The BREATHE Act is the modern-day Civil Rights Act that we deserve. Our mission is to pressure our congressional representatives in SWVA to support this revolutionary legislation.

The Movement for Black Lives Electoral Justice Project put forward the BREATHE Act as a radical reimagining of public safety, community care, and how we spend money as a society. The 4 core ideas are:

• Divest federal resources from incarceration and policing.

• Invest in new, non-punitive, non-carceral approaches to community safety that lead states to shrink their criminal-legal systems and center the protection of Black lives—including Black mothers, Black trans people, and Black women.

• Allocate new money to build healthy, sustainable, and equitable communities.

• Hold political leaders to their promises and enhance the self-determination of all Black communities.

Uprisings around the country changed what was possible. What felt impossible two months ago is being accomplished now; what seems impossible today is doable tomorrow, and we will be the ones to make it happen. We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams.

Join us in defending Black lives. Join us on the right side of history. Demand that our elected officials work to heal our marginalized and oppressed communities.