Radical Mothering: Caregiving and Resistance Across Prison Walls

Radical Mothering was born out of the everyday lives of Mothers of the Kidnapped (part of the MAMAS Collective in Chicago), a group of primarily Black and Latiné working-class people who care for and defend incarcerated survivors of torture and frame-ups by the Chicago police. The more we center and politicize the collective practices of mother-activists, the closer we move toward a world without cages, without disposability, without state violence. Created for people committed to ending the violence of police and prisons—but relevant to all liberation movements—this book affirms the everyday lives of those who persevere in love and struggle in the face of carceral violence and the pain it inflicts. The stories of these grassroots visionaries are at once steadfast, resourceful, and revelatory. A living toolkit for teaching and organizing, illustrations throughout the book provide readers with accessible entry points into the framework of Radical Mothering, supporting its application in real-life educational, organizational, and community contexts.