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Readings
Foreword by Ruth Wilson Gilmore, pp. 1-4
Part One: On Letter Writing, Commune, and the End of (This) World, pp. 5-54
Abolition for the People
Colin Kaepernick, “A Future Worth Building”
Simone Browne, “The Feds Are Watching: A History of Resisting Anti-Black Surveillance”
Talila “TL” Lewis, “Rights are Not Justice: Disability Justice is an Essential Part of Abolishing Police and Ending Incarceration”
Kiese Laymon and Gwendolyn Woods, “Losing My Son to Police Violence”
Kimberle Crenshaw, “We Must Center Black Women”
Discussion guide
Colin Kaepernick, “A Future Worth Building”
RESOURCE(S)
Transform Harm. transformharm.org
READERS GUIDE
In his essay, Colin Kaepernick references the “institutions that constitute, enhance, and expand the carceral state.” Though there is no single way to define the “carceral state,” it is fair to say the term is broad and encompasses not only prisons and the police but also other institutions, agencies, practices, policies, and ideologies that see punishment and regulation as central to the maintenance of a white supremacist and hetero-patriarchal social order. According to the essay, what is the purpose of the carceral state?
How does the author define “reformist and reactionary ‘justice?’” What are the author’s criticisms of criminal justice reform?
What does the author mean by abolition? What elements of abolition does the author highlight?
Beyond prisons and police, what other institutions and practices in your community or neighborhood are part of the carceral state?
Simone Browne, “The Feds Are Watching: A History of Resisting Anti-Black Surveillance”
RESOURCE(S)
Survived & Punished: survivedandpunished.org
Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective: batjc.wordpress.com
AAPI Women Lead: imreadymovement.org
Stop LAPD Spying Coalition: stoplapdspying.org
READERS GUIDE
How do technologies marketed as countersurveillance tools often help to expand what Simon Browne describes as the “surveillance state”?
The author identifies historical examples of counter-surveillance technologies and strategies. Please list three to four examples.
The author cites several contemporary community-produced abolitionist technologies and strategies that can be used to circumvent and challenge the carceral state. What are they? How do they work?
How can counter-surveillance technologies cited by the author aid in Black liberation?
Talila “TL” Lewis, “Rights are Not Justice: Disability Justice is an Essential Part of Abolishing Police and Ending Incarceration”
RESOURCE(S)
The Abolition and Disability Justice Coalition: abolitionanddisability.com
Disability Justice Culture Club: mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/co-conspirators/disability-justice-culture-club
HEARD: behearddc.org
READERS GUIDE
What is “disability justice” and how does it differ from “disability rights”?
Talila A. Lewis writes, “The united states government and corporations have always used constructed ideas about disability and criminality alongside constructed ideas about class and race to classify, criminalize, cage, and disappear its ‘undesirables.’” What does the author mean by this? Provide examples to support your explanation.
The author argues that “disability justice” is a requisite for abolition. Why? What are some historical and contemporary examples the author uses to support their case?
What is “disability solidarity” and how can you participate in this work?
Kiese Laymon and Gwendolyn Woods, “Losing My Son to Police Violence”
READERS GUIDE
In a conversation with Kiese Laymon, Ms. Woods flips the racist ideology of “Black-on-Black crime” on its head and challenges it with several examples of anti-Black state violence. What examples does Ms. Woods cite to show that mainstream understandings of “Black-on-Black crime” have no basis in fact?
Ms. Woods refers to an “Officers’ Bill of Rights.” To date, over fifteen states have enacted legislation to codify their own Officers’ Bill of Rights. How do these bills of rights hamper efforts toward abolition, accountability, and harm reduction?
What are the differences in the ways that the police and mainstream media portray Mario Woods compared to the ways his mother understands him? Why, in your opinion, is it important to center and prioritize the narratives of community members impacted by police violence?
“My Son Was Executed by an Ideal” is the first “as told to” piece in this collection. How did reading this conversation make you feel?