Throughout Scalawag's second annual Abolition Week, we will be publishing content to guide audiences along their abolitionist journey. Realizing Abolition is an opportunity to gather together with others committed to challenging the existence of prisons in our society.

Join us to hear from Ayisha Horton and Sammie Werkheiser about the conditions women experience while incarcerated, and the overlooked challenges facing them when they return. We'll also learn from innovative organizers at Growing Change, Women On The Rise GA, and Solitary Gardens who are creating new avenues of healing to replace structures of harm. From turning prisons into farms, to creating abolitionist toolkits, to expanding community care, we'll hear from folks who are not only making abolition possible, but making it present!

At the end, attendees will have time in breakout rooms to meet with other abolitionists and folks on the journey to discuss how you can begin realizing a home, a country, and a world without prisons right where you are.

To create a world without prisons, we must first "imagine" one. But abolition takes more than imagination. We're going beyond theoretical jargon to the practical actions and relationships of solidarity that shift the carceral systems in our local context. So join us for Realizing Abolition.

Event Schedule

7 to 7:30 p.m. ET — I Never Knew: Panel discussion about the conditions women face in prisons.

7:30 to 8 — Don't Just Imagine, Implement: Presentations by Southern abolitionist organizations about innovative projects to create a prison-free community.

8 to 8:30 — Shoulder to Shoulder: Participant breakout sessions to brainstorm and ask questions about how to close jails, repurpose prisons, and help support our returning neighbors.

To attend the conversation, we ask for a suggested $10 dollar donation. Your donation helps Scalawag pay our panelists, and allows us to keep our content accessible for all. **Attendance is FREE for Scalawag members and for those who have been incarcerated.** If you would like to become a member sign up here!

More from abolition week

A Man Alone

Craig Waleed's time in solitary confinement almost broke him. Now he works to ensure others in North Carolina don't suffer the same isolation.