I talked to Courtney Teasley, a badass powerhouse attorney, business coach, educator, podcaster, and author dedicated to disrupting oppressive systems through legal literacy. Courtney shares her journey from practicing law straight out of school to coaching other lawyers and educating communities about their rights. She discusses her proactive approach to combating systemic issues like mass incarceration, emphasizing the importance of legal and civic literacy starting from a young age.
I loved talking to Courtney, especially when the conversation went in surprising directions. We talked about how she trains people to speak in the courtroom, address the judge and jury, all while educating her clients on the overall strategy for their cases. When she spoke about how to talk in the courtroom, I said, “oh, you’re teaching them code-switching.” She said that she rejects the term code switching in favor of talking to people in a way they understand. It’s fascinating how while I view code-switching as a universal phenomenon, down to the fact that my kid uses the f-bomb at home b/c I don’t care, but he doesn’t use it at school b/c they do care, she sees it as a condescending term for people who speak in a legitimate American dialect. We talked about the radical creativity it’ll take to build a system that works for everyone, and she would start with legal and life literacy in the elementary school classroom.
This is one of my best conversations, and I think you’ll enjoy it too. You can listen, read the transcript or see the video on You Tube.
