The Takeaway

Tamir Rice was just 12 years old when he was killed by police for playing with a toy gun. Jordan Edwards was 15 years old when he was killed by police for attending a house party. Dajerria Becton was 15 years old when she was violently arrested at a pool party. From an early age, society criminalizes Black adolescence. For Black youth, every part of their lives is policed — from the clothes they wear to the music they listen to. That’s something explored in depth in the book The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth. With her 25-plus years experience in juvenile justice, Georgetown Law professor Kristin Henning looks at the staggering number of cases where Black and Brown children were unfairly targeted and prosecuted, as well as killed by police.  Professor Henning — who is also the Director of Georgetown Law's Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative — joined The Takeaway to discuss America’s treatment of Black youth.  

The Takeaway speaks with executive producers Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar about bringing their iconic animated show back on Disney Plus in this month’s revival “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.”  

Following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, there were calls for sweeping police reform across the U.S. Floyd’s murder sparked the largest racial justice protests since the Civil Rights Movement — and ignited long overdue conversations about police violence and the racist roots of our criminal (in)justice system.  Many states changed their use of force standards in the aftermath, with bans on chokeholds and neck restraints. Several states also established the duty for  police officers to inter­vene in cases of excess­ive or illegal force.  There was also some accountability in the justice system. Derek Chauvin — the former police officer who murdered Floyd — was found guilty, marking a significant moment in the quest for justice.  Now, the three other cops involved in Floyd’s death face trial. Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao are accused of violating Floyd’s constitutional rights by not intervening when Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes.  While we await that verdict, there have been developments in other high-profile cases of police-involved killings. Last week, Kim Potter — the former Minneapolis police officer who killed Daunte Wright — was sentenced to two years in prison. Potter fatally shot Wright during a routine traffic stop. Her sentence was far less than the standard manslaughter sentence of seven years. Judge Regina Chu defended the sentencing, saying Potter was quote a "cop who made a tragic mistake," not one who committed murder as in the Chauvin case.  Even still, instances of police violence against Black bodies continue. At the beginning of February, Minneapolis police officers entered an apartment building under a no-knock warrant and seconds later shot and killed Amir Locke. Locke, who is Black, was not named on the warrant. The incident is under review and the officer involved in the shooting is on administrative leave. So how much has policing actually changed since Floyd’s death? Are we seeing any real oversight? And what are the challenges of making lasting change in policing?  For that and more, The Takeaway spoke to Tracey Meares,  professor at Yale Law School and a founding director of the Justice Collaboratory, and Nia T. Evans, writer, researcher, and fellow at the Boston Review.

For the next piece of The Takeaway's ongoing series Black.Queer.Rising, we're shaking things up with the Queen of Bounce, Big Freedia, who joined the show to talk about how activism, identity, and movement come together in her work. Also joining for the conversation is artist and activist Jonathan Lykes who recently collaborated with Freedia on the song “Ella Baker Shaker,” for his compilation album The Black Joy Experience volume 2: Comrade.  

In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea illegally and threatened to invade eastern Ukraine. Sanctions imposed by the European Union, Canada, the United States and Western allies prevented Russia from further action. After Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, claiming two territories as independent states in violation of international law, Europe and the United States have once again imposed economic sanctions. These sanctions target financial institutions, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and wealthy oligarchs. We discuss the history of economic sanctions and their efficacy with Jacob Kirkegaard, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute For International Economics and German Marshall Fund.

In one of his first actions after assuming office, President Biden signed an executive order with the explicit purpose of acknowledging and addressing how environmental racism has devastated the economic and human health of Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities. But now the administration sounds very different as the White House introduces their Justice40 system. Justice 40 is an initiative to identify and provide disadvantaged communities with 40 percent of overall climate and clean energy benefits and with Federal investments. And while this initiative is supposed to address environmental racism — race is absent from the formula being used to identify these disadvantaged communities. White House officials have said that they’re taking this approach in order to avoid possible legal challenges.  For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Sheila Foster, a Professor of Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University and co-author of From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement.

Conviction: The Disappearance of Nuseiba Hasan is a new podcast from Spotify and Gimlet Media. It focuses on the case of Nuseiba Hasan, a young Jordanian-Canadian woman who disappeared in 2006. For the past three years, journalist and host Habiba Nosheen has been trying to find out what happened to Nuseiba. The Takeaway recently sat down with Habiba to talk about her new podcast and the true-crime genre.  Cover art for the podcast Conviction: The Disappearance of Nuseiba Hasan (Courtesy of Habiba Nosheen)  

After a weekend of heightened tensions, the Ukraine border crisis entered a new phase on Monday. First, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of two separatist regions in Eastern Ukraine. They call themselves the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, or DPR and LPR. They are not recognized by Ukraine or by other international actors as separate nations. But these areas have had considerable autonomy and been governed by Russian backed separatists since the 2015 Minsk Peace Accord.   Shortly after Putin’s formal recognition, the Kremlin ordered Russian troops to enter the DPR and LPR on what the Russian Defense ministry is describing as a peacekeeping mission.    For weeks, thousands of Russian troops have been stationed along the Ukrainian border. And since December, Putin has tried to pressure NATO to decrease its military presence in Eastern Europe, and commit to disallowing Ukraine from ever joining the alliance. Yaroslav Trofimov, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, joined The Takeaway to discuss the latest developments.

Not only is the date 2-2-22 fun to say, but according to numerologists, the palindrome date and succession of 2s has meaning, as well. What can we expect when the numbers on the calendar align? We speak with Shereen Campbell, astrologer and founder of My Little Magic Shop, a self-care and wellness store, to learn more about numerology and its significance around the globe. Check out our Spotify playlist 2/22/22. It's a playlist of 2's!  

Public opinion polls consistently show that Abraham Lincoln is widely regarded as our greatest president. And George Washington nearly always makes the top 5 which is why we celebrate Presidents Day on this third Monday of February. But, beyond Washington and Lincoln, Americans today have very different ideas about what makes a president great.  Historian Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University, joins us to discuss what makes a great president. 

When the final US troops left Afghanistan in August, there was still $7 Billion dollars in Afghan central bank assets locked away in the federal reserve in The United States. This is $7 billion that the new Taliban government claims belongs to them, and $7 billion that could finally pay damages to the families of those who were killed on Sept 11, 2001. Perhaps most urgently, this is $7 billion that could provide valuable relief for the Afghan people facing a dire humanitarian crisis in a nation we occupied for two decades. This week, President Biden signed an executive order that would split the $7 billion in half, giving just half of it to support humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, with a judges’ approval. The other $3.5 billion is being freed up for a group of relatives of victims of the Sept. 11th attacks who filed a lawsuit against the Taliban 20 years ago, and could claim this money for damages.  We spoke with with Charlie Savage, New York Times National Security and Legal Reporter and author of “Power Wars,” to help explain to us why Biden is proposing to split these funds in half, and why he’s facing criticism.  

This month, following the killings of New York City based rappers Chii Wvttz and TDott Woo, Mayor Eric Adams said he was going to meet with social media companies to discuss removing drill rap videos featuring “guns” and “violence.” Members of the drill scene and fans of the genre have criticized Adams for looking at drill as the problem, rather than the much more systemic issues that lead to gun violence. Mayor Adams has since met with several drill rappers in an attempt to focus on potential solutions but his initial criticism is reminiscent of a long line of attempts by politicians to criminalize rap rather than understand it.  The Takeaway speaks with Michael Jeffries, dean of academic affairs and professor of American Studies at Wellesley College and also author of “Thug Life: Race, Gender, and the Meaning of Hip-Hop,” about the history of political attacks on hip hop.

It’s been more than six months since the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Since the withdrawal, more than 76,000 Afghans have resettled across the U.S. We check in on resettlement efforts, the challenges facing Afghan refugees, and more with Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

In the first month after the Texas SB8 law banning abortions after 6 weeks took effect, the number of pregnant people getting abortions in the state decreased by 60 percent. Abortion providers in neighboring states like Oklahoma are seeing an influx of patients. We speak with Caroline Kitchener, national political reporter, covering abortion, at The Washington Post, and Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi, an OB-GYN and abortion provider in Texas and board member with Physicians for Reproductive Health, about where people are going to obtain abortions and the impact the rise in demand has on patients, abortion providers, and the medical system.

For the next installment in Black.Queer.Rising, The Takeaway speaks with Chanda Prescod-Weinstein. She's an assistant professor of physics and core faculty member in Women’s Studies at the University of New Hampshire, and she's author of “The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred,” a book about the work she’s done to rethink our understanding of the cosmos and make space for more Black, queer people in STEM.