Accountability is a self practice that looks to get to the root cause of an issue. As a practice it  provides skills that shift behaviors, cultures, and can build an infrastructure of consistent mechanisms that address harm, conflict, and violence. Humility is a condition of being humble, this feeling will and is essential to engage in accountability. It is an acknowledgement of one’s actions and behaviors in order to have the intention of striving towards accountability/

We uphold a worldview that understands all life as an interconnected web. Though we are taught to believe in our dominant capitalist culture that we should and can exist independently, the truth is that we are in an intimate connection relationship with the land, humans, and other living beings. Disability Justice scholar and activist Mia Mingus asks the essential question: ​​"Whose oppression and exploitation must exist for your “independence?” Drawing on indigenous teachings from some of our elders such as Harold and Phil Gatensby and Kathy Absolon as well as Disability Justice frameworks, we believe that everyone has something valuable to offer and that healing and transformative relationships are grounded in care and support. To that end, we resist extractive and transactional ways of engaging in our work and seek to build meaningful and holistic relationships with our partners and collaborators. If you are interested in building reciprocal relationship with us, please email us at info@unitycircles.com.

We believe transformation is possible when communities affected most by carceral systems are able to decide for themselves what healing and self-determination look like. We see transformation as a process that requires attention and reflection at the individual, family and community level. We welcome everyone who wants to work towards justice while recognizing that based on history and positionality that work may look different.  We support reparations and redistribution of wealth as a way to support the conditions for healing. Justice is all beings’ physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs being met in a way that doesn’t take away anyone else’s needs.  Justice looks like centering the leadership of those who have historically not been valued as “leaders” including BIPOC youth, disabled and low income folks and those who have been  formerly incarcerated.

We see healing as grounded in a reclamation of our dignity–our gifts, self-determination, personal power and presence; an ability to see ourselves and others as whole. The historic and current traumas of chattel slavery, colonization, racial capitalism, and patriarchy have made it necessary for us all to practice healing as a discipline if we are going to exist outside of these violent systems. We recognize that healing is not solely an individual experience; when we heal ourselves we heal our ancestors and future generations and we make it more possible for others in our immediate life and community to heal. Because of this, we believe healing happens on multiple levels, including in community.