The Abolition as Social Change certificate program issued by Abolitionist Sanctuary trains individuals to apply a critical and intersectional lens to understand abolition as a moral directive to repair harms, restore relationships, and rebuild more just and equitable systems. We provide one approach to abolition and recognize there are several ways to do abolition in the world. Our methodology is rooted in evidence-based research, lived experiences, and the embodied knowledge of Black women. This program is intended to help participants to gain understanding and tools to advance a national coalition committed to ending systems of oppression and creating communities of care for human flourishing. Together, we can build abolitionist sanctuaries!

Abolition 101 is an introductory course that explores the moral crisis of mass punishment and abolitionist responses. The lesson begins with the history of US slavery and the evolution of systems of punishment in the US carceral state. Students will learn about the underground Railroad, slave laws, fugitivity, lynching, convict leasing, segregation, the New Jim Crow, policing, and prisons. In addition, students will explore abolitionist responses and identify political and religious movements to end mass punishment.

103 Intersectional and Abolition highlights the experiences of Black mothers with punishment, policing, and prisons. Students will engage statistical data and stories that uncover the interlocking systems of oppression that limit and foreclose Black mothers’ human dignity and survival. Using an intersectional approach to abolition and a case study, this lesson centers the experiences of poor Black mothers to imagine freedom futures and flourishing.

In 105 Abolition in Action, you will learn how to apply abolitionist principles, analysis, coalition-building, and transformative justice strategies to identify community-organizing actions to create abolitionist sanctuaries for social change. You will learn the difference between reform and revolution, restorative justice and transformative justice, and anti-violence and anti-prison movements. You will draw from real-life contexts and case studies to design a civic campaign or improve organizational value to end punitive practices and create solutions that help to repair, restore, and rebuild a more just and equitable system.