Although the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade triggered a recent wave of Black-led urban uprisings against racist police brutality, these uprisings, and the police repression that has been unleashed in response, are not unique to this moment. Drawing on a long legacy of abolitionist thought, the uprisings have also helped to amplify a robust conversation about defunding and abolishing police. This has led many scholars and activists working in policing to articulate the historic futility of reform and find inspiration from the past on non-punitive ways of organizing society.

The series is free and open to all. Each roundtable will be virtual and live-streamed on YouTube, and the link to each will be shared in advance.  You can watch the first panel featuring historians Ashley Howard, Toussaint Losier, Simon Balto, and Anne Gray Fischer live, July 1 at 8:00 pm EST: bit.ly/UHAroundtable.