This is the landing page for a social media project re-sharing some of the most powerful, useful writing on abolition—especially (though not exclusively) from the latter half of 2020. We already maintain a pretty robust “Resources” page on this site, and that page is full of book recommendations, activist toolkits, articles, and much more. This page is a more focused version of that: 25 specific readings we’d recommend for people who want to learn more about abolition. We’re also sharing them on social media using the hashtag #AbolitionReadings.
INTRODUCTIONS
- Josie Duffy Rice: The Abolition Movement
- Mariame Kaba: Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police
- “Defund Police” explainer video from Project NIA
- Ruth Wilson Gilmore Makes the Case for Abolition
- Angela Y. Davis: Why Arguments Against Abolition Inevitably Fail
HISTORY AND CONTEXT
- Justin Ellis: Minneapolis Had This Coming
- Eve L. Ewing: Blue Bloods: America’s Brotherhood of Police Officers
- Igor Derysh: How decades of racist policies and “white mob violence” heightened tensions in Minneapolis
- Rachel Kushner: Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind
- Mariame Kaba: To Stop Police Violence, We Need Better Questions — and Bigger Demands
ABOLITIONIST RESPONSES TO VIOLENCE
- Derecka Purnell: How I Became a Police Abolitionist
- Camonghne Felix: Aching for Abolition: As a survivor of sexual violence, I know prison isn’t the answer
- Mariame Kaba & Andrea J. Ritchie: We Want More Justice For Breonna Taylor Than The System That Killed Her Can Deliver
- Aviva Stahl: We Have Already Stopped Calling The Cops: What we can learn about police abolition from domestic violence activists
- Sarah Holder and Kara Harris: Where Calling the Police Isn’t the Only Option
DEEPER DIVES
- Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor: We Should Still Defund the Police
- Mychal Denzel Smith: Incremental Change Is a Moral Failure
- Gabriella Paiella (interviewing Woods Ervin): How Would Prison Abolition Actually Work?
- Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law: The Problem With “Community Policing”
- Alexis Okeowo: How to Defund the Police
MPD150 RESOURCES
- Enough Is Enough: A 150-Year Performance Review of the Minneapolis Police Department
- Building a Police-Free Future: Frequently-Asked Questions
- What are we talking about when we talk about “a police-free future?”
- 10 Action Ideas for Building a Police-Free Future
- “Community Policing and Other Fairy Tales” Comic Book
These 25 links are shared here as starting points. Feel free to check out the books, toolkits, study guides, and other links at our Resources page, and continue on with your own learning in whatever ways you can.