Black Women's Lives Matter: Happy Birthday, Marissa!
September 14, 2014 is Marissa Alexander's 34th birthday! We are so glad that Marissa defended her life four years ago so we can celebrate her life this year. Celebrate her life with the following actions throughout the month of September:
- MAIL Marissa a birthday card to send her your support:
Marissa Alexander
P. O. Box 23872
Jacksonville, FL 32257 - CONTRIBUTE to the Marissa Alexander Legal Defense Fund by donating or shopping at the Free Marissa store! (IYou can purchase a sticker that is similar to the image on the left at the Free Marissa store!)
- ORGANIZE a fundraiser to pool your funds! A fundraiser can be a house party, a potluck, a book club, a workshop, or a sporting event! Anything can be turned into an opportunity to raise awareness about Marissa's trial, and the urgent need for everyone's support.
- SHARE with us on facebook or twitter about what the phrase "Black Women's Lives Matter" means to you. What comes up for you when you affirm this phrase?
BLACK WOMEN'S LIVES MATTER: A Framework for Black Women's Lives & Safety
Free Marissa Now is in deep solidarity with the uprising in Ferguson and actions all over the country that are challenging racist police violence and the prison crisis. We urge our social justice movements to also prioritize the ways black women's lives are shaped by police and prison violence, including the fact that they are direct targets of police brutality such as murder, sexual assault, physical assault, and public humiliation. As we have seen with Marissa Alexander's case, the crisis of policing and prisons can also entrench women's experience of domestic and sexual violence.
During the July 2014 Standing Our Ground Week of Action in Jacksonville, we organized our days based on the following principles that affirm a politics that Black Women's Lives Matter. The full statement can be downloaded here (PDF). A shortened version is below.
We believe that Marissa Alexander has the right to defend her life from both domestic violence and the violence of the criminal punishment system. We believe that the ground on which black women stand cannot be defined through the terms of US law because US law is not designed to protect black women’s lives. We are inspired and challenged by the 1974 Combahee River Collective Statement, which states, “Our politics initially sprang from the shared belief that Black women are inherently valuable, that our liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because of our need as human persons for autonomy.” So we promote a political agenda that includes principles based on Marissa's specific political situation that is shared by many other black women, especially those who are criminalized survivors of domestic and sexual violence. These principles describe black women's right to take up space and take a stand in defense of our lives. This statement is a work in progress, so if you have feedback, please let us know at freemarissanow@gmail.com.
PRINCIPLES
We believe that all social movement strategies, human services, community efforts, and activist practices should reflect these principles, and actively and unreservedly incorporate them into their vision and work.
During the July 2014 Standing Our Ground Week of Action in Jacksonville, we organized our days based on the following principles that affirm a politics that Black Women's Lives Matter. The full statement can be downloaded here (PDF). A shortened version is below.
We believe that Marissa Alexander has the right to defend her life from both domestic violence and the violence of the criminal punishment system. We believe that the ground on which black women stand cannot be defined through the terms of US law because US law is not designed to protect black women’s lives. We are inspired and challenged by the 1974 Combahee River Collective Statement, which states, “Our politics initially sprang from the shared belief that Black women are inherently valuable, that our liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because of our need as human persons for autonomy.” So we promote a political agenda that includes principles based on Marissa's specific political situation that is shared by many other black women, especially those who are criminalized survivors of domestic and sexual violence. These principles describe black women's right to take up space and take a stand in defense of our lives. This statement is a work in progress, so if you have feedback, please let us know at freemarissanow@gmail.com.
PRINCIPLES
- Black women's lives matter. Black women have the right to stand their ground, to take up space in their homes, workplaces, and in public spaces without fear. They have the right to value their own lives and fight for their freedom. They have the right to be. Their multifaceted lives and experiences should be prioritized -- rather than sidelined, rendered invisible, or shamed -- in movements for racial and gender justice.
- Black women have the right to self-defense without apology. They have the right to defend their lives without being forced or pressured to perform preconceived notions of genuine "victimhood," "fear," or "gratitude," or coerced into accepting plea deals or other forms of control and punishment that are violent and unjust. Black women should be supported to defend themselves from domestic and sexual violence, prison violence, and anything else that threatens their lives.
- Survivors of gender violence who exercise self-defense should never be criminalized for defending their lives. Self-defense includes actions that are criminalized such as using force, taking items they need to survive because they can’t afford to pay for them, engaging in street economies, manipulating institutional paperwork to access services, etc. Criminalizing black women and others for surviving is an institutional rejection of their right to exist. The criminal punishment system must stop institutionalizing hatred against black women, and all black, brown, and Native people. Survivors of violence should be supported and believed by their communities, the conditions of the violence they experience should be transformed, and the person or system that did harm to them must account for that harm and meaningfully transform.
- Communities must take serious, urgent, and transformative action to end domestic violence and other forms of violence in our communities and families. People who are targeted must have other options for safety, accountability, and justice so they do not feel forced to rely on a violent criminal punishment system. Ending domestic & sexual violence, sexism, homophobia and transphobia, and reproductive oppression must be a priority for everyone, including movements that challenge prisons, policing, and anti-black racial violence.
- Mandatory minimums must be repealed immediately and mass incarceration must be dismantled. These systems were not created to increase safety for black women, but they have been profoundly damaging for thousands of black women and many others. Feminist anti-violence organizations must do more to support criminalized survivors of violence, who are disproportionately black women. We call on anti-domestic violence and anti-rape groups to join the movement to end mass incarceration and criminalization on behalf of survivors who are trapped in the prison crisis.
- Economic justice is a necessity to support black women’s lives. Survival includes the right to housing, food, healthcare, education, and other resources without being forced to submit to state and corporate surveillance, humiliation, and punishment. We call for an interrogation of how capitalism has kept black women at the bottom of the economy and helps fuel the prison crisis. Black women have the right to be safe in their workplaces, to fair labor standards, and to an economic system that is just and values their well-being.
- Black women have the right to mother their children in peace. We must examine the profoundly violent impact of prisons and domestic & sexual violence on the experience of mothering, giving birth, and reproductive health in general. Black women have the right to mother their children without fear of being denied resources, of being attacked, or that their children will be murdered by racist vigilantes, police officers, or anyone else. Black women also have the right to mother their children without the intrusion and invasive surveillance of the punishing child welfare system which consistently targets black families. Feminist and health advocates must incorporate the political context of black mothering into a vision for reproductive health and justice.
- Black women have the right to experience joy, community, erotic autonomy, wellness and peace without judgment or the need for justification.
We believe that all social movement strategies, human services, community efforts, and activist practices should reflect these principles, and actively and unreservedly incorporate them into their vision and work.
