Into America

Marvel’s Black Panther has always been more than a superhero franchise. Since the first film came out in 2018, the characters and their utopian home, the fictional African nation of Wakanda, have become ingrained in popular culture. “Wakanda forever” became more than a line from a movie — it transformed into shorthand for Black pride and excellence.

Now, the long-awaited sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is once again redefining the genre. 

Filmed after the death of star Chadwick Boseman, who had played King T’Challa aka the Black Panther, director Ryan Coogler decided the movie would tackle the tragedy head on, and show a nation in mourning.

This week on Into America, Trymaine Lee sits down with Kelley Carter, a reporter for ESPN’s Andscape, to talk about why the franchise resonates so deeply, and how the sequel deals with grief and the legacy of the Black Panther. Trymaine also speaks to author Eve L. Ewing, who writes Marvel’s Ironheart comic series, about the importance of Black superheroes.

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More: 

• (Not) Chasing Oscar Gold
• The Sun Rises in the East

The morning after Election Day, results were still being counted and analyzed from the 2022 midterms. It seemed likely that Republicans would control the House, but without the “red wave” many analysts were predicting. 

Into America host Trymaine Lee spent Election Day, Tuesday November 8th, in Atlanta, Georgia. He spoke to people who waited in line vote, hoping to make their mark, after Republicans passed new voting restrictions. 

In that state, voters ultimately decided that incumbent Republican Brian Kemp would stay on as Georgia’s governor. Democrat Stacey Abrams conceded late Tuesday night. And the next morning, the Senate race between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Hershel Walker was to too close to call, and headed for run-off. 

On Wednesday morning, Trymaine Lee sat down with analysts Jason Johnson and Cornell Belcher. They talked about what we know so far, what it all means for Black people, and what the early polls got right (and wrong) about the Black vote. 

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More:

• The Ghosts of Midterms Past
• The Power of the Black Vote: Creating a New South

Midterm elections are critical junctures for Black America, moments in time that have transformed the wellbeing of the community — for better or worse.

In 1962, the Democrats’ strong showing helped pave the way for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Backlash to President Clinton brought the Republican Revolution of 1994, which led to the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. And in 2010, President Obama lost control of Congress, essentially halting major legislative progress for the rest of his presidency. 

On this episode of Into America, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas, recounts what it was like being elected in 1994, and surviving the red wave of 2010 — two elections she says had disastrous consequences for her Black constituents. 

And according to Ted Johnson, an expert in the Black electorate at the Brennan Center for Justice, 2022 is shaping up to be another crucial year. Columbia University professor Fredrick Harris put it this way: “History does not repeat itself,” he told us, “but it sure does rhyme.”

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More:

• NBC: Plan Your Vote 2022 Midterm Elections
• The Power of the Black Vote: Creating a New South
• The Gen Z Midterm Test

When someone in the Black community dies, we honor them with vibrant, spiritual homegoings and repasts as a celebration of their life. That’s because honoring someone in death is a reflection of how we loved them in life. This Fall, as the weather gets cooler and calls for introspection, and as some cultures celebrate Day of the Dead and All Souls Day, we’re looking to the Black burial and mourning traditions that buoy us year after year. 

On this episode of Into America, Trymaine Lee speaks with Dr. Karla F.C. Holloway, author of the book “Passed On: African American Mourning Stories, a Memorial,” to discuss the origins of Black burial practices, how these traditions are passed down, and why they matter. Historical archeologist Dr. Brittany L. Brown also joins us to talk about her research into a previously undiscovered African American burial site.

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More: 

• The growing movement to save Black cemeteries
• Keep the Faith, Baby

Comedy is an art form that consistently provides some of the most insightful social commentary to be found. When the best comics get on stage, they shine a light on the darker, often uncomfortable, parts of our collective psyche, in the process opening a door for discussion. 

W. Kamau Bell is a comedian who has used his art to highlight our country’s complicated relationship with race. And his CNN series, United Shades of America, follows Bell as he visits communities across the country, exploring the unique challenges they face. Along the way Bell has developed a fan base eager to hear his thoughts on race. And many of those fans are white allies.

Bell's latest book, co-authored with Kate Schatz, who is white, is directed squarely at those white fans. Titled Do The Work!, it’s structured as a workbook for adults, complete with concrete actions they can take to create an anti-racist society. This week on Into America, host Trymaine Lee sits down with Bell to discuss how the book overlaps with his career in comedy. Plus, he and Trymaine take a deep dive into their favorite Denzel Washington movies. 

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More: 

• Choppin' It Up With Damon Young
• Climate Denial is Racist
• The Re-freshed Prince of Bel Air

On the final stop of our HBCU tour on The Power of the Black Vote, we travel to Atlanta, home of three of the most prestigious historically Black colleges and universities: Spelman, Morehouse, and Clark Atlanta, to talk with HBCU students about the Black youth vote. 

Georgia has always played a significant role in the fight for voting rights in this country. And when Stacey Abrams lost her race for governor in 2018, young Black voters who were tired and fed-up began to mobilize on their campuses. For years, Black student voter turnout was on the decline in the state, but with rising voter suppression tactics and voter purges, student organizers and grassroots organizations started a movement to get out the vote. This resulted in an unprecedented Black youth voter turnout in the 2020 general election, which ultimately led to Georgia turning blue for the first time in years. 

But with the midterm election right around the corner, student organizers like Janiah Henry, a student political activist at Clark Atlanta University, are struggling to keep that momentum going. 

On this episode of Into America, Trymaine speaks with Henry about how she is energizing the Black youth to get out and vote this November. He also speaks with Ciarra Malone, an organizer forCampus Vote Project, who has made it her mission to strengthen civic engagement on HBCU campuses throughout the state. 

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More: 

• The Power of the Black Vote: Taking Back the Classroom
• The Power of the Black Vote: Knocking Out Student Loan Debt
• The Power of the Black Vote: Tackling Our Climate Crisis
• The Power of the Black Vote: We Save Ourselves
• Young Black voters are dominating the Georgia midterms one student at a time

On the final stop of our HBCU tour on The Power of the Black Vote, we travel to Atlanta, home of three of the most prestigious historically Black colleges and universities: Spelman, Morehouse, and Clark Atlanta, to talk with HBCU students about the Black youth vote. 

Georgia has always played a significant role in the fight for voting rights in this country. And when Stacey Abrams lost her race for governor in 2018, young Black voters who were tired and fed-up began to mobilize on their campuses. For years, Black student voter turnout was on the decline in the state, but with rising voter suppression tactics and voter purges, student organizers and grassroots organizations started a movement to get out the vote. This resulted in an unprecedented Black youth voter turnout in the 2020 general election, which ultimately led to Georgia turning blue for the first time in years. 

But with the midterm election right around the corner, student organizers like Janiah Henry, a student political activist at Clark Atlanta University, are struggling to keep that momentum going. 

On this episode of Into America, Trymaine speaks with Henry about how she is energizing the Black youth to get out and vote this November. He also speaks with Ciarra Malone, an organizer forCampus Vote Project, who has made it her mission to strengthen civic engagement on HBCU campuses throughout the state. 

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More: 

• The Power of the Black Vote: Taking Back the Classroom
• The Power of the Black Vote: Knocking Out Student Loan Debt
• The Power of the Black Vote: Tackling Our Climate Crisis
• The Power of the Black Vote: We Save Ourselves
• Young Black voters are dominating the Georgia midterms one student at a time

Despite being the Blackest state in the country, Mississippi has little Black political representation; and the state’s policies have been hostile to its predominately Black capital city of Jackson. But in the face of the state’s political neglect, Black people have never stopped fighting to make their communities stronger. During the Civil Rights Movement, Mississippi was ground zero for activism, with Jackson State at the center. Now, a new generation is drawing on that tradition to look out for their communities. 

One of those people is Jackson State Junior Maisie Brown. She’s stepped up during the city’s water crisis to fill the gaps left by the state. As part of Into America’s “Power of the Black Vote” tour ahead of the midterms, host Trymaine Lee joins Maisie as she travels around Jackson, delivering clean drinking water to residents. 

And we visit Jackson State alum Laurie Bertram Roberts, founder of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund. Laurie has spent her life fighting for reproductive rights, but her job has gotten harder after the fall of Roe. 

Trymaine also speaks with JSU history professor Robert Luckett about the social and political forces at work in the state. 

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More:

• The Power of the Black Vote: Taking Back the Classroom
• The Power of the Black Vote: Knocking Out Student Loan Debt
• The Power of the Black Vote: Tackling Our Climate Crisis
• Without Water in Jackson

At one point, Florida’s Apalachee Bay was dominating the seafood industry, but over the years it has experienced a sharp decline from climate change and environmental destruction. When a local oyster farmer took notice, he connected with his friends at the historically Black college, Florida A&M University, for help. 

FAMU has a long history of environmental stewardship, and leading environmental causes. That’s why this generation of Black students are working on FAMU’s Rattler Moji Project, a solar-powered water-sensing buoy that collects data for scientists' research and helps filter clean water for oysters to thrive in the bay once again.

This week on Into America, Trymaine Lee visits the sunshine state as part of his “Power of the Black Vote” tour. He joins the Rattler Moji research team to learn how the work they’re doing out on the water has influenced how they think about climate change, and how that could impact their vote in the midterm elections this November. 

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More:

• The Power of the Black Vote: Taking Back the Classroom
• The Power of the Black Vote: Knocking Out Student Loan Debt
• Louisiana’s Last Black Oystermen

At one point, Florida’s Apalachee Bay was dominating the seafood industry, but over the years it has experienced a sharp decline from climate change and environmental destruction. When a local oyster farmer took notice, he connected with his friends at the historically Black college, Florida A&M University, for help. 

FAMU has a long history of environmental stewardship, and leading environmental causes. That’s why this generation of Black students are working on FAMU’s Rattler Moji Project, a solar-powered water-sensing buoy that collects data for scientists' research and helps filter clean water for oysters to thrive in the bay once again.

This week on Into America, Trymaine Lee visits the sunshine state as part of his “Power of the Black Vote” tour. He joins the Rattler Moji research team to learn how the work they’re doing out on the water has influenced how they think about climate change, and how that could impact their vote in the midterm elections this November. 

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at [email protected].

For More:

• The Power of the Black Vote: Taking Back the Classroom
• The Power of the Black Vote: Knocking Out Student Loan Debt
• Louisiana’s Last Black Oystermen