May 2017
Bresha Meadows was only 14 years old when she was jailed and charged with aggravated murder for defending her family from her abusive father. In May 2017, FORCE in partnership with amazing activists around the country hosted several Love Poems for Bresha actions to support a call by the Free Bresha Meadows campaign to write letters of support and raise funds for Bresha. These events were healing spaces that used poetry to celebrate Black girls, women and trans folks who have been criminalized for their survival.
Thanks to activists Casey Lynne Rocheteau, Cicely Paine, Antonia Randolph, Orisha Bowers, Chadra Pittman Walke, Jakiera Stewart, Natalie Sharp and organizations such as SisterReach, the Sankofa Projects, and Reproactions, we hosted six actions in Baltimore, MD; St. Louis, MO; Detroit, MI; Denver, CO; Memphis,TN; and Norfolk, VA
On May 22nd, Bresha received a plea deal that will transfer her to a treatment facility in July. Her family is forced to shoulder the burden of paying for this treatment. The Free Bresha Meadows Campaign has released a statement about the plea deal demanding an end to the criminalization of Black survivors.