The Western Reserve Abolitionist Project (WRAP), a new student group that emerged out of Professor Tim Black’s course, Racial Inequality and Mass Imprisonment in the US, launched in the spring of 2022.

The group hosted their first event on April 11, 2022. The event, entitled Eroding Mass Incarceration: Pursuing Abolitionism in Ohio, centered on a panel discussion with representatives from five local and state organizations who spoke about their work to dismantle the carceral state. The panelists included Malika Kidd of Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, Chazidy Bowman of Opportunities People’s Justice Leaders, Melekte Melaku of ACLU of Ohio, Chrissy Stonebraker-Martinez of Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition, and Damian Calvert of Building Freedom Ohio.