Welcome to Amplify RJ

Your online community for all things RJ is now found at amplifyrj.thinkific.com

About me:

Hello Future Ancestor,

My name is David Ryan Barcega Castro-Harris (all 5 names for ALL the ancestors), I'm a grandson of Ruth, Yolando, Ruth & Jesse, son of DP & Bien, Kuya to Jordan,  partner to Wendy, cousin, and friend to many, AND a new to Baby Castro-Harris.

I'm also a community educator who's obsessed with the micro and macro question...

Even before this journey into parenthood, I've tried to move through the world really intentionally, and Restorative Justice is a framework that I've found that has been helpful.

What is Restorative Justice?

You may be familiar with the words "Restorative Justice" or "Restorative Practices" in the context of the criminal legal system (to end mass incarceration) or in education (to break the "school-to-prison-pipeline"), but RJ is NOT just a set of practices for repairing harm or building alternatives to punishment. 

Restorative Justice is a way of being rooted in indigenous values of interconnection. The practices help us proactively build & maintain relationships rooted in equity & trust while responsively repairing relationships when harm occurs.

In the face of the climate crisis, pandemic, and political upheaval, humans are struggling to be in good relationship. I'm sure you've noticed the increased difficulty in navigating relationships with people in your life, professionally, on social media, in your community, with family and friends, and even taking care of the most important relationship of all... the relationship with yourself.

Especially in the last few years you've seen how differences across race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, political views, and more put an increased strain on many of the communities and relationships you navigate daily.

Restorative Justice is framework that can help you and your community look back at the actions and lessons from those who came before us, find the root causes of problems you're facing now, repair harm done, and build a more just and equitable world for future generations.

About Amplify RJ:

You're probably here because of the work I do through Amplify RJ where our mission is to teach Restorative Justice philosophy, practices, and values through a lens of Abolition, Anti-Racism, & Decolonization.

Amplify RJ envisions a liberated world full of communities of care where people have the resources and knowledge to be able to practice being good relatives to all.

We do this by:

  • Creating informative and inspirational content using digital platforms
  • Providing in person and virtual interactive learning experiences 
  • Cultivating a global community of people growing in the work. (which is where this community comes in)

This community is for you if...

  • You're someone who cares deeply about doing the daily work of building a more just and equitable world for future generations.
  • You're someone who's just getting introduced to these ideas and wants to get foundational knowledge about Restorative Justice in a supportive community to help you practice and process.
  • You're someone who already has a foundation in Restorative Justice Practices and wants a community of practice and support.
  • You want to learn from and connect with other doing this work in different contexts.
  • You want to stay up to date on the latest Restorative Justice news, happenings, and events.
  • You want to get an under-the-hood look at things happening in the Amplify RJ community.

So Future Ancestor are you in?

What happens now?

You're in? GREAT!

We ask that you answer a few questions when you "request to join". PLEASE take these questions seriously. We can get to know you a little better and we want to screen out "bad actors" (the internet isn't always the friendliest place for people like us trying to do justice work).

We usually respond within the hour during the day, or pretty quickly in the morning if it comes overnight. Please give grace for the human hosts helping us do this work). 

When you're approved you can complete your profile and immediately jump into:

  • Our mini-course: "Restorative Justice, What's That?"
  • Our monthly All-Community Gathering: Sunday Sound-Off
  • On going community discussions & updates
  • & connection with global community of Restorative Justice Practitioners.

You can also:

-check out our paid courses that go deeper in to RJ practices and related topics and/or

-join one of our paid community groups that meet monthly
$9.99/month each [your Netflix subscription] or
$24.99/month for all access [a hearty Postmates/Grubhub/Ubereats meal]
(save 17% when you pay for a year up front):

  • our Restorative Reads Bookclub
  • RJ in Education 
  • This RJ Life Podcast Community
  • Practitioner of the Global Majority Affinity Space
  • & more coming soon

If you have any questions please reach out to us at [email protected].

Looking forward to connecting!

✌🏽❤️✊🏽 David & the Amplify RJ team