Melissa Harris-Perry: You're listening to The Takeaway, I'm Melissa Harris-Perry. On Tuesday, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced this year's 25 recipients of the so-called Genius Grants. This year’s cohort is an incredibly diverse group of people, 12 women and 13 men. Eleven of the fellows are Black, six are Latino, and one is Asian American. That diversity also cuts across ability, geography, and so much more. Like in previous years, the work of this year's fellows reflects a breathtaking array of scientific, scholarly, and cultural contributions.

Taylor Perron is a geomorphologist working at MIT, trying to understand the mechanisms that create landforms on earth. Jacqueline Stewart is expanding the public imagination through her groundbreaking archival work on Black film. Monica Muñoz Martinez is a public historian, escalating the history of racial violence along the Texas-Mexico border. Listen, there's a reason that MacArthur fellows are colloquially referred to as geniuses. We're joined now by one of this year's MacArthur fellows. Desmond Meade is a civil rights activist and Executive Director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and author of the new book, Let My People Vote.

Desmond, it’s so great to have you here.

Desmond Meade: Melissa, I am thrilled to be with you today, you just don't know. I got to say this, this recognition started with you many years ago when you named me a foot soldier.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Don't make me cry. We got a live radio to do. Listen, MacArthur grants are often called genius grants and I'm wondering how it feels for you to be called a genius.

Desmond Meade: This is so surreal, and I hear you talk about the diversity, but another distinction of this year's honorees were that two of us, myself and Reginald Dwayne Betts, were formerly incarcerated people. I think it's so amazing that people like me and Reggie getting the recognition and the platform to really elevate the work of people who are closest to the pain.

Melissa Harris-Perry: I'm thinking about that. This way that if you say genius just out in the world, folks often think of like a scientist. Right? Sometimes they really are, or a mathematician sitting alone in their office doing work. People who had straight As in school and followed all the right paths and had all the right outcomes. One of the things I love about this class of fellows is genius is so collaborative. Your genius is, in fact, in organizing, in moving people, in changing systems.

Desmond Meade: Wow. I'm still trying to process this, Melissa. Just to say genius next to my name, I'm still in awe. I remember back in the day, I used to tell people that when I first got my law degree, I told them I had to do a doctorate degree, a doctor in law, and a doctor of the streets. This is surreal to me. Like I said, I'm still processing this, but I am extremely grateful because this is an amazing opportunity to really elevate the work that's being done by formerly incarcerated people throughout this country.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Tell me about some of the restrictions that so many formerly incarcerated people continue to face. The things that you are barred from accessing, even after having served time.

Desmond Meade: Let me tell you, I could use myself, and I write about it a lot in my book. Even though I was able to overcome so many obstacles because back in August of 2005, I stood in front of railroad tracks waiting on the train to come so I can jump in front of it. Recently released from prison, homeless, addicted to drugs. I didn't see any light at the end of the tunnel, but the train didn't come. I was able to overcome all these obstacles to eventually graduate law school and obtain a Juris doctorate degree. Because I had a felony conviction, even till this day, I still cannot practice law in the state of Florida, because I can't even sit for the Florida bar.

Believe it or not, after all the success that I've had, I still don't even own a home because a lot of HOAs have provisions written within their bye-laws that would restrict me from even owning or renting a house in the state of Florida. There are so many collateral consequences that people like me face. To me, I think the biggest one is being prevented from participating in democracy, but at least, we were able to overcome that barrier by successfully passing Amendment 4.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Now, remind folks what Amendment 4 does and the effect that it may have in incoming years.

Desmond Meade: Amendments 4, basically, was a constitutional amendment in Florida that restored voting rights to people with felony convictions after they had completed their sentence. Our efforts had an immediate impact on 1.4 million people in Florida. Florida, being such a critical state in federal elections or presidential elections, this amendment have the opportunity to significantly shift the political landscape, not only in Florida but in this country.

For many years, people say, "As Florida goes, so does the rest of the country," and with the exception of last year, that's been true. To be able to re-enfranchise a significant number of people in the state in which presidential elections are typically decided by 100,000 votes and sometimes less than that was very significant.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Earlier in the show, we were talking about R. Kelly, who is often seen as, and I think rightly, as a musical genius. We've talked a little bit about how that framework of being great can also cover over and paper over and allow people to turn away from bad actions and actions that hurt others. I'm wondering how you think about that responsibility of carrying something like activists or civil rights activists or genius, and how that reflects in on the responsibility we have that goes along with a title like that.

Desmond Meade: Well, I fully embrace whatever comes with being named a genius and that responsibility, especially as a person, like I said, where I've come from being homeless, addicted to drugs, and contemplating suicide. I took on that responsibility long before MacArthur awarded me this honor because I believe that I was chosen, that God chose me to do a work. That work was to really, number one, just so people, there's so many folks in our society who are facing obstacles and who seemingly feeling like there's no light at the end of the tunnel.

What I do with my body of work and who I am as an individual is a message to them that no matter what obstacles are in front of them, that they could overcome those obstacles and have an impact in their community.

In addition to that, and equally as important, this body of work that I'm engaged in also shows people who may not have walked a mile in my shoes that they cannot automatically foreclose on a drug addict. They can't automatically foreclose on the returning citizens or formerly incarcerated individuals.

That they could see what happens when we're giving, people like me are given second chances, knowing that we have the potential to be a great asset to our communities. This was something that I took on many years before getting this recognition. I fully embraced the responsibility that comes with being named a genius today.

Melissa Harris-Perry: As you're talking about that, that opportunity to use your talents, your gifts, your abilities your second law degree or your second PhD, the one that you earn in these much more tough circumstances, I think you and I have talked about my older brother before, he's nine years older than me. I hadn't seen him face to face or touched his hand in more than 20 years. We recently lost a family member and I did not know that he'd been released, and he showed up at the graveside.

I saw my brother for the first time in 20 years, the first time that we've all been together, all the siblings. Whenever I see my brother, I think, "God, he's so tall. He's good-looking. He's funny. He's smart," but I know that's not what so many employers see. I know that's not what so many landlords see. Now, what's the work that gets you off the track? I mean the track in front of that train, how do you see yourself?

Desmond Meade: Let me tell you. It is so amazing that you shared that story again about your brother because here's the deal. I remember, just a couple of years ago, I was one of the 100 most influential people with Time Magazine. I remember telling one of the executives there that they missed the mark because they put The Rock on the cover of Time. I told them they should have put me on the cover because I think folks need to know that you don't have to be a movie star, a celebrity, an athlete, or a billionaire, or a politician to have an impact on this world.

That if they could see that a drug addict, a person convicted of multiple felonies, and a homeless could overcome those obstacles and have an impact, not only in his community but on the world itself, that they can do it. That we all have what it takes to actually do something great while we're here on this planet. The other part of that is also showing, and speaking what you're saying, is that right today, that employer, who is hesitant to hire a person with a criminal past could look at me and say, "Man, would I be denying Desmond a job working for my establishment?"

The landlord that that is hesitant or the cities or municipalities and police departments that have these crime-free housing policies that are so inherently racist and discriminatory, would they now rethink that because they see someone who their policies would say, "You're not allowed to live here. You're not allowed to work here. You're not allowed to go to school here. You're not even allowed to vote, to have your voice heard." This moment, I think, is a moment to really elevate that platform to help start shifting some narratives because what you saw in your brother is what everybody is seeing your brother first, and that is his humanity.

Not the mistake that he made, but is humanity. When we're able to connect with each other along the lines of humanity, we treat each other more humanely. We understand that some lives are not more valuable than others. That we're all deserving of being treated with dignity and respect.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Have you thought about what you're going to do with the money?

Desmond Meade: At the end of the day, I think where my blessing comes from is when I take the blessings that God gives me and use it to help others. I've done it before in the past with our Fines and Fees Fund where we are helping people pay off fines and fees, so they don't have to choose between putting food on their table or voting. I will continue to do so because God always blesses me when I put people first.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Desmond Meade is a civil rights activist and Executive Director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. He's also author of the new book Let My People Vote, and a certified genius. Desmond, thank you for joining us.

Desmond Meade: Thank you so much, Melissa. Have a great day.

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