The Medium is the Message: A Summer Book Club on Abolition

Abstract

This past summer, together with six law students and a fellow law professor, I participated in a small, informal book club around Mariame Kaba’s essential collection of pieces on prison and police abolition, We Do This 'Til We Free Us. Kaba’s probing, thoughtful critiques address privacy, civil liberties and surveillance; the limitations of “justice” within our current system; and the adultification of Black children, an issue with serious impact on family, education, and of course criminal law. Kaba's book is both accessible and deeply challenging; reading it led to powerful conversations about both the issues discussed and the limited way these issues are approached in traditional legal education. The book club gave rising 2Ls the chance to reconnect with their reasons for attending law school and take greater ownership over their education. And it allowed me, as a professor, to learn alongside them and acknowledge my own room for growth.