Since we’re off tomorrow, From the Frontlines arrives in your inbox a day early. Rest, renewal, and joy are vital parts of creating the world we want to live in. Building power is about taking care of one another, our own communities, and uniting for the greater good. Whether you choose to escape the heat for a long weekend or take to the streets in resistance at the People’s Parade, we will continue to rise up together.
Friday was Juneteenth, a holiday that marks the moment of the end of slavery in the United States.
Abolishing slavery was a monumental achievement in a country built on the labor of enslaved people. Courageous people worked together across race and class over many generations to win this victory. Justice doesn’t happen naturally—it requires sustained action. A. Philip Randolph, a Black labor leader and founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, said, “Freedom is never granted: It is won. Justice is never given: It is exacted. Freedom and justice must be struggled for by the oppressed of all lands and races.”
Randolph’s words still resonate today. We are still winning our freedom. We are still exacting our justice. And we are struggling and winning in community, arm in arm with each other. At Tribute to Change two weeks ago, we felt the power of collective effervescence, of a call-and-response of “Sí Se Puede” led by Juntos and echoed by hundreds of us.
In English, we have dozens of words to describe a gathering of people: a meeting, a party, a congregation, an assembly, a crowd, a congress, a huddle, and many more. We have so many words because we have so many reasons to come together. Our most ancient impulse to band together is to protect each other, to have strength in numbers against a harsh climate.
Next Thursday, June 11 is Tribute to Change. Why does Bread & Roses Community Fund host Tribute to Change each year? Because we know how powerful it is to bring people together across movements, generations, gender, race, and class. To feel the real strength in our numbers and to declare our commitments to protecting each other. To build trust, to grieve, to celebrate, to immerse ourselves in the collective and emerge re-energized, invigorated, hopeful. Will you be there?
In July, Philadelphia’s new “ICE Out” laws will go into effect, restricting the powers of ICE agents within our city. Movements made this happen, grassroots groups coming together into a powerful coalition that put pressure on lawmakers to protect our immigrant communities. These laws are among the toughest in the country: Philadelphia movement groups are leading the way to a shared vision of community safety.
Next Thursday, May 21, Bread & Roses Community Fund is holding Solidarity in Action: Showing Up for Immigrant Rights at the Friends Center (1501 Cherry Street) from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. It’s a town hall to tell stories, build relationships, and get ready to take collective action for immigrants’ rights.
Please join Bread & Roses Community Fund for a town hall, Solidarity in Action: Showing Up for Immigrant Rights, on Thursday, May 21, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 pm. at the Friends Center (1501 Cherry Street).
You’ll hear from Bread & Roses grantees who are organizing on the frontlines in the fight against ICE. You’ll connect with friends and neighbors to talk about what solidarity looks like right now. And you’ll find ways to take meaningful action. If you’re looking for a way to stay engaged and be in community, I hope you’ll join us.
Registration is required. Food will be provided. Children are welcome, and childcare will be provided if requested with registration.
You probably saw that Philadelphia City Council recently passed “ICE Out” legislation—and that Mayor Cherelle Parker signed six out of seven bills into law, affirming some of the strictest restrictions on ICE operations in the country. This victory is the result of persistent organizing by a coalition of groups from across the Philadelphia region. On May 21, you’ll hear directly from some of the key changemakers in this movement:
Despite this encouraging news, the fight is far from over. Even as federal tactics are shifting, local solidarity with immigrants is crucial and makes a difference in what happens next. Our neighbors and loved ones need all of us to show up, stay informed, and take action together.
Don’t forget to register today. We look forward to seeing you May 21 at the Friends Center for this incredible night!
Since 1982, people seeking abortion care in Pennsylvania have been unable to use Medicaid to cover the cost. But thanks to decades of organizing, that unjust law was ruled unconstitutional on April 20.
This victory allowing Medicaid to be used for abortion care is the result of steady pressure from a broad coalition including Abortion Liberation Fund of Pennsylvania, Women’s Law Project, Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, and other abortion providers, organizers, and allies.
Because of movements, the tide is turning towards reproductive freedom. Over 30 years, the state of Pennsylvania paid a total of $134 million to Real Alternatives, a network of crisis pregnancy centers that coerced people seeking abortions into not having abortions. This contract was finally cancelled in 2023 after organizing campaigns raised awareness about this misuse of public funds. And now, because of the April 20 victory, public funding will be used to cover abortion care for people on Medicaid across the state.
Fear is a powerful tool. People who are afraid are more compliant, less likely to speak up. Today’s ICE patrols are a real threat to immigrants’ safety and livelihoods. But across the country, people are fighting back against ICE’s campaign of fear. In the past few weeks, Philadelphia clergy members have used civil disobedience, physically blocking garage exits to prevent ICE from going out into the city.
This week, thanks to the hard work of a coalition of movement organizations, Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed an “ICE Out” package of seven bills on Monday. Next week, it will head to Mayor Parker.
The ICE Out bills limit ICE’s powers across several fronts, including:
In a huge win for grassroots organizing, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on March 26 that mandatory life sentences without parole for second-degree murder—also known as Death by Incarceration—are unconstitutional. Before this ruling, people who were convicted of any involvement in a crime that led to a death, regardless of their individual culpability, received the same sentence as the person convicted of murder.
This victory in the long struggle to dismantle Death by Incarceration was led by Amistad Law Project and Abolitionist Law Center, alongside a coalition of other movement organizations.
Kris Henderson, co-executive director of Amistad Law Project, told Bread & Roses: “This win is the result of decades of movement building by grassroots organizations both inside and outside prisons walls, like the Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration. Incarcerated people have mounted legal arguments in law libraries and mobilized their families and communities out here for their liberation. This win could lead to over 1,000 people who were sentenced to die in prison coming home, and they will be an enormous gift to our communities.”
Last month, 113,735 schoolchildren in Philadelphia won new rights thanks to two years of dedicated organizing by parents. Students in the School District of Philadelphia are now guaranteed daily recess, breaks to use the bathroom and to move their bodies, and access to drinking water. This first-ever student wellness policy also prohibits silent lunches and the use of collective punishment.
Lift Every Voice Philly is the grassroots, Black-led, multiracial parent organization responsible for winning this victory for children’s wellness. They started by listening to hundreds of parents and students share their concerns and hopes. Those conversations led them to create The Campaign for Joy in Schools, which outlined a list of specific policy changes they wanted to make. Then, they put pressure on City Council and the School District of Philadelphia, showing up with focus and determination.
By banding together and exercising their collective power, Lift Every Voice Philly won policy changes that make school safer, more dignified, and more joyful for over 100,000 students currently enrolled, as well as for all students enrolling in the future.
In Zulene Mayfield’s neighborhood in Chester, 27% of children have asthma, a rate four times the national average. The culprit is a polluting trash incinerator run by Reworld (formerly Covanta) that operates right across the street from the residential neighborhood. On one nearby block, every single household has lost someone to cancer.
To fight back, Zulene and other people affected by the pollution formed Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living in 1992. Since then, they have organized to hold Reworld accountable for the devastating harm they have caused in their community.
Bread & Roses honored Zulene at the 2025 Tribute to Change, awarding her the Paul Robeson Lifetime Achievement Award for her determination and courage in the face of persistent environmental racism.