Public Programs

Visualizing Abolition is pleased to present Popular Culture and the Radical Imaginary, a discussion with Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network and artist and activist Maxwell Addae. Their conversation will focus on their collaborative project researching the media portrayals of Black women and incarceration as well the real-world impact of the narratives told about crime and punishment in the United States.

Touching on far-reaching subjects including the role of imagery in anti-Asian racism in the United States and the mobilization of church congregations responding to the migration crisis in Europe, the event will begin with presentations by the scholars, followed by a Q&A.

What role can the arts play in the movement to abolish prisons and the society that upholds them? How can art and culture elevate other ways of living together, without relying on fences, walls, and cages both imagined and practiced? Visualizing Abolition continues with Sadie Barnette, J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, Zoé Samudzi, and Eric Stanley’s discussion, Abolition Beyond the State.

The Institute of the Arts and Sciences is pleased to partner with the Legal Studies Program at UC Santa Cruz for the next Visualizing Abolition event: 'Abolition from the Inside out', featuring jackie sumell, Albert Woodfox, and Tim Young.