Derecka purnell becoming abolitionists6/19/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() What if I was darker, disabled, or large-bodied? Or wasn’t wearing a maroon Harvard cap? What if my kids’ clothes were borrowed and oversized, like mine were at their age? And what if we slept in the car because that’s where we lived? Vehicle living is the fastest growing form of homelessness in the US and the number of cities that criminalized it has doubled in the last ten years. Yet not everyone can afford a locksmith and they rely on calling 911, as my family did when I was a child. A local locksmith could have prevented a police encounter and saved my life. ![]() My neighborhood lacked basic services and businesses and needed a robust variety of them. I could have prepared by having a spare key with a friend, neighbor, or inside a lockbox. But the cops couldn’t help, and I deserved more from myself and my community. Without an abolitionist analysis, maybe I would have believed I needed cops to rescue my kids from a quickly heating car. Deuce still teases me about calling the police. They popped the door open in a few seconds. I asked again for a firetruck, and after he proceeded to ignore my plea, firefighters appeared. It was a trivial mistake-I did not wake up one August morning with “lock my two small kids in the backseat before work” on my checklist. How did this happen? What were you doing? I did not want to reveal anything that could be used against me. When it did not work, he made small talk. I told him I needed a firefighter with the right equipment, but he kept going as if he was being chivalrous. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |