Blacklight Returns, #SayHerName Episode Drops, and AAPF Goes to Congress

RSVP: Under The Blacklight Dear friends, As the vicious spike in COVID’s case count rocks the nation, our next episode of Under the Blacklight will shine the spotlight on the off-staging of race after weeks of protests about racial injustice.  We ask: What has become of the supposed reckoning with white supremacy since George Floyd’s death? After weeks of uncovering on the legacies of racism, are we at the bottom of a steep hill again in insisting that race is as newsworthy in the disproportionate deaths of African Americans to COVID as it has been in the weeks of protest over police violence? And why has it been so difficult to connect the two?   Join us this Wednesday at 8:00 PM EST (5:00 PM PST) to dive deep into these questions. Executive Director Kimberlé Crenshaw will sit down with Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Camara Phyllis Jones, Barbara Arnwine, and Jonathan Metzl for a live recording of Under The Blacklight titled “COVID, White Power, & the Unseeing of Race Again.” You can read more about the panelists, and RSVP, here. Listen to “#SayHerName: Telling Stories of State Violence and Public Silence Thousands of people have been inspired by the Under the Blacklight episode with the mothers and sisters of the #SayHerName Movement -- Fran Garrett, Rhanda Dormeus, Maria Moore, Sharon Cooper, Gina Best, and Sharon Wilkerson. The webinar ended with the first-ever virtual #SayHerName ceremony featuring AAPF Artist-in-Residence Abby Dobson. Viewers can witness this moving tribute here.  Listeners can hear the discussion on a very special episode of Intersectionality Matters! where family survivors told us how the war on drugs, racial profiling, paramilitary policing, permissive lethal force, implicit and explicit biases, police-sourced solutions to mental health, and other social problems all lead disproportionately to Black death. Through stories of lives loved and lost, these sisters and mothers weave together how their collective loss and commitment to #SayHerName form a sisterhood of both sorrow and strength. AAPF Takes the Fight to Congress On Friday, June 19th, E.D. Crenshaw testified in front of the House Oversight Committee. You can watch the full video of her opening statement (beginning at 34:53), and also see clips of her speaking on the history of American policing, on an intersectional education (with Rep. Katie Porter), and on the historical precedents for the choices we face in this moment. Over the course of the hearing, she sought to broaden the conversation about police misconduct to include women, sexual abuse, and patriarchy in a biting analysis of white supremacy’s hold on American policing. #SayHerName In the media... In an extended feature on the Today Show, Sheinelle Jones talked to Kimberlé Crenshaw about how courageous actions -- like Fran Garrett’s decision to protest the erasure of her daughter Michelle Caussauex’s death -- generated the momentum that eventually became #SayHerName. The feature includes excerpts from “An Open Letter from the Mothers of #SAYHERNAME to the Mother of Breonna Taylor” Support: #SayHerName Additional #SayHerName Assets: A #SayHerName Rally in Philadelphia led by Dawn Chavou E.D. Crenshaw on Velshi discussing #SayHerName and Black women as collateral damage #SayHerName and E.D. Crenshaw on Good Morning America  #SayHerName and E.D. Crenshaw on Nightline  Kerry Washington talks about AAPF on Jimmy Kimmel Live  E.D. Crenshaw on Instagram live with Kerry Washington AAPF video featuring Korryn Gaines and Taji Senior performing “The Vampire Theory” AAPF in the News: E.D Crenshaw on The New Republic’s “The Politics of Everything” E.D. Crenshaw on To the Point with Warren Olney Forbes Interview: “Rising Against Racism, Supporting Black Female Leadership, And Building An Equitable World.” E.D. Crenshaw on All Ears with Abigail Disney E.D. Crenshaw on NPR’s Here and Now A New York Times article quoting E.D. Crenshaw entitled “Bernie Sanders Predicted Revolution, Just Not This One.” Joe Lowndes on #BlackLivesMatter and The Left As Previously Seen: E.D. Crenshaw on Open Source discussing “Reviving Reconstruction” E.D. Crenshaw and TransLash founder Imara Jones discuss Trump’s impact on the Black trans women alongside on MSNBC E.D. Crenshaw on Hysteria’s podcast episode “History Defeating.” The New Republic op-ed “When Blackness is a Preexisting Condition” The New Republic op-ed “ The Unmattering of Black Lives” Selena Gomez Instagram Takeover In solidarity, The AAPF Team Please follow AAPF on Instagram (@AAPolicyForum), Twitter (@AAPolicyForum), and Facebook for more updates. You can also follow our E.D. Kimberlé Crenshaw @sandylocks on Twitter, and @kimberlecrenshaw on Instagram.