Created Equal

Ayesha Rascoe is a graduate of Howard University and a regular voice on NPR. In her new book, “HBCU Made,” she recruits distinguished graduates of historically Black colleges and universities to share their accounts enrolling and attending their schools. On this episode of "Created Equal," Stephen talks to Rascoe about her experiences and how these institutions' impact goes beyond its graduates.

Michigan’s presidential primary is on Tuesday, Feb. 27. That’s a lot earlier than previous years, making the state among the first to hold primaries in the race. What does the change mean for Michigan and the nation — especially in a presidential primary that has two candidates who seem to have their nominations locked up already? U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan) and political commentator Jamal Simmons join the show to discuss.

Today on "Created Equal," we share highlights from this week's episodes, from setting the historical record straight on Black invention in America, to Detroit’s scrapyard problem, the consequences of omitting America’s racial history and more.

Nikki Haley was criticized for omitting slavery when she was asked about the cause of the civil war but has since walked her statement back. On today’s episode of Created Equal, Stephen talks with Princeton African American studies professor Eddie Glaude about what caused the civil war and how revising or omitting that history impacts all of us.

For centuries immigration has been synonymous with the United States, but what do the country’s founding documents actually say about who can and can’t enter the country? On today's show, we revisit a conversation from the WDET Book Club about whether the constitution has the power to influence immigration policy.

Scrapyards have always been commonplace in Detroit. Just drive down any of the city's major thoroughfares and you can see them. While these small businesses play an integral part of the city's economy, they pose a number of negative health impacts for residents who live near them. In today's show, Detroit News reporter Sarah Rahal and Laprisha Berry Daniels, executive director of Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, join Stephen Henderson to talk about how such places affect Detroiters’ health.

Black Americans have largely been left out of the story of American invention. In the north and south, patents from Black inventors tell a different story about innovation and U.S. history. Andre Perry is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. His recent work dives into the world of American Invention, and takes a look at how discrimination affected Black inventors differently in the North and South. He spoke with Stephen Henderson about why it matters to the American notions of innovation and exceptionalism. How does race play into the way we think of our history of invention?

Today on "Created Equal," we share highlights from this week's episodes, including the rediscovering of Indigenous American history; voting rights; Michigan's political maps and more

Michigan’s legislative maps have been drawn, and re-drawn, several times by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission in the last year. The commission is redrawing the districts to comply with an order from the federal court in late 2023, which found the maps violated the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. Ben Solis joins Stephen Henderson on "Created Equal" to break down where the process is at and discuss the challenges of drawing fair and representative political maps.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, founding director of the Pediatric Public Health Initiative, and Luke Shaefer, director of University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions initiative, are raising funds for a program that aims to do something that has never been tried before in the U.S.: end childhood poverty. The new program, Rx Kids, will provide every pregnant mother in Flint cash payments during pregnancy and throughout the child’s first year of life. Hanna-Attisha and Shaefer join the show to discuss the origins of their approach, why they think this method will make a difference, and how they plan to sustain the program.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this past week on Donald Trump’s eligibility to be on the 2024 presidential ballot in Colorado. The 14th amendment prevents someone who participated in an insurrection from running for president. But, could removing Trump from the ballot in Colorado set a precedent that deprives voters of their choices, now and in the future? Richard Primus joins Stephen Henderson to discuss the implications of the Supreme Court’s pending ruling.

The history of the United States is intertwined with the history of Native Americans, but it’s not always told that way. On this episode, Stephen talks with Yale history professor and native Detroiter Ned Blackhawk about how his latest book, “The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History,” takes a different approach.

We share highlights from this week's "Created Equal" episodes, including reparations for Black Detroiters, white rage in America and more.

Detroit historian and author Ken Coleman joins "Created Equal" to discuss what local efforts are being made in Detroit on reparations for Black residents. Plus, it's the first episode featuring caller feedback.

Stephen Henderson revisits a conversation with Carol Anderson, the author of the New York Times bestseller, "White Rage: The unspoken truth of our nation’s divide."

Many cities across the U.S. are exploring the idea of reparations, and Detroit is one of them. The city created the Detroit Reparations Task Force in February 2023 to better address historical discrimination and harm done against Black Detroiters. In this episode of "Created Equal," host Stephen Henderson was joined by two steering committee members of The African American Redress Network — an organization that provides reparations education and advocacy on the local level — to discuss what reparations might look like in Detroit.

On the inaugural episode of "Created Equal," host Stephen Henderson sat down with Jamon Jordan, Detroit’s official historian, and Desiree Cooper, a writer and activist, whose work helps explain the impacts of inequality — both locally and nationally. 

Psychologist and author of “Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria?” Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum discusses her groundbreaking 1997 book with Henderson in the context of this moment of cultural and racial reckoning. They talk about how young people internalize race, systemic racism through suburban communities and the importance of cross racial friendships.

Award-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa talks about immigrating to America, growing up in Chicago, and the process of writing about past trauma.

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. is chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University and the author of the new book “Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own.” He and Stephen Henderson discuss “the efficiency of American exceptionalism as an ideology.”