African American Policy Forum
@aapf.org
Think tank focused on intersectionality, anti-racism and democracy Co-founded & led by @kimberlecrenshaw.bsky.social Home to #SayHerName & #BlackGirlsMatter https://linktr.ee/AAPolicyForum
New episode! 🎙️ Host @kimberlecrenshaw.bsky.social talks with @jamilahlemieux.bsky.social about publishing their first memoirs, reclaiming “baby mama,” respectability politics, Black families, and what keeps Lemieux backtalking despite the backlash. Listen here: pod.link/1441348908?u...
A week ago, AAPF joined @eji.org in Montgomery for our 3rd Annual Democracy Defenders Summit: Legacy, Literacy, and Liberation. We gathered to learn, strategize, and strengthen our shared commitment to protecting our multiracial democracy. Thank you, Bryan Stevenson and EJI, for your partnership.
Fordham Law Professor Tanya K. Hernández (@professortkh.bsky.social) is participating in the 3rd Annual Democracy Defenders Summit (@aapf.org) this week in Montgomery, Alabama—connecting the census research in her forthcoming book to the deliberations on democracy. Pre-order her book today:
The Global Erasure of Blackness: The Civil Rights Crisis of Census (Under) Counting
A historical examination of the Black census undercount as a transnational civil rights issueUS census taking is more accurate today than when the practice was implemented over two centuries ago—yet, ...
bookshop.org
More than 300,000 Black women lost their jobs in 2025. But this conversation can’t stop at employment. Black women deserve fair pay and a workplaces that values their labor. #BlackWomensEqualPayDay
Join us and @eji.org at this summer’s Legacy, Literacy & Liberation Summit. Connect with advocates and leading scholars as we honor histories of resistance and strengthen the movement for racial justice. 📍 Montgomery, AL 🗓️ July 27–31 🔗 Register here: www.aapf.org/legacysummit...
Birthright citizenship was created as a corrective to slavery and the attempt to erase it for immigrants is rooted in our nation’s long-history of anti-Black racism.
![Freed Blacks did not advocate for a unique set of rules that catered only to their situation. Nor did they seek to advance their own position relative to, or at the expense and exclusion of, other marginalized groups. Instead, those whose gatherings helped galvanize the push for full equality understood that “[a] diverse origin does not disprove a common nature, nor does it disprove a united destiny.” The firmest foundation for freedom would require an anticaste reset—“both for his sake and for ours”—and would benefit all.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5jhpea3mok22k6542lcllgfd/bafkreidj7ztzgxvb3k7znyp6fkqvnxrh5vzfv5n76myzejmcljcrjgwsme)
On #Juneteenth, we recognize true history, recommit to the constant struggle for liberation and vow to backtalk against those who would deny progress towards a different, better American experience. @kimberlecrenshaw.bsky.social
"I go into Juneteenth with an appreciation of the fact that it shows us that equality making is like an onion, you peel off different layers of the preexisting condition, and that in and of itself can be an interrupted process."
Kimberlé Crenshaw Says Juneteenth Reminds Us “Freedom Is Not a One and Done Situation”
Her new memoir explores the personal and historical events that led her to coin “intersectionality.”
motherjones.com
Kohen Wiley should be alive today. Reaching for his mom. Instead, he was killed by the state, as an officer fired into a car where his mother was trying to signal that a baby was present. We cannot become inured to this violence. We cannot allow Kohen’s memory to be erased.
Mississippi Police Officer Shoots and Kills 1-Year-Old Child in Response to Shoplifting Call
A Mississippi police officer shot and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley at a Walmart while responding to a shoplifting call.
mississippifreepress.org
Yesterday’s baseless hearing on @splcenter.org had one purpose: undermine the civil rights infrastructure that works every day to keep Americans secure and free. Without organizations like SPLC, all of us are less safe. This weaponization will not end with SPLC, and we will not remain silent.
I want to give a huge thank you to the NY Liberty @wnba.com team for choosing @aapf.org as a partner for this year’s Commissioner’s Cup. I couldn’t make it to game 1 but waking up to my favorite players holding copies of #Backtalker was AMAZING. Congrats on the Game 1 win ❤️
wonderful piece from @clintsmithiii.bsky.social that, among other things, makes abundantly clear that pete hegseth and the trump administration are engaged in a racist purge of black officers under the belief that being black and having "merit" are mutually exclusive.
The Betrayal of Black Patriots
They devoted their lives to serving the United States. Now the nation’s top military leader is sending the message that they’re not welcome.
theatlantic.com
Had such an amazing time last night at @phbookstores.bsky.social 💙 Thank you so much for hosting me—it meant a lot. And huge thanks to my sister and fellow backtalker @nhannahjones.bsky.social for joining the conversation. The perfect way to celebrate my book launch 📚✨
In the wake of Louisiana v. Callais, ASALH President Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead, AAPF Executive Director @kimberlecrenshaw.bsky.social , historian Carol Anderson, and AAPF Senior Fellow Tim Wise break down what this moment means for our democracy. RSVP: bit.ly/UTB_ConfrontingCallais
I join so many Americans across the country in outrage over #SCOTUS’s egregious attack on voting rights in #Callais and reject this attempted erasure of Black citizenship. I’m grateful to @perrybaconjr.bsky.social for giving me an opportunity to speak about this moment.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 made multiracial democracy possible, and it should still fully be law of the land. There is no legal basis to roll back voting rights.
African American Policy Forum@aapf.org · 3mo agoWe must resist accepting the faulty logic of an illegitimate Court and organize around the kinds of systemic reforms necessary to stop democratic backsliding and rebuild a judicial system actually oriented toward justice.
We must resist accepting the faulty logic of an illegitimate Court and organize around the kinds of systemic reforms necessary to stop democratic backsliding and rebuild a judicial system actually oriented toward justice.
The @theguardian.com interviewed our executive director, @kimberlecrenshaw.bsky.social, on her upcoming memoir—Backtalker—and what it means to fight for racial and gender justice in 2026.
‘I saw the backlash coming’: civil rights activist Kimberlé Crenshaw on America and race
She coined the term ‘intersectionality’ and helped to develop critical race theory, now her life’s work is under attack by Washington’s war on ‘woke’. As her memoir is published, the legal scholar exp...
theguardian.com
Dr. Cerina Fairfax is remembered as a mentor and community leader as officials call attention to the broader impact of domestic gun violence toward Black women
Virginia governor, advocates remember Dr. Cerina Fairfax
Dr. Cerina Fairfax is remembered as a mentor and community leader as officials call attention to the broader impact of domestic gun violence toward Black women.
13newsnow.com
My Books Save Lives Act makes it clear: discriminatory book bans are a violation of federal civil rights law. I held a read-in at All She Wrote Books in Somerville to announce this bill to fight book bans and emphasize the importance of inclusive literature.
To protect a multiracial democracy, we must confront the anti-Black racism that has long shaped citizenship in the U.S. We stand with all who call this country home. Racism and democracy are incompatible.
Backtalker: An American Memoir publishes six weeks from TODAY! Thank you so much to Bryan Stevenson for his kind words and support of this deeply personal project. You can order your copy here: www.simonandschuster.com/books/Backta...
As we enter the final week of Women’s History Month, here at AAPF we’re uplifting the #StatusOfBlackWomen. ✨ Stay tuned for daily facts highlighting the experiences of Black women across different fields—from tech to journalism and beyond.
Breonna should be alive today, and she and her family deserve unequivocal recognition that her killing was egregious, unjust and a violation of civil rights.
The Senate is debating whether to advance an extreme voter suppression bill, the SAVE America Act, that would make it harder for millions of Americans to register to vote. It’s up to us to stop it. Tell your Senators now to vote NO.
Stop Anti-Voter Bills Now
The SAVE Act, the SAVE America Act, and MEGA Act could keep millions of eligible U.S. citizens from being able to vote. Urge Congress to reject these bills.
aclu.org
COMING SOON: Backtalker: An American Memoir. On sale May 5. Pre-order available now! : www.simonandschuster.com/books/Backta...
Backtalker
One of the most influential public intellectuals in the world and the architect of the two biggest ideas to reshape the American conversation about...
simonandschuster.com
