#RolandMartinUnfiltered - FBI director to resign, Diddy accuser speaks, Mary Sheffield's Detroit mayor bid, Dem switches party

Episode Date: December 12, 2024

12.11.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: FBI director to resign, Diddy accuser speaks, Mary Sheffield's Detroit mayor bid, Dem switches party #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 and Risks 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 platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. It's Wednesday, December 11, 2024, and here's what's coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. FBI Director Christopher Wray resigns after more

than 10 years. We'll explain the details. Detroit may be on the verge of electing its first Black female mayor. We'll discuss the two female candidates in the race, and we'll talk with Yvette Clark, the new chair-elect of the Congressional Black Caucus from New York. Sean Combs' accuser speaks to CNN for the first time. We'll discuss the latest developments. All right, it's time to bring the funk on Rolla Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Let's go. Whatever it is, he's got the super fat, the fine And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling Best believe he's knowing

Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Robo, y'all It's Rollingin' Martin Yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now Yeah, yeah

He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's Rollin' Martin Yeah Martin All right, FBI Director Christopher Wray announced at a town hall that he will resign at the end of Biden administration. Wray, who has served as the director since August 2017, is stepping aside as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to nominate a new head of the agency. In November, Trump announced his intention to nominate former FBI prosecutor, Kash Patel, a vocal critic of the Bureau. Following Ray's announcement, Trump posted on social media calling it a great

day for America and claiming it marks the end of the weaponization of what has become known as the U.S. Department of Injustice. All right, I'm joined now by my panel, Dr. Larry J. Walker, assistant professor at the University of Central Florida out of Orlando, Florida, and Dr. Julianne Malveaux, economist and author, and she is out of Washington, D.C. Dr. Malveaux, I want to start with you. I mean, this certainly is something that we knew was coming probably a little earlier than expected, but there are a lot of critics about this next pick and Kash Patel's devotion and alliance and allegiance with Trump, calling him a loyalist to no end. What are your thoughts about this early decision, Dr. Malveaux?

Well, I think that Christopher Wray, nobody wants to get fired. The writing was on the wall. He was going to be fired by Mr. Trump. And so he chose to quit instead. Good for him. He actually, the reason that FBI directors have a 10-year term is it's supposed to transcend presidential terms. In other words, it's supposed to be just like the Fed and some other things that have longer terms, it's supposed to be nonpartisan. But clearly the incoming president wants to make it partisan. And Chris Wray saw the writing on the wall and decided, I'm not up for that. And as I said, nobody wants to be fired. Although he has a lot of admiration, both within the FBI and within the legal community. He has not been partisan. He's basically been very balanced. But, you know, Project 2025, you know, actions have consequences. And so all these people who said, you know, I talked, Trump's not going to do that. Well, he's doing it, y'all. You know, F-A-F-O. And that's just basically what's going on there. Now, this Patel person doesn't have the experience to manage this large of an agency, but he has the inclination to use it to the incoming

president's favor. I try not to call his name Candace because I don't like to curse on the air. And so if I say incoming president, it's I'm avoiding a cuss word. Just saying. But in any case- We thank you for that side note, Dr. Melville. Hey, just got to be me. But in any case, but what we know is that Patel has already said who he's going after and what he's going to do. And under those circumstances, I think we should all be quite frightened. Well, not frightened, really, because we've been down this path before. J. Edgar Hoover went after the Black Panther Party, went after various Black elected officials. So we know what the FBI can do. I'm hoping that somebody with good sense in the Senate says, you know, stop.

The life you save may be your own. Because just like they can go after Dems, they can possibly go after President Biden. Biden ought to pardon himself, by the way, just saying. Trump is going to do it, so why can't he? You know, I'm unleashed today. I'm unleashed. But basically, at the end of the day, we expect there to be some cataclysmic challenges. And some of those challenges are going to hit our people. Also, you know, Liz Cheney, but a lot of Black folks, a lot of Black folks are going to be investigated. And so I, again, am hoping that there are some

senators with good sense who will say, again, I'm hoping that there are some senators with good sense who will say, no, we're not going there. Dr. Malveaux, let me bring Dr. Walker into this conversation, piggyback off of something that you said in that he has vowed, this Kash Patel has vowed, he was on his podcast saying, I will go after all of Trump's enemies. Dr. Walker, what do you think we should expect from this new head of the FBI? So I think it's an important question. Dr. Melville made some really important points. And so I think it's a bit like, it reminds me of like letting a fox in the henhouse. But in this case, he's going to be, you know, one of the most powerful law enforcement officer in the United States. So you're right. He's been on every podcast you can think of over

the last several months telling you exactly what he's going to do. It's not like these folks are, you know, are trying to pretend what's not going to happen. And I want to go back to, you know, as it relates to Patel's, you know, nomination, and we'll see if he gets through the U.S. Senate. Is Dr. Malavoe made a point about the Black Panthers and Black folks, in which I'm hoping we don't have a COINTELPRO part two as it relates to this new administration. But I have a great deal of concerns because, you know, undoubtedly we know as Black folks that there are consistently these interactions where Black people in some way are harmed by law enforcement in some way, and unfortunately, two to three times more likely be murdered. And so these incidents happen frequently in the United States. And so my

concern is if and when something like this happens, what is the response? And why I'm highlighting that is that whatever issues people might have with soon-to-be former FBI Director Wray, he talked a lot about white domestic terrorism and how in many of these hearings, when he was called before the Judiciary Committee, and talking about the dangers. And obviously, we see some of that play out on January 6th and the rise of the Proud Boys the last several years among other extremist organizations. So what happens as it relates among other extremist organizations. So what happens as it relates to these extremist organizations? Are they allowed to flourish?

And are Black folks more likely to see violence in our communities based on what we saw prior during the time of Jim Crow? And I'm not certain they said we will relive Jim Crow, but there's a history of violence here in this country. And so I worry that not only in terms of Black people being over-policed, but also what kind of violence can we expect to see over the next several years? And so these are the kinds of things that we need to talk about. And that's why this platform is so important. Dr. Malveaux, you mentioned just the confirmation and perhaps whether or not this will even go through. What are your thoughts about this?

Because we've certainly seen a lot of nominees, even right now, they're trying to figure out what their fate is. We've already had somebody who was nominated drop out, Matt Gaetz. What are your thoughts about Kash Patel and what the outcome might be in terms of him even being confirmed? Well, he's likely to be confirmed. I hope he isn't. I think he is dangerous. But I do think that the Senate is of the mind to give the incoming president anything he wants. And by doing that, they're, you know, Patel, Dr. Oz over Medicare, Medicaid. I mean, that's the biggest joke I've ever heard. And we go down the list. They are of the mind to give him, to give the incoming president whatever he would like. And from that perspective, you just need, you know need two or three of them to say, uh-uh.

It really is not only about Black community, it's about the community writ large. And it's about the number of people who may be, I mean, come on, Liz Cheney? I mean, this was a white to white girls. From Republican royalty, would they go after her? Probably if the incoming president grinds his axe and she, of course, did vote for his impeachment. So I think that what we all understand is that the Senate, the Republican Party is not the Republican Party anymore. It's now Mr. Trump's party. I curse. Sorry about that. It's his party. And so when we understand that, that we understand that unless there are egregious

reasons to deny a nominee, they're going to go with the nominee. And so this does mean that we got to all lawyer up. Ben Crump is going to be working overtime, if not triple time, and some of our other great lawyers who, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, because we understand, and I'm so glad that Larry brought up the point about COINTELPRO and the ways that the FBI has been weaponized in the past with Black people to mess with us. And we can call the roll. We can talk about Paul Robeson. We can talk about W.E.B. Du Bois. We could go on down the list. We can talk about Marcus Garvey. And so I'm wondering if some of our civil rights organizations are going to be targeted, if others are going to be targeted. But I am very concerned, and we all ought to be very concerned.

But again, you know, that 20% of Black men who decided that they thought that man would be an adequate president. They did. They made the decision, but they were up in it. Those white women who I am now officially through with, who officially through with. Dear white women. I wrote them a letter. Dear white women, through with, who, officially through with, dear white women, I wrote him a letter,

dear white women, through with y'all. You know, they- Listen, Dr. Malveaux, we like the unhinged version of you. Dr. Walker, listen, Kash Patel, former attorney, he also worked within the Obama administration. What do you think that organizations, what do you think that civil rights group, as Dr. Malveaux mentioned, should be doing right now in terms of the expectations of what could potentially be happening and how to kind of head that off? Yeah, so I think it's really important that, you know, Dr. Malveaux talked about civil rights organizations and other entities that might be impacted or care about underserved, you know, minoritized populations have to be proactive. You know, listen, I worked on the Hill and many of the things that, you know, that were in Project 2025 are, were like not, I don't think Republicans ever thought that they would be at this point, but it took them decades. I'm making that point is because NAACP, various other entities,

we need a short and long-term strategic plan to counter some of the challenges that, you know, like I said, minoritized communities, particularly Black folks, are going to have to deal with in the next couple of years. And if we sit idly by and just be reactionary, then we're going to find ourselves in a lot of trouble. So I'm like I said, I'm hoping that, you know, but, you know, all these, you know, we have a bunch of great, you know, scholars and educators and, you know, and attorneys on this call on this platform right now discussing this issue. We collectively have to come together, whether, like I said, a certain groups that are, you know, been around for a long time and other entities. But we've got to figure out what we have a plan, concrete plan at the local and state level to address these challenges, because otherwise we'll find ourselves, like I said, in a lot of trouble.

Yeah. Listen, as we know, the Department of Justice, they are the group organization that has taken the lead in addressing what is going on at state levels, police officers, what they're doing, going on rides with them to make sure that they are doing what they're supposed to be doing in terms of going into the community and properly seeing that everybody is safe and secure and that there is no discrimination and that people are not being stopped just because they are Black men and women in America. The Department of Justice has been leading that for a very, very long time. And I would imagine, Dr. Malveaux, that that is one of the key things that will actually stop. In fact, when the transition happened before from the Democratic

to the Republican Party and Trump took place, Trump became president, that's exactly what happened. There was an immediate ending of those types of particular insights into local police departments? First of all, let's give a lot of credit to Kirsten Clark, who is the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She has done a magnificent job and she deserves every shout out that we can give her. She's moved the, not moved the needle, but really knocked the ball out the park around these consent decrees with police officers, looking at Memphis, looking at other places. But now, of course, with that man coming into office, the AG at Memphis has said, in Tennessee has said, well, I don't know if we're

going to sign this consent decree because we don't have to. Right. That's exactly what he said. But pretty much we don't have to. And we see clearly the pattern in practice in Memphis and in other places. And Assistant Attorney General Clark has been meticulous in her research, meticulous in her work. And yet what we see is these folks say, I don't have to. And we just saw a case in New York City where this Penny person, I said I wasn't cussing, but otherwise I would call him, nevermind. I won't go there. But anyway, this guy kills a homeless man who has mental illness issues on the subway and he gets off and he gets off and we're going to see a lot more of that we're going to see a lot more because you know

lynching culture um and roll if rolling were here you start laughing now that's my obsession because i'm writing a book about lynching culture and reparations. But lynching culture says a white person can do whatever they want to a black person and expect no repercussions. You can kill us, you can rape us, you can steal from us. I could go on and on and on. 1896 in Paris, Texas, they asked a brother to sign over his land. And he said, no, why would he sign over his land that he worked hard to get? So they lynched him. And then they went to an older brother and lynched him too, because he wouldn't sign over his land. And the interesting thing is the journalist, so-called journalist who covered it said, well, we didn't have to lynch the old man. He was going to die anyway. This is the disregard of Black Lives. This is why we have Black Lives

Matter. This is why we need Black Lives Matter. And this is why in these next two years, that Michael claimed for, next two, we have to really be vigilant and prepared for what's getting ready to go down. Just again, look at Project 2025. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. All right, well, this is something certainly that we're going to be visiting,

of course, more on this show. And we're going to talk a little bit more about what's going on in black America. 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 one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people,

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

Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz 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. before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day,

it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. America and what should matter to you. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered here live on the Black Star Network. Stay with us. We'll be back after this break. Now streaming on the Black Star Network. I had been trying to get a record deal for a long time. You know, when I finally got signed to the Motown record label in 2003, I was 34, 35 years old. And up until that time, I had been trying to get record deals the traditional way. You know, you record your demo, you record your music and you send it, you know, to the record labels or maybe somebody, a friend of a friend knows somebody that works for,

you know, the record label. And really chemistry was, that was my last ditch effort at being in the music business. How long have you been trying? I've been trying since I was a teenager. Wow. And you know, and I'm grateful that it didn't, I'm grateful that it happened when it happened. Because I wasn't prepared, you know, as a teenager to embrace all that comes with a career in the music industry. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. Fanbase is a free-to-download, free-to-use, next-generation social media platform

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startengine.com slash fanbase and invest. The minimum to invest is $399. That gets you 60 shares of stock in Fanbase right now, today. And then use Fanbase to connect with friends, grow your audience, and be you without limits. Henry Louis Gates says there are 42 million Black people in America. Therefore, there are 42 million ways of being Black. We are not a monolithic people. We come in all different shades, sizes, everything. For me, black excellence is the upgrade to any level of excellence. It looks like a family who is beautiful and proud of being together that have degrees or no degrees. I like

that it's creativity. I like that it's self-expression. I like that it's radical at times. And because we've been, and because we've been through so much and endured so much and we're going to go through some things, but we don't stay in it. You know, the intensive labor to educate you about the systems your ancestors built is not always my obligation. I promise you, you will love it. Comrades, join the community. All right, an anonymous man spoke with CNN to share for the first time the emotional and psychological toll that he says he endured from alleged abuse by Sean Diddy Combs. The man identified as John Doe, he filed a complaint on October 14th, alleging that he was drugged and sexually assaulted by Combs at one of the music moguls white parties nearly two decades ago. In his first on camera interview, Doe disclosed that he has kept the alleged 2000 incident a secret for years.

Representative for Combs declined to comment on the allegations. Doe's complaint is one of several filed by anonymous accusers represented by attorney Tony Busby and Andrew Van Arsdale. The lawyers have stated they are representing at least 120 people planning to file cases against Combs. So far, 20 civil suits have been filed. Well, Dr. Walker, you know, I don't think that it is going to get any better. Certainly, we're going to hear simply more details and more details that are going to be, quite frankly, tied to Jay-Z. Because when you think about Sean Combs and everything that everyone is talking about, now you're hearing the story of the two Shons.

Yeah, and so, you know, one of the things I wanna highlight, I wanna say first is that we have to acknowledge that sexual violence of any kind is against the law and those individuals should be prosecuted if found guilty. You know, it really does, it is troubling hearing all these allegations, particularly as someone, know who you know grew up when before hip-hop was rap music and when you see you know particularly i'm gonna be frank

black men um these kind of accusations are really troubling and so you just highlighted that you know there's so far i've been a little 20 or so or so individuals that have literally come forward or filed charges, or some kind of civil charges, but more than 100 individuals they believe were victims of sexual assault. And that's an incredible number of people. And we also have to acknowledge that that number could increase. So what I would say that this is that we, not only in just in terms of, I don't want to say it's just hip-hop because we know that you know musical artists are you know in the past have been you know accused of various um of kind of these kind of accusations but you know we do have a general conversation about uh sexual violence and specifically those with power because i think you know

while you know sean comes as a black man and we've heard the alleged allegations of Lady and Jay-Z, we have to see how that plays out. But we have to have a conversation about how power and sexual assault intersect. And then when you layer it over that, like I said, there's going to be a conversation among brothers about, you know, if you see something, you know, this is saying if you see something, say something. You can't just say be idly by and, you know, you know, watch people be victims of sexual assault. We know that so many people may may have not participated, but certainly were aware of these allegations for decades and did nothing about that. And that is a we can't have that kind of silence, a culture of silence when it comes to sexual assault. You know, Dr. Malbeau, Dr. Walker brings up a very good point in that this does continue to open the door of the conversation about sexual assault. I will say it feels a little different than when we were in the height of the Me Too movement, even though certainly people are aware of what they should and should not be doing. Do you get a sense that the spirit that was behind the Me Too movement is still alive? Are we living in a different culture now,

new president, several years later, and just a different lens that we might be perhaps looking at cases like this? Let's see, is Dr. Malveaux there? Dr. Walker? Yeah, I could jump in and respond. Okay, sure, sure. No problem. I'm still here. So I think that, you know, you hit a highlighted point,

really important point is relating to the Me Too movement. And listen, like I said, we have to have a conversation about sexual assault because unfortunately each year there are thousands of these cases that go unreported. feminist movement and the fight for bodily autonomy by women. But I think that as we move forward and things evolve, just like we saw from the civil rights movement and what it is today, while we don't have the same, maybe not necessarily use the same terminology to describe why these issues are important, because we have to protect individuals and our, we know family and friends, members of our community, we have to protect them from sexual assault. I believe I saw that pop up. If we do have that sound, we can run it now to hear what this accuser said on CNN. According to your lawsuit, you were hired by a security firm to work security at one of the infamous white parties that was thrown by Sean Combs in the Hamptons. What was that experience like?

At first, he was incredibly friendly, very gracious. So you had a friendly chat. And then according to your lawsuit, at some point later in the night, Sean Combs himself offered you a drink. This didn't come from staff or someone holding a tray of drinks. It came from him directly. Correct. The first drink started to have some effect on me. And I just thought, wow, these are really strong drinks. It wasn't until the second drink, and it was already too late,

that I realized that there was something wrong with the drinks. All right. So a few more details. I think at this point, why don't we take. 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 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. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars.

Workers skilled through alternative routes, rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Take a little break, we'll come back and we are going to pick up, continue more with this accuser of Sean Diddy Combs and talk more about the over 100 people

who could potentially come forward in addition to our already on record filing complaints against Sean Combs. Stay with us. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered live here on the Black Star Network. And we'll be back after a break. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach,

Dexter Jenkins is a faith-based financial mentor with more than 20 years in the financial services industry. He's passionate about helping families build generational wealth. Even though I'm talking about things like prayer, I'm talking about things about reading the word, I'm talking about things like fellowship, I'm talking to members who are dealing with losing their houses, or I'm talking to members who, because of a lack of the handling of finances, they're working two or three jobs. And so what I'm finding is that they're not coming to church because they don't have a handle on their finances. We're talking how to get wealthy through faith and our finances on the next Get Wealthy right here, only on Blackstar Network.

Now streaming on the Blackstar Network. I had been trying to get a record deal for a long time. You know, when I finally got signed to the Motown record label in 2003, I was 34, 35 years old. And up until that time, I had been trying to get record deals the traditional way. You know, you record your demo, you record your music and you send it, you know, to the record labels. Or maybe somebody, a friend of a friend knows somebody that works for, you know to the record labels or maybe somebody a friend of a friend knows somebody that works for you know the record label and uh and really chemistry was that was my last ditch effort at being in the music business how long have you been trying i've been trying since i was since i was a teenager wow and uh and and and you know and i'm grateful that it happened when it happened, because I 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 at. Now that Roland Martin is willing to give me the blueprint. Hey, I need to go to Tyler Perry and get another blueprint because I need some green money.

The only way I can do what I'm doing, I need to make some money. So you'll see me working with Roland. Matter of fact, it's the Roland Martin and show on the show. Well, should it be the show on the show and a Roland Martin show? Well, whatever show. Matter of fact, it's the Roland Martin and Cheryl LaNamie Show. Well, it shouldn't be the Cheryl LaNamie Show and the Roland Martin Show, but whatever show it's going to be, it's going to be good. All right. We are back here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Before we went to the break, we were speaking about this man who came on CNN. He shared his experience and the psychological,

emotional, physical abuse that he had allegedly at the hands of Sean Combs. This goes back to 2007. As we know, there have been 20 civil lawsuits that have been filed, but there have been attorneys out there filing potentially over a hundred more that will be coming. We heard a little bit of sound from this man before we went to the break. Dr. Malveaux, I wanted your thoughts about this man who is coming forward, what this means for Sean Combs. And as I said before, we're now talking about two Seans. A lot of people are talking about them all in the same breath, Sean Carter, Sean Combs, and just the implications of people who will be coming forward. I'm sure there are more to come, Dr. Malveaux. Oh, there absolutely are. What we see is apparently just a freak show going on.

People who feel like they could do whatever they want to do to other people with no consequences. I think Dr. Walker made the point earlier about needing to have a conversation about domestic violence or basically sexual abuse. I mean, the tragedy here, Candace, is that we were abused as Black people, as enslaved people. I just finished reading a blurb about a book where it talked about how white men routinely raped Black men who are enslaved. And this is something we don't really talk about. We don't really talk about sexual abuse and how it happens and the power dynamic therein. So this gentleman who's come forward, I mean, lots of people are going to have lots of things to say, you know, why do you wait so long? Well, we know why people

wait so long. They're frightened, they're intimidated. They don't want to come out there. Once one person comes out, it starts cascading. And you find, well, that happened to me too. Well, that happened to me too. That's why the Me Too movement was so powerful. But I think that we in the Black community, if we put ourselves out there as more moral, more upstanding and better, then we have to be good enough

to have a conversation with our brothers, with our sisters. Women can be abusers as well. Have conversations about why this is happening, how we stop it. I, you know, Jay-Z was very moving, I thought, when he talked about the fact that he has kids, that his kids are the age of these people who were abused. And he said, well, you know, if you really think we did that, not we, because he doesn't use himself, but if this was done,

then you ought to have criminal charges. And I agree with him. There is no statute of limitation on rape. And so if indeed these are claims that are not baseless, bring it on, bring it on. And let's expose this stuff. Let's just, you know, people always talk about dirty laundry. Let's take that dirty laundry and hang it on a clothesline to see what's going on. Because we can't have this in our community as we talk about building our community, as we talk about recovering from enslavement, as we talk about, you know, let's say I do this research on lynching, and the book is so delayed, because sometimes I'll read something, and I have to go to bed. Some of the stuff is too much deep. Really? And so this, but this is part of a continuum. And we as Black people cannot swim in muddy water without getting dirty. And so America is built on predatory capitalism, on patriarchy, on toxic patriarchy, and we swim in that same water. So there are Black

men and women who have been abusers, and we know that. This is heartbreaking when you hear this man's voice, and I know it's artificially blah, blah, blah, but reading between the lines, you do understand that there is pain. And in our communities, there's pain. We have rape and incest in our communities. There is pain. We can't thrive as a people until we unpack the pain. You know, Dr. Walker, certainly there's the court of public opinion. And I'm wondering what your thoughts are about the contrast between how Sean Combs

responded to Sean Carter. Seemed as if he jumped on the case, got some of his thoughts out there very, very quickly. I wouldn't say that his reputation hasn't been damaged, but certainly it seems like it's in more control. And I'm wondering about your thoughts about his response. So I would just, you know, from my perspective, since I've had conversations with, you know, with, you know, the allegations against Jay-Z

in particular, is that let it play out. And, you know, he has attorneys. There's an attorney, you know, an attorney he's alleging is acting improperly.

So my perspective is to see how it plays out. Obviously, the allegations against the Sean Combs if any of us who follow hip-hop it those it's not it's not surprising because those you know we've you've heard those kind of rumors for years and obviously that'll it'll play out in a court of law eventually but you know anytime you hear these allegations of sexual assault for me is troubling and heartbreaking and I think it's important once again, that we recognize that those individuals who've been victimized deserve a day

in court or compensation. And also we have to acknowledge their humanity and the trauma they've been through. But we also have to recognize that we have, you know, we have a judicial system. And so, you know, my perspective is certainly that I'm, you know, look forward to the individuals who've been victimized having their day in court of law. And then over the next couple of months, certainly we'll see how this plays out, whether it's, you know, as it relates to, you know, legally or civil cases in terms of, you know, who's telling the truth and who's not. Candace, you know one thing I'd like to jump in real quickly. This is not a hip hop thing. This is not a hip hop thing. This is not about hip hop.

I mean, I'm finding that some of the majority media tries to make this into a Black thing. Fact in the entertainment industry is that we see abuse. People are eager to get in there, get out there, get their stuff out there. And they're willing to make the kind of moral compromises that they probably shouldn't. And so therefore, they make themselves vulnerable, not blaming the victim, but I'm just saying. But I object to the fact that they're trying to make this a hip hop thing. If you go to opera, you have stories about opera and how the divas in opera were exploited. Horrible stories in opera. We can look at classical music and see some of the same things. So let's just not jump into this hip-hop thing. Now, what's his name? Puffy? Whatever.

Yes, Puffy. Sure. He's got a reputation. We've all heard the reputation, and that's just that. He's done some horrible things on tape, you know? So that's just that. But he is not hip hop. There's some wonderfully talented hip hop artists and we don't want to attire them with the same brush because we do know that when there are unequal levels of power, those who have the most power are able to exploit those who have the least amount of power. And often it's an incoming artist who would do anything to get his or her record on the air and would, you know, just saying't do hip hop. I'm too old. But I do have many young people who love hip hop. And I just don't want us to jump into the hip hop thing because Puffy and Jay-Z are both being accused. Let's look at who's been accused and let's look at who's been accused.

You know, in classical, the stories of exploitation in the entertainment industry have no color. You know, Dr. Malveaux, I'm sure there's one hip hop song you like. Come on, we're gonna have to work on that. But let me talk to you, Dr. Walker, because it sounds like you have and do listen to hip hop. And I'm just wondering about, as Dr. Malveaux said, this is not about hip hop,

but when we think about the Russell Simmons and the 2 Shons and how they do represent hip hop in such a big way? Do you think that this is going to leave a stain on its legacy or do you get that it's making people have a bad mouth about hip hop as a whole because of the way that it is being sold? They are being sold as these representatives of the larger. Yeah, so yeah, I think this is, this is important, right? Because I'm a hip hop fan, you know, I grew up in Philly, you know, 80s and 90s, listening to hip hop, I still listen to hip hop, you know, artists. So I would definitely describe myself as a long, long, you know, a long term hip hop fan, someone who's been listening to music for a long time so i i think that dr malvo is absolutely right so societally generally you know from a

larger level we have a serious issue with uh sexual assault as a nation and yeah obviously we can go international when we talk about this issue and it's important it is a um troubling part of the human condition that we need to eradicate. And then when you take it down a little further, absolutely, the music industry has a long, troubling history. Rock and roll, and not only in terms of some things you've heard in other forms of genres, but we've also heard victims coming forward in those various and various other forms and kind of music. And for me, specifically, as someone someone grew up before it was hip hop, when it was rap music, and then Jay-Z and Sean Combs are contemporaries

in terms of the same age group. And certainly, and so that's why for me in particular, having this conversation is so important because there have been, particularly from black women over the last several years who said that some of the lyrics, some hip-hop artists, that are troubling and misogynistic. So I think that this is part of the conversation we need to have. And look, I'm saying it as a Black man, that we need to make sure we have these conversations to make sure we protect people, particularly Black women from sexual assault. And like I said, we had to have a conversation about masculinity, what it means to be a man, particularly what it means to

be a Black man in our society, and what we need to do to make sure we protect Black women. And if brothers are not behaving properly, then we need to check them at the door. Out of all this, this certainly is a message to take away. 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. 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. 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 thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real.

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars.

Workers skilled through alternative routes, rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at TaylorPaperCeiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. To keep that door open and continue the conversation about sexual assault, about rape, about women and men who are put in positions that they certainly never thought they would find themselves in. All right. We are going to be back right after this break. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered live here on the Black Star Network.

Stay with us. On the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, we're talking about leveling up or to put it another way, living your very best life. How to take a bold step forward that'll rock your world. Leveling up is different for everybody. You know, I think we fall into this trap, which often gets us stuck because we're looking at someone else's level of journey, what level up means to them. For some, it might be a business venture. For some, it might be a relationship situation, but it's different for everybody. It's all a part of a balanced life that's next on black

star network now streaming on the black star network i had been trying to get a record deal for a long time you know when i finally got signed to the motown record label in in 2003 i was 34 35 years old. And up until that time, I had been trying to get record deals the traditional way. You know, you record your demo, you record your music, and you send it, you know, to the record labels, or maybe somebody, a friend of a friend, knows somebody that works for, you know, the record label.

And really, chemistry was, that was my last ditch effort at being in the music business. How long have you been trying? I've been trying since I was a teenager. Wow. And, you know, and I'm grateful that it didn't, I'm grateful that it happened when it happened. Because I wasn't prepared, you know, as a teenager to embrace all that comes with a career in the music industry. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. Fanbase is a free-to-download, free-to-use, next-generation social media platform

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Good to be with you, Candace. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. Let me first start by saying congratulations. I know there's a lot of work, yet good work ahead of you. I want you to give us an idea about what are some of the top things that you will have on your list of things to do in terms of what's important to the Black community and what you're hearing from people now, especially since you have been put in this position? Well, right now we are in the organization phase. We still have a few more weeks left in this session of Congress where Congressman Stephen Horsford remains the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. However, we are prepared to enter into the 119th session of Congress geared up and focused on really pushing back and debunking what we know will be heading our way as part of the Trump agenda to execute on Project 2025. We have members on every committee of jurisdiction.

The Congressional Black Caucus will be the largest number of federal lawmakers in the history of the United States in the next session of Congress at 62 members, four of whom are in the United States Senate and 58 of whom are in the House of Senate and 58 of whom are in the House of Representatives. So we are organizing in this moment to make sure that all of us, each member who sits on the various committees throughout the House of Representatives and of course the

United States Senate are fluent in the plans that were outlined in the project 2025 document and are armed with the knowledge and information we need to be able to go right at it to be uh if you will uh on the offense in educating and informing black communities across this nation as to what these plans mean in their lives. And so that is a major part of what we'll be doing. Of course, there are a number of legacy issues that we will remain focused on and remain at the heart of our agenda. Issues of voting rights, of affordable housing issues, of making sure that we advance the George Floyd Policing and Accountability Act. There are a whole host, including the HR 40, which speaks to the need to do a study on reparations. We are going to continue to advance all of those issues in the House of Representatives, the United States Senate,

that have a direct bearing and impact on Black people across this nation. Representative, let's fast forward to January 21st, let's say, I am wondering in terms of the list of things that are out there when we look at Project 25, what do you think are maybe the top two or three things that you know you are going to have to address immediately? I'm wondering, is it immigration? Is it housing? There's so many things that are huge and that are affecting the lives of Black Americans. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, what we know from prior experience with the previous Trump administration is that there will be a barrage of activities coming out of that administration, all of which have us centered in the bullseye of some of the most cruel policies that you can imagine. And so we are focused on making sure that we are geared up

at every level to address all of the issues simultaneously. We know that Donald Trump has promised to begin a mass deportation program on day one. We know that in Project 2025, there's a deconstruction of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across this nation. And there are a whole host of other harmful policies. We will be prepared on January 21st to, first of all, again, educate and inform the people because there has been such a propaganda campaign waged directly and targeted at Black communities to disinform and misinform about the true nature of these policies and how they adversely impact our communities. We want to make sure that we unpack that for our families, our communities, for the Black people of this nation, so that they understand what we're doing

and why we're doing it, and that they are partners in making sure that we take care of one another. This is going to be a very tumultuous time for Black communities. And again, I think that oftentimes when you're traumatized, you find ways to suppress that trauma just to be able to live, you know, with some level of comfort. This is going to be a very uncomfortable circumstance for black people in this nation. that people are given the right information and are prepared to resist against the backlash of this administration and what it means for them to target communities, vulnerable communities, such as the Black community. As you said, prepared, prepared. That is a word that I think a lot of people are hanging their hat on. You do have to be prepared. Before I go to my panel, I want to ask you about the George Floyd Policing Act and where that is. This is certainly that has

been something that's been on the docket for years, if you will. Movement a little bit here and there. What are your hopes and plans for that? Well, we will continue to advocate for this legislation to be passed in the House of Representatives. We don't stop because there's a trifecta where Republicans control both the House, the Senate, and the White House. We are focused on making sure that we continue to raise the issue of police accountability, police brutality across this nation, and that we have a remedy in the George Floyd Policing and Accountability Act. And we will continue to introduce that legislation. We will continue to push for hearings on this legislation.

We will make sure that our people are fluent in what that legislation contains and why it's so critical that we pass this legislation. It's going to take all of us to get this work done. We're going to be, of course, doing what we can as legislators, but we're going to need our partners outside of the federal government, on the state and local level, we're going to need our partners in the nonprofit sector, in the civil rights community to continue to be the echo chamber, if you will, until we are successful and victorious in passing this legislation. All right, let me bring in my panel here. Dr. Mal for representative clark hey sora i'm loving those glasses i really love those glasses fantastic um i'm so happy to hear you mention hr 40 because we really have that as you know i'm on the north national african-american reparations commission

and we've been pushing right with congressman conyers and then with of course our departed shiro sheila jackson lee pushing for um the passage of hr 40. we got very close but we didn't get over the line there are two things that i want to ask you about that number one many of us are hoping that president biden before he leaves office, signs an executive order to implement H.R. 40. We know that the orange man is not going to, if he signs, he'll void it. But symbolically, that's a big victory. So that's part one. Do you think that President Biden has the cajonis to do such a thing? There are no consequences to him. He's not running for office again. So that's one. And then number two, in terms of looking at the Policing Act. Again, what are the numbers looking like? We have a very slim majority, a minority, rather very slim minority.

But are there Republican allies that can be tilted in our direction? Well, let me say that we are going to, and I know that we've already placed a number of requests before President Biden to ask that he act on a number of our requests prior to leaving office. I don't know that HR 40 is a part of that package, but we have been looking at the pardon process and the need to look at all of the injustice in the criminal justice system and release and pardon and provide clemency to a number of folks who have served their time and have already shown that they are prepared to come back to our communities and that it's critical that he act at this time. With respect to the George Floyd Police and Accountability Act, as long as there is a MAGA majority in the nation, that we continue to raise our voices,

we continue to highlight the need for this, because we are the ones who ultimately bear the brunt of misconduct in police departments across this nation. So I don't by any means believe that we have those actors on the other side of the aisle that are sympathetic to this cause, because if they were, they would have already stepped up to the fore to be able to work with us to get this done. And you have to understand that in a MAGA majority, those who would have traditionally been reasonable, willing to negotiate are also

targeted within their own conference by extremists. And so that in and of itself creates a conundrum within the Republican Party for those who understand the issues that impact Black communities across this nation. They're unfortunately not ones of courage to stand up and to partner. But we will see. I hope spring's eternal, Dr. Malvo. Dr. Walker. Dr. Clark, let me say, first of all, that I serve as the LD for former Congressman Owens, so I know your district quite well. So I wanted to say that. And so my question goes directly to relates to the issue of immigration. So we we see, you talked about Project 2025 a lot. We saw the attacks with Haitians in Ohio, among other places. And so I wanted you to talk,

you know, people often, the conversation relates to immigration, the individuals from Mexico, Central and South America. And there's little context as it relates to how this immigration, these immigration challenges will impact Black people, particularly those from the Caribbean or from various parts of Africa. So can you talk a little bit about that, about how these issues can disproportionately impact Black people and then some of the things the CBC is considering? Absolutely. And people seem to also forget that there are significant numbers of people of African descent that are residing in South and Central America as well and who are under extreme pressure to migrate, given the circumstances there. People of African descent have migrated to the United States, you know, ever since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when quotas were lifted that prohibited Black people from immigrating to the United States of America. And even prior to that, we know

the racism that impacts what I call long-time stakeholders, those who are descendant of the enslaved Africans that were kidnapped and brutalized and brought to this nation, we are all targeted. As long as we are of African descent, and we have to understand that we stand out more so in the crowd of immigrants than many of the other sort of immigrant groups. There are immigrants from Ireland that are here undocumented. There are immigrants from Eastern Europe that are here that are undocumented. Yet we always see the black and the brown who are targeted for enforcement action. So it's going to be a real hardship on our communities because of proximity to Black families.

Immigrants are in blended families. Someone in the family is a citizen, someone is a resident or someone who holds a green card, and then there's someone who may be undocumented. We are facing the existential threat of family separation. And so it is critical that we stand with our sisters and brothers who are immigrants to this nation. My parents were immigrants to this nation. And we stand up and say, you know, not on our watch. We will not see the dehumanization of people of African descent on our watch. You know, certainly a lot of people know who you are. But for those people who want to learn more about how you are going to lead the Congressional Black Caucus, how would you explain how's unbought and unbossed, who was an insurgent

in terms of political leadership within the Brooklyn community, New York State community. And so I was raised in a household of activists. And I believe that it is critical that we organize on the ground, that we educate our communities on what exactly is taking place in Washington, D.C. at the federal level. Again, I was astounded by the level of misinformation targeted at Black communities. And so I have organized with colleagues in our executive body to look at how we structure the CBC to maximize on our power and influence in the communities across this nation to, again, mobilize our people, educate and inform them, and make sure that we are not used by the Trump administration in a divide and conquer strategy that diffuses our power, but that we lift each other up in this moment, that we undergird each other. And so I believe in Black empowerment. And that is how I am focusing the work

that our colleagues will be doing and getting the buy-in, quite frankly, from all of the CBC members as we move forward. We understand what time it is. And what is so unique about the CBC in 2024 is that we were founded by 13 members, 13 members of Congress who came from voting rights districts. And in 2024, we have many more members of Congress who represent districts that are not majority Black districts, but have lived experiences of Black people. And so we're going to use all of the talent at our disposal.

We're going to use all of the benefits of those lived experiences to really connect across this nation with Black folks who may not even live in our constituencies, but who understand that democracy is not a spectator sport, that we have to be in this, that we have to recognize that this is not a moment, this is a movement, and that we have to center ourselves to come through these next few years under the Trump administration victorious. And that's what we're going to do from day one coming out of going into the 119th session of Congress. All right. From day one with an unprecedented number of African-Americans serving in the House and the Senate. A lot of good work ahead. And we'll have you back to get an update on that. Thank you so much for being with us today,

Representative Yvette Clark. Great to see you. Thank you for having me, Candace. Absolutely. And happy holidays. Merry Christmas. Happy Kwanzaa to everyone. Oh, thank you so much. Thank you for that. And congratulations to you once again. Thank you. All all right you are watching roland martin unfiltered live here on the black star network stay with us we'll be back after a break now streaming on the black star network i had been trying to get a record deal for a long time you know when i finally got signed to the motown record label in 2003, I was 34, 35 years old. And up until that time, I had been trying to get record deals the traditional way.

You record your demo, you record your music, and you send it to the record labels. Or maybe a friend of a friend knows somebody that works for, you know, the record label. And really, chemistry was, that was my last ditch effort at being in the music business. How long have you been trying? I've been trying since I was a teenager. Wow. And, you know, and I'm grateful that it didn't, I'm grateful that it happened when it happened because i wasn't prepared you know as a teenager to embrace all that comes with a career in the music industry What's up, y'all? Look, Fanbase is more than a platform. It's a movement to empower creators,

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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 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 them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early

and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives.

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She is switching parties to become a Republican, talking about Florida State Representative Susan Valdez. Now, in a statement, she says, I will not waste my final two years in the Florida legislature being ignored in a caucus whose leadership expects me to ignore the needs of my community. Effective immediately, I will change my registration from Democrat to Republican and will join the Republican conference in the Florida House of Representatives. She noted, I know that I won't agree with my fellow Republican House members on every issue, but I know that in their caucus, I will be welcomed and treated with respect. Talk about a little bit of a bait and switch. Listen, Dr. Malveaux, I think this is just a disservice to those constituents who voted for her first and foremost. Oh, I think Dr. Malveaux. Oh, sorry.

That is all right. I was saying that when it comes to Susan Valdez doing a bit of a bait and switch going from Democrat to Republican down there in Florida, you know, her constituents must certainly be upset that she did this. Well, her constituents are upset, I'm sure, because they voted for her as a Democrat because she claimed to embrace Democratic principles. But I would also say that this illustrates some of the challenges that the Democratic Party now has. As Yvette spoke about, Congresswoman Clark spoke about earlier, you know, the margins are razor thin, but Republicans aren't in the majority. I'm sure this woman doesn't like being in the minority. And in Florida, especially, there has been an insensitivity, especially around immigrant issues, which I'm sure she does embrace.

I think that she's a wuss, quite frankly. Oh, there I go again. But I think she's a wuss. I think she, you know, you ran as a Democrat, you stick with the Democrats. But I think the flip side of that is what will Democrats do now? Not just because of her, but because of the very narrow. So Susan Valdez was reelected as a Democrat. She's now saying she's going to be Republican. I think that move lacks integrity,

but I think it also speaks to the weaknesses of the Democratic Party. Yeah. And I also think it speaks to the weaknesses, Dr. Walker, of just the system that is in place. Certainly she has her own agency to do what she wants. But for someone to have gone through the process, get voted in as a Democrat and then switch over to be a Republican, it can almost be seen as a strategy, a plan for for other people who find themselves being voted on a Democratic ticket. Yeah, so in the previous segment, I talked about me working on Capitol Hill. And when members of local, state, or federal politics make these moves, this is something they have already planned. This is not something that happens in a vacuum or at the last minute. These are

conversations that are ongoing for some time. And for her constituents in particular, when you switch parties like this weeks after an election, it's interesting in terms of the overall message you're sending. And the other thing is it's difficult for someone who is an incumbent to kind of determine when people are going to make these kind of moves. If we remember a couple months ago, we saw something similar in North Carolina. The difference in North Carolina is that it shifted the power base, Democrats and Republicans, and had an impact on policy in the state of North Carolina. In the state of Florida, the Republican Party has supermajority, and the governor's mansion. So it's not going to have necessarily a policy impact, but also, I guess, more issues about morality and right or wrong. And making these kind of moves certainly should have been clear prior to not even just the election, but the primary, that this is the kind of change that you were anticipating move and to make it,

you know, just a few weeks after the election. Certainly, like I said, our constituents certainly have to be upset. And, you know, it's certainly, it's a political move. Yeah. And, you know, I want to go back to your experience on Capitol Hill. When we talk about the power that someone actually has, when they switch a party like this, do they have any? I would imagine that it takes them a very long time in order to garner power, garner respect, and let people see them as somebody, as integrity for someone who's done this type of switch, Dr. Walker. So, you know, let me also, I think this is a good question, but let me add that, you know, when it comes to these kinds of party switches, you know, people aren't aren't looking at aren't checking their anyone's integrity.

Let's be honest. This is this is this is about power. Right. So if the Democrats were in it had the majority, I'm sure she would be making this move, but they aren't. So certainly does it will, you know, making this affiliation change will open doors possibly now and down the line. I'm sure in terms of the political calculus, all the things we've described were considered. So it's unfortunate, and people like that that make these kind of switches after a general election should face consequences. But the reality is, besides I saw that some of the Democrats sent out letters, obviously concerned and angry, but because also she was funded through the Democratic Party to win elections.

So there should be some kind of, like I said, some consequence. But in this case, and many of the other similar cases they're off there frequently isn't yeah a curious case especially um let's let's let's go out uh joe banshee let's call out i mean we've seen this crap before yeah where people claiming integrity switch parties and become independent because they don't like what's going on. And really what they want is attention. Now, I think, Dr. Larry, in her case, as you say, with the Republicans having a super majority in Florida, I don't see what she gets out of this except for attention. And I'm not sure how much attention even then that she will get,

because, frankly, she's going to be one in a few dozen Florida Republicans. She doesn't get anything. She gets more if she stayed Democrat and was a thorn in the Democrat side. But we have to look at Joe Manchin. We have to look at. So many others, Sinema, who basically got elected as Democrats, used Democratic Party resources, DNC resources to become elected, and then basically wussed out. And, you know, Manchin got a lot of attention because he was, because Democrats have such a slim majority. He got a lot of attention, a lot of whatever. A lot of smoke blown, you know, up him. But, you know, this woman I don't think is going to get the same. They may welcome her because, you know, of her demographic.

There may be other reasons they welcome her, but she's not going to get as much attention or clout that as Manchin had in the United States Senate. Yeah. All right, Dr. Malbeau and Dr. Walker, thank you for your notes on that. I wanted to move on to another subject, subject supermarkets. All right. When you go to the grocery store. The proposed merger between supermarket giants Kroger and Albertsons faced a major setback as judges in two separate cases blocked the deal. U.S. District Court Judge Adrian Nelson issued a preliminary injunction after a three-week hearing in Portland, Oregon. Kroger and Albertsons, who announced the $24.6 billion merger in 2022, touted it as the largest grocery store merger in United States history, claiming it would enhance their ability to compete with major retailers like Walmart, Costco and Amazon. But the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit earlier this year urging Nelson to stop the deal until the FTC's

in-house administrative judge could review the merger. Now here to talk more about this is Morgan Harper. She is with the American Economic Liberties Project. Morgan, good to see you. Good to see you. Yes. Thank you so much for being with us today. Listen, everyone is talking about the prices of eggs, the price of butter. When we talk about the merger of these stores, we are talking about two companies that said, hey, once you merge us, those prices will go down. But there certainly were not enough people and certainly not the judges and certainly not a lot of people who spoke out about this who lived in the community because they did survey a lot. They said, we don't want it. We do not trust it. Now, as we know,

Albertsons is now suing Kroger. There are so many moving parts in this. Can you break down a little bit about where we are right now with this case? Yeah. So this was a huge deal for a couple of reasons. I mean, one, you've named them. The primary reason is that people are facing, we're all facing such high prices in food at the grocery store. And so having two giants in the grocery industry that were going to join together, that would just give them more pricing power and the ability to charge us whatever they want and then also pay their workers as little as they want. So the fact that we saw both a federal district judge and a state court judge, like you said, that ruled in the same way, agreeing with the Federal Trade Commission that this deal was

anti-competitive is a big deal to, one, protect our ability to somehow try to control prices, not to say that prices are going to go down right away at all because of the blocking of this merger, but that it's maintaining competition. And here's why this was pretty important for just an antitrust law perspective, because the argument the Federal Trade Commission was making is that, hey, you guys, Kroger and Albertsons, you want this to be considered a national market. Like you said, that they're competing with Walmart, they're competing with Amazon, they're competing with Costco, they're competing with everyone. And the FTC's argument was, that's not true. You're actually competing with each other if we look at this market of supermarkets that are in the same geography. And that's what we learned in this case in the trial,

that oftentimes Kroger and Albertsons are down the street from one another. And so if that's now, if that becomes the same store, well then of course it's going to impact the level of competition in the defined market. So that was a really big insight there. And then also rejecting this idea, as you said, that somehow in getting bigger, in antitrust it's called merge to compete, that you're going to be able to compete with these big giants. Well, that's completely irrelevant for purposes of antitrust legal analysis. And it was good to see the federal judge here reject that in her opinion. Yeah. In the process of putting this

type of a merger together, there were billions of dollars at stake, certainly. And from what I understand, maybe almost a billion dollars to even work up to make this happen, which is why now Albertsons is suing Kroger. What do you think about that and the outcome of that lawsuit? Well, what that indicates is they're unlikely to be appealing this decision. I mean, it's very much an option when you see that a judge has decided against allowing a merger to go through, that the parties would appeal, take that to a circuit court and try their luck with a different set of judges. But here, the fact that we see Albertson suing, that pretty much means that these parties are done with each

other. They're not willing to proceed. And I think that is because we saw both a federal judge and a state judge decide against them. The writing's kind of on the wall. This is done. Like you said, they've already put a lot of money into this and now they're trying to point the finger at each other and cut their losses with as much as they can. Yeah. And you know what, Morgan, I want to point out that the reason that Albertsons is suing Kroger is because there were a lot of regulatory guidelines that they said were in the hands of Kroger that they did not do completely or effectively. And because of that, they pointed that to that reason as to why this merger was not approved. Yeah. And what they're getting at there is that Kroger had the, they're claiming that Kroger had the opportunity to make certain adjustments to this deal, to the transaction that would have

satisfied the Federal Trade Commission and potentially allowed them to settle. And for example, in what, not in the Albertsons complaint right now, but what came up during the trial and throughout the couple of years that this transaction's been under scrutiny is they decided, one of their proposals to the Federal Trade Commission was, we're going to divest to this entity called CNS. We're going to divest some of the stores. Then there'll be this third entity in addition to Kroger and Albertsons that's going to be operating in the grocery space. And that should assuage any concerns that the FTC has about a lack of competition from Kroger and Albertsons coming together. The problem with that is that CNS has no real experience in operating

supermarkets. In fact, in a prior deal a few years ago in 2015, when they were similarly given some stores through a divestment to try to get approval for a transaction, those stores all went under. So there was plenty of evidence to suggest CNS was not the right entity if you're trying to make this argument to the court that this divestiture was going to be sufficient. And perhaps that did show some arrogance from Kroger, which they've kind of been showing for the last few years that they kind of charge consumers whatever they want, their workers are fine, they treat workers better than anybody else, and they're going to go forward with this transaction regardless of whatever the winds are telling them. So hard to be too sympathetic with Kroger here, but certainly not a huge

shock that we landed with this outcome of two judges blocking the transaction. Right, right. Now, we've got listeners all over the world. Can you talk a little bit about the footprint? I mean, I'm from New Jersey. There is not a Kroger's here. There is not an Albertson's. I can definitely say that because I'm always all up and down the turnpike. But the footprint of it for people who don't understand it, very large. I mean, if you go south of the Mason border or, you know, out west a little bit further, you are going to see these stores. Absolutely. And it's an important point. You know, they would have been one of, they would have been actually the largest grocery retailer

in the country. And so, you know, I'm in Ohio, Kroger's based in Ohio. They have a huge footprint in Ohio. And this is another thing to keep in mind. And we call it, you know, the illusion of choice. It seems like there are a lot of different brands operating, but actually between Kroger and Albertsons, they have brands under those umbrellas, like Vons, for example. If anybody's ever gone to Southern California, that's a very common grocery brand. That is a Kroger brand. Albertsons, for example. If anybody's ever gone to Southern California, that's a very common grocery brand. That is a Kroger brand. Albertsons, you know, is associated, they own Safeway brand. And so you might be seeing different names when you go to the store,

but these are the same companies. And this transaction in particular really focused on some of the overlapping markets in the Western region where Kroger's and Albertson's both have a big footprint. So Washington State, California, Colorado. That's why we also saw the state attorneys general from those states that have brought their own cases. The Washington attorney general was successful yesterday as well. And that's where we also saw a lot of local unions that were speaking out against this merger from the start saying, we've been here before.

These companies have made promises to us, for example, when Safeway and Albertsons combined several years ago, that there weren't going to be layoffs, that they weren't going to close stores. It was all a lie and the jig is up. And so we are speaking out against. So they formed a coalition of hundreds of organizations all across the country of unions, advocates, different small businesses. I mean, that's another dynamic here that's important to keep in mind, that independent grocery retailers that are trying to stay in business and compete would also have been harmed from this merger, and they are part of the coalition. So a really diverse set of folks that were speaking out because of the really big footprint that both Kroger and Albertsons have, especially in the Western part of the country.

Yeah, absolutely. Before I go to my panel, I have one more question for you. And that is that you're right. Certainly the attorney generals of several states spoke out, the attorney general of Colorado. I believe I saw him live on YouTube answering questions. And he was really talking about the power of the people and that there are a lot of people that they surveyed and spoke to. And they just didn't want that. And I'm sure that that had some impact to the people, the people who didn't go to these stores and buy. They just didn't want this to happen either. And certainly that carries a lot of weight. Yeah, absolutely. The Colorado AG held listening sessions, actually. Phil Weiser had held listening sessions through his district. Lena Kahn, who's the current chair of the Federal

Trade Commission in Washington, flew out to Colorado. She participated in some of those listening sessions. And they're hearing directly from consumers and, again, importantly from workers that were saying, this merger is not in our best interest. This is going to harm us. And that certainly helped to lay the foundation for their eventual lawsuit to block the merger. All right. I want to go to my panel now, open up the floor to Dr. Malveaux. A question for Morgan. Hey, Morgan. Appreciate your work on this because it's really important to basically break up what would have been a potential monopoly with no competition, and with no competition, obviously, much higher prices. So it's good that the

regulators came in and said, no, this isn't going to happen. But what do you see? This move towards consolidation is happening not only in the grocery industry, but in others. What do you see happening next in terms of groceries, in terms of it? I love the fact that you laid out how what's under Albertson, what's under Kroger. So we just think of those two. There's so much more. What do you think is going to happen next year around consolidation in the grocery industry? Well, it's a great question. You know, the grocery industry is already consolidated, so there aren't a ton of other players besides Kroger and Albertsons

that might be seeking to combine. And, you know, certainly with this transaction and how much money we've already discussed has been spent on it, I don't know if I would predict that Kroger or Albertsons is going to be going back to the market trying to make another combination happen.

But I think something for us to be looking out for, you know, obviously there's going to be a change in administration. This case was brought under Chair Lena Kahn's leadership, and President-elect Trump has just announced his pick for the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission, a man named Andrew Ferguson, who is a current Republican commissioner, but would now, if he's, and actually he doesn't even need to be confirmed, he's already said he's confirmed, he's going to be elevated to be the chair and have decisions over, ultimately over what kind of cases are brought, et cetera. And so, you know, I think we have some early signs that he is interested in kind of these market structure questions. But so far, it seems like

just in the tech industry, unlikely to be in this one. I think the really important thing for us to look out for, both in the behavior of Kroger and Albertsons moving forward and just how they're conducting business with us as consumers, and also what the Federal Trade Commission might do, is their focus on pricing. So apart from the Kroger Albertsons litigation, this FTC has also launched an investigation into different surveillance pricing tactics, especially in the grocery space. There was reporting a few months ago how Kroger was exploring the use of dynamic pricing in the grocery store, meaning that there would not be one set price for a given item. You know, your favorite

tomato sauce might be $3 for you, but Kroger knows it's actually my extra favorite sauce. They're going to try to charge me $4, for example, so that, you know, prices could change a lot like we see with, you know, Uber and Rideshare. And so, you know, they got immediate pushback on that, as I think we all understand. But that's the kind of thing that I would hope that we would see from this next leadership of the Federal Trade Commission is continue that work to investigate how are companies using our data against us really to further increase inflation and cost of living. And certainly the grocery market is a space where any further increase is going to be really harmful to a lot of us across the country. Absolutely. All right, Dr. Walker. All right, maybe we don't have Dr. Walker, and that's all right. You know, I think that when we

talk about antitrust, when we talk about making sure that people are able to just fairly compete, you know, I think about the case of Google, right? And we talk about the antitrust. This is something that the government, I mean, they are on the case to make sure that capitalism does not exist in this way. What do you think might happen in terms of the next, when Donald Trump takes office? Do you see that this might change in any way, shape, or form? Certainly anything is on the table for change when we have a new administration. And I do think we're seeing a lot of mixed signals from some of President-elect Trump's choices so far and nominees. But again, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Andrew Ferguson, he, especially when you talk about the tech industry, has been pretty outspoken about wanting to be aggressive

and considering what are called structural remedies to change the business model or go after enforcement actions that might result in a change in business model to some of these companies. Mark Meador is another Republican commissioner who has now been nominated and will still have to be Senate confirmed. He is coming from Senator Mike Lee's staff in the U.S. Senate, a Republican, but another person who has been outspoken and critical of the tech industry and their market power. You know, the Google case, though, that is, well, there are a couple of Google cases that are live, but there's one against Google on their Google search that's now at the remedy stage. And, you know, that's already with the judge to decide on what those remedies are going to look like, if they're going to have to divest Chrome, for example.

But, you know, a new administration could decide that they don't want to continue with that case. You know, unlikely because it's already so far along. But, and we do have a sign also there for the DOJ antitrust nominee coming from a strong background in critiquing tech and was previously, her name is Gail Slater, was previously on Vice President-elect J.D. Vance's staff that also has been kind of critical of tech. I mean, I think it's important to clarify. Oftentimes, a lot of the folks from the Republican Party that are critiquing tech are using justifications like wanting to stop censorship and, you know, maybe different than from where a lot of Democrats are coming from. But the main point is they're all landing on the same conclusion, which is these companies have too much market power. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun?

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And so, you know, there's positive signs on, I would say, both fronts for the antitrust enforcers, DOJ and FTC. But we'll just have to kind of wait and see how it all fits into the political calculations that the next administration is making. All right. I want to thank you so much for giving us insight. Listen, a lot going on in the world. Supermarkets never knew it could be so interesting. Morgan Harper with the American Economic Liberties Project. Thank you so much for being with us today. All right, we're going to take a little break.

When we come back, we're going to talk more about the news that's affecting you. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered here live on the Black Star Network. Stay with us. Now streaming on the Black Star Network. I had been trying to get a record deal for a long time. You know, when I finally got signed to Motown record label in 2003, I was 34, 35 years old. And up until that time, I had been trying to get record deals the traditional way.

You know, you record your demo, you record your music and you send it, you know, to the record labels or maybe somebody, a friend of a friend knows somebody that works for, you know, the record label. And, uh, and really chemistry was, that was my last ditch effort at being in the music business. How long have you been trying? I've been trying since I was, since I was a teenager. Wow. And, uh, and, and. And, you know, and I'm grateful that it didn't, I'm grateful that it happened when it happened, because I wasn't prepared, you know, as a teenager to embrace all that comes with a career in the music industry. what's up y'all look fan base 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 their community through the jobs ad. Henry Louis Gates says there are 42 million black people in America. Therefore, there are 42 million ways of being black. We are not a monolithic people.

We come in all different shades sizes everything for me black excellence is the upgrade to any level of excellence it looks like a family who is beautiful and proud of being together that have degrees or no degrees i like that it's creativity i like that it's self-expression i like that it's radical at times it's in our day and because we've times and because we've been and because we've been through so much and endured so much we gonna go through some things but we don't stay in it

the intensive labor to educate you about the systems your ancestors built is not always my obligation I promise you you will love it comrades join the community! After candidacy for mayor, aiming to become the first Black woman to lead the city if elected. In her announcement, Sheffield emphasized priorities including affordable housing, increased funding for home repairs, and job creation, particularly for young people. Public findings show she has an early edge in fundraising and

name recognition among the potential candidates. But Sheffield is not the only Black woman entering the race. Former Detroit City Council President Chantel Jenkins is also expected to announce her candidacy soon. Listen, I think that looking at this, we've got two very interesting candidates. One, perhaps, Dr. Malveaux, with slightly a little more name recognition, but the fact that they're both out there, the fact that they're both Black women is going to send both of them rising to the top. Dr. Malveaux? Oh, this is exciting. Detroit has not had a woman mayor. We've obviously had several Black mayors of the mighty legacy of Coleman Young remaining there. Lots of really committed Black women activists in Detroit. And so basically, let the best sister win. What I think that both of them are going to have to understand and deal

with, first of all, is a political climate where the incoming president has vowed to to take cities in hand. He's talked a lot of nonsense about Washington, D.C. He's also talked a lot of nonsense about Southern California cities, notably Los Angeles. And so both women have to be very aware of that. Secondly, although Detroit is on the upswing, it hasn't always been, there are still major challenges in terms of home abandonment and things like that. I like the fact that both of them are looking at possibilities of supplementing or providing grants for people to improve their homes, because the level of home abandonment in Detroit is really frightening. Some blocks, half of the homes have been abandoned. So there's a lot of work to be done. I really don't know a lot about either candidate. They both look compelling,

but the issue is not how they look, it's what the voters want. And I think in Detroit, voters are very interested, very, very interested in seeing an upswing, you know, in the interest of Coleman Young and others. And then I think the other thing about Detroit that I always love is the strong union base. And so it'll be interesting after the Teamsters sat out the 2024 presidential election to see if they plan to play a role in this one. Yeah, Mary Sheffield, Dr. Walker, comes from a long line of political figures. You know, I think what's very interesting about this is when you look at the race, when we normally have a Black woman in a race, that is the distinguishing factor that you have a Black woman against somebody else who may be or probably of

non-color. Here you have two African-American women. How does one distinguish themselves in this type of race when it comes to campaigning, working with others? What do you say? How would you deal with that on Capitol Hill based upon your experience. As for Dr. Walker. Oh, Dr. Walker is a little frozen. That's okay. You know what, Dr. Malveaux, are you still with us? I'm still here, yes.

It comes down. Oh, okay. You know what, Dr. Walker, let me open that up to you. There you go. Technology is imperfect this Dr. Walker, let me open that up to you. There you go. Technology is imperfect this evening. That's all I can say. So, so listen, I think that really is important, right? I speak to, you know, we just had Congressman Clark on, and we made a mention of, you know, we had to talk about the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I mentioned that because this, having two Black women, you know, in a majority black city run against each other speaks to the success of the voting rights act of 1965. So I think it's exciting.

Certainly as Dr. Malvo mentioned, you know, Detroit's on upswing. We know that last year there was a decrease in an violent crime. It's a wonderful city, wonderful people. And so I'm very excited to see who, you know, who wins. But like I said, Detroit is definitely on the upswing. And so, and particularly considering some of the challenges at the federal level with the transition, you know, we want to make sure that, you know, these majority Black cities like Detroit are well represented and both these candidates are well qualified. And I look forward to seeing who's going to win the election. Yeah. Let me end this by saying, you know, there are some things that they'll have to do in order to get people's attention. If you were managing them, Dr. Malvo, what would you say they should

do in order to distinguish themselves as they go out there? Again, you know, it is a Black base, two Black women. How do you make yourself unique? Well, I think they're both unique individuals. They both have different legislative and other histories. As you mentioned, candidate Sheffield comes from a long line of activists. I think that the most important thing for them is going to be endorsements. I think that people like Reverend Wendell Anthony, who's a big former president of the NAACP of Detroit, he got that membership up to 10,000. If somebody could get him in their corner, imagine the impact of that. There are many others, you know, Benny Napoleon. So I think that endorsements are going to make a difference.

I also think that the ground game is going to make a difference. What we also know is that because of the enormous activism that black women demonstrated in the 2024 presidential, there are lots of spin offs from when with black women and other groups. And I would say that, you know, while sisters are not going to engage in any kind of BS, that if either of them is able to get those Black women activists organizations in their corner, it will make a difference. Lavonia Peridman has a radio show in Detroit. The reparations issue which germinated from John Conyers, from Congressman Conyers with HR 40. If someone, if either of them is willing to embrace that, that may make a difference. They will have to go issue by issue. And they just, this is,

this is an exciting race to me because, you know, a lot of people will vote race and gender, but if they're both the same race and same gender, how do they distinguish themselves? And that's a big question. Yeah, indeed it is. So listen, as we close, I wanted to shift a little bit. This certainly was not one of the topics that we had planned to discuss, but it's come up so much this evening. I wanted to take at least five minutes to touch upon this. And that has to do with reparations. You know, we've mentioned it quite a bit this evening. Dr. Malveaux, I know that you are on a reparations committee. You are working on some writing so that you can publish a book about reparations

and other things. I wanted you to give our audience an update about where you think reparations stands. You would know best, and especially going into this new election year with a new president, what are your hopes for it? Well, I hope that we get reparations. I mean, economic justice means reparations. It means giving us what was taken from us. I mean, when we look at the history of this United States, we were never on a level playing field. After enslavement, however, we saw improvement in ourston was the first city to provide people with cash reparations because of redlining. And there were over 200 people at her gathering, about 60 municipalities represented. People really looking at the ways that black people have been stifled in our attempt to get economic parity.

Don't get me started, kids, because I could go line, chapter, verse about what I call economic lynching. Economic lynchings. People were lynched because they had too much. You know, there's a story of Anthony Crawford, who owned 400 acres of what they call good cotton land. And he went to sell some cotton seed to a general store. The white man offered him five cents a pound less than the white man who went before him. And he said, I'd rather throw my damn cotton seed in the river than to be ripped off. Well, at that time, using curse words at white people, which is why I curse so much, using curse words at white people could get you lynched or something. He was arrested because he

cursed at the white man. Now, he cursed his own cotton seed. He didn't curse white people. Anyway, he went in his pocket. The fine was $15, which a lot of money did. He went in his pocket, threw the $1515, which a lot of money did. He went in his pocket, threw the $15 at the sheriff, so they lynched me anyway. And the two white competitors who wanted, who competed with him about cottonseed, they were named executors of his estate. Let me ask you this. The committee that you are on right now, what are your plans for 2025 to see reparations come into fruition? It's the National African American Reparations Commission. It's part of the Institute of the

Black World. It's convened by Dr. Ron Daniels. Forgive me. We hope to have, we think it's going to have to be local with this Congress. We don't expect much from them. But with people like Yvette Clark and others, you know, in our corner, we expect that will come up again and again and again. But meanwhile, the local reparations movement is there. We have, there are some foundations, progressive foundations, who are helping to make the case for reparations. We want reparations to be like a household word. It's not right now. A lot of even Black, a lot of Black people don't support reparations. They're like, let's just let things, you know, let sleeping dogs lie. But we want it to be a national and an international

movement. And indeed it is. We have people from CARICOM at the conference last weekend, the Caribbean Commission, and they are looking at the reparations issue. So our hope is that people will embrace this out of a sense of fairness, just out of a sense of fairness. It is unfair to have taken our land, our labor, and our land, labor, talent. There's so many stories of Black folks who have, they took our intellectual capability. So we just want this to be, we don't have any false hopes about the next Congress. Okay. We do hope that President Biden will do an executive order, which he still can do. Okay. Dr. Walker, I want to give you the last 30 seconds in terms of,

do you think that a needle is being moved in terms of reparations and will it be stopped if it is moving when we get this new president in office officially? Yeah, I see our nation's largest state has seen some movement, right? We know what happened with Governor Newsom, but this is an important topic and we have to have, you have to make sure the individuals

who suffer under the boot of systemic racism are properly compensated. All right. Listen, Dr. Walker, Dr. Julianne Melvo, as always, good to have you and see you. Great conversation. Thank you for being with us tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Candace. All right. Absolutely. All right. You've been watching Roland Martin Unfiltered and I'm Candace Kelly. Have a good evening. Roland Martin will be back tomorrow. Have a good night. Folks, Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punches. A real revolutionary right now. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told.

Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig?

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