Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women

Free Marissa Alexander Fundraising Party
featuring live music from Daro Behroozi & friends, plus DJ Madame Turk
with special guests (including me!) TBA

Sunday, December 15, 4:30 to 8 PM
at Billie's Black Restaurant and Lounge
271 West 119th Street, Harlem, NYC

Buy tickets now for the Free Marissa Alexander Fundraising Party.

Marissa Alexander, an African American mother of three from Florida, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot, which caused no injury, to halt an attack by her abusive husband.

The growing national Free Marissa Now campaign is raising funds for her retrial, currently scheduled for March. Although Marissa’s legal team is working pro bono, there are significant additional costs in running an effective defense. The campaign is more than halfway to its initial goal of raising $20,000 byDecember 31, and now is a crucial time for everyone to who wants to see Marissa Alexander free to contribute.

On December 15, come lift up Marissa Alexander's name and raise much-needed funds to help bring Marissa home.

About Marissa Alexander’s Case
Although Marissa had no prior arrests, was licensed to carry a gun, and had a restraining order against her husband – and although Florida's now-infamous self-defense law includes the right to "stand your ground" – Marissa was charged with aggravated assault. Racist and sexist stereotypes that paint African American women as aggressors and deny sympathy to women who stand up to their abusers meant that Marissa Alexander was presumed guilty until proven innocent. This erasure of domestic violence is doubly institutionalized in Florida's draconian and racist system of mandatory minimum sentencing laws. (Adapted from resources on the Free Marissa Now website.)

In September 2013, Marissa won her appeal. Now more than ever, her legal team must have the resources to defend this survivor. Please buy your tickets today and help spread the word about her case!

*Tickets are limited: click here to reserve admission through Brown Paper Tickets.

*Can't join us but want to contribute? Donate to the Free Marissa Now Indiegogo campaign.

*Spread the word! Grassroots support is key to the event’s success: share on Facebook, on Tumblr.

This event is an ad-hoc effort by concerned individuals responding to the call from the Free Marissa Now campaign for people of conscience to undertake grassroots fundraising actions. For information on the national campaign, including resources on mandatory minimums and the criminalization of abuse survivors, please visit http://freemarissanow.tumblr.com.

Host committee: Jill Williams, Simran Noor, Julia Beatty, Pamela and Christopher Brown, W Mae Singerman, Zenzile Greene, Allison Brown, Nancy Kricorian and James Schamus, Andrew Kadi, Una Osato, Alexis Stern, Ali Issa (committee in formation).

Buy tickets now for the Free Marissa Alexander Fundraising Party.

Please note that tickets are not tax deductible. All funds raised will go to the Marissa Alexander Legal Defense Fund, which is administered by Marissa’s family on her behalf. For more about fundraising efforts, please visit the family’s website.

Event contact: freemarissafundraisernyc@gmail.com