BLM & the Bail Project

Hi, friends. The deep injustices that have plagued our country since its beginnings are coming to the surface, and the People are angry. Black Americans are TEN TIMES more likely to die from gun violence than white Americans (Gifford Law Center). Of the people killed by police in the last year, Black people accounted for 24% of those who died despite making up just 13% of our country’s population (Mapping Police Violence). When it comes to incarceration, Black people are FIVE times more likely to be incarcerated than white people. For Black women, they are TWICE as likely to be incarcerated than white women (NAACP). Further, in the past two decades alone, DNA testing has exonerated over 300 wrongfully incarcerated people (Walsh et.al., 2017). It is clear that we have a system of overt and covert racism that’s running rampant in our country’s governing and law enforcing bodies, taking lives and destroying livelihoods.

I’m angry, and I’m sure you are, too. I’ve been angry, but, now, is the time to aid those who are struggling and use our privilege.

I think we’re all familiar with Black Lives Matter as an entity. They support Black voices and aid in peaceful protests to enact change within our system, and the Bail Project raises funds to pay bail and legal fees for the wrongfully incarcerated and the people who simply can’t afford to post bail on something as minimal as a speeding ticket.

In full transparency, these funds will go to me first. I will send all donors a receipt of donation when they donate and then once the fundraiser is over, I will send everyone proof of donation. In addition to this, I would like to note that GoFundMe does charge a transaction fee of 2.9% plus a .30 fee for each donation (You won’t be charged the .30, but if you donate $1, only .70 will reach the cause.) To account for this, my partner and I will be covering all transactional costs, so that the full amount will go directly to these organizations. I’m choosing GoFundMe as I’m hoping we can reach more people in order to reach our goal.

The fight against racism isn’t over. For my fellow white folks, it is simply not enough to just “not be racist.” You must be anti-racist.

God bless, and I’m looking forward to the impact we can make as a community. #BlackLivesMatter #GeorgeFloyd #BreonnaTaylor #TrayvonMartin #TamirRice #SandraBland #AhmaudArbery #TonyMcCade #MikeBrown #ICan'tBreathe

ALL funds donated this weekend will be sent out on MONDAY June 1st.