A RECAP OF THE 2021 VIGIL'S FIRST WEEK

The day before the start of the 2021 Vigil for Freedom and Racial Justice, our coalition delivered our letter to Governor Cooper explaining why we are returning to stand vigil outside the Executive Mansion. On the Vigil's first day, we participated in a community block party at Planned Parenthood’s office in Raleigh to celebrate North Carolina's progress in ending the shackling of incarcerated pregnant people. We also showed solidarity with Mississippi communities fighting for abortion justice, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments earlier that day about that state’s law that severely restricts abortion access.

On December 4, we debuted the “Freedom Bus” - an old prison transport bus we purchased at an auction and reappropriated for the Vigil. A vehicle that has carried so many further and further away from their communities and families took us to the Nashville Correctional Institution to show love and solidarity with people who are incarcerated.

Phyllis Hardy of The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls reads the Letter to Gov. Cooper on the first day of the Vigil.