MASS LIBERATION SCHOOL: WEEK 5 Community Accountability

Facilitator: A’Brianna Morgan, Reclaim Philadelphia

“In brief, accountability is the ability to recognize, end and take responsibility for violence. We usually think of the person doing harm as the one to be accountable for violence. Community accountability also means that communities are accountable for sometimes ignoring, minimizing or even encouraging violence. Communities must also recognize, end and take responsibility for violence by becoming more knowledgeable, skillful and willing to take action to intervene in violence and to support social norms and conditions that prevent violence from happening in the first place.” - Creative Interventions 

This week we will build on the lessons learned last week, exploring ways we can respond to harms in our communities without relying on the police and courts. Accountability does not have to be punitive, painful, terrifying, or retaliatory. Accountability can help us be seen and understood by those around us. It can help us not be and feel so alone, and can help us develop the kinds of relationships we want in our lives. 

There is no blueprint for accountability: people are different; situations and types of violence or risk are different. But abolition requires us to collectively create opportunities for community accountability.

Helpful Resources:

• Building Community Safety: Practical Steps Towards Liberatory Transformation

• For Tasha Amezcua, Safety Starts By Not Calling the Cops

• The NYC Punks Who Built A Support Network for Sexual Assault Survivors

• 10 Strategies for Cultivating Community Accountability

• Thinking Through Perpetrator Accountability

• The Revolution Starts at Home

• BATJC Pods and Pod Mapping

• Video Series: Building Accountable Communities

• Interview: Community Driven Approaches to Violence Prevention

• Webinar: Community Accountability for Safety

• Book: The Revolution Starts at Home