#51 Gabrielle Jackson, UndocuBlack Network

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.