The Abolitionist is a bilingual publication arguing for the strategy and actions that can be taken in the contemporary movement to abolish prisons. The paper launched in 2005 and has a national circulation of about 3,500 readers, 2,500 of whom are currently in jail. 

 

 

This publication is volunteer-run, and "operates by consensus" in its inclusion of content and distribution. On The Abolitionist's website, they say the newspaper is:

 

"an important forum for prisoner voices and a valuable a source of news and analysis on the issues that affect prisoners and state-targeted communities nation-wide. This is a major organizing tool with and for people who are locked up. Topics covered range from re-entry to the criminalization of immigrants to prisoner health care to alternative visions, practices and models for a safer, more humane world."

 

The newspaper highlights in-depth investigative stories focusing primarily on issues in prison systems around the U.S. Also included in the paper are excerpts from books discussing mass incarceration and imprisonment as a tool of oppression, poetry, independently produced art and photography, and the stories of people who were trapped by the school to prison pipeline. 

All of their content is published in an attempt to educate and motivate readers to protest unjust imprisonment and even the conception of contemporary prisons. 

 

The Abolitionist is a partner organization of Critical Resistance, an organization that "seeks to build an international movement to end the Prison Industrial Complex by challenging the belief that caging and controlling people makes us safe."