#RolandMartinUnfiltered - DOGE Lawsuits, Crockett Chronicles, Ralph Yarl Shooter Guilty Plea, Black History Luncheon

Episode Date: February 15, 2025

2.14.2025 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: DOGE Lawsuits, Crockett Chronicles, Ralph Yarl Shooter Guilty Plea, Black History Luncheon Fourteen states that have filed a federal lawsuit against the twice-impeached criminally convicted felon-in-chief Donald "The Con" Trump and his co-president, Elon Musk. The lawsuit challenges Musk's role as head of the new Department of Government Efficiency. In tonight's Crockett Chronicles, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett reminds her MAGA colleagues, "The truth will set you free!" Missouri's MAGA Attorney General is suing Starbucks, claiming that its workforce is "more female and less white." The White man who shot an unarmed black teen who went to the wrong Kansas City house has admitted guilt in the case. This is Black History Month, and I'll talk with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History president about their annual luncheon. #BlackStarNetwork partner: Fanbasehttps://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbase This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.  This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. You should read the Offering Circular (https://bit.ly/3VDPKjD) and Risks (https://bit.ly/3ZQzHl0) related to this offering before investing. Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox  http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. 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. 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.

Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. 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. 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 hello i'm isaac hayes the, founder and CEO of Fanbase. And right now we're accepting investors in our $17 million round to revolutionize the future of social media. Today, for just $399, you can own 60 shares of stock in Fanbase at $6.65 a share. Go to startengine.com slash fanbase and invest today.

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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 scary. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You can't be black on media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? It's Friday, February 14th, 2025.

Happy belated Black Love Day. This was a day founded in 1993 by I.O. Handy-Kendy right here in the District of Columbia. It's Valentine's Day, other places, but here we'll say it's an extension of Black Love Day. I'm Greg Carr, sitting in the big chair for Brother Roland Martin. And here's what's coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. We'll discuss the 14 states that have filed a federal lawsuit against the twice-impeached,

criminally convicted, felon-in-chief Don the Con Trump and his co-president, maybe even the president, Elon Musk. The lawsuit challenges Musk's role as head of the new Department of Government Efficiency. In tonight's Crockett Chronicles, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett reminds her MAGA colleagues, the truth will set you free. Missouri's MAGA attorney general is suing Starbucks, claiming that its workforce

is, quote, more female and less white, as if that's a bad thing. The white man who shot an unarmed black teen who went to the wrong Kansas City house has admitted guilt in the case. This, of course, is Black History Month. Every month, Black History Month. This is the blackest of them in February. And we will talk with the 30th president and eighth female president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History about their annual luncheon. It's coming up a week from this Saturday. You can still get tickets. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Let's go.

He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's Roland. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks, he's Roland. He's knowing, putting it down from sports to news to politics.

With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's Rolling Martin. Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martel now. Martel!

Unelected private citizen Elon Musk's Doge is facing lawsuits, fancy that, from 14 states across the country, claiming he wields excessive power over the federal government. Additionally, MAGA supporters are expressing outrage because Judge Tanya Chetkin, you'll remember her from the federal case against Donald Trump, is here in D.C., is one of the judges determining how much authority Doge should have. Devin Ambrose, the senior director of courts and legal policy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, will join us now to discuss this issue. Welcome to World of Modern Infiltration, Brother Ambrose.

I appreciate you having me. I wish I didn't have to come on every time there was a constitutional crisis. Would love to just come on and shoot the breeze one day. Don't worry. Don't worry. That day is coming soon. And in the interim, we are very fortunate that you are on the wall, of course, always

with the Center for American Progress and the fact that you are here the wall, of course, always with the Center for American Progress. And the fact that you're here with us again is a testament to the fact that we're not only not going down swinging, we're not going down. So why don't you walk us through, walk our viewers through what's going on here. Obviously it's not a surprise that there's pushback, but folks may get a little bewildered by the flurry of lawsuits. Can you sort some things out for us?

What's the status now? What's going on? Sure. I'm bewildered by the flurry of lawsuits. It's been 100 percent fusillade from day one. There's really two big lawsuits right now that are challenging the constitutionality of Doge and Chancellor Musk's control over the federal government at this point. There's a case brought by the USAID workers who have been put on leave, and there's a case being brought by 14 states, both alleging essentially the same things, that Elon Musk is now an officer of the United States who is second in power only to the president. I would argue that he might have more power than the president at this point, the way that he's operating, because he's apparently not reporting to anybody in the White House.

The White House isn't real sure what he's doing, and they're giving after-action thumbs-ups to him. But it violates the Constitution in a couple of ways. which says that only officers of the United States are permitted to take actions that affect the practice and procedures and what happens at federal agencies. Federal agencies also must be created by the Congress. So Elon is everywhere all at once. He's got his fingers in all the pies and he's directing firings. He's directing shutoffs of federal funding to cancer researchers and Head Start programs to school lunches to farm farm contracts. And he's getting no pushback from the administration. And the Republican Congress is absolutely laid down. So people are saying he can't do this because he was not an elected official. He was not appointed to do any of the things that he's done. And he's not been the executive order, the executive order said they're setting up Doge to figure out software efficiencies and to make recommendations, not to fire several thousand people like they did today.

Yeah. And in fact, yeah, walk us through that now. The way it's being reported, these are at least the ones they're attempting to let go today, I said 1,000 at energy and potentially 200,000 total. These are probationary hires? I mean, they've been there less than a year. They haven't yet been vested. I mean, walk us through that. How do you distinguish between this group and the larger group of federal employees? So this group, and I don't love using the term probationary.

It makes them sound like they did something wrong. How about that? These are among, like, the folks that they're firing are among the best and brightest, people who have worked their lives to reach this point, people who have master's degrees and PhDs and are smarter than you and me, who are just dedicated to working for the betterment of America and mankind. And their only crime, I think in Elon's eyes, are twofold. One, they're not working purely for profit. And two,

they work for the government. And they haven't worked there long enough for any type of procedural due process rights to vest in them yet. So there are some folks who are looking at means for litigating that, but I think we're still in the early and exploratory stages of what that could mean for folks. And last week, when the judge told them they could go ahead with some of this work, it wasn't on the merits, right? It was a question of standing. So could you walk us through that in terms of what? Let's see, which aspect are you talking about? Where they can go through with the buyout? Yeah. The buyout issue? Yes. Yes. If they could. Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly right. Except the buyouts. Yes, sir. Yeah. Yeah. That was on standing, which basically means the parties who

brought the case didn't have what they call standing, an identifiable injury to proceed forward on. I think there's still a big constitutional question out there because they are saying they're obligating funds ahead of time that only Congress has the right to do. And Congress has not obligated funds for, I think, 60,000 people have signed up for the early resignation. But Congress didn't sign off on paying 60,000 people to do nothing for the next seven months. And if you want to talk about waste, fraud, and abuse, well, Elon's right there wasting your money on people who aren't doing work, who would otherwise be serving the public. Absolutely. Oh, that's fascinating.

I hadn't thought about that. Yeah, so the money wasn't encumbered. Now, in terms of the strategy, you know, we've talked, obviously, a whole lot, and y'all been talking a lot over the last year, even more, about Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation. At least to my recollection, what we're in prong for now, one being the actual report, the project, two being putting that database together of replacement folks, three taking them through a quick boot camp, and then four trying to get rid of as many people as you can and stuff these kind of political appointees into those jobs. Clearly they're running roughshod over the Constitution. Well, I shouldn't say clearly.

In fact, I guess my question for you is, maybe it's still too early, but given what we've seen so far, at least at the district court level with these federal judges, do you expect that the unconstitutionality of these moves is going to be the thing that undoes them? Or should we be a little concerned about perhaps as it goes through the appellate process and gets to the courts of appeals and ultimately the Supreme Court, which seems to be the only court they care about, that they might actually prevail on some of these theories as to how they can get rid of the workers. You know, I think we're going to end up winning some, and I think we're going to end up losing

some. I think things like birthright citizenship, for all intents and purposes, should be a slam dunk. The 14th Amendment is very clear on the constitutionality of what that means. But we've seen this court be anti-worker, anti-government, and expanding presidential powers. And so it's going to be very odd to see what happens because Thomas has opposed things like impoundments. In the past, Scalia has openly mocked impoundment, and impoundment just being a complete federal funding freeze on everything that is happening. Roberts wrote a memo saying there is no constitutional right to impoundment, and Elon

and Trump are impounding everything left and right, and they're leaving the American people out to dry. So I am hopeful that impoundment continues to exist. There's been a long history of the Supreme Court saying that workers have a property right to procedural due process when they're being fired from their jobs. And so that's important to figure out. What's going to be interesting to see is when they start implementing this Schedule F program to redesignate hundreds of thousands of federal employees to fire a bullet will, what the Supreme Court says at that point. Yeah, absolutely.

I'm going to, if you don't mind, I'm going to invite our Friday night panel to join us, Mr. Ombres. First off, we have, of course, Michael M. Hotep, host of the African History Network show out of Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Avis Jones DeWeaver, author of How Exceptional Black Women Lead, Unlocking the Secrets to Creating Phenomenal Success in Career and in Life, and the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Max Black Media out of National Harbor, Maryland, and attorney Matt Manning, civil rights attorney out of Corpus Christi, Texas. Matt, let's start with you. Any questions for Devin Albrez from the Center for the American Way? Yeah, I have two questions. Good evening, Devin, and thank you for sharing your insight.

First question for you is, what is the potential practical effect of a loss here? And what I mean is, in this event, let's say the lawsuits don't go the right way for the plaintiffs. Are we looking at likely the Senate confirming him, him truly being appointed to some position? Because when I was reading this, I was concerned, like, maybe we're backing ourselves into a corner where he can end up having an actual confirmed position. So what are your thoughts in that respect? And then the second question is, is this seeking a permanent injunction? I mean, what could happen in the interim if a judge says, OK, I think there's a potential risk of harm? Does that mean that Elon is likely to be sidelined until a judge makes a final decision on that?

What are your thoughts in that respect? So that's two interesting questions. And as I was reading those. 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,

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

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

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

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Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers. But we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else. But never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the

Ad Council. Briefs. I was slightly concerned about that too. But I think the thing that we need to take into context is if Doge is going to be this federal entity that has these massive cross-cutting authorities across every aspect of our lives, which they apparently do at this point, they're in our nuclear secrets, they're in our health care, they're in our education system, Congress is going to need to create some type of framework and system that Doge could populate and Elon or would have somebody be the head of. So in order to get that, they would actually have to create this type of body, which is going to take, I think, a fair amount of work. And I think it would still have to overcome a 60-vote threshold. So I think that is a possible bulwark to all of this. If it comes down on our side and Doge's sideline, because oftentimes courts will look at enjoining activities if there is an opportunity for

irreparable harm and if the plaintiffs are likely to win on the merits. And I think that there is a strong possibility that they could win on the merits because they've listed five different things, including our new Supreme Court's favorite thing, the major questions doctrine, because certainly what they're doing is questions of major political and economic importance. And so if there is a temporary restraining order, that would, I think, to a degree sideline Elon. The thing that concerns me at that point is if Trump just blows through that and says, we don't care, we're going to do this anyway. I mean, we're already in a constitutional crisis now. At that point, the Constitution is out the window and Trump is lighting it on fire.

My goodness. And it sounds like J.D. Vance and Attorney General Biondi, they're chomping at the bits. Well, they think they're Andrew Jackson or somebody who's in the Indian Removal Act, which is bad enough. They're just going to say, we don't care. You have an army. So thanks, Matt. Dr. Avis, it's good to see you, sis. Any questions, conversation for Devin? DEVIN HILLIARD, Former U.S. Attorney General for the United States of America, Absolutely. And great to see you too, by the way. I have to say, you were going in the direction there of where my question was, because, clearly, this administration has shown that they really don't give a damn about what the Constitution says.

They don't give a damn about rules and procedures. They don't give a damn about whether or not they have the authority to do what they're doing. They're just doing it anyway. And what makes me more concerned, even though we have seen some relief by some court decisions thus far at the federal level, my concern is that this is the first case that I know of that's specifically targeting Elon Musk that is acting, honestly, as an independent citizen in this very lawless way, let's just continue to play that what-if game, right? So what if these—you know, the rulings go in the direction that we believe that it should,

but Elon says, I'm just going to do what the hell I want to do, because that's what he's been doing thus far. He's already getting away with unprecedented power, taking away jobs from thousands of people, leading to the deaths of individuals in terms of the work that USAID did. So I'm just wondering what happens if we do find ourselves at a moment of constitutional crisis, what's the next move? Yeah, no, and that's something that we're all struggling with right now. There are things that the Supreme Court could ostensibly step in. I think when you saw the last couple of days with the Eric Adams pay-for-play scandal playing out, where Justice Roberts and Justice

Kavanaugh's clerk, who was also an eight-year Army Ranger with two bronze stars, called it corrupt. He was not writing that letter to Emile Bove, the assistant attorney general. He was writing that to Roberts and Kavanaugh. He was telling them, this is what is going on and this can impose civil contempt penalties against somebody. And you can impose a million dollars a day against Elon for the rest of his life, and that's not going to matter. But what if a federal judge starts imposing a hundred million dollar a day fine on Elon to personally pay? That's going to be interesting. And Elon will not take that well. But that is, you know, we have to start thinking outside the box

of ways to wrest power from megalomaniacs. Indeed. Thank you, Dr. Avis. And I must confess, Devin, I mean, for those who are fighting the legal fight and have been fighting it for so very long, there is something very energizing if there is indeed a rule of law in this country. Imagine that. And I'm assuming that these young people who he has rifling through people's papers, they're not immune either. I think a fine of any amount might be too much for the muskrats.

So, you know, but but at any rate, let's go to Mike M. Hotep, Brother M. Hotep, any questions for Devin? Yes, Dr. Gregg, good to have you on on Frederick Douglass' birthday also, February 14th. Yes, sir. Can't forget that. No doubt. All right. Okay. Devin, I know you mentioned the appointments clause, so I think you were referring to the recess appointments clause, Article 2, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Am I correct? No, I was actually referring to the appointments clause regarding an office—and it might be. I don't have the Constitution in front of me, so I apologize.

But just the appointment of officers requiring Senate approval. Okay, so—because Article 2, Section 2, the appointments clause I was talking about, that refers to the president being able to fill vacancies during a Senate recess. And that was floated in late November 2024, after Trump unfortunately won the election, trying to speed up the process of filling vacancies. So, with this here, I know NBC News has an article dealing with the 14 states filed a lawsuit arguing Elon Musk's authority at Doge's is unconstitutional. I was trying to find

out what type of violation of the appointments clause are the 14 attorney generals saying that Donald Trump is committing, appointing, appointing Elon Musk. Ah, okay. They're saying that he is—so the appointments clause that we got into what feels like 10 years ago, the recess appointments clause, is not applicable here, certainly at least not yet. They are arguing that under the Constitution that only an officer of the United States is allowed to direct the actions of federal agencies and departments, and federal agencies and departments, and federal agencies and departments must be, one, created by statute by the Congress, and two, be directed by a Senate-confirmed officer. And so all the cabinet members are considered appointment officers. Elon has power over all of the cabinets at this point. And so he is Right. created by Congress to operate in any specific way. And he is effectively a dirt chancellor

of the government at this point, being helped along by a bunch of 25-year-olds at the oldest. So that's the appointments clause we're talking about. He is effectively an officer of the United States who is running the federal government without being elected or confirmed by the Senate. Yeah, it's a department that was not created by the Congress, basically. It was not created by the Congress. And the president tried to create it through an executive order renaming the United States Digital Services, the U.S. Doge Services. But the executive order spells out what Doge is supposed to be. and they're supposed to be looking for efficiencies in software and recommendations for maybe outdated regulations. But instead, they're firing people and cutting off all funding for every federal project there is.

Right, 2.4 million federal employees, according to the New York Times analysis, 146,000 retire or quit every year. Only 75,000 have accepted this fake buyout. So it's like, once again, you're not being efficient. Because you can literally just have a hiring freeze, and you would get the attrition rates you'd want to in a couple of years instead of, you know, people have been saying they feel like they're being hunted for sport. Like the cruelty is the point here. Yeah.

And Elon loves cruelty. Yes. Yeah. Thank you. Hey, Doc, can I ask another question? Oh, please, man. Absolutely. Please, man.

And Devin, I don't mean to put you on the spot in any way, but if I may ask one more question, what is your thought about, I guess, the scope of his authority being a special government employee? One of the things I've been wondering about is how the immunity would apply, like to your point, if he basically doesn't have the actual legal authority to do what he's doing. I'm wondering how that immunity would apply. Have you all addressed that issue or thought about that? We haven't yet, and I haven't thought about it too deeply, so I appreciate the question. I mean, if you're talking about immunity from anything that he's doing right now, I think in any other world, he would be being prosecuted by an independent Department of Justice for effectively trying to usurp governmental authority over everything.

But we know that we no longer have an independent Department of Justice. I think he is not subject to immunity under the Trump v. U.S. holding last year, even though he is effectively the acting president. But he would, you know, be subject to any pardons that Trump wants to throw his way, which I'm sure will come at some point. Thank you, Matt. Theoretically, I could file like an FTCA claim against Musk and argue, you know, essentially he's not he's not cloaked with the sovereign immunity of the United States because he doesn't have actual authority to do what he's doing. I mean, theoretically, right. But I mean, theoretically, I don't, uh, it's been a minute since I've been a practicing

attorney. Um, you, you being the real deal, I mean, just playing one on TV. Um, I, you know, I think that's real. I'm surprised that nobody's filed First Amendment lawsuits against him and X because X is effectively a government-run news service right now. And so anything that is banned there is a First Amendment violation. I don't know why nobody's filed that suit yet. Thank you, Matt. I got one more quick question, Devin. Given, you know, given the fact that, like, where you sit, obviously you've got a kind of eagle's view of how these winds are shifting.

As we see these lawsuits being filed, at the state level, there haven't been any Republican attorneys general who have filed or who have joined. Last night, Roland was talking to Randall Wolfen, the mayor of Birmingham, about the National Institute for Health pause on their grants. And it was interesting because Senator Britt out of Alabama has been trying to back channel. And I wonder if you have any thoughts on what these states are trying to do, these Republican led states, because it seems like they're hanging back.

So if the Democratic states, the AGs, file and win, they win. And if they lose, do you think they're going to see carve-outs and exemptions? I mean, talk about constitutional crisis. It's almost like the Cold Civil War is heating up again, and these states are almost taking sides based on politics in ways that we haven't seen, I don't know, maybe since the 1860s. Any thoughts on the legal strategy of these attorneys general and what may be going on right in front of us? So we've already seen or heard news of senators seeking carve-outs from Donald Trump and Elon directly. For instance, Potash, which is a farm supplement and being sought as a carve-out for tariffs coming from Canada,

from Chuck Grassley. What I think is a really interesting strategy taken by the Dem AGs is that they are not seeking universal, they're not seeking universal injunctions or nationwide injunctions for some of the cutoffs that they're suing on. They're looking for it only for their states. And so if they win on their causes, then they're going to open the floodgates to funding to blue state programs, and red states are going to be stuck in the mire, and red states are going to feel the heat, and red states are going to have to be the ones who are going to have to find a spine to stand up for their constitutional duty and our constitutional rights as Americans, because right now they're all supplicants to Trump and Elon. And their people are going to be harmed until such time as they figure it out. That is interesting.

You know, again, I mean, real lives are being harmed. People are in harm's way. I mean, this is a hell of a civics lesson, though. That is a very fascinating strategy. If they win, these guys got to get in line. That's fascinating. Hey, listen, thank you That is a very fascinating strategy. If they win, these guys got to get in line. That's fascinating. Hey, listen, thank you for spending some time with us. We'll obviously be calling on you again

in the near future to continue this. Devin Ombres, Senior Director of Courts and Legal Policy for the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Always good to be with you, man, and we look forward to talking with you. I appreciate all you do. Thank you. You too, man.

So we will be back in a moment here at Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hey, y'all. Welcome to the other side of change only on the Black Star Network and hosted by myself, Rhea Baker, and my good sis, Jameera Burley. We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture. And we don't just settle for commentary. This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to The Other Side of Change. What's up, y'all? Look, Fanbase is more than a platform.

It's a movement to empower creators, offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in Black-owned tech, infrastructure, and help shape the future of social media. Investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The Black community must not only consume tech, we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding Black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital directly through their community, through the jobs act. Me Sherri Shepard and you know if you're questioning the Democrats, it's time to face the truth. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And just in case I go over,

I just wanted to note that the previous speaker went over by a minute. We've heard a lot about the fact that Democrats have been talking about Elon Musk. And let me give you a news alert. We not gonna stop talking about him. We gonna keep talking about him until he is out of here. Now, if he wants to be elected or appointed and confirmed to something, then so be it. But as of right now, we have somebody that for whatever reason, I don't know if y'all

just trying to play in our face because you think we're stupid or if you literally just cannot see the difference in a George Soros and a Bill Gates. But let me give you a little bit of the difference. Number one, George Soros nor Bill Gates ever somehow decided to turn off the spigot of money that was going through to various organizations and agencies to the extent that it had actually been ordered by law that they should have access to it, to the extent that people are dying. There are people that have died as a result of to the extent that people are dying. There are people that have died as a result of this antic and there are now farmers that are screaming that they may lose their family farms because we have over 500 million dollars worth of food that is sitting and

not going anywhere because of the attempt to shut down USAID. So let me tell you that is the big difference between the two of them and let me also you, that is the big difference between the two of them. And let me also tell you that a big difference between Democrats and Republicans is that we don't just say we believe in the Constitution, but we walk it like we talk it. What does that mean? That means that if we believe in the Constitution, we don't just pick out the Second Amendment and say that it is limitless, nor do we pick out the First Amendment and say that it is limitless. The thing about the Constitution is that it has always been a balancing test. There are limits to this. And right now, what we continue to hear from a certain side of the aisle is that there are no limits to this lawlessness. In fact,

there are limits. And I can tell you that one of those limits typically is around hate crimes. You may or may not know that when it comes down to it, if somebody decides that they want to send something hateful in, say, the U.S. mail, they can actually go to prison for that, up to five years in prison. So, yes, there are always going to be limits. So, when we start to talk about Trump and him being pulled down on any platform, this just happened to be after he incited an insurrection. This just happened to be after, in a bipartisan way, this particular chamber decided that they were going to impeach him. So there was something a little different about what he did, because as we know, it led to people actually dying.

But let's talk about who's doing the nefarious things with the tech giants because i don't think that one side of the aisle is promoting truth but sometimes it may seem a little treasonous all right so we've got this article right here about this guy meta says it will end its fact-checking program on social media posts. I'll talk about that a little bit later. Then we have Washington Post says it will not endorse a candidate for president. We also know that... 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 Business Week. 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 Drugs podcast. Apple Podcasts. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple 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 thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Actually, they absolutely intended to endorse Kamala Harris. We have this one. Google Maps now show Gulf of America instead of Gulf of Mexico for app users in the United States, which is a complete farce because it's the Gulf of Mexico.

It always has been. And we know that the AP got kicked out yesterday because they refused to buy into this lie because that's all y'all really want to promote is lies. That's the big issue that we have. Elon Musk boosted false USA conspiracy theories to shut down global aid. Now, while he was boosting those lies about U.S. aid and he was stopping money going for, say, things such as Head Start, somehow the only money that didn't stop was the money to him and his organization. Now, I don't know how you can have him be the watchdog as well as the guy that is literally living off of the government. If we want to talk about government welfare, it looks like Elon Musk, because it's my understanding that just on yesterday, a new contract was approved for approximately $300 million for Elon Musk. So listen,

I just want y'all to be honest. You want to sit here, you want to lie, because so often we hear, well, you know, yeah, we did lie. In fact, he admitted that he lied when he was in the Oval Office yesterday. But if it's a lie that will get you into office, such as saying, I know nothing about Project 2025, yet on day one, you literally do everything that you can to implement it, including making sure that you put, say, one of the main architects of Project 2025 over the OMB, it's okay so long as you get the power that you seek. The problem is that the game is going to be on the American people. And when I say the American people, I mean all of us.

Unfortunately, I am also stuck in the twilight zone because of the lies that were allowed to be propagated. Just like when you're talking about vaccines and all this nonsense, right now in my state of Texas, there is an outbreak of measles. And what they are finding is that because there's been so much disinformation about vaccines that kids are sick right now with measles that they did not have to have if they just trusted doctors and experts instead of randoms online. So I will end by saying this, Mr. Chairman, because I know we believe in Jesus in this chamber. In John 8 and 32, it says the truth shall set you free. So maybe we should focus on a little bit of truth in this chamber.

My goodness, Jasmine Crockett has been speaking truth to power. Dr. Avis, from where you sit, obviously Jasmine Crockett is establishing a standard in terms of how this foolishness needs to be pushed back. What's your assessment of what Democrats have been doing so far? Because we don't seem to see that type of fire. I mean, there obviously are exceptions, but what's your assessment of what Democrats are doing up to now in the federal legislature, and what do you think they should be doing? How unfiltered am I allowed to be? Now, you know, you hear from the founding doc,

you already know what this is. We're two blocks from the White House, so I know they come busting up in here, you know, knock if you buck, but I'm just saying. Now, here is the thing. I understand that they are at a numeric disadvantage. So I understand about the practicalities of what they can and cannot do with regards to asserting power over the situation. However, I have been beyond disappointed in seeing the relative silence out of them for weeks. I am. And let me just also say this. shit about the fact that we have lost 60 years of civil rights infrastructure on his first day in office. And it is now legal to discriminate in hiring and federal contracting throughout the federal government and with every private company that does business with the federal government. So I want people to understand that now you might as well be living again in Jim Crow,

because this is Jim Crow era legal realities that we're operating under right now as black people in America. And where are our leaders? I hear crickets. I hear crickets. And I appreciate what Representative Crockett is doing, like the energy that she's bringing to this. But I'm still pissed that it took weeks for them to sort of get the memo that they need to do something except just being, in essence, you know, these very timid questioners as people are being approved. And I'm still waiting for someone to express outrage, for someone to really understand and articulate to the American people what it means when he rescinded Executive Order 11246. I think that it is derelict of duty for those people who claim to be leaders. And let me just also say, and I'll stop here, not just elected leaders, but those who claim to be leaders in our community.

Where are you? Where are you now? That's right. Why are you so silent? That's right. Why are you muzzled? Who is really pulling the strings? Yes. What is going on here? Because I understand the gravity of this moment. I'm outraged. I'm pissed. I'm doing what I can do as a private citizen, specifically with regards to trying to help give direction to business owners who have been sorely impacted by this as we speak.

But those people who are elected to office in heavily, heavily Black districts and seeing the rights of Black people being ripped away right in front of their eyes. The silence is deafening. And I just want to finally say this needs to be rectified or there needs to be some different choices made when primary season comes because I believe that if we're going to have leaders, we need to have leaders. We don't need to have seat fillers. We need to have leaders. I know that's right.

And we are at this moment completely, I'm completely underwhelmed. And that's putting it very lightly with regards to my assessment of the reaction that has been provided or rather the non-reaction to the ripping away of rights that our people fought and died for. Yes. It's just really insulting to me at a base level as someone who understands what's happened. And I know they understand it. So why aren't you at least educating the people about it and speaking out about it, such that you can shame, attempt to inject some shame into the situation with regards to the degree of violence that has been done to our rights

by this ilk that's in office right now. It's truly infuriating. Thank you, Doc. And we know, of course, that they have a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives, and I can never tell whether or not Jim Jordan has a t-shirt on or not. Anyway, the voters in Ohio don't seem to be

particularly intelligent in picking who they send to the federal legislature, at least not Jim Jordan's district. But Mike, in terms of what's coming up right in front of us, thinking about this as Avis has framed it, I mean, we should be fueled by this kind of, these indignities, I mean, just brazen. You know, we saw the man's mug shot in a frame

right outside the Oval Office today. The picture was floated. I mean, but even beyond that, there are three open house seats, right? We know Stefancic is now representing, God bless America, the country at the UN. And so the New York 21st is open, the Florida 6th, Mike Waltz, and of course, Matt Gates, who thought he was going to be attorney general, so he resigned his seat in the Florida first. In the short term, how should people be thinking, and of course we know 90 million people didn't vote at all,

which was the biggest number between Trump or Harris, but how should people be thinking about what they can do right now to get organized and to move? As Ava said, she's not waiting on any congressperson. We're going to do what we can. And are those three seats in play? The media will tell us that they're in blood-red districts, but what's your opinion?

Well, first of all, I think to be engaged, number one, people need to be informed. That's why you need to watch the Black Star Network. Stop listening to black social media disinformation agents, because they helped you get into this position in the first place when they told you don't vote for Kamala Harris. You see Project 2025, you see it being implemented right now. New York Times has an extensive analysis that breaks down how, in the first 23 days of Donald Trump's administration, he's implemented 60 measures that come right from Project 2025, whether they are executive orders or memos

or what have you. And then, also, you want to organize. Now, back during the first Trump administration, you had a lot of people all over the country that organized based upon the document called Indivisible. And Indivisible was put together by former congressional staffers, and it dealt with fighting against the Trump administration. And it has strategies and taught you to understand civics and how to put pressure on your member of the House of Representatives and your member of the U.S. Senate, because you and other people like you in those districts and states can vote those people out of office.

So, you have people now who are revisiting that. Indivisible is being formed in different chapters across the country. And it was—we know a couple Wednesdays ago, Indivisible organized a national day of protest, 50-51, 50 states, 50 protests. They protested at state capitals on one day. And we keep in mind, going back to the first Trump administration, when they saved the Affordable Health Care Act and John McCain gave the thumbs down, that was a result of pressure coming from everyday citizens organizing, visiting their members of the House of Representatives every Tuesday, visiting their members of the Senate, etc., and putting pressure on them to save the Affordable Health Care Act. Also, we have to understand how, with the measures that Trump is implementing right

now, the downsizing of the federal government, OK, almost 19 percent of federal employees are African-American. But the measures that he's putting in place are hurting everybody. The New York Times has an extensive article talking about how farmers who voted for Trump are being hurt, whether it's him putting a pause on the Inflation Reduction Act, shutting down USAID, et cetera. And then, remember, the trade war that Trump started with China, which killed the soybean market for farmers here, OK? So, then the U.S. government had to do $26 billion in aid for farmers using taxpayer dollars because of him. So, we have to—there's so much going on at the same time.

But we have to organize, educate ourselves, understand civics, understand the law. And lastly, African-Americans have to redirect dollars from businesses that have stopped diversity, equity and inclusion, a rollback from that. Redirect those dollars to black owned businesses, because a lot of times people are like there's a there's a campaign to don't spend any money on February 28th. That's the last day of Black History Month. You should be spending money with Black-owned businesses. See, we still haven't figured this out. We only deal with giving white people our money or taking it away, but we don't have enough self-respect to redirect that energy to spend our dollars with Black-owned businesses so that they can grow economically and employ more African-Americans. So we talk about redistribute, redirect, and renegotiate. Redistribute the pain through targeted economic withdrawal strategies,

renegotiate our relationship with corporate America for more supplier contracts, et cetera, and redirect our dollars to African-American-owned businesses. This is what we have to do in 2025. Indeed. And we have experience with all of those. So it shouldn't be too difficult once, I guess, we feel enough pain. Well, that's why we have to study the history. No question. There's no question about it, brother. Brother Matt, finally, in the first block, when we were talking with Devin Ombres,

the questions you raised, I mean, really nudging us toward the big question of constitutional crisis, which is raised. Do you think we are on the precipice of a constitutional crisis? And if so, how should we be acting at this point? So, yes, Doc, and I appreciate that question. I had lunch with a couple lawyers and we were talking about it.

And what's interesting that a lot of people don't realize, I'm sure you and Michael and Dr. Avis know, is the Supreme Court has never truly been a co-equal branch until like the modern era, essentially. When the country was founded, they were kind of the redheaded stepchild, if you will, of the branches. And it's interesting that they are having an outsized significance these days, considering in the history of this country they have not. I tell you all of that to say what concerns me is the big issue is the courts are responsive, but they're not something that reacts in real time. So what I've been

racking my brain on is what do we do right now? Because lawsuits and everything are fine, but Elon Musk is looting the government today. That's right. And until I get in front of a judge and I get a judge to give me an order and I get them to adhere to that order, there's all kinds of damage being done. So yes, I think we're at a constitutional crisis now. But the question that I keep asking myself and that I don't have an answer for you on is, what do we do real time? Because the problem is right now, maybe down the road, the Senate confirms Elon Musk, but there is so much damage done between today and that day, right?

And what you do in real time, I don't know. I don't know whether some of the strategies that Michael mentioned, but I do know and some of the things that Dr. Avis mentioned, I do know that what's not going to work is what we thought would work, what used to work. And now I don't know if that means our representatives, for instance, in the House need to start filibustering despite the statute that doesn't allow them to do that, whether they need to be standing at 1600 Pennsylvania every day, what we need to be doing as a people, because the things we would normally have as mechanisms to respond are clearly not only ineffective, but are not being given the same gravitas they normally are, i.e. the court system. And I don't know where that leaves us, but I do know that I think it has to be more radical action than thoughts and prayers and thought pieces and long social media posts.

That's not going to get us there. And I don't know what the answer is in real time, but I'm trying to find that answer myself. No question. We should reach out and find out, talk to Cliff and Latosha and the folks at Black Voters Matter, because right now the Republicans have a 218-215 advantage in the federal legislature. Those three seats are open. So as I said before, the Florida 6th, the New York 21st, and the Florida 1st. And you can't tell me there aren't enough people in all three of those districts to flip those seats. And we might be able to make short work of this

in the near future because they're going to have to have special elections. But that would require a hell of a lot of work. And of course, we've done that kind of work before. We can do it again. So we're going to take a pause here for a moment. Roland Martin Unfiltered will be right back here on the Black Star Network. Hey, y'all. Welcome to the other side of change,

only on the Black Star Network and hosted by myself, Rhea Baker, and my good sis, Jameera Burley. We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture. And we don't just settle for commentary. This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to the other side of change. When you talk about Blackness and what happens in Black culture, covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns.

This is a genuine people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it. And you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in Black-owned media. Your dollars matter.

We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. Waits $100,000. We're behind $100,000, so we want to hit that. Your money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196,

Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. PayPal is rmartinunfiltered. Venmo is rmunfiltered. Zelle is roland at rolandsmartin.com. I'm Russell L. Honore, Lieutenant General, United States Army, retired. And you're watching Roland Martin on Filth. If you've been noticing prices creeping up at the grocery store or that new car costing way more

than you expected, this next story probably has something to do with it. The twice impeached, criminally convicted, felon-in-chief Donald the Con Trump is looking to shake up America's trade policies again, at least that's what he's saying, pushing for what he calls, quote, fair and reciprocal tariffs. I hate to even use that phrase. What that means, well, it means if other countries tax American-made products, the United States could charge them the same kind of fees when they sell goods here.

On paper, that might sound like a win for American businesses, but here's the catch. Those costs usually get passed down to us, the consumers. Yes, it's a tax. The tariff is a tax. So while the goal is to help U.S. companies compete, at least that's what they say, it should also mean that we pay more for everyday items from electronics to clothing. Trump's team has 180 days to figure out which countries could face these new taxes, and he's already pointing fingers at India, saying they tax American goods more than anyone else. And let's not forget China, Canada, Mexico. They're also on his radar, among others.

In fact, let's add another country to that mix, one that hasn't been sitting back, one that has taken some preemptive action since he's had their name in his mouth with his little apartheid era-born friend, Elon Musk, no doubt whispering in his ears or perhaps even pulling the puppet strings. South Africa is taking a bold and unapologetic stand against the United States

after Donald Trump cut off all U.S. funding to the nation. In a move that could shake up global politics, South Africa is shutting down all American businesses within its borders and halting mineral exports to the United States. The message from Pretoria is loud and clear. Africa is not a beggar continent. A South African government spokesperson says the country, quote, will no longer be taken for granted.

This is no small move. The United States earns over $25 billion in profits from South Africa every year, but that revenue will be gone. And it's not just businesses that will be losing. The minerals that power American industries will no longer flow. President Cyril Ramaphosa says that he has had enough of Trump's accusations from land confiscations to so-called, quote, horrible crimes. The U.S. is also skipping the G20 talks in Johannesburg. Brother Mike, yeah, I saw little Marco say he wasn't going.

The arrogance of Marco. And then, of course, the South Africans are like, fool, the meeting is in South Africa, but it's a global meeting. What the hell are you doing? Mike, what do you think, what do you make of these saber-rattling terror threats and the fact that the rest of the world seems, if not yet ready to move on completely, certainly seems to be offshoring things and making other alliances and making other arrangements to perhaps hasten the decline, the inevitable decline of the U.S. empire. Any thoughts on either of these stories?

Well, other countries are looking at how deranged Donald Trump is, and I would argue worse than the first time around. And they're making moves to protect their country, to protect their economy. With this right here, this is more saber-rattling. But one, Trump doesn't really understand how tariffs work. And this is all designed to distract people from the fact that he has not brought grocery prices down, which he said would come down on day one, his first day in office. He also said he would end the Ukraine war his first day in office as well. That hasn't ended either, OK?

The price of eggs are going up, and that's because tens of millions of chickens have been killed because of avian flu. But—and remember, in December 2024, when he was interviewed by Kristen Welker, I think it was December 2024, the month after the election, NBC News, he said, well, once prices go up, it's very hard to bring them down, OK? He was already backing away from bringing down grocery prices because he knew he could not do it. So now what he's going to do is try to distract with more saber-rattling.

But if he implements these reciprocal tariffs and the stock market tanks again like it did when—like it did on that Monday, the day before he was supposed to implement the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, the stock market started going down, the futures market started going down. Then he backed off of that. The same thing is going to happen here. But this is all a con by Donald Trump, the con, OK, to distract from the fact that he can't bring down the price of groceries.

He does not know how to do that. All right. So this is what you're dealing with. Now, he keeps lying, once again, like he did in the first term, that South Africans were taking land away from white South African farmers, things like this. OK? Well, first of all, as far as I'm concerned, they should take the land away, because it's their land. Those are descendants of the invaders who came in 1652, OK? Let's keep it

straight. But what Trump and Musk, the South Africana Musk, are saying that Cecil Ramaphosa and the South Africans are doing, taking away the land, punishing the white land, that's not what's happening. But let me just be the first to say, Elon Musk, go back to Africa. They don't want him, brother. They don't want him. And I wouldn't want him either. You know what I'm saying?

Tell him to go back to Africa. No, no. Go back to Africa. I mean, I'm not quite sure. Is he a boar? Is he an Afrikaner? He's an Afrikaner. Okay, so maybe he can go back to Holland then.

He doesn't need to go back to South Africa. He can go back to the Dutch and maybe they'll take him. Who knows? But let me ask you, Matt, as we're talking about this and these stories, you know, a great deal of this seems to be around strategic minerals. We know China has cornered the market in so much of it. You know, even as we see Elon Musk and one of his children there on his shoulders in the Oval Office talking crazy, he hasn't, he certainly hasn't broken off relations with China.

We saw this week that they just opened a $200 million battery plant in Shanghai. And Elon Musk's Tesla. 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. With 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 call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.

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

And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-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. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers. But we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-up way, 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 that occasion. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Is the one that's operating the plant. What's going on here? Do you think these tariffs will materialize? And what do you think the impact would be if they did? Well, let me first readily concede I don't understand all the economics. But from what I've read, many of the economists say this is not going to have the desired effect that he's intending for it to have. Now, I will tell you there's something interesting in one of the articles I read in preparation for today. I did not know that Germany has a $72 billion trade surplus between themselves and the United States based on the imbalance of the tariff as it relates

to American products going to Germany as opposed to European products coming here. So maybe I'll be the unpopular voice and say that I would like to see how the economics on that shake out. That might allow some kind of negotiation that could be in the American interest. The caveat to that, however, is there is an anti or a very far right anti-immigration movement in Germany right now that's terrifying. And it scares me the idea of the United States and this authoritarian in chief in any way aligning with the Germans right now, who have, from my

understanding, had a moratorium on any kind of extreme far-right policy parties being involved in the government. And that really, really concerns me. So I don't know if there's some deeper thing behind the veil that we can't see as it relates to the implementation of those tariffs. It's also interesting that you mentioned China, because that was my first thought. I mean, if China is being floated as public enemy number one for the United States, this seems to be counter to American first ideals. If you, you know, affect the standing of America on the African continent, and you allow entree for China to continue to cement its foothold. That seems to me to be inconsistent with their focus. But I will say, the best part of all of this is I love that South Africa said, kick rocks, we don't need you.

That to me is crucial. And I hope that takes root across the African continent even further, where other countries are saying, we don't need you. We don't need you. And here's the thing. You need our minerals. Y'all have been taking minerals and taking natural resources since time immemorial, and now it stops.

And I'm wondering how that's going to play out. But it does concern me that with somebody like Trump, he may then use a war as a subterfuge to get to those minerals. I wouldn't be surprised if he's then talking about military action to go save the oppressed Afrikaners and Boers there in South Africa as an entree to get those minerals. I mean, who knows what they're going to do next. That does concern me. But I like that South Africa has taken this stance and has said unequivocally, we are a sovereign nation. We don't need you. Kick rocks.

By the way, the stuff you've been getting from us, you will get no more. I think that is a very strong flag to plant in the sand. And I'm hoping that, you know, that takes root across the continent. I would agree with you, brother. Yeah, it's definitely resource wars. I mean, with Trump talking crazy about Gaza. And, of course, as we count down till noon tomorrow, I guess by noon tomorrow, all the Israeli hostages are supposed to be released.

And Bibi Netanyahu has never had any intent except to continue the killing. I'd be very surprised if they don't go back in there right now. But, of course, one of the things that is under-discussed is the fact that the Levant gas field under Gaza with 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. So people are talking about 2 million Palestinians. No, let's talk about 122 million cubic feet of natural gas in Gaza.

These folks are fighting over resources. And Elon Musk is not in this. He's with the Chinese. And as the South Africans said the other day, there will be no vacuum. If the United States pulls out, China will be there. Dr. Avis, what do you make of these geopolitics? I mean, the United States has not sold more than it has imported since 1975. So this isn't a new issue. What do you make of this? And should we be concerned and paying attention to these moves? Well, you know, we always have to pay attention to these moves, because at the end of the day, the American consumer is going to be left with the bill, number one.

Also, I think it's very interesting, specifically as it relates to South Africa and some of the other ideas that they were floating around. It's interesting that, you know, this particular government who came in saber-rattling around mass deportations and wanting to get all of these people with darker skin out of here, it's interesting how they wanted to open up the door for white South Africans. You know, it's just very interesting, is it not? So, you know, it just really shows you once again the hypocrisy of this administration. It's not about principles. It's not about doing things that they believe are to the best interest of Americans. as it relates to their worldview, to put them in alignment with a right-wing ideology. And then sometimes it's just they are looking to do something. I think for Trump, a lot of it is, as was mentioned before, I think he just wants to be shown as being tough. He wants to—it sounds like it's tough. We're going to do this. We're going to do that. But similar to what we saw with regards to his threats against Canada and Mexico, we saw there that when the rubber hit the road, he found a way to backtrack. Okay. So it's

interesting to see how it will actually shake out. However, what we are noticing here is an administration that has shown its colors with regards to its hypocrisy. It's shown its colors with regards to its white privilege, not only in terms of how they, you know, how sort of the stand of the culture of this specific space and all that they're doing in terms of the policies, but even in terms of their immigration policies, the hypocrisy around that. And finally, with regards to the tariffs,

I just feel like he's trying to appear tough and be damned what the actual implications are on the American people. Absolutely. Absolutely. And it's funny you mentioned that in terms of immigration and all these threats that are being bandied about. Junior Varsity Vance was in Munich today at the Munich Security Conference. Of course course Hegseth the the Christian soldier a secretary of defense was over there talking crazy about hard power and some very phallocentric language which should have been disturbing to anybody with two years and an idea on patriarchy but Vance followed him up by telling the

Germans that they need and and Europeans, they need to be a lot more flexible on the first, on freedom of speech, and they need to also police their borders for immigrants. That, as Matt, as you were saying, in Germany, where the Alliance for Democracy, this neo-Nazi spouting party, is gaining strength, and Elon Musk is directly interfering in their elections. We really are internationally teetering on something we haven't seen before. The Europeans aren't sitting back either.

They seem to be moving toward more solidarity politics. They may even have a couple more countries join NATO as a result. It could be interesting. We'll be back in a moment here. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network, and we'll be right back.

Hey, y'all. Welcome to The Other Side of Change, only on the Black Star Network and hosted by myself, Rhea Baker, and my good sis, Jameera Burley. We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture. And we don't just settle for commentary. This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to the other side of change. Next on The Black Table,

a man Cornel West calls the greatest democratic theorist of his generation. Adolph Reed joins us to talk about his eventful life and his book, The South, Jim Crow and Its Afterlives. Somewhere between an electoral sweep or an out and out coup or a push, I think the danger is quite, quite real.

Join us for The Black Table, only on the Black Star Network. This is Tamela Mayne. And this is David Mann. And you're watching Roland Martin. On to a two. Everybody, I might as well mention here at the onset, now that since you all saw that ad for the Black Table, that we are lining up new guests and we'll have some new sessions at the Black Table

coming up very soon. With that in mind, Grammy award-winning R&B group Boyz II Men recently met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the House Democratic Leader to advocate for the passage of the American Music Fairness Act. This act, which has been endorsed by over 300 artists, aims to ensure that musicians receive payment whenever their songs are played on AM and FM radio stations. Additionally, it allows smaller radio stations to access an unlimited library for less than $2 a day. Boys to Men emphasized that this legislation

would enable artists to earn royalties from radio stations for the use of their music. Good for you, Boys to Men. I hope they didn't tear my adopted hometown up today. I know they had the Eagles parade. I guess Philadelphia is still there. I'll have to check when we get off air. Let's go to Washington, D.C. and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which of course has been in the news a whole lot the last couple of days.

The twice-impreached, criminally convicted felon-in-chief strikes again. Donald Trump dismissed 18 members of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts board and replaced them with individuals who share his views. As a result of this leadership change, several prominent artists have canceled their performances, and key board members, including musician Ben Folds and acclaimed television producer Shonda Rhimes, have resigned in protest. Shout out, by the way, to Issa Rae, who had a sold-out event that she canceled and said that all your money will be refunded.

Additionally, dozens of D.C. residents gathered outside the Kennedy Center to express their disapproval of Trump's changes. Trump appointed Richard Grenell, the former ambassador to Germany in the first Trump administration, and former acting director of national intelligence as the interim president of the Kennedy Center. Trump removed Deborah Rutter, the long-serving president, months before her planned departure. Dr. Avis, I don't know, I imagine you've had the occasion to go down to the Kennedy Center once or twice over the arc of your time in the district. Any thoughts on this development at the Kennedy Center?

You know, I have to say, I know we've been talking a lot today around constitutional crises and extra-constitutional actions. And I just want to say that we should not downplay the importance of this with regards to seeking to shape what we consider the arts in this country. You put that in the context of all the book bandings that are going on. You put that in the context of all these other appointments that are going on with Succofans and right-wing ideology as being the only sort of guiding theme through the departments that are being now reconfigured. And I would have to say,

I would say that our democracy has already been compromised. It's already lost. What we are experiencing now is an authoritarian system. And this is happening throughout government. It's happening throughout the arts. It's happening throughout culture. It's happening throughout what books you are even allowed to read. Democracy has already fallen. And this is just one additional example of how it is being played

out. If it is not sanctioned by Dear Leader, you will not have access to it. That's what this means to me. And as someone who has enjoyed many a show and cultural experience at the Kennedy Center, I see this

and I'm very, very much disheartened. I agree wholeheartedly, Avis. I mean, between us, probably can't count the number of times we've been to the Kennedy Center and the programming they do, which is all inclusive,

everything from hip hop and gospel to jazz, white classical music, the exhibitions, saw a great exhibition on South Africa last year. I mean, everything, the artists in residency, this is, you're right, they're taking an absolute jackhammer to the idea of cultural diversity.

And anytime you go into the cemetery with your shovel and dig up Lee Greenwood and stick him on the Kennedy board next to Usher Vance and a bunch of other factory remainders, you're certainly sending a message that this is a white man's country. So yeah, that's something. 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. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back.

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

what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz 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. 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. Any thoughts on this? You know, given, you know, we've seen maybe the blackest Super Bowl halftime shows ever, although I guess after Jay-Z's Judas Goat contract is up, there'll probably be all country music from here on out. But in this moment of, in this moment of, you know, this cultural turn where blackness is everywhere, what how do you interpret this very, very deliberate message being sent by these white nastiness as it relates to the Kennedy Center? Let me say first, as an aside, the problem with me being on this show is every week Michael says something that I was about to say. And so. So come to me first.

Yes, sir. I got you, brother. I echo her sentiments and she could not have laid it out more beautifully. But I think this is actually considerably more terrifying than it appears to be on its face. Her thoughts were beautifully trotted out because that's exactly what I thought. This is very dear leader, authoritarian, like we're going to take the arts from you, right? I'm now controlling what is artistic and what's considered artistic expression. And I think the only thing I would add to Dr. Avis's comments in that respect, by extension, is I think what's going to happen is that the normalization of culture in this

country is going to be centered on whiteness. So it's interesting that you asked about the Super Bowl, right? Because we were talking about that again at lunch. A lot of people who had an objection to Kendrick Lamar's performance in the Super Bowl, if you saw on social media, their objection was, this doesn't apply to me. They don't know the audience. This is not, you know, what I want to see when I watch the Super Bowl. This is primarily conservative white people saying this, at least in terms of what I saw. Other people had different substantive complaints about it.

But in terms of this is not for me, I think that is going to metastasize in what we see coming out of the Kennedy Center going forward. It's going to be Kid Rock and it's going to be Americana. It's going to be whatever we think, meaning him and his cronies, think is, you know, culturally appropriate for America. It's not going to be diverse, just like you said, all of the things that are normally in the Kennedy Center programming. So I think that is first a huge issue. But the second thing that I think is very interesting about this is I think this is actually a huge messaging mistake by Trump. And the reason I say that is we talk about it on this show all the time. He's always trying to make a narrative, him and his people, and make a message. But when you go toe

to toe with the biggest tastemakers in the country, i.e. Issa Rae and our big entertainers and artists, I think you lose a lot of that opportunity, right? Because now when Shonda Rimes, who has written more shows than anybody else, right, all of these shows that are just huge in the national zeitgeist, when she immediately resigns because you joined the board, I think that is going to affect how people see the Kennedy Center far more than it would be if it were some thing back in the dredges that nobody knew about. So I do think there is a risk to him in terms of messaging. And I think that's a good thing. I think the fact that people are dropping like flies is going to be proof positive that, okay, now you're going to have a showdown with people who have as big a bullhorn, if not bigger bullhorns than you. And I don't know what that turns into on the back end, but I'm hoping it turns into him allowing there to be better cultural expression there and getting off

that board. Because I saw people posting about this. I mean, as you know, Doc, I went to Howard. So a lot of people in D.C. that are connected to this were posting about it before this news came out. And when I saw this, it was extremely troubling to me because of what Dr. Avis said. I mean, I think this is very authoritarian in a way we don't see it like some other things he might be doing.

I agree with you. And like you say, Matt, there are so many Howard students who have volunteered down there, been interns, done a lot of program, particularly educational program at the Kennedy Center. They're about to mess up. And as you say, it actually might be a good thing. In fact, because I'm going to ask you, Mike, about this. I mean, since you live in any conversation about what is the blackest city in America has to include Detroit. And I'm sure that nobody in Detroit or Chicago or L.A. or the Bay Area, at least those who are left in Oakland and San Francisco and New York and Atlanta, Dallas, they're certainly not looking to the Kennedy Center to set taste.

I'm wondering, even in terms of this, how we think about the United States of America as a nation, which I've always said it isn't. There is no one culture here. There's no cultural unity. Does the Kennedy Center, does this move perhaps energize those people who are not maybe to say, well, at least for the time being, we're

not going to look to the Kennedy Center and let us withdraw our resources and perhaps maybe set up some other places that people should look to while we weather the storm of this white nationalism as it descends here in the district? I think what this move will do is to further draw attention to Project 2025 and Donald Trump's implementation of Project 2025, because one of the aspects of Project 2025 from the Heritage Foundation is dealing with erasing the racial reckoning that took place after George Floyd was killed. And that deals with everything from diversity, equity, and inclusion. That deals with everything from having more inclusion when it comes to the arts. It's basically all across the board. This is a counter set. Now, if you just look at what

happened—so, this is Black History Month, okay? And as we all know, Black History Month was never designed to be the only time of the year we study our history. People keep saying that nonsense, like Morgan Freeman don't really understand Dr. Carter G. Woodson. But in Black History Month, you had Beyonce to win Album of the Year with Cowboy Carter. That's right. Okay, which infuriated MAGA because she's also a country star. You have the new Captain America movie with a black Captain America. That's going to drive MAGA crazy as well. And then you had the blackest Super Bowl halftime show that set the record, 133.5 million people watched it. Now, I haven't watched the NFL game since Colin Kaepernick left

the league in 2017. That's why I'm wearing my Colin Kaepernick shirt again because I know you and I are right here. Yes, sir. I did see clips of the performance on Instagram and on YouTube, things of this nature. So now they have

to deal with all this taking place in Black History Month as well. So this is going to—I think when Issa Rae counsels her performance, when you have Shonda Rhimes, who leaves the board, things of this nature, I think this is going to draw more attention to where this is taking place and cause people to connect the dots here. But this is just another white supremacist move from co-president Donald Trump, and, you know,

the fight continues. No question. The fight does continue. And one thing about it, there are 330 million people in the United States of America, and birth by birth and death by death, they get less white every second. So if

you think taking over the John F. Kennedy Center is somehow going to save you, my friend, let's just keep watching in this place called United States of America. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right now on the Black Star Network, and we'll be right back. Hey, y'all. Welcome to the other side of change, only on the Black Star Network and hosted by myself, Rhea Baker, and my good sis, Jameera Burley. We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture.

And we don't just settle for commentary. This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network. So tune in to the other side of change. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, the necessity of believing in things you can't see. It's called faith. It comes in all shapes and sizes and it's powerful. And it's a big part of being able to live a balanced life. The valley I experienced being a cancer survivor was one where my footing was completely unstable. I had no idea what to do. And in that instance of not knowing what to do, I had to rely on faith.

That's all next on A Balanced Life, only on Blackstar Network. Farquhar, executive producer of Proud Family, you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Missouri's Republican Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, has filed a lawsuit against Starbucks, accusing the company of, quote, systemic racial and sexual orientation discrimination. Bailey claims that Starbucks implements hiring quotas that result in a workforce that is, quote, more female and less white, end quote. I guess women can't be white. Starbucks employs approximately 211,000 people across the United States and operates about 200 locations in Missouri. As of August 2020, the company's U.S. workforce consisted of 69.2% women and 30.8% men, with 46.5 percent identifying as black, indigenous, people of color, meaning non-white,

or unspecified, and 53.5 percent as white. By September 2024, the workforce statistics had changed to 70.9 percent women and 28.4 percent men with 47.8 percent identifying as white. In 2018, Starbucks began implementing several diversity and sensitivity programs following the high profile arrests of two African-American men in one of its Philadelphia stores. Matt, interested in your thinking on this. I mean, this just reeks of that colorblind constitutionalism

that's often talked about in critical race theory. And one of the guys who called for the founding of the Heritage Foundation, I think it was Lewis Powell, that famous Powell memorandum of the early 70s that led ultimately to the founding of the Heritage Foundation and then subsequently Project 2025 and all the projects every four years. Powell, of course, wrote the Bakke opinion, where, you know, introduces this insidious notion of reverse discrimination. How, if somebody is sitting here thinking, well, how could white people say they're being discriminated against? Could you explain that to someone who really is, their head is

spinning to think that people would sue and say, you don't have enough white people working at Starbucks. How should we be thinking about a lawsuit like this? You know how we should be thinking about this? This, my friend, is called Clout Chasing 101. Andrew Bailey wants to get close to Trump. So you bring the most asinine lawsuit I've ever heard of in my life against Starbucks. First off, here's a huge issue that, you know, is really kind of embedded here that we're not talking about expressly. Attorney generals around the United States very often are bringing frivolous lawsuits that have nothing to do with their citizens, right, of their respective state. Wait a minute, Matt. Now, help me, brother, because you're a practicing lawyer.

I thought you could be sanctioned for frivolous lawsuits. Is that still not a thing anymore? Not only can you, that's why the judge up in Washington asked that DOJ lawyer, are you trying to tell me that this 14th Amendment claim about birthright citizenship, that it's constitutional? And he hemmed and hawed and said everything he could because of that exact reason. You know, at a certain point, you can bring a lawsuit if it's just on its face frivolous and you know it is, you can get in trouble. And that's what I saw the moment I read this lawsuit. Andrew Bailey, I can't remember the other thing we talked about on the show about him, but he always takes these positions that are so far right MAGA that it's clear all he is trying to

do is ingratiate himself with the Trump people. This is an asinine lawsuit, particularly because he, like we talked about earlier with Devin Ambrose, what standing does Missouri have to complain? Missouri as a state doesn't have standing, at least as far as I see it. And if individuals want to bring this stupid lawsuit, they can do it. But the bigger issue that we're seeing here is the weaponization of attorney general's offices. I mean, I live in Texas. Ken Paxton wastes my hard-earned taxpayer dollars all the time on asinine lawsuits. When I went and argued at the Fifth Circuit, you know what was in front of me? An asinine Ken Paxton lawsuit. And the reason they do it

is because it is a political means by which they can ingratiate themselves with the Trump train. This isn't about anybody actually having an issue with Starbucks. This is about the national zeitgeist right now being about DEI and rolling back DEI programs. So we're going to take a shot at a big employer and get a headline. That's all this is about. I mean, right, because Missouri doesn't have an independent injury, number one. And number two, you know, we're not talking about a position that has been a big issue in terms of entree for a large group of people. The way you do when you look at affirmative action cases, you're talking about education,

right, or corporate America or these other places where there are very high barriers. That's not to denigrate people who work at Starbucks. But my point is that this is not an area, frankly, where you have that kind of stratification to the extent that it makes sense to bring this lawsuit. I think this is clout chasing. I think it dies. I think it's all about headlines. And I hope that a judge says, I'm going to sanction the state of Missouri because you have no real case in controversy and there's no basis to this lawsuit. 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 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. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod.

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

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

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

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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 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. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you. Mike, we've seen Starbucks recently. They rolled back their policy on bathroom usage. They seem to be retreating on that front as well. What do you make of this lawsuit and perhaps the message that they're trying to send with this idea of somehow make Starbucks white again? I'm not quite sure.

White mail again. I guess women can't be white. I'm not sure. Well, I think this is also one to ingratiate Donald Trump and MAGA. And also, this is coming from Missouri. So even though Missouri, during the Civil War, stayed loyal to the union, I've always—and they kept—they were able to keep their slaves. I'll always consider Missouri as part of the South, OK? Of course. Yeah, they—I mean, they have a Confederate mindset in Missouri.

Even though they did stay loyal to the Union, they still have a Confederate mindset. So, when we look at this, there was—there's always been the attempt to continue to attack one corporation to scare off other corporations from diversity, equity and inclusion programs, OK? And this is something that Rowland told the sisters that started the Fearless Fund when they were dealing with their lawsuit that was filed by white conservative activist Ed Bloom. He told them what they really want to do is scare off the corporations that have partnered with you.

OK, now, with Starbucks, wasn't Starbucks one, because there's been so many companies that backed away and some that still embrace DEI, like Costco. Wasn't Starbucks one of the ones that kept their DEI program? I want to say they were. But I know they rolled back that, you know, after those brothers got caught up there on Market Street in downtown Philly, they said, well, people could use their bathroom. I know, you know, I don't frequent Starbucks. Yeah, they made the restrooms public. They made the restrooms public.

But they rolled that back recently. I mean, that's that. Yeah, I think so. But I think they still embrace the DEI program, which is why they're being sued. Now, also remember Pam Bondi, who I like to call Pam Blondie, the new attorney general. It looks like she's right off of Fox News. She said that they're going to, if I remember correctly, go after corporations criminally who still have DEI programs as well. This is another directive coming from the Trump administration.

OK, so this is all once again, people, all those people that set your ads at home and didn't vote. OK, said, you know, I'm going to stay at home. I'm not going to vote for Kamala Harris and things like this. This is what you get when you don't vote and don't vote strategically. This is exactly what you get. Indeed. Dr. Davis, even in thinking about this and how this lawsuit has been assembled, and you've written about this, you've talked about it, you've talked about it, the real lack of a coalition between white women and black women to say that somehow women are overrepresented

and then not enough white. I'm really just, I'm puzzled. How are you interpreting this kind of patchwork of who they're saying is underrepresented but then you have the workforce is overwhelmingly female. Can

you make any sense of even the demographic of who works at Starbucks, the conditions they're working under, and then how you could even assemble that kind of statistical argument? Well, here's the thing, and that's a good question, a good point that you made, you know, can a person be both a woman and white at the same time? And of course, the answer to that question is yes, okay? But I want to say that when we're talking about this white supremacist new order that they are trying to

create in this nation, understand that one of the main motivations behind that is this great replacement theory, right? And for them to, in their minds, not be replaced. They don't need white women working. Wow. They need them at home producing white babies. Right.

They need them at home producing white babies. So this is one of the main reasons why, you know, they went after choice. They got rid of that. And this is one of the main reasons why, also, that they're going after DEI. It's not just a direct attack on us. It's about getting white women back in the home in the home since they are honestly the number one

beneficiaries, right? Just as they were the number one beneficiaries of affirmative action. So they want white women barefoot and pregnant to create more white people so that they won't be replaced. That's really the broader goal of this particular ilk. But I would also echo what we just heard. This frivolous lawsuit, as frivolous as it may be, I also believe is an intimidation factor, because at the same time that you have organizations that are being threatened to be sued around DEI, and the ridiculousness of some sort of criminal investigation over something that's not a crime, like that in and of itself is another example of authoritarianism, right? Something is a crime because I say it's a crime, not because it's actually against the law.

Hello. And now we're in this situation where you now have this attorney general. And the thing that I'm concerned about here in all seriousness, though, is that the right is very, very coordinated. They are very coordinated. They are very organized. And what they do is when something happens one place, they mimic it all over the country. And so I really believe what they're trying to do is to say, OK, we have very overtly attacked DEI. And I want to say this very specifically because I think sometimes people don't understand this. When I'm speaking about DEI, I'm not just talking about people who work in a DEI space or work in a DEI office, though they obviously are at the center of the target. This goes to the ways in which organizations in the federal

government and in private industry have worked to create systems of hiring to be able to consider a broader range of people such that there is more diversity in the workforce. So you don't have to be a DEI expert to be impacted by this. If you are Black and you are trying to get a job or you're trying to get a contract as a Black business owner, DEI policies expanded the pool so that you would be considered. All right. So what they have done in terms of going after the federal workforce, which is disproportionately, remember, historically, that was one of the anchors that helped to create the black middle class and still is disproportionately black. So when they're going after the federal workforce, they're going after contracts that impact black

businesses. When they're doing that, they're going after, in large part, the black middle class. My question when I see this is, are they going after the black closer to working class? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. Under any circumstances, if we are seeing we want to plant this thought in the mind of employers, don't hire that black person or else you might be sued. This is what they're going for now. Honestly, in my mind, it's not about just these policies. It's not just about the economics of it in terms of the overarching trickle-down effects when you look at all these people getting fired. What they're really going after is a reordering of society.

They are trying to create a reordering of society so that you have a sort of Jim Crow-like system where black people are firmly at the bottom socially and economically in the moment in which they apparently thought America was great. So now we have the answer to the question of when was America great with regards to the saying, make America great again. They are trying to recreate that reality by making any company at every level think twice when it comes to hiring black people

or when it comes to awarding contracts to black entrepreneurs. That's exactly what's going on here. And to me, as frivolous as this is, that is the broader motivation for it. Absolutely. I was trying to see if Starbucks posted some of its demographic broken down at the intersection of gender and race. And at least from their website, it appears that black females only make up 5.8 percent of the workforce, black males, 22.3%. But it looks like white females are 12.8%. It looks like the biggest group working at Starbucks,

and this is as of 2024, the reports say, looks like they have Latino female, Hispanic or Latinx, might be the biggest group. Well, no, 9.3%. So white females are. That's a fascinating congestion you just raised, though. Out of the workforce, in the house, having babies. And that's absolutely out of J.D. Vance's playbook.

That's that hillbilly elegy right down to the studs. Oof, man, I tell you, these people are insane. Okay, y'all, we're going to take a quick pause. Roland Martin and Filter will be right back on the black star network back in a moment hey y'all welcome to the other side of change only on the black star network and hosted by myself ria baker and my good sis jamiraley. We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture.

And we don't just settle for commentary. This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to the other side of change. -♪ The long... How you doing? My name is Mark Carey, to the other side of change. How you doing?

My name is Mark Curry, and you're watching Roland Martin. Unfiltered, deep into it, like pasteurized milk without the 2%. We getting deep. You want to turn that shit off?

We're doing an interview, motherfucker. Mark Curry, man, I tell you. The white Missouri man who shot an unarmed black teen who rang the wrong doorbell pleaded guilty to second-degree assault. 84-year-old Andrew Lester was scheduled to stay in trial next week on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action for the April 13, 2023, shooting of the then 16-year-old Ralph Yarl. Yarl survived the incident, thank the ancestors, and has since graduated from high school.

As part of a plea deal, Lester is set to be sentenced on March the 7th. The second-degree assault charge carries a potential sentence of up to seven years in prison, while the first-degree assault charge could have resulted in a sentence of 15 to 30 years. A black Maryland man who spent nearly 30 years in prison for a crime he did not commit is now free. James Langhorne was arrested in November 1996 for the murder of Lawrence Jones. His conviction stemmed from the testimony of a jailhouse informant who was trying to avoid a 10-year sentence by identifying Langhorne as the perpetrator.

This led to Langhorne being convicted of first-degree murder and receiving a sentence of life in prison plus 20 additional years. Officials noted that there were no witnesses to the murder and no valuable physical evidence was recovered from the scene. In February 2019, Langhorne requested a review of his case from the Conviction Integrity Program of the Office of the the state attorney for Baltimore City. After a five-year investigation, the state concluded that Langhorne had been wrongfully convicted. Dr. Avis, what in the world? People call this the criminal justice system, but with his obviously a different name for it when it comes to black folk. Justice delayed, justice denied, At least he is out.

And then this guy, you know, shot this brother. He's going to be sentenced, took the plea deal. You know, sort this out for us, you know, in your opinion. What can we make of these two cases when you hear these stories? Well, it just shows you that justice is not blind in America. I will say, though, it warmed my heart to see the warm hug that he was receiving upon his release. And it shows you that in spite of all that we face, you can't break our spirit. You can't break our bonds.

You can't break our love for one another. I think that's absolutely beautiful. And I'm so happy. I'm so happy that he has finally found justice. I'm just, I am, I am hopeful that hopefully once we get past this very, very disturbing moment that we are experiencing right now, that we will no longer be hoodwinked into sitting home because, you know, we do have a modicum of power in this space that we are not exercising fully. I mean, you have to be a registered voter in order to sit on a jury. You know, we have the power to elect in many states, in many spaces, the prosecutors, right, judges even. And so even though we understand that there is bias built in the system, we need to do everything that we can do.

We can't do all the things we don't have. We don't have we can't control bias. But there is more that we can do in order to increase the level of justice that we have access to, so that hopefully moving forward there will be less innocent people spending nearly three decades in prison before they can get out to spend time with their loved ones. Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you, Doc. Brother Matt, and, you know, we go from you arguing before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals,

and God knows that that court is a piece of work. So, you know, hats off to you for that alone and the kind of birds. 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 Business Week 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 Drugs podcast. We are back.

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

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

and you waging those wars, to the very real living and dying of clients that you see, people who are on the front lines, who are right where the rubber meets the road, particularly when you start talking about the police. What do you make of these two cases, brother? So first, with the case involving the young brother, Ralph Yarrow,

you know, I'm hoping he actually gets prison time because I always thought this was a complete BS self-defense case. I've defended hundreds of people in very serious cases. And, you know, he's on the other side of his door. This is a child. I mean, there's no evidence that he was in any way harming this man. So the fact that he pled to a second degree, assault rather than first-degree, that's common. That happens all the time where somebody's going to take responsibility, so the prosecutors give them a lesser. But what you see he's already doing is angling for either probation or some kind of home arrest rather than going to prison. And I think that this case is emblematic of those situations that are so clearly

on their face, racially motivated, discriminatory, but because of some external thing, i.e. here, this guy being as old as he is, they may take it easier on him. And I think there needs to be an example made in this case particularly, because this kid was on the wrong street and very obviously not menacing this man, and he was shot. And I'm hoping that this guy actually gets prison time. But I am happy that there was a guilty plea and we don't have some trial where he was able to actually beat it, because as much as I think we need to allow people to have their constitutional rights, and I fight vigorously if I represent you, I also want there to be justice for a victim like this young kid, because I got young sons that could go to their friend's house one day or what they think is their

friend's house. And the idea that somebody could shoot them because they look at them a certain way is a very scary thing, meaning the homeowner looks at them as a threat when they're very obviously not a threat is a scary thing. So I'm glad there was some accountability. As to the second case, these are always bittersweet to me. I think it's a beautiful thing when a prosecutor's office does the right thing, but this brother will not get 30 years of his life back. And the state of Maryland, I imagine, is one of the states where the median income is higher than in other places, which is a good thing, because the way Maryland's exoneree statute works is basically you get paid every year at the amount that is the median income in that state.

And I think the first payment is, you know, whatever that number is. And then the rest of the payments are over like a six year period. But you get paid for every year that you were incarcerated. So this brother will get paid, hopefully, you know, significant money. The problem is that money is not his life. And no amount of money will give him the 30 years that he lost, especially in this horrible case. If you read the specifics on this case, he wasn't even arrested until like 10 years later on a jailhouse informant's testimony when he was trying to get a lower sentence. And it was just a very weak case to begin with. So I'm glad there's some accountability and I'm glad there's some modicum of justice. But, you know, life is invaluable and he will never get those 30 years

back. And I'm glad that he's out now. But I wish that this had never happened to him because money cannot supplant the lifetime he lost. Absolutely. Absolutely. And we know that of the many, many, many who watch Black Star Network and who watch Roland Martin Unfiltered, there are a lot of folks who are not black who watch. And I'm glad you mentioned that, Matt, because, of course, this being All-Star Weekend, it was All-Star Weekend 13 years ago that Trayvon Martin went out to get a little something to drink and iced tea and some Skittles and never made it back to his father's place.

So yeah, man, that's a real situation. Brother Mike, any thoughts on these two cases in the context, I know, you know, as a historian, you often put these things in the long view of anti-black violence in this country and the war on black folk by quote-unquote law enforcement. Any thoughts on these? Well, yeah, in the first case with Andrew Lester, who shot Ralph Yarl, if I remember correctly, Andrew Lester's grandson came out. After this happened, Andrew Lester's grandson was interviewed

and talked about how his grandfather watched Fox News a lot. And here, you know, just because you're scared does not mean you can use lethal force. Just because you're scared does not mean that the other person is a threat. Just because you're startled does not mean the other person is a threat. So I hope he goes to prison also. I agree with Matt. And I know some people may say, well, he's an old man. Well, he was an old man when he shot Ralph Yarl. So I don't have sympathy for old men that do stupid things like this. They shoot him. He should go to prison. Now, may not be seven years, maybe five years, maybe two years, what have you. In the other case of Brother Langhorne, we know historically

the death penalty has been disproportionately used against African Americans. This is why I'm against the death penalty. So I'm glad this brother is alive. I don't know if he's in the state. He's in Maryland. I don't know if they have the death penalty in Maryland. I'm not sure. But this is why, because what we find out is that a lot of people on death row, a lot of times African-Americans on death row, we find out that years later, some of them were found not guilty because evidence has surfaced, DNA evidence, things like this. So, you know, that's why I'm against the death penalty. So I'm glad this brother gets a modicum of justice here. Yes, sir. But this is also why we got to have responsible prosecutors and police officers as well, you know.

That's right. So things like this, mistakes like this don't happen. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Absolutely. Thank you, Mike. We're going to take a quick break and we're going to when we come back, we'll be joined by the president of the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, because this is Black History Month. So we'll be right back at Roland Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. Hey, y'all. Welcome to the other side of change only on the black star network and hosted by myself ria baker and my good sis jamira burley we are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics gender and pop culture and we don't just settle for commentary

this is about solution driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to the other side of change. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherri Shepherd Talk Show. You're watching Rolling Mark. Until tomorrow. unfiltered. The year was 1926 and a man who came out of the coal mines in West Virginia, Carter Godwin Woodson,

acting in concert with his adopted fraternity Omega Psi Phi and coming in the wake of the great Mary Church Terrell who had said Freddie Douglas's birthday should be a national holiday in Washington, DC. Woodson picked up on that vibe and, of course, said that the second week in February

should be Negro History Week. And all these years later, we are joined during Black History Month by the 30th president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, the eighth woman to hold that title. And Dr. Whitehead, I believe that Mary McLeod Bethune was president before. I know she was president when Woodson made transition. But we are really honored to be joined tonight by Dr. Carsonia, or Kay, Wise Whitehead,

who is a professor of communication and African American studies at Loyola University, Maryland. Might be coming from class now, prof. I know how you hardworking professors are. You know, y'all be going to class. Founding executive director of the Carson Institute for Race, Peace, and Social Justice. Award-winning radio show host, if y'all have ever heard on WEAA, Today with Kate, it's 88.9 FM. Author of multiple books, five books. One of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the country. And, of course, a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

And is going to be our generous host here in Washington, D.C. for one of the events of the Black Year in this country. And that is, of course, the annual luncheon by Asala. Welcome, Dr. Whitehead, to Roland Martin Unfiltered. Thank you so much. It is an absolute pleasure to be here, to have an opportunity to talk about Black history, to celebrate Black history, and to uplift Black history. Yes, ma'am. Talk to us, please, Madam President. Tell us, you know, tell us a little bit about the association and the week and the luncheon and the theme for this year, which, of course, is so very powerful. Thank you so much. I want to go back a little bit to 1926 when Dr. Carter G. Woodson,

she said, you know, we need to have some time set aside to talk about Black history and to make sure our children are learning about it. I'm a pastor's kid, so I'm in the old-fashioned world of you got to write history across their forehead. You know, when they wake up in the morning, when they go to bed at night, we need to keep reminding our young people of who we are, who they are, and who we are destined to become. Dr. Carter G. Woodson said, look, the Black folks are already celebrating Lincoln's birthday on the 12th of February, and now they're celebrating Frederick Douglass' self-selected birthday on the 14th.

Let's use that week for Negro History Week. By the 1960s, it became Black History Week, and then in 1976, pushed forward by the members of Omega Psi Phi fraternity and other college students, it became Black History Month, with President Gerald Ford being the first president to proclaim it. This year, our theme is African Americans and labor. Now, every time we choose a theme, sometimes two to three years in advance, sometimes it lands up perfectly in line with where we are as a nation. And if nothing else, this year, we need to remind people, while there's an intentional erasure being done of Black

folks and other people of color, that Black people helped to build this country. It is our visible labor, whether it's running a corporation, whether it's running to run the White House, whether it's driving buses and stocking shelves, and our invisible labor. That's the emotional labor

of raising our children, taking care of elderly parents. I'm calling it the preaching and praying and crying to keep this nation together. That's that invisible labor. So this year, we set aside that time. We come together February 22nd at the largest Black History Month luncheon in the country to not just be together in one space,

not just to be in community and in communion with one another, but also to talk about what is the path forward for black folks in this country at this time. Yes, ma'am. And, you know, I'm sure there's some people listening tonight who are saying, you know, I could make it to D.C. on the 22nd. And, you know, now this one things I love about a solid it's not going to be just the luncheon and we got Titans like Mary Frances a Barry of course and and President Mark Morrell the Urban League and of course, Edmund Morris one of our stalwart members of the media and the press corps but there's

going to be a book signing event. Yes, we are please talk to us a little bit about that and what we can expect if you come to this luncheon. So you can still come. We will always drop another chair. We will not tell you, like the Bible, that there's no room for you at the end. There's always room for you at the end. You can go to Asalah.org, A-S-A-L-H.org, and get a ticket. From 10 to 12 p.m., we have a book signing.

We'll have authors from every walk of life. Mary Frances Barrett will be there with her new book. I'll be there with my new book. I mean, books are out, and people will be there to sell them. We start the lunches at 12 p.m., not just good food for your stomach, but also with feeding your mind, with feeding your spirit, with feeding your soul. It's about imagining a new way forward, and to do that, we've got to talk to each other. We've got to be in community together, and we've got to talk to each other. We've got to be in community together. And we've got to figure out that if you're in Massachusetts and you're in New York and I'm in D.C.,

how do we work together so that we're moving forward collectively? Not individual action, but a collective movement that needs to take place. It's going to start at the luncheon and then spread out from there. Wonderful, wonderful. So I'm going to make sure I get my copy of My Mother's Tomorrow, Dispatches from Baltimore's Black Butterfly. Baltimore, stand up. We got to get that new book

from you, Dr. Whitehead. So, Dr. Avis, let's bring the panel in just for a second. This is a unique opportunity. We want to make sure everybody gets a chance to engage with you. Dr. Avis, any conversation with or question for Dr. Whitehead, K. Whitehead? Yes. Thanks so much for the work that you do. I'm a,

I'm a big lover of black history. I think in my next life, I will be a historic historian. That's going to be the goal. Okay. So my question to you is, you know, at a time in which we are, our history is literally under attack in this nation. What are some of the things that Asala is doing in order to make sure that our history isn't lost? Thank you so much. What a great question. And let me just say, sister, that there's always time to become a historian now, that we are all historians, whether we've studied it or whether we're sharing it with our children, whether we're learning it about it, you know, at our kitchen table or in the archives. I think we should all be the ones who are pushing forward our legacy. And I know that you do this every day on Roland Martin. My platform consists of three major points.

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

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

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

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

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

And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-up way, 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. To answer your question, one is about preserving Black history. And I'm making the argument,

as Timothy Snyder does in his book on tyranny, where he says, find an institution you believe in and you defend it with everything you have. I'm telling people that institution at this moment is a sala. Defend a sala with everything you have, not just with your thoughts and prayers, although we appreciate those, but with your money as well. You've got to be able to defend to make sure that we can continue to do the work. I tell people, give your tithes to the church, give your offerings to Asala, because we have to make sure that we can continue to do the work. Second is to promote Black history. I tell people that everybody has a platform, even if only one person is watching. Use every platform you have to tell the truth about who we are.

Lies are being told about black folks in this country at this moment. We have to be as quick as possible to tell the truth. We know that a lie will be halfway around the world before the truth even puts their shoes on. We've got to be quicker than that. We've got to tell our story all the time. And if we're preserving black history and we're promoting Black history, well, then we're protecting Black history. And the protection of Black history is thinking about the work that Asala is doing around freedom schools. We are saying we need to have a school in every community in this country, a free school for our community

where we're teaching about our history. We do it in the basements. We do it in the church yard. We do it at our kitchen table. We are protecting, preserving, and promoting black history every opportunity that we get. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. King. And thank you, Dr. Avis. Let's get something from Brother Matt. Brother Matt, any questions, comments for Dr. Whitehead?

Yeah, I'll keep it short. I'll say we're both PKs, but only one of us is qualified to be a preacher, and that's you, not me. But, Dr. Whitehead, my question for you is real quick. We're watching, obviously, the erosion of the teaching of black history in public schools. Does ASALH have any kind of literature or any program that it has for young people to help supplant what is being lost, which was already little but is now nil. Any guidance you have on that, I'd appreciate. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that question. We have two publications. One is our Journal of African American Life and History, JAW, which is for academics, for professors, where it's all the research about

what's going on in our community. The other one that speaks directly to your question is our Black History Bulletin. Dr. Carter G. Woodson wanted to make sure that teachers and parents have a resource they can use to always teach their children about what's happening. In our Black History Bulletin, we have lesson plans for teachers. We have resources for parents. You can take that and you can take it right into your home and you can start teaching wherever you are. You couple the Black History Bulletin with our freedom schools and there will always be environments where teaching is going on. We're asking people to join with us to connect with our local branches because Asala is a national organization, but we have local branches. There are branches in cities around the country. Find the Asala branch in your community, join with them, and then you can

connect and get the resources. Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. And finally, our brother Michael M. Hotep, a long-time historian and a long-time supporter of Asala. Brother M. Hotep, any questions for Dr. Waheed? Hey, Dr. K, this is Michael M. Hotep, any questions for Dr. Wahid? MICHAEL M. Hey, Dr. K. This is Michael M. Hotep of the African History Network show. Yes, we know that there has been an annual theme for Black History Month, African American History Month, going back to 1928. And that theme helps to give purpose. Some of the themes have dealt with the continent of Africa.

And we also know that Dr. Woodson did extensive research on Africa in his last three articles dealt with ancient Egypt. Can you talk about the importance of having an annual theme, knowing what it is, and how to incorporate that annual theme into celebrations that people have for Black History Month, please? Thank you for that question. I really appreciate it. One of the things that Dr. Carter G. Woodson felt was important, we need to pull out an

aspect of our experience, of this experiment called democracy. We need to pull something out to uplift it. And so in that same vein, we do have a theme. Last year was African Americans in the Arts, where we talked about the contributions that Black folks have made

in terms of music, poetry, writing, prose, dance. This year, when we started thinking about the work that labor movements have had on the existence of this country, from Mary McLeod Bethune to Shirley Chisholm, we thought this was the perfect year to do that kind of conversation. And little did we know, with the change in the White House, with the change in this country, with the change in the win movement, that nothing else would be more important than making sure that people understood what our contributions are. And as quickly as they're trying to erase it, we're moving even faster to make sure they understand that our history is written in pen, not in pencil, and it can never be erased. Thank you. Thank you,

Brother M. Hotep and Dr. K. Whitehead. Listen now, y'all don't want to miss this. The Westin Hotel, a week from this Saturday. The book signing, I mean, Mary Frances Berry. I see my friend Nubia Kai up in here. You're in here, of course. Oh, this new book on Francis Louis Cardozo. I got to get the Francis Cardozo book. Come on, y'all. That's Paul Robeson's wife.

It's Londa's grandfather. This is serious business. This is Chantella Sherman on, I don't know if these Negroes ready to deal with eugenics, Dr. Whitehead. You don't want to miss this. And we'll end with this. I just want to ask you, this is the 110th year, right? You're going

to be in Atlanta in September. Is that right? Yes, we are. We're going to be in Atlanta. We are excited about going down to where some people call the Mecca. The Mecca Black University is down there with Spelman, down there with Morehouse, Clark, Atlanta. But we will be in Atlanta in September. I tell people, start with the Black History Month luncheon. Then get a membership to Asala.

Then come to Freedom Schools and then meet us at the conference. It's a whole year experience. It's Black History 365 or 366. It is always being taught through Asala. Beautiful, beautiful. I've only seen maybe one picture of Kargie Wilson with a smile on his face, but something tells me he's smiling from the ancestral

realm to have you sitting in the seat. The 30th president, eighth woman to be in that chair, president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Dr. Kay Whitehead at Asala, A-S-A-L-H dot O-R-G. We will talk with you soon. Thank you, Dr. Whitehead at Asala, A-S-A-L-H dot O-R-G. We will talk with you soon.

Thank you, Dr. Whitehead. Thank you so much. Absolutely. And Matt and Avis and Mike, it's always good to be with you all on a Friday night. Happy Black Love Day one day over and Freddie Douglas' birthday. Yes. And we will close out. I guess news has dropped that the new lapdog of Donald Trump,

they've dropped charges. The justice department has decided to dismiss the case against Eric Adams, but I'm assuming that's a brother, Matt, that's going to be dismissed without prejudice so they can keep him on that short ass leash. So Donald Trump can run New York city from Washington, DC,

at least till the election. So with that in mind, thanks, y'all. Roland Martin, Unfiltered, thanks for everybody. As usual, the crew here got us through. Carol, always general, and Elise and everyone there in the booth. And we'll see you all next week. Holla. Holla. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. More time Thank you. 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.

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It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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. This is an iHeart Podcast.