Teach the Babies w/ Dr. David J. Johns

This one is different. No guest. Just me—and the truth I can't stop sitting with.

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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Jamilah Lemieux is a writer, cultural critic, and — officially, loudly, and necessarily — a published author. Her debut book, Black. Single. Mother.: Real Life Tales of Longing and Belonging, dropped in March 2026, and it is already doing exactly what the best books do: making people uncomfortable in the most clarifying ways.

In this conversation, Jamilah and I go deep. We talk about what Aunt Toni Morrison taught us about writing the books we need—and what it means to actually do it. We trace the wreckage of the 1965 Moynihan Report, the myth of the absentee Black father, and the way respectability politics decides which single Black mothers this culture chooses to celebrate and which ones it chooses to punish. We talk about Nia Long, Taraji P. Henson, and Cardi B. We talk about the African ancestral village and why every-other-weekend is not enough. And we talk about what it costs all of us—not just women—when we fail to love one another fully.

This is one of those episodes you share. With the single mothers in your life. With the men who need to hear it. With anyone who's ever made an assumption about what a Black family is supposed to look like

The class is in session.

SHOW NOTES

Resources & References
Black. Single. Mother. by Jamilah Lemieux — [BOOK LINK PLACEHOLDER]
Jamilah Lemieux on Instagram: @jamilahlemieux 
Jamilah's conversation with Nia Long — https://www.playboy.com/read/entertainment-culture/the-playboy-interview-nia-long?srsltid=AfmBOoocTvvAgpTBuKE2yVFLct-1QDEHfeQspaIQBISiJT7GC0s81gaP 
"Freaks and the American Ideal of Manhood" by James Baldwin — originally published in Playboy, 1985; submitted to Walter Lowe Jr., the magazine's first Black editor. Essay also published as "Here Be Dragons" in The Price of the Ticket (1985).
The Negro Family: The Case for National Action (The Moynihan Report, 1965) — U.S. Department of Labor

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The news cycle will not save you. This month, Dr. David J. Johns breaks down the stories that slid quietly past the headlines while our communities’ futures were being decided. We open with a win—the Global Black Economic Forum sued the state of Texas for stripping HUB certifications from 15,000 minority- and women-owned businesses, and on April 13th, a Travis County judge said: not so fast. Then we get to work: voting rights under coordinated assault, the weaponization of an 1866 civil rights law against Black scholarship programs, the true cost of Liberation Day’s tariffs on working families, a 100% pharmaceutical tariff arriving September 29th, and the faith-rooted organizing happening right now across 10 cities that nobody’s covering. Class is in session. Pull up.

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What does it actually take to build a democracy that lasts—and who has always done that work? In this class session, Dr. David J. Johns sits down with award-winning political strategist, founder of Omara Strategy Group, and author Atima Omara to dig into her new book, The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Essential to American Democracy (HarperCollins, May 5, 2026). From the Javits Center to the 107 days of the Harris campaign, from Shirley Chisholm to Sherry Beasley, Atima and Dr. Johns trace the through-line of Black women’s political contributions and what keeps getting in the way of the credit, the resources, and the wins they deserve. They get into the “white voter” trap, what it actually means to follow Black women’s lead, and why the most urgently sleeping-on lesson from history might just save us. Grab your copy at theinstigatorsbook.com—and get one for somebody else while you’re there.

Show Notes:
The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Essential to American Democracy by Atima Omara — theinstigatorsbook.com
The Real Ones by Maya Rupert — TTB Episode: “A White People Whisperer on Authenticity,” aired March 24th
Support the Book
Pre-order or buy The Instigators at theinstigatorsbook.com
Support your local Black or independent bookseller — National Association of Black Bookstores (shoutout to Kevin Johnson, founder)
Available in hardcover, audio, and e-book
Find Atima: @atima_omara on LinkedIn, Instagram, Bluesky, and Threads

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What if the technology deciding your housing, your credit, your medical care, and your freedom was never designed with you in mind? Julie Wenah has been inside the rooms where those decisions get made-at NASA, the Obama White House, Airbnb, and Meta-and she's done something rare: she came back to tell us what she saw.

In this conversation, digital civil rights lawyer, tech executive, and Chairwoman of the Digital Civil Rights Coalition Julie Wenah breaks down how AI is already shaping the lives of our elders, our children, and our communities-often without accountability and almost always without our consent. From the Medicare algorithm that denied an 83-year-old rock climber his pain treatment, to the gap between how fast technology moves and how slow the law catches up, Julie makes the stakes plain. She also reminds us that we have more power than we think-if we choose to use it. The technology train is moving. Julie Wenah is here to help us find our seats.

Show Notes & Resources:Digital Civil Rights Coalition: digitalcivilrights.com | @digitalcivilrights
Follow Julie: @juliemwenah (Instagram) | @juliemwenah (some platforms)
Film: Rain to Reign (2022)-Julie's short documentary on Black womanhood, healing & the next generation
Referenced: NCNW (National Council of Negro Women) & the Dorothy Height Foundation
Referenced: The Book of Genesis / Babel Tower-Zeke Ultra's album connecting scripture to tech

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