James Gray Pope is the Distinguished Professor of Law and Sidney Reitman Scholar Emeritus at Rutgers University. Before joining Rutgers in 1986, he worked in a shipyard and represented labor unions at the Boston law firm of Segal, Roitman & Coleman. He has a doctorate in politics from Princeton and specializes in constitutional law, constitutional theory, and labor law.

Douglass Collective is a community of lawyers and activists working to promote a more inclusive vision of the Constitution. We believe that the abolition of slavery and the Reconstruction Amendments provide a powerful blueprint for a world where we are all more free. By raising awareness of the Constitution’s abolitionist roots, and building community and power around that vision, we will chart a more free and equal future.

Intro Music: "Fantastic Negro Type Beat 'Nigga Song Remix'" by BarzMakesBangers: https://youtu.be/egdj0jlsQHA?si=ddBCdOMxCvMIP4hT

Derek Black is a professor of law and the Ernest F. Hollings Chair in Constitutional Law at the University of South Carolina School of Law. He also directs the law school’s Constitutional Law Center. His areas of expertise include education law and policy, constitutional law, and civil rights. The focus of his current scholarship is the intersection of constitutional law and public education, particularly as it pertains to educational equality and fairness for disadvantaged students.

Douglass Collective is a community of lawyers and activists working to promote a more inclusive vision of the Constitution. We believe that the abolition of slavery and the Reconstruction Amendments provide a powerful blueprint for a world where we are all more free. By raising awareness of the Constitution’s abolitionist roots, and building community and power around that vision, we will chart a more free and equal future.

Freedom Readers by Tracy Swinton-Bailey

Intro Music: "Fantastic Negro Type Beat 'Nigga Song Remix'" by BarzMakesBangers: https://youtu.be/egdj0jlsQHA?si=ddBCdOMxCvMIP4hT

Long before today's debates over trans rights, Americans were legally changing their sex. As far back as the 1800s, courts and local governments occasionally recognized gender transitions—issuing new documents and revising the legal record.

From 19th-century courtrooms to modern ID laws, Brianne Felsher (they/them), a PhD Candidate in Jurisprudence and Social Policy at Berkeley Law, explains the surprisingly long history of legal sex changes, and what it reveals about the fight for gender freedom today.

Douglass Collective is a community of lawyers and activists working to promote a more inclusive vision of the Constitution. We believe that the abolition of slavery and the Reconstruction Amendments provide a powerful blueprint for a world where we are all more free. By raising awareness of the Constitution’s abolitionist roots, and building community and power around that vision, we will chart a more free and equal future.

Intro Music: "Fantastic Negro Type Beat 'Nigga Song Remix'" by BarzMakesBangers: https://youtu.be/egdj0jlsQHA?si=ddBCdOMxCvMIP4hT