MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDER

“I was always big on giving back to the community, doing for others. My father, he raised me saying, ‘Just because you’re capable of helping someone means you have to. It’s not an option.’ I’d always known that I was going to give back and do something, somehow. I had no idea that it’d be through this job. But I think that’s my calling. I think this is what I need to do, where I need to be. At least twice a month, after interacting with someone, they tell me that it’s the first time that they’ve actually felt the service of what policing is supposed to be. And that keeps me going—just the people.”

- Samuel J. Battle

My name is Terry Watson, and I am the founder of Strategies for Justice. Like my great-uncle Sam Battle, I, too, believe it is a responsibility, not an option, to seek strategies for justice. Since 2014, I’ve spent time training, presenting, and engaging in dialogue around the narrative of Samuel J. Battle and another ancestor, Moses P. Cobb, who was instrumental in breaking down the racial barriers for police officers in the city of New York (in 1921 and 1892, respectively). Telling their story, The Battle With Moses People (BWMP), has sparked dialogue around the topics of inequities within and outside of law enforcement.

If my journey, since starting to tell their story has taught me anything, it is that we must continue to engage and try to learn from the stories we collect. I have the uncanny ability to engage anyone on any topic, and most recently, I have focused on racial injustice within and outside of law enforcement. With this focus, I established SFJ in 2019 to create a meaningful and productive push for justice.

SFJ seeks to help communities utilize the power of stories as a foundation for reform. We are a speaking and training bureau that believes unveiling untold narratives of injustice can lead to change. We look to work with communities, organizations, and institutions of higher education with the mission to engage in civil yet meaningful dialogue.

SFJ now recruits and collaborates with others who are willing to tell their own narratives regarding race, ability, and law enforcement. These stories come from those who are currently working in or are retired from law enforcement or who have had a positive, progressive impact on identifying, breaking down, and eliminating injustices and inequalities.

Terry Watson

Founder, SFJ