Iran has offered a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz which Donald Trump has told advisors he was not satisfied with. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT 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. As a policy advisor, Schirch built the first peacebuilding policy initiative in Washington, DC. As the Founding Director of the Alliance for Peacebuilding's Policy Program from 2006-2015, Schirch brought delegations of peacebuilding practitioners from Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries to Congress and trained over 1000 US Foreign Service Officers and military officers on civil society peacebuilding and the relevance of the Geneva Conventions to civil-military relations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Media includes: Huffington Post, The Washington Post, CNN, NPR.
Saturday night, a gunman stormed the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The incident has spawned conspiracy theories on social media. To discuss, we FEATURE Ebonee Otoo. Otoo is senior vice president of social impact at the nonpartisan nonprofit News Literacy Project. Otoo can discuss best practices in news literacy instruction, legislative requirements to teach news literacy, evidence for the efficacy of news literacy instruction and practical news literacy tips and skills. She is an expert on social media, misinformation, news literacy instruction, and news literacy legislation. Media includes: Ms. Magazine, WERA Public Radio, KGUN 9.
A federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administrations immigration detention policy, which makes it mandatory for immigrants to be detained prior to deportation. To discuss, we FEATURE Laboni Hoq, Hoq is an experienced civil rights lawyer who founded Hoq Law in 2020. Her practice draws from her over twenty-year career successfully litigating high-profile cases on behalf of workers, immigrants and those seeking government accountability. Among the notable immigrants’ rights cases Hoq has litigated is Gomez v. Trump, a case which resulted in summary judgement against the Trump administration for its policy that effectively ended the 2020 Diversity visa program. The case resulted in over 13,000 diversity lottery winners regaining their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immigrate to the U.S. Hoq was also class counsel in Chhoeun v. Homan and Trinh v. Homan, two cases that stopped the Trump administration’s policies of targeting refugees from Cambodia and Vietnam for prolonged detention and summary deportation without due process. Media includes: Los Angeles Times, OC Register, The Sacramento Bee, NBC.
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in regards to the Trump administration’s plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status for more than 350,000 Haitians and Syrians. To discuss, we FEATURE Johanna Leblanc. Leblanc is a national security law and foreign policy expert. As a Partner at Adomi Advisory Group, PLLC, she offers invaluable guidance to a diverse clientele on matters such as trade, debt financing for projects in emerging markets, public relations, sanctions, federal legislative processes, and diplomacy. She also serves as an adjunct professor at Howard University. Prior to her tenure in Congress, Leblanc served as a senior foreign policy advisor to three sitting Haitian ambassadors to the United States and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her portfolio included, but not limited to, promoting the interests of the Republic of Haiti before the United States Congress, White House, Department of State, and other institutions, and advising the government on intergovernmental relations, immigration, national security, and trade. Media includes: Voice of America, Roland Martin Unfiltered, Black News Channel (BNC).
May 3 is World Press Freedom Day. To discuss, we FEATURE Judy Endejan. Endejan is a Seattle attorney with the firm of Garvey Schubert Barer. Her practice focuses on telecommunications, media and intellectual property issues. A former professional journalist herself, Endejan has made a major mark on the state of free speech and free press law. Among her accomplishments, Judy obtained a landmark ruling that the academic speech of a university professor is protected by the First Amendment; forced the release of key public records regarding defects with the construction of the new floating bridge over Lake Washington; and won summary judgment for a broadcaster sued for remarks made by callers to a radio talk show, later affirmed by the Washington Court of Appeals. Extensive media experience.
May Day, also known as International Workers' Day, is on Friday, May 1st. To discuss, we FEATURE Lorena Roque. Roque is the associate director for labor policy on the Education, Labor & Worker Justice team at CLASP. Her research focuses on job quality, labor standards, and occupational safety and health, including gender-based violence and harassment. As a public policy economist, she brings her expertise in labor market data analysis and quantitative research. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Fast Company.
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. To discuss, we FEATURE Nancy Wang Yuen. Yuen is a sociologist and expert on race and racism in Hollywood. Presently, Yuen a professor of ethnic studies at Crafton Hills College. She is the author of Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism and co-editor of Power Women: Stories of Motherhood, Faith, and the Academy. She is the host of The Disrupters podcast. She has co-authored multiple media reports including, “Tokens on the Small Screen: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on Prime Time and Streaming Television,” “Terrorists and Tyrants: Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Actors in Prime Time & Streaming Television,” and “The Prevalence and Portrayal of Asian and Pacific Islanders Across 1,300 Popular Films.” Media includes: PBS, NPR, MSNBC, CBS News, NBC News, BBC World.
Liz Theran
