Carceral Violence and Abolition
This section focuses on violences against and within marginalized communities, specifically related to police brutality, the prison industrial complex, abolition, and resistance.
PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX & POLICE BRUTALITY
Several places already have excellent reading lists related to the carceral system and abolition in the US, including the Prison Abolition Syllabus by the African American Intellectual History Society (which includes topics like "Anti-Lynching and Prisoner Defense Campaigns" and includes first person sources), this list from the Prison Culture website/blog, this reading list from Melanie Newport's blog "Exploring the History of the Jail Crisis", and the Carceral Feminism and Abolition resource pages on the Abolish Everything website. Below are more resources and readings.
Readings
In the turmoil over race and policing, children pay a steep emotional price by Yamiche Alcindor
The Racialization of Crime and Punishment: Criminal Justice, Color Blind Racism, and the Political Economy of the Prison Industrial Complex by Rose M. Brewer and Nancy A. Heitzeg
Racialized Punishment and Prison Abolition by Angela Y. Davis
Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex by Angela Davis
The Gentrification-to-Prison Pipeline by Lacino Hamilton
The Grief That White Americans Can’t Share by Nikole Hannah-Jones
A Brief History of Slavery and the Origin of American Policing by Victor E. Kappeler
Transforming Carceral Logics: 10 Reasons to Dismantle the Prison Industrial Complex Through Queer Analysis and Action by S. Lamble
Excerpt from “The Prison-Industrial Complex: An Investment in Failure,”by Michael J. Love, May 1998.
Queering Anti-prison Work: African American Lesbians in the Juvenile Justice System by Beth Richie
Don't blame Black Lives Matter for provoking violence. The civil rights movement did, too. by Simone Sebastian
The New ‘Peculiar Institution’: On the Prison as Surrogate Ghetto by Loic Wacquant
“Policing Paradigms and Criminalizing Webs” from Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea Ritchie
“Policing Sex” from Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea Ritchie
“Policing Motherhood” from Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea Ritchie
“‘No Choice But to Do It’: Why Women Go to Prison” by Justine van der Leun
Globalisation and US prison growth: from military Keynesianism to post-Keynesian militarism by Ruth Wilson Gilmore
The “If Project” Amplifies the Voices of Women Behind Bars, by Elizabeth King
The Prison Paradox: Ending Mass Incarceration in the Era of Bill Cosby, by Jenn M. Jackson
The Fragility of Legalization: Who’s Cashing in on Marijuana? By Ashley Duchemin
The Pain of Mothering Over a Payphone from Prison, by Sarah Mirk
Sister Soldiers: On Black Women, Police Brutality, and the True Meaning of Black Liberation, by Tasha Fierce
Survived and Punished: How Criminalization and Incarceration Punish Abuse Survivors, by Victoria Law
One Boy Can Change The World: Remembering Trayvon Martin After His Death, by Victoria Law
Beyond Incarceration: What Could Accountability Look Like In Police Killings? By Victoria Law
Black Girls Matter: This Report Shows How Racism Plays A Role in School Suspensions, by Victoria Law
What Does Justice Mean Besides Police and Prison? by Victoria Law
Introduction to The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Poetry
Field Trip to the Museum of Natural History, a poem by Franny Choi
When the Officer Caught Me, a poem by Nate Marshall
Moving Towards Home, a poem by June Jordan
Resources
Citizens Police Data Project is an online, Chicago based platform to inform citizens on law enforcement misconduct and increase police accountability
Copwatch Handbook: An Introduction to Citizen Monitoring of the Police by Copwatch
Ferguson Response Network website
#GetFreeWrites: Writing Prompts on Police Brutality and Racial Violence by the Dark Noise Collective
“Hands Up Don’t Shoot” Issue of Winter Tangerine Review
How Writers Can Join the Fight Against Police Violence by the Dark Noise Collective
Justice Divided, data website on juvenile justice in Chicago
Mass Incarceration, Visualized, animated interview
Killed by Police, online database
Poems About Police Violence by Project NIA
Police Union Contract Project focuses on police union accountability across the nation.
Prison Abolition Syllabus, African American Intellectual History Society
Prison Book Program sends free books to prisoners, and is a great way to support incarcerated individuals. Here are seven other ways to support prisoners, by Victoria Law for Waging NonViolence.
Rebellion Against Police Violence: Towards Community Defense, Dual Power and Revolution
Settling for Misconduct Database, tracks how much Chicago spends to settle civil rights lawsuits against police officers
A Visual Guide to the Police Misconduct Complaint Process (Chicago specific) by Jean Cochrane
ABOLITION
“Abolition” from Abolition Feminism Now by Angela Davis, Gina Dent, Erica Meiners, and Beth Richie
“Feminism” from Abolition Feminism Now by Angela Davis, Gina Dent, Erica Meiners, and Beth Richie
Abolition. Feminism. Now. video conversation with Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, and Beth E. Richie and moderated by Mariame Kaba.
Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis (full book)
Visualizing Abolition Study Guides
Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind by Rachel Kushner
The Case for Abolition by Ruth Wilson Gilmore and James Kilgore
What do abolitionists really want? by Bill Keller
Rewriting the Future - Using Science Fiction to Re-Envision Justice by Walidah Imarisha
Transformative Justice: A Brief Description by Mia Mingus
What is/isn’t transformative justice? by adrienne maree brown
Imagining a world without prisons by Melissa Gira Grant
If we abolish prisons, what's next? CBC Ideas podcast episode
Fighting for 'Common Justice,' For Crime Victims and Their Perpetrators The Takeaway podcast episode
“Statement on Gender Violence and the Prison Industrial Complex,” INCITE! and Critical Resistance
“Sex, Love, and Violence” from Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom by Derecka Purnell
“Ten Ways to Confront Sexual Harm, End State Violence, and Transform Our Communities” from The Feminist and the Sex Offender: Confronting Sexual Harm, Ending State Violence by Judith Levine and Erica Meiners
Imagining a Post-Incarceration World the Appeal podcast episode
#8toAbolition campaign website
The End of Policing by Alex Vitale (author interview on NPR Codeswitch podcast)
Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair by Danielle Sered
RESISTANCE & MOBILIZATION
We Are Not Slaves: Rethinking the Rise of Carceral States through the Lens of the Prisoners’ Rights Movement by Robert Chase
Ferguson: In Defense of Rioting by Darlene Cunha
Abolition Democracy: Beyond Empires, Prison, and Torture, Interviews with Angela Davis (full book)
The Unintended Consequences of the Carceral State: Chicana/o Political Mobilization in Post-World War II America by Edward J. Escobar
Critical Resistance Statement: Gender Resistance and the Prison Industrial Complex, by INCITE!
Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. (April 16, 1963)
Arrest records of Rosa Parks, National Archives
The Suyama Project, Digital Archive of Japanese American Resistance to Incarceration
Lynch Law in America by Ida B. Wells (1900)
This Awful Slaughter by Ida B. Wells (1909)
As Activists, We Build The World We Want, Which Is Still Very Far Off, by Victoria Law
Three Ways People Are Challenging The Prison System Right Now, by Victoria Law
A Protest is Not A Riot, Popaganda podcast episode
Why Protest? Zine on the prison industrial complex
DISABILITY JUSTICE & STATE VIOLENCE
Police violence frequently targets disabled black people - and we hardly ever talk about it by Rachel Anspach
Punished Twice: Prisons basically ignore the Americans with Disabilities Act, leaving a third of inmates facing abuse and neglect by Erika Eichelberger
Locked Down: On Disability and Incarceration by Cheryl Green
Mother/Activist, Kerima Çevik, Tells Why Police Crisis/Disability Training Is Not The Answer by Leroy Moore
Making Hard Time Harder: Programmatic Accommodations for Inmates with Disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act by Rachael Seevers
Having the Option: Alissa Afonina/Sasha Mizaree On Her Case and Being a Disabled Sex Worker by Caty Simon
How Misunderstanding Disability leads to Police Violence by David M. Perry and Lawrence Carter-Long
Locked Down: The Link Between Disability and Incarceration episode by Popaganda Podcast
PUBLIC HEALTH & THE CARCERAL SYSTEM
Addressing Law Enforcement Violence as a Public Health Issue by the American Public Health Association
Violence Prevention: Criminal Justice Or Public Health? By Mark H. Moore
Violence is a Public Health Issue: Public Health is Essential to Understanding and Treating Violence in the U.S. by the American Public Health Association
Liberating Our Health: Ending the Harms of Pretrial Incarceration and Money Bail by Human Impact Partners
Health Solutions Create Safety: A Menu of Policies and Programs by Human Impact Partners
Developing a Transformational Criminal Justice Narrative: A Toolkit by Human Impact Partners
Changing Directions: The Intersection of Public Health and Criminal Justice by the Vera Institute