This week’s episode of the Legal Lens podcast features California State Senator Dr. Akilah Weber Pierson, in a wide-ranging conversation on social determinants of health, reparations, and legislating from a doctor’s lens.

A San Diego native, Dr. Weber Pierson is a board-certified OB-GYN who previously founded and directed the Pediatric & Adolescent Gynecology Division at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. Before serving in the State Senate, she was a La Mesa City Councilmember and a member of the California State Assembly.

Having been raised in a family committed to public service and civil rights – her own mother being California’s Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber – in this clip, Dr. Weber Pierson discusses the current state of reparations in California, coupled with the efforts and the role of the California Legislative Black Caucus in advancing policies connected to racial equity and historical accountability.

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“Everything we do is interconnected, and so we must all look out for each other and really work to uplift those that are at the bottom because that truly uplifts everyone.” – California State Senator Dr. Akilah Weber Pierson

On the newest episode of the Legal Lens podcast, I am joined by California State Senator Dr. Akilah Weber Pierson. Together, we discuss social determinants of health, public policy, reparations, and what it means to legislate from a doctor’s perspective.

As a board-certified OB-GYN and the founder and former director of the Pediatric & Adolescent Gynecology Division at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, Dr. Weber Pierson understands how factors beyond the exam room can influence health outcomes.

In this clip, she discusses the ways communities are connected through shared systems and circumstances, including education, housing, environmental conditions, food access, and healthcare.

As we mark International Podcast Day, let’s celebrate the conversations that podcasts make possible and the ideas they help bring into focus.

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On this episode of the Legal Lens podcast, I sit down with Dr. Sydney McKinney, Executive Director of the @nationalblackwomensjustice5728, to talk about what schools actually need to do to support the mental health of students, especially Black girls.

🔍 In this clip, we discuss how investing in mental health support, rather than discipline and exclusion, can help schools become the safe spaces students deserve.

She reminds us that when schools are equipped with the right tools, students of all backgrounds benefit.

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On this episode of the Legal Lens podcast, my conversation with Dr. Sydney McKinney, Executive Director of the @nationalblackwomensjustice5728, explores how zero tolerance and exclusionary discipline policies affect Black girls.

In this clip, we look at the gap between what schools practice and what research on adolescent development actually recommends.

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On this episode of the Legal Lens podcast, my conversation with Dr. Sydney McKinney, Executive Director of the @nationalblackwomensjustice5728, explores the unfortunate cycle of the criminalization and “over discipline” of Black girls in schools and the lifelong consequences that follow.

In this clip, she highlights how the data reflects a pattern that repeats across nearly every discipline category tracked by researchers.

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This week’s episode of the Legal Lens podcast features Dr. Sydney McKinney, Executive Director of the @nationalblackwomensjustice5728.

Building upon the book, Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, by Dr. Monique Couvson (formerly known as Monique W. Morris), along with the supporting documentary @pushoutfilm5140, Dr. McKinney and I discuss this unfortunate cycle, along with how the early severe discipline of Black Girls in schools connects to their potential tagging and subjection to the criminal justice system – creating a lifelong cycle that becomes difficult to break.

Dr. McKinney, with a PhD in sociology and a master’s in Law and Society from NYU, plus a master’s in public health from Columbia. has spent nearly two decades in research and evaluation on this topic, along with other critical topics impacting Black women, girls and children.

In this clip she shares how school pushout, juvenile legal contact, and later-life outcomes are more connected than most people realize.

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How Do We Create the Schools that Black Girls & Other Children Deserve?

“Listen to Black girls. We know that they know what the answers are.”
– Dr. Sydney McKinney, Executive Director of the @nationalblackwomensjustice5728

On the newest episode of The Legal Lens podcast, I am joined by Dr. Sydney McKinney, Executive Director of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute (NBWJI).

Our conversation is data-driven and deeply personal, centered on the unfortunate cycle of the criminalization of Black girls in schools and the lifelong consequences that follow.

In this clip, Dr. McKinney focuses on why the individuals closest to the problem – young Black girls – often hold the clearest answers.

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On the latest episode of the Legal Lens podcast, I am joined by Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., Founder and CEO of the @HipHopCaucus , for a sweeping conversation that connects environmental justice, litigation, voting rights, and the power of culture as organizing tools.

In this clip, we look at how Rev. Yearwood connects his mother’s words to the long-term importance of participation in democracy.

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On this episode of the Legal Lens podcast, my conversation with Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., Founder and CEO of the @HipHopCaucus explores voting rights, climate and environmental justice, and challenges this generation of leaders to consider what true legacy means.

In this clip, we discuss the growing concern around data centers, land use, and who bears the cost when profit and public health collide. Rev. Yearwood highlights why community advocacy and legal action continue to matter in these debates.

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This week’s episode of the Legal Lens podcast features Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., Founder and CEO of the @HipHopCaucus in a discussion about environmental justice, community health, and the ways climate and environmental policy affects everyday life.

Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. is a Senior Advisor for Bloomberg Philanthropies and is one of today’s most innovative advocates for racial and climate justice.

He was one of 50 changemakers selected for Forbes’ inaugural Sustainability Leaders list in 2024. He has been recognized as a White House Champion of Change for Climate Leadership and has been called a “New Green Hero” by Rolling Stone.

Raised in an area called “Cancer Alley,” a region in Southeastern Louisiana extends approximately 85 miles along the Mississippi River and causes some of the highest rates of cancer in the U.S,, Rev. Yearwood brings a lived perspective to the conversation around air quality, water access, and the unequal burden placed on Black and Brown communities.

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