i am melanie russo newman.

i am melanie russo newman. i am the chief public engagement for the naacp legal defense fund. the organization that i am proud to say i work for and that is responsible for brown and fisher. and so i want to give a little bit of -- hello? i want to give -- sorry. i want to give a little bit of background about myself. i am -- i've been with the legal defense fund since march of this year. but worked in the obama administration and on the hill for quite some time. but this issue and the reason i am happy to be here with all of you today is personal to me. i am originally from new orleans but also went to school in selma, alabama. which i'm sure all of you are familiar with. my father, dr. norwood russo was the first black school sup superintendent in selma, alabama [ applause ] >> thank you. in 1987. when he arrived, selma was a very integrated school system. the selma city schools were incredibly integrated. they had, though, what is called in-school segregation. they had a tracking system where the majority of african-american students were in level three or remedial courses