I grew up in the United States (nation and occupied territories) during late-stage racial capitalism I was trained to be exactly this reductionist and punitive.īut then I began the lifelong journey of decolonization, in which I have slowly and steadily been politicized into alignment with a collaborative, adaptive, healing worldview. When situations feel violent, when children I love are endangered, when people in my community are causing harm, I still feel that first instinct to control the situation and clarify a right–wrong binary, and sometimes that instinct goes as far as wanting to dispose of those causing harm. What I witness most often, even among those of us who claim to be abolitionists, is the longing for a future free of prisons and policing, paired with a tried-and-true practice of punishment and our own versions of social policing.Īnd before any pedestal formed against me can prosper, I want to be clear that I am not above or beyond this behavior. But most of us, even as advocates, don’t have a ton of lived experience of what it feels like to be inside of accountable relationships or structures. Many of us have been demanding structural changes: Defund the police! Abolish prisons! And we speak of these massive and amorphous ideas as if they are clear proposals we are ready to roll out.
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