43 Bail Funds You Can Absolutely Support Right Now
by CARMEN PHILLIPS. Originally published right here.
On Sunday, Autostraddle traditionally compiles a “Sunday Funday” link roundup. Instead, today we’d like to ask that if you can, donate to a bail fund.
Donations for bail funds have trended across social media over the weekend as protestors are arrested for participation in the ongoing nationwide rebellions against police violence and the state sanctioned murder of Black lives. However, bail funds like the ones listed below are not new by any means. They have long been a grassroots activist tool to support our own in Black communities.
While we’re here raising funds for bail, it’s important to note that the United States’ cash bail process is inherently a broken capitalist system that’s designed to purposefully feed the mass incarceration of (in particular poor) Black people and other people of color. That being said, raising bail for those who cannot afford it — especially, though not only, during a viral pandemic like Covid-19 — is absolutely a matter of life or death. We already know that the United States is a global epicenter for the virus, and thanks to our criminal (in)justice system, prisons and detention facilities are left without the proper PPE and the necessary sanitary conditions to mitigate spread, which is something that a lot of activists are working tirelessly to fight.
So yes, bail funds save will lives by releasing protesters from jail as quickly as possible. But also, you can (and should!) donate to bail funds even when it’s not time of mass protest.
Tomorrow is June 1st, officially marking the beginning of Pride, and now more than ever we will not forget that Stonewall was a riot. It was a rebellion. Our movement was born from black and brown trans women throwing bricks at cops. That’s the catalyst, the spark, the bravery that makes up the marrow of our community. It’s a debt that cannot ever be fully repaid. And we know that work is still not done.
Alabama
Arizona
Tuscan Second Chance Community Bail Fund
Phoenix — Black People’s Justice Fund
California
Los Angeles — Peoples City Council Freedom Fund
The Bay Area Anti-Repression Committee Bail Fund
Colorado
Denver — Colorado Freedom Fund
Connecticut
Florida
Miami — Fempower’s Community Bond Fund
Georgia
Hawaii
Illinois
Kentucky
Louisville Community Bail Fund
Louisiana
New Orleans Safety and Freedom Fund
YWCA Greater Baton Rouge Community Bail Fund
Maryland
Baltimore Action Legal Team Community Bail Fund
Massachusetts
Michigan
Detroit Justice Center Bail Project
Minnesota
Minnesota Freedom Fund (*Note: The Minnesota Freedom Fund has also asked that donors consider using their resources towards other BIPOC led organizations in Minnesota, Autostraddle can help get you started)
Missouri
Kansas City Community Bail Fund
Columbia — Race Matters Friends Community Bail Fund
Nevada
New York
New York City Emergency Release Fund (*Note: Focused on helping with the bail of LGBT and specifically trans people)
North Carolina
North Carolina Community Bail Fund of Durham
Ohio
Oregon
Portland — PDX Protest Bail Fund
Pennsylvania
Harrisburg — The Dauphin County Bail fund
Pittsburgh — The Bukit Bail Fund
Tennessee
Texas
Houston — Restoring Justice Community Bail Fund
Dallas/ Fort Worth — Luke 4:18 Bail Fund
Virginia
Washington
Seattle — Northwest Community Bail Fund
Wisconsin
Madison — Free the 350 Bail Fund
The Black National Bail Out
The LGBTQ Freedom Fund
This an ongoing fight, and a donation is merely one part of showing up. We have lost so many Black lives. In the face of continued inexcusable police violence and murder, it’s hard to hold on to hope. But we don’t have to wait for others to commit to upholding the value of Black life and materially improve the lives of Black people. We can take care of each other instead.
