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Into AmericaI’m Trym(AI)ne LeeThe future is now. Artificial Intelligence already exists in smartphones, helps power social media algorithms, and is accessible through countless apps. AI has generated rappers with records deals and political attack ads.But as AI gains mainstream attention, AI-powered software that helps landlords select tenants has been proven to discriminate against Black applicants and algorithms have misinterpreted healthcare data, resulting in fewer services for Black patients.On this episode of Into America, Trymaine Lee speaks with Gelyn Watkins of Black in AI, to understand the implications of AI for Black America. Together, they test a po...2023-06-0830 minInto AmericaHealing in BuffaloIn May of last year, Tops Supermarket in East Buffalo was attacked by a lone white supremacist. Motivated by “great replacement theory,” the shooter targeted an area densely populated with Black residents, leaving this community grief-stricken. Into America visited Buffalo and spoke with residents shortly after the incident, so now, on the anniversary of the shooting, Trymaine Lee headed back to East Buffalo to revisit this community which has found strength and healing through each other.Trymaine Lee speaks with Trinetta Alston, a nurse who’s made it her mission to look after the Tops survivo...2023-05-1136 minInto AmericaThe Re-Freshed Prince of Bel-Air (2022)In March of 2019, Morgan Cooper dropped a video on YouTube that quickly went viral. It was a short film that he made as a passion project, after he was struck with a flash of inspiration: What if the 90’s classic The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air were updated for the 21st century? Three years later, Bel-Air premiered on Peacock to record-breaking numbers, with Cooper as director and executive producer. The season two finale drops on Peacock on April 27th, and the show was recently renewed for a third season. For Into America, host Trymaine Lee spoke with...2023-04-1348 minInto AmericaHow Basquiat Earned His Crown (2022)Jean-Michel Basquiat was an iconic American artist who rose to fame in the downtown New York City cultural scene of the late 1970s and early 80s. Today, Basquiat’s legacy looms over us, larger than ever. His images and symbols grace Uniqlo t-shirts and Tiffany & Co jewelry campaigns. In 2017, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s powerful 1982 painting of a skull was purchased for $110.5 million, becoming the sixth most expensive work ever sold at auction.But has Basquiat’s pop cultural significance eclipsed the artist’s place in art history? For Into America, Trymaine Lee spoke with Basquiat’s former band...2023-03-0940 minInto AmericaReconstructed: The Book of Trayvon (2022)Trayvon Martin’s hoodie was never supposed to end up in an exhibit on Reconstruction at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. But then the 17-year-old boy was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida, by a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, while carrying nothing but a cell phone, a pack of Skittles, and a can of iced tea. Kidada Williams, a history professor at Wayne State University tells Trymaine Lee that she sees a clear through line between Reconstruction and Trayvon Martin. “The way he was targeted for minding his own business, the way he...2023-01-2656 minInto AmericaReconstructed: Keep the Faith, Baby (2022)On June 17, 2015, a white extremist shot and killed nine Black people in the Mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina as they gathered for a bible study group. This wasn’t the first time Mother Emanuel had been attacked. In the 1820s, white people burned down Mother Emanuel in retaliation over a failed slave rebellion. For years, the congregation was forced to meet in secret. But through all the violence and backlash, the Black congregants relied on their faith, and during Reconstruction, they rebuilt. Mother Emanuel’s history mirrors the story of Black America. Throug...2023-01-191h 03Into AmericaHealing TreméNew Orleans’s Tremé neighborhood is one of the oldest Black neighborhoods in America, and at the heart of that wasClaiborne Avenue. In the 1960s, construction of the I-10 highway cut through the community. But now, thanks to funding from the recent infrastructure bill, community residents might have the resources to heal. Proposals for the Claiborne Expressway have included everything from tearing down the freeway completely, to taking the federal grant funding and investing it into the community. Raynard Sanders a lifelong New Orleanian and the Executive Director of the Claiborne History Project. He says the mo...2023-01-1727 minInto AmericaReconstructed: In Search of the Promised Land (2022)In 1865, General William Tecumseh Sherman asked a group of African Americans in Georgia what they needed most to start their new lives as free people. The answer: land. This led to Sherman’s order that every Black family in the region receive 40 acres, and an Army mule if they liked. It was a promise the government decided not to keep, but where the government failed, the newly freed made their own way. In the second episode of “Reconstructed,” Trymaine Lee visits Promised Land. Founded just after the Civil War in the Upcountry region, Promised Land, South Ca...2023-01-1251 minInto AmericaReconstructed: Birth of a Black Nation (2022)In February 2022, Into America launched “Reconstructed,” a series about the legacy of Reconstruction.The story begins in the late 1860s, as the newly freed became citizens under the law and Black men gained the right to vote. Black Americans across the South suddenly had the power to exert control over their own lives. In the face of horrific violence from their white neighbors, Black people voted in liberal governments across the South, elevating hundreds of their own to places of political power. Perhaps no one exemplifies this more than the late Congressman Robert Smalls. As his g...2023-01-0556 minInto AmericaWhere Are They Now?, 2022 EditionWe’re welcoming in a new year by checking in on a few former guests. Tavonia Evans, founder of the cryptocurrency Guapcoin, gives us the state of her digital economy after the fall of FTX. We also speak with Fragrance Harris Stanfield, a survivor of the Tops shooting in Buffalo, for updates on her perseverance post-tragedy, and talk with one of the families with links to the Tulsa massacre we met in 2021. And we catch up with Akeem Brown, founder of the San Antonio charter school Essence Prep after completing its first semester. Plus, we get new insig...2022-12-2935 minInto AmericaChristmas, But Make it BlackBlack Christmas music is a genre of its own. From originals like “All I Want for Christmas is You,” to our spin on the so-called classics, these songs have become a staple in Black households. In the spirit of the holiday season, Trymaine sits down with music industry veteran Naima Cochrane to take us on a deep dive into some of the best and most influential Black Christmas songs of all time. We get into Whitney Houston’s take on “Joy to the World,” James Brown’s “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto,” and more!And, we get the...2022-12-2238 minInto AmericaInto Our MailbagAfter nearly 3 years and 200 episodes, Into America is having its first mailbag episode! We’ve asked for questions from listeners, former guests, and friends of the show. From moments that Trymaine has never forgotten, to critical feedback from listeners, to the best place in Brooklyn to buy a suit... we get into a little bit of everything. Show host Trymaine Lee and Executive Producer Aisha Turner let listeners peer behind the curtain of how this podcast works, as they talk about their favorite moments, trickiest decisions, and what’s coming next for the show. For a tran...2022-12-1538 minInto AmericaBethesda’s Lost ColonyWhen Marsha Coleman-Adebayo heard a rumor that members of her church might be buried under a parking lot for a high-rise apartment building, she couldn’t believe it. This small plot of land in the wealthy, white suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, had once been part of the Black community that flourished here after emancipation, and was now dwindling due to development and gentrification. The land was now worth tens of millions of dollars, and developers were eyeing it for further construction. So Marsha became part of a years-long fight between the county and former residents of River Road...2022-12-0842 minInto America#RIPBlackTwitter?It’s been just over a month since Elon Musk became CEO of Twitter, capping off a months-long, controversial, $44 billion takeover. The company has drastically changed under Musk, from losing an estimated two-thirds of its staff to layoffs and resignations, to looser content regulations, to reinstating notable banned accounts such as former President Donald Trump. The changes have left many Black users uncertain of their future on the site, and that poses a danger to one of the site’s most vibrant, creative, and influential communities: Black Twitter. Black Twitter has given us countles...2022-12-0130 minInto AmericaBlue Skies, Black WingsSince the advent of powered flight, African Americans have been fighting for a spot in the skies. During World War I Eugene Jacques Bullard made a name for himself as the first African American military pilot. But Bullard flew for the French Foreign Legion – because at the time, the U.S. military refused to train Black pilots. Later, in 1939, the Tuskegee Airmen would go on to win honor and distinction escorting bombers and flying attack missions during WWII, proving the skill and fitness of Black pilots.Yet, despite the advances of the twentieth century, today less than 2% of...2022-11-2437 minInto AmericaWakanda is ForeverMarvel’s Black Panther has always been more than a superhero franchise. Since the first film came out in 2018, the characters and their utopian home, the fictional African nation of Wakanda, have become ingrained in popular culture. “Wakanda forever” became more than a line from a movie — it transformed into shorthand for Black pride and excellence.Now, the long-awaited sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is once again redefining the genre. Filmed after the death of star Chadwick Boseman, who had played King T’Challa aka the Black Panther, director Ryan Coogler decided the movie would tackle the t...2022-11-1738 minInto AmericaThese Polls Ain’t LoyalThe morning after Election Day, results were still being counted and analyzed from the 2022 midterms. It seemed likely that Republicans would control the House, but without the “red wave” many analysts were predicting. Into America host Trymaine Lee spent Election Day, Tuesday November 8th, in Atlanta, Georgia. He spoke to people who waited in line vote, hoping to make their mark, after Republicans passed new voting restrictions. In that state, voters ultimately decided that incumbent Republican Brian Kemp would stay on as Georgia’s governor. Democrat Stacey Abrams conceded late Tuesday night. And the next morning...2022-11-1031 minInto AmericaLife, Loss, and LibationsWhen someone in the Black community dies, we honor them with vibrant, spiritual homegoings and repasts as a celebration of their life. That’s because honoring someone in death is a reflection of how we loved them in life. This Fall, as the weather gets cooler and calls for introspection, and as some cultures celebrate Day of the Dead and All Souls Day, we’re looking to the Black burial and mourning traditions that buoy us year after year. On this episode of Into America, Trymaine Lee speaks with Dr. Karla F.C. Holloway, author of the book...2022-10-2743 minInto AmericaW. Kamau Bell to White People: “Do the Work!”Comedy is an art form that consistently provides some of the most insightful social commentary to be found. When the best comics get on stage, they shine a light on the darker, often uncomfortable, parts of our collective psyche, in the process opening a door for discussion. W. Kamau Bell is a comedian who has used his art to highlight our country’s complicated relationship with race. And his CNN series, United Shades of America, follows Bell as he visits communities across the country, exploring the unique challenges they face. Along the way Bell has developed a fan...2022-10-2032 minInto AmericaThe Power of the Black Vote: Creating A New SouthOn the final stop of our HBCU tour on The Power of the Black Vote, we travel to Atlanta, home of three of the most prestigious historically Black colleges and universities: Spelman, Morehouse, and Clark Atlanta, to talk with HBCU students about the Black youth vote. Georgia has always played a significant role in the fight for voting rights in this country. And when Stacey Abrams lost her race for governor in 2018, young Black voters who were tired and fed-up began to mobilize on their campuses. For years, Black student voter turnout was on the decline in th...2022-10-1337 minInto AmericaThe Power of the Black Vote: We Save OurselvesDespite being the Blackest state in the country, Mississippi has little Black political representation; and the state’s policies have been hostile to its predominately Black capital city of Jackson. But in the face of the state’s political neglect, Black people have never stopped fighting to make their communities stronger. During the Civil Rights Movement, Mississippi was ground zero for activism, with Jackson State at the center. Now, a new generation is drawing on that tradition to look out for their communities. One of those people is Jackson State Junior Maisie Brown. She’s stepped up during...2022-10-0648 minInto AmericaThe Power of the Black Vote: Tackling Our Climate CrisisAt one point, Florida’s Apalachee Bay was dominating the seafood industry, but over the years it has experienced a sharp decline from climate change and environmental destruction. When a local oyster farmer took notice, he connected with his friends at the historically Black college, Florida A&M University, for help. FAMU has a long history of environmental stewardship, and leading environmental causes. That’s why this generation of Black students are working on FAMU’s Rattler Moji Project, a solar-powered water-sensing buoy that collects data for scientists' research and helps filter clean water for oysters to thrive...2022-09-2937 minInto AmericaThe Power of the Black Vote: Knocking Out Student Loan DebtAs the country gears up for the midterm elections, Into America is traveling to different HBCUs across the South for a special series called, “The Power of the Black Vote.” We’re talking to young Black voters about how they’re shaping America, and about the issues that matter to them the most. This week, we travel to Durham’s North Carolina Central University to discuss how the student debt crisis is affecting Black students’ lives and their plans for the future. As the cost of higher education continues to balloon, Black borrowers are taking on more student loan deb...2022-09-2240 minInto AmericaThe Power of the Black Vote: Taking Back the ClassroomFor the next few months, as the country gears up for the midterm elections, Into America is traveling to different HBCUs across the South for a special series called, “The Power of the Black Vote” to talk to young Black voters about the power of the Black vote in shaping America, and the issues that matter to them the most. To jump-start our series, we travel to Texas Southern University. The state of Texas has been the central battleground over how race and history are taught in schools. Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that outlawed teaching histo...2022-09-1544 minInto AmericaENCORE: The Daughters of Malcolm and Martin (2021)Family legacy is a recurring theme here at Into America. We’ve spoken with the great-grandson of Civil War hero and Reconstruction-era politician Robert Smalls, the grandson of the ground-breaking historian and archivist Arturo Schomburg, and the son of Pan-Africanist leader Marcus Garvey. But when you are the daughters of some of the most famous men of the 20th century, that legacy comes with even higher stakes. Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X, and Dr. Bernice King, the daughter of MLK, share a birthright of inherited activism that few others can understand. They each run their fam...2022-09-0131 minInto AmericaENCORE: Black Joy in the Summertime (2021)In the spirit of summer family reunions, we’re revisiting our episode “Black Joy in the Summertime” -- a conversation with William Pickens III, who grew up spending the summers in Sag Harbor Hills, one of the three small communities on Long Island, New York nicknamed the Black Hamptons. Mr. Pickens, who passed away in September 2021, talked to Trymaine Lee about the traditions and legacy of summering while Black, and the importance of a place where Black families could be themselves.(Original release date: June 10, 2021)For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica. Fo...2022-08-2532 minInto AmericaChoppin’ It Up With Damon YoungThe last time writer Damon Young was on Into America was back in the summer of 2020. He spoke about his New York Times op-ed, “Yeah, Let’s Not Talk About Race––Unless You Pay Me” where he talked about the awkward and sometimes inappropriate questions he was often asked about race. Well, now he is getting paid with his new advice column, “Ask Damon,” in the Washington Post where readers can ask him anything and everything.Damon, who is the author of the book “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker” and a co-founder of the blog Very Smart Brot...2022-08-1830 minInto AmericaClimate Denial is RacistAs climate change fuels an increase in natural disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, and extreme heatwaves, the threat is not evenly distributed. Black Americans are more likely to live in areas that are more flood-prone, hotter, and have worse air quality. They’re also less likely to have access to life-saving measures like air conditioning. And even though President Joe Biden’s new $369 billion climate agenda has passed the senate after Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kristen Sinema finally got on board, the United States has done little to address the climate crisis in recent decades, especially as Republ...2022-08-1131 minInto AmericaThe Gen Z Midterm TestBlack Americans have long been one of the most loyal voting blocs within the Democratic Party. And Historically Black Colleges and Universities have often served as an important site for Democratic campaign outreach. As the November 2022 midterm elections approach, what is this new generation of young, Black voters looking for in their elected officials and what are the issues that matter most to them?This week, Into America’s Trymaine Lee travels to Atlanta, Georgia to talk with students and recent graduates from Spelman, Morehouse, and Clark Atlanta about what it’s been like living through these past fe...2022-08-0431 minInto AmericaBuffalo’s Road to RecoveryTops Friendly Market has now re-opened in East Buffalo, two months after a white supremacist walked into the supermarket with guns blazing. Motivated by previous racist attacks and the false and insidious“great replacement theory,” the shooter live-streamed his killing spree, during which he took the lives of ten members of Buffalo’s Black community. The victims included parents, the elderly, a beloved community activist, and the security guard who died shooting back.Tops closed down for months, dealing another blow to the hard-hit community. For years, Tops was the only supermarket in an area that’s otherwise...2022-07-2134 minInto AmericaIt's Not Supposed To Happen HereLance Stevens was standing outside his home in his calm Indianapolis neighborhood with his mother, Kim Tillman, as she dropped off the two young grandkids from a weekend at her house, when a stranger with a gun changed their lives in an instant. Lance was shot in the leg and another bullet grazed the side of his head, while his mother received the brunt of the gunfire: she was shot in the chest and armpit, and her arm and cheekbone were shattered. After decades of decline, gun violence has spiked since the pandemic. Experts told Int...2022-07-1441 minInto AmericaTo All My SonsThere’s a prevailing narrative within our society when it comes to Black men, one which was spelled out in detail more than fifty years ago, but which continues to sit right at home in our country’s family of stereotypes about Blackness. The narrative goes that Black men don’t stick around to parent the children we father.Shaka Senghor is out to change that narrative. His most recent book, Letters to the Sons of Society, is written as a collection of letters to his own two sons, born twenty years apart. Shaka’s oldest son grew up...2022-07-0729 minInto AmericaGet Your Freaknik On“Freaknik in many ways is what Woodstock was for white people,” explains Dr. Maurice Hobson. Hobson is an historian at Georgia State University and former Freaknik attendee. Freaknik was a legendary street party that started in Atlanta back in the early 80s. For more than 15 years, young Black people from all around the country flooded the parks and streets of Atlanta every third weekend in April. There was dancing in the middle of the streets, step shows, and concerts with rap stars like Outkast, Goodie Mob and Uncle Luke.“It was the perfect storm. You know, it...2022-06-3037 minInto AmericaPride and the Bible BeltSelma, Alabama was at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. It was here in 1965 that Black protesters were chased and beaten during a march that would become known as Bloody Sunday. And today, that fight for Black liberation continues in Selma with Quentin Bell, the executive director of the Knights and Orchids Society, a nonprofit group that supports Black queer people who are facing housing insecurity, healthcare needs, and discrimination.Quentin has been an LGBTQ+ advocate for more than a decade. And as he told Trymaine Lee, “Black liberation means the liberation of all Black people, re...2022-06-2343 minInto AmericaFathers of the MovementMore than ten years ago, Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teen, was fatally shot in a gated neighborhood in Florida while on his way back to their home from a local convenience store. Martin's death -- and his shooter's acquittal -- would go on to spark a new generation of protests and global attention on police and citizen violence against Black people. In the wake of this renewed energy around anti-Black racism, a coalition of racial justice organizations like The Black Lives Matter Network, Dream Defenders, and Black Youth Project sprouted all over the country, signaling a n...2022-06-1622 minInto AmericaENCORE: Big Daddy Kane’s Lyrical Legacy (2021)Before he was Big Daddy Kane, the legendary MC who broke out big in the late 80s, he was just Antonio Hardy, the kid from Brooklyn who heard something new coming out of the turntables at the block party. It was the sound of hip-hop coming of age, and Kane was coming up with it. Soon, he’d be writing his own rhymes and traveling to other boroughs to battle their best MCs.Big Daddy Kane would go on to become one of the most versatile rappers of his day, with hits like “Ain’t No Half-Steppin,’” and “Smoot...2022-06-0930 minInto AmericaSpace to GrieveWhat can we do when the weight of the world becomes too heavy?Amid a gun violence epidemic that’s ravaging communities across the US, attacks on American history curriculums in classrooms, and failures from elected officials to protect voting and abortion rights, American democracy is in crisis. But Michael McBride, a pastor and community organizer, is showing us what a practice of persistence during times of despair can look like. With more than 20 years in ministry, McBride bridges the church and community organizations to work on some of the biggest systemic issues of our time...2022-06-0237 minInto AmericaThe Revolution Will Be DigitizedWhere does the video of George Floyd’s murder fit into the long history of the push for racial justice? Journalist and professor Marc Lamont Hill has just released a new book, co-authored with historian Todd Brewster. Titled Seen & Unseen, the work explores the ways in which technology and visual media have shaped our understanding of race in the past and how they are being used as tools in the fight for racial justice today. The impetus for Hill and Brewster’s book was the murder of George Floyd and the uprising it sparked. Video of Floyd’...2022-05-2633 minInto AmericaHate and Heartbreak in BuffaloOn Saturday, May 14, a white 18-year-old drove to a supermarket in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, N.Y., and killed ten people in a racist attack. The gunman was alone, and reporting has revealed that he allegedly posted a manifesto with racist theories and his plans to kill Black people online. Law enforcement officials and the media often describe these kinds of perpetrator as lone wolves. But the work of white supremacy is never lonely. It’s propagated by social media, cable television pundits, and even politicians. And in the wake of this recent extremism, the Bl...2022-05-1931 minInto AmericaPatrisse Cullors on Making MistakesIt’s been almost ten years since the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing Trayvon Martin, sparked the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter in 2013. A year later, the police killing of Michael Brown turned the hashtag into a movement. Then in 2020, the world witnessed the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, and Black Lives Matter exploded into a global phenomenon. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest, and as activists took center stage, people donated millions of dollars to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. But it’s been a turbulent ride. I...2022-05-1251 minInto AmericaMy Dad, Rodney KingThis week marks the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, also known as the LA Uprising. Before the uprising, tensions in South L.A. were at an all-time high from years of untamed police abuse, gang violence, and strained relations between the Black and Korean American communities. In 1991, a Black teenager named Latasha Harlins was shot and killed by Korean storekeeper Soon Ja Du after she accused Harlins of stealing a bottle of juice. Around the same time, the Black community was also stunned by the video of four white police officers brutally beating Rodney King. A y...2022-05-0533 minInto AmericaHow Basquiat Earned His CrownJean-Michel Basquiat was an iconic American artist who rose to fame in the downtown New York City cultural scene of the late 1970s and early 80s. By 18-years-old, Basquiat had already begun spray-painting tantalizing texts on the walls of lower Manhattan under the pseudonym SAMO. In the years to come, Basquiat would transition from street tagger to gallery artist, taking the world by storm. Today, Basquiat’s legacy looms over us, larger than ever. His images and symbols grace Uniqlo t-shirts and Tiffany & Co jewelry campaigns. In 2017, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s powerful 1982 painting of a skull was purchased for $110.5 million, beco...2022-04-2840 minInto AmericaLouisiana’s Last Black OystermenDown on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, there is a small, close-knit Black community named Pointe à La Hache. There, oyster harvesting is a culture and a heritage that has been passed down for generations. But decades of storms, natural disasters, oil spills, and racist policies have threatened this way of life. Now, the state’s coastal restoration plans could end it. According to experts, Louisiana loses more than a football field of its jagged coastline every 100 minutes. This leaves coastal communities at risk from rising sea levels, and cities like New Orleans more vulnerable to storms. To fight back, the s...2022-04-2136 minInto AmericaIs Black Crypto Freedom? Or Fad?The racial wealth gap in this country between Black and white Americans is vast. Centuries of violent theft and racist policies mean that white families have, on average, eight times the wealth of Black families. But a sizeable number of people, like Lamar Wilson, the founder of Black Bitcoin Billionaires, say there’s a new way to help close this gap: cryptocurrency. There are even cryptocurrencies made by Black people to benefit the Black community, like Guapcoin, run by technologist Tavonia Evans.But while some people see freedom and opportunity, others, likeDr. Jared Ball of Morga...2022-04-1438 minInto America(Not) Chasing Oscar GoldThis past weekend’s Oscars ceremony was one for the history books. There was, of course, the smack seen around the world. But beyond the most salacious headline of the night one fact stood out: this was the Blackest Oscars ceremony the world has ever seen.Two of the night’s three hosts – comedian Wanda Sykes and actress Regina Hall – were Black women. All the young people handing the winners their trophies were HBCU students. And for the first time in its history, the show was produced by an all-Black producing team, led by FAMU alum Will Packer.2022-04-0129 minInto AmericaBlack in the USSRAs Russian forces advanced from the east during the war in Ukraine, they faced unexpectedly fierce opposition from the Ukrainian military and civilian population. And as fighting intensified, many in its path fled west. But as people fled, not everyone was the given the same opportunity to seek refuge. In the middle of a war zone anti-Black racism reared its ugly head, with reports of people from the African diaspora facing racist treatment at the Ukrainian border. In the eastern city of Sumy, home to a large contingent of international students, Black folks were beaten off of tra...2022-03-1731 minInto AmericaThe Re-Freshed Prince of Bel-AirIn March of 2019, Morgan Cooper dropped a video on YouTube that quickly went viral. It was a short film that he made as a passion project, after he was struck with a flash of inspiration: What if the 90’s classic The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air were updated for the 21st century? Within 24 hours of posting his project online, Cooper got a call from Westbrook, the production company owned by Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith. Will Smith had seen the video, liked what he saw, and wanted to know what Cooper’s plans were. In short order, Smith flew Coope...2022-03-1047 minInto AmericaSista SCOTUSDuring the Democratic primary of 2020, then-candidate Joe Biden made a historic pledge: given the opportunity, he would nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. With the announcement of Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement earlier this year, President Biden had an opportunity to fulfill that pledge. And he delivered. After weeks of speculation in the media, and comments from the right, Biden announced Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as his pick. Before a candidate was even named, members of the right began crying foul, pre-judging the eventual nominee as an “affirmative action” pick. They contended that, because Biden w...2022-03-0333 minInto AmericaReconstructed: The Book of TrayvonTrayvon Martin’s hoodie was never supposed to end up in an exhibit on Reconstruction at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. But then the 17-year-old boy was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida, by a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, while carrying nothing but a cell phone, a pack of Skittles, and a can of iced tea. Kidada Williams, a history professor at Wayne State University tells Trymaine Lee that she sees a clear through line between Reconstruction and Trayvon Martin. “The way he was targeted for minding his own business, t...2022-02-2455 minInto AmericaReconstructed: Keep the Faith, BabyOn June 17, 2015, a white extremist shot and killed nine Black people in the Mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina as they gathered for a bible study group. This wasn’t the first time Mother Emanuel had been attacked. Church historian Elizabeth Alston tells Trymaine Lee, that in the 1820s, white people burned down Mother Emanuel in retaliation over a failed slave rebellion. For years, the congregation was forced to meet in secret. But through all the violence and backlash, the Black congregants relied on their faith, and during Reconstruction, they rebuilt. Mother Emanuel’s hist...2022-02-171h 02Into AmericaReconstructed: In Search of the Promised LandIn 1865, General William Tecumseh Sherman asked a group of African Americans in Georgia what they needed most to start their new lives as free people. The answer: land. This led to Sherman’s order that every Black family in the region receive 40 acres, and an Army mule if they liked. It was a promise the government decided not to keep, but where the government failed, the newly freed made their own way. In the second episode of Reconstructed, Into America continues its deep dive into Reconstruction, collaborating with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Americ...2022-02-1051 minInto AmericaReconstructed: Birth of a Black NationOne question has plagued our nation since its founding: will Black people in America ever experience full citizenship? In searching for an answer, Into America is collaborating with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture for a series on the legacy of Reconstruction. We tour the museum’s Make Good the Promises exhibit with co-curator Spencer Crew, who helps use artifacts to bring the history of the era to life. Over four episodes, ‘Reconstructed’ will explore how after the Civil War, Black Americans gained citizenship and political power, planted roots and formed communities on newly acquired...2022-02-0354 minInto America“The Sun Rises in The East”In 1969, a group of young Black educators and students in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn founded a pan-African organization called The East. They wanted to take control of their community but knew the only way to do that was to create businesses and institutions founded by, run by, and made for them. The East became a mecca of Black pride and celebration. They created schools centered around African teachings, a food cooperative, a publishing house, music and dance programs, and a world-famous jazz club. Even though the organization no longer exists, many can still feel the spirit of The Eastin Central Bro...2022-01-1330 minInto AmericaThe Far-Right Isn’t All WhiteThe rioters on January 6th were overwhelmingly white and male. But sprinkled throughout the mob were several Black people and other people of color. In fact, a Black man who organized the January 6th “stop the steal” rally. It was from that rally’s podium that then-president Donald Trump exhorted his followers to take their grievances down the street to the Capitol building. And Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, one of the most prominent far-right groups at the Capitol that day, describes himself as Afro-Cuban. These are just two Black voices in a far-right movement that has become i...2022-01-0717 minInto AmericaThe Face of Anti-FascismIt’s been one year since a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC. They were attempting to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential election win by preventing theCongressional certification of his victory. As the attack on the Capitol unfolded, people on the internet immediately began to identify rioters and widely share details about them. Many of the rioters were fired from their jobs or even arrested. This practice is called doxxing. And using it to chase down far-right extremists became popular through a man named Daryle Lamont Jenkins.Jenkins is a self-described anti-fascist and the...2022-01-0629 minInto AmericaTake a Look, it's in a (Banned) BookJerry Craft’s graphic novel New Kid has won multiple awards, made the New York Times Best Sellers List, and is beloved by children across the country.But this year, New Kid made headlines for a different reason when a Texas school district pulled the book from its shelves after a white parent complained that it promoted Critical Race Theory and Marxism. Craft was surprised. The story is based on his own experiences as a young Black kid attending a mostly white private school in New York City. “I had to Google Critical Race Theory and try to find out how...2021-12-2331 minInto AmericaLe Petit Problème NoirIn the 1920s, Josephine Baker escaped the violent racism of in the United States to seek refuge in Paris, like so many other Black American creatives have done over time. Baker found that France welcomed her, and the freedom she found there helped her become an international sensation in dancing, singing, and acting. Baker eventually became not only a French citizen but a decorated hero in the French Resistance during World War II. She also continued to speak out against racism in her home country, and was the only woman on the official speakers list at the 1963 March...2021-12-1635 minInto AmericaRev. Sharpton, Ben Crump, and the Pursuit of JusticeLooking back on 2021, it felt like maybe Black Americans got closer to knowing justice.In April, Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd. And the day before Thanksgiving, three white men were found guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. But 2021 wasn’t all about victories. Last month, a jury in Wisconsin cleared Kyle Rittenhouse of multiple homicide charges after he shot and killed two people at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020. Rittenhouse, who says he brought a semi-automatic rifle to the protest to “protect property,” successfully argued that he fired his weapon in self-defense...2021-12-0931 minInto AmericaEbony & IvyAlthough Harvard is one of the Blackest Ivy League schools, Black students still make up just 11 percent of the student body. Many Black students at Harvard experience a level of culture shock when they first arrive to such a historically white space. There’s the whiteness of the university today, but also the institution’s connection to slavery and white supremacy. This culture shock can be doubled for Black students who trace their lineage to enslaved people in this country, often called Generational African Americans at Harvard.Even though the university has started an initiative to address and unders...2021-12-0234 minInto AmericaA Word from the Nap BishopWhen Tricia Hersey was in seminary school, she was exhausted. On top of classes and homework, she had a job and a child. She often wouldn’t get to sleep until 2am, and her grades were suffering. Then, one day, as she was researching histories of enslaved people and Black liberation, she had an idea: instead of running herself into the ground, what if she took a nap instead? That decision turned into a practice of rest in her own life, and then Tricia started sharing it with her community. Soon, her seminary background and her work on res...2021-11-2530 minInto AmericaChanging the Narrative, with Nikole Hannah-JonesThe 1619 Project was a career-defining moment for New York Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones. Released as a standalone issue of the Times Magazine in August 2019, the project sought to reframe the American narrative, linking our country’s founding to the arrival of the first enslaved Africans on the shores of Virginia.When the project was initially released it was widely praised as a much-needed corrective to a white-washed version of American history. But there was also pushback from the likes of then-President Trump and Fox News. And some of that pushback was downright nasty.This week, Pe...2021-11-1830 minInto AmericaThe Forgotten POWIn the first year of the Iraq War, seven soldiers were captured and held prisoner by the Iraqi forces for 22 days. Two of them were women. One was Private First Class Jessica Lynch, whose story of heroism was praised in national headlines when she returned to America. The other woman was Specialist Shoshana Johnson, America’s first Black female prisoner of war. Except you might not remember her. The two women are friends, and both risked their lives for this country, suffering significant injuries. But the national spotlight on Lynch’s story left Johnson’s heroism overlooked and unr...2021-11-1146 minInto AmericaJustice4GarveyIn the early 20th century, the Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey led the largest movement Black people in the world. Through his organization, the Universal Negro Improvement Association, Garvey preached about the great history of Black culture and called on Black people around the world to unite to create an “Africa for Africans.”But like so many Black leaders, Garvey's fame and power during his lifetime attracted enemies in the white establishment, including J. Edgar Hoover, who was a young agent at the precursor to the FBI. Hoover felt threatened by Garvey, and by 1923, under murky circumstances, Garvey was convicted of...2021-11-0427 minInto AmericaBoston is Blacker Than You ThinkBoston maintains a reputation as one of the most racist cities in America, despite its long abolitionist history and image as a bastion of East Coast liberalism. And in many ways that reputation is well-earned. From the city’s staggering racial wealth gap, to its violent backlash against school desegregation in the 1970’s, to racial epithets hurled at Black athletes to this day, there’s plenty of evidence to back up the assertion that Beantown is racist. But often left out of the conversation are the voices of Black Bostonians themselves. Writer, historian and Boston native Dart Adams is on a mission...2021-10-2827 minInto AmericaJazmine Sullivan’s Fight Against Breast CancerBET’s Album of the Year winner Jazmine Sullivan is one of the biggest names in R&B music, but her world stopped back in 2019 when she found out her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Sullivan turned from singing, to taking care of her mom. And over time, she started learning about the racial disparities with disease, like the fact that Black women in the US are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women.Since then, Sullivan has been using her platform to start conversations about health with her fans; and she’s partnering...2021-10-2120 minInto AmericaInside a Texas Abortion ClinicOn August 31st, Marva Sadler stood outside the Whole Women’s Health abortion clinic in Fort Worth, Texas, and vowed to help as many people as she could before the end of the day. Along with a small staff, Sadler and a physician performed 67 abortions before midnight. The next day, the nation’s strictest abortion ban went into effect. The law, known as SB-8, bans nearly all abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected, typically around the sixth week of pregnancy, before most people know they are carrying. SB-8 is facing multiple legal challenges, but its authors designed it to stan...2021-10-1429 minInto AmericaThe Tax Auction BlockWith its luxury resorts and golf courses, Hilton Head, South Carolina, is a popular vacation hotspot. But the island is also home to the Gullah Geechee; descendants of formerly enslaved West Africans who have owned land on the island since their ancestors were freed. However, every year Gullah Geechee families are in danger of losing their land to investors at Beaufort County's tax auction. If a family falls behind on its property taxes, the land goes up for auction; and that can happen for as little as a few-hundred dollars in back-taxes. On this episode of In...2021-10-0731 minInto AmericaLocked in HellTwo things are true. Texas is one of the hottest states in the country and climate change is real. Yet, Texas is one of thirteen states that do not have universal air conditioning installed in their state prisons. As climate change gradually makes the state hotter, prisons are forcing their staff and inmates to endure extreme temperatures with little to no relief. LaQuita Davis, now released on parole, was one of those inmates at Lane Murray women's prison in Gatesville, Texas.It was there that she noticed it getting hotter in the prison. That led to many unbe...2021-09-2338 minInto AmericaCelebrating Black FashionAs a Black girl in Detroit, Tracy Reese loved making her own clothes and attending the famed Ebony Fashion Fair with her mother. Today, she’s one of the most well-known designers in fashion. Michelle Obama, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Oprah Winfrey have all worn her designs. But getting to this level wasn’t easy. Reese is part of a long line of Black designers influencing the fashion industry, while navigating a world where they’re often underrepresented and marginalized. But Black designers, creatives, and brands have still found ways to break through the industry and pus...2021-09-1633 minInto AmericaThe Black Firefighters of 9/11Every September 11th, people across the country commemorate the emergency service workers and countless civilians who were lost on 9/11. This includes the Vulcan Society, an organization of former and active Black firefighters in New York City, who gather at a memorial every year to remember the 12 Black firefighters who lost their lives. But many Black firefighters and the families of these fallen heroes feel these men have been overlooked and unrecognized. On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Trymaine Lee speaks with Kevin Maynard, whosetwin brother Keith was one of the firefighters killed that day. Kevin, who now wor...2021-09-0937 minInto AmericaRace and Education in an American SuburbOver the past few decades, families have flocked to the affluent Dallas suburb of Southlake for its top-rated school system. But beneath the manicured lawns and gleaming fountains lie something Black families call “Southlake’s dirty secret."Less than three years ago, two videos of white Southlake teenagers saying the N-word went viral within a few months of one another. The videos prompted an outpouring of stories from Black parents and students, detailing their own experiences with racism in Southlake. For a time, it seemed like the town was united in taking action to confront the problem. The...2021-09-0235 minInto AmericaThe Essential Kerner Commission ReportIn the 1960s, America burned. Black communities’ frustration against racist policies, economic isolation, and police brutality spilled into the streets in cities across the country.Hundreds were killed, many by police, and cities like Newark and Los Angeles were left with tens of millions of dollars in property damages. In 1967, shortly after the uprising in Detroit, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced the creation of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, to investigate the causes of the protests. It would become known as the Kerner Commission, for its chair, Governor Otto Kerner of Illinois.The panel...2021-08-2631 minInto AmericaBig Daddy Kane’s Lyrical LegacyBefore he was Big Daddy Kane, the legendary MC who broke out big in the late 80s, he was just Antonio Hardy, the kid from Brooklyn who heard something new coming out of the turntables at the block party. It was the sound of hip-hop coming of age, and Kane was coming up with it. Soon, he’d be writing his own rhymes and traveling to other boroughs to battle their best MCs.Big Daddy Kane would go on to become one of the most versatile rappers of his day, with hits like “Ain’t No Half-Steppin,’” and “Smoot...2021-08-1929 minInto AmericaFreedom in the Final RoundDewey Bozella was 18 years old when he was arrested for murder. It was a terrible crime: an elderly woman had been beaten and suffocated in her home in Poughkeepsie, New York. But Dewey had nothing to do with it. Five years later, Dewey was convicted on flimsy, circumstantial evidence, and became one of the estimated tens of thousands of innocent people stuck in prison for crimes they did not commit.Black people are overrepresented in that group: they are seven times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than whites. Before he was locked up...2021-08-1231 minInto AmericaDon’t Mess with Texas Voting RightsTexas State Representative Senfronia Thompson remembers when her grandparents had to save pennies so they could pay a poll tax in order to vote. Congress passed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965, which outlawed Jim Crow restrictions like literacy tests and poll taxes designed to keep Black Americans from voting. But 56 years after President Lyndon Johnson signed that landmark legislation, Representative Thompson has found herself in the middle of another heated battle over voting rights. This year alone, after Donald Trump falsely claimed he lost the 2020 election due to voter fraud, Republicans in 18 states have passed at l...2021-08-0526 minInto America8 Mile 4 LifeSometimes discrimination is systemic. Sometimes it’s emotional. And sometimes, it’s made of brick and mortar. The Eight Mile Wall in Detroit, also known as the Birwood Wall and the Wailing Wall, was built in 1941 to separate Black and white residents in what is now known as the Wyoming neighborhood. Erin Einhorn is an NBC News national reporter based in Detroit. She recently teamed up with Olivia Lewis, a reporter and editor for the local nonprofit newsroom Bridge Detroit to outline the creation of this half-mile-long wall, financed by one of the city’s most prominent families, and...2021-07-2225 minInto AmericaRighting the Wrongs of the War on DrugsEd Forchion, also known as NJWeedman, was a casualty of the War on Drugs, incarcerated on weed charges at the end of the 1990s. Across the country, Black people were disproportionately harmed by the War on Drugs, and in New Jersey, the ACLU found that even in the last decade, if you’re Black you’re 3.5 times more likely to be arrested for weed. But now, voters have opted to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. And the move raises the question of whether and how Black people will benefit from this change. Since 2015, Ed has operat...2021-07-1535 minInto AmericaThe Quiet Power of PreservationWhen Brent Leggs started as a preservationist with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2005, his first big project was to restore Joe Frazier’s Gym in Philadelphia. The late boxing champion’s former building was being turned into a discount furniture outlet. Brent and his colleagues knew the space had the power to tell a story of Black achievement and history, so they worked to restore he gym as a symbol of community pride. Brent is now the Executive Director of the Trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The Fund was launched in 2017 with the goa...2021-07-0827 minInto AmericaBlack and BlueAfter George Floyd’s murder, police departments across the country faced criticisms of systemic bias and a failure to reflect the communities they patrol and so they worked to enact reforms. But diversifying efforts have been underway for years inside the Miami Police Department. Roughly a quarter of all officers in Miami PD are Black, which is a much greater percentage than the city’s overall Black population. Over the past year, Black officers have been pushing for even more reform within the department, from the top down. One of those officers is Sergeant Stanley Jean-Poix, President of the...2021-06-2440 minInto AmericaBlack Joy in the SummertimeIn a world where being Black and free are not always congruent, Black folks in America have always found ways of escaping the strictures of this country’s racial boundaries. In the summer, that meant leaving town, with kids getting sent South to visit relatives, road trips to safe swimming holes, and some heading to historically Black summer havens like Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and Idlewild in Michigan. These Black Edens drew generations of upwardly mobile Black people who were shut out of white America during much of the 20th century. And wh...2021-06-1029 minInto AmericaBlood on Black Wall Street: Excavating the Past100 years ago this week, a white mob burned down Tulsa's Greenwood District, a bustling business district. For decades, the government refused to acknowledge the Tulsa Race Massacre ever happened.Only now, 100 years later, is an effort is underway to identify mass graves in Tulsa. Trymaine Lee visits a mass grave site with Kavin Ross, a local journalist, activist, and descendent of victims of the massacre. But even as Black Tulsa has fought to unearth the truth and recover the remains of their ancestors, those efforts have been met with resistance and silence from many white Tulsans...2021-06-0343 minInto AmericaBlood on Black Wall Street: What Was Stolen100 years ago this week, the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma experienced one of the worst incidents of racial violence in this country’s history when a white mob laid siege to the prosperous Greenwood district. Greenwood was known as “Black Wall Street,” a nickname given by Booker T. Washington, for the number of wealthy Black families and Black owned businesses.In less than 48 hours, from May 31 to June 1, 1921, the community was destroyed. Death tolls are disputed, but 300 Black people are believed to have been killed. Thousands were left homeless, and generations later, families are still struggling to recover their l...2021-05-2745 minInto AmericaCan You Hear Us Now? One Year LaterSince the murder of George Floyd on May 25th 2020, America has been reeling from the shock of that initial violent act and the anguish that sent thousands into the streets in protest across the country. And when those guilty verdicts were delivered, some were brought to tears that a black family had finally tasted something close to justice. But one verdict does little to untether America from its roots, some four hundred years deep and growing. Have the past year of protests and the push for reform bent America any closer toward justice for all? Or d...2021-05-2539 minInto AmericaAfter George FloydThe world met Christopher Martin when he testified in the Derek Chauvin trial.Christopherwas just 18-years-old when he accepted a counterfeit $20 bill from George Floyd as a clerk at a Minneapolis Cup Foods. That bill led to a 911 call, and eventually George Floyd’s death.Christopher’s composed yet emotional testimony over his role and his guilt resonated across the country, but his own story is still mostly untold. Christopher opens up to Trymaine Lee about his life before George Floyd, the trauma of that day and how he’s trying to move forward a year later.2021-05-2050 minInto AmericaA Shape-Up and a Check-InBlack men are crying out. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for young Black Americans and our young men are at particular risk. Stigmas, health care access, and social pressures to appear hyper-masculine stop a lot of Black men from getting help. But a grassroots program known as The Confess Project is trying to break this pattern. The group started in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2016, and now trains barbers across the country to act as mental health advocates by equipping them with strategies to listen and respond to the pain of the men they see in their ch...2021-05-1332 minInto AmericaLessons on Warrant Reform from FergusonIt often takes a tragedy to start a conversation around reform in this country. So when two Black men, Duante Wright and Andrew Brown Jr., were killed by police last month as officers were attempting to serve arrest warrants, calls for warrant reform joined the chorus of other demands for change. Last week, Minnesota lawmakers began the process of trying to answer those calls and put forward a bill that would replace arrest warrants with a written warning system for most misdemeanor offenses. Ferguson, Missouri may offer lessons about warrant reform to other cities. Reforming the warra...2021-05-0625 minInto America100 Days of BidenPresident Joe Biden spent his first 100 days in office passing the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, rolling back executive orders signed by former President Donald Trump, and ramping up a massive vaccination program. 140 million Americans now have at least one dose of the vaccine. His approval ratings are generally high, around 53% according to a new NBC poll. Among Black Americans, it’s much higher, a whopping 83%.But alongside those numbers is a promise Joe Biden made back in November, during his victory speech. He said to Black Americans, “You always had my back, I’ll have yours.” Has he kept...2021-04-2927 minInto AmericaA VerdictThree hundred and thirty-one days ago, Derek Chauvin put his knee on the neck of George Floyd for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. George Floyd took his last breath on his stomach, hands cuffed behind his back.His death, captured on cell phone video by 17-year-old Darnella Frazier, sparked a summer of unrest and calls to abolish the police around the country. This week, after a televised trial and around 11 hours of deliberation, the jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of all three charges he faced: second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. It was the first time in Minn...2021-04-2229 minInto AmericaIs It Time to Abolish the Filibuster?The filibuster is one of the better-known bits of procedure in the Senate. It might conjure images of politicians droning on for hours, or simply partisan gridlock, but the rule has an insidious, racial history. Senators have used it as a tool to block civil rights legislation since the later part of the 18th century. But this history isn’t confined to the past. Today, the threat of a filibuster is colliding with a fight over the future of voting rights, as Republicans vow to block a bill called H.R. 1, which expands voting protections for Black folks a...2021-04-1529 minInto AmericaThe Weight of Bearing WitnessIt’s the second week of the trial of former Minneapolis police officerDerek Chauvin, and witnesses of all ages have been asked to recount what they saw on May 25th, 2020, as Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes. Emotions in the courtroom have run high as witnesses have been asked to relive the trauma of last summer. In this episode, Dr. BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, founder of the African American Wellness Institute, a mental health agency in Minneapolis, speaks with Trymaine Lee about the physical, psychological, and spiritual impacts of racial trauma on these witnesses and Blac...2021-04-0831 minInto AmericaThe Daughters of Malcolm and MartinMalcolm X and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. met just one time in life, on March 26, 1964, during Congressional hearings for the Civil Rights Act. The two are often described as opposites, and their styles in the fight for Black freedom were undoubtedly different. But the men had a respect for each other that grew into a deep bond between the two families following their assassinations. Today, Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughters of Malcolm X, and Dr. Bernice King, the daughter of MLK, share a birthright of inherited activism that few others can understand. They each run their fa...2021-04-0130 minInto AmericaJustice for Black FarmersTucked inside the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill signed by President Biden on March 11, 2021, is $5 billion worth of aid to help Black and disadvantaged farmers. The American Rescue Plan includes $4 billion to erase debt for any farmer with an outstanding loan that involves the USDA. And an additional $1 billion dollars has been planned for training, technical assistance, and legal aid... all aimed at helping farmers of color acquire and maintain land, after decades of discrimination from the USDA.Eddie Lewis III is a 5th generation sugarcane farmer from Youngsville, Louisiana. He and his brothers farm the land their a...2021-03-2532 minInto AmericaWithout Water in JacksonIt’s been a month since an historic winter storm hit Jackson, Mississippi, leaving tens of thousands of residents without clean water, or without any water at all. Most of those residents were Black. Four weeks later, much of the capital city still has to boil water to drink. Eighty-two percent of the residents in Jackson are Black and nearly a third live in poverty. Over the past several decades, the city has not had enough money to fix its dilapidated water system.State lawmakers, whose leadership has always been white, are debating how to addre...2021-03-1824 minInto AmericaJury System on TrialThis week, jury selection began for the trial of Derek Chauvin, a former police office charged in the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last summer.Juries hold tremendous power in our legal system. They determine who lives, who dies, and who goes free. The right to a jury of our peers is enshrined in the Constitution, guaranteeing us all the right to a “speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.” And yet, juries in America remain overwhelmingly white, even in cases with Black victims and defendants. The Equal Justice Initiative found that white juries spend less time...2021-03-1130 minInto AmericaThe Vaccine GapBlack Americans have been among the hardest hit by the coronavirus, but they aren't being vaccinated at the same rates as white Americans. Black people are receiving fewer than 7 percent of total vaccine doses, despite representing more than 13 percent of the population. This gap is often based on mistrust of the medical establishment, but there is more to the story. Issues of access mean many folks who want the vaccine, can’t get it.Janice Phillips tells Trymaine Lee she has been trying to get the vaccine for her 103-year-old mother for months. She and her mother live...2021-03-0424 minInto AmericaHarlem On My Mind: Abram HillIn the final installment of Harlem on My Mind, Trymaine Lee learns about the legacy of playwright Abram Hill, who used his work to center Black characters, Black audiences, and Black communities unapologetically.Abram Hill co-founded the American Negro Theater in 1940, operating a small 150-seat theater from the basement of Harlem’s Schomburg Center. The American Negro Theater, also known as the ANT, would become a launch pad for stars like Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier, even as Hill’s name was largely lost to history.Trymaine tours the Schomburg Center with chief of staff Kevi...2021-02-2543 minInto AmericaHarlem on My Mind: Arturo SchomburgInto America continues its Black History Month series, Harlem on My Mind, following four figures from Harlem who defined Blackness for themselves and what it means to be Black in America today. The series begins when Trymaine Lee acquires a signed print by Jacob Lawrence titled “Schomburg Library.”The Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture is based in Harlem, but its roots are on the island of Puerto Rico with a little Afro Puerto Rican boy named Arturo Schomburg. Determined to collect a record of Black history that could tell us who we are and where we’v...2021-02-1132 min
Into AmericaInto More Than a Coach: John ThompsonMen’s basketball coach John Thompson, Jr was one of the greats. In his 27 seasons as the coach of the Georgetown Hoyas, he built a weak team into a powerhouse. Under his leadership, Georgetown won seven Big East titles and made it to the Final Four three times, even bringing home a national championship in 1984. He was the first Black coach to win the title. During his tenure, Thompson coached Hall of Famers Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, and Allen Iverson. But he’s most remembered for the man he was off the court. Thompson was wide...2020-09-0324 min
Into AmericaInto 2020 with Stacey AbramsStacey Abrams has been making a very public case for why she would be a strong running mate for the Democrats’ presumptive nominee, Joe Biden. She’s not shy about her desire to serve, why she believes her experience is relevant, and whether Biden should choose a woman of color for the ticket. As the founder of Fair Fight, a national organization to ensure voting rights, Abrams told us that regardless of whether she’s on the ticket, she wants Georgia and states across the country to take steps to ensure safe elections this fall. In thi...2020-04-2821 min
Into AmericaInto Dirty AirBlack Americans are dying from COVID-19 at a disproportionally high rate. One of the reasons why is proximity to pollution. In St. James Parish, Louisiana residents have been fighting for decades to stop industry-related pollution that causes a high prevalence of cancer, hypertension and other diseases. Those health disparities are now making residents a target for COVID-19. St. James and neighboring St. John the Baptist Parishes are among the 20 U.S. counties with the highest per-capita death rate from Coronavirus. Host Trymaine Lee interviews Sharon Lavigne, a community leader and lifelong resident of St. James...2020-04-2325 min