It's jarring to see folks who are speaking as abolitionists on webinars also calling for charges to be brought against cops. I absolutely get why our people ask for that.

But also, u shouldn't be doing public talks on abolition if you aint one, friends.

That's not gate keeping. Do right & give those opportunities to folks who've been studying and working on abolition. I got a list.

Abolitionists don't believe in affirming or legitimizing the prison system at all.

Not shade to folks who aint there yet.

its weird that folks are responding 'you mean i cant speak as an expert on abolition if I'm not an abolitionist?! How condescending!"

We all got room to grow. Everyone of us. This isn't to ridicule anyone who aint there yet, its saying maybe dont speak on it as an expert yet?

it aint shade. It certainly was a journey for me getting here.

But this work deserves the same rigor & respect as other things. You learn, you grow, you open space for others. Thats not gatekeeping- its protecting the integrity of work so many folks have built.

And this ain’t to young folks more so as it’s to folks who’ve already built a following or platform & see this as the next thing to talk about cuz everyone’s curious.

It’s not always a/b how long you’ve been at this politic, but how developed and cosistent you are on it.

One thingto add to this thread from yday. There’s still room to deal w/the tensions and contradictions in this space. I don’t want to make the mistake of saying you can’t come into the church of abolition if your politics ain’t perfect. That’s not what this thread was a/b