Education

On today’s episode of Pod For the Cause, our host, Kanya Bennett, is joined by ​​Star Wingate-Bey, a 2016 graduate of the University of North Carolina and a student intervenor who helped defend UNC’s admissions policy in the affirmative action case involving the university, and Genzie Bonadies Torres, Associate Director for the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, to discuss affirmative action and the related cases before the Supreme Court – Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. University of North Carolina (UNC).

Vanessa Gonzalez is joined by Sylvia Tanguma, president of the McAllen American Federation of Teachers and a teacher at James Bonham Elementary in McAllen, TX, to discuss how teachers heroically pivoted their curriculum and methods in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and what needs to be done to help students and teachers re-enter the classroom, as we emerge from the pandemic.

Pod for the Cause host Vanessa N. Gonzalez is joined by mental health experts: Melvin Wilson (Senior Policy Advisor for Social Justice and Human Rights, at the National Association of Social Workers) and Sherod Haynes (MD/PhD Candidate ​at Emory University) to unpack mental health after over a year of quarantine, the social dichotomy of vaccinations, and reimagining care during reopening through an intersectional lens.

Pod for the Cause host Ashley Allison is joined by the creator, writer, and director of the Netflix series Dear White People, Justin Simien, and the actress who portrays the character Joelle Brooks in Dear White People, Ashley Blaine Featherson, to discuss the experience of students of color on college campuses along with the complexities of race in our nation.

Pod for the Cause host Ashley Allison is joined remotely by Vanita Gupta, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference, to talk about how COVID-19 has impacted our world and how, now more than ever, the fierce fight to protect civil and human rights continues.

Pod for the Cause host Ashley Allison is joined by powerhouse Representatives Kathy Castor, Darren Soto, Marc Veasey, Al Green and John Sarbanes for part two of a special episode live from the Maxine Waters "Millennial Media Row" State of The Union event to talk about health care, justice reform, reparations, economic security and ultimately how to get people out to vote in the 2020 election.