Literally, abolish the police

(cw: police violence, shootings)

Tyre Nichols, Tortuguita, Keenan Anderson and too many others should still be here…skateboarding, defending the forest, teaching kids. There lives meant something to the people who loved them and to the world. But they were needlessly taken at the hands of the police.

These are not a unique incidents, not exceptions to the rule. This is policing.

Andrea Ritchie, abolitionist and co-author of No More Police asks “are we going to continue to pour more money, more power, more resources, more legitimacy into departments that have proven over and over again that incidents like the murder of Tyre Nichols is the rule not the exception”.

Police do not make us safer, communities do. It’s time to reimagine safety beyond the state, defund the police and redistribute the resources to where they are proven to prevent crime and improve safety.

We don’t need police. We need each other. This week’s edition of WELLREAD is dedicated to getting educated and engaged to prevent further police violence and move towards a future of abolition and community safety.

Kerri (she/her)

Art by NY Times

NTK

• The idea that we can resolve racism by integrating a fundamentally anti-Black institution in the U.S. is the most absurd notion of all. Black cops don’t make policing any less anti-Black.

• “Are we going to end up in a situation where police are murdering protesters in order to advance not public safety but their particular political agenda in building Cop City?” Atlanta’s Cop City is putting policing before the climate.

• Police killed more people in 2022 than any other year in the past decade. 1,186 people were killed by police in 2022. Black people were 3x more likely to be killed by police than white people, and 1.3x more likely to be unarmed. Mapping police violence.

• “Instead of pouring more money into militarized forces that brutalize, terrorize, and even murder, we should fund libraries, after-school programs, good jobs, and other investments proven to keep us safe.” What $28 Million Bought The Memphis Police Department.

• Reforms that leave policing’s core functions in place will not prevent state violence against Black people. To build a better society, we must abolish policing altogether. Why we don’t say reform the police.

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SOLIDARITY

#StopCopCity @micahinATL

"The abolitionist mission isn’t done until every prison is empty. When there are no more cops, when the land has been given back, that’s when it’s over. I don’t expect to live to see that day, necessarily. I mean, hope so. But I smoke." ––Tortugita

3:20 PM ∙ Jan 28, 2023

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Powerful testimony by Tortuguita a forest defender who was gunned down by police in Atlanta on January 18th, 2023 while resisting the construction of “Cop City.” Tortuguita’s death is one of many in 2023 at the hands of the police state. Please support the family and communities who are mourning their losses.

Atlanta Solidarity Fund
Support protestors and forest protectors who are fighting back against Cop City.

In Loving Memory of Keenan Anderson
Keenan’s family has organized this fundraiser to help support his son’s education fund.

Tyre Nichols Memorial Fund
Tyre’s mother created this fundraiser to cover the cost of the family’s mental health services and a memorial skate park in his honor.

Trayvon Martin Foundation
The Trayvon Martin Foundation was created by Trayvon’s parents, Sabrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, to provide emotional and financial support to families who have lost a child to gun violence.

Movement for Black Lives—Week of Action
Find a concrete action you can take in support of Black lives every day of the week.

Black Lives Matter—Toolkits
Explore toolkits for individuals related to healing action, healing justice, conflict resolution, and more.

LISTEN & LEARN

But what about violent crime? Crime isn’t random. Most of the time, it happens when someone has been unable to meet their basic needs through other means. So we don’t need more cops to keep our communities safe; we need more jobs, more educational opportunities, more affordable housing, more arts programs, more community centers, more mental health resources, and more input into our own communities needs.

But what would be put in the place of policing? Questions of abolition arise because what they are being told is that they are going to take away the thing they’ve been taught is the only response to safety. But as Ruth Wilson Gilmore reminds us the idea of abolition is not an absence but a creation; of building of resources and reallocating resources into the things that are proven to create safety like housing, healthcare, income, education, community capacity and response.

How will we stay safe? The people who respond to crises in our community should be the people who are best-equipped to deal with those crises. Instead of armed strangers, we need to build capacity for more mental health service providers, violence prevention specialists, social workers, victim/survivor advocates, elders and spiritual leaders, neighbors and friends.

Why should we be critical of reform? Why not both reform and alternatives to policing? What we’ve learned from Andrea Ritchie and Mariame Kaba in No More Police: A Case for Abolition is that 1) reform is impossible because violence is what police are meant to do 2) reform legitimizes the police 3) reform sucks energy away from abolition and community care 4) reforms enable more police violence

Is abolishing the police really possible? Throughout history, everyday people have achieved “impossible” things, from the abolition of slavery, to voting rights and more. The institution of police has existed for less than 200 years, less time than chattel slavery in the US. Abolition isn’t only possible, it’s been done.

What are we talking about when we are talking about a police-free future? This resource from MPD 150 is a beautiful re-imagining of the future we all deserve.

(Source: Wisdom and resources from No More Police and Building a Police Free Future FAQs)

DIG DEEPER

More resources to help you get educated and engaged.

TOOLKITS

• Building a Police-Free Future: Frequently-Asked Questions

• Defund the Police - Invest in Community Care

• Practicing Everyday Abolition

BOOKS

• No More Police: A Case for Abolition, Mariame Kaba, Andrea Ritchie

• Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests & the Pursuit of Freedom, Derecka Purnell

• We do this Til We Free Us, Mariame Kaba

• A World Without Police: How Strong Communities Make Cops Obsolute, Geo Maher

• An Abolitionist Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself & the World, Patrisse Cullors

Art from New Economy Coalition

WE-NESS

Here are some resources for the heart (to support grief and healing):

Brave Space Alliance—Support groups
Chicago-based Brave Space Alliance fills a gap in the organizing of and services to trans and gender-nonconforming people.

Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective (BEAM)
Find resources for support on coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, racism, social unrest, and more.

Black Men Heal
Access to mental health treatment, psycho-education, and community resources to men of color.

Clinicians of Color
Find clinicians of various racial and ethnic backgrounds, as well as training and treatment styles.

Mental Health First Aid
A skills-based training course that teaches participants about mental health and substance-use issues.

The Association of Black Psychologists
The Association seeks to have positive impact upon the mental health of the national Black community by means of planning, programs, services, training, and advocacy

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