Uploaded August 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota Police Department Officer Derek Chauvin in May of 2020, hundreds of thousands of people around the world took to the streets, town squares, city halls, and other gathering places amid a global pandemic to decry racism, protest racial injustices, take a stand against police brutality, and show support and solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. The loss of Floyd’s life, preceded by the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor just a few months earlier, was a tipping point. Tired of decades of a lack of accountability, countless black and brown lives lost, and coming at a moment where faith in institutions continues to wane and move toward decentralization, a growing number of activists and everyday citizens are calling for better alternatives to our current broken criminal justice system and its violent policing arm.
In this climate, abolition, a call for the complete removal of the current system of incarceration and policing that looks beyond reform has increasingly become a viable strategy in working toward safer, healthier communities. Join artists and abolitionists Mims and Cecilia Sweet-Coll for an abolitionist workshop and conversation moderated by the Armory’s Heber Rodriguez as they discuss the abolitionist movement and its strategies while reflecting on the demonstrations, protests, and milestone events during the past year.
Following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota Police Department Officer Derek Chauvin in May of 2020, hundreds of thousands of people around the world took to the streets, town squares, city halls, and other gathering places amid a global pandemic to decry racism, protest racial injustices, take a stand against police brutality, and show support and solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. The loss of Floyd’s life, preceded by the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor just a few months earlier, was a tipping point. Tired of decades of a lack of accountability, countless black and brown lives lost, and coming at a moment where faith in institutions continues to wane and move toward decentralization, a growing number of activists and everyday citizens are calling for better alternatives to our current broken criminal justice system and its violent policing arm.
In this climate, abolition, a call for the complete removal of the current system of incarceration and policing that looks beyond reform has increasingly become a viable strategy in working toward safer, healthier communities. Join artists and abolitionists Mims and Cecilia Sweet-Coll for an abolitionist workshop and conversation moderated by the Armory’s Heber Rodriguez as they discuss the abolitionist movement and its strategies while reflecting on the demonstrations, protests, and milestone events during the past year.
