Equal Time with Mary C. Curtis

In a fiery and no-holds-barred conversation, Mary C. Curtis speaks with former RNC chair Michael Steele on the future of the GOP, why he cannot defend the current Republican party to Black voters and why he believes the country can and should do better.

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Cecilia Rouse is the first Black woman to chair the Council of Economic Advisers, a White House think tank, of sorts, on economic policy. Yes, she has an impressive background — dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and a member of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers. 

But her mandate seems near impossible. She's been charged by President Biden to steer the nation out of the economic wreckage from the pandemic with equitable policies for all races — all at a time when the Black community has been hit harder than most. Mary C. Curtis speaks one-on-one with Cecilia Rouse.

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What do paying taxes and racial equity have to do with one another? As it turns out, quite a lot since American tax policy is written in a way that keeps Black Americans impoverished, according to Professor Dorothy Brown, author of  “The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans — And How We Can Fix It." Brown, who has been trying to make this point for decades is finally being heard. This week, we delve into the world of taxes and racism and listen to the compelling research, data and narrative that Dorothy Brown has put together.

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Jaime Harrison gained national attention last year when he broke fundraising records running against South Carolina incumbent Senator Lindsey Graham. While Harrison didn't win the election, his candidacy gave notice that the Old South is now the New South. Mary C. Curtis sits down with the DNC Chair and talks race, his grandfather's life lesson and what 2022 -- yes 2022 -- may hold.

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It’s been 30 years since the world saw Rodney King on video being beaten by Los Angeles police officers. Since then, the list of Black people killed at the hands of police has grown -- Eric Garner, Daunte Wright and Ma’Khia Bryant, the 16-year old Black girl shot hours before Chauvin was pronounced guilty of murdering George Floyd. Mary C. Curtis speaks to activist and podcast host DeRay McKesson on how to challenge the power of the police and how policies can be changed for the better.

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After a heated and contentious presidential election in 2020, voting rights are under attack. Georgia just passed a law that makes it harder for those who may be disenfranchised to cast their ballots. Other states are following suit. Mary C. Curtis speaks to Rashad Robinson, president of the social justice organization Color of Change, on what is at stake and what is being done to curtail the rollback of eligible voters to make their voices heard. 

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The Equal Rights Amendment known as ERA — yes that ERA — is back.

The House passed a bill last week that would extend the deadline to ratify the amendment to the Constitution prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex.

But is this five-decade-old amendment up to this moment? A moment that includes #MeToo, rising hate crimes against women of color and a pandemic that has battered women more than men? We turn to professor Julie Suk, who published “We the Women: The Unstoppable Mothers of the Equal Rights Amendment,” to discuss.

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It's been one year since the global pandemic hit. Most Americans had no idea what was in store. The numbers of those impacted by COVID-19 are staggering. More than half a million American lives have been lost to the virus. And for people of color, the negative impact on their lives has been disproportionate — lost jobs, homes, health and lives. Reflecting back, the pandemic has shined a light on just how deep the incisions are from structural, racial inequities. We turn to to Shawn Fremstad of Center for Economic and Policy Research to discuss the whys, the whats and how Biden administration policies are an attempt to right some of the wrongs and level the field.

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When Virgin Islands Del. Stacey Plaskett took center stage last month as a House manager in the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, America took note. A star was born.

In the latest episode of Equal Time, Mary C. Curtis talks with Plaskett about the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, her work on the House Ways and Means Committee, inequities in infrastructure and education, and even hip-hop.

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The recent extreme climate event in Texas slammed many cities and towns throughout the state, but, as is the case in most natural disasters, communities of color were most affected. This has been a trend in the country, with many of these communities still feeling the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey – as well as man-made disasters such as the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. What is the cause of the disproportionate impact, and what policies can reverse this pattern? 

Chrishelle Palay and Justin Onwenu join this episode of Equal Time. Palay runs the HOME coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for equitable recovery from natural disasters, while Onwenu is an environmental justice organizer for the Sierra Club and an appointee to the DNC’s Environment and Climate Crisis Council. With host Mary C. Curtis, each discusses the issue of environmental injustice not only in Texas, but across the country, and why long-standing inequities demand grassroots activism and change in local, state and federal policies. 

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