Episode 28: Marc Lamont Hill on Youth-Led Justice Movements, Police Violence, and the Racialization of Terror

Today’s guest on Speak Out With Tim Wise is Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, one of America’s leading public intellectuals. Hill is a Temple University professor, host of BET News, a regular political contributor for CNN, and the author of the NYT bestseller, Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond.

On this week’s program, Wise and Hill discuss Trumpism, and the inspiring state of youth resistance, both in the U.S. and abroad. Additionally, they explore the relationship between younger and older activists, including how elders can provide helpful insights to youth while at the same time giving them the space to grow, make their own mistakes, and ultimately lead the struggles for equity and justice.

Hill and Wise also examine the ongoing reality of police shootings of unarmed persons of color—as with the killing of Stephon Clark in Sacramento—as well as the differential way media frames violence and terrorism, whether committed by people of color and Muslims on the one hand, or white Christians like the recent bomber in Austin, Texas, on the other.

Finally, Hill discusses why he opened a bookstore in Philadelphia, and why black bookstores are such a vital component of community there and elsewhere.