Tamisha
The first in her family to obtain a graduate degree, Tamisha Civil is the host of Voice of Reason Boston, a radio broadcast focusing on socioeconomic issues impacting those in the greater Boston area. Previously, Tamisha worked as a Victim’s Witness Advocate in Suffolk Superior Court. She currently works as an Associate Probation Officer in Massachusetts and Legal Advocate for survivors of domestic violence at Finex House. Voice of Reason Boston can be heard every Saturday at 11am ET on WEZE 590 AM.
Hi Tamisha! Can you tell me about the initial creation of Voice of Reason?
Voice of Reason was born while I was driving back and forth from work and listening to a radio show; they had a commercial about people starting their own segments, so I thought about it! It took about a year to create. I have a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice and Leadership from Northeastern University, and I didn’t see any broadcasts in the Boston area that talked about criminal and social justice issues. I felt like there was a need.
I started to think about certain issues that I wanted to talk about, such as criminal justice, immigration, and food insecurity. I have a variety of people that come in from the community to speak. Oftentimes, people strive to get someone who’s already on top, who’s already well known. But I wanted to reach out to people in the community that are actually doing the work but don’t often get recognized. So I created a platform to interview community leaders, politicians, those from nonprofit organizations, and anyone doing something prominent in their community that would allow people to access resources about it.
It bothered me that there was so much information in our community, but people didn’t have access to it or they got it too late. There aren’t enough airwaves of information that people can access. Voice of Reason Boston gives people access to resources and information they wouldn’t normally get on a daily basis.
What does radio enable you to do in ways that other mediums don’t?
I never saw myself as a radio host; this was a leap of faith. I love helping people and sharing information. I like to connect people where they’re needed and create relationships and opportunities. My parents are Haitian immigrants, and when my mom came to this country she worked hard – two jobs. I saw her work to help people in the community coming from Haiti, to give them a place to stay or [have] a big Sunday dinner and invite people to come to eat. I was raised on helping people, so this felt like a good way to do that.
There are not a lot of mainstream media sources that give African Americans the opportunity to speak our truths. We are not always given the opportunity to tell our stories. And if we are, they’re sometimes changed. I thought this was a great opportunity to give people the way and the means to share their story authentically and honestly. Media will block you from saying certain things. We don’t talk down about people on my radio show, but we do have uncomfortable conversations that need to be talked about. We can agree to disagree, and we can try to find a focal point on how to make things better in our community, how we can elevate people or strive for better.
We don’t have a lot of African American women doing radio shows that talk about issues like domestic violence. I’m a legal advocate for a domestic violence shelter, so we talk about that. It’s giving people a platform to tell their stories in the ways they want to.
Do you feel like you can discuss whatever you want to? Do you ever get pushback or criticism from viewers about certain topics?
Once I was interviewing a holistic doctor about the COVID vaccines. She was giving a lot of pushback against the vaccine. I didn’t feel that that was something that I could air because at the time, many people were dying from the disease. And to this day, COVID is still around – I’ve had it twice. There’s a lot of misinformation out there that can steer people in the wrong direction, and even cause them to lose their lives. With the platform that I have, it’s important that I give the right information. I don’t want to put anyone in harm’s way by putting people on a platform that aren’t doing due service. So I’m very careful as far as what I put out there.
I’m interested in your background in the criminal justice system. I was wondering if Voice of Reason feels like a natural extension of that work?
Voice of Reason is something that I do solely for the community. I don’t get paid for it, or receive any grants. It’s a way of giving back. My full-time job is as an associate probation officer; I interact with judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors, police officers, clerks, magistrates, and anyone you can think of that works in a courthouse. But also with the public, with those who have been impacted by or involved in crimes.
I would say that criminal justice is a revolving door. I’m very mindful to treat those I interact with respect and dignity. It could be as simple as an OUI or driving without a license. I interact with people who have been [arrested for] domestic violence. These are people who made a bad decision at that given moment, but we don’t know what their mental health was like.
I try to make sure they understand that they have an opportunity to be their best selves. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. So when someone’s on probation, I let them know that this is just a stepping stone and that they can change. I deal with organizations that provide substance abuse and mental health [support], and courses to help them finish their probation. Those are the kinds of people that I interview on Voice of Reason.
That’s really interesting work – and very heavy, I’m sure.
It can be very heavy, no day is the same. There was recently a publicized case of a woman in Stoughton stabbed in the head. It was pretty devastating for the people in the community to find out someone was killed due to domestic violence. But these are the situations that people like myself encounter when we’re in these types of jobs, and you don’t take your life for granted.
Interacting with so many different people in your community must give you a good sense of the information that people need – does this translate to Voice of Reason?
That’s correct. We can definitely do more when it comes to providing resources about domestic violence, letting people know they’re not alone and have resources. When it comes to domestic violence, anyone can be subject to it; there is no face, and there is no race. We need to do more to make sure we have safe places for women at work, at home, in school, and wherever it may be. There’s a lot of work to do.
I try to help by providing information. For example, I do legal advocacy for Finex House, a domestic violence shelter in Jamaica Plain. I’ll have advocates from the shelter come on Voice of Reason and talk about the hotline they run, the housing advocate they have to help women with housing. We also have a legal department where they have a free legal attorney to represent them in court or with restraining order hearings.
We know it can be lonely. I’ve seen a lot of women come to get restraining orders by themselves; their partner or husband can afford an attorney while they can’t. I’ve also had judges come on Voice of Reason to talk about how they approach situations of domestic violence in hearings. Because I’m just one person, there’s a lot of information that I don’t have. But it’s important to me that I get these agencies and organizations on the show to talk about what resources they provide and how to access them.
Intimate partner violence can be such a lonely and isolating experience – I’m sure that Voice of Reason is incredibly helpful to those that it reaches.
As a host of Voice of Reason Boston, it’s important to continue these conversations. We don’t talk about it enough. Voice of Reason Boston is a small radio broadcast that focuses on issues such as domestic violence. I feel like we have to talk about what’s impacting our community to change the narratives.