The Justice Collaboratory Explores Solidarities In The Notebook’s Latest Volume
The Justice Collaboratory has released the second volume of its digital publication The Notebook. Centered on the theme of solidarities, the latest installment includes art, social science, and stories about the connections we build, the collective actions we take, and the communities we nurture across geographies, struggles, and imaginations.
The Notebook, which was created to exist between an academic journal and a popular magazine, blends academic research and lived experience to expand the conversation about community vitality, safety, and justice. The inaugural issue, centered on community vitality, was published in February 2024.
Executive Director Caroline Nobo describes The Notebook as “an accessible and inviting publication, something tangible that you can open to any page and find beauty alongside thoughtful pieces exploring the holistic vision of a world where both the individual and the collective matter.”
Through firsthand narratives, poetry and academic research, this issue explores solidarities across topics including mutual aid, violence interruption, civil commitment, and nurturing relationships behind and across prison bars.
The publication opens with a primer on the science of solidarity by Yale Psychology Professor Jennifer Richeson. Her research explores psychological phenomena related to cultural diversity, particularly how individuals reason about and respond to social inequality and injustice.
“There are many ways to define solidarity,” Richeson writes. “Personally, I see it as camaraderie — an understanding of shared humanity — while acknowledging that different groups face different threats. Solidarity means holding space for one another’s vulnerability and recognizing our common causes.”
Contributors include nonprofit leaders, researchers, community organizers, and justice-impacted individuals. Some of the academic contributors include Clinical Professor of Law Marisol Orihuela ’08, who writes about the never-ending cycle of civil commitment; Rutgers Professor Benjamin Justice who offers a graphic depiction of aliens learning about structural injustices; and Northwestern Professor Andrew Papachristos, who reflects on his partnership with Institute with Teny Gross, CEO of Nonviolence Chicago.
The volume also includes stories from New Haven community members. One example is Dawn Poindexter, who lost her son to gun violence before starting gun prevention research initiative The Quis Project.
Original art from formerly incarcerated artist Hector Rodriguez spans the publication. Rodriguez participated in The Yale Prison Education Initiative’s College to Career program and is pursuing an MFA at SUNY Purchase.
The Justice Collaboratory celebrated the release of The Notebook with a community event at NXTHVN on Dec. 6. A panel of contributors spoke about their connection to the theme of solidarities. One Small Step, an organization that brings strangers with different political views together for conversation, engaged attendees in practices of connection and solidarity.
“The Notebook is designed for anyone who has the resolve and power to make change in their community,” Nobo said. “We hope it will be widely read and shared.”
