Intersectionality Matters!

R. Kelly’s serial abuse of Black women and girls has been one of the entertainment industry’s worst-kept secrets for the entirety of the 21st century. In the mid 90s, Kelly was romantically linked with and even briefly married to 15-year-old singer Aaliyah, for whom he wrote and produced the incriminatory hit “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.” An explicit bootleg tape which appeared to feature Kelly abusing yet another teenage girl circulated on street corners as early as 2001. In 2017, a Buzzfeed exposé alleged that the man who famously crooned “I’m a bad man/And I’m not ashamed of it” held several women captive in his home in a cult-like harem. Yet it took the convergence of the #MuteRKelly movement, the January 2019 release of documentary Surviving R. Kelly and popular culture’s broader reckoning with the pattern of sexual violence perpetrated by powerful men for the self-proclaimed Pied Piper of R&B to face consequences for orchestrating his salacious symphony. At long last, Kelly has now been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four women, three of whom were minors at the time. On this timely and trenchant episode of Intersectionality Matters, host Kimberle Crenshaw goes beyond the sheet music with #MuteRKelly co-founder Kenyette Barnes to rupture the rhythm Kelly has used to give Black women and girls the blues for decades. Intersectionality Matters! is recorded and produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine. This episode was edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Rebecca Scheckman and recorded by Robert Jimison, Michael Kramer, and Julia Sharpe-Levine. Additional support was provided by Michael Kramer, Naimah Hakim, G’Ra Asim, Kevin Minofu, and Madeline Cameron Wardleworth. Music by Blue Dot Sessions Juror Audio from Lifetime Docuseries, "Surviving R. Kelly" Kenyette Barnes: @legisempress Mute R Kelly: ig: @officialmuterkelly, twitter: @offMuteRKelly Kimberlé Crenshaw: ig: @kimberlecrenshaw, twitter: @sandylocks Intersectionality Matters: ig: @intersectionalitymatters, twitter: @IMKC_podcast Learn more: https://www.muterkelly.org

We're pleased to bring you a new podcast from AAPF and Kimberlé Crenshaw, Intersectionality Matters! Featuring on the ground interviews with some of the world's most innovative activists, artists, and scholars, each episode will explore a different topic through an intersectional lens, ranging from the Supreme Court to grassroots activism in Brazil and the Congo to #SayHerName and the future of the #MeToo campaign. Today we bring you a special preview episode in time for the midterm elections. We hope you enjoy it, and stay tuned for the official podcast release later this month! ~~~ Donald Trump’s path to power was littered with attacks on Muslims, women, immigrants, people of color, people with disabilities, people who are undocumented, and people who are queer. And these communities have suffered under his administration. The November 6th election presents an opportunity to put significant checks on Trumpism. There is no lack of clarity about what is at stake, but the ability to fight back effectively turns on the ability of all of these constituencies to see common cause and to overcome concerted efforts to keep them from voting. On this special preview of Intersectionality Matters!, we talk to two African American women leading the fight for our democracy: Barbara Arnwine, Founder of both the Transformative Justice Coalition and Election Protection, the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter protection coalition; and Kristen Clarke, Executive Director of the Lawyer’s Committee on Civil Rights Under Law. Clarke is leading the court challenge against Georgia’s vote suppression tactics in the face of the historic campaign being waged by Stacey Abrams, a candidate who may make history by becoming the first African American woman to be elected governor. These eye-opening interviews by Kimberlé Crenshaw address critical issues presented in this election, and explore what more we must do after November 6th to ensure intersectional justice for all. ~~~ Music by Blue Dot Sessions Produced and Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine Special thanks to Thea Chaloner, Alex Schein, Luke Charles Harris, Michael Kramer, Naimah Hakim, G'Ra Asim, Madeline Cameron Wardleworth, Kevin Minofu, Janine Jackson, and Abby Dobson. Kimberlé Crenshaw: @sandylocks African American Policy Forum: @aapolicyforum #IntersectionalityMatters

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

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