Resources

Two Sides of Justice is a collection of narratives from system survivors. The criminal justice system has altered the lives of the people whose stories you are about to hear, sometimes for the better but more often for the worse. This curriculum resource was created by educator & long-time Project NIA volunteer Santera Matthews for educators and organizers who would like to use the stories to start or extend discussions about harm, violence and criminalization in their communities. This work is part of the Building Accountable Communities Project (BAC) spearheaded by Project NIA. The curriculum was designed by Rachel Hoffman.

A collection of six reports that explain how the drug war has taken root in different systems: Education, Employment, Housing, Child Welfare, Immigration, and Public Benefits. You can view the snapshots for a national-level overview and use the advocacy assessment tools to evaluate drug war policies and practices in your community.

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

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.

STAR is a community response program made possible through collaboration between the Caring for Denver Foundation, Denver Police Department, Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD), Denver Health Paramedic Division, Denver 911, and community supports and resources. STAR provides person-centric mobile crisis response to community members who are experiencing problems related to mental health, depression, poverty, homelessness, and/or substance abuse issues. STAR created a path into the service connection system, directing certain calls to more appropriate support providers while redirecting them away from a costly emergency department visit or introducing the possibility of jail.

In response to the expanding criminalization of reproductive autonomy through increasing restrictions on abortion and reproductive care, and the growing criminalization of pregnant people and parents, a group of reproductive justice and anti-criminalization organizers and advocates came together in May 2019 to develop a shared analysis and resistance strategies. This preliminary list of policies which can contribute to increased surveillance, policing, criminalization, and punishment of pregnant people, parents, and providers emerged from these conversations. This document is intended to inform policymakers and advocates concerned about reproductive justice, intimate partner and domestic violence, public health, and criminalization about the potential consequences of the policy approaches outlined below, and to offer alternative strategies that carry less risk of contributing to the criminalization of reproductive autonomy.

Just Practice Collaborative created this Mixtape as an offering in response to the overwhelming number of requests we are getting for training, workshops and support. We want to nourish and care for our abolitionist community with as many resources as we can provide right now. This collection of 9 recorded video workshops or webinars are each between 45-90 minutes long and contain valuable frameworks, real life examples and tools you can use to help strengthen your personal practice and political commitment to this moment.

Many of the worst features of mass incarceration — such as racial disparities in prisons — can be traced back to policing. Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) research on the policies that impact justice-involved and incarcerated people therefore often intersects with policing issues. Now, at a time when police practices, budgets, and roles in society are at the center of the national conversation about criminal justice, PPI has compiled key work related to policing (and discussions of other researchers’ work) in one briefing.

This is a living toolkit of information on police reform, surveillance, immigration and policing, racial profiling, community oversight, and more within the Boston area. It also includes action items and ways to get involved.