Mass Liberation AZ

Who Is Mass Lib AZ?

HISTORY

We began organizing in 2018 when formerly incarcerated people in Arizona collaborated with and received training from the Oakland-based Mass Liberation Project. Since then, we have organized town halls around the state, advanced decarceral legislation, fought (and won!) for police accountability, educated the public on the role of prosecutors in mass incarceration and targeted former Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall for their misconduct and harm to our communities.

OUR THEORY OF CHANGE

Our approach to organizing centers Black liberation because we believe by liberating Black people, we all get free. We must reclaim the power to determine what restores us. Therefore we focus on base building, leadership development, healing and personal transformation. We believe all prisons, detention centers and jails should be abolished and we must invest in solutions that strengthen our communities. 

PRINCIPLED STRUGGLE

The Mass Liberation values center love and rigor. Our approach to organizing seeks liberation through base building, mutual aid and cultural construction. We are led by directly impacted people and our abolitionist framework. We are building a movement to reclaim the power to decide what restores us. We put people before property, invest in solutions that strengthen our communities, and center healing and personal transformation. And we must never put people in cages.

OUR VALUES

1.   LOVE AND RIGOR
It takes ALL OF US to dismantle the system and we won’t always agree on everything. Because of love for the community and each other, we work through challenges instead of walking away.

2.  WE CENTER BLACK LIBERATION
Despite the fact brown and poor people get caught up in the system, it was designed to target and oppress Black people. By liberating Black people, we all get free!

3.  THE SYSTEM ISN’T BROKEN; IT WAS DESIGNED THIS WAY
The system is designed to exploit and imprison Black, brown, and poor people. The system as we know it cannot be fixed or reformed. We work to dismantle it.

4.  ALL OF US OR NONE OF US
Liberation for one person at the expense of another is not liberation at all. We seek liberation for all people, regardless of differences‒we don’t discriminate.

5.  JUSTICE REINVESTMENT
The money that currently goes into caging people should be spent strengthening our communities!

6.  THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “CRIME” AND “HARM”
“Crime” is defined by people with power, often to preserve that power; it has no connection to what actually harms the community.

7.   PEOPLE OVER PROPERTY
Human life is always more important than profit and property.

8.  WE FOCUS ON HEALING AND PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION
We seek to dismantle the current system of punishment and retribution and focus on personal growth and healing.

9. WE CENTER LEADERSHIP OF DIRECTLY IMPACTED PEOPLE
The people closest to the problem are also closest to the solution.

10.  PUTTING PEOPLE IN CAGES IS NEVER THE ANSWER
The system profits from putting people in cages. Caging people perpetuates violence, does not address harm, and does nothing to help our communities.