Blog
Team Emancipate Meets with USDOJ About Raleigh Police
On Wednesday, Team Emancipate met with attorneys from the Civil Rights Section of the United States Department of Justice. USDOJ agreed to meet with us after we sent a letter detailing systematic constitutional violations by the Raleigh Police Department (RPD). ...
More Witnesses Speak Out about the Harms of Durham DSS
When Mrs. Priscilla Smith shared the story of how the Durham Department of Social Services (DSS) mistreated her family, it inspired several others to come forward. Three additional individuals have offered their own painfully similar accounts of how Durham DSS and the...
Support LGBTQ+ Rights at Drag Trivia
Please support our friends at the Pauli Murray Bar Association by attending a drag trivia event next month. They stepped up to host it after the North Carolina Bar Association suddenly canceled the event out of fear of the homophobic and transphobic political climate...
Dawn Pens Op-Ed for Mental Health Awareness Month
Emancipate NC Executive Director Dawn Blagrove writes an urgent call for action in Raleigh this Mental Health Awareness Month: Helplessness. Fear. Internal turmoil. These are just a few of the emotions you may feel if a loved one was having a mental health crisis. You...
Grandmother of Disabled Baby Institutionalized by DSS Returns to Durham to Call for Change
Image credit: WRAL News The harm inflicted on Priscilla Smith’s family by the Durham Department of Social Services was so excruciating that she hopes no other family ever has to endure the same pain. Smith, who now lives in Ohio, joined Emancipate NC at a press...
Emancipate NC & Ben Crump Renew Call for Justice for Darryl Williams
Image credit: ABC 11 News Last Friday, after meeting with Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, national civil rights attorney Ben Crump joined again with Emancipate’s Dawn Blagrove at a press conference to call for the termination and criminal prosecution of...
An Afternoon of Awards with Angela Y. Davis
None other than abolitionist visionary Angela Y. Davis was in North Carolina last month to deliver the keynote address at Blueprint NC’s annual awards celebration. Emancipate NC staff and their families attended to receive the two awards for which Emancipate had been...
Tim Smith Talks with Cierra About Grief
In the most recent episode of the Black Light Mass Incarceration Show, host Cierra Cobb interviews Timothy Smith about how experiencing the death of his daughter while incarcerated profoundly changed him. By its nature, this podcast does not deal in light topics. A...
Emancipate NC Launches Parent Support Group
Struggling with Child Protective Services (CPS)? You’re not alone. Looking for support carrying the burden of parenthood? You’re not alone. On Saturday, May 27, 2 - 5pm, Team Emancipate’s Toia Potts will be hosting the first Healthy Healing Parent Support Group event....
Kerwin Attends 2023 NC Second Chance Lobby Day
Earlier this month, Kerwin Pittman joined up with the North Carolina Second Chance Alliance for its annual Second Chance Lobby Day at the General Assembly. This coalition comprises a statewide group of people with criminal records, their family members, service...
“No ‘right’ way to tear down oppressive systems”
Photo credit: The Carolinian Team Emancipate’s Dawn Blagrove moderated a panel on the Consequences of Confederate Monument Removal earlier this month. The panel discussion explored the real risks and challenges that our people face as they work to take down racist...
Emancipate Seeks US Dept. of Justice Intervention To Stop Raleigh PD Misconduct
Painting of Darryl Williams, a man tased to death by RPD earlier this year, by Ashlee Inscoe Over the past years, we have written and spoken extensively about the Raleigh Police Department’s track record of police murders, excessive force, racial profiling, First...
Don’t Plead to Weed Webinar High-lights
Twenty people joined Dedan Waiciuri and Jaelyn Miller for Emancipate’s first-ever webinar about our Don’t Plead to Weed (DPW) campaign on 4/20, an exciting launch to what we plan to be the first of many educational events about DPW. In the webinar, Dedan and Jaelyn...
Report-back from BBPN Advocacy Day
Last week, Dawn joined the North Carolina Black and Brown Policy Network’s (BBPN) Advocacy Day at the NC General Assembly. BBPN formed out of the COVID-19 pandemic to address the urgent need for change, substantial resources, policy overhaul, and equity for...
Rolling Stone Magazine: What Happens When You Fight Police Corruption
Photo credit: Cornell Watson for Rolling Stone The recent investigative report by Rolling Stone about the Raleigh Police Department and former detective Omar Abdullah reveals three things: (1) the depths of corruption at RPD, (2) its harms, and (3) what happens when...