Kaba

"When we draw one’s focus to the exceptional, we rationalize the normal. But the normal is lethal. We must aim to slash through the system as a whole, not trim at its perceived edges".

“Our charge is to make imagining liberation under oppression completely thinkable, to really push ourselves to think beyond the normal in order for us to be able to address the root causes of people’s suffering”

"There are no perfect victims, and our goal shouldn’t be to create them. Forcing perfect victim narratives on individuals strips them of their humanity and complexity, and throws under the bus those who will rarely, if ever, be seen as perfect victims".

"Accountability must be chosen by someone who has caused harm, not imposed. There is no such thing as making someone be accountable. Instead, there is creating a culture of accountability, holding space for people to practice accountability, and transforming the incentives that currently discourage accountability (especially the PIC, which disincentivizes accountability because admitting guilt for harm caused results in a cage, and consequently also discourages repair for harm.)''

"'Transformative justice asks how we can respond to harm without creating more harm and transform the conditions that led to harm. A transformative justice framework rejects the victim-perpetrator binary in recognition that we all experience and cause harm''.

Mariame Kaba