We are delighted to welcome two brilliant lawyers, Marbré Stahly-Butts and Ameca Reali, to the Activist Lawyer podcast. Talking to our host Sarah Henry, the discussion centres on movement lawyering - what it is, what it takes, and how lawyers can be forces for liberation. Marbré and Ameca have recently launched an excellent new book, Lawyering for Liberation: A Toolbox for Movement Lawyers - an insightful, practical guide for lawyers and social justice workers who want to make real and meaningful change.

Marbré Stahly-Butts

Marbré Stahly-Butts is a distinguished lawyer, scholar, and leading voice in movement lawyering. She currently serves as an Associate Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law, where her teaching and research focus on abolition, racial justice, and law as a tool for transformative social change. Prior to academia, Marbré co-founded and served as Executive Director of Law for Black Lives, a national network of lawyers, legal workers, and advocates committed to advancing Black liberation through collective legal strategies. Her leadership in this movement lawyering community helped shape frameworks that centre abolitionist politics, Black feminist thought, and anti-capitalist critique in legal practice. Marbré’s professional journey includes work with grassroots organisations, policy development, and national campaigns to advance racial and economic justice, reflecting her commitment to building responsive legal infrastructure for social movements. She holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and has been a central figure in both scholarship and practice that bridges law, activism, and systemic change.

Ameca Reali

Ameca Reali is an accomplished civil rights attorney and nonprofit leader dedicated to housing justice, racial equity, and the empowerment of communities historically denied fair treatment under the law. She is the Executive Director of the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Centre, where she leads efforts to enforce fair housing laws and dismantle discrimination across the state of Louisiana. Before this role, Ameca was Membership Director at Law for Black Lives, where she built and strengthened a network of thousands of lawyers and legal workers committed to supporting Black liberation and movement lawyering. Her career spans over a decade of advocacy, including co-founding and directing community-based legal initiatives, and developing programs that address housing insecurity, economic justice, and systemic inequality. A graduate of Loyola University College of Law, Ameca brings both lived experience and deep professional expertise to her work advancing social justice and transformative legal practice.

About Lawyering for Liberation

Lawyering for Liberation: A Toolbox for Movement Lawyers is a timely and powerful manifesto offering concrete tools for legal professionals and activists engaged in struggle for justice. Edited by Marbré Stahly-Butts and Ameca Reali, the book draws on years of frontline movement work and collective insight from lawyers, organizers, and legal workers. Grounded in abolitionist politics, Black queer feminism, and anticapitalist analysis, this guide reframes lawyering not as an isolated profession but as a strategic part of broader social movements seeking liberation and systemic transformation. Topics include jail and bail support, protester defense, reparations, housing justice, and more — all oriented toward building long-term power and community-rooted change.

For more on Marbré and Ameca's work check out:

- https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Lawyering-for-Liberation-by-Ameca-Reali-editor-Marbre-Stahly-Butts-editor/9780520392359?srsltid=AfmBOop_GVO9v4PiRYNvAVAuoExGdCdAtksZYBJYr1rn7j4_nEUTOfBq

- https://www.instagram.com/amecareali?igsh=MThocHU1YWt3YWp4Ng==

-https://www.instagram.com/marbrecaryn?igsh=MWo4YTFzcWg2Z2Zieg==