practicingnewworldsproject

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“Relationships Evolving Possibilities”

In this section the author is expanding on how the initiative Relationships Evolving Possibilities (REP) is changing the way communities are coming together. They have established the two circles of support that people need. The first circle is encompassing people that know you, and love you personally. The second circle is looking outward at the community of strangers that surrounds you. REP calls this the Radical Ecosystem pod the people that come together because of identity, location, situation or a combination of any of those things to find community and take care of eachother. REP is dedicated to black liberation, radical consent, and ancestral knowledge. They have a fractal approach to this system and they acknowledge that this system can be subjective to the community and it might not work right away for everyone. I have attached a link to a video that REP put out that highlights who they are and what they aim to accomplish. I think this video is a great watch especially if you aren't familiar with REP and their mission. In the video you can hear directly from representative Susan Raffo as she explains what REP is and how she believes it is a practice and a way to live in community with others.

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“Abolition is Fractal”

In this section the author is examining the different parts of abolition and how what we accomplish on a small scale can relate to the larger scale. Specifically I want to focus on the section in this part that is about mutual aid. I think that mutual aid is so important, in this society it has become so normalized to default to an individualistic mindset, where you have to do everything by yourself and for yourself. But this section challenges that notion by examining the benefits of mutual aid. When someone has gone from food insecurity to then having three meals a day provided by the community their capacity to aid in abolition increases significantly. Mutual aid also opens up the door to further connection to your community which as we know will lead to a higher quality of life. Mutual aid creates the foundation of a loving community where people look out for each other and do not have to rely on government issued aid. I have attached a short video that highlights the key concepts of mutual aid and gives concrete examples of what mutual aid can look like. I think it is important for people to understand what mutual aid is, and how they can practice it.

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“Emergent Strategies and Abolition”

In this section the author is talking about how emergent strategy and abolition have a very dynamic and interconnected relationship. Emergent strategy can be understood as the way in which we change our relationship with ourselves and those around us to be better equipped to live in an abolitionist future. What the author means by this is understanding that in order to change the systems that we live under we first have to change ourselves and change how we interact with the world and the people around us. And we can accomplish that with emergent strategy, taking small steps that will eventually lead to big change. I think a part of this section that really stood out to me was the idea that emergent strategy can aid us in becoming the kind of people able to imagine and enact abolitionist futures. This is like imagining abolition as two steps, first to become an emergent strategist and change the way you think about the world and the systems we have become so used to, and then second to implement the new way of thinking to create real change. I have attached a link to a website that has a short narrative about the connection between abolition and emergent strategy, it also has a short poem about being like water as it connects to the abolitionist future. I thought it was a beautiful poem with very impactful imagery.

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“To Build a Future Without Police and Prisons, We Have to Imagine It First”

In this section Walidah Imarisha talks about imagination and specifically visionary fiction. When learning about abolition you can immediately see how a lot of the work is to imagine a future without police or prisons but sometimes people don't really know how to do that. In this section that is exactly what they cover, how to imagine a future without these systems we have become so used to. Something that really stood out to me was the idea that visionary fiction can and must seem unrealistic. The reason for this is because at some point in history every social justice movement seemed to be reaching for unrealistic futures. The systems of oppression understand that people believe in the concreteness of our society and they use that belief to keep people down and to continue these systems. I have attached a photo of a cover of a children's book about abolition. I chose this media because I thought it was interesting to see a concept like abolition in  children's book, in the description of the book it states they cover topics like  love, justice, care, and accessibility. They present the information in a way that is easy for kids to understand and I think a lot of adults could benefit from the lessons in this book as well.

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"What is Abolition"

In this piece, the author is diving into abolition and expands on what it means to practice abolition as well as key principles of it. She states the definition of abolition many times throughout this section, “ It means developing practical strategies for taking small steps that move us toward making our dreams real and that lead us all to believe that things really could be different”(47). This definition sets up the expectation of abolitionists to dream of a new future, one where people don’t need police or the prison system. I think what stood out to me the most about this section was the section that highlighted the principles of abolition. Specifically one of the principles explains how change comes from access to healing or redistribution of resources not from renaming the systems that are already in place oppressing people. This section also highlights the answer to a common complaint about abolition; how will abolishing police and prisons reduce harm? The author explains how both of those systems have been proven ineffective in reducing harm. I think this section is foundational in understanding basic abolition ideologies and to really set yourself up to understand why abolitionists want to dream a different future. I have attached a video where abolitionist Olayemi Olurin, talks about what abolition means. She also provides relevant statistics that back up her statements about how the police and prison systems are failing to protect people and how they are in fact furthering harm and keeping marginalized communities oppressed. I think this video would be a great tool when talking to someone who is hearing about abolition for the first time, she even directly addresses how most people will feel defensive when learning about this for the first time. 

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“Allied Media Projects Network Principles”

This section is a visionary practice and it highlights the Allied Media Project (AMP) principles, the organization follows these principles as a way to foster transformative justice and emergent strategy. There were a couple principles I felt were really important, the first being “ We emphasize our own power and legitimacy”(40). This was especially interesting to me because I think growing up as a woman in this society my default is to feel like I can’t do it, if I am trying something new, so I think this idea that every person holds inherent power is a great way to set your team up for success. The other principle I felt drawn to is “the strongest solutions happen through the process, not in a moment at the end of the process”(40). I think this is really important for organizers to know because often people feel rushed to get a solution but as this principle points out you cannot expect a great solution without a great process to get you there. I have added a hyperlink to a portion of the AMP’s website that is about a reflection of their organization in 2023. I think this is a great read as it shows the important solutions that happened with AMP over the year and it acknowledges the work that went into it.

[practicingnewworldsproject]

“Abolition Builds Resilience and Fosters Transformation” 

This section is talking about the connected relationship between resilience and transformation. People often will tell people to try and adapt to change and while change is ongoing and will never stop, this can be good advice. However not everything that needs adapting should be kept in place. In this section the argument is that yes resilience means adapting to change but it also means to work to transform the change into something better. In this section they talk about a project started by Mia Mingus called SOIL. It is a collective working towards building the foundation of transformative justice from the soil up. I have added a hyperlink to the SOIL website as it is really cool and a main part of this section's content. SOIL offers training around transformative justice. Something I thought was really interesting about their program was their training around accountability, it is called accountability 101 and it teaches participants how to understand accountability and they go over 4 parts of accountability. I also thought their training “how to give a genuine apology” sounds really awesome as I fear this is a skill not a lot of people know and this offering seems very special.

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“Abolition Creates More Possibilities (That we Can’t Currently Imagine)”

This section is talking about how we create new ideas and possibilities for the future through emergent strategies and abolition theory. There is an emphasis on imagination and creating new ways to think about a problem. Another part of this section is about empowering people to see their own part in this movement, to allow people to dream without fear of top down government rules. Trusting the people and leaning into the unknown are lessons we learn from emergent strategies and abolition and again it is a very important part of this section. When we lean into the unknown and truly trust our communities and love the people around us, that is when the real change can form and come into the light. I have chosen this picture to represent the possibilities of imagining new worlds for future generations. In this picture you can see a baby still in the uterus curled up, unknowingly about to enter a world. Around the baby are various shapes that I feel can represent the change that social activists are fighting for, specifically in this picture, reproductive rights. I think there is also a connection to a fetus representing this new world we are imagining and creating, just about to be born and change the world.

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"Practice (A Conclusion)"

This section is the conclusion to this amazing book and the author dives into the word “practice” and explores its meaning through a transformative justice lens. She talks about the implications of the word practice and explains how transformative justice and emergent strategy both require people to live in practice. In order to see the world we want created we must start from within, we have to practice in our minds, in our communities, in the way we show up for others. I think this idea of practicing is beautiful and foundational in social justice movements. This conclusion reminds me a lot of my experiences in social work, we learn a lot about following through. In order to be competent social workers we have to commit to lifelong learning and adapting, I think those tools are embedded within practicing new worlds. This idea of adapting and changing over time and continuous learning are ideas that tremendously inform transformative justice. 

I have attached a video titled “The Modern Roots of Transformative Justice” where Mimi Kim and Shira Hassan talk about the work they were doing with INCITE! This video talks about transformative justice and how communities are shifting towards this way of thinking to protect their communities. This video shows how they are practicing transformative justice at all times and in turn practicing new worlds. 

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“Abolition is Cooperative and Focused on Collective Sustainability”

In this section the author starts off the conversation by talking about ants and how their societies function, how ants live a very collaborative and collective life. I thought this was a great way to talk about collective living as we can see from ants that working as a community can take you a lot farther than individually. The author goes into the history of collaborative working and mutual aid and how the black community shaped this kind of community care when chattel slavery was legal. Connecting with your community is a form of abolition and can blossom into an emergent strategy. I think the main point that stood out to me was the idea that in order to get away from oppressive systems is to practice solidarity in and between communities, to decentralize power, and to cooperate with one another in this movement. In my life I have seen this first hand, when I try to accomplish anything on my own it is significantly harder if not impossible than when I rely on my friends and resources. I think that collective growth is a beautiful concept that can ignite abolition. I have included a video of ants working together to make a bridge so their colony can move between two areas easily. I thought this was a good video as it showcases the cooperation that ants partake in and how coming together with your community can lead to new pathways opening. Also I thought the video was interesting just watching how the ants form the bridge together pretty quickly.