Reform is not helping and we demand more: Here’s why we believe abolition is the way forward.
Over the years, reform has become a safe place for our society’s comfort. Rather than seeing how we can end the carceral system, we continue to advocate for a system that does not work for us and actively harms our most marginalized communities.
My name is Micki; I’m an organizer of the Participatory Defense (PD) hub in Harris County in Houston, Texas, led by Texas Advocates for Justice (TAJ), a criminal justice member-based organization powered by Grassroots Leadership, an abolitionist nonprofit in Texas.
The Houston PD program was inspired by the Silicon Valley De-Bug model that my colleague Carl Nix developed to better support the people in our community. Our work centers transformative justice rather than punitive justice, so we make it a practice in our organization to avoid terms that center dehumanization, like felon, the criminal “justice” system, inmates, and ex-offender.
That’s why I imagine an approach that promotes safety, healing, accountability, self-determination, and community care — instead of one that prioritizes punishment, retribution, and social control.
My perspective is based on my education as an abolitionist social worker and my lived experience of surviving traumatic experiences of domestic violence throughout my lifetime.
Over the years, I’ve learned to recognize when power is used to strip away a person’s humanity and when power is strategically used to create social change. The work we are doing in the community creates systems-change approaches of support as an alternative to the current reality many people in our community face.
Although this work can be challenging at times, I’m reminded that my work is guided toward healing and understanding, which centers on abolition. Learning to be “unafraid advocates” has its moments, but it’s also important to not let the feeling of powerlessness dominate us.
Here are some ways that we support you or someone you know who is or has been incarcerated and looking for liberation on your journey:
The criminal legal process can be intimidating, isolating, and stress-inducing. We accompany our members and support persons to their court appearances, in person or digitally. Far too often, we have witnessed interactions in the courtroom where officials silence people facing charges in the room. We ensure that doesn’t happen and support you every step, working towards the best possible case outcome.
The lack of communication with their defense attorneys is a common problem. We work to facilitate effective communication between our members, their loved ones, and their defense attorney to ensure all parties involved are informed and understand the status of their case. We brainstorm with our members to identify gaps or unanswered questions to address with their attorneys to ensure our members’ needs are being met.
We assist with building biography packets–which include photos, character letters of support, videos, certificates, pay stubs, etc.–to demonstrate the honorable qualities of the person facing charges and provide a snapshot of their life in the community. These packets provide judges, prosecutors, district attorneys, defense attorneys, parole officers, and probation officers to see a human being rather than a case number or a list of charges.
We are a community of lived experiences and allies who organize daily to dismantle our community’s barriers in the criminal legal system. Our vast network of members and supporters have in common the value of transformation, liberation, and community care.
If you find yourself interested in learning more about our work and other organizations around the country, know there is hope when there is solidarity. Programs like these function as a national organization model guiding local communities to connect and empower directly impacted people in the criminal legal system.
Some of our network hubs include:
Metro Atlanta PD (MAP) in Atlanta, GA
Like myself, our members are on similar journeys in life to do the work toward more healing and transformative justice spaces. If you or someone you know in the community has been directly impacted by the carceral system and looking for solidarity, advocacy tools, resources, or a community, connect with us at Texas Advocates for Justice.