#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Biden student loan relief, Starbucks strike, Biden judges, Trump/Musk GOP gov't shutdown averted

Episode Date: December 21, 2024

12.20.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Biden student loan relief, Starbucks strike, Biden judges, Trump/Musk GOP gov't shutdown averted #BlackStarNetwork partner: Fanbasehttps://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbase This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.  This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. You should read the Offering Circular (https://bit.ly/3VDPKjD) and Risks (https://bit.ly/3ZQzHl0) related to this offering before investing. Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox  http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

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Pre-game to greater 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. Well, today is Friday, December 20th, 2024, coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Republicans come up with a plan to avoid the government shutdown after Elon Musk and Donald Trump screwed up the previous plan. We'll see how that one goes.

President Joe Biden announces more student loan forgiveness to the tune of some $5 billion. Starbucks workers, they are going on strike, partnering with Teamsters on that one. Also, New York Mayor Eric Adams, he joins the perp walk of the man who was arrested for killing a health care executive. Why the hell is he there? And also, one of his top aides is indicted for helping out a business associate get approval on a big building and they gave her son a hundred thousand dollar loan to buy a Porsche you may go to jail for a hundred thousand dollars and it was a loan who is I got lots more talk about y'all it's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Let's go. He's got whatever the piss he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best believe he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks

He's rollin' It's Uncle Roro, y'all Yeah, yeah It's Rollin' Martin Yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now Yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's rolling, Martel

Martel All right, y'all might as well get, take advantage of this announcement because you ain't gonna hear this over the next four years. President Joe Biden announces another four point two eight billion dollars in student loan relief for 60,000 more Americans. The forgiveness will be delivered to individuals enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, also known as PSLIF. This allows for debt forgiveness for people in jobs like firefighting,

nursing, and teaching after 10 years of continuous payment. And according to a fact sheet from the Department of Education, this announcement brings the total loan forgiveness of the Biden administration to $180 billion for nearly 5 million Americans. Like I said, you ain't going to see this here because Donald Trump and Republicans, they hate loan forgiveness, except if you're rich. And so you may actually see them claw back some of this money over the next three years. Joe Richardson is a civil rights attorney joining us out of Los Angeles. Glad to have Joe. Also, we're going to be joined in a moment by Matt Manning, who is a civil rights attorney out of Corpus Christi. Kilopathea Communications Strategist out of D.C.

Glad to have all both of you here. Would you be joined by Matt in a minute? Again, all these people, they hey, they wanted Trump. They wanted Republicans. And it was a whole bunch of people, Kelly, who were bitching and moaning, you know, Biden, okay, that $180 billion, that ain't no big deal. I want complete loan relief. Well, the Supreme Court them for that because had Hillary Clinton won, you would have likely had Supreme Court justices who agreed with Biden on that. Instead, we got these hard right folks. And again, if all the folks have been whining and complaining, they might as well get used to it. They're not going to see student loan relief. And so for the people who sat their asses at home in November 2024,

deal with it. Pretty much. And it's sad because it, um, there's this, I can't remember. I think it's Chelsea Ramsey. She made a song, you know, I can't, uh, something about the leopards, uh, eating their own faces, something to that effect. But basically, you're hurting yourself. You hurt yourself by voting this man in office because it's not just about the presidency. It's about everything underneath it, right? And student loan forgiveness is just one prong that is in jeopardy of being killed by way of this administration coming in. So I feel like Biden is doing everything he can to combat what is to come so that it'll be even harder to undo. Right. But again, student loan forgiveness is just the beginning.

You know, you're about to see stuff regarding women's health. You're about to see stuff regarding LGBT rights. You're about to see stuff. Every aspect of your personhood is about to be impacted by this administration. We're about to go into a segment soon enough regarding the government shutdown. That impacts millions of Americans, whether you want to admit it or not. And the fact that, you know, people really think that this man still with all of this, knowing this, they still believe they have, that he has their best interests at heart. I don't know if there's a pill, a form of therapy or what to undo that mental sickness, but something's got to give. Again, Joe, there were a lot

of people who complained they had all the smoke in the world for Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats. It's a lot of black folks, and they were sitting here mad and upset. Okay, well, you're

going to get exactly what you wanted. You don't want her there. She's not going to be there. Now you have to live with whatever decision. And here's the thing that I keep trying to explain to people, Joe, who don't get. This idea that if I sit on the sidelines, then that's going to make them do what I want them to do next time. That ain't going to happen. That's not going to make them do what I want them to do next time. That ain't going to happen. That's not going to happen. I mean, history shows. Dem Democratic Party is not going to move further left.

They're going to move more to the middle, further right. And for the people, again, who complained about student, who wanted more student loan debt, you're going to get zero under, you're going to get zero under Trump, zero under the Republicans controlling the House and the Senate. And they actually might force folks to pay the money back if they already had wiped out. Yeah, yeah, it's a concern in a lot of ways because, you know, long ago and not so long ago and not so far away, there were some forgiveness programs that were in place. And so one of the things that I would be wary of and pay attention to is whether the things that were in place even prior to Biden, there's always been this, you know, public service-related student loan forgiveness. There's always been some relief for people that have paid maybe for 20, 30 years. The question becomes

whether we're going to be even worse off in terms of things going away that Biden didn't even bring along, that were here prior to Biden, that there was a general agreement that we wanted to reward public service for teachers, for firefighters, and some things like that. So there's a lot of areas in which Biden's another way in which he's been super helpful, given people an opportunity that they didn't have. You go back to the Reagan era and basically this whole thing that happened with student loans back when public college was pretty much free everywhere and how it started to change things and how it really created even an educated underclass, as it were. And so, you know, the thing that I'm

always concerned about is whether we actually get what we deserve once and for all. We've been covered in grace. We've stumbled and bumbled and wrecked and made mistakes and still kind of found our way because you had Martin Kings and you had other people like this to stand in the gap, sometimes literally give their lives to remind us of where we ought to be from a moral compass standpoint. And the question becomes, with this particular thing, with this particular election, will the grace run out? And you're starting to see areas in which you're already having imagined being a service member right now. And your check is in jeopardy because of this whole shutdown thing. Elon Musk is calling shots and his guy's not even president yet. And so you would imagine that this would only get worse so much so that even when Johnson, Speaker Johnson, is on the right side of an issue.

Hello. I can't believe I'm on the right side, same side with him. And it gets thwarted. So it's going to be an interesting thing because you're going to have some very, very rich people that don't care about very, very poor people or very, very regular people making some decisions that affect those very, very poor people and very, very regular people. Absolutely. So I'm just saying y'all might want to buckle up. All right, folks, let me go to a break. We come back. The drama continues on Capitol Hill. Republicans are scurrying, trying to come up with a bill to keep the government open after Elon Musk,

President-elect Elon Musk, and his lackey, Donald Trump, told Republicans to vote it down. Well, let's see what they come up with now. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. What's up, y'all? Look, Fanbase is more than a platform. It's a movement to empower creators offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in Black-owned tech, infrastructure, and help shape

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On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, are you working hard and yet your performance doesn't reflect your paycheck? On the next Get Wealthy, you're going to learn some savvy career moves so that all your efforts actually show up in your bank account. Joining us is the founder of a career network, and she's going to share the three R's of accelerating your financial. 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.

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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,

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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 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. Here's a tip as well.

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Unfiltered, deep into it, like pasteurized milk. Without the 2%, we getting deep. You want to turn that shit off? We're doing an interview, folks. Welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered. Lots I want to talk about. But this story here just popped up that I definitely want to speak to. And that is American Airlines. They have settled a lawsuit. Y'all remember the story? we talked about it in May. Three black men were on a plane and they were told that, oh, your body odor. And that was from a flight attendant. And so, again, they said they were moved. A white flight attendant complained about the unidentified passenger's body odor. And it says the plaintiffs were not responsible for any odor, were not seated together, and did not know each other before the incident.

And then now several employees were put on leave as a result of this. The CEO called the incident unacceptable. The story says the employees responsible for the incident have since reportedly been terminated from the company. And of course, and then, of course, American Airlines also announced in this story that they're going to take further action to prevent discrimination in the future. Now, Matt, this is not the first time American Airlines in the last several years has had to deal with the issue of discrimination on the planes. Tamika Mallory, again, there was an incident where she highly criticized them. They came to the NAACP convention in 2018, apologizing to to in working with the NAACP.

And, well, we'll see how that how how that went. But they continue to have these problems. But what's crazy is the three brothers didn't even know each other. Yes. And it was like, yeah, funky, funky, funky. Y'all got to go. That's what really made no sense to me. I mean, frankly, there's not many facts at all in this really or in this article. So I can't really figure out what happened. I mean, I would imagine obviously there was some meat on that bone because American Airlines thought it was appropriate to settle this and not just because it's a bad PR hit, but there obviously must have been some substance to these brothers complaint. But I really do not understand this. I don't understand how the, the, the attendant even correlated the

three of them having had this alleged body odor and how all three of them would have had it if they're seated in different parts of the plane and didn't know each other i mean that lends credence to the idea that he or she was just discriminating against them but it's just very strange so without knowing more i can't well wait here here's uh here's a previous story uh again there were three black passengers who sued. The men said they did not know each other and they were seated separately while waiting for the plane to depart for New York. The three said they were among eight passengers. All the black men on the flight, they said, who were told to leave the plane. Joe, because a white male flight attendant complained about

an unidentified passenger's body odor. The men said they demanded an explanation for the removal during a confrontation of airline personnel in the jet bridge. At least one of the men recorded the discussion capturing an airline employee seeming to agree that the men were

discriminated against according to their lawsuit. Right, and that comes in as an admission. So, you know, you know, I'm right there with Matt. It's amazing how we get get to this place where, you know, you know that this is this is this is a smoking gun case. Right. How is it that you, you know, coincidentally end up getting rid of black men on the flight? And it's eight of them and you get rid of all of them and they sit in different places and you got the same complaint about all of them. You know, good and well, something in the milk and white, you know, good and well, that it's a problem. And so it's amazing that American would really allow this to

happen. This lets you know what we're still dealing with. Here's a flight attendant, and no disrespect to being a flight attendant, but why would these guys allow, if not for any other reasons than their own liability, the flight attendant's not paying out of his pocket. Why on earth would you allow a flight attendant to put you in all of this bad PR and put you in this situation in which you've been in before? So it's an unforced error. It's like walking into a bus stop. And once again, this reminds you of what we are dealing with and what we can still deal with when we get on planes, when we're in certain situations, when we are just minding our business and doing what it is that we're supposed to do. We ironically and coincidentally got looped together. The simple facts of this case would get past a dispositive motion. I forget if it was in federal court or whatever, it'd be a motion to dismiss. But it's just amazing that here we are again. And so,

you know, this is not happening in, you know, this is not happening in a vacuum. This is not happening, you know, curse causes shall not come. There's a reason that this is happening. It's continuing to happen. And what's got to happen is that corporations, the American Airlines of the world, have to make sure they take it upon themselves to, if not for any other reason, that it's bad for business to quit looking irresponsible as it pertains to things that are going to smell, look and taste like discrimination. This was crazy. Kelly, go back to my iPad. American offer. First of all, the men were taken off of the plane. They waited an hour. American offered to rebook them, but there were no other available flights to New York that evening.

So they were allowed to re-board. Racism has always been stupid. It has always been stupid. There has never been true logic behind racism. So the fact that this article is depicting illogical actions is not surprising to me what is surprising to me and i'm gonna say it is that you thought five black men were stinky on a plane miss color redacted flight attendant person no no it was a white male flight attendant oh i'm sorry mr color redacted flight attendant person not when we have clear people on record not washing their legs okay not when we have on record people just discovering what a washcloth is and it's not people who look like me okay we have a whole campaign on whole body deodorant because y'all

don't know what soap is and you thought five black men on a plane stank get out my face stop playing no can i say a few things roland sure um here's the thing that you gotta lead with next time brother i didn't know all eight people taking off the plane were brothers let's talk about a basic dei approach you want to talk about dei somebody on that plane should have been like, you are crazy. If you put all eight of these black men off these plane, you were about to get sued. I don't understand how you let that happen, especially with something as difficult to ascertain as, you know, alleged body odor. Just this is like Joe said perfectly is an unforced error. I don't understand how that happens. It jokes aside, it is an absurd idea that eight people are put off the plane.

What I'm surprised by is that all eight of them didn't sue, because if you had walked into my office with this, I'm like, we're filing a lawsuit every day of the week. This is just too absurd not to file over. They put eight people off the plane. All of them are black men. That's crazy. I i mean that's like an indefensible position and i don't understand how they allowed that to happen and that is a consequence of not having people who have a modicum of sense who said please don't put all eight of these brothers off this plane because we finna write a check and that's exactly what happened um it's absolutely crazy to me and so i say those brothers get paid, get paid. And so and this is also what I say to people.

If y'all if y'all encounter this kind of racism, don't show your ass. Don't act a fool. Just sit here. Pull this out and just OK, we're going to record everything. And then y'all going to pay up when we go back home because you're going to get hit with a lawsuit. So American Airlines, again, American Airlines has not identified how many employees were involved. They have not confirmed the employees were actually were terminated, but clearly more drama for American Airlines. And so y'all need to get y'all stuff together. All right, y'all going to go to break. We're going to come back.

Speaking of get yourself together, the Republicans in Congress are beyond stupid. There was agreement. Then Elon Musk got mad. Donald Trump got mad. Don't vote for that. 38 Republicans did not vote for it. Now they're trying to come up with another solution. And Democrats are like,

holler at me when y'all got something. We're going to talk about that when we come back. Folks, don't forget, download the Blackstone Network app. Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. You can also, of course, get our merchandise. And so if y'all want to get our new shirt, don't blame me. I voted for the black woman. You can get that by going to RolandMartin.Creator-Spring.com.

RolandMartin.Creator-Sprspring.com. I'll be right back. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. Fanbase is a free-to-download, free-to-use next-generation social media platform that allows anyone to have followers and subscribers on the same page. Fanbase was built through investment dollars from equity crowdfunding from the jobs act. People just like you help build fanbase. And we're looking for more people to help build fanbase. We are currently raising $17 million in a regulation, a crowdfund on start engine. We've already crossed $2.1 million dollars but we're looking to raise more capital from people just like you that deserve the opportunity to invest

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And he said, okay, well, I don't know anything about the music business, so what you should do is learn everything there is to know about the music business. And I'll make sure that you have the resources to push you through. And so I went and bought books. All you need to know about the music business hit me. And I just went and bought a bunch of books to start reading as a 10 year old. And so I learned, you know, all things, licensing, mechanical rights. I learned about publishing, learned about how composition is broke up into two pieces, the writer's portion and the producer's portion.

But by the time I actually learned I can't bend, I was ready to like, okay, I got it. He would go into prison. So I had all this information. All this knowledge. All this knowledge. You like, well, what am I going to do with it now? I'm Russell L. Honore, Lieutenant General of the United States Army, retired,

and you're watching Roland Martin on Viltrox. Thank 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 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 Glod. And this is season two of the war on drugs.

But 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 uh ricky williams nfl player hasman trophy winner it's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves music stars marcus king

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

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

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. All right, folks, Democrats saved the ass of House Speaker Mike Johnson moments ago. The House passed a stopgap funding bill. The vote was 366 to 34. They stripped out some of the provisions that were demanded by, uh, Donald Trump. This doesn't get done. If Democrats don't vote for it again, it was three 66, uh, two 34. Uh, I'm going to want to find out who actually, uh, voted, uh, against that bill. Let's go to our panel. I'll start with you, Kelly. I mean, here's the whole thing here, Kelly. And it's real simple. And that is this can't get done without Democrats. They understood what was at stake, federal employees, a number of military

workers, all kinds of different people. And and we might as well get ready. You're going to see the absolute chaos of the you see the chaos of Republicans. It's going to happen. You're going to see lots of that happen in this this country. And so guess what? Just prepare for it because we're going to see lots of stuck on stupid. Not just stuck on stupid, Roland. For me, when I first tried to process this story, it was like, oh, shit, we're in an oligarchy now, right? a non-government official was able to tell a block of government officials to basically not do their jobs for some money.

And the level of just what the hell is just staggering to me. And I was watching on C-SPAN some of the clips of congressmen just all but cussing their colleagues out on the floor, because it's absolutely ridiculous the fact that you have a foreign oligarch, really, telling you what to do so that you can have some money for your campaign coffers come 26. And if you think that this is not going to happen again, if you feel like your soul is going to be intact after all of this,

you got another thing coming, right? It's unfortunate that it's going to be at the expense of the American people, specifically the American people that voted for this man to allow all of this to happen, right? And like we said on election night at the end of everything, it's like for the next four years, we're going to be saying, we tried to tell you, and this is just one more iteration of that. You know, and the thing that we got to understand that we're seeing here is the Republican, look,

you got hardcore so-called fiscal conservatives, and I love all of these people, Joe, who keep saying, you know, blame the Democrats. J.D. Vance, Donald Trump, trying to blame the Democrats. It's kind of like,, Donald Trump trying to blame the Democrats. It's kind of like, no, this is on you.

And then also, I love this here. I saw all these people, they were like, where's President Biden? Where's President Biden? And the White House was like, this on y'all. This ain't nothing to do with us. Like, this on y'all. Speaker of the House,

that's your job. You had a deal. Don't come to us trying to save your ass. No. And I'm with him. If I was Biden, I'd be like, hey, don't holler at me. You the speaker. This is go do your job.

Because you're scared you about to lose your job. Yeah, he was waiting at his desk for the bill that was supposed to be coming up to him, the one that was agreed to, actually. That's what Joe Biden was doing. He was just laying back in the cut.

Now, meanwhile, back at the ranch, you know, you got Elon and you got Donald Trump making calls, and they aren't even in Washington yet. And so now, and, you know, the thing that Trump actually wanted to do, actually to the

ire of some Republicans, some of his own, was to explode the—you know, to lift the debt ceiling for years so he didn't have to deal with it, because he's going to blow up the debt just like he did when he was in office before. Welcome to the chaos. This is where it is. If they couldn't govern whatever they had eight years ago, how are they going to do it with a two to five vote majority? It's not going to be any easier. They don't have a mandate. There are almost as many Democrats as Republicans. Now,

they're going to do some things almost, you know, they're going to do some things per reconciliation so that they can get past the 60 vote threshold so there doesn't have to be a filibuster issue in the Senate as it pertains to some budget-related things. They're going to do that when and where they can. They can get a Supreme Court thing passed without getting to the 60. They blew that up several years ago. But they are going to bump into themselves all the time, just like they did before. And it's going to continue because, among other things, we've got vulnerable Republicans, too, who won in swing districts, who are back up for election in two years. And they're going to be in trouble once they won in Democratic districts, you know, and things like that. So welcome to the chaos. This is already happening, but they're supposed to be in charge and everything that came with it. But you guys

are talking against each other. So where's the mandate if you guys don't agree with each other? Well, I'm laughing because now, Matt, you got Rand Paul of Kentucky and saying, I'm not going to allow this to move forward. All right, player, do you? Yeah, do whatever you want, Rand. I'll say this. You know, it's interesting that Kelly said we now have an oligarchy. And I agree with you, Kelly, but this is we've always had an oligarchy.

But I thought this was incredibly interesting when I heard this, because this to me sits directly counter with who Donald Trump tries to sell himself as. Right. I mean, it's just now very clear that the kingmaker, Musk, with his hundred and seventy million dollars or whatever it was he paid to his campaign. I think that's the last number I heard is now just openly saying defy, you know, do what we tell you to do, essentially. And I think that that's hugely problematic. One for Trump. I mean, if if you want to exude that you're the most powerful person in the government and then you have a private citizen telling you what to do, that obviously undercuts your power. But more than that, I find this to be the most offensive exercise that we as citizens have to see happen, just the politicization of the basic running of the government. It frustrates me to no end, because imagine if any one of us went to our jobs and said, we don't agree with the politics, so we're not going to do the basic function of our jobs that all these millions of people are relying on us to do.

That's just absurd that it comes to this gridlock and this happens and we have to hear all the political soundbites, but we as Americans don't come together and say we will not allow you to not do your jobs. And moreover, we will not allow you to amend to this bill a raise for yourselves when you are openly not doing your jobs. I mean, that's just a huge issue to me. And I don't know how we continue to let this happen without there being something else we can do to right that balance. Well, I love this one here. Donald Trump has such an attitude. He posted this on his trash truth social. If Republicans try to pass a clean, continuing resolution without all the Democratic bells and whistles that will be so destructive to our country, all it will do

at the January 20th is bring the mess of the debt limit into the Trump administration rather than allowing it to take place in the Biden administration. Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should and will be primary. Everything should be done and fully negotiated prior to my taking office on January 20th, 2025. Well, guess what? this should and will be primary. Everything should be done and fully negotiated prior

to my taking office on January 20, 2025. Well, guess what? 170 Republicans voted for it. So I would love to see Elon Musk try to spend his money primarying 170 Republicans. Let's see how well that ends. I don't think it's going to end so well. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. Y'all, I'm going to go to break. Come back. Breaking news out of Missouri. The white Republican governor

pardons a white cop who brutally murdered a black man. He was convicted by a jury. But the governor said, oh no, he should be home for Christmas. Yeah. We're going to discuss

this lynching next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. everyday people to invest in black owned tech infrastructure. And I don't know about you, but for me, sometimes it can be overwhelming. And sometimes it's just downright exhausting. Surviving the holiday season, we've got tips for you for staying sane, solvent, striving, and thriving. And sometimes keeping a little money in your pocket. Two things just out of the gate. Set boundaries and set a budget. On a next A Balanced Life right here on Black Star Network with me, Dr. Jackie. Now that Roland Martin is willing to give me the blueprint.

Hey, Saras. I need to go to Tyler Perry and get another blueprint because I need some green money. The only way I can do what I'm doing, I need to make some money. So you'll see me working with Roland. Matter of fact, it's the Roland Martin and Sherlock Holmes show. Well, should it be the Sherlock Holmes show and the Roland Martin show? Well, whatever show it's going to be, it's going to be good. All right. So Luigi Maggioni gets perked walked in New York City. And my goodness. Why was New York City Mayor Eric Adams there?

He gave an interview and this is literally what he said. Y'all listen to this nonsense. And that is Luigi Mangione arriving back here in New York. First and foremost, why did you feel the need to go to the heliport and actually greet him once he got off that helicopter? I was at a conference a few days ago with the top CEOs, IBM, Deloitte. It was a room full of CEOs and governmental officials. And the shooting, the intentional shooting and the response after really traumatized the entire industry, not only the CEOs, but the employees. People forget that. And I wanted to send a strong

message with the police commissioner that we're leading from the front I'm not going to just allow him to come into our city I want to look him in the eye and stated that you carried out this terrorist act in my city the city that the people of This of New York love and I wanted to be there to show the symbolism of that and shortly after that I'm sorry. That's bullshit That's bullshit. That's bullshit. The mayor, just go ahead and say all of the

cameras were going to be there and I wanted to be on TV looking like a tough guy as we perp walked him in front of the world. This is the video y'all. So this is the perp walk. That's all a perp walk is.

So you got all these cops walking slow, surrounding him. You got the man in front with the gun. You got Eric Adams standing back there. I wanted to look him in the eye. Y'all, this is so bullshit. They could have literally picked his ass up in a Suburban, look him in the eye. Y'all, this is so bullshit. They could literally pick his ass up in a Suburban,

put him in the car. No, no. We got, oh, look at this. Let's just walk real slow with the dude in the orange because I wanted, I was at a conference and I wanted the folk to know, you know, we tough, we tough here in New York.

I wanted everybody to see. That's right. I want to look him in his eye to see what he did in my city. Get that fake ass bravado out of here, Kelly. I'm sorry. I don't know what to say, man. Eric Adams is hands down the weirdest mayor I have ever experienced in my lifetime. There are so many things just weird about this man, from his campaign video about where to find drugs all them years ago, to how he said the same taglines every single press conference he's just weird and then the way that he conducts his corruption is incredibly dumb it's it's cartoon like so this this tracks right the the like you didn't look anybody in the eye sir you were behind him you were behind him you saw the back of his head. Just say that you thought the man was pretty and keep going.

Just say that you like being in front of a camera and keep going. You know, stop being weird. Just just stop being weird. So, I mean, here's my thing, Matt. OK, Mayor Adams, there have been other brutal killings in New York City. Did you show up for those perp walks? You know, he didn't. But the thing I actually don't understand more than all of that is Eric Adams, chief advisor, just got indicted the other day. Right. He's under suspicion himself. He's under investigation. And I get it. He is the mayor of the largest city in the country. So it's inevitable that he can't avoid cameras by some circumstances. But to me, it seems like

what you should be doing is trying to avoid the limelight. And I know, again, that's very difficult, but it's strange because it's obviously, you know, sits counter to what you yourself are dealing with, an accusation from the feds of corruption. So, you know, maybe some of this is trying to save his image, but it's weird. I mean, it's very strange, especially, and it's also strange to me in general, when you have this overwhelming police force. You see this happen often when you have somebody who's accused of a major offense, wherever it is, and they'll have like 12 cops surrounding them. And there's like one percent of people who really need that. Right. Who are really that much of a security risk in that exact instance.

And this is just for show. This is, I think, more pomp and circumstance, if you will, than anything. But as to as to Mayor Adams, I don't understand why his team would have him in the forefront of something like this, because inevitably the backlash is going to be exactly this and exactly what I'm saying. Like you yourself are on the chopping block. It doesn't seem like right now is the time to try to be in front of a camera. I mean, it's just trash. I mean, Joe mean joe is whole you know i want to look him in the eye and you don't come into my city and you don't do things like this i'm the mayor of this city well uh to matt's to matt's point uh mayor adams has some problems of his own uh to be sure and and here's the other thing, you know, that long walk.

They sometimes they don't do those types of walks because, you know, the defense attorneys may say that that's prejudicial. But meanwhile, back at the ranch, one of the things that's interesting about this is that because of what this guy did and because of who he is, he comes from money, you know, you know, easy on the eyes to them, white guy, et cetera. He's a little bit of a folk hero. So literally that walk for some. What do you think is right or wrong? That walk with him walking and all of these people surrounding him was symbolic of a system that screws the little guy. And that, you know, and he, to a lot of people, he doesn't even look like a criminal. And so it actually played into this counter-narrative.

And even though I think they'll get him, they're going to go against some very formidable defense attorneys. They're going to make him pick a pony. There is an argument that they're double charging them, you know, with the federal and the state stuff in New York, because on federal side, you can get the death penalty in New York. You can't. They're going to make them pick a pony on that. But what it's going to do, I believe that this defendant will be successful in starting or restarting and igniting this discussion about health care. You know, it's a heck of a way to do it. It's not the way I'd have done it. I'm not saying he shouldn't have done it. I'm not saying that he should have done it. I'm not saying that it's

justifiable. OK, he belongs in jail, but not everybody believes that he belongs in jail. But even though there are no excuses for it happening to his mind and to a lot of people's minds, there are reasons. And you're going to have to deal with the reasons. I just I just get just the bullshit. Here's the deal. I got more respect if you say, yeah, man, I showed up because I want to be on TV. I got more respect if you just go ahead and be honest. But this old fake tough guy, you know, that's right. I was at a conference and all these CEOs, they were upset. You know, I'm just one let. I let... I mean, come on, dude. Just stop it. I mean, I just... It's just

this... Again, you can't come into my city and do this. Okay. What about the other brutal murders in your city? Is Eric Adams now saying I'm going to be on TV at every perp walk?

Let us know. But this this is just trifling. Speaking of trifling, did y'all see one of his top aides turn herself in? This is just, okay, first of all, here's why this story bothers me so much. I just, it bothers me. So, a top aide of Eric Adams, okay? This is a photo of her,

Ingrid Lewis Martin. Hold on one second, I'm pulled up. Ingrid Lewis Martin. Hold on one second. I'm pulled up. Ingrid Lewis Martin, longtime aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams. OK. All right. A sister. She was charged. Brought conspiracy, bribery and money laundering. OK. In the indictment, in the indictment, Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg says she gave special treatment to a couple of real estate developers when their construction projects ran into hurdles. OK. In exchange for help. Check this out. They gave. Lewis Martin and her son.

One hundred thousand dollars in checks and cash. Which a who's a DJ, used to purchase a Porsche. Now, it wasn't just her. They also helped her son with setting up a Chick-fil-A. Okay? And the story says she anticipated assistance from one of the builders for her son's fashion business. Now, Lewis Martin, her son, Glenn Martin II, two developers were also charged. All four played not guilty at an arraignment on Thursday. They played not guilty. Okay? Alright, so

here's what I've always said. You're going to risk going to jail for some small shit. But it drives me a lot of time. You see these stories. And unfortunately, it involves a lot of black politicians or whatever. Man, you see some of these stories and they get arrested and they they get a time by free plane tickets, you know, tickets to the Super Bowl, some hotel rooms and some stuff like that. This is you took some money for a car loan, a Porsche. Man, I don't just dumb. Now, remember, this is also the same person. She flew back from somewhere, man. They met her at the gate, Matt, with some plastic bags.

They turn on your cell phone, turn on your cell phone. And she resigned from the mayor's office on Sunday night, I believe, anticipating getting indicted and arrested this week. But this is just crazy. I mean, it's my whole deal. If y'all don't go out there and get arrested for some stuff, I mean, don't take four, five, six, seven million. I mean, at least at least do it up big. Yeah, don't do that. Absolutely. Don't follow that advice, but I get what you mean. Yeah, really. If you're going to do it, all I'm saying is, no, what I'm saying is if you're going to do it, go big. Yeah, I know what you're saying, but I just want to be exceedingly clear. Do not

do that. Okay. Uh, cause you might not can afford me, but jokes aside, here's the thing I don't understand. If they go big, they can afford you you maybe i don't know if i want that cash but in any event the thing i don't understand with this is how people don't think they're going to get caught um you know you think about patrick cannon years ago i think he was in north carolina he was literally telling people brazenly you want this city contract it's going to cost you fifty thousand dollars and what's so surprising to me still is in this day and age with the ubiquity of cell phones and recording devices and all that kind of stuff, that people just continue to, like Kelly said earlier, be very dumb about how they're doing

straight up criminal actions. And also the thing here that goes to my earlier point about Adams is almost invariably the top aide in any organization has the most information about the person at the top, right? Because they're their right hand, they're the person through whom most things are filtered. And I'll tell you, I have been the top aide in the DA's office, and I was not only concerned for my boss, but I was concerned for myself 100% of the time, right? Because a lot of times people view you as the entree to the boss and or the person who's going to make a lot of the consequential decisions for the office and the agency. So I say all of that to say, I'm sure we're going to find out pretty soon that if she

was taking 300 grand and giving her son, you know, some, or he was receiving some for a Porsche, unfortunately, it is a good likelihood, at least in my professional experience, that... 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

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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 Corps vet.

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And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more.

Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Adams is going to have, you know, proverbial unclean hands. And it seems very strange to me that you would be the mayor of New York or the top advisor for the mayor of New York and accepting gifts as brazenly as they are here. But see, also, Bob Menendez was taking gold bars. They found jackets with money in his house. So I guess sometimes I presume people are going to take the smarter course and they don't, even if they're in the United States Senate or City Hall at New York City. I mean, gold Bars is pretty

big, though. That's going big. Oh, no, no, no, no. Menendez went big, because I remember he got off like twice. I mean, he went big. He went big. I find this one... So, Kelly,

the son, Glenn D. Martin II, a.k.a. Suave, a.k.a. Suave Luciano. Okay, gotcha. Brother named Suave Luciano? Okay, gotcha. No problem. Here's the first thing. If you nickname yourself after a notorious gangster. Everybody know

Luciano is Lucky Luciano who hit it up the mafia. You asking for your ass to get followed. I mean, I just want to be clear that this is no relation to you, Roland Martin. Hell no.

And if they were related to me, I would say y'all dumb as hell because y'all went low. I mean, you got to be thinking big. You got to think big, right? Right. I mean, I am just thoroughly and consistently amused by what is happening under the Eric Adams administration right now, because you like from him going on a perp walk with a perp to his aides about to be on a perp walk. It's like the jokes write themselves, right? And it's interesting. I mean, the irony of his name indicating that he's smooth, and there's nothing smooth about this. There's absolutely nothing smooth about getting caught for a loan.

Like, are you so broke that you couldn't get just the cash at all? Like, I don't know. I don't know what to say. People are just doing dumb shit right now. I have no idea why. Hopefully we are not going to be in an era of dumb shit.

Hopefully it stops with 2025, if one can hope. But yeah, that's all I got. People just be doing dumb shit. The indictment Joe says that the son was operating as the intermediary between

his mom and the defendants to communicate with, schedule, and arrange meetings with and receive payment and other benefits. Oh, damn. Rezada Vod, a.k.a. Pinky. Swabian Pinky. Suave and Pinky.

We got Suave and... No brain. Suave and Pinky. But no brain. There's no brain. Not Pinky and the brain, just Pinky. Nicely done, Kelly.

Thank you. It's the simple things that get people. You know what I mean? My thing is this. I'm just... It was also part of this conspiracy for Reza Tavade,

a.k.a. Pinky, to solicit assistance from Ingrid Lewis Martin with a visa issue for a family member. It was also part of this conspiracy for Reza Tavade, a.k.a. Pinky, to solicit assistance from Ingrid Lewis Martin and Glenn D. Martin II, a.k.a. Pinky, to solicit assistance from Ingrid Lewis-Martin and Glenn D. Martin II, a.k.a.

Suave, a.k.a. Suave Luciano. Okay. I just think reading the indictment is fun as hell. I'm sorry, Joe, go ahead. Well, I'm just waiting for the rap out. You know what I mean? I'm just waiting on the mixtape. Because, you know, Suave Luciano,

he has to have a crew, right? But, you know, often it's the simple things that get folks. These complicated folks that got education. They've done all these, you know, important, amazing things. And ultimately, it's just great. Now, me, you know, maybe I'm just a little, you know, conservative, for lack of a better term. You know, me, if I'm going to do something like that, Roland, I don't think I'd even go big like that. You know what I'd do? I'd just get a a Toyota. I get a Toyota Camry. It runs

forever. Okay. I still feel like I got away with something because I didn't really pay for it. Somebody gave me the money for it. And I don't draw a bunch of attention to myself. Suave, they know that you ain't got no money for a Porsche. They know it. Okay? So what you really needed to do was lay it back in the cut. Why is your family member the mediary? Why did it be somebody else that doesn't look like you, doesn't sound like you from another part of the country, from Trenton, New Jersey? Something mix it up.

It is too entirely too easy. And meanwhile, back at the ranch, as Matt alluded to, this is like a tuba aquafresh. I remember aquafresh toothpaste, and they squeezing it and trying to get everything to the top. They're going for Eric, man. They're going for Eric. I had never heard of this woman, even though she's prominent in politics. And once this is done, I'll probably never hear from her again. But I do know about Eric Adams and that's what they know about. And I give you ten to one. That's who they're trying to squeeze. And that's and that's why he been doing the Trump dance, because he wants that part. I just want the FBI to know I'm not doing anything. I won't even tell you how I would do it because I wouldn't do it.

I want to be very clear. You know what Joe said? That's a theoretical for him. I ain't doing it. And the other thing is, I guarantee you they got a bunch of deleted text messages on those phones. You know how easy it is to get deleted text messages off a phone. I guarantee when that stuff comes out and hits the public, it's going to be a bunch of deleted messages that they thought they were going to get away with it because it was deleted and they got it on that phone when they picked her up at the airport or picked it up at the airport well i see right here it was also part of the conspiracy uh to communicate with each other and using encrypted messaging applications over cell phones uh and and they also talked in here so you see in furtherance of said conspiracy.

What does you see right here? They met. It says Gracie Manchin. Then all of a sudden, Rezada Vod, a.k.a. Pinky, sent a series of WhatsApp messages to Ingrid Lewis Martin asking for her help to expedite a visa for a family member, stating this exactly needs to be pushed to get immediate appointment. Again, English Martin sent a WhatsApp back. Again, more WhatsApp and more text messages and more text messages and more WhatsApp and all this sort of stuff. Y'all do me a favor. Stop using WhatsApp.

Use Signal. I'm just saying. You're still giving them tips. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. See, no. Y'all understand. This is not me. The FBI. We did the story a week ago. The FBI, all the Chinese are in these telecoms and the FBI. Matter of fact, the FBI, the FBI issued a story saying using encrypted apps. Then this week, they actually dropped another story. Hold on one second.

I got because I was going to talk about this here. But let me go ahead. No, seriously, I'm serious. FBI and... FBI's like, we are bored. No, I'm serious. I'm serious. I'm being dead serious. The FBI... Signal, don't use WhatsApp. What you doing? No, I'm saying because

Signal's actually better than WhatsApp. WhatsApp sucks. See? If y'all gonna do it, I just want y'all to know, if y'all gonna do it, I just want y'all to know. If y'all gonna do it, if you gonna do it, if you gonna do it,

don't use the cheap encrypted app. Listen, FBI came and saw me about six months ago. Kelly, I'm gonna lie. Kelly, doesn't WhatsApp suck? Don't put me in your crime. First of all, Kelly, hold on, Kelly. Kelly, Kelly, doesn't WhatsApp suck? Don't put me in your crime. First of all, Kelly, hold on, Kelly. Kelly, you already busted.

Kelly, 30 seconds ago, you went, I agree. I want y'all to know. 30 seconds ago, I agree. That's all I'm saying. I don't have to be in your crime. So y'all, here's the story that the FBI dropped this week They warn mobile users to be cautious about two-factor verification So because the Chinese are all because these hackers

are completely In these telecom companies. So a lot of people use two-factor identification So we did the story last week. It's almost got a million views on our YouTube channel where the FBI said to people, don't text sensitive

information. You should be using encrypted apps. Now they're saying, don't even use, don't even do it. Do two factor authentication authentication because they can see it. Now, since y'all think I'm crazy right here earlier this month, the FBI urged cell phone users to use encrypted messaging apps like Signal or WhatsApp

to ensure their communications stay hidden from an alleged Chinese cyber attack. See, y'all sitting here trying to blame me and the FBI said use Signal or WhatsApp. So all I'm doing is just telling them what the FBI said to use. Listen, I appreciate you saying that. So how y'all mad at me?

I'm not mad, but we get thrown into stuff. We get thrown into stuff all the time, whether we meant to or not. So I appreciate the clarification. It says it right here. Officials with the FBI and Cyber infrastructure security agency are urging Americans to use encrypted messaging apps to ensure their communications stay hidden from an alleged Chinese cyber attack. Salt Typhoon, a Chinese government link hacking group, has conducted one of the largest intelligence breaches in U.S. history, and it has not yet been fully remediated. So I'm just telling y'all, I've just been the newsman. The FBI has said use Signal and WhatsApp.

I'm just telling y'all WhatsApp sucks, so I advise y'all to use Signal. And if y'all don't want to use Signal, there's another encrypted app called Wire. I'm just trying to tell y'all. But go ahead, Joe. See, I just didn't want anything to get confused. Like, just in case the FBI watching, I want y'all to know, I'm like Robert De Niro on Casino. I want to run a square joint, you know, we just we just going to be going straight arrows. OK, I had real truth. I had FBI visit me about six months ago about a former client scared me to death.

I didn't sleep for a week. You know what I mean? And so I just don't want to be misunderstood. That's all. Everything you said is correct. Roland, I'm right there with you. And I appreciate that context. And that'll help me a little bit. Keep my blood pressure down. If you put that context in the front, because, you know, really, it's getting ready to be the Trump era and everything else, too. Listen, they weaponize the government. We just want to be OK.

That's all we're saying. We know that you literally got three lawyers on your panel right now. Hey, I'm just trying to tell you right here, right here. Officials, officials, officials on a news call Tuesday refused to set a timetable for declaring the country's telecommunications systems free of interlopers. Officials had told NBC News that China hacked AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies to spy on customers. So, I'm just telling y'all, I'm passing y'all the news.

See, y'all weren't even aware that the FBI told people to use encrypted apps. Were y'all... Because plausible deniability is a thing thing and you are taking it away from us. I'm going to ask each one of y'all individually.

Joe, were you aware of this story? Yes or no? I was because I had somebody at AT&T. Okay, so the answer is yes. Kelly, were you aware of this story? I was trying to preserve my plausible deniability. It's either yes

or no. No! On purpose! Matt, were you aware of this story? Not guilty. Y'all got to feel me. That's all I'm saying. Just saying. See, this is why y'all need to be watching this show, so y'all can be up to

date on technology. So, last week, again, the FBI said use Signal WhatsApp. This week, they said don't do that two-factor authentication with text message because the Chinese saw typhoons still

looking at your stuff. So that's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. I'm just trying to help y'all out. We just don't want any misunderstanding. Can we go to break? I'm very nervous right now. I ain't nervous. Like, see, I need a gold button for bail. When you ain't done, nothing

ain't no need to be nervous. Oh, faithful words of many of my clients. I'm just saying, but if you're going to sit here and communicate bribery, I'm just saying. But if you're going to sit here and communicate bribery, I'm just saying you need to use signal and you need to be using disappearing

messages and you need to make sure the person on the other end got their set too. See, that's how these fools... I'm going to tell you what these fools did. They were sitting there communicating. They didn't have nothing disappearing turned on. They were just sitting there chatting back and forth that they didn't realize

they realized under that discussion see they just dumb they just dumb and that's how you ask get indicted all right just saying just say it's in the indictment text message what's that text message, WhatsApp, text message, WhatsApp. You didn't see the indictment say Signal. Y'all might want to use Signal. All right. CIA is on my phone right now. Yeah, you download Signal right now. That's what you're doing.

All right. When we come back, this ridiculous case out of Missouri. White Republican governor pardons a white cop who was found guilty of murdering a black man. Yeah. Plus, rapper Young Dro, I've sat out with him at Hope Global Forums talking about his battle with drug abuse, rehab.

It's a fascinating conversation. You don't want to miss it. You're watching Rolling Mark and Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network download signal. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. Fanbase is a free to download, free to use next generation social media platform that allows anyone to have followers and subscribers on the same page. Fanbase was built through investment dollars from equity crowdfunding from the JOBS Act. People just like you help build Fanbase, and we're looking for more people to help build Fanbase.

We are currently raising $17 million in a Regulation 8 crowdfund on StartEngine. We've already crossed $2.1 million, but we're looking to raise more capital from people just like you that deserve the opportunity to invest in early stage startups without having to be accredited investors. So right now, I'd like you to go to startengine.com slash fanbase and invest. The minimum to invest is $399. That gets you 60 shares of stock in Fanbase right now, today. And then use Fanbase to connect with friends, Greg Carr. Brown versus the Board of Education. The history books call it the court decision that ended racial segregation in American schools.

But a brand new book, Jim Crow's Pink Slip, uncovers a, unintended consequence of that 1954 Supreme Court decision. We may, if we were lucky, have been the very last generation of black students to have experienced these generations of black teachers who have never been replaced. Dr. Leslie Fenwick joins us to talk about her book and the actions following that landmark decision that dealt a virtual death blow to Black educators. That's next on The Black Table, 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 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban 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. 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. This is Reggie Rock Bifle. You're watching Roland Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. You hear me? All right, y'all. Some breaking news out of Missouri.

This is a shameful and despicable story. Go to the Kansas City, go to my iPad, Anthony. This is from the Kansas City Defender. The governor of Missouri has pardoned, yes, has pardoned a white cop in Kansas City. This was the first time a white cop in history was convicted of killing a black person. But the governor of Missouri says, oh, I'm sorry. The story says that he his sentence has been commuted. So this is what it says. Missouri Governor Mike Parson has reduced the already lenient six year sentence of Eric DeValconer, the white Kansas City Police Department detective convicted of executing Cameron Lamb in his own backyard in December 2019. It does not

erase his conviction. It says it ensures the killer cop will walk free after serving a fraction of his sentence. And and so again, so this story, the Kansas City defender has been all over this story. And it said the balcony was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in November 2021. The judge, the judge concluded that the balcony had no legal right to be on Lamb's property when he and his partner invaded Lamb's backyard without a warrant, probable cause or permission. The prosecution's case revealed how the Balconeer recklessly gunned down Lamb, who was simply backing his truck into his own garage. While the Balconeer's defense team tried to justify the killing by claiming Lamb had pointed a gun

at his partner, the story fell apart under scrutiny. The Balconier's own partner gave contradicting testimony that undermined their attempted cover up. And here you have the governor of Missouri who you just decides to say, oh, I think it's unfair. And understand, he's been saying for months that he may very well pardon or commute this sentence of this killer cop. And what does it say, Matt, that he gets indicted? He goes to trial. The judge finds him guilty and the governor.

Oh, no, this is this is not how we should treat a cop. So I'm going to slash that six year sentence. It says that some people are above the law and for some people, politics is bigger than the law. This is exactly what the governor of the state I live in did. I don't prefer to call him my governor, but Greg Abbott with Daniel Perry and Austin. And this was my precise objection and precisely why I think this is so insidious and frankly indicative of the racist ideology that allows you to do something like this and then not pardon somebody like Marcellus Williams, where you have very clear questions about the evidence, right? Because what you have here is you have 12 people who sat in the box, who listened to all of the evidence. So not the sound bites, not the political spins on things.

They listened to the evidence from open to close and decided that he was guilty of this offense and they convicted him and then he was sentenced to prison. And because the governor sees him as a talisman of the political or even racial ideology, which is likely what it is here, he uses him as a means to say, hey, I'm still here for the people who look like me and the people who I think deserve a break. And that is terrifying because this is not that example, but there are always examples of self defense or other bona fide defenses where people never get the benefit of the doubt. But if you happen to be the right color and you happen to get on the governor's radar, then Greg Abbott will say, I'm going to demand the Board of Pardons and Paroles lets this person out of prison, even though Austin, which is, you know, historically very liberal in the context of the state of Texas, 12 people sat in the box and decided to find him

guilty. The same is true here. And I don't really think there's a bona fide defense beyond they saw this as a political maneuver and a political maneuver to signal to their people of their ilk. Hey, I'm still here protecting you, holding the line. And it should be disgusting to you if you are a person who has any belief whatsoever in the rule of law or at least the rhetoric we hear from people like this governor talking about the rule of law because it clearly does not apply fully. Here's what's crazy. This is KMBC dot com, Joe. He was sentenced to six years in prison in March 2022. He he filed appeals and remain out on bond. The attorney general recommended overturning the conviction or ordering a new trial a year later, citing concerns about the fairness of the proceedings. But his was crazy. Appellate courts upheld the conviction in October 2023.

The Missouri Supreme Court denied his request for a transfer in March 2024. The Balcones family requested clemency from Parsons office in late 2023. In September 2024, a federal court ruled that the Balconiers entry onto Landon's property was unlawful. These are Republicans in Missouri who are saying we do not want to see a cop held accountable for his actions. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting because it would seem to me that if you want to consider yourself pro-law and order, if you want to be in the position to support the police as people define supporting the police,

it would seem like when someone does something unsamely, you would cut them away as not in the game. That gives you more credibility in the other issues and the other situations that are arguably more justified. Maybe you actually do have a valid warrant. Maybe you are in a public place that you actually have a right to be in, or there's some gray area and you get some deference because of that. What they don't understand and what they don't really care about is that the fact that they would support him, that the governor would grant clemency in this situation, takes away from all of the other instances that are less questionable and that where there are problems where the police officer was reasonably in fear for his life or of great bodily harm of him, someone else, and then they acted because of it and they get some amount of deference.

But if it was about that, then they would have done this this way. They would have agreed with the appeals court or known when it was over, agreed with the prosecution. You know, in a conservative state, they were prosecuted successfully and the appeals court and the Supreme Court supported what it is that the prosecution actually done. But for the governor to go the other way basically reminds you that this is about something else. It's low-hanging fruit to show people and send them a message that you still support these guys no matter what because you don't value the life that he took away and because this is consistent with what is in their mind, the order of things. This is where I mean, listen, Kansas City has a black mayor, Quentin Lucas. Look at this statement. The mayor continues to pray for all of those touched by the tragic events surrounded surrounding the death of Cameron Lamb. As mayor in Kansas City's only selection as commissioner

on the state-appointed five-member Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, Mayor Lucas remains committed to strengthening the trust between law enforcement and our community. That's an absolute bullshit ass statement Kelly and it's a gutless statement no it really is we are about to enter

an era again of basically police officers being treated like gods and it is unfortunate that these gods, so to speak, are about to exercise their power on those with the least, those who have been the most disenfranchised. And these very gods will be reinforced. Their power will be reinforced and commended and praised really by our government, right? This law

and order state, so to speak. It is unfortunate. We have proof. We have historical proof of how it simply does not work. How people are even more endangered by way of antics like this. So, I mean, this is certainly in the most sincerest way, I say thoughts and prayers. Shameful and despicable. And what it says is that these conservative Republicans, oh, by the way, a governor, the governor is a former sheriff. And what it says is they can't stand when cops are actually held accountable. Let's talk about the Southern District of Mississippi.

They've charged former Mississippi State Capitol Police Officer Flex Unit Officer Jeffrey Walker. He was charged with felony deprivation of rights under color of law. He allegedly used excessive force, including dangerous weapons against a handcuffed arrestee identified as E.S. causing bodily injury on July 27, 2022. Walker was driving an unmarked police car. He initiated a pursuit after E.S. who failed to stop during a traffic stop. The chase ended when Walker got cut E.S. off, causing a collision and E.S. to swerve into a yard. If convicted, Walker faces up to 10 years in prison.

Folks, President Biden is expected to secure his 235th judicial confirmation of his presidency, beating the number of judges confirmed in Donald Trump's for years. This is huge because this is the highest number of black judges ever appointed, the largest number of black women ever appointed, the largest number of black women ever appointed, the most black women appointed to the appellate courts than all previous presidents combined. I will say this here, Joe, for people who are stuck on stupid and and I saw I've seen this crap the last two years who say that this is no big deal. It shows the sheer ignorance of folks. Biden will only serve four years as president. That's it. These judges will be there for life.

These two hundred and thirty five federal judges. That is very significant. And again, had Vice President Kamala Harris been elected, had folk not sat on their asses at home or voted for Trump, you would see another 230 or 240 federal judges appointed and not hardcore right-wing conservative bat-shit crazy federal judges. You know, the judicial branch is the area where you can make the most long-term impact. And Joe Biden did an excellent job, not only in terms of the numerosity of judges, but the levels of the judges, the black women that were appointed. And also, not just with

no disrespect to, you know, brothers that went to Harvard and did big law, but, you know, public defenders and people that did things other than prosecute. He did an excellent job at that, probably better than the Obama administration did at that. So, and this will have an impact, not being able to do this for the next four years, and maybe Trump appoints another 200 judges or so who will, you know, in turn be there for life. He'll also replace probably the old guys on the Supreme Court, Thomas and Alito, the ones that want to leave, that he can clearly replace. So elections have consequences.

And the judiciary is a very, very big part of that. And it is a terrible thing that we're going to miss that, because when you're talking about how the law is interpreted, you know, and it's one thing if they were really honest when they say, oh, we just call balls and strikes. No, they legislate from the bench just like anybody else does. They figure out they're activists when they want to be activists and they're restrained when they want to be restrained. In other words, if they want the government, if they want the law to conform to the Constitution, they do. If they want the Constitution to conform to the law, they do. Or what's going on in society, they're going

to do it the way that they want to do it, particularly those that are politically motivated and don't believe so much in the rule of law as much as they do in terms of keeping what they believe to be, just like we said before, the order of things. The diversity of the judges are critically important, Kelly, because Trump, his judges were 88 percent white men. Right. And we saw what the ramifications of that is. Right. We saw how policy got stagnated, laws got flipped, turned upside down, and Biden is doing what he can to preserve the little democracy that we have left in this country that is still actionable, right? Because like you said, judges are lifetime appointments, and they are really going to be

the ones, especially in this new era of cronyism, oligarchy. Granted, I understand Matt's point that we've been in that era, but it's really going to come to a head, this coming administration. They're going to be the ones who are going to have to stand solid ground, like judges, ironically enough, who were supposed to be the last line of defense they are now the infantry right and and we are going to need as as many of those types of soldiers as we can to to hold the hold the front line uh matt the other thing i think people should people other reason people should be excited when you look at these 23 and thirty five judges is that. He didn't just pull from state judges, didn't pull from prosecutors.

A lot of these people were defense lawyers, civil rights lawyers, and they didn't. And not they were former defense lawyers, civil rights lawyers. They literally went from civil rights groups right to the federal bench. That's important because it changes the perspective of the people who are federal judges as opposed to traditionally how they are picked. I agree completely. And, you know, I think it's very important that we have a diverse judiciary for the purpose that representation is important. And a lot of times, obviously, a person's entire background and their entire lived experience is going to inform how they make decisions on the bench. But a lot of times, you know, we get too focused on phenotypical representation and not, you know, ideological. Right.

Or their actual background representation. And Joe alluded to this perfectly. You know, I've been a defense lawyer more so than I was ever a prosecutor. And a lot of people have their opinions on that. But I used to tell people, I'm not just defending my client. I'm defending you and your rights, right? If we have a government that can run roughshod over one person, they can run roughshod over all of us. That's important because when you have a lot of judges, especially in criminal law, that were never anything but a prosecutor, they don't have that understanding of how important it is to really ensure that we're trying to protect people's rights and be who we say we are. So it's incredibly important that you're picking people from not only

civil rights groups, but defenders. And if you recall, I mean, there was a big issue about that with Justice Jackson and about how she'd been a defender before and people denigrating her for that, despite those same people trumpeting the Constitution all the time. So I think it's incredibly important. But what I think we need even more so than that, federal judges, as Kelly alluded to, are lifetime appointments. And the reason that's important is we have a real conflict in the law. So as Joe and Kelly could explain, you know as well, I'm sure, we have to follow precedent, right? What are the prior decisions? How do those decisions inform us? But the thing is, we have a lot of inflection points now in the law where those prior decisions are just patently wrong. So if you think about that brilliant opinion that Judge Reeves wrote in Mississippi

several years ago about qualified immunity, he lambasted qualified immunity. But what did he do at the end of the opinion? He ultimately still extended qualified immunity. That's the problem that we have, is that we have people on the bench who know that the outcome is the wrong moral outcome, but they have to follow the legal precedent. And that conflict, I think, is only resolved by judges like Judge Reeves bringing that up and judges like Judge Robert Pittman in the Western District of Texas, who has made a number of rulings that have been directly counter to conservative ideology because he thought, you know, that was the right thing to do. If the judges take those positions, then that's how we actually move the ball forward, particularly when you're not susceptible to being removed from the bench by an election like you are in a lot of state, you know, judicial benches. So I think we need those judges who are unafraid to make those decisions and know that they're going to be overturned, but start signaling that I just cannot abide by this decision that we both know is wrong, but that I'm bound to by stare decisis.

All right. Well, folks, I preach it all through. Y'all been on the show. Thanks very much, Matt, Joe, Kelly. This will be the last show for me with y'all for 2024. I head to vacation on Sunday, so I will see y'all in the new year. Happy Christmas. Happy New Year. Happy Kwanzaa. All that good stuff. Folks, when we come back, Young Dro, we chat about his struggles with sobriety. That's next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. What's up, y'all? Look, Fanbase is more than a platform.

It's a movement to empower creators, offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in Black-owned tech, infrastructure, and help shape the future of social media. Investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The Black community must not only consume tech, we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding Black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital directly to rule their community through the jobs ad. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. Come on that soil, you will not replace us. White people are losing their damn minds.

There's an angry pro-Trump mob storming the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys.

America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. This is Tamela Mayne. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1.

Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. and episodes 4, 5, 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. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game we gotta make moves and make them early set up goals don't worry about a setback just save up and stack up to

reach them let's put ourselves in the right position pre-game to greater things start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. This is David Mann and you're watching Roland Martin on Twitter.

Folks, while we were in Atlanta last week at the Hope Global Forums, I caught up with rapper Young Dro. He has been very open about his battles over sobriety. We talked about that and how he now is choosing to live the good life. All right. We're here at, of course, Hope Global Forums. Young Dro here. Let me start here.

Yeah. There are a lot of brothers, forget who in the public space, who don't want folks in their business, don't want to talk about it, have secrets. We don't talk about family stuff. When Deion Sanders had blood clots, it wasn't until he was hospitalized having surgery when his mom said, oh, you know, your uncle and so-and-so, he was like, mama,

so we got a history of blood clots in our family. Had no idea. Why was it so important for you to say, I have to share what I've been through as opposed to, like a lot of brothers, keep it to themselves? It was important because I started to look at my family and my daughters and my son, right? And awareness about who I am and what I've been through and what kind of person I am allows them to see and assess who they need to be. You know what I mean? Like, we have this information about ourselves that if we don't share it, it repeats itself. So it's very important that I open my life

as a book to be read by my children and also people out in the public so they can be able to see if they're going through something like, if I did it in front

of one of my partners, he'll be able to say, well, you know what? I'm going to open up to my kids. And it just started to heal families and friends. See, one of the things

that I often, like if you look at where we are now, brothers are always talking about, man, I hear black girl magazine and the other. But I respond to them that, look, sisters will do a weekend, do something, and it ain't all fun and games. There's going to be those moments. You know, I've gone to men's conference. I went to a men's church retreat. And it was like 80% fun and games, 20% real talk.

And I was like, you know a bunch of y'all came here screwed up. Women paid for y'all to come here screwed up. And you're not dealing with the issues. And I think what often happens, too often in our spaces, we are watch the game, let's play games, let's play cards, let's listen to music, and not put that stuff aside and say, no, no, no. We need to have real frank conversations about what you're dealing with. Like being masculine and the provider and the toughness, it make you forget about, because you always supposed to handle it. And I think that's how we raise, you know what I mean? Like coming up, I couldn't, I don't remember a time when I was able to show my softer side. Right.

You know, how I really. Yo, man, that's feminine shit. Yeah, yeah. No, it's not. It's not. It's just being able to talk about what I'm dealing with.

Let's talk about it. You feel me? So I think that, and do you know what, though? I respect being raised by my mom and being able to connect with that,

but I don't like the fact that outsiders make me feel like I can't be in tune with that side. Right. You feel what I'm saying? Right. Because I was raised by a woman, and I do know what it feels like to feel the softer side of things

and be a little bit, you know. Well, it's like with photos. Listen, because of what I do, a lot of times is folks are like, hey, why don't you take a selfie with my children? I will not take a photo with a young brother who don't smile. Oh. Because what happened was I was noticing every time it was a mugshot. And I said, bro, you nine.

Because what happened? I mean, we as black people, we're not understanding that the idea of, yo, you got to be hard. I'm not telling a nine year old kid. Now, I understand if it's poverty. I understand what they're going. I said, but what does it say when we are literally telling young black boys, yo, you got to be hard. You got to be a man. No, he's nine. And I'm not going to tell a seven or eight or nine year old to be a man because he ain't a man. And just the photo. And I don't stand that.

And this woman was like, he's not going to smile. I said, we're not going to be a photo. She's like, are you serious? I'm like stand there. And this woman was like, he's not going to smile. I said, we're not going to be a photo. She's like, are you serious? I'm like, yes. I said, this young brother needs to know it's okay to smile in a photo. There's no harm being brought. And the mother looked at me like I was like, why is this so important? She was like upset. I said, that brother needs to learn how to smile.

I agree. I agree. And we need to learn how to smile. I agree. I agree. And we need to learn how to cry. It's okay to cry. Like, you feel what I'm saying? Like growing up, I can, I can see my, my uncles, you know what I mean? Um, if I was crying, they'd be like, oh, stop all that crying. You, well, you, well, you, you acting like a whoop whoop.

You feel what I'm saying? And it make you don't want to cry. Right. And you suppress your feelings suppress suppress your hurt now i'm in the street acting like a bat out of hell you feel me i'm acting really crazy i'm acting irate because i'm i didn't push this down in the inside and i can't control it anymore but i should have just cried right when um what was so when you were in the breakfast club, and I commented on that to some folks.

But here's what people didn't understand. So I'm a member of Alpha Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Yeah. And we have a thing called Brotherhoods. Okay. So we had a reunion, Texas A&M, we go back. And the younger brothers who were organizing, they were like, yo, they were like, okay, AK is coming this

time, our girlfriends are coming, and they were like, get the food, everything, and all the brothers were like, who coming? We were like, oh, hell no. All of a sudden, we were like, yo, turn that damn music off.

Turn that TV off. Tell them, tell your girls they ain't coming. Right. Tell their kids they ain't coming. And the bros like, we said, y'all can learn what a brotherhood is. That was like 8 p.m. Okay. We ain't leave until 7 a.m.

All night. And it was, but what we had to show them was, oh, this is what a brotherhood is. This is where you deal with all your shit. This is where, so it went from brothers were talking about, oh man,

no, I couldn't harm somebody. I couldn't kill somebody else. Another brother said, I could. He was in Iraq. And he said, one of us was going to go home in a body bag. And it wasn't going to be me.

He said, I said, it was hand-in-hand combat. I killed at Iraq in my bare hands. So it changed the conversation. At one point later, one brother got saved. So the reason I'm bringing that up, we as older alpha

brothers had to say no no we got to show y'all what a brotherhood is like yeah so i think what has to happen is the reason that that the clip resonated you had to check homeboy behind you to understand the same business as usual. And I think, unfortunately, a lot of older brothers are unwilling to pull a cap. No, no, no. This how this gonna go down. No, no, no. We ain't doing that anymore.

We'll let stuff slide as opposed to, no, I got to show you the way. Versus, no, I want to be hands-on. I agree. In the hood, though, or in our culture, we say the young ones are running wild. And I say, granted, because as OGs, as big dogs, as big homies, we got to start calling them on things that don't make sense or if you out of line like long time ago my grandma and them came up on it takes a village right today i think

it still takes a village because if i'm in the street like i used to be i can do something in the street and og will be like hey look come here right that ain't what you need to be doing right you feel what i'm saying and go over here and if I keep seeing that behavior, this way. You know what I mean? Right. I just, not necessarily I'm going to do something to you, but I can, enough of this guides me the right way. You know what I mean? So, yeah, the Breakfast Club incident was, it was enough at that point.

You know what I mean? Right. But it was the reason, and I remember reading the comments. You know what I mean? Right. But it was the reason, and I remember reading the comments, and I was getting pissed because they weren't understanding you cannot elevate yourself. Right.

When you elevate yourself, the folk around you have to elevate themselves as well, or otherwise, you can't roll with me because if you think that is fun you were talking something that was truly life and death and so there's the point when you were like no no no this is life and death i'm talking about this ain't no joke this ain't no this we just, you know, remember that moment?

No, this is real because, and I said this to Charlamagne and Eminem when I was on, we always got to be mindful of what comes out of this into that mic that goes out into the world and how that thing is received. That's why when you were like, yo, because somebody was watching and listening. And that's why I thought that was so critical report, that you couldn't let it pass. Yeah. But then in the middle of it, the outburst that I did make, I had to find some kind of resolution to where, because that could have went.

Right. But you had to turn to it. I saw it. I got turned into a teaching moment. Right. As opposed to, okay, you better get your ass whooped. I mean, but because that's how also some kid in the classroom is going to respond. That's what happens when there's a kid out there who he doesn't have more than one pair of shoes.

And the kids are sitting there laughing and snickering and not understanding what that brother is going through. And so that's sort of how, like, everything is not fun in the game. No, it's not. And I agree with you on that. So to be able to think in those moments and know that when you're addressing somebody, you're addressing a person that you don't know what's going on with them.

Right. And if you don't know, then I think you should move cautiously. You know what I mean? Have a little compassion about a person speaking on their life experiences. Yeah. Especially when it's involving their kids. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Because I just think that when you talk about what OGs in the neighborhood say, I apply that to everything. I apply that. I mean, I don't care what it is. I remember growing up in Clinton Park in Houston. I'm walking down the street, and I'm just walking, man. I'm looking out, and I don't know who this brother is. Yeah. I don't know.

He said, young man, he said, don't ever walk with your head down. He said, lift your head up. That's deep. He said, don't ever walk with your head down he said lift your head up that's deep he said never do and again he just kept walking but i remember that that was deep to today that if i'm walking i'm thinking i will instinctively remember that and look up it's when it when when when people introduce me to their kids. And I literally look me in the eye. Now it brushed off on you. I literally will tell them, like, if you go, because they'll be head down looking out.

No, I'll literally say, no, no, look me in the eye. Now what's your name? It's just those things like that, that person may and i'll have parents like oh my god you're right they never even they never it never even occurred to them that their child was doing that i think i heard that one time before i was looking down and somebody told me to hold your head up you feel me and and it was so surprising that i was like oh i was holding my head you know what i mean yeah And it makes sense. You know what I mean? So, yeah. So I think

the life lessons like that, that we have a responsibility, whether that's our kids or not, whether that's just somebody we just met, whether it's cousins or whatever, to be able to pass those things down and just not accept them as they are in our community. It still takes a village. Right.

Yeah. Right. So it ain't like, it ain't just you. It's like, yo, you can, because you don't know the impact on that. How has what you've gone through and what you have, how you publicly speak to it, how has that changed you musically? Musically, right. it changed musically right because like aretha aretha franklin said to whitney baby when you go through some stuff your music gonna change it do and when i say that i say this um before the rehab and the overdoses and all the things that I've been through, I talked about things and I glorified things in a way from a standpoint of a user. You feel me? Now, with everything that I've been through and I've seen, I don't glorify it as a user. I speak on it from an educational standpoint,

what it has done, what it made me feel like. You feel what I'm saying? You won't per se hear me say, oh, well, I'm rolling up one now, or oh, I'm popping this, or I'm drinking that. I can't speak to you in that way no more. Right, right. Because that's no longer what it is. You feel what I'm saying? I have a way now that I have to speak on it like this is what that did.

This is what position it put that did. This is what position it put me in. This is what can happen to you if you feel what I'm saying. So yeah, it changed how I speak about the struggles that most of us go through. In addiction,

you might think you're having fun. You feel what I'm saying? I got I beg to differ. Well, I mean, who was, I mean, what's the young brother? His name escaping me, I'm sorry. The rapper who just overdosed. Rich on the coin.

Yeah. I mean, and again, perfect example. I'm sure there were cats around him who he was going through stuff and he may not have been sharing, may not have been talking, may not have been. may not have been talking may not have been and and and whether they're a rapper or not uh we see we're living in a world with

fenced door and all kind of stuff people are dealing with their issues by medicating whether it's alcohol whether it's drugs whether it's it's whatever uh and it's always like, man, I wonder if that one conversation could have triggered him. And somebody just speaking to me in a different way. You know what's crazy? We fellowship with killing ourselves slowly. We all join together. You feel me? We think it's a thing. You know what I mean?

Hey, what you got, man? I got some lean. You know what I'm saying? And we have these meetings. You know what I mean? We're supposed to be meeting up, doing different things, but we're meeting up, enjoying killing ourselves. I'm from Houston, and

the syrup, the whole, I mean, that was like a whole... That's where Drake at, buddy. Bruh, and then it was like, it was a brother

who was an NFL player who got arrested because he, I mean, he literally goes to prison because they hit him on trying to sell batches. He got a

trafficking charge. He got out. Survived. You make it to the NFL. Oh, I think I remember that. I think I remember seeing that. He played for the Rams or something like that. And it's like... I remember that, bro. That was crazy. He said he was down. You know what I mean? Then he went back

to hustling and that happened like that. Well was another brother he played at Texas A&M whose career ended because he was addicted to this I mean it's and so is that you're right I mean when you put it exactly we are having a great time yes killing ourselves in the fellowship of it is crazy. I'm talking about we meeting up every week with this. Crowds of us. You know, enjoying it. You know what I mean? And so it bled off into the hip-hop community to where I was one of the ones.

I couldn't wait to talk about what Appeal did to me and how it made me feel and mix it in with women. You know what I mean? And guess what? It went for a second, but then my outcome was an overdose. So, hey. So, what do you do now? What is now the let's get together and enjoy life?

Let's get together and enjoy life. Let's get together and enjoy life. Let's get together and enjoy life. Let's get together and break these generational curses. Let's get together and find out things about ourselves that we put off for the duration of being addicted. Because in addiction, it's a lot of things that I did not think of doing. My manners, I didn't understand that. Once I got out of drugs, I was like, I have no manners. I'm digging in my nose, burping.

I'm not patient. You know what I mean? We out shopping. I'm getting my stuff. I'm ready to go. It's not all about me. I felt like when I got off drugs, I was like, oh, this is who I am. Let's get back to who we are and what we need to be for our families.

Let's stop hooking up and putting that off, running from what we need to be in the future for our loved ones and our children. Have you seen a shift among those around you? Yes, a big shift. A lot of my people waiting on me to go back. Slip up. Slip up. A lot of them don't believe it. Some people still offer.

Hey, bro, you sure? I'm sure. You know what I mean? Or I'm about to order something to drink. You drink now? I'm like, nah. And then someone's like, you really don't buy pills? I'm like, nah.

You're like, no. No then someone's like, you really don't pop pills? I'm like, nah. You're like, no. No. You know what I mean? And I can handle it from the public. But when loved ones do it, it kind of hurts. You feel me? Because what I've been through. Right.

I mean, like, you know, Uncle Charlie. Yeah. Look, you can't, that can't be, everybody on tour, he don't play that. No. He's like, because his whole deal is, if you love me. Yes. Then you would know better not to do that around me. I agree with that.

I agree with that. Yeah, so the thing about it is, how much do you care? Like, in Atlanta,anta the young people they call each other twin twin twin is twin and i get it you're just like me we have some of the same likes we like the same shoes we you know the atmosphere we we dig it the same but how much do you care about your twin would you let your twin crash out would you let your twin overdose would you let your twin kill him and get life so i i like i use that for me too when with my twins about like you know me you share some of the things some of the same things so i'll call you twin what's up twin like

because the comment that you left you were understanding how I understood it. Right. You know what I'm saying? So if you care about me enough to call me your twin, then don't offer me this. Right. Support me on that. So that phrase, in another space, we call that accountability partner. In another space, we call that armor bearer. Yeah.

In another space, we call that brother-sister. Yeah. I remember we were, his brother, he runs an organization. And he, we were, we had a conference. And, yo, his ass was drunk. He was drunk. Yeah. And he had just gotten his job.

Major job. So we came back, and I'm talking about his ass he in the lobby singing I was like he made you shut your ass up so I literally had because I've never drank in my life I've never drank in my life I've never had an energy drink I've never done drugs in my life I just people hand me alcohol I'm like no my parents love it like oh we appreciate the champagne they get I never had my life. I literally had his ass pressed up against the elevator.

I'm like, who's coming? Threw his ass in the elevator, took his ass up to his room, and I was like, yo, you ain't messing this up. So then like three years later, he got another job, another huge job. We had a conference. His ass, he drunk. I'm about to head home. I'm like, no, you not.

I said, your ass ain't driving home. I went to the organizer. I was like, yo, y'all got an extra broom? I threw his ass in the hotel room. I said, you ain't driving home. To this day, he like, yeah, man, he like roast safe my ass. But my deal was I'm not going to stand here and see the condition you're in and then not intercede.

I absolutely threw his ass in the hotel room. And there was nothing he was going to be able to say. And then if he resisted, I would have to knock his ass out. That's crazy. But you know what, though? I can respect that. But you're the type of person that a person like me would respect and I would be

grateful for a person that knows me and knows me. You feel me? I know you and I'm going to know you. Oh, you see it. I mean, you see it. That's real. Man, please. I remember I was at a church. I'm sitting here. Pastor finished preaching. I mean that's real man. Please I remember I was at a church I'm sitting here Passing finish preaching. I see this sister come from the back. She walking up and she walking up. She unbuttoned

Yeah, I saw that boy. So good to go to the front and Passes sweat and everything. She said let me go get you a towel Yeah, I go I went out grass and I like here like oh now wait for her to bring me I said you gonna take these goddamn napkins We have you I was like, yeah In my face like yeah, I see what I see potentially what about the brew? You're going to take these and wipe your damn forehead. Like, bro, get the napkin, bro.

See, so sometimes there's a look. You need that, man. You know what I mean? Because you could have been the type of person like, oh, boy, you got that napkin. Right. No. I literally was like, you better take these goddamn naps and wipe your damn forehead. But it's just, so it's just, sometimes you got to have folk around you who are watching you.

Distractions too. I'm big on distractions. Like, while you're trying to focus on the task at hand, distractions can come along in so many forms. And I think one of the things, one of the reasons why I have this phone and... A flip! Yeah.

Distractions are big, you know what I mean? And the reason why I say that because what you was just saying about she would come in and she unbuttoned, but he was preaching the word. You feel me?

You're supposed to be focused on saving souls. Here come the devil. We're going to nap you here. It should have been on fire. She was fine, but like... Yeah, man. I know the size of your church. I know the whole...

You see all... You want to be surrounded by people like you that tell people that. You feel me? Because a clique full of yes men is the beginning of the end. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Everybody, you know, everybody telling you yeah and this and that. And then once that distraction get there, without somebody around you that can hold you accountable for who you need to be and not who 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 call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley

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

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'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. 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. Want to be, cause I want to do a lot of things, but what I need to be doing is something totally

different. You know what I mean? So being around somebody that knows you and know you is dope. Oh yeah. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. So that's, that's's that's always that's why again that's why i say who you surround yourself with is so vital yes uh because they can they can either lift you up or they can tear you down or they can allow you to do things that you know and then when you going through that personal hell they know we're around no way around can't man let me tell you something i got favors party favors from so many people. I was able to call and, hey, look, man, what you got over there? Y'all got perks. Y'all got lean.

Y'all got, you hear me? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Man, when I was going through my recovery and I was on a whole nother mission, I couldn't get nobody to support that. When I used to go out and speak at these seminars trying to spread this information, nobody was there. Nobody supported it. You feel me?

To this day, I go, I do like gun, I speak on senseless gun violence and we try to bridge the gap on mental and behavioral health. We go into these neighborhoods and we go into these communities and we try to grab these kids, man, I can't find nobody that had something to do with the addiction nor the behavior at these places.

And it's, but we supposed to have loved each other in this struggle, though. You could have gotten 24-7. Boy, I love you, twin. Boy, boy, whatever. Boy, I'm down. I'm like, what a down in the love at. It seems like when you

change for the better and you switch it up, you start having revelations about new things and new heights. You feel what I'm saying? People start falling off. Then when you look around,

I ain't going to lie to you. I do get lonely. I do thrive to have that party conversation all the time. Right. Boy, everybody that. Right. Boy, everybody that. You feel me?

But at what cost, though? Yep. Like, you know, I spread myself thin, and now I'm not training my mind to grow you feel me I'm having these senseless conversations about nothing nobody's going anywhere we just talking about what going on at the club and what fine girl was there

and what drug was being took and after that what hotel was went to and then repeat see it's so funny man people hit me and I remember the time I was on the time of Jordan Cruz. We were coming back, I was playing golf, whatever, and this woman turns to me and she's like,

well, I'm sure glad to see you calm down because you sure were a crazy and drunk last night. And I was like, no. She's like, oh, yes, she got indignant. You know, the first two times, I'm going to be nice about it. I'm like, well, no. She's like, oh, yeah, no, you were absolutely drunk.

I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I said, who the hell are you talking to? Right. I said, you full of shit. Yeah. I said, I've never drank in my damn life. Yeah. I said, I have fun.

Right. I said, I'm going to party. I'm going to sweat. Yeah. I said, don't you ever talk to me like, I'm so sorry. I said, yeah yeah you damn right you sorry oh no i had to go off on a check right the checker yeah because then what happens is people go man man you be out there just and i was like yes you can actually dance and have a great

time and party and you ain't got to drink nothing take take nothing. Listen. People swear I'm high. I say, yes, I'm high on life. Yeah, and I'm glad you said that. You know why? Because I thought I couldn't do that unless drugs was involved. Bruh. People need to know that life is behind all of that. Like, you don't need all that stuff to be kicking it. I thought life, I was like, man, if I ain't rolling no blunt.

Man, it'd be 2 o'clock in the morning. I'd be like, where we going next? Then we'd go. Man, it'd be 2 o'clock in the morning. I'd be like, where we going next? Then we'd go to this spot. It's 4 o'clock. All right, where we going next? I'm like, the hell is wrong with you? They're like, we getting to the crib at 6. I remember when we were in Miami,

first night we were there with American Black Film Festival. Henry was with me. It was like the first night. He was like, man, we got to the hotel at, it's 4.55. I said, oh yeah, it's going to be 6, 6.30 tomorrow. He's like, the hell wrong with you.

I think the next night we got back about 8.30. That's crazy. And it was like, I had a hell of a night. A hell of a night. Oh, just fantastic time. But again, people swear. They're know, oh, just fantastic times. Yeah. But again, people swear. They're like, dude, you on something. I'm like, yes, you can enjoy this thing called life.

I'm glad. Without, I drink water and cranberry juice. Yeah. I'm like, but it's just, so for me, it's the music. It's just the high ears is the fun. The high ears, like if I go party and I don't sweat, that party sucks. I'm glad to hear that. I got to peel my, we got to peel your clothes off.

You're like, oh, that was a party. When you got to, like, peel your stuff off, that's how I measure parties. But that's just life. That's just enjoying life that just sealed it for me for thinking the way that i used to think and then i i i experienced it but hearing you say that just seals it for me oh i'm telling you bro feel what i'm saying i'm telling you i appreciate that we go somewhere you give me like i know he gotta be on something because he just crazy. But again, that's the beauty of just enjoying life in just the moment.

That's what it is. That's dope. So let me know. Hey, come to D.C. Just let me know. And you're going to be like, I need to go take a nap because rolling with him. He crazy. When we connect, it's over.'s it i appreciate it my brother i appreciate you all right absolutely love and all that to support i needed that man i always appreciate that all right be well yes sir Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm out. One time Thank you. Thank you. I know a lot of cops.

They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

Listen to Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We'll be right back. HeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive.

But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes, rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart podcast.