The Future Is Restorative: What Do We Do Once We Win?
Some conference sessions stay with you long after everyone has gone home. Danielle Sered’s keynote at NACRJ’s 10th National Conference was one of them.
Danielle joined us in New Orleans at a complicated time for our country and for people doing community and restorative justice work every day. Rather than stepping around that reality, she spoke directly to it.
Danielle is the founder and Executive Director of Common Justice and author of "Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair." Her work challenges us to think differently about violence, accountability and safety, particularly what justice can look like when incarceration is not our only answer.
During her keynote, she raised a question that stayed with many of us:
What do we do once we win?
One attendee described it as the “perfect articulation of the incredibly important question, what do we do once we win.”
So much energy in justice work is spent fighting what we know does not work. Mass incarceration. Harmful systems. Policies that separate families and communities. Practices that have failed to create the safety they promised.
But if we change those systems, what are we prepared to build in their place?
That question changes the conversation.
Danielle challenged the room with these questions: What does safety look like when punishment isn't our first response? What does meaningful accountability look like? How do we create communities where belonging and repair aren't just ideas, but part of how we respond when harm happens?
The response from attendees made it clear that the message landed.
“This presentation was fire! Mic Drop moment.”
“Danielle's Keynote was Realness mixed with true glimpse of a hopeful future.”
“Amazing.”
“Uplifting and empowering to do the work. I needed this boost.”
And maybe that is part of what gathering in community is supposed to do. We don't always leave with every answer. Sometimes we leave seeing the question differently.
The theme of our 10th National Conference was The Future Is Restorative. Danielle's keynote reminded us that believing in that future also means being prepared to build it.
For those who weren't able to join us in New Orleans, there is more to come. We’ll be sharing Danielle Sered’s keynote on the NACRJ YouTube channel. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you’re notified when it is released.
Learn more about Danielle Sered and the work of Common Justice.
Lucinda Cross
Conference and Events Director
NACRJ