Allyship is for Abolition

Alejo Stark, His Life, and His Community

Experiences Shape Community: Alejo’s Life Before Ann Arbor

While confronted with the task of writing a story about an “exceptional community member”, I began to ask myself the question: does community shape purpose or purpose community? I’ve found that the answer to that question all depends on who you ask and where they come from. 

Alejo Stark was born in Argentina, his family, looking for refuge from political turmoil and conditions left over by capitalism, moved to South Florida in 2000. And it was there that he would spend the remainder of his childhood, undocumented. His identity as an undocumented immigrant for the majority of his time in America would prove to be highly influential in his life later on. Being undocumented leads to an array of inequities for those not afforded citizenship. Many are no stranger to housing insecurity, something that Groundcover is actively trying to combat. Alejo is no different, although brief, he and his family spent four days living in their car after losing housing. These experiences shaped Alejo’s perception of police, capitalism, and inequity. For those who do not know, ICE is U.S. Customs and Immigration enforcement. Their methods of detainment and removal are oftentimes an affront to a person’s right to a fair hearing in court and strip people of their livelihoods, families, and basic securities every day. Investment of federal funds not only into ICE but into systems of confinement and detainment. Alejo’s and his community’s experience of the police and ICE was shaped by their identity as undocumented persons, and advocating for the dissolution of ICE was some of the first abolition work that Alejo was ever involved in. Later, when Alejo comes to Ann Arbor, he continues to advocate for the removal of ICE on campus after an ICE raid took many undocumented students and community members from Ann Arbor. He specifically calls for the University of Michigan to cut ties with the organization altogether. 

Eventually, Alejo began attending community college in South Florida, and it was there that he would join forces with his peers and begin working with other immigrants within his community to seek justice and change. He worked as an undocumented student organizer from 2008 to 2013 and would fight deportations, specifically in South Florida and eventually Rhode Island. Alejo recalls this time fondly, crediting it as an extremely important part of his life, as he was exposed to new ideas, and proactive ways to combat the structural injustices he had been exposed to throughout his childhood. Eventually, Alejo transferred to Brown, getting involved with a similar student organization. At Brown, he would study Physics and Africana Studies. In getting his degree in Africana studies, Alejo would once again be exposed to the injustices propagated by police and the criminal justice system in America; more specifically how they disproportionately affect African Americans. Alejo would also take an active role in protesting and activism during this period of his life. The first march he attended was the  Obama inauguration attending the Trail of Dreams protest, which had the mission of promoting human rights, ending the deportation of current undocumented students, and promoting the DREAM Act. 

After finishing undergrad, Alejo eventually came to Ann Arbor where he would pursue degrees in philosophy, astronomy, and astrophysics. I think that the fields of study that Alejo chose are interesting when examined in conjunction with one another. Astrophysics and Philosophy may seem to be on two opposite ends of an academic spectrum. However, I feel that Alejo’s central question of his dissertation, which primarily asks what the emancipatory potentials of the sciences are, encompasses how these things can be interrelated. For Alejo, both of these things continue to inform his knowledge of the other. When asked why he chose to study both of these fields, Alejo remarked that he has “always been interested in questions about reality”, these questions, no one more profound or important than the other, can take a scientific or philosophical form. It was when Alejo began asking himself these questions at the University of Michigan that his involvement in Ann Arbor and Southeastern Michigan abolition and education began. Alejo’s work in Ann Arbor is primarily done through three organizations equally as exceptional as he; GEO, Rustbelt Abolition Radio, and Abolition and Prisoner Solidarity. Although beginning a new journey within a new environment, Alejo’s commitment to his community remained the same, finding a new community embedded within his old one.

One of the first projects that Alejo involved himself with since moving to Ann Arbor was Rustbelt Abolition Radio, where he was a producer and fundamentally involved with the birth of the project. This media-based project is an important addition to the Ann Arbor abolitionist movement, and something that Alejo helped create for his community. Their mission statement is as follows: 

“Rustbelt Abolition Radio is an abolitionist media and movement-building project based in Detroit, MI. Each episode broadcasts the voices of those impacted by incarceration and explores ongoing work in the movement to abolish the carceral state (that is, prisons, police, courts as well as racial domination and capitalist exploitation).”

Rustbeltradio.ord

After the 2020 calls to defund the police and for abolition of the police, the term quickly became politicized. I understand why this may be the case, but I do think that it has led to a misunderstanding of what abolition is truly trying to accomplish. I think what Rustbelt Abolition Radio has to say about abolition and its goals is especially important considering the polarization of the term. Here’s what they have to say:

“When we speak of abolition, we are striving to articulate and enact a political imaginary and practice that aims at something far more expansive than simply dispensing with police and prisons”.

Rustbeltradio.org

Alejo’s goal in this project was to highlight individual stories and modern circumstances as they pertain to Abolition. The stories that they tell are expansive, recognizing the importance of abolition for people of all identities; women, queer people, people of color, those in poverty, immigrants, native people, and people with disabilities. This project that Alejo helped to create takes delicate time in speaking with people that can adequately provide information on these intersecting identities and ideologies. Although this project is not specific to Ann Arbor, it is a form in which, through his presence and involvement in other aspects of the Ann Arbor community, he was able to bring knowledge and understanding to a subject where misinformation and misunderstanding are spread every day. Unfortunately, during the pandemic, the project had to take a break from actively publishing stories, as many other small businesses and publications did. Even Groundcover had to change its methods of publication during the pandemic. Although Rustbelt Abolition Radio is not currently working, the many, many, episodes they released prior to the pandemic are available for users to listen, to learn, and to change from. 

Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Solidarity

Alejo’s work at Rustbelt Abolition Radio, highlighting stories essential to the cause of abolition is extremely important, but through working with Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Solidarity (MAPS), Alejo works directly with an organization whose sole purpose is abolition and freedom from incarceration. Here, he works as an organizer in solidarity with those imprisoned in order to end incarceration, crediting it as an act of violence. Formed in 2016, after the Kinross Riot, this organization’s approach to abolition as described on michiganabolition.org is as follows:

• connect prisoners engaged in collective struggle with press contacts to get prisoner-centered narratives in the media
• facilitate the publication of a quarterly political analysis newsletter featuring the writings of Michigan prisoners
• create original media and host educational events to promote an abolitionist narrative within broader society
• coordinate anti-repression work to bring public attention to the abusive violence of the state
• organize public demonstrations in solidarity with prisoner-led movements

I think this approach frames some of the key missions of abolition in a productive way. People can be affected by policing in a variety of ways, however, I think that those incarcerated are those most profoundly failed by our current system of policing. Working directly with prisoners, for prisoners is the only way abolition can be truly just in its implementation. Through working with this organization, Alejo is actively helping to protect those most vulnerable in our community. 

The Michigan State Prison is located in Jackson, a fortyish minute drive from Ann Arbor. Considering this is Groundcover news, there is an important relationship between the criminal justice system and housing insecurity to be considered. Remedying the ways in which rehabilitation is not central to our current system of policing is an essential goal of abolition and something that Alejo and I spoke in length about. Because the state prison is so close to Ann Arbor, many formerly incarcerated come to Ann Arbor with the hopes of starting anew. As there are very few resources for felons, prospects are slim, and many face housing insecurity as a result. A central goal of abolition is to eradicate the poverty and stigmatization that forms as a result of incarceration. Another way in which the goals of ending homelessness and abolition are deeply intertwined and rooted in similar values. Over-policing is something that many homeless people are affected by. The structural designs of police and urban design and the houseless community often conflict with one another. With police targeting tent communities and many avenues of revenue for homeless people. This makes the work that Alejo does for MAPS even more important for our community in Ann Arbor.  

GEO or the Graduate Employees’ Organization, is the graduate student union on Michigan’s campus. Alejo is involved in the Abolition Caucus for the organization which focuses on unjust policing in Ann Arbor and proposes options for reform. Upon first hearing that the Union had an abolition caucus I was slightly surprised. But once I had the opportunity to speak with Alejo about what exactly the caucus did, it only served to reinforce the idea that abolition is central to justice for everyone, even a community seemingly unrelated such as graduate students. 

“Mission is to represent, advocate for, and organize graduate student workers and to build collective power in the pursuit of social & economic justice”. 

From geo3550.org

This is GEO’s mission statement, which makes clear from the start that the goal of GEO is not simply to negotiate better working conditions for graduate students, although that is a worthy and important endeavor. The latter part of their mission statement is where abolition and Alejo come into play, however. Alejo spoke to me about the amount of money that The University of Michigan spends (tens of millions of dollars) on The Division of Public Safety and Security or DPSS, which was only established in 2012, and how a central part of negotiating the new contract in 2020 was the defunding of DPSS and allocation of funds into a program that seeks to provide support and resources in place of law enforcement.

In 2020, GEO went on strike with a list of new demands, the first real strike they would have since the organization’s inception in 1975. Defunding the police was one of these demands.  Specifically, GEO included this request in their 2020 contract proposal. Alejo and I spoke about the ways in which police do not and cannot, with their training, solve many of the adversities that those in UM’s community face. These problems include:

“Rising rents, sexual harassment, inadequate health insurance, and being overworked in an increasingly unaffordable Ann Arbor”

In fact, police can make these problems much worse, as circumstances largely shape “criminality”. Those circumstances need to be addressed and solved for any sort of societal improvement or personal rehabilitation to take place. Hence GEO’s request for the implementation of a program that can properly address the circumstantial differences of our community members. This request is about protecting our community members when they are in crisis, I can’t think of a more exceptional endeavor. In the end, the University did not accept the terms of the union when it came to their call for abolition. However, the Abolition caucus at GEO doesn’t just draft negotiations for new contracts. They also study the effect of police in Ann Arbor. You can access this information at abolitiongeo.org.

Allyship and Community

As Alejo and I concluded our interview, I asked him if there were any final thoughts he’d like to leave the readers of Groundcover with. He answered:

Ally yourself with others.

Alejo Stark

This was Alejo’s response to that question. What better answer for an article centered around community and what it means? In his response to this question, Alejo emphasized that allyship is essential to the success of any movement, particularly abolition. GEO and Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Solidarity, two of the communities that Alejo belongs to and allies himself with, draw their strength from numbers; they’re fundamentally dependent on membership and involvement. The more allies they have, the more prolific the change they are able to enact will be. 

A consequence of certain aspects of industrialization and American ideals is how we conceptualize success. It seems we all were taught to engage in a mindset in which others are your enemy, and their success is an affront to your success. I think this is the ideology Alejo seeks to combat with his final words. So take Alejo’s advice; recognize and act on the truth that all of our success is intrinsically intertwined with one another. 

Works Cited