Episode description

Welcome to the first episode of Our Body Politic, created by award-winning journalist Farai Chideya. This episode digs into the controversies surrounding the Census with actor and activist Alfre Woodard. Farai talks to two lawyers leading the campaign to put a Black woman on the Supreme Court. Errin Haines of The 19th and Jess Morales Rocketto of the National Domestic Workers Alliance discuss the power of Black and WoC voters this November. Plus, our weekly Covid update about the pandemic’s impact on communities of color.

Episode Rundown 

1:57 April Reign and Sabriya Williams talk about the death of Supreme- Court- Justice Ruth-Bader-Ginsberg.

4:14 Why representation in the Supreme Court matters.

5:35 Republicans’ plans to rush a new Supreme Court Justice.

8:38 “There’s already names that are being circulated of Black women who might be Supreme Court justices and nominees.”

13:51 Errin Haines and Jess Morales Rocketto talk about the importance of the Women of Color vote in the upcoming presidential election. 

15:18 Oh my gosh. Absolutely. Women of color are key to winning elections.

17:18 Erin Haines - “I mean, you don’t have Joe Biden as your presumptive Democratic nominee weeks ahead of schedule without Black women, right?”

18:58 Jess Morales Rocketto - “To my Latina sisters and fems, honestly, I think the most important thing is that we can really make the difference in this election.”

20:43 Covid news and how essential workers are disproportionately affected by the virus. 

22:07 Last month, the CDC abruptly changed its testing guidelines, saying people who weren’t showing symptoms of COVID-19 didn’t need to be tested, even if they thought they’d been exposed.

24:09 Dr. Kavita Trivedi talks about her background iat the CDC as an epidemic intelligence service officer, and helping to manage outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant infections and manage infection control.

26:56 “We have now clearly seen that African Americans, Latinx communities, are disproportionately affected by the pandemic in so many different ways. “

29:05 Dr. Trivedi stresses the importance of the flu vaccine this upcoming winter, so that doctors can rule out the sickness when COVID symptoms arise.

32:16 An interview with Soraya Nadia McDonald about Naomi Osaka. 

37:25 Naomi Osaka repping Black Lives Matter masks during the US Open. 

40:02 An interview with Alfred Woodard about the importance of the Census. 

42:29 “So many people are putting their lives on the line daily to keep the country rolling.”

49:25 Alfred Woodward says, if those enslaved can show up for the Census, so can we. 

47:48 “I tell stories because I want to lift all of my sisters and my brothers the same way that griots have always done.”

48:49 “Black Lives Matter was a hashtag that started after the death of Trayvon Martin to find each other online.”