Battletested with Tanya Acker

Janelle Wood founded Black Mothers Forum to address concerns about how schools were treating Black children. Listen as she and Shannon Hayes talk about the alternative option BMF offers to all children, in the hope of providing a better educational experience.

For 35 years Oliver James was functionally illiterate - even though he had a high school diploma. Listen to what happened when he decided to stop mimicking life and start living it.

Tanya talks to human trafficking expert Dottie Laster about the consequences of sex trafficking and the impact of the Gilgo Beach cases on the families of the victims.

Tanya talks to Paul McEnroe, author of The Barcode: How a Team Created One of the World’s Most Ubiquitous Technologies, about innovation at the dawn of the Computer Age.

They helped secure a $787 million settlement for their client, Dominion Voting Systems, against Fox News. Tanya talks to Megan Meier, Daniel Watkins, Dustin Pusch and Andy Phillips of Meier, Watkins Phillips Pusch LLP about when to sue and when to move on.

Tanya talks to John Ray, attorney for the families of Gilgo Beach victims Shannan Gilbert and Jessica Taylor, about the investigation, recent developments in the case, and additional evidence he’s collected that he hopes the prosecution will consider.

Tanya talks to (her cousin!) Major Marisa Barnes of the Kansas City Police Department about keeping communities safe while building trust; why her career compels her; and the excitement of exposing young people to careers as first responders.

WJBE-Knoxville owner completed his sentence for a tax crime but the FCC is threatening his license anyway. Listen as he talks about why he believes his fight for Knoxville’s only Black station is so important.

While Uvalde remains a community that mourns; heals, and remembers its victims, it is also a community that moved Albert Martinez to drive 140 miles to teach music at Uvalde High School. Listen to the story of how he got a group of unlikely musicians to open up, and how they all brought victory and triumph to Uvalde.

After online sextortionists drove his son Gavin to suicide, South Carolina state senator Brandon Guffey changed the law and created a forum for saving young people through his charity, LessThan3.com (<3).  LessThan3 provides resources for targets and potential victims of sextortion and an important reminder too - Tomorrow Needs You.