Tuesday, Dec 15, 2pm PT / 5pm ET
On Zoom
*ASL by Fingers Crossed Interpreting +
Spanish translation & closed-captioning provided*
Come learn about The Abolitionist,one of Critical Resistance’s longest standing projects—a bilingual newspaper dedicated to the struggle and strategy of PIC abolition that we send to thousands of prisoners for free.
As 2020 comes to a close, we’re reflecting on all of the lessons this year has taught us. COVID-19 has gravely exposed the many contradictions of capitalism, further exacerbating the gross inequities and structural oppression that make communities of color and poor folks more vulnerable to premature death. As the overlapping interests of government and industry we call the prison industrial complex (PIC) have tightened hold over our lives, this crisis has also been a monumental opening for radically shifting our society toward liberation.
“Pandemic As Portal” will be a conversation on this very possibility, as we celebrate the release of the newest issue of The Abolitionist, #33, focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and PIC abolition.
On Tuesday, we’ll be joined by some of our feature authors from issue 33 and share some words from a few imprisoned readers and contributors, including Stephen Wilson, columnist of our new column 9971. Sarah T. Hamid, whose piece in issue 33 “Stopping the Virus or Expanding the PIC?: COVID-19, Contact Tracing, Policing, and the Carceral Logics of Disease Control,”offers analysis on the technology used to track the spread of the virus, examining how contact tracing is used to monitor the spread of the coronavirus as a shared tool between disease control and policing.
Katie Tastrom’s “Abolition Requires Disability Justice” calls for urgently applying disability justice principles to our movement. Linda Evans, former political prisoner and long-time freedom fighter and organizer, will also share more from her work while imprisoned responding to the HIV/AIDS crisis, and possible lessons to apply to the COVID-19 pandemic now. We are also thrilled to have Yunuén Torres from the first Youth Council in Cherán, Mexico join us from Michoacán to share about the struggles of Indigenous women to successfully remove cops, politicians and cartels from their community in 2011, teaching us how community self-determination is essential for public health. The event will be hosted and moderated by Liz Samuels, former Critical Resistance Oakland member, previous editor and columnist of The Abolitionist, and now radical physician.
Tuesday’s conversation will surely be a brilliant one with unique insights for our current moment and beyond.
Accesibilidad: Interpretación ASL (lengua de señas americana)
+ traducción al español
Entre lxs panelistas se encuentran:
Sarah T. Hamid, cuyo artículo en el número 33 explora los orígenes del rastreo de contactos en el control de enfermedades y las terribles consecuencias de utilizar una estrategia de vigilancia policial en la salud pública;
Linda Evans, quien comparte sus perspectivas sobre el apoyo de pares en prisión durante la crisis de VIH/SIDA y las lecciones para resistir a la pandemia de COVID-19 en su entrevista con Kathy Boudin y Crystal Mason, con la participación de Emily K. Hobson y Rory Elliott del Colectivo Editorial La Abolicionista;
Katie Tastrom, quien realiza un llamado urgente por la justicia para las personas con discapacidades en el movimiento abolicionista, en especial durante la pandemia;
y Yunuén Torres, quien nos habla sobre el levantamiento por la autodeterminación en Cherán en 2011 y sobre cómo podría verse una respuesta autogestionada frente al COVID.
El seminario online también contará con la participación de Stephen Wilson, columnista de La Abolicionista actualmente en prisión.
Nos enorgullece anunciarles que nuestro último número de La Abolicionista(#33) ¡finalmente está siendo enviado por correo a nuestrxs lectores ahora mismo! Acérquense a celebrar este número y a aprender sobre el proyecto más longevo de Resistencia Crítica. Escuchen a algunxs de nuestrxs autores del número 33 y a nuestrxs suscriptores dentro y fuera de prisión discutir el proyecto y su importancia a la hora de construir un movimiento internacional para la abolición del complejo industrial penal.
