Milwaukee Freedom Fund organically rose out of the resistance struggle against police violence during the 2020 George Floyd Rebellions. The founding members of Milwaukee Freedom Fund recognized that locally there were no protections against state repression that protesters would face. Reflecting on the lessons from Ferguson and Baltimore Rebellions, we organized to raise money to support protestors against legal repression and support the struggle for human rights. We were able to support protesters across the state of Wisconsin, including in Kenosha, Racine and Brown County. Our collective journey had us connect with abolitionists around the country that have been immersed in this work for years. Their support and wisdom helped us broaden our scope to understand the inhumanity of the carceral system, and ways we can support our communities.
Coming up on a year of existence, Milwaukee Freedom Fund will work to expand on abolitionist principles we are constantly learning from to work to eliminate cash bail and pre-trial detention in Wisconsin.
Our Mission and Vision:
The Milwaukee Freedom Fund is part of a movement to end pretrial detention and ultimately mass incarceration. We pay bail for people primarily in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We support people who are most impacted by structural violence. Paying bail for folks that can not afford to, restores the presumption of innocence, reunites families, and challenges a system that criminalizes race and poverty. We pay bail as a direct action toward bail abolition. Through community political education, releasing people from pre-trial detention and supporting abolition and protester efforts, Milwaukee Freedom Fund builds on a legacy of Black liberation and fights for a humane and just future.
Milwaukee Freedom Fund is poised to build with communities and organizations to work towards an abolitionist future that imagines a world without prisons, policing, prosecution, surveillance or any form of detention or supervision; a world where our social needs are met in order to reduce harm.