A Youtube video of Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman interviewing activist and scholar Angela Davis on abolition. A transcript of the full interview is available here.
A panel hosted by the Institute for the Development of Human Arts that features "frontline organizers with a range of perspectives on how to maintain the safety and health of our communities in ways that are free from the police, rooted in survivors' experience, and designed to preserve the rights and autonomy of those in crisis. We will hear from panelists who have developed creative models across the country, both within and outside of the existing system. We seek to disrupt the notion that struggling community members are 'diseased' and 'disordered,' rather than in need of care and support. We will be asking the difficult questions about how to create community-based alternatives to cops in our neighborhoods and what it will take to lay the foundation for a new paradigm of engaging with what is called 'mental health crisis.'” A transcript of the event is available here.
"SWCAREs, whose mission is to dismantle white supremacy in social work education, was fortunate enough to be able to sit down with Rachel Cargle in May 2020. Facilitators, Sequoya Hayes and Sara Plummer, talk to Rachel about white supremacy in academia, the role of white womanhood in oppression, and how white saviorism harms the clients of social work practitioners." A transcript of the event is available here.
A panel hosted by Critical Resistance in which activists and organizers “discuss examples of prison industrial complex (PIC) abolition in practice now, bring context of abolitionist histories & framework, & discuss hard questions for abolition of the entire PIC.” A transcript is not available for this event. There are ASL interpreters visible on screen interpreting.
A panel discussion with #8toAbolition campaign organizers “about why abolishing the police and prisons can’t wait.” A transcript is not available for this event. There are ASL interpreters visible on screen interpreting.
"Critical Resistance presents “Breaking Down the Prison Industrial Complex,” a series of videos as part of our Profiles in Abolition initiative. The videos in the series explore the current state of the prison industrial complex (PIC) and how people are fighting back to resist and abolish it. As always, we feature abolition as a strategy to dismantle systems of harm and punishment in favor of systems that increase health, stability, and self-determination." This series features many prominent abolitionists, including Angela Davis, Mariame Kaba, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, and many more. Transcription and ASL interpreting are not available for this video series.
A Youtube video lecture series that follows “Discipline and Punish” by Michel Foucault. A transcript is not available for this video series.
A podcast interview with abolitionist organizer and activist Mariame Kaba. Here is a link for a transcript of this episode.
A two part Intercepted Podcast interview with abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore (this link includes a transcript of the podcasts).
An interview with abolitionist Mariam Kaba about how to join the abolitionist movement (this link includes a transcript of the podcast).
A podcast hosted by two social workers which is “a conversation about social work, oppression, and liberation.” There are several episodes covering police violence, the child welfare system, and mutual aid. Full transcripts of episodes are available on each episode page.
”Recent calls to defund police and abolish prisons have raised the question: But what about rapists? In part one of two episodes exploring that question, prison abolitionist Maya Schenwar presents the case for looking outside the criminal justice system for safety and connects the dots between abolition and feminism.” Here is a link for a transcript of this episode.
“Is it possible to combat sexual violence and support survivors without sending perpetrators to prison? Dr. Alissa Ackerman, a sex crimes policy expert and rape survivor, thinks so. In part two of two episodes reconsidering mainstream feminism's reliance on the criminal justice system, Dr. Ackerman outlines a powerful alternative to prison punishment called restorative justice and why she's living proof that it works.” Here is a link for a transcript of this episode.
”With her characteristic brilliance, grace and radical audacity, Angela Y. Davis has put the case for the latest abolition movement in American life: the abolition of the prison. As she quite correctly notes, American life is replete with abolition movements, and when they were engaged in these struggles, their chances of success seemed almost unthinkable. For generations of Americans, the abolition of slavery was sheerest illusion. Similarly, the entrenched system of racial segregation seemed to last forever, and generations lived in the midst of the practice, with few predicting its passage from custom. The brutal, exploitative (dare one say lucrative?) convict-lease system that succeeded formal slavery reaped millions to southern jurisdictions (and untold miseries for tens of thousands of men, and women). Few predicted its passing from the American penal landscape. Davis expertly argues how social movements transformed these social, political and cultural institutions, and made such practices untenable.
In Are Prisons Obsolete?, Professor Davis seeks to illustrate that the time for the prison is approaching an end. She argues forthrightly for “decarceration”, and argues for the transformation of the society as a whole.”
”Activist journalists Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law reveal the way the kinder, gentler narrative of reform can obscure agendas of social control and challenge us to question the ways we replicate the status quo when pursuing change. A foreword by Michelle Alexander situates the book in the context of criminal justice reform conversations. Finally, the book offers a bolder vision for truly alternative justice practices.”
”Afraid to call 911, but not sure what to do instead? Here are strategies for accountability beyond the criminal justice system. Transformative justice seeks to solve the problem of violence at the grassroots level, without relying on punishment, incarceration, or policing. Community-based approaches to preventing crime and repairing its damage have existed for centuries. However, in the putative atmosphere of contemporary criminal justice systems, they are often marginalized and operate under the radar. Beyond Survival puts these strategies front and center as real alternatives to today’s failed models of confinement and “correction.” In this collection, a diverse group of authors focuses on concrete and practical forms of redress and accountability, assessing existing practices and marking paths forward. They use a variety of forms—from toolkits to personal essays—to delve deeply into the “how to” of transformative justice, providing alternatives to calling the police, ways to support people having mental health crises, stories of community-based murder investigations, and much more. At the same time, they document the history of this radical movement, creating space for long-time organizers to reflect on victories, struggles, mistakes, and transformations.”
”This book attempts to spark public discussion by revealing the tainted origins of modern policing as a tool of social control. It shows how the expansion of police authority is inconsistent with community empowerment, social justice—even public safety. Drawing on groundbreaking research from across the world, and covering virtually every area in the increasingly broad range of police work, Alex Vitale demonstrates how law enforcement has come to exacerbate the very problems it is supposed to solve. In contrast, there are places where the robust implementation of policing alternatives—such as legalization, restorative justice, and harm reduction—has led to reductions in crime, spending, and injustice. The best solution to bad policing may be an end to policing.”
”That's Revolting! is a queer intervention in the culture wars. It is both blueprint and call to action, bringing the post-identity politic of a new generation of queer visionaries to a wider audience. The anthology consists of personal histories, rants, interviews, conversations, activist struggles, practical advice and glamour. Contributors include early gay liberation rabble-rousers, counterculture demons, fringe artistes, renegade academics, the dispossessed, the obsessed and various other enemy combatants. In other words, That's Revolting! is a book by a bunch of freaks, fruits, perverts and whores who are dedicated to resisting homogenization, globalization and all the other evils of this ravaging world.”