​Last Friday, VOTE organized the first annual Formerly and Currently Incarcerated Women and Girls Day, our largest-ever public march and rally. VOTE Lead Organizer Dolfinette Martin spearheaded the event with the intention of lifting up the experiences of incarcerated women and girls, whose voices are usually left out of decarceration conversations. The event drew hundreds from near and far, including formerly incarcerated women from Florida, Arkansas, Illinois and Massachusetts who shared their stories in front of City Hall, where the march ended. A Facebook recording of the march can be found here.
 
Women and girls are the glue that hold our families together but are demonized, oppressed and stripped of their dignity for their suffering. When they are taken out of the home it affects the entire community. Women and girls entering the system are victims of abuse, violence, trauma and poverty. They turn to drugs for healing and theft for survival. They are our sisters, mothers, aunts, grandmothers, cousins and neighbors. “We are so much more than our past but because of our past we are so much more,” said Martin, recalling her own multi-year separation from her five children. “Society sees our convictions but they never see our tears.”
 
Louisiana still has the highest incarceration rate in the world, ranking 7th in the world for incarcerating women, and Greater New Orleans is the most incarcerated population in the state. ​Since 1984 the rate of incarceration among women increased by 700%, with Black women incarcerated at twice the rate of white women. Together we can change the narrative and bring fundamental reform to this oppression!

Women and girls are the glue that hold our families together, but they are also demonized, oppressed and stripped of their dignity for their suffering. When they are taken out of the home it affects the entire community – and Black women are incarcerated at double the rate.

On Friday, Dec. 15, we stood together with Women with a Vision, BreakOUT!, Operation Restoration, The National Council, and The Center for Community Change to bring our sisters home in a march and rally to wake up and shake up Louisiana!

#FreeHer #ICannotBeFreeUntilYouAre #BlackWomensLivesMatter

This is not just a one-day, one-time event. It is the beginning of a movement to take hold of and change the current narrative of mass incarceration to make it inclusive of all those who are impacted. The event kicks off  VOTE’s 2018 advocacy campaign which will have both local and state reach. It is time to lift up women and girls, share their stories with the public and change the laws and policies that create additional harm through civic engagement.

Help us bring women and girls home for the holidays this year by paying their bonds, and launch our campaign for dignity by donating today.

This is the beginning of a movement to take hold of and change the current narrative of mass incarceration to be inclusive of all those who are impacted. It is time to lift up women and girls to the public and change the laws and policies that create additional harm through civic engagement.

Help us bring women and girls home for the holidays this year by paying their bonds, and launch our campaign for dignity by donating today.

VOTE is a grassroots, membership-based organization founded and run by formerly incarcerated persons (FIPs) in partnership with allies. We are dedicated to ending the disenfranchisement and discrimination against people with convictions.

We believe that FIPs, their loved ones, and their communities can use their experiences and expertise to improve public safety in New Orleans. Through civic education and participation, VOTE increasingly mobilizes a strong group of leaders to transform our city’s criminal justice system.

Join VOTE, and people throughout Louisiana, to march and rally on December 15,2017, to wake up and shake up Louisiana on how mass incarceration affects women & girls. Women & girls are the glue holding families together, but are demonized, oppressed and stripped of their dignity as punishments for their own trauma. Taking them out of the home impacts the entire community. We stand together to bring our sisters home. Learn more about our event here!
 
DONATE: Help us bring women and girls home for the holidays: 
https://www.gofundme.com/VOTEwomenandgirlsday
 
CREATE: Join us December 1st, from 5:00-8:00 p.m., and help make gift bags, create banners and signs for Formerly & Currently Incarcerated Women and Girls Day. This is open to the entire community. We will be in the gym @ 2022 St. Bernard Ave. 

SUPPORT: We are seeking donations of re-entry supplies for women (e.g., toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, lotion, feminine products). Donations can be dropped off at VOTE's office any time next week. Thank you!