MISSION

I am an artist, abolitionist, and writer. It's my mission to invite all of us to grow towards abolition through intergenerational healing work that centers love and collective care. My creative practice is building a world that promotes and protects human dignity and joy through Black art and creativity. I am invested in the redistribution of resources to promote collective care.

Author

In this handbook, I offer twelve steps on how to practice abolition in your everyday life. Abolition isn't just about dismantling harmful systems, but how we treat each other and how we interact with the world as individuals. I truly believe that applying these steps to our own lives will help us build the world we deserve: one that is rooted in dignity and collective care. Join me on this abolitionist journey!

BUY NOW

I have been called a “terrorist,” and “a threat to America,” but I believe that sharing personal stories can lead to imperative change. This book is more than just my personal journey, but a reflection on humanity. I recall what it was like to grow up under state violence and how it brought me to the work I do today. I invite you to a deeper look at how protest in the interest of the most vulnerable comes from love.

BUY NOW

This adaption of my memoir for young adults includes exclusive photos and journal entries from my past. My hope is that the young adult edition of When They Call You a Terrorist inspires a new generation of activists to organize, mobilize, and fight for their future. The abolitionist future we all deserve.

BUY NOW

VISION

A world that honors our ability to transform
through modes of care, joy and not punishment.

Artist/Producer

Abolition Is...

“Abolition is…” is part of Patrisse Cullors’ neon light fabrication series that invites viewers to center abolition as a framework that urges us to heal, imagine, create and most importantly take action on the principles of abolition. This installation reminds viewers that “Abolition is…” an invitation for joy, transformation, and possibility. We get to collectively define abolition and in that collectivity we get to move closer to imagination. This neon light installation is located at the Vashon Center of the Arts in Vashon, WA.

Crenshaw Dairy Mart

Crenshaw
Dairy Mart

Home to an artist collective and art gallery dedicated to shifting the trauma-induced conditions of poverty and economic injustice, bridging cultural work and advocacy, and investigating ancestries through the lens of Inglewood and its community.

Photo Credit: Star Montana

Eyes on the Prize

Eyes on
the Prize:
Hallowed
Ground

2021

More than two decades after the Civil Rights Movement, following in the footsteps of Henry Hampton’s award-winning 14-part documentary, Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground continues to chronicle the latest transformative period in American social and political history and the grassroots organizers that made it all possible.

DOWNLOAD THE DISCUSSION GUIDE

Second Home

Second Home Hollywood

2021

"I go to prepare a place for you." These words are most commonly known as Harriet Tubman's last words but they are so much more. In the summer 2021, Patrisse unveiled her light fabrication installation entitled ‘Harriet’ which lives at the co-working office Second Home Hollywood.

In Plain Sight

2020

In contribution to In Plain Sight, a coalition of artists fighting immigrant detention and the culture of incarceration, Patrisse offered the message of "CARE NOT CAGES" to be exhibited in the Los Angeles sky.

Project conceived by: Cassils and Rafa Esparza

Malcolm Revisted

Malcolm Revisited

2016 & 2020

Malcolm Revisited, originally performed in 2016 and then commissioned revival in 2020, it explores the iconic figure Malcolm X and the current impact of the movement for Black Lives.

Director: Satta

Producer: Slow Blink

WATCH NOW

It's Dangerous Times, We have to be Connected

2020

It's Dangerous Times, We have to be Connected, a performance art piece curated by the Crenshaw Dairy Mart. Performed by noe olivas and Patrisse Cullors at the Geffen Contemporary in 2020, the intention of the performance is to bring awareness to the importance of being connected.

Fuck White Supremacy, Let's Get Free

2020

Fuck White Supremacy, Let’s Get Free, an interactive performance art piece for Frieze Los Angeles, invited participants to move together in the Electric Slide – offering a moment to reclaim time, space, physical as well as emotional energy, in the face of continued state sanctioned racism and violence.

Photo Credit: Gio Solis

Prayer to the Iyami for Allegories of Flight

2020

Prayer to the Iyami, a performance piece that touches on themes of resistance, healing, metaphor, and mysticism while diving deep into the intersections of incarceration, mental illness, and resilience. Found in The Broad’s special exhibition, this performance piece is a love letter to Los Angeles and, most importantly, a loving prayer for her brother Monte.

Photo Credit: Gio Solis

Knot

2019

Knot, a performance art piece, is an exploration of how gang culture surrounded Nipsey Hussle, at the FORM festival in June of 2019.

WATCH NOW

Respite, Reprieve, and Healing: An Evening of Cleansing

Respite, Reprieve, and Healing:

An Evening of Cleansing

2019

Respite, Reprieve, and Healing: An Evening of Cleansing, a performance piece, exploring themes such as exhaustion, restoration, and healing and dignity.

Photo Credit: Gio Solis

Respite, Reprieve, and Healing: An Evening of Cleansing

Photo Credit: Gio Solis

ACTION

We must do ALL that we can to
secure an abolitionist future
for our families and our communities.
Our survival depends on it.

Organizer

Dignity & Power

I am dedicated to taking on the problems associated with mass incarceration and the prison system’s treatment of the mentally ill. My brother was diagnosed with bipolar schizoaffective disorder after deputies beat and choked him unconscious. He was sentenced to 32 months in jail instead of receiving help at a mental health facility. Dignity and Power Now is a principal organization for a multifaceted, trauma-informed, healing,motivated movement to end state violence and mass incarceration.

JusticeLA

JusticeLA was born inthe Fall of 2017 from the community based advocacy of countless families separated by the largest jail system in the world. Since our launch, we have successfully stopped LA County’s $3.5 billion jail expansion plan and lead the development of LA County’s Alternatives to Incarceration Workgroup report.

Photo Credit: Gio Solis

Reform L.A. Jails

Reform
L.A. Jails

Reform L.A. Jails represents a coalition of LA residents, community leaders, businesses, and organizations fighting to permanently reduce the population of people cycling in and out of jail. In 2019, we passed Measure R to stop Sheriff violence and abuse in the jails and to support mental healthcare in LA County. It was the first time in LA’s history that the people took criminal justice reform to the ballot box and won.

LIBERATION

I was trained within a Black Radical Tradition
that encouraged struggle within our own movement
because it sharpens collective analysis – bringing us
closer to the tools we need to achieve liberation.

Educator

Giving Abolition a Megaphone

Abolition is a journey, and it requires all of us. That’s why I’m so passionate about inspiring others to deepen their knowledge and practice of abolition when I am invited to speak at universities, organizational events, or any speaking engagement opportunity. I love sharing what I’ve learned over the last 20+ years of movement building, and being in community to collectively imagine and build the world we all deserve.

Photo Credit: Wendell Teodoro

2017 | Patrisse Cullors speaks at the Sydney Peace Prize BLM Lecture at Sydney Town Hall.

Prescott College Social and Environmental Arts Practice (MFA)

Prescott College

Social and Environmental Arts Practice (MFA)

In 2019, I developed the Social and Environmental Arts Practice MFA program at Prescott University in Prescott, AZ. Drawing on my own extensive experiences as an organizer and artist, I work alongside a brilliant team of professors to help students intersect art and abolition to lead the charge in our collective journey to an abolitionist world.