The number of people who have contracted the virus continues to rise in Massachusetts, around the country, and around the world. Scattered testing sites have just opened, but hospitals and medical staff are already overwhelmed. And most experts predict it will get far worse before it gets better.

Everybody is hurting, but communities of color have been hit harder —

With a disproportionate loss of income, and fewer health care resources. And how can communities of color -- already grappling with day to day racism---deal with race specific misinformation, as well as cope with increased racism and xenophobia?  

South Carolina voters will finally have their say tomorrow, Saturday. African Americans are one third of the voters in the palmetto state. Their ballots will both catapult some candidates forward and end the campaign for others. South Carolina’s primary will also set the table for Super Tuesday – when voters in 14 states including mass. go to the polls. There’s a lot at stake for democratic frontrunners Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and our own Elizabeth Warren all of whom have been intensely wooing voters of color. Who will win their votes?  

Two giant historical figures in African American history who rose to prominence fighting for the rights of Black Americans. Both men had sharply different visions for African Americans’ pathway to full citizenship.

Booker T. Washington, born into slavery in the South, urged vocational education and accommodation within the boundaries of segregation, while the Mass. born W.E.B. Dubois pushed for leadership by those deemed most talented, as well as active protests against segregation. 

Panelists

Paula Austin, Ph.D., Asst. Prof. Of History & African American Studies at Boston University.

Kim McLarin, Assoc. Professor at Emerson College

Tanisha Sullivan, Esq, President of The Boston Branch of the NAACP.  She is also a Member of the WGBH Board of Advisors.

Phillip Martin, Senior Investigative Reporter, New England Center for Investigative Reporting here at WGBH News. 

It’s recognized as one of the most vile slurs directed at African Americans. But the N word has a complicated legacy. Linked to America’s history of enslavement, it is also urban slang used in society and pop culture. Should it be banned or can the movement to reclaim it diminish its sting? And why does the N-word remain relevant today?

WARNING: A warning to those of you watching and listening. This is a sensitive topic, so please know that the full word will be used during this discussion.

Panelists:

Nathaniel McLean-Nichols, program coordinator for teen empowerment, a local youth organization.  He is also a senior at UMass Boston.

Nicole Dutton is a poet.  Managing Editor of "Transition Magazine" and "the Dubois review," at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. 

Susan X Jane, principal of Navigators Consulting.  She has over 25 years of experience working in the field of culture, diversity and inclusion. 

Rahsaan Hall, Director of The Racial Justice Program for the A-C-L-U of MASS.

Nubian Square is the new name of the Roxbury community formerly known as Dudley Square. The change came after a five-year community campaign, a ballot initiative, and finally, a unanimous approval from Boston’s Public Improvement Commission. So now what? Will the name change be more than a point of cultural pride?  And will the rebranded Nubian Square offer an economic future for those who live in the community now?

Panelists:

Phillip Martin, Senior Investigative Reporter, New England Center for Investigative Reporting, WGBH News.

Sadiki Kambon, chair of the Nubian Square Coalition and Director of The Black Community Information Center.

Marita Rivero, Principal of Rivero Partners.  She is also the former president and C-E-O of the Museum of African American History as well as a former Vice President And G-M for Radio and Television, GBH.

Richard Taylor, Managing Director, Nubian Square Development.  

Supporters of criminal justice reform have fought against policies promoting harsh sentences and mass incarceration. In recent years there has been movement toward new policies on the federal and the state level. Other states are modeling their reforms based on the Massachusetts criminal justice reform bill, passed two years ago, which includes alternatives to prison and re-entry programs. Still, many who are caught up in the system are at risk for wrongful convictions, with people of color at greatest risk.

Panelists:

Rahsaan Hall, director of the racial justice program for the A-C-L-U of Massachusetts

Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, Executive Director of The Lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston. 

Phillip Martin, Sr. Investigative Reporter, New England Center for Investigative Reporting, GBH News

Sean Ellis.  Ellis was wrongfully convicted of a 1993 murder of a Boston police detective.  After having spent nearly 22 years incarcerated, his conviction was overturned in 2015.     

A new decade and a new year. In 2020 America will experience a major demographic shift. Americans under 17 years old who are minorities will become the majority. What are the other indicators – economic, cultural, political — which may predict how this new decade will impact communities of color? Guest Panelists:

Dr. Numa Perez, a surgical resident at mass general hospital and healthcare innovation research fellow at the health care transformation lab. 

Glynn Lloyd, Executive Director of The Foundation for Business Equity

Renee Graham Associate Editor and Opinion Columnist at The Boston Globe

Dr. Renee Richardson Gosline, senior lecturer at M-I-T. She is also a principal research scientist at

M-I-T'S initiative on the digital economy.

Nearly half of Americans report living without meaningful social interaction—they are lonely. Experts have declared chronic loneliness an epidemic, and social isolation a public health issue. New research reveals that loneliness shortens life, leads to higher rates of diseases like high blood pressure, and is linked to suicide and other mental health issues. For people of color already grappling with racial and ethnic discrimination, loneliness hits even harder, creating greater anxiety and depression.

This week, Massachusetts state legislators approved a big boost in K-12 school funding. Now awaiting Governor Baker’s signature, the Student Opportunity Act would pump 1.5 billion dollars in schools which have been chronically underfunded. 

The history of education has been ripe with controversy…from the legacy of busing and issues around disparity to opportunities to attend exam schools and reports of re-segregation. How do educators
 build success for students and close the achievement gap? 

Callie Crossley hosts

Phillip Martin, Sr. Investigative Reporter, NECIR and WGBH News

Edith Bazile, President of BEAM - Black Educator’s Alliance of Massachusetts

Milly Arbaje Thomas, C-E-O of Metropolitan Council for Education Opportunity Inc, or METCO 

Dr. Brenda Cassellius, Superintendent, Boston Public Schools. 

Will the impeachment hearings make a difference in the mind of citizens and will it impact the upcoming election? 

Panelists:

Phillip Martin, Sr. Investigative Reporter, WGBH News

Marcus Walker, a humanities and history teacher at Fenway High school. He also teaches at Harvard University

Prof. Paul Watanabe, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute for Asian American studies at UMass Boston 

Ivan (EVON) Espinoza- Madrigal, Executive Director of the Lawyers for Civil Rights

Callie Crossley hosts