The Quarantine Tapes 210: Derecka Purnell
On episode 210 of The Quarantine Tapes, guest host Alex Vitale is joined by the brilliant Derecka Purnell. Derecka is the author of the newly-released Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom.
Derecka and Alex have an incredible conversation about abolition and organizing. Derecka talks about her own background and how she came to the abolition movement. She celebrates the many incredible campaigns working for abolition and justice in her hometown of St. Louis. Derecka and Alex discuss the rhetoric of dehumanization, the myth of a progressive prosecutor and their frustrations with some criticisms of the abolition movement in a fascinating and deeply informative episode.