For My Students Considering Abolition in Communication and Gender

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 I write this letter to several critical audiences. First, I write this to the students I have been privileged enough to share space with in the classroom. It is an honor to learn with you all. I very grateful for the generosity and curiosity you show up with which builds our community. I hope this note honors our collaborative efforts to make the world a more just and joyful place. Second, I write this to readers of Women’s Studies in Communication; to other teachers of Communication and Gender, graduate teaching associates who may be stepping into the classroom for the first time, to any students who may be assigned this in a classroom in a place near or far, and to any reader who comes with a twinkling hope of abolitionist futures. Finally, I write this note to my younger self, who once enrolled in Communication and Gender as an undergraduate student, who needed a gentle nudge to connect abolition to broader projects of gender and sexual liberation; a movement that has come to define my life politically, personally, and professionally. Keep dreaming, Michael. Keep dreaming, y’all. With this in mind, I have carefully curated the references in this note to include readings, organizations, and authors which (a) radicalized me as a young queer abolitionist and (b) I include in my own Communication and Gender course. I encourage y’all to read them, consider them, and pass them on to someone else. I hope you find them as useful and hopeful as I do. Because prison abolition is gender liberation. And gender liberation is prison abolition. Full stop.