From July to September 2020 and 2021, Healthy and Free Tennessee hosted two virtual 6-part Transformative Justice 101 series facilitated by Mia Mingus for our partners across the state. Transformative justice is “a liberatory approach to violence…[which] seeks safety and accountability without relying on alienation, punishment, or State or systemic violence, including incarceration or policing.”
Healthy and Free TN is a reproductive freedom organization that utilizes the reproductive justice framework to approach social change. We are a convener and cross-movement connector, and are particularly interested in the intersections of the criminal legal system and reproductive oppression in Tennessee where we are seeing the increased criminalization of pregnancy outcomes, and the continued surveillance, regulation, and punishment by institutions and the state of poor parents and parents of color. In alignment with Reproductive Justice and Prison Abolition, there is a clear connection to Transformative Justice, which gives us tools to begin building alternatives to criminalization and strengthens our capacity to address harms within our communities without the involvement of the criminal legal system. This work is central to our work in Tennessee to fight the criminalization of pregnancy and parenting.
Goals of the workshops included:
- Strengthen our interdependence and cross sector relationships
- Increase personal and organizational resiliency
- Build practical skills that help expand our liberatory vision
25+ local, state, and even a few regional partners attended the 2020 series including CHOICES: Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, Black Lives Matter Nashville, Free Hearts, Official BLM Memphis, Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee, Black Voters Matter Nashville, Gideon's Army, The Equity Alliance, Nashville CARES, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Middle TN Democratic Socialists of America, Jews for Justice Nashville, Nashville Disability Justice Collective, Nashville Mutual Aid Collective, Queer and Sober Nashville, Brooklyn Heights Community Garden, Memphis Activism Calendar, Tennessee Poor People's Campaign, Shelby County Youth Council, Memphis Against Sexual Harassment, BRIDGES Memphis, Stand for Children, Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope, Abortion Care Tennessee, A Better Balance, Workers Dignity, Abortion Care Network, Indivisible, Resource Generation, and Women's Rights and Empowerment Network.