America at 250. Who Gets Freedom. Who Gets Left Out? #TheOtherSideOfChange

7.6.2026 #TheOtherSideOfChange: America at 250. Who Gets Freedom. Who Gets Left Out? | S2 E12

In this week's episode of The Other Side of Change, Jamira Burley and Brea Baker ask a question at the center of America's 250th anniversary: Who has actually been able to claim the promises of freedom, citizenship, and democracy? From the Declaration of Independence to the Fourteenth Amendment, they examine how Black Americans, Indigenous people, immigrants, and other marginalized communities have repeatedly been forced to fight for rights that were never freely extended to them.

The conversation explores the Supreme Court's recent birthright citizenship decision, the legacy of Reconstruction, the dismantling of voting rights protections after Shelby County v. Holder, and the continuing struggle over who receives equal protection under the law. Rather than treating these battles as isolated moments, Burley and Baker connect them to a longer history of expanding and restricting American democracy.

Later, Rebecca Nagel—award-winning journalist, citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and host of the podcast First America—joins the show to challenge the traditional story of the American Revolution. Drawing from her reporting and research, she explains how Native nations were central to the country's founding, why Indigenous history has been systematically erased from the national narrative, and what those forgotten stories reveal about democracy, colonialism, and the unfinished work of building a more just America.

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