{"id":1040,"date":"2022-11-10T04:56:23","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T04:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?post_type=podcast&#038;p=1040"},"modified":"2025-11-29T16:49:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T21:49:30","slug":"ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1","status":"publish","type":"episodes","link":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1","title":{"rendered":"Ep. 14 &#8211; Michael Tafolla"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1040\" class=\"elementor elementor-1040\" data-elementor-post-type=\"episodes\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-af48181 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"af48181\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5242f5a8\" data-id=\"5242f5a8\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7f06fe0f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7f06fe0f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn this part 1 of a highly instructive 2-part episode, Michael Tafolla shares the story of his life journey from living in a home with loving parents in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago and being a nearly straight A student, to experiencing the childhood trauma of repeated victimization by gang violence even though he was not a gang member, which eventually lead him in his teenage years to make the fateful decision that to survive he would need to, as he puts it, become what he feared.\n\nHe tells how he picked up the gun and became one of the most feared gang members in his neighborhood, which set him on a path leading ultimately, only a few days after his 18th birthday, to shoot and kill a rival gang member and wound another.\n\nHe describes his lengthy prison experience, starting in maximum security, and how he came to make the dangerous decision to change his life \u2013 dangerous because of potential punishment from leaders of his gang who were in prison with him, as well as vulnerability to retaliation from members of the rival gang of his victims.\n\nHe describes how during the latter part of his incarceration in the Danville Correctional Center his participation in the in-prison <a href=\"https:\/\/hri.illinois.edu\/community-connections\/education-justice-project\">Education Justice Project<\/a> of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was a transformational experience for him, not only because of what he learned and the college degree he earned, but because of how he was treated as a human being and scholar.\n\nThis part 1 ends with Michael saying, \u201cin 2018, when I was released, is when the next chapter of my life starts.\u201d\n\nYou won\u2019t want to miss hearing the rest of the story in part 2, the most important part, about who Michael is and what he is doing today.\n\nIn part 2, Michael shares the experience and challenges he faced upon release from prison, including barriers due to his status as a convicted felon, and how he became a victim advocate responding to the scenes of shootings to assist victims and their families deal with the trauma of gun violence.\n\nHe will discuss his work as a restorative justice practitioner as he and host David Risley dive into the topic of restorative justice and other ways in which our current approach to crime and criminal justice can and should be improved to be more effective and responsive to the needs victims, perpetrators of harm, and communities.\n\nSo, be sure to listen to both parts 1 and 2 for Michael Tafolla\u2019s story and his deep insights gained from his own lived experience, higher education, and professional experience and observation.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-c3bbd9b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"c3bbd9b\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-047d06b\" data-id=\"047d06b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-333327e elementor-widget elementor-widget-video\" data-id=\"333327e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;youtube_url&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/youtu.be\\\/K9teVaaI6gY&quot;,&quot;video_type&quot;:&quot;youtube&quot;,&quot;controls&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"video.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-wrapper elementor-open-inline\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-video\"><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"https:\/\/episodes.castos.com\/6071ff53eed562-33341195\/3056530c-f894-4145-869c-fa1019944555-JV-016-Tafolla-AUDIO-FINAL.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"1127828","podmotor_episode_id":"1315686","cover_image":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Michael-Tafolla-screenshot.png","cover_image_id":"1041","duration":"00:59:46","filesize":"82.2 mb","filesize_raw":"86215973","date_recorded":"2022-11-10 04:56:23","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":""},"class_list":["post-1040","episodes","type-episodes","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.0 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trauma from Gun Violence - Michael Tafolla&#039;s Story<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Trauma from Gun Violence - Michael Tafolla story of chronic childhood trauma from gun violence, going to a prison that changed his life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ep. 14 - Michael Tafolla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Trauma from Gun Violence - Michael Tafolla story of chronic childhood trauma from gun violence, going to a prison that changed his life.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Justice Voices\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/justicevisions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-29T21:49:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Michael-Tafolla-screenshot-1024x1024.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1\",\"name\":\"Trauma from Gun Violence - Michael Tafolla's Story\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/Michael-Tafolla-screenshot.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-10T04:56:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-29T21:49:30+00:00\",\"description\":\"Trauma from Gun Violence - Michael Tafolla story of chronic childhood trauma from gun violence, going to a prison that changed his life.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/Michael-Tafolla-screenshot.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/Michael-Tafolla-screenshot.png\",\"width\":1883,\"height\":1883,\"caption\":\"Trauma violence and restorative justice\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Episodes\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/?post_type=episodes\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Ep. 14 &#8211; Michael Tafolla\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Justice Voices\",\"description\":\"Eye-Opening Stories Practical Solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"Justice Visions\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Justice Voices\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/VOICES.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/VOICES.webp\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Justice Voices\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justicevoices.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/facebook.com\\\/justicevisions\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trauma from Gun Violence - Michael Tafolla's Story","description":"Trauma from Gun Violence - Michael Tafolla story of chronic childhood trauma from gun violence, going to a prison that changed his life.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ep. 14 - Michael Tafolla","og_description":"Trauma from Gun Violence - Michael Tafolla story of chronic childhood trauma from gun violence, going to a prison that changed his life.","og_url":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1","og_site_name":"Justice Voices","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/justicevisions","article_modified_time":"2025-11-29T21:49:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Michael-Tafolla-screenshot-1024x1024.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1","url":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1","name":"Trauma from Gun Violence - Michael Tafolla's Story","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Michael-Tafolla-screenshot.png","datePublished":"2022-11-10T04:56:23+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-29T21:49:30+00:00","description":"Trauma from Gun Violence - Michael Tafolla story of chronic childhood trauma from gun violence, going to a prison that changed his life.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Michael-Tafolla-screenshot.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Michael-Tafolla-screenshot.png","width":1883,"height":1883,"caption":"Trauma violence and restorative justice"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?episodes=ep-14-michael-tafolla-pt-1#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Episodes","item":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?post_type=episodes"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Ep. 14 &#8211; Michael Tafolla"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/","name":"Justice Voices","description":"Eye-Opening Stories Practical Solutions","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Justice Visions","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/#organization","name":"Justice Voices","url":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/VOICES.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/VOICES.webp","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Justice Voices"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/justicevisions"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/episodes\/1040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/episodes"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/episodes"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justicevoices.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}