“So, You Like the Police, Huh?”

• In Event: Abolition and Queer Justice: Nurturing Abolitionist Growth

Abstract

Contemporary conversations surrounding the carceral system and its apparatuses, such as the police, have further exposed various embedded systemic injustices. For example, the rise of mass incarceration in the United States has exposed how law enforcement personnel and the prison system enacts racism (Alexander, 2011). As such, concerned citizens, activists, and scholars (none of which are mutually exclusive) have either called for substantial changes or the complete abolishment of these systems, the latter of which is often characterized as a more extreme option. While the word and concept of “abolition” has existed before these divisive debates, the shift toward greater curiosity around and acceptance of abolitionist ideas has become more mainstream. Drawing from a diverse body of literature and explored through the personal experiences of a Black queer woman in criminology, this chapter will discuss how my personal definitions of abolition have changed throughout educational, social, and professional contexts. In doing so, I interrogate the question, “What does it mean for a Black queer and female criminologist to be within a discipline that is inextricably intertwined with, and benefits from, the carceral system?”

Author

• Alessandra Early, John Jay College of Criminal Justice