Ep. 62 - Law for Liberation 2.0 ft. Timmy Châu

BrownTown links up with organizer, activist, facilitator, and
Fitness Against Fascism alum Timmy Châu to discuss how to work
towards an abolitionist future within and outside of the criminal
legal system. In this second installment, the fam reflects on
legal cases from the summer uprisings and their impact, the
current political terrain, and shaping difficult conversations
with loved ones. Building upon the first installment, episode 32
with Tia Haywood and Jesús Vargas, BrownTown and Timmy discuss
how to work towards an abolitionist future within and outside of
the criminal legal system. Originally recorded December 3,
2020. 


Timmy shares his experience coming into movement work in Chicago
(shoutout We Charge Genocide) and learning how the the legal
field can support grassroots movements, noting the work of the
People's Law Office. After reflecting on legal cases in recent
years and from the summer uprisings (see "Protestors for Black
Lives v. City of Chicago" , No Cop Academy FOIA Lawsuit,
Paris uprising over film the police law: 1, 2), BrownTown and
Timmy talk about the nuances of working within institutions with
problematic origins or practices. As the conversation turns to a
more sharpened critique of the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC)
(see The Boondocks), the gang discusses the "progressive
prosecutor" phenomenon, Obama's comments on #DefundPolice,
reactionary responses to colonial violence (both in drill rap and
Vietnam), and more. Considering it all, BrownTown and Timmy
filter these larger dialogues into personal relationships,
grappling with how to appropriately build upon the support and
work of their ancestors while simultaneously challenge them.
Originally recorded December 3, 2020.


“If we’re explicit about white supremacy and capitalism and
authoritarianism then that means we have to be clear about what
the law is in relationship to those systems [...] really the laws
are the set of regulations — the formalization of these systems
that are really to control and regulate social, political, and
economic life.” --Timmy Châu


GUEST
Timmy Châu is an organizer, lawyer, and facilitator based in
Chicago. He’s a co-founder of Dissenters, a new youth-led
anti-war organization and a Co-director of the Prison and
Neighborhood Arts and Education project (PNAP), an inside/outside
arts and organizing effort operating in and out of Stateville
prison. Above all, he believes in fighting for a world without
prisons and police.


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Follow Timmy on Instagram; Dissenters at wearedissenters.org and
@wearedissenters on all social media; and PNAP on Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter.


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CREDITS: Intro audio from "Protestors for
Black Lives v. City of Chicago"  video by Sensitive
Visuals; outro song OLD WAYS by Black Rainbow Ray ft. Davion.
Audio engineered by Genta Tamashiro. Episode photo by Mercedes
Zapata.


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