Dear John,

5 years ago, Mike Brown's body was left for 4 hours in the middle of the road after being murdered by a rogue police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Despite national outrage and eyewitness testimonies, St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch failed to press charges against the officer who murdered Brown.

Last year, we did something many people thought was impossible: we turned our justified outrage into game-changing political action by helping Wesley Bell defeat Bob McCulloch to become the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney. 

This was a monumental win for Black communities in Ferguson and the rest of St. Louis County. Unseating Bob McCulloch is a testament to the revolutionary Black political power we possess. To be completely honest, the odds were stacked against us. McCulloch had been in office for nearly 3 decades denying justice to Black and brown people and supporting an unjust money bail system that disproportionately harms our communities.¹ 

We fought to turn Ferguson from a moment to a movement. And now, we’re turning our Wesley Bell victory into a nationwide movement to elect progressive prosecutors who will bring down harmful and racist practices. Chip in $5 to help bring about a movement to help us elect more candidates like Wesley Bell throughout 2019 and 2020.

At Color Of Change PAC, we only ask you to support strategies that actually produce an impact in Black people’s lives. Since Wesley Bell took over, he has:

• Fired the prosecutor who failed to get justice for Michael Brown²
• Implemented policies not to prosecute marijuana possession or failure to pay child support³
• Started a unit to investigate wrongful convictions and police violence⁴

Helping Wesley Bell claim victory was not an easy feat. With the help of local partners at Organization for Black Struggle, Missouri Faith Voices, St Louis Action Council and Working Families Party, and the support of 8,000 local Color Of Change PAC members, we opened an office in St. Louis County, hosted two block parties, delivered direct mail straight to households, had thousands of in-person conversations, sent over 95,000 peer-to-peer texts, put up a billboard on a major interstate, and ran digital videos and ads to mobilize over 200,000 voters.

These tactics are the blueprint to our victories. And the only way we can continue to implement game-changing campaign strategies is if we receive support from folks like you. Already this year, we’ve had our first big win. We unseated a 24-year district attorney in Mississippi and claimed a primary election victory for Shameca Collins, a Black woman with a transformational vision for ending mass incarceration in her district. 

In order to help candidates like Shameca win in November, we need your support. Why? You might not have known this, but Color Of Change PAC does not accept money from large corporations. Our movements are backed by people power from folks just like you. Without your help, our electoral work is not sustainable. Will you chip in to help us bring monumental change to Black communities?

Reforming America’s criminal justice system is as crucial as it has ever been. We've proven that we know how to win, and we'll keep winning with you. The future of criminal justice reform is at our grasp. John, do you want to see more racist and harmful Prosecuting Attorneys unseated from office in 2019 in 2020? 

Yes, I want to see more victories for Black people!

Until justice is real,

Arisha, Jenni, Charles, Tammi, Scott, Daniel and the Color Of Change PAC team

References: 

1. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/78109?t=10&akid=35347%2E4731121%2ExWuGOU

2. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/111823?t=12&akid=35347%2E4731121%2ExWuGOU

3. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/172606?t=14&akid=35347%2E4731121%2ExWuGOU

4. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/172607?t=16&akid=35347%2E4731121%2ExWuGOU