$18,000 Towards Abolition: Our Road to 2027

We are thrilled to share major news for Abolish Slavery Virginia: our campaign has received two generous grants totaling $18,000 to support our work to end slavery and involuntary servitude in Virginia, including as punishment for crime.

This funding marks a powerful new chapter for our campaign as we prepare for the 2027 Virginia General Assembly session, where we intend to advance constitutional reform that finally closes the loophole allowing forced labor to persist through incarceration and detention.

We are deeply grateful to the A.J. Muste Foundation for Peace and Justice for awarding us a $7,000 organizing grant, and to the Unitarian Universalist Fund for a Just Society for their generous $11,000 grant. Their support strengthens our capacity, affirms the urgency of this work, and helps us move into this next phase with renewed focus, momentum, and determination.

Gratitude to Our Supporters

We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the A.J. Muste Foundation, whose commitment to grassroots organizing, peace, justice, and social transformation aligns deeply with our mission. This grant will help us expand public education, strengthen our outreach, and build the community power necessary to win lasting change.

We are also deeply thankful to the Unitarian Universalist Fund for a Just Society for investing in this movement. Their support will help us continue educating communities, building a broad statewide coalition, and organizing Virginians around the urgent need to end the legal status of slavery in all forms.

Both foundations are helping make it possible for us to take the next meaningful steps toward a Virginia where no person can be subjected to slavery or involuntary servitude under any circumstances.

Rebooting the Campaign for 2027

With this funding, Abolish Slavery Virginia is enthusiastically growing our campaign in preparation for the 2027 General Assembly. This next phase will focus on three core areas: public education, coalition building, and legislative advocacy.

Public Education

We will be launching a series of workshops, webinars, in-person events, public education materials, and community conversations to raise awareness about modern slavery, prison labor, immigrant detention labor, and the constitutional loopholes that continue to permit forced labor today.

Public education is essential because many Virginians do not realize that the Thirteenth Amendment still allows slavery and involuntary servitude “as punishment for crime,” and that Virginia’s own constitution does not currently provide explicit protection against that exception. Building public understanding is the first step toward building public power.

Coalition Building

No movement wins alone. Over the coming months, we will be reaching out to advocacy organizations, faith communities, directly impacted leaders, student groups, legal advocates, labor allies, immigrant justice organizations, and community members across the Commonwealth.

We are building a broad, diverse, statewide coalition committed to ending slavery and involuntary servitude in Virginia once and for all.

If you have not heard from us yet and are interested in supporting this work, joining the coalition, hosting a presentation, or helping organize in your community, we want to hear from you. There is room in this movement for everyone who believes that slavery has no place in Virginia — not in our constitution, not in our prisons, not in our detention centers, and not anywhere else.

Meetings with Legislators

We will also be organizing meetings with legislators, advocacy days, and policy briefings to ensure that lawmakers understand the urgency, the legal history, and the moral necessity of this reform.

Our goal is to make the case clearly and powerfully: Virginia cannot claim to stand for freedom while allowing any form of slavery or involuntary servitude to remain legally possible. The Commonwealth has a responsibility to confront this history directly and to ensure that no person is excluded from basic human dignity and constitutional protection.

What This Means for Our Community

This $18,000 investment will allow us to move from vision to implementation.

It will help us:

---- Develop high-quality educational materials for community members, legislators, faith groups, students, and partner organizations.

---- Host public forums, workshops, and community conversations that invite people into the work.

---- Build stronger partnerships with organizations committed to racial justice, criminal legal reform, immigrant justice, labor rights, and human rights.

---- Support directly impacted leadership and ensure that those closest to the harm are centered in the movement.

---- Coordinate advocacy efforts ahead of the 2027 General Assembly session.

---- Create the momentum needed to advance constitutional change in Virginia.

This work is about more than policy. It is about truth-telling, repair, dignity, and freedom. It is about recognizing that slavery did not simply disappear; it evolved, and its legal exception continues to shape systems of punishment, labor, and control today.

How You Can Get Involved

The strength of this campaign comes from the people who believe in it. As we move into this next phase, we invite you to join us.

You can support the campaign by attending upcoming events, volunteering your time or skills, inviting us to speak with your organization or congregation, sharing our updates with your networks, joining the coalition, or contacting your representatives to let them know that you support ending slavery and involuntary servitude in Virginia without exception.

Every conversation matters. Every organization that joins matters. Every legislator who hears from constituents matters. Every person who learns the truth and decides to act helps bring us closer to freedom.

Looking Ahead

These grants are more than financial support. They are a vote of confidence in our vision, our leadership, and the growing movement to finally abolish slavery in Virginia without exception.

We are energized, grateful, and ready for the work ahead.

To the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, the Unitarian Universalist Fund for a Just Society, our partners, our supporters, and everyone who has believed in this campaign from the beginning: thank you.

Together, we are building the power, the clarity, and the coalition needed to win.

Stay tuned for upcoming events, coalition opportunities, public education sessions, and legislative updates as we prepare for the 2027 General Assembly.

Let’s move forward with purpose, courage, and hope.