#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Benton Harbor water crisis; Jon Gruden out; TX vax mandate ban; Couple gets $75K for traffic stop

Episode Date: October 13, 2021

10.12.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Benton Harbor water crisis is worse than Flint; Jon Gruden out after more emails surface; TX vax mandate ban; Black Virtual Career Fair to connect job seekers with companies exclusively looking for Black Professionals; Louisville couple gets $75K for traffic stop, but can't talk bad about the cops#RolandMartinUnfiltered partners:Nissan | Check out the ALL NEW 2022 Nissan Frontier! As Efficient As It Is Powerful! 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3FqR7bPAmazon | Get 2-hour grocery delivery, set up you Amazon Day deliveries, watch Amazon Originals with Prime Video and save up to 80% on meds with Amazon Prime 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3ArwxEh+ Don’t miss Epic Daily Deals that rival Black Friday blockbuster sales 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3iP9zkvBuick | Its ALL about you! The 2022 Envision has more than enough style, power and technology to make every day an occasion. 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3iJ6ouPSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfilteredDownload the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com#RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms 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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. self. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. 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 Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at 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. Today is Tuesday, October 12th, 2021. Coming up, a roller martin unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Another Michigan city in the midst of a water crisis.

Predominately black Benton Harbor's water is more poison than Flint's. In a white town, St. Joseph, right across the bridge, has clean drinking water. Mmm, a tale of two cities. Just like we said last night, there had to be more John Gruden emails. We were right and he is out of a job.

And Tempe Bucks have kicked him out of their ring of honor. We'll talk with former NBA player Etan Thomas and NFL insider Josina Anderson about all of the drama in the NFL. As unemployment numbers continue to rise for the black community, the Black Virtual Career Fair creators want to connect job seekers with companies exclusively looking for black professionals. We'll discuss that in Louisville, Kentucky. They're dishing out 75 grand to a black couple

for legally detaining them and searching their vehicle under one condition. They can't criticize the police department. Folks, a lot more we're gonna talk about. It's time to bring the funk. Rolling Mark, non-filtered. The Black Star Network, let's go. He's got it.

Whatever the miss, 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. It's Rollin' Martin, yeah.

Rollin' with Rollin' now. He's broke, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Rollin' Martin now. He's rolling, Martez. Martez. Water crisis in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Very similar to what took place in Flint. Benton Harbor is about 190 miles west of Flint and sits near the shores of Lake Michigan. In 2018, the lead contamination found in Benton Harbor's water supply was 22 parts per billion, and it's tap water far higher

than the federal action level of 15 parts per billion, and higher even than nearby Flint at the height of its water crisis. But here's the worst part. A town across the bridge from Benton Harbor has clean water. St. Joseph is only an eight-minute drive, but it has an entirely different story. Benton Harbor is 85% black. St. Joseph is 85% white.

In Benton Harbor, more than 45% of residents live below the poverty line. They cross the bridge into St. Joseph, and the poverty rate is just 7%, well below the state average. So how did it happen? According to the city's website, its water distribution system is over 100 years old

and existing water lines to homes vary in ages. Many homes built before the 1960s likely have some type of lead component in their service line. So what is happening in Benton Harbor? In 2019, the city began replacing lead service lines and will continue until all lead lines have been replaced. Benton Harbor was awarded a five and.5 million grant from the EPA, which will help replace approximately 900 lead service lines over the next four years. But until then, the state advises residents to refrain from using tap water for anything and has promised to expand the free water distribution. Okay, this is strange. Dr. Mustafa Santiago-Lee, former senior advisor for environmental justice, EPA,

Pamela Safisha Hill, assistant professor of social work, University of Texas at Arlington, Lawn Victoria Burke, NNPA, and the Greer. Mustafa, this is one of those issues that, again, when we see unfolding, this is why you see the battle in D.C. fighting for infrastructure dollars because cities like Benton Harbor have to replace old lines. Yeah, I mean, we've got having neurological disorders. You lower your IQ points, liver and kidney diseases, and a number of other conditions that are a part of it. And so what they're telling folks is, you know, over the next four years, you can't cook with the water, you can't drink with the water, and you can't bathe with the water.

And that's why we need folks on Capitol Hill to move with much more expediency in getting these infrastructure bills passed. And then in the meantime, you know, we've got to also have the state of Michigan actually making real investments in Benton Harbor because folks have known about this for a while. So for them to act like this is something that just popped up on their radar is untrue. So one, we need the feds to do better, but we also need the states to do better. Well, again, we talk about funding. Look, this is one of those issues that states must deal with in the federal government. But if you're a resident, what the hell, Lauren?

I mean, you can't use the damn tap water. So, I mean, to talk about a huge inconvenience, are they still paying water bills? Right. And of course, they're still paying water bills. These are the reasons why when you see things like what Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema are doing, this has a real world consequence, the delaying in the vote, the delaying of getting things done. Unfortunately, too, I think this is one of the reasons, unfortunately, why initially Donald Trump's message caught on when he talked about America first, because people are so used to hearing about foreign aid and billions going overseas and so forth and so on. And, of course, we have this infrastructure issue here in the United States.

People do not like to hear about Americans not being able to get basic services, which, of course, water being a basic service. You saw it. We all saw how Flint, of course, blew up in the news. This should blow up in the news as well, because it's just really sort of ridiculous. It's the type of thing that we like to report on here in the United States when we refer to third world countries. But the idea that it's happening right here, I don't happen to know, and maybe Dr. Ali

or Dr. Hill knows this. I don't happen to know. And maybe Dr. Ali and Dr. Hill knows this. I don't happen to know who the member of Congress who represents that district is. But, you know, I'm sure that they're probably making noise in the background. But it is ridiculous to hear about just on his face. Doc, Dr. Hill, again, what we are dealing with here continues to be with the infrastructure problems of people who are poor, people who are black, more impacted than other places. Yes, yes. And the sad reality is that this is nothing new. We've always seen this in our communities where people of color have always suffered, where we have toxic waste in our backyard and nobody seems to care. Once we get

it out on the news, we try to clean things up. But the real reality is that, you know, this makes us sick. This is a major health issue that has to be addressed. And we just can't let it go by. And it makes us wonder, well, where else is this happening, and we're not hearing about it. So we need to know more details. In fact, we hope that other people will let us know what they're experiencing in their own backyards because we know that this is happening in a number of communities. And so we have to just do better and find out where we can make an impact.

Well, I think where we can impact, again, is when we talk about what is being done with the infrastructure bill to ensure that our communities are getting those resources. This is one of those things, Mustafa, this is your focus. But when we talk about issues, people will bring up criminal justice reform. They'll bring up education. They'll bring up voting rights, but environmental concerns are not as high on the agenda of enough African Americans. Yeah. The administration has an excellent opportunity to tie both the reconciliation bill and the bipartisan infrastructure bill to these types of real-world issues that are happening. And to answer the question, when we worked on what was happening in Flint, we found out that

there were over 3,000 locations across the country that had higher levels of lead in their water than Flint did. Benton Harbor is one example of that. When they did some testing in Benton Harbor, even though that 22 parts per billion number is what people have been talking about, they found in certain locations over 880 parts per billion in certain locations in Benton Harbor. That's just mind-blowing those numbers are that high. And when you get that type of exposure, there is devastating impacts that will happen to your body. There is no safe level for lead. And the Biden administration should be touting that and talking about how we can actually help to not only protect people,

but bring hope back to these communities by actually doing the right thing. Well, again, we'll see exactly what happens with the administration, what they do. But also, you've got a Democratic governor. You had a Republican governor beforehand. You had an issue with Flint. So the question is, what is she going to do? And that really is one of those things that we have to look at. This is also an example, Lauren, of stories like this not getting the same level of attention nationally unless something else actually happens.

Right. No, absolutely. And it was actually good to see with the Flint story, it did eventually get blown up. Sometimes it takes, you know, some sort of local leader there that figures out a way to really sort of get into the press and blow it up. And unfortunately, our media cycles are non-existent. I mean, obviously, we used to live on the 24-hour media cycle in the days of the newspaper, but now there really is no media cycle. It's just everything, every other second, we're moving on to the next story, moving on to the next case. But somebody, if somebody can blow up this type of story, it's such an easy story to understand. So it's easy to for people to lock into it.

Let's also stay in Michigan, where one of the things that is happening in that state deals with the redrawing of districts. We're seeing this happen all across the country right now. Michigan is one of those places where it is happening. They have an independent commission that deals with redistricting, and black folks are not happy at all with the maps. But here's the deal. The first draft of maps that were released, first of all, the Michigan legislature, Republicans run, excuse me, Republicans

run, favor them. Now, these maps still benefit the Republicans. And so this is what the Detroit Free Press wrote, that the commission is going to have more public hearings before finalizing the maps. While the draft maps are not as skewed as the current GOP-drawn districts, they would generally still favor Republicans, though nowhere near the same extent as the current lines. And so the issue here that we have to look at, and this is where the census comes in, Lauren, that we can't ignore. And, you know, when you have folks say, oh, these things don't matter, this is why it matters, because those who are in charge of drawing the districts, they draw in their favor.

And Michigan is supposedly blue, but this is the mistake people make, blue on the presidential level. When you go outside of the major cities, Michigan, just like Pennsylvania, looks like Alabama. Right. And pretty much because those lines are drawn, you know, by people who wanted to gerrymander and usually weaken the power of African-American voters and other minority groups. These commissions don't work. These independent commissions, they're doing the same thing in Virginia that's happening in Michigan. This idea that you're going to get some sort of objective group of people that doesn't think politically to redraw, to draw the lines politically is complete nonsense. That is not how it works. Everyone has some vested interest in drawing the lines. And no matter what you write in terms of a ballot initiative, as was done in the case of Virginia, I'm not sure how they did it in Michigan or whatever, there's always sort of

this dreamlike idea in everybody's head that somebody's going to come down, some group of people is going to come down objectively and draw lines. It is a political process. You can't take the politics out of it. And people need to understand this is about power. It's about control. And historically, we already know that African-Americans' power has been marginalized. So why anybody would think that that would suddenly change because you have a, quote, independent commission is completely ridiculous. And I suspect, without knowing all the details in Michigan, I suspect the same thing that's going on in Virginia is going on in Michigan. But this is what, Dr. Hill, this is what the free press writes in their story.

Political scientists have noted Democrats have an inherent geographic disadvantage with their voters more likely to be concentrated in densely populated urban areas, or Republican voters are officially spread out across the state. That geographic distribution tends to favor Republicans when it comes to garnering seats, even though Democrats often get more votes statewide. Again, I'm comparing Michigan to Pennsylvania. I can even do the exact same thing to Wisconsin. What you're dealing with is in these places, you have African Americans, younger voters who tend to skew more Democratic living in the large urban centers. But when you talk about districts on the state level, they're broken up all across the state. If you have Republicans who are living largely in rural parts of these states, they are going to dominate majority of those state seats. And guess what? That's who's in control, typically,

of drawing lines. We have the same thing going on here in Texas, as you know. This governor, his commission of folk, they are doing this, of course, purposely to make sure that they are at the advantage. And we see it very clearly that that statement could have been dropped right here in Texas because the same thing is happening. And, you know, in trying to get people to understand why our vote counts, this is a perfect example because they're saying, well, let's just do this and this. And we're just not aware, particularly like, you know, most of us know what's going on, but for so many young people, they don't get it. And as they draw these lines, that means that we'll have less power in our communities to do what we need to do.

And it's not surprising that it's happening in other places. If we pay attention, we see that the Republicans are planning their work and working their plan and it's going to affect us in a very negative way, as it always has. But Mustafa, how do you counter that, though? Because the reality is the districts are drawn in states where folks are. And so the reality is if you have these sort of rural places, you're going to have people representing districts that are small population-wise, but still matter in the aggregate because they're going to have more of them control the legislature. I mean, it's a tough situation because all the studies have shown us that, you know,

people in general are starting to move into more urban settings and especially folks of color. And there's all kinds of historical reasons for that. But, you know, we're going to have to have a more diverse set of individuals living in a number of different places to be able to actually efficiently be able to engage in what's currently going on. What you'll find play out here, you'll see it play out here, you know, in the beginning of 2022, when these resources start to move from the federal government. And as you look across the state, you know, these dollars are going to be split up in all these different locations and all these sets of districts. So it's not only about power,

it is also about wealth and the distribution of wealth. So we've got to get more strategic about how we address this. And that's going to mean that some people are no longer just going to be in these urban settings, but they're going to have to have these enclaves of individuals in these rural and suburban areas as well. Well, that's really something that, you know, look, it's going to stand out as we move forward. And so we'll certainly be talking more about this. And trust me, this will not be the only state where people are yelling and screaming when it comes to how the lines are being drawn. In fact, in West Virginia, there's a battle there, Lauren, because there's a black member who in his district is the rural headquarters of a white supremacist group.

Wow. So they actually made an adjustment to play to redraw the lines to place to place to place his district outside of that location. So he would not be the representative for white supremacists. Right. And you always get these sorts of conversations during redistricting. Usually those conversations sent around the addresses of the members of the legislature or members of Congress who are involved or not in the redistricting process. But, you know, as we all know, redistricting is very political. It is very contentious usually.

I happen to think that people need to stop pretending. How they kind of got wrapped around the axle in Virginia is this idea that they were going to do some sort of unicorns and rainbows commission that was not going to have any partisanship to it, which was all a fairy tale. And of course, who ends up losing on that typically is black voters. But I actually have no problem saying that whoever's in charge in terms of the majority should draw the lines, because for African-Americans and other constituencies, that is going to be African-Americans and other minority constituencies pretty soon.

And that's the way it's always been done. And also, it typically forces both sides to have to talk to each other. You get some independent commission from out of nowhere doing this that doesn't really understand what's going on, You get all sorts of interesting moments like addresses and people drawn out of their district who are representing that particular territory. All sorts of things happen. Well, bottom line is, again, this is something that we must be paying close attention to, Dr. Hill, because, again, when you talk about who is in control who is in control of the legislature it's based upon numbers and if you're going to have a whole ton of rural places a ton of rural places where they're going to have the numbers you're going to have Republicans who

are going to be dominating legislatures and that's where the power in states reside. Right. And I think that we need to have a total understanding, as it was just mentioned, the wealth of it. We have to make sure that we are politically educated on issues that we understand what we need to do. And you're right, as the demographics are changing, what we're seeing is a browning of America. And I think that in the future, this is going to backfire because the brown folk, we are increasing in numbers.

And pretty soon, you know, perhaps this plan is going to backfire again because we're out here and we have to make sure that we are politically educated, that we educate the youth so that they'll have this understanding and just get prepared to fight this battle because it's going to be very interesting when it comes time to vote. And it will be interesting to see how far they get as they attempt to redraw these lines. 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 Corps 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. long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Well, I mean, first of all, I agree with the

brownie of America. The problem, though, is where are we going to be living? And that's really what it boils down to, where are we going to be living? Because if we're going to be, again, largely in these urban areas, that is going to impact the political power because the states, they're distributed across the state. Same thing with congressional districts. Congressional districts are a little different, obviously, because each district is about 700,000 people, but when you talk about the state,

that's where power resides. All right, folks, I've got to go to a break. When we come back, more on Roland Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. ТРЕВОЖНАЯ МУЗЫКА Betty is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now, she's free to become Bear Hug Betty. Settle in, kids. You'll be there a while. Ooh, where you going?

That's Kim Whitley. Yo, what's up? This your boy Ice Cube. Hey, yo, peace, world. What's going on? It's the love king of R&B, Raheem Devon, and you're watching Rollland martin unfiltered folks uh tabitha queen the 29 year old of three, has been missing since May 10, 2021 from Bastrop, Louisiana.

There's a $1,000 reward for anyone with information about the 5'4", tall, 240-pound woman. She has black hair, brown eyes. Again, missing from Bastrop, Louisiana. If you know anything about Tabitha Queen's disappearance, you are encouraged to call the Bastrop Police at 318-281-1322, 318-281-1322. Also, the North Delta Regional Crime Stoppers at 318-388-2274, 318-388-2274. All right, folks, let's go to Texas where an idiot is totally in charge. That is Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

I'll tell you what this fool has done. He literally is banning vaccine mandates across the state, even for private businesses. Executive order prohibits any entity, including private businesses, from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on workers. The governor is calling on state lawmakers to pass a similar ban and make it law. The executive order is in direct conflict with President Joe Biden's COVID plan. Texas has seen a recent decrease in new COVID cases and hospitalizations. Of course, right now, the state is reporting more than 4 million coronavirus cases.

68,000 Texans have died as a result. Let's go to my panel on this. Dr. Hill, I want to start with you. I mean, if you want to show sheer stupidity, here is someone representing a party that's always about, oh, you don't tell folks what to do. They get to make their own decisions. Now you have companies who can set their own policy.

He's saying, nope, you can't do what you want to do. I'm going to mandate for you. Hmm, I thought these were the same people who were against big government. You know, you said it right. He's a fool, he's an idiot, and he is an embarrassment. You know, it's all about power. He wants to be the big dog in charge, apparently,

and he keeps doing these idiotic things and he's putting people's lives at risk. The school district, you know, saying that the schools cannot mandate the children wear a mask. A couple of weeks ago, our hospitals were filled with children, filled with children with COVID. And this fool is saying that the schools cannot mandate children to wear masks. And now he's really lost his mind, his last piece of mind, by indicating that private companies cannot require masks, that you cannot require someone to prove that they have had the vaccine.

It's crazy, And it's embarrassing. Teaching college, I have so many students who are still afraid to even come to campus, afraid to come to class. Every time we have some students who are not feeling well, when they come back, there are other students who are out. And this thing is real. And for some reason, you know, he has this power thing that he's on. And even though he had COVID, I guess that he thinks that, again, you know, he can carry a big stick and make people do what he wants to do. And there's going to be some

retaliation. A number of school districts are already suing him for this foolishness. And now he is trying to make it a law where you can't mandate that someone even wears masks or gives their status? It's crazy. It's crazy. Lauren, again, what you're seeing is you're seeing Republicans vie for the stupid Trump voters. And so it's not about public health. It's literally about sheer stupidity

to even say if you're a private business, you can't mandate COVID vaccine when it comes to your employees. Yeah, you know, it's just so strange how our politics works these days. I mean, the name of the game with this party, with the Republican Party, with the modern Republican Party, You know, it's just so strange how our politics works these days. I mean, the name of the game with this party, with the Republican Party, with the modern Republican Party, is to just be doing the opposite of whatever the Democrats are doing.

I mean, I used to joke all the time when President Obama was president, if he was, you know, in some way saying just anything, they were just going to counter it. They're just going to say the opposite. It really doesn't even matter whether it's bad policy or good policy. They're not even arguing about policy anymore. Policy doesn't even matter. The details, the logic doesn't even matter. So the second that President Biden shows up and is into any sort of mandates, the Republican Party takes the opposite position. Simple as that. It has nothing to do with public health or public safety or how many people are dead. We're sitting in here with 715,000 people in our country who have died of COVID. I mean, we are probably going to hit a million. It is the biggest health crisis that our country has had in over 100 years. And yet we're in this idiot argument with these, you know, with these governors, DeSantis, Abbott, over stupidity as people are dying. And then the fact that the fact

that Abbott himself had COVID, of course, that doesn't change anything. You see what Alan West is saying. He's still saying, oh, I'm going to fight against mandates, even though he's in the hospital. What does it take? But we already know. We've seen several people die who had made this argument against all the basic protections against COVID, and they went to their death making that argument. I mean, that is how absurd and sad this has all become, that you are willing to die to what? Own the libs? I mean, is that what this is about? It's just incredibly sad to watch. And this is what the Republican Party stands for.

And it is pathetic. And frankly, obviously, it's dangerous. Well, I just sit here and when you look at idiots like DeSantis and Abbott, Mustafa, then you have Justice, the West Virginia governor, begging folks to get vaccinated. Then you've got the idiot Republican Tate Reeves in Mississippi. You've got this idiot Kay Ivey, Republican governor in Alabama using COVID money to build more prisons.

You've got the idiot governor in South Carolina, McMaster. I mean, and then, of course, you've got the idiot Republican governor in Tennessee. You have the Arkansas Republican governor, Asa Hutchison, who regrets his decision outlawing mandates.

I mean, the Republican Party, for all of the yelling and screaming about being pro-life, no, I think they're pro-dumb. Well, they're pro-sacrificial. They will sacrifice folks. You know, they place politics over people on a regular basis. We know that COVID goes in these cycles, and we've seen how bad policy from a number of governors and school board presidents and a number of others and mayors in some locations have played into these cycles. Once we start to get our arms around it, we start to get the numbers down, then folks will move forward these types of decisions that then ramp the numbers back up, especially now, because now we're dealing with a number

of different variants that are a part of the mix. You know, now when it comes to corporations, they have some choices, right? And they actually have power because they could literally have a conversation. Let's use Texas as an example that, you know, if you continue down the road with these types of actions, then we're going to move our business and our people because we want to keep them safe to the next state. Now, I don't want to take jobs away from hardworking people in Texas or any other state, but the reality starts to kick in that you sometimes have to make some really tough choices about where you want to invest your corporate dollars and the lives of the individuals who work inside of your walls. do this, what's down the road? The next pandemic we deal with or the next situation where you have a rogue governor who's willing to do things that go against

humanity. Is that really where you want to be located? Again, we're talking about the party of crazy. When you've got this fool Allen West out here who is yelling and kicking and screaming about Big Pharma, but then he's touting whatever the hell this mononuclear, whatever the hell it is, as if they're not Big Pharma.

I mean, and in fact, the fool is touting a treatment that costs anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000 because you don't want a free shot. Right. Right. I mean, literally, Lauren, it's a free shot. Well, I think that there's some sort of weird currency now in, I don't know whether we can even call it conservative ideology. It's really Republican Trump ideology. There's just a currency in always being angry and always

disagreeing with what's going on and always feeling like your liberty is being taken away by something. And to have that, you know, sort of grievance going on forever and ever is what this has all become about. So it's not even within reason. Allen West is just, you know, OK, well, I'm going to throw out big, big pharma. I mean, it's not that complicated. You know, it is a vaccine. We do vaccines all the time. Allen West was in the military. Before he got into the military, he had to take a number of vaccines. And now all of a sudden, this has become some sort of political statement that we're doing vaccines. I mean, we do this all the time.

You know, when kids go to school, when you go to other countries, et cetera, and so on. So they created this. Just like CRT, they create these grievances. They create these fake reasons to be angry at something because there isn't anything else. I mean, there isn't anything else to build anything on because, of course, somebody like President Biden was only interested in coming in and making the situation better and obviously slowing the number of deaths in the country. And they just created grievance out of it is the height of absurdity that this is what the Republican Party has become. And, you know, what can you say after 700,000 people have died that we're still sitting here having this idiot discussion? Yeah, I mean, that's just, I mean, and to listen to them, to listen to the whining

and complaining is stunning, Dr. Hill, especially from people who are in the military where they are required to take shots. Right. Like, it's not even, you don't even get a choice. But all of a sudden, oh, no, no, I'm going to complain about this shot. Well, the bottom line, they don't really care about people. They care about politics, but not people.

They're not concerned that the death rate is real. They're not concerned that people are still dying. They're not concerned with any of this, you know, they're on this bandwagon to follow the idiot and see who can follow the idiot the farthest. And, again, people are suffering. This is a public health issue. COVID don't care what you look like. They don't care about your party. And like the sister just said, you know, you have these people who are so anti-vax and

then they land up in a hospital hooked up to saying, please take the vaccine. Well, you know, it's too late. And you're right. When you're in the military and you're going to take all these shots and you don't ask the question, you take them. I know because I how to get there. Well, I would hope these same companies will pull the funding. AT&T, for instance, the Political Action Committee gave Abbott $100,000. Guess what?

If you want to show your disdain for Republican politics, pull your money. Right. Well, you know, the other thing, too, Roland, is this is heading for a civil lawsuit, obviously, because if you're mandating that a company doesn't protect people's health and then somebody gets COVID and dies, somebody has standing, and they're going to sue the state of Texas. That's where this is headed. I mean, so I don't understand. Just from a legal standpoint, you would think, of course,

their attorney general is an idiot too, so that's one of the reasons why they haven't thought of this, I guess. But they will get sued for this because they're putting people's health at risk. Absolutely. And, again, I would hope they would fight back against the idiots in the Texas legislature led by Greg Abbott and, of course, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. All right, folks, got to go to break. When we come back, John Gruden out as head coach of the Oakland Raiders. Conservatives are whining and complaining. This is unfair that he was ousted as a result of racist, misogynistic, homophobic emails sent 10 years ago.

Is it unfair that John Gruden has been exposed as a racist, misogynistic, sexist, homophobic coach? We'll discuss that on the show. Also, we'll tell you about a couple who sued in Louisville. They got to get 75 grand, but one thing they can't do, they can't talk about it. All that's next on Roller Martin

Unfiltered, broadcasting live and streaming on the Black Star Network. Also, folks, do this here. If you are watching our spots, Amazon, Buick, Nissan, do me a favor. If you can check them out by hitting the link in the description on our YouTube channel, also on the Black Star Network, and on Facebook as well. So please support those that support us. Back in a moment.

Oh, that spin class was brutal. Well, you can try using the Buick's massaging seat. Ooh, yeah, that's nice. Can I use Apple CarPlay to put some music on? Sure. It's wireless. Pick something we all like. Okay, hold on. What's your Buick's Wi-Fi password?

Buick Envision 2021. Oh, you should pick something stronger. That's really predictable. That's a really tight spot. Don't worry. I used to hate parallel parking. Me, too. Hey. Really outdid yourself.

Yes, we did. The all-new Buick Envision, an SUV built around you. All of you. 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 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug 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 Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does.

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

The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Once upon a time there lived a princess with really long hair who was waiting for a prince to come save her. But really, who has time for that?

She ordered herself a ladder with Prime One Day Delivery, and she was out of there. Now, her hairdressing empire is killing it. And the prince? Well, who cares? Crime changes everything. My name is Charlie Wilson. Hi, I'm Sally Richardson-Whitfield.

And I'm Dodger Whitfield. Hey, everybody, this is your man, Fred Hammond, and you're watching Roland Martin, my man, Unfiltered. All right, folks, a couple of updates to tell you about. Do you remember that white Tennessee officer who got knocked out for making racist remarks during a wedding? Well, he finally quit. Tanner Holt, formerly of the Knoxville Police Department, was overheard saying offensive racist statements,

including, I don't know, I didn't know they let black people in this hall. Jonathan Toney, who is black, asked Holt to stop the racist comments. Holt said no. Then Toney knocked his punk ass unconscious. Knoxville officers who arrived at the scene said, Holt was very drunk. The internal investigation determined Holt violated several policies in the department's code of ethics

and he quit his job. I don't feel sorry for Mustafa. Nope, you got knocked out. You deserve to get knocked out. Folks asked you to stop saying the stupid stuff that you were saying so they gave you a pass. You decided not to get that pass, so never mind. I'm going to leave the rest of it low.

Real simple, Dr. Hill. You say racist stuff, might get your ass whooped. Yep. And it be like this sometime, you know, it's like this arrogance to think that you can just come and

say these things and there are no consequences? I don't think so. So I guess this is the Brad to this is Karen's Brad or whatever he is, but he learned something. He learned a good lesson.

And hopefully his friends learned the lesson, too. Hey, Lauren, I keep telling these people, this is not the kneel down, pray for your crowd. No, it's not. It really isn't. And you would think with all these stories coming out, particularly with the videos that we have of certain things, that you would see less of this and not more of it. And obviously that's not the case.

Yeah, like I said, keep acting a fool. Stuff's going to happen. Minnesota prosecutors say the June 3rd shooting of a black man by U.S. Marshals was justified. U.S. Marshals of the North Star Fugitive Task Force attempted to arrest Winston Smith Jr. on a warrant for failing to appear in court on a gun charge. During the encounter, Marshals alleged Smith initiated a deadly force confrontation

by shooting at the Marshals. U.S. Marshals on this task force are not permitted to have body cameras, so there's no footage of the incident okay i don't understand that um lauren i don't understand what's why u.s marshals can't have body cameras um who knows i mean there's probably a million reasons for it. But I can never understand why police are against body cameras, because effectively, you know, it gives you an idea of what's going on on both sides. So, I mean, it can protect both sides in their conversation or their argument or dispute

in terms of what actually happened. You have it on tape. So I can never understand. I'm not really a fan of this idea that somehow body cameras are some sort of a problem for law enforcement. I would think that they would want to, I would think if you're not doing anything wrong, there's nothing to worry about with regards to the body camera. Now here's what's interesting. This was a story that dropped a couple of months ago. The Justice Department has agreed for the first time to allow local police assigned to federal fugitive task forces to release body camera video to the public after officer-involved shootings.

And so, again, the story from NBC said federal authorities, federal agents don't wear body cameras and local police on the task forces had lacked the authority to release their video after violent encounters. Again, to me, this is something that Congress should

change. I think every federal law enforcement agency should be required to wear body cameras, Mustafa. Yeah, without a doubt. That's just common sense stuff. I mean, I've been around enough folks in the law enforcement world from, you know, the everyday patrolman all the way up to other agencies. And, you know, folks use all kinds of surveillance equipment in investigations. So for folks not to also utilize these body cameras as a part of whether you're serving a warrant or you're coming after a fugitive or whatever it might be, that doesn't make any sense.

So, yes, Congress needs to step in and the Department of Justice needs to enforce it. And here's the thing, according to the Marshall Project, Dr. Hill, between 2015-2020, these U.S. Marshall task forces with local police killed on average 22 suspects and

bystanders a year. You know, Roland, if you're doing right, and bystanders a year. You know, Roland, if you're doing right, you should want to have the proof that you're doing right. If you're doing wrong and you know you're gonna do wrong, well, you don't want nobody to see that. So this is why these devices are extremely important because it proves that you are doing what you were supposed to do and it's how

you protect yourself. So if you already have that mindset, I'm going to go ahead and do something I have no business doing. You don't want anybody to see that. You know, here in Dallas, I believe it's changed now, but there was a rule where a police

officer did not have to reveal, did not have to even make a statement until 72 hours after a shooting. They gave them time to review any footage to come up with their justification, if you will. But they had three days to keep silent. And so that became a problem. And when you think about the fact that if you're doing right, if you're following the law, then you should want to have that evidence

with you at all times. This is what I did and this was correct. But if you already know that your mindset is off, this is why so many are objecting to these cameras. Because they know that they're bad apples in the first place. And that's the real

deal. I mean, the cops that object to body cameras don't want to be questioned and the reality is they typically contradict what's on the video and they're used to lying on police reports, Lauren. I mean,

look, the evidence is clear. We can go case after case after case where cops say one thing happened and then you're like, fool, there's a body camera. Right. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, the only exception that I can think of in terms of not wanting body cameras, and it just so happens I'm dating a federal police officer, but he's not a marshal, which marshals typically serve warrants. I would think he'd want all that recorded. But in the case of, say, a city like Washington, D.C., where a lot of federal law enforcement are in confidential situations, you know, they're protecting members of Congress

or they're at the White House or whatever. Now, that's a relatively small group of people in this country in terms of federal police. But that's the only thing I can think of off the top of my head as to why you might not want the body camera, because you would be recording a bunch of stuff that is typically not particularly relevant. But if you get into a confrontation with somebody, obviously it is going to be relevant. But it's I don't know that it's that complicated question. Again, it goes back to what we were just saying, which is that if you're not doing anything wrong, recording everything is not a problem. We sure as hell have police departments around this country, particularly in our bigger city, Chicago, New York. Police departments are now in control of the surveillance cameras in these cities, particularly in New York.

So we're basically recording everybody anyway. You know, in a case of a police encounter, it's typically in a private or a more private closed situation. But we get to the point where there's so many surveillance cameras, you can see what's going on in so many interactions just walking down the street in a public space. You're absolutely right. So again, I think they should be required. If you're going to be out there serving in warrants, and again, in these task force, an average of 22 people are being killed every year, yeah, there needs to be body camera footage.

All right, folks. Oh, so while we were on the air, some of y'all Chicago fans out here complaining because I opened the show wearing this Houston Astros hat. Forgive me that my Astros just beat y'all ass 10-1 in game four. A day after one of your pitchers was whining, complaining, talking about old signs were being stolen. You know what?

You shouldn't talk smack when you're down 2-1. Now we're going to hand your ass that big-ass L. So, Chicago White Sox fans, your season is over. Congratulations. You can put your uniforms up.

You don't have to wash them now because, frankly, you're not going to be wearing them tomorrow. So, it's all good. So, we now go on to the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox. And so looking forward to that and can't wait to be smack bean town upside their head. And oh, you know, I want to play the Dodgers

in the World Series so we can shut them up too. All right, y'all, coming up next, we're gonna talk John Gruden. Man, his racist, sexist, homophobic, misogynistic emails have opened up all kinds of drama. Now the NFL PA is saying to the NFL, y'all leaked the Gruden emails. Why don't y'all release all 650,000 emails? I'll be talking with former NBA player Etan Thomas and NFL insider Josina Anderson next on Roland Martin unfiltered right here on the black star

network. 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 One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated,

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. 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. for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov brought to you by the U S department of health and human services and the ad council. НАПРЯЖЖНАЯ МУЗЫКА I'm going to go. really loves. Hi, how's it doing? It's your favorite funny girl, Amanda Seals. Hi, I'm Anthony Brown from Anthony Brown and Group Therapy. What up, Lana Well? And you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, lots of drama in the NFL.

Last week, of course, it was revealed that John Gruden referenced the size of the lips of the executive director of the NFL Players Association, Damaris Smith, in emails from 2010 with Bruce Allen, who was an executive with the Washington football team, formerly the Washington Redskins. He apologized, wasn't fired over the weekend. So clearly somebody with the NFL said, hmm, let's go for the juggler. So last night, the New York Times dropped the story, I think it was around a little bit

after 8 o'clock, of other emails where John Gruden used homophobic slurs in reference to Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner said that Goodell pressured Jeff Fisher with the Los Angeles Rams to draft a queer player. He made all kind of other comments. He said that the owners of the Bucs, the team, of course, where he's in the ring of honor and led them to a Super Bowl, said the owner could suck his dick.

Yeah, he said all of that. He had all kinds of blasted women referees, said that Eric Reid, one of the players protesting, should be fired, all kinds of stuff. Well, didn't take long for Raiders owner Mark Davis to show up at team headquarters looking for Gruden. But an hour later, he was out. This is what he released last night.

John Gruden said, I have resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone. Nah, you actually never meant anybody to read the emails publicly. And the thing here is that he was emailing Bruce Allen, who was running the Washington football team organization.

There were some other people who were on the email, a couple CEOs, including the founder of Hooters. One of the things that they also did, they were going back and forth with showing, with photos of topless cheerleaders. That was one thing they were doing. They were getting a little raunchy on the emails. Now the NFL Players Association,

they are demanding the NFL release all 650,000 emails so we can see what else was said by Redskins, or former Redskins executives and others. Now,

Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they responded John Gruden was a member of their Ring of Honor. Now he's gone. And so what is next? Etan Thomas played a number of years in the NBA. He's the author of several books as well, often speaking out on the road. He'll be joined in a bit by Josina Anderson, of course, longtime NFL reporter as well. So, Etan, what do you make of this whole fiasco?

John Gruden survived the racist comments. He couldn't survive the homophobic and the sexist comments. Well, I don't even know where to start. You know, first of all was his apology, and that was the thing that was that first was troubling. You know when somebody gives you an apology and it's not really an apology and, you know, you're listening to them and you're like, wait, are they really even apologizing? But he just went on and on. And he said, you know, that he went to justify what he did. And he said, well, when I said that he had Michigan lips, I didn't mean it in a racial in

any way, shape or form. I meant that he was lying very often. And so everybody was like, lying. I've never heard that phrase before for somebody that has big lips. But OK. And so it was interesting looking at the reactions afterwards. And you saw a lot of people who were saying, well, I've known him for a long time. You know, I've never seen him be racist and everything like that. And then you got a lot of strong reactions from it. You know, you saw Tony Dungy, Mike Tirico, Stephen A. Smith, a lot of people. And I don't necessarily fault them for saying that they never saw that side of him, but I fault him for not being true to who he really is. You know, Malcolm X has a quote that I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands, even if he's wrong, the one who comes up like an angel and is nothing but

a devil. And the problem is John Gruden was presenting himself one way to many of his co-workers, many of his players, many of the people that he worked with with ESPN. But it was really another way. And that's the bigger issue here, because I want to know how many more people saw these emails, how many more people that was he conversing like this on a regular basis with. I'm pretty sure this wasn't the first time that he ever used any kind of language like that. But then you have another problem, Roland, and you mentioned it, the racism in the beginning. Some people were like, OK, well, it happened 10 years ago. Maybe we should move on. Can't we all just get along? You know what I mean? He said he was sorry, everything like that. But then you heard a lot of people change their tone, change their tune, once the

homophobic statement started to come out. The homophobic email started coming out. And I'm like, wait a minute now. The racism wasn't enough for you to think that he didn't deserve a job anymore. But the homophobic comics were enough. And aren't you all kind of

making Dave Chappelle's point? Isn't this really what he was talking about? And that's the part that was, it wasn't surprising because we've seen this before, but that's the part that people should really pay attention to. Well, and you talk about all

the people who came to his defense on first take. Stephen A. Smith said that he should not be fired for comments made when he wasn't even employed by the NFL more than a decade ago. You had Tony Dungy and Mike Tirico on NBC saying we should accept his apology and move on. This was all Sunday. Mark Davis, the owner of the Raiders, yep, nothing happened to him. Oh, but when that New York Times story

dropped last night, everything changed, and literally, literally, within 90 minutes of it dropping, boom, he was out. Right. And then that tells you, that's the importance of... Hold up, and he resigned. He wasn't

fired. He wasn't fired. He resigned, but I think it was, you know, kind of forced to resign. Right, right. I'm saying this, but it's different when you were fired because by him resigning, guess what? Right. Now what's the settlement with that $70 million he was still owed? Of course. Much like when police officers are resigned instead of getting fired. The same type of thing. But I think that one of the things that we have to also, you know, pay attention to is, you know,

I don't fault them, and I want to keep saying it, I don't fault them for saying the person that they knew and the person that they saw. It was more for, you know, John Gruden just not being true to who he really is. But one of the points that Stephen A. Smith said in one of his rants, I think the one that you just referenced on first take, and he said that you can't go back to somebody's past and, you know, something from 10 years ago and then hold them accountable now, and that shouldn't affect their employment.

I 100% disagree with that. I mean, if you're talking to young people right now, the first thing we say is, listen, an employer is going to look at your social media and see the things that you've posted, the videos that you have from a long time ago. Young athletes, the first thing that a college is going to do is go and look at your social media. That is the world we live in. So for Stephen A. Smith to say that John Gruden shouldn't be held accountable for what he's done in the past, that's completely incorrect because that is the world that we live in. It is. I want to bring in Josina Anderson, a long-time NFL reporter.

Of course, she joins us right now. So, Josina, just... I can't hear you guys. You can't hear? I can hear you now. There we go. What do you make of this whole

drama with John Gruden and these emails? Did someone in the NFL say, we want him gone? Wall Street Journal, New York Times, here you go. I don't know if I really think that. I mean, the emails that surfaced and that were illuminated first in The Wall Street Journal and then last night in The New York Times are part of a trove of emails that came about when the league was doing its own investigation into the workplace misconduct, the executives for the NFL were directed to kind of review these emails. And in that review, these emails that John Gruden reportedly wrote came about from that. And I think that the NFL is obviously aware that these exist, and they don't want that necessarily to blow back on them. And they also need to make the Raiders

aware of that and John Gruden. So prior to the Wall Street Journal article coming out on Friday, those emails that pertain to Gruden and the Raiders were sent to that organization. According to the owner of the Raiders, he heard about it Thursday night, and then the article came out on Friday. Now, I think that the intention for the league was to pass off this decision at the club level, wanting it to happen there. And then, you know, when additional, excuse me, when it didn't happen, that John Gruden resigned or was let go, then you saw these additional emails come to light in the Wall Street Journal that then created the outcome that we see now. So that's kind of how I think about it. I would say that initially when I talked to Raiders players, when the first comment came

out in regards to the NFLPA executive director, DeMaurice Smith, I can't say that I heard a lot of anger amongst the players. I was hearing people say that, you know, well, you didn't say the N word or, you know, they took it as a joke or they took it as, you know, not reflective of the man that coaches them every day, so to speak. And then last night when the New York Times article started to drop and it did include other comments and language of offending other groups of people and the situation became a bigger thing, then that's when I sensed that the gravity of the comments from John Gruden began to weigh on them. And like you mentioned, Roland, just within 90 minutes, he issued his resignation, although I did interview K.J. Wright, and he said that, you know, they did not hear from Gruden after that, like in terms of him directing his departure or his last comments to the team, I would say.

Well, see, this is, I mean, Etan, when you hear that, sort of the, sort of how the player is just, oh, is that the person we know. OK, John Gruden is not going to walk up to some black player and call me inward. Right. OK. One of the players who came out as gay plays for the Raiders. John Gruden was going to walk up to him going, you know, I don't want you queers in the NFL. But the reality is he revealed his true self in what he wrote to his other white male buddies.

Yeah, and what they're saying, Roland, I'm sorry, what they're saying, Roland, is that I know what you're making. You're making a distinction between what is said in public versus what is being said in private. What I'm hearing some of the players that I talk to say is that regardless of that, and they're not necessarily denying that, obviously there is two sides of this man

from what we know in public versus private, but what they're talking about is just the experience that they have with him in person though I hear your point, that necessarily wouldn't be revealed when he's coaching them. Go ahead, Etan. No, no, I agree with what you said 100%.

You know, you hear people all the time, you know, you hear these big mass murderers, you know, they go and they talk to their friends and they say, no, we've never seen them even, you know, hurt a fly. Well, he just didn't show you that side. You know, and I think that one of the things that we have to also understand is the dynamic of coach and player. So he's not going to reveal his true self to his players many times

because he still wants them to be on board, and he has a certain dynamic of a relationship with them. So once he leaves the football field, once he leaves the office and goes, so the thing about it is, and this is not an isolated incident. This is probably how he talks all the time. So I want to know who else was receiving these emails, what was their responses, you know, what was the level of their interactions, and really more and more of these emails. Because he said something about Eric Reid.

And this goes back to Kaepernick and the whole collusion suit. Because I want to know, you know, how much can they really uncover to really show the collusion of effort by all of the NFL to keep Kaepernick and Eric Reid and all those and punish them. So that's the part where, you know, you even start going back even further. And of course, we don't know the details of the settlement that Kaepernick had with the league still. But I have to think that, well, you you know maybe if he was a little bit more patient didn't settle at that time you know more collusion would have easily been able to come out because

they were having conversations like this we just saw what he said about eric reed i'm sure there was a lot more after that as well uh and the thing here uh josina now the player association is saying release all the emails the nfl conducted an investigation, very tight-lipped, so obviously it was selective what got released. Now the Players Association is saying, all right, drop it all. Let's see what everybody's saying. Well, and just to even be clear, that article came out from a colleague here. And so what it says is that they plan to request, but they have not done it yet.

So, one, we have to see if that request is actually made to ask the NFL to release more of the e-mails. And then secondarily, if they intend to respond, because also just because they make the request doesn't mean that it will happen. And first, the union has to also make that request. I think that if the NFL intended to show more of the emails, it would. You also saw in the New York Times article that it indicated that other people were mentioned in these emails. Other people were offended. Also, comments were made about journalists or what have you. So there are a lot of things that were said. Who was on the receiving end? Just like Etan mentioned, how did they reply?

A lot of things that are not, you know, revealed. This is going to be kind of the NFL's own controversy. There are a lot of emails that get talked about in the political realm. And now we're certainly going to have an email controversy right now in the NFL. Josina Fox is with USA Today. She's also the host of The Crew and Undefined with Josina Anderson. And so certainly follow her on

Twitter and Josina Anderson. J-O-S-I-N-A Anderson. Josina, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. What's up, Etan? Good to see you. Long time since we've been together. Been a while. Thank you, Roland. Thanks a lot. Etan's going to stick with us when we come back from the break.

I'm going to talk, bring in my panel. I'm going to discuss this further on Roland Martin Unfiltered, the Black Star Network. Don't forget to support what we do. Download the Black Star Network app. We're nearing 20,000 downloads. We want to have 50,000 by December 31st. So simply Android phone, Apple phone, Android TV, Apple TV,

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Zelle is rolling at rollingsmartin.com, rolling at rollingmartinunfiltered.com. I'll be right back. 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 2 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. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers. But we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you've got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else. But never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth.

Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Oh, that spin class was brutal. Well, you can try using the Buick's massaging seat. Oh, yeah, that's nice. Can I use Apple CarPlay to put some music on?

Sure. It's wireless. Pick something we all like. Okay, hold on. What's your Buick's Wi-Fi password? Buick Envision 2021. Oh, you should pick something stronger. That's really predictable.

That's a really tight spot. Don't worry. I used to hate parallel parking. Me too. Hey. Really outdid yourself. Yes, we did. The all-new Buick Envision.

An SUV built around you, all of you. Once upon a time, there lived a princess with really long hair who was waiting for a prince to come save her. But really, who has time for that? Let's go. Spilling myself. She ordered herself a ladder

with prime one day delivery, and she was out of there. I want some hood girls looking back at it and a good girl in my text practice. Now, her hairdressing empire is killing it. And the prince, well, who cares? Prime changes everything. But I'm back at it and I'm feeling myself. Hey, I'm Antonique Smith.

Hey, I'm Arnaz J. Hi, this is Cheryl Lee Ralph, and you are watching Roland Martin, unfiltered. I mean, could it be any other way? Really? It's Roland Martin. You know, it's real interesting when you look at the people complaining about decisions made by teams like Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And now you also have all of these, like clockwork, these white conservatives.

Oh, my God, this is so wrong how they're being treated. This is so unfair. As I told you, Tampa Buccaneers have removed John Gruden from their ring of honor. Check this out. This is the statement from the Tampa Buccaneers. Folks, let me know if you see it. You should see it. Okay. All right. There we go. The Tampa Buccaneers have advocated for

purposeful change in the areas of race relations, gender equality, diversity, and inclusion for many years. While we acknowledge John Gruden's contributions on the field, his actions go against our core values as an organization. Therefore, he will no longer continue to be a member of the Buccaneers Ring of Honor. I'm going to bring in my panel, Lawn Victoria Burke. Of course, we have Mustafa Santiago

Ali and Dr. Safisa Hill with UTA. All right, y'all. So, Lawn, overkill. Should be removed from the Ring of Honor. He's lost an endorsement from Skechers. Had a 10-year, $100 million contract. Was in the fourth year.

I'm quite sure there's going to be a financial settlement. That's why he wasn't fired. He resigned. Your take on all the drama. I don't know about the Ring of Honor. That's sort of an interesting thing because of course he's not working for that team anymore i certainly can understand what the uh raiders did yeah now remember in one of the emails uh he said that the bucks owner could suck his penis

i'm just saying and that'll do it right but think, you know, I'm thinking about it, though, from a legal standpoint. I certainly can understand why the Raiders did what they did because now you have an employee that you have now, you know, on the record has held certain views. And those views, of course, can be translated into contemporary actions and decisions. And then you get into, I'm sure the general manager of the Raiders was like, you know, he's got to go, because you get into a legal morass with that very quickly just on that account. The other thing I would sort of think about is, you know, you have 60, what is it, 600,000 e-mails?

That's an incredible number. And the fact that he's the only person, and this is not me arguing that he should have been punished or he shouldn't resign. I think he should have resigned, and he did. But the idea that you've got that many emails, that much content, and that he's the only person whose content was released to The Wall Street Journal and then, of course, reported about in The New York Times, seems really suspicious to me. And when I read what he had said, which I won't repeat because I think my mother is watching this show, what he said about the commissioner, Roger Goodell, indicates to me that someone in there who was in control of these emails

had no problem releasing certain parts of that to the media, knowing full well what the end result of that release would be. This is not an argument in favor of John Gruden being right in any way. It just, you know, I just cannot imagine that with that much email that he's the only person. And he's emailing, of course, Bruce Allen, who is the GM of the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins, of course, now known as the Washington football team, who interestingly is the brother of the former governor of Virginia, George Allen, who, of course, got into big trouble for a racial slur on a political campaign, sort of an interesting thing to think about. So what it makes me think about is just the fact that, you know, the NFL in particular is a situation that, you know, you have mostly black players. I think

the NFL now is 80 percent black. A lot of 70 percent. 70. OK, thank you. 70 percent black. A lot of these defenses are all African-American players like the Seahawks, et cetera. And you have this white male power structure, not just with the journalists to cover the NFL players, but of course, the owners and the coaches. And there's just something wrong with that. It just there's this, you know, almost plantation sort of mentality. You know, we heard it, of course, in media terms of basketball with the shut up and dribble thing. But these players are making billions of dollars for these people, billions of dollars. These players are the reason why people come to these games and watch these games. They're the reason for these TV contracts. And you have this almost all white power structure

making money off of them. And then you have stuff like this happening. And when they speak up about things that concern them, like, say, police brutality, for example, they're told to shut up. And so, you know, in watching what happened to Colin Kaepernick, which we all know about, and seeing something like this, which is an inside game, and I understand that Gruden, of course, worked for ESPN and not the Raiders at the time, but he's emailing the GM of the Washington Redskins, the formerly known Washington Redskins.

So that right there tells you that there's a two-tier system, obviously. We're all aware of it. Oh, of course. I mean, look, look. Bottom line is this here, Mustafa. The NFL is a white man's, white male run organization.

Period. And what you have is you got black talent, is a white man's white male run organization, period. What you have is you got black talent, you got white folks running it. And look, Andrew Brandt, longtime executive with Green Bay Packers, posted a tweet saying, it's a whole bunch of coaches deleting a whole bunch of emails right now. It's the good old boys club everybody

knows what time it is and you know that that's the interesting thing that last point that you made if the nfl is serious about dealing with homophobia and racism and misogyny then they are going you know if they really open this up to all the folks who were a part of receiving these emails and what was the responses back and how that will grow and grow and grow, that will tell you if they're serious about being a 21st century organization or association. So that's where my mind is of seeing if they're really going to open this up or if they're just going to close the can. And then, of course, further down the road, the question will be, will Gruden be able to actually revitalize his career? Because we've seen folks who have done some pretty egregious things in the past, and people will wait a few years, and next thing you know, they're an analyst on XYZ Network. So I'm looking to see how these two things play out.

And Dr. Hill, it's so amazing to watch the knee-jerk white boy reaction to this. You know, just again, the whining and complaining and, oh, this is just so how unfair. I mean, you can always count on the idiot Charlie Kirk with Turning Point USA. They've had their feel of a lot of racists in that organization. To hear him complain, oh, my goodness, this is what's happening to crazy is that they don't get to be as bigoted and sexist and idiotic like they used to if y'all want a good laugh listen to dumb ass charlie kirk until you get on your moral high horse every single person listening to this right now has said things and texted things and emailed things that could destroy your career, including the cancelers. But let's get to the bottom line

here. Why is John Gruden not offered forgiveness? Because if John Gruden was worth saving, here's what they would do. They'd give him a two-week suspension to go to some sort of racial reconciliation camp, which, by the way, that's going to be the new playbook. As soon as all of the Democrats start to get flagged as racist, they're going to come up with this new playbook of like, well, he went to like a fat spa to go like lose weight type equivalent thing. And he's trying to get his life right. He went to racist anonymous and now he's back in two weeks. Like, yeah. Okay. I kid you not. That's going to be the new, because the only way the Democrats have to find a way to exempt themselves from the very totalitarianism and tyranny that they're inflicting upon us.

And one of the ways they're going to do that is create this like racist, anonymous support group through some sort of like, well, he's going to take a little bit of a hiatus and he's back and he's found the deep, darkest corner of his soul. And he realized he was truly a racist. And now he's going to be an ally of the anti-racist movement. But the real reason why they had to get rid of Joe John Gruden is because he's a white, Catholic, conservative male who speaks out and they know that that cannot be supported and offered forgiveness. That's the real reason this happened. Dr. Neal, I guess he skipped over the sexist, misogynistic, homophobic comments. Because see, Charlie Kirk showed his whiteness by only focusing on the black stuff. Well, see, that's that privilege.

That's that privilege. And what is also very concerning is that why is it that racist comments are justified and accepted? Oh, well, he didn't really mean it. And, you know, he's not a racist. And the bad thing is that when we do it, okay? But, oh my God, you're homophobic.

Help me to understand this, that it's okay to be racist because you really didn't mean it. You really didn't mean it. And, oh, you know, we have to protect our poor white guys because they're suffering and, oh my God, you know, they can't be free.

Really? I'm done with that. We cannot allow people to openly say these things and then we justify their behavior by saying, well, he's not, you know, I've never seen that. He's really a nice guy. He didn't mean it. You know, it just got out of hand.

And, of course, you know, when he wrote these comments, what was the response from these other boys in the good old boy, you know, club? What did they say? Yeah, right. And, of course, they're deleting. But, you know, stuff is still out there in the good old boy, you know, club, what do they say? Yeah, right. And of course they're deleting. But you know, stuff is still out there in the clouds. And so it will be interesting to see how this is going to pan out. And

there are probably others who are scuffling to do the same thing who made these other comments at different levels. And I bet they're getting nervous too, like, okay, what if my stuff comes out? And then, you know, we try to get the Negro to come out and to say, well, you know, he's not like this.

He's not racist. Really? Tell it to somebody else. Etan, first of all, John Gruden likely could be Donald Trump's VP nominee. Based upon the positions that he took, he would be right at home in the Republican Party. And he also did have some foul words to say about President Joe Biden and then Vice President Joe Biden as well. But it is but it's so interesting how they respond, but let's just be clear. The NFL ain't

not sitting pristine here. They're going to be under lots of pressure to say, okay, what else was said? And how did Bruce Allen respond in these emails? I mean, I think there's a lot of questions still surrounding, I mean, who in the NFL was holding these emails for all this time? Is this the first time that the NFL ever knew about this? It's kind of like, you know, the NFL knows a lot.

It's just a matter of what they show to the public. And that's the question. People got to ask more questions. You know what I mean? I mean, the NFL, it's like when a college coach gets caught with something and you're like, okay, I had no idea what was going on, but it was now just brought to my attention. Really?

It was just now brought to your attention? Y'all know everything. And I just want to just, you know, peel back the layers of how long the NFL knew about all this stuff, how long Roger Goodell knew about all this stuff, how long every – because there's there's a process that people have to understand that the nfl goes through when they when they when they do discovery and they and they do background checks and they sweep through everything of

everybody's past everybody's players um coaches presidents everybody's so it's not that they don't know it's just a matter of what they act on. But then once the public finds them, then they take the horse, oh, well, we can't tolerate this here because we are the NFL. It's like, you've been sitting on this for a while. And that's the part that I want to, you know what I mean? We hear them acting all surprised about these emails now, but I'm pretty sure they've had it for a while. Yeah, they've had them for a while.

Gruden has had those thoughts for a while. Yeah, they've had him for a while. Gruden has had those thoughts for a while. And now, look, he made $30 million in the last three years. Now, he gets to sit on the sidelines, and trust me, I'm quite sure there's going to be a financial settlement with Raiders owner Mark Davis, and so he'll be just fine. And like I

say, don't be surprised if he's going to be the next speaker at a Donald Trump rally, and then probably defended to the hilt by Megyn Kelly. And so it goes. Eton Thomas, I appreciate it, my brother. Thanks a lot. Always a pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Alright, folks. Got to go to a break. We come back. More. Roland Martin, Unfiltered, on the Blackstar Network. 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.

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

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg 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. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers,

but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-up way, you've got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА 1. Skruva avgjørelsen av støtdelen.

2. Skruva av støtdelen. Maureen is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now she's free to become Maureen is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now she's free to become Maureen the Marrier. Food is her love language. And she really loves her grandson. Like, really loves. Hey, everybody. It's your girl, Linnell. So what's up? This is your boy, Earthquake. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Well, on Friday, the jobs report for September came out, and we talked about how black women struggle to find jobs more than any other group. If you're looking for a job or career change, the Black Virtual Career Fair could be a start. It is a joint venture of two black professional organizations, the African American Employee Network and Onyx Community Connection. Lakeisha Peeple, partner of the Black Virtual Career Fair, joins us from San Leandro, California to tell us about the event. Glad to have you here. So exactly what is it?

Hi. How's it going? So what is Black Virtual Career Fair? Yeah, so it's a virtual fair that we created to address this issue of wanting to create more economic mobility for black professionals. And we've had seven fairs so far. Our next fair is this Thursday, October 14th, where we have a focus of legal, tech, and general positions, and 23 companies are participating. So there's thousands of opportunities available across the nation just for anyone who's interested in looking for a new

opportunity. So you said you had seven fairs. How many jobs, how many people have actually been hired as a result of these seven fairs? So we don't have all the numbers, but we have a lot of companies that have repeated. So, I mean, we know offhand CVS Health hired nine peoples and DeskCard people. So we have a lot of anecdotes in terms of the numbers of people. But every fair, we have several candidates that come back to us and say that they've been able to find opportunities. But are you tracking that with these companies? That way you have a sense that, again, of the placement success. So of the seven, how many people have actually participated?

How many people have actually come through these virtual fairs? On average, we have 2,500 candidates that participate. And the question about- So that's 2,500 per job fair? Yes. Okay. So that's about 17,500, okay? And how many companies have you had participate? So that's since our start in 2019. We've had about 135 companies participate. Gotcha, okay.

And so you said you've had, so is it once a year? Is it twice a year in terms of how often is it? So we have about five fairs each year. So we've had three fairs this year so far. We have another fair in December, but our upcoming fair is October 14th, which is on Thursday. And as a part of that, do you do you require the companies to give you a sense of how many people were hired? So, for instance, we've got 23 companies. Do they come saying here are the available number of jobs? And so that way you got twenty five hundred people, you know, there are three, four hundred slots. Yes. So they post an unlimited number of jobs. For example, I know Accenture has almost twenty,400 positions in their organization alone. That's where it's a little bit hard in terms of tracking, like how everything goes in terms of the hiring process.

But, yeah, every company has several roles. And so these are real. This is a real career fair in terms of this being about real opportunities for black professionals. Questions from my panel. Dr. Hill, you first. Yes, this is awesome. What is the average age of the women who are participating? Is it just four women? Do you reach out to various people based on their interest? How do you recruit the participants?

Yes, so it's available for all Black professionals. So it's across gender. And we do tend to skew towards the more mid to senior level talent. So we define that as people who have six plus years of experience. So how we reach out to talent is through our professional networks. And we also do outbound sourcing for people. So we reach out to talent is through our professional networks. And we also do outbound sourcing for people. So we reach out to people and invite them to participate. Okay. Thank you. Now, are these positions in one location or are they nationwide? Nationwide. And we also have a variety of roles across levels. So though we do have a skew towards mid to senior, we also have internship opportunities, apprenticeship opportunities, and more. All right. Mustafa, your question.

Yeah, again, thank you for doing this. Are there follow-up actions and activities after someone leaves one of your events? Well, after the event, we do ask that everybody provide feedback in terms of their experience. And we do ask every candidate to let us know what their experiences have been at the, you know, at the companies. If they got hired, we give them gift certificates if they do let us know about those roles. And then we also do presentations to help people learn how to successfully navigate the virtual fair platforms in terms of knowing how to present their resumes, put their LinkedIn and profile together, et cetera. All right. Lauren, got a question? What are the fees to get on the platform for the fair?

And is it a resume posting or does it all just happen at the fair? Do you post resumes first and then do it? Or how does that process work? Yeah, so for the candidates, it's totally free. So, you know, again, our mission is about empowering Black professionals, so it's free for participants. And in terms of the process of registering, you can provide your profile information. We do ask that you have an updated profile and resume at the time of the fair itself. So the fair itself is a four-hour window. Again, it's October 14th, and it's from 9 to 1 Pacific Standard Time. And that's the period where, you know, you're talking to representatives of the companies about the opportunities. All right, then. Where can people

go to get more information? You can go to blackvcf.com or you can register directly at virtual.blackvcf.com. All right. We certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. All right, folks.

Got to go to break. We come back. Louisville couple gets 75 grand for the city, but they can't talk about what happened. Hmm. That's next on Roller Barton Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Oh, that spin class was brutal.

Well, you can try using the Buick's massaging seat. Ooh, yeah, that's nice. Can I use Apple CarPlay to put some music on? Sure, it's wireless. Pick something we all like. Okay, hold on. What's your Buick's Wi-Fi password? Buick Envision 2021. Oh, you should pick something stronger. That's really predictable. What's your Buick's Wi-Fi password? Buick Envision 2021.

Oh, you should pick something stronger. That's really predictable. That's a really tight spot. Don't worry. I used to hate parallel parking. Me too. Hey. Really outdid yourself.

Yes, we did. The all-new Buick Envision. An SUV built around you. All of you. Betty is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now, she's free to become Bear Hug Betty. Settle in, kids. You'll be there a while. Ooh, where you going? I'm Angie Stone. Hi, I'm Teresa Griffin. Oh, Roland.

Hey, Roland. I am so disappointed that you are not here, first of all. Where's our dance? It's like we get a dance in every time I see you. so disappointed that you are not here, first of all. Where's our dance? It's like we get a dance in every time I see you. And so now you're not here for me to dance with, sir. You and your ascot. I need it. I need that in my life right now. Okay.

I love you, Roland. What's up? I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. A black couple in Louisville, Kentucky will receive a $75,000 settlement after being removed from their vehicle and searched by officers in 2018. Demetria Furman and Anthony Parker Sr. will get the money under one condition.

Neither the couple nor the attorneys, y'all roll the video please, can criticize the Louisville Metro government or the police officers involved. Yeah, okay, the couple and Parker's nine-year-old son had just left their church when officers pulled them over for allegedly not using a turn signal. Really? Really? However, guess what? The body camera footage shows Parker did use his

turn signal. The couple believed they were pulled over because of their race and they were driving a nice car. Two of the officers involved in this incident are being sued in another case for stopping and searching a teenage boy for making a wide turn. One of the officers, Kevin Crawford, resigned and now works in Indiana for Jefferson Police

Department. Watch this video. I got to do it like that before it's broke. I got you. That's the reason why, man. That's the only reason, man. Do what? Yeah, just because you're in turn signal. Are there any weapons or drugs in the car or anything like that? So there's no guns in the car? No. Any knives?

No. No narcotics? Awesome. Man, your hands are shaking like a leaf, brother. Even your faces. I just like people to be honest and straight up with me. Do you have your driver's license? No, sir.

My license is this one. I paid the reinstatement for the license. Yes, sir. OK. I don't have no one. Hold on. I'll stop. I'll take the vehicle.

I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park.

I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I'll park. I. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi.

Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi.

Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi.

Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi.

Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi.

Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. wheel for me? Yeah. I appreciate it. All right, man. Before I have you exit the vehicle, do you have any weapons on you? Any guns? Awesome, man.

You were mainly concerned about that. Just left church. Hey, I'm going to get him out. I'm going to get your dad out. And we're going to go to the back, and then we'll get you out here in a second, okay? All right, man. When you exit the vehicle, keep your hands visible at all times, all right? Don't put your hands in your pockets.

I'm not, bro. Go next. Can I pull my pants up? Yeah, I'll get them for you. Okay. All right. So, nothing on you getting in trouble. Do you want me to have a not, bro. Go next. Can I pull my pants up? Yeah, I'll get them for you. So nothing on you getting in trouble. You want me to have a check real quick? Go ahead.

Anything in the car you get in trouble? Man, nothing. You didn't want me to check, right? Appreciate it. We'll get you right now. Apartment, please. Okay, so y'all can keep rolling the video. See, this is what's laughable, Lauren. Earlier we talked about body cameras.

This right here is why. The cops lied. Second of all, why the hell is the man being searched because he didn't use a turn signal? I mean, seriously? I mean, I've been pulled over. I've been pulled over for the same bullshit. Oh, you didn't use a turn signal to change lanes. I wasn't asked about drugs, weapons. I wasn't patted down. This is crazy.

Yeah. Well, he's being asked about drugs and weapons because he's an African-American man in America. That's why he's being asked about drugs. That's why he got pulled over in the first place. I mean, it's obvious. I mean, I might as well just state the obvious. And I love this idea of, ooh, you're shaking like a leaf and you're scared.

Yeah, and he should be shaking like a leaf and he should be scared after watching the video of Eric Garner and Walter Scott and George Floyd. He should be scared. And any black male being pulled over by the police should be scared. And any black male being pulled over by the police should be scared. You would have to be on another planet

not to be worried about what might happen next. And if they got $75,000 for this to shut up, they didn't get enough money. They didn't get anywhere near enough money. Because here's the thing, if you got a gag order on me,

if these cops are so damn concerned about PR and them talking to the media, then stop stopping people for absolutely nothing. And to me, this is the epitome of too much government. This is the epitome of the government getting involved in people's lives for absolutely no reason. There is no probable cause. There's nothing. They just stopped him because of the black guy. Dr. Hill, I'm watching this video. I mean, they are, look, they are going through the center console for a turn signal that

we now know was a lie. And he asked him instead of first asking for a driver's license, he asked several times, are there drugs? Are there guns? Are there knives? What part of no do you understand? I mean, first of all, look at these cops. I mean,

they are desperately trying to find something in this car. Both of them are searching everywhere based on a turn signal. And then putting their hands in the man's pocket. To me, it looked like he was trying to get a feel. He's going all up and down his leg. It's like, really?

Well, no. First of all, he was patting him down but the problem I'm just trying to understand I've been pulled over Mustafa you do this for a turn signal no this is what cops do when they

are trying to frame black men or they're trying to sit here uncover something turn the audio up. Turn the audio up. I got you. I appreciate it. Norske Råd I think. I got a double push my hazard. There's a lot of Monte Carlos bikes. Yeah, I got to double push the hazard. Like, sometimes it'll work.

You know, you hit it like normal. But then sometimes I got to double push the hazard for the click that I even come in. So that's probably what happened. Like, I didn't even know I didn't use it. I didn't know I used it, but I didn't know it didn't come on. Okay. You good?

Yeah. Sweet. All right, man, I'm not going to harp on the coming. Okay. You good? Yeah. Sweet. All right, man, I'm not going to harp on the O.L. I don't like it. Appreciate it. No problem, man. You guys are good to go. All right.

Have a good day. Mustafa, I'm not going to harp on it. Oh, so you pulled him over, pulled the man, his woman out, his son. You dug through the son's food in the back seat, went through the entire car. Oh, I'm not going to harp. I'm not going to give you a ticket for the lane change. Probably because your ass was lying. I mean, we know profiling.

We see it all the time. And we know in certain communities that they profile us. And they look for a reason to pull us over. There was a study done in 2019 by Stanford University. Looked at over 100 million cases where people were pulled over, and it was our communities that were disproportionately at higher numbers, the one who got pulled over. And there are a number of subsequent studies all across the country that continue to show the same thing. So if the police departments are not willing to make the changes that are necessary,

and folks continue to sue folks who are doing these types of behaviors, then they will continue to happen time and time and time again. And let's just close it with this also. You know, when you, because they were looking for drugs. That's what they were really looking for.

There you go. And so they continue to do this stuff inside of our communities. But there are a number of legitimate studies that have been out there that show that white brothers and sisters actually use drugs at a higher rate than our communities do. And if you want to go into white communities and start pulling folks over, I guarantee you that you will find folks who have prescription drugs without the prescriptions. So, you know, it all depends on which parts that you actually want to enforce of the drug laws. And it always goes back to our communities because they see us as easy prey. They see us as folks who will do what that brother did. And I understand he had his family with him. He didn't want any drama. But they know that we're

least likely to also bring a case in the past against these police procedures that are going on, these illegal and disproportionate sorts of actions that continue to happen inside of our communities. And that's why we continue to say, I know I continue to say, that when they do this stuff, you got to sue them, because that's one of the ways that they're eventually going to have to make a change, because eventually these, you know, police departments and these county budgets and others will get broken if they continue these types of behaviors. I wish that they would have been able to tell the fullness of what was going on. But since they have the gag order because they,

you know, agreed to the settlement, then you'll never really know what happened in this instance. But you know, in a whole bunch of other ones. Well, we did see what just happened, and it must have suited, must have taken some civil action because they got the $75,000, which is a joke for what we just saw. That was a complete Fourth Amendment violation, what we just saw. It was a complete Fourth Amendment violation. And you know that we've arrived when we've seen Charlie Kirk and Ted Cruz and Rand Paul bitch about these types of things when it happens to black people in the same way they bitch about liberty and everything else when it's a vaccine for a global pandemic. You're like, none of these conservatives talk about this. And I'm going to

assume that Kentucky probably has an open carry law. So the cop constantly asking him about whether or not there was a gun in the car, that's an interesting question. Because that goes back to the fact the national FOP won't say anything about gun control. And apparently it's okay with everybody having a gun, which of course puts police in more danger. But then when they stop people, it's the black people who have to explain themselves as to why they have a firearm, even though it would be legal for him to have a firearm. In fact, Kentucky is a

permitless carry state. Meaning anyone can carry, conceal, anyone 21 years or older, they can legally possess a firearm without a license or a permit. Wow. But that don't apply when you're black. We know how that goes.

All right, y'all. That is it for us. Mustafa, Dr. Hill, Lauren, I appreciate all of you being on the panel today. Thank you so very much, folks. Look, this is why we do what we do. We got to put these stories out there. And guess what?

Senator Mitch McConnell and Senator Rand Paul, they should be asked about these incidents. Why are they so silent? And to Lauren's point, when are we going to hear Senator Tom Cotton open his mouth about this? It's amazing how these white Republicans get real quiet when cops lie.

They lie in the report, and the body camera footage proves the lie. Folks, download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Fire Stick, Amazon Fire, Xbox, and Samsung Smart TV.

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I'll see you guys tomorrow. Oh, yeah, and big ups to my Houston Astros for hailing y'all. Mustafa gonna wear a hat. I'm gonna wear a hat. So, shout out to my Astros. Whooping up on the Chicago White Sox,

10 to one today, winning that series three to one. Now we advance for the fifth consecutive year to the American League Championship Series. Time to take on the Boston Red Sox. Go, Strohs! Holla! ТРЕВОЖНАЯ МУЗЫКА It's time to be smart. Roland Martin's doing this every day.

Oh, no punches! Thank you, Roland Martin, for always giving voice to the issues. Look for Roland Martin in the whirlwind, to quote Marcus Garvey again. The video looks phenomenal, so I'm really excited to see it on my big screen. We support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network

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Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position, pregame to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. 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. Yes, sir.

Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that 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.

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