The Switch Up With Cheyanne M. Daniels

On May 25, 2020, the world watched as 46-year-old George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer kneeling on his neck for more than 9 minutes. Floyd’s last words of “I can’t breathe” became a rallying cry for millions around the world.

Around the globe, people poured into the streets to demand police reform — and an end to the police violence that disproportionately affects Black Americans. Just days before the U.S. recognized the four-year anniversary of Floyd’s murder, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee reintroduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill that would pass sweeping federal police reform by ending qualified immunity and banning no-knock warrants and chokeholds. And Rep. Cori Bush reintroduced the Helping Families Heal Act, a bill that would provide mental health services for those affected by police violence.

The Switch Up sat down with Floyd’s family — his brother, Philonise and his sister-in-law Keeta — to talk about what this anniversary means to them and how they think this legislation can help the nation.

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Maryland hopeful Angela Alsobrooks won the Democratic primary Tuesday for the state’s open Senate seat. She now moves on to the general election in November.

The race, between the Prince George’s County executive and sitting Rep. David Trone, was one of the nation’s most contentious.

If elected, Alsobrooks would become the first Black woman to represent the Old Line State in the Senate and only the fourth Black woman to ever serve in the upper chamber.

The Switch Up sat down with Alsobrooks ahead of May’s primary election, chatting about the history she could make.

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Since Shirley Chisholm’s historic 1968 election to Congress, Black women have continued to make political gains.

But even though Black women overwhelmingly align with the Democratic Party, a new generation of Black women hoping to bring change and diversity to the GOP.

The Switch Up spoke with two of these women — Kimberly Klacik and Roxy Ndebumadu — about what draws them to the GOP, and the barriers Black women face in politics.

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From their voting habits to their leadership roles, Black women play a defining role in our political system. Over the last few years, more and more Black women have made history, and their roles and voices are being recognized in newfound ways — and it’s leading to change. 

What are the top issues for Black women ahead of the 2024 election? What more needs to be done to increase Black female representation in politics on all levels and what are the barriers? What is the power of the Black vote and how does it impact our politics going forward? 

The Hill will bring together current and former Black women holding office, who make up different aspects of our political world, to share what it means to be a Black woman in politics.  

Panel: Representation Matters

Headliner Interview: Breaking Barriers

Headliner Interview: Diversity Leadership

Headliner Interview: Pushing for Equal Rights

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It’s Black History Month — the one month a year where Americans take time to recognize the contributions Black Americans have made to this country since they were first brought to the U.S. and enslaved.

It means celebrating luminaries like Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress; poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize, and so many others. 

But this year’s celebration feels different. Since 2021, at least 18 states have imposed bans or restrictions on teaching topics of race and gender, according to reporting by EDweek. Some of these bans have even led to the banning of books written by Black authors — which we highlighted on the podcast in the past.

In today’s episode, we look at why, despite pushback, telling the stories of Black Americans remains an integral part of understanding U.S. history.

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In our last two episodes, The Switch Up talked about the maternal mortality crisis — how it disproportionately affects Black and Brown Americans, the struggle of incarcerated pregnant people and the activists and political leaders who are trying to end this crisis. 

Today, we’re delving into this crisis just a little bit more — and the decade-long fight to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). 

The PWFA is the first federal workplace protections for pregnant people enacted in 45 years. The law's new regulations are set to be released any day, and these new regulations protect pregnant workers’ right to take time off for medical treatment, recovery from childbirth, and even the right to travel to obtain abortion care. 

In this special episode of The Switch Up, The Hill sat down with Gillian Thomas, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Women's Rights Project, to talk about these new regulations and how they can help end the maternal mortality crisis. 

Watch the interview on YouTube

Read more on TheHill.com

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Every year, about 58,000 pregnant people enter prisons and jails. A study by the Pregnancy in Prison Statistics Project found that nationally, 4 percent of women entering prison and 3 percent of women entering jail are pregnant. 

In part two of our series on the maternal mortality crisis, we’re examining the health care of incarcerated pregnant people, including the practice of shackling and the devastating outcomes. Are other options available? And if so, how do we implement new plans to end maternal and fetal deaths in prison? 

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Black birthing people are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts, while Black infants are two times more likely to die within their first year than white infants.  

Reasons behind the disparities vary, but experts often point to implicit bias in the medical system that leads to Black patients consistently having their complaints and symptoms dismissed and their pain left undertreated.  

Meanwhile, more than 2.2 million women of childbearing age live in maternity care deserts or areas where there’s a lack of maternity care resources, such as hospitals or birth centers offering obstetric care, and 16 percent of Black babies were born in areas with limited or no access to maternity care services.  

What’s causing this crisis and who is most at risk? And is it even possible for us to end this deadly epidemic? 

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Since the Emancipation Proclamation, America has struggled to reckon with its history of enslaving Africans. 

Today, the legacy of slavery impacts 57 percent of Black Americans, according to Pew Research Center.

But that legacy is multifaceted and ranges from economic and educational inequality to redlining to the justice system. 

For some, they believe it’s past time America addressed these harms through reparations. But for others, the idea is so controversial, so incomprehensible, that it’s an impossible venture.

Guests

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During the 2021-2022 school year, more than 1,600 books were banned from school libraries, affecting 138 school districts in 32 states, according to a report from PEN America. 

For many, such bans are dangerous. For others, it’s a way to protect students.

On this episode of The Switch Up, Cheyanne Daniels speaks with authors whose books have been banned. What does it mean to be on that list – and how could censorship impact not only students, but our democracy?

Guests

• Kimberlé Crenshaw, American civil rights advocate, Co-founder and Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum, founder and Executive Director of the Center for Intersectionality & Social Policy Studies at Columbia Law School, and author of #SayHerName: Black Women’s Stories of Police Violence and Public Silence

Watch the full interview here

• George M. Johnson, Journalist, LGBTQIA activist, and author of All Boys Aren't Blue

Watch the full interview here

• Tiffany D. Jackson, Author of Monday’s Not Coming, Allegedly, Let Me Hear A Rhyme, Grown, White Smoke, Santa in The City, The Weight of Blood, and co-author of Blackout.

Watch the full interview here

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