A reflection on prison industrial complex abolition and a
vision for collective liberation from organizer and educator Mariame
Kaba.
New York Times Bestseller
“Organizing
is both science and art. It is thinking through a vision, a strategy,
and then figuring out who your targets are, always being concerned about
power, always being concerned about how you’re going to actually build
power in order to be able to push your issues, in order to be able to
get the target to actually move in the way that you want to.”
What
if social transformation and liberation isn’t about waiting for someone
else to come along and save us? What if ordinary people have the power
to collectively free ourselves? In this timely collection of essays and
interviews, Mariame Kaba reflects on the deep work of abolition and
transformative political struggle.
With a foreword by Naomi
Murakawa and chapters on seeking justice beyond the punishment system,
transforming how we deal with harm and accountability, and finding hope
in collective struggle for abolition, Kaba’s work is deeply rooted in
the relentless belief that we can fundamentally change the world. As
Kaba writes, “Nothing that we do that is worthwhile is done alone.”
This book is an essential read for anti racist activists and scholars
and incredibly timely in a moment of resurgence of the #BlackLivesMatter
movement and renewed attention to the work of abolitionists. It
reflects years of organizing and work and is an important contribution
to the rebellions of today.
