Blog

Speak Your Truth By Rev. Josh Bell, PJI Interfaith Coordinator Speak your truth. You are invited to say what is in your heart, trusting that your voice will be heard and your contribution respected. Own your truth by remembering to speak only for yourself. Using the first person “I” rather than “you” or “everyone” clearly communicates the personal nature of your expression. Can I be honest with you? I am a recovering people-pleaser. I have always been very attuned and attentive to other...

By Latanya West, San Diego Voice, May 15, 2020 In January 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Dr. Nadine Burke Harris as California’s first-ever Surgeon General. An award-winning physician, researcher and advocate, Dr. Burke Harris’ career has been dedicated to serving vulnerable communities and combating the root causes of health disparities. Her work is equally dedicated to changing the way our society responds to one of the most serious, expensive and widespread public health crises of...

Left to right: Director of the Peace and Justice Institute Rachel Allen, Administrative Manager of the PJI Community Will Jefferson, Keynote Speaker Kenneth Ginsburg and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer To View the Entire Conference Video, Click Here --- Tuesday, May 12, 2020 By Rachel Allen , Director, Peace and Justice Institute The second annual Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing conference scheduled for Tuesday, April 21, 2020, was certain to be a success. Our first...

The second of two free Community Resiliency (CRM) webinars with Elaine Miller-Karas , key creator of the CRM, will be held Thursday, May 14, from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET, (10 a.m. CT; 9 a.m. MT, and 8 a.m. PT) and will include the practical application of tools of the model. CRM is an ACEs science-based biological model for helping individuals become emotionally regulated during natural disasters and other dysregulating times. Miller-Karas will be joined by CRM trainers from Wilmington, NC:...

Each week we will be posting one of the 13 Principles for How We Treat Each Other from the Peace and Justice institute at Valencia College. This week we welcome the eighth Principle, "identify assumptions." As we move throughout our new COVID-19 reality we must remember to pause and take stock of the assumptions that undergird our worldview. We practice creating a peaceful and respectful community when we do the self-reflective work of identifying our assumptions. #PJIPrinciples

From Weill Institute for Neurosciences, UCSF, May 2020 These are unprecedented times. We need to work extra hard to manage our emotions well. Expect to have a lot of mixed feelings. Naturally we feel anxiety, and maybe waves of panic, particularly when seeing new headlines. A recent article by stress scientist and Vice Chair of Adult Psychology Elissa Epel, PhD, outlines the psychology behind the COVID-19 panic response and how we can try to make the best of this situation. Our anxiety is...

Each week we will be posting one of the 13 Principles for How We Treat Each Other from the Peace and Justice institute at Valencia College. This week we focus on the seventh Principle, "suspend judgment." In times like these, when we face obstacles in conversation or perspectives our first reaction may be to judge one another. Instead, try suspending judgment. Set aside your judgments. By creating a space between judgments and reactions, we can listen to the other, and to ourselves, more...

Elaine Miller Karas , key creator of the Community Resiliency Model (CRM), will be joined by CRM trainers from Wilmington, NC, Allison Wine , behavioral specialist, and Kelly Purcell , instructional coach and multi-tiered support specialist for this free, two-part training. Register now for two, FREE 90-minute sessions May 7 from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST and May 14 from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST (The complete overview requires attendance at both sessions. Registration link below registers you...

By Jack P. Shonkoff and David R. Williams, Center on the Developing Child, April 27, 2020 The COVID-19 virus is ruthlessly contagious and, at the same time, highly selective. Its capacity to infect is universal, but the consequences of becoming infected are not. While there are exceptions, children are less likely to show symptoms, older adults and those with pre-existing medical conditions are the most susceptible, and communities of color in the United States are experiencing dramatically...

Observing Ramadan Amid COVID-19: Embracing Silence By Sofiya Asedrem Respect silence. " Silence is a rare gift in our busy world. After someone has spoken, take time to reflect without immediately filling the space with words. This applies to the speaker, as well – be comfortable leaving your words to resound in the silence, without refining or elaborating on what you have said.” For the close to 2 billion Muslims around the world, Ramadan is the month when the first verses of the Quran were...

By Celine Cavalec, Professor, English, and PJI Academic Coordinator, Valencia College COVID-19 has been testing us — asking whether or not we can be present with fear, overwork, upheaval, uncertainty, distractedness, sickness, isolation and loss. I’d love to say that I have met all the challenges of this pandemic with a steady mind and a generous heart, full of grace and fortitude. I have not. But, that’s okay. I have felt deep anxiety, worrying about my 87-year-old mom in New Jersey where...

By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, April 20, 2020 Latoyha Young had a birth plan. She was going to have the baby in Sacramento with community doula Joy Dean by her side. Dean was funded by the county’s Black Child Legacy Campaign , which works to reduce the disproportional number of Black infant and child deaths in Sacramento. But in mid-March, when Young went into labor just as Governor Gavin Newsom ordered Californians to stay at home to avoid spreading the novel...