Disarm, Defund, Dismantle — Online Launch

Disarm, Defund, Dismantle: Police Abolition in Canada is the first collection in so-called Canada about the #DefundThePolice movement since it was popularized in 2020. The book publishes on April 4th.

Tune into the free launch event to learn more about the multi-faceted politics of police abolition in Canada. We'll touch on abolition as a response to settler colonialism and as integral to Indigenous sovereignty, as a response to anti-Black racism in the context of Black revolt today, as part of the struggle for sex worker safety, as a movement against migrant detention, as critical to harm reduction, and more.

Hosted by:

- El Jones, co-author of Defunding the Police: Defining the Way Forward for HRM [Halifax Regional Municipality]

- Desmond Cole, author of The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power

Featuring brief discussions with:

- Free Lands Free Peoples, author of "Chapter 9. A Brief Introduction to Anti-colonial Abolition"

- Elene Lam & Chanelle Gallant, authors of "Chapter 14. Rights Not Rescue: Defending Migrant Sex Workers from Policing"

- Ted Rutland with the Defund the Police Coalition (Montreal), author of "Chapter 4. Defund to Abolish: A 400-year Struggle against Policing in Montreal"

- Edward Hon-Sing Wong & Craig Fortier, authors (with MJ Rwigema and Nicole Penak) of "Chapter 17. Abolishing Carceral Social Work:

- Ellie Ade Kur & Jenny Duffy with Maggie's Toronto, co-authors of "Chapter 12. Sex Worker Justice—by Us for Us: Toronto Sex Workers Resisting Carceral Violence"

- Vicki Chartrand with the Unearthing Justices Project, author of "Chapter 10. Grassroots Justices: Lessons from Communities of Murdered and Disappeared Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit+ People"

- Ryan Hayes, author of "Chapter 6. Let's Talk About Police in Our Unions"

- Jeffrey Monaghan, author of "Chapter 1. 'Uphold the Right': Police, Conservatism, and White Supremacy"

Also featuring spoken word poet Shima Robinson. Shima Aisha Robinson is an amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Edmonton – Treaty 6) born poet and spoken word artist who embodies, with every poem and pursuit, the ancient meaning of her chosen pen name. Dwennimmen is the name of an ancient African Adinkra symbol, which means strength, humility, learning and wisdom.

Accessibility: Auto-generated closed captions will be provided live, and the recording will be made available afterwards on Between the Lines' YouTube, along with the transcript. The event is free, and donations are welcomed.

Co-hosted by Between the Lines and Another Story Book Shop, and media sponsor Briarpatch Magazine.