Simpson and Ruben built an organization-based coalition and initiated the Atlanta Protected Campaign in June 2022. They kicked off a mutual aid fund for formerly incarcerated small business owners, raising over $100,000 and doling out more than 100 grants.Īfter starting the mutual aid fund, Simpson and Ruben began asking, “What would it look like if we were protected from what’s become a handicap to us?” They settled on a comprehensive solution: establishing incarcerated people as a protected class. She and her former prison roommate Denise Ruben decided to take matters into their own hands by launching Barred Business, a membership-based organization with a mission of helping formerly incarcerated people. But then, at the beginning of the pandemic, Simpson was told she couldn’t apply for small business loans because of her formerly incarcerated status. Is it just to constantly suffer and just go through this cycle?”įacing a dearth of jobs, many formerly incarcerated people like Simpson start their own small businesses. ‘No, no, no, no, no.’ I considered just driving off the road, because I just didn’t understand the purpose for my life. “I wasn’t able to get a place to live, I applied to like, 40 plus places. It turned out to be 10.įast forward to her release in 2018, and Simpson was jolted with another surprise: Her formerly incarcerated status barred her from accessing the basic things she needed for survival, like employment and housing. Fired from her job, emotionally exhausted and without competent counsel, she decided to take a plea deal for what she thought was a two-year stint in Georgia’s state prison system. After her mom bonded her out of jail with funds she scraped together from selling her home, Simpson was forced to wear an ankle monitor that cost $600 a month. It was Simpson’s first time being charged with any crimes and she was petrified. They were very adamant about getting me locked up.” “My district attorney, Paul Howard, knew I didn’t commit the crimes. “I thought my life was going to be one way and it did not turn out that way,” Simpson told Truthout. Her ex-fiancé had used her car for robberies in Georgia, and she was being arrested and extradited for accessory to armed robbery. A judge had just ruled on her traffic ticket in New Jersey, when she was suddenly surrounded by a sea of cops. Bridgette Simpson said she was a bright-eyed and bushy tailed 23-year-old college graduate when she suddenly found herself living a nightmare.
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