Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, two Black filmmakers from Tennessee, were ousted from their positions for participating in gun reform protests. Justin Jones has been reinstated, and some legislators have called for Justin Pearson to also be reinstated. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Tia Sherèe Gaynor, an associate professor in the leadership and management area at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Gaynor was the founding director for the Center for Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation and a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses on issues related to social (in)justice, cultural competency, and social equity within a U.S. and global context, particularly as it relates to underrepresented and marginalized populations. Gaynor recognizes that the scholarship and practice of public administrators can either serve as promoters of equity and justice or facilitators of injustice for underrepresented and marginalized populations. Her work is committed to not only recognizing this juxtaposition but also offering strategies to foster justice and equity in the field. Media includes: Christian Science Monitor, Huffington Post, Popsugar, NPR.
Documents from the U.S. Defense Department were leaked and included information on the war in Ukraine. To discuss, we FEATURE Nina Jankowicz. Jankowicz is Vice President at the Centre for Information Resilience, a social enterprise focused on countering disinformation. Previously, Jankowicz was a Global Fellow at the Kennan Institute where she studied the intersection of democracy and technology in Central and Eastern Europe and a senior advisor at the Centre for Information Resilience. From March to May 2022 she served as the head of the Disinformation Board of the U.S. Homeland Security. She is the author of How To Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News. Prior to her Fulbright grant in Ukraine, Jankowicz managed democracy assistance programs to Russia and Belarus at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, Foreign Policy, The Wilson Quarterly, CNN, MSNBC, NPR.
A federal judge in Texas ordered a hold on federal approval of mifepristone, a common pill used for abortions, arguing that the Food and Drug Administration improperly approved abortion pill 23 years ago. To discuss, we FEATURE Deana Rohlinger. Rohlinger is a Professor of Sociology at Florida State University. She does research on mass media, political participation, and politics. She is the author of Abortion Politics, Mass Media, and Social Movements in America and dozens of scholarly and book publications that look at everything from the kinds of emails individuals sent Jeb Bush about the Terri Schiavo case to the Tea Party Movement. Her second book, New Media and Society, published by New York University Press, looks at how digital technology changes our relationships with one another and shapes our interactions with politicians, law enforcement, teachers, and religious leaders. Media includes: USA Today, Fortune, Fortune, US World and News Report, NPR.
Yesterday, a shooter entered a bank in downtown Louisville, Ky., and opened fire, killing five people and injuring nine others. To discuss, we FEATURE Valda Crowder. Crowder is a medical expert on the front line of the gun violence and mental health crises, four pandemics, natural disasters and the fallout of health disparities. As a board-certified emergency medicine physician for more than three decades, she has treated victims of violence, category four hurricanes and patients infected with COVID-19, H1N1, HIV and tuberculosis. During a rash of mass shootings at US postal offices, her clinical and public policy skills saved lives. She is currently director of Emergency Medicine at UPMC Community Hospital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Media includes: The Baltimore Times, The Dallas Examiner, NPR.
In an interview, French President Emmanuel Macron has stated that Europe should reduce its dependency on the U.S. and should not follow U.S. nor China policy on Taiwain. To discuss, we FEATURE Astrid Nordin. Astrid holds the Lau Chair of Chinese International Relations in the Lau China Institute, King’s College London. She research draws on Chinese sources, traditions, and cultural phenomena, to understand current Chinese affairs, as well as broader questions about China’s role in future world relations. She has published dozens of academic articles and several books, including China’s International Relations and Harmonious World. She is especially interested in how Chinese political rhetoric and identity is shaped in relation to 'Western' identities, politics, and concepts, and its great power competition with the U.S. Media includes: South China Morning Post, France 24, BBC, ABC.
After eight years of civil war in Yemen, the Saudi and Omani representatives have met with the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen's capital Sana'a to discuss a ceasefire. To discuss, we FEATURE Maryam Ishani. Maryam is a specialist on the way war impacts civilians, on radicalisation and on the role that climate change is creating new conflicts in places like Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, the Sahel region and in the Asia Pacific. She is a 15 year veteran of war, peace and reconciliation journalism—during which she covered the rise of Al Qaeda in Yemen for The Guardian. She began her career in International Affairs at the United Nations Headquarters in New York working directly on peace-building agendas and at the Security Council as a Monitor and Reporter for the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict. Media includes: The Guardian, Agence France-Presse, Reuters, BBC.
President Biden will be visiting Ireland to commemorate the 1998 signing of the Good Friday Agreement. To discuss, we FEATURE Laura Weinstein. Weinstein holds a PhD in Irish History and she is an independent scholar and analyst of Irish politics. She has published scholarly work on the Irish Republican Army, sexual assault in Ireland, the importance of competing discourses in history, and right-wing nationalism in Ireland. Her dissertation examined the relationship between the Catholic church, government, and rape law in the Republic of Ireland. Weinstein is currently researching a book on right-wing nationalism in Ireland. Media includes: The Washington Post, Radio Kingston, Éire-Ireland.
Tax Day is next week. To discuss, we FEATURE Anita R. Johnson. Anita, a financial psychologist, is an entrepreneur, speaker, writer, and founder of Money Wisdom for Women. Anita has over 30 years of experience in Accounting, Taxation, & Finance, helping entrepreneurs find their financial voice. After settling into entrepreneurship in 1998 with Anita R Johnson & Associates as the parent company, she quickly founded Money Wisdom for Women to help women upgrade their unhealthy financial habits to healthy habits, helping them make sound financial decisions. Anita takes a holistic approach to money, focusing on enhancing your financial well-being, while understanding your emotional behavior around money. Anita knows once a client understands their anxiety around money, he/she can make clear and concise money decisions that will affect their legacy. Media includes: Essence, Eton Online, The Sacramento Observer, ABC.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. To discuss, we FEATURE Nancy Chi Cantalupo. Cantalupo is a nationally-recognized scholar and expert on Title IX, sexual harassment, and gender-based violence in education. Her scholarship draws from her over 25 years of anti-campus sexual harassment and gender-based violence work as a researcher, campus administrator, victims’ advocate, attorney, and policymaker and focuses on the use of law to combat discriminatory violence. She co-authored “Title IX & the Preponderance of the Evidence: A White Paper,” signed by over 115 law professors from across the country and from 2017-19 was asked by the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence to draft and edit its "Recommendations for Improving Campus Student Conduct Processes for Gender-Based Violence." Presently, Cantalupo is the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Belonging and Associate Professor of Law at Wayne State University. Media includes: The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, Time.
To find more experts gender-based violence, find WMC SheSource's list for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Liz Theran
