The Warehouse

Mass incarceration is a lived, sensory experience.

The most eye-popping statistics alone cannot relate the enormity of its psychological and societal impacts. This concise, illustrated primer is a collaboration between one of mass incarceration’s sharpest opponents, James Kilgore, and information artist Vic Liu. It brings to life the histories and means of daily survival of the marginalized people ensnared in this racist, ableist system of class-based oppression. The book elegantly weaves together the most insightful activist scholarship with vivid testimonials by incarcerated people as they fight back against oppression and imagine freedom.

Those targeted for incarceration do not simply submit to a monochromatic existence behind bars. The Warehouse showcases the abolition futures being crafted from the inside as people resist through direct action and artistic expression. This book is designed to inform, enrage, and ultimately inspire the same radical hope propelling incarcerated underminers of the carceral state.

“James Kilgore, one of my favorite commentators on mass incarceration, has joined with information artist Vic Liu to create a wonderfully attractive and accessible primer on the US carceral state. Grounded in empathy, this volume highlights the inspiring resistance that has emerged against this system of oppression and control.” —Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow

“If you’ve been searching for an accessible introduction to mass criminalization in the US, look no further than The Warehouse. This book is visually captivating and full of valuable information for youth and adults alike. I’ll be gifting this book to people for years to come and will recommend it to everyone who asks me the question: ‘What is mass incarceration?’” —Mariame Kaba, author of We Do This ’til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice

“An essential resource for classroom teaching and movement building from someone on the front lines of the battle to dismantle the prison-industrial complex.” —Alex S. Vitale, author of The End of Policing

About the Creators

James Kilgore is a researcher and activist based in Urbana, Illinois. He is the author of six books, including the National Book Foundation Award-winning Understanding Mass Incarceration: A People's Guide to the Key Civil Rights Struggle of Our Time. He drafted four of those volumes during his six and a half years in California prisons. He is currently a Building Community Power Fellow at Community Justice Exchange and formerly a research fellow at MediaJustice, where he founded the Challenging E-Carceration project. He is also director of advocacy and outreach for FirstFollowers Reentry Program in Champaign, Illinois.

Vic Liu is an artist and author who uses design to communicate complex information with empathy. Most recently, Vic published the expanded version of her visually designed masturbation sex-ed book, Bang! Masturbation for All Genders and Abilities, with Microcosm Publishing.