Dismiss the Charges Against Community Elder and Activist, Ms. Yvette Boulware!

Please sign this petition in solidarity with Ms. Yvette Boulware demanding that all charges against her be immediately dismissed. If you'd like to sign  on behalf on an organization, please email triadabolitionproject@gmail.com and we will add your organization's name to our statement. We must remain firmly committed to protecting our community elders from unjust prosecution at all costs. Read our statement below for more information.

In addition, Triad Abolition Project is now raising funds to cover legal expenses and mobilization efforts to ensure that the charges against Ms. Yvette are dismissed and that she faces no prison time, as well as community care for Ms. Yvette. Our fundraising goal is $45,000 to meet these expenses. We've already been able to raise $15,000 from grant funding and community contributions. Supporters can contribute to Ms. Yvette's legal counsel and our mobilization efforts at bit.ly/SupportYvette, by texting Yvette to 202-858-1233, or by purchasing merchandise from our Bonfire store. Stay up-to-date by signing up for our text alerts by texting TAPWSNC to 74121 or follow Triad Abolition Project on social media.

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On May 17th, 2022, Ms. Yvette Boulware was violently arrested by Forsyth County Court bailiffs while conducting court watch and support on behalf of two community members. The community members had hearings for their 2020 #OCCUPYWSNC civil disobedience arrests connected to demanding action after the brutal murder of Mr. John Elliott Neville by Forsyth County Sheriff's Deputies. Ms. Yvette, as she's lovingly referred to in the organizing community, is a lifetime activist who worked alongside the late Congressman John Lewis. In court, she was taken to the ground and assaulted by six bailiffs after an exchange originating over sunglasses that she had placed on top of her head. Several witnesses were present for the violent attack on Ms. Yvette in the courtroom. Following the violent and unjust arrest, she was charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon on a government officer and misdemeanor resisting a public officer. She is facing more than 4 years in prison for these charges. She was also sentenced to 24 hours in jail for a direct contempt of court charge and was incarcerated in the Forsyth County Detention Center for more than 31 hours until her release on May 18th, 2022 at 10:15pm. No one, including her son, was able to speak with her or get any updates on her wellbeing during the entire period of her incarceration. During her incarceration, she was held in the maximum security section of the jail, strip searched, shackled any time she left the cell, and potentially exposed to Covid. She sought medical attention for multiple injuries sustained during the violent arrest after her release at a local hospital.

Members of Triad Abolition Project (TAP) and supporters held an emergency rally at 8pm the day of her arrest to demand her immediate release. TAP members and supporters then held watch outside the Detention Center overnight, knowing the violence that has occurred inside the jail, including the brutal murder of Mr. Neville in December 2019. TAP members attended Ms. Yvette's first appearance in Forsyth County Superior Court at 9:30am on May 18th, 2022 where she appeared by video with her feet shackled and her hands shackled to her waist. A release rally was held on May 18th at 6:30pm where TAP and community members cheered and sang once she was released.

Ms. Yvette, a petite woman standing less than 5 feet tall, is a mother, a member of Triad Abolition Project, and a mentor and educator for countless community organizers across the South. At the age of 62, she has spent her lifetime contributing to radical movements and upholding the philosophy of nonviolence, the same nonviolence that led the US Civil Rights Movement and continues to guide movements towards care-centered change in our communities. Her family has roots in Winston-Salem, NC dating back to at least 1922 and are members of Wentz Memorial United Church of Christ.  Ms. Yvette can recount her first participation in nonviolent actions when she was in early grade school living in Greensboro, NC in the early 1960s, at the time when her mother and father worked at North Carolina A&T University. She has since lived in North Carolina, New York, Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia.

As a young adult, Ms. Yvette joined the staff of the National Office of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Atlanta, GA in the early 1980s. Her first in-field assignments with SCLC were to travel to and assist mostly rural communities against the hostile attacks of white supremacist groups, including the KKK.  She also contributed to anti-apartheid movements. As a community elder, Ms. Yvette continues to mentor folks organizing around nonviolent direct actions, voting access, and care-centered initiatives across Georgia, North Carolina, and the South. She works in the Hope to Thrive Food Pantry in Winston-Salem, educates community members in Georgia and North Carolina on the issue of gerrymandering and voter suppression, and advises folks and organizations throughout the Southeast on monitoring and accessing local elected officials to become pro-active and not re-active, including work with the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, All On the Line, WokeVote, and Never Again Action.

We remain firmly committed to the truth that Ms. Yvette was targeted by court bailiffs and held as a political prisoner as the state attempts to deter solidarity around the #OCCUPYWSNC arrests, as well as prevent her continued efforts as a Black woman elder with a long history in liberation movements, including as one of those arrested during the #OCCUPYWSNC movement. Despite four #OCCUPYWSNC cases now having been dismissed for lack of state's evidence and witnesses, the Forsyth County District Attorney's Office is still pursuing cases that are nearly two years old and, more importantly, were successful acts of civil disobedience that were effective in securing a ban on the bent-leg prone restraint, the police maneuver used to kill Mr. Neville. Attorney Mark Rabil described the efforts and civil disobedience of #OCCUPYWSNC, saying,  "So, these protesters have not only probably saved a lot of lives over the next decades in Forsyth County, but they're also setting an example for our legislature and ultimately for the state and federal courts to follow. So, this is where true democracy is actually taking place with the peaceful protesters here." 

We remain steadfastly in support of Ms. Yvette as we demand her freedom from state violence, and we continue to be in solidarity with the Neville family on their journey for healing and justice for Mr. Neville. We will not allow his life to be forgotten.

#KeepYvetteHome #KeepYvetteFree #FreeMsYvette #ProtectMsYvette

Organization Signatories
Triad Abolition Project
ACLU of North Carolina
Drum Majors Alliance
Housing Justice Now
Forsyth County Community Bail Fund
Siembra
Unity Wellness Peer Support
Birds, Bees, and Babies
United States of Racism
Democracy Docket
School of Love