We went on the road to a studio just outside of Lansing, Michigan for this interview. Darren Gibson was joined for the first half of the show by special co-host Jeff Smith from the Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID.org). Jeff is also the author of "A People's History of Grand Rapids, Michigan." They interviewed Mason City Councilor Rita Vogel about her efforts to have the city pass a day of proclamation for Malcolm X, who lived in Mason for a year and a half. The city council denied the request without comment. Since then, Rita had an ethics complaint filed against her (which was dismissed) and the city is now attempting to stifle free speech from city employees and elected officials.
In the second half of the show, Darren was joined by Jack Prince as they interviewed former Mason Public Schools teacher Katelyne Thomas. Katelyne left the district after they denied her request to use materials from a Black Lives Matter approved curriculum to teach Black history. We asked her about efforts to limit teaching Black history across the country, book bans, and the city's racist history that was detailed in James Loewen's book "Sundown Towns."
Between interviews, we were joined by slam poet Native Child Brown, who read a poem about Malcolm X.
We had booked two different venues for this event and both of them cancelled at the last minute with bogus excuses. We want to thank Peter Clay Productions for the use of his studios and for recording the show for us.
