If queerness is that which pushes back against the status quo, it’s necessarily anti-capitalist and anti-white supremacist. It’s abolitionist. By Namrata Verghese A photo of last year’s Austin Pride Parade popped up on my Instagram feed recently, paired with the caption: “back before Pride was canceled.” The people in the picture wore rainbow Converse and...
Tag: abolition
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Abolition Cannot Wait: Visions For Transformation and Radical World-Building
Abolition is the practice of building a radical vision for the end of imperialism, cis heteropatriarchy, capitalism, and white supremacy—and it is very possible. By K. Agbebiyi, Sarah T. Hamid, Rachel Kuo, and Mon Mohapatra Abolition means a world with zero police, a world without prisons, and a world where we build life-sustaining systems of...
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Radicalizing Your Family Against White Supremacy Is Essential for Liberation
Whatever you do, don’t give up. People are counting on us to radicalize as many accomplices as we possibly can. The change must start with our own families. We all have our spheres of influence. Most of us don’t have huge platforms where we can reach millions of people and sway their political beliefs. But...
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Prisons Are Always Immoral, They Are More So During A Pandemic
We must challenge the societal conditioning that teaches us that incarcerated people in prisons and jails are unworthy of our compassion and care. I’m a prison abolitionist in the best of times. On the United States’ best day, prisons, jails, and detention centers are horrifying embarrassments that make clear that the state is not ethical...
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The Domestic Violence I Survived Taught Me The Importance of Prison Abolition
So often, the criminal justice system retraumatizes victims of domestic and sexual violence, further magnifying the harm inflicted. TW: This essay contains discussions and descriptions of intimate partner violence By Michelle Zacarias When I was 22-years-old I became wrapped up in one of the most wildly abusive relationships of my life. I was entering my...
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Committing Harm Is Not The Same As Being Abusive
In conflating harm with abuse, we contribute to disposability politics and stray further away from a more just future of accountability and healing. This essay discusses sexual violence and mentions r/pe My queer parent, Hunter Shackelford, and I sit around and talk a lot. For hours, most days. At the genesis of our relationship, one...
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Diet Culture and Weight Loss Programs Are A Scam
Those who have a vested interest in diet culture are investing in systemic anti-fatness, anti-Blackness, ableism, misogyny/-noir, and capitalism. TW/CW: this article discusses fatphobia, diet culture, and Weight Watchers In September of 2018, Weight Watchers—now known as “WW”— published a press release that showcased the company’s new name, new tagline, and its overall “new” focus....
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What Jameela Jamil Could Learn From Noname’s Approach To Social Justice
Maybe Jameela Jamil should join Noname’s Book Club. She might learn a thing or two. CW: mentions of eating disorders and fatphobia “FEMINIST-IN-PROGRESS,” reads Jameela Jamil’s Twitter bio. Her cover photo features her and Lizzo, so you can tell she is Very Serious about fat shaming. If you scroll through her feed, you will read...
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Abolish It All: A World Without Private Prisons is Still A World With Slaves
None of these candidates are committed to abolishing private prisons because each of them have investments in the very things that allow for prisons of any kind to exist. Bernie Sanders recently tweeted that he wants to end “private prisons and detention centers” in the united states. This has been a sentiment expressed by many...
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When They See Us Yesterday: The Black Imagination Beyond State Violence
I believe we can build a world where the Black Imagination no longer has to be a response to state-sanctioned violence. This article contains light spoilers for “See You Yesterday” and “When They See Us”. I sat down with my Queer Parent and one of our close friends to watch the new Netflix Original Movie,...