Muffin Hudson (she/her)
Board of Directors
Andréa “Muffin” Hudson is an activist, abolitionist and a freedom fighter who fights for people's rights in and out of the courtroom. Her own interaction with the criminal justice system which led to incarceration resulted in homelessness, restriction of employment opportunities and access to support services. With two children, the intersectionality of the aforementioned consequences, coupled with systemic racial discrimination directed her to advocacy, where, while trying to find remedies for herself, enabled her to become a leader in service to others.
She truly began her advocacy journey becoming steeped in the work of participatory defense. First becoming trained in the model and subsequently working with directly impacted people to Participatory defense with families that have gone through the court system. By leading and working with families to research and identify legal precedents, create socio-bio files that fully humanize the accused, Durham Participatory Defense has saved over 1000 years of incarceration for people. She also leads the court mobbing effort which is showing up to court in force,along with court watching training. She has been able to be in solidarity with black and brown people who are over criminalized by our judicial system. Ms. Hudson added to this work by becoming a core leadership member and organizer of North Carolina chapter of All of Us or None, an organization that seeks to end the acceptance of mass incarceration and punitive justice while educating and seeking liberation, equity and awareness of the harm and collateral consequences our current system imposes disproportionately in Communities of Color. She is a self-proclaimed prison abolitionist, and concurrent with leading weekly rolling protests at the Durham County jail to advocate for the release of prisoners during this current COVID-19 pandemic. She currently serves as the Executive Director of North Carolina’s first community bail fund in Durham, NC.
Her advocacy has been recognized and lauded by community and local government. She was invited to serve on the Durham Human Relations Commission. She currently serves on the board for Communities in Partnership.In addition, she is on the leadership board of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, an organization committed to abolishing incarceration of women and girls.
Mrs. Hudson has built a reputation for bold truth telling, demanding the same level of accountability across the board, and bringing attention to the harm our current system engages in on communities and people that have been impacted and dehumanized by lack of integrity, truth, and true justice within our current system-all built on systemic and institutional racism.
