Reviews
We Do This 'til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice by Mariame Kaba
alisarae's review
5.0
Phenomenal and encouraging.
This is a collection of Mariame Kaba's prolific essays, articles, and interviews. I first started following her work on Twitter, and was so excited to read this book. I think I highlighted about half of it, lol.
My favorite entries were the following, which I've linked to:
- So You're Thinking about Becoming an Abolitionist
- The Sentencing of Larry Nassar Was Not "Transformative Justice." Here's Why.
- Toward the Horizon of Abolition
On the whole, I would describe this as an honest response to many of the common questions that come up surrounding abolition of the prison-industrial complex: transformative vs restorative justice, what about the rapists, abolition vs reform, punishment vs accountability/consequences. I read [b:Are Prisons Obsolete?|108428|Are Prisons Obsolete?|Angela Y. Davis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320521835l/108428._SX50_.jpg|104488] last year, and Davis's book provides a good overview of the origin of policing and the PIC that is only mentioned in passing here.
I kind of had an SNL Black Jeopardy moment when Kaba criticizes the relations between surveillance, technology, and state violence—things that many people in the US are rightfully fearful of, albeit in different flavors depending on your race. And yet an ever increasing amount of those things are inherent to our current "justice" system that is defended by the same people who are resistant to the idea of changing it. Man, I've been reading [b:We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China's Surveillance State|49203415|We Have Been Harmonized Life in China's Surveillance State|Kai Strittmatter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1592247418l/49203415._SY75_.jpg|70871403] at the same time, and the links between the US and China's police states are so clear. Little brother and big brother. How can someone be anti big-government, anti centralized government, anti government interference and surveillance in individuals' lives, and also be pro-police is a level of "don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing" that is hard for me to grasp.
a n y w a y s I think we can be honest with ourselves and say that the current system rarely meets our needs, does not deliver justice to victims and sometimes even acts against victims' wishes, and does not foster accountability for harm, in addition to perpetuating violence, and breaking down family and community ties, among other things.
Kaba has some key phrases that she repeats like mantras: Hope is a discipline, and everything worthwhile is done with other people. I like her choice words to define herself not as an activist (can can be a one-off, solo action), but rather as an organizer (collectivity, long-term struggle, and accountability are inherent to organizing). She is encouraging and inspiring. Abolition is about a million different experiments, done every day by all of us, until we find what works. It requires a million different experiments because each of our situations look different. And yeah, it will be hard, it will require a lot of work. I am slow to change, slow to learn, slow to take action. I have limited time and energy. But I'm actively looking for ways to get involved in communities that I believe in. I hope people of faith, at least, can join me in saying that there is little else more important in life than ushering in true justice, equality, freedom, and restoration.
This is a collection of Mariame Kaba's prolific essays, articles, and interviews. I first started following her work on Twitter, and was so excited to read this book. I think I highlighted about half of it, lol.
My favorite entries were the following, which I've linked to:
- So You're Thinking about Becoming an Abolitionist
- The Sentencing of Larry Nassar Was Not "Transformative Justice." Here's Why.
- Toward the Horizon of Abolition
On the whole, I would describe this as an honest response to many of the common questions that come up surrounding abolition of the prison-industrial complex: transformative vs restorative justice, what about the rapists, abolition vs reform, punishment vs accountability/consequences. I read [b:Are Prisons Obsolete?|108428|Are Prisons Obsolete?|Angela Y. Davis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320521835l/108428._SX50_.jpg|104488] last year, and Davis's book provides a good overview of the origin of policing and the PIC that is only mentioned in passing here.
I kind of had an SNL Black Jeopardy moment when Kaba criticizes the relations between surveillance, technology, and state violence—things that many people in the US are rightfully fearful of, albeit in different flavors depending on your race. And yet an ever increasing amount of those things are inherent to our current "justice" system that is defended by the same people who are resistant to the idea of changing it. Man, I've been reading [b:We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China's Surveillance State|49203415|We Have Been Harmonized Life in China's Surveillance State|Kai Strittmatter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1592247418l/49203415._SY75_.jpg|70871403] at the same time, and the links between the US and China's police states are so clear. Little brother and big brother. How can someone be anti big-government, anti centralized government, anti government interference and surveillance in individuals' lives, and also be pro-police is a level of "don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing" that is hard for me to grasp.
a n y w a y s I think we can be honest with ourselves and say that the current system rarely meets our needs, does not deliver justice to victims and sometimes even acts against victims' wishes, and does not foster accountability for harm, in addition to perpetuating violence, and breaking down family and community ties, among other things.
Kaba has some key phrases that she repeats like mantras: Hope is a discipline, and everything worthwhile is done with other people. I like her choice words to define herself not as an activist (can can be a one-off, solo action), but rather as an organizer (collectivity, long-term struggle, and accountability are inherent to organizing). She is encouraging and inspiring. Abolition is about a million different experiments, done every day by all of us, until we find what works. It requires a million different experiments because each of our situations look different. And yeah, it will be hard, it will require a lot of work. I am slow to change, slow to learn, slow to take action. I have limited time and energy. But I'm actively looking for ways to get involved in communities that I believe in. I hope people of faith, at least, can join me in saying that there is little else more important in life than ushering in true justice, equality, freedom, and restoration.
mtunno's review
4.0
This book has a lot of great thoughts and is a great intro to prison abolition. Definitely a very emotional work, which is important because a lot of the biggest pushback to prison abolition comes from places of fear and pain. I wish she had addressed certain issues that are necessary for prison abolition (reparations for slavery, anti-capitalism, dismantling the state) more directly, but this is overall a great book that gave me a lot to think about.