About this episode
The episode discusses the challenges faced in the procurement process for a statewide reparations study in Washington State, featuring insights from Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter.
You can put new curtains on the windows, light a candle, and set the table real nice — but if the milk ain’t clean , everything you pour it into is spoiled. Washington State made history when it funded the Charles Mitchell and George Washington Bush Reparations Study — only the fourth statewide reparations study in the nation. Our communities organized. WENA — the Washington Equity Now Alliance — raised nearly half a million dollars in supplemental funding from Pierce County, King County, and beyond. Close to a million dollars in total support. That’s not government writing a check. That’s everyday people putting their faith, their money, and their ancestors’ names on the line. So when the Department of Commerce ran the procurement process to select who would do this sacred work — the community expected excellence. Transparency. Integrity. What they got was something else. In this episode, sisters Melannie and Audrey connect with Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter — one of the nation’s leading reparations scholars and one of the unsuccessful bidders for the study. Dr. Hunter is the Scott Waugh Endowed Chair at UCLA, author of Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation…
People in this episode
Hosts: Melannie, Audrey
Guest: Dr Marcus Anthony Hunter
Topics covered
- reparations
- community organizing
- transparency
- integrity
Keywords
- Washington State
- reparations study
- WENA
- community funding
Mentioned in this episode
Products: Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation
Books & works: Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation, #BlackLivesMatter, “When the System Shows Its Hand: Sacred Work, Shady Process
Places: Washington State, Pierce County, King County, Washington
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- Sacred Work, Compromised Standards: The Qualifications, the Process, and the Answers Department of Commerce Owes Us About The Reparations Study · March 30, 2026 · 60 min
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- When the System Shows Its Hand: Sacred Work, Shady Process · December 15, 2025 · 1h 3m
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