Black Lives Matter Activists Bailing Out Jailed Moms For Mother's Day

Photo by Joshua Lott / The Marshall Project

A number of black-led organizations will be making sure over that more than 30 black women currently in jail will be released in time to spend Mother's Day with their children.

In a report from The Nation, members from Black Lives Matter organizations such as Southerners on New Ground (SONG), the Movement for Black Lives and ColorOfChange have raised money to pay for the release of black women who are currently in pretrial detention "for low-level offenses such as loitering or small-scale drug possession."

Titled National Mama's Bail Out Day, the endeavor will result in the release of 30 women in Atlanta, Houston, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and other cities nationwide.

"The National Black Mama's Bail Out Day Action is part of the growing movement to end mass criminalization and modern bondage," the SONG website states. "It is rooted in the history of Black liberation, inspired by the enslaved Africans and Black people who used their collective resources to purchase each other's freedom. Through this action, we will support birth mothers, trans mothers, and other women who [are] mothers and are entangled in the criminal legal system."

For women released from Atlanta city jails, there will be a homecoming celebration and barbecue, where they will not only have the opportunity to learn about resources for housing, jobs, health services, and rides back to court but be able to take photos with their families too.

"This campaign is critical because 80 percent of women who are in cages are single parents and caretakers in our communities," Mary Hooks, co-director of SONG, said in an interview with Rolling Out. "...When Black mamas are taken from our community and put in cages, we all suffer."

If you would like to donate to the National Mama's Bail Out Day fund, you can do so here and here.