I’m most interested in Shange’s thoughts on neoliberalism and carceral progressivism, I believe they can be complemented well by French marxist philosopher Guy Debord’s concept of recuperation. Shange discusses how liberal logics inform the aims of progressivism to uphold democracy and justice (4). However, as we can see in the case of police brutality, it fails to actualize social justice, especially in the form of abolition, a path to true liberation from our settler colonial past and its consequences. The concept of recuperation highlights how progressivism falls short by putting a greater emphasis on the tendency of capitalism to “spectacularize” and commodify radical frameworks and the various manifestations of modern activism. Robeson’s use of “Our Lives Matter” instead of “Black Lives Matter” is in line with this recuperation as it cultivates a socially acceptable facade that doesn’t necessarily evoke a genuine understanding of the movement although it was well intentioned. This is consistent too with other institutions as well as corporations promoting “woke” or PC attitudes that are ultimately vapid. Apart from all of this, how can we make legitimate progress without an abolitionist approach?