Abolitionist Organizing: Towards a World Beyond Police and Prisons

The uprisings in the summer of 2020 sparked by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and hundreds more by police across the country fueled a new wave of abolitionist organizing around the country that has profoundly shifted the narrative around policing, safety, and how we expend our collective resources. As abolitionist organizing and campaigns have grown, so has the need to move beyond rhetoric and budget advocacy to building power to win the world we want. How are political education, leadership development, and base building in abolitionist campaigns similar to and different from traditional organizing strategies and tactics?

In this two day Network Gathering hosted by Black Visions, Interrupting Criminalization, The Forge and Liberation in a Generation, we will revisit the basics and share new tools for visionary organizing in service of abolition while holding space to dialogue, strategize and problem solve around shared obstacles, conflicts and conundrums. Participants will leave with a fire in their belly to go back home and dig in with their folks along with concrete organizing skills, tactics, goals and strategies to contend with and build power to advance abolitionist goals, strengthened relationships, and a deeper sense of the long trajectory toward a world without surveillance, policing, and punishment.

Applications to participate in the network gathering are now live! Deadline is April 22, 2022!

Contact lead organizer:

andreajritchie[@]gmail.com