The Switch Up With Cheyanne M. Daniels

In our last two episodes, The Switch Up talked about the maternal mortality crisis — how it disproportionately affects Black and Brown Americans, the struggle of incarcerated pregnant people and the activists and political leaders who are trying to end this crisis.  Today, we’re delving into this crisis just a little bit more — and the decade-long fight to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (P...

Every year, about 58,000 pregnant people enter prisons and jails. A study by the Pregnancy in Prison Statistics Project found that nationally, 4 percent of women entering prison and 3 percent of women entering jail are pregnant.  In part two of our series on the maternal mortality crisis, we’re examining the health care of incarcerated pregnant people, including the practice of shackling and the d...

Black birthing people are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts, while Black infants are two times more likely to die within their first year than white infants.   Reasons behind the disparities vary, but experts often point to implicit bias in the medical system that leads to Black patients consistently having their complaints and sympt...

Since the Emancipation Proclamation, America has struggled to reckon with its history of enslaving Africans.  Today, the legacy of slavery impacts 57 percent of Black Americans, according to Pew Research Center. But that legacy is multifaceted and ranges from economic and educational inequality to redlining to the justice system.  For some, they believe it’s past time America addressed these harms...

During the 2021-2022 school year, more than 1,600 books were banned from school libraries, affecting 138 school districts in 32 states, according to a report from PEN America.  For many, such bans are dangerous. For others, it’s a way to protect students. On this episode of The Switch Up, Cheyanne Daniels speaks with authors whose books have been banned. What does it mean to be on that list – and...

Sixty years ago, the March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom saw Martin Luther King Jr. give his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. Both the march and speech were seminal moments instrumental in the passage of the watershed Civil Rights Act of 1964. Where does the fight for equal opportunity and civil rights stand today? Guests Governor Wes Moore (D-Maryland) Martin Luther King III & Andrea Waters Kin...

Rep. Summer Lee made history in 2022 when she became the first Black woman elected to serve in the House of Representatives for Pennsylvania. Since her swearing-in, Lee has joined the Congressional Black Caucus, where she co-chairs the Race and Justice Taskforce, and serves on the executive board of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. But why does the drive for change consistently come from the...

Within the last decade, organizers and advocates have turned out to protest the deaths of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement. 10 years after its first use, more than 44 million tweets with the hashtag BlackLivesMatter exist on Twitter, according to Pew Research Center. On this episode of The Switch Up, we reflect on the last 10 years of work to spread the message that Black Lives Matt...

Black Americans have been vital in the fight for civil rights, and not just when it comes to race. Numerous Black queer activists have fought for decades to secure equal rights for the LGBTQ community, yet their names are often left out of history books. This year, they’ve begun to receive more attention — particularly after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis argued queer history and Black history had no c...