SHAWORDS
D

Derecka Purnell

Derecka Purnell

Derecka Purnell

author
21Quotes

Derecka Purnell is a lawyer, writer, and organizer. She is best known for her 2021 memoir Becoming Abolitionists, which received positive reviews from Boston Review, PEN America, Kirkus, The Guardian, and others.

Popular Shayari

21 total
Quote
"A lot of the times the people who make the decision to kill people - if they make that decision, its because of patriarchy. Its because theyre trying to control someone elses sexuality, especially if its a woman, and they are concerned about, shes going to sleep with someone else - or if theyre concerned someone else is going to try to sleep with her. So then that leads to a homicide. Or its two men who are fighting or going back and forth, and one feels as if their manhood has been disrespected. And so we see the No. 1 reason for certain kind of homicides is a petty argument that escalates."
D
Derecka Purnell
Quote
"(The police) arrest people. They give them gun charges. They put them in jail. The people go to jail or prison for a couple of years. They come back out; they have a record; they cant get a job; theyre in the same set of circumstances. They need a gun to protect themselves because they can be robbed or they can be killed. And so you create a cycle of people who are going in and out of jail based on gun charges or homicide charges who ultimately never get to the root of the problem, right?"
D
Derecka Purnell
Quote
"Thats what law school allowed me to have - was time to actually read abolitionist literature - you know, read "Abolition Democracy" by Angela Davis, read her other book "Are Prisons Obsolete?" - the more time I had to study, you know, works from, like, Naomi Murakawa. I mean, I just had so much time to start learning the history of police, the function of police, how this word crime is a social construct, how theres so much sexual violence in this world - in this country, in particular - and its not all reducible to what to do with a rapist - right? - because most people who commit sexual violence will never see a day in prison. And so police and prisons are currently inadequate responses to the sexual violence that we have right now. Theyre currently inadequate responses to the homicides that we have right now - right? - the harms of our nightmares. You look across the country - the police clearance rate for murders is something like 40-50%, which means that 40-50% of people accused of murdering someone are just arrested and charged - not even convicted, right?"
D
Derecka Purnell

Similar Authors & Thinkers