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North Carolina Vigil for Freedom and Racial Justice

The second annual Vigil for Freedom and Racial Justice maintained a constant presence outside of Gov. Cooper’s Executive Mansion between December 1, 2021, and January 1, 2022. Thanks to everyone who participated in the numerous events, demonstrations, conversations, and the Relay for Release and Decarceration!

Videos and Conversations from the Vigil and Beyond

The Cost of Communication: NC Prisons Extort Families to Pay for Mail

I am serving life without parole. I will never sit at a dinner table with my loved ones again. Segregation from society is my punishment. Why should my loved ones be punished too by having to pay the prison to communicate with me?

Inhumane Conditions at NC Department of Correction

Organizers of the Vigil for Freedom and Racial Justice received a call from someone incarcerated at the Greene County Correctional Center about the unsafe conditions they are experiencing.

Interview: Juvenile Justice with Rep. Marcia Morey

The ACLU of NC’s senior policy counsel Ann Webb met with state Representative Marcia Morey at the N.C. General Assembly to discuss juvenile justice bills at the legislature – what moved forward and what didn’t, and why.

Vigil Conversation: The Extraordinary Power of Prosecutors

Jaymond Bryant-Herron and Diana Powell discussed the extraordinary power of prosecutors and their personal efforts to hold the district attorneys accountable in Cabarrus County and Wake County, respectively.

Community Conversation: Prison Conditions and COVID-19

The N.C. Justice Center hosted a virtual community conversation on prison conditions and COVID-19, and how incarceration furthers health risk for our community members on the inside.

Community Conversation: The War on Drugs

The N.C. Justice Center hosted a virtual community conversation on the War on Drugs. Speakers included community organizers and activists who highlighted the War on Drugs’ destructive impact on Black and brown communities and how it has been the driving force behind mass incarceration.

Vigil Conversations: the Criminalization of Immigrants

Professor of Sociology Felicia Arriaga and ACLU of NC’s senior policy counsel Ann Webb hosted a presentation at the Vigil on the criminalization of immigrants and the role of sheriffs in the prison-to-deportation pipeline.

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