DOI: 10.4324/9781003178798-32 24 “FREEDOM LOVERS” Blackness, Asexuality, Abolition Ianna Hawkins Owen In 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois summarized the state of Black America nearly 40 years after emancipation with a sober echo of the formerly enslaved, “no new watchword beyond the old cry for freedom.” 1 Like many other century-old claims about black life, it is an outrage that his words remain relevant when we look at the prison today. Recognizing the continui- ties within this latest breed of containment demands that we sustain this inherited cry. In a poem written during 1969–1971, former leader of the Black Panther Party Ericka Huggins not only repeats this call but also dreams beyond it from inside her prison cell, “not ask- ing for freedom—/but free—.” 2 Now, as asexual activists eye greater interventions, lasting impacts, and future-oriented goals, 3 I feel the continued resonance of Du Bois’ and Hug- gins’ words; their plainness is their devastating gift. When will we finally replace, with all our daring and imagining, this old watchword, this ongoing demand, with something truly, profoundly new? As I finish writing this chapter, I am located 9 miles from Suffolk County House of Cor- rection in Boston. On Google Maps, the prison has a starred rating of 3.8. The top reviewer gives the institution 1 star: I am having a major problem with [Lt.] Mercer upon being able to see my son. I had [to] resend the form back 3 times. I [re-sent] the form back to her around the 6th of last month and here it is almost the end of [J]anuary of 2017 and [I] still haven’t been notified if [I] can see my son. It seems like [Lt. M]ercer has so much hatred against my son. If that was her son in jail she would make sure that she was able to see her son[…] I have been trying since [S]eptember of last year. 4 1 W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk 7. 2 Ericka Huggins and Huey P. Newton, Insights and Poems, 37. 3 “Ace Activism Opportunities,” Asexuality Archive, published October 24, 2020 and accessed October 29, 2023, http://www.asexualityarchive.com/ace-activism-opportunities/. 4 Google Maps review of the Suffolk County House of Correction at South Bay, Boston, MA.