Abolition is the collective practice of productive refusal. It is an immoderate rejection of white supremacy (and whiteness itself), patriarchy, hetero-normativity, ableism, settler-colonialism, border imperialism, political hierarchy, and the rule of capital. It is a politics of discomfort, constant reflection, continuous analysis, and what Alisa …
Read moreTo build a world that is otherwise: Andrew Dilts on Abolition
Frederick Douglass, the great black prophet, abolitionist, and freedom fighter proclaimed in 1857, nine years before the end of U.S. chattel slavery in 1865, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” His words, like those of so many others, set the stage …
Read moreWe who believe in freedom, cannot rest: Ahmad Greene-Hayes on Abolition
Abolition is a goal that I use to orient my thinking and action. When I am teaching or writing or demonstrating or speaking in public or private, I can ask myself whether I am contributing to the abolition of racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, xenophobia, …
“When you kill a living being, you kill yourself and everyone else as well.” —Thich Nhat Hahn I was introduced to prison abolitionism when asked to organize a 1998 prototype for Critical Resistance at CU-Boulder. Alongside several thousand attendees at the “Unfinished Liberation” conference, …
Read more7 Lessons in 1 Abolitionist Notebook: Joy James on Abolition
Abolition is the undoing of walls in all their forms, a constant striving to challenge and overturn their commanding presence within ourselves and without, a fierce struggle to unlearn and to face the destructive and oppressive structures that stand uninvited in our daily lives. …
Read moreIn this struggle, art is my crucible: Amanda Priebe on Abolition
At No Exceptions Prison Collective (NEPC) we believe that abolition is the natural result of a system of transformative justice. Thus abolition is not only about abolishing all systems designed to break the human mind and spirit, but ultimately about the creation of a …
Long Live John Africa! If we are to adopt the name of abolitionist, let us do so openly, mindfully, and aware of its great and true significance. For, guild history has rewritten the texts, and penned what Black historian Lerone Bennett has called “theology” …
What does “abolition” mean today? In this series of short statements, Abolition collective and board members invoke abolition in a variety of ways, as frames for interpreting the world, as a mode of being in the world, as a methodology for analysis, as an …