Understanding the U.S. as a Police + Surveillance State

This session aims to unpack the history of policing and surveillance in the United States and its role in oppressing minoritized communities, primarily Black and indigenous communities. Guest speaker K Agbebiyi will begin the session with a didactic on the origins of policing and how it is inextricably linked to the history of slave patrols. We will then collaboratively define the Police + Surveillance State as a large group. This reflection will explore several topics, including expansion of surveillance and the reliance on surveillance for oppression and profit generation. We will switch gears into a didactic on COINTELPRO and the history of surveillance, followed by a large group reflection on modern-day examples. Finally, we will close out with energizing initiatives that are countering the surveillance state.

  • K Agbebiyi

    K Agbebiyi (they/them) is a macro social worker and organizer based in New York. They earned their MSW from the University of Michigan School of Social Work. The majority of their work revolves around political education and organizing strategy in regards to prison abolition. K is an active member of Survived and Punished New York, a grassroots group working to free criminalized survivors of gender and sexual violence. They are also a member of several abolitionist collectives across NYC, and a co-creator of 8toaboliiton.com. You can follow K on twitter and instagram @sheabutterfemme.

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School-Prison Nexus

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Organizing for Prison Abolition