Rochelle Ballantyne is best-known in the chess world as one of the star scholastic chess players featured in the excellent 2012 documentary, Brooklyn Castle, which chronicles the lives of the students and teachers  at the scholastic chess powerhouse school, IS 318 in Brooklyn, New York. In the years since that movie, Rochelle has continued to pile up impressive achievements. She earned a BA from Stanford University, a Masters of Education degree from Columbia University, and has been accepted into the New York University Law School for the fall. Rochelle also had many scholastic chess successes, she attained a peak US Chess rating of 2127, and she actively promotes chess as an educational tool. Last, but most importantly, Rochelle has long been a staunch advocate for criminal justice reform and the Black Lives Matter movement.   She shares her perspective on this movement, both as it pertains to the chess world, and to the world at large. Please enjoy our wide-ranging conversation. Timestamps and relevant links can be found below.  We catch up on what Rochelle has been doing since she was featured in Brooklyn Castle. Mentioned: Elizabeth Spiegel on Perpetual Chess December 10, 2019 , Brooklyn Castle’s Website Lists Where You Can Watch The Movie, here: https://brooklyncastle.com/#watch1l’ Read Melinda Mathews’ 2018 Interview with Rochelle here: https://new.uschess.org/news/qa-rochelle-ballantyne-representation-important Mentioned: IM Greg Shahade, US Chess School Mentioned: FM Justus Williams, NM James Black, FM Joshua Colas, Stanford University,  Mentioned: Alexandra Botez shares a personal experience about sexual harassment in the chess world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6W8EgX9Uc0    https://www.chessable.com/the-checkmate-patterns-manual/course/17841/ Mentioned: Read the US CHess statement on Black Lives Matter here: https://www.chessable.com/the-checkmate-patterns-manual/course/17841/Chess GIrls DC, Chess.com’s Peter Doggers interview series, On Racism, can be read here: https://www.chess.com/article/view/on-racism-nm-daniel-joneshttps://www.chess.com/article/view/on-racism-gm-pontus-carlssonhttps://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-racism-watu-kobeseBill Goichberg  Mentioned: IS 318 Vice Principal John Galvin, GM Maurice Ashley, Queen City Classic Chess Tournament   Mentioned: IM Greg Shahade’s Twitter and Facebook,   Mentioned: Jen Shahade, Alexandra Botez  https://linktr.ee/cdr3?fbclid=IwAR1URl1PP7wBQNIF2Tt1DvYdSz_XodqZBXqJR0Vle0TGLTzdCO8jY-0n-WQSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices