Sunday, a man wounded eight people in an attack on a rally in Boulder for Israeli captives. According to the FBI, who have classified the attack as a hate crime, the man approached the rally with a "makeshift flamethrower." To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Nadia Aziz. Aziz serves as Senior Program Director, Fighting Hate and Bias Program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Previously she was Deputy Director at the Arab American Institute and before that, Policy Counsel of the Stop Hate Project with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she worked to ensure individuals and organizations targeted by hate have the resources they need to confront hate in their communities. Media includes: The Hill, Huffington Post, The Ed Schultz Show, CNN.
The Sean "Diddy" Combs trial is underway and entering it's fourth week. The music mogul has been accused of racketeering and sex trafficking. To discuss, we FEATURE Emerald Christopher. Christopher is a professor, keynote speaker, and local government official with over 20 years of experience in academia and government. Her research and advocacy focus on the socio-political position of women of color in the U.S., particularly examining their representation in popular culture and how these portrayals influence political institutions and policies. Christopher’s current research, "The Manifestations of Jane Crow: Gender-Based Violence and Black Women’s Experience," delves into gender-based violence, with a focus on how Black women experience unique forms of violence shaped by the intersection of racial and gender injustice. Christopher has also written research papers "Popular Music and Misogyny" in Misogyny in American Culture, Causes, Trends, and Solutions and "Feminism and Hip-Hop" in The St. James Encyclopedia of Hip Hop Culture. Extensive media experience.
The Republican megabill, while omitting the "repeal and replace" phrasing, is still expected to weaken protections granted by the Affordable Care Act. To discuss, we FEATURE Laura Packard. Packard is a health care advocate and stage 4 cancer survivor. She founded a non-profit, Health Care Voices, to organize adults with serious medical conditions for affordable comprehensive health care. Packard is executive director of Health Care Voter, a national campaign to hold elected officials accountable for their votes on health care, and support those who fight to protect our care. She also hosts CareTalk, a weekly consumer call-in TV show on act.tv and podcast, tackling health care and health insurance questions and topics. Media includes: USA Today, US News & World Report, The New York Times, The Washington Post, MSNBC.
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging the legality of state restrictions to assault weapons. To discuss, we FEATURE Kris Brown, president of Brady United Against Gun Violence. At Brady, Brown has brought together leaders across industries, from entertainment to advertising, business, and politics, to accelerate the movement to free America from gun violence. Under Brown’s leadership, Brady has embarked on groundbreaking projects to address gun violence from multiple angles. Notably, Brown has spearheaded Brady's collaboration with the entertainment industry, promoting responsible depictions of firearms in film and television through strategic partnerships and engaging filmmakers, producers, and actors to shape public perception and discourse surrounding firearms. Media includes: USA Today, LA Times, Ms. Magazine, MSNBC, CNN, ABC.
Immigration authorities have announced that they arrested 1,461 people in Massachusetts in May, including a high school student. To discuss, we FEATURE Claire R. Thomas. Thomas is an attorney, advocate, and assistant professor. Her interests and expertise include: U.S. immigration law, asylum and refugee law, unaccompanied children, immigrant access to public benefits, and empowerment for women and girls facing poverty and gender-based violence. Thomas directs the Asylum Clinic at New York Law School, in which she teaches law students how to represent immigrants seeking asylum and other humanitarian immigration protections in the United States. As an assistant professor at NYLS, she also teaches the introductory immigration law course. She is also a contract attorney with CUNY Citizenship Now! and assists immigrants applying for naturalization, and is a consultant for The Door, a NYC non-profit, in which she supervises immigration attorneys working with immigrant youth. Media includes: Voice of America, The New York Times, The Bangkok Post, The New Stateman, The Queens Daily Eagle, Law at the Margins.
June is LGBTQ Pride Month. To discuss, we FEATURE Kierra Johnson, president of the National LGBTQ Task Force. Johnson joined the Task Force in 2018 as Deputy Executive Director. When announced as the next executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, Johnson said, “Dignity, liberation, joy, freedom, love and resistance are just a few of the words that I associate with the National LGBTQ Task Force. As a bisexual/pansexual woman, I am no stranger to being made invisible, advised to tone down, or trained in the art of the code switch. As a queer southern mom, it is no surprise why I would be drawn to an organization that touts the tagline ‘Be You.’ In these cultural and political times, it is an act of resistance to live out loud and to lead and love with our full identities.” Media includes: Newsweek, The New York Times,Feministing, Fox, NPR.
Liz Theran
