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NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Janai Nelson is Associate Director-Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
PROFILE
Janai Nelson
Guest
FROM Janai Nelson
To the Point
Trump transition names loyal hardliners Three major appointments we announced this morning by the Trump transition team: Alabama Senator and hardliner Jeff Sessions for Attorney General; Kansas Republican Congressman Mike Pompeo to head the CIA; and former Lt. General Mike Flynn as the President's National Security Advisor. Flynn is famous for leading the chant "lock her up," aimed at Hillary Clinton during the Republican National Convention.
To the Point
Police Repression and Police Reform For the past year, videos of police shootings have saturated the media, giving urgency to calls for police reform -- especially in poor, black neighborhoods. But what does "reform" mean in practice? For example, is so called "broken windows" a form of community policing or an excuse for racial profiling? After decades of racism and brutality, Los Angeles has been called a model for police reform, but now it’s embroiled in a familiar controversy. Is it time to look beyond the police force and deal with social and economic issues that cops will never be able to resolve?
To the Point
Police and Race in America Last Friday in Beverly Hills, California, TV producer Charles Belk—a 51-year old black man—was on his way to a pre-Emmy awards party. When he left a restaurant, he was stopped by police, handcuffed and taken to jail with bail sent at $100,000. After 6 hours, police reviewed videotape that proved Belk had not robbed a bank and released him 10 minutes later. Belk says it was all because he was “tall, bald, male and black.” Will policing ever be colorblind?
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To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?