The Activist Files Podcast

Black August began in the 1970s to mark the assassination of incarcerated political prisoners like the revolutionary organizer and writer George Jackson during a prison rebellion in California. Black August honors the freedom fighters, especially those inside the walls of our sprawling prison-industrial complex, who, with their vision, tenacity, and deep love for our communities, are leading us toward the horizon of abolition. The Center for Constitutional Rights is proud to be part of a rich legacy of inside-outside organizing to transform material conditions and build a world of collective safety without prisons, surveillance, and police.This Black August we bring to you an episode discussing the ongoing inside-outside organizing taking place to put an end to involuntary servitude in prisons or, more appropriately named, prison slavery. We are proud to represent incarcerated workers in Alabama as they seek to abolish forced prison labor, and we will continue to support them until slavery is banned everywhere, once and for all, in all its forms – not just in the law but in practice. Alabama is one of several states to join the growing movement to abolish prison slavery and involuntary servitude at the state and federal levels. Voters in Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, and Vermont have approved similar changes to their states' constitutions to remove the loophole permitting slavery as a form of punishment for incarcerated people.Speakers:Theeda Murphy - Abolish Slavery National Network, Organizer & Operations ManagerMax Parthas - Abolish Slavery National Network, National Campaign Coordinator & Paul Cuffee Abolitionist Center in Sumter, SC., Acting DirectorClaude-Michael Comeau - Promise of Justice Initiative, Staff AttorneyModerator:maya finoh, Political Education and Research Manager

In episode 57 of The Activist Files, we'll hear a discussion around Grants Pass v. Johnson, a case that went before the Supreme Court on April 22, 2024. According to the National Homelessness Law Center, “this case will decide whether cities are allowed to punish people for things like sleeping outside with a pillow or blanket, even when there are no safe shelter options.”The Center for Constitutional Rights, in our amicus brief, argued that the Supreme Court should rule that ordinances criminalizing homelessness violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. We're joined by more than forty LGBTQIA+ rights groups who signed on in support of the brief. Amid a national homelessness crisis driven by a lack of affordable housing, the Court's ruling in the case City of Grants Pass v. Johnson will have a profound effect on the rights and wellbeing of the hundreds of thousands of people without shelter in the United States. It will have a disproportionate impact on LGBTQIA+ people because they are unhoused at extremely high rates due to discrimination and bias. Legislators behind the laws have openly stated that their goal is to force unhoused people out of Grants Pass, a city of 40,000 that has no homeless shelters. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with the plaintiffs, issuing an injunction blocking enforcement of the ordinances.We're joined by Eric Tars Senior, Policy Director at National Homelessness Law Center, and Justin Lance Wilson, Co-founder of Rise Public Strategies. Speakers:Mikaila Hernández, Bertha Justice Fellows Eric Tars, Senior Policy Director - National Homelessness Law CenterEric Tars serves as the National Homelessness Law Center's Senior Policy Director, leading the development, oversight, and implementation of the Law Center's policy advocacy agenda to cultivate a society where every person can live with dignity and enjoy their basic human rights, including the right to affordable, quality, and safe housing. Eric helped spearhead the launch of the Law Center's national Housing Not Handcuffs campaign, has served as counsel of record in multiple precedent-setting cases, including Martin v. Boise in the 9th Circuit.Moderator:Zee Scout, Bertha Justice Fellows Resources:Johnson v. Grants Pass websitePress Release - 46 LGBTQIA+ Rights Groups Urge Supreme Court to Overturn Oregon Ordinances That Criminalize HomelessnessCase Page - City of Grants Pass v. Johnson (Amicus)

In episode 56 of The Activist Files, we'll hear a discussion sparked by the 10th anniversary of the historic ruling in our stop-and-frisk case, Floyd, et. al v. City of New York. The Center for Constitutional Rights, together with NYU Review of Law & Social Change, NYU's Ending the Prison Industrial Complex, and NYU's National Lawyers Guild Chapter, brought together law students, lawyers, organizers, and impacted community members for a one-day symposium on November 3, 2023. Together, they reflected on lessons learned in the last decade of struggle for police reform and accountability, and imagined a future of abolition and community safety.What you will hear is the first panel of the day: “10 Years Since Floyd.” The panelists were activist and organizer Joo-Hyun Kang, who formerly headed the coalition Communities United for Police Reform; Floyd plaintiff David Ourlicht; and Floyd counsel Darius Charney, now the Director of the Racial Profiling and Biased Policing Investigations Unit at the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, also known as the CCRB. Our own Advocacy Director, Nadia Ben-Youssef moderated.Speakers:Darius Charney, Floyd counsel, current Director of the Racial Profiling and Biased Policing Investigations Unit at the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB)Joo-Hyun Kang, activist and organizerDavid Ourlicht, Floyd plaintiffModerator:Nadia Ben-Youssef, Director of Advocacy

In the latest episode of the Activist Files, Bertha Justice Fellow Zee Scout speaks to five plaintiffs in our case Women in Struggle, et al. v. Bain, et al., recorded on the ground just before the National March in Florida to Protect Trans Youth and a Speakout for Trans Lives that took place in Orlando on October 7. Hundreds turned out to protest the state's violent and unconstitutional laws and spoke out against the wave of anti-trans bills, which attendees linked to a longstanding history of capitalist and imperialist domination in this country. Ahead of the march, participants in this historic grassroots movement worried about their ability to safely express their opposition to the anti-trans and anti-queer legislation passed by the Florida Legislature and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis due to Florida “Bathroom Ban”, which prevents transgender, gender nonconforming, and certain kinds of intersex people from accessing a restroom in line with their gender because it defines sex as one's anatomy and naturally occurring hormones at birth.Plaintiffs discuss the movement in support of LGBTQIA+ people, its historical and contemporary contexts, bringing to the discussion their personal motivations for joining the movement, and uplift ways that they continue to center trans joy in this  moment.Speakers:Melinda Butterfield, a 52-year-old transgender woman from New York CityAnaïs Kochan, is a 52-year-old transgender woman from BostonTsukuru Fors, a 52-year-old nonbinary person from West Hollywood, CaliforniaLindsey Spero, a 26-year-old non-binary person from Pinellas County, FloridaChristynne Wood, a 67-year-old transgender woman from Lakeside, CaliforniaModerator:Zee Scout, Bertha Justice Fellow

On Episode 54 of the Activist Files, Bertha Justice Fellow Zee Scout speaks with Ashley Diamond, a civil rights activist, who made a pivotal choice on the eve of her trial in January against the Georgia Department of Corrections for Eighth Amendment violations of inadequate healthcare and sexual assault due to officials placing her in a male prison: She voluntarily dismissed her case to focus on healing. Since then, however, Ashley has struggled to access healthcare, therapy, and housing, because all of these necessities are inherently more challenging to obtain as a Black trans woman in the Southeast. Though her lawsuit is done, Ashley needs more support than ever - as many queer, trans, intersex, and gender nonconforming people do while state legislatures and reactionary judiciaries accelerate their attacks on trans civil rights. In typical Ashley fashion, though, she sings through the pain (including by debuting a new song during the podcast!).Resources:Diamond v. Ward case page, client bio, resource page, and press releaseAshley's op-ed in themArticles in them, Xtra*, and Pink NewsTGI Justice ProjectAshley's fundraiser

On the occasion of the first session of the newly established UN Permanent Forum on the People of African Descent (UNPFPAD), the Center for Constitutional Rights traveled to Geneva to build solidarity with comrades from around the world committed to helping advance the mandate of the forum. In this episode, our Executive Director, Vince Warren, has a conversation with Gay McDougall, member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and former Special Rapporteur of Minorities, and Amara Enyia, Chair of Civil Society Working Group for PFPAD. Gay and Amara discuss their experiences while serving in different UN groups and the significance these groups have to advancing racial equity around the world.Resources:International Civil Society Working Group for PFPAD (PDF)Host/Guests:Vince Warren, Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional RightsGay McDougall, Member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and former Special Rapporteur of MinoritiesAmara Enyia, the Chair of Civil Society Working Group for PFPAD

This year marks the 90th anniversary of our longtime ally and current partner, the Highlander Research and Education Center, the storied school that's helped nurture the Black freedom struggle and other social movements across the south. For this month's episode of the Activist Files, co-executive directors Ash-Lee Henderson and Allyn Maxfield-Steele chat with Emily Early and Jess Vossburgh from our Southern Regional Office about Highlander's singular role as a training ground and meeting spot – the place where Rosa Parks took a workshop, Martin Luther King spoke, and John Lewis had his first integrated meal. Ash-Lee and Allyn discuss the centrality of the Black Freedom movement to other liberation movements, stress the importance of joy, storytelling, and cross-racial solidarity in movement-building, and celebrate the resilience and love that have enabled them to withstand repeated attacks from white supremacists. But Highlander's 90th year, they say, is an occasion for looking ahead, for envisioning and planning to build a new world, one grounded in sharing and interdependence. The dire state of the country – “for some of us, fascism is already here” – makes this task all the more urgent, they say. Resources:Red-baiting poster of Martin Luther King at HighlanderHighlander and Citizenship SchoolsSNCC Legacy ProjectHighlander petition opposing nomination to National Registry of Historic PlacesQ & A with Norma Wong

How do attacks on trans organizing and rights impact related movements for bodily autonomy, reproductive justice, and liberation? On episode 51 of "The Activist Files," our Communications Associate Lexi Webster talks with Imara Jones, award-winning journalist, content creator and thought leader, founder of TransLash Media, and host of the TransLash podcast, and Diamond Stylz, activist, media maker, executive director of Black Trans Women Inc., and host of the Marsha's Plate podcast, about how the work of movements for trans justice can inform social justice organizing on all liberation struggles.Their discussion centers around the ways in which an emboldened post-Trump era extremist movement on the right has set into motion a plan whose long-term goal is the creation and enforcement of a white ethnostate and how such a plot relies on the eradication of minorities deemed deviant, the targeting of reproductive rights, and the elimination of any and all protections afforded to trans individuals and communities across the country. They discuss the need for a broad, intersectional approach by progressives who purport to fight for queer and trans liberation, and the continued urgency to build popular momentum for forward-thinking policies by and for Black trans people. They argue that to combat an organized and well-resourced white supremacist Christofascist, nationalist movement would require that the needs of Black trans communities are not only acknowledged, but prioritized by mainstream LGB institutions and that trans-interest groups engage in deeper dialogue and collaboration to provide guidance toward those ends. They also touch on the importance of mutual aid in this work and how our collective eagerness and ability to meet the material needs of Black trans people can act as a litmus test to assess the health of our society and movements.Resources:Organizations and public figures:House of Tulip, New OrleansThe Transgender District, founded by three black trans women in 2017 as Compton's Transgender Cultural District Tourmaline, Black trans artistQuotes and publications:Biopower, theory of Michel Foucault Necropolitics, theory of Achille MbembeRaquel Willis' speech at the 2020 Brooklyn Liberation eventToni Morrison quote Julian K. Jarboe quote

On the 50th episode of “The Activist Files", legal worker Sadé Evans speaks with Helen D. Noel. Helen is an United States Air Force Chief Master Sergeant retiree, accomplished author, keynote speaker, and transformational consultant known for her nonjudgmental stance and radical coaching for others experiencing traumatic stress. This episode will discuss Helen's 12-year journey to learn about the Rosenwald Fund study in efforts to understand the effects it may have had on her family and thousands of other African-American families. Helen is calling on the government to formally apologize for this medical study and take accountability. Resources:Follow the Helen D. Noel's work hereRead about the Rosenwald Schools Act of 2020

What happens to a predominantly Black community when its government officials prioritize profit over health and legacy? On the 49th episode of “The Activist Files", legal worker Sadé Evans speaks with Dr. Joy Banner and Jo Banner of “The Descendants project”, a non-profit organization that advocates for descendants of people who were enslaved in Louisiana's River Parishes. In honor of Earth Day, this discussion centers the founders of the Descendants Project as they speak out against corporate greed and environmental racism in Wallace, Louisiana, largely known as Cancer Alley.  This episode will highlight the formation of the Descendant's project; how the founders' community is being affected by petrochemical companies; and their current lawsuit against St. John the Baptist Parish which challenges an old corrupt zoning ordinance that would allow the construction of a massive grain terminal on their land. Resources:CCR Website - Case PageDescendant's Project Press ReleaseFollow the Descendant's Project work here:Website:http://thedescendantsproject.org/Instagram: @thedecendantsprojectFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/descendantsproject/

How has Black feminism ushered in our current understanding and practice of abolition? On the 48th episode of the Activist Files, advocacy associate maya finoh speaks with Andrea Ritchie, an attorney, author, organizer, and co-founder of Interrupting Criminalization and In Our Names Network, who has been documenting, organizing, advocating, litigating, and agitating around policing and criminalization of Black cis/trans women and girls and trans and gender non-conforming people for the past three decades. maya and Andrea discuss what it's like being ahead of the curve on these concepts; why it's critical to center Black women, girls, and queer and trans people; the experience of working with survivors on abolitionist projects; and the impact of previous feminist organizations and formations on creating the Black feminist and abolitionist futures being actualized today. Andrea's newest book, No More Police: A Case for Abolition, which is co-authored with Mariame Kaba, will be released this summer. This episode is part of the Center for Constitutional Rights' programming honoring Women's History Month.

On the Black History Month episode of the Activist Files, Center for Constitutional Rights board member Meena Jagannath speaks with Rob Robinson, a formerly homeless community organizer and housing activist who has worked with social movements all over the world. Rob discusses how his personal experiences have shaped his political outlook, how he hopes to change people's fundamental relationship to land and housing, and how, throughout American history, housing has been a primary means of oppressing Black, brown, and low-income communities. He also discusses efforts to fight back, including the Take Back the Land movement that he helped organize, and the connection of the housing movement both to the broader struggle for Black liberation and to other emancipatory movements. Finally, in keeping with our theme for Black History Month, Rob touches on the rage he has felt – and channeled – in the face of oppression. Resources:Max Rameau PapersPicture the HomelessThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25

Center for Constitutional Rights Advocacy Program Manager Aliya Hussain, Senior Managing Attorney Shayana Kadidal, and Senior Attorney Wells Dixon answer questions about the state of Guantánamo after 20 years operating as an offshore prison for Muslim men and boys in the so-called war on terror. We marked the 20th anniversary with a virtual rally, op-eds, media interviews, and an event that we organized, Guantánamo, Off the Record: 20 Years in the Fight. For that event, we collected questions to find out what people really wanted to know. In this episode, the three delve into  those topics, from indefinite detention and torture to the ultimate question about Guantánamo: What will it take to finally shut it down?Resources:Guantánamo, Off the Record: 20 Years in the Fight, Video of FB live here.Rupture and Reckoning: Guantánamo Turns 20: Several Center for Constitutional Rights staff members contributed essays, two of our clients, Djamel Ameziane and Ghaleb Al Bihani, contributed art, and our client Majid Khan contributed poetry to this European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights anthology. Twenty Years Later, Guantánamo Is Everywhere, an essay in The Boston Review by Legal Director Baher AzmyCutting Edge Issues in Year 20 of the Guantánamo Habeas Litigation, an analysis in Just Security by Shayana KadidalGuantánamo Isn't Ancient History. It Has Become a “Forever Prison,”  an oped by Wells Dixon in TruthoutThe Center for Constitutional Rights Guantánamo issue page, which has links to cases, profiles, articles, videos, fact sheets, and more.

Joseph Thompson, a green card holder from Jamaica, came to the United States in 1985. After an encounter with police in Dalton, Georgia, Joseph was transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  So began his nearly three years in ICE captivity. Joseph is one of the people featured in “Cruel by Design: Voices of Resistance from Immigration Detention,” a forthcoming report from the Immigrant Defense Project and the Center for Constitutional Rights. In this episode of the Activist Files, Joseph speaks with the report's authors, Samah Sisay, and Mizue Aizeki, about his harrowing experiences in six immigration detention centers in the south. Guards once tased and beat him after he refused to eat, and ICE put his life in danger by denying him heart surgery. Joseph also details more routine forms of cruelty, from spoiled food to retaliatory transfers to the separating of friends. Joseph's story makes clear that the cruelty is no accident but the goal of a system designed to inflict harm and break people's spirits in order to facilitate mass deportation. But it is also a testament to the tremendous capacity of people to resist oppression: released from ICE custody earlier this year, Joseph is fighting to change the system. “I hope I'm some kind of shining beacon to others, I try to be anyway…,” he says “If I can help anybody, I'm willing to. Even when I was in there, I was helping people.”For further information:The Center for Constitutional Rights' work opposing ICE The Immigrant Defense Project's work fighting back against ICE policing 

The third Thursday in November is a National Day of Mourning, where we mourn the genocide of millions of Native people and the theft of Native land, and where we honor the ongoing struggle for Native liberation and Land Back across Turtle Island.In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day last month — and in support of the Indigenous-led week of action People v. Fossil Fuels — the Indigenous Environmental Network, The Red Nation, and the Center for Constitutional Rights held an online discussion with frontline Indigenous Water Protectors: Water Is Our Critical Infrastructure — Lawfare by Oil and Gas Won't Stop Us from Winning. Activists Anne White Hat (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) and Sungmanitu Bluebird (Oglala Sioux) joined Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Attorney Pamela Spees and moderator Advocacy Director Nadia Ben-Yousef to discuss the increasingly desperate tactics by the oil and gas industry to draft and pass laws that target Indigenous people and threaten all those who take an unflinching stance against capitalist violence and the destruction of the Earth. They highlighted the important legal victory by Anne White Hat and other Water Protectors who fought back against Louisiana's industry-developed “critical infrastructure” law—and won! This podcast is taken from that event, with a new introduction from Nadia Ben-Youssef situating the discussion in the context of the National Day of Mourning. Resources:Report from the Indigenous Environmental Network: Indigenous Resistance Against CarbonThe Red Nation and The Red Deal White Hat v. LandryALEC Attacks: How evangelicals and corporations captured state lawmaking to safeguard white supremacy and corporate power, a report from the Center for Constitutional Rights, Dream Defenders, Palestine Legal, The Red Nation, and the US Campaign for Palestinian RightsBail funds for Line 3 protesters  

How do organizers and advocates use art to promote and demystify the struggle for disability justice and its connections to other liberation movements? On the 43rd episode of the Activist Files, Senior Legal Worker Leah Todd speaks with Britney Wilson, a poet and writer who was featured in the Brave New Voices documentary series, attorney, and Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Civil Rights and Disability Justice Clinic at New York Law School, and Lucy Trieshmann, an educator and writer, third year law student at New York University School of Law, co-founder of the Breaking Point Project, and treasurer of the National Disabled Law Students Association, about using art, storytelling, advocacy, and litigation as tools to move towards a world beyond ableism, criminalization, and other forms of discrimination. Both members of the extended Center for Constitutional Rights family, Britney is a former Bertha Justice fellow, and Lucy is a former Ella Baker summer intern. The podcast coincides with the observation of National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October.Britney and Lucy discuss the ways that art can help to share important narratives and open up space for difficult conversations on controversial issues, how disability justice is situated within a larger liberation politic that includes racial, economic, LGBTQIA+ and gender justice and abolitionist frameworks, the necessity of moving beyond concepts of access and compliance towards understanding everyone's role in interdependence in order to get towards freedom, and lessons those working for justice must commit to learning in order to move beyond an ableist conception of "normalcy."For further information:Britney Wilson's article on Access-A-Ride: https://longreads.com/2017/09/01/on-nycs-paratransit-fighting-for-safety-respect-and-human-dignity/Lucy Trieshmann speaks on accommodations in schools and the impact of the pandemic: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/disabled-students-school-covidLucy Trieshmann speaks on where she finds joy: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2021/07/21/wheelchair-users-talk-disturbing-questions-what-they-wish-you-knew/8017662002/

As we look back on the past 20 years since 9/11, certain issues come to the forefront – the toll of the war in Afghanistan; the torture of detainees in CIA custody; the worldwide drone program; the ongoing 19-year detention of detainees at Guantanamo. The list goes on. Less visible and examined are the hundreds of “terrorism” prosecutions brought in federal courts since 9/11 and their associated harms: the preying on vulnerable defendants by aggressive government informants to concoct charges; the criminalization of First Amendment activity as “material support” for terrorism; the denials of fair criminal process despite the promise of due process; the cruelty of special conditions of confinement disproportionately used in these cases; the impact on the communities, families, and individuals targeted, many of whom are still in prison. We dedicate this month's podcast to surfacing this slice of the “war on terror,” with our staff attorney Pardiss Kebriaei interviewing three guests who have been at the forefront of advocacy, organizing, and reporting on these cases for more than a decade – Faisal Hashmi, Jeanne Theoharis, professor of political science at Brooklyn College, and Murtaza Hussain, reporter at The Intercept.

As its on-going celebration of the updated sixth edition of the Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook, Center for Constitutional Rights Co-author and Senior Legal Worker Ian Head speaks with a number of people who have influenced and been influenced by the handbook for the 41st episode: “Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook: Exploring the legacy of inside-outside organizing.” Ian spoke with:●      Brian Glick, a lawyer, Fordham Law School professor, writer and activist, and original author of the handbook;●      Jenipher Jones Bonio, lead counsel, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak International Law Project and program manager for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice Initiatives at Sturm College of Law;●      Lisa Drapkin, director of membership for the National Lawyers Guild, which helps with the distribution of the handbook; and●       Chinyere Ezie, senior staff attorney and co-author of the updated edition of the Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook.●      Ian wraps up the episode by playing a recording by Mumia Abu Jamal, political activist, journalist and jailhouse lawyer.In this episode, Ian goes back to 1973 with Brian, when the first Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook which was published as a manual to demystify the complexities of the law for non-lawyers. Brian provides the history of how the manual came to be. Jenipher discusses the mission of the Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, a group of anonymous incarcerated activists working to abolish prisons and their current advocacy action, the Shut'em Down demonstrations. Lisa talks about the impact—the number of requests for the handbook and how people on the inside use the handbook. And Chinyere highlights what's new in the handbook regarding LGBTQIA+ law, including new case law about transgender healthcare, visitation, and equal protection, and an appendix that provides state-by-state policies.Ian closes with a powerful recording by Mumia, who lifts up some of the self-taught litigators who have successfully used the handbook.Hard copies of the sixth edition of the Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook are being distributed widely to prisoners and prisoners' rights groups. The accompanying Jailhouse Lawyer's website makes a searchable version available to family and friends of prisoners that allows users to browse the lengthy resource and quickly identify the most pertinent information.

“The Activist Files” is excited to cross-promote our 40th episode with “The Artivists' Room,” Donkeysaddle Projects' podcast, which features conversations with artists, organizers, and activists, whose art serves as a tool for movement building. For this co-branded episode, Center for Constitutional Rights Advocacy Director Nadia Ben-Youssef sat down for an interview with Donkeysaddle Projects' podcast host, cultural organizer, artist, actor, and writer BK King. Nadia and BK talked about what it means to reconfigure advocacy work in this moment and how to push beyond reactive work to move activism to a place where we are demanding the world we want. The two artists answered the question “What does freedom look like through art?” by highlighting the importance of art in activism and discussing how creatives transform their radical imaginations to dream of a world where we are liberated. BK closes all of her episodes by asking “If you could talk with anyone in your room, who would it be?” Listen to this episode to find out Nadia's answer. ResourcesDonkeysaddle.orgThereisafield.movie

On episode 39 of the Activist Files, Center for Constitutional Rights Bertha Justice Fellow Rafaela Uribe talks with Heena Sharma and Katrina Hamann-Azanov, two members of the Free Ashley Campaign, about their work to support Black trans liberation and prisoners' rights activist Ashley Diamond while she is incarcerated in a men's prison in Georgia. They discuss why it's important to organize support campaigns for people in prison and how to get involved, how their support work connects to their position as abolitionists, and how Ashley's experience offers an important case study for the particular issues faced by trans people both in prisons and through the discrimination-to-incarceration pipeline that criminalizes and punishes trans people for their survival. The Center for Constitutional Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center represent Ashley in her legal case, while the Free Ashley Campaign works with Ashley to provide her with support to meet her material needs, advocates for her safety and her release, and organizes events and actions to mobilize the large community of supporters that Ashley has on the outside.Resources:Free Ashley Campaign: https://www.freeashleydiamond.com/ / IG:https://www.instagram.com/freeashley_now/ / Twitter: https://twitter.com/freeashley_now/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freeashleynow/Survived & Punished: https://survivedandpunished.org (national) /https://www.survivedandpunishedny.org (NY) /Guide to Organizing Survivor Defense Campaigns: https://survivedandpunished.org/defense-campaign-toolkit/Mariame Kaba: http://mariamekaba.com/Ky Peterson: https://www.freedomoverground.org/ky/ / https://linktr.ee/KyPetersonRuth Wilson Gilmore: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/17/magazine/prison-abolition-ruth-wilson-gilmore.html / https://theintercept.com/2020/06/10/ruth-wilson-gilmore-makes-the-case-for-abolition/

In, “Motherhood on Trial: Pregnant and Incarcerated,” Legal Administrative Associate Afrika Owes spoke with De'Jone Watts about her experiences as an incarcerated mother and shed light on the traumatizing experience of preparing to give birth while incarcerated. De'Jone, a women's support and social services manager at Root & Rebound, whose mission is to restore power and resources to the families and communities most harmed by mass incarceration through legal advocacy, public education, policy reform and litigation, shared her powerful journey that led her to work at an organization where she uses her pain as power to inspire and uplift formerly incarcerated women of color. 

On April 12, 2021, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed petitions on behalf of clients who were sentenced to Death By Incarceration by non-unanimous juries in Louisiana, where they remain in the Louisiana State Penitentiary colloquially known as “Angola,” despite the Supreme Court's clear ruling that their convictions were unconstitutional. We joined more than 700 volunteer attorneys across the country in filing petitions in the cases of more than 1,000 people, mostly Black men, imprisoned in Louisiana from convictions by non-unanimous juries. They are known as “Jim Crow Juries” because they are a relic of the Jim Crow era that has systematically discounted the votes of jurors of color, led to a significant number of wrongful convictions, and helped maintain disproportionately high rates of incarceration of Black people in Louisiana. In this episode of the Activist Files, Angelo Guisado, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, speaks with Jamila Johnson, managing attorney for the Jim Crow Juries: Unanimous Jury Project at Promise of Justice Initiative in New Orleans, who coordinated the massive effort, about what comes next. Resources:●      The Promise of Justice Initiative●      State v. Henry / State v. Allen (Jim Crow Juries)

How can we honor the leadership of Black trans sex worker communities in struggles for gender and LGBTQIA+ justice this Women's History Month? Black Trans Nation executive director and Decrim NY steering committee member TS Candii and Women with a Vision Sex Worker Advisory Committee member Paris Jackson speak with advocacy associate maya finoh and communications assistant Alex Webster about their work to pass legislation ending the criminalization of people in the sex trades and trans people in New York State and Louisiana, as well as their freedom dreams for Black and trans liberation. They explain why decriminalization is the legislative proposal that can best guarantee the safety of marginalized people working in the sex trades, why sex work must ultimately be recognized as the labor that it is and be provided labor protections the same as any other work, and how the criminalization of work in the sex trades is part of a larger and centuries-long project by the state to target and criminalize Black and trans communities. They also discuss how the histories of sex workers organizing to support each other appear in current mutual aid projects, and how to support and promote their crucial work.Resources:New York legislation:Walking While Trans Ban Bill (New York Senate Bill 1351 /Assembly Bill 3355) (signed into law)Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act (New York Senate Bill 3075 /Assembly Bill 849) (pending)Louisiana legislation:Louisiana House Bill 67 (pending)Deep South Decrim ToolkitSign-on form to support Louisiana House Bill 67

What happens when a response to the demands that come from the street lead to radically reimagining public safety? Protest and policy merge and “The BREATHE Act” is born.Nadia Ben-Youssef, advocacy director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, talked with Ash-lee Woodard Henderson, co-executive director of the Highlander Research and Education Center, for “The BREATHE Act: A love letter via policy,” in Episode 34 of “The Activist Files.” Nadia and Ash-Lee discuss the current political moment for “The BREATHE Act” to take shape in relationship with the history and trajectory of the Black liberation freedom struggle. In that conversation, they examine what we have learned from history when power is chipped away, the sources of inspiration from other “Black Agendas for Liberation” that surface in “The BREATHE Act,” and how COVID-19 has shown that transformative moves are possible.  Resources: ·      “The BREATHE Act”·      M4BL·      Gina Clayton·      Mjiente·      Rep. Ilhan Omar·      Rep. Cori Bush·      “Victory is Mine”

Throughout its history, law enforcement has deemed Black activism as a national security threat. Law enforcement has used its powers to chill the speech and movements of Black activists and activism that's done on behalf of issues that impact Black communities. In Criminalizing Black protest: When we resist, the 34th episode of “The Activist Files,” two activists working to bring attention to the environmental racism in St. James Parish, Louisiana, which is a historic Black community under threat of destruction by Formosa Plastics, share their stories of how police criminalized their activism.Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, was arrested, charged with terrorism, and faced up to 15 years in prison. Pastor Gregory Manning, head of Broadmoor Community Church and a member of the Coalition Against Death Alley was arrested, charged with a felony for allegedly inciting a riot, and faced six months to 21 years in prison. They share the details of what led to their arrests. Pam Spees, senior staff attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights, provides information on the trends she's seeing in laws that are increasingly criminalizing activists and how activists can stay safe in movement spaces. Resources: ·      Louisiana Bucket Bridge·      Broadmoor Community Church·      St. James Parish, Louisiana·      Death Alley AKA Cancer Alley·      Formosa Plastics·      Nurdles·      Legal observers·      Critical infrastructure law

On Episode 33 of The Activist Files, Rutgers Law School Distinguished Professor of Law Beth Stephens and University Network for Human Rights Supervisor in Human Rights Practice Thomas Becker, both Center for Constitutional Rights cooperating attorneys, speak with Senior Legal Worker Leah Todd about Mamani v. Sánchez de Lozada and Sánchez Berzaín, a case against the former Bolivian president and minister of defense for their role in the use of deadly military force, largely in Indigenous Aymara communities, during 2003 popular protests. Beth and Thomas share updates on victories in the case since the district court judge overruled the jury's unanimous verdict in favor of our clients, and discuss how it emerged from Indigenous community-led organizing in Bolivia and continues to model how people's lawyering can be guided by social movements. They also situate the case in the context of Bolivia's 2019 coup and historic 2020 election, and the five century-plus history of Indigenous resistance to colonization in the Americas.Resources: https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/mamani-et-al-v-s-nchez-de-lozada-mamani-et-al-v-s-nchez-berza-n

On Episode 32 of The Activist Files, Senior Managing Attorney Shayana Kadidal speaks with Ramzi Kassem about the case of American Muslims who were placed or kept on the No-Fly List in retaliation for refusing to spy on their communities. Ramzi, Professor of Law and Director of the CLEAR project (Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility) at CUNY School of Law, argued Tanvir v. Tanzin before the U.S. Supreme Court on October 6, 2020, and Shane and the Center for Constitutional Rights are co-counsel (along with the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP). They discuss how our clients' lives were turned upside down by the FBI and how the men were removed from the No-Fly List just before their first major court date. They talk about the legal questions before the Court, whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was intended to allow for damages, and what we can expect going forward. It's a lively conversation between two lawyers who have worked together closely for many years and a peek behind the curtains of what it's like to argue a case before the highest court in the land via video camera. ResourcesTanvir v. Tanzin (formerly Tanvir v. Holder and Tanvir v. Lynch) case pageSupreme Court Case: Tanzin v. TanvirFAQs: Tanzin v. TanvirMuhammad Tanvir client bioNaveed Shinwari client bio OrganizationsThe CLEAR project (Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility)

On episode 31 of "The Activist Files," Staff Attorney Angelo Guisado and Senior Legal Worker Ian Head discuss two forthcoming Center for Constitutional Rights publications aimed at supporting communities and activists as they oppose rising right-wing and state violence. Combatting White Supremacist Organizing: Tools to Protect Our Communities from Violence is a toolkit of legal and non-legal strategies for opposing, managing, and healing from white supremacist activity before, during, and after it comes to town. With reflections on past incidents, details on how to use media, legislatures, and the courts, and sample resources, the Toolkit is a comprehensive manual for pushing back. If An Agent Knocks is the Center for Constitutional Rights' longstanding handbook for how to handle interactions with federal agents. Originally published in 1989, it has been updated for these increasingly authoritarian times. The new version includes both the timeless advice included in the original version and extensive updates to reflect the current state of the law and law enforcement tools. Together, these two publications are invaluable resources for fighting back against the dual threats of right-wing and state violence. These two reports are a part of Toolkit for the Movement, a collection of resources from the Center for Constitutional Rights to support and protect our communities and movement partners who are on the frontlines.

On episode 30 of “The Activist Files,” Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Staff Attorney Ghita Schwarz and Attorney Chinyere Ezie talked with Make the Road New York's Lead Organizer Eliana Fernandez about the impact organizing played in the two key Supreme Court of the United States' decisions –  Wolf v. Vidal, the decision that preserves Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which Eliana was a plaintiff, the Bostock/Zarda/Stephens cases, which the Court found that an employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The movement lawyers and activist agreed the organizing and narrative shifting in some of the cases had the justices so worried that the credibility of the court was brought to the forefront. Eliana talks about her brave decision to be a plaintiff in the DACA case – she's a DACA recipient and a mom, who didn't want to be separated from her children. She said Make the Road New York protected her and gave her the tools to empower the movement. And Chinyere, who wrote an amicus brief in Aimee Stephens, of R. G. & G. R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and attended the argument, tied this Title VII case to Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, which held that Catholic elementary school teachers are “ministers,” so they cannot sue their employer for employment discrimination. While Our Lady of Guadalupe is not about LGBTQIA+ rights, it impacts that community because statutes that prohibit discrimination, from age to disability, were not applied to this case because the employer is a religious organization and the employees, who were subject-matter teachers, were classified as “ministers.” Chinyere noted that Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru did not have a large movement behind the case and wonders if the court didn't feel compelled to uphold the anti-discrimination statutes because of the lack of public awareness and involvement.  Resources:·      Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda·      Aimee Stephens, of R. G. & G. R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission·      R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Aimee Stephens (Amicus)·      Bostock v. Clayton County·      Publ

On Episode 29 of The Activist Files, communications assistant Alex Webster speaks with TRANScending Barriers executive director Zahara Green and Abolitionist Law Center executive director Robert "Saleem" Holbrook about what Black August means to them and the ways that they continue its legacy in their work. They discuss the importance of honoring the solemnity of the month, how current and former prisoners are the embodiment of Black August, and how we must take this moment to remember those freedom fighters who are still inside. They also highlight the ongoing work to challenge transphobia in both prisons and in organizing, the impact of COVID-19, and how abolition is an undertaking that requires entire social transformation.

What is necessary to reimagine civil rights in America? Center for Constitutional Rights' Executive Director Vince Warren and PolicyLinks' Founder in Residence Angela Glover Blackwell are in conversation about what equity looks like in this moment in a special joint, cross-promoted edition of “The Activist Files” and “Radical Imagination,” the organization's respective podcasts. Using the pandemic within a pandemic framework, Vince and Angela discuss COVID-19 and the need for police reform. They offer deep reasoning for a call for radical ideas and solutions because to reimagine civil rights requires a fundamental disruption of our nation's foundation, from the Black/white paradigm and anti-Blackness to the colonial-based power grab of social control and the extermination killing of our country's establishment. Their analysis leads to a push for solidarity that is not afraid of the issues, solidarity that allows space to talk about and eliminate the problems, solidarity that is transformative. Resources: PolicyLinkRadical Imagination, Episode 2: Police Abolition. Host Angela Glover Blackwell in conversation with Jessica Disu aka FM Supreme and Rachel HerzingThe 1619 ProjectCharlene Carruthers, PBS, The Future of American PolicingSearching for the Uncommon Ground

In this conversation, the last of a four-part series of blogs about the movement response to COVID-19, Samah Mcgona Sisay and Center for Constitutional Rights Advocacy Associate maya finoh discuss their personal definitions of abolition; the ways in which prison abolitionists are using this particular moment to amplify their dreams of a world without cages; how prisons, policing, and surveillance serve as threats to the public health of low-income communities; and the unique experiences of Black immigrants, trans women, and survivors of domestic/sexual violence in the U.S. criminal legal system. Check out the rest of maya's series.

In the 26th episode of “The Activist Files,” Senior Staff Attorney Ghita Schwarz and Bertha Justice Fellow Lupe Aguirre are in conversation about how their work fighting abusive immigration practices has shifted during the pandemic. They discuss the injustices and inhumanity of the immigration detention system, particularly the conditions immigrants are experiencing during the pandemic, including 40 people living in one room and sleeping on rusted metal beds, the inability to social distance, and immigrants being threatened with pepper spray for protesting the right to make a mask. Ghita and Lupe also examine the economics that come into play when rural Southern towns rely on detention centers to support the local economy. They close by highlighting the advocacy around the #FreeThemAll campaign.Resources: ·      Dada v. Witte (LA)·      Williams v. Horton (AL)·      Tamayo Espinoza v. Witte (MS)·      Detention Watch Network·      #FreeThemAll·      Los Angeles Times: Detainees at Otay Mesa Detention Center were offered masks, but only if they signed contracts

“We are left to wonder why we cannot see with foresight what we see so clearly with hindsight.” A Philadelphia-based federal appeals court wrote this in explaining why the New York City Police Department's program of suspicionless surveillance of Muslims in the name of national security resembled destructive roads the country has traveled before, when targeting Jews during the Red Scare, African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement and Japanese-Americans during World War II.Center for Constitutional Rights' Legal Director Baher Azmy and Executive Director Vince Warren talk about how lessons learned in how the government has responded to crises, from the AIDS/HIV epidemic to 9/11 and now COVID-19. They discuss how this public health emergency will disproportionately harm the most vulnerable in our society with both overreach, such as allowing judges to close courtrooms, including for criminal procedures and habeas corpus, and under reach, by not allowing those in jails, prisons, ICE detention centers, and Guantanamo Bay to follow the CDC guidelines of social distancing the rest of society can practice.While not minimizing the dangers to life and loved ones, this crisis still requires us to be skeptical and vigilant about how the government can manipulate this pandemic. To stay guarded, we are dedicating this month's episode to hopefully seeing in foresight what we can clearly see with hindsight.Resources: ·       Michael Ratner·       Camp Bulkeley·       Haitian Centers Council, Inc. v. Sale ·       The 9/11 Decade and the Decline of US Democracy·       A note from the CCR family about COVID-19·       The Center for Constitutional Rights Stands with the People Against the Corporate-Dominated Coronavirus Relief Package: The CARES Act Reaffirms a Deadly and Unjust Status Quo

The 24th episode of “The Activist Files” was the Center for Constitutional Rights' first live podcast. The episode was recorded Feb. 28, 2020, at Studio Arte before a live audience and was the culmination of our Black History Month celebration.For the episode, “How it Would Feel to Be Free: Southern Resistance to Race and Gender Oppression,” Communications Director Chandra M. Hayslett led a discussion about the fights for racial, gender, and LGBTQIA+ justice in the South with Lakeesha Harris, Reproductive Justice and Sexual Health Program Manager, Women with a Vision; Valencia Robinson, CEO and Founder, Mississippi in Action; and Quita Tinsley, Deputy Director, Access Reproductive Care-Southeast.In this lively episode, the activists covered a wide range of topics, including the need to cross state lines to access abortions, how doctors are discriminating against LGBTQIA+ people, and the need to center trans Black women because of violence. The guests also highlighted some of their victories, including the legislation that's been passed that removed nearly 900 individuals who had been forced to register as sex offenders from the Louisiana sex offender registry, and amicus briefs they've drafted that bring attention to the longstanding harms and segregations many Black women face in attaining equity in accessing comprehensive reproductive healthcare, particularly uninterrupted coverage for contraception. Lakeesha, Valencia, and Quita let us into their personal lives when they shared how they sustain themselves during the work:  Bourbon, Fireball, spades, and UNO are key! As always, the episode ended with “The Real AF,” but we recorded a special edition for the live podcast that focused on Black culture.Resources: ·       Jackson (documentary): With a single abortion clinic remaining in the state of Mississippi, the city of Jackson has become ground zero in the nation's battle over reproductive health-care. Jackson is an intimate portrait of the interwoven lives of three women in this town. Wrought with the racial and religious undertones of the Deep South, the lives of two women are deeply affected by the director of the local pro-life crisis pregnancy center and the movement she represents.·       Everyone Loves Someone Who Had an Abortion T-shirt·       Deon Haywood is the executive director of Women With A Vision.

On Episode 23 of “The Activist Files,” Staff Attorney Chinyere Ezie talks with Raquel Willis, activist, writer, Executive Editor of Out Magazine, and founder of Black Trans Circles, and Derecka Purnell, human rights lawyer, activist, writer, and Deputy Director of Union Theological Seminary Spirit of Justice Center, about their organizing and how they bring multiple identities into their advocacy, cultural, and coalition-building work. They discuss the unfinished project of liberation, how we must be rooted in struggle while recognizing who is being left behind, and understanding the spectrum of privilege and oppression that impacts each of us. They also uplift the value of political education and building empathy as an organizing tool, the necessity of seeking joy and restoration for continuing their work, and the importance of acknowledging burnout.

On episode 22 of “The Activist Files,” Donita Judge, Center for Constitutional Rights' associate executive director, talks about reparations for Blacks with Dr. Ron Daniels, president of the National African American Reparations Commission, and past executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Marbre Stahly-Butts, executive director of Law 4 Black Lives and a member of the leadership team of the Movement For Black Lives Policy Table, who helped develop the Vision for Black Lives Policy Platform. Ron and Marbre discuss their respective platforms that demand for reparations for Black people – how they overlap and differ – the shifts in H.R. 40, the commission to study and develop reparations proposals for African-Americans Act, how tools, such as the New York Times' 1619 Project and Ta-Neishi Coates' “The Case for Reparations” published in The Atlantic, have caused a surge in the reparations movement; and the obligation for continue the work for reparations for Black people based of the legacy of activists who have been in this space since before the Civil War.Resources:·       National African American Reparations Commission 10-point Reparations Plan·       Movement for Black Lives Reparations Now Toolkit·       Queen Mother Moore·       Dr. Iva E. Carruthers·       Belinda·       The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks 

On Episode 21 of "The Activist Files," Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Staff Attorney Darius Charney speaks with Anthonine Pierre of the Brooklyn Movement Center and Marielle Shavonne Smith of Black Love Resists in the Rust, two leaders of Black-led grassroots organizations doing critical racial justice work on opposite ends of New York State. They discuss the strong similarities in police abuses happening in New York City and in Buffalo, their work to divest from harmful institutions and instead invest funds into their communities, the need for further transparency about and accountability for police misconduct, and how action from New York's legislators and Attorney General could address these issues.

On Episode 20 of “The Activist Files,” Center for Constitutional Rights Staff Attorney Diala Shamas talks with Noura Erakat, author of the new book Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine. Through the lens of 100 years of struggle for Palestinian freedom, Diala and Noura discuss the relationship between law and politics, and the challenge of using the law to achieve justice. Linking Palestine's struggle with other struggles, including the struggle for Black freedom, Noura discusses the tension that arises in trying to use existing legal tools to create a completely new reality, cautions against wielding law without a political movement, and touches on the legal push-back that has come with increased advocacy for Palestine. Diala's and Noura's conversation is about “unlearning” of legal frameworks, and “re-stitching” a new understanding, and is an important look at limits of law in social change. 

On the 19th episode of “The Activist Files,” Communications Director Chandra Hayslett talks with photographer Ariana Faye Allensworth and map maker and interactive media developer Sam Raby of the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project (AEMP), a data-visualization, data analysis, and storytelling collective documenting the dispossession and resistance upon gentrifying landscapes. Ariana and Sam provide an overview of the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, explain how the Ellis Act has impacted evictions in California, and the role oral history plays in the project. Ariana is a Laundromat Project fellow, so she also shares with our audience how she is collaborating with the AEMP to produce “Staying Power: A Youth Participatory Action Research Project.”  The project combines photovoice — a participatory research methodology that uses photography as a form of inquiry — and oral history interviews to examine New York City Housing Authority histories through the lens of longtime residents.Resources:Right to Counsel NYC Coalition is a coalition of advocates, tenants, academics, and legal services providers in support of right to counsel for low-income tenants who face eviction in New York City.People's Tribunal on Evictions: Join tenants from across the city, and members of the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition as we put landlords and the government on trial for their role in the eviction crisis. Tuesday, October 29, 2019, 5-9 p.m., 125 Barclay St. NY, NY 10007. RVSPRoot Shock by Dr. Mindy Fullilove. The book examines three U.S. cities to unmask the crippling results of decades-old disinvestment in communities of color and the urban renewal practices that ultimately destroyed these neighborhoods for the advantage of developers and the elite.  JustFix.nyc builds technology for tenants and organizers fighting displacement.NYCs Worst Evictors is a list detailing the landlords who evict the most families in the neighborhoods where Right to Counsel is currently in effect.Housing Data Coalition is a group of individuals and organizations who collaborate on their use of public data to further housing justice in New York City.

On the 18th episode of The Activist Files, Jen Nessel talks with Sarah Blust and Bronte Walker of the Rude Mechanical Orchestra about the activist street band's mission and the ways it brings joy to resistance. Sarah is a co-founder of the project and plays the bass drum. Bronte plays the trumpet. With dozens of active members in the NYC-based band at any time, the RMO exists “in order to serve the efforts of progressive and radical groups and causes, including: feminism and women's rights, immigrant rights, queer rights, labor, the environment, peace, community self-determination, and racial, social, and economic justice.” Through their music, they “strive to bring joy and inspiration to these communities and to bring new people into radical causes.” To do that, they play at marches, demonstrations, picket lines, and every kind of political event. Sarah and Bronte discuss challenges they've had with the NYPD, the changing protest landscape, and the band's shared love of Janelle Monae.This episode highlights the important ways art can uplift social movements—Sarah and Bronte encourage everyone to go out and start a marching band!The Rude Mechanical Orchestra – http://rudemechanicalorchestra.org/HONK! – Festival of Activist Street Bands - http://honkfest.org/Bread & Puppet – https://breadandpuppet.org/Brass Liberation Orchestra – http://brassliberation.org/Picture the Homeless – http://picturethehomeless.org/

On the 17th episode of “The Activist Files,” Communications Associate Josh Manson talks with Janice Dickerson and her attorney, Christopher Meeks, about the struggle to protect a historically Black cemetery in Louisiana. Purchased in 1881 by Janice's great-great-great grandfather and other former slaves, Revilletown Cemetery in Plaquemine, LA, has long been the final resting place for former slaves and their descendants. But the chemical company Westlake/Axiall Chemical claims it is the rightful owner of the property. The company has prevented Janice and other community members from accessing the cemetery, including visiting their ancestors buried there, closed the access road to the cemetery, called the police when community members have tried to visit, threatened arrest, and otherwise harassed those who try to visit. As Janice says, in a poignant and unarguable comment, “If this would have been a white graveyard we never would have these problems.” The conversation broadens to discuss the effect of chemical plants on the lives and health of Black communities throughout Louisiana. This episode is an important look at the broader struggle to maintain Black-owned land. 

On the 16th episode of “The Activist Files,” Advocacy Director Nadia Ben-Youssef speaks to Staff Attorney Diala Shamas and client Ziad Alwan about our intervention into a case filed by Israeli settlers against Airbnb. In late 2018, following grassroots efforts by Palestinian rights activists, Airbnb announced its decision to remove rental listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Just a few months later, following a lawsuit filed by Israeli settlers alleging that Airbnb's de-listing of properties in illegally occupied territory amounted to racial discrimination, Airbnb caved to the settlers' demands and re-listed the settlements, seeking to end the litigation. Soon after, Ziad and other Palestinian landowners, represented by Diala and other Center for Constitutional Rights attorneys, sought to intervene in the case and keep the lawsuit alive. Diala discusses the responsibility of corporations like Airbnb to respect human rights principles and international law, as well as the status of the case, now that Airbnb has decided to re-list properties in settlements. Ziad recounts his family's history on and personal connection to the land and explains why he decided to intervene on behalf of other Palestinian landowners in the West Bank. Together, the two reflect on Nadia's hopes that we are in the “swan song” of empire and are approaching a breakthrough in the movement for Palestinian rights. Listen to this month's episode and learn more about our work to make Palestinian voices heard. 

On the 15th episode of “The Activist Files,” Staff Attorney Chinyere Ezie and author, activist, and Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law Dean Spade discuss the state of the queer and trans rights movement in the U.S. today, 50 years after the Stonewall uprising. Chinyere and Dean reflect on the formal progress that queer and trans communities have seen in the past half century, as well as the many more struggles that their marginalized members are still fighting today. They explain the phenomenon of pinkwashing and show how the mantle of “gay rights” has been co-opted by right-wing actors, while highlighting the need for an alternative vision of queer and trans liberation that resists a monolithic narrative of integration into conservative institutions, including marriage and the military, and relies on a message of “sameness,” while erasing ongoing struggles for immigrants' rights, police accountability, prison abolition, and other issues that impact and are led by queer and trans people. Chinyere and Dean also address the ongoing epidemic of violence against trans women of color and articulate their hopes for the future of this work, including continuing to challenge laws that create what Chinyere calls a “discrimination-to-incarceration pipeline,” providing mutual aid, and thinking creatively about how queer communities will be impacted by – and have to collectively organize around – future threats, such as climate change. For more on Dean Spade's work, check out the Queer Trans War Ban Toolkit.

On the fourteenth episode of The Activist Files, Senior Staff Attorney Pam Spees talks with Lydia Gerard and Sharon Lavigne, two of the brave Women of Cancer Alley leading the resistance to the toxic petrochemical industry in Louisiana. Cancer Alley is an 85-mile stretch of land with a high concentration of petrochemical companies. It also is populated by primarily Black communities with high rates of health problems, including respiratory problems, the highest risk of cancer in the country, and even unexplained health problems. Both women share their personal stories--the difficulties Sharon's grandchildren have had breathing, Lydia's loss of her husband to kidney cancer--and the way those experiences fueled their fight in the face of indifferent corporations and lackluster government action. Later this month, many of those involved in this struggle will participate in a March for Justice, demanding government action--including the reduction of emissions, a moratorium on new plants, and the closure of certain existing plants. Give the episode a listen, and spread the word about this important fight for racial and environmental justice.

On the thirteenth episode of The Activist Files, Advocacy Program Manager Aliya Hussain speaks with Center for Constitutional Rights Legal Director Baher Azmy and Senior Staff Attorney Katherine Gallagher about Al Shimari v. CACI, our case against private military contractor CACI Premier Technology, Inc., for its role in torture and other abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Fifteen years after the story of the torture broke, and 11 years after the case was filed, Al Shimari was finally slated to go to trial in late April--only to be postponed after CACI filed an appeal. As Katherine says, most fundamentally this case is about allowing three individuals -- Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili, Asa'ad Zuba'e -- to tell their story about what happened to them at Abu Ghraib. Baher and Katherine discuss the important human rights issues in the case, significant legal victories, the broader legal context of accountability against private corporations for human rights abuses, and the intensity with which CACI has fought for immunity for its actions. They note the importance of this case at a time when human rights norms are under attack around the world, and connections to broader trends in privatization. While trial is postponed for now, we are continuing to work to share those stories until our clients get their day in court. Please listen and share.

On the twelfth episode of The Activist Files, Senior Legal Worker Leah Todd talks with educator, organizer, and director of Project NIA Mariame Kaba and journalist, author, and organizer Victoria Law about their work on issues of violence, incarceration, gender, criminalization, and transformative justice. Mariame and Victoria share the personal experiences that brought them to their social justice work. They discuss the cycles of violence created by carceral solutions to social problems, and talk about the growing phenomenon of mass criminalization, including how the term allows us to think beyond just the impacts of incarceration and see ways that surveillance and punishment affect people's lives even outside of prison walls. In a comment that may remind Activist Files listeners of our last episode, Victoria and Mariame discuss the ways that prisons and carceral solutions have "stripped away our imagination," providing a one-size-fits-all response to harm that often causes more harm without providing resolution, safety, or healing. This episode highlights the importance of thinking in new ways about healing and providing accountability for harm, which is explored in Mariame's project transformharm.org. Episode 12 of The Activist Files is vital listening for anyone interested in how to go beyond punishing harm, to healing from, being accountable for, and preventing it. Victoria Law - https://victorialaw.net Tenacious zine (editor) http://resistancebehindbars.org/node/19 Books Through Bars NYC (co-founder) https://booksthroughbarsnyc.org Resistance Behind Bars (author) http://resistancebehindbars.org - 2009 PASS (Prevention for a Safer Society) award Don't Leave Your Friends Behind (co-author) https://secure.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=502 Freelance journalist - major articles at https://victorialaw.net/writings/ Mariame Kaba - http://mariamekaba.com Project NIA (founder and director) http://project-nia.org Survived and Punished (co-founder) https://survivedandpunished.org Transform Harm (creator) https://transformharm.org Prison Culture blog (writer) http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/ Lifting as They Climbed (co-author) http://liftingastheyclimbed.zibbet.com/lifting-as-they-climbed-mapping-a-history-black-women-on-chicago-s-south-side Missing Daddy (author) https://www.missingdaddy.net Chicago Freedom School (co-founder) http://chicagofreedomschool.org We Charge Genocide (co-founder) http://wechargegenocide.org Chicago Community Bail Fund (co-founding advisory board member) https://chicagobond.org Barnard Center for Research on Women (Researcher-in-Residence) http://bcrw.barnard.edu/fe

On the eleventh episode of The Activist Files, host Ian Head talks with writer and educator Walidah Imarisha and musician and teaching artist Gabriel Teodros about the relationship between fantastical writing and social justice work. As Walidah says, we are all doing science fiction when we imagine a different world. Science and visionary fiction, says Gabriel, is a useful tool for imagining a different future. When we do social justice work, we are so often reactive, so often fighting against something, it is easy to forget the importance of envisioning the world we want to see. Listen to this inspiring episode on how to imagine new futures, even while we fight against oppressive systems. Walidah is the co-editor of the collection 'Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements,' published in 2015, to which Gabriel is a contributor. She is also the author of ‘Angels with Dirty Faces: Three Stories of Crime, Prison and Redemption,' which won the Oregon Book Award in 2017. Gabriel has put out over ten albums, including his latest, ‘History Rhymes If It Doesn't Repeat (A Southend Healing Ritual),' and performed and taught in classrooms and stages around the world.

It's a question our legal team gets asked all the time: What is it like visiting Guantánamo? From the food options on the island to why it's important to keep fighting against the continued indefinite detention seventeen years on, our Gitmo attorneys Wells Dixon and Shayana Kadidal give the Activist Files an inside look into the notorious prison.  

We're finally over the mid-term hump, so The Activist Files checked in with organizers on the east and west coasts to find out how the results of the mid-terms will impact their organizing strategies. We asked six progressive organizers two questions: 1) Now that we're beyond the mid-terms, share your reflections for how the results could impact the communities in which you organize, and 2) Thinking about the political climate we've been battling the last two years, what's next for you and the communities in which you organize? What's a priority? The organizers touched on subjects from comprehensive bail reform and voter suppression to the Safe and Supportive Schools Act and the effect public charge will have on education to militarism, the war, and lawmakers accepting contributions from defense contractors. Tune in to hear the organizers' insightful views and thoughts for how moving forward they will advance their agenda. The organizers are:Sharhonda Bossier, deputy director, Education Leaders of ColorAndrea Colon, community engagement organizer, Rockaway Youth TaskforceBrittany DeBarros, co-director, Drop the MIC Campaign, About FaceJacinta Gonzalez, senior campaign organizer, MijenteReggie Harris, deputy field director, Color of Change PACStanley Fritz, NYC campaign manager, Citizen Action of New York

On this bonus episode of The Activist Files, guest host and Senior Legal Worker Leah Todd talks to Bertha Justice Fellow Lupe Aguirre and Staff Attorney Angelo Guisado, who have just returned from the southern border at Tijuana, where they provided hands on legal support to asylum-seekers, along with Center for Constitutional Rights client and partner Al Otro Lado. Lupe and Angelo discuss what they witnessed, the differences in the way the media describes the situation and what is actually happening on the ground, and our case challenging Donald Trump's unlawful attempt to limit asylum. They also describe uplifting moments, including attending three weddings in one week! Give it a listen and share this first-hand account of the caravan—in Angelo's words, “an organized response to the collective need to seek safe-haven and refuge.” Al Otro LadoNew Sanctuary CoalitionHope Border InstituteDetained Migrants Solidary CommitteeImmigrant Defenders Law CenterCHIRLA