A pregnant Black activist who is serving a four-year prison sentence for comments she made to police during a racial justice protest said she is ill and fears she is at risk of giving birth prematurely because of the ongoing stress of being behind bars.
Brittany Martin, second from left, confronts police while demonstrating in support of George Floyd in Sumter, S.C., on May 31, 2020.
“I’m praying that I at least hold her until my 38th week. I just want her to be fully developed,” Martin told NBC News in a phone call from Camille Graham Correctional Center in Columbia, South Carolina. Martin said her stay in prison and the death of her son have been extremely difficult also for her partner of eight years, Eric Kennedy, who is also the father of her unborn child.
“Death does a lot to different families, and it’s been a year of tragedy for my family,” she said, adding that she just wants her family back together.