As an Abolitionist publication, stories focused on the prison industrial complex—as well as all carceral social systems that discipline us into policing ourselves and one another—remain Scalawag's foremost publishing priority. When editor Ko Bragg launched pop justice she wrote, "We did not come out of the womb abolitionists, but many of us feel born into this work. And as we push back against the prevailing, popular narratives about cops and prisons, we also want to make abolition more accessible." 

These stories, written by currently incarcerated and justice system-impacted people alongside those penned by abolitionist theorists and organizers, continue to demonstrate why The South remains an indispensable terrain of struggle against captivity. Here are the 2024 "Abolitionist Politics and Incarcerated Perspectives" pieces: 

    Incarcerated journalist Kwaneta Harris gives a detailed firsthand account of the pervasive physical, sexual, and psychological abuse all solitary confinement inmates are subject to, and how young people are especially vulnerable. 

    "Once someone is in The Hole, guards use the isolation as the perfect place to predate uninterrupted. I'm not suggesting all abuse would magically cease without segregation. But isolation has always been a key tenet of abuse. The threat of solitary forces us into a sick game of "Would you rather." Would you rather be ordered to flash your breasts in General Population? Or ordered to masturbate with a bottle of water in segregation?"

      Currently-incarcerated writer E. Paris Whitfield offers a nuanced critique of the various felony murder law prosecutions states leverage to extend sentences and shorten the lives of those found guilty under the law. 

      "The felony murder law is psychological violence that severs family bonds, politicizes public and private spaces, and generationally restricts Black and Brown people's ability to procreate, due to long-term sentencing or death from poor health while incarcerated." 

        In their first for Scalawag, Emmy-award-winning writer, actor & comedian Ryan Ken offers a biting social commentary, critiquing the online trend of referring to "hood" Black people as "crash outs" in this incisive rumination on the historical myth of "the nigger" and antiblack antagonism. 

        "The nigger's function is directly linked to the reality that dignity is not a birthright in this country. Instead, it is a competitive set of prizes in a cruel game of survival known as The American Dream. Most of us will never win, but we can at least have the satisfaction of beating someone else. The nigger is the unit of measure we use to determine our value relative to others. It's how we tally the score."

          Atlanta-based organizer Julian Rose penned this two-part reflection on the state of leftist politics in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election. At a time when The Left's broad political spectrum interrogated "what went wrong?" regarding the race that resulted in a second Trump administration, Rose argues against the centrality of electoral organizing in what is considered by many to be "radical" and "anti-state" movements. His analysis holds that this counter-insurgent arrangement is a harbinger of the anti-Black, paternalistic relationship between the national Left coalition and southern militants. 

          "Across the spectrum of The Left, contempt for the South is consistent, even among many Southerners. This is really to say that antiBlackness continues to structure our political culture, despite demands for unity against centrist and far-right agendas. So let's talk about antiBlackness, elections, and The Left. Specifically, the myths The Left has aimed at the South to discipline it "in line" with The Left coalition's political ends. Let's explore these myths and ask: What agenda do these myths serve? And how can we use this moment to inspire stronger organizing tendencies?"

            In the wake of the 2024 presidential election, liberals and leftists alike pointed fingers and shifted blame in their quest to determine what "went wrong" in their coalition's attempt to elect Kamala Harris. North Carolina writer and organizer Delaney Vandergrift outlines why the Democratic Party lost the youth vote. 

            "​​This political moment calls for us to see beyond what generations before us have deemed possible and escape the hamster wheel of political viability. More importantly, it will require young people to become architects of the society we deserve and continue to be defiant to the status quo, which includes saying goodbye to the broken political system that forces us to choose a "lesser evil" aiding and abetting the genocide of our friends and families."

              This year, Florida's far-right governor Ron DeSantis announced a new guideline for his state's ultra-conservative public education policy: K-12 schools must teach students the "truth" about communism. With H.R. 5349, national plans for the same are well underway. In response, Scalawag's editors put together this reading list of essential texts on the Southern history of anti-communist repression.

              "Understanding the history of (anti-)communism, particularly in the American South, reveals just how sinister a tool anti-radical censorship and propaganda has been and continues to be when wielded by the fascist state to quell movements for freedom, justice, and equality." 

                This year, one of the marquee SCOTUS decisions was the dismissed ruling in the McKesson v. Doe case, which had effectively outlawed the right to protest in three southern states. Sierra Lyons reexamines the case and connects it to the larger trend in our fascist political culture of media's condemnation of dissenters fueling state and legal attempts to revoke First Amendment rights that have long been precarious in the South. 

                "As restrictive laws on immigration, education, LGBTQ+ rights and more proliferate throughout the country, there is growing reason to protest and a growing risk to do so. Already this year, we have seen harsh responses to pro-Palestinian and anti-Cop City protesters" 

                  Formerly incarcerated writer and abolitionist Gabrielle Perry silences the fears of a "Project 2025 to come" by exposing the fascist present that her home state of Louisiana, and its politicians with federal decision-making power, are at the forefront of creating

                  "With the growing influence of Louisiana on the national political landscape, the question becomes what the rest of America can do to fight against the undue influence of the state's far-right political leaders." 

                    In this profile of Mel Manuel, a first-time candidate from Louisiana, Amelia Parenteau shows how the 2024 election presented an important opportunity for the broad coalition of progressives to intervene against the repressive political landscape in many ways, including choosing first-time candidates who represent marginalized communities. 

                    "Manuel's key platform issues include universal basic income, a single payer health system, reproductive rights, gun control, environmental protections, investing in public education, and equality for everyone—with a focus on people of color, women and the LGBTQ+ community."

                      Feminist lawyer and southern birth worker Ja'loni Owens implicates both the reproductive justice and Palestinian solidarity movements in the inability to risk criminalization and their resources in the name of true revolutionary solidarity. 

                      "The struggles for a free Palestine and bodily autonomy are deeply intertwined. What reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations are unwilling to risk in solidarity with Palestine mirrors the limitations within their movement that inhibit their solidarity with all people seeking abortion care, and those who support them, as anti-abortion criminalization escalates across the country."

                        "Rest is Resistance" has become a political posture adopted by Black movements, one often circulated widely absent the nuanced understanding of what it implies regarding the stakes of revolutionary action. Trey Washington unpacks this nuance in the context of black grief, in this reflection on losing a loved one. 

                        "I did not choose not to rest. I was robbed of the possibility of even making that choice by a system that necessitates the maintenance of two things: my (return to) labor, and my perpetual exhaustion. Therein lies the problem."

                          In this incisive critique of both global imperialism and the movements that resist its violence, feminist lawyer Ja'Loni Owens outlines why the ICC warrants issued for Benjamin Netanyahu and other heads of the zionist entity are insufficient to end the genocidal occupation of Palestine. 

                          "Do not let the intervention of the ICC and the United Nations convince you that the work is done. It's barely started. The demand is for the end of the occupation and a liberated Palestine."

                            In the face of sweeping anti-queer and anti-trans policymaking in their home state, trans and nonbinary organizers T.C. Caldwell and Jose Vazquez share how their organizations are transforming the lack of queer-affirming spaces and combatting state violence in central Alabama. 

                            "You'll see us marching in front of the Alabama State House until the very end. We won't be silenced or ever be legislated out of existence. We are the breadcrumbs, and we will always be here." 

                              In this critique of state-issued apologies and reparations policies, feminist lawyer Ja'Loni Owens interrogates the violent contradictions inherent in the notion of reconciliation between the settler-colonial state and the people and lands empire exploits. 

                              "What is an apology from the President of the United States worth if genocide persists? What exactly is so progressive about liberal leadership if reparations do not include cessation of settler colonial violence, and why has our demand failed to make it clear that we are unwilling to accept less?" 

                                Scholar Alexis J. Smith reflects on her family's intergenerational struggle against the family policing system to keep their children in familial care and makes the case for the abolition of the carceral "child welfare system." 

                                "The parents and caregivers of the nearly 11 million children living in poverty do not need more surveillance and policing, they need stable housing, and job security, among other essential resources. Black children deserve to grow up with their families—free from the fear of arbitrary separation." 

                                  Texas' ultra-conservative government is not only responsible for passing the nation's most restrictive abortion ban, it has also enacted the most aggressive anti-immigration surveillance law. Humanitarian aid worker Emmy Brett explains how the law has been deployed to disrupt crucial support networks for migrants in Texas border communities, by targeting organizations like Annunciation House, where she and other volunteers became defendants in the attorney general's lawsuit to shut it down.   

                                  "But if the goal of Annunciation House V. Attorney General was to disrupt the work of welcoming migrants, it was not entirely a failure. Paxton didn't need to win the case to inspire fear, and he didn't need to win the case to sustain his falsehoods. Even a failed lawsuit can succeed in its attempt to create the illusion of criminality and make the work of humanitarian organizations more difficult in the process."

                                  Tea S. Troutman (they/them) is an abolitionist, digital propagandist, editor, and critical urban theorist born in Macon, Georgia, and currently calls Atlanta home. Tea is a Ph.D. student in the Geography, Environment, and Society department at the University of Minnesota, and also holds a B.S. in Economics and a Master's of Interdisciplinary Studies in Urban Studies, both from Georgia State University. Tea's work draws heavily on their experience as a long-time community organizer in Atlanta, Georgia, and their research interests broadly consider urbanism and critical urban theory, afropessmism, black geographies, and black cultural studies. Their dissertation project is a critique of Atlanta, "New South Urbanism," Anti-Blackness and the global circulation of the idea of the Black Mecca.