AN ABOLITIONIST’S HANDBOOK

Patrisse Cullors is a New York Times bestselling author, educator, artist and abolitionist from Los Angeles, CA. Co-founder and former Executive Director of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Patrisse has been on the frontlines of abolitionist organizing for 20 years. Since she began the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013, it has expanded into a global foundation supporting Black-led movements in the US, UK and Canada and has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. TIME 100 also named Patrisse as one of the 100 most influential people in 2020. As an outspoken abolitionist and artist, Patrisse teamed up with Noé Olivas and Alexandre Dorriz to serve as a co-founder of the Crenshaw Dairy Mart, a reimagined art gallery and studio dedicated to shifting the trauma-induced conditions of poverty and economic injustice through the lens of Inglewood and its community. Patrisse is also the faculty director of Arizona’s Prescott College, a new Social and Environmental Arts Practice MFA program, which she developed nesting a curriculum focused on the intersection of art, social justice and community organizing that is first of its kind. In 2020, Patrisse signed an overall production deal with Warner Brothers, where she intends to continue to uplift Black stories, talent and creators that are transforming the world of art and culture.

Author Website

“Her guidance on how to achieve personal and social transformation is enlightening. Readers will be inspired to take action.” – Publishers Weekly

“Recommended for all readers interested in social change activism, particularly prison reform and the defund-the-police movement.” – Library Journal

Chapter 1: COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS

1. Are you capable of having a courageous conversation? Why or why not?

2. When was the last time you had one? What happened? How did you grow?

Chapter 2: RESPOND VS. REACT

1. Write down a time when you responded from a reactionary place.

2. What prompted the reaction and what was the outcome?

Chapter 3: NOTHING IS FIXED

1. How has experimenting worked for you in the work that you do?

2. Name a time you had to lean into experimentation? What was the outcome?

Chapter 4: SAY YES TO IMAGINATION

1. How do you use your imagination? Give a few examples of what you imagine about the most.

2. Name three things you will do to show up for your abolitionist imagination.

Chapter 5: FORGIVE ACTIVELY, NOT PASSIVELY

1. Is there someone in your life you want to forgive, but you don’t know how to?

2. What do you understand about forgiveness and its role in your community and family?

Chapter 6: ALLOW YOURSELF TO FEEL

1. In what aspects of your life do you try not to feel?

2. What’s the scariest part about allowing yourself to feel?

Chapter 7: COMMIT TO NOT HARMING OR ABUSING OTHERS

1. Have you been harmed or abused?

2. Were you able to engage in an accountability process for harm caused against you? If so, what did accountability look like?

Chapter 8: PRACTICE ACCOUNTABILITY

1. Think of a time you have caused harm. What was the situation? Did you practice accountability?

2. How often do you apologize for the harm you caused?

Chapter 9: EMBRACE NON-REFORMIST REFORM

1. Name a societal ill that doesn’t seem to have a solution. What feels impossible about resolving this societal ill?

2. What is an example of how non-reformist reform works?

Chapter 10: BUILD COMMUNITY

1. Do you belong to an established community of any sort?

2. Do they have goals as a group?

Chapter 11: VALUE INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

1. What is your most treasured interpersonal relationship? Describe it. What is it your favorite? Why does it work?

2. Have you ever had to let go of a valued interpersonal relationship? How did you know when you couldn’t value it the same anymore?

Chapter 12: FIGHT THE U.S. STATE RATHER THAN MAKE IT STRONGER

1. Map out three things you will do to ensure you fight for a country that truly supports its people.

2. What is one way you can fight the U.S. state?