The Freedom Builders Series with Dr. Janelle Williams

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In this episode of the Freedom Builders series, Dr. Janelle Williams welcomes political scientist, strategist, and author Dr. Kelly Burton to discuss her book, The Price of Union. Burton challenges the idea that racial inequality is an unintended consequence of American democracy, arguing that racial hierarchy helped shape its political and economic foundations.

Together, they examine how that history informs the racial wealth divide, the relationship between civic and economic power, and the possibilities for collective liberation. Their conversation also gets personal: the invisible labor of Black women leaders, the consequences of chronic underinvestment in Black institutions, and the care required to sustain the people doing this work.

Throughout the episode, one question brings the conversation back to its purpose: What does it take to get free?

Listen for an honest exchange about history, power, and our shared responsibility to build what comes next.

Explore The Price of Union: thepriceofunion.com

Connect with Dr. Janelle Williams: drjanellewilliams.com

Learn about Kindred Futures: kindredfutures.org

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In the inaugural episode, Williams sits down with Tamieka Atkins, CEO of ProGeorgia, for a candid conversation about voting rights, economic mobility, philanthropy, movement building, leadership and what it will take to create durable power across the South.

Janelle opens the series with a premise central to Kindred Futures’ work: “I’m on a mission to continue to bolster collective Black wealth with the intent that wealth is used to finance our freedom.”

That idea, financing freedom, becomes the thread running through the conversation.

Atkins and Williams speak to a moment of extraordinary pressure on communities and the institutions working alongside them. But rather than narrow the response to a single strategy, Atkins argues for a much broader understanding of how power is built.