Free Up! is an 8 part abolition & transformative justice learning series benefitting the Prisoner Emergency Support Fund.
Organized by Rania El Mugammar, with generous contributions from guest facilitators, this virtual series features workshops, panels, case studies and labs that explore justice for incarcerated folks, dreaming and building abolitionist futures, transformative justice in our families, building alternatives to policing, mutual aid and more. The series can be experienced as an immersive course, or on a session-by-session basis*. 100% of ticket sales support the Prisoner Emergency Support Fund.
*Please note that Intro to Transformative Justice - the first session in the series is a prerequisite for case studies and more advanced/later sessions. Please see each session description for more information.
We strive to create a brave space for all participants. In order to help folks make bold moves into progressive thinking and actions, all conversations and material shared during these workshops are strictly confidential and cannot be shared through media of any kind.
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An introduction to the principles & practices of transformative justice & abolition for police & prison free futures. An introduction to the principles & practices of transformative justice & abolition for police & prison free futures. This workshop introduces participants to the core values and principles of transformative justice, centering the most vulnerable members in our communities through a framework of community accountability is at the core of the session. Participants will explore some practical tools for interpersonal and community interventions as well as reflections on punitive justice and cultivating a toolkit for collective liberation through self reflection, mutual responsibility and healing. The workshop uses the anti-oppressive framework to explore power dynamics and the socio-political conditions that facilitate and amplify harm. ASL | Live Captioning | Note Taker *This session has no prerequisites. Register here! |
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In conversation with El Jones & Souheil Benslimane about solidarity with incarcerated folks and abolitionist organizing. In conversation with El Jones & Souheil Benslimane, this session in the Free Up! series benefitting the Prisoner Emergency Support Fund, will explore lessons and questions in solidarity organizing with our incarcerated kin. Speakers will explore aligning and amplifying calls for abolition through advocating with those who have been/are jailed and criminalized. El Jones, spoken word poet, educator, journalist, and community activist living in African Nova Scotia. Souheil Benslimane a father, illegalized and criminalized organizer with the Criminalization & Punishment Education Project, Sanctuary Ottawa and J.A.I.L Accountability & Information Line. ASL | Live Captioning | Note Taker *This session has no prerequisites. Register here! |
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The third session in the Free Up! transformative justice workshop series. Focusing on practices, case studies and the messy work of repair! Building on the foundation established in the introductory session, this workshop explores practices and case studies in community accountability, crisis intervention, harm reduction and collective interventions in instances of interpersonal and community violence. Working through difficult questions, considerations and challenges in practicing the messy and iterative work of transformative justice, participants will engage in small groups to explore potential opportunities and risks. Competencies for TJ facilitators will also be explored, alongside practices for resiliency in the course of engaging in the challenging work of transformation and repair. Although this session touches briefly on carceral systems, the core focus is interpersonal practices and implications, rather than theoretical abolitionist frameworks. Content Warning: Please note this workshop engages directly with instances of harm, abuse and violence. ASL | Live Captioning | Note Taker *This workshop is open to all individuals who have completed the prerequisite (Introduction to Transformative Justice: Beyond Punishment and the Carceral State) including but not limited to professional and/or emerging Transformative Justice facilitators. Register here! |
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An intimate and critical conversation with Erica Violet Lee nēhiyaw writer, political theorist, Indigenous feminist, and community organizer. An intimate and critical conversation with Erica Violet Lee nēhiyaw writer, political theorist, Indigenous feminist, and community organizer from inner-city Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Exploring themes of abolition, Indigenous resistance and sovereignty, carceral punishment as colonial violence, and how we move closer to transformative justice in our interpersonal relationships and political organizing. Erica Violet Lee is a nēhiyaw/Cree poet, Native hood scholar, and community organizer from Saskatoon, living on her Treaty Six homelands. She spends her time thinking about Indigenous femme knowledge keeping, how we find and make ceremony as urban Native people, and the necessity of making time for pleasure and joy toward our shared liberation. ASL | Live Captioning | Note Taker *This session has no prerequisites. Register here! |
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Exploring models and practices for building community safety in a collaborative and interactive context. In this session, we will explore models for building community safety as we work to recognize and challenge internalized assumptions about policing and criminality. Participants will explore practices in individual and collective accountability, interpersonal and community repair, and crisis intervention. Considerations for those exploring transformative justice pods and practice networks will be discussed, alongside strategies for safety planning in a variety of circumstances. Using case studies and tools, participants will engage in a collaborative learning environment using an engaged and critical pedagogy. ASL | Live Captioning | Notetaker *This session has two prerequisites - Introduction to Transformative Justice: Beyond Punishment & the Carceral State AND Transformative Justice: Practices & Challenges in Interpersonal & Community Repair. Register here! |
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“What do we do with the cop in our head and hearts?” in conversation with Dr. Rachel Zellars In this session, we will explore transformative justice as an intimate, interpersonal, parenting and familial practice which begins in our closest relationships. Connected to systemic abolitionist struggles, this conversation is an exploration of carceral thinking, punishment and policing as they manifest in our kinship ties. Participants will engage in discussing the implications and challenges for practicing transformative justice in our roles as parents, siblings, family and community members. ASL | Live Captioning | Notetaker *This session has no prerequisites. Register here! |
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Exploring survivor centered transformative justice as a building block for abolition. This session is rooted in an understanding that many abolitionist organizers are survivors who have experienced intersecting forms of sexual and state sanctioned violence. Many anti-abolitionist politics uphold policing and carceral punishment through the narrative of protecting communities from sexual violence. These frameworks operate on the assumptions that police, and imprisonment protect communities from this type of violence, rather than as institutions that produce the conditions of sexual violence. In this session, we will explore the implications of transformative justice for cultivating cultures of consent and honoring the agency, self determination and healing of survivors. We will also explore the ways in which survivors are criminalized, re-traumatized and punished by carceral systems. Participants will explore models for resistance that address the ways in which sexual violence produces collective and intergenerational traumas that impact the most marginalized in our communities in intersecting ways. ASL | Live Captioning | Notetaker *This session has two prerequisites - Introduction to Transformative Justice: Beyond Punishment & the Carceral State AND Transformative Justice: Practices & Challenges in Interpersonal & Community Repair. Register here! |