#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Alabama's Riverfront Rumble, HBUCs & Mental Health, Ne-Yo & Gender Identity, Florida's PragerU

Episode Date: August 9, 2023

8.8.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Alabama's Riverfront Rumble, HBUCs & Mental Health, Ne-Yo & Gender Identity, Florida's PragerU  Louisiana Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. met presidents and stakeholders from Historically Black Colleges and Universities to discuss what they can do for Black students' mental health.  He'll be here to explain how they plan to reduce isolation, improve campus safety, and increase access to healthcare providers for our students.  Montgomery, Alabama, Police have arrest warrants for three men involved in Saturday night's melee in Riverwalk Park.  Mayor Steven L. Reed will be here to give us the latest.  We discussed PragerU, the unaccredited right-wing group that will be used in some Florida schools.  One of those lessons shows Frederick Douglass saying the U.S. founding fathers had to "compromise" on slavery and urging kids to work within the system. And Ne-Yo is getting flack for criticizing parents supporting their children in deciding their gender identity at an early age.  I'll share my thoughts on this.  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 Tuesday, August 8th, 2023. Coming up, I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Congressional Black Caucus challenging Democrat Senator Dick Durbin to stop letting Republicans block nominees because of the blue slip rules. Congressman Troy Carter of Louisiana

will join us to talk about their effort. Montgomery officials announced several warrants out for the arrest of white men involved in that brawl Saturday. That's right. Black folks are still killing it on social media. Plus, the mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, Stephen Reed, the first black mayor, will join us as well. Can't wait to have that conversation with him. Alright, folks. PragerU, hardcore

right-wing social media site. Wise Florida, allowing them to allow their kids' videos to be shown in schools all across the state. They are lying, making things up about black people. It is one of the most shameful things we've seen. They have the audacity to question critical race theory. Yeah, wait till we show you exactly what's

going on there as well. Plus, we'll show you folks what's happening in Niger, where there's a coup taking place. Several African nations are saying, if y'all don't step down and put the president back in, we're going to attack you with military force. We'll give those details as well. It is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black, the fat, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing.

Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for gigs, he's rolling. Yeah, yeah. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. Yeah, yeah. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's Roland Martin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. All right, folks, we told you yesterday about Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat, allowing this Senate tradition to keep in place regarding the blue slip. That's what's keeping a number of nominees for federal judges, U.S. attorney, U.S. marshals, not to even have a hearing and

be confirmed. The direction of the Black Caucus has been very aggressive, saying it's time to end that practice. Plus, they also want to be respected by being consulted on some of these nominees. Congressman Troy Carter of Louisiana has been one of the folks who's been highly critical of this. He joins me right now.

Congressman, glad to have you on the show. So, all right. So exactly what the hell is going on here? This is one of your fellow Democrats. And we know the Senate is different from the House. And so normally they say, well, we'll consult senators for consideration. Explain why you and others say they should be consulting black Democrats in the House. Well, listen, it is the blue slip is one of those last vestiges of Jim Crow.

It is, in fact, a tool that's used to discriminate. Senators have the ability to block without even explaining why, without demonstrating any reason why this particular candidate may or may not be qualified. We believe that it has long outlived its usefulness, And it's time that the White House and the Senate pays attention to members, particularly those of us in the Deep South, in the Deep South where we know that Jim Crow had its deep, deep, deep hold. And we have to make against that. So people don't realize you take Alabama, one Democrat in the congressional delegation. You look at what's happening in Louisiana, what, you're the only one, correct? One Democrat.

Okay. So what you're saying is, yo, if y'all Democratic administration, y'all might want to holler at the only Democrat in the state to get my thoughts on these nominees. And listen, we've got a plethora of qualified Democrats, African American women, minorities that have demonstrated their academic

and legal prowess and have been faithful soldiers in fighting for those things that are important for marginalized and disenfranchised individuals. We need to have a bench that's reflective of its population, a bench that has—that's not just a host of federal former—former federal prosecutors, but people who have been civil rights lawyers, people that have, you know, practical experience in the defense

world, in the plaintiff world. It's important that we don't have just. And I'm not suggesting that prosecutors are necessarily bad, but I will tell you, in order to have a fair system, we have to have the diversity of thought, diversity of action, and diversity of race and gender. We are light in those areas, particularly in the South, and that's what our argument has been about. It's about fairness. It's about creating opportunities for others other than the traditional lot of what we have seen, which has been old white men that have ascended to the bench. We have an opportunity to put some women on the bench, put some African Americans on

the bench. And certainly with the White House being occupied by a Democrat and the House and Senate, the House being controlled by Democrats in the Senate, rather being controlled by Democrats in the House being just a slim margin, we should have more input. We should demonstrate to the voters and to the people that they matter. And so we have pressed on Senator Durbin, and we have had very successful meetings with the White House. We believe we're moving in the right direction, but we aren't there. But we're moving in the right direction. And our effort now is to get Senator Durbin and other senators to recognize the importance of this change. One thing that we have said without fear of contradiction. So the tables were turned.

Dick Durbin would not be able to stop the Republicans from changing this blue slip if it were in Mitch McConnell's best interest. So have y'all heard from Senator Dick Durbin? What does he say? We met with Senator Durbin, I guess, maybe two and a half months ago now. And we have not gotten a response back other than we will visit. But there has not been a direct response to our chairman, Chairman Stephen Hortsford, who's chairman of the Aggression of Black Caucus. A host of us met with Senator Durbin. And we had a very respectful conversation.

But to date, there has been no change. All right, folks, I told y'all we want y'all to be involved in this. Pull the graphic up, please. We want y'all to call Senator Dick Durbin. Let him know exactly how you feel, especially all of our folks who are in Illinois. He is your U.S. senator. And the bottom line is winning means you win. And so this blue-sip crap must go out the window.

I don't care if he's a Democrat. It doesn't matter. Stand up and do what's right. The phone numbers are right there on the screen. Jot those numbers down. Do a screen grab. Take a picture of it as well. Call every single day.

If you're from Illinois, when you call and you say, tell them where you live, I'm a constituent, and that it's time for Senator Durbin to stand up and get rid of the blue slip and stop letting Republicans block strongly qualified nominees, many of them African-American, in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina. These things are happening. It's way too often. And it's things are happening. It's way too often. And it's not just judges. It's U.S. marshals. It's U.S. attorneys.

And, again, we voted. Black women, number one voting bloc for Democrats. Black men, number two. It's time for Durbin to do what's right. Representative Carter, we appreciate you taking this stand. Thanks a lot. Thank you very much. Always good to be with you. Folks, on my panel, Mustafa Santayat Ali, former senior advisor for the EPA, joins us.

Randy Bryant, DEI disruptor, joins us as well. Joe Richardson, civil rights attorney. Glad to have you as well. Joe, I guess I'll start with you since your daughter took a picture with me at NABJ. So, look, this is my whole deal. I mean, Democrats, get a damn backbone. When Republicans have power, they use it. They flex it.

Democrats, I don't want to be nice. I want to be gentle. Let's go along. Get along. Damn that. You won and simply tell them, hey, if y'all object, y'all got six months. We ain't waiting no one, two, three years for you to return a slip. Yeah, and what's going to happen, too, is if the Republicans

get power back, they will have no trepidation about doing whatever they need to do, changing whatever rules they need to change, want to change, in order to fit them. And so coming back to what the Democrats ought to be doing now, well, Dick Durbin might not be doing it if he feels like somehow senators like himself should continue to keep that advantage of unexplained deference, right? And so this is the part where the rubber meets the road, where you say, you know what? Maybe this was a good old boy thing for white Democrats, just like it is for white Republicans. President Biden exemplified that for 40 years when he was on the Senate.

It worked for us at times, but there were plenty of times where it didn't, with him at the helm of it. And so what we have to remind ourselves of is, once again, this is something that we're dealing with. When it comes to people giving up advantages, it's always a harder twist. There's no question that that's what they need to do, particularly because we're the ones that are putting these guys in office. We're the reason that there's a Senate majority when folks didn't expect there to be a Senate majority. And that's why we got to keep our foot on the gas and vote as much as we possibly can and vote every opportunity so that

we can continue to hold their feet to the fire with a prescribed and predicted consequence that we can follow through. Randy, I tell people all the time, vote is the end of one process. It's the beginning of another. And this is the kind of stuff that you got to do after you vote. You got to press folks to do what's right and put that pressure on them and not be afraid to pick that phone call up. It doesn't matter if they got a D in front of their name, D or R, it doesn't matter. Bottom line, black folks, we want to see our nominees approved. Absolutely. We hired the people. When you vote, that is your voice. That is, you are telling someone, you are hiring them. So use your power

and say, are you doing the job that I hired you for? Monitor them. You are the manager, the boss. And so pay attention. I think that's something that we don't do. We put them in office and we let them handle supposedly their business. But oftentimes they're working on behalf of themselves. So it is imperative that we pay attention to what they're doing and ensure that they're working on our behalf. Mustafa. Senator Durbin is the majority whip. He has an incredible amount of power. And I'm not clear why he continues to drag his feet on these very important things.

You know, everybody's heard me say my grandmother says you have power unless you give it away. He continues to give the power away. And that puts us in a dangerous situation because it's August of 2023. They are running out of time. So get the job done. Absolutely. And so it makes no sense in the world. This is down almost the end of the third quarter.

You're going to the fourth quarter. You got one year left in your first term and you sit here and you still have people who are waiting in all of these places. I'm sorry. You don't wait. You tell Republicans, hey, y'all got to get it going. Or Durbin, you do what Chuck Grassley did. You move forward without the blue slip. Republicans did that multiple times last administration. Democrats trying to play nice, trying to play cute. All right, hold tight one second. We come back, folks.

We're going to talk Montgomery Brawl. First of all, news conference today, the authorities announced they're looking for a number of people, all of them white. They got one out for their arrest. Some have turned themselves in. In Selma, they're being transported to Montgomery. Also, we'll hear from the mayor of Montgomery, Alabama about what's happening there. Plus, we'll talk to American psychologists to understand why are black folks responding the way they are? Why are they so elated?

Is this an unleashing of pent-up anger over all of these Karens and Kins? How they've been treating black folks and they're saying, ah, enough is enough? Mmm, gonna break enough is enough. I'm going to break that thing down. Also on today's show, Neo. He's like, yo, I don't give a damn what y'all got to say about my opinion on children getting surgery to change their gender. He's like, nah, I ain't down with it. He doesn't apologize. He fires back at his critics. We'll discuss that as well. Right here, Roland Martin, unfiltered on the Black Star Network. If you're watching on YouTube, hit the like button, y'all.

We should easily go over 1,000 every single day. Also, download the Black Star Network app to stay updated on what we're doing. iPhone, Android phone, iPhone, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Your dollars are critically important, folks. For us to do what we do. If y'all enjoy our work, hey, we're trying to get advertising dollars. We need your support as well. Send check-in money orders to PO Box 57196. Washington, D.C.

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Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And be sure to get a copy of my book, White Fear. How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. Available bookstores nationwide. Amazon. Barnes & Noble, Target. Download your copy on Audible. We'll be right back. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, the studies show that millennials and Gen Xers will be less well off than their parents. What can we do to make sure

that we get to children younger and that they have the right money habits? Well, joining me on the next Get Wealthy is an author who's created a master playbook. Be willing to share some of your money mistakes, right? If that's what you have to lean on, start with the money mistakes that you have made, but don't just tell the mistake, right? Tell the lesson in the mistake. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, how are you being of service to others? Doing for someone beside yourself is such a big part of living a balanced life. We'll talk about what that means, the generation that missed that message, and the price that we're

all paying as a result. Well, now all I see is mama getting up in the morning, going to work, maybe dropping me off at school, then coming back home at night, and then I see is mama getting up in the morning, going to work, maybe dropping me off at school, then coming back home at night. And then I really didn't have any type of time with the person that really was there to nurture me and prepare me and to show me what a life looked like and what service looked like. That's all on the next A Balanced Life

with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Black Star Network. This week on The Black Table with... 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 one two and three on may 21st and episodes four five and six on june 4th ad free at lava for good plus on apple podcasts me greg carr reparations is it finally time to the country's foremost authorities on the subject will join me to try to answer that very question powerful installment of the back table with me Greg car right here only on the black star never.

Bruce Smith creator and executive producer of the proud family louder and prouder. You're watching Roland Martin on Tilted. Montgomery, Alabama police officials today held a news conference where they announced they are looking for several individuals involved in Saturday's Montgomery Brawl. They also said they're not pursuing hate crime charges against anyone. Here is some of that news conference. The Harriot II river cruise ship was fully operational,

operating from a designated docking space along the river. The Harriot takes passengers on two-hour tours up and along the Alabama River throughout the day. On this day, there were 227 passengers aboard that vessel. The incident occurred between a co-captain of the Harriot II vessel and a private boat owner and his family. As the Harriet attempted to dock in its designated space, designated and reserved due to the gangway access as well as the mooring requirements, the private boat was docked in its space, prohibiting safe docking of the Harriet. The captain of the Harriet remained away from the dock for nearly 40 to 45 minutes as they

attempted to contact the operators of the private boat via PA system. They were only responded to with obscene gestures, curse words, and taunting. The co-captain was then picked up by a separate vessel and brought to the pier in an attempt to have a conversation with the private boat owners and or have those boats move so that the Harriet could dock. A confrontation ensued between the co-captain and Mr. Pickett, the co-captain, being attacked by several members of the private boat. Several members of the Harriet 2 came to Mr. Pickett's defense, engaging in what we all have seen since on social media. Thirteen individuals were detained and brought to police headquarters for questioning and interviews. Those interviews lasted several hours. At that time, all parties involved

were released pending further investigation, but're all given instructions on how to secure warrants on combatants. We have since consulted with and are continuing to work with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, our state police agency, the Montgomery's DA's office, and the local office of the FBI. This investigation is ongoing and more charges are likely. The suspects thus far have been identified as Richard Roberts, white male, 48 years old, with two outstanding warrants for assault, third degree. Alan Todd, white male, 23 years old, one warrant for assault, third degree. And Zachary Shipman, white male, 25 years old, one warrant for assault, third degree. We are also asking for Mr. Reggie Gray, the black male, 42 years old, who was seen wheeled in that folding chair, to contact the

Montgomery Police Department for further interviews and as part of this investigation. All right, folks. Joining us right now is Stephen Reed. He is the mayor of Montgomery, Alabama. Mayor Reed, glad to have you here. Obviously, your city getting a hell of a whole lot of attention. This is not necessarily the kind of attention a mayor wants for their city, but you put out a statement making it perfectly clear that those responsible are going to be held to justice. Absolutely, Roland. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate all the work that you and your staff do each and every day.

It's very important, you know, not only for our residents, but people around the country to understand that we will accept lawlessness under no circumstances. And when you have people who are clearly in the wrong, then they have to be held accountable for those actions, regardless of what may have sparked that. And I think when we see someone just doing their job, getting attacked, it, you know, really brings about a level of discomfort and a level of frustration among, you know, most people, regardless of race or background, to see something like that happen. You know, this is, and the thing is, you know, people out here obviously talking about it. You've got videos and memes and the police, you hear them say they're looking for the brother

who was swinging the chair there. The reality is they were coming to the aid of this black security officer. If those brothers and sisters did not, no telling what could have happened to that brother. Yeah, and I think that's the, you know, the unfortunate part, right, is when you have people that, you know, instigate a matter, one, by being in the wrong place with their pontoon boat, second, by not obeying an order that they were given and a request, and then, you know, finally, you know, initiating a interaction that didn't have to happen, then anything at that point becomes unpredictable. And I think for the city of Montgomery, no one wants to be viewed through that light

as a community. And I don't think any community is viewed by one action more so than by the series of actions that a community takes. In this circumstance, you know, when you consider those gentlemen that got off the boat to give aid, they didn't know where the police were. They didn't see that. And I think from their standpoint, they thought they were doing what they had to do to look out for someone that was a part of their crew, co-worker. So in terms of, OK, moving forward, I mean, obviously people are paying attention to this.

Are there any changes planned at this location? You know, what's next? Obviously, law enforcement is one thing, but this is heightened tension in another area. No, I don't think we plan to change anything. You know, this was a great event, a back to school event been taking place on the Nara Riverfront at several locations that day. And you had, you know, a small group of individuals who, you know, chose to disrupt that. And from my standpoint, you know, what we have found out, kind of retracing our steps, is that when the first call came in at 7 o'clock, it was really just a, hey, somebody is in the way of the Harriet being able to dock. We're trying to get them out of the way, and they're, you know, not following the order.

The second call comes in at 7.15, and that's when there was a, you know, level of distress and a level of, you know, there's been an altercation happening. And we saw a series of calls that were happening within seconds of that 7-15 to 7-16 timeframe. And by 7-18, we had a few policemen who were there and then several more that came several minutes, a few minutes after that. So from our standpoint, you know, we'll continue to put up signs to let people know where they can dock their boats where they can. But we'll also make sure that, you know, people come and they disrupt, or much less if they're physical in their approach to a city employee

or contract employee or anyone that's doing their job, then, again, they're going to be held accountable. And that's what we're trying to send that message by, you know, filing the warrants on those individuals that were signed by the co-captain of the ship and making sure that they are in custody as three of them are right now. All right, then. Mayor Stephen Reed, we certainly appreciate it. You were, of course, busy yesterday. You had to route the candidates for them because you're up for reelection. So certainly good luck in that.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. All right. Thanks a bunch. All right, folks. If you look at social media, I mean, look, the memes and the videos have been flying nonstop since this took place. Kara, go ahead and roll some of these. We've been checking this out. All right, y'all.

First of all, how about this one here? Why they put a chair on the MLK Memorial? Straight up. Straight up. I see Randy, Mustafa, and Joe cracking up laughing. A chair. All right, roll the next one, y'all. Roll the next one. Let's see here. You need to drop. We can't see the top of it. First of all, I think that says, this just got my license to carry. So he got a chair attached to his hip. Okay, let's roll the next one.

Somebody has had a chair tattooed already on their arm with the date August 5th, 2023. I don't know what the top of that says. Y'all got to tell me what the top of that says. That is too funny. All right, what we got next? Let's see here. All right, so you see them using the photo from Black Panther

to those brothers surrounding those two white guys. You know how those two white guys escaped? They jumped in the water. They're thinking, well, they can't swim, so they ain't going to see that he ain't come after me. But they were still beating them with the chair as they got in the water. They're thinking, well, they can't swim, so they ain't going to see it. He ain't come after me. But they were still beating them with the chair as they got in the water. All right, what's next? All right, pull up the audio.

All right, let's roll the next video. It should be another one. Okay, this is a pretty good one. I saw this on Angela Rye's page. They put chairs in the hands of John Carlos and Tommy Smith from Mexico City in 1968. Okay, let's see what we got next. All right, then. What does that say?

The top. I'm telling my kids this is the Boston Tea Party. So y'all got to remember. So I can't. Is the full screen showing because of my TV? I can't see the top. So is it showing on the show? OK, cool. All right. So my TV, y'all, I can't see the top. All right. Let's go to the next slide. Hello, ladies and gentlemen, it's your boy King J. Wells. Today, I want to teach you one of the moves that I saw in the fight video. All right, we showed that one yesterday. Now, there were a couple other videos, y'all, sitting in our group chat.

Let's see, where are those? Oh, my goodness, they were absolutely hilarious. That was this one with his brother. Okay, we saw this one here. That's a mural of Harriet Tubman, and they put a chair in her hand. Of course, that boat was actually called Harriet, so we think that's pretty funny. Let's see here. Do y'all have the video of the brother with his family, and they heard the call, and they

woke up, and they jumped up? Y'all have that one? Okay, that was in Group Me Okay, I don't know why we don't have that one Y'all, I seen it Okay, hold on, let's see here Let me find it Because I thought that one was hilarious too

But I'm telling y'all, man Some of these videos have been having me Just screaming With some of the stuff Let's see here. Did we run the one where they said the boot camp one? Okay. All right, let's see here.

Oh, I saw this one today, y'all. Let's see. I'm trying to use my AirPlay. Hold on one second. It's loading. It's too funny. Again, this one here, it's almost there, y'all. I'll tell you, the creativity of black people has been absolutely on display.

It has been absolutely hilarious. Just looking at the videos that folks have been putting together, the means have been put together. I mean, I've just been absolutely hilarious. Okay, you see this one right here? Bootcamp Nathaniel Alexander Academy. Of course, he is the creator of the folding chair. And so that was one right there. Let me see here. Let's see if I can go back, because I've got to find that video one, because, man, I hollered,

screamed, and laughed when I saw this one. Oh, I love this one here. Y'all got this here? Okay, Shirley Chisholm, if they don't give you a seat at the table, swim over with a folding chair or something like that. Okay, that's another one. That's another one. All right, let me see here. Let me see.

I got to find this. Oh, okay, here's a video. Okay, let me pull it up. Y'all give me see here. Let me see. I got to find this. Oh, OK, here's a video. OK, let me pull it up. Y'all give me a second. 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 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. B one two and three on may 21st and episodes four five and six on june 4th ad free at lava for good plus on apple podcasts i finally found it uh because i thought this was just crazy. Okay, watch this. Pull the audio up. All right, y'all. Look, it is absolutely hilarious. But I do think, you know, there's a reason why. I mean, we just don't crack jokes about it as well.

While people are responding, Jeffrey Gardner is an American psychologist. He joins us right now, certified clinical psychologist. And Jeffrey, when you look at, again, the memes and the videos and how people have been responding, it really is speaking to a state of mind. And what I said was that all the crap that's happened in the last four or five years when black folks have been just trying to walk around black, shop black, live black, and they get accosted and stopped by white folks, the brother fishing. He's got to have three, four white folks rolling up on him, asking does he live in the neighborhood,

a little black girl trying to sell lemonade. Black folks are like, you know what, we're just tired of this. And to see black folks come to the security guard's aid and whoop some ass gave a lot of people satisfaction. You know, Roland, and it's more than that, too, and you've talked about this on your show so many times, what we see going on in Florida, what's going on in Texas, obliterating black history, obliterating AP psychology that helps us understand others, really trying to erase

the legacy of a people, saying that slavery has its good points. All of those things are a psychological assault on people of color and underrepresented minorities. And in many ways, a lot of these memes that you showed and the video that you showed, the laughter, the humor, all of that is a cathartic way for people to really express the pain, the disappointment, the anger that they've experienced in the past couple of years politically, physically, economically, and as far as their rights been taken away. So this really does speak to how people of color feel that they have been victimized

and continue to be victimized and treated less than in this country. And not only that, there's sort of this expectation when things happen that we're just going to turn the cheek and walk away. And this is what black people are like, no, no, no, damn that. We ride with that brother. And again,

it was amazing watching the video, Jeffrey, of him get attacked by five and all of a sudden you see one brother, two brothers, then you see the brother jump in the water and swim across and all of a sudden you see one brother, two brothers. Then you see the brother jump in the water and swim across. And all of a sudden the cavalry just rolls up. And it was kind of like, all right, it's six of y'all against one.

We're about to even this sucker out. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, these were people who were involved in the situation, which was absolutely regrettable. I guess no one really wanted to see this. But they were saying, you've outnumbered this individual. He allegedly is just trying to do his job. Instead of listening to him, instead of cooperating, instead of talking about it, instead he gets jumped by all these people. And people just wanted to see some sort of justice here. Of course, this thing is something that got out of hand and we really shouldn't be celebrating violence. But this is people saying, people of color saying enough is

enough. We just cannot continue to take these beatings and being treated less than that everything that we do is essentially wrong and that we have no rights. This is really people coming up and saying enough is enough. And we've got to pay attention to what's going on in this country with people of color and their rights being violated. I mean, look, I mean, I've seen first of all, that tattoo one, that one really took me out. But but you and listen, and I know some people, again, when we talk, you talk about what's cathartic.

And look, we can make light of anything. Because let's be clear, black folks were in jails during the civil rights movement, still smiling and laughing because having to deal with the pain. And so, of course, we all know about lift every voice and sing. This sister here, she had a whole new take on the song In the Wake of Montgomery. Jeffrey, check this out. Ooh Lift every arm and swing Till their heads and ears ring.

Ring with the harmony of black unity. Let our folding chairs rise high as a mill at five, guys. Let it resound loud as the black of the Black Sea. Ring-a-ding-dong is the sound of the carcassity leaving? Ring the ding dong. Try your way, Jesus, but thou shalt not try me. Jump fresh off the riverboat. Bet they won't do that no more Till eternity lift every voice and swing

Everybody just stretch your hands right now. Yes. Let us pray for those involved in the battle of Montgomery. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Every head, every shoulder, every knee, every toe knuckle that was involved. We thank you, Lord, for their sacrifices. Yes. Be a fence around their jobs, Lord. Give them job security and protect them from any lawsuits, Lord. Call Ben Crump. Thank you for the heroism. Yes. Hum, hum, hum, hum. Hum, hum, hum, hum. Hum, hum, hum, hum, hum, hum, hum.

Great job by Rita Brent. But again, you see right there, I mean, what she's saying, she's speaking for a lot of black folks who said, hey, like Fan Lou Hamer said, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. Yeah, when we look at the January 6th insurrection, we saw that

at that time, no one was arrested. No one was brought to justice when that insurrection was taking place, when police officers were being assaulted, when we saw all sorts of issues going on there. And a lot of it, people saw as being, you know, because white people were involved, therefore they weren't arrested. This is what we call white privilege. So what we're seeing here is people lifting every voice to sing to say that

we want equal rights. We want to be treated in the same way as everyone else. And we no longer want to be victimized. You know, it's really interesting. This happened in Montgomery, Alabama. This is the site of domestic slavery, one of the biggest sites in the country where we saw people were, you know, taken off of boats as slaves. So this is so symbolic that this should happen in this particular place and why so many people are feeling the outrage of this. And I should say it's not just people of color feeling this outrage, but many different people,

white people and others, who see the outrage of the audacity of what happened with this particular situation, where people were asked to move and instead of moving, stayed there. And not only that, but attacked the person who was just trying to move things along. Outrageous. Absolutely. Let's see here. Questions for my panel, for Jeff. Randy, you're first. Well, you talk about the how every race is outraged and they can see how it's wrong. But do you think that they understand what we're feeling? Right. I mean, you can look at that particular incident and say that was outrageous. Their behavior was outrageous. But I believe that what we're reacting to every single day, by every single meme, by every single song is just a sort of

redemption, a relief. Seeing Black people unite was so nice. And finally, we are on the other side of things. I mean, how many times have black people heard if you would just follow the rules, right? So I'm wondering, as other races, while they may see this particular incident, if you think that they are understanding, if they're empathetic to why this is such a big deal for us emotionally. Yeah, I think that there are people who do see that it is a big deal for us. But, you know, let's keep it real. You know, people of color are the ones who were, you know, the victims of the slave trade. They're the ones who are the victims of Jim Crow. They're the ones, you know, who deal with, you know, violations of their rights every single day. So the way that we feel this is so basic.

It really is a gut and why we see the way that people reacted in this in this particular manner. Of course, we don't want to push any kind of narrative of violence as the answer. But the answer is and in what we saw, there needs to be more unity, there needs to be more Black unity, and everyone needs to stand up. Everyone needs to be an upstander and not a bystander. When they see something like this

happening to a person of color or any other person who is a victim, we have to stand up and say, that is wrong. You cannot do that. All right, we have to stand up and say that is wrong. You cannot do that. All right. I got to play this before. 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 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'll go to Mustafa.

All right, here we go. All right Mustafa, my man had his American flag on the phone chair. All right Mustafa Mustafa. My man had his American flag on the chair. All right, Mustafa, go ahead. Thank you for all the work that you've done for decades. You know, I'm curious. You know, we saw this last video, which is really an opportunity

as a teachable moment. How do we translate that into a broader set of actions? And I heard you mention unity, which is incredibly important. And then there's also the healing aspect. And I heard you mention unity, which is incredibly important. And then there's also the healing aspect. So I'm just curious about how you feel about that. Yeah, so, you know, this is very funny,

but again, as we see that humor is really about the tears. It's a manifest of the anger that we have hanging out that chair, for example. It's not about where espousing people go out there and beat up other folks or, you know, take up arms. What we're saying is that we need to be respected, that we need to get people to understand the indignities that we face each and every day, and that therefore something must be done about that. And with regard to Black unity, that we have to get out and vote, because we know that right now that we have a Republican Party that's doing everything that they can to stop the Black vote, to stop the young

vote, to stop the gay vote, and so on. And so really, this is a psychological call to arms that things cannot be the status quo. You know, the reason why we see what's happening in Florida with, you know, not teaching black history in the way that it should be taught, what they're doing, you know, saying that slavery, well, that was kind of okay, or, you know, obliterating, you know, a woman's right to choose and so on is because we're not standing up enough and saying, no, we will not allow that to happen. And so what happened with this riverfront brawl in many ways, though some people do find it humorous, I think it really was a wake-up call psychologically, a shocking wake-up call that we cannot allow

these things to happen in this particular way any longer and that there must be equal rights, civil rights, and due rights. There are a whole bunch of names that have sprung up before I go to Joe. I love this video here because it breaks down all of the new names we now see. Check this out. ¶¶ All right, y'all didn't see it, Joe. The audience didn't see it, but even Jeffrey was laughing at some of those names. Even Jeffrey Garnier was like, yo, some of those are funny. Joe, what's your question for Jeffrey?

Doctor, appreciate you. We've been following you for a long time. I wonder, Brother Mustafa kind of asked what I was thinking about, but let me follow up this way. How do we take the opportunity to use this to heal ourselves? Because really, we're laughing like crazy because we got a moment up in here. Hey, you know, ain't nothing going to happen today. You know what I mean? And we're going to get this brother back, and I'm glad they did it.

And frankly, it must have felt good on some level, and I'm glad nobody got killed, et cetera. But how do we take this and learn from it? You know, even when you have fights and things go the way that they needed to, as it were, and everybody walks away. What can we take from this to address ourselves, to address our pain, and to make this decision to grow going forward? How do we do that? You know, what I really admire about all of this, and great questions, and a very good question, of course, is that through this humor, we are allowing so many voices to be heard and they're being heard in a way that people are not necessarily saying, well, they're advocating violence or they want to hurt other

people. They're seeing our humor. They're seeing our creativity. But we are hearing our pain. And this is a conversation, now that the genie's out of the bag, now that the horse has left the barn, now we need to continue this conversation as to how we are going to be there for one another to continue to move the agenda, an agenda where all of a sudden affirmative action is now being thrown out the window. All of the things that have helped us to get to where we need to be today because of the unfairness and the privilege that has been part of systemic racism. So now we have to go from the laughter

and the creativity to action. How do we make this stick? How do we move forward? Because right now we are in a nation that is divided, and the foundation of that is hate and racism that is, I really do believe, enacted and pointed toward us. We are being used as fodder, but now we need to step up and make sure that we are part of the narrative in a very significant way. And Jeffrey, you're absolutely right, because this is the same Alabama that's defying the Supreme Court when it comes to a second congressional district. So we need Black turnout to be at a higher level. It also means, again, you know, so many people are responding

to this. We should be responding in an equal way with the same intensity when it comes to public policy, when it comes to changing things. And so, yeah. And look, I'll give you a perfect example. You know, look, you know, on this live show, we've been averaging anywhere from, anywhere from, obviously, the last few months, 1,800 to 2,200, 2,400 folks watching the 6 p.m. show live. Yesterday, it went all the way up to almost 8,000. And then right now, we're over 3,000 as well. And so more people are interested because they want to see us discussing this topic.

But guess what, folk? We do this work every single day. Imagine what would happen if black folks were responding and we were hitting 8,000 to 10,000 live views every single day discussing things like this. Look, coming up, we're going to be

talking about PragerU. We're going to be talking about them playing the videos in Florida that are there to interrogate our, to change the viewpoint of our children in that state. We can talk about some other issues as well. And so we've got to be willing

to confront these issues beyond just in moments like this where it's a moment of levity. Absolutely. What is our game plan? Believe me, the GOP has a game plan that they have been doing for the last 50 years. Let's use this as a way, as a jumping board,

as a springboard to come together with a plan as to how we are going to claim our rights, how we're going to be a significant part of this country because we helped create this country. But this is an opportunity for us, and I hope that we continue this conversation as to what the game plan will be. We've got to have a game plan on how we have equal rights. All right.

Dr. Jeffrey Gardia, we appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, folks. Before I go to the break, I saw this one here, and I got to play it. It's going to be the last video I play. We got some other topics coming up. Y'all want to stick around,

so don't run off. Trust me. Y'all want to hear us discuss what's happening in Florida with PragerU. But this one brother, he did one of the most hilarious play-by-play videos I've seen. I can't remember seeing all of it. But check this out. It is absolutely crazy.

Watch this. Goddamn, bro. I never thought I'd see this shit happen in real fucking life. What the fuck is he talking about? Get right there, nigga. Straight smoke signal. It's chestnut checkers. His big body had to eat a couple of them, but he got his signal off.

He ready to shoot the fave, Larry the Lobster, but he already know he outnumbered. As soon as that hat hit the ground, nigga, every super tough nigga in the area start scrambling. Thank God he got that signal off, because now he getting jumped by the racists. I don't know they racist, because these niggas swimming in khakis. Who the fuck does that, nigga? Bro, these niggas don't hurry the fuck up. This first nigga coming down used to set the edge for Virginia Tech. Look at that shit, nigga.

At first, he just wanted to calm the situation down because it was still too many of them, nigga, but now we got reinforcements coming. No, not the security guard. Black Aquaman, nigga. Hey, once they seen this shit happen, it confused the Caucasians, nigga. They start scrambling.

Bro, they're in the fucking water now? What the fuck? Bro, that smurda hack got him Black Aquaman and two other tough niggas. And you thought that he was just gonna stop because now he's safe? Hell no, it's time to get my lick back, nigga. These niggas marching down there

like the nation of domination. Now I know it's been a good good. You know why? Because these niggas got on jeans and sneakers and they pull their pants up in unison. Now they want to talk. Dude, let me explain. He was your guy.

He fucking started the shit. Bro, what the fuck? Damn, he smacked you in front of your bitch, said, I'm the captain now. She saw that shit, and Karen started screaming, nigga. That Karen screamed like they had signal. All of a sudden, nigga, the biggest brat of all time showed up. This motherfucker ran to the ring, get his ass whooped in the Royal Rumble.

I know it's hella shit, but look at Karen in the green dress. She done turned this shit into pandemonium because she hit the fake police. Survivor Series, bitch, you get your ass whooped like everybody else. It's ass whoopings everywhere, and the real police done showed up, and they got pepper spray.

But ain't none of that stopping Ashley from getting her ass whooped. She got mollywhopped and tossed over the top rope into the river water, back to the squared circle. Now that Chad and Brad know the police is there, they back tough again. They came from under there like some roaches.

Nation of domination don't give a fuck about none of that shit. You finna get slid anyway. This where it's fucked up. Big Brad right there ran under the pier, jumped in the water,

and left his homie out there. Now somebody's mama got sent to the Sandman and that ass whooping was for him. Where are their fucking parents? Well, I'm glad you asked. Brad and Chad's dad

trying the same shit but hold on they've been whooping ass for way longer this is gonna get ugly hey go watch og come through here dumping he came through swinging them like king on tekken but he didn't come by himself he brought mrs molly whopper and her sister right when i was watching to see if they kicked karen into the creek water the camera panned out and I never expected this Uncle Jesse that had enough everybody get their ass whooped Security ain't you supposed to be down there? No nigga fuck that I'm on break Oh gee chase him down cuz he gonna give you the ass whooping yo you I remember Karen I

Told you Jesse said anybody could get here. Well, he had her look like Hufty Dufty had a great fall, nigga. He took two inches off her height, nigga. You for sure going to jail. Hey, look, Cut and the Yellow not gonna let you get fucked up by yourself. Look at this assist right here. Push that bitch right into the police. Hey, back up, bitch.

Get your wrinkly ass. Yeah, but cops pushed Karen on her keister. What they gonna say about that on Fox News? They ain't nothing. Now, bro, going to jail and that shit sucks. But it was kind of necessary. Y'all tried to jump the security guard. Please stop fighting.

Now, next time, just do the video, no N-word. You can still be that funny. That's the only issue I have right there. All right, y'all. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, Joe, Joe, I don't know who's laughing harder, you, y'all. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, Joe. I don't know who's laughing harder, you, Randy, Mustafa. I think it was you, Joe.

The staff got to send me that, man. Y'all got to send me that. You got to. And everybody keep telling me, play the 7-Eleven video. I don't know what the hell y'all talking about. So y'all going to have to tweet me that video. I don't know what y'all talking about. So I typed in Montgomery 7-Eleven, nothing came up.

So somebody tweet me right now. It'll be at the top of my feed. Then I'll be able to y'all talking about. So I typed in Montgomery 7-Eleven, nothing came up. So somebody tweet me right now. It'll be at the top of my feed. Then I'll be able to take a look at it. All right, y'all. Gotta go to a break. We come back. We got some other stuff in Montgomery a little bit later. But next up, I got to talk about Prager U in Florida.

These white folks in Florida have lost their mind. They rail against CRT. They rail against DRI DEI and now they letting crazy right wing fools who employ 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. When we show y'all one of the videos, all y'all going by some chairs.

That's next. Roland Martin unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets. A horrific scene. A white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn minds 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 Emory 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. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, how are you being of service to others? Doing for someone beside yourself is such a big part of living a balanced life. We'll talk about what that means, the generation that missed that message, and the price that we're all paying as a result. Well, now all I see is mama getting up in the morning, going to work, maybe dropping me off at school, then coming back home at night.

And then I really didn't have any type of time with the person that really was there to nurture me and prepare me and to show me what a life looked like and what service looked like. That's all on the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network. Farquhar, executive producer of Proud Family. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Good times, any time you need a payment. Good times. Easy credit ripoffs. Good times. Scratching and surviving.

Good times. Hanging in a jar. Good times. Ain't we lucky we got them. Good times. Oh, my goodness. All right, y'all. We talked about PragerU. Now, first of all, it ain't no real university, okay?

It's some stuff that Dennis Prager, nutcase right-winger, created to go after millennials in Gen Z, okay? It's a right-wing group. They are now providing supplemental curriculum to Florida schools, okay? It's a right-wing group. They are now providing supplemental curriculum to Florida schools, okay? Here is one of the most sick and demented videos that they will be showing to our kids in the classroom. Children, our founding fathers knew that slavery was evil and wrong, and they knew that it would do terrible harm to the nation.

They wanted it to end, but their first priority was getting all 13 colonies to unite as one country. The southern colonies were dependent on slave labor, and they wouldn't have joined a union that had banned it. Are you okay with that? I'm certainly not okay with slavery, but the founding fathers made a compromise to achieve something great, the making of the United States. It was America that began the conversation to end it. But Leo is correct that big problems need to be approached very carefully. Have you kids heard of William Lloyd Garrison? No. Nope. He's an abolitionist like me, and he and I used to be friends, but we aren't any longer.

We don't agree how to solve problems. William refuses all compromises, demands immediate change, and if he doesn't get what he wants, he likes to set things on fire. Sounds familiar. Sounds like you know the type. Yeah, we've got that type in our time. So you're trying to work for change

inside of the American system. Precisely, Layla. Our system is wonderful, and the Constitution is a glorious liberty document. We just need to convince enough Americans to be true to it. That was a trash-ass video that Ron DeSantis and Republicans have no problem showing in Florida classrooms.

Joining us right now, State Representative Angie Nixon. She also, of course, was hit with a cease and desist order by criticizing comments made by her colleague, Kimberly Daniels, who's on the state's African-American history task force. So I'm curious, Representative Nixon, how the hell this got approved? Who did the task force approve this? Was this the governor's, how the hell this got approved? Who? Did the task force approve this? Was this the governor's office? Where did this come from?

This came from the Department of Education. But as you know, the head of the Department of Education, Manny Diaz, is appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis. Of course, he's going to act like his hand. He has nothing to do with it. But this is right on brand for him. So the video just came out of nowhere. You know, since I've been in office the past three years, there has just been a plethora of anti-Black policies and legislation that Ron DeSantis and his Republican-led legislature have been pushing.

And it is very shameful. Look, at the end of the day, when Ron DeSantis pushes a school curriculum that says black people somehow benefited from slavery, he not only insults our intelligence, but he insults our humanity. There's no benefits to rape. There's no benefits to murder or forced labor. And our children actually deserve the freedom to learn true, accurate history about our nation's history, about the good, the bad, the ugly, right? And it's just a shame that he is basically putting our children at a disadvantage. The fact that our children are not going to have a strong foundation to be

successful in life because they're learning propaganda is ridiculous. But I am an organizer. Been one for over 10 years and we're going to really push back on this. This is from Time.

The CEO of PragerU said the goal of PragerU and its kids division is to provide an alternative to what it sees as a left-wing perspective trending in American public schools and media in recent years. America's education system has been hijacked by one side. How are we going to have great teachers if the teachers themselves are basically held hostage to one ideology? That is essentially what we're trying to break here. I mean, but this is just trash. And they're flat out lies. And they are literally distorting what black people fought for. Yeah, for sure. It is very much trash. And look, it's funny that he's talking basically about academic freedom when all the Florida legislature has done and all Ron DeSantis has done is to

remove academic freedom, especially within, you know, K through 12 schools and now in colleges and universities. I'm not sure if you've seen recently, Roland, but we just basically, we, basically they said we weren't going to be able to teach AP psychology. However, they rescinded that when there was such an outcry in regards to it. And look, Ron DeSantis just wants a dumbed down populace

so that he can control. It's a shame that he's wasting taxpayer money with this type of propaganda. We have a housing crisis in the state of Florida. We also have a teacher shortage of over 8,000 educators across our state. This is only going to exacerbate it. Ron DeSantis is politically ambitious. He is running Florida into the ground and is exactly what he would do if he became president of the United States. It's absolutely crazy. But this is also a byproduct. I keep saying this.

This is what happens when we do not show up at the polls, and they do. Oh, it definitely is what happens. And what we saw, again, I came into office in 2021. I ran in 2020, you know, during the majority peaceful uprisings based on the fact that George Floyd was unjustly murdered, right? And so Ron DeSantis and the Republicans here in the state of Florida were upset that a black man got too close to the governor's mansion and that black people were pushing back against police brutality. And they passed HB1, which is the anti-protest bill, where they made it basically, if black people congregate in like 10 or more, they can be seen

as a mob of sorts, right? And also in that legislation, which we got repealed, we were able to take it out. They wanted to make it okay if someone ran you over during a protest, right? And these are the things that he's pushing. Not only that, but he's basically rigging the system. And what I mean by that is he came in and drew his own maps that's so unheard of. The governor never draws maps. That is a job of the legislature. And I, along with Representative McCurdy, led a peaceful sit-in, a peaceful protest on the House chamber floors because he wanted to eliminate and did, in fact, eliminate 50 percent of our congressional black districts in the state of Florida. At the end of this day,

this man has a problem with black people. He's racist. He's using us and our kids as a stepping stool on a on a on his on a path to become president of the united states he's only doing this to throw red red meat out to a base of voters and it's causing so much division and again it's hurting our children yep at the end of the day it should be about the kids and not pushing propaganda to our children. But Ron DeSantis, again, doesn't care. He only cares about being president of the United States, and that is shameful. Absolutely. Questions from our panelists.

Mustafa, you first. Yeah, well, Representative Dixon, thank you for everything that you do. I'm curious, for folks who live outside of Florida, how can we be most helpful? Yeah, for sure. One of the ways you can be most helpful is to help fund organizations that are on the ground doing the work. I'm actually the executive director of a statewide organization called Florida for All. We organize all across the state, working with other organizations, community organizations that work to build power, particularly within black and brown communities, and getting us aligned and actually doing the grassroots work that is going to get us out of this mess, right? Registering voters, going out, having one-on-one conversations with people, educating them about the importance of voting,

as Roland stated earlier. And so supporting our organizations, the people who have boots on the ground year round, not just dropping in during election season. You know, oftentimes people want to throw a lot of money during election season, but we can't continue to do that. Our communities don't trust us when we do that. And so organizations like Florida for All and Florida Rising and Faith in Florida are doing work year round, engaging with voters and trying to hold elected officials accountable. Randy. Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate this conversation. I am so concerned

about this garbage that our children are being fed and how it will affect their self-esteem and how they see themselves in this world. What can we do to ensure that there's a counter education since they're creating lies and just making up stories? Is there some sort of information that we can give people places that they can go where black kids can learn real history? Because this brainwashing is not helpful at all. For sure. There's actually a statewide call that's going on actually on tomorrow, and I can send you that information, but there's a ton of organizations that are coming together to really push back because I'm not sure if you all know, but Moms for Liberty was basically

birthed out of Florida. And not only are they pushing this anti-black history propaganda, but they're also now saying that mental health services should not be provided in public schools. These people do not care about our children. They want to cause nothing but harm. They want to leave our children uneducated. They want to basically end the middle class, right? It's not just an attack on black and brown people, but it's an attack on working class people. There are so many anti-union bills that have been pushed here across the state,

and now they pushed HB1. Let me tell you a little bit about the numbers, right? So each year during the legislative session, they say HB1, which is the top priority of the year. They pushed HB1 this year, which they labeled the school choice bill, which in essence basically is going to gut public schools as we know it. They are allowing billionaires and millionaires to supplement their children's private education at private corporate schools in the amounts of $8,500 a year. You know, you and I both know that many of the private schools that operate within black communities are failing our children. 90% of our students in the state of Florida attend public schools. 80% attend traditional public schools. When they leave those public schools under the choice idea, oftentimes they come back within two years and they're behind where they were when they left. They're behind the students that they should have been on grade level with in the first place. So we have a group of really right, radical conservatives that are now labeling our public schools governmental failing schools because they know they make more money off the backs of our children being funneled through the school-to-prison pipeline.

All you have to do is follow the money, right? Look and see who's paying, who's giving these campaign contributions. And you'll see that it's these private corporations, these private prisons, and also the folks that are creating things like PragerU that are now going to push this harmful propaganda to our students. And we have to stop it. And again, like funding groups that are on the ground now, please don't give up hope in regards to Florida.

We are here. I was born and raised in this state. I have five kids and I'm fighting for them. There are organizations that need to be funded. We are doing great work. You cannot turn your backs on us. And Florida Watch is another organization. They're pushing out the correct information, really fighting back against the disinformation that's happening.

And we're doing really great work on the ground. We just need additional support. Joe, do you want to ask a question? Yeah, briefly. I would wonder, how do we strike that balance? You know, a lot of organizations have taken their conventions and things that are going on out of Florida. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Florida got a lot of black folks. And how do we strike that balance in terms of supporting the organizations on the ground, et cetera, but making sure that we are doing the right thing as it pertains to the people themselves? What do you

say to those of us that are out of state in a different space that, you know, don't have in front of us how many black people there are actually in Florida. And how do we work that out? Again, I would say the same thing, right? So I stand in solidarity of the folks that don't want to bring their business here, I understand. But there are some organizations and some groups that have funds for their workers and things like that, right? Like I would say, send money to them. Buy black from Florida. Making sure that we are continually recycling the dollar. And again, let everybody know what's going on in Florida and that Ron DeSantis is running for president of the United States.

I joke around and I say, America, you in danger, girl. But like, it's real, right? The fact that he's attacking immigrants, the LGBTQ community, black folks, women, he, Disney, he attacked Disney because they uphold something. They were looking out for their workers. This man will stop at nothing to become president, to get his way. And that is, that's disastrous, right? And so that's what I would say, you know, send your money here, like, to black businesses, the organizations that are doing the good work. Subscribe to DeSantis Watch by Florida Watch so you can learn what's happening here so

that we can continue to fight back. All right. Representative Nixon, we surely appreciate it. Thank you so very much. And don't forget, if need be, all you got to do is call us. We ready. I'm not supposed to laugh at that we ready to go to Florida

alright thanks a bunch alright y'all we come back Neo man he's ticked some people off on social media they trying to come in with a chair we'll talk about that next 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 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 four, five, and six on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Flash.network back in a moment.

Question for you. Are you stuck? Do you feel like you're hitting a wall and it's keeping you from achieving prosperity? Well, you're not alone. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, you're going to learn what you need to do to become unstuck and unstoppable. The fabulous author, Janine K. Brown, will be with us sharing with you exactly what you need to do to finally achieve the level of financial success you desire through your career. Because when I talk about being bold in the workplaces, I'm talking about that inner boldness that you have to take a risk, to go after what you want, to speak up when others are not. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network.

On a next A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie, we're talking all things mental health and how helping others can help you. We all have moments where we have struggles and on this week's show, our guests demonstrate how helping others can also help you. Why you should never stop giving

and serving others on a next A Balanced Life here on Black Star Network. This week on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr, reparations. Is it finally time? Two of the country's foremost authorities on the subject will join me to try to answer that very question. A powerful installment of The Black Table with me, Greg Carr, right here, only on The Black Star Network. I'm Faraji 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. Hatred on the streets. A horrific scene. A white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence.

You will not replace our law! White people are losing their damn minds. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the US Capitol. 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 Emory 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. Me Sherri Sheppard and you know what you're watching, Roland Martin unfiltered. All right, y'all, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. That's my co-host. All right, y'all, this past weekend, Ne-Yo ruffled some feathers over his comments

during an interview with Gloria Velez for Vlad TV, where he talked about parents allowing their children to have a say in their gender identity from a young age. Here's what he actually said. Parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is. Amen.

It's like, okay, if your little boy comes to you and says, Daddy, I want to be a girl. And you just let him rock with that? You just let... Right. He's five. Right. And where did he get that from? If you let this five-year-old boy decide to eat candy all day, he's going to do that. Exactly. Like, when did

it become a good idea to let a five-year-old, let a six-year-old, let a 12-year-old make a life-changing decision for theyself? Right. When did that happen? Right. Like, I don't understand that. I don't get that. And to medicate these young kids that are five, six, growing up and knowing that

it affects their brain, it affects their organs, it makes them sick, but they're not allowed to do drugs, they're not allowed to do alcohol. Right. But we can medicate them. He can't drive a car yet, but he can decide his sex. Right. What sex orientation. And he can cut off his pee-pee. To me, that makes no sense whatsoever.

I don't know if this is true, but I heard a rumor that they either passed or are trying to pass a law in L.A. that states if your child comes to you and asks to do some of these things and you say no, they can take your kid for you. Yeah, that's true. Just passed in California. That makes no

sense. They want us to have no control over our children. I don't get it. In schools, in hospitals, libraries. They just want to manipulate. You got to understand, when they're so young and they're already... Impressionable. That's right. And from them, they're going to and they're already that's impression that's right

and from them they're going to believe what you say i mean we say santa claus is real you know the easter bunny right exactly they know what they're doing remember who you're dealing with like i don't i can't take credit for it but i heard somebody say one time he's like all right if your son comes to you and says daddy i want to be a girl ask your son son what is a girl that's a good one what is he going to do he's going to you and says, Daddy, I want to be a girl. Ask your son, son, what is a girl? That's a good one. What is he going to do? He's going to say, well, he might want to play with dolls.

All right, you want to play with dolls. Fine, play with dolls. But you're a boy playing with dolls. That's right. You want to wear pink. All right, cool, wear pink. But you're a boy wearing pink. I have no issue with the LBGT. I have no problem with nobody.

Right. Love who you love, do what you do. Exactly. I just personally come from an era where a man was a man and a woman was a woman and it wasn't but two genders and that's just how it rocked. You could identify as a goldfish if you feel like it.

I don't care. That ain't my business. It becomes my business when you try to make me play the game with you. I'm not going to call you a goldfish, but if you want to be a goldfish, you're going to be a goldfish, you go be a goldfish. Amen. It's just, we live in a weird time, man. We do.

Trigger warnings. What the hell is a trigger warning? Exactly. It's just, I just don't know when the world became so sensitive. Like, comedians can't tell jokes no more. Everybody's offended. It's a joke. It's a comedian. It's a joke. You're not supposed to Everybody's offended. It's a joke. It's a comedian. It's a joke.

You're not supposed to take it serious. It's a joke. His literal job is to joke. About everyone. About everyone and everything. And people want to get offended. Don't say that. That's triggering. Oh, my God. You know what? Sit in your house by yourself.

Shortly after the interview, disappeared on social media. After much much reflection i'd like to express my deepest apologies to anyone that i may have hurt with my comments on parenting and gender identity i've always been an advocate for love and inclusivity in the lgbtq plus community so i understand how my comments could have been interpreted as insensitive and offensive gender identity is nuanced and i can honestly admit that Well, that was a written statement. Monday, Neal dropped the video. He was real clear.

Watch. What's going on, loved ones? This is Neo. All right, listen. I normally don't give too much of a damn about what y'all think about what I do, what y'all have to say about what I say, whatever. I normally don't care because, like I said, opinions ain't special. Everybody got one.

However, this is something I feel very strongly on, and I need y'all to hear this from the horse's mouth, not the publicist's computer. So check this out. First and foremost, I do not apologize for having an opinion on this matter. I am a 43 year old heterosexual man raising five boys and two girls. Okay. That's my reality. Now, if my opinion offended somebody, yeah, sure. I apologize for you being offended because that wasn't my intention. My intention is never to offend anybody. However, I'm entitled to feel how I feel. I'm absolutely entitled to feel how I feel the same way you are entitled to feel how you feel.

I ain't asked nobody to follow me. I ain't asked nobody to agree with me. I was asked a question, and I answered the damn question, okay? I have no beef with the LBGTQIA plus community whatsoever. I ain't got no beef with y'all. Do whatever the hell it is you want to do. Do what you want to do with your kids. However, somebody asked my opinion on this matter, and this is how I feel.

I will never be okay with allowing a child to make a decision that detrimental to their life. I will never be okay with that. I definitely plan to educate myself a little bit more on this matter. However, I doubt that there's any book anywhere or any opinion that somebody is going to tell me that's going to make me okay with letting a child make a decision like that. That's just period point blank. And that's how I feel. If I get canceled for this, then you know what? Maybe this is a world where they don't need a Neo no more. All right. And I got no problem with that. I'm a hustler, all right? I'll figure it out. I got kids to raise, and I'm going to do that regardless.

So with that being said, y'all have a good day. I love everybody. Live how you want to live. Love how you want to love. But your opinion is yours. Speak your opinion as much as you damn well feel like it. Because as I said, they're not special. Everybody got one, and you're entitled to it.

I'm entitled to mine, all right? Y'all feel how y'all want to feel. Have a great day. It's Neo. Peace and love. So here's what I want to focus on here, and that is, again, people throw the phrase around cancel culture and things along those lines. And obviously that written statement, he basically said it in that video. A publicist wrote that.

That wasn't me. And the thing that's interesting here, Randy, I'm gonna start with you, is that what Ne-Yo's saying is, I am a parent, and I am going to decide what's best for my child, and that's what I do, and if you don't like what I do, that ain't my problem. So what's interesting here is that why is that a controversial thing to literally have your own perspective and your own opinion on an issue? Right. I mean, it's respectability politics. And as a person, you know, with a DEI background, of course, I'm about accepting all people.

But I also part of that part of accepting people is allowing people to have their opinions. He said what he thought was right. He was asked a question. He's not doing anything that's harming anyone. He was asked a question and he provided his opinion and he has the absolute right to do that. And so I didn't see anything wrong with what he said. I mean, if that opinion offends you, that really more so, I really don't even know why you'd be offended. He's saying what I would do, how I would react. This is what I think is right. And we all have different opinions when it comes to raising children. He should be allowed to have his. I do respect, though, that he said that he was going to learn more and do more research on the subject.

There were a couple of things they said that actually weren't accurate, but I don't think that would change his opinion anyway. And it's okay for him to own that opinion. He should have the absolute right. And I actually respect the fact that he has started a conversation. That actually would probably more so lead to helping people instead of these canned comments from publicists that don't get us anywhere. I think what happens here, Mustafa, is that on many subjects, it's, oh, you're touching the third rail. So, oh, don't go there because you're going to tick somebody off and the community is going to come after you and target you. If you look at this, he didn't trash anyone. He didn't

condemn anyone, but he simply said, this is how I'm going to raise my children. And what's interesting to me is on so many conversations and so many different levels, when you hear parental choice, I think about corporal punishment. Oh, people, you should respect your kids. I believe in it. I don't see what the problem is. And again, other people disagree. You're going to have folks disagree. But the reality is what he said, there are a large number of parents who actually have that position. And so can we actually have room for somebody to have an alternative viewpoint in this society?

I hope so, because if we don't, then the society has some significant problems. I think everyone has to live their own truth. And being a parent is extremely difficult. You know, you're always making choices and hopefully those choices are being made out of love and trying to make sure that your child makes it to adulthood with the skills that are necessary for them to our children or others, that we're coming from, you know, the most informed space that we can. Because there are studies that have shown, you know, that when, you know, when folks get to their teenage years and if they feel that those who are their parents or others are not listening to them, then we do see elevated rates of both mental illness and suicides. So I say all that to say that if we do to them, then we do see elevated rates of both mental illness and suicides. So I say all that to say that if we do educate ourselves, then we should be better able

to navigate the conversations and the challenges that their children may be dealing with. Joe? Yeah, it's, you know, cancel culture is difficult because you've got to figure out who to cancel, and I haven't seen it happen in a consistent way yet. There are two things here. There is how one feels about the merits of this particular issue. Okay. It looks like you broke up there, Joe. Joe, start your comments again because you broke up there. Go ahead. There's two things that are going on here. There's how you feel about the merits of the issue, which everybody wants to get to, right? But there's also how you feel about the fact that I'm a parent, and as a parent, I'm going to make a decision for my child

until my child has the experience, the knowledge, and the adulthood, perhaps, to take stock of their own decisions and to deal with the consequences, the ramifications of those decisions. That part of it should not be controversial at all. We make decisions, parents make decisions for kids all the time. You know what I mean? I'm a Christian parent that took my kid out of Adventist school because they made her feel guilty about not going to church on Saturday. Okay? I don't want a hypocrite teaching my child Christianity.

I can do it. All right? So folks make these kinds of decisions all the time. And what people on all sides of the issue, as it pertains to the merits, I don't think there's good argument about out there, good opposition to the argument that parents should make decisions for kids and are supposed to guide kids. I don't think that there's a good counterargument to that. But there has to be respect for a different viewpoint, and we have to be more nuanced.

Black folks, to go to work, to go to school, to do everything we do, we have to be nuanced, because these people that have these crazy opinions are our bosses, they're our teachers, they're our fill in the blanks. You know what I mean? We gotta do this all the time. We gotta find this other aspect and find this other side. But maybe some of the folks that don't want us to find the other side and don't want us

to have the other side has to do with some entitlement or some position where they feel like they stand in. And whether you're talking about politics, you know, social issues, social society, whatever else, we better get a handle on this because there's a whole lot more people out here to feel the way Neal feels, not only about the merits. We can talk about that some other time. But the notion of parents being able to make decisions related to their children. That should not be controversial.

All right, folks. Hold tight one second. Going to go to Brett. We come back. Black and Missing, plus some breaking news. Tory Lanez sentenced for shooting Megan Thee Stallion. We'll tell you exactly how many years he's going to spend in prison. Don't forget, you're watching on YouTube.

Hit that like button, y'all. We should easily be at 2,000 likes. It ain't that hard, y'all we should easily be at a 2,000 likes and they did hard y'all It's a click. It's like real simple click I understand the problem y'all commenting hit the like button Also, download the black certain network app Apple phone Android phone Apple TV Android TV Roku Amazon fire TV Xbox one Samsung Smart TV That's how you get the app. 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. to you enough. Literally, this morning, I sent a very terse email to an ad agency that we've been dealing with for three years and we've gotten no money from. Okay? And they handle about $50 or $60 billion for clients. And so I'm fighting the good fight, folks. But look, the money isn't always there. We do this show. It is not free.

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Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. The Cash App is $RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barn, the poetess, Alicia Morris is in the house.

She's an emcee, a recording artist, a hip-hop historian, broadcast journalist, and an entrepreneur. The advantages was I got to do an album and hear my music on the radio and travel around the country. With a major label, I was labeled Mace with Tupac and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Welcome the poetess right here on The Frequency and the Black Star Network.

This week on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. Reparations. Is it finally time? Two of the country's foremost authorities on the subject will join me to try to answer that very question. A powerful installment of The Black Table with me, Greg Carr, right here only on The Black Star Network. Me, Sherri Shppard with Sammy Roman. I'm Dr. Robin B, pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.

I thought this was one of the funniest memes I saw as well. Jamie Foxx's Django Unchained with the chair instead of the whip. Boy, y'all got some mad skills. All right, y'all. Breaking news out of Los Angeles. Breaking news. Where's the banner? There you go. Tory Lanez, 10 years in prison for shooting Megan Thee Stallion.

Prosecutors, they could have gone up to 13 years in prison, but again, they sentenced him to 10 years in prison. And remember, look, he look, he was, you know, very, frankly, arrogant about this whole thing, what wasn't going to happen, what he wasn't going to do. And remember, this here was a tweet that he sent out on September 23rd, 2021, me at my house watching N-Words on Twitter, celebrating and thinking I'm going to jail. Well, almost two years later, you are going to jail, Tory Lanez. This was, of course, a story that attracted lots of attention. The Canadian rapper was adamant, was defiant throughout, contended. He never fired those shots, but a jury disagreed. Again, 10 years in prison. You know what? A lot of people,

you know, this was controversial because a lot of people questioned and said, Megan Thee Stallion, well, was she telling the truth? There were people who were angry. A lot of people in the hip-hop community were not believing her, not standing with her. And remember, when Bun B out of Houston dropped a video, he was one of the early voices who finally came out strong against Tory Lanez for what took place. Remember, he actually released this.

The next time, and I tried to be impartial and cool about this and not get it. Man, fuck that, man. Fuck Tory Lanez, okay? And I don't care if this go viral or none of that shit. I'm from Houston, and if somebody would have done something to Megan in this city, we would have rolled. Megan in L.A. by herself. It's just her and T. Ferris. She ain't got her mama no more.

Her mama is gone. Her daddy is gone. Her grandmother is gone. All the people that loved her and cared about her unconditionally, that looked out for her and would have protected her, ain't there. So as an OG in Houston, I'm standing up tori lane did some whole ass shit period yeah i know tori i know his manager i know all of them man fuck all that

though fuck all that if the man on drugs get him some goddamn rehab if the man got mental health issues get him some therapy but you're not going to sit here and shoot this girl. And we not say nothing. This shit not real. I mean, this is not real nigga shit. It's not. Anytime a man hurts a woman, that's obsession. That ain't love. That's obsession.

You know what I'm saying? And he had no reason to shoot this girl she wanted to get out the car get out the car you get into it with your gal she mad let me out pull the fuck over because whatever you got to deal with with that it's going to be better than if you don't do that

and you try to restrain the woman and then she get physical because if she ready to get out the car and you don't let her get out the car she gonna get physical with you and she got a right to let her out the goddamn car now he ain't from New York he from

Canada so at the very least they gonna deport his ass he got to go back to Canada but when nobody's talking about it because it's a black woman y'all can say what y'all want i'm just just that's just what it is if benji the twin from good charlotte had put his hands on camera diaz or somebody if someone you let one of these actors or somebody that fuck with one of these these white women in hollywood put they put your hands on alyssa milano and see what happened he's uh over there uh clapping i see you clapping randy um go ahead he said it all right i mean we have to protect black women we

have to listen to black women i mean of course i hate to see a brother go to jail, but what he did was wrong. And seeing how the events unfolded and how, you know, Megan was so just not trusted from the beginning and how people questioned her story, it was sad to me that black women, we don't even sometimes trust each other. And so, you know, I was happy to see a black man, the brother, just speaking up for black women and saying that this would never happen had it been a white woman. It would never go down, especially the way it did. So, yeah, bravo. Bravo to that brother, you know, speaking out and saying that black women deserve to be protected at all costs. Jasmine Simpkins is a reporter with Hip Hollywood. She is still trying. She just texted me. She's at the courthouse trying to get a reaction from

Lane's family. This is what she posted on social media from Tory Lane's attorney. From Tory today, did you guys know that he was going to speak ahead of time? Was that something he decided to do on his own? It's something he decided to do. And I advised him, look, if you want to say something, just say it from the heart. Don't rehearse anything. And when you look at this case, why don't you wait, hear everything out, and if you still feel you want to make a statement, make it. That's exactly what he did.

Thank you all very much. if you still feel you want to make a statement, make it. That's exactly what he did. Thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you. Joe, this, of course, was a lot of people that have been covering this on the entertainment side there in Los Angeles. I mean, look, you get arrested with a gun in California, it's going to be a problem, especially if you're talking about a shooting. Look, he was going to get some prison time. And again, he could have got up to 13 years.

Instead, he got 10 years. And he didn't help himself. Remember, after the shooting, he went on this worldwide tour, was attacking her, continued to do so. And a lot of people were not happy at all with the constant denials in this case. Those 10 years, that's the judge sending a very loud statement. Yeah, and you can't carry guns out around here like you're in the deep south. And so there's a little less sensitivity towards that. There's a little less deference towards that. And then what this brother forgot is that this system wasn't

made for him. He thought he could lubricate the wheels of justice in his direction because he had means or whatever else. But at the end of the day, here he is in this system that he thought was going to do him right, and he thought he would step on a black woman in, in the process. So it's like he was using the system against her. And not only from a racial standpoint, but from a sexist standpoint. Women are often not believed, particularly black women, even though they should be. They get put on trial. She didn't have no gun. She was trying to walk away.

You know what I mean? And he should have gone, just like his brother said, he should have gone out of his way to make sure that this particular complaint, Megan D. Stallion didn't have. You know, we got an argument and I wanted to leave and I walk away. Can I take you somewhere? Can I make sure you're safe? Whatever else. You want to go, you can go. But see, this is what happens when you try to do control. Because at the end of the day, it might not have been the best of intentions for the people that put him away. Maybe it is the best of intentions, but maybe it's also, I'll use this system to put you where you belong. And in irony, he does it trying to step on a black woman. Either way you're looking at it, you've got a brother that's in jail. He's going to do at least five out here. You know, on the state side, he could probably do five plus one and get out.

But that being said, you know, I'm glad that this black woman was believed because frankly, it doesn't happen often enough. It's too bad that the one on the gets short in the stick is a brother, but he should never have put her in that situation. And then you can't go flouting in front of this system and flossing in front of this system. I don't care how much money you've got better to be lucky than good. If you keep escaping the system, don't, Don't poke the bear anywhere. Because if these prosecutors get dedicated on you and the jury doesn't believe you, now you've got a serious problem. And at the end of the day, the jury rendered a verdict.

And that's that. This here is some tweets from the L.A. Times, Mustafa. He actually faced a maximum of up to 22 years and eight months in prison. He did not testify in his trial of sentencing. He's denied all wrongdoing. Then it says despite hours of testimony and evidence poured in from Peterson's legal team highlighting his commitment to charity, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge

David Hereford said that, quote, unfortunately sometimes good people do bad things. Prosecutors had asked Hereford to sentence Peterson to 13 years in prison. Peterson's lawyers sought probation, arguing Peterson had been greatly affected by his mother's sudden death when he was a child. Grief, which led him to abuse alcohol, doesn't matter. That's 10 years in prison, Mustafa. Yeah, you know, and again, we don't want to see anyone have to go to jail.

But good people, when they do bad things, then, you know, you have to be held accountable. And, you know, this brother, I'm sure, he would never have gunplay around his mother. He would never point a gun at his mother. He would never shoot his mother. So we have to treat all black women with the same level of respect. Hopefully he will have an opportunity to actually reflect on what he did and become a better man because of it. And again, I mean, it was a lot of things that was happening here. Randy, a lot of comments. He was making a lot of tweets. People felt that he and other rappers were stalking Megan.

You know, he he sat here and posted. This was December 7th of 2022. I'm going to leave this here one more time and watch how it ages. No weapon formed against me shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against me in judgment shall be condemned. You sit and watch now, and don't ever question the God I serve again. This is my last tweet. Ain't nobody questioning God, but you have to pay for your actions. And guess what?

You can still pray to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in prison. He definitely was arrogant this entire, throughout this entire process. I mean, I don't know why someone couldn't get him just to keep his mouth shut because that certainly did not help him whatsoever.

But in stories I've heard also about his father, it seems as if the apple didn't quite fall far from that tree. So, I mean, like Mustafa said, let's just hope that he has time in prison to reflect and he can come out a better man because he certainly seems that he has some work to do on himself. A lot. The thing that was interesting here, well, just just so many people who were taking sides, Joe, and I'm sitting there going, how about you listen to the evidence?

Right. Yeah. I mean, imagine that. Listen to the evidence. Right. What's interesting is what ends up happening is a lot of times our preconceived notions, our prejudices, our biases come out. And so maybe you're a black man and you feel powerless as it pertains to this larger system.

But as it becomes to black women, you feel powerful. And so therefore, when you feel powerful, somebody's got to feel powerless. And so he figured that he had money, he had resources, he was popular, etc. And so therefore, this is going to go this way. I love, though, when y'all quote scriptures. It's good y'all know y'all scriptures. That's fantastic. But it's hard

when you get in those scriptures and you start in the middle of the story. Because that does not mean that you are going to be without consequence. You might have some grace. Bible also says where sin abound, grace abound more. But that don't mean you're not going to prison. Okay?

And so hopefully he can take from this what he needs to, and this can make him a better man. Because I'm going to tell you this. I deal with this system every day, mostly on the civil side. But, you know, then the civil rights stuff, sometimes my guys are in jail and I'm dealing with particular things that are going on with them that way. I would never tell anybody. I don't care how good my case looks for you to flout the system and the false in front of the system. Because at the end of the day, it's a square peg in a round hole.

We're trying to make something work for you that was not made for you. And so even when you have resources, that can be a problem. And I'm glad people stood up for Megan. Maybe her celebrity helped her on some level, but it is a double edged sword. She went through a lot of changes and got talked about a whole, whole lot because of what was happening with her. Resources didn't save her in that regard. Why should they save him?

Megan Cunif is a reporter who's been covering this. She said that Tory did speak during the sentencing phase. He said he still cares about Megan. He called her someone I still care for dearly to this day, regardless of what she may think of him. He said the victims, my friend, he talked about bonding with her over the loss of their mothers. We both lost our mothers. We would sit there and drink and drink until we got numb, he said of Megan Thee Stallion. About the shooting, I said some very immature things that I shouldn't have said.

I revealed some secrets I shouldn't have revealed, Lane said as well. But all of that doesn't matter. He is going to prison for 10 years. Joe, you're there in Los Angeles, and again, will he serve the 10 years? How long do you think he'll actually be in prison? Well, it depends. I mean, depending on how deep his record

was and, you know, those types of things, normally if somebody is otherwise clean and that might not be what you have here, then they're doing half their sentence and maybe a little bit more on the state side. Federal, you're going to do 70% to 80%. But here on the state side, maybe he will do something. But if I were him before I got in sentence, I would have said something. I would have shown myself to be contrite, to regret what actually happened, to take some measure of responsibility. All of those things help when you do those things. So he's going to be in there for a minute.

I don't know if he's been in there. I think he's been in the street. I forget how that goes for him. So he'd get time served, but he's going to do at least five on the state side. It could save him that way. But if they don't like his attitude, he might do more.

This is a statement that the DA's office released. Remember, Lanes actually called for DA's office to drop the charges. They said over the past three years, Mr. Peterson has engaged in a pattern of conduct that was intended to intimidate Ms. Pete and to silence her truth from being heard. This is DA George Gascon. Women, especially black women, are afraid to report crimes like assault because they are too often not believed. I commend Megan Peete for her incredible bravery and vulnerability as she underwent months of probing investigation and court appearances where she had to relive her trauma and the public scrutiny that followed. This case highlighted the numerous ways that our society

must do better for women. Thank you, Deputy District Attorneys Kathy Todd and Alex Bott, and Victim Services Representative Cecilia Zamora, who spent countless hours working to ensure justice was served for Ms. Pete. We also would like to thank the Los Angeles Police Department for their thorough investigation. Mustafa. Yeah, I mean, you know, I can't speak about anybody else but myself. You know, I was raised by when my grandfathers taught us a simple lesson, you protect Black women.

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Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, 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. At all costs. And, you know, if we actually lived that out, we wouldn't have these types of situations. Tony wouldn't have got himself in this situation. A bunch of these other situations that we often see and talk about is because we don't honor black women. We don't protect black women. And if we change that paradigm, we would not be in, you know, having this conversation

today because, you know, our brother who's now going to spend 10 years maybe in prison, you know, unfortunately didn't learn that lesson early on or incorporated it as he grew up into a man. And the thing that's also what's interesting here, Randy, you know, you look at decisions made, look at decisions made that people made. And the reality is, as Joe said, his actions spoke very loudly. First of all, a written statement. So here's this is what Megan Cunham's story says. Lane's lawyers submitted 76 character reference letters from friends, family and other supporters. The writers included singer Iggy Azalea, a police chief and a state representative from Missouri,

and a doctor who treated Lane for hair loss. In a written statement written loud in court, Megan says she struggled with whether to attend in person. Her absence should not be seen as anything other than her preserving her mental well-being. She said, since Tory Lane's shot her, I've not experienced a single day of peace, Deputy District Attorney Kathy Todd read aloud. Megan said mercy is for people who show remorse and Lane's has shown none. Quote, he not only shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma. He tried to position himself as a victim and set out to destroy my character and my soul. He lied to anyone that would listen and paid

bloggers to disseminate false information about the case on social media. He released music videos and songs to damage my character and continue his crusade. At first, he tried to deny the shooting ever happened. Then he attempted to place the blame on my former best friend. In his tantrum of lies, he's blamed the system, blamed the press, and as of late, he's using his childhood trauma to shield himself and avoid culpability. She said that Lange, quote, must be forced to face the full consequences of his heinous actions and face justice. Wow.

That, you know, and she has been harassed. I was thinking, I'm almost positive that, I know Drake was one of the ones who put a lyric mocking Meghan in one of his songs. So I hope all of the ones who put a lyric mocking Megan in one of his songs. So I hope all of these people who participated in Tory Lanez's harassment of Megan Thee Stallion after he shot her publicly apologizes to her. I mean, even that's not enough. So yeah, she has really suffered. And I have always just felt badly for her. She has been ripped apart in the media.

And I find it very interesting that he's still calling them friends. It shows how he is disassociated from what is going on. And I believe that he probably doesn't realize what he did is wrong. So there definitely needs to be some mental health work done on this young brother because he seems somewhat lost in my opinion. This right here, Joe, man, you talk about something powerful here. It says, this is from Megan Cunham's story.

Lance continues to maintain his innocence. His lawyers argued he has an alcohol use disorder because of post-traumatic stress disorder and an anxiety disorder, and they asked he be released from jail on probation and to a residential substance abuse program. Hereford, who's the judge, questioned where the nexus is between the crime

and Lange's alcohol use disorder if he's stillies shooting Megan. Quote, your client at no time indicates he actually shot the victim, Hereford said to Lane's lead lawyer. What is he alleging he did as a result of alcohol use disorder if he didn't do anything? What did the doctor conclude he did as a result of alcohol use? It's very unclear. The lawyer tried to say yelling and the argument that went back and forth in the car.

He said there were a lot of decisions that transpired to escalate the situation. It wasn't a pretty situation. It wasn't that young man's finest moment. The thing here, Joe, dude, you did it. Had he shown any level of remorse, had he accepted what he did early on, his lawyers could have likely gotten a plea bargain that could have been one year, two years, suspended sentence. Nah, he rolled the dice, Joe. He crapped out.

It's now 10 years in prison. And they had to admit, as said he paid bloggers he kept lying he was attacking her he did himself no favors he did himself no favors and he could have got more time he should consider himself lucky he got a date the prosecutor could have gone for 22 years and they went for they went for 13. The judge gave him 10. Despite all of the stuff he said, things he said and did, he had absolutely no business doing. He controlled his narrative, where Megan still is going to continue to have some problems, and that's not going to change. And there was no acknowledgment once he was got,

once he was convicted. He continues to maintain his innocence. And now, you know, all this happened to me when I was a child. And that's why I didn't do it or that's why I did. To that point, there's no acknowledgement. And so you can't have remorse without some kind of recognition. And so the fact of the matter is, given all of this, he's lucky all he got was 10. Because in a lot of other places, he'd have gotten even more than that. And so, you know, if there's no recognition, hey, you've got to start from, you know, there has to be the acknowledgement.

There can be no repentance. Repentance is actually a change. It's actually a turn. It's not, I'm sorry I got caught. It's not, I'm sorry we grew up together. No, I'm sorry I messed up, and I know I need to do something different. And so without any of that recognition, frankly, it makes you a little bit less sympathetic. And I wouldn't want to be him, not only going to prison, going to prison, but he going to prison for shooting a woman.

And that's not exactly going to get him a whole lot of credibility on the yard either, by the way. Final comment, Mustafa. James Baldwin said, I can't believe what you say because I see what you do. And we've seen what Tory Lanez has done. And, you know, it's up to him now to decide if he wants to be a better man. All right. Randy, Joe, Mustafa, I appreciate the three of you being with us today. Thank you so very much for joining us on today's show, folks. Do not forget, first of all, Kenan sent me.

Folks, we're a little under 73,000 downloads. We should easily be at 100,000 now. So, y'all, do us a favor. Download our Blackstar Network app. You can do so right on your Apple phone, your Android phone, your Apple TV, your Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Also, please join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your dollars are critically important. Critically important. Let's see here. Give me one second.

Do this here. Carol, FaceTime Jasmine Simpkins right now. She's leaving the courthouse. Folks, I'm going to do this here. I'm going to read off some of the names while Carol is doing that. We may not end the show just yet. I may get Jasmine Simpkins on real quick. Just give me a second. I want to give y'all some shout-outs because, man, y'all have been giving,

and I appreciate that. So let me shout-out Michelle Henry,, man, y'all have been giving, and I appreciate that. So let me shout-out Michelle, Henry, Terry Jones, Cardell Wilson, Alice Barnes, Walter Chisholm, Erica Brown, Rochelle Johnson, Lynell Little, Craig Wilson, Brenda Smith, Mark Grant. Let's see here. John Free, S. McInnes, Daryl Johnson. Jasmine's going to be pulling her car over to a live hit so please facetime her tanya miller jennifer jones jeanette powell sandra reese harriet watley terry jones lorenzo odom jahazia searles uh mati prim tanya maurice johnson sheila fox michelle emory patricia

frazier yvonne mchenry phil collins, 46, Sherry Haynes, Z Best One Ever, Janae Parker, Melody Fontenot, Deidre, Kalisha Irvin, Antoinette Hopkins, Shaki Kegler, Mildred Priolu, Sandra Bean, Kimmy Logan, Kadigra Green, Anthony Lawson, Carla Taylor, Elisha Heron, Deborah Blossom, Michelle Henry, Muriel Thrower, Willie Morrow, Juanita Wilson, T.O.W. Alexander, London, Marsha Wheatley, Paul Gamby, Becky, Clifford Jones, Rhonda Campbell, Aisha Johnson, Simply Rona, Patricia Womack,

Rachel Maxwell, Karen Love, Kevin Scrivens, Christina Davis, Riley, Tangie Brown, Brenda Booker, Christy Collins, Bridget Anderson, Kim Gray, Nicole Schude, Michelle Coates, Andre Boyd, Anita Nickens, Imani Nickens, Dominique Boyd, LaWanna Stidmon, Aunt Kelly's Cookies, Bradrick Bennett, Dana White, Anthony Mosley, Christopher Wilson, Joan Warren, Antoine Bland, Ron Ward, Carl Street, Lonnie Reed, Robert Singleton,

let's see, Reginald Sanders, Jeffrey Carter, Deborah Joshua, T. Laverne, Manigault, Michael Potts, Michelle Clark, let's see here, Demarcus Dandridge, Andre Wilson, Chris Metzler, Annette Allen, Tamika Thomas, Kenrick Burt, Roxanna Deshong, Claudia Douglas-Smith, Roxanne Miller. And there we go. All right, folks, real quick here. Let's go to live right now to Jasmine Simpkins with Hip Hollywood from Los Angeles.

Jasmine, you were in the courtroom. Tell us exactly what happened in the sentencing of Tory Lanez. So, OK, so I've been I've been in the courtroom actually since the trial started back in December pre-trial. And then when the trial started in December. So kind of been on this journey from the very, very beginning. As you know, sentencing has been postponed several times. So finally today, because we were in court yesterday thinking that the sentencing would be handed down, that the judge finally handed down the sentence today. He really did allow some latitude on the defense's side to really present because this was what they called a sentence hearing because the prosecution had filed motions for three aggravating factors that they wanted to tack on to the three felony counts. And so the judge did allow the defense to, you know, have a rebuttal. And they did. I mean, they, they had slideshow presentations showing all of Tori's charitable work, hip Hollywood. They, they had, um,

a slideshow presentation of all of Tori's, um, charitable works. they had a few different videos of people that he's helped over the years that spoke. And they also had 76 letters that were submitted to the judge from people who spoke on Tory's behalf on what type of person he is, you know, really kind of helping to paint a picture of him as not this monster that would shoot someone in the foot and unload the gun five times. So I do think that they were intentional in doing that. And I think that the judge allowed them to present that case. Unfortunately, you know, as the judge said, his words were, actions have consequences. And in this case, no one wins. And so after the lunch recess, he handed down the sentencing of 10 years, and he also gave Tory

credit for time served, so 305 days he credited him. Laines was not expected to speak, but he actually did. Did he ever just simply admit, I did this and I'm wrong? No. And he said, and his attorney, Jose Baez, also was very keen on making, listen, Jose Baez doubled down and said that Tory did not shoot Megan. He didn't go as far as pointing the blame on Kelsey because remember that was the defense's strategy during the trial, but this is a completely different legal team,

this is his fourth attorney since Sean Holly. So Baez still doubled down on Torrey's innocence, but they basically said that his behavior, whatever that was, they were kind of vague in saying what it was, but they did insinuate that his actions were a that was, right, they were kind of vague in saying what it was, but they did insinuate that his actions were a result of a night of heavy intoxication. Everyone was intoxicated, but Tori specifically, they painted this picture of someone who has PTSD and trauma from his mother's passing when he was 11, and that has followed him through his adult life, and that he made a bad decision. We don't know what that decision was because they never spelled that out. But his decisions on that night were indicative of someone who has heavy alcohol abuse disorders,

what they called it, and someone who has PTSD and is traumatized by his adolescence. That's what I was confused by, that he made bad decisions, but they wouldn't say it was bad. Yes, they never. Yeah, they never said exactly. And, you know, the prosecution was very good at saying, well, then what exactly did he do? If if you're saying that he has an alcohol problem and that your recommendation is instead of jail time that he do rehabilitation, right? He go to a rehab facility that he get probation in lieu of serving time in jail. What is he being punished for? Still, what is this rehabilitation for? And if it's just the alcohol and the PTSD, that's things he could have done on his own. The defense did counter and say that he has attempt.

He did attempt to try and enter a rehabilitation facility. They didn't say when. I'm assuming probably between the time that this, he was arrested initially and charged sometime probably within the last three years, maybe. But, yeah, they were not clear as to when he did attempt to enter into a rehab facility. You know, I get a kick out of some people, Somebody posted on Twitter, I just finished watching Roland Martin. He just completed a lopsided coverage of the Tory med case. Dude, he pled guilty. I'm sorry, he was found guilty. Okay, they have the testimony.

I mean, we could go on and on and on. Also, tell us about where they admitted giving information to this guy, DJ, whatever his name is, or something like that. I saw one of these stories where they were in Megan and her statement. They said how he paid bloggers to disseminate wrong information. So that was that was an accusation by Jose. That was an accusation that was made, yes, that Tory paid bloggers. I think that's been something that's been levied by the prosecution throughout this entire case. They accused Sean Hawley of telling Tory to give bribe money to Kelsey. That was a big

reason why Sean stepped away as his legal counsel just weeks before the trial started. So I'm not 100% sure if that is correct. But yes, that was brought up that he also paid some bloggers to put out certain stories about Megan. All right, then. Well, Jasmine, great work. We certainly appreciate you taking some time to share some info with us. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Anytime. All right, folks, that is it. We will see you all tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Holla! Take us home with a cheer, Henry. We'll be right back. The voice of Black America rollin'. Be Black, I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going.

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