Listening to Queer Black Women on International Women's Day

Following the Leadership of Women of Color Today is International Women’s Day. This March also marks the last month of PPF’s six-month deep focus on the call to defund the police (more about that commitment and what it means here). In the past five months, we have committed to political education and taking action toward abolition through action circles, book clubs, virtual coffee hours, webinars, Abolitionist Advent and Lent, and Praxis Circles. The work to abolish the prison industrial complex, including policing, is not new; it has been led and stewarded by women for decades. The abolition movement has been and is being led primarily by queer Black women like Angela Davis, Mariame Kaba, Andrea Ritchie, adrienne maree brown, and more. Black nonbinary people like Prentiss Hemphill are also important leaders in the movement. If abolition feels challenging--and it should--it's because it is not easy! If it was easy, we would already have systems of true safety and accountability that don’t involve policing or incarceration. This International Women’s Day is an especially meaningful day to read and listen to some of these visionary women who are leading this movement:  Interview with Mariame Kaba: “What Are We Going to Do About It?” Mariame Kaba Talks Abolition in Action (Truthout, 2/23/2021) Podcast conversation with Andrea Ritchie and adrienne maree brown (The Emergent Strategy Podcast, 3/4/2021) Article by Angela Davis, “Believe in New Possibilities” (Medium, 10/6/2020) This work goes beyond reading and listening, of course, and it goes beyond one day. This is lifetime work, and as a majority-white organization we seek to follow the lead of the people most impacted by the prison industrial complex (which includes policing) while doing our own work. When PPF talks about abolition we are talking about a vision of a world without prisons or police where true safety means everyone’s needs are met and conflict is resolved in community. This vision requires that we move our resources and collective energies in order to invest in the flourishing of our communities. This will look different in different contexts. How does this already look in your contexts? How can you honor the work of so many known and unknown women who practice the values of abolition--mutual aid, solidarity, true safety--today in your own community?  -- Rev. Emily Brewer Take the Inventory of Conscience Survey The new Inventory of Conscience survey was designed by members of PC(USA) Peace Churches to help you clarify your thoughts about the use of violence. Will your results show a "strict pacifist" or something else? What questions will it raise for you to discuss with others? While it was designed especially to help young adults sift through the messages they've absorbed through the media about violence, we hope people of all ages find it to be a useful tool. We welcome your comments at survey@presbypeacefellowship.org. Lenten Reflections on Abolition Building on Abolitionist Advent, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship continues to partner with Fellowship of Reconciliation, More Light Presbyterians, and other individual thought partners to bring reflections on faith and abolition to you this Lent. These conversations are hosted by Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill, Executive Director of More Light Presbyterians, and follow the Lectionary for the following week. So, if you're a preacher, the podcast will be available over a week before that text comes up in the lectionary to aid in your preparation. However, these conversations are intended not only for preachers, but for Christians who are interested in exploring more deeply how we might understand this season of Lent and the scriptures from an abolitionist perspective. Abolition means not just the closing of prisons and ending of policing but the presence, instead, of vital systems of support that many communities are systematically disenfranchised from. This Lenten season, we are inviting people across traditions and mediums to explore themes of revelation, disruption, examination, and embodiment in ways that will support a larger faith movement re-imagining restorative solutions to community safety, healthy, and wellness. Watch the Abolitionist Lent Bible Study videos so far: Naming in Genesis 17:1-7,15-16 Liberation in John 3:14-21 Anger in John 2:13-22 Presbyterian Peace Fellowship 845-786-6743 | presbypeacefellowship.org Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

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