Black Mama Bailout: #FreeBlackWomxn
Michigan Liberation and the Advancement Project National Office have launched the #FreeBlackWomxn campaign, a photo and storytelling project that elevates the voices of Black Michigan mothers who have experienced incarceration. We are honored that Kimberly, Machelle, Geneva, Darnita, Dominica, Irene, and Tamika shared their stories with us. Click each woman’s photo below to read their experience with incarceration.
All photos were taken by Cyndi Elledge.
In Spring 2019, Michigan Liberation organized to free 15 Black Mothers from cages in Michigan who were jailed solely because of the immoral and unconstitutional practice of money bail—also referred to as wealth-based pretrial detention. In 2020, as Michigan Liberation continued to organize to free more Black Mothers from the cages of the criminal legal system, we were devastated by the conditions people were forced to be in during the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. They focused our bailout efforts on a COVID-19 rapid response bailout and were able to bailout 32 people across Michigan.
Join Michigan Liberation as they launch the 2021 Black Mamas Bailout Campaign. You can support our call to action by making a contribution that will be used to pay the bail, fines, and fee’s of Black Mama’s, Black women, gen-der nonconforming people and fem(me)s and bring them home to their family.
Bailout Day is rooted in the history of Black Liberation, where enslaved and free Black people used their collective resources to purchase each other’s freedom. Until we end the practice of caging human beings, we will continue to find ways to get our people free. The bailout seeks to root itself in community-centered values that engage and support the communities that we are fortunate to build with.
