Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
New Bones Abolition addresses "those of us broken enough to grow new bones" about the traditions we inherit and renew in the struggle for freedom.Joy James offers us a new framework for inspired abolitionist organizing and risk-taking today, one that situates the everyday and ordinary acts of revolutionary love and caretaking at the radical root of resistance to anti-Blackness. James introduces us to a powerful figure in these struggles, the "Captive Maternal," who emerge from communities devastated by or disappeared within the legacy of colonialism and chattel slavery, and who sustain resistance and rebellion toward the horizon of collective liberation.
She recognizes a long line of such freedom fighters, women and men alike, who transform from coerced or conflicted caretakers within a racial order to builders of movements and maroon spaces, and ultimately into war resisters mobilized against genocide and state violence. From Mamie Till-Mobley, mother of Emmit Till, to the incarcerated at Attica prison in 1971, to Erica Garner, daughter of Eric Garner, the Captive Maternal is rarely celebrated in the annals of abolition, but, as Joy James provocatively and urgently reminds us, are essential to its work.
This deep meditation on the role of revolutionary care honors the legacy of Erica Garner, the daughter of Eric Garner.
Synopsis
New Bones Abolition addresses "those of us broken enough to grow new bones" in order to stabilize our political traditions that renew freedom struggles. Reflecting on police violence, political movements, Black feminism, Erica Garner, Mumia Abu-Jamal, caretakers and compradors, Joy James analyzes the "Captive Maternal," which emerges from legacies of colonialism, chattel slavery and predatory policing, to explore the stages of resistance and communal rebellion that manifest through war resistance. She recognizes a long line of gendered and ungendered freedom fighters, who, within a racialized and economically-stratified democracy, transform from coerced or conflicted caretakers into builders of movements, who realize the necessity of maroon spaces, and ultimately the inevitability of becoming war resisters that mobilize against genocide and state violence.
New Bones Abolition weaves a narrative of a historically complex and engaged people seeking to quell state violence. James discusses the contributions of the mother Mamie Till-Mobley who held a 1955 open-casket funeral for her fourteen-year-old Emmett Till, murdered by white nationalists; the 1971 rebels at Attica prison; the resilience of political prisoners despite the surplus torture they endured; the emergence of Black feminists as political theorists; human rights advocates seeking abolition; and the radical intellectualism of Erica Garner, daughter of Eric Garner slain in 2014 by the NYPD. James positions the Captive Maternal within the evolution of contemporary abolition. Her meditation on, and theorizing of, Black radicals and revolutionaries works to honor Agape-driven communities and organizers that deter state/police predatory violence through love, caretaking, protest, movements, marronage, and war resistance.
Synopsis
Joy James has a long, well regarded career marked by praise from author/activists including Angela Davis, Robin D.G. Kelly, Howard Zinn, Manning Marable and reviews in trade, academic, and popular press.
This, her first book published by a trade publisher, is poised to break out and join with her academic/activist peers in reaching a broader audience
This book was inspired by and is dedicated to Erica Garner-Eric Garner's daughter-and will be embraced by Black Lives Matter activists