Make It Plain with Mark Thompson

Jean-Luc Pierite, Director of the North American Indian Center in Boston and member of the United American Indians of New England, shares with us in today’s episode about the National Day of Mourning, which is an annual celebration that seeks to educate people on the myths of Thanksgiving and raise awareness of the ongoing struggles that Native Americans are still facing today. In addition to the day’s details, Jean-Luc talks about fighting back against historicizing Native Americans, because it’s not just about the injustices that have already taken place--it’s about those that are still happening. And are you unsure if you should say Indian, American Indian, Native American, or Indigenous? Well Jean-Luc helps us understand what the most proper and respectful form of reference can be. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com

Protecting yourself and your loved ones from COVID-19 this holiday season goes way beyond good handwashing skills and masking up. Dr. C Debra Furr-Holden, Epidemiologist and Associate Dean for Public Health at Michigan State University and Dr. Shanina Knighton, R.N., Infection Preventionist, Clinical Research Scholar at Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, are here to provide the MOST helpful travel tips that you’ve likely never considered, complete with some mind-blowing airport facts (spoiler alert: their research groups have swabbed those bins you put your luggage in, and it ain’t pretty!). This episode has everything you need to know before you head home for the holidays. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Closing arguments are happening today in Ahmaud Arbery’s murder trial, as the prosecution seeks justice through the conviction of father-and-son duo Travis and Gregory McMichael, as well as their neighbor William Bryan Jr.. Attorney Barbara Arnwine, who is also the Founder and President of the Transformative Justice Coalition, has been working with Ahmaud’s family and their community since the beginning, and she reports to us about a trial that has been rife with misconduct and failures of the criminal justice system. Just yesterday, the defense made multiple requests to have the Transformative Justice Coalition removed from the courtroom--this is after he asked for Black pastors to be excluded last week. And that’s just a piece of the misconduct pie, and Barbara breaks it down for us and lets us know what we can expect today. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPri

In 2002, Julius Jones was wrongfully convicted of murdering Paul Howell. Last week, on the day of his scheduled execution for a crime he did not commit, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt commuted the death sentence just four hours before he was set to die. It is a victory that Julius’s life has been saved, but now the work continues to free him from prison. Pastor Mike McBride, Founder of Live Free USA and the Black Church PAC, played a large part in fighting for Julius’s life alongside other faith leaders, and he walks us back through the racism that led to Julius's incarceration, the racism of the death penalty itself, and the juxtaposition of faith leaders assisting in Julius's commutation while simultaneously being scrutinized in the trial of the men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/

Led by the League of Women Voters and People for the American Way, Mark joined forces with protestors in Washington D.C. to demand President Biden FIX OR NIX THE FILIBUSTER. You’ll hear one-on-one conversations with: April Albright, Legal Director and Chief of Staff at Black Voters Matter Fund; Judith Brown Dianis, Executive Director of the Advancement Project; Rev. Tim McDonald, Chair of the Board for People for the American Way; Senator Lena Taylor of Wisconsin; Cliff Albright, Co-Founder of Black Voters Matter, and Wes Bellamy, Co-Chair of Our Black Party; and a closing word from Rev. Dr. WIlliam Barber II. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On Tuesday, Mark spent the day attended the 8th gathering of Black women and allies, brought together by the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation's Black Women's Roundtable and the National Council of Negro Women. We'll hear from two movement leaders and speakers to kick things off: Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and convener of Black Women's Roundtable; and Clayola Brown, Civil, Human and Women's Rights Director for the AFL-CIO. They're followed by one-on-one conversations with Congresswoman Shontel Brown of Ohio, who was elected to replace HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge; Jotaka Eaddy, Host of "Speak Sis" on the Oprah Winfrey Network and founder of #WinWithBlackWomen; Marc Morial, President of the National Urban League; Derrick Johnson, President of the NAACP. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries:

Why is the infrastructure bill significant? Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves says it’s a historic long-term investment for the next five years, giving life to projects like fixing bridges and roads and even expanding broadband access. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Yesterday, as President Biden signed the infrastructure bill, protestors and organizers gathered on Capitol Hill to point to the crucial legislation that also needs passage: the Build Back Better Act. Mark teamed up with Poor People’s Campaign Co-Chairs Rev. Dr. William Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis to call for immediate action on the Build Back Better legislation. You’ll hear from protestors/organizers from Maine and Montana, Stewart Acuff, formerly of the UWUA and AFL CIO, and the keynote address from Rev. Dr. William Barber II. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The fact is, we won’t be seeing the last of COVID-19 anytime soon. That’s one of the several truths dropped in today’s episode with Dr. Sandro Galea, epidemiologist and Dean of Boston University’s Robert A. Knox School of Public Health, and author of his new book “The Contagion Next Time.” Not only can we expect to see more of the coronavirus, but we could see stronger, more deadly strains. But this episode is not intended to make you fear what’s ahead! Dr. Galea wants us to prepare accordingly, and consider a number of external factors, so as to not forget all that we endured with coronavirus and be in poor conditions to battle the virus again. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

If you believe in and support reparations: the time is now. Your help is needed in contacting House leadership to let them know. Dreisen Heath is a Researcher with Human Rights Watch and Kennis Henry is Chairperson of NCOBRA Legislative Committee, and in today’s episode, they give us the exact steps you need to take to get involved, including a super easy website that allows you to send an email directly to House leadership (link below). They also give us the background info: who is supporting the bill, how many votes are currently in favor, and what still needs to be done. #HR40totheFloor MORE INFO: ncobraonline.org hrw.org/reparationsnow SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLKIT: thesocialpresskit.com/reparationsnow Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Markos Moulitsas, Founder of DailyKos and Civiqs, is here for his weekly installment of #ThursdayKos to do a postmortem on the election in Virginia. Markos lays out the questions the election posed: will trump voters turn out if he’s not on the ballot? Will suburban college-educated white women go back to the republican party? Will the Democratic base turn out? And according to Markos, we got our answers--answers that could prove to be an indicator of how things will go in 2022 and 2024. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Dr. Ray Winbush is the Director of the Urban Research Institute at Morgan State University and author of the book “Should America Pay?: Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations.” He has been working within the reparations movement for decades and in today’s episode, he and Mark discuss the latest in getting H.R. 40 passed, as we are now the closest we’ve ever been in advancing reparations legislation. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's that time again! Chad Stone, Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, is back for his monthly installment of breaking down the latest jobs report, giving us way more detail than the top-level numbers, helping us understand the depth of where our economy stands. Chad maps out the recovery we’ve made so far since the COVID-induced recession, and he also gives us a refresher on why the unemployment rate is deceptive on its own, without considering several other factors. He also gives us some predictions for what’s coming as we near the holiday season where we’re used to higher employment and spending. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sheryll Cashin is a Professor of Law at Georgetown University and has committed to writing extensively about inequality and race relations in America, which is currently culminating in her latest book, “White Space: Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding in America.” She talks with Mark today about the caste system that was created to contain Black and Brown people--though they are not the only ones ensnared. As the government continues to over-invest in affluent white spaces while dis-investing in/containing/preying on people in high poverty Black and Brown neighborhoods, they spin stories about people in “the hood” to justify the way things are. Professor Cashin is able to show how specific actions by the government uphold decades-old policies like redlining, and keep poverty concentrated in the areas of their choosing. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy &

Mark teams up with Danielle Moodie, fellow DCP Entertainment broadcaster and Host of WokeAF, to bring you our first episode of our crossover series “Make It Effing Woke.” On the first Friday of every month, Mark and Danielle will bust open the day’s biggest stories, combining their powerhouse truth-telling to “make it effing woke.” And in our first episode, the question is: why the heck did we try to run Terry McAuliffe in Virginia again? Yes, the question is coming too late, but it’s important to take a look at exactly what happened so Dems don’t make this mistake again. And aside from a weak candidate, we’ve got a bone to pick with white women, who are seemingly more concerned in aligning with powerful white men than voting for candidates who will actually work to protect their human rights. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redci

Access to healthcare can be the determining factor in life or death, which is why it is critical to get coverage. Open enrollment has begun at Healthcare.gov and Chiquita Brooks LaSure, Administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, downloads us on the details of how to get signed up and why you can expect more low-cost options than ever before. SIGN UP FOR HEALTH INSURANCE HERE: https://www.healthcare.gov/ Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Students at Howard University are protesting the living conditions in some campus dormitories, saying the mold, mice, flooding, and other subpar conditions are making students sick. So around 150 students have occupied Blackburn University Center on October 12th and have not left, demanding the school’s administration address their concerns. Mark joined up with Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Dr. WIlliam Barber to travel to the campus and speak with the students who have been organizing this protest effort. You’ll hear from some of those students today, as well as their counsel, Attorney Donald Temple. Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Barber also draws important connections to history to show how the protests the students are staging today are critical actions. *This episode was recorded on Sunday, Oct 31. Any references made to events/conversations happening “today” or “tonight” have now passed. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeit

Gaby Goldstein is Co-Founder of Sister District, an organization with the goal of putting progressive power in state legislatures. Gaby joins today to discuss the governor’s race happening TODAY in Virginia--so if you live in the state, it’s your time to get out and vote! And if you know someone, it’s your job to give them a call to make sure they’re hitting the polls. Gaby acquaints us with the candidates and let’s us know that’s it will be a photo finish, emphasizing the importance of progressive VA voters getting out in support of Terry McAuliffe. Gaby also fills us in on the origins of Sister District and another organization they partner with on multiple initiatives, Run For Something. She shows us how the state legislative level of government is critical in fighting gerrymandering and it’s also where big, impactful change can happen. She also tells us about the Future Winners Program, which works with candidates who ran and lost by small margins, in order to revamp their campaigns to take another shot a

What is the connection between the Virginia governor’s race, Toni Morrison, and Mark Twain? Those are the ties made in today’s conversation with James Henry Harris, Distinguished Professor of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology and a research scholar in religion and humanities at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. He’s also author of the book “N: My Encounter with Racism and the Forbidden Word in An American Classic,” a memoir recounting a semester spent in a graduate course studying Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn,” where the n-word is used more than 200 times, which granted a sort of permission to the white professor and students (Harris was the only Black student) to freely use the unabbreviated version of the word themselves. This experience acts as the foundation for today’s conversation, which examines the intersection of Toni Morrison’s own studies (and support) of Mark Twain and his work, and how the effort to ban her work is being used by the Republican gubernatori

Dan and Casey Dalton are siblings and co-founders of Evidence and Ocean Grown Extracts, companies committed to raising awareness and funds to free people who are jailed for cannabis-related offenses. Dan joins the show today to discuss the mission and function of Evidence, which is housed in a renovated jail in Coalinga, California. They transformed the 77,000 square foot prison into a full-fledged manufacturing facility that now provides more than 100 jobs to the local community and brought the city out of debt. On top of that, they distribute their product in literal evidence bags (hence the name) in order to bring awareness and elevate the conversation around the subject of freeing prisoners who are doing jail time for activities that are now legal in many states across the country. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com