On the evening of February seventeenth 2022, Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Nobel Peace Prize nominated Black Lives Matter movement and inventor of the BLM hashtag, gave an inspiring seminar at the University of San Diego. The topic was centered around abolitionism, which she brilliantly dissects and analyzes through her own experiences as an African American Women and civil rights activist; giving the term a new contemporary meaning in today’s continuous pursuit of civil rights. 

Patrisse Cullors’ experienced the impacts of both societal and institutional racism while growing up within her community during the crack epidemic. This epidemic ravaged many Black communities due to their already vulnerable state brought upon by a history of economic and institutional racism. In response to the epidemic, the government developed a strategy that would consist of investing resources in policing, the criminal justice system, and prisons. While the increased funding was believed to improve the situation, in its actuality, it became detrimental as “In many cities, police adopted military-like operations that gave officers the prerogative to clear corners, establish roadblocks, make undercover purchases, seize property, and condemn apartments. Police stopped, searched, and verbally abused the law abiding along with the criminals.” (Freedom on my mind, 985) . Patrisse saw at first hand how her communities transformed into what felt like police states as more and more members of her community would be harassed and or thrown into jail. Families within these communities were now losing its members from both drug abuse and police brutality, only ensuring the continuation of suffering within these communities in a way Cullors would describe as “not a way to live”. Cullors understood that the answer was not to further punish and disable these communities, but to the contrary, providing greater investment towards social projects and resources that address the plague of poverty that so negatively affected her and similar communities. Rather than throwing people in jail, Cullors would argue that providing access to mental health facilities and economic opportunities would be incredibly more effective; not only in remediating the crack epidemic, but in lifting the community up to where it would not be susceptible to such an issue again. 

This brings us to one of the first major protests that Patrisse was involved in, known as the “No New Jails Coalition” (later becoming “Justice LA”), where members of the community demanded that the investments towards new prisons be reallocated to Schooling and mental health services resulting with 3.5 billion dollars being invested into just that. Though successful, Cullors places emphasis behind how difficult this was to achieve, pointing out the fact that it took two separate movements over the course of 13 years. Having to go to such lengths to achieve something that she considered a basic human right was just as frustrating as it is unacceptable for Cullors. Despite this fact, she would continue to use the power of social movement to continue the advancement of American Civil Rights, leading to her co-founding of  “Black Lives Matter”, where she took leadership of her biggest and most impactful organization yet. When discussing the core philosophies of the BLM movement, she places emphasis on abolitionism providing a unique perspective. Cullors describes an abolitionist as one who actively challenges the status quo inorder to create an envisioned world built on an “economy of care” rather than one of punishment. The idea behind ‘envisioning’ is particularly important as a shared vision towards a better future is the foundation of any and every movement. Cullors describes the vision of the BLM movement as consisting of ‘having conversations about how we treat each other’, ‘changing ourselves’, and ‘building a system centered around human life rather than profit’. If achieved, it is her belief that America can be transformed into a humanitarian society, such that equality and the ability to pursue happiness is guaranteed to everyone. 

Inorder to analyze the words of Cullors, the term ‘Abolition’ requires special attention. An abolitionist is “A person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution” (Oxford Dictionary), and has much historical relevance throughout American History. The term’s noteriablity originates from the abolitionist movement during the second great awakening where African American’s “urged their own communities and Americans in general to reform themselves and to better society by ensuring equal rights and ending slavery.” (Freedom on my mind, 424). Though this took place in the 1830s, the goal of ensuring equal rights and ending slavery, had been the vision of African Americans since almost the very beggining of America’s slavery institution. Throughout the time slavery was legal, African Americans orginized to delegitamize slavery and demand its end thoughout multiple generations. At the final demise of slavery, the battle was yet to be won as African Americans would shift their aims towards equality. Such an effort would manifest itself in multiple iterations of movements centered around different strategies and philosophies. Starting with Uplift and accommodation at the end of the civil war which transformed into the “New [African American]” and agitation in the early 1900s. This would again change later in the twentieth century into the civil rights movement and once more in recent times to today’s Black Lives Matter movement. In each chapter of African American history, individuals come together to combat the entities that enabled racism with every triumph leading to its retreat deeper into the recesses of America’s society, forcing these movements to adapt to a changing landscape. Though the fight for African American equality has taken many forms, there is consistency behind the vision which has never changed. A vision centered around a better future that provides the very same opportunities that Patrisse Cullors fights for today.

 The brilliance behind bringing back the word “abolition” is that it connects hundreds of years worth of organization and protest under one critical and overarching movement. This emphasizes that the vision held by the Black Lives Matter movement today is fundamentally identical to the visions of the very first Black People taken to this country in chains. That the words of the great MLK, Mary McLeod Bethune, Booker T Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, and many others, are but echoes bouncing off the walls of time from some of the very first Black American leaders. Thus highlighting that the history of African Americans is one of continual effort and devotion towards pursuing the vision of a truly free and equal society and the lengths in which they have gone to only be continuing the fight hundreds of years later. This idea of abolition unites generations of Black visionaries and their efforts as well as serving as a testament to the power behind such a vision and its importance. To truly understand any African American movement, it requires that one first recognizes the entire history of African Americans and acknowledges its continual connection through this new idea of abolition. 

As I reflect on what I have learned from African American History and Patrisse Cullors, I have discovered a new understanding of BLM and African American civil rights as a whole. I now understand the frustrations of the African American community as they continue to pursue the same vision throughout a lengthy history of continuous suppression and deceit. I have learned how the notion to simply wait or continue to be patient is both unrealistic and offensive to the African American community which has been told to do so throughout history. The need for action is immense, as it has historically been the only effective means towards generating change. Without action, the dominant White society would and will continue to ignore the injustices pushed on the African American Community. Though Progress has been steadily made, the goal post continues to shift further away as racism continues to exist in this Nation. Inorder for this grand vision to be truly achieved, racism must be defeated in its entirety, and perhaps BLM will provide the final blow that will bring this vision into existence. While this is a possibility, it will require the participation of all Americans as racism will continue to exist as long as it has a host it may embody. We must all share the same vision and commit to playing our part by becoming abolitionists. Only then can we begin to walk over the “colored line”, hand in hand with members of every race, towards a future that has only been envisioned for far too long.

Citations

White, D. G., Bay, M., & Martin, W. E., Jr. (2020). Freedom on my mind (3rd ed.). Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Weiner. The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989. Print.