To quote the great Kimya Dawson, “Once the soil has been spoiled the whole crop's corrupt, that's why we need the grassroots working from the ground up.” Care Not Cops is a benefit compilation from In This Together LA in support of our neighbors committed to on the ground, and in the garden, organizing work. 100% of proceeds raised through this compilation will be donated in support of ongoing efforts from Feed Black Futures and the Youth Justice Coalition, both based in and serving the people of Los Angeles.
Feed Black Futures, LA’s finest steward of abolition nutrition, fights for racial and food equity by means of increasing the availability and accessibility of organic produce for Black mamas & caregivers who have been incarcerated or have loved ones entangled within the prison industrial complex. They currently partner with an organic farm in San Bernardino, with long-term goals of both establishing a network of Black-owned farms across Southern California and fostering strategies of healing and resistance through supporting Black families in growing their own food.
Coming from kindred principles, the Youth Justice Coalition is a group of Inglewood-based abolitionists working towards dismantling the policies and institutions that have ensured the massive incarceration and deportation of people of color, widespread law enforcement violence and corruption, consistent violation of our youth’s constitutional rights, the construction of the school-to-prison pipeline, and the proliferation of the world’s largest network of jails and prisons. The YJC also operates Chuco’s Justice Center, Inglewood’s legendary community center for organizers, artists, and like-minded organizations working against mass incarceration. Founded on practices of transformative justice, the YJC and Chuco’s offer Free LA High School, which provides diplomas for youth entering and exiting the carceral system, know your rights and legal defense workshops, re-entry programs, arts and activism courses, and so much more.
For In This Together LA, Care Not Cops is situated in a legacy of abolition movement building. A politic built on care can only begin when our resources are divested from the police and prison industrial complex and reallocated into services and programs by and for our local communities. It’s with great honor that we can bring together such prophetic and essential voices from our artistic communities to raise material support for organizations in our city whose missions align with these fundamental concepts of the need for care, not cops.
feedblackfutures.org
youthjusticela.org