Prison takes away basic rights and people's freedom. This is an extremely severe punishment and should not be the way our justice system works. I think that people who have similar beliefs as Kaba (PIC abolition) must spark change and come up with a way to better the system in our society.

I like that Kaba provides examples of punishment versus consequences as it can help society spark change in how we can better our criminal justice system with more reasonable consequences rather than prison.

The prison system is a form of punishment, as it inflicts cruelty and suffering upon those who most of the time are already suffering mentally with the harm that they have committed. It is to a place that sparks change or growth. Consequences on the other hand are uncomfortable yet they do not inflict pain. This is what our society should implement rather than the prison system. I agree with Kabas idea that stepping down from a job is a consequence and the idea that having power is a privelege. Implementing a large amount of suffering and isolation like in the prison system is not effective at all.

This clarification is very important, especially for people who disagree with Kaba on PIC abolition. She clarifies that although she does not believe in the prison system, there should be some kind of accountability associated with inflating harm upon a person.

This goes back to her involvement in the PIC abolition. The prison system does not do what we want in our society. It is not at all a place for perpetrators to heal and grow, instead it inflicts even more pain and suffering upon them.

By this Kaba means that harm and pain are necessary for growth in society. It ignites people to intervene and spark change.

This is a very important idea that the healing process may bring up a lot of trauma and pain for the person, but it will be worth it down the road. Essentially Kaba says you must face it head on and come to terms with it or else that trauma will be pent up inside you for the rest of your life. She also explains that if the harm was inflicted by someone you know the process is much harder. You may still come in contact and see that person on a daily basis. Kaba says " the fear, the anger, the vengeance" you must come to terms with but eventually you will come to terms with it and find peace.

Kaba explains that one must come to terms with the trauma that has occurred as well as the issues around it. She says that it is a very long journey, but the person must be very willing to heal and put in the necessary work.

Interventions are coming to a person who has not yet necessarily moved on from trauma or started the healing process. Whereas support is being there for someone in need or who truly wants to heal.

I like this idea that she sets boundaries and provides only what she believes she can offer. This is important because talking to a survivor is a fragile task and one who does not have any experience may not be able to provide relevant ideas to the healing process.

The PIC abolition is also known as the prison industrial complex abolition. Kaba is a firm believer in this concept and especially during the #BlackLivesMatter movement was called upon in her response to the #defundthepolice term. She believes that prison and police are only harming society. In the NBC News article "Mariame Kaba wants us to imagine a future without prisons", she talks about her involvement in the PIC abolition, the Black Lives Matter movement, and also Project NIA (which she is the founder of).

By this Kaba means are you the right person to be communicating to a survivor. Do you have relevant or similar experience where you can relate? Are you close or even just empathetic to that person? You must truly be there for that person as it is an extremely difficult trauma to overcome. You must help that person heal in order to continue living there life and not reflect on that trauma.

I really like the comparison of survivors to a fragile china doll because when talking about trauma like that especially with survivors in such a fragile state, you have to go about it very carefully

I think the broader idea that Kaba is trying to get at is the idea that everyone makes mistakes in their life and one mistake should not ruin someones life. However, they do not to learn from that mistake and heal from that.

Kaba clarifies that a person needs to be willing to take accountability for there actions, however they do not need to admit what they have done. That is an extremely hard task to come to terms with and admitting the fact that a person committed a crime may even harm that person even more saying it outloud.

Context: Mariame Kaba is an advocate for the abolition of the prison industrial context as well as police. She believes that prison and police have no place in a happy, thriving society (“Mariame Kaba Wants Us to Imagine a Future without Prisons.” NBCNews.Com, NBCUniversal News Group, www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/mariame-kaba-wants-us-imagine-future-without-prisons-n1258586. Accessed 4 Nov. 2023. ).

Kaba means that it is a natural human instinct to want to punish someone who harmed a loved one. It is natural, as well as an idea that has been placed into our minds in society by the government and law inforcement.

By this Kaba means that she is not forcing any of the people to her that they need to take accountability for their actions. She seems to believe that it a moral issue for them only. She then goes on to talk about our natural instinct to punish people. She says it is human nature, however there may be more effective ways.

As I looked into the background of Mariame Kaba I discover that she herself is a survivor of sexual violence herself. This sparked her interest in the aid to fight this issue. She began participating in anti- sexual assault work on her college campus in the late 80s and early 90s. She also says many of her friends and loved ones are survivors of sexual assault. (“From ‘Me Too’ to ‘All of Us’: Organizing to End Sexual Violence, without Prisons.” In These Times, inthesetimes.com/article/incarceration-sexual-assualt-me-too-rape-culture-organizing-resistance. Accessed 4 Nov. 2023. )

I like that fact that Kaba elaborates that she not only helps survivors, but people who caused harm as well. This shows that people do make mistakes, but they also need to be held accountable for those actions. Kaba shows that she not only chooses to help survivors in need but the perpetrators as well. This idea is inclusive in the fact that we can support anyone in need.

I think this idea is really important! The notion that you don't need to be a social worker or psychologist to make a difference. It can be as simple as helping your community and loved ones.

I really like this idea that we have to realize that "we have to be on the outside looking in but also on the outside looking out". We have to be there for one another and support each other. Whether this be on the outside looking in from an outsider perspective ensuring these types of violence don't occur, or on the inside looking out caring for friends who are struggling from past trauma or dealing with violence in their life.

When Mariame Kaba elaborates on the #MeToo movement she brings up the importance of understanding the way this type of violence not only shapes our lives, but how it shapes our criminal justice reform system. In this excerpt Kaba says, "these things don't live outside of us". She means that sexual violence is vaguely connected to our lives more deeply than one thinks. As a woman myself there have been multiple occasions where I have felt uncomfortable with the way men were talking to me (family members, strangers, peers and at the restaurant I am employed), I have been followed my a man before where I called my friend crying, and touched by men at events who I have never met. Any women can tell you her experience with the patriarchal society we live in. Mothers, sisters, grandmothers, cousins all have experienced some sort of either violence or harassment. Our society normalizes this and most women choose to stay silent rather than be harassed even further. Kaba explains that this reflects on our society as a whole saying "If we don't really take that seriously, I don't think we're going to make a dent in this problem". As a society we must choose to fix this problem, start holding people to certain standards, and accepting the claims women share instead of looking past it.

Transformative justice is a way of practicing alternative justice that acknowledges individual experiences and identities, in order to actively work to resist the state's criminal injustice system. It seeks to respond to violence and harm without further escalating a situation. An example includes sexual violence prevention work, Brown and Saba reference by recalling the well known social movement The #MeToo movement.