This is part II of my conversation with Bethany, Janelle and Vonetta. Tune in to hear about how I'm coping with working and parenting a toddler (with no daycare). We also discuss COVID conspiracy theories, multi generational families, and why the earth is FINALLY happy with us.

On this episode I’m joined by Bethany, Janelle and Vonetta to talk about how we’re coping with this new world we live in. We talk about the local government responses in NYC, ATL, Los Angeles and Maryland, about how Joe Biden and Bill DeBlasio are missing (someone send a search team), Fauci’s roadshow and how Black people went from “We can’t get it!” to being disproportionately impacted by this public health pandemic. This is only part I of the interview. We talked for over an hour. Stay tuned next week for Part 2. Sources: Albany, GA story: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/us/albany-georgia-coronavirus/index.html

This past week, the President signed a $2T relief bill to offer assistance to Americans affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This episode explains a few of the provisions of the bill: direct payment eligibility, impact on student loan payments, retirement accounts and expanded unemployment benefits. Full text of CARES Act Sources: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-03-26/coronavirus-stimulus-package-versus-recovery-act https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-stimulus-package-questions-answers.html https://www.npr.org/2020/03/26/821457551/whats-inside-the-senate-s-2-trillion-coronavirus-aid-package

Can law enforcement compel you to unlock your phone? Well, it depends? Do you use a passcode, your face or your fingerprint? Follow RTB on social media IG: @1RTBpodcast Facebook: @1RTBpodcast www.rtbpodcast.com

The 25th day of April marked five years since the residents of Flint, Michigan were forced to consume hazardous waste (in the form of water coming from their faucets). Flint residents have been fighting hard for justice. This past week, a federal judge ruled that residents can proceed with their lawsuits against the federal government. In this episode, I discuss the courts that will preside over their case… Trump's federal courts. As of April 2019, 92 judges selected by Trump have been confirmed: two for the supreme court, 37 for the circuit courts of appeal, and 53 for the district courts. Thanks to the Senate invoking the nuclear option, more judges will be confirmed at a faster rate. Trump promised his base he would change the federal courts. Trump didn't fulfill many campaign promises. Unfortunately, this is one he kept. Follow RTB on social media IG: @1RTBpodcast Facebook: @1RTBpodcast www.rtbpodcast.com Sources: https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_federal_courts  https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_federal_courts https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/03/trump-capturing-judiciary-alarming-rate https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/04/us/flint-water-crisis-fast-facts/index.html

In this episode, I discuss a First Amendment case out of Pennsylvania involving a rapper, Jamal Knox (aka Mayhem Mal), and a song he and a friend recorded entitled "F*ck the Police." Jamal was charged with making terroristic threats although this song isn't the first of its kind. Recently, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld his conviction. Numerous rappers filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court to provide historical context of this song and rap music in general. On this episode, I discuss what a true threat is and how PA's highest court fell short in giving this song its proper context. UPDATE: The Supreme Court has declined to review this case. For more info: https://www.thefader.com/2019/04/15/jamal-knox-supreme-court-case-mayhem-mal-update-pittsburgh Follow RTB on social media IG: @1RTBpodcast Facebook: @1RTBpodcast www.rtbpodcast.com Sources: https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/knox-v-pennsylvania/ https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/zma8ax/rappers-are-defending-their-right-to-anti-cop-lyrics-in-the-supreme-court https://harvardlawreview.org/2019/03/commonwealth-v-knox/

Early this year I had the opportunity to attend Data for Black Lives II Conference. Data for Black Lives is a group of activists, organizers, and mathematicians committed to the mission of using data science to create concrete and measurable change in the lives of Black people. The conference focused on the role that data and technology have played in Black communities. You do not want to miss this episode! Follow RTB on social media IG: @1RTBpodcast Facebook: @1RTBpodcast www.rtbpodcast.com Sources: ● Meredith Broussard's Book: Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World. ● Yeshimabeit’s open letter to Facebook: https://medium.com/@YESHICAN/an-open-letter-to-facebook-from-the-data-for-black-lives-movement-81e693c6b46c ● Article about Ring's Neighborhood App: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/evkgpw/smart-doorbell-company-ring-is-working-with-cops-to-report-suspicious-people-and-activities ● Chicago Gang Database: https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/chicago-police-gang-database-toni-preckwinkle-macarthur-justice-center/ ● Georgetown's Center on Privacy and Technology Perpetual Lineup report: https://www.perpetuallineup.org/ ● Not Ready for Takeoff: https://www.law.georgetown.edu/privacy-technology-center/publications/not-ready-for-takeoff/ ● Real ID Database: https://www.eff.org/issues/real-id ● Buzzfeed article on Scanning Your Face At 20 Top Airports: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/daveyalba/these-documents-reveal-the-governments-detailed-plan-for ● Algorithmic Justice League: https://www.ajlunited.org/

BONUS episode to explain why certain federal employees are working and getting paid, while others are working and don’t know when they will receive a paycheck. I also talk about why the workers that process income tax refunds should NOT be called back into work and if this shutdown continues, families may not receive their SNAP benefits. Sources: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/266/IRS-Lapse-in-Appropriations-Contingency-Plan_Nonfiling-Season_2018-12-03.pdf http://www.crfb.org/blogs/appropriations-watch-fy-2019 RTB Links Website Instagram Facebook

This episode focuses on DC and NYC's recent decision to decriminalize subway fare evasion. I talk about the broader theory that started the criminalization of minor acts, the Broken Window Theory of Policing and why it is administered unfairly. Finally, why intrusive policing DOES NOT WORK! (I said it loud for the people in the back.) Sources: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-problem-with-broken-windows-policing/ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/30/nyregion/subway-fare-beating-new-york.html?module=inline https://www.washlaw.org/pdf/2018_09_13_unfair_disparity_fair_evasion_enforcement_report.PDF https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/03/broken-windows/304465/ RTB Links Website Instagram Facebook

Quickie Bonus Episode covering updates to Episdoes 4 and 7/9. The Senate FINALLY passes the Anti-Lynching bill and Stacey Abrams files suit in District Court to rectify Georgia's horrible electoral process.

Vonetta, my lively Georgia resident and dear friend, is back to discuss the midterm elections, and why we couldn't be happier Stacey Abrams is exhibiting much needed #blackgirlmagic. Follow RTB on social media IG: @1RTBpodcast Facebook: @1RTBpodcast www.rtbpodcast.com

On this episode I discuss a few cases on the Court's current docket.  Madison v. Alabama - does the 8th Amendment prevent a state from executing an inmate if the inmate is unable to remember the crime for which he is to be executed; Gamble v. United States - should the Court overrule the separate sovereign exception of the double jeopardy rule); Nielsen v. Preap - Whether the government can require that certain people are detained for the duration of their deportation proceedings — without a hearing — because they have past criminal records. Three cases that dealt with the Armed Career Criminal Act.  The ACCA imposes a mandatory minimum 15-year prison sentence on any federal firearms offender who previously has been convicted of three “violent” felonies. Flowers v. Mississippi - well known case from Mississippi that questions if the Mississippi Supreme Court applied the Batson rule correctly. For more information on this case, please listen to the podcast, In the Dark.  Sources: http://www.scotusblog.com/2018/10/argument-preview-justices-once-again-consider-proper-scope-of-immigration-laws-mandatory-detention-provision/ http://www.scotusblog.com/2018/09/criminal-cases-in-the-october-2018-term-a-law-professors-dream/ https://www.aclu.org/cases/nielsen-v-preap https://www.oyez.org/cases/2018 Follow RTB on social media IG: @1RTBpodcast Facebook: @1RTBpodcast www.rtbpodcast.com

On this episode I bring in my line sister to talk about the midterms, more specifically: why State Attorney Generals are extremely important, why you should think twice about voting for Marsy's Laws (victim rights laws), and why the GA's Governor race is the most embarrassing display of racist politics since...  the last election.  Follow RTB on social media IG: @1RTBpodcast Facebook: @1RTBpodcast www.rtbpodcast.com

On this episode of Raising the Bar with Iman, I discuss The Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act, federal legislation aimed at providing women in federal prisons with access to hygiene products and increased communication with loved ones. While this legislation is a great start, it wouldn't impact the majority of incarcerated women in state jails and prison. I discuss the often ignored fact that the incarceration rates for women are increasing in many states while the incarceration rate for men are decreasing. According to the sentencing project, between 1980 and 2014, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 700%, rising from a total of 26,378 in 1980 to 222,061 in 2014. Women are often an afterthought in the mass incarceration conversation. This needs to end today. Follow RTB on social media IG: @1RTBpodcast Facebook: @1RTBpodcast www.rtbpodcast.com Sources: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/incarcerated-women-need-dignity-freedom-more-free-tampons-ncna854631 https://wtop.com/maryland/2018/03/no-tampons-in-prison-metoo-helps-shine-light-on-issue/ https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1524/text https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cory-booker-and-elizabeth-warren-want-to-treat-women-in-prison-like-human-beings_us_5964cce5e4b005b0fdc84b00 https://storage.googleapis.com/vera-web-assets/downloads/Publications/overlooked-women-and-jails-report/legacy_downloads/overlooked-women-and-jails-fact-sheet.pdf https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Incarcerated-Women-and-Girls.pdf https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/women_overtime.html

On this episode of Raising the Bar with Iman, I sit down with Martinis Jackson author of the book, "Justice My Way: Memoirs Of A Black Prosecutor" to discuss the role of Black prosecutors in the criminal justice system. We also discuss the killing of Botham Jean in Dallas and how police are treated differently when accused of a crime. Please go get Martinis' book! https://www.amazon.com/dp/1719485186/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_6gFHBbK4M8NFW Follow him on IG: https://www.instagram.com/justicemyway/ Affirmation: https://blavity.com/10-self-affirmations-you-should-tell-yourself-everyday Follow RTB on social media IG: @1RTBpodcast Facebook: @1RTBpodcast www.rtbpodcast.com

Recently, Senators Harris, Booker and Scott (the Black Senators) introduced a bill entitled “Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018.” The bill is the latest installment in this country’s attempt to pass anti-lynching legislation.  Despite lynching being “the ultimate expression of racism in the US following reconstruction,” the country has failed to pass anti-lynching legislation for 100 years, that’s right a century. Lynching changed the fabric of this country. Honestly, I was very naïve before I began researching the topic. Lynching was a threat to all Black people who knew that for any reason or no reason whatsoever you could be killed, and the killers would never be brought to justice. Almost 5,000 people were victims of lynching in the United States between 1882 and 1968, 70% of whom were black. On this episode, I discuss why it is so difficult to enact a law that would give people harsher crimes for this heinous, violent act. More importantly, what the inability to pass legislation says about our culture. We also uplift the Black women who were at the forefront of the anti-lynching movement. Sources: https://qz.com/1322702/the-us-has-tried-to-pass-anti-lynching-laws-240-times-and-failed-every-single-time/ https://www.harris.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/ALB18773.pdf https://www.naacp.org/history-of-lynchings/ https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/28/opinion/sunday/ida-b-wells-lynching-black-women.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/04/26/fearless-ida-b-wells-honored-by-new-lynching-memorial-for-fighting-racial-terror/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4f4722cf517e https://qz.com/727602/the-naacps-a-man-was-lynched-yesterday-flag-has-been-reprised-and-hangs-in-new-york-city/ http://theconversation.com/lynching-memorial-shows-women-were-victims-too-95029

This current presidential administration set out to change America’s courts – and, unfortunately, it is succeeding. This episode discusses a recent Presidential executive order and DOJ memo that changes the way Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) are hired and fired in this country. The administration claims the changes are in response to a recent Supreme Court decision, but they aren’t. Lucia doesn’t require the changes (and they know it). The changes are the latest move in their campaign to change America’s courts. We also dig deeper into the role of ALJs at the Social Security administration since most of the ALJs work in SSA. We discuss how this administration’s changes threaten the impartiality and independence of ALJs and how that is dangerous given the importance of social security benefits to minority populations. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-otc-dojmemo/in-confidential-memo-to-agency-gcs-doj-signals-aggressive-stand-on-firing-aljs-idUSKBN1KD2BB https://www.bna.com/supreme-court-leaves-n73014476762/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/do-you-have-a-social-security-card-then-take-this-executive-order-personally/2018/07/18/4d66339c-89d6-11e8-85ae-511bc1146b0b_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3c66ebe866bb https://takecareblog.com/blog/the-trump-administration-s-newest-target-administrative-law-judges Instrumental: "Pyro Flow" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

On Episode 2 of Raising the Bar with Iman, I discuss a lawsuit out of Washington, DC.  Residents and a grassroots organization are suing the city for discrimination due to gentrification. The plaintiffs allege the District's policy agenda is discriminatory based on age and income, and have a disparate impact on the city’s Black communities. Gentrification is a national threat to minorities in urban areas who have been living in their neighborhood for decades. As a Harlem native, this episode is extremely personal to me. My dad and stepmom join me to talk about Harlem in the 60s and 70s compared to now. Links mentioned in this episode: The complaint can be found here: https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/3c4af2ec-cd10-47a8-844a-0ab0babd0b9b Right to City Alliance: Right To The City Alliance (RTC) emerged in 2007 as a unified response to gentrification and a call to halt the displacement of low-income people, people of color, marginalized LGBTQ communities, and youths of color from their historic urban neighborhoods. We are a national alliance of racial, economic and environmental justice organizations. Instrumental: "Pyro Flow" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In this introductory episode of Raising the Bar with Iman, I discuss a case from the Supreme Court's latest term. In Husted v. A Philip Randolph, the Court ruled the state of Ohio's practice of purging voters from its rolls after failing to vote didn't violate the National Voter Registration Act. I discuss how this flawed opinion ignores the history of voter suppression in this country, and why we should care that this took place in Ohio. Finally, we discuss how we can raise the bar to try to prevent this from happening in other states! Music: "Pyro Flow" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/