Resources

A collection of common questions related to abolition, policing, and incarceration and links to find resources for further education and organizing.

A collection of disability justice webinars that intersect with abolition, incarceration, policing, and more. This list includes notes on accessibility (e.g., ASL, captioning, passwords, etc.).

Throughout its history, law enforcement has deemed Black activism as a national security threat. Law enforcement has used its powers to chill the speech and movements of Black activists and activism that’s done on behalf of issues that impact Black communities. In Criminalizing Black protest: When we resist, the 34th episode of “The Activist Files,” two activists working to bring attention to the environmental racism in St. James Parish, Louisiana, which is a historic Black community under threat of destruction by Formosa Plastics, share their stories of how police criminalized their activism.

This project asks what kind of City would be possible if unhoused neighbors were treated as worthy of life and dignity rather than as a nuisance or a threat, and if trauma-informed, unarmed civilians had been called to help rather than control. Many of us who have worked on this effort have personally witnessed and experienced the cruelty of the current system. Whether that be the tears of losing one’s property, the trauma of displacement to nowhere, or the loss of life-saving medications, these practices have led to deaths on the streets from despair, and disconnection from key medical and housing services. Compassionate Alternative Response Team (CART) imagines that it would be a safer, healthier, and more vital city for the Black and Brown people who live and spend time here, and ultimately for everyone.

In this episode, Angela Davis discusses her experience this summer during uprising, the remarkable popularization of abolition, the significance of addressing gender violence and inequality in the fight for liberation, and much much more.

Everyone loses when we criminalize a person with a mental illness. People with mental illnesses experience trauma and mental health treatment is rarely adequate in jail or prison. In addition, they find it more difficult to get a job and find housing when they have a criminal record. Families suffer when their loved ones are imprisoned. Law enforcement resources are diverted when people with mental illnesses are arrested and tax dollars are misspent. Ultimately, the Bazelon Center aims to end incarceration of individuals with mental illness by diverting them away from jails and into community-based programs.

This study summarizes results from the first New Orleans citywide youth survey, which was conducted in conjunction with
local education and community organizations during the 2018-19 school year. The report also discuss differences between the responses of white students and students of color, which is of particular importance, given the large share of people of color in the city and the longstanding inequities they have historically faced in school, community, and life opportunities. Students were surveyed on topics related to school and teacher quality, student beliefs, transportation, neighborhoods, and police presence.

As protests to demand an end to racist policing and the carceral system catalyze a long overdue national conversation on law enforcement’s role in upholding White supremacy, this report seeks to help quantify the extent of explicit contemporary far-right and anti-immigrant influence on sheriffs departments.

In May, many of us were devastated and heartbroken when George Floyd was murdered by police in Minneapolis. This marked yet another Black man’s life being taken too soon by the very people that are supposed to protect us. As Philadelphians took to the streets to express their First Amendment rights with justified anger at the institutions that enabled this to happen and to advocate for Black lives, the City of Philadelphia appeared unprepared to handle the resulting unrest. The investigation shows that the root cause of the lack of planning was a lack of leadership at the highest levels.

It is also important to spend time reflecting on the fact that teargas was deployed in our city during these events. Teargas is banned in warfare and has not been used in Philadelphia for civil unrest since the MOVE crisis in 1985. Despite this, teargas was deployed on our own people several times during the unrest. The negative and painful effects of teargas cannot be overstated, and it should not have been used the way it was. The report details how our own police department shot teargas canisters down residential streets in West Philadelphia, hurting children in their own homes and innocent bystanders.