they start to see, oh, well, if this person who i like, who cares about me thinks differently from me, maybe like we can actually have a conversation about this. if you want to combat the culture war from the ground up workers, whether they're at a coal in alabama, whether they're on the railroads, whether they're at amazon, whether they are at a dollar store in louisiana, the way to get through to them is to to them and talk to them and actually show that you care about them and keep showing up because then you build those relationships. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.That is how you get people to start thinking differently about the narratives that are getting blasted at them on tv and radio and so on and so forth. Becoming Abolitionists shows that abolition is not solely about getting rid of police, but a commitment to create and support different answers to the problem of harm in society, and, most excitingly, an opportunity to reduce and eliminate harm in the first place. Here, Purnell argues that police can not be reformed and invites readers to envision new systems that work to address the root causes of violence. The book travels across geography and time, and offers lessons that activists have learned from Ferguson to South Africa, from Reconstruction to contemporary protests against police shootings. Purnell details how multi-racial social movements rooted in rebellion, risk-taking, and revolutionary love pushed her and a generation of activists toward abolition. Calling them felt like something, and something feels like everything when the other option seems like nothing. She saw too much sexual violence and buried too many friends to consider getting rid of police in her hometown of St. In Becoming Abolitionists, Purnell draws from her experiences as a lawyer, writer, and organizer initially skeptical about police abolition.

Millions of people continue to protest police violence because these 'solutions' do not match the problem: the police cannot be reformed.

From community policing initiatives to increasing diversity, none of it has stopped the police from killing about three people a day. And in the end, Purnell makes it clear that abolition is a labor of love-one that we can accomplish together if only we decide to.' -Nia Evans, Boston Review For more than a century, activists in the United States have tried to reform the police. **CONVERSATIONS YOU NEED TO BE HAVING WITH YOUR FAMILY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON** *Named a Kirkus Reviews 'Best Book of 2021'* ' Becoming Abolitionists is ultimately about the importance of asking questions and our ability to create answers.

Becoming abolitionists