Abolition and the Evolving Pursuit of Freedom Abolition reminds us to pursue freedom. It names the systems that thrive on a lack of freedom—white supremacy and settler-colonialism, patriarchy and heteronormativity, capitalism and debt. It critiques the violent forces that structure unfreedom—police and prisons, borders …
Freedom. A freedom informed by the social vision of the Black radical imagination. Framed by the tenets of love, compassion and communal fellowship, the social vision of the Black radical imagination represents a path to undo multifaceted relationships to power and forge new connections. Such …
Abolition is both a negative process of dismantling oppressive structures and a positive process of imagining, creating, and sustaining the sort of relationships, practices, and institutions that would make oppressive structures obsolete. Abolition is not a telos, if by telos one means the end …
Read moreThese are the moments in which another world becomes possible: Lisa Guenther on Abolition
Abolition is both a way of seeing the world and a way of being in and acting in the world. For me, it means understanding the connections between settler colonialism, the carceral state, white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, racialized capitalism, etc. But it is also a …
Read moreWe cannot reform away oppression. It must be abolished: Brian Lovato on Abolition
I see Abolition as both a social praxis and a utopian project. As a social praxis, it asks us the insurgent question of how to respond to state terror against black communities without making concession to the language of peace and rights that requires …
Read morePolitical imagination at work: Jaime Amparo Alves on Abolition
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, …