Resource for Families: Learn about the UUA Read of the Year: Defund Fear with us!
Recently UU World released an update on this year’s UU Common Read, Defund Fear: Safety Without Policing, Prisons and Punishment (Beacon, 2021) by Zach Norris, including a 70 minute video interview between the book’s author and a panel of UU religious professionals. UUCP Children’s Ministry staff enjoyed both the article, and the interview!
Either as a persynal resource to aid in broadening individual theory on the subject of abolition or to discuss with others in community, Defund Fear is an essential read we highly recommend. Norris covers both the harm that communities and individuals face as well as practiced and proposed community-based solutions to lessen harm in communities. For those wishing to analyze current modes of safety and wishing to seek out greater resources for more community based safety solutions this is a perfect time to read and share this publication with others.
A unique attribute of this publication is the intersection it holds with advocacy for youth and their safety. Norris writes as both a parent, and a professional working directly with incarcerated youth and their families at the Ella Baker human rights organization, and has put his ideas of community safety into practice as a founder of the Restore Oakland Community Center. Another formidable victory for Norris was his collaboration with family networks of incarcerated youth to close 5 youth prisons in California.
We hope to discuss Defund Fear with others in our community! Stay up to date on current and additional resources via The UU Common Read landing page – there you can find suggested “guidance to the reader” to assist with your journey through the book. You can also find a suggested discussion guide from the author’s webpage, zachnorris.com.
From the UU World article: “Defund Fear invites each of us in our families, communities, and nation to insist on honoring our relationships, whatever it takes, and work to end policing, punishment, and prisons that prevent us from rising together.”