OUR WORK

POLITICAL EDUCATION

We are committed to collective empowerment through political education. Our initiatives take a variety of forms, from social media infographics to zines to teach-ins. Learn more about our political education efforts here.

COURT SUPPORT

We regularly engage in court support for individuals criminalized as organizers, beginning with the protest arrest cases from OCCUPYWSNC. This effort involves attending court and observing all proceedings to bear witness to the actions taken by the system. Our current court support work is centered on solidarity with Ms. Yvette Boulware.

SUMMER WORKSHOPS

Our summer workshop series, beginning in 2021, serves as a transformative educational and training experience to provide participants with foundational frameworks for understanding abolition, practicing transformative justice, and (re)imagining how we engage in collective care and harm reduction. This education and training contributes to the community-building needed to support new methods of accountability that move away from carceral systems of punishment and expand communities of care.

MARCHES, RALLIES, AND DIRECT ACTION

Triad Abolition Project maintains unwavering support of our incarcerated brothers, sisters, and siblings as we continue to stand in solidarity with them by actively protesting all forms of carceral systems. As we continue to march along the laterals of the Forsyth County Detention Center, we affirm the humanity and dignity of incarcerated individuals who are positioned, both figuratively and literally, at the center of our movement. We acknowledge that the impact of the carceral apparatus is far-reaching and we purposefully commit our actions to its unmasking and dismantling wherever and whenever these systems manifest. Triad Abolition Project holds marches, letter writing campaigns, and book drives to support our incarcerated siblings.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

Triad Abolition Project monitors the agendas, meetings, and minutes of local government, such as the City Council and County Commissioner meetings, committees, and budgets. Through this work, we amplify methods of community member participation in civic engagement, emphasizing consistency and progress through raising community voices to the attention of elected officials. We regularly participate in public comments periods of City Council and County Commissioner meetings. Read past public comments for City Council and County Commissioner meetings.

FCPARC

FORSYTH COUNTY POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY AND REALLOCATION COALITION

FCPARC was a collective of grassroots organizations locally in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, as well as statewide organizations, including Triad Abolition Project; Drum Majors Alliance; Forsyth County Community Bail Fund; NCSPAN; Birds, Bees, & Babies; WS Democratic Socialists of America; and Fayetteville PACT. The coalition was instrumental in getting the city of Winston-Salem to fund the Behavioral Evaluation And Response Team (BEAR) program. Learn more about FCPARC here.

THE PEOPLE’S REPORT

The People’s Report was a bi-monthly community dialogue around issues related to police accountability and reallocation presented from December 2020 until April 2021. Watch past episodes here.

OCCUPYWSNC

On July 15, 2020, Triad Abolition Project began an occupation of Bailey Park in downtown Winston-Salem, NC to demand justice for Mr. John Elliott Neville. Mr. Neville was murdered by Forsyth County Detention Center and Wellpath Healthcare personnel after being put into a prone restraint position in December 2019. After nearly 50 days, our occupation ended on September 1, 2020 with our demands being met by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. Specifically, FCSO revised their Use-of-Force Policy to include a complete ban of the bent-leg prone restraint throughout their agency, and the Sheriff agreed to notify the public when an incarcerated individual dies inside the detention center. Learn more about OCCUPYWSNC here.

SENATE BILL 168 PETITION

On June 26th, 2020 the Raleigh News & Observer reported that at roughly 3AM that morning, the North Carolina House and Senate had passed Senate Bill 168 with little discussion and no input from the public. This bill would prevent the public’s access to medical and law enforcement investigations and records when individuals die in the custody of jails, prisons, and detention centers. Also on June 26th, outlets first reported the death of John Elliott Neville, who died in the Forsyth County Detention Center in December of 2019. The public first learned of this death in the Sheriff’s custody seven months after it occurred, and the day following the NC general assembly passing SB 168, which would shield all records of Mr. Neville’s death from the public. NC BORN quickly launched an occupation outside of the Governor’s mansion, and Triad Abolition Project began a petition– both demanding that Governor Cooper veto SB 168. After 9 days of NC BORN’s occupation, several arrests of their comrades by the Raleigh Police Department, and after the delivery to the Governor of over 14,000 SB 168 Petition signatures demanding he veto this bill, on July 6th, 2020 Governor Cooper vetoed SB 168. It is due to the steadfast courage of occupiers with NC BORN and SB 168 Petition supporters from across the globe that the people of North Carolina were heard and SB 168 was vetoed. We are grateful to all who joined in this effort demanding transparency and accountability from our law enforcement officials and for our incarcerated siblings across the state.