We are living in a time when many of our fellow citizens are facing injustices, even threats to their lives, that nobody should have to deal with.

If you’re a Black kid and you knock on the wrong door to meet a friend, you could be shot. That’s just a fact. It just happened, and our guest today, Dr. Pamela Gurley, has something to say about that.

Dr. Gurley is a Content Strategy Expert, International Speaker, World-Renowned Best-Selling Author, and Journalist who understands the power of words (both verbal and written). As the Founder/CEO of Clark and Hill Enterprise and IAMDRPGURLEY and Founder/President of the Brown Girl and Brown Boy Literacy Foundation, she is on a mission to empower, grow, transform, and motivate others, as well as lead and challenge social norms and false narratives.

In 2021, she was awarded the RadioOne EmpowerHER “Empowering Motivation” award for her commitment to uplifting others.

We are delighted to have Dr. Gurley as a contributing writer to our Lean to the Left blog site, something that evolved after she appeared as a guest on this podcast last year. Her most recent blog explains new legislation being considered in Florida that would make it a crime, with possible five years in prison, for filming police action, such as a traffic stop or suspect arrest.

That legislation, she says, threatens individual freedom of speech and the public's right to hold law enforcement accountable. In effect, it continues Florida's march to becoming a police state under Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Dr. Gurley is a retired U.S. Army veteran, holds a BA in Psychology, a Master’s in Health Service Administration, and a Doctorate in Management.

In November 2019, she released her first book, “I Am Not A Stereotype: I Am H.E.R.,” and in March 2021, she released her second book, Black Girl Activist, instantly becoming an Amazon Best Seller. On June 3, 2021, she released the first books in her multilingual Brown Girl and Brown Boy children’s books series. She has since published five additional titles totaling 21 books with 3 more on the way this spring. She has also been a part of three anthologies – one with Dr. Gurley as a Visionary Author.

Some questions we ask Dr. Gurley during the interview:

Q. I understand there is new legislation in Florida and some other states that is particularly troubling. Can you tell us about it?

Q. That sounds like a blatant violation of the First Amendment. Do you agree?

Q. What about witness intimidation? Doesn’t that legislation cross the line?

Q. Does such legislation, in effect, sanction police brutality by hiding their actions from the public and other authorities?

Q. When a bystander films a police stop and subsequent arrest, does that not actually serve to protect the police officers assuming they have done nothing wrong?

Q. Do you feel that such proposals are prompted simply by racism and the racist attitudes of certain lawmakers?

Q. These bills come at a time when Democrats in Congress are pushing for police reform. They fly in the face of that effort. Your thoughts?

Q. We’ve had incidents recently where individuals, including people of color, have been victims of the so-called “Stand Your Ground” attitudes prompted by the gun lobby. Your thoughts about that?

Q. Tell us about your work and your books, especially your new children’s book series.