State of Abolition
State of Abolition
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State of Abolition Introduction
The Forge's Abolitionist Issue aims to capture the "State of Abolition" and provide an overview of not only what modern abolitionists are doing, but the logic and experience that is driving the work. These are a series of reflections from the Abolitionist Gathering which occurred in 2022, two years after the 2020 Uprisings. Much of this work was either produced by participants during the conference or through reflection on their organizing afterward.
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AK Press 2023 Practicing New Worlds: Abolition and Emergent Strategies
The following is an excerpt from Practicing New Worlds: Abolition and Emergent Strategies by Andrea J. Ritchie (AK Press 2023).
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Chad Davis via Wikimedia Commons The Struggle to Stop Cop City—By Any Means Necessary
A history of Stop Cop City and the struggle to defend the Atlanta Forest. A must read for anyone interested in getting the whole story and understanding the strategic thinking informing some of the most important organizing in the country.
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Asokeretope via Wikimedia Commons Abolition as a Transnational, Anti-colonial Struggle
The following is an edited and expanded version of opening remarks from Robyn Maynard at the 2022 Abolitionist Network Gathering. Robyn provides context for the abolitionist movement in Canada and explains how deeply intertwined international systems of oppression make it necessary to create an intertwined international abolitionist movement.
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Leslie Barlow, Taylan DeJohnette, Maiya Lea Hartman via Wikimedia Commons After the Uprising: In DC and Beyond
Three years after the uprising, Makia Green, a co-founder of Defund MPD & Harriet's Wildest Dreams, offers a stirring reflection on the profound challenges and real achievements realized by the modern abolitionist movement. Makia calls for unwavering investment and solidarity in the pursuit of community-led safety and true freedom.
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Matthew T Rader via Wikimedia Commons Stories From the Frontlines of Abolitionist Organizing
The following are lightly edited transcripts of presentations made in the griot oral tradition by abolitionist organizers on the first day of the network gathering in response to two questions: What dreams did our ancestors need to have to make this moment possible? What dreams do we have for the future?
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House Our Neighbors Building Life: Housing Justice and Abolition
House Our Neighbors (HON!) organizers describe their efforts and victories in establishing a social housing developer in Seattle, influenced by an abolitionist framework, with the goal of providing affordable and dignified housing for all.
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Beyond Do No Harm: Health Justice and Abolition
Maria Thomas of Interrupting Criminalization reflects on the importance of health justice in abolitionist organizing, the Black Panthers and Young Lords, and her work to bring together healthcare workers and organizers to craft solutions to end the use of the healthcare system as an extension of the carceral state.
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Алёна Коваль Getty Images Abolition and Anti-capitalism: For a Liberation Economy
The following are edited excerpts from remarks shared by Maurice BP-Weeks, founder of The Action Center on Race and the Economy, and Solana Rice, a founder of Liberation in a Generating, during the Abolitionist Organizing Network Gathering on the relationship of our economy and abolition.
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Becker1999 via Wikimedia Commons No One is Disposable: Migrant Justice as Abolitionist Organizing
Angélica Cházaro argues that the Migrant Justice movement and the Abolitionist movement must be intertwined because the system of oppression they face is one and the same.
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Narih Lee via Wikimedia Commons What Will Increase Everyone’s Well-Being?
Mariame Kaba explains Transformative Justice and why it is essential to improving the lives of all humans. From Mariame's opening statement at the Abolitionist Gathering at the 2022 Allied Media Conference.
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Rowland Scherman via Wikimedia Commons What Time Is It on the Clock of Abolitionist Organizing?
The following is a lightly edited transcript of opening remarks by Andrea J. Ritchie for the Abolitionist Gathering at the 2022 Allied Media Conference. It is an assessment of the current conditions in which the abolitionist movement exists and some of the difficult questions concerning power and strategy that must be faced in the coming years.
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Critical Resistance Dismantle, Change, Build: Frameworks for Abolitionist Organizing from Critical Resistance
This is a lightly edited transcript of a presentation by Woods Ervin, Mohamed Shekh of Critical Resistance, and Andrea J. Ritchie of Interrupting Criminalization. For more resources on abolitionist organizing from Critical Resistance, please visit criticalresistance.org/resources/. For more information on No More Police: A Case for Abolition, please visit bit.ly/NoMorePolice.