The reweaving of our relationships with each other and the earth depends in large part on our capacities to engage our imagination, call on inspiration, and create new ways forward.
Mike Martin, co-founder and Executive Director of the non-profit organization RAWTools joins us for this conversation that includes healing from gun violence by transforming guns to garden tools, the necessity of learning how to resolve conflict without violence, and how community gardens are powerful spaces of healing trauma and cultivating belonging.
About Mike Martin: Mike learned to blacksmith in order to turn guns into garden tools and is passionate about connecting people to nonviolent skills like restorative justice and conflict mediation. He is trained for restorative justice facilitation, dialogue circles, and encourages everyone to explore how they can connect to similar efforts in their community. Mike believes turning swords into plowshares requires a comprehensive approach to gun violence, one that addresses the triggers in our streets, and the triggers in our hearts.
About RAWTools
On Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter): @rawtoolsinc
The mission of RAWTools is to 'Disarm Hearts and Forge Peace'. Our nation has been through a variety of horrific events surrounding gun violence, and it has brought the conversation to the forefront of our current events and “water cooler” conversations. It has largely become a binary conversation of either more guns or more laws. RAWtools wants to open a new option, a third way: What if we made a commitment to solve our problems without guns and violence?
Music in this episode by Mauro Urbina; Arurlo; also, lesfm
Transcript
A full transcript of the podcast can be found here.