Unchained: Fundraiser Organized by SU Student Assn
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Unchained is an organization based in Syracuse, NY with a mission to dismantle the carceral state - the white supremacist apparatus that includes police, prosecutors, jails/prisons, parole/probation, ICE, and other forms of surveillance or criminalization. We invest in people locked up by police and locked out of schools - mostly Black and Brown folks and poor people - to build power and chart a path toward liberation by making racial and economic justice a reality.
Unchained is co-led by Derek Singletary, a Black man who grew up on the South Side of Syracuse and is currently serving a 20-year state prison sentence, and his wife Emily NaPier Singletary, a white woman who has been working on these issues professionally for more than 15 years. As one of the only organizations in the country led by someone in prison, we bring currently incarcerated people into the movement for justice and prioritize the issues most important to them.
Our current campaigns include:
1. #LessIsMoreNY: We co-authored and co-lead the statewide campaign to pass the Less is More: Community Supervision Revocation Reform Act. This bill would rein in the power of parole officers by prohibiting them from sending people on parole back to jail or prison for technical violations. Technical violations are not crimes; they are things like being late for curfew, associating with other people with criminal records, or missing an appointment. The bill would also allow people to earn early discharge from parole by avoiding violations. Read more here .
2. #ConnectingFamiliesNY and #FreeFromFees315: We co-lead a statewide campaign to ensure frequent and free access to phones for people incarcerated in local jails and state prisons. Maintaining contact with loved ones on the outside is critical for the entire family. Incarcerated people should not be denied phone access as punishment, and families should not have to pay for basic communication with their loved ones.
3. Annual Christmas Giveaway: Every year we purchase gifts for children in Syracuse whose parents are in state prison. The incarcerated parents choose specific gifts for their children, and our volunteers purchase, wrap, and deliver the gifts. Being separated from your parent or child at Christmas is especially difficult, and our gift giveaway helps maintain those important family ties.
Our past victories include:
1. COVID releases: In March 2020 Governor Cuomo ordered the release of nearly 800 people incarcerated throughout New York State for technical parole violations in response to our demands to release people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. #BailReformNY: We were the Upstate anchor for the campaign to reform New York State's bail system which was successfully passed into law in April 2019. As part of this campaign, we trained more than 50 volunteer court watchers who observed nearly 700 arraignments in Onondaga County documenting how bail was set.
3. #FreeBlackMamasSyracuse: In 2019 we founded the #FreeBlackMamasSyracuse collective with Black Lives Matter Syracuse, Doula 4 a Queen, and Village Birth International to bail Black mamas out of Syracuse jails for Mother's Day.
We are grateful for the support of the Syracuse University Student Association for organizing this fundraiser and for the support of all people connected to Syracuse University and the broader Syracuse community!
To learn more about Unchained, check out our website or follow us on social media @UnchainedNOW.
Unchained is co-led by Derek Singletary, a Black man who grew up on the South Side of Syracuse and is currently serving a 20-year state prison sentence, and his wife Emily NaPier Singletary, a white woman who has been working on these issues professionally for more than 15 years. As one of the only organizations in the country led by someone in prison, we bring currently incarcerated people into the movement for justice and prioritize the issues most important to them.
Our current campaigns include:
1. #LessIsMoreNY: We co-authored and co-lead the statewide campaign to pass the Less is More: Community Supervision Revocation Reform Act. This bill would rein in the power of parole officers by prohibiting them from sending people on parole back to jail or prison for technical violations. Technical violations are not crimes; they are things like being late for curfew, associating with other people with criminal records, or missing an appointment. The bill would also allow people to earn early discharge from parole by avoiding violations. Read more here .
2. #ConnectingFamiliesNY and #FreeFromFees315: We co-lead a statewide campaign to ensure frequent and free access to phones for people incarcerated in local jails and state prisons. Maintaining contact with loved ones on the outside is critical for the entire family. Incarcerated people should not be denied phone access as punishment, and families should not have to pay for basic communication with their loved ones.
3. Annual Christmas Giveaway: Every year we purchase gifts for children in Syracuse whose parents are in state prison. The incarcerated parents choose specific gifts for their children, and our volunteers purchase, wrap, and deliver the gifts. Being separated from your parent or child at Christmas is especially difficult, and our gift giveaway helps maintain those important family ties.
Our past victories include:
1. COVID releases: In March 2020 Governor Cuomo ordered the release of nearly 800 people incarcerated throughout New York State for technical parole violations in response to our demands to release people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. #BailReformNY: We were the Upstate anchor for the campaign to reform New York State's bail system which was successfully passed into law in April 2019. As part of this campaign, we trained more than 50 volunteer court watchers who observed nearly 700 arraignments in Onondaga County documenting how bail was set.
3. #FreeBlackMamasSyracuse: In 2019 we founded the #FreeBlackMamasSyracuse collective with Black Lives Matter Syracuse, Doula 4 a Queen, and Village Birth International to bail Black mamas out of Syracuse jails for Mother's Day.
We are grateful for the support of the Syracuse University Student Association for organizing this fundraiser and for the support of all people connected to Syracuse University and the broader Syracuse community!
To learn more about Unchained, check out our website or follow us on social media @UnchainedNOW.
Organizer
Emily Singletary
Organizer
Syracuse, NY
