Over the past 20 years, I have been organizing against the expansion of prisons and specifically against the rise of the Prison Industrial Complex.
There are many incredible organizations across the Country that have been and continue to do the same. I will name just a couple including Critical Resistance and the Prison Activist Resource Center. There are hundreds of other worthy and committed organizations as well. Too many to name here.
Over the past two years, I have been heartened to see that a number of individuals have joined the ranks of the prison abolition movement.
As soon as I use the term prison abolition, I know that the first question will be: "But what are we going to do with all of the 'bad' people if there are no prisons?" I would submit that there are many, many so-called "bad" people who are currently NOT in prison. The PIC only targets "certain" types of people. Those people are disproportionately young, of color, mentally ill, LGBTQ, etc... You get the picture. The "bad" people who tanked the entire economic system will not see one day in prison and yet they are responsible for the loss of trillions of dollars in wealth and for the destruction of millions of lives. I am not advocating that they too be jailed, I am only saying that prison is not a place filled with the "bad" people. Rather as Angela Davis has said:
Prisons disappear people in the hopes that we will disappear the social problems they represent.
In fact, today, prisons are filled with non-violent drug offenders. Over 2/3 of people in prison today are there for non-violent drug offenses. For those who are interested in learning more about the impact that the War on Drugs has had on swelling the numbers of prisoners in the U.S., I would refer you to a study that was published by The Sentencing Project.
The War on Drugs has been particularly destructive for black people and black women in particular. They have found themselves to target of the PIC in a way that is far disproportionate to their actual involvement in drug use. This has led many to suggest that what is currently happening to the black community is a re-enslavement. Michelle Alexander, in her new book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, makes the case that incarceration has led to the development of a new racial caste system in the U.S.
Let me get back to the issue of prison abolition for a moment. Many people believe that prisons are capable of being reformed because as a concept the institution is fundamentally sound. Abolitionists do not accept that prison is fundamentally sound. Prison abolition is not a homogeneous idea. It is a contested area with many different ideas about what it means and whether it is possible at all. Abolitionism stands outside and in opposition to the prison while reformism stands alongside and/or even with the prison and works in cooperation. Most abolitionists believe that prisons are not a just nor an efficient or moral solution to the problems that lead people to commit crimes.
Abolitionists concede that crimes occur and that people "do bad things." But contend that the system of punishment and who is most impacted and targeted by this system is a result of "racialized surveillance." This is a term that has been advanced by educator and abolitionist, Erica Meiners in her book Right to Be Hostile.
For me working toward abolition means creating structures that reduce the demand and need for prisons. To me if you are working for a living wage, you are working towards abolition. If you are working to improve mental health care, you are working towards abolition.
Charles Shaw has put together a group of three books (2 of which are very recent) that he suggests are essential reading for those who are interested in exploring how mass incarceration shapes all of our lives. I agree that these are three good books to read about the PIC.
For those who don't like to, can't, or don't want to read actual books, I have launched a blog where I focus on different aspects of how the PIC currently structures American culture. Please feel free to visit the blog US Prison Culture and to leave your comments.
Also, look out this Wednesday for Criminal Injustice Kos which will be featuring much more about the issue of prison abolition.