Author | Lightnews

Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · 23h

"Healing to Advocacy is about us healing and breaking ourselves from the chains that tried to hold us back." — Felicia, Fall 2024 Oakland Healing to Advocacy Graduate 🧡💐 (2/2)

Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · 23h

We kicked off our Fall 2025 Healing to Advocacy Graduation season in Oakland, welcoming our 58th cohort of 16 women with incarcerated loved ones into our loving and powerful Sisterhood! Stay tuned as we celebrate more this weekend during our National graduation ceremony. (1/2)

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · 2d

Our staff came together in Oakland for an annual #StaffRetreat! We focused on skill-building, power-based campaigning, and organizing strategies to deepen connection in this political moment. Thank you to Chantá Parker for facilitating and bringing deep expertise to our space! 🧡

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · 6d

Last weekend at #MentalWealthAlliance and @iheartradio.bsky.social’s #MentalWealthExpo, we hosted Power & Connection: The Impact of Incarceration on Mental Health—a breakout session exploring how incarceration isolates women, harms our mental health, and ways we can combat isolation. 🫂🧡

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · 27d

"Moving through that fear, finding out what connects us, revelling in our differences; this is the process that brings us closer." — #bellhooks 🧡

Happy birthday to bell hooks, whose legacy embodies radical love as a force for healing, community building, and liberation.

#BlackFeminist

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Sep 18

If you have a loved one in jail or prison, you are not alone. 💜🫂

To hear more of Okha's story, check out Pillars: Untold Stories of Women with Incarcerated Loved Ones: pillarspod.com

#PillarsPod #Women #Podcast #PrisonStories

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Sep 9

We stand against The Supreme Court's ruling and continue in our fight to end the incarceration and detention of our families and communities.

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Sep 8

📣 BONUS Pillars Episode 📣 Reentry experts Alice and Raylene talk about the unseen ways they hold down their formerly incarcerated loved ones.

Tune in: pillarspod.com

#PillarsPod #Women #Reentry #Podcast

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Sep 3

Essie’s member-led Campaign Team kicked off our Campaign Development Launch! ✊🏾 Our Campaign Development Subcommittee is leading with the skills and tools we learned from Campaign School to identify our future campaign work.

Subscribe for updates! essiejusticegroup.org/subscribe

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Sep 2

Our Fall 2025 Healing to Advocacy Program has officially begun! The leadership of women with incarcerated loved ones this summer helped us collect 455 nominations and made 1300+ calls inviting women to join our Sisterhood.

#SisterhoodIsPowerful #Community #Healing

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Aug 12

Are you a woman with a currently or formerly incarcerated loved one? You are not alone. Join our FREE Healing to Advocacy Program to access a safe space for healing, resource sharing, and life-long community. 🧡

Nominate yourself or someone you know: essiejusticegroup.org/nominate

Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Aug 11

Thank you @npquarterly.bsky.social for highlighting The Hidden Heart of Reentry Report! Read the full article here: nonprofitquarterly.org/new-report-l...

Check out the report here: bit.ly/HiddenHeartReentry

cc: @nationalbailout.bsky.social @nbwji.bsky.social

#Reentry #FreeBlackMamas

New Report Looks at Lessons Learned from Bail Out Campaign - Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly

Women make up the fastest-growing incarcerated population in the country. A new report looks at the lessons learned from efforts to bail out incarcerated Black women in California.

nonprofitquarterly.org

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Aug 8

This #BlackAugust, we honor the #FreedomFighters who relentlessly fought for our liberation. Our ancestors' sacrifices remind us of the determination that’s required to bring about change, and is all the evidence we need to continue the fight.

cc: @mauricewfp.bsky.social @workingfamilies.org

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Jul 31

Okha spends $850 per prison visit to see her father.

Are you a woman with an incarcerated loved one who's faced a similar price tag? We want to hear from you. Share your untold story with us at pillars.com/untold.

#PillarsPod #Women #Podcast #PrisonStories

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Jul 22

TUNE IN NOW: Ep. 2 of Pillars Podcast — Okha’s Story.

In this episode, Okha shares what it’s like to be the daughter and primary caregiver of an incarcerated parent. Available now on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/watchpillars

#PillarsPod #Women #Podcast

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Jul 15

With so much at stake in this political climate, now more than ever, investing in the leadership of women who can organize and hold space for our communities is critical. It's one of the ways we can ensure that our communities stay safe, strong, and connected. (3/3)

Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Jul 15

Our Facilitator's Training Program 201 works to support women with incarcerated loved ones in holding space for our communities, both regularly and in moments of rapid response. (2/3)

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Jul 15

Earlier this month, 14 member leaders came together for advanced facilitation training through our Facilitator's Training Program 201! ✊🏾 (1/3)

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Jun 18

In our debut episode of Pillars: Untold Stories of Women with Incarcerated Loved Ones, Carmen shares what it’s like to be one of the 1 in 4 women in the U.S. with an incarcerated loved one.

Watch: bit.ly/watchpillars
Listen: bit.ly/pillarspod

#PillarsPod #Women #Podcast

Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Jun 13

We stand in unwavering solidarity with immigrant communities and families impacted by the Los Angeles ICE raids. 🧡

cc: @chirla-org.bsky.social, Black Alliance for Just Immigration

#Immigration #NoICE #WeKeepUsSafe #LosAngeles #Community

Reposted by Essie Justice Group

CHIRLA @chirla-org.bsky.social · Jun 3

Reminder: We keep us safe!

🛑 If you see ICE in LA, don’t stay silent. Report it to the LA Rapid Response Network. 📲

#ImmigrantsBelong #NoDeportations #SomosCHIRLA

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Reposted by Essie Justice Group

Prism @prismreports.org · Jun 4

Leading the Black Mama’s Bail Out campaign, ‪@essie4justice.bsky.social‬ has bailed out 21 Black mothers & caregivers from CA jails. Every year, we experience intentional, onerous, & negligent tactics inside CA's jail system, writes Tanasia Newman in an op-ed.
prismreports.org/2025/06/02/b...

Black mothers are at the mercy of California's negligent jail system

It took 96 hours and more than $230,000 for members of Essie Justice Group to secure the release of four Black mothers from a California jail

prismreports.org

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Jun 5

PASADENA & LOS ANGELES: Register for State of the People POWER Tour June 6 & 7! Show up for two days of action powered by community and rooted in local solutions. Register now at stateoftheppl.com! ✊🏾

@stateoftheppl.bsky.social #StateOfThePeople #PowerTour2025 #LosAngeles #Pasadena #Altadena

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Jun 3

"It’s always the expertise of women with incarcerated loved ones that ensures safe homecomings for all of the Black mothers and caregivers we’ve bailed out."

Shout out to @prismreports.org for publishing our op-ed on the impact of CA's jail system on Black mothers. cc: @nationalbailout.bsky.social

Prism @prismreports.org · Jun 2

Black mothers are at the mercy of California’s inefficient & negligent jail system, Tanasia Newman writes in an op-ed. It took 96 hours & more than $230,000 for members of @essie4justice.bsky.social to secure the release of four Black mothers from a CA jail—& their experience wasn’t an anomaly.

Black mothers are at the mercy of California's negligent jail system

It took 96 hours and more than $230,000 for members of Essie Justice Group to secure the release of four Black mothers from a California jail

prismreports.org

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Essie Justice Group @essie4justice.bsky.social · Jun 3

The State of the People POWER Tour is a national campaign to meet Black communities where they are with truth, care, and power—and it’s coming to Los Angeles June 6 & 7!

Register today: stateoftheppl.com/los-angeles/

#StateOfThePeople #PowerTour2025

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