In 2021, Project NIA commissioned an essay by writer and artist Benji Hart, expanding on some comments they offered during a presentation about how they practice abolition on a daily basis. This zine “Practicing Abolition, Creating Community” was beautifully illustrated by Emma Li. We encourage everyone who finds the publication useful to share it with your own communities. We’ve made it freely downloadable. In addition, for those who might find it easier to access, you can read the non-illustrated version of Benji’s words here: https://bit.ly/BenjiEssay. 

Launched in 2009, Project NIA is an advocacy, organizing, popular education, research, and capacity-building center with the long-term goal of ending youth incarceration. We believe that several simultaneous approaches are necessary in order to develop and sustain community-based alternatives to the system of policing and incarceration. Our mission is to dramatically reduce the reliance on arrest, detention, and incarceration for addressing youth crime and to instead promote the use of restorative and transformative practices, a concept that relies on community-based alternatives. https://project-nia.org/