Rev. Dr. Stephany Rose Spaulding is an activist, pastor, professor, and founder of Truth and Conciliation, an organization built on the principle that in order to root out the racism inextricably woven into the very fabric of American politics and culture, there needs to be bold structural change to the institutions that enable it.

After having been shaken to her core by the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, Dr. Rose felt like it was time to get out of the “trauma loop” of watching Black people be murdered, being outraged for a while, then moving on with the news cycle. It was time to enact the kind of bold reform she always knew was necessary for striking racism from the systems that govern our country. “Our democracy itself is invested in the perpetuation of whiteness,” she explained.

Antidemocratic structures have long been used to preserve the white supremacy within our political institutions and prevent people of color from accessing American democracy. Dr. Rose’s fight is about educating the public on how if we want to see real change occur when it comes to racial justice, incremental fixes just won’t cut it — we need to reshape the entire system. That means eliminating the filibuster, abolishing the Electoral College, making D.C. a state, and restructuring the federal judiciary.