Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom

A long-overdue national reckoning with the problem of police violence is finally underway. From community policing initiatives to increasing calls to reform, defund or abolish the police, more and more people are grappling with what alternatives to policing might look like.

Enter Derecka Purnell, organizer, journalist, Harvard Law graduate, and a rising voice of the Trayvon Martin Generation. In making the case for police abolition, Purnell draws from her personal journey, as a child growing up in poverty, where calling 911 was often the only option, as a young woman determined to seek justice from the law, and later as a lawyer and advocate for abolition.

Structured in chapters that address concerns around police abolition--what about the murderers? The rapists? How do we stay safe?--Purnell argues that police can not be reformed and invites readers to envision new systems that work to address the root causes of violence instead.

A revolutionary book about choosing freedom, Becoming Abolitionists will inspire readers to imagine and create new communities that can guarantee safety, equality, and real justice for all.