Zoom Bible Study:

Police and Prison Abolition: with Rev. Nate and a special guest!

In this third of three Bible Studies on ideas emerging from the Movement for Black Lives, we will consider the calls that are being made for police and prison abolition. Where do these ideas come from? And how do they intersect with Christianity?

We’ll be joined by a special guest, Dr. Sam Klug (Nate's brother!), who received his Ph.D. from Harvard University last spring and teaches history at George Mason University in Washington, DC. Sam specializes in African-American history. 

Here is a list of resources that will inform our discussion. Click on the titles below to read the articles ahead of time. And please join us, whether or not you’re able to do any reading!

-First, read this amazing story from Acts 16 (Acts 16:16-40), where Paul and Silas get arrested, thrown in jail, and eventually escape. Ask yourself: Where is God in this story?

-Read this short New York Times article by activist and organizer Mariame Kaba to get a sense of the arguments in favor of police abolition: “Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police.”

(For a longer read on the history of policing in the US and its connection to slavery, read this New Yorker essay by Jill Lepore: "The Invention of the Police.")

-Read this short review of The New Jim Crow, an essential book for understanding the effects of mass incarceration upon African-Americans: "The New Jim Crow," by Michelle Alexander.

(For a longer look at the ideas around prison abolition, read this essay from the New York Times Magazine: “Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind.")

-Also recommended: "13th," a documentary by Ava DuVernay about the US prison system (available for free on Youtube here).

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86755947971?pwd=ZDIraG02MmZWV3dxS3U1bmhsMW1YZz09

Meeting ID: 867 5594 7971

Passcode: 677776