Free Our Mamas (2020)

Melanie Cervantes

12″x 18″,  4-color handmade screenprint, printed on recycled court documents, Printed in San Leandro, CA, August 2020

I designed this print which was produced on paper made from recylcled court documents in collaboration withPeople’s Paper Co-op and a group of fierce women.

Amidst the Covid-19 crisis, a powerful group of formerly incarcerated women at the People’s Paper Co-op are collaborating with artists across the U.S. to create posters, t-shirts, and prints to help the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund #FreeBlackMamas and Caregivers for Mother’s Day.

Buy their beautiful art and help get folks safely to their families and communities in this urgent time of need!
100% of all poster sales go to help free black mothers and caregivers for Mothers Day!

Endless thanks to all who contributed to the 2020 Free Our Mothers! Sisters! Queens!poster series!!! PPC Fellows: Faith Bartley, Aesha Barnett, Latyra Blake, Kerri DeLeo, Jamila Harris, Kitty Marrero, Lisa Shorter, Veronica Rex

Collaborating Artists: Melanie Cervantes, Pippin Frisbie Calder, Katie Kaplan, Malachi Lily, Ashley Lukashevsky, Nicole Marroquin, Shani Peters, Swoon, Aryanna Tischler, Sharita Towne, Mary Tremonte, Kah Yangni

The People’s Paper Co-op is a women led, women focused, women powered art and advocacy project at the Village of Arts and Humanities in North Philadelphia. The PPC looks to women in reentry as the leading criminal justice experts our society needs to hear from and uses art to amplify their stories, dreams, and visions for a more just and free world.

Since 2018, the People’s Paper Co-op has collaborated with the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund on their annual Mama’s Day Bail Out campaign. Each year we organize exhibitions, parades, press conferences, and events to raise awareness and funds for the campaign ,while sharing the stories, dreams, and demands of formerly incarcerated women with thousands of Philadelphians. 
Amidst this public health crisis, in our third year of collaborating on the campaign to #ENDCashBail, it has become clear that the work is more important and urgently needed than ever.