Blog
Emancipate NC Supports Elizabeth City
Last week, Kerwin Pittman and Dedan Waciuri traveled to Elizabeth City, North Carolina to attend a nonpartisan NAACP candidate forum for municipal elections. The live stream is located here. Since sheriff’s deputies murdered Andrew Brown one...
Encouraging Public Schools to Adopt Restorative Practices
One important way to keep teenagers out of the criminal legal system is to implement restorative practices in our public schools. Restorative practices teach students and teachers how to address harm and how to protect human dignity without reverting to systems of...
Introducing Peace Not Police
Dedan Wacuiri is Emancipate NC’s Organizer in Greenville, North Carolina (Pitt County). He and his community are already engaged in work to educate neighbors about how to protect themselves from police harassment. In Greenville, 37% of residents are Black, primarily...
Emancipate NC Raises A Billboard in Tyrrell County
Community members in Columbia, North Carolina (Tyrrell County) are ready for the offensive and racist Confederate monument at their courthouse to be removed. Emancipate NC joined with Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County to raise a billboard as a call to action....
A Last Visit With Mom
One of the indignities of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety is the way that they so often refuse to accommodate basic humanitarian needs, such as notifying family members when an incarcerated person is gravely sick, permitting an incarcerated individual...
Emancipate NC Goes To Court For Body Camera Release
On April 5, 2022, Team Emancipate visited the Durham County Courthouse to obtain a court order for the general public release of body camera footage from an incident of excessive force involving the Durham Police Department. Highlights of the body camera...
A Mistrial For Lester Kearney
You’ve followed our coverage of the capital murder trial of Lester Kearney, an innocent man subjected to a vendetta by a District Attorney bent on putting somebody away for a horrific crime – even if he has the wrong man. Last week, after a lengthy trial, the...
UNC Law Conference on “Public Health & Structural Inequity”
The UNC Law student members of the North Carolina Civil Rights Law Review will hold a virtual conference on “Public Health & Structural Inequity” on Friday, April 1, and Saturday, April 2. Registration is free via Zoom, and CLE credit is available to...
Emancipate NC Joins with Wilson County NAACP To Host a Forum on Juvenile Justice
Last week, Emancipate NC joined with the Wilson County NAACP to host a forum on juvenile justice at the Wilson Community College. The guest speakers were Emancipate NC Executive Director Dawn Blagrove, Attorney LaToya Powell, the Deputy General Counsel of...
Daniel Turcios Was Not Intoxicated; Law Enforcement Lied
You’ve followed coverage here of the Raleigh police murder of Daniel Turcios in January 2022. Initial media reports described an “intoxicated” man “wielding a knife” and “threatening people” – all part of the police-generated narrative to justify taking this man’s...
The Harms of Text Behind
by Phillip Vance Smith, II Correctional facilities in North Carolina began using Text Behind, a third-party mail service provider in 2021. Instead of sending personal mail directly to a prison, senders must either create an online account for electronic mail or send...
Emancipate NC Helps Grieving Mom View Body Camera Footage
Valarie Smith Ragland just wants to see the footage of her son dying. Makari J Smith, of Oxford, NC, was fatally shot on February 9, 2022, at the age of 23, by the Granville County Sheriff's Office while in the midst of a probable psychotic episode. ...
Welcome to the 2022 Justice League
Emancipate NC is thrilled to introduce the 2022 Justice League! This group hails from twelve North Carolina counties. Eight are current students at North Carolina A&T University. The group will work together this year to build relationships, learn...
Emancipate NC Sues Raleigh Police
Last month, Emancipate NC attorneys Ian Mance and Elizabeth Simpson, joined with co-counsel Emily Gladden and Abe Rubert-Schewel from the law firm of Tin Fulton Walker & Owen and Michael Littlejohn from Littlejohn Law, to sue the Raleigh Police Department on...
Emancipate NC Featured in the Nash News
Phillip Smith, a friend of Emancipate NC, is the Editor of Nash News, a publication created and produced entirely by Nash Correctional Residents at the Correction Enterprises Print Plant. The last issue featured a story about Emancipate NC, including profiles of...