#TalkRadio – April 30: Freedom To Learn and the Power of the Black Male Vote

SPEAKERS:

Prof. Kimberlé Crenshaw, Esq.: 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM ET
Co-founder and Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum; Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies at Columbia Law School; Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor at Columbia Law School and the Promise Institute Professor at UCLA Law School; A leading authority on civil rights, Black feminist legal theory, and race, racism and the law, popularly known for her development of “intersectionality”,  “Critical Race Theory” and the #SayHerName campaign; Personal Twitter: @sandylocks; Organization Twitter: @AAPolicyForum

Rep. Omari Crawford, Esq.: 12:00 PM – 12:57 PM ET
Assistant County Attorney at DeKalb County Government and State Representative for Georgia’s 84th House District; Former Associate Attorney at The Cochran Firm

Mawuli Davis, Esq.: 12:00 PM – 12:57 PM ET
Co-founder of the Davis Bozeman Law Firm and leads the Firm’s Criminal Defense and Trial Divisions; Co-host of The Black Man Lab: Live Session; United States Naval Academy graduate, where he played varsity basketball and majored in Political Science; Graduate of Georgia State University’s College of Law, where he was recognized in Who’s Who Among Colleges and Universities and awarded the Thurgood Marshall Award for his outstanding achievement as a law student; Among less than 3% of the lawyers in Georgia who receive the honor of being selected as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyer Magazine; Named “Civil Rights Attorney of the Year” by the Gate City Bar Association and Humanitarian of the Year by the Atlanta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma, Incorporated; Co-founder of Let Us Make Man

Marty Monegain: 12:00 PM – 12:57 PM ET
Executive Director at Black Man Lab Foundation, Inc; Co-host of The Black Man Lab: Live Session; Howard University graduate; Former Vice President of Sales and Business Development at THE SWYM GROUP; Former Director of Business Development at AseraCare, CURO Health Services, and Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care

INTRODUCTION:

The Igniting Change Radio Show on Tuesday, April 30th, 2024, from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Eastern Time, entitled, “Freedom To Learn and the Power of the Black Male Vote”, will be live with Radio Show Co-Hosts and Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC) Co-Leaders Attorneys Barbara Arnwine, Esq. and Daryl Jones, Esq. and will feature special guests Prof. Kimberlé Crenshaw, Esq., Atty. Mawuli Davis, Rep. Omari Crawford, Esq., and Marty Monegain. Today’s show will cover the important topics of the African American Policy Forum’s upcoming May 3rd National Day of Action and The Freedom To Learn movement and the relationship between this fight against book banning and the banning of teaching of African-American history and culture and its relevance to the 2024 elections. Over the last week, Radio Hosts and Attorneys Barbara Arnwine and Daryl Jones have been involved in a series of activities related to the fight for The 2024 Vote, including Friday, April 26th’s Parren J. Mitchell Dinner and Sunday, April 28th’s John Lewis: Good Trouble Online Screening Event. During our show we will also highlight Monday April 29th’s Young YMCA panel “Black Men Discuss: The Value of Their Vote and Political Power”, which was powered by David Bozeman Law and the Black Man Lab and featured Igniting Change Co-Host Daryl Jones and Igniting Change guests’ Mawuli Davis, Rep. Omari Crawford, Esq., and Marty Monegain as panelists. 

This show will kick off with the Radio Hosts focusing on Prof. Kimberlé Crenshaw, Esq. and the May 3rd National Day of Action and The Freedom To Learn Movement. Overt the last 5 years, there has been a nationwide MAGA White Supremacist Neo-Confederate Movement to ban books by African American authors and on African American history and culture accompanied by a vicious agenda of prohibiting the teaching of African American history. The May 3rd Day of Action is meant to bolster the resistance to these Unconstitutional and destructive efforts. According to the PEN America Report during the 2022-23 school year, book bans occurred in 153 districts across 33 states.  “Since January 2021, 44 states have introduced bills and at least 18 have passed laws restricting or banning the teaching of supposed critical race theory.”

Freedom to Learn Homeroom | May 2nd at 7:30pm ET
On Thursday, May 2nd the final Freedom To Learn Homeroom, a virtual Call to Action Rally, will take place where guests will hear from civil rights leaders and elected officials about the urgency of the May 3rd National Day of Action and The Freedom To Learn movement. This evening of activation, amplification and inspiration will uplift the vital need for action on May 3rd in defense of racial justice, education and democracy. We will be joined by prominent advocates for civil rights and multiracial democracy from Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Congressman Jamie Raskin, and leaders from civil rights organizations. This Homeroom will be a vital opportunity to lift our collective energies and resources ahead of May 3rd and what will be Freedom Summer 2024.

Freedom to Learn March in DC | May 3rd at 10:15am ET
The Freedom To Learn DC rally will convene at 10:15am ET at the Library of Congress, leading to a march at the US Supreme Court where a rally will take place at 11am ET with speakers from leading civil and human rights organizations, students, educators, parents, and artists. Speakers include: Kimberlé Crenshaw, Co-Founder and Executive Director, African American Policy Forum; Marc Morial, President, National Urban League; Janai Nelson, President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; Melanie Campbell, President/CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation; Damon Hewitt, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Svante Myrick, President, People For the American Way; Judith Browne Dianis, President of Advancement Project; Adam Russell Taylor, President, Sojourners, and more leaders.

Freedom To Learn Rally in NYC | May 3rd at 4pm ET
The Freedom To Learn NYC rally will take place at 4pm ET at Reverend T. Wendell Foster Recreation Center, 1020 Jerome Ave, Bronx, NY 10452 with speakers from city and state government, as well as leading civil and human rights organizations. In addition, an artist will perform an excerpt from Amanda Gorman’s book, The Hill We Climb. The Foster Recreation Center is home to SCAN-Harbor, a non-profit youth and family service center providing programming for families in Harlem, East Harlem, and the South Bronx under the leadership of executive director Lewis Zuchman, an original Freedom Rider. The event includes a banned book giveaway and speeches from Jumaane D. Williams, public advocate; Ashley Sharpton, NAN Youth Huddle; Dr. Canton Chloe; assembly Member Chantel Jackson, and more leaders. 

QUESTIONS:

• Kim, why is it necessary to have the National Freedom To Learn Day of Action on May 3rd? What actions are planned for May 3rd and how do people get more information and get involved?
• Like most White Supremacist Movements, the initial attack was originally allegedly against Critical Race Theory, but it has now shown its full intent to be an attack on all African-American historical cultural instruction. How will May 3rd help us to fight this growing movement?
• Mawuli, the suppression of the freedom to learn is but a mirror image of the suppression of the Black vote. Tell people about the panel you had on Monday in Atlanta, Georgia regarding the value of Black men’s vote and their political power? 
• Kim, why do you think it’s so difficult for people to see the connection between voter suppression and learning suppression?
• Rep. Crawford, your state of Georgia is often cited as “Ground Zero” of voter suppression. How have you seen in the legislature the interplay between these efforts to ban the freedom to learn while engaging in voter suppression?
• Kim, there is a pre-event on May 2nd to the Freedom To Learn Day of Action on May 3rd. Tell us about the partners who will be participating in this May 2nd virtual Call to Action Rally?
• Marty, for you, what was the highlight of Monday April 29th’s Young YMCA panel “Black Men Discuss: The Value of Their Vote and Political Power”?
• Kim, a lot of your work is centered around Black women and the intersectional frame for people to understand how African-American women face the doubly whammy of race and gender, plus more such as the added intersections of being a member of the LGBTQIA community, having a disability, and housing insecurity. People are always trying to divide Black men and Black women. We’ve seen that in Georgia where people are constantly asserting that Black men will abandon Black woman candidates, yet the stats prove this myth wrong. How do we counter this effort as we move through the 2024 Election Cycle?
• Kim, before you leave, please reiterate how our listeners get involved on the May 3rd Freedom to Learn Day of Action and the ongoing movement. Thank you for all of your hard work. How do our listeners get in contact with you?
• Marty, please also tell our audience about the Black Man’s Lab.
• For everyone listening, please share with our audience the key organizing points that came out of Monday’s panel regarding how to engage the Black male vote?
• Thank you for all of your hard work. How do our listeners get in contact with you?
• Daryl, at the end of Monday’s panel, you had an interesting exchange with a reporter who asked a question where you felt the premise of the question was wrong. Can you tell our audience about that? Please have the final word of this show be the answer you gave to the reporter.