echoing @bsonenstein, I know some of my followers may still be on the fence on prison + police abolition. if you have questions, or want to be pointed toward some readings + resources, I’m here!

we’re all on a journey and none of us have all the answers. we are building the plane as we fly it. if this moment is radicalizing you, welcome.

I was doxxed last week in retaliation for speaking out about commune editors' abuses. the doxxer, who i will not name, wanted folks to know i had an ayn rand phase in college. I was homeless, read the fountainhead, and the “pull yrself up by your bootstraps” myth appealed to me.

I wanted to believe that I had control over what happened to me + could keep myself safe.

when I ended up in an abusive relationship from 2011-2013, that myth came crumbling down. I had to accept that I couldn't prevent violence from happening to me, that I could tell myself I'd leave a partner who ever laid a hand on me, but the reality wasn’t that simple.

at that point, my life + my politics took an enormous turn. I became a mama. I shifted my energy toward addressing gendered violence against people with experiences like mine. awkwardly, I ended up working at Polaris! as i've shared before: https://twitter.com/theleilaraven/status/982764804740960257

I'm fortunate that I found @safespacesdc next, and read Angela Davis's "are prisons obsolete?" + "the revolution will not be funded" + "the revolution starts at home." what a blessing. I know I am still, and always will be, learning.

and i hope to always pay it forward

and to the person who doxxed me: you cannot shame a woman who is unashamed