Teach the Babies w/ Dr. David J. Johns

In case you missed it... In this rewind episode, I'm in conversation with the brilliant Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw—legal scholar, civil rights advocate, chief architect of Critical Race Theory. 

From her parents' kitchen table discussions that shaped her critical consciousness, to her groundbreaking work challenging legal institutions, to founding the African American Policy Forum, Professor Crenshaw has spent decades translating academic theory into tools for resistance. 

In this powerful conversation, we explore what it means to be "a born back talker," why pivoting away from our truth won't save us, and how we can resist critically—and in community—during these challenging times. Enjoy!

Resources
Backtalker: An Amercian Memoir 

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In this Rewind episode, listen as Dr. David J. Johns discusses voting and our rights under attack.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is gone. Not weakened. Not under threat. Gone. The legal architecture that turned 7% Black voter registration in Mississippi into 60%—dismantled, decision by decision, by a Supreme Court that was never neutral and was never on our side.

But that's not even the whole story. Because while the courts were killing the VRA, the Justice Department was being turned into a weapon. FBI agents raided a Black state senator's office mid-day—Fox News already on the scene—while allies under federal investigation had their evidence destroyed. Ballots from Fulton County are in federal custody. Arizona. Michigan. They are building the architecture of election interference before the midterms. In public. And most people don't even know it's happening.

This episode is about all of it. The Proud Boys as a militia. The Roberts Court as an antidemocratic enforcement mechanism. The Southern Strategy, sixty years old and running on steroids. And the organizing tradition—Ella Baker, Bayard Rustin, Hungary's opposition movement—that proves rigged maps can be beaten and stolen futures can be reclaimed.

This is the class I didn't want to have to teach. But you need it. Pull up.

SHOW NOTES

The death of the Voting Rights Act—Shelby County v. Holder (2013), Brnovich v. DNC (2021), and the April 29, 2026 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which Justice Elena Kagan called "all but a dead letter."
The pardon of 1,500+ January 6th participants and the DOJ's move to vacate the seditious conspiracy convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders.
The FBI raid on Fulton County's election center, the subpoenas targeting Arizona and Michigan 2024 ballots, and what it means for the midterms.
The mid-day FBI raid on Virginia State Senator Louise Lucas's office, with Fox News cameras already rolling—and not one charge filed.
The two-tier justice system in plain sight: evidence destroyed for allies, prosecutions launched against opponents.
Elie Mystal's proposal to add 20 justices to structurally change the Supreme Court's incentive for extremism.
How Hungary's opposition built 208 local chapters and 50,000 poll watchers—and won a supermajority against a gerrymandered map.
The Afrofuturist tradition of Ella Baker and Bayard Rustin as the organizing inheritance we carry forward.
Black Power War Room — blackpowerwarroom.com 
National Black Justice Coalition — nbjc.org 
NBJC Equity Week — nbjc.org

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What does it mean to tell a Black boy “I love you”—period? Not “love, bro.” Not “love you, big dog.” Just: I love you.

That question sits at the heart of this conversation between Dr. David J. Johns and Phil Agnew, Dream Defenders co-founder, community organizer, and co-author of P.S. Eye Value You, a children’s book created with Brandon Vega and artist Damon Davis through their imprint Black House Publishing.

Phil talks about what it took to write a book he desperately needed as a child—and still needs now. He shares the full story of Roots Bookstore & Market in Liberty City, born from grief, spirit, and a stranger’s unexpected email. He names exactly what’s happening when patriarchy repackages itself for the algorithm and spends billions to recruit brothers away from their own freedom. And he offers what he calls “models for new ways of being”—not because it’s politically correct, but because the old ways never made anyone happy.

Phil’s peace right now? Real, hard-fought, and honest. His message to the tired brother? The transition will be clunky, but it’s so great over here.

Class is in session. Pull up.

SHOW NOTES
Resources & References
P.S. Eye Value You
A children’s book by Phil Agnew, Brandon Vega, and Damon Davis, published through their imprint Black House Publishing. Told through poetry and illustration, it is a love letter to Black boys learning themselves in a world that doesn’t always see them clearly. pseyevalueyou.com
Roots Bookstore & Market
A Black-owned bookstore at 6610 NW 15th Avenue in Liberty City, Miami, Florida. Seeded in part from the personal library of Barney Agnew—Phil and Danny’s father, known on Chicago’s South Side as “Barney the Bookman” (a former Jeopardy contestant). Open Tuesday–Saturday. rootsbookstore.com
Black Men Build
A national organization co-founded by Phil Agnew in 2020 that brings Black men into the movement for racial, social, and gender justice through political education, mutual aid, mass meetings, and men’s circles. Publishes WARTIME, a digital and print magazine. Chapters throughout the country. blackmen.build
Dream Defenders
A Florida-based human rights organization co-founded by Phil Agnew in 2012, dedicated to ending policing and abolishing prisons through multi-racial organizing. Rose to national prominence following the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. dreamdefenders.org

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In case you missed it, this episode is a re-release of an amazing conversation with Dr. Christina Grant.

Andre 3000 told us the South has something to say, and Dr. Christina Greer wants us to heed the lessons that Black women political leaders from the South are teaching us. Dr. Greer stops by the class to talk about her latest publication, “How to Build a Democracy. From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams,” and what it means to grow beyond fear, to build upon foundations established by our ancestors, being prepared to thrive at Historically White Colleges and Universities, the importance of political tithing and not waiting for America to grow up fully–she may never.  

How to Build a Democracy. From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/how-to-build-a-democracy/F34AB82F40A6FFD835D39C8AF46DA530 

Instagram: @dr_cmgreer

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Dr. Bianca Baldridge is back in the class—and this time she brought her new book.

Associate Professor of Education at Harvard University and former youth worker for over two decades, Dr. Baldridge has spent her career shining light on the spaces where Black children are seen, held, and loved outside of school walls. Her new book, Laboring in the Shadows: Precarity and Promise in Black Youth Work (Stanford University Press, 2026), is one of the most necessary things I have read in years. I don't do courtesy. I do testimony.

There are an estimated 2.53 million youth workers in this country. Young people spend only 18% of their waking hours in school. And yet we have no national youth policy. No floor. No framework. No "do good and be paid well."

This conversation changes that. Pull up.

Books
Laboring in the Shadows: Precarity and Promise in Black Youth Work — Stanford University Press (February 2026)
Publisher page & order: sup.org/books/sociology/laboring-shadows 
Reclaiming Community: Race and the Uncertain Future of Youth Work — Stanford University Press (2019)
2019 American Educational Studies Association Critics' Choice Book Award
Previous Episode
And We Still Keep Fighting — Teach the Babies w/ Dr. David J. Johns (July 2, 2024)

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