We invite you to join us for this year’s 2022 Black Mama’s BailOut/KeepOut Fundraiser.

We will continue to support incarcerated survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault.   As we have previously shared, Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC) Survivors often face a unique set of barriers while seeking to access systems that are supposed to be designed to serve them beginning with their interactions with law enforcement.

At times, BIPOC survivors are arrested along with their abuser when police say they cannot determine who the aggressor is.   BIPOC survivors report being questioned about the seriousness or truthfulness of their complaints and have been subject to threats by police officers who often appear unsympathetic to them.  

Our LBGTQ and gender nonconforming family are targeted and caged at even more alarming rates, and once in jail are significantly more likely to be sexually and physically abused. For instance, one in five transgender women have spent time in prison or jail and one in three of them reported being sexually assaulted while there.

We are also pushing forward the work that we have been doing surrounding the criminalization of people through marijuana laws. Since 1980, the number of incarcerated people has grown by 500%. Fed by a racist War on Drugs, millions of people have been taken from their families.

Not only will we be bailing people out, and working to keep them out, we are supporting the legalization of adult use marijuana in Missouri. Please review the following link https://www.legalmo22.com/.

We believe that It is the most progressive criminal justice measure that Missouri has ever seen. The initiative would allow for the release of people who are currently incarcerated for nonviolent marijuana offenses, expungement for those with criminal records, protections for parents and employees who can still face legal issues even with a medical card. This measure also makes it so that people who are on probation or parole are covered and cannot be violated for using cannabis/marijuana. We believe that it is hypocritical to continue to arrest and jail people for marijuana offenses while others are allowed to make a profit off of it.

In 2018 Kansas City, Missouri’s prosecutor Jean Peters Baker committed not to go after low-level marijuana offenses but since then, the Kansas City Police Department has made close to 600 arrests for marijuana possession.

Pre-trial incarceration has catastrophic impacts on our communities in particular. Black people are over two times more likely to be arrested and once arrested are twice as likely to be caged before trial.

Every day tens of thousands of people languish in jail simply because they cannot afford bail. In addition to the over $9 billion wasted to incarcerate people who have been convicted of no crime, pretrial incarceration has catastrophic impacts on families and communities.

Even a few days in jail can ruin a person’s life. They may lose their job, their family may lose housing and some even lose their children.

“When mothers languish in jail because of money bail, our families and communities suffer. Women and femmes often lose their jobs, housing or even children only to be found innocent. Some, like Sandra Bland, have lost their lives. The cost to the children Black women and femmes nurture, the partners they love and the communities they hold is incalculable”, NBO.

We are working with community groups, organizations, grassroots orgs, nonprofits and businesses to raise money to bail mama's out of jail for mothers day.  

We'll be offering support services and upping our commitment to the KeepOut portion of our Bailout by helping to lift warrants, fines and fees.