Brian Ruiz (he/him/they/them) /
Radical Love Consciousness /
New York, USA /
It’s been awhile since I’ve last written a blog. I’ve been focusing on co-developing several workshops on topics related to prison abolition (PA) and transformative justice (TJ). I have been enjoying the development and have been gravitating most towards workshops involving the youth, specifically between the ages of 5 and 12.
One of the workshops looks at how childhood television shows allow children to envision and practice forms of abolition, whether that be through conflict resolution, resistance towards carcerality, community accountability, and centering impacted folx. I personally want to thank and give all the credit to folx at RLC, Abolitionist Learning Network, my little brother, and partner for these conversations and actions, as it has allowed for more understanding of the significance of communal learning for our youth. PA and TJ is an ongoing intergenerational movement and process; the work we do now will be refined, evolved, and expanded upon by the time it reaches the next generations of folx.
I have found childhood media such as Finding Nemo, Avatar, and The Last Airbender to be the focal point of the workshop, as certain scenes from the movies depict the practice of PA and TJ. The escape from the fish tank scene in Finding Nemo shows a dismantling of carceral structures, and Katara and Zuko’s accountability process shows a response to harm and is survivor/victim-centered.
In doing these workshops, I’ve thought about what it means to incorporate an abolitionist learning framework for the youth. Guiding questions have been helpful for providing a template for discussion topics and ideas for activities. In addition, accessibility is important; we are working on having sign language, transcriptions, and translations for these workshops. This all is nothing new, as many other figures and entities, such a Mariame Kaba, #8toabolition, and Survived and Punished, have done it throughout this movement. However, it is incredibly important for us to honor, highlight, expand upon, and further evolve this amazing work.
In my next blog, I’ll discuss the present and future of abolition, focusing on everything that has occurred this year between the pandemic, ongoing tragic forms of systemic and interpersonal violence towards folx, lack of community accountability, and survivor- and victim-centered initiatives.