Blog
Emancipate NC and Allies Condemn SB 100
Photo credit: Simone Hogan / Shutterstock.com Emancipate NC is an organization working on behalf of Black and Brown North Carolinians directly impacted by systemic racism and insufferable injustice. The undersigned strongly oppose SB 100. We write to oppose the...
Emancipate NC Calls for Accountability from Apex PD
Direct link to the reports released by the Town of Apex At the request of multiple Apex citizens at Tuesday’s town council meeting, the Town of Apex leadership made the prudent decision to release a series of organizational climate assessment reports, conducted over...
14 year old, Malcolm Zigler, unlawfully handcuffed and detained by Fuquay-Varina Police
Photo credits: Jade Wilson By Aneesha Tucker, Emancipate NC Intern On January 30, 2021, Fuquay-Varina Police unreasonably handcuffed and detained Malcolm Zigler, a 14 year old Black boy, for “stealing” a dirt bike that he purchased. Zigler started working on dirt...
Remove Confederate Monuments Now
In a series of demonstrations spurred initially by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, some twenty million Americans took to the streets over the past year in mass mobilizations for racial justice, historic expressions of public grief and anger...
NC Prisons plan to expand quarantine program despite community concerns about legality
This image, depicting Durham’s COVID motel, the Quality Inn, was borrowed from the Indy Week. The photographer is Jade Wilson. By Aneesha Tucker, Emancipate NC Intern On January 22, 2021, the News and Observer reported that North Carolina prisons planned to...
Emancipate NC Seeks Constitutional and Humane Conditions for NC Returning Citizens
Mr. Erik Hooks, SecretaryMs. Jodi Harrison, Deputy General Counsel N.C. Department of Public Safety Re: Durham “COVID Motel” Dear Secretary Hooks and Attorney Harrison, As an organization that is based in Durham and focused on criminal justice issues, we have followed...
Emancipate NC Statement on the Insurrection of the U.S. Capitol
Digesting what happened to America yesterday will take time. We do not profess to have fully processed, but as we work through unpacking the historic insurrection that occurred, more and more layers will be laid bare. We have seen many emails from organizations,...
We Are Living Abolition
Hi Friends, We are truly in our feelings at Emancipate NC at the end of 2020. We’ve had a year that is full of heartbreak. And also full of love. We know so many of you have lost people to COVID-19. We mourn with you. Emancipate NC has also lost loved ones. So many...
Court Appoints Special Master in Ongoing Prison COVID Litigation
We finally have some good news on the prison COVID litigation. On Friday, December 4, 2020, after a hearing in Wake County Superior Court, Judge Vince Rozier, Jr. appointed a Special Master to oversee the state prison's compliance with court orders. The court...
Good White Folks: Get Your Damn People
(My Experience In Advocacy & Why Most White People Today Don’t Believe They Are Racist) by Amanda Anderson, Justice League Fellow The police shootings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others have recently put race at the forefront of...
Emancipate NC Files Amicus Brief Asserting Racial Bias in Jury Selection is Beyond Dispute
Racism is a scourge on North Carolina’s criminal legal system. It renders the system fundamentally unfair at every single step. From decisions about policing, arrest, use of force, bail setting, charging, plea negotiations, jury selection, and sentencing--all of the...
Problems with Policing in Winston-Salem: An Eye Witness Account
By Veronica Bitting, Justice League Fellow When Justice League Fellow Veronica Bitting witnessed police harassing members of her community, she documented it and followed up with a number of local officials including the Winston-Salem Chief of Police. Below is the...
Both Red and Blue States See Major Decriminalization Wins in 2020
by Mandie Sellars, Emancipate NC Board Chair Looking beyond the presidential race, November 3, 2020 marked an important day of progress towards decarcerating the United States. Several states passed measures that legalized either medical or recreational marijuana use,...
A Day in Court with My Mother: A Snapshot of NC’s Broken Justice System
By Erin Blagrove, Justice League Fellow Erin Blagrove is the daughter of Emancipate NC's Executive Director Dawn Blagrove, and a Justice League Fellow. On October 27th, 2020 my mother and I went to court, so my mother could be the defense lawyer for a young, Black man...
Re-evaluating the Cost and Consequences of Cops in Schools
During the month of October 2020, thousands of people are participating in National Youth Justice Awareness Month (YJAM) activities throughout the country. National Youth Justice Awareness Month was created 13 years ago by a Missouri parent, Tracy McClard, whose...