
Intersectionality Matters!
Intersectionality Matters! is a podcast hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory.
Latest episodes

Jun 26, 2020 • 1h 1min
21. Under the Blacklight: Telling Stories of State Violence & Public Silence
On this installment of "Under the Blacklight," the mothers and sisters of the #SayHerName Movement -- Fran Garrett, Rhanda Dormeus, Maria Moore, Sharon Cooper, Gina Best, and Sharon Wilkerson -- join Kimberlé Crenshaw for a very special episode. Through telling the stories of their loved ones, the women weave together the experiences that bring them together in a sisterhood of both sorrow and strength.
Support the #SayHerName Campaign: aapf.org/supportshn
Support Say Her Name: The Lives That Should Have Been (Original Play): http://bit.ly/shnplay
Speakers:
GINA BEST - Mother of India Kager, killed by Virginia Beach police in 2015
SHARON COOPER - Sister of Sandra Bland, killed in custody in Waller County TX in 2015
RHANDA DORMEUS - Mother of Korryn Gaines, killed by Baltimore police in 2016
FRAN GARRETT - Mother of Michelle Cusseaux, killed by Phoenix police in 2014
MARIA MOORE - Sister of Kayla Moore, killed by Berkeley police in 2013
SHARON WILKERSON - Mother of Shelly Frey, killed by Houston police in 2012
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Additional support provided by Jade Allen, Loulou Batta, Ivory Fu, Alexandra Moore, Whitney Thomas, and the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

Jun 16, 2020 • 45min
20. India Kager: A Mother's Story of Loss & Erasure
On September 5, 2015, India Kager and Angelo Perry drove to Virginia Beach to introduce their 4-month-old baby Roman, to Angelo’s family. Unbeknownst to them, Virginia Beach police were tailing their car and while India, Angelo, and Roman were parked at 7/11, a SWAT team threw a flash bang grenade and opened fire on their car. 4 officers fired over 51 rifle rounds into India’s car, while baby Roman sat in the back seat, killing Angelo and India within seconds. Virginia Beach police Chief Jim Cervera would later say India’s killing was an accident.
In this episode of Intersectionality Matters!host Kimberlé Crenshaw speaks with India Kager’s mother, Gina Best, about her memories of India, a “beautiful, soft-spoken poet.” She describes the anguish of never hearing from the police except to receive a bill for the destruction of the car her daughter was murdered in. While she waited for a call that would never come, officers pulled her daughter’s body out of the car and left it on the cold ground overnight. As India’s family desperately sought out information on his whereabouts, police handed India’s baby, Roman, over to foster parents.
Learn More About & Support the #SayHerName Movement: aapf.org/supportshn
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Rebecca Scheckman
Additional support provided by the African American Policy Forum: Shermena M. Nelson, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Awoye Timpo, Gregory Bernstein, Alanna Kane,
Vineeta Singh
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Graphics by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

Jun 10, 2020 • 1h 11min
19. Under the Blacklight: The Fire This Time
Alicia Garza, Robin D.G. Kelley, Devon Carbado, Maria Moore, and special guest AG Keith Ellison join Kimberlé Crenshaw for an emergency episode of “Under the Blacklight”, the 10th in the series, to address this historic moment of social and political mobilization ignited by George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police just two weeks ago.
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Sarah Ventre
Additional support provided by Awoye Timpo, Shermena M. Nelson, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Gregory Bernstein, Alanna Kane
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Graphics by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast
Full bios: aapf.org/ep10-utb

May 26, 2020 • 1h 8min
18. Under the Blacklight: Narrating the Nightmare & (Re)Imagining the Possible
Kiese Laymon, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Arundhati Roy join Kimberlé Crenshaw for the 9th installment of "Under the Blacklight." Together, they mine the complexities of narrative construction amid disaster, and shine the blacklight on the stories and counter-stories that shape the future and make meaning of the past.
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Additional support provided by Awoye Timpo, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Gregory Bernstein Alanna Kane
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Graphics by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast
Bios available here: aapf.org/ep9-utb

May 19, 2020 • 1h 6min
17. Under the Blacklight: Virus, Voting & Vigilantism in Georgia
On Pt 8 of “Under The Blacklight,” LaTosha Brown, Anoa Changa, Crystal Feimster, Talitha LeFlouria and Emery Wright join together to discuss vote suppression, state violence, vigilantism, and fatal public health experiments in the state of Georgia.
With:
LATOSHA BROWN — Award-winning organizer, political strategist, jazz singer; Co-Founder of the Black Voters Matters Fund
ANOA CHANGA - Electoral justice reporter for Prism; Organizer; Lawyer; Host of “The Way with Anoa”
CRYSTAL FEIMSTER — Professor, Yale; Author of Southern Horrors: Women and the Politics of Rape and Lynching
TALITHA LEFLOURIA — Professor, UVA; Author of Chained in Silence: Black Women and Convict Labor in the New South
EMERY WRIGHT — Political Organizer; Educator; Co-Director, Project South
(Read full bios here: aapf.org/under-the-blacklight-covid19)
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Raffi Marhaba
Additional support provided by Awoye Timpo, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Gregory Bernstein Alanna Kane
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

May 12, 2020 • 1h 9min
16. Under the Blacklight: Mobilizing Whiteness to 'Re-Open America'
On Episode Seven of “Under The Blacklight,” Carol Anderson, Alex DiBranco, Joseph Lowndes, Mab Segrest, Dorian Warren, and Jason Wilson unpack the central role that ideological Whiteness continues to play in the US response to COVID-19, including ongoing efforts -- on the part of individuals and institutions alike -- to unlock the lockdown.
With:
CAROL ANDERSON — Chair & Professor of African American Studies, Emory University; Author of White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Nation's Divide
ALEX DIBRANCO - Co-founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Research on Male Supremacism
JOSEPH LOWNDES — Professor of Political Science, UOregon; Co-author of Producers, Parasites, Patriots: Race and the New Right-Wing Politics of Precarity
MAB SEGREST — Professor emeritus of Gender and Women’s Studies, Connecticut College; Organizer with Southerners on New Ground (SONG), Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)
DORIAN WARREN — President of the Center for Community Change Action (CCCA) and Vice-President of the Center for Community Change (CCC)
JASON WILSON — Journalist who specializes in far-right, white supremacist, and right-wing movements; Writes for The Guardian
(Read full bios here: aapf.org/under-the-blacklight-covid19)
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Sarah Ventre
Additional support provided by Awoye Timpo, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Alanna Kane
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

May 5, 2020 • 1h 2min
15. Under the Blacklight: COVID in Confinement
On Episode Six of “Under The Blacklight,” Josie Duffy Rice, Nina A. Kohn, Marc Lamont Hill, Rebecca Nagle, Ravi Ragbir, and Alyosxa Tudor map the devastating path of COVID through various locations of confinement — including prisons and jails, immigration detention centers, Native country, nursing homes, and the home — and examine the historical precedents, ideological frameworks, and surprising intersections between these seemingly separate sites that inform this movement and offer us a path forward.
Speakers:
JOSIE DUFFY RICE -- Journalist and Lawyer; President of The Appeal; Host of Justice in America
NINA A. KOHN -- Visiting Professor of Law, Yale; Professor of Law,, Syracuse University; Elder Rights Advocate
MARC LAMONT HILL -- Best-selling author and journalist; Professor, Temple University; Host, BET News
REBECCA NAGLE -- Writer and community organizer; Host of This Land Podcast
RAVI RAGBIR --Immigrant rights activist; Executive Director, New Sanctuary Coalition of New York
ALYOSXA TUDOR -- Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies, the Centre for Gender Studies at SOAS, University of London
(Read full bios here: aapf.org/under-the-blacklight-covid19)
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Additional support provided by Awoye Timpo, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Alanna Kane
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

Apr 28, 2020 • 56min
14. Under the Blacklight: History Rinsed and Repeated
On Episode Five of “Under The Blacklight,” David Blight, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, William Darity Jr., Ibram X. Kendi, and Kate Manne navigate the historical contours of the pandemic, and the pre-existing inequalities that shape its impact. Building on last week’s interrogation of “disaster white supremacy”, this week's conversation explores how intersecting systems of capitalism, patriarchy, racism, and nationalism have converged to define another dark moment in American history.
In the coming weeks, we'll continue hosting live events that bring together artists, activists, thought leaders, scholars, service-providers and others on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Each Wednesday we’ll bring you a virtual conversation over Zoom, which will be released as an episode of Intersectionality Matters! the following week.
Speakers:
DAVID BLIGHT — Professor, Yale University; Pulitzer Prize Winning Author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
EDUARDO BONILLA-SILVA — Professor, Duke University; President of the American Sociological Association; Author of Racism Without Racists
WILLIAM DARITY JR. — Economist; Professor, Duke University; Director, Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity
IBRAM X. KENDI — Professor, American University; Author of Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
KATE MANNE — Professor, Cornell University; Author of Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny
(Read full bios of panelists here: aapf.org/under-the-blacklight-covid19)
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Additional support provided by Andrew Sun, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Alanna Kane
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

Apr 21, 2020 • 1h 3min
13. Under the Blacklight: COVID & Disaster White Supremacy
On Episode Four of “Under The Blacklight: The Intersectional Failures that COVID Lays Bare,” Paul Butler (Professor of Law, Georgetown; Author of Chokehold: Policing Black Men), Bree Newsome Bass (Community organizer & artist), Barbara Arnwine (Founder and Director, Transformative Justice Coalition), Kehinde Andrews (Professor, Birmingham City University; Author of Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for the 21st Century), and Jonathan Metzl (Professor, Vanderbilt University; Author of Dying of Whiteness) examine the role of Disaster White Supremacy in shaping the current crisis. Together with Kimberle Crenshaw, the five panelists mine the different locations where White Supremacy has been deployed and unveiled amidst crisis -- from voting booths in Wisconsin, royal handshakes at 10 Downing Street, and gun stores in the “American heartland,” to overcrowded jails in Chicago, public housing in the American South, and the chambers of Congress.
In the coming weeks, we'll continue hosting live events that bring together artists, activists, thought leaders, scholars, service-providers and others on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Each Wednesday we’ll bring you a virtual conversation over Zoom, which will be released as an episode of Intersectionality Matters! the following week.
Read full bios of panelists here: aapf.org/under-the-blacklight-covid19
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Additional support provided by Andrew Sun, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Janeen Irving, Alanna Kane
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

Apr 14, 2020 • 1h 4min
12. Under the Blacklight: Mapping COVID's Racial Geography
In the third episode in our new series, “Under the Blacklight: The Intersectional Vulnerabilities that COVID Lays Bare” (originally aired over Zoom April 8th), six incredible change-makers — Rosa Clemente (organizer and journalist; President and Founder of Know Thyself Productions), Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes (Executive Director, Ashé Cultural Arts Center in New Orleans), Dallas Goldtooth (Keep It in the Ground Organizer, Indigenous Environmental Network), Daniel HoSang (Associate Professor of Ethnicity, Race & Migration, Yale University), Mari Matsuda (Professor of Law, University of Hawaii), and Rinku Sen (Racial justice strategist and writer; Co-president, Women’s March board) — join host Kimberlé Crenshaw for a conversation about building collective resistance and power in the time of COVID-19.
In the coming weeks, we'll continue hosting live events that bring together artists, activists, thought leaders, scholars, service-providers and others on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Each Wednesday we’ll bring you a virtual conversation over Zoom, which will be released as an episode of Intersectionality Matters! the following week.
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine
Additional support provided by Andrew Sun, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Janeen Irving
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast