#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Canada Vs Trump Tariffs. Black Columnist Wins WaPo Return. Target Racist Costume. Gary Power Crisis.

Episode Date: August 26, 2026

8.25.2026 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Canada Vs Trump Tariffs. Black Columnist Wins WaPo Return. Target Racist Costume. Gary Power Crisis. Canada has announced that it will match the U.S imposed tariffs that went into effect August 22. Saying that they will match the tariffs dollar for dollar. The director of the American Economic Liberties Project will join us to discuss. Next, after being fired Washington Post columnist, Karen Attiah, landed a win after an arbitrator decided that the Washington Post had to reinstate her. Karen will be with us later to talk about her reinstatement. We'll continue our coverage of the power outages consuming Gary, Indiana following extremely severe storms. We'll be talking to the mayor of Gary to inquire about what the next steps are. Target is under enormous scrutiny again! They released a statement apologizing for a racist childrens' halloween costume which was supposed to be a glow in the dark clown costume but instead resembled a Jim Crow era caricature. Also, there is massive outrage across social media after a racist facebook post circulated about a white server group planning to spit in black peoples food at Texas Roadhouse and Logans Roadhouse. Texas Roadhouse announced that the claims are baseless.  And on tonights Black Star Network Marketplace is a toy company called Puzzle Huddle. Founded by a father inspired by his daughters love for puzzles. He'll be joining us to talk about the inspiration and development of the company. Black Star Network Partner: ChapterChapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options. ____ Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Today is Tuesday, August 25th, 2020, 26. Coming up on Roland Mark and Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network, Canada is matching the terrors of the twice-impeach criminal convicted con man in chief dollar for a dollar. We'll talk to a trade expert on how this is going to screw Americans. An arbitrator has ruled that the Washington Post wrongfully fired columnist Karen Attea and must reinstate her with back pay and benefits.

She'll join us to talk about her big victory. We continue our coverage of the power outage crisis consuming Gary Indiana to what we talked with the mayor to give us an update. Target is under enormous scrutiny again. The retail giant is apologizing for a children's Halloween costume, a glow-in-the-dark clown costume, but it resembles the racist Jim Crow-era caricatures. A racist Facebook post sparks outrage across social media claiming that white servers spit in black people's food at Texas Roadhouse and Logan's Roadhouse. road house. And in tonight's shop blackstarnetwork.com marketplace segment, a toy company founded by a father inspired by his daughter's love for puzzles. And a former NFL player says, we should stop

teaching our children about slavery. Yeah, he's white. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got against Canada. Canada said, all right, they're going to issue with territory tariffs up to 50% on a wide range of U.S. goods in response. right. The Trump decision to impose tariffs on $27.6 billion worth of Canadian goods is causing Canada to impose 15, 25, and 50 percent tariffs on products and plans to match the U.S. product rate dollar for dollar based on the U.S. Section 338 tariffs. It will go into effect on September 8th. The list of over 700 U.S. goods will include seafood and shellfish, dairy products, construction, industrial machinery, electronics, furniture,

textile floor cover his machinery parts and industrial manufacturing products. Doug Ford, the Ontario Premier, had some choice words for the Orange Man. The Prime Minister tell you to ask you to tone it down a bit? No, he didn't. I'm not going to call it, but he wasn't against that. And I have a lot of real estate on my ass, so he has a lot of room to kiss my ass. So I'm the director of Rethink Trade at the American Economic Liberties Project, joins us right now. I'm glad to have you here, Lori.

Listen, we've had to deal with this silliness the first time he was there the last two years. It is literally hurt in the American economy. And the problem here is there's no rhyme or region. It's just, okay, I'm going to wake up and let's screw with Canada. Well, the only thing that makes it worse is he keeps giving tariff cuts to China, where we really do have a trade problem. And China's practices on trade that include suppressing wages, by not allowing independent unions, by suppressing consumption, by basically leaving people out

to take care of themselves with paying their health care on their own and paying their retirement on their own. With all kinds of currency manipulation means that China basically is cost-less jobs and a lot of security issues. And for his sort of bromance partner, Premier Xi, of China, Trump keeps cutting tariffs. Then we've got Canada. We have balance. trade with Canada. And we have very similar wages and standards. And our two economies are very integrated. And we don't actually have a trade problem with Canada. And so for Canada, he's going to 50 percent tariffs because I don't know. He doesn't like the prime minister's socks. It is a very personal thing. But the only good thing is right now, the amount of stuff being targeted is not big

enough to really move it from a personality political fight to real economic damage yet. You know, this is, again, what jumps out the most, there's no logic to this. It's just a whim. And if you're, listen, let's talk to people in Las Vegas, how they've been impacted by Canadian saying, screw the United States, we ain't spending money. As the folks in Kentucky, the red state that voted for Donald Trump. Oh, the brown liquor industry greatly impacted. Tourism in this country, not just Canada, but other nations. People literally are saying we can take our money and spend it elsewhere and not the United States. So there are two different things going on. That is exactly right. And it's the abusiveness,

more than almost the tariffs. It's calling the prime minister of our neighboring, governor so-and-so as part of his taunt about Canada should be the 51st state, or it is threatening to rename geographical locations to insult other countries. That kind of just pathetic, freakish behavior has led to polling, say, in Canada where people are just, you know, they've had it. They've just, they're hating on us right now, and Trump has created that. The only thing though I want to make sure listeners and viewers know is that for the moment, the amount of tariff, how much trade is hit, is relatively small with respect to what it's going to mean as far as actually impacting people.

You know, when tariffs on us, then that has to do with we make here. It might be a slowdown or a layoff in a plant or something like that, or we can't use crops or, but it's relatively speaking, a small amount. It is less than 6% of our total exports. And with respect to the stuff that Canada's putting a tariff on the, I mean, we're putting a tariff from the stuff coming from Canada, that is even a smaller percentage relative to our entire imports, it's less than one half of one percent. So it's not like overnight you're going see prices jump because of this, but it could get worse. And there certainly is no need to be having this fight with this country. Meanwhile, President Trump isn't doing the countries that you need

to go after for trade cheating to actually deliver on his promise to try and rebuild U.S. manufacturing. We actually have fewer manufacturing jobs in the U.S. economy than when Trump came back to office. Yeah. And again, all of these promises of engolded error, they simply are not happening economically. Lori, we certainly appreciate you breaking this down and we'll see what the heck next. We'll see what mood he's in. In the next country, he decides to screw over. And as you said, it's amazing how he keeps letting China off the hook, but he kept talking

about China during the election and people believed them and they fell for the okie-doke. That's exactly right. But I mean, here's where the rubber hits the road. We've down 74,000 manufacturing jobs since Trump started second term. We've seen investment in factories plummet since the Biden administration down 30 percent. So that's the U.S. government data. That's not a political thing. That is the president of the United States.

Donald Trump has not on the specific promises he made to working Americans. There is a way to have good trade policies. certainly not going back to the old NAFTA, WTO, TPP, nightmare of offshoring. But what Trump is doing is actually not fixing it, it making it worse. All right. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. My pounded, Mr. Bostapha Santhago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA, joining us from D.C. Wincouni, C.N. C. C. F.O. Politicking out of D.C.

Dr. Katrina Gamble, CEO, so joining strategy is also out of D.C. Glad to have all three of you here. When Cooney, listen, it's just the man is erratic. He's nuts. It makes no rhyme reason. And one of the reasons why I keep contending that MAGA needs to be wiped out when it comes to controlling the house in a Senate, because they could actually stop them from doing what he's doing, but they won't.

Yeah, Roland, they refuse to hold him accountable. And what it ultimately results in is a blowback on the pockets of the American people. When you see Canada impose tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of United States good, which is going to range rates from 15 to 50 percent starting September 8th, we already see people struggling under this economy, Roland. We already see inflation getting to people. We see homeownership rates at a historic low. And ultimately, these tariffs are going to continue to exacerbate these things, right?

This is turning what started as a dispute, you know, started by, Donald Trump into a full-out trade war. It's an understandable retaliation, but we really have to look at the blow blacks that it's going to have on the pockets of the American people. Mustafa? I mean, this administration continues to damage relationships. You know, they break the friendships that were in place. They continue to dismantle allieships, which is so critically important, and we are no longer respected or trusted across the planet. So that puts us in a very precarious situation. When you look at the impacts of these tariffs, everything from fish all the way to

steel is now going to have additional costs associated with it. We know we have a housing crisis. People can't afford to buy a new home in many instances. We see all the other types of things that are going on in relationship to people going to the grocery store. So he does nothing that actually helps American people to have a better life, to have a life that's less affordable. And so this is just par for the course once again. Katrina? Yes, to your point about Republicans not standing up to Trump around some of this, all of that, as they say, the chickens will come home to roost in November.

I think a lot of people are very aware of the promises that Trump made and the failures of his promises. People are filling it in their pocketbooks. And obviously, he's breaking relationships. and if this continues to escalates, there's threats from our Canadian friends about electricity when people are already struggling to pay their utility bills. And so there are real world consequences to him doing this. And I think that the voters will demonstrate their feelings about that come November.

All right, folks, hold tight one second, quick break. We come back. We're going to talk about the Washington Post having to reinstate columnist Karen Attia after they fired her. You're watching Roland Martin unfiltered on the Blackstone Network. All right, folks, let me get personal for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company, and she texts me right after saying it's a great benefit. It was easy.

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Roland Hart unfiltered. Well, the National Association of Black Journalists gave the Washington Post a thumbs-down award this year. One of the reasons was for its layoff of African Americans. In the case of Karen Ortiz, she was fired by the Washington Post. For social media posts, she made after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Well, the post has now taken a big fan. Fat L after Sarah Miller Espinoza, the arbitrator overseeing her legal challenge against the post, said the paper, quote, did not have good and sufficient cause that it violated her labor agreement.

Ruling also says that Tia is owed full back pay and benefits. Karen, Tia Jones, right now. Karen, glad to have you here. This, of course, was a very difficult situation that you had to deal with. While this was happening, you lost your father. and a lot of things were going on here. You stood at your ground. There were many people who said, Karen,

why didn't you just take a buyout? But you chose not to, and now the post they've lost. Yeah, it's been a wild year. What can I say? Yeah, it was not, it was around this time last year that, yes, a lot of people were saying I was crazy. for staying. And I don't, I don't know.

I still don't know to this day why I just felt in my soul, in my spirit, that I needed to stay on my ground, particularly as being the last full-time staff black columnist in the opinion section. I just had a feeling that this was something worth fighting for. And of course, when I saw the email firing me in September, of last year and how absurd it was, how just utterly ridiculous the Washington Post claims were against me for what I said in the wake of Charlie Kirk's murder. I just knew that I had to fight. Did I think it would be this tough? No, but I think today I'm, I mean, I'm happy. We did it. We won. I was vindicated, you know, and this is, I'm wearing red all day today. These are the

colors of the Washington Post Guild have been a long time union members, so I would not have even had the opportunity to have gone to arbitration, to have filed a grievance if it wasn't for me being a part of the Washington Post Guild in the Washington Baltimore News Guild. So shout out to my guild siblings. Yeah, and it's not just me. It's not just a job. I see this really as fighting back for journalism, in particular, fighting back. for black journalists. And I know a lot of people were watching this case

and feeling, gosh, yet again, you know, the big guys are stepping on the little people doing whatever they could to silence people. And so I hope people watching see that, you know, sometimes it really is worth it to stand back up

and fight for yourself. So you posted two things on blue sky. And this is what you said, Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence. You also said, refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face and performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence is not the same as violence. So the post says that was unacceptable. You exercise poor judgment. I'm like, uh, you didn't lie.

And also, aren't columnists paid to give their opinion? Yes and yes. And not only that, my beat, my focus at the Post was specifically about race, gender, human rights, in international affairs. So this was squarely within my purview, what I was literally paid to give my analysis on. And one thing I want to remind people of is when Charlie Kirk was killed,

this was happening on the same day as a mass shooting at a school in Colorado. This was happening two months after two or three months after the horrific shootings in Minnesota of a democratic lawmaker. So when a lot of people were seeing, of course, what happened to Charlie Kirk was terrible and how graphic what was, what people were saying was, oh, America, political violence has no place here. Violence has no place here. And I'm like, look at what's happened just this year and just today. Clearly, it does. And so for me, I was looking at what was happening in Minnesota and looking at political violence

and how so much of it has been carried out by white men who espoused hatred in violence. And so I was just stating facts about America, unless so, about Charlie Kirk. And for that, the Washington Post for doing my job, the Washington Post labeled me as a threat and as guilty of gross misconduct. So, of course, after 11 years, after 11 years of being at the post and I was fired by email. So I'm just very glad to, even though it's been such an unreal, I'm just very glad to have been proven rights and to have been given my job back that I never should have lost that way in the first place. They also lied. And the letter to you, they said there were documented performance concerns. Yet then when you went to arbitration to the, they were like, yeah, she wasn't fired

because of that. It was because social media posts. So they lied. Actually, even what came out during arbitration is that my documented performance was that I'd never been disciplined throughout 11 years of my time. at the post, never had any suspensions, never had any formal warnings, nothing like that in my record. And then specifically that my bosses over the years had specifically said that my social media use was of benefit to the post. They kept telling me to use social media more. They were like,

Karen, keep posting. In fact, there were times where I got in slight trouble in my performance reviews when they were like, you're not posting enough. So to then come and see that, you know, two posts, when I was talking specifically about a subset of Whiteman, that two posts all of a sudden were, quote, beyond the pale was just, it was just ridiculous. And as I said, I just was like, is what? I think reading comprehension definitely also won out in arbitration yesterday. Reading and basic grammar. What I said about not performatively mourning for white men who espoused violence, that that is not the same as political violence or committing political violence.

It's just a statement of facts. Before I go to my panel with questions, listen, there were 600 some odd people. We talked about a chilling effect. More than 600 people got fired for making comments after Charlie Kirk was killed. and a lot of people have won lawsuits some totaling several million dollars what does it say

that folks in this country were so afraid of Donald Trump and MAGA they decided to just go ahead and just start firing people because they had the audacity not to frankly mourn Charlie Kirk who attacked people

condemned people trash people it wasn't this old how they tried to portray it oh no he He believed in free speech and he would go to these campuses and they would just have gentile debates. No, that was not who he was. No. You know, I keep saying, I kind of feel like the Wright really hoped that Charlie Kirk was going to be their George Floyd moment. It was going to be their...

Or their M-O-K. They literally wanted him to be their M-O-K. Yeah. They were really trying to ascribe a certain St. and that any sort of talk against him was literal blasphemy. Rowan, I will even say that I had a white male colleague, Mark Dyson, that same day, who posted about encouraging people to go docs people

who criticized Charlie Kirk, talking about, you know, F all liberal media, F liberals, F the media. And I had a white male colleague who was encouraging this. He was given a talking to him. to, I was fired. And as far as the people who, you know, were fired, it really was a witch hunt. And it came from the highest levels of office, JD Vance, literally encouraging people to fire people, to wrap people out. And so I keep saying that that day, it was almost like people were drunk.

People were just drunk with fear, drunk with power, and using that as a way to purge people, using that as a way to silence free speech. And now all these payouts, all these reinstatements, all these settlements, yeah, that's the hangover. That's the, you know, the chickens coming home to Roos. So I was always confident that this was going to be the outcome. I'm, of course, frustrated that I had to do this and was caught up in this. But I also recognize that me, being one of the,

of the last black and pretty high profile black journalists at the Washington Post, I realized that the Washington Post doing this to me was meant to send a signal. It was meant to chill speech. It was meant to show people, if we can do this to her, we can do this to any one of y'all. And that's precisely why I was like, I can't have this be the last word on this because, frankly, of the wave of purging of black journalists, of black voices, of black academics, of black people from the public sphere. That's been an explicit goal of this MAGA wave. And so for me, that's why it was so important, even if it was hard, it was so important for

me not to participate in my own suffering and in my own erasure. So, yeah, I'm definitely glad for the vindication, but still, there's still so many questions remaining about what Washington Post would I be going back to. Questions for the panel, Mustafa, you first. Well, Karen, it's good to see you. I've been reading your work for a long, long time. When I was thinking about your situation, it reminded me of I to Be Wells when she said the way to write, wrongs is that turn the light of truth upon them, what would you say to young journalists who are coming up about how incredibly important truth is and how it should show up in their work? You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it.

Hello. My gosh. Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish right inside the free I-Hard radio app. Gets the blood going up. Catch every laugh and eye roll on shows like the Tom Green Farmcast and park the bus. Now with full video. We're building a ramp for Tony Hawk. It's the same hosts and the same chemistry with all the hilarious moments you've been missing right on your screen.

Cheers. Open the free IHRRadio app. Search video podcasts and tap watch. Right. Well, I think there's a component of how important truth is, but that's why it's so terrifying. I mean, Ida B. Wells had her offices, had her printing press threatened and destroyed for pointing out the the way that the media was condoning, was legitimizing black lynchings, right? So I do think, I do think in this media environment, and particularly, you know,

it's very poignant that we're sitting here on Roland Martin's show, and Roland is like the pioneer for independent black media. You know, I do think that even using Ida B. Wells as an example, setting up, you know, her own press. I think the internet, I do think the wave of black people going on their own being creators connecting directly to audiences. I completely understand why they would look at what happened to me and say, well, why should I even go to legacy media or to mainstream media? Because so many of us have been pushed out. That being said, I mean, there's nothing like, and again, Roland is an example of this.

Like there's nothing like sticking to your guns. People know when a real truth teller is in front of them, right? And I do just think, especially now with attacks on truth, attacks on education, attacks on books, attacks on scholarship, being fearless about the truth is more important than ever right now. Katrina? Yeah, so Karen, thank you for fighting and standing up against the Washington Post. I mean, I think we often hear people talk about the attacks on black women, and your story is putting that in real form so that it doesn't feel like this vague thing. I know you mentioned that one of the reasons why you were able to fight back was because you were part of a union. I'm curious with, this is a systemic issue, as you're saying, like, what are the things that we should be demanding and thinking about to make sure that we can continue to protect black journalists, people who are covering race, which is particularly important in this moment?

Are there things that we should be, like, demanding, or are looking for, are trying to build? for sure. I mean, I think for me, what even beyond the firing, even beyond me being at the post, what has helped me keep going has been the support of black journalists, has been the support of associations like the National Association of Black Journalists. I think that part of also what helped me even psychologically, emotionally, it was the fact that I did have a direct relationship with my readers and audience. So building on substack within the last year and building my own base of subscribers and readers definitely helped. But I, you know, all of this still, there's so many black women, and I'm just one black women who had to get, who had to fight to get her job back. There are hundreds of

thousands of black women that have been pushed out of the corporate space. And I'm lucky that I had a lot of white colleagues that were fighting for me. I would love to see more allies, more non-black allies fighting for their black colleagues, particularly for black women when they see, they see that we're being targeted. We cannot do this alone. Again, forming, um, outside networks, having the inside outside game. It's sad that so many black women, yes, we see the stats about black women leading in entrepreneurship and all of that. And yes, we can make literally something out of nothing.

But a lot of that is because of the targeting and being pushed out of these spaces. So, you know, I talk about the union because they clearly saw, they clearly named race as an issue. They clearly said, can a black woman have an opinion at the Washington Post? So I had great allies. I know not that a lot of people are not so lucky. So I think black people, this is not a problem we created. Definitely. So if there are, you know, white folks listening, y'all got a lot of work.

Y'all need to step up, okay? My call, my, I got many, many, many non-black colleagues, white, but like, this is where, you know, intersectionality really, really means something. Whenconi. Yeah, Karen, hats off to you for fighting the good fight and to your point, one thing I've always heard is the best thing that a white person can do for black people is talk to another white person, right? So I 100% agree.

But you've been reinstated, Karen, right? So how does it feel or how do you anticipate it will feel to walk back into an environment where you were previously pushed out of? What emotions are going to come with that return? And what do you hope will be different this time? Ooh, man. First of all, one thing I know for damn sure, like when I'm walking through those doors, like the wishes, the well wishes, all my auntie's prayers, all my ancestors are coming with me.

People keep asking, is it going to be awkward? Is it going to be awkward? Do you know, like, how tall I'm going to feel like when I walk in to that office? So I already know that. You know, of course, the awkwardness, like, I have nothing to be ashamed of. I was doing my job. I have no reason to feel fear or shame or guilt. People ask me, well, would you have taken it down?

Would you have done something differently? I'm like, no. If anything, they're the ones you should feel the guilt and the shame and the awkwardness. In fact, two of the men who are responsible for the decision, Will Lewis, former publisher, Will Lewis and Adam O'Neill, they've resigned. They've left, resigned, pushed out, however, they're out and I'm in. So, yeah, man, there's that. But I know when I go in, you know, and there's still many, many steps that have to be taken.

And we have to see, you know, am I going to be allowed to write the truth? It's not just about a job back, but it's also about, am I going to be able to do the work that I was doing before? So we will see. But that being said, right now, the vindication, the vindication for black journalists, the vindication for the guilds that their collective bargaining agreement was held up, that joy walking in, walking into that building again is important. even irrespective of how I feel about it, feelings come and go, but the symbolism, the power, the collective effort just to have me walk through those doors again is too important to minimize or just, you know, put into, you know, how I feel. I recognize hundreds of people,

that energy is with me. So that's what I'm thinking about when I, when I walk in there. And they need to give me my things. They need to run me my coins. Well, it also means also the importance of fighting back and not giving up. A lot of people do. A lot of people would have been mad and depressed and angry and would have just said, well, let me just move on. But you said, no, justice is justice.

And what's fair is what's fair. And you beat them. And that's how they respond. but let's also be clear. The Washington Post today is an extremely hostile place for black people. When you look across this paper, you look at all the gains of the last 30 plus years, they have all went away. Jeff Bezos has some answering to do and the leadership there as well. And so I can tell you, we had no problem. It came to that thumbs down the ward and we don't care if they're pissed off about it. the pressure is going to continue because, listen, I believe that we should be creating opportunities, obviously, for independent journalists,

but we must also be still fighting for the opportunities that exist in mainstream media and then not allow these people to kiss so much MAGA as that they don't care about diversity and don't care about our perspectives in these places because they still matter. And when I say they, meaning not the places, our voices in these places still matter. Absolutely. You're so right. And like I said, I just hope that this gives people, not just even in journalism, but academia and so many of these places where they're trying to push us out. You mentioned, you know, other people would get mad, depressed. I'm like, yes, I was mad, depressed. As you said, mentioned my father passed away. six months ago while I was deep in this fight. And so it's taken a lot. But again, it's just the power also of solidarity. We know that black folk, those of us who understand the power of standing together, there's immeasurable power in that. And so, yeah, I'm hopeful. I'm sometimes you just, need these wins. We do need these wins and we need to celebrate them. And we need to, we also need to show folks that it's not going to be so easy to run us off. And that's at the

very least what I hopes to do. Even if I lost, I was willing to lose, even if it just meant I was going to make it harder for the bullies to do their bullying. As I keep saying, you know, you should keep throwing rocks at the tank. You might not always completely stop the tank, but you might break a window here and there. And, well, at least this time, like I said, I at least got a pretty big, got a pretty big W here. So I'm really happy about that. Well, as you were talking, when you talk about fighting,

folks also don't realize. So are you still boxing or were you doing MMA? Like, you were bulking up and you were sitting there swinging on folks. So, oh, no, baby, I don't forget anything. Yeah, you're right. Yes, I'm a literal martial artist. In my spare time when I'm not writing columns, yes, I'm a movie Thai fighter.

Three or four years ago, I'm actually the silver medalist in my weight class from the U.S. movie Thai Open. So, yeah, I tell people, I'm like, pretty much all I do is write and fights. Well, the Washington Post should have known. you were going to fight them. And when I think about

in terms of how he must fight, I always think about that great scene from George Lucas's movie Tuskegee Airman. And this always speaks volumes to me. Everything's a challenge. Through adversity to the stars.

From the last plane to the last bullet, to the last minute, to the last minute. And that's what we do. We fight. Karen, I appreciate it. It's giving me energy, man. Yes. Oh, absolutely.

Congratulations. Thanks a bunch. Thank you, Roland. All right, folks. Got to go to a break. We come back. We're going to talk with the mayor of Gary, Indiana, to get an update on what's happening there with a loss of power to nearly 30,000 people in that town.

We'll be right back. You're watching Rolla Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Support the work that we do, join our Brene and Funk fan club. You want to contribute via cash hat, use the Stripe Cure Code. You see it right here. That's for credit cards as well. Check some money order to make it payable to Rolla Martin Unfiltered, Peelbox 57196 Washington DC,

203-7-0196. PayPal's R Martin Unfiltered, Venmo's RM Unfiltered, Zail at Roland Smartin.com. Roland at Roland-Martin Unfilter.com. We'll be right back. All right, folks, let me get person for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company,

and she texts me right after saying it's a great benefit. It was easy. A real person walked her through the whole thing, and now she understands better what's going on. But it's also not just her. Woman and Yonkers rode in saying the process was so simple, the enrollment was easy and she was so glad she called. Then there's Maryland, 90 years old, in Florida, living on Social Security.

Her premium climbed every single year north of $400 a month for coverage she could barely afford anymore. So what does she do? She called Chapter. They found her the same top-tier coverage for hundreds of dollars less, 90 years old, and finally somebody in her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built to work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans.

Yet Chapter's advisors are independent and honest, the only Medicare advisors that compare every plan nationwide. They're focused on one thing, what actually works for you. If you're already in the right plan, they'll tell you. No games. People who switched to a chapter saved an average of $1,100 a year. All takes is 20 minutes. You talk to a real person and it's completely free help.

So, call chapter at 724-264-8-281. 724-264-8-8-1. That's chapter. Let me ask you a question. Why do so many people seem to think they know black men so well? What they think we want? What they think we need? Hell, they even tried to tell us why and how we voted.

They never had a conversation with us. Never asked us how we felt. What brings us joy? What makes us angry? What makes us scared? How do we live? That's what this show is about. No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking for us.

We can speak for ourselves. This will be a show where we bring brothers on that you don't see on every other talk show. Nope. Brothers that are doing work in local communities with black men for black communities. We're going to hear each other and try to understand so perhaps we can move forward together. No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking for us. What we need is each other. No translation.

Right here on the Black Star Network. Check it out. Melanie Campbell, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Black Women's Roundtable. And we are watching Rolling Modern unfiltered all day every day. 24-7, spread the word. Folks, Gary suffered significant power losses. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it.

Hello. My gosh. Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish, right inside the free I-HIR radio app. Gets the blood going up. Catch every laugh and eye roll on shows like the Tom Green Farmcast and park the bus. Now with full video. It's the same hosts and the same chemistry with all the hilarious moments you've been missing right on your screen. Cheers.

Open the free IHR radio app. Search video podcasts and tap watch. After a massive storm, knock things out on August 11th. After two weeks in the dark, the local utility company, Nipsco, expects to restore electricity by midnight tonight. fully, but they've been moving these things repeatedly. For some of the predominantly black city, the lack of power has caused medical complications, while others are cooking what food they can

at local parks before it spoils. Gary's Mayor Eddie Melton says the ongoing crisis in the city is unacceptable. He joins us right now. Mayor Melting, glad to have you here. Okay, what's the latest? Take us through it. Just got a text message probably about 30 minutes ago that the latest number is about 1,200 residents still without power. And like you mentioned, Roland, midnight tonight was the time frame that Nipscow said that 100% would be complete.

So we're hoping for the residents' sake that that's one of the case. Did Nipscow's parent company in NICOR? Did they bring in extra people? Did they mean, what happened here? I mean, this is, listen, and again, this is no disrespect to Gary. we're not talking about a city the size of Houston and it takes two weeks to restore power? Yeah, those are the questions that everyone

is asking right now. They said the crews to address the region. So keep in mind, 300,000 folks were out of power is going to give context to folks over 300,000 in NipSko's service territory and 38,000 up at 300,000 was Gary. Now, Gary is a city of 68,000 people.

Those outages that they speak of are either meters to a home, to a business, to a school. And so it impacted over 90% of the city. So I want to make sure folks understand the numbers when we're talking about the impact when we say 30,000, 38,000. So one of the things that we talked about

is at the onset, how much mutual age should have came across from other parts of the country. And that's what we're going to look at. The governor is requesting some type of probe into this process once the storm has been restored fully to the power it needs to be. Okay. So they say by midnight tonight. Are they giving rebates? Are they still pulling money out of people's accounts? who don't even have power.

Right. So we put out a request right now, a demand, to say during post this storm, at least 60 to 90 days, we're requesting there's a moratorium on any disconnections. There's a moratorium on any disconnect notices going out.

We're requesting some type of rebate or bonus to residents for being out or credit on their bills for being out for this duration. But also looking at the infrastructure that's in Gary. We know that a 99 mile-in-hour wind has never touched the state of Indiana before. So we need to ensure that the power lines, the poles that they use, the transmission, the circuitry is able to endure high winds like that.

Because, Roland, we're not even out of this season. A couple of more months to go before we hit the fall season until we're out of the clear. From the panel, Mustafa, you first. Yeah. Well, Mayor, you know, you're doing a great job. I know it's not an easy job. Gary's infrastructure, right? It's aging. It's underfunded. I'm curious. You know, the Biden administration had significant dollars for infrastructure, also to address some of the impacts from the climate crisis. Have you seen similar sets of resources coming from this current administration? and if not, how will you be able to move forward in creating that 21st century infrastructure?

Because you just mentioned the 99 mile an hour storm, we know there are even stronger ones that are going to come. So if you could just walk us through what you're thinking, that would be helpful for the people who are watching. Yes, no, absolutely. Coming into office a little bit over two and a half years ago, there was very little little reserves of the American Rescue Plan that the Biden administration left. And immediately I used that funding to go into our infrastructure that the city is responsible for. When I came into office, over 2,000 street lights of the city owned, 900 were malfunctioned or broken. And we replaced all of those lights and replaced all energy-fishing high resolution light bulbs. So making it safer, more appealing.

And paving has been a significant issue. We assess every single street and every road. But it's going to cost us over $150 million to pave every street that needs to be paved in the city of gear. So it's going to take state and federal funds, the city of Geary, we don't, I believe, don't receive that adequate amount of HUD funding that we should based on our population, based off our size as a community. We received $3.5 million for over $68,000 people, a little bit of close to half of our population is lower income. So we've been advocating and fighting for more resources. I believe we were also grossly undercounted during the U.S. Census. We know that those during the pandemic.

So we're going back to the U.S. Census, asking for an account impacts the funding that makes us eligible for things on a federal level. So I'm going to keep on fighting to make sure we get the federal resources as needed to address the infrastructure. But as far as the utility infrastructures, that's the private sector. And I be very transparent. I work for over 15 years for that corporation. I understand the process.

I understand in terms of the rate base and rate payers. A lot of these projects are funded through the bills and folks paying into the system. So that's really where the investment and the priority has to be made, especially in communities like Gary, so we ensure we can harden the infrastructure for years to come. Katrina. Yeah, my question is, again, about this, like, who's responsible for this? This. My understanding is that Nipsco is regulated by the state. I know that you all declared

an emergency soon after this first happened, but only just recently was it declared a major disaster so you could get federal aid through FEMA directly into support individuals. Is there something more that the state should be doing to regulate companies like Nipsco so that they can maintain these power lines and things like that appropriately? Or, it's a Is there something more that the federal government or the state could have done to get some relief into the folks in Gary sooner? Yeah, I think you're hitting on some very critical points. The state is responsible for regulating Nipsco. And the governor has made a very straight-to-the-point effort to make it sure that this will never happen again.

So we're going to partner with him to figure out what are the solutions to address those issues. Now, when it comes down to, I believe, what was the second part of that question? I want to make sure I get it accurately. It was just about how long it took for this to be declared a major disaster so that folks could get FEMA aid, individual FEMA aid to support the folks in Gary. Yeah, so within the first 48 hours, I issued an executive order declaring a natural disaster. I would say within the next 24 hours, the governor declared that that was a natural disaster as well for the entire state. Now, please keep in mind, Gary was hit with the windstorm, Central Indiana, near Indianapolis, was hit with torrential rain. So they were flooded out in Central Indiana, so the entire state.

So when the governor made his declaration and sent that on to President Trump, now we're waiting for the president to execute his part for the federal funds to come. I did speak with President Trump yesterday. He called, he checked on the situation in Gary, along with U.S. Senator Jim Banks. And based off our conversation, he talked to Senator Banks and said, give me your assessment. And Senator Banks confirmed that it was bad and that we needed the federal government's assistant. And I told the president that we have folks that were in need of food, that were need in support of getting back on their feet,

homes are destroyed, and we need to make sure that the power is back on. So shortly after that call, the White House staff called back and let us know that they're going to be working on it. I haven't heard back yet. That was about 24 hours ago. Ben Cooney, you're muted. How you doing, Mayor Melton? Nipsco said the devastation was caused by the severity in geographic concentration of the storm,

but Governor Braun has called for an investigation into the company's vegetation management, infrastructure investments, and response. So I'm curious as to what you're hoping this investigation will uncover. I think the vegetation piece is a component, but also the main. maintenance of the equipment and the updates of the equipment. How frequent do they change over

circuitry, transmission lines, and substations into a very complex system? Gary has a very different terrain. If you ever been to Gary, Indiana, 35 minutes from downtown Chicago, you can be in the core of a neighborhood, concrete, and five minutes later, you're in the sand dunes, in woods, and a beautiful looking at Lake Michigan. So there's a lot of different terrain when it comes down to our infrastructure that we have to be very mindful of. So upgrading to a degree

to sustain 100 mile in our winds is something that's going to be imperative. Last year, we only have six storms in Chicago land, Northwest Indiana area. This year, we've already had 14 storms. And almost every other storm there has been a power outage of some sort. So we have to

address that. Mayor, have you talked to Donald Trump finally decided to call you? Have you talked to him? Have you talked to FEMA? Yes, I did talk to the president yesterday. And like I said, he mentioned that he will be working with our Indiana

delegation to figure out next step. So again, we're waiting on that approval of that executive order of that declaration. All right then, Mayor Melton. If people want to assist, what can they do? and where should they send resources or money?

Yes. Well, first, let me thank everybody they gave so far. Pastor Jamal Bryan was here last night, New Birth, they significantly contributed. Pastor Keon Henderson, who was originally from Gary Indiana, who was based in Houston, Texas, Denise Williams, Big Dog, Glenn Robinson, Freddie Gibbs, so many folks and corporations have contributed to our efforts.

You can go to Gary.gov forward slash storm recovery. Gary.gov, forward slash storm recovery. We are accepting donations into our community foundation. It's not coming directly to the city. It's going to our community foundation to help people repair portions of their home where the weatherhead connects to the utility pole because many folks will still be out of power if they don't have that fix. And it's also helping to put food and refrigerators across the city of Gary.

And you said g.gov. for slash storm recovery all right gary.gary.gare.g.org for slash storm recovery. So folks, if you go there, you'll be able to see on the website ways you can support. Mary Meltzer, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you so much. All right, folks. Got to go to a break. I'll be right back. Rolla Martin unfiltered on the Black Star Network. All right, folks, let me get a person for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company, and she texts me right after saying

it's a great benefit. It was easy, a real person walked her through the whole thing, and now she understands better what's going on. But it's also not just her. Woman in Yonkers wrote in saying the process was so simple, the enrollment was easy, and she was so glad she called. Then there's Maryland, 90 years old, in Florida, living on Social Security. Her premium climbed every single year north of $400 a month for coverage. She could be. barely afford anymore. So what does she do? She called Chapter. They found her the same top-tier coverage for hundreds of dollars less, 90 years old, and finally somebody in her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built

to work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans. Yet Chapter's advisors are independent and honest, the only Medicare advisors that compare every plan nationwide. They're focused on one thing, what actually works. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Hello. Oh my gosh. Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish.

Right inside the free IHare Radio app. Gets the blood going up. Catch every laugh and eye roll on shows like the Tom Green Farmcast and park the bus. Now with full video. We're building a ramp for Tony Hawk. It's the same hosts and the same chemistry with all the hilarious moments you've been missing. Right on your screen. Cheers.

Open the free IHRRA radio app. Search video podcasts. tap watch for you if you're already in the right plan they'll tell you no games and people who switched with chapter saved an average of $11,100 a year all takes us 20 minutes you talk to a real person and it's completely free help so call chapter at 724-264-8281 724 264 8281 that's chapter let me ask you a question why do so many people seem to think they know black men so well What they think we want, what they think we need. Hell, they even tried to tell us why and how we voted.

They never had a conversation with us. Never asked us how we felt. What brings us joy? What makes us angry? What makes us scared? How do we live? That's what this show is about. No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking for us.

We can speak for ourselves. This will be a show where we bring brothers on that you don't see on every other talk show. Nope. Brothers that are doing work in local communities with black men for black communities. We're going to hear each other and try to understand. And so perhaps we can move forward together. No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking for us. What we need is each other.

No translation right here on the Black Star Network. Check it out. This is Tamilomane. And this is David Mann. And you're watching Roland Martin. I'm thrilled to. All right, folks. Let's talk about the nuttyness out of this administration.

Trump's Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to eliminate minimum federal public notice requirements for a category of air pollution permits they may include data centers. This change would give states and local agencies more discretion in determining whether communities are notified about proposed projects before permits are granted. The proposal would revise the Clean Air Act rules for minor new source review programs, specifically for new or modified stationary sources whose emissions fall below the thresholds that require major source permitting. Currently, the EPA rules mandate that state implementation plans,

for minor source permitting must include public notice and an opportunity for public comment. The proposed rule would remove this federal requirement, allowing state and local air agencies to decide whether when and for how long to allow public participation in minor source permit proceedings. The EPA says this change would reduce administrative burdens to expedite the permitting process and give agencies that are closer to local conditions, more control. The proposal would not alter emission standards or weaken requirements for protecting public health and air quality.

Baumline Mustafa, this is just another way for them to skirt the rules because they don't want to tell the public about this because the public largely is against it. Right. They don't want the public to know also because it also gives them the information, the data to be able to fight back to understand what the impacts could be to their bodies, to their environment. And this administration continues to put profit over people without a doubt. People should just pay attention because when we're talking about the types of pollution that are going on here,

we're talking about nitrogen oxides, we're talking about carbon monoxide, we're talking about formaldehyde, we're talking about particulate matter, a number of different things that come out of these generators that are going on in turbines. And it causes cancers or it's linked to cancers. Let me make sure that I'm saying it correctly. It's also linked to heart diseases. It's linked to asthma, a number of other types of things. So folks need to be able to have the information that's necessary to make the best decisions for their communities. And when you take that away, you're taking away their opportunity for folks to protect their children and to protect their families.

Let's talk about this throughout Roy City, Texas, where a cop is out of a job after throwing a 35-year-old woman down to the ground by her hair at a community pool. On August 3rd, the unidentified officer responded to a call about an argument between a black family and an older white couple about getting access to the community pool. Of course, the older couple called the cops. The interaction escalated when the officers attempted to detain 18-year-old Amia Wheeler, the daughter of the unidentified 35-year-old woman. Here's a video captured by a witness. The name Royce City Police Officer, Royce City is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, was initially placed on administrative leave on August 4th, was officially terminated on Monday.

The 35-year-old woman assaulted, is facing charters of interfering with public duties and resisting arrest. When Cooney, it's the pool. I mean, this is the stuff that we have to deal with. It's the pool. You should be able to go and have a good time, Roland, but again and again, we see black people mercilessly manhandled, beat, brutalized. And what I have to wonder is when does the trauma stop? How many more videos of this do we have to see before we make this stop, right?

When people used to say that we were living in a transracial America because Barack Obama was president, I used to really look at them incredibly and wonder how. How can people think that we're living in a post-racial society when videos like this exist, right? People can't even avoid their own backyard, their own community centers, their own shared spaces without being fearful of institutions that people would allege are designed to protect us, but we know or not. They've never been designed to protect black people. And I think the most sensitive thing is the harrowing screams of the young women screaming out for their moms. I mean, can you imagine the trauma that these black boys and girls are going to have to live with after witnessing that? It's excruciating, honestly, to watch and to see and to feel.

And it permeates through our black bodies every single time we see it. Katrina? Yeah, it's really painful to watch. watch the video and I agree with everything that was just said. This is clearly a systemic issue and the fact that the officer was fired, I feel like is the bottom. That's the least of what should be happening. The fact that the mother that was was attacked and assaulted is still facing charges is a problem.

And the other thing is like, we know that in the state of Texas itself, that the state of Texas, There was its own commission found that 25% of these officers that are fired for these types of incidents, they just go two towns over and get another job. And so him being fired is baseline. We have to be thinking about what are the systemic things that we need to fix to make sure that these things don't continue to happen. And also that charges against this mother, like what are the consequences in addition to him being fired? Like, how is this family being made whole for the trauma that they experienced at the hands of this police officer? All right, folks.

The family of a white man accused of stabbing and killing a black man on the Atlanta Beltline on Sunday. It's just an apology on his behalf. 54-year-old Jonathan Hamby is accused of stabbing 29-year-old Ramon Harris in the neck killing him. Video footage from a witness shows the terrifying moments leading up to Harris being attacked in broad daylight by Hamby. who was holding two knives. In a lengthy statement, Hamby's family says he lives with a severe mental illness that causes him to believe, quote, he is under constant attack, terrifying attack from bystanders who are simply walking near him. Hamby, 54, was a convicted felon, is charged with murder, aggravated assault,

terroristic threats, and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. Hamby's family is asking Georgia lawmakers to pass a law that will allow families of those with severe treatment-resistant psychiatric illnesses have a history of weapons or school safety violations to make decisions to protect their loved ones. All right, folks, NFL, when you talk about locker rooms? A lot of black folks.

What people don't realize is you got a lot of those white guys in the NFL who are very conservative. When they typically run for public office, they're largely Republicans. I can think of six off the top of my head. Jay Feely was a long-time kicker in the NFL, and he's running for Congress. He's a congressional candidate.

Listen to what he had to say. He's running there in Arizona against Amish Shaw. So Jay Feely decided to air his thoughts about what's taught in our schools to our kids. You go to college campuses and you listen to professors and the ideology is I listen and I watch my kids go to college and listen to the ideology that's presented and they talk about how bad this country is. And they continually talk about, you know, slavery and the things that happened, you know, in the past, instead of talking about the greatness of this country and where we can go, this campaign is going to be about bringing people together. You know, that's what

Charlie Kirk was so good at, you know, and I respected him so much. And our heart was broken, you know, the day that Charlie was killed. And he was killed because he was willing to stand up and talk and communicate. He was willing to talk to people who completely disagreed with him. You know, and that's what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to be able to sit down. Adam, you and I are supposed to be able to sit down and talk to somebody that totally disagrees with us and do it in a respectful manner and in a manner where we listen to them, but we stand up for our beliefs, but we do it where we bring people together.

That's what we're going to do is we look forward in this next three months and this fight that's coming and what we're going to try to do. Run that back. You go to college campuses and you listen to professors and the ideology is I listen and I watch my kids go to college and listen to the ideology. that's presented and they talk about how bad this country is and they continually talk about, you know, slavery and the things that happened, you know, in the past, instead of talking about the greatness of this country and where we can go, this campaign is going to be about bringing people together. You know, that's what Charlie Kirk was so good at, you know, and I respect. Jay Philly is so full of shit. So let me bring down what he just said. They keep bringing up the past and now our president future. So here's my question, Jay Feely.

Were your kids taught about World War I, World War II, the American Revolution, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, where your kids taught about the Industrial Revolution, were your kids taught any American history? Let me help you, Jay Feely. first of all, who is that Negro standing on stage? Who should have walked his ass off the stage? Yeah, pull a video up. I don't know who that Sambo is,

but here you got this white Republican. Oh, yeah, they're teaching about slavery and things in the past. Yeah, because it's called American history. Their class is called world history. I mean, America is celebrating a state. 250th anniversary, do you not think we're talking about what happened over the previous 249 years? This is a typical response of a white Republican man. And see, they want to frame it as, oh, these elitist institutions, they're indoctrinating our

students, and he evokes Charlie Kirk. You mean the same Charlie Kirk who said the 1964 Civil Rights Act was a mistake? Oh, I'm sorry. Is that history? because we shouldn't talk about history, right? These people are stupid, Win Coen. They're idiots. And what they don't want is

they don't want history taught that makes white people look bad. Well, Jay Feely, I'm sorry, but a lot of white people have done some egregious shit in the last 250 years of American history. So you're going to have to suck it up and accept the reality that history is history and we shouldn't be acting like we're in a

buffet line. Well, I have some of that. I'll have some of that. No, I don't want any of that. I mean, Roland, we shouldn't have to explain this, but we're going to tonight. Jay Philly is a nut baseline referencing Charlie Kirk is a clear dog whistle. Black history is American history. The reason why teaching slavery is important is because you cannot understand American history, politics, economics, race, or any sorts of inequality in this country without understanding slavery in its aftermaths. We literally cannot even get into a conversation about American history without referencing the black bodies upon which this country was built. It's unjust. How are we going to teach people to be better humans to relate to one another without talking about the real atrocities

that were committed against black America. We have to talk about how millions of Africans were kidnapped and passed through the Middle Passage unwillingly. Some of us were dropped in Latin America and some of us were dropped in the Caribbean and some of us were dropped in America. And that's how black people came to be in America. We were kidnapped, right?

And so I think it's really insane to sit here in posture that we're so far past us and that it's making America have a bad rep. This is American history, Jay. This is American history. And until America can be honest with itself about the heinous atrocities that's committed, we'll never be able to move this forward. 250 years of bullshit. And we cannot continue in that tradition.

We have to start being honest with ourselves. And that starts with accountability. I can guarantee you, Katrina, that white man wouldn't be saying that in an NFL locker room. No. No, he would not. And I think absolutely everything that has already been said is true. And to the end where he said, we need to be thinking about moving forward. Moving forward for who? I mean, let's be clear, right? So that's part of it, right? Is this idea of trying to erase black history, erase black people. remove black people from institutions, right? We just had the conversation earlier with Karen, about removing black people from journalism. This is an attempt to erase black people

from not just history, but throughout institutions in U.S. democracy. We don't have a U.S. democracy without black people. And when they're saying things like, we need to just think about the future, who is included in that future? If you're trying to erase black history and black culture,

That's the question that we should really be asking ourselves. It is very much a dog whistle. And I think we are all very clear about who he's trying to talk to and what he's nodding at when he says what he says. Mustafa. And unfortunately, my home state of Arizona. Mustafa. I mean, the history allows our ancestors to speak to tell the truth about what they went

through, both the trials and tribulations, but also, you know, the triumphs that happened. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Hello. My gosh. Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish, right inside the free IHR Radio app. Gets the blood going up?

Catch every laugh and eye roll on shows like the Tom Green Farmcast and park the bus. Now with full video. We're building a ramp for Tony Hawk. It's the same hosts and the same chemistry with all the hilarious moments you've been missing. Right on your screen. Cheers.

Open the free IHRRA radio app. Search video podcasts and tap watch. They also talk about the scars that exist. America does not want to admit that scars exist, and scars tell the tale. It tells the tale about where we came from, about what we had to endure, and also gives us the opportunity to begin to think critically

about how we heal. So when they say that we just need to focus on the future, that's because they don't want to look in the mirror, because when they look in the mirror, they see something that should not exist. And unfortunately, until we hold them accountable, they will continue to try and rewrite history. They'll continue to try and pretend like all of the negative things that happened didn't happen. And they'll continue to whitewash.

So we have to speak up and put a spotlight on the truth. Indeed, indeed. Quick break. We come back. Target screws up. Now they're apologizing. I'll explain when we come back. Roland Martin on the filter on the Black Star Network.

Be sure to join our Bremen and Fan Club. you want to contribute to make this show continue to cover the story that matter to us. Please do so via cash app. Use a Stripe Cure Coach, it right here. Ask for credit cards as well. Checks and money order make it payable to Roland Martin unfiltered peel box 57196, Washington, D.C. 2.0-303-196. PayPal's Rmartin Unfiltered Venmo, R.M. Unfiltered Zail, at Roland Smartin.com.

Rolling at Rolandumfiltured.com. Back at a moment. All right, folks, let me get approached for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company, and she texts me right after saying it's a great benefit. It was easy. A real person walked her through the whole thing, and now she understands better what's going on. But also it's not just her.

A woman in Yonkers rode in saying the process was so simple, the enrollment was easy, and she was so glad she called. Then there's Maryland, 90 years old, in Florida, living on Social Security. Her premium climbed every single year north of $400. a month for coverage she could barely afford anymore. So what does she do? She called Chapter. They found her the same top tier coverage for hundreds of dollars less, 90 years old, and finally somebody in her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built to work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans.

Yet Chapter's advisors are independent and honest, the only Medicare advisors that compare every plan nationwide. They're focused on one thing. What actually is. works for you. If you're already in the right plan, they'll tell you. No games. People who switched to a chapter saved an average of $11,100 a year. All takes us 20 minutes. You talk to a real person and it's completely free. Help. So, call Chapter at 724-264-864-8-281. 7-24-264-8-1. That's Chapter. Let me ask you a question. Why do so many people seem to think they know black men so well, what they think we want, what they think we need. Hell, they even tried to tell us why and how we voted.

They never had a conversation with us. Never asked us how we felt. What brings us joy? What makes us angry? What makes us scared? How do we live? That's what this show is about. No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking for us.

We can speak for ourselves. This will be a show where we bring brothers on that you don't see on every other talk show. Nope. Brothers that are doing work in local communities with black men for black communities. We're going to hear each other and try to. understand so perhaps we can move forward together. No translation because we don't need anybody speaking for us. What we need is each other. No translation right here on the Black Star

Network. Check it out. I'm Ryan Wilson, CEO co-founder of the Gathering Spot and you're watching Roland Martin unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Well, Target is apologizing and removed the children's Halloween costume from his website after customers criticized a design for evoking black face and menstrual imagery. The costume called the kids glow under black light circus clown, Halloween costume, body suit. So for $25 as part of Target's Halloween collection, according to Reuters.

Critics said the combination of the costume's dark hood and gloves, exaggerated smile and the fact that a black child appeared in images modeling the outfit resembled racist caricatures historically associated with blackface and menstrual shows. Target dropped this statement. As a company, we know we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry. The costume is offensive and should never have been part of our assortment. This is no longer available for sale.

We know this is especially hurtful for our black guests, team members, and partners. Removing the costume is an important first step, and the company is looking closely at how this happened and what needs to change to ensure this won't happen again. You think Katrina? Right. Yes. It's obvious.

How does this, how does this happen? How does this go through all of the steps within a corporation to end up on the website for sale? And this is, we know that this is the result of Target rolling back its DEI, right? Removing people who would have said, you know what? this is not something we should sell. Instead, it gets to the public and they make this, you know, random apology and that's supposed to be enough. No, I want them to actually explain to us how this got through their internal process because that will force them to acknowledge that they actually do not have an appropriate diversity, equity, inclusion process built into their corporation to prevent

things like this from happening? Yeah, Mustafa. I mean, everything Dr. Gamble just said, but you know, I'm reminded of that quote that says, I can't believe what you say because I see what you do. Target continues to make mistake after mistake after mistake and then ask for forgiveness. Well, no, I don't accept your apology. And we have to stop funding our own oppression as I often talk about. Stop giving them your dollars.

If you want them to change, you have to make sure that you are inflicting economic impacts on them. That's the only thing that is going to make the situation change there. It is basic common sense not to put these types of things forward. I've worked with a whole bunch of Fortune 500 companies over the years. Many of them have multiple layers that they have to go through before something comes out the other end. So you might say that you're sorry that you apologize, but when you continue to make these types of offensive decisions, it's very difficult to believe that you actually care about black folks and how we receive what you're giving. To Mustafa's point, we do have to stop funding our own oppression. And I know that although the target boycott ended nationally, it should have not ended in a lot of. people's households. But I think what's really critically important, Roland, is like maybe a lot of

people watch and don't understand exactly why this is so offensive. But when you really dig back into the history of blackface that began in the United States in the 19th century, you had these white people that were dressing up as caricatures of black people that were stereotypes that depicted us as lazy, unintelligent, hypersexual, childlike, dishonest, incapable of participating in society, right? And so when you see images like this, it instantly evokes that sense of Jim Crow. Jim Crow is actually what they used to call it.

It evokes that sense of Jim Crow that you see. And so we can't be so too-sus to think that they don't know what they're elucidating when they portray things like this. Similar to what we were talking about earlier, the dog whistles continue to happen. And if we're not paying attention, we're gonna miss them.

So I'm glad that somebody caught this. It should have been caught internally, as the previous panelist said. And the reason why it wasn't is because Target doesn't have the right people in the room. We have to continue to hold these Fortune 500 companies accountable. Because if they don't have diverse faces in the room to push back on this, then we don't need to be spending our dollars there, point blank period. All right, folks, this has been blown up on social media, a now deleted post. claims that white waiters at two particular restaurants have been spitting in the food of black customers. Yeah, Texas Roadhouse, Logan's Roadhouse. So this is the post right here, so you take a look at it.

And again, as I said, it has now been deleted, but it has led to a lot of people having a lot to say. on social media about what was posted here. And so I'm going to read this statement right here. And so according to this, again, now deleted Facebook posts. To all you blacks in here, keep this in mind. Hope you enjoy your meal next time you eat. There's a Facebook group that I am part of it. It is for white servers.

We'll come up with a plan. When a table of black diners comes in and places their order, we walk back to the kitchen to get your food when ready. There's always a blind spot in the kitchen. kitchen and we are licking our fingers and touching your food. If it happens to be a Texas Roadhouse or Logans, those rolls are full of our white saliva. Some of the cooks are in on this too. Think they're playing? They aren't. Believe me, this has been going on since y'all started this nonsense, Cremelo to the candy bar Anthony Krap. By the way, the group has over 400,000 members.

Logans has not responded, but Texas Roadhouse issued this statement. We are aware of the video that has been shared with an accusation that has been made toward our restaurants. We've believe it to be completely unfounded and we take every accusation toward our brand seriously. We're investigating this alleged abhorrent behavior and remain committed to treating every guest with respect, dignity, and the legendary service they deserve. How should folks respond, Mustafa? Stop funding your own oppression. Stop giving these people your money. There are plenty of black restaurants that are out there where you know.

know that you will be valued. And I just don't get it. I mean, I live this, right? I don't give people one dime of my money that I don't feel respect me or who have my best interest at heart. So you have a choice to make. So some folks will say, well, I should be able to eat wherever I want to. Yes, you should be able to.

But if you know there are individuals who don't care about you. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Hello. Oh, my gosh. Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish, right inside the free IHR Radio app. Gets the blood going up.

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Open the free IHRRA radio app. Search video podcasts and tap watch. Who are willing to put your health in jeopardy. then you've got to make an analysis for you and your family. But until we make sure people understand that any negative behaviors toward us, like other groups do, they don't take one step backwards. Until we get that type of a stance, people are going to continue to play with us. And they're going to continue to play with your health,

and they might continue to play with your life. One going? Totally agreed. I'm going wherever Mustafa is going to eat. And that's just baseline. But to his point, black-owned businesses make up about 16% of restaurants, and we need to really start to patron those restaurants, right? I agree that there's opportunities for us to fight back, but food is not something I'm going to take that chance with. It's not something I'm going to take that chance with at all.

And let's be realistic, y'all, this shouldn't really be that shocking. I mean, being shocked by white people, particularly white people who have the opportunity to serve or service black people committing injustices against them. I mean, this is a tale as old as time. So quite honestly, I'm not surprised, but I think Mustafa is 100% right. We need to start patroning our own restaurants. We need to start creating black mecca's places where we can, you know, see each other be successful and pour our money back. to the black community, there's no reason why the dollar circulates in our communities so much less than it circulates in other communities.

And I agree with Mustafa. We have to take a page out of some of the other ethnic groups book. They have found a way to do this successfully and patron their own restaurants, their own businesses, their own shops. There's no reason why we can't do the same. If people are going to continue to treat us like secondhand citizens, there's no reason for us to patron those environments at all. Katrina?

Yeah, I mean, and also when they say that they found this to be unfounded, I want to understand how. They have so many restaurants, there's no way for them to substantiate that this is unfounded. And so I agree. August is a national black business month, and so let this be a reminder to what Mustafa and others have said tonight that we need to to be putting our dollars back into our own communities. And for me, the post, the accusation, the potential is enough for me to say no, I'm going to take a pass on Texas Roadhouse and Logans and whoever else is indicated in this post. All right, folks, let's go to a break. We come back.

Shop blackstar knitware.com segment. Back at a moment. All right, folks, let me get personal for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company, and she texted me right after saying it's a great benefit. It was easy. A real person walked her through the whole thing, and now she understands better what's going on. But it also is not just her.

A woman in Yonkers rode in saying the process was so simple, the enrollment was easy, and she was so glad she called. Then there's Maryland, 90 years old, in Florida, living on Social Security. Her premium climbed every single year north of $400. a month for coverage she could barely afford anymore. So what does she do? She called Chapter. They found her the same top-tier coverage for hundreds of dollars less, 90 years old, and finally somebody in her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built to work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans.

Yet Chapter's advisors are independent and honest, the only Medicare advisors that compare every plan nationwide. They're focused on one thing. What actually is. works for you. If you're already in the right plan, they'll tell you. No games. People who switched to a chapter saved an average of $11,100 a year. All takes us 20 minutes. You talk to a real person and it's completely free. Help. So, call Chapter at 724-264-8281. 724-264-8-1. That's Chapter. Hey everybody, I'm T.D. Jakeson. I want to encourage you to watch Roland Martin unfiltered. It'll blow your mind. Well, folks, a father or two girls struggle to get into tea time. He was inspired by his daughter's love for puzzles. So Matthew Gohens founded the toy company Puzzle Huddle, which creates puzzles featuring diverse characters.

Matthew joins us now from Washington, D.C. All right, Matthew, glad to have you here. So, all right, so you were like, yeah, I can't get with this tea. Is that what happened? Man, I have three children. The first two were girls, and I just was not inspired to play Barbie or do tea time or some of those other stereotypical things. That just wasn't my gym. I was a little more Lego, Frisbee, throw the ball, read a book kind of a dad. Okay.

And so then you were like, we got to figure out something else. Yeah, like all parents, when we had young kids, we were buying Play-Doh, markers, coloring books, just all the toddler stuff. And of course, a few puzzles. But at that point in time, when I launched in 2018, we couldn't find diverse baby puzzles anywhere. We looked all the platforms, all the stores, all the places, nothing with diverse characters. So the way I started, I just started cutting puzzles out of cardboard. I'll make some puzzles for my kids. But after you make a dozen, you want to share them with your friends.

The ones I was making at home with a pair of scissors weren't that great for sharing. I was keeping them a zip lockbackback. It wasn't a good gift. So I found a printer and learned how to commercially create puzzles. We launched the company in 2018, and it's really taken off since then. Okay. And so now, how long it would take you to go through this process in terms of doing the research and finding and launching this effort?

Well, what's interesting, I don't have a background for any of the things. So I don't draw pictures. I don't work in toys. I don't work in packaging. I didn't work in manufacturing. I didn't understand global procurement. So I had to learn all these things through iteration, through testing, spending my own money to just experiment and buy things. And experiment with different artists.

The first artist we contracted with, if we look at the art that we have today, I bought some $20 art in the beginning. and it came out like $20 art. So eventually we learned how to work with more professional artists, learn how to do the marketing, grow our social media channels. And along the way, Roland, I've been featured on Oprah's Favorite Things List twice. There was a point of time under a different circumstance, but we were in Target for a certain amount of time. I've been to Macy's, lots of local black-owned bookstores.

So we've really had a great experience out building and growing this company to a national, and maybe an international brand. Questions? Let's go to, let's see here. Wyn Coney. I'll go to you first. Yeah, this is an incredible innovation. And there's a growing debate about whether representation

in children's products actually change outcomes. What have you learned from parents and children that convinces you that representation matters? Oh, it makes all the difference. To see, for a kid to be able to see themselves in the books, the TV shows, the media they consume. I regularly get email from parents describing that their kids believe themselves to be the character in the puzzle. They're telling me stories about the kid thinks it's them as the scientist or the chef.

Now, we don't model after any specific kids. So to hear that a kid has our product and they believe that they are the character drawn, it's just a priceless sentiment. And it helps them see themselves in different environments, whether it's scientists, doctor, pilot, race car driver, media personality, just a full range of things that aren't necessarily obvious. Kids get a chance to be exposed to those different concepts. Katrina. This is so beautiful.

All of the images. I can't stop smiling. So thank you for creating this and putting this out into the world. I'm wondering, you've got to be the cool dad now. You're saying you started it because you wanted to. create this for it for your kids like what are your kids think about this company that you built do they contribute to some of the ideas of the characters that you end up creating for some of the puzzles yeah a lot of the inspiration and is me following their interest

i walked into a preschool classroom one time and for some reason toddlers are they all love dinosaurs i don't know what it is about toddlers and dinosaurs but but i watched the enthusiasm and interest in just dinosaur play so i created a dinosaur puzzle um just based on my experience observing my children. And then, of course, I want them, back to the Barbie and the princess thing, I want to give them creativity and inspiration that wasn't damsel in distress. So that's where we see the STEM images, the empowerment images, and things where they're charting their own course in life,

and not the Disney storyline where a prince is coming to save me. Mustafa. Well, this is definitely dope. I'm curious. What are some of the favorites, the favorite puzzles that folks are choosing for their children? Do you have one or two? The one that we sell, the absolute most of is this scientist's character, just the hair texture, the facial features, the nose, the lips, the skin, are really compelling.

So when parents or guardians see that in person, it's really irresistible, and I sell a lot of those. But we have two new products, and I'm hoping that we get a lot of traction on. I'm just going to show a little close-up. One is a different shapes puzzle. It's got a lot of different characters because we know there's different skin tones in black family. So you have your darker skin tones, you have your lighter skin tones, you have different hair textures. So this one features a lot of different kids. And then also the alphabet one.

We wanted to learn how to do curriculum learning. So we had the career images. But once I got further into it, of course, the next phase is, well, kids have to learn shapes. They have to learn their numbers. they have to learn the alphabet. So we learn how to include academic curriculum in the puzzles as an extension to some of the career images. All right.

Let's see, folks, great idea with these puzzles. Folks, it's called Puzzle Huddle. If you go to shop, Blackstar Network.com, you can check out their products. They're all there. Pretty cool. And so, listen, so if you're fathers and you're not feeling that tea, like Matthew was.

Just go ahead and get these puzzles for your child. Matthew, we surely appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. Thank you so much for having. All right. Glad to have you here. Folks, that's it for us. Let me thank Katrina, Wincuny and Mustafa

for being on today's show. I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Folks, we were a little late today because I was shooting a couple of interviews, one with Rome, who was the last surviving, original member of Mays and of course I also did interview with the band as well we'll have the interview with the ban on tomorrow's roller Martin unfiltered and so we

certainly appreciate that conversation folks that is it for us don't forget support the work that we do join our bring the funk fan club your dollars make it possible for us to be able to do the work that we do and so if you want to contribute via cash app used a stripe cure code you see it right here that's also for credit cards as well checks and money ordered make a payable to Roller Martin unfiltered box 57196 Washington DC 203037-196 PayPal's R Martin Unfiltered Venmo

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Shop Blackstar Network.com. shop blackstar network.com. And of course, you could also, again, patronize all of our black owned companies that are available on our marketplace segment on shop blackstar network.com. So you go there, all the products that you see right here in our studio, those are all black owned companies. And so just like Matthew's company, check out all of these products right here, blackstar network. folks i'll see you tomorrow right here rolling mart unfiltered on the black star network holler

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