Bonus Solo Episode: Understanding Abolition With Taylor Rae Almonte-Roman

Summary

Taylor tackles prison abolition, citing Angela Davis and Vera Institute, critiquing incarceration's failure to deter crime. They cover mass incarceration, racial disparities, the war on drugs, school to prison pipeline, privatization, recidivism, and the need for an intersectional approach, referencing Kimberlé Crenshaw. Taylor also discusses mental health in prisons, economic inequality, and labor exploitation, urging a shift from punishment to rehabilitation and community investment, aiming for a justice system that addresses root causes of crime.

Transcription

Taylor Rae Almonte-Roman

Hello, friends. It's Me Taylor Rae. And this is another solo episode of “On the Outside”. Hello and welcome back a few weeks ago, I did an episode on mass incarceration and as promised, I said I would share more about ado. I really liked the opportunity to get a little bit more educational to give you guys some facts and information and hopefully set you on a path and a journey to continue to learn more yourself.

Today is going to be a really high level episode. Once again, I don't like to make these solo ones too, too long because, you know, it's just a little bonus snack. So we're going to keep it on the shorter side for sure because honestly, we can talk about abolition for hours and hours. There is so much to say and so much to share. The first thing that might come to mind when you hear the word abolition is going to be abolition in the context of American slavery.

That is probably how Americans have heard that term the most. But what we're talking about today is abolishing prisons and I have so much to share with you. So Let's get it going in. The book Are Prisons Obsolete by Angela Davis. She writes, prisons do not disappear, social problems, they disappear human beings. This is one of my favorite quotes Davis, along with many others myself, included believe prisons and jails are inherently racist and based on retribution.

Abolitionists come from different communities, schools of thought backgrounds, experiences. But what is true for all abolitionists is a belief that our current prison system is broken. When I talk about abolition. Personally, I'm talking about a core belief that our prison and policing system is beyond repair and reform. And a desire for the resources that fund our prison and policing systems to be redistributed to other areas that will help the underlying inequalities

that have led to our current prison system. And so what I mean by that is I don't consider myself someone that is fighting for prison reform. I do not think that our prisons should continue the way that they are or the way that they have been. I don't believe we should be using those buildings, those facilities, the same rules and the same guidance.

I do not think that it can be repaired. I think it must start from the ground up as many abolitionists do to the second part of what I shared about these systems. having their funding redistributed to other areas, what I'm thinking about is the causes. What causes those underlying inequalities within the United States, education, socio-economic status, resources, racism, discrimination, those things being targeted are going to equal significantly better outcomes and

I'm going to share more about that now. So, Vera, one of my absolute favorite organizations, they do incredible incarceration research. They published a paper in 2017 and it reads, despite its widespread use, research shows that the effect of incarceration as a deterrent to crime is minimal at best and has been diminishing for years. Indeed, increased rates of incarceration have no demonstrated effect on violent crime and in some instances may increase crime, there are

more effective ways to respond to crime. A statistic reads since the year 2000, the increased use of incarceration has accounted for nearly 0% of the overall reduction in crime. Prisons do not make us safer. They have not made us safer for a very long time. The prison abolition movement is a network of groups and activists that seek to reduce or eliminate prisons in the prison system and replace them with systems of rehabilitation and education that do not focus on pub

punishment or government institutionalization. And that word rehabilitation, I will note is a contested word. I have personal friends that have been incarcerated that they don't even like the term rehabilitation. They don't necessarily feel that they themselves needed to be rehabilitated. So I do want to note that because the word rehabilitation comes up so much, the prison abolitionist movement is distinct from conventional prison reform as I shared because prison

reform is intended to improve the conditions inside of prisons. The abolition of prisons is not only about the closure of prisons, it is a way to rec conceptualize basic notions like crime, innocence, punishment, et cetera. This episode is going to be a brief over overview about a lot of different facets to the abolition movement. So let's get into it to understand the modern day prison system.

I just want to first briefly examine its origins. Prisons in the United States have deep roots in slavery with the convict leasing system emerging after the civil war and exploiting black labor for profit. This laid the groundwork for what would become the modern day system of mass incarceration. First thing I want to touch on is mental health in a study that's available on the US Department of Justice website.

We learned that in the United States, there are now more than three times more seriously mentally ill persons in jails and prisons than in hospitals. Thus warranting this study's conclusion that America's jails and prisons have become our new mental hospitals. And that's a direct quote from that paper. So mental health statistics with in correctional facilities are absolutely staggering.

Three times more people are in prisons and jails than in institutions or areas where they could be receiving services and treatment and support. Next, I want to briefly touch on racial disparities in incarceration and some of these will touch on things I spoke about in that last episode, the racial disparities in our criminal justice system are staggering Black Americans make up just 13% of the United States population, but account for over 40% of the incarcerated

population. This disparity is driven by systemic racism at every level of the criminal justice system from policing to sentencing. And that leads me to discuss a little on the war on drugs. The war on drugs has been particularly devastating for black communities despite similar rates of drug use across racial groups, as I shared in my episode about mass incarceration.

Black Americans are disproportionately targeted and prosecuted for drug offenses leading to skyrocketing incarceration rates. Another area of concern is the school to prison pipeline. The school to prison pipeline further exacerbates these disparities with black students disproportionately disciplined and funneled into the criminal justice system for minor infractions.

This pipeline perpetuates a cycle of poverty, incarceration and disenfranchisement going into economic inequality. This also plays a significant role in driving incarceration rates with black Americans more likely to live in poverty with lack of access to quality education and employment opportunities, increasing their likelihood of involvement with the criminal justice system.

The privatization of prisons, which just means that not all prisons are operated by the federal government or by the state, some of them are privately owned and the rise of private prisons has further fueled mass incarceration with corporations profiting off of the incarceration of predominantly black and brown bodies these profit driven institutions have lobbied for harsher sentencing laws and perpetuated a cycle of incarceration for profit.

This also leads to labor that is exploited in prisons. In addition to serving as profit centers for corporations, prisons also exploit incarcerated individuals for cheaper free labor, perpetuating economic inequality and reinforcing racial hierarchies. But above all, what I really think about is the impact on families and communities.

And of course, the individual that is serving time inside the impact of incarceration extends far beyond the prison walls, affecting families and communities for generations, Children with incarcerated parents are more likely to experience poverty, trauma, and involvement in the criminal justice system themselves to truly address the issues of crime and incarceration.

We have to invest in our communities which means relocating funds from prisons to education, health care housing and other social services that address the underlying factors, driving crime. This is something that I think about all the time with my students inside. I think about the underlying factors that drive crime. And as I've shared before, I have no idea why any of my students are inside and that's none of my business and it has no bearing on the work that I do with them.

But I think about the underlying factors that may have led them each there. These are individuals that are just as smart as me, that are just as capable as me that are just as driven and willing to do the work that have dreams that are just as good as mine that are big or even bigger. These are individuals that deserve just as much as I do or anyone else.

And I think about what might have been different in my life experience than theirs, what have led, what has led them to a situation that I don't find myself in, but that I easily could have. And those underlying factors are really the issues of concern that I'm thinking about. What are the reasons that individuals end up joining gangs? What are the individual reasons that lead people to sell drugs or participate in selling other items that are considered illegal?

And what resources do people that have, you know, more money or more connections, what resources do they have that allow them to evade incarceration. There might be two individuals that have both exhibited drug use or both sold drugs but where one might have resources and access to lawyers or connections. Another may not. So many underlying factors result in the current prison system that we have.

I also take a very intersectional approach to my perspective. And intersectionality is a framework for conceptualizing overlapping identities and considerations that an individual might have that might lead them to face multiple layers of oppression and discrimination. So one example of intersectionality with and myself might be being black and being a woman, those two overlapping facets of my identities.

So it's crucial to recognize the intersectional identities and experiences of incarcerated individuals, including those that are queer LGBT Q plus disabled undocumented or who face unique challenges within the prison system. And that's something that abolitionists are always thinking about having that intersectional approach.

And Kimberly Crenshaw is really just the architect of intersectionality in thinking about intersectionality. So highly recommend checking out some of her research, her papers, her books, All Things, Kimberly Crenshaw. Absolutely incredible. Something else that I'm thinking about is reentry challenges. Successful reentry into societies often fraught with challenges from lack of housing and employment opportunities to discrimination and stigma supporting

formally incarcerated individuals is essential for breaking the cycle of incarceration when people are released and then end up back inside. This is called recidivism. So when we look at rates of recidivism, it's way more likely that someone's going to end up back inside if they don't have a support system. And I don't know that everyone knows that so many social services are denied to people that were previously incarcerated.

They're not eligible for housing, for food services for so many resources that are really necessary. Can you imagine being out of the workforce out of your community just completely removed for several years, then being released and potentially not having any friends, family or safety net. And social services is not there to help previously incarcerated individuals and that definitely leads to higher rates of recidivism.

So Reentry is super challenging. I know I really gave you guys. Such a high level overview. I talked about so many little nuggets and moments, racial disparities, the war on drugs, school to prison pipeline, economic inequality, privatization of prisons, labor exploitation, the impact on families and communities and more I know that this is a lot of information to take in.

But I hope that it really just piqued your interest, your curiosity and your compassion, that it leads you to latch on to something that I said and to learn more, something like the school to prison pipeline. For example, you can do just endless, endless research and learning on. So while not every single one of these topics, topics is my specific area of expertise.

And while the expectation isn't that each and every facet of this movement is something that we all know, there's definitely something that matters to you that is something you've seen in your own community. That is something that resonates with you. That's something that you're curious about and I very much encourage you to learn more.

So as we wrap up today's episode, again, I urge you to educate yourself about the realities of mass incarceration, support organizations working towards prison abolition and engage in conversations about alternatives to incarceration in your communities because together we can build a more just and equitable future for all while alternatives to incarceration seem like such an absolute mountain to climb because ultimately, you need money, you need federal local and state support and so many resources to make those alternatives become a reality. I still hope for a future in which prisons don't exist in which people are not disappeared behind bars where individuals are valued and dignity is brought to each and every human being, regardless of their socio-economic status, their race, their gender identity, their sexual orientation, their ability or disability, and so many things in between.

I really hope for that future. I'm believing for that future. I'm working for that future because I know from, from seeing it myself that prisons are an absolute horrific place for a human being to end up. And I do not wish it on anyone. I think that there are so many better ways for us to reshape our society and create a community and a world that really cares about each other that is human centered and human.

First, you can check out the show notes for more resources and of course, all of my citations feel free to send me a little message on IG if you have thoughts about this episode, you can also comment on the website where this transcript is located. As always, I see you and I am with you. See you out there.

References

Davis, Angela . 2003. Are Prisons Obsolete? New York: Seven Stories Press. https://collectiveliberation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Are_Prisons_Obsolete_Angela_Davis.pdf.

Keller, Bill. 2019. “What Do Abolitionists Really Want?” The Marshall Project. June 13, 2019. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/06/13/what-do-abolitionists-really-want.

“More Mentally Ill Persons Are in Jails and Prisons than Hospitals: A Survey of the States | Office of Justice Programs.” n.d. Www.ojp.gov. https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/more-mentally-ill-persons-are-jails-and-prisons-hospitals-survey.

Stemen, Don. 2017. “Vera Institute of Justice.” Vera. 2017. https://www.vera.org/publications/for-the-record-prison-paradox-incarceration-not-safer.

Shaw, Robin Ferguson. “Angela Y. Davis and the Prison Abolition Movement, Part II.” Contemporary Justice Review 12, no. 1 (2009): 101–4. doi:10.1080/10282580802685452.

Handbook of basic principles and promising practices on Alternatives to Imprisonment (PDF). United Nations. April 2007. ISBN 978-92-1-148220-1.