Why Courts Matter!

Figure #1: Promotional poster of
Kadida Kenner's
to Bloomsburg University.

On Monday, March 2nd, Kadida Kenner presents to BU students her "Women's Rights and Empowerment: Why Courts Matter." Kenner highlights information concerning the Trump Administration's deadly practices. Why are their practices deadly? Why are should we be concerned about it? It's clear: their practices are deadly to people who are othered in the United States. These people are the very fibers of USA history (but are not limited to): women, African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, the LGBTQA+ community, Native Americans, etc. This administration is electing federal judges that are extreme conservatives. In addition to their extreme political views, many of the elected judges are unqualified to be a legitimate federal judge. They do not have the legal experience, nor the education to effectively perform the duties of a federal judge. Kadida Kenner is simply conveying this information to the people. She is making sure we are all aware of what this presidential administration is doing.

As a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, Why Courts Matter [website link provided here] "plays a unique role in educating Pennsylvanians about the importance of the federal judiciary and how it affects our daily lives," ("About Us"). Kadida Kenner is a part of this organization; Kadida Kenner is a voice for this institution. Kadida finds herself as the sole individual who promotes the importance of the federal courts in PA. How many people can say they know about their federal courts? How many of our readers are able to distinguish between the Supreme Court and the federal courts? How many individuals are familiar with the process of electing a federal judge? There are many aspects to the federal courts that the normal modern-day person would not know. Essentially, Kadida explains why we are being kept blissfully ignorant. This knowledge must be common knowledge. The elected judges will interpret and bend the law, affecting day-to-day life; the federal judges will determine justice for your neighbours, siblings, family members, classmates, and yourself. Kadida Kenner, a former sports journalist, visited Bloomsburg University to deliver factual information, not to sway the political views of her audience.

          

        Figure #2: Photo of Kadida
       Kenner's presentation
        showing her 1st arrest.

         

Figure #3: Photo of Kadida     
Kenner's presentation     
showing her 2nd arrest.        

As a part of Kadida's activism, she is historically passionate for standing up for justice. Because of her activism, she has been arrested three times. For the very first time, she was arrested as part of the #PorterNine. This tight-knit group was arrested for exercising their 1st Amendment rights. The #PorterNine are coined as the very first group of activists to be arrested for protesting the nomination of a lower court judge. After being interrogated by the FBI, Kadida and the rest of the #PorterNine were released from their arrest. The second time she was arrested resulted from her verbal protest during Brett Kavanough's confirmation battle. During his hearing, [video link provided here, Kadida Kenner appears around the 20 second mark], Kadida along with other women were removed from the court room for their verbal protest. Again, she was arrested and later freed. The third time resulted from another protest against a federal judge. Currently, she holds two citations and a misdemeanor on her record. However, she is proud of these documents. From a naked eye, Kadida would be misconstrued as a criminal. She is far from it. She is a woman who is passionate about people receiving fair and equal justice. The police who arrest her know how effective her activism can be. So they stop her and a few others while they can. In reality: Kadida Kenner and her supports are solely seeking fair and equal justice. From her perspective, it is the Trump Administration that is unravelling all fairness, and they are not stopping.

           

   Figure #4:
   Photo of Kadida Kenner's
   presentation showing
   her 3rd and final arrest.

         

Figure #5: 
Photo of Kadida Kenner 
delivering her talk at 
Bloomsburg University.   

During her talk at Bloomsburg University, I personally asked her: "How did you feel on that gloomy November day?" Clearly, I was referring to the 9th of November in 2016. For full transparency, Kadida said she was working on Hillary Clinton's campaign in North Carolina. She flat-out said: "I was concerned. I was scared." She discussed wanting to defend democracy at all costs. That is why she left her sports journalist profession for this nonprofit and nonpartisan organization: Why Courts Matter.

Proudly, Kadida says: "I am going to do this work until a black woman is on the Supreme Court... or if I'm arrested a fourth time." Kadida will not stop. She does not plan to stop educating. I hope she does not halt educating.


Source:

"About Us." WCM, https://whycourtsmatterpa.org/about-us/.

Figure #1 - www.bloomu.edu
Figure #2 - Jose Gamboa
Figure #3 - Jose Gamboa
Figure #4 - Jose Gamboa
Figure #5 - Jose Gamboa