All Our Trials is a history of how the women’s anti-violence, anti-racism, feminism, and prison abolition came together in recognition of how these struggles are interdependent. Examples abound of women who have been sentenced to prison for defending themselves from rape and domestic violence. The story of two African American women, Joan Little and Cece McDonald bracket the book, Joan Little killed a prison guard who was raping her. McDonald shot into the ceiling to scare off her abusive ex. Both women were convicted and both have won release through activism demanding justice. On one hand, the power of organizing is demonstrated by their release. On the other hand, half a century separate their cases…and the same biases prevail.

I remember when I was in college, a local woman whose abusive husband kept her shackled to a ropeline to keep her from leaving their farm was convicted when she killed him. It was such an unspeakable injustice and All Our Trials is rife with injustices and the women and organizations in the struggle to right those wrongs.

Because prison and the criminal justice system is the purveyor of so much injustice, feminist anti-rape and domestic violence organizers are reluctant to look to the criminal justice system for help. Incarcerating more people in a system of violence is not the answer to violence. This has been a nexus of coalition-building and opportunity as well as division as many white feminists did not see the connection.

All Our Trials successfully connects contemporary anti-violence and anti-carceral organizing to the struggles of the Seventies. There is a through-line that connects generations of organizing. That is both empowering and discouraging as our nation has embraced locking people up as a solution for every social problem, including mental illness and student disruption. The carceral state remains a force of oppression. Rape and domestic violence also seem unimpeded, with an abuser in the White House. Nonetheless, no one has given up and the work continues – work that will be well-informed by this book.

I received an e-galley of All Our Trials from the publisher through NetGalley.

All Our Trials at University of Illinois Press
Emily L. Thuma faculty page

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