Practicing Everyday Abolition
Author: Grace Okerson
Practicing abolition is not a fast and hard reality. Mariame Kaba, one of the mothers of modern-day abolition, is often quoted saying that “Abolition requires the urgency of now and the patience of 1000 years.”
So what do we do with that sentiment? How do we live into the urgency while leaning into patience? For me, abolition is not perfection; but it is a conscious effort towards acting out the dreams that I have of mutuality and the flourishing of all God’s creation. The following are five ways that I try to practice abolition in my everyday life. I don’t succeed at them all the time, but I am learning in the journey.
1. I’ve made a personal commitment against utilizing the police and police resources.
If I am imagining a world without prisons and policing, I must begin to live into that reality. For me, that means leaning into a deep sense of community and mutual aid. It means knowing my neighbors and being willing to go out of my comfort zone to get to know those who are different than me. It means actually going out in my community and mapping out what community-based resources are available to me. Being able to not rely on the police or police resources requires that I am rooted in something more than myself, I have to be willing to rely on the help and support of those around me.
2. I try my best not to participate in cancel culture.
Cancel culture falls within carceral logics as it holds that people are disposable and can be judged by a single action or moment in time without interrogating what is happening underneath said action. Cancel culture holds that people can be reduced to one of the worst things they have ever done. In refusing to participate in cancel culture, I am holding that all people are made in God’s image and are worthy and not disposable beings.
3. Hold myself accountable and accept consequences as they come.
Owning up to your own downfalls and missteps is an important part of practicing everyday abolition. I’m not perfect, none of us are. I will make mistakes again and again and again. In my lifetime, I will hurt people consciously and unconsciously. It is not making mistakes that is an issue, but the lack of accountability and acceptance of consequences. We need more consequences and less punishment. Accountability and consequences lead to transformation while punishment leads to stagnancy and death.
4. Calling people into the work of transformative justice.
I talk about abolition every chance that I get. There are so many misconceptions around what abolition is and what it is not. It is not just about tearing down systems, but replacing them with life giving realties instead. Calling people into the work of transformative justice means reaching more and more people about what abolition is and that it is rooted in transformative justice.
5. Seeing the joy in the everyday.
Working towards abolition can be tiring and thankless work; but it is filled with so much joy. Dreaming and imagining life giving realities brings me joy. Thinking about a world in which everyone—regardless of race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, etc.—has access to resources that met their specific needs is a joyful thing. I have to lean into joy in order to keep going. I have to lean into joy in order to see the beauty in the world, in beauty in people, and the beauty in the struggle towards abolition.
—
Grace Okerson, MA is SBI’s Specialty Project Coordinator and Content Curator. Using her background in administration and journalism, Grace organizes, leads, and executes various SBI projects and manages SBI public-facing content. Grace currently lives in Atlanta, GA, attending Candler’s School of Theology @ Emory University pursuing a Master of Divinity.
If you are inspired to support our work, please consider donating at www.sbiinitiative.com/donate
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SBIMcCormick