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Dear friend,
It’s time to free the thousands of Black women and girls who are behind bars. In partnership with the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls,1 we are calling on President Joe Biden to grant clemency to women in federal prisons.
The impact of mass incarceration on Black women and girls cannot be overstated -- locking up Black women for decades at a time devastates families and by extension destabilizes entire communities.
But President Biden has the power to grant clemency right now.
It's no secret that Black women have been and continue to be the fastest-growing segment of the prison population in the United States -- making up 29 percent of the incarcerated population but only approximately 7 percent of the total population.2 These people should be at home with their families and loved ones; but instead, they're locked up amid the COVID-19 public health crisis.
That's why we're calling on President Biden to exercise his clemency power to release 100 women within his first 100 days of office. With your help, we can elevate the stories of the women who've spent decades behind bars -- these women need to be free.
Clemency is an effective tool for reducing mass incarceration that so few elected officials actually use. Both Democratic and Republican Presidents alike have fallen short of utilizing their clemency powers to benefit our communities -- most wait until the final year of their administration to act on their clemency powers. Biden could set a new precedent by releasing women like Tondalao Hall, Liyah Birru, Natalie Pollard, and Michelle West. At 32 years old, Michelle West was charged and convicted as part of a drug conspiracy case after getting involved with a man, who while admitting to murder, later received immunity for his testimony against her in the case.3 Ms. West was convicted of felony murder, though she took no part in the violence herself, and has served over 28 years in prison.4
And the truth is : the impact of incarcerating a Black woman is oftentimes two-fold. Most women in prison are mothers or the primary caregivers of their children -- deepening poverty and wreaking havoc on the physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing of both mother and child.5
As a result of incarceration, children are taken away from their mothers and often placed in foster care. We owe it to these women to call on President Biden to do their part.
Dear friend, will you join us in making sure the stories and lives of these women are heard ?
JOIN THE FIGHT TO FREE BLACK WOMEN FROM CAGES
Until justice is real,
Erika, Rashad, Arisha, Scott, Malachi, Megan, Ernie, Palika, Madison, Trevor, Ariel, Ana, McKayla, and the rest of the Color Of Change team.
References :
- https://act.colorofchange.org/go/297837?t=5&akid=49367%2E1942551%2EKZeXxT
"Women’s Mass Incarceration : The Whole Pie 2019 Tweet." Prison Policy Initiative https://act.colorofchange.org/go/297831?t=7&akid=49367%2E1942551%2EKZeXxT
- "The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women andGirls Releases List of 100 Women to Receive Clemency from the BidenAdministration in His First 100 Days in Office." Press Release. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/297838?t=9&akid=49367%2E1942551%2EKZeXxT
- Ibid.
- ACLU. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/177837?t=11&akid=49367%2E1942551%2EKZeXxT
ColorOfChange is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change.
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