“ Abolition is really about rethinking the kind of future we want, the social future, the economic future, the political future. It's about revolution, I would argue. ”
ContextDavis on abolition as a constructive project, not just the absence of policing and prisons.Read More: Black Activism
Their StoryScholar and activist whose work on race, gender and the prison system has shaped decades of organising. Briefly jailed and tried in the early 1970s after guns registered in her name were used in a courtroom takeover, she was acquitted and went on to a long academic and activist career arguing for the abolition of prisons and policing.Her memoir and lectures, widely available online, are the fullest primary sources.See Their Full Story
Their StorySwedish climate activist who began a solitary school strike outside the Swedish parliament in 2018, aged 15, which grew into the global Fridays for Future movement. She is autistic and has spoken publicly about it as part of how she sees the climate crisis clearly.Her collected speeches, published as 'No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference', are a direct primary source.See Their Full Story
Their StoryLatina transgender activist present at the 1969 Stonewall uprising, who co-founded STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) with Marsha P. Johnson to house homeless queer and trans youth in New York. She died in 2002.Her 2001 speech, widely archived online, is a direct primary source.See Their Full Story
“ My question is, why are people so quick to assume that locking away an increasingly large proportion of the U.S. population would help those who live in the free world feel safer and more secure? ”
Their StoryScholar and activist whose work on race, gender and the prison system has shaped decades of organising. Briefly jailed and tried in the early 1970s after guns registered in her name were used in a courtroom takeover, she was acquitted and went on to a long academic and activist career arguing for the abolition of prisons and policing.Her memoir and lectures, widely available online, are the fullest primary sources.See Their Full Story
“ Industry and global institutions must appreciate that ensuring economic justice, equity and ecological integrity are of greater value than profits at any cost. ”
ContextMaathai on weighing ecological and economic justice above pure profit.Read More: Black Activism
Their StoryKenyan environmentalist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2004. She founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, which has since organised the planting of tens of millions of trees across Kenya, led largely by women. She died in 2011.Her memoir 'Unbowed' and her Nobel lecture are the fullest primary sources.See Their Full Story
ContextWatson's own working definition of feminism, from her UN address launching the HeForShe campaign.
Their StoryBritish actor who grew up on screen as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films before studying English literature at Brown University. In 2014 she was appointed a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and launched the HeForShe campaign for gender equality.Her 2014 UN HeForShe speech is a direct primary source.See Their Full Story
ContextFrom the same UN address as her more famous 'one child, one pen' line.
Their StoryPakistani education activist who campaigned for girls' schooling under Taliban rule, survived being shot in 2012, and became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.Her UN address and 'I Am Malala' are well-documented primary sources.See Their Full Story
“ At first we were fighting people to even say Black lives matter. Now everybody's saying Black lives matter. The question now is, well, what do you mean? ”
Their StoryJapanese-American activist interned with her family during the Second World War, who went on to organise alongside Malcolm X and across the Black, Asian-American and Puerto Rican independence movements for the rest of her life. She died in 2014.Interviews and archival footage from her later life are the clearest primary sources.See Their Full Story
ContextFrom the same UN address, on how far gender equality still has to go everywhere.
Their StoryBritish actor who grew up on screen as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films before studying English literature at Brown University. In 2014 she was appointed a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and launched the HeForShe campaign for gender equality.Her 2014 UN HeForShe speech is a direct primary source.See Their Full Story
“ We are beginning to understand that the world is always being made fresh and never finished; that activism can be the journey rather than the arrival. ”
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
ContextKochiyama on how her activism grew out of what she saw around her, not a single decision.Read More: Asian Voices
Their StoryJapanese-American activist interned with her family during the Second World War, who went on to organise alongside Malcolm X and across the Black, Asian-American and Puerto Rican independence movements for the rest of her life. She died in 2014.Interviews and archival footage from her later life are the clearest primary sources.See Their Full Story
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
ContextRivera crediting drag queens and trans women at the front lines of Stonewall.Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices
Their StoryLatina transgender activist present at the 1969 Stonewall uprising, who co-founded STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) with Marsha P. Johnson to house homeless queer and trans youth in New York. She died in 2002.Her 2001 speech, widely archived online, is a direct primary source.See Their Full Story
