Blog
Dedan Is Acquitted
Last week, Emancipate NC Organizer Dedan Waciuri was acquitted of Resist, Delay, Obstruct misdemeanor charges, in a district court trial in Pitt County, North Carolina. Dedan was represented at trial by Strategic Director Elizabeth Simpson, with assistance from UNC...
Dawn’s Vote4Justice Tour Continues at Shaw University
With critical midterm elections now less than a week away, Team Emancipate’s Dawn Blagrove has continued her Vote4Justice tour of North Carolina HBCUs. Most recently she spent an evening talking with Shaw University students about the importance of voting –...
Congratulations to the Justice League 2022!
On October 22, 2022, Kerwin Pittman and Cierra Cobb held the final meeting of the 2022 Justice League cohort. Our Justice League Fellows have done amazing work this year – founding new organizations, mobilizing students, organizing...
Raleigh Seeks To Block Deposition of Police Chief
The Irving v. City of Raleigh litigation challenges the Raleigh Police Department’s wrongful and illegal home raid of two innocent Black families. The police had the wrong address and they raided the wrong home, terrorizing children, teens, and adults, as...
Emancipate NC Responds to President Biden’s Announcement on Marijuana Reforms
Earlier this month, President Biden announced federal pardons for people convicted of possession of marijuana and asked the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reclassify the drug. He stated "no one should be in jail for using or possessing marijuana." In...
“Looking Back to Go Forward” at Johnson C. Smith University
Last week, Dawn Blagrove spoke at Johnson C. Smith University about the intersections between the criminal justice system and the US Constitution. The theme of the talk, “Looking Back to Go Forward,” meant dissecting how the 13th amendment allowed slavery to...
Emancipate NC Goes to NAMI Conference
At the annual National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) North Carolina conference, Cierra Cobb led a workshop on mental health in prisons. Unfortunately, prisons are unprepared to meet the mental health challenges of incarcerated people. The mental load of...
Register Now for Abortion Criminalization Webinar
As abortion bans and restrictions are rushed into place across the country, what does it mean for patients, providers, and advocates who now may be charged with providing, assisting, or obtaining an abortion? What happens when vague laws and emergency situations...
Tyrrell County: Remove the “Faithful Slaves” Monument
For the past year, Emancipate NC has worked to support the efforts of the Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County, an organization of Black community members in North Carolina’s smallest county by population, located in the northeastern part of the state. Since 2020, the...
Emancipate NC Releases Report on DSS Reform
For the past year, Emancipate NC team members J Hallen and Elizabeth Simpson have been interviewing stakeholders in the Durham County child welfare system, including foster parents, impacted parents, attorneys, social workers, Guardian ad litem volunteers, and...
Black Light Podcast Gains Momentum
Reprinted from CBS 17’s Nick Sturdivant. It’s an idea Cierra Cobb doesn’t take full credit for. “My husband actually came up with the idea of a podcast. He is currently incarcerated in North Carolina prison. Unjustly incarcerated,” Cobb explained. Her husband, Jeffrey...
Racial Discrimination in Plea Bargains and the Tiffany Marion Case: Part II
By Kyla Holton As explained in the first part of this series, one of the main unspoken issues within the plea bargaining process is racial discrimination. Tiffany Marion, a young Black woman, experienced this firsthand in her case with a biased prosecutor in Swain...
Ian Mance Testifies on Racial Profiling
Emancipate attorney Ian Mance’s expert testimony against a police officer helped spare the defendant significant jail time. As Ian writes, “Emancipate NC stands ready to assist any attorney or person who requests our assistance accessing traffic stop data for similar...
Emancipate NC Shows Up For Greenville Community
On August 31, Greenville Police assaulted and broke the hand of Denisha Rogers during a traffic stop for an alleged expired registration. When confronted with this misconduct and excessive force, Greenville Police justified themselves by stating that Ms....
Introducing: Black Light Podcast
This week, we drop the first episode of a new podcast addressing issues of racism and mass incarceration, hosted by Cierra Cobb. Black Light Podcast will share stories from inside. Our first guest is Michael Rhines, sharing his experiences living in...