Our Director of Operations Molly on Hope and Fear in the Time of Trump

What does it mean to go on with this work right now? How do we find the strength to take on the daily tasks of abolition when it feels like everything is falling apart? This has been top of mind for all of us here at the Bail Fund recently.

When we’re feeling stuck, we can always turn to Molly, our Director of Operations, for a little perspective. We sat down with them recently to talk about how they find motivation in the struggle.

“The thing that I find that gives me energy is connecting with other people, and learning about other projects and things people are working on because I’m like, okay, there’s hope,” they shared. “Like, we’re not alone as the Bail Fund trying to fight against the world. There’s other people on our side and we can build power together.” For Molly, working with the Bail Fund has given them a real community of support. “I’ve been able to meet a lot of cool people doing really cool things that I never would have learned about. And I think that that is really important in doing this type of work, because it can be so easy to get burnt out, and get siloed.”

Despite the constant grind, for them the work has been a source of purpose. “While it’s been really hard, it’s been so essential to my life and my growth and my learning and understanding of what it is to be a person and what it is to be, you know, on this earth. It’s benefited me in many ways. It’s not like, oh, all these sad things are happening, so I have to do this thing, and it’s such a burden. It’s been really essential for me to become the person that I am today.”

Molly has experienced firsthand the kind of person growth that comes from working to heal your community: “Growing up, my mom for most of her career was a federal pretrial service officer. So I really grew up in a sort of law enforcement environment, knowing the system from a different perspective.” Molly was confronted early in life with the sorts of bogeymen that drive America’s conversations about criminal punishment today. “I think there was a lot of fear that I was raised with like ‘be very careful, there are these people.’ I remember when I was little I was never scared that there were monsters in the closet. I was scared that there was a ‘criminal’ who was going to break into my room.”

“Having grown up with those sorts of narratives and being scared about those things, it’s actually been really healing for me to do this type of work and ground myself in abolition, and disconnect people from that title of criminal, and understanding that there’s so much more going on there.”

Another important part of Molly’s strategy is to focus more on the personal impacts of the work than the big, national conversations. “It feels really good when we win and when someone gets to be released from jail. Or there are situations where we get a request of particular urgency, like someone is going to lose their housing tomorrow if they don’t get released today, and being able to figure out getting that bail posted. I just don’t think we should overlook those things that seem small, but are really, really big and are making a big impact in that person’s life and the people around them.”

“I also really love when I’m talking with volunteers or people who don’t know that much about bail and they understand something or something clicks for the first time. And they’re like, ‘oh, I did not realize that was happening’ or ‘oh, I understand this thing in a new way.’ That’s really rewarding and powerful to see and be a part of because I personally love having those ‘aha’ moments myself.”

In the end, finding personal joy isn’t just a byproduct of the abolitionist journey. It’s the whole reason we’re in this fight. “When I think about a world without prisons and police, I think about a world in which people get to rest and people get to be at ease. Because I think it is essential to our well-being.” For Molly, standing against systems of oppression is how we care for our friends, our community, and ourselves. “It really is just that, and it seems so much more difficult. But the more we can concentrate on doing those things, the more we create an abolitionist world, a world without police and prisons and punishment.”

 

Meet our Board: Deaunte Damper

Northwest Community Bail Fund board member Deaunte Damper’s work is personal. “As a person who was formerly incarcerated, as a person who worked for the Department of Corrections,” he says, “I don’t want those bars to slam on people permanently.”

Born in Seattle, Deaunte has been involved in local community organizing for years and is a passionate advocate for HIV awareness, the LGBTQIA+ community, and empowering marginalized communities. Deaunte recently worked as a community organizer with VOCAL-WA, which works with low-income community members who have been impacted by HIV, substance use, mass incarceration, and homelessness to affect and advocate for change in public policy. In January 2025, he started a new position as a community engagement specialist focusing on gun violence prevention, at Public Health – Seattle & King County. Deaunte also co-chairs the Therapy Fund Foundation, which provides free mental health services to Black community members while ensuring equitable pay for clinicians, and BUILD (Brothers United in Leadership Development), a group that works on organizing and empowering Black men. On top of all this, Deaunte also produces and hosts the weekly series We Live in Color on Converge Media.

Deaunte met NCBF Executive Director Cyril Walrond at an event in late 2022. The two started working together more, and Cyril encouraged Deaunte to join the NCBF Board. Deaunte became a board member in September 2024. “I really joined this board because I believe in [Cyril], and a lot of our community folks are coming out of the pandemic and we need to believe in something, and to know that we can achieve something,” he says.

It can be hard to believe in achieving a better future, when the system is so stacked against it. “It’s built off of racism. It was built to continue to keep us behind. The carceral system has always been built off of me being less than, my skin being less than. When we look at intersectionality…how people identify, how community members that use substances are looked at – the system is set up to judge, to spew out more hate,” Deaunte says.

While the Bail Fund has a huge and direct impact by freeing people from jail, it’s also hard to know that there is only so much we can do at a time. “There are very many folks that I know that are innocent right now that are in [jail] because they were under drug-induced psychosis, and we’re not navigating our people through that properly,” he says. “There are folks that are currently incarcerated in the wrong cell because of how they identify, who they identify as…Those are some of the hardest parts.”

As hard as it is, for Deaunte, persevering is a necessity. “You keep going because there are community folks that need you. You keep going because I’ve lost too many people to the carceral system, to overdose, to HIV, to suicide, to racial injustice, to homophobia, to transphobia, to homelessness,” he says. “Those are the things that keep me going. I’ve lost too many people to give up on them, as well as myself.”

Now, as a board member, Deaunte hopes to help grow and evolve the organization to meet the community’s needs. “I want to do a lot more active listening to community people of what their need is,” he says. “What are people being incarcerated for? If people are going to jail because they’re trespassing because of the SODA law, how are we supporting our folks through that?” He explains that we need to “get people access to liberation, not just bail them out,” and demand accountability from our system that has been set up to see people fail. “How do I make sure the community people get access to the care that they need, rather than spending their birthdays incarcerated?”

“We still have a lot to learn,” Deaunte says. “We still have to mobilize more.” He feels encouraged by the direction the NCBF is headed. “That is what I love about Cyril’s leadership…It feels like everyone is invited. It feels like everyone can do it. It feels like everyone can be a part of it.”

Be a part of Northwest Community Bail Fund by donating or volunteering today!

 

Headlines

Washington lawmakers begin their 2025 session: The Washington State Legislative session began January 13th, 2025. The state’s 98 representatives and 49 senators are poised to tackle a variety of issues, including finding solutions to the looming budget deficit and preparing for conflict with the federal administration. While many lawmakers are focused on affordable housing, education, and improving regressive tax structures, others like the House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, believe that the state is in a public safety crisis due to a “culture of lawlessness,” and are pushing for more police and harsher laws. However, the data has shown time and time again that hiring more police doesn’t decrease crime or make the community safer.

Several promising pieces of legislation are being proposed that would make the criminal justice system better – independent oversight for city and county jails, opportunities for freedom for people serving long and life sentences in prison, and increased voting, organizing, and due process rights for people supervised by the Department of Corrections. There are many ways to make your voice heard by lawmakers about these important issues.

For more check out our 2025 legislative agenda and our bill tracker. Watch your email for more updates from our Director of Advocacy during the 2025 session!

Executive orders have immediately disastrous consequences for vulnerable community members: Washington has joined several other states in a lawsuit against the federal administration’s attempt to end birthright citizenship. While this order and many others may not hold up in court, a surge of ICE activity and arrests nationwide are already causing more overcrowding in detention facilities that were already dangerously full, and the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) in Tacoma is no exception.

Locally, NWICP has a reputation for failing to adequately pay detainees, unsafe and unsanitary conditions, and medical neglect that led to the death of at least two people in 2024. On Sunday, February 2nd, La Resistencia observed more than 100 detained people fly into Boeing Field en route to NWIPC, the largest flight they’ve seen since they began monitoring flights in 2023. Just as concerning as the quickly growing population inside the facility, Northwest Immigrants Rights Project has seen their access to information and detainees at NWIPC entirely cut off in the last two weeks. There are now likely more than 1,000 people in NWIPC without access to representation or advocacy.

La Resistencia NW has been leading the movement to shut down NWIPC – please support and follow them for updates and ways to get involved.

Incarcerated firefighters were the unsung heroes in Los Angeles: More than 1,000 incarcerated people risked their lives to fight the historically devastating Palisades Fires in southern California. Carceral firefighters say that they choose to join the Conservation Camp Program (CCP) because it can cut time off their sentences, gives them an opportunity to spend time outside the prison walls, and offers a chance to give back to the community. But the differences between their experiences and those of professional firefighters is stark.

Incarcerated firefighters are, on average, paid between $5 and $10 per day, while the average starting salary for a professional firefighter in L.A. is more than ten times higher. Incarcerated firefighters are also more than four times more likely to be injured, and more than eight times more likely to have long lasting medical complications. The California Fire Departments rely heavily on CCP firefighters during natural disasters, but fail to compensate them fairly for their critical role in protecting public safety. And studies show that incarcerated people with firefighting experience struggle to find firefighting jobs after release.

You can support incarcerated firefighters in California by following and supporting organizations like the Anti-Recidivism Coalition and Worth Rises.

 

More Tips on Fighting for Justice When Things Feel Overwhelming

“Hope is essential to any political struggle for radical change when the overall social climate promotes disillusionment and despair.” – bell hooks

Act local: Direct your energy where you can make a difference. Connect with organizations in your community doing important work. Join a local 50501 protest. Check out the Vera Institute’s guide to fighting for justice in your state and community here. To stay informed about what’s happening in Washington, follow organizations like the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project, ACLU-WA, and Equal Rights Washington.

Practice mindfulness and self care: There’s a delicate balance between staying informed and doom scrolling. Remember to disconnect from technology and social media when you can, focus on what you can control, and celebrate the small victories. Community is resistance, and one of the goals of attacks on our community is to keep us exhausted and overwhelmed. You can’t pour from an empty cup. Find ways to rest, recharge, and keep fighting.

Stay informed about important resources: Knowledge is power. Make sure you Know Your Rights. Keep your community informed about ICE activity with resources from WAISN. Check out this list of direct action, mutual aid, and advocacy resources from If/When/How.

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Photo credit for this post’s featured image: Claudio Schwarz