Black Mama’s Bail Out began in 2017 as a national effort to bail out Black mamas and caregivers from jails and migrant detention centers before Mother’s Day. The campaign uses the term “Mama” broadly to include Black women, femmes, gender-nonconforming people, and non-binary people who parent, care for, and hold their families and communities together. 

The campaign responds to the ways incarceration harms Black mothers and caregivers, including family separation, financial strain, trauma, and the risk of losing custody or parental rights while jailed before trial. National Bail Out also emphasizes that many women in local jails have not been convicted and are awaiting trial. 

Black Mama’s Bail Out is not only about release from jail. National Bail Out supports Black mamas and caregivers with short- and long-term needs such as court reminders, childcare, groceries, transportation, housing assistance, employment support, mental health support, and legal counsel.

In 2025, National Bail Out and partner organizations granted more than $1 million in bail, provided $195,000 in supportive services, and bailed out 104 Black mamas and caregivers across the country. In 2024, partners bailed out 151 Black mamas and caregivers, including through work in Detroit. 

Our partners at the American Friends Service Committee Michigan Criminal Justice Program are also sharing resources through the Michigan Survivors Justice Initiative to lift up incarcerated mothers and support long-term change.

Their Mother’s Day toolkit includes information about women incarcerated in Michigan, ways to support incarcerated mothers, and resources connected to the effort to advance a Survivors Justice Act in Michigan.

As part of this effort, AFSC Michigan shared prayers honoring incarcerated mothers and the families impacted by separation:

“We pray for the strengthening of the bonds between mothers behind bars and the children and loved ones who miss them.”

“We pray for the internal journey of every incarcerated mother. Grant them the resolve to heal from past traumas, the wisdom to grow through their circumstances, and the hope of a future defined not by their mistakes, but by a redeeming grace and the possibility of a restoration that begins in the heart and in community.”

“We pray for incarcerated mothers whose paths into the system were paved with surviving their abuse.”

“We pray for the power of liberation to grace mothers who have been separated from their children and communities for decades.”

This Mother’s Day, we encourage our community to reflect on the impact incarceration has on mothers, caregivers, children, and families, and to support efforts focused on healing, release, restoration, and keeping families connected.

Learn more:
Black Mama’s Bail Out: https://www.nationalbailout.org
AFSC Michigan Criminal Justice Program: https://afsc.org

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