Labor & Abolition
Maurice BP-Weeks | 2022-2024 Fellowship
The past few years of campaigns against anti-Black state violence have shown the need for a particular focus on how capitalism is a crucial piece of the policing arm of the state. Several angles of this connection deserve more focus including how financial realities affect particular communities through debt and targeted wealth extraction, how money moves in and around policing and prisons, and how particular wealthy actors prop up policing. Anti-capitalist analysis is key to abolition and we must focus on it more to expand our movement for a new society on the left. As our fights expand, our analysis and creativity in this area must as well.
The Labor & Abolition Fellowship links together anti-capitalist and abolitionist analysis and campaigning through narrative intervention, campaign support/technical assistance, and the building of lasting infrastructure for anti-capitalist fights in various subsets of work connected to abolition.
Labor & Abolition Office Hours
Staffed by IC fellow Maurice BP-Weeks, Interrupting Criminalization’s Labor & Abolition Campaign Office Hours are open to practitioners of all kinds looking to strategize about labor’s role in abolition, taking on corporations, police unions, or just transition of workers.
Are the office hours open to all?
Yes! Sort of! These office hours are available by appointment with Maurice BP-Weeks, a long-time organizer, campaigner, and strategist in various movements. People can use the office hours to help think through community and labor abolitionist campaigns, how corporations may fit into their abolitionist fights, or issues with police unions. If that is of interest to you, then they are open to you!
Do I need to prepare for my office hours appointment?
No need to deeply prepare, but please come with an idea of the issue you’d like to work through. The office hours are not a general brainstorming space.
How much time can I spend in the office hours?
You can schedule an appointment for 30-60 mins. You’re welcome to schedule multiple appointments, so long as they are more than two weeks apart. Depending on what you’re working on, you may also receive additional support from Maurice or other IC staff outside of office hours.
Are office hours free?
Yes, office hours are entirely free of charge.
Who is Maurice?
Maurice is a corporate campaigner, organizer, and economic and racial justice leader. Maurice is the co-founder and former Co-Executive Director of The Action Center on Race and the Economy. Throughout his career, Maurice has worked with community organizations, labor unions, and racial justice activists on a variety of social justice issues. Maurice has a keen interest in economic extraction from communities of color and the abolition of the carceral state. Maurice has a B.A. in Sociology from Swarthmore College and an M.A. in Economics from the University of Detroit Mercy. Learn more about Maurice in his staff bio or on his website.
