Thank you, Los Angeles! On December 10, 2022, we were joined by dozens of community members at La Casa Roja near Korea Town and mid-town in LA for an inspiring event celebrating the latest issue of The Abolitionist newspaper and building LA power for our CA Prison Closure campaign with Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB).
About 50 attendees mingled and talked about Critical Resistance and prison industrial complex (PIC) abolition, eating snacks and checking out The Abolitionist, issue 38 featuring labor struggles and PIC abolition. We then held a panel discussion with CA Prison Closure campaign organizers Bryan Ziadie and Mark Golub from CRLA, along with Olivia Gleason from CURB, and Shakeer Rahman from Stop LAPD Spying Coalition and Chanelle Gallant as contributors of The Abolitionist newspaper. Chanelle Gallant, who was interviewed for issue 38 of The Abolitionist, explained how decriminalizing sex work is a core abolitionist strategy the labor movement would do well to consider. One of the lawyers behind the Amicus Brief that resulted in the closure of CA Correctional Center (CCC) in Susanville, Shakeer also broke down how this legal strategy was led by imprisoned organizers at CCC, as well as some of the essential organizing happening in LA to resist policing and surveillance that Stop LAPD Spying and other movement partners have been doing, as shared in their article in issue 35 of The Abolitionist on defunding policing efforts. Moderated by CRLA’s Jose Gutierrez, panelists discussed the importance of CR’s newspaper as an inside-outside organizing tool building connection, shared analysis and strategy across prison walls, as well as why prison closure is a workers’ struggle all of our communities should be fighting for.
After the panel, attendees continued to mingle, connect, and make posters CR will take to Sacramento on January 12, 2023 for a statewide mobilization, holding a press conference and rally to demand more prisons be closed. Save the date—January 12—and join us in Sacramento! Southern CA organizers and CRLA will be coordinating carpools (email crla@criticalresistance.org for more info). RSVP for the action now!
Check out photos of the event below, and join CRLA again on January 7, 2023 at Chuco’s Justice Center for a community film night, screening Reimagining Safety by Matthew Solomon, featuring LA-based organizers including CRLA’s Jose Gutierrez.
