acknowledgment & honoring

I am able to do this because of the work of many. I’m able to do this because of people organizing for economic justice, for indigenous, Black, immigrant, disabled, trans, and global liberation, and organizing to dismantle carceral systems. My dreams have shape because of them.

This work is my tiny offering towards building “healthy, self-determined communities and…alternatives to the current system” in Critical Resistance’s mission statement. Towards creating the conditions for communities to resolve harm. My offerings are made possible because of all those, known and unknown, working for abolition. I owe what I know to those who live indigenous peacemaking, community accountability, local and homegrown justice, transformative justice, and restorative justice.

I owe everything I am and everything I have to those who have worked for freedom. And to those who simply tried to love and survive.

And to my parents, Rehana Shariff and Ali Jami Nusrat, who loved deeply and deserved better.

We all deserve better.

guiding values

These are some of the values guiding my work:

Uplift Everyone’s Humanity

Treat everyone with care and compassion-everyone is valuable.

collaborative decision making

Everyone involved in the process weighs in on how to move forward.

non-shaming & non-punitive

Shame or punishment don’t invite people to share or practice authentic accountability.

Community not Systems

Processes should offer community tools to practice restoratively and shouldn’t divert power to systems or nonprofits.

wisdom of those impacted

Support those impacted in identifying what they need.

voluntary participation

Folks participating should be there because they choose to be.