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“Freaknik in many ways is what Woodstock was for white people,” explains Dr. Maurice Hobson. Hobson is an historian at Georgia State University and former Freaknik attendee.  Freaknik was a legendary street party that started in Atlanta back in the early 80s. For more than 15 years, young Black people from all around the country flooded the parks and streets of Atlanta every third weekend in April. There was dancing in the middle of the streets, step shows, and concerts with rap stars like Outkast, Goodie Mob and Uncle Luke. “It was the perfect storm. You know, it could not happen anywhere else. It had to happen in Atlanta,” rap legend Uncle Luke tells Trymaine Lee. At one point, Luke was crowned “King of Freaknik.” This week, Into America explores the rise and fall of the greatest block party America has ever seen, and the impact that Freaknik still has on Atlanta and Black youth culture today, told by the people who lived it, including Uncle Luke, Maurice Hobson, radio host Kenny Burns, and Freaknik co-founder Sharon Toomer. 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 intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Listening:  Big Daddy Kane’s Lyrical Legacy Black Joy in the Summertime

Selma, Alabama was at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. It was here in 1965 that Black protesters were chased and beaten during a march that would become known as Bloody Sunday. And today, that fight for Black liberation continues in Selma with Quentin Bell, the executive director of the Knights and Orchids Society, a nonprofit group that supports Black queer people who are facing housing insecurity, healthcare needs, and discrimination. Quentin has been an LGBTQ+ advocate for more than a decade. And as he told Trymaine Lee, “Black liberation means the liberation of all Black people, regardless of gender, regardless of orientation, regardless of spirituality.”  On this episode of Into America, Trymaine visits Selma to learn about Quentin’s work. And he speaks with Lynda Blackmon Lowery, one of the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement, about how the fight for queer rights today is carrying on the legacy of the activists of her generation. 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 intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Reading and Listening: How the Black queer community is re-imagining the family tree Into Black Trans Liberation

More than ten years ago, Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teen, was fatally shot in a gated neighborhood in Florida while on his way back to their home from a local convenience store. Martin's death -- and his shooter's acquittal -- would go on to spark a new generation of protests and global attention on police and citizen violence against Black people.  In the wake of this renewed energy around anti-Black racism, a coalition of racial justice organizations like The Black Lives Matter Network, Dream Defenders, and Black Youth Project sprouted all over the country, signaling a new era of Black organizing. These groups helped lay down the groundwork for the massive and enduring protests that erupted in Ferguson, Mo., in the days and months after Michael Brown Jr., an unarmed Black teenager, was killed by a white police officer on August 9, 2014.  Within this larger movement for Black lives, the fathers of countless slain Black boys rose up to lead the cause. On this episode of Into America, host Trymaine Lee speaks with Tracy Martin, Trayvon Martin’s dad, along with Michael Brown Sr., and Jacob Blake Sr. about the weight of Black fatherhood amid a global fight for Black life. 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 intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Listening:  Reconstructed: The Book of Trayvon After George Floyd Can You Hear Us Now: Juneteenth

Before he was Big Daddy Kane, the legendary MC who broke out big in the late 80s, he was just Antonio Hardy, the kid from Brooklyn who heard something new coming out of the turntables at the block party. It was the sound of hip-hop coming of age, and Kane was coming up with it. Soon, he’d be writing his own rhymes and traveling to other boroughs to battle their best MCs. Big Daddy Kane would go on to become one of the most versatile rappers of his day, with hits like “Ain’t No Half-Steppin,’” and “Smooth Operator.” He came up alongside the late great Biz Markie, and joined up with Marley Marl and the Juice Crew, establishing himself as one of the pioneers of the golden age of hip-hop. As we approach the 2022 summer season, we want to revisit our conversation with Big Daddy Kane. Trymaine Lee spoke with Kane about those early days in Brooklyn, what he can offer today’s rappers, and what the forthcoming Universal Hip-Hop Museum could mean for Black culture. (Original release date: August 19, 2021) For a transcript, please visit https://www.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 intoamerica@nbcuni.com Further Listening:  Bun B is Standing Up Universal Hip-Hop Museum

What can we do when the weight of the world becomes too heavy? Amid a gun violence epidemic that’s ravaging communities across the US, attacks on American history curriculums in classrooms, and failures from elected officials to protect voting and abortion rights, American democracy is in crisis.  But Michael McBride, a pastor and community organizer, is showing us what a practice of persistence during times of despair can look like. With more than 20 years in ministry, McBride bridges the church and community organizations to work on some of the biggest systemic issues of our times: mass incarceration, gun violence, police reform. Regarded as a national faith leader, McBride took part in the Ferguson uprisings and the many that followed. And today, he continues to lend training and support to young people and religious organizations working towards Black liberation.  On this episode of Into America, host Trymaine Lee speaks with Pastor McBride about how to soothe the enduring grief of this moment and what we can do to push onwards. 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 intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Listening:  The Weight of Bearing Witness A Word from the Nap Bishop

Where does the video of George Floyd’s murder fit into the long history of the push for racial justice?  Journalist and professor Marc Lamont Hill has just released a new book, co-authored with historian Todd Brewster. Titled Seen & Unseen, the work explores the ways in which technology and visual media have shaped our understanding of race in the past and how they are being used as tools in the fight for racial justice today.  The impetus for Hill and Brewster’s book was the murder of George Floyd and the uprising it sparked. Video of Floyd’s murder was captured by Darnella Frazier, using her cell phone’s camera. She posted the video to Facebook, where it quickly went viral, sparking the largest protest movement in U.S. history. On this episode of Into America, host Trymaine Lee speaks with fellow journalist and author Marc Lamont Hill about his new book, George Floyd, and the uses of technology and social media in the fight for racial justice. 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 intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Listening:  After George Floyd The Weight of Bearing Witness Into an American Uprising: Can You Hear Us Now?

On Saturday, May 14, a white 18-year-old drove to a supermarket in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, N.Y., and killed ten people in a racist attack. The gunman was alone, and reporting has revealed that he allegedly posted a manifesto with racist theories and his plans to kill Black people online.  Law enforcement officials and the media often describe these kinds of perpetrator as lone wolves. But the work of white supremacy is never lonely. It’s propagated by social media, cable television pundits, and even politicians.  And in the wake of this recent extremism, the Black community in Buffalo is left trying to survive the grieve.  “There are no words. There are no solutions. There is no consolation. The community's reeling. Somebody walked into a grocery store and shot up a bunch of our grannies and aunties,” says India Walton, a community leader and former mayoral candidate in Buffalo. India speaks with Trymaine Lee about the shooting, the structural racism and white violence in Buffalo that has kept Black residents segregated and vulnerable, and how she will continue to fight for her community.  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 intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Reading and Viewing: Biden calls Buffalo shooting 'terrorism,' says 'white supremacy is a poison' The Buffalo shooting is part of a global network of white nationalist terror 

It’s been almost ten years since the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing Trayvon Martin, sparked the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter in 2013. A year later, the police killing of Michael Brown turned the hashtag into a movement. Then in 2020, the world witnessed the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, and Black Lives Matter exploded into a global phenomenon.  Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest, and as activists took center stage, people donated millions of dollars to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. But it’s been a turbulent ride. In 2021, when it was announced that the foundation had received $90 million in funding, many local BLM chapters and families of victims of police violence, started calling for more support and financial transparency. And a recent New York Magazine article unveiled that the foundation spent $6 million on a Los Angeles home which triggered new accusations of mishandling of funds.  This week on Into America, Trymaine Lee speaks with Patrisse Cullors, one of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the former executive director of the BLM Global Network Foundation. After the national foundation received an influx of money, Cullors became the face of the foundation. Now she’s under fire from right-wing media, as well as other movement leaders, who are questioning her leadership and financial decisions. Cullors admits that she has made some mistakes, but she maintains that she has done nothing wrong. So she’s sitting down with Into America to talk about what accountability means to her, and how she plans to move forward with the lessons she’s learned. 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 intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Reading and Viewing:  Former BLM foundation leader denies allegations of money mishandling BLM’s Patrisse Cullors to step down from movement foundation

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, also known as the LA Uprising. Before the uprising, tensions in South L.A. were at an all-time high from years of untamed police abuse, gang violence, and strained relations between the Black and Korean American communities.  In 1991, a Black teenager named Latasha Harlins was shot and killed by Korean storekeeper Soon Ja Du after she accused Harlins of stealing a bottle of juice. Around the same time, the Black community was also stunned by the video of four white police officers brutally beating Rodney King. A year later, on April 29, 1992, all four officers were acquitted and the Black community of South Los Angeles reached its breaking point. The acquittal set off five days of violence, destruction, and looting, with Koreatown being the main target.  Now, 30 years later, several Black and Korean communities are commemorating the anniversary of the riots by reflecting on the past, and moving forward together.  This week on Into America, Trymaine Lee speaks with Rodney King’s daughter, Lora King, about her relationship with her father and how she’s continuing his legacy through the Rodney King Foundation.  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 intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Reading and Viewing:  Korean American-Black conflict during L.A. riots was overemphasized by media, experts say Watch ‘Riot 92: A Los Angeles Story' 

According to a draft Supreme Court opinion obtained by Politico, the Supreme Court stands poised to overturn Roe v. Wade during its next session. If this happens, it’s estimated as many as 23 states will enact some type of abortion ban, some of which will go into effect almost immediately. And Black people could be hardest hit.  Black women seek abortions at a higher rate than any other group. And that, coupled with the knowledge that infant and maternal mortality rates are higher for Black people, could create a dangerous situation for Black people forced to carry pregnancies to term.  Last fall, Into America took a closer look at the disparate impact abortion restrictions would have in Texas, following the state’s passage of SB-8, which banned abortion after six weeks. In light of the news this week, we’re re-airing this episode as we consider all that’s at stake with this upcoming decision. 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 intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Reading and Viewing: NBC Exclusive: Abortion clinic at center of Mississippi case may move to N.M. if Roe is overturned For many Republicans, ending Roe is the first step, not the last Supreme Court confirms draft opinion on Roe v. Wade is real, will investigate source of leak

Harvard University is confronting its ties to slavery in a new way. In a sweeping report published this week, the university detailed how the school profited from slavery and acknowledged that more than 70 people were enslaved by Harvard leaders, faculty, and staff between 1636 and 1783 when the state of Massachusetts outlawed the practice. Last year, Into America explored whether the school understood the nuances of Blackness within its student body, because even though Harvard is one of the Blackest Ivy League schools, Black students still make up just 11 percent of the student body. And it’s estimated that less than a third of its Black students are descended from people in enslaved the US.  With the release of this new report, we wanted to share Trymaine Lee’s conversation with three students from the African diaspora on campus: Mariah Norman, who is a Generational African American, Ife Adedokun, whose parents are Nigerian immigrants, and Kimani Panthier, whose parents immigrated from Jamaica. The group talked about what it’s like to be Black at Harvard and how they want the university to better support them.  (Originally released December 2, 2021) Further Reading and Viewing:  Harvard attempts to reckon with historical ties to slavery in new report Watch Trymaine Lee on MSNBC  

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an iconic American artist who rose to fame in the downtown New York City cultural scene of the late 1970s and early 80s. By 18-years-old, Basquiat had already begun spray-painting tantalizing texts on the walls of lower Manhattan under the pseudonym SAMO. In the years to come, Basquiat would transition from street tagger to gallery artist, taking the world by storm. Today, Basquiat’s legacy looms over us, larger than ever. His images and symbols grace Uniqlo t-shirts and Tiffany & Co jewelry campaigns. In 2017, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s powerful 1982 painting of a skull was purchased for $110.5 million, becoming the sixth most expensive work ever sold at auction. But has Basquiat’s pop cultural significance eclipsed the artist’s place in art history? During his lifetime, he struggled to gain acceptance from critics in the predominantly-white art world. And of the more than 800 paintings Basquiat produced in the several years before his untimely death, there are only two of these works available for viewing in a permanent museum collection in New York City. The vast majority of Basquiat works live in private collections, making them hard to access.   This week on Into America, host Trymaine Lee speaks with Basquiat’s former bandmate and friend, Michael Holman, about the young artist’s coming of age in 1980s New York. Then we explore the crisis of Basquiat’s archive with American art historian Jordana Saggese. And finally we take a trip to Basquiat’s childhood and speak with Basquiat’s younger sisters, Jeanine Heriveaux and Lisane Basquiat, to unfold their early relationship and a new April 2022 exhibition they are curating in honor of their late brother. For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica.  Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, all with the handle @intoamericapod. Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Listening: Harlem on My Mind: Jacob Lawrence The Sun Rises in the East

Down on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, there is a small, close-knit Black community named Pointe à La Hache. There, oyster harvesting is a culture and a heritage that has been passed down for generations. But decades of storms, natural disasters, oil spills, and racist policies have threatened this way of life. Now, the state’s coastal restoration plans could end it.  According to experts, Louisiana loses more than a football field of its jagged coastline every 100 minutes. This leaves coastal communities at risk from rising sea levels, and cities like New Orleans more vulnerable to storms. To fight back, the state has created a 50-year, $50 billion plan to save the disappearing land, which includes diverting water from the Mississippi River through the wetlands around Pointe à La Hache, so sediment from the waters can build up along the shorelines. The state and environmental advocacy groups believe these diversions are the most effective, cost-efficient, and least intrusive solution to save the coast. But oystermen and other fishermen in Pointe à La Hache say the influx of freshwater will disrupt the brackish waters their oysters need to survive.  This week on Into America, we travel to Louisiana to speak with Byron Encalade, a third-generation oysterman from Pointe à La Hache, and founder of the Louisiana Oystermen Association, a mostly Black union that represents oystermen of color. Encalade and other Black oystermen have been hit time and again, from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to the 2010 BP oil spill, but Encalade says these diversion plans will destroy what’s left of Pointe à La Hache. But not all is lost yet. Keslyn and Derrayon Williams, shrimper brothers and owners of Lil Wig’s Seafood and Catering Boat, are still fighting for their family's legacy. They grew up in Pointe à La Hache and remember it as a thriving economic fishing community. Now, they have to travel hours away and compete with bigger boats just to catch shrimp. Derrayon believes if the state stopped these diversions, their community could be restored, but Kelsyn thinks it might be too late.  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 intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Reading and Listening:  Read Trymaine’s reporting on this topic from the New York Times Into Dirty Air

The racial wealth gap in this country between Black and white Americans is vast. Centuries of violent theft and racist policies mean that white families have, on average, eight times the wealth of Black families. But a sizeable number of people, like Lamar Wilson, the founder of Black Bitcoin Billionaires, say there’s a new way to help close this gap: cryptocurrency.  There are even cryptocurrencies made by Black people to benefit the Black community, like Guapcoin, run by technologist Tavonia Evans. But while some people see freedom and opportunity, others, likeDr. Jared Ball of Morgan State University, worry that crypto is volatile and speculative, and warn that this new space is not the place to build Black wealth. This week on Into America, Trymaine Lee dives into the world of Black crypto users, to understand the promises, the hype, the potential drawbacks, and ultimately, whether crypto could equal freedom for Black folks in this country. 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 intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Reading and Listening:  CNBC: Women and investors of color seem to prefer cryptocurrency over traditional stocks—here’s why American Coup Blood on Black Wall Street: What Was Stolen

Emmett Till’s lynching is credited as the spark that set off the Civil Rights Movement. In 1955, the 14-year-old boy was visiting family in Mississippi when he was kidnapped and murdered for whistling at a white woman. Days later his bloated body was dragged out of the Tallahatchie River and sent home to his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, in Chicago. When pictures of his mutilated face were published around the country, it shocked the national consciousness, bringing people off the sidelines and into the fight to recognize Black Americans’ basic humanity. Congress first considered antilynching legislation at the turn of the twentieth century. On January 20th, 1900, Representative George Henry White of North Carolina, the only Black member of Congress at the time, introduced a bill that would have subjected people involved in mob violence to the potential of capital punishment. Since then, antilynching legislation has been introduced in Congress more than 200 times. It had failed every time.  That changed last week. At the end of March, President Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law, making lynching a federal hate crime. Present at the ceremony was Emmett Till’s cousin, Rev. Wheeler Parker. Rev. Parker travelled from Chicago to Mississippi with Emmett Till in 1955, and he is the last living relative to have witnessed the boy’s kidnapping. This week on Into America, he shares his story. For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica.  Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, all with the handle @intoamericapod. Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Reading / Listening / Viewing: Reconstructed: The Book of Trayvon Rev. Sharpton, Ben Crump, and the Pursuit of Justice The Daughters of Malcolm and Martin  

This past weekend’s Oscars ceremony was one for the history books. There was, of course, the smack seen around the world. But beyond the most salacious headline of the night one fact stood out: this was the Blackest Oscars ceremony the world has ever seen. Two of the night’s three hosts – comedian Wanda Sykes and actress Regina Hall – were Black women. All the young people handing the winners their trophies were HBCU students. And for the first time in its history, the show was produced by an all-Black producing team, led by FAMU alum Will Packer. But the Oscars have a troubled history with race. In 1940 Hattie McDaniel became the first Black person to win an Oscar, for her portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind. After a tearful acceptance speech, she returned to her seat at the edge of the auditorium where the ceremony was held, segregated from her white peers. It would be nearly a quarter century before another Black actor won an Oscar, when Sidney Poitier took home the prize for Best Actor in 1964. With last weekend’s awards included, a total of 22 Oscars have gone to Black actors during the Academy’s 94-year history. But do we really need an organization like the Academy to tell us how great we are?  The entertainment industry is full of Black creatives making their own way, producing the stories that they want to tell, on their own terms. This week on Into America, host Trymaine Lee speaks to one of them, filmmaker Stefon Bristol, the man behind See You Yesterday about what it takes to make it in Hollywood while staying true to yourself. For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica.  Please follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, all with the handle @intoamericapod. Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Listening: Was Will Smith Protecting Black Women? Harlem on My Mind: Abram Hill “The Sun Rises in The East” Editor's Note: in an earlier version of this episode an editing error changed the meaning of one part of the interview. Stefon Bristol's short film of See You Yesterday was accepted, and was a finalist at the 2017 American Black Film Festival.

During the 2022 Oscars’ ceremony, Will Smith shocked the world. Smith strode onstage and smacked Chris Rock, after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith went on to win the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Venus and Serena Williams’s father in King Richard, and later in the night he and Rock reportedly made amends. When Smith was announced as the winner of the Oscar for Best Actor the audience gave him a standing ovation as he approached the stage. The first thing that he said in his tearful five-minute acceptance speech was that “Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,” and he went on to talk about “protecting” the Black women who co-starred in King Richard with him.   Since Sunday the internet has been abuzz with reaction. Commentators like Eric Deggans and Craig Melvin have condemned Smith’s actions. But many saw an act of chivalry, with people like actress Tiffany Haddish and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley praising what they viewed as Smith’s defense of his wife. So what does it actually mean to protect Black women? And is physical violence ever an acceptable response to verbal abuse? This week on Into America, activist Jamira Burley weighs in.  For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica.  Please follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, all with the handle @intoamericapod. Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Listening: We Gotta Talk About Kanye West Hear Jamira’s early appearance on the show: Into the DNC and Black Lives

For the better part of a decade Kanye West and Kim Kardashian were one of the most influential couples in pop culture, living their private lives in the public eye. And now that the pair is officially split, they continue to grab headlines. When Kim filed for divorce in February of last year, things at first seemed amicable – in August the couple recreated their wedding on stage at one of Kanye’s concerts, and they continue to share parenting responsibilities for their four children. But Kanye wasn’t ready to let go, and over the last year, his efforts to win Kim back have become increasingly aggressive. When she started dating SNL star Pete Davidson, Kanye’s public displays took on a more menacing tone: he made a music video featuring an animation of himself decapitating the comedian and claimed that he was using art to work through the trauma of his breakup. Kanye has been very vocal about his struggles with mental health, sharing his diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder with the world. His current public displays look to many like the hallmark signs of a manic episode, where a person feels an unnaturally high energy level, excitement, and euphoria for a prolonged period. And many say his behavior toward Kim appears to bullying and harassing, bordering on abuse. (Although to be clear, the majority of people with mental health issues are not violent, and we want to be careful not to equate mental illness with violent or threatening behavior; and there is no evidence that Kanye has been violent.) But the media conversations around Kim and Kanye, and around Kanye’s mental health, too often take on a tone of tabloid gossip, rather than tackling the tougher issues of mental health, support, and accountability that their story highlights. This week on Into America, host Trymaine Lee speaks with two Black mental health professionals about Kanye’s struggles and mental health in the Black community. Dr. Maia Hoskin is a college professor, activist and writer who holds a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Clinical Supervision. Last month she published a Medium article arguing that Black women shouldn’t be expected to “save” or “fix” Kanye’s mental health issues. Rwenshaun Miller is a therapist, speaker and award-winning social entrepreneur. His company Eustress, Inc. is focused on raising mental health awareness in the Black community. For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica.  Please follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, all with the handle @intoamericapod.  Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Listening: A Shape-Up and a Check-In A Word from the Nap Bishop

As Russian forces advanced from the east during the war in Ukraine, they faced unexpectedly fierce opposition from the Ukrainian military and civilian population. And as fighting intensified, many in its path fled west.  But as people fled, not everyone was the given the same opportunity to seek refuge. In the middle of a war zone anti-Black racism reared its ugly head, with reports of people from the African diaspora facing racist treatment at the Ukrainian border. In the eastern city of Sumy, home to a large contingent of international students, Black folks were beaten off of trains and buses fleeing the violence to make way for white Ukrainian citizens.  This week on Into America, we speak with Eniola Oladiti, a Black medical student from Ireland, who fled Sumy while that city was under siege. And host Trymaine Lee speaks with Kimberly St. Julian Varnon, an expert on race in the former Soviet Union, about the unique experience of being Black in this part of the world.  For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.  Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Further Reading and Viewing:  Black immigrants chose Ukraine for quality of life, education. War leaves them fearful. Open the door or we die': Africans report racism and hostility trying to flee Ukraine NBC News Special Report - Inside Ukraine

In March of 2019, Morgan Cooper dropped a video on YouTube that quickly went viral. It was a short film that he made as a passion project, after he was struck with a flash of inspiration: What if the 90’s classic The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air were updated for the 21st century?  Within 24 hours of posting his project online, Cooper got a call from Westbrook, the production company owned by Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith. Will Smith had seen the video, liked what he saw, and wanted to know what Cooper’s plans were. In short order, Smith flew Cooper to Miami, where he was filming Bad Boys III.  The two met, and Will Smith signed on to Cooper’s vision, reimagining The Fresh Prince with a much more dramatic tone. They shopped the idea around and found a home at Peacock, NBC’s steaming service. Morgan Cooper was kept on as a writer, executive producer and director for the new series.  This week on Into America, host Trymaine Lee speaks with Morgan Cooper about Bel-Air, the creative decisions he’s making with the show, and his lightning quick rise in Hollywood. Trymaine also speaks with actress Cassandra Freeman, who plays Aunt Viv in the new show, as well as hip hop icon DJ Jazzy Jeff, who played Jazz on the original Fresh Prince, and who now hosts Bel-Air: The Official Podcast.  For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.  Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com. Interested in Into America merch? Check out the MSNBC store: https://msnbcstore.com/collections/into-america  Further Reading and Viewing:  Stream Bel-Air on Peacock How a Viral Video Turned Into Bel-Air They're Back – See Which Original ‘Fresh Prince' Stars Are Reuniting on ‘Bel Air'