Make It Plain MIP with Rev. Mark Thompson

It’s our first #ThursdayKos of 2022 and there’s much to catch up on with Markos Moulitsas, Founder of DailyKos, Civiqs, and Host of podcast “The Brief.” Mark and Markos waste no time getting into President Biden’s speech earlier this week in Atlanta with honest reactions and addressing if it will really make a difference in the long run. And speaking of long run, what’s the deal with Democratic strategy now that we’re officially in a midterm year? What do Dems plan to run on, and what are the related concerns?

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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LaTosha Brown, Cliff Albright, and April England-Albright of Black Voters Matter made the decision not to attend President Biden’s speech in Georgia yesterday where he addressed the attack on our voting rights–but it is being said that Biden is not going far enough to protect those rights. These leaders discuss why they chose not to attend, their expectations of Biden and congress, and why they’re no longer considering speeches as action.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Today you’ll hear from six more hunger strikers (Joe Madison told us his story yesterday, as he begins his second month of striking for voting rights), who are also faith leaders in their communities. They detail their own motivation, hopes, and fears for our country as our voting rights are under attack. And as one of the guests succinctly notes: the deadline for our democracy is January 17th. Will congress take action?

Guests:

Rev. Stephen A. Green, Pastor, St Luke AME of Harlem

Rev. Dr. Cassandra Gould of Missouri Faith Voices

Rev. Dennis James, III, Pastor, Pine Grove, AME, Columbia, SC

Rev. Traci Blackmon, United Church of Christ

Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III, Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago

Rev. Jamal Bryant, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Atlanta

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Joe Madison has been on a hunger strike for voting rights, now 65 days in, and he joins Mark to discuss why he’s striking, the physical affects, and what he hopes will unfold on Capitol Hill.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Mark teams up with Danielle Moodie, Host of WokeAF, for our new monthly crossover series… Make It Effing Woke.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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In this "best of MIP" episode, Dr. Amara Enyia of the Policy and Research Coordinator for Movement for Black Lives details a report the organization released, which demonstrates how the United States government persecutes activists with the hope of dissuading them from taking any kind of political action. Though it’s easy to blame red states like Florida for putting laws in place that would criminalize peaceful protest, the Biden administration is not off the hook, as they have yet to take meaningful action to prevent that criminalization of protestors. Dr. Enyia also points to the disparity in language when discussing those who participated in protests, like those for George Floyd or Breonna Taylor, compared to those who participated in the January 6th insurrection.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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In today's "best of MIP" espiode, Scott Dworkin, who is also Founder and Executive Director of the Democratic Coalition and host of podcast “The Dworkin Report,” is here to download us on all sorts of strategy and analysis of what’s up ahead for 2022 and 2024. He shares that it’s believed Trump plans to announce a 2024 run early next year, before primary season, for one specific reason--but could that help Democrats in the long-run? Scott also shares his biggest concerns for 2022, and fills us in on a key race in Virginia, where Terry McAuliffe is back for another run. Breaking from the future to look at the past, Scott explains why Mike Pence is an accomplice to the January 6th insurrection. And Scott also share why he thinks Facebook going out of service was a self-inflicted wound to distract from the whistleblower news, and why he doesn’t think Mark Zuckerberg will be running Facebook this time next year.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Today is a "Best Of MIP Episode" with Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, the author of “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World.” In the episode she impresses the importance that we all have a critical role to play in slowing climate change. Building off some details from a recent conversation with the White House Climate Advisor, Dr. Hayhoe and Mark examine heat-related deaths disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities. And as Dr. Hayhoe outlines for us, climate change is responsible for 9 million deaths every year, but is never framed as a life-or-death emergency and is not often being discussed as a top priority on mainstream news networks. And Dr. Hayhoe gives her take on something we’ve wondered about many times on MIP: how do you overcome the apathy or helplessness when it comes to fighting climate change? Bonus… if you’re a TikTok-er, Dr. Hayhoe also talks about her debut on the platform and what kind of content she plans to share, including some jaw-dropping statistics that are sure to shock you.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Nadra Nittle is a Senior Reporter for Civil Eats and more recently she has taken on the title of author, with her book titled “Toni Morrison’s Spiritual Vision: Faith, Folktales, and Feminism in Her Life and Literature.” In today’s episode she discusses the many facets of the legendary Toni Morrison, which often lead us back to her spirituality and religion, and the ways we can see that play out in her inimitable literature.

BUY Nadra’s book here: https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9781506471518/Toni-Morrisons-Spiritual-Vision

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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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 gubernatorial candidate in Virginia.

BUY James Henry Harris’ book here: https://www.amazon.com/Encounter-Racism-Forbidden-American-Classic/dp/1506479162

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

For additional content: makeitplain.com

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