CR National members made this toolkit in 2004. In this toolkit, you will find CR’s early ideas on the prison industrial complex and abolition, along with political education and organizing exercises, activities and resources to use in developing your skills for abolition. Over the years, CR members have used and adapted these materials for countless workshops at schools, community spaces, organization and conferences around the world.
This toolkit emerged out of discussion that began in Boston in March 2002. Members of CR and partner organizations gathered for a roundtable discussion on abolitionist organizing strategies. One of the things that we agreed we needed to strengthen was to share our ideas, tools and strategies for abolition with the people we organize with so that we could make concrete steps in building an abolitionist movement.
This kit is not a step-by-step guide to PIC abolition. It is a kit designed primarily for US-based community organizers and their allies already working toward abolition.
This kit is not an ending point, but a place where CR began thinking about how to develop, document and share political education resources for movement building and abolition. Much of the material in this toolkit has been used throughout CR’s campaigns and projects, and gave rise to how CR does political education internally and externally.
In this toolkit, you will find:
A Complete copy of the Toolkit (126-page pdf) is available for your download, printing, use & sharing:
Here is a Sample from the Toolkit, the Seven Easy Steps for Abolitionist Organizing:
Here is a Sample Exercise: “Alternatives to Punishment Role Play”
And you can also selected specific sections to download, print & use:
Information Sheets sharing definitions and drawing connections on Prisons, the PIC and Homelessness, Queer People, Healthcare, Mental Health, Schools, Militarization, Public Benefits & Voting and Environmental Racism.
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