Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement

by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

we also wanted to fill in some of the million different ways “not 911” can look. So this book includes disabled-made toolkits for supporting people who are experiencing emotional crises without calling the cops; Trans Lifeline’s story of running a national crisis line by and for trans people that, unlike every other suicide prevention hotline, never calls 911 without an explicit request; Oakland Power Projects’ deep dive into how Black and brown people in Oakland deal with medical crises and overdoses; Audre Lorde Project’s detailed toolkit for creating safer club and party spaces without police; and Audrey Huntley’s descriptions of how she and other Indigenous women and Two-Spirit people led successful murder investigations into the deaths of Indigenous women when the cops failed to act, using ceremony and the skill of “just talking to people.” Addressing violence while not engaging with police, prisons, and courts is a beautiful task that can also feel totally overwhelming. These pieces show some of the many ways people can dive in.