Dear friends,

We are so excited to participate in Amplify Austin 2022 starting March 2 -3! You can help us reach our goal to raise $20,000 with the possibility of matching donations. 

At Grassroots Leadership, we work for a more just society where prison profiteering, mass incarceration, deportation, and criminalization are things of the past. Every day we fight hard for those caught in the carceral and immigration systems because as directly impacted people ourselves, we know that one deportation, one family separated, one life caught in the system is one too many. 

We are proud to announce our Houston and Austin Texas Advocates for Justice (TAJ) chapters are now official Participatory Defense (PD) hubs and part of the national participatory defense network.  Participatory Defense is a community organizing model for people directly impacted by mass incarceration and/or facing current criminal or immigration charges, their families, and communities to impact the outcome of cases and transform the landscape of power in the court system. 

We hold weekly members and family members meetings to ensure that families are equipped with the tools needed to represent themselves, assist attorneys when needed, understand basic court procedures, and impact the outcome of their cases. The process further builds leadership in communities that we then transfer into policy advocacy campaigns to make the criminal justice system less punitive and more responsive to communities. 

Across our programs we have had great success, including taking on about 15 cases over the last year. We expect to continue with similar numbers next year.  Through our participatory defense work, we estimate we’ve saved about 120 years in jail/prison time. 

That’s why for this year’s Amplify Austin, we’re raising money for our most impacted members of our community and participatory defense. When you give, here is what you are supporting: 

• Bus passes
• Resources and research
• Materials for our members
• Food, clothing, shoes, and basic toiletries

Donation levels:

• $25 sticker
• $50 sticker/mug
• $75 sticker/mug/koozie
• $100 limited edition sticker/mug/koozie/shirt

Click the link for a couple ways you can support our Amplify Austin Day drive. Please help spreading the word this week. Follow our work on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

We hope you can join us.

In solidarity,

Annette Price and Claudia Muñoz

Co-Executive Directors

Grassroots Leadership
3121 E 12th St.
Austin, TX 78702
United States

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