On the morning of April 12, 2015 Freddie Gray was taken into custody by Baltimore Police officers. With his hands cuffed behind his back and feet in shackles, he was put in the back of the vehicle and transported without being secured with a safety belt.

During transport, Freddie sustained a fractured neck with 80% of his spine was severed. Several days later he went into a coma and on April 19, 2015 Freddie was dead.

Marilyn Mosby was only five months into her first term as Baltimore State’s Attorney, the city’s chief prosecutor.

On May 1, 2015 she charged the six police officers involved in Freddie’s death, one of the first cases nationally holding police accountable for the death of a black man while in custody.

This decision had its consequences. Hate mail and death threats ensued forcing Marilyn to defend the decision to charge officers. "For those who believe I am anti-police, it's simply not the case. I am anti police brutality.”

Marilyn Mosby made an unpopular and highly controversial choice in charging the officers. Though none were convicted, there was a $6.4 million settlement with the family and Mosby’s office pursued substantial reforms that contributed to the exoneration of 13 men who had served a combined 300 years in prison despite proclaiming their innocence.

The right choice may not be the easy choice when justice is the basis for one's decision. Today, more than 10 years later, Marilyn and her family continue to suffer the fallout of her decision in holding officer’s accountable. However it is a decision of which she reports as having no regrets.

If you would like to engage with the podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more by visiting NurahSpeaks.com.

You can follow Nurah Speaks on X, Instagram and Facebook @NurahSpeaks and subscribe to the channel on YouTube.

On February 1, 1951 Henrietta Lacks walked into John’s Hopkins Hospital with a complaint of vaginal bleeding and a painful lump. When tissue samples were collected and examined, they became the marvel that changed medicine forever.

Henrietta’s ‘Immortal’ cells were retrieved without her consent or knowledge and scientists were in awe at their unusual ability to survive and grow unlike other cells that, after a few cell divisions, would die.

Unfortunately, Henrietta received a diagnosis of incurable metastatic cervical cancer and she passed away shortly after. Her cells, however, were the foundation for scientific innovation with pharmaceutical companies patenting novel means of utilizing her cells and reaping huge profits as a result.

Henrietta’s family was kept in the dark for decades, only to be mislead and deceived by researchers seeking to study their genetic material under the guise of monitoring for hereditary disease. They have been seeking justice for many years with recent undisclosed settlements from companies which have unjustly profited off her cells. Still, one can reasonably question, what is the true price of justice in cases such as these?

This is the first episode of several recognizing impactful women this Women’s History Month 2026.

You can learn more about Henrietta Lacks by reading ‘Medical Apartheid’ by Harriett Washington, ‘Henrietta Lacks -The Untold Story’ by her eldest grandson Ron Lacks and ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks ‘by Rebecca Skloot.

If you would like to engage with the podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more by visiting NurahSpeaks.com.

You can follow Nurah Speaks on X, Instagram and Facebook @NurahSpeaks and subscribe to the channel on YouTube.

In this concluding Black History Month Episode, I provide an abbreviated sketch of the great history of the Nation of Islam under the leadership of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad with present day work happening in Camden, New Jersey.

Huey P. Newton, Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture), Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson Sr….we have heard mention of these incredible men and their contribution towards equity and justice for the Black man and woman in America.

But we learn very little, if anything at all, about the Nation of Islam (founded in 1930) and how the revolutionary ideology of ‘Self Love’ and ‘Do For Self’ influenced their efforts, inspired the Black Community and impacted national and international leaders alike.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, was described by Reader’s Digest as the ‘Most powerful Black man in America’ and we have not seen any modern economist, sociologist, educator or psychologist impact Black people the way he did.

Because of this influence, one finds in COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) documents how the FBI endeavored, through substantially illegal and unethical efforts, to ‘Prevent The Rise of A Black Messiah’ amongst Black Americans who would have the power to unite and electrify them.

The federal government’s efforts sought to disrupt, discredit and misdirect Black nationalist groups, including the Nation of Islam, and to neutralize them in the public sphere because, 'In unity, there is strength.’

One can claim they achieved great success as so little is known and accurately understood about the Nation of Islam.

This episode seeks to provide a condensed sketch of that history.

To learn more about the history of the Nation of Islam visit CROE.ORG. CROE (Coalition for Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad) serves as the National Archives of the Nation of Islam. Also, visit TEMPLE20.ORG to learn how the application of ‘Self Love’ and ‘Do For Self’ can impact our local communities as it is in Camden, New Jersey.

If you would like to engage with the podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more by visiting NurahSpeaks.com.

You can follow Nurah Speaks on X, Instagram and Facebook @NurahSpeaks and subscribe to the channel on YouTube.