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.