
OUR MISSION, VISION, AND CORE VALUES
OUR MISSION
Barred Business’ mission is to heal, empower, educate, activate, resource, and build the power of all marginalized justice-impacted people, LGBTQIA+ people and Trans people of color, their children, families, and communities.
OUR VISION
We envision a world where justice-impacted people can live, earn, build collective power, advance electorally, and grow economically without discrimination. To ensure our vision comes to fruition, we change policies, transform social institutions, and advance electoral strategies to build, seize, and retain power.
OUR CORE VALUES
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WE BELIEVE our communities and our people are beautiful, resilient, and wise, and deserve wellness and safety!
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WE BELIEVE no one should be arrested, harassed by police, or locked in a cage simply because they are poor, were not born in this country, or suffer from unmet mental health or substance abuse needs.
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WE BELIEVE our communities and neighborhoods are made safer and more well when funding goes into community-based services and supports, instead of police and jails. We work to remove the money from our punishment system and put it back into our communities
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WE BELIEVE that there is enough money and resources for the City and County to care for and provide opportunity to all of its people, and to put an end to glaring racial and economic disparities that have plagued us for centuries.
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WE BELIEVE communities most impacted by our criminal legal system and by violence and crime (they are the same communities) are the experts on what is needed for safety and wellness. They should be the deciders in the reallocation of funds and the repurposing of the facility (and in most city development projects).
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WE BELIEVE women--cis, trans, gender non- conforming, in particular - and nonbinary people bear the brunt of many of the negative economic and social impacts of over-policing and jails, because we have been locked up for trying to survive, or because we are the ones most often paying the fines, fees, bail, and housing, feeding, and supporting our formerly incarcerated loved ones in our homes with no help from the city, county, or state.
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WE BELIEVE that when the most marginalized of our communities are helped, healed, and made whole, other members of our communities are also restored.
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WE BELIEVE in redemption. And that the City of Atlanta needs it.
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WE BELIEVE in putting an end to the racist and classist "broken window/quality of life" policing and the courts that make their money off the poorest and most vulnerable in our communities.