- Just ahead on Black Issues Forum, we've come to the end of 2025, and what a year it's been.

From election drama and policy shakeups to cultural moments that had us dancing, there's a lot to unpack.

Executive producer Deborah Holt-Noel joins me in the studio as we look back at the stories that shaped our communities.

It's a year-end breakdown you don't wanna miss.

Coming up next, stay with us.

- Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you, who invite you to join them in supporting PBSNC.

(upbeat music) ♪ - Welcome to Black Issues Forum, I'm Kenia Thompson.

Today, we're taking a short walk through moments, big and small, over the past year.

I'm joined by our executive producer, Deborah Holt-Noel, and it's a good opportunity to reflect, remember, and also see how much has changed in 12 short months.

Hello, my friends.

- Hello, my friend.

- How are you today?

- I'm doing well.

The end of 2025 is here, and it has been a year.

- I know.

It feels like the year went by in slow motion, but then also just we're in December in the blink of an eye.

- That's right, slow motion, baby.

(both laughing) We're gonna start top of the year.

January, we had our presidential inauguration.

So Trump was elected as America's 47th president.

We saw a very contentious race in 2024.

Thoughts?

- Well, I must say I was surprised at the results, and I'm also surprised at the statistics regarding African-American voters.

So apparently, and I took a look at this, black voters pretty much supported Trump to the same degree in 2016 and in 2024.

It was in 2020 that the support kind of wavered, and as many people have discussed, a big gap was among African-American men.

And so the question becomes, okay, so was it Trump or was it Harris, VP Kamala Harris?

And to a great extent, based on the anecdotal conversations that I've had in barbershops and grocery stores, et cetera, and I don't mean to put black men out there, but they really weren't feeling Kamala Harris, no matter what you say about black men for Harris.

They didn't feel her like that.

- They were ready to support a woman.

- It was a woman thing.

- It was a woman thing.

- In my opinion.

- Did we see the same thing with Hillary?

- We saw the same thing with Hillary, as I said, 2016, 2024.

So what's also remarkable is the number of people who decided not to vote, the number of people who decided to stay home to the tune of about 37%, I believe.

37% of people said, you know what, I'm gonna sit this out.

And that's consistent with an experience that I had.

I was in Charlotte recently talking to one of the employees at a hotel, and it was election day.

This was recently.

I said, I got up early this morning and I went to vote.

And I said, so you get to vote a little bit later?

And he was like, I'm not doing that.

I said, wait a minute, don't let me have to turn auntie on you.

His justification was, it's not gonna matter anyway.

- Well, and I think a lot of people have that sentiment, right, because when you look at the things that have happened since January, a lot of people feel like, well, what power does my voice really have?

So that takes us to DEI.

- It does.

- That was the next kind of big thing that happened.

We saw the dismantling of DEI.

It was pretty much on inauguration day where Trump said, hey, in 2025, we are going to implement Project 2025, which had a lot of different objectives of kind of changing the narrative around a lot of big things, immigration, education, oh, what was the other one?

- Economics, everything.

- Healthcare.

- Healthcare.

All of this information was shared pretty widely, I believe, in news reports leading up to the election.

So the results kind of leave the supporters of current actions saying, this is what America voted for.

And what I hear also is, you know, some people say, well, I didn't know it was gonna happen in this way.

I beg to differ.

I don't know how much clearer the information could have been.

And indeed, DEI, we can take pretty much out of it.

On inauguration day, President Trump signed an executive order eliminating DEI, and everybody complied right away.

- I know, well, we had an episode where we got to sit down with Stephanie Pegues and Dee McDougal and talk about DEI.

So I wanna share a clip, a highlight from one of the things that was said on that episode.

- A lot of people are saying that DEI, to your point, Stephanie, is unnecessary, it's exclusionary, and when we look at the executive order that was just put out, radical and wasteful were some of those words.

I see you chuckle.

What is your first reaction to that?

- When politicians use those words, radical and wasteful, what they're really saying is that this is unnecessary and it doesn't affect that many people.

When they are saying that this is not something that is important to America as a country, and I think that's fundamentally against the American dream.

- What do you feel about her response to that?

- It is against the American dream.

I thought that, and as we celebrate America 250, I thought that this country was founded in and all about liberation, freedom, inclusion, dare I say, and to come and say, no, there's a certain segment of the population that is being mistreated because of DEI, but more importantly, more pointedly, that there are people being put in place unmeritocrisly, that's a word, but who don't deserve to be in that position, and they're being placed there simply because of their skin color or their gender.

- Well, I know that the comment section isn't always a representation of all of America, but I was really surprised during that time, and even in the comment section to that show, that episode, how many people were like, good, good riddance with it, you know, be done with it, where's White Issues Forum?

Like, all those comments that just kind of really reveal, I think, the true desires of many people, I won't say all, but many people.

- The heart of America, and you know, here's where I will understand and align with some of the protest.

Not everyone was implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the way that it was intended to be implemented.

It was not about going and finding the first brown face, the first female person, and sticking them in the position.

It really, truly was about taking that extra step to go and find people who are qualified.

- Who might challenge your bias.

- Yes, and then, you know, get outside of your circle, because very much so, finding a job, getting placed, is about the networking, and who is in your circle, and who you can touch.

- Well, as we move on into the year, February brought, and I think after inauguration, there were a lot of opportunities for people to kind of protest in different social ways, right?

And we saw a lot of artists doing that too, and then we come to the Super Bowl.

- Oh, yes.

- And we see Kendrick Lamar's now infamous performance.

He had a montage of songs, but the ones that stood out the most was, "They're Not Like Us," right?

- "They're Not Like Us."

Listen, that entire Super Bowl performance became my workout track.

I would put it on in the mornings, and you know, there was a lot of symbolism in it, and I did not get it in the beginning.

I had to do the reading, but the references to the American flag with the use of red, white, and blue, the references, from what I understand, to unjust incarceration, and the prison industrial complex, the refusal to comply with certain standards, and how certain folks in even our community get embarrassed by younger African Americans not putting away, not tucking away their culture, their blackness, showing up at work in full black, you know, and-- - It's who they are.

- It's who they are, and I'm a different generation, and so I still am reeling from the Kool-Aid, perhaps.

(laughing) - Well, what did you think, 'cause the next day, everybody was talking about his jeans.

- Oh, honey.

(laughing) I loved his jeans.

I didn't know they were women's jeans.

- Were they really, technically?

- They were female jeans, and that's all right, because he wore them well, and then everybody had to put the jeans on, and do-do-do-do.

(laughing) - Well, and you know, I think this was during a time where, I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like we saw the most black presence at the Super Bowl, as far as artistry goes.

SZA was there, we saw Serena Williams crip-walking during.

- Everybody had something to say about that, and I think, of course, the Drake beef, you know.

- The Drake beef.

- Kinda had people tuning in.

- Who do you think won?

- Well, yeah, I mean, we showed up, we enjoy our sports, and there are those who say that African-Americans shouldn't still be supporting the NFL and the Super Bowl, but we like our sports, and you know, we showed up.

- What about the symbolism with Samuel Jackson being Uncle Sam?

- From what I understand, that was some sort of a mocking of America.

Here is this black Uncle Sam sort of cooning, in a way, and admonishing Kendrick Lamar when he does not behave properly.

And then you had the, what is it, the men in the garden singing, and they're not acting right, and they're grinning and showing their grills and everything and oh, how embarrassing, says the black community, but we have to embrace, and I'm not even saying that grills are a sign of blackness.

It's a culture.

- It's culture, it's culture.

And speaking of culture, here in North Carolina, we are home to so many HBCUs, and that's created such a culture here among our young adults, among working adults who are part of an HBCU community, and we've seen a lot of elements of thriving, and we've seen some schools, not so much.

We're celebrating our 40th season anniversary here at BIF on Black Issues Forum, and we have had great ties to the HBCU community.

You graduated from St.

Augustine's.

- That's right.

- Yes.

- We've had ties to HBCU since the beginning, and in fact, when I first started at UNC-TV then, PBS North Carolina, Black Issues Forum took an entire year to tour the UNC system schools, but certainly also, which included many HBCUs, and within, I think, the last 10 years, we held a roundtable of HBCU presidents, because what we've always wanted to do is be a place and a safe space where a fair story about HBCUs is presented, and surely, I mean, yes, I'm a graduate of St.

Augustine's College, now University, and the school is in dire straits right now.

And is struggling, but there's so many reasons that are behind that.

- Well, and we've had the wonderful opportunity to partner with Maryland Public Television and to feature specific HBCUs of our choosing and collaboration and programs, and this year, we got to do fashion.

- Yes, so much fun.

- So much fun.

So I wanted to share a short clip from our Fashion Forward piece that we did this year, and so take a look at that.

- On campus, fashion is everything.

- How UNC has influenced my style, they influenced it a lot.

Coming from a high school where I had to wear uniforms and then coming back to college where I could just put anything on, every day I'm putting it on.

- I don't think an HBCU could be an influence.

I think it is.

There are times in recent and past where HBCUs have influenced mainstream fashion.

We of course are familiar with Beyonce's "Homecoming."

(upbeat music) - HBCUs are definitely influencing fashion.

I think they are the spearheads of fashion.

I think black people are the spearheads of fashion.

- Pop culture without HBCUs would be bland and boring.

(upbeat music) ...statement.

- You said that's a bold statement.

It certainly is.

And that piece goes on, I think you saw that it featured A&T, North Carolina A&T, but then it also features North Carolina Central University and it was kind of a battle of fashion.

- Oh, the little battle of fashion.

I just love to see how young people are showing up.

And indeed African-Americans who emerged from these campuses are trend setting.

And we're the bearers of culture in many respects.

And that's not to say that our white counterparts don't have creativity and that our non-African-American counterparts don't have creativity and talent and spunk.

But there's very much something to be said about the fact that industries utilize black culture and capitalize on black culture in their success.

It's commercialized.

It's appropriated and it is commoditized.

So I think we have to figure out ways to hold onto and capitalize on our own culture ourselves.

- And in addition to that, we also had an opportunity to screen the film "Becoming Thurgood Marshall."

- Which was excellent.

- It was amazing.

I learned things that I never knew.

- Yes, and it was so relevant because of what we are looking at today.

Right now, our Civil Rights Act 14th Amendment are under threat and that is serious.

And to watch Thurgood Marshall, the "Becoming Thurgood Marshall" documentary is to provide a lot of great context and understanding.

And hopefully people get motivated to get involved because our rights, the rights of all Americans are extremely important.

That's who we are.

- Yeah, and in September, we saw that Trump increased funding to HBCUs.

I think it was what, $500 million?

- Yes, yes, yes.

- What are your sentiments around that?

- I caught the headline, St.

Augustine's University is the first HBCU to receive these funds.

And I said, "Let's look beyond the headlines."

And that's what I would advise our viewers to do.

That's what we've got to do today.

Look beyond the headlines because St.

Augustine's University has not yet, well, I've jumped the gun here, but regarding the $500 million, look what also happened.

$500 million went to HBCUs, but at the same time, minority serving institutions were sidelined.

Their funding was extracted.

So it was a changing of hands.

And to me, it was a way to pit one community against another.

So I see that, I recognize it, but I'm not wowed by this news.

- I've always said, a lot of media headlines are smoke screens to distract from other things that are happening beneath.

- We have to be more savvy.

There's so much great information out there now.

- And we have access to it.

- We have access to it.

And so utilize that to your benefit and don't just be a drain, just taking information that's being poured down your pipe.

You've got to analyze and digest.

You don't know what's in your stomach.

- You don't.

I wanna quickly mention, I know we didn't quite say that we're gonna talk about this, but I have to just honor your dad and the Holt family.

All right, so Raleigh raised, broke ground on the Holt at Oberlin.

- Yes, a luxury-- - Such a legal name.

- A luxury town, I don't think they're gonna be, I think they're gonna be townhomes.

Luxury townhome community with the Holt name on it.

And that was an extreme honor.

And recently we also received the Triumph Magnum Opus Award from Shaw University, recognizing the family's efforts and work toward civil rights.

And we're just so honored.

And it lets me know that we have to always take that opportunity to exercise our rights even in the midst of danger.

- Even in the midst of danger, yes.

Few, like the last eight minutes here, I wanna kinda quickly highlight some folks that had been on the show that really kinda left a mark on me.

Ava, the STEM princess.

- Oh, yes.

- I love her.

She was so dynamic.

So she started, well, PBS has released Minifab Science Lab.

And so I wanna take a quick look at that.

Well, we've got B-roll that will run for that.

But Minifab Science Lab shows her making bouncy balls.

She's in the lab.

Our crew did an amazing job.

Our graphics department did an amazing job with making that set look so dynamic for kids.

And so she's a star to watch out for, for sure.

- She's a star, she's dynamic.

And I love that she is gonna be visible and is visible to lots of kids.

And in a space that we don't typically see our young people, she is excited about science.

And I just love it.

And she's so dynamic and a little entrepreneur as well.

- She is, she is.

And we have another group of students that we featured on Purple Dreams.

- Yes.

- This was great.

I mean, I cried watching that.

- And I love the arts.

- I love the arts.

But these were kids who, for all points and purposes, didn't have any other hope.

Didn't maybe even have a place to lay their head down, right, food to eat.

And this is where they found peace.

This is where they found hope.

And many of them have gone on to perform in Broadway and to be actors and actresses.

And that's-- - This emphasizes the importance of the arts and the importance of those hours that the kids spend in school.

You know, the importance of educators and of extracurricular activities.

In some spaces, extracurricular activities are going away.

And if they're not going away, the activity bus is going away.

When I was in school, we had the activity bus.

We could do whatever we wanted to.

All those things, they require funding and support, and we have to pay attention.

- We do.

One moment that stuck out to me this year was the food and health, mental health conversation.

I wanna go quickly to this point in the package that we've got from that show.

Sarah, I wanna start with you.

I've often heard the phrase, "Mental health is our overall health."

Can you unpack what that means and how food is interwoven into that?

- Yeah, absolutely.

Mental health is a lot of things, but I'll put it like this, is your car doesn't go without an engine, and your brain is the engine of your body.

We work from top down.

Mental health is a lot of different things.

It's an outside change, but it's also internal understanding of what are your emotions impacting your body?

How do your thoughts influence your behaviors?

A lot of mental health and how it correlates with food is how do you nourish your brain and your body to work together and then communicate with yourself to get it going?

That was powerful.

- It truly was.

You are what you eat, and some of us are eating our feelings.

- I'm the first to admit it.

I was just talking about goat before we went live right here.

So yeah, we are.

And I think it's just that mindset shift.

- Mindset shift, yes.

- I'm gonna get it, I'm gonna get it that Sarah was talking about.

- We have to do it.

And it's taken me all these years to understand, listen, the hormones are real, and it makes you really think that something's bad happening.

If I have a big sugary muffin or a donut in the morning, it feels so good in the moment.

But I must admit, later in the day, I feel kind of, it shows its head.

It shows its head.

Last moment that I wanna cover, last year we got to go to Charlotte.

- Yeah, so fun.

- This year you took me to Seven Springs.

I came back with a box of wine.

- So did I.

- Yeah, but it's good wine.

- It's good wine.

- That was such a great experience to see a family that has invested in their future in this way.

- Yes, entrepreneurial.

All of the family is involved.

They're just positive and radiant from the inside out.

And they have good wine and they have great entertainment for everyone.

And I think they're a great example.

They want to be an example.

They're not boastful, but they're hoping people do see their story.

And I tell you, just going out there and spending the night, I'll admit, I was like, we're in the middle of nowhere.

I'm a little bit frightened.

- It did feel, no reception.

- Just a little bit frightened.

And then, I think William says to me, Mr.

William says, "What are you scared of?"

He's like, "This is especially secure.

"Nobody out here but a few animals."

And I had a most restful night.

- So did I. Well, just about a minute left.

And I did not want to miss the opportunity to give you a little gift again this year.

Because I, again, so appreciate you.

I think year after year, we go on this journey and we just, I think our bond strengthens.

Our desire for storytelling and being voices for our community continues to flourish.

And I'm appreciative of you.

So I just wanted to say, happy holidays.

- Thank you, Kenia.

And happy holidays to you.

- Thank you.

- Because I appreciate you.

You're a dear friend.

You've become an even dearer friend over the years.

And I want to take the moment to say, thank you to our viewers for supporting us all of these years and all of this time.

What's in here?

- All right, we've got a minute.

So we gotta get quick.

- I want you to see all things.

Ooh, sparklies!

You get the most thoughtful gifts.

- Well, we-- - Do you love it?

- Do you like it?

- I love that!

- This is great.

Oh, thank you so much.

This is perfect.

You know I'm gonna use this.

You know I am.

- Yes, but you have to see the other thing down there.

There's one more layer.

- It's a bag accessory.

- No, down there.

- Oh, it's a picture!

Oh, I love it.

I love it with that.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate you and I love you.

- I love you too.

- And I thank you for watching and I wish you a wonderful new year and happy holiday.

If you want more content like this, we invite you to engage with us on Instagram using the hashtag #BlackIssuesForum.

You can also find our full episodes on pbsnc.org/blackissuesforum and on the PBS Video app.

I'm Kenia Thompson.

I'll see you next time.

I love it!

It's so cute!

(upbeat music) ♪ ♪ ♪ - Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you who invite you to join them in supporting PBSNC.