Charleston DSA's Abolition Working Group will hold a Brake Light Clinic Skillshare on April 8 in preparation for a brake light clinic this spring. We'd love to see you there, whether you're mechanically inclined or not!

RSVP to receive the address and we will see you there!

Abolition is a “framework dedicated to eradicating policing, violence, and social inequality at the same time, over time, towards obsoleteness” (Purnell). Our working group recognizes all other systems of oppression are intertwined with the abolition of the prison industrial complex, because many of these systems are maintained or perpetuated by incarceration, surveillance, and policing.

As socialists we view policing as a threat to the labor movement, often used to “control workers and stop [us] from organizing and striking and owning the means of production” (Perez). In recent months we’ve seen police escort scabs and strikebreakers to undermine labor organizing. In our ongoing effort to abolish capitalism, we recognize the importance of working to end the prison industrial complex.

One of the CHS-DSA Abolition Working Group’s primary efforts is to garner mass public support for abolition. We believe that raising public consciousness around an abolitionist framework is an important step toward achieving a liberated future where carceral systems are obsolete.

Replacing brake lights is an effort to limit police interactions with the public, especially among BIPOC and undocumented folks, who may face expensive and dangerous repercussions from being pulled over. The 2015 case of Walter Scott is a well-known example of the violence faced by those in the Charleston area at the hands of local police departments: Scott was stopped in the parking lot of an auto parts store, and moments later was murdered by an officer of the North Charleston Police Department.

The working group has initiated the planning of the event with the guidance of the New Orleans DSA Brake Light Clinic Guide and discussions with past organizers. The chapter has approved a $300 expenditure for supplies, and next comes the good part: Working together to build a stronger, safer community, one brake light at a time.