Manasi Deorah is a rising 2L at UNC Law, and is excited to be with Emancipate NC this summer! She is primarily interested in movement lawyering and passionate about community organizing, on both the personal and professional level. She is also looking forward to being the co-president of the UNC chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and joining Moot Court in the fall. She is from Virginia, and went to William and Mary (’20) for her undergraduate degree in Sociology and German Language Studies. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, cooking, long walks, and reading mystery novels.
Ana Gray is a graduating high school senior from Taylorsville, NC, headed to Stanford University in the fall. She has defied many odds in life, including racism, family challenges, and economic instability. Through her own life experiences, she has learned that many people could do better if only they were given better options, support, and love. She is passionate about ending mass incarceration and modern Jim Crow, and believes that real change begins with action.
Jamie Marsicano is an abolitionist from so-called Charlotte, NC. After running a grassroots bail fund in Charlotte for five years, Jamie decided to attend UNC law school with the goal of increasing their access to support criminalized people trapped in jails and prisons. Jamie has been incarcerated due to state repression and, along with dozens of others, is being accused of a baseless charge that carries a sentence of up to 35 years in prison. As a summer intern at Emancipate, Jamie is thrilled to work alongside other formerly incarcerated people and abolitionists who are envisioning a world without prisons and police.
Daryus Mitchell was born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina to two hard-working parents who were raised in the Civil Rights-era South. Due to many of the unfair educational laws and practices they endured as children, his parents always understood the essentialism and significance of Black people getting a proper education while also sparking an interest in Daryus to work in a system that wasn’t for them. Representation within the legal system matters. As a Black man, Daryus has experienced all forms of discrimination and prejudice in his life. He wishes to use his legal knowledge to provide informed, competent, and equitable legal practice to all people. Daryus is currently studying at Howard Law School.