Sometimes, something needs to be destroyed in order to make room to create something new. People often expect abolitionists to have a complete vision of the systems that will replace incarceration and policing, though no one alive today has the luxury of knowing a world where those systems don’t exist. This does not mean we can’t say ‘no’ to police and prisons. The Zapatistas teach “one no, many yeses.” The possibilities of a post-carceral world are endless, but they all start from the same point: abolition. 

What would it mean to say no?

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָפֶן
Baruch atah Adonai, eloheynu melech ha-olam, borey p’ree ha-gafen.
Blessed are you, who creates the fruits of the vine.
 


haggadah Section: Kadesh