First Of All with Victor Blackwell

The crew of Artemis II is back on Earth after a historic journey. Victor gets the first reaction from the father of pilot Victor Glover, the first Black astronaut to travel to the moon. As talks get underway between the U.S. and Iran in Pakistan, Dr. Bishara Bahbah, leader of the group formerly known as "Arab Americans for Trump,” joins Victor to explain why he thinks President Trump was “played” into entering the war, and feels his community is now reassessing their electoral support.Plus, Victor gets analysis of the Iran war from Air Force veteran Kelvin King, and retired Brigadier General Shawn Harris, who also weighs in on the impact of his tight race to flip the congressional seat formerly held by Marjorie Taylor Greene.Victor later shares an update on the only Black student government in the U.S. being stripped of their funding at the University of Missouri.And Victor speaks to Calvin Duncan, who successfully proved his innocence after serving nearly 30 years in prison and was inspired to run for office, only to have his recent election win in limbo, because Republicans in Louisiana want to eliminate the office that he’s due to be sworn in to in May.In “Art is Life” this week, Victor shares the perfect soundtrack to get your baby in formation! Lisa Roth tells Victor about the inspiration behind a new album that takes the songs from Beyoncé’s "Lemonade" album and turns them into lullabies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TSA employees are waiting to see if they're finally going to get paid after missing two checks due to the DHS funding fight on Capitol Hill. TSA officer and union steward at Atlanta’s airport, Yolanda Keaton, joins Victor to share what she's been experiencing, and her reaction to ICE agents called in to help ease long lines at airports nationwide. Republican Senate candidate and retired Brigadier General Jonathan McColumn and cybersecurity and counter-terrorism expert, veteran and Mableton Mayor Michael Owens join Victor to debate President Trump’s handling of the war with Iran. Democratic Senator Cory Booker sits down in studio with Victor to discuss the war and dueling legislation to finally start paying TSA employees again. Plus, they discuss the latest round of “No Kings” protests nationwide and Senator Booker’s new book “Stand”. Later, Victor goes one-on-one with entertainer and activist Ts Madison. They talk about how she plans to fight back against anti-trans legislation and rhetoric ahead of International Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31st. And in our “Art is Life” series this week, photographer Bessie Akuba Winn and Actress Terri J. Vaughn tell Victor about their “Our Kind of Women” project that celebrates Black women over 40 in a unique way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What could the federal government do with $200 billion? Right now, the Trump Administration says they need that amount for the war with Iran. But as debate over that request starts in congress, Victor walks through the programs that money could go toward instead. From statues taken down to tribute events canceled, the backlash to Cesar Chavez after revelations of alleged sexual abuse decades ago was swift and significant. Victor walks through the seismic change in how people are viewing his legacy with New York Times reporter Sarah Hurtes and Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Maria Hinojosa, both of whom spoke with fellow labor leader and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta about her decision to come forward with her story. Cuba is struggling right now. Nearly three months after the U.S. effectively imposed an oil blockade, a convoy is heading to Havana to help bring aid. But there are mixed feelings about that effort. Victor gets reaction from a leader of the exile movement in Miami, Ramón Saúl Sánchez from Movimiento Democracia. The trucking industry is already facing higher gas prices, now add thousands of truckers starting to lose their licenses due to new restrictions on immigrant drivers. Attorney Wendy Lui from the Public Citizen Litigation Group joins Victor to explain her legal challenge and the potential economic impacts. Later, BTS is out with their first album and tour in years. The trailer for “Arirang” pays tribute to the story of “Seven Koreans at Howard,” but there are some mixed feelings about how they portrayed the HBCU. Victor walks through the internet reaction, and speaks with a current Korean American student at Howard University in DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pastor Jamal Bryant joins Victor one-on-one to explain his decision to end his Target “fast” and responds to the backlash over his announcement as leaders of a national boycott over the retailer’s rollback of DEI initiatives vow to persist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The U.S. is reeling from terror attacks at a synagogue in Michigan and the campus of Old Dominion University. Carlos Ortiz was friends with the victim of the ODU attack, ROTC Instructor Lt. Col. Brandon Shah. Carlos joins Victor to share his memories of training with Shah when they were cadets and maintaining that friendship years later.  Spring Break travel rush: this weekend, TSA employees are missing their full first paycheck due to the funding fight over the Department of Homeland Security. Aaron Barker, president of the union at the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta, explains why he thinks this shutdown is worse than the recent government shutdowns TSA employees are still recovering from. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ahead of the State of the Union, Victor checks-in on the state of "Black MAGA". Washington Post Columnist Theodore R. Johnson says the President's support among the Black voters who backed Trump in 2024 is starting to "crater". Is that true? He joins Victor to discuss. There is a frustrating lack of answers in the search for Nancy Guthrie, and Arizona's Native American community has unique perspective on what that is like. Victor speaks with April Ignacio, a member of Arizona's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Task Force, about the disparity in the number of people missing and the amount of resources dedicating to finding them. Could Uncle Luke soon be Congressman Luke? Rapper Luther Campbell talks to Victor about his plans to run for Congress representing South Florida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Right now, the Department of Homeland Security is shut down after lawmakers left town without a funding deal. It's not just immigration agencies being impacted. I'll speak to a former TSA officer about the toll of yet another shutdown with employee pay in limbo. You'll hear from U.S. Army Reserve Pilot Chris Busby, who is fighting to get his wife, Stephanie Kenny-Velasquez, out of ICE detention.Former campaign manager, including for Julián Castro’s 2020 Presidential Campaign, Maya Rupert joins Victor to discuss her new book "The Real Ones: How to Disrupt the Hidden Ways Racism Makes Us Less Authentic". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Victor opens the show with a question for Republican lawmakers, specifically those wavering on condemning President Trump for a racist video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes that stayed up on his social media feed for hours. Victor also discusses the political pressure for an apology with Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Eugene Robinson, who is out with a new book “Freedom Lost, Freedom Won: A Personal History of America”. A U.S. Army veteran who was just deported this week joins Victor live from Jamaica to talk about his months in ICE detention, and what he plans to do now. Godfrey Wade’s daughter Christian Wade and fiancé April Watkins join Victor in studio as they ask the Trump Administration to allow him his day in court.On this Super Bowl weekend, Victor takes stock of diversity among NFL head coaches. Bomani Jones reacts to the headline that No Black head coaches were hired as the 2025 season wraps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's an immigration case that hasn't gotten a lot of attention compared to others yet, but it's emblematic of why a growing number of Americans think President Trump's immigration crackdown is going too far. Victor speaks with Delaware Governor Matt Meyer and Kaley Miller-Schaeffer, the attorney of a Delaware resident named Victor Acurio Suárez who was detained by ICE and is now facing deportation despite being developmentally disabled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As millions of people deal with the impacts of a massive winter storm, Victor takes a closer look at how disadvantaged or under-served communities will feel more of an impact. Professor Scott Ganz shares the findings of his study into the disparity in who deals with power outages for longer than others. Plus, Minneapolis civil rights attorney, activist and anti-ICE protest leader Nekima Levy Armstrong is out of jail and sharing a new video that shows what agents were telling her as she was arrested this week.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Protests in Minneapolis against ICE are spreading nationwide after the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent. Victor speaks with a Minneapolis mom and ICE observer Flannery Clark who says what happened to Good could have happened to her, but is still vowing to keep up her work to alert neighbors when agents are nearby.Plus, as state officials in Minnesota fight to get a role investigating the shooting alongside the feds, Victor gets perspective from Kristen Clarke, who recently served in the Biden Administration as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice.Also happening now, the flu is breaking records. Victor shares his own personal experience battling the illness recently and speaks with Dr. Chris T Pernell about the disproportionate impact the flu has on people of color.Black women dying in childbirth is a real crisis right now, and the death of a woman who dedicated her life to finding solutions is a heartbreaking reminder of that. Victor shares the story of Dr. Janell Green Smith and speaks with Dr. Nichole Wardlaw, a member of the Smith family and a certified midwife herself.And for “Art is Life” this week, Victor goes one-on-one with shoe designer and creative Salehe Bembury. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Trump says he wants all people from Somalia out of the country and calls Somali people “garbage”. How does a Republican Somali-American who supported Trump in 2024 feel about that? Victor asks Salman Fiqy, a business owner in Minnesota who says the President’s rhetoric has “crossed a line”. Immigration enforcement is surging in the New Orleans area, and a U.S. citizen got caught up in it this week. Home security camera video shows the moment a woman is chased into her home by federal agents, before her stepfather came out to confront them. Both Jacelynn and Juan Carlos Anglin join Victor to talk about what happened and react to an explanation offered by the Department of Homeland Security. The Trump administration's crackdown on programs and initiatives seen as "DEI" appears to have made its way to the University of Alabama. The school is shutting down two university-funded student magazines, citing "legal obligations". Victor speaks with the current editor-in-chief of Alice Magazine, Gabrielle Gunter, and the founding editor of Nineteen Fifty-Six Magazine, Tionna Taite, about the concern among students that their first amendment rights are being violated. Victor follows-up on the story of Mercedes Wells, the mom who was escorted out of an Indiana hospital while in labor, only to give birth minutes later. Her husband Leon Wells and attorney Cannon Lambert share their reaction to a meeting the family just had with hospital leadership, and an update on the health of Mercedes and her newborn. Plus, there are reports that "Rush Hour 4" could soon be a thing, apparently at the urging of President Trump. Does bringing back the franchise make sense in this era? Victor speaks to writer Isaac Rouse, who says it's not the right time for that kind of comedy. And in our “Art is Life” series this week, Victor shares the story of a performance that asks: What would it sound like if Franklin produced the soundtrack to the iconic holiday special “A Charlie Brown Christmas"? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On a special holiday edition of the show, there is a new movement calling out Target, Home Depot and Amazon during the busiest shopping time of the year. Victor speaks with LaTosha Brown,  an organizer of “We Ain’t Buying It”. She explains why we shouldn’t call the movement a “boycott”. Plus, “Beyond the Gates” actor Brandon Claybon talks to Victor about his personal connection to Alzheimer's and his mission to raise awareness of the disproportionate impacts of the disease on Black Americans. Later, Chef Shawn Osbey reacts to Victor’s very controversial opinion of certain classic holiday recipes and shares some alternatives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The story of Mercedes Wells went viral this week, after video showed the mom being led out of a hospital in Indiana despite saying she was in labor. Minutes after leaving, she gave birth on the side of the road to a baby girl. The hospital is now apologizing and taking action. Victor speaks with Mercedes and her husband Leon, along with their attorney Cannon Lambert. Plus, Charlotte business owner T.R. Burns explains to Victor his decision to close his restaurant to protect Latino employees fearful of federal law enforcement cracking down on immigrants. 18-year-old landscaper and U.S. citizen Fernando Vazquez speaks out about being detained by immigration enforcement, only to be left behind in a wooded area a short time later. Victor also gets perspective from Allison Socol on new research revealing how race can be a factor in which students get access to algebra classes.And the first known Native American woman to have a production on Broadway, Larissa FastHorse, explains the inspiration behind “The Thanksgiving Play,” which imagines the struggles of four white people trying to stage a "politically correct" holiday performance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Victor sits down with TSA worker Aaron Barker, who just missed a second full paycheck due to the federal government shutdown. He describes to Victor why he and his colleagues are struggling to make ends meet while in “crisis mode”.Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate say they'll agree to end the shutdown if Republicans agree to a one-year extension on Obamacare subsidies. Victor asks Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries if he agrees with the proposal from his Senate colleagues.Native American communities are facing an especially uncertain time with SNAP benefits suspended. Victor speaks with Conscious Alliance’s Pine Ridge Reservation Field Director Natalie Hand, who is trying to help feed families on the reservation, which is feeling the impact of this ongoing shutdown harder than most places. Plus, Grammy award-winning artist Shaggy joins Victor after visiting Jamaica to help with hurricane relief. He shares what he saw, and information on how others can help. Later, the family of Norman Rockwell is calling out the Trump Administration for using the iconic painter’s artwork in their social media posts. For “Art is Life” this week, Victor asks Norman Rockwell’s granddaughter, Daisy, why she says the Department of Homeland Security is “twisting” his legacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the first of the month and there are millions of people whose food benefits are in now limbo, with no clear solution coming quickly to ensure SNAP recipients get the aid they depend on in November. Victor speaks with SNAP recipient Laterese Johnson, Hope Atlanta’s Elizabeth Banks, and the director of a childcare center, LaToya Logan. Plus, actress Karen Pittman joins Victor to share her personal story, as families deal with food insecurity like she once did as a single mom. A Houston teen says he was roughed up by immigration agents, even as he told them he's a U.S. citizen. 16-year-old Arnoldo Bazán and his sister Maria join Victor to share the story of what they say happened. Former President Barack Obama is heading back to the campaign trail ahead of this year’s elections, and there is new CNN reporting that’s raising the question: should he be the leader of the Democratic party…again? Abby Phillip makes a special appearance to talk about that, and her new book on Jesse Jackson and Black political power titled “A Dream Deferred”. And this week’s edition of “Art is Life” features the Day of the Dead. Victor speaks with Ofelia Esparza, whose altars helped popularize Día de los Muertos in the United States. The 93-year-old reflects on the new retrospective of her art now on view at East L.A.’s Vincent Price Art Museum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A 16-year-old in Chicago who is fighting cancer has a message for immigration officials after her father was arrested. Victor shares the story of Ofelia Torres and gets reaction from her father’s attorney, Kalman Resnick, to a judge’s ruling saying the mandatory detention of Ruben Torres Maldonado was “unlawful”. Plus, hear President Trump's short answer to a question about funding SNAP as we're just a week away from millions of Americans losing food benefits and the government shutdown drags on. Victor speaks with founder and CEO of The Baby Pantry, Chlorey Campbell, about what she’s hearing from people coming to her organization for help. After a deadly crash, right-wing voices are speaking out against immigrant truck drivers, particularly those from India. Bhupinder Kaur of UNITED SIKHS joins Victor to share her concerns about the rhetoric. In our latest installment of The Algorithm, Victor speaks with a content creator who says there are social media accounts “stealing my face” with AI. 200 years after transforming the United States, commemorations of the Erie Canal anniversary in New York are also taking stock of the impact the waterway had on Native Americans. Victor speaks with Brian Trzeciak of the Buffalo Maritime Center about balancing remembrances of that history, as he gets close to wrapping up a 33-day trip on a boat called the "Seneca Chief". And later, Victor speaks with Hamza Walker about a new exhibit called “Monuments” that is putting decommissioned confederate symbols back on display in unexpected new ways. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some Black women say they're debating whether to take part in “No Kings” Anti-Trump protests after feeling let down by the results of the 2024 election. Victor discusses “the 92%” with Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown, RISE CEO Mary-Pat Hector and AJC Reporter Brooke Leigh Howard. Plus, South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn joins Victor to talk about the President's threats to “Democrat” programs during the shutdown, tension over the state of voting rights, and his new book “The First Eight”. Victor also shares an update on the devastating damage done to Native Alaskan villages, and the role climate change is playing in determining whether residents will ever be able to return home. Plus, Victor takes a moment to pay tribute to D'Angelo and get real about the risks Black people face from pancreatic cancer, and what to do about it. Later, Rafael Gomes from SCAD shares with Victor the story behind a new exhibit honoring fashion icon André Leon Talley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Civilians in Gaza are making the journey to see what's left of their homes as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holds. Victor discusses what comes next with Ruwa Romman, a Palestinian American running for governor who got national attention when she was denied a slot to speak about Gaza at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, and Republican Georgia official John F. King, a retired major general in the Army National guard and a former Police chief. Thousands of federal workers are getting fired as the government shutdown drags on. President Trump says his administration is focusing on jobs that are quote "Democrat oriented". Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which is the largest union representing federal workers, joins Victor to respond in his first interview since layoffs began. A right-wing group is pitching an "All American" Super Bowl performance as an alternative to Bad Bunny. Michaela Angela Davis joins Victor to react and discuss her new memoir, “Tenderheaded”. Hispanic residents in Mobile County, Alabama are speaking out against an ICE-themed Halloween display. Victor explains why the identity of the couple that put up the decorations is a big reason why. Plus, a new mural that’s meant to teach people about a racist massacre that happened more than 100 years ago is sparking debate. Critics argue the inclusion of violent imagery is problematic, and the community should have had more input. Victor speaks to the artist, Fabian Williams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tensions over ICE are heating up as the feds crack down on protests in and around Chicago. Victor speaks to a protest leader and Illinois congressional candidate, Kat Abughazaleh, about the new threats from Trump administration officials against those rallying at ICE facilities like the one in Broadview, Illinois.Georgia Democratic Representative Nikema Williams joins Victor to explain where Democrats stand on talks with Republicans to end the government shutdown. And as the Trump White House is threatening to fire thousands of federal workers, Victor gets perspective from Leo Smith, the former Director of Minority Engagement for the GOP in Georgia, and Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson.Right-wing influencers are upset about Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl, and the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has a message for the artist and his fans. Journalist Suzy Exposito has interviewed the Puerto Rican superstar multiple times and shares her reaction.Images of former President Barack Obama making his DJ “debut” crossed Victor’s algorithm this week. Victor speaks with the content creator behind the viral posts.And has the music of Xania Monet crossed your playlist yet? The singer is getting millions of song streams, recently signed a major record deal … and is entirely A.I. generated. Victor speaks with Xania Monet’s real-life manager, Romel Murphy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices