The Takeaway

Our nation constantly struggles to understand the lives and lived experiences of enslaved Black Americans. Discussing the lives of enslaved Black people can be complicated.

That complexity can push us towards easy understandings and answers of who they were while inadvertently seeking rebellion in their every word and deed. This search for near constant rebellion through a 21st century lens flattens their lives and experiences.

In Reading Pleasures: Everyday Black Living in Early America, Professor Bynum pushes us towards a deeper understanding of the everyday lives of Black Americans like: the poet Phyllis Wheatley, ministers John Marrant and James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw and pamphleteer David Walker who urged enslaved Black Americans to break free of slavery.

She pulls us into their internal worlds, and demands we recognize the pleasures they enjoyed as they lived, in spite of their societal station.

On Friday, the Supreme Court issued a stay on a lower court ruling. The stay ensures, that for now, the abortion pill, mifepristone, will remain widely available. Mifepristone was first approved as safe and effective for ending pregnancies more than 20 years ago.

But earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a federal judge in Texas appointed by former President Donald Trump, suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit challenged part of Kacsmaryk’s ruling – leaving mifepristone legal, but making it harder to access. Friday’s decision by the Supreme Court halted those 5th Circuit Court restrictions and reestablished the status quo. But the decision is temporary. 

This is the first time the Supreme Court has taken action on abortion since overturning Roe v. Wade last year. But, because this was an emergency decision and not a full case, the Court did not provide reasoning, noting only that Justices Thomas and Alito dissented.

For more on this, we spoke with Leah Litman, Professor of Law at University of Michigan Law School and co-host of the Crooked Media podcast Strict Scrutiny.

Noted Businesswoman and marketing maven, Bozoma Saint John, joins us to talk about her new book “The Urgent Life: My Story of Love, Loss and Survival,” which chronicles the difficult moments she’s survived and her choice to live life urgently.

 The Takeaway is celebrating a very intersectional Earth Day Weekend with some of our favorite segments on environmental justice:

How Indigenous Water Protectors Paved Way for Future Activism

The Work of Black Girl Environmentalist

What Queer Ecology Can Teach Us About Environmentalism

The Intersection of Climate Justice and Racial Justice

Young Voices Speak Out About Earth Day

For full transcripts, see our website.

Original Air Date: April 19, 2023

It’s an act that’s familiar to countless older siblings around the nation: pick up your younger siblings from afterschool, the bus stop, maybe even another friend’s house and then walk them home. It’s an act that took a decidedly dangerous and near deadly turn for the 16 year-old “gentle soul”, clarinet player and member of his high school marching band – Ralph Yarl.

Hundreds marched and called for justice after Ralph Yarl was shot twice – once in the head – by a white homeowner last Thursday. Ralph’s supposed wrongdoing? Accidentally ringing the wrong doorbell while trying to pick up his younger brothers and bring them home.

Ralph Yarl has since been released from the hospital and is recovering at home. The white man who shot him, will now face two felonies: assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. Young Black boys – children – are often viewed as far older and threatening than reality would suggest. This can have far reaching consequences on their lives, and their mental health. 

Original Air Date: April 20, 2023

As weekend one of Coachella wrapped up last week and we head into weekend two of the three-day music festival, we check in with Pitchfork staff writer Allison Hussey about the highs, lows, and the lesser-known artists of Coachella. 

You can catch her Coachella coverage at pitchfork.com. 

Larissa Fasthorse is one of the first Indigenous women to have her play produced on Broadway. THE THANKSGIVING PLAY is one of six plays coming out written by Larissa Fasthorse in 2023. THE THANKSGIVING PLAY centers indigenous issues through the lens of a small community’s attempt at staging a “socially-conscious thanksgiving play.”

Fasthorse joins The Takeaway to talk about THE THANKSGIVING PLAY, the pressures of being one of the first Indigenous women to have a play produced on Broadway and what it’s like to center Indigenous issues in an industry that often ignores Indigenous artistry. 

The stoner classics Scary Movie and Friday envisioned a future where “puff, puff, pass” is the norm. And the majority of states across the nation have acquiesced. Recent years have seen a spate of laws in state legislatures that make weed legal for medical and recreational purposes.

Federally, the issue of marijuana legalization appears to have stalled, but recent bills introduced in congress point towards a future of possible bipartisan support for the drug’s legalization.

Senior editor of Marijuana Moment, Kyle Jaeger, joins us as we talk about the current state of weed legislation in the U-S, and what, if anything, President Biden can do to reschedule and decriminalize the drug.

Little Richard was a larger-than-life entertainer and personality which is captured by the new documentary, “Little Richard: I Am Everything.”

We speak with the film’s director, Lisa Cortes.

As part of our "23 Mayors in 2023" series, we head to Boston, Massachusetts.

At the age of 36, Michelle Wu was elected as the first woman and the first person of color to become mayor of Boston 2021.

Boston is the 23rd largest city in America, with a population of almost 700,000. A diverse, and very young city, Boston has the highest percentage of 20-34 year olds of the top 25 largest cities in America. But challenges with racial inequality in Boston persist.

We speak with Mayor Michelle Wu, mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, about her journey into politics, how her identity has been an advantage (and disadvantage at times) in her job, and overcoming some of the challenges facing Boston.