Like everyone else this past week, I have spent some time reflecting on and appreciating Reverend Jesse Jackson’s life and legacy. But, what may be different from everyone else’s reflections on Reverend Jackson is that mine are deeply personal because Reverend Jackson wasn’t just a towering public figure that I admired, he’s “Uncle Jesse”, my godfather.

My father, Cleveland Sellers, was a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee or “SNCC.” He worked closely with Uncle Jesse who was an active leader in Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference or “SCLC.” Both were young men roughly the same age, both were South Carolinians, and they developed a close bond through the Movement.

Soon after I was born, my father chose Uncle Jesse as my godfather.

Like Uncle Marion (Marion Barry), Uncle Julian (Julian Bond), and Uncle John (John Lewis), and countless others from the Movement that my father befriended, Uncle Jesse would often call our house, and he would do what any uncle does when you pick up the phone – ask how school is going and then ask to talk to your parents.

He would occasionally come to Denmark when he was visiting South Carolina, and over the years as I grew older, I would run into him often and we’d catch up on life, what I was working on, etc.

Several incredible reflections have been written about Uncle Jesse this past week, and I’ll provide a few at the end of the article. For me, as I think about him and the political moment we find ourselves in, a few things come my mind that I want to make sure that in our reflection of him, we keep with us as we move forward.

First, Uncle Jesse was a true populist that was ahead of his time on many of the issues that we still grapple with. He was an early, vocal proponent of a Palestinian state, and sought to mainstream pro-Palestinian positions into the Democratic Party.

He literally coined the phrase and created the first real, multi-racial “Rainbow Coalition” in his presidential runs uniting a then-Mayor Bernie Sanders and white progressives from New England with Black Southerners, Native communities, West Virginia coal miners, and Latino farm workers. As white progressives continue to have challenges connecting with older Black Southern voters in particular, they should look to the unique mix of populism, inclusive capitalism, and spirituality that only Uncle Jesse could comfortably reconcile.

A politics that only talks about raising the minimum wage and single payer – two issues that many African Americans align with but only tell a part of the picture of what matters to us – but that doesn’t also have the same energy for a Black restaurant owner in Denmark, South Carolina will always miss the mark with us. This combination came natural to Uncle Jesse because it’s a natural marriage for many of us. Others should take note.

Second – as many commentators have noted – the Clinton and Obama presidencies were made possible because Jesse Jackson negotiated to change the rules in the Democratic presidential nomination process to a proportional system and away from a “winner-take-all” system.

As we look to 2028 for the next leader of our Party, creating space for insurgent candidacies is a part of Jesse Jackson’s legacy on the Democratic Party.

Lastly, I think Jesse Jackson’s impact on the private sector provides a very clear roadmap for how you do economic populism in a way that also resonates with Black voters.

Uncle Jesse’s Wall Street Project revolutionized how Wall Street hired and promoted Black professionals in Wall Street and the professional services that service them forcing them to do business with us and hire us. Notably, President Trump was once a vocal support of the Wall Street Project.

He fought to diversify who our pensions and retirement plans invest in and invested with. He was one of the most vocal supporters of corporate supplier diversity programs radically altering how Corporate America did business with our entrepreneurs while also creating entire divisions within companies that created opportunities for Black professionals at companies across the country.

He was a vocal advocate for fairness in Black media ownership in response to major media mergers in the 80s and 90s and in diversifying Hollywood.

Uncle Jesse reminded the world that Black Americans want economic prosperity just like everyone else. And a part of that equation must include recognizing the value of Black entrepreneurs and our Black corporate and business community – groups that Democratic politics tend to ignore.

The diversity, equity, and inclusion that the Trump Administration now targets is the house that Uncle Jesse helped to build. It’s no coincidence that Republicans know what Uncle Jesse knew better than most: when you economically empower Black Americans and we leverage that economic power politically, we punch above our weight. And when we punch above our weight politically, we change the country every time.

You don’t get Barack Obama’s black donor base without the “DEI” and the Black executives that Jackson’s work created. Black economic power begets Black political power. Uncle Jesse knew this intimately in ways that many Democrats – including some Black Democrats – still fail to understand.

Uncle Jesse is Democrats’ roadmap in 2028. The Latino voters who voted for President Trump last time need to come home to a Democratic Party that doesn’t think rounding them up indiscriminately is “immigration enforcement.” No Black politician prior to Jesse Jackson made the kind of inroads with Latino voters that he did. Black voters who are estranged from the Democratic Party need to see a Party that understands both the need for reconstituting the social safety net and a more forceful government role in minority contracting, supplier diversity, and supporting minority businesses and that will be force again for forcing Corporate America’s hand on cultivating and supporting diverse workforces, boards, and suppliers.

We need to energize young voters and reinstitute the kind of mass voter registration drives that made Uncle Jesse a force to be reckoned with.

I will miss him dearly, as will my parents. My prayers go out to Aunt Jackie, Jessie Jr., Yusef, Jonathan, Santita, Jackie, and Ashley.

His life was a blessing upon us all, and his roadmap for true inclusion and prosperity will endure forever.

A few really good articles and tributes to Uncle Jesse are below and worth your time –

• Jonathan Sewer’s piece in The Atlantic

• Dr. Saida Grundy’s piece in The Guardian

• Reid Epstein’s piece in the New York Times

• Donna’s Brazille’s tribute on ABC News

And, yes, I know many of these are paywalled, but good journalism often is. It’s worth the investment.

This wasn’t a mistake.

It was intentional. And the refusal to apologize is the point.

When Black people are depicted as less than human, history tells us exactly where that leads. This isn’t new and it definitely didn’t start online. It has always been used to justify how power treats people it doesn’t respect.

And let’s be clear, that kind of behavior doesn’t live on its own. It shapes what people think is acceptable and what they’re willing to excuse.

That’s why this matters.

What Professor Michael Eric Dyson explains here is simple. Dehumanization isn’t rhetoric. It’s a choice. And when that choice comes from someone with power, real people end up paying the price.

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In case you missed it, Kanye West published a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal last week entitled – “To Those I’ve Hurt.”

So, I’ll first say that my intent here is not to minimize what has seemed like Ye’s genuine struggle with mental health challenges.

For those of us who were “foundational” Kanye fans, we’ve seen his evolution and his very public battles with bipolar disorder. I’ve seen what bipolar disorder does to those I’ve love before, so I fully understand that some of what we have seen from him could have been manic episodes where he “lost touch with reality.”

I also understand the role that grief can play in compounding mental health challenges. Kanye tragically lost his mother years ago, and in the spirit of fairness – and recognizing Ye’s humanity here – there’s no way that you lose your mother in that fashion and come out unscathed. And, to do all of this in the public eye with very public battles with your children’s mother, your former business partners and others can’t be easy.

So, I say what I’m about say with a full acknowledgement of the various factors at play in Ye’s apology and the factors that led to it:

I’m skeptical.

And, I really want to find a way to bring Ye back to our community in an authentic way, but too much here is a red flag that, unfortunately, feels more transactional and geared toward the release of his next album than the apology that we really needed to see.

And, to be clear, the “we” here is the Black folks who rocked with Kanye first, wore two polos to the club with our collars popped, supported him before he was a household name, and who have wanted Kanye to heal.

So – why I’m skeptical:

First, he’s about to release a new album on March 20^th. And the same Wall Street Journal that published his ad also shared the origins of the ad – “The Makings of a Kanye West Apology: An All-Staff Meeting and a 7-Figure Record Deal” – noting the obvious: “[that] [t]his is not the first time that Ye has apologized before a new album. In late 2023, as he prepared to release “Vultures 1,” he wrote on Instagram in Hebrew that “I deeply regret any pain I may have caused.” So, there’s that.

Then, it’s the venue itself, the Wall Street Journal. I have no major issues with the WSJ (though, I often disagree with its political and editorial contributors). We know who reads the WSJ, and it’s not Black folks – not most of us at least. And, paying for an ad that goes to Rupert Murdoch-owned NewsCorp, who also owns Fox Corporation (and Fox News), is designed to speak to white business types. Not a newsflash to anyone but imagine had this been placed with a Black-owned media organization or the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s 230 black-owned regional and local outlets or The Grio or The Root.

All these outlets could benefit from both the investment and the clicks that he gave to the WSJ with this ad. This was a choice, and he didn’t choose us – again.

And, finally, while he does acknowledge the pain that he has caused African Americans, the WSJ apology doesn’t feel commensurate with the harm caused. “Slavey was a choice”, “White Lives Matter”, ranting and appearing to support President Trump from the Oval Office, claiming erroneously that 50% of Black death comes from abortions, and calling racism a “dated concept” requires more than a one off apology in an outlet that we don’t read. If you want us to care (which it's not clear that he cares if we care at all), you need to talk to Black press, go on Black podcasts, place an apology for us in our outlets – and most importantly – actually talk to us genuinely and authentically in the way that we’ve authentically and genuinely been there for you through it all.

We bought the Yeezies, we still buy the tickets to his shows (sadly), many of us stood by him – and continue to do so – despite the incidents above.

But maybe that’s the problem.

We should expect more from the people that we invest our time and money in, particularly when they’re the same people who look to us for safe haven when they offend other communities.

But, they never come correct to us.

I really to do hope that Kanye finds himself and get what he needs to be where he needs to be.

He just might have to do it without us.

This year is an election year as many of you know. And throughout 2026, I will highlight key races that I think will not only shift the balance of power in Washington and in our states, but that will also give us a glimpse into 2028 and beyond.

I’m starting this feature in The Moment with Georgia’s Gubernatorial and Senate races as two races that will tell us about just how “swingy” Georgia is (or not). More broadly, I think Georgia gives us a glimpse into how Democrats fare in critical “Sun Belt” states like Georgia in 2026 as populations shifts from Democrats’ Blue Wall of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania to states like North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.

So, why Georgia –

• Georgia’s Black voters tell me where the rest of Black voters are in 2026 (and possibly in 2028). Almost half of the voters in Georgia’s Democratic primaries are Black, and in any general election Black voters make up about one-third of the electorate. Georgia’s Black voters include large shares of urban, suburban, and rural voters making Georgia one of the largest, diverse, and influential Black electorates in the country. The level of voter enthusiasm from Georgia’s Black voters and the issues that mobilize them this cycle will likely be a good indicator of where most Black voters are in 2026 – and potentially in 2028.

• The 2024 drop off of Black male voters under 50 was dramatic in Georgia, and it’s a trend I’m watching in 2026. The Brennan Center found that the growth in Georgia’s Black-White racial turnout gap in 2024 was largely concentrated among younger Black men under 50 – far more than any other group of voters in Georgia. Going back to my point above regarding Georgia’s electorate (and my points below on the Senate), Democrats’ chances in the Senate could come down to young Black men being re-engaged in Georgia in 2026. How we engage young Black men, when we do it, how much we invest in it, and where we do it in 2026 will tell me if Democrats learned from 2024 and are ready to win in 2026 and 2028.

• Georgia has a solid swath of college-educated, swing White voters in suburban Atlanta that could be a bellwether for any potential 2026 “blue wave” and preview potential red flags for Republicans in 2028. A key metric for Democrats’ strategic shift to the Sun Belt (e.g. Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, and Nevada) is the growing share of college-educated whites as a share of their electorates. The reality is that Republicans win when a greater share of white voters that didn’t go to college turn out; it’s the opposite for Democrats. About 21% of white Georgia voters are college educated, but they skew more conservative than college-educated White voters in other parts of the Sun Belt and the “Blue Wall” states. If they stay home or split tickets like they have done for Senator Warnock, this could be an indicator that swing, college-educated, White voters are voting against the Trump Administration and the MAGA Republican candidates likely to come out of the Republican primaries for Senate and Governor in Georgia in 2026.

• Georgia’s 2025 Public Service Commission race was so out of left field to folks outside of Georgia that I need to see if this is a fluke or if Georgia’s latent Democratic strength is finally starting to show. Last year, Georgia Democrats flipped two seats on their state Public Service Commission (their utilities regulator) – the first time this has ever happened and the first time a Democrat has won a statewide election for a state race in two decades. If this is an indication of Democratic enthusiasm, Georgia Democrats could make major gains.

• Georgia will be key to the balance of power in the Senate in 2026. Democrats are now bullish on potentially flipping Alaska, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, and Iowa, and protecting New Hampshire and Michigan – but Jon Ossoff remains their most vulnerable incumbent. And, he doesn’t have the benefit of running on a ticket with Senator Warnock.

• Georgia is pushing to vote earlier in the 2028 Democratic primary. Georgia Democrats are working hard to move their Democratic presidential primary up for 2028 – and they should. They’re a legit battleground, they have the second largest Black electorate in the country, and they have one of the most active Black donor bases in Democratic politics. Anyone wanting the Democratic nomination in 2028 will have to be active in Georgia in 2026.

• Stacey Abrams and Raphael Warnock aren’t running. Raphael Warnock has appeared on the ballot five different times (winning every time) and Stacey Abrams has been the Democratic nominee the last two cycles in Georgia. Both bring their own coalitions of voters when they’re on the ballot, but neither is on the ballot this year.

Georgia has decided the balance of the Senate before, and that could be the case again in 2026 if Democrats flip and protect many of their targets.

Senator Ossoff has operated largely in the shadows of Senator Warnock and has at times struggled with Georgia’s Black politicos – highlighted by his fight to remove Congresswoman Nikema Williams from the head of the Georgia Democratic Party.

He has also navigated his own unique politics on Israel (he is Jewish, but he has been one of the more vocal Democratic critics on Israel) – a major litmus test for Democrats in 2026 and 2028.

Can he get young Black men back the polls? Do his progressive politics fall flat with Warnock-Kemp voters?

The Georgia Democratic primary for Governor includes former Atlanta Mayor and current frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, Keisha Lance-Bottoms and other notable Georgia Democrats. And, despite Georgia’s importance nationally for Democrats, none of the candidates currently running have broken through nationally in the way that someone like a Wes Moore did a few years ago in Maryland.

Mayor Bottoms’ sometimes troubled tenure in Atlanta and her decision not to run for re-election (a rarity in Atlanta) could prove to be a general election liability. And, in the post-Kamala Harris environment for Black women candidates, can Mayor Bottoms maximize Black male turnout if she’s the nominee? And will her tenure in Atlanta be a net negative in a general election?

All the things that matter nationally for Democrats and their chances to shift the balance of power away from President Trump and Trumpism are there in Georgia in 2026.

I’ll be active in Georgia this year, and I think all Democrats should find a way to Magic City and do some volunteering in Georgia this year.

As legal battles unfold, protesters and local officials accuse ICE of stopping and detaining people based on race. Panelists debate claims of racial profiling, warrantless enforcement, deportation priorities, and conflicting data on criminal convictions, while discussing the broader impact on communities and public trust.

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Donald Trump speaks at the World Economic Forum, repeating disputed claims, misstating figures, and repeatedly confusing Greenland with Iceland. A panel debates whether these remarks reflect his long-standing style or raise deeper concerns about accountability, credibility, and how such moments are treated compared to other presidents.

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CNN reports on a whistleblower complaint alleging that ICE officers are being instructed to forcibly enter homes using administrative warrants, without judicial approval. Panelists debate the legality, constitutional implications, and enforcement practices, as well as concerns raised by recent incidents and court challenges.

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Donald Trump announces a framework deal involving Greenland and signals a retreat from earlier threats toward NATO allies. A panel debates whether the shift delivers real strategic gains or deepens fractures with Europe and Canada, touching on Arctic security, China and Russia, market pressure, and the broader impact on U.S. alliances.

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Back in 2019, then-Senator Kamala Harris described the first Trump Administration’s deportation raids and deployment of ICE a “campaign of terror” to make whole populations of Hispanic Americans afraid”.

And she told y’all again in 2024 that Trump would do the same (or worse) and send troops to our cities – and folks didn’t take her seriously.

She also called for significantly restructuring ICE and the Department of Homeland Security back in 2020, which again, some folks (including some running for the Democratic nomination in 2028) have also criticized.

Now, that we see that ICE is operating as the new slave catchers, brutalizing Americans, operating like a paramilitary version of the Proud Boys, and murdering citizens, we’ve got to revisit two really big questions.

• First, what are we going to do to prosecute ICE agents and purge them when Democrats are back in power?

• And, second, what exactly should we do with ICE if/when we’re in a position to do something about them again other than protest?

Because I spend quite a bit of time suing police departments and correctional facilities when they brutalize and murder Americans like ICE is doing now, I spend a lot of time navigating this issue of qualified immunity.

This is basically a legal doctrine that makes it harder to hold law enforcement accountable even when they’re clearly on bullshit.

Unfortunately, ICE is largely protected by qualified immunity but not protected in the way that J.D. Vance, Steven Miller, or Stephen A. Smith suggests they are.

First, the immunity is qualified not absolute. ICE offices do have some immunity from criminal prosecutions, but they can’t do whatever they want on the job. They still have to comply with federal laws, act reasonably, and not clearly violate a person’s constitutional rights. That clearly happened here, so qualified immunity isn’t a get out of jail free card – even if these cases are often difficult and law enforcement usually wins.

So, what can we do?

First, I think Attorney General Ellison in Minnesota should pursue a prosecution of the ICE offices in question anyway – even if we know that qualified immunity could ultimately protect an officer. The public needs to see how awful this doctrine is in the face of tragedies like what we saw with Rachel Good in Minneapolis.

And, this is a case where the State of Minnesota could succeed. Here’s a good read on what they can – and should! – do under state law from LawFare Media.

Second, I like what Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson are doing and saying in Chicago. In addition to prosecutions like what I hope we will see in Minnesota; we need to track names and activity for future state and federal prosecutions of ICE agents.

Third, every single Democrat running for election or re-election to Congress this cycle needs to be supporting H.R. 4944, the “Ending Qualified Immunity for ICE Agents Act” and whatever comes out Senator Murphy’s efforts to reform DHS. If this isn’t coming out of the mouths of the people asking for your vote for Congress this year, don’t vote for them, and don’t send them money.

The “Abolish ICE” crowd was right. We’ve created a monster that has to be reigned in – or potentially abolished.

Now, some of you will hate me here, but another reality is that Americans want immigration enforcement; they don’t want slave catcher brutality and moms being murdered. And there’s a political line to walk here because “Abolish ICE” can easily be misconstrued politically as “open borders.” That’s a political liability for Democrats, and a trap that we have to avoid.

But, Vice President Harris was right, too – we have to radically alter what DHS and ICE do. Their current iterations have to abolished, and immigration enforcement has to go to somewhere else and they have to be able to held accountable.

Hell, I want to change all qualified immunity laws applied to law enforcement – this should also be a bedrock principle for Democrats moving forward.

We absolutely have to call for any 2028 Democratic hopeful to do a full purge of DHS and ICE if elected and Nuremberg-style trials led by the Department of Justice commencing the first day of the next Democratic Administration. If Donald Trump can make up fake prosecutions of people that tried to hold him accountable, we have to bring real prosecutions of the actual terrorists deployed by this Administration to terrorize us.

I know there is a paywall, but this Atlantic article, “The Front-Runner” about California Governor Gavin Newsom being the Democratic “front-runner” for the 2028 Democratic nomination bothered me, and it was yet another reminder that Democrats may still not fully understand the moment we’re in.

Parts of it and Newsom, I agree with.

Democrats are weak – both in terms of how their own voters perceive them, and in how they look relative to Republicans, despite generally supporting the policies Americans say they want.

Democrats have to meet the moment with things like Newsom’s Proposition 50 that will likely help flip the House in 2026. And his communication style and embrace of pop culture and sports as a part of his appeal is sorely needed inDemocratic politics.

The red flags are everywhere.

• “Given the choice,” he tells me, summing up a crucial Clinton insight—one many Democrats still can’t quite seem to grasp—“the American people always support strong and wrong, versus, weak and right.”

• “His idea of strength includes a willingness to fight dirty, going lower than Barack Obama could ever imagine, and so his social-media accounts bristle with memes about Donald Trump’s bruised hand and advancing age.”

• “He also has a high tolerance for risk. Proposition 50, a ballot measure that has redrawn California’s congressional map in favor of the Democrats, was seen as a toss-up when he first backed it last year. The new map was a blatant partisan gerrymander, a departure from the time when the Democrats used to talk up the fairness of independent commissions. Morally wrong, maybe—but do you want to win back the House or not? Prop 50 passed by a two-to-one margin.”

• “He’s much given to—like Trump, in a way—making these grand pronouncements about how something’s the greatest ever, how this is going to be the most wonderful thing,” the veteran California journalist Jerry Roberts told me, “and then his record is littered with failures.”

I don’t need “strong and wrong” for 2028 – show me “strong and right” where you actually deliver. The fact that “fight[ing] dirty” is just talking plainly about a twice-failed, formerly impeached lame duck President tells me more about the cuck politics of national Democrats than anything else.

This doesn’t make Newsom strong or unique; he’s just where we all are with the bullshit we’re seeing.

The fact that he wielded the power he had as a Governor for Proposition 50, and that other Democratic governors are doing as well – isn’t “risky.”

It’s doing your fucking job.

It’s not a case for a front-runner in the least, and polling two years out is an indication of nothing.

A track record of Newsom in his actual job as Governor of California of grand announcements and policy failures should concern us all.

Whoever has to clean up the mess Donald Trump is creating must actually show that he or she has delivered something other than tweets in all caps.

• I know Beshear has stabilized rural healthcare in deeply red Kentucky.

• Shaprio helped rebuild a collapsed bridge in 12 days and is lowering utility bills in a critical swing state inPennsylvania.

• Pritzker has fixed Illinois’ budget while investing in people and fixing the roads.

• Wes Moore is actually building housing in Maryland and rebuilding the Key Bridge after it collapsed.

• Roy Cooper expanded clean energy, made historic investments in North Carolina’s HBCU’s and expanded Medicaid against a deeply racist and fucked up state legislation in North Carolina.

We have a bench and options.

We should have learned our lesson from anointing frontrunners instead of letting primaries and the politics play out.

A part of the Trump Derangement Syndrome Democrats suffer from is this desperate need to find the next great person instead of investing in the infrastructure that allows Republicans to plug and play no matter who leads them.

Fixating over someone who talks tough but doesn’t deliver ain’t it. And when voters seek authenticity over almost anything else (the real lesson of Trump), a guy who swings where the wind blows ain’t it.

The fact that calling Trump who he is and speaking plainly tells me more about how bad other Democrats are –not about how Newsom is the right fit for the moment.

Our party is broke. Neither Senator Schumer or Leader Jeffries inspires hope or confidence that we have the leadership we need in Washington if they’re Majority Leader or Speaker.

We have no real think tanks like the America First Policy Institute that can produce something like Project 2025 – or the politicians or bureaucrats or the bureaucratic training grounds to train the people who could actually deliver it.

Our state and local Democratic Party apparatus in most parts of the country is broke and broken.

Our media ecosystem and echo chambers pale in comparison to theirs, so even when we’re right, our voters never know about it, their voters can easily dismiss it, and most people never hear about it.

And, if even there is a “blue wave” in 2026, not a single person can tell me what we’d do with it.

I don’t know Gavin Newsom. But what I do know is that anointing a front-runner – with polling suggesting that people are thinking this way, tells me more about our desperation than what the plan should be moving forward.

No single person or candidate can fix this, and us fixating on a front-runner when the house is burning around us reminds me that we didn’t really learn what we needed to do in 2024.

It’s not enough to win elections.

You have to win, you have to win with the right people who can show you they can deliver, and most importantly, we have to build the infrastructure to keep winning.

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The Pentagon moves to censure Senator Mark Kelly over a video urging troops to defy illegal orders. Lawmakers debate whether the message protects the Constitution or undermines military discipline.

After the capture of Nicolás Maduro, Trump signals military action across the Americas. Experts debate the Monroe Doctrine, U.S. power, and how these moves impact migration, working-class Americans, and global strategy.

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After Nicolás Maduro’s arrest, Trump claims the U.S. is now in charge of Venezuela. Is it about drugs, democracy, oil, or just power? Heated debate breaks down the operation, its motives, and what it means for America and the world.

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The panel discusses breaks down President Donald Trump’s recent speech in North Carolina, which was billed as an economic address but veered into familiar rally-style tangents.

The panel debates whether Trump’s approach is helping or hurting his affordability message, particularly with independents and moderates concerned about cost of living issues. While some argue that this style energizes his base, others say it represents a missed opportunity to directly acknowledge that many Americans are not yet feeling economic relief.

The conversation also examines Trump’s age and mental sharpness, comparisons to President Joe Biden, and whether Trump has lost command and control of the Republican Party amid internal divisions on issues like healthcare, Israel, and the Epstein files.

The discussion then turns to the Democratic Party, focusing on its decision not to release a public autopsy following the 2024 election loss, whether introspection helps or hurts, and how past post-election reviews shaped future Democratic and Republican strategies.

The panel discusses examines whether Donald Trump is actually losing support within the Republican base, or if his grip on MAGA remains solid despite growing criticism.

The conversation explores Trump’s approval ratings, economic issues like tariffs, immigration and deportation policies, reactions to DOJ prosecutions, the Epstein files, and shifting voter dynamics — including concerns among Latino voters.

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Bakari Sellers, Scott Jennings, Anna Navarro, and Arthur Aidala discuss Trump’s statement about Rob Reiner after Reiner’s son murdered his parents, with panelists agreeing Trump should have said nothing.

Aidala recalls his grandfather teaching him if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all, noting Trump didn’t acknowledge Vice President Dick Cheney’s death. Jennings agrees Trump should have said nothing despite Reiner being a vocal critic who raised millions against Trump, noting Reiner condemned Charlie Kirk’s murder forcefully.

Navarro condemns Trump for not rising to the occasion and attacking Reiner by saying his death was caused by criticism of Trump, calling it disgusting and unacceptable, comparing it to Obama singing Amazing Grace at Mother Emanuel shooting and Bush after 9/11. Sellers argues the bar for Trump is in hell with expectations he simply be quiet, questioning evangelical Christians on Trump’s prayer council who turn a blind eye.

Discussion covers Trump spreading misinformation about the murder’s cause and missing opportunity to discuss how narcotics affect families, hypocrisy compared to Republicans condemning celebration of Charlie Kirk’s murder, and Sellers refusing to hold internet trolls to same standard as president whose attacks give permission to others.

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Bakari Sellers and Scott Jennings discuss the recent bill requiring the Justice Department to release all Jeffrey Epstein files, which has passed both houses of Congress and will become law once signed. They consider whether the president will hold a public signing ceremony, as he has for previous legislation, and discuss Trump’s perspective on the Epstein narrative. Sellers and Jennings also address the DOJ’s role in releasing the files, the distinction between fundraising and untoward activity on Epstein Island, and GOP influencers’ political maneuvering. The conversation concludes with a look at Texas redistricting, potential impacts on Congressional seats, and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

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On this episode hosts Tiffany Cross, Angela Rye, and Andrew Gillum answer YOUR questions at the AfroTech conference in Houston, Texas.

AfroTech is a hub for Black S.T.E.M professionals, innovators, entrepreneurs, & visionaries. It was founded in 2016 by Blavity Inc. and aims to inspire future Black leaders within the tech industry where Black professionals are significantly underrepresented. Black workers accounted for just 7.4 percent of the high-tech workforce and 5.7 percent of high-tech managers, despite making up nearly 12 percent of the total U.S. workforce, according to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

If you’d like to submit a question, check out our tutorial video:

/ c5j_obxlig0 and send to @nativelandpod.

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Thank you to the Native Land Pod team:

Angela Rye as host, executive producer, and cofounder of Reasoned Choice Media; Tiffany Cross as host and producer, Andrew Gillum as host and producer, Bakari Sellers as host and producer, and Lauren Hansen as executive producer; LoLo Smith is our research producer, and Nikolas Harter is our editor and producer. Special thanks to Chris Morrow and Lenard McKelvey, co-founders of Reasoned Choice Media.

On episode 103 of Native Land Pod, hosts Tiffany Cross, Angela Rye, Andrew Gillum, and Bakari Sellers are TOGETHER at a studio in Houston, Texas.

Starting on November 1st, SNAP (food stamps) benefits will reportedly run out of funding, affecting more than 40 million Americans, or about 10% of the country. This despite the fact that the federal government could easily appropriate funds to continue the SNAP program through November. This is a result of the federal government shutdown which will soon be the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

This shutdown is doing damage to American’s faith in our own government. With Democrats poised to take control of the House in 2026, what responsibility do they have to restore that trust deficit?

And in the meantime, wtf do WE do?!? Our hosts discuss how folks are standing in the gap and supporting our communities even when the government won’t.

If you’d like to submit a question, check out our tutorial video:

/ c5j_obxlig0 and send to @nativelandpod.

We are 369 days away from the midterm elections. Welcome home y’all!

Contents:
00:00:00 Start
00:00:33 Episode Rundown
00:01:45 Quick News Hits
00:03:45 Governent Shutdown Threatens Food Stamps
00:24:25 Amercan’s Faith in Government
00:50:40 CTAs

On episode 104 of Native Land Pod, hosts Tiffany Cross, Angela Rye, Andrew Gillum, and Bakari Sellers go through this week’s election results and take an account of how our Black candidates (and voters) performed.

The race for NYC’s mayor dominated the airwaves, where Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani won. BUT there were other important races. Black mayors were elected across the country, the governor race in Virginia and New Jersey went solidly Democratic, and State-level elections in the South saw typically conservative seats flip blue. Folks are wondering if Mamdani is the new “face of the Democratic party” which WE think is missing the point.

NLP is joined by President Biden’s former press secretary (the first Black woman to hold the job) Karine Jeane-Pierre to discuss some of the election results and Democrat’s media strategy. In her new book, Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside Party Lines, Karine shares some pointed critiques of a party she no longer identifies with, and our hosts ask some pointed questions of Karine.

And our hosts respond to your questions! There’s an interesting one about infiltrating the Republican party and another from a chef asking who is keeping our legacy “recipes.”

If you’d like to submit a question, check out our tutorial video:

/ c5j_obxlig0 and send to @nativelandpod.

We are 362 days away from the midterm elections. Welcome home y’all!