GRIID 2022 Winter Class: The Function of Policing in the US and how we can work towards a world Without Police

In this 8-week class, we will explore the history of policing in the United States, its role in maintaining structural racism and how it has been used to suppress social movements.

We will also look at more contemporary dynamics with policing, investigating the notion of community policing, the practice of counter-insurgency by police departments, and the bi-partisan support for increased funding for policing.

Lastly, we will look at the movement to defund the police, using numerous writings from activists coming out of the abolitionist tradition, a discussion about the Movement for Black Lives Defund the Police toolkit and several other recent reports that challenge the dominant narrative that society needs police and that they keep us safe.

This will be a great opportunity to develop critical thinking skills and respond to all those liberal memes that say, “Defund the police doesn’t mean get rid of the police, it means………”

This class will take place on Monday evenings, from 6:30 – 8:30pm, beginning on Monday, January 17. The class will be held for 8 consecutive weeks, ending on Monday, March 8.

GRIID is asking for a $25 suggested donation for the class and will be re-directly the funds raised to groups working on defunding the GRPD. However, you will not be turned away if you can’t contribute financially.

We will not be using a singular book for this class, rather chapters from numerous texts, which GRIID will provide in digital form. The sources we will be using come from the following books:

• Violent Order: Essays on the Nature of Police, edited by David Correia & Tyler Wall
• Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America, by Kristian Williams
• Abolition For the People: The Movement for a Future Without Policing & Prisons, edited by Colin Kaepernick
• A World Without Police: How Strong Communities Make Cops Obsolete, by Geo Maher
• Life During Wartime: Resisting Counter-insurgency, edited by Kristian Williams, Will Munger and Lara Messersmith-Glavin
• Movement for Black Lives Defund the Police Toolkit 

If you are interested in signing up, please send an e-mail to jsmith@griid.org. There will be a 15 person limit for the class, which will be conducted virtually.