#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Buffalo shooting lawsuit; DOJ joins suit against Miss.; Tobacco companies targeting Blacks exposed

Episode Date: July 14, 2023

7.13.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Buffalo shooting lawsuit; DOJ joins suit against Miss.; Tobacco companies targeting Blacks exposed The families of the victims of the tragic 2022 Buffalo Tops Supermarket massacre are taking legal action. One of the attorneys will be here to explain why they are going after social media firms and firearm manufacturers.  The Department of Justice launches an investigation into Fulton County, Georgia, Jail where a black man, LaShawn Thompson, died covered in insects and filth. Civil Rights attorney, Ben Crump, will be here to tell us more.  The DOJ files to become a part of the NAACP's lawsuit against the state of Mississippi, trying to create a separate legal system for the state's Capitol City.  And One of Los Angeles' largest hospitals, Cedars-Sinai Hospital, is facing a federal investigation over how they treatment of black women, especially those having babies.  The family of a black Indiana man who died after he was tased and handcuffed while naked during a mental health crisis will be here with their attorneys to talk about their civil lawsuit and how they are preparing for the trial of the cops who killed their son.  We have a special report on the disproportionate use of menthol products in Black communities. Tonight, we'll examine how tobacco companies targeted black communities with an expert from the Department of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. "See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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at taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Today is Thursday, July 13th, 2023. Coming up on Roland Martin on the filter, streaming live on the Black Star Network, the families of the victims of the tragic 2022 Buffalo Top supermarket massacre are taking legal action. One of the attorneys will be here to explain why they're going after social media firms and firearm manufacturers.

The Department of Justice launches an investigation into Fulton County, Georgia. Their jail where a black man, LaShawn Thompson, died covered in insects and filth. We join my civil rights attorney, Ben Crump. Also speaking of the DOJ, they filed to become part of the NAACP's lawsuit against the state of Mississippi, trying to create a separate legal system for the state's capital city. One of LA's largest hospitals, Cedars-Sinai Hospital,

is facing a federal investigation over their treatment of black women, especially those having children. Plus, the family of a black Indiana man died after he was tased and handcuffed while naked during a mental health crisis. We'll be here with the attorneys to discuss their civil lawsuit.

We also have a special report on the disproportionate use of menthol products in black communities. We'll examine how tobacco companies targeted black communities for years through black media. That's right, folks. Also, we will continue the conversation. What is happening on these college campuses where now, with white conservatives striking DEI,

black faculty are turning elsewhere. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin on the filter with Black Sun Network. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time.

And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling. Yeah. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. Yeah.

Yeah. It's rolling Martin. Yeah. Yeah. Rolling with rolling now. Yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. Yeah, yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now Yeah, yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's Rollin' Martel

Now Martel The families of those murdered in the 2022 Buffalo Top Supermarket hate crime are suing social media companies, firearm manufacturers and body armor makers for helping the teenage killer load the gun that left 10 people dead and injured three others. The lawsuit filed in the state Supreme Court in Buffalo lists Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Amazon, Instagram, and Reddit, Google, the parent company of YouTube, Vintage Firearms, the Endicott, New York gun dealer, where the racist mass shooting legally purchased semi-automatic rifle used in the rampage. Also, RMA Armament, the online company that sold the shooter's body armor as defendants.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of family members Haywood Patterson, Aaron Salter, Marcus Morrison Sr., Pearl Young, Geraldine Talley, Ruth Whitfield, and Roberta Drury, who were killed in the shooting. Survivors Zaire Goodman, his mother Zanetta Everhart, Christopher Brayton, Brooklyn Howell, Keisha Douglas, Joanne Daniels, Robia Gary, and her unnamed child are also plaintiffs. Joining me now is D'Andrea Fou,Brasi Zimmerman. She is one of the attorneys representing the families. Glad to have you here. So what basis by which you're suing the social media companies and the firearm manufacturers? What did they actually do?

Well, that's a great question, Roland, and thanks for having me, and thanks for covering this issue on behalf of the families. I think before we get to what they did and how we got here, we have to understand how they operate. And so while we are all in these applications and on these devices and we think they're fun, their design, these are products, are made to trap people. And if you look at some of the work that's been out there, whether it's dopamine labs or other documentaries that talk about the manner in which these applications were designed, they are designed to trap you emotionally and to trap you mentally. And so if you love bunnies, you're going to see posts about a thousand bunnies, and that algorithm is going to trap you in bunny bunnies, you're going to see posts about a thousand bunnies. And that algorithm is going to trap you in bunny land.

And you're going to be buying bunny goods. And you're going to be thinking about bunnies. And if you are a white supremacist, which we are having quite the proliferation in this country and have had that for a long time, but it's growing exponentially, then you will be trapped in that realm of algorithms that drive you towards hatred of black people, hatred of brown people. This is how you join a militia. This is how you target black folks. When you take the additional layer of targeting youth, who we know don't have fully developed brains, who we know are susceptible to influence of all kinds, you begin to understand how extraordinarily dangerous these applications are. And this is not by happenstance. The very design of these applications are meant to trap our youth,

to make sure they stay on their applications. And why is that? Because they're selling ads. Because that's how they make money. And so it's not enough to make money and to ignore just the risk that exists. But in this situation, the risk that was purposefully created. We saw the proliferation through the applications during the election. We saw the proliferation of Trump supporters and directed hatred towards our communities. And this is no different. And so they may not have pulled the trigger last year in May, but they helped Gendron load that gun. And we plan to hold them 100 percent responsible and accountable for what happened to the 10 families who've suffered a lost one, the other families who've been affected by a tremendous

impact company to their community. And so while it seems complicated, it's quite simple. Same thing with the body armor manufacturers. Why are you selling body armor that's meant to be used in combat? We know why you're selling it, because you're targeting young, angry communities of white men who plan to unleash on us and need to protect their bodies when they open fire. And one of the heroes in this story is former Lieutenant Salter, who was a security guard, you know, at the tops that day. he risked his life to protect others. And because Gendron was using that armor, he was able to survive that shot and continue to kill other people on the premises. So it's a tight causation line. And it's time that Meta, TikTok,

all of these online providers be held accountable for the poison that they're unleashing in the Buffalo community and in our country. Got three panelists here. Two of them are lawyers. And so they have questions. Candace Kelly out of New Jersey. Candace, your question for our guest. You know, I'm wondering because the Supreme Court did talk about this, and Clarence Thomas, he wrote the key opinion, and he said that really when you talk about algorithms and enticing people in order to kind of do terrorist attacks, which is what the case was about, that he said they're simply algorithms and that they really have nothing to do with anything except that they're piquing people's interest.

So I'm wondering what your feelings are about that and that the Supreme Court has spoken about that. That decision came in late May. Absolutely. And I think what we're talking about is the Communication Decency Act and the immunity of 230, which was developed long before people understood the impact. We believe that case has no bearing on this in the sense of what we are discussing is a defective product. So our claim is not about the

content, which has been the issue with the Supreme Court and the issue with a number of other courts. This is, and I'm primarily a product defect lawyer, this is a defective product, a product designed to create addiction. A lot of the facts of that case, very important facts, as you said, that has to do with terrorism, really focused on the content, right? Bringing people in, recruiting people to participate in terrorist activity. Other cases involving human trafficking focusing on the substance of the communication that the online provider was simply hosting information posted by others. And the courts found that that was protected by 230 Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act. That's not what we're talking about here. We're saying this is a defective product by design and that it is extraordinarily dangerous. The proof is in the

pudding, but also even in the intent of the design, it was meant to keep people trapped. So similarly, I sit in leadership on the social media MDL national case where we are addressing some of these issues. We believe it is outside of the immunity protections of the Communication Decency Act. And we pray that this is the court that sees that and allows us to hold the folks who are responsible responsible. Because these are just not opinions or hosting people's opinions or the algorithms kind of in a vacuum. It is the application itself. The design is meant to do what it was, what is doing here and what led to the murder of 10 Americans in Buffalo in May of 2022. Civil rights attorney out of Los Angeles, Joe. Hey, how you doing? I love this theory, and I was going to ask you about, you know, sometimes when you are bringing cases, you know, on the consumer side, on the plaintiff's side, product liability, you're trying to advance a theory that would be a step in a direction. I was going to ask what your previous steps were, and I think when you talked about it from a product liability standpoint, I got the vision, which is good.

Well, let me ask you this. Is there any coordinated advocacy piece? You know, I find sometimes, you know, you really want to do for permanently, you're doing what you have to do now, but permanently what you want to do is hopefully plug up the hole. And there's a lot of battlegrounds and people that are already trying to get legislation passed to deal with so many of these issues. I'm wondering if there's any coordinated effort with people that may be already out there or something that you or your firm are trying to do to help plug up the holes from a legislation side for the future. Sure. So I think multiple answers. We have our own, and we are in this case with Ben Crump,

who we all know and love very much, and all of his efforts. And then we have our own data privacy and technology practice here led by Amy Keller, where we have been steadily and David straight going after these companies for accountability and building the foundation. As you said, you know, I mean, there is no Brown versus Board of Ed without Plessy, right? There are no big cases that change without building a number of cases. So aside from our firm, other firms have been pushing this. This was kind of like an opiates when at first people were like, what the hell? Everybody takes pain pills, but everybody should. And this is where we are. Everybody's on their device, but everybody shouldn't. And your children shouldn't be on

the device for 10 hours. And a lot of these applications really should not exist. And so that's been happening legally. Really tremendous progressive plaintiff lawyers across the country saying we must do something because this isn't going anywhere. We saw this in the election. And this is not just our clients murdered, but clients across the country, folks radicalized online. And yes, I think there are a lot of consumer groups. I think it's the social media center for justice. There are a lot of nonprofit entities getting out there and educating people. And I think there are a lot of legislative efforts, as we saw there were congressional

hearings for a lot of these companies. Some of it has to do with privacy in the way that we're housing information, but a lot of it has to do with the addictive nature. And we saw the Surgeon General come out with a warning. So I think it's like tobacco. It's like opioids. We are just beginning to understand the absolute danger of these products. And specifically, as it relates to our communities and being targeted, this isn't just, you know, me as a mom, I have banned my eldest, I threw her iPad in the garbage, but you know, it's more than being pissed at your kids. Right, this is creating and breeding tons of Ku Klux Klan to come after us through media and to gun down people

in the middle of the day when they're in a supermarket shopping for their families. Dr. Larry Walker, Assistant professor at University of Central Florida. Your question. Yeah, thank you, Roland. It's fascinating to listen to you in terms of your approach in this lawsuit. And we know that there are a number of protections already in place when it comes to gun manufacturers. But you mentioned the company that makes the vest. And I'm wondering, in terms of your approach, how do you think that's effective, right?

So these, they make the argument, we make these in general, because you mentioned the military and then obviously citizens purchasing them. The idea that certainly they say, well, argument, well, we just make these in general because obviously war is a problem throughout the world and we have to protect law enforcement. So in terms of what you're describing, your theory, how do you think

that you could reach a jury as it relates to that? They make the point that, hey, we're trying to protect law enforcement, et cetera. And I think the question is you're trying to protect law enforcement, but you sell it to a child and you sell it to a child who has some predilection and some issues. And these, some are just negligence theories. And you could look at some of our claims online. And I don't think it's that simple. I think once we get into discovery and you look at who they're selling the armor to, this is not just to law enforcement. This is military. And so many of our community members stand on the line and protect our communities and the military. These, when you talk about the volume of sales, these are to young, white, angry, dangerous males who

are being told that our communities are going to replace them. So I'm not God and I don't have a crystal ball, but I've been through a lot of discovery. And I have a great sense that when we look at the marketing, when we look at their presence online, when we look at who they're selling to, that is not just going to be law enforcement and military officials. And as you know, a lot of law enforcement, military officials get their protection through their employment. Sometimes they have it personally. But I think the discovery is going to bear out the real story about that company's responsibility in this situation. All right. DeAndre DeVos Zimmerman. DeBrosy Zimmerman, I certainly appreciate it.

Thank you so very much. Keep us abreast of this suit. Thank you, Roland. All right, folks. Going to go to a break. We come back. We'll talk with Attorney Ben Crump about another case he's involved in. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. For decades, the tobacco industry has deliberately targeted black communities and kids with marketing for menthol cigarettes. It's had a devastating impact on black health. Tobacco use claims 45,000 black lives every year.

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

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It's me, Sherri Shepherd, and you know what you're watching. Roland Martin on Unfiltered. The Department of Justice is opening a civil rights investigation into the conditions at the Fulton County, Georgia, jail. In April, we told you about 35-year-old LaShawn Thompson, who died in the jail in September, covered in insects and filth. After an extensive review of publicly available information, including reports about Thompson, the DOJ found significant justification to open this investigation. Joining me now is attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Thompson family. Ben, glad to have you back on Roland Martin Unfiltered.

This DOJ investigation, Ben, how significant is this for your clients? It's very significant, Roland Martin, in the fact that you have the federal government now shining a laser beam into the living conditions of citizens who are being detained at the Fulton County Detention Center. Roland Martin, we must remember that these people are innocent. They are innocent until proven guilty. But yet, when you think about what LaShawn Thompson suffered, it was a death sentence. And why? Because he had a mental health crisis and they turned it into a criminal issue. And he died one of the most horrible deaths a person could ever imagine, Roland Martin. He was literally eaten to death by lice and bedbugs. This is, and of course, after this happened,

we then began to hear other stories of individuals who were impacted. And when you see these conditions, how in the hell could jail officials ignore what they were looking at? You know, Roland, it's troubling in many ways, and we're so grateful to Attorney General Merrick Garland and especially Assistant U.S. Attorney General Christian Clark, who you know very well, who has been a champion

for the civil rights of marginalized people, especially black people. And using her platform, she is going to ask those direct questions. And I think what we're going to find, Roland Martin, is that this had a lot to do with politics. They were lobbying for a new Fulton County jail. That's been in the sheriff. The county commissioners were saying we don't have the money for it. And so it was almost as if we're going to prove to you that it's cheaper to build a new jail than to have to pay these lawsuits that are going to result from the horrible conditions of the jail.

I hope that's not the case, but that seems what is apparent to the community and many of the activists in Atlanta. So have you heard from other families who've had folks in the Fulton County Jail? We have, Roland. And in fact, we've heard from other jail officials who have said that they are whistleblowers, too, that they've made several complaints. You know, you had NAFCARE. Attorney Michael Harper and I, we talked about this case constantly as we fight for justice on behalf of LaShawn's family. And NAVCARE was the medical subcontract sheriff's department saying we can't even get into the facility because it, hold on, you all are supposed to do routine assessments on a daily basis

to make sure they're getting their medication and they're getting proper medical attention. But Roland Martin, we found in the medical records that LaShawn Thompson had not been seen for over 40 days. So that meant he did not get his schizophrenia medicine.

And so one of the big things that Dr. Roger Mitchell, who was the head of forensics at Howard University, said the cause of death was a decompensated schizophrenia because people say, well, how can you just lay there and let bad bugs eat you to death? Well, he was severely mentally ill and his brain was not functioning properly. So where you and I would move or wipe bugs off and everything, his brain was shutting down, telling him that he didn't even have the signals going to his body to say, you should move. You've been eaten alive. And so when the bugs got in his mouth, got in his nose, got in his eyes, you know, it led to his cardiac arrest that led to his death. And it's tragic.

And this is happening more than just in Atlanta jails. Absolutely. DOJ has investigated other jails as well. Quickly, I want to go to my three panelists to get questions from them. Joe, you first. Mr. Crump, it's a great pleasure to be on with you for the first time. We've got a lot of mutual folks out here working in the fight. I appreciate how you always get to hopefully be at the front, talk about what's going on in the case, wherever you are, but give us a little bit of insight as to where you would like it to end.

Of course, we want justice for the family, but a lot of times the people that watch us don't see where we want it to go, how we want to deal with something systemic. So what's our wish list about how we want this to end? No, and that's a great question. I'm honored to be with you. And I know just like my brilliant co-counsel, Attorney Foo Zimmerman, talked about what we hope to accomplish. We want to prevent this from happening to people in the future, especially marginalized people of color, who only crime is the color of their skin and the status of their mental health.

And we want the DOJ to do a thorough investigation and have some criminal negligence held against these jailers, because what I believe are people say my liberty is going to be at stake and not just paying a civil settlement that doesn't affect me at all, then I'm going to make sure that I blow that whistle and say, hey, we about to have another LaShawn Thompson in our jail. And so that's the hope, that we can prevent this from happening, and that mental ill people can get proper treatment because I just said we all know people who are suffering from mental illness,

and they shouldn't be treated as criminals who are not worthy of constitutional rights. Candace. Ben, you mentioned that there was a daily assessment that was supposed to take place. So that's on that level. But on the county level, on the state level, were there other assessments and check-ins that were supposed to happen that he was being administered his medication and making sure that he was medically safe from fatality and other serious health problems.

The county jail has a non-delegable duty to make sure that the constitutional rights rights against unusual punishment, cruel and unusual punishment, is respected. Nobody can say, when you look at LaShawn Thompson, that he didn't suffer cruel and unusual punishment and he hadn't been found guilty of anything. I keep emphasizing that because we have a tendency to say, well, they were in jail. They're not really worthy of our respect. Well, if you got loved ones in Atlanta and they get arrested in Fulton County, that's the jail they're going to. So be careful before you go to not give people the benefit of the doubt and consideration. Larry. Yeah, Mr. Crump, thank you for your advocacy. This is a really sad story, but important in terms of hold the area jurisdiction

responsible. And my question is really deals with, you know, you talked about Fulton County, but is this a larger problem in the state of Georgia? And have you heard similar stories about other, you know, places where young men, young brothers and sisters in the area are being held where they see similar kind of concerns have been raised and not addressed? And there is not just an issue throughout the state of Georgia. It is an issue throughout the United States of America. You know, in Mississippi, the Parchman prison that was deplorable. I know in Rowlands Home County, Harris County, Texas, there have been almost two individuals die per month in the jail. And you're scratching your head and saying, this is terrible. You mean two people every month are going to die in the Harris County Jail in Houston,

Texas? But that's what's happening, because we seem to not care about people who have been arrested, because we are quick to say, well, they're criminals anyway. They're convicts. And regrettably, it is a disproportionate number of Black people who are dying in that Harris County jail, just like it was a disproportionate number of black people who were suffering those atrocities in the Fulton County Jail. So we have to say, but by the grace of God, that could be my family member, that could be my cousin, my niece, somebody could be arrested and put in the jail and then tragically and mysteriously end up suffering catastrophic or worse fate of injuries.

So we got to do something about this jail. I tip my hat to Christian Clark for being on it. Roland, you know that sister when she was over at the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights. She has been fighting the fight from day one for civil rights for all our people. Indeed, indeed. Ben, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. And Roland, can I say thank you for what you're doing

and speaking out about the atrocity that happened at Texas A&M. You know, brother, oftentimes people don't use their platform and you always use your platform. So I keep saying that privately, and I want to say it publicly, Roland. God bless you for using your voice, man. I appreciate it. Well, there's no such thing as having a platform if you don't use it. And especially in this day and age where we have far too few black-owned news outlets,

there's a whole lot of folks talking about entertainment and gossip and housewives and everything else, but we've got to have strong news platforms that are speaking to our issues because again, it's way too many stories. We don't even have time to cover all of them, but we've got to be able to do that because we're fighting

a lot of folks who are against the advancement of black people. So Ben, we appreciate it. Keep up the fight out there, man. Thanks a lot of folks who are against the advancement of black people. So, Ben, we appreciate it. Keep up the fight out there, man. Thanks a lot. Thanks, bro. Folks, got to go to a break. We come back more on the Black Star Network,

including the Department of Justice joining the NAACP's lawsuit against Mississippi for trying to create a separate legal system. Hey, folks, don't forget, we want you to support us in what we do. I stopped by the mailbox today and literally these are all the folks who sent checks and money orders and over a, I think I've been to, I haven't been to the mailbox in I think three weeks. So I appreciate all of this. But let me perfectly clear, you've heard me say this beforehand, and it's no joke, okay? Our expenses are $195,000 a month. We're talking about studio.

We're talking about staff. We're talking about, I mean, literally how we're live streaming the show right now. That clear caster that's in there was almost $7,000. When we talk about our live streaming gear with LiveU, we've got two of the LU800. Those are $20,000 a piece. You throw in that rack unit in there, you're now talking about another $45,000. When you go around and see all the things that are in here, when we travel, the other shows, it costs to pay show hosts. It costs to pay staff.

All of this we do. And so when you hear me say that we need 20,000 of our fans contributing on average of 50 bucks each, that's a million dollars. That doesn't pay for everything. But between the advertising that we do get from clients, between what we generate from YouTube and what you give, it allows for us to pay the bills. At the end of the year, we don't have a lot of money that's left over. We did not get a lot of political money in the last election. We'll see what happens in 2024. But I can tell you we are committed to this. And so your support is huge. And so send your check and money orders to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash app is dollar sign RM Unfiltered.

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But we need folks downloading our app. We completely own it and control it. And so you can download it onto your Apple iPhone, your Android phone, your Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And don't forget to get your copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.

This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

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

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

real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves.

We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's Dadication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Available at bookstores nationwide, Amazon. Download your copy on Audible.

Proceeds of the book go right back into the show. We'll be right back. My early days on the road, I learned, well, first of all, as a musician, I studied not only piano, but I was also drummer and percussion. I was all city percussion as well. So I was one of the best in the city on percussion. There you go.

Also studied trumpet, cello, violin, and bass, and any other instrument I could get my hand on. And with that study, I learned again what was for me. I learned to what it meant to do, what the instruments in the orchestra meant to each other in the relationships. So that prepared me to be a leader. That prepared me to lead orchestras

and to conduct orchestras. That prepared me to know, to be a leader of men, they have to respect you and know that you know them. know, to be a leader of men, they have to respect you and know that you know the music. You have to be the teacher of the music. You have to know the music better than anybody. There you go. Right, so you can't walk in unprepared.

Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn minds there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the u.s capital we're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this.

There's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women, this is white fear. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherry Shepard Talk Show. You're watching Rolling Mark. Until tomorrow. The DOJ is filed to join the NAACP's lawsuit against Mississippi's governor and other officials over a new law that expands the jurisdiction of the state-run Capitol Police in Jackson, Mississippi, creating a temporary court within the Capitol Complex Improvement District that

covers a portion of Jackson. Now the NAACP says the law will create separate and unequal policing in the majority black capital and violate the principle of self-government by taking control of the police and some courts out of the hands of residents, and the residents still gotta pay for it. The law allows people convicted

in the Capital Complex Improvement District Court to be put in a state prison rather than in a city or county jail. And the judge of the new court is not required to live in Jackson and would be appointed by the Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate

temporarily blocked the law from taking effect. He must approve the Justice Department's request to intervene in the lawsuit. This right here, Candace, I think is critically important because, again, what this is are largely white Republicans who want to dictate what happens in this majority black city, and then they got control, but the taxpayers of Jackson gotta pay for it

and have no say-so over something that they're paying for. Hmm. Yeah, Roland, you're correct. No say-so. They're paying for it. Um, and you have a situation where there hasn't been, what, a black state representative since Reconstruction. So we're dealing with white people who are in power who need to take care of crime, who need to take care of the water issue, who need to take care of so many systemic issues

that have been going on there for so long. So what this does is it creates two systems that are separate. That is really interesting because the way that it functions already, their systems are already separate in terms of how because the way that it functions already, their systems are already separate in terms of how black people are treated in the courts, especially in Mississippi. So I see this as something that we've already seen, but something that is kind of specific now and clear that they want to happen before it's kind of buried. We have two systems. If you go into the Mississippi court system, now they are literally saying, we just want two systems, one that is going to benefit us more and one that is not going to benefit blacks. So it's not any different than what we've been

seeing and what's been going on, but it's something that is strange because they're clearly saying, let's separate ourselves out. It's ridiculous. You know, Larry, when I look at what they've done here, it was crazy. And when I, and we had numerous legislators on the show, and I've asked them all the same question, where's the data to back it up? They say nothing was provided. Nothing. So, Roland, it's interesting. We look at the percentage of blacks to live in the state of Mississippi. But, you know, in the show, we talk about a lot of these issues, particularly like Mississippi itself. And this particular case, I mean, it makes no sense, but it seems like they're trying to push the cloth back, as my colleague kind of referred to, to the Jim Crow era. You have all these Black people, not only obviously in Jackson, but overall in the state. But those who are making these decisions don't look like members of Jackson. And you highlighted that, you know, obviously the Supreme Court, just Supreme,

the state Supreme Court doesn't have to, individual doesn't make the decisions, doesn't have to live in the area. And it is an unequal and unfair system. But once again, this is another example of what we see consistently, not only the state of Mississippi. Once again, my colleague highlighted the issues relating to access to clean water, which is a basic human right. But in addition to that challenge and not taking the steps to address this issue, but also in terms of undermining members of the Jackson community to have a system in place, a fair system in place, by those who are elected by members of the community, it doesn't make any sense.

And like I said, it's inconsistent with the idea of fairness and justice in America. Joe? Yeah, ditto on all that. You know, at the end of the day, you know, it's nice, you know, to think of it this way. Well, you know, when I like what's going on, you know, I'll kind of let it go. And when I don't like what's going on, I'll come in and take it over. So I believe in local control when I am in control of the locality. When I'm not in control of the locality, now I want to put the state in.

And now I want to put the state,, and now I want to put the state, which is very, very white in charge. Jackson, Mississippi is a black city. That means that the people that are elected there, the judges, the representatives, the DA, folks would have, those would be the people making those decisions. And so this effectively, not inconsistent with what's going on in a lot of different places in the country, one of the places, one of the ways to deal with when you have a state legislature but you don't have the urban cities and you effectively want to take, Mississippi and anywhere else black USA can be the next Washington, D.C., where there's basically taxation without representation. All right, folks, hold tight one second. We come back. The federal government launched an investigation, a different department, into Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. This is why I keep trying to explain to y'all why voting matters. Who you

put in office that controls power, then dictates how power is used. We'll tell you about that investigation next. Again, folks, it's important what we do. Let me do this here. Let me shout out, before I put it up, let me shout out Val Bradshear.

Val, thanks a lot. Let me shout out here. Givear. Val, thanks a lot. Let me shout out here. Give me a second. Malcolm Brown. La Iglesia de Jesus Batista. Hey, Zoo. Appreciate your support for the show. William Turner.

Let me also thank Samantha May Peggy. Let's see here. Robin Thames. Thanks a lot, Robin, let's see here. Let me go. Tamika Thomas, Rodrick. Varda, Larnell Farmer. Let's see here. Donald White, thanks a bunch for your support as well. Give me a second.

I'm going to... Let's see who else here. I'm going to see who else here. Okay. Kathy Collins, Willie Howard Rogers, Nate Roy, Bernard Chujin, Anita Parham, Manu Platt, Tonya Denise Welch, Florence Delaney, Kimberly Crutchfield, Vivian Minter, Trevor Brockman, Terrell Foster, Angela Terry. I want to thank all of y'all for giving to the show.

Please join our Bring the Funk fan club. See a check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, or Martin Unfiltered. The BIMO is RM Unfiltered. PayPal, or Martin Unfiltered. The BMO is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com

Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com Be sure to get a copy of my book White Fear, How the Brownie of Americans Make White Folks Lose Their Minds. If you're on YouTube, y'all hit the like button. We should easily be at 1,000 likes by now. Okay, so when I come back, it's 621 right now. When I come back from this break,

we should have the additional 389 folks, 339 folks who are joining us. And so hit the like button, y'all. I'll be right back. I'm rolling up in focus. We talk about blackness. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

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

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

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

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

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skill through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves.

Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org, brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. And what happens in Black culture, we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine, people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it. And you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us.

We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in Black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month weighs $100,000. We're behind

$100,000, so we want to hit that. Your money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196 Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. The Cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Coming up next on The Frequency, right here on the Black Star Network, Shanita Hubbard. We're talking about the ride or die chick. We're breaking it down.

The stereotype of the strong Black woman. Some of us are operating with it as if it's a badge of honor. Like, you even hear Black women, like, aspiring to be this ride or die chick, aspiring to be this strong Black woman. So at their own expense. Next on the Frequency, right here on the Black Star Network.

Me Sherri Sheppard. I'm Tammy Roman. I'm Dr. Robin B, pharmacist and fitness coach. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. The Department of Health and Human Services launches a federal investigation into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's treatment of black women who give birth. The LA Times reports the investigation is linked to allegations of racism and discrimination the hospital faced following the death of Judge Linda Hatchett's daughter-in-law, Kira Dixon Johnson, seven years ago. She died from internal bleeding following a C-section at Cedars-Sinai.

The federal investigation comes after Kira's husband, Charles Johnson IV, filed a civil rights lawsuit in May of 2022 against the hospital. The lawsuit alleges Johnson's civil rights were violated and she was denied health care because of race, which resulted in her untimely and wrongful death. Also, you may have seen this story where a Yale professor

wants doctors to wear a body camera after she witnessed doctors literally laughing at a black victim who had been shot. When you start looking at these stories, Joe, you're there in L.A. I mean, we're talking about how black people are being degraded and mistreated by hospitals. And they should be treating people equally.

But we're seeing what's going on and they're not. You have some hope, Roland, that as it pertains to certain institutions, ones that are supposed to help people that see all kinds of people, schools, hospitals, etc. You're hoping that you have people that have the empathy and the heart to actually, you know, deal with the situations with the proper sensitivity, but also do everything that they can for you on your behalf. If they devalue people in that regard, and the facts will show, the statistics will show, the data will show that care for black folks and white folks with the same medical problems will vary.

If there is less care as it pertains to less sensitivity, then there's going to be less quality of care. And that's in L.A. In L.A., they got black folks there all the time. They got black folks in Hollywood, at Cedars-Sinai, going there all the time. But at the end of the day, the problem becomes when you don't value certain lives, that is going to show up in the work that you do. And that's why this is so dangerous. And that really is the case here, Candace. And it happens repeatedly. And this is why we're always trying to explain to people

that forget all this other BS you hear. The reality is black folks still have to catch hail. We still have to do more just to live like everybody else. And the Department of Health and Human Services, this is nothing new. They have had these reports that have talked about these preventable deaths that happen by the tens of thousands every year because of racism. And we're talking about racism and also other socioeconomic factors. And then you have, you know, gender factors and age factors. And all of that is the decrease, all of these intersectionalities when someone goes into the hospital. And what happened in this situation was that there was too much blood in her system that could have been prevented and

her husband had to fight. And I'm sure that we have all found ourselves in that situation. And I think the key takeaway from this is like everything else that we have to do in this country, you have to come in there and not only show people that you are a good advocate for yourself, but I know when I go to the hospital and are dealing with loved ones, you have to bring in outside people and let them know that it's not just me who might be in mourning, but someone who was on their P's and Q's, who has the wherewithal to question, to ask you what you're doing, to ask if there's a black doctor, to ask for a second opinion. You have to be really, really bold. And that happens often in the times in the middle of grief and mourning and when you're really, really out of your element. But it is a practice that we have to begin or continue that when you go to the hospital,

you have to advocate. You have to advocate hard and you have to advocate loudly. It doesn't matter how you might out might seem on the other end. It's going to be worth it if it ultimately prevents the death. And that's the thing, Larry. You have to be your greatest advocate. You simply can't assume. And we tell the story of the time when Serena Williams was having a child. I mean, she had to basically knock the hell out of these damn

doctors and say, hey, I'm having issues. So let's talk about some facts. According to CDC, black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related deaths than white women. In addition to that, there are a number of studies that highlight that physicians believe that black people have a higher tolerance to pain. So among all the other issues we have to deal with in terms of being black in America, as my colleague mentioned earlier, hospitals are institutions you want to deal with in terms of being black in America. As my colleague mentioned earlier, hospitals and institutions, you want to have faith in because when you go there,

there's something wrong and you need support. But this issue related to black women and pregnancy-related deaths, this is something unsolvable, Roland. All this is rooted in structural racism. And I think the key point is when we talk about, you talk about these topics on your show, particularly this topic, black women are more likely to have these pregnancy related deaths compared to white women, regardless of their socioeconomic status. So, you know, well-educated black women with health insurance compared to a white woman who doesn't have a job and doesn't have any health insurance. That black woman has a higher rate of mortality rate when it comes to pregnancy. So these are the issues, once again, are solvable. We need to have more black physicians. And once again, we have to make sure we have the

physicians have the training to recognize their own bias to ensure we protect the lives of black women. Indeed, indeed. Folks, when we come back, we will talk about a number of different other stories. And that is one, the case out of Indiana where a black man was tased and died as a result. We also have efforts to expand, if you will, more lawyers into the profession. We'll talk about what's happening there at the Southern Polly Law Center. They are involved in the effort as well,

fighting misconduct. Plus, what's happening at Texas A&M with a black journalism professor, where they changed the offer multiple times, that is leading to other people who are saying, I don't want to go to these schools. We're seeing the exact same thing in Florida. This is going to have, these actions are going to have a chilling effect on black professionals, black faculty. We will talk about that on the show as well. You're watching Rollerbutton Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Back in a moment.

On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. The wealth gap has literally not changed in over 50 years, according to the Federal Reserve. On the next Get Wealthy, I'm excited to chat with Jim Castleberry, CEO of Known Holdings. They have created a platform, an ecosystem to bring resources to blacks and people of color so they can scale their business. Even though we've had several examples of African-Americans and other people of color being able to be successful, we still aren't seeing the mass level of us being lifted up. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, we're gonna be talking about common sense.

We think that people have it, know how to use it, but it is something that people often have to learn. The truth is most of us are not born with it and we need to teach common sense, embrace it and give it to those who need it most, our kids. So I always tell teachers to listen out to what conversations the students are having about what they're getting from social media. And then let's get ahead of it and have the appropriate conversations with them. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

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

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush.

What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback.

Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Next, on The Black Table, with me, Greg Carr. We featured the brand new work of Professor Angie Porter, which, simply put, is a revolutionary reframing

of the African experience in this country. It's the one legal article everyone, and I mean everyone, should read. Professor Porter and Dr. Valethia Watkins, our legal round table team, join us to explore the paper that I guarantee is going to prompt a major aha moment in our culture. You crystallize it by saying,

who are we to other people? Who are African people to others? Governance is our thing. Who are we to each other? The structures we create for ourselves, how we order the universe as African people. That's next on The Black Table, here on the Black Star Network. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from LA. And this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation.

You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together. So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into.

It's the culture weekdays at three only on the black star network. Black star network. A real revolutionary right now. Thank you for being the voice of black America. All the men that we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home, You dig? Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. White people are losing their damn minds.

There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history.

Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys, guys.

This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. I am Tommy Davidson. I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder.

Right now, I'm rolling with Roland Martin. Unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. You hear me? On April 25th, 2022, Herman Whitfield III was experiencing a mental health crisis at his parents' home. His mother, Gladys, called for an ambulance, but instead of medical assistance, six Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers showed up. The officers did not help Herman at all. They eventually tased him, double- double handcuffed him in the prone position, ignored his pleas

that he could not breathe, kept him face down for about five minutes until his body went motionless on his parents' living room floor. The autopsy determined Whitfield died from heart failure while under law enforcement restraint and ruled the death a homicide. Two of those officers, Adam Ahmad and Stephen Sanchez, have both been indicted for Herman's death, a two-faced involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, and felony and misdemeanor battery charges. The trial is scheduled for July of next year. Whitfield's family has filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Indianapolis and six officers.

Joining me from Indianapolis are Herman's parents Gladys and Herman Whitfield Jr. Their attorneys Israel Nunez, Cruz and Richard Boppels. Here with me in the studio is D-Locke, the lead coordinator for the Justice for Herman Whitfield III campaign. Glad to have you on the show, Gladys and Herman. Again, sorry for the loss of your son.

This is something that we've covered on numerous occasions on this show, where so many parents are scared to death of literally calling authorities because what ended up happening to your son could have happened before. What I'm trying to understand is you call for an ambulance. Why did cops come? We don't know why. Yeah, we don't know why.

We didn't ask for them. But I thought since they were here, they had the civility and the humanities to help us. And it just turned out to be bad. I don't know why they came. Israel and Richard, are there 911 calls? Has the city explained why an ambulance wasn't dispatched and instead six cops showed up this is richard and the uh there was an ambulance that came that was outside that the police did not allow to come in until they had the situation as they said under control Herman was confused and in a mental health crisis, like you said, he needed

help. And the officers initially talked to him and tried to get him to come outside, get dressed and come outside. And he apparently didn't understand them and wasn't making any sense. And the officer's training is to wait in that situation not confront somebody not to get physically aggressive with them and instead of following their training they did exactly the opposite they forced the situation they got up on him and then they um when he ran from them then they used a taser to get him down and got on top of him. And their training says it's very dangerous, especially for a large individual to be down on his stomach in a prone position, especially with his hands cuffed behind his back and with weight on him. And that's exactly

the position he was in. And Herman, and there's video from the officer's body cams on this, says he couldn't breathe at least three or more times. And the officers didn't follow their training to get him up in a position where he could breathe. And instead, he just went limp and they just left him there. It's a tragic situation. And the city's policies actually aren't all that bad with respect to how they are to respond to this sort of situation. But they didn't follow them, the officers on the scene. And then the city of Indianapolis hasn't been honest with respect to how they dealt with the situation. They've attempted to cover it up. They produced a videotape that was left out the part that Herman was saying he couldn't breathe, made it appear that he was the aggressor when he wasn't. Herman never verbally threatened the

officers, never physically threatened the officers. He just tried to get away from them. And they were the ones that were the aggressors. They were the ones that used the only physical force that was used that day. Israel, was there a supervisor on the scene? Again, we've had other stories before where you typically would have a senior officer who is command of the scene. Anything along those lines? I think there was a sergeant on the scene. Israel, do you recollect?

Richard, you're right. I think that there was a sergeant on scene and there are multiple officers on scene initially and then more came before the ambulance made its way into the house. So there was a supervisor that was supervising what was going on with the officers inside the home. You say, Richard, that a videotape was made by the city that was deceptive. And I'm curious for Gladys and Herman, did you, first of all, did you shoot any video yourself?

Were there any body cam footage that shows beginning to end what took place? Gladys and Herman first. Oh, no, we did not film anything. We didn't have any devices in our hand filming anything. And what was your other question? The video that the city released was a compilation of bits and pieces of

police officer body cam videos that the city saw fit to piece it together and omitting very important outcome determinative pieces of video. So have y'all been shown the full body cam video from beginning to end? Well, we saw pieces of it.

We really couldn't look at it because it was really kind of gruesome and inhumane, so we really couldn't. I really couldn't look at it, and I don't think Terry could either. But our... It's my understanding that our attorneys have looked at all of the video camera footage. Richard, is that the case?

Yeah, that is the case. In fact, we saw it in Discovery, the body cam videos, the complete body cam videos, not just the copulation video that the city put together, and they resisted that. We actually had to go to court with a motion to compel and get the court to order them to produce all of the body cam videos. And when they did, it told more of the story about exactly what happened. And it was after that point, and then we released a compilation of those body cam that honestly set forth what happened that day and who did what, which one of the officers did what, and how they brutalized Herman and caused his death.

And it was after that point that the prosecutor then brought charges against two of the officers, the officer that tased him, Sanchez, and Ahmaud, who was on top of Herman. Ms. Lott, how has this, first of all, how did you come to get involved in this case as the lead coordinator of the Justice for Herman campaign? Well, I am a friend of, I was a friend of Herman Whitfield III, as well as his family. So I'm a family friend, an attorney who has experience in doing campaign organizing on other issues. And so when this happened, you know, of course, went through a period of grieving. But, you know, very shortly after that, it became a conversation of, OK, what do we want to do now?

Especially once we saw that the city was misconstruing and obfuscating facts and things like that. And so we wanted to make sure that the truth was out. You know, we started out first with just putting up a website, did a community memorial call to action for the local community there. And from there, for the last year and two, three months, this is what we've been working on and steadily trying to, you know, recruit people, get the word out, get a base of volunteers, kind of provide some support and encouragement to the community because this is one of many in a long, long history of vigilante mob lynchings and things like that that have happened in Indiana.

And it's really something that I think continues, like that legacy and that community-wide, statewide trauma is something that continues in that community. There's a lot of fear. There's a lot of belief that nothing is ever going to change there. And so we thought it was very important to start making sure that we got both local attention to it, local support, as well as national support to let that community there know that there are people who, there's a network of people, there's a nation of people, there's a world of people who will pay attention to what's happening in Indiana and who care about Herman and who care just in generally.

And so that was one of the reasons why we started to engage, but also to make sure that the public knew what the government, what the mayor, what the police are doing there. We just want it out. One of the most concerning things right now that we that as a campaign we're worried about as the community we're worried about is the fact that these two indicted officers are still employed by the police department. The mayor to my understanding everything I've seen and heard has never come out and said that he would stand for justice that he wants to see justice served in this instance. There has not been any comment or any request for a DOJ investigation, which is something that we've repeatedly asked for from the very beginning.

It needs to happen not only for this case, but for the long history of this in Indianapolis and Indiana as a whole. And so we have a lot of concerns about what the mayor is not doing there and the efforts to cover this up and to hide this from the community there locally and from the national community. And so I thank you so much for bringing us on and helping us get the word out about this and so that we can ask for the national support that we need, not only there in Indianapolis and Indiana, but so that we can start to unite nationwide, so that we start to have a more

coordinated response to these, so that there is at least some hope that this will stop and we can start to reform this. Richard Israel, this happened April 25, 2022. The trial is until July 2024? Right. So the trial has actually just got continued, and it's actually going to be set for January is set for January 24th of 2024. Oh January January 2024 not July. Correct. Got it. Now having said that it wouldn't surprise me if it got moved

again. I think for this type of case it's probably going to take a good year, maybe a year and a half from the time that it was filed because there's just going to be delays. Like many other states and other jurisdictions, we have a backlog because of COVID. And so, again, it wouldn't surprise me if it got moved one more time. But the prosecutor, Ryan Mears, is moving this case forward. As far as I can remember, I think this is the first time two police officers have been indicted for these types of charges. So we are very pleased with the prosecutor for doing what is right. And I think that he's going to move this case as quickly as possible.

But the defense is going to do everything they can, of course, to put in as many roadblocks as they can before this case goes to trial. Gotcha. It is always difficult when we have to talk about these cases. We've talked to so many different family members in similar circumstances. And again, it is, it has to be heart-wrenching, again, when you seek assistance and help for a son, for a daughter, for a loved one. And then you think that you're calling the people who are supposedly there to protect and serve, and then they end up being the aggressors and taking someone's life. And so Gladys and Herman, we thank you for sharing with us

your story. Israel, Richard, thank you so very much as well. Nialat, thanks a bunch. Please let us know what happens next in this case. For Herman, we'll fill a third. Thank you us know what happens next in this case for Harmon Whitfield III. Thank you so much. We want to thank you again, like Dad said, for having us on your show, because we are we don't feel like we're getting the local support that we should be getting, especially from the clergy here in Indianapolis. We're not sure why. As Des mentioned, the mayor has not stepped up.

The police chief have not stepped up. Many other jurisdictions have fired officers in similar circumstances. But yet, under these circumstances, in this case, the police officers continue to, one, be on administrative leave, but two, they're continuing to be paid, and there's no movement whatsoever to fire them. Folks, put back up the social media information to follow this, folks. Again, you can go to Facebook. The Justice for Herman Whitfield Third page on Instagram is Justice at number four, Herman Third 3RD. You also have the YouTube channel Justice for herman we feel the third campaign

so again we appreciate it thanks a lot thank you if i could just make one ask that people engage with us so that we can start to work together to have a coordinated response in this like with all the families so that we can start doing something the the fraternal order of police is organized they're talking to each other we need to start doing that ourselves so that we can start moving this in the direction that we want it to go in. Politicians aren't going to do it. We have to save us. We appreciate it. Thanks a bunch.

Folks, we've got to go to break. When we come back, our Black and Missing for the day. In addition, we'll talk about Black faculty under attack by white conservatives who keep advancing their attacks against DEI. That's next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time.

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

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

4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

Marine Cor vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it.

I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting.

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Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash App is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at Roland S Martin.com. Coming up next on The Frequency, right here on the Black Star Network, Shanita Hubbard.

We're talking about the ride or die chick. We're breaking it down. The stereotype of the strong black woman. Some of us are operating with it as if it's a bad and an honor. Like you even hear black women like aspiring to be this ride or die chick, aspiring to be this strong black woman at their own expense. Next on The Frequency right here on the Black Star Network. Farquhar, executive producer of Proud Family.

Bruce Smith, creator and executive producer of the Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. You're watching Roland Martin. We'll be right back. missing from Levine, Arizona since May 23rd. The 17-year-old is 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 180 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about Brazeon Shepard should call the Phoenix, Arizona Police Department at 602-262-6151. 602-262-6151 Folks, the first Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer to plead guilty to vehicular manslaughter

finds out how much time he will spend behind bars. Brian Cummings will spend approximately nine months in jail after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide for a deadly crash during a police pursuit that killed Laniel Frazier. This took place on July 6, 2021 when Cummings was pursuing a stolen vehicle for about 20 blocks, reaching speeds up to 90 miles an hour. Cummings ran a red light at 78 miles per hour, slamming into Frazier's Jeep.

Cummings faced charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide, which usually carries a four-year prison term. Despite the severity of the incident, the judge sentenced Cummings to 270 days in the county jail because he pleaded guilty and showed remorse for his actions. Candace, 270 days in jail just because he showed remorse? He literally violated department policy with this high-speed chase and killed somebody. Indeed, Roland. And you know, one of the things that's interesting about this case is that it's a repeat of the cases that we have seen over the past years. And this is why we need

oversight of systems like this. This is someone who actually killed someone, as you said. People who kill people, if you're a black man and you're going through this process, you are going to get more time. And so I'm not surprised by the outcome of this case, but I am surprised at the lack of oversight of this type of case and the tension that is not getting unless it is people like you. It's just crazy to me, Larry, when we see these stories and how this system absolutely protects cops. Well, and this is a story you could just plus, you know, rewind and play. You know, we talk about this all the time

on your show. And it's tragic because what it also does undermines the faith that the community has in the judicial system. And we already know that black folks are more likely to receive higher sentences for similar cases. And also, we obviously today talked about the treatment, if particularly black folks are in prison. But this particular case is clear. Like you talked about not doing something that cost someone their life and inconsistent with policies and procedures and only getting nine months. It really is a slap in the face and the family and the local community. And we have to do a better job, particularly the judicial system, has to do a better job of holding law enforcement responsible for committing crimes just like they treat everyday citizens.

Joe? You know, law enforcement gets a lot of deference, and this is something that reminds you that it doesn't matter whether you're dealing with a liberal city. It doesn't matter whether you're versus a conservative city. Oh, liberal city, better cops. Not necessarily. Or less deference, more understanding when someone has a life loss. So basically what they're saying is that life is just worth 270 days. And I don't know how long he was in jail, but he either was in jail for some period of time and he's got time served or close to it, which I don't think happened,

or he was able to get out right away to begin with, right? And I would give you 10 to 1, he'll be lucky to do 100 days of this. He'll do half of it, right about half of it, at the very, very most. And so, you know, we have to continue to sound the horn here, the whole idea that when someone does something, when they break their own policy,

as a plaintiff's attorney, I look for a defendant, employer, the police department, that breaks their own policy. This is what you said you were supposed to do and you don't do it. And he effectively gets a slap on the wrist. Yeah, just absolutely crazy. Two Georgia election workers demand severe sanctions and an outright victory in their defamation case against Rudy Giuliani after he failed to produce communications

related to Donald Trump's 2020 election fraud claims. Mother and daughter Atlanta poll workers Ruby Freeman and Shea Moss are asking U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell to grant a default judgment in favor of their case because Giuliani failed to turn over requested exchanges between himself and Trump advisor Boris Epstein. Freeman and Moss have been subjected to relentless attacks since 2020 when Giuliani and Trump cited them sometimes by name to fuel their since-debunked election fraud claims.

The poll workers seek an unspecified amount in damages, claiming Giuliani's actions cause severe emotional distress and put them in danger. I hope these thugs, Larry, get everything that they deserve. Make sure he loses it all. This speaks to, I think, the country's history in terms of black folks, particularly the work black women do to protect democracy. And this is the outcome.

And I know over years ago, some folks referred to Julian as America's mayor, but we know that wasn't the case when it came to black folks and fairness and when it comes to police department, police department. But this is ridiculous. And once again, all these lies he told leading up to the election and after the election, we have to hold him accountable to losing his law license, making him pay these black women the money they deserve for, you know, the humiliation and the constant attacks that certainly had to have an impact on their well-being. And they were constantly attacked and demoralized, Candace.

They were. And one thing that Giuliani and his attorneys understand is that procedurally they have to turn over evidence, evidence that works for them and evidence that works against them. They don't have to hand it on a silver platter. It could be buried. But they have to turn over the evidence. That's what all attorneys know, all attorneys understand. And if they don't do it, then they are subject to being, to get in trouble for it and have

some violation of the court and its procedures. So he knows this. His attorneys are saying that this is burdensome, that you are asking us for evidence. That's how the court system works. You have his story, the prosecutor's story, the defense story, and somewhere in there you have the third story, and that's the truth. And in order to prove whatever truth there is, you need evidence. So it makes no sense that someone who's barred, Rudy Giuliani, as well as his attorneys who are barred, would act like this is the first time that they heard. They have to turn over evidence. This is par for the

course. This is basic. And this is something that goes well against what they call the Brady rule. You have to turn over the evidence in order to have a fair trial. Joe. You know, it's amazing. You know, somebody brings a case, the other side answers the case. And so now the case is at issue and you're walking together. It takes a whole lot to have enough of a sanction where potentially speaking, you could be defaulted because you were so egregious in your failure to do what you were supposed to do that the court is looking at giving you the ultimate penalty. I know that that's what these parties are asking for. I don't know quite where they are with it, but they're basically getting ready to be in a place where they are dancing

by themselves without Giuliani there, because you have to do a lot, actually, to get these ultimate sanctions. But he's staring at them. He has to provide this evidence. Like I said, he can bury it, but he has to provide it. But, you know, if you don't want to provide good news, that's where you are. You know what I mean? And so it's going to be interesting to see what happens. And I hope he's penalized as much as he can be because he doesn't. He's an officer of the court, by the way, and his attorneys are officers of the court. And they're not supposed to be able to skip the law just because they want us to remember how things were the day after 9-11 and he was popular. Well, absolutely. All right, folks, got to go to break.

We come back. We're going to talk about the dangers of menthol cigarettes and how they target black communities. And also, did a white Republican just mention colored people on the floor of the House? I'm going to play this video when we come back. And why is a white woman going off on Muslims? But wait until I show you how the white train conductor got in her ass. That's next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. The wealth gap has literally not changed in over 50 years, according to the Federal Reserve. On the next Get Wealthy, I'm excited to chat with Jim Castleberry, CEO of Known Holdings. They have created a platform, an ecosystem to bring resources to Blacks and people of color so they can scale their business. Even though we've had several examples of African-Americans and other people of color being able to be successful, we still aren't seeing the mass level of us being lifted up. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, we're going to be talking about common sense.

We think that people have it, know how to use it, but it is something that people often have to learn. The truth is most of us are that people have it, know how to use it, but it is something that people often have to learn. The truth is most of us are not born with it and we need to teach common sense, embrace it, and give it to those who need it most, our kids. So I always tell teachers to listen out to what conversations the students are having about what they're getting from social media and then let's get ahead of it. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good

and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st. And episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts I'm Clayton English

I'm Greg Lott and this is season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast yes sir, we are back in a big way in a very big way real people, real perspectives this is kind of star studded a little bit man we got Ricky

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

drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working,

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

Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you've got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication.

Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. And have the appropriate conversations with them. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Black Star Network. Hi, I'm Jo Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on Disney's Louder and Prouder Disney+. And I'm with Roland Martin

on Unfiltered. Thank you. So, I just got this text message from Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, and something happened today on the House floor. That's nuts Republican Congressman Eli Crane was speaking and they voted today on this House defense bill Whether Republicans want to strip abortion funding and some other stuff, you know, for the bill. They're in a culture wars crap. So this literally happened, y'all, today on the floor of the House. And this is what you had a white Republican, a black female Democrat watch this exchange. Arizona.

Well, Mr. Chairman, though, that was unbelievably inspiring. My amendment has nothing to do with whether or not colored people or black people or anybody can serve, okay? It has nothing to do with color of your skin, any of that stuff. What we want to preserve and maintain is the fact that our military does not become a social experiment. We want the best of the best. I think what we need to do is do what we can to make sure that we serve and maintain is the fact that our military does not become a social experiment. We want the best of the best. We want to have standards that guide who's in what unit, what

they do. And I'm going to tell you guys right now, the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians, the North Koreans, they are not doing this because they want the strongest military possible. I hope my colleagues on the other side can understand what we're doing. Thank you so much. Mr. Spahn.

I'm asking to be recognized to have the words colored people. For what purposes, gentle lady, seek recognition? I'd like to be recognized to have the words colored people stricken from the record. I find it offensive and very inappropriate. Is the gentlelady asking for unanimous consent to take down the words? I am asking for unanimous consent to take down the words of referring to me or any of my colleagues as colored people. For what person is the gentleman from Arizona? Can I amend my comments to people of color?

The gentleman wishes to amend his comments. Is the gentleman asking for unanimous consent? Mr. Speaker, to have the word stricken? I didn't ask for an amendment. Is there unanimous consent to have the word stricken? Without objection, so ordered. So, I want, just so, some of y'all see some of y'all comments. Watch one of his fellow Republicans sitting behind him.

Watch his reaction when white Republican Eli Crane says colored people. Watch this. Arizona. Well, Mr. Chairman, though, that was unbelievably inspiring. My amendment has nothing to do with whether or not colored people or black people or anybody can serve. Okay? It has nothing to do with whether or not

black people or anybody can serve. Okay? It has nothing to do with whether or not colored people or black people or anybody can serve. Okay? It has nothing to do with whether or not colored people or black people or anybody.

The look, he was like, he's like, yeah, just say colored people. This is who they are, Joe. I have this habit that I'll admit anytime I'm getting ready to take off my shirt because I've got my glasses on, I naturally take them off. OK, so what happens is even if seconds before I took off my glasses, seconds before I took off my shirt for some other reason. Right. The glasses aren't on, but I still go like this, even though I did it seconds before. When you've done something and you've always done it and it's so natural, even in an audience where you know you'll be penalized for it, where you know you can't do it and you're not supposed to do it, and you're talking about people of color so you know to train yourself, you don't do it.

The Bible says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And so, therefore, he talked about it like he used to talk about it, like he'd done it before, and like he'll do it again. And that's what you have in the United States of America.

We're still here. He is a Republican from Arizona, Larry. Roland, I spent, you know, my former boss, Congressman Owens, I spent many, many hours on the House floor discussing bills and amendments. I got to tell you, I never heard that before. That's a that's a new one. And, you know, we can't be surprised because this is pretty much at least one thing with Republicans. They're consistent. So I was surprised even when I have us stricken the way they do things now. I'm surprised he wasn't like, no, I said it and said it with his chest.

But I'm quite sure maybe he thought, I don't know, maybe he thought he was going on Fox News, but he'll probably end up on platforms like we're discussing this evening. But once again, it's pretty consistent with what we've seen over the last couple of years from the Republican Party. So I'm not shocked. Candace? He told on himself. That's what he does at home. And trust me, he says more. And I think what's also interesting was that the amendment that he was even fighting for to prevent race or nationality in recruiting for any type of strategies and service doesn't make any sense. I mean, you're not going to consider somebody's nationality when you're dealing with someone, somebody who might

speak Arabic. You don't want to consider that when you're going into war with maybe a country that speaks Arabic or you try to figure out the cultural differences that might be in play when you're going into war against other countries. Nothing that he said made sense in terms of the color comment or the amendment to begin with in terms of what we was fighting for. And none of us are surprised. Indeed, this is America. Speaking of America, it's always important to have white allies who say and do what's right. So we came across this video.

So there were folks riding on the train, white woman, a couple of Muslims. And the white woman decides to just show her racist ass. I mean, you know, train riding Karen just showed exactly who she is. But wait until the white conductor got in that ass watch smells like feces eaters doesn't it say hi to tick tock why somebody's got a problem say hi to tick tock racist number one yup say it louder for her. You're ignorant. I don't sexualize children. That's

ignorant. And we do. Yeah. And we do. I didn't say you did. Must have a guilty conscience enjoy the white like you sat next to us talk to them like that were they talking what were they when she's saying stuff yeah yeah get off the train i said i don't sexualize children i'm not getting off the train you need to get off of the train you can't talk to the passengers like that i'm not talking to anybody i because I said that I don't want to touch you. You need to get off of the train. You can't talk to the passengers like that. I'm not talking to anybody. I'm looking out the window. Every person in this car said that you were talking to them that way. No, I don't know every person in this car, so I don't know if it's a problem.

You need to get off of the train. All right, look at me. You will never ride my train again. I will look at you and tell you you can't ride. Do you understand that? I can't physically remove you, but I can stop you from getting on. Do not talk to the passengers that way. I'm not talking to them. Yes, you

are. So get off in Hartford and do not get back on my train ever again. You see me, walk away. Okay? Thank you. God bless you know May's featuring Frankie Beverly got a song called there's that look in your eye

it's a lot of bigotry in that eye and see here's what got me this is the one that I really love to hear Kansas her ass was real bold. She was talking with a chest before the conductor came. Then he came. Well, I was outside the

window. I was just enjoying the plants and the trees. This is why I love cameras. We get to show these racist bigots, these Karens, these Beckys, these Margarets, exactly who the hell they are. And the Republican congressman from Arizona saying colored people.

And you know, what's so heartwarming is the response, as you said, of that conductor. He was fair. He was forthright. But he made himself plain that this is not going to happen again. You can act like there's some type of parallel universe where you didn't say this, but we've got witness. It was like it was like he was performing a little mini trial. He had witnesses. You know, he came. He gave his opening and closing argument, gave his decision, and she got her punishment. She's not going to be allowed on the train anymore. As he said, if you see me, you better turn around. And I think that that was the wonderful part about it, is that you hope somebody will respond that way.

Normally, we see these videos that go viral, and they kind of end up at the same point where somebody's fighting. But you don't often see somebody jump in with authority to come and quash it the way that he did. Joe? It's like, uh, Morris Day in Turcow number three. You ain't got to go home, but you got to get the hell out of here.

I really appreciated how he came. He was very balanced, and he said, I listen to these folks, and everybody on this train says that you're being a certain way. And it is interesting how she crammed up. She wasn't as strong when he came after her like that and did the eye thing and everything. I mean, it was fantastic. I appreciated him being an ally that way because it's about making people feel safe. Now, what is this person going to do anyway? She's not, you know, why is her entitlement what it actually is?

This just lets you know how folks think. And so I'm really glad that he had those, we had that advocate show up in that particular situation, and hopefully that kind of thing can happen more often. Larry? She messed around and found out. And we need more of that. We need more allies to come in our defense, whether, you know, a situation on trains, in classrooms, in boardrooms.

We need more allyship like this. And, you know, credit to him for doing the right thing. That's exactly what we should have done. But, Roman, this is another example of people from minoritized backgrounds through our country in terms of the challenges we encounter and just basically live in our lives. So the other thing is, when things like this happen, everyone go live. Say it with your chest.

Dr. Carl likes to say a lot. So go live and we need to keep tweeting this out and people are watching your show now. And we need to make sure we find out all the information and let our employer know how she's behaving. just i'm looking outside the window i mean i wouldn't talk to anybody like i'm looking outside the window like why are you talking to me folks earlier this week uh we talked about the serve kathleen mccarroy uh university of texas

journalist professor long-time journalist who signed a contract with texas a&m to run the journalism department then they then proceeded uh to change the contract three separate times, going from a five-year contract with tenure to a five-year contract with no tenure to a one-year contract fired at will. Well, she said, hell no. And this, of course, has, you know, a lot of conversation. But this thing is way bigger than Kathleen McElroy. Larry, they're in your state, University of Florida, had three or four positions in their African American studies department for, and folks wouldn't take the jobs.

In fact, I was looking at a tweet today, Let me try to pull it up There was a tweet today and I was a professor at Texas A&M who tweeted That that these types of actions is going that will have a direct impact So Andrew Dessler professor of atmospheric sciences and the climate scientists at Texas A&M net native Texan Let me find the tweet here This This is what, let's see here. Let me see if I can pull it up here. And what he's talking about, we're going to see more of this. And so go to my iPad. He said, this is such a disaster for Texas A&M. Who in their right mind would take the job as head of the journalism program? Then he tweets, let me make a provocative statement. Long-term excellence in a university is impossible without the backing of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The reason is a significant

number of scholars who won't associate with an institution perceived as discriminatory. He says the size of this group is large enough that even academics who might not be personally invested in DEI avoid such institutions as they are aware that the lack of DEI hampers the recruitment of other top tier faculties. Last comment here. He said this is already happening. We had an offer out for a tenure track faculty position. And after this news came out two days ago, the person called and turned down the offer explicitly because of this. This right here is what President Kathleen Banks had better wake up and realize what is going to happen.

This is what Chancellor John Sharp had better make clear to the idiots of the Texas A&M University Board of Regents that this is going to be a problem. And what this is doing, Larry, this is actually curbing opportunities for black academics. And what it is going to do, it is going to call black academics to question, well, I don't even want to go to these places in Texas, in Florida. And so if they're complaining about losing the best black talent, and they don't mind that black talent on the football field. They love them some four and five star athletes, but clearly they don't want four and five star faculty, Larry. Roland, you highlighted it, and I texted you about when this story came out.

You told me that you were, you know, you were going to bring the noise the other day, earlier this week, and you did. So I think, Roland, what's important is black folks only make up 6% of faculty members at post-secondary institutions. We make up 14% of the U.S. population. And we're a small community, and we talk a lot, because you've got to let people know, I'm applying to a job here. I've got an offer here. Should I go here? Should I not go here? And you're right. It's already having an impact on certain states that people are deciding to or not to go to. And, Rowan, I think what's really important about this conversation is

we're not talking about the long-term economic impact. There are some brilliant Black minds in higher education, colleagues in it and other people that I read their work. When they decide they're not going to a particular state, that's a loss. That means that person won't apply for work there and apply for grants, multimillion-dollar grants. And also, you won't be able to attract students to attend an institution. So these states and institutions that take these particular stances are having, it will have a long-term negative impact on their bottom line, and they just don't see it. And what this also is speaking to, Ken, is, and this is why I'm trying to get people to understand how you have to broaden this. So imagine if you are an African-American, but you're downstream,

you're not a Kathleen McElroy. You don't have tenure at some other particular place. You're trying to get there. You're like, I don't want to go to a place like that. I don't want to go to essentially a hostile environment. The fact that the Texas A&M border regions would listen to some crank ass right wing website who tried to say, though, she was this radical leftist who's all about DEI. And for President Kathleen Banks to fall for that. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-illion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.

Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet, MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things.

Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. long game. We gotta make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up

and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council.

...BS and accept it and not stand up to the regions and tell them they are wrong. I'm telling you right now, if I was a black academic, I would say the hell with Texas A&M. Don't even come talk to me, which is why I'm saying that black athletes should say the exact same thing. Don't give a Texas A&M your talent right now as an athlete when they don't want your talent when you no longer can run up and down the field on DEI Saturday afternoons. And especially when leadership can be easily persuaded when they were already in contractual obligations

and negotiations with this esteemed journalist. She signed the contract. That's right. That's right. She signed the contract. And lest we forget that she was brought in with fanfare. There were balloons and crepe paper and a table and all of that.

Then there were questions about what was going on with what she had written in the past, stuff that was on her CV, stuff that they probably asked her about in the interview process. There is no way that an academic would want to go to this school, I would imagine, within years if they are African-American, because there's nothing solid saying, you are going to support me, whether we have a contract signed or not. Everything is in flux. This is a woman who was going to this school without tenure. That is unbelievable. When you're someone on her level, you go to a school and they offer you that tenure

on a silver platter. It is hard to get. And if you go to a school without tenure, you're going to be facing the same people that persuaded everybody to refuse her to come in. You're going to be facing them on your tenure and application and the board and the process. So all along, you already have signs right now. If you are black, this isn't the school for you. Not this year, probably not next year and probably not the next year after. When you look at the when you look at the Supreme Court decision dealing with affirmative action, when you look at these attacks on DEI in Florida, in Texas, in all these southern states, what we're talking about, and I need people to understand what I'm about to say,

we are talking about white conservatives today literally trying to limit the economic viability of African Americans for the future. That's what these actions are doing. These are not just, oh, it's no big deal. Oh, this is just a small percentage of folks at Harvard and the Ivy

League schools. No, you are seeing white conservative Republicans who control South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana. You are seeing them institute these type of things across their particular states. And you're going to see it happen. Republicans in Pennsylvania, Democrats now control Michigan. Republicans used to control the legislature there. You're going to see this in Iowa. You're going to see it in places where they control both chambers in the governor's mansion? For all the problems universities and colleges have, et cetera,

sometimes they can do a little bit better at these things because you're dealing with educated people. Educated people, shame on Texas A&M, because educated people ought to know better. Aside from the contractual situations, I've signed a contract, et cetera, et've signed a contract, you know, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, the whole idea that they would allow themselves to be taken from this because of some side chatter, it makes Texas A&M look bad. Then, as the point was made before,

it makes them, it makes people less likely to give grants. It makes people that would come to get those grants less likely to want to study there and less likely to go to an environment that they consider to be hostile. And then what ends up happening is that university or that system ends up being downgraded because they aren't going to be able to get the talent because they aren't going to be able to get the grants because a lot of folks that give grants, organizations are looking for people with more progressive thoughts and certainly people that aren't getting rid of diversity, equity, and inclusion. So educated people ought to know better, and we will see what happens here.

But at the end of the day, there's going to be a consequence to pay for these folks to decide. Because it's DUI, we can have it on Saturday afternoon, but no other time. Let's see if one affects the other and see where they are then. So I make this last point here, everybody, to understand, because when we talk about the power of voting, I need you to understand that this is a result of that. And that is this here. The last three cycles, you saw black voter turnout drop.

What that is happening, if we as black people, let me be perfectly clear, because you can listen to these yahoos out here who rant and rave on YouTube, okay, who don't trust this, don't trust that. Those people are stupid. Understand this. If we as black people do not maximize our voting power, we are furthering in power, hardcore right. I have been, did not not warn y'all about right wing folk taking over school boards. Did not warn y'all about that. What happened?

Moms for Liberty ran folks all across the South. What's the first thing they did when they got to South Carolina? They start firing black superintendents. That's black professionals. They start firing black educators working for the districts. That's black professionals.

That's somebody's mama, somebody's daddy, somebody's grandmother, somebody's aunt and uncle. I keep telling y'all. So people say, man, voting don't matter. Damn sure did there. Now they're firing our people. They're controlling the curriculum of black kids. And so we had better understand that we are in a political war. It is an economic war. It is an education war. It is an education war.

It is a cultural war. And it's a voting war. And that's why they're doing as best they can to challenge people in the voting rolls to kick them off because they are targeting. And listen to me clearly. Y'all can mark the date at 7.57 p.m. Eastern on July 13, 2023. They have their eyes set, locked, and loaded for November 2024. They are saying, we got the Supreme Court. If we get the White House, and we keep the House, and we keep the House and we take the Senate

and we already control 30 state legislatures and governor's mansions, we can do whatever the hell we want. And for y'all listen to them yahoos who say, man, that vote stuff not going to do anything.

Those are the same people complaining about what they want and you're guaranteed to never get it if Republicans are in charge. Think I'm lying? Try it and see what happens after election day in 2024. Going to go to a break. We come back. We're going to talk about menthol cigarettes. Black people have been targeted for decades of menthol cigarettes.

Now there's an effort to try to ban them from the FDA. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. For decades, the tobacco industry has deliberately targeted black communities and kids with marketing for menthol cigarettes. It's had a devastating impact on black health. Tobacco use claims 45,000 black lives every year. It's the number one cause of preventable death. In the 1950s, less than 10% of black smokers used menthol cigarettes. Today, it's 85%.

Banned menthol cigarettes save lives. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from L.A. And this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 PM Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together.

So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's the culture, weekdays at 3, only on the Blackstar Network. Hi, my name is Brady Riggs. I'm from Houston, Texas. My name is Sharon Williams. I'm from Dallas, Texas. network. Thank you. METHAL CIGARETTES HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE HEALTH OF AFRICAN AMERICANS, CONTRIBUTING significant impact on the health of African-Americans contributing to heart attacks, lung cancer, strokes, and other diseases. Joining us right now to talk about this, bring my guests up, please. Folks, this is a really, really important story. Anybody knows I can't stand smoking. And so, again, I want to bring up the guest right now. Give me one second here.

I'm a young guy, chair of the Department of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University out of Richmond, Virginia. And let's really break this thing down. People don't understand there's a direct intersection of black-owned media. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th, ad free at lava for good. Plus on Apple podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the war on drugs. But sir, we are back in a big way, in a very big way, real people, real perspectives.

This is kind of star-studded a little bit man we got uh ricky williams nfl player hasman trophy winner it's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves music stars marcus king john osborne from brothers osborne we have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

Marine Corps vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback.

Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. And menthol cigarettes, explain. Well, Black-owned media and a multitude of other organizations as well. Unfortunately, the tobacco industry has done a great job black images and try to portray a certain type of black culture that they wanted to sell to the public.

And it happened to work. Marketing works, right? by infiltrating our media, by infiltrating our churches, our political organizations, such as Congressional Black Caucus, you name it. They've done very well at spending their multi-billions of dollars trying to get into our community. But we have to add this, but we have to add this. And the reason that happened is because all of the other advertisers would not advertise in black media. So as a result, if you were Ebony, if you were Jet, if you were black newspapers, if you were

black on radio, all these other companies would not advertise in black owned media. And I dare say, and I know people may think this is crazy, without this advertising, a lot of black owned media. And I dare say, and I know people may think this is crazy, without this advertising, a lot of black owned media would have died. And that was a dilemma that black owned media was in. And that is, damn, cigarettes, because you couldn't, at that time, you couldn't do alcohol.

So it's kind of like, look, they were coming there and I remember full page ads in Ebony, full page ads in Jet when other folks, car companies and other brands would not touch black-owned media. That's right. That's right. They

exploited, I mean they were very good at exploiting vulnerabilities in the Black community, right? So if certain organizations didn't have funding or didn't have support, then in comes the industry and to save the day, right? But the whole time, they're actually peddling a poison to our communities. And I don't, it's really, I have such a push-pull sort of feeling about this, because, you know, they've also done this with HBCUs. They've funded HBCUs and given them money and support because they don't get enough money from Congress

or they don't get enough money from the federal government in order to survive and in order to serve our students the way that we need them to. So in comes the tobacco industry to come save the day, but it's at too great of a cost. It's at a cost of 45,000 lives every year. And not only this, who remembers this right here? That you see right here. Now, again, I need everybody to understand,

when you hear the phrase cool jazz festival, you're thinking, oh, shit, this cool. No, no, no, no. This is what they were advertising, the cool filters. When you, Newport, same thing. You think Newport Jazz Festival? You think... No, no. Newport's.

Not only that, when you go back to... Again, go to the 70s. The Virginia Slims Tennis Tour. That wasn't named after a slim woman named Virginia. No, it sure wasn't named after a slim woman named Virginia. No,

it sure wasn't. And the last one, and again, I'm talking African-Americans, but you also had, why is it escaping me right now, for the long, oh, the Winston

Cup in NASCAR. Wasn't no man named Winston. That was a cigarette brand. So the cigarette companies, they were massive spenders of advertising, and that didn't really end until you had those state lawsuits where they began to lose those, and part of the agreement with those lawsuits, they had to stop advertising. That's right, that's right.

And you know, it's funny you mentioned that, because not only did they infiltrate black communities by media, right? I live in Richmond, Virginia right now. I'm a new transplant to the Confederacy, as I call it. I live in Richmond, Virginia. It's a predominantly black area. And you walk onto our campus and what do you see is the Altria Theater, which is owned by Philip Morris. Right?

So they have their way of going into these communities in multiple ways. And I've done other shows recently, and folks would call in and they would talk about how the only people that could get, the only decent jobs that Black folks could get in some of the tobacco regions was with the tobacco industry. And so they would give them well-paying jobs, and they would give them security

where they couldn't get jobs in other places. And what happened? They gave them free cigarettes to take home and to give to their families and to give to their friends. So they had media and they still have media. They just do digital media now, right? Because they can't do the billboards anymore. So they had the media cornered. They came into the communities by giving churches funding and they would support certain types of gatherings and things of that nature. Those festivals that you referred to, which was perfect, married it with music, so it seemed okay, and it seemed like it was part of the culture. And then they gave them jobs, and they still do it today.

They still try to recruit black scientists to come over to the industry to try to work for them as well. Again, it's just one of those things, people really don't understand how deep this went. And then when you talk about those events, it was literally buying tables at every black event, black conferences. I mean, it was extremely deep in the black community. Questions from our panel. Candace, you're first. So we've been talking about this push and pull. As you said, they provided money to media companies and they provide jobs. But I've been reading about this push and pull, too, in terms of black clergy and store owners saying, hey, listen,

you can't just get rid of these menthol cigarettes because people are going to find other ways around it and you're going to be taking away business from us. So I'm wondering what's your response to that for people saying this is going to hurt us economically. We have to do something else because prohibition is never going to work. Didn't work with alcohol, didn't work with abortion. It hasn't worked with a lot of stuff. So before she answers that, I'm going to tell you something. So, and again, people need to understand how they buy off people. And let me be perfectly clear, the ads that you see running for this campaign,

we're being paid to run those ads. I got no problem saying that. But I despise cigarettes. I'm allergic to smoke. So I would say ban all that shit. I'm perfectly fine with it. But here's what I need people to understand. It was a few years ago.

So you got two black chambers. You got the black chamber of commerce that Harry Alford runs, okay, and they're always paying them to do stuff. I'm being straight up. Then you got U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. So a few years ago when this issue came up, all of a sudden we see these news releases and Alford's group was saying, oh no, we can't support this because this is going to hurt the black-owned convenience stores. That was what they were using. I got an email last year from a black political operative who you see on television on one of the networks trying to stop the ban, the FDA ban on menthols. And they pulled in some prominent black pastors and black lawyers.

So they were trying to book them on my show. And I was like, hell no. That shit ain't happening. And then, of course, Politico later did a story on the black civil rights folks and lawyers who were being paid off.

They were trying to use that very argument, Candace, oh, it's going to hurt the black convenience stores, until you start trying to add up, how many black convenience stores do you actually have that are being impacted? They're like, oh, it's going to hurt the black-owned bodegas in New York. Yeah. Who?

Yeah. So they've tried to use the economic, oh, you're going to hurt black people when, hold up, how many people die per year? 45,000 lives per year. That's, yes. That's black lives or total lives? 45,000 black lives. So 45,000 black lives. And we ain't talking the untold millions we got to spend on health care

as a result of this and menthol cigarettes are a lot different than other cigarettes correct yeah yes they're absolutely different so menthol cigarettes actually are more addictive menthol cigarette smokers tend to have more nicotinic receptors in their brains, right? And so it makes it more difficult for them to quit. The smoking topography is different. How you inhale the products are different because they have the coolants and they have the sugars in them that makes the poison go down more smoothly. That's why, and the reason why they have these coolants in there, excuse me, one of the appeals of the menthol cigarettes are the coolants, which make them more appealing to young people, to young kids. We have black kids who are age 12, between 12 and 18, that use these products. And we also have white children that start using these

products earlier because it makes the poison go down more smoothly. Not only do they increase the nicotinic receptors, they make them more addictive. They make them more difficult to quit smoking. That's why we have such low rates of quitting amongst Black people. And I will get back to that, the store owner thing. We don't have, when we go to these neighborhoods, let's look at who owns the stores in the neighborhoods. They're usually not Black people, quite frankly. We don't own the things that we need to be owning in our own communities. We often see other groups and other populations that own these products. So the economic impact on the stores compared to the devastating economic impact on the lives that we're losing, it's a no-brainer. You know what I'm saying? We're talking about potentially 37 percent of the menthol.

Excuse me. Thirty seven percent of this at the cigarette market is menthol cigarettes. Eighty five percent of the people who smoke menthol are black people. Those are the those are the 94 percent of black youth who smoke smoke menthol. Boom. Exactly. It's those those arguments that we hear, the arguments about store ownership, about the economic impact, which which doesn't match the the the cost associated with health care that we have. Right. The arguments that we hear about, they're the same people that that that Roland Martin is speaking about those. I guess I can't say their names on TV, but these political leaders,

these high-profile leaders, will say things like, well, Black people deserve to, they have the right to choose what they want to smoke and what they want to do. They're not accounting for those 90% of the youth that Roland referred to. They're not accounting for the exposure to youth

that by secondhand smoke because black populations unfortunately have the lowest rates of in-home smoking bans. So when we have children that are exposed to these products, they also have nicotinic receptors that are producing in their brains, and so they're more likely to smoke. And let's talk about, let's not miss the fact that the highest, what do we have in terms of mortality for children, black children in particular? It's asthma, right? We have asthma issues.

Those kids are exposed to this smoke, and therefore they have higher rates of hospitalization and death associated with their exacerbated asthma that is complicated by this menthol cigarette smoking. And I remember when we first started this show, again, I need everybody watching to understand, when we first started Rolling Martin Unfiltered, we had one advertiser, the American Federation of State County Municipal Employees, thanks to my frat brother, Lee Saunders. Do you know who all of a sudden wanted to advertise with us? Jewel.

Not Jewel. Ooh. Not Jewel Osco Grocers, not a jewelry store. Jewel, they had the flavored vapes, correct? That's right. They have flavored vapes. So they came to us and was trying to throw some serious money, and my response was, y'all can kiss my ass. Thank you. Because you know what? Other people did not. There are, who will remain nameless, there is at least one HBCU that took

$7.5 million of money from Juul in order to study Juul in Black populations before Black people were actually using that product. Do you think that they were doing that for the good of the community? Wow. Larry, your question. Yeah. So we essentially have based on this conversation in all the research is intersection of public health and capitalism, right? Racial capitalism, racial capitalism, right? Capitalism. Yeah. Let's be clear about that. And on top of that, it's during a time of anti-Blackness. So all these Black people are dying. We're talking about how much money it costs, obviously, to health care and also the counters, as Roland talked about, in terms of what it costs Black entrepreneurs. And so I was curious in terms of what you think the argument is,

considering racial capitalism, public health, and anti-blackness, what is the argument you make to policymakers about why this is an important issue? The fact that menthol is in our neighborhoods, let's make it very clear. The tobacco industry, as I'm a chair of Black Studies, right? The tobacco industry was studying Black communities. Thank you for showing this. The tobacco industry was studying Black communities before my discipline even existed.

They were looking at the woes and the lack of civil rights and all of the oppression that was happening in these communities, they used redlining, these racist tactics, these vestiges of racist tactics that actually continue into the present with residential segregation. They used these racist maps that the federal government gave them in order to target Black communities and sell these products. And somehow it's now been contorted and distorted to think that somehow menthol is naturally part of the Black community.

No, this was a concerted effort, right? So my argument to these individuals is that this is to take this out of our communities. This is reparations because what they've done is they created the road map for it for them to for these products to go into our neighborhoods. They refused in the Family Smoking Prevention Act Tobacco Control Act of 2009. They refused to ban menthol. They banned every other flavored cigarette like cherry and all kinds of other cloves and things like that, things that people didn't even use. They banned all of these because these are what white kids might use. And they kept menthol on the market, which was 85% of the black population that was using them. So my argument is, this is reparations. My argument is, this is a chance to clean up this poison and this drug that you have permitted this industry to infiltrate into our communities. So before I go to Joe's question, this is a political story from last year. And again, here was the new argument they tried last year. OK, they tried last year to say, oh, that this is going to lead to over policing of black communities.

And so this is this was this was April 28th, 2002. So concerns about over policing threaten to stall a ban on menthol cigarettes and undermine the major tobacco regulation a decade in the making. And so you literally had CBC members, you had, the article says here, Reverend Al Sharpton, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, and relatives of George Floyd have argued that the rules should take effect would give law enforcement another reason to target black people. I mean, you literally had this. This was in their story. Then their story says members of the Congressional Black Caucus are divided,

but an aid to the groups that have been pushed from civil rights leaders over recent weeks has caused members to give greater thought to what could be potential unintended consequences. And so Donald McEachin, who actually was passed away, he was quoted here as well. And so, again, what you had here was different arguments being targeted. The goal was not to deal with over-policing. The goal was not to deal with anything else.

The goal was to keep black people buying menthol cigarettes. Joe. There is so much to know and to learn about this. I like to think I'm somebody that pays attention to the issue, but this has been very educational for me. So tell me how, you know, because we have to do so much, you know, when there's the job argument, you've got to have the counter to that. Where are jobs going to come from? When there's the over-policing arguments, we've got to have our counters to that. There's so many.

This is a multi-front war. How do you feel that it's going in terms of educating people? Do you feel like we're making progress or do you feel like you're beating your head against the wall? Depends on the day. I think that having platforms such as this is really important. It's critically important. Being able to, most of the arguments that have been presented today and the ones that were in the news, such as the hyper-policing and over-policing in black and brown communities, which is another topic, and I do want to make sure that I acknowledge the fact that police brutality and hyper-policing and over-policing is an issue. If I could have a moment just to clear it up to your audience, because I really want to address this. This ban is potentially, excuse me, the potential ban, because I'm not even sure that

they'll even do right by us and actually do what they should and ban it. The ban is at the manufacturer's level. It is at the manufacturer, the wholesaler, the distributor, and the retailer. It is not at the individual unit of analysis. It is not for a Black person that if they happen to get a menthol cigarette somehow that is smoking it, that has no effect on them, right? So the argument of policing is a little bit problematic simply because of the fact that the bad is at the industry and those who are selling it, not at the people who may get their hands on it, right? That's the first thing that I wanted to say.

The second thing is that I'm concerned about the thought that we can't do both. We want to talk about save black lives against police brutality, but we don't want to save black lungs when it comes to cigarettes and cancer and every other disease, actually, because menthol, cigarettes actually affect every organ in the body. And we know that black people have more comorbidities than anyone else, right? So we can't save both lives in both cases. You know what I'm saying? Does it have to be an and or? Can't it be a both and? Can we actually deal with corrupt policing and racist police officers that do exist? And can we also save the lives of children and adults that use these products, that are addicted to these products, that we don't even have good evidence-based practices to help them quit?

Right? So it's not like people always want to say to me, well, Mignon, if people want to quit smoking menthol cigarettes, they'll just quit. No. Menthol cigarettes are much harder to quit. Right, right. That's another reason why we have to ban this product. It should not be on the market because we don't even have decent evidence-based practices in order to help people quit appropriately. I'm going to read this, and I'm going to get a final comment because this was the political story, y'all, last year.

And Mignon addressed it earlier. A 2021 study found that although Black Americans make up 12% of the population, 13%, they incurred 41% of all deaths and 50% of the years of life lost due to menthol cigarettes between 1980 and 2018. Let me say that again. We make up 12 to 13% of the population.

But of the people who die to menthol cigarettes, we make up 41% of the deaths and 50% of the years of life

lost. Years of life lost. Years of life lost means income lost, family time lost. That has a direct impact on our ability to create wealth. That actually makes it even more economically difficult on our families because we're dying younger. And while we are then dying because of that we're incurring higher medical costs putting our folks in more economic danger as well so that's right hoping to understand that Candace asked the point

earlier she written in her question and isn't it correct because again for the people who say because I think she asked, people are going to say, oh, they can always get this here. There was a dramatic decrease when those lawsuits were successful when it came to folks smoking. And the reality is the tobacco industry, the reason they went to the vapes and the flavored stuff, because people actually stopped smoking when the bans went into effect, correct? That's right. That's right. That's right. And we also see in Canada, Canada has already banned menthol cigarettes. Other countries have banned menthol cigarettes. You know, we are holding on to it because we have 37, menthol cigarettes are 37% of the market, 85% of the black people who smoke, smoke menthol. It's we're throwaways in this country, right? But we're throwaways in this country. They left us on the table in 2009. And they'll, and if,

if, if we give them the opportunity, they'll leave us on the table again. Right. And yes, people will quit. When you look at, when you talk to smokers, I study tobacco. When you speak and I'm a former smoker. So I can even speak from that from that viewpoint, that vantage point. When you know, thank God you're a former smoker because we couldn't get along if you were smoking. I'm going to go ahead. Hey, come on. It's a folly of youth. So but when you speak to smokers, the vast majority of people who smoke want to quit. They want to quit, right? So we're not talking about imposing something on them that they don't already want.

The vast majority want to quit. It's very difficult. It's very hard. It's harder to quit smoking cigarettes than it is to quit heroin. This is a fact. So when we're talking about this, we really need to understand that what we do with this potential ban, because I'm not convinced it's going to happen. I've never, sorry, I'm not speaking. I do work on the FDA's tobacco scientific advisory board. So I'm telling you in advance, I'm not speaking on behalf of the FDA. I'm speaking on behalf of Mignon Guy, a black woman who lives in America. And I have

very rarely seen the federal government do right by black people, which is why I call this reparations, because this is a time for them to get it right. And, you know, one more thing I want to say to you before we wrap up. One thing that we have to be really cognizant of is there's so much counter-market, there's so much misinformation and disinformation that the industry is putting out right now. And a lot of the arguments that we're talking about are exactly those arguments. When you get on the FDA calls to listen to comments, you hear people that, it's on the phone,

so you can't see what they look like, but you hear them say, well, I'm a black police officer in this neighborhood or I'm a white police officer in this neighborhood and I'm a white police officer in this neighborhood, and I'm worried that if we ban menthol, then we'll have more policing in black neighborhoods. When have you ever heard a police officer say that they are worried about hyper-policing, police brutality, and over-policing in black neighborhoods? These people are being paid. These people are being paid. And the industry has – it's a multi-billion dollar industry. They have a lot of money to pay these people, right? We already know that they paid black people in

California to vote against, to go protest against the ban that they, thank God, got through in California. But there was already an ad out that showed that they were getting paid $80 an hour for two and a half hours of work to get black people, black people to come out with t-shirts almost looking like the ones that were like blacks vote for Trump, right? To ban, to vote against, to vote against the ban on menthol. So they're taking our own people to vote against our own interests to save our own black lungs and to save our own black lives. We cannot allow this to happen. We absolutely cannot allow this to happen.

And again, I just need people to understand they wanted to pay me a lot of money to advertise Jewel on this show. And I said no. And I said, no. And I need, and so to our audience,

what I'm talking about, we're fighting these advertising battles. What I'm talking about when I'm asking you to contribute and give, do understand why. It's because there are folks who want to come to us and yes, these tobacco companies. And for me on principle, it's an absolute no, period. But guess what?

If we don't have this show, we can't counter the messaging. And so you have to understand, and that was the trick that they used against black-owned media in the 70s and the 80s and the 90s. And I'm talking about they had 26 and 52-week ad buys for newspapers, which is unheard of. and they had 12-month ad buys in magazines when no other major advertisers were willing to give them the kind of money. So just understand what Professor Guy's laying out.

It was a clear play on Jim Crow racist policies, filling the void, knowing full well we needed the money but what it also did was it gave them an inroad into our lungs and our households and we are paying the price Professor Cotwell, appreciate it, thank you so very much

look forward to having you back Thank you so much for having me, I really appreciate it and thank you for not, for keeping the good fight. Thanks a bunch. Candice, Larry, Joe, I appreciate y'all being on my panel. Thank you so very much. Candice, thanks a bunch for guest hosting for me on Monday and Tuesday

when I was in Rhode Island for the Jeffrey Osborne Golf Tournament. Great job. Thanks a bunch. Folks, y'all have a fabulous, fabulous weekend. Again, folks, please support us in what we do. That segment you just heard, you're not going to hear. Folks, y'all have a fabulous, fabulous weekend. Again, folks, please support us in what we do. That segment you just heard, you're not going to hear. ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News give 30 minutes to an in-depth conversation on menthol, cigarettes, and black people.

Hell, you're not going to see that on BET's new black show. That once a month show. You're not going to see that on BET's new black show, that once a month show. You're not going to see it anywhere else. This is why black-owned media matters. This is why Roland Martin Unfiltered matters. This is why Black Star Network matters. And please, support us in what we do. Because I'm telling y'all, they wanted to give me a lot of money. It was six figures.

And let me tell you something right now. I just want y'all to understand, the first year of this show, I had, I came out of pocket $391,000 to keep this show on the air. Oh, that money would have been huge, but I simply could not take it. And so please support us in what we do

by sending your check and money orders to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And, of course, support us by downloading our app,

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

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man.

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

We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit adoptuskids.org to learn more.

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