Critical Resistance

In 1998, Deep Dish covered the first Critical Resistance conference in Berkeley, California, that founded Critical Resistance's movement to abolish the prison industrial complex (PIC). Each participant, with their own experiences of oppression and resistance, watched as diverse struggles were unified: by humanity, hope, and the shared vision of a different world. We witnessed a vision of a world with truly safe, healthy, and whole communities; a world with unconditional access to self-determination and dignity for all; and, critically, a world without imprisonment, policing, and other forms of punishment and control.

Luana Plunkett and Neal Morrison of Videology and Carla Leshne and Sasha Magee put together two programs about the conference which were up-linked to community channels around the United States. In addition, Chris Burnett worked with DeeDee Halleck to audio stream many of the conference workshops and plenaries. This was possibly the first use of audio streaming by a progressive conference. This year there will be a tenth anniversary of Critical Resistance in September in Oakland, California. The following clip edited by Isaac Ontiveros contains some excerpts from the Deep Dish programs:To purchase a copy of Visions of Freedom, the inspiring overview of the 98 conference made by Videology, go to www.deepdishtv.org