Joshua McCoy

“What was easier to hijack than democracy? Like most things in the world of men, democracy was principally a question of money, and the prince had plenty.”
― Yamen Manai, The Ardent Swarm

“Committing violence is a choice we make that is rooted in our values, beliefs, expectations, and experiences, and constrained by our contexts. When people are given the opportunity to consider and transform those values, beliefs, expectations and experiences, even within the persistent constraints of harmful or oppressive contexts, they can make different choices.”
― Danielle Sered, Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair

“Survivors therefore need something from those of us committed to them. If it is true that survivors are a far wider-ranging group of people than we know, if it is true that incarceration does not consistently deliver safety and almost never delivers healing, if it is true that basic things like validation, control, and a coherent narrative are necessary elements for coming through trauma, if it is true that survivors who are given options almost always choose anything other than prison, if it is true that millions of survivors tell us again and again every time they do not call the police that what the criminal justice system has to offer does not work for them, then it does seem to follow that survivors absolutely, urgently need all of us to end mass incarceration. It may be the only practical thing we can do in their names.”
― Danielle Sered, Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair

“The history of slavery exemplifies the mutually reinforcing link between racialized dehumanization and extreme punishment.”
― Danielle Sered, Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair