We Do This 'Til We Free Us

This powerful statement highlights the dual nature of organizing as both an art and a science, emphasizing the importance of strategy, vision, and power dynamics in driving social change. Mariame Kaba's work challenges the conventional idea of waiting for external saviors, instead urging us to recognize the collective power of ordinary people in achieving liberation. As she reflects on abolition and transformative struggle, her insights echo the broader message that true transformation comes from within communities. Writers by EssayPro often explore these themes, offering thoughtful perspectives on how to cultivate the strength needed for collective action.

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As a white person learning about abolitionist thought and finding ways that I can, with chronic illnesses, be part of this movement, reading this book (and listening, I read part of it via audiobook) both challenged and encouraged me. There is something to be said about firmness, unflinching truthfulness, and boundaries: they are kindness like no other. I will read this book again.

Transformative justice, repairing relationships, redesigning society systemically, accountability for harms. Prisons had to be imagined; prisons were a reform, and like other reforms that leave in place the system of punitive surveillance, control, and violence they don't promote justice for so many harms, while harming more. We can imagine so many alternatives. We don't believe the world will change if we can just change enough minds to e.g. believe that black lives matter; we will define and practice and live a vision for a world where black lives matter.

really useful and varied collection of texts about organizing and abolition. I believe these texts are all available elsewhere, but it was really nice to have in one place, curated, and grouped by theme. I found the collection to be personally useful and inspiring, as well as a great entrypoint to talk about abolition in practice with coworkers and friends interested in the topic but without (yet!) experience with organizing around it.

here's a great reading & discussion guide for use with groups: www.haymarketbooks.org/pdfs/10

This is a fantastic introduction to Kaba's work and is a masterfully selected set of essays that work together to present many different entry points into the ideas of abolition and transformative justice. I found the parts detailing the differences between punishment and accountability/consequences to be extremely helpful to my philosophy as a manager, and this book also helped me grasp the "long game" that is activism & organizing in a way I'm not sure I ever really did before. Very powerful stuff; be prepared to take a ton of notes.