Restorative Justice Experts Share Best Practices

Fellow Arlingtonians!

Are you curious about Restorative Justice? Are you interested in learning about practices -- some of which are already being implemented or explored in Arlington -- that address wrongdoing by focusing on healing and fairness for victims and offenders instead of retribution ?

Join Arlington Advocates for Restorative Justice (“AARJ”) on November 18th at 6 PM for a virtual panel and dialogue with renowned experts in the study of Restorative Justice, Andy Shallal, from Bus Boys and Poets and Dr. Charles L. Chavis from George Mason's Carter School of Peace and Conflict Resolution.

These panelists will discuss the efficacy of Restorative Justice in its various applications and imagine, in conjunction with the audience, how Arlington can benefit from its increased adoption in our criminal justice system, our schools, and our community.

See the bios of our panelists below!

Charles L. Chavis, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution and History and the Founding Director of the John Mitchell, Jr. Program for History, Justice, and Race at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. Before joining the the Carter School, he served as the Museum Coordinator for the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dr. Chavis is a historian and museum educator whose work focuses on the history of racial violence and civil rights activism and Black and Jewish relations in the American South, and the ways in which the historical understandings of racial violence and civil rights activism can inform current and future approaches to peacebuilding and conflict resolution throughout the world. His areas of specialization includes Civil Rights oral history, historical consciousness, and racial violence and reconciliation. He has received over twenty-five grants, awards and fellowships from organizations including, the Robert M. Bell Center for Civil Rights in Education, Knapp Family Foundation, American Jewish Archives, The National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Park Service, and the American Historical Association.

Anas “Andy” Shallal is an artist and social entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO ofBusboys and Poets, a group of restaurants in the Washington Metropolitan area where art,culture and politics intentionally collide over mindfully sourced food, drinks andprogramming that feeds the mind body and soul. With 7 locations in and around DC,including the latest location in Anacostia, Busboys and Poets has become home forprogressives, artists and intellectuals including such notables as the late Howard Zinn,Cornel West, Alice Walker and Nikki Giovanni to name a few.

Busboys and Poets is a member of the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) focusing onsustainable business and employment practices. Busboys and Poets has also been at theforefront of environmental stewardship being one of the first businesses in Washington DC tobe 100% wind powered and are at the cutting edge of the local/sustainable food movementwinning many awards and recognitions locally and nationally for its innovative, consciouscuisine. Shallal has received numerous awards including the Mayor’s Arts Award, Employer ofthe Year from the Employment Justice Center, the Mayor’s Environmental Award, Washingtonian of the Year (Washingtonian Magazine) and DC Hall of Fame among others. More recently he was tapped to be a member of the re-open DC task force during the coronavirus pandemic.Shallal has founded and co-founded several peace and justice organizations and holdsleadership positions in numerous others. He is on the board of trustees for the Institute forPolicy Studies, Race Forward, the Anacostia Coordinating Council and a founding member of Think Local First DC, a local business association and has served in advisory and leadership roles to advance progressive business and labor practices including recently chairing the Workforce Investment Council of DC. Most recently, during the COVID19 lockdown, Shallal initiated a #PaintTheStorefronts effort where he hired artists to paint shuttered storefrontswith inspirational and uplifiting messages. This initiative quickly went viral spreading tocommunities around the US and the world. He holds an MBA from the Smith School of Business at The University of Maryland. Shallal continues to strive to make his hometown of Washington DC a more livable community.