BOOK LAUNCH: Abolitionist Intimacies by El Jones, featuring Lynn Jones and Damini Awoyiga

Fernwood Publishing and King’s Co-op Bookstore are pleased to welcome you to the launch of ABOLITIONIST INTIMACIES in Halifax.

Free and open to the public.

Alumni Hall, New Academic Bldg
University of King’s College
6530 Coburg Rd
Halifax, NS B3M 1T1

There are gender-neutral washrooms on the 2nd floor. There is parking on campus, and it is close to a bus stop.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In Abolitionist Intimacies, El Jones examines the movement to abolish prisons through the Black feminist principles of care and collectivity. Understanding the history of prisons in Canada in their relationship to settler colonialism and anti-Black racism, Jones observes how practices of intimacy become imbued with state violence at carceral sites including prisons, policing and borders, as well as through purported care institutions such as hospitals and social work. The state also polices intimacy through mechanisms such as prison visits, strip searches and managing community contact with incarcerated people. Despite this, Jones argues, intimacy is integral to the ongoing struggles of prisoners for justice and liberation through the care work of building relationships and organizing with the people inside. Through characteristically fierce and personal prose and poetry, and motivated by a decade of prison justice work, Jones observes that abolition is not only a political movement to end prisons; it is also an intimate one deeply motivated by commitment and love.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

El Jones is a poet, journalist, professor and activist living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She teaches at Mount Saint Vincent University, where she was named the 15th Nancy’s Chair in Women’s Studies in 2017. She was Halifax’s Poet Laureate from 2013 to 2015. She is the author of Live from the Afrikan Resistance!, a collection of poems about resisting white colonialism. Her work focuses on social justice issues, such as feminism, prison abolition, anti-racism and decolonization. Since 2016, she has co-hosted a radio show called Black Power Hour, on CKDU-FM where listeners from prisons call in to rap and read their poetry, providing a voice to people who rarely get a wide audience.

Dr. Gladys Lynn Jones is an African-Canadian woman born and raised in Truro, Nova Scotia. Throughout her life, Lynn has been active in the pursuit of justice, working tirelessly for many causes and organizations that seek to eradicate racism, secure human rights, and achieve fair labour practices. She was the first Black person to join the executive ranks of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), and also served as a National Vice-President of the Canadian Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU). In 1993 Lynn became the first Canadian-born African-Canadian woman to run in a federal election. Lynn is currently the Chair of the Global African Congress (Nova Scotia Chapter), which seeks reparations for the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade and other injustices and whose organization published the ground breaking book authored by children they engaged called “R is for Reparations.”

Damini Awoyiga is a 15-year-old grade high student She is a spoken word poet, writer, activist, fashion designer, singer and art illustrator. Damini is the founder of the Afro-Indigenous Book Club, a book club she created to encourage young people to read books written by Black and Indigenous authors and to share the realities and experiences of Black and Indigenous Canadians. Damini was the Junior artist in residence for Wellness Within, a community organization working for reproductive
justice, prison abolition and health equity. She was also a Youth Ambassador for Digitally Lit, a youth-led strategy that aims to empower young Atlantic Canadians. She has used Digitally Lit’s social media to create a campaign for accessibility awareness in
built spaces. Damini is the youth entrepreneur behind Damini Creatives. A mask and fashion enterprise that she launched in the middle of the 2020 pandemic. She made headlines in 2020 with her bright, colourful and vibrant African fabric masks. She was CBC’s artist in residence for the Michaelle Jean Foundation’s Canadian Black Summit held in July 2022, where she hosted an interactive community poetry booth. As a spoken word poet for the past four years, Damini loves to write and perform
spoken word poems to bring attention to social justice issues that she cares deeply about.

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