The Breakdown with Shaun King

Latest Episodes:

Throwback Episode: Joe Biden is the Father of Modern Mass Incarceration Mar 30, 2022

Show notes

For today's episode, we revisit our 33rd episode. In it, Shaun King breaks down Joe Biden’s comments from 2019 defending his 1994 Crime Bill. To understand what the implications are of defending this bill, Shaun needs us to understand that mass incarceration in America was designed and planned to criminalize Blackness.

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Ep. 592 - Stop Calling Joe Biden Your Damn Uncle Mar 29, 2022

Show notes

Yesterday Joe Biden announced that he's asking Congress for $32 BILLION more for American police in the name of fighting crime, but here's the thing, they don't need even $1 more. They are swimming in money from coast to coast. The NYPD alone has an annual budget over $10 billion - which is more than most countries spend on their entire military.
And here's the thing - America's safest neighborhoods and safest cities are NOT safe because they are swarming with police. They are safe because they have great jobs, great wealth, great homes, great schools, great health, and treatment for drugs and mental illness.
So PLEASE stop calling this man your uncle. While he REFUSES to prosecute serious cases of police violence, he's about to pour more money into oppression than any president in the history of this nation.

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Ep. 591 - 4 things that concern me about what went down between Will Smith and Chris Rock Mar 28, 2022

Show notes

Description: Yeah, that happened. It was real. And today I want to ask some hard questions and share some concerns I have.

People have breaking points and you don't know when they are going to reach theirs, but when they do, it might be ugly.
I am deeply afraid that everyday people are going to try what Will tried, but find out that they will actually go to jail for it and that people will normally punch or shoot back.
Some people are saying this is what it looks like to "protect Black women" and others are saying this is not at all what that looks like. I'll unpack that.
When white people do something crazy, stars or otherwise, white people rarely absorb it as being something that represents the whole race of white people. I don't know what it's going to take for Black folks to get to that point, but it needs to happen.

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Ep. 590 - How do we measure success for Black America? Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

Today I'm going to be a bit nerdy/wonky and talk about metrics, by asking the question of "How do we measure success for Black America?" What are the outcomes and numbers we should be able to agree really show whether or not we're moving in the right direction as a people?
Is it home ownership? Is it college education? Is it the number of people killed by police or incarcerated? Is it wealth?
I can think about 100 things I wish we were routinely measuring and fighting for. But what if we all just agreed on 5-10. What would they be?

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Ep. 589 - How to pronounce Ketanji Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

Today is a super short episode of The Breakdown. WAY too many of us are saying Kamala wrong (I'll pronounce that for you today as well), but let's take 10 seconds to learn how to say and spell the name of the new nominee to the Supreme Court - Ketanji Brown Jackson.

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Ep. 588 - The most important part of Ketanji Brown Jackson's legal background Mar 23, 2022

Show notes

Yes, it's exciting that a Black woman could be on the Supreme Court, but for many of us in the justice community, NOTHING is more exciting to us than the fact that she is a former public defender.
I'm all for ethnic and gender diversity, but America's courts also need an essential type of legal diversity that is woefully missing. The overwhelming majority of judges in America are former prosecutors and see the whole system of justice from the lens of mass incarceration.
That's why our organization, Grassroots Law, has fought hard for the past 18 months for Joe Biden to appoint as many former public defenders to judgeships as possible. Having that experience completely changes the way a person sees the criminal and legal system.
While I have 101 strong critiques of Joe Biden, one victory that I feel very good about is that he is appointing, for the first time in American history really, a plethora of former public defenders to essential positions. It's a big deal.

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Ep. 587 - Why some people were upset at an HBCU for allowing Ukrainian refugees attend at no cost Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

Nearly 4 million women and children have now fled Ukraine as refugees - including tens of thousands of African students that barely escaped the war. And as colleges and universities have started to open up their doors, it struck a painful nerve with some.
Let me try to unpack and explain this, because 2 realities are true at the same time...

African refugees fleeing war need a safe place to live and continue their education AND...
It's VERY frustrating how few scholarships are available to Black students and families here in America and it stings to see how easily costs could be forgiven when African American students are drowning in student loan debt or can't afford to go to college at all.

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Ep. 586 - Let's talk about Deshaun Watson Mar 21, 2022

Show notes

After being accused by dozens of women across the country of sexual misconduct and assault, the Cleveland Browns just made Deshaun Watson the highest paid player in the NFL. I have some thoughts. Let me unpack and explain the case.

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Throwback Episode: How to Make Police Brutality Illegal - Part 3 of 3 Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

On today’s throwback episode of The Breakdown, the final episode in a 3 part series explaining the leading Supreme Court cases that make police brutality functionally legal in the United States, Shaun gives us action steps and solutions for how we make police brutality illegal. It won’t be easy or quick, but it’s necessary.
If you haven't already, go listen to Wednesday & Thursday's episodes to hear part 1 and 2 of the series!

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Throwback Episode: Graham v. Garner - Police Brutality is Legal - Part 2 of 3 Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

Yesterday on The Breakdown, we went all the way back to our 12th episode where Shaun began a series on the legality of police brutality. Today, we bring you part two of that series. In it, Shaun unpacks the Supreme Court case, Graham v. Connor - and explains how it is now used alongside of Tennessee v. Garner to protect police from being held responsible for their brutality.

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