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Connections

With DEI under siege, a look at representation in the local family court system

Four people wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man at left in foreground has dark hair and is wearing glasses, a blue blazer, a blue button-down shirt, a blue and white striped tie, beige pants, pink socks and brown shoes; a woman at left in background has long dark hair and is wearing glasses and a black and white patterned jacket; a man at right in background is bald and is wearing glasses, a white t-shirt and a grey hooded zip-up sweatshirt; a man at right in foreground has short dark hair and is wearing a light blue quilted sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers.
George Yeadon
/
WXXI News
(foreground) André Washington, (background) Fatimat O. Reid and Van H. White on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Wednesday, February 12, 2025
A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
WXXI News

We sit down with Monroe County Family Court Judge Fatimat Reid, the first African American judge in decades to serve on this bench.

With the national conversation about DEI boiling over, we discuss representation in the court system — from the bench to juries to other aspects of the legal system.

In studio:

To learn more about the film screening at the Little, click here.

To learn more about the Black Labor Experience event, click here.

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson" and is also the office administrator for radio, news and technology and operations. She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.