After Trump’s new executive orders dismantle federal DEI programs, corporations like Target follow suit, shuttering racial equity initiatives and cutting ties with Black-owned businesses. Communities respond with boycotts—but do they still work in an economy dominated by giants like Amazon and Google?

Host Emily Williams speaks with:

• Nikki Porcher, founder of Buy From a Black Woman, about redirecting dollars to strengthen community resilience.
• Earl Ofari Hutchinson, activist, political analyst, and author of The Myth of Black Capitalism, about the power and limits of boycotts, capitalism as a tool for liberation, and lessons from the Civil Rights Movement.

This episode digs into how organized economic resistance can still shake corporate power, the dangers of rolling back diversity initiatives, and why building intergenerational, cross-community solidarity is key to survival.

We’d love to hear from you! Rate & review the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to help others find us.
And, join the conversation on IG @arcuscenter.

Follow our Guests: 

Earl Ofari Hutchinson
http://www.thehutchinsonreport.net/
https://www.instagram.com/earlhutchinson

Nikki Porcher
https://www.buyfromablackwoman.org/

https://www.nikkiporcher.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nikkiporcher/

Democracy in the U.S. is under siege. From ICE raids and mass deportations, to Elon Musk’s

“Department of Government Efficiency” dismantling federal protections, to attacks on education and the press—our institutions are unraveling at unprecedented speed.

In this episode, host Emily Williams sits down with award-winning journalist Karen Attiah (former Global Opinions Editor at The Washington Post) to unpack how we got here and what it will take to resist. Karen shares lessons from her “Resistance Summer School,” explores the dangers of authoritarianism cloaked in efficiency, and argues that radical empathy and education are essential tools for survival—and for building the democracy we deserve.

This is a sobering, urgent conversation about power, accountability, and what it will take to save ourselves.

Share this episode with a friend—because democracy is more than just voting.

We’d love to hear from you! Rate & review the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to help others find us. And, join the conversation on IG @arcuscenter.

Follow Karen Attiah: 
https://karenattiah.substack.com/
https://www.karenattiah.com/

https://bsky.app/profile/karenattiah.bsky.social

In Season 2, we’re taking a closer look at the state of American democracy as it shifts under President Trump’s second term. We dig into what’s changing, who’s paying attention, and how people are fighting back.

This season features conversations with incredible journalists, organizers, and community leaders, including:

• Karen Attiah (Washington Post) on how a more organized administration is testing the rules of democracy.
• Jenni Monet (Indigenous affairs and climate reporter) on the Arctic as both a political and environmental warning for the rest of the world.
• Maurice Mitchell (Working Families Party) on how communities are building power through listening, organizing, and collective action.
• A look at the efficacy of boycotts in 2025—what’s working, what isn’t, and how collective resistance is evolving.
• Experts unpacking how AI and technology are reshaping privacy, energy, and governance in real time.

Throughout the season, you’ll also hear visions for a future rooted in care, radical imagination, and everyday people taking action to protect democracy- grounded in working-class solidarity and Indigenous leadership.

Because despite the present, it’s not too late to write our future.

Beyond Voting Season 2 launches October 2025. Subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts.

Follow us on IG @arcuscenter for more. 

Do not despair, we have the power to organize, build supportive communities, and challenge harmful policies.

In our special post election edition episode on Beyond Voting. We’re joined by two special guests, Madiba Dennie and Dr. Melina Abdullah. We did a legal lightning round with Madiba Dennie, Deputy Editor of BallsandStrikes.org, to explore how we got here and understand the legal challenges and issues that had such a profound effect on our elections across the country. We also spoke with 2024 VP Candidate, Dr. Melina Abdullah about her experience on the campaign trail with the Justice for All Party, we get her take on the outcome of the election, and learn what activists can do to further resist the deterioration of our rights.  

So tell us, how will you embrace these next four years? Will you organize and be a part of the electoral strategy? Tell us on IG @arcus.center or drop it in your 5 star review of the show.  And please visit us at …. https://arcuscenter.kzoo.edu

Follow our guests:
Madiba Dennie, Deputy Editor of Balls and Strikes: https://ballsandstrikes.org/
Twitter: x.com/ballsstrikes
Madiba Dennie’s  book, The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take it Back

Dr. Melina Abdullah, 2024 VP Candidate - Justice For All Party

https://www.cornelwest2024.com/vp_melina_abdullah

IG: https://www.instagram.com/docmellymel/

Dr. Abdullah’s Book Recommendations: 

The Miner's Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy
By Lani Guinier

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-miner-s-canary-enlisting-race-resisting-power-transforming-democracy-lani-guinier/10855954

Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness in Representative Democracy

By Lani Guinier

https://bookshop.org/p/books/tyranny-of-the-majority-funamental-fairness-in-representative-democracy-lani-guinier/7851708?ean=9780029131695

Host/Writer: Emily Williams 
Executive Producer: Keisha “TK” Dutes 
Lead Producer/Writer: Kristen Bennett 
Sound Designer & Engineer: Manny Faces
Marketing: Faybeo’n Mickens
Special thanks to The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership team: Quinton, Winter, Crimson, Tamara, and Kerria, 
Additional music provided by Motion Array.

Beyond Voting is a production of Philo’s Future Media. 

Have you lost your voice?

On the sixth episode of Beyond Voting, we dive deep with Charlene Carruthers, community organizer, writer, filmmaker, and Black Studies PhD candidate. Charlene is the founding national director of BYP 100, a Chicago -based social justice organization led by Black youth activists. Her work spans more than 20 years of community organizing across racial, gender,and economic justice movements. She is also the author of the 2018 bestselling book, Unapologetic: a Black, queer, and feminist mandate for radical movements. It provides a vision and a framework for young activists to build power, create a more radical and intersectional movement, and grow into the next generation of leaders and visionaries.

We spoke with Charlene today to help us understand what challenges activists face as part of today’s liberation struggles, how we find and build community, how we care for ourselves and others doing the work, and most importantly, how liberation is a global movement that is  interconnected with the struggles of oppressed peoples around the world.

So tell us, how will you use your voice to fight for change?  What action will you take to be a part of the change you want to see? Tell us on IG @arcus.center or drop it in your 5 star review of the show.  And please visit us at arcuscenter.kzoo.edu

Follow Charlene Carruthers :

Twitter: @CharleneCAC

IG:@CharleneCarruthers 

Website: charlenecarruthers.com 

Check out Charlene Carruther’s  book, Unapologetic: a Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements 

Host/Writer: Emily Williams 
Executive Producer: Keisha “TK” Dutes 
Lead Producer/Writer: Kristen Bennett 
Sound Designer & Engineer: Manny Faces
Marketing: Faybeo’n Mickens
Special thanks to The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership team: Quinton, Winter, Crimson, Tamara, and Kerria, 
Additional music provided by Motion Array.

Beyond Voting is a production of Philo’s Future Media. 

Is the Supreme Court for us or against us?

On the fifth episode of Beyond Voting, we dive deep with Dr. Nicole Nguyen, associate professor of criminology, law, & justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She’s also a feminist geographer whose research contributes to, and draws on, grassroots struggles challenging racialized policing, war and empire, particularly in collaboration with community organizations.

We spoke with Nicole about how the Supreme Court is meant to function versus how it actually does, why it’s facing a legitimacy crisis, how some of their recent rulings are already eroding our established rights, and how we as activists can hold the highest court in the land accountable. 

So tell us, have you considered running for office in a local election? How can you advocate locally for the policies you’d like to see? Tell us on IG @arcus.center or drop it in your 5 star review of the show.  And please visit us at …. https://arcuscenter.kzoo.edu 

Follow Dr Nicole Nyugen :

Twitter: @GeogNicole

Faculty webpage:  uic.edu. 

Check out Dr. Nicole  book, Terrorism on Trial: Political Violence and Abolitionist Futures

Host/Writer: Emily Williams 
Executive Producer: Keisha “TK” Dutes 
Lead Producer/Writer: Kristen Bennett 
Sound Designer & Engineer: Manny Faces
Marketing: Faybeo'n Mickens
Special thanks to The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership team: Quinton, Crimson, Tamara, Kerria, and Winter. 
Additional music provided by Motion Array.

Beyond Voting is a production of Philo’s Future Media. 

Fascism: Modern threat or facade?

On the fourth episode of Beyond Voting, we dive deep with Alberto Toscano, critical theorist, professor in the School of Communications at Simon Fraser University, and also co-director of the Centre for Philosophy and Critical Theory at Goldsmiths, University of London. 

We spoke with Alberto about what modern fascist movements look like, where we see real examples of anti-fascist resistance, and what we can learn - particularly from Black radical traditions- about how to fight back against the spread of new fascisms in the United States and beyond.

So tell us, have you fully confronted or accepted fascism as a reality? How do you plan to turn your ideas and principles into action? Tell us on IG @arcus.center or drop it in your 5 star review of the show.  And please visit us at arcuscenter.kzoo.edu

Check out Alberto Toscano’s latest book, Late Fascism: Race, Capitalism, and the Politics of Crisis

Check out these authors and topics Alberto mentioned in the conversation:
- The Politics of The Multi-Racial Right - Daniel Martinez Hosang & Joseph Lowndes
- When W.E.B DuBois Made a Laughing Stock of a White Supremacist - The New Yorker
- Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right - Lisa McGirr
- Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition - Cedric Robinson
- W.E.B. Du Bois: Black Reconstruction: An Essay Toward a History of the Part Which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct      Democracy,1860-1880
- Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises, Vol. 1 - Angela Davis
- Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson

Host/Writer: Emily Williams 
Executive Producer: Keisha “TK” Dutes 
Lead Producer/Writer: Kristen Bennett 
Sound Designer & Engineer: Manny Faces
Marketing: Faybeo'n Mickens
Special thanks to The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership team: Quinton, Winter, Crimson, Tamara, Kerria
Additional music provided by Motion Array.

Beyond Voting is a production of Philo’s Future Media. 

Have you ever considered a third party as an option?

On the third episode of Beyond Voting, we dive deeper with Rosa Clemente, a black Puerto Rican scholar, activist, journalist, organizer, and former vice presidential candidate alongside Cynthia McKinney on the Green Party ballot in 2008.

We spoke with Rosa after she had just interviewed third party presidential candidate with the Justice For All Party, Dr. Cornel West. So third-party campaigns were front and center in her mind.We spoke with her about her introduction to the Green party, how third party campaigns help influence policy, money and political viability, and her perspective on those who are weighing a historic vote for Kamala Harris against concerns about her policies.

So tell us, how are you going to take Rosa’s advice and engage in your local community to make a real impact. Are you going to organize in your community? Are you going to join a local activist group, to drive change from the ground up?  Tell us on IG @arcus.center or drop it in your 5 star review of the show.  And please visit us at …. arcuscenter.kzoo.edu

Follow Rosa Clemente :
https://rosaclemente.net/
https://www.instagram.com/blackpuertoricanphd/?hl=en

Host/Writer: Emily Williams
Executive Producer: Keisha “TK” Dutes
Lead Producer/Writer: Kristen Bennett
Sound Designer & Engineer: Manny Faces
Marketing: Faybeo'n Mickens
Special thanks to The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership team: Quinton, Winter, Crimson, Tamara, and Kerria.
Additional music provided by Motion Array.
Beyond Voting is a production of Philo’s Future Media. 

Do you stay in the process or do you check out?

On the second episode of Beyond Voting, we dive deep with Esam Boraey, Egyptian-American political activist and academic, into what it looks like working within the confines of electoral politics, what it can do for us, and what its limitations are – through the lens of the Uncommitted Movement.

We spoke with Esam only a few days after the Democratic National Convention wrapped up its week-long festivities in Chicago. He shared his thoughts on his experience with the Uncommitted movement, tells us about their treatment by other DNC attendees during and after the protest, the impact Pro-Palestinian voices could have on the rest of the Harris-Walz campaign, and why he says he’s not ready to give up hope – and neither should you.

Tell us, how are the candidates' positions on Gaza influencing your vote? What are your thoughts on working within our current political binary to affect meaningful change? Leave us a comment on IG @arcuscenter or drop it in your 5 star review of the show. Please visit us at https://arcuscenter.kzoo.edu

Follow Esam  Boreay:
[email protected]
https://www.instagram.com/esamboraey/
https://www.facebook.com/esamboraey/

Host/Writer: Emily Williams
Executive Producer: Keisha “TK” Dutes
Lead Producer/Writer: Kristen Bennett
Sound Designer & Engineer: Manny Faces
Marketing: Faybeo'n Mickens
Special thanks to The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership team: Quinton, Winter, Crimson, Tamara, and Kerria.
Additional music provided by Motion Array.
Beyond Voting is a production of Philo’s Future Media. 

Are you voting between a rock and a hard place?

On this first episode of Beyond Voting, we get real about voting our values with Dr. Michelle Taylor, also known as Feminista Jones-  the award-winning author of Reclaiming Our Space: How Black Feminists Are Changing the World from the Tweets to the Streets.

We spoke with her after the 2024 Democratic National Convention and took a critical look at where we find ourselves with Vice President Harris, our new Democratic nominee. She shared her thoughts on voting as harm reduction, the importance of developing a political consciousness, and the realities of holding elected officials accountable.

Let us know how you feel about voting in this year’s presidential election? What are your top concerns and how do you plan to make your voice heard? Tell us on IG @arcuscenter or drop it in your 5 star review of the show. And please visit us at arcuscenter.kzoo.edu

Check out some of the books recommended by Feminista Jones:
Reclaiming Our Space - Feminista Jones
A Pocket Guide to the U.S. Constitution (We picked this one to get you started.*)
Revolutionary Suicide - Dr. Huey P. Newton
Liberating Abortion - Renee Bracey Sherman & Regina Mahone
Torn Apart - Dorothy Roberts
Except For Palestine - Marc Lamont Hill & Mitchell Plitnick
Books by Dr. Molefi AsanteBooks by Angela Davis

Follow Feminista Jones:
https://www.feministajones.com/
https://www.youtube.com/feministajones
https://www.instagram.com/FeministaJones/

Credits 
Host/Writer: Emily Williams 
Executive Producer: Keisha “TK” Dutes 
Lead Producer/Writer: Kristen Bennett 
Sound Designer & Engineer: Manny Faces
Marketing: Faybeo’n Mickens
Special thanks to The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership team: Quinton, Crimson, Tamara, Kerria, Winter and Marti. 
Additional music provided by Motion Array.Beyond Voting is a production of Philo’s Future Media.