As election day steadily approaches, we hear two conversations about voting. Back in March, Khalilah hosted a live event with MSNBC Legal Analyst Charles Coleman Jr. We take a listen to that event and learn how Black voters can make a difference in their communities. The discussion was part of The Legacy Foundation of Hartford's Black Excellence Speaker Series.

Then, Jacqueline De León, Senior Attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, talks about a 2020 report on barriers to voting access that Native Americans face and how those could impact the 2024 elections.

GUESTS:

• Charles Coleman Jr.: MSNBC Legal Analyst, Civil Rights Attorney and Co-Host of 'Black Men in America: Road to 2024,' which aired on MSNBC in February

• Jacqueline De León: Senior Attorney with the Native American Rights Fund and co-author of the report Obstacles at Every Turn: Barriers to Political Participation Faced by Native American Voters. She is an enrolled member of the Isleta Pueblo.

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Seventy years ago, Brown v. Board of Education outlawed racial segregation in public schools. This hour, we look at the historic Supreme Court decision — and some of the inequities that still exist in education today.

We speak with the Executive Director of a youth development organization in Hartford working to close education opportunity gaps.

And later, we talk about the legacy of Ellen Peters, the first woman appointed Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. She wrote the opinion in Sheff v. O’Neill, a landmark school desegregation case here in Connecticut.

 

GUESTS:

Kathy Trusty: Independent historian and children’s author.

Andrea Williams: Executive Director, ConnectiKids.

Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson: Chief Justice, Connecticut Supreme Court.

Richard Palmer: Former Connecticut Supreme Court Justice, Chairman of the state Public Defender Services Commission.

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Many people think of libraries as quiet places to study, work or read a book. But the quiet rooms of libraries have also been centers of social change. This hour, we look at how libraries help people build community and explore their identities. First, we talk about a recent drag story hour in Enfield, CT that was successfully rescheduled after it had initially been canceled due to safety concerns. Then, we discuss a pioneering librarian who helped start New York's well-known Morgan Library & Museum while keeping her racial identity a secret.

GUESTS:

• Lil Miss Hot Mess: Board member with Drag Story Hour, a nonprofit that organizes events where drag performers read to kids. She is also a University Professor and children’s author whose books include 'The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish'

• The Reverend Dr. Greg Gray: President of Enfield Pride and Pastor of Enfield United Church of Christ

• Erica Ciallela: Exhibition Project Curator at the Morgan Library

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This hour on Disrupted, we’re looking at the First Amendment and its impact on colleges and universities.

Students are demanding their schools divest from Israel over its war in Gaza. Some colleges have allowed protests with police presence, while others have forcibly removed demonstrators. There have been allegations of antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian speech at some protests — and that’s left many wondering how to address harmful speech without curbing free expression.

First Amendment Specialist Kevin Goldberg explains the five protections covered in the amendment. Wesleyan University President Michael Roth talks about his role as a university administrator and how to provide safe spaces for students.

GUESTS:

• Kevin Goldberg: First Amendment Specialist, Freedom Forum.

• Michael Roth: President, Wesleyan University and author of Safe Enough Spaces: A Pragmatist’s Approach to Inclusion, Free Speech, and Political Correctness.

This episode originally aired on February 7, 2024.

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This hour, we are taking a look at how race has impacted agriculture and the environmental movement. Leah Penniman, Co-Executive Director and Farm Director at Soul Fire Farm, talks about her book Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists. The discussion touches on everything from Leah's childhood to how the creation of some of the most prominent national parks in the U.S. is linked to the eugenics movement. And Dr. Dorceta Taylor, a professor at the Yale School of the Environment, explains what environmental justice is, and why we need to think about marginalized communities when we think about the environment.

For more information on Soul Fire Farm, you can visit their website.

You can read Dorceta Taylor's research on disparities in environmental grantmaking through ResearchGate.

GUESTS:

• Leah Penniman: Co-Executive Director and Farm Director at Soul Fire Farm, author of Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists.

• Dorceta Taylor: Professor and Senior Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Yale School of the Environment. She was interviewed for Leah Penniman’s book Black Earth Wisdom and is author of multiple books herself, including The Rise of the American Conservation Movement:  Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection.

This episode originally aired on April 26, 2023.

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Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr. returns to the show to talk about his new book, 'We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For.' The book reevaluates our understanding of leadership and argues that ordinary people need to become leaders. He also explains his views on the 2024 election and how reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X changed his life.

GUEST:

• Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr.: James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. He is a frequent contributor to MSNBC and a bestselling author. His newest book is 'We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For.'

You can listen back to the first episode of Disrupted, which also features Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr. and was mentioned in this week's interview, on our website.

You can read the piece in Time that Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr. wrote that was discussed in this episode on Time's website.

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With the release of Beyoncé’s new album, Cowboy Carter, the long and often-ignored history of Black country music is back in the spotlight. This hour, we talk to a woman who has made a career in country music, even though the industry hasn't always been welcoming. Alice Randall is a chart-topping country songwriter and author of the new book 'My Black Country A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future.' She'll explain how she co-wrote the lyrics to a number one country song and tell us about the Black musicians who have shaped the genre from the very beginning.

GUEST:

• Alice Randall: Chart-topping songwriter whose hits include “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl),” which was first recorded by Trisha Yearwood. She is a bestselling novelist and Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies and Writer-in-Residence at Vanderbilt University. Her newest book is a memoir titled 'My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music’s Black Past, Present, and Future.' A new album called 'My Black Country: The Songs of Alice Randall' features her music recorded by Black women.

You can learn more about the interview with Leah Penniman that was mentioned in this episode on our website.

Special thanks to our interns Scout Raimondo and Sajina Shrestha.

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This hour, we hear from people who think a lot about religion - both their own experiences and how it impacts society.

NPR National Political Correspondent Sarah McCammon grew up in Kansas City as an Evangelical. Her new book, The Exvangelicals - Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church tells her story and the story of others who felt disenchanted by the movement and walked away.

Hear from three Gen Z-ers about their relationship with religion and spirituality.

Later in the show, we’ll hear from Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin. She’s the first person of African-American and Japanese descent—and the only American woman—to be fully ordained as a Buddhist priest within the worldwide Nichiren Order.

GUESTS:

• Sarah McCammon: NPR National Political Correspondent and author of The Exvangelicals - Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church

• Myokei Caine Barrett, Shonin: Resident Priest of Myoken-Ji Temple in Houston

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This hour on Disrupted, we're challenging long-held assumptions about parents and caregivers. First, Angela Garbes, author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change, explains how care workers are undervalued. She touches on the way the early days of the pandemic spotlighted issues in caregiving and why the legacy of American colonialism in the Philippines influenced both her family history and the disproportionate number of Filipinx nurses who died from COVID. Then, UConn professor Kari Adamsons talks about her research on fathers and the problem with the way many people think about "traditional families."

GUESTS:

• Angela Garbes: author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change

• Kari Adamsons: Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut

This episode originally aired on February 15, 2023.

Disrupted is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

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This week on Disrupted, we learn about two women who played important roles in the Civil Rights Movement. Historian Tanisha C. Ford wrote about Mollie Moon, a fundraiser in the 1940s in her new book 'Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement,'. Later in the show, we’ll listen back to our conversation about New Haven’s Constance Baker Motley. She was the first Black woman to become a federal judge in the U.S.

GUESTS:

• Tanisha C. Ford: Professor of History at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). Her most recent book is 'Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement'

• Connie Royster: retired attorney, former director of development at the Yale Divinity School, and the niece of Constance Baker Motley

• Tomiko Brown-Nagin: Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and Professor of Constitutional Law and History and author of 'Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality'

   

  Special thanks to our interns Scout Raimondo and Sajina Shrestha.

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