Justice Gatson, Founder & Social Justice Doula Reale Justice Network
Justice Gatson (she/they) is from Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up on the Eastside. She earned a degree in Mass Communications from Bennett College, an HBCU in Greensboro, North Carolina. Justice is a former radio show producer and host. Justice is a former organizer for the ACLU of Missouri working on the policy team. She is the co-vice president of the Midwest region for the National Lawyers Guild and is a Legal Observer Supervisor who enjoys giving “Know Your Rights Training”
She is a Social Justice Doula, community organizer, president of the Kansas City Public Television community advisory board, and director of the Reale Justice Network. Her work centers on the experiences of Black survivors who are impacted by the dynamics of domestic, intimate, sexual, and state violence. She is leading efforts to create a healing and empowerment center for and by Black survivors of violence.
Justice is a founding member of the Missouri-Kansas BIPOC Reproductive Justice Coalition and as a birth, labor, and postpartum doula, justice works to make positive advances in the realm of Black perinatal and infant health. Justice is also a socialpreneur who operates a training center and social justice communications and consulting firm. She formed “Social Justice Doulas International” and coined the term “Social Justice Doula” (SJD), which describes a trained professional who supports community members affected by all forms of social injustice, generational trauma, and historical violence.
Justice is the former co-chair of the KC Reparations Coalition and was instrumental in the work done to establish the Mayor’s Reparations Commission. She is the current chair of the Kansas City Reparations Now Coalition, focusing on reproductive injustices. She was recently appointed as an advisor to the Mayors Reparations Commission.
Justice has been awarded and recognized for her community service and advocacy, presented as a Keynote Speaker, and interviewed by numerous media outlets. Justice is a budding filmmaker and was recently featured in a documentary, Bails & Bonds, which can be viewed at docucourse.org. Justice believes that those closest to the pain are also closest to the solutions and we must center the voices and experiences of multi-marginalized communities in order to achieve equity and justice.