Make It Plain MIP with Rev. Mark Thompson

While in Selma last weekend commemorating 56 years since the historic Bloody Sunday, Mark moderated a panel discussion on voting rights and H.R. 40 with LaTosha Brown of Black Voters Matter, Pastor Michael McBride of the Black Church PAC, and Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (BlackPressUSA.com). This conversation pulls no punches in detailing what we are up against, but these strategy-experts know what it takes to combat voter suppression and they’re here to fire you up and ready you for the fight. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com 

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On Sunday, President Biden issued an Executive Order on voting rights, and Mark was in Selma, Alabama for the annual Bloody Sunday commemoration when that news became public. He was able to speak with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee to get her live reaction to Biden’s voting rights Executive Order as well as her status report on the reparations bill, H.R. 40. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com 

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Last month showed an increase of approximately 379,000 jobs, but we’re STILL at a loss of about 9.5 million jobs overall since coronavirus started spreading across the U.S.. Chad Stone, Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, is back to let us know where we’ve rebounded, who is still disproportionately struggling, and how true recovery relies on the economy reopening safely. Unemployment and job losses come in many different shapes and sizes, and Chad is here to help us understand where the economy stands and the trends to be aware of. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com 

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Today brings us part two of the African American Media Roundtable with Senate Democrats (roll back to Friday’s episode for part one), and we hear questions from reporters at Politico, the New York Times, Huffington Post, and more, including the kick-off question from our very own Mark Thompson. In this second part, the senators answer questions on the reparations bill (H.R. 40), where we stand on $15/hour federal minimum wage, increasing vaccinations and preventing exploitation from outsiders in communities of color, student debt forgiveness, schools reopening, and minority representation in the senate and how to increase that in 2022. Nearly the entire Democratic Caucus was present, and today we hear from the following senators: Senator Cory Booker (moderator) Senator Jon Ossoff Senator Alex Padilla Senator Patty Murray Senator Elizabeth Warren Senator Chuck Schumer Senator Sherrod Brown Senator Ron Wyden Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com 

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This week Mark participated in a roundtable discussion with Senate Democrats on a myriad of issues, including access to vaccinations with an emphasis on communities of color, coronavirus data collection, where the reparations bill (H.R. 40) stands, voting rights and GOP voter suppression, and what is included in the next coronavirus relief package. This is part one of a two-part series, and though nearly the entire Democratic Caucus was present, we hear from the following senators in today’s portion: Senator Amy Klobuchar (moderator) Senator Chuck Schumer Senator Cory Booker Senator Raphael Warnock Senator Patty Murray Senator Debbie Stabenow Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com 

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It’s #ThursdayKos and Markos is back to talk about his new obsession: Mississippi. He sees it as the next Georgia--a state worth focusing on to flip from red to blue. He also shares why he thinks Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are being jackasses, the hypocrisies of the criticism of Neera Tanden, and his reaction to the allegations against Governor Cuomo. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com 

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There is no women’s history without Black women, and today we honor that in a conversation with Rukia Lumumba, Co-Director of the Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives and Founding Director of the People’s Advocacy Institute. Women like Breonna Taylor remind us Black women experience disproportionate violence, and the work done at the Electoral Justice Project aims to restructure communities to better serve all Black people. Rukia’s team at The People’s Advocacy Institute is also working hard to help those struggling with access to food, water, and other basic necessities, while also serving as an incubator for transformative justice in the South. More information: https://electoraljusticeproject.org/ Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com 

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Bruce Levine is the author of "Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Racial Justice," which is out TODAY. In this episode he talks with Mark about Thaddeus Stevens' revolutionary politics, as one of the first white people to demand reparations for slaves (freed Black people were the first). Stevens operated under what was an extremely radical and controversial belief at the time: that all should be treated equally under the law. Through his story, we see how politics are cyclical and much of what we're experiencing today, with H.R. 40 and Donald Trump's impeachment, can be related to Stevens' own journey as a politician ahead of his time. BUY "Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Racial Justice" HERE: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Thaddeus-Stevens/Bruce-Levine/9781476793375 Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com 

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Democrats had big wins in 2018 and 2020 when people showed up in record numbers to vote, and so it comes as no surprise that the GOP is getting busy with voter suppression tactics. In today’s episode, Elie Mystal, Justice Correspondent at The Nation, says that state legislatures have already prepared three times as many voter restriction bills this year as were proposed during the same period of time last year -- and that’s just one of several troubling statistics from Elie’s piece for The Nation (linked below). Read “The GOP’s 2022 Strategy: Voter Suppression or Bust” here: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/republican-voter-suppression/ Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com 

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In the fourth and final installment of our Black History Month series on the history and significance of HBCUs, Mark speaks with three Black Sorority Presidents: Beverly Evans Smith, President of Delta Sigma Theta, Valerie Hollingsworth Baker, President of Zeta Phi Beta, and Dr. Glenda Glover, President of Alpha Kappa Alpha. These women oversee organizations that are an asset to not just HBCU campuses, but their communities-at-large. Coronavirus has presented its challenges, but they discuss how they continue to organize and grow within the confines of the pandemic, what they’re doing to get more Black women elected everywhere, and what it means to have Kamala Harris, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, serving as Vice President. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com 

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