The Breakdown with Shaun King: Recent Episodes

Shaun King

Join Shaun as he unpacks the most important stories of injustice, racism and corruption, but also tells you who's fighting back and how you can support and join them with practical action steps.

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As you likely saw, the 5 Memphis Police Officers who murdered Tyre Nichols have all been fired and charged with his murder. Obviously, charges aren't convictions, but this is progress.

With a brand new police chief and a brand new District Attorney, local voters and organizers in Memphis need a lot of credit for how all of this went down.

What hundreds of police departments and DA's offices have said for generations that simply could not be done, or would take years, Memphis did in days.

And it has truly created a new model not just for the speed of it all, but the true compassion and humanity shown by the police chief and DA.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

In all my life, I don't think I've ever shared or bragged about a statement from the police. They are almost always terrible, inhumane, and full of nothing but what we call copaganda designed to protect police.

But last night, Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis, in the shadows of the brutal murder of Tyre Nichols by officers in her department, Chief Davis not only fired the 5 main cops involved, she has made it abundantly clear publicly and privately that everything about what those cops did was absolutely horrible.

I just want you to listen to her entire statement today and see it as a model for what's possible with policing in America. It would be best, of course, for Tyre to be alive, but this is what accountability and humanity should look like.Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Mass shootings are now MORE American than apple pie. 300% more Americans have been shot and killed since the start of the war in Ukraine than Ukrainians have been killed in the war.

That's how violent this place is. I know it's our home. But 40 mass shootings in 25 days? How is this sustainable? And what do we do?

Because we are the only nation in the world that has more guns than people. And it's not even close. And as long as we have a staggering 400 million guns (and growing) in circulation, the mass shootings, and all of the other gun violence appears like it will be here to stay.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun (edited)

Yet again, in this brutal place we call the United States of America, another Black man has been beaten to death by police.

Yesterday, family and attorneys saw the body camera footage and said that Tyre was beaten worse than Rodney King. They said it was like they were beating a human piñata.

And it's all so outrageously exhausting. We've already marched and protested and demonstrated and the best thing I can compare this country to is an abusive spouse. That clearly doesn't love or respect us in any way.

I know the District Attorney in this case and our staff @RealJustice helped get him elected. We believe he will do right by this family.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

The moment Joe Biden was elected, I had very little expectations that he'd do much about the issues of police violence and mass incarceration. He was already damn near 80 years old and hadn't done much of anything good about those issues his entire life.

But when he appointed Merrick Garland, a bland, moderate, conservative white man who has always lacked the courage for bold moves on police violence and mass incarceration, it was clear that those things were not true priorities for Joe Biden Biden.

And here we are, in year 3 of their administration, and next to nothing has been done. A few cases have been prosecuted here and there, but the 2 cases the DOJ most famously filed charges for, of the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, had literally already been successfully prosecuted in Minnesota and Georgia.

I've formally submitted lists of HUNDREDS of cases from the 1950s until today and this DOJ continues to ignore them all.

Listen, it's not that I'm surprised, but I am frustrated and disappointed that we continue to get damn near the same shit on issues of police violence no matter who we elect.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Let me give you my answer right off the top - YES! Because of the growing scandal with Joe Biden having classified and even TOP SECRET documents all over this house and offices, a window has opened up for some Democrats to do something that rarely happens - challenge a sitting President from within the party for the nomination.

Beyond the fact that Joe Biden would be 82 years old when he would start the next Presidency, this classified document situation has weakened him and damaged the entire party.

Before this current scandal, it seemed highly unlikely that anyone would challenge Biden for the nomination, but I'm hearing a ton of chatter behind the scenes now that 2-3 candidates might go ahead and announce they are running anyway.

I hope they do. What do you think?

Let's talk about it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Yes, I'm serious. The State of Florida, under the leadership and legislation of Ron DeSantis, just banned African American Studies from being taught in public schools.

This is actually a DEEPLY disturbing setback. It's not just racist and foolish, it's dangerous. It's a sign of where this country is right now - and a grave sign of where we are heading.

Let me unpack and explain it all.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Alright. I didn't plan on talking about this, but I have to. Most people who see this monument see two sets of arms and hands embracing each other. And it's based on a beautiful photo of Dr. King and Coretta embracing each other after he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

But other people swear they see a hand holding a penis. And it's true, that from one angle, if you are already thinking that, it's hard to un-see it.

Let me unpack and explain it all.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

I'm a HUGE Dr. King fan and follower and have been for most of the past 30+ years. But this year, for the first time in a long time, I found myself with the time and space to reflect on how this nation honors (or dishonors) Dr. King on his birthday year after year.

Don't get me wrong - I am nothing but glad to see Dr. King honored at this time every year, but part of me has grown to think that we are no longer actually honoring Dr. King, but this nation is, instead, creating a bland, toothless, colorless caricature of the man and forcing it on all of us.

Dr. King was a revolutionary. The man had more courage in his pinky toe than most of us have in our entire body. He spoke truth to power. And this nation hated him for it.

I saw a few things yesterday that made me sad and certainly a bit frustrated.

Let me unpack and explain it all.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

To celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we are re-running one of our most popular episodes that highlights a lesser-known side of the civil rights hero. The words and legacy of Dr. King have been reduced and sanitized in so many ways. Today Shaun King plays 5 very special audio clips of Dr. King that you have likely never heard before and breaks down why they are so very important.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Yesterday, like tens of millions of Americans, I saw the brutal police murder of 31-year-old Keenan Anderson, by the LAPD in broad daylight.

Keenan, like so many Black men before him, was unarmed and non-violent. At most he needed medical attention. Instead, he was Tasered to death.

And we continue to see this, with new names and faces, but the same story of police violence, because this country just barely tinkers with policing when the entire system would actually need to be completely overhauled in order for us to see something totally different.

It can be done. But so far not even one single large American city is willing to drastically overhaul how policing is done there. And so we continue to be the only developed nation in the world that does this, day after day, year after year, to its citizens.

Let me unpack and explain it all.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

My People. My People. Please let me teach you an important lesson today. I've already learned it and it took me far too long to accept.

Politicians and political parties make HUGE mistakes. They even do evil shit. All of them. And the moment you are unwilling to believe this truth is the moment that you've been duped. ALL OF US must be willing to look at both Democrats and Republicans with a critical lens. Because both parties deserve critique. And if your favorite party or politician cannot withstand some criticism then they aren't worth following.

It's happening right now with Joe Biden. Dude clearly made a huge political mistake. And it is already being weaponized. The sooner you accept this, the better.

Let me unpack and explain it all.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Well, this is a HUGE mess for Joe Biden and for his DOJ.As you may have heard, classified, TOP SECRET documents were just found in an old office Joe Biden was using before he became President.

But Democrats don't even seem to care...at all. After all of the outrage about Trump, I don't think I've seen a single prominent Democrat speaking out about Biden doing the SAME EXACT THING that they called for Trump to be arrested and prosecuted for.

Let me unpack and explain it all.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

For me, this news is devastating. And I take it personally, because above all else, it means that in spite of our best efforts to reduce the number of people killed by police, what we are doing is just not working.

Listen, I don't even think that we have been wrong for fighting to hold police accountability and change policies on the city, county, state, and federal level, but what he must conclude is that our combined efforts to curb police violence have effectively failed. Have we had a few important victories? Of course.

But the problem we've aimed to solve simply has gotten worse and we must ask ourselves that hard questions about what this means.Let me unpack and explain it all.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

As you no doubt saw - conservative Brazilian supporters of their recently ousted President, Jair Bolsonaro, inspired by the January 6th insurrection 2 years ago in the United States, just attempted to take over the Congress, Supreme Court, and Presidential Palace in the Capitol of Brazil.

Almost 2 years to the day, under almost identical circumstances, these conservatives attempted and failed the same foolishness that we saw right here in the US. And here's the thing - it looked so similar, because they were literally coached by American conservatives. And several things need to happen immediately.

Jair Bolsonaro, who is an open bigot, should be deported/extradited BACK to Brazil. The man is literally hiding out in Florida - which is simultaneously wild and makes perfect sense at the same time. Of course he would travel to the home state of Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis to hide. But the United States has an extradition treaty with Brazil and should send him right back home to face the consequences for what he caused.

Secondly, an immediate investigation needs to be launched into the American conservatives that coached Brazilian conservatives through all of this. They openly admit, publicly and privately, that they've been telling Brazilians exactly what to do to undermine faith in their elections and in their democracy. And Brazil should charge them - so that they can also face the consequences for what they just caused.

Let me unpack and explain it all.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

As you may know, nearly 20 ultra conservative members of Congress are doing something that we have not seen in America since before the Civil War. They are REFUSING to vote for the Speaker of the House nominated by most of their party.

They’ve literally had 12 different votes and they refuse to budge. They want a long list of concessions and even prefer for Kevin McCarthy to step down altogether. And here’s the thing, it only takes 5 of them to block this vote. They have the numbers.

Now, I loathe these 20 Republicans, but this strategy they are employing already happens all over the world. And we should study and use it ourselves all over the country. Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Now, let's be real, the NFL, and it's good 'ol boy network of owners, are not known for doing the right thing, or the compassionate thing, when it comes to its players. But to be real - I don't even think it's safe for them to play this weekend.

I damn sure know it's not safe for the Bills to play this weekend. Those men are traumatized. Their brother is fighting for his life in the hospital and they literally watched him die and be brought back to life on the field.

But it goes beyond the Bills, and even the Bengals - players all over the league have said publicly that they have not been able to sleep and that seeing what happened to Damar Hamlin has traumatized them as well.

Simply push the games forward one week. It won't delay the Super Bowl. Just give these players time to process this.What do you think?

Let's talk about it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

This week I learned that Amber Carr, the sister of Atatiana Jefferson, who is just 33 years old and has two young sons, has been told that she may not live until this weekend. Her heart is failing and it has impacted every other organ of her body.

It was Amber's own son who was in the room playing video games with Atatiana when she was shot and killed. And in the months that followed Atatiana's mother and father both died. It's too much. It's too much for heart, mind, body, and soul. And over and over again I've seen entire families impacted by police violence experience a horrible ripple effect that had a devastating impact that goes far beyond the initial victim.

Today, let's all chip in and do everything we can to support Atatiana's family. They need our help.

Let's talk about it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Happy New Year my friends. It's good to be back. But as sports fans, and just good citizens, it's a painful day after what can only be called a catastrophic near death experience that happened on live TV last night.

Damar Hamlin, a young defensive player for the Buffalo Bills, went into cardiac arrest after a hard hit, and appears to have basically died right there on the field until he was finally resuscitated with CPR and other techniques.

It is, perhaps, the most brutal moment for football - in a long list of brutal moments, but it also became a moment where Americans, even rival football fans, put aside their differences to pray and hope for the life of a young man that they most likely had never heard of before.And suddenly, we were no longer looking at a football field, but we were looking at mortality, at life, at death, and so much more.

Let's talk about it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.Love and appreciate you all.Shaun

Happy holidays everybody! For the next few episodes, we're going to be playing some of our greatest hits. This is one of them.

Every day I see people rightly ask why more "good cops" don't speak out on police violence. Well - today I'll show you why. This brave officer posted his professional opinion about the murder of George Floyd - and just got fired over it.

Happy holidays everybody! For the next few episodes, we're going to be playing some of our greatest hits. This is one of them.

Today I want to share a painful, personal story about a lesson that I learned about organizing for change as an outsider and organizing for change as an insider. In the winter of 2014, I found myself in a deep funk after failing in so many fights for families fighting for justice. And I got a call from The White House that forever changed the way I saw my role in this movement. I wanted to speak like and lead like Malcolm, but have the access to rooms of power and privilege like Martin. It didn't work. Let me unpack and explain how that informs almost everything I do as a leader today.

Happy holidays everybody! We will be playing some of our most downloaded episodes for the next few days. This was released the day after Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed three men, two fatally, during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin back in August of 2020.

Last night in Kenosha, Wisconsin armed white supremacists literally worked directly with local police, sharing water and refreshments, and strategies with them, before they murdered two people and injured another

Happy holidays everybody! For the next few episodes we're going to be playing some of our greatest hits. This is one of them.

The United States does not have one justice system or one legal system. We often talk about changing the system, but in reality, we have 30,000 micro systems. Each micro system has its own set of rules, laws, and politics, which is simultaneously great news in our fight to change the status quo, as well as horrible news. Today. Shaun breaks down what this means.

Happy holidays everybody! For the next few episodes, we're going to be playing some of our greatest hits. This is one of them.

Today I'm going to be a bit nerdy/wonky and talk about metrics, by asking the question "How do we measure success for Black America?" What are the outcomes and numbers we should be able to agree really show whether or not we're moving in the right direction as a people?

Is it home ownership? Is it a college education? Is it the number of people killed by police or incarcerated? Is it wealth?

I can think about 100 things I wish we were routinely measuring and fighting for. But what if we all just agreed on 5-10? What would they be?

Happy holidays everybody! For the next few episodes, we're going to be playing some of our greatest hits. This is one of them.

I'm fighting for it. You are fighting for it. But let's take a moment to define what justice really means for families impacted by police violence and racial terrorism.

Happy holidays everybody! For the next few episodes we're going to be playing some of our greatest hits. This is one of them.

One tool of the oppressor is to throw so much oppression your way that you can't possibly be effective at fighting back any of it.

For most of the past year, I was irritated by white people organizing to ban what they were calling Critical Race Theory, but I am already committed to so many other causes and fights that I just didn't have the time or focus to make that cause my own.

But here's the thing - they aren't actually banning Critical Race Theory across the country. They are banning the truth telling of Black history and American history - all because that truthful telling makes millions of white people VERY uncomfortable.

And they are winning. White people all over the country are, in essence, making their comfort into law. And it's an extremely dangerous precedent. It's not on the way to becoming dangerous. We're already there.

When white comfort becomes law, we should all be very concerned. I'll unpack and explain it.

Hey everybody! I'm taking the next few days off to spend some time with my family and just wanted to drop by to wish each of you well.

I know sometimes this holiday season can be tough if you are suffering through grief or loss. I am praying for your peace and strength and healing.

See you all back here next Tuesday!

PS: If you have not already subscribed to our podcast on Apple Podcast or Spotify, please do today and try to catch up on some episodes you've missed!

Love y'all!

Shaun

In fact, Donald Trump is the least accountable human being in America. But it's his whiteness and his wealth that are at the center of what has effectively been a force field around this man for his entire life.

Going all the way back to the early 70s, Donald Trump and his family have been accused of criminal wrongdoing. And in every single decade since, Trump has been accused of sexual assault, sexual harassment, financial crimes, tax crimes, fraud, and more, but in every decade, he has somehow eluded all accountability.

Today I will explore whether or not that nearly 80-year run of never being held to account for his crimes and wrongdoing is going to finally come to an end.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

That's where we are right now. That's how critical the problem is. It's worse today than it was during the 80s and early 90s. It's setting records. And ravaging families, communities, schools, and cities all over the country.

First, I need us all to accept that it's a complex problem. And that no simple solutions exist. Anybody saying otherwise is either misinformed or lying.

But we've addressed and solved hard problems for generations. This one should be no different.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

After saying for months on end that he wanted Twitter to be the "Town Square of the World" and that he believed in what's called "free speech absolutism" - which is basically the belief that all speech should be allowed all the time - Elon Musk made a deeply disturbing pivot.

After weeks of bringing back conservatives to Twitter that were actually suspended for repeated violations of Terms of Services, Musk began suspending MAJOR accounts from the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, The Intercept, Mashable, and more.

In the entire history of all social media, we've never had a day where accounts like that have been banned. Some people are calling it the "Thursday Night Massacre," and while that may sound harsh, today I want to tell you why I think it's absolutely a sign of things to come on Twitter - and in our country and world.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Trump is struggling. At life. At politics. And, of particular note today, he's struggling IN THE POLLS. Multiple new polls have Trump tanking. And for good reason.

He was like poison to every major candidate he endorsed in the mid-terms. He was seen as such a liability to Herschel Walker, HIS HAND PICKED CANDIDATE for Georgia, that in the final days, the Walker campaign basically told him to stay far away.

The Trump Organization itself was just convicted of multiple crimes. And it's highly possible that he's going to be charged with multiple crimes himself in the months ahead.

But if Trump can't win, I just don't think that Joe Biden is the right candidate to go against someone like Ron DeSantis.

Biden can absolutely beat Trump, but I think he would struggle against most other candidates.

Which puts a lot of candidates, and the Democratic Party itself, in a very weird position. What should they do?

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

This is absolutely infuriating. On Sunday, the New York Times released an explosive new report detailing how thousands of children all over the country are being enrolled into the JROTC without their permission. These kids are literally showing up at school, getting their schedules, and finding out that they've been signed up for the military against their wishes. And it's happening almost exclusively in predominantly Black schools.

Then, when kids and their families request that their kids be released from the program, they are refused. It's all outrageous. And we are learning this just weeks after the American military admitted that kids all over the country are being molested and sexually assaulted by ROTC leaders.

Heads need to roll. People need to go to jail.

And here's what I know. They'd never pull this shit at white schools. Or in rich zip codes. Or at private schools. They are doing this where they thing they will be able to get away with it.I have a lot to unpack and explain.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

This weekend, at an ultra-swanky banquet hall in the middle of Manhattan, white nationalists and white supremacists from all over the world, including US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, gathered together as a sign of solidarity and support for one another.

That fact alone is a disturbing sign of the normalization of bigotry and racism, but Marjorie Taylor Greene said something that is so disturbing, and dangerous even, that it has me truly concerned.

She said, in plain English, that if she had been able to plan the January 6th insurrection that she would've made sure everybody was armed and that it would have succeeded.

Do you understand the gravity of that? What does she mean by succeeded? That they would have kidnapped and executed politicians? That they would've permanently taken over Congress and kept Trump as President. What does she mean?

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

While Republicans were expected to have a blowout in this past month's elections, it didn't quite happen that way. Nonetheless, Republicans will now take over the House next month, which is going to mean that almost any chance of serious legislation passing and getting signed into law is slim.

Today I want to talk about the 3 primary ways that Democrats are going to have to fight for change in 2023. Change can still happen, but it's going to look a lot different.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Hours ago we learned that WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison in a prisoner swap with the United States. This is GREAT NEWS, of course, but today I want to unpack and explain what all of this means.

I have 3 observations and conclusions that I want to share.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

I don't know if I'm more glad that we won't have Herschel Walker in the Senate or that we will have Raphael Warnock in power! That's just how bad Herschel Walker was.

But I see so many lessons that we can take away from what went down yesterday. The one thing I just can't shake, though, is that without the near-unanimous support of Raphael Warnock, and even of Joe Biden for that matter, Democrats wouldn't have any power at all.

Black people are the only ethnic group in America that is expected to have almost 100% support for Democrats. It's literally not that way with any other group in the country. And without that support, Democrats could hardly win a race.

Considering that, I am just not convinced that Democrats have an AGENDA that matches the effort of its Black voter base. Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

I don't remember a single time Herschel Walker opened up his mouth where he didn't embarrass himself. The man is perpetually humiliating.

But today is RUNOFF DAY in Georgia - and if you live there and have not voted yet, please stop EVERYTHING and go vote right now. And if you don't live there, but know ANYBODY who does, please contact them immediately, because this race, in my opinion, is the single most important Senate race of 2022.

Today I'm going to unpack and explain why it matters so doggone much.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Over the past few days I've sat back and observed a WIDE range of opinions being expressed about Deion Sanders leaving his HBCU coaching job at Jackson State for a new position at a struggling predominantly white institution. And I've seen EVERYTHING you could imagine be expressed from what seemed like genuine anger and rage to excitement and encouragement for him - and everything in between.Today I want to unpack and explain my own thoughts on the matter. First and foremost, I'm just glad that he ever chose to spend the past 3 years at an HBCU. And he clearly poured his heart and soul into the program. He was brilliant. Do I wish he would've stayed longer? Sure. But I don't know his long term goals and dreams. Clearly he has other aspirations.

But more than anything, as a super fan of sports, I think what Deion Sanders just did is EXACTLY what every single college coach in sports does. They all promise parents and students and programs that they will be there forever - and eventually they leave for something else. In fact, it happened about a dozen times this past week alone.

I just guess all of hoped Coach Prime would be different. Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

So often, we help families after their loved ones have been killed. THIS IS DIFFERENT.⁣

⁣

We are going to help send HUNDREDS of students from Brooklyn, New York on a life-changing 6-week study abroad experience. ⁣

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We have to raise the funds for passports, flights, lodging, ground transportation, and more. ⁣

⁣

In 2018, Ember Charter School in the heart of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, took over 100 students and staff to South Africa for an unforgettable 6-week study abroad experience. The intention was to repeat this trip every two years to continue to expose our students to the benefits of studying abroad. However, the pandemic interrupted global travel, and now financial constraints threaten to halt the program altogether. We just CAN’T allow this!⁣

⁣

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

As you no doubt heard by now, last week Donald Trump literally dined with one of the single most disgusting bigots in the country. Nick Fuentes is an open racist. This man jokes about the Holocaust and openly calls Black folk the "n word."

It would seem to be a softball for Republicans to denounce Trump meeting with a Neo-Nazi. But they actually can't. Why?

Because CURRENTLY ELECTED members of their own party have BEEN meeting with Nick Fuentes. And to denounce Trump for meeting with him would require them to literally denounce themselves.

Let me unpack and explain it.

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Love and appreciate you all.

My friends. I am not an alarmist or conspiracy theorist. I am a hopeful and optimistic person. But right now, before our very eyes, we are witnessing a truly dangerous normalization and escalation of hate and bigotry in America.

I have studied hate and bigotry all of my life. And before racist violence spikes in a country, the very things that are happening RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW take place. When the former President of the United States who is now running for President meets with a man as despicable as Nick Fuentes - who is one of the single most dangerous racists in America - it's not simply a warning sign of things to come, it's a sign that the normalization of hate and bigotry is already fully underway.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

I don't know how often you've seen me say what I am about to say, but I am very, very concerned about what's coming next.

By now, you've likely seen the photo of Jerry Jones, the owner of "America's Team," the Dallas Cowboys, protesting with other young white men in 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas - in an attempt from keeping Black students entering their school.

It's been confirmed. And what's perhaps most revealing is that I haven't heard a single person shocked by Jerry Jones being in this photo. In makes sense, actually.

And today I will unpack and explain not only my feelings on what this photos means today, 60+ years later, but I want us to talk about the one solution that exists that can help us guarantee something like this never happens again.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Herschel Walker isn't even hiding it. On his 2022 taxes he literally received a tax credit from Texas because he listed it as his primary residence.

I can think of a million reasons for voters in Georgia to not support this man, but now we understand that he's doing the exact same thing that Dr. Oz just tried to pull in Pennsylvania. Oz literally lives in New Jersey and tried to pretend that he lived in Pennsylvania.

And voters rejected it...and Dr. Oz.

This race shouldn't even be close, frankly.

In every measure that matters, including the most basic issue of residency, Raphael Warnock is the MUCH better candidate.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

After being suspended for 8 games, Kyrie Irving has now apologized for sharing a link on Twitter on social media, in print, behind the scenes, face to face, in person, at press conferences, and more.

I don't know if I've ever seen a human being apologize more times, in more ways, than Kyrie Irving has had to apologize. Yet, every chance the almost exclusively white members of the sports media get, they continue to press him for more apologies, more acknowledgements, more contrition, more insight, and it's all WAY TOO MUCH.

Name an athlete or entertainer who has ever been forced to apologize so many times.

And now the hyper-policing of Black speech and Black tweets is expanding to other players. And here's the thing - it has crossed a clear line where this is no longer about fighting bigotry or hatred, to where now it's about making an example of Kyrie Irving.

Let me unpack and explain it.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Listen, I know the world is a hard place. And while the Internet, in some ways, is just a reflection of the world, I see way too many of us being mean as hell online.

I'm not talking about trolls and white supremacists. I'm talking about us. Even in my own comment sections I see way too much hatefulness, and what I would call "casual bigotry" coming from otherwise good people.

I have one simple strategy that I try to live out each and every day that I think could help some of us a whole lot right now.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Trump is running for President. He could win the Republican nomination. But so could Ron DeSantis.

Can Joe Biden beat both of them? I think Biden could actually beat Trump. But I don't think Biden would beat DeSantis?

So who else should run? Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown, CLICK THE LINK IN MY INSTAGRAM BIO, or go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

After they just lost their majority in the Pennsylvania State House in the midterm elections, white conservatives in Pennsylvania just rushed through a vote in the 5 weeks they have left in power, to impeach Philadelphia's duly elected DA, Larry Krasner. It's a catastrophic development.

Larry not only just won reelection in Philly in an absolute blowout, he may have the most support of any elected official in the entire city. And white conservatives that don't even live there are VERY CLOSE to overturning the will of Black voters in Philly - not because Larry is unethical or broke the law, but because they hate what Larry stands for.

This has NOTHING to do with the safety and security of Philly. Those white conservatives don't give a DAMN about the well-being of the city. This is about power, about them flexing the little power they have left, and about them getting a feather in their cap for their base.

But let's be clear. THIS IS A TREND. And it's coming to a city near you. Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown, CLICK THE LINK IN MY INSTAGRAM BIO, or go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Well, the worst kept secret in politics is now out. Donald Trump is running for President.

Today on @TheBreakdown podcast I want to talk to you about how I think he’ll do, who I think will win the Republican nomination, what’s different this time around, how I think Trump would do against Biden, and much much more.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown, CLICK THE LINK IN MY INSTAGRAM BIO, or go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Listen - anybody with an ounce of integrity or decency knows that Raphael Warnock is an infinitely better leader (and human being) than Herschel Walker. It's shameful that we even need to have that discussion. But it's easy for all of us that DO NOT live in Georgia to think that this race doesn't really matter to us.

I could give you 100 reasons why electing Warnock matters to ALL of us, but today I want to give you the #1 reason why I think having him in the Senate literally matters to people in all 50 states. I am not sure if you are aware of what I'm about to tell you. But having him there is going to impact ALL OF US.

That's why I want you to listen to today's FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown. It's FREE.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown, CLICK THE LINK IN MY INSTAGRAM BIO, or go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

I am disturbed. Because if one thing is clear to me right now it’s this… we’ve clearly crossed over into a period where the speech, language, performances, and even social media of Black people are being over-policed in an outrageous fashion right now.

Dave Chappelle’s monologue this weekend on Saturday Night Live was MASTERFUL. Beyond the fact that his jokes were hilarious, he was vulnerable and transparent about the fact that Kanye West is his actual friend and that Kanye West had crossed a line that even bothered Dave.

And instead of embracing the fact that Dave literally called out the problems with saying all that Kanye said, leading Jewish advocacy groups like the ADL simply labeled Dave as anti-Semitic as well.

Here’s the thing - Jewish people have every right to define for themselves what they find bigoted and what they don’t. But we’ve crossed over into a period where it now seems like if someone even talks about their actual thoughts and feelings about something that involves Jewish people, it’s labeled anti-Semitic.

And to be very frank, that is not a sustainable or effective way to combat anti-Semitism. People have to be given space to talk about their own thoughts and feelings on issues like Dave just did without feeling like doing so will cost them their entire career.

To listen to today’s FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “The Breakdown with Shaun King.” Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Ownership is EVERYTHING. And we need to talk about it and do something about it. Because when you dominate in an industry or space that you don't actually own, no matter how gifted you are, you will ALWAYS be at the whims and will of owners.

We see it the NBA and NFL.

We see it fashion.

We see it now at Nike.

We have to be owners in ALL of the spaces we dominate. Let's talk about it.

To listen to today's FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for "The Breakdown with Shaun King." Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Something truly inspiring happened on Tuesday. 2 red states and 2 blues states voted to remove "slavery as punishment for a crime" from their state constitutions - something that should've happened over 100 years ago. Progress can be very slow sometimes.

It's a credit to the amazing grassroots organizers on the ground that these things passed - and it's a sign that bi-partisan support exists for at least a few issues.

However, something troubling was revealed in all of this. In those 4 states - millions of people voted to KEEP SLAVERY as punishment for a crime. They were out-voted, yes, but in Oregon alone, nearly 50% of all voters, over half a million of them, voted to keep slavery.

Like....WTF? I am a student of history - and even I have to admit that I would not have guessed that so many Americans would choose to keep such an abhorrent thing enshrined in the law, but they damn sure did.

Let's talk about how truly insightful this is.

To listen to today's FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for "The Breakdown with Shaun King." Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Listen, it's a RARE day when I have 10 different good news stories to share, but today is THAT day.

Yes, we had a few very tough defeats, but the victories across the country were pretty amazing and actually surprising. We aren't yet sure if Democrats will be able to hold on to the House or Senate, but some AMAZING new leaders were elected to Congress.

Democrats took control of the entire state governments of Maryland, Michigan, and Massachusetts.

Amazing District Attorneys won. Horrible sheriffs lost.

Weed was legalized in more states. Slavery was removed from several state constitutions.

And much, much more!

To listen to today's FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for "The Breakdown with Shaun King." Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the whole podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

It's Election Day. And by the end of the night I expect it will likely be a bloodbath for Democrats from coast to coast. I truly hope I'm wrong, but we're on pace for Democrats to lose Congress, to lose important statewide races, and find themselves back in a familiar place where they control the White House but not much else.

Today I want to unpack and explain why we're here. It didn't have to be this way. But at the end of the day, 4 factors are playing a HUGE role.

1: Conservative voters feel like Republican leaders have kept their promises.

2: Democratic voters could hardly even tell you what Democrats ever promised them, but they know they haven't seen much.

And, on the 2 issues that drive people to the polls the most, voters say they trust Republicans more. That's:

3: The economy and

4: Issues of crime and public safety

To listen to today's FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for "The Breakdown with Shaun King." Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the podcast.

If you are already on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

In 1990, soon after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela traveled to New York, and was interviewed by Ted Koppel in front of over 1,000 people at City College. To start the event off, a man in the audience all but demanded that Mandela denounce Fidel Castro, Yasser Arafat, and Muammar Gaddafi.

On today’s full episode of The Breakdown I’ll play Mandela’s brilliant and timeless answer, where, in short, he tells the man, “You make a big mistake to think that your enemies are my enemies.”

Kyrie Irving is not our enemy. I know this man personally. He is a kind, compassionate, giving, inquisitive soul. He is a dedicated father and son. And I have seen him, time and time again, actually BE THERE for Black people at our time of need. Not just with words, but with resources.

Does that mean I support everything he says or does? Or vice versa? Of course not. I can’t name a single soul on Earth in which that is true for me. I don’t even agree with everything my own wife or mother say or do.

And that can never be the standard.

I’m not here to pit Kyrie and Kanye against each other, but they aren’t the same person and aren’t guilty of the same things. Kyrie has owned his words and actions. And apologized for the ways they caused offense.

Now, I will literally defend the right of Jewish people for that to not be enough for them. That’s their business.

But we simply cannot allow other people to define for us who we cancel and who we don’t. That ends with us having no leaders and heroes.

To listen to today's FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for "The Breakdown with Shaun King." Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the podcast.

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Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

I really, REALLY need you to understand something. The LOUDEST voices about gun violence in Black communities don't love Black people and don't love our communities. They talk about "black on black crime" not because they care about Black people, but as a way to make us look like subhuman.

But their lies are in the way and preventing us from making the progress that I know we can and MUST make. Let me tell you the first 3 lies that we must confront and overcome immediately.

To listen to today's FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for "The Breakdown with Shaun King." Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the podcast.

If you are already here on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe, listen, share, leave reviews, and listen daily to the entire episode. The more of it you listen to, the better it is for us.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun

Earlier today we all learned the horrible news that another brilliant young Black man was shot and killed in America - this time it was Takeoff, the rapper of Migos fame. And it's all clearly way too much. It's an epidemic.

And I see good people struggling to say something meaningful right now. Even more, I see good people accidentally saying the wrong things, but with the best of intentions.

Let me try to offer 4 things that I hope we can agree on when it comes to gun violence in America.

A whole helluva lot is going on right now. In America and around the world. It's overwhelming. Wars. Rumors of wars. Elections. Assassination attempts. And that's barely scratching the surface.

Whenever it gets like this, and it's been getting like this much more frequently lately, a real temptation exists to watch the news 24/7, but I implore you, don't do that. It only makes your anxiety worse.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today's FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for "The Breakdown with Shaun King." Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the podcast.

I am gravely concerned about what Twitter is going to become under Elon Musk, but 2 pretty concrete barriers are in place that I truly believe will prevent it from becoming a haven for racism and bigotry. Musk has called himself a "free speech absolutist" - which means he believes all speech, including hate speech and targeted harassment should be allowed. But that's actually not going to be possible - no matter how badly he wants it to be so.

Let me unpack and explain it.

To listen to today's FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for "The Breakdown with Shaun King." Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the podcast.

No matter what is going on in the world, when voters decide to cast a ballot in election season, two key issues are always on their mind - the economy and public safety. Everybody - from every race and background in America - wants to be safe and wants to know that they have enough money to get them through the month.

And as it stands right now, dozens of polls show that voters currently prefer conservative candidates on the economy and on issues of crime/safety. Why?

Well, it's not because Republicans actually have coherent plans for either issue, but they've done a masterful job at convincing voters that any problem that exists with the economy or crime is the fault of Democrats and Democrats alone.

It's foolish, but if we've learned anything over the past few years, it's that tens of millions of voters vote on feelings over facts. Never mind that the 10 states with the highest crime rates are almost exclusively led by Republicans. Facts don't matter nearly as much in 2022 as they have in years past. It all comes down to what you can make people believe.

To listen to today's FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for "The Breakdown with Shaun King." Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the podcast.

Are you familiar with Rorschach tests? It's where inkblots are shown to people and they are asked to describe what they think they see. And 100 people can see the exact same inkblots and see WILDLY different things.

That's absolutely what I see happening now with Kanye West. How you respond to all that he's said and done now says more about you than it does about him.

Today I want to discuss two VERY different conclusions a lot of people are coming to - and both conclusions seem to be rubbing entire groups of people the wrong way. We need to talk.

To listen to today's FULL EPISODE of The Breakdown go now to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for "The Breakdown with Shaun King." Subscribe there for FREE and listen to the podcast.

Having a thoughtful, mature, and even difficult conversation about who owns and controls the music industry is COMPLETELY POSSIBLE without it devolving in hate against Jewish people that is so ugly that it causes Neo-Nazis to come out of the woodwork.

But Kanye West is not healthy, thoughtful, or mature. And when ANYONE that is unhealthy, immature, and by their own admission - a self-centered narcissist - tries to have a conversation about the role of ANY particular group of people in society - particularly a group they aren't a part of - that conversation has a 99.9% chance of not just being a failure, but causing actual harm. And open Neo-Nazis are now calling Kanye their ally.

And THIS is the repeated M.O. of Kanye West. In the midst of dangerous stupidity, bigotry, and misogyny he might drop a nugget of truth. Trump is the same way.

And Trump supporters are willing to look past the racism and bigotry and misogyny of Trump to highlight the little nuggets of truth - because the dangerous things Trump says, like the dangerous things Kanye says, rarely impact their core audience. So they just put blinders on and keep being dangerous.

I hope you list to today's episode of The Breakdown before commenting on it.

I've been feeling this way. As taxpayers and citizens of this country, we are right to demand that this government - on the local, state, and federal level, do right by us. No telling where we'd be if we didn't fight and force our government to do the right thing.

But I've grown to think that far too much of our energy and attention is spent making demands of the government. I'm not saying we stop making those demands or stop fighting for people that actually care about us being in elected office. Those are worthy fights.

But we MUST MUST MUST spend more of our time, energy, intellect, skills, and resources on building our own systems, structures, strategies, and institutions - that we own and control.

Can you imagine what we could build and accomplish if HALF of all of us dedicated our lives to building and funding our own solutions?

That's what I want to see and work on for the rest of my life.

In spite of all of the attention, and all of the pressure we've put on local officials to take Kastellio to the hospital - they continue to refuse to do so and his condition remains dire.

Our team @GrassrootsLaw set up a hotline that we need YOU to call immediately. When you call, I will be on the line to talk you through everything and then I will transfer you to local officials on the case.

The number is: 334-605-8572.Let's keep on pushing and demand that he gets the emergency medical care he needs and ultimately gets released from prison to the care of his family. This man is no threat to anyone and the prison clearly has no intention on taking care of him.

When an argument is completely based on a lie or a false premise - nothing else you say in defense of it matters. I needed to preface what I am about to say with that.

Of the hundreds of millions of people that demanded justice and accountability for the brutal murder/lynching of George Floyd, I don't think a single person fought for him because he was our hero. I never heard anyone say this. I never heard about anyone saying this.

We fought for George Floyd because he was a human being that was killed, in broad daylight, in one of the single most depraved and inhumane acts in modern American history. We fought for George because he was a victim and because he did not deserve a single thing that happened to him.

I did not care then and do not care now if George Floyd struggled with drugs or alcohol. In fact, it breaks my heart for him even more - because it means he was denied the chance to overcome his struggles in his own time - which I am sure he would have.

Nothing anyone can ever say about George Floyd will EVER make me feel like his life wasn't worth fighting for. NOTHING.

All Black Lives Matter to us.

And I can think of nothing more despicable than trying to tear down the humanity and memory of a man that already died such a horrible death.

For my ENTIRE life I have said that we need schools that are for us, by us, but to this day we have so few schools in America that have Black and Brown founders AND leaders.

@EmberCharter in the heart of Brooklyn IS THAT SCHOOL.

And I’m pushing all of my chips in to back and support this beautiful community. If you haven’t already, check out the video about the school on my IG page.

And listen to the students for yourself. It’s special.

I’m struggling to think of an example where we’ve seen almost every single stakeholder on the left, from radical activists all the way to the moderates at the White House all agree on one single political idea…That the racists on the Los Angeles City Council need to resign immediately.

We saw some HUGE coalitions emerge in 2020 around convicting people for crimes against Black people. But when have you seen more people, from more backgrounds, all agreeing on one single political point like what we are seeing right now?

It’s RARE. A unicorn. It almost never happens.

But we must study it. Because it’s an example of what can happen when the left - and I mean the whole left - young, old, all religions, races, orientations, ethnicities, backgrounds, and more, comes together.

It's Wednesday, and the 3 overtly racist members of the Los Angeles City Council remain in office - clearly refusing to resign. Today I want to unpack and explain at least 2 reasons why I think this is the case. More than anything, I think they are studying the new playbook for politicians from both parties when caught in scandal - which is to WEATHER the storm and refuse to resign.

And I think these 3 members of the city council are digging in their heels for 2 key reasons.

They need the job - and the income, benefits, and power it provides them. And are betting that they can outlast the outrage.
They know that they are safer, legally, if they are still ON the council, where they have 3 important votes and access to any information or investigations launched by the council. It's the same way that Donald Trump knew he was safer as long as he was still in office.

Over the weekend audio clips were released that revealed the OVERT anti-Black racism of Los Angeles City Council members Nury Martinez, Kevin de Leon, and Gil Cedillo. All 3 of them must resign immediately or be removed. Another person involved, a local labor leader, has already done the right thing and stepped down.

We have a lot to talk about here - because what their disgusting racism reveals, is that we have very narrow definitions of WHO is racist in this country.

When most people think of racism they think of racist white people. Who are likely conservatives. And maybe in the Deep South. But that is a very narrow way to see racism in this country. Let's be clear - a lot of racism comes from those groups, but that's not all of it.

These 3 city council members are prominent members of the Democratic Party. And they are Latinos.

Let me unpack and explain it.

I see hundreds of you asking me, and others, to simply ignore Kanye. I get it. I wish it was that simple, but when someone that influential, spouts so much foolishness across social media and cable television, a public critique is required.

What I have learned across 25 years of public leadership is that harmful public rhetoric has to be confronted publicly - as an act of public education.

Let me unpack and explain it.

This is my first time every saying his name here on the podcast, but DAMN Herschel Walker is a hot mess. Like...that's even an understatement.

It's not just that he doesn't have any experience - he also doesn't have any integrity, honesty, ethics, or decency. Or wits. I don't want to blame everything on CTE, but the man can't answer a simple question on most days.

His entire family begged him not to run. He was physically violent with women and threatened to kill them at gunpoint. His own son called him a liar with no morals. He says he is against abortion but apparently has been paying for them on the side....So - HOW IN THE HELL does this man still have the support of 44% of voters in Georgia?

Kareem is a legend. Period. Which is why you won't find LeBron James and other elite Black athletes that Kareem continues to fire harsh critiques against - firing them back - which is probably the right thing to do.

But for me, it's sad to see. Instead of being a mentor, advisor, coach, or confidante, Kareem has decided to use his platform to blast young Black athletes - often with over-the-top critiques.

Yesterday he went viral for saying that every corporation and sponsor that works with Kyrie Irving should drop him and that people should call and write those sponsors and demand they drop Kyrie?

It's too much, frankly. Because for all the criticisms he might have of Kyrie - he overlooked that he is literally one of the single most generous athletes in all of sports and has consistently spent millions of dollars to support people impacted by police violence and racial injustice.

And when you dig a little, you learn that he doesn't even know any of these guys and hasn't made an attempt to get to know them.

I just hope that when I'm an elder - I take the advisor and mentor approach instead of the grumpy old man path.

From the plantation until today, this country has ALWAYS made room for Black people who are willing to do the bidding and work of white supremacists. ALWAYS.

And more than anything, it gives moral and emotional cover for racist and bigoted white people to feel comfortable about their own racist ways. It's a strategy that is literally hundreds of years old. And while 99% of Black people never opt for these roles, 1% of Black people take the self-hating bait and then bask in the protection they then receive from operating with the adoration and approval of the worst white people in our midst.

That's where Kanye is right now. And it's where he's been for a long time.

And it's not as simple as ignoring him. I have to say what I am about to say again and again - either hip hop culture is CRAZY influential in the world - and it actually influences people good, bad, and ugly - or it's not that influential and we can end this conversation.

The truth is that hip hop is SUPER influential in the world. And when that influence is used for evil and foolishness - it must be confronted and called out.

Yesterday a brother I am friends with in the NFL received a brutal concussion. It was hard to watch for a thousand reasons, but when you get to actually know these men as human beings, seeing the physical toll it takes on their brain and body is pretty terrible.

And as soon as he received the concussion, I started seeing people online and on television say something about him that I've heard my whole life. They started saying that he "got his bell rung."

But here's the thing - human beings don't have bells. We don't get rung. And that cartoonish description of someone "getting their bell rung" masks what we are really talking about.

Their brains are being smashed against their skulls - which is what a concussion is - which ultimately causes CTE. Each concussion is a traumatic brain injury. And we have to stop making it sound like something other than what it really is.

Also, FYI: one of the doctors that cleared Tua to play for the Dolphins after his concussion has been fired.

In professional sports, it's the job of the team, and of the league, to sometimes protect players from themselves. Their sheer determination to play, and sometimes play injured, can be so strong, that it's up to coaches, medical staff, and league policies to protect players from making bad medical decisions for themselves in the heat of a moment.

And that's exactly what just happened to Miami Dolphin quarterback Tua Tagovailoa - who clearly got a concussion (which is a traumatic brain injury) this past Sunday, and was allowed to keep playing. And instead of sitting him out and allowing his brain and body to heal, they rushed him back out to a game last night, where his head hit the ground, and clearly caused an even more severe injury to his brain.

He's lucky to survive it, but heads need to roll. At least a dozen different people on the team, including their head coach, their GM, and the medical staff for the team all failed to protect this man.

The thing is, the NFL - and the Dolphins in particular - are dirty - and have a history of doing players wrong - so I have very little confidence that anything will happen here.

Today our team at the Grassroots Law Project has created a hotline for you to call and express your outrage at the despicable human rights abuses and medical malpractice being committed against a young incarcerated brother who does not deserve any of this.

The number is 334.605.8572.And when you call that number, I will be there to talk you through what you need to say and do next.

Then save this number in your phone. Share it with everybody you know. And let them know to join you and join us.

THOUSANDS of incarcerated men and women in Alabama are on strike right now and they need us to stand up for them and alongside them the best we can.

The United States exports a few things around the world. One of them is white supremacy and ultra conservative ideology. The latest recipient? ITALY - which just elected its single most conservative politician since World War II.

And what's wild is that she is literally parroting and quoting the exact same talking points we hear from white supremacists in the United States. It's dangerous - and bigots around the world are literally celebrating.

For the past few days as we've told the story of the egregious human rights violations and criminal neglect of Kastellio Vaughn I see people asking some form of this question...What's REALLY going on with him? Because they are having a hard time believing that a prison would actually treat a man as horribly as they are treating him.

Today I want to answer that question very clearly for all of us.

All over this country, but doubly so in Alabama, from slavery until today, incarcerated men and women have been treated like throwaway people - in great part because they are counting on us either never finding out - or not actually caring once we do.

Let me unpack and explain what's really going on.

Nationwide protests in Iran are now nearing their second week and they are centered, in great part, around something very familiar to us here in the United States - police brutality and mass incarceration - and the death of a young woman in police custody.

We've seen that our whole lives here in the US - and today I want to unpack and explain 3 reasons why I think we should care about these injustices happening in Iran - as police now shoot, kill, injure, arrest, and detain protestors all over Iran as protests continue to grow and spread.

At the root, are women's rights and human rights - and whether or not women in Iran have the legal right to choose if they want to wear hijabs and other restrictive clothing.

In spite of all that 2020 meant for civil rights in this country, 2021 was the worst year for police violence ever measured. Why? How?

Today I want to unpack and explain the 3 reasons why, in spite of our very best efforts, police violence continues to actually get worse.

Does this mean we shouldn't fight against it? HELL NO. If we didn't fight against it, I have no idea how much worse it would be.

But we also need to adjust our expectations. As long as the root causes remain, police violence will remain.

Listen to today's full episode of The Breakdown so I can unpack and explain what I mean.

This past June, at his own place of business, at least 4 men brutally attacked, beat, stomped, and shot the revered 51 year old music executive and entrepreneur, Chaka Zulu, outside of his own place of business. I have known Chaka for years and he is literally one of the most peaceful, respectful, kind, and outgoing men I've ever met.

When I learned the news of what happened to Chaka, like thousands of others, I was devastated. When I saw the footage of what happened to Chaka, and to a female colleague of his that was also brutally attack by the men, it broke my heart. It's a miracle he even survived.

It was my expectation that the men who assaulted them were going to be charged. They should still be charged, frankly. And ANYONE who sees what happened, will think the same thing.

That's why it makes NO SENSE that somehow the Atlanta Police charged Chaka with murder when the ONLY thing he was doing was literally defending himself from being killed. It's outrageous.

Chaka fired his gun in self-defense and self-defense alone. And he might have died had he not done so. It is a textbook case of someone standing their ground - not just during a threat, but during a literal life or death assault.

Immediately, these bogus charges against Chaka need to be dropped. It's stupid that we are even in this position. This should not go to trial. This should not have a plea deal. Chaka did what he was legally allowed to do to defend himself.

But what we are clearly seeing is that laws that regularly protect white men, suddenly seem to have no teeth when they need to protect a Black man.

I didn't think I needed to explain this, but I clearly do. What Republicans are doing right now - lying to undocumented immigrants - who've often escaped treacherous conditions - and are desperate and exhausted - and tricking them into being flown and bussed all over the country - is dead wrong. It's immoral. It's unethical. And it appears to actually be illegal.

And here's what I know - Florida Governor Ron Desantis would NEVER do any of this to white immigrants - no matter where they came from. You know he wouldn't. And so we must ask ourselves why they think it's OK to treat immigrants of color like this.

This question is as old as hip hop itself, right? Most hip hop artists will tell you that the violence they rap about is simply a reflection of the violence in our communities. Most critics will say that hip hop is not a reflection of the violence in our communities, but is a primary cause.

The truth, I believe, is somewhere in the middle.

First, we must admit that violence in our communities is an epidemic. For instance, last year was the single deadliest year for gun violence EVER recorded for Philadelphia. But this year is on pace to break last year's record. This is a problem.

And people always want scapegoats more than they actually want solutions. The truth is that DOZENS of factors are to blame for violence in America and violence in our communities - and the only way to take it seriously is to approach the problem as if it is truly complex.

However, we cannot argue on one hand that hip hop is the most influential culture in the world and THEN, on the other hand, argue that it isn't having any impact on the way people think and act in our communities.Hip hop does indeed reflect the violence we have in America, but we are lying if we don't also admit that it glorifies and romanticizes it. If I listed the Top 25 causes of violence in our communities - hip hop (and Hollywood and video games) would make my list, but they wouldn't be in the Top 10.

Should we still address it? Absolutely.

Nearly 2 years ago my team at the Grassroots Law Project took on the case of Marvin Guy - who was wrongly arrested for shooting and killing a police officer over 8 years ago in a horrible no-knock raid.

Wanting to see blood, they charged Marvin with murder and have been pursuing the death penalty. And for the past 8+ years, Marvin has been sitting in a local jail cell in rural Texas without ever being convicted of a crime. It's outrageous.

Well, yesterday, prosecutors finally decided what we knew all along - that they never should've pursued a case to execute Marvin - and they dropped that pursuit altogether.

This means we will still likely go to trial, but it also means they know they have a weak case.

THANK ALL OF YOU who've supported Marvin all these years.

You can still join us now @ FreeMarvinGuy.com

I need you to understand what's happening right now. It's VERY disturbing. Last year Philadelphia's DA, Larry Krasner, won his reelection bid with a blowout victory of nearly 70% of the vote - making him one of the single most popular elected officials in the city.

But conservatives HATE Larry. They always have. He has exonerated so many people and is holding corrupt cops accountable and they can't stand him for it. And in spite of Larry having impeccable integrity - and breaking no laws - they are doing everything they can to remove him from office.

Listen to me. Stop thinking of the Wild Wild West as something that took place in the 1800s. We are living in it RIGHT NOW. And day after day, week after week, month after month, we can reasonably assume that men, women, boys, and girls are going to get slaughtered by guns in America.

Experts say that 316 people PER DAY are shot in America. PER DAY!!! This is not OK.

Many developed nations don't have 316 people shot PER YEAR. Some don't even have that many per DECADE.

And in this country, doubly so in our own communities, gun violence is chewing us up and spitting us out. I don't believe we have any easy answers or solutions, but what I do know is that what we are doing right now simply is not enough.

Today I wanna be a teacher for 10 minutes if that's ok with you - and I want to teach a short civics lesson.

You pay taxes. You probably pay thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars in taxes every single year. It's brutal. And whether or like it or not, whether you care or not, local leaders are making hundreds of decisions on what to do with that money.

Now you can say you hate politics, and maybe you hate politicians, but are you ok with your own money being set on fire? I doubt it.

If you don't know the names of these 4 local leaders, you might as well be setting it on fire yourself.

LISTEN and let me teach the lesson.

Racist and conservative white people all over the world are LOSING THEIR MINDS over the new Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones television shows. And in doing so, they've really told on themselves.

They keep saying that these new shows are "too woke," but what's wild is that the shows aren't really woke at all. They are the same shows they've always been, but simply with new Black characters. And what's wild is that these new Black characters, in these mystical, fictional lands, aren't even the lead roles.

White folk are going CRAZY that Black folk even have bit roles in fantasy lands that they clearly preferred to be "whites only."

But it's all actually VERY revealing and insightful. Over and over again, they keep saying these shows are super woke - when it's obvious they simply mean the shows are now a little Black.

Now, when you hear white leaders talk about how much they hate wokeness, just know, they mean Blackness.

I loathe what Russia is doing to Ukraine. It's wrong. It's criminal. They've forced millions of people to become refugees while killing thousands of people and leveling entire cities. Countries should be supporting Ukraine. That's not the rub.

The rub is that Ukraine has now received $15.2 billion (not the $8 billion people keep quoting) while it would cost just $1 billion to completely solve the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi. It would cost $1.5 billion to do the same in Flint, Michigan.

And it continues to seem, in the words of Tupac, that this place has money for war, but won't feed the poor.

It's despicable and dangerous that ANY American city would be without clean water. People in Jackson are literally being told to shower with their mouths closed. What are we doing here? How could that be?

Yes, every single statewide official in Mississippi is a Republican, but this is more than a partisan fight. The US government needs to own problems like this and just pay what's needed to permanently fix them.

First off, if you didn't already know it, Dawn Staley is a basketball legend - on the court and as a coach. But to me, what she just did, by canceling her team's games against BYU in Utah because of overt racism at the college, is the single biggest boss move against racism in sports in a generation.

It's that big. And it's EXACTLY how athletes, coaches, athletic directors, general managers, and other sports staff should be using their power to make it clear that racism, discrimination, and bigotry can continue - but that it won't continue with your support.

I'm actually all for protests, demonstrations, and symbolic actions. They matter. They can move the needle, but what Dawn Staley just did, is the single strongest form of protest we can see.

By pulling South Carolina's games out of Utah, it will cause not only a major economic hit for BYU, it will hurt them with recruiting and beyond. And in one strong, smart decision Dawn Staley showed us all how to better use our power. Now, let's hope she doesn't stand alone

After months and months of saying they did not shoot and kill the revered Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Israel now admits it was them all along. Of course it was. Eyewitnesses knew. A dozen respected media outlets knew.

But now they claim it was an accident. Today, I have 3 questions that prove it was no accident. 1. Who exactly did your sharpshooter see in their rifle scope before they fired, if not Shireen? 2. If you shot Shireen on accident, why did you then fire at the unarmed men who tried to rescue her? 3. And if both of those things were accidents, why did you interrupt Shireen's funeral, beat the men carrying her casket, and cause them to literally drop the casket? Did you think that it was someone else's funeral?

This morning I woke up to the news that one of the single most brutal cops from the NYPD of the past few years, Officer Vincent D'Andraia, a huge man, was just given "restorative justice" and won't receive any jail time and will keep his job after assaulting a woman a third his size.

I have to be honest here. It's not that I am against cops getting restorative justice, per se, but what I know that makes me call foul on this, is that THOUSANDS of Black and Brown boys, girls, men, and women are STRUGGLING to survive RIGHT NOW @ Rikers Island here in New York. THOUSANDS. And they aren't being offered ANYTHING restorative. It's brutal in there. And so many of them are first time offenders locked up for crimes less harmful than what this man did.

So my problem is this - how is it that THIS MAN is getting restorative justice when thousands of others are being denied such a thing?

I'm tired y'all. It's just too much. I feel like we are cutting and pasting the same headlines from previous years. We've seen this before. And before that. And before that. Again. And again. And again.

At 2am on this past Tuesday morning, the Columbus Police broke into the apartment of a 20 year old brother named Donovan Lewis, he was deep asleep in his bedroom - completely unarmed, and of course non-violent. It's clear that he had no idea police were even there.

And within a single second of breaking into his bedroom, they shot and killed him, claiming that he had a gun. He didn't.

I am working with the attorneys in this case and will be supporting the family every way I can.

Right here. Right now. West Point - the premier military training academy of the United States of America, has a literal monument to the KKK that thousands of students walk under day in and day out.

I don't mean a monument to someone that was in the Klan.

It's a literal monument of a KLANSMAN in a hood and robe with the words KU KLUX KLAN under it.

And it's not a secret. They've BEEN knowing it's there. For generations and generations.

And they've left it there.

And somehow they want us to stop saying this country is fundamentally racist? Like what?

The place that trains America's soldiers has a literal monument to the KKK and this place isn't fundamentally racist? You've left it up for generations, but you aren't fundamentally racist?

Today is one of those days where I need to teach us a very simple, but important lesson. Somewhere along the way, we were taught that we have 2 types of jails and prisons: For-profit ones and government-owned jails and prisons.

But this is ALL WRONG.

In fact, an upcoming study will tell us that government prisons are actually creating exponentially more profit for corporations and communities than for-profit prisons.

The business model may be slightly different, but the primary profit motive is the same for both institutions. And we need to drastically adjust our language around for-profit prisons, which are indeed gross, because ALL prisons are enriching white people and white power across the country.

Did you hear the story about the young Black woman who experienced outrageous racism and bigotry playing in a volleyball match against BYU in Utah? I've long since heard about the racism of Utah, so that alone didn't surprise me. It didn't even surprise me to learn that the staff of BYU failed to intervene in the moment to make sure the racist taunts stopped and people were held accountable right there in the moment.

But I think Duke University is getting off far too easy here. Coaches and staff from Duke should've protected their player and refused to continue the match under such conditions. It was their responsibility to intervene and stand up for their own student so that she felt seen, valued, and protected in that moment. But it appears that simply did not happen.

Schools and athletic programs from elementary school all the way through professional sports, honestly, need to have a full game plan on what they will do in the face of racism and bigotry when they encounter it - so that when it happens, they aren't having to think creatively in the moment, but already have a strategy in place.

1 year ago, right outside of Philadelphia, in a town called Sharon Hill, local police shot and killed an 8 year old girl named Fanta Bility, and tried to claim it was in a shootout.

But there was no shootout. And police have offered no credible explanation on why they unloaded their guns into the car of Fanta's family - killing Fanta, shooting her sister, and injuring other innocent bystanders.

Now, police are saying that since it can't be proven which of their bullets killed Fanta, that none of them should be convicted. So we MUST take action to stand up for this family.

ACTION STEP: Click the link in my bio on Instagram and you'll see everything you need to do to email and call every single person on this case, OK?

Yesterday I told you how a conservative white woman named Katie Bernhardt has become the chair of the Democratic Party of Louisiana - and blocked the endorsement of Gary Chambers.

Now, it turns out that the Black man that she hand-picked as her Vice Chair is so conservative that the most conservative Republicans in Texas are throwing fundraisers FOR HIM. And not as a practical joke. This man, C. Travis Johnson, is also another wolf in sheep's clothing. He's SO BAD that he recently side with Republicans and voted FOR their racist gerrymandering and redistricting plan. Black folk in the legislature could not believe it.

But it's not just that. The man is skipping important votes for Black voters and voting against the priorities of Black people REGULARLY. In other words, both the chair and vice chair of the Democratic Party in Louisiana, a party dominated by Black voters, are actively working against the interests of Black voters. They both need to be removed immediately.

Her name is Katie Bernhardt. She is literally a lifelong ultra conservative Republican that campaigned and donated to the worst conservatives in Louisiana and she is now somehow leading the Democratic Party in one of the Blackest states in America.

And now she single handedly tanked the Democratic Party's endorsement of Gary Chambers - against the wishes of the majority of Black voters and party members that actually make the majority of the party. This woman needs to be removed from her position immediately.

Listen to me - the enemy of your enemy is not always your friend. That's a cute saying, but that's about all it is. Yes, Donald Trump and conservatives are now attacking the FBI and calling to defund it - and because Democrats hate Trump so much, liberals are now cheerleading the FBI.

But that's a HUGE mistake. The FBI has done more harm to Black people, Black leaders, and Black movements than the KKK. They have had their hands in destroying Black leaders and movements all the way back to Marcus Garvey. They are not our friends. I can count on 1 hand the good they've ever done for us while entire books have been written about all the harm they've done to Black people - including assassinations.

Nobody in America has more monuments honoring them than white men. It's not even remotely close. In fact, HALF of the Top 50 most represented people with monuments were enslavers that literally bought, sold, and traded human beings. This is not ok.

But I think a big part of the problem is that we are too often waiting on other people to imagine and build these monuments for us when the truth is we're going to have to build them ourselves.

I'd like to begin with us building monuments to Malcolm X and Nat Turner.

What do you think?

With every day that passes, we are learning more and more about the blatant corruption that has overtaken the San Francisco DA's office. And what's wild here, is that Democrats can't blame Republicans for this corruption, because it's conservative Democrats, from top to bottom, running the whole thing.

We just learned that the new DA, Brooke Jenkins, was literally paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to be the face of the effort to recall Chesa Boudin, but presented herself to the public as an unpaid volunteer. Once she then took the office that she paid to undermine, she then immediately began firing every prosecutor and staffer that had anything to do with prosecuting police or overseeing wrongful convictions and replacing them with people that have a long history of actually protecting the police.

Let me unpack and explain it all.

Listen, Americans everywhere are tired of politics and tired of politicians, but some truly BRILLIANT leaders continue to step up and run for office. Let me tell you about 4 great leaders that won their races and why those races matter so doggone much!

Donald Trump is under active investigation by city, state, and federal offices all over the country. And yesterday some of those chickens started coming home to roost - when the FBI executed a search warrant on his home and office in Florida and recovered at least 15 boxes of material.

Today, I'll unpack and explain what I know about the raid/search. What's wild is that it increasingly appears that Trump will never be held accountable for any of the monstrous things he did while in office, but that he made so many mistakes after Election Day in 2020, that it's going to be the window between Election Day and his exit from The White House that ends up truly jamming him up legally.

Calling it anything other than a massacre is a lie. Not a single Israel was killed while hundreds of Palestinian homes and businesses were hit with bombs and missiles - destroying everything in and around them - including at least 15 young children. It's despicable.

What's almost equally despicable is how hard honest coverage from the American mainstream media is to find. Before I recorded this episode I went to every major outlet in the country and hardly a word has been said in the headlines. And the articles and stories that were written made it out like a fight happened between equals. That's not what happened at all. It was a brutal, ugly massacre where children were literally blown to unrecognizable bits. I saw it with my own eyes. And people are asking why these kids aren't being treated with the love and attention given to Ukrainians - and the answer is simple. The American taxpayers are funding and arming the Ukrainians AND the Israelis. How can you speak out on what you wrote the check for?

This needs to be a national story! In the Deep South, voters in Memphis, Tennessee showed up in a MAJOR way to oust conservative DA Amy Weirich for a progressive reformer and civil rights attorney. It's a HUGE deal.

And it wasn't even close. Amy strangely made her campaign about ME, of all people, running ads blasting me, and my support of her opponent, but voters knew better and saw right through it, thankfully.

Here's the thing - when a progressive loses somewhere, it's all over the news. We need them to now keep that same energy for Memphis.

Shout out to the new DA, Steve Mulroy, who ran a great campaign. And shout out to the voters and volunteers in Memphis who made it happen. Proud of you!

Today 4 current and former Louisville Police officers were charged by the DOJ and arrested by the FBI for their role in the murder of Breonna Taylor.

First, I want to thank my dear friends @ Until Freedom for literally moving to Louisville to fight for a moment like this. And I want to thank the brilliant attorneys for the family of Breonna Taylor - who've never given up. And of course, local activists and organizers that have stood by the family every step of the way.

Does this heal the heart of Breonna's mother, Tamika Palmer? Of course not, but it does lift some of the burden she's had to carry. I am sure of it. These charges, we know, are not convictions, but when the DOJ charges police, they get convictions 99% of the time.

Above all, today is a reminder to never give up in your fight for justice and accountability. It's all so rare and so damn so slow, but we should never give up.

For most of my 42 years, I've aimed to take the thing that we call "the high road." I wouldn't even say that I fully regret it, because I meant well.

But 42 years of taking the high road has made it such that anybody, anywhere, can attack and spread dangerous information about my family without any consequences. Normally, I will defend myself, and my own reputation, and I will continue to do that as I need to, but now, I am going to use the same strategies that have been used against me, against those that have caused us harm. I am returning your strategies back to you.

I wouldn't say that I'm shocked that the NFL only suspended him for 6 games, but I am absolutely disgusted. Men have been suspended more than that for having fights on the field.I believe he did every single thing that the women said he did. I've spoken to some of these women directly. They are honest, hardworking Black women that were cornered and sexually assaulted by Deshaun. He's a disgusting pervert.

I am a HUGE fan of the brand new phone number, 988. Save it in your phone as "LIFELINE" or whatever else will help you know what it is.

You can call or text them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, if you or a loved one is having a mental health emergency. They have 200 crisis centers across the country staffed and ready to support you the best they can.

My hope and prayer is that all of us will use this number as we need it. Our tax dollars are helping to pay for it. And we've seen way too often that when we call 911 for mental health emergencies police show up and get violent.

Make 988 the new default number you call or text in a mental health crisis, OK?

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. Without true, deep economic security, where people earn enough money to make it through the month, to care for all of their needs, and to grow and thrive, where that is missing, the toxic mix of poverty and despair rises.

Nothing would solve drastically reduce crime more than addressing the root economic issues at play that cause it.

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 their lives if they want to.

But here's my rub... you can really only crack jokes about oppressed groups that you ARE NOT A PART OF a few times before people get irritated. Dave has hit that threshold.

This is true for all comedians. Jewish comedians can crack jokes about Jewish people for the rest of their lives, but limits exist for anybody else that wants to move into that space.

The same is true for white comedians telling jokes ABOUT Black people, at the expense of Black people. I don't wanna hear that shit AT ALL. Do it once or twice and you can get away with it, but anything more than that, and a line has been crossed. Does that make sense?

Generally speaking, I want all of us to have broad freedoms about what we are able to say, myself included. But sometimes we have to censor ourselves when our words are doing more harm than good.

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 it another way. Would it be unethical for a man to walk down the middle of street in the hood with stacks of $1 million in cash? I say yes. It's inviting danger and it's tempting people who are struggling from day to day as it is. If you walked through the hood with a million dollars in cash in your hands, I would stop just short of saying you deserve to get robbed, but you damn near do.

Wearing $1 million in jewelry is the exact same thing. It's flossing. In the worst way.

Let me unpack and explain it. Listen to today's full episode here, and hundreds more, on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or at TheNorthStar.com.

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 races.

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 family 100 years ago, were given the deed back to the land - the first known time this happened.I commend the Bruce family, their attorneys, local organizers, and all of the government officials that helped make this happen.

Now, let's see it duplicated in every city, county, and state in America.

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 explain it.

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 understand the unique struggles of Black and Brown communities or do not care. And in both Buffalo and Uvalde they have left devastated families that desperately needed financial support without a dime.

And then heaped more pain and frustration on top of it all.

They are now saying it's going to be November, at the earliest, until they give any money that was raised to victims in Uvalde. And I don't care what they say. IT DOES NOT TAKE THIS LONG. It should not take this long. I have literally spoken with them and told them this myself. I told them exactly what they need to do to speed up the process and better distribute the funds to families. And they refuse to do any of it.

Now, families of victims in Buffalo and Uvalde are literally already going back to work. And many are on the brink of financial ruin, while this organization continues to give ridiculous excuses on why they can't speed things up.

ACTION STEP: Please email Jeff@NationalCompassion.org and let him know how you feel about this.

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 women. And every expert has said that it is basically systemic racism embedded in the medical field.

As soon as you can, please click the link in my bio on Instagram to chip in and help this family TODAY, OK?

Love and appreciate you all.

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 America.

We fully fund mass incarceration and all of the jails, prisons, and incompetent police money can buy but then saddle our people with student loans, co-pays, deductibles, and outrageous health insurance premiums every single month.

Why have we accepted this? It's foolish. Let's dig in together.

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 record admitting it.

Let me unpack and explain it.

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 this poll and make sense of why these numbers are SO bad for Joe Biden now.

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 both has made a HUGE difference in my life.

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 investigations, including forensic evidence, videos, audio clips, interviews, and so much more, and instead issued a statement saying that they don't quite know who did it, and that if it was Israel, it was an accident.

It's utterly shameful. The US Government has chosen to protect and defend another country over one of its own citizens.

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 events all over the country. While this country has BEEN exhausting for Black folk, more and more I see that a larger percentage of the nation is just thoroughly exhausted by the stress of this place.

And what compounds it all, is America's complete unwillingness to actually address its most difficult and dangerous problems.

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.

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.

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 TheNorthStar.com

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 passed robust laws months ago, state by state, that would be immediately triggered if Roe was overturned. THEY were prepared to meet this moment.

And even though Democrats have real options on what they can do, and what they should fight for, they've taken virtually none of them.

It's time that we begin thinking of new people to lead the party - from the top down.

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 they need our help.

We are working directly with the families of Mike Brown and Oscar Grant to support a retreat for these great men, but we need YOU to chip in today to help cover the costs. Please click the link in my bio on IG and click on the picture of the fundraiser to support them now. 100% of the proceeds go straight to the retreat.

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 complete this one.

THANK YOU!!!

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 complete this one.

THANK YOU!!!

Shaun & Crew

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, we would've stopped them then and there. Moving forward, we MUST make sure that families have direct control of the money being raised for them.

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 someone with more drive and determination to take care of essential issues.

FYI: Today is the next to last day this podcast will be on Instagram - we're moving everything back to Apple and Spotify and hope you will be joining us there.

Yesterday was both bitter and sweet. Men and women that are deeply dedicated to justice and equality won elections all over the country in super important races.

And then voters also recalled our friend Chesa Boudin as DA of San Francisco.

Let's unpack and explain it.

All across the country today we have primaries - including in California. But the one thing I am following the most today is Prop H in San Francisco, where billionaires, conservatives, and corrupt tech leaders have banded together, and donated millions of dollars, to stop San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin.

It's a waste and an abomination that it has even gotten this far. Not only is Chesa a brilliant DA, he's a good, ethical, moral human being.

Conservative Californian's continue to abuse the recall system when they can't win in the general elections. It's a waste of time and money.

If you are in San Francisco, or know somebody who is, PLEASE encourage them to vote NO on Prop H to stop the recall of Chesa Boudin.

Gun violence is its own American pandemic. It's a public health AND a public safety crisis. It's now the leading cause of death for young people.

And while we press politicians for meaningful reform, we must accept the burden and responsibility of fighting for our own safety and security. Today I will begin this discussion that I hope we can continue and make real in the days and weeks ahead.

If you are listening to this podcast right now, there is a 75% chance you are on Instagram! For the past 2 years, against the advice of every podcast expert I know, we have uploaded EVERY single full length episode of The Breakdown directly on Instagram for the world to hear and share.

And I've loved it. We've made an ENORMOUS impact on the news and on so many civil and human rights causes, but we HAVE to go back to our roots on Apple Podcasts and Spotify if we want this podcast to be able to exist for years to come!

Let me unpack and explain why.

Regular school shootings are an exclusively American problem. Mass shootings that happen daily are as well. In fact, the United States has more gun violence than almost any nation in the world.Today I want to give you my most honest answer on what I think the United States will do about it.

On today's episode of The Breakdown, I want to share a simple, but profound lesson my wife taught me several months ago. I haven't been able to shake it and it guides a lot of what I am thinking today about how I should use my life and how I hope you will use yours

New details are emerging that make it clear that the white supremacist terrorist in Buffalo who shot and killed 10 African Americans had a small support group that included a retired federal agent from Texas.

Here's what I know - the ONLY reason that man, and the others, aren't in some underground prison being tortured right now is because they are white men and because the victims were Black.

It is abundantly clear that all over this country white supremacists are FLOURISHING with little to no monitoring or interrupting from city, state, and federal governments.

The more we learn, the uglier it gets. Let me unpack and explain it.

Last night over 3,000 of you attended our town hall on what it means to confront white supremacy in 2022.

Now, we're moving on to our first 6 action steps. You can also see them now @ TheGreatestThreat.com

We're going to be talking about 2 main ideas: 1. What we can do for OURSELVES to protect our communities and businesses. And... 2. What we can fight for on the policy level, in your city, in your county, in your state, and on the federal level - to better protect our communities.

It's not going to be like a townhall you've ever been a part of before. The link is IN MY BIO to register now.

Politicians love Black votes but don't really love Black people. Because here's the thing... I've been in a devoted relationship with one woman for 25+ years and let me tell you what I've learned.LOVE IS A VERB.

Love requires corresponding actions to match it.And what I am seeing right now is that politicians keep telling Black people that they care, and that they see and feel our pain, but don't do anything about the actual material conditions causing that pain.

It's not enough to console our communities after ANOTHER white supremacist attack without actually doing ANYTHING to stop the next one.

And we're at the point as a people and as a nation where we have to move from rhetoric to substance.

Yesterday Shaun traveled to Buffalo to meet with families and leaders after the horrible terrorist attack in Buffalo.

Last night Shaun was asked to speak at their vigil.

Here is Shaun’s entire speech, uninterrupted, on what must happen next.

I have something very, very painful to say. As it stands right now, NOTHING is going to change about white supremacy in America. Zero. Zilch. NOTHING. The bigotry, racism, and attacks are going to continue because the security apparatus of this nation does not actually take the threats seriously - with staffing and budgets and effective intervention plans.

Today I am going to begin to discuss what we can do differently, OK? I am thinking out loud so please forgive me if anything I say offends you.

Today, in the funeral procession of assassinated Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, the police of Apartheid Israel literally attacked the men carrying her casket, beating them with sticks, causing them to momentarily drop the casket.

In all of my years as a historian and as an activist and as a journalist, I've never seen this before. It truly was an abomination that really goes beyond words. However...

My only hope, is that like when the world saw the photographs and videos of white supremacist police in the Jim Crow South turning their fire hoses on Black boys and girls, and unleashing dogs on them, that it so exposed their ugly bigotry, that it was seen as a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement that led to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act.

Because here's the thing, if you are low enough to beat men carrying a casket during a funeral procession, there is nothing you won't do. Israel can no longer pretend before the world that it has some moral high ground. That facade has crumbled. We must all stand up and speak out against the Apartheid state of Israel and their unending human rights abuses.

This morning the Apartheid Government of Israel targeted and assassinated revered Palestinian American Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. This is a war crime. Let me unpack and explain what we know so far.

Yesterday the US Senate UNANIMOUSLY passed a bill to have the government provide security for the families of the Supreme Court. And now they are about to pass a bill for $38 BILLION in aid for Ukraine. Biden only asked for $33 billion.

So, they don't mind working together. They just don't like working together for ANY serious priorities for African Americans.

And what burns me up, is in 2022, we still have victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 out here fighting for justice. We still have the living relatives of Emmett Till, who was murdered in 1955, out here fighting for justice. That's 101 years and 67 years respectively that they have been fighting - and they can't find justice anywhere!!

Last week, in one of the biggest leaks in American history, we learned that the Supreme Court is VERY close to overturning Roe v Wade. And even though Democrats control the House, Senate, and Presidency, I just don't believe the party will do what needs to be done to protect a woman's right to choose.

Why? Because it would require 4 things that Democrats actually need right now.

A plan.

A strategy to make that plan happen.

Unity.

And will.

In fact, I am not sure the party has any of those 4 things - and they need all 4.

Let me unpack and explain it.

It's Mother's Day weekend. And today I wanted to unpack and explain 4 things that this country could and should do if it actually loved mothers. Cards and flowers are great. A good meal is great. But let's talk about all of the policies of this nation that make life so damn hard for mothers.

32 years. When Thomas James was wrongly arrested, charged, and convicted for a crime he had NOTHING TO DO WITH he was just 23 years old. 32 hard years later, Miami prosecutors admit that he was actually innocent and that they stole the best years of his life.

Let me unpack and explain this story, then let's chip in together and provide this man with the support he needs right now, ok? Click the link in my bio on Instagram now to help.

If you don't learn from political defeats, you'll be doomed to repeat them over and over again. Today I want to unpack and explain one masterful thing that we should ALL learn from Republicans.

It's what has them on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade. And this one thing that Republicans REALLY get right, I just don't see from Democrats.

Last night, a Supreme Court opinion was leaked to Politico in which Roe v Wade was overturned by the conservative majority. The thing is, the opinion, while it appears to be authentic, is not yet official or binding, because it was not supposed to be public for at least a month or two.

Today I'll try to unpack and explain what it means and what it doesn't mean. And I'll try my best to explain how we got to this moment.

While Shaun is recovering from his surgery, we want to use this time to replay one of his most important episodes. It's a simple fact that is the foundation for the majority of the work he does. The United States is the single most incarcerated nation in the entire history of the world. The size and scope of the problem needs to be understood by all!

No, I didn't quit Twitter. I'm there. And here. To stay.

And as I've done my entire life, I'm going to continue to speak truth to power and call out racists and bigots and oppressive people and corporations whoever and wherever they are. Including Elon Musk.

A lot of people are incorrectly framing Elon Musk purchasing Twitter as being left versus right. I strongly disagree. This is about the richest man in the world, who was born into Apartheid and raised by a white nationalist, wanting to be sure that powerful white men can say whatever they want - about whoever they want - without consequence.

Hey everybody. I am taking the next week off of work and social media to be with my wife and kids. It's RARE that all 7 of us get to be together like this, so I just want to unplug and be physically AND emotionally present for everybody.

See you in a week. Love and appreciate each of you.

You can't make this up. The NYPD failed in its most basic duties on every level of this mass shooting, but somehow found a way to act like they solved it. They damn sure didn't. Let me unpack and explain how it all went down. In fact, victims might be suing the NYPD for their gross incompetence

As I recorded this podcast, 24 hours after the mass shooting in New York, the perpetrator is still on the loose a dozen people are still in the hospital, and the city is dealing with the real trauma of it all.

And what has become clear is that it was a catastrophic security failure for the NYPD - not one of budgetary needs, but of extreme incompetence. They have a budget of nearly $11 BILLION per year - the most in the world, but nothing they did worked yesterday - and the man appears to have caused this carnage and simply walked right off of the train.

I planned on talking about something totally different today, but while I was prepping for the podcast, a mass shooting happened on the subway train in Brooklyn.

I'll unpack and explain what we know so far and put it into context with what it means to live in one of the most violent countries in the world.

Last week police in Grand Rapids, Michigan shot and killed a young Black man named Patrick Lyoya - a Congolese immigrant and father of 2 young girls.

Both the family and a local county commissioner who saw the body camera footage have said that police put a gun to the back of Patrick's head and shot and killed him execution style. I believe them.

Of course, police and prosecutors are stalling by refusing to release the footage, refusing to name the officer, and giving that officer and others time to scrub their social media history, and get their lies together. It's despicable.

I think this is going to be a case that is going to shake the nation.

I am nothing but elated over the confirmation of the brilliant Ketanji Brown Jackson onto the United States Supreme Court. It's a huge, historic deal. And we should celebrate. Period.

We also need to understand that she is about to walk into perhaps the most conservative Supreme Courts in the entire history of this country.

On April 4th, we ran a classic episode from our friends Allan Boomer and Tiffany Hawkins of The Momentum Advisors titled "Is Your Money Racists?" I need a couple more days to recover from my recent neck surgery so the team at The North Star is going to run a great action oriented follow-up to that Episode. We hope you enjoy!

The terms "ESG", "socially responsible" and "impact investing" are ongoing buzzwords in the financial services industry. But what does it all actually mean? Regardless of the confusing industry jargon, the essence of it all is aligning your portfolio with your values—without sacrificing returns. More than that, it presents greater opportunity for you to see stronger returns. On this episode, we teach you how to do it whether you're dealing with a financial advisor, HR department or you self-manage your investments.

Yesterday, I not only announced my next book, a memoir called Lemons and Stones, I also announced that we are launching our own fully independent Black owned publishing company, The North Star Publishing.

Today I want to unpack and explain why we're going this route and what it means for us. It won't be easy, but nothing worth doing ever is. Let's GO!

When you contribute to your retirement savings do you know what your investments are contributing to? Are your investment dollars circulating wealth into the communities that matter to you the most? Unfortunately, the answer is probably: NO. And the worse news is that your retirement and investment dollars are likely supporting companies and institutions that would rather support immigration, prison complexes, racism and excess gun usage before supporting people that look like you. In this takeover episode we ask you the question ‘Is Your Money Racist?’ and then provide you with the tools on what you can do about it once and for all.

Yesterday we shared our first 5 ways to defund the police and make America safer at the same time. Today, we conclude with the final 5 ideas.

For today and tomorrow's episode, we revisit episodes 287 and 288. In them, Shaun breaks down a list by Alex Vitale on 10 ways we can safely defund the police.

Alex Vitale is one of Shaun's favorite scholars in the country on how and why we must defund the police. Of the 10 ways Alex suggested that we defund the police, Today Shaun breaks down the first five.

For today's episode, we revisit our 33rd episode. In it, Shaun King breaks down Joe Biden’s comments from 2019 defending his 1994 Crime Bill. To understand what the implications are of defending this bill, Shaun needs us to understand that mass incarceration in America was designed and planned to criminalize Blackness.

Yesterday Joe Biden announced that he's asking Congress for $32 BILLION more for American police in the name of fighting crime, but here's the thing, they don't need even $1 more. They are swimming in money from coast to coast. The NYPD alone has an annual budget over $10 billion - which is more than most countries spend on their entire military.

And here's the thing - America's safest neighborhoods and safest cities are NOT safe because they are swarming with police. They are safe because they have great jobs, great wealth, great homes, great schools, great health, and treatment for drugs and mental illness.

So PLEASE stop calling this man your uncle. While he REFUSES to prosecute serious cases of police violence, he's about to pour more money into oppression than any president in the history of this nation.

Description: Yeah, that happened. It was real. And today I want to ask some hard questions and share some concerns I have. 1. People have breaking points and you don't know when they are going to reach theirs, but when they do, it might be ugly. 2. I am deeply afraid that everyday people are going to try what Will tried, but find out that they will actually go to jail for it and that people will normally punch or shoot back. 3. Some people are saying this is what it looks like to "protect Black women" and others are saying this is not at all what that looks like. I'll unpack that. 4. When white people do something crazy, stars or otherwise, white people rarely absorb it as being something that represents the whole race of white people. I don't know what it's going to take for Black folks to get to that point, but it needs to happen.

Today I'm going to be a bit nerdy/wonky and talk about metrics, by asking the question of "How do we measure success for Black America?" What are the outcomes and numbers we should be able to agree really show whether or not we're moving in the right direction as a people?

Is it home ownership? Is it college education? Is it the number of people killed by police or incarcerated? Is it wealth?

I can think about 100 things I wish we were routinely measuring and fighting for. But what if we all just agreed on 5-10. What would they be?

Today is a super short episode of The Breakdown. WAY too many of us are saying Kamala wrong (I'll pronounce that for you today as well), but let's take 10 seconds to learn how to say and spell the name of the new nominee to the Supreme Court - Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Yes, it's exciting that a Black woman could be on the Supreme Court, but for many of us in the justice community, NOTHING is more exciting to us than the fact that she is a former public defender.

I'm all for ethnic and gender diversity, but America's courts also need an essential type of legal diversity that is woefully missing. The overwhelming majority of judges in America are former prosecutors and see the whole system of justice from the lens of mass incarceration.

That's why our organization, Grassroots Law, has fought hard for the past 18 months for Joe Biden to appoint as many former public defenders to judgeships as possible. Having that experience completely changes the way a person sees the criminal and legal system.

While I have 101 strong critiques of Joe Biden, one victory that I feel very good about is that he is appointing, for the first time in American history really, a plethora of former public defenders to essential positions. It's a big deal.

Nearly 4 million women and children have now fled Ukraine as refugees - including tens of thousands of African students that barely escaped the war. And as colleges and universities have started to open up their doors, it struck a painful nerve with some.

Let me try to unpack and explain this, because 2 realities are true at the same time... 1. African refugees fleeing war need a safe place to live and continue their education AND... 2. It's VERY frustrating how few scholarships are available to Black students and families here in America and it stings to see how easily costs could be forgiven when African American students are drowning in student loan debt or can't afford to go to college at all.

After being accused by dozens of women across the country of sexual misconduct and assault, the Cleveland Browns just made Deshaun Watson the highest paid player in the NFL. I have some thoughts. Let me unpack and explain the case.

On today’s throwback episode of The Breakdown, the final episode in a 3 part series explaining the leading Supreme Court cases that make police brutality functionally legal in the United States, Shaun gives us action steps and solutions for how we make police brutality illegal. It won’t be easy or quick, but it’s necessary.

If you haven't already, go listen to Wednesday & Thursday's episodes to hear part 1 and 2 of the series!

Yesterday on The Breakdown, we went all the way back to our 12th episode where Shaun began a series on the legality of police brutality. Today, we bring you part two of that series. In it, Shaun unpacks the Supreme Court case, Graham v. Connor - and explains how it is now used alongside of Tennessee v. Garner to protect police from being held responsible for their brutality.

For Today's episode of The Breakdown, we are going way back and replaying our 12th episode. In it, Shaun King begins the first of a 3 part series on why police brutality is functionally legal in the United States by unpacking the Supreme Court cases that currently protect even the worst officers in cases of police brutality.

The world can be an ugly place, but when that ugliness comes, I have some measure of peace because I'm consistent in what I speak out. I can speak out on the war crimes of Putin and Russia because I also speak out on the war crimes of the United States.

But that's because I have a worldview - a philosophy - a guiding way I see and interact with the world. And when you don't have one, you ultimately allow other people, particularly the mainstream media, to determine what you should and shouldn't be concerned about.

Today is the 25th anniversary of the tragic murder of Biggie Smalls. And I just want to reflect on how special he was, how much I loved him growing up, where I rank him as a rapper - and I want to dream out loud on who and what he would've become.

Yesterday Mitch McConnell announced that he is going to block something that was WIDELY expected to have bi-partisan support. During the pandemic, a policy was enacted to pay for school lunches across the country. It's popular from coast to coast with conservatives and liberals alike. And Democrats wanted to renew it. But Mitch shocked everybody and said he's blocking it.

Let me explain what's evil AND brilliant about this.

It's evil, point blank, because it's going to deny school children equal access to lunch. But what's brilliant, in the most nefarious way about this, is what I think is a central organizing principle of Republicans.

They don't give Democrats ANYTHING. And ultimately stretch Democrats so thin, making them fight in so many battles, for even the most basic scraps of government, that they never really get to fight for deep systemic change.

Ultimately, even though Democrats control the House, Senate, and Presidency, conservatives are still setting so much of the domestic agenda from day to day.

Let me unpack and explain it.

Charles Ryan did something that would be a literal death sentence to every Black person in America. After a 911 call was made of shots fired, police in Tempe, Arizona showed up at Ryan's home, only for him to point his loaded gun straight at them.

Instead of killing him in a hail of bullets like police did to Amadou Diallo for showing police his wallet, police didn't fire a single bullet at Charles Ryan. They didn't put their knee in his neck. They didn't Taser him. In fact, they didn't even arrest him or take him to jail.

Instead, they took him to the hospital for a cut on his hand, and then literally released him back to go home. The very thing that police tell us over and over again that they just couldn't avoid was not only avoided with this white man - he's been given VIP treatment to this very day.

Police CLEARLY know how to be patient and methodical. They just have to want it.

Without a doubt, Russia is committing thousands of war crimes against Ukraine. Any common spectator understands this. But right when the United States could desperately use moral authority to call out these war crimes, the world is reminding the US that it, too, has committed war crimes with impunity for generations.

Today I will speak on this painful truth - and discuss the interconnectedness of how horrible decisions made by the US government from its founding until today makes it nearly impossible to then call out other superpowers with any measure of seriousness.

You've recently heard me say many times the words of Dr. King that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." And I believe our grave inconsistency with this, where we ignore some injustices like they don't even matter, harms us all. I am against police brutality EVERYWHERE. I am against mass incarceration everywhere. And ultimately, that helps us fight smarter and better here.

But sometimes, when violent men create war, and war crimes, I have to pause or slow some of the core work I do, to try to help refugees, widows, and orphans that are truly in duress. It's a part of my faith. A duty. A sacred obligation that I've carried my entire adult life.

Today I'll break some of this down and say more about our work helping African students and immigrants fleeing Ukraine.

Today is abbreviated episode of The Breakdown as we rush to help African students and immigrants who are either stuck on the Ukrainian side of the border or virtually lost on the other side once they've crossed over.We're hiring several African students who've crossed over to help us build a database of those who need help. And we're partnering with several brilliant NGO's and donors who will help us with housing and transportation from there.

Over 500,000 refugees have now fled Ukraine in just the past few days alone. In a country that is 99% white, it came as a surprise to many of us to learn that tens of thousands of African immigrants were living, working, and being educated there - and were among those attempting to flee to safety.It was, then, a deep disappointment to see those African immigrants, many with infant children, in freezing cold temperatures, being mistreated and denied an opportunity to flee.Three days after those first videos emerged, I'll unpack and explain what I know, and tell you why I am hopeful that things will be much better from here on out.

Early this morning it was just announced that Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson will be Joe Biden's nominee to the Supreme Court. Of course, Republicans won't make it easy, but she should be fast tracked to the court. She's not a radical. Trust me, I'd like to see that, but she was the best choice among the finalists Biden leaked to the press.

Today I'll unpack her views on policing and mass incarceration, and say some about what we can hope and expect from her once she's seated.

Those words from Dr. King, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" is a life quote for me. I think on it daily. It has guided much of my life for the past 25 years. And for me, today, those words matter more than ever.

Can I teach for a moment?

Let me unpack and explain for you what I think these words mean. I hate war. I hate what Putin is doing right now to Ukraine. But I see a lot of people saying that none of us should even care. I see people saying the same thing about the horrible decision from the Governor of Texas to criminalize being a parent of a transgender child or teenager. I see people I know actually celebrating this decision. And I have to speak up on why this is wrong and horribly short-sighted. Because truly, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

"You may see those situations, and think they have nothing to do with you, but when the rights and safety of some people are attacked and eroded, believe me, it's only a matter of time before yours are next.

All of us have a limited amount of emotional bandwidth to care about the dire conflict between Russia and Ukraine. I'm not asking you to become obsessed (I'm not going to do that either), but today I want to give you 4 practical reasons why you SHOULD care.

One tool of the oppressor is to throw so much oppression your way that you can't possibly be effective at fighting back any of it.

For most of the past year, I was irritated by white people organizing to ban what they were calling Critical Race Theory, but I am already committed to so many other causes and fights that I just didn't have the time or focus to make that cause my own.

But here's the thing - they aren't actually banning Critical Race Theory across the country. They are banning the truth telling of Black history and American history - all because that truthful telling makes millions of white people VERY uncomfortable.

And they are winning. White people all over the country are, in essence, making their comfort into law. And it's an extremely dangerous precedent. It's not on the way to becoming dangerous. We're already there.

When white comfort becomes law, we should all be very concerned. I'll unpack and explain it.

Last week Amnesty International released a thorough and undeniable 280 page report in which they called Israel's treatment of Palestinians "Apartheid" and a "cruel system of domination" and a "crime against humanity."

And 2 things blew my mind.

The United States government, like the NFL did against Black coach Brian Flores, denounced the entire report before they even read it.
Many mainstream media outlets completely pretended that the report was never issued - in spite of it being viral across social media.

If you've ever wondered how such gross human rights abuses of the past 100 years happened right under the noses of billions of people, look no further. It's happening right now.

Happy Valentine's Day everybody! Listen - I know I'm a serious guy, but I just don't talk enough about love. It's such a HUGE part of my life. And today I want to talk about the love of my life and how I'm starting to reconsider something I've been telling myself for a very long time.

Also, today is the 3 year anniversary of The North Star! Our original founder is Frederick Douglass and he chose this day as his birthday. Most people didn't think we'd make it a few months. Very few people thought we'd make it a year, but I'm proud to say that we're still here 3 years later doing good work.

What Joe Biden just announced today makes my BLOOD BOIL! Moments ago it was revealed that after Joe Biden ordered $7 BILLION of money that completely belonged to Afghanistan frozen, that he is now going to give it away to 9/11 victims and random charities.

Let me speak plainly. Not a single Afghan served as a hijacker on 9/11. Not 1.You know who did? 15 Saudis? And men from half a dozen other countries. But notice that they aren't having their assets frozen and stolen? It's despicable. And it's theft, plain and simple.

Not only that, but RIGHT NOW, in part because this money was frozen, Afghanistan is experiencing the single worst famine in the world. The entire country is in shambles.

The Washington Post just announced that last year, 2021 was the deadliest year for police violence they've ever measured in the 6 years since they launched their comprehensive database.

It's catastrophic news that confirms our worst fears that mass incarceration itself is exploding right before our eyes. Police violence is but one reliable indicator of this.

Today I'll unpack and explain what this means and give some initial thoughts on where we go from here.

I feel crazy even having to say this, but if you believed the viral headlines over the past 24 hours that Joe Biden is giving Black people $30 million for new crack pipes, you have believed a lie.

Here's the thing - Joe Biden makes enough actual mistakes for us to critique. We don't need to make this up.

This past December, public health EXPERTS in his administration announced $30 million for VERY EFFECTIVE harm reduction programs in communities impacted by drug addiction and the opioid crisis. I've studied these programs right here in New York and they are saving lives and making a HUGE difference.

Lastly, that $30 million may seem like a lot, but when funding a national program, it's next to nothing. The federal budget funds TRILLIONS of dollars of programs.

Please be careful when sharing misinformation. It happens WAY too easily nowadays.

The hiring season for NFL head coaches is now over and ONE Black man ended up getting a job - Lovie Smith - who will be taking over in Houston for a Black coach that was fired after only one season.

It was thought to be one of worst 2 or 3 coaching jobs available. So now the NFL has 2 Black head coaches in a league that is 70% Black.

At the root of it all is ownership. The NFL doesn't have a single Black owner. In fact, in all of American sports, out of 100+ teams, only one majority owner is Black - in spite of Black people dominating the industry.

It's one of the greatest failures of integration. Brilliant black teams and leagues were destroyed - alongside Black owned businesses of every kind. Integration ultimately meant Black people integrating into white owned, white dominated spaces.

Today on @TheBreakdown I want to give you two very important updates on the brutal police execution of Amir Locke and I want to explain why I still believe a total ban on no-knock raids, which are banned in almost every developed nation in the world, still makes a difference here.

I see a lot of people saying they don't care if no-knock raids are banned or not because police will still be brutal. I understand that level of frustration. No single solution to police violence will solve the WHOLE problem, but it can solve SOME of the problem. Without no-knock raids, Breonna Taylor would still be alive today. And Amir Locke would as well.

We can't reject some fundamental solutions because they aren't all-encompassing. Do I want to solve the whole damn problem? OF COURSE I DO, but the whole problem gets solved policy by policy, position by position.

You wouldn't know it from the lack of mentions on social media or in the news, but police violence today is as big a crisis as it was in 2020 and its latest victim was a brilliant young brother named Amir Locke - who was shot and killed within seconds in a no knock raid as he awoke from sleep and struggled to get out from under the covers.

Amir was not wanted for a crime. He was not a suspect. He did not break the law. But police did not give Amir enough time for him to even process a coherent thought before they murdered him - still wrapped in blankets and sheets.

Already, police have attempted to blame the fact that Amir had a gun, but Amir was a licensed, trained gun owner. What we know is that gun ownership, and all of the laws protecting gun owners, are very much about protecting WHITE gun owners.

Let me unpack and explain what we know so far.

What happens in the dark always comes to light. ALWAYS. And for the past 8 years, few people have spread more lies and caused me more trouble than Deray McKesson. It has caused my wife, my kids, my mother, my extended family, and the organizations I lead so much trouble and heartache. This week his co-founders came out to say that he has not only mistreated them and stolen their work, but that he has failed to account for an astounding $40 million he raised in the names of families that he hasn't even supported. Now it all makes sense to me. He has laser-focused misinformation campaigns on me to get the attention off of himself.

You don't have to believe in Karma for it to be real. The principle of "you reap what you sow" is thousands of years old. And I don't delight in the Karma Deray is now receiving - that's not my way - but I will say it's overdue.

Sadly, after years of people lying and saying I was the one misspending funds - in spite of me releasing hundreds of pages of reports and accounting showing nothing of the sort, we now see that it is actually a real problem with Deray and many others in this movement. All I can do is continue to let my work and my impact speak for itself.

Yesterday former NFL Head Coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three specific teams for blatant racism and discrimination in their hiring patterns and practices. Today I want to unpack and explain why this was such a bold move for a man that is still actively interviewing for head coaching positions.

We've been here before, though. And when Colin Kaepernick took a bold stand in the NFL previously, it cost him his entire career.

First off, Happy 39th birthday to my dear friend and brother, civil rights attorney, Lee Merritt. Yesterday, primarily because of his objection and guidance, the men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery were denied their plea deal to serve their time in federal prison.

Today I will unpack and explain what went down and what happens next! Then, I need you to click on the link in Lee's bio on Instagram to make a birthday donation to his campaign to be the next Attorney General of Texas. Let's GO!

s you may have seen, the men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery were given a plea deal by the DOJ on federal hate crimes charges and civil rights violations. If the deal is accepted, it will basically amount to these men being allowed to choose where they are imprisoned instead of the Georgia State Prison that they deserve to be in.

Let's be clear - these men have denied being racists for 2 years. They are only now admitting to it because it will allow them to serve their time in a federal prison instead of a hot, overcrowded, badly managed Georgia prison like everybody else who murders someone there. They also wanted to avoid the deep public stain of a trial in which the whole world would learn just how racist these white men were. It's a mess.

Today I want to unpack and explain how this happened, tell you who is responsible, and give context for why so many of us are so incredibly frustrated with the DOJ right now.

Mobile, Alabama did what cities across the country are doing right now, they drastically increased their police budget over the past 3 years. And guess what happened over that same time period? Murders DOUBLED.

Why? Because policing in America is a POST-crime enterprise. They show up AFTER the crime is already complete. And so while the city struggled desperately with poverty, drug addiction, mental health issues, homelessness, and struggling schools - all which are root causes of crime, the city poured more and more of its limited money into policing. And NOTHING got better.

If we are going to be serious about public safety, pouring all of our money into policing, which already takes $789 million PER DAY in America, simply won't work.

Listen, if you love this podcast, we need your support. Go now to TheNorthStar.com to become a paid member or click the link in my bio on Instagram. We are 8,900 members away from our goal for 2022!

When I first saw the AP headline that a brand new law legislating white comfort had passed several important hurdles in Florida, I thought it was a spoof. Florida is crazy, but that was NEXT LEVEL. But it wasn't a spoof.

In fact, this new law appears to be on the fast track to pass. It makes it illegal for white people to feel uncomfortable when teaching American history and Black history. That alone is a problem. But today on The Breakdown, I want to unpack and explain why this law actually sets a VERY dangerous precedent.

In fact, it was because white people made their comfort into law that the got their own water fountains, their own restrooms, their own entrances, their own sections and seats. Listen - this new Florida law is opening Pandora's Box.

First, don't you dare critique this episode without first actually listening to the podcast. Listen, then speak your mind freely. But today on The Breakdown I want to unpack and explain why I think Joe Biden himself was the #1 reason why the voting rights bill failed in the Senate yesterday. Of course Democratic Senators Sinema and Manchin are also to blame.

But the President of the United States, who is the head of the Democratic Party, half-assed this entire push for all of 2021 - not even stating clearly if he supported changing the filibuster rules to pass voting rights legislation until it was far too late. By the time Biden was finally ready to move on this, he gave Sinema and Manchin room to dig their heels in. Everything about how this went down was a rushed unprofessional, unprepared mess. Period. And all of that starts and ends with Biden.

I actually think it is a natural human response to return ugliness to those who were ugly to you or someone you care about. It feels good. I get it. It's something I have to resist every single day, though, because before you know it, you may be as bad or worse than them.

Yesterday I posted a horrible video of openly racist basketball fans in China openly calling former NBA player Sonny Weems a nigger there. It was ugly. But in response to it, I see something that I often see in response to hate. And I want to talk about it.It's one key way we CANNOT respond to hate. Let me unpack and explain it.

Last week a woman was pushed onto the train tracks and killed in New York. And immediately people began calling for more police as the solution, but that station was full of police already - including right there where the crime happened. We can solve this problem, and SO many other problems with non-policing solutions, but America's addiction to policing and mass incarceration literally prevents it from solving so many challenges

To celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we are re-running one of our most popular episodes that highlights a lesser-known side of the civil rights hero. The words and legacy of Dr. King have been reduced and sanitized in so many ways. Today Shaun King plays 5 very special audio clips of Dr. King that you have likely never heard before and breaks down why they are so very important.

Hey Friends. I'm taking a long weekend to be with my family. I'll see you all back on MLK Day this Monday.

I'm probably a good 20 years late for therapy. Nobody told me NOT to see a therapist, but nobody modeled good brain habits for me either. Today I want to talk to you about my therapy journey and tell you how you can get 8 free therapy sessions from @BlackMenHeal. Share this with your family and friends.

Yesterday Biden gave a very important speech on voting rights - stating emphatically that he is now for ending the filibuster to protect voting rights. While this is a necessary shift for Biden, a speech is not a policy. A speech is not a vote. And it remains to be seen if the Democrats in the Senate will do what they need to do to protect and advance voting rights nationwide. Let me tell you where we are, where we aren't, and what I think will happen next.

And here's what's WILD - the LAPD has the NERVE to ask for $200 million more for their budget while their officers are doing this and shooting and killing little girls who are out shopping. We have to stop thinking and believing police are what makes a city safe. It's just not true.

Have your heard of the phrase "Identity Politics?" Let me unpack and explain it. For years, I supported it blindly. And 25 years ago, I think it even made sense, but in 2022 and beyond we have to be more sophisticated than simply supporting someone for political office because they are Black, or a woman, or share some other trait that we identify with. Can it be a factor? Of course. It still is a factor for me, because something like race should also mean you have an understanding of all of the challenges that that race faces, but what I've found is that blindly supporting someone because of their identity simply does not always work out in our favor. Let me unpack and explain what I mean.

It's hard to jump for joy. Ahmaud is still not here. Justice means balance. Balance would be Ahmaud being alive and well - running wherever he damn well pleased. But today is accountability. And we fought damn hard for it. Thank each and every one of you for your support from Day 1. For Ahmaud. For this family. For me. For Lee Merritt. For Grassroots Law. God bless you.

It's now been 1 year since the violent insurrection at the American Capitol and it's hard for me to think that this country has truly taken this attack like the threat it truly was and is. Today I want to play for you my thoughts and reflections from 1 year ago, right after the attack happened.

Listen, we need to have a very frank conversation about how bad Merrick Garland has been in his first year as Attorney General. It's even worse that I thought it would be - significantly so - particularly on issues of racial justice, police violence, and mass incarceration. But here's the thing - he's an old man and has NEVER been strong on any of those issues. He never should've gotten this job. We can only hope that he retires early or is replaced soon with 1 of HUNDREDS of attorneys who could and would do so much better.

Nearly one year ago today, the American Capitol was overtaken during a conservative riot over the election. Hard decisions needed to be made in that moment, but weren't. It was that failure, in part, that caused the complete collapse of the security before, during, and immediately after the insurrection. Over the past year, countless hard decisions should've been made and hard actions taken in response to this crisis. But those decisions and actions simply have not happened. And we will all pay the price as a result.

Out of 12,000+ police departments fewer than 10 lost any money in the past few years. Nonetheless, from coast to coast, police blamed the spike in crime on "defunding the police." So city councils across the country poured records amount of money into policing. But guess what? It didn't change a thing. Why? Because police RARELY stop crime. They aren't even great at responding to it. 97% of their time isn't even spent on serious violent crimes. It was all a huge money grab - and the groups and causes and departments that could've really used the money to make a difference are all still struggling.

We are about to enter a horrible new era of extreme mass incarceration that will rival the worst periods in modern American history. In fact, it's already started. Today I'll unpack why it's happening, who is responsible, and tell you why history is repeating itself.

In the middle of the night this past weekend, Senate Democrats, urged by the White House, with 31 Senators not even present for the vote, approved Rahm Emanuel for a position in the administration. This comes after the widespread knowledge that Emanuel blatantly covered up the police murder of a Black teenager, Laquan McDonald, for his own political gain. It's disgusting. Shame on Biden, Harris, and every Senate Democrat who voted for this.

Simply put, you can't be a racist judge. Doubly so when the primary people before your court are black. This woman should be disbarred, lose her law license and be removed from the bench immediately.

Inflation is rising. The pandemic is actually getting worse. And millions of Americans are truly struggling. Now is the worst time imaginable to restart student loan payments, but Joe Biden is about to do it anyway. It's bad for everyday people. That should be enough. But it's also just REALLY bad politically.

Today I wanted to take some time out to thank you all for your love, support, prayers, and encouragement as my family fought through a very hard time this month. I'm going to get back to recording The Breakdown today, but didn't want to begin without first thanking you all for all the love you've shown us.

I have to be out this week, so the staff is going to play episodes from throughout the podcast network we have developed here at The North Star. Today, here's the preview episode of our newest podcast Word.Life hosted by our Chief Content editor, Donney Rose!

[From The North Star] Nina Simone once said that it is “an artist’s duty is to reflect the times,” when interviewed about her seminal classic Mississippi Goddamn. It is in that spirit of critical reflection that The North Star introduces Word.Life., a new podcast seeking to unpack the intersections of literary art, music, politics and the revolutions that are often amplified in the creative realm.

Hosted by The North Star’s Chief Content Editor and poet, Donney Rose, Word.Life. is an exploration into the lyrics, verses, messaging and context of the songs and poems and prose and scripts where the art is the heartbeat, bassline and bottom line for radical change. From the timeless classics of yesteryear to the urgent work of modern-day griots, Word.Life. will dissect the work that lights the fire and calls the people to the frontlines.

Word.Life. is a weekly podcast that is released every Thursday on all streaming platforms, including Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, & Google Play and streaming on Twitch & YouTube.

www.TheNorthStar.com

I have to be out this week, so the staff is going to replay some of their favorite episodes from throughout the podcast network we have developed here at The North Star. Here's an episode from The Momentum Advisors from the end of summer that breaks down the wealth gap of the middle class. A very important topic of our times.

[From The Momentum Advisors] Keeping liquid savings on hand in case of an emergency is one area where Americans of all income brackets are falling short--especially the "middle class." But what is this middle class? Is it defined by a salary range, household income or aspirational possessions? And is being in the "middle class" all it's chalked up to be? On this episode we answer all these questions while addressing the wealth gap of the middle class and how to thrive in it.

I have to be out this week, so the staff is going to replay some of their favorite episodes from throughout the podcast network we have developed here at The North Star. Today, is a recent episode from The Momentum Advisors that we feel is right on time. Enjoy.

[From The Momentum Advisors] The end of the year always seems to sneak up on us. After Thanksgiving, the buzz of the holiday season keeps us busy through the New Year and all of our financial, health and tax planning become distant thoughts until 2022. Not this year! On this episode, we make your year-end adult-ing planning a priority; because when the year ends there’s no going back.

Last week I never really had a chance to tell you all my thoughts and feelings on the guilty verdict for the 3 men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery. I’ll break it all down here today.

Today I just wanted to freestyle and share some thoughts from my head and heart on the life and death of Virgil Abloh. What a loss.

Let me unpack and explain what’s going on and why I’m a bit nervous today about the outcome of the trial of the men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery

Closing arguments just wrapped up and the rest of this case is now in the hands of a nearly all-white jury. Today I’ll share my hopes and expectations and also talk about why yesterday was a true low moment for the entire trial.

I'm still on the road. So for today, the team at The North Star will run one of their favorite throwback episodes. Though it references Joe Biden's first few days in office, the message is still relevant today. Please listen as I breakdown how one can literally be a black oppressor.

www.TheNorthStar.com

While I'm out on the road this week, the team at The North Star are replaying some of their favorite episodes of The Breakdown.

With the news of the 2 men that were convicted of Killing Malcolm scheduled to be exonerated, we want to replay an episode that runs four of the most powerful clips from the speeches and interviews of Malcolm X. They are also painful because they shouldn't even be relevant anymore, but he literally could've said these things yesterday. Listen and learn.

While I'm out on the road this week, the team at The North Star are replaying some of their favorite episodes of The Breakdown.

Did you hear the disturbing clip of Kenosha, Wisconsin Sheriff David Beth saying Black people need to be locked up, warehoused, and never let out again? He said this after a shoplifting incident. But listen, that man was VOTED into office. We have to start be very, very specific about who and what people should be voting for and against nationwide. Or we get him.

While I'm out on the road this week, the team at The North Star are replaying some of their favorite episodes of The Breakdown.

In this episode, I share a painful, personal story about a lesson that I learned about organizing for change as an outsider and organizing for change as an insider. In the winter of 2014, I found myself in a deep funk after failing in so many fights for families fighting for justice. And I got a call from The White House that forever changed the way I saw my role in this movement. I wanted to speak like and lead like Malcolm, but have the access to rooms of power and privilege like Martin. It didn't work. Let me unpack and explain how that informs almost everything I do as a leader today.

The trial of white supremacist Kyle Rittenhouse who murdered two people at a Black Lives Matter protest is going on right now. I’m following it closely and I encourage all of you to do the same. Today we are rerunning the first Breakdown episode on the Kenosha shooting as we brace ourselves for what’s next.

This is one of the most important civil rights cases in the history of our country.As the trial of the McMichael’s and Roddie Bryan begins, we’re rerunning the first Breakdown episode examining the heinous murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

Yesterday was an ESSENTIAL day in the trial of the bigots that murdered Ahmaud Arbery. The testimony was as important and as damning as anything we will hear during the entire trial. And for the first time in a few weeks, I’m feeling more hopeful about the possibility that these men will be convicted. Let me unpack and explain it.

We are now just 9 days away from the scheduled execution of Julius Jones. I honestly never thought we’d get here. The Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Parole has now ruled TWICE that Julius Jones should be removed from death row and that his sentence should be commuted to life with parole. But Governor Stitt of Oklahoma is ignoring his own board. I’ve never seen it in my life.

I need you to stop what you are doing and do 2 things for us please.

Sign our super petition @ FreeJuliusJones.com - when you fill that out, it sends out emails to everybody involved in the case.
Then, save this number in your phone as Julius Jones: 405-777-7840 and call it several times a day to demand that the Governor listen to his own board of pardon and parole. Our staff @GrassrootsLaw will be there to coach you through it.

Democrats control the House, Senate, and the Presidency. Conservatives led a failed insurrection at the American Capitol earlier this year and are literally going to prison. This should be the time that Democrats step up to lead, but instead, they are throwing it all away.

Opening statements are now underway and the full trial of the three white supremacists who murdered Ahmaud Arbery is now underway. I am gravely concerned. The judge is OK. That’s the good news. But the jury looks like a Trump rally. And the prosecutors really did bomb in the jury selection process.

I’m on the road today and will be right back here tomorrow to unpack and explain the results from Election Day. Hope each of you are doing well.

It’s Election Day across America. And while I’m still honored to have the right to vote, I see the growing frustration among Black voters with the Democratic Party as they continue to overpromise and underdeliver.Also, today I have some very good news on the Julius Jones case.

In 17 days Oklahoma is scheduled to execute an innocent young Black man for a crime he did not commit. The Oklahoma Board of Pardon & Parole already voted 3-1 to stop this execution and give Julius life in prison, but the Governor is ignoring his own board full of conservative appointees. That’s why we need you.

Please go now to FreeJuliusJones.com to learn all about the case and then call 405.777.7840.

I am counting on you. Julius is counting on you. Together we are strong.

Last night Oklahoma executed a man named John Grant. What happened was as gross as anything I’ve ever heard of. Let me unpack and explain to you why it was illegal. It’s also more American than apple pie or baseball.

Between me and you all - this was one of the worst things I’ve ever heard of in modern American history. And I cover and fight evil for a living.

I’m a writer. I’m a lot of things, but a writer will always be high on that list. After a few months of working to get out of all of my contracts with my book publisher and literary agent and talent agent, who were good to me by the way, I’m breaking out on my own. I’m betting on myself.

My last book was a New York Times Bestseller, but I don’t desire or ever plan to be on that list again. I’m going in a very different direction with my next 4-5 books.

I need the space to be able to say and write what I need to say and write without fear that some corporation that pays me might not like it.

This was the last boss I had. But now I’m free. And I’m about to dial it up a few notches.

His name should be a household name that we say alongside so many other victims of police violence. Over 5 years ago police fired hundreds of shots at Jamarion Robinson - shooting him 76 times and killing him. Today I’ll speak about the case and the peculiar nature of why some cases go viral, but most never do.

When you truly fail to understand and appreciate the past, and learn from it, you are doomed to repeat it. And all over the country right now, Black mayors are trying to incarcerate their way out of their worst problems. This is literally the same thing we saw in the late 80s and early 90s and we are repeating it again. And Atlanta is the epicenter of it all.

This past August, as she walked with her family from a high school football game, police in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania shot and killed 8 year old Fanta Bility, shot her sister, and injured other bystanders and families. I spoke to the family this week. Let me unpack and explain what I know.

I saw something on social media this week that surprised and spooked me. And it should damn sure spook Joe Biden. Let me unpack and explain it.

Louisiana State Trooper Carl Cavalier, a young Black man, did the right thing and spoke out on the horrible police murder of Ronald Greene by his department. He called out their lies covering it up and called out their murder of an innocent, unarmed Black man. And now the Louisiana State Police have filed papers to fire this man - not for murder or a coverup, but for speaking up. It’s a damn shame and he needs our support.

Louisiana State Trooper Carl Cavalier, a young Black man, did the right thing and spoke out on the horrible police murder of Ronald Greene by his department. He called out their lies covering it up and called out their murder of an innocent, unarmed Black man. And now the Louisiana State Police have filed papers to fire this man - not for murder or a coverup, but for speaking up. It’s a damn shame and he needs our support.

Jury selection is currently underway in the trial of the 3 men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery. I have several concerns, but one troubles me more than most. Today I’ll unpack that and also discuss the death of Colin Powell.

In 33 days Oklahoma is scheduled to execute an innocent young Black man for a crime he did not commit. The Oklahoma Board of Pardon & Parole already voted 3-1 to stop this execution and give Julius life in prison, but the Governor is ignoring his own board full of conservative appointees. That’s why we need you.

Please go now to FreeJuliusJones.com to learn all about the case and then call 405.777.7840.

I am counting on you. Julius is counting on you. Together we are strong.

Make this make sense. In a city where 16,700 NYPD officers refuse to get vaccinated, but aren’t mandated to get it, in spite of 61 of them dying from it, and them spreading it all over New York, this same city is requiring Kyrie to get it if he wants to play. While also not requiring the opposing team to have it. Scientifically, that makes no sense whatsoever.

This will probably be the last time I talk about it, but I had just a few more lingering thoughts I wanted to share and clarify. Feel free to push back. We can do that here.

Last week it was discovered that Jon Gruden, head coach of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders said about as ugly and anti-Black a remark as someone could make. And he kept his job. His team defended him. Then it was just discovered that he said some homophobic stuff as well. And that was just too much. This was the main idea of Dave Chappelle’s latest Netflix special. Let’s talk about it.

For the first time in my life, I am attempting to take my mental health seriously. I want to unpack what that means for me and what it might mean for you.

Yesterday Jackie Johnson, the longtime DA of Glynn County, deep in Georgia, was charged with multiple crimes for her role in the murder and coverup of Ahmaud Arbery. Let me tell you why this matters so much

After Hurricane Ida devastated Louisiana, it just hit us hard here in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania - with entire communities flooded, tornadoes everywhere, roads and trains shut down, and more. Nearly a dozen people died overnight. Let me unpack and explain what's really going on.

It's foolish that it came to this, but it was necessary nonetheless. Let me unpack and explain it.

Since before the Black Lives Matter Movement started, an innocent Black man named Marvin Guy has been languishing in the local county jail without every going to trial and without ever being convicted of a crime. It's almost been 8 years. This is an abomination. Today, on Marvin's behalf, I am asking for your help.

I need your help, but most of all, he's going to need your help. And together we can do some of the most important work of our lives.

While I'm on the road this week, the staff at The North Star will be playing re-run episodes of The Breakdown as well as some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Thanks for tuning in!

Democrats narrowly control the House, Senate, and Presidency - the real question I have now is this - what will they do with it? Because it already looks like Republicans are going to play hardball as usual. Will Democrats fold and get nothing done, or will they muster up the moral courage to fight for real meaningful change? Most of my close friends think that Democrats will squander this moment. Call me foolish, but I still have some hope.

While I'm on the road this week, the staff at The North Star will be playing re-run episodes of The Breakdown as well as some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Thanks for tuning in!

30 years ago the LAPD brutally beat a Black man named Rodney King and a man with a camcorder a few blocks away just happened to catch it all on film. It was obviously a crime, but not a single officer was held responsible. The question today is this - as we try the men who murdered George Floyd, who clearly committed multiple crimes, will they be held responsible? Clearly police in our nation are still causing harm 30 years later, but will a jury in this country finally say enough is enough?

While I'm on the road this week, the staff at The North Star will be playing re-run episodes of The Breakdown as well as some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Thanks for tuning in!

Across the country, as certain types of crime have increased, people are defaulting to the same tired answer we've seen before... more police and more money for the police. But this actually doesn't work. At all. And for Black communities, it can actually make things much worse.

While I'm on the road this week, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's one of our favorites from Sick Empire.

On this episode of Sick Empire we explore the health of Black wealth. Host Branden Janese interviews two brilliant financial pundits, Tiffany Hawkins and Allan Boomer of The Momentum Advisors. You'll hear candid conversations surrounding Black finances. We dive into topics surrounding the health of the Black dollar. You’ll hear how Black folks have overcome the history of trauma surrounding finances and what the future looks like for Black economics.

While I'm on the road this week, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's the latest episode of The Momentum Advisors Show where they are breaking down the absurd wealth gap that exists within our modern middle class. I'm sure many of us will relate! It's a great one! Be sure to subscribe to them on your favorite podcasting platform!

Keeping liquid savings on hand in case of an emergency is one area where Americans of all income

brackets are falling short--especially the "middle class." But what is this middle class? Is it defined by a salary range, household income or aspirational possessions? And is being in the "middle class" all it's chalked up to be? On this episode we answer all these questions while addressing the wealth gap of the middle class and how to thrive in it.

Wildfires are raging in California right now and one town, Susanville, which only exists because of the two prisons that support the local economy, is now in the direct line of the fire. As people begin making plans to leave, local officials are demanding that they make everybody that's locked up stay behind and suffer.

Let me teach you a little bit about what the Tuskegee Experiment - because I see thousands of people completely spreading misinformation about what it actually was. In many ways, it was the exact opposite of where we are right now in the coronavirus pandemic. Let me unpack and explain it.

What a mess. After a trillion dollars from taxpayers was spent in Afghanistan, the United States left a government and military behind that clearly had no willingness or ability to defend itself. The whole thing was a failure. Let me unpack and explain it.

I planned to do a celebration episode for Episode #500 today, but this story is so infuriating that we had to interrupt that to get to this outrageous story. It's painful, but I need you to hear it. And I'll give you some action steps as well.

When I first saw this, I thought it was fake news. I thought it was a fake headline from The Onion, but no, it's real. And even your favorite Senators voted for it.

Soon to be former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has always been a horrible human being. I hoped he would be impeached, but I'll settle for his resignation. In addition to his mistreatment of women, he was horrible on so many policies that matter to us. And what's wild is that his nursing home scandal is as bad as anything he's ever done and that's not even what took him out.

Let me share where I think we are as a country right now in this pandemic - as the cases and deaths begin to spiral out of control...again. It's a painful sign of what's ahead for our country. I'll also make a few predictions on what's next.

If you are still here, thank you. Today I am just checking in.

While I'm away, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series.

This re-run episode of Sick Empire features two very different food educators who purposefully planted themselves in environments where they teach their passion for food and gardening by promoting access and knowledge in overlooked and all but forgotten Black neighborhoods. You’ll hear the host Branden Janese interview Kurt Evans, a chef who curates dinners to end mass incarceration, teaches culinary arts to kids on Rikers, and employs a staff of returning citizens at his pizza shop in Philly. Branden also interviews Yemi Amu, an aquaponic educator who talks about the power of healing in the garden, and shares her experiences teaching her non-gentrified Brooklyn community how to grow produce, herbs and proteins from recycled water.

While I'm away, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series.

Here I play four of the most powerful clips from the speeches and interviews of Malcolm X. They are also painful because they shouldn't even be relevant anymore, but he literally could've said these things yesterday. Listen and learn.

While I'm away, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series.

Today, here's a re-run episode where I breakdown exactly why police brutality is functionally legal in the United States by unpacking a Supreme Court case that currently protects even the worst officers in cases of police brutality. To hear more on the subject go back and listen to episode 13 & 14 as this was the first in a three part series.

While I'm away, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's a re-run episode where I breakdown the percentage of crimes solved by police.

Here's a hint. Cut your guess by at least 90%. It's so damn low.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's an episode of Momentum Advisors from February where they broke down cooperative economics. It's a great one! Be sure to subscribe to them on your favorite podcasting platform!

The fourth principle of Kwanzaa is "Ujamaa": Cooperative Economics. This is often defined as coming together to build and maintain our own businesses and real estate to profit from them, together. Black people have been building and benefitting from cooperative economics for decades, particularly in parts of the economy where we’ve been cut out by major institutions. In this episode, we explore the various ways you can capitalize on cooperative economics today.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's a very special episode of Sick Empire. Be sure to subscribe to them on your favorite podcasting platform!

On Season 2 of Sick Empire we are focusing on the healing practices and journeys of Black folx in New York and across the country to share the diverse paths of healing that we can explore after the coronavirus has left so many of us in sick in more ways than one.

You’ll hear our host Branden Janese interview an eclectic group of modern day healing practitioners, from a Reiki Master and yoga teacher in West L.A, to a holistic advocate in Atlanta, to a New York based Black feminist professor, scholar and mental health therapist.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes of The Breakdown as well as episodes from some of our other podcast series.

I'm fighting for it. You're fighting for it. But let's take a moment to define what justice means for families impacted by police violence and racial terrorism on today's rerun episode of The Breakdown.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes of The Breakdown as well as episodes from some of our other podcast series.

The United States does not have one justice system or one legal system. We often talk about changing the system, but in reality, we have 30,000 microsystems. Each microsystem has its own set of rules, laws, and politics, which is simultaneously great news in our fight to change the status quo, as well as horrible news. On today's episode, a rerun from last year that remains painfully relevant, Shaun breaks down what this means.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today,

Here's a replay of a special time when my wife, Rai King, took over The Breakdown to talk about the lives and legacies of Myrlie Evers-Williams, Betty Shabazz, and Coretta Scott King. She discusses why they are more than footnotes in the stories of their husbands and why their work is relevant today.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's the latest episode of Momentum Advisors. Be sure to subscribe to them on your favorite podcasting platform!

Rai and Blanca sit with activist, leader, wife, mom, and all-around badass, Carmen Perez about her identity as a Chicana woman. She also discusses Black and Brown co-conspiratorship and how this differs from allyship. Carmen also reveals never-before discussed details about her time as a primary organizer for The Women's March and how white, liberal women failed the women of color on that organizing team.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's the latest episode of Momentum Advisors. Be sure to subscribe to them on your favorite podcasting platform!

COVID has created “a tale of 2 cities” where many people are struggling and a similar number of people are wealthier than ever. Between strong stock market performance and an even stronger housing market, we are seeing more people become millionaires than ever before. This episode discusses how these new millionaires are made, strategies to help them deal with their newfound wealth and tips on how you can be next in line.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's a very special episode of W.O.C. at Work. Be sure to subscribe to them on your favorite podcasting platform!

In this episode of W.O.C. at Work, Rai and Blanca sit down with community activist, social worker, and NYC City Council candidate, Shanequa E. Moore to discuss the unmet needs in our communities surrounding fair housing and access to quality education. They also talk about why Shanequa decided to run for office after decades as a nonprofit executive, and how Black and Brown women can better show up for each other in the political arena.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's a very special episode of The Momentum Advisors. Be sure to subscribe to them on your favorite podcasting platform!

Your psychological view of money has a huge impact on your money decisions. Determining what to spend money on, how much to save and evaluating your “safety net” are all steeped in what we call your “Money Mind.” On this episode we will help you identify your money mind; and some of the pitfalls and opportunities that go along with it.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's a very special episode of Sick Empire. Be sure to subscribe to them on your favorite podcasting platform!

On Season 2 of Sick Empire we are focusing on the healing practices and journeys of Black folx in New York and across the country to share the diverse paths of healing that we can explore after the coronavirus has left so many of us in sick in more ways than one.

You’ll hear our host Branden Janese interview an eclectic group of modern day healing practitioners, from a Reiki Master and yoga teacher in West L.A, to a holistic advocate in Atlanta, to a New York based Black femminist professor, scholar and mental health therapist.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's a very special episode of The Momentum Advisors. Be sure to subscribe to them on your favorite podcasting platform!

In this episode, Allan and Tiffany speak on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre that destroyed “Black Wall Street” in 1921. It was a horrible tragedy that is a major cause for today's wealth gap in the Black community. On this episode, we are highlighting how to approach building generational wealth in spite of all the systemic setbacks and obstacles, like the Tulsa Massacre. We are breaking down strategies for building wealth in your family no matter how much you're starting with.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's a very special episode of Sick Empire. Be sure to subscribe to them on your favorite podcasting platform!

The morning of May 25th, 2020 the first episode of Sick Empire aired. Back then there was no vaccine for the Coronavirus, we were all stuck in quarantine, and George Floyd would be murdered later that day. To commemorate our one year anniversary Sick Empire will highlight the crimes against humanity happening in East Jerusalem. You’ll hear Branden Janese in conversation with four guests who all share a link to social justice work in the Middle East. In true Sick Empire fashion we blend together voices that would have most likely never found themselves in a room together including, a New York City public defender, a Muslim community organizer, a Black girl who currently lives on the Gaza Strip, and a historian and writer.

This episode is a rollercoaster. There are moments that are hard to listen to, like when one guest describes watching a recent bombing of her neighborhood in Gaza and how another guest refuses to give up fighting for freedom even when it comes with exceptional losses. We also unpack the layers of inequality in solidarity work.

While I'm away on vacation, the staff at The North Star will be playing some of our favorite episodes from some of our other podcast series. Today, here's a favorite of ours from The Momentum Advisors Show. Be sure to subscribe to them on your favorite podcasting platform!

"Society stereotypes "trust fund babies" as overprivileged, spoiled, adult-children who think they're superior to others and have no responsibilities. But in reality, we should all strive to have trust fund baby's and on this episode we're going to tell you exactly why. We're also going to teach you how to leave a million dollar trust fund for your beneficiaries without ever having a fraction of that amount in your bank account." - The Momentum Advisors

On this re-run episode, I take a moment to really share my heart and soul about anti-Semitism. I also want to tackle the questions I have received about why more Black people are not fighting against it right now. I think I understand at least part of the answer. It's capacity. Let me unpack and explain it.

Do you know what COINTELPRO was? In this rerun episode, I begin to unpack and explain it. It was how the federal government undermined movements for Black people and Black power. And I think we are experiencing COINTELPRO 2.0 right here, right now.

Just over a year ago, I started a firestorm by saying that statues of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jesus-figure should be taken down just like the monuments of slaveholders. The problem is that for tens of millions of white people, it's necessary for that Jesus, that Savior, to be white. And it has been used as a tool of oppression for hundreds of years. It's a problem. On today's re-run episode, listen in as I break it down.

On Today's re-run episode, I shares a painful, personal story about a lesson that I learned about organizing for change as an outsider and organizing for change as an insider. In the winter of 2014, I found myself in a deep funk after failing in so many fights for families fighting for justice. And I got a call from The White House that forever changed the way I saw my role in this movement. I wanted to speak like and lead like Malcolm, but have the access to rooms of power and privilege like Martin. It didn't work. Let me unpack and explain how that informs almost everything I do as a leader today.

International superstar Sha'Carri Richardson was just banned from the Olympics for smoking weed after her mother just died. Black people have been using weed to deal with grief and trauma for generations. It's not a performance enhancing drug. The new ban on Sha'Carri is a part of what I think is a theme of anti-Blackness in these Olympics.

Rightfully so, I see a lot of anger and frustration on this case from every group you can imagine. But that anger is causing a lot of people to say things about why Bill Cosby got free that simply aren't true. Let me try to unpack and explain it all.

Hunter Brittain. Know this name. Last week police in Arkansas shot and killed him. Hunter was just 17 and was beloved by his family and community. Today I will unpack and explain the case and speak on just how rare it is for this type of painful injustice to happen to a white child.

It hurts to be lied on by a single person. Today I want to try to quantify and explain to you what it feels like to have millions of people boldly and openly lying about you. It's a painful outer-body experience.

Should he have received more time? Was it enough? Or was it too much. I'll tell you where I come down on it and try to unpack what's likely to come next

Elections were yesterday in New York and we had some huge victories that I want to talk about - as well as some stinging losses. But we have to get key lessons from all of it.

One of the single easiest victories Joe Biden could have right now with the Black voters who put him into office would be prosecuting the police from all of the worst cases of police violence of the past 10 years. I could name a thousand cases, but he could start with dozens, including Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, and Philando Castile and go from there.

This week Mitch McConnell openly said that if Republicans take back the Senate next year, even if by a single vote, that he would refuse to appoint any Supreme Court nominees from Joe Biden. I believe him. And the Democratic Party should too.

Here's a hint. Cut your guess by at least 90%. It's so damn low.

I took the past 2 weeks off to take care of myself, then to help take care of my wife after she had a horrible accident. Today I want to thank you for your love and support and tell you TWO BIG IDEAS that are on my heart.

100 years ago on this very day, the community of Greenwood, known as Black Wall Street, in Tulsa, Oklahoma was nothing but smoldering hot ash after it was bombed and burned and looted not just by white Oklahoman's, but by the local government. And survivors are still demanding reparations. Not a single valid excuse exists for denying them what they deserve.

Across the country, as certain types of crime have increased, people are defaulting to the same tired answer we've seen before... more police and more money for the police. But this actually doesn't work. At all. And for Black communities, it can actually make things much worse.

Today, on the first day of the ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinians, the brutality and Apartheid conditions from Israeli police and military forces have absolutely continued. As long as the Apartheid continues, peace will not be sustainable.

Police murdered Ronald Greene in Louisiana and have worked with politicians for the past 2 years to cover it up, but now the body camera footage has been leaked - exposing them all as the murderous monsters they are

Last night in Philadelphia we won in a blowout with the re-election of Larry Krasner as the District Attorney. It was the single most important election for justice so far in 2021 and meant everything to win big. Also, I reflect on the birthday of our dear brother Malcolm X today.

I'm in Philadelphia campaigning for Larry Krasner to be reelected as District Attorney. And I want to unpack for you why I think it's the single most important election for criminal justice in our lifetime.

Today I want to teach a quick, but important lesson on why, in spite of so much of our hard work on causes, we don't see the deep systemic change we all want to see.

We are now just 5 days away from Election Day in Philadelphia and I want to tell you why electing Larry Krasner as DA matters to all of us - no matter where we live

Today I want you to hear from two voices I trust on Palestine and the struggle for basic human rights and freedom there.

Yesterday Congressman Jim Clyburn, one of the leading Democrats in the country, basically crushed any chance qualified immunity had of passing on the federal level. It's disgusting. Let me break it down.

It's weird, but the Summer Olympics are less than 3 months away. And athletes are just now starting to get detailed notifications that they can't wear anything that says or represents "Black Lives Matter" in any way whatsoever. Black power fists are banned. Taking a knee is banned. But they should all ignore this...together.

Today me, Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner, and our organization, Real Justice, were just threatened with a lawsuit from the evil monster of a man, Carlos Vega, Larry's opponent in the DA's race there in 12 days. Let me break it all down for you. I stand by every word I said.

Blanca and Rai sit down with Dr. Hasina Mohyuddin, a scholar and DEI professional at Vanderbilt University, to hear her story of being a Muslim woman in America. She shares her research with us about the effects of Islamaphobia on children. We also discuss what your workplace can do right now to support its Muslim workers.

Yesterday we raised nearly $100,000 for Myon Burrell, who was wrongly convicted for a murder he had nothing to do with in Minneapolis nearly 20 years ago. He was just a kid and spent 18 years of his life in prison. I'm so grateful for everybody who gave. And I just want to be clear - no matter how many lies people tell on me across the Internet, I am literally never going to stop raising money for these families impacted by police violence, racial injustice, and mass incarceration.

This past week New York City announced that all non-violent mental health calls will be rerouted away from the NYPD and sent instead to mental health professionals. This amounts to nearly 154,000 calls a year - or over 400 calls a day to 911. When it gets instituted, this is going to change the city and change policing in a major way.

Yesterday, I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was, when a judge ruled that police did NOT have to release body camera footage of their murder of Andrew Brown. Hours later we learned that crime charges would be filed against the men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery. And this morning we just learned that my friend and brother Gary Chambers is launching a brand new organization called Bigger Than Me.

I need you to know this name and know this story. Police in Elizabeth City, North Carolina executed a Black man named Andrew Brown, Jr. and they refuse to release the body camera footage or even really admit to any of what went down, but what we know so far tells me this is going to be a national case and local police know it.

Chances are, you've heard of the term "compound interest," but do you know how it really works? If not, you're in the majority: 69% of Americans don't understand it. Compound interest is the "magic pill" that converts your "modest savings" into massive wealth. Through the power of compound interest is how most "everyday" people become millionaires. On this episode we are breaking down how compound interest

works and how to make it work for you--at any age.

When I heard that Carlos Vega was running to be the next District Attorney of Philadelphia, I thought it was a joke. He was literally fired from that office for gross misconduct. In his 35 years there, his department wrongly convicted dozens of innocent people that they framed for crimes they had absolutely nothing to do with. I don't think a more disturbing person is running for office in 2021. Together we have to stop him.

Today we have an episode of another podcast produced by The North Star - W.O.C. at Work. Hosted by Rai King and Dr. Blanca Ruiz, it explores what it means to be a W.O.C. at Work by elevating the voices of female-identifying leaders of color in order to shed light on their common experiences as they push for transformational change in organizations across the country.

Feel stuck in a job that you know doesn’t serve your needs, but not sure you can walk away? In this episode of WOC at Work, Blanca and Rai talk with Dr. Amber Field about what it looks like to listen to your inner spirit when you know it’s time to move on. Amber talks with the hosts about how she walked away from a “big job” in a white-dominant organization and rested in the fact that even without the titles, salary, and accolades, she-all by herself was enough.

When you contribute to your retirement savings do you know what your investments are contributing to? Are your investment dollars circulating wealth into the communities that matter to you the most? Unfortunately, the answer is probably: NO. And the worse news is that your retirement and investment dollars are likely supporting companies and institutions that would rather support immigration, prison complexes, racism and excess gun usage before supporting people that look like you. In this episode we ask you the question ‘Is Your Money Racist?’ and then provide you with the tools on what you can do about it once and for all.

Yesterday Derek Chauvin was held fully accountable for his murder of George Floyd. He was convicted on all charges. And it was an important victory in the pursuit of justice. While that was being celebrated - we learned of the horrible shooting death of 16 year old Makiyah Bryant in Columbus, Ohio. I'll talk about all of this and more today.

There is something ugly about the waiting game we are playing right now as the jury deliberates in the trial of Derek Chauvin. The jury is doing what they have to do, but it's like the whole nation knows that our country could fall apart if Chauvin isn't held accountable.

The closing arguments in the prosecution of Derek Chauvin are today. For the past 3 weeks, the prosecution did a very good job. Maybe better than I've ever seen in a case against a police officer. I'll explain why and tell you what I truly think will happen next.

The Chicago Police shot and killed an unarmed, compliant 13 year old boy and then lied to cover it up.

On this past Monday, like millions of Americans I got the news that yet another school shooting happened in Knoxville, Tennessee. Except what police and reporters initially stated was all a lie. There was no school shooter. And the only officer who got shot, shot himself. And a young Black boy named Anthony Thompson is dead.

If you've read my book, you've seen the concept I have for "The Dip." It's what happens in American society when white people in power feel threatened or insecure. I think we're experiencing some of those tremors right now.

Since yesterday we've learned so much more not only about the officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright, but about the deeply racist origins of the town where he was killed.

Yesterday police outside of Minneapolis shot and killed an unarmed, non-violent Black man named Daunte Wright after pulling him over for having an air freshener hanging from his rear view mirror. And it's all just too much.

Yesterday we saw something that we rarely see in murder trials against police officers - we saw and heard the direct supervisor of Derek Chauvin testify against him. I'll play the key moment and break it down for you. I think it could be the single most important moment of the entire trial.

30 years ago the LAPD brutally beat a Black man named Rodney King and a man with a camcorder a few blocks away just happened to catch it all on film. It was obviously a crime, but not a single officer was held responsible. The question today is this - as we try the men who murdered George Floyd, who clearly committed multiple crimes, will they be held responsible? Clearly police in our nation are still causing harm 30 years later, but will a jury in this country finally say enough is enough?

Today Rai King takes over The Breakdown to talk about the lives and legacies of Myrlie Evers-Williams, Betty Shabazz, and Coretta Scott King. She discusses why they are more than footnotes in the stories of their husbands and why their work is relevant today.

Let me unpack and explain Day 1 of the trial of the disgraced police officer Derek Chauvin. From their opening statements forward, the prosecution did a very good job yesterday. I also think that Donald Williams will turn out to be a star witness for them. Not only did he witness the entire thing, he testimony was full of expertise and painful honesty.

Today the prosecution and defense will make their opening statements in the trial of disgraced police officer Derek Chauvin. What his lawyers want to make this is the trial of George Floyd. They want the jury to think that George somehow took his own life. But George Floyd did not kill himself. He was murdered. Everybody on the scene, from children to adults, knew and said it was happening in real time.

In so many ways, St. Louis is ground zero for the Black Lives Matter Movement. And right now, we have a chance to help elect a brilliant Black woman, Tishaura Jones, to be the first Black woman ever elected to the position. Today, I'll tell you all about Tishaura and give you a key chance to support her! Let's GO!

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

I've defended myself enough. Now it's time to get back to work.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

As soon as you can, scroll back to March 4th on my Instagram page. Do you see the post that says "March 23rd. That's All?"

That's today. 19 days ago, my team and I decided to start an experiment to prove something that we thought was going to happen. And our worst fears were proven true. And started almost immediately. We had determined that every time over the past 5 years that I made a big announcement something important was coming - a massive campaign of lies, propaganda, and disinformation spread about me almost immediately. As I looked back over the past 5 years, I could see it for myself. BUT THIS TIME, we wanted to prepare for it and study it and see exactly how it would all go down. It was actually far worse than I ever imagined. Let me unpack and explain it.

On today's episode of @TheBreakdown I unpack and explain how police brutality is a math problem. African Americans are forced to interact with police FAR too much. And by drastically reducing these number of forced interactions, we will, by default, reduce the incidents of police brutality as well.

Racism is deeply baked into the fiber of America. It's full embedded in our systems and structures of policing. And it's not a bug, but a key feature. So much so that I don't think it will ever be extracted from these systems. So, one sure fire way to reduce police violence in America is to reduce the number of times people interact with police altogether. As it is in the rest of the world.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

You don't have to be Asian or Asian American to be heartbroken by the gross sting of bigoted and sexist violence that visited metro Atlanta this week. You just have to have a heart.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

Over the past week, a coordinated attack has been leveled against the most prominent civil rights leaders of the day - including myself and some of my very best friends in this movement.

Today, I want to unpack and explain what I really think is going on. It's a misinformation campaign designed to destabilize the movement and cause massive confusion. For a few days, it has worked, but not a single one of us is going to stop doing what we do to make the world a better place.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

Do you know what COINTELPRO was? Let me begin to unpack and explain it today with a quick introduction. It was how the federal government undermined movements for Black people and Black power. And I think we are experiencing COINTELPRO 2.0 right here, right now.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

After losing the House, Senate, and Presidency, Republicans are starting to fight back in the most diabolical ways imaginable. Let me unpack and explain what they're doing and tell you what we should learn from it.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

The special congressional election in Louisiana is THIS SATURDAY and this is the final week, and final chance we all have to volunteer to send @GaryChambersJr to Congress!

It's not enough for us to like and share his videos - or for us to comment on his courage - this week, Gary needs our help and you can help him from wherever you are in the world. If you click the link in my bio on Instagram you can sign up to call voters for Gary! It's the single most important thing you could do to help his campaign, OK? Let's GO!

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

Last week when I spoke to two members of the Joe Biden administration and asked them when we could expect him to begin fulfilling promises he made on issues of justice, policing, and mass incarceration, they said that I'd see progress once he had an Attorney General.

Well, after 2 months of delays, Merrick Garland was finally approved this week. Even with that, I don't expect Joe Biden to do much of anything on issues of justice if we don't push him. Today, on @TheBreakdown I'll examine what a few steps in the right direction would look like.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

I just wanted you all to hear my voice on this today. I wanted you to hear my heart and sincerity. And I want to confront a few big questions that I am getting from my followers.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

I don't talk a lot about pop culture, but over the past few weeks I've seen something disgusting that I wanted to unpack. White people are having full on meltdowns over Black people merely existing in traditionally white spaces - from Meghan Markle being in the British royal family to the popular show "The Bachelor" having a Black man at the center of it.

In both instances, popular talk show hosts have been fired or quit and virulent racism has been exposed. I actually think these two moments say something discouraging about the true state of race and racism in the world.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

Last night, Joe Biden's new Secretary of State, Antony Blinken announced that he opposes an investigation by the International Criminal Court into the gross human rights violations and murders and atrocities committed by Israel against Palestinians. The image I included with today's podcast on Instagram is of Rouzan al-Najjar - a brilliant (and of course unarmed and non violent) nurse that was killed by an Israeli sniper.

Let me be clear - only dictators and guilty monsters oppose human rights investigations. The International Criminal Court is one of the most respected bodies in the world and the Biden administration just announced not that they oppose charges of war crimes, but that they even oppose an investigation into human rights violations. It's a despicable thing. Today, on @TheBreakdown - I unpack and explain it all.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

The Breakdown with Shaun King # 417 - Don't you want a leader who fights for us in Congress? Here's what we can do!

Description: @GaryChambersJr has been fighting for the people his whole life! You've seen it! But now he needs us to step up and fight for him! Early voting starts THIS WEEKEND in Louisiana and Gary needs our help!

Listen to today's episode to learn of all the ways you can help him right now, from wherever you are. He needs us to volunteer for him - online and offline. On the phones from home and in person. Let's do this! And let's make history together!

Love y'all!

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

Like you, I am seeing all of the newly created videos of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, but I'm not sure how I feel about. They are equal parts fascinating and eerie. What do you think?

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

Yesterday Joe Biden dropped bombs on Syria, but just can't find a way to send people the stimulus checks he said would be in the mail immediately after he got elected. It's almost March. What I know is this - governments get done what they want to get done. This government simply lacks the will to help everyday people.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

Yesterday, a beloved leader in New York came forward to say that she was sexually assaulted and harassed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

She provided detailed receipts, text messages, and emails - and gave names, dates, and locations.

And by and large, prominent Democrats were COMPLETELY SILENT. I mean nothing.

And here's what I know - if the exact same person, wrote the exact same story, with the exact same evidence, but Cuomo's name was substituted with Donald Trump - Democrats would be OUTRAGED.

And this simply is not OK.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

Last week in Fort Wayne, Indiana - a violent white supremacist walked up to a car with 3 Black teenagers and unloaded his gun on them - killing Josh Cooper and Andy Retic and critically injuring Jaylin Rice. Let me unpack and explain the case and then let's plan on doing everything we can to support these families. We paid for their funerals through @GrassrootsLaw but they are going to need a lot more help.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

Today I wanted to take a moment to help us remember the gravity of what happened in this country one year ago today - as three brutal white supremacists targeted, chased and murdered Ahmaud Arbery. And police and prosecutors colluded together to make sure those men were never held accountable. Until we organized together to change everything. When we organize, we win.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

This weekend we learned that a 95-year-old Nazi was arrested and deported by the American government for being a guard during the Holocaust in 1945. I'm glad about this.

I just want the American government to give African Americans this same type of justice. They can start with arresting Carolyn Bryant for her essential role in the murder of Emmett Till.

She's 8 years younger than the Nazi guard and Emmett's murder happened 10 years after the Holocaust.

As long as she's living, we should still fight for her to be held accountable. Period.

This podcast is produced by The North Star, a Black-owned and operated independent media platform for liberation-journalism. If you want to support The Breakdown and the work we do, head on over to https://www.thenorthstar.com/ for more content.

Maybe it's because he has been in the shadows of Donald Trump for the past 6 years, but DAMN Ted Cruz sucks.

This man is a monster and doesn't really get enough credit for how truly horrible he is. Now listen, I didn't expect him to have the heart required to stay home and serve and help his state as they suffer through a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm. The man has proven over and over again that he doesn't have the heart to help people who are hurting, but you'd at least think he'd have the political sense to know that taking a damn vacation to Cancun while people in your state literally freeze to death is bad optics.

But here's the thing - the bottom line - conservative voters have taught their leaders that nothing matters. Of course, Ted Cruz thinks he can go on vacation to Cancun while people freeze to death - because conservative voters have already announced, with their support of both him and Trump, that character and integrity and values no longer matter to them.

Let me unpack and explain it.

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As I speak, millions of people in Texas are without power, heat, gas, and water. People are literally dying. And hungry. And freezing.

And politicians like Texas Governor Greg Abbott somehow have the time to go on Fox News and blame Democrats and policies like the Green New Deal.

But here's the thing - Texas is literally controlled by Republicans on every level. The Governor, the Lt. Governor, the Attorney General, and both Senators are all conservative Republicans. And when stuff goes wrong in states controlled by Democrats, those same people blame Democrats - as they should.

But now they refuse to own the crisis.

That's leadership failure 101.And what's happening in Texas is basically what you get when your state's leaders pretend that global warming is a hoax, refuse to invest in public infrastructure, and instead allow corporations to take over the entire power industry so that they can get filthy rich.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

Trump is a monster. He's a horrible human being. But he's no longer President. He is no longer on Twitter - or any platform for that matter. And he wasn't convicted by the Senate in the impeachment proceedings.

Soooooo.... Democrats can no longer use him as the excuse for their lack of progress on so many issues. Listen - I truly think Trump caused real political problems - but I also think Democrats blamed him for problems that he frequently had next to nothing to do with - like mass incarceration or police brutality.

And now that he is pretty much a ghost, Democrats have to come to grips with the fact that people are only going to hold THEM accountable for whatever they do or don't get done moving forward.

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I am going to spend more time unpacking and explaining for people the work that I do as a civil and human rights leader. I am the Co-Founder of @RealJustice. It is possibly the most impactful work of my life. We are the single most important organization in the nation that focuses exclusively on electing District Attorneys across the country. After we elect DA's, we partner with them to help them keep their campaign promises. We support them as they are attacked from every side. We consult with them through difficult decisions and policy battles. If you didn't know this, we helped to elect the new DA's of Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Austin, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, San Antonio, and nearly 20 other cities across the country. Those DA's have now made radical shifts in each of those cities that we have helped to guide and inspire. I speak to our DA's almost daily behind the scenes. Our staff supports them 24/7. I'm not flexing here. I am trying to educate you on the work that I do.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

Democrats have been masterful, but one thing that struck me as both poetic and painful, is the brand new video of Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, the Black man we first learned about last month for his role in saving lives at the Capitol - now saving the life of Senator Mitt Romney.

It's a metaphor in some ways to me. An underpaid, undervalued Black man, in a profession that most often hates his guts, in a building that has fought against Black power for decades, putting his life on the line to save a Senator who didn't even remember until yesterday that the Black man who saved him was Officer Goodman. Black people keep saving this country from itself - over and over again.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

WOW! I've been waiting to see the results of this 6 month long pilot program taking away thousands of 911 calls from the Denver Police and sending them instead to a trained team of compassionate first responders. Guess what?Not a single arrest was made. They never even needed the help of the Denver Police. And SO MANY lives were saved. Let me break it down for you.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

Thomas Edward Caldwell, who was arrested for playing a role in the attack on the United States Capitol says he worked for the FBI and has had a top secret security clearance since 1979. Let's dig in to what's really going on here.If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

This weekend I traveled to Louisiana to campaign for my dear friend and brother Gary Chambers in his run for Congress in their upcoming special election. What I saw all over the state with Gary inspired me. We have to do everything we can to send this man to Congress to not only represent Louisiana, but to represent ALL of us. Today, I'll tell you how we can all work together to do just that.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

I wanna share the one life tip that I've tried to put to good use so far in 2021. It's given me extra time and emotional energy to be super productive and focused on my goals. And I hope it helps you as well!

It's taken me days to allow my anger and fury to simmer just a bit on this. Yes, I saw the video of the 9-year-old Black girl being brutalized by police in Rochester, New York. Here are my thoughts.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

Wow! In less than 24 hours, over 8,000 of us raised nearly $260,000 to purchase Michael Thompson a new home, a new car, and get his life started. This is what happens when we come together for good. Today is one of those days where I just want to say thank you - and want us to use our imagination on what else we could do in the world!

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

Michael Thompson served 25 hard years in prison for selling weed. We fought to get him released and he's finally free. But the State of Michigan left him with nothing. And some apartments won't even rent to him. So we're going to come together, pull our money together, and buy him a brand new home. He already picked it out and I already told him how generous you all are. Let's do this! The link is in my bio on Instagram.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

Let me try to explain the madness of what's going on right now with GameStop, the investing app Robinhood, and so much more. Even if you aren't an investor, let me unpack why this matters to all of us.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

Michael Thompson spent 25 hard years in prison for selling weed to a friend. It's unthinkable and is one of the worst acts on injustice I've ever seen in modern American history. While he was incarcerated, his parents died, his only son died, and he lost almost his entire adult life. Today, after 25 years, he was released - and we had to fight like hell to make that happen. Today Michael and I spoke for the first time with him as a free man.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

Yesterday Joe Biden issued an executive order on private prisons. And the support of it went super viral with verified accounts and even leading media organizations saying "Joe Biden ended private prisons." They were wrong. Very wrong. And it's not Joe Biden's fault as much as people really got ahead of themselves without actually reading the executive order itself.

First off, over 90% of private prisons function on the city, county, and state level. All of those will remain.

Secondly, the majority of private prisons on the federal level are immigration detention centers. Joe Biden decided not to end those either. He's keeping those.

Lastly, we learned that he's not even ending the few private federal prisons that do exist. The executive order just said they won't renew their contracts. Many of them have contracts that last for years on end.

So, nobody is being freed. No city, county, or state private prisons are ending. No private ICE detention centers are ending. And they aren't closing down the others any time soon either.

In the end, that executive order will hardly impact anyone. Sadly.

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In some ways, it seems like it was 5 years ago, and not 1, that Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gigi, and 7 of their friends suddenly died in a helicopter crash. In the shadows of that enormous loss, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and countless others were killed in acts of racial violence. And the pandemic then overtook our entire nation - killing over 400,000 people in the process. In some ways, I think the way we've grieved the loss of Kobe and Gigi over the past year, has served as a way for us to grieve the hundreds of thousands of lives we've lost in this past year. Listen - and let me unpack and explain what I mean.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

I've spent the past few weeks reflecting back on the attack and takeover of the United States Capitol. And one clarion lesson stands out to me the most - the thing that we call the justice system - including the FBI, CIA, the DOJ, the Capitol Police, all the way to your local police department - was not built to interrupt white power, white privilege, white property, or even white violence - it was built to protect all of those things. And when our nation needed the justice system to prevent, stop, or even intervene once the Capitol was attacked, that justice system didn't know what to do. It just wasn't built to stop white people from doing whatever white people want to do - even when they are attacking the Capitol.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

Democrats narrowly control the House, Senate, and Presidency - the real question I have now is this - what will they do with it? Because it already looks like Republicans are going to play hardball as usual. Will Democrats fold and get nothing done, or will they muster up the moral courage to fight for real meaningful change? Most of my close friends think that Democrats will squander this moment. Call me foolish, but I still have some hope.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

Listen in to my transparent conversation with hip hop artist and author, Lecrae, as we discuss the intersection of white supremacy, power, faith, religion, race, and so much more.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

It's official. Trump is gone. Not only from DC and Twitter, but from the presidency. And we are about to enter a new era of national politics. I already have very real criticisms of Joe Biden, but I want to explain why I think this incoming administration deserves a serious degree of grace as they get started.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

Trump will be out of office tomorrow! I’m nothing but glad. He’s dangerous. But what comes next is actually going to be very difficult. Let me explain what I mean.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

To celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we are re-running one of our most popular episodes that highlights a lesser-known side of the civil rights hero. The words and legacy of Dr. King have been reduced and sanitized in so many ways. Today Shaun King plays 5 very special audio clips of Dr. King that you have likely never heard before and breaks down why they are so very important.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

After the first attack on the US Capitol since the War of 1812, this country is STILL not taking the threat of white supremacist violence, and the actions of thousands of insurrectionists yesterday seriously.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

The Senate runoff in Georgia is nearly over. All of our hard work paid off. Our candidates have it on lock. This is proof that when we come together and organize, anything is possible. I highlight the importance of not just voting itself, but being conscious of exactly who and what you are voting for on today's rerun episode of The Breakdown.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

Today is the day. The Senate runoff in Georgia is happening right now and it has MAJOR implications for the rest of the country. This election will determine so much for the years to come. We have to give it our all. I'm not in the studio, so today I've got a quick action steps episode for you all. Let's do this.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

In just 11 weeks we have the chance to elect one of the most brilliant, most courageous, most compassionate people I know to Congress! Gary just made it official. I have a secret I want to tell you about his first campaign ad and then I'll you how we can all chip in @ ChambersForCongress.com

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When Shaun travels and campaigns for any cause, campaign, or case that he's working for, it impacts Rai & their kids. Either they stay home and they miss him, or they tag along. This winter break, Rai & the kids joined Shaun as he campaigned for Bernie Sanders across the entire state. On a campaign trail with 5 kids, is almost unimaginable for most of us. While on Bernie's campaign trail, Rai recorded voice memos that showed what it's like to navigate 5 kids and a marriage. On today's episode, Rai & Shaun talk through those clips and talk through what it's like to be a family while doing serious and exhausting political work.

While the team at The North Star takes a holiday break, we are using this week to run the top episodes from our other podcasts. We hope you enjoy and give our other shows a listen!

In this episode of W.O.C. at Work, Rai and Blanca talk with Erica Hamilton, an accomplished business and non-profit executive with many years of experience in C-Suite positions. Erica talks with the hosts about how women of color can set up their "portfolio life" and ensure that the life they're living is the life they've purposely envisioned and designed.

While the team at The North Star takes a holiday break, we are using this week to run the top episodes from our other podcasts. We hope you enjoy and give our other shows a listen!

Opportunity doesn't knock, it just lays there. In the past year, Black Americans have been receiving attention from corporations, politicians and funding institutions in a way that's never been seen before--and may never be seen again. In this episode, we discuss how to improve your financial situation in the current "Black Lives Matter" climate before the opportunities are taken off the table.

While the team at The North Star takes a holiday break, we are using this week to run the top episodes from our other podcasts. We hope you enjoy and give our other shows a listen!

In the first part of a two-episode look at the nation’s two main political parties, Nikki Rojas and Maria Elena Perez speak to state Democrats and voting organization leaders about how well the Democratic Party is living up to its mission to “maximize voter participation for all Americans.” We hear from Colorado state Rep. Leslie Herod, Massachusetts state Sen. Becca Rausch, New Georgia Project executive director Nse Ufot and Center for Election Innovation & Research executive director David Becker.

While the team at The North Star takes a holiday break, we are using this week to run the top episodes from our other podcasts. We hope you enjoy and give our other shows a listen!

The Coronavirus pandemic has left staggering numbers of the New York City's workers out of a paycheck. Rent has become a problem for people who never had difficulty with their rents before the pandemic. On top of that, the city’s most vulnerable population, the people without homes, are left to suffer in a deafening silence. This episode of Sick Empire is an investigation on what homelessness and rent tension look like on the ground in NYC.

While the team at The North Star takes a holiday break, we are using this week to run the top episodes from our other podcasts. We hope you enjoy and give our other shows a listen!

For years on end, after every mass shooting in this country, Republicans would offer nothing but thoughts and prayers. It's infuriating. But now I am worried that Democrats who are quick to say "Black Lives Matter," but don't actually fight for policies that prove it are doing the same damn thing. Let me unpack and explain it on today's rerun episode of The Breakdown.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

I'm fighting for it. You're fighting for it. But let's take a moment to define what justice means for families impacted by police violence and racial terrorism on today's rerun episode of The Breakdown.

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2020 is too much. Period. On today's episode, a rerun that's relevant now more than ever as the year comes to a close, I just want to talk to you about the importance of processing the pain of it all.

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People ask me all of the time what I do for fun and whether or not I have a hobby. Let me tell you what I've been working on for fun for the past 6 months.

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Today in the United States, essential workers and others are starting to receive the coronavirus vaccination. I come from a community of people who are rightly skeptical of everything about the American healthcare system. I agree with them that this system is predatory and has a long history of abuse and profiteering. That's why I am understanding of people who just don't accept the vaccination at face value. I've read the studies. I've talked to epidemiologists. I've talked to public health experts. And I live in one of the most impacted communities and cities in the world where we need real help. If you are a part of a community that still doesn't believe that the coronavirus is real - then it will be hard for us to have a smart conversation together. However, if you know it's real, but just don't trust the system, then let's talk. Feel free to push back. I'm OK with that. Love y'all and need us to bounce back from this.

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Last night, at 9:27 PM, Brandon Bernard breathed his last breath after being injected with lethal poison 20 minutes earlier. Our federal government, with our tax dollars, did this. And it's easy to put all of the blame on our political enemy right now, but SO many people and systems failed Brandon along the way. Let me unpack and explain.

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I want to take a moment to begin unpacking and explaining the horrible police murder of Casey Goodson - a brilliant, kind, generous young Black man in Columbus, Ohio. He did nothing wrong. Broke no laws. Committed no crimes. Wasn't wanted for anything. Had never been in trouble a day in his life. But in what is perhaps the most 2020 way to end 2020, he was shot and killed by police as he had his keys in one hand, with the keys literally in the door of his home, and Subway sandwiches in another. We are not just demanding answers, but we are demanding justice, accountability, and deep systemic change.

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Today is a GOOD NEWS episode of @TheBreakdown! The people of New Orleans just elected a brand new District Attorney - a civil rights attorney and former Innocence Project attorney, Jason Williams - who is going to change the local justice system from inside out. And just this week Los Angeles swore in its brand new DA, George Gascon, who came out of the gates announcing more deep systemic change than any DA I've ever seen in my life. The PEOPLE made that happen! It's real change.

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I see a lot of calls for Joe Biden to appoint Black people to his cabinet. I get it. Black people put this man into office. And it makes sense to demand something in return for that loyalty and dedication, but we have to have a hard conversation today, OK? Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is Black - and HORRIBLE. He has blocked justice for Breonna's family at every turn. We just defeated one of the most oppressive District Attorneys in the country - a Black woman - who was a Democrat - Jackie Lacey in Los Angeles. She was the oppressor. It's not just wrong to think that appointing someone Black is immediately a righteous decision - it can literally be used as COVER for some very horrible policies coming down the line. Yesterday Joe Biden nominated a Black man to be his defense secretary, but I need to explain to you why it's not quite what it appears to be.

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All over the country, as the coronavirus pandemic rages out of control, businesses are being shut down to slow the spread of the virus. Listen - I understand. This thing is off the rails. I think our country clearly has to make hard emergency decisions to get through this, but if you are going to close down small businesses, and mess with the ways people provide for their families, you have to provide direct aid to them right away. Period.

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Budget cuts are about to hit this country SO hard. The pandemic is reducing tax revenue from coast to coast - and when those cuts are made, police budgets need to be some of the first budgets cut. Departments are bloated, ineffective, and don't actually make us safer. Today, I'll finish my 2 part series on why we can and should defund the police.

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Earlier this year I recorded a popular 2 part series on 10 ways we can and should defund the police. In light of the current comments from Barack Obama throwing the defund movement under the bus, I want to unpack and explain what we mean and why I believe in this movement. Listen, learn, THEN feel free to let me know your thoughts.

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Friends - grassroots leaders like Gary Chambers only make it to Congress if everyday people like us make it happen. Today, I am asking you to do something that I have never asked my listeners to do before. I am asking you to click on the link in my bio on Instagram and donate whatever you can to give Gary Chambers - one of the most courageous men I know - a jumpstart in his run for Congress. I'll unpack and explain it all.

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Happy holidays everybody. I wanted to take a few minutes today to unpack and explain the meeting we hosted with the Biden-Harris administration on mass incarceration and police violence. We've had several follow up meetings in the days since the meeting and are hopeful that some of our policy ideas will be integrated into their plans. I am cautiously optimistic. I understand that Biden is moderate, but we will move forward knowing that we did our best. Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of you who signed our petition and made countless phone calls to the transition team. We wouldn't have had the meeting without you.

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Today, Georgia, a state with a Republican Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and two Republican Senators is about to certify Joe Biden as the winner there. They finished their official recount. And this was one of the states that Trump truly believed he could and would be able to somehow flip or steal, but state by state, his loss is being officially certified by the official election bodies - making his loss - and his eventual exit - more official than ever. Yes, he will make a mess of everything he can, but this thing is done. Keep one eye on Trump, but no matter what he says or does, he has lost.

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exclusive members perks and early access to content.Aired: November 20, 2020

This past Friday police in Cocoa, Florida shot and killed these two teenage boys, AJ Crooms and Sincere Pierce, in what increasingly seems like a horrible case of mistaken identity. Today, I am beginning to dig into the case. It's ugly. I don't think I've ever seen police shoot and kill two children like this before.

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Today I want to share a painful, personal story about a lesson that I learned about organizing for change as an outsider and organizing for change as an insider. In the winter of 2014, I found myself in a deep funk after failing in so many fights for families fighting for justice. And I got a call from The White House that forever changed the way I saw my role in this movement. I wanted to speak like and lead like Malcolm, but have the access to rooms of power and privilege like Martin. It didn't work. Let me unpack and explain how that informs almost everything I do as a leader today.

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And the seat in his district just opened up! Let's be real. Congress is full of Connies. Haha! Men and Women. And plenty of them are Democrats. And I don't know anybody that is going to be more willing to go there and speak truth to power, not only calling out injustice, but fighting for everyday people whose needs are so often missing there. I know this man. I trust him. He will never sell us out. Everybody - follow @GaryChambersJr across social media and let him know you want him to run!

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The United States is a nation in crisis. Yesterday nearly 2,000 people died from the coronavirus in the deadliest day since May. And Trump is literally just tweeting conspiracy videos from Fox News all day. He has abandoned his post. He is asleep at the wheel. He has 2 primary tasks in these final months of his presidency and he has bailed out on both of them. I'll unpack and explain it.

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Yesterday more people died from the coronavirus, nearly 1,600 people, than any single day in 6 months. Yesterday set the record for the number of people hospitalized as well with nearly 65,000 people. And it also set the record for people testing positive with nearly 150,000 people in one day. And Trump has quit even pretending to care. Let me unpack and explain what gives me hope about what comes next, but also share with you my single biggest concern.

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The Breakdown with Shaun King # 359 - Let me tell you what Trump is really doing right nowDescription: I see all of the viral videos saying how Trump could steal the presidency. He's evil enough to try, yes, but that's not what's actually going on. It's not going to be a coup. It's way more simple than that. It's a money grab. Let me unpack and explain it.

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Right now, literally this very moment, the incoming Biden-Harris Administration is working with hundreds of people they've assembled on their transition teams to set their policies and staff their offices. They are already publicly announcing their Day 1 policies and executive orders. We need to make sure that the justice policies we need are included on Day 1. We have crafted 70 executive orders and executive actions that Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and their teams can enact WITHOUT winning the Senate. They are deep and far-reaching. What we need to see now is whether or not they are going to keep their promises. But know this - the only change we get, is the change we fight for.

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I am nothing but excited about the defeat of Donald Trump. But the fight for deep systemic change has just started. When it comes to justice, policing, and mass incarceration, we would be making a HUGE mistake to simply assume that the Biden-Harris administration will do right by us. In all fairness, they are inheriting a country in shambles. And if we're not careful, our most pressing concerns could easily be forgotten or put on the back burner. We're going to have to fight for every bit of policy change we get. Are you ready?

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When you don't hold some Democrats accountable, they are often only light-versions of Republicans. We've learned this the hard way too many times. We must immediately pivot to making sure that Joe Biden does right by the people who actually not only saved his career in politics, but pushed him over the top in this presidential race.----

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As I recorded this, the presidential race has not been called and both candidates believe they have real paths to win. It just shouldn't be this damn close. Let me unpack what I truly think Democrats did wrong.

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This race is not officially over, but I think in the next 12 hours Joe Biden will win Nevada and be named President of the United States. It all comes down to Nevada, and if Biden wins there, he will barely cross the finish line and end up at 270 electoral college delegates. But Nevada has just said they won't announce their new vote totals until tomorrow.

Over 100 million Americans voted early. Every bit of data suggests that Democrats crushed early voting. And my educated guess is that Trump needed a landslide of voters to show up for him today and I'm just not seeing it right now. Let's hope that logic holds out. Join us LIVE tonight on Twitch at Twitch.tv/TheBreakdown at 7pm EST all the way until 3am for nonstop coverage. Let's GO!

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Americans are on edge. Our country is on edge, honestly. And while every presidential election matters, tomorrow will be seen as one of the most important days in American political history. Biden has more paths to victory than Trump, but he could still win. I am concerned, though, that it's going to be a mess no matter what.

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Yesterday our team at the Grassroots Law Project, in partnership with the Louisville Urban League, and the attorneys for the family of Breonna Taylor, filed a legal brief showing the blatant misconduct of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. We are now calling on the Kentucky Prosecutor's Advisory Council to appoint a special prosecutor and impanel a brand new grand jury that actually considers all of the charges

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In January, NYPD Officer Michael Valva brutally beat his 8-year-old son, Thomas, who had autism, then froze him to death. He has been charged with murder. Yesterday, the NYPD allowed Officer Michael Valva to resign and keep his pension.

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Last night, in the middle of Nebraska, Donald Trump, in a painful metaphor for his whole life and presidency, literally bused hundreds of supporters into a rally in the freezing cold, then got on Air Force One and left them there with no way to get home. They were stranded for hours on end. It was so cold that men, women, children, and senior citizens had to be rushed to the hospital for hypothermia. Trump hates rural Americans. Always has. And last night, he let that hate show in a cruel way.

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All over the world police safely disarm men, women, and children who are in the middle of a mental health crisis. American police just don't want to. It's the bottom line. They are trained to shoot to kill any time they get the heebie-jeebies. And they damn sure do. Walter Wallace needed an ambulance. He needed medical attention. Instead, he got bullets.

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In a few hours, Republicans are about to approve the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. It will give conservatives a devastating 6-3 majority and the power to not only overturn everything we hold dear, but to basically overturn any future legislation if Democrats take power after the upcoming election. Democrats must be prepared to expand and change the Supreme Court.

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We only have 11 more days until the presidential election comes to a close. I want to share with you guys what I think is going to happen, based on the information we've got now.

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Yesterday a judge granted an original grand juror in the Breonna Taylor case the permission to speak out publicly about the hearing and their findings. What we learned was both explosive and despicable. The grand juror said that they were never even allowed to look at the evidence, in spite of requesting it, that could've caused them to charge the officers who shot and killed Breonna. This directly contradicts the words of Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron who said that the jurors themselves decided not to prosecute the cops. All of this misconduct and malfeasance warrants a new grand jury being formed. Today I'll unpack and explain how this could happen and who could do it.

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What happened yesterday in Nigeria was a civil rights and human rights catastrophe as the Nigerian military opened fire on peaceful protesters in Lagos. Let me explain to you what I saw unfold, live on Instagram yesterday, and unpack how badly the government is handling the aftermath.

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Yesterday 50 Cent endorsed Donald Trump and literally said he doesn't care if Trump hates Black people. But today I want to dig deeper. The very reason 50 endorsed Trump is based on a complete fabrication about Biden's tax plans. Also, I share a personal story about one of 50's dear friends.

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Yesterday the people of Bolivia voted their socialist party and leaders back into office after a coup backed by the United States and gross capitalists like Elon Musk. It was a total rejection of the coup. Of course, the American media and power structure hardly has anything to say about it. Let me unpack and explain why it matters.

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The Grassroots Law Project is organizing a special community just for our work in Texas and we want you, and everybody you know in Texas, to join us. We're launching in 12 days and need YOU on board.

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Dr. King was right when he said "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." And this month, while it is no shock to Nigerians, most of the world is hearing about the crisis of police violence in Nigeria for the very first time. We must ALL stand against it and stand in solidarity with protesters and organizers who are on the front lines.

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Our country has a lot at stake for the next 20 days - and people are nervous. Let's talk about it. So much has gone wrong in 2020 that I think our hope and optimism have been worn down to a nub. I still see some real light at the end of the tunnel. Let me share one particularly good scenario that I truly think is possible.

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It's not enough to simply win elections. If Democrats win back the Senate and the Presidency, they are going to have to play by a fierce new set of rules so that they actually wield that power to advance their agenda. Let me unpack and explain what this should look like.

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All my life, I've said that MJ was the best basketball player to ever live. Today, I want to highlight why we say Muhammad Ali was the best boxer of all time and how that standard, which includes who Muhammad Ali was out of the ring, should apply to the GOAT in basketball as well. If it does, a real argument for LeBron being the GOAT can be made.

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These white men, who were buying explosives and plotting to overthrow the government of Michigan, fit the literal definition of terrorists. Yet they aren't being labeled as such for two fundamental reasons that I want to share with you today. Let me unpack and explain it.

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Kamala Harris won the debate last night. Hands down. Today I'll unpack what she did well, what was disappointing, and also give my thoughts on the fly and the bloodshot eye. Also, it now appears this is going to be the last debate we see in this presidential campaign since Trump pulled out of the second one.

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Shockingly, in 100 years, New York City has had only 4 District Attorneys. Today, I am proudly endorsing Tahanie Aboushi to be the next District Attorney of Manhattan. She's one of the smartest, most courageous, compassionate, determined people I've ever met. And she has EXACTLY what it takes to be the change agent that New York needs.

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Smart local voting can truly change systems. For the next 28 days, I am dedicating my life to supporting candidates for office who are truly going to change the game from the inside out. Today I want to tell you about Sarah Iannarone who is running for Mayor of Portland, as well as Terra Lawson-Remer and John Avalos - who are running for county supervisor roles in San Diego and San Francisco. Even if you aren't in these cities (I'm not either), I am going to unpack and explain why it all matters.

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This weekend a wonderful brother named Jonathan Price was murdered by police in a rural town outside of Dallas, Texas. People are now sharing an old Facebook post he made where he spoke of how much respect he had for police - as if this means we shouldn't fight for him. I very strongly disagree. Let me explain why.

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Trump is so consistently dishonest - a pathological liar - that it's genuinely difficult to believe anything he says. Today I'll tell you why I think he actually has it and what I think the impact will be on the election which is just a few weeks away.

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Of course Trump supports bigots and hate groups. Of course he refuses to repudiate them. Of course he refuses to take the threat of white supremacist violence seriously. He is a white supremacist and has been one for his entire life. His father was literally in the KKK.

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Today is a very, very important day as we continue our fight to hold the officers who murdered Breonna Taylor accountable. A judge has ordered that the transcripts from the grand jury be released. We now know for sure that the Attorney General didn't even attempt to hold the officers accountable. The grand jury notes will show us exactly what went down. Also, I want to unpack and explain what we saw last night in the first presidential debate between Trump & Biden.

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Over the past 48 hours we've learned so much about the Breonna Taylor case to warrant it being reopened. Today I unpack and explain all that we've learned so far. Tomorrow, after a member of the grand jury filed a suit stating that the Kentucky Attorney General misrepresented them, all of the records from the grand jury will be released. The truth is - a new grand jury needs to be formed.

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We have to be real here. Donald Trump didn't sneak anything past the IRS by only paying $750 in taxes. They've known EXACTLY what he's been doing for 50+ years. They just don't care. Because the IRS - much like America's justice system - was designed to protect the rich and privileged. It's not a bug. It's a feature of capitalism itself.

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All is not lost. I see multiple pathways to change, justice, and accountability for Breonna Taylor. Today, I'll share some clear action steps for us.

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Last night on Instagram Live I took time to really break down and explain the systems, structures, and people that are responsible for Breonna's murder and the subsequent lack of justice and accountability. I want you to hear that entire conversation. Later today, on The Breakdown Live, I will give us solutions and action steps.

Today we learn whether or not any of the officers who murdered Breonna Taylor will be held accountable. Let me give you a refresher on this case, explain the laws that were broken, and begin discussing what accountability feels like for Breonna's family.

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If Democrats aren't willing to do this one thing, they don't deserve our support. The rules have changed. Hell, the whole game has changed. And this is their only logical next step.

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We’re 43 days from the moment we call Election Day, but the truth is that today is Election Day. Tomorrow is too. Early voting is already underway from coast to coast and every day between now and November 3rd is its own mini-Election Day. We must pivot and see this as Election Season, where every single day matters.

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Today on a special episode of The Breakdown, we are running an episode of another TNS produced podcast - America the Voiceless. Nikki Rojas and Maria Elena Perez dig into the roadblocks faced by Americans who navigate through the criminal justice system. Americans who have been incarcerated or are currently incarcerated often lose the right to vote and have difficulties regaining that right. We hear from Nicole Porter from The Sentencing Project, Dr. Jane Gubser from Cook County Jail and artist Natti from CunninLynguists.

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Have you heard of the murder rule? Most countries in the world have gotten rid of this rule. But, of course, it is still in place in most states in the US. On today's episode, a rerun from last year, Shaun unpacks and explains exactly what this rule is, and how it is leveraged against people of color.

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When Shaun hears about horrible cases of police brutality, he runs the situation through, what he calls, the Taylor Swift test. On today's episode, a rerun from last year, listen as he breaks down what the Taylor Swift test for police brutality is.

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The United States does not have one justice system or one legal system. We often talk about changing the system, but in reality, we have 30,000 microsystems. Each microsystem has its own set of rules, laws, and politics, which is simultaneously great news in our fight to change the status quo, as well as horrible news. On today's episode, a rerun from last year that remains painfully relevant, Shaun breaks down what this means.

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What's the plan to change the criminal justice system? Do you know it? Read it? Heard about it? Plans do exist, but a plan is only as effective as the ability of everyday people to repeat it back to you. On today's rerun episode, Shaun unpacks and explains why we need to be on board for the plan.

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To be an abolitionist, you not only have to have an abolitionist worldview, you have to take abolitionist actions. On today’s rerun episode, Shaun unpacks and explains what that means.

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Most of us know what it meant to be an abolitionist before the American Civil War, but what does it mean today? Listen to Part 1 of a mini-series we are rerunning as Shaun unpacks and explains how we can all be modern-day abolitionists.

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Shaun gets asked one question more than any other -- "How do I change the world?" To give you an answer, Shaun needs to ask you an even bigger question: What are you going to fight for? Making a conscious, honest decision about what you're going to fight for is not simple. It's complicated and personal. And all of us need to make that decision to make real meaningful change. In today's episode, a rerun from last year with a message just as relevant today, Shaun walks us through what it takes to make that decision.

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Right now, jails & prisons in the United States have the highest documented infection rates of COVID-19 in the world. On today's episode, a re-run from April that sadly remains relevant, Shaun explains the concept of jail churn and breaks down how it shows up in our prison system, and contributes to the spread of coronavirus.

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Last week police in San Antonio shot and killed a decorated military veteran named Damian Daniels on the doorstep of his home. He hadn’t broken the law or committed a crime. He needed to go to the doctor. But in 2 minutes, police shot and killed him.

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Moments ago, the Missouri State Senate just passed a bill by a 22-8 margin stripping St. Louis DA Kim Gardner of some of her most essential powers. They refused to do this to any other prosecutor in the state - just her - a Black woman who just won re-election by a landslide last month. Listen, and take our action steps today.

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Moments ago, I just learned that the Governor of Oregon, a Democrat, is literally working with the Trump administration to interfere with the decisions of Portland's courageous new District Attorney

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I have good news for you today! A powerful piece of legislation just passed in California and is awaiting the signature from the Governor. Let me tell you what it means and why it matters to all of us.

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2020 is too much. Period. Today, I just want to talk to you about the importance of processing the pain of it all.

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Did you hear the disturbing clip of Kenosha, Wisconsin Sheriff David Beth saying Black people need to be locked up, warehoused, and never let out again? He said this after a shoplifting incident. But listen, that man was VOTED into office. We have to start be very, very specific about who and what people should be voting for and against nationwide. Or we get him.

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Yesterday the Milwaukee Bucks started a movement. Today I want to unpack the big lesson from their courageous step to not play in their NBA playoff game as a protest against police brutality

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Last night in Kenosha, Wisconsin armed white supremacists literally worked directly with local police, sharing water and refreshments and strategies with them, before they murdered two people and injured another

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I'm fighting for it. You are fighting for it. But let's take a moment to define what justice really means for families impacted by police violence and racial terrorism.

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Last night, we were literally with the family of Breonna Taylor when we learned that police shot 29-year-old father, Jacob Blake, in Kenosha, Wisconsin in front of his kids.

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This past week I decided to do something I've never done - I made my social media accounts private. And I love it. The hate, spam, and death threats have been reduced drastically and the harassment is nearly gone. It comes with a tradeoff. Let me explain.

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I want to defeat Donald Trump. We must. But squashing dissent and critical voices from the left won't help that - it will turn essential voting groups into non-voters. Let's talk about it.

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For years on end, after every mass shooting in this country, Republicans would offer nothing but thoughts and prayers. It's infuriating. But now I am worried that Democrats who are quick to say "Black Lives Matter," but don't actually fight for policies that prove it are doing the same damn thing. Let me unpack and explain it.

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Every day I see people rightly ask why more "good cops" don't speak out on police violence. Well - today I'll show you why. This brave officer posted his professional opinion about the murder of George Floyd - and just got fired over it.

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All across the country, cities are being forced to drastically reform the way police operate within their communities. The outcomes have been incredible, but there is one major change that must be implemented to ensure law enforcement officers can no longer abuse their power: police oversight.

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I want to play four of the most powerful clips from the speeches and interviews of Malcolm X. They are also painful because they shouldn't even be relevant anymore, but he literally could've said these things yesterday. Listen and learn.While The North Star takes a sabbatical week, we've decided to rerun the top 5 most listened to episodes of The Breakdown. Here is one of them.

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The ratification of the 15th Amendment was seen as a huge milestone for the liberation of African Americans, but does it really do all we so often say it does? Shaun doesn't think so, actually. Listen and learn.

While The North Star takes a sabbatical week, we've decided to rerun the top 5 most listened to episodes of The Breakdown. Here is one of them.

Mortality is something every person deals with, but few talk about. On today's episode, Shaun shares a personal message about the emotions that come with loss, and how he deals with them.

While The North Star takes a sabbatical week, we've decided to rerun the top 5 most listened to episodes of The Breakdown. Here is one of them.

Did you know that the majority of Americans don't vote? Today I ask you to not only commit to voting, but commit to being an informed voter that brings others with you.

While The North Star takes a sabbatical week, we've decided to rerun the top 5 most listened to episodes of The Breakdown. Here is one of them.

If you listen to The Breakdown and want to help support the work we do, consider becoming a member of our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebreakdown for exclusive members perks and early access to content.

While The North Star takes a sabbatical week, we've decided to rerun the top 5 most listened to episodes of The Breakdown. Here is the first.

The words and legacy of Dr. King have been reduced and sanitized in so many ways. Today Shaun King plays 5 very special audio clips of Dr. King that you have likely never heard before and breaks down why they are so very important.

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I learned a long time ago that victories come so rarely, that you have to celebrate them when you have them. Last night two brilliant candidates won essential elections, but another brilliant candidate lost as well. Let me unpack and explain all three races.

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It's here! My brand new book, Make Change, is now available in bookstores worldwide. Today, I want to share a short story of failure and the major pivot that we made as a result.

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Tomorrow is a huge day for me as I await the release of my new book, Make Change. Today I want to read an excerpt from it for you. If you have not yet ordered it, please do so now at MakeChangeBook.com ok?

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Most people think of Hawaii as a perfect paradise, but it faces the same systemic issues as the rest of the country, including mass incarceration. That’s why Jacquie Esser is running for lead prosecutor, to bring about desperately needed change. Let’s help get her elected!

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Yesterday we shared our first 5 ways to defund the police and make America safer at the same time. Today, we conclude with the final 5 ideas.

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Alex Vitale is one of my favorite scholars in the country on how and why we must defund the police. He recently listed 10 ways we can do that safely. Today I'll break down the first five.

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The United States is experiencing a failure of both systems and personnel. It's not one, but both. And as a consequence, the single most famous stat for mass incarceration is now the exact same as this horrible new stat for the coronavirus. It's because the stats are produced by the same source.

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Kim Gardner is my hero. She's the lead prosecutor for St. Louis and has more courage in a day than most of us will have in our lifetime. Because of that, she has now become one of the single most hated Black women in America to the conservative white establishment. Today let's hear from Kim directly and plan on supporting her in every way we can.

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Meet Victoria Burton-Harris - a badass woman who is running to be the new District Attorney of Detroit. It's one of the single most important races in the country and she needs our support.

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I see a battle unfolding of some people saying we need to stop focusing on art and symbols and put all of our focus on systems and substance. I understand the critique. But let me try to unpack and explain how symbols support systems. It all matters.

Today I want to take a moment to really share my heart and soul about anti-Semitism in 2020. I also want to tackle the questions I have received about why more Black people are not fighting against it right now. I think I understand at least part of the answer. It's capacity. Let me unpack and explain it.

Over 25% of all people killed by American police were having a mental health emergency. In some states, it's over 50%. Every study out shows that a super-majority of Americans want somebody other than police showing up to mental health emergencies. Let's talk about how we get it done.

Today is Rai's 39th birthday! We're out celebrating but I wanted to tell you about a big organizing victory we had this week!

The hypocrisy is on full display. It has now been nearly 4 months since Breonna Taylor was murdered and not a single soul in the whole state of Kentucky can find it in them to arrest and charge a single police officer. But last night, 100 peaceful protestors were charged with felonies for sitting down with their legs crossed. This system can clearly charge who it wants, when it wants.

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Joe Biden just released the 2.0 version of his policy plan for criminal justice reform. He refuses to end qualified immunity and refuses to stand for the legalization of marijuana. It's literally worse than the 1.0 version of every leading presidential candidate. He needs to go ahead and work on plan 3.0. This isn't good enough.

A healthy debate is underway between the purists in the abolitionist community who are arguing that the men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor should not be arrested or sent to prison and others of us who believe that we can completely dismantle the unjust systems of our country while simultaneously using the current laws to the best of our ability. Let's talk about it.

Today I want us to talk about the hanging death of Robert Fuller. It was just officially ruled a suicide. I've looked at the results. I need us to understand that it can be simultaneously true that we live in a constant state of racial terror AND we have real mental health challenges that we need to discuss. Today, I want to tear down some walls and have an open conversation with you about all of it.

The world knows her as Trayvon Martin's mother. And she embraces that. But Sybrina Fulton is more than her greatest moment of pain. Now, after 7 years of fearless advocacy for victims of gun violence and racial injustice, she's running for office in Miami! Let's help make that happen!

Over 130,000 Americans have already died from the coronavirus. Now, it is surging across the country. Today, more than anything else, I am begging you to take it seriously. I've seen the costs up close and personal. Trust me - you don't want this thing in your life.

Did you see the video of the white man LOSING it on an elderly woman working at Costco because he was asked to wear a mask? That rage and that fragility were familiar. We've seen it all before. Today, let's talk about the true costs of white rage, white fragility, and toxic masculinity. It's deadly.

30 years ago, a group of people in one American city decided that they could do a better job than police at handling mental health and homelessness. So they built the solution and hundreds of thousands of 911 calls are now routed to their team. Listen and learn more. We can do this nationwide.

On Wednesday we launched Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commissions in 3 of America's largest cities. Today you can hear from the DA's who will be helping to lead the process.

Today I want to teach you one simple fact. It is the foundation for most of the work that I do. And I need you to understand the size and scope of the problem we're facing. The United States is the single most incarcerated nation in the entire history of the world.

The thing we call the justice system in this country is not broken. It's firing on all cylinders. So we must build new systems and new pathways to justice. Today, we are beginning just that. Learn more and join us at TJRC.org

It costs hundreds of millions of dollars. They have not stopped a single school shooting. And the police are brutalizing Black, Brown, and Native American children from coast to coast. They are handcuffing and arresting them. We must interrupt the school to prison pipeline. Here's how.

Studies show that support for the Black Lives Matter Movement has doubled since 2016. Even a majority of white people now say that they support the movement and its goals - which is groundbreaking. But what are we going to do with this momentum? Let's talk about it.

Shaun wants to introduce us all to one of his favorite people currently running for office: Cori Bush. On today's episode, he interviews Cori so that we can hear for ourselves what makes her so special. And even though she is running for office in Missouri, you can volunteer for her campaign WHEREVER YOU ARE. Let's go! CoriBush.Org

For my own safety, and the safety of my family, I had to expose this today. Here I include their names, their death threats and plans, and more. Who are you supposed to turn to in a moment like this? Police? The NYPD? The FBI? We felt like exposing them publicly was our best tool today.

Last night breakthrough leaders won elections across the country in the Democratic primaries. That's great news! But why is the Democratic Party fighting against them tooth and nail? Let's talk about it!

Yesterday I started a firestorm by saying that statues of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jesus-figure should be taken down just like the monuments of slaveholders. The problem is that for tens of millions of white people, it's necessary for that Jesus, that Savior, to be white. And it has been used as a tool of oppression for hundreds of years. It's a problem.

Last night, I read a brand new study on American policing and it has one stat that I think is the single most important stat of the year in American policing. I need you to learn it. I think it's so big that it will become a household stat that all of us who want serious change will memorize and quote from this point forward.

Something is happening in San Francisco that is truly revolutionary. I honestly didn't think it was possible. It's never been done before. But now we must do it all over the country.

Today I want to share a life lesson. I use it the best I can. Sometimes I fail, but this lesson has helped to keep me and my family whole for at least 10 years. I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me.

In many states where we've fought for justice, every single person in power was a Republican. We had to work with them. And sometimes we got results. Other times, everybody in power was a Democrat, and we got nothing. We have to be willing to work with whoever is in power to fight for change. Period.

We need you to know Sean Monterrosa's name. You might be tired, but we still have to fight when we're faced with such blatant injustice. Sean was unarmed, non-violent, and on his knees with his hands up when Vallejo Police Officer Jarrett Tonn shot him five times through the windshield of his car. Join us as we fight for justice for Sean.

For today, we are revisiting a throwback episode from June of 2019 where Shaun breaks down a Buzzfeed and Injustice Watch study called "Good Day for a Chokehold". The report gives us quantifiable proof that many American police are closet bigots by diving into the social media posts of thousands of officers. Shaun draws historical lines between past, present and future to break down exactly what we're up against.

Thousands of you asked Shaun to break down what it means to defund the police, so today, in simple terms, Shaun wants to unpack and explain it for you. Shaun supports it and thinks you should too.

Sick Empire is a brand new podcast that showcases the experiences of New Yorkers who operate daily within the epicenter of the COVID-19 health crisis. On today's episode of The Breakdown, Shaun formally introduces you to Sick Empire, and invites you to listen to the first episode. This is the most timely, important podcast out today -- join the conversation.

In our current uprising around the world, people are tearing down monuments to racism, bigotry, white supremacy, and slavery. They should all be torn down - including those of Washington and Jefferson in the United States.

Over the past 2 weeks, I have tried my best to ignore the constant lies about me, my work, my teams, our fundraising, and more. Today I will respond, with receipts and details, one last time. After that, you can lie about me, but that's on you.

The men who murdered Breonna Taylor must be held responsible. But we must change the laws and policies that caused her death in the first place. One way to start right now, is banning no-knock warrants. Let me break it down and give you action steps for today

Today, civil rights attorney Lee Merritt and I are launching The Grassroots Law Project and we need all hands on deck. Join us now @ GrassrootsLaw.org and let's take our first action steps together

Ninety-nine years ago today, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, one of the most beautiful, prosperous, wealthy Black communities in the world was destroyed by terrorists. Today, with George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, protestors across the globe, and the 1921 destruction of Black Wall Street in mind, Shaun teaches a lesson on how and why history repeats itself.

It's not enough to do good here and there. What do you believe about the world? What is your philosophy? Because that's what drives your actions - or lack thereof. Let's talk about it.

The systems and structures we are fighting against aren't a little corrupt, they were fully built to oppress us. They should be completely abolished. Let me tell you what that means for us in 2020 and beyond.

Today Shaun wants to teach you what may be his most important lesson on how we can actually abolish the systems and structures of mass incarceration and police brutality. We often fail in these attempts, because we don't actually know what we're tearing down. It's not one system. And we are choosing to believe that's good news. It's 30,000 microsystems. Let us explain.

Listen to today's episode on what Shaun thinks is the single most underrated civil rights issue of our time. It's the local budget of your city and county and how much of it is going to law enforcement. Did you know that the LAPD takes up over 50% of the whole Los Angeles General Fund? It's outrageous. And we have to fight back to make these budgets actually reflect what we need.

On today's episode of The Breakdown I want to take a minute to thank all of you for your hard work and support as we fought for justice for Ahmaud Arbery. We must celebrate the small victories, but keep on pushing.

Today we are beginning to learn how so many people knew Ahmaud was in their neighborhood. We also have new info on the shooter, Travis McMichael.

Today is a special check-in episode of The Breakdown. I'll tell you how I'm doing, and what I'm trying to do to manage the stress of the time we are in, but I also want to hear from you.

Today would've been the 95th birthday of our dear Brother Malcolm X. I want to play four of the most powerful clips of his speeches and interviews. They are also painful, because they shouldn't even be relevant anymore, but he literally could've said these things yesterday. Listen and learn.

Georgia should've already arrested William Roddie Bryan. But what we know is that we only get the justice we fight for. On today's episode, Shaun reveals new information about the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and gives us new action steps to take.

On today's episode of The Breakdown Live, Shaun walks through the extended details of Breonna's case and gives on update on Kenny's story as well. He then interviews Senate candidate Charles Booker, and does a very special segment with essential workers who are on America's frontlines. The Breakdown Live is an extended video version of The Breakdown Podcast. To see the video that accompanies this audio, you can go totwitch.tv/thebreakdown

Kenny Walker was Breonna's boyfriend, and he is a hero. On the night police broke into his home, in plain clothes, unannounced, when he and Breonna did nothing wrong, he used his legally owned firearm to protect his family. Now he's foolishly being charged with attempted murder. This cannot stand.

Today is a day of action. On this special action steps episode of The Breakdown, Shaun gives us clear action steps and marching orders for how we stand with Breonna Taylor and her dear family. Let's go!

Nearly one month ago today, Breonna Taylor was brutally shot and killed by police in her own home as they executed a drug raid at the wrong address for a person they had already arrested earlier that day. Our fight for justice for her begins today.

Thanks to millions of you, we’ve achieved so many of our Action Steps for Ahmaud Arbery, but we can’t let up. Not at all. One man is still on the loose and we have more things worth fighting for. Let me tell you what’s next.

Today was the second episode of The North Star's new weekly video livestream - The Breakdown Live. It is an extended video version of this podcast which will feature interviews and more. On this episode, Shaun did a deep dive into Ahmaud's case and ends with Action Steps.

Today I am just checking on you. We are overwhelmed and I want you to lean in and grieve. It's OK to cry. It's ok to be angry. Let me talk you through it then let's walk or run together this weekend. Love you all.

After a shocking video of Ahmaud Arbery lynching was leaked, Shaun updates us on the grave injustice that occured in Brunswick, Ga and gives updated action steps. We need EVERYONE on deck!

Mega businesses are using the coronavirus crisis to take public money and then demolish vulnerable small and medium sized businesses. New legislation that we should all support halts all mega-mergers during the crisis. Today I unpack why we should all care.

This weekend was one of THOSE weekends where police were so brutal, in so many places, for no good reason, almost exclusively against Black folk, that it's clear to me that we are crossing a line where people are not going to take it much longer.

Across the country, millions of Americans are not going to be able to pay their rent today. We knew this day was coming. Just agreeing not to evict them this month is too little. Rent needs to be forgiven and covered by the government. Today I share a way to pay for it as well.

Please go to that website and call that number right now. We need ALL HANDS ON DECK as we begin the fight for justice for Ahmaud Arbery.

Yesterday in an interview w/ Naomi Campbell, Diddy spoke on how presidential candidates needed to have a strong agenda for Black people. I agree. We'll talk about that, a new bill being proposed in Congress, and I'll give an update on the Ahmaud Arbery case.

2 months ago two white supremacists murdered an innocent Black jogger in Brunswick, Georgia in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon. We're demanding justice.

During this pandemic, I've struggled to figure out how to best help everyday people. One way that I am trying to help is by speaking at funerals across the country. Another, is by speaking at high school and college graduations. I've agreed to nearly 50 so far. Today I spoke at the graduation of the Fashion Institute of Technology. Here's my short address to the students.

We are in a global pandemic and the President of the United States literally suggested that we should inject ourselves with disinfectant to kill the coronavirus. It may be the single dumbest, most dangerous moment of his presidency. Also, today is a dubious anniversary for the KKK. Shaun unpacks and explains both stories.

Now that we are in the middle of a global pandemic, this classic episode - which was first released on the day Dr. Ibram Kendi's book "How to be an Anti-Racist" came out - is more relevant than ever. The global pandemic that we're living in has crystallized who has privilege. Asian-Americans have become the target of countless acts of hate as bigots blame the coronavirus outbreak on them. Take time, as you're sitting at home, to ask yourself to what extent you are currently benefiting from racist structures & systems.

Leonard Carter had been granted parole after serving 30 years in prison. Advocates begged for him to be released. Cuomo ignored the calls. Leonard, with just weeks left on his sentence, died from the coronavirus.

A few weeks ago, as thousands of people began dying across the country from the coronavirus, Shaun noticed the despair as people posted that they could not even have a traditional funeral to grieve. Since Shaun had been a pastor for many years, he offered to perform eulogies or prayers for any families who needed it. Today was the first - for a great woman - Lucille Marie Scott.

This weekend, 33 year old Steve Taylor, a beloved father and son, was murdered by police at a Walmart in San Leandro, California. When Shaun hears about these horrible cases of police brutality, he runs the situation through, what he calls, the Taylor Swift test. Listen in as he breaks down what the Taylor Swift test for police brutality is.

Listen, I know during this pandemic you are fighting for your own survival. We all are. But I need you to understand that policies are being passed (and ignored) all over the country and what we do and do not fight for will inform what our government does during this time. Also, 5 years ago this week, Freddie Gray was murdered by the Baltimore Police. I speak some on his case.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed that if the United States wants to spend trillions of dollars on something, it can at the drop of a dime. This provesthat the US Government has always had money for reparations. Today, Shaun breaks down what this means about marginalized folx in this country and talks about the importance of Universal Basic Income.

Michael Thompson has served 26 years of a life sentence for selling some weed to a friend. Once. Michael is a senior citizen and has several underlying health conditions that put him at grave risk with the coronavirus sweeping across America’s jails and prisons. There is one person who can set him free: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. On today's episode, Shaun unpacks why, as she has risen to stardom in the Democratic party, Governor Whitmer has frozen out our pleas to free Michael.

A heartfelt thank you message to Bernie Sanders.

For a moment, it looked like police brutality was going to really slow down during the pandemic, but America is a police state. Today, let me unpack the Supreme Court case that really helps police get away with so much of their brutality.

Today Nancy Pelosi is suggesting that she may extend the congressional recess - which is outrageous. They need to find a way to get back to work. Shaun also has an important update on California's jails and prisons.

Right now, jails & prisons in the United States have the highest documented infection rates of covid-19 in the world. On today's episode, Shaun explains the concept of jail churn and breaks down how it shows up in our prison system, and contributes to the spread of coronavirus.

Once white conservatives in Wisconsin learned that the coronavirus was mainly impacting Black communities, they had no problem forcing the elections there today. Virtually every public health official and every mayor in Wisconsin begged the state to postpone their elections. When the Governor issued an emergency executive order to reschedule the election, the conservative state legislature and state Supreme Court each voted tooverturnthose decisions — forcing the elections to happen today anyway. This is so dangerous, and we can't look away. Our democracy is at stake.

As we learn that Black people and communities are being hit the hardest from the coronavirus, watch as white conservatives check out and stop caring. It's happening now in Wisconsin.

This episode is the first in a three-part-series on the Supreme Court cases that make police brutality functionally legal in the United States. Unfortunately, this episode is as relevant now as it was when it originally aired one year ago. This is essential education for yourself, your kids, your students. We must know the names of these Supreme Court cases so that we know what we're up against.

On today's episode Shaun will have an homage to the legendary Bill Withers, but first, will discuss disturbing new demographic data on who is dying from the coronavirus and talk about the crisis at our immigration detention centers.

On today's episode of The Breakdown Shaun tells us the story of the life, death, and courageous words of Scott Ryan - a bus driver outside of Seattle who told us in February what we were going to be facing. And Shaun gives action steps on what we need to be fighting for on behalf of essential workers nationwide.

Yesterday Shaun spoke with a man incarcerated at Rikers. Today he not only shares what he learned from that conversation, but describes the willful neglect at jails nationwide as a form of genocide. On the second half of today's episode, Shaun details how some cities are smartly using hotels to house the unhoused to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Tomorrow, tens of millions of Americans will be kicked off of their health insurance and be unable to pay their rent. And the nation has done virtually nothing about it. Shaun breaks down what makes this moment so devastating and ends with an action step.

Today is no doubt a special day in American history, but does the 15th Amendment really do all we so often say it does? Shaun doesn't think so, actually. Listen and learn.

Today Shaun gives us clear action steps to stop the conviction of an innocent man BEFORE he is convicted. Then he gives us some commentary on the horrible bailout package that was passed and says what our country really should've done instead.

For months, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio have been ignoring the professional advice of virtually every civil rights, human rights and public health organization in the city in regard to the hellhole of a jail known as Rikers. On today's episode, Shaun breaks down how they have directly caused a completely avoidable catastrophe in Rikers and gives us some action steps.

Experts believe that within the next 10 days, the United States -- not China, Italy, or Spain -- will have the most cases of Covid-19 worldwide. On today's episode, Shaun breaks down seven reasons why African Americans are actually at a much higher risk of contracting the coronavirus as it spreads across the country.

In 3 straight polls, the majority of Americans now say they believe Donald Trump is doing a good job of handling the Covid-19 pandemic. The near complete absence of Joe Biden during this time created a vacuum for this to happen.

On today's special episode of The Breakdown we celebrate everyone who has come this far with us and hear from our listeners on what they love most about the podcast.

In the next few days, government leaders on every level are going to be making long term decisions on how to fight back against the coronavirus. We need to make sure we tell them what that agenda need to be.

We've entered into a phase of this pandemic where politicians and corporations are thinking on how they can use this crisis for their financial and political gain. Trump and conservatives are doing something that could prove perilous for Democrats.

Today is Shaun's daughter, Kendi, turns 18 years old, but is stuck in the house, with school canceled, and everything else canceled as well. Today, Shaun talks about how the coronavirus is going to impact not just his family, but America's children.

All over the country we need cities and states to immediately stop evictions and the shutting off of utilities. Smart cities are already doing this. Is yours?

Colleges and schools are closed. Thousands of businesses have shut down. People are afraid and they are out of work. We're forming our own mutual aid society to help one another. Listen and join us today.

The coronavirus is going to impact the most vulnerable people and communities among us. Today Shaun starts to unpack what that's going to mean for America's jails and prisons.

The NBA season was just suspended. Tom Hanks has the coronavirus. The NCAA tournament is going to be played without fans. And the President is still a complete idiot. Today will go down in history as the first day the entire nation fully understood the impact of the Coronavirus.

Today Shaun unpacks and explains the impact of colleges and universities shutting down for the coronavirus across the country. Also, he shares some thoughts on the elections yesterday and closes with painful audio of the aftermath of a police shooting in Raleigh. Plus, our first woman crush Wednesday segment.

On this special episode of The Breakdown Shaun unpacks and explains why The United States is in a particularly dangerous position with the coronavirus and what we can do about it.

Working with the family of Nate Woods this weekend, Shaun noticed one big difference between an execution and a case of police violence. Today he unpacks it for us.

Yesterday, the state of Alabama murdered an innocent man. On today's episode, Shaun unpacks this painful ordeal. We are devastated, but unfortunately we are not surprised.

In hours, the State of Alabama is set to execute a man they fully know never killed a single soul in his life. It's a legal lynching. Listen, then go to SaveNate.com to fight back to stop this. We can't give up!!

Shaun unpacks and explains his thoughts on Super Tuesday, Bloomberg dropping out, and our fight to save Nate Woods

Today is Super Tuesday, but the biggest thing on my mind is saving the life of Nate Woods, who’s scheduled to be executed in this Thursday. We have new action steps for you to take at SaveNate.com.

Nathaniel Woods. Say his name. He is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, but he didn't even pull the trigger. Nobody says he did. And the shooter says he had nothing to do with the crime.

Months we learned that the Orlando Police arrested a 6 year old girl. You helped us get the officer fired. Today we see the video. Here’s what we do to prevent this from ever happening again.

The debate last night was a mess. Period. But today Shaun breaks down a high moment, a low moment, and says why the whole thing was bad for the Democratic Party.

Today Shaun reflects on the conviction of Harvey Weinstein for sex crimes, but offers what may be a surprising critique of the celebrations. Also, Shaun reflects on the words of Michael Jordan at the Kobe & Gigi Bryant Memorial.

Today we begin making phone calls for Myon Burrell. Don't worry, I'll talk you through all of it.

It’s up to us to free Myon Burrell! 17 years ago, Myon was charged and convicted of a murder that he did not commit. He is completely innocent, and has been in prison since 2002. We can't just stand by. Today Shaun lays the framework for how we will free him. Listen for two action steps that should leave us looking within. Visit FreeMyonBurrell.com right now for more details.

In 2002 a teenage boy named Myon Burrell was arrested for a murder he had absolutely nothing to do with. Today we will begin our efforts to educate you on his case and then building a campaign to set him free.

Today Shaun not only breaks down a very transparent after-show moment Trevor Noah had discussing the brutality of Mike Bloomberg, he plays the key audio clips of Bloomberg that Trevor is addressing.

Today is the 1 year anniversary of The North Star and the day Frederick Douglass chose as his birthday. Shaun shares a story about this and more.

In our efforts to beat Trump, Shaun has preached for over a year that he would support whoever won the democratic primary. But upon further review, he has quickly determined that Mike Bloomberg is simply a line that he can not cross. Listen in as he explains why.

You need to hear these two racist bombshell clips from Michael Bloomberg. He should never serve in office again.

It's ugly. Today Shaun weighs in with his transparent thoughts on the very public spectacle not just between Gayle King and Snoop, but with millions of hurting, grieving people.

Today Shaun has 3 stories and an action step for us - starting in Florida where the Republican governor took power away from a good local prosecutor. Also, an update on voting in Iowa and an action step on tasering case in Austin, Texas.

I’ve never seen this happen before. It’s a sad symptom of our fragile democracy and opens up a real opportunity for Trump to exploit such weakness

A quick reflection from Shaun on the first Democratic primary in the nation. It was an unorganized mess.

Today is the first full day of the Democratic primaries as voters in Iowa kick it off. Shaun gives some thoughts on Iowa and then discusses the bold words made by Joaquin Phoenix last night.

In the 2020 campaign Joe Biden flat out lying to say that he was an activist in the Civil Rights Movement. Today Shaun tells us the story of when this began and why.

This is the biggest story released yet to air on The Breakdown. For nearly 50 years Joe Biden has pretended to have been an activist in the Civil Rights Movement. The time has come to confront it. Today and tomorrow, Shaun systematically breaks down Biden's lies and what they mean.

Shaun checks in with a quick message. He is currently working on an extremely important story and needs more time.

Well, this is new. A corrupt Chicago billionaire is trying to buy the DA’s office. Shaun also gives updates on Michael Thompson and Parchman Prison.

A personal message from Shaun.

Today Shaun has two important action steps for you to take - one on behalf of a brilliant boy who needs our help and another on behalf of Michael Thompson who we are trying to help get out of prison.

Yesterday, over 10,000 of you went to FreeMichaelThompson.com and wrote a letter on behalf of Michael Thompson! A great job, but we need more! Shaun updates us on Michael's case as well as gives an update on Mississippi's Parchman Prison.

In just 7 days we are going to be submitting a clemency petition on behalf of Michael Thompson - a kind, compassionate soul who has spent 25 hard years in prison for selling weed in Michigan - a state that just made weed legal. And we need your help.

Did you know that the majority of Americans don't vote? Today I ask you to not only commit to vote, but commit to being an informed voter that brings others with you.

The words and legacy of Dr. King have been reduced and sanitized in so many ways. Today Shaun King plays 5 very special audio clips of Dr. King that you have likely never heard before and breaks down why they are so very important.

The LAPD has been caught in yet another scandal framing people as being in gangs. Today Shaun begins to unpack and explain this. Then, he invites Nikki Rojas, a writer for The North Star on to talk about voter suppression in Wisconsin.

Today Shaun discusses a conversation that caused him to really check who he cares about and why - then begins the conversation about the despicable human rights conditions in Mississippi prisons

Kim Gardner, a brilliant, bold, progressive prosecutor in St. Louis just filed suit against powerful white special interests in law enforcement using the KKK Act of 1871. And it's amazing.

Yesterday it was said that Bernie Sanders said a woman could not be President. It trended. It went viral. But sources tell me and The Washington Post that it never happened.

You need some good news in your life. Today Shaun brings you three good news stories from San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin, NFL star Marshawn Lynch, and Will Smith. Listen, smile, and learn.

Today Shaun unpacks the intellectual foundation for why Donald Trump believed he could openly assassinate a foreign leader and get away with it. Then we begin discussing something the problematic fact that New York is giving some of its most important justice reforms just 9 days before giving up on them. We have action steps.

On our first episode of 2020 Shaun wishes us happy new year as our nation is on the brink of World War III.

Do you know the name Eddie Gallagher? He is a violent, bigoted war criminal that Trump absolutely adores. Today Shaun unpacks and explains this and also details the despicable conditions of prisons in Mississippi.

A holiday greeting from Shaun King and a quick reflection on this past year.

On our 150th episode Shaun will unpack and explain the horrible sex trafficking case involving teenager Chrystul Kizer, who ultimately shot and killed her trafficker.

Now that Trump has been impeached, Shaun unpacks and explains what will be next and gives us a glimpse into the minds of Republicans and Trump during this time.

Today is a good news episode of The Breakdown where Shaun unpacks and explains what is scheduled to happen today with the impeachment of Donald Trump. He also gives us an update on the officer who assaulted the child in North Carolina and a massive restoration of voting rights in Kentucky.

Shaun gives us an update on the case of the 11 year old boy who was brutally assaulted by police in Vance County, North Carolina then shares details on four new cases of police violence that have happened across the country this month

A horrible video of a police officer assaulting an 11 year old boy was just released. Here Shaun unpacks and explains the case and gives us action steps to call for this officer to be fired and arrested immediately.

To be an abolitionist, you not only have to have an abolitionist worldview, you have to take abolitionist actions. Today Shaun unpacks and explains what that means and gives us a big update on the impeachment of Donald Trump.

Today Shaun tells the story of three teenage boys who spent 36 years in prison for a crime they did not commit and has a very special action step for us on how we can build something together to support anybody who has been wrongly convicted.

Most of us know what it meant to be an abolitionist before the American Civil War, but what does it mean today? Listen to Part 1 of a mini-series from Shaun King as he unpacks and explains how we can all be modern day abolitionists.

We're not giving away the BIG news in the description! You have to listen to this episode to get it!

The Golden Globe nominations were just announced and Shaun unpacks and explains why it's a problem, and why it matters that women and people of color were left out.

Michael Bloomberg oversaw one of the most racist policies of the 21st century. Today he went on national TV and lied, saying nobody ever told him it was wrong until last month. This lie is Trumpian in nature and must be confronted

Shaun shares some of his story of living in chronic pain and how hard it can be to take a day off.

Kamala Harris just dropped out of the presidential race. Shaun discusses some of the unique challenges of Black women in politics and unpacks what her dropping out means for the race at large.

On today's episode Shaun unpacks and explains Trump's new refusal to participate in this week's impeachment hearings, confronts the horrible new threats against Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and offers a critique of both Mayor Pete and Michael Bloomberg.

Rodney Reed's execution was stayed exactly two weeks ago. Today, Shaun updates us on the case, and tells us new stories about people all over the country who have been wrongfully convicted. Join us with an action step that will help combat our national problem with wrongful convictions.

Unable to record a full episode for today, Shaun takes a moment to check in for a brief moment. Enjoy your weekend!

As the impeachment hearings continue, bombshell testimony dooms Trump to a certain impeachment in the weeks ahead.

Yesterday was the single worst day yet for Trump on impeachment. It may be the worst day of his presidency. Here Shaun will unpack and explain two of the biggest moments of the day.

Now that Rodney Reed's execution has been stopped, people are wondering if they were duped about Rodney Reed. The answer is no. Shaun unpacks the details.

A special preview episode of the brand new podcast from Rai and Shaun King called “Married to the Movement”

We have just 4 days left to save the life of Rodney Reed. Today Shaun is leading our action steps and needs all hands on deck.

Today Shaun unpacks and explains the NFL's decision to grant Colin Kaepernick a "tryout" 3 years after banning him from the league. Shaun also gives his thoughts on the announcement of Deval Patrick that he's running for President. And concludes with new action steps for Rodney Reed.

We only have 6 days left to save a man who is provably innocent. Today, Shaun gives updates about the state of Rodney's case and unpacks our action steps for today. Rodney's team is undeterred, and so are we. Let's keep pushing!!

In 7 days, Rodney Reed is scheduled to be executed. Allegations that he was never charged for are now being floated out to justify his execution. That's the literal definition of a lynching.

Today Shaun celebrates a huge organizing victory in San Francisco and gives us an update and new Action Steps for Rodney Reed

We have just 11 days left to organize and fight back to save the life of Rodney Reed. Today Shaun gives new updates on how our action steps are working and speaks on the rally tomorrow in Austin.

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We have just 12 days left to save the life of Rodney Reed. Today Shaun gives us updates on the case and asks all of us to make very specific phone calls on Rodney's behalf.

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Today we need you to make these phone calls to help save the life of Rodney Reed.

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The State of Texas is now just 14 days away from executing a demonstrably innocent man. We need all hands on deck. Today Shaun unpacks and explains our action steps and makes a very special announcement about his brand new book, Make Change!

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We now have 15 days to save the life of an innocent man on death row in Texas. Today Shaun unpacks our big action steps for today. Let's GO!

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In 20 days Texas is scheduled to execute an innocent man. We must all work to free him. Shaun is dedicating the next 20 days to this, but we need all hands on deck.

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Today Shaun unpacks and explains three stories from San Francisco, Austin, and Baltimore where leaders are going against the will of the people. Listen and take our action steps to fight back.

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Legendary comedy John Witherspoon has passed away. Today Shaun plays three of his favorite clips from “Pops,” as he was often called, and speaks on the importance of laughter and comedy to get us through life.

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As wildfires break out all over California, the state continues to use incarcerated men to fight the fires, but then effectively bans them from ever being firefighters once they serve their time.

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Did you see the horrible abuse by the NYPD of teenagers on the subway? One reason that happened is that New York simply has too many police officers. The whole country does. And until we drastically reduce that number, they will always find people to arrest and brutalize.

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What’s the plan to change the criminal justice system? Do you know it? Read it? Heard about it? Plans do exist, but a plan is only as effective as the ability of everyday people to repeat it back to you. Today, Shaun unpacks and explains why we need to be on board for the plan.

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Not only is Facebook failing to protect our elections, they are now knowingly, openly allowing admitting that their new policy is to allow political campaigns to openly lie and mislead voters in their ads. Today, Shaun takes us through Zuckerberg's horrible testimony before Congress yesterday and plays highlights from some of the smartest questions he was asked.

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Yesterday, an ambassador to Ukraine testified before congress for 10-hours about Trump. The ambassador's name is Bill Taylor, and we believe that Bill Taylor will become a household name one day. His testimony about Trump was that damning. Today, Shaun breaks down what makes that testimony worthy of Bill Taylor becoming famous.

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Earlier this morning, when Trump called the impeachment inquiry a "lynching," he was making a deeply problematic statement. While Shaun digs into just how absurd this statement is, he also addresses how difficult it is to live in a time dictated by Trump's outrageous tweets. To effectively fight for justice, we can't constantly spend our energy and time on Trump. We have too much to fight for.

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HBO's new show "The Watchmen" depicts the early 1920s in Tulsa, OK in the time of the Tulsa Race Riots. The release of the Watchman marks the first time in a century that the Black Wall Street Massacre of 1921 is accurately portrayed in mainstream media. On today's episode, Shaun digs into the significance of this show, and breaks down why it took 98 years to tell the truth about our own history.

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In today's world, we hear terms like "War on Poverty" used often, but we don't always dig into what that means. The War on Poverty is constructed out of tens of thousands of laws and ordinances. On today's episode, we examine the policies that criminalize homelessness. There are certain cities and states that are making an effort to roll-back those policies, but many politicians, businesses, and police unions are opposing these reforms. To break down exactly what that looks like, Shaun focuses in on a specific ordinance in Austin, TX and lays out what we can do to support one mayor's efforts to decriminalize homelessness.

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The President of the United States is publicly committing crimes as we speak. While you might say that we've known for a long time that Donald Trump is corrupt, there's something unique about just how blatant and unapologetic the crimes are that he is currently committing. We can't allow ourselves become numb to this. On today's episode, Shaun breaks down just how illegal and unacceptable the actions of Trump and his administration are. He also reflects on the passing of Elijah Cummings and pays tribute to the late member of Congress.

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Last weekend, Fort Worth police officers shot and killed 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson in her own home. She was in her house playing video games with her nephew. Since Saturday, the police officer who shot Atatiana was arrested and charged with murder. It's a horrible tragedy, and on today's episode, Shaun breaks down the nuances of this case. He also reports on three people who made an important endorsement in the 2020 presidential race.

1:08 PM (https://thebreakdownpodcast.slack.com/archives/DMMBN6NEB/p1571245722006300)

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Los Angeles County is the most populous county in the US and, while it should be a trendsetter for reform, it is the nation’s largest jail system. LA is the perfect example of why this country so desperately needs progressive district attorneys because Los Angeles DA Jackie Lacey is the opposite. Today, Shaun breaks down just how awful DA Jackie Lacey’s track record is on justice reform and the consequences of her actions.

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When a sitting United States President looks at Congress and says that he or she simply will not do what Congress asks, then we are in crisis. That’s exactly what happened on Tuesday afternoon when Donald Trump declared that he will not participate in the impeachment process. Today, Shaun breaks down just how dangerous this action is, and what the implications are.

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Joshua Brown, a father of three young children, was brutally murdered last Friday. As you may know, Joshua was a key witness in the murder trial of Amber Guyger. Ten days after he testified, he was targeted and shot to death outside of his home. Today, Shaun breaks down this open investigation to explain exactly what happened in the courtroom when

Joshua testified and how it changes our understanding of Joshua’s murder.

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The United States does not have one justice system or one legal system. We often talk about changing the system, but in reality, we have 30,000 micro systems. Each micro system has its own set of rules, laws, and politics, which is simultaneously great news in our fight to change the status quo, as well as horrible news. Today. Shaun breaks down what this means.

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Due to the North Star moving into new offices, we will not be able to record a new episode for today. We are working around the clock today and through the weekend to complete the move. Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

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Just hours ago, Amber Guyger received a guilty verdict for the murder of Botham Jean. No verdict can make up for the loss and pain that the family has suffered, but even this version of justice is virtually unprecedented. On today's episode, Shaun breaks down what makes this case different from the countess other cases that have been denied guilty verdicts by America's legal system.

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The case for impeachment is all over the news, and Trump's reaction has been extreme. Today, Shaun breaks down the case for impeachment in the context of Trump's entire presidency and highlights the gravity of his "Civil War" comments.

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The murder trials of the police officers who murdered Botham Jean and Anthony Hill are both underway right now. Shaun breaks down why these two cases are SO important in the fight for justice. We all need to be watching and listening to how these two trials go down.

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Remember the 5 children that we told you about who were being charged with a murder that they didn't commit (ep. 89)? After that episode, thousands of you made phone calls and wrote emails. Well, largely because of you, those murder charges have been dropped. In the last 95 episodes of this podcast, we've learned a lot about what makes our Action Steps truly work. We know that the calls we ask you to make can be tough, which is why we're going to break down our tips and tricks to keep in mind when taking Action Steps. Today, Shaun not only celebrates our shared successes, but gives a tutorial about how to make phone calls that truly help to make change.

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So many of the stories we hear in the news are horrendous. But too often, we don't investigate the root causes of the stories we're outraged by. So, after reporting instances of young children being arrested on our last two episodes, Shaun digs into the root cause of these stories. He breaks down his theory that events like this only happen in the United States because of the abundance of guns here.

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All over the country, black girls and boys as young as six are being arrested for minor behavior problems. On today's episode, Shaun continues his conversation on this issue by focusing on how schools nationwide are failing to implement systems and structures that better support these children.

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The United States may be the only nation in the world where a 6-year-old child could be handcuffed, arrested, put in a police car, finger printed, and jailed over a tantrum they had in class. And that is exactly what happened last week in Orlando, Florida. This case exposes exactly what the school to prison pipeline looks like and on today’s episode Shaun digs into the extent to which Black girls are criminalized in our schools and in our society.

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Last week, several white students brutally assaulted a 12-year-old Black boy in a locker room at their school. Today, Shaun digs into the case and breaks down the dynamics at play between parents, children, and schools. It’s not enough to watch these horrible videos and to be outraged. We need to learn from them about how to intervene and stand up for justice in an everyday way.

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Since Flip the Senate launched one month ago, we have seen mass shootings, natural disasters, and the abysmal reaction of our government to each of these tragedies remind us how urgent our mission is to Flip the Senate in 2020. Today, Shaun reveals the next four candidates who we are going to push for and fight for because they're the right people to win their state!! Let's do this!!

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Colin Kaepernick played his last game in the NFL 924 days ago simply because he had the nerve to have a silent, peaceful protest against police brutality and systemic injustice before each game. This season Shaun is continuing his personal boycott of the NFL, and on today's episode, he breaks down why.

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Shaun gets asked one questions more than any other -- "How do I change the world?" To give you an answer, Shaun needs to ask you an even bigger question: What are you going to fight for? Making a conscious, honest decision about what you're going to fight for is not simple. It's complicated and personal. And all of us need to make that decision to make real meaningful change. In this unscripted episode, Shaun walks through what it takes to make that decision.

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After last week’s devastation in the Bahamas, tens of thousands of people are now homeless and evacuations have begun. Last night, when hundreds of men, women, and children arrived to the United States, they were ordered away. They had the proper documentation, but they were told that US Customs and Border Patrol had issued the order to not let them in.

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Have you heard of the murder rule? Most countries in the world have gotten rid of this rule. But not only is the rule still in place in most states in the US, but right now, five teenagers may face life in prison for a murder that they did not commit because of this rule. We have action steps at the end of this episode so that we can come together and intervene.

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If you don’t care about the climate crisis, it might be the case that you don’t fully understand what’s ahead and how it impacts every single one of us – particularly the most marginalized nations and communities of the world. We need all hands on deck.

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Did you know that it is against the rules of the United States Congress for members to call the President, or the words and actions of the President, racist? It’s true. Let’s change them.

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A 7 person panel of experts took a deep dive into every dollar Shaun King has ever raised as a leader in the Black Lives Matter Movement including 5 years of his tax returns, 10 years of banking, and every single fundraiser Shaun has ever participated in.

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The Breakdown is not just here to change the news, it's here to change the world. On today's episode, Shaun goes back over our first four months to celebrate all of the hard fought Action Step victories that we've had together - including two that actually start today! Together we're making the world a better place!!

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Police in Colorado Springs shot teenager De’Von Bailey repeatedly in his back as he ran away from them. What do the laws say about this? And what can we do about it? On today’s episode Shaun dives in to the unique dangers of being Black, armed, and confronted by American police.

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Most people could not name anyone, other than Jeffrey Epstein, who was killed or died in jail in the United States. While about 1,200 people are killed by police per year in this country, nearly 5,000 people die in America’s jails and prisons. On today’s episode, Shaun breaks down the conditions behind those numbers and has an action step for you.

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Today, Shaun openly and honestly addresses some of the more critical questions that he often hears about how his fundraisers work and what his finances are like.

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At least 7 different elected sheriffs in North Carolina have stated that they will not cooperate with ICE. So, yesterday, in a very dangerous vote, North Carolina state legislators passed House Bill 370 which would force sheriffs to cooperate with ICE. Shaun is going to unpack this bill on today’s episode, and asks you to take action because North Carolina’s Democratic Governor Roy Cooper has the power to veto this bill!

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Five years ago, Eric Garner was murdered by an NYPD officer. Yesterday, the police officer responsible for his murder finally was fired from the force. On today’s episode, Shaun unpacks the incredible amount of backlash from white police officers and police unions.

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On many episodes of The Breakdown, we have clearly laid out the sway that local DAs have over legal system. Today Shaun breaks down the role of an actor whose importance often gets overlooked — your local mayor. Many people are unaware of just how much power their mayor has over the landscape of their local legal system, so let’s dig in!

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Yesterday, the NFL announced a wide-ranging partnership with Jay-Z and his company, Roc-Nation, mainly to promote music and social justice work. They made this announcement on the 3-year-anniversary of the first day Colin Kaepernick took a knee in the NFL. On today’s episode, Shaun is open about how he feels about this partnership.

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In interviews this week, Trump’s head of US Citizenship & Immigration Services first suggested rewriting the beautiful poem at the feet of the Statue of Liberty, and then later claimed that it was only meant for Europeans in the first place. On today’s episode, Shaun breaks down exactly what happened in these interviews. When the administration of America is trying to rewrite what this country stands for, we need to take the time to understand exactly what we’re up against.

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Do you think that you are racist? In all likelihood, your answer is no, but it’s a trick question. Most of us don’t think about what it really means to be “not racist” in today’s world. On today’s episode, Shaun is asking us to challenge our understanding of racism as he lays out a path toward better definitions of what racism is and isn’t.

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Today, we are launching a 15-month campaign to flip the Senate. Flipping the Senate is a national emergency, and we need to out-organize our opponents. On today’s episode, Shaun breaks down why we need to organize like our lives depend on it, and introduces you to 7 candidates.

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On Wednesday, nearly 700 people were taken from their jobs in the middle of Mississippi’s first day of school in the largest ICE raid in American history. Words cannot describe the pain that so many people have experienced in the past week. On today’s episode, Shaun needs you to hear the voices of these people themselves. Because we can’t detach ourselves. We need to double-down to organize better and faster.

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Due to a family emergency, Shaun is unable to record a full podcast for today. But he still wants to remind you to visit TheActionPAC.com and/or HowWeFlipTheSenate.com in order to register for a special phone call on this coming Monday. Stay tuned for tomorrows episode!.

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Sometimes it is hard to know whether the world is actually getting more cruel or whether we only feel like it is because we are living in the age of social media and information. Today, Shaun digs into that question. He asks us to acknowledge and accept how overwhelming this moment feels. And then channel all of our feelings into focus and determination.

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In the aftermath of this weekend’s deadly hate crimes, we uncovered that the NRA has been helping to write laws that ban cities from making their own gun laws for the past 38 years. Over 45 states have these laws in place. It’s time to take action against these laws.

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Right now, we are living in the age of the deadliest hate crime in 98 years. And people are asking what we can do about it. To really understand what we can do, Shaun needs us to zoom out. On today's episode, he gets historical and talks about how human history follows a trend of having high-highs and low-lows. Shaun makes the case that we are currently living at an extremely low point in history. And today, Shaun is going to tell you about the path he sees for us to start climbing out of this low point.

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If you have ever played a game of dodgeball, you have seen kids get hurt, end-up with bloody noses. You know that it happens. Last week in Michigan, a ten-year-old boy was charged with adult felony assault for accidentally injuring another child in a school-sanctioned game of dodgeball. Shaun breaks down the larger problem in America’s school system that this case exposes and ends with an action step for us to take together.

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A protected class is a legal phrase designed to protect oppressed and marginalized groups of people. Can we agree that no one in America has more privilege thant a white, straight, cis, man? Last week, a court ruling determined that white men are a protected class. It is outrageous. On today’s episode, Shaun digs in to the case and the ruling to break down exactly what happened.

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The United States is the only nation in the world that has more guns than people. And this weekend, we saw two mass shootings on opposite sides of the country. On today’s episode, we are unpacking why we have so much carnage in this country and yet so little change. Have you guessed yet what Shaun will be breaking down? It’s time to talk about the NRA.

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The United States is the only nation in the world that has more guns than people. And this weekend, we saw two mass shootings on opposite sides of the country. On today’s episode, we are unpacking why we have so much carnage in this country and yet so little change. Have you guessed yet what Shaun will be breaking down? It’s time to talk about the NRA.

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Of course we were all outraged when we saw the video of Nancy Goodman walking right up to two young black customers and calling them “stupid n—.” We don’t need to break down how problematic this incident is. Instead, Shaun is going to break down how important it is to be mindful of how we react to moments of blatant racism like this. Racism has

victims. It is violent and it spreads. And our reaction to it matters.

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We log every question you email us. Then, every month, we sort through those questions and pick the 7 most commonly asked questions. Today, Shaun answers the questions from July. We love hearing from you — email your questions to thebreakdown@thenorthstar.com (mailto:thebreakdown@thenorthstar.com) with the subject line “You Asked, Shaun Answers”.

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Massive protests are going on in Puerto Rico. Two cops in Louisiana were fired on Monday after saying that they’d like to shoot and kill Alexandria Occasio-Cortez. Palestinians are being forcefully evicted from their homes. On today’s episode, Shaun breaks down these stories and what they say about the moment of history that we’re in.

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Voters in America’s largest cities are voting for radical criminal justice reform. City by city, we are electing progressive district attorneys and ousting conservative candidates who perpetuate the systems behind mass incarceration. But we are now seeing something new as state governments systematically strip away the powers of DAs. In today’s episode, Shaun breaks down who exactly is helping conservative politicians limit the power of progressive DAs.

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What does it mean for the President of the United States to make explicitly racist statements in public? Can an explicitly biased person “faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States?” On today’s episode, Shaun breaks down why explicit bias is illegal in this country. The President of the United States has broken those laws this week. Are you wondering what can be done about it? Let’s dig in.

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Trump’s rally last night was one of the most racist public moments in modern political history. Public racism has hit a modern peak. It is so dangerous, so despicable, that we had to move faster than expected. On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun is introducing The Action PAC — to help us all organize for change. Let’s go!

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Tomorrow, Eric Garner's murder will have taken place exactly five years ago. Today, we found out that no charges will be filed against the NYPD officer that murdered him. It's horrifying. So many people and systems have failed the Garner family. Shaun is dedicating a triple-length episode to work through how we got here. Because we can grow. We can move forward. But first, there are key lessons that we must learn about how to really effect change.

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Trump has done so many blatantly racist things, that it probably felt like you couldn’t be shocked ever again. On Sunday morning, he publicly targeted 4 young women of color, Congresswomen, in a Tweet. Shaun is going to break down how we got to this point and will unpack how much danger his words put people of color into.

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In the last 7 days, more than 6000-people have joined The Breakdown Crew. Today, Shaun breaks down what we achieved together and how we're going to keep the momentum going. Thanks to the energy of our listeners, this podcast has grown into a tool for organizing and change in a way we never expected, so we're taking a minute to thank you. At the end of today's episode, Shaun lays out his favorite episodes of our show so far and lets you know that we are taking a short break. We will be back in a few weeks!

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You have probably seen the horrible video of police brutality that emerged out of Phoenix at the end of May. When demanding justice for these horrible instances of police brutality, it can be easy for our responses to become routine. Today Shaun explains why justice is so hard to come by in cases like this. Because sometimes we need to be reminded of the larger systems that we’re facing, in order for our fight for justice to be effective.

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The North Star has always been about liberation, abolition, and freedom. It was about change when Frederick Douglass and Martin Delaney founded the newspaper in 1847, and it still is. Our listeners on The Breakdown have blown us away with your commitment to fight for change with us. You've inspired us, and this week, we're going all in. We are getting systems in place to organize at a new and bigger scale - we're building a team that we need you to join.

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Trump tweeted a dangerous statement last night – one that should have us all alarmed. With Trump’s reelection campaign kicking off tonight, we need to be more alert than ever because if he acts on his threats, the results would be disastrous. Shaun also needs us to know about two new candidates for Congress in 2020 because just as we need to be vigilant, we also need to be hopeful.

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Sometimes when you want to make change, there comes a moment that you just can’t pass on. It’s too big. Today is one of those days. There is a bill currently in the New York state legislature that needs to pass if we want to dismantle the structures of mass incarceration. It’s a strong bill that will actively counteract the damage done by the War on Drugs. But it’s about to be watered down. And we have three days to make sure that it passes just the way it is. Let’s go!!

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Every single day of your life, something gets cheated. It could be your health, your relationships, or your work. On this short freestyle episode, Shaun speaks clearly about how you must make the tough choice on what gets cheated - or life will choose for you - and the results can be disastrous.

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If we want to change the criminal justice system from the inside out, we must elect reform-minded district attorney's. Tiffany Cabán, a public defender, is currently running for district attorney in Queens, NY and she is a game changer. If every county and every city could elect a candidate like her, let alone get people like her to run, our criminal justice system would change overnight. On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun tells you about Tiffany Cabán and what he thinks is “the most important election in the country right now.”

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A revolution is fully underway in Sudan. Protests started in 2018. On April 11th, 2019, the long-standing dictator stepped down due to pressure from protestors. But now the military is slaughtering those protestors. These three sentences sum-up what we know from mainstream media outlets, but it’s not enough! Today’s episode of the Breakdown is dedicated to breaking down the nuanced historical and political context of this conflict because true understanding is the first step to showing solidarity with the Sudanese protestors. It’s a global responsibility!

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Casual bigotry is on the rise. Civility and kindness toward fellow humans has become less normal. Yesterday NBA fans laughed in the face of Kevin Durant’s injury, and today, Shaun exposes what the casual cruelty of NBA fans says about the times in which we live.

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You are helping to make change every time you take an action step from The Breakdown. Your participation is integral to fulfilling our vision at The North Star — to create news that fits the needs of our times by being more transparent, more action-oriented, and more nuanced. On today’s episode, we’re reporting back on the progress that we have been seeing from the action steps thanks to your work.

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We need to fight for the justice we get. Today, Shaun needs us to fight
together to hold the corrupt prosecutors in the Central Park Five case accountable. The last two
episodes of The Breakdown were dedicated to tackling the injustices of the Central Park Five
case because, for our fight to work, we need to be organized and informed.

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Have you heard of Imbler v. Pachtman? Most people haven’t. It is a Supreme Court case that gives America’s prosecutors and district attorneys absolute immunity, even for the worst misconduct. Shaun breaks it down for you today, because to get justice in the Central Park Five case, we must first understand that prosecutorial corruption is essentially legal in this country. This episode contains a description of sexual assault.

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Ava Duvernay’s new Netflix miniseries “When They See Us” is powerful. It is an example of what strong storytelling is capable of. Because of her work, we now have a unique opportunity to fight for justice in a decades-old case. The next three episodes of The Breakdown will be dedicated to the infamous 1989 case known as the Central Park Five and Shaun will lead us in a renewed fight against old injustices.

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We hear questions from you, our listeners, all the time. Sometimes they get personal, sometimes they are serious, and sometimes they're downright silly. Shaun will answer your questions in a special episode once per month, and here's our June Edition! Today Shaun answers your questions about everything from time management to self-care to whether he has personal beef with Joe Biden.

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Buzzfeed and Injustice Watch just released a study called “Good Day for a Chokehold,” and it is revolutionary. The report gives us quantifiable proof that American police are bigoted by diving into the social media posts of thousands of police officers. Today’s episode is all about the findings of this study, because having hard, quantitative data to prove what we already knew is a big deal.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks the news that Illinois has banned over 200 books in their library – books about race, justice, freedom, and liberation. Shaun needs us to take the action steps that he lays out in this episode to fight back against a decision that furthers the cycle of oppression in our system of mass incarceration.

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On today's episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King continues the conversation from episode 25 on how to figure out which candidates to support in the 2020 American presidential election. With the democratic field changing every day, our analysis of candidates has to be ongoing, and Shaun is here to break it down for you.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King tells us two stories. Shaun exposes that the San Antonio Police Department attempted to cover-up the murder of a teenage boy, Charles Roundtree, and gives us some clear action steps. Shaun also reports on the recent election in Europe and unpacks why it matters so much.

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Instead of a full episode today, Shaun just has a quick message from the Breakdown team wishing everyone a restful, extended weekend. See you back here on Tuesday.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King tells the story of Michael Thompson who is currently serving a life sentence in Michigan for selling weed. To fully understand the injustice that Michael is experiencing, Shaun needs you to understand the truth about the relationship between profit and oppression in the United States. Let’s #FreeMichaelThompson!

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King celebrates the election of Rochelle Bilal as Philadelphia’s new sheriff. Philadelphia is doing more to dismantle mass incarceration than any city in the country, and everywhere else needs to follow suit.

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Shaun King dedicates today’s episode of The Breakdown to Muhlaysia Booker. Muhlaysia was a Black transgender woman who was shot and killed this weekend - and this horrible violence against her must push us to action. Shaun pushes all of us to confront the violence toward Black trans women in our country, and breaks down what we must do to intervene.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King celebrates Robert F. Smith’s announcement to forgive the student loan debt of every graduating senior at Morehouse College. Shaun uses the story as a jumping-off point to dig into the student loan crisis in this country and then closes with his thoughts on Grady Wayne Wilkes.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun digs into the horrible police shooting that happened earlier this week in Baytown, Texas. He lays out an important action step in order to press for justice in this case and then leaves us with a heartwarming story to end the difficult week on a note of hope.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King breaks down Joe Biden’s recent comments defending his 1994 Crime Bill. To understand what the implications are of defending this bill, Shaun needs us to understand that mass incarceration in America was designed and planned to criminalize Blackness.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks how the recent measures in Georgia and Alabama that ban a woman’s right to choose could become law in 2019. Shaun digs into the constitutional history of Roe v. Wade and explains what it actually says today. There is so much outrage in the country over these measures, and Shaun needs us to understand that our organizing must match our outrage.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks the lies that conservatives are telling about Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Detroit. Yesterday, conservatives tried to frame Rashida Tlaib with a quote about the Holocaust that she never actually said, the mainstream media irresonsibly repeated the lie, and Shaun digs in to the larger context about what this means for conversations about Palestine in America.

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On today's episode of The Breakdown, Shaun answers questions that our listeners have sent in over the last two months.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks the decision of the Red Sox to visit the White House yesterday. Every white player and coach chose to visit President Trump despite the concerns of players and staff of color, and Shaun breaks down how this is a metaphor for white privilege in America.

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On today’s episode of the Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks three stories: Trump laughing at the idea of immigrants being shot, progress in Tennessee thanks to our action steps, and students being shamed for not being able to afford school lunch. Each of these stories are just the tip of the iceberg, and Shaun is here to dive deeper with you.

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On today’s episode of the Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks new footage that Sandra Bland filmed when she was being arrested. This footage was kept from the public until now which exposes the disturbing truth about prosecutors, DAs, and our justice system.

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In today’s good news episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks two bills that have the potential to impact the way that police brutality is legislated and encourages you to widely celebrate the importance of these bills so that no one can claim that Black Lives Matter “hasn’t accomplished anything.”

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In today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King breaks down how to figure out which candidate to support in the 2020 American presidential election and lays out why now is exactly the right moment to make that choice.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King outlines how you can help the family whose worst nightmare came true on April 15 when their Black son was murdered by his white neighbor, and who you can contact to take action against the Speaker of the House in Nashville who had his office falsify evidence to get a young Black man sent to jail.

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On today's episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King reports on the first murder conviction of a police officer in Minnesota's history and digs into why this conviction didn't surprise anybody.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks and explains new audio that was just released from the 911 call made immediately after the murder of Botham Jean.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks and explains the life and legacy of the brilliant filmmaker, John Singleton, who passed away on April 29. Shaun will also play and break down several clips from Boyz N The Hood — the most acclaimed film ever made by Singleton.

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On this week’s good news episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King shares nothing but good news with stories featuring Jay Z and Shaun’s personal hero, Ady Barkan.

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In today’s episode, Shaun King breaks down the history of voting rights in America. As presidential candidates are starting to be asked about their stance on whether incarcerated people deserve the right to vote, Shaun needs us to understand the deep-rooted, and constitutional background of the issue.

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In today’s episode, Shaun King unpacks a horrible case of police brutality that occurred on April 18th against Lucca Rolle. Lucca was an unarmed, non-violent, 15-year-old boy getting McDonald’s in Coral Springs, FL when the police showed up. Shaun tells us what happened next, what it means, and what to do about it.

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Instead of a full episode, today's segment of the Breakdown is a quick message from Shaun.

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In this episode, Shaun King gives us his immediate thoughts about the implications of the Mueller Report on the day after its release. He also shares an update on the appeal hearing of Mumia Abu-Jamal in Pennsylvania, and tells the horrible story of a young woman who was just shot by police in Connecticut, but has survived to tell the story.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King shares nothing but good
news. Starting in The Bronx, Shaun covers a powerful demonstration and moment of unity lead
by the rapper and leader Mysonne, then covers a fun viral video that you have to hear and see
to believe, and closes with his thoughts on Beyonce’s two new projects.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, the final episode in a 3 part series explaining the leading Supreme Court cases that make police brutality functionally legal in the United States, Shaun gives us action steps and solutions for how we make police brutality illegal. It won’t be easy or quick, but it’s necessary.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown Shaun unpacks the Supreme Court case, Graham v. Connor – and explains how it is now used alongside of Tennessee v. Garner to protect police from being held responsible for their brutality.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King begins the first of a 3 part series on why police brutality is functionally legal in the United States by unpacking the Supreme Court cases that currently protect even the worst officers in cases of police brutality. For the next two days Shaun will explain the cases, then on the 3rd episode Shaun will tell us what we can do about it.

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For the next few days, Shaun is recording a special three part series that will begin this coming Monday. It's really important and we needed just a little extra time to make sure that we nail it. In the meantime, if you love what we're building here, we would encourage you to become a founding member at TheNorthStar.com. You will find hundreds of original articles and stories from some of the leading scholars and journalists in the world.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks the news that a white supremacist was just arrested in Louisiana for burning down Black churches, covers the toppling of Sudan’s government, and gives us an update on the new House and Senate Medicare for All bills.

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On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King shares some good news with us. The world can be an ugly place and the United States is often the epicenter of some of that ugliness, but that doesn’t mean nothing good is going on. Today Shaun shares three good news stories about unity emerging between the Bloods and Crips in Los Angeles, a shocking move from Magic Johnson, and the simple ways an American city is trying to make their justice system better.

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In today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks and explains the genocidal nature of the humanitarian crisis at the border between the United States and Mexico. What we’ve learned over the past few days is that the Trump administration has been attempting to continue the policy of separating children from their parents in spite of courts ruling that it is illegal and must end. It’s hard to understand a moment of history when you are in it, but right now, we are in a sick, demented point in American history.

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In today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King explains the outrageous conclusion by the Chief Surgeon of the NYPD that Eric Garner was never actually choked – in spite of over 100 million people seeing the video of Garner clearly being choked to death by Officer Daniel Pantaleo. Five years later, it’s outrageous that this case is still being investigated. It’s simple. And the people who could actually do something about it lack the political courage and will to do so. Today Shaun also has action items that we can all take together.

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[EXPLICIT LANGUAGE] In today’s episode, Shaun breaks down the 2015 motorcycle massacre in Waco, Texas in which 9 people were shot to death. All charges were just shockingly dropped against the 177 people who were originally arrested in this case.

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In today’s episode, Shaun breaks down a destructive new policy from the Democratic Party designed to prevent future candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley from challenging powerful white male incumbents.

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In this episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks the life and death of Nipsey Hussle, explores the conversations now happening around the issue of Black on Black violence, and offers the best way we can honor Nipsey and his legacy.

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In today's episode Shaun King breaks down the horrible story of a wonderful man who is being sent back to prison for a crime he already served his time for. Also, Shaun unpacks the recent decision of Facebook to finally ban white supremacy and white nationalism. Lastly, Shaun explains why we must all defend and protect Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

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Are you outraged by injustice, police brutality, & mass incarceration in the United States but don’t know what to do about it? Start here as Shaun King breaks down how we can abolish the system together. Also, learn about 3 brilliant young leaders we can all support who are doing the work.

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A brief introduction from Shaun King on what to expect from The North Star’s first full episode of The Breakdown - a daily podcast that will analyze and break down the most pressing news stories of the day.

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