Make It Plain MIP with Rev. Mark Thompson

Access to healthcare can be the determining factor in life or death, which is why it is critical to get coverage. Open enrollment has begun at Healthcare.gov and Chiquita Brooks LaSure, Administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, downloads us on the details of how to get signed up and why you can expect more low-cost options than ever before.

SIGN UP FOR HEALTH INSURANCE HERE: https://www.healthcare.gov/

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

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Students at Howard University are protesting the living conditions in some campus dormitories, saying the mold, mice, flooding, and other subpar conditions are making students sick. So around 150 students have occupied Blackburn University Center on October 12th and have not left, demanding the school’s administration address their concerns. Mark joined up with Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Dr. WIlliam Barber to travel to the campus and speak with the students who have been organizing this protest effort. You’ll hear from some of those students today, as well as their counsel, Attorney Donald Temple. Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Barber also draws important connections to history to show how the protests the students are staging today are critical actions.

*This episode was recorded on Sunday, Oct 31. Any references made to events/conversations happening “today” or “tonight” have now passed.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Gaby Goldstein is Co-Founder of Sister District, an organization with the goal of putting progressive power in state legislatures. Gaby joins today to discuss the governor’s race happening TODAY in Virginia--so if you live in the state, it’s your time to get out and vote! And if you know someone, it’s your job to give them a call to make sure they’re hitting the polls. Gaby acquaints us with the candidates and let’s us know that’s it will be a photo finish, emphasizing the importance of progressive VA voters getting out in support of Terry McAuliffe. Gaby also fills us in on the origins of Sister District and another organization they partner with on multiple initiatives, Run For Something. She shows us how the state legislative level of government is critical in fighting gerrymandering and it’s also where big, impactful change can happen. She also tells us about the Future Winners Program, which works with candidates who ran and lost by small margins, in order to revamp their campaigns to take another shot at running. And though the Virginia governor will be decided after today, she talks about how we can and should strategize for 2022, and how you can help out from the comfort of your home.

*This episode was recorded before today’s election. BUT, you can still get involved with Sister District and Run for Something to prepare for the 2022 midterms and beyond! GO HERE: www.sisterdistrict.com

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

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Dan and Casey Dalton are siblings and co-founders of Evidence and Ocean Grown Extracts, companies committed to raising awareness and funds to free people who are jailed for cannabis-related offenses. Dan joins the show today to discuss the mission and function of Evidence, which is housed in a renovated jail in Coalinga, California. They transformed the 77,000 square foot prison into a full-fledged manufacturing facility that now provides more than 100 jobs to the local community and brought the city out of debt. On top of that, they distribute their product in literal evidence bags (hence the name) in order to bring awareness and elevate the conversation around the subject of freeing prisoners who are doing jail time for activities that are now legal in many states across the country.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Yesterday on Capitol Hill, the Poor People’s Campaign, led by Co-Chairs Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, gathered to demand action from the two senators who are now infamous for standing in the way of progress: Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. On this Moral Witness Wednesday, Mark spoke with leaders and constituents on the ground who want to know why Manchin and Sinema are blocking Build Back Better. You’ll hear from the following guests in this order: Congressman Jamie Raskin; Rev. Jeffrey Haggray; Walt Hale and Roy Blankenship of the Black Political Empowerment Project of Pittsburgh; Colleen from Arizona; Protestors/Poor People’s Campaign members at the Hart Building; and hunger striker Paul Campion

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

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Eric Boehlert, Writer and Publisher of Pressrun.media, is tired of the media indulging the anti-vaxxer narrative by producing countless stories about people who will “lose” their jobs if they don’t get vaccinated and their employers are now requiring it. Eric sees mainstream media embracing conspiracy and misinformation, choosing to paint these people as rational humans, instead of people who are walking away from steady income. They could also be lifting up the alternative: those who might have struggled to gain employment in the past, but are now vaccinated and still searching, might have an easier time now. In other unfortunate news, outlets like the Washington Post still feel compelled to talk with Trump supporters, despite the fact that he’s no longer president, which is an unprecedented move in the history of reporting on former presidents (spoiler alert: they didn’t do that before). Eric also takes time to touch on the subject of Colin Powell and explains why his infamous 2003 presentation at the United Nations to move forward with the invasion of Iraq, and the reporting that followed, marked the beginning of the media embracing misinformation.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

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Senator Joe Manchin has framed President Biden’s Build Back Better plan as “entitlement;” so this past weekend, Mark joined forces with the Poor People’s Campaign, led by Co-Chairs Rev. Dr. WIlliam J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, to show Joe Manchin exactly how much HE is costing the state he is supposed to represent. In today’s episode you’ll hear from both leaders and residents of the state who speak of struggling to work against poverty and gun violence with no resources at their disposal--resources that their Senator Joe Manchin could help provide access to. Guests speak in the following order: Poor People’s Campaign Co-Chair Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, West Virginia Poor People’s Campaign Tri-Chair Pam Garrison, Pastor Michael Poke of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, Pastor Shelly Bosley of First Missionary Baptist Church Vandalia, and West Virginia residents Tonisha Copning and Gene Everest Moore.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Natalie Cofield is the Assistant Administrator for the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Women’s Business Ownership, and she joins the show with exciting news to share: a new Women’s Business Center has opened in Tulsa, OK, making it the 139th center across the country. These centers seek to provide resources to help women entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. And beyond what it will provide for the community, it’s also a historic beginning, 100 years after the Black community in Tulsa’s Greenwood district, known as “Black Wall Street,” was destroyed in a racist attack that took the lives of approximately 300 Black Americans, and countless homes and businesses were destroyed.

To learn more about SBA’s programs and services for women entrepreneurs, visit www.sba.gov/women. To find other WBC locations and additional SBA resources, visit www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg takes time to talk with Mark about the vast benefits of the Build Back Better plan, which stands to create jobs and make lives healthier and more enriched, and also addresses issues of environmental and racial injustice. We then get to hear from leaders of congress who commemorated 10 years since the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. was erected next to the National Mall. He speaks with Speaker Pelosi, Congresswoman Terri Sewell, Congressman Troy Carter, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, Congressman Bobby Scott, Actor and Author Hill Harper, and MLK Memorial Foundation President Harry Johnson.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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