Families for Freedom

Tune in for the national #EyesOnICE forum now.

Each Wednesday on this #WomensHistoryMonth, we're highlighting a prominent figure in the social justice and immigrant rights battle. This week, we're featuring Patricia Okoumou , who is known for climbing the Statue of Liberty to protest the family separation policy and inhumane treatment of immigrants in 2018. She was arrested by authorities after a 3 hour stand-off with authorities. In El Paso, she also helped mobilized Valentines for detained children to the fence of the S...outhwest Key detention center, along with climbing the roof of a school operated by Juan Sanchez (CEO of Southwest Key at the time)which lead to another arrest, and Sanchez's resignation in 2019. #Resist #LibertyForAll #StopDeportations #StopDetentions

It is better to know that to believe.

Today on #WomensHistoryMonth, we're recommending "Assata: An Autobiography" written by Assata Shakur. The only ones who can free us are ourselves. Assata Olugbala Shakur is a former member of the Black Liberation Army and Black Panther, who was convicted in the first-degree murder of a white State Trooper during the New Jersey Turnpike in 1973. Shakur is one of the most wanted persons by the FBI to this date. ... In her autobiography, Shakur describes the oppression she witnessed and faced throughout her life growing up in Queens and North Carolina and her interaction with the incarceration system. She discusses the trials against her that followed, and the systemic challenges she encountered throughout her life as a black woman and how she became politicized through her journey. For the full reading list, visit: familiesforfreedom.org//womens-history-month-reading-list-0 #readinglist #womenshistorymonth #womenwriters #AssataShakur

"Anti-Asian violence, advocates say, doesn’t come only in the form of a man with a gun in Atlanta, or in racial attacks in cities from New York to California. It comes in government policies that put thousands under threat of removal and deposits many of them in the very nations from which they and their families fled." These folks had been living their lives, and suddenly they’re picked up, said Nancy Nguyen, executive director of VietLead , a Philadelphia-based advocacy group that is trying to stop the deportation of Khan and others. This is what triggers fear in our community." #StopAsianHate #StopDeportations

Despite important movement forward on immigration policies, more than 127,457 friends, families and neighbors have been deported or expelled in the first 60 days of the Biden administration. These deportations and expulsions have disproportionately affected Black immigrants, including some who were coerced after physical abuse by ICE officials to sign deportation waivers. This is not what was promised to our communities. These deportations are fundamentally at odds with Biden...’s January executive order on Advancing Racial Equity. That’s why we’re joining the national Deportations Under Biden #EyesOnICE forum to learn from impacted individuals in Haiti, Mexico, the US and more. Our speakers will share their experiences of being blocked from seeking asylum and of unacceptable deportations and expulsions all under the Biden Administration. The people must have our own process of truth and accountability for our leaders, and we are speaking out. This is the moment to stop the deportations and expulsions and end the US’s status as the operator of the largest immigration detention system in the worldand President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have the power to do it. Join us at the national forum to learn how: bit.ly/April-1-Forum Hosted by Mijente, UndocuBlack Network, Haitian Bridge Alliance, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Human Rights First, and the National Immigrant Justice Center