Rethinking Freedom

Words are cheap in October. Records are evidence. In this episode, host Aya Fubara Eneli goes to the record of Ken Paxton, Greg Abbott and the MAGA movement, and follows the money behind them: Elon Musk’s $158 million, the West Texas oil billionaires, and the voucher megadonors. Then she examines what this agenda means for Black people and for working-class, low-income and disenfranchised communit...

Whose Freedom? Whose America? | Rethinking Freedom with Aya Fubara Eneli 16,292 refugees were admitted to the United States this year. 16,287 came from South Africa, overwhelmingly white Afrikaners. Five came from the rest of the world. Five. A viral post says “I didn’t vote for Trump, I voted for America,” then lists the freedoms it believes are being protected: free speech, secure borders, the S...

In 1862, Robert Smalls was enslaved. Thirteen years later, he was a member of the United States Congress. Reconstruction was the closest America had ever come to a democracy for all of its people. Black men voted, wrote new state constitutions, and won office by the hundreds, building public schools that served Black and white children alike. Then, in 1874, a midterm election, a bad economy, a tir...

Data centers are coming to Texas fast, and they need massive amounts of land, water, and power. Who decides where they go? Who pays when your electric bill rises? And who will speak for your community when the deals are made? On this Indigenous Peoples' Day episode of Rethinking Freedom, host Aya Fubara Eneli sits down with Amelia Rabroker, candidate for Texas House District 55, and Justin Ea...

In this episode of Rethinking Freedom, attorney Aya Fubara Eneli traces the legal history of race in America from colonial Virginia in 1662, through the 15th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, to the Supreme Court’s 2026 voting-rights ruling, racial gerrymandering, and the fight over Black political power today. From slave laws to voting maps, the issue has always been bigger than one el...

Trump threatened to "annihilate" Iran from the UN podium. Lula said "Brazil does not fit into anyone's backyard." What the rest of the world said back at the 81st UN General Assembly, and why it matters to you. Premieres Monday, September 28, 2026 at 7:00 AM Central Aya Fubara Eneli is joined by Adesoji Iginla, host of Africa News Review on the Adesoji Speaks Knowledge You...

Educator and biblical scholar Gilbert Richards joins young thinker Kene Eneli for an intergenerational conversation about God, Christianity, and faith. Together, they wrestle with the contradictions within Christianity and explore what it means to understand and practice faith as men of African descent. Support the show

In one week, three moments in Black history — 68 years apart — collide on the calendar. The Civil Rights Act of 1957. The Little Rock Nine. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. All three come back to the same fight: who gets to vote, who enforces that right, and who has tried to violently stop it. That fight isn't history. It's happening in the U.S. Senate right now. In this episode o...

US elections 2026: Your vote connects the fight over district maps to decisions about schools, healthcare, and your family’s future. So what’s at stake—and what can you do before November 3? In “The Vote Is a Weapon,” Rethinking Freedom host Aya Fubara Eneli examines Texas gerrymandering, voting rights, and the policy decisions shaping everyday life. She connects the headlines, examines the record...

Texas book bans, school vouchers, and the Ten Commandments in every classroom — this is the fight for the future of Texas public education, and it's happening right now in Bell County. Vouchers. The Ten Commandments in every classroom. A Bible-infused curriculum. School chaplains replacing licensed counselors. And now, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick threatening to strip a full letter grade off any scho...

What does success actually look like for our children — and how do we help them get there? In this episode of Rethinking Freedom, host Aya Fubara Eneli sits down with three powerhouse guests to dig into what it really takes to set our kids up for academic success: not just good grades, but a genuine curiosity and love of learning. We cover:  ✅ How parents actually define "success" — and...

Who failed our kids, and what will it take to fix America’s education crisis? In 2024, 70% of U.S. fourth graders scored below proficient in reading. For Black fourth graders, that number rose to 84%. This is bigger than test scores. It is a crisis in Black education, literacy, parent involvement, public schools, student accountability, and community responsibility. In this episode of Rethinking F...

He spent 49 years in prison for something the state never wanted the country to fully understand. Now he's telling the whole story. Our Black August episode hit 17,000 views in 48 hours — because this history isn't just history. It's still happening. So we went back for the conversation the moment demanded: a full sit-down with Jalil Muntaqim. At 16, he joined the Black Panther Part...

What is Black August, and why has it become one of the most significant traditions of remembrance and resistance in the Black freedom struggle? In this special episode of Rethinking Freedom, I explore the origins of Black August, its historical roots, and why it continues to be commemorated around the world. We examine the lives and sacrifices of those whose struggles helped shape this tradition a...

What does it mean to get into “good trouble” in today’s America? In this episode of Rethinking Freedom, we examine recent federal and Texas legislation and the real-world consequences these policies have for millions of Americans. From voting rights and education to healthcare, the economy, and civil liberties, we explore how laws passed by elected officials shape our daily lives and determine who...

What does it mean to truly come home? In this episode of Rethinking Freedom, we sit down with Nannette Atuahene — the first in her lineage to be born and raised in the United States — who made a permanent move from California to Ghana in 2022, returning to the homeland of her parents. As we mark this 250-year moment for African Americans, we explore freedom not just as a legal status, but as recon...

Most of us were taught that segregation in America happened by accident - that it was simply the result of personal prejudice or private choice. It wasn't. It was the law. In this episode of Rethinking Freedom, part of our summer series The Other Side of Freedom: USA at 250, host Aya Fubara Eneli sits down with Richard Rothstein, author of the landmark book The Color of Law: A Forgotten Histo...

We were taught to stand for the anthem, place a hand over our heart for the pledge, and treat July 4th as the day freedom began. But who wrote these symbols — and who were they actually written for? In this hour-long special, we read the entire Declaration of Independence out loud, start to finish, before breaking down what it actually says, what got cut from early drafts, and who it left out enti...

We're taught that American democracy was built on liberty and self-governance. But what if it was actually built on two erasures at once — the enslavement of African peoples and the dispossession of Indigenous nations — happening together, by design? In this episode of Rethinking Freedom: The Other Side of Freedom, part of our USA at 250 summer series, we sit down with historian Dr. Kyle T. M...

In this episode of Rethinking Freedom, part of our summer series The Other Side of Freedom: USA at 250, we sit down with historian Dr. Cynthia E. Orozco, author of No Mexicans, Women, or Dogs Allowed: The Rise of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement — the first scholarly history of LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens. Dr. Orozco is the National LULAC Historian and Professor E...

Juneteenth began in Galveston, Texas, but the story beneath June 19, 1865 is deeper than most Americans are taught. This week on Rethinking Freedom, I sit down with Anthony Paul Griffin — attorney, writer, and author of The Water Cries — for a powerful conversation about memory, justice, and what it truly means to be free. For over three decades, Griffin tried high-profile cases that tested the li...

What if the American Revolution was not simply a struggle for liberty and independence? What if preserving slavery was one of the driving forces behind the break from Britain? Join us on Rethinking Freedom as we continue our special summer series, The Other Side of History: America at 250, with renowned historian, author, and scholar Dr. Gerald Horne. In this thought-provoking conversation, we exa...

THE OTHER SIDE OF FREEDOM (Part 2): UNTOLD HISTORIES OF THE U.S. AT 250  | Featuring E.R. Bills  As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, whose stories are celebrated—and whose stories remain buried beneath the surface of official history? In part 2 of our discussion, host Aya Fubara Eneli sits down with acclaimed Texas journalist and author E.R. Bills to discuss his gripping book, T...

THE OTHER SIDE OF FREEDOM: UNTOLD HISTORIES OF THE U.S. AT 250Summer Series Kickoff | Featuring E.R. Bills As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, whose stories are celebrated—and whose stories remain buried beneath the surface of official history? In this powerful kickoff episode of Rethinking Freedom’s summer series, The Other Side of Freedom: Untold Histories of the U.S. at 250,...

What happens when Black political power begins to rise in America? History gives us the answer: Backlash. In this explosive episode of Rethinking Freedom, host Aya Fubara Eneli sits down with community activist Dr. Rodney Duckett to expose the long history of white resistance to Black political advancement — from Reconstruction to Jim Crow, from voter suppression to modern redistricting battles ha...