This week, Congress voted to designate Juneteenth a federal holiday—something Opal Lee has spent years trying to make happen. The 94-year-old Texas-raised activist and author—known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth”— even walked from Fort Worth to Washington D.C. to raise awareness about the holiday. And now—156 years after slavery was ended in Texas—her dream of “Juneteenth National Indepedence Day” is coming true. Brittany talks to Miss Opal about her tireless quest, and brings us some summer culture recommendations along the way.
 
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The “Grandmother of Juneteenth” on the Holiday’s Past, Present and Future

Brittany Packnett Cunningham is an activist, educator, and popular TV commentator—and a trusted voice for millions of people interested in social justice. Now, with UNDISTRACTED—an original podcast from The Meteor and Pineapple Street Studios—she aims her focus on the most pressing issues of our time through the lens of intersectional feminism. From the latest headlines to deep-dives with today’s most fascinating changemakers, UNDISTRACTED is your weekly guide to the revolution.

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News Commentary

One year ago this week, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade—a momentous decision that has enabled 14 states to outlaw abortion so far. Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham knew exactly who she wanted to talk to about that, and in this special episode, she sits down with Vice President Kamala Harris to talk about the chaos, the confusion, and what the White House should be doing to help patients and providers now. They get into all of it: what the VP thinks of the “extremist so-called leaders” behind the bans; the lawsuits the administration is filing, and the advice Kamala Harris says her mother would give her as she heads into the 2024 election.
 
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Exclusive: Vice President Kamala Harris On A Year Without Roe

It’s been five years exactly since millions of people, most of them women, stepped forward to say #MeToo. What have we learned since then? In our season finale, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Tarana Burke, the woman who started the movement back in 2006, along with playwright/attorney Mary Kathryn Nagle, and organizer/attorney Monica Ramirez. Their conversation is a reflection on our post-#MeToo world—and what we actually owe survivors. But first, as always, your UNtrending news. 

Note: For more information on how to help the fight in Iran, visit Iran Human Rights
 
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“Every Hashtag is a Human Being”: Honoring the Five-Year Anniversary of #MeToo

The floods, the hurricanes, the wildfires…if you feel like you’re living through a climate apocalypse, you’re not wrong. But it’s not all hellfire, says marine biologist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson—there are signs of progress if you know where to look. In this episode, the “climate futurist” sits down with host Brittany Packnett Cunningham to give our planet a report card from the point of view of science, policy and climate action. The results? Not what we expected. But first, this week’s UNtrending news.
 
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The End of the World as We Know It? Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Rates our Climate Future

Congresswoman Cori Bush doesn’t have the usual political resume: no Ivy League alma mater, no law degree, no generational wealth––but she’s an organizer, a mother, a pastor and a survivor, and she’s brought all those pieces of herself with her to Washington. Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Rep. Bush to talk about her brand-new memoir, her harrowing journey to the Capitol, and what it’s really like to survive in politics as a Black woman. But first, this week’s UNtrending news.

Note:
For resources on how you can help asylum seekers in New York, see here. 
For more information on upcoming SCOTUS cases, see here and here. 
 
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“You Can’t Win if You Don’t Start”: Rep. Cori Bush on Running for Office—and Making a Difference

What do Stranger Things, social media and sexual violence all have in common? They all figure into Derecka Purnell’s brilliant world philosophy about abolition—the effort to move beyond police, and the violence too often associated with them. In this episode, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with her friend, the writer and professor, to hear more. This is a conversation about scaling big ideas down to day-to-day practice. But first, this week’s UNtrending News.
For more information on abolitionist books resources, visit here or here.
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The “Grandmother of Juneteenth” on the Holiday’s Past, Present and Future

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