Panelists
Season One
Episode One | What is Race? Unpacking Racism in Our Structures & Institutions
Michael McClanahan, Ph.D., Moderator
President, NAACP Louisiana State Conference
Michael McClanahan is best known for his political astuteness. Over the last 30+ years
he has successfully worked on several campaigns. That experience was beneficial in
him being elected then as the NAACP Baton Rouge Branch President. Michael now serves
in the capacity of NAACP Louisiana State Conference President. As State President,
Mike oversees the coordination of over 40 adult branches
and 18 youth and college chapters all over the great state of Louisiana. As State Conference President, Mike travels the length of this state advocating for the voiceless, hopeless, jobless, fighting bigotry, hatred and discrimination. His opening greeting is “there is no rest for the weary.” Of all his many accomplishments, he is most noted for his service and countless efforts to the community as the Director of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center. And in initiating and organizing the peaceful press conference and protest after the killing of Alton Sterling by the BRPD. Michael is a 1983 graduate of Zwolle High School, a 1986 and 1987 graduate of The Southern University and a 1990 graduate of The Southern University Law Center.
Laura Adderley, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Tulane University, Department of History
Laura Rosanne Adderley is Associate Professor of History at Tulane University. Her research focuses on the study of black experience during the years of racial slavery around the Americas, with particular interest the nineteenth century and the era of emancipation. She teaches courses on African-American history, Caribbean history and comparative African diaspora history. Adderley is author of "New Negroes from Africa”: Slave Trade Abolition and Free African Settlement in the Nineteenth-Century Caribbean (2006). At Tulane she is affiliated with the Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies, and the Africana Studies Program which she directed for seven years.
Cassandra Chaney, Ph.D.
Professor Louisiana State University School of Social Work
Dr. Chaney is broadly interested in the multifaceted lives of African-Americans, yet
under this umbrella she examines the narratives of African-Americans in dating, cohabiting,
and married relationships as well as how religiosity and spirituality support African-Americans.
In addition, Dr. Chaney examines the representation of African- American couples and
families (e.g., structural and functional dynamics) in popular forms of mass media
(i.e., television shows, movies, music videos, and song lyrics). Given the increasing
number of African Americans murdered by members of law enforcement, her work critically
examines how racism demonstrates and solidifies via individuals and institutions in
America. Given the unique sociohistorical challenges of Black families, her research
provides recommendations regarding how policy can better meet the needs of Black families
who experience heightened rates of incarceration, unemployment, weakened family structures,
and racism. Most important, her scholarship roots in a strengths-based perspective
and emphasizes the many ways Black families remain resilient in the face of these
challenges. In additional to publishing over 80 manuscripts in various journals in
the United States and abroad, she has presented her scholarship during many local,
state, and national conferences and was a Visiting Professor at the University of
Gondar in Gondar, Ethiopia during Fall 2019. During Fall 2020, Professor Chaney was
appointed by LSU Interim President Tom Galligan to serve on the Louisiana Police Training,
Screening, and De-escalation Task Force. Dr. Chaney is a member of the Community Relations
and Internal Relations Subcommittee. They are charged with all matters related to:
(1) Community Policing; (b) Police unions and collective bargaining agreements; (c)
Cultural norms; (d) Law enforcement Bill of Rights; (e) Community Complaints.
Albert Samuels, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Southern University Political Science Department
Dr. Albert L. Samuels is a native of Shreveport, LA. He holds a B.A. in Political
Science and a M.A. in Social Sciences (both from Southern University) and a Ph.D.
in Political Science from Louisiana State University. He has taught political science
at Southern University since 1999 and is the Chair of the Department of Political
Science and History. During the Spring Semester of 2014, he was elected by his faculty
colleagues to the office of Vice President of the Southern University Faculty Center.
In the Spring Semester of 2018, he was elected by faculty colleagues to be President
of the Faculty Senate. His research interests include American politics, black politics,
Louisiana politics, educational policy, and voting rights.
Andrew Jolivétte, Ph.D.
Professor, UC San Diego Department of Ethnic Studies & Director Native American and
Indigenous Studies
Andrew Jolivétte (Atakapa-Ishak Nation of Louisiana [Tsikip/Opelousa/Heron Clan])
is an accomplished, internationally-recognized researcher, educator, author, poet,
speaker, socio-cultural critic, and an aspiring chef. He is professor and Department
Chair of Ethnic Studies as well as the inaugural founding Director of Native American
and Indigenous Studies at the University of California, San Diego. He was previously
a professor and department chair of American Indian Studies at San Francisco State
University (2001-2019) Jolivétte received his Ph.D in Sociology from the University
of California Santa Cruz (and is listed as a notable alumni) with specializations
in the sociology of race and ethnicity, the sociology of education, the sociology
of Latin America, and in the sociology of family. He also holds an MA in Sociology
from the University of California, Santa Cruz, an MA in Ethnic Studies with a concentration
in American Indian Studies from San Francisco State University, and BA in Sociology
with a minor in English Literature and a Certificate in Ethnic Studies from the University
of San Francisco.
Episode Two | The Black Press: Advocating from the Beginning to Today
Sheryl Kennedy Haydel, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in Public Relations, LSU Manship School of Mass Communication
Sheryl Kennedy Haydel, Ph.D., APR, is an assistant professor of public relations at
Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Mass Communication. She earned a doctorate
in Mass Communication with a concentration in public relations from the University
of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, an MBA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
with a focus in marketing, a master’s degree in journalism from the University of
Maryland, College Park, and a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from Clark Atlanta
University in Georgia. Haydel has worked as a journalist and is recognized as an award-winning
public relations executive. Twice she has received the Individual Award of Excellence
from the Public Relations Society of America’s New Orleans Chapter. She also serves
as the director of the National Association of Black Journalist’s High School Program
(NABJ JSHOP). Haydel has held both academic and administrative positions at several
institutions. Her research examines the role of the Black collegiate press in the
pursuit for civil rights and the use of social media today for both branding and activism.
Crystal deGregory, Ph.D.
Research Fellow, Middle Tennessee State University’s Center for Historic Preservation
A historian and storyteller whose research interests include black higher education
and college student activism, Dr. Crystal A. deGregory is a research fellow at Middle
Tennessee State University’s Center for Historic Preservation in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
She offers a wide range of expertise on multiple topics including race, women and
girls, history, culture, education, and of course, historically black colleges and
universities (HBCUs). Hailed “young sister leader” by Spelman College and Bennett
College President Emerita Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, Dr. deGregory’s most recent publishing
includes the op-eds “Here in the Bahamas, Every Generation Has Its Storm Stories.
The Tale of Hurricane Dorian Is Still Being Written” and “How the Black Colleges Beyoncé
Honors in Homecoming Have Played a Vital Role in American History” for TIME, and a
film review of Stanley Nelson’s Tell Them We Are Rising in the American Historical
Review. A gifted orator and sought-after commentator, her words have appeared in The
New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, USA Today, The Tennessean, and
the Wall Street Journal. She has presented widely to audiences at TEDx, SXSWedu, the
Southern Festival of Books, Nashville Public Television, as well as at multiple academic
and corporate spaces across the United States.
Anitra Brown
Managing Editor, The New Orleans Tribune
The New Orleans Tribune is a trusted voice committed to speaking to, for, and about
the African-American community and the issues that impact it. Anitra Brown joined
its staff as managing editor in March of 2004, immediately bringing fresh ideas, talent,
and skills to the publication while embracing the long-standing tradition of The Tribune
to offer its readers news and information from a perspective not found in the city’s
mainstream media—unfettered and unapologetically Black. A native of the New Orleans
metropolitan area, Anitra is a graduate of Dillard University, where she majored in
mass communication, earning a bachelor’s degree in humanities. She then attended the
J-School at the University of Missouri–Columbia, where she earned her master’s degree
in journalism, with an emphasis on public affairs reporting. Her early experiences
in journalism include stints as a government beat reporter at The Myrtle Beach Sun
News and the Thibodaux Daily Comet. She also worked as a freelance writer and full-time
reporter for The Houston Chronicle. In the area of public relations, she served as
the coordinator of communications and community relations for the North Forest Independent
School in northeast Houston for several years. Anitra has taught journalism at several
colleges and universities, including Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C.,
the Lone Star Community College System in Harris County (Houston) Texas, Delgado Community
College and Dillard University, both in New Orleans. For as long as she can remember,
she has wanted to work with and for the Black press. Her professional knowledge, passion
for, and commitment to the practice of journalism have made her a vital part of The
Tribune’s staff, where she has overseen the expansion of its digital presence.
Renette Dejoie-Hall
President and Publisher, The Louisiana Weekly
Renette Dejoie-Hall has spent her professional life building on her incredible family
legacy. In 1925, her grandfather, Constant Charles Dejoie, founded The Louisiana Weekly
– a newspaper created to fight racial injustice and inform and connect New Orleans’
African-American community. For more than 30 years, she has helped further that mission.
Today, she is the paper’s publisher and president. Dejoie-Hall is the past president
of the Louisiana Press Association.
.Cheryl Smith
Publisher of I Messenger News Group and Secretary of National Association of Black
Journalists
When people talk about Cheryl Smith, they describe a woman who is passionate, committed
and no-nonsense. You may remember her as a long-time talk show host on Soul 73 KKDA.
In addition to being the editor-publisher of I Messenger Media, the umbrella organization
for Texas Metro News, Garland Journal and I Messenger, Cheryl has an extensive career
across media platforms and as a journalism professor. An award-winning journalist,
Cheryl is the Secretary of the National Association of Black Journalists and president
of the Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists. She’s the former president
of the Dallas-Fort Worth Florida A&M University (FAMU) National Alumni Association
and the Dallas Metroplex Council of Black Alumni Associations. A graduate of FAMU
with a degree in Journalism, Cheryl received her masters degree in Human Relations
and Business. She has worked for several publications and she also served as executive
aide to Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price. Cheryl's Don't Believe the Hype
Celebrity Bowl-a-thon, has raised thousands in scholarships and grants for area youth,
as well as established a healthy living expo that services thousands annually; providing
health screenings, seminars and programming. She’s the recipient of numerous awards
for journalistic excellence, leadership and community service. A Golden Life Member
of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and a life member of the FAMU Alumni Association,
Cheryl is the mother to her nephew and three nieces: Andre, Alayna, Annya and Ayanna;
who have blessed her with several brilliant grandchildren!
Episode Three | Justice For Us All: Black Journalists and Their Continued Fight for Accuracy, Representation and a Seat at the Table
Sheryl Kennedy Haydel, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in Public Relations, LSU Manship School of Mass Communication
Sheryl Kennedy Haydel, Ph.D., APR, is an assistant professor of public relations at
Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Mass Communication. She earned a doctorate
in Mass Communication with a concentration in public relations from the University
of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, an MBA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
with a focus in marketing, a master’s degree in journalism from the University of
Maryland, College Park, and a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from Clark Atlanta
University in Georgia. Haydel has worked as a journalist and is recognized as an award-winning
public relations executive. Twice she has received the Individual Award of Excellence
from the Public Relations Society of America’s New Orleans Chapter. She also serves
as the director of the National Association of Black Journalist’s High School Program
(NABJ JSHOP). Haydel has held both academic and administrative positions at several
institutions. Her research examines the role of the Black collegiate press in the
pursuit for civil rights and the use of social media today for both branding and activism.
Angel Jennings
Assistant Managing Editor for Culture and Talent, Los Angeles Times
Angel Jennings is the Los Angeles Time’s first assistant managing editor for culture
and talent. In this role, she will oversee recruiting efforts and staff development
initiatives. She will help guide coverage and also be in charge of internships and
The Times’ Metpro diversity fellowship. For almost a decade, she was a reporter covering
the communities that made up Black Los Angeles – South L.A., Inglewood, and Compton.
Marc Spears
Senior NBA Writer, The Undefeated
Veteran NBA reporter Marc Spears joined ESPN as senior NBA writer for The Undefeated,
ESPN’s content initiative focusing on the intersections of sports, race and culture,
in March 2016. His role with the company expanded in February 2019 when he signed
an extension that includes reporting and creating content for a myriad of ESPN platforms.
At The Undefeated, Spears regularly breaks NBA news and some of his most notable long-form
work includes, an examination of how black NBA players have embraced playing for the
Utah Jazz and the Boston Celtics, NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki on his interracial marriage,
and a multimedia profile on how former NBA player Stephon Marbury found stardom in
China. Spears also reported Marbury’s story for a SC Featured segment. A former chair
of the National Association of Black Journalists’ (NABJ) Sports Task Force, Spears
is a graduate of San Jose State University. He completed a graduate program at Louisiana
State University in Baton Rouge, earning a master’s degree in sports business management
in May 2019. Spears has won numerous national and regional awards for journalism,
including Top 10 listing in the 2019 APSE (Associated Press Sports Editors) contest
for beat reporting for Category A outlets.
Gerron Jordan
Adjunct Instructor, LSU Manship School of Mass Communication; Anchor, WVLA-TV; Vice
President, BRAABJ
Gerron Jordan is an award-winning journalist who joined the NBC 33 team in October
2017 as co-anchor of the morning news. You can watch him alongside Carly Laing and
Meteorologist Kevan Smith Monday-Friday from 5:00- 7:00 a.m. Before joining NBC 33,
Gerron worked as a general assignment reporter at KTVI/KPLR, the Fox and CW affiliate
in St. Louis, Missouri. While in St. Louis, Gerron covered everything from the 2016
Presidential Debate between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump, to the historic World
Series win by the Chicago Cubs. Gerron is an adjunct instructor at the Manship School
of Mass Communication and currently serves as Vice President of the Baton Rouge Area
Association of Black Journalists. A native of the great city of Chicago, Illinois,
Gerron spent his college years in Washington, DC where he attended Howard University.
Gerron graduated, with honors, from Howard University in 2008 with a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Journalism.
Jarvis DeBerry
Editor, Louisiana Illuminator
Jarvis DeBerry, editor of the Louisiana Illuminator, spent 22 years at The Times-Picayune
(and later NOLA.com) as a crime and courts reporter, an editorial writer, columnist
and deputy opinions editor. He was on the team of Times-Picayune journalists awarded
the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service after that team’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina
and the deadly flood that followed. In addition to the shared Pulitzer, DeBerry has
won awards from the Louisiana Bar Association for best trial coverage and awards from
the New Orleans Press Club, the Louisiana/ Mississippi Associated Press and the National
Association of Black Journalists for his columns.
Brandi Harris
Morning Anchor, WBRZ News 2
Brandi B. Harris is Morning Anchor and Multimedia Journalist for WBRZ News 2. Brandi
joined WBRZ in January 2018. She’s a graduate of Southern University with a B.A in
Broadcast Journalism. Her parents are also Southern graduates, making her a third
generation Jaguar. Before joining WBRZ, Brandi worked as as a Morning Anchor/Reporter
at 10/11 News in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is happy to be home in South Louisiana, after
growing up in Baton Rouge, Thibodaux, and Gonzales. As a young girl, Harris became
fascinated with TV News while watching Hoda Kotb when Hoda was a local reporter in
New Orleans. Her love for storytelling continued to grow and blossom as she grew older
and went to college. Harris is married to her college sweetheart, Aris Harris. When
Brandi isn’t reporting the news, she loves to binge watch TV shows and spending time
with her husband and family.Episode Four | New Media, New Rules: How Social Media and Digital Media Outlets Help Expand the Black Narrative and March Toward Real Systemic Change
Sheryl Kennedy Haydel, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in Public Relations, LSU Manship School of Mass Communication
Sheryl Kennedy Haydel, Ph.D., APR, is an assistant professor of public relations at
Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Mass Communication. She earned a doctorate
in Mass Communication with a concentration in public relations from the University
of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, an MBA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
with a focus in marketing, a master’s degree in journalism from the University of
Maryland, College Park, and a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from Clark Atlanta
University in Georgia. Haydel has worked as a journalist and is recognized as an award-winning
public relations executive. Twice she has received the Individual Award of Excellence
from the Public Relations Society of America’s New Orleans Chapter. She also serves
as the director of the National Association of Black Journalist’s High School Program
(NABJ JSHOP). Haydel has held both academic and administrative positions at several
institutions. Her research examines the role of the Black collegiate press in the
pursuit for civil rights and the use of social media today for both branding and activism.
Jarret L. Carter Sr.
Founding Editor and Podcast Host HBCU Digest
Jarrett L. Carter Sr. is the Founding Editor of HBCUDigest.com, an online daily news blog dedicated to coverage of historically black colleges and universities throughout the United States. He is also the host of HBCU Digest Radio, a podcast covering societal, cultural and institutional issues at HBCUs. A native of Seat Pleasant, MD., Carter graduated from Morgan State University in 2003 with a Bachelor's degree in English with a journalism concentration.
Tashara Parker
Anchor and Reporter WFAA News 8
Tashara Parker is an anchor and reporter at WFAA News 8 in Dallas, Texas covering traffic, breaking news and inspirational stories. Featured as one of WFAA's preeminent voices, the Daybreak anchor brings experience, vibrancy and authenticity -- capturing the attention of DFW viewers in an engaging and informative way, all the while creating loyalty. Coined as a "community-focused storyteller", Tashara is the go-to source for all things "community", as she blends her passion for underserved people and organizations with an unwavering spirit of empathy. As one of Dallas' influential voices, Tashara utilizes her platform to volunteer hundreds of hours to many organizations, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. With a dedicated following both on and off the air, the journalist is described by viewers as "someone who truly cares about people and this community." And with this mantra lighting her path, Tashara continues to carve her slate within the industry -- bringing both DFW and the best in community storytelling to the forefront.
Justin Walters
Sports Multi-Media Journalist WPIX-11
Justin Walters is a Sports Multi-Media Journalist at WPIX-11 in New York. As a native New Yorker, he accomplished a career goal in the Fall of 2019 by joining the sports team in the No. 1 market. This platform will allow him to cover some of the most storied sports franchises, where his passion for writing and storytelling will serve him well. Along with those responsibilities, Justin is also a sideline reporter for CBS Sports. His contributions are for both college football and college basketball. In 2016 he was presented with an offer he couldn’t refuse; he accepted the roles of Sports Director and Anchor for WRNN-TV/FiOS1 News in the Greater New York City area. There he covered all of the New York sports teams until Fall of 2019. Prior to those roles, Justin took a leap of faith in 2013 and moved to Jackson, TN for his first on-air job with WBBJ-TV. As Sports Director and Reporter, he covered everything from high school football to the Memphis Grizzlies as an MMJ. It was the experience he gained while working for NBC as an Affiliate Producer during the 2012 London Olympics and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia that prepared him for WBBJ-TV. Walters graduated from La Salle University with a Bachelor of Arts in broadcast journalism. He is an active member of The National Association of Black Journalists and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
Charisse Gibson
Anchor and Host WWL-TV
Charisse Gibson is an Emmy-nominated journalist, anchor and host born and raised in New Orleans. She began her television career at WWL-TV in 2010 as a morning desk assistant. During her time in the newsroom she wrote for the WWL morning show, which encouraged her to pursue a full-time producer position along the Mississippi Gulf Coast at WLOX-TV. After two-years on the Gulf Coast, Charisse returned to her home state and was named Morning News Anchor at KSLA News 12 This Morning in Shreveport, La.
Episode Five | Liberty and Justice for All: Fighting Voter Suppression Then & Now
Charlie Stephens, Moderator
Political Communication Student, Manship School of Mass Communication
Director, Louisiana Vote-By-Mail
Stephens is a political communication student from Baton Rouge, LA. He is the campaign
manager for It's Time 2021, a student government campaign, as well as being the director
of Louisiana Vote-By-Mail.
Jay Dardenne
Commissioner of Administration, State of Louisiana
Dardenne was appointed commissioner of the Division of Administration in January 2016 by Gov. John Bel Edwards. In this capacity, he serves as the state's chief administrative officer. Dardenne was twice elected as Louisiana's lieutenant governor. Previously, he served four years as secretary of state, 15 years as a state senator as well as three years as a Baton Rouge Metro Councilman. He chaired the Senate Finance Committee and, in 2003, was named National Republican Legislator of the Year.
Dardenne is an attorney and graduate of Louisiana State University and the LSU Law Center. He is a member of the Baton Rouge High School Hall of Fame, the Manship School Hall of Fame, the LSU Hall of Distinction and the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame.
Brad Jenkins
Co-Founder, RUN AAPI
CEO, Enfranchisement Production
In 2021, Jenkins launched #TheNew voting campaign with RUN AAPI to engage and inspire Asian American voters. Before joining Will Ferrell's Funny or Die an managing director and executive producer, Jenkins spent four years serving as President Obama's Associate Director in The White House Office of Public Engagement. From The White House, Jenkins worked on the Emmy-award winning "Between Two Ferns" interview on the Affordable Care Act. At Funny Or Die and Enfranchisement, Jenkins produced over 50 social impact campaigns with PACs, organizations, IEs, and foundations including UNICED, Rock The Vote, and the Democratic National Convention. Through these partnerships, Jenkins has engaged more than 100 million voters. For his work with Funny Or Die and Enfranchisement, Brad was featured on CNN's History of Comedy, MSNBC's Story of Cool and has won numerous awards. In 2016, Jenkins served on the AAPI Board of Advisors for the Bernie Sanders campaign.
Ashley Shelton
Executive Director, Power Coalition
Shelton serves as the executive director of the Power Coalition. The Power Coalition uses a broad-based strategy that combines community organizing, issue advocacy, and civic action all while increasing the capacity of community organizations throughout the state to sustain and hold the work. The Coalition's integrated voter engagement approach has changed policy at the municipal and state level as well as move infrequent voters of color to vote at the same levels as chronic voters in the communities.
Shelton was the former Vice President of Programs at the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, now the Foundation for Louisiana. In her role at the Foundation, Shelton managed a system of integrated, value-added programs in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Furthermore, she designed, initiated and coordinated a comprehensive policy strategy, which led to a systemic, multi-pronged approach to equitable policy development on a local, state and national level.
Victoria Wenger, J.D.
Skadden Fellow, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
Wenger's work centers primarily on civic participation and voting rights. In 2020, she was on the legal team of Harding v. Edwards which led to the successful expansion of absentee-by-mail and early voting opportunities in Louisiana during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, Wenger graduated from New York University School of Law where she was a Furman Public Policy Scholar and the recipient of the Vanderbilt Medal for outstanding contributions to the law school community. During law school, Wenger participated in NYU's Civil Rights Clinic as well as clinics with the Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the ACLU. She was awarded the Ann Petluck Poses Memorial Prize for outstanding clinical work.
Prior to law school, Wenger worked as a communications association at the national office of Advancement Project where she focused on voting rights and police accountability. In 2014, She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a joint degree in African American Studies and Government.
Allie Young
Co-Founder, Protect the Sacred
Allie Young is a citizen of the Diné Navajo Nation from the Northern Agency of the reservation in northern New Mexico. She is a storyteller on a mission to increase the authentic representation of Native Americans in TV, film and mainstream media by sharing the stories and traditions of her people that helped them persevere in a world where they are largely invisible, underrepresented and misrepresented.
Young founded Protect the Sacred, a grassroots organization that focuses on educating and empowering the next generation of Navajo and Indian Country leaders, including powerful initiatives like Ride to the Polls ahead of the 2020 election. Through Protect the Sacred, she makes certain the Native voice is at the table and in every conversation, especially the voices of Indigenous youth and women. It is her objective to ensure that the stories of her people are no longer the fabricated American narrative perpetuated in textbooks and Hollywood Westerns. Instead, they will be authentic and from the original people, the original storytellers of this land.
Season 2
Episode One | HBCU's and PWI's: The Importance of Both
Albert L. Samuels, Moderator, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Southern University Political Science Department
A native of Shreveport, Dr. Samuels is the Jewel L. Prestage-Kellogg Professor of Political Science and the Chair of the Department of Political Science and History. Since joining Southern in 1999, Dr. Samuels has taught courses in American government, state and local government, constitutional law, civil liberties, the American presidency, race relations, Louisiana politics, black politics, politics and religion, international relations and comparative government.
Dr. Samuels is the author of Is Separate Unequal: Black Colleges and the Challenge to Desegregation, which received the Best Book Award from the Race and Ethnicity Section of the American Political Science Association. He is a frequent commentator on national, state and local politics and has served as an elections analyst for local radio and television stations.
Dr. Samuels holds a B.A. in political science and M.A. in social sciences, both from Southern University. In 1998, he earned a Ph.D. in political science from Louisiana State University.
Jelani Favors, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History
Clayton State University, Department of Humanities
Dr. Favors is an associate professor of history at Clayton State University. He has received major fellowships in support of his research that includes an appointment as a Humanities Writ Large Fellow at Duke University as well as being an inaugural recipient of the Mellon HBCU Fellowship at the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke. His essay entitled "Race Women: New Negro Politics and the Flowing of Radicalism at Bennett College, 1900-1945," won the R.D.W. Connor Award as the best article published in the North Carolina Historical Review for that year.
In 2019, Dr. Favors released his first book entitled Shelter in a Time of Storm: How Black Colleges Fostered Generations of Leadership and Activism, published by the University of North Carolina Press. Shelter in a Time of Storm was the recipient of the 2020 Stone Book Award presented annually by the Museum of African American History in Boston, the. 2020 Lillian Smith Book Award and was one of five finalists for the 2020 Pauli Murray Book Prize.
Monica T. Leach, Ph.D.
Senior Associate Vice Chancellor
North Carolina Central University, Enrollment Management & Academic Affairs
In 2014, Dr. Leach joined North Carolina Central University (NCCU) as the first leader in the division of enrollment management after it was structurally realigned within the Department of Academic Affairs. Before arriving at NCCU, Dr. Leach served at N.C. State University for almost 20 years in a variety of leadership roles, including assistant dean for academic affairs, tenured associate professor and assistant vice provost for enrollment management.
Dr. Leach is a 2016 participant of the Harvard Graduate School of Education Women in Education Leadership program. She earned a B.S. from Louisiana State University as well as a M.A. and Ph.D. in education from N.C. State.
Dereck Rovaris, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Diversity
Chief Diversity Officer, LSU Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
On top of being Vice Provost for Diversity and Chief Diversity Officer at LSU, Dr. Rovaris serves as a member of the Provost's Executive Staff and serves as a principal advisor to the President as well as the campus community on matters involving equity, diversity and inclusion. He also has supervisory responsibilities for the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Women's Center and the African American Cultural Center.
Dr. Rovaris earned a B.A. from the University of Kansas with a triple major in Psychology; Human Development and Family Life; and Crime and Delinquency Studies. He earned an M.A. in Guidance and Counseling from Xavier University and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Illinois. Dr. Rovaris has served as an educational consultant, conducted workshops, and has been a featured speaker on the local, national and international level.
Episode Two | Race, Religion, and the Moment We're In: The Religion of White Rage
Danae Faulk, Moderator
Ph.D. Candidate, Critique, Image & Politics
Syracuse University, Religion
Originally from Baton Rouge, Faulk earned her M.A. in Religious Studies with a minor in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Missouri in 2015 with her thesis "Specter of Otherness: Essays at the Intersection of Religious Studies, Feminist Theories, and Alterity." She earned a B.A. in Anthropology and Religious Studies from Louisiana State University in 2012. With interests in affect, embodiment, race and transnational feminist critique, her current research examines the relationship between misogynoir, religion, and excess that animate fat oppression, health moralism, and theories of materiality in the 20th and 21st century U.S.
Stephen C. Finley, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies and African & African American
Studies
Louisiana State University
Dr. Finley received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Rice University in 2009 shortly after joining the faculty at Louisiana State University in 2008. He has a joint appointment to the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies and the Program in African & African American Studies.
Dr. Finley specializes in African American religion. His courses revolve around African American religious cultures, African American religious thought, and theory and method in the study of religion. His research expands upon these themes with an emphasis on African American religion and embodiment.
His ongoing research for book projects is in three primary areas: 1) African American Latter-day Saints; 2) Malcolm X and Gender; 3) African American Religion, Esotericism, and UFOs.
Biko Mandela Gray, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Religion
Syracuse University
Dr. Gray received his B.A. from Xavier University as well as his M.A. and Ph.D. from Rice University in the Department of Religion. Prior to Syracuse, he was a lecturer at the University of Houston. Dr. Gray's work operates at the nexus and interplay between continental philosophy of religion and theories as well as methods in African American religion.
His research is primarily on the connection between race, subjectivity, religion and embodiment. Exploring how these four categories play on one another in the concrete space of human experience. He is also interested in the religious implications of social justice movements.
Dr. Gray is currently working on a book project that explores how contemporary racial justice movements, like Black Lives Matter, demonstrate new ways of theorizing the connection between embodiment, religion, and subjectivity.
Lori Latrice Martin, Ph.D.
Professor of African & African American Studies and Sociology
Louisiana State University
Dr. Martin earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Albany, a M.A. in Applied Public Affairs from the University at Buffalo, State University of New York and a B.A. in Sociology from Fordham University.
At Louisiana State University, Dr. Martin has served as the Director of Undergraduate Studies and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Sociology and Director of African & African American Studies. She is a member of the Roger Ogden Honors College Faculty Advisory Board and the Communicating Across Curriculum Advisory Board.
She was honored with the Africana Service Award, Black Girls Rock Certificate of Achievement, LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award, African American Culture Center Umoja Award, and multiple Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization awards. She is the author of more than 15 books and published a host of articles and book chapters on racial wealth inequality, race and education, and race and sports.
Episode Three | The Opportunity Gap: Healthcare, Economic & Housing Disparities in Communities of Color Part I
Roxanne Franklin Lorio, Moderator
Managing Director of Programs
E Pluribus Unum
Lorio is the managing director of programs for E Pluribus Unum including overseeing the organization's signature leadership program, UNUM Fellows. She previously served as a Leadership in Government Fellow at the Open Society Foundations, a senior project manager and advisor on criminal justice, economic and equity strategies for the city of New Orleans, and a strategic equity & research consultant both in the Unites States and United Kingdom. A licensed social worker and attorney, Lorio lives in New York City with her husband.
Cashauna Hill
Executive Director
Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center
Since 2015, Hill has served as the executive director of the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center. She leads a team working to fulfill the organization's mission to end discriminatory housing policies and practices through litigation and policy advocacy, along with fair housing trainings and foreclosure prevention counseling. Hill's background includes successful resolution of fair housing and lending claims through administrative and court processes. Hill has written extensively about housing segregation and civil rights, and has testified before the United States Congress as a fair housing expert.
Hill is a graduate of Spelman College and Tulane Law School. In 2017, she was the inaugural recipient of the Tulane Law School Public Interest Law School.
Davante Lewis
Director of Public Affairs and Outreach
Louisiana Budget Project
As director of public affairs and outreach for Louisiana Budget Project (LBP), Lewis focuses on higher education policy, monitoring legislative developments and working with advocacy groups and coalitions partners in forging a common agenda and action plan to advance LBP's policy agenda.
Prior to joining LBP, Lewis was an elementary school teacher in the Coweta County School System in suburban Atlanta. He is a graduate of McNeese State University with a B.A. in political science and a minor in communications. While there, he served as a two-term Student Body President, the Chair of the Louisiana Council of Student Presidents and a Board Member of the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors.
Denese Shervington, Ph.D.
President and CEO, Institute for Women and Ethnic Studies;
Professor of Psychiatry, Tulane University School of Medicine
Dr. Shervington has an intersectional career in psychiatry and public mental health. As President and CEO of the Institute for Women and Ethnic Studies (IWES), Dr. Shervington directs a federally funded trauma-informed Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Program as well as the community-based post-disaster mental health recovery division she created after Hurricane Katrina. At Tulane, she provides psychotherapy supervision for psychiatry residents. She has an illustrious career in public mental health, with posts at the national, state and local level. She also has extensive clinical expertise in PTSD and trauma-informed response.
Episode Four | The Opportunity Gap: Healthcare, Economic & Housing Disparities in Communities of Color Part II
Priska Neely
Managing Editor, Gulf States Newsroom
Priska Neely is the managing editor for the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between NPR and member stations in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Previously she worked at Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and KPCC in Los Angeles, where she reported extensively on maternal and infant mortality in the Black community. Before that, she worked at NPR in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
Kamolika Das
State Policy Analyst, ITEP
Kamolika joined ITEP in February 2020 as a State Policy Analyst. Kamolika monitors trends in state tax policy and provides analysis to advance policies that help achieve equitable state tax systems. Before joining the team, Kamolika worked at the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, where she primarily focused on local affordable housing policies but also supported efforts to scale back ineffective tax incentives. She also spent nearly three years at Prosperity Now tracking legislation, synthesizing policy research, and organizing webinars to highlight advocacy strategies. Kamolika earned a BA from Vassar College and an MPP from the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy.
Cashauna Hill
Executive Director, Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center
Cashauna Hill has served as Executive Director of the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center (formerly the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center) since 2015. Cashauna leads a team working to fulfill the organization’s mission to end discriminatory housing policies and practices through litigation and policy advocacy, along with fair housing training and foreclosure prevention counseling. Cashauna’s background includes successful resolution of fair housing and lending claims through administrative and court processes. She has been interviewed by CNN, NPR, and countless other national and local media outlets. Additionally, Cashauna has written extensively about housing segregation and civil rights, and has testified before the United States Congress as a fair housing expert.
In 2017, she was the inaugural recipient of the Tulane Law School Public Interest Law Foundation’s Practitioner Service Award. Cashauna is a graduate of Spelman College and Tulane Law School, and an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Tiffany Jeanminette
Policy & Equity Director, Louisiana Public Health Institute
Tiffany Jeanminette is the new Policy & Equity Director for the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI). Looking over her resume and job experience, one can notice a theme – Louisiana is part of the title of most of the organizations that she has worked at. She has a purpose and passion for serving her state and has found herself most interested in capacity building focused on leadership and community empowerment. She has most recently served as the Executive Director for 504HealthNet, a non-profit established in 2008, post-Katrina, to improve access to community-based primary care and behavioral health care services across the Greater New Orleans (GNO) Region for everyone regardless of their ability to pay.
She also serves as a part-time organizational development consultant for the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control Office of Smoking and Health. Previously, Jeanminette served as the Director of Health Policy and Governmental Affairs for the Louisiana Primary Care Association. From 2012 – 2016, she served as the Gulf Region Health Outreach Program - Primary Care Capacity Project Manager with the Louisiana Public Health Institute where she led the design and implementation of the program and provided tailored technical assistance to FQHCs in Mississippi and Florida. Jeanminette is a certified Project Management Professional with over 13 years of experience in Public Health programming that includes strategic partnership management, health equity and healthcare system transformation. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Louisiana State University and a Master of Public Administration, concentrating in Nonprofit Organizational Development, from Louisiana State University’s E.J. Ourso College of Business.
Season 3
Episode One | Separate And Unequal: The Legacy of Plessy v. Ferguson
Watch Episode Now
Mary Smith
Moderator, Political Science Senior, Southern University
Mary Smith is a Southern University senior majoring in political science. She serves her student body through various organizations on campus, one of which she serves as the Chief of Staff for the Pre-law Society. Mary is also a Fall 21’ Fellow for Louisiana Progress, where her role is to analyze state legislation regarding MJ Awareness and Redistricting in East Baton Rouge Parish.
Angela A. Allen-Bell
Associate Professor, Southern University Law Center
Angela A. Allen-Bell is a graduate of the Southern University Law Center in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana. After law school, she spent ten years working at an appellate court
and, in this capacity, gained an expertise in appellate law. In 2008, she left the
judiciary and began her career in academia as a law professor. She holds the B. K.
Agnihotri Endowed Professorship and is currently an associate professor. Professor
Bell is a respected local, national and international legal scholar and expert on
civil and human rights, social and restorative justice and the interplay between race
and justice. It was her research that catapulted the recent movement that, in November
2018, successfully ended the use of non-unanimous juries in Louisiana. Jeremiah 5:1,
says “give me one who seeks justice.” Professor Bell has adopted this call as her
personal edict. Her signature traits are her never-ceasing desire to fight injustice
and her tireless commitment to dismantling systems of oppression.
Brian J. Costello, O. de M. III
Tertiary, Historian, Genealogist and Author
NEED BIO
Phoebe Ferguson
Co-founder and Executive Director, Plessy and Ferguson Foundation
Ferguson is a native of New Orleans and the great-great granddaughter of Judge John
Howard Ferguson, the named defendant in the case, Plessy v. Ferguson. In 2009 she
co-founded the Plessy and Ferguson Foundation with Keith Plessy and is currently the
foundation’s executive director. The purpose of the foundation is to bring people
together around issues of race and inspire others to become active in the fight for
equal rights. Prior to her nonprofit work, Phoebe worked as a professional photographer
in NYC for 20 years before returning to NYU to study sociology and documentary film.
In 2003 she returned to her hometown to make “Member of the Club,” a feature documentary
about New Orleans' Black debutante societies, and the rise of the black middle class
from 1895-2005. Ms. Ferguson moved her business from New York to New Orleans in 2006.
Now operating as Bayou and Me Media Productions. Bayou and Me produces videos largely
around the history and culture of New Orleans and social justice issues. Her particular
area of focus in both her media work and her work at the foundation is education equity.
She has been actively involved in community and legislative efforts to stop the privatization
of public education in New Orleans for the last 14 years. The creation of the foundation
has allowed her to expand her life purpose; from being a documentarian of disappearing
marginalized cultures, to working within communities to find ways to preserve and
sustain them.
Keith Plessy
Co-founder and President, Plessy and Ferguson Foundation
Keith M. Plessy is a New Orleans native and is the great grandson of Gustave Plessy
– Homer Plessy’s first cousin. He is co-founder and President of the Plessy and Ferguson
Foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to bring people together around issues
of race and inspire others to become active in the fight for equal rights. As a child,
Keith attended Valena C. Jones Elementary School; a very prestigious and historic
Black ele- mentary school in the Seventh Ward of New Orleans. It was also where he
discovered his love of draw- ing. Keith went to high school at John McDonogh and New
Orleans Center for Creative Arts where he graduated in 1976. In 1979, his alma mater
requested that he return to his former elementary school to make the hallways a daily
reminder that education would lead to great futures. Keith painted over 100 images
of famous African Americans, including many civil rights icons. That effort sparked
a life long interest in the history of African American heroes. In 2009, Mr. Plessy’s
love for Black history would find a new purpose when he joined forces with the descendant
of the judge his ancestor sued in the infamous case, Plessy v. Ferguson. He takes
great pride in sharing the remarkable history of Homer Plessy and the Citizens’ Committee
and their efforts to put an end to segregation laws. Prior to his nonprofit work,
Keith was a great ambassador of New Orleans histo- ry and culture as a long time employee
of the New Orleans Marriott hotel.
Dr. Albert Samuels
Chair, Department of Political Science, Southern University
Dr. Albert L. Samuels is a native of Shreveport, LA. He holds a B.A. in Political
Science and a M.A. in Social Sciences (both from Southern University) and a Ph.D.
in Political Science from Louisiana State University. He has taught political science
at Southern University since 1999 and is the Chair of the Department of Political
Science and History. During the Spring Semester of 2014, he was elected by his faculty
colleagues to the office of Vice President of the Southern University Faculty Center.
In the Spring Semester of 2018, he was elected by faculty colleagues to be President
of the Faculty Senate. His research interests include American politics, black politics,
Louisiana politics, educational policy, and voting rights.
Episode Two | Anti-AAPI Racism and Its Effects
Sherry Liang
Moderator, Former Editor-in-Chief, The Red & Black, University of Georgia
Sherry Liang is a senior at the University of Georgia studying entertainment & media studies and international affairs. She is currently an intern at CNN and previously served as editor-in-chief for her student newspaper, The Red & Black.
Priyanka Bhatt
Staff Attorney, Project South
Priyanka Bhatt, born in Kenya, grew up primarily in Brooklyn, New York and central New Jersey. She also lived in the Midwest and South, and completed her undergraduate studies in Georgia. Priyanka is a recent graduate from Ohio State University where she received her Juris Doctorate and Masters of Arts in Public Administration. During her time in law school, Priyanka was a Public Service Fellow with Dean’s Special Recognition. She served on the executive board for the Moritz Chapter ACLU and Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, and was the staff editor for the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law. She also frequently volunteered with the Legal Aid Society of Columbus where she participated in criminal record expungement, naturalization, and homeless shelter pro bono clinics. In 2015, Priyanka was a legal extern with the Ohio Public Defender’s Office Wrongful Conviction Project where she helped with innocence claims. Priyanka was also a summer family law intern with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society in 2016 where she primarily helped domestic violence survivors in different legal proceedings. In addition, Priyanka was a legal extern for the Minority Caucus of The Ohio House of Representatives in 2017. Through her master’s program, Priyanka did extensive research on different restorative justice models and completed her capstone on food deserts’ negative impact on women. Prior to law school and graduate school, Priyanka engaged in community building efforts in Atlanta and also volunteered with several Atlanta based non-profit organizations.
Keva Bui
PhD Candidate in Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego
Keva X. Bui is a writer, educator, and scholar of Asian American studies, U.S. militarism, and the politics of scientific knowledge production. Currently they are a PhD Candidate in Ethnic Studies with a graduate certificate in Critical Gender Studies at the University of California, San Diego, a lecturer in Gender and Women's Studies at Pomona College, and a community organizer with VietUnity-Southern California. Keva's research focuses on the history of science, the military-industrial complex, and cultural critiques of U.S. imperialism in Asia and the Pacific during the Cold War. Their teaching spans ethnic studies, feminist and queer theory, science studies, and cultural studies, with an eye towards developing critical theoretical and practical tools for understanding how difference and power shape our global society. Keva's writing has appeared in or is forthcoming from academic publications such as Journal of Asian American Studies, MELUS, Canadian Literature, and Amerasia. Currently, they serve as the student representative on the Board of Directors for the Association for Asian American Studies.
Dr. Natasha Chen Christensen
Associate Professor of Sociology, Monroe Community College
Natasha is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Monroe Community College. She earned a B.A. at Baylor University in 1993 and a PhD at University of California, Los Angeles in 2002. Her specialties include intersectionality, critical race theory, gender, social stratification, and sexuality.
Eunice Kim,
Program Manager, Stop AAPI Hate
Eunice Kim (she/her) is the program manager at Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition that addresses anti-Asian racism and xenophobia amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Eunice received a Bachelor of Arts in Asian American Studies from SF State in 2017, then received a Master of Public Administration degree from SF State in 2020. Eunice identifies as a first-generation Korean American and was born and raised in Monterey Bay. She currently resides in Oakland, California.
Liz Koh
9News This Morning Anchor, WAFB
Liz Koh is a proud second generation Korean American. Her parents immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea. Her parents taught her to speak Korean and English while growing up. Liz moved to Baton Rouge just before the August 2016 flood. Her second story ever at WAFB was wall-to-wall (nonstop) live coverage as the flood began. On her second day of work at Channel 9, she and her photographer James Degraauw became stuck on I-12 while heading to a shelter to cover flood recovery operations. Despite getting trapped on a flooded interstate, Liz says she wouldn't change a thing about her experience. During our continuous flood coverage in the days and weeks to come, she met many viewers who showed strength, empathy and the willingness to help others in a time of need. Since then Baton Rouge has become home to her. In October 2020, Liz took on the challenge of replacing former 9News This Morning anchor Lauren Westbrook. She, along with the Morning Show team, won an Emmy Award for their severe weather coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Liz has a heart for the people who make the Red Stick a better place to be - the creators, artists, makers and community leaders. Liz also adopted her sweet puppy Beau here after a coworker found him abandoned in the WAFB parking lot.
Craig Santos Perez
Professor of English, University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa
Dr. Craig Santos Perez is an indigenous Chamoru from the Pacific Island of Guåhan (Guam). He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the U of San Francisco and a Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies from the U of California, Berkeley. He is the author of five books of poetry and the monograph, Navigating Chamoru Poetry: Indigeneity, Aesthetics, and Decolonization. He is a professor in the English department at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, where he teaches poetry and Pacific Islander literature.
Episode Three | The Great Equalizer? How Policy Cemented Educational Inequity
Xavier Kent
LSU Student, Moderator
Xavier Kent is from Marrero, Louisiana. He is rising junior at LSU majoring in marketing. Xavier is involved in LSU’s Student Government as the Chief of College Councils. Through this position, Xavier hopes to establish a trustworthy relationship with all students and their deans for the upcoming school year. He also serves as the Political Action Chair for Louisiana's NAACP Youth and College Division. Xavier has been able to ensure that more youth in the state of Louisiana are knowledgeable on political issues that affect all groups of people. He also is a consistent volunteer with the local nonprofit the Bridge Agency and assists the Bridge Agency in community building projects.
Dr. Erica Frankenberg
Director of the Center for Education and Civil Rights, Penn State University
Erica Frankenberg (Ed.D., Harvard University) is a professor of education and demography in the College of Education at the Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests focus on racial desegregation and inequality in K-12 schools, and the connections between school segregation and other metropolitan policies. At Penn State, Dr. Frankenberg teaches classes on education policy and politics. In 2014, she coordinated the Civil Rights and Education conference at Penn State, and is co-editor of a 2016 book from this conference. With Liliana Garces, Dr. Frankenberg directs a civil rights and education center at Penn State. One of the foci of Dr. Frankenberg’s research has examined how demographic patterns relate to school segregation. An example of this was a mixed-methods study of suburban racial change, funded by the Spencer Foundation, which examined the extent to which suburban districts are becoming more diverse, how they conceptualized of this change, and what responses districts and communities adopted. Additionally, she has examined the relationship between housing and school segregation. An emerging related area of research is examining the way in which de facto segregation has evolved and its impact. Another aspect of her work has examined how districts respond to the Supreme Court’s 2007 voluntary integration decision. One aspect of this work, funded by a Spencer Foundation small grant, examines the eleven school districts that received federal funding in 2009 to redesign their student assignment plans. This research, with Kathryn McDermott and Elizabeth DeBray, examines how school districts define diversity and what policies they adopt to pursue diversity. Finally, Dr. Frankenberg’s research has examined how the design of school choice policy affects racial and economic student stratification. This has included examining the segregation trends in charter schools as well as analyzing state and federal policy to understand why such patterns of segregation exist in charter schools. In addition to her teaching and research, she has been active with Division L of the American Educational Research Association. Dr. Frankenberg is involved with the National Coalition for School Diversity, including the group’s Research Advisory Panel. She is also a fellow of the National Education Policy Center.
Dr. Albert Samuels
Chair of Department of Political Science, Southern University
Dr. Albert L. Samuels is a native of Shreveport, LA. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and a M.A. in Social Sciences (both from Southern University) and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Louisiana State University. He has taught political science at Southern University since 1999 and is the Chair of the Department of Political Science and History. During the Spring Semester of 2014, he was elected by his faculty colleagues to the office of Vice President of the Southern University Faculty Center. In the Spring Semester of 2018, he was elected by faculty colleagues to be President of the Faculty Senate. His research interests include American politics, black politics, Louisiana politics, educational policy, and voting rights.
A.P. Turead, Jr.
Board Member, Plessy & Ferguson Foundation
A. P. Tureaud, Jr. Is a native of New Orleans and grew up in the 7th Ward. After graduating from J. S. Clark High, he sued LSU and was the first person of color to attend the undergraduate school in 1953. Due to a legal technicality, he was forced to withdraw from LSU. His dismissal was appealed by his father, civil rights attorney, A. P. Tureaud, Sr., and the U. S. Supreme Court allowed him to return until his case was decided by a three-judge court. Due to extreme prejudice and isolation experienced by A.P. Jr., he refused to return and entered Xavier University in New Orleans, from which he graduated in 1957. The following spring, he received a master's degree from Columbia U., in rehabilitation counseling. For ten years he taught in public schools in New Orleans, Washington, DC and White Plains, NY. For the next twenty-six years he was the director of special education in the White Plains School, retiring in 1996. In addition to adjunct teaching at Hunter U, College of New Rochelle and Pace U., Mr. Tureaud received a sabbatical grant to study special education programs in Africa and Europe. He is currently a freelance educational consultant, artist, public speaker and author. His book, co-authored with Dr. Rachel Emanuel, A More Noble Cause, published by the LSU Press in 2011, chronicles the civil rights struggle in Louisiana. In May 2011 Mr. Tureaud was awarded an honorary doctorate from LSU.
Episode Four | The Role of Social Injustice in Mental Health Inequity
Shelina Davis
Moderator, Chief Executive Officer, Louisiana Public Health Institute
Shelina Davis, MPH, MSW, has spent the last 15 years as a public health social worker who centers all of her work in racial justice and health equity; and serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Louisiana Public Health Institute – a statewide community-focused nonprofit organization that leads and partners to ensure everyone has just opportunities to be healthy and well. Shelina has had the honor of serving the state of Louisiana through community service. She was appointed to Governor John Bel Edwards’ COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force; and also serves on a number of local and national nonprofit boards. Shelina is a proud Louisianan and HBCU graduate.
Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo, MD, MS, MAS,
PGY-4, Psychiatry Residency MGH/McLean
Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo, MD, MS, MAS, is a fourth-year resident and the MGH Administrative Chief Resident, in the MGH/McLean Psychiatry Program. She relocated to Boston following the completion of her Master’s degree and medical education at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine. In her role as the Chair of the Resident and Fellow Committee (RFC), she is actively engaged in different initiatives around MGH, advocating for the creation of a more nurturing climate and culture, whereby trainees of color’s personal and professional development can thrive, as well as fostering culturally sensitive community outreach engagements. She is a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Fellow, with a project focused on the development and implementation of a psychoeducation and skills-based curricula for high school students with underrepresented identities. She also serves as a Co-Editor of the Racism and Mental Health Equity column with Psychiatric Services, the monthly publication of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). As a health professional, she wants to use her life experiences and medical training to bring attention to issues facing those from marginalized communities, while advocating for policies promoting equitable access to care, particularly mental healthcare.
Ruth Shim, MD, MPH,
Luke & Grace Kim Professor in Cultural Psychiatry UC Davis School of Medicine
Ruth Shim, M.D., M.P.H., is the Luke & Grace Kim Professor in Cultural Psychiatry and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis. She also serves as Associate Dean of Diverse and Inclusive Education at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. Dr. Shim’s research focuses on mental health disparities and inequities, and she provides clinical psychiatric care in the UC Davis Early Diagnosis and Preventative Treatment (EDAPT) Clinic. Dr. Shim is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Association for Community Psychiatry. She serves on the Research and Evaluation Committee of the California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. Additionally, Dr. Shim serves on the editorial boards of JAMA Psychiatry, Psychiatric Services, Community Mental Health Journal, and American Psychiatric Publishing. She is co-editor of the books, The Social Determinants of Mental Health, and the recently published, Social (In)Justice and Mental Health. Dr. Shim is a former fellow of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program, and an at-large member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Forum on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders. Dr. Shim received a Master of Public Health specializing in health policy from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and an M.D. from Emory University School of Medicine.
Season 4
Episode One | Activism Across Generations: The Fight for Civil Rights Then & Now
Kennedi Smith
Moderator, Co-Founder of Black Women Graduate Collective & Master's Candidate, LSU
Manship School of Mass Communication
Kennedi Smith is a second-year master’s student in the Manship School focusing on
Strategic Communication. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire, where
she got her bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in communication. At LSU
she co-founded the Black Women’s Graduate Collective, that helps provide a community
for Black women graduate students.
Cici Battle
Activist, Speaker, Organizer, & Former Executive Director of Young People For
Cici Battle is an organizer, community builder, and social impact strategist, but
most importantly her life’s purpose is to frolic and to encourage others to do the
same, unapologetically. Fueled by a lifelong love of travel and her parents' examples
of service, she has worked across the globe developing leaders from the shadows. In
her most recent role as executive director of Young People For, Cici traveled nationwide
building an inclusive, strategic framework to provide resources and trainings for
youth leaders. She is deeply passionate about the civil rights issues of our time,
committed to fighting boldly for young people, women, and the underserved wherever
she goes.
Dr. Tristan Cabello
Associate Director of the Master of Liberal Arts Johns Hopkins University
Tristan Cabello is an historian of social movements in France and the United States.
He is Associate Director of the Master of Liberal Arts at the Johns Hopkins University
and has received his PhD in History from Northwestern University. Currently at work
on a monograph on the history of the French Black Lives Matter movement, he regularly
comments US political and social events in the French media (BFMTV, CNews, LCI and
France 24). A native of France, Tristan Cabello currently resides in Harlem, New York
City. For more information, visit www.tristancabello.com.
Sara Mora
Storyteller, Speaker, Digital Strategist, Activist & Founder of Population MIC
Sara Mora is a storyteller, speaker, digital strategist and activist. She is the founder
of a Population MIC which is a think tank initiative focused on making storytelling
tools accessible to storytellers and activist locally across the U.S. and globally.
Population MIC is a developing project that builds bridges between folks doing the
work and creative tools. Sara is dedicated to education equality, language accessibility,
storyteller rights and migrant rights. A DACA recipient herself, she has dedicated
her youth to strategizing ways to supporting her community. From 2019-2021 she began
working directly with community at the largest border of the country, in San Diego,
California prioritizing providing digital tools to support the existing work of the
migrant community. In 2017, after Trump rescinded DACA, Sara became part of a lawsuit
against Trump and his administrations actions which then led to a win end of 2018
making Sara a young voice defeating the loud and clear discrimination against her
community, the immigrant community nationally. Finding her voice at protests and at
civil rights meetings with her local community, Sara has from a young age served as
a leader on youth leadership programs locally and recently in 2018 as Co-President
of Women's March Youth Empower national. She publicly shared her undocumented status
alongside her state's governor in 2017 and then shortly sued and won a lawsuit against
the trump administration over the importance of changes at a national level needed
for migrant rights. Her family and upbringing were key to her work being rooted in
decentralizing the larger narrative on migration. Understanding that people power
is built on going against the current and always questioning the status quo, Sara
has embarked on creating non-affiliated actions to supporting her community using
online tools.
Episode Two | Is the Customer Always Right?
Davante Lewis
Moderator, Director of Public Affairs & Outreach of Louisiana Budget Project
Davante Lewis is the director of public affairs and outreach for LBP, focusing on
higher education policy, monitoring legislative developments and working with advocacy
groups and coalitions partners in forging a common agenda and action plan to advance
LBP’s policy agenda. Prior to joining LBP, he was an elementary school teacher in
the Coweta County School System in suburban Atlanta. Davante is a graduate of McNeese
State University with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Communications. While
there, he served as a two-term Student Body President, the Chair of the Louisiana
Council of Student Body Presidents and a Board Member of the University of Louisiana
System Board of Supervisors. Davante also served as one of the first members of the
Louisiana Legislative Youth Advisory Council, serving as the Vice Chair.
Dr. Alexander Camardelle
Director of Workforce Policy, Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies
Dr. Alex Camardelle is the Director of the Workforce Policy program at the Joint Center
for Political and Economic Studies, where he leads a program that centers Black workers
in policy debates concerning the future of work, workforce development, and access
to good jobs. Prior to joining the Joint Center, Dr. Camardelle served as the Senior
Policy Analyst for Economic Mobility at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute where
his research and advocacy supported policy reforms shaping workforce development,
worker justice, and access to core safety net programs for individuals and families
with low incomes. He also worked at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, where he was responsible
for strengthening economic opportunity through research, grantmaking, and partnerships.
He serves on the board of directors for Foreverfamily, Inc., a national nonprofit
dedicated to supporting youth with incarcerated parents. The Georgia Center for Nonprofits
recognized Alex as one of its 2017 30 Under 30, a distinction for professionals who
are making a powerful impact in Atlanta by exhibiting outstanding leadership, innovation,
and commitment to their community work. He is also part of Georgia State University’s
40 under 40 alumni class. Dr. Camardelle holds a B.A. in political science from the
University of Alabama. He is also a graduate of Georgia State University, where he
earned his Master’s of Public Administration degree in policy analysis and evaluation
and Doctor of Philosophy degree in educational policy studies. Alex’s scholarship
focuses on race, workforce development, and political economy. He is also a proud
member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated.
Dr. Cassi Pittman Claytor
Climo Junior Professor, Co-Director of African & African American Studies Minor Case
Western Reserve University
Cassi Pittman Claytor is the Climo junior professor of sociology at Case Western Reserve
University (CWRU) and author of Black Privilege: Modern Middle-Class Blacks with Credentials
and Cash to Spend (Stanford University Press). She is a nationally recognized scholar
on the unfortunate, yet all too common phenomena of “Shopping While Black.” Her research
unpacks the underlying processes driving retail racism and highlights how racial bias
and racism impact every stage of the consumer journey. Her work highlights and focuses
particularly on the financial lives and marketplace experiences' of middle-class Black
consumers. She has investigated and written on the experiences of Blacks in the consumer
market, as well as the mortgage market. In 2019 Sephora brought Pittman Claytor on
board in their effort to systematically study the racial bias and exclusionary treatment.
She served as the research lead, designing and assisting in the orchestration of a
first-of-its-kind, national study of racial bias in retail settings. The goal of the
study was to gather data from employees and shoppers to determine how retailers can
reduce the likelihood that racial minorities will experience unfair treatment and
inferior service. The study’s findings and Pittman Claytor’s recommendations have
been used to develop actionable steps that Sephora and other retailers can take to
reduce retail racism.
Elsa Dimitriadis
Chief Impact Officer & Managing Partner Conversation Starters
A first generation American and Washington, D.C. native, Elsa Dimitriadis is the Chief
Impact Officer and managing partner of Conversation Starters, a cultural competency
and equity consultation firm that specializes in diversity and facilitation trainings,
corporate and organizational guidance, and community wide projects. A strategy and
communications specialist and queer interdisciplinary artist with two decades of specialized
work in art for social change, Elsa considers herself both a story listener and story
tellerand she is a certified facilitator, end of life doula, and somatic coach. Elsa
is a Leadership Lafayette Class XXVIII graduate and was one of Acadiana’s 20 under
40 honorees in 2017. A former faculty member at Tulane University, she holds a master
of arts degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design and is currently the Interim
Executive Director for the Acadiana Regional Coalition for Homelessness and Housing,
an eight parish (county) region Continuum of Care lead agency, and co-chair of the
Acadiana Housing Alliance. Elsa served as the Public Information Officer for Acadiana
Organizations Active in Disaster for four years, managing communication and coordinating
responses between nearly a hundred agencies and organizations during unprecedented
floods, hurricanes, and COVID-19. Certified and trained through Emergent Strategy
Ideation Institute, Dialogue on Race Louisiana, National Coalition Building Institute,
Narrative4, Theatre of the Oppressed, and the Strozzi Institute, Elsa specializes
in facilitating groups who have experienced incarceration, disasters, emigration,
and death and dying. 
Dr. Traci Parker
Associate Professor & Graduate Program Director, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Dr. Traci Parker is an Associate Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago. Parker is the author of Department Stores and the Black Freedom Movement: Workers, Consumers, and Civil Rights (University of North Carolina Press, 2019). She is currently working on her second book, Beyond Loving: Black Love, Sex, and Marriage in the Twentieth Century. Parker’s research has received support from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, among others. She teaches courses on African American women’s history, nineteenth and twentieth century U.S. history, race and racism, class, labor, capitalism, and consumer culture.
Episode Three | The Fight for Environmental Equity
Charity Williams
Moderator, Vice President, LSU National Association of Black Journalists; Senior,
LSU Manship School of Mass Communication
Charity Williams is a third-year senior from Atlanta, GA majoring in Political Communications and a minor in political science. During her time at LSU, she has participated in several on-campus organizations such as serving as treasurer for the Tiger Prison Project, Vice President of The National Association of Black Journalists, working on the Student Government Black Caucus and The National Residential Hall Honorary. Also, she served as a resident assistant on campus beginning in her sophomore year. Charity has had the opportunity to complete several law and policy-related summer internships during my undergraduate journey, including the Law School Admissions Council PLUS Program and the Sidley Austin LLP Prelaw Scholars Program. Charity has attempted to demonstrate this commitment to change through not only academic and professional pursuits, but also in service to the community around her. Much of this work has consisted of organizing workshops and panels on career development, general body meetings to gauge black student needs and working on the Manship Diversity Committee to promote accessibility, recruitment and retention for students of color. Another form of this commitment to change has been through Charity’s research exploring how media representation affects black civic engagement among college aged individuals. This work is unique in that it explores frequent misrepresentations and omissions of social and political issues that affect African Americans on cable news. After graduating, Charity plans to attend law school to work as a criminal defense attorney and later transition into public policy reform.
Denise Abdul-Rahman
Special Project Manager, The Chisholm Legacy Project Environmental Climate Justice
Program Chair, Indiana State Conference of the NAACP
Denise Abdul-Rahman is the Special Projects Manager, serving the Ohio Valley /Great Lakes region for The Chisholm Legacy Project. In addition, for 9 years has built the environmental and climate justice program for the Indiana State Conference of the NAACP. She holds a BS in management, MBA in healthcare management, and a health informatics designation from Indiana University School of Informatics, an Environmental Leadership Program Senior Fellow and a Black Women, Foreign War, Veteran of Operation Desert Storm. Abdul-Rahman leads the support for building equitable clean energy projects; models for PowerUp Clean Energy Jobs to infuse the Black Green Pipeline initiative, Just Transportation and Equitable Goods Movement, and equitable clean energy policy and practices that is ramping up minority and women business enterprises, fair chances, and geographic imperatives. Among her body of work accomplishments are the successful launch of the PowerUp initiative in Evansville, Indiana as published and distributed to 750,000 members of IBEW and the successful organizing of an “Our Youth Scientists” and “Our Community Scientists” initiative deployed in East Chicago Indiana. A City with 3 zones declared as a superfund site by the US EPA, with over 91,000 parts per a billion of lead. Abdul-Rahman serves the Environmental Resilience Institute Advisory Board, is the Vice President of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association Board, People’s Solar Energy Fund and serves the United States Speakers Bureau. She has served in many other capacities, former Vice Chair of the City of Indianapolis Air Pollution Control Board, as well as a Delegate to Glasgow COP 26 , Paris COP 21 and Global Climate Action Summit.
Timothy Hardy
Partner, Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P
Timothy W. Hardy is a Partner in the Baton Rouge office of Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P. His area of concentration is Environmental Law. He serves as part of the firm's Environmental Law Practice Group. He previously served as the top advisor on environmental affairs for a former Louisiana governor, as Assistant Secretary for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and as a Division Director for the Louisiana Department of Justice. He was formerly a Partner of the Roedel Parsons Koch Blache Balhoff & McCollister law firm. Prior to attending law school, he held several technical laboratory and research positions. He currently serves on the Board of Supervisors for the Louisiana Community & Technical College System, having served on the Board since 2010. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), an education organization of governing boards, representing more than 6,500 elected and appointed trustees who govern over 1,200 community and technical colleges in the United States. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Southern University Law Center, teaching Environmental Law for more than 20 years. His professional career also includes, in 2003, being named as an Executive Vice President of the Shaw Group, one of only two Fortune 500Companies based in Louisiana at that time. He holds a B.S. Degree in Chemistry and was named a Distinguished Alumnus by the Southern University Department of Chemistry in 2008. He was also named a Distinguished Alumnus by the Southern University Law Center in 2009 and was named to the Southern University Law Center Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2020, he was appointed by Governor John Bel Edwards to serve as a member of the Governor's Climate Initiatives Task Force. He was also named as co-chair of the Manufacturing and Industry Committee, and as a member of the Legal Advisory Group, both established by the Task Force.
Isaias Hernandez
Environmental Educator and Founder of QueerBrownVegan
Isaias Hernandez is an Environmental Educator and creator of QueerBrownVegan where he creates introductory forms of environmentalism through colorful graphics, illustrations, and videos. He seeks to provide a safe space for like-minded environmentalists to advance the discourse around the climate crisis.
Charles Lee
Senior Policy Advisor for Environmental Justice, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Charles Lee is widely recognized as a true pioneer in the arena of environmental justice and helped to give birth to the environmental justice movement in the United States some forty years ago. He was the principal author of the landmark 1987 report, Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States, organized the historic 1991 First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, and helped to spearhead the emergence of federal environmental justice policy, including Executive Order 12898, EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), and the Federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice. Mr. Lee is currently the Senior Policy Advisor for Environmental Justice at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He has served in multiple capacities, ranging from creating the United Church of Christ’s environmental justice program to directing EPA’s environmental justice office. He was a charter member of the NEJAC, where he chaired its Waste and Facility Siting committee, and served on the National Academy of Science/Institute of Medicine Committee on Environmental Justice as well as numerous other panels. Mr. Lee has authored numerous papers, reports, journals, and articles on environmental justice over the past four decades, most recently on “Confronting Disproportionate Impacts and Systemic Racism in Environmental Policy” (Environmental Law Reporter, vol. 51, no. 3, March 2021). He has taught or presented at numerous schools and conferences, including the seminal academic conference on “Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards” at the University of Michigan.