Source: Mint Images / Getty #FreeBlackMamas Fundraises For Black Moms Who Can’t Post Bail On Mother’s Day With Mother’s Day just around the corner, activists and organizers are rallying around a cause for mothers who face lock-up. In the third annual #FreeBlackMamas campaign, the National Bail Out collective is collecting donations to free Black moms who can’t afford bail for Mother’s Day. According to a tweet sent out by the collective: “80% of women in jail are mothers. Last year, we bailed out 150+ mamas to reunite them with their families for # MothersDay .” The group then posted a video with one Black mom telling her story. 80% of women in jail are mothers. Last year, we bailed out 150+ mamas to reunite them with their families for #MothersDay . Here is one of their stories. This week, don’t let jails hold Black mamas for ransom — GIVE to break open cages in 36 U.S. cities: https://t.co/y52Q1heMrn pic.twitter.com/3ybfEEERZF — #FreeBlackMamas (@NationalBailOut) May 9, 2019 As of Friday afternoon, National Bail Out announced that they’ve freed 70 mamas in 22 cities. Over the course of the day, they’ve been posting touching clips of activists welcoming mamas free from jail. View this post on Instagram Here’s what #FreeBlackMamas looks like in Oakland, CA! This is @essie4justice bailing out a Black mama for #MothersDay Donate via our #linkinbio to help us keep reuniting Black mamas and caregivers with their families all week! A post shared by National Bail Out (@nationalbailout) on May 10, 2019 at 8:45am PDT Even certain celebs are getting behind the cause with Raheem DeVaughn announcing his donation on Instagram. View this post on Instagram Everyday this week, FreeBlackMamasDMV has been raising money & freeing Black Mamas because they shouldn’t be in cages. Then they enter a program to help them get back on their feet and an creative arts program. We freeing Mamas for Mother’s Day with @NationalBailOut lead by Black Women for Black Women! Hashtags: #DMVBailOut #FreeBlackMamas Link to donate: bit.ly/freeblackmamasdmv @lovelifedmv #thelovelifeway #randomactofkindness A post shared by Raheem DeVaughn (@raheem_devaughn) on May 10, 2019 at 3:35am PDT National Bail Out describes themselves as “a Black-led and Black-centered collective of abolitionist organizers, lawyers and activists building a community-based movement to support our folks and end systems of pretrial detention and ultimately mass incarceration. We are people who have been impacted by cages — either by being in them ourselves or witnessing our families and loved ones be encaged. We are queer, trans, young, elder, and immigrant.” Ending cash bail has become a rising issue in the larger effort to end mass incarceration. According to the Prison Policy Initiative , more than 500,000 people who haven’t been convicted of a crime are detained before their trial. Many are detained in local jails because they can’t pay the bail amounts. The median bail amount for a felony is $10,000 which is about eight months of income for a typical person detained because they can’t afford bail. According to recent studies , Black and Latinx folks are more likely than White people to be detained without bail, and in situations where bail is granted, it’s often set at a significantly higher rate for people of color. According to an NAACP fact sheet , Black women are also incarcerated at twice the rate of White women and a 2010 study showed that one in nine Black kids have an incarcerated parent, which could often lead to disruptive living situations for the kid or the missing of important childhood events. For folks interested in the #FreeBlackMamas cause, the National Bail Out collective provides a donation link here .
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#FreeBlackMamas Campaign Aims To Free Black Moms Who Can’t Afford Bail On Mother’s Day
