Feb 25, 2019
A new organization is amplifying the voices of those who are
often invisible in the immigration narrative, undocumented
Black people. The UndocuBlack Network started when a group of
currently and formerly undocumented Black people came together
after Freddy Gray, a Baltimore resident, died from injuries
sustained while in police custody. In just 3 years, the UndocuBlack
Network has blossomed into a national nonprofit. As Gabrielle
Jackson, co-founder and Mental Wellness Director explains,
undocumented people from the Caribbean, United Kingdom, Latin
America and the African Continent are deported at significantly
higher rates than other populations and their stories are often
underreported. A childhood arrival from Trinidad and Tobago,
Gabrielle wants no one else to feel the kind of aloneness that she
did. As she says, We focus on both policy advocacy and
mental illness and mental wellness issues. You have
the right not just to survive but to thrive.