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 (HarperCollins/Amistad), the visionary who coined #BlackLivesMatter, inaugural Chair of UCLA’s African American Studies Department, two-term President of the Association of Black Sociologists, and the scholar who drafted Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s historic Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Commission bill. His work has been featured on C-SPAN’s BookTV, MSNBC, BBC, NPR, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the LA Times.
He submitted a proposal for Washington’s study. And then the system showed its hand.
His proposal was quarantined in the state’s email system as “malware” for 22 days while other bidders were being evaluated. When he was finally told he wasn’t selected, the state denied him the debriefing that Washington law guarantees every unsuccessful bidder. Denied him twice. He had to retain an attorney just to access a process the law says is his right.
Meanwhile, the winning bidder — a DEI consulting firm — was awarded the contract to do work that requires expertise in reparations research, historical accounting, intergenerational economic harm, genealogy, and public policy analysis. The community asked questions. Filed public records requests. And invited the winning firm on this very show. Their general counsel said they’d love to come. That was six weeks ago. Silence ever since.
The milk ain’t clean.
This episode is not about who won or lost a contract. Dr. Hunter is not here as a sore loser — he’s here as a witness. This is first-source, insider testimony about how the state administered a process that the community invested in, that the legislature authorized, and that our ancestors are owed.
In this conversation you’ll hear:
- Why one of the most qualified reparations scholars in the country answered Washington’s call
- What happened to his proposal inside the Department of Commerce’s system — documented, timestamped, on the record
- The legal fight for a debriefing the state tried to deny him — twice
- Why DEI consulting is not reparations research — and why that distinction matters for every person this study is supposed to serve
- What this process tells us about whether the state is truly ready for the work of repair
- What we demand from our government — and what we owe our ancestors
Reparations are policy, process, and praxis. If the process ain’t right, the outcome can’t be trusted. And trust, once broken, has to be earned back in public.
This one is for the record. For the archive. For Charles Mitchell and George Washington Bush. For Mother Viola Fletcher. For every descendant who is counting on this study to tell the truth.
To Truclusion – the successful bidder: the invitation is still open. Come tell your story. Show yourself. This IS community. And community is waiting…please.
What Say U?
LINKS & REFERENCES
Previous Episode-Listen for Context
“When the System Shows Its Hand: Sacred Work, Shady Process”
https://whatsayupodcast.com/when-the-system-shows-its-hand-sacred-work-shady-process/
About Our Guest
Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter — marcusanthonyhunter.com
Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation — HarperCollins/Amistad (2024)
UCLA Department of Sociology — soc.ucla.edu
Dr. Hunter’s Op-Ed in the AFRO: “When Equity is Performed, Not Practiced”
When equity is performed, not practiced
Washington Equity NOW Alliance
https://waequitynow.org/
Washington State Reparations Study
WA Dept. of Commerce — Reparative Study for Washington Descendants — https://www.commerce.wa.gov/community-initiatives/reparations-study/
Community Action
Petition: Stand for Integrity & Justice in Washington’s Reparations Process — https://www.thefactsnewspaper.com/post/stand-for-integrity-justice-in-washington-s-reparations-process-sign-the-petition
More Context & Receipts
Department of Commerce: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/community-initiatives/reparations-study/
Department of Commerce: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/reparations-study-update-january-2026/
Seattle Medium: “Community Questions Firm Named As Apparent Successful Bidder”
https://seattlemedium.com/truclusion-consulting-firm-controversy/
Community Debate of the selection of Truclusion as apparent successful bidder: https://seattlemedium.com/reparations-legislation-community-concerns/
South Seattle Emerald: “Washington Will Spend $300K to Study Reparations” https://southseattleemerald.org/news/2025/06/07/washington-will-spend-300k-to-study-reparations-multiracial-solidarity-made-it-possible
Attachment
Department Commerce email naming Reparation Study scorers (.pdf)
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