by Police Free Penn
As we look back on a year of organizing and struggle, we must reiterate our commitment to solidarity with Black, POC, LGBTQ+, poor, and incarcerated communities that have been violently abused, displaced, and exploited by the University of Pennsylvania. We especially uplift the demands of our comrades, the Africa family, the families and communities harmed by the Kligman experiments and the Morton Collection, as well as all people and communities harmed by incarceration and policing, in whatever form those may take. Police Free Penn is a young organization, but we are committed to unwavering solidarity with local organizers here in Philadelphia as we all fight for new realities for our communities and to the larger mission of liberation in our lifetime.
Since DG 2020
Throughout this past year, we’ve continued our campaign calling for the abolition of the Morton Collection, including multiple street and email actions demanding the return of stolen and disrespected remains by Penn Museum. Our comrade Abdul-Aily Mohammed broke the story that the Penn Museum is housing stolen remains of Black Philadelphians, remains stolen from burial grounds across the city. This report and continued organizing against the Penn Museum fueled our actions, bringing Penn and West Philadelphia community members and faith leaders to the Museum’s doorstep to demand the return of the remains on April 8th. This action and increased public pressure placed on the University has led to the creation of new committees to oversee the repatriation of remains, but if we’ve learned anything from our beloved University, we must remain vigilant to make sure this committee is actually getting things done.
As Abdul-Aily uncovered more about the Museum’s crimes against Black Philadelphians, we stood with MOVE as they took to University City streets to demand reparations for the stolen remains of Delisha and Tree Africa. MOVE, alongside BLM Philly, lead protestors to the President’s house on campus, ensuring that all heard the stories of Delisha and Tree and the lives that have been violently disregarded in the name of science and white supremacist policing.
This year, Police Free Penn became a founding member of the Cops Off Campus Coalition, a coalition of coalitions organizing to amplify our shared abolitionist mission across the settler colonies known as the US and Canada. The Coalition organized Abolition May, a month of abolitionist actions across member campuses to shout ABOLITION NOW from every corner of this settler colony. We joined with abolitionist organizers from the UC system, UChicago, Yale, UW, and so many more. Follow the coalition @copsoffearth on socials or go to https://copsoffcampuscoalition.com/ to learn more.
As part of Abolition May, PFP organized a Disorientation March to reiterate our wider demands from several spots on Penn’s campus including Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), the University of Pennsylvania Police Department (UPPD), and the Inn at Penn. At CAPS, PFP, alongside student and local/campus mental health organizers, called for no cops in mental health, rallying against the inclusion of UPPD into CAPS protocol. At the Inn at Penn, we stood with Fossil Free Penn and Philly students, calling for divestment from fossil fuels and the PIC, and reinvestment into community needs and resources, including PILOTs. At our final stop, UPPD Headquarters, we demanded the defunding and abolishment of Penn Police and the network of money and surveillance that keeps West Philadelphia one of the most heavily policed areas in the entire country.
Our second action for Abolition May was a march and guerrilla screening of Carolyn Lazard’s short film “Pre-Existing Condition”, an action aimed at giving voice to families harmed by Alan Kilgman’s horrible experiments on inmates of the Holmesburg Prison. These experiments were funded by the University while Kilgmann served as professor of Dermatology. We and our comrades stood in the rain, hearing stories of tragedy across generations due to the violence funded by this university. Sign our petition demanding the university makes reparations for the violence they’ve funded, and the profit they continue to rake in. Give funds to Yusef Anthony, a survivor of the experiments, here.
We’ve continued our political education efforts, partnering with our comrades in Fossil Free Penn, the Shut Down Berks Coalition, Natives At Penn, and numerous Philly organizations to host teach-ins surrounding abolition and its intersections with other issues. We’ve also hosted two book clubs, one during this past winter and the other this past summer. We’ve read Angela Davis’ Are Prisons Obsolete and Mariame Kaba’s We Do This ‘Til We Save Us with comrades from across the US and the world.
It is our duty, as students, faculty, and community members of this University, to organize against the very real and constant violence of this institution commits against West Philadelphia, be it through its police, its Museum, its partnership with the state, its labor exploitation, or its investment. Join us so we can do our part with the West Philly community in seeking justice from the University for centuries of abuse!
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