Equal Time with Mary C. Curtis

Black history is often celebrated as though it were not American history. So many presidents have held up proclamations on behalf of Black history month while their policies betray Black Americans. Mary C. Curtis talks with Boston Globe opinion writer Renee Graham about the need to expose hypocrisy and view Black history in a way that honors Black Americans as equals. 

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Emails made public by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School recently showed that officials under President Donald Trump tried whatever they could to rig the system for redistricting purposes. It and other government documents detailed clashes between the administration and the bureau’s experts in areas that had the potential of affecting the count and who gets elected. Mary C. Curtis sits down with Kelly Percival, with the Brennan Center’s Democracy to discuss what this all means.

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On the one-year anniversary of President Joe Biden's inauguration, the administration woke up to it's fifth defeat in six months in passing legislation to ensure voting rights for all. Biden had promised to put voting rights at the top of his agenda, but the path appears more fraught than ever. Mary C. Curtis speaks with White House senior advisor Cedric Richmond on what comes next.

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There is a double standard when it comes to the treatment of children of color. They are punished in schools more frequently. They are arrested more frequently. Why is this happening and why are so many Black and Brown children robbed of their childhoods? Kristin Henning, author of  “The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth,” uses her experiences, data and research to paint an alarming picture. Henning sits down with Mary C. Curtis to discuss the problem and potential policy solutions.

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In this wide-ranging, year-end conversation, Mary C. Curtis speaks with New York Times columnist Charles Blow about what he considers the dramatic rollback of the nation's civil rights, inequity and whether President Joe Biden has been proactive enough to help stem inequity. 

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Equity is top of mind this week. First, the omicron variant is now the topic of global conversation. How the story unfolded in the U.S. illuminates how disparity and racism are intrinsic to keeping the virus evolving. Harvard University public health expert Dr. Ingrid Katz speaks with Mary C. Curtis about how global vaccine equity is the only way through this pandemic and the only path to preparing for the next. Then we feature a conversation with Housing Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge about housing, infrastructure and reconciliation.

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Civil rights leader and National Urban League president and CEO Marc Morial says he is "damn worried" about the state of American democracy. Mary C. Curtis sits down with Morial to talk about voting rights, Infrastructure, the filibuster and so much more.

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Many in the nation were shocked when horrifying photographs appeared of immigration officers on horseback rounding up Haitian asylum seekers at the border last month. To unpack this difficult subject, Mary C. Curtis turned to Patrice Lawrence of UndocuBlack to talk about whether policies differ for white, brown and Black migrants and the overall human toll.

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As Congress deliberates this week on what should be included in the reconciliation bill, child care and specifically universal pre-K is being debated. Educators, parents and doctors have long advocated for pre-K. Another group has added its voice to the chorus: law enforcement. Mary C. Curtis sits down with Sheriff Vernon Stanforth, the president of the National Sheriffs’ Association, to discuss how early education helps develop life skills.

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It has been more than a year since the killing of George Floyd sparked cries for police reform and even defunding. But it has all but stalled on the national level with congressional talks falling apart last month. The timing coincides with the FBI reporting a historic rise in murder rates. Mary C. Curtis speaks with author and professor David Kennedy, director of the National Network for Safe Communities, to understand why and what the next steps should be. Also, 'Equal Time' checks in on COVID-19 vaccine equity with Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, who leads President Biden's health equity task force.

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