The Breakdown with Shaun King

Hundreds of micro-factors impact what makes a home safe. A neighborhood. A community. A side of town. An entire city. But NOTHING impacts the safety of a place like the health of its economy. The economy is the single biggest factor impacting public safety in America. When a home, a block, a neighborhood have true economic security, crime absolutely plummets. And, of course, the inverse is true. W...

I am HUGE Dave Chappelle fan. I've met Dave. Been to his shows. I am friends with many of his friends. But it is absolutely time for him to move on from telling trans jokes. Here's the thing - in America - we do indeed have freedom of speech. And because of that freedom, Dave can continue to tell trans jokes for this rest of his life if he wants to. And people can protest Dave for the rest of thei...

Did you see the video where the pastor in Brooklyn got robbed at gunpoint during a church service? I don't wish that on anyone. However, the truth is that it's foolish to wear a million dollars worth of jewelry ANYWHERE in public. And it's doubly disrespectful for a pastor in a poor and working class neighborhood to do such a thing. Listen, again, I am not condoning armed robbery, but let me frame...

I get it. Joe Biden is terrible. 82% of Americans don't want him to run again. And he shouldn't. But it is FOOLISH to allow our frustration with him to cause us to stop caring about who our District Attorney is. Or who are Mayor is. Or city councilperson or school board leaders. Don't fall for that trap. We all must be simultaneously frustrated with the President AND fully plugged into important r...

In America, our deepest wounds rarely heal because the wrongs that have been done here are rarely made right. Verbal apologies are rare when it comes to racial injustice in this country, but anyone who thinks a verbal apology is enough is sorely mistaken. Enter Bruce's Beach. This week, the descendants of the original owners of the Los Angeles beachfront property that was stolen from a Black famil...

We all deserve to be safe in our homes, neighborhoods, and communities. And we all want this. But it is NOT police that make communities safe. STOP FALLING FOR THIS LIE. The safest communities in America hardly have police. They have these 3 things...Wealth, access to resources, and quality education from pre-school to grad school. That's ACTUALLY what makes communities safe. Let me unpack and exp...

My blood is BOILING. And I cannot believe that the same sorry ass organization that is still holding millions of dollars that people gave to victims in Buffalo is now holding $14 million for families in Uvalde and REFUSING to distribute it. Please. Whatever you do. DO NOT WORK WITH THE NATIONAL COMPASSION FUND. It is an almost exclusively white organization in suburban Virginia. They either do not...

This weekend, a healthy, vibrant, young pregnant Black woman and her husband went to the hospital in Texas. 24 hours later, both the baby and the mother were dead. Now her children are without a mother and her husband, Brennon, is without a wife. And what we know, is that pregnant Black women all over the country are having HORRIBLE struggles with their pregnancies at rates far worse than white wo...

On most episodes of The Breakdown, I come here to inform you of one important idea or issue going on in the world, but today I have one VERY important question...Budgets are moral documents. They show values and priorities. And almost every developed country in the world, and many developing countries for that matter, fully fund education and healthcare, from birth to death, but not here in Americ...

I know what OJ did. You know what OJ did. We all know what OJ did. That's very different than him going on CNN and openly admitting to it. In essence, that's what former US Ambassador and National Security Advisor John Bolton did yesterday on CNN when he openly admitting to overthrowing governments around the world. We always knew this about the United States, but now a living official is on the r...

A brand new poll was just released showing 64% of Democrats do NOT want Joe Biden to run for President again. That's a DEVASTATING number and should immediately cause other Democrats to prepare and announce that they are actually going to run in 2024. Conservatives, from Trump, Desantis, and more already have those wheels in motion. On today's episode of The Breakdown I will unpack and explain thi...

On today's episode of The Breakdown, I just want to pause a little and reflect on my self-care journey. I'm no guru or master, but for the past 3 years I've been working very hard to figure out what it means to actually take care of my mind, body, and soul. Two things first come to mind for me: boundaries and therapy. I'll tell you why those things were ever a struggle for me and what embracing bo...

Nearly 2 months ago, a long range Israeli sniper shot and killed beloved journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, an American citizen. Nearly a dozen different newspapers and media companies conducted exhaustive investigations and all came to the exact same conclusion - she was shot and killed in cold blood by the Israeli military. The United States, though, has chosen to ignore all of the facts from those i...

Mass shootings, gun violence, and police violence are so prevalent in this country, EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE WEEK, that if I had to name just one thing to describe the actual reality of this place, it would be "violence." And yesterday, which was the 4th of July, was as quintessentially violent as any other day, with a mass shooting literally interrupting a parade outside of Chicago and other event...

What police did to this young brother, firing 90 shots at him, riddling his body with bullets from head to toe, is something almost exclusively reserved for young Black men. Because what I know is that white mass murderers aren't treated like this. Period. And Jayland had never been in trouble a day in his life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After 67 years, an unexecuted arrest warrant for the woman that helped get Emmett Till lynched has been found. And I have SO many questions. This much I am clear on. Arrest this woman, RIGHT NOW. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I've heard hundreds of horrible stories in the 20+ years I've been fighting against mass incarceration, but this story, which of course comes from Florida, might be the single most outrageous and dubious scheme I've ever heard to keep Black men behind bars. At worst it was entrapment. At best it's evil white supremacy at work. Listen to today's FULL EPISODE only on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or at T...

We knew 2 months ago that it was all but a sure thing that Roe v Wade would be overturned and that millions of women would lose their civil and human rights as a result. Joe Biden and The White House had MONTHS to prepare for this moment. Months. And instead they've offered a few badly delivered words and a bunch of fundraising emails in response to it all. Guess what conservatives did? They passe...

On today's episode of The Breakdown I will not only confront the ugly and racist myths and stereotypes about Black fathers in America, I will tell you how we can support Black fathers on the journey to recovering from losing their children to police violence in America. Thank God many groups are already supporting the mothers. They need it. But along the way, the fathers have been forgotten and th...

As you may know, we are going through some cool changes and testing out some new options for the future of The Breakdown podcast and we need all of our listeners to PLEASE complete this quick survey. The link will be in my bio on Instagram until Sunday night or you can go directly to: https://forms.gle/SeABuvGARcx9oSbP6And yes, if you already completed the earlier survey, we still need you to comp...

Right now, potential candidates for the Democratic and Republican nominations for President of the United States are all working through what it's going to look like for them to run for the nomination. Privately, teams are being formed, decisions are being made, and the waters are being tested. On one end, dozens of Republicans are considering whether or not they run - regardless of Trump's role i...

Prices of EVERYTHING have exploded all over the country and for everyday people you are now having WAY more month than you have money. From gas prices, to food, and everything in between - everything is rising EXCEPT WAGES. Today I want to unpack and explain what's ACTUALLY happening. They call it inflation, but what I really see is price-gouging and corporate profiteering. Let's talk about it. Af...

Better late than never? Maybe. But the new congressional hearings that are underway on the January 6th white supremacist insurrection are too little, too late. Conservatives have moved completely on. That door is closed altogether. And the truth is, I think 90% of Americans have as well. It's sad and crazy to say that. People waited. For weeks. Then months. Then seasons. Now years. And life is har...

This makes my blood boil. Even though millions of dollars was given to GoFundMe to support the families of victims in Buffalo, an organization thousands of miles away, that has nothing to do with Buffalo, is lording over the money and is saying it might be as late as December before anyone gets it. This organization should never be allowed to do this again. Had we all known better in the moment, w...

We're at the point now where mainstream moderate Democrats like Congressman James Clyburn are calling out Merrick Garland. Garland MAJORS in failing to meet the moment - with the attack on the Capitol, with confronting white supremacy, and with confronting police violence. He never should've been the nominee, but the best we can hope for is that he will step down soon and pass the work on to someo...