In 1971, Walter Rodney wrote a moving tribute to Black revolutionary and political prisoner George Jackson, whom many would call a forefather of the modern abolitionist movement. In this writing, Rodney accurately connects prisons in the US to the long and racist legacy of prisons throughout the colonized world. . . .
Prison Abolition
Examining the Prison Industrial Complex’s Impact on Black America
A world in which resources and opportunity were fairly distributed to Black Americans does not exist. This country’s history of racial oppression has weighed a heavy burden on the progress and advancement of Africans since slavery and will continue without organized resistance. . . .
Thoughts On Abolition
Politics can change and evolve. Considering the dialectical nature of embodied knowledge or ‘lived experience’ and politics, it is imperative to acknowledge that these processes inherently demand change and evolution. In other words, what one strongly believes can be reconsidered and analyzed alongside objective material analysis, as both are theoretically in a constant state of development. Since 2020, there has been a gradual realization about the limitations of various strategies, ideologies, and political approaches, particularly in the context of using “abolition” as a catch-all umbrella. To grasp the U.S. state in its specific and complex dimensions, one needs to recognize . . .
Abolitionist Efforts to Trangress the Prison Walls
Incarcerated radical intellectuals elucidate the nature of political struggle and its various arenas. Alongside these writers are solidarity groups that propagate their writings and intellectual products. Through a close reading of Black Communist trans prisoner Alyssa V. Hope’s legal efforts and writings, this article unearths how a pen-pal relationship transformed into a comprehensive abolitionist community. This case study provides an ex-ample of how abolitionists are grappling with the need to support the material needs of marginalised communities while still building otherwise possible worlds separate from a failing welfare state. Mutual aid projects, like the one formed by Hope’s supporters, showcase that otherwise possible worlds are not only possible, but they are being created right now be-fore us. . . .
Objective Facts
Objective Facts is poem from Darius Simpson about the necessity African resistance to the forces of exploitation and oppression. . . .
Everyday Abolition
Abolition is a verb, a practice. The act of abolition generates an abundance of new opportunities. It is alive with possibility! Abolition is presence. It requires our attention and care. It forces us to think wide and imagine. What does a just world look like? What does mass peace feel like? . . .
Jailhouse Lawyers Speak calls for National Shut ‘Em Down Demonstrations
Jailhouse Lawyers Speak announces the call for National Abolition Demonstrations inside the prisons and Jails of America. . . .
Black August, Letter Writing and the ‘Harm Reduction’ Administration
There are four major components in the yearly commemorations of Black August: study, fast, train, and fight. People are encouraged to study the works and words of former and current political and politicized prisoners. People are encouraged to fast from sunrise to sunset. People are encouraged to train and become more physically active. People are encouraged to fight against the system. However, one of the lesser centered but equally important aspects of Black August is letter writing. Nearly a half-century ago, Gresham Sykes wrote in The Society of Captives: A Study of a Maximum Security Prison that, “life in the . . .