Nearly half a million people who haven’ t been convicted of a crime are currently incarcerated because they can’t afford to pay bail as they await their trials. And with the disproportionately low amount of wealth and resources for black individuals combined with higher rates of policing thanks to racial discrimination, this problem is especially tough for their community.
A few months ago, Oakland-based tech entrepreneur Kortney Ziegler had an idea to help address this issue: crowdfunding for a bail fund using spare change.
And, fortunately, it recently became a reality. He teamed up with co-founder Tiffany Mikell and the National Bail Out organization to create a new app called Appolition. Gizmodo explains how it would work:
Inspired by bail relief initiatives and the moneymaking potential of a well-timed tweet, Ziegler took to Twitter this summer with a radical idea: a spare change app that could benefit thousands of incarcerated people across the country. Tied to your bank account, the app would, for example, donate the remaining 20 cents to a bail relief organisation when you buy something for $US1.80.
Ziegler knows this isn’t a way to fix the core problem: a classist and racist bail system, but he still sees the power in helping to make a difference in the lives of black people separated from their families before simply because they’re poor. As he told The Source:
Although bail relief via an app isn’t the perfect solution to true abolishment of the prison industrial complex, being able to provide a tiny dent in the system along the way is always important. Supporting the work that prison abolitionists are already doing, is my contribution.
Learn more about the app on its official website: Appolition.us.