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this is a question i& #39;ve gotten at least 2x a week since i started publicly IDing as an abolitionist. it& #39;s been answered by ppl much more articulate than i but i& #39;ll take a stab at summarizing my stance https://twitter.com/greatskycircles/status/1260614106983194629">https://twitter.com/greatskyc...
if the problem is "bad ppl cause harm" consider whether prison solves that problem. we put the "bad ppl" away but that doesn& #39;t & has never stopped ppl from being harmed
why then do we keep choosing/investing in a system that& #39;s been proven to perpetuate the problem?
if ur still with me here then you& #39;ve looked around & decided that prisons don& #39;t work. the question becomes "so what do we do?"
abolition isn& #39;t just closing prisons but the radical transformation of the system that makes prisons possible. we need to *build* the support systems that make harm less likely to occur
if ur still here u agree that as a society we can do a better job of providing for ppl so they don& #39;t steal or sell drugs but the question persists. what about the murderers & rapists? what do we do w/ those that can& #39;t be rehabilitated?
ruth wilson gilmore said it best when she offered the idea that "abolition is a theory of change". calling urself an abolitionist means committing to imagining a world w/o prisons & then working to build that world
in some scandanavian countries prison abolition has led them to open prisons focused on reintegration w/ super low recidivism rates. this is a great start but abolitionists believe harm perpetuates harm & the only way to stop the cycle is by radically transforming it
when i first started on my abolition journey i read tons of books/articles/papers on prison abolition looking for a definitive answer to the "where do the bad guys go?" question. the truth is that there is no black & white answer
if u agree that prisons don& #39;t work, are willing to build the support systems that make harm less likely & are committed to imagining a world where harm is not perpetuated but instead radically transformed then u, my friend, are an abolitionist
some foundational reading to start u off: https://abolitionistfutures.com/pre-conference-events/abolitionist-reading-discussion-group/reading-list/">https://abolitionistfutures.com/pre-confe...
a transformative justice podcast for folks not ready to engage with prison abolition text! https://soundcloud.com/endoftheworldshow/the-practices-we-need-metoo-and-transformative-justice-part-2">https://soundcloud.com/endofthew...
