Ashon Crawley discusses conviction in the zine Meditation on Abolition, saying right after mentioning police violence that “the time to practice restorative justice, abolition, radical hospitality, and joy is always now…” and “If we ain’t practicing, we ain’t committed”. What are your thoughts?

#Abolition #Discussion #PoliceViolence #Justice #RadicalJoy

The #Anarchism I believe in is about #compassion, #love, and #joy. It is about holding each other up, in all of our #vulnerabilities, in good times and bad, and committing to a #BetterWorld together. It's about living.

This is not a definition, and it's not the most precise or complete way to describe anarchism as I understand it: #AnCom #SocialEcology. And sometimes #rage, conflict, and even violence are necessary to uphold the greater good. But we can't get so lost in the fight that we forget what we're fighting for. I look to #EmmaGoldman.

I say this not to tell anyone else what to do, but to be open about myself. Because I know I haven't been living up to this. Recently, I have felt so much directionless anger, not even attached to anything in particular. I suspect this is related to a recent medication change, which I am in the process of figuring out, along with multiple major life stressors happening all at once. But I am focusing on reclaiming my #RadicalJoy. I know this doesn't mean I have to be 100% #positive all the time; that's unrealistic and toxic. But living up to a joyous, caring anarchism is generally a commitment I feel is needed from me and worth making.

For me, what I'm fighting for, nurturing for, learning for, creating for, living for, thriving for, etc. are many things including anarcho-communism, social ecology, #Intersectionality, #DisabilityJustice, #QueerLiberation, #Solarpunk, #Decolonization, #TransformativeJustice, and #Abolition. I need to remind myself more often what it means to support those things, not only to oppose their opposites.