Free Them All: Political Prisoners+Abolition

Student-Taught course, taught by Mary Sprague

We will begin by asking: what is abolition? We will read authors such as Angela Davis and Joy James to trace the development of this movement. Next, we will study writings of various political prisoners beginning with George Jackson, and including Assata Shakur, Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, Russell Maroon Shoatz, and David Gilbert. We will discuss the varying ways these authors think about prison abolition in relation to revolution, how their ideas are informed by both the radical movements they were a part of and their experiences as prisoners. Finally, we will look at the history of prisoner-organizing in the United States, looking to the ways prisoners and people on the outside have established networks of solidarity with each other. This history will lead up to today, covering more recent events such as the National Prison Strike in 2016 and prison uprisings related to COVID-19.