Abolitionist Resources

A curated collection of general abolitionist resources & articles. No resource is perfect for everyone - take what you think will work and leave what won't - and drop us any resources you think belong here!

For specific resources on abolitionist practises within professions, see our toolkit for those working within or adjacent to the criminal legal system.

1

Safety Planning & Intimate Partner Violence

This toolkit was created for those grappling with how to support survivors through intimate partner violence, with the intent of strengthening community-level responses to abuse by sharing practical skills and information for safety planning. Though it was written with prison abolitionist and activist communities in mind, it is also intended to be a useful resource for a broader range of people across varying experiences.

2

Madness & Oppression

This guide will help you make your own Mad Map. Drawing from the input of hundreds of members of the Icarus Project community, it will take you step by step through the process of creating your own wellness documents. The guides help you identify and share what you need for support in times of crisis, with the safety of knowing that you are drawing inspiration from tried and true resources shared by people with lived experiences. We hope you will recognize your own experiences in what others have written--and thus discover language to describe your experiences and new tools to maintain your well being and transform your community.

3

Creative Interventions Toolkit

A toolkit that offers solutions other than relying on intervention from police and the criminal legal system to address violence in relationships and community. Created by those with lived experience.

4

Warm Lines That Won't Call Police

A list of non-carceral warm-lines that don't contact police. This list includes specific phone lines for those who are Black, Indigenous, autistic or neurodivergent, queer & trans. The list is based in the U.S. but most of the organizations have 1-800 numbers that are available to anyone to call throughout Turtle Island.

5

Sober Saviourism

Like White saviorism, sober saviorism is based on coercion and control. It’s also inherently violent. How can we do better?

6

Care Not Cops

Part of the The Janine Soleil Abolitionist Youth Organizing Institute (AYO, NYC!)—a collaboration between Project NIA & EFA Project Space. This recorded session engages in a safety planning skill-share by focusing on how to use the Bay Area Transformative Justice Pod-Mapping Tool and collectively strategize how to cultivate safety without relying on policing, child protective services or other healing barriers created by mandated reporting laws. The facilitator is Santera Matthews is a queer mixed indigenous (Keewenaw Bay Ojibwe) organizer born and raised in Milwaukee, WI. Her work focuses on supporting people who are criminalized for acts of self-defense, facilitating and supporting restorative and transformative justice processes and supporting LGBTQ people who are incarcerated in Wisconsin with her work as an organizer with Black and Pink.

7

My Struggle with Police Abolition

A piece written by community organizer and abolitionist Luis Zalvadar around police abolition within the context of Turtle Island. Luis' writing is informed by their experience living in so-called south america - a place where police forces were more obviously corrupt and absent and it was commonplace for communities to rely on creating their own safety. The article discusses some of the struggles around translating that to so-called north american societies.

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Creative Interventions

Creative Interventions provides vision, tools and resources to help anyone and everyone create community-based, collective responses to domestic, family, and sexual violence.

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Abolitionist Toolbox

A large collection of "graphic toolboxes" around abolition, including abolition on campuses, restorative justice circles, responding to tough abolition questions, rape culture intervention and more.

Further Readings & Tools By People with Lived Experience

Glossary