By Verónica Bayetti Flores • @veroconplatanos • 11 years ago

Video: Conversations on prison abolition with Reina Gossett and Dean Spade

Dean Spade and Reina Gossett, w text on pic that says "Dismantling structures of violence"

Have you been thinking about prison abolition, but have some questions about its practical applications beyond the seemingly-far-away dream of a prison-free world? Do you have questions about what it means to work towards prison abolition in your daily life? Have you been wondering about the intersections of prison abolition and trans liberation? Then this amazing video series at the Barnard Center for Research and Women featuring conversations between Reina Gossett and Dean Spade is for you. The series features a number of discussions about the everyday practices of prison abolition, and it gets to some of the really hard questions of what that exactly means. I especially appreciated the conversation on balancing a commitment to abolition and the immediate needs of incarcerated folks – talking about the tensions there, what it means to listen to what incarcerated folks say they need now, and building awareness of prison abolition in our communities.

Check out the rest of the videos here, and join an online discussion with Reina and Dean on February 7th at 4pm in which they will be answering questions about the intersections of prison abolition and queer and trans movements and expanding on the conversations featured in the series.

*If someone could write up a transcript in the comments, I would be eternally grateful!

 

1bfea3e7449eff65a94e2e55a8b7acda-bpfullVerónica is dreaming of a world without cages.

New York, NY

Verónica Bayetti Flores has spent the last years of her life living and breathing reproductive justice. She has led national policy and movement building work on the intersections of immigrants' rights, health care access, young parenthood, and LGBTQ liberation, and has worked to increase access to contraception and abortion, fought for paid sick leave, and demanded access to safe public space for queer youth of color. In 2008 Verónica obtained her Master’s degree in the Sexuality and Health program at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She loves cooking, making art, listening to music, and thinking about the ways art forms traditionally seen as feminine are valued and devalued. In addition to writing for Feministing, she is currently spending most of her time doing policy work to reduce the harms of LGBTQ youth of color's interactions with the police and making sure abortion care is accessible to all regardless of their income.

Verónica is a queer immigrant writer, activist, and rabble-rouser.

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