Love Poems for Black Survivors is an art action that seeks to uplift the fight for incarcerated Black survivors of gender-based violence. Black survivors, particularly Black trans women, nonbinary folks, and low-income people are much more likely to experience violence and be arrested, charged, and incarcerated when seeking help for abuse. Rooted seeks to uplift the narratives of Black survivors and fight for a world where we are free.

Ms. Eraina Pretty is a 60-year-old Black elder and survivor of domestic violence. When Eraina was 19, her abuser coerced her into participating in a robbery which resulted in the murder of her boss. Ms. Pretty was sentenced to life in prison with a possibility of parole. Now Maryland’s longest-serving woman inmate, Ms. Pretty has been incarcerated for 42 years and has been denied parole by the Governor twice.

You can support this action by recording a poem by a Black woman and/or non-binary person this week. Share your recording on social media, tag the Rooted collective. Start your recording with: My name is X, and I am reading this poem in solidarity with the movement to commute the sentence of Ms. Eraina Pretty. Tag Rooted and share our call to Governor Hogan!

Or, on July 18th at 2 pm, you can join us for a poetry reading in honor of incarcerated Black gender-based violence survivors. During this event, call Governor Hogan to demand her release.
Phone: 410-974-3901

Demand: I am calling to demand Governor Hogan commutes Eraina Pretty’s sentence and free all incarcerated Black survivors.