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About Our Newspaper

Launched in the spring of 2005 by the Oakland Chapter, The Abolitionist is a bilingual (English/Spanish) publication and organizing tool for prisoners, dedicated to the strategy and practice of prison industrial complex abolition. Paid subscriptions from people outside of prison allow us to distribute the paper three times per year absolutely free of charge to over 5,500 people in prisons, jails, and detention centers throughout the US and internationally, who in turn share the paper with many more of their fellow prisoners. The Abolitionist Editorial Collective is now a national workgroup of Critical Resistance, with members across the US. As George Jackson said: “The point is…in the face of what we confront, to fight and win. That’s the real objective: not just to make statements, no matter how noble, but to destroy the system that oppresses us. By any means available to us. And to do this, we must be connected, in contact and communication with those in the struggle on the outside.”

An inside-outside publication for abolitionist struggle & strategy across prison walls

Three times per year, Critical Resistance prints different issues of The Abolitionist, exploring a range of topics related to the strategy and struggle of PIC abolition. From analyses of racial capitalism and imperialism, to housing, education, land struggles, mental health, confronting gender violence, fights to build life-affirming infrastructure for community self-determination and more, each issue is packed with fresh analytical articles, reflections, poetry, visual art, and organizing resources and tools for resistance inside and outside of prisons.

Learn more about the project here.

Issues

ABOLITIONIST ISSUE 10
Issue: 10
Issue Date: September 30, 2008

Download in English / Descargar en Español “In all our work, we organize to build power and to stop the devastation that the reliance on prisons and policing has brought…

ABOLITIONIST ISSUE 9
Issue: 9
Issue Date: July 15, 2008

Download in English / Descargar en Español “As we mark five years and counting at war in Iraq and consider the manipulation of the poor and of communities of color…

ABOLITIONIST ISSUE 7
Issue: 7
Issue Date: October 17, 2007

Download in English “The point is, …in the face of what we confront, to fight and win. That’s the real objective: not just to make statements, no matter how noble,…

ABOLITIONIST ISSUE 6
Issue: 6
Issue Date: April 4, 2007

Download in English / Descargar en Español “The prison industrial complex is a maze of laws and rules and regulations and policies and procedures. For most of us, navigating the…

ABOLITIONIST ISSUE 5
Issue: 5
Issue Date: January 31, 2006

Download in English / Descargar en Español “Silence from and about the subject was the order of the day. Some of the silences were broken, and some were maintained by…

ABOLITIONIST ISSUE 4
Issue: 4
Issue Date: June 1, 2006

Download in English / Descargar en Español This printing marks the fourth edition of The Abolitionist. We’re finally growing into our skin a bit and feel better situated to make…

ABOLITIONIST ISSUE 2
Issue: 2
Issue Date: May 25, 2005

“To create local, self-determined solutions we must understand and dismantle the overarching systems of white supremacy, patriarchy and imperialism, which have poor communities under siege” – Letter from the Editors…

Issue 1
Issue: 1
Issue Date: February 9, 2005

This is the first issue of The Abolitionist, published in Spring of 2005 by Critical Resistance-Oakland. Download in English and Spanish…