Despite being the Blackest state in the country, Mississippi has little Black political representation; and the state’s policies have been hostile to its predominately Black capital city of Jackson. But in the face of the state’s political neglect, Black people have never stopped fighting to make their communities stronger. During the Civil Rights Movement, Mississippi was ground zero for activism, with Jackson State at the center. Now, a new generation is drawing on that tradition to look out for their communities. 

One of those people is Jackson State Junior Maisie Brown. She’s stepped up during the city’s water crisis to fill the gaps left by the state. As part of Into America’s “Power of the Black Vote” tour ahead of the midterms, host Trymaine Lee joins Maisie as she travels around Jackson, delivering clean drinking water to residents. 

And we visit Jackson State alum Laurie Bertram Roberts, founder of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund. Laurie has spent her life fighting for reproductive rights, but her job has gotten harder after the fall of Roe. 

Trymaine also speaks with JSU history professor Robert Luckett about the social and political forces at work in the state. 

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

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For More:

• The Power of the Black Vote: Taking Back the Classroom
• The Power of the Black Vote: Knocking Out Student Loan Debt
• The Power of the Black Vote: Tackling Our Climate Crisis
• Without Water in Jackson

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At one point, Florida’s Apalachee Bay was dominating the seafood industry, but over the years it has experienced a sharp decline from climate change and environmental destruction. When a local oyster farmer took notice, he connected with his friends at the historically Black college, Florida A&M University, for help. 

FAMU has a long history of environmental stewardship, and leading environmental causes. That’s why this generation of Black students are working on FAMU’s Rattler Moji Project, a solar-powered water-sensing buoy that collects data for scientists' research and helps filter clean water for oysters to thrive in the bay once again.

This week on Into America, Trymaine Lee visits the sunshine state as part of his “Power of the Black Vote” tour. He joins the Rattler Moji research team to learn how the work they’re doing out on the water has influenced how they think about climate change, and how that could impact their vote in the midterm elections this November. 

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More:

• The Power of the Black Vote: Taking Back the Classroom
• The Power of the Black Vote: Knocking Out Student Loan Debt
• Louisiana’s Last Black Oystermen

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As a bonus for Into America listeners, Trymaine joins Chris Hayes on Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast to catch up on life, the latest news, and what’s to come in the midterm elections. Plus, Chris gets an inside look at the new Into America series “The Power of the Black Vote.” 

Listen to the full episode now. And check out more Why Is This Happening? wherever you get your podcasts. 

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As the country gears up for the midterm elections, Into America is traveling to different HBCUs across the South for a special series called, “The Power of the Black Vote.” We’re talking to young Black voters about how they’re shaping America, and about the issues that matter to them the most. This week, we travel to Durham’s North Carolina Central University to discuss how the student debt crisis is affecting Black students’ lives and their plans for the future. 

As the cost of higher education continues to balloon, Black borrowers are taking on more student loan debt than their white peers. And this is impacting families too: Black parents are more likely to take out a Parent PLUS loan to finance their child’s education. Over the summer, President Biden announced his administration’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 for federal loan holders, but the move fell far short of what many activists and organizations, including the NAACP, had been pushing for.

On this episode, we visit Kamree Anderson and Dena Fischer, who share their experience with repaying Parent Plus Loans. Then, host Trymaine Lee speaks with Jonah Vincent, founder of the youth-led organization No Cap, and current NCCU students Heavyn Smith and MarQuay Spencer-Gibbs about how student debt shapes their lives and their perspective for the upcoming midterm elections.

This episode was produced with research support from the Durham-based Center for Responsible Lending.

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More:

• The Power of the Black Vote: Taking Back the Classroom
• NBC News survey finds 2022 midterms have entered uncharted territory 
• NCCU Sound Machine marching band recordings courtesy of rickeytherealist1

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For the next few months, as the country gears up for the midterm elections, Into America is traveling to different HBCUs across the South for a special series called, “The Power of the Black Vote” to talk to young Black voters about the power of the Black vote in shaping America, and the issues that matter to them the most. 

To jump-start our series, we travel to Texas Southern University. The state of Texas has been the central battleground over how race and history are taught in schools. Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that outlawed teaching history that causes “discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” because of a student’s race. Since then, books have been banned and pulled from shelves, and faculty members who dare to teach lessons on racism and white supremacy in the state are being disciplined or fired.

In this episode of Into America, Trymaine speaks with Texas Southern University students who are pushing back. And he’s joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, NBC News Investigative reporter and co-host of the Southlake podcast, Mike Hixenbaugh, San Antonio educator Akeem Brown, and TSU Student Government Association President Dexter Maryland to have a conversation on race, education, and how we control our history. 

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More: 

• Watch the TSU Town Hall on Peacock beginning Sept 16
• Our Kids Are Scholars
• Race and Education in an American Suburb

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Last month a new charter school opened on San Antonio’s East Side. Essence Preparatory Public School was founded with a specific mission: to serve the Black and brown children that the public school system was consistently failing, developing those children into leaders for their community.

But as Essence Prep made its way throughTexas’s charter approval process, they were drawn into the state’s battle over how race and history is taught in public schools. The school was even forced to update their charter application, with state authorities saying that they used the words “Black” and “brown” too many times. They lost months of preparation and a multi-million-dollar bond deal. And they accrued thousands of dollars in legal fees along the way.

But through it all, Essence Prep made it to opening day, and Into America was there. This week we take you along for the ride – the highs and lows that founder Akeem Brown traversed to get to this point, as well as the voices of the students, teachers, and parents that make up the community Essence Prep was founded to serve.

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More:

• Take a Look, it's in a (Banned) Book
• Race and Education in an American Suburb

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Family legacy is a recurring theme here at Into America. We’ve spoken with the great-grandson of Civil War hero and Reconstruction-era politician Robert Smalls, the grandson of the ground-breaking historian and archivist Arturo Schomburg, and the son of Pan-Africanist leader Marcus Garvey. 

But when you are the daughters of some of the most famous men of the 20th century, that legacy comes with even higher stakes. Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X, and Dr. Bernice King, the daughter of MLK, share a birthright of inherited activism that few others can understand. They each run their families’ foundations, the Shabazz Center and King Center, and strive to carry on their parents’ fight for the future.

In the spirit of summer family reunions, we’re revisiting Trymaine Lee’s conversation with Shabazz and King, about their famous parents, the ongoing push for equality, and what it means to inherit a legacy.

(Original release date: April 1, 2021)

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected]

Further Listening:

• Reconstructed: Birth of a Black Nation
• Justice4Garvey
• Harlem on My Mind: Arturo Schomburg

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In the spirit of summer family reunions, we’re revisiting our episode “Black Joy in the Summertime” -- a conversation with William Pickens III, who grew up spending the summers in Sag Harbor Hills, one of the three small communities on Long Island, New York nicknamed the Black Hamptons. Mr. Pickens, who passed away in September 2021, talked to Trymaine Lee about the traditions and legacy of summering while Black, and the importance of a place where Black families could be themselves.

(Original release date: June 10, 2021)

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, using the handle @intoamericapod.
Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected]

Further Listening: 

• Where Are They Now?
• A Word From the Nap Bishop

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The last time writer Damon Young was on Into America was back in the summer of 2020. He spoke about his New York Times op-ed, “Yeah, Let’s Not Talk About Race––Unless You Pay Me” where he talked about the awkward and sometimes inappropriate questions he was often asked about race. Well, now he is getting paid with his new advice column, “Ask Damon,” in the Washington Post where readers can ask him anything and everything.

Damon, who is the author of the book “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker” and a co-founder of the blog Very Smart Brothas, says he loves leaning into uncomfortable thoughts, and he’s ready to unpack the messy situations of strangers. 

So this week on Into America, Damon joins Trymaine to talk about this new venture, what qualifies him to give advice, some of the worst advice he’s ever received, and what his conversations around race look like now. He and Trymaine also answer some burning questions from listeners. 

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

Further Listening and Reading:

• Into America: Please Stop Talking to Me About Race
• Yeah, Let’s Not Talk About Race, Unless You Pay Me
• Submit a Question to Damon Young

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