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First of All with Victor Blackwell
Mom Gives Birth On Side Of Road After Hospital Discharges Her; DHS Expected To Target New Orleans Next For Immigration Enforcement; Charlotte Business Close Due To Immigration Crackdown. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired November 22, 2025 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[08:00:57]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: First of all, no mother should suffer at one of the most important moments of her life when a baby is born. I think that's why this story resonated with so many people this week. In a moment, you're going to hear the story directly from Mercedes Wells herself. She showed up at a hospital in Indiana expecting to get some help to deliver her baby. But after several hours, she was escorted out of the hospital. Her family recorded as she was leaving.
The family says eight minutes after leaving the hospital, a baby girl was born. The hospital says they're now taking action. In a new statement from Franciscan Health Crown Point President and CEO Raymond Grady, he announced that first, the physician and nurse involved in Mercedes care are no longer employed by the hospital.
He also said cultural competency training has now been mandated for all labor and delivery staff. And all pregnant patients leaving the labor and delivery unit will be examined by a physician before they leave the hospital. Grady called the videos difficult to watch, and he wrote, "We must fix what failed in our hospital so that no one experiences what happened to Mercedes Wells."
Mercedes Wells is with us now, along with her husband, Leon Wells, and their attorney, Canon Lambert. Welcome to you all. Mercedes, let me start with your reaction to the announcement from the hospital that the doctor and nurse directly involved with your care are out. MERCEDES WELLS, GAVE BIRTH IN A CAR MINUTES AFTER BEING SENT HOME FROM
HOSPITAL: First of all, it took a while, you know, to get them to respond to us and to acknowledge what, you know, what the facility had done to me.
BLACKWELL: And when they say that the doctor involved in your care is out, I read that you don't even know who this doctor is. You never met a doctor.
WELLS: Exactly. Never seen her face. No doctor ever spoke. Yours came into my room.
BLACKWELL: So let's start at the beginning here. It's about midnight. Your contractions start. Tell me the story as you arrive at the hospital.
WELLS: As I get to the hospital, they come down about 10 minutes later. First of all, I called ahead. I called maybe 20 minutes ahead before we got there. And when we got there. I still had to go through the questioning of, you know, who my doctor was and all the details.
When they came and got me, I was already 15 minutes apart in my contractions. So I was already in active labor. She checked me. She told me that I was 3 centimeters dilated. My contractions began to get closer and closer as the day went on. She checked me again, and she said she felt the baby's head, but I was still 3 centimeters after 6 hours of labor. Then she told me I had to be really relieved from the hospital.
BLACKWELL: And so when they told you had to be released from the hospital, talk to me about the moment of conflict where you knew, because this is not your first child. This baby is coming. And they said, No, you have to leave. Talk to me about that conversation.
[08:05:14]
WELLS: Yes, the nurse told me that I had to be discharged because I wasn't further along in my centimeters. And even though she could feel the baby head, I wasn't dilated more than 3 centimeters. But I know for a fact that had to be untrue because I couldn't feel her hand at that point when she checked me.
BLACKWELL: And, Leon, you're there. You know that your wife is about to have this baby, and they say you've got to go. What's going through your mind?
LEON WELLS, HUSBAND OF MERCEDES WELLS: When they say we had to go, I didn't want to be there. Like, I know we wasn't wanted. I was concerned about the safety of my wife and my child as they're saying that, even though I know my wife is in active labor. So I immediately, you know, got myself together. I was very upset, but by God's grace, I was able to, you know, keep a calm head and try to get my wife to the next location, you know.
BLACKWELL: Well, the baby came before you got to that next location. Tell me about that, Leon.
L. WELLS: That was a very stressful moment. I don't have any prior doctor experience. I don't. No training. We in my. My truck, and it was just a very scary moment. I mean, I literally, we was driving down the road, and I saw my wife. My wife is, you know, pulling her pants down. She's like, Babe, I got a push. I got a push. And as she's pulling her pants down, I see, I see my child's head.
And I was kind of freaking out at the moment, but I kind of gather myself. And when I gather myself, I literally kind of, I don't know, I just thought I needed to help. Like, I literally kind of helped and pulled, kind of pulled, put my fingers between my child's head, and I pulled as she pushed, and my baby came out.
BLACKWELL: And so, Mercedes, how is the baby? WELLS: She's doing well now.
BLACKWELL: Okay, well, that's good to hear. Kenneth, let me bring you in here. You are their attorney. You and the Welles have called for action and accountability. I said at the top of the show that the nurse and the doctor are out. Does that separation, because we don't know if they resigned or if they were fired. They didn't clarify there. Does that satisfy that for you?
CANNON LAMBERT SR., ATTORNEY: So I think it's important that we speak with clarity. It would be a good thing that they let us know that they have been fired, terminated. It would be a good thing that they let us know that the individuals who inserted themselves as employees in this situation get terminated also.
They have a culture problem. And what it is, the only thing they can do in terms of addressing that is to stamp out those people who participated in this, watched this happen, and did nothing. We're looking to meet with them, and we're glad that they finally reached out to us. We're looking forward to that meeting.
We want to understand when they say they failed in various ways, we want them to tell us how they failed, because I want to mesh that with what we believe they failed to do, and make sure that we're on the same page so that policies can be changed so that this doesn't happen anymore.
BLACKWELL: The policies change. Should I expect, or do you expect there will be a lawsuit filed?
LAMBERT SR.: I think this. I think they have control over that. If they do what's right, then I know this family will be happy to see that they've done what's right. This family decided early on that they wanted to try and be a voice for people, not just themselves, and that's their goal.
BLACKWELL: I want to read just the last line from the statement from the President, this hospital. He says, "We've reached out to the family and it's my hope to meet in person with them very soon. I hear from Cannon that that is something that can happen." What do you want to come from that meeting, Mercedes?
WELLS: I want change to come overall, you know, the United States to be impacted so strongly that there is truly a change, and we see the change very soon.
BLACKWELL: Yes. And there needs to be a change broadly. And I'm not speaking specifically about this hospital year case, but black women have the highest rate of maternal mortality in the country. Latest numbers from the CDC, 50. About 50 per 100,000 live births. Multiples of what we see for white mothers, Hispanic mothers. It's far worse in Indiana. 156 per 100,000 live births. That's according to the Indiana University and the State Health Department.
[08:10:08]
In that context, Mercedes, how does the hospital's admitted failure inform the crisis we're seeing around the country?
WELLS: Inform the crisis? They need to speak up. It's a huge disparity. Informing them that this is really a huge issue is step one. And now they have to seek action and make a change.
BLACKWELL: Mercedes Leon, Attorney Cannon Lambert. And your baby's name. Are you saying that publicly yet?
WELLS: Yes. Elena.
BLACKWELL: Elena. And to Elena this morning, thank you all for your time.
WELLS: Thank you.
L. WELLS: Thank you for having us. Thank you.
BLACKWELL: All right, Charlotte is on edge after an immigration enforcement surge in that city. Next, hear from a business owner who says that he closed his restaurant to protect Latino employees.
Plus, the first known Native American woman to have a production on Broadway explains the inspiration behind a play that imagines the struggles of four white people trying to stage a politically correct Thanksgiving play.
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[08:15:58]
BLACKWELL: The Department of Homeland Security is now looking for its next city to target for immigration enforcement. It's looking like it'll be New Orleans. Well, that's where top Border Patrol official Gregory Bevino is expected to go in the coming weeks. But there's still doubt in Charlotte, North Carolina, that the surge there has really wrapped up. DHS posted this meme on X Thursday in response to reporting that the Charlotte operation was over with the caption "Dear Criminal Illegal Aliens, we are gone. It is safe to come out."
Now, the uncertainty and fear in immigrant and Latino communities. That's no joke. Many people are afraid to leave their homes, to go to work, to go to school. And as a result a number of Charlotte businesses have temporarily closed, partly because customers are barely trickling in, partly to keep their employees safe. That's the tough decision that T.R. Burns made, the owner of Soul Food restaurant Food Geeks Eatery to shut down his business for days this week. T.R. Burns joins me now.
Good to have you. I read that you were closed for most of the week but you decided to open yesterday. Do you believe that the intensity of the immigration enforcement has lessened?
T.R. BURNS, OWNER, FOOD GEEKS EATERY: No, I don't believe it. I think that it's a smokescreen. As we see, there were some social media posts that they have gone but then you're still seeing other posts which confirming that they're still around. And then a lot of misinformation that I believe is being put out there so that people can feel comfortable to come out again, and then they pop out and they, you know, start it all over again. So it's really put community in a sense of anxiety and unsurity that we can trust whatever is being posted because is so many mixed posts going on or messages being sent, and I believe some of them are intentional.
BLACKWELL: Talk to me about what went into your decision to close for most of the week. The conversations you had with your employees, and what led to that closure.
BURNS: So I wasn't at my shuttle location on Saturday, but I started seeing all these different posts and different things like that of ICE being around. So I began to talk to my wife, and then I called our Latino staff members. Some that can speak English and some that had to send a message and tell them when their English-speaking child or family member comes in to call me so they can translate. It was just fear.
I mean, you could hear it in their voice. Some of them were crying. Some of them were willing to come to work, but they was, you know, that you could tell they're afraid. So me and my wife made the decision to put people over money in politics to make sure that those that come to work every day, that look out for our family business because without them, we would not be able to do what we do. That this is our opportunity to show them that we care and also make sure that they are safe because we would not be able to sleep at night if we knew someone was coming to work for us.
And in the midst of that, whether they have their papers or not, were taken by ICE. That will put us in a. A tough situation, being who we are.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Did you pay them while you were closed?
BURNS: Yes, I made sure they was paid. And then even a day, the days that we did open, we tried to open, I made sure that it was brought there by Uber and taken home by Uber at our cost. Because we didn't want -- we don't -- we didn't have.
We were trying to get a van service and some other different things, but we was cautious because we didn't know. We have found out. I'm not sure if it was true or not, but people were saying that people's getting. They would get money for telling ICE where some of these Latinos. So we just use the Uber service.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Talk to me about, I watched your lives this week from your Instagram page, and what really stood out to me is how you talked about your life experience as a black man in New York City and how that influenced what you decided to do for the Latino around Charlotte.
[08:20:13]
BURNS: Yes. So being a black man, I'm in a position where I've worked up from nothing, come off of welfare, come grown up, you know, in the projects. And I've experienced how people can have rather just bias or just be racist towards you or just don't like the fact that you are a black man in power. So I've always made a commitment that when I can change something, I'm going to change it.
And so when I grew up in New York, I grew up taking a train. I grew up during Stop and Frisk, where, and this is like pre-cell phones, in a sense, for the most part, with the police would just stop you and check you, and you haven't done anything besides get on the train to go somewhere.
Or you're getting off a train in the neighborhood that they believe is known for crime, which may have been. But you basically your rights, you can't. You know, it was to the point where my mother used to say, do not ever leave out the house without your ID or your wallet. Especially once, you know, that conversation that she had with me when I became, you know, 14, I'm worn, you know, I'm going around the city on my own because the fear that, you know, you would get beat up, you would get accosted by people just because they feel they have that power.
And so with the Latino people, and though people are -- would -- some people would say, okay, they're not. They wasn't forced into America like black people were, but they're still here and they're still a person. And there's certain injustices that they're experiencing that are, to me, a contrast or almost like a mirror to what we go through or have gone through as black people.
And so that's why I felt that, you know, I want to speak up because there's times I've been in situations with police and different things, and I wasn't doing nothing but driving a nice car in a nice neighborhood that I lived in. And you're still getting pulled over, your tags ran just because you're there.
BLACKWELL: Well, T.R. Burns, I thank you for spending some time with me this morning explaining your decision and what's happening there in Charlotte. We didn't even get to talk about the business aspect of it, but I started with people because I knew that was your focus above even the money that you lost this week by being closed. T.R. Burns there of Food Geeks Eatery. Thanks so much.
BURNS: All right, Thank you.
BLACKWELL: All right. Are incidents like what happened to my next guest is what is fueling that fear in Latino communities. Next, you're going to hear from an 18-year-old U.S. citizen who is yet briefly detained by border patrol before being just left in the woods. He'll join me live to share what happened next.
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[08:27:16]
BLACKWELL: Question to consider, is it dangerous now to just be brown and standing around? A big part of what is causing fear in some communities of color is the vibe that even if you are in the country legally, born here or otherwise, that doesn't mean that you won't get caught up when the feds surge immigration enforcement in your city. Stories like what happened to Fernando Vasquez add to that feeling. He
shared this video. It shows the moment he was released from handcuffs by a uniformed agent. It also shows you a second man wearing a Border Patrol vest nearby. Once he's out of the cuffs, you see the agents get into a large SUV, and one just throws Fernando's wallet and Various cards to the ground before leaving him behind. The vehicles just drive off.
To be clear, again, this happened to a U.S. Citizen. Fernando Vasquez is here to share more about what happened.
Fernando, thank you for your time and sharing it with us. So let's start at the beginning. You're in Cary, North Carolina. You're watering trees at a new shopping center. Then what happens?
FERNANDO VARZQUEZ, 18-YEAR-OLD LANDSCAPER AND U.S. CITIZEN: Then well, you know, I go around the corner to turn on the water, and I see a gray Tahoe pull up onto the sidewalk. And I'm just with that doubt, is it, you know, somebody in charge from the building, or is it, you know, border patrol or immigration?
You know, I'm standing there for a quick little minute, and then I proceed to go turn on the water. But I'm still with that doubt in my mind if, like, who it is. So I stand there. I actually put on my phone to zoom in through my camera, but I wasn't able to, you know, see anything. And at that moment, I don't know if they saw the color of my skin or what they saw, but I'm guessing they just saw a Latino man. So they pulled up even closer to me.
You know, they opened the doors, and at that moment, once I saw their uniform, you know, they had their gloves, their mask, their eyewear, everything. I told Siri, I said, hey, Siri, call Dad. And basically, I just told him to, you know, to run, to hide.
And at that moment, that's when they approached me. They asked me where I was from. You know, I didn't, I didn't respond to. I didn't respond, and say anything. And then a Hispanic man in Spanish, he told me, he said, "Where you from?"
And at that moment, I did use vulgar language to him just so he could focus on me. You know, so I, like the rest of the workers, and my dad could run and hide. So I wanted him to focus on me. You know, I was trying to stall them.
And then from there, I was trying to walk, like, walk towards away the fence, from the fence. And that's when one guy jumped the fence and the other went through the other door. And I was just there, caught between two AC units. There's an AC unit right here. There's another AC unit right here. And from there, they just start talking.
[08:30:05]
BLACKWELL: Did they ask you where you were from? Did you tell them that you were a U.S. citizen?
VAZQUEZ: At that moment, I didn't. I was still, you know, just talking to him, just stalling them. And then at that moment, since I have my AirPod, they took out my AirPod and I -- they put -- they put it onto the AC unit. And then I told him, I said, can you please. Can you -- can you give me my AirPod back? Because, you know, AirPods are -- are expensive.
And he didn't want to. I -- I put out my case so he could put it in personally, but he didn't want to. And I -- I was walking towards my AirPod to get it, and that's when he told me. He said, don't -- don't touch me. And I said, I'm not touching you. And that's -- at that point, he escalated to another level and he got more aggressive towards me.
And he told his partner, should we get another -- another truck in here? He said, yes. And then he also asked, should he put me in cuffs? And he put me in cuffs. And then at that moment, they searched me and they put out my wallet. They saw my North Kline, a real ID, and they saw my -- my North Kline driver's license.
So at that moment, they -- they saw my documents, they saw -- they saw what they needed, and they still decided to -- to take me in. I even told them, you can -- you can look my name up in your system. You already have. You already have my ID. You already have everything. You could just look me up. You can see I'm a U.S. Citizen. But they still decided to take me.
BLACKWELL: And so they took you in this vehicle. How long were you in the vehicle before they pulled over and this ended?
VAZQUEZ: I was probably in the vehicle for around, like, five minutes. So, yes, they both in the vehicle there was already a Latino man. He was around, like, 21. He was -- he was fairly young. And I just remember when -- also when I was like, when they pulled off, he told me, can you please tell my brother that they got me? And at that moment, it broke my heart knowing that two brothers were being separated in front of my eyes.
BLACKWELL: And so at some point in the video, we see they kind of pull over. Where was that? I've described it as a wooded area. What -- and they tossed your wallet? Tell me about that part.
VAZQUEZ: You know, so before that, when I was in the vehicle, another Hispanic man told -- he asked me, he said, where are you from? I said, I'm from here. He said, where were you born? I told him Raleigh. And at that moment, I guess he realized his error. Or they didn't do it. They didn't do a thorough job. And that's when he told the driver to pull over, basically.
So they just pulled over into a random -- some random person's property. And just on the side of the street, they just pulled in like that. They told me to get out. I got out and yes, it was just a -- like a wooded forest, like somebody's property. And then from there I just had to run back to the job site.
BLACKWELL: Well, Fernando Vasquez, I'm sorry this happened to you, that you were just doing your job, got snatched up and then dropped off in the woods. But I do appreciate you sharing the story with us so people understand what's happening. Thank you for your time.
VAZQUEZ: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: A police officer in Ohio was shot and killed. Who shot and killed? I should say a black mother in Ohio accused of shoplifting is acquitted of all charges. We'll show you the really emotional reaction in the courtroom next.
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[08:38:03]
BLACKWELL: A family in Ohio is reeling. They're mourning the loss of a pregnant mother and any hope they had for what they'd consider justice in her death. The officer charged with the murder of Ta'Kiya Young in 2023 was just acquitted of all charges.
Connor Grubb and another officer stopped Young in her parked car outside a Columbus area Kroger store as she was accused of shoplifting alcohol and a warning here. The video you're about to see is disturbing. Body camera videos showed Young refusing to leave her car, turning the wheel to the right before it slowly rolled forward against Officer Grubb.
Well, he then fired a shot into her chest through the windshield. The officers said that they tried to save Young's life, but she and her unborn daughter died. Young's family, they were outraged by the verdict and her grandmother was very emotional after the verdict was read.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone could have a seat. Mr. Grubb. Mr. Grubb.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: An attorney for Young's family says that Young never stole anything. And his law firm found a witness who says that they watched Young leave the alcohol bottles in the store before leaving. Officer Grubb was facing up to life in prison.
There's a new movement calling out Target, Home Depot and Amazon ahead of the holidays. Organizers of the campaign called "We Ain't Buying It" say the companies, quote, have caved to Donald Trump's bigoted and anti-democratic attacks on our communities and our values. From cravenly abandoning their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion to enabling the terrorizing of our communities, corporate collaboration must stop.
[08:40:05]
I spoke to one of the organizers. LaTosha Brown is calling on people to take action. Thanksgiving weekend, one of the busiest shopping times of the year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LATOSHA BROWN, CO-FOUNDER, BLACK VOTERS MATTER: This isn't a boycott. This is a consumer action. What we're saying is three things. One, we are reclaiming our power as consumers, that we will make more conscious choices. That part of the reason why we're working with 100 aligned organizations and millions of people, because we want as consumers, we have responsibility to be much more conscientious of how we spend our money.
The second thing is really around redirecting our resources that we're asking people to not spend with these large retailers, but we also are encouraging them to spend with small and local and black owned businesses, many of them that have taken a hit in this economy.
And then the third thing is really around resistance, that we're sending a message loud and clear that those companies that align with policies that hurt and harm us that we are resistant, we will not support them. And so, it's not just about how the bottom line of these companies end a boycott. It's about the consumers reactions. It's also about us really building a muscle that as consumers we're saying and taking our power and that we have to be more conscious around our spending choices.
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BLACKWELL: You can watch much more of that interview next Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern on a special Thanksgiving weekend edition of the show. I'll also speak with actor Brandon Claybond from "Beyond the Gates" about his personal connection to Alzheimer's and his mission to raise awareness specifically in the black community. And I asked Chef Sean Osby for his take on my pretty controversial opinion on holiday recipes. You'll have to tune in for more on that.
All right. So to come this morning though, what new research reveals about race and who gets access to algebra.
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[08:46:19]
BLACKWELL: Listen, I'm not even going to try to pretend that I'm someone who likes algebra, but at least I appreciate that I had the chance to learn it. And that's why this new study stuck out to me, because it found that race and income levels affect whether students have access to advanced classes, specifically 8th grade algebra.
This is according to NWEA, the Northwest Evaluation Association. They collected data that shows that fewer than half of high poverty and majority black and Latino schools offer algebra in the eighth grade. Ability is not the deciding factor among high achieving students. It's placement practices that are driving inequities.
And let's talk about this with Allison Socol. She's vice president of P-12 Policy Practice and Research at EDTrust. Allison, thank you for your time. So let's go through some of the numbers. Again, this is from NWEA, but I know you can speak to this more broadly. They track the top 20 percent of fifth grade achievers in the country
and by the time they completed eighth grade, 84 percent of Asian students had taken algebra, 68 percent of whites and Latinos, only 60 percent of black students. Is there a simple explanation for why there's this disparity even among the top performers?
ALLISON SOCOL, VICE PRESIDENT OF P-12 POLICY, PRACTICE AND RESEARCH AT EDTRUST: Great to be with you today. So NWEA's research confirms many other studies, including from EDTrust, that show that black and Latino students and students from low income backgrounds are shut out of rigorous courses, including algebra in eighth grade. And that's happening for a number of reasons. There are still too many middle schools that don't even offer algebra.
In the schools that serve the most students of color and students from low income backgrounds, there might just be one teacher or one class, one period where it's offered. There just aren't enough seats. But the biggest driver is that in the schools that offer algebra, bright and eager students of color and students from low income backgrounds aren't being given a fair shot.
They aren't being enrolled in these courses at the same rates as their white and affluent peers, even when they are demonstrating that they are ready and eager.
BLACKWELL: OK, so let's talk about, I mean, somebody at home might be wondering, why are we focusing one class, algebra in 8th grade? Why is that so crucial?
SOCOL: Absolutely. So let's start with -- Math is really important. Students who do well in math are more likely to graduate high school, go to college, and graduate. Careers that require math and science skills are growing rapidly and often have higher wages.
And algebra in 8th grade is like a gateway. So students who are given the opportunity to take and succeed in algebra in 8th grade, when they get to high school, kids can take a whole series of math courses that lead to calculus. And calculus is often used by universities to determine whether students are college ready and whether they get in.
And so that decision about algebra that adults are making, who gets in and who doesn't, isn't just a decision that impacts a 13 or 14 year old. It has an impact on their entire high school experience and could even impact their college and career choices.
BLACKWELL: And so while you're thinking in the 11th grade, you're working on community service and being a more well-rounded applicant. A decision made when you were probably in middle school about whether you could take algebra has already set you behind. That's why I think this is so important. Let me ask you this, what fixes it?
SOCOL: Exactly. So there's actually really promising policy that a number of states and a few districts in the last few years have adopted in, and it's really exciting.
[08:50:00] Basically what the policy does is require districts and schools to automatically enroll students who are clearly demonstrating on assessments that they're ready for a more rigorous course like 8th grade algebra 1. Of course, families and students have the option to opt out if they feel like it's not the right fit, but it's the option to opt out rather than putting the burden on families and students to fight to be let in.
And in the states and districts that have adopted this policy, the numbers of kids, especially kids of color who suddenly have access to algebra in 8th grade has risen dramatically. And they're doing great.
BLACKWELL: So folks at home, when you see those nieces and nephews and grandkids on Thanksgiving break, ask if they're taking algebra or if they can even get the chance to get in to 8th grade algebra. Allison Socol with EdTrust, I thank you so much for driving the point home.
So what would it look like if four woke white people tried to put together a Thanksgiving play? I speak to a Native American playwright who wrote a satire about that very topic. Next.
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[08:55:28]
BLACKWELL: So Thanksgiving is a few days away, and it's now the time of year for holiday pageants and performances. November is also Native American Heritage Month. So Larissa Fasthorse says that she understands if white folks trying to stay politically correct feel like this is a tricky time of year. Her characterization, she's a Native American playwright and played around with the idea to write a timely named play. And for Art is Life. This week we talked about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARISSA FASTHORSE, PLAYWRIGHT, "THE THANKSGIVING PLAY": I'm Larissa FastHorse. I'm from the Sichangu Lakota Nation and I am the playwright for "The Thanksgiving Play." I grew up in South Dakota at a time when the state was trying to reconcile with our tribes, the Lakota Nations and the Dakota Nations. And we didn't have these, like, Thanksgiving pageants and school. Things that I learned through my research are still going today.
And so as I was looking into Thanksgiving, something ubiquitous, something everyone can kind of get behind in some way, not everyone, but most of America can get behind in some way. I decided, you know what? I really need to start at the beginning, at the root, which is where we have these children doing these incredibly historically incorrect, not educational pieces about Thanksgiving.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How can we break down the myths and the stereotypes of Thanksgiving in 45 minutes with three people create a revolution in their minds?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 45 minutes seems kind of long.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it's a play, so actually it's quite short.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the average show at Disneyland is 20 minutes. That's what they think kids can handle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can consider that point of view. But I don't think that Disney --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If anyone knows kids, it's Disneyland. It's like science to them. I know. I was third understudy for Jasmine.
FASTHORSE: It is a satirical comedy and it's about four well-meaning white folks who are trying to create a politically correct play for Thanksgiving that also celebrates Native American Heritage Month for children without any Native American people involved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As our Native American compass, Alicia is allowed to say what she wants about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Native American.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told you. We got the Heritage Month, Grant, to hire the professional actor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You didn't say it was for a Native American actor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought it was implied.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am sorry. It is truly an honor to work with you. I have always been drawn to your ways.
FASTHORSE: It's really important to me that my plays are not a hammer hitting you over the head. Like, I don't want you to come to theater and regret it. You know. I want you to come to theater. I want you to get into a room with all these strangers, and I want you to have a great time.
But then after that, I really want people to ask questions. And that, to me, is the most important thing. The strongest tool I have with playwright is to encourage questions. The Broadway premiere was 2023 at the Second Stage's Helen Hayes Theater. Being the first Native American female woman that we know of on Broadway in 2023, I would say it's happy, sad. The last known Native American playwright on Broadway was Lynn Riggs.
Like a whole generation, you know, two generations back. I mean, it's been a long, long time. So that's really frustrating that there's only been two of us in the whole history of Broadway, two Native American playwrights. That's unbelievable and shouldn't be true.
On the other hand, you know, I have to say yay. You know, thank goodness it at least happened. This is exciting. Let's celebrate this moment. But then I need to do the work to make sure that I'm not the last one that's not another 80 years before the next Native American playwright on Broadway.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: Now, if you're interested in checking out "The Thanksgiving Play," check in with your local theater company to see if there's a performance near you. Look at the map. Larissa says she's counted more than 30 licensed productions of "The Thanksgiving Play" this season, and her team estimates they're approaching 2,500 performances worldwide since the play released in 2019.
Larissa is also now performing in a biographical piece, "Fancy Dancer." Check out seattlerep.org for more on that.
Hey, if you see something or someone I should see, tell me. I'm on Instagram, TikTok, X and Bluesky, and you can listen to our show as a podcast. First of all is also now streaming live and available anytime in the CNN app. For more info, visit CNN.com/watch.
Thank you for joining me today. Tune in for our first of all Thanksgiving weekend special next Saturday at 8:00 a.m. --
