Dear Friend, 
 

MediaJustice’s commitment to a world without surveillance is not only about technology itself but also about the ways people in power wield it. The tools and programs weaponized against our communities are deployed by the police, ICE, federal governments, and prisons. 

That’s why when we talk about a world without surveillance, we are fundamentally talking about abolition.

“Our belief in abolition is first and foremost philosophical. It grew from watching, experiencing, and opposing decades of reliance on concrete and steel cages as catch-all solutions to social problems. We want a society that centers freedom and justice instead of profit and punishment.” 

- James Kilgore and Ruth Wilson Gilmore
 

As long as Google, Amazon, Facebook, ICE, the federal government, and jails and prisons mine our data to exploit our communities, all of the inequalities baked into our racist, capitalist society will worsen. With each campaign to educate impacted communities about media & tech harms or to abolish harmful practices like the use of electronic monitoring, MJ and MJ Network members move one step closer to an abolitionist future.

“We know we won’t bulldoze prisons and jails tomorrow, but as long as they continue to be advanced as the solution, all of the inequalities displaced to crime and punishment will persist. We’re in a long game.” 

- James Kilgore and Ruth Wilson Gilmore

MediaJustice has been fighting for a world without police and prisons since we were founded in 2009. Read “The Case for Abolition,” a powerful commentary by MJ Fellow James Kilgore and Ruth Wilson Gilmore, to learn more about our abolitionist roots and vision for the future.

In solidarity,

Steven Renderos
Executive Director, MediaJustice