Backbone of Justice

Symbolism of the Backbone of Justice Logo

The Backbone

The backbone in The Backbone of Justice Project represents the idea that a
sophisticated, holistic, interconnected structure for Justice may best serve humanity.

Bones are the densest parts of us. They give structure, strength.
They Break. They repair.
Of all tissues, Bones take the longest to regenerate.
Our justice system has been formed out of density.
The inhumanely misaligned structures lack strength for society.
Our justice system is broken.
It will take time and patience to heal and to calibrate anew.

The Backbone is at the core of our bodies.
When it is strong, stable, and flexible, and capable of generating movement, we thrive.
When misaligned, the pain can be excruciating.
A New Backbone of Justice could bring a new stable core to the body of societies.

A Backbone can do its best for us when it is working optimally, in all its complexity.
It is a multifaceted structure filled with wisdom as to how to move through the world.
It seems those characteristics would serve Justice well.
Maybe, if adjusted sufficiently, then Justice can better serve The People on whole.

Hands

In-touch.
These Hands appear in a manner of offering support.
Compassionate care. Of something both strong and fragile.
At the Backbone of Justice, we believe all of our systems need hands such as these.

Like the Scales carried by Lady Justice, there are two Hands here,
balancing both sides of the Backbone of Justice.
Giving the sense that Accountability met with Mercy is what is needed to keep the Backbone of Justice Upright.

Lotus Flower

As the famous saying goes... "No Mud. No Lotus."

The Lotus arises from the depths.
Beautiful and Clean, though its formation was in the muck
before it ascended in its pristine beauty.

While it is almost impossible to Imagine a future of Justice so pure and tender, we must try.
Or else, the natural blooming of that which might be destined to come from the murky unconscious space within our culture might never be possible.
The Dream must take root in us, in order to have any hope of Becoming.

Blue Flame

The hotter the fire, the more blue the flame.
When all the flame colors combine, white-blue is the hottest flame of all.
That spectrum of hotter to hottest of the refining heat represents transformative power.

Fire is a refining element. It hints at the chance of alchemical change.
This Blue Flame is a Prayer - that our systems may be transformed by the fuel of our Care.

Blue flame burns with least toxic output, therefore it is the safest.
Because of its safety, even in tight spaces, Blue Flame is used in our homes so we can be nourished and warm, even as the world around us is withholding and dark.
That is something people incarcerated and on probation often feel.
In that regard, Blue Flame is the antidote to the social hunger and
feeling cast out of belonging from society that comes with marginalizing.

Black & White

Black & White thinking restricts flexibility and creative expressions for solutions.
Polarization is all too common in most of our social issues.
That takes a toll.
This one takes a toll of an $80-200 BILLION a year in estimated cost.

The Justice System needs the full spectrum
of every aspect of society to be engaged in solutions.
For what might be possible.
We need not be locked into the limited thinking of past generations.

Inclusivity is needed.
In terms of skin color, everyone is affected.
And, racial injustices - historic and current - are also of great importance.
Now, people of all ethnicities play all of the various roles in the oppressive system,
with social patterns engrained and bias abounding.
We must come together across any sense of division to heal these wounds
until "us" and "them" dissolves and we see that all that remains is us.

This does not mean we seek the gray area as a means for losing
Color of blessed Diversity. We want to see color stand out, in a good way.
The contrast of diversity is what gives out culture its dynamic beauty.

Black & Blue

Bruised. Painful. Beaten up, beaten down.
Beaten and hurt by a system where nobody wins.
In a zero-sum, lose-lose game.
Where the authoritarian figures have often forgotten they are just
playing a cruel game. With lives.
A game set up by the ghosts of the past powers that have been.
Flaws, foibles and all.
Where often those who appear as victors, have lacked in true Valor.

Darkness as in the depths of unconscious.
Darkness also as the vastness of fertile Night sky, where the Light is birthed.

Blue is also a color attributed to Power and Voice.
To the Power OF Voice.
May Empowered Voices rise up, in those who have been rendered voiceless
by injustices of the so-called "justice" system.
Until Justice has a new face, emerging through the healing of what has hurt us
in the name of Justice having been Defiled, over misguided centuries.

Also, the black and blue is a nod to the presence of Law Enforcement
in context of the historically racist roots of the current conditions
of what we know (so far) as (supposed) "justice" in United States
(as well as other colonized or imperialized nation-states).

Black in honor of those with skin that has carried the burden of systematic bias.
Dark in honor of all those who have been relegated to these hidden, pain-filled spaces.
Blue in hopes of the Valor which may yet to arise as Justice Transforms Anew.

A Sense of Upright Movement

A Natural, healthy posture.
A sense of Movement. Towards Uprightness.
An Arising.

A Movement, a story, to be told out of abstract symbolism and concrete tangibility.
A Movement of our Time. Breaking free from the cultural relics of times past.

Calling us Out of the Blue...

A Calling Out.
Of those who have maintained the oppressive systems that don't work.
And a Calling Up.
Of all those who wish to be part of the change in this pivoting of
what is destined eventually to become history.

Because things that are devoid of life cannot go on forever.
Cling as they may, the Law of Entropy sees that they fall apart,
devolving into chaos as they go.

That which is born out of the Darkness must return to the Darkness.
That which is Light cannot help but shine.

This Movement is found in the paradox of the two being intertwined.
The brighter the Light, the darker the shadow.
Until all is illuminated and obstacles fade.
Then, the darkness cannot remain.

May all who are willing
See the Light and Shine
all they've got into these corners of culture.

This is a Movement.
The Backbone of Justice.
A Story... To be Told.

To Be Continued...

A New Backbone of Justice

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current punitive orientation of the probation system becomes a thing of the past,
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