Earlier this month, we celebrated the launch of Reimagining Safety Michigan (RSM) and its beautiful new website. RSM is a collective of organizations committed to advancing a vision of liberation from carceral-based systems in Michigan. The launch included a grounding session, a walkthrough of the new materials, and a training of how to use the resources on the RSM website. DJC is proud to be a member RSM alongside: ACLU-Michigan, American Friends Service Committee – Michigan Criminal Justice Program, Care-Based Safety, Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, Liberation Empathy Advocacy Future, LINC UP, Michigan Liberation, Michigan Roundtable for Just Communities.
The event, hosted at The Love Building on April 12, 2026, drew between 30 and 40 people from around Michigan. The launch began with somatic exercises led by Nicholas Buckingham from MI Liberation, who showed participants how to release tension from the body and regulate the nervous system. Somatics is a form of movement and body work that emphasizes internal physical perception and personal embodied experience. Nick explained how somatics is connected to RSM’s work, and how it helps move the work forward by allowing us to check in with our bodies as we move through a chaotic world, handling heavy realities.
Following a big stretch and release with Nick, Desiraé Simmons, Director of the Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice, led participants through the RSM Platform. Desiraé grounded the room in the freedom dreams behind this work. RSM shares an abolitionist vision of the future, centered on a platform of seven transformative priorities, listed below.
We imagine a future where:
- Governance is determined by, and with, the people.
- Resources are invested in care and beloved community.
- We claim the audicity to imagine.
- Repair and care is centered by all.
- We practice a culture of accountability.
- We get free, stay free, and help free others.
- We center the most harmed, including in our advocacy.
Everyone in the room was asked to pick 1-3 WeGovern principles that they could pour into daily to share at their tables, and we discussed how individuals can’t do everything at once, but if we each chose our areas of focus, together we would cover much more ground. Through the priorities, participants were introduced to the concept of participatory budgeting, a process which allows greater democratic control over budget priorities. As part of determining where budget priorities should lie, RSM has developed an evaluation rubric for safety that asks important questions to help determine if a policy or action falls in line with anti-carceral principles. We also walked through RSM’s Power Map, an incredible new resource that shows where criminal justice money is being spent, and the stakeholders in charge of decision-making.
Rounding out the afternoon, DJC’s own Community Legal Advocate, Lauren Thomas led the room though the community facilitation training guide, showing participants how to use RSM’s new website and resources. Lauren stressed that you do not need prior facilitation experience to work with these resources. As a collective, it’s important to us that the tools we produce are accessible and easy to use so that anyone can join in the movement. Lauren closed out the afternoon by inviting everyone to keep in touch and be on the lookout for a Lansing gathering sometime in the next few months.
DJC is thrilled to be a part of this collective work, and we hope you will join us in using the RSM tools to advocate for divesting from incarceration and investing in communities across Michigan. Our deepest gratitude to the Love Building and everyone who made it out to the launch! We hope to see you all again soon as we organize together for an abolitionist world.