#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Black Candidate Hit With Fake HIV Smear. Trump Takes Credit For Crime Drop. NABJ Dings Stephen A.

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

8.17.2026 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Black Candidate Hit With Fake HIV Smear. Trump Takes Credit For Crime Drop. NABJ Dings Stephen A. A Black Democratic congressional candidate is the targeted in a smear campaign that falsely alerted people by text message that he can't give blood because he is HIV positive.Shevrin Jones, Florida's first out LGBTQ+ Black senator, is here to set the record straight.  A former professional basketball player is running to become South Carolina's first Black governor. Dr. Jermaine Johnson will explain why he's the best man for the job.  The Trump administration is bragging and taking the credit for violent crime going down, but those crimes have been declining since 2022 - when he wasn't in office.  We'll talk to the Senior Director for Public Safety from the Center for American Progress about the numbers.  Attorney General Todd Blanche is considering seeking the Supreme Court's intervention to compel states to hand over voter rolls. California prosecutors told jurors Tupac Shakur's 1996 killing was 'an act of revenge' during today's opening statements.  The defense says time, corruption, and a lack of facts will be challenges in the case.   Saturday, the National Association of Black Journalists gave out its Thumb Down Award, including one to Stephen A. Smith. It's time for a little history lesson.  I'll talk to the former president and founder of NABJ about why he began the acknowledgment.  Black Star Network Partner: ChapterChapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options. ____ Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture, with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions. Yeah, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Hoda Kottenby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb. You know, I'm always searching for inspiration and useful tools to maximize joy. Like when my friend Henry Winkler offered advice to aspiring actors and really anybody hoping to stand out.

You're not hired just to fill time and space. You're hired to fill the space with you. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Did you hear the new episode of the Hey Jonas Podcast? We are at D23. So we'll see who stops by. The cast of Frozen Stopped by, Kristen Bell, Josh Gass. and Adina Menzel.

I auditioned for Frozen. What? For Christop. They said, okay, what are you going to be singing today? I said, I don't know. That must have been why you didn't get it. Oh, you probably won't. Plus, John Stamos, Hayden Christensen, from Star Wars, and more.

And I guess I can share that... No way. Listen to the latest episode of Hey Jonas on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Folks, today's Monday, August 17, 2006, coming up on Rollin Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Black Democratic congressional canons are targeted in a smear campaign, falsely alerting people by text messages that he can't give blood because he is HIV positive and has AIDS. Well, State Senator Shabrun Jones, Florida's first out LGBT-Black Senator is here to set the record straight. A former professional basketball player is running to become South Carolina's first black governor. Dr. Jermaine Johnson will explain why he's the best person for the job.

Trump administration is bragging, taking the credit for a violent crime. going down, but the crowns have been declining since 2022 when Joe Biden was in the old office. We'll talk to the senior director of Public Safety, the Center for American Progress, about the numbers. Attorney General Todd Blanche is considering seeking the Supreme Court's intervention to compel states to hand over voting roles, but also why was he and the FBI director speaking at a Trump political rally when that's not what they're supposed to be doing? He actually broke the law.

California prosecutors told Jules that Tupacchekore's 1996 killing was an act of revenge. In today's opening statements, the defense says time, corruption, and a lack of facts be challenges in this case. Saturday, the National Association of Black Journalists gave out this annual Thumbsdown Award to five companies and individuals. One of them was Stephen A. Smith. He was not happy about it. So of the others not happy about it. But we're going to explain to you the history of the award and talk with the one of the founders of NABJ and the president who started the award. It's time to bring the phone and roll over my down and filter on the Blackstar Network.

Let's go. The race is that everyone is paying attention to is the congressional race to replace retiring congresswoman Frederica Wilson. And man, is this thing getting ugly? A text message has been going around claiming that Florida State Senator Chevron Jones, who is openly gay, is HIV positive. The anonymous text message was sent out to voters in Florida's 24th Congressional District. Now, Equality, Florida is investigating the text and considering legal action against the perpetrators.

Florida State Senator Chevron Jones joins us right now. Glad to have you on the show. So first of all, let's go, let's just break this whole thing down. So I was in Atlanta last week, the National Association of Black Journalists, and a couple of Florida reporters brought this to my attention. And they said that your opponent, he has disavowed this and it didn't come from them. Does your team know where did this thing start and any idea how many people have received it? Yeah, no, Rulins. We don't know where it started. I know I received the text message last Thursday at 10.58 a.m. I know there are other individuals who came, who live in Miami Shores, who said that they also received the text message. It seemed as if the text message was targeted in a very specific area. It seems like it was the area of the Miami Shores, Biscay and Gardens area because it has a very, it's a large white population here, very, very,

Some of them are conservative Democrats. Some are liberal, so there's all mixed type of people that's in here. So it seemed as it was targeted, but no one knows where it came from. But I do know, I spoke with equality in Florida. They're going to take legal action and just spoke with an attorney today who wants to represent me or anyone else in this going forward. But after the election tomorrow, though. And obviously, listen, with this text message, they're trying to. first of all, again, I don't know what their motive is, but clear they're trying to say,

oh, here's this gay guy who's running, but it's not like you haven't been out. It's old school. It's old school, Rowland. I mean, it's the same type of stigma that they, that's been used from years ago when you equate LGBTQ people to have HIV. I mean, listen, I don't have HIV, but even if I did, so what? Would that make me less qualified to serve? Will it erase 14 years of public service?

Will it make me less deserving of dignity and respect? Absolutely not. Because there are absolutely people who live in this country every single day with HIV, and they live free lives. But, you know, here's the most damning of it all. And that's the fact that in the state of Florida, just last this past legislative session, this administration was trying to cut ADAP funding, which is assistance for individuals living with HIV,

which provide assistance. And so for those people who even think that somebody from, my campaign or myself will send that text message for some type of media frenzy to happen. It's insane because that's nothing that should be played with and for whoever did it. It's the lowest thing that I have ever seen inside my political career. Well, people who also don't know, this is actually a real issue that dates back to when AIDS first came into the scene in the 1980s. Yeah. Well, I mean, back in the 1980s, you know, the individuals didn't want to touch gay people. When gay people came into restaurants, they didn't want them to eat off silverware.

I mean, the list goes on and on. When you look at the individuals who fought on the front lines for these things, like Harvey Milk and so many others, they were fighting against these same type of stigmatisms that we're seeing right now. And the shameful part about it, and I hate to, I hate to bring out. because this happened before when I ran, when I ran for the Senate. You know, they used the idea that I couldn't donate blood. And so because I couldn't donate blood, they used that as an opportunity to try to use this whistleblow to say that how I was gay.

Listen, yeah, at the end of the day, these same people are the ones who elected me and whoever did it. I can't wait until they do a deep investigation to see who it was because, again, I will say it's rolling. Yeah, if this is what you have to resort to in order to beat me, then you already told the vote with everything they need to know?

The, again, race is happening tomorrow. This has been extremely contentious, not just this race, but the race for another seat that may very well be filled by a white woman, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. And so what this really speaks to is a black political power power,

in South Florida. Yeah, it is. I mean, when you look at what's happened with the seats after this past legislative session of this consolidation of seats, I mean, there are no options for where black people can run. I mean, black representation in the state of Florida is almost, you know, a damn near non-existent.

And I keep warning people. I know we're fussing and fighting about what's happening right now, but the real fight, right? Now, I've spent 14 years in the legislature, six years in the Senate. And if we don't get two-thirds in the Senate, while the Senate is planning for the census in 2028, if we don't have the numbers to stop,

we're going to see worse gerrymandering than we even see right now with this mid-decade redistricting because we won't even have the numbers to stop any of this. So when we talk about black political power, it's slipping away in Miami-Dade County every single day. And I end with this. This seat. If Debbie wins this seat tomorrow,

you have Debbie's seat. And you have Maxwell Frost, but yet still, this is the last black district, black seat that we have in the state of Florida to be representing about a black person, the last seat. Representing 24 million people in this state. This is the last black seat. And it's in South Florida, and it's the largest black district in the state of Florida. And because they compacted all the black people in one area. Just I want to ask you this here, and that is for folks who don't know, is this winter take all tomorrow or if you, don't get 50 plus 1% is a go to a runoff because a new poll shows that you're up some 17 points

against Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert as well as lawyer Kendrick Meek Jr. son of the former congressman. And so explain that. Yep. So tomorrow is one of it takes all. There will be no runoff in this race. Listen, I told my team this morning when the poll came out, that's actually the fourth poll. that came, the other one came,

when early voting started. We're keeping our foot on the gas until 7 o'clock tomorrow. We're running like we're 17 points behind. All right then. Senator, Chevron Jones. I appreciate you joining us. Thanks a lot. Always. Yes, sir.

All right. I want to go to my panel right now to talk about this story and also this raised wind. Co-founder and CEO, Paul Tiki, for joining us from D.C. Dr. Omecongo to being a senior, professorial lecturer, School of International Service,

American University, author of Lies About Black People, How to Combat Racist, from D.C., Reverend Shonda Nicole Glatton, CEO of Good to the Soul, LOC, and Pastor of LaPotta, AME Church in Charles County, Maryland, glad they have all three of you here.

When, Coney, I just referenced this poll, and it is, look, you heard him say the black political power, But listen, in campaigns, campaigns get nasty. And listen, folks should be investigating where all of a sudden, again, this text message dropped late last week and it just started popping up on people's cell phones in the district. Yeah, Roland, I'm actually from South Florida, as you know, and so I'm from the district that's represented by Congressman Wasserman Schultz, but not too far from Senator Chevron's district. And this is just part of the disgusting part of South Florida politics, to be honest.

I wish I could say that I'm surprised, but unfortunately I'm not. But it's distasteful. And to Senator Jones's point, who cares if he did or if he didn't? This has nothing to do with his credibility and his competency to be in public office. He's been in public office. He's been an asset to the community in that office. And it also makes me think of something, Roland, as many of your viewers know, I'm Haitian-American. And I can't help but think of back in the 1990s when the CDC published the four Hs about HIV, right?

And it used to be four things, homosexuals, homophiliacs, heroin users, and Haitians, right? So I really always have a really big issue when people are misclassified based on how they identified or who they are, because now we know that HIV is based on none of those things, right? It's a blood-borne disease, and regardless of your sexuality or your ethnicity, you can contract it. Absolutely. Omicongo? I think it's just really disgusting, but at the end of the day, it's not surprising in this era that we live in, that people have learned that resorting to the culture wars and resorting to fear tactics is going to keep working until it doesn't. And so I'm glad that he has, you know, still ahead in the polls. I'm hoping that he does overcome this. And when they do this investigation, I mean, now where they droll in, it could be anybody.

It could be somebody local. It could be Russian bots, right, you know, who are doing these types of things. But we're only going to see more of this. We're only going to see people pick more at people's individual differences, orientations, races, gender, religions, and the like, because that's all they have. They have no other issues. And so my hope is that, especially now that we enter Trump 2.0, and we're seeing the complete and utter failure that he is and how he used the culture wars to get himself.

to this level that he's at right now, that people in Florida and across the country as these elections continue to go will actually start waking up and focus on actually voting in people who have a reputation, who have a strong resume, and we're actually going to do something about the issues. But until then, these politics of fear are unfortunately more successful than I wish they would be. Shonda? Yeah, you know, the politics of fear really do frustrate me, and the sad part about it is that people of faith are often called into the conversation because a lot of times we have done a disservice to the HIV community as well as the LGBTQ plus community and allowing the interpretation of scripture to be such that we demonize and weaponize both a status of HIV positive

that in and of itself has nothing to do with one's moral capacity or one's ability to lead as well as an LGBTQ plus person's identity within the realm of who we consider disposable. And so it is absolutely calling upon our community to think poorly of this one man who's trying to do a good job and continue to do a good job for his community in ways that bites at that divisiveness and the weaponization of culture and scripture and faith and ideology. I wish him the best, but I also wish better for people of faith. I'll also say this here. The reality is you can, if you, he said it's not true, but you can be HIV positive and serve in public office.

You can have AIDS and serve in public office. You can have cancer in serving public office. Let me remind people, let me remind people that Congressman Alessie Hastings, he had pancreatic cancer and continued to serve and died while in office. And so right in Florida. So I just want people to understand that whoever is sending this out, clearly that was a goal in mind, but that's not disqualifying to serve in public office. Facts are facts. Again, Florida votes tomorrow, Democrat Republican primaries.

Folks, go to the polls, maximize the vote, use your power, and speak at the ballot box. Going to a break, we'll be right back. Roller Martin unfiltered on the black study. network. All right, folks, let me get personal for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company, and she texts me right after saying it's a great benefit. It was easy, a real person walked her through the whole thing, and now she understands better what's going on. But also is not just her. A woman in Yonkers wrote in saying the process was so simple, the enrollment was easy, and she was so glad she called. Then there's

Maryland, 90 years old, in Florida, living on Social Security. Her premium client, every single year north of $400 a month for coverage she could barely afford anymore. So what does she do? She called Chapter. And they found her the same top-tier coverage for hundreds of dollars less, 90 years old, and finally, somebody in her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built to work for you.

Too much fine print, too many plans. Yet Chapter's advisors are independent and honest. The only Medicare advisors that compare every plan. nationwide. They're focused on one thing, what actually works for you. If you're already in the right plan, they'll tell you no games, and people who switched to a chapter saved an average of $11,100 a year. All takes us 20 minutes. You talk to a real person and it's completely free help. So call chapter at 724-264-864-8-281. That's chapter. I don't know about you, but I find it interesting that so many people think they know black men so well, how we feel, what we think, what we want, why we do what we do. Hell, they even told us why we vote and why we didn't vote, but never asked us what our aspirations were, what scared us, what pits us off, what we live for, how we live.

That's what this show is. No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking for us, but we do need to speak for ourselves. This is not a traditional election show. We don't need to speak through other people's lens. There's no translation right here on the Black Star Network. Join us. I'm Malcolm Lee, and you're watching the Black Star Network. We know Donald Trump lies.

He lies all the time. He makes stuff up and doesn't like getting fact checked. And he's been lying about crime. On Friday, the FBI release records showing a decrease in violent crime in 2025. Both of violent crime and murder rates, have gone down annually since going up in 2022. According to the agency's uniform crime report, the overall number of violent crimes declined by 9.3% in 2024.

The rate of murder and non-negligent manslaughter filled by 18.1%. Now, not all the data was positive. The analysis found that reported assaults on law enforcement officers had increased by 13. Okay, in all, but there's a slight description. So in all, there were more than 90,000 officers assaulted the line of duty a 10-year high. Now, his was interesting. Trump had a rally and from a bunch of law enforcement people.

Well, Attorney General, Todd Blanche, gave this stern warning to anyone when unlawfully touches law enforcement officers. This took place in Garden City, New York. The first year of this administration saw the largest decrease in violent crime, in 100 years. And what that shows you, it shows you what happens when you have a leader, when you have President Trump empowering all of us, empowering me, empowering federal law enforcement to partner with our state and local cops, sheriffs, everybody. It happens when you back the blue every step of the way.

My administration, in my Department of Justice, if anybody touches a federal law enforcement an officer in any way inappropriate, we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. I was recently confirmed as Attorney General of the United States, and I will, thank you. And I am not taking my foot off the gas. I know that the men and women in law enforcement, many in this room, many behind me, they want to know that their leaders support them and we do. They want to know that we support the work they're doing, the fact that they're sacrificing their that they're missing holidays, they're missing weekends, or missing dinners so that we all can live in a safe community.

And I will commit that I will hold every criminal accountable until every community in this country is as safe as Nassau County. Did he forget the partings for January 6th, 2021? Did he forget that Donald Trump pardon everybody who participated in the insurrection on January 6, 2021? Did he forget that Speaker Mike Johnson refused for a very long time to put up the plaque that recognize the Capitol Hill police officers and the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police officers

who protected the Capitol that was passed by Congress and was a law. Did any of those, pull a video up, did any of those cops standing up in their uniforms at this pep rally, just somehow forget all of that? What the hell? Nick Wilson, Senior Director for Public Safety

at the Center for American Progress joins us now. Nick, I'm going to deal with the crime stats later. But do they think we're this stupid that we forgot the vicious attacks on law enforcement, federal law enforcement, D.C. police officers where they were beaten and pepper sprayed and they suffer injuries. I mean, are they serious? They're not serious.

And that rally showed again and again. They weren't serious. Whether they were cheering around protecting qualified immunity or no tax on overtime. There's a lot of applause breaks, but they really wanted us to forget about that horrible day and the lack of a count. Get Bell, Pure Fiber Internet with a lot of time. Crave Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit.

Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. If your bookshelf and your for-you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story.

I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro Society on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

See you between the pages. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook on the Big Money Players Network. Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners. Each week, we talk to someone in show business, aka the biz, and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show.

We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, not that great. Actually, can you help me shape this? How about we flip it on his head, right? How about we flip the script? What is the surprise woman? Actually, you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird. Adam Scott. This entire time, you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to the,

visit the show. I would never expect, I have, I would never set expectations for something like that to happen. If the universe allows for something like that to happen, I'm open to it. I'm always going to accept. You know, Danny McBride, fine. Yeah, it's all this fragile masculinity exuding. I could smell it walking down the hallway, to be honest with you. I was like, is that weed?

Nope, it's fragile masculinity. Ben Stiller, no. Because a lot of times out of context, people don't get it or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? They're like, oh, what's just a state. Everyone's so dumb except for you. And fake. Right, fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life.

I don't care about your life. And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Hoda Kotvey, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. If you know me, you know, I'm always searching for inspiration and useful tools to maximize joy.

So this podcast lets us uncover those things together through meaningful conversations with fascinating people. Like when my friend Henry Winkler offered advice to aspiring actors and really anybody hoping to stand out. You're not hired just to fill time and space. You're hired to fill the space with you. You have something in your guts. You go with it.

And Sean Johnson recalled the moment she realized her now husband, Andrew, was the one. He was just so unapologetically himself and knew nothing of Hollywood. He hadn't been on a plane before without his family. It was so pure. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. An ability that we've seen every day since then, as they ignore one of the worst days against police violence,

violence against police in recent history. I mean, Nick, this, that crowd right there is a perfect example of why a lot of people despise police. Because they're used as props they're being hypocrites by applauding what he and Trump and Cass Patel said, as if Donald Trump also didn't try to create a nearly $2 billion slush fund to pay the very people who attacked cops and who was the person who was helping to set it up,

the Attorney General, Todd Blanche. I mean, I like to think that that wasn't a representative sample of all police. I've worked with a lot of police in places like Baltimore and D.C. that live in our community and do a dangerous and difficult job and really care about the victims and improving public safety. But when they participate in these rallies and support a president that does not care about them and it's only trying to win score political points off of them and don't care about making sure police have not only the tools to be successful to solve crime, but it's only also held accountable when they break the law or cause harm.

It's just as you said, it's not serious. Last point on this before I move on. We talk about the attacks on federal law enforcement. Cash Patel, FBI director, spoke at the very same rally. And Cash Patel, Todd Blanche, and Don't Trump, talked about fighting for and standing. ending up for federal law enforcement. But just correct me if I'm wrong, Nick. Hasn't Katz Patel fired a number of FBI agents

who were simply doing their job when it came to the raid in Mar-Lago and came to investigating certain things? So they don't actually support law enforcement. They really only support MAGA law enforcement and they oppose any law enforcement that actually investigates them. That's exactly right. Not only have thousands of FBI agents been fired,

others have been taking off really important cases, prosecuting violent crime, crimes against children, drug trafficking cases, and been forced to do immigration enforcement and going after people that aren't posing a threat. And not just the agents, but prosecutors, federal drug prosecutions of cartel leaders and organized crime leaders are at the lowest level since at least the 1990s, and they're pardoning political allies, people that have been

defrauding millions of dollars of taxpayer money and drug kingpins. And it's really all political points, and they will use police and these statistics as kind of backdrops at their political rallies. But they're doing, showing every day that they're undermines. the very work that they do to go after organized crime and keep guns and drugs out of our communities. So let's go to the stats. Trump says, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, I'm the reason why the stats are going down. But they started in 2022.

Who was president or who was the Oval Office occupant? They refused to mention that President Biden oversaw. most of these declines. You have to remember that actually murder spiked by 30% during Trump's final term in office. And then, yes, it went up some more and kind of steadied in 2022. But we saw record-breaking declines in both 2023 and 2024 in Biden's last year's in office. And here at the Center for American Progress, we calculated that nearly two-thirds of the drop in the national murder rate by the end of last year, actually since the 20th of the 20th century, 2020 peak actually happened before Trump re-entered the White House.

And it's funny that Trump and the people defending him, when the crime was going down under Biden, they attacked the statistics and said, you can't trust them or they're being skewed or they're being underreported. And now all of a sudden they have no problems to sat in the same statistics coming from the FBI. And Donald Trump loves to trash Blue City mayors, especially if you're black.

You probably have the stats in front of you. I already know we've had Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on. He loves trash in Baltimore. Seems like Baltimore has been doing a great job. That's that black mayor, Blue City. Crime is down in New York City. That's the mayor. Before it was Eric Adams down, Mom Donnie.

Is crime down in Chicago? Crime is down in Chicago, Philadelphia. It's down in all these cities that he attacked and threatened to send in the National Guard because they were so crime-ridden. I had the pleasure of working for Mayor Brandon Scott in Baltimore before joining Cap and helping him come up with an offense prevention plan that he's stuck with and is seeing record lows. And this year, it's going to, 2026 is going to be even safer than it's ever been in history.

But President Trump either ignores these facts or tries to take credit for it when he's done nothing but take money and cut grants and cut funding to the very programs that have been working to reduce crime in these cities. So, and again, this is what we keep laying out. So they claim they are tough on crime and they're going to fund these various things. But the reason, I want to speak to this year, the reason crime is down is not because Mayor Scott, Mayor Johnson, and the others just poured more resources into police department. What they actually did is take the concept

of defund the police and enact it, which was, let's not send all money by putting more cops on the street. In fact, Baltimore has done this with a reduction, a shortage of cops. So what they've done is, so when people said defund the police, they said, hey, Hey, let's not park so much money into just training and hiring more cops.

Let's actually confront all of the things that leads to crime. And that is how it's gone down. Yes or no? That is mostly correct. I will say that Mayor Scott has invested in law enforcement, and Governor Moore has made historic investments in the state. The problem is a lot of these cities, especially during the pandemic, but really having these officers shortages and they couldn't hire enough staff.

So what they did is they took their limited police resources, used data, use technology, and really focused on the small number of people in places that were driving violence and really knew them by name and communicated directly to them saying like, if you pick up the gun and you shoot someone, yes, we will hold you accountable, but we don't want that to happen. We are going to make sure that you have every resource and service available to provide an alternative pathway, whether it's emergency relocation of housing or job training or treatment or any other kind of cognitive behavioral therapy. And they really invested these resources in these people and places instead of doing what

Mayor Scott lived with and grew up with, which was just going into predominantly black neighborhoods and just arresting as many people or stopping them. They use intelligence-led policing to really focus on the small number of people and say, hey, we will hold you accountable, but we don't want to arrest you. We want to give you another way forward. It's been really effective. Yeah, I mean, again, it's called you deal with housing,

you deal with jobs, you deal with mental health, you deal with all of those different things. That's how you reduce crime. Because the reality is, for the most part, police investigate crimes that already happen. They actually don't prevent most crimes. Yeah, and I think investigating and solving more crimes is where we're seeing a lot more energy and a lot more excitement at the local level, where if you, we only, it's getting

better a couple of years ago, we were solving less than half of murders now in the 60s, but that still means that a lot of the time, too many crimes go unsolved and then people feel like they're not deterred. So instead of spending more money on aggressive police tactics or people just sitting in their car, police cars waiting for something to happen, they're hiring more detectives and giving them better training and using kind of crime, gun intelligence resources to use ballistic imaging and matching to really go after those people that are driving most of the violence. And when they know they're going to more likely to be caught, they're less likely to commit

a crime because they don't want to be arrested. And so there's this, it also builds trust with the community that, hey, if we're spending all this money on police, we want to make sure we're getting our money's worth and that they're actually catching the people that are committing homicides and not fatal shootings and not just arresting people for small amounts of drugs or loitering or these low-level offenses that don't really prevent other crime from happening in the first place. Absolutely. Nick, we appreciate and thanks a lot. Thank you for your time. All right, then. Go back to my panel, Omekong. I'm going to start with you. I mean, all his man does is a lot, and he takes credit for other people's homework.

I mean, remember in the first term when he kept taking credit for signing a veterans bill that Obama literally signed? Donald Trump is liar in cheap. I keep telling people, he will lie about a lie. I mean, the man's first instinct is to lie. And I really appreciate the segment and the comments that were made. But I'm just finding myself wondering when are police going to be speaking up, right, about this?

And the reason why I bring this up is because of course, we know that there are some police districts that are going to be read, no matter what, so on and so forth. But at the same time, they're also in a resource fight. Some of these districts with ice, right? You also see what's happening on the street with ice coming in and murdering citizens and non-citizens and walking Scott free,

people like, you know, Renee Good and the like. And Trump, they're... They said, assaults are up on plea on law enforcement. Now, what is he really doing about it? So the fact that, I mean, I know their shirts weren't really brown, but they were kind of a little kind of light, it just had me thinking kind of brown shirts. The fact that they're willing to go out there and stand behind this man and stand behind Todd Blanche and Cash Patel shouldn't have been there in the first place and let them

continue to lie when they know the stats, I mean, they must feel that they're getting something in return. Maybe they're getting enough racism, enough white supremacist mindset that's coming from their vitriol, that they feel comfortable letting this. man lie. But at the same time, we need to have more segments like this where people can actually look at the real reasons why crime is on the decline. I was watching on Morning Joda other day, and Scarborough was like, well, yeah, crime is on the low because police are getting to do their job now. And it couldn't be further from the truth when you talk about what, you know, Mayor Scott and

others are doing. And so really, at the end of the day, I wish more people would cover this, but I also wish more police departments to speak up because I know many of them are being stretched in by what Trump is doing and they shouldn't continue to let him use them as props. See, when Cooney, let's be real clear, Joe Scarborough is a Republican. Okay, he was a Republican in Congress is who he is. And when Cooney, when they say that crap, oh, they're going to do their job. They were doing their job before. But here's a deal.

People weren't opposed to cops doing their job. They're opposed to them not doing their jobs. They're opposed to them beating the shit out of people. They're opposed to them planning drugs. They're opposed to them planning evidence. They're opposed to them lying on police reports. That's what people are against. And so I love these people.

And Donald Trump is the one of, you know, we didn't let the cops do their jobs. Yes, but cops also deserve oversight. It's called protect and serve, the citizens, not each other. That's right, Roland. That's absolutely right. And I think we've continued to see America cry out for that. And when you say beating the shit out of people, let's be specific. They're beating the shit out of black and brown people, particularly.

And that's exactly what when we say defund the police, that's what we're alluding to. We want good police officers, competent police officers to be able to do their job. But what we can't stand for is Donald Trump using them as an armed militia. What we can't stand for is Donald Trump sending federal law enforcement into cities to police and patrol them, right? Because that's not the reason why we see crime decreasing. We can all agree here that Donald Trump inherited an already decreasing crime trajectory, and now he's toting it as his victory. This shouldn't be surprising. We know he's a bully.

We know he doesn't play fair on the playground. And, of course, he's going to take credit for somebody else's work. But if we really look at the statistics, we see that this crime trend has been decreasing. It started decreasing under the Biden administration, and God willing, it will continue to decrease. We don't hate any one person enough that we'd want crime to go up under their jurisdiction, but let's be real. Just because crime is decreasing under the Donald Trump presidency doesn't mean that there's a correlation of his presidency with the decreasing crime rate.

No, and bottom line is these MAGA people, they will accept this man lies. They won't fact check. Fox News, Shonda, will just be, oh, my God, our glorious leader, he's. is stunning. He is amazing. He is just unbelievable. And they will even lie to their own viewers and listeners because their entire job is to kiss his poopy pants butt at every turn. And he's absolutely taking credit for somebody else's real work, specifically as a pastor and a woman of faith. I can tell you since 2012 live free. Pastor Mike McBride, my homie, Rosie Bryant and my team there, all of them have been doing the work of community-driven,

faith-driven interventions to reduce violent crime in black and brown communities all across the country. So no, he does not get to take the credit because, yes, we can say nationally violent crime is down, but we will not ascribe it to our current president's administration. But we also must not overlook or gloss over the reality that violent crime is nationally being reported as being reduced, but there are still huge pockets, particularly I think about college campuses just this month. We're looking at college campuses getting shot up at a larger number with students and community members getting ready to go back to school. I don't think we can even

think about this national crime statistic being something that the current administration has any right to, but shout out to live free. All right, folks. I want to go back to Todd Blanche, y'all, because at the same rally, he actually said the Justice Department could take his efforts to obtain states' voter rolls all the way to the Supreme Court following its lost in 22 federal courts. In March, 2005, Donald Conn-Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to take action on election oversight. Acting on the order, the DOJ began demanding states turn over their official list of arrest to voters. The department filed 30 lawsuits against states, including red states, they refuse to turn over their roles.

They've lost 22 of those cases. So far. And the Constitution designates states is having the primary authority over the administration of elections. And Blan said the president, Donald Trump, understands that, but it doesn't mean the federal government should not play a role.

This is what he says Sunday I'll meet the press. One of the issues that he really cares about, the midterms, and there's been a lot of focus on the midterms as it relates to the Justice Department, which has lost 22 cases trying to force states to turn over their voter rolls. State officials have pushed back against those moves. They say states dictate how elections are run, not the federal government. Is it time for the DOJ to drop this fight and will you do it?

Well, just, I mean, we're relying on a statute, a statute passed by Congress that allows us in the right circumstances to review and get those voter rolls. And so, yes, no, we're not going to stop doing what, I think every American should expect us to do, which is make sure that we have elections that are fair. And as that relates to the Department of Justice, that means making sure that there are no constitutional legal violations even at the state level. So yes, the President Trump, this administration knows and of course. Get Bell, purefiber internet with Crave Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed

for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Connection is everything. If your bookshelf and your for-you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story.

I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives,

smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to pro society on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your book. podcasts. See you between the pages.

Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook on the Big Money Players Network. Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners. Each week, we talk to someone in show business, aka the biz, and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time, and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman. Not that great. Actually, can you help me shape this?

How about we flip it on his head? How about we flip the script? What is the surprise woman? Actually, you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird. Adam Scott, this entire time you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show. I would never expect. I would never set expectations for something like that to happen. If the universe allows for something like that to happen,

I'm open to it. I'm always going to accept. You know, Danny McBride, fine. Yeah, it's all this fragile masculinity exuding. I could smell it walking down the hallway, to be honest with you. I was like, is that weed? Nope, it's fragile masculinity. Ben Stiller, no.

Because a lot of times, out of context, people don't get it or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? They're like, oh, what's just a state. Everyone's so dumb. And fake. Right. fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life. I don't care about your life.

And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. If you know me, you know, I'm always searching for inspirational. and useful tools to maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover those things together through meaningful conversations with fascinating people.

Like when my friend Henry Winkler offered advice to aspiring actors and really anybody hoping to stand out. You're not hired just to fill time and space. You're hired to fill the space with you. You have something in your guts. You go with it. And Sean Johnson recalled the moment she realized, her now husband, Andrew, was the one.

He was just so unapologetically himself and knew nothing of Hollywood. He hadn't been on a plane before without his family. It was so pure. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Of course understands that states administer elections, and that will always be the case. But it doesn't mean the federal government should play no role. And so the tension there is, of course, whether we should be playing the role that we're playing. And that's really what we're litigating.

How far are you willing to take this fight? Because you've been ruled against now 22 times. Are you going to take this all the way to the Supreme Court? Do you anticipate? We'll see. We'll see what happens. We're trying to work out with states. Of course.

Yes, absolutely. It's a possibility. Election integrity is something that President Trump ran on and the American people elected him. It's something that every American should care about. And so the idea that the Department of Justice is trying to investigate issues around elections to make sure they're fair and make sure they're conducted the right way is not something that we should be running away from. That's something we should be running right towards. I want to- Liars, liars, liars, liars, pants on fire, liars.

They're trying to rig the elections, Shonda, pure and simple. Yeah, so we know what has happened over the course of the last. two elections. This notion of rigging the elections is something I think is a very strong point for us to think about. Because by and large, as we look at voter records being purged, as we look at individuals being not able to vote in the same jurisdictions where they have over the course of people who have lived in communities for 20, 30, 40 years, I think the concept that they are trying to rig elections is an accurate one. And it's one that I think in terms of how the people, the communities of faith can stand up to those rigged election

conspiracies, that we can be in sure that we have people who are serving as election judges. When I lived in the city, outside of the city of Chicago, I was very proud to go and to become a Cook County election judge. And so as people of faith, do go to your local elections and make sure you are signing up as an election jug on either side of the aisle. You can sign up to be a poll chaplain on either side, because it's not a partisan. But if we have community eyes in the rooms as elections are happening, and even if we have some of our own people on the ballot, we can certainly avoid or mitigate the challenges around election

rigging. In terms of making sure that we're being active and not passive participants in the voting process, I think that's integral. And especially as we have big elections happening tomorrow, my home state of Florida, this is something that people can use as oversight to get involved. Well, let's go back to what Blanche was saying. I think there's so much controversy here, Roland, because it's really about who's being monitored and why. When we look at the lawmakers, the Democratic lawmakers, they have consistently raised concerns that these federal elections have been disproportionately deployed in Democratic-leaning

jurisdictions. I tend to agree. We already talked about how this voter role access is playing out. you know, Attorney General Blanche has straight up said that there is not going to be a promise that the Justice Department is going to operate independently of the White House. He said an attorney general should not make such a pledge. I thought their job was to be beholden to that separation. So it's really concerning when you have an attorney general that really is again and again serving at the leisure of the president and not the United States people. It's quite concerning but it's it's who he is and he's considering he's continuing to stand ten toes down on that.

Amicongo bomb line is they no separation period. Yeah and you know normally I feel like these Sunday shows are you know so I get us so annoyed when they have these guys on to get out there and sprout their lives but what I'm particularly happy about of this one is because he made it clear like in case anybody had any doubt, hey, Senator Cassidy, like in case any of these guys had any doubts, you know, Tillis and all of these other folks, he's made it clear that he lied to all of you all. And when they talk about, oh, you expect me to predict a future about what he's going to do? No, you had his past to go off of.

And so now that everybody understands that, Democrats should be chopping this up for advertisements and social media. Like, all of these campaigns really write themselves right now. And so for any of the American people out there who thought there's going to be any type of daylight between Blanche and Trump and RFK and all of these other guys, just know the facts right now that you're dealing with lying liars and you actually have to move forward. You got to get out there and vote. You got to get out there and protest.

You got to get out and call these companies to the shed that are supporting them because they've made everything clear. And if we don't make a change now, the fault is ours. Indeed, indeed. Gotta go to the break. We come back. South Kallon, Democrat, Goodman, Tour, candidate for governor, Jermaine Johnson, joins me also in the next hour.

We'll talk about the National Association of Black Journalists handing out five thumbs down awards. Two individuals, three companies, no, three individuals, two companies, one of the individuals, Stephen A. Smith, is not happy with that award. We'll show you what was given out, announced on Saturday. We'll show you what the president said.

We'll show you some of his response. And we'll talk to current president, Aaron Haynes, and we'll talk to the NABJ president and co-founder who actually started the awards. Yes, that's why you always want to keep it locked on Rollin Martin Unfiltered, because we about facts here and we bring the funk in doing so. Support our work, join our Bring the Funk fan club.

The goals get 20,000 of our fans contributing on average 50 bucks each a year as a full of the 19 cents a month, 13 cents a day. Support this show and all the other shows right here. here on the Black Star Network. You want to contribute via cash app. Use a Stripe QR code. You see it right here. That's for also credit cards.

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Roland at Rowlandsmartin.com. Rolling at rolling-martinunfilter.com. We'll be right back. All right, folks. Let me get personal for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company, and she texts me right after saying it's a great benefit. It was easy.

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somebody in her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built to work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans. Yet Chapter's advisors are independent and honest, the only Medicare advisors that compare every plan nationwide. They're focused on one thing. What actually is. works for you. If you're already in the right plan, they'll tell you. No games. And people who switched to a chapter saved an average of $1,100 a year. All Texas 20 minutes, you talk to a real person and it's completely free. Help. So, call Chapter at 724-264-864-8-281. 7-24-264-8-1. That's Chapter.

I don't know about you, but I find it interesting that so many people think they know black men so well, how we feel. what we think, what we want, why we do what we do. Hell, they even told us why we vote and why we didn't vote, but never asked us what our aspirations were, what scared us, what pisses us off, what we live for, how we live. That's what this show is.

No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking for us, but we do need to speak for ourselves. This is not a traditional election show. We don't need to speak through other people's lens. So no translation, right here on the Black Star Network. Join us. What's happening? This is your man Motown recording artist Kim. You are watching the Black Star Network. All right, folks. Huge election takes place in November. Most focuses on U.S. Senate races, on congressional races, but there are critical gubernatorial, state rep, state Senate, county commissioner, city hall, school board, DA, judicial races happening across the country as well.

in South Carolina for the governance race. Democrat, Dr. Jermaine Johnson, who has served in the House of Representatives since 2004, will be facing Republican Alan Wilson in that particular race. Now, Johnson and his running mate Sam Scarton, a former congressional aide to the late Congressman and civilized leader John Lewis, again, facing Republicans Alan Wilson

and his running mate, State Senator Mike Reichenbach. Dr. Johnson and Scarton say they will slash income taxes, bill affordable housing, pass hate crimes bill, and more. Johnson joins us right now. I'm glad to have you here. Doc, very simply, you are in a red state. How can you beat Democrats there, excuse me, Republicans there when South Carolina ain't elected a Democrat governor in a long time? Yeah, well, the simple fact is South Carolina has been under a single party rule for so long. Over two decades, we've been dealing with the same thing.

24 years, as a matter of fact, that this state has been under single party rule. And what has happen is it has gotten us nothing. It's gotten us being 20, essentially 43rd in education. I mean, we've got the worst roads. We've got the worst bridges in the entire country. They love to demonize California, but you're more likely to be murdered in South Carolina than you are to be murdered in California. You know, our teachers are being underpaid. We have some of the most crime-ridden cities in this entire country, but yet we have individuals who want to demonize us and call us radicals. socialist. This state is primed to be turned purple. It's time for us to tower. It's time for us to

stand up. And the people of South Carolina, they're just ready for change. You talk about all that needs to happen in South Carolina. You talk about those particular issues. I was just, again, I was just making clear in terms of what happened there. I mean, listen, this right here, you're right. This is the last Democrat who's been governor, Jim Hodges, that was in 2000. and three, and it's been Ruby Red. What is the issue there? Because I've talked to many people, and they say the problem is not that it's hardcore red,

is that you got lots of folks who could be supporting Democrats who just don't vote specifically African Americans. Yeah, that's the main problem here. We hear that South Carolina is a Ruby Red state, but it's not a Ruby Red state. It's a no voting state. People are just not turning out to vote. We have over 300,000 African Americans who have not voted since Barack Obama.

But I can tell you one thing. We have 31,000 first-time voters. And I met many of those individuals by walking the early voting lines. And those individuals were saying, hey, Jermaine, I got registered to vote just so I could vote for you. You know, over the last 20-plus years, have just felt like they have not had anybody that they can believe in, anybody that they can actually vote for and feel like it's not the lesser of two evils. And what you are saying now in South Carolina is we have Republicans, we have Democrats, we have independents who were just fed up with the status quo. And that's why you see I have a big bipartisan of support all across the state.

I mean, on line right now, you can see Republicans who are sticking up for me and defending the things to do for the state. They're tired of what they have been saying. And we know the definition of insanity is just doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well, what is going to be different if we elect Alan Wilson as the next governor of South Carolina? Nothing will change. We'll still have an abysmal health care system. We'll still have crime-ridden cities. We'll still have no minimum wage.

We'll still have all these problems. And the people of South Carolina, they're fed up and they want something new. So when I look at the results, go to my iPad, in 2022, the Democratic candidate lost by 295,000. 8010. It was 58% to 40%. What's your pathway to victory? When you look at those numbers, I mean, essentially, you're gonna have to make up a lot of damn votes. Have y'all sat down and studied all the counties,

all the precincts in South Carolina? And can you, do you see a pathway to victory? There absolutely is a pathway to victory. And I love the fact that you brought up probably the worst performing year that Democrats have had on record here in South Carolina. You know, I just mentioned those 300,000 black folk that have not voted since Barack Obama. If you give those 300,000 votes to the last Democratic candidate for Governor Joe Cunningham, he wins that race. You know, so we have numbers to win here.

If you remember back in 2020 when Jamie Harrison was running, you know, against Lindsey Graham, President Donald Trump, of course, he was on that ticket, that. year as well but Jamie Harrison got 1.1 million votes so what that shows us is there are at least 1.1 million people in south Carolina that are willing to vote for a democrat and a black guy statewide what that also shows us is that in 2022 when McMaster ran if you can bring that that back got 98000 we can absolutely win this race all we have to do was turn out those 1.1 1.2 million voters in south Carolina and we have to numbers to go ahead and flip this state.

South Carolina, of course, is where secession started when it came to the Civil War. How do you reach those white voters? How do you convince the white voters in South Carolina that they should vote for a black man for governor of their state? See, I've been going up to those areas. Even in my district alone, you know, I have a lot of crossover support. I've been talking to a lot of those moderate Republicans, even some of those magazines, even some of those MAGA Republicans,

and they are tired of status quo. You can go online yourself and look at social media, and you can see a lot of those far-right Republicans are saying they actually like me. If you go on one of the South Carolina Republican Party pages right now, you can see Republicans actually defending me because they tried to call me a radical socialist. And you see Republicans saying,

nah, we know this guy, Jermaine. He's not like what y'all are trying to paint him out to be. And that's because I've spent time on the ground. I've spent time in these communities, and I spent time cultivating these relationships with everybody in the General Assembly and these people who are in these communities. So if you look at my voting record,

if you look at people who have been supporting me, you will see Republicans who are openly supporting our campaign for governor right now. You know, usually they say they'll support you behind the scenes. Well, no, not now. They are openly supporting me and saying that they are just tired of what's been going on. They want a lot of the same things that I'm talking about.

They want their infrastructure fixed. they want better education. They want better health care. Even, you know, some of the Republicans myself have talked to me and said, you help us expand Medicaid in South Carolina. They want these things to happen, but they are so afraid of the president of the United States right now

that they are afraid to speak up and speak out against somebody like me who was willing to go against the grain. You mentioned the race with Lindsey Graham. Go to my iPad. that was Lindsey Graham versus Jamie Harrison. And when you look at this race, you talk about those votes, you're right.

It shows right here that Jamie Harrison got $1.1 million. He lost by $258,000. And so, look, you've got to have a high turnout. You've got to have a massive black turnout. And one of the things that I have been saying to people over and over and over again, where black people are located in big numbers, we've got to have a minimum of 70% black turnout in order to win.

Yeah, I'm shooting for 80. You know, I'm shooting for 80%. Just looking at the historical context here, I'm only the second black person in the history of South Carolina to be the nominee for governor. You know, and the first time was the guy by the name of Theo Mitchell, and that was back in 1990. So just with the fact that I'm up here,

I understand a lot of the issues, the concerns of the African-American and the black community was going on. I've got an history of working with all sides of the political spectrum here. And I've been working with a lot of people just across the island everywhere. And we have far more in common than we have in terms of differences. And as long as we have this massive turnout, which is what I'm seeing is going to happen, like we had in the bear here, people at the trends continue, if the momentum continues, people are excited here in South Carolina for the first time

in a very long time. There's nowhere I can go in South Carolina where I'm not getting recognized now. People are excited and they're ready and they just want me to be able to keep the issues at the forefront not as musling a contest that they want to call these name calls

competition that they want to have. They want somebody who was just going to talk about the issues that people are facing every day in South Carolina. Quick questions from my panel. I'ma Congo. You're first. I wish you were the best of luck in your campaign. And one of the questions I have is how concerned are you about voter suppression efforts in South Carolina? So that's actually going to happen.

I've already predicted that it's going to happen. You're going to see some ballot harvesting. You're going to see the effort by Donald Trump. As you already probably have seen, he'll be down here in some point this week trying to campaign for Darling Graham. We know something that's going to happen. So the phrase we're using is, is when too big rig. because we know that that's going to be their effort. It's traditionally their effort that they try to do

is suppress the trying to erase voters off of the voting rolls now. They're looking for the data of voters. They're trying to do all the different tactics. They're trying to close the primaries because they know here in South Carolina when you have all primaries, after register our party.

They're trying all different types of things right now. So this may be our last shot at having an open and fair election here in Atlanta if they get their way. Whenconi. Dr. Johnson, you've gone from representing House District 52 to now running statewide for governor. What did you learn in the legislator that fundamentally changed how you think South Carolina should be governed? Well, I learned that 90% of that we talk about, we all agree on. And that has been one of the things that I wanted to make sure came to the forefront, which is why I continuously just talk about the

issues that South Carolina are facing every day. We don't have a minimum wage in this state. We just follow whatever the federal government says. And a lot of these guys that are in the General Assembly, a lot of the Republicans, they will say one thing in front of the cameras and then do something completely different behind the scenes. They'll back room and say, Jermaine, I don't agree with any of them. I agree with that. But if I vote this way, then I'm going to get prime maired and they're going to come and they're going to get me out of office, so they're going to bring somebody who's worse off than I am in here, and they just kind of do what they are told to do. They just kind of follow whatever the president of the United

States says to do. None of those individuals even wanted to go through with the redistricting situations shot down, but President Donald Trump, he called down here to South Carolina, and he said, y'all will go to the session, you will do this, and that's what happened. But thank God, somebody understood that it's kind of good to have a Congressman Clyburn up there just in the simple fact we may have another Democratic president. And they need to continue on with these good relationships so that we don't have something to happen to us that could happen to other places in America. So I learned in the General Assembly that I can work with anybody and everybody, and it really doesn't matter what political ideology they prescribe to. Shonda. I wish you well. I'm praying for you and your candidacy, but you have built your campaign.

on being a true South Carolina first governor, right? And you've named this running mate whose work centers on lending small business owners that banks wouldn't touch. So I want to know how do you, because I have family in rural South Carolina, how do you speak to an actual like policy mechanism and not just a message that will convince

those rural working class voters that your administration can actually reach them? Yes. Well, you know, I've done, I've already done a couple of times And I let my actions speak. Get Bell, Pure Fiber Internet with Crave, Netflix, and Disney Plus from $94 a month. price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability.

Bell, connection is everything. If your bookshelf and your for-you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Pros Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest

pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, and that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro Society on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements.

We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook on the Big Money Players Network. Our show is extremely accessible to first. time listeners. Each week we talk to someone in show business, aka the biz, and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, not that great. Actually, can you help me shape this? How about we flip it on his head, right? How about we flip the script?

What is the surprised woman? Actually, you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird. Adam Scott This entire time You've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show I would never Let go of that I have

I would never set expectations for something like that to happen If the universe allows for something like that to happen I'm open to it I'm always going to accept you know Danny McBride Fine Yeah it's all this fragile masculinity Exuding I could smell it walking on the hallway to be honest with

I was like, is that weed? Nope. It's fragile masculinity. Ben Stiller, no. Because a lot of times out of context, people don't get it or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? They're like, oh, what's a state? Everyone's so dumb.

And fake. Right, fake and also not interested. Or just like, oh, I've got my life. I don't care about your life. And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Oh, and by the way, Will Farrell told us personally, He loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Hoda Kotbby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. If you know me, you know, I'm always searching for inspiration and useful tools to maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover those things together through meaningful conversations with fascinating people. Like when my friend Henry Winkler offered advice to aspiring actors and really anybody hoping to stand out. You're not hired just to fill time and space. You're hired to fill the space with you. You have something in your guts. You go with it.

And Sean Johnson recalled the moment she realized her now husband, Andrew, was the one. He was just so unapologetically himself and knew nothing of Hollywood. He hadn't been on a plane before without his family. It was so pure. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I created something in my district called the Lower Rich and Tech Academy. And that Lower Rich and Tech Academy, it teaches low coding and no coding technologies to people in rural communities. And it teaches them how to start their own virtual businesses.

It teaches people how to do little things like solving community issues, rural community, problems that they have there and with the creating of this uh this this technology academy that i did it is actually starting small businesses right in the town of east over south carolina if y'all know we're east over south carolina is a very very small rural town and uh we started 40 small businesses right there by investing 500 000 into this program i've got something called the south carolina resource independence and resiliency act and uh i even talked about this when i was on on the breakfast club with Charlemagne. And what we talked about was

the fact that South Carolina only produces 11% of the food that it consumes every single year. That means a majority of our food and resources are coming from other states and other countries. This bill would actually have the state's government to actually

start rural farmers, rural communities that have small businesses so that we can produce at least 25% of our critical resource that we need by the year. 2036 what that would do to rural communities that would literally have farmers have to double in size over because we would have to be going to these rural communities to get our to get our our small energy needs to get these different things that would allow businesses to expand rural communities

would get the money that they need that it desperately deserved and we would be able to just grow our economy on the small businesses in the state I have another question then because you talk a lot about the digital work or the online work that you're going to be able to do in these rural south carolina communities but what about that digital tech divide that there's so many in the rural south carolina area that can't even access broadband sufficiently so do you have and i don't want to push push but do you have an answer for that yeah and i love the fact that you're pushing because thanks to joe biden everybody's getting broadband here in south carolina so even in my

district everybody's having broadband and the internet as well and obviously we've got to give kudos to a blue president who was who providers with those funds so that people could get and also Congressman Clyburn helping to bring those funds right here to South Carolina that everybody is now going to have access to broadband internet. A couple one question for me. Are you getting the support you need from the Democratic Governors Association and Democratic donors outside of your state? So the DGGA, they are now about to start helping out with a lot of things. I've been a part of the DGA's, like their retreats. I've been to a few of those already.

I've talked to Governor Beer about some things. So they'll be getting more involved what we have here. What I've been hearing is that now they truly believe that South Carolina is prime to finally elect a Democrat governor for the first time and so long. So now people actually are seeing the trends happening here and they believe a good year for all of us. You know, so we're going to continue asking for more and more, you know, because we don't want the South to be forgotten. People must know that the South is the place where we are migrating to, and we have to make sure that there is on what's happening. We are first in the nation now. So anybody that wants to be president is going to have to get the people of South Carolina to support them.

We can always use more support. We can always use more content campaign. I believe the momentum is trending in the right direction. All right then. And so that is it for us. And I'm surprised, Dr. Johnson, you ain't slide in your website. Well, listen, hey, I appreciate it. I appreciate you letting us know that.

Doc, if you're going to do this, Doc, you got to mention, I'm just saying, if I'm you, I'm mentioning at least two or three times, slide it in. Well, let me go ahead and do that right now. I don't want to take over your show. So you know, you can go to Johnson for SC.com If you want to get more information about the campaign, you want to get involved.

If you're in South Carolina, free to sign up to be a volunteer. If you're not, you can contribute to the campaign. We can desperately use some assistance to expand our message to go ahead and continue reaching the voters where they are. We know this is a big state. There's 5.4 million people in this state,

and we've got to get in front of everybody so that they know that there is a better option than what they've been seeing for the last 24 years. that there is an opportunity to build this new South Carolina. And that is exactly what we're gonna do together. We're gonna build this new South Carolina because this is the opportunity for all of us. And I'm not gonna give you too much,

Brother Martin, but as a man of five-beddic fraternity incorporated, we have to make sure that we are back. Again, it's a nice little youth group. Just wanna let you know. Alpha knows how to ask for money. So you've been to another black churches. So, it took an alpha to tell you how to ask for some money. All right, good luck, Doc.

See, you should even brought that up. See, you brought all that pain on yourself. And I got one of your little frat brothers in the control room so happy because he finally got a Sigma on the show doing something because normally it's alphas. All right, I appreciate, Doc. Thanks a bunch. All right, y'all.

Saturday night in Atlanta, National Association of Black. journalists had their salute to excellence awards gala and at the gala announced the five awardees of the nabj thumbs down award roll it 2026 nabj thumbs down award each year at its annual convention nabj presents the thumbs down award to an individual organization whose actions reporting or institutional practices have significantly undermined fair accurate and inclusive journalism about black communities or have otherwise acted in ways fundamentally at odds with NABJ's mission and values. The award recognizes conduct that harms black journalists, weakens newsroom equity or editorial independence, reinforces damaging

portrayals of black people, or compromises the public service mission of journalism. This year we have chosen to highlight five recipients to reflect the breadth of harmful actions against black journalists and across our profession. Britain Carr, Chair of the Federal Communications Commission. Since assuming leadership of the FCC, Carr has repeatedly used the agency's regulatory authority in ways that have raised serious concerns about press freedom and editorial independence. His actions have targeted news organizations through licensing scrutiny, while amplifying efforts to pressure media and communications companies to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion

initiatives. Together, these actions have contributed to a chilling, environment for independent journalism and threaten the diversity of voices essential to serving the public interest. CBS. Under its current leadership, CBS eliminated its race and culture unit and implemented newsroom workforce reductions that disproportionately affected journalists of color. The company has also faced sustained internal disputes over editorial independence and newsroom decision making. Taken together, these actions have diminished specialized coverage. of underrepresented communities and raise significant concerns about the organization's commitment

to diverse journalism, editorial integrity, and public trust. DeWan McCoy, owner, president, and CEO, Circle City Broadcasting, Parent Company of Wish TV. McCoy's leadership has been the subject of multiple allegations regarding the treatment of black journalists, raising serious concerns about workplace equity, newsroom culture, and professional accountability. These reported practices are inconsistent with the standards of fairness, inclusion, and respect that NABJ has long championed throughout the journalism profession. Stephen A. Smith, sports analyst and political commentator. Smith has established a recurring public pattern of disparaging commentary directed at prominent black women across politics,

sports, and media. Such commentary reinforces harmful narratives, undermines the fair and respectful representation of black women in public discourse and stands in direct conflict with NABJ's long-standing commitment to accurate, responsible, and inclusive portrayals of black communities. The Washington Post. The Washington Post implemented layoffs and newsroom restructuring that disproportionately affected black and other journalists of color, including reporters covering race, identity, extremism, protest movements, and other essential public interest beats. Productions also weakened reporting capacity across opinion, international, local, and sports coverage. These decisions diminished newsroom diversity and subject matter expertise at a moment when robust, inclusive journalism is critical to public accountability and democratic understanding.

Folks, here is some of what was said Saturday night by NABJ's president, Dr. Aaron Haynes. NABJ bestows its Thumbs Down Award on an individual or an organization whose actions undermine fair and accurate coverage of black communities, reinforce racist or stereotypical narratives, or advanced practices that conflict with NABJ's mission and values. This year, I believe it is especially important to understand this award in a larger context. At a moment when journalism is facing growing political, economic and institutional pressure, the stakes extend beyond any single offensive statement, newsroom decision, or individual journalist. Decisions about who owns media, who controls newsrooms,

which journalists and beats receive investment, and which reporters can work without political or corporate interference, shape what stories get told, whose experiences matter, and whether journalism can hold powerful institutions accountable. These are not abstract questions because they determine who gets to tell the story of America. And at a time when the public needs rigorous reporting on the forces that are shaping people's lives, eliminating journalists and subject matter expertise weakens journalism's ability to serve the public and hold power accountable. Now look, I know the Thumbs Down Award can make people uncomfortable.

good. Because accountability is not supposed to be comfortable. The theme of this week has been our revolution, truth, power, and black journalism. We cannot spend an entire week talking about truth and power and then become timid when it is time to tell the truth to power. We cannot talk honestly about what is happening to journalism right now without talking honestly about who is making the decisions that are shaping journalism. These things don't just happen? Newsrooms don't become less diverse by accident. Journalists do not simply find themselves without institutional support by accident. Press freedom does not erode by accident. Editorial standards do not bend themselves. People make decisions. Executives make decisions.

Government officials make decisions. Companies make decisions. Companies make decisions. And if you... All right, folks, I'm going to play her full remarks at the end of the show. Now, obviously, the inclusion of Stephen A. Smith got lots of attention. That's what most people have focused on, not the other four awardees.

Stephen A. Smith dropped a 44-minute video on his YouTube channel. Here is some of his response. What's up, everybody? It's your boy, Stephen A. I'm on vacation. I've been out of the mix the last few days because I'm busy about to send my daughter to college. And while I was hanging out with her for dinner on Saturday night, I saw that the National Association for Black Journalists gave me a thumbs down award.

Now, I know there's a lot of people that are expecting me to go nuclear. And the reality of the situation is I just might. But at this particular moment, that's not my inclination. I want to tell you, first off, before I say anything, I heard them loud and clear. I'm listening. I'm far from perfect. And I will always strive to do better. on behalf of my community for the journalism community and beyond in the days and the weeks and the years to come.

But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to address what was said about me with the fervor that it deserves. because even though I heard you, even though I am listening, even though I will always strive to do better, that doesn't negate the bullshit that the NABJ did Saturday night or Friday night, whichever night it was. Again, you can go to Steve A. Smith's YouTube channel, you see his full response. Now, for disclosure, I am the current Vice President Digital for NABJ.

This is the fourth time I've served on the board of directors, first as National Student Representative, second as Secretary, previously as VP Digital. When the board had its deliberations over our special awards, I actually was traveling, giving a speech, did not participate in the vote, wasn't aware of the awardees. and when I sitting there at the dinner on Saturday, I found out just like the rest of the membership. But the reason I wanted to have this conversation because a lot of people have been commenting

and I don't know what they're talking about. And let me just walk you through this before I bring on my two guests. The Thumbs Down Award was first given out in 1989, folks. So we have the full list for you. So you understand. There have been 44 awardees, seven individuals. Let's start.

Last year, 2025, the board chose not to give the award out. 2004, the award went to the NFL for the lack of black managers and full-time black journalists on staff. 2023, not given. 2022, not given. 2021, NABJ's Thumbdown Award went to Walter Hussman for exposing tenure for the 1619 projects of Nicole Hannah-Jones at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. 2020 went to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for unfairly prohibiting two black journalists from covering protests in the city following the death of George Floyd, as well as the Cleveland Plain Dealer for job cuts and changes which sparked a huge exodus of non-white journalists from their newsroom.

2019, the American Society newspaper editors for not voluntarily providing information on staff diversity for its 2018 newsroom employment diversity survey to CNN for not acknowledging NABJ's call to elevate and hire black employees with critical and executive level data. news decision-making roles. I was on that board and led that effort. 2018, KTV UTV displayed an insensitive Facebook photo of Neil Wilson, an 18-year-old black woman who had been stabbed to death on a BART platform. 2017, Fox News for numerous reasons, lawsuits accused in the cable news network of sex harassment, racial discrimination, and the lack of diversity in key positions. Ebony Media Organization, his parent company, Clearview Group, were failing to meet a self-imposed deadline to compensate as many as 50 freelance writers who were owed as much as $200,000.

2016, Dow Jones and Company, the New York Times, the Washington Post for paying white male employees more than journals of color. No award given in 2015, 2014 to NPR. 2013, not given. I don't have the reason for NPR in 2014, but I hope we'll grab it. 2012, Time magazine for lack of diversity within the reporting corps. 2011, Fox, Fox Business, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, and Bloomberg, for the lack of diversity and a failure to hire, replace African-American journalists in prime time anchor and decision-making roles. I was on that board, I participated in that vote.

No award given in 2010 nor 2009. 2008, Fox News and Pat Buchanan for its controversial commentary, including columns like A Brief for Whitey and The Way Our World Ends, which featured racially insensitive remarks about black Americans and demographic shifts. 2007, B.E.T. for not and the Corrida Scott King, Fool Funeral Services Live. 2006, no award given. 2005, Armstrong Williams for disclosing the, he accepted $240,000 from the Bush administration

to promote the no child left behind law. 2004, Jason Blair, who lied, who tied his fabulousism, to diversity hiring what he was, of course, at the New York Times, and he plagiarized. Also, 2003, the award not given. 2002, William McGowan for his book coloring the news. 2001, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review for a nasty editorial about after the Washington Post, Catherine Graham died. U.S. News and World Report received the Thumbs Down Award for his photo of a black woman

in a tree used to illustrate the floods in Mozambique that year. No award given in 2000, in 1999, 99, 919. 1988, 1997. In 1996, the New Republic Magazine for a story by writer Ruth Shalett that disparaged diversity efforts at the Washington Post. Buckley Broadcast, New Corporation, for syndicating radio talk show host Bob Grant after he was dropped by WABC radio in New York after a string of racially offensive comments. 1995, New Republic Magazine featured a story called The Decline of the Black Intellectual. The piece by literary editor Leon Weaseltyel wasn't about Black intellectuals, All, only one Cornell West, author of Race Matters, was featured.

The Atlanta Monthly featured a cover piece title, The New Intellectuals, making a case for today's black intellectuals have assumed the pay-setting role of public intellectuals that a white coterie of literary lights played in 1930s, 40s and 50s. 94, the New York Daily News received the award for laying off black male reporters during its downsizing. CBS earned the Thumbs Down Award for a story title drawing the line on street stories, which was criticized for one-sided-stranded.

stereotypical story following the 1992 LA riots. 93, WKBQ for two disc dockies who had directed a racial slur at a black female caller on the air in St. Louis. Same year, Chicago Reader. A political cartoon of a black Chicago alderman, Dorothy Tillman. Timmons was depicted by a cartoonist David Nelson as a paper doll and a bra and underwear. The cartoon included two outfits, a dress, and a soldier's uniform. Chicago Sun Times was article by Tom McNamming about razz. getting into suburbanized garbage, it compared the animals to Chicago gang members.

In 1991, Mike Barnacle, the Boston Globe columnist for statements he made during a television appearance saying he knew more about how to cover the inner city and black people than any black reporter in Boston. In 1990, the Richmond Times Dispatch was editorial on the death of Houston Congressman Mickey Leland. In 1989, the first year it was given to NBC. News was a disparaging report on the debt of NABJ co-founder and ABC News anchor Max Robinson and for the first time to Pat Buchanan for writing racially insensitive commentary regarding

young black and white males. Some people said, well, Saturday's award showcase was the wrong place to give the award, but it's been given there other years as well. Joining us right now is current NABJ president, Aaron Haynes, also NABJ co-founder. and former president and long-time journalist, columnist, former chair of the Global Communications at Morgan State University, Duane Wickham.

Glad to have both of y'all here. Not only protocol, you go to the current president, but when you got a founder and a former president and the person who first gave the award out, we're going to start with him. So, Duane. My guest. Duane, the award first started

when you were president of NABJ. Explain to people why this was created. Let me say two things in advance of that. First of all, I am so proud of our president, Aaron Haynes, for the courage that it took, and I wasn't in those board meetings, but I know from previous board meetings that I've attended, she probably got some pushback. It took a lot of courage. I want to say that.

Then I want to say something to you, Roland. You know, we say that journalism is the first rough draft of history. Well, people want to know the history of what has occurred. in NABJ as it relates to the Thumbs Down Award, they can only come to you. That list you just read off will probably not appear anywhere else in journalism in this nation. It's important for people to understand

how important you are to our efforts to get the news out and to be thorough in our approach to the axiom seeking truth and reporting it. So thank you so much for that. that. Listen, what we do in NABJ in terms of thumbs down actually is as old as the organization itself. We have been a protest organization since the first days of our meeting at our first NABJ meeting convention in 1976 in Houston, Texas. Chuck Stone called out the then Secretary of Agriculture, Earl Butts, and demanded that the President Gerald Ford fired him

for his racist remarks about black males and why black people generally would not vote for Republicans. And so then we fast forward, not to 1989. I want to take you to 1984. Because it was in 1984 that we had two incidents that spurred me to think about making, an award, creating an award to tackle these issues that relate to the disparage, denigrating remarks about black folks. It was in 1984, as you know very well, that Jesse Jackson got in trouble doing his presidential campaign when he talked about Heimytown and how we had an incident when Milton Coleman, a black reporter at the Washington Post, felt so

offended by those remarks, which were given to him off the record in an off-the-record session, that he felt they had to be reported. But he didn't report them himself. He didn't have the courage to write an article and put his name on it. He gave it to a white reporter. And the white reporter reported that incident. And then Milton Coleman felt compelled to come to our convention that year because he got so much heat from the black community and so much heat from fellow a journalist. He came, but he brought in tow with him a guy by the name of Lem Tucker. Lim Tucker was a broadcast journalist who worked, I believe, for CBS News. And Lem took to the stage after Milton Coleman and offered a defense of him that, in essence,

was an attack on black journalists and said that so many of us were not even qualified to call ourselves, journalists. And so by the time I became president in 1987, I was thinking, what can we do to have a voice that is strong, that is institutionalized so that we will speak to these kinds of issues and take on people who denigrate us, black, white organizations, we want to take them all on to show that NABJ has the courage of its convictions. So we got that that, that we got that act passed. It wasn't easy. We had board members who were worried that by calling out anyone,

we would put the organization at risk, but we passed that rule that created our Thumbs Down Award, and we called both NBC and Pat Buchanan to account at our 1989 convention. I want to So a couple of things Because y'all know how I feel about facts Before I go to Aaron It's interesting

Duane brought up those comments By agricultural secretary Earl Butts Because when Get Bell pure fiber internet With crave Netflix and Disney Plus From $94 a month Price guaranteed for two years on internet With a two year term and auto pay credit

Visit bell.com for details And to check availability Bell connection is everything If your bookshops and your for you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between

books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. So I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to pro society on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages.

Hey, this is Hayes Davenport And Sean Clements We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook On the Big Money Players Network Our show is extremely accessible To first time listeners Each week we talk to someone in show business A.k.a. The biz

And try to help them with their careers And see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time And no one gets mad at their publicists For letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests Like Sarah Sherman, not that great. Actually, can you help me

Can you help me shape this? How about we flip it on his head? How about we flip the script? What is the surprise woman? Actually, you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird. Adam Scott, this entire time you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show. I would never expect. I would never set expectations for something like that to happen.

If the universe allows for something like that to happen, I'm open to it. I'm always going to accept. You know, Danny McBride, fine. Yeah, it's all this fragile masculinity. Exuding. I could smell it walking down the hallway, to be honest with you. I was like, is that weed? Nope, it's fragile masculinity.

Ben Stiller, no. Because a lot of times, out of context, people don't get it or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? They're like, they're like, oh, everyone's so dumb. And fake. Right, fake. And also not interesting. or just like, oh, I've got my life.

I don't care about your life. And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Hoda Kotbby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb. If you know me, you know, I'm always searching for inspiration and useful tools to match. maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover those things together through meaningful conversations with fascinating people. Like when my friend Henry Winkler offered advice to aspiring actors and really

anybody hoping to stand out. You're not hired just to fill time and space. You're hired to fill the space with you. You have something in your guts. You go with it. And Sean Johnson recalled the moment she realized her now husband, Andrew, was the one. He was just so unapologetically himself and knew nothing of Hollywood. He hadn't been on a plane before without his family. It was so pure. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Former ambassador Andrew Young met with our board of directors last, on Tuesday, last,

Tuesday. He brought that up. And Joe Davidson, one of our co-founders, also brought that up as well. And Joe was paraphrasing, and I happened to actually go find the story. And so any of y'all listening, don't get offended what I'm about to tell y'all, because I'm quoting here. They were on a plane, and he was asked the question, Butz was, he asked the question, why can't the Republican Party attract black voters? And this is what he said. I'll tell you, what the colors want. It's three things. First, a tight pussy.

Second, loose shoes. And third, a warm place to shit. That's literally what he said. And actually, the person who asked him why the GOP can attract black voters was the singer Pat Boone. And so that's where that first started. Duane referenced Lim Tucker. Yes, it was CBS.

This is a New York Times article where he made those comments, Merv Ospin, my Alfred brother, he was the president at the time. And in this New York Times article, y'all will see where all of this was covered. And then Tucker said, quote, I believe excellence is colorblind. I believe there's no such nonsense as black journalism or white journalism. There's good and bad journalism. And anyone who has to ask the question, are you black first or a journalist first, is a bad journalist, period. Those were some of the comments that he say. And then he said this here. I'm proud to say that I am black. I am a journalist. I stood yesterday. I stand today. And I'll damn well stand tomorrow for Milton

Coleman because he stands for excellence. He then went down to say to condemn Milton Coleman. For his excellence only makes the real question what kinds of journalists these black folk are. There's something really silly about some of you whose work has consistently demonstrated that you do not even understand the meaning of the word excellence criticizing Milton Coleman. Never forget that color still plays a role in helping us get a job in this industry. But remember that once we are there, we are journalists. And so, y'all, this ain't the first time. And let me be clear before I go to Aaron.

I told you that I did not participate in the vote. I just want to give you that fact. I'm not running away from the board's decision. As a board member, you speak for the organization. But I also said, previously the situation, I was at CNN. I was working for CNN when I voted to give it a, to CNN. Now, remember another board member challenged me who's also at CNN saying, how dare you vote on this because you work there? And I said, and I was in position to actually

get a show. It was in my contract. And I said, when I sit on the board of NABJ, I do not represent my personal interest. I represent the interests of the organization. And if you come to the board and you bring your personal interest, then you are doing a disservice to the members. And so, Aaron, I'll go to you. This decision, I was a record five awardees. Again, I wasn't there when the conversation was taking place. Why was it so important to you and the board to give up these five awards and specifically include Stephen A on that list?

Yeah, well, I mean, first of all, thanks for being so willing to unpack the history of this organization and of this award specifically, I just listening to founder Wickham, former president, laying out the rationale for wanting to create this award. I mean, it is really in the spirit of our bold and visionary founders and past presidents

that I felt that it was important to talk about this now. I mean, when you look at who we named this year, I think we have to agree that there's a clear through line. We're looking at the forces that make it harder for black journalists to do their jobs, and harder for black communities to be covered fairly and fully. That includes government officials that are exerting their pressure on the press,

news organizations that are making decisions that weaken diversity and coverage, media owners who are facing questions about the treatment of black journalists, who we know are under attack by internal and external forces across this country. And also influential commentators whose rhetoric can reinforce harmful narratives

about black people, particularly black women. Now you know me, we've been on this board together for a year now, and I've been very clear that advocacy is central to my presidency, particularly advocacy around black women in our professions. So that means defending black journalists when they are targeted, but it also means challenging institutions or individuals when necessary,

as well as creating opportunities for our members to thrive. So those things aren't separate from one another. They are all part of protecting the future of black journalism. And so that really is the spirit in which this award was so not only on Stephen A. Smith, but the four other recipients that we chose to recognize this year. I often say, Erin, that we live in this attention economy. And it's very telling how so much discussion has been solely about NABJ giving the award to Stephen A. but ignoring the FCC chair

who has literally told companies I will not approve any of your murders or acquisitions for the companies that have oversight with the FCC if you don't get rid of DEI. Right now, the FCC is threatening to pull the licenses of Disney-owned TV stations because they don't like their coverage. CBS, what they've done, the Washington Post,

pulling the editorial, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris and whacking numerous black folks. And so it's interesting that folk are fixated again, and I get it because big voice, big name, but it also goes to show you how people operate in this attention economy. Yeah, I mean, I think that that's absolutely true.

You know, that's why I thought it was important for me to unpack. I mean, obviously, we don't always announce a Thumbsdown Award, We have to salute to excellence, Gayla. We don't always put those names on a screen, and certainly we don't always, you know, as president get on stage and explain that decision. But it really did feel important to talk about why we were naming the folks that we named,

why we were naming as many folks as we named. I mean, I think you spoke to this earlier. We are in a moment when journalism is facing these growing political, economic, and institutional pressers. and the states, the stakes really extend beyond any single offensive statement or newsroom decision or individual journalists.

And so that was why I felt like we needed to say that publicly, why we needed to say that collectively, with these multiple institutions and individuals being recognized. I mean, to your point, like, you know, the Federal Communications Commission has just tremendous power over the communications infrastructure in our country. have to name that under Brendan Carr's leadership, the agency has increasingly used its regulatory ability to prosecute or prosecute, I guess I should say pressure news organizations to challenge

broadcasters in ways that really feel threatening to editorial independent. We know that it's creating a chilling effect on journalism. That is something that needs to be called out. When you saw, we saw the elimination of CBS's race and culture unit, right? A retrenchment. We just had a reckoning where, you know, you had news organizations declaring that this kind of coverage was important that it was a priority, that it was part of the American story. And now here we see that unit being eliminated and other workplace reductions that disproportionately impacted journalists of color in a way that did.

did more than just change the literal complexion of the newsroom, right? Like these decisions are reducing the expertise and the capacity that is needed to fully report on race and inequality and communities, which we know are the unfinished business of this democracy. This is the story. This is not a side issue, right, for journalists to be covering. This is the main issue. And so to not have that expertise in the building, that is an issue of just the fullness of the coverage that is now available there.

Not to mention that there are questions around editorial independence and usual decision making that have been a result of some of the decisions that have been made there in the past year. We're talking about ownership, right? DeWan McCoy, that recognition. We need our local journalists who are in news outlets across the country to know that we're not just focused on what's happening with the most high profile places, right like we are also focused on the places that where people you know are working in whose

names we don't know um that we want people to know that that nabj is also a watchdog and that we are watching you know whether that is from the places that everybody does know or the places that people may not necessarily know so i mean i think all of this is cumulative brolin you know this has been the work that we've been doing this entire year and so um you know i think that that what we did Saturday night was absolutely in keeping with not only what NABJ has been doing for 51 years, but certainly what we've been doing over the past year. Before I go to Duane, this is DeWan McCoy, owner of Wish, Circular City Broadcasting, parent company Wish TV in Indianapolis.

He has responded calling, giving him that award troubling. And so that's his response. Duane, earlier you talked about courage. And look, it's not always easy. and even when we have voted, there have been dissensioned. I remember in 2011, we gave an award to CNN and all those networks. A former president actually violated our protocol and went and told NBC that they were getting the award. NBC was not happy.

And because of that person's action, we actually took a second vote and ratified that decision. The president at the time would not issue the press release announcing the thumbs down. In fact, Aaron was on that next board. I left. She was on that next board and took that president nine months to release the thumbs down award. And he had to be forced to release it by his own board. And it was dropped on a Friday night where we know stories are buried. And you often have people say, oh my God, we can't do this because we're going to lose sponsors.

And these are people who have supported us. And I remember when Jeff Zucker was pissed off when we went after him and CNN, and he said, we're not going to go to NABJ, but they were there the next year. We've had a company, you've been in those rooms where companies have been fighting with us and upset with our criticism. But the reality is, if you studied that list of 44 awards,

many of those folks, even the people who got hit two, three, four, five, ten years ago, they were back sponsoring because they understood what our role has been in calling balls and strikes in journalism. Yeah, and we must continue to call balls and strikes. You know, listen, we are under attack. Black America is under attack. We should make no bones about this,

and it's not simply about attacking journalists. Black America is under attack. This whole white replacement thing that's going on among folks on the other side of this issue, we have to struggle to make sure that we can hold off these forces, these enemies at our gate. and we have to hold them off and then find a way to defeat them. And while we're at it, we need to understand that we cannot defeat the enemies at the gates

if we do not take on and defeat the enemies within. And so the challenge is great. That's why I said I'm so proud of our president because she didn't just issue a press release, not even a timely press release. She stood up in front of an assembled group of journalists and our supporters and others. at the most public event of our convention and made public the announcement of these five recipients of our thumbs down award.

I just think I cannot praise her enough for the courage you took to do that. And for people who don't know, and again, I just need people to understand. If y'all looked at that list, there are black people on their list. There are black media institutions on their list. And Duane, for folks who have no understanding

and I didn't know this story until Joe Davidson told us. At the first convention, y'all on the campus of Texas Southern University and TSU kicked y'all off the campus and you had to have an award ceremony around a pool with pizza. Tell people what happened. Listen, you know, we wanted to go to the convention largely because Texas Southern had just created a school of journalism only four or five months before NABJ was created.

We saw some relationship there, and we got there, and we had a very active and lively discussion about who can be a member and what status of membership can people have. And we called ourselves the National Association of Black Journalists, and so we felt we should say full membership would be limited to people who are themselves black journalists. We thanked our university friends for inviting us, and we said certainly university professors, journalism professors could be associate members.

Well, they didn't like that at all. And we found that that was the first challenge to our thinking about who we were. We could have backed down. We could have said, well, we don't have to be just black journalists. We can be black journalists plus one. but in fact we held to our principals and we were asked to leave campus. We were evicted literally from campus.

It was a three-day campus. It was a three-day convention that lasted about two and a third days before that morning we were kicked up. But not before Chuck Stone held a press conference to talk about the Earl Butts matter and to call for his dismissal.

We held, by the way, our first banquet, our first closing banquet of the NABJ convention was held poolside at a motel. We ordered pizza. Well, we're thinking the convention is in Houston next year. Someone was saying that I think we ought to actually have a reception around the Texas-shaped pool at the Marquis Hotel in honor of that event. And invite the Texas Southern University president and others just to have a good laugh to reminisce about that. Let me ask Aaron this.

I hope that's not too triggering for the faster. We love our university friends now. Texas Southern has a world-class journalism school, and so we don't want to dismerge them in any way. Invite them, let's ask them to come. They can come along with Morgan and Howard and Hampton. They are in Florida A&M. They're five, as you know, Roland,

only five schools of journalism in America, and let's invite them all there. Oh, absolutely, absolutely. I think it would be fun. And again, my high school Jack Hases across the street from TSU, so I think that that would be pretty interesting. And, of course, my Alfred brother was the former head of the School of Communication, Dr. James Ward.

Aaron, Stephen A. on his response said that he reached out to you to come on the show. You decline and say, let's have a private conversation. I've had people reach out to me and say, you were wrong to publicly call him out, but then say, chat privately. but you actually talked to some of the other folks who were given the same honor and there were private conversations, correct? Yeah, there were private conversations

that happened before we announced a Dumbsdown Award with some folks. But look, when Stephen A's folks reached out to me and invited me to come on the show, what my response was, was that let's have a private, conversation first. Look, I never said that I was unwilling to have a public conversation with Stephen. I just said that I don't believe that the first step should be, for me, as President of

ABJ, to go on to his program, right? So I've offered this private conversation. That offer still stands. I said on this day, on Saturday night, the door is open. The opportunity for change is here, right? So I believe accountability begins with listening. And then from there, we can talk about what, you know, substantive public engagement might look like, but we're not there yet, right? And for me, a rebuttal is not accountability, right? Like, let's talk about what real accountability that's going to lead to change behavior looks like. I mean, he said in his response that he heard us and that he was listening, but I don't know. I mean, you know, he seems to think that what I'm saying here is that in ABJ, bestowing this award,

folks somehow means that we are making them enemies of NABJ, which is absolutely not what I'm saying here. And I get it. You know, Stephen A. Smith has been in and around and shaped by and giving back to NABJ for a long time. So I get that this is kind of landing differently from him, that he's, this is feeling some type of way about this because he does have a real history with us. But, you know, I hope that that means that NABJ also matters to him, that our voice also matters to him. and that he can celebrate his success, but also challenge him when we think that he can do better and that we have an expectation that he will because of his relationship with us. Like that's part of what community is supposed to be.

And so I hope that there is still a chance for us to come to the table and then, you know, hopefully to get to a public conversation that leads to real change. On that particular point, I'm going to go to Duane. First of all, again, the thumbs down award is not about career. It's literally what has happened in the previous year. Absolutely. Absolutely. Listen, the president, Haynes has already spoken to this point, but let me piggyback on it.

The door is open to Stephen A. Smith. Listen, Stephen can come back into NABJ. and have a conversation with the board, with the membership. He really needs to have a conversation with the membership. It's the membership that if you listen to that broadcast, that cheered, actually they booed when his name was called. It's the membership that is feeling this way, and it is a reflection of our membership that the board took this action.

And it is a moment, I think, for reflection on his part. God knows we don't want to push him out of our organization. He has, in fact, had a long and supportive presence, but it doesn't mean he hadn't stumbled because we all have stumbled. And so here's an opportunity to show how we can be a big 10 organization and embrace him. But you can't get a pass when you do harm to our members, to our community, when you denigrate people within our ranks. And God knows, given the history that some of our political leaders have had

in denigrating black women journalists, we do not want to have a situation where that action goes unchallenged, either among the politician, the political class, or most certainly among black journalists who we embrace as members of our organization. Aaron, too, again, I want people to understand factually. One, Stephen A. Smith has not been kicked out of NABJ. Membership has not been revoked, has not been suspended, any of that. Also, to remind folks that NABJ also has a Best Practices Award.

and people who we have previously given the Thumbs Down Award have actually been given an NABJ Best Practices Award. So that's important also. I saw most of what Stephen A had to say, and I did send him a text as well. He talked about how he's never been honored with NABJ in the Hall of Fame, and I told him, and I'll say this to anybody else who says, okay, I don't understand why.

Individuals nominate you for the Hall of Fame. That's not a board decision. So members nominate people. I was inducted in 2020. Someone had to nominate me. A committee evaluates the choices. It goes to the board. Board votes.

And so I can't recall if anybody, I can't recall, I don't know, not my time on the board, if anyone nominated him. But I just simply say that's how it's done. And again, these are facts of just critically important. Last, I did do on my panel here. They want to ask a question of one or both of you. Omicongo, you go first. Thank you both for your leadership over the years.

I've been a real admirer of both of you. I want to know coming out of this conference and with this award, or thumbs down, I don't know, I don't want to use the term award. How do you see this going forward? It's a thumb. It's called El Mekongo. It's called the end. NABJ Thumbs Down Award. That's what it's called.

Okay, okay, cool. So with the award, do you feel like this could actually be something that can lead towards journalists and some of these organizations being more productive in the future as relates to the black community? You talked about it happening with some organizations and individuals in the past, but in this climate that we're in now, are people getting a little bit more aggressive and assertive in just dissing y'all, or are they actually doing work to be better, Ms. Haynes? Yeah, listen, what I hope is that this is absolutely a chance for change and a chance for change in improved behavior, especially in this climate.

What is the message that we can send that folks can hear this and that they actually want to respond in a way that moves us forward towards, you know, better, more inclusive and accurate journalism? right, that is reflecting the communities that we cover, in particular black communities, the black communities that certainly we advocate on behalf of in terms of fair and accurate coverage every single day. You know, there are, I would also say journalism students right now. I met with so many of them last week. They are learning the profession through streamers, through YouTube,

through podcasts, through independent platforms, as much as they are through traditional newsrooms. And so all of this matters because there has never been more important time to really model what responsible journalism looks like. These are platforms that are shaping the next generation. And so, you know, in terms of what I'm hoping comes from us bestowing this recognition onto all five of these recipients is that there is listening, there is reflection, there is a serious conversation about the patterns and behavior that we're seeing and ultimately the measure of accountability is going to be about whether anything

actually changes right um you know on his show today Stephen A said you know what does this have to do with journalism I would say what this has to do with journalism is what we normalize uh so when commentary is repeatedly framing black women as as unqualified or or undeserving of authority like that helps to normalize a way of seeing black women, right? For audiences, for newsrooms and for this next generation of journalists who are watching these platforms and learning what journalism is supposed to look like. So, you know, journalism doesn't just report culture. Journalism is shaping culture. So when certain ways of talking about black women become routine on major media platforms, that normalizes something

for audiences and for young journalists that are learning the profession. So I think, you know, what I'm hoping, like I said, is that folks can see this not just as a call out, but also a call in, right? That is certainly my goal. Frankly, that's part of why I suggested to Stephen A that we talk privately first because if what I'm hearing is that this feels personal because NABJ is meaningful to him, I would love to see. sit across from him and say, here's what we see. Tell me what you see. Tell me if you can hear why your community is raising this with you. Calling somebody out is actually the opposite of turning your back on them.

Like turning your back would be saying, you know, we're done with you. That is absolutely not what we're saying. We're saying that you're part of this community. Your voice has enormous influence, right? And because of that, we expect more. That's it. Thank you. Winconi.

Thank you. Thank you, thank you guys for the incredible work you're doing with NABJ. You know, one of the interesting tensions that I'm wrestling with is by giving Stephen A. Smith this thumbs down award. Did the committee struggle with the possibility that criticizing him publicly could actually further popularize him and give him greater visibility to the very commentary you're seeking to challenge? Was that a concern? You know, what I would say, thank you for that question, is, you know, for us, what this award is about one of the ways that institutions, NABJ is holding institutions and public figures accountable for what their actions are, and when their actions are harmful to black journalists or black communities or the profession.

So, I mean, absolutely, we're thinking about this because this is not something that we take casually, but it can't. be about whether we like somebody or not, whether we're a fan of their work. It really has to be about what the issue is and if we feel like there's harm being done to those communities. And we know we've heard from people, certainly about the pattern that we know exists. That pattern speaks for itself. And we've heard from people who have been impacted by those comments. And I think that that is really at the heart of why we are raising these concerns, not about intent, but about what the impact is. And again, what that normalizes.

And so for us, that was something that was very important to name and for us to try to speak out about in the hopes that there could be something different on the other side of us raising this. I do want Duane to step in and speak to that as well. Because again, Duane, somebody who has been a part of these deliberations, I mean, this is what boards wrestle with. I mean, hey, should you go here, should you have private conversations? Should you not call somebody out? Speak to that. Listen, I think it's really important that we have the courage of our conviction. If we worry about how people will react to us doing the right thing, Get Bell, Pure Fiber Internet with Crave, Netflix, and Disney Plus from $94 a month.

Price guaranteed for two years on Internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. If your bookshelf and your for-you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsesives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having.

I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro Society on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages.

Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook on the Big Money Players Network. Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners. Each week, we talk to someone in show business, aka the big. is and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, not that great.

Actually, can you help me shape this? How about we flip it on his head, right? How about we flip the script? What is the surprise woman? Actually, you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird. Adam Scott. This entire time, You've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show.

I would never expect. I have. I would never set expectations for something like that to happen. If the universe allows for something like that to happen, I'm open to it. I'm always going to accept. You know, Danny McBride, fine. Yeah. It's all this fragile masculinity exuding.

I could smell it walking down the hallway, to be honest with you. I was like, I was like, is that weed? Nope. It's fragile masculinity. Ben Stiller, no. Because a lot of times out of context, people don't get it or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? They're like, oh, what's a state.

Everyone's so dumb. And fake. Right, fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life. I don't care about your life. And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Hoda Kotbby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. If you know me, you know, I'm always searching for inspiration and useful tools to maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover those things together through meaningful conversations with fascinating people. Like when my friend Henry Winkler offered advice to aspiring, actors and really anybody hoping to stand out. You're not hired just to fill time and space. You're hired to fill the space with you. You have something in your guts.

You go with it. And Sean Johnson recalled the moment she realized her now husband, Andrew, was the one. He was just so unapologetically himself and knew nothing of Hollywood. He hadn't been on a plane before without his family. It was so pure. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Then we probably won't do the right thing very often, and then we should begin to question why we exist at all. So we have to step forward, and we have to challenge people who challenge us, who challenge our principles, who challenge our goals, and who challenge our purpose for being.

I'm not sure that we lose anyone who is committed to our cause because we take on people who attack our causes. Shonda. I feel super honored to be on this evening because I was a student at Morgan State University when I was first connected with NABJ and I was part of that student movement in the Morgan State University spokesman newspaper. So I want to know what you want students who are in NABJ. NABJ chapters across the country right now, listening to and experiencing this moment of reckoning and grace and accountability, what do you want them to learn about the industry? Because they know something about cancel culture, but I need you to help them to understand this is not that. Yeah, I'm thinking this might be a question for me. Thank you so much. I love that you got to be a

part of the Morgan State chapters, the student chapters origin story. But, you know, I guess you know, maybe there may be some young people looking at this and wondering, you know, are you trying to cancel Stephen A? Absolutely not. I mean, if that was the point, if you were trying to cancel him, we wouldn't be saying that the door is open. We wouldn't be inviting him in for a conversation. Like accountability is not the same thing as cancellation. So I need, hopefully, for this to be a teachable moment on the difference between those two things. Yeah, and also just the idea that if a conversation is only worthwhile when the cameras are on, then what does that mean for definitions of accountability?

Certainly that can be part of it. Certainly we can get to there. But I really think to your point, there are journalism students right now who are looking at this. And so we do have an opportunity to really kind of model not just what responsible. journalism is but what leadership in this moment can look like. You know, this is not an attack or an indictment on journalism. This is the defense of journalism and a defense of the best of black journalism and what we know that that looks like and what that can be. Amen. As you said, Stephen needs reach out to you. Actually, before I worried with that, have the other folks, DeWan

McCoy, Brendan Carr, Washington Post, CBS News. Have they reached out to ask for a conversation with you and or the Board of Directors? I would say that we have heard from DeWan McCoy. We have not heard from him requesting a conversation only for him stating his displeasure, I guess you could say, over him receiving this award. We have not as yet heard from the leadership

of any other recipients at this point. I want to do a... The door's open for that. Let me just reiterate that. The door remains open to hear from all of these folks. My hope and my thought is that the Thumbsdown Award is not meant to be the end of a conversation. We hope that it can be the continuation of one. I'm going to take that as your final comment.

Duane, your closing point. I don't want us to go away thinking that there is some need for us to defend a, what we've done. There's a need for us to worry about damage done by the actions that we've taken as an organization. We are responding. We are reacting. We are calling out bad behavior. And bad behavior when it's injurious to our goals, to our purpose for being, to our members, is behavior that has to be called out and has to be called out in the loudest possible way. All right then. NABJ co-founder, former president, DeWain Wickham.

I certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. NABJ current president, Aaron Haynes. I appreciate both of you all joining us right here on Rolla Martin Unthold. Thanks for having us. Folks, that is it for us. Let me thank Shonda. She's a newbie.

This is her first time on the show. We didn't haze you too bad, so it's all good. Let me think, I'm a Congo and Wincolni as well. Appreciate all three of y'all being on today's show. folks, that is it for us. I am rocking here. Let me stand up here, y'all. I'm rocking today.

This right shoot edit shirt got this. This was from the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists. I forgot when they sold. I think it was last year. And so they did a phenomenal job as the host chapter of this year's national convention. Just so y'all want to give you all some stats. We actually, this convention here, was the second most attended convention in the history of NABJ.

4,302 people registered for the convention. Second only to Chicago, where we were there was a couple of years ago. They had 4,363 people. And so I fully expect when NABJ comes to Houston next year that we do things bigger in Texas, that we're going to break the all-time record. And I'm about to be real aggressive. I'm setting a goal. I want to hit 5,000. I don't even want to make this thing close. And so if you are a professional member, if you are a journalist, if you are a student, if you are in PR, if you work in the media place, we have course categories for everybody to join NABJ.

So I want you to become a member because with the training and the things that we do, certainly they matter. you can go to nabjonline.org to join the association. I have been a member since 1989. I crossed Alpha in April of 1989. My first NABJ event was a regional conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, and that's where I decided to run for the National Board and was elected in New York City at the Hilton in August of 1989. So again, we want to see folks in Houston.

I want to shout the Houston Association of Black Journalists. We had the kickoff party Saturday. Trust me, H.A.B.J. has got some great stuff lined up. I also, I'm going to get the video from them. They played it. I got to shout out my girl, Melanie Lawson, longtime anchor at KTRK, Channel 13 in Houston.

Melanie Lawson gave earlier this year $43,000 to the Houston, to the Houston ABJ chapter, recognizing $1,000 a year for her $40,000. years in the business. Well, on Saturday night at the party, she announced that she's giving $43,000 to the national organization as well. And so that brings a total to $86,000 for her contribution to NABJ. So shout out to McGill, Melanie Lawson. She's since retired from Channel 13, so look forward to seeing her when we are in Houston. And I'll say this to close this out. But listen, Stephen A. He said the same thing in his video. And I totally understand how he feels.

He talked about the importance of NABJ and what is meant to his career as well. Look, I understand that. I've said this. I have not been silent about my support for NABJ, my love for NABJ. Listen, I chose every year to attend the NABJ National Convention, then going to the Convention on Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. In fact, my first alpha, my first alpha convention was in 19. I wasn't back for 20 years. I had to make a decision. I can only afford to go to one. And it was an ABJ or was alpha? I chose NABJ because that was my career. And just like him, I've helped a lot of people, a lot of people have come through. And the bottom line is this here. It is not, it's not personal. And again, I wasn't there when the board decided, but the bottom

line is the board made the decision and we move forward. And the reality is they're going to be those moments where we disagree. I can tell you right now, we've got some contentious fights in NABJ. People have battled. We had a business meeting last week and it got a little rough with decertified candidate who had been previously on the, who was on the board and who was running for re-election. Those things happen when you're in organizations, but the support also matters. I got no problem saying this because hit to the membership in the past year. I personally donated $170,000 to NABJ because this is why. in this moment, in this moment that we're in.

In fact, I remember I ran to, I went to the ESPN all day summit, and that was a sister who was sitting there, and she says, hey, so good to see you. You paid for my convention one year. I didn't remember her. I remember paying, but those are the things that actually happened. And so there have been times when we have been disappointed by organizations, how they respond to us, how we've been treated.

But the reality is the same organization has been there for us. All of this matters because I have been saying this point blank. And that is, and I got a book coming out and we're going to start selling the book in September. And in that book called Black Forward, I literally have said that in this moment, the moment that we're living in, what we're now dealing with is we are going to have to depend on our institutions more than anything else. In this moment, we are going to have to lean on our members. we're going to have to depend upon our organizations. And in this moment, we all are going to pull our own weight.

And so I lay these things out in my book. I talk about black organizations today, how our goal is not seeking white validation, but to build black support, to build black businesses, to build each other. In the last 18 months, we have seen More than 1 million black people, 600,000 black women, 500,000 black men lose their jobs. Black unemployment, it is a higher rate.

In the journalism industry, we've seen massive layoffs. Before our convention, scripts announced 300 folks being laid off. We've seen these things happen. And so this is a moment where black journalists must rise to the occasion. This is a moment where we must support our black institutions, even when we disagree. with him. We can have family fights. But the greater fight is not fighting a member. The greater fight is fighting the institution that want to take out all of us. Because the reality is this here. Stephen A. Smith works for Disney. That's ESPN. Brendan Carr, Donald Trump's Federal Communications

Chair, wants to wipe out the licenses of the ABC-owned stations. That means that he wants to take those licenses and give to someone else. That would be the loss of thousands of jobs, including many black people. And so we need to understand the battle that is going on. The numerous black folks who lost their job at CBS News,

weekend anchors, producers, reporters, digital folks, those things are happening. Jeff Bezos, one of the richest people in the world. massive layoffs of the Washington Post, wiping out black people, Karen Attila suing the Washington Post and had to go to a court or arbitration when it came to her job. So these things are happening in real time. And you've heard me say, bottom line is journalists of the ones who have to hold people to account. It's journalists that must hold federal officials, state officials, county,

city, school board, corporate, non-profits to account for what they are doing. Black-owned media, understand next year, 200 anniversary of the black press. March 16, 1827, the founding of Freedom's Journal, the nation's first black newspaper. Of course, we have that mural in one of our offices. The third paragraph, the quote says, we wish to plead our own cause too long have other spoken for us. I'm saying all of that because in this moment, this is when we need black journalists, black journalists working at mainstream institutions, black journalists working at black on institutions, to take this thing even higher when it comes to accountability.

Lim Tucker made that comment to NABJ, DeWaine Reference in 1984. I disagree with every damn thing he says. you can be black and be a journalist because the reality is I am black first because I was black before I was a journalist. So I can be a black journalist, a journalist who is black, I can cover anything, I can cover black stuff. So I cannot negate my blackness just because of a title journalist. And so we will go beyond this. We will move on. We will agree to disagree.

But more importantly, we will continue to challenge power and hold power accountable in every circumstance. Folks, that is it for us. Let me thank all of you for watching. Again, let me think everybody who, of course, I ran to last week at NABJ in Atlanta. So phenomenal people we met, some great panels that we had. And it's all been wonderful. All right, folks, support the work that we do, join our Brain to Funk fan club.

We have the conversations here that other folk don't want to have. We have the conversations here other folk are scared to have. But your support is critical. We do not have millionaires and billionaires cutting us checks. We do not have those folks cutting our checks every single month. you are critically important. I saw so many of you in Atlanta, not as at NABJ, but in the airport, on the streets. Today at the cleaners, dropping stuff off, the brother's stopping me saying that they watch and they support what we do.

All of that matters. All of you matter. And so we appreciate what you do. You want to contribute to your, we want to join our Brene Funk fan club. We've had more than 50,000 people that have been donors to NABJ, more than 50,000 people, sorry to NABJ, to Roller Martin Unfiltered the Black Star Network since we launched this show. If you want to become one of those folks, please be a cash app, use a Stripe Cure coach. You see it right here on the screen.

That's credit for credit cards as well. Check some money order, make it payable to Roller Martin unfiltered. Sorry, you want to check some money orders. Peelbox 57196, Washington, D.C., 2,0,300, 370,07,0,0. 9 6. PayPal's R Martin unfiltered, Venmo, RM unfiltered, Zill at Roland smartin.com,

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Of course, don't blame me. I voted for a black woman. I had some people on my social media saying, man, I want to get that shirt with the chair and team, lift that ass. Keenna, let's make sure that we do that. But I want to do a redesign.

Let's put roller button unfiltered, of course, at the bottom of that as well. And so go to shop, black sunnetwork.com. All these products you see in our control room, sorry, in our studio, these are all black-owned products that are available on our website.

So please be sure to support them. Well, than 50 companies, y'all, when you support buy these products from shop, blackslide network.com, then you also are supporting this show as well. Lastly, do me a favor. Download the app fan base. You can follow me at Roland S. Martin.

They had a new platform coming out. Cannot wait to talk about it. Can't wait to show you. It is exciting. Let me also shout out a man, Claude Cummings out of Houston. He leads the communication workers of America as I was walking through the airport yesterday, racing to my gate. They had the human rights conference in Atlanta.

I ran into a bunch of their folks in their red shirts. And again, go to my iPad. This is the photo I took with them. Again, the communication workers of America. Claude Cummings is a huge supporter of this show. Me personally, he's from Houston. So I wanted to give them a shout out, of course, for seeing them and keep up the great work. CWA. Folks, that's it. I'm going to see you all tomorrow right here. Roland Martin, unfiltered,

on the Blackstar network, unapologetic, unfiltered, and absolutely black. If your bookshelf and your for-you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island to serve the same level of discourse. Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions. Yeah, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Hoda Kotbby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. You know, I'm always searching for inspiration and useful tools to maximize joy.

Like when my friend Henry Winkler offered advice to aspiring actors and really anybody hoping to stand out, You're not hired just to fill time and space. You're hired to fill the space with you. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Did you hear the new episode of The Hey Jonas Podcast? We are at D23, so we'll see who stops by. The cast of Frozen stopped by. Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Adina Mansell.

I audition for Frozen. What? For Christoph. They said, okay, what are you going to be singing today? I said, I don't know. That must have been why you didn't. Get it. Oh, you have one.

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Each week, we talk to someone in show business and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time, and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, Adam Scott, Danny McBride, Ben Stillard, and a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.

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