iChange Justice Season 5

Restorative Community Coalition with Joy Gilfilen and Karen Ball

🎙️ iChange Justice Podcast: Season 5 Real People. Real Stories. Real Voices. Welcome to the Fifth Era of iChange Justice! Broadcasting from Whatcom County, we are a converging network of Visionaries, Healers, Authors, and Leaders dedicated to restorative action. 🛶✨ Bridge the gap between Service Providers and those in need of services. We share raw, unfiltered conversations with leaders, teachers, indigenous mentors, and citizens directly impacted by mental health, poverty, addiction and incarceration. 🏛️⚖️ From logic to legacy, we explore the "magical combination"

  1. APR 9

    #231 -#01 iChange Justice Podcast, "What is justice anyway?

    What is justice anyway? It depends on the eye of the beholder. Three people from the Restorative CommUnity Coalition with lived experience in the field—Joy Gilfilen, Irene Morgan, Debbie David and Chene Keltz—talk about justice in America from their perspective. This show is all about dropping the veil on the criminal justice system. Over 800 years and the system has not budged on restoring anyone, in fact, quite the opposite. Why do we have over 9 million people in prison in the US? Who is paying for all of the ins and outs of the system? Why do people, more times than not, end up back in prison for sometimes up to 10-20 or more times? How can we speak up about changing the system processes so our country can thrive? If you are at all ignited with curiosity then please bring your open mind and heart to hear from community members from all walks of life. We will have corporate, non-profit, public service, students and those who have been affected by the system firsthand comment on their experiences, beliefs, and hope for the future. Are we all just continuing to do what our ancestors taught just because they said it is so? Where does the insanity stop? When are we as a country, as a world, going to be ready to say to ourselves, “Maybe what I was told, taught, and believed is wrong?” A heavy question! Join us in the discussions and sign up for membership to access exclusive research, training and upcoming events. Encore on Thursday. Find us wherever you get your podcasts and on KOYS-LPFM Bellingham

    29 min
  2. FEB 26

    #225-iChange Justice Podcast - Fit to Survive: Climate, Reparations & Moral Leadership

    The fourth conversation featuring James Addington, Mel Hoover, William Gardiner and host Karen Ball. We examine what it truly means to be “fit to survive” in an era defined by climate instability, political division, and social fragmentation. This discussion frames climate change not simply as an environmental issue, but as the central moral challenge shaping ecological, economic, and cultural realities. When we isolate crises instead of understanding their interconnected roots, we weaken our collective ability to respond. James reframes “survival of the fittest” into something more urgent and hopeful: being fit to survive. Fitness, in this context, means adaptability, preparedness, and the capacity to build systems grounded in shared responsibility. The episode explores leadership beyond title or position, leadership grounded in reality orientation, accountability to systems of power, historical imagination, hopeful engagement, and a commitment to viable, inclusive community. Reparations are discussed not merely as financial compensation, but as an essential strategy for rebuilding the societal fabric and ensuring all communities can participate in shaping a sustainable future. Grounded in the concept of Tikkun Olam — repairing the world — this conversation challenges listeners to move beyond denial and polarization toward moral clarity, collective resilience, and long-term responsibility for generations yet to come.

    56 min
  3. FEB 19

    #224 iChange Justice Podcast: "Where do we go from here? A 3rd Conversation with Mel Hoover, James Addington, William Gardiner & Host Karen Ball: Chaos or Community?"

    Unpacking Inclusion, Control, and Affection: A Clinical Look at the Structures of Power and Systemic Trauma. How can communities collectively imagine self-determination and liberation from systemic domination? This episode tackles that question by examining the "moral imaginary" required to move past our current social chaos. Mel Hoover sets the stage by citing James Baldwin’s 1963 reality check: “We made the world we’re living in and we have to make it over.” The panel explores how the truth of our lived experience has been covered up by dehumanizing ideologies, undermining our capacity to pursue an equitable future. To understand this landscape, the guests introduce a clinical framework for evaluating community health through three core principles: Inclusion, Control, and Affection. Dr. Bill Gardiner traces the history of "who is in and who is out" back to the Naturalization Act of 1790, which legally defined citizenship based on whiteness. The panel connects this history to modern-day voter "integrity" efforts and the habitual use of power—and often violence—to suppress successful, interracial movements like the "Black Wall Street" in Tulsa or the Battle of Blair Mountain. Finally, the group defines Affection as heartfelt, emotional connections that can only blossom once Inclusion is addressed and Control (power) is shared. The conversation concludes with a call for authentic solidarity, encouraging listeners to heal collective trauma by having "skin in the game."

    57 min

About

🎙️ iChange Justice Podcast: Season 5 Real People. Real Stories. Real Voices. Welcome to the Fifth Era of iChange Justice! Broadcasting from Whatcom County, we are a converging network of Visionaries, Healers, Authors, and Leaders dedicated to restorative action. 🛶✨ Bridge the gap between Service Providers and those in need of services. We share raw, unfiltered conversations with leaders, teachers, indigenous mentors, and citizens directly impacted by mental health, poverty, addiction and incarceration. 🏛️⚖️ From logic to legacy, we explore the "magical combination"