This month we will be discussing the article by Mariame Kaba, "Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police," and sitting with these queries:

• What does this article bring up for me?

• Do my values align with the act of policing?

If you don't have time to read the whole article, this is a short summary excerpt:

When people, especially white people, consider a world without the police, they envision a society as violent as our current one, merely without law enforcement — and they shudder. As a society, we have been so indoctrinated with the idea that we solve problems by policing and caging people that many cannot imagine anything other than prisons and the police as solutions to violence and harm. 

People like me who want to abolish prisons and police, however, have a vision of a different society, built on cooperation instead of individualism, on mutual aid instead of self-preservation. What would the country look like if it had billions of extra dollars to spend on housing, food and education for all? This change in society wouldn’t happen immediately, but the protests show that many people are ready to embrace a different vision of safety and justice.

You are welcome to come for all or part of the session—stop in any time and stay as long as you want.

Tuesday, August 15 at 7 PM Central:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82703199934?pwd=UE1udzBGZjUwZ0tHLzUwM254TTdpZz09

Meeting ID: 827 0319 9934

Passcode: 161204

With hope,

ILYM Racial Equity & Education Committee