Papers by David Ragland
This chapter examines the layered, intersecting, and often overwhelming forms of injustice that s... more This chapter examines the layered, intersecting, and often overwhelming forms of injustice that shape experiences of systemic humiliation for Black people in the United States. While drawing attention to the systemic context in which persistent experiences of humiliation occur, this chapter primarily analyzes grassroots efforts in which people that experience oppression come together to explore ways to heal from, and critically analyze, systemic racism. In particular, we highlight the Truth-Telling Project (TTP), a grassroots collective founded by three St. Louis natives in 2014 that sought to directly respond to issues of police violence in Black communities. The TTP has invited family members of those killed by police, as well as others who have experienced direct police violence, to a series of events in which they supported in sharing their experiences and join with people from a wide range who are interested in ending police violence. This “testimony” is also often recorded and...
Prism Reports, 2023
In 2015, after the launch of the years-long reparations campaign, the city of Chicago passed an o... more In 2015, after the launch of the years-long reparations campaign, the city of Chicago passed an ordinance that established a $5.5 million compensation fund for those who were subjected to torture by the Chicago Police Department between 1972 and 1991.
International Journal of Human Rights Education, 2021
Despite the rise of the Western human rights regime in the years following WWII, Black communitie... more Despite the rise of the Western human rights regime in the years following WWII, Black communities suffered from continuous human rights abuses. The work of the Truth Telling Project during the Ferguson movement discovered flaws in Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) models when applied to Black liberation struggles in the United States. TRCs were situated as a human rights tool within international civil society to address the abuses of nation-states, corporations and individuals who committed crimes against humanity; however, the needs of the age in which we live in the United States require truth-telling that can reveal historical exclusions. Furthermore, the fields that teach about peace and human rights need to substantively challenge the narrative of human rights as they impact and exclude the experience of Black liberation struggles. This article contends that truthtelling is a practice rooted firmly in Black liberation struggles and critical race
Medium, 2020
Based on our lessons learned through offering truth telling spaces and forums, we are pleased to ... more Based on our lessons learned through offering truth telling spaces and forums, we are pleased to share the following ten points reflecting our experiences learning, designing and implementing truth telling processes to address the consequences of systemic racism at the community level.
International Journal of Human Rights Education, 2021
Despite the rise of the Western human rights regime in the years following WWII, Black communitie... more Despite the rise of the Western human rights regime in the years following WWII, Black communities suffered from continuous human rights abuses. The work of the Truth Telling Project during the Ferguson movement discovered flaws in Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) models when applied to Black liberation struggles in the United States. TRCs were situated as a human rights tool within international civil society to address the abuses of nation-states, corporations and individuals who committed crimes against humanity; however, the needs of the age in which we live in the United States require truth-telling that can reveal historical exclusions. Furthermore, the fields that teach about peace and human rights need to substantively challenge the narrative of human rights as they impact and exclude the experience of Black liberation struggles. This article contends that truth- telling is a practice rooted firmly in Black liberation struggles and critical race theory and that it is a decolonial practice that must inform the fields of peace education, human rights education and research areas that influence future iterations of truth processes. Truth-telling in this sense is a public pedagogy and a radical act toward liberation that must lead to reparations that address the historic harms against Black people and transform extractive relationships in the neoliberal configuration of human rights.
Wiley Handbook on VIolence in Education: Forms, Factors and Preventions, 2018
This chapter will not focus on direct violence, but instead on how storytelling in the context of... more This chapter will not focus on direct violence, but instead on how storytelling in the context of historical violence impacts on the current sociopolitical climate and how the emerging social movements, such as Movement for Black Lives, shape community initiatives like the Truth Telling Project of Ferguson. Truth telling is a culturally rooted process of reclaiming voice and moving beyond theorized space to challenge systematic silencing, misdirections, denials, and willfully ignorant narratives, such as those visited upon students with disabilities, people of color, and LGBTQ identifying identities. This project is an intervention rooted in restorative and transformative justice to internally empower, while teaching through authentic narratives and stories from vulnerable communities.
Peace Studies between Tradition and Innovation
edited by Randall Amster, Laura Finley, Edmund P... more Peace Studies between Tradition and Innovation
edited by Randall Amster, Laura Finley, Edmund Pries
Exploring Innovative, Diverse, and Inclusive Efforts in Peace, Social Justice and Conflict Studies
There is no clear description of an approach to justice that is related to peace education. Betty... more There is no clear description of an approach to justice that is related to peace education. Betty Reardon's writing holistically connects peace and justice. While there are various traditions of justice, such as utilitarianism and contractarianism (social contract), the breadth of Reardon's writing suggests that justice, in terms of its relationship with peace, is most consistent with the capabilities or human development approach to justice. Popularized by Nobel -prize winning economist Amartya Sen and University of Chicago philosopher Martha Nussbaum, capabilities are substantive opportunities and freedoms, consistent with human dignity, that enable persons to choose their own life path. Articulating Reardon's conception of justice might provide peace educators, researchers, and activists with more clarity about the nature of justice in relation to peace, places to begin inquiry, and critical and conceptual understanding about the meaning of 'NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE!'.
Talks by David Ragland
Call for Papers by David Ragland
The Peace Studies Journal is an international interdisciplinary free online peer-reviewed scholar... more The Peace Studies Journal is an international interdisciplinary free online peer-reviewed scholarly journal.
Op-eds by David Ragland
There can be no genuine healing without honestly, courageously and collectively involving the cit... more There can be no genuine healing without honestly, courageously and collectively involving the citizens of Ferguson, MO in exposing and confronting truths surrounding police violence and fully acknowledging the direct and indirect suffering associated with those experiences. Giving recognition to individual experiences and truths is the beginning of justice, and the beginning of healing and resolution; each is a necessary step if we are to move our society through, and then past, the pain associated with the legacies of racism in the U.S.
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Papers by David Ragland
edited by Randall Amster, Laura Finley, Edmund Pries
Talks by David Ragland
Call for Papers by David Ragland
Op-eds by David Ragland
edited by Randall Amster, Laura Finley, Edmund Pries