Big things absolutely do come in small packages.
Exhibit A: Monique Joseph, a self-described, small but mighty dynamo – she stands 4’11″ – who is as serious about justice for the downtrodden as she is about her faith walk.
The Defender spoke with the Houston native, Klein Forest HS and Moody Bible Institute (Chicago) graduate, about her work as the Holistic Services Director for the non-profit Restoring Justice
DEFENDER: What is Restoring Justice?
MONIQUE JOSEPH: Restoring Justice is a nonprofit created in Houston by Drew and Jessica Willie. We work to take on cases of people who have overloaded court-appointed attorneys, and we provide them with a holistic, client-centered attorney. Along with that attorney, our clients receive holistic resource connections through client advocates. These are folks who are directly affected and who have overcome their own path and legal system with mental health or drug use. We pair them with our clients to help get the resources they need. Each client is also given free trauma-informed counseling. They’re also paired with a volunteer from the community who helps walk with them through their case. And what we see is that more times than not, a lot of our clients are able to get their cases dismissed, their charges dropped, or have really minimum sentences, and are able to get back on their feet a lot quicker. We say we are why communities are getting safer. It’s not at all because of police interactions. It’s unfortunately on the tail end of getting the resources once folks are getting caught in the system.
DEFENDER: What led you to this work?
JOSEPH: God led me down a path that allowed me to draw blood at Houston Methodist Hospital for five years. I was a phlebotomist. I loved that work. Then my ex-husband was wrongfully convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sentenced to 45 years. We had three children. And I just knew I had to do something to ensure that my sons weren’t selected and singled out by the system. So, I started doing criminal justice work. That kind of sums up what I’m doing now; trying to implement reforms in the system that allow for healing and true safety for our communities.
DEFENDER: What was it about you that said, ‘This is what I need to do’?
JOSEPH: I knew that I’m here to serve, that God has in me a special desire and skill in serving people who are extremely hurt and marginalized. My mother was a lesbian. That wasn’t cool growing up in high school. I was always kind of marginalized in that sense. And I’m small. I’m a Black woman. I can be kind of meek and timid. So, I’ve had to kind of develop a voice for myself, and I knew that I wanted to develop that voice and use it to help others. I just didn’t know how. And when [my husband got convicted], I thought I’d just kind of advocate and use my voice on the side. I actually started doing healing circles in the community, at a coffee shop in Third Ward. That turned into something really liked in the community. That kinda led me down into restorative practices at Restoring Justice and doing healing circles, and hopefully getting those implemented into Harris County’s justice system at some point.
DEFENDER: Why is being God-led such an important aspect of your work?
JOSEPH: There are so many ways the system tries to take our joy and our peace. I’ve only been able to keep those things because of my relationship with God. And I truly believe when Jesus walked this earth, he lived a life that lifted the folks the rest of society deems as criminal, dangerous. Jesus devoted his energy to lifting those folks, lifting their voices and their concerns. In fact, he condemned the Pharisees, those who put those people in jail, those who wanted to hold them accountable for their petty crimes. So, I believe if we really look at how Jesus lived his life, restoring justice, healing circles, these are the things Jesus called us to do. And we should be in fact holding our elected officials accountable for policies and their dirty deals that cause our communities to suffer. That’s where the accountability should be. And right now, we’re placing fake accountability on people who are basically being forced to make the choices they’re making.
DEFENDER: What’s the most challenging aspect of the work that you do?
JOSEPH: For me, it is the day-to-day of having two sons who have a father who’s incarcerated. I always talk about how if the world could spend 24 hours with my sons and see what it’s like for a child to have to go through the understanding at each age group, when they’re five and they learn daddy’s incarcerated; when they’re 10, just the things they go through. That’s one thing that’s a struggle for me.
DEFENDER: What’s the most rewarding part of what you do?
JOSEPH: We have these things called Freedom Parties here at Restoring Justice, where we get to post bail for a bunch of folks and get them out of jail, and then we invite their families, and we have a huge party with resources and connect them with aftercare support, so people in the community that can help walk them through rebuilding. And honestly, it’s seeing people hug their families when they get out of jail.
DEFENDER: How can the community help?
JOSEPH: The first way, the biggest way to help if you’re able is financial help. We are grassroots. We don’t take money from certain sources if we believe that money is corrupt and not going to let us do the work the way we know it needs to be done. So, we could always take donations. The second thing is volunteers. We have volunteers that go and meet with folks in jail who are stuck with bad counsel. We have volunteer opportunities to help us with fundraising, with social media, and different things like that. The last thing I always suggest is to do something wherever you are. You don’t have to work in criminal justice reform to stand up for equity and justice. You can do that no matter where God places you. It just takes some educating yourself, understanding the issues, and then being bold enough to stand up and speak on them when they happen.
Monique Joseph
Holistic Services Director
Favorite thing about Houston: Houston’s Black culture.
What are you reading these days: I’m in a project management course, so I have a project planning encyclopedia. It is a huge book that I’m reading about project planning.
What’s on your playlist these days: I’m listening to Black Thought and Nino.
