The Thurgood Marshall Institute at the Legal Defense Fund brings you Justice Above All, a quarterly series about the evolution of, and continued need for, racial justice advocacy. We’ve entered a time where many of the building blocks underpinning our work for racial justice are being questioned or actively undermined. Justice Above All provides an accessible way to help inform the national debate, revive our history, and remember how far we still must go in our quest to realize the ideals for…
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What if communities had a real say in how their local government spends public money? In this episode of Justice Above All , we explore participatory budgeting, a process that gives residents a direct role in deciding how a portion of public funds is spent. Dr. Sandhya Kajeepeta speaks with organizers and advocates about how participatory budgeting can strengthen democracy, advance racial justice,…
Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the 1619 Project, sat down with Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, to discuss the role of race in our nation's founding. You can view the full video interview here on YouTube and learn more about the episode here . If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of…
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." All Americans are familiar with these famous words at the beginning of the Declaration of Independence. However, far fewer people are familiar with the words at the end of the Declaration, and their significance in solidifying the role of race in the founding of our nation. In this episode, we dive into history and probe…
This Pride Month, Justice Above All celebrates the resilience, joy, and leadership of Black trans women. From Stonewall to the present, Black trans women have been at the forefront of civil rights struggles, transforming resistance into systems and institutions that support equality for all. Yet despite their leadership, they have often borne the brunt of discriminatory policing, harassment, and…
Black communities hold the intergenerational wisdom to address community violence and deliver safety without relying on punishment. In this episode of Justice Above All, guests explore approaches to violence prevention that are rooted not in punishment, but rather in Black communities’ wisdom around safety, accountability, resistance, and healing. Guests spotlight the Safe Streets program in…
This episode of Justice Above All investigates one way in which segregation has been rebranded in the twenty-first century: all-white, or “whites-only,” settlements. In recent years, there has been an alarming rise in these settlements across the United States. Attempts to build all-white settlements represent a modern rebranding of segregationist housing practices like restrictive covenants.…
Toxic beauty—the presence of harmful chemicals in common beauty products—is a public health crisis rooted in systemic racism. In this episode of Justice Above All, guests discuss how various beauty products marketed to Black women contain toxic chemicals that contribute to serious health disparities. Guests highlight how racialized beauty standards, and the marketing and availability of cosmetics…
In honor of the 100th anniversary of what we now know to be Black History Month in the U.S., we are re-airing a special episode. In the roughly two years since we recorded this episode, public education, especially STEM education and research, has been under attack. This presents a formidable threat to the success of Black innovators today and in the future. Elijah McCoy, Garret Morgan, George…
The United States is at a tipping point, as the anti-truth movement attempts to erase the history of pivotal moments that advanced racial justice. Related to this movement, the legal theory of originalism falls short of a truthful retelling of history and therefore threatens America’s cultural memory. This episode of unpacks originalism and how it has helped fuel recent efforts to dismantle…
Too often, the criminal legal system fails people who experience harm or violence. At the same time, it also often fails the communities that harmed people are members of. In many cases, survivors and the accused belong to the same community. Restorative justice centers the specific needs of people who have experienced harm or violence with an eye towards healing both the harmed individuals along…
Today, cities such as Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City are under heightened scrutiny, with political narratives around “crime” fueling discussions of potential federal or state intervention. These dynamics echo a long history of power struggles—from Reconstruction, when the federal government deployed forces to protect Black citizens, to the Civil Rights Movement, when…
Every day, transportation is an essential thread woven into the fabric of our lives. Public transportation systems have silently shaped the landscapes of communities, perpetuating disparities and reshaping urban environments in ways that often go unnoticed. Historically, accessible and equitable public transportation infrastructure has been crucial for low-income communities. However, systemic…
Local officials have a great deal of power and authority over both our access to water and our water quality. For that reason, water is frequently on the ballot in local elections. Currently, Black communities are not being well served by water utilities, including water infrastructure and billing policies. The guests on this episode will walk listeners through the water justice crisis as it…
Police departments claim that gang policing is a crucial, precise crime prevention strategy. In reality, gang policing operates as a racially discriminatory police practice, targeting thousands of Black and Latinx boys and young men and labeling them as “gang members” without justification. In this episode, the Justice Above All team will demystify gang policing and describe the real harm it…
Content Warning: Themes of racism, violence, and police brutality are discussed throughout this episode. Please proceed with caution and care. The U.S. has persistently relied on armed law enforcement to enforce traffic laws. However, existing evidence does not support the notion that police traffic enforcement improves public safety. In fact, police traffic enforcement has serious adverse…
In 1955, the Supreme Court instructed the states to begin desegregation plans with "all deliberate speed." This episode of Justice Above All highlights the complexities of realizing equal educational opportunities through desegregation. We explore how even decades after Brown, schools in America today are deeply segregated and unequally funded by race and class. We discuss what is truly needed to…
This episode of Justice Above All examines how the Supreme Court interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), and how today’s legal arguments decontextualize the Amendment’s historical context in which it was ratified—during Reconstruction, to secure full citizenship and legal equality for formerly enslaved Black people. Today, multiple…
This episode of Justice Above All highlights the centrality of birthing centers, which provide historically informed and culturally competent care to Black birthing people, to the realization of reproductive justice. We will discuss a wave of new state-level regulations that are severely impacting the ability of midwives and other birthing center staff to provide their services. We will also…
Algorithms and predictive technologies are being used to an increasing extent in housing (i.e., tenant screening, lending, appraisals, housing advertising). While algorithms have the potential to increase equity by removing human bias from decision-making, there is very little transparency and oversight over these tools and there is a real threat that these technologies are in fact replicating and…
Despite being the only elected law enforcement officials, sheriffs operate with impunity. In fact, many people are not aware of the sweeping power that sheriffs hold over law enforcement, jails, and to an increasing extent national politics and election administration. In this episode of Justice Above All, we highlight the role of sheriffs in our law enforcement systems and discuss how sheriffs…
This episode of Justice Above All discusses voter challenges and voter turnout ahead of the November 5, 2024 election. Our guests explain how voter intimidation and voter suppression tactics continue to pose systemic barriers to Black voters. Even while this is occurring, Black voices are not being completely silenced: organizers are building Black political power in the South and celebrating…
In 2023, The Heritage Foundation, a think tank focused on promoting conservative public policies, published Project 2025 as a blueprint to consolidate power within the executive, or the office of the president, and weaken democratic structures. In speaking with experts, this episode of Justice Above All breaks down Project 2025 and anticipates how its implementation will directly impact…
May 2024 marks 70 years since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education declaring the “separate but equal” doctrine unconstitutional and marking a new standard for American education.This episode is part one of a special three-part arc to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Brown , which dismantled legal racial apartheid in the United States and radically…
On the season three opener of Justice Above All , host and Thurgood Marshall Institute Senior Researcher, Dr. Sandhya Kajeepeta explores the state of felony disenfranchisement. Across the country, previously incarcerated individuals are forced to navigate complex, bureaucratic processes in order to exercise their constitutional right to vote. In the past few years, we’ve seen increased…
On this episode of Justice Above All, Thurgood Marshall Institute summer research fellows explored food apartheid. The fellows investigated the struggle to access quality food in the United States and on this special episode of the show, they're sharing what their research revealed about the deep, systemic legacy of food apartheid in Black communities across the country. Guests: Dr. Wilma Clopton,…
Elijah McCoy, Garret Morgan, George Washington Carver, and Madame CJ Walker are names you might recognize. They're Black inventors whose inventions modernized the world. But they may also be the only names you recognize when you think of Black inventors. Due to racism and other discriminatory structural barriers, potential Black inventors have been locked out, or in some cases violently forced…
In 2022, LDF made its return to the Supreme Court for the first time in seven years. Every year, LDF submits a few amicus briefs in various civil rights cases to the Court, but an LDF attorney had not delivered an oral argument before the Court since Buck v. Davis . But in 2022, Deuel Ross, LDF’s Deputy Director of Litigation, argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of Black Alabama voters in…
On this episode, host Dr. Sandhya Kajeepeta, TMI Senior Researcher, chronicles how school board elections and meetings were once bastions of Black political power but have now become sites of charged debates, takeovers, and infiltrated by groups outside of the actual districts . Using Charleston as a case study, Dr. Kajeepeta illustrates how school board meetings and elections became so intense…
Freedom House was a radical idea that changed emergency response programs and birthed modern-day paramedicine. As we continue to reimagine public safety and confront the role of police in our society, Freedom House's legacy offers a blueprint on what health and safety can look like when people experiencing medical or behavioral distress are met with appropriate care. On this episode Justice Above…
In 2022, the Supreme Court reversed decades of precedent in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization . The decision held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion and that the authority to regulate abortions rests with states. While the long-term ramifications of overturning the right to an abortion are unknown, Dobbs immediately triggered states’…
For over 40 years, affirmative action was one of the nation's key tools in helping create diverse working and learning environments. The practice of affirmative action in higher education admissions processes has been challenged several times over, and on June 29, 2023 the Supreme Court overturned previous rulings on the practice's legality in their decisions in SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC…
It may seem odd that an Asian-American woman became a leader in the Black liberation and Civil Rights Movement, but Dr. Grace Boggs deeply understood that our individual liberation is bound up in the liberation of others. Dr. Grace Boggs was a Detroit-based labor activist and organizer known as the founding mother of intersectionality. She used her academic background in philosophy to undergird…
On the opening episode of Season two of Justice Above All, the Thurgood Marshall Institute team explores how access to the ballot can make Black communities healthier. In 2022, the American Medical Association classified voting as a social determinant of health. Equal and fair access is not only the pinnacle of a healthy, functioning democracy, but it has crucial downstream impacts for physical,…
On this episode of Justice Above All, TMI Senior Fellow and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro walks listeners through the rise of the corporate landlord and their preying upon Black neighborhoods, starting with America's history of state-sponsored segregation, exploring the impact of the Great Recession, and ending with the state of today's housing market. This…
On this episode of Justice Above All , host Dr. Sandhya Kajeepeta walks listeners through how race shapes the experience of contracting and recovering from long-haul COVID. Featuring former Washington D.C. Public Health Commissioner Dr. Reed Tuckson, Yale School of Medicine Assistant Professor and epidemiologist Dr. Carol Oladele, and award-winning former teacher, activist and long-COVID patient…
In the U.S., experiencing a behavioral health crisis can mean deadly interaction with the police. Instead of meeting those in need with compassion and care, they’re being met with guns and incarceration. The latest episode of Justice Above All explores alternatives to policing behavorial health crises. Hosted by: Ayobami Laniyonu Produced: Keecee DeVenny and Jackie O'Neill Edited by: Keecee…
Millions of people live in areas that expose them to hazardous conditions and jeopardize their health. Across the nation, existing and newly built public and subsidized housing is concentrated in low-economic opportunity areas. Disproportionately Black and Brown communities face high levels of poverty and high exposure to environmental dangers. The federal government's long history of…
During the 2020 Election, targeted difficulties, like voting ID laws, polling place closures, voter roll purges, registration requirements, and limitations on voting times, had a particularly burdensome impact on voters of color. Nevertheless, 2020 saw the highest turnout of voters of color in American history. On this episode, Justice Above All unpacks how election sabotage invaded the 2020…
On this episode, host Dr. Kesha Moore unpacks the anti-truth movement and the coordinated attempts to censor the accurate teaching of American history. Justice Above All is joined by Katrina Feldkamp, Assistant Counsel for the Legal Defense Fund and Anya and Raven, two student leaders in the Southlake Anti-Racism Coalition. If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping…
On this episode, host Dr. Kesha Moore traces the history of fines and fees and outlines how localities are fining some of their poorest residents as a way to generate revenue for their budgets. Guests: Katurah Topps, LDF Policy Counsel, Emily Harris, Policy Director of the Ella Baker Center, and Cortney Sanders, Senior Manger of State and Policy Analysis at Center on Budget and Policy Priorities…
On this episode of Justice Above All, host and TMI Senior Researcher Dr. Kesha Moore talks with Sarah Saadian, Vice President of Public Policy at the National Low Income Housing Coalition , Sophie House, Law and Policy Director at NYU's Furman Center's Housing Solutions Lab , and Jason Bailey, Assistant Counsel at the Legal Defense Fund about how our current housing epidemic links back to the 2008…
Later this year, the redistricting process will begin and the states will begin drawing the districts that will determine the allocation of political power and representation for the next ten years. However, a practice known as prison-based gerrymandering threatens the principle of "one person, one vote" and risks unfairly diluting the political power of Black and urban communities, while…
In this episode, election law expert, Professor Richard L. Hasen speaks with, Thurgood Marshall Institute Senior Researcher, Dr. Algernon Austin about the many obstacles to voting facing African Americans this November. Professor Hasen and Dr. Austin discuss how this election is expected to be different from any other and how voters need to prepare. This podcast is a product of the Thurgood…
In this episode, the Thurgood Marshall Institute team is joined by Dr. Janise Parker, Dr. Brooke Cunningham, and LDF's Monique Lin-Luse, Esquire to tackle four important questions: how should we reopen schools in a way that addresses the racial inequities and trauma experienced by Black students?; How can school districts better fulfill their responsibility for a safe and equitable education for…
This episode features a conversation between Dr. Safiya Noble, New York Times Best-Selling Author of Algorithms of Oppression and Associate Professor at UCLA, and Will Searcy, Research and Operations Associate at the Thurgood Marshall Institute. At their most basic, algorithms are just instructions that are given to a computer to perform specific tasks. They can be very simple or incredibly…