Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, Vol 29(1), Feb 2023, 31-40; doi:10.1037/pac0000641
This article explores two decolonial and healing justice projects from which the authors have attempted to make our own humanity visible, through reclaiming, testimonio, “re-membering” of and from our painful past through connecting, restoring, celebrating survival and joy, and envisioning alternative structures and conditions that embody an ethic of care. The first project is the Next Generation (NEXTGEN) “Pagbabalik” (Coming Home) Program, which supports second-generation Filipinx Americans to visit their home country for the first time. These trips have served as a cultural portal to a country of origin that has been impacted by over 350 years of colonialism, first by Spain and then by the United States, and from which many Filipinx leave behind to live in the land of their colonizers. It is a project designed to facilitate meaningful connection to a “homeland” that did not previously exist. The second project is the Healing Justice Dialogue Series, established to honor restorative justice practice involving peaceful resistance and indigenous practices of healing as forms of decolonization. These gatherings have encouraged critical self-reflection, steeping in our own discomfort, and acknowledging the healing many of our communities need amidst the anguish, rage, violence, illness, trauma, and loss they continue to disproportionately experience. Bridging our experiences between and within these two projects are our shared values, the most prominent being an ethic of care. As coconspirators invested in our individual and collective healing, we each share our testimonies and how these projects are a form of resistance, peacebuilding, and healing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)