A Conversation on Becoming Abolitionists (Virtual)

For more than a century, activists in the United States have tried to reform the police. From community policing initiatives to increasing diversity, none of it has stopped the police from killing about three people a day.

Join Derecka Purnell and Rep. Cori Bush for a conversation about becoming abolitionists, envisioning new systems that work to address the root causes of violence and creating and supporting different answers to the problem of harm in society.

***Register through Eventbrite to receive a link to the video conference on the day of the event. This event will also be recorded and will have live captions available.***

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Speakers:

Congresswoman Cori Bush is a registered nurse, community activist, organizer, single mother, and ordained pastor for the people of St. Louis. Congresswoman Bush is serving her first term as the representative of Missouri’s 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. She is the first Black woman and first nurse to represent Missouri; the first woman to represent Missouri’s 1st Congressional District; and the first activist from the movement fighting for Black lives elected to the United States Congress. Congresswoman Bush has lived the struggles that many in her community face. She has personally experienced being unhoused and evicted and is a survivor of police, sexual, and domestic violence. She centers those hardships in her fight for regular, everyday people. Her mission is to do the very most for all of the people of Missouri’s 1st Congressional District—starting with those who have the very least.

Derecka Purnell is a lawyer, writer, organizer, and author of Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom. She works to end police and prison violence by providing legal assistance, research, and trainings in community based organizations through an abolitionist framework. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Derecka co-created the COVID19 Policing Project at the Community Resource Hub for Safety Accountability. The project tracks police arrests, harassment, citations and other enforcement through public health orders related to the pandemic.