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Intersectionality Matters!

Intersectionality Matters! is a podcast hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory.

African American Policy Forum

Host Kimberlé Crenshaw and author Jamilah Lemieux reflect on how it feels to release their first memoirs.

On the heeels of the release of Backtalker: An American Memoir, author Kimberlé Crenshaw embarks on a series of conversations with fellow Backtalkers — those who speak truth to power and habitually challenge injustices that others deem unfixable. This is episode two. For the inaugural episode of the series, go back to episode 79 with Cheryl Harris.

In this episode, you'll hear abou the reclamation of “baby mama,” how popular culture and respectability politics shaped perceptions of Black families, and Lemieux’s shifting understanding of how we define family. The conversation traces the Moynihan Report’s lasting influence across Black political thought, and connects it to debates about Black solidarity across genders, accountability for harm to Black women, and policy priorities in inititiatives like My Brother’s Keeper. Lemieux also discusses what motivates her to keep Backtalking, despite backlash.

Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Connect with us:


  ⁠⁠⁠Donate to our show⁠⁠

  Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠

  Order Kimberlé Crenshaw's book, Backtalker: An American Memoir

81. Backtalking with Jamilah Lemieux

America turns 250—the momentous milestone comes to us cloaked in surreality. Anniversaries usually ask us to remember. This one asks whether we are willing to remember everything. 



This episode explores why, after two and a half centuries, our national narrative still clings to the anti-Blackness embedded in the nation’s founding, all while insisting that this bleak history no longer deserves our attention. 

How do we commemorate a republic built by people whose lives, labor, knowledge, and testimony are continually erased from the stories we tell about America? 

Host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by Sarah Lewis, Clint Smith, Mark Rosenbaum, and Ibram X Kendi.



Music by Blue Dot Sessions



Connect with us:


  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Donate to our show⁠⁠⁠

  Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


  Order Kimberlé Crenshaw's book, ⁠Backtalker: An American Memoir⁠

80. Whose America? Whose Story?

Host Kimberlé Crenshaw and celebrated legal professor Cheryl Harris discuss the creative process  and anticipated release of Crenshaw's latest book, Backtalker: An American Memoir.



Crenshaw’s memoir traces the way her lived experience made her see things others didn’t. It chronicles the earliest moments she starts to talk back, and the journeys that backtalking has taken Crenshaw on throughout her life. 



Music courtesy of Blue Dot Sessions.

Connect with us:


  ⁠⁠⁠Donate to our show⁠⁠

  Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠


  Order Kimberlé Crenshaw's book, Backtalker: An American Memoir


  Register for Backtalkers Academy, running throughout Spring/Summer 2026

  Check out UCLA Law Review's podcast

79. Introducing Backtalker: an American Memoir

Host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by award-winning radio host Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead and playwright and feminist activist V (formerly Eve Ensler), author of The Apology. Together they discuss the 2026 NCAA Women's Final Four game, where coach Geno Auriemma aggressively confronted Coach Don Staley after she led her team to victory against his. 

They discuss the mysogynoir of this moment, the insufficient apologies that followed, and what genuine accountability requires.



Music by Blue Dot Sessions.



Clips in this episode from:


  ESPN


Connect with us:


  ⁠⁠⁠Donate to our show⁠⁠

  Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠


  Order Kimberlé Crenshaw's book, Backtalker: An American Memoir


  Register for Backtalkers Academy, running throughout Spring/Summer 2026

78. Misogynoir, Basketball, and the Art of Accountability

On Cesar Chavez Day and the close of Women's History Month, host Kimberlé Crenshaw and award-winning radio host Kaye Wise Whitehead unpack a painful reckoning: recent New York Times revelations of sexual abuse by labor icon Cesar Chavez, including allegations from movement co-founder Dolores Huerta, who broke her silence at age 95. Together they explore why survivors delay disclosure, how hero worship in liberation movements hurts women and girls, and the tension between honoring a movement's legacy while confronting its darkest truths.



Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Clips in this episode from:


  PBS News Hour: Investigation uncovers sexual abuse allegations against Cesar Chavez

  ABC News: Dolores Huerta: Her Words, Her Movement


Connect with us:


  ⁠⁠⁠Donate to our show⁠⁠

  Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠


  ⁠⁠Pre-order Backtalker: An American Memoir and find a book tour date near you at www.kimberlécrenshaw.com

77. Heroes, Harm and History: Chavez's Legacy and Women's History Month

This episode is an act of recovery, uplifting the artistic careers that McCarthyism upended through an immersive blend of conversation and artivism performances. This is part two. Click here for part one.

Host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay; Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen; and former President of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and film scholar Jacqueline Stewart.

Hear powerful artivism performances by two-time Tony Award winning actor Kara Young (Purlie Victorious, Purpose) and Tony-nominated actor Jon Michael Hill (Purpose, Elementary, Detroit 1-8-7, A Man in Full), directed by Professor of Theatre and Africana Studies at Oberlin College Justin Emeka.



Music by Blue Dot Sessions.



Connect with us:


  ⁠⁠Donate to our show⁠

  Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠


  ⁠Watch an extended cut of this presentation on Youtube⁠

  ⁠Read the Sundance 2026 Director's Cut⁠

76. The Story of Us 2026, Part 2

This episode explores the life and legacy of Jesse Jackson—from organizing alongside Martin Luther King Jr. to building the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and reshaping the American electorate through his historic presidential campaigns. Challenging the media’s narrow framing of Jackson's impact in the wake of his passing, the episode uplifts the ways that his strategy, diplomacy, and inclusive vision laid the groundwork for a stronger democracy — exploring nuances that are often overlooked.

Host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by former DNC Chair Donna Brazile, President and Founder of the Truth and Justice Coalition Barbara Arnine, and Professor of Political Science at Hunter College-CUNY Joseph Lowndes.



Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Clips in this episode from:


  ABC News

  CNN 

  CBS 

  Seasme Street

  Democracy Now

  Amanpour & Company


Connect with us:


  ⁠⁠Donate to our show⁠

  Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠


  ⁠Watch an extended cut of this presentation on Youtube⁠

75. Unfinished Business: Racial Justice After Jesse Jackson

This episode is an act of recovery, uplifting the artistic careers that McCarthyism upended through an immersive blend of conversation and artivism performances. 

Host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay; Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen; and former President of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and film scholar Jacqueline Stewart.

Hear powerful artivism performances by two-time Tony Award winning actor Kara Young (Purlie Victorious, Purpose) and Tony-nominated actor Jon Michael Hill (Purpose, Elementary, Detroit 1-8-7, A Man in Full), directed by Professor of Theatre and Africana Studies at Oberlin College Justin Emeka. 



Music by Blue Dot Sessions.



Connect with us:


  ⁠⁠Donate to our show⁠

  Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠


  ⁠Watch an extended cut of this presentation on Youtube⁠

  ⁠Read the Sundance 2026 Directors' Cut⁠

74. The Story of Us 2026, Part 1

Music has long been central to the fight for freedom—the rhythmic heartbeat of the struggle for justice. From Beyoncé to Shaboozey to L’il Nas X and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, Black artists have sparked a much-needed conversation about the rich legacy of Black artistic achievement in multiple genres of American music. This episode celebrates the Black roots of country, blues and folk music by bringing together a dynamic group of artists and scholars to reclaim this often ignored history.

Guests: Jake Blount (Musician and Historian), Amythyst Kiah (Banjo Player and Historian), Amanda Ewing (Luthier), Tim Wise ( Writer and Racial Justice Educator), Denitia Odigie (Musician).


  Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw, produced by the team at the African American Policy Forum

   Sr. Podcast Producer /Mixer Nicole Edwards

  Find more on our show and the African American Policy Forum at ⁠aapf.org⁠




  Music by Blue Dot Sessions, Beyoncé, DeFord Bailey.

  Follow the podcast on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠Facebook⁠, and ⁠Bluesky⁠


  Check out our special series on the attack against CRT and DEI called ⁠United States of Amnesia: The Real Histories of Critical Race Theory


  Donate to our show

73.  The Sounds of Us

It's the 11th anniversary of the #SayHerName Campaign.  To commemorate, we're uplifting a favourite #SayHerName episode from our archive.



Please join us on Dec 8 in NYC for a staged reading of #SayHerName - The Lives That Should have been, featuring a star-studded cast of performers, a talkback with the mothers of the #SayHerName Mothers Network, and a post-show party with performances by special guests. Get your tickets here.





This episode highlights a new milestone for the #SayHerName campaign: a new book, entitled #SayHerName: Black Women’s Stories of Police Violence and Public Silence. 

Co-authored by podcast host Kimberlé Crenshaw and the team at the African American Policy Forum, this book helps readers better understand Black women's susceptibility to police brutality and state-sanctioned violence. It explains —through Black feminist storytelling and ritual — how we can effectively mobilize various communities and empower them to advocate for racial justice for Black women, girls, and femmes.

In this podcast episode, you'll hear incredible performances from actors at each of our #SayHerName book tour stops in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Baltimore. You'll also hear from members from the #SayHerName Mothers Network, a sisterhood of women who have lost other women, girls and femmes in their family to police violence.

You'll also hear from Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead, Dr. Dorothy Roberts, and Kali Holloway, each of whom served as cohosts at book tour stops in their respective cities. They reflected with Dr. Crenshaw on the power of the tour, the calls to action from the book, and the urgency of the lessons the book contains.

Centering Black women’s experiences in police and gender violence discourses sends the powerful message that, in fact, all #BlackLivesMatter, and that the police cannot kill without consequence. Supporting AAPF ensures that this important research and testimony continues to inspire change.

To purchase your copy, click ⁠here⁠. 

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks), with Dorothy Roberts @DorothyERoberts, Kaye Wise Whitehead @kayewhitehead, and Kali Holloway @kalihollowayftw.

Produced by Nicole Edwards and the team at the African American Policy Forum. 

Mixing by Sean Dunnam 

Music by Blue Dot Sessions 

Follow us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.

ENCORE: 54. #SayHerName - the Art of Bearing Witness on the Page and Stage

This episode features Legal Defense Fund President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson with professors Carol Anderson and Nancy MacLean, in conversation with our host Kimberlé Crenshaw. This riveting and timely conversation shows how anti-Blackness can be weaponized to harm democracy for all through voter suppression, money in politics, and the erosion of democratic safeguards.


  Clips in this episode from Democracy Forward - How Louisiana v. Callais Could Change Voting Rights and Anti-Discrimination Protections


  Music by Blue Dot Sessions

  Follow us on Instagram, Facecbook, and Bluesky)

  Learn more about the African American Policy Forum at aapf.org. 

  Donate here.

72. Why Authoritarians Fear Democracy

Host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by authors Jason Stanley and Randi Weingarten to discuss why authoritarians and fascists target education on the path to destabilizing democracy. They unpack how book bans, attacks on teachers, and efforts to erase history from public institutions threaten the democratic project, and what we can do to fight back.




  Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw, produced by Kevin Minofu, Sr. Producer Nicole Edwards, and the team at AAPF

  Find more on our show and the African American Policy Forum at aapf.org


  News clips from Tamron Hall and WJHL, CTV News


  Music by Blue Dot Sessions

  Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky


  Check out our special series on the attack against CRT and DEI called United States of Amnesia: The Real Histories of Critical Race Theory

71. Why Authoritarians Fear Education

As we slide into autocracy, disparities impacting Black Americans are being ignored while Black excellence is actively erased from our workplaces, museums, and history books. These attacks are no longer cloaked with dog whistles. They're happening in plain sight, and endangering our health, eliminating our jobs, and gutting our civil rights infrastructure. Despite the scale of this attack, the response remains muted—even within our own communities. What must we do to sound the alarm and ensure that others hear it? Where do we go from here?

Featuring:


  Kimberlé Crenshaw, African American Policy Forum

  Melanie Campbell, Convener of Black Women's Roundtable

  Evelynn Hammonds, Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and Professor of African and African American Studies

  Lisa Coleman, President of Adler University

  Kaye Wise Whitehead, President & CEO National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP)

70. How Anti-Blackness Destroys Democracy

In part 2 of this series, host Kimberlé Crenshaw, refutes the myth that book and curricula bans seek to restore “parental choice” over what kids are exposed to, linking attacks on school lessons about race, gender and more to  a broader attack against public education and democracy itself. Join as she traces the history of today's prominent, pro-censorship parent groups throughout American history, back to the Daughters of the Confederacy.  



Featuring:

- Karen Cox, professor of History at UNC-Charlotte

- David Yacovone, lifetime associate at Harvard University’s Hutchin’s Centre for African and African American Research, and author of author of Teaching White Supremacy



This is an Intersectionality Matters! podcast, produced by the African American Policy Forum.



Hosted and co-written by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)

Sr Producer and co-writer Nicole Edwards

Associate Producers Madison Belo and Sana Hashmi

Mixing by Reza Daya with support from Sean Dunnam

Follow us on Bluesky and Instagram , or via aapf.org

Part 2: United States of Amnesia: The Real Histories of CRT - Weaponizing (White) Parents' Rights

A special collaboration with Today with Dr. Kaye, this episode was taped live at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C.



Host Kimberlé Crenshaw, with Kaye Wise Whitehead and guests Time Wise, Karen Attiah, Melanie Campbell, Janel George, Ambassador Elizabeth McKune, and Barbara Arnwine, discuss the importance of protecting Black American history through fighting for the Smithsonian, and why the struggle to protect museums goes hand in hand with the struggle to protect democracy.



Learn more about the Freedom to Learn Coalition and the annual National Week of Action at freedomtolearn.net



This episode was produced by the team at the African American Policy Forum and the team at Today With Dr. Kaye from WEAA.



Music by Blue Dot Sessions

69. The Battle for America's Memory, Part 2

At the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. They explore how museums shape national identity. They also historicize the current political attacks aiming to erase Black narratives, as institutions like the Smithsonian and Whitney Plantation face censorship and defunding because of executive orders. 



This episode outlines why defending America's memory is essential to defending democracy itself.



Dive deeper:


  Learn more about The Legacy Museum here: https://legacysites.eji.org/about/museum/


  Learn about the Freedom to Learn Network's National Week of Action here: https://www.freedomtolearn.net/





This episode used clips from:


  ABC News 7 WJLA

  Harvard Historian Responds to Trump’s Order Targeting the Smithsonian | Amanpour and Company

  WUSA9 Gov. Moore reacts to changes at Smithsonian




Hosted and co-written by Kimberlé Crenshaw

Sr Producer and co-writer Nicole Edwards

Mixing by Sean Dunnam

Scripting support from Kevin Minofu, Kristin Penner, Meredith Shiner,  and Tim Wise.

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

68. The Battle for America's Memory

Host Kimberlé Crenshaw takes listeners to Alabama to learn about the contemporary importance of Bloody Sunday and the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.

Featuring: 
Cliff Albright, co-founder, Black Voters Matter
LaTosha Brown, co-founder, Black Voters Matter
Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF)
1965 foot soldiers Denise Jaringan-Holt and Alice Moore

Click here to listen an uncut conversation about the Selma Jubilee with Kimberlé Crenshaw on the Laura Flanders and Friends podcast.

Podcast co-written and produced by Sr. Producer Nicole Edwards
Mixing and sound design by Sean Dunnam
Podcast art by Ashley Julien 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters (Twitter), @IMKC_podcast (Instagram + Bluesky)

67. Bloody Sunday, 60 Years Later

In this episode, host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by some of the country's brightest legal minds to discuss the Trump administration's executive orders, how they'll affect progressive movements, and what communities can do to defend those affected.


Watch the extended version of this episode 

Learn more about Trump's executive orders and their potential harms


Featuring: 
Damon Hewitt
David J. Johns
Russel Robinson
Nina Turner


Podcast mixed and produced by Sr. Producer Nicole Edwards 
Under the Blacklight is produced by Kevin Minofu
Podcast art by Ashley Julien 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters (Twitter), @IMKC_podcast (Instagram + Bluesky)

66. Executive Disorder

In the first episode of this limited series, Critical Race Theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw takes listeners on a journey through the origin story of Critical Race Theory (CRT), from her days as a student demanding desegregation at Harvard, to the moment she learned President Trump banned CRT in his 2020 executive order. This episode delves into the hopes and inspiration that birthed the CRT legal movement, and how the current opposition to CRT is history repeating itself.

Support our work: https://www.aapf.org/donate

Host: Kimberlé Crenshaw
Sr. producer/Writer: Nicole Edwards
Mixing and Sound Design: Reza Daya
Addition mixing support: Sean Dunnam
Associate Producers: Madison Bello, Gordon Curry, Sana Hashmi, Kaila Philo, African American Policy Forum team.
Art: Work By Index

Part 1: United States of Amnesia: The Real Histories of CRT - The Students Who Protested

In a new series, host Kimberlé Crenshaw takes listeners on a journey through the real history of critical race theory (CRT). She explores the "anti-CRT" legislative attacks against public education, and as a founding critical race theorist, Prof. Crenshaw provides a first-hand account of the origin of the theory, from its inception at Harvard Law School to the current backlash against it.
Through interviews with thought leaders, activists, academics and the communities affected by anti-CRT and anti-DEI legislation, in this series, Kimberlé Crenshaw uplifts the cycles of history we see repeating before us in the present day, all in the hopes of curing the amnesia that keeps us stuck in the cycles of history.

Coming Soon - United States of Amnesia: The Real History of Critical Race Theory

In the final episode of AAPF's election roundtable podcast series, host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by Black women advocates, analysts and activists to offer their side of the story about the election and highlight the risks to American democracy if Black women and their experiences continue to be erased.

Watch the extended version on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/live/0g8WK8CDS3c?si=nviixofPcmxBcFNd

Featuring:


Barbara Arnwine, President & Founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition 



Karen Attiah, Columnist for the Washington Post



Kirsten West Savali, Vice President of Content: iOne Digital



LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund and the BVM Capacity Building Institute



Special thanks to:


Melanie Campbell, President & CEO National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Convener of Black Women's Roundtable 



Fran Phillips-Calhoun, Atlanta Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta



Kaye Wise Whitehead, AAPF Special Projects Manager and founder of the Karson Institute for Race, Peace and Social Justice at Loyola University



Produced by Sr. Producer Nicole Edwards 
Mixing by Sean Dunnam Associate 
Art by Ashley Julien 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters (Twitter), @IMKC_podcast (Instagram)
Music by Blue Dot Sessions

65. Views from the 92%: Black Women Reflect on the 2024 Election and the Road Ahead

Welcome to AAPF's Election 2024 Round Table, Part 3!

There is a lot of noise to cut through right now when it comes to the important issues at stake in the election. To bring nuance to the mainstream media narratives, between now and election day, the African American Policy Forum presents a series of election round table conversations featuring three thinkers who are deeply enmeshed in academia, media, and community activism unpacking what’s at stake on Nov 5th: Kirsten West Savali, Kaye Wise Whitehead, and Tim Wise.

The trio will tackle the issues that are likely to make a difference as we come down to the wire: threats to democracy, racial and reproductive justice, policing, Project 2025, and more.

Featuring:
Kirsten West Savali, VP of Content at Urban One’s iOne Digital, and former Executive Producer of News & Politics Editor for Essence magazine (@KWestSavali)
Kaye Wise Whitehead, host of Today with Dr. Kaye on WEAA and founding executive director of The Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice at Loyola University (@blackmommyactivist)
Tim Wise, anti-racist writer, lecturer and African American Policy Forum Senior Fellow (@timjacobwise)

Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Read AAPF and HIT Strategies' Race-Forward Messaging Report here.

64. Election 2024 Round Table, Part 3

Welcome to AAPF's Election Round Table Series, Part 2!

There is a lot of noise to cut through right now when it comes to the important issues at stake in the election. To bring nuance to the mainstream media narratives, between now and election day, the African American Policy Forum presents a series of election round table conversations featuring three thinkers who are deeply enmeshed in academia, media, and community activism unpacking what’s at stake on Nov 5th: Kirsten West Savali, Kaye Wise Whitehead, and Tim Wise.
The trio will tackle the issues that are likely to make a difference as we come down to the wire: threats to democracy, racial and reproductive justice, policing, Project 2025, and more.

Featuring:
Kirsten West Savali, VP of Content at Urban One’s iOne Digital, and former Executive Producer of News & Politics Editor for Essence magazine (@KWestSavali)
Kaye Wise Whitehead, host of Today with Dr. Kaye on WEAA and founding executive director of The Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice at Loyola University (@blackmommyactivist)
Tim Wise, anti-racist writer, lecturer and African American Policy Forum Senior Fellow

Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Read AAPF and HIT Strategies' Race-Forward Messaging Report here.

63. Election 2024 Round Table, Part 2

There is a lot of noise to cut through right now when it comes to the important issues at stake in the election. To bring nuance to the mainstream media narratives, between now and election day, the African American Policy Forum presents a series of election round table conversations featuring three thinkers who are deeply enmeshed in academia, media, and community activism unpacking what’s at stake on Nov 5th: Kirsten West Savali, Kaye Wise Whitehead, and Tim Wise.

The trio will tackle the issues that are likely to make a difference as we come down to the wire: threats to democracy, racial and reproductive justice, policing, Project 2025, and more.

Featuring:
Kirsten West Savali, VP of Content at Urban One’s iOne Digital, and former Executive Producer of News & Politics Editor for Essence magazine (@KWestSavali)
Kaye Wise Whitehead, host of Today with Dr. Kaye on WEAA and founding executive director of The Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice at Loyola University (@blackmommyactivist)
Tim Wise, anti-racist writer, lecturer and African American Policy Forum Senior Fellow (@timjacobwise)

Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Read AAPF and HIT Strategies' Race-Forward Messaging Report here.

62. Election 2024 Round Table, Part 1

Attorney Ben Crump joins host Kimberlé Crenshaw and members of the #SayHerName Mothers Network to spotlight the ongoing fight for justice for the killing of Sonya Massey by police. Warning: this episode contains graphic descriptions of violence.

Listen to conversations with Attorney Crump and other CRT Summer School 2024 participants for a limited time here: https://linktr.ee/intersectionalitymatters

Hosted by: Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)

Featured Guests: Attorney Ben Crump (@attorneycrump)

Senior Producer: Nicole Edwards
Associate Producer: Sana Hashmi
Mixing by Sean Dunnam 
Episode art by Ashley Julien
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us on X (twitter) and Instagram , or via aapf.org

61. Why We Need Police Reform

It’s Freedom Summer 2024! We’re celebrating the 60th anniversary of Freedom Summer 1964, and kicking off our annual Critical Race Theory Summer School in the locus for the recent attacks on racial justice and democracy: Nashville, Tennessee. 
Host, Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by CRT Summer School contributors, Tennessee Representative Justin Jones; Superintendent for CRT summer school and celebrated educator, radio host, and film producer—Kaye Wise Whitehead; and Tim Wise, a groundbreaking anti-racist thinker, author and educator who is also a senior fellow with the AAPF. They discuss Project 2025, the attacks on our democracy, and why Tennessee is the tip of the spear in the fight to keep democracy alive.

Join us in person and online for CRT Summer School 2024: Register now for CRT Summer School 

Hosted by: Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)

Featured Guests:
Rep. Justin Jones (@brotherjones_) 
Kaye Wise Whitehead (@kayewhitehead)
Tim Wise (@timjacobwise)

Senior Producer Nicole Edwards
Associate Producer Madison Belo
Mixing by Sean Dunnam 
Episode art by Ashley Julien
Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Follow us on X (twitter) and Instagram , or via aapf.org

60. Tennessee: Tip of the Spear in the Fight for Democracy

Join host Kimberlé Crenshaw behind the scenes at the African American Policy Forum in this series of brief, intimate conversations on intersectionality and how we can use it to interpret and navigate our multiracial democracy.
This episode features anti-racist author, educator, and lecturer Tim Wise (@timjacobwise)
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced by Sr. Producer Nicole Edwards
Mixing by Sean Dunnam
Episode art by Ashley Julien
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us on Instagram and Twitter, or via aapf.org

59. A moment with Tim Wise

Join host Kimberlé Crenshaw behind the scenes at the African American Policy Forum in this series of brief, intimate conversations on intersectionality and how we can use it to interpret and navigate our multiracial democracy.
This episode features comedian and Emmy-nominated director CJ Hunt (http://gocjhunt.com/).
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced by Sr. Producer Nicole Edwards
Mixing by Sean Dunnam
Episode art by Ashley Julien
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us on Instagram and (Twitter), or via aapf.org

58. A moment with CJ Hunt

Guest Dawn Porter, director of Luther: Never Too Much, joins host Kimberlé Crenshaw to discuss a new Luther Vandross biopic. They explore Luther's unmatched artistry, the intersections of the pop star's lived experience that stopped him from receiving the accolades he rightfully deserved, and his legacy as the soundtrack to so many lives.

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Guest Dawn Porter (@dawnporter)
Produced by Sr. Producer Nicole Edwards
Mixing by Sean Dunnam
Support provided by Sana Hashmi, Jocelyn Walker, and the team at the African American Policy Forum
Episode art by Ashley Julien
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters (Twitter), @IMKC_podcast (Instagram), and aapf.org

57. Never Too Much: The Untold Story of Luther Vandross

Guest host Shermena M. Nelson is joined by Huru founder Imani Joye Samuels to discuss the life-saving importance of rest for Black women. They also unpack strategies for creating a sustainable, effective self care practice.

Shermena, Imani, and other wellness practitioners will host an evening dedicated to Black women's self care calledYou Carry the Dream: Reclaiming Rest and Resilience on March 28th during this year's Her Dream Deferred week. Join in person in NYC, or host a watch party and livestream the event from your area. Find out more here.
Featuring Shermena M Nelson
Imani Joye Samuels
Executive produced by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced by Sr Producer Nicole Edwards
Mixing by Sean Dunnam
Associate Production by Sana Hashmi
Art by Ashley Julien
Support provided by Jocelyn Walker, Kristin Penner and the team at African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters (Twitter), @IMKC_podcast (Instagram)

56. The Revolutionary Act of Self Care

Join Kimberlé Crenshaw and the African American Policy Forum at Sundance Film Festival on January 19th, 2024 at 8 pm MT for The Story of Us (Part 4), live at The Park in Park City, Utah. Register for your free pass here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-story-of-us-surviving-the-war-on-woke-black-storytelling-tickets-793686827667


In this episode, host Kimberlé Crenshaw and African American Policy Forum present the Story of Us (Part 3) panel, recorded live from the Sundance Film Festival in 2023.
As we think about the future of democracy, this instalment of Sundance's "Big Conversation" series builds on the previous two iterations of Kimberlé W. Crenshaw’s The Story of Us, and explores how cinematic storytelling has long been, and continues to be, critical to shaping the contours of democratic inclusion. Who gets to be a hero or a villain in popular depictions of American life? Who gets written out of the story altogether? And how do Hollywood portrayals influence the amount political power that various demographics of Americans hold in real life?

Featuring W Kamau Bell, the 2023 Sundance Vanguard Award winner, comic, and television host
Holly Cook Macarro, Tribal Advocate & Political Strategist
Jason Stanley, author and Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University
Roger Ross Williams, Academy Award-winning Director, Writer, and Producer

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced by Sr Producer Nicole Edwards
Mixing by Sean Dunnam
Support provided by the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters (X), @IMKC_podcast (Instagram)

55. Who gets to be a hero in the story of America?

This episode highlights a new milestone for the #SayHerName campaign: a new book, entitled #SayHerName: Black Women’s Stories of Police Violence and Public Silence. 
Co-authored by podcast host Kimberlé Crenshaw and the team at the African American Policy Forum, this book helps readers better understand Black women's susceptibility to police brutality and state-sanctioned violence. It explains —through Black feminist storytelling and ritual — how we can effectively mobilize various communities and empower them to advocate for racial justice for Black women, girls, and femmes.
In this podcast episode, you'll hear incredible performances from actors at each of our #SayHerName book tour stops in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Baltimore. You'll also hear from members from the #SayHerName Mothers Network, a sisterhood of women who have lost other women, girls and femmes in their family to police violence.
You'll also hear from Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead, Dr. Dorothy Roberts, and Kali Holloway, each of whom served as cohosts at book tour stops in their respective cities. They reflected with Dr. Crenshaw on the power of the tour, the calls to action from the book, and the urgency of the lessons the book contains.
Centering Black women’s experiences in police and gender violence discourses sends the powerful message that, in fact, all #BlackLivesMatter, and that the police cannot kill without consequence. Supporting AAPF ensures that this important research and testimony continues to inspire change.
To purchase your copy, click here. To learn more about the #SayHerName campaign and to register for the 9th annual ceremony of ritual and remembrance happening live in NYC on Dec 14th, go to https://www.aapf.org/sayhername
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks), with Dorothy Roberts @DorothyERoberts, Kaye Wise Whitehead @kayewhitehead, and Kali Holloway @kalihollowayftw.
Produced by Nicole Edwards and the team at the African American Policy Forum. 
Mixing by Sean Dunnam 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

54. #SayHerName: the Art of Bearing Witness on the Page and Stage

To kick off Banned Book Week, host Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) is joined by award-winning author George Johnson (@IamGMJohnson). They talk about the book bans that are sweeping the US, and George's new reality as one of the most banned Black authors in America. They also discuss the triumph of George's memoir, All Boys Aren't Blue, and unpack why George's work is needed now more than ever.
Join AAPF for the second year of the Books Unbanned Tour, kicking off at the Brooklyn Book Festival on Oct 1st. Register for the panel discussion and free afterparty here: http://bit.ly/BKBF23
Learn more about how you can help preserve our freedom to learn here: www.freedomtolearn.net
Produced by Nicole Edwards and the team at the African American Policy Forum.
Mixing by Sean Dunnam
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

53. All My Heroes Were Stolen From Me

In this episode, host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by Cheryl Harris, Robin D.G. Kelley, and Janai Nelson. They explain what has been happening with the College Board’s proposed AP African American Studies course, share a close reading of what the revisions are and what they mean, and discuss what we can all do about it. Kimberlé also shares exciting news about the launch of the Freedom to Learn Network, including information on the national day of action happening on May 3rd, 2023. With: Cheryl Harris, the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at UCLA School of Law Robin D.G. Kelly, the Gary B. Nash Professor of American History at UCLA Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) Produced by Nicole Edwards, with support from Kristin Penner, Kevin Minofu, Marjorie Bostwick, and Heather Malveaux. Mixing by Sean Dunnam. Music by Blue Dot Sessions Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast Resources Go to www.freedomtolearn.net for more information on the campaign, including resources like social media toolkits, and to access Freedom to Learn TV. Register here for the Freedom to Learn Rallies and NYC Reception: https://bit.ly/F2LNYCRally https://bit.ly/F2LDCRally https://bit.ly/F2LNYCReception Find out what people are doing in your area on the Freedom to Learn National Day of Action on May 3rd: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mlNoKD0xvfy372T6tNcm1qDWMdb3GBrTn9hhhAp05pU/edit?usp=sharing Sign the Open Letter on Fighting “Anti-Woke” Censorship of Intersectionality and Black Feminism: bit.ly/NoErasure

52. Democracy at Stake - Fighting for the Freedom to Learn

**TRIGGER WARNING -- THIS EPISODE CONTAINS DESCRIPTIONS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND SOUNDS OF GUNFIRE. PLEASE TAKE CARE WHILE LISTENING.** In this episode, the sisters of Atatiana Jefferson, Amber and Ashley Carr, share a portrait of Atatiana’s life. Atatiana was killed by former police officer Aaron Dean in 2019. He is currently on trial. Host Kimberlé Crenshaw reflects on the Mothers Network and the 8th anniversary of the #SayHerName campaign, which supports Amber, Ashley, and other mothers, sisters, aunts, and loved ones of Black women killed by police. She also reflects on the importance of using an intersectional race and gender lens as we demand police reform. Join us at the #SayHerName: Reclaiming Our Legacy event, where along with the #SayHerName Mothers Network we are looking forward to celebrating, reflecting and engaging in ritual to center the lives of women, girls, and femmes that should have been. Link to virtual attendance: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sayhername-8th-anniversary-tickets-470145436657 Read our #SayHerName report: https://www.aapf.org/sayhername This episode features: Amber and Ashley Carr, the sisters of Atatiana Jefferson, and members of the #SayHerName Mothers Network Find out more about The Atatiana Project https://www.atatianaproject.org/ Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) Produced by Nicole Edwards Mixed by Sean Dunnam Support provided by Rebecca Scheckman, Kevin Minofu, Aniah Francis, Alex Van Biema, and Alisha Grech Music by Blue Dot Sessions Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

51. #SayHerName: I Am My Sister's Keeper

This episode marks the beginning of a new IMKC series called Author Talks, where host Kimberlé Crenshaw sits down with the authors of books banned by anti-CRT legislation. They break down why the featured author’s work is so crucial to an understanding of America's racial history, and why its opponents have labeled the work’s subject matter as forbidden knowledge. 

On this episode, Kim is joined by Ibram X. Kendi, founding Director of Boston University Center for Anti-Racist Research, and the youngest winner of the National Book Award for his non-fiction work Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. They discuss the importance of talking to kids about racism, and unpack the fear-mongering around Kendi’s critically acclaimed books about racism for kids, including Stamped: Racism, Anti-racism, and You, and Stamped (For Kids), both co-authored by Jason Reynolds. These vital books have been challenged or pulled from school libraries across the country. 

To attend the next Author Talk, sign up for updates about the African American Policy Forum’s new book club, called Books Unbanned: From Freedom Riders to Freedom Readers Book Club. Learn about our Reading Circles for kids and adults, Author Talks, and more by clicking here: bit.ly/3On4miA 

This episode features: 

Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of six books for adults, and five books for children.

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks).

Produced, mixed and edited by Nicole Edwards. 

Support provided by Kevin Minofu, and the team at the African American Policy Forum.

Music by Blue Dot Sessions 

Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

50. Freedom Readers: Why Kids Should Learn About Racism

Host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by Cliff Albright, cofounder of Black Voters Matter. Together, Crenshaw and Albright discuss voter suppression, gerrymandering and intimidation tactics -- and the ways they intersect to suppress the voices of Black communities today, and throughout history. They reminisce about their recent cross-country tour, bearing witness to erasure of history at stops along the way -- like the fact that there is not so  much as a plaque at the site of a Black newspaper that was burned to the ground during the Wilmington coup in 1898. Listen as Crenshaw and Albright unpack how these moments, when they're erased, separate Black history from American history, and how the struggle for democracy and the struggle against racial suppression are one and the same.

To learn more about the Books Unbanned: From Freedom Riders to Freedom Readers Tour, and our new book club, visit www.booksunbanned.org

This episode features:

Cliff Albright, Cofounder, Black Voters Matter

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)

Produced and edited by Nicole Edwards

Mixed by Sean Dunnam

Support provided by Kevin Minofu, Rebecca Scheckman, Alex van Biema, Nadia Ncube

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

49. We Won't Black Down: Why Black Voters Matter

From October 8th to the 21st, we’re hitting the road with the 10 Million More Black Voters initiative. We call our tour Books Unbanned: From Freedom Riders to Freedom Readers, and we're handing out 6,000 copies of books banned by anti-CRT laws across the country. This effort is to ensure that everyone has access to critical literature — especially stories that teach America's true racial history. 

Host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by friend and collaborator Barbara Arnwine, president and founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition. They unpack the connection between these banned books, voter suppression, and the vital importance of the upcoming midterm elections. 

To learn more about the Books Unbanned: From Freedom Riders to Freedom Readers tour, visit www.booksunbanned.org

This episode features:
Barbara Arnwine, Founder/President, Transformative Justice Coalition

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)

Produced and edited by Nicole Edwards
Mixed by Sean Dunnam
Support provided by Kevin Minofu and Julia Sharpe-Levine

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

48. Books Unbanned: From Freedom Riders to Freedom Readers

Drawing on the history of Freedom Summer, the African American Policy Forum launched its Critical Race Theory Summer School in 2020 as a response to the state-sanctioned murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless Black lives that spurred the subsequent summer of racial reckoning. Next week (7/18-22), in the face of a rapidly advancing assault on racial justice, we convene for another edition of Summer School under the theme: “Teaching Truth to Power”. The program will take place over the course of 5 jam-packed days, and will feature 100 instructors, 21 channels and 85+ classes.

In anticipation of next week’s gathering, which we encourage all listeners to attend, we’re going to spend today’s episode taking a stroll down memory lane. For the last two years, Intersectionality Matters! has been tracking and analyzing the right wing attacks on CRT and other social justice education. Listen along as Kimberlé revisits our continuing coverage of this backlash- pulling out some of her favorite clips from past episodes to elevate how CRT offers a prism that allows us to see what is truly at stake. In addition to resurfacing highlights from past episodes like Story of Us, The Insurgent Origins of Critical Race Theory, Educators Ungagged, and Having Our Say, this episode also shares information about some of the fascinating classes lined up to be taught next week by a Who’s Who cast of academics, activists and advocates committed to defending and expanding our multiracial democracy.

Check out our website to register now! https://www.aapf.org/crtsummerschool.

CRT Summer School is running from July 18-22, 2022 and all content for our students will be available on demand until September. There’s a sliding scale for tuition, group rates, and scholarships so everyone can attend. CE/CLE/CTLE credits are available. There is no daylight between democracy and antiracism, and CRT Summer School could not come at a more important or poignant moment than now to show us exactly why that is.

Today’s episode features:
DAVID BLIGHT - Professor of American History, Yale University; Author, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
SUMI CHO - Director of Strategic Initiatives, AAPF; Former law professor who taught CRT for 25 years
ALICIA GARZA - Co-Founder, Black Lives Matter; Principal, Black Futures Lab
MATTHEW HAWN - 10-year educator and baseball coach; Former teacher at Sullivan Central High School in Blountville, Tennessee
GLORIA LADSON-BILLINGS - Pedagogical theorist & educator; Author, The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children
KIRSTEN WEST SAVALI - VP, Content: iOne Digital
BRYAN STEVENSON - Founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative; Author, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Co-produced by Ashley Julien
Supported provided by Destiny Spruill, Kevin Minofu, Rebecca Scheckman, and the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

47. Freedom Summer 2022: Teaching Truth to Power

In this episode, Kimberlé is joined by W. Kamau Bell, director of the four-part documentary series We Need to Talk About Cosby. Together, the two use an intersectional lens to explore Bill Cosby's descent from his seemingly immovable status as "America's Dad.” Unpacking the complex interactions of race and gender that enabled Cosby's alleged sexual violence, this conversation brings a new dimension to the exploration of the mogul's tarnished legacy and the subsequent range of responses from the Black community and beyond. From respectability politics to the emotional reconciliation needed for processing allegations made against our once-heroes, this episode covers it all and reminds audiences that the denial of and ignorance around gendered abuse come from silence and our nation's great, persisting short-term memory.

With:
W. KAMAU BELL - Director and Executive Producer, We Need to Talk About Cosby; Host and Executive Producer, United Shades of America, CNN

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Ashley Julien 
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Supported provided by Destiny Spruill, Rebecca Scheckman, and the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

46. Yes, We Still Need To Talk About Cosby

In this episode, Kimberlé is joined by thought leaders Jelani Cobb, Sherrilyn Ifill, and Cornel West, who share their perspectives on the threats to Black history and realization of Black freedom. The conversation is anchored in the question, "Was 2022 the last Black History Month?” and makes explicit why we must to fight to ensure it was not. Revisiting the crucial insights they raised as part of the MasterClass series, “Black History, Black Freedom, and Black Love,” each guest discusses what lessons we can learn from Black history in this renewed period of racial backlash. With anti-Critical Race Theory bills assaulting curricula in classrooms and gagging conversations about racism across the country, this conversation addresses the urgent need to push back against the reconfiguration of right wing organizing. Having endured the first Black history month commemorated under the vice grip of this anti-truth campaign, this episode invites us into a timely conversation about the past, present, and future of our collective struggle.

With:
JELANI COBB - Professor, Columbia School of Journalism; Staff writer, New Yorker; Author, "The Matter of Black Lives: Writing From The New Yorker"

SHERRILYN IFILL - Former President & Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; Author, "On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the Twenty-First Century"

CORNEL WEST - Professor, Union Theological Seminary; Author, "Race Matters" and "Democracy Matters"

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Co-produced by Ashley Julien 
Supported provided by Destiny Spruill, Rebecca Scheckman, and the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

45. Was This the Last Black History Month?

In this episode, Kimberlé is joined by Bob the Drag Queen for a conversation full of critique and celebration of all things drag. Having once existed at the margins of legality and social acceptability, drag has now moved into the mainstream with the popular success of shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race, Dragula and We’re Here. Even with this moment in the limelight, drag’s inherent subversiveness, fearlessness and resilience shine through, posing fundamental questions like: What is gender and how it is performed? How does race interact with the performance of gender? What are the transformative possibilities and the limitations of this as an art form? And ultimately, what can drag do to contend with and push back against social injustice?

Through laughter and honest reflection, Kimberlé and Bob answer these questions and more as they explore drag's ability to be a tool for intersectional activism, their favorite figures in Black and queer history, what it was like being a child of the South, and the vital need to protect Black stories.

With:
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN - Winner of Rupaul's Drag Race Season 8; Star of HBO's Were Here; Drag Queen, Actor, and Comedian 

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Co-produced by Ashley Julien
Supported provided by Destiny Spruill, Rebecca Scheckman, and the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

44. Drag At The Intersection

In this episode, Kimberlé is joined by an all-star panel to examine not merely the details of the shocking January 6th insurrection, but also the key undercurrents of racial resentment and right-wing authoritarianism that fed into the attempted coup. Together, the panelists unpack how the Trump administration’s shocking effort to subvert democracy was made possible by the longstanding dogmas of permanent minority rule that supplied its strategy and tactics. Furthermore, one year out from the terrifying event, the panelists gather their notes and offer practical next steps for contending with our nation’s white supremacist past and present. 

With:
MAXIMILLIAN ALVAREZ - Editor-in-Chief, The Real News Network; Host, “Working People”
JEAN GUERRERO - Columnist, Los Angeles Times; Author, “Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump and the White Nationalist Agenda”
JARED HOLT - Resident Fellow, Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab
OSITA NWANEVU - Contributing Editor, New Republic 
Moderated by CHRIS LEHMANN - Editor-in-Chief, The Forum, a new publication from AAPF

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Co-produced by Ashley Julien
Supported provided by Destiny Spruill, Rebecca Scheckman, and the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

43. The Neverending Insurrection: Legacies of January 6th

For the last year, we have been surrounded by debates on Critical Race Theory spurred by the Right's organized, widespread campaign to stifle anti-racist education. For all of this debate, though, we hardly ever get to hear from the teachers, administrators, and students who are the subjects of these vicious attacks, and who are risking it all in defense of educational integrity and truth-telling. 

On today’s episode, Kimberlé presents a conversation from the African American Policy Forum's Under the Blacklight series, where an incredible line up of brave educators, students, advocates and activists gathered to share their stories from the frontlines. Moderated by Sumi Cho, the roundtable conversation shines a spotlight on the experiences of educators who have been victimized by the draconian legislative campaigns to prevent K-12 teachings about the realities of race and gender based oppression in the United States, past and present.

With:
LILLY AMECHI - Junior at the University of Oklahoma; Founding member of UO's Black Emergency Response Team; Plaintiff in ACLU lawsuit challenging HB1775 and Oklahoma classroom censorship bill 

STACEY DAVIS GATES - Vice President of the Chicago Teachers Union; Executive Vice President of the Illinois Federation of Teachers  

AMY DONOFRIO - 13-year educator; Former teacher at Robert E. Lee high school in Jacksonville, Florida; Co-Founder of the EVAC Movement 

MATTHEW HAWN - 10-year educator and baseball coach; Former teacher at Sullivan Central High School in Blountville, Tennessee 

BRITTANY HOGAN - Former Director of Educational Equity and Diversity for the Rockwood School District in St. Louis County, Missouri  

DR. JAMES WHITFIELD - Former principal of Colleyville Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas  

LEAH WATSON - Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU's Racial Justice Program; Co-counsel to ACLU lawsuit challenging HB1775 and Oklahoma classroom censorship bill 

Moderated by SUMI CHO - Director of Strategic Initiatives, AAPF; Former law professor who taught CRT for 25 years

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Co-produced by Ashley Julien
Supported provided by Destiny Spruill, Rebecca Scheckman, and the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

42. Educators Ungagged: Teaching Truth in the Era of Racial Backlash

Thirty years ago this week, Anita Hill sat across an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee to testify that her boss, Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas, had sexually harassed her. A historic moment that brought visibility to the issue of sexual harassment, Anita's bravery during the 1991 confirmation hearing set the stage for countless others to better understand and speak out against their own experiences of gender-based violence. Decades later, questions of how gender-based violence intersects with race and power remain as relevant as ever.

On this special anniversary episode, Kimberlé and Luke Charles Harris, co-founder of the African American Policy Forum, reflect on their memory of being at the 1991 confirmation hearing and the lessons learned through Clarence Thomas' confirmation that inspired AAPF's birth. With excerpts from a recent conversation between Kimberlé and Anita Hill, this episode examines the legacy of Black women's truth telling, the persistence of gender-based violence, and the intersectional politics needed to pave a new way forward. 

With:
LUKE CHARLES HARRIS - Co-Founder, the African American Policy Forum; Associate Professor of American Politics and Constitutional Law, Vassar College
ANITA HILL - Professor of Social Policy, Law, and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University, Lawyer, and Legal Scholar; Author, Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence 

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Co-produced by Ashley Julien
Supported provided by Destiny Spruill, Rebecca Scheckman, and the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

41. Believing Her: The Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill Hearings at 30

Over the last year, the Right has ignited a widespread disinformation campaign around Critical Race Theory -- and mainstream media is fueling the fire. Mentions of CRT in the news grew exponentially this past year, with journalists often framing the conversation around education censorship as an equal debate between supporters and opponents of anti-equality legislation. And despite CRT’s well-documented history of emerging in 1989 with a clear and fixed definition, the media have decided to play in the Right’s disinformation campaign by allowing a distortion of the concept’s meaning in exchange for views. 

On this episode, Kimberlé meets with veteran journalist Soledad O’Brien to unpack mass media’s decision to legitimize faux debate, outline the consequences of this debate on racial justice and democracy, and chart a path forward for journalists who aspire to do better. 

With:
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN - CEO of Soledad O’Brien Productions; Anchor and Producer, The Hearst Television political magazine program “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien” 

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Co-produced by Ashley Julien
Supported provided by Destiny Spruill, Rebecca Scheckman, and the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

40. The Lies They Tell: Mass Media's Complicity in the Age of Disinformation

Over the past year, Critical Race Theory has been increasingly misrepresented by the Right in an organized, widespread effort to stifle racial justice and gender equity, and weaken our multiracial democracy. In response to these attacks, AAPF held a 5-day Critical Race Theory Summer School in mid-August to educate participants about the origins, principles, and insights of Critical Race Theory, and to chart a path forward. 

On this episode, we bring you a conversation that took place on the first day of Summer School, which features some of the leading thinkers in the field of Critical Race Theory. Together, the panelists tell the story of CRT came to be, explore what it teaches us about the world, and discuss it can now help us protect the very existence of critical thinking about race. 

With:
ANTHONY COOK - Professor of Law, Georgetown; Author, The Least of These: Race, Law and Religion in American Culture

DANIEL MARTINEZ HOSANG - Associate Professor of Ethnicity, Race & Migration, Yale; Author, Racial Propositions: Ballot Initiatives

GLORIA LADSON-BILLINGS - Pedagogical theorist & educator; Author, The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children

GARY PELLER - Professor of Law, Georgetown; Author, Critical Race Consciousness

ROBERT A. WILLIAMS, JR - Professor of Law, University of Arizona; Author, Savage Anxieties: The Invention of Western Civilization

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Supported provided by Destiny Spruill, Ashley Julien, Rebecca Scheckman, and the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

39. The Insurgent Origins of Critical Race Theory

When we think about the history of Black athletic resistance, we don't tend to think of Black women athletes like Wyomia Tyus, Rose Robinson, or Wilma Rudolph, who have all taken great risks to speak out against racial injustice. On this episode, Kimbelé is joined by Layshia Clarendon and Sydney Colson of the WNBA, Demario Davis of the New Orleans Saints, and civil rights icon Dr. Harry Edwards to celebrate the achievements of today’s Black women athletes, reflect on the history of athletic activism, and imagine the power that lies in collective action and athletic solidarity.
 
With: 
LAYSHIA CLARENDON - WNBA player, leading advocate for trans, non-binary and LGBTQ+ athletes, and the first vice president of the WNBA Players Association

SYDNEY COLSON - WNBA player, member of the WNBA’s Social Justice Council, and a leading voice in the WNBA #SayHerName initiative
 
DEMARIO DAVIS - Linebacker for the New Orleans Saints, member of the Players Coalition, recipient of the Bart Starr Award for outstanding character on the field, at home, and in the community
 
DR. HARRY EDWARDS - Professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, founder of the field of study known as the Sociology of Sports, and founder of the Olympic Project for Human Rights movement 

Special thanks to the Players Coalition (@playerscoalition) for making this event possible

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Supported provided by Amarachi Anakaraonye, Rebecca Scheckman, Destiny Spruill, and the African American Policy Forum 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

38. Engendering the Politics of the Black Athlete

On today’s episode, Kimberlé and a group of leading champions for equitable healthcare take us behind the “white coat” of medical racism, and explore its disproportionate impact on Black women and girls. Guests share their own stories being mistreated and ignored as patients, and reflect on the struggles they’ve endured as Black woman doctors working in a medical system with roots in eugenics and racialized violence. The conversation analyzes the lessons learned from the tragic case of Dr. Susan Moore, examines how the experiences of Black women in healthcare relate to historical racism and sexism, and asks what it would take to deconstruct the misogynoir that “lurks behind the white coat.”

With: 
Dr. Karen Scott, epidemiologist, educator and obstetric doctor; 
Dr. Gail Wyatt, professor at UCLA,  psychologist, and board certified sex therapist;
Dr. Alisha Liggett, board certified family medicine doctor with a clinical practice based in New York City; 
Dr. Joia Crear Perry, the founder and president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative.

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
This episode was co-produced by Amarachi Anakaraonye
Supported provided by Rebecca Scheckman, Destiny Spruill, and the African American Policy Forum 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

37. Black Women's Health Through the Twin Pandemics

The murder of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins by Soon Ja Du, a convenience store owner in 1991 became one of the flashpoints for the LA uprisings the following year. Yet while Latasha’s killing happened just 13 days after the Rodney King beating, her story garnered little lasting attention. On this episode of Intersectionality Matters, Kimberlé sits down with Sophia Nahli Allison, director of the Oscar-nominated documentary short “A Love Song for Natasha” (available on Netflix), to discuss the film, Latasha's story, and the role of art in bringing intersectional stories to life.

This episode includes audio from the following:
- “LA 92”, a National Geographic documentary
- “A Love Song for Latasha” (Netflix)
- AAPF’s 2017 panel discussion on Latasha Harlins at the Hammer Museum, featuring Priscilla Ocen and Brenda Stevenson

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Support provided by Amarachi Anakaraonye, Rebecca Scheckman, Destiny Spruill, and the African American Policy Forum 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

36. A Love Song for Latasha

With Bryan Stevenson, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Ruha Benjamin, and David Blight

In the second half of a two-part episode on the stories that shape our understanding of America, Kimberlé Crenshaw and special guests explore the ways that film and other technologies have reproduced and popularized these dominant stories. The episode examines Hollywood’s role in writing and rewriting history, and asks how we can begin writing new stories that tell the full story of us.

With: 
RUHA BENJAMIN- Professor of American Studies, Princeton University; Author, Race After Technology
DAVID BLIGHT - Professor of American History, Yale University; Author, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
BRYAN STEVENSON - Founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative; Author, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
VIET THANH NGUYEN- Professor of American Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Southern California; Author, The Sympathizer

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Support provided by Amarachi Anakaraonye, Rebecca Scheckman, Destiny Spruill, and the African American Policy Forum 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

35. The Story Of Us (Part 2)

In part one of a special two-part episode that asks, “What’s the story of America, and how can it be told differently?” Kimberlé Crenshaw sits down with a panel of esteemed thinkers and storytellers to examine the origins, implications and failings of America’s grand narratives. The conversation delves into the stories that drove the January 6th attack on the Capitol, and those that informed liberal responses to it. How did the stories that shape our understanding of America get established in the first place, and what histories got buried in the process? In what ways have storytelling industries like Hollywood helped construct myths of American innocence? All that and more.

With: 
RUHA BENJAMIN- Professor of American Studies, Princeton University; Author, Race After Technology
DAVID BLIGHT - Professor of American History, Yale University; Author, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
BRYAN STEVENSON - Founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative; Author, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
VIET THANH NGUYEN- Professor of American Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Southern California; Author, The Sympathizer

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Support provided by Amarachi Anakaraonye, Rebecca Scheckman, Destiny Spruill, and the African American Policy Forum 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

34. The Story Of Us (Part 1)

In this post-inauguration roundtable, Kimberlé and her guests grapple with the events of the past month, and contemplate the crossroads that the country now finds itself in. As we prepare for four years of Democratic leadership, how must we organize ourselves in order to fight for a more just future, rather than merely a return to the past? And what becomes possible when we embrace a political agenda that centers intersectionality as a means for achieving that future?

With: 
BARBARA ARNWINE - President and Founder, Transformative Justice Coalition
KIM FOXX - State's Attorney for Cook County, Illinois
JOIA CREAR-PERRY - Founder and president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative
KIRSTEN WEST SAVALI - Senior director of content at iONE Digital 

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Rebecca Scheckman
Additional support provided by Myles Olmsted, Nicole Young and the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

33. And Still We Fight

In this episode, Kimberlé is joined by a panel of veteran UTB guests to unpack the learnings from a year of pandemic, political revolution, and purported racial reckoning. and to help envision a path forward as our nation reels in the aftermath of a white supremacist insurrection. As the panelists contextualize the events of January 6th through a critical race theory lens, they discuss how a national history of appeasing white supremacist interests and denial of racial terror have laid the groundwork for our present reality. Furthermore, they explore what the new Biden administration must consider in order to truly address white supremacist terror at its root.

With: 
CAROL ANDERSON - Professor of African American Studies, Emory; Author, White Rage 
DAVID BLIGHT - Professor, Yale University; Pulitzer Prize Winning Author, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
ANOA CHANGA - Electoral justice reporter and organizer; Host of “The Way with Anoa”
JOE LOWNDES - Professor, University of Oregon; Co-author of Producers, Parasites, Patriots: Race and the New Right-Wing Politics of Precarity 

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine 
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Rebecca Scheckman 
Additional support provided by Myles Olmsted, Nicole Young and the African American Policy Forum 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

32. If Hindsight Is 2020, Why Are We Still Not Saved?

In this episode, Kimberlé is joined by a panel of scholars and civil rights leaders to explore the impact of the Trump administration’s “Equity Gag Order,” and the president’s crusade against racial justice and gender equity. The conversation includes insights from leaders of the National Fair Housing Alliance and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund about how the Equity Gag Order’s list of “prohibited concepts” has impaired their work, as well as a discussion of the importance of narrative and storytelling and how the Trump administration has engaged in historical revisionism in their attacks on racial. As the panelists explore how we can fight back against the Equity Gag Order and how to pressure the Biden administration to rescind it on day one, they also place the order in historical context as part of a long tradition of state repression of civil rights movements.

With: 
CAROL ANDERSON - Professor of African American Studies, Emory; Author, White Rage 
RACHEL GODSIL - Professor of Law, Rutgers; Co-Founder, Perception Institute
LAURA GOMEZ - Endowed Chair at UCLA Law; Professor in Sociology, Chicana & Chicano studies 
CHARLES R. LAWRENCE III - Professor, William S. Richardson School of Law; Critical Race Theory pioneer 
JANAI NELSON - Associate Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF)
 LISA RICE - President and CEO, National Fair Housing Alliance

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine
 Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Rebecca Scheckman 
Additional support provided by the African American Policy Forum 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

31. #TruthBeTold: The Destructiveness of Trump's Equity Gag Order & What Biden Must Do Now

After perhaps the most important election of our lifetimes, the real work begins. On this episode, Kimberlé sits down with a brilliant group of political thinkers and leaders to analyze the 2020 election and the challenges that remain. The discussion includes insights as to how local organizers turned Georgia blue for the first time in a generation, what strategies progressives might employ to keep pressure on President-elect Biden, and why in 2020, President Trump appears to have made electoral inroads with every demographic but white men. The panelists also discuss Kamala Harris’ historic ascension to the nation's second highest office, despite facing unparalleled levels of misogynoir.

With:
ALICIA GARZA - Co-Founder, Black Lives Matter; Principal, Black Futures Lab
EDDIE GLAUDE JR. - Professor, Princeton; Author of Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own
JANINE JACKSON - Program Director, FAIR; Producer/Host of CounterSpin 
REP BARBARA LEE - U.S. Representative for California's 13th congressional district
KATE MANNE - Professor, Cornell; Author of Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny
VIET THANH NGUYEN - Professor, USC; Pulitzer Prize author, The Sympathizer
KIRSTEN WEST SAVALI - Executive Producer, Essence Magazine
EMERY WRIGHT - Co-director, Project South; Organizer and political educator

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Rebecca Scheckman
Additional support provided by the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

30. Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?

In this “barbershop edition” of Intersectionality Matters, which was recorded live on October 28th, Kimberlé is joined by a panel of activists, scholars, and writers to discuss, patriarchy, misogynoir, and why a small but meaningful minority of Black men, including prominent celebrities like 50 Cent and Ice Cube, are choosing to support President Trump this election. Led by AAPF Co-Founder Luke Charles Harris, this roundtable conversation explores what genuine self-love looks like for Black men, the relationship between racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia in the Black community, and how we can imagine different, more empowering futures for ourselves and our communities.

With: 
WADE DAVIS - Former player and first LGBT inclusion consultant at the NFL 
LUKE CHARLES HARRIS - Co-founder, African American Policy Forum; Associate Professor, Vassar College
KIESE LAYMON - Author of Heavy and Long Division; Professor, the University of Mississippi 
MARLON PETERSON - Host of DEcarcerated Podcast; Author of Bird Uncaged: An Abolitionist’s Freedom Song (upcoming)
ALVIN STARKS - Director of the Equality Team, Open Society Foundations

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Edited by Asal Ehsanipour, Rebecca Scheckman, and Julia Sharpe-Levine 
Additional support provided by the African American Policy Forum 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

29. Black Men For Trump?: The Overdue Conversation on Patriarchy & Misogynoir in  Black Politics

On this Black Girl Roundtable, Kimberlé is joined by Rep. Barbara Lee, Alicia Garza, Kirsten West Savali, and Barbara Arnwine for a dynamic conversation about the Vice Presidential debate, vote suppression, Trump's increased popularity with men of color, and the gentrification of the Democratic Party.

With: 
BARBARA ARNWINE - President and Founder, Transformative Justice Coalition 
ALICIA GARZA - Co-Founder, Black Lives Matter; Principal, Black Futures Lab
 REP BARBARA LEE - U.S. Representative for California's 13th congressional district 
KIRSTEN WEST SAVALI - Executive Producer, Essence Magazine

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine 
Additional support provided by Rebecca Scheckman, Andrew Sun, Darci Crager, and the African American Policy Forum 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

28. Having Our Say: Black Women Respond to the Vice Presidential Debate

In this episode, Kimberlé speaks with six leading scholars about the legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Court’s largely undersung role in the battle for our democracy, and the profound consequences of the Left’s failure to prioritize the courts over the last several decades.

With: 
DEVON CARBADO - Professor of Law, UCLA; Author, Acting White? Rethinking Race in “Post-Racial” America
 ERWIN CHEMERINSKY - Dean, UC Berkeley School of Law; Author, We the People: A Progressive Reading of the Constitution for the Twenty-First Century 
SUZANNE GOLDBERG - Professor of Law, Columbia; Founding Director, Sexuality & Gender Law Clinic at Columbia  
CHERYL HARRIS - Professor of Law, UCLA; Author, “Whiteness as Property” 
SHERRILYN IFILL - President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
MELISSA MURRAY - Professor of Law, NYU, Author, “The Equal Rights Amendment: A Century in the Making" 

Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping/ 

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine 
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Rebecca Scheckman  
Additional support provided by the African American Policy Forum
 Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

27. Why the Court Matters: RBG's Legacy and the Fight She Leaves Behind

On this episode, Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by Dina Wright Joseph, director of AAPF’s Young Scholars Program, a leadership pilot program designed to develop a new generation of intersectional researchers and to build community. Featuring the voices of 12 Black women from universities around the country, this episode explores the profound impact that COVID-19 has had on young Black women and their communities, and AAPF’s efforts to build a virtual community to address it.

Featuring Dina Wright Joseph and members of AAPF’s Young Scholars Program (Full bios & more information: aapf.org/ysp)

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
 Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
This episode was co-produced by Alexandra Moore & Whitney Thomas
Additional support provided by the African American Policy Forum  
Music by Blue Dot Sessions

26. Black Girls Speak: Creating Community in the Summer of COVID

On this episode, six leading politicians, cultural critics, and political activists come together to discuss politics, Kamala Harris' historic vice presidential candidacy, and the intersection of racism and sexism in the 2020 election. 

With:
BARBARA ARNWINE - President and Founder, Transformative Justice Coalition
DONNA BRAZILE - Veteran Democratic political strategist
STATE'S ATTY. KIM FOXX - State's Attorney for Cook County, Illinois
 REP. MAXINE WATERS - U.S. Representative for California's 43rd congressional district
KIRSTEN WEST SAVALI - Executive Producer, Essence Magazine

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine 
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Sarah Ventre 
Additional support provided by the African American Policy Forum 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
 Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

25. From the Base to the Face of the Party: Kamala Harris, Black Women & Misogynoir in the Election

On this episode, Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by the revolutionary and genre-defying writers N.K Jemisin and Saidiya Hartman, whose work demands a radical reimagination of our present by archiving and writing the violence of the past into imaginations of a limitless future. By inserting Black women into narrative spaces that they have largely been written out of, these women illustrate first hand how we can resist narrative erasure and become the authors of our own stories. 

With: 

SAIDIYA HARTMAN - Professor and scholar of African American literature and history, Columbia University; Author of Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments; 2019 MacArthur Fellow 

N.K. JEMISIN - Science fiction and fantasy writer; Author of the Broken Earth series, the Inheritance Trilogy, and the Dreamblood Duology; Winner of 3 Hugo Awards

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
 Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
 Additional support provided by the African American Policy Forum  
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

24. Storytelling While Black and Female: Conjuring Beautiful Experiments in Past and Future Worlds

On this installment of Under the Blacklight, Kimberlé Crenshaw sits down with Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Rep. Barbara Lee, and State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to discuss their experiences at the intersection of grassroots activism and electoral politics. Together, they speak about the mothers who raised them, the work they're doing to combat the twin pandemics of COVID and racial inequity, and the dynamic tensions that lie between their progressive values and the political institutions they've chosen to work within. By pulling back the curtain to hear their stories and heed their calls, we all have the opportunity to become better partners, constituents, and torchbearers for those in the struggle.

With:
STATE'S ATTY. KIM FOXX - State's Attorney for Cook County, Illinois 
REP. BARBARA LEE - U.S. Representative for California's 13th congressional district
REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY - U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
 Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine 
Additional support provided by Loulou Batta, Alexandra Moore, Whitney Thomas, and the African American Policy Forum  
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
 Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

23. Politics, Power, and the Struggle Against Black Precarity

As the vicious spike in COVID’s case count rocks the nation, this installment of “Under the Blacklight” focuses on the off-staging of race after weeks of protests about racial injustice. We ask: What has become of the supposed reckoning with white supremacy since George Floyd’s death? After weeks of uncovering the legacies of racism, are we at the bottom of a Sisyphusian hill again in insisting that race is as newsworthy in the disproportionate deaths of African Americans to COVID as it has been in the weeks of protest over police violence? And why has it been so difficult to connect the two?  

With:
BARBARA ARNWINE - President and Founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition;  President Emeritus of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
CAMARA PHYLLIS JONES -  Fellow, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard; Senior Fellow, Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine
JONATHAN METZL - Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry, Vanderbilt; Author, Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America’s Heartland
KEEANGA-YAMAHTTA TAYLOR - Assistant professor of African American studies, Princeton University; Author of Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Additional support provided by Awoye Timpo, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Gregory Bernstein Alanna Kane, Ricardo Guthrie 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

22. COVID, White Power, and the Unseeing of Race Again

On this installment of "Under the Blacklight," the mothers and sisters of the #SayHerName Movement -- Fran Garrett, Rhanda Dormeus, Maria Moore, Sharon Cooper, Gina Best, and Sharon Wilkerson -- join Kimberlé Crenshaw for a very special episode. Through telling the stories of their loved ones, the women weave together the experiences that bring them together in a sisterhood of both sorrow and strength. 

Support the #SayHerName Campaign: aapf.org/supportshn
Support Say Her Name: The Lives That Should Have Been (Original Play): http://bit.ly/shnplay

Speakers:
GINA BEST - Mother of India Kager, killed by Virginia Beach police in 2015
SHARON COOPER - Sister of Sandra Bland, killed in custody in Waller County TX in 2015 
RHANDA DORMEUS - Mother of Korryn Gaines, killed by Baltimore police in 2016
FRAN GARRETT - Mother of Michelle Cusseaux, killed by Phoenix police in 2014
MARIA MOORE - Sister of Kayla Moore, killed by Berkeley police in 2013
SHARON WILKERSON - Mother of Shelly Frey, killed by Houston police in 2012

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Additional support provided by Jade Allen, Loulou Batta, Ivory Fu, Alexandra Moore, Whitney Thomas, and the African American Policy Forum 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

21. Under the Blacklight: Telling Stories of State Violence & Public Silence

On September 5, 2015,  India Kager and Angelo Perry drove to Virginia Beach to introduce their 4-month-old baby Roman, to Angelo’s family. Unbeknownst to them, Virginia Beach police were tailing their car and while India, Angelo, and Roman were parked at 7/11, a SWAT team threw a flash bang grenade and opened fire on their car. 4 officers fired over 51 rifle rounds into India’s car, while baby Roman sat in the back seat, killing Angelo and India within seconds. Virginia Beach police Chief Jim Cervera would later say India’s killing was an accident. 

In this episode of Intersectionality Matters!host Kimberlé Crenshaw speaks with India Kager’s mother, Gina Best, about her memories of India, a “beautiful, soft-spoken poet.”  She describes the anguish of never hearing from the police except to receive a bill for the destruction of the car her daughter was murdered in. While she waited for a call that would never come, officers pulled her daughter’s body out of the car and left it on the cold ground overnight. As India’s family desperately sought out information on his whereabouts, police handed India’s baby, Roman, over to foster parents. 

Learn More About & Support the #SayHerName Movement: aapf.org/supportshn 

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw 
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine 
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Rebecca Scheckman  
Additional support provided by the African American Policy Forum: Shermena M. Nelson, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Awoye Timpo, Gregory Bernstein, Alanna Kane,  Vineeta Singh 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions  
Graphics by Julia Sharpe-Levine 

Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

20. India Kager: A Mother's Story of Loss & Erasure

Alicia Garza, Robin D.G. Kelley, Devon Carbado, Maria Moore, and special guest AG Keith Ellison join Kimberlé Crenshaw for an emergency episode of “Under the Blacklight”, the 10th in the series, to address this historic moment of social and political mobilization ignited by George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police just two weeks ago. 

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Sarah Ventre 
Additional support provided by Awoye Timpo, Shermena M. Nelson, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Gregory Bernstein, Alanna Kane 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Graphics by Julia Sharpe-Levine 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast
Full bios: aapf.org/ep10-utb

19. Under the Blacklight: The Fire This Time

Kiese Laymon, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Arundhati Roy join Kimberlé Crenshaw for the 9th installment of "Under the Blacklight." Together, they mine the complexities of narrative construction amid disaster, and shine the blacklight on the stories and counter-stories that shape the future and make meaning of the past.  

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
 Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine 
Additional support provided by Awoye Timpo, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Gregory Bernstein Alanna Kane 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions  
Graphics by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

Bios available here: aapf.org/ep9-utb

18. Under the Blacklight: Narrating the Nightmare & (Re)Imagining the Possible

On Pt 8 of “Under The Blacklight,” LaTosha Brown, Anoa Changa, Crystal Feimster, Talitha LeFlouria and Emery Wright join together to discuss vote suppression, state violence, vigilantism, and fatal public health experiments in the state of Georgia. 

With: 
LATOSHA BROWN — Award-winning organizer, political strategist, jazz singer; Co-Founder of the Black Voters Matters Fund
ANOA CHANGA - Electoral justice reporter for Prism; Organizer; Lawyer; Host of “The Way with Anoa”
CRYSTAL FEIMSTER — Professor, Yale; Author of Southern Horrors: Women and the Politics of Rape and Lynching 
TALITHA LEFLOURIA — Professor, UVA; Author of Chained in Silence: Black Women and Convict Labor in the New South 
EMERY WRIGHT — Political Organizer; Educator; Co-Director, Project South
(Read full bios here: aapf.org/under-the-blacklight-covid19)

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine 
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Raffi Marhaba  
Additional support provided by Awoye Timpo, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Gregory Bernstein Alanna Kane  
Music by Blue Dot Sessions  
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

17. Under the Blacklight: Virus, Voting & Vigilantism in Georgia

On Episode Seven of “Under The Blacklight,” Carol Anderson, Alex DiBranco, Joseph Lowndes, Mab Segrest, Dorian Warren, and Jason Wilson unpack the central role that ideological Whiteness continues to play in the US response to COVID-19, including ongoing efforts -- on the part of individuals and institutions alike -- to unlock the lockdown. 

With: 
CAROL ANDERSON — Chair & Professor of African American Studies, Emory University; Author of White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Nation's Divide
ALEX DIBRANCO - Co-founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Research on Male Supremacism
JOSEPH LOWNDES — Professor of Political Science, UOregon; Co-author of Producers, Parasites, Patriots: Race and the New Right-Wing Politics of Precarity
MAB SEGREST — Professor emeritus of Gender and Women’s Studies, Connecticut College; Organizer with Southerners on New Ground (SONG), Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)
DORIAN WARREN — President of the Center for Community Change Action (CCCA) and Vice-President of the Center for Community Change (CCC)
JASON WILSON — Journalist who specializes in far-right, white supremacist, and right-wing movements; Writes for The Guardian 
(Read full bios here: aapf.org/under-the-blacklight-covid19)

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
 Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Sarah Ventre 
Additional support provided by Awoye Timpo, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Alanna Kane
 Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

16. Under the Blacklight: Mobilizing Whiteness to 'Re-Open America'

On Episode Six of “Under The Blacklight,” Josie Duffy Rice, Nina A. Kohn, Marc Lamont Hill, Rebecca Nagle, Ravi Ragbir, and Alyosxa Tudor map the devastating path of COVID through various locations of confinement — including prisons and jails, immigration detention centers, Native country, nursing homes, and the home — and examine the historical precedents, ideological frameworks, and surprising intersections between these seemingly separate sites that inform this movement and offer us a path forward. 

Speakers:
JOSIE DUFFY RICE -- Journalist and Lawyer; President of The Appeal; Host of Justice in America
NINA A. KOHN -- Visiting Professor of Law, Yale; Professor of Law,, Syracuse University; Elder Rights Advocate
MARC LAMONT HILL -- Best-selling author and journalist; Professor, Temple University; Host, BET News
REBECCA NAGLE -- Writer and community organizer; Host of This Land Podcast
RAVI RAGBIR --Immigrant rights activist; Executive Director, New Sanctuary Coalition of New York
ALYOSXA TUDOR -- Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies, the Centre for Gender Studies at SOAS, University of London
(Read full bios here: aapf.org/under-the-blacklight-covid19)

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine Additional support provided by Awoye Timpo, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Alanna Kane Music by Blue Dot Sessions Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

15. Under the Blacklight: COVID in Confinement

On Episode Five of “Under The Blacklight,” David Blight, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, William Darity Jr., Ibram X. Kendi, and Kate Manne navigate the historical contours of the pandemic, and the pre-existing inequalities that shape its impact. Building on last week’s interrogation of “disaster white supremacy”, this week's conversation explores how intersecting systems of capitalism, patriarchy, racism, and nationalism have converged to define another dark moment in American history. 

In the coming weeks, we'll continue hosting live events that bring together artists, activists, thought leaders, scholars, service-providers and others on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Each Wednesday we’ll bring you a virtual conversation over Zoom, which will be released as an episode of Intersectionality Matters! the following week.

Speakers:
DAVID BLIGHT — Professor, Yale University; Pulitzer Prize Winning Author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
EDUARDO BONILLA-SILVA — Professor, Duke University; President of the American Sociological Association; Author of Racism Without Racists
WILLIAM DARITY JR. — Economist; Professor, Duke University; Director, Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity
IBRAM X. KENDI — Professor, American University; Author of Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
KATE MANNE — Professor, Cornell University; Author of Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny
(Read full bios of panelists here: aapf.org/under-the-blacklight-covid19)

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
 Additional support provided by Andrew Sun, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Alanna Kane 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

14. Under the Blacklight: History Rinsed and Repeated

On Episode Four of “Under The Blacklight: The Intersectional Failures that COVID Lays Bare,” Paul Butler (Professor of Law, Georgetown; Author of Chokehold: Policing Black Men), Bree Newsome Bass (Community organizer & artist), Barbara Arnwine (Founder and Director, Transformative Justice Coalition), Kehinde Andrews (Professor, Birmingham City University; Author of Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for the 21st Century), and Jonathan Metzl (Professor, Vanderbilt University; Author of Dying of Whiteness) examine the role of Disaster White Supremacy in shaping the current crisis. Together with Kimberle Crenshaw, the five panelists mine the different locations where White Supremacy has been deployed and unveiled amidst crisis -- from voting booths in Wisconsin, royal handshakes at 10 Downing Street, and gun stores in the “American heartland,” to overcrowded jails in Chicago, public housing in the American South, and the chambers of Congress.

In the coming weeks, we'll continue hosting live events that bring together artists, activists, thought leaders, scholars, service-providers and others on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Each Wednesday we’ll bring you a virtual conversation over Zoom, which will be released as an episode of Intersectionality Matters! the following week.

Read full bios of panelists here: aapf.org/under-the-blacklight-covid19


Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Additional support provided by Andrew Sun, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Janeen Irving, Alanna Kane
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

13. Under the Blacklight: COVID & Disaster White Supremacy

In the third episode in our new series, “Under the Blacklight: The Intersectional Vulnerabilities that COVID Lays Bare” (originally aired over Zoom April 8th), six incredible change-makers — Rosa Clemente (organizer and journalist; President and Founder of Know Thyself Productions), Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes (Executive Director, Ashé Cultural Arts Center in New Orleans), Dallas Goldtooth (Keep It in the Ground Organizer, Indigenous Environmental Network), Daniel HoSang (Associate Professor of Ethnicity, Race & Migration, Yale University), Mari Matsuda (Professor of Law, University of Hawaii), and Rinku Sen (Racial justice strategist and writer; Co-president, Women’s March board) —  join host Kimberlé Crenshaw for a conversation about building collective resistance and power in the time of COVID-19.

In the coming weeks, we'll continue hosting live events that bring together artists, activists, thought leaders, scholars, service-providers and others on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Each Wednesday we’ll bring you a virtual conversation over Zoom, which will be released as an episode of Intersectionality Matters! the following week.

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) 
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine  
Additional support provided by Andrew Sun, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Janeen Irving  
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

12. Under the Blacklight: Mapping COVID's Racial Geography

In the second episode in our new conversation series, “Under the Blacklight: The Intersectional Vulnerabilities that COVID Lays Bare” (originally aired over Zoom April 1st), five incredible change-makers join host Kimberlé Crenshaw for a conversation about building collective resistance and power in the time of COVID-19.  

Saru Jayaraman and Mily Treviño-Sauceda illuminate the impact of the current crisis on workers in the restaurant and agriculture industries; Naomi Klein explains how governments around the world are using this disastrous moment to push through legislation that would otherwise be roundly dismissed as dangerously authoritarian; Dara Baldwin talks about the dehumanizing and ableist rationing programs being advanced in states like Alabama, Kansas, and Washington; and Janine Jackson critiques, among other things, the corporate media’s “lives v. livelihood” framing that has dominated news cycles in recent weeks. 

In the coming weeks, we'll continue hosting live events that bring together artists, activists, thought leaders, scholars, service-providers and others on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Each Wednesday we’ll bring you a virtual conversation over Zoom, which will be released as an episode of Intersectionality Matters! the following week.

With:
Dara Baldwin — Director of National Policy, Center for Disability Rights
Janine Jackson — Program Director, Producer & Host of FAIR
Saru Jayaraman — President, One Fair Wage; Co-Founder, ROC United
Naomi Klein — Gloria Steinem Chair for Media, Culture and Feminist Studies, Rutgers University; author of The Shock Doctrine
Mily Treviño-Sauceda — Vice President and Co-Director, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
 Additional support provided by Andrew Sun, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Janeen Irving 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

11. Under the Blacklight: COVID and Disaster Capitalism

On this episode of Intersectionality Matters, Kimberle Crenshaw is joined by two timely voices -- Ashton Applewhite, author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism, and J.R. Fleming, Executive Director of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign -- to discuss how ageism, and its varying intersections with race, class, ability, and gender, is materializing in the fight against COVID-19.

Kimberlé Crenshaw: @sandylocks, @kimberlecrenshaw
Ashton Applewhite: @thischairrocks
Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign: @chiantieviction
Intersectionality Matters Podcast: @IMKC_podcast, @intersectionalitymatters

Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Additional support provided by Andrew Sun, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Janeen Irving
Music by Blue Dot Sessions

~~
Read more about polling in Chicago low-income senior housing : 
https://theintercept.com/2020/03/18/illinois-polling-locations-low-income-seniors/

This Chair Rocks Blog: https://thischairrocks.com/blog/

10. Age Against the Machine: The Fatal Intersection of Racism & Ageism In the Time of Coronavirus

The past several weeks have prompted unprecedented levels of turmoil and unpredictability due to rising alarm over COVID-19. While American society has taken precautionary measures to counter the spread of the virus, those most vulnerable to societal neglect remain most impacted. Coronavirus did not create the stark social, financial, and political inequalities that define life for so many Americans, but it has made them more strikingly visible than any moment in recent history. Unfortunately, some of the intersectional dimensions of these structural disparities remain undetected and unreported.

On Wednesday March 25th, Intersectionality Matters teamed up with the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) to premiere a new virtual conversation series entitled “Under the Blacklight: The Intersectional Vulnerabilities that COVID Lays Bare”. On this episode, you’ll hear a condensed version of that conversation, which featured six incredible speakers and drew an audience of 1,300 people over Zoom. 

In the coming weeks, we'll continue hosting live events that bring together artists, activists, thought leaders, scholars, service-providers  and others on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Each Wednesday we’ll bring you a virtual conversation over Zoom,  which will be released as an episode of Intersectionality Matters! the following week. 

With:
Eve Ensler — Tony award winning playwright, performer and activist; Founder of V-Day and One Billion Rising
Laura Flanders —  Author and broadcaster; Founder of GRITtv and host of the Laura Flanders Show
Eddie S. Glaude Jr. —  Professor of African American Studies, Princeton University
Ai-jen Poo — Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance 
Dorothy Roberts — Professor of Law and Sociology, University of Pennsylvania
Alvin Starks — Director, Equality Team, Open Society Foundations 

Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Additional support provided by Andrew Sun, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Alanna Kane, Janeen Irving
Twitter: @IMKC_podcast, IG: @IntersectionalityMatters, Fb: Intersectionality Matters with Kimberlé Crenshaw
#IntersectionalityMatters

9.  Under the Blacklight: The Intersectional Vulnerabilities that COVID Lays Bare

There's a natural boom among women of African descent. Kinky, curly and coily hairstyles have joined cornrows, locks and twists as just a few of the looks that Black women, girls and femmes are rocking confidently and unapologetically. This Black hair renaissance is reshaping what we see in fashion magazines, on television, in classrooms, and even in boardrooms. But constant vigilance is the price of freedom, with the exception of new legislation in California and New York, it remains true that anti-discrimination laws nation-wide do virtually nothing to protect Black people from getting fired, suspended, and otherwise disciplined for wearing their natural hair. In 2012, Vanessa Van Dyke was threatened with expulsion by her Florida middle school unless she “tamed” her natural hair. Tiana Parker was told by her school that her dreadlocks were faddish and unacceptable. In 2013, Melphine Evans, a top executive at British Petroleum, says she was fired for wearing braids and dashikis to work. And in 2016, Chastity Jones lost her case against an employer who withdrew her job offer for refusing to cut off her natural locs. On this special episode of Intersectionality Matters, Kimberlé Crenshaw dishes with Mixed-ish star and PATTERN founder Tracee Ellis Ross on their respective journeys towards loving their own natural hair, aesthetic freedom, and how the current convulsive political moment is expanding the social justice imaginary. We also hear from award-winning journalist Brittany Noble Jones about her personal experience with hair discrimination in the workplace and modeling self-love for the next generation. Tune in for an inspiring look at Black women’s tireless advocacy for life, liberty and the pursuit of nappyness. Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe Levine Recorded by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Susan Valot Music by Blue Dot Sessions With: Tracee Ellis Ross, (@traceeellisross), Brittany Noble Jones (@noblejonesontv) Pattern Beauty: @PatternBeauty Intersectionality Matters: ig: @intersectionalitymatters, twitter: @IMKC_podcast Additional support from G'Ra Asim, Michael Kramer, Emmett O'Malley, Zoe Bush, Andrew Sun

8. Defending the C.R.O.W.N.: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Nappyness

December 14th, 2019 marks the fifth anniversary of the Say Her Name campaign, a movement founded to raise awareness of the names and stories of Black women, girls and femmes killed by police, and to provide support to the families affected. The campaign has produced a groundbreaking report expanding the conversation on police violence so that it foregrounds the experiences of Black women and girls, earned a nod in a tweet from a major presidential candidate, developed a multimedia arts-activism venture called Say Her Name: The Lives That Should Have Been, and convened the #SayHerName Mothers Network, a community for mothers of Black women lost to police violence. But none of these developments would be possible without the courage, resilience and ingenuity of Fran Garrett, the mother of Michelle Cusseaux. Cusseaux, a 50-year-old Black woman, was shot and killed on August 14, 2014 by Officer Percy Dupra while Phoenix police were trying to serve a mental health wellness check. Her life was taken just days after the police killing of Ferguson, MO teenager Mike Brown became national news, sparking nationwide outrage and galvanizing the modern movement for Black lives. To help Cusseaux’s story gain resonance in its own right, Garrett led a group of local activists in marching her daughter’s casket through downtown Phoenix, calling for an outside agency to investigate the shooting and a slew of reforms aimed at racial justice and mental health parity. It was this brave act that drew the attention of the African American Policy Forum, which catalyzed the Say Her Name campaign and the delineation of a throughline linking the loss of Cusseaux with countless other Black women like her lost too soon to state violence. Garrett’s bid for broader attention to the cause was amplified a few months later at the Millions March NYC, where AAPF made an intersectional intervention by saying the names of Michelle and other slain Black women to politicize their legacies alongside the demands made on behalf of Brown and other victims of police violence. On this special episode of Intersectionality Matters, Kimberlé Crenshaw dives deep with Fran Garrett to go beyond the headlines for the unvarnished truth on the unspeakably tragic loss of a beloved Phoenix community member. Tune in as they take stock of the movement’s progress five years in and assess the headway still to be made in making Black women’s vulnerability to police violence fully legible as a social problem. Music by Blue Dot Sessions Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine Recorded by Sarah Ventre and Julia Sharpe-Levine Additional support provided by Andrew Sun, G’Ra Asim, Emmett O’Malley and Michael Kramer Twitter: @IMKC_podcast, IG: @IntersectionalityMatters, Fb: Intersectionality Matters with Kimberlé Crenshaw #IntersectionalityMatters LEARN MORE: http://aapf.org/shn-campaign SAY HER NAME CEREMONY OF REMEMBRANCE (NYC)- https://www.eventbrite.com/e/say-her-name-5th-anniversary-remembrance-ceremony-tickets-85292830151 MICHELLE CUSSEAUX MENTAL HEALTH FAIR (PHX)-https://www.aahherc.com/

7. When They See Her: The Story of Michelle Cusseaux

In this episode, Kimberlé chops it up with Dorothy Roberts, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a leading scholar in race, gender, bioethics, and the law.  In a conversation that merges intersectional inquiry with The 1619 Project, which interrogates America’s history of slavery in order to understand racial disparities in 2019, Crenshaw and Roberts shed light on the lasting consequences of slavery, segregation, and White Supremacy, and their impact on Black women specifically. Their timely conversation highlights the relationship between the legacy of slavery and instances of modern oppression against Black women, such as the curbing of welfare, forced sterilization, and mass incarceration.
 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine 
Recorded by Emmett O’Malley and Julia Sharpe-Levine
Additional support provided by Andrew Sun, Mihir Samson, G’Ra Asim, and Michael Kramer
Twitter: @IMKC_podcast, IG: @IntersectionalityMatters, Fb: Intersectionality Matters with Kimberlé Crenshaw 
#IntersectionalityMatters

6. What Slavery Engendered: An Intersectional Look at 1619

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, the wrenching demonstration against a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar and refuge for queer and trans people in Lower Manhattan. The courageous act of resistance that took place over the course of several days in 1969 is widely perceived as the catalyst to the modern LGBTQ+ liberation movement in the United States.

As Pride month reaches an exuberant crescendo this weekend with World Pride in NYC, an event that’s one part party, one part protest, questions about the trajectory, priorities, and composition of the movement persist, including how to best foreground the lives and concerns of members of the LGBTQ+ community whose experience is filtered through the interstices of more than one form of oppression.

On this episode of Intersectionality Matters, host Kimberlé Crenshaw ponders these questions with two of the movement’s torchbearers: Barbara Smith, trailblazing Black feminist critic and co-founder of the Combahee River Collective, and Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, also known as Lady Phyll, co-founder and executive director of UK Black Pride. Tune in for their fascinating insights on living in the overlapping margins of race, gender and sexuality, the future of LGBTQ activism and their commitments to retrieving the experiences of queer Black women from a location that resists telling.

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe Levine
Recorded by Elizabeth Press, the Sanctuary for Independent Media, and Michael Kramer
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
With: Lady Phyll (@msladyphyll), Barbara Smith (@thebarbarasmith), and the Reclaim Pride Coalition (Colin Ashley, Robert Baez, Francesca Barjon) (@queermarch)
Intersectionality Matters: ig: @intersectionalitymatters, twitter: @IMKC_podcast
Additional support from G'Ra Asim, Naimah Hakim, Madeline Cameron Wardleworth, Peter Gaber, Ezra Young

~~~
NYC Trans Day of Action 
Friday, June 28 from 4-6pm: https://alp.org/events/15th-annual-trans-day-action
NYC Dyke March 
Saturday, June 29 from 5-8pm: https://www.nycdykemarch.com/
Queer Liberation March
Sunday, June 30 from 9:30-3pm: https://reclaimpridenyc.org/
World Pride Parade
Sunday, June 30 at 12pm: https://2019-worldpride-stonewall50.nycpride.org/
UK Black Pride
Saturday, July 7 at 12pm: https://www.ukblackpride.org.uk/

5. Stonewall 50: Whose Movement Is It Anyway?

You’ve probably heard the phrase “Love means never having to say you’re sorry”--the misguided notion that love eliminates the need for apology.  In politics, the love that mutes apologies is often same-party affinity--as in, “we know we’re on the same side” so accountability is unnecessary. Yet it’s more likely that the contrary is true: love as well as coalition demand an openness to saying “I’m sorry,” for without it, justice is impotent. 

But what are the consequences when apologies don’t materialize? Is letting it go really the only way to think about healing, both emotionally and politically? 
 
In this episode of Intersectionality Matters, host Kimberlé Crenshaw talks to Tony award-winning playwright and activist Eve Ensler about her groundbreaking new book The Apology and how the withholding that is the touchstone of the inviolable code of silence among men can be broken.  Ensler discusses the journey she traveled to conjure the apology she needed from her late father for sexual and physical abuse.

We also hear from philosopher Kate Manne on himpathy, the term she coined to describe the disproportionate and inappropriate sympathy powerful men often receive in cases of sexual assault and other forms of gendered violence.  Himpathy, she explains, may help us understand how some women who stood by Anita Hill are now embracing Joe Biden’s candidacy despite his failure to fully come to terms with his role in in her heinous treatment during Clarence Thomas’s senate confirmation hearings in 1991.  

Both Manne’s and Ensler’s interviews illustrate the grim reality that men are often socialized to deny their commission of gender-based harm, and that many of us are socialized to condone that very inability to accept blame— sometimes to the degree that we position men who have victimized others as victims themselves. Tune in for a thought-provoking exploration of what it could mean for perpetrators and bystanders to genuinely confront and atone for violence they’ve either committed or enabled.

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe Levine
Recorded by UCLA and Cornell University
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
With: Eve Ensler, (@vday, @eveensler)  Kate Manne (@kate_manne)
Intersectionality Matters: ig: @intersectionalitymatters, twitter: @IMKC_podcast
Additional support from G'Ra Asim, Michael Kramer, Kevin Minofu, Naimah Hakim, Madeline Cameron Wardleworth

4. The Anatomy of An Apology

After hip hop icon Dr. Dre brutally assaulted trailblazing emcee and television personality Dee Barnes in 1991, his career continued to skyrocket while she was effectively blacklisted from the entertainment industry. Nearly three decades later, Dre, who has allegedly assaulted several other women in addition to Dee, continues to enjoy a celebrated career in which his heinous misdeeds have become mere footnotes. The combination of racism and patriarchy is the condition of possibility that allows Beats by Dre to be well-known commodities while beatings by Dre remain largely overlooked.

As part of their fifth annual event series, Her Dream Deferred: A Week on the Status of Black Women, the African American Policy Forum, in partnership with the Hammer Museum, convened a panel called “Black Women and #MeToo”. Along with Dee, the panel included such leading lights as actor and Times Up WOC activist Rashida Jones, supermodel and Bill Cosby accuser Beverly Johnson, cultural critic Jamilah Lemieux, historian Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers and #MuteRKelly co-founder Kenyette Tisha Barnes. The panel was moderated by AAPF Executive Director and Intersectionality Matters host Kimberlé Crenshaw.

The panel uplifted the unsung genealogy of the Me Too movement by acknowledging forerunners like Tarana Burke, who coined the hashtag #MeToo to raise awareness around the question of Black women’s vulnerability to sexual violence, and Anita Hill, who told the world her story about what a Supreme Court nominee had done to her as a young lawyer. Black feminists like bell hooks and Alice Walker were recognized also for laying bare the realities of gender-based violence that impacts Black women. 

Tune into this profound and pathbreaking episode of Intersectionality Matters for a thorough post-mortem on the powerful insights shared on the panel, as well as a look into what the movement’s path forward might look like.

Hosted by Dee Barnes (@sistadbarnes) and Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe Levine
Recorded by the Hammer Museum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Featured panelists: Kenyette Barnes, Beverly Johnson, Rashida Jones, Stephanie Jones-Rogers, Jamilah Lemieux
More on Her Dream Deferred: aapf.org/her-dream-deferred-initiative
Intersectionality Matters: ig: @intersectionalitymatters, twitter: @IMKC_podcast
Additional support from G'Ra Asim, Michael Kramer, Kevin Minofu, Naimah Hakim, Madeline Cameron-Wardleworth, UCLA School of Law

3. #MeToo and Black Women: From Hip Hop to Hollywood

R. Kelly’s serial abuse of Black women and girls has been one of the entertainment industry’s worst-kept secrets for the entirety of the 21st century. In the mid 90s, Kelly was romantically linked with and even briefly married to 15-year-old singer Aaliyah, for whom he wrote and produced the incriminatory hit “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.” An explicit bootleg tape which appeared to feature Kelly abusing yet another teenage girl circulated on street corners as early as 2001. In 2017, a Buzzfeed exposé alleged that the man who famously crooned “I’m a bad man/And I’m not ashamed of it” held several women captive in his home in a cult-like harem. Yet it took the convergence of the #MuteRKelly movement, the January 2019 release of documentary Surviving R. Kelly and popular culture’s broader reckoning with the pattern of sexual violence perpetrated by powerful men for the self-proclaimed Pied Piper of R&B to face consequences for orchestrating his salacious symphony. At long last, Kelly has now been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four women, three of whom were minors at the time. 

On this timely and trenchant episode of Intersectionality Matters, host Kimberle Crenshaw goes beyond the sheet music with #MuteRKelly co-founder Kenyette Barnes to rupture the rhythm Kelly has used to give Black women and girls the blues for decades. 

Intersectionality Matters! is recorded and produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine. This episode was edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Rebecca Scheckman and recorded by Robert Jimison, Michael Kramer, and Julia Sharpe-Levine. Additional support was provided by Michael Kramer, Naimah Hakim, G’Ra Asim, Kevin Minofu, and Madeline Cameron Wardleworth.
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Juror Audio from Lifetime Docuseries, "Surviving R. Kelly" 

Kenyette Barnes: @legisempress
Mute R Kelly: ig: @officialmuterkelly, twitter: @offMuteRKelly
Kimberlé Crenshaw: ig: @kimberlecrenshaw, twitter: @sandylocks
Intersectionality Matters: ig: @intersectionalitymatters, twitter: @IMKC_podcast

Learn more: https://www.muterkelly.org

2. I Believe I Can Lie: R. Kelly (Still) In Denial

On August 1, 2016, Baltimore County police arrived at the Randallstown, Maryland apartment of 23-year-old Korryn Gaines to serve a warrant alleging that she had failed to appear in court. Gaines, who had miscarried twins as a consequence of improper treatment while being held in connection with a traffic stop, had received paperwork for the stop that did not provide the date on which she was expected to appear. A month prior to the day officers descended on her home, Gaines had visited the police station seeking clarification about her court date, only to be told that the officer who had issued the paperwork was unavailable.  When Gaines noticed police attempting to force entry that day in August, she sat down in her living room with a legally owned firearm, and a 6-hour standoff ensued. Gaines had amassed a sizable online following via her activism and poetry, and narrated the sequence in real time on Facebook Live until the social media portal shut her page down per police request. During the 6-hour standoff, Gaines relocated to her kitchen, at which point Officer Royce Ruby, Jr. fired at Gaines from outside her apartment. Officer Ruby then entered the apartment and shot Gaines three more times. One of the bullets passed through Gaines and wounded her young son, who survived but sustained lifelong disabling injuries. County prosecutors concluded that the killing of Gaines was justified, and Officer Ruby was not criminally charged.
 
Pundits and critics  have foregrounded Korryn’s possible mental impairment, her gun ownership, and her ideology as reasons to paper over the possible intersectional vulnerabilities that contributed to Korryn’s killing.  In this riveting and morally urgent episode of Intersectionality Matters!, host Kimberlé Crenshaw sits down with Rhanda Dormeus, Korryn’s mother, to reveal the untold story of Gaines’ death, the blatant miscarriages of justice that led to it, and the harrowing consequences of Officer Ruby’s authorization to take the life of a mother in her own home. Dormeus’s story plumbs the very depths of unfathomable grief and raises deeply disturbing questions about whether the sanctity accorded to most human life is withheld from Black women and their families. Dormeus has reaped some positivity from tragic topsoil by becoming a leading voice in the Say Her Name movement, a campaign to shine light on Black women who are the underreported victims of police violence.

Intersectionality Matters! is recorded and produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine. This episode was edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Alex Schein and recorded by Stacia Brown, Rebecca Scheckman, and Julia Sharpe-Levine, with consulting help from Thea Chaloner. Additional support was provided by Janine Jackson, Naimah Hakim, G’Ra Asim, Kevin Minofu, and Madeline Cameron Wardleworth.
 
Learn more about Korryn’s story and the #SayHerName Campaign at aapf.org/podcast. Sign up on Patreon (patreon.com/intersectionalitymatters) for bonus content from this interview.

1. A Mother's Nightmare: The Life and Death of Korryn Gaines

We're pleased to bring you a new podcast from AAPF and Kimberlé Crenshaw, Intersectionality Matters! Featuring on the ground interviews with some of the world's most innovative activists, artists, and scholars, each episode will explore a different topic through an intersectional lens, ranging from the Supreme Court to grassroots activism in Brazil and the Congo to #SayHerName and the future of the #MeToo campaign. Today we bring you a special preview episode in time for the midterm elections. We hope you enjoy it, and stay tuned for the official podcast release later this month! 
~~~

Donald Trump’s path to power was littered with attacks on Muslims, women, immigrants, people of color, people with disabilities, people who are undocumented, and people who are queer. And these communities have suffered under his administration. The November 6th election presents an opportunity to put significant checks on Trumpism. There is no lack of clarity about what is at stake, but the ability to fight back effectively turns on the ability of all of these constituencies to see common cause and to overcome concerted efforts to keep them from voting. On this special preview of Intersectionality Matters!, we talk to two African American women leading the fight for our democracy: Barbara Arnwine, Founder of both the Transformative Justice Coalition and Election Protection, the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter protection coalition; and Kristen Clarke, Executive Director of the Lawyer’s Committee on Civil Rights Under Law. Clarke is leading the court challenge against Georgia’s vote suppression tactics in the face of the historic campaign being waged by Stacey Abrams, a candidate who may make history by becoming the first African American woman to be elected governor. These eye-opening interviews by Kimberlé Crenshaw address critical issues presented in this election, and explore what more we must do after November 6th to ensure intersectional justice for all.
~~~

Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Special thanks to Thea Chaloner, Alex Schein, Luke Charles Harris, Michael Kramer, Naimah Hakim, G'Ra Asim, Madeline Cameron Wardleworth, Kevin Minofu, Janine Jackson, and Abby Dobson.

Kimberlé Crenshaw: @sandylocks
African American Policy Forum: @aapolicyforum

#IntersectionalityMatters