Make It Plain MIP with Rev. Mark Thompson

Jean-Luc Pierite, Director of the North American Indian Center in Boston and member of the United American Indians of New England, shares with us in today’s episode about the National Day of Mourning, which is an annual celebration that seeks to educate people on the myths of Thanksgiving and raise awareness of the ongoing struggles that Native Americans are still facing today. In addition to the...

Protecting yourself and your loved ones from COVID-19 this holiday season goes way beyond good handwashing skills and masking up. Dr. C Debra Furr-Holden, Epidemiologist and Associate Dean for Public Health at Michigan State University and Dr. Shanina Knighton, R.N., Infection Preventionist, Clinical Research Scholar at Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, are...

Closing arguments are happening today in Ahmaud Arbery’s murder trial, as the prosecution seeks justice through the conviction of father-and-son duo Travis and Gregory McMichael, as well as their neighbor William Bryan Jr.. Attorney Barbara Arnwine, who is also the Founder and President of the Transformative Justice Coalition, has been working with Ahmaud’s family and their community since the beg...

In 2002, Julius Jones was wrongfully convicted of murdering Paul Howell. Last week, on the day of his scheduled execution for a crime he did not commit, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt commuted the death sentence just four hours before he was set to die. It is a victory that Julius’s life has been saved, but now the work continues to free him from prison. Pastor Mike McBride, Founder of Live Free US...

Led by the League of Women Voters and People for the American Way, Mark joined forces with protestors in Washington D.C. to demand President Biden FIX OR NIX THE FILIBUSTER. You’ll hear one-on-one conversations with: April Albright, Legal Director and Chief of Staff at Black Voters Matter Fund; Judith Brown Dianis, Executive Director of the Advancement Project; Rev. Tim McDonald, Chair of the Boar...

On Tuesday, Mark spent the day attended the 8th gathering of Black women and allies, brought together by the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation's Black Women's Roundtable and the National Council of Negro Women. We'll hear from two movement leaders and speakers to kick things off: Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation an...

Why is the infrastructure bill significant? Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves says it’s a historic long-term investment for the next five years, giving life to projects like fixing bridges and roads and even expanding broadband access. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com Advertising Inquiries: http...

Yesterday, as President Biden signed the infrastructure bill, protestors and organizers gathered on Capitol Hill to point to the crucial legislation that also needs passage: the Build Back Better Act. Mark teamed up with Poor People’s Campaign Co-Chairs Rev. Dr. William Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis to call for immediate action on the Build Back Better legislation. You’ll hear from protesto...

The fact is, we won’t be seeing the last of COVID-19 anytime soon. That’s one of the several truths dropped in today’s episode with Dr. Sandro Galea, epidemiologist and Dean of Boston University’s Robert A. Knox School of Public Health, and author of his new book “The Contagion Next Time.” Not only can we expect to see more of the coronavirus, but we could see stronger, more deadly strains. But th...

If you believe in and support reparations: the time is now. Your help is needed in contacting House leadership to let them know. Dreisen Heath is a Researcher with Human Rights Watch and Kennis Henry is Chairperson of NCOBRA Legislative Committee, and in today’s episode, they give us the exact steps you need to take to get involved, including a super easy website that allows you to send an email d...

Markos Moulitsas, Founder of DailyKos and Civiqs, is here for his weekly installment of #ThursdayKos to do a postmortem on the election in Virginia. Markos lays out the questions the election posed: will trump voters turn out if he’s not on the ballot? Will suburban college-educated white women go back to the republican party? Will the Democratic base turn out? And according to Markos, we got our...

Dr. Ray Winbush is the Director of the Urban Research Institute at Morgan State University and author of the book “Should America Pay?: Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations.” He has been working within the reparations movement for decades and in today’s episode, he and Mark discuss the latest in getting H.R. 40 passed, as we are now the closest we’ve ever been in advancing reparations legi...

It's that time again! Chad Stone, Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, is back for his monthly installment of breaking down the latest jobs report, giving us way more detail than the top-level numbers, helping us understand the depth of where our economy stands. Chad maps out the recovery we’ve made so far since the COVID-induced recession, and he also gives us a refr...

Sheryll Cashin is a Professor of Law at Georgetown University and has committed to writing extensively about inequality and race relations in America, which is currently culminating in her latest book, “White Space: Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding in America.” She talks with Mark today about the caste system that was created to contain Black and Brown people--though they are not the only ones ens...

Mark teams up with Danielle Moodie, fellow DCP Entertainment broadcaster and Host of WokeAF, to bring you our first episode of our crossover series “Make It Effing Woke.” On the first Friday of every month, Mark and Danielle will bust open the day’s biggest stories, combining their powerhouse truth-telling to “make it effing woke.” And in our first episode, the question is: why the heck did we try...

Access to healthcare can be the determining factor in life or death, which is why it is critical to get coverage. Open enrollment has begun at Healthcare.gov and Chiquita Brooks LaSure, Administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, downloads us on the details of how to get signed up and why you can expect more low-cost options than ever before. SIGN UP FOR HEALTH INSURANCE HER...

Students at Howard University are protesting the living conditions in some campus dormitories, saying the mold, mice, flooding, and other subpar conditions are making students sick. So around 150 students have occupied Blackburn University Center on October 12th and have not left, demanding the school’s administration address their concerns. Mark joined up with Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Dr. WIll...

Gaby Goldstein is Co-Founder of Sister District, an organization with the goal of putting progressive power in state legislatures. Gaby joins today to discuss the governor’s race happening TODAY in Virginia--so if you live in the state, it’s your time to get out and vote! And if you know someone, it’s your job to give them a call to make sure they’re hitting the polls. Gaby acquaints us with the c...

What is the connection between the Virginia governor’s race, Toni Morrison, and Mark Twain? Those are the ties made in today’s conversation with James Henry Harris, Distinguished Professor of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology and a research scholar in religion and humanities at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. He’s also author of the book “N: My Encounter w...

Dan and Casey Dalton are siblings and co-founders of Evidence and Ocean Grown Extracts, companies committed to raising awareness and funds to free people who are jailed for cannabis-related offenses. Dan joins the show today to discuss the mission and function of Evidence, which is housed in a renovated jail in Coalinga, California. They transformed the 77,000 square foot prison into a full-fledge...

Yesterday on Capitol Hill, the Poor People’s Campaign, led by Co-Chairs Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, gathered to demand action from the two senators who are now infamous for standing in the way of progress: Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. On this Moral Witness Wednesday, Mark spoke with leaders and constituents on the ground who want to know why Manchin and Sinema are...

Eric Boehlert, Writer and Publisher of Pressrun.media, is tired of the media indulging the anti-vaxxer narrative by producing countless stories about people who will “lose” their jobs if they don’t get vaccinated and their employers are now requiring it. Eric sees mainstream media embracing conspiracy and misinformation, choosing to paint these people as rational humans, instead of people who are...

Senator Joe Manchin has framed President Biden’s Build Back Better plan as “entitlement;” so this past weekend, Mark joined forces with the Poor People’s Campaign, led by Co-Chairs Rev. Dr. WIlliam J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, to show Joe Manchin exactly how much HE is costing the state he is supposed to represent. In today’s episode you’ll hear from both leaders and residents of the s...

Natalie Cofield is the Assistant Administrator for the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Women’s Business Ownership, and she joins the show with exciting news to share: a new Women’s Business Center has opened in Tulsa, OK, making it the 139th center across the country. These centers seek to provide resources to help women entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. And beyond what...

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg takes time to talk with Mark about the vast benefits of the Build Back Better plan, which stands to create jobs and make lives healthier and more enriched, and also addresses issues of environmental and racial injustice. We then get to hear from leaders of congress who commemorated 10 years since the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. was erected next to th...