The Breakdown with Shaun King

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. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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.Aired: November 20, 2020 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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! ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. ---- 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices