Annie Comes Home: Progress isn’t promised, Pamela

Sunday, December 29, 2024

Progress isn’t promised, Pamela—we have to fight for it.

Progress isn't promised. We have to fight for it. Your commitment today goes 2X as far. DOUBLE your gift for justice →

Pamela,

I first joined Vera as an intern in 1995. I had been working as a youth counselor in Washington, DC, where I witnessed firsthand how the so-called "justice system" tore apart the lives of the young people I worked with, their families, and their communities.

I was outraged and eager to be part of real change.

At that time, there were 1 million people incarcerated in this country. Today, there are nearly 2 million people in our jails and prisons, and the policy priorities of a second Trump administration threaten to stall or even roll back the progress we have made.

The challenges ahead are enormous. Mass incarceration is big business—from the thousands of private companies that profit off of it to the political candidates who power their campaigns with fearmongering about crime and safety.

This work has never been easy, Pamela. Progress is not promised. We have to fight for it. Please, if you can, make a gift today to power our work for true justice and fairness.

Vera and our partners across the country are preparing for the road ahead by:

organizing to push back against mass deportation efforts and protect the rights of immigrants; advocating at the state level for dedicated funding to support community violence intervention and other non-law enforcement strategies; and preparing to defeat

advocating at the state level for dedicated funding to support community violence intervention and other non-law enforcement strategies; and

That's why today, I am asking you to take advantage of this special $100,000 match by making a generous donation. Before midnight on December 31, gifts are matched to support antiracist criminal legal and immigration system reforms.

I still believe in a better future—a future where our communities thrive and everyone is treated with dignity. Thank you for sharing that vision, and thank you for being part of the work that will get us there.

Onward,
Nick