#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 2023 Hope Global Forums, Ala. Cops Fired, Charges Dropped for Ala. Riverboat Co-Captain

Episode Date: December 12, 2023

12.11.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: 2023 Hope Global Forums, Ala. Cops Fired, Charges Dropped for Ala. Riverboat Co-Captain We are live from the Hope Global Forums in Atlanta. This year's theme is "Making the Case for Optimism."   We have amazing interviews with folks like Mayor Andre Dickens, Motivational Speaker Les Brown,  the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau, and the 27th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Also, on tonight's show, Michigan is the first state that will automatically reinstate the voting rights of people leaving prisons. Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II is here to discuss this groundbreaking legislation.  In Alabama, cops get fired and suspended for killing a black man in front of his home. We'll tell you why the mayor did not name them.  Three men pleaded guilty in the Alabama Riverfront brawl, and the charges for the riverboat co-captain have been dropped.  A New Jersey man gets eight years in prison for his racist harassment of his black neighbors.  Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Today is Monday, December 11th, 2023, coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. We are live at the Global Hope Forum here in Atlanta. Folks, we will hear from, as we're speaking, Bishop T.D. Jacobs on the stage right now with John Hope, Brian Fowler, Operation Hope. We're going to hear from a variety of people, including Les Brown. We'll talk to the head of the United States Census, the head of the Small Business Administration, Mayor Andre Dickens. Lots of folks we'll hear from today. Also, we'll be talking to with Lieutenant Governor of Michigan.

Michigan will be the first state that will allow folks exiting prisons to be automatically registered to vote in Alabama. Cops get fired and suspended for killing a black man in front of his home. We'll give you those details. Also, three men involved in the Alabama Riverfront brawl have also pled guilty. We'll break all of this down for you. And also, you have, what's up to all the people trying to get the Harvard mayor, Harvard president, the first black female president, Claudine Gay, fired. We'll break down that as well. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go.

He's got whatever the piss he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. Watch our network. Let's go. He's rollin' Yeah, yeah It's Uncle Roro, yo Yeah, yeah It's Rollin' Martin Yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now Yeah, yeah He's punk, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's Rollin' Martin

Now He's rolling Martel. Martel. Folks, we're here live at Global Hope Forum in Atlanta. Folks are leaving the main ballroom. A few moments ago, Bishop T.D. Jakes finished the conversation with Operation Hope founder John Hope Bryant. We will hear from Bishop T.D. Jakes on tomorrow's show. We've been live broadcasting since yesterday. This is an annual event that we actually do here in Atlanta. Lots of conversation

here dealing with the issue of wealth creation, also eradicating poverty. Major speakers here, CEO of Truist Bank, UPS, as well as Delta Airlines, so many different CEOs who are here. One of the largest economic conferences in the country and certainly the largest as it relates to African-Americans. We'll have more on the Global Hope Forum in just a bit. Right now, though, I want to talk about what's happening in Michigan, where Michigan is the first state that is going to allow folks leaving prison to be automatically registered to vote. This is a huge decision. A bill was signed

into law by the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. It was a series of bills that she says will ensure all votes will be counted. Joining us right now is the lieutenant governor of Michigan, Garland Gilchrist II. Glad to have you here, Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist. Walk us through again how significant this is. And this is also a function of what happens when folks vote. You only could do this because Democrats control the House, control the Senate, and control the governor's mansion. That's right, Arlen. Let me tell you a story. So when I go to neighborhoods across the state of Michigan, I talk to brothers who are either working in a car or doing something.

And when I talk to them about being engaged politically, when they get ready to get engaged, they say, wait a minute, though, I'm not able to do it because I just came home. I can't vote. The law that Governor Whitmer signed, that the Democratic trifecta, the first one we've had in 40 years, sent her. That enables no man to ever have that experience, no woman to ever have that experience, because now they will know when they come home that they not only have the ability to vote, they are already registered to vote at the address they're going home to. This is a game changer for political empowerment and participation,

and it shows that voting enables more people to be able to vote. We're proud to be the first state in the nation to do this here in the state of Michigan. And look, we've seen the battle over voting rights for quite some time. And again, this is significant. This is not, you know, going through a signing procedure like in Virginia, restoring their right to vote. This means literally automatically doing it. They paid the price. They've done what they're supposed to do. And you're saying, no, you don't have to continue to be disenfranchised even though you serve your time. We have dealt a big L to the voter

suppressors here in the state of Michigan. And frankly, that's what we're about. Look, I'm a systems guy, Roland. I'm an engineer. I believe that people, when they are allowed to have justice, we should give them their justice and not put barriers in between us, whether that is automatically register to vote when you come home, whether that is automatically clearing your record of criminal offenses once you are eligible for that and not having to get money or hire a lawyer or wait. What about making justice happen immediately for people so they can be focused on their health and their wealth and creating a better future. Also, you're going to be allowing 16 and 17 year olds to pre-register

to vote. Explain that. This is about making sure that young people understand that they can step into their power immediately and without barriers. Again, just like we want people to automatically have their rights restored once they come home, we want young people to step right into the political process without any barriers, to do so seamlessly, and they can know what it means to vote. I started something called the My First Voter Initiative to make sure people have great first-time voting experiences. And this is about that. Sixteen- to seven-year-olds will not be able to practice voting before they actually can preregister and then be able to do it. So, again, we want everybody to participate in our democracy.

As in Michigan, Democrats in Michigan, we're not afraid of people voting. We want everyone to do it who's eligible, unlike Republicans in other parts of the country. This is obviously important because when Donald Trump was lying about the election, one of the things he did, he was targeting, frankly, black cities. When you often heard him talk about voting irregularities or cheating, he would say Fulton County here in Atlanta. He would say Philadelphia. He would say Milwaukee. And then he would say Detroit. And so Republicans in that state, even a Republican leader in 2020 said, let's count all the ballots in Michigan except Detroit. And so what we have seen,

Republicans absolutely have been targeting Black voters in your state and all across the country. Roland, it was so disgusting. And I take that personally. I am a Black Detroit voter. That would have been one of my absentee votes or the absentee vote of my wife that wouldn't have been counted if Republicans had their way. That's, again, because they're scared of people voting. They're scared of Black folks voting because they know that when we participate in the numbers that we are capable of, we can make change. And we were able to show up here in Michigan and deliver a Democratic trifecta that has pushed back on those bad Republican policies that made things more expensive for families, that made it more expensive to be retired in the state of Michigan,

that took money out of working families' pockets and made it harder to organize a labor union. We fixed that with this Democratic leadership in Michigan. We're going to keep that momentum going. Last question for you. Look, you have a large, large Arab American population in your state. Folks are not happy with what's happening in Israel and Gaza. We're seeing people say, hey, I'm not going to vote for Biden, Harris. This is going to be a close election again. And so looking at that, you know, what are you saying? What are you hearing when you're talking to people in Michigan who, whether it's Israel, Gaza, whether the people say not satisfied,

what are you hearing from them when they say, you know what, I might sit this election out? What are you saying to them? Well, look, I was in Dearborn, Michigan, the home to the largest Arab American population, largest Arab population outside of the Middle East, this morning during an event. It's important that we continue to have conversation and be engaged with people. What's happening in the Middle East is horrific. The things that Hamas did were horrific. The women and children that are dying in Gaza are horrific. And I just want people to say, recognize that being engaged in the political process is how we make things better, not by disengaging. So,

I don't want anybody to walk away from their power of voting. All right. Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist, we appreciate you being here on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Always good to be with you. All right, folks, going to go to break. We come back. I'll introduce my panel. We'll also talk with some folks here, including John Hope Bryant, the founder of Operation Hope, the brain behind this Global Hope Forum. We'll talk about exactly what this means. We'll also hear from a number of people who have spoken here today. We got a chance to sit down with several of them, including the head of the United States Census,

head of the Small Business Administration. Also, motivational speaker, Les Brown, plus the mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickens. Folks, this is Rolling Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network broadcasting live from the Global Hope Forum here in Atlanta. Back in a moment. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. And on the next Get Wealthy, what do the ultra wealthy know that most of us don't? Well, the truth is that there is financial exclusion. And unfortunately, far too many black folks haven't had access to this knowledge. And that's exactly what we're going to talk about on our next Get Wealthy with Melinda Hightower, a banker

who's doing something to share exactly what you need to do to make it into the high network status they weren't just saving just to save they were saving for a purpose that's right here on get wealthy with me america's wealth coach only on blackstar network I'm Dee Barnes and on the next Frequency, Professor Janelle Hobson joins us to talk about hip hop and its intersection with feminism and racial equality, plus her enlightening work with Ms. Magazine and how the great Harriet Tubman connects with women in hip-hop. So it was not hard for me to go from Harriet Tubman to hip-hop, honestly, because it is a legacy of Black women's resistance and Black women supporting our communities. That's what Harriet Tubman did. That's on The Frequency on the Black Star Network.

Hey, what's up? It's Tammy Roman. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherri Shepherd Talk Show. It's me, Sherri Shepherd, and you know what you're watching, Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, we're here at Global Hope Forum here in Atlanta. The last session for today just let out. Well, actually, it's going to be a dinner in about a half an hour. And so folks are here in the lobby of the ballroom. This event is being held here. This is the same ballroom in which where the SCLC

last met with Dr. King when he actually spoke here. And so there is a there's a connection, if you will, between that and Ambassador Andrew Young is the as he always is, is the co-chair of this conference. And so that's what is going on here. And so you see here the host of people who are here. But there are also thousands of people who have also registered online for the Global Hope Forum. In a moment, we hope to chat with John O'Brien, who is the founder of Operation Hope. So we hope to see him in a little bit. But right now, I want to introduce my panel. Dr. Julianne Malveaux, economist, president of Maryland, been in college, also an author out of Washington, D.C.

Dr. Amakango Dabinga, senior professorial lecturer, School of International Service, American University. Teron Walker, founder of Context Media out of Atlanta. I want to start with you, Julian. You heard Lieutenant Governor there. And to me, this is a perfect example of what you're supposed to do if you're a Democrat and you get power. That is, you change the voting laws. They took control of the House, took control of the Senate, got a governor's mansion.

And this is what you do. And so more states where Democrats have control, Maryland, in other governor's mansion, and this is what you do. And so more states where Democrats control Maryland and other places, Illinois should be doing the exact same thing, expanding access to the ballot. Michigan really is doing a very good job. Grant Wichmer and Garland, the two of them, dynamic duo. I heard him speak when he was here in Washington for a fundraiser, and I was left away fully impressed. Unfortunately, you don't see that same kind of activism. Are they scared? In other places, Maryland would be a notable example right next door. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

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and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. But restoring felons, former felons, reformed felons, their voting rights right after they leave, no hoops to jump through, no nothing. You just, you're now a citizen. You paid your debt to society, vote. And it's really important that you mention the orange man and his targeting of areas that are heavily black.

Mention calling out Detroit by name, Atlanta by name, Philly by name. He's he's confirming everything we ever thought about him in terms of the ways that he believes or feels about black people and black voters. And from that perspective, we know that we must be vigilant to ensure that that man is not reelected. And what that means is that I am so angry. I woke up this morning livid that the president of Penn resigned over the interpretation of anti-Semitic comments. Intifada means resistance. Intifada means resistance. It doesn't mean kill all the Jews. But she was goaded out primarily because the college president's number one job, of course, is fundraising. And she lost a big donor. So I woke up like livid. And what made me even more

livid is these young people who say they won't vote for Biden, but they'll vote for Trump. I mean, come on, y'all. Have you lost your whole minds? What do you think you're going to get from Trump? You don't you don't get a plus. But here's the deal. But but but but but but it's real. But but it's real. But I want to come back to that. But I want to stay on, again, this point of how you properly use power on the Congo. And again, what I need people to understand is that what Michigan is showing you is what happens when you have that power and you change the laws. Because once you expand the voting rights, it's harder to turn the clock back. That's right. That's right. I mean, once you get access to something, you don't want to lose it. And what's beautiful about what they're doing is they're getting it on the front end and the back end.

You know, they're getting it with the older populations, people who are incarcerated coming out and then starting to streamline the process for 16 to 17 year olds. The nation needs to follow Michigan's lead the nation needs to follow Michigan's lead. Biden needs to follow Michigan's lead. Roland, every poll that we're coming out with over the last week, the next two weeks, oh, Trump is gaining this, Trump is gaining that, Trump is gaining that. We're like a little bit under a year out, and people are already working to predict Biden's loss. Biden needs to, number one, get out there and continue to tout his record

and what they have done in terms of infrastructure and other things, HBCUs and the like. But he also needs to talk about the fact that places like Michigan are leading the way to expand voting rights against a party that's working actively to contract them, particularly in our communities. And remind people that the Jack Smith case, I know you can't talk about it directly, but Trump is being charged under the KKK Act for trying to disrupt people's opportunities to vote. And so when we see what Michigan is doing, Joe Biden has to talk about we need Democrats in power at every level right now. People are going to talk about this is the most important election coming up. Talk about why. Talk about why. Talk about why. And we know that Trump's base

is not expanding. So what they are actually working to do is to shrink Biden's base. And so when people are coming out from prison and can be able to say that Democrats gave you that right to vote, and I know it's not going into effect until 2025, but the fact of the matter is I'm sure they're taking other steps to make sure that those who come out before 2024 are able to vote as well, hopefully. But this needs to happen. And you talk about Maryland and we talk about other states. To not do this is to waste your position. And we need all hands on deck right now.

So kudos to Michigan for what they're doing there, for what they're doing on abortion, for what they're doing on many levels. And you talk about people within the Arab community there who might be going against Biden as well. They really got to think about the alternative, because someone coming into office like Trump is going to let Bidna and Yahoo run rampant over Gaza and work to kick them out of the United States. Where are you going to go?

And that is when we talk about, again, when you have power, use it for the longest, for the longest. New York State, blue state. They've had some they had some of the most awful voting laws of any state in the union. And you're sitting here going, how in the hell are you a so-called blue state? Black voters matter, although they spent lots of time in the south. They actually led some protests in New York City over their voting laws. You know, this is something that me and you have talked about on a regular basis, where you have power, where Democratic states and Democratic machines in different states are able to get some serious gains. And then what happens is they don't really tout those gains. It's like it becomes a local story. It's a two-day story. And then nothing happens. And I can't understand for the life of me

why the democratic establishment does not get behind actual active democratic machines and say, this is what we're doing. This is what's been done. This is why you should get on board. And this is something that happens over and over and over again. If people are not aware of what you're doing, then it doesn't exist. This is just the bottom line. You have to be able to access media. You have to be able to craft a message to people who are not on board and say, this is what's going on and these are the dangers. But they refuse to do that. And if you don't capitalize on the good things that are being done, the opposition is absolutely going to capitalize on the things that they're doing that might be negatively affecting your voting base.

I don't get it. Well, again, it is great that Michigan is doing what they are doing when it comes to this law, especially pre-registering 16 and 17 year olds. And again, allowing people the moment they leave prison to be automatically registered to vote. Got to go to break. We come back. We'll chat with John Hope Bryan, founder of Operation Hope, about this year's Global Hope Forum. Their focus on optimism. That is their focus on optimism. That is the agenda that is being set. A lot of major speakers that are coming through here. And we'll hear from some of those folks who are on the stage today, including the head of the U.S. Census Bureau, the head of the Small Business Administration,

talking about what the Biden-Harris administration has done to help Black-owned businesses. We'll also hear from the mayor of Atlanta, talk about the importance of Black power, having consecutive Black mayors, what it has meant for Atlanta. And also, Les Brown will talk about how do we reprogram the mind for greatness. Folks, you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. Support us in what we do. Your dollars allow us to do what we do all across this country, and that is cover the stories that matter to you.

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Rolling that rolling Martin unfiltered dot com. Be sure to get a copy of my book. Why fear how the grounding of America is making white folks lose their minds. Available at bookstores nationwide. Get the audio version on audible. We'll be right back. Next, on The Black Table, with me, Greg Carr. We featured the brand new work of Professor Angie Porter, which, simply put, is a revolutionary reframing of the African experience in this country. It's the one legal article everyone, and I mean everyone, should read. Professor Porter and Dr. Vletia Watkins, our legal roundtable team, join us to explore the paper that I guarantee is going to prompt a major aha moment in our culture. You crystallize it by saying, who are we to other people? Who are African people to others?

Governance is our thing. Who are we to each other? The structures we create for ourselves, how we order the universe as African people. That's next on The Black Table, here on The Black Star Network. Grow your business or career with Grow with Google's wide range of online courses, digital training, and tools. Gain in-demand job skills with flexible online training programs

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Keith Turino, place to be. Got kicked out your mama's university, creator and executive producer of Fat Tuesdays, an air hip hop comedy. But right now I'm rolling with Roland Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. You hear me? Global Hope Forum here in Atlanta.

Thousands are registered for this economic conference that focuses on ending poverty and also wealth creation. It is a jam-packed schedule. This year's theme is called Making the Case for Optimism. And just a few moments ago, Bishop T.D. Jakes ended his conversation on stage with John O'Brien. Bishop Jakes will join us tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered regarding a major initiative that he is launching, that he'll be announcing here in Atlanta. So we have those details for you on tomorrow. A little bit earlier, folks, we got an opportunity to catch up with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. He is the seventh consecutive black mayor here in Atlanta. And as we talked about, that plays a huge role in this being called the black Mecca all across the country, but also across the world.

Here's our conversation. Mayor, how you doing? I'm doing great, man. Welcome to Atlanta again. Absolutely, absolutely. The last time I was here, I popped in. I think it was at the Chris Tucker Golf Tournament, but I think InvestBest was going on. So now

we've been here the last several years for Global Hope Forum. So let's talk about why money conversations are so crucial in the role that Atlanta plays in that when it comes to African-Americans. Yeah, we just love the fact that people choose Atlanta to host these kind of conferences, these forums, these summits, because we are on top of a bedrock of good mayoral leadership, starting with Maynard Jackson, where he stressed economic inclusion. We have black population here.

We have black institutions here from Spelman Morehouse, Clark, ITC, Morris Brown. But what we didn't have was black economic inclusion in government, et cetera. And so once he started that, then we had black banking and we didn't have black economic power in terms of government and contracting. And so it's important that we use Atlanta as a springboard, as a launchpad for across the nation. And that's why we lead in the minority business development opportunities that we have. And so I'm grateful that Hope Global Forum, InvestFest and others choose Atlanta to do that. When I was in Chicago before the runoff there, where Brendan Johnson was elected, I was explaining to this one brother, I said, because I was trying to explain to him why Atlanta

has been so successful. And I said, because you've had consecutive elections of black mayors. So prior to him, this was the first time, because you had Harold Washington, he passes away, and then, of course, you don't see another one elected for, you know, almost 30 years. Lightfoot then followed. Well, in Houston, Sylvester Turner, Sheila Jackson Lee just loses. And so that is, I think, the biggest difference, having that back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back of black mayors driving a very similar economic agenda. I believe you're right on that. Continuity has a great purpose.

And so I'm the seventh black mayor in Atlanta. When I was born, there was a black mayor. His name was Maynard Jackson. And here I am living after that legacy. And so I look up to Sylvester Turner and I wish that, you know, in Houston, they would have this kind of lineage that we have. I wish it in Chicago. They would, you think about New York, they're on their second black mayor, you know, from Dinkins to Adams. And so this is a long gap between those two long gap. And so I think that when we look at it, Atlanta has to continue to lead from the front in

that, but also bring some others along, which means that every minute the bar gets higher and higher to prove that this is a formula for success, to make sure that they rise up the black economics and run the city well, so that we don't just use, you know, our blackness as a crutch, but we actually improve the city each and every time we go into a new form of leadership. One of the things that I keep focusing on to do that is you got to have folk turn out who are voting. And we've seen some elections where, I mean, it's been woeful and awful.

Here we are going to the election next year. And I'm constantly trying to make the point to our people that you can be frustrated, you can be angry, you can be upset, you can say enough hasn't been done. But the absolute dumbest thing to do is to sit on the couch because that means you're giving somebody else the power and the authority to govern. Man, Roland, I've been watching you on social media and watching you here on Unfiltered. I'm. Man, Roland, I've been watching you on social media and watching you here on Unfiltered. I'm telling you, man, and I'm telling your voters and telling your folks, you are absolutely right. The dumbest thing you can do is to not vote,

to not show up. It's your free right. You get that. So make sure you use it. The second dumbest thing you can do is vote for Trump. So I'm going to say it. Others might not be able to say it. So you can't not vote and you can is vote for Trump. So I'm going to say it. Others might not be able to say it. So you can't not vote

and you can't vote for Trump. Which doesn't mean that you don't push Biden-Harris. Oh, we got to push Biden-Harris to do their thing. You don't judge Biden-Harris against the Almighty, though, against God. You judge them up against the competition, which is Trump and whoever he, you know, begs, borrows,

or convinces to go as a running man. Hell, he might even do it on his own. That's how he create how crazy is no vice president. So I think that you judge Biden Harris up against the alternative, which is, you know, a dictatorship and one that benefited greatly from Obama administration providing this economic upturn that then Trump just, you know, utilized that as a springboard to give away the things that were necessary at the time during COVID. But it was because of the economic power and strength of good leadership that Obama provided. And so people take it for granted. And I mean, you, I watch you, I see you and you're out there fighting the good fight, man, trying to tell people, look, vote. It's important. And people get frustrated because of one issue or that issue. We got to hold them accountable on those one or two issues.

It may even be three issues. But do not, do not think for a second that if you give this ball back to Trump, that he will be more emboldened, more empowered. Right. And the people that are underneath him as minions will make us be penalized for it. Well, I had a huge argument, and I've literally said, you've got to do hand-to-hand combat even on social media. And I had a brother who was telling me that it was performative, these 50 black federal

judges. And I said, do you understand the power of federal judges? I said, do you understand, I said, they can rule on any of these laws. And so I think part of this is also, which I think the administration actually do a better job. They got to connect the dots to say, listen, judges are important. Administrators are important. Who controls the levels of power are important because the thing that you say you want can't get done if you're not in power. Right. If we care about our kids and our grandkids, we need to be thinking about judges because they are lifetime appointees.

And so what what Biden Harris did was really put in place a substantial number of African-American and, of course, the first female black female to be appointed to the high court or Supreme Court to be able to do that. These are lifetime appointments. So when we love our families, we love our kids and our grandkids, it happens in the judicial system. And I'm applauding them for that. And we have to really, you know, make our friends and our family members aware of what that means for them. You here in Georgia, and it was all this talk, black men were not going to vote for Stacey Abrams. When the data was then looked at, that was an absolute lie. You're seeing these pollings showing, oh, oh, 20 percent of black people for Trump. We saw what happened in the last election.

And I'm seeing a lot of this conversation amongst these brothers. What I'm saying to them is you can't only be saying, well, my pockets were full during Trump, but I understand how your pockets got full. That was a Democratic House that passed stimulus bills. That was a Democratic House that passed the First Step Act. So this idea that Trump made all these things happen is crazy. But I keep saying, you might say, oh, there's one thing I really like, Trump, or I love the strength. I'm like, but it's a whole host of stuff over here that's going to be detrimental to you, your mama and your daddy and your brothers and sisters. And I'm like, but go ahead and F around. Y'all about to find out. And I'm like, this thing is real. They are what they are planning to do if he gets back in and

they control the House and the Senate will be disastrous for our community. Absolutely. You can even just see how many copycats he's got. DeSantis is a carbon copy of the worst form of Donald Trump. And he's running against Donald Trump. And so you look at how many minions he's created across the country in those four years. Think about how empowered he would be in the Senate and in the House. And if it was not for the Obama administration and that Democratic led Congress, we wouldn't have been able to have the resources that we have now or we had to be able to, you know, do all those incentives that we have. And let's not forget these things like the reduction of insulin costs that affects us. And Trump a week ago or maybe two weeks ago said that he was thinking about undoing some of the Medicaid expansion stuff that we have. Do you know how many people in Georgia, how many black? How many black people? Come on. How many black people need that Medicaid? And he would just take it away?

So this is important stuff. And so, you know, you have to sometimes think about the absence of what you have. It can get worse. And so, you know, I talked to, you know, Madam Vice President. Madam Vice President says, you know, she's going to be on the campaign trail. She's going to make sure her voice is heard. We'll be talking right to our communities. I talked to Mr. President. He said we're coming out hard to make sure that we get this vote back out. And so for us, we've got to encourage people to stay in the game, keep their head in the game, and go out there and vote once again.

And as I say, make demands, vote, but don't leave when the election is over. Then you've got to press to make sure the thing that you demanded actually happens. That's right. That's how it works. Hey, y'all do it to me every day up here in the city of Atlanta. I can't go to the grocery store without, hey, I hear it. That's how it is, though. In the mayoral seat, you know, you talk to people. Or you over here just waiting, you know,

hanging out with your friends at a restaurant. Folks are going to say, hey, man, I like what you're doing, but can I get a... Let me holler at you. Let me holler at you. Man, I appreciate it. Always good to see you. Always good to see you, too. And again, and to Scott Bolden, who's watching, I told you, Scott, every

now and then, I'll allow cappers on my show. Scott says I have too many alphas on. I said, well, we run a lot of stuff. My bad. Oh, man. That sounds like a sneaky way of saying whatever you said to say congratulations to the news for being on your show. No, I'm just saying. I mean, I'm here.

I'm here to sort of point that thing out. I love everybody, man. I appreciate it. I'm about to go to a break. I'm about to come back and talk to another Kappa. You know what? I think this is Lord have mercy week for me to have back-to-back Kappas on my show. That ain't never happened, only in the name of Jesus.

All right, y'all. We'll be back. Roland Martin on the filter on the Black Star Network, broadcasting live from Global Hope Forum here in Atlanta. Back in a moment. Hatred on the streets a whole... I know a lot of cops,

and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

Terrific scene. A white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn mind there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the u.s capital we're about to see the rise of what i call white minority resistance we have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history.

Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at every university calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people.

The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white people. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for a balanced life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie.

Hey, what's up, y'all? I'm Devon Frank. I'm Dr. Robin B., pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin unfiltered. All right, come back from break. Bring it up. All right, folks, welcome back to Global Hope Forum. I'm Roland Martin.

Glad to be with you. Joining us right now, he leads new birth uh missionary baptist church again i am scott scott bolding you will be so happy for me to have another kappa on the show uh pastor jamal brian what's up doc how you doing man it's good welcome to kappa land now we know that's a lie for those who are living we know for those who are living. I mean, everybody knows. Everybody knows. Alpha put the A in Atlanta. I concede immediately. Yeah, precisely. I concede immediately. Right, right there.

You should have started with no mods, no mods. I don't know what I was thinking. No, I'm there. Welcome to Switzerland. I had a CTV moment. I don't know. I know you done lost your mind. Let me go on record before we talk about anything

I'm I'm blaming myself in the Christmas spirit say Roland Martin is clean Roland Martin is clean we've been in this fight for 10 years starting at the essence festival let me say at global forum 2023 Roland Martin is clean just so y'all know, the white outfit I had on at the Color Purple premiere, I've had for about three months. And I told Jamal, I said, Jamal, I said, I ain't telling you the color. I said, but when I dropped this outfit. Let me tell you how much God loves me. I was supposed to be there. My flight was late coming in from Ghana. I missed the connecting flight. The next day I saw all of these posts. I said, I'd have been dead on the red carpet.

They wouldn't have known the carpet from my blood. So I conceded, but nonetheless, I'm glad you brought some fabric back. Ohceded. But nonetheless, I'm glad to be with you, sir. But you just got back. So I take it you brought some fabric back? Oh, listen. In case you all don't know, there's going to be a special premiere week on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Kwanzaa, I am a self-invited guest. If he does not put me on the show, check his feed. But for seven days straight, I will be on roll.

I'm saying you moja Imani every day. I'm giving you the word of the day for guest commentator for Kwanzaa. I'll be waiting, but just understand as we speak. Yes, there's a black and gold being made.

Yeah, well, we don't know if that mail is going to come in as we speak. H. There's a black and gold being made. Yeah, well, we don't know if that mail is going to come in. As we speak. DHL is horrible. No, no. He in Highsville, Maryland. Who? I can drive to go pick it up. I ordered the fabric from Donna. It was shipped to me, and I took

it to my... See, I have... I got two African tailors. Y'all got to forgive us. We haven't caught up in a while. I got a I got a I got a I got a tailor in a car and I got an African tailor in Maryland. We have the global hope for on a case for optimism. Y'all got to forgive us. I got lots. Yeah. You ain't got much optimism. Oh,all got to forgive us. I got lots of... Yeah, you ain't got much optimism. You never mentioned told me this. Oh, yeah.

In Hydesville. Hydesville, Maryland. Yeah, African right there. I got all the fabric I got from Liberia. They just gave me fabric. And I brought it back and I was like, alright, let's do some stuff. Oh, yes. Listen,

I'll be home for Christmas. We are going to Highsville. You tell me what day. You can blindfold me so I don't know how to get there without you. But we are going to Highsville over Christmas. You hear that, Dana Joy? He's going to be coming. He's going to be coming.

Absolutely. All right, let's talk a little business here. First off, you've now been hit a new birth. How long? If I tell you, you're going to die. Yesterday made five years. Five? Yesterday.

I was about to say three. No. Five? Pandemic threw that timetable off. You ain't lying. Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

So it has been. So. Let me do another plug. The very first interview I did to say I was moving to Atlanta was Roland Martin. Absolutely, absolutely. Every political moment, Roland Martin has been there. Subscribe, follow, share, donate to Roland Martin. Y'all been doing it.

I was there for a book signing. I appreciate that. We had a great book signing. But the things, talk about this medical clinic y'all just opened. Yes. So we just opened a full service medical clinic that is open five days a week. It is for insured, uninsured, Medicaid. You can do x-rays, preventative care, screening.

We have one of five in the world, one of five in the world where you can get your blood test and get the results back in 10 minutes. Wow. So you don't have to go anywhere else. It is absolutely amazing. It's changing healthcare for the urban construct. So you between that and also the food drives and toy drives, I'm here because we just, the backpacks, the school supplies. We just got a permit rolling a month ago to build 150 mini houses that we are only going to sell to millennial couples to reintroduce the mind frame of a starter house. Right. And ownership.

And ownership. Because in Atlanta, we're losing our minds. We're having housewarming parties for apartments. So we've got to change what that mind frame looks like and change what is the responsibility of the church. Roland, New Birth is the largest land-owning black church in America, and all we had was a sanctuary and a gymnasium. But doing nothing really in terms of community development, economic development, and community engagement, so we're trying to really take a bite out of that.

And that was also carrying a significant amount of debt. $32 million. $32 million through the grace of God. We're now down to $13 million, so we're trying to pay it off in the next three to four years. What is what has do you believe that you said five years? Yes. But I really believe and I said this in many places, in many places.

And you know, we talked about it, that the pandemic, if there was a silver lining in the pandemic. Yes. It actually forced black churches to have to catch up. Because I think you said normally black, they're 15 years behind. That's right. What is agonizing is that 3,165 black churches closed in the pandemic. Benjamin May said, if you don't run faster, you're going to be left behind. And so if you think about the average, and you travel across the country more than I do,

the average black church is proud to be streaming on Facebook when the kids are on TikTok. Only 3% of black churches have a TikTok account. Wow. So we're running so far behind. We left Facebook when our parents tried to friend us. So we went on the other side of the vehicle. And so the churches that are dealing with technology and are really looking in a forward direction, those are the ones that are really winning. Yeah, man, I remember during the pandemic, you hit me like, hey, can you teach a class for these churches? Yes. And it was hundreds of folks who were on there who just had no idea on how to even do this thing. I remember somebody, they were trying to put an iPad on a tripod. I said, no, no, we can't do that.

No, really. And I'm giving you your flowers while they're due. Roland Martin was a blessing to 1,000 pastors over the pandemic on stuff you would take for granted. What camera to buy? What lighting kits to buy? What setup? And what I say to pastors,

before the pandemic, I didn't know the names of my cameramen. I didn't. I didn't know who was running sound. I just got up, started preaching. Now, I want to know how your mama doing. How are the kids? Because the pandemic taught me I can have church without a choir, but I can't do it without a camera.

So just so y'all know, y'all going to crack up at this here. So probably the first two Sundays you preach. Y'all, this is me at the house. Yes. I forgot about that. Yeah, this is me at the house. I'm like, no, y'all, he on? I need y'all to understand.

He on the stage. Yes. I'm texting. Say, man, your crawl not good. Yes. The light is off. That graphically posted. The light is off. That graphically posted. The angle is off.

Why aren't y'all streaming to this platform too? Go to Switchboard Live. I forgot about that. I was sitting there. I was doing a critique of the whole broadcast, and it wasn't about being mean-spirited. No, you were helping. Literally, listen, I do this every day, and here's how to accelerate.

And even when it's something y'all were doing with giving, I was like, hey, uh-uh, no. Give all these different ways because the people are operating in a completely different way now than how the church is always operating. Bishop Jakes just said in a panel moments ago here at the forum that business is really about relationships. It's not even about knowledge, but how you connect. Les Brown said your network isn't connected to your network. And so you saved me a lot of money and a lot of months of agony in a place where I didn't know anybody. So for you to give me that, I'm grateful. But really, I want to champion make sure you develop those relationships.

And also, I think this is the moment that I think what this generation is looking for is for the black church to return to what it used to do, which was lead. We talked about this here, that the Black Lives Matter movement was the first movement in history that involved black people that was not led by the church. Yes. And people have heard folk talk about health, economics or whatever, but you have not seen the church actually do it. And so the stuff that y'all are doing, I even said, and I go ahead and say it, because I heard from some of the Atlanta preacher haters when you came here.

Yes. And they were saying a whole bunch of stuff. And again, y'all know who y'all are, trying to bring up everything in a mama. And I was like, oh, no, no, y'all about to do some work. Oh, yeah. Because the reality is people want to see the church do more than just preach on Sunday and have Bible study on Wednesday. And that's why millennials aren't going, because they don't want to turn to your neighbor

if you're not really going in the neighborhood. And so they are not around how can we save the building, but how can we save the block? And so the churches that are tapping into millennials and Gen Zs is beyond won't he do it and ain't he all right? But are we doing all right? That's giving some practical application of how it is that you move and how it is that you function. Your own pastor, Dr. West, in Houston, has modeled how to have an effective multigenerational church by being theological and practical. That for you to be relevant don't mean you got to dummy down. It means you got to pull the community up.

And so the churches that are flourishing are the ones that are doing that. And also realizing because of technology, you now have international church. The weekend I was there with the book signing, there were some folks there who are from another state or another country. Pastor Keon Henderson talks about he runs into people when he travels by saying, Pastor, I'm a member of your church. They ain't never been to the church, but technology is actually bringing them in as members. Yeah, so it is really, John Wesley said,

the world is our parish. And so we can't operate like it's just a community church when you are a global church. I'll give an example. Christmas Eve, which is a Sunday this year, all of the Christian Palestinians that live in Georgia are coming to our church. We're doing a joint service with the Orthodox Palestinians.

Their choir is going to be singing. We're interfusing the liturgy. And then after service, we're going outside to do a moment of silence for the 17,000 that have been killed. That's how you have a local church with a global understanding, a global grasp of what's taking place. All right, then. Well, looking forward to that. And one of your team members has been hitting me.

He wants to get your church service on the Black Star Network. We have to. We have to. So I got the email. I've been a little bit busy. So we're going to figure out how we coordinate that. I want to say live, if you can help us, we want to go live

starting on New Year's Eve. Oh yeah, we can do that. Expedite my paperwork. We can do that. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. I'll see y'all in Kwanzaa. Seven days of agony for Roland Martin. I just got two words. Bring it.

I appreciate it. Thanks so much. All right, folks, got to go to a break. We'll be right back. Roland Martin unfiltered right here on the Black Study Hour. Blackness and what happens in black culture. We're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people powered movement.

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go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash App is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. I'm Faraiq Muhammad, live from L.A. And this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation.

You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together. So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st

and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Субтитры подогнал «Симон» Hello, we're the Critter Fixers. I'm Dr. Bernard Hodges. And I'm Dr. Terrence Ferguson. And you're tuning into... Roland Martin Unf Filthy. Folks, let's go to Alabama, where a mayor there has fired three officers and suspended another involved in the shooting death of a black man. Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling did not release the names of the officers,

but said they will have the option to appeal his decision of termination. If the officers decide to appeal, their names, charters, and other details will become public as part of a potential personnel board appeals hearing. Stephen Perkins was shot and killed outside of his home in the early hours of September 29th by Decatur Police Department officers after an altercation with a tow truck driver. This is an absolutely strange story on the Congo because in essence, these police officers were in cahoots with this tow truck driver where they basically set a trap for this brother, shoot a shot and killed him.

Then we later found out that his car and an error was made and his car was not supposed to be repossessed. So he was defending his turf. And so if you look at the video and we played it, these officers are literally hiding behind vehicles at two o'clock in the morning, setting a trap to ambush and shoot and kill this brother. It's more like an execution than anything else. And when you look at the story, we think about the family and what he left, what he left behind. And first of all, we also have to be mindful of the fact that the officers lied in terms of what they initially said. They talked about the fact that when they approached him, they told him, you know, to drop the weapon and the like. And then later on, it turns out,

they said that they apparently told him just to get on the ground. And so people are getting fired and suspended. But what about criminal charges? What about, you know, lying on these police reports and the like? This brother, 39 years old, lost his life because of some type of ambush. My hope is that by amplifying this here, because no one else is talking about it anywhere else, the Justice Department needs to look into this, because this, to me, speaks to a level of corruption that's at a much deeper level in that entire department. And I think those names should be released, including the one who got suspended as well, because this cannot be the end of it. In our community, we can't just be enough to say that

people got fired or people got suspended. We need prosecutions. We need criminal charges. They set this brother up. They lied about the reports. And now we have another family without a father who also, by the way, feared that he was going to be killed by the police one day. That's what he feared that so many of us feared. And it came to fruition under the most heinous of circumstances. A deeper investigation needs to be done on this. So, Ron, this story is beyond shameful. For the police to be in cahoots with a tow truck driver who was trying to repossess a vehicle, the driver claims he went there, the guy shot at him.

He leaves, calls the cops, brings the cops back, and they basically, I mean, the video shows, they are hiding behind vehicles across the street, waiting for the brother to come out of his home, and then they shoot and kill him you know right here to run this office this this officer is you see the tow truck driver come up this officer is like like they're waiting for something to happen that's how crazy this story is it's crazy but unfortunately because we live in this society, this is something that's not uncommon. Unfortunately, a lot too often, capital and business and law enforcement work hand in hand to serve each other and not serve the people.

And also, this happened in the Deep South. Now, that's not to say anything about the Deep South, but there's a long history in the Deep South of black men suspiciously dying at the hands of police and nothing happening. We happen to live in a time now where we have all this technology and we have social media where you see the things that are playing out. But also just the fact that they were let go and just the fact that they were, the city council and the mayor was able to get in front of this somewhat only because of this video

getting out and saying that these officers are going to be somewhat quote unquote disciplined is a way to kind of cover themselves and say, see, we're doing something. But if you let something like that go out and then you let it go away, it becomes a one day story or a two day story. And then it goes out of the public mind. The activists in that city need to be more. I don't want to say they'd be more proactive, but they need to push the story on a national level so it doesn't get buried like things that happened to our brothers in the 40s and 50s and 60s. This is on a continuum. These things have always happened. These things have always taken place. But now we have the ability to be able to put these things in front of the wider world, but it's got to be consistent. It's 7 o'clock.

Now, if this were a simple impoundment, you're taking a car because whatever, there's a whole other way to do this. And if the brother came out and there was some words, they could come back. They could come back in the daytime. They did not have to ambush him. This is, white people can do whatever they want to, or police, whatever they want to the black people with absolutely no consequences. And as Omicongo says, here's another family now who's losing a father, another group of young people, children who are traumatized. I salute you, of course. We always do for bringing these stories to light that don't see light too often.

But it's not just on Roland Martin. As the other brother said, who lives in that town? What are you doing about it? Who elected these clowns on the city council? The mayor's doing the right thing, kind of. Why don't we know their names? It ain't secret. We know the name of the brother who was killed. We need to know the names of the people who killed him. This is just, again, apoplectically annoying at best. It's too much. It happens. It's like the chink, chink, chink of the water coming out every single day or every single week.

Roland, somebody has to take responsibility. You're right. DOJ has to be investigating this. But even more than this, all those police officers need to be tried for murder. That's what it was. They murdered this man and with the tow truck driver, murder and conspiracy to commit murder. That's what this is. Absolutely. Now, let's also talk about another story out of Alabama. Three people have pled guilty to their role in the Montgomery, Alabama, riverfront brawl.

Zachary Shipman and Alan Todd pled guilty to a lesser charge of harassment. They were initially charged with third-degree assault for their role in the fight. Shipman and Todd will have a 60-day suspended sentence with 12 months of court-supervised probation, paid court costs, 100 hours of community service, and an anger management program as part of their guilty plea. Reggie Bernard Ray, the man who used the folding chair as a weapon, pled guilty to disorderly conduct but managed to avoid jail time. He received a 90-day suspended jail sentence and has been ordered to perform 50 hours of community service and pay $357 in court costs. The charges against co-captain Damian Pickett have been dismissed. That toe run is certainly good news.

There was no reason in the world for that brother, the co-captain, to be charged in this case when he was simply defending himself. Let's put a fund together to pay that brother's fine and get him on off of that. Good idea. That's my feeling about that particular situation. And I'm actually surprised that anything happened to the guys who instigated this fight. I mean, you know, the way this was portrayed, it was going to be a situation where, thankfully, again, this is the power of media and this is the power of social media. If this would have been an isolated case, who knows what those brothers who defended themselves would have got charged with. You know what I mean?

This is how things happen all the time. If things happen in the dark, you're able to take the situation and blow it up to be way worse than it might've been. But something that it could have been a minor incident becomes, could have been a heavy misdemeanor or something like a felony. So I'm glad that brother got some similar suggestions. He shouldn't have got anything. He was defending himself. And I'm glad the rest of those guys are going to have to pay the price for instigating the fight. So I'm glad. I wish those guys, I wish those guys had to spend some jail time. I mean, they just have a suspended sentence to me is insufficient. Nothing is preventing them from resting in their car Cassidy. They're probably sitting someplace bragging about what they did.

They're getting a slap on the wrist. He'd look at that. He jumps this black man. He jumps him. He punches him. He, if a black man did that to a white man, he'd be serving time. So these white punks, because that's what they are, need to be. And look at that one. I mean, need to be serving time. They just piled up on this brother. And you can see all of them. So that the only three of them pled guilty, the little heifer in the blue. I mean, they all need to spend some jail time. If it's only a week just to send a

message, you just do not run around punching on people. So yeah, they got suspended sentences. There's probably some plea bargain. I simply don't think it's enough. All right, folks. So tight one second. When we come back from this break, we'll chat with John O'Brien, the founder of Operation Hope, about this year's Global Hope Forum, what they hope to achieve as a result. You're watching Roller Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. Don't forget, if you're watching on YouTube, hit that like button, folks. Love for you to hit that.

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Cash app, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal, RM Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartUnfiltered.com. And be sure to get a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of Americans Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at bookstores nationwide. Download the audio version.

I read it right there on Audible. We'll be right back. Grow your business or career with Grow with Google's wide range of online courses, digital training, and tools. Gain in-demand job skills with flexible online training programs designed to put you on the fast track to jobs in high-growth fields. No experience is necessary. Learn at your own pace. Complete the online certificate program on your own terms. Stand out to employers. Get on a path to in-demand jobs and connect with top employers who are currently hiring. Take one professional career certificate

program or all six. Earn a Google Career Certificate to prepare for a job in a high-growth field like data analytics, project management, UX design, cybersecurity, and more. All professional career certificate programs must be completed by December 31st, 2024. Scan the QR code to complete the application. There are 1,000 scholarships available. Grow with Google and J. Hood and Associates. Be job ready and qualify for in-demand jobs. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. And on the next Get Wealthy, what do the ultra wealthy know that most of us don't? Well, the truth is that there is financial exclusion. And unfortunately, far too many Black folks haven't had access to this knowledge. And that's exactly what we're going to talk about on our next Get Wealthy with Melinda Hightower,

a banker who's doing something to share exactly what you need to do to make it into the high net worth status. They weren't just saving just to save. They were saving for a purpose. That's right here on Get Wealthy with me, America's Wealth Coach, only on Blackstar Network. Hey, what's up, y'all? I'm Devon Franklin. It is always a pleasure to be in the house. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stay right here. Folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered here in the Black Star Network. We are here again this year at Operation Hope's Global Hope Forum. As you see, there's still folks who are here. It was jam-packed earlier today. The session led out shortly just as we went on the air. Bishop T.D. Jakes was on

stage in a one-on-one conversation with John Hope Bryant. But it's not just people who are actually here physically. There are a thousand people who actually register online, who've been watching on our network, watching on their platform as well. And so joining us right now is the founder of Operation Hope, John Hope Bryant. John, what's happening? Honored to be with you, my man. Likewise. Thanks for being here, representing black America.

Well, you know, we try, we try, we try. For the folks who don't know, all right, so what exactly is Global Hope for them? It is an annual report card, first and foremost, on us. Every nonprofit is owned by the public. People don't know this. People believe that people who found nonprofits sometimes believe that they own it. You don't. It is a public institution.

It's literally like going public. So a corporation, as you know, will file with the SEC and issue public shares to go public on NASDAQ or on New York Stock Exchange. A nonprofit is a corporation that files a 501c3 tax exempt status request to go public with the American public as the investor. And we've got $4 billion worth of capital that we've invested in these neighborhoods. We have a $50 million-plus annual budget. We should be held accountable. What are you doing with the money? We have a four-star charity navigator rating,

which means that 87 cents of every dollar that comes in goes to help poor people change their lives. So this is all starting at 100% transparency rating, financial transparency rating on our money. And I think that the first thing we needed to do, Roland, was to let the public decide whether we are a good steward of all these resources. Then it sort of evolved to, okay, now you've got these partners showing up, giving report outs. Well, this is a great opportunity for people I know and people I don't know to come in and meet some of these partners to build relationship capital. Because, as you know, if you hang around nine broke people, you'll be the 10th.

So we've got to stop having poor people talking to poor people and rich people talking to rich people. Let's have some consensual circles and have folks building, have billionaires next to multimillionaires, next to thousandaires, next to somebody trying to buy some air. And build relationship capital and cut some deals. That's what's happened. It's just sort of been happening organically and has grown from a few hundred people to a couple thousand to now we've maxed out the hotel. I mean, I'd like to not move, but we're 5,300 people. And then, of course, countless online. And thanks to you and others, there will be millions who watch it over a week online, probably 4 or 5 million people.

Of course, it was 4 million last year, thanks to you. By the way, Roland is the only urban credentialed in-place media. We have CNBC. We've got iHeart. We have Bloomberg. We've got LinkedIn. I'm probably missing somebody. But Roland is the establishment.

But guys told me, so one lady, she came over here joking. She said, you know, I wanted this space, but everybody's like, no, you can't have that space. They're like, no, that's Roland's space. She came over, she's like, so I need to see who this Roland dude is. So everybody told me I couldn't have that space. She came over, she's like, so I need to see who this Roland dude is. So everybody told me I couldn't have that space. And so we sort of grown a little bit. And the thing, the reason why,

the reason why, one, it's important, I think, what you just said, is that I've always had a problem with Black-owned media operating, thinking. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Second class or inferior. And it always bothered me when I would go to places and I would see other mainstream, I would see mainstream media, then I would see black-owned media sort of with this, whoa, it's me. And my whole deal is like, no, no, damn that. My philosophy is always the same. If I go to a black event, we need to be sent right there with everybody else. Absolutely.

Doing what we do. And that's just always been just the mindset that I've always had and believed in. And then when guests come sit here, I mean, they come, they're like. Oh, no, it's well done. Your team is professional. Your equipment is first class. You own the equipment. Let me say that. You own your network.

You own the masters. I mean, Roland is like Michael Jackson or Prince or some, your favorite recording artist that owns their masters. Every time he does a show, he owns the content. I mean. Somebody was doing a documentary on something. They hit me up and said, hey, can we license that? That's right.

Yes, you can. That's right. Here's the invoice. Yeah, yeah. So we feel a responsibility to walk our talk. And to have Roland here says more about us than him. He's walking his mission, but are we? And, again, it's a public audit, so you cannot have all the mainstream media,

not have the minority media here in a prominent place. Number two, we're going to give Roland an award here this year. We're going to do awards next year for other media leaders. But we're going to give Roland the first media award tomorrow because he pioneered our involvement in social media. Now, all these other folks, I was just hit up by a producer from one of the networks, they're always very helpful and they're very uh uh thoughtful and i appreciate that but roland has gone beyond the call of duty roland will curse you out in love in love i i remember i think it was i think it was 2012 roland like what are you doing get off twitter and get on a video go on back then it was go on facebook and do a video knock it off john what are you doing and i pushed back i was i had my 20 000 followers back then it was right 10 000 on twitter and i still have 31 000 whatever follows on twitter but i now

have three million followers on the other platforms the largest in uh of any non-profit leader in the country on empowerment. And more importantly, you have a couple hundred million, I'm sure now it's close to 250 million video views. That's all Roland. I mean, my team did it, but it only happened because Roland cursed me out and told me to upgrade my software. And no one else is going to do that.

No one's going to care enough to call me out of the blue. Roland just calls you like three in the morning. Like, you ain't got is going to do that. No one's going to care enough to call me out of the blue. Roland just calls you like three in the morning. Like you ain't got nothing else to do. Hey, you don't even ask if you're busy. He just starts talking. Hey, listen. If the thought hits my mind, I'm going to hit you right then. And if you sleep, fine.

You'll read it in the morning. I appreciate it. That's fine. And I had somebody, they were like, somebody else told me, like, why do I call? And you don't even say, hey, how you doing? No, you just start talking. How your day going? I'm like, listen, let's just get to the point.

Let's just get to the point. Let's just get to the point. Is it the end of this story? Can we please start there? You cannot have a low self-esteem and talk to Roland Martin. You just simply can't. He will crush you. Well, you know, the thing is, just so y'all know,

so John's always like, Roland, you should be charging people for this. And we just had Jamal Bryant. And when he started at New Birth, his first Sunday, I was watching. I was like, say, man, I don't know what cameras your people are using. I was going through the graphics. I mean, I was hitting him in real time. And so for me, it's just, and we have some people, we're in a black newspaper, Washington former.

Her son was here, and he asked me a question. Next thing we know, he was 30 minutes. So for me, it's just, listen, I live it, I breathe it, I give it. And you do what you do. Oh, no, no, no. That's not you do what you do. No, no, no. Now it's time for me to curse him out. Look, everybody watching this, I'm the interview guest. I'm going to say something.

You can talk all day. You've been talking on stage all day. I want you guys to write, Roland, put in the comments if you agree with what I'm saying. Roland Martin needs to do a standard curriculum and program, a master class on how to. How to get in the video. How to vlog. How to blog. How to set up a network.

How to create a show. How to do lighting. How to do camera angles. And you're happy to pay for it, aren't you? I mean, look, he needs to do a standard program. And if you pay for it, you can hold him accountable,

by the way, because if he does it for free, he gets to hang up on you and not call you back. But he won't charge you much. But I really think that he's like, he's really,

he's a passion for it. He's a bit of an underground geek. Like, he really loves all this technical stuff. Oh, no, I ain't underground.

He drives his team crazy. I ain't underground. Look, I use hash that cool tech geek, you know. So ain't underground. Look, I use hashtag cool tech geek. You know. So I really think you should do it. You should turn in. Pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes does a master class with reverends. He teaches

them how to grow a ministry. And you should do a master class on how to grow a social media etc. etc. media company. I think it's extraordinary what you've done. And everybody who criticized you and said you shouldn't be doing it, well, they don't have a job right now. And most of them are trying to get rolling to hire them.

They do call me on the fly. Hey, can I get about 30 minutes with you on that whole deal? Let's talk about it here. You talked about relationship capital. You often say that relationship capital oftentimes is even more important than the financial capital. Explain that. Because

anybody can take some money and lose it. We obsess too much about, I got that money, I got that bag, I get this cash, I'm going to get this dollar. And so what? Velocity, money has velocity. And if you're stupid, money has a whole lot of velocity.

And it will go right out of your hands and right out of your pocket into somebody else. And, by the way, people say, oh, I want to get rich. Rich don't mean nothing. Rich means you had a good contract. Rich means that you got a, we've seen the $100 million dollar NBA contract and he's working at Starbucks in five years because he was financially illiterate. Uh, he thought that he was going to have money for the rest of his life. Uh, he put all of his friends on jets, uh, who ain't doing nothing by the way, but spending his money and the, and the money left him and his friends left

him too. You build wealth in your sleep. You make money during the day. You build wealth in your sleep. It's called compounding. But relationship capital is different because when you have relationship capital, if you hang around nine broke people, you hear me keep saying this, you'll end up, uh, if you're not nine broke people, you'll be the 10th. If you hang around nine wealthy people, you don't have to be brilliant. You'll end up being the 10th. They'll take you with them. Roland, what is a country club membership? It's a relationship capital circle.

What is a sorority or fraternity? What is being a member of the Lynx? What is being a member of the Harvard Club or whatever it is? It's an opportunity to coalesce people with similar values, get to know them, and hopefully you also end up doing something meaningful together. They call you, you now have

rapport. We over-index in our community transactions, short-termism, money, getting paid. These things will go, they're commodities, and they'll go like this. And they do go like this. 70% of all those who win the lottery, bankrupt in five years.

70% of those in the NFL, bankrupt in five years. 70% of those, this number's crazy, of those in the NBA, bankrupt after retirement, five years. Don't trust me. Look at the numbers. It's actually worse than what I'm saying. I'm actually being kind because we overeemphasize things that are not important, and we don't pay any attention to things that are absolutely transformational. I tell people here, don't come here and ask me.

Don't ask anybody for it. Don't beg. Get to know somebody. Stop jamming your business card down somebody's throat. Stop thinking about what you have to get and figure out what you have to give. Get to know somebody. Meet them as a human being. Send them a note after this is over.

Hey, nice to meet you. Build some warmth. Treat them as you'd want to be treated. Then over time, they'll say to you, because these are type A personalities. They can't, they're wired this way. They can't help it. At some point, they'll say, so what are you doing right what can i at some point give a chance at some point it may take six years it probably

like six months what can i do to help i i had um it's probably we were We were 18 months in, and it was tight. It was very tight. I did not. We started this, one advertiser, $250,000. That helped us launch, and it got us through the first three and a half, four months. And I remember someone I know, this person said, why don't you call Tyler? Why don't you call Robert Smith? And I said, no. And the ask. And this person could not understand why I would not reach out to African-Americans I know with means. First of all, everybody else is wearing them out. Let's start there.

I mean, I asked Quincy Jones. He was exhausted. Why don't you just cut off the public? He said, John, just deal with your friends. He said, it's my friends wearing me out. Everybody's calling Tyler. Everybody's calling Oprah. Everybody's calling TD Jakes. People talk. People call.

I just wait for it, Roland. Hey, John. La, la, la, la, la. So, can you hit up? Yep. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute season one, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

And by the way, the minute you do that, I've just put you in another category. You don't know it. I've just discounted you. And for the rest of your life, you're in a whole other category. You're just a taker. Yeah. People want to help, but they also want to feel like a human being. See, for me, the help, I was trying to explain to this person,

the help for me was the information that we shared. That's right. That for me was more, and this person could not just understand i said no no i'm gonna figure out how to deal with this financial situation that's right which is short term precisely my focus and i literally said no i'm trying to build a long-term relationship and the person when and and when i mentioned the issue that i was going through yeah but in that person's mind also wanted them to understand i'm not asking you that's right and so what i've said to people somebody remembers that five ten years down the road

and that's what that's how you change the dynamics. We talk about relationship building. What we have got to do in the black community is change. We have to change everything. Our mindset is stop begging, step over mess, not in it. But what we need now is a James Brown version of affirmative action. Open the door. I'll get it myself. Have some dignity, some real inner pride. I don't mean the pride. I don't mean the pride.

I don't mean this kind of boastful. I mean just excellence. Believe in yourself and believe that if you do the right thing and you keep delivering, somebody's going to show up there and find value in it. That's been my experience. And I have lost money on deals, keeping my word to my investors, keeping my word to my partners. And every time I did that, in the short term, they didn't hook me up in the short term,

and I didn't ask for it. But once they saw me execute, saw me deliver, every time they came back and asked me and offered me at least, Roland, 10 times more than what I would have asked them for, at least 10 times more. And it went on forever forever versus asking them for, can I get, you know, $5,000?

Can I get a hundred, even a hundred thousand dollars? Why don't you have a billionaire or a fortune out of your company? Why would you, why would you use your, your, your, your relationship capital asking for something small like that?

No, no, no. Build a true relationship or true genuine friendship. And then do it. And then do a big deal. Or, and I said, I spoke at North Carolina A&T a couple weeks ago, but I also said, you may never do a deal with that person. Right. And that's fine.

And that's fine. You have a great friendship, by the way. And I think that's because I think a lot of times that's why I actually don't use the word networking. I hate the word networking. It's a taking word. Right. And so for me, I said build relationships. I said when I was a college student at Texas A&M, we would go to the National Association of Black Journalists Convention. My fellow students were like, why are you not sitting with us? I'm like, hell, I know y'all. I said, why am I going to come here and sit with y'all?

Go meet somebody you don't know. I know y'all at school. I'm going to go sit with people I don't even know. And if I sit at the table with 10 people and it's not, I'm going to get to know the other nine. Look, if you're walking through these halls, there are billionaires, multimillionaires, Fortune 500 CEOs, heads of foundations, walking the halls. The last thing they want to hear is a pitch. They don't want to hear a pitch.

They don't want your business card. And you can even tell when you introduce it. They're kind of like, I didn't pitch you. Yeah. Disappoint them on their low expectations. Impress them on your excellence and know something about their business. Know something about their life. How's your family doing? It's called use Google. Thank you. Be interested in them as a human being. And then once you're talking to them, say,

I know you're busy. I just want you to know my name. I'll send you another note. Thank you for the few minutes. Don't upset. Two, three, three, ten minutes, and let them go. They're busy. And they will remember that, and they will appreciate it. I remember those who bugged me. In the positive way. By the way. No, no.

I remember those who bugged me in the negative way. So if I see them again next year, run. Yeah, let me say that. I got to go to this. I know you do. Let me just say this. I got a bunch of billionaires waiting for me. Literally waiting for me for dinner. I'm know you do let me just say this i got i got a bunch of billionaires waiting for literally waiting for me for dinner i'm over i'm i'm late but uh but let me say this

every time roland calls me it's positive and he's offering he's offering to educate me he's offering to instruct me he's offering he's never calling me saying will you can you do roland martin charlemagne bishop td.D. Jakes. I mean, these are names I'm just mentioning because you know the names. I mean, I name a bunch of other people that are not household names. They're always giving. Nobody wants your drama.

Nobody wants a taker. Nobody wants anybody negative. Why is it so complicated to understand? Nobody wants your potty mouth. Nobody wants you talking about people, talking down to people. Lift somebody up. That's it. And we can do it.

And we can. We've been doing so much with so little for so long. Right. We can almost do anything with nothing. Imagine you take that sense of hustle with a positive perspective, resiliency, and focus, and then we wrap it around AI, wrap it around the future of jobs, wrap it around finance where we aren't, wrap it around engineering where we aren't, wrap it around some area that's growing.

How can you not lose? I'm sorry, how can you not win? How do you lose? I don't get it. It's simple math. Okay, I'm done. Time to go to dinner. They waiting.

He giving you the hook. He's like, it's time to go. I love you, baby. Love you, baby. Appreciate it. I'll giving you the hook. He's like, it's time to go. I love you, baby. Appreciate it. I'll see you tomorrow. John Hope Bryant, founder of Operation Hope. Always good to see him, chat with him. Let me go to a break. I'm going to come back, chat with

my panel. We still got some other pieces we got to run from here, but I do want to check the panel when we come back. You're watching Rolling Martin Unfiltered right here on the Blackstone Network. Next, on The Black Table, with me, Greg Carr. We featured the brand new work of Professor Angie Porter, which, simply put, is a revolutionary reframing of the African experience in this country. It's the one legal article everyone, and I mean everyone, should

read. Professor Porter and Dr. Vletia Watkins, our legal roundtable team, join us to explore the paper that I guarantee is going to prompt a major aha moment in our culture. You crystallize it by saying, who are we to other people? Who are African people to others? Governance is our thing. Who are we to each other? The structures we create for ourselves, how we order the universe as African people. That's next on The Black Table, here on The Black Star Network. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders?

Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Blackstar Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. I'm Faraiji Muhammad, live from L.A., and this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together,

so let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's The Culture, weekdays at 3, only on the Black Star Network. Bruce Smith, creator and executive producer of The Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks. Welcome back to Roller Martin Unfiltered. Bring my panel back in, Julianne. I'm a Congo and Toron. You know what, Julianne, I think something that John said that I really believe stands out and really believe is important. You're an economist. We talk about if you got nine broke people, you're going to be the 10th broke person. I think so much of what we often deal with when we talk about poverty is also a poverty

mindset. We talk about there are people who are fixated on money that's also a mindset. But it's also, I just think so much is also a lack of access to information that drives so much of what we have to deal with. And that's where, you know, Kathy, he's always, he came to the corner phrase, you know, information is power and it's absolutely true. And there's right information, there's wrong information, good information and bad information. You're absolutely right, Roland.

And information is power. That's the crux of it. I mean, there's so many things that our people don't know. And part of us not knowing is not our ignorance. It's people deliberately keeping information from us. But that was then and this is now. We cannot blame the man for what we don't know. When you got Google, you got the Internet, you can investigate any kind of financial instrument to find out what you need. So we need to get back to having people, you know, back in my day, which was a long time ago, but I remember we used to do study groups. So we'd drive up and down 95 from Boston to D.C. to sit with people and talk about a book.

We need to be doing that kind of thing these days about money. Talk about, you know, how we save, how we spend, what we could do differently, what we could do better. Getting ourselves out of the predatory capitalist mindset that you've got to spend, spend, spend, spend, spend. I don't understand how we've got these great economic numbers. You know, the unemployment rate is low. We've got the inflation is dropping. And you've got folks who don't get it, and they believe that the economy is bad. But I did a radio show this morning.

I said, how y'all doing? Help me out. Who's doing it? Nobody called and said they were doing bad. One sister called and said she was between jobs, but she had enough money to not work for another year. But so we get this negative. So I like what John Hope Bryant is doing, but I've always liked his work.

I think that he really is one of our beacons. But making the case for optimism really says, what's the negativity thing that goes through Black people's minds, and how can we flip it? For every bad story, there actually is a good story. Even we talk about some of the horrible stuff that I'm researching around lynching. I mean, there are victories that come out of this. There are not a lot of victories, but there are victories, and so we have to lift up the victories. And Betty Shabazz used to always say, find the good and praise it. And that's what we have to do is look at what the good is. And when we do that, I think we're able to have better relationships, better conversations,

do better sharing. I enjoyed your interview with John. It was a very good interview and he basically shared kind of why he's done it. I remember when he had a tiny little organization now look at it. He's really doing great and he should be congratulated for the work that he's doing but also the positivity that he embodies when he talks and when he's around people. When we talk about again, Omicongo, the information.

I travel this country and it is amazing to me when I give speeches or on panels or I'm just talking to people just in the lobby on one-on-one and folk it's it's like oh my god it's like it's like you threw a light switch on and but this this to me

is where I'm always saying to our people watch what you read watch what you listen to. Watch what you watch. Watch who you listen to. What are you actually putting into your spirit, into your mind? And when I hear some stuff, I look at them and I go, oh, I know you have literally been feeding your mind some awful stuff. I mean, this is one of the reasons why I absolutely hate reality shows. There's a lot of stuff about that. I hate the Zeus Network. And the reason I hate it, and people are like, oh, that hates a strong word.

No, I hate it. And then people go, where are you rolling, man? It's just entertainment. Nope. The thing is, Tim Reed and i were talking about the same same quote last week uh and when someone told him he said it's television are you telling a vision then he said bill paley asked him when he met with him, Bill Paley said, what propaganda are you disseminating?

They didn't hit him because he was discussing Frank's place. He said, this man views shows as propaganda. And propaganda can be good and propaganda can be bad. And that to me, I just think that when we have these conversations and we're talking about how, man, black folks, how we doing with this and how we're doing with that. We suffer not from a deficit of vitamin D, not a deficit of vitamin C. We literally suffer a deficit of good quality information. Yes, absolutely. And that's why this network is so important. You know, I was trained by Les Brown in my motivational speaking. So I'm so happy he's going to be on later. And one of the things that he talks about is like when he goes into the

barbershops and stuff, he can hear people talk, complaining about the game or about this or about that, but never doing any type of conversations about their dreams or talking about things they want to do and build together and the like. And so we get caught up in the rigmarole of what's going on every single day in terms of what's right in front of us, what are the latest sporting events. But in terms of actually talking about our information and our dreams and actually putting ourselves in positions and spaces where we can actually get that information, so many of us are lacking there and we really have no excuse. And so in two segments that you just had,

Reverend Brian and Brother Hope, you know, as well, we have these situations where they're talking about how you, Roland, help them expand their information. And he talks about how he has thousands of hours now out there that people can see. So now the information is out there because it's been added to TikTok, it's been is out there because it's been added to TikTok, it's been added to YouTube,

it's been added to Instagram, it's getting added to the Black Star Network. Now we have to drive our people towards it. One of the things that you said that was very interesting with the interview with Reverend Brian was that this whole thing about our movements, the Black Lives Matter movement

not being led by the black church. And that was very impactful for me because what I'm seeing now is because with that conference right now, there's an opportunity for us to re-engage not only the Black church, not only the political movements, not only, but also with the youth, so that we can actually start to wield our economic and our political might once again, but in ways that we've never done it before. But if we're not going to receive the information that's being put out there, then it's going to be useless. We have so much opportunities at money, so many opportunities to build our communities. But if we're just going to, again, like you said, Roland, everything is

propaganda. What are we taking in? You know, with my children, 17, 15, and 9 years old, I'm having money conversations with them, conversations I didn't have. So I have to learn things so I can better pass it on to them. We have to be actively engaged in this. Otherwise, we are going to continue to be slaves to Visa and MasterCard as we continue to put ourselves in more debt in our community and not take advantage of what we should. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future

where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.

This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st

and episodes 4, 5, and six on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. So I'm just very happy that not only this conference is happening, but you're also helping them expand their message to bigger and wider communities. I dare say to run, it also means knowing what people, what voices to ignore. Over the weekend, a woman sent me an email and she was really upset. And she said, Roland, man, these people on YouTube, Steve mentioned some dude, I don't know, Phillip Scott, I don't know who the hell he is.

She's mentioned these people. Man, he's always dogging you. I said, baby, let me explain something to you. I said, if he walked through that door right now, I wouldn't know who the hell he is. I said, I pay him no mind, I pay him no attention. It's a whole bunch of other people. I hear yapping them, smacking their gums on YouTube or on podcasts.

I literally pay them no mind. I don't care what they have to say. Again, what I'm not going to do is waste valuable, finite time on irrelevant people who are members of hashtag never will be his club. I'm not wasting any time. And I think I think so. I'm a Congo like I'm going to use that one. Hashtag never will be. That's right.

And again, I think I think I think what happens is I think when you get caught up, when you get caught up in somebody else's mess, what it does is you now looking over here, you've now taken yourself and distracted yourself from where you're supposed to be going. what is happening in our communities, what is happening in our organizations, it is going to require us, I keep saying it, to have a reprogramming, a reprogramming of our minds, but also to fixate on feeding good quality information to our people in order for us to thrive. Your final comment. You know, there's a saying, if you consume garbage for an extended amount of time, eventually you're going to get so used to the taste of garbage that you're going to start liking it and you're going to start craving it. So if you give somebody something that's going to be beneficial to them, they're going to reject it a lot of the time.

Now, tying that into your point, a lot of times what happens is people who have brilliant ideas, people who are, you know, people who are geniuses may not have access to information that's going to really benefit them, or they may not have access to people who can really help them get an idea off the ground. So if that happens, what happens is the people who are negative and the people who are hateful are going to keep feeding these people the same loop and the same negativity and nothing moves in their lives. I think also what happens to me, got to be real about this. There is all too often too much gatekeeping and a lot of people who are successful, who where they don't reach back and try to help people who they find who have good ideas and have a conversation with them.

That's why it's good for people who have made it in a certain industry or people who have been able to be successful, to be able to link with people who are brilliant or maybe have an idea and have a conversation with them on a one-to-one level and be able to say, okay, this is your idea. This is what I've done along the similar lines of your idea. Maybe we can build this where if I can't build with you, maybe I can introduce you to somebody who can build with you. That has to happen as well. It can't just be top-down.

These things have to be lateral if we're going to advance as a people and start building up capital that we can generate in the community to build businesses and to create relationships that people can build with each other. That has to happen too. Absolutely. All right, folks, I appreciate y'all being on today's panel. Thanks a bunch. To Ron, Julian, I'm a Congo as well. Going to a short break. When we come back, Les Brown will share with us his thoughts on how to become an effective speaker, but also how to live the life that you've always desired to live. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered, broadcasting live from the Global Hope Forum here in Atlanta, right here on the Black Star Network.

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Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin. Parker. Trudy Proud on the Proud Family. I am Tommy Davidson. I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. Hi, I'm Jo Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on Disney's Louder and Prouder Disney+. And I'm with Roland Martin on Unfiltered. He's one of the most sought-after speakers all across the world. Earlier today, Les Brown was here.

He wasn't actually on the program. He just simply wanted to come and spend some time and hang out with John Hope Brown here at Global Hope Forum. And so we had a chance to catch up with Les Brown, 78 years young. about how to not only become an effective speaker, but how to really reach and touch people and get people to understand and live out their best life. Here he is, my conversation with the great Les Brown. Man, I'm cancer-free, I'm debt-free, and I'm drama-free. See, there you go right there. That's all important

uh i want to start with the debt free part uh because uh same thing you know we started this show uh built it uh we've been profitable profitable since our 15th month don't owe nobody uh got no debt and i tell people all the time that I caught debt invisible shackles and it prevents people from being able to make different moves because every decision is predicated on who they owe without any question but there's something that you are the prototype for that we make decisions and our decisions make us you made a decision that you're going to take charge of your destiny, and as a result of that decision, here we are.

And so when people begin to give up their power to someone else as opposed to doing what it is that you decided to do, say, look here, I'm going to create my future. It's going to be bright because I'm in charge of it. That's what life is about where we are now. Also, I think for me, it is a decision that's based upon two things, freedom and flexibility.

Yes. That is the freedom to say, if I want to broadcast in global whole form, I ain't got to ask nobody. Right, absolutely. And then we're gonna stay there uh you know two three days we stayed atlanta for the whole week and a lot of people and again i don't regret i fought for black people to be on mainstream television yes but a lot of brothers

and sisters who work in those places still have to ask somebody else for permission well but here's something else that you left out of the equation. The skill set. We're one skill set from a different reality. You developed the skill that allowed you to say, this is what I see, this is what I want, and I'm going to be about the business of creating it. Most people have not put in the work that you've put in to develop the skill set so that they can be able to call their own shots. Well, it's the same as what you do. I mean, I get people all the time, they say, oh, I want to be a speaker.

And I'm going, do you really understand what that means? And then when you begin to start talking to them and they go, yeah, but I can do that. I said, oh, sorry, I remember I asked this one woman. I said, well, let me ask you a question. I said, when the audience start doing the butt dance, then what are you going to do? She's like, what's the butt dance? I said, well, that's when they're sitting here and they start moving and the noise and the level in the room go up. I said, and you're going to lose the room.

What are you going to do? She's like, I don't know what you're talking about. I said, baby, you can't be a good speaker if you don't understand how to feel and read that room. Yeah, you got to be able to manage the chaos. I was giving a speech once, and a guy came and stood right in front of the podium. And he's saying, yes, right on. I'm feeling you, brother. And I'm thinking, will the sponsors come and ask this guy to go sit down? And they did not.

And so I had to play off him. I said, no, brother, i'm glad of your buy-in i said you're hungry for this message he thought he was at church yes indeed i gave him a high five and everything and people thought it was a part of the presentation so you've got to be willing to be in the frame of mind to expect the unexpected and handle it. When did you know this is my destiny? When did you know? When I spoke in the Georgia Dome because I was so terrified of speaking before 80,000 people.

People can go online now and see Les Brown speaking in the Georgia Dome. I couldn't hear the voices, and my mentor, Mike Williams, he wrote the book called The Road to Your Best Stuff 2.0. I wrote the foreword for it. He said, Brownie, you got this. And one of the things that I teach people, sometimes you need somebody in your life that will believe in you until your belief kicks in.

And when I looked in his eyes, I saw him seeing me doing it. And I believed in his belief in me until I got on that stage with that microphone. And I kept that in my mind to be able to command an audience of 80 speaking is that you literally in that 10, 15, 20, 30, 45 minutes, an hour, you literally can change somebody's life. Like you could be just they are sitting there and it's, oh, my God. And from that point on, you could change that person's life. Without any question, but there's something that you do. You provide information, but the other thing that most speakers missed out on is that if information could change people, everybody would be skinny, rich, and happy. The way that you deliver the information, it gets people to live out of their imagination as opposed to their history. You create an experience. Oliver Wendell Holmes

said that once a man or woman's mind has been expanded with an idea, concept, or experience, it can never be satisfied to going back to where it was. So every time you speak, what you do is ignite within people the courage to have a larger vision of themselves beyond their circumstances, their mental conditioning, and you allow them to begin to see themselves differently. And that point right there, I think you said vision, but also being able to expand it. Because I think we've been, for African Americans in particular, we've been conditioned, if you will. And I'm not speaking just in terms of white supremacy, but even ourselves to be sort of like this, maybe get you a good job, work that job, don't lose it. As opposed to being able to take risks.

As opposed to being able to say, wait a minute, there's more for me than just being a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer. Sort of those typical deals. But somebody has to help, I believe, turn that switch on. And speak it in a way, a relevant way, that causes the person to go, oh, dang, I had no idea. Yes. Well, you know, Dr. Carter G. Woodson said in alignment with what you're talking about, he said, if you can determine what a man shall think, you never have to concern yourself with what he will do. He said, if you can make a man feel inferior, you never have to compel him to seek an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. And if you can make a man feel justly and outcast, you never have to order him to go to the back door. He'll go

without being told. And if there's no door, his very nature will demand one. So when you speak, and every time people watch your program, what you do is you distract, dispute, and inspire. How people live their lives is a result of the story they believe about themselves. So your content and your delivery distract people from their current story of mental conditioning. conditioning and through them watching and taking in what you say, they are now in an experience that dismantles their current belief system and inspire them to make some new choices at the end of your program. Now, there are a lot of people, and I guarantee you've had this experience. I sort of, like when people say, man, that was an amazing sermon. And then you say, what did he talk about?

Man, I'm just saying, man, that sermon was something. I said, oh, you probably reacting to the hoop part of the sermon. You can't tell me what the scripture was, what the three points was. And so a lot of people respond to the emotion of speaking when, for me, I'm saying, no, no, no, no, what was the substance of what somebody said? Absolutely. Talk about that. That's the power of stories. If you give information, we forget 95% of what we hear the next day. Information

impacts the brain. But if you do a hard-centered story, stories touch the heart. Where your heart is, there your treasure is also. So what made me stand out as a speaker when I came in and I looked at speaking and developing the level of credibility to speak for AT&T, Procter & Gamble, McDonald's Corporation, General Electric, IBM. I use stories strategically to distract, dispute, and inspire, to impact the bottom line, to give them a larger vision of themselves. Stories with information. Without any questions.

Because, see, the flip side is when it's all stories. I mean, I'm not going to name the person, but they had gone through, and this is nothing against Zig Ziglar, but they had gone through that whole course. And I'm sitting there, and I'm listening to the speech, and people are like, oh, my God, this is amazing. And I'm sitting there like...

I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated,

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. And they're looking at me, they're going, Roland, what's wrong? I'm like, she ain't said nothing. I mean, so it was catchphrases, it was,

and the person's like, what do you mean? I said, because I, like in in church I take notes yes if I have two lines written and one line is the date and the name of the speaker and that's about it you ain't said nothing right and so I think that's also the mistake there a lot of people they that's all they tell us stories but they leave an information out what you're talking about is you got to mail the two together for the person to understand. Yes, because you're orchestrating an experience, but giving people things that they can sink their teeth into, that they can now leave there and use the tools and things that you've used to get through the red seas in your life to get to the other side. We're living in a time, it's a golden age,

because we have available to us information that allows us to upgrade our knowledge and our skills and create a new future for ourselves. But most people won't put in the time or the effort to develop themselves and to do what you've done. And this is what this thing called life is about. Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. The internal work and the external work in order to create a new reality for yourself.

Do you, have you been in a situation before where you're clear what you're going to talk about, you've laid it all out, you understand how you're going to talk about. You've laid it all out. You understand how you're going to do it. But then you walk into the room and the room begins to speak to you and you feel the room. And then God gives you something totally different. And you say, I got to throw that thing out. And then somebody goes, how did you know we were dealing with that problem because the room spoke to you i'm glad you mentioned that because what i train speakers to do and this is where i am we learn we earn we pass it on never let what you want to say get in the way of what the audience needs to hear so you have to conduct communications intelligence i give a neat assessment to find out what they're

looking for. What is it that keeps them up at night? What is it that's stressing them out? And what is it the unspoken conversation that you want me to deliver that can impact the audience's psyche? And so never walk into a room where you have not taken the time to do your homework, to do due diligence, to find out who they are. And all that getting, get understanding so that when you speak, you're speaking to where they are, not where you think they might be. See, for me, I don't, you know this, and they're like, Mr. Brown, we have the room for you, whatever. And I go, no, I'm good. Oh, they won't take you through? I'm like, no, no, we have the room for you, whatever. And I go, no, I'm good. Oh, they won't take you through? I'm like, no, no, we're going to go through the main room.

And they'll tell me, like, but, you know, it's crowded. I'm like, I know. What they don't understand is I'm actually feeling the room. Yes. Like, when I'm walking through, like, I am, discernment is happening. And I tell them, I said, I can't feel nothing if I'm back here in a room by myself. You're absolutely right. I want to be in.

Yeah, but what I also do is ask questions. Oh, yes. I talk to four or five people. If you were in my position, what is it that you feel that this audience needs to hear that perhaps I'm not aware of right now so that I will match what I have to share with what's in the audience, the thinking that's there, as well as the thinking of the person who wrote that check for me to be there. Have you ever had a situation where the person who invited you wanted you to follow this, this, and this. Yes. And then when you went up there, you didn't follow this, this, and this. That person had an attitude, but the whole room loved it.

Yes. Well, the good thing about what I do is I'm able to speak extemporaneously. I can take what you tell me that I need to say and I can make it my own and create value and alignment, relatedness and connection. You can't correct unless you connect. So when you speak, the goal is to have the audience to relate to you, to feel you, and to connect with you so you can now make them begin to see other options of how they can show up on their job or the work that they're doing or the business that they're running. How do you use humor? And the reason I say that, typically when I speak, they will read the bio and so okay now it's time to speak to the reader bow and so the whole room is like this here and what I

being a life member of Alpha is all is all is tip is gonna be some Omega and Kappa in the room who won't talk trash. And so I talk smack from the mic. So I might have the folks laughing in the room going, because for me, I'm breaking up from that serious, now I got them laughing, now I'm got them relaxed, now I can sort of go in. So how do you use humor

as a part of what you do? I use myself as an example. I say, you know, ladies and gentlemen, I want you to think about your goals and dreams. What is it that you see that you bring that has value for the marketplace? People say money, this is not important, but is right out there with oxygen. I used to be so broke, I'd walk past the bank and trip the alarm and then I would laugh. Laughter creates laughter. So as a result of my saying that, sharing that insight into myself and laughing about it,

laughter caused the mind to close down, opens up the heart, and now you can come back with something that's serious to create a shift in them that they internalize that. Personal testimonies. When you're standing before an audience, how vulnerable are you so they understand you're not alone? I was in the same place you were in. I'm very transparent when I speak to audiences. I talk about the fact that I'm adopted,

that God took me out of my biological mother's womb and placed me in the heart of my adopted mother. I just saw for the first time at 78, here I am, 78, and saw a picture of my birth mother and father. Now, you just told me that story, because that was just crazy how you saw that picture. Yes. And so what happened was my birth mother came to hear me speak at a church, a lady named Dr. Barbara King, who made her transition. Knew her well. Yeah. Hillside Spiritual Center. Big tall sister. Yes. Not the king. Yes. Right. And so my birth mother was there with one of my nieces.

She knew me, but I did not know her. At the end of my speech, she came up to me, my niece said, and gave me a picture and said, put this in your pocket. And she walked away. And my son said, Dad, look at it. And I looked at it. It was a picture of me and my twin brother, Wesley. And I said, ma'am, who are you? Where did you get this from? And she just turned and she waved at me

and she kept going. So that's the only time that I ever saw her that brief moment. Wow. It shook me up. That was the only that was the only time I didn't know who she was. And then you found out that she was a speaker. Yes. My niece said your mother, Dorothy Bell Rucker, was the motivational speaker and your grandmother. They have a museum called the Bueller Rucker Museum in Gainesville, Georgia. She was a speaker with Mary McLeod Bethune. And so they traveled together. So I always wondered, where did I get this hunger to want to speak to people? But I have two brothers who don't speak at all. She raised them. So I believe that all of us have greatness within us. But you've got to be willing to put in the work just as you have to cultivate it and to develop

it so you can answer the call on your life a job is what you get paid for a calling is what you're made for i gotta ask you this here understanding worth because i've been there i guarantee you've been there somebody call you and you give them your number yes why you gotta do it for this because that's my number right i put butts in the seat this is what i do and i get calls all the time brothers but especially a lot of sisters who they want them to speak on panels speak to corporations stuff along those lines and they play them small and tell folk, you've got to make sure that you understand your worth, but you also understand that you do not overstate your worth, that you know exactly what your number is to deliver what they're looking for.

Yes, and I say to people, I don't determine my value based upon your budget. Is that what you got? No disrespect. No disrespect. Find somebody that that's who that is. I literally told somebody that I said, hey, I did that eight years ago. Right. Go find somebody at that price.

You'll never find a Rolls Royce on sale. No. And that's not being arrogant. Absolutely not. No, we buy what we want and we beg for what we need. We spend millions of dollars for entertainment. But when it comes to things that will educate us, that will empower us, that will give us the mindset and the skill set to carve out a new future, now you want to bargain bait this deal? No. The more they pay, the more they pay attention. Absolutely. Absolutely. And a lot of our people get afraid.

I mean, I can't ask for that because they're actually afraid of the no. I said, no, no, no. When you know what your number is and when you know what you're going to deliver, I said, if they say, well, that's too much, you go have a nice day. Yeah. Well, first of all, money is not the issue. The issue is whether or not they're willing to be resourceful enough to find a sponsor that will pay what you'll work toy salta on my team she told me the people y'all didn't go find y'all another sponsor y'all want to bring in roland and and and the crazy thing is because i and i tell people i know what i'm gonna do yeah and when and when Beyonce comes to town, they don't call and try and get a discount.

No, they pay whatever is required. Or, I say this about for black businesses, you know, that scene from I'm going to get you a sucker Chris Rock. How much for all the ribs? He's like, give me one.

And folks sit here and look, well, why do I have to pay for that? But as you said, it's value. What is this person going to do when they come here? One of my granddaughters came to me and said, Dad, I want to go see Beyonce. Grandpa. They call me Papa. I say, fantastic.

It's $600. Will you help me? I said, no. I said, if you're going to a seminar, yes. Boom. But going for some entertainment, $600? No. For one ticket.

You're not doing that. No, I'm not doing that. Make it happen, baby. Make it happen. Wait a minute. You say, I'll pay for you to go to the seminar. Yes. That's going to help you make the money to pay for that $600 ticket.

Come on now. Yes. Absolutely. That's the name of the game. What at your age, what is it that you would love to do that you've yet to do? I have yet to train the number of speakers that I want to impact the world, to leave a legacy. We learn, we earn, we pass it on. T.D. Jakes said something I agree with. He said there's no success without successors. So my goal now is to teach those who have the hunger, you've got to be hungry,

to be able to make a difference in life. The hunger and the work ethic. Absolutely, the work ethic. And to leverage their knowledge and their presentation so that they can have a greater impact and to live a life that will outlive them. That's what my goal is at this stage of my life, at 78. Finding people who want to do that looking for

the few the road to life is straight and narrow and few there be that find it because the few are the ones that are going to make the difference the masses have never done well for the folks folks folks who are watching i mean a few months ago you called me out the blue yes and i was like who called me from Las Vegas? It was Nevada numbers. Yes. And that was one thing we talked about. And you said exactly what you said, that I want to, all this knowledge that I have, pass it on.

Yes. For somebody else to use. So that's why I want us to work together to do something, because it's about collaboration today. 72% of corporations are striking strategic collaborations to make a greater impact. And that is the one area where the criticism I have, most black businesses are not. And I've been saying, look, before I started this, I went to every major black media company.

Urban One, Essence, Blavity, Black Enterprise, all of them, saying this is what I'm planning to do, which you don't do. It's not like there was competition there. Nobody wanted to partner. And I said, not a problem. I'm going to still do it. And I believe that's one of the reasons why most of our black owned businesses are still small. Yes. Are largely one employee. Is this unwillingness to partner, to do joint ventures, to work together to achieve scale.

Yeah, you're absolutely right. Today, what we have to do now is teach people how to earn non-performance income. I'm earning money as I talk to you right now. Explain that. Non-performance income, when you're able to create a minimum of five buckets of income that's not driven by your being available to make it happen. So I make money off the products that I create. I make money off the trainers that I create to go to corporations and do work. I make money off my intellectual capital. And I'm creating a legacy for my children and my children's children

through creating an empire on information and upgrading it constantly to evolve, to give people the tool set that they need to make it in this new world. So while you are sitting here... I'm making money right now. You're making money. Yes, indeed. A minimum of $35,000 to $40,000 a week. And it doesn't require for you to be speaking, to be talking, to be actively doing.

Absolutely not. And all of us can do it. We just haven't been coached on how to do it, and we haven't had the tools. We've gone from brick and mortar to click and order. So we have the tools now to do more than we can ever begin to imagine. As they say, eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor is it in the heart of mankind

what we're able to do if we use what's available to us. Well, Les, it's great to finally get a chance to chat with you. Can't wait to see what we do together. And like you said, it's about being able to empower next generation and then pass that information on to be able to build and

build and build thank you and thank you for who you are and the commitment and the sand that you've taken with your life and to your viewers bye for now appreciate it Appreciate it. This is an iHeart Podcast.