While there always is a core of people who support political prisoners, I think largely our movements have failed to build the same kind of strong support that you see in many places—for instance, the Palestinian struggle or the Irish struggle. In those movements, support for political prisoners is seen as totally central. There are many reasons for this. The lack of clarity about the nature of the state and the necessity of resistance is certainly one reason.

I also think the divide between supporting those who go to prison for political reasons and those who are inside because of capitalism, colonialism, misogyny, et cetera, has not been helpful to us. I think we should be making those connections to shine light on the nature of the system as a whole. The fact that the movements for abolition—to defund the police, to end mass incarceration, to abolish ICE—are gaining so much strength opens up possibilities to strengthen the work to support folks inside.

I also think making intergenerational connections is so important. There are still many political prisoners who have been inside for decades who we have not been able to get released. And there is a new generation of political prisoners, and there will be more. While people come out of different movements, it’s important that we see the connections, the legacy of resistance. No movement can grow if it can’t support the people who are willing to take risks to change things.

— Rattling the Cages by Josh Davidson, Angela Y. Davis, Sara Falconer