We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom

by Bettina L. Love

The vulnerability of being young and dark alongside the multiple intersections of being human intensifies the unjust nature of the justice system. For example, transgender and gender-nonconforming youth are more likely to be deported. Undocumented youth experience high levels of criminalization, poverty, and profiling by law enforcement at schools. The educational survival complex adopts the school-to-prison pipeline because we all live in a carceral state, increasing deportation for queer undocumented youth. In general, gay, transgender, and gender-nonconforming dark youth are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system. Our most vulnerable youth are walking targets for White rage inside and outside the walls of schools.