The National Urban League's "State of Black America" report states that Black Americans' economic and civil rights have taken a step back. The report cites legal challenges to the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and the pushback against affirmative action as holding back progress. To discuss, we FEATURE Avis Jones-DeWeever. Jones-DeWeever, is an award-winning author, international speaker, political commentator, and race & gender empowerment expert. As a prolific writer, she is the author or co-author of numerous publications, including her award-winning book, How Exceptional Black Women Lead along with The State of Black Women in the U.S. (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019); Beyond Broke: Why Closing the Racial Wealth Gap is a Priority for National Economic Security; Massive Resistance: A Way Forward for Black America in the Wake of Trump and You Mad? Black Women, Work, and the Normalcy of Disrespect, among many others. Media includes: The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Essence Magazine, Ebony Magazine, The Huffington Post, Black Enterprise, CNN, Fox News, PBS, C-Span.

As Ramadan approaches, ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas are in deadlock as the humanitarian situation continues to worsen in Gaza. To discuss, we FEATURE Rebecca Vilkomerson. Vilkomerson has been working in social justice movement organizations for over two decades, most recently as the Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace, a position she held from 2009-2019. Vilkomerson has since co-founded, with Soheir Asaad, the Funding Freedom project, which works to build solidarity and support for Palestinian freedom through education, advocacy, communications in philanthropy. She authored Funding Freedom: Philanthropy and the Palestinian Freedom Movement, a report published by Solidaire in 2022. Her book Solidarity is the Political Form of Love: Lessons from Jewish Anti-Zionist Organizing, co-authored with Rabbi Alissa Wise, will be published by Haymarket Books in 2024. Media includes: The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, The Hill, Huffington Post, Tikkun and Zeek, CNN.

Senate Democrats reintroduced the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which seeks to restore and strengthen parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. To discuss, we FEATURE Jeralyn Cave. Cave is the assistant director of communications at the Racial Justice Center at SEIU. Previously, she was senior communications associate with Advancement Project's Power & Democracy Campaign. In that role she provided strategic communications support to grassroots organizations to remove barriers to voting. As a political organizer, Jeralyn has worked on numerous issue and candidate campaigns, leading direct voter contact programs and successfully electing candidates at the state, local, and federal level. Extensive media experience.

On Monday, France became the first country in the world to enshrine abortion rights into its constitution. To discuss, we FEATURE Julie F. Kay. An experienced and passionate advocate for equality, attorney Kay is an expert on women's human rights domestically and internationally. Her initiatives include litigation, policy work and public speaking to increase support for access to reproductive rights and religious freedom. Kay is the co-author with Kathryn Kolbert of Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom. She helped lay the groundwork for the legalization of abortion in Ireland through designing and litigating the first direct challenge to the country's absolute ban before the European Court of Human Rights in ABC v. Ireland. Media includes: Los Angeles Times, Guardian, Irish Times, The New York Times, Bloomberg.

Stephanie Bier, the director of security platform experience at Microsoft, spoke up recently about being harassed at Legalweek, a conference for lawyers and legal tech professionals. Since then, many women—and some men—have begun sharing similar experiences on social media. To discuss, we FEATURE Thea Ducrow. Ducrow started her career delivering sexual harassment prevention training in the 1990’s, when the need was less obvious than now. She worked as an assistant professor with Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center before leaving to pursue consulting and speaking full-time. She researched sexual violence against women 60 and over for her dissertation. Her work over the past 20 years includes bringing proven business policies, procedures, and practices to organizations. Media includes: Good Housekeeping, Associated Press, Fox.

Violence has erupted in Haiti as gangs stormed prisons and released thousands of prisoners, with shoot outs between the gangs and the police and between rival gangs. There are no elected officials, gangs are estimated to control 80% of the capital, and gang leaders have threatened the prime minister, who is out of the country. To discuss, we FEATURE Vanessa L. Deane. Deane is the Chief Executive Officer of Pinchina. She is also Assistant Clinical Professor of Urban Planning and Public Service, as well as the Director of Urban Planning, at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service (NYU Wagner). She won the 2021-2022 Outstanding Decentralization Paper Award for Latin America and the Caribbean for her novel in-depth analysis of Haiti’s longstanding institutional challenges, accentuated by the 2010 earthquake and its aftermath. Other accolades include the 2020 “Professor of the Year,” the 2018 “Impact Award – Young Women Rising” by the American Women for International Understanding and being inducted into the Haitian Roundtable’s 1804 List as one of the “Top 5 to Watch” among Haitian-Americans in 2015. Media includes: The Root, Planning Magazine, BBC.

The 96th Oscars ceremony will air on Sunday. To discuss, we FEATURE Sasha Stone, writer of WMC Investigation 2024: Gender and Non-Acting Oscar Nominations. Stone has been writing about the Oscar race for 16 years, beginning with the website Oscarwatch.com, which changed to AwardsDaily.com in 2006. Although the primary focus of her coverage is film and the Oscar race, her specific focus is on women and diversity within the awards race. She is currently working on a book about women in film. Media includes: The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Vulture, NPR.

March is Women's History Month and Friday March 8 is International Women's Day. To commemorate, 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,PBS.