Fighting Hate & Bias

This episode commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, reflecting on its profound impact in dismantling legalized segregation, securing voting rights, and expanding protections against discrimination. It explores the victories it represented for marginalized communities and how it catalyzed further reforms in education, housing, and employment. As we celebrate this anniversary, however, we also dive into the ongoing challenges to civil rights. We examine new threats to a fair and equitable democracy from initiatives like Project 2025—an extremist agenda and wish list for a conservative administration that seeks to roll back vital civil rights protections. With attacks on affirmative action, voting rights, LGBTQ+ protections, and reproductive justice on the rise, we highlight the persistent inequalities and barriers to justice that remain. We discuss the history, the setbacks, and the continued urgency to defend and expand civil rights in today’s politically polarized landscape.

Today on Pod for the Cause, we will use Black History Month as an opportunity to consider the state of the Movement for Black Lives. For this conversation, we are joined by three committed and courageous visionaries who are at the forefront of the fight for Black liberation, Black freedom, and Black joy.

Join Kanya Bennett as she discusses Juneteenth and reparations with Jeff Robinson of The Who We are Project, Kavon Ward of Where is My Land, and Keenan Keller of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.

Join Kanya Bennett and cohost Jheanelle Wilkins, director of state and local government affairs at the Leadership Conference, as they discuss recent attacks on Black political power with District of Columbia Councilmember Robert White, Melissa Wasser of the ACLU-DC, Dr. Sekou Franklin of Middle Tennessee State University, and Patrice Willoughby of the NAACP.

Join our host, Kanya Bennett, as she continues the conversation around book bans and curriculum censorship with Maggie Tokuda-Hall.

Join our host, Kanya Bennett, as she discusses book bans and curriculum censorship with Karsonya "Kaye" Wise Whitehead and Khalil Gibran Muhammad.

Our host Vanessa Gonzalez is joined by Lia Parada, Director of Legislative Advocacy at The Immigration Hub, and Abraham Paulos, Deputy Director at the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, to discuss asylum, temporary protected status, and the state of immigration in the United States.

Pod for the Cause host Vanessa N. Gonzalez is joined by Claudia Flores (Senior Campaign Manager at the Center for American Progress), Abraham Paulos (Deputy Director of Policy and Communications at the Black Alliance for Just Immigration), and Jill Yu (Managing Director and Cofounder at Act to Change) to talk about immigration, white supremacy, and how we can activate our own communities to eradicate the anti-blackness within them.