Abolition
“Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) abolition is a political vision with the goal of eliminating imprisonment, policing, and surveillance and creating lasting alternatives to punishment and imprisonment. Abolition isn’t just about getting rid of buildings full of cages. It’s also about undoing the society we live in because the PIC both feeds on and maintains oppression and inequalities through punishment, violence, and controls millions of people. Because the PIC is not an isolated system, abolition is a broad strategy. An abolitionist vision means that we must build models today that can represent how we want to live in the future. It means developing practical strategies for taking small steps that move us toward making our dreams real and that lead us all to believe that things really could be different. It means living this vision in our daily lives.Abolition is both a practical organizing tool and a long-term goal.” – Critical Resistance
“Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) abolition is a political vision with the goal of eliminating imprisonment, policing, and surveillance and creating lasting alternatives to punishment and imprisonment. Abolition isn’t just about getting rid of buildings full of cages. It’s also about undoing the society we live in because the PIC both feeds on and maintains oppression and inequalities through punishment, violence, and controls millions of people. Because the PIC is not an isolated system, abolition is a broad strategy. An abolitionist vision means that we must build models today that can represent how we want to live in the future. It means developing practical strategies for taking small steps that move us toward making our dreams real and that lead us all to believe that things really could be different. It means living this vision in our daily lives.Abolition is both a practical organizing tool and a long-term goal.” – Critical Resistance
Articles
Abolition Is Not Merely a Demand, But a Long-Term Struggle
By Barry Chin Original article found here Recently, I received this text from a longtime comrade: “You’re not gonna believe this but the governor is
To Stop Police Violence, We Need Better Questions — and Bigger Demands
By Mariame Kaba Photo: loveandstruggle Original article found here It’s impossible to take the violence out of policing Once again, there is justified outrage at police acting
Aching for Abolition
By Camonghne Felix Original article found here As a survivor of sexual violence, I know prison isn’t the answer. No one really asks a survivor
Why These Sexual Assault Survivors Support Defunding The Police
By By Alanna Vagianos and Jenavieve Hatch Original article found here As the rallying cry to “defund the police” reverberates across the country, some critics
Why Police Abolition Is a Useful Framework — Even for Skeptics
By Zak Cheney-Rice Original article found here “Defund the police” has become a rallying cry for recent protests, but several different explanations have been offered for
We Have Already Stopped Calling The Cops
By Aviva Stahl Original article found here It was the late ’90s when writer, activist, and educator Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, then living in Toronto, found themselves
A Fresh Framework – The Feminism of the Abolition Movement
by Rayne Fisher-Quann Original article found here While weeks of protest sparked by racist police killings continue to rock all 50 states, police violence in the United States
Trading Cops for Social Workers Isn’t the Solution to Police Violence
BY Cameron Rasmussen & Kirk “Jae” James, Truthout Original article found here The U.S. today appears to be approaching a tipping point in dismantling its historical oppression of
What Is Abolition, And Why Do We Need It?
BY REINA SULTAN AND MICAH HERSKIND Original article found here In the midst of nationwide uprisings against ongoing police murders of Black people, a new set of demands has been
How I Became a Police Abolitionist
By Derecka Purnell Original article found here We called 911 for almost everything except snitching. Nosebleeds, gunshot wounds, asthma attacks, allergic reactions. Police accompanied the
How to Defund the Police
By Alexis Okeowo Original article found here On June 11th, near twilight, Camara Jackson was in Marcus Garvey Village, a sprawling low-income housing complex in
Abolition or Bust: Liberal Police Reform as an Engine of Carceral Violence
By Charlotte Rosen Original article found here The police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade, and the subsequent uprisings against racist police
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