A fiercely-argued, deeply-informed examination of why defunding the police is the only way to support a model of security and protection that increases public safety overall
“Hudson moves us past the failed rhetoric of police reform and provides a powerful analysis that reveals the harsh truth that policing produces neither safety nor justice and must be replaced by a world that meets people’s basic needs.” —Alex S. Vitale, author of The End of Policing
A fiercely-argued, deeply-informed examination of why defunding the police is the only way to support a model of security and protection that increases public safety overall
“Hudson moves us past the failed rhetoric of police reform and provides a powerful analysis that reveals the harsh truth that policing produces neither safety nor justice and must be replaced by a world that meets people’s basic needs.” —Alex S. Vitale, author of The End of Policing
Over the last few years, in response to videos demonstrating the brutal and often deadly tactics of law enforcement officers, calls to "defund the police" have increasingly rung out across the world. But this is not a trendy new movement: Black activists have been sounding the alarm on the dangers of policing for decades. Time and again history has watched as officers respond to minor calls with escalation, wrongful arrests, and even murder. Yet policymakers continue to fund and endorse reform programs that have proven ineffective at curbing these actions. Why? Because most of what we know about policing is wrong.
In Defund, longtime activist Sandy Hudson examines the origins of commonly held ideas about police and safety to show how police-related social policies are based more on a sensationalized idea of safety than on outcomes and data. She demonstrates the destructive effects of policing on scores of people, arguing that investment in community resources and infrastructure rather than law enforcement is the key to making us safer. Clear-eyed and hopeful yet incisive and pragmatic, Defund paves a clear path forward and demonstrates that a future without police is not only entirely possible, but necessary.
SANDY HUDSON is a multidisciplinary creative, writer, and activist with a talent for inspiring others to imagine just futures. She is the author of DEFUND: Black Lives, Policing, and Safety for all and co-author of the bestselling anthology Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada.
The founder of Black Lives Matter-Canada, Sandy also co-founded and is Chair of the Board at the Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism, a Black-owned and operated community centre in Toronto, and the Black Legal Action Centre, a specialty legal aid clinic, which provides direct legal services and test case litigation for Black communities in Ontario, Canada. Sandy is Co-Executive Producer of the 8-part CBC documentary series Black Life: A Canadian History, ann official selection of the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, and a partner with Bathurst & Sunset Productions.
A dynamic and matter-of-fact communicator, Sandy co-hosts the Sandy & Nora Talk Politics Podcast, and has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, NPR, the Toronto Star, CTV News, CP24, Global News, Buzzfeed, and KTLA. Her published work appears in Maclean's Magazine, Chatelaine, FLARE magazine, the Washington Post, the Toronto Star, and the Huffington Post, among others. Tackling a range of social justice issues from anti-Black racism to feminism, Sandy is a natural thought-leader and has a gift for finding the common ground we need to make a better society.
An award-winning writer, Sandy was named one of Maclean’s most powerful people in Canada, Toronto Life’s 50 Most Influential Torontonians, one of Post City Magazine’s Most Inspiring Women, and one of Canada International Black Women’s 100 Black women to watch. Sandy believes that the key to creating justice for the society’s most challenging problems is through cultural change.
A woman of boundless energy and a lust for learning, Sandy holds a JD from the UCLA School of Law and a Master of Arts in Social Justice Education from the University of Toronto.
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