Successful Campaigns

Thank you for supporting this campaign. Black presidents, deans, and scholars at theological schools and departments of religion will not accept anti-Black violence or White supremacy in any of its forms. Our colleagues at AAR and ATS have made specific commitments to us, and we will continue to follow up with them through this summer. Contacts: Pamela R. Lightsey, [email protected] & Matthew Williams, [email protected]

On April 14, 2016, Michel 9 yrs and Heidy 13 went to Mexico to meet their mother with the hope that they can be a family. It was a tearful meeting and they knew that the struggle was going to long and hard. Against all odds they are a family today. Myrna, Heidy and Michel will be going to NY. More photos, videos and information will follow when we greet Myrna with joy and happiness of her homecoming. The New Sanctuary Coalition of NYC celebrates this reunification, recognizing the hardship caused by our immigration system that does not take into account the needs of families, especially young children. We hope that moving forward our government sees the light and passes fair and humane immigration policies that respect the rights and dignity of all human beings.

In November, a Minnesota judge dismissed charges against organizers of a Black Lives Matter protest that drew thousands of demonstrators to the Mall of America – ruling it was peaceful and “not subversive”. Read more here: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/10/black-lives-matter-mall-of-america-protest-charges-dropped

We did it! We delivered our letter to members of Congress in support of religious liberty and equality and in opposition to the First Amendment Defense Act. By raising our voices when and how we did the bill did not come to a vote. Read more here: http://www.groundswell-mvmt.org/you-stopped-congress-from-using-religion-to-discriminate/

Misael was granted a 6-month stay of removal! This protects him from deportation for six months and allows him to resume his life and work. Read more here http://www.groundswell-mvmt.org/big-news-from-misael-in-phoenix/

We won-- the first step, anyway. More than 2,100 of us signed the petition, and 300 of us held a march and die-in that shut down the county justice center the first week in December. Together, we got Stenger's attention. His transition team agreed to work with us on a summit where area officials can discuss reforms to the debtor prison system trapping low-income people and people of color in prison for traffic violations, court fees and other minor violations and to institute or expand community policing procedures. His team will also help us work to change policies so that area nonprofits can access funds from an under-utilized state program to get more services to young people of color in the county. It's a small step but moves us in the right direction toward dismantl ing a legacy of decisions that choked off opportunity for people of color in the region for decades. Please know that your support has helped us initiate something that can feed into the larger stream of work for racial justice in Ferguson, the region and our nation. Thanks for everything you do, Gordon Mayer (on behalf of Rev. Dietra Baker, Laura Barrett and Gamaliel)

Victory! Beatriz has had her deportation order withdrawn. Click to read the full story and share the good news: http://www.groundswell-mvmt.org/a-win-for-beatriz-and-her-family/ As we celebrate Beatriz and her family, we also recommit to working for justice for all our immigrant neighbors. Find other active Sanctuary cases here: http://action.groundswell-mvmt.org/efforts/sanctuary2014