In his role as a Community Health Worker working with Healing Hurt People (HHP) program in the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice, and as a person who has lived experience with surviving gun violence, Jermaine disrupts dehumanization by providing a trauma informed, physically, and emotionally safe space for boys and young men of color. This emotional safety means that boys and young men of color can share their narrative in a space with empathy and without judgment of past experiences. These young people have already experienced too much dehumanization through their traumatic experiences being ignored, minimized, or even being criminalized. Jermaine writes: “I know what it is like to be labeled ‘dangerous’ from my involvement with the criminal justice system, and I know how healing can get disrupted by this dehumanization. This is why I do my part to lead by example.”
