Is Abolition Halal?
“Are we thinking of abolishing the entire policing or why? What are we trying to do here? What what’s really trying to do? What corrective action?
You as a young, you know, generation, you know, what are you guys are planning to do or proposing to do?”
Listen to the full interview above, or read the transcripts here.
As members of the Crescendo Project creating this digital zine, we thought it would be cute to have a short conversation with our Muslim families on police violence and abolition—and make it public for #UnrelentingJustice. Munira and Sijal, for some reason, agreed to participate.
The intention was to vulnerably gather and share reflections on anti-Blackness and policing with our elders, in hopes that listeners would feel curious and motivated to have these conversations themselves. We aren’t sure if we succeeded exactly, but what transpired was a honest, tender, and at times difficult conversation that needed to happen.
At the very least, we hope listening to this conversation with your family could help spark some important conversations that—in all honesty—we are already too late in having.
About the contributors:
Munira Lokhandwala is a researcher and Community Manager at LittleSis, working closely with LittleSis users, training aspiring power researchers, and conducting power research. Previously, she spent 9 years in Oakland, CA doing labor organizing, working as a cook, and teaching undergraduate students about experimental film. She is born in Ahmedabad and now resides in Philadelphia.
Abbasi Lokhandwala was born in Ahmedabad, India in 1948. He is an accountant and avid news-reader living in New Jersey.
Samina Lokhandwala was born in Ahmedabad, India in 1952. She is a retired bank teller and a talented cook living in New Jersey.
Sijal Nasralla is a multimedia artist, activist, and Campaign Director at MPower Change. He was born in New Jersey and grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Abderhim Nasralla was born in Jerusalem in 1942. He is a small business owner, academic, and an avid lucid dreamer living in Charlotte, North Carolina.