Many families will not be able to celebrate Mother’s Day together this weekend due to barriers in the criminal justice system. In the United States, nearly 80 percent of women in jail are mothers, and most of those women are also single parents, according to a 2016 report from the Vera Institute of Justice.
African-American women are also incarcerated at a higher rate than white women. 44 percent of women in jail are black, according to the report. Many of these women must navigate a money-bail system that disproportionately hurts people of color. Across the South, the non-profit Southerners on New Ground (S.O.N.G.) is raising funds to bail black mothers out of jail and reunite them with their families for the upcoming holiday.
Host FrankStasiotalks about the initiative with Serena Sebring and Courtney Sebring, a mother and daughter who are members of the Triangle-based chapter of S.O.N.G.
Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio
