FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Chelsea Fuller, Chelsea@teamblackbird.org
Wednesday December 19, 2018
Organizations Host National Week of Action Calling for Cyntoia Brown’s Release Before Christmas
The ‘me too.’ Movement, Highlander Research and Education Center, Color of Change and Black Lives Matter Nashville launched the campaign Monday in hopes Cyntoia will receive clemency before end of Tenn. Governor’s term.
NASHVILLE —Today marks day three in the “Free Cyntoia” national week of action, created byThe ‘me too.’ Movement, Black Lives Matter Nashville, Color of Change and the Highlander Research and Education Center, to pressure Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to grant 30-year-old Cyntoia Brown clemency. Haslam, whose term is up in the coming weeks, has agreed to consider Cyntoia’s release before he leaves, and organizers from around the country are demanding that he expedite the process and free Cyntoia before the Christmas holiday. Given life in prison for fatally shooting a 43-year-old man attempting to sexually assault her after trafficking her at the age of 16, movement leaders agree that Cyntoia’s case is a clear example of how systemic inequality, including sexual violence, disproportionately impacts women of color and those living in poverty, and how our justice system repeatedly fails women and those living on the margins.
“Cyntoia Brown matters because Black women and girls matter. Because if Black women and girls aren’t safe, and then caged for defending themselves from sexual violence, then we cannot with any credibility call this place the land of the free and home of the brave,” said Tarana Burke, founder and leader of The ‘me too.’ Movement.
Ash-lee Woodard Henderson, co-executive director of the Highlander Research and Education Center, said the group is standing in solidarity with Cyntoia because her case, and the many like it across the country, highlight the ways that violence is perpetrated at the intersections of race, class, gender. “Now is the time for each and every one of our movements to stand together at those intersections demanding clemency for Cyntoia, demanding justice for all our sisters impacted by that violence, and fighting for solutions that we deserve,” she said.
The campaign began Monday, December 17, with a national call that had more than 1,200 people registered, organizers said. Tuesday was Governor’s Day, urging people to contact Haslam’s office to request that he grant Cyntoia clemency so she can return home for Christmas. Today’s call to action focuses on putting pressure on members of congress, requesting that they contact Haslam and the governors of their respective states to express support for Cyntoia’s release.
“Cyntoia’s story points to the continued disenfranchisement and harm of Black people, particularly Black women and girls within our current criminal legal system. We are calling on Gov. Haslam and all other elected officials to do the right thing. And we will remain in the struggle beside Cyntoia and all of our people until all Black lives matter,” said Brittany T. Paschall, organizer with Black Lives Matter Nashville.
This campaign is one of several actions happening across the country demanding clemency for Cyntoia, whose case has garnered national and international attention since her conviction in 2004. Her story recently made headlines again on December 6, after the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that defendants like Cyntoia Brown, who are convicted of first-degree murder committed after July 1, 1995, and sentenced to life imprisonment, must serve more than five decades before being eligible for release. This ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Brown stating the unconstitutional nature of her sentence, citing a 2012 opinion by the US Supreme Court stating mandatory life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders violate the U.S. Constitution, according to reports.
“The criminal justice system has terribly failed survivors of gender-based violence, especially Black women, by criminalizing Cyntoia Brown for defending herself against a sexual predator who kidnapped her. Each day Cyntoia Brown is locked up, is a day that Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has failed to take action. No child should be sentenced to serve the rest of their life in prison,” said Scott Roberts, senior campaign director at Color Of Change. We cannot continue to live in a world where survivors and young people are being harshly punished with zero regard for the trauma and life experiences they have endured. Elected leaders have a duty to ensure justice, and with Governor Haslam leaving office by early next year, he must immediately ensure that Cyntoia receives the justice she rightfully deserves.”
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For more information about the campaign or to speak with leaders quoted above please contact Chelsea Fuller at Chelsea@teamblackbird.org
Black Lives Matter Nashville is a local chapter of the Black Lives Matter Network. The Black Lives Matter Network is a chapter-based national organization working for the validity of Black liberation movement.
The ‘me too.’ Movement is a global network of survivors and allies fighting against the systemic issues that allow sexual violence to persist in our communities. Rooted in the theory of “Empowerment through Empathy,” The ‘me too.’ Movement centers the needs and experiences of survivors in all its work, with the ultimate goal of ending sexual violence and increasing access to resources and services that will enable survivors to create the healing journeys they need and deserve.
The Highlander Research and Education Center is the nation’s preeminent social justice training and leadership center, serving as a catalyst for grassroots organizing and movement building in Appalachia and the U.S. South.
Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by over one million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. Visit http://www.colorofchange.org.