Thinking Freely

Escucha un cuento sincero del amor, la familia y el impacto de la inmigración. Este último episodio de “Leer libremente” sigue una historia que va de Baltimore a El Salvador y de regreso.. Sintoniza mientras Lorena Magdalena Diaz, miembro del personal de la ACLU de Maryland, nos lleva en un viaje a través del tiempo entre sus dos hogares y cómo esto ha impactado su enfoque de la vida, su trabajo c...

In a heartfelt telling of love, family and the impact of immigration, this latest episode of Reading Freely follows a story from Baltimore to El Salvador, and back again. Tune in as ACLU of Maryland staffer, Lorena Magdalena Diaz, takes us on journey through time between her two homes, and how that's impacted her approach to life, critical immigration work, and what it means to have connection bey...

If you are disabled and are reading this: We see you. We affirm you. We love you. The world would be boring as heck without people like you in it. This episode of Reading Freely is all about Disability Pride Month and celebrating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) anniversary, signed into law in 1990. Listen as ACLU of Maryland staffer, Nicole McCann, takes us through why we must center dis...

En junio, miembros del personal de la ACLU de Maryland asistieron a eventos del Orgullo en todo el estado, desde el condado de Charles, Annapolis y Baltimore. El Orgullo, sin importar dónde esté, sigue creciendo cada año. Los miembros de nuestro personal salieron de estos eventos con diferentes pensamientos del Orgullo LGBTQ+. En este episodio, escucha las cosas únicas e inspiradoras que los miemb...

In June, ACLU of Maryland staff members attended Pride events throughout the state – from Charles County, Annapolis and Baltimore. Pride, no matter where it is, continues to grow each year. Our staff members came out of these events with different reflections about LGBTQ+ Pride. In this episode, hear some of the unique and inspiring quotes from some of them and remember that Pride is about accepta...

As a father, advocate, economist, and strategist, Corey Stottlemyer uses his skills and experience of more than 20 years to advocate for racial justice and equity at the federal, state, and local levels. As the new Board President of the ACLU of Marylanders Board of Directors, Corey feels that while we as an organization have achieved significant advances for the rights of people, there is still w...

Can we ever learn from history or are we forever doomed to repeat it? On this episode, listen to producer, Nehemiah Bester, as he shares his experience working on the documentary film, The Riot Report on PBS, while comparing and contrasting his personal accounts of rebellion, most notably during the Racial Reckoning of 2020, as a student, activist, and journalist. What's a riot? And what's a rebel...

Este año, el Día de los Presidentes, celebramos un Día de Acción centrado en los derechos de los niños en Annapolis para aprobar algunas buenas decisiones para que nuestros funcionarios electos rindan cuentas de sus palabras. Alrededor de 200 activistas, estudiantes y líderes comunitarios marcharon hacia la Asamblea General para hacer oír sus voces durante el Día de Acción de 2024: Justicia para l...

This year on President’s Day, we held a children’s rights focused Day of Action in Annapolis to pass some good bills and hold our elected officials accountable to their words. Around 200 activists, students, and community leaders marched into the General Assembly to make their voices heard during the 2024 Day of Action: Justice for Children and Incarcerated Marylanders. On this episode, you’ll hea...

Life in prison was the verdict for teenagers Ransom Watkins, Andrew Stewart and Alfred Chestnut in 1983 when they were wrongfully intimidated and interrogated by police and sentenced for a crime they did not commit. The three were eventually exonerated, but were effectively robbed of 36 years of life, in addition to the ever-present trauma that comes with incarceration. A devastating reminder of t...

El acuerdo 287(g) con ICE en el condado de Frederick debe finalizar. En julio, la ACLU de Maryland se unió a la ACLU nacional para presentar una queja administrativa federal pidiendo al Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de los EE. UU. que investigue al alguacil del condado de Frederick, Charles Jenkins, para poner fin al peligroso acuerdo que promueve el odio contra los inmigrantes y la deportaci...

Half a decade ago, Dana Vickers Shelley walked into the ACLU of Maryland as the new executive director ready to make "good trouble" in the name of working to guarantee the promise of Maryland’s constitution for all Marylanders. 5 years have gone by, but the mission remains the same. Listen as Dana reflects on her 5th year anniversary as executive director and how the ACLU of Maryland remains commi...

This June, the Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people for the first time in the organization’s 40-year history. And unfortunately, students are not immune to the dangerous anti-queer assaults, legislatively or physically. Because of the seriousness of these attacks, we've published a Know Your Rights guide on LGBTQ+ students' rights on gender, dress codes, self-expre...

Starting on July 1st, 2023, marijuana will officially become legalized for recreational use in Maryland for adults 21 and up. This also includes a new law that bans police stops and searches based on the alleged smell of marijuana. But is that enough for Maryland to become a model for marijuana and racial justice? On this episode you'll hear from Michele Hall, who is an assistant public defender a...

What's being called a modern day Indian Removal, The Wild Turkey Clan of the Cedarville Band of Piscataway Indians in Maryland are being forced off their land by the Charles County government - the very land that belongs to the Piscataway Conoy People and that the Band has taken care of for decades. On this episode we speak with Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor on the harmful im...

Finalmente, el uso legal de la marihuana en Maryland se está convirtiendo en una realidad, pero eso no significa que sea oficialmente legal todavía. Aquí hay una cronología que le dice todo lo que necesita saber sobre esta próxima fase de las leyes sobre la marihuana. Lea la cronología completa aquí: https://www.aclu-md.org/es/news/el-camino-hacia-la-legalizacion-de-marihuana-el-cronograma-hasta-a...

Finally, legal use marijuana in Maryland is becoming a reality - but that doesn't mean that it's officially legal just yet. Here's a timeline breaking down everything you need to know around this next phase of marijuana laws. Read the full timeline here: https://www.aclu-md.org/en/news/road-marijuana-legalization-timeline-so-far

Pride is more than a place holder on a calendar - it's protest. Over 50 years after the Stonewall Uprising, and six months away from the 50th anniversary of the now overruled Roe v. Wade, we can feel the tides changing, pulling us back into the past. The very first sounds of LGBTQ+ freedom and liberation were hundreds of queer folx screaming and chanting "out of the closet and into the streets!" D...

Know The Facts. Immigrants' rights are more important now than ever. And one pressing issue on the minds of many in Maryland is that the 287(g) program continues to plague us. The program deputizes local and state law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws. A couple years back, the ACLU of Maryland shared data in Seven Truths Surrounding 287(g) Programs showing just how racist immigration...

Our vote is a fundamental freedom and our democracy is threatened without real access to everyone. The ACLU of Maryland has long worked to stop voter disenfranchisement in all its forms. In this audio blog, learn how tactics of ballot exclusion have evolved over the years, and how the path to overcoming this ailment and expanding fundamental suffrage is no modern idea. Check out the written versio...

Many Maryland children are heading back to school. After a year and a half of virtual learning, most students will go back into their school buildings. But what experience will they step back into? On this episode we speak with key ACLU experts, Justin Nalley, public policy analyst, Frank Patinella, senior education advocate, and Tierney Peprah, staff attorney, about the work we will be doing to e...

On April 20, 2021, the jury in the Derek Chauvin trial issued a guilty verdict on all three counts for the murder of George Floyd. However, one verdict is not justice – it’s simply accountability. Over 5,000 people were killed by police in the U.S. since 2015, including George Floyd and Anton Black, who were killed by police in eerily, terrifyingly similar ways. We talked to LaToya Holley, the sis...

Immigrants in Frederick County have been fighting for their rights for years. We’ve seen some great victories this year. Immigrants have won in the courts and in local policy that helps the community, despite the odds. In this episode, we talked to Sara Movahed, ACLU of Maryland board member and founding partner at Movahed & Fisher Law, LLC., - www.movahedfisher.com and Brian Whittaker of Nixon Pe...

Police officers on Maryland's Eastern Shore killed Anton Black, a 19-year-old Black teenager, on the afternoon of September 15, 2018. Over two years later, the family and the Coalition for Justice for Anton Black are still fighting for justice for Anton Black. To talk more about this we will speak with Antone Black, the father of Anton Black, Richard Potter, an educator and President of the Talbot...

The right to vote and participate in our democracy is currently denied to over 18,000 citizens who are incarcerated in Maryland. Dating back to the racist Jim Crow era, state felony disfranchisement laws were created to prevent Americans entangled in the legal justice system from voting. After the Civil War, there was a concerted effort to incarcerate thousands of Black people who were newly freed...