President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that would allow him to temporarily close the border and suspend protections for asylum seekers. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Claire R. Thomas, the director of the Asylum Clinic at New York Law School. 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. At the Asylum Clinic, Thomas 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. Media includes: The New York Times, The Bangkok Post, The New Stateman, The Queens Daily Eagle, Law at the Margins.
June 2 is the one-hundredth anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act, which declared that “all non-citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided, That the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Indian to tribal or other property.” To discuss, we FEATURE Michelle Schenandoah (Oneida Nation). Schenandoah is a trained lawyer, writer, producer and Founder of Rematriation, a nonprofit highlighting the untold stories and contributions of Indigenous Peoples in North America. As an in-demand keynote speaker, Schenandoah talks about the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s influence on the formation of U.S. democracy, the U.S. Constitution and women’s rights. She creates healing narratives about truth telling, racial justice and intergenerational trauma for public and private audiences to process harmful histories and inspire meaningful action. Media includes: Associated Press, Al Jazeera, NEHA Magazine, APTN News, PBS.
Last week, Joe Biden unveiled a three-part plan that is part of a ceasefire proposal to Israel and Hamas. To discuss, we FEATURE Lisa Schirch. Schirch is Richard G. Starmann chair in peace studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. She has 30 years of experience in peacebuilding research, policy advocacy, practice, and teaching. A political scientist by training, she earned her Ph.D. in 1989 from George Mason University's Carter Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Schirch is the author of eleven books emphasizing local civil society agency and capacity, including Strategic Peacebuilding (2005), Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding (2006), Dialogue on Difficult Subjects (2007), Conflict Assessment and Peacebuilding Planning: Toward a Participatory Approach to Human Security (2014), The Ecology of Violent Extremism (2018), Synergizing Nonviolent Action & Peacebuilding (2018) and Social Media Impacts on Conflict and Democracy: The Tech-tonic Shift (2021). Media includes: Huffington Post, Washington Post Global, The Hill, CNN, NPR.
Last week, Donald Trump was found guilty of falsifying business records in order to hide hush-money he'd sent to Stormy Daniels ahead of his 2016 presidential campaign. He is the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime. Sentencing is expected on July 11th. To discuss, we FEATURE Debbie Hines. Hines is a Washington, DC based trial attorney, legal analyst, former Baltimore prosecutor and member of the Supreme Court bar. She is an expert in criminal law, high profile criminal cases, gun control and gun laws, police brutality, death penalty, domestic violence and Supreme Court cases. She often addresses legal/political issues at the intersection of gender, race and class. As a former felony prosecutor, she tried homicides, attempted murders, rapes, burglaries, robberies, narcotics and economic crimes. Presently, she maintains a boutique law practice focused on civil and criminal litigation. Media includes: The Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, The Hill, Huffington Post, Al Jazeera, MSNBC, CNN.
Abortion is a hot button issue for the upcoming presidential election. Multiple states are facing abortion bans, including Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signing a bill to label two abortion drugs as dangerous controlled substances and the Texas Supreme Court rejecting an expansion on what constitutes a medical emergency. To discuss, we FEATURE Melissa Fowler. Fowler is the chief program officer at the National Abortion Federation, the professional association of abortion providers. In this role, she provides leadership for the organization’s membership services—including NAF’s Security Department; communications; and fundraising and development portfolio. Fowler has devoted her professional career to serving abortion providers and advocating for women's health care. Prior to joining NAF in 2006, she worked in direct services as a patient advocate for a NAF member Planned Parenthood surgical center in Dallas and later in nonprofit communications. Media includes: The New Work Times, Bloomberg, USA Today, BBC, NPR.
Mexico has elected Claudia Sheinbaum, making her the country's first female and first Jewish president. To discuss, we FEATURE Catalina Ruiz-Navarro. Ruiz-Navarro is a Colombian-Caribbean feminist living in México City. She is an expert on Latin American feminism. Ruiz-Navarro co-created (e)stereotipas, an online, feminist, Latin American project that uses pop aesthetics and social and online media for counter-speech. Additionally, she works as Communications and Outreach Officer for the NGO Women's Link Worldwide, which designs and implements legal strategies for gender justice around the world. Media includes: Vice Magazine, Letras Libres, Razón Pública, The Guardian.
Juneteenth is a day to celebrate the end of slavery in the U.S. To commemorate, we FEATURE Dr. Koritha Mitchell, professor of English at Boston University. Mitchell is an award-winning author, literary historian, cultural critic, and professional development expert. She is the author of Living with Lynching and From Slave Cabins to the White House: Homemade Citizenship in African American Culture. She has edited Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861), the first book-length autobiography by a formerly enslaved African American woman, as well as Frances E.W. Harper’s 1892 novel Iola Leroy. Her research focuses on African America literature as well as violence in United States history and contemporary culture. She examines how texts, both written and performed, help targeted families and communities survive and thrive. Media includes: The Washington Post, TIME, Feministing, Vox, Huffington Post, CNN.
May is LGBTQ Pride Month. To commemorate, we FEATURE Zahara Green. Green is the Founder & CEO of TRANScending Barriers, a black trans-led nonprofit serving the transgender and gender non-forming (TGNC) community in Georgia. This work emphasizes empowerment, solidarity, & and self-realization by promoting self-awareness, healing, and personal transformation. Green is a prominent figure native to Atlanta, Georgia who has made significant contributions to social justice. Green has been a vocal advocate for black trans femmes & marginalized communities. Green has used her platform to raise awareness about the ways in which different forms of oppression intersect and impact marginalized communities. Green has advocated for policy changes, institutional reforms, and social justice movements that promote intersectional approaches to addressing inequity, discrimination, & oppression. Media includes: Buzzfeed, Rolling Stone, INTO, AJC.
Alicia White
Liz Theran
