#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Ariz.'s 160 Yr Old Abortion Law, Fla. Man Paralyzed by Cops' Bullets, Dementia & The Black Community

Episode Date: April 10, 2024

4.9.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Ariz.'s 160 Yr Old Abortion Law, Fla. Man Paralyzed by Cops' Bullets, Dementia & The Black Community #BlackStarNetwork partners:Fanbase 👉🏾 https://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbaseBiden/Harris 👉🏾 https://joebiden.com/ Arizona reinstates a 160-year-old abortion ban. We'll talk to the medical director and owner of a family planning facility in Arizona about how this ruling will affect reproductive care in the state.  A Black Florida mother just wanted to help her son, who was experiencing a mental health crisis. Now, he's facing being paralyzed for the rest of his life and a possible prison sentence.  A former Michigan police officer pleads guilty to beating an arrestee. A New York Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaign official says getting him on the ballot can help Trump win in November.  Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was hired to investigate the spending habits of Mayor Tiffany Henyard of the village of Dolton, Illinois.  We continue highlighting National Minority Health Month. Tonight, we address the lack of resources and awareness around dementia in African American and faith communities nationwide. And we celebrate the life of the man who helped calm Los Angeles after the 1992 riots.   Rev. Dr. Cecil L. Murray is now an ancestor.  Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #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. to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops. 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. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast.

Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's Tuesday, April 9th. I am Dr. Omekongo Dabenga sitting in for Roland Martin tonight. Here's what's coming up on Roland Martin and Filter streaming live on the Black Star Network. Arizona reinstates a 160-year-old abortion ban. We'll talk to the medical director and owner of a family planning facility in Arizona about how this ruling will affect reproductive care in the state.

A black Florida mother just wanted to help her son who was experiencing a mental health crisis. Now he's facing being paralyzed for the rest of his life and a possible prison sentence. A former Michigan police officer pleads guilty to beating an arrestee. In New York, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., campaign official, says getting him on the ballot

can help Trump win in November. Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was hired to investigate the spending habits of Mayor Tiffany Hanyard of the village of Dalton, Illinois. We continue highlighting National Minority Health Month. Tonight, we address the lack of resources and awareness around dementia in African-American and faith communities nationwide. And we celebrate the life of the man who helped calm Los Angeles after the 1992 riots. Reverend Dr. Cecil L. Murray is now an ancestor. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Let's go.

He's got whatever the piss he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine 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 kicks He's rolling, yeah It's Uncle Roro, y'all

Yeah, yeah It's rolling, Martin, yeah It's Uncle Roro, yo Yeah, yeah It's Roland Martin Yeah, yeah Rolling with Roland now Yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's Roland Martin Now The Arizona Supreme Court ruled a pre-statehood territorial law banning abortions in nearly all cases in the state is enforceable. The court ruled

to lift the stay on the territorial law and the Civil War era 1864 law will go into effect in 14 days. It bans all abortions except in cases when it is necessary to save a pregnant person's life and carries a possible prison sentence of two to five years for abortion providers. The court heard arguments in December about whether the 1864 law should be reinstated. Up until today, abortions were legal in Arizona up to 15 weeks of pregnancy under a 2022 law signed by then Governor Doug Ducey. An older court decision blocked the 1864 law shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court issued in 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a constitutional right to an abortion. But when Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, then-State Attorney General Mark Brnovich,

a Republican, persuaded a state judge in Tucson to lift the block on the 1864 law. In March, a report revealed the number of abortions in the United States has gone up significantly since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. According to the Guttmacher Institute, an organization that aims to improve sexual health and expand reproductive rights worldwide, there were more than 1 million abortions in 2023, a 10% increase from 2020. Dr. Gabrielle Goodrich, the owner and medical director of Camelback Family Planning, is joining now from Phoenix, Arizona to discuss. Dr. Goodrich, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Thank you for having me. It seems that across this country, people

talk about every single day that the issue of abortion is going to just really change the field. Republicans need to be on notice, but they continually keep implementing these types of policies nationwide as if they don't really care. Can you talk about the impact on this ruling in Arizona, as well as potential implications for the country? It's devastating. I think that it's basically, as it's happening all over the country, Republicans are passing these laws, legislatures and judges are passing laws that are 150-year-old laws that are racist, sexist, classist. They're horrible. And this is going to affect Arizona people tremendously. Obviously, banning a very common medical procedure that people need, it's devastating. And one of the questions that I have is when we talk about 14 days until this goes into effect, everybody's talking about ballot initiatives and possibly this going down, you know,

what could possibly change in November. But this is something that's going to have real life consequences in the lives of women, not 14 days from now. Women have to start making preparations now to see what's possible if they have the means to even make some type of change. Can you speak to that? Well, I think that obviously this, again, will be devastating. And with our referendum that's going to be on the ballot in November, that's going to be great.

We know it's going to win when the public votes. They vote in favor of reproductive choice and reproductive freedom and personal liberty and putting decision-making into patients' and their families' hands. And so, but this will affect people immediately if the van does kick in quickly. And that's going to cause incredible harm to Arizona families and affect them immediately. And in the work that you're doing with Camelback Family Planning, what is the reaction from your staff, from members that you serve who are just getting this news? What is their reaction? Devastation. I mean, I just had a patient call. She's, it's abortion legal in Arizona, and we're going to be getting more and more calls about that with people stressing about the appointments that they have, possibly finding out they have

an unplanned pregnancy, not sure what to do. It's going to cause all kinds of confusion, not only for patients, but my staff is obviously stressed and worried about the effects it's going to have on our patients and other doctors and decisions they're going to be making concerning, you know, maternal health, fetal abnormalities, all kinds of complications in pregnancy that can affect people that now are not going to have the options in our state for their health. And from what we see looking in into Arizona, is it really just set in stone that in 14 days, there's nothing that can happen in any way, shape or form that's going to stop these policies from going into effect. And so right now, people who are involved in Arizona right

now are just basically hunkering down to deal with this ridiculous decision. Well, I have heard from multiple sources that there might be some kind of 45-day stay that would then be added to the 14 days or something like that. So we might have a total of eight weeks before this law kicks in, but I'm not really sure at this point. And then there could be a fight at the judicial level to try to figure out how we can fight this. The legislature also has the power to not enforce this law. So we're going to have to wait and see. I mean, obviously, I'm hopeful that this would never happen in Arizona.

And, you know, that's all I can say is I'm just hopeful that, you know, logic will prevail and current medical practice in the year 2024 will prevail over a draconian law from 1864. I mean, a law that was created before Arizona was even a state. I mean, in so many of these instances, we're going back to the 1800s to kind of show how, quote unquote, progressive or shall we say regressive these Republicans are. And lastly, what can we do across this country if we want to support what your organization is doing or what people on the ground in Arizona is doing to continue to call attention to these travesties that are taking place? Honestly, I think that all we can do is try to vote these people out of office. And so getting out to vote, voting on referendums, voting on pro-choice candidates is what we can do. In terms of support, there are funds to help people travel to get the care that they need out of state. There's also, you know, national funds. I mean, I think donating to those would help women and people that can get pregnant access the care that they need if they have to go out of

state. That's really powerful. And I want to bring in my panel because they also have some very important questions for you. Our panel tonight, we have Dr. Mustafa Santiago, former senior advisor for the Environmental Justice EPA, Washington, D.C. Dr. Larry J. Walker, assistant professor, University of Central Florida in Orlando. And Dr. Julianne Malveaux, former president of Bennett College, economist and author. Dr. Malveaux, let's start with you. What is your question for Dr. Goodrich? Doc, first of all, thank you for basically holding the line, holding the fort and having your center that is providing services. There's a 14-day delay and then there's a possible 45-day delay. But what's the possibility of just repealing this 1864 law? I mean, this law, as Ocongo said, it's before Arizona was a state.

Why has that law not been repealed, and can it be repealed? Yeah, it's hard for me to say why that hasn't been repealed. It should have been. But again, we had the protections of Roe v. Wade. So I think that it just stayed on the books. And unfortunately, you know, with the extremists we have in our government, they're trying to enforce this draconian law and that the legislature does have the power to, I guess, make this, you know, not the law, but I just don't know at this point. Dr. Walker. Yes. I think my question in particular relates to, you know, you described how this is going to impact, you know, women and families of very familiar backgrounds. Specifically, I like to

talk about women in the state of Arizona from minoritized backgrounds and also who come from underserved backgrounds. And can you elaborate a little bit more about how this is going to impact women who come from communities that disproportionately haven't been invested in and don't have access to a variety of resources, how this decision would impact them? Absolutely. This obviously affects people from black and brown, rural, young, poor most, and they are disenfranchised in general from the medical community and getting medical care. And they are going to have the hardest time accessing the reproductive care that they need and going out of state. People of means will always have the ability to get

abortions and travel and have the financial means to do that. And these laws all around the country target our most marginalized communities and communities that already have an extremely difficult time getting the medical care that they need. So absolutely right. This is what these laws are. That's who's going to, they're going to affect the most. Dr. Ali, your question. Yes. Well, doctor, thank you for everything that you're doing. You know, in trying to frame this question for you, one, there is black maternal health. There's also indigenous maternal health.

And we know there in your state that you have populations that are part of both of those sets of groups. But there is also the fact that we have had white men who have been making laws for hundreds of years now and that they have not particularly cared about either one of those sets of communities. How do we help people to understand that when we talk about body autonomy, that this issue is particularly focused in that area of the decisions others have made for both Black women and Indigenous women and Latin women as well.

Absolutely. The reproductive justice movement is obviously focusing on these populations being heard and that their reproductive rights have been trampled on, you know, for hundreds of years. And they are affected the most by these laws. And people must understand that these laws and regulations are, they affect those people. They have a higher incidence of unplanned pregnancies, maternal and infant mortality is much higher in Black communities, Indigenous communities, and the Latin community. So I don't know how we can get people to understand that, but it is so crucial to the movement at this point that we make sure that people do understand that. Dr. Goodrick, thank you so much for what you're doing. We're going to continue to follow this story and we appreciate all of the time that you've given us tonight as we continue to fight for this really important issue.

Thank you. Thank you so much. This is Roland Martin, Unfiltered, on the Black Star Network, and we'll be right back. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek.

I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

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

episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Fanbase is pioneering a new era of social media for the creator economy this next generation social media app with over 600 000 users is raising 17 million dollars and now is your chance to invest for details on how to invest visit startengine.com slash fan base or scan the qr code

another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits or scan the QR code. Another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits. Terry and I, we couldn't play in the white clubs in Minnesota. It felt like such a, you know, strength through adversity type moment that I think black people just have to go through. You know, we have to figure it out.

You know, we make we make, you know, lemons out of lemonade. But there's a reason we rented a ballroom, did our own show, promoted it, got like fifteen hundred people to come out. Clubs were sitting empty. They were like, where's everybody at? They said, they're down watching the band you wouldn't hire. So it taught us not only that we had the talent of musicians, but we also had the talent of entrepreneurship.

It wasn't like a seat at the table. It's like, no, let's build the table. We've got to build the table. And that was the thing. And of course, after that, we got all kinds of offers to come play in the clubs. But we didn't do it. We said, no, we're good. No,. Of course. Right, to come play in the clubs. But we didn't do it. We said, no we're good. No, we're good, we're good.

And that's what put us on a path of national. And of course, when Prince made it, then it was like, okay, we see it can be done. This is Essence Atkins. This is Love King of R&B, Raheem Duvall. Me, Sherri Shebron, and you know what you're watching. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Florida man paralyzed by cop and charge. Family, a Florida mom's plea for help ended up with her son paralyzed after being shot by Miami police. After Donald Armstrong's arraignment, civil rights attorney Ben Crump briefly described what happened on March 7th. Ms. Denise called for help for her son, who she feared was having a mental health crisis.

She only wanted to give him help. She did not expect for him to get six bullets in his torso. Why is it when black people have a mental health crisis and all they need is a helping hand from law enforcement, they get force, excessive force, six bullets. You look at the video for yourself and you decide for yourself whether this was justifiable or not. If you wanted to show them what not to do when trying to deal with a mental health crisis but yet to cover it up they are now charging him with a crime while he's with a colostomy bag, unable to walk, handcuffed to the hospital bed, right, Reverend Smith, the whole time with guard outside the door.

I mean, you paralyze me. What's the flight risk? Are you shooting me? You paralyze me. Then you handcuff me to a bed. I mean, it's insult on top of injury. And that's why we're demanding that these charges be dropped. Now, we have the video and onlooker shot during the incident.

What you are about to see is disturbing and triggering. Now is the time to look away or walk out of the room. What happened? What happened? They shot him. They shot him dead. They shot him dead. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Armstrong was arraigned on aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest without violence charges. Going back to our panel, Dr. Walker, it's like every day, and it seems as if it doesn't matter

whether it's body cam, whether it's onlooker video, in some way, shape, or form, these stories are continually brought to us in America, and it seems like the burden to kind of prove our innocence is continually placed on us. How do you process what you just saw? There is no way to process. This is like, this is racial trauma. And what makes it more disturbing for me is I live in the state. And these incidences are all too real. And, you know, it's interesting when you have conversations with colleagues

and events like this happen, they think that somehow you're disconnected, that this doesn't impact you. But, you know, not only, you know, me, but as a father. And, you know, this is unfortunately part of our, you know, history in America in terms of, you know, when law enforcement, you know, officers,

and it's not about just about training. It's about, we got to have a real honest conversation about racial bias. And when people see, you know, Black women and Black men, that they automatically think that they're violent attentions. This brother was had a mental health crisis. His family called for help, and they nearly killed him. And as you mentioned earlier, he's in a hospital, and he's being shackled to a bed, and he's paralyzed. And this is how Black people in this country are dehumanized. And somehow he's treated as some kind of Superman who has the ability to heal himself and walk out of that hotel room, I mean, excuse me, out of that hospital.

And once again, this is just another example of this poor training, but part of this deep-seated issue of structural racism in the United States, and particularly as it relates to, you know, the disproportionate rate in which Black folks are killed by law enforcement nationally. And this has happened for years. I hear you. I hear you. And Dr. Ali, you know, we talk so much about people who want to talk about defunding the police. And so many of us who were part of that conversation, it was never about, for many of us, taking all money from the departments. It wasn't about defunding the police. It was about pre-funding the community so that we can have the type of assistance needed when families are having crises like this. It shouldn't lead to us dying, us being put in situations where we're almost paralyzed

and maybe we'll not walk again. Can you talk about how you see this from the perspective of the needs of the community that could help us prevent situations like this from happening, including funding needed for a proper officer training or other professionals who can help intervene in situations like this? Yes, thank you for that and thank you

for framing it in that direction because people often think when we were talking about redistribution of funds that we were automatically talking about just getting rid of police and that wasn't it. It was about making sure that we are directing resources to the solutions that we know actually work and making sure that communities also have the resources they need to better be able to frame out what law enforcement looks like inside of their respective communities. When we talk about protect and serve, that means that the serve aspect means that you are listening to the individuals who are inside of their communities. So let's also put this into context for folks. Over 100 people are killed by

police every month. I did not say got shot by police. 100 people are killed every month by police in our country. So that tells you that we have something that's not working when the lives are being lost. And then when we unpack that, we know disproportionately that it is black folks and sometimes brown folks and indigenous folks who are the ones who are losing their lives prematurely. We also know that there are solutions that folks have been able to implement that actually work. So in certain cities, they are making sure that there are mental health practitioners who are showing up to these types of incidents. And the police can be there also, but the mental health individuals, those practitioners, are the ones who get to take the lead. They're the ones who

help to de-escalate the situation. They're the ones that help folks to understand what the individual may be going through. And so if we're serious about helping individuals, when we say protect and serve, if we're serious about that, then that means that we have to begin to bring into the sets of options, having one of the first ones being having those mental health practitioners making the first sets of actions to be able to help people to bring things down, to de-escalate the situation. But if we're not serious about that, then what we will continue to see are Black bodies piling up in communities across our country. Oh, no doubt, no doubt. And Dr. Malvo, I know that there's the visceral reaction to what we're seeing, but in your current research, you're talking... A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.

Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick.

Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, It's really, really, really bad. Plus on Apple Podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Talking about the history of lynching in this country,

connect the dots for us in terms of what we're seeing, it's not new you know omicongo it's not new at all and when you ask a brother how he processed it i literally had a visceral i started shaking when uh i watched the band being shot so many times i literally my body started shaking i said to myself, don't let him come to me first because I might start crying. Richard Wright, who wrote Black Boy, said in 1930 something, he said, if there is a lynching in Mississippi, I can feel it in Chicago.

That's right. What that means is that all of us who are of African descent and who watch that, we've been traumatized. It happened. It didn't happen today, but lynching culture says that white people can do whatever they want to, to black people, whatever they want and experience no consequences. And that's what lynching was about. It was about intimidation. It was about fear. If I could just say one thing to Black mothers, fathers, don't call the police on your child if they're having a mental health crisis. Call somebody else. And that's why Mustafa's point is so important. There needs to be, everybody is going through mental health crises in these

United States these days. We keep hearing about it, well, white folks don't shoot something up. Oh, they were having a mental health crisis. When black folks act out, they get shot. Mental health crisis. So why don't we have emergency mental health teams to, as opposed to calling the police who are

coming with guns and tasers and all that stuff, why not have people come with a skill set to talk people down, to deal with them, perhaps to medicate them if that's necessary, but not to kill them. That woman did not intend for her son to be shackled to a hospital bed as if he's going to get up from the bed and walk away. It's so humiliating. But it is a part that, thank you for the question, because, you know, it gets me going thinking, but it's part of the continuum of lynching culture, which started in enslavement, but peaked in the early 20th century, where white folks could not stand for black folks to be self-actualized. When we had property, we were lynched. We opened stores that competed with

them. We were lynched. There's one lynching on Wakanda. I think I told you about it before, about this brother was walking down the street, white woman bathing in the window. Now, why is the heifer bathing in the window? I mean, really? And he was lynched for looking in the window. Well, he wasn't looking in the window. He walked by. He was walking by down the street. They lynched him.

I remember that story, yeah. You know, they would lynch us for anything. They lynched another brother who, random white woman, asked him to run an errand, and he said no. They had no relationship. She didn't work for her, but he said no, and so they lynched him. And so lynching culture is a reinforcement of the myth of white supremacy. And that there that you showed us, I mean, I'm still a little emotional because it was just too much. It was way too much, but it's always too much. And they got away with it being too much because we have been consistently dehumanized. So when people get a little antsy about defund the police, how about fire them all and start over? Just start over because many of

them just believe they get to do this stuff. So we talk about defund the police. How some social workers who can come out and do some of this stuff. If you have to fire a cop to get a social worker. Oh, well, I mean, this is as I said, I'm still sitting here somewhat trembling and thinking of what Richard Wright said. When we have a lynching in Mississippi, we can feel it in Chicago. Every black person who just saw that felt some kind of way, felt some kind of way. Absolutely. And how could we not? And that's the point, right? And the point also is just to get more people across the country to feel what

we feel. And it won't happen until we keep speaking up. So I thank you all for your comments on that. Roland Martin and Filter, we'll be right back after this break here watching 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. It's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherry Shepard Talk Show. This is your boy, Herb Quake. And you're tuned in to... Roland Martin, Unfiltered. A former Michigan officer who assaulted a black man pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights violation. Matthew Rodriguez confessed to using unreasonable force against 19-year-old Jaquan Smith while processing him in the fingerprint room in June 2023. Rodriguez also admitted to making false statements about the incident. Court documents state Smith was not physically resisting arrest or attempting to escape Rodriguez's sentencing, Rodriguez's sentencing is on August 20th.

He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. Now, Dr. Ali, I'm still kind of tripping off of our last section on this, because when I see this, we're talking about these stories back to back, and it seems like we get it coming and going. We get it off the streets. We get it in the prisons. It doesn't seem to really matter. The question I have for you, I want to kind of get your thoughts on it as it relates to the 2024 election. Because the fact of the matter is, we talk about the

George Floyd police reform bill, and there are many provisions in there that are designed to help the community from a mental health perspective as it relates to punishing officers who are wrongdoing and the like. But we're in this conversation about, oh, I don't even know if I'm going to vote because Biden doesn't care about policing. But we're seeing back to back two real stories that are showing what's happening in our communities. What are your thoughts as it relates to what you're seeing and the potential implications of what we're going into in 2024? Yeah, no, that's an excellent question. You know, what we see is continually the dehumanization of Black folks. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news

show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business,

taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. With guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull, we'll take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time,

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

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players

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

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. And because they have been able to systemically actually put these sets of actions in place, then we have to figure out how do we rehumanize ourselves in relationship to these systems that are there. So, you know, the voting is incredibly important in being able to make sure that, one, we have the sheriffs that we can often elect. So

people will say, well, I don't want to vote for a president. Well, I often say, so what's going on on the local level, on the county level, that you want to see change? We also know whether it's district attorneys or a number of these other judges that are a part of the legal system, that it's all tied to our vote. So if we want to holistically change these dynamics that are going on, one aspect of that, of course, is voting. The other part of it is also in how and where we move our dollars. So we have a lot of power that's in, you know, literally within our hands, within our ballot, if we will. But we have to make the decision that we're actually going to utilize. My grandmother says you have power unless you give it away. So we give away our power in relationship to the sets of choices we make. Now, of course, when that officer did what

he did, you know, that is in itself another set of actions that need to take place. But we do have power to be able to make some changes happen. And it's tied to this election and future sets of elections because it's never about, you know, just one election. Absolutely. And Dr. Malveaux, recently we saw at a rally that Trump had, where there were officers who were out there who were endorsing Trump. This is a man who said, you know, he wants to be a dictator again. He basically wants to have his own police and military force. How can we watch videos that we just watched in the last segment, watch what we just watched in this segment, and then we're looking at a presidential candidate

who wants to have, who has officers who are supposed to be serve and protect, who are supposed to be judicious, who are supposed to represent and help the entire community, up there backing somebody who clearly says he doesn't care about our own rights. What types of confidence is that supposed to instill in us, in the police, especially in places like Michigan? Michigan is run by all Democrats, yet we see situations like these still happening. You know, Omicongo, one of the things, I don't understand how any Black person with good sense can choose to vote for the orange man, especially after looking at that video. But not only that video, Biden isn't perfect. We all video, Biden isn't perfect. We all know that Biden isn't perfect. No political candidate, no president is perfect. We don't get

what we want from any of them. You know, I wrote a book about President Obama. Are we better off? Because I say, I concluded that we, in many ways, we're not. So we're not going to get everything we want from any president, but just looking at police violence toward black people, you won't get a Kristen Clark as assistant attorney general who is going for civil rights, who's going after these cases from a federal perspective. You won't get that. And so if you really think that going with that man is going to improve your life, think again. Take another think. And so to your question, I don't understand. I mean, I have a sibling who actually voted for the orange man in 16, which resulted in a fistfight.

But he didn't vote for him in 20. And praise the Lord. But a black man, of course, who basically breaks down for me what black men like about the orange man. They like his entrepreneurship because they haven't read The Wall Street Journal, understand that he really is not a successful entrepreneur. You know, they think he's rich and he will be a lot less rich in a few minutes when he has to pay all that money. And many of them who are basically patriarchal also like his sexism. And they do. And let's be clear. We have patriarchal issues in the African-American community that we need to address. But in any case, I still don't understand these polls that say 16, 18, 20 percent of black men and black women are willing to vote for that man. We know that Biden is flawed, but he is perfectly flawed.

He's on our side. He just got another. He's just forgiving more student loan debt. He's looking more at what our HBCUs can do. So I don't I don't get do. So I don't get the polling. I don't get the situation. But what I do get is that this police issue, the man who basically assaulted this young brother by his last name and by his look is Latino. So, and I could be wrong. Anybody could be Martinez or whatever, but I'm just saying, and I'm saying it because we have to look from an ethnicity perspective at that black brown tension and the way that racism is baked into the cake we call America. So that anybody who takes a slice of that cake,

be they black, brown, white, they might behave the way that man did. provocation i just got a brother here so i think i'm just gonna whip his butt and again that's lynching culture i i hear you and dr dr walker i'm i'm finding myself as i'm reading the story mr matthew roger gets he confessed to using unreasonable force while processing a brother he was in the fingerprinting room we're not talking like on the streets we're not talking like you know in the club at a game like you already got the brother right so it's like how do you use unreasonable force within a fingerprinting room and it kind of speaks to what we were talking about earlier. But the question becomes, is it the need for more training or do they have the training, but they just don't feel like their training applies to us? Yeah, I think I made the point in the last discussion that this is beyond training. And Dr. Malvo used the word baked in. And I think when we talk about things big, then we talk about anti-Blackness. And so, you

know, like, she made a really astute point about, you know, ethnicity. And so we have to talk about anti-Blackness in communities of other communities from people with minoritized backgrounds and how they adopt, you know, these, you know, these beliefs, anti-Black beliefs that lead to violence against people who were dealing with the same kind of challenges. And you're right, Doc. I mean, listen, this brotherhood was already being processed. But once again, this is this is this is this is history of violence that we've been talking about the last two episodes that is ongoing in the United States for hundreds of years.

And then so you have other groups of different minoritized backgrounds who eventually immigrate here in the United States, and then they adopt those same mentality. And so they view Black people as less than, right? So we've been talking a lot about, you know, Black folks being dehumanized. I want to make another important point that Dr. Malveaux made is we need to give a shout out to Kristen Clark, because she has been consistent. We have our issues with Garland, but she's been very consistent in terms of prosecuting individuals who have not been walking the timeline. And so we have to acknowledge that the Office of Civil Rights has done an outstanding job prosecuting correction officers, police officers, and other individuals who continue to disenfranchise those from minoritize Black grounds, particularly Black folks. But once again, this is part of an ongoing pattern in the United States history of dehumanizing and then using, you know, those beliefs to purposely commit violence against Black folks. And this is why not only voting is really important, but it's also acknowledged that

you can't expect things to happen in two to four years. We have to remember that Jim Crow just ended in 1968 with the passage of the Fair Housing Act. So we have to keep in mind that those great society programs in the 1960s happened within a lifetime of many of our family and friends. So we need to put things in context when we have a conversation about how we believe things should improve. It takes sustained voting and pressure to make sure the Black folks are seen as human and receive the rights we do, we deserve under the U.S. Constitution. Absolutely. And I'm so glad that this idea and this concept about the colorism and the interracial issues that we may have within our own community, we see in places like Los Angeles with the city council there, where we have issues of brown versus black, and people talk about we're supposed to be in solidarity.

But as we're seeing here, and even in situations with people from our own community, it doesn't matter. In so many instances, we find on a regular basis that it's still black versus blue, no matter the ethnicity of the officer and the uniform that they're wearing. And so we have to continue to keep an eye on this.

The sentencing will be coming up sometime in August. And so he faces possibly 10 years. And we're going to keep an eye on that to see what's happening. We're going to take it to a break right now. Roland Martin Unfiltered will be right back right here on the Black Star Network. Fanbase is pioneering a new era of social media for the creator economy. This next generation social media app with over 600,000 users is raising $17 million, and now is your chance. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news

show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. With guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone,

sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull, we'll take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. We 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. 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 LavaForGoodPlus on Apple Podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. To invest. For details on how to invest, visit startengine.com slash fanbase or scan the QR code. Another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits. Grow your business or career with Grow with Google's wide range of online courses,

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Trudy Proud on The Proud Family. Louder and Prouder on Disney+. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. While President Joe Biden may not end up on Ohio's ballot, a New York-based campaign official for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the point of a third- party candidate like Kennedy is to help Donald Trump defeat Joe Biden. Listen to what Rita Palma, who has identified herself as the Kennedy campaign state director in New York, had to say. So right now, the way that I see it and, you know, things, I guess, will change over time because you do have to only pick one candidate at the end of the day. But the Kennedy voter and the Trump voter, the enemy, our mutual enemy is Biden. Whether you support Bobby or Trump, we all oppose Biden.

270 wins the election. If you don't get to 270, if nobody gets to 270, then Congress picks the president, right? Right now we have a majority of Republicans in Congress. So who are they going to pick? Who are they going to pick? If it's a Republican Congress, they'll pick Trump. So we're rid of Biden either way. People kept continually telling me, wow, that's a really good idea. That's a really good idea. So, you know, I'm kind of mulling it around, what should I do with this? What should I do with this? And then I got a call from the campaign and, you know, they were going to hire me as their New York State Director, and I said, okay,

I want to take the job, but I'm going to tell you right now that this is part of my messaging, and if I'm allowed to preach that, if I'm allowed to, you know, get that message out there, then, yeah, I will definitely work for the campaign, but I don't want to be restricted in what I say, because I think this is a really winning strategy. And my boss said, well, OK. In a statement to CNN, Kennedy campaign spokesperson Stephanie Speier downplayed Palmer's role and said her comments do not reflect the campaign's strategy. Dr. Malfo, it seems like every week with this campaign, there's a new statement that comes out. They're backtracking on things that their own people said. And it just

seems like every single day they're not ready for prime time, but they can still be very dangerous. Well, they are very dangerous and they're not ready for prime time. They're hilarious, frankly, with some of the things that come out of their mouth. But our junior was hilarious when he had a CNN interview with, I believe, was Kalen Collins, one of them. And, you know, he he's very unfocused. He doesn't know why he's in the race. He doesn't have positions, but he's anti-vax. I think he hurts both Biden and Trump, but I think that the damage may be more to Biden than to Trump. But I'm not sure because you know what? He sounds like Trump. He actually really sounds like Trump. And so the Republicans who do not like Trump's extremism, idiocy, gaffes, 91 indictments, they might choose Kennedy as a more reasonable alternative, which then, of course, would help Biden.

It's early on. It's very early on in terms of how many states does Kennedy, has he qualified for? Does he have operations in every state? Are we going to need to get the Kennedy family out of the stump to say that boy a fool? He was a fool when he was born. He was dropped on his head. They've been out there. They've been out there supporting Biden and condemning their family member. But I need them to say he crazy. I don't need them to say they support Biden. I'm just saying, look, back in the day, he ate some crayons or something and infected his brain. And I saw him eat the crayons. So I want to say that he ain't well.

I mean, we need one of them to say this boy ain't well. He had more money than since. We may need to deputize the family. But this whole thing is cray-cray. But as I said earlier, he sounds more like Trump than like Biden. So my hope is that if he does stay on many ballots, that he splits up the Trump vote as opposed to hurting President Biden. And Dr. Walker, one of the concerns that I'm having with this and what Dr. Malva was saying, it's just so spot on, is that I'm thinking back to Trump 2016 and how people didn't take him seriously, a little bit of a joke, you know, Hillary got this and people kind of step back. I feel like as he's getting more and more attention,

people are kind of looking at the campaign as being disheveled and disarray and the like, but there are people who do support him. And then when you add in other potential third-party candidates, he can do enough to affect Biden's chances. And my concern is that people are just looking at these particular situations as one-offs, even though, like, every week there's a one-off, right?

And they're not taking it seriously in terms of whatever state he can get on. I mean, I opened up this segment by talking about how Biden may not be on the ballot in Ohio with the Republican shenanigans that are going on. So even though we think this man is not serious, he can still be very dangerous for the campaign for of joe biden right yeah i think anytime uh rich white men from backgrounds family background with family backgrounds like you know kennedy and trump i think they share a lot of commonalities you know but like i said coming from you know you know from backgrounds obviously the kennedy name is obviously a lot different but also i think that

you know overall in my opinion, I think Kennedy hurts Trump. And I think even there was a few weeks ago, there was a poll that showed that. Listen, their policies, they both would attract individuals who are conspiracy theorists. So, you know, like, you know, Dr. Malvo said, you know, talking about being anti-vax, I mean, think about all the really crazy conspiracy theories that Trump supporters believe in. Obviously, that the election was stolen, that there's some kind of that the Biden DOJ is after Donald Trump. I could just go on and on and on. There are new conspiracy theories on a weekly basis. So I guess that I think Kennedy hurts Trump more than he hurts Biden.

But I think also this highlights when we're having this conversation about, you know, these two particular white males, this shows how whiteness works in America. Because in any competent democracy, neither one of them, A, one individual would have never won a presidency, and B, be a candidate. And then secondly, you know, Kennedy, he's just holding on to, he's barely holding on to the Kennedy name. As we highlighted, we see the news over the really last several months. He's had family members that have come out and very clearly say that he's they don't support him. He should not be president of the United States. But as Dr. Malvo said, sometimes we need to go a little further and just say he's crazy because he has been an anti-vaxxer for years. And you would think, considering how many lives he lost during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to lose that he would change his position but he hasn't so now he's not just an

anti-vaxxer he's really you know anti-health care and really anti you know in terms of you know mortality or lower mortality rates so he's a he's dangerous for a number of those reasons. And once again, he's basically just surfing on his last name. No, absolutely. And Dr. Ali, one of the parts that the woman said, that Obama said that was kind of scary, was that part of basically, hey, if we break this stuff down, it gets kicked back to Congress, they select Trump. So it's almost as if they have a game plan, Dr. Ali. And it seems like, again, this is a situation where we have Republicans or people who might be supporting, you know,

Robert, an RFK, you know, junior playing chess while many of us are playing checkers, because at the end of the day, she made it clear it's not about getting enough votes to send him to the office. It's about being able to cause just enough dissension that Trump will end up being the president one way or the other if it gets sent to Congress to have to decide for the United States. Yeah. And Dr. Malveaux and Dr. Walker, you know, they broke it down and they explained all these critical elements that are so important. So we often on this network talk about helping people to understand the game. This is a game. There is a strategy that is in place to find avenues and ways for Trump to become president

again. So if you're not being honest about that, then you're missing the bigger point of what these conversations and these educational lessons are all about. This election is about percentages and the small percentages in a number of states that will determine who will be the next president. So in understanding that, then you unpack the fact of who is actually helping to fund the respective set of candidates that are out there right now. And when you take a look at this individual, you will find that there are a number of Republicans, both big-money donors and others, who are supporting his candidacy, not because they

believe that he can win, but because they are playing the margins. They understand that if they can get a few thousand votes here and a few thousand votes there, then they can make sure that, you know, Biden doesn't have what he needs. Now, with all that being said, I never tell anybody who to vote for, but I do tell folks to take a look at a particular candidate and ask yourself, are they planning on doing anything? Have you heard anything of substance? And does their track record show that they care about Black people and Black communities? And if you actually take the time to do a little bit of research, it's pretty clear about the individuals who don't have any significant sets of actions in helping our communities and honoring our

communities and trying to uplift our communities and the others who do. Now, even though the others who do still have their flaws, you being an intelligent, thinking individual should make sure that you are voting for someone who is actually going to help us move the needle in our communities as we are also doing the work ourselves. And that's what the game is all about. You're absolutely right, Dr. Ali. When it comes to these candidates, it's not about comparing candidates, one candidate to the almighty. It's about comparing them to the almighty.

A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business,

taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Alternative. And if we're really talking about a black agenda and something that we really need to put together for our community,

all of the information is there. Who's building the bridges? Who's building the roads? Who's working on police reform? Who's working on HBCUs and medicine and all of these different issues if we care to look? And so I think it's really important that going forward, we do a better job in our community of calling these people out, not looking at all of these individuals as gimmicks because they're, and whether we can go back to people like Jill Stein, or we still don't know what's going to happen with Dr. Cornel West, you know, little things here and there can really sway this election in a way that's really going to set black people further back. And like you said, Dr. Ali, even if you don't tell people who to vote for, when you look and dig down into

what's actually happening and look into the research the answers should be obvious the question is are we willing to do the work and the research to find out and stop playing checkers while these republicans and whatever rfk is running as a doubt they're playing chess because they got a larger mission as well and we got to be mindful of that. So you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. We will be right back. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, nurses are the backbone of the health care industry. And yet only 7% of them are black. What's the reason for that low number? Well, a lack of opportunities and growth in their profession.

Joining us on the next Get Wealthy is Needy Barnanilli. She's going to be sharing exactly what nurses need to do and what approach they need to take to take ownership of their success. So the Black Nurse Collaborative really spawned from a place and a desire to create opportunities to uplift each other, those of us in the profession, to also look and reach back and create pipelines and opportunities for other nurses like us. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Headline. For details on how to invest, visit startengine.com slash fanbase or scan the QR code. Another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits. Hi, I am Tommy Davidson. I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder.

I don't play Sammy, but I could. Or I don't play Obama, but I could. Or I don't play Obama, but I could. I don't do Stallone, but I could do all that. And I am here with Roland Martin on Unfiltered. In Illinois, a former mayor will investigate the allegations of misused public funds of a sitting mayor. Dalton trustees hired former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot as a special investigator to investigate the allegations against Dalton Mayor Tiffany Henyard. Lightfoot will lead an independent investigation into corruption claims, reckless spending and retaliation. Someone who's made good governance

the cornerstone of my public service career, I recognize maintaining the trust of those you serve and making decisions in their best interest is absolutely essential. The residents of Dalton deserve nothing less than a government that is fully accountable, responsive, transparent, and effective stewards of your precious tax dollars. You have a charity from the Attorney General's offices. Henyard became the first woman mayor in Dalton's 103-year history in 2021.

Roland interviewed Henyard in February about the numerous allegations leveled against her. Reach out to you. I want to say. And so we are seeing once again, when we talk about these particular situations, when we're talking about corruption, or they're talking about people not dotting I's or crossing T's every single day, we're seeing to have these investigations. And Mayor Lightfoot is in the spotlight again looking at this particular situation. Dr. Walker, when you're looking at a situation like this, how do you envision this going? How do you envision, you know, is this going to be a situation where people are going to talk about, oh, you shouldn't be trying to take a sister down.

We should be, you know, looking out for each other. Is that what Chicago politics is about? How do you see this playing out? So I would say first, I'm not sure if Lightfoot is the best person to come in and consider she was one term and all the issues she had during her tenure as mayor. There's that. Secondly, listen, you know, you know, we get these conversations in the black community about, you know, how who can hold individuals accountable. And so I was coincidentally when Rowan had Mayor Henyard on, I was on that night and had a chance to ask her a few questions. And Rowan took a lot of time to really unpack a lot of the allegations. Some of her responses were interesting and I would say not complete. So maybe, you know,

former Mayor Lightfoot will get to the bottom of some of these challenges, some of these issues, accusations. But some of them, like I said, are troubling in terms of mismanagement, bullying, et cetera. And like I said, Rowland had her on, and she offered a bit of a counter to some of those allegations. But once again, regardless of your black, white, et cetera, you have to be transparent. You have to be a strong leader that people have faith in. You highlighted her being the first black woman ever elected to this office. In fact, she held two offices that she said when she was enrolling several weeks ago. But once again, public trust and the well-being of your fellow man is something that you take an oath as a public servant.

And so I'll be interested to see what happens when this final report comes out. But like I said, choosing mayor of Lightfoot is a choice, I guess. And Dr. Ali, when you look at this, especially when we talk about the election and across the country, when people are, there seems to always be a stronger eye that's put on black politicians. And to be quite honest, even when we take it outside of politics, people want to relate anything that a black person may do that's wrong,

and in many instances, even right, to some type of DEI conversation. I can even hear those types of rumblings coming out as it relates to this is what happens when you have black mayors. I mean, what do you think about the overall spectacle of this investigation as we look

at this particular issue, not only in this particular context as it relates to Dalton, but in a larger context of how black politicians are viewed in general? Yeah, well, I always tell people don't play with me because I can give you a laundry list of white politicians over the years, mayors, county commissioners, and others who have not utilized the public's trust or resources in a positive way. So we got to always be prepared to make sure that we tell the fullness of the story. Now, with that being said, you have a responsibility to actually use public funds in the ways that the citizens that you are representing are asking for. You have a responsibility for transparency. You have a responsibility for accountability as well.

So, you know, someone taking a look at if that has happened is just good governance. And we should make sure that that is always taking place, no matter whom is the individual who is running a city or a parish or whatever the situation might be. But we also have to call out the fact that there is always a brighter spotlight. When I worked on Capitol Hill, I saw white congressmen who got themselves into trouble, and unfortunately, I saw one of our own who did, and I saw that the media just kept circling like buzzards around the person who represented our folks.

So we've got to also be very mindful that there is still this disparity in how stories are covered and whom the spotlight is placed on. But that also means that, as our parents always told us, that we had to be twice as good. So that means if we hold elected office, we have to be twice as good. But we also have to be twice as good in making sure that if someone is coming for our folks and they're doing it in an illegitimate way, that we have places like this network to make sure that we are sharing the truth in an unbiased way, but in a way that helps to educate folks on what the situation might be, and

also highlighting folks who are doing the work correctly, because we have a number of black politicians from all levels, from local all the way up to the highest levels in our government who are actually doing the job the right way. And they should be getting applause. They should be getting flowers. And if we don't do that, then we are not making sure that folks are honoring the excellence that exists inside of our communities.

No, I hear you. And Dr. Malveaux, what type of advice do you have for, how do you feel Mayor Henrich should handle this? Do you feel like getting out in front of it, doing the media interviews is the best way to go? Is it about being low key and let the investigation play itself out? We see so many times throughout history that sometimes when people are under investigation, and I'm not saying this is the case of her, but if they know that

they are doing something that shady and nefarious, they try to come out with a little bit more bluster, try to get in front of the cameras more and try to just think that they can kind of talk these particular situations down given the history of situations like that do you think it's better for her to kind of stay low-key cooperate with everything or get out in front and just own it in front of everybody and let the pieces fall where they may you know i'm a congo for what i'm reading i don't know that this is stuff she really wants to own there's a sexual assault thing thing in there. From what I'm reading, and of course, I really don't know. I got invited to come on today a couple hours ago. So I was

going to call my Chicago people and say, what's up, y'all? What's going on? I do think that the appointment of Mayor Lightfoot is fascinating. You know, as Dr. Walker says, fascinating, because it basically almost removes at some level the notion that this is racist. You know, as Dr. Walker says, fascinating because it basically almost removes at some level the notion that this is racist. So you've got a Black woman investigating a Black woman. Is there bias involved? And many would say, so they

got cover now. Whatever Lightfoot comes out with, there's cover. I hope that some of the things I've read are not true. But if they are, the system might just want to resign, frankly, if they are true. As Dr. Walker said earlier, he was on the panel when she was interviewed by Roland, and her answers were not completely transparent.

They have to be completely transparent at this point. Mustafa has also made a really excellent point about the eye that's on Black people and especially on Black women. I'm thinking back to the way that Adati Gay was treated as the president of Harvard, with the man who basically went after her. His wife was a plagiarist who actually used Wikipedia in her dissertation. Everybody laugh right now. Wikipedia. I mean, come on, can't you at least think of something else? They ain't got footnotes in Wikipedia.

You can use the Wikipedia footnote. That's the Wikipedia. But they didn't need it here nor there. But black women are always under enormous scrutiny. And so, in fairness to, you know, Sister Mayor of Dalton, she has been under a microscope since she won the election. And the other piece of it is these are her former colleagues. She was on the—what was it?—supervisor. She was on the board with the folks who basically are bringing the action.

So we have to ask what kind of personal BS is going on, what else is going on. But I would advise her to get a good attorney and a good publicist, because it would not be for me to say, should she get in front of it, should she get behind it? But she needs somebody to manage the story in a way that is at least harmful to her. If there is truth to these allegations, cop to them. But if there's not, defend yourself, defend yourself, defend yourself. But understand that the context in which this is happening is a highly racialized context. We've seen it, you know, with black women.

I mentioned Dr. Gay. I could mention the little baby girl, Angel Reese, who a sick white man described as a, what do you call her? Dirty debutante. And if you Google that, guess what comes up? Pornography. See, I had never heard of a whatever debbie talked before so i said hmm i know i'm old i know i'm behind the times let me google this and see what they mean and the first thing that comes up is somebody's naked behind um so basically you know

but black women we get slammed we get slammed and so she has whatever else is going on everybody who watches the story have to has to acknowledge the racialized environment in which it happens. And as Mustafa has said, he's absolutely right, we can't do the stuff that white folks do. You know, white folks get away with so much, it's not even funny. And yes, that's racialized. But I remember when Diggs, Brother Diggs had to resign from Congress. And it was over something like using his congressional credit card to basically buy some furniture.

And he said he was going to pay it back. And he probably was. But somebody blew, it was less than $30,000 if I'm remembering, because this was a long time ago. But it was less than $30,000. Meanwhile, you see these other folks doing all kind of foolishness, getting away with it, and no one blows a whistle on them. So understand the

environment. And this is an unfortunate story. And I think it's going to be unfortunate for both mayors in terms of Lightfoot's not going to relish, quote, taking a sister down, if that's what she's going to do. She's not going to relish that. I mean, I think she's a fair person. Didn't love her as a mayor, but I think she's a fair person. And she's probably one of the best to investigate. But this becomes a black-on-black thing, and our people are going to take sides. True, indeed. And I think that's one of the beautiful things about the Black Star Network is that, you know, we have the ability to have people come on and have this conversation. There are not going to be many people across the national media that are going to want to give the mayor a platform, and they're not going to want to give Mayor Lightfoot a

platform as well. But here on the Black Star Network, we are interested in truth because it's really going to help us build our community as we continue to keep an eye on this story in a way that only... A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action, and that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on,

why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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 6 on June 4th.

Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

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

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. The Blackstar Network knows how to do. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network, and we will be right back. Next on the Black Table with me, Greg Cox, a conversation with Professor Toyin Falola, a man described by many as an African intellectual legend.

He is without a doubt the most important and prolific writer, thinker, teacher, and servant of African studies in the modern world. And then today, we have George Floyd, the Black Lives Matters the re-imagines of radical Black talk. We're honored to welcome him to a very special can't miss episode of The Black Table

only on the Black Star Network. Janet actually called me and she said, do you remember us having an argument in the studio or whatever, whatever? And I said, no, not really, because we never argued in the studio. And she said, remember us having an argument in the studio whatever whatever I said no not really because we never argued in the studio and she said well there's this piece we found and can I can you come over and watch it with me and I said sure and I went over and watched it and I loved it I just started laughing I said this is great this is great and she said okay so you're okay

with this I said yeah I'm fine with it because literally we worked together for I mean I don't know how many days we've been in the studio together, and literally we had maybe one argument like that, and it was captured. But, of course, that's the thing that people want to see. But, yeah, that kind of thing happens. Some days that's with, you know, your voice isn't good today, let's just go see a movie or let's go just chill. You know, some days it's tough love, but you've got to do that again.

Hi, I'm Jo Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on Disney's Louder and Prouder Disney Plus. And I'm with Roland Martin on Unfiltered. The Republican-led Louisiana Senate voted 28-11 in support of SB 388, a bill that would allow state and local police in Louisiana to arrest and detain anyone they suspect of being in the United States illegally. Mimicking Texas law SB 4, which is currently on hold while the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decides whether or not the law is constitutionally sound, SB 388 heads to the Louisiana House of Representatives for further discussion and debate. Republican Senator Valerie Hodges from Denham Springs, who authored SB 388, says the bill was a move to make Louisiana tougher on illegal immigration and the issues surrounding the

southern border. If the bill reaches Governor Jeff Landry's desk, the ruling in the Texas case will determine whether it can be implemented. The Louisiana legislature is also considering a law that would exempt motorists from civil liability if they harm protesting pedestrians with their vehicle in cases where drivers believe they are in immediate danger of imminent death, bodily injury, or serious bodily harm. Dr. Ali. Bro. So in our first segment tonight, we were talking about Arizona with abortion.

We were going back, I was talking about how people keep saying that women are going to rise up and this is going to, we're going to cover everything and just win everything in 2024, but every public should be on notice, but they keep putting out different policies and keep putting out different laws, right? So when we take it back to this story, we see what's going on in Texas. We see how it's being challenged, but yet we still see that they have their blueprint that they're sending across the country to see what states are going to try to implement it regardless of the backlash. So we're talking

about one, the immigration part of it, but then also this idea of people can basically run over everybody because they basically, quote unquote, feared for their life. But this is a boilerplate thing that's going on across the country. And Louisiana is just the latest example. They're not stopping. No, of course they're not stopping. You know, it's not a blueprint. It's a black print and a brown. And we're going to keep it real because they understand that if they can continue to marginalize our communities, if they can get people so focused on the chaos, because when you deal with chaos, most people don't do anything. They freeze. They don't know what to do. So they understand the game that is going on.

They will try it in Texas first or Louisiana first or a couple of the other states, and if they can get traction, then they'll continue to spread it out. It's like cancer. It's exactly what's going on is that we have these cancerous sets of actions that are happening that then spread. And if you don't cut cancer out or if you don't get the proper type of treatment, then it will spread and it will spread and spread until the host no longer has anything left. So we should be very clear about these dynamics that are going on. They understand that when they own the state legislatures, in many instances when they

have the governor, when they have the courts, that they can try and bring forward these archaic sets of laws and actions that are very reminiscent. If you take a look at many of these sets of actions and if you know anything about history and you remember the slave patrols, look at how they are actually dealing with migrants right now. They're not saying that you are innocent until proven—excuse me, that you're—what they're saying is that you are guilty and still being proved innocent. So we have to really understand these dynamics that are going on.

And then we have many of our own family who will say, well, that ain't got nothing to do with me. But if you actually look at the totality of the sets of actions, it literally is a comprehensive strategy about extracting power, extracting wealth, extracting opportunity, and actually extracting your constitutional rights in many instances, literally just pulling it away from you. So I hope that we will understand the game that's being played. Absolutely. And Dr. Malveaux, kind of going back to your research, when I'm looking at a bill that would basically give local and state police the opportunity or the right to arrest anybody,

I know these are officers, but it also kind of makes me think of with the lynching and how people, individuals are just deputized to go and do whatever they want to anybody. And I kind of see that as the next step. You know, if these local officers can arrest anybody, then they're probably going to have another law where people can make citizens arrest if they feel like someone doesn't belong here.

But speak to the thought about empowering local police to deal with an immigration issue. What does an immigrant look like? You know, I look like an immigrant. I got stopped in Miami one time for something that I didn't do. And they said they thought I'd look Mexican. Well, you know, I'm a light-skinned black person. I could look anything. Um, and I was actually held, um, at the airport for about an hour until they found my picture in the paper. Cause I was speaking the next day. They said that, that ain't her, but, uh, that was funny. But who looks, what does an immigrant look like? What does an illegal immigrant look like?

People have stuff stamped on their head that's an illegal immigrant. So that gives local officers enormous discretion to mess with anybody. To, I mean, because, I mean, Louisiana, Arizona, those places are kind of on the border. So they're thinking it's basically Latino, Latinx folks. But the fact is that anybody, you could be Canadian, you could be a white guy who came illegally from Canada. Are you going to stop him, too? So the amount of discretion is extremely troubling because it basically yields, as Mustafa has said, yields people's rights. It just says you can mess with somebody.

It is part of the continuum of lynching culture. You can stop anybody. And when I think about it in the context of enslavement, let's remember the movie 12 Years a Slave. If you look like you could be a slave, you could be stopped and re-incarcerated because you look like you could be a slave. And, you know, there's so many stories in Black women's history about women who were free somehow being sexually compromised and then sold into enslavement because they're—of course, they were stupid.

They married white men, or they thought they married white men. And those white men were basically enslavers and took them, took them. And they disappeared from their families. I mean, there's stories that have been documented of that. So this is too much discretion. And there's no way that you can say, look at somebody and say, that's an undocumented person. That's an illegal person. You can't look at someone and say that. So the Louisiana local, this is, for want of a better word, bass-ackwards. I didn't curse. It's bass-ackwards. To allow this to happen, I hope the higher courts will say this is an illegal law. But again, let's look at the context in which we live.

And the context in which we live is one of predatory capitalism, where there's enormous competition and where there is enormous racial animus. And in that context, the higher courts, if they go to the right one, this law will be struck down. But if we go to a court that has been with many Trump appointees on it, let's just call it, this law will be upheld. And if it's upheld in Louisiana, it will be upheld in other states. And we will talk about, again, the encroachment of rights. And what we're seeing day by day by day is the encroachment of rights. I mean, it really is quite frightening. It's traumatizing. I'm trying to figure out how to get up out of here. I mean, literally, I started looking into property in Ghana

because I don't know that I can take this, and I don't know that many of us can. I'm not giving up. I'm not yielding, you know, my citizenship. But I'm just looking at it. It just makes me feel better to go online and say, I could buy a house in Ghana. You know, it just makes me feel better

because this encroachment of rights is serious. No doubt. no doubt. And Dr. Walker, you're seeing this in real time, because in Florida, you've been seeing issues relating to, you know, migrant issues down there. But if I'm correct, DeSantis also attempted to pass a law down there where motorists can run over people who are at protests and the like.

And so speak about, you know, you're living a lot of these issues in real time as it relates to what's happening in Florida, but a law that, you know, you're living a lot of these issues in real time as it relates to what's happening in Florida, but a lot of that, you know, where people can basically get off for running over people with their cars. I mean, how far is this thing going to go? It's going to go far. You're right. a few years ago. And then, you know, after there was some issues, you know, and I think in Cuba, I think it was after that, that you saw people on the highways and, you know, no one said anything. So, but you, I think, I think we need to highlight a couple of things here in terms of,

you know, what's happened in Louisiana and other states, Texas, et cetera. Essentially, this is a stop and frisk for anyone who doesn't look white. That's first. Secondly, the law relating to using a car is essentially an instrument of destruction is basically, you know, a stand your ground with your car law. So I think in context is important on this show that we keep it real with people who are watching this. So you've got stop and frisk, and then you've got to stand your ground while using your car as a vehicle to mow down people who you would think of a threat. So the other thing about Louisiana is that without no doubt that this law, that both these laws are going to cost people not only their freedom, but their lives, particularly the law relating to individuals who feel like their lives might be in danger and then they can simply just run you over. This is going to, you know, listen, when they pass these bills, they know exactly what's

going to happen. And so I would also like to make the connection that Louisiana has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, not the United States. And those individuals are disproportionately black. So it's very important for folks to make the connection. And then you just had the, you know, super right-wing governor elected. So connect the dots on all this. And, you know, for folks, you know, Louisiana, other states, we need to make sure we get out and vote every two to four years, local, state, and federal, to make sure this doesn't happen. And like you said, in other states, people, it's just a matter of time before

this is coming to your town, to your city, to your state. So you just have to remember every single day, you got to get up and fight. It's not about those people over there. It is just a matter of time. So stop it in these other cities and these other localities. Speak up on it before it's too late for you. And that's how we start to make change and challenge these ridiculous laws. And like Dr. Wachter said, also getting out to vote. That's how we win it. Roland Martin, unfiltered.

We will be right back here on the Black Star Network. fan base is pioneering a new era of social media for the creator economy this next generation social media app with over 600 000 users is raising 17 million dollars and now is your chance to invest for details on how to invest visit startengine.com slash fan base or scan the QR code. Another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture,

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Yes, that is Zydeco capital of the world. My name is Margaret Chappelle. I'm from Dallas, Texas, representing the Urban Trivia Game. It's me, Sherri Shepherd, and you know what you're watching. Roland Martin on Unfiltered. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action.

And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our

economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

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

and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.

Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush.

What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. April is National Minority Health Month. It's to raise awareness about the importance of improving the health of racial and ethnic minority communities and reducing health disparities.

Tonight, we're going to discuss the lack of resources and awareness around dementia in African-American communities. Dr. Fayron Epps, the founder of Alter Dementia, joins us from Atlanta. Fayron, how are you doing this evening? I am doing good. Thank you for having me. Oh, absolutely. Now, we understand that you do this work every day, so you're the expert,

but for those of us who are not really familiar with dementia, I want to start off by asking you, what is a dementia-friendly faith community? A dementia-friendly faith community is a church or a congregation that welcomes, they're inclusive, they know how to support and treat families that are on this journey. So they know there's different things that need to be put in place to support that individual living with dementia. And they recognize how the journey for that caregiver may be challenging and that they're there to meet their needs. And that's what's so, so important for us to address this overlooked issue in the black community. And so why do you feel it's important for the black church

specifically to pay attention to dementia? Well, historically, the church has always been that cornerstone. This has been the place where we've had our meetings, where movements have taken place. And this is a public health crisis. So why not go to the church and let them know that, hey, we need to step up. We need to see how we can support our parishioners and the communities that we are serving because it is really there. It is there, even though people may not say that they're on this journey. They are on this journey. We need to learn how to support them. We need to be on this movement together to be able to support them.

It takes a village. Not one person can be on this journey alone. I'm so happy that you mentioned this concept of the village mentality because this is it's an all hands on deck approach from what you're saying. So, you know, with that in mind, you know, who should be most concerned about dementia and when we should when should we even begin to address it with our families and our overall community? Yeah, so I think we all should be concerned about dementia. Dementia does not discriminate with age, race, or gender. Many people think it's for older adults. You have to be 80 or 70 to get dementia, but we have very clear because I was a nurse, I had a PhD, and I did not know how this was attacking our community because no one took the time to connect the dots. But we know that in the Black community, we tend to get vascular dementia. So there's over 100 types of dementia out there. Alzheimer's disease is the most common.

That's the one we hear about. But vascular dementia is what attacks our community. And that is related to the many, many cardiovascular diseases that exist in our community, such as hypertension, the strokes that we have, many strokes, TIAs, diabetes, AFib, high cholesterol. I can go on and on. These things that occur, we get diagnosed with high blood pressure in our early 30s and our 20s, and we don't think anything of it. And changes are occurring in our brain, but we don't see that. We're looking at our extremities and not realizing that these changes are occurring 8 to 15 years before people can see the signs and symptoms of dementia.

Thank you so much for sharing that. I want to go to our panel for questions. Dr. Malveaux, your question on dementia. I was just writing something down that sister said about vascular dementia because it kind of resonates as a diabetic who recently had some kind of stroke activity. I hope I don't have dementia. That would be dangerous for everybody. But my question, what are the, you said that things begin to happen seven years or so before the actual dementia sets in. What are some of the warning signs that people should be aware of? And a related question is, what can we do to support caretakers? At my mother's end, as she was making her transition, she began to have some cognizant issues.

And it was really hard on my sisters because you couldn't really understand what was going on. So, A, what are warning signs? B, what can we do for the caretakers? Sure. And the warning signs, before I get to the warning signs, let's be clear what dementia is. Dementia is the impaired ability to remember, to think, make decisions, and it also impacts people's behavior. So the warning signs would be short-term memory loss. That's one of the key ones that they cannot remember what happened five minutes ago, what they had for breakfast earlier today, but what they can remember is what happened 30 years ago. So it's a short-term memory loss, it's one. Another one is a word salad, not being able to express themselves and getting words confused. So if they say, go put this in the microwave, that's what they meant to say,

but they may say, go put this in a remote control. So mixing up your words. And I see a lot of that. We've seen that with our pastors. There are pastors that are now experiencing dementia. And you can tell in their sermons. So these are things that you can pick up on. Other thing is making poor decisions.

So not paying bills. Stuffing the bills underneath the tablecloth on the table when you go home to visit i tell all families lift up the placemat lift up the tablecloth you will see bills underneath there also you'll see a change in the writing pattern so pay attention if somebody is a diabetic or high blood pressure, they're take a log, pay attention. You will start seeing,

they have a change in their writing pattern. These are early warning signs, dents on the car, scratched up rims. These are things because your vision is impaired. That's part of dementia where you lose your peripheral vision. And so then they're making these times and to them, they say nothing's there, but something is there. So those are a few of the warning signs that you can pay attention to.

Thank you for that. Dr. Ali, your question for Dr. Epps. Dr. Epps, thank you for dropping so much science on us. So many really don't know what's going on in this space. You know, we've been talking about a number of cases in our communities of law enforcement, police interactions. When we have folks who are not able to make the best decisions because of brain impairments, when we have folks who are not able to make the best decisions because of brain impairments. When we have folks who can't remember certain things and if a law enforcement officer asks you questions, where did you just come from? Who was you visiting? So forth and so on.

There seems that there could also be some dangers for folks who are dealing with forms of dementia and engagement with law enforcement. So I'd love to get your response to that and if there are things that we can do to help to better protect and prepare our community around education or other types of things, I'd love to hear what that might be. Yeah, what you said is so true and this is what we tend to see. There's a particular type of dementia called frontal temporal dementia. And they have two types. They have the expressive type where they have problems with their finding the words, but they have the behavior variant where they'll start doing things that are unethical, unmoral.

And this is when the police will get involved. And we've seen that a lot. And if the police is not educated, if they're not educated, then they end up arresting the person. And if the family is not educated to tell the first responders that this is what's going on. And so it's a lot of education and awareness needs to happen within the family, the community, within the health system, many times we assume that someone has a health certificate or a licensed health professional that we should know everything about dementia, and that's not the case. And so it is continued education and awareness. In the Black family, we tend to, what stays on in the house, we keep it in the house. And we can't do that because when we do that,

we're actually putting ourselves at home. We're putting our loved one in danger. So we need to tell the neighbors what's going on so they will understand when this person starts screaming or runs out of the house or if they touch you inappropriately. So we have a lot of people with their frontal temporal dementia, they would go up to women and touch them in appropriate places. And what's the first thing we'll do, right? We'll call, we'll get upset, but not trying to really understand what's going on here. And so my answer to that is a lot of education. And some states are actually working with first responders to make sure that they are aware and know how to respond. We're just in the beginning. I think we have a long road to go with making sure that everybody's on the same page.

Thank you very much. Dr. Walker, your question. Yeah, Dr. Epps, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to really unpack this important topic. And the thing I want to talk about is, you know, I want to talk about specifically Black practitioners, because, you know, we know, you know, physicians and various other disciplines, there's a lack of Black practitioners. Can you talk about the importance of having a same race practitioner to evaluate individuals, determine whether they have dementia that are Black and the impact that could have on their long-term health. So, so, so important. And so that's one of the things that I preach. You know, there's a lot of stuff out here, but it's so important to have that racial concordance with your healthcare professional or your provider, because there's a level of understanding

that's there already. You don't have to explain what neighborhood I'm coming from or what I may have to experience or what I may have to do to get here. And so it's that level of understanding. And as part of that, I developed a course called Caregiving While Black. But I brought in Black health practitioners and other Black health professionals to say, I need y'all to come in and we need to teach our Black caregivers because we teach a little bit different and we need to speak to them like they're our family because they are and to make sure they know how to interact with the healthcare system so they can get better outcomes. They can get the outcomes that they need and deserve. So I totally agree with you that it's very important that we have racial concordance.

And if that's not the case, we need to have providers that fully understand the communities and the families that they are serving, understand their culture, where they're coming from. And so they can fully understand and make that plan of care that matches in their lives. And that's how, when we go back home, we would adhere to the discharge instructions because it makes sense now. But if you don't understand where I'm coming from, then it's hard. You don't know what to prescribe me. Wow. Dr. Epps, you gave us a lot. And I really hope that the audience is really taking it in because this is not something that we think about on a daily basis, especially in our community, unless we're directly affected by it. And just that information about how to look for signs, it was just mind blowing because it's just basic things every single day

that many of us don't pay attention to. Where can people go if they want to learn more about this and learn more about what your organization is doing as well? Where can they go? Yes, so you can visit alteredementia.com, and that's A-L-T-E-R, dementia.com. And that's where you can learn more about the work that we're doing in the Black community with faith communities as well. We have a summit that's coming up April the 25th through the 27th to talk about the role of the Black church.

And it's for everyone with ministry in their heart, caregivers, even persons living with dementia, to come to Atlanta at the role of the black church. And it's for everyone with ministry in their heart, caregivers, even persons living with dementia to come to Atlanta at the House of Hope Atlanta to understand what can I do? What can I do to bring back to my family, my work environment, my church? What can we do? Because again, it takes a village and we have to address this issue together. Dr. Faye Ron Epps, thank you so much. And we look forward to hearing more about the incredible work that you're doing. Thank you. Thank you. And we'll be right back. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, it's spring.

Hallelujah. But hold on. It's not all fun and games. With the sun and the warmth comes the need to clean the clutter mentally, physically, emotionally, socially. All of those things need to happen. Getting rid of the clutter and clearing the cobwebs in our head and in our home. That's next on A Balanced Life on Blackstar Network. Fanbase is pioneering a new era of social media for the creator economy. This next generation social media app with over 600,000 users is

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And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain.

I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

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

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Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm out. Reverend Dr. Cecil L. Chip Murray, who served as pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church for 27 years and was instrumental in restoring peace during the 1992 Los Angeles riots has died. The 94-year-old died Friday of natural causes at his home in the View Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Murray served as pastor of Los Angeles' oldest black church from 1977 to 2004. He helped grow his congregation from 250 to more than 18,000 members. In 1992, Murray gained national attention for helping to calm tensions during the 1992 riots after the acquittal of four police officers videotaped beating motorist Rodney King, and he played a vital role in rebuilding South Los Angeles after the uprising ended. Reverend Dr. Cecil L. Chitmurray is now an ancestor. Dr. Malveaux, it seems that every single day, the people in our community, the elders, the people we revere are becoming ancestors. What are your thoughts as we reflect on the life of Reverend Murray?

Well, I knew Reverend Murray not well at all, but attended his church on many occasions. The View Park area in L.A. is one of the last bastions of sort of black middle classness in L.A. And he was an amazing brother. We'll miss him. He did step down from his church in 2004, but he remained active. And so many L.A. politicians, you know, especially Mayor Bass, but many others really sat at his feet because he was he was so very wise and he was so very he was not conciliatory in the usual sense of the word. But he was he wanted people to get along. He talked a lot about, especially after the uprising in 1992, and please, let's not call it a riot. It was an uprising. But he, he became very influential because he spoke out, calmed down a lot of people who were

very angry, justifiably angry, but you know, you can't burn your own community. Uh, you know, I, I always, I guess this is one of the places I always tell people I'm old, but I am, I'm 70. And that means every day, you know, I'm losing somebody. Yeah. I did a eulogy for a friend, um, on Friday, Dr. Ramona Edlin, who made her transition. Um, and so, you know, it's like every day there's something, but as you get older, that's just going to happen. What I think is challenging is the extent to which we don't appreciate that which we've lost. You know, and I think often we just really don't. Chip Murray hadn't been out there like he used to be. And so I think there's a generation of folks who just

don't know who he was. And I think that's sad, but that's life. You know, Dr. Walker, as both, you know, folks who work with students, I'm constantly concerned about the institutional knowledge that we're losing as we continue to raise this next generation of leaders and, you know, and those who are not going to know about Reverend Dr. Murray and what he did. What are your thoughts as it relates to his legacy and how we continue to push his legacy forward into the next generation? Yeah, I think you hit on a really important point, talking about Reverend Dr. Murray, in terms of making sure individuals remember that there were people that came before them and laid the foundation.

He talked about his work after the uprising and rebuilding L.A., but making the connection, the intergenerational connections. And so that's so important. And I think not only in terms of we're taking time out on the show right now to talk about his legacy, but also in terms of making sure we have some, you know, not so, you know, some documents to, to recognize his greatness. And I'm quite sure there'll be a number of these. I'm assuming it's some of the institutions in the local LA in the city itself, but scholarships is in his name, endowed scholarships, in fact, named in his name to ensure his legacy lives on years from now and monuments, et cetera.

But you're really you have, like, once again, a really important point to make sure we know that this generation understands that there are individuals who laid the foundation, made a commitment to the black community, stood by the stood with the black community for change. And then they did that throughout their lifespan. And then now they're with the black community for change. And then they did that throughout their lifespan. And then now they're with the ancestors. But I certainly send my condolences to his family and friends and all those who attended his church in L.A. And once again, another pioneer, a black pioneer we've lost, unfortunately. You're absolutely right.

And I'm heading out to L.A. to be at Malik Books to be out there tomorrow. And so I'm interested in seeing just how people are paying tribute to him. Dr. Ali, as we're going forward, we've talked often, even in our last segment, about the church. What do you think he represents for us as it relates to the role

the black church should be playing going forward, given his monumental role, not just with the L.A. uprising, but in our community for such a long period of time? What's his message for the church going forward?

To create a safe space, a welcoming space, a space that is focused on how we help our people move from surviving to thriving. When we think about our good Reverend Dr. Murray, you know, he was able to do many of those things. So folks often think about Los Angeles and they think about palm trees and, you know, a place where everything just kind of moves at a pace that is welcoming. And that's not the case for many black people in relationship to Los Angeles. But he was able to be able to create that safe space. Our churches, our mosques, maybe for folks who go to a synagogue, they have a responsibility for not only being that safe space, but also being a catalyst for positive change, being a place where those who have been unseen to do that and then replicate it, because we have so many folks who are pulled away from our religious institutions because they don't see themselves reflected in those spaces. So as this next generation comes around, because all of us are part of the circle of life, we will all transition one day. But as we transition,

there are opportunities for the next generation to take the best of us and to build upon that. And I think that that is a part of the lesson that Reverend Dr. Murray left behind, along with a number of our other elders who have now transitioned. I think you make a really powerful point there. And as I'm watching the video, you know, as you all are talking, the part that just moved me the most was the the videos where he was talking to the young people the children passing on the energy passing on the information people talk so much about the disconnect in our communities between the elders and those who are young

and dr reverend murray was somebody who reached back to the young people and really wanted to make sure that they understood their their power and presence. And so he is somebody who was definitely going to be missed. And we wish Reverend Dr. Murray and his entire family peace during this entire process. You are now our ancestor, and we are always going to continue to uplift you because you uplifted us. That does it for us tonight. I want to thank the panel, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, Dr. Larry J. Walker, and Dr. Julianne Malveaux for helping me hold it down while Roland is away.

Roland will be back tomorrow live from Augusta, Georgia. I want to appreciate everybody for watching us tonight. See you next time. Holla. Folks, Black Star Network is here. Hold no punches. I'm real revolutionary right back. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home.

You dig? Pull up a chair. Take your seat. The Black Tape. With me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we as if your life is teetering in the weight and pressure of the world that's consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Blackstar Network for a balanced life with Dr. Jackie. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge

part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, and my new show, Get Wealthy, focuses on the things that your financial advisor and bank isn't telling you, but you absolutely need to know. So watch Get Wealthy on the Black Star Network. A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. Small but important ways.

From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops. 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. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott.

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