The author describes their experience attending an event at the Resource Center for Nonviolence (RCNV) that inspired them to get involved in social justice work. They were moved by a documentary screening and discussion about the criminal justice system that highlighted the importance of human dignity. The author joined the RCNV steering committee and supports the organization's work bringing diverse voices together and encouraging nonviolence. They believe RCNV is helping foster positive change in the community.

1. December, 2015
Dear Friends,
My 15-year-old son brought me to the Resource Center for Nonviolence. As he stepped into
the role of African American male in a society that systematically incarcerates black men, I
was driven to the steps of the Resource Center to find a salve for my fear. I came to a screening
of “Juvies,” a documentary of young lives already trapped in the criminal justice system.
Through the film and the following community conversation, I experienced an honest place
for connection and solution to issues that were impacting my life. I felt that there was an
answer in the collective wisdom of the members gathered and that it stemmed from a
universal truth of human dignity, equity, and well-being.
Inspired, I joined a call for community action on some of Santa Cruz’s most dire issues of
racism and classism. My values and therefore my work were supported through a power-
ful partnership with the RCNV. I watched and learned that activism is more than silent
protests, loud rebuttals, or political condemnation. It
is the deeply grounded, humbly courageous and fierce-
ly righteous stand for that universal truth that allows
for all beings to live peacefully in our fullest potential
within a community that supports the highest good in
each of its members.
I have been honored to serve on the Steering Committee for
the Resource Center for Nonviolence. This work is my best
contribution to a local social movement that will shift our
community perspective to one of unity and social integrity.
I am totally committed to this organization being a place
where every life is recognized and valued. At my first RCNV
retreat last spring, I spoke from my heart when I said that I
see the Resource Center speaking and encouraging the
language of nonviolence, in this county and beyond. I
believe this Center is the wellspring for a courageous
community to grow, thrive and heal. I am committed to
spreading the language of nonviolence, respect, inclusion
for all people, especially people who have suffered from exclusion and institutional forms
of violence.
I am the Program Coordinator for the Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) Speakers
Bureau. This program fosters leadership, civic engagement and advocacy among formerly
incarcerated men and women in Santa Cruz County in service of dignity, equity and sustain-
ability for all community members. This program creates unique pathways for individuals to
reunify with their community through practical skill building, public speaking, community
engagement and community service opportunities. CCP Speakers Bureau participants share
Mariah Tanner and Teela Williams at
RCNV, July 2015.
Continued...

2. authentically about reclaiming their lives and advocate
for change from the strength and perspective of their lived
experience of the challenges faced when reentering society
from incarceration.
Scott Kennedy Hall at the Resource Center has become an
organic incubator space for these voices. Each class gradu-
ates by walking across the stage and courageously telling
their stories, adding their voice to the voices of Gandhi and
Martin Luther King. That is the right they so bravely stood
for: that all voices are equal and all stories matter. The
United Way marketing coordinator has become fond of
taking the graduate photos with the RCNV peace mural and
Martin Luther King mural in the background. RCNV is the
perfect vessel for shepherding the new voices into the work
of community activism.
In my life and work, change comes when we identify our core values, and act from them instead
of our fears and anxieties. Having the courage to look inward is only the first step and professing
nonviolence is only another. Together we learn again every day how to focus on our core values and
come to lean on our mentors, elders, tradition, and history while channeling the fire and energy of
our young people to carve new paths toward better futures. This belief is carved in gratitude for the
Resource Center for Nonviolence as a place where diversity meets experience and at that inter-
section we find our core values, express them, and encourage one another to live to their fullest
potential and their highest good.
Please join me in supporting the Resource Center for Nonviolence as a great place to build and
speak nonviolence.
In Courage,
Teela Williams
Resource Center for Nonviolence Steering Committee Member
Teela Williams, third from left, with CCP Speakers
Bureau participants at RCNV.
u November 2- December 17:photography exhibit- ENDURING POWER:The Middle Eastern & IranianWoman’s Story AT RCNV.
Exhibit HOURS:Sunday 2-4PM,M - F Noon - 4PM. SponsoredbyRCNVandSensesCultural.Co-sponsoredbyWILPFSantaCruzandSantaCruzUnitedNationsAssociation
u Friday,December 4,6-9PM:First Friday ENDURING POWER Exhibit Reception & Films: THETRIALS OF SPRING AT RCNV. Two
showings of several short films- 6:00 and 8:00PM.“Three years.Six revolutions.Nine women.Fighting for peace in a state of war inTunisia,Libya,Syria,
Egypt,Bahrain,&Yemen. (45 minutes) 7:00PM: Tata Masud,Founder and CEO of Senses Cultural speaks. AT RCNV. — Light refreshments provided —
u Saturday,December 5: Downtown Holiday Parade, 10:00AM:MARCH with RCNV and the peace & justice contingent. Look for our green banner.
Starts at Pacific & Laurel Streets.
u International Human Rights Day - Thursday,December 10, 7:30PM:TheTRIALS OF SPRING feature-length film about Hend Nafea and her
fight with Egypt’s brutal regime,in one of the most inspiring stories of the Egyptian revolution. AT RCNV.
u January 16: YOUTH DAY- part of Martin Luther King,Jr.celebrations.Details coming soon. AT RCNV. Co-sponsored by RCNV and NAACP- SC Branch
u GI Rights Hotline:Counseling for servicemembers,veterans,potential recruits,and their families.Weekly meetings– More Counselors needed:aprilburns333@gmail.com
u Palestine IsraelAction Committee (PIAC):Monthly meetings:piac@calcentral.com,831-234-6522
u Santa Cruz County Community Coalition to Overcome Racism (SCCCCOR): For meeting schedule:overcomeracism.org,831-425-4500
Resource Center for Nonviolence UPCOMING EVENTS u rcnv.org u 831.423.1626