We Do This 'Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice

We Do This ’Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice is a 2021 book by the activist Mariame Kaba. Alternately called The Abolitionist Papers, it is a collection of essays, interviews, and various other media—including some produced with collaborators—on the common theme of abolishing the prison system. A New York Times bestseller, it marks Kaba’s first book for adult readers. As she explains later in the book, she was hesitant to make herself a public figure for fear of distracting attention from the movements that she works with, but after realizing that many of her writings and interviews were helping to inspire activists and organizers around the world, she decided to go public as a face of the abolition movement in the hope of spreading the movement nationwide.

This study guide is based on the 2021 Amazon Kindle edition published by Haymarket Books.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss structural racism and racist violence, including police shootings, as well as sexual violence.

Summary

The book is divided into seven sections. The first section establishes the core tenets of the abolitionist movement, namely that police, prisons, and other instruments of incarceration are beyond reform and must be eliminated altogether. Kaba argues that this does not preclude more moderate strategies in the meantime, such as disarming and defunding police departments, but there can be no compromise with these institutions, which are designed with the express purpose of tormenting Black people to keep them in a subordinate position.

Sections 2 and 3, respectively, deal with the question of the so-called “perfect victim” and ideal criminal, often high-profile cases that appear to show the “criminal justice system” working as intended (while Kaba rejects the term “criminal justice system,” it will be used periodically in the Summary sections in deference to common usage). Kaba argues that for even the most egregious offender, there is no justice to be had in locking someone away because incarceration does nothing for communal healing and makes it even less likely that the offender can take accountability for their actions.

Part 4 criticizes more moderate reforms that ultimately leave the institutions of policing and prison intact, and Part 5 focuses on the tactics and purposes of activism and organizing. After returning to the question of accountability instead of punishment in Part 6, examining concrete ways to practice transformative rather than punitive justice, the book ends with a reflection on the need for communal action to sustain and ultimately implement the abolitionist vision. The book accordingly serves several purposes: It is part social history, political commentary, memoir, handbook for community organizing, and an expression of deep gratitude and love by Kaba for the people who put their freedom and lives on the line to push for a more just society.