We welcome all organizations, churches, collectives, campus groups, unions, businesses, etc to ENDORSE the call to free Marissa Alexander! The letter below provides helpful background info for anyone, but it was specifically addressed to anti-domestic/sexual violence organizations.
Anti-Violence and Feminist Organizations, Advocates, & Activists:
Endorse the Call to Free Marissa Alexander
Endorse online: tiny.cc/EndorseFreeMarissa
Or download the endorsement form as a pdf.
Background info:
Marissa Alexander is a proud African American mother of three, a loving daughter with an MBA, and a survivor of domestic violence. In August 2012, Marissa was sentenced to twenty years in the Florida criminal correctional system for defending herself from her abusive estranged husband. She fired a single warning shot to halt her abusive partner during a life-threatening beating. Marissa’s husband, who has been arrested for domestic violence twice and previously landed Marissa in the hospital after beating her, admitted in a sworn statement that he was the aggressor, threatened her life and was so enraged that he did not know what he would do.
Despite the fact that Marissa caused no injuries and has no previous criminal record, and despite the fact that Florida’s self-defense law includes the right to “Stand Your Ground,” she was arrested by Jacksonville police and charged with aggravated assault. At the time of her arrest, Marissa had recently given birth and was visiting her premature baby in the hospital for breast-feeding. Marissa was convicted by a jury of 6 people on 3 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with no intent to harm. Her sentence was set at 20 years in part due to the state’s mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which are known to perpetuate racial disparities in incarceration. Marissa is currently appealing the verdict. More details about her case can be found here and here.
There are times when one woman represents all. Today it is Marissa Alexander who represents those millions of women who every day face continued violence from a brutal husband or partner, who seek desperately for ways to save their children and themselves, who do not want violence in their lives but must do something to defend themselves and their families. For the sake of all of us, the state of Florida must honor her appeal and set Marissa Alexander free.
- Suzanne Pharr, anti-violence and racial justice community organizer and strategist, political educator, trainer, speaker, and writer
Especially in light of the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin, we must mobilize to end the injustice of the criminal legal system and it’s targeting of Black women and men. The lack of protection for those who are victimized and the unchallenged systemic violence in both of these cases is a call to action. The movement to end domestic violence must include a demand for Marissa Alexander’s freedom from prison.
- Beth E. Richie, veteran black feminist anti-violence activist and scholar, and author of Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and America’s Prison Nation
We must take a stand against the criminalization of all survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Marissa’s case is one of many that shows us how Black women and other marginalized people are especially likely to be criminalized, prosecuted, and incarcerated while trying to navigate and survive the conditions of violence in their lives. She reminds us how crucial it is for anti-domestic and sexual violence programs to really show up and support these survivors through responsive advocacy, supporting their community anti-violence leadership, and providing services that are meaningful to them. Her case also reminds us why anti-violence advocates and activists must work to end mass incarceration, address the intersection of race, gender, poverty and prisons/policing, and seek truly transformative solutions to violence. Freeing Marissa Alexander is a social justice action against intimate partner and systemic violence against all women, and an urgent call to transform the criminal justice system.
Marissa Alexander urgently needs our support. Please join anti-violence activists, Beth E. Richie and Suzanne Pharr in endorsing the call to Free Marissa Alexander. We need institutional and individual endorsements!
ENDORSE: Domestic and sexual violence survivors and anti-violence advocates and activists support the call to Free Marissa Alexander! Free Marissa Alexander and defend the right to self-determination and safety for Black women and all survivors of violence! I/we endorse the call to Free Marissa Alexander from prison and reunite her with her family.
To endorse online, visit tiny.cc/EndorseFreeMarissa
Or e-mail the info below to FreeMarissaNow@gmail.com, or fax to Radical Women at 206-723-7691
Name
Organization/Affiliation
Address
City
State
Zip
Phone
Email
Webpage
Comments
Put asterisks by the statement if this describes your endorsement:
… This is an organizational endorsement.
… This is an individual endorsement. Affiliation listed for identification only.
… I/we would like to volunteer, please contact me.
***********************
More about the Free Marissa Now Mobilization Campaign:
Free Marissa Now is an international coalition of organizations and activists working to free Marissa Alexander. Lead organizers include members from African-American/Black Women’s Cultural Alliance, Radical Women and Pacific Northwest Alliance to Free Marissa Alexander, New Jim Crow Movement, and INCITE!.
Campaign goals include: Free Marissa Alexander, increase information about her unjust incarceration, increase education and prevention of domestic violence in all communities, support anti-violence strategies that do not increase the criminalization of survivors of violence.
Contact us at FreeMarissaNow@gmail.com, and stay in touch at facebook.com/FreeMarissaNow and freemarissanow.org
TAKE ACTION!
* Help add more endorsers! Although this appeal specifically reaches out to the anti-violence community, this is a broad-based movement and we need as many supporters as possible.
* Donate to Marissa’s legal defense fund at freemarissanow.org
* Sign the online petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/florida-governor-rick-scott-free-marissa-alexander
* Write to Marissa and tell her you support her. You can send your letter to:
Marissa Alexander
P. O. Box 23872
Jacksonville, FL 32257
Her faith is still strong and would gladly receive your genuine support.
* Visit http://www.freemarissanow.org/get-involved.html for more ideas to get involved!
Anti-Violence and Feminist Organizations, Advocates, & Activists:
Endorse the Call to Free Marissa Alexander
Endorse online: tiny.cc/EndorseFreeMarissa
Or download the endorsement form as a pdf.
Background info:
Marissa Alexander is a proud African American mother of three, a loving daughter with an MBA, and a survivor of domestic violence. In August 2012, Marissa was sentenced to twenty years in the Florida criminal correctional system for defending herself from her abusive estranged husband. She fired a single warning shot to halt her abusive partner during a life-threatening beating. Marissa’s husband, who has been arrested for domestic violence twice and previously landed Marissa in the hospital after beating her, admitted in a sworn statement that he was the aggressor, threatened her life and was so enraged that he did not know what he would do.
Despite the fact that Marissa caused no injuries and has no previous criminal record, and despite the fact that Florida’s self-defense law includes the right to “Stand Your Ground,” she was arrested by Jacksonville police and charged with aggravated assault. At the time of her arrest, Marissa had recently given birth and was visiting her premature baby in the hospital for breast-feeding. Marissa was convicted by a jury of 6 people on 3 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with no intent to harm. Her sentence was set at 20 years in part due to the state’s mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which are known to perpetuate racial disparities in incarceration. Marissa is currently appealing the verdict. More details about her case can be found here and here.
There are times when one woman represents all. Today it is Marissa Alexander who represents those millions of women who every day face continued violence from a brutal husband or partner, who seek desperately for ways to save their children and themselves, who do not want violence in their lives but must do something to defend themselves and their families. For the sake of all of us, the state of Florida must honor her appeal and set Marissa Alexander free.
- Suzanne Pharr, anti-violence and racial justice community organizer and strategist, political educator, trainer, speaker, and writer
Especially in light of the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin, we must mobilize to end the injustice of the criminal legal system and it’s targeting of Black women and men. The lack of protection for those who are victimized and the unchallenged systemic violence in both of these cases is a call to action. The movement to end domestic violence must include a demand for Marissa Alexander’s freedom from prison.
- Beth E. Richie, veteran black feminist anti-violence activist and scholar, and author of Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and America’s Prison Nation
We must take a stand against the criminalization of all survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Marissa’s case is one of many that shows us how Black women and other marginalized people are especially likely to be criminalized, prosecuted, and incarcerated while trying to navigate and survive the conditions of violence in their lives. She reminds us how crucial it is for anti-domestic and sexual violence programs to really show up and support these survivors through responsive advocacy, supporting their community anti-violence leadership, and providing services that are meaningful to them. Her case also reminds us why anti-violence advocates and activists must work to end mass incarceration, address the intersection of race, gender, poverty and prisons/policing, and seek truly transformative solutions to violence. Freeing Marissa Alexander is a social justice action against intimate partner and systemic violence against all women, and an urgent call to transform the criminal justice system.
Marissa Alexander urgently needs our support. Please join anti-violence activists, Beth E. Richie and Suzanne Pharr in endorsing the call to Free Marissa Alexander. We need institutional and individual endorsements!
ENDORSE: Domestic and sexual violence survivors and anti-violence advocates and activists support the call to Free Marissa Alexander! Free Marissa Alexander and defend the right to self-determination and safety for Black women and all survivors of violence! I/we endorse the call to Free Marissa Alexander from prison and reunite her with her family.
To endorse online, visit tiny.cc/EndorseFreeMarissa
Or e-mail the info below to FreeMarissaNow@gmail.com, or fax to Radical Women at 206-723-7691
Name
Organization/Affiliation
Address
City
State
Zip
Phone
Webpage
Comments
Put asterisks by the statement if this describes your endorsement:
… This is an organizational endorsement.
… This is an individual endorsement. Affiliation listed for identification only.
… I/we would like to volunteer, please contact me.
***********************
More about the Free Marissa Now Mobilization Campaign:
Free Marissa Now is an international coalition of organizations and activists working to free Marissa Alexander. Lead organizers include members from African-American/Black Women’s Cultural Alliance, Radical Women and Pacific Northwest Alliance to Free Marissa Alexander, New Jim Crow Movement, and INCITE!.
Campaign goals include: Free Marissa Alexander, increase information about her unjust incarceration, increase education and prevention of domestic violence in all communities, support anti-violence strategies that do not increase the criminalization of survivors of violence.
Contact us at FreeMarissaNow@gmail.com, and stay in touch at facebook.com/FreeMarissaNow and freemarissanow.org
TAKE ACTION!
* Help add more endorsers! Although this appeal specifically reaches out to the anti-violence community, this is a broad-based movement and we need as many supporters as possible.
* Donate to Marissa’s legal defense fund at freemarissanow.org
* Sign the online petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/florida-governor-rick-scott-free-marissa-alexander
* Write to Marissa and tell her you support her. You can send your letter to:
Marissa Alexander
P. O. Box 23872
Jacksonville, FL 32257
Her faith is still strong and would gladly receive your genuine support.
* Visit http://www.freemarissanow.org/get-involved.html for more ideas to get involved!