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How does it free us? Jegna Sonia Sanchez’s pivotal question challenges us to examine whether our actions and ideas truly align with liberation. W.E.B. Du Bois echoes this by suggesting that the pathway to liberation is education, stating, “Education must not simply teach work – it must teach life.” Teaching life means transmitting survival tools that allow folk to live freely and fully. This framework underpins the mission of the West Philadelphia-based W.E.B. Du Bois Movement School for Abolition & Reconstruction (the Abolition School), a critical space for political education born from the 2020 uprisings. Through teach-ins led by comrades and community stakeholders, the school promotes critical thought, reflection, and action, all rooted in love, which is essential in the liberation struggle.
The Abolition Schools’ origin, steeped in the tradition of past and present political movements and education, can be understood in three words: Say their names. Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Andre Hill, Manuel Ellis, Rayshard Brooks, Daniel Prude, Philly’s Walter Wallace, and the Abolition School’s own Ant Smith–all victims of state-sanctioned violence and systemic racism in 2020. Say their names–martyrs whose spirits galvanized people worldwide to organize and protest against what the late author bell hooks describes as a “white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy.” Say their names–lives and experiences that became a rallying cry for many and were the tipping point for the school’s creation. “Hundreds of thousands of people [were] talking about abolition, talking about defunding more people than had ever been exposed to abolitionist thought,” says Geo Maher, the school’s coordinator, describing a palpable yearning for political education.
Rooted in principles of abolition and reconstruction, The Abolition School serves early and seasoned revolutionaries through its 12-week Abolition 101 and Black Reconstruction seminars while empowering the West Philly community to recognize their collective strength. Their ask of students is simple yet profound: attend the seminars, study, reflect, and exercise organic intellectualism–using their personal experiences to challenge injustice and contribute to social change. Then, go into one’s respective community to share knowledge and organize with comrades in meaningful social justice areas that disproportionately affect persons of the global majority (non-white people) and the intentionally oppressed.
Alongside the school’s coordinator, Geo Maher—writer, organizer, and educator—key contributors to the Abolition School include Christopher Rogers, an educator and cultural worker, and Ant Smith, whose leadership and organizing efforts have had a lasting impact on the community despite his legal struggles. Many other contributors have also played an important role in cementing the Abolitionist School as a vital community institution. However, history has shown that in political education, no matter how impressive the leadership, the curriculum must be relevant and rigorous to achieve the desired outcomes.
As the school’s website describes, history, political economy, strategy, and practical skills, such as organizing within the community, are integrated into their curriculum to understand abolition from local, national, and global perspectives. They use a teaching approach that combines lecture-style content with active engagement to create a well-rounded learning experience. Students participate in large and small group discussions, analyzing and interpreting weekly readings to deepen their understanding. Maher described the curriculum’s focus on connecting theory to practice and engagement: “We meet people where they’re at… in a way that is accessible… and start from the understanding that those communities have built-in knowledge about that oppression that is crucial to liberation.” Rogers echoed this, recognizing the realities of their conditions: “I think that’s the importance from a teaching standpoint.. we have to deal with the truth of where people are… We transform their conditions, we will transform the music.” The type of transformation the Abolition School strives for cannot happen in isolation; it requires collective action. Thus, movement partners such as the Amistad Law Project, Community Resource Hub, and the People’s UC Townhomes contribute to the curriculum, helping students connect theory with practice through local action to recognize the collective struggle.
“Without struggle, there is no progress,” reminds Frederick Douglass, a seminal figure in modern abolition. The Abolition School knows this well. Ant Smith’s arrest and sentencing are sobering reminders of the wrath of the American carceral system, highlighting the authorities’ role in repressing abolitionist efforts. Yet, Smith, a community leader and political prisoner, has inspired the school to push forward.
More on resistance to abolitionist ideas, Maher identified challenges such as anecdotal narratives offered by the Philadelphia Police that the recent spike in homicides since 2020 on defunding policing, the attempted watering down of revolutionary concepts like abolition and decolonization by academicians and non-profits, and increased surveillance. Despite challenges, the school remains committed to political education and organizing, with Maher and Rogers emphasizing the power of continued coalition building and staying rooted in the memory of past movements, reaffirming the school’s commitment to its mission.
The principles of the Abolition School are not just theoretical; they are embodied in the lived experiences of students, whose voices illuminate the school’s transformative power. At a recent information session for the school’s Fall 2024 semester, students reflected on its impact and role in shaping their political knowledge. Activist Liz Sesel, a prospective student, emphasized the value of connection, community, and shared learning. “I hope to expand on the knowledge I already have and get better at coalition building and organizing.”
Reflecting on his experience as a past student, Joj spoke about the camaraderie he felt with comrades, “loving” the breakout groups for deeper discussion and developing a concrete understanding of the weekly readings. He offered a poignant take central to the Abolition School: “The only way forward is together” as “building community is essential to our survival.” Joj reminds us that community is integral to survival, and the W.E.B Du Bois Movement School of Abolition and Reconstruction is committed to fostering it. In a world where progress is met with resistance and growth is challenged, the Abolition School stands as a beacon of hope, a catalyst for change, and a reminder that community will save us.
The school is now accepting applications for its Fall 2024 cohorts in the Abolition 101 and Black Reconstruction seminars. You can apply for the Fall term here.
Below are videos by artist Kelly Gallagher and filmmaker Keyssh Datts, originally featured in Teen Vogue in June of 2024.
Dr. Phillip J. Roundtree Sr. is a dynamic scholar-activist, renowned speaker, professor, therapist, and mental health advocate focused on the wellness of the African diaspora and male-identified persons.
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