#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Calls For Clarence Thomas' Recusal, N.Y.'s Reparations Commission, Seasonal Affective Disorder, DOE

Episode Date: December 22, 2023

12.21.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Calls For Clarence Thomas' Recusal, N.Y.'s Reparations Commission, Seasonal Affective Disorder, DOE Folks want Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from upcoming cases centered on Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. We'll tell how one democratic senator made his case for Thomas' recusal.  The co-founder of Moms for Liberty gets blasted by a college student during a recent school board meeting, demanding her resignation. We'll show what he said in a now-viral video.  New York is the third state to create a reparations commission. I'll talk to the Director of the Reparation Education Project about why the U.S. should look closely at reparations.  It's the shortest day of the year and the beginning of winter. With that comes Seasonal Affective Disorder. If you don't know what that means, don't worry. We'll have a doctor here to explain what it is and how to avoid it.  We'll also have Roland's 1-on-1 interview with award-winning gospel artist DOE.   She'll explain how she started singing God's praises.  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.

We met them at their homes. We met them at the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. 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 podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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at taylorpapersilling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. It's Thursday, December 21st, 2023. I'm Dr. Greg Carr, sitting in for Roland, who is taking a much-needed vacation. Here's what's coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Folks want Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas,

Clarence again, to recuse himself from upcoming cases centered on Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. We'll tell how one Democratic senator made his case for Thomas' recusal. The co-founder of Moms for Liberty gets blasted by a college student and a Harvard student to boot during a recent school board meeting demanding her resignation.

We'll show what he said in a now viral video. New York is the third state to create a reparations commission. I'll talk to the director of the Reparations Education Project about why the United States should look closely at reparation. And it's the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of winter.

With that comes seasonal affective disorder. If you don't know what that means, don't worry. We have a doctor here to help. She's gonna explain what it is and how to avoid it. We'll also have Roland's one-on-one interview with award-winning gospel artist Doe. She'll explain how she started singing God's praises. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Let's go. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine.

And when it blips, 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. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's rolling Roro, yo It's Rollin' Martin, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best

You know he's Rollin' Martin Martin A Democratic senator wants Chief Justice John Roberts to compel Associate Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself in cases related to Donald Trump. And if we look at the upcoming court docket, that's quite a number of cases. Senate Judiciary Committee members, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, wrote a letter to Roberts explaining why the Supreme Court of the United States ethics rules

deem recusal necessary if a judge's impartiality, quote, might be reasonably questioned, end quote. Blumenthal wrote Thomas is ethically compromised given the political public political activities of his wife, Jenny. You think this is the letter we see on screen here. Mrs. Thomas had has been deeply involved in former President Trump's attempt to overturn the most recent presidential election, including by attending the January 6th rally, whose other attendees later stormed the Capitol, sitting on the board of an organization that led the Stop the Steal movement and sending dozens of text messages urging White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to prevent certification of the election results, end quote. Blumenthal noted that Thomas recused himself in a January 6th related case

earlier this year. We're going to talk about this, Clarence Thomas and his latest hijinks, with our panel. We have our sister Lauren Vittoria Burke from the Black Press USA, coming out of Arlington, Virginia. Turin Walker, brother Turin Walker, the founder of Context Media out of Atlanta, Georgia, and Media out of Atlanta, Georgia, and also out of Atlanta, Georgia, John Quayle Neal, a trial lawyer with the John Quayle Neal firm. John Quayle, why don't we start with you, sis? In the hallowed halls of the Supreme Court, John Roberts has been slow to act on a number of things.

How do you read this latest request of the Chief Justice by the Senate, at least the Democrats in the Senate, to talk to Clarence Thomas about potentially recusing himself in these cases? I mean, I think it's a very reasonable request. I mean, essentially, with his wife's involvement in attending the January 6th incidences upon the Capitol that's been involved, how his wife has intricately been involved with the President Trump's administration. I think it is reasonable. I think it rises to the level of a conflict. And I think it's a reasonable request that he should consider.

OK, well, I mean, we know politically may be different than the legal reasons to to recuse himself. And it certainly does seem reasonable on its face, at least. Torrin, you keep your ears to what's out there in the street and how folk are talking, and you engaged in a number of ways with a number of different communities on conversations related not only to what's going on politically in this country, but

how people are interpreting this. How do you interpret this call, and how relevant is it or irrelevant to our conditions as black folk in this country? Well, you know, I think the call to recuse himself is a valid call. As far as the way people are thinking about this on the grassroots level and on a political level, I think what it's really going to do is it's going to open up the floor for people

to pay a lot more attention to how the judicial process works in this country, at least on the level of the Supreme Court. As far as like what that really means for people who are on the ground, I don't think it's going to affect that much. But what it will do is going to make people understand that if you are entrusted with a sacred trust, as far as like on the Supreme Court or even in the political process, that there are certain procedures that have to take place if you're going to be given that trust and you have to honor that no matter what your status is. And I think that's where people are going to be focused on. Lauren, you've not only covered the Hill for a number of years, I mean,

but you've seen the political ebbs and flows and you've seen this justice on this court and in the context of how the court's makeup has changed, particularly over the course of the Trump presidency. Help us put this in context, if you can. What's your read on this politically? What are the politics behind this, and how might this—people are saying that this latest court docket may be the most significant and perhaps even more significant than the Bush v. Gore decision of 2000. How are you reading this? I think that Clarence Thomas, we can't expect him to do anything or change anything. And obviously it's reasonable that he would recuse himself. This topic has come up before, but the way that the Republicans roll right now is that the rules do not apply to them.

I think they want to keep up this idea, and particularly Clarence Thomas wants to keep up this idea that no rules of ethics or anything else applies to him. I can ignore all the complaints. I can do whatever I want. I'm not sure John Roberts is particularly interested in changing anything. And I don't think they want to set any new precedents that would, you know, make them in any way have to change their ways, change what they're doing, change who their friends are, and change any of the ethical standards that other judges around the country have to scum to and have to pay attention to. But the modern Republican Party is not interested in following any rules, and they are extremely

interested in showing everybody that the rules do not apply to rules and they are extremely interested in showing everybody that the rules do not apply to them and they can do whatever they want. So I'd be extremely, extremely surprised if anything changed. You know, it's interesting, if you don't mind me following up, Lauren, with you on that. And I know that the Colorado case, the case taking Donald Trump off the ballot was discussed extensively earlier in the week here on RMU. But, you know, I think I, for one, would like to hear your take on that in this context, because I think you're right. John Roberts certainly wants to at least project the appearance of legitimacy of the court, and they continue to erode it. Do you think they can push this too far? And maybe even certainly the concept of legitimacy of the

court is really teetering for a lot of people in this country, but could they go too far? And maybe even, certainly the concept of legitimacy of the court is really teetering for a lot of people in this country, but could they go too far? And is Roberts out of concern? Might he perhaps speak to Clarence Thomas? Not that anything would change, but do you think John Roberts, particularly with this hot potato that's going to land in their lap around this Colorado issue and the 14th Amendment, do you think that he might be a little nervous? Not really. I mean, they probably, for all we know, have probably had some sidebar, some private sidebar that we don't know anything about. But, you know, their whole game, again, is that the rules don't apply to them at all. You know, the idea that we're going to have elected as or the Republicans would nominate somebody who, under the definitions of treason, hovers close, if not exactly on top of that definition with what happened in 2021 at the U.S. Capitol,

they're not interested in anything other than controlling the game, power, and winning the next election. That's pretty much it. I'm not sure why anybody would expect anything from John Roberts. I haven't seen anything that would make me think that he's going to change anything. And certainly we shouldn't be expecting anything from Clarence Thomas. I mean, absolutely nothing. Because again, this has come up before in other cases that he should recuse. He doesn't recuse himself. He never recused himself. The justices that were picked by the Democrats are always recusing themselves for one thing or another. They never do that. But that's on brand for this modern Republican Party,

that we just ignore rules, we do whatever we want, and we control things, and then we ignore, you know, the hypocrisy of any moment. So, you know, I think also there's a fear, quite frankly, of Donald Trump supporters. So the Colorado case comes down to them. Who is going to stop Donald Trump from doing anything? They're all afraid of Donald Trump. They're not just afraid of Donald Trump. They're afraid of the people who support Donald Trump. So I don't see anything changing with that. I think they're going to rule in his favor, as a matter of fact. But we'll see. Hopefully I'm wrong, but we'll see.

No, no, I think from everything I'm hearing, I think you're right about 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.

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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 Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

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

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

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 Amendment, and that it might be an opinion that is co-written in some ways by Kagan and Roberts, but that the one dissenter will be the person who appears

to be emerging as the defender of the 14th Amendment, as we could expect, Kataji Brown Jackson. But I guess we will see. Jean-Claude, as a member of the bar who's in the courtroom, I'm wondering if you have any thoughts about how this kind of rogue behavior on the court that is suborned by a chief justice, because there are no rules that they are bound to in terms of ethics. I'm wondering how that echoes through the bar. You as a lawyer appearing before judges every day, fellow members of the bar, even other judges who might be concerned, who are held to ethical standards. I mean, any sense of how this might reverberate in the courtroom, the day-to-day courtroom where our people are every day, where you're in there fighting for us every day?

Yes, certainly. And as it relates to Justice Thomas recusing himself, right, there has to be some showing of actual bias or impartiality, right? And so some of the factors that are considered when a judge recuses themselves is the judge's personal knowledge of the facts in dispute, right? The judge's relationship to the party or counsel, and whether or not his impartiality, that might reasonably be questioned of that judge and their relationships. And so if in fact what starts at the head trickles down to the bottom, right? So if we have, I mean, the SCOTUS, the Supreme Court of the United States is held to the highest standard, right? And so if in fact that if we're having rogue behavior or those that are not showing ethical behavior,

then that's going to trickle down to all the other judges that serve in our various jurisdictions. Right. And so I think that that has a great can have a great impact on the court system. Absolutely. I couldn't I couldn't agree more. One more question on this story. Torrin, this is for you. Brother, you know, you're one of the most engaged folk I know who are talking with and having conversations around folks about electoral politics, what's important, what's unimportant. a chief justice, an associate justice are on a court where you've got a majority that was appointed by a party that has lost the popular vote in most of the recent elections. And then you've got folk who will say, well, it doesn't really matter who the justices are. I don't matter who's in our office. The Democrats or the Republicans don't matter. It doesn't affect my real life. What would you say to somebody who would say that and would say, I don't even know why you're covering this story because it doesn't affect my real life. What would you say to somebody who would say that and would say, I don't even know why y'all covering this story because it doesn't matter?

Well, I think what people have to understand is that, you know, the things that you don't pay attention to are the things that really affect your life. You know, our people come out as a rule for, like, presidential elections, and we come out when it's time to talk about voting. But what we don't talk about enough, in my opinion, is the fact that some of the things, like a Supreme Court decision or even a local decision or your state decision, these sort of things are the things that affect your daily life. And you have to pay attention to every facet of what happens in your government, because

if you don't, things like this can happen. And we don't understand that some of the things that we think are happening to us have repercussions outside of the state of where you live in. Whatever happens in California, you may come to see you in Atlanta. Whatever's happening in New York may come to see you in Miami. All these things are connected. And what we don't understand, and I think, well, I don't want to say we don't understand, but something that we don't talk about enough is the fact that people on the opposite side of the aisle, people who are the alt-right and the right-wingers, they are very good at playing long game. They are

excellent at it. Whether we agree with them or not, they are very good at sitting back and planning their strategy 20 years in advance. What we're seeing right now is the culmination of things that went on in the 80s and in the 90s. It was a slow crawl up to this point. And I think that's what has to be made clear to people so they can kind of understand how these things play out. It's not what's right in front of your face. It's the things that happen down the road. No question. No question. And when we come back after the break, we're going to look at an example of someone at the local level who's going to take on something that has emerged on the national level as part of that long range movement in the right wing. This is Roland Martin

unfiltered on the Black Star Network, and we'll be right back. I'm Dee Barnes. And this week on The Frequency, we talk about school to prison pipeline, book bans, and representing for women's rights. The group Moms Rising handles all of this. So join me in this conversation with my guest, Monifa Vandelli. This is white backlash. This is white fear that happens every time Black people in the United States

help to walk the United States forward towards what is written on the paper. Right here on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr, the enigma of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. What really makes him tick and what forces shaped his view of the world, the country, and Black America. The answer, I'm pretty sure will shock. And he says you know people think that I'm an anachronistic I am I want to go backwards in time.

I want her to move us forward into the future is very up front about that we'll talk to Corey Robin the man who wrote the book that reveals it all that's next on the black team on on the Black Star Network. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from L.A., and this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories,

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Farquhar, executive producer of Proud Family. Bruce Smith, creator and executive producer of Proud Family. Bruce Smith, creator and executive producer of Proud Family. Louder and Prouder. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. And in Florida, Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, whose husband is under investigation for raping a woman, is being asked to resign from the Sarasota Florida School Board.

During a recent school meeting, a school board meeting, 19-year-old Xander Moritz blasted Bridget Ziegler for her anti-Black and LGBTQ plus policies. Let's take a listen. Bridget, our first ever interaction was when you retweeted a hate article about me from The Nationalist while I was a Sarasota County school student. You are a reminder that some people view politics as a service to others, while some view it as an opportunity for themselves.

On this board, you have spent public funds that could have been used to increase teacher pay, to change our district lines for political gain, remove books from schools, target trans and queer children, erase black history, and elevate your political career, all while sending your children to private schools because you do not believe in the public school system that you've been leading. My question is why doesn't an elected official using our money to harm our students and our teachers for her gain seem to matter as much to us as her having a threesome does? Bridget Ziegler, you do not deserve to be on the Sarasota County School Board, but you do not deserve to be removed from it for having a threesome. That defeats the lesson we've

been trying to teach you, which is that a politician's job is to serve their community, not to police personal lives. So, to be extra careful, I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.

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

I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

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

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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. Clear. Bridget, you deserve to be fired from your job because you are terrible at your job. Not because you had sex with a woman. Well, there it is.

And to be clear, her husband, Christian Ziegler, has not been charged with a crime, but he was removed of his position as the head of the Florida Republican Party recently. His wife, Ziegler, isn't showing any signs that she's going to resign. Moss for Liberty arrived on the political scene with angry protests against school masking requirements during the COVID pandemic. Let's bring our panel back to have this conversation. Taryn, we'll start with you. Moss for Liberty burst on the scene.

They seem, I don't know that they've peaked yet, but they're certainly quite vocal in all kinds of things, banning books and no mask mandates. And, you know, and as we just heard, you know, many of them don't have children in public schools, but they seem to be terribly invested in controlling what goes on in the public schools. What does this stand?

I'm thinking about this in context of what you just said before the break in terms of involvement at the local level, not in addition to the state and federal level. What does it say for a young person to make a statement like that at an open school board meeting? And any thoughts on what that means in terms of even getting involved in kind of pushing back against some of this clearly very highly coordinated stuff going on? Well, you know, the first thing I want to say is that there's a long history in this country

of people who believe, like, the monster liberty being hypocrites. If you go back to the 50s and you go back to the 60s, we had Dixiecrat senators and we had Dixiecrat governors in some cases who would say hateful things about, you know, black people. And you come to find out down the road that they either had a whole separate black family. They said they believed it.

So that's the first thing, you know, we know the stories. Strom Thurmond. So, you know, these things happen as far as on the local level. I think it's also a good example that this hypocrisy does not extend just on the federal level. What I would like to see, though, I'll be honest with you, is more African-Americans who are based in Florida who are on a grassroots level and people who are just regular citizens being able to get into these city council meetings and make their voices heard as well because, you know, the young man talked about, you know,

some of the anti-LGBTQ issues they have, but they've been very vocal and very aggressive about removing certain books out of libraries in Florida and across the state. Some books that are not even that so-called threatenings, like statements about Martin Luther King, books by Malcolm X that they consider radical. And this is, again, this is something that we've seen a historical precedent happen across this country. In my opinion, I feel like the Moms for Liberty are no different. They're like a reincarnation of the Daughters of the Confederacy of the League of Decency, where they use their white privilege and their white woman privilege to be able to create a moral panic to get their men involved and make them get more aggressive about how to enact their white supremacy. I think that's the connection that needs to be made on the local level.

Yes, absolutely. text of Moms for Liberty. I'm glad Torin talked about looking at this almost like a later iteration of the Daughters of the Confederacy, which of course we know are still around right down the road from you in Virginia. In fact, their headquarters, I want to say, is it across from the Virginia Museum of Art? But anyway,

there's been some recent reporting that says that Moms for Liberty is itself going through some convulsions, some internal convulsions. Is it possible that in a moment like this, this type of hypocrisy that Taryn is talking about might just be a force them toward another form of reckoning? I mean, could Moms for Liberty be in trouble or, you know, how should we read this? I doubt that they're in any trouble. They, you know, they're just another version of the citizen councils or the citizens councils of of the 1950s and 60s. In my view, this idea of always trying to control what people are being taught or the school system, the public school system. While, as mentioned, they've got their kids in private school. That always seems to be the case. You

know, it's funny, in Virginia, there were several school board races that actually, they were beaten back. And that was, you know, that was, I think, a little surprising to a lot of people. But the difference is that in Florida, you have a governor, Ron DeSantis, that really gives a lot of fuel to their fire, even though it's the case in Virginia that there's a Republican governor named Glenn Youngkin, and he ran on the CRT, the sort of false CRT notion. He doesn't push it anywhere near as much as DeSantis. So at any rate, this is sort of the same old ballgame.

It's another iteration of the same thing we've seen in American history before, right around the time that Brown v. Board happened. And what these arguments come down to, as they all come down to, is controlling what other people are—what people's kids are reading, what they're taking in, what they're learning. So, a huge obsession over that with a quadrant of the Republican Party. And I doubt that they're going to run out of steam. In fact, I think they're going to get louder next year as Donald Trump starts to, you know, win primaries. And I think they're going to get louder as he continues going forward.

You know, it's interesting, Janquil. I don't know if any of you remember. You might remember Jan Quayle. Right there in Georgia, I know there was a sister who came down, I think from Maryland, who was appointed to run a school district, and they put together a right-wing push, took over maybe some school board seats, and ran her out of the state. Clearly, this isn't, and none of this work is about substance or about concern about the learning, the education of our children. But as we just heard Lauren talk about, it's really political.

Any thoughts on, particularly since you and Doreen are deep behind the cotton curtain, about how this is playing out in local school board elections? As Lauren said, they lost school board elections there in Virginia and of course Georgia certainly has, whether it be Atlanta or Augusta or Savannah or some of the places, Columbus, where it's majority black. You see black folk can control those school boards, but

should we be paying closer attention to these school board races and to these kind of incursions where people are trying to control the curriculum and try to control what our children are learning in school? Yes, you're absolutely right. I think that we have to be paying very close attention to the local school board elections, researching our candidates and being more active in these grassroots opportunities. As it relates in Georgia, I mean, there was in DeKalb County not too long ago, there was who was elected over the school board. They were trying to remove her more recently from her seat.

And she's an African-American woman, and she had to fight for her seat to keep her seat on the school board. And so in order to make sure that our children are receiving the adequate education that they need in the public school system, we absolutely have to be paying closer attention to our local elections. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, we'll continue to monitor Moms for Liberty. They're not going anywhere, but then neither are we. So when we come back from the break, we're going to turn our attention to reparations. We've got another major story. This might be the biggest story in terms of reparations commission to come down the pike yet.

The New York Senate, State Senate, and the Assembly, House of the Assembly delegates have voted and on Tuesday, the Governor of New York Senate, State Senate, and the Assembly, House of the Assembly delegates have voted. And on Tuesday, the governor of New York signed a law that is creating the third reparations commission, study commission in this country. So we'll talk about that after the break here on Roland Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. Back in a moment. Grow your business or career with Grow with Google's wide range of online courses, digital training and tools. Thank you. complete the online certificate program on your own terms. Stand out to employers, get on a path to in-demand jobs, and connect with top employers who are currently hiring.

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Be job ready and qualify for in-demand jobs. Thank you. me sherry shepard and you know what you're watching roland martin unfiltered New York is the third state to consider reparations. Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation creating a nine-member commission to study the effects of slavery and to make non-binding recommendations on reparations. This group, consisting of three members appointed by the governor, three by the assembly, and three by the Senate, will issue recommendations in the next two years that, quote, may include compensation, end quote, but can also include statutory and policy remedies for reparations. I was actually there in New York earlier this week to bear witness. And when I walked in, I was very happy to see my friend and colleague there, Nkechi Taifa, who I'll introduce in a minute. We'll talk a little more about the commission. The commission is going to be convened within the next six months.

And after that, they'll have a year to draft their report from their legislator can act upon the recommendations. Now, joining me now is an attorney in Nkechi, a long-distance fighter in the reparations struggle. You've seen her on the Black Table. You'll see her again. She is a presence in all of these conversations, nationally and internationally. She is the director of the Reparations Education Project. Nkechi, welcome to Roland Martin Unfiltered, and welcome back to the Black Table and everything else that takes place here on the network, Black Star Network. Welcome, sis.

Thank you so very much, Dr. Greg Carr. I'm always glad to be in your company. And I was just so enthused to be in your company earlier this week in New York at the New York Historical Society for that historic reparations commission signing. Yes, ma'am. Well, help us, because as we were sitting there, you were helping us with the history, putting it in a little bit of a context, reminding folks that California was not the only state to have a commission, and in some ways that New York's commission might differ from both Illinois and California and be historic in its own right. Could you put this into context a little bit?

What does this mean? What does this bill mean? What does this new law mean? And what kind of things do you think can emerge out of this? Well, again, as you said, this is the third state commission to study and develop reparation proposals for African-Americans. California was the first. Illinois was the second, and New York is now the third. New York is really historic because it really is a microcosm of what is going on in this country. Many people say, well, why New York? Wasn't slavery abolished in New York?

But most folk don't realize and understand that New York has been entangled with the history of anti-blackness and white supremacy, they profited massively off of enslavement, even after the abolishment of slavery in New York. Whether you were talking about mass incarceration, whether we're talking about redlining, whether we're talking about workplace discrimination or predatory lending, supremacist policies have been emanating from the same foundation as enslavement and Jim Crow and the like. So the fact that New York has now stepped up to the plate is pretty major. Many people think that California being the first state is setting the pace. Well, I think folks are going to see some beckoning with New York on the scene now. And Illinois is just beginning to get their commission set up.

Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, and it's interesting because we talked about this yesterday on WPFW here at the Pacifica Station here in Washington, D.C., on your show, Human Rights and Justice, you know, how it was really something to see the governor of New York speak for a half an hour, giving her own background from western part of the state as a white woman in white working class New York growing up and wanting to do this. And it was particularly striking to have the fact that both sides of the legislature in the state of New York are run by black people. Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins on the Senate side and State Assembly Speaker Carl Hastie,

who spoke after her. You know, how important is black engagement in the political process? How important is that to what we're seeing unfold in New York in terms of black political participation? And finally, and we're thinking about our young sister, Mikali Solanges, who is of Haitian descent, but who is also in the state assembly, Assemblywoman Solanges, who talked about the kind of diversity

and complexity of New York State and the fact that unlike California and probably unlike Illinois or really any other state, New York is where the reparations conversation can't be one that is separated between the descendants of those who were enslaved in the United States and the Africans from all over the world, really. 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.

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

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

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

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking

through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Live in New York, many of them over a long stretch of time. You know, how unique is New York? How do those politics come into play in terms of what we're going to see unfold on this commission? Well, first of all, let me say, if it weren't for Black political participation in New York, in the Assembly, in the Senate, we would not have had that historic signing yesterday. It would not have happened on its own with the governor. It was precisely because of the involvement and the advocacy of Black members, Michele Solange, as you mentioned,

State Senator James Saunders, and the like, and actually predicated by the decades-long work of Charles Barron. Before them, we would not have seen what we saw, but not just in terms of the political participation of people who are part of the political process, but the advocacy community on the outside had a whole lot to do also with ensuring, as Frederick Douglass says, that power concedes nothing without a demand. There was a demand for this signing to happen and to occur. And with respect to New York, New York, as I said, is just a microcosm of the world. It's a microcosm of the global community. So we're going to see some really interesting situations here between those who expound the lineage-only version of reparations and those who embrace a more comprehensive view of reparations.

It's going to be an interesting situation. Reparations is indeed an issue whose time has come. And for those of us like yourself, Dr. Carr and myself, who've been on this boat for a very, very, very long time, all I can say is I just can't wait to see

the fruition from the seeds that we had planted from Queen Mother Moy, Mario Bedelli, and the like from the past coming to had planted from Queen Mother Moore and Mario Bedelli and the like, from the past, coming to fruition today. I'm glad you raised the name of one of your great jegners in Louisiana's own Queen Mother Audley Moore, who was raised, of course, by Assemblywoman Szilagyi on Tuesday. And like you said, the community was there.

L. Joy Williams, where Brooklyn at? L. Joy Williams was there with NAACP. We saw Hazel Dukes, the state NAACP president, send a recorded message in. Lurie Daniels' favor. We saw Congressman Bowman in the room. It's very important. I want to bring in our panel to ask you any questions or make any observations. And, Lauren, we'll start with you.

The state of New York, of course, a little different than every other state in the country, and certainly New York City may be distinct from other places. Any questions for you for counsel here in Keechee Taifa? Well, Keechee, it's great seeing you. Hey, Lauren, how are you? How are you doing? You know what? My feeling, I was in New York for the last four or five days,

and New York has been increasingly a difficult place to live. I was in New York for the last four or five days. And New York has been increasingly a difficult place to live. I was born in the Bronx. It's a very expensive place to live, to say the least. But when I heard this, the first thing I thought about was Executive Order 9066 and FDR and the reparations given to Japanese, which was 20,000 a person, I believe, under Ronald Reagan, also came with a public apology. And I just feel the first thing I thought of was, why are we studying this? Because there's not a whole lot to study other than the amount that should be given, in my view.

I mean, we know, of course, what African-Americans have been through historically in this country. And so do you take it in any way, the idea of a commission, do you take it as a delaying tactic in any way by the government, by Hochul, or by anybody? Or do you take it as this is a success that we're just even talking about this, which I suspect you can take it both ways, because I remember the days when people laughed when this issue came up. And to me, this issue is a serious thing now in a way that it was not only a few years ago. But tell me what you think about commissions as opposed to quicker action.

So, yes, Lauren, thank you so much for the question. I mean, commissions have become essentially the precedent, the standard, I guess you could say, whether it was the Indian Claims Commission back in the day, whether it's, as you mentioned, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which granted reparations to Japanese Americans. And John Conyers, as you know, because I know you were walking the halls of Congress as a media person during those days, but John Conyers, following the model of the successful Japanese American redress bill, which started out with a commission to study and then develop proposals, that just seems to be the precedent. Is it a delay? Well, I would just say, as someone

who was around back then in 1988, when we were working with Congressman John Conyers, many of us were saying, reparations now. We don't need a commission to study. We studied this long enough. But what we decided strategically was that if they could use that approach and do it for the Japanese Americans, there's absolutely no way in which they could discountenance our claims if we followed that same path. Unfortunately, the federal bill has languished now in Congress nearly 40 years, but the momentum has been bubbling up from the local jurisdictions. We talked about the three states, California, Illinois, and now New York. But scores of city councils across the country have been establishing commissions and task forces to look at abuses in their own backyard and to come up with remedy.

So yes, we could say it's delay, but it's the precedent that has been used, the standard that has been used. And again, if a commission comes up with the evidence, with the documentation, with the uncontroverted reality in writing and paper of what has gone on over the past 400 years, then again, it just makes the case even that much stronger for remedy, for repair, and for amends. Absolutely. Okay, thanks. Yes, indeed.

John Quayle, any conversation, questions, observations for Attorney Nkechi Taifa? Yes, hi. Thank you so much for being here. I wanted to, you know, I'm also a fellow New Yorker. I was born and raised in upstate New York. So this is definitely an exciting time. But I wanted to ask specifically about, you know, some of the historical disparities amongst African-Americans in New York over time.

For instance, an example may be the war on drugs, right, that disproportionately targeted African Americans in New York, and they suffered police brutality or malicious prosecution as a result. Do you think that that could potentially be some of the recommendations that the commission comes up with? Or what do you think some of the specific disparities, how do you think the commission will address some of these specific disparities that African Americans have endured all this time? Absolutely. Thank you so very much for raising that. I'm a family member of an organization called INCOVER, the National Coalition of Blacks for Rep reparations in America. And part of our commentary on the whole issue of reparations is that we identified five injury areas that needed to be looked at.

Of course, the Black-white wealth gap, but also the peoplehood, nationhood, the stealing and extracting of our culture and our history, health disparities, educational disparities, and of course, as you mentioned, the disparities within the criminal punishment system. And it appears as if the different commissions that have been set up, i.e. California, use many of that same criteria with respect to the recommendations that they came up and many of the other jurisdictions across the country that are looking in their own backyards and unraveling pieces of history are looking at those elements as well. So yes, the criminal punishment system is in fact one area. I always say that the harms from the enslavement era and beyond were multifaceted. Multifaceted. Each one of these is not just the black-white wealth gap,

but it's so, so much more as well. The amenities must be multifaceted as well. So thank you for your question. Thank you. Brother Torin, any questions, comments for Attorney Taifa? Oh. First, I want to say, you know, shout out to all the people who have been pushing this issue for the past 40 years, because this has gone from a fringe issue to a major platform plank that actual politicians have.

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. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family.

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So my question is this. We've seen a lot of movement in politics in a lot of unusual states, California, Chicago, Evanston, and now New York. And do you have a scene of so much movement in the places where the Black population has been directly affected, like the Deep South where I'm from?

So my question is, do you think that this groundswell of legislation and this groundswell of legislation and this groundswell of commissions that are happening in other states is going to begin to have a groundswell in like the Deep South? And do you think that every different jurisdiction is going to be able to put their own policies in place, contain it to the places that they're in? Absolutely. I think that it will, in fact, have an impact on the Deep South. I mean, we have Tulsa, Oklahoma. That's not the South, you know, the West, Midwest. But we also have Alabama, Africatown, the site where the last known slave ship deposited kidnapped African prisoners of war.

They are looking into issues of reparations, I swear, or repair or amends. And the many legacies from the enslavement era are manifest right there. And that is right there in the deep South. You have the Chattahoochee Brick Company down there in Georgia, in Atlanta, Georgia, where Black folk were literally worked to death.

OK, when we talk about the vestiges from the enslavement era and then looking at issues of repair as well. In Florida, we already know about Rosewood, Florida. about that, where a certain group of people did, in fact, receive reparations as a result of the decimation of that particular community. So, as I say, caskets are being opened up all across the country with respect to this issue. And yes, indeed, North Carolina, Asheville, North Carolina has established a reparations commission. So it's not just in the North or the California or the Midwest. It's happening in the South as well. And we will only see much more of it as, again, this is an issue whose time has come.

Thank you, Attorney Nkiji Taifa, long-distance reparation fighter. For folk who want to follow up and perhaps know more and follow you in your work, and not only that, but through you, this continuing reparations fight, how can people stay in contact or get in contact with you and become aware of what you're doing? Thank you so very much. I invite people to visit my website, reparationeducationproject.org. That's reparation without the S. Reparation

Education Project dot org. You can follow me on Twitter, X, or Instagram with my name, Nkechi Taifa. All right. Well, we appreciate you, sis. Thank you for taking some time out of your schedule, and we're going to continue to monitor this and stay involved in this fight.

And when we come back after the break, we're going to stay in the city of New York with a person who used to be known by some crazy people as America's mayor. And we're going to talk about a little bit more personal brand of repair, particularly to two black women who were defamed. And the court says that Rudolph Giuliani owes them close to $150 million. You can run, but you can't hide. Roland Martin Unfiltered will be right back here on the Black Star Network. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach.

Did you know that 43% of Americans say that they're going to go deeper into debt because the cost of everything is rising because of inflation. On our next Get Wealthy, you're going to hear from money coach Lynette Kelfany-Katz as she shares exactly what we need to do to stay out of debt and get wealthy. When I paid off my $100,000 in credit card debt, I was just doing strategies kind of piecemeal. I was doing like what I thought would work.

And then it was like, oh great, it did. It was effective. And then I was like, I should document this. I should explain like how I got out of debt. That's right here on Black Star Network with me, Deborah Ola, America's Voter. On the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, beware the generational curse. They're everywhere in our families, in our workplaces, and even in our churches. It's like a minefield, identifying the curse and knowing what to do about it.

When we're talking about generational patterns, oftentimes we get locked into those patterns because we don't want anyone to say, oh, you're acting brand new, or you're doing something different from how, this is how we always did it. It's okay to do something different in order to get the results that you want to see in your life. That's next on A Balanced Life on Blackstar Network. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherri Shepherd Talk Show. You're watching Roland Mark. Until then. Rudy Giuliani

files for bankruptcy a day after a judge ruled for him to immediately pay $148 million to two Georgia poll workers who successfully sued him for defamation. In his filing, Giuliani listed nearly $153 million in existing or potential debts, including almost a million dollars in tax liabilities, money he owes his lawyers, and many millions of dollars in potential legal judgments and lawsuits against him. He estimated his assets to be between $1 million and $10 million.

Ruby Freeman and Shea Moss, our right sisters, wanted a judge to keep him from repeating the lies he spread about them following the 2020 election. The new lawsuit centers around Giuliani's comments during and after the trial last week, repeating the baseless conspiracy theories about Ms. Freeman and her daughter, Shea Moss. The lawsuit states that Giuliani makes it, quote, clear that he intends to persist in his campaign of targeted defamation and harassment. It must stop. Well, Rudy, Rudy, Rudy, since we got two New Yorkers on the panel tonight, I'm going to flip something that Senator Sanders said yesterday.

He said he's an immigrant. He left the Deep South to come to New York. So we're going to go with the New Yorker who's back in the Deep South. John Quayle, can this man hide from this debt he owes these sisters? What are we looking at here with this bankruptcy filing? Well, unfortunately, with the bankruptcy filing, it's deemed to be a legitimate bankruptcy filing in terms of the actual amount of money that Ms. Freeman and her daughter are able to recover is going to be up to that bankruptcy judge. And essentially, they're going to go through all of his debtors,

and then the court is the one that's going to make the final say. And so, unfortunately, yes, it does have a substantial impact on their ability to recover. But it's interesting because in the judge's sentence, in the sentencing order, the judge said that he is, that the court was vehemently against him constantly trying to weasel out of paying these young ladies. So it will be interesting to see how all of this is going to play out. But the bankruptcy filing is unfortunate. But it's another tactic, as the court had a concern about that, of him trying to weasel out of paying these young ladies. Absolutely. Let me ask you a quick follow-up question.

The way I understand it, he could ask for a stay on Howell's ruling. But in order to do that, he might have to post a bond in the full amount of the damages? I mean, that's not possible, is it? He's not going to ask for a stay. Would he have to post a bond in some amount if he asked for a stay? He's claiming he's broke. That I'm unclear about.

I'm unsure about to answer that question. I just wonder, because you're absolutely right. By that order, that judge rained hot fire on Rudolph Giuliani. He's been noncompliant. He's been, okay, that's very interesting. Lauren, you've watched and reported on Rudolph Giuliani for a long time. What do you make of this latest development, the long, rapid decline of America's mayor, so to speak?

Yeah, it's a it's a it's an amazing thing to watch. I can remember when he first, you know, I remember when he was mayor. I remember faintly as a kid when Ed Koch was mayor in a New York that is quite different than the New York we know now. He was credited with so much improvement in New York, particularly the Times Square area of Manhattan. And then, of course, Rudy Giuliani was mayor during 9-11. And I don't know what has happened to him. It's difficult to explain. He really kind of got to a point where he unveiled his true feelings on race, which he had kind of hidden during the 80s and the 90s and the 2000s. And now he really doesn't care. So there was there was that.

And I think partly because Donald Trump just brings out the worst in everybody around him to Rick Wilson, saying that everything that Trump touches dies. But there were a lot of folks today that were saying that the bankruptcy, you know, that he can't discharge this debt, this $148 million. He's not going to be able to wave that goodbye by filing for bankruptcy. Certainly, if it was that easy, everybody who has gotten a judgment, a civil judgment against them would do that. They would file for bankruptcy five seconds after this type of a judgment. But he deserves every bit of it. He lied about Ruby Freeman and Shea Moss and lied and lied and lied and lied. And I guess he thought that it didn't matter. And of course it did, not only in a court of law, but in reality. I mean, the truth matters, and what you say matters. He caused them real damage, and he lost.

I also find it interesting that we live in a world where he is saying that he's bankrupt, but he's listing his assets of somewhere between a million dollars and some other number over a million dollars. Usually when people say they're bankrupt, they say they have no money at all, right? So I guess this is New York, you know, this is bankrupt by New York standards, you know, so he has a million dollars. I don't know. I think in the end he's going to have to, he's going to get leaned, he's going to have to pay up, and I'm sure he owes a lot of attorneys a bunch of money. But it is a sad thing to watch. The man is 79 years old. And it is incredible the sweep of his life from where he was when he was a prosecutor in New York and then the mayor of New York.

And now this. He's aligned himself with Donald Trump and really made him made himself into sort of a clown, quite frankly, a figure of ridicule and a figure of of of really laughter. So it's it's going to be interesting to see what's decided, though, and whether or not Miss Freeman and Miss Moss get see some money, which I think that they will actually. We'll see. Absolutely. Absolutely. It reminds me of that old song by Harold Melvin in the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Prendergrass. Rudolph Giuliani seems to certainly be singing

now, where are all my friends? Well, I'm not your friends, man, but anyway, Taryn, you've seen this up close. Anybody who has, like all of us, watched that testimony from Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss, you know, you just ready to fight somebody,

man, when you see how these sisters' lives have been disrupted by this, and not just by Rudolph Giuliani, but all these minions calling the house, messing with Ms. Freeman's grandbaby, all kind of stuff going on. You know, any thoughts about this recent development and what this is about these attacks, particularly on

black people, because these two sisters certainly didn't deserve this. Nobody does, but particularly as it relates to how our people read something like what has happened. Well, I'm glad you framed it that way, because these are the things that if you take the humor out of it, you've got to look at the real credible threats that happen when somebody like Rudy Giuliani or somebody like a Trump or somebody on the far right with a platform and a megaphone that big makes an accusation against somebody black, because you know that there is this sort of like deputization that this informal deputization that happens where people who believe the same way they do feel like they need to take the law into their own hands and set things right in their mind.

So, you know, I think part of the judgment was part of the fact of acknowledging the fact that these women were really under serious potential threat. You know what I mean? All it takes is one maniac with a rifle to show up to somebody's house after somebody's information has been put out there to do something horrible and leave a household destroyed and leave somebody's life taken. And that's something that has to be considered as well. You know, it's one thing to say that this is ridiculous because these people are ridiculous in a way, but we can't discount the real clear and present danger people like this can impose on, especially people of color, especially black people, because we know that anytime a black person's life is threatened, there's always

somebody willing to take up that call and try to act on that threat. So I'm glad it happened. It's just sad, as Lawrence said, watching his career arc go the way it did, because he first came to prominence as a New York D.A. that took down the mob, and then he became prominent as being the mayor of New York when you know, when 9-11 happened. I think some of that was just happenstance of just, some of that was just left to chance. But to see somebody have a career art go from somebody who was so credible

to becoming almost a clown, to becoming somebody who almost looks like one of the people he prosecuted in the 80s is something to witness. It's a fascinating career art. It's like the worst Wall Street sequel I've ever seen. Well, I'm sure we all agree that there won't be many tears shed in black communities. Certainly there won't be any tears in Brooklyn

for those who remember Patrick Dorismont, who remember Albert Luima. There certainly won't be any tears shed for those who remember Crown Heights and him out there leading the police in chants that it's Giuliani time, trying to take down David Dinkins. And there certainly won't be any tears shed in black communities,

certainly all around New York, as the fact that he was never America's mayor, as far as they were concerned. But you're absolutely right, brother, and thank you for bringing that out, because money can't repair your safety when you've got a bunch of nuts still running out here. So we've got to always keep that in mind. It's the shortest day of the year, as we've got to always keep that in mind. It's the shortest day of the year, as we said, the December 21st in the Northern Hemisphere. And a lot of people are affected by seasonal affective disorder.

And we thought tonight on Roland Martin Unfiltered, we'd bring in a professional doctor to help us talk about what we can do to kind of combat that and blunt that. And so we're going to hear from someone to help us with that. Right after this break, you're watching Rolling Marks. 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 Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way.

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to 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. from degree screens to 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 TaylorPaperCeiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council.

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Me, Sherri Sheppard, and you know what you watch. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Today officially marks the winter solstice, the beginning of winter and the shortest day of the year in the Western Hemisphere. You mix all that together, and it can create some difficult situations for people. You mix it all together and you can get seasonal affective disorder. This is a type of depression that occurs during the fall and winter months when there are fewer hours of sunlight. So we

thought tonight that we'd spend a little time this evening here in the northern hemisphere with a medical professional, a sister who has done a lot of work in our community, not only around medicine, but about healing us. And so we're joined from Atlanta. We'll stay in Atlanta for a minute by a sister on the faculty of the Morehouse School of Medicine, Dr. Reba C. Kelsey, who is an associate professor of family medicine. She's going to help us discuss this disorder. Welcome, Dr. Kelsey. Thank you, Dr. Carr. It's a pleasure to have you here. Help us understand this. Now, I read a little bookshelf definition of seasonal affective disorder, but help us understand what we're dealing with here. What is seasonal affective

disorder? Seasonal affective disorder is, as you said, a type of depression that occurs during the colder months or during the fall and the winter when we have less sunlight. It's important to think about seasonal affective disorder a little differently than perhaps some we might have thought about it at one time. Some people would think about it as being the winter blues just kind of filling down during the winter time. But it is, in fact, the type of major depressive disorder. And so it has some of the same symptoms or really the same symptoms that would cause one to be diagnosed with diabetes, excuse me, with depression, including decreased mood or feeling very sad, decreased interest in doing things that they

would normally do, a they would normally do, a person would normally do, increased guilt or feeling of worthlessness, decreased energy, increased appetite, particularly craving carbohydrates, decreased concentration, difficult having increased sleep and feeling like you need more sleep than usual, in fact, oversleeping in many instances, moving a little more slowly than usual, and then, unfortunately, in many instances, feeling a desire for suicide or hurting oneself. And so those are the symptoms of major depressive disorder. And what distinguishes that type of disorder as being seasonal affective or major depression with seasonal pattern is what the clinical diagnosis is, is when it occurs, again, seasonally. So

it's specifically when you have those symptoms during the fall and winter season and when those symptoms completely abate during other parts of the year. And so that's what makes it seasonal affective disorder. Have you seen this emerge in combination with other maladies, other illnesses people might be experiencing? Sure. Well, we do know that seasonal affective disorder, or as I mentioned, the clinical diagnosis being major depressive disorder with seasonal pattern, is that we do see that it occurs more frequently in people who have other psychiatric diagnoses. So whether we're talking about anxiety, certainly a person who has a bipolar disorder, which is another affective disorder, and then other psychiatric

diagnoses. We know, too, that because some people who have other chronic conditions that may be more prone to depression, we may see that occur hand in hand. But the statistics really are showing more of an increase primarily in people who have other psychiatric diagnoses. I'm wondering, and I know you spent a great deal of your career to date, you know, training doctors, a lot of black and brown doctors. Does it hit our people differently? I'm wondering if there's any thoughts about that? And our people, in addition to, as with other people, we do see that increased isolation, increased sense of not being able to do what we otherwise would like to do for our families. But certainly the isolation is a large part of what we see among our people. The other challenge is that because in our community mental health disorders often go underdiagnosed or often not recognized, then we tend to see then

it impacts other areas of our lives. So our employment, our social relationships, and other interpersonal relationships, both at work and at home. And so in that regard, it may affect our community differently. Mm hmm. Well, before we open it up to the rest of our panel to ask some questions and some information, I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on interventions or solutions that you've found effective over the years or that as you've, you know, kind of consulted with colleagues and brought folk into the conversation.

Any thoughts on solutions for folks who are really hit by this? I mean, I can say myself, this is probably my least favorite time of year. And you do feel like you don't want to get out of bed. You're overeating. This kind of, I'm fascinated by this carbohydrates issue. But anyway, what kind of solutions do you have in mind?

Sure, sure. And I just wanted to add to what you're saying is that we do notice that around the holidays in particular, we're used to gathering and having a wonderful time with our families, that that is a time that we do see that it compounds the sense of sadness and worthlessness, especially in cases where people have lost loved ones around this time of year and are reflecting on that. But in terms of how we can manage it, there are some therapies that we know do work, including light boxes. So let's say a light box that emits white light, but with very low emission of ultraviolet light, low to no emission of ultraviolet light that is exposed that the person uses and is exposed to for about 20 or 30 minutes shortly after waking up, ideally before 8 o'clock in the morning. That's one of the therapies.

Certainly receiving therapy by a clinical therapist is helpful. Certainly in some instances taking a medication that helps to maintain the serotonin levels better which is one of the reasons that we have our affected by seasonal affective disorders because with that decreased sunlight then we have decreased production of the serotonin, which is one of the chemicals in the brain that kind of helps us to feel better and improves mood. But so those are some of the things that from a therapeutic standpoint, but other things that we can do are to exercise. We know that exercise helps to increase the endorphins in the body, which also help us to feel better. They're kind of some of the happy hormones, so to speak. We know that eating well helps. Also, exposure to natural

sunlight during, although limited during this time of the year, to the extent that we can be exposed to natural sunlight, that does help. And in surrounding us with our social supports, those are all some of the things that we can do to help to manage the symptoms of major depressive disorder with the seasonal pattern. Thank you, Doc. I'm going to open it up and ask Brother Turenne to begin the conversation with you. Turenne, any thoughts, any questions or thoughts? Hello, Doc. Thank you for all this information. I know I'm not a fan of the midnight at 530 thing that's been happening lately. I'm not a fan of it, and it does drain you. My question is, how can people make this time of year beneficial for themselves? cold weather and like low sunlight and low lack of light to boys people being productive in any way because i'm curious about that because if people are in the house and everything does that

make them tend to be a little bit more productive or they just kind of like fold into isolation and hibernation at all have you seen any of that sure well the low light certainly does have a negative impact on um on mood uh both because of the changes in those hormone levels, the serotonin levels, and to some degree the dopamine levels as well, which again helps us to feel better, and also decreases or changes the amount of melatonin that we're producing. And so you remember, or it increases the amount. Remember, melatonin is that chemical that really helps us to begin to feel a little sleepy. And so if you're having more of that hormone kind of circulating, then you tend to be more sleepy during the day and more sluggish. And so you may be less likely to be productive. by increasing our social supports, trying to minimize that isolation really can help to improve both our mood and thereby our productivity.

We do know that mood has an impact on our productivity as well. Thank you, Turan. Jonquil, any questions, observations, comments for Dr. Kelsey? Yes. Thank you so much, Dr. Kelsey, for all this amazing

information. What I wanted to ask is, historically, you know, African Americans have limited access to health care, right? And that's been a huge contributing factor as it relates to our morbidity or us being underdiagnosed for various different health conditions. Is that how does that correlate with the actual cases that are being diagnosed? Right. And also for African-Americans that do have a lack of access to health care. What are the suggestions with them getting some help to deal with the winter blues as another way that it's coined or termed? Sure. Well, and thank you for that question, because access, we do know, is certainly an issue. And because of that, we see that among those who are not

diagnosed, that they have more severe symptoms and a greater impact in terms of their interactions with others, their employment. And so it has a greater impact when it goes undiagnosed and unmanaged. So in terms of how we increase access, I can say in Atlanta, for example, with Morehouse Healthcare and the HEAL Clinic. So that allows people who do not have insurance or who are underinsured to be able to access healthcare. So in some of the other cities, it may be through accessing the federally qualified health centers, which often are excellent resources for those who otherwise wouldn't have access to health care. But an important part of that, though, really is recognizing it. And when we recognize the symptoms, not to just minimize them and say that it's only the winter blues, because, again, this disorder, the seasonal affective disorder, really can have some devastating impacts in one's life.

And so it's important to recognize it as a diagnosis that does require some treatment. Thank you so much, John. Well, Lauren, Lauren, any questions, comments? Doc, I wonder, has anybody looked at what they do with this in Alaska where they have that period in a certain part of Alaska that is dark from November to January? In those cases, again, it's the light therapy. The light therapy really is what's most helpful. And so there is where there's actually a light box that is purchased, and it emits 10,000 lux of light or thereabout. And it's important, though, with that, that it also minimizes the amount of UV light to help to decrease the risk of skin cancer, but still has the beneficial effects of the light in terms of affecting or improving the mood. So that really is the best approach in places like

where there is little to no light, like you mentioned in Alaska, where it goes days with no light. Thank you. Thank you, Lauren. Dr. Kelsey, I'm sure there are people who are watching who are saying, well, you know, you recommend eating well. I'm on a budget. I don't have a whole lot of money. I wonder if you have any recommendations on folk who might be challenged economically. When you say eating well, what kind of things can people consume that don't cost a whole lot of money but can help them in their moods? Because I'm sure it's not now, and red pop, but I'm just wondering. Yes. So ideally, we're talking about fresh fruits and vegetables. We're talking about water, drinking plenty of water and avoiding the sugary drinks or the highly processed foods, minimizing the intake of alcohol and other drugs that can affect the mood negatively.

In terms of those who have limited resources, to the extent, even if you have to use canned food, then you want to make sure that you're reading the labels and you're limiting the amount of sodium that's added. You're limiting the amount of oils that are added and sugars that are added. And again, the processed foods are really the ones that we want to avoid. But fresh fruits and vegetables, ideally. And again, tapping into some of the resources that are in some communities that may provide those kinds of foods in instances where one may not otherwise be able to access it by going and purchasing it from a grocery store, for example. Thank you. And one final question. This one relates to exercise and natural sunlight. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company

dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes 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. 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. 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, 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. Folks who may be under a lot of stress, they may be working one or two or three jobs, trying to get through the season, running up those bills, trying to buy Kwanzaa gifts, which you shouldn't be buying anyway, right? But we had that Kwanzaa conversation the other time, Christmas gifts. You know, they say, well, I don't have a lot of time.

How much time do you say might be enough to at least ameliorate some of these symptoms when it comes to getting some natural sunlight or doing some exercise? Sure. So for the natural sunlight, you know, we know that it's cold and so going outside and getting that natural sunlight is something that people are generally not going to do as much. So even if you're inside working and you can sit near a window and, you know, open the curtains and sit next to a window, that can be helpful in terms of providing that extra sun exposure. As far as the exercise is concerned, we recommend about 30 minutes of exercise per day. However, breaking it up into small segments, maybe 10 minutes at a time, if it's a little 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes during the break midday and 10 minutes in the evening may be helpful. Now, that's good for cardiovascular health, but it's also good for the release of those endorphins that help to improve the mood. Okay. And how long? To 30 minutes? You could break it up. What kind of exercises?

Yeah. So we're talking about moderate intensity exercise. So if you're going outside, that may be a little bit of a jog or it may be a fast paced, you know, a brisk walk. If you're inside the house, that may be walking the steps. It may be walking a circle, you know, within, you know, some part of the house. It may be for those who are able, doing some squats, anything that kind of running, doing a little jogging in place, anything that kind of helps to increase the heart rate a bit so that you're just before you get a little winded. So we think about that as being moderate intensity exercise. That's the kind of exercise that's most beneficial. Well, thank you for joining us tonight on this, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

I'm sure we've all gotten some tips and it's not something that's too overburdened. As Dr. King might say from right down the street there from where you are, how long, not long. You can do a little bit of exercise, get you a little bit different diet and you'll be okay. Reba Kelsey from Morehouse school of medicine. Thank you for joining us tonight,

Dr. Kelsey. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. Absolutely. So when we come back here on the black star network, we're going to take a look at some headlines and then move toward a conversation

Roland Martin had with the gospel artist Doe. So you're watching Roland Martin Infiltrated, in fact, on the Black Star Network, and we'll be right back. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. On that soil, you will not replace us. White people are losing their damn lives.

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 every university calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys.

America, there's going to be more of this. There's all 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 have a couple. Me, Sherri Sheppard with Sammy Roman. I'm Dr. Robin B., pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Angel Crosby-Young has been missing Bay City, Michigan, since August 24th, 2023. The 16-year-old is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 220 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Crosby Young is urged to call the Detroit Michigan Police Department at 313-267-4600. A federal judge overturned the death penalty conviction of a Mississippi man because a trial judge didn't give the man's lawyer enough chance to argue the prosecution was dismissing black jurors for discriminatory reasons.

U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills ordered a new trial for Terry Pitchford, who was convicted in 2006 on capital murder charges. Mills wrote that his ruling is partially motivated by what he called former District Attorney Doug Evans' history of discriminating against black jurors. A spokesperson for Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said the state intends to appeal. Well, there's certainly no surprise there in the state of Mississippi. Attorneys for the two Colorado paramedics connected to the 2019 death of Elijah McClain told the jury that their clients followed their training in administering ketamine, and prosecutors

have not proven that the sedative is what killed him. Peter Chichunek and Jeremy Cooper, two former members of the Aurora Fire Department, were called to the scene on August 24, 2019, to help McClain with a medical emergency. Cooper injected McClain with large amounts of ketamine, resulting in symptoms of an overdose. Chichunek and Cooper are two out of the five authorities charged in the homicide of McLean. Randy Rodema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide

and third-degree assault and will be sentenced in January. Jason Rosenblatt and Nathan Woodyard, as we reported here on Roland Martin Unfiltered, were acquitted, and Rosenblatt was acquitted of all charges. A Georgia jury convicts an Atlanta lawyer of defrauding the federal government out of more than $7 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds. A jury of seven men and five women found Shalitha Robertson used the funds to buy a Rolls Royce car, Lord have mercy,

a motorcycle and 10-carat diamond ring for $148,000, among other things. Robertson denied grossly exaggerating the number of people employed by four of her companies to obtain millions of dollars in federal aid designed to help small businesses keep afloat during the coronavirus pandemic. She blamed her company's fraudulent 2020 PPP loan applications on her then friend and personal attorney, Chandra Norton, who pled guilty in a separate prosecution. Prosecutors said that Robertson and Norton were best friends and partners in crime, who together schemed to get as much money in PPP loans as they could, receiving ultimately almost $8 million. Robertson transferred $50,000 in PPP funding to her daughter,

who has not been charged, withdrew $25,000 of the funds in cash, and gave Norton $400,000 of the funds in cash and gave Norton $400,000. Prosecutors said, well, well, well. Jacquel, have you ever seen something like this in the courtroom that you've been in? I mean, was this a case of where they was both guilty and one turned on the other one before the other one could get the deal? Are you smiling?

What do you make of this? During the course of the pandemic, there's been tons of people that have been prosecuted due to the improper use of these PPP loans. So this is certainly something that has come up quite a bit since the pandemic. However, what makes it odd is that you have two lawyers, unfortunately, that are involved in this case. And you're right, attorney, well, Ms. Norton has been disbarred, but she took a plea back in 2020 with an agreement to testify against Ms. Robertson. And so, unfortunately, this is something that has commonly went on since the PPP loans have been given out. And it's really unfortunate. And while we're talking about it, I hope you don't mind if I ask you right quick about these these challenges,

the peremptory challenges and voir dire challenges and what looks to be a turn back based on this Batson challenge in the Mississippi case. Any thoughts about jury selection process and how this case in Mississippi shows what happens? Yes. Yes. So if the prosecution brings the motion, then it's a Batson challenge. But if the defense attorney brings the motion, it's called a McCollum challenge. And so essentially, it's very, very important, right? Because during the course of selecting a jury, it's a deselection process, right? So you want to, as an attorney, you want to get rid of those jurors that you don't want on the jury. However, during the course of making those deselections, if in fact there's anything that stands out where there's a specific

race, right, it looks like that you're essentially excluding all of the African, in this case all of the African American jurors, either side is entitled to that motion. And that's important because it forces the prosecution,

it's required that on the record, the prosecution is supposed to give a race neutral reason for the for them, the deselected or for the juror back on the jury. And it's very important to the criminal justice system because you have a constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury. And so the court was right to overturn that case. And it's very, very important. During the course of my time as a prosecutor, I've had those challenges against me and I've raised those challenges against the defense counsel. Right. Because, I mean, it's it's important. I mean, you're entitled to a jury of your peers and it and it has to be a legitimate reason for the excusal of those juries. So I am glad to see to see that case be overturned. Absolutely. Well, I tell you, it seems like Mississippi is the gift that keeps on giving in these cases. I mean, it's like, really, is this what we're talking about now? Teran, any thoughts on any of those headlines

that we had today? I was thinking about even particularly thinking about Elijah McClain case, no movement on it, but these paramedics trying to get off by saying that they did their job, but maybe their training failed or any of the other headlines that we had today. Well, as far as the Elijah McCain situation, part of me kind of wonders, are these two ex-paramedics being considered scapegoats? Because by the time you, and I don't know the procedures in that city, whether you call the cops first and then you call the paramedics when there's a situation like that, but I don't know if the cops who were on the scene were able to call the paramedics and say, well, this is what's going on. But even then, I don't know how

you can have somebody give you a determination if you are a paramedic when you don't check for yourself. And ketamine, I don't even understand why he was even injected with ketamine if there was a medical situation that they hadn't determined. I'm not saying that they're not at fault. That's up for a jury to decide. But I think there needs to be a lot more investigation in this by just saying, is this these five public service officials? I wonder how far up the chain these sort of things go. And I wonder how long these sort of policies have been in place for people who have been involved in police-involved situations, or even just what the procedures are for somebody who they figure is quote-unquote low class or low income or whatever that looks like and as far as the other headlines yeah i'm

in atlanta and that that um that that ppp loan store has been the joker for the past three or four days it's like you mentioned you mentioned the rose well she didn't just get a rose where she got a hot pink rose royce in my head what oh yeah it was a it was a hot pink rose royce and part of me is wondering what she riding around around Atlanta with her arm out the window, like, playing UGK, playing pick and ring by UGK, thinking nobody was going to pay attention to that? I mean, I don't know. I don't know what got in her head to make her think she was going to do that. It's sad. It's funny, but it's sad because you would think somebody who's a lawyer would have better sense than to do this. But, you know, it's just one of the things, man, you just got to shake your head as to why people

move the way they move. No question. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette.

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

And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes, rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to

speak for themselves find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org brought to you by opportunity at work and the ad council who she thinks she is marjorie taylor green you can't just steal federal money and get away with it but actually which actually lauren you know i saw you laughing because i mean you see this stuff up close every day in the federal legislature. All this stealing and some people get away scot-free. And then this other thing, I wonder if you have any thoughts about this. The word that comes to mind as we're sitting here and I'm thinking about you and the things you've reported on over the years and you talk about every week here is accountability. Clarence Thomas clearly doesn't have any accountability.

Matt Gaetz and Margie Taylor Greene can take millions. These sisters are going to pay for what they did. I mean, what kind of country are we living in now where it seems like some people are always brought to accountability as they should be and others don't even have to think about it? Yeah, that's for sure. Obviously, accountability is really up to who gets to decide who will be accountable. And it's not that it's right to steal a bunch of PPP money and buy a pink Rolls Royce. She should have gotten busted for that. But the PPP money situation has been very interesting. There have been a lot of people who had gotten a lot of that money under very questionable circumstance. So it then becomes a matter of

who gets busted. And I mean, you know, as somebody who walked out of the Jonathan Majors case this week, you know, you see that prosecutorial decision-making and discretion means a lot. And so when Alvin Bragg picks that case over another one, you know, you have to wonder. And jury selection in that case was an issue as well, where in the closing days of the case, the only black juror on the jury, the prosecution tried to throw out, tried to throw off of the case, which it was interesting to me sitting in Manhattan in criminal court that you only had one black juror. And then the one black juror that you do have, we're going to try to get rid of.

So, I mean, jury selection and, you know, there had been some bats and challenges in another case that Alvin Bragg had prosecuted involving Adam Foss, a totally different case from the Majors case. So jury selection is huge. Now, of course, we know that some of that is because people do not necessarily answer their jury notices. So it's not all the court's fault necessarily. But when you look in detail, and so many social and civil rights groups have looked at this, when you look at detail, the jurors who do show up and the ones that get stricken are disproportionately black because, of course, there's this notion that black people cannot be objective,

even though the history shows us exactly the opposite. There's always this idea that white folks will walk in the court and be completely and perfectly objective, and it's black folks that can't be objective about a black defendant. At any rate, after watching the Majors case, I have to say that, I mean, in some ways it feels like the 1950s are here again. Because there's certain things that you see that mirror some of the history that you've read about and I as a history major recognize and I'm kind of shocked by,

particularly when it comes to our justice system. But at any rate, there's a lot to say about those headlines. I think I've probably talked long enough about the situation. But, you know, it is interesting. The pink Rolls Royce, not Cadillac, pink Rolls Royce. That's pretty audacious, pretty bold. Pretty audacious. I guess people do it all the way.

Well, you know those ATLians, as they might say, me and you, your mama and your cousin too. So, I mean, going to slam some does, but, you know, somebody got to pay for their fun. But really, though, for those who may not have missed your coverage or may have missed your coverage and commentary on the Jonathan Majors case, I would encourage them to go back to the Black Star Network app or YouTube or wherever you consume Black Star Network and look at your coverage from being in the courtroom and what you put in context, because I didn't see that anywhere else reported anywhere else in terms of mass media. Of course, as always, the Thursday panel, thank you, Lauren Victoria Burke, Black Press

USA, John Quayle Neal from the John Quayle Neal Law Firm there in Atlanta. And Brother Teran Walker, all as always the founder of Context Media. Thank you all for joining us today. And we're going to take a break. And when we come back, we are actually going to sit with our brother Roland Martin as he sits down with

award-winning gospel artist Doe, who participated in McDonald's Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour. So we're going to talk, he's going to talk to Doe, and we're going to listen when we come back from the break here at Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Back in a moment. Grow your business or career with Grow

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scholarships available. Grow with Google and J. Hood and Associates. Be job ready and qualify for in-demand jobs. Our brother Roland sat down with award-winning gospel artist Doe, who participated in McDonald's Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour, to find out how she got started singing. Here is Roland's conversation with Doe at Chicago's House of Hope. Doe! I'm doing good. Thank you for having me. All right, so first I had a Lafayette woman.

Now I have another Louisiana. Louisiana. Is it, okay, because the name is always interesting. Yeah. Some people say Shreeport. OK. And some say Shreepo. Shreepo.

So I say Shreeport because I was actually raised up until I was 14, 15 in Yakima, Washington. Oh. Ooh, Lord, that was a culture shift in Yakima, Washington. Oh. Oh, Lord. That was a culture shift. It was. Yes. Lord.

What culture? Shock. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Culture shock. Yeah. Washington State to Shreveport, Louisiana. How did that happen?

What happened? It was really just a God thing. And my dad connected with a pastor in Shreveport and then was a staff pastor there. And so our whole family, mom, all five of us kids, moved down there and became a part of this high school and their culture and their church. And it was, yeah, we just, we jumped all the way in.

All the way in. Yeah, that's a whole different experience from Washington State. It is. I mean, even like the sports that are important in those two different regions. We went from basketball to a football family. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean?

Texas, Louisiana is football. It's football, yeah. Other sports, they actually, that's just training for football. That's how I look at it. Right. No, that's just going to get your conditioning in. Absolutely. That's how I think about it.

Yes. So, yeah, it was a massive culture shift. So now what's interesting is that you're solo now, but that's not how it started for you. No. So where did the gospel begin? Where did that start in terms of the group? How did that even start? Yeah, I mean, you know, dad's a pastor.

His family was musical growing up. We were musical. My father wrote this song. I don't know if you heard it, but it's called Use Me. And that song did really well. And so him and my mom would travel everywhere, all around the world singing and ministering. But one day he was like,

I feel like I'm supposed to travel with my family now. So we started playing. And we were already playing. And he would wake us up for prayer every morning. And we would get on our instruments and play. So we were already doing that. But he was like, I want to do this. So he had a free band.

He had a free band. He paid in food. And had a warm place to sleep. There you go. There you go. There you go. There you go. Yeah, so that's how we did it, you know? And, um... Now, what instrument did you play?

I play keys and guitar. Okay. Yeah. And the microphone. I play the microphone, too. Yeah. So, yeah, everybody played. I mean, even my sister, when she got married, her husband was a part of the group, because he played. So, we're a family of family. Yeah, like a. I mean, even my sister, when she got married, her husband was a part of the group because he played.

So we're a family of fans. You're like a Minnie Winans. You come into the family, you're going to play a scene. I want to say thank you for that because I would rather them say that than, is your dad Joe Jackson? Are you guys like the Joe? You know what I'm saying?

I like that comparison. Yeah. Well, again, because it should be lucky. You married to that family. Come on. Come on. Get to work. Get to work.

Grab this phone. Take this picture. The family business is singing. Get the social media video. Yeah. That's what it is. So y'all begin the tour as a family. And then when did it become y'all group?

Immediately, it was like that. And actually, it really was like even moving to Shreveport was a series of divine appointments because the pastor introduced us to this guy who needed the ministry of a family. And we benefited from our connection with him because he became our manager and it was just this beautiful exchange. When you say he needs the ministry of a family, what does that mean? He had just gone through some tough things in life and just seeing a family operate was ministry to him and it just was beautiful to him.

And he, you know, so he was like, we people have to see you guys doing your thing. Well, most people, what was interesting about that is that most people don't realize that real pastors don't count members. They count families. Because people, individuals are transient. They come and go. But typically when a family joins a church, they're there.

They're investing. And typically we have multiple generations. So they grow up there. They get married there. They have kids there. And so a lot of preachers focus on, I have X number of families. Yeah. I mean, multi-generations is like a sign of a healthy church too.

Everybody's represented there and everybody gets along. That's a big deal. So we had that there at that church. So Jeffrey Benward, who became our manager, he introduced us to Tommy Sims, who produced our first record. And then we pitched that record to EMI Gospel at the time, which is now Motown Gospel.

And we got signed. And it did very well. And then you decided, you know what? I want to do my own thing. And then we did another album that didn't do so well. And then we got dropped. And we kept singing. And then I was youth pastoring and just doing whatever.

And then I decided I'm ready. How was that process? Because obviously, when you are, again, you mentioned earlier, you know, Joe Jackson. When Michael decides to lead the Jackson 5 to become a solo artist, there are other examples of that as well. It's a whole different dynamic because you're used to operating

and moving as a group. Yeah. I think I put obligations on myself because I was one of the, like, main lead singers and writers along with my dad. Everybody wrote. And I think I took on the weight of I have to take care of my family. I imagine being in your 20s carrying that or thinking, our album didn't do that well because of me or whatever. Just ways that I believe the enemy wants to keep you in bondage

however he can from moving forward. So that was a year's worth of a process of realizing that I also had even a skewed vision of, you know, fearing missing God's will. And it was just like all so wrong because when I finally said, hey, I'm moving in Dallas to go do what's in my heart at 29 years old,

they were all just like, we've been waiting on you. You know what I mean? So you're wrestling with all this stuff internally. And it's a lot. They're like, I got him. Right. You know what I mean? So you're wrestling with all this stuff internally. They're like, I got him. Right. You know what I'm saying? And you're probably going, why y'all didn't say nothing? I think they tried to say, you know?

But that voice is just so loud of obligation. So anyways, I had three college degrees. But I was like, I'm not going to Dallas to get a job and ask for permission to leave work to do what's in my heart. So I got my Uber license and I was like, if this doesn't work out, I could do this. I mean, Uber and Lyft, they're like you own your own business, your own little, you know. Right. But I honestly only had to drive, had to drive twice in the two years of being in Dallas to pay my rent because my friends knew I led worship. I grew up with people who ended up pastoring big churches and doing these big conferences.

And they were like, can you come? And it just was like one thing after the other, word of mouth. Getting on and doing cycles with Jonathan, getting on Israel Holton's album, who was a hero of mine. And just like and then doing something with Maverick. and getting on Israel Holton's album, who was a hero of mine, and just like, and then doing something with Maverick. And honestly, it was like God created the perfect storm around my yes, around my willingness to jump, jump and watch these wings that I made for you work. See, I think for a lot of people, when people ask,

me all the time, they'll ask, how did this happen? And what most people don't realize is that if you ask any successful, especially entrepreneurs, who actually did their own thing, they had to have absolute faith, not only in God, but in themselves. And that's the thing. There are some people who have faith in God, but they actually don't have faith in themselves to actually pull the trigger.

Yep. And you said absolute faith. And to me, that speaks volumes because that means there's nothing happening around me that is tangibly saying saying this is going to happen for you no but absolute faith in myself and god and that's that's what that season was and it was so scary but i had a friend say to me if you don't do what's in your heart i feel like um i feel like you're gonna be the man in the bible with one talent because you had a skewed vision of how God sees you

and how the Father operates with his children. There's also patience. I think a lot of people talk about that verse. Yeah. But then I have to take people to Habakkuk. Okay. Where it says, write the vision, don't make it plain, then wait. Yeah. And that's the other thing. Yes. to Habakkuk, where it says, write the vision, don't make it plain, then wait.

And that's the other thing. So I remember God laid out, you're going to be doing all of these things in media, July 2000. I'm like, all right, let's go. He's like, no, no. I'm like, hold on, what you mean? I'm ready to roll. No, I have to move some people into position who right now are not in position.

And as I look back on that, some of those people, it took a decade for them to be put in position. And that's, I think, also hard for people, the waiting part, because sometimes it comes fast, but then sometimes it doesn't. Yeah. So here's why the yes period is so scary, is because you have been obedient

and saying no for 10 years. And then all of a sudden, you don't hear God saying, don't take this opportunity. Not yet. And that was so scary. I had an anxiety attack the night that I decided I was going to sign with the label I'm with because I was so used to being in this holding pattern. And the waiting is good because you're also being you're you're getting rid of any ambition in you to kick doors down and i'm gonna make it happen on my own on my terms you know what i'm saying yep so it's good for you but when the yes season comes it is scary because you're so used to god told me to wait And then you don't feel that anymore. You feel this freedom to go.

And you feel the command to go, but you're like, I've been saying no. What was crazy for me was having this tremendous skill set and knowing I have financial needs, applying for positions that I could do in my sleep and none of them happening. And it's like literally I could do that in my sleep. Doors closed. I remember I had one radio station and this was, and they were like, why are you applying for this job? I mean, you've done all these things,

but it was actually a style of radio that I had never done. And they couldn't just found the idea that I actually wanted to learn how to do that style. And I'm looking at them going, this is a no-brainer. Right. Somebody with my resume never got the offer. Yeah. And then you're sitting there kind of like,

say, bro, can you let me know what's up because like we gotta get paid yeah and that's the thing you know everybody's like oh the industry's changing change i'm telling you that it will always be about who you know and the who that i'm talking about is the one that closes doors that should obviously be open. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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

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

Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. 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. 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.

Because it's not his time and it's not his season. And now, look, it's like we're here because the timing was right. Yep, absolutely. Yeah. When you, I asked, I've asked other artists this question. Where do you see your place in gospel music? Because obviously there are different genres within gospel. Yeah, there are.

So you're like, what genre am I? How do you see yourself in this space? I have to say that Reese, if you had asked me that maybe a month ago, I would have just said, yeah, I'm a part of the, you know, evolving sound of, you know, with the guitar and neo soul,

that's probably where I am. But I actually see an even greater evolution with my music now because we're working on my album. And I kind of feel like, yes, the neo soul thing will always be a part and the worship thing will always be a part of who I am. But I feel like I'm writing more R&B feel and folk right now. I know that those are two on the opposite spectrums, but those sounds are in me because my parents just had us listening to everything. Every different sound.

We couldn't listen to secular, but every different expression of music. So that's what I would say. And there are some young R&B gospel artists coming up, like Jordan Armstrong. I mean, Erica Campbell still represents in that genre. I actually would like to see what my music would do even outside of like church, you know.

So what I think was interesting about the lineup of this McDonald's tour is that you have just these different, it's just so many different types of sounds that for those who are gonna be attending in these cities, they're getting a broad view as opposed to, you know, sort of six artists who are sort of in the same vein. Yeah, they had a buffet. You know what I'm saying?

You know when you, you know the, I don't know what I'm supposed to say, but you know the buffets at the casino, how they got Italy over here. Right, right. You know what I'm saying? Mexican food over here. I mean, literally, you're right.

I mean, there's a plethora of different genres within the genre of gospel music being represented here. And I love that, because we're colorful people, you know? And again, and have range. We have range. And you know what else? I'm going to say, this might get me off subject,

but I'm also loving how Afro vibes are, you know what I'm saying, being highlighted right now because it's unifying brown skin people in the United States. And also, I mean, you can hear it in reggaeton or like in the Spanish culture, but that's also our influence in there. So there's this broad like stroke being painted right now saying this is black world, Bisseck. And I love that.

So you mentioned that, you mentioned your parents that they listen to everything Bisseck. Okay, so that. So you mentioned that, then you mentioned your parents that don't listen to everything Bisseck. Okay, so- Yeah, so you're like, what is that? I'm gonna throw this out, so, because Bree failed this test. Oh no.

I threw a couple- I'm gonna fail. No, no, no, don't see. I threw, I mentioned a couple of names. She's like, who is that? Okay. And I was like, are you serious? All right.

So then she's like, she told me, I can't ask, here's a car, I can't ask, there's a thing. She's like, who is that? Okay. And I was like, are you serious? All right. So then she's like, she told me I can't ask his car. I can't ask his car. She's like, oh, no, she's not going to know those. Okay. So she's probably right. That's what she said. So I mentioned the Commodores hit Zoom. The what?

See, you never heard of Zoom? The Commodores hits on Zoom? No. Okay. She's right about that one. Okay. Yeah. How about meetings on Zoom? The Commodores hits on Zoom? No. Okay, she's right about that one. Okay. I have meetings on Zoom. You have meetings?

Really? You got meetings on Zoom? Really? Really? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Really? Oh, my God.

Excuse me. So then I mentioned Jeffrey Osborne and LTD, and she was like, who in the world is that? Maybe if you sing a song. See, so when I threw out, when we played a couple of the songs, she's like, oh, yeah, I heard that. But she had no idea what that meant.

And I told her I was looking. She was struggling so bad, I told her, I said, I'm going to put you a black card in review status. Please don't put me in a card review status. Please, please, God. I worked so hard. Especially in Washington State. Yes.

Please, God, please. Okay. It is hard. You got me tempted to act like I know. Silly idea. That's why. I'm like, I see you're playing everything. Right.

You're right. I have to say, when I'm with my I said, look at me. If you're playing everything. Right. You're right. I have to say, when I'm with my friends and they know, because I have another friend who was a pageant kid. She wasn't allowed to. But she played catch up. She took some years and caught up on everything. So she knows. Yeah, I missed it.

You know, because I was in my prayer closet. Do you at least know if I can definitely make this? Wait. Is it, you make me happy? Yes. Yes. Woo! I'll let you go.

You know why? Because we were listening to that this morning. I know it. I knew it before this morning. Got it. But today I saw the name, and I was like, I don't remember that name. Yeah, please. See, the Holy Spirit had my back today.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Okay. Because, see, I ain't remember that name. Yeah, please. See, the Holy Spirit had my back today. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Because see, I ain't trying to have you in a setting where black people are playing spades or something. And they throw out Frank and Beverly Mays. You be like, who? Right. Who? And then the whole room will look at you like, who invited her?

You're right. I'm going to do my homework, though. Yes. Just don't ask me if I play spades. Excuse me. You don't ask me if I play spades. Excuse me. You don't play. Tell them. You don't.

No, OK, I signed up for a class that I'm taking. You don't, you don't, you don't, you don't play spades? No, because here's why. Let me just say this. There is a part of black culture that grew up in church. And when they were growing up, playing cards was of the devil. Y'all couldn't even play cards? I could, but they couldn't, so they didn't grow up teaching their...

They didn't teach their kids to play spades. Oh, okay. You know what I'm saying? Goldfish? Yes. Uno? Yes. But no spades? No spades. But I have had conversations, and I'm to learn how to play spades very recently.

So this obviously has come up in other... It's come up a lot. Yeah. But I did know that song that I just sang, so I don't think my card should go into review. The committee's looking at it right now. I got a deck of cards in my backpack. Yeah. See, we ready to play at any given time.

I can do other things, too. I can do other things. I can make cornbread. I can do other things. What else can you do? Wait, wait. What can you do while we play Spades, listen to the Tom and Ernie's in Zoom?

Making green. Okay, I got it. You know what I'm saying? Listen to the top of the earth in Zoom. Making green. Okay, I got it. You know what I'm saying? I could do all of those things. I'm the nurturing black woman. I will be that person. So you got the food straight down. Yes, and I can talk trash.

You know what I'm saying? That comes in handy with space. That's what I'm saying. I mean, space is totally about, it's not just learning how to play. It's one-on-one. The trash talking is 80% of space. I kill trash talk. But you got to know how to play the trash talk.

That's what I'm saying. So I'm 80% there, so my card shouldn't go in review. I'm just like, we're getting there. Yeah, we're getting there. Yeah, we might take a while, but yeah. 20% left. Just 20% left. Yes, we're getting there.

Last question for you. Okay. Who would you love to do something with? I think, you know, right now I got to sing for CeCe Winans at the Stellar Awards. And she's somebody that I genuinely would love to sit under, even if I was just singing a song with her. Gotcha.

I feel like she's somebody whose name still is so clean. And she's such a, people still hold her in high regard after all of these years. And she's a mother. She's such a, people still hold her in high regard after all of these years. And she's a mother, she's a wife. And so I guess I would like to interview her and just ask her how. And then sit there with a notepad and write. Okay. Well, if you're doing the interview,

you don't have to do the notepad because recorded cameras. Yes. That way you can listen. Right. You can just rewatch it. You can just play it back. You're That way you can listen. Right, rewatch it. You can just play it back. You're right, you're right. Yeah, I've done this a little bit.

You're a pro. Just since I was 14. Really? Yeah. Since you were 14? Went to communications high school. Do you have a book out yet? Five books.

Oh, okay. Yeah. I'm fired. Am I fired? You're never going to call me back. When I come back, I'll know spades. I promise you. When they know spades, they want to read the books. Yeah, right. And all the books. Yeah.

No, that's really great. Oh, yeah. Thank you for your contribution. It's all good. All good. Yeah. Good chatting with you. Same.

Look forward to seeing you on tour and playing spades backstage. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank Good chatting with you. Look forward to seeing you on tour and playing spades backstage.

Oh, yes, and beating you. That's not going to happen. It's OK. See, trash talk. That's not going to happen. Yeah, this trash talk, though. I'm going to send you back to Washington state. Excuse me.

Stop. I ain't going back to Washington. He said you're back. I don't want to go back. I don't want to get so bad. You like, I'm packing up. I got to go. It doesn't matter, man.

It's too much. That's it. I'll go back to Shreveport. They'll patch me back up. You're going to Shreveport? Yeah, they'll patch me back up. All right, then. We appreciate it.

It's an honor to meet you. Likewise. Yeah. Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy Holy, holy, holy Holy, holy, holy you I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. 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 star-studded a little bit, man.

We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording. 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. I always had to be so good

no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org. This is an iHeart Podcast.