Take action to end state and patriarchal violence against all Black women & girls. Join BYP100 and a coalition of organizers for the #SayHerName Week of Action, Jul 11-18, 2018.
Over 100 plus organizations stand with Noor Salman and demand an end to the prosecution against her. If you would like to sign on or get involved, please email [email protected]. We are also thankful to ICE Free Queen and IMI Corona for translating the statement into Spanish.
Organizational Endorsement Letter For Noor Salman
We Stand With Noor Salman
Noor Salman currently stands trial in Orlando, Florida in a case related to the 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub by her deceased husband, Omar Mateen. On Monday, January 15, 2017, Ms. Salman, a 31-year-old Muslim mother of a three year old and a domestic violence survivor, was arrested on two charges, which include aiding and abetting Mateen in providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and obstruction of justice for providing conflicting statements to the FBI. If convicted of the charges against her, Ms. Salman faces life in prison.
Our organizations work for gender and reproductive justice, LGBTQ justice, racial and economic justice, disability justice, civil rights and human rights in different communities across the United States. We share the grief and pain for those whose lives were lost, those who survived and their loved ones and communities. And, we oppose this prosecution, which scapegoats Ms. Salman in the quest to ensure that someone pay the price for Mateen’s actions. We stand with Noor Salman, a mother and survivor of domestic violence.
The prosecution of Ms. Salman is rooted in gendered Islamophobia and patriarchy. She is being prosecuted under the guise of guilt by association as a Muslim woman married to a Muslim man who committed mass violence. As noted in theIntercept, there are numerous weaknesses in the prosecution’s case against Salman, which essentially serves as a test case to prosecute partners of accused terrorists on the grounds of complicity. The FBI has aimed to hold girlfriends and wives accountable for their partners’ actions for some time, especially when the couple is Muslim. Furthermore, Ms. Salman’s religious identity has been used by the FBI to threaten her. During the initial interrogation by the FBI which took place over 17 hours in which she was detained and questioned, including hours in which her infant child was present and no legal counsel was present, FBI officials threatened to take her son away from her and place him in a Christian home. She is a victim of the domestic War on Terror, through which the government has used racial and religious profiling tactics to subject Arabs, South Asians, and Muslims to investigations, interrogations, deportations, and prosecutions simply because of their faith, relationships, and guilt by association.
Ms. Salman is also a domestic violence survivor. The government’s charges against Ms. Salman disregard the history of domestic abuse, rape, and threats that Ms. Salman endured during her marriage to Mateen and the impact of intimate partner violence on her and her child’s life. This abuse has been documented, for example, in a recent New York Times article that reported that “Ms. Salman has said her husband punched her, choked her, threatened to kill her, and coerced her into sex and left her isolated in their home.” Ms. Salman publicly disclosed the abuse she endured within six months of being married, which included physical abuse during her pregnancy and threats to take sole custody of their child. Ms. Salman’s cousin, Susan Adieh, also affirmed that Mateen mistreated his wife. Upon seeing the news about the mass shooting, Ms. Adieh worried that “[Mateen] had killed [Ms. Salman] at the house before he went [to Orlando].” Accusations of abuse against Mateen were not only made by Ms. Salman, but by his first wife, Sitora Yusify. Domestic violence expert Jacquelyn Campbell evaluated Ms. Salman’s case, and asserted that based on the dynamics of violence in the relationship, Ms. Salman could not have been aware of Mateen’s plans.
This prosecution punishes Ms. Salman for the actions of Omar Mateen and the violence he inflicted upon those around him, including her. This criminalization of Ms. Salman continues the cycle of dehumanization and terror that she experienced in her marriage to Mateen, and does not allow her to heal and re-build her life. The prosecution of Ms. Salman in today’s climate of Islamophobia and the War on Terror has alarming repercussions for Muslim women and for all survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault who are criminalized for the actions of their abusive partners.
We stand with Noor Salman and demand an end to the prosecution against her.
Estamos en Solidaridad con Noor Salman
Mas de 100 organizaciones nos levantamos en solidaridad con Noor Salman y exigimos un fin al enjuiciamiento en contra de ella. Si usted quiere agregar su firma o mantenerse involucrado, por favor envíenos un correo electrónico a: [email protected]
Declaración de Respaldo Organizativo para Noor Salman Estamos en Solidaridad con Noor Salman
Actualmente Noor Salman enfrenta juicio en Orlando, Florida en el caso relacionado con el tiroteo masivo del 2016 en el club nocturno Pulse por su esposo ya fallecido, Omar Mateen. El Lunes 15 de enero del 2017, la Sra. Salman, una mujer musulmana de 31 años de edad, madre de un niño de 3 años y sobreviviente de violencia doméstica, fue arrestada y acusada de dos cargos , incluyendo ayudar e instigar a Mateen en proveer apoyo material a una organización terrorista en el extranjero, y obstrucción a la justicia por proveer testimonio contradictorios al FBI. Si es declarada culpable de los cargos en contra de ella, la Sra. Salman enfrentará una sentencia de cadena perpetua.
Nuestras organizaciones trabajan en defensa a la justicia de género y reproductiva, la justicia de la comunidad LBGTQ, la justicia racial y económica, la justicia de discapacidad,y los derechos humanos y civiles en diferentes comunidades en todos los Estados Unidos. Compartimos el dolor y aflicción por aquellas vidas que se perdieron, por lxs sobrevivientes, sus seres queridxs y sus comunidades. Y también nos oponemos a este juicio, el cual erróneamente culpa a la Sra. Salman en busqueda de que alguien pague el precio por las acciones de Mateen. Estamos en solidaridad con Noor Salman, una madre y sobreviviente de violencia doméstica.
El juicio de la Sra. Salman está enraizado en una islamofobia machista y el patriarcado. Ella está siendo juzgada bajo la excusa de que es culpable por asociación al ser una mujer musulmana casada con un hombre musulmán quien cometió un acto de violencia masiva. Tal como fue reportado en el diario The Intercept , hay varios puntos débiles en el argumento que se están usando para el caso en contra a Salman, el cúal básicamente está sirviendo como un experimento para poder justificar el juicio de las parejas de personas acusadas de terrorismo bajo argumentos de complicidad. Desde hace ya un tiempo el FBI ha buscado culpar y hacer rendir cuentas a las parejas románticas y esposas de personas acusadas de terrorismo, tratando de hacerlas responsables por las acciones de sus esposos, especialmente cuando las personas son musulmanas. Adicionalmente, la identidad religiosa de la Sra. Salman ha sido usada por el FBI para amenazarla. Durante la interrogación inicial, el FBI la detuvo y la interrogó por más de 17 horas, incluso en frente de su hijo menor de edad, y si ningún abogadx presente. El FBI amenazó con separarla de su hijo y mandarlo a un albergue Cristiano. Ella es víctima de la Guerra contra el Terrorismo que ocurre domésticamente dentro de los Estados Unidos, la cual se ha utilizado como estrategia por el gobierno para poner en práctica tácticas de vigilancia de perfil racial y de religión para arrestar a personas árabes, sudasiáticas, y musulmanas para investigarlas, interrogarlas, deportarlas y juzgarlas simplemente por sus creencias religiosa y relaciones, culpándolas por asociación.
La Sra. Salman también es sobreviviente de violencia doméstica. Los cargos del gobierno en contra de la Sra. Salman no toman en cuenta la historia de abuso doméstico, violación, y amenazas que la Sra. Salman a sufrido durante su matrimonio con Mateen y el impacto que la violación por su pareja íntima ha tenido sobre su vida y la de su hijo. Este abuso ha sido documentado, por ejemplo, en un artículo reciente del New York Times , que reporta que “La Sra. Salman ha dicho que su esposo la puñeteo, la ahorcó, la amenazaba con matarla, la forzaba a participar en actos sexuales y la aislaba en su hogar.” La Sra. Salman reveló públicamente el abuso que ella sufrió durante seis meses de matrimonio, el cual incluye abuso físico durante su embarazo y amenazas de perder la custodia de su hijo. La prima de la Sra. Salman, Susan Adieh, también confirmó que Mateen maltrataba a su esposa. Al ver las noticias del tiroteo masivo, la Sra. Adieh estaba preocupada de que “[Mateen] hubiera matado a [la Sra. Salman] en la casa antes de que él fuera a [Orlando].” Las acusaciones en contra de Mateen no solo fueron hechas por la sra. Salman, más también por su primera esposa, Sitora Yulsify. Jacquelyn Campbell, experta en violencia doméstica, evaluó el caso de la sra. Salman, y determinó que basado en las dinámicas de violencia en la relación, la sra. Salman no pudo haber estado al tanto de los planes de Mateen. Este juicio castigará a sra. Salman por las acciones de Omar Mateen y la violencia que el causo a otrxs a su alrededor, incluyendo a ella misma. La criminalización de la sra. Salman continúa el mismo ciclo de deshumanización y terror que ella vivió durante su matrimonio con Mateen, y no le permite sanar y reconstruir su vida. El juicio de la sra. Salman durante este clima político de islamofobia y de la Guerra contra el Terrorismo tiene repercusiones alarmantes para las mujeres musulmanas y para todxs lxs sobrevivientes de violencia doméstica y de violencia sexual, quienes son criminalizadxs por las acciones de sus parejas abusivas.
Estamos en solidaridad con Noor Salman y exigimos el fin al juicio en contra de ella.
Signed (list in formation), Firma (lista en proceso),
A Safe Place About Face: Veterans Against the War Advocates for Youth Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) APIENC (API Equaity – Northern California) Apna Ghar, Inc. (Our Home) Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC) Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence Asian Women’s Shelter Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project Black and Pink, Inc. Boston Feminists for Liberation BYP100 DC Chapter CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities California Partnership to End Domestic Violence CodePink Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS) Committee to Stop FBI Repression Community Acupuncture Project Community Responders Network Community United Against Violence (CUAV) CONNECT – Preventing Interpersonal Violence, Promoting Gender Justice Creative Interventions DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence Defending Rights & Dissent DIVAS: Discussing Intimate Violence & Accessing Support ~ A Program for Incarcerated Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence Domestic Harmony Foundation Dove, Inc. DRUM – Desis Rising Up & Moving 18MillionsRising.org End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin Equality Labs Facing Abuse in Community Environments (FACE) Feminist Islamic Troublemakers of North America Free Marissa Now Mobilization Campaign Futures Without Violence Gay Asian Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY) Gender Violence Clinic, University of Maryland Carey School of Law Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence HEART Women & Girls ICE Free Queens Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence IMI Corona, Queens INCITE! Women & Trans People of Color Against Violence Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Inc International Muslim Women’s Initiative For Self-Empowerment Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence Jahajee Sisters Jewish Voice For Peace Jewish Voice For Peace DC Jews Against Anti-Muslim Racism Justice For Muslims Collective Kankakee County Coalition Against Domestic Violence / Harbor House KhushDC Korean American Coalition to End Domestic Abuse Law@theMargins Make The Road NY Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition Middle Way House, Inc. Mijente Mirror Memoirs Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition MPower Change Muslim Advocacy Network Against Domestic Violence Muslim Alliance For Sexual And Gender Diversity (MASGD) Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC) Muslim Justice League Muslim Women For Muslim Women Kreate Muslim Womxn at Ryerson Muslimmatters.org Naree-O-Shonghothok ; Bangladeshi Feminist Collective National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls National Domestic Violence Hotline National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center National Lawyers Guild National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) National Resource Center on Domestic Violence NC Coalition Against Sexual Assault Ohio Domestic Violence Network Partnership For The Advancement of New Americans Philadelphia South Asian Collective Quanada Raha Iranian Feminist Organization RAKSHA Sakhi for South Asian Women South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) South Asian Youth Action Southerners On New Ground (SONG) STEPS to End Family Violence Sugarlimb Consulting, LLC Survived & Punished The Aafia Foundation, Inc. The Arab American Action Network (AAAN) The Campaign to TAKE ON HATE The Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women The New School Expanded Sanctuary Working Group Transgender Law Center Turning Point for Women and Families Ujima Inc: The National Resource Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community Vermont Network Against Domestic & Sexual Violence Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance WA State Coalition Against Domestic Violence War Resisters League Witness Against Torture Women of Color Network, Inc.
Survived and Punished calls for the freedom of all incarcerated survivors. California has increased the number of commutations for Life Without Parole sentencing, meaning fewer people are sentenced to die in prison because they have a chance at parole. One strategy has been raising public awareness of multiple cases within the intersections of sexual, racial, domestic, and carceral violence, and organizing public support to urge the Governor to commute more sentences and free more people.
Tammy Garvin is an incarcerated survivor who was convicted for her trafficker/abuser’s lethal violence. For surviving, Tammy has been in prison for 27 years already. She is serving Life Without Parole in California.
Tammy was only 14 years old when she was trafficked, and by the time she was convicted and sentenced to Life Without Parole in her 30s, she suffered from the long-term effects of severe psychological and sexual abuse.
Incarcerated survivors are leading groups to support survivors and advocate to de-criminalize survival from within the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF), the biggest women’s prison in the U.S. (and likely the world).
Tammy has a real chance at clemency during Governor Brown’s last year, but only if we insist on it.
Can you help us get over 100 signatures to #FreeTammyGarvin today on her 59th birthday?
In this post, #FreeBresha organizers Colby Lenz and Mariame Kaba review how #FreeBresha successfully advocated for Bresha Meadows, an Ohio teen who was jailed after killing her father in self-defense. (Originally published at Teen Vogue)
Bresha was only 14 years old when she was charged with killing her father, who her mother and family said had inflicted years of abuse on them. Instead of receiving compassionate care, Bresha was criminalized for what many consider to have been self-defense. Prosecutors charged her with aggravated murder and sought to try her as an adult. She faced a potential life sentence in prison in Ohio. After instead pleading “true” to a charge of involuntary manslaughter, Bresha was sentenced to one year in a juvenile jail (with 10 months already served), six months of confinement in a mental health facility, and two years of probation once released.
Bresha’s attempts to escape domestic violence and seek help were blocked by multiple systemsthat ultimately failed to support her, including the police and Child Protective Services. Bresha’s story reveals the powerful pipeline between girls’ experiences of domestic and sexual violence and their forced entry into carceral systems.
We are both part of #FreeBresha, the small organizing collective that brought Bresha’s case to national and international attention. In August 2016, we formed a volunteer, ad-hoc defense committee to demand her freedom. A defense committee or campaign is a grassroots effort to secure the freedom of a person targeted for criminalization, through community organizing, political pressure, community education, legal and media advocacy, and other strategies. As part of an effort to #FreeBresha, we organized calls to action and then coordinated and publicized widespread decentralized actions into an organizing force to be reckoned with. Supporters across the world demanded care and resources, not cages, for Bresha and all survivors of domestic and sexual violence. …
Ky Peterson is a black trans man from Georgia. In 2011, as he was walking home from a convenience store, a man hit him over the head and knocked him out. When he woke up he was being raped. In the midst of his struggle with his attacker, he shot and killed the man. Ky waited over a year in jail to meet with a public defender, who thenonly met with him twice. According to statements made by Ky’s public defender, they denied his right to plead self-defense because Ky is black and “looks stereotypically gay”. Ky was forced to sign a plea deal while on heavy mental health medications. He pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail, according to Georgia law. But Ky was sentenced to 20 years, with 15 to serve in confinement. So far Ky has served over 5 years in prison.
In 2017, Ky was denied parole and put in solitary confinement for a month awaiting a sentencing hearing. At that hearing, the court changed his charge from involuntary manslaughter to voluntary manslaughter, claiming that the original charge was a clerical error. Ky is asking people to join in a letter-writing campaign to Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. Sign Ky’s petition, get information about the letter-writing campaign, and follow Ky’s case at http://freeingky.com.
Learn about campaigns for other people like Ky who have been locked up for defending themselves and surviving at survivedandpunished.org.
This video was conceived by Mariame Kaba and narrated by CeCe McDonald. Directed and produced by Dean Spade and Hope Dector. Audio editing by Lewis Wallace. Art by Micah Bazant. Created by the Barnard Center for Research on Women and Survived and Punished.
National grassroots organization, Survived and Punished, just released a new downloadable toolkit for organizing defense campaigns for survivors who are criminalized. Excerpt:
#SurvivedAndPunished: Survivor Defense as Abolitionist Praxis is a collection of tools, tips, lessons and resources developed through our own experiences. It is also an effort to document and reflect on our own movement work. It is important for us to document especially because our organizing work has been led by Black women, women of color, immigrants and queer/trans people, who are so often erased from history. We hope to preserve some of these histories, build solidarity, and share hope as we continue our collective struggle.
National grassroots organization, Survived and Punished, just released a new downloadable toolkit for organizing defense campaigns for survivors who are criminalized. Excerpt:
#SurvivedAndPunished: Survivor Defense as Abolitionist Praxis is a collection of tools, tips, lessons and resources developed through our own experiences. It is also an effort to document and reflect on our own movement work. It is important for us to document especially because our organizing work has been led by Black women, women of color, immigrants and queer/trans people, who are so often erased from history. We hope to preserve some of these histories, build solidarity, and share hope as we continue our collective struggle.
The #FreeBresha campaign is infuriated that 15-year-old domestic violence survivor, Bresha Meadows, has been forced by Ohio prosecutors to submit to a plea deal that would keep her in juvenile detention for a full year (which includes 10 months of time served) and an additional 6 months of incarceration in a “treatment facility.” Though an earlier version of the plea deal would have released Bresha to the “treatment facility” today, the final plea deal has increased Bresha’s time in juvenile detention for another two months. Prosecuting Bresha, including the pointless punitivity of adding time in juvenile detention, should be condemned by all who care about the well-being of children.
Bresha’s move from juvenile detention to the “treatment facility” is scheduled for July 30th. Once transferred, this facility has the power to determine whether they will confine Bresha beyond the 6 months stated in the plea deal…
15-year-old domestic violence survivor, Bresha Meadows, was offered a plea deal at a pretrial hearing this morning at the Trumbull County Juvenile Court in Ohio. While the details of the proposed deal have not been finalized, our understanding of the terms is that Bresha will be under state control for a total of 18 months. This includes 9 months she has already spent behind bars and an additional 9 months of incarceration in a “treatment facility.” Bresha’s attorney hopes Bresha will be transferred from juvenile detention to the treatment center by May 22nd at the latest. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for May 22nd. Bresha’s record, as it relates to this case, would be sealed on her eighteenth birthday.
Without a plea deal, Bresha would face an aggravated murder charge for defending herself and her mother against the unrelenting abuse of her father, Jonathan Meadows. A conviction…
Bresha has an important court hearing on Thursday, Oct 6th when the prosecutor will determine if Bresha will be prosecuted for a crime (possibly charged as an adult) instead of given the support & safety that she needs.
We take action in solidarity with Bresha and demand that she is returned home to her family and that all charges against her are dropped. We call on #SayHerName / #BlackLivesMatter supporters, victim advocates, feminists, racial justice activists, young people, and people of faith to take action in solidarity with Bresha and all survivors of domestic & sexual violence who are criminalized for surviving.
Events are being planned across the US! Visit here and here for an updated list. We want to help promote your event! Please send us info about your action.
TAKE DIRECT ACTION! On Oct 5th & 6th, organize a march & rally, a speak out, a vigil, a flash mob dance party, a concert, a block party, or a fundraiser. Use media! Create zines, short videos, postcards, music, and poetry.
SIGN the petition to demand that Trumbull County Prosecutor, Dennis Watkins, drop the charges against Bresha and free her now:bit.ly/FreeBreshaNow
WRITE letters of encouragement and support to Bresha and send to: Bresha Meadows, c/o Ian N. Friedman, Esq., Friedman & Nemecek, L.L.C., The IMG Center, 1360 E. 9th Street, Suite 650, Cleveland, Ohio 44114
EDUCATE communities about the criminalization of black girls and survivors of domestic violence! Organize discussions and workshops about domestic and sexual violence, explore community strategies for safety and support, resist the criminalization of our communities. Educational Resources:
* #FreeBresha curriculum template * fact sheet on domestic violence and the criminalization of girls
* educational tools at survivedandpunished.org and No Selves to Defend
SPREAD THE WORD with friends, families, communities, co-workers, and via social media. Write letters to the editor to your local news media. Blog, tweet, and spread the word on social media. #FreeBresha
The Bresha Meadows Freedom Campaign urges supporters to sign this petition addressed to Trumbull County Prosecutor, Dennis Watkins, demanding that he free Bresha Meadows and drop all charges against her. Brief excerpt from the petition:
TO: TRUMBULL COUNTY PROSECUTOR, DENNIS WATKINS
Drop all charges against Bresha Meadows & release her immediately!
Bresha Meadows is a child survivor of domestic violence who just turned 15 while incarcerated at the Trumbull County Juvenile Detention Center. Bresha is charged with aggravated murder for defending herself, and her family from a father who had a long history of abusing them. We demand that the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s office drop all charges against Bresha Meadows and release her immediately.
Like Bresha, an estimated 15.5 million children in the U.S. are exposed to domestic violence each year. Girls and women incarcerated for actions taken in self-defense are disproportionately Black. 84% of girls incarcerated in the US…
Join us on Friday, August 19th, 8am PT, 10am CT, 11am ET for a twitter chat on Bresha Meadows’ case and the mobilization to win her freedom. Follow the conversation at #FreeBresha and follow …
We write this post for Bresha Meadows, on this, her 15th birthday. As Black and Brown organizers, many of whom have experienced violence in our own lives, it pains us that Bresha will spend this day incarcerated, rather than celebrating her life at home with her family. On July 28, acting in her own defense, and in defense of her mother, Bresha allegedly took the life of her father, Jonathan Meadows.
Jonathan Meadows was killed with his own gun — a firearm he is said to have repeatedly pointed at his own family, throughout the years of abuse they suffered. It is well documented that abusers with a history of violence are five times more likely to subsequently murder an intimate partner if there is a firearm in the home. Brandi, Bresha’s mother, was trapped in a cycle of violence, that both she and Bresha had…
Allied Media Projects is excited to partner with local and national organizations, including the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan and the Ella Baker Center of Human Rights, to present the “Night Out for Safety and Liberation” on Tuesday, August 2, 2016, 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the Detroit Public Library. The event in Detroit is one ofseveral eventstaking place in 20 cities across the country, that aim to redefine what safety means in our communities, beyond the current frame of safety through policing.
TheNational Night Out for Safety and Liberation’s mission is to “start a different conversation about what #SafetyIs—one that is focused on how we can build equity, power, and opportunity in our communities.” In the context of police brutality and mass criminalization in black and brown communities, the question organizers of the event are asking is: “Does an increased police presence in a community necessarily translate to more safety?”
AMP invites our network of media-based organizers to participate in this important national conversation about what safety and liberation means for our communities. How do we use art, media, and technology to change the narrative of safety? How can we shift public policy from prioritizing policing, incarceration, and surveillance to instead prioritizing investment in Black and Brown communities and the creation of a stronger social safety net?
Organizers of the event in Detroit shared this description:
“On Night Out for Safety and Liberation, we will bring together people with powerful visions for the future: a cross-section of community leaders, thinkers, artists and activists from all around Detroit. Together, we will envision building safe communities where public resources are reinvested from a wasteful criminal legal system and invested in other ways to ensure community safety and accountability like restorative justice hubs and peacekeepers.”
To kick off the event, the the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights will host a 1 hour TweetChat on Tuesday, August 2nd at 2pm EST. The TweetChat is an online conversation that will take place on Twitter. Participants can tweet their questions to@EllaBakerCenterusing the hashtag #SafetyIs and or #NOSL16. Organizations can register for the TweetChat in advance here.
Stay up to date on the Night Out for Safety and LiberationFacebook pageand Detroitevent page.
Like all criminalized people, Alisha is more than a mugshot. (Photo: Sherri Chatman)
This guest post from Support Ho(s)e, a coalition of Chicago sex workers and advocates, explains why those of us who believe in the rights of sex workers and the sanctity of self-defense must stand with Alisha Walker, a young woman who has been criminalized for taking a life in defense of her own. If you would like to learn more or get involved in the fight to free Alisha, you can visit the “Justice for Alisha Walker” Facebook page.
We recently became aware of an article published in the Chicago Sun-Times, originally titled “Hooker gets 15 years for stabbing Brother Rice teacher to death” (they have since amended the title), that promotes an anti-sex worker, misogynistic gloss on the traumatic events it purports to report on.
The Chicago Sun-Times not only saw fit to publish…
Survived and Punished calls for the freedom of all incarcerated survivors. California has increased the number of commutations for Life Without Parole sentencing, meaning fewer people are sentenced to die in prison because they have a chance at parole. One strategy has been raising public awareness of multiple cases within the intersections of sexual, racial, domestic, and carceral violence, and organizing public support to urge the Governor to commute more sentences and free more people.Bresha Meadows was released to return to her family on February 4, after surviving juvenile and mental health incarceration since her arrest in July 2016.
TO: TRUMBULL COUNTY PROSECUTOR, DENNIS WATKINS
Join us on Friday, August 19th, 8am PT, 10am CT, 11am ET for a twitter chat on Bresha Meadows’ case and the mobilization to win her freedom. Follow the conversation at #FreeBresha and follow …
(Image: Kara Rodriguez ) 
Like all criminalized people, Alisha is more than a mugshot. (Photo: Sherri Chatman) 
INCITE! Blog 