upEND Movement
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upEND Movement
@upendmovement.org
1.4K followers 92 following 100 posts
Abolition movement to create a society in which the forcible separation of children from their families is no longer an acceptable intervention. upendmovement.org
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upendmovement.org
We love seeing our zine out in the wild! It can be made with one sheet of paper, scissors, and staples. It’s a colorful way to start conversations with friends about what true safety can look like without the #FamilyPolicingSystem. upendmovement.org/zine
A gloved hand holds copies of upEND’s zine in front of a little library on the sidewalk. The interior of the library box holds zines, books, and a flyer for a fundraiser for Gaza families where people can purchase books, crafts and more.
January 30, 2026 at 6:05 PM
upendmovement.org
The same structures that separate families through incarceration and ICE are connected to the #FamilyPolicingSystem. The whole carceral web needs to be dismantled for our communities to be safe and whole. #AbolishICE #Abolition

Read the full zine: upendmovement.org/zine 🔗
The family policing system is just one part of the carceral web. From incarceration to borders to family policing, we oppose the surveillance and state-sanctioned separation of children from their families in all forms. Collage image shows a Black mother with an infant, a police officer, and an illustration of a watchful eye.
January 18, 2026 at 10:49 PM
upendmovement.org
The child welfare system doesn’t help families. We more accurately call it the family policing system.

Read the full zine: upendmovement.org/zine/
The child welfare system doesn’t help families. We more accurately call it the family policing system. This collage features news articles about the child welfare system tearing families apart and shows a picture of a Black mother holding an infant.
January 15, 2026 at 6:05 PM
upendmovement.org
Check out our new zine, “Abolish the Family Policing System.” ✂️ A printable version is available on our website for sharing with friends and neighbors. upendmovement.org/zine/
New upEND Zine! You can read it in a few minutes. Download a printable copy. Get an intro to family policing abolition. upendmovement.org/zine The cover of the zine says Abolish the Family Policing System in a collage style with lime green and black and white elements.
January 15, 2026 at 10:20 AM
upendmovement.org
Join Zoe Bambara and Dr. Mali Collins to discuss framing the Reproductive Jusice Movement for 2026. Dr. Collins is the author of Scrap Theory which discusses how the archival erasure of Black motherhood is an urgent concern.

December 13, 6:30pm
buff.ly/SWWDxZg
November 22, 2025 at 10:20 AM
upendmovement.org
Join @haymarketbooks.org for a virtual book launch of "How to End Family Policing: From Outrage to Action” with featured speakers Dorothy Roberts, Andrea Ritchie, and Erin Miles Cloud.

📅 December 1
🕐4-5:30 pm ET
🔗 Register: www.howtoendfamilypolicing.com/events
November 14, 2025 at 6:05 PM
upendmovement.org
Despite the struggles the community faces at Montrose Grace Place, it’s a JOYFUL place. ❤️ Love is contagious there.

And we hope you’ll get to experience it through the portrait of the youth featured in upEND’s short doc #AVisionOfGrace. buff.ly/EtK0G9t
November 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
upendmovement.org
International experts are now echoing what U.S. communities have been saying for generations: children and families deserve support, not surveillance. Read the full report:
buff.ly/DVBMlPi
November 12, 2025 at 10:20 AM
upendmovement.org
upEND advocates for the complete #Abolition of what you many know as the 'child welfare system'. But we understand it more accurately as the #FamilyPolicingSystem because that’s how it functions.
Abolish the Family Policing System. Features images of Black and Latine families with a greyscale image of a woman holding a clipboard. The child welfare system doesn’t help families. It separates, surveils, and punishes them. That’s why we more accurately call it the family policing system. Image features a judges gavel with a lime green X crossing it out.
October 23, 2025 at 9:20 AM
upendmovement.org
upEND’s Josie Pickens writes for @newsoneofficial.bsky.social about a Michigan mother charged with “food stamp fraud.” When a mom trying to feed her kids gets criminalized, that’s not justice. That’s surveillance, control, and punishment wrapped in the language of “help.” newsone.com/6490272/mich...
October 16, 2025 at 9:20 AM
upendmovement.org
Ten Books to Get To Know Me (upEND edition) 📚

And if you want to learn more about #FamilyPolicing and #Abolition, we have a whole #syllabus on our website. upendmovement.org/syllabus/
1. Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System: The Case for Abolition by Alan Dettlaff 2. Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World by Dorothy Roberts 3. The School for Good Mothers: A Novel by Jessamine Chan 4. We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian 5. Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom by Derecka Purnell 6. We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice by Mariame Kaba 7. We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition by Maya Schenwar and Kim Wilson 8. Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare by Dorothy Roberts 9. The Black Child-Savers: Racial Democracy and Juvenile Justice by Geoff K. Ward 10. Border and Rule by Harsha Walia
October 15, 2025 at 9:20 AM
upendmovement.org
Introducing Kyra Lewis from the Healthy and Free Tennessee Youth Council. 🎤 We are energized by the passion and ideas these young people have for building a future without #FamilyPolicing! #Abolition
September 25, 2025 at 9:20 AM
upendmovement.org
Yesterday we joined the Healthy and Free Tennessee Youth Council for a Family Policing Abolition 101 workshop. The brilliance and courage of these young leaders reminds us how important it is to listen to and learn from youth who are system impacted. ❤️ 🔥
September 22, 2025 at 10:27 PM
upendmovement.org
"No pasarán!" Check out this collection of resources from @interruptcrim.bsky.social on keeping ICE out of schools. 🚌🍎📚 buff.ly/C36wrwb
No Pasaran, ICE out of our schools and communities
September 12, 2025 at 9:20 AM
upendmovement.org
“We are each other’s hope.”

Joshua Dorty, an advocate with Youth Voices Empowered and a star of upEND’s short documentary #AVisionOfGrace, talks about revisiting Tony’s Place in Houston after finding housing stability and community. buff.ly/EtK0G9t
September 4, 2025 at 5:06 PM
upendmovement.org
⚠️ 30% of youth in the foster system identify as LGBTQ.
⚠️ 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ.

In our film #AVisionOfGrace, youth share their lived experiences with houselessness and family separation while celebrating the joy and healing they’ve found in community. upendmovement.org/grace
September 4, 2025 at 9:20 AM
upendmovement.org
Host a screening of our new film #AVisionOfGrace in your community!

Submit a request form to receive a free toolkit with
- instagram templates
- flyers
- a discussion guide
- the film and trailer

upendmovement.org/grace/
August 25, 2025 at 5:08 PM
upendmovement.org
Courtney Sellers, Executive Director of Montrose Grace Place talks about the impact of #AVisionOfGrace on the youth in the documentary. #YouthHomelessness #QueerYouth #Houston upendmovement.org/grace
August 22, 2025 at 9:20 AM
upendmovement.org
Announcing a #BlackAugust screening of #AVisionOfGrace in Baltimore, Friday, August 22 @ 7pm. Hosted by @baltlegal.bsky.social.

BALT envisions a Baltimore where Black people use their power to determine justice within their communities. RSVP 🔗 buff.ly/mz4ydx1
August 20, 2025 at 5:16 PM
upendmovement.org
"Those of us working toward the abolition of family policing are familiar with these tactics. The very existence of the family policing system rests on moral panics: narratives that poor Black families will harm their children if they are not surveilled or separated.” #DCPolice 🔗 buff.ly/wMM026e
This week in Washington, DC, the current administration announced plans to “takeover” the city. This includes federalizing DC’s police force and deploying 800 National Guard troops, who arrived on Tuesday. Local media and officials have painted these young people as inherently violent and dangerous, circulating reports of teenagers “overrunning” DC neighborhoods. And the punitive approach doesn’t stop with youth. For years, the city has treated its homeless residents as problems to be removed, rather than people in need of care and support. Those of us working toward the abolition of family policing are familiar with these tactics. The very existence of the family policing system rests on moral panics: narratives that poor Black families will harm their children if they are not surveilled or separated.
August 15, 2025 at 8:13 PM
upendmovement.org
When harm occurs, we should consider responses that
- provide safety and support
- honor family and community relationships with empathy and compassion
- value healing, connection, accountability, and care

#ReclaimingSafety

Download the new essay by @strawburriez.bsky.social 🔗 buff.ly/esqjYKI
Starting Points to Consider More Humane Ways to Respond to Child Sexual Harm: 1) Survivor-focused, 2) Community-oriented, 3) Safety planning, 4) Transformation and Accountability, 5) Healing spaces for each impacted person.
August 15, 2025 at 9:20 AM
upendmovement.org
Thank you to everyone who came to our virtual screening! If you would like to show #AVisionOfGrace in your community, let us know more about the event you want to host, and we’ll send you a toolkit with all of the materials you need. 🔗 form.jotform.com/251765258416...
July 18, 2025 at 9:20 AM
upendmovement.org
We're going live in one hour! Get tickets to the virtual screening of our new documentary. The recording will only be available for registrants, so don't miss it! 👀🎬🎟️ #AVisionOfGrace

www.eventbrite.com/e/a-vision-o...
July 10, 2025 at 10:29 PM
upendmovement.org
Waiola is the resident Mother of Montrose Grace Place in Houston and one of the stars of our film #AVisionOfGrace. At our Houston premiere, she talked about what finding and creating chosen family has meant to her.

Get tickets for our VIRTUAL SCREENING Thurs, July 10! 🎟️ buff.ly/OBGOD0u
July 8, 2025 at 10:26 PM
upendmovement.org
The upEND Team is at @socialismconference.org! Yesterday we kicked off the conference with a session on “Reproductive Justice, Family Policing, and Abolition” and now we get to hear from the incredible activists and organizers presenting this weekend. If you see us around, say hi! #Socialism25
July 4, 2025 at 5:05 PM