Black Lives Matter

We have had many successes recently in progressing cannabis laws - which are to be celebrated. However, we can’t celebrate the progress without acknowledging the travesties that are still happening daily.  There are literally millions of Afro American men and women sitting in jails and prison cells because of the failed war on drugs. While our representatives in Congress focus on banking, interstate commerce, and states’ rights, human beings are being incarcerated and enslaved by corporate prisons for possession of a plant, the majority of which are Afro Americans.  For instance, Corvain Cooper is currently serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for non-violent marijuana-related charges.   According to the ACLU, marijuana arrests now account for over half of all drug arrests in the United States. Of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% were for simply possessing marijuana.  Nationwide, the arrest data revealed one consistent trend: significant racial bias. Despite roughly equal usage rates, Black people are 3.73 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana. Over half of those arrests were of black males between 2001 and 2010. Let that number sink in for a minute.  We need to create a plan that releases these people from prisons and jails throughout the United States. It is imperative that every state that passes tax and regulation laws also includes the release of those serving time for non-violent cannabis convictions. We need to focus on getting those incarcerated for non-violent cannabis charges released so they can start their lives again with their loved ones.  Corporate prisons in the US profit an average of $39,000 per incarcerated person per year. In New York, they profit $60,000 per person. It’s unjust and needs to end.  It’s time to start righting the wrongs of cannabis prohibition and the prison industrial complex. Every time a state considers “legalizing” cannabis, the first consideration needs to be for the men and women who have been locked up and removed from society for the same plant they are planning on collecting billions of dollars in taxes on.  Please sign the petition to let your voice be heard - no legalization without every non-violent cannabis prisoner’s release. If you want to continue the support for this effort further please contact the National Cannabis Diversity Awareness Convention by email (NDACPDX@GMAIL.COM)  

My daughter may never see her father again. Jermaine Rogers has served his country both in the military and as a contractor overseas. He now faces a lifetime in a foreign jail over fake drug charges. I need your help to get the Trump administration to bring him home. U.S. civilians serving to protect our country and in support of our military have been targeted by Kuwaiti police in the past. These charges have often turned out to be false, but only after the U.S. government intervened on their behalf. Jermaine needs that intervention today. Please sign my petition asking the Trump administration to demand the release of Jermaine Rogers so he can come back to the U.S. Death by hanging. That is almost what happened to Jermaine when he was falsely accused of dealing drugs. The death sentence was dropped, but a lifetime in jail isn’t much better, especially when you are innocent and thousands of miles away in a foreign land. I know Jermaine is innocent. He believes in serving America and that means representing our country with pride and the best behavior. Even if you do not believe my pleas, we should all agree a man who has served his country should not get life in prison for the non-violent crimes they claim he committed. So many people are standing up and speaking on behalf of Jermaine — people like U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut. As his family, we can’t thank them enough. We now need you. Please sign my petition today. Your signature will help bring our family together again and ensure actual justice is served for an American hero.

My husband Deshawn Thomas has spent 7 years in county jail since he was 17 years old with no conviction for a crime he didn’t commit. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Deshawn was at a park waiting for a ride home due to his mom not being able to pick him up. His friend the (driver) who is also his co defendant arrived to pick him up and take him home. Before they left the other two teenage co defendants arrived to the park in which Deshawn and the driver where asked if they knew someone who sold marijuana. My husband connected him to SOMEONE who knew a dealer, but DID NOT know the direct dealer. (The drug dealer is son of a probation officer) The shooter set up a buy but the plan changed once the (the shooter) decided to rob the drug dealer.  Deshawn disagreed and decided to take off with the driver and go back home. He did not want to participate in this new plan.  That’s when everything went wrong. While Deshawn and the driver where on their way back home. The driver received a call from the shooter asking him to turn around to pick them up. When the shooter and the his co defendant got picked up they had said everything went wrong. But didn’t clearly mentioned what had happened. Today, 7 years later, Deshawn is still being held without bail and obligated to serve time for a crime he had no part in. No one should be held for 7 years, especially not a 17 year old who had no record of violence, and did not commit this crime. Deshawn didn’t want to be part of the robbery. Our broken justice system has kept him from justice. Senate Bill 1437 should release him and the justice system should not abandon someone in jail and violate constitutional rights  We can’t give Deshawn those seven years back. He should have been starting his life with me and his family. It’s time for the head office of San Bernardino District Attorney Jason Anderson and District Attorney Will Wooten to drop these charges and let Deshawn come home as the new law SB1437 has been in effect as of January 2019.

UPDATE: SHERI GOES TO COURT SOON AND THAT MEANS WE NEED MORE SIGNATURES ASAP, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!! My name is Nicole Sain Flemming and I am coming to you with the upmost respect and honesty as the life-long friend and sister in Christ of Sheri - Sherinette Wannamaker. In May of 1997, Sheri was arrested and charged with a murder that she did not commit! She dropped her co-defendant off at her girlfriend's house not knowing she was going to commit a horrific crime!!! SHE WAS NOT INVOLVED IN THE MURDER and SHE DID NOT KNOW IT WAS EVEN TAKING PLACE!!!!!!!!! Even though, Sheri remains a believer and the Lord has carried her the whole entire time. Sheri has been fighting and appealing her wrongful conviction for the past 22 years! Her co-defendant admitted her guilt, pled guilty to the murder and was ONLY sentenced to 30 years in prison. While Sheri, my dearest friend, was being held in county jail she was a victim of Criminal Sexual Misconduct- raped and assaulted by a correctional officer...Because of that heart-wrenching incident, Sheri was given an expedited trial in order to whisk her away from the offending institution. She was not given the option or choice to plead the truth which was not guilty. Her public defender lost exculpatory recordings so Sheri was not able to prove her innocence - the fact that SHE DID NOT MURDER ANYONE!!!! She was a victim of circumstance and could not afford a paid attorney to fight the unjust guilty verdict that they gave her. SHERI WAS SENTENCED TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE! After 22 years of appealing...At this moment in time, Sheri may be able to fight for her innocence in court due to a grave miscarriage of justice and many in-discrepancies that were made by the South Carolina Attorney General's Office. THAT IS WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP SO SHE CAN HAVE THE CHANCE TO PROVE HER INNOCENCE!!!! Sheri, my amazing, caring, gentle, self-less, loving, God-fearing friend...NEEDS YOU, HER SISTERS AND BROTHERS IN CHRIST TO HELP HER  BY SIGNING AND DONATING SO HER CASE CAN BE INVESTIGATED PROPERLY!!!! WE ARE TRYING TO RAISE MONEY TO GET HER A PAID ATTORNEY BUT YOUR SIGNATURES ARE EVEN MORE VITAL FOR GETTING HER JUSTICE!! WE DO NOT PERSONALLY RECEIVE THE DONATIONS THAT YOU MAKE TO THIS PETITION....BUT WE NEED THEM MORE THAN YOU KNOW! THEY WILL HELP MAKE THIS PETITION MORE VISIBLE TO OTHERS AND GET HIGHER GOVERMENT OFFICALS TO INVESTIGATE HER CASE THE WAY IT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED 22 YEARS AGO!!!!!!!!! SIGNATURES ARE WHAT WE NEED TO GET THE GOVERNOR AND SOUTH CAROLINA STATE LEGISLATORS TO REVIEW THIS INJUSTICE!!!!!!!! ******PLEASE BROTHERS AND SISTERS HELP SHERI PROVE HER INNOCENCE!***** PLEASE HELP ME FORWARD THIS AND MAKE THIS GO VIRAL! SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!!! MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS, SIGNATURES AND DONATIONS!!!! HELP HER GET HER CASE RE-OPENED - INVESTIGATED WHICH SHE RIGHTFULLY DESERVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.