Truthout
Abolition
![People in Santa hats distribute food as a man dressed as Santa poses for a photo in the foreground](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/12/2021_1223-santa-mutual-aid-400x300.jpg)
Organizers Are Building Solidarity Through Holiday Mutual Aid Work
Holiday-themed mutual aid efforts are popping up in cities and towns all across the United States.
![In this photo from 2017, police monitor ShotSpotter and other crime detection programs at the Chicago Police Department 7th District's Strategic Decision Support Center.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/12/2021_1202-police-shotspotter-400x300.jpg)
Abolitionists Are Fighting Against the Surveillance State in Their Neighborhoods
The ShotSpotter system manufactures urgency for aggressive police deployments.
![police officers](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/11/2021_1117-police-400x300.jpg)
Diversifying the Police Force Won’t End Police Violence
Hiring a diverse police force may change what cops look like, but it doesn't change what policing means and does.
![Black Lives Matter activist addresses participants in the mass sit-in on the Ohio State University (OSU) campus during the demonstration. Students staged a sit-in demonstration in reaction to the police shooting and killing of Ma'Khia Bryant, 16, the day before. Activists demanded that OSU sever ties with the Columbus Police Department to keep BIPOC students safe.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/10/GettyImages-1232450998-400x300.jpg)
Looking to Get Cops Off Your Campus? Start Here.
Last year’s uprisings have created fresh starting places for campus-based abolitionist organizing.
![Former prisoners of Rikers Island, family members of prisoners who have died at the jail and advocates for closing Rikers Island protest the deaths of 12 prisoners in 2021 on October 1, 2021, outside of City Hall in downtown Manhattan, New York.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/10/2021_1021-rikers--400x300.jpg)
Rikers Island and the Shapeshifting Monster of Reform
“We’re talking about a hostage situation and the answer is to free the hostages,” says Kelly Hayes.
![Demonstrators dance as they march in honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day at Freedom Plaza on October 11, 2021, in Washington, D.C.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/10/2021_1012-protest-march-400x300.jpg)
A Grim Winter Looms. These Activists Are Keeping Spirits Up Through Organizing.
There is a lot at stake, but experienced organizers say there’s so much more to gain through collective action.
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Police Reform Is Not Enough to Protect Black Lives
Human rights lawyer Derecka Purnell argues that police reform is an inadequate compromise to calls for abolition.
![Police in riot gear force people off a street as they protest the killing of Andrew Brown Jr. on April 27, 2021, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/10/2021_1005-police-protest-400x300.jpg)
New Study Shows More Than Half of Police Killings Have Gone Uncounted Since 1980
The study also showed that Black people are 3.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white people.
![Two months after the Minneapolis upraising visitors continue to pay their respects at George Floyd's makeshift memorial as fleeting rays of sunlight illuminate a haloed cross inscribed with the words "Rest in Power George Floyd" on July 26, 2020, in Minneapolis, MN.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1228047333-400x300.jpg)
Christianity Is Empty If It Doesn’t Address the Racist Carceral State
Religious leaders must confront the evils of policing, which is sustained by the legacy of white supremacist domination.
![Police in riot gear stand by as they're accurately described by a banner in the background](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/09/2021_0920-police-400x300.jpg)
Bipartisan Reforms Often Expand Prisons and Police. We Need Abolition Instead.
If the system is functioning as it is designed to, then “reform” will almost always find ways to reinforce the norm.