#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Child Poverty Rate Drops, Insurers Push Police Reform, Tyler Perry & Hollywood Diversity

Episode Date: September 15, 2022

9.14.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Child Poverty Rate Drops, Insurers Push Police Reform, Tyler Perry & Hollywood Diversity A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities indicates that government policies during the pandemic helped cut the child poverty rate to a record low.  We'll break that down with Economist William Spriggs.  Police misconduct settlements are in the billions.  Insurance companies are squeezing police departments demanding reforms, or they can forgo coverage.  In Texas, there seems to be a calculated attack on black judges by state republicans.  I'll talk to one judge who says they are coming after her. Tyler Perry is getting some heat for saying "time and training" are needed for lasting diversity in Hollywood.  I'll break that down.  James Earl Jones is honored with a Broadway Theater bearing his name.  And in today's Tech Talk, an all-in-one black business-centered app helps you find everything from shops, restaurants, and events.    Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. Stay Black! I love y'all! All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared.

It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? សូវបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា� Today is Wednesday, September 14th, 2022. Coming up on Roller Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network, R. Kelly found guilty. Child pornography charges in Chicago will tell you charges he was acquitted of in this latest legal battle

with the convicted singer. Also on today's show. We'll talk about child poverty. The recent bill passed by the Biden administration has had a positive impact on cutting child poverty and specifically how that impacts African Americans. We will talk with economist Dr. Bill Spriggs about that. A Texas judge is catching the hail from folks there.

Why? What is going on in Texas with black judges? She'll join us as well as her attorney to break this down. Also, Tyler Perry talks about the need for black and other folks in Hollywood to have the skill set before they get bigger jobs. He takes on diversity in Hollywood saying it's not good to appoint folks to higher positions who may not be ready for it.

Some folks have taken exception to what he said. I will break that thing down. We got that and lots more to cover right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. It is time to bring the funk. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the go. He's got it.

Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks, he's rolling. Yeah, yeah. It's on for a roll, y'all. News to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling

It's Uncle Roro, yo It's Roland Martin, yeah Rolling with Roland now He's punk, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's rolling Martel Martel All right, folks, welcome to today's show. Child poverty is a huge issue in this country. Remember when Republicans allowed the earned income tax credit to expire?

That caused a significant issue in America. Well, guess what? According to the Census Bureau, the number of children living in poverty failed dramatically last year. The report was released yesterday indicating the drop is mainly due to any enhanced child tax credit passed by President Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress. Now, compared to child poverty rates of 9.7% in 2020, only 5.2% of children were in poverty last year. Without the tax credit, the percentage of children in poverty

would have only dropped to 9.2%. The overall supplemental poverty rate for 2021 was 7.8%. Dr. William Spriggs, an economist from Howard University, joins us to explain. Doc, glad to have you on the show. Yesterday, you were tweeting about this, and you were saying this is a positive development

for African Americans. Explain that. This was the biggest issue of equity. You talked about the earned income tax credit, which dates back to the 1980s. In the 1980s, before the 1980s, we used to increase the Social Security tax every year or two years. In 1980, we decided rather than on the fly, we would create a trust fund for Social Security. We overtaxed workers to create a huge piggy bank, the Social Security trust fund. That meant a big increase for workers in terms of their payroll tax, the social security tax. And Congress agreed to offset for low income workers

that some of that increase could be a credit against their income tax. So that's why it's called the Earned Income Tax Credit. The idea was we shouldn't tax people into poverty. But subsequent to that time, we've lowered tax rates for low-income families, and it became possible that if your income tax credit got increased, like it did under Bill Clinton, that you could end up using that credit and have no federal income tax credit. This has been the big battle line with Republicans ever since,

because what they resent is the idea that you have no federal income tax liability, and therefore all of the multitude of tax credits we give to families, they have fought to make sure you don't get it if you don't have a federal tax liability after you get the earned income tax credit. Because close to 35 percent of Black children live in poverty, a large share of Black children get the benefit in their household of an earned income tax credit. But the child tax credit that everybody else gets had been denied to black families, many black families, because they didn't have this positive federal tax liability. What President Biden did was two things. One, he increased the child tax credit because during the pandemic, families were stressed with, how do I take care of my kids? Daycare is closed. Schools are closed. All sorts of burdens being put on families with children. And not only did he increase the tax credit, but he made it fully refundable.

But, Bill, hold on. Bill, for the person. Every child. Bill, hold on. Hold on, Bill. For the people who don't have children, okay, first of all, the earned income tax credit, how much money are we talking about? Well, we're talking about a couple of thousand dollars per family. If you're a single, you also get the earned income tax credit.

There is a tax credit for single men, for families that don't have children. You are eligible for the earned income tax credit if you're a low-wage worker. So we're talking about— It's smaller if you're a man with no kids worker. So we're talking about... It's smaller if you're a man with no kids, and it's smaller for families with no kids. But the earned income tax credit is for everyone. Okay. So we'll talk about this earned income tax credit. That's money you're getting back. And obviously, it's up to a certain income. So the people out there who have been struggling, I mean, this is money that they're getting back, they're saving, and it's going directly for the cost of groceries and

things along those lines. And the reality is Republicans have been fighting this, trying to get rid of it, which is stupid because it's a bunch of broke-ass white conservative Republicans in red states who benefit from the earned income tax credit. I mean, they would literally rather give tax breaks to rich corporations than to regular ordinary people. Oh, absolutely. And they defunded the Internal Revenue Service, but cap the part of the Internal Revenue Service that audited the earned income tax credit because Republicans hate it so much. The IRS is required to do lots of audits of people who get it to make sure that there's no fraud for getting a couple of hundred dollars back for the taxes that you pay if you're low income to prevent you from being taxed into

poverty. So we have to understand the full dimension in which not only do they not like it, but they go after the people who get it. And they always fought against anyone getting any other tax credit that everybody else was getting. So understand the weirdness that the child tax credit, which everybody got who had a child, went to high-income families, but lower-income families didn't get the child tax credit until President Biden said, no, this is for every American child. And suddenly, Black families got the child tax credit. Not only did they get it, but rather than get it in one lump sum, like you do the earned income tax credit when you file your taxes when they're due in April, he made sure that they got it on time so they could anticipate and use it. So this was a credit that you got every month. And this helps you with all of the uncertainties

that happen. You know, your child fell down. You got to go take them to the doctor. You know, you find out they need braces. They get sick and you have to stay home three days from work because they're sick and there's no childcare. That money was the contingency money to help families out. And finally, black families got it. Well, again, thank goodness we had folks who actually cared about those children and who made this happen. Again, it was Republicans who allowed it to expire, did not want to provide these tax credits. And so now we actually have them.

Bill, thanks for breaking it down for us. Yeah, well, I don't want to leave without the really good news. That meant that the black child poverty level with what the government finally did to help black children fell to 7.5%. We haven't seen a black child poverty level of 7.5% ever. Wow. Well, that is a good thing. And then for the people out there who says Biden has done nothing for black people, here's some evidence. Bill Spirks, thanks a lot. Thank you for having me. Alright, let's bring in my panel right now.

Joining me is Dr. Larry J. Walker, assistant professor at the University of Central Florida. Also joining us is Kelly Bethea, communications strategist. We'll be joined later by Robert Petillo, executive director, Rainbow Push Coalition, Peachtree Street Project. Glad to have both of y'all with us. Here's the thing

kelly that is just amazing to me i listen to these republicans they talk about how they are the party of the working class and they care about the workers and the people no they don't i mean i don't know how in the hell you can be against the earned income tax credit, but then you are perfectly fine with people who own planes and yachts getting tax breaks during COVID. Well, the issue isn't that they have a problem with the tax credit itself. It appears that they have a problem with the tax credit if they can't control who exactly it goes to. It appears that every single time Black people benefit from anything in this country, Republicans have something to say about it. So it's not necessarily the tax credit that they have an issue with.

It's the fact that Black people benefit from the tax credit. If there was a way for middle and lower class white people alone to benefit from the government, I think they would be all for it. But the minute that it trickles into other communities, minorities, BIPOC, Black people, whomever, that's when they have a problem with it. And that's when you see the pushback for things that make sense, even though it's against their own interests as a whole.

Larry. Yeah. So, Roland, I mean, the findings from the study are really important in terms of, you know, addressing issues relating to childhood poverty in the United States. And one of the things that I'm concerned about is we've seen a lot of the issues, we talked about health issues, economic issues exacerbated during the pandemic, that now that, you know, they haven't, this has expired, that we'll see a reverse of these numbers. And we just saw my colleague in a previous segment, you know, talk about the drop in Black child poverty. And I'm concerned because in certain jurisdictions, you have already dealing with

issues relating to housing and food insecurity, that we may see these numbers dramatically increase over the next couple of years. So it's important when we hear people from, you know, particularly the Republican Party, talk about issues relating to everyday working Americans, that we know that this works. So why not just make it permanent to ensure that all Americans, particularly we talk about members of the Black community, have the opportunity to put food on the table, have the opportunity to take public transportation. We talk about, obviously, the issues of the last couple of months of the rising gas prices. They're dropping now. But in terms of dealing with some issues relating to paying for gas and a lot of other issues,

also just simply saving money. So once again, this is really important. If you talk about this conversation about caring about all Americans, that we make sure that we that these kind of tax codes are permanent to ensure that all Americans benefit from it, particularly when we talk about members of the black community. Indeed. Yesterday, Senator Lindsey Graham introduced a bill trying to get a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks. Now, another hot-button issue. Republicans are freaking out over Senator Chuck Schumer trying to push forward a vote on a same-sex marriage bill.

47 Republicans voted for that bill in the House. It passed easily in the House because all Democrats voted for it. Now they are concerned about it coming up in the Senate. Now, of course, Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, he's saying that... Go ahead and show it. Come on. He's showing... He's saying that...

He's saying that, oh, this is all about political schedule here for Senator Schumer. Well, tough, Senator Portman. That's what politics is. Get to it. I mean, bottom line is, this is exactly what Schumer should be doing. Schumer should be forcing Republicans to take these hard votes to show what's going to be the impact in the election.

So Republicans are trying their best to delay stuff as long as they can so voters won't know. Larry. So, you know, rolling now, I'm a former Capitol Hill staffer, this is a tactic that's going on for decades to delay members of a political party that supports certain issues, delay as long as possible, particularly after the election terms of what we see at the Senate and obviously the House in terms of what Republicans take back the House, we notice certain issues like, you know, same sex marriages or also we're talking issues relating to abortion. We know these are hot topics and we know we saw Senator McConnell, even as it relates to abortion rights, didn't want to have that conversation. So we know these are hot button political issues that Republicans don't want to anger certain segments of the population. And if they're forced to take a vote, then they know that voters may also make a stand in terms of making sure they're not reelected. So this is, once again, this is just a delay tactic. And they're hoping that they don't want to be forced to take this vote.

But I encourage, and I think it's great what Senator Schumer is doing, that force people to, we want to know where you stand on this issue. And if you vote and your constituents disagree with you, then you won't be returning to the U.S. Senate. So here's a political story, Kelly. A GOP pollster is saying, yeah, I'm going to be real careful on this national abortion ban. Why? Because for the longest, they kept saying, oh, leave it up to the states, the states, the states. Then Senator Lindsey Graham came up yesterday and says, oh, no, if we get power, we're going to actually pass a national ban on abortion. And I'm like, that's what they always actually wanted to do.

And so this is why you must force the vote. And so, I think it's great what Senator Lindsey Graham did, and now Republicans are like, damn, man, what you doing, bruh? You hurting us. All he did was say what they actually want to do. Not only that,

but if you noticed across the political field right now with these statewide votes for Congress and the Senate, a lot of these GOP candidates are wiping clean any mention of Trump or MAGA or anything like that for the next month and a half until the election day. Why? Because they want to be as centrist as possible, as amenable to independence as possible, because they know they'll get the Republican vote. They're looking for independence and they're looking for moderate Democrats who are tired of the infighting in the Democratic Party as well. So it's really interesting to me how you have on the Hill, such as Graham, saying, oh, we're going to have a national ban on abortion, this, that, and the third. But if you look at polling, if you look at specifically statewide polling per state, nobody wants that. No Democrat, no Republican, no one.

So it's really interesting to see how you have the people on the ground basically telling the people on the Hill to shut up so we can win and actually get on the Hill, but the people on the ground basically telling the people on the Hill to shut up so we can win and actually get on the Hill, but the people on the Hill aren't even listening, and they're sabotaging these races. Well, I don't mind them actually doing their best to sabotage any of this, Larry, because what these folks want to do, I can guarantee you this, if the United States Senate gets in Republicans' hands, there will not be a George Floyd Justice Act. It is not going to happen. They are not going to pass it.

They're not going to pass the For the People Act. They're not going to do any of these different things. And this is one of the reasons why I keep trying to walk people through understanding the politics here and realize what needs to happen. If Democrats are able to win in Wisconsin, in North Carolina, in Pennsylvania, if they're able to hold in Georgia, hold in Arizona, hold in New Hampshire,

then all of a sudden hold in Colorado, now what you're talking about is, and potential pickups in Florida as well, they could be looking at a 55-45 majority, 56-44, and then you've now eliminated, if you will, Senator Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema from being able to control your entire legislative agenda. Yes. So, I mean, you just highlighted some really critical races, obviously, here in the state of Florida. You talked about highlighted that race. But you're right. If you're

able to make sure the numbers you want, the numbers in the Senate, then it makes it much easier for those who've been obstructionists, the two U.S. senators you just named every few weeks when there come to important issues that the Democrats want to pass, there's always some pushback. So once again, like I said, if you get more, particularly more progressive members of the U.S. Senate from various states throughout the United States, then it's more likely to audit issues you just described, the George Floyd Act, Voting Rights Act, and some other more important issues that, you know, progressives and a lot of moderates and even some Republicans support. You're less likely to have to deal Roland, you talk about, you know, in terms of, you know, why in the gap in the Senate, it's more important, it's important that in terms of what the Democrats do is make sure they give people, particularly Black folks, a reason to come out and vote. Obviously, you know, Black people realize there are a lot of important issues, voting rights, obviously, and police reform, abortion issues, et cetera. But it's also incumbent on Democrats to make sure they're putting money in Black media. I know you talked about that a lot, to make sure the message is getting out to Black folks of why this election in November is so important. And that's the thing. I was

looking at something a little bit earlier where it says that a few weeks ago, Mandela Barnes was plus six in the polling against Senator Ron Johnson. Now it's Johnson up one, 49-48. And it's going to be a tough election. What I keep saying, Kelly, to any Democrat, any person who wants to vote Democrat, act as if your candidate is down five points. The hell with any poll. Don't believe any poll.

You should be trying to make sure every single person possible out there is voting. And that's why the Democratic Governance Association, the DSCC, DCCC, all these progressive groups should be putting the resources on the ground. Absolutely. But more importantly, again, because of the political climate basically being all these purple states right now, they are really trying to meet people in the middle to get more votes. But it's coming at the behest of the Democratic vote. It's coming at the behest of the Black vote. They are not really catering to those who they think they're going to get. They are taking that vote for granted. And I would encourage everyone in these states to not do that, because that's how these polls are coming up. That's why you

shouldn't necessarily believe the polls, but that's also why you should at least give credence to some of them, because that's how Barnes's polls have gone from up six to down by, according to that, seven or eight points. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, not down seven to eight. He's down one. It's 49-48. Oh, I thought you said he was up. No, no, he was up six in polling about a month ago. The new polling from Marquette shows he's down one. Oh, he's down one from the six.

Okay. No, no, no, no, no. A month ago, the polls show he was up six points against Ron Johnson. Right. The Marquette poll shows he's now down 49-48 to Ron Johnson. So he's actually dropped. Right. So then he lost six. He lost seven. Johnson. So he's actually dropped. Right, so then he lost six.

He lost seven. I mean, he's gone. So now that's likely voters. And again, the bottom line is this here. These polls are going to fluctuate depending on what's happening with the politics. What I still argue is, for anybody out there, ignore any of the polling.

Forget the one he was up six. If any poll is showing that Val Demings or Sherry Beasley or Fetterman or anybody is up, no. Operate as if they are down, way down, because that's when people get comfortable. Oh, polls are up by four,

or I can relax. No. You can relax when the polls close in your state. No, and I agree. I mean, that was my point. What I'm saying is don't take these votes for granted. Fight for every single vote. Don't just fight for the votes that are, you know, slated to be independent and could go either way.

Fight for the black vote. Fight for the minority vote. Fight for the Democratic vote. And stop trying to be so centrist so that you can leverage that into votes that you don't even know whether or not you're going to get. Fight for the ones that you're supposed to get to. Well, I just think that what's happening here is, and seriously, I really don't understand it, Larry. We are now inside 60 days, inside 60 days. Inside 60 days.

Other than the Democratic National Committee, guys, get that ad ready. Other than the DNC ad, there's been nothing on, not on this show, and I've been talking to other folks in black-owned media, they haven't seen anything. And what these folks are doing is the exact same thing that they always do. They wait to the

last second, and all of a sudden, oh, let's now do a sprint. And so they're dumping this money all these other different places. And it's kind of like, OK, you know, you've got the environmental organizations got three, four, five hundred million dollars. They're going to be dropping. Haven't heard from any of them. Reproductive rights people haven't heard from any of them. And so, what, they're just hoping we're just going to come out? No. Spend the resources and that's the piece.

And this whole idea of just keep buying TV ads, it reaches a point, and I can tell you right now, it reaches a point where that's just not it. It's also a different level of messaging, but also it's how you message as well. So, here's the DNC ad, the DNC that voiced by Jamie Harrison, that we've been running for the past couple of weeks here on Roller Mark Unfiltered. And I'm

going to play you an ad by Congressman Eric Swalwell that I thought was pretty damn good. So here's the DNC ad that they have been actually paying us to run. Can you believe the nerve of these Republicans? They only want to block progress for our community. They talk about cutting Medicare and Social Security. They play politics with Veterans Health Care. They voted against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and funding for our HBCUs

and against lowering prescription drug costs for our seniors. These Republicans keep trying hard to stand in the way, but President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats won't let them. They are delivering for us. The Democratic National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertisement. Now, that's paid ad, Bob. Makes perfect sense. And so we've been running that on the show and also on social media as well. But these other folks, even these Senate candidates, I'm going, what are they doing? Makes no sense to me.

But I will say this here. If you want to talk about one of the best ads I've ever seen and it did not come from the DNC, didn't come from the DSCC, any of them, Congressman Eric Swalwell, his team put this ad together. I'm like, Democrats, y'all might want to go to his ad team because this is how you put together a political ad. You know what's on the ballot.

It's not just legislation and policies we believe in. It's democracy just legislation and policies we believe in. It's democracy. Our democracy. There's a choice on the ballot between freedom and fear, between cruelty and compassion, between chaos and community, between voting or violence. And the end of rights generations have fought for. The extremists have a plan, a roadmap for a nation where your voice is silenced and your vote is a memory. Where they count their votes and cast ours aside.

That's why this year, this fight, this vote is so important. Register. Engage. Volunteer. Fight back against the disinformation and despair, and most of all, vote. Because your vote is all that stands between our future and theirs. That was a damn good ad. I would say that he hires the folks with the Lincoln Project. And again, when I'm talking about how do you speak to people,

here's a Lincoln Project ad that's specifically talking to women and the power of the female vote. They want us to feel defeated. They tell us there's nothing we can do to stop a Republican wave. We proved them wrong. In one of the most conservative states in the country, voters, led by a quiet army of patriotic, determined women, said enough to radical Republicans invading our privacy, our bedrooms and bathrooms, and our liberties.

They want us to be scared. But we won't back down. We will keep fighting. We will keep voting. And there's nothing more American than that. Pretty damn good there. And one of the things that they're doing, they're also doing some state-specific ads for Democratic

Senator Mark Kelly against the Republican candidate for governor there in Pennsylvania. And Don Winslow, who's a book author, who's literally retired from writing books to put together his own ad campaign, one of the things that he's been doing is also targeting these races. And one of the courses, races, he's been looking at, Larry and Kelly, is Texas, where Beto O'Rourke is trying to dethrone Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who has been awful as the governor.

And I just want to play this final one, and. We will talk about it on the flip side. How would you keep the school safe? I am scared. I am a female of childbearing age. The life of every unborn child will be saved from the ravages of abortion. I am terrified of what that could mean if I become pregnant and something goes wrong. It is the honor of my lifetime to lead this extraordinary ticket of Democrats. But it will be an even greater honor with your hard work, with your effort, with your persistence, and yes, with your courage in the face of these attacks to lead this state as the next governor of the great state of Texas.

Texas gubernatorial candidate to Beto O'Rourke. Gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke. Gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke. Beto O'Rourke. The crowds he drew today were his largest yet. I've lived in Texas my entire life. This is not about Democrats. This is not about Republicans. This is about what is best for Texas.

Voted for Greg Abbott, and now I'm voting for Beto. When we gather, when we knock on doors, and when we win, every woman in the state of Texas makes her own decisions about her own body, her own future, and her own health care. You all with us? We all with you. We need you. I'm doing everything I can.

I love it, Stephanie. You can buy two or more if you want to, AR-15s, hundreds of rounds of ammunition. This is on you until you choose to do something different. This will continue to happen. Somebody needs to stand up for the children of this state. And take that weapon that was originally designed for use on the battlefields in vietnam their parents only able to claim their bodies by the shoes that they were wearing nothing identifiable above their shoulders to penetrate an enemy soldier's helmet at 500 feet and knock him down dead up against kids at five feet. It may be funny to you, motherfucker, but it's not funny to me.

Greg Abbott is chaos. He is corruption. He is cruelty. The legislation bans abortion. It includes no exception for rape victims. And he is incompetence. The inability to keep the lights on or the heat running

or the water flowing when the temperature drops and hundreds of our fellow Texans die. But he is not Texas and he is not us. And I'll tell you, the answer to this moment is action. Very few generations are afforded the opportunity to fight for the state of Texas when everything, and I mean everything, that we care about is on the line. Follow Don Winslow. We do not accept donations, but would appreciate your retweet. If you are going to fight Larry Kelly, then you must fight. Yeah, Roland is. That was an incredible ad. It was an incredible ad, and more people need to follow suit. Again, to my point

about a lot of these candidates becoming centrist all of a sudden for the sake of a vote that they haven't even, you know, claimed yet. Ads like this is what gets you votes. Positions like this is what gets you votes. You CAN'T BE, YOU KNOW, OH, THEY'RE EXTREMISTS ON BOTH SIDES. YOU CAN'T BE SOMETHING THAT YOUR RECORD SAYS THAT YOU'RE NOT. YOU HAVE TO BE YOURSELF. AND BETO O'ROURKE HAS BEEN HIMSELF.

ERIC SWALWELL HAS BEEN HIMSELF. AND PEOPLE ARE FOLLOWING SUIT BECAUSE THEY ARE THEMSELVES. THEY ARE GOING TO VOTE FOR THOSE PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY ARE GENUINE. People are following suit because they are themselves. They are going to vote for those people because they are genuine, they're authentic, and they're going to be in their respective positions fighting for them in the way that they've been fighting for them for however long their political careers are. do as a candidate now is all of a sudden switch up your positions, all of a sudden switch up your viewpoints for the sake of trying to please everybody. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. Either be about it or get out the race. But at the end of the day, people are going to vote who they believe is going to change things for the better. And history says that centrists do not necessarily do that. But here's the deal, Larry. And again, I go back to this political story here, right here.

Despite misgivings, GOP rallies behind MAGA Senate candidate in New Hampshire. I am telling people this repeatedly. Republicans don't. yes, they're Republicans who are opposing the MAGA candidates. Yes, you had folks, Chris Christie ran against Donald Trump, but what happened when Trump won the nomination? They fell in line. And these folks are falling in line, which is why I keep saying you can't trust them.'ve got to defeat all of them. An age-old political idea is people want to, even, you know, for some people,

particularly the Republican Party, for individuals who are extreme right, as far right as you can get, insurrectionists, etc. You're right, Roland, but we've seen this, Roland, we've seen this play out in the elections over the last couple of years. Regardless of how far right and how much you hear members of the Republican Party complain, they still support these candidates who want to end our democracy.

So it's incumbent on Democrats to make sure in terms of GOTV, in terms of these kind of ads that make it explicitly clear what's at stake in terms of women's rights, in terms of violence not only in schools and overall in our communities, but also in terms of ads. They talked about the issue relating to not only in schools and overall in our communities, but also in terms of addicts. They talked about the issue relating to what happened in Texas and the hundreds of lives that were lost. That's it, absolutely. Folks, hold tight one second.

When we come back, we're going to talk about all of these big settlements, police brutality cases. Oh, they're having an impact because the insurance for the cities are going up. We'll discuss that next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Also, Tyler Perry says, look, it's the folks getting promoted in the interest of diversity who ain't earned it. He's saying build a skill set to succeed. Others are not happy Tyler said that, but he's actually right, and I'll explain it.

Folks, download the Black Star Network app on all platforms, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, and of course, you can support us by bringing the Funk Fan Club. Your dollars make it possible for us to do what we do. Join the Bring the Funk Fan Club. Your dollars make it possible for us to do what we do. Join the Bring the Funk Fan Club. Send your check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal, R. Martin Unfiltered.

Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zale, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Before I go to the next break, I would read some of the names of folks who have given. We'll be right back. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine. Together, we are black beyond measure. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. On that soil, you will not be black.

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 Emory University calls white rage as a backlash.

This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up.

So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.

But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 2 of the War on Dr Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.

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

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

And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We gotta set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We gotta make moves and make them early. Set up goals.

Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are Black beyond measure.

What's up, what's up? I'm Dr. Ricky Dillard, the choir master. Hi, I'm Amber Stevens-West from The Carmichael Show. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Alright, I have been telling y'all, money talks and nothing else matters. If you're talking about America, you've got to deal with the money. So what's happening with police brutality cases? Insurance companies are now saying, cities, unless y'all do something about police brutality, y'all can't get no insurance from us And let me tell you something Cities do not want to be on the hook For paying out 50, 100, 200 million dollars

In settlements What has happened is See all y'all people out there Who keep saying protests don't matter This is where you're wrong Because what we have seen In the last 5 to 8 years We've seen a dramatic increase in the settlements in these cases.

It used to be, oh, it might be 100,000, 200,000. Now you're seeing 2 million, 3 million, 5 million, 10 million, 15 million, 27 million. Well, the insurance companies are the ones who are on the hook. And they're like, yo, we ain't doing this anymore. And so that's what's going on right now all across the country where the insurance companies are forcing the change. Joining us right now is former Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey, formerly of the Los Angeles Police Department. Glad to have you here, Cheryl. This is the thing right here.

Money always matters in America. And so here we are talking about, oh my God, we need the George Floyd Justice Act, we need this, that, and the other. But the reality is, when you start affecting the money, when you start hitting cops' pensions, but in this case, when the insurance company said

to the cities, no, y'all keep playing around, we're not going to cover you with insurance, then the city's going to get real about police brutality. Well, I mean, listen, that works for small departments, right? But if you're talking about a large police department like LAPD or L.A. County Sheriff's Department, New York PD, they have a whole different setup.

And so they're not really worried about insurance. They have taxpayer money that goes into, air quotes, special funds. And so they have an abundance of money that's available to them. There's 18,000 police departments. And a lot of people think when you talk about a police department, you're talking big numbers. We know that in Uvalde, that police department is going to have to come out of their pocket for massive amounts of money. But listen, it was only six of them. That was their department. And so while it sounds good and sexy, don't get twisted. Don't be fooled.

But this is where I'm still talking about, though, from the money standpoint. This is where residents in these cities need to be saying, no, we're not going to allow you to keep using taxpayer money paying these settlements. And so I keep saying folks have to go to the pressure point, and it's always the money. As long as the cop knows I ain't got to pay nothing, ain't no skin off my back, yo, I'm good. No, you start hitting the money, that's when all of a sudden folks are going to realize, I'm going to think twice before I pull this baton out, I'm going to think twice before I pull this baton out. I'm going to think twice before I pull this gun out. I agree with that.

But again, the money is not coming from the police officers. And so absolutely, we need to do something to defer, to deter this bad behavior. Because listen, have you seen a cessation in police use of force, in deadly use of force? It continues. And part of it has to do with qualified immunity. That's what gives officers shelter. That's what prevents an individual officer from being held financially liable,

as well as that agency, a.k.a. taxpayer. Robert, I'll bring you in here. To me, this is where, again, if you're trying to change something, you bring the pressure to bear on all points at all times in order to effect change. That's how it actually can happen.

You're correct on that. You have to have the judicial aspect of this where you continue to have settlements in court. You have to have the public policy aspect of it where you can go to the polls, change your mayor, change your city council, change your policies that are put in place. And then also, as we just said, we have to attack qualified immunity for police officers, because at the same time that you're hitting the cities in the pocket, you also need to have the ability to hit these officers directly in the pocket. So I don't think any

effort is lost effort. It's a contained circle. The more continuous pressure we can put on at all corners to make sure that these officers are brought to justice and that the ones who are serial offenders are no longer police officers and to ensure that we're changing standards and practices, training procedures across the country to make these rare, if not singular events when they take place instead of being rampant as they are today. I think all those efforts are necessary. As long as we can work towards that goal, I think we all need to be pushing in that same direction. But even when we talk about those, Sherwin, you mentioned these smaller departments,

this is also what's going to happen is they're going to be trying to look to folks, maybe states or whatever. And again, people have to, I think the strategies are different. This is what I explain to people. We connect the dots. You can't just be locked into saying, hey, I'm going to protest. No, no, no. What is the targeted protesting? How are you, you know, how are you specifically going after people? And so we're talking about qualified immunity. You can't just look at it from the federal level. That's what you're also looking at, changing those city contracts with those unions as well. That's how folks have to be targeting and directing their protest. Absolutely. And you have to understand that, you know, whatever happens on a federal national level really has little to do with the local politics because police chiefs

have tremendous autonomy. Those are their fiefdoms. Those are their kingdoms. They are in charge. And they pretty much get to do what they want. I mean, you have independent civilian review boards like we do here in L.A., the police commission. They make recommendations. And that's all it is. If a police chief doesn't agree with it, then they just say thank you for the recommendation, and they continue on business as usual. Police departments only do when they're forced, a la consent decrees, reviews, and being looked at by the DOJ for civil rights violations. And so it's so important that we get involved, get engaged, and stay that way. Larry? Roland, these, you know, these issues in terms of these payouts, like you said, there's been a dramatic increase in the amount of money jurisdictions are forced to pay because of behaviors of one or several members of their police department.

But the bottom line is voters have to hold people up in terms of, you talked about the contracts they negotiate with the unions, but also in terms of elected officials hold them responsible in terms of making sure they hire someone who's a police chief to make sure they hold these individuals responsible. But your right role in the bottom line is if you start, you know, if that money that has to be paid out comes out of someone's pocket that is responsible for creating this deed, then you'll dramatically, I'm assuming you'll see a dramatic change in what happens in terms of interaction with law enforcement, particularly with those with black folks. But once again, we have to hold people responsible who are forcing, you know, taxpayers to pay millions of dollars, like you said, in some of these payouts. Kelly, money, money, money, money, money.

And I think as these cases continue and the payouts increase, the payouts increase, you're going to see people understanding, wait a minute, what the hell are we doing? This is also where I believe, if you're talking about Democrats and Republicans, where if you are one trying to change it, you should be challenging these so-called fake-ass fiscal conservatives who say nothing about these

millions and billions being paid out. They care about everything else. They care about somebody misabusing a welfare card for two hundred dollars. But they don't give a damn when a cop cost the city twenty seven million dollars for killing somebody. Yeah, again, you're right. It's about the money. You got to hit them where it hurts. But there are other pain points that you can hit so that this kind of stuff doesn't necessarily happen nearly as often, if at all. but, like, who is going to hold these police accountable? How are we voting? How are we going to put people in place so that we don't...

They don't have to pay anything out because they're punishing people from within anyway. But it has to be a holistic effort outside of just hitting them where it hurts in the pocket in order for this epidemic to finally be abated. And, Cheryl, I think what you're seeing, you saw what happened in Maryland where the governor vetoed a bill

dealing with the Office of Bill of Rights. The legislature overrode his veto. People have to begin to exercise their power. And too often, what has happened is the right has said, oh, Democrats, you're assaulting a crime which forces them right has said, oh, Democrats, you're soft on the crime, which forces them to try to, oh, no, no, I'm not. No, I'm not. And to appease law enforcement, no, this can't be appeasement. Someone has to be willing to stand up. And even we see it now, all the lies about, oh, the explosion in crime. We've seen how they,

look, they recalled a DA in San Francisco, and crime did not go up. It was a lie. But it's all about the scare tactics against people. No doubt. And listen, police officers are savvy. I know this to be true, having spent 20 years in an LAPD uniform. And when officers get butt hurt

because they're, you know, compelled to do the thing they said that they were going to do under oath, which is protect and serve, then they slow their response time. And, you know, patrol officers can make a patrol captain, and ultimately their police chief look really bad depending on how they respond, how they provide those services. And when officers start to hold back, when they respond slowly or not at all, or when investigations or homicides aren't cleared,

when homicides continue to rise, who's most affected? It's the minority communities. It's the black and brown folks who are affected by the lack of resources and the lack of response. And so understand that every police chief serves at the pleasure of an elected official,

and elected officials understand one thing and one thing only, and that's votes. That's it. They understand the vote. Cheryl Dorsey, I certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, folks. When we come back, we're going to talk about Warnock, Walker.

Finally going to debate. Maybe. Fetterman, Oz. They're going to debate as well. And we'll talk about Tyler Perry's comments regarding diversity in Hollywood. It's rankle some because he said there's some black folks and others who are getting jobs based upon diversity

who don't need to be there because they aren't trained to do the job. Folks are upset. I don't see the lie. I'll break it down. I'll roll the mark and unfilter it. Don't forget, download the Blackstar Network app, Apple phone app, Android phone, Apple TV,

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You can download the book on Audible as well. Yes, I recorded the audio. Three and a half hours. It's not going to take you all day. We've already had some folks who have been recording it, and I certainly appreciate downloading it and commenting. And so if you do download it and listen

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You can also order the book at Target. And if you want, do me a favor. Just go to a Black-owned bookstore and you can also have them order the book as well. But we also have made it very easy for you as well, folks.

And that is this here. All you got to do is if you go to rollingasmartin.com forward slash white fear, we will set up a page for you where you can actually get everything there in one place. All the information there in one place. And so here's the website right here. And so we have all the

information on white fear right here on Roland S. Martin dot com forward slash white fear. And so again, you can order the book. You can get you can get the download as well. Everything is right there on the page. We'll be right back. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing. Creating. Making moves that move us all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Can you believe the nerve of these Republicans?

They only want to block progress for our community. They talk about cutting Medicare and Social Security. They play politics with veterans' health care. They voted against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and funding for our HBCUs and against lowering prescription drug costs for our seniors. These Republicans keep trying hard to stand in the way, but President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats won't let them.

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PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. My name is Charlie Wilson. Hi, I'm Sally Richardson-Whitfield. And I'm Dodger Whitfield. Hey, everybody, this is your man Fred Hammond, and you're watching Roland Martin,, Arkansas, September 2nd.

The 15-year-old is 5 feet tall, weighs 110 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Brianna's ears are pierced. She has tattoos above and below her right eye and her left hip and her left forearm. Anyone with information about Breonna Fields should call the Little Rock, Arkansas Police Department at 501-371-4829. 501-371-4829. All right, y'all. The idiot Hersha Walker has agreed to debate Senator Raphael Warnock in Savannah, Georgia.

Now, what's interesting is Walker has been running from Warnock by just coming up with all kind of different reasons why he did not want to debate. So then he said, well, you know what? Well, let's go ahead and debate in Savannah. And then Warnock was like, fine. You want to debate in Savannah?

I'll show up in Savannah and debate your dumb ass. And so, again, that's going to be October 14th. Now, Warnock is requesting an additional debate take place in either Macon or Atlanta, but Walker has not accepted the invitation for a second matchup. When you look at the polling data, it's very tight between the two. According to the latest Insider Advantage Fox 5 poll, Walker has a three-point lead over Senator Raphael Warnock. Roberts, you're there in Georgia.

Walker don't want any of that smoke. And so he's trying, I guess maybe if he talks about football, maybe that might work, but I don't even think so. But he really does not want to debate Warnock. He's brought in a whole new campaign team. They try to turn his campaign around. But, you know, again, he's riding that MAGA wave of those, we know, white Republicans in Georgia who will vote for an idiot over somebody

who's smart and brilliant. Yeah, you know, and I don't think it's fair to call Herschel Walker an idiot. He's an idiot. No, no, no, no. I don't think we should be idiot. He's an idiot. No, no, no, no. I don't think we should be mean to call him an idiot. No, no, no, no, no, no. Robert, I'm not being mean. I'm being factual.

Roland, Roland, being factual, he is a woman-beating idiot. Thank you. Got the whole thing there. No, no, no. Hold up, hold up. No, we really want to be factual. He's a woman-beating, lying about being an FBI agent, lying about being... A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.

Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.

But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things.

Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Graduating the top of his class, lying about owning a business idiot. Did I leave anything out? Yes, you forgot he has 12 personalities. Okay. 12 personalities. But the thing that Herschel Walker's campaign realized is the thing holding Herschel's campaign back

was Herschel Walker. As you've noticed, fewer and fewer of these viral clips of him doing interviews sounding stupid have been out here. Why? Because he stopped doing interviews. They just had him shut up and just run the percentages. And Brian Kemp's running a very strong campaign for governor, and he's tied at the hip with him.

So if he, if Herschel Walker does make it across the finish line, his campaign is hoping to just hide him and hope that Brian Kemp can campaign for both of them, quite frankly. I think that at this campaign, I don't know how many swing voters there are left at this stage in the campaign. I don't know how many people are sitting there debating back and forth between Warnock and Walker. But what I do think, this is a question of how do you motivate your base? How do you get those turnout numbers you need in 2020? If Warnock gets those 2020 numbers and he wins probably comfortably by three to five points. However, if there is this kind of red wave that they've been

talking about, Herschel Walker's campaign is planning on him lifting that boat and riding that victory. Herschel Walker's been running for Senate for two years. He has not released a health care plan, a plan on education, a plan on infrastructure, Social Security, anything. He's just, I'm Herschel Walker, and I'm a Republican, and that's pretty much the messaging, and that's actually working thus far. The thing here, Kelly, is I keep saying Republicans don't care. You already got Tommy Tuberville in the United States Senate from Alabama, and he truly is dumb as hell. I mean, you got that fool Ronnie Jackson in Texas

who was the former White House doctor. True idiot. He's dumb. Louie Gohmert is leaving Congress, and for the longest, he's been the dumbest member of Congress. The GOP doesn't care. They care about winning. It's unfortunate because it's coming at the expense of the lack of intelligence of these candidates and these people.

They are leveraging idiots for a vote. And it's sad that we are being tokenized by this party for the sake of power. It is clear that Herschhel Walker is in no way qualified to be a candidate of anything. And yet, because of the thirst for power, he is being propped up in the polls. He's being propped up in this party that does not care about him whatsoever. It is sad. Like, yes, we can make jokes about it. I've certainly thrown out a few. But at the end of the day, it really is pathetic and on some level just sad seeing this man being not necessarily, I don't know whether he's being taken advantage of so much as he's just simply being tokenized. But either way, it is a sad situation that he is putting himself through

and people are also putting him through. Bottom line to me, Larry, if you're dumb, I'm going to call you dumb. That's what he is. The man has no business being anywhere near the United States Senate. Yeah, so his campaign reminds me, Chuck D from Public Ed, he said, every brother ain't a brother. Herschel Walker was just recently complaining about too many trees, but do you have people in the state of Georgia willing to vote for him? He has no idea what he's talking about, and he's certainly not qualified to be a U.S. senator. And so I'm

hoping that the people of Georgia will make the right decision here, and just like you said, rolling in about 60 days. But when you see this polling numbers, obviously, we're not should be up double digits. But once again, people care. They don't. They talk about morals and values and some of these other topics. What they really care about is power and control. And we already know that Hershel Walker is not qualified. Listen, when he was at Georgia and when he got to the NFL with Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings, listen, he's a running back. And what he's doing right now, he's running away

from Warnock. He's been running away from him. That's why he won't agree to a second debate. But he is not qualified to be a member of the U.S. Senate. And he would be a danger, not only to his constituents in Georgia, but also in Americans throughout the country. Absolutely. Robert, you want to say something?

Yeah, just real quick. I think part of the issue that we're seeing here in Georgia is that Warnock is just entirely too good of a person for the kind of throwing elbows needed in politics sometimes. Their campaign has not talked about the Hersa Walker, stalking a woman in 2012, stalking a woman in 2002, stalking a woman in 1988. They haven't talked about him holding a gun to his ex-wife's head, holding a razor blade through another woman's neck.

Are outside groups doing it? No, we're not seeing that money pouring in. Those commercials should be playing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but they are not. They are not talking about him having 12 personalities and writing a book about it. They're not talking about the fact that Herschel Walker literally said that Jesus had dissociative identity disorder like I do because he thought he was the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And who knows how many different alternates. Herschel calls his other personalities alternates. How many other alternates there are. And he said, I didn't even realize it. My teammates didn't realize it. They just thought I was having mood swings. This is the person who might be a United States senator voting on whether or not you get health care this time next year.

So the fact that they're not exploiting that, they're not using this. I know that it seems like, quote, unquote, dirty politics, but they're not making up anything. But it's true. They're just showing the. I know that it seems like, quote, unquote, dirty politics, but you're not making up anything. But it's true. You're just showing the things that he's already done and admitted to and wrote a book about. Well, guess what?

They might want to wake the hell up because it's less than 60 days and time is running out. All right, folks, let's talk about what's happening in Texas. Now, most people, they say, oh, my goodness, Texas is a red state. Yes, statewide. Since George W. Bush was governor by his second term, Republicans have won every statewide seat in the last number of elections,

and on statewide. But they're not particularly happy that Texas' major counties have gone blue. Take Dallas County. Dallas County, where I'm registered to vote, used to be Blue County. Then all of a sudden, Republicans took over in the county, and you had people like John Cruz, who was a judge who ran as a Republican to retain his seat. He's now, but then when Democrats flipped it and they took the county back, then he ran as a Democrat. He's now the district attorney in Dallas County. Well, Harris County, same thing. Republicans used to control a lot of positions. Then Democrats, empowered by inner cities, empowered by suburbs, ran the gauntlet,

and they won a significant number of judicial seats in Houston as well. Bayer County, where San Antonio is. Travis County, where Austin is. That's what we are seeing. But what Republicans have been doing is using their power to strategically take out a lot of these judges. I go back to Houston. A lot of them were angry, these prosecutors, were angry about bail reform. So what did they do?

They got with the police unions, ran against these progressive judges in the primary, and took them out. What's happening now in Dallas County, same thing. How they are strategically trying to target judges, especially Democrat judges, black judges. Here's a case that's happening in Dallas, the case of Judge Amber Givens, okay,

of the 282nd Judicial District Court in Dallas County. She's been one of the folks that they have been targeting with an investigation that is, again, and the whole goal is to attack her integrity, to get her off of the bench. Judge Givens joins us right now, along with Pastor Chris Wesley, the senior pastor of Antioch Fellowship Church in Dallas as well. But he joins us from Louisville, Kentucky. Glad to have you here. So, Judge Judge, first off, what is, how are they targeting you? How did this thing start? Well, thank you for having me today, Roland. Annie, I've heard for the last year that I've been investigated. I haven't committed a crime. And in the history of the state of Texas, there's never been a judge that has been indicted for lawfully discharging their duties.

And so with that said, I can't speak to beyond that regarding their intentions. But I will tell you that the timeline is interesting. In May of 2020, we saw the awful atrocity of George Floyd's murder. And then in June of 2020 in Dallas County, Texas, we saw attorneys take to Facebook and during those protests call Black people animals and subhuman. And based on those Facebook posts, I presented the first anti-discrimination policy in the country that targets a person's right to have fair counsel. The 14th and 16th Amendments in the Constitution talk about people not having the ability to pay for their own counsel.

And so you don't get to pick your own counsel. And so a number of these attorneys on the Facebook posts were actually what we call appointed counsel. And so we rely on appointed counsel to ensure that they represent people just as if they were retained. And so I felt like it was incumbent upon us as judges, those of us who determine who gets to represent these people

that can't afford their own attorneys, it's incumbent upon us to decide if someone is making comments like that, how can they protect someone's constitutional rights if they don't believe that they are a person in fact? And so from there came the allegations time-wise and from there came the complaints. So it's resulted in you recusing yourself from a hundred some odd cases.

These attorneys have been complaining, alleging bias. What's the bias? Well, Roland, I can't speak to what the bias is because from my understanding, it's just a general notion of bias. So I can't tell you. So you just, they get to say, oh, she's biased. And they go, okay, you're right. Well, you know, Roland, actually judges don't have a right to have a voice in recusals. So I don't get to defend myself in recusals. But I will say this. I will tell you that based on what's been happening in Dallas, I tell people every day to exercise their rights.

And as a personal, as a person, as a citizen myself, I have to do the same. And so my attorneys at Sidley Austin actually took action, because we should all be afforded the same rights under the Constitution, and that's protection from being defamed, in fact. And so my attorneys at Sidley Austin filed a discovery tool, a 202. And what they found, we received 200 pages of documentation from the board of that trade association. And in those emails, they admitted to setting me up. In fact, November 2021, there were emails from the trade association that stated that their short-term goal was to get me investigated or at least charged for a crime. And in fact, we actually have those emails.

And let's pull up the one from Katie Bishkin. Pull that one up, please. Katie Bishkin put this up. And this is what she said. What I took from our meeting was a short-term goal of getting her charged or at least investigated with a crime with a long-term goal being damaging her election prospects. To that end, folks seem to think the states will take this more seriously than Cruzzo. The only way to get Cruzzo to recuse is to exert public pressure, including through the press. What is the press strategy? As for the court of

inquiry, Paul raises some good questions we need to think through. We'd also like to also need to think through and be advised whether initiating a proceeding in a court of inquiry will affect traditional routes to bringing criminal charges. And as you see, there are a number of people who are on this particular email. Then this guy, Paul Saputo with Saputo.law. He then responds, I understand that this is a response to an email from Deandra Grant who is with defensesready.com I understand that but we want to put pressure on Democrats who only have to answer to their primary

electorate. What choice do we have? A press release? It's just not going to do anything at all. I'm not opposed to doing that but I'll donate $1,000 to charity to a charity of the board's choosing, if that story somehow results in Givens getting off the bench. If DCDLA is serious about getting judges off the bench, then we should act accordingly and quit stopping short of doing things that will actually make a difference. What brings me to my one of what my

initial questions, which is whether we're the right organization to do this. And so, first of all, are these defense attorneys? I mean, who are these folks? And again, they're trying to get you off of the bench. I'm still just understanding why. Are they mad that you've ruled against them? Are they that that you've thrown them in jail for contempt of court? Why are these attorneys so pissed off at you? Well, Roland, I'll say this. I think it's important to understand the backdrop in Dallas County, Texas. And just to share a bit of a history lesson. So in the 1960s, 70s and the mid 80s, the DA's office had a manual called the Sparling Memo. And that memo gave the prosecutors instructions on how to get rid of certain ethnic groups from jury panels, people that had certain religious beliefs and educated women, in fact. And so it wasn't until the mid

1980s that our U.S. Supreme Court said that everyone, all residents should be invited to sit at the table. And I tell that story because in Dallas, it was documented, right? This manual that by 2005 actually caused a number of capital murder cases to be overturned because the Texas Supreme Court found that, you know, the juries in Texas had been impacted from the 70s to the mid-80s, that prosecutors were systematically targeting Black residents, that 90 percent of those that were qualified to sit had, in fact, been struck for a reason that couldn't be explained other than race. And I tell that story because it's important. I, you know, did not hold anyone in contempt.

I, in fact, after George Floyd's murder, simply created a policy that I feel, you know, really is a call to action to the country, because it's imperative that we make sure that we have a true commitment to the equal application of the law for all people. And so, like I said, all I can do is share with you the timeline. I started proposing the policy, and then there came the complaints and allegations of bias. And so I believe it's important for us to look at things like this, the anti-discrimination policy. And I'm sure, in other counties, they have other instances of things that would require

such action by judges. We are governed by what we call judicial canons. And the canons say that judges, if they see behavior like this that calls into question an attorney's ability to practice, that we shall take appropriate action. And the appropriate action in this sense was to say, if you cannot represent all people, then we should not pay our county dollars to you to carry out that duty. And so from there came the issues. But I want to focus on that, that positive note that, you know, there's a report called the Gabble Gap, and the Gabble Gap did its last report in 2014, which is interesting because I took office January

1st of 2015. And what they found was a great disparity between those on state court benches and the communities that they serve. And the reason why that's troubling is because diversity of thought is so key. It's important that we have people on state court benches that believe and have a commitment to the equal protections under the laws for all people and those rights afforded people. Pastor West, I'm going to bring you in here. You know, I don't want to curse, but what the hell is going on in Dallas County? Implicit racism. I mean, it's pretty clear.

Dallas County is blessed because we have judges just like Judge Givens. Eight of our criminal justice judges in our county are black women. And we've seen an attack of these groups against these women. One of the things that's interesting is Judge Givens talks about it, that as soon as she proposes this change after George Floyd's death, we all saw nationwide that the death of George Floyd peeled the covers back on racial bias in so many different areas. For us, it started to happen in our court system. And so what we're seeing is these racist attorneys who have been public defenders, who have allowed so many of our young people to be put away, now we see what they've been trying to do. And it is a heartbreaking reality

for so many of us who believe that Jesus and justice go hand in hand. And so what's happening is now because of what Judge Givens and her team, her legal team has unearthed, it's given us a reason to see light in what they've been attempting to do for so long. I mean, this is just crazy. I know my panel has some questions. Let me start. Robert, you first. Absolutely. So what I see the emails or data, mostly November 2021. What action has been taken against the people on this email chain thus far? It seemed to be. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news

show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on everybody's business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to

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What repercussions will they face? So that's a great question. Like I said, my team has not filed a defamation lawsuit. The goal, because I am a public official, you have to prove actual malice. And so don't go around filing frivolous lawsuits. So I needed the proof that I received in 200 documents along with the six-hour deposition where the Trade Association said that their quote-unquote investigation of me was not impartial. And going forward, I'm having conversations with my legal team. All right. Kelly? I have a lot, but I understand that without malice, there are certain things that you can't do.

Is malice one of the components for an EEOC suit as well? Is that something that you've been exploring? I can't say that my legal team has explored that. I don't believe so. I don't believe that that would be something that would be applicable to me. But I believe one of the first questions was about the timing. And so these e-mails do date back to 2021, when the allegations were initially made. I will say that, along with the allegations and having two opponents, God is good that I came out of a three-person race and won 53 percent of the vote. And so I've won my election. And so this is about a matter that's bigger than me. It's not about Judge Amber Givens. It's about

the fact that we have got to be in a space in this country where we appreciate diversity of thought, where we can truly say that we have a commitment to the law that applies equally to all people. And we see a difference. In Texas, elections are partisan. And so I do identify as a Democrat. And in saying that, there are a number of differences that I see on the bench in Dallas County, Texas, in a red state, blue county, on how Democratic judges have changed the face of the bench. And I don't just mean by color. I mean in the sense that there is more transparency. During the pandemic, we all started actually having virtual court. And so it's something

that all people, regardless of where you are, can view. Beyond that, we've created a number of programs to fight recidivism. You know, these are all things that have changed since the face of the bench, since the diversity on the bench has changed. And I think that's something that speaks to why it's so important to make sure that we go out and vote. And as your shirt says, Roland, you know, vote like our ancestors died for that right. And I think oftentimes people question, well, why is it important that I go vote? And I would point to things like this, that it's important because now you have a judge on a bench who saw something like the atrocities that happened at the hands of the police officer that killed George Floyd. We saw what happened on social media. And you have to have judges on the bench that say, for real, equal protection to all people,

right? That's why voting is important. It's important because 90 percent of the cases that are tried in the United States are tried in state courts. So diversity does matter, right? And so beyond the anti-discrimination policy, which is the first in the country, also youth prevention crime programs. Myself and three colleagues created Pipeline of Possibilities, and I have to give a big ups to Ava DuVernay. We were actually featured on her Apple TV series, Dear, because she encouraged us after watching the 13th Amendment to go into the inner city schools in Dallas County, Texas, that have the highest rates of incarceration and educate the youth about the criminal justice system.

And so it's things like this that show why it's so important for us to have diversity on the bench and how that results in true, tangible things that change, you know, the criminal justice system and not just simply saying criminal justice reform. Larry. Yeah, so Judge Givens, you talked about the importance of diversity of thought. And I think one thing that shouldn't be lost in this conversation is your visibility and your roles as a Black woman. And can you talk a little bit in terms of what you being on the bench, the impact that's had on in terms of Black folks seeing you, seeing someone who looks like them? We talk about diversity of thought, particularly on the impact on young Black girls. Yes. So it's funny that you bring that point up because in 2019, I was presiding over a murder case. And it was the first time I allowed, I guess, the case to be streamed.

And I didn't know what that meant. Even though I'm young, I didn't know that it meant that they were going to be streaming on Facebook. And so the verdict came out. And when I got back to my chambers, I mean, things really do go down in the DMs. I don't DM like that, but I had like 500 plus DMs. And there were people sharing with me that they appreciated me in the virtual courtroom world. And I was thinking, okay, all I did was show up and do my job.

But for them, it was about my appearance. And I would say 98% of the comments were positive, but there were that 2%, I did get caught in the comments just a tad. But 98% of the people were saying, oh my gosh, the fact that you show up, I have shaved sides, I wear makeup, you know, some of that offended people. But for the most part, people thought you were really showing our young ladies that they can show up and be their true

selves. They don't have to fit or subscribe to these Eurocentric ideals of beauty to show up and be successful. And so I think that was the first instance that I thought, well, I'm truly impacting people that I will never meet, the people in society that have been marginalized. I myself am one of seven kids. I was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and I'm actually in the criminal justice system because my oldest brother was incarcerated twice. And so I found purpose in my. Louis, Missouri, and I'm actually in the criminal justice system because my oldest brother was incarcerated twice. And so I found purpose in my pain, which is why, you know, sitting on the bench for me, as I said, diversity does matter. And it shows up for me in the way that it's not a nine to five job for me. I show up and I've committed myself to bridging the gap between the courthouse and the community in Dallas County by not only showing up and protecting all people,

but also giving back to make sure that we don't have young people coming before us that don't need to, by also making sure that I fight recidivism by giving people access to resources that historically haven't had that access. And so when you ask about representation and how it's impacted young women, I get letters from all over the world that say Judge Givens, I actually had a little girl in Florida who beads for therapy. She's autistic. She said, you know what? Oh my gosh, you mean adults get bullied too? And to see you stand up and say, you know, I am who I am and I can be myself, shave sides, doesn't impact the fact that I'm licensed in New York to practice and Texas to practice. And I've been on the bench for over eight years and served as a prosecutor for over eight years.

So to the young ladies out there, I've heard that it just encourages them that it's OK to show up as themselves. And that means a great deal to me. So, Pastor, so first of all, what's next? I mean, how does this end? Where does this thing go? It's important for us as a community, one, to not fall for the manipulation tactics. That's one of the things that I've been, along with Judge Givens and others, as we seek to pull back the covers on what is being exposed to inform our community,

that just because the media portrays a narrative about our judges or just because there are attorneys that are saying things about our judges, that we fight for the truth, stand on the truth. And that's the first thing that's most important, that Judge Givens won our election, and that those tactics, those ploys did not work. Spiritually, we believe no weapon formed against us shall prosper. And that happened. The other thing is we have to continue to educate people on the criminal justice reform. And as a community, we have to come together and really have these conversations more often about these things that we're seeing and blow the whistle on it. I think what's so important about this is

all of this started from Facebook. A Facebook post that had a whole lot of negative comments actually became the thing that started the conversations about a lot of this reform. And so when you see something, say something, blow the whistle on it, don't allow people to say whatever and then try to apologize for it on the back end of it.

I think the beautiful thing that happened is when these comments started being made on Facebook, our community stood up, our judges stood up. And as we started to have these conversations to unearth some of this stuff, we're discovering that those tactics can't win when we keep the main thing

the main thing. So that's what's next. We have to continue to vote. We have to continue to win at the polls. We have to continue to allow judges like Judge Givens the opportunity to continue to do what they're doing to help change our city and change our communities. So, Judge, what, does this just continue?

You have to keep recusing. You keep getting attacked. And how can you do your job? I mean, it's I mean, you know, how does this thing end? If there's an investigation, who's doing it? I mean, you know, you know what happens because you've been dealing with this for quite some time. Yeah. I mean, like I said, Roland, I hear there's an investigation going on

that's been going on for over a year now. But I will tell you this. I'm not discouraged. And I'm not discouraged because I'm not here because, you know, it looks good to be, to don a black robe every day, right? I am here, and I found, I told you I'm an elected official. I found my purpose, and it led me to politics, right? And so I'm here not moved at all, because the oath that I took to the people in Texas was that I would not fear criticism. I would commit to my oath and the law and the application of that. And despite what

people might allege, I'm still committed. I show up to work every day. I, you know, my attorneys, I'm sure, will handle anything if something comes up. But like I said, this investigation that's been going on for over a year now has not changed my commitment to the people of Dallas County, Texas. It's actually reminded me that, you know, I'm not here just to have a space at the table. I'm here to make sure that I leave the system better than what I found it. And so it's actually kind of made me kind of dig my heels in even deeper to say that if I had to do it all over again, knowing what I would face, I would still do it. Because for those individuals that can't afford to pay for their own attorney,

right, even though you can't pay and you don't get to pick, doesn't mean you should be left with counsel that doesn't believe you deserve constitutional rights to be protected or that you even have them. And so at the end of the day, I believe that's the thing that turns people off about politics. They don't see enough of it that speaks to all people and protecting all people. And so for me, that's why I'm here.

And so I will continue to do that. I think you'll hear more, Roland, about different projects that I have. I hope to stay in contact with you. Okay. All right. Well, sounds good. I hope to stay in contact with you. Okay. All right. Well, sounds good. Be sure to let us know.

And hopefully this madness will ensue. Yes. Thank you, Roland. All right. I appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Bye-bye. Folks, going to a break.

We come back. We're going to talk Tyler Perry and diversity. His comments have rankled some. I don't see what the big deal is because he's right. We will explain and discuss. Next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network, don't forget, download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV.

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Together, we are black beyond measure. I remember being with The View when they said, we want to extend your contract. And I knew God said, it's time to move. It's time to go. And everybody was saying, Sherri, you got a great job. You're making all of this money. And I said, no, it's time.

And they said, you ain't going to be able to. You've been away from Hollywood. And I said, it's time to go. And when I didn't, that's when I realized I was about to go through this divorce. And I was going to need it. It was going to be expensive. It was going to be a lot. And I said, I'm going to stay.

I said, I'm going to stay for a couple of years. Make this money. See, go ahead. I'm going to make this money. And then I'll get out Lorde. So it was a compromise. I'm going to do what you say, but I'm going to do it on my thing.

And he went, really? He went, really. And you know when he went, really? He went really. And you know when he went really? They said that we were heavy in contract negotiations. And they came a manager called. She said, they're not going to renew your contract. And I went, hey, wait, what?

Just yesterday, they was offering me more money. She said, they just decided not to renew your contract. And I remember sitting in front of the mirror at the view. And I went, in front of the mirror at the view, and I went, what happened? And it was very clear. God said, I told you it was time to go. When we invest in ourselves,

we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing. Creating. Making moves. That move us all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Carl Payne pretended to be Roland Martin. Holla!

You are watching Roland Martin, and I'm on his show today, and it's... What? Huh? You should have some chew cards! Hey, what's up, y'all? This your boy Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now.

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Captioning services. Captioning services. Captioning services. Captioning services. Captioning services. Captioning services. Captioning services. Captioning services. Captioning services. All right, folks, Tyler Perry was in Toronto for the International Film Festival where he was premiering his new Netflix film, Jazz Band Blues. First of all, he sent me the trailer. It's an unbelievable, unbelievable movie. I cannot wait to see it. But he was talking about the issue of diversity in Hollywood. And he made some comments that some folk got really upset with. And I want to discuss it.

So this is what Tyler said. He said, quote, I am extremely excited for what has happened. The diversity, the choices, the opportunity. But I worry because there is such a push for diversity and push for hiring people of color that I have found in situations that there are people who can be pushed into seats they are not ready for. At Tyler Perry Studios, We train so many people We brought people in And they do an amazing job

But as soon as people are trained And they know the job They're snatched up to go to some bigger production Which is fine because If you want to find people Who know their job If they can make it at my studio They can make it anywhere

What I don't want to have is black people in seats that we weren't ready for. And then have people that are not black that were moved out of seats. If we didn't get qualifications, the teaching or the education to get there, then how are we giving the seats so quickly? It's my hope that in all of this change and this push for there to be more inclusion, we're also providing time and training to make sure we can do a great job. Now, the comment went out, and I was reading a lot of the comments. People were like, oh, my goodness, what's wrong with Tyler? This is problematic.

But I don't understand why folks are saying it's problematic because what Tyler is saying is actually true. What Tyler is saying, I literally said the exact same thing to black journalists for years. And what I've said to people is do not go for a job. Do not try to demand a higher salary for a job if you are not ready for that job. Why? Because people are going to be judging you based upon the salary you negotiated. And if you don't deliver, what then happens is you have applied for it, you have gotten a job, and you're here, and you don't do well, and it actually can knock you further back and make it harder for you to come back up. Now, let's be perfectly clear here.

We know there are some white folks who have failed up repeatedly. We also know how this works. We ain't them. In media, white men are controlling and running major media. We know that. That's just a fact of the matter. But what must happen is we've got to ensure that we have developed the skill set because what have we always been taught?

You got to be twice as good. And we know this. And so, when we're talking about jobs And I've personally experienced it And I think part of the problem here To be real honest Is this is the difference between people Who've only been employees And never been employers

Because when you've been an employer You are on the other end You're the one who has to deal with the person Who thought or said I can do this, this, this, and then they couldn't. Y'all, we've been there. We've had folks apply for jobs. And I've been dealing with this when I ran the Dallas Weekly, when I ran the Houston Defender, when I ran the Chicago Defender, when I was a top editor at Tom Jones's Black American Web.com, when I was at Savoy Magazine as a news editor.

I've experienced this when running this show, owning this show, owning this network. I experienced it when I was running TV One's Washington Watch, when I was a hosting managing editor of TV One's News One Now. There are people who came through the door, oh, I can do this. Yes, I'm familiar with this. I'm familiar with that.

Then they come in, can't do a damn thing. And you're like, hell, now I I can do this. Yes, I'm familiar with this. I'm familiar with that. Then they come in, can't do a damn thing. And you're like, hell, now I'm stuck with this. We had somebody who applied for a job once, and this person was working in another place, and they applied for an on-air position.

Started on Monday. We pulled them off the air on Friday. Talk about grand open, grand closing. We had a show. This cat, we started on Monday, took him out of the control room on Wednesday, fired him on Friday. It was awful.

Wasn't ready for prime time. And that is the critical thing. Folks need to be ready. Folks need to be prepared. Because what also then happens, and I guarantee you each one of my panelists have experienced this, I guarantee you somebody then goes yeah, we tried to hire one of them. Yeah, we did. It didn't work out. And so what Tyler Perry

is saying is get your skills developed. So when you go in, when you go into that position, when you step up and are ready for it, then guess what? You can perform. Then all of a sudden you're in a position to grow and build and generate more money. And now you can bring in the next generation of people.

Let me say this again for somebody who's listening and you may not fully understand what I'm talking about. Never go for a job that you are not ready for. I am not saying don't go for a higher job. What I am saying is don't let somebody play you. Since we're going to go ahead and do this. And in December, November, December 2006, I was brought in to work as a voice on somebody, on another person's pilot. Okay?

So I was the guest, but it was this other person's pilot. They weren't looking at me. They were looking at her. Well, she started getting into it with this conservative, and they got real loud, and it was actually, I'm sitting looking like, why y'all getting so loud? So I'm calm, chilling, and I begin to restate my point. We're in the control room.

The executives were watching, and they were like, who's that? Not her, not him. Who's that? That's what actually, now mind you, I had done CNN for free four and a half years. That's what led me to actually get hired at CNN. So I go into CNN and we then begin to shoot some pilots. We negotiated a two-tier deal at CNN. We negotiated a contributor's deal and a show hosting deal. Okay?

And so we go shoot the pilot. This is the first time I'm actually shooting a show that I'm the host of. So we shot probably three or four pilots. And so I ended up having a meeting with Jim Walton, a worldwide CEO of CNN. And we're sitting in his office and Jim says, Roland, and that was, I think it was a pair of boxing gloves that were on his desk. And he said, Roland, I'm going to use a boxing analogy. We think that you are a better counter puncher than puncher. I know what Jim is telling me.

What Jim is saying is we think you are a better on air guest or contributor than show host. But this is where I threw Jim off. I said, I know. And he sort of. I said, I know. I said, so here's what I need you I know. And he sort of, I said, I know. I said, so here's what I need you to do. I need you to connect me with your talent coaches. And I need you to give your talent coaches a list of things that you want me to improve on. So I will work on those things so then when we come back

and shoot something again then I will be ready to host a show Jim was stunned we ended the conversation and we then Jim called my agent and Mark Watts, also my Alpha fraternity brother. And Jim said, that didn't quite go like I thought it was going to go. He said, I was very impressed with how Roland handled that. Why did I handle my meeting with Jim that way? Because I was fully aware of what I didn't know. I was fully aware of what my skill set was.

I knew I was a strong contributor. I knew I was a weak host. And so I knew I was not ready to host a show. Fast forward 2008. I kill it in 2008. I host, I then do some other, Jim said, let's do some other pilots. Then, okay, then I actually hosted

several prime time specials. Then weekend specials. But by the time the election was over, I knew I was ready to host a show. I remember sending an email to John Klein, the president of CNN US, and to Jim saying, when Glenn Beck left, I want that slot. They then were like, well, you're more valuable

to us than CNN and HLN. So that's when I filled in for Kim Brown. She becomes pregnant. Now it's the next week. I then fill in for her for two months. Now, why was it a horrible experience? Because they didn't let me do me. They put me in a box and it wasn't a good experience, but it was, it was a learning experience. While I'm doing it, I knew I'm ready to host. But was I ready to host a daily show? No. I was ready to host a weekend show.

But you may be saying, well, hold on. How are you ready? Because a daily grind is different from a weekly show. CNN said we're not going to launch a weekly show. Fine. I remember walking out of John Klein's office. I called Jonathan Rogers, CEO of TV Once. He said, they're not going to launch me a weekend show. He said, they're not going to launch you a weekend show. We will. It was May 2009. July 2009,

Jonathan was standing next to me. We announced my show at Essence Music Festival. We launched the show September 2009. I host Washington Watch on TV one from September 2009 through May 2013 Yet in May of 2000 March of 2012. I knew I was ready for a daily show Jonathan had since left. I went to Wanya Lucas the CEO and I'm like it's time for us to do a daily show We didn't launch until the following year November 2013. But why am I walking you through this? It's because for every step of the way, I knew when I wasn't ready and I knew when I was ready. And that is what Tyler Perry was talking about. And so I need people to understand what Tyler is saying is when you are ready for that next step,

that's when you go after it because the worst thing in the world is for you to try to grab an opportunity. And the money looks great. The title is wonderful. But you're going to be treading water the whole time. That's the danger people make. And it's a lesson that folks should be attuned to. So what must happen? You must always be painfully aware of what level you're at. What's your skill set? And really what is the pay level you should be at?

Because see, you might think you're worth 75, 90, 100,000. When your skill set says you're worth 40 or 45, man ain't lowballing me. No, we're not lowballing you. Your skills are telling me actually what you're worth. But when you are worth more, that's when you say, I'm sorry, that number is too small because I've actually developed a skill set that's actually greater. I'll bring in Kelly, Larry, and Robert here. And Larry, I'll start with you. You're a professor. there are some people who think, I should have tenure. I should be a full professor. And you're like, at best, you're an adjunct.

It's getting people to understand that even in academia, there's a process to become a full-time tenured professor. You just don't just get it just because. That's what Tyler is talking about. He is saying take the time to develop your craft and your skill set before you walk into that position. Thoughts? That's a great point, Roland. And you know, there are a lot of people who don't get tenure.

A lot of people who don't get tenure. But, you know, it's that kind of statement, if you're not ready, get ready. And I think you just told a great story, and I hope a lot of people, not just on the panel, but people watching get it and understand that sometimes your skill set doesn't match a certain job. And once again, it doesn't mean you don't have high aspirations for yourself, but it means sometimes you have to develop the skills to get to where you need you are. Use higher education as an example. But also, things like if you're a mechanic, listen, if you haven't worked on cars for most of your life or you haven't gone to mechanic school,

then you shouldn't be trying to remove a car battery and replace it because you don't have the skills. So it's really important once again that when it comes to the workforce skills, obviously communications or any other job, you need to make sure you have the talent that meets what you said,

the expectations to go into the salary for whatever this particular job is. But I think Tyler Perry's also point was taken out of context, Roland. I think a lot of, that's a lot of times that's what happens. And I'm glad you provided, you know, clarity in terms of what he was trying to say. And also I think it was important in terms you talked about being an employer and an employee in terms of how you see issues differently when you're signing checks or you're waiting for your direct deposit to hit. It does a different perspective on running an organization or an institution.

But I think, like I said, in terms of the points you make, and Tyler's point, is that we need to make sure we have a pipeline of folks, we train them properly. So when it comes time for the big salary and the big chair,

that you're ready to go. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one.

The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing.

So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

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

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 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 podcast. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves.

We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers. But we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you've got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else. But never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Robert, you could be a brilliant law student. That don't mean they're going to put you

in that courtroom just right out of college. Hey, you better hope that they don't. But I think this is the almost real-world manifestation of the Dunning-Kruger effect, where people just think they know way more about things the less they know. And the more that you know, the more you realize that you don't know. And I think what Tyler Perry's trying to say is,

don't just be that black face for the sake of fulfilling their diversity quota. Don't just be that black face for the sake of them being able to check a box on the form they have to send to the government to say we hired a black person, because you do not want to be the Herschel Walker of the situation, where they put you in a position you're clearly not qualified for, you don't know how to do it, and now you end up being a laughingstock, being a joke. And now, as you said, now you're not getting the type of career advancement you would have if you just worked your way up, because you jumped too many steps at one time.

But then also, you're setting back the next black person who may be applying for that job. They'll say, well, look, we had Herschel up there for a Senate candidate. See how that happened. And then you lump us in together. So because of those things, I don't think there's anything wrong with what he said. I think that the problem with the Internet is everybody gets to have an opinion. Well, indeed. And also, I think, Kelly, part of this deal

is that when you see things written, you don't hear tone. You don't hear how someone expresses. You don't hear their body language and things along those lines. And so that's a part of it. But also I think that where Tyler is challenging folks on is to Robert's point. Don't get caught up in somebody else's diversity gains because, one, some folk could be setting you up for failure.

That's one. But two, it's having, which is what I'm saying, having the sense to know yourself so well that you're smart enough to say, I'll pass. And they might say, what are you doing? Because I'm not ready. Not I'm not ready out of fear. I'm not ready because I'm scared. It's because if I know I'm not ready,

that means there's some other stuff I need to work on. That's what he's talking about. But when you worked on that stuff, like, for instance, I knew I was ready to host a weekly show. And after three years of hosting that weekly show, I knew I was ready to take on handling a daily show. And I get people pitching me ideas right now. Ron, I want a show.

You ain't never hosted Jack. You actually think you can host a show? Because they think, Van Jones said this when he came to CNN. He's like, hey, because I basically helped teach Van how to do TV. Van was like, man, this is what Van said. Man, we sit on our couch at home and we think we can do this. He said, this ain't no joke. I said, precisely.

Because I'm a pro. This is what I do. Amateurs sitting on the couch. And it wasn't I was wasn't degrading them. But what I was saying is you might know politics. You might know subject matter. But the art of communicating on television, that's a skill set that has to be developed and honed. Kelly? I definitely agree with you there. And upon reading Tyler Perry's statement, I agree. There's nothing there that I don't necessarily disagree with. What I will say is that in both examples, being Tyler Perry's and yours, there was still an environment in which there was a period of training. So in your case, you said, I'm not ready. Give me the tools to get ready. Tyler

Perry is saying, you're not ready. Let me give you the tools to get ready. There are so many situations in the workplace and beyond in which there are no safe spaces to get ready. So I can understand how you, we as Black people and the like can get into situations in which we're not ready, but we feel like we're ready because that's all we know. And then we get in that situation and then the aftermath is what you just described. And that's all we know. And then we get in that situation. And then the aftermath is what you just described. And that's unfortunate. What I find even more unfortunate is that our white counterparts can get into those exact same situations and still fail up. Or as Paul Mooney said, they got the complexion for the protection. Correct. And it is unfortunate. I'm not saying that we should do what we shouldn't do.

I'm just commenting on the situation that it is frustrating. It is. It is incredibly frustrating. As someone who has been on many sides of this conversation, most recently getting let go, not because I wasn't ready, but because I maybe was too ready. Who knows?

But the people who were left in my stead were given the space to train to get ready for their next position because their complexion was their protection. So yes, I understand what you're saying. And in the realm of communications, this happens a lot. Like I have been on your show for three years. I welcome the opportunity to be mentored by you because you are the best that I know. So we hope we eventually come to a point where complexion isn't necessarily protection anymore, where we can find those safe spaces to train to get ready. So here's the last point I'm going to make on this for somebody who's watching. And actually, I love this comment right here on YouTube from Josh Allen. Ambition often outpaces ability. And so this is the final comment here to what Tyler Perry had to say. The reason I was fully aware when I was ready and when I wasn't ready is because one, I had a very strong sense

of what it required, and so therefore, I could tell myself that. See, there are a lot of times you could tell somebody, you ain't ready, and they get mad. Well, first of all, I'm telling you you're not ready is not hatin'. Me telling you you're not ready is really because of, I understand what it takes to get there.

So that's one. So what you need to do, and we're not talking just about Hollywood. Tyler's comments were about diversity in Hollywood. This same applies to any field. First, you should be aligning yourself with what Napoleon Hill calls a mastermind group. People around you who you're able to go to, talk to, and communicate with, who you can bounce things off of, run things by, and share with them.

That's one. Two, you must be locked and loaded on professional development. That means joining organizations. For me, it was the National Association of Black Journalists. I had some alphas who were like, yo, man, all these years, you never came to the frat convention.

No, I had enough money to go to one convention, and it wasn't going to be Alpha, because my profession was NABJ. So by me going to NABJ and being there every year, I was able to talk to professionals about contracts, about opportunities, about how to negotiate things in the newsroom. I was learning the craft from them,

and I was using that experience to bring back to the newsroom. And so that's called professional development. That's what Tyler was talking about. I think it's the third quote, pull it up. That's what he's talking about. He's talking about you have to be able to create the space to train people to build those skillset right there. He says it is my hope that in all of this change and this push for there to be more inclusion, we're also providing time and training to make sure we can do a great job. That is it.

I can't expect you to come out of school knowing how to use a Canon C300 and shoot beautiful video. You have to be trained to do so. But that also means that you must have a willing mind to be trained. And that's the final point. If you want to achieve greatness, you got to put the work in. It ain't going to come just because you can wave in your degree. You can say, I'm a Harvard graduate. I'm a Harvard graduate.

That shit don't mean nothing to me. Can you shoot? Can you edit? Can you to me Can you shoot? Can you edit? Can you write? Can you produce? You got to show me And you know what's going to happen? When you show me

Your skill set will show up And I'll be able to look at your work and say They can't edit worth a damn They can't write a script to save their life Or I might say Yo This cat is hot Or I might say, yo, this cat is hot. Or I might say, they got some potential.

Let's work with them. Folks, put the work in on the front end, and trust me, you will reap the rewards on the back end. Got to go to a break. Coming up next, our Tech Talk segment right here on Roland Martin Unpill to download the app every platform. Apple phone,

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Remember, our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing at least $50 each. That's a year. That's $4.19 a month, $0.13 a day. It's September, October, November, December. Right now, we've got about 10,000 folks who've given. Again, that will give us another 8,000 each month. That's critically important, y'all, for us to be able to cover expenses, for us to be able to expand, launch this 24-hour streaming channel. And, of course, I told you, our OTT app, that's $160,000 a year.

That's just the reality. And so we have to be able to do that. And so PO Box check and money orders go to PO Box 57196. And I told y'all, I don't have millionaires and billionaires sending me big checks and money. And so your donations have made it possible for us to do what we do. But check and money orders go to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RMartinUnfiltered.

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Ben Bella Books is our publisher. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Bookshop, Chapters, Books A Million, Target as well. If you want to order from your favorite black bookstore, they can do it as well. Folks, I'll be right back. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network

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and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. -♪ -♪ -♪ -♪ -♪ -♪ -♪

I travel a whole lot of places, and you know what? I'm looking for places. I'm like, yo, like, what's happening? I'm looking for the black restaurants. I'm looking for this and that. Where can I go to find all things black, if you will? And, you know, you want to do that. Well, Kyle Amaker has done that.

He's created this app that allows for you to be able to find a lot of these businesses. It is called Go Black Own. That's right. Go Black Own specializes in Internet related services and products for black owned businesses from brick and mortar businesses, online restaurants, hotels, events and more. He joins us now from Marlton, New Jersey. Hey, Kyle, how you doing? I'm doing well. How are you? All good. So what caused this for you? Did you go somewhere and you were like, damn, I cannot find some spots? Well, it was a collection of a number of things. My profession is I'm a web developer

and a mobile app developer. And I saw that there was a need, especially during the COVID epidemic, in regards to the black businesses, where their revenue was decreasing. And I was on the vendor side of this. So I saw it firsthand with that. So I wanted to create a platform that would basically utilize my expertise and utilize everything to help them out. But, yeah, in essence, I went to other platforms

and a lot of them, they offer one aspect of it in regards to like a business directory, but nothing more, nothing less. It was more one-dimensional. So with our platform, it's everything. We have businesses, we have restaurants, we got hotels. You can find Black-owned events in your local area. So it encumbrance everything that's anything and everything that's Black-owned.

All right, then. That's awesome. And what has been the response from the businesses? I take it they appreciate you driving the business their way? Absolutely. Absolutely. They're enjoying it, and a lot of businesses are seeing a revenue

spike because of the app, because of the exposure that the platform grants them. The platform is twofold because it's a mobile app as well as a website. In regards to the website, with search engine optimization, with

the search, people are actually finding the business online, as well as people who are downloading the app. If they're looking for a soul food restaurant or a Black-owned event that's in the area, they can find that within the app as well. So it's two-sided, but overall, the main objective is for the Black-owned business to be found. All right. Questions from our panel. First up, Robert. So, Wolf, how do businesses sign up to be featured on here?

How do you verify that they are indeed Black-owned businesses? You know, what are kind of the hermeneutics of how the mechanics of this work? That was a great question. Well, they can actually download the app. And on the home page, there's a banner that says, list your business. So what that does is the business owner, the business owner will input the information in there. And then once it's submitted, we will actually verify them via phone and things that need to make sure that they are Black owned prior to having them live on the platform. All right. Let's see here. Kelly.

Thanks. So are there ways to even further narrow down the listings? So, for example, if I am Muslim and I'm looking for halal restaurants, are there ways to filter those kind of things? Are there Black women-owned categories? Like, how far does your categorization go on this app? Right now, we have it at four categories, which is Black-owned businesses, Black restaurants, hotels, and black-owned events. So for the first question, in regards to the halal and the restaurants,

we do have the separate category in regards to restaurants. And in the subcategory, we do have halal category. So to answer your question, we do have that. However, that was a great suggestion in regards to women-owned businesses and things of that nature. And that's something that we could put out in a new release and things of that nature. But that is a great question. But we did break it up into the four main categories first off. And then, again, as we move forward, we can actually integrate different categories.

All right, Dan. Let's see here. Larry. Yeah, so this actually integrate different categories. All right, then. Let's see here. Larry? Yeah, so this is a great idea. One of the things I'm wondering is you've calculated, you said there's some businesses that have signed up and they've seen a growth in business. Have you been able to calculate how much

money, more money, these various entities and businesses that have signed up with you have made as a result of your ad? Because I'm just thinking about the selling points that you may have as Black folks continue to download your app. That's a great question. Right now, at the moment,

we don't have that metric within our company, but that is something that we can actually introduce moving forward to actually see. Any new businesses that want to sign up, they can say, okay, because of the platform, there was a revenue spike of X amount of dollars and things like that. So again, that's a great point. And again, that's something that we can definitely incorporate into

the app. The app has been in development for two years and we recently launched it in June. So it's still going through the launch phase. But, again, these are suggestions that we definitely will consider to add to that. All right, then. Well, look, we certainly appreciate it. It is a great idea. This is one of the reasons why we have this segment, to give folks like you an opportunity to share your app with everybody else. And so, hope folks download and take advantage of it.

Well, thank you, Roland. I appreciate it. And congratulations on the new book. Yes, sir. I appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Thank you. Have a good one.

Folks, final story today. The theater where James Earl Jones made his Broadway debut has been named in his honor. The new name of the Court Theater on West 48th Street in Manhattan's theater district was unveiled as the James Earl Jones Theater during Monday's dedication ceremony. When Jones, who has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, as well as a Tony, toured the facility,

it brought back memories of him stepping out on the stage for the first time in 1958. I spoke my first line ever on Broadway for me in this theater. I was a kid. I forget how old I was. But I had one line in a play that starred Ralph Bellamy and Mary Fickett. It was called Sunrise at Campobello. My first and only line in the play,

Mrs. Roosevelt, supper is served. But I said, I couldn't get it out. I'm a stutterer. Mary Fickett stood there patiently. The audience knew I was having problems. I'm a young actor on stage for the first time, and I can't get my line out.

She was very patient until I got it out. Mrs. Roosevelt suffered, served, and I exited. I repeated that line every night for a year. And then you became one of the greatest voices in the world. Well, I gained my voice. You certainly did quite well at it. Folks, James Earl

Shone is 91 years old. And I must say this here. He is one of the folks I have always wanted to meet. I've never actually met. Our paths have not crossed. I've met the likes of Morgan Freeman and Harry Belafonte and others. And so hopefully I'll get a chance to shake his hand and meet James Earl Jones one day. Kelly, Robert, Larry, I appreciate you joining us on today's panel.

Thank you so very much, folks. That is it for me. Tomorrow, what's tomorrow, Thursday? Yes, tomorrow or Thursday, I'm going to pop on briefly. We're going to have a guest host tomorrow because I'm flying to New York City. Whoopi Goldberg is hosting a private screening of the movie Till with regards to the lynching of Emmett Till. The screening is at 6 p.m. Eastern. We're live at 6 p.m. Eastern.

And so I am going to be attending that. But I'm going to try to pop on before, right when we go live, and try to give you a live report from there. So that's going to be tomorrow, but y'all still definitely tune in. So that's going to be happening tomorrow. And then, of course, our show on Friday. So folks, that is it for us. Don't forget, please download the Black Star Network app.

Look, we've got almost 900,000 subscribers on YouTube. We should have 900,000 people who've downloaded our Black Star Network app. We own it. We control it. We always talk about having our own. Look, I appreciate YouTube, but the bottom line is we don't own that. But the OTT Network owning it it means we control everything with it. So if you want to see all of our show content, my show, Roger Muhammad's show, Greg Carr's show, Debra Owen's show, Jackie Gooden-Martin's show, Stephanie Humphrey's show,

am I missing somebody? Rolling with Roland. You want to see all those interviews. The interview with Sherri Shepherd is phenomenal. So you want to check that show out. And so again, folks, do so by downloading the Blackstar Network app. And that is, of course, available on all platforms, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And, again, please support us in our Bring the Funk fan club.

Your dollars make it possible for us to do what we do. And, of course, send check and money orders to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal's RMartin Unfiltered.

Venmo's RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And don't forget, get your copy of White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. This is the book right here, y'all.

It is an easy read. Look, you don't have to say a whole lot. Just get to the damn point. And so, be sure to get your copy. And I want to thank the folks who have given us some great blurbs for this. Cornel West, Roland Martin is one of the greatest journalists of our time.

This book is another grand example of his brilliance and courage. On the back of the greatest journalists of our time. This book is another grand example of his brilliance and courage. On the back of the book, Tiffany Cross, Roland Martin has always been such a necessary voice to the national discourse. He beautifully occupies space at the intersection

of journalism, blackness, and truth telling, and he does so brilliantly in his new book, White Fear. Angela Rice said, Roland always tells it like it is. This book is no different, gospel truth. The question here for white folks is timely and is incumbent upon them to answer, what will you do with your fear and how will you respond to this clarion call?

Tim Wise says, America is spinning out of control, but as most pundits struggle to understand why, Roland Martin nails it. What rests at the heart of the nation's chaos is white fear of a multiracial pluralistic democracy. Thankfully, Martin shows us a way out of the mess if the nation is prepared to listen. Jane Elliott says,

it's time to tell the truth about who our earliest citizens were, and by so doing, give those who are descendants of those earliest citizens information about the brilliance of those who came before us and who will be here long after we white folks have gone. Once we get this information into every classroom in the US, we will all stop seeing race as real and start appreciating all

of us as we are. And finally, Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, my alpha brother said, fear is at the root of almost every injustice. Fear of the other, fear that is created by false assumptions or fear created by desire for power. Roland Martin's book addresses a the other, fear that is created by false assumptions, or fear created by desire for power. Roland Martin's book addresses a particular kind of fear that has been both the backdrop and forefront of racism in this country. This is an important read for all people,

regardless of your race and color, understand white fear so you can release and resist it. Again, available on all bookstores. can get it right now folks in the united states and canada you can download white fear uh on audible and purchase it again from amazon barnes and noble ben bella books our publisher and others as well folks uh that is it i will see you tomorrow also like i've been asking about this this shirt i'm gonna find the brother he sent me a couple of these we actually made this shirt uh and i'll have that for you and I'll post it as well. Because a lot of y'all have been commenting on social media about where did I get this shirt.

I got it last year during, well actually in 2020 during the election period. So I'll let you know who I got it from. That's it y'all. I'll see y'all tomorrow. HAL! Thank you. A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up,

so now I only buy one. Small but important ways. From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastin.

And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers. But we also have to learn to take care of ourselves.

A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else. But never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council.

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 starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes.

We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.