Justice Above All

This episode of Justice Above All discusses voter challenges and voter turnout ahead of the November 5, 2024 election.  Our guests explain how voter intimidation and voter suppression tactics continue to pose systemic barriers to Black voters. Even while this is occurring, Black voices are not being completely silenced: organizers are building Black political power in the South and celebrating major wins. Ahead of the November 2024 election, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) won two lawsuits which resulted in new, majority-Black congressional districts being created in Alabama and Louisiana. As a result, Black voters succeeded in electing three candidates of their choice to represent them in the House of Representatives (Shomari Figures and Terri Sewell in Alabama and Cleo Fields in Louisiana). Alabama and Louisiana are just two examples of places that illustrate the occurrence of some of the myriad forms of voter suppression tactics, as well as the effectiveness of voter advocacy in empowering Black voters to enact their right to vote. 

For more information on this episode, please visit: tminstituteldf.org/justice-above-all. 

This episode was hosted by Dr. Kesha Moore and produced by Jakiyah Bradley. Resonate Recordings edited the episode.  

To keep up with the latest research from the Thurgood Marshall Institute, including our recent report, Attack on our Power and Dignity: What Project 2025 Means for Black Communities, visit our website at https://tminstituteldf.org/what-project-2025-means-for-black-communities/. You can also learn more about the Legal Defense Fund’s Black Voters on the Rise team at voting.naacpldf.org.

If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of LDF please visit our website at www.naacpldf.org and follow us on social media at @naacp_ldf. To keep up with the work of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, please visit our website at www.tminstituteldf.org and follow us on Twitter at @tmi_ldf. 

In 2023, The Heritage Foundation, a think tank focused on promoting conservative public policies, published Project 2025 as a blueprint to consolidate power within the executive, or the office of the president, and weaken democratic structures. In speaking with experts, this episode of Justice Above All breaks down Project 2025 and anticipates how its implementation will directly impact individuals within the Black community. The podcast will unpack how Project 2025 will transform the systems of justice and education in ways that hit at the core of what it means to be a citizen in the U.S. seeking safety, fairness, and dignity for ourselves, friends and family members. Our guests will simplify what’s at stake for podcast listeners personally, how civil rights groups like LDF are fighting back, and what you can do to make a difference.

For more information on this episode, please visit: tminstituteldf.org/justice-above-all.

This episode was produced and interviews were conducted by Lauren O'Neil. It is hosted by Karla McKanders. Resonate Recordings edited the episode. 

If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of LDF please visit our website at www.naacpldf.org and follow us on social media at @naacp_ldf. To keep up with the work of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, please visit our website at www.tminstituteldf.org and follow us on Twitter at @tmi_ldf.

If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of LDF please visit our website at www.naacpldf.org and follow us on social media at @naacp_ldf. To keep up with the work of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, please visit our website at www.tminstituteldf.org and follow us on Twitter at @tmi_ldf. 

May 2024  marks 70 years since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education declaring the “separate but equal” doctrine unconstitutional and marking a new standard for American education.This episode is part one of a special three-part arc to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Brown, which dismantled legal racial apartheid in the United States and radically reshaped American life. The series will dive into the history and legacy of this groundbreaking LDF case. On this episode, we trace the origins of the case through to the state of equitable admissions in public education today. 

For more information on this episode, please visit: https://tminstituteldf.org/brown-at-70-tracing-the-legacy-and-history-of-brown-v-board-of-education/

This episode was produced by Keecee DeVenny, Ananya Karthik, Lauren O'Neil, and Sandhya Kajeepeta. It's edited by Keecee DeVenny. 

If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of LDF please visit our website at www.naacpldf.org and follow us on social media at @naacp_ldf. To keep up with the work of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, please visit our website at www.tminstituteldf.org and follow us on Twitter at @tmi_ldf. 

On the season three opener of Justice Above All, host and Thurgood Marshall Institute Senior Researcher, Dr. Sandhya Kajeepeta explores the state of felony disenfranchisement. Across the country, previously incarcerated individuals are forced to navigate complex, bureaucratic processes in order to exercise their constitutional right to vote. In the past few years, we’ve seen increased criminalization of voting through new laws and the creation of election policing units, all under the guise of rooting out voter fraud. However, voter fraud is almost nonexistent—less than 1% of voters are suspected of committing voter fraud.  These new tactics will likely disproportionately impact formerly incarcerated people. As a result, felony disenfranchisement laws, which are modern reincarnations of racist Jim Crow-era policies, pose an even greater threat to people’s individual freedom and our democracy.

Episode Guests: 
Pamela Moses, Activist and Musician 

Blair Bowie, Director, Restore Your Vote, Campaign Legal Center 

Christina Das, Voting Rights Attorney, Legal Defense Fund 

This episode is produced by Keecee DeVenny, Sandhya Kajeepeta, and Lauren O'Neil. It's edited by Keecee DeVenny. 

If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of LDF please visit our website at www.naacpldf.org and follow us on social media at @naacp_ldf. To keep up with the work of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, please visit our website at www.tminstituteldf.org and follow us on Twitter at @tmi_ldf. 

On this episode of Justice Above All,  Thurgood Marshall Institute summer research fellows explored food apartheid.  The fellows investigated the struggle to access quality food in the United States and on this special episode of the show, they're sharing what their research revealed about the deep, systemic legacy of food apartheid in Black communities across the country.  

Guests: Dr. Wilma Clopton, Amalea Smirniotopolous, David Wheaton 

If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of LDF please visit our website at www.naacpldf.org and follow us on social media at @naacp_ldf. To keep up with the work of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, please visit our website at www.tminstituteldf.org and follow us on Twitter at @tmi_ldf. 

Elijah McCoy, Garret Morgan, George Washington Carver, and Madame CJ Walker are names you might recognize. They're Black inventors whose inventions modernized the world. But they may also be the only names you recognize when you think of Black inventors. Due to racism and other discriminatory structural barriers, potential Black inventors have been locked out, or in some cases violently forced out, of invention pipelines. 

On this episode of Justice Above All, Dr. Kesha Moore, TMI Research Manager, takes a deep dive into the world of innovation and tracks how racism has undermined scientific innovation. 

Guests: 

• Eric S. Hintz, Historian, Lemelson Center 
• Corey Mack, Inventor
• Tiffani Burgess, LDF Economic Justice Fellow 

If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of LDF please visit our website at www.naacpldf.org and follow us on social media at @naacp_ldf. To keep up with the work of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, please visit our website at www.tminstituteldf.org and follow us on Twitter at @tmi_ldf. 

In 2022, LDF made its return to the Supreme Court for the first time in seven years. Every year, LDF submits a few amicus briefs in various civil rights cases to the Court, but an LDF attorney had not delivered an oral argument before the Court since Buck v. Davis. But in 2022, Deuel Ross, LDF’s Deputy Director of Litigation, argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of Black Alabama voters in Allen v. Milligan. LDF challenged Alabama’s unconstitutional congressional map that denied Black voters equal opportunity to elect their candidates of choice. The Supreme Court ultimately agreed with LDF and ordered Alabama to redraw a map that complied with the law. 

But arguments surrounding the redistricting cycle wouldn’t stop there for LDF.  In October 2023, LDF returned to the Supreme Court to argue for fair representation for Black voters, this time for South Carolinians in Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP. The congressional map the South Carolina House implemented created a racial gerrymander —  Congressional District 1, which contains Charleston — that intentionally packed and cracked Black voters and prevented them from having equal access to elect candidates of their choice. LDF Senior Counsel Leah Aden argued on behalf of the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and an individual voter, Taiwan Scott. 

Thurgood Marshall Institute Director, Karla McKanders, sat down with Ross and Aden to discuss the importance of their cases, how they prepared to argue before the highest court in the U.S., and how their work is a part of LDF’s deep history of safeguarding Black political participation. 

If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of LDF please visit our website at www.naacpldf.org and follow us on social media at @naacp_ldf. To keep up with the work of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, please visit our website at www.tminstituteldf.org and follow us on Twitter at @tmi_ldf. 

On this episode, host Dr. Sandhya Kajeepeta, TMI Senior Researcher, chronicles how school board elections and meetings were once bastions of Black political power but have now become sites of charged debates, takeovers, and infiltrated by groups outside of the actual districts . Using Charleston as a case study, Dr. Kajeepeta illustrates how school board meetings and elections became so intense and why they should matter to anyone who cares about democracy. 

Guests: 

• Est Mungai, LDF Senior Organizer 
• Courtney Waters, Charleston County School Board Trustee 
• Crystal Robinson Rouse, Parent of Charleston County School District Students  
• Sharon McMahon, host of “Here’s Where It Gets Interesting” 

Produced by Keecee DeVenny, Jakiyah Bradley, and Sandhya Kajeepeta 

If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of LDF please visit our website at www.naacpldf.org and follow us on social media at @naacp_ldf. To keep up with the work of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, please visit our website at www.tminstituteldf.org and follow us on Twitter at @tmi_ldf. 

Freedom House was a radical idea that changed emergency response programs and birthed modern-day paramedicine.  As we continue to reimagine public safety and confront the role of police in our society, Freedom House's legacy offers a blueprint on what health and safety can look like when people experiencing medical or behavioral distress are met with appropriate care. On this episode Justice Above All, host Dr. Ayobami Laniyonu, Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow at TMI, unpacks what we can learn from Freedom House's rise to prominence and its ultimate demise. 

 Guests: 

• Kevin Hazzard, author of American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men who Became America's First Paramedics 
• Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Vice President of Social Impact, BET
• Ibram X. Kendi, PhD, Historian and Founding Director of Boston University's Center for Antiracist Research and author of How to be an Anti-Racist 

Produced by Keecee DeVenny, Jackie O'Neil, Jakiyah Bradley, and Ayobami Laniyonu 

If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of LDF please visit our website at www.naacpldf.org and follow us on social media at @naacp_ldf. To keep up with the work of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, please visit our website at www.tminstituteldf.org and follow us on Twitter at @tmi_ldf. 

In 2022, the Supreme Court reversed decades of precedent in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.  The decision held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion and that the authority to regulate abortions rests with states. While the long-term ramifications of overturning the right to an abortion are unknown, Dobbs immediately triggered states’ existing laws banning abortion and prompted several states to enact laws that would eliminate or restrict access to abortion. As abortion bans spread across the country and prosecutors become more emboldened, Black pregnant people will continue to face a heavier burden of criminalization. Joined by public health, medical, and legal experts, this episode of Justice Above All, hosted by Dr. Sandhya Kajeepeta, explores the history of how pregnant Black people have been criminalized and the far-reaching consequences after the reversal of Roe v. Wade (1973). 

Guests:  

• Dr. Regina Davis Moss, In Our Own Voice  
• Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, National Birth Equity Collaborative  
• Pilar Whitaker, Legal Defense Fund 

Produced by: Keecee DeVenny, Jackie O'Neil, Sandhya Kajeepeta

If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of LDF please visit our website at www.naacpldf.org and follow us on social media at @naacp_ldf. To keep up with the work of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, please visit our website at www.tminstituteldf.org and follow us on Twitter at @tmi_ldf.