In this episode of the Beyond Prisons podcast, hosts Kim Wilson and Brian Sonenstein discuss a video published by Critical Resistance that features Professor Dylan Rodriguez talking about policing and police practice. We encourage you to spend a few minutes watching the video before listening to this episode.

We chose this video because Professor Rodriguez helps us to interrogate the way that we think about the police. He makes the case for why “policing” is a more accurate term than “police brutality” and urges us to think about why some people need to demonstrate their humanity by hugging cops.

Brian and Kim use the points by Professor Rodriguez to further discuss what it means when abolitionists and other activists are willing to make exceptions for some people to go to prison, and what kinds of conversations we need to have to shift peoples’ consciousness about punishment. We push back against the idea that prison and other legal punishments are forms of accountability and lay the groundwork for other upcoming episodes on this topic.

Resources & Additional Reading

[Video] Breaking Down The Prison Industrial Complex with Professor Dylan Rodriguez: “It’s Not Police Brutality”

Critical Resistance – Breaking Down The Prison Industrial Complex Video Series

Reformist Reforms vs. Abolitionist Steps in Policing

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Hosts: Kim Wilson and Brian Sonenstein

Music: Jared Ware