the future beyond this

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Years ago, before i believed in police and prison abolition, i was a firm advocate for police reform. Lots of other white people i know who are now abolitionists went through this too- most of us grew up feeling pretty safe in the system that was (more or less) built to protect us, and taking that away didn’t seem possible, let alone necessary.

I have a very clear memory from my early twenties when i was at a street festival with some of my friends. There was a lone table set up where a community member was talking about police abolition. As we passed, i caught him as he was telling someone, “there will be a world after policing and prisons. There is something beyond this”.

I remember my heart skipping a beat when i heard those words. I couldn’t imagine anything different than what i knew right then, how things always were.

Today, i am much different. I’ve found myself returning to those words in times when i feel hopeless and defeated, as i try to fight against a system that seems determined to chew up and spit out every last one of us just so it can sustain itself.

Recently, as we have adjusted a little more to the ICE occupation here in minneapolis, we are also adjusting to the first -35 degree winds of the year. For me, that means more concern for people i love who live outside, trying to find more money for hand warmers and soliciting donations of gloves to give out. It means doubling down on fighting the systems that hurt us, and i am back to that reminder i heard a decade ago-

“there is a future beyond this”.

I haven’t been making much art or writing because most of my energy is elsewhere, but slowing down for a little bit tonight was a gift, and grounding in these reminders has me feeling recentered and committed.

So, these are things i have written in my notes app for when i am exhausted and discouraged:

i love you, keep going!!!