Resources and Reflections for Justice Leaders

"What water justice is and looks like is as fluid as water itself—literally and metaphorically. As we reflect on the first half of the 2020 ICJS Justice Leaders’ Fellowship, our world is currently drifting in a seemingly unforgiving flood of chaos. [resulting] from a lack of water justice, a lack of reverence for the very essence of water," writes ICJS Justice Leader Fellow O'Dellshae Wiles Robinson El Bey.

"What water justice is and looks like is as fluid as water itself—literally and metaphorically. As we reflect on the first half of the 2020 ICJS Justice Leaders’ Fellowship, our world is currently drifting in a seemingly unforgiving flood of chaos. [resulting] from a lack of water justice, a lack of reverence for the very essence of water," writes ICJS Justice Leader Fellow O'Dellshae Wiles Robinson El Bey.

"What water justice is and looks like is as fluid as water itself—literally and metaphorically. As we reflect on the first half of the 2020 ICJS Justice Leaders’ Fellowship, our world is currently drifting in a seemingly unforgiving flood of chaos. [resulting] from a lack of water justice, a lack of reverence for the very essence of water," writes ICJS Justice Leader Fellow O'Dellshae Wiles Robinson El Bey.

ICJS Justice Leader Fellow Faridah Abdul-Tawwab explores the ways in which the current cohort's interrogation of the idea of water justice has evolved, by dint of our current world crises, into a critical search for guidance and collective reflection to inform wise action in the moment.

Achieving water justice is both a hard truth and a more abstract metaphorical truth for our collective work in Baltimore. Within those hard truths, we engage in and understand the work differently. Each approach is valid, and each approach validates our own lived truths, while seeking justice for everyone.

Justice Leader Fellow Venessa Day Johnson reflects on key takeaways from the Fellowship.

Achieving water justice is both a hard truth and a more abstract metaphorical truth for our collective work in Baltimore. Within those hard truths, we engage in and understand the work differently. Each approach is valid, and each approach validates our own lived truths, while seeking justice for everyone.

Justice Leader Fellow Kylie Patterson reflects on the commitment to justice found across religious texts, the value of understanding context and learning in community, and the implications for this current moment.

In this unique time of relative isolation, yet still inundated with the all too-familiar refrains of the calls to stand up, be present, be heard, I am struggling....Perhaps this reflection, this confession, really, will lift my haze, break down my walls, and reawaken the refrain of my childhood—tzedek, tzedek, tirdof (justice, justice, shall you pursue).

As I write this, it is raining – a late spring lightning shower over Baltimore. I am remembering desert rains and the rainbows that follow the floods: We will be better, we promised. With our use of water and everything we put in it, we have the power to harness and create a life-affirming society. Let us remember what we are made of.

In this unique time of relative isolation, yet still inundated with the all too-familiar refrains of the calls to stand up, be present, be heard, I am struggling....Perhaps this reflection, this confession, really, will lift my haze, break down my walls, and reawaken the refrain of my childhood—tzedek, tzedek, tirdof (justice, justice, shall you pursue).

The consistent message of the interconnectedness of religion, water, and justice encourages religious beings to collaborate in the pursuit of justice. In the context of today’s society, it points to the importance of interfaith organizing and dialogue.