This July 4th, as the country reflects on, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, many of us are

reminded of a painful truth - Black people

are still fighting for their freedom.

Will you support our work to get Black people free?

CHIP I N $3

This July 4th, as the country attends cookouts, enjoys the fireworks and reflects on, “life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness” -- hundreds of thousands of Black people are locked up behind bars and separated from loved ones. Black children
are forced to navigate the world without their parents. And entire communities are left in the wake of mass incarceration. On
this July 4th, we are reminded of a stark and painful truth -- so many of our people are not free.
With thousands of Black people locked in cages, we have been doing everything in our power to tear down the walls that keep
our people alone and separated from beloved community. Over the years, we have helped Black mothers escape the nightmare
of money bail, stopped corporations from making millions off the suffering of Black people, and pushed elected officials to make
systemic changes on bail, marijuana, and immigration. Our work is making a real impact, but we need your support to
continue.

Join us in getting one step closer to securing the freedom of thousands of Black people by supporting our criminal
justice work. Will you chip in $3?

At Color Of Change, every day our Criminal Justice team works hard to move our country from a punishment-based system to
one that recognizes the dignity of our people. While there are many crucial ways to tackle this problem, we have been focusing
on a few key strategies:

• Force prosecutors to do their part in ending mass incarceration. District attorneys are the most powerful single
actors in the criminal legal system and historically, have been incentivized to prosecute as many people as
possible. Collectively, no decisions fuel mass incarceration and the disproportionate criminalization of Black communities
more than the decisions of prosecutors.
• End the system of money bail and pretrial detention. The number of people currently sitting in a cell awaiting trial
accounts for nearly 80 percent of the total jail population. That means Black people who have been accused, and not
convicted of a crime are languishing behind bars simply because of their inability to pay bail. We can effectively begin to
decrease the jail population by working to win bail reform.
• Stop corporations from profiting from incarceration. Profit remains one of the main drivers for mass incarceration.
Several private companies are contracted by the state to provide food and health services, telecommunications and so
much more. What's worse - much of these costs are then unloaded and shouldered by incarcerated people and their
families. As such, we can shift power by providing less of an incentive for companies like JPay to participate in this
exploitative and dehumanizing industry

And our fighting has paid off in a number of wins:

 • Passed legislation in New York and Colorado that ends cash bail for misdemeanors. In New York, police officers are only
allowed to issue appearance tickets instead of jailing Black people and putting them at risk of losing their jobs, homes,
and custody of their children
• Pressured local prosecutors in Boston, San Antonio, and Durham to stop needless prosecution on a county-wide level by
declining to prosecute marijuana possession, petty theft, and other misdemeanors
• Secured free phone calls from New York City jail so incarcerated people are not deterred from making phone calls to
their loved ones because of prohibitive costs

This is what forging a path towards freedom looks like. With your help, we can create a new paradigm where alternatives
that address structural racism are prioritized over systems that extract wealth and inflict harm on poor Black communities.

Can you chip in $3 to support our work to transform the criminal legal system?

Until justice is real,

--Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Clarise, Erika, Leonard, Kristen M., Marena, Marybeth, Tamar, Madison, and the rest of the Color Of
Change team

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political
change. Help keep our movement strong.

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