Restorative Justice is not separate from racial justice. This course is about how they work together.

An on-demand course for people who already understand the problem and want a framework for how to practice differently.

You've been in the rooms. You know harm is relational and systemic at the same time. You've seen what urgency culture does to movements. You've watched organizations absorb the language of accountability without changing anything about how they operate.

You're not looking for an introduction to racism. You're not looking to be convinced that the system is broken.

What you might not have yet is a framework that connects what you already believe to a set of practices you can actually use — in community, in conflict, in the institutions you work inside of even when you'd rather burn them down.

That's what this course is.

WHAT THIS COURSE IS

Restorative Justice is a philosophy and set of practices, rooted in Indigenous values of interconnection, that focus on building strong relationships, responding to harm with accountability, and strengthening community. It is not a program. It is not a conflict resolution tool. It is a way of being that has a lineage — and that lineage matters.

This course starts with the foundations of Restorative Justice: where it comes from, what it actually asks of us, and why the relational logic at its core is inseparable from any serious analysis of power and harm.

From there, it moves into racial justice — specifically how power, socialization, and systemic inequity shape what happens inside communities, organizations, and everyday relationships.

Then it brings those threads together through the framework of white supremacy culture developed by Tema Okun and Kenneth Jones. Patterns like urgency, perfectionism, individualism, defensiveness, and one right way are not just workplace problems. They are the water. This course is about learning to see the water — and about how Restorative values and practices can interrupt it.

WHO THIS IS FOR

This course is for people who are:

Already values-aligned and want a framework to match. You've been doing racial justice work, organizing, or community care for a while. You've heard of Restorative Justice but haven't gone deep into it. You want to understand it on its own terms — not the watered-down, behavior-management version.

Working inside institutions they didn't build and can't fully transform. You're navigating real organizations with real constraints. You want tools that are honest about those limits and still worth using inside them.

Trying to practice what they believe in their actual relationships. Not just at work. In their families, their friendships, their communities. The frameworks are only useful if they change how you actually show up.

WHAT YOU'LL COME AWAY WITH

A grounded understanding of Restorative Justice — where it comes from, what it actually asks, and why the racial justice analysis is built in, not bolted on.

Language for recognizing white supremacy culture patterns in institutions and relationships — specific enough to name them when you see them.

A clearer sense of how Restorative values and practices can interrupt those patterns in real conditions, not ideal ones.

You'll also hear from experienced facilitators and past participants who share how engaging this work changed what they noticed, what they questioned, and how they practice.

WHAT THIS ISN'T

This is not a training that will give you a script to follow or a certification to display.

This is not a neutral course. It has a framework, a lineage, and a set of values. If you're looking for something that presents multiple perspectives on whether racial justice is real, this is not that.

This is not a substitute for doing this work in community. A course can build knowledge and sharpen analysis. It cannot replace sitting in circle with real people, navigating real conflict, and practicing repair over time.

What it can do is give you a foundation — ideological, practical, and relational — that makes everything else you're doing more coherent.

THE "ONLINE COURSE" QUESTION

If you're skeptical that a course can hold this kind of work, that skepticism is warranted.

Most online courses about racial justice or restorative justice flatten the content to make it digestible. They strip the lineage. They focus on technique. They make you feel like you learned something without asking you to change anything.

This course doesn't promise transformation. It promises honest, substantive engagement with a framework that has a real lineage and real demands. What you do with it after — in your practice, your community, your relationships — is the actual work.

The course is on-demand so you can move through it at your own pace. That's not a workaround for the relational work — it's a recognition that this content deserves to be engaged seriously, not rushed through.

ABOUT DAVID RYAN BARCEGA CASTRO-HARRIS

I came to Restorative Justice not through a textbook but through watching people with records get shut out of jobs, and then through working inside Cook County Jail and alongside Lawndale Christian Legal Center in Chicago. I trained with Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation and Community Justice for Youth. I hold a Master's in Social Justice from Loyola University Chicago.

My RJ lineage runs through the Howard Zehr Center at Eastern Mennonite University — Kay Pranis, Carolyn Boyes-Watson, the peacemaking circle tradition. My racial justice analysis runs through Tema Okun, Miriam Kaba, Ruth Wilson Gilmore.

I teach this work through Amplify RJ because I believe people deserve a rigorous, honest, ideologically grounded entry point into what Restorative Justice actually is — not the version institutions buy because it's easier than accountability.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is this course for beginners or do I need background in RJ? No prior knowledge of Restorative Justice is required. The course builds the foundation from the ground up. If you already have some background, the racial justice and white supremacy culture analysis will add depth to what you already know. The course is designed to be substantive for people at different entry points without requiring any of them to start over.
2. I already do racial justice work. Will this course just repeat what I know? Probably not. Most racial justice frameworks don't include a serious engagement with Restorative Justice as a philosophy and set of practices. This course asks you to think about RJ not as a program for managing harm after it happens, but as a way of being that is inseparable from how we understand power, relationship, and community. That framing is different from most racial justice trainings, even good ones.
3. Is this course affiliated with any particular RJ organization or certification body? No. This course is taught from my framework and my lineage, which runs through the Howard Zehr Center at Eastern Mennonite University and the peacemaking circle tradition. It is not affiliated with the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) and does not lead to an IIRP certification. If you're looking for that specifically, this is not the right course.
4. Can I take this course if I'm white? Yes. The content on white supremacy culture is taught in a way that is useful for everyone navigating predominantly white institutions — which is most institutions. If you're white and doing accountability work, this course will give you a more grounded framework for understanding what you're up against and what Restorative values can offer inside those conditions.
5. I'm skeptical that an online course can actually hold this material. Should I still take it? That skepticism is fair. Online courses on this content often flatten it. This one doesn't promise transformation — it promises honest, substantive engagement with a real framework. The relational work this content points toward has to happen in community, over time, in practice. The course builds the conceptual and ideological foundation for that work. What you do with it is yours.
6. How long is the course and how is it structured? The course is self-paced and on-demand, so you can move through it at your own pace. It is divided into three sections: the foundations of Restorative Justice, an examination of racial justice and how power shapes relationships and institutions, and an exploration of white supremacy culture patterns and how Restorative practices can interrupt them.
7. Is there a version of this course designed for educators and schools? Yes. If you're a K-12 educator looking for a version specifically designed for classrooms and school contexts, that course is available separately. This version is designed for individuals, community members, and organizational leaders outside of or adjacent to school settings.