What we talk about when we talk about abolition

by Dr Tulika Jha, She/her

The word ‘abolition’ elicits a visceral response which is why I love it. It disrupts. It says “we are not accepting what we cannot change; instead we are building a world anew that will make the current world obsolete” . My expression is by means of a poem that challenges abolitionist responses that do not dare to dream or reimagine to the margins of possibility. I want to show that abolition is not only possible, but inevitable if we depend upon our collective consciousness to dream a new world into existence. A world so different full of faith that it makes our crumbling old world shy away and make space for the new. 

Instagram: @tulikawriting

When we say stop the genocide  

We don’t mean ceasefire  

We mean free Palestine  

When we say shut down prisons  

We don’t mean community service  

We mean build justice not peace  

When we say defund the police  

We don’t mean police each other  

We mean cultivate trust not punishment  

When we say Mental health Industrial Complex 

We don’t just mean diagnoses, medication, therapy 

We mean flipping the table to make our own care plans 

When we say health  

We don’t mean hospitals  

We mean equity of housing, education, food, safety 

When we say personal is political  

We don’t mean individualism 

We mean families are where we start our politic 

When we say internalised racism  

We don’t mean low self esteem  

We mean the social permeates us to our core 

Change starts from within 

When we say self care  

We don’t mean bubble baths  

We mean sowing seeds for the new world  

When we say antiracism  

We don’t mean a one-time event  

We mean the living bridge of Meghalaya   

When we say abolish  

We don’t mean only death  

We mean clearing the space  

From which a new world is born  

That renders the old obsolete