John,

The fascist-in-chief is militarizing Black neighborhoods, attacking civil rights, and censoring Black history. Last week he criticized the National Museum of African American History and Culture for focusing on “how bad slavery was,” and he’s trying to reinstall taken-down Confederate monuments.¹

We’ve got to fight back against this white supremacist agenda.

Right now we’re in a month known as Black August: a time to honor Black people who’ve resisted state violence and struggled for Black liberation—particularly Black people who’ve been assassinated or imprisoned for this work. This tradition began in California prisons in the 1970s and continues around the country and the world.

Black August is a time to recommit to the fight for Black liberation, and to lift up organizers’ primary demand to release all U.S. political prisoners (people who are locked up for their political beliefs or for political aims).

This is especially urgent as Trump jails more protesters and immigrants. Black immigrants in particular face higher rates of criminalization and deportation than immigrants of other races. Unfortunately, they’re targeted by the same unjust criminal legal system that over-polices Black Americans.

Will you sign on to demand the release of all U.S. political prisoners, including people in ICE detention?

Early in the pandemic I introduced legislation to free incarcerated people from prisons and ICE detention centers in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, which is still urgently relevant: This month most detainees in “Alligator Alcatraz” have had COVID symptoms.²

The administration is expanding ICE enforcement and detention, which means even more people will be trapped in the inhumane and overcrowded conditions that are characteristic of ICE detention centers. We must stop these human rights abuses.

As the administration expands repression and kidnappings in cities across the country, people are rising up to resist state violence.

I will continue advocating against ever-growing spending on policing, prisons, and war—and instead demanding much-needed investments in Black communities who’ve struggled due to chronic disinvestment and systemic racism.

Please join me and demand the release of all political prisoners, including people in ICE detention.

Thank you for taking action. Together we’ll keep building the movement for racial justice, including reparations, housing and healthcare for all, clean air and water, demilitarizing our police, ending mass incarceration, and delivering true public safety.

With you in the fight for freedom for all,

Rashida

¹ Trump Administration to Restore Confederate Monuments, Including Statue Toppled by Protesters
² ‘Petri dish for disease’: attorney raises alarm of possible Covid outbreak at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’