North Carolina is the only state in the country without a comprehensive budget approved for this year, and the people are paying the price. In this episode, host Kai McNeil sits down with Sally Hodges-Copple and Moriah Collins from the NC Budget and Tax Center to break down how a $29.7 billion budget gets made, why it's stalled, and what an upside-down tax code actually means for working families. From teacher raises to Medicaid funding to child care center closures, the budget isn't abstract. It's your classroom, your clinic, and your community. Learn what a well-being budget could look like and how you can make your voice heard.

Sign the People's Budget petition at peoplesbudgetnc.org and join the #LoveNCFundNC statewide social media scavenger hunt.

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The March primary is over, but the election process isn't.

Right now, 100 county boards across North Carolina are in the canvass period, and most people have never heard of it. In this episode of Built by Us, host Kai McNeil sits down with Democracy NC's Senior Policy Analyst Brian Kennedy and Professor Michael Bitzer, Director of the NC Center for Politics, to break down what canvassing actually is, what the data shows about racial disparities in ballot rejections, and how racial gerrymandering already shaped the 2026 primary landscape before most people showed up to vote.

Two voices. Two lenses. One unmistakable truth: every vote truly counts.

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Kinston, North Carolina is known as basketball heaven – producing more NBA players per capita than anywhere else in the world. But right now, democracy is under attack in the same town that gave us Brandon Ingram, Cedric Maxwell, and Jerry Stackhouse.

A polling site in a densely populated, predominantly Black neighborhood might be removed to avoid conflicts with high school basketball games. Meanwhile, Kinston just got carved out of Congressional District 1 as part of a mid-decade gerrymander targeting the historic Black Belt. The city manager quit after a contentious election cycle. And through it all, one question keeps coming up: why is basketball being protected while people's right to vote gets pushed aside?

Chris Suggs isn't letting his community be silenced. A Democracy Summer alum, former city councilman, and founder of Kinston Teens, Chris has been organizing in Kinston since he was 14. In this episode, he breaks down the pattern connecting local voter suppression to national attacks on Black political power – and explains why he's more fired up than ever to keep fighting.

This is what democracy under attack looks like at the local level. This is Built by Us.

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In this episode, Joselle sits down with Hannah Preston, a North Carolina social media influencer and public health advocate. They discuss the importance of grassroots digital organizing in driving political change, the intersection of health equity and democracy, and the need for sustained civic engagement beyond election cycles. Hannah shares her journey in public health, the challenges faced during the pandemic, and the role of social media in advocating for health justice.

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On January 13th, 2025, the North Carolina State Board of Elections voted 3-2 along party lines to eliminate campus polling sites for the 2026 primary, including at North Carolina A&T State University, the nation's largest public HBCU. This isn't about convenience. This is a deliberate pattern of making it harder for young Black voters to participate in democracy.

In this episode of Built by Us, host Kai McNeil sits down with Shia Rozier, co-lead of the Civic Engagement Coalition at NC A&T. Shia was there when dozens of students filled the meeting room to capacity, were denied the right to give public comment, and watched as board members threatened to call Capitol Police simply for asking why their polling site wasn't included in the plan.

Shia explains why the Dudley Building site matters: it's the most-used early-voting site for voters ages 18-25 in Guilford County. With freshmen not allowed to have cars on campus, it's not just convenient, it's required for democratic participation. The 3,000 students who vote there won't just go to another polling site. Those votes will disappear.

But A&T students have a legacy of resistance, from the Greensboro Four in 1960 to the fight against gerrymandering in 2016. This generation grew up with Black Lives Matter, witnessed George Floyd's death online, and learned about justice earlier than generations before them. As Shia makes clear, this decision hasn't silenced them. It's fueled the fire.

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In this episode, Joselle and Beatrice delve into the pressing issues of 2026, focusing on the aggressive tactics employed by ICE and federal agencies that target communities rooted in historical oppression. They discuss recent efforts aimed at disenfranchising youth voters, particularly on HBCU and college campuses across North Carolina, and highlight the importance of voter protection in the 2026 Midterms. They also discuss the potential impact of the "Make Elections Great Again" act and recent FBI raids on election offices.

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2026 Elections and What Democracy Means This Year

What if 2026 isn't just an election year, but the fight for representation itself? In this Season 6 premiere of Built by Us, host Kai McNeil sits down with Professor Dr. Irving Joyner from North Carolina Central University to examine the high stakes of the 2026 midterms and what democracy actually means for North Carolinians right now.

Professor Joyner, who has spent decades studying civil rights and constitutional law, traces the history of voting rights expansion in North Carolina from the groundbreaking introduction of early voting in 1991 to the historic 2008 and 2012 turnout when Black voter participation outpaced white voter participation for the first time. But he also unpacks the ongoing attacks on those gains, from voter ID laws to the racial gerrymandering that has left one party controlling nearly 80% of our congressional delegation despite North Carolina being a 50-50 purple state.

This episode breaks down what members of Congress, NC senators, and NC representatives actually do for everyday North Carolinians, not just the textbook definitions. From understanding provisional ballots to recognizing how gerrymandering in Congressional District 1 undermines fair representation, Professor Joyner explains why active participation matters now more than ever.

As we enter a critical year with US House, US Senate, and NC General Assembly races on the ballot, this conversation is essential listening for anyone who wants to understand the power they hold and the democracy they're fighting to protect.

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In Part 2 of our conversation with Democracy Out Loud co-founder Karen Ziegler, we delve deeper into the fight against gerrymandering in North Carolina and what's truly at stake for CD1, the historic Black Belt district that encompasses every Black-majority county in the state. Karen breaks down how North Carolina votes 50-50 but ends up with deeply unequal representation, and why the attempt to eliminate Black representation in Congress is not just unconstitutional but morally unconscionable.

But this episode isn't just about maps and power grabs. It's about why Karen keeps showing up, keeps getting thrown out of the General Assembly, and keeps fighting. She shares what drives her moral center, how spiritual practice sustains activism, and why she believes we're part of an unstoppable movement for justice even when the house built on genocide and slavery needs to fall down around us.

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