Abolition April
Abolitionist Sanctuary presents Abolition April, a national campaign initiated in April 2023 to call faith communities, activists, and civic leaders to imagine a world without prisons and organize for social change. Since then, the fourth month of the year is recognized as an occasion to build collective power nationally and to deepen abolition awareness as a moral response and theological imperative.
Join us and bring Abolition April to your community!
Invitation
Our 3rd Annual Abolition April is in Washington, D.C., April 11–12, 2026.
On April 11th, we will host a day of learning in community and in partnership with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. Join us for the Building Abolitionist Sanctuaries teach-in with our Abolition Academy. Following this training, we will lead a direct-action at the center of power, the White House. This event is hybrid. Registration is required and space is limited.
On April 12th, we culminate with Abolitionist Sanctuary National Sunday at Metropolitan AME Church with host pastor, Rev. William H. Lamar, IV. On this occasion, churches around the country will dedicate their worship services and sanctuaries to leading a faith-based abolitionist movement.
Registration
Register for Becoming Abolitionist Sanctuaries Teach-in, April 11, 2026:
Register for Abolitionist Sanctuary National Sunday, April 12, 2026:
Theme: Building Abolitionist Sanctuaries
Executive orders that disregard social identity and cultural particularities is a threat to civil and human rights. The attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion aims to erase histories and revise America’s colonial, anti-Black, oppressive past. More than 300,000 Black women were forced out of the workplace, ICE is unjustly exercising unilateral state power to harm the most vulnerable, authoritarianism has violated the rule of law, and many Americans still cannot afford eggs.
How did we get here?
According to a CNN exit poll for the 2024 US presidential election, it was largely uneducated white voters and white christian nationalists and evangelicals who voted for President Donald Trump. There are many factors that have contributed to this current dismal state of affairs in our country. However, the above data suggests that we cannot ignore the correlation between education and religion, and its impact on democracy.Â
Abolitionist Sanctuary is a response to this political moment. We have cultivated a weekend that provides an alternative way of thinking and practicing faith through the lens of abolition.Â
REGISTER TODAY!