Abolish Bondage Collectively (ABC)
A grassroots campaign working to eradicate structural racism and erase vestiges of slavery
The Movement
We believe involuntary servitude should be prohibited in California, regardless of race, socioeconomic status or conviction history. That involuntary servitude remains legal is not only a centuries-old stain on our collective conscience but a daily injustice leveled against our incarcerated brothers and sisters, neighbors and community members.
Every person, no matter their past, is deserving of humanity.
It’s time California’s founding principles reflected that.
“Slavery is prohibited. Involuntary servitude is prohibited except to punish crime.”
—Article 1, Section 6 of the California Constitution
Abolish Bondage Collectively (ABC) is a grassroots campaign, organized by Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC), working to eradicate structural racism and erase vestiges of slavery in California. Our goal is to strike the “exception clause” from Article 1, Section 6 of the California Constitution, which currently makes involuntary servitude — forced labor with abominably low pay — legal in California prisons.
This was the premise of Assembly Constitutional Amendment 3 (ACA 3), which was introduced to the California State Assembly in 2020 by now-Senator Sydney Kamlager. Similar legislation has been introduced in more than a dozen states across the country.
To support this growing movement, ABC is organizing individuals and communities to advocate for the rights of incarcerated people, immigrants in detention centers and other groups impacted by involuntary servitude.
Beyond California, LSPC / All of Us or None is a founding member of Abolish Slavery National Network, a national coalition working to end a similar exception clause in the federal constitution. We also support the advocacy of other organizations working to end involuntary servitude nationwide.
Join ABC today
Meet the ABC Logo Designer: Emma Li
Emma is a recent Political Theory and Media Studies graduate from Scripps College. She is currently Media/Communications Specialist with Starting Over, Inc. and a Solís Policy Institute fellow.