#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 'ABOMINATION'! Roland TEARS APART Black Detroit pastor's MINSTREL SHOW PRAYER at Trump inauguration

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

Detroit Pastor Lorenzo Sewell delivered a SHAMEFUL AND PATHETIC invocation during the closing at the inauguration Monday of the twice impeached and criminally convicted felon Donald "The Con" Trump, quoting extensively from Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have a Dream" speech. Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork 👉🏾 Use Cash App by visiting Stripe https://buy.stripe.com/7sI3ccgYyfSQ8y45kl 👉🏾  PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man.

We met them at their homes. We met them at the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit adoptuskids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Y'all already know, I did not watch that crap yesterday. We were in Memphis

with Reverend Dr. William Barber. I told y'all I wasn't going to watch it. We were not even streaming it. We weren't doing any of that. But then all of a sudden, Lord have mercy. Folk start texting me, start calling me. And this had all started. What the hell was that? Did you see that? Did you hear that? And I was like, what are y'all talking about? And they were talking about the closing prayer that was led by that fool out of Detroit, Lorenzo Powell. Is it Lorenzo Small? What's his last name? Oh, Sewell. I thought it was Lorenzo Small. Okay. Lorenzo Sewell.

If y'all missed it, go ahead and roll it. We pray that you use our president, that we will live in a nation where we will not be judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, we are so grateful today that you will use our 47th president so we would sing with new meaning, my country, tis of thee. Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside. Let freedom ring, and because America is called to be a great nation,

we believe that you will make this come true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alighettes of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous hilltops of California. But God, we're asking you not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill in Mississippi, from every state, every city, every village, and every hamlet. And when we let freedom ring, we will be able to speed up that day where all of your children—black men and white men, Protestant and Catholic, Jew and Gentile will be able to sing in the meaning of that old Negro spiritual. Free at last. Free at last. Thank you, God Almighty.

We are free at last. If you believe what the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Come on, put your hands together and give your great God great glory. Glory. You know what I can't stand? I can't stand. Let me be real clear with y'all. And y'all know that there are certain words I do not use on this show.

I don't let people use it. I don't use it. But that absolutely was a Sambo impersonation. That was a minstrel show. That was a damn abomination where that ratchet ass so-called preacher would dare use the words of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that he

delivered on August 28, 1963 at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom that he would bastardize those words at the behest in a prayer for a fake Christian. For a man. Who is atrocious and pathetic.

And see what's even more. And the reason I say bastardize because. This so-called preacher skipped over what King said at the top of the speech. Skipped over voting rights. He skipped over the check stamp insufficient fund. He skipped over police brutality. See, what he did is what all these other white Republicans love to do. They love to talk about the bottom of the I have a dream speech.

They love that part, but they never want to deal with the real stuff in the top. See, they don't want to deal with the reality of what folk are facing. No, what he'd rather do was do some fake-ass audition for Juilliard or some acting school by standing there and waving his hands and just all of this.

Just, he reminded me of Spike Lee's movie Bamboozled. Roll it. Make headlines. The Huxtables, Cosby, a genius, revolutionary. But we can't go down that road again. The network does not want to see Negroes on television unless they are buffoons. Have you ever thought about just quitting? I have a contract.

The only way I get out of that is if I get fired. And that is what I intend to do. I know you are familiar with minstrel shows. Variety show. Like in Living Color. Right, right, right. That was dope. ManTap.

The new millennium minstrel show. We're going to need a little more money for this. This could be bigger than Friends, Ally McBeal, even my boys Amos and Andy. You're putting white actors in blackface? We're using black actors with blacker faces. Run, Hollywood! Run, Hollywood! Run, Hollywood! Show time! This fall.

Right on, man. Yeah, great show. You won't believe what's coming to your television. Sleep and Eat and Man Tan are lazy and unemployed. Do your stuff. But we are certainly not saying anything about the entire African-American community. What's sweeping the nation. And what's coloring.

The way you see the world. Yo, we can't let this injustice go by, man. Not this time, man. You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? You notice that everybody white want to be black.

I'm out. I'm raising up. We all have that sound left. When are you going to come into the light? The light? The light. Your hands are just as bloody as mine. Cousins, I want you all to go to your windows. We talking about revolution. Go to your

windows and yell out. I am not gonna take it anymore! 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. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real

from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. The paper ceiling, the limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at tearthepaperceiling.org.

Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. I don't want anything to do with anything black for at least a week. He was Mantine. That's what that was. I'm just out here doing my shuffle for the white folk. There have been black pastors who have given prayers at Republican inaugurations before. 2005, Houston's Kirby John Caldwell gave a prayer. This is what a black preacher looks like

giving a prayer at a Republican inauguration. Oh Lord God Almighty, the supplier and supplier of faith and freedom, how excellent is your name in all the earth. You are great and greatly to be praised. Oh God, as we conclude this 55th inaugural ceremony, we conclude it with an attitude of thanksgiving. Thank you for protecting America's borders. After all, as the psalmist reminds us, unless you, O God, guard the territory, our efforts will be in vain. Thank you for our armed service personnel. And it is with unswerving thanksgiving that we pause to remember the persons who have made the ultimate sacrifice to help ensure America's safety.

Thank you, O God, for surrounding our personnel, their families, their friends, and our allies with your favor and your faithfulness. Deploy your host from heaven so that your will for America will be performed on earth as it is already perfected in heaven. I confess that your face will shine upon the United States of America, granting us social peace and economic prosperity, particularly for the weary and the poor. I also confess, O God, that each American's latter days will be better than their former days. Let it be unto us according to your word. Rally the Republicans, the Democrats, and the independents around your common good

so that America will truly become one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty, justice, and equal opportunity for all, including the least, the last, and the lost. Bless every elected official right now. Oh God, I declare your blessings to shower upon our president, George W. Bush. Bless him, his family, and his administration. I once again declare that no weapon formed against them shall prosper. And God, forgive us.

Forgive us for becoming so ensnarled in petty partisan politics that we miss your glory and flunk our purpose. Deliver us from the evil one, from evil itself, and from the mere appearance of evil. Give us clean hearts.

So that we might have clean agendas. Clean priorities and programs. And even clean financial statements. And now unto you, oh God. The one who always has been and always will be, the one King of kings and the true power broker, we glorify and honor you. Respecting persons of all faiths, I humbly submit this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. See, that's called a prayer.

What we saw by that fool Lorenzo Sewell was just complete and utter trash. Ben Watson, conservative brother. Ben tweeted this. Lorenzo Sewell is a complete disgrace. He should be ashamed of himself. What an embarrassment. He's absolutely right. And y'all, he made it worse.

He made it worse because after after he stood up there looking like a damn fool with his minstrel show, he then comes on social media to announce he's getting his own coin, his own mean coin, whatever the hell they call them. The latest fraud scam of Trump and his cohorts. Listen to this. I need you to do me a favor right now. I need you to go by the official Lorenzo Sewell coin. I want you to be able to see politics become manifest, not just in a way where we're praying over political gatherings, but we're seeing us become the hands and the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, y'all notice you notice in that despicablerel show, Lorenzo Mantan's soul made no mention of Jesus and the poor. Lorenzo Mantan's soul made no mention of the least of these. 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. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott.

And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher.

Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real.

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive.

But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org, brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Renzo Mantan, Sewell made no mention of Democrats and Republicans coming together to do what's right for the American people. No, what he did was give a minstrel performance for the ages. To the world.

That's what he did. But see, he he didn't have the dignity. Nor the biblical understanding. Nor the gravitas nor the common sense of Bishop Marion Edgar the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington D.C. because today they had a national prayer service and in her prayer, this is what she said to Trump and Vance and others assembled in the National Cathedral.

Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country. We're scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.

And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation. But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, wadara, and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution

in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we will all want strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people, good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen. Put me in the toolbox. When everybody that watched understands something,

and here's a bishop talking about being merciful, who's talking about the poor, who's talking about the hardworking. Yet, she's talking about immigrants. She's talking about all of that. It's two immigrants sitting on the front row. Trump's wife. All is two immigrants sitting on the front row. Trump's wife. Vance's wife.

Go to full screen of them. There's two immigrants sitting on the front row. Sitting behind him is his son sitting sitting next to her. You see the daughter. You see. guess what? They are the children of an immigrant. That was his first wife. Oh, and the right, they upset with that bishop.

How dare she talk to him like that? And when he was asked coming back to the White House, it could have been better. He didn't like the service because he didn't like being confronted with the word of God. He didn't like a prophetic voice challenging him to do what's right. You know why? Just yesterday, this modern version of King Saul stood up at the inauguration and chastised and condemned and just ripped apart the administration of Harris, Abbot and Harris sitting right beside. He didn't have a sense of dignity. He didn't have any morality. He didn't have any decency. He didn't put forth a visualization moving forward,

talked about how awful and degrading and how bad things have been. That's because he is not a Christian. He is not a moral man because if you actually know the word, if you actually go to church, by the way, nobody knows. 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. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple 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. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs Podcast. Sir, we are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players

all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown.

We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real.

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early.

Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. The president has gone to church more than Joe Biden.

If you understand the power of the word, then you would have never, ever said this. Go to my iPad. Bud, have you ever asked God for forgiveness? I'm not sure I have. I just go and try and do a better job from there. I don't think so. I think if I do something wrong, I think I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't think so. I think I if I if I do something wrong, I think I just try and make it right I don't bring God into that picture

I don't now when I take you know when we go in church and and when I drink my little wine Which is about the only wine I drink and have my little cracker I guess that's this form of asking for forgiveness and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed Okay, but you know to me that's important. I do that but in terms of because I feel cleansed. Okay. But, you know, to me, that's important. I do that. But in terms of officially, I see I could say absolutely. And everybody, I don't think in terms of that. I think in terms of let's go on and let's make it right.

That is a no good heathen speaking. And all of these white conservative evangelicals, and you can throw in some black ones too, have fallen for the okey-doke. And when you, oh, I try to get my little cracker and wine as much as possible. It's called the Last Supper. Typically, it's done once a month. Catholics, it's done every week or every time you go to mass. He don't know that. He ain't got no clue. He has no clue about asking for forgiveness and mercy. He has no understanding of grace. He doesn't know anything about Jesus dying for all

of our sins because that man ain't no lover of Jesus. He is an absolute demonic individual who is a right. He's an agent of Satan. And I told y'all before, if you really want to go biblical, see really what we're dealing with. Donald Trump is King Saul. The people of Israel have been freed and God said, I got y'all. They said, oh no, everybody else got a king. We want

a king. God said, what's up? I got y'all. said oh no everybody else got a king we want a king God said what's up I got y'all no no we want a king so he said Samuel okay go ahead and give him a king but let me tell y'all what your king is going to do to you let me tell you how he's going to treat you how he's going to abuse you how he is going to screw you over that's all biblical if y'all go read 1 Samuel and so then Samuel goes and he looks at the sons and he choose the tallest and most handsome one. And what does that punk do? He runs off. No, you can't run. I pick you as the king. And he was evil, tried to kill David, tried to break up the relationship between David and Jonathan.

Donald Trump is King Saul because you know what America said? We want a king. Oh, we want a king. Give us a king. So in his speech, I think that God saved me from the assassination because God wanted to make America great again. Now, I think it's a little different, Don. I think God said, America, I'm going to give y'all the desires of your heart.

Now, biblically, it does not mean that the desires of your heart actually means it's good. It means God will give you the desires of your heart. So America said we don't care about January 6th. America said we don't care about January 6th. America said we don't care about his ethics. We don't care about him grabbing women by their vagina. We don't care about his mistreatment. We don't care that he didn't pay people, businesses who did work with him. We don't care about the lawsuits. We don't care about the lying.

We don't care about the mistreatment. We don't care about the degrading Reddit. We don't care about none of that. We want a king. What did he say? Day one, I'm going to be a dictator. Well, we've already seen that. But when you stand before the world To give a closing prayer. And then what you do.

Is literally. Prostitute. The words that not the king spoke. You actually thought you were preaching. You actually thought, Lorenzo Mantan Soul, that you were praying. No, what you were doing was you were pandering. You were posturing. You were presenting yourself to America as America's lawn jockey.

And see, I said it. Those are words and phrases I don't use to describe folk on my show. But you took it to a whole new level. Your church is called 180 Church. I dare say, Lorenzo, you need to do a 180. But then again, Lorenzo, I see why you punked out and you were scared to come on this show after you had Trump at your church. I see why you ran the Fox News and others, because, see, Lorenzo, you did not want to come to a place where we have reverence for the words and the actions of Dr. King. Instead, what you chose to do was make a fool out of yourself as well as the tradition of the black church. In that black preacher. Shame on you. And while you think MAGA and whatever coins MAGA tosses your way. hey, just remember there was somebody else who got some coins for selling out Jesus.

And we remember him a whole lot differently than we do the other men who follow Jesus. I'll go to my panel. Before I go to Joy, I did see this video that also quite reminded me of something. Oh, Gen X, I cannot be the only one who thought this while I was watching this fella during the inauguration. Please tell me that I'm not the only one who thought this while I was watching this fella during the inauguration.

Please tell me that I'm not the only one. Take a look at this and then take a look at what I thought of. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain, Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain. And well, this this here's what i thought of only god can give that woman the kind of joy she has right now you're not gonna hate me come on now i cannot be the only one please tell me i'm not the only one oh jenny go ahead joy be funny i thought of that too so i did watch yesterday i am home in florida and my mom we just couldn't resist we did not say christ Christianly words at the TV. I'll admit that. But when the pastor came on, I think I just couldn't believe that he was. I knew that he was engaged in a grift. I didn't know about the coins until afterwards. But I knew I was like, if he's engaged with Trump, there's a griff involved. There's money involved. There's some

effort to defraud and confuse and befuddle and to make some money off of this engagement. It was the worst acting ever. And I've seen a lot of bad acting. I just couldn't believe it. And a bastardization of religion. Just so embarrassing. And they laughed at him. That was so great. Stop looking at him. Look at the people behind him.

They were laughing at him. J.D. Vance's wife was also, she had my face. It was confusing and obviously he didn't read the room. I mean, none of those people appreciated what he was doing. Even they knew it was off. And Black Republicans, you can be a Black Republican. I love that you juxtaposed with the Trump, with the Bush first inaugural. Think about how divided we were even at that time, but we didn't have a black preacher come on

and make a complete mockery of himself, a performance. And so we know that this person is not any kind of true man of God. He couldn't possibly be and have done all of that. The person we should be focused on is the bishop who spoke today. She is a reminder of what religion should be, what it can be. And frankly, Donald Trump should have expected that some minister was going to speak directly to him.

And I wasn't even as appalled at Donald Trump's face during the prayer breakfast. But J.D. Vance's face. He was looking around. He was obviously... No, he was looking down at Trump like, oh my lord,

she's saying to you, you're going I can't believe, he was mad. He was mad. Power, first of all, Joy, here's what these folk don't understand. Well, they don't understand it, my poor Jonas here. The purpose of a

preacher is to convict those sitting in the pews. They're not supposed to be there to affirm you. The preacher is supposed to use the word to challenge you and to call you into question and to call. 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. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding

of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to

change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

Here's the deal. We gotta set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We gotta make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position.

Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. I want you to do better when you leave. And all of these right-wing folk, Joe, are mad, upset. Oh, take they 501c3 status. How dare she talk that way? Because she talked the way a preacher is supposed

to talk to power. Yeah, that's right. I mean, that's the way Martin talked to power, right? You know, and we, you know, we whitewash how this country has a country. We whitewash how we felt about Martin as if he wasn't killed violently, which he was. And so, you know, a preacher is always going to call us to our highest purpose, to our highest morals, and they'll use the word actually to do it. So it was a bastardization of Dr. King's words to take his favorite parts of the speech, but not the other parts that really call into question what it is that's going on with those that are the least of us, right? And you know it's bad when you be sitting there and your eyes are closed to start. And some point you just kind of got to open your eyes be like what in the world is going on here and they were all doing the best they

could to keep from busting out laughing because this thing was really a clown show it was a performance um and not a very good one and it's not one that glorified God. It's not one that lift people up. All it did was, you know, you know, kind of kiss the president's behind, for lack of a better term. And so he sold himself out. But, you know, it's probably not the first time he's done. It probably won't be the last time. And since he was on minutes later talking about getting a commemorative coin, you know what his purpose is. And so the minister yesterday did the right job. She did the right thing in terms of speaking to what it is that is supposed to be arisen out of us. Our best instincts reminding you this is the standard. You are in power and you have a position and you have an ability to do this and there will also be accountability for not doing it. But that's another

thing that the people that seem to be so excited that Donald Trump won, you know, the evangelical types, the Christian types or whatever else, they're not tripping off him not putting his hand on the Bible. Let Obama not put his hand on the Bible when he was swearing.

Oh, I knew he was a Muslim and this and that and everything. Hell, they got mad at him over a flag pin. Right. Yeah. And a tan suit. The hypocrisy is nuts. And what's so bad is that as a Christian, you stand on the outside and you just see non-Christians looking at this being like, no, I'm good. Ain't no reason to jump into this because this ain't what's cracking like at all. So, you know, it's going to be interesting to see how it all turns out and see the moment and time

in which these so-called preachers stop undermining and undercutting their own salvation in order to kowtow to the president. I'm not glorified by that. Here's what I find to be hilarious, Mustafa. Go to my iPad. This fool gave a, he did an interview with a bunch of different people yesterday

and he said, quote, if you take politics out of the Bible, you have no Bible. He said that religious leaders need to, quote, equip all people to understand that the Bible is a political book. Well, it's interesting, Mustafa, because a whole bunch of stuff he skipped was a whole bunch of stuff he didn't want to bring up. And see, again, what what offends me is that you want to quote Dr. King on MLK Day and you want to talk about content of character and all that stuff from the hills and all that, but you skipped over the thesis.

See, what he did was he gave them the hoop part of the sermon, but he skipped the scripture. He skipped the basis. And so that's what he did. And so that's why I have no respect for it. And, of course course you go on to social media you see all of these white conservatives oh my god he was amazing he was just I would go to his church if I was in Detroit that's the kind of pastor I will follow and they're mad

at the bishop today because the bishop today gave a sobering message and specifically said, Mr. President, she challenged him in terms of how he should be responding and how he should be acting as president. And that's what they cannot stand. They can't stand because what the right wing evangelical conservative community has done is they have completely stripped grace and mercy and humanity and compassion and care from the Bible. And instead, what you get, Mustafa, is vitriol and hatred from these individuals. And then if they do talk about grace, it's what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called cheap grace where that they ask for. And so these folk want to hold themselves up to be somehow the paragons of virtue, the individuals who we understand and we represent the true body of

Christ. When you have these fake frauds like Franklin Graham, who would rather ask for forgiveness of Donald Trump, who's cheated on all of his wives, who cheated in business, who cheated in money. Yet he didn't question the Christianity of President Barack Obama. Well, you know, one side of my family is is ministers and deacons and deaconesses. So one of the things that I was taught as a young boy is that you don't play with God. And the bishop and her demand to the president was saying, don't play with God. You know, you've got this second chance. Sometimes God gives us the opportunity to be better, do better. So, you know, I hope that he does.

Some folks, you know, would probably not go that far. But I truly do because I understand how many vulnerable people are out there. But, you know, the other day I was also meditating and praying and then I started writing. And, you know, I was wondering who it was meant for. And the first stanza, I guess, is actually for Reverend Sewell, when I said all skin folk ain't kin folk. Some grin for the win. Tap shoes clacking, backroom dealing, soul on auction, truth revealing. Dollars fold, but integrity bends. When devils pay, some friendships ends. So, you know, I hope that he will realize the opportunity that he has. He's going to continue to have some form of a platform. I hope that that platform will be focused on our most vulnerable communities, on folks who are looking for some grace, who are looking for some protection, who are looking for some opportunity.

And I hope as a minister that he would understand that that is the roots that he's supposed to come from and that he will continue to share that message if he has the ear of the president, that he needs to do better with this second opportunity that he has. Not the second opportunity at the presidency, but that second opportunity to actually be able to breathe in some air, to have a heartbeat continue on. I would not play with God if I had had those types of situations. I wouldn't play with God if I had had those types of situations. I wouldn't play with God anyway. But, you know, we'll see how it all plays out. Hello, I'm Isaac Hayes, the third founder and CEO of Fanbase. And right now we're accepting investors in our 17 million dollar round to revolutionize the future of social media.

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I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports.

This kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real.

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes

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