Make It Plain MIP with Rev. Mark Thompson

Dr. Amara Enyia is a strategist, social Innovation and social Impact professional, and public policy expert on city and state policy as well as international affairs/foreign policy with expertise in Central Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. But today, she comes to us as a representative for the Movement for Black Lives, and helps us understand the difference between the BREATHE Act and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. What she and Mark explore is that there is no justice in policing, and the BREATHE Act seeks to address what’s missing in the George Floyd act: putting resources into the community as opposed to law enforcement. Dr. Enyia also uses her expertise to help us understand what is happening in Haiti right now, following the assassination of the country’s president, Jovenel Moïse.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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You know Brittany Temple as the Producer behind the scenes of Make It Plain, but she’s also a writer and publisher of a bi-weekly newsletter, Write All Along. Her most recent issue was inspired by Bill Cosby’s release from jail--she wasn’t surprised it happened, and felt frustrated with the continued fixation on big headline stories, when sexual assault is happening in our communities every day. She chose to share her story in hopes of contributing to the collective strength of survivors who are standing up to say they won’t be silent about sexual abuse any longer. Brittany makes the point that, statistically speaking, we all know someone who has been sexually abused, and in order to create a supportive culture, we have to demand it by speaking up.

Read her newsletter here: https://brittanytemple.substack.com/

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Eric Boehlert, Publisher of Pressrun.media, is back for our monthly dissection of political press coverage, and as usual, things are a sexist mess. Politico is on a mission to push VP Harris’ office as chaotic and inaccessible; whether or not that’s true, Eric can’t find any evidence of male politician’s offices being examined in the same way--and certainly not Pence or any VP before her. Eric also unravels the story surrounding award-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and the anti-Clinton donor and newspaper owner who set out to make sure the university wouldn’t hire her. And Eric also unpacks Tucker Carlson’s claims that the NSA is spying on him; turns out, he was trying to get an interview with Putin, potentially using some shady channels all the way back in 2019, and now his own network won’t even touch the story.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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It’s time for our monthly analysis of the most recent job report with Chad Stone, Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy and Priorities. Chad helps us understand the numbers in the report, as well as what makes the unemployment rate misleading. Chad explains why we are in desperate need of unemployment insurance reform, as Republican Governors across the country prematurely end the fully federally funded unemployment insurance benefits, which are scheduled to run until September.June Jobs Report with Chad Stone

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Depending on where you live in America, it might be hard for you to imagine that some people in this country are without access to high-speed or broadband internet (or in some cases, they can’t afford to buy access). That’s why HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge thinks these guarantees are necessary components of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, which invests $65 billion dollars in expanding broadband access to all Americans, reduce the prices of high-speed internet, and complete overdue expansion of broadband on Tribal lands, in consultation with Tribal Nations.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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On the heels of Mark’s conversation with Prism’s Editor-in-Chief Ashton Lattimore, we now bring in Reporter and Copy Editor Carolyn Copeland, who recently spearheaded a series on racial reckonings. In the last year, following the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, many statements were made by organizations and individuals that showed support for Black Lives Matter and related causes that seek to end racism in America. But as Carolyn points out, there is statement versus substance--where have those statements transformed into action, and where have they fallen flat? She specifically investigated school boards to see who is following through with a commitment to diversity and inclusion. Carolyn also discusses her reporting for a series focusing on women and marginalized journalists and the type of harassment they receive.

Read Carolyn's work here: https://prismreports.org/author/carolyn-copeland/

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Ashton Lattimore is the Editor-in-Chief at PrismReports.org, a non-profit independent news outlet by and for communities of color. They focus on cutting through disinformation surrounding social justice issues with the hope of empowering readers to solve problems within their communities. In today’s episode, Ashton discusses her piece on the Juneteenth holiday, explaining how the symbolism of the holiday does not mean actual progress has been made for Black Americans. And Republicans continue to exploit those symbolic moves made by congress in order to soothe the white voters who support them and want to avoid feeling racist by proxy.

Read Ashton’s piece here: https://prismreports.org/2021/06/16/juneteenth-reminds-us-of-the-gap-between-rhetoric-and-reality-about-whos-actually-free-in-america/

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Throughout the course of the pandemic, there was a collective cheering for essential workers, but those workers never truly felt essential. April Verrett is the President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 2015, and in today’s episode, she explains how we’ve heavily relied on workers in the service industry but have not given much in return. Some worked without PPE during the height of coronavirus, had no time off from work, and some were without health insurance. April was hopeful after reviewing President BIden's original infrastructure proposal but the latest compromise's failure to include the investment, shows there is still work to be done.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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In observance of the 4th of July, and in honor of Frederick Douglass, Mark Thompson brings you a Make It Plain special segment: The 4th of Their Lie. In today’s episode, Mark passionately recites the beginning of Frederick Douglass’ historic speech, “What to the Slave is the 4th of July?” And on this holiday, we especially honor the slaves who did not know of their freedom until June 19th, 1865.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Right now there’s a tense race for the NYC Democratic mayoral primary, with new information seemingly hitting us every hour and still an unclear victor. Joseph Geevarghese is the Executive Director for Our Revolution, the largest national grassroots funded progressive political organization in the country, and he joins today to explain ranked-choice voting, how it preserves the democratic process, and why the organization chose to back candidate Maya Wiley. He also discusses Nina Turner’s run for Ohio’s 11th congressional district and what he thinks of another presidential run for Bernie Sanders.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

For additional content: makeitplain.com

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