IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

The Syllabus: What you should know for the May 5 ‘MHP’

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova will join Sunday's edition of "Melissa Harris-Perry" to discuss NBA player Jason Collins' revelation that he is gay. Also on the agenda: public shaming, rape culture on campus, Detroit's homeless, and the War on Drugs -- all at 10 a.m. EST on MSNBC!
/ Source: Melissa Harris Perry

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova will join Sunday's edition of "Melissa Harris-Perry" to discuss NBA player Jason Collins' revelation that he is gay. Also on the agenda: public shaming, rape culture on campus, Detroit's homeless, and the War on Drugs -- all at 10 a.m. EST on MSNBC!

At the end of this week, President Obama took a trip to Mexico to discuss ways to secure the border with Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto in an effort to push his immigration plan back home. One thing the president did not spend much time addressing was the increasingly volatile war on drugs. In the past four months alone, more than 4,000 people have been killed in drug related violence. While the president may not have been talking about drugs, on Thursday, Maryland partially legalized the medical use of marijuana. On Sunday’s show, Melissa Harris-Perry will discuss the national conversation we need to have about how the decades old war on drugs has really been a war on people and the need to reshape America’s drug policies.

We’ll also explore a lesser known war this country is fighting, the war on the homeless. This past April, the ACLU sent a letter to the Department of Justice and the Detroit police department, informing them that a year-long investigation uncovered practices of officers picking up and “dumping” homeless individuals outside the city lines.

In response to feedback she received from a student at Spelman College after our segment on sexual assaulton college campuses last week, Harris-Perry will highlight another example of rape and campus culture.

In addition, Sunday’s show will talk about the politics of public shaming, how it’s used, who uses it, and how effective it can be. Harris-Perry will specifically highlight Erica Lafferty’s one-woman mission to shame the senators who voted against the background check bill–a bill that could have conceivably saved the life of her mother, Sandy Hook Elementary principal Dawn Hochsprung. (See above MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell’s interview with Lafferty from earlier this week.)

Finally, the world of professional sports took a step forward this week when 12-year NBA veteran Jason Collins revealed in , becoming the first openly gay athlete active in one of the four major American sports. In light of the fact that many women and men in other sports have already made such a revelation, we’ll explore whether “coming out” still matters with tennis legend Martina Navratilova and retired NFL player Wade Davis, both currently LGBT activists.

Watch Melissa Harris-Perry Sunday at 10 a.m. EST on MSNBC, and be sure to join us on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #nerdland!