Make It Plain MIP with Rev. Mark Thompson

Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson is the Co-Executive Director of the Highlander Research and Education Center (the first Black woman to hold the position), a catalyst for grassroots organizing and movement building in Appalachia and the South. This renowned civil rights center suffered an arson attack in 2019, complete with a “white power” tag found at the scene. Ash-Lee and Mark discuss not just the fire, but the white supremacy that fueled it, and why events like these are “not surprising” to Ash-Lee, her colleagues, or the communities they look to serve. Ash-Lee and Mark discuss white supremacy through the lens of some of the bigger events of the year, including the death of George Floyd and the insurrection on Capitol Hill, and consider what it takes to gain ground for racial justice, equality, and most importantly, sustainability. Ash-Lee also asks us to rethink popular (and stereotypical) definitions of what it means to be from Appalachia, and what her identity as an Afrolachian means to her.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Cecily Myart-Cruz is the President of United Teachers Los Angeles (and the first woman of color to hold the position) and as both a teacher and a parent, she understands the frustrations of at-home learning and the pressing desire to get kids back into schools. But she says there’s much to be considered first -- like how often students should take standardized tests in the coming year, for example. Los Angeles has become one of the models that districts across the country are looking to as they lay plans to return to the classroom, and Cecily discusses how she’s working with challenges presented specifically to Black and Brown students as schools reopen.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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It’s that time again for Chad Stone, Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priority, returns for his monthly status report on our economy. There is good news out of March’s jobs report, but as always, there’s many layers to understanding what it means. Chad breaks down unemployment rate vs. jobs added (which is reported by employers) and why the rate is not the best indicator on joblessness. He also lets us know what’s happening within each demographic in the report, and answers the question of if we’re finally on a trajectory of recovery after a year of losses.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Ian Millhiser a Senior Correspondent at Vox, where he focuses on the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and the decline of liberal democracy in the United States, and his expertise on the courts is what fills out his new book, “The Agenda: How a Republican Supreme Court Is Reshaping America.” The agenda he’s speaking of is dangerous to voting rights and beyond, all at the hands of the one branch of government that is not elected by the people -- and it’s more problematic than you might assume. Since Trump appointed more than 200 federal judges, Ian helps us unpack some of the more troubling rulings they’ve come down with, and why their general unpredictability is high-risk for the rest of us.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Lawmakers say this level of gun violence, with mass shootings occurring almost daily, “should not become the new normal,” but Brian Lemek says we’ve already reached that point. Brian is the Executive Director at Brady PAC, the sister organization/political arm of Brady, the nation’s oldest gun violence prevention advocacy group. In today’s episode, he explains how senators could be passing legislation right now to make it harder to buy a gun, but it’s stalled in the senate. So what (or who) is standing in the way? Brian breaks it down and fills us in on a surprising piece of information that he believes is proof that the NRA is on it’s way out.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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President Biden unveiled his infrastructure plan, and it’s no surprise the GOP is upset about the corporate tax hike; but Markos Moulitsas, Founder of DailyKos, Civiqs, and Host of “The Brief” podcast, points out what’s interesting about their hypocrisy this time around, and why Republicans are having zero luck treating Biden as an “other.” Markos also digs into the latest with the filibuster, where “centrists” like Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema stand, and what could come from the latest attempts at voter suppression in Georgia.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Anti-Asian racism is on the rise and Roshni Nedungadi has the numbers to back it up. She’s the Founding Partner, Chief Research Officer, and COO of HIT Strategies, a leading millennial and minority-owned public opinion research firm on Capitol Hill, and one of the few AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) pollsters in America. In today’s episode she shares the startling truth found in a survey done in Michigan last month, where 40-percent of the Asian population either experienced anti-Asian racism personally or knows someone who did. But at the same time, the numbers show Asian people turning out in record numbers in the battleground state. At HIT Strategies, they’re working to better understand communities and their varying priorities when it comes to battling discrimination and gaining political power to make change.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

For additional content: makeitplain.com

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One of the most common reasons a person does not leave a domestic violence situation is because they don’t have the cash to do it. At FreeFrom, an organization dedicated to knocking down the barriers that prevent domestic violence survivors from holding economic and community power, Tannia Ventura and the team work to get direct cash payments to survivors so they regain their power. Tannia is the Director of Service Provider Engagement and Education and in today’s episode, we learn the ins and outs of getting those cash payments to survivors, how to heal the implicit mistrust of survivors when they ask for what they need, and what are the hopes and fears for the $5 billion dollars pledged by the Biden administration to supply cash payments directly to survivors. Mark and Tannia also dig into the fact that domestic violence needs to be solved at the community level and should not solely be the task of independent organizations, and what FreeFrom found in their independent research collected from surveying 1,000 domestic violence survivors.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Reopening schools is just one of the challenges that lie ahead for teachers, students, and parents. Randi Weingarten is President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and she explains that it’s not solely about getting caught up with academics; kids need healing from the traumas of the pandemic and should get back on track with human interaction and most importantly, having fun. Randi also shares her recommendations on summer sessions vs. private tutoring.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

For additional content: makeitplain.com

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Gun violence is centered in the national conversation once again, in light of the mass shootings in Atlanta, Boulder, and Chicago. Igor Volsky is the Co-Founder and the Executive Director of Guns Down America, and yesterday, his organization teamed up with other leaders and organizations in the fight against gun violence to launch a coalition letter to President Biden, calling on him to take immediate action. Mark and Igor are then joined by Pastor Michael McBride of fundpeacenow.com. Pastor Mike is one of the parties signed on to the coalition, and he expands on the myriad of ways gun violence shows up in communities and how creativity is needed when applying pressure on D.C. to work harder on gun legislation reform.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

For additional content: makeitplain.com

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