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Readings
Part Four: One Hundred Forms of Homespace, pp.149-200
Part Five: “We Are Peoples of the Lands,” pp. 201-234
Abolition for the People
Derecka Purnell, “Reforms are the Master's Tools”
Derrick Hamilton, “No Justice, No Freedom”
Naomi Murakawa, “The Three Traps of Reform”
Bree Newsome Bass, “Putting a Black Face on Police Agendas”
Discussion guide
Derecka Purnell, “Reforms are the Master's Tools”
READERS GUIDE
Derecka Purnell juxtaposes reform and abolition. Please identify three to four differences between reform and abolition.
According to the author, what is the relationship between incarceration and emotional/mental health?
The author writes, “Abolition might feel threatening because it upends the status quo and delusive comforts of cops and cages.” Have you experienced people (yourself included) feeling threatened by these arguments? How have you responded to these threats? Using the author’s essay, how would you challenge these concerns?
The author shows that houselessness and incarceration are often intimately related. According to a 2018 report authored by the Prison Policy Initiative, “formerly incarcerated people are almost ten times more likely to be homeless than the general public.” Conversely, research recently conducted by the Urban Institute shows that experiencing unsheltered houselessness increases one’s interaction with the carceral state. How have you seen these phenomena play out in your community?
Derrick Hamilton, “No Justice, No Freedom”
READERS GUIDE
Derrick Hamilton cites two Clinton-era “crime” bills that have disproportionately criminalized Black people: 1) The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and 2) Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. Based on this essay, describe the two features of each of these bills and their outcomes.
The author writes, “While I was incarcerated, no one else had a vested interest in me achieving this goal. This is by design.” What does the author mean by this? Do you agree or disagree? Explain.
The author references the 11th Amendment. In your own words, describe why the 11th Amendment is important to the author’s argument that “criminal justice reform” does not constitute progress for those most impacted by the carceral state.
After spending twenty-one years in prison, the author was exonerated in 2015. What emotions does the author’s story evoke in you?
Naomi Murakawa, “The Three Traps of Reform”
READERS GUIDE
According to Naomi Murakawa, what are the three traps of reform? How does each trap reinforce the others? And why do these traps ultimately reward the police?
How have police been “rewarded” since (and in response to) the 2020 protests? Provide three to four examples.
What does the author mean by “Policing is not law’s absence; it is law’s essence in a system of racial capitalism”? Do you agree or disagree? Explain.
What suggestions does the author offer for avoiding reformist traps and for pursuing abolitionist futures? What are your own suggestions for pursuing abolitionist futures?
Bree Newsome Bass, “Putting a Black Face on Police Agendas”
READERS GUIDE
“The idea that we can resolve racism by integrating what is perhaps the most fundamentally anti-Black institution in the US- its policing and prison industry- is the most absurd notion of all,” writes Bree Newsome Bass. What makes this wrong-headed assumption so powerful?
What is the author’s criticism of the argument that police violence is based on a “breakdown in trust” between police and communities? How has this argument served to promote reform and challenge abolitionist movements?
What is the author’s analysis of the role that class plays in the police reform and, relatedly, police violence? Do you agree or disagree? Explain.
The author demonstrates that “police forces in America began as slave patrols.” Do you believe this history is important to understand integrationist/reformist impulses to policing today? Please explain your answer.