fierceawakening:

madeofpatterns:

alliecat-person:

alliecat-person:

Right on cue, I see someone on Twitter kvetch about how Kamala Harris (supposedly) supports prison labor. Uh, citation required?

And also, FUCK YOU. This is not activism.

It just occurred to me that Harris is a former prosecutor and therefore possibly holds positions that aren’t palatable to prison abolitionists. Which, okay, fair enough.

The problem with this kind of purity politics, though, is that it overlooks the NEED we have for liberal, feminist women of color like Harris to serve as prosectors. If we just let all of these positions get filled by the other side we’re setting ourselves up for disaster. 

I don’t expect everyone to agree with Harris on everything, or of any other liberal politician. But I do expect people to at least try to understand their full histories and context before condemning them as Not Enough.

Step one: Abolish prisons.

Step two: ????

Step three: Liberation!

Yes, this.

The prison system is colossally fucked… which is exactly why WE NEED A PLAN to reform it. Or to replace it with something else if we abolish it, which will probably happen over a LONG time if it does.