Susila Gurusami discusses her book, "Break the System Criminalized Black Mothers and the Reproductive Politics of Abolition." By looking closely at the lives of formerly incarcerated Black mothers, Prof. Gurusami shows how state institutions—the criminal-legal, child welfare, and healthcare systems—keep Black mothers from their families, harming Black communities in the process.

Susila Gurusami, Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice at the University of Illinois, Chicago.