Fumbling Towards Repair: A Workbook for Community Accountability Facilitators
Mariame Kaba (Author); Shira Hassan (Author)

Fumbling Toward Repair is a workbook by Mariame Kaba and Shira Hassan that includes reflection questions, skill assessments, facilitation tips, helpful definitions, activities, and hard-learned lessons intended to support people who have taken on the coordination and facilitation of formal community accountability processes to address interpersonal harm & violence.

“Fumbling Towards Repair: A Workbook for Community Accountability Facilitators” by Mariame Kaba and Shira Hassan is a thought-provoking and groundbreaking book that challenges traditional notions of how to address harm in communities. The authors make a compelling case for community accountability processes as a way to both protect survivors and support the transformation and healing of those who cause harm.

One of the key ideas in the book is the recognition that none of us know exactly what we are doing when it comes to addressing harm and building accountability. However, the authors argue that this should not prevent us from starting the work. In fact, they posit that not starting and expecting perfection are both part of the problem.

The authors also tackle the problematic notion that there are distinct groups of people who cause harm (PWCH) and those who are harmed or are survivors. They argue that this dichotomy is damaging and that we should instead focus on supporting the healing and transformation of all individuals involved in harm.

Another key takeaway from the book is that community accountability processes may look different every time and vary across communities. This acknowledgement is refreshing and necessary, as one-size-fits-all approaches often do more harm than good.

Overall, “Fumbling Towards Repair” is a deeply thought-provoking and generous guide that will be helpful for anyone looking to think more critically about how we respond to harm and build deeper relationships outside of punitive systems. Whether you are a facilitator or simply someone looking to engage with these important issues, this book has something to offer.

Authors

Mariame Kaba is the founder and director of Project NIA, a grassroots organization with a vision to end youth incarceration. Mariame is also a co-organizer of the Just Practice Collaborative, a training and mentoring group focused on sustaining a community of practitioners that provide community-based accountability and support structures for all parties involved with incidents and patterns of sexual, domestic, relationship, and intimate community violence. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications including The Nation Magazine, The Guardian, The Washington Post, In These Times, Teen Vogue, The New Inquiry and more. Mariame uses her extensive experience with issues of racial, gender and transformative justice to catalyze various projects.

Shira Hassan is the former executive director of the Young Women’s Empowerment Project, an organizing and grassroots movement building project led by and for young people of color that have current or former experience in the sex trade and street economies. A lifelong harm reductionist and prison abolitionist, Shira has been working on community accountability for nearly 25 years and has helped young people of color start their own organizing projects across the country. Shira’s work has been discussed on National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Nation, In These Times, Bill Moyers, Scarleteen, Everyday Feminism, Bitch Media, TruthOut and Colorlines.

Get the Book Here! https://www.akpress.org/fumbling-towards-repair.html