Justice Talking is a national reading and discussion program for AmeriCorps members featuring discussions that use short philosophical and literary texts, images, and videos on the nature of justice, service and related themes. In partnership with Ohio Humanities, ServeOhio hosts AmeriCorps members and program staff for Justice Talking facilitation training once per year. Participants become more familiar with the art of humanities-based discussion and have a better understanding of the importance of civic reflection.

2020-21 Justice Talking Facilitator Resources

• Facilitator's Handbook: outlines the facilitation method and includes a wealth of tips and suggestions for planning and hosting a successful Justice Talking session.
• Virtual Justice Talking Toolkit: instructions for converting Justice Talking discussions to a virtual format
• Virtual Justice Talking Slide Template: PowerPoint slide deck to use for your discussions
• Content and Facilitation Notes: Justice Talking curriculum and accompanying notes to facilitate discussions for each piece
• Planning Sheet: outline to plan your Justice Talking discussions
• Facilitation Log: document to record the sessions you facilitated and information about those sessions

Justice Talking Content Selections

Content selections include texts for download or from online sources, and online videos. Each content selection is marked according to format:

T - for Text       V - for Video

Below author and title information you will find topic areas. Use these to help choose content depending on the kind of Justice Talking session you would like to have. Some of the selections require a password to view.  Please use the password jt to view this content. It is case sensitive, so make sure it is lowercase.

T - William Ayot, The Contract: A Word from the Led
Leadership

T - James Baldwin, "Stranger in the Village," excerpt
Diversity & Difference, Identity & Community

V - Alonso Alvarez Barreda, History of a Sign
Poverty & Need, Motives & Values

T - Bertold Brecht, "A Bed for the Night"
Poverty & Need, Serving

T - Cesar Chavez, "The Mexican American and the Church"
Change, Motives & Values

V - Adam Davidson, The Lunch Date
Serving

T - Adam Davis, "What We Don't Talk About When We Don't Talk About Service," excerpt
Serving

V - Fusion Comedy, How MicroAgressions Are Like Mosquito Bites
Empathy

T - Nikki Giovanni, Rosa Parks
Service and Values, Leadership

T - Alish Hopper, Did it Ever Occur to You That Maybe You're Falling in Love?
Service and Values

T - Langston Hughes, I, Too
Identity & Society, Change

T - Lowell Jaeger, "Okay"
Poverty & Need, Motives & Values

T - Tracey Kidder, Mountains Beyond Mountains, excerpt
Serving, Motives & Values

T - Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail, excerpt,
Leadership, Change

T - Etheridge Knight, "A Wasp Woman Visits a Black Junkie in Prison"
Serving, Motives & Values

V - Sally Kohn, Let's Try Emotional Correctness
Service and Values, Empathy

T- John Lewis, Together, We can Redeem the Soul of America
Leadership, Change

T- Peggy McIntosh, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, excerpt
Identity and Society

T- Harryette Mullen, Elliptical
Service and Self, Service and Values

T - Cecilia Munoz, Getting Angry Can Be a Good Thing
Service and Self, Change

T - Naomi Shihab Nye, "Gate A-4"
Serving, Diversity & Difference, Identity & Community

T - Mary Oliver, "The Buddha's last Instruction"
Serving

T - Rachel Naomi Remen, "Helping Fixing or Serving?," excerpt
Serving

V- Derek Sivers, How to Start a Movement
Leadership

A- Rachel Smith, Hallelujah the Saviors Are Here
Serving

T - Anna Swir, The Same Inside
Empathy

T- Natasha Trethewey, Enlightenment
Identity and Society

T - Miller Williams, Of History and Hope
Identity and Society

​V - Paula Stone Williams, I’ve Lived as a Man and a Woman
Identity and Society, Empathy