particularly for youth.
Finally, the summit concluded with breakout discussions to help equip participants
with the tools to incorporate forgiveness and healing into their own lives.
“Offering a space where people can actually tell their stories and be heard is vital in communities where harm has been done,” said Lisa Daniels, founder and executive director of the Center. Daniels, who is also a newly appointed member of the Illinois Prison Review Board (PRB), previously hosted the same event in the Englewood community.
She said the summit provides participants with an, “opportunity to identify the hurt and describe what a particular experience did to them. Where did it leave them? Next steps include granting forgiveness and deciding whether they want to relinquish or restore the relationship. These are the best practices of South African apartheid healing that we will bring to Chicago,” she added in a press release.
The Darren B. Easterling Center for Restorative Practices is a behavioral health
services organization serving Chicago area communities. Its mission is to transform the individual behaviors believed to be at the core of gun-violence. The Center offers trauma- focused recovery services to women and children impacted by the loss of a loved one, because of a violent crime or incarceration.
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