#RolandMartinUnfiltered - GA Election Case Halted, Rep. Byron Donalds & Jim Crow, Ex-Black Panther Party Leader & Donald Trump

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

6.5.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: GA Election Case Halted, Rep. Byron Donalds & Jim Crow, Ex-Black Panther Party Leader & Donald Trump Atlanta for Steve Harvey's Charity Golf Classic. I'll talk about the tournament later in the show, but here's what's coming Up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. The Georgia Court of Appeals has halted the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump while it reviews the lower court judge’s ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to remain on the case. Trump-loving Florida Congressman Byron Donalds suggested to a crowd of Black Philadelphia conservatives that things were better under Jim Crow.  House Minority Leader Congressman Hakeem Jeffries took to the House Floor to give Lil Byron a history lesson. And a White Wisconsin man shoved a black school superintendent so his daughter would not shake his hand during a graduation ceremony.  The family of David Hilliard, a former leader of the Black Panther Party, says the video of him endorsing Donald Trump for president is entirely true.  Hilliard's grandson will be here to explain.  Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and Ben Crump were on Capitol Hill today to promote Black representation in the liquor industry. In our Tech Talk segment, Isaac Hayes III, the Manager and Founder of Fanbase, will explain how white corporate greed pushed the black founders of MoviePass out of their company.  #BlackStarNetwork advertising partners:Fanbase 👉🏾 https://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbaseThis 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 (link) and Risks (link) related to this offering before investing. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war.

This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real.

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you. Hey, folks. Today is Tuesday, June 5th, 2024. Coming up on Roller, Mark, and Phil, streaming live from Black Star Network. I'm here in Atlanta where Steve Harvey is handing out awards for his annual golf classic. And so we'll try to grab him a little bit later in the show.

Also, folks, on today's show in Georgia, an appeals court has halted the trial against Donald Trump and all the other people who were involved in interfering with the 2020 election, pending the decision on whether D.A. Bonnie Willis should be disqualified from the case. Also on today's show, Trump-loving Florida Congressman Byron Donalds literally says life was better for black people during Jim Crow. Yeah, he said that. Plus, a white man in Wisconsin, as his daughter is walking across the stage, comes up and shoves the black superintendent out of the way so he would not shake his daughter's hand. Wait until we show you this shameful, despicable video. Also on today's show, the family of David Hilliard, a former leader of the Black Panthers, they are disputing a story that says Hilliard is endorsing Donald Trump. His grandson will join us.

It is time to bring the funk on Bullet Markdown Filter on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got the scoop, the fact, the fine And when it blips, he's right on time And it's rolling Best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's on for Royal It's rolling Martin

Rolling with rolling now Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's Roland Martin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. Martin. Hey folks, Roland Martin here. I am in Atlanta at Bears Best Golf Course where Steve Harvey is having his annual celebrity golf classic, Behind Me, is where they're handing out the awards. And so hopefully we'll be able to grab Steve and some of the other folks who are here. But let's start with what's happening in Georgia, where an appeals court has halted

the case against Donald Trump and the other individuals indicted for interfering with the 2020 election, pending a decision on whether or not Fulton County DA Fannie Willis should be disqualified from prosecuting this case. The Georgia Court of Appeals made this order that stops the proceedings, that stops Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee from proceeding with other matters in the case. The order will undoubtedly delay the case further, which means it's not going to happen before the election. The appeals court is timidly scheduled to hear the arguments on October 4th. The court will then have until mid-March to rule, and the losing side can then appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court. Mike Powell, Robert Petillo, holds People's Passion in Politics, News & Talk 1380, W-A-O-K out of Atlanta. He actually lost in the primary to Judge McAfee,

so that needs to be stated. Rebecca Carruthers is vice president of the Fair Election Center out of D.C. Scott Bolden, he is a former chair of the National Bar Association and D.C. Chamber of Commerce political action committees out of D.C. as well. Scott, I got to start with you. I had some people who were upset with me. They were like, Roland, I thought you were unfair. You were too tough on Fannie Willis. Her decision

to allow Nathan Wade, an individual she was involved with, to be on this case is why we are here. If he's not on the case, there is no delay. They can't try to get Now, they could try other ways to disqualify it, but this is

all, I keep saying, this is all on—this was bad decision-making, and now this case may not be heard even in 2025, and if Trump wins, you forget about it for four years. certainly doesn't look good because the Court of Appeals would not have stayed this proceeding if they weren't seriously contemplating removing her from the case. If she gets removed from the case, then they will go to a panel of prosecutors who may or may not take the case up. And, you know, you got to own your responsibility for this case. I've raised a lot of money for Fannie Willis. I'm a big supporter of hers. But this is—she's got to own the lapse in judgment here and own that but-for. You know, that but-for test is stubborn, Roland. But-for the decision to be engaged in this relationship and to put him on this case. But for that, we would not be here. And this case might have gotten tried before the general election.

And so, as a result, we'll have to see. Doesn't mean they're going to remove her from the case, but they're a pretty conservative judiciary down at the state level and the federal level in Georgia. And so it's not looking good, but, you know, hope springs eternal. Let's see what happens. But it's not going to get tried before this case. And this was a really powerful case. Wouldn't have been decided by the general election, but they may have been able to take testimony. So we'll see.

And again, you're sitting here, Rebecca, and what's crazy is the decision making. Yeah. And what I kept saying is, you got to tell your whole team, everybody's clean. I don't care what anybody's doing. And so now you're in a situation to where they're seriously looking at it. So if she's disqualified, they could determine her entire office is disqualified, which now means that, oh, you're now leaving it up to the state attorney general, Republican, and they may decide not to proceed. That's how significant this screw up is. Yeah. You know, so this is something that we talked about a few months ago. I understand the need to protect and support Fannie, understanding all of those who are attacking her, including the credible threats that she's had to endure for the last couple of years. However, Georgia is not New York.

New York is much friendlier when it comes to prosecut, Donald Trump, not friendlier necessarily from the aspect of law, but also friendlier from the environment of understanding that there are more people who are saying, Hey, Trump is not above the law in New York versus in Georgia. So yes, there, this was an unforced error. Like we talked about on the show, um, a few months ago, however, you know, just like you pointed out, if it wasn't this, they would have found another reason to try to to try to disqualify Fannie Willis and ultimately to get this moved out of Fulton County and perhaps into another county that might be friendlier towards Donald Trump. But here's the bottom line. That's something that voters need to pay attention to.

Now, Trump told us, hey, if you don't like what they're doing to him, then you need to vote for him to be reelected on November 5th. And I would tell voters, if you want Trump to be held to the law and not to be above the law, you have to make a decision on November 5th. Because what we're seeing is there's aspects of the judiciary that is not as comfortable with applying the law evenly to Donald Trump as other jurisdictions. So ultimately, if you want to see Trump be held to consequences, it's going to start on November 5th. Robert? You know, having just come out of this race a week ago, I will just have to say that this is par for the course. This was the plan the entire time, that by punching this effectively to the appeals court,

they knew that this would foreclose any possibility that's going to trial prior to the election or, frankly, ever. There is a very decent chance, above 50 percent chance, I would say, that this never goes to trial at this point in time, whether Trump is elected or isn't elected in November. I can dive into that a little bit later. But on the point about Fannie Willis and the lapse of judgment, quote-unquote, prosecutors have carte blanche when it comes to who they appoint as being special prosecutors. I scoured the records. I cannot find a single case in the history of Georgia of a prosecutor being disqualified based upon the appointment of a special prosecutor. As was said, if it wasn't this, they would have found something else to try to disqualify

her from this case or to try to delay this case. Remember that President Trump has strong tentacles throughout the state of Georgia. People have to start separating Atlanta from Georgia and understand that it is a blue pearl in the middle of the Red Sea. And by taking this to the appeals court and then giving the ability to be appealed to the state Supreme Court and then potentially a federal question to appeal at the federal court, they are effectively saying don't plan on seeing this going to trial anytime soon, if ever. Again, I understand they would have tried to get her disqualified some other way. But what you don't do is you don't gift wrap them on a gold platter and say, here you go.

Knock yourself out. That, to me, is what is just nonsensical. And again, I got folks who've been mad at me, man. I just think you've been too hard on Sister Fonny. And I have defended her. I have. I love I love I love the fact that she indicted go after him and stood firm. But I'm sorry. Somebody has to say it. She screwed up. And Nathan Wade, he also should have said, Bonnie, I appreciate it, but it wouldn't look good if I'm on the case because if they find out, it's going to be a problem. And now the problem is the people of Georgia, again, depending upon the decision of the appeals court, then if they rule against her and say she and her office can't prosecute, then it may get kicked somewhere else.

And these individuals may never, ever be held accountable for what they did, which means we will never be able to have the kind of justice on the record for them trying to steal the 2020 election in Georgia. And that, to me, is the bigger issue. Scott, real quick. Yeah, real quick. You know, we'll never know what else they would have done. We'll never get there because Fannie Willis gave them this right here. So they may have found some other reason, but we'll never know whether they found the reason because they don't have to. We gave them a reason. And like I said, I'm a big supporter of hers, but we are where we are because of that lapse in judgment for both of them.

Got to be clean if you're going to go after the president because they're dirty players. You know that going in. Look, Scott, as somebody, they tried to disqualify me for the race because of my email address. They were going to continue to look under every nook and cranny. They literally launched a state judicial inquiry into my campaign because my email address was Judge Petillo, and I changed it to Petillo for Judge. They were going to find something to try to blow it up. If it wasn't this, it would have been the color of her shoes, the color of her teeth, or the color of her car. They would have found something. So that's why I'm saying for Fonny, there's no case law indicating that this will be grounds for removal. There's no case in Georgia history to indicate that this would have resulted in this going to the appeals court.

By all precedents, she did not violate any standard or norm or law. Well, again, one thing we do know, there may not be a example. There may not be case law. That doesn't mean new case law can't be created. Hold tight one second, folks. When we come back, a story dropped the other day that shocked a bunch of people and said that that longtime Black Panther, David Hilliard, endorsed Donald Trump. Joining us next is his grandson, who is disavowing that because of the health condition of his grandfather. We will explain next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network,

live from Atlanta, where I'm attended to Steve Harvey, celebrity golf classic, back in a moment. First, President Barack Obama's road to the White House. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion- dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.

This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st

and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players

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

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

And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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. We got about 500 copies of the book available. And so this actually is all of the coverage of the 2008 election. But the other thing is, is here I talk to folks like Malik Yoba, Hill Harper, Eric Alexander, Kevin Lowe, Spike Lee, Tatiana Ali. There's a lot of behind the scenes stuff in here as well, where I talked about some of the stuff that went down at CNN. Also, when you go through here, a lot of the photos that you see in here,

photos that I actually shot, photos that were my time at CNN. And so what I decided to do, because one, I published the book and I own it myself, is that so I said, you know what, I'm going to slash the price to $10. I'm not reprinting the book. So once we are sold out of these 500, that's it. They're gone. So you can go to rollingvestmartin.com forward slash the first to get a copy of this book. Everybody who orders this book through the website, not on Amazon, only through rollingvestmartin.com. I will personally autograph and mail you a copy of this book. It's all of the

covers. They actually interviews that I did with him. And just to show you, of course, when it came out, there's actually even in here the interviews that I did with him and Michelle Obama, which won TV One Cable Networks its first two NAACP image awards. And so all of that for $10. Go to RolandSmartin.com the first and order your copy today. Hello, we're the Critter Fixers. I'm Dr. Bernard Hodges. And I'm Dr. Terrence Ferguson. And you're tuned in to Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Alright, folks. A lot of people were surprised when a story came out stating that David Hilgert, a longtime member of the Black Panther Party, was endorsing Donald Trump for president. The video has been circulating on social media. It was posted by Carol D. Mitchell, and it shows Hiliard calling Trump a decent man and a friend to African Americans. Okay, this is the video. Welcome to the Random Site. I want you to meet someone who knew Donald Trump, and he's going to tell you about Donald Trump in his own words. My name is David Hilliard, founding member of the Black Panther Party.

I knew Trump when Trump was a college student in New York, and he supported the Black Panther Party. That's how I know Trump. What kind of person do you think Donald Trump is? Trump is a person who's a decent man, and he supported the Black Panther Party. That's what I just mentioned to you. He was someone who gave us money, and Trump was a decent guy.

Trump? Yes. Trump's a friend of African-Americans, and I knew Trump from the 1960s in New York, where he comes from. And he's a friend to African-Americans. Oh, and now when you say a friend to African-American, what do you mean by friend to African-American? I mean he's not a racist. He's not a racist, fascist white man. He supported black people. Owned every brownstone in a place called Harlem, New York.

Oh, wow. Okay. Now, do you remember the time that Trump supported Jesse Jackson? No, but I remember when he supported the Black Panther Party. Wow. That's incredible. And how did he support the Black Panther Party? With his money.

Whoa, for real? My goodness. He gave us money. Whoa, for real? My goodness. He gave us money. So, in your opinion, Trump has always been, now that he has these 34 counts of being a felon, Trump has always been part of the black community or familiarized at least with the black community. That's exactly right. Trump was a friend to people of AfricanAmerican descent, and he owned all of Harlem. Wow, that's amazing. So in your opinion, sir, your valued opinion, why do you think they put all these charges on Trump and they're afraid of him to be president?

Because Trump likes Africans in America. He likes black folks. That's one. I think that Trump is qualified in a very decent approach to having somebody representing America. Yeah, I agree

with you. And I think Trump would be able to get us off this government thing and get us to making our own money, you know, because he knows how to make money. He knows how to lose money. And so he would be the perfect person to help us get our own again, right? And Trump's a friend of African-Americans.

He's always been a friend of black people. That's how I know Trump. Okay. Well, thank you so much. And what is your name, sir? My name is David Hilliard, founding member of the Black Panther Party. Oh, my God. Well, that's amazing. You're a well-known figure in the Bay Area. So we thank you for taking a moment out of your value time to give us an interview for the Random Site. Thank you, sir.

All power to the people. Okay. So you've heard it straight from David Hilliard's mouth, the founding member of the Black Panther Party supporting Donald Trump. Thank you very much. This has been your host, Carol D. Mitchell on the random site. Well, the grandson of David Hilliard, Eric Jones, took to social media disputing what took place.

And they were posting videos. They reached out to us here at Roland Martin Unfiltered. Eric Jones joins us right now from Oakland. Eric, first and foremost, who is Carol Mitchell? Who is she? Hello, Roland. First off, I would like to say just thank you for the opportunity to be able to write this story. You know, it's going down a very wrong path very fast.

And so it's much appreciated for this opportunity to do so. This Carol Mitchell lady, this was the first time I had ever even heard of her name, just seen the video. Apparently she lives there at the senior community my grandfather resides at, and she had watched him for quite a while and known of his status and decided to apparently go after him for that interview. And so according to you and other family members, your grandfather is suffering from dementia? Yes. So unfortunately, yeah, my grandfather is in the thralls of dementia and he has been for quite some time. No time ever has Donald Trump or anybody else suggested that he was providing financing to the Black Panthers when he was in college. Second of all, again, if you look at logic here, Donald Trump was at Wharton. His daddy, you know, brought him into the school. He didn't have the grades.

And there's nowhere in hell that Donald Trump be crossing paths with the Black Panthers, especially in Oakland. Yeah. So those things don't line up. And currently I've been speaking with the Huey P. Newton Foundation and Frederica Newton, and we are trying to find some of any Panthers that were still around from the New York chapters and to see if we can verify any of those stories, but so far, no. And so, at no point in any conversation that you had with your grandfather, did Donald Trump ever come up? Well, since Donald Trump's name had become something that's of popularity in constant news and daily things, he's gone on to say these type of stories that, oh, yeah, Donald Trump gave us these brownstones

Back in New York in the 60s But Again Unsubstantiated Definitely First of all let's be real clear If anybody even understands The Trump family

Donald Trump Donald Trump's dad built the business. Donald Trump's dad, his business wasn't in Harlem. Yeah. It was in one of the other bureaus. And so it was in Brooklyn. So they never

did business in Harlem. I mean, so this thing just comes out of the blue in terms of this whole deal here. This craziness. Yeah, it is complete madness. And he has no idea of any of Trump's current policies or whereabouts or do-abouts or anything like that. So he, this is all just unsubstantiated.

So, so, so on this, have you had an opportunity to talk to your grandfather? Does he still recognize you and other family members? Oh, yeah. My grandfather, he recognizes, he speaks very clearly about certain things in the past and he can he remembers everyone in his family and he can he can speak towards a lot of things that are truthful if you can lead him sort of in that direction but when he starts to speak so you understand my grandfather has over five books published he's been a professor he has a lot of things that are archived you know and so if he speaks on those things that he has archived then those are typically

factual things that you can go check on and it can all line up but if he starts you know speaking of things that aren't necessarily a part of that past work that he's done that's sometimes where he can make up some things also because of his status at any point um did uh this woman miss bitcher did she ever alert family members talk to them or does she simply put this video out on her own, knowing full well the dementia status of your grandfather? Yeah, absolutely not. So, you know, again, I've never heard of that woman until just two days ago. And so before then, we don't know if she knows of his status.

We don't know if she's been following him or what. So, but of course, if she had that conversation with him, she could tell that she had to feed him, uh, lines. And she had to speak with him about things that he didn't,

she had to connect dots for him. And he is a very profound speaker who never needs any dots connected for him in his, in his higher mind. So if he's not, you know, I'm, I'm pretty sure she could figure that out. All right. Eric Jones, we certainly appreciate you coming on the show to break this down for us. And certainly thanks for reaching out to us.

Thank you, Roland. Thank you. Appreciate the time. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Take care. All right, folks. We're going to go to break. We come back.

Congressman Byron Donald says things were great, were better for black people during Jim Crow than they are today. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries was having none of that. And we'll show you their back and forth. Also, Jesse Waters, Fox News,

makes one of the most racist comments you ever hear we'll play it for you as well folks you're watching roller martin unfiltered right here in the black star network supporters and workers that we do we should join our breenabunk fan club your dollars make it possible for us to do what we do so you're checking money or the peel box five seven one nine six washington dc two zero zero three seven dad dad 0196 cash app is dallas sign rm unfiltered paypal r martin unfiltered venmo is rm unfiltered sale roland at roland s martin.com roland at roland martin unfiltered.com and download the blackstone network app apple phone android phone apple tv android tv roku amazon fire tv xbox one samsung smart tv we'll be right back Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV.

We'll be right back. When COVID happened, poor people were dying at a rate already of 800 people a day before COVID. If you went to a funeral every single day, it would take you 600 years to attend all the funerals of the people who will die from the ravages of policy, violence, poverty and low wages in America in just one year. It would take you two years and 19 days to go to all of the funerals of the people that will die today and oftentimes silence. Nobody talks about this political genocide, but we are determined today to remember their death and be a resurrection.

I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley 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 multi-billion dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

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

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. 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. Correction of voting power and voice power like never before.

Economic justice and saving this democracy are deeply connected. We, as a nation, must listen to the demands of the poor, who are pushing and will continue to push political candidates and elected leaders to lift from the bottom so that everybody can rise. Take back the money! Take back the money! We are the poor, the marginalized, and the underpaid. And we are taking one step forward to say that everybody has a right to live. Poverty is not the fault of those who are impoverished. It is caused by those who make the policy.

There are over 135 million poor and low-wage, low-income people in this nation. The biggest block of potential voters by far is low-income, low-wage voters. I can't afford medicine. Sometimes I have to skip because of the cost. The farmworker community is tired of the violence imposed upon us by greed, exclusion, and denial of basic human rights. Those folk that are represented by that casket, poor and low-wage workers who are the most moral people in this country because they go to work every day believing even though going to work is hazardous to their health. I'm tired of working 70 to 80 hours a week and still not have money for the necessity

of bills. I'm tired of getting sick and not being able to go see the doctor. Having to make a choice to pay between rent or the light bill or food or clothes. You cannot claim to care about families and a culture of life and then do everything in your power to rob people of equal access to resources and to force them to live in poverty. Leadership of both parties had waged war on poor people and low-wage workers. And this government has treated people experiencing poverty, including their military families, with disdainful, deliberate, malicious neglect.

So the truth is that my son died from poverty. We refuse to accept poverty as the fourth leading cause of death. The fourth leading cause of death in this, the richest country in the world. We march today for our children and the generations to come. And we need to do it with the loudest voices possible, the biggest actions possible. We will voice our demands and register our vote. When we stand up and when we stand together things change. There is the electorate that is and then there is the electorate that should be. 34 million eligible poor and low-income voters did not vote in 2016. If just 20% of those

voters in swing state were mobilized around an agenda, they could change the political outcome of every election. So we're launching the most massive voter mobilization and turnout campaign in history of poor and low-wage voters, allies, and religious leaders. People are dying, but we know it doesn't have to be this way. And so we are calling on everyone to join us in this Poor People's Campaign, a national call for more revival.

We are here, we will be seen, we will be heard, and our power will be felt. We don't need to be an insurrection. We are a resurrection that will be felt across this country. Are you ready? Ready? Ready? Ready? We are a resurrection and we are ready. And we won't be silent anymore. What's up, everybody? It's your girl Latasha from the A.

And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks. Welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered here at the Steve Harvey Celebrity Golf Classic in Atlanta. All right, so Donald Trump supporters, they had an event in Philadelphia that was supposedly focused on black for Trump. Now, it was in a conservative area, largely white area. And it was led by Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley of Texas. It was called Congress Cognac and

Cigars. Check this out. Now, Michelle Tafoya, formerly of course, sideline reporter for Monday Night Football, she was the one moderating this conversation about Blacks Republican Party. Don't ask me why. Now,

there was no videotape of this, but the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Donald made some comments about Black life during Jim Crow. This was the quote from the Philadelphia Inquirer quoting Byron Donald. You see, during Jim Crow, the Black family was together. During Jim Crow, more Black people were not just conservative. Black people have always been conservative minded, but more black people voted conservatively. And then H.E.W., Lyndon Johnson, you go down that road and now we are where we are. Well, that did not sit quite well with New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. He took to the floor of Congress to blast Donald. Mr. Speaker, it's come to my attention that a so-called leader has made

the factually inaccurate statement that black folks were better off during Jim Crow. That's an outlandish, outrageous and out-of-pocket observation. We would not better off when a young boy named Emmett Till could be brutally murdered without consequence because of Jim Crow. We would not better off when black women could be sexually assaulted without consequence because of Jim Crow. We were not better off when people could be systematically lynched without consequence because of Jim Crow. We were not better off when children could be denied a high quality education without consequence because of Jim Crow. We were not better off when people could be denied the right to vote without consequence because of Jim Crow. How dare you make such an ignorant observation? You better check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Well, Donald heard what Jeffries had to say, and this was his response. America, Joe Biden's campaign is lying to you once again, and they're gaslighting. Now they're trying to say that I said black people were doing better under Jim Crow. I never said that. They are lying. But why would you be surprised? Because they always lie. This is the same Joe Biden that said, if you don't vote for him, then you ain't black. The man is a liar. Sorry, just call it what it is. What I said was, is that you had more black families under Jim Crow. And it was the Democrat policies under HEW, under the welfare state that did help to destroy the black family. That's what I said. And I also said, you're seeing a reinvigoration

of black families today in America. And that is a good thing. So don't listen to the lies from the Biden administration. I know what I said, and I'll say it straight to camera. They got to run to the Philadelphia Inquirer to move their lives. Joe Biden does not care about black people. He never has. He cares about power, first, second, and third. They can go somewhere with all that. See ya. really first of all congressman donalds if you have an issue you take issue with the reporting of the philadelphia inquirer and if you say that's not what you said okay produce us an audio recording produce us a video recording of exactly what you said during that, if you're disputing what the reporting is. See, I need everybody to understand this is the game. So instead of Donald criticizing the Philadelphia Inquirer,

because y'all notice what he did not do. If he claims I didn't say that, you notice he did not demand a correction from the Philadelphia Inquirer. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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

This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. 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 Be Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things.

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

They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. He's criticizing the Biden campaign, who is simply remarking on what was reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer. But anytime if y'all want to see the folks who play games, all you have to tell is he never demanded

a correction from the Philadelphia Inquirer. That's when you know he actually said what he said, Robert, and that is grossly indefensible. You know, this is part of the mythology that many of the black conservative movement have taken up to believing this idea that black folks were somehow better off prior to the civil rights movement, prior to integration, prior to any of the legal framework that we call the civil rights and the voting rights movement. There's this idea on the conservative side of the aisle that, well, if we could just go back to the good old days, before we the voting rights movement. There's this idea on the conservative side of the aisle that, well, if we could just go back to the good old days, before we had voting rights, before we had integration, we had stronger families.

We had Stockholm syndrome. We had strong families because we didn't have no choice. We had no upward mobility. The reason that the marriage rates were so high, black women couldn't have bank accounts, could not attend institutions with higher education, could not have a mortgage, could not buy a car on their own. The reason we lived together is because you had redlining and you had blockbusting to you were closing together black communities to the point that they could not leave.

The kind of fantasy world that many black conservatives have decided to inhabit, where we were all just after slavery, sitting around whistling, happy as who knows what. I wish they would just take that and rewind it all the way back to the Radical Republican Congress from 1865 to 1876. If you're going to say things were so much better prior to the Civil Rights Movement, then just say, I'm going to take up the Republican platform that existed under the Radical Republicans, and we're going to push for reparations for Black folks in this country,

because that was a Republican initiative. If you're going to say Black folks voted more conservatively prior to the 1940s and the 1950s, we'll take it all the way back. Take it all the way back and say, we're going to enforce Sherman's Field Order No. 15. We're going to enforce what Senator Stevens said on the floor of the House of Representatives, that we are going to take that promise of 40 acres and a mule, and we're going to distribute that to everyone in this country, everyone who is of African-American descent and of the descent of those who are enslaved in this nation. But to simply say, well, things were great prior to black people having rights is exactly the type of African-American that Donald Trump likes to point to and say, that's

my African-American. And as these people are jockeying for position to be the next vice president of the United States, as Congressman Donald and Tim Scott and others are, they have to remember that the statements they put and that they use on record right now are going to be used against other Black people in the future. We just saw the fearless fund. They've been using the civil rights act to deny them the ability to help black businesses. These words and these actions have consequences. And maybe Byron Donald will be the next vice president of the United

States of America, but he can't forget what he is doing to our communities on his way there. See, this is the thing for me, Rebecca, that's always shameful and despicable when a Byron Donalds, when that idiot Candace Owens or any of these people say these things. They leave out the fact about the police dogs and the lynchings and the beatings. They leave out the fact that we were denied bank loans, denied housing loans. They leave out the fact that black folks had to walk down the street, couldn't look white folks in the eye. They did not. So all those things. So if you want to talk about this small piece of what life was like for us during Jim Crow, I mean, you could literally make the argument that the black nuclear family was, there was a strong bond

doing slavery because we were working together every single day, side by side, with mother and father and children. And we were together and we lived in one room and we ate together and we prayed together. I mean, we want to go there, I mean, that's literally what we could say. But then you leave out all the other stuff that was going on. Sorry, Congressman Donald is full of shit.

So first of all, Byron, I need to know who your people are. Now, you were born and raised in Brooklyn. So I'm assuming that if your people came by way of the northern migration and the migration routes of how many black folks ended up in New York, my guess is they probably came from South Carolina, North Carolina, maybe the low islands going a little bit further south into Georgia. Perhaps, maybe. I need to know who your grandma, your auntie, your uncles are, because I can guarantee you they would not agree with what you said. Second of all, what you just said on camera means that you are dumb, you're an idiot, or maybe I'll be charitable and say you

are diseased in the mind. And this is why. Byron, you literally just said that black families can attribute strong black families to Jim Crow. That simply does not make sense. You are trying to correlate two separate things and try to have causation. And I'll explain what I mean by that. In the summer, ice cream sales go up. In the summer, crime goes up. Just because ice cream sales and crime both goes up in the summer doesn't mean that eating of ice cream leads to someone committing goes up in the summer doesn't mean that eating of ice cream leads to someone committing crime. That's not how it works. So just because you are making the argument that Black families, from your perspective, were stronger in the 50s and 60s doesn't mean that we can or should attribute it to Jim Crow. Simply, your mind is diseased to

even jump and say that oppression is what made black families stronger. That is not the case. I understand that you claim that you grew up in a black, broken home. You went to FAMU. Then you transferred to Florida State. You married into a white conservative family. And now all of a sudden white ice is better. But let's be clear.

Just because you said those things, which the Philadelphia Inquirer rightly attributed to you, you then go on camera saying, oh, I'm going to say it to their face. I'm going to say it to the camera. What you actually said on camera sounds even more stupid and idiotic than what the Philadelphia Inquirer said that you said. So if anything, you should thank them that

they didn't expose your idiocy around this issue. And quite frankly, you are lost. All right. So here's the deal. Before I go to Scott. So Byron Donald says he's blasted the Biden campaign, saying they didn't do it. Well, guess what? It was reported. There is video. And the Biden folks just posted it. Control room, if y'all have it, let's play it.

If you don't have it yet. Okay, if you don't have it yet, Scott, go with your comment, and then we're going to play the video. You actually hear Byron Donalds in his own words in a 26-second clip from that conversation. I'll only add to my colleagues. I guess we was better together doing Jim Crow because we had a stronger family, but we couldn't go to jail, and you couldn't walk down the street,

you couldn't vote, you couldn't get a job, couldn't get educated, but we were together as a family. You know, every time these dumbass Republicans, one, they don't do their research. And they're just ignorant. Sometimes, and I know what you say, Roman. You say, you got to call this out, Scott. But sometimes this stuff is so ignorant that it's just not even worth talking about.

My colleagues said it best. And by the way, if we weren't stronger as a family, our socioeconomic problems weren't there. But we weren't stronger as a family. We weren't stronger because of the socioeconomic and health disparities that still exist in America today. They were worse doing Jim Crow. So stop it. Just dumbass comment.

Just that's all I got. So here's the actual video of Byron Donalds. You see, during Jim Crow, during Jim Crow, the back family was together. During Jim Crow, more black people were not just conservative, because Black people always have been conservative-minded, but more Black people voted conservative. 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 multibbillion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

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

And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.

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

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

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, 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. And then H-E-W, Lyndon Johnson, and then you go down that road, and now we are where we are. What's happened to them? What'd he say? Doesn't sound like he was misquoted. Sounds to me like he was quoted correctly. So, Byron Dollars, you're lying. Well, you get your black history education from Ron DeSantis. This is why we want to get rid of CRT. This is why they want to get rid of DEI.

They want to keep us all that damn dumb. They want us all to walk around here scratching when we ain't itching, laughing when we ain't tickled. That's the exact archetype for a black man that they want in this country, one that's completely disconnected from his history, disconnected from Elaine Arkansas, disconnected from Tulsa, Oklahoma, disconnected from the bloody summer of 1919. So it was completely disconnected from all aspects of American history besides what had been regurgitated and spewed back to him as patriotism. He wants us all to take that Ron DeSantis history course where, you know, we were all just on the plantation having a good time. Then these northern aggressors came in to destroy the southern way of life. And we fought the good fight, but maybe we'll rise again.

But then as soon as we ended that horrible reconstruction and our brothers and sisters in the Ku Klux Klan decided to come together to liberate us and to arm us and protect us from other groups, that is when the Black family was the strongest. That's the version of history that Byron Donald has been indoctrinated into and that he would like the rest of us to believe in. And if you believe that version of history, then no, we don't need voting rights. No, we don't need a civil rights act. We don't need diversity, equity, and inclusion. We don't need affirmative action. Everything was great back when we had the proper American social structure of white supremacy on top. And then a couple of us get to prosper at the foot of white supremacy

from the crumbs from the table. But the rest of us will be in subjugation. That is the Donald version of black American history. Y'all, again, I just love the people who say I didn't say it. What did you say, Scott? What's worse about that video, real quick, Roland, is that there were other black conservatives listening to him saying right right right well actually actually not not not really because we don't really know who was in the room first of all here's what we do though according to philadelphia according to philadelphia

inquire no no no according to philadelphia inquire half of the people who were in the room weren't even from philadelphia They came in for it. It's no different than when Donald's hosted an event in South Carolina, and it was a supposedly a black Republican event, South Carolina. And there were like five in the room.

So, again, you hear this one thing, but it's another. All right. When we come back, I got to play for you this absolutely racist comment about black juries, Jesse Waters said on Fox News. Also, 50 Cent was on Capitol Hill talking to members of Congress about African-Americans being shut out of the spirits industry. Plus, this unbelievable video. A black superintendent is on the stage and is about to shake the hand of a white female

high school graduate. Her dad storms the stage and physically moves the black superintendent off the stage so he couldn't shake his daughter's hand. There's actual video of this.

Stunning. We'll have it for you. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. A lot of y'all have been asking me about the pocket squares that we have available on our website. You see me rocking the Chibori pocket square right here.

It's all about looking different. And look, summertime is coming up. Y'all know, I keep trying to tell fellas, change your look please. You can't wear athletic shoes every damn where. So if you're putting on linen suits, if you're putting on some summer suits, have a whole different look.

The reason I like this particular pocket square, these shiboris, because it's sort of like a flower and looks pretty cool here, versus the traditional boring silk pocket squares. But also, I like them a little different as well. So this is why we have these custom-made feather pocket squares on the website as well. My sister actually designed these after,

a few years ago, I was in this battle with Steve Harvey at Essence and I saw this at a St. Jude fundraiser. I saw this fill the pocket square and I said, well, I got some ideas. So I hit her and she sent me about 30 different ones. And so this completely changes your look. Now, some of you men out there, I had some dudes say, oh man, I can't wear that. Well, if you ain't got swagger, that's not my problem. But if you're looking for something different to spruce up your look, fellas,

ladies, if y'all looking to get your man a good gift, I've run into brothers all across the country with the feather pocket squares saying, see, check mine out. So it's always good to see them. And so this is what you do. Go to RollinsMartin.com forward slash pocket squares. You can order Shibori pocket squares saying, see, check mine out. And so it's always good to see them. And so this is what you do. Go to RollersMartin.com forward slash pocket squares.

You can order Shibori pocket squares or the custom-made pocket squares. Now, for the Shiboris, we're out of a lot of the different colors, and I think we're down to about 200 or 300. So you want to get your order in as soon as you can because here's what happened. I got these several years ago, and the Japanese company signed a deal with another company, and I bought them before they signed that deal. And so I can't get access to any more from the company in Japan that makes them. And so get yours now.

So come summertime when I see y'all at Essence, y'all can be looking fly with the Shibori Pocket Square or the custom-made Pocket Square. Again, rollingnismartin.com forward slash pocket squares go there now me sherry separate and you know what you're watching rolling martin unfiltered Thank you. one thing you can always count on from fox news is racism and one of the biggest racists there is Jesse Warris. This is what he said after the first day of the trial of Hunter Biden in the nation's capital. It's called jury nullification. It's when you pick a jury that will give you a not guilty verdict. They know you're guilty, but they just disagree with the law. The strategy plays on the racial makeup of the jury,

which is mostly black, as well as the Biden's influence in Delaware. The hope is this jury won't convict for a drug-related crime. Everybody in Delaware knows the Bidens. That's why Jill and Ashley are sitting front row. But that's not all. The Biden family brought Mouse to court. Mouse is a Delaware legend. Joe Biden was the best man at his wedding.

Mouse runs Delaware's NAACP and has been involved in the community for decades. They want every black juror to see Mouse sitting with the Bidens. If you can get the jury on your side, all of a sudden, this case is not a slam dunk. Now, keep in mind, Hunter Biden is facing three counts of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, writing false statements on the formula, both of them possessing the gun for several days. So basically, Rebecca, Jesse Waters is saying, oh, black people are too dumb on a jury to listen to evidence, listen to testimony. What he's saying is, oh, if you want a not guilty verdict,

just pick nearly an all black jury and you're going to get that the inverse is he's saying that if you want a guilty verdict regardless of what the evidence is pick an all-white jury is that what he's saying but then i think there's so many ways you could go with this but also he's saying, oh, well, well, black people, they'll never convict with drugs. Cause you know, all black people do elicit drugs, right? I mean, look, he's ignorant. It's the reason why he's on Fox news. Um, bottom line, he's racist. He shows he's racist. So he's going to say racist things. And he's on a network that supports people saying racist things. And that also means that those companies that air during Jesse Waters' time,

they support racist things being said that they're putting their ad dollars behind. So, okay, cool. He said something racist. Jesse Waters saying something racist, we call that, Scott, a day that ends in D-A-Y. Right. You know, having picked several jurors, juries, and Jesse Ward having not picked one, I can tell you, you know, white America is the least qualified to talk about black people and racism or to even define discrimination. I've always said this. And the fact of the matter is that most jurors, 95 percent of them, and Robert, I'd love to hear your response, black, white, yellow, brown, take that case into the jury room. They try to do the right thing.

They work hard. Doesn't matter their race. And black people aren't monolithic simply because the criminal justice system has housed more of us than other people, if you will, in most jurisdictions. But they work hard, they try to do the right thing, they try to follow the law, and you come back with a verdict. If Jesse Water was right, then the majority of juries in Washington, D.C. are black, and you wouldn't have anybody convicted. And we know we got a 95 percent conviction rate here in this jurisdiction as well. So it's really just more ignorance than anything. And to think that that mouse, who may be a legend in that community, is sitting with the sitting with the Biden family, but they don't. But Justin Waters doesn't have any problem with the leadership of the GOP in

the House and Senate coming to sit in the front row in regard to Donald Trump's trial. Somehow that's right, because they're white, but it's wrong in Delaware, because the president happens to know everybody. Everybody knows the president in Delaware, and Mouse is a legend in the NAACP. That's cry foul. But here's the last point, Roland.

I can give you five federal circuit court opinions that have said what Hunter Biden is charged with would never be charged and is unconstitutional. And by the way, 90 percent of these charges against Hunter Biden have never just been brought independent. They've always been connected to some other crime with gang members or bad actors, if you will. Never before, very few times, does the fact that this form filled out is wrong. This form was altered by the gun shop, if you will. If Hunter Biden is found not guilty or the government has proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt, those would be the reasons, not because Mouse is sitting in the audience or Joe Biden is sitting in the audience. It's because the jury did their job.

And if they convict him, then they did their job too. We've got to respect the rule of law. It's also, Robert, it could be because Mouse has been a friend of Biden's for more than 30 years and his family and his children. But again, this is a level of stupidity. And I'm sure Jesse Waters is making no comment about any of the white supporters of the Biden family showing up in court. When we talk about only in America, Jesse Waters is absolutely a, you know, he is the siren tail of the most unqualified white people and white mediocrity being rewarded. Remember, he started off as an intern for Tucker Carlson.

And because he was tall and conservative, they started letting him do man-on-the-street interviews. At that point in time, they made him a full-time correspondent. He was actually married when his wife was pregnant, and he left her to start dating one of the booking producers at Fox, you know, Family Values, Conservative Values, then got her pregnant. And then when Tucker got fired for the Dominion lawsuit and costing Fox basically a billion dollars, somehow Jesse Waters gets elevated to a primetime television slot. Now, I'm not saying that that would never happen to a black person. I'm just saying that's never happened to a black person in the history of Earth.

And this idea that somehow because you went from an intern to a primetime anchor while cheating on your wife qualifies you to talk about jury selection somehow is where this kind of conservative belief in meritocracy falls apart. Because what do they continuously say? Well, I'm against diversity, equity, and inclusion because it needs to be based on merit. What the hell merit does Jesse Waters have to talk about jury selection in a Delaware case? It's completely ridiculous.

And the idea that they're putting out here, that they're trying to invalidate the verdict before it happens, because they're pretty sure Hunter Biden's going to be acquitted in this case, because as Scott said, these charges are never brought. And they may not even be constitutional, this idea that you can deny somebody their Second Amendment right based on them being a drug addict. If you look at the tests of the Heller decision just inside a decade ago, it makes it pretty clear that this is an individualized right. And I'm not quite sure, and the courts have not decided yet,

whether or not you can bar that right based on someone being a drug addict at the time. Because if you're going to say that, then why not say alcoholics? Why not say anything under that that will undermine the Second Amendment? So they know this will probably be dismissed out of hand or be an acquittal for Hunter Biden. They're trying to invalidate that, but also blow these racist dog whistles at the same time.

That not only are we going to invalidate the verdict, but we're going to do so because Black people are so simple-minded that all they have to do is see another Black person and they'll just get up, get up, start juggling watermelons, shucking and jiving, frying chicken in the jewelry box, and then it'll be over. This is par for the course of the audience they're trying to appeal to. All right, folks, hold tight one second. When we come back, when do you see this video of a white man physically removing a black superintendent from the stage because he did not want that black superintendent touching his

white daughter's hand? Also, at 50 Cent, comes to Capitol Hill talking about the importance of expanding opportunities for African Americans in the liquor industry. We'll show you that as well. Lots to talk about right here

on Rolling Mark Unfortunate on the Black Star Network. Yeah, somebody's killing poor people and it's going on now. Walk alone. When COVID happened, poor people were dying at a rate already of 800 people a day before COVID. If you went to a funeral every single day, it would take you 600 years to attend all the funerals

of the people who will die from the ravages of policy, violence, poverty, and low wages in America in just one year. It would take you two years and 19 days to go to all of the funerals of the people that will die today and oftentimes silence. Nobody talks about this political genocide, but we are determined today to remember their death and be a resurrection of voting power and voice power like never before. Economic justice and safety. 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. Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

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

of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working

and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more.

Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Leaving this democracy are deeply connected. We as a nation must listen to the demands of the poor who are pushing and will continue to push political candidates and elected leaders to lift from the bottom so that everybody can rise. Take back the money! Take back the money!

Take back the money! Take back the money! Take back the money! Take back the money! We are the poor, the marginalized, and the underpaid. And we are taking one step forward to say that everybody has a right to live. Poverty is not the fault of those who are impoverished. It is caused by those who make the policy. There are over 135 million poor and low-wage, low-income people in this nation. The biggest block of potential voters by far is low-income, low-wage voters. I can't afford medicine. Sometimes I have to skip because of the cost. The farm worker community is tired of the violence imposed

upon us by greed, exclusion, and denial of basic human rights. Those folks that represented by that casket, poor and low-wage workers who are the most moral people in this country because they go to work every day believing, even though going to work is hazardous to their health. I'm tired of working 70 to 80 hours a week and still not have money for the necessity of bills. I'm tired of getting sick and not being able to go see the doctor.

Having to make a choice to pay between rent or the light bill or food or clothes. You cannot claim to care about families and a culture of life and then do everything in your power to rob people of equal access to resources and to force them to live in poverty. Leadership of both parties had waged war on poor people and low-wage workers. And this government has treated people experiencing poverty, including their military families, with disdainful, deliberate, malicious neglect. So the truth is that my son died from poverty. We refuse to accept poverty as the fourth leading cause of death.

The fourth leading cause of death in this, the richest country in the world. We march today for our children and the generations to come. And we need to do it with the loudest voices possible, the biggest actions possible. We will voice our demands and register our vote. When we stand up and when we stand together, things change. There is the electorate that is, and then there is the electorate that should be. Thirty-four million eligible poor and low income voters did not vote in 2016. If just 20% of those voters in swing state were mobilized around an agenda, they could change the political outcome of every election.

So we're launching the most massive voter mobilization and turnout campaign in history of poor and low wage voters, allies and religious leaders. People are dying, but we know it doesn't have to be this way. And so we are calling on everyone to join us in this Poor People's Campaign, a national call for more revival. We are here. We will be seen. We will be heard.

And our power will be felt. We don't need to be an insurrection. We are a resurrection that will be felt across this country. Are you ready? I'm getting old Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherry Shepard Talk Show. You're watching Rolling Mark. Until tomorrow. Well, folks, 50 Cent was on Capitol Hill today with attorney Ben Crump talking about increasing opportunities for African-Americans in the liquor industry. He is suing a particular company, saying they have been defrauding him.

He met with Democrats and Republicans. There are a lot of photo ops out there with Speaker Mike Johnson, Lauren Bovert, and others. That sounds great and wonderful, but here's the real issue. Show me how Republicans are willing to do that. Are they going to stand up and fight discriminatory behavior happening in this industry? What about what's happening in black-owned media? Folks, if you use it today, post this video on social media, 50 Cent, addressing the microphones. This is definitely not my traditional platform. I should have studied this like a verse and just bust a rap.

It's really exciting for me to be here. I got a chance to meet with both sides today and it feels really good. Like they don't agree. They don't agree on a lot of stuff. You know what I mean? So to get them to agree on seeing me was an accomplishment in itself. As far as today, I went to talk to them about economic opportunities for everybody and it's really exciting. The response I got makes me feel like that there's bright things ahead of us. Well, I'll say this here. It's actually no shock. It's not that big of a deal that both sides would agree to meet 50 Cent. He is, of course, a prominent artist, businessman as well.

Also, I've loved to look at politicians, don't mind celebrities as well. So I've loved, I've loved politicians, film my celebrities as well. Here's the thing for me that really jumps out here, and I'll go to you first, Scott, and that is this here. Yes, 50 Cent is suing this country, this particular company, doing business with him. And when Diddy was talking about when he filed his lawsuit against Diageo, alleging the same thing and then there are other individuals. This is what I am going to say specifically to black celebrities. Are you doing this because of you or are you doing it for the collective? See, that's the real issue. If I think about a Harry Belafonte, if I think about an Ossie Davis, if I think about a long line of

African Americans, Wendell Pierce, Don Cheadle, and others, there are folks, Jesse Williams, there are people who are working on behalf of the collective, Erica Alexander. I can keep naming folks. And so, you know, I wasn't in D.C. today. I was here in Atlanta supporting Steve Harvey in his golf tournament, the money he raises for his boys' and girls' camps. But I did put in a call to Ben Crump.

And I'm going to send a text 50 cent as well. And my question to them is going to be, okay, I got it. You met on Capitol Hill. So you want to see expanded opportunities for African Americans in this particular space. While I was here, while I was here, former music music executive, Kadar Massenburg, had his wines here. On the course, there was a sister who had her own liquor brand. I know other, there are other people who I've met. I've interviewed, we've had people on the show in Marketplace who created their own liquor brand. So here's the question that I would pose to 50 Cent.

Are you willing to call for a meeting of all these individuals and then begin to say, how do we move as a collective? So the question is, is this about expanding opportunities for African-Americans in the space? Or is it about you expanding opportunities in the space? That would be the question I would pose to him. What did Ben Crump say? Haven't heard back yet, but you know I'm definitely going to follow up with him. Okay, so it can be both. The reality is that black-owned businesses have lots of challenges

and have historically, right? If 50 Cents can lend his name and advocacy to expanding those opportunities, calling for legislation to expand those opportunities, demanding that Biden administration do more, and they've done a lot in this space, then—and him lending his name to it, you know, as he goes along, he's going to bring a lot of others along. But it's not about the photo op and going to Capitol Hill one day with Ben Crump. The hard work begins after that.

And so whether he's going to do this and be prepared to do this for all black-owned businesses, men and women-owned black folks, then the work after the photo op with Ben Crump and legislation, are they going to draft legislation? Is he going to show up on the Hill without the photo op? Is he going to build a coalition of successful black business owners who are all entrepreneurs like Steve Harvey and you and others and build a coalition and really make this demand and make a strong push where it is not about 50 cents, it's not about his celebrity, it's about the collective? Then the answer is it's about the collective.

If you're not going to do all of that and more than what I just listed off the top of my head, then it's about the photo op and 50 Cent and maybe some, but not the collective. And that's the reality of being a celebrity. The celebrity behind the movement is not the celebrity. It's the movement behind the celebrity. And you have to create that with hard work and passion. And so I guess the verdict is out. We'll see. Will you be reporting on something else they've done in this regard

in two or three months, in a year, in two years? Because it's not going to happen overnight. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution.

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

It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June

4th. Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before.

I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Because 50 Cent showed up on the Hill.

So that's my response. Absolutely. And look, the thing that I make clear, and the reason I say that, Rebecca, because I make the point all the time, when I am advocating for expanded opportunities for black-owned media. I'm not saying, oh, just for Roland. And I'm not saying that's what 50 Cent is doing. But what I am saying is that, sure, you appearing on Capitol Hill by yourself with Ben Crump, that's great. But as Scott said, nothing gets done unless it's a broader movement.

And what I want to see is I want to see this generation of black celebrities not operate in silos. I want them to say, hey, when you come back to Capitol Hill, you come back with 50 or 100 or 200 African-Americans who have created their own liquor brands. And they have brown liquor. They have wine. They have whatever. Now, all of a sudden, again, that's how, to me, you effectively utilize celebrity where it's not just about you. I agree. It's great to have 50 Cent on Capitol Hill, but we also need to see Curtis Jackson in the streets because I want him to talk more than just about his particular liquor brand, but also talk about liquor distribution in this country. How can more Black folks be a part of distribution where there's more avenues to create and generate

black wealth. The other thing that I want to see Mr. Curtis Jackson do, considering he has a new production studio in Shreveport, Louisiana, I believe it's for both film and television production, I want to see him actually get involved in Louisiana and let them know, hey, I'm potentially bringing billions of dollars in revenue to your state. So all this crazy stuff you're doing down in Baton Rouge in the legislature, that's not going to work if you want me to bring my billions in this state. Otherwise, I could cross the border into Arkansas. I could go over, cross the border over into Texas, and I could do business there. So I want to see 50 Cent, yes, his star power and celebrity, but I need to see the businessman, Curtis Jackson, flexing his power to, you know, for the black community.

Because even though you have some celebrities who say, hey, I'm OJ, I'm not black, at the end of the day, you are still black. You will be treated that way. And it never is good when you are the only one in the room and you're right. He needs to bring up 50, a hundred other people. Maybe he could do a collaboration with uncle nearest, which is now I think, um, trending towards like a billion dollar, um, um, projection. Um, you know, so there's other things that he can be doing, but it's best not to go it alone. If you don't understand that through recent history, you can look at African Proverbs that talk about it's better to go in a group and not be caught in the bush by yourself. And look, look, there are a series of photos on his Twitter feed.

Patrol, y'all should be pulling it up. He has a photo of Congressman Steve Scalise, Republican majority leader, Louisiana. He goes, boom. He goes boom. That's all it says. He was a walk and talk with Congressman Troy Carter. He also then you have this here, Fox New Orleans posted a photo. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson in North North Louisiana native, met with Curtis 50 Cent Jackson in D.C. and thanked him for investing in Shreveport and the community.

50 Cent's G-Unit Studios opened in Shreveport earlier this year. And again, here's the whole deal. 50 Cent may not care about all the other issues that are happening in Louisiana. That's fine. Okay. I totally understand Rebecca's point. I'm going to be just still very clear on this, Robert, and that is I just simply think that if you are articulating the need for expanded opportunities for African Americans in issue a call and Uncle Nearest and other individuals, large or small, and say, hey, we're going to move collectively. We're going to move as a group. April 3rd, 1968 at Mesa Temple in Memphis, Tennessee, in that mountaintop speech when he said that black people individually are poor, yet collectively represent one of the largest economies in the world.

He said we have to move as a collective to get things done. And that's what I certainly hope he does. And again, when the show is over, I'm going to text him this very thing. And I'm going to text it to Ben Kropp. Because to me, that's how you actually show your power when you come back to Capitol Hill with 50, 75, 100, 200 African-Americans who have liquor brands and say, we're standing as one. That, to me, is how you exercise your power, Robert. Look, I'm going to defend 50 a little bit here because we can't expect 50 Cent to be Harry Belafonte all of a sudden. He's somebody who made a career making songs about degrading black women, about shooting black men, selling drugs. what I'm saying is it can't just be about your lawsuit it has to be about

all of y'all trying to figure out what y'all seeing here that's one of the features in an iPhone when you say certain things and you move your hands but also that's them also saying Roland is lighting that ass up so again

the thing we don't understand here if you as an individual are advocating for African-American expanded opportunities, all I'm saying is bring some other folks with you. That's just the point. The African-American he's advocating for is Curtis Jackson, not the rest of y'all. And that's the point that I'm trying to make. And that's my point. But, look, that's the point that I'm trying to make. Let's stop pretending 50 Cent is Harry Belafonte here.

Look, he has an entire drug dealer multiverse on television right now with spinoff shows all about black folks selling drugs to other black folks and killing other black folks. He spent 20 years making music about black folks doing drugs, defaming and abusing women,

and killing other black folks. Do you think he's at Capitol Hill all of a sudden to beat the rolls of parts of liquor? No, he wants the exclusive license to keep black folks drunk. And so this idea that suddenly he is going to be moving in this new direction—and, look, Malcolm X talked about this 60 years ago, that we're the only community that looks to horn players, that looks to dancers, that looks to ball players in order to be the leadership of our community. He has every right as a businessman to go up there and try to get new contracts, but he's barking up the wrong tree. If he thinks that Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise give a damn

about opportunities for Black folks or give a damn about doing anything for diversity, equity, inclusion, run an entire campaign about not giving opportunities to Black folks to meet with them all you feel like. But in reality, it ain't going to happen. That's not who he is. And we got to stop expecting people to suddenly change their stripes to become Mahatma Gandhi over. 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 was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.

This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

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

We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Cor 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. 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. He's going to continue his business of making money off of the destruction of Black communities, and I don't think that's going to change all of a sudden with one visit to Capitol Hill.

Again, I am, again, and where I stand is very clear. If you are going to say I am here to fight to expand opportunities for African-Americans. OK, I'm saying bring them with you. That's the whole point. And so I because I believe in too many spaces that there are too many of us who are selfish there are there's a certain phrase is for and no more uh whereas i'm the only one in anytime i hear a black corporate executive say it's lonely at the top i'm like no i blame you because you were supposed to bring some folk with you and that's your damn fault so all all I'm saying is, and trust me, 50 going to get a text, and Ben Crumper's going to get a text, and I'm going to recommend, if that's what you're serious about,

call the meeting. Call the meeting of other African Americans in the business and say, the next time we are going to take the trip together. And now all of a sudden, 5,100, 200 descend upon Capitol Hill. Let me quickly go to a break. We'll be right back. I got to talk to Isaac Hayes about this new documentary out with two black tech founders. But also wait till I show you this video out of Wisconsin where a racist white man literally physically moves a black superintendent off the graduation stage because he didn't want him shaking his daughter's hand. Talked about shameful.

Watching Roland Martin unfiltered from the bachelor name. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, being of service to others is one of the greatest callings in life. But being there for someone else in their time of crisis is a whole new level. And you have to bring courage, commitment, and strength. On our next show, we meet two real life angels who were thrust in the midst of caregiving and without warning. And he was looking strange and couldn't cut his meat. And it was very odd. And I said, well, what's wrong?

And he says, I think I've had a stroke. And so, of course, it scared me. And we literally got in the car and he walked into the hospital on a Thursday. And by Saturday of that same week, he lost all control of his left side. The blessings, the challenges, and the way they maintain their balance, all next on A Balanced Life on Blackstar Network. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, you're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns.

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Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep. This is about covering us. Invest in Black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. Rates $100,000. We're behind $100,000. So we want to hit that.

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Now streaming on the Black Star Network. It was my junior year at Georgetown. This guy calls me and he says, Malcolm, what are you doing next year? Graduating, you know. He said, take a year off. Welcome, Malcolm X. I said, okay.

But first of all, for the folks who don't know, Spike is my cousin. Spike is my cousin. The person watching, like, how the hell is Spike just going to tell you? It's true. It's true. It's true. Hey, what's up, y'all? I'm Devon Franklin. It is always a pleasure to be in the house.

You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stay right here. Hey, folks. There's a new documentary out on HBO Max about MoviePass. It is a tech company that was founded by two African-Americans. It talks about how the company imploded and those two brothers were removed from the company. Isaac Hayes III is the founder of Fanbase. He joins us in this weekly Tech Talk. Isaac, I saw your video you posted about MoviePass, and I remember when they launched. I remember people talking about it.

Then I remember they were like, what the hell? How are they going to make money? It was all this sort of stuff. And then you used to talk about how the documentary is just fascinating because it lays out how they then got removed from the company they founded. This movie, Crash, I think you should definitely take a look at it as a black business owner. It was kind of like a very sad kind of corporate takeover of MoviePass, which was founded by Stacey Spikes and Hamed Watt in 2011. They built MoviePass all the way up to about 20,000 subscribers. And they got a guy named Chris Kelly, who was the original general counsel for Facebook,

to come in and invest in the company. And so when Chris Kelly joined the board, it was those two gentlemen and Chris Kelly on the board. And so when Chris Kelly joined the board, it was those two gentlemen and Chris Kelly on the board. And so what wound up happening is that MoviePass needed a little bit more capital, and they thought they should bring in a white CEO to actually run the company to try to scale the company. In comes Mitch Lowe, who was the former CEO of Redbox. And so they reconstituted their board to include the two black founders, Mitch Lowe, and then Chris Kelly wound up having two board seats. So now with Chris Kelly's two board seats and Mitch Lowe's one board seat, they wound up removing both gentlemen from the board and eventually firing both of them from the company and then taking the entire company within one year, spending $150 million and crashing the company.

Wow. Yeah. Wow. So explain to people, and you talked about beforehand, the pitfalls when you're a founder and you go out and you raise money and you don't fully understand why you got to hold on to as much power as possible because in this case you can get run out your own company yeah i mean well boards are very important boards are really basically the boss of the ceo they're the people that are in charge and kind of guide the company and kind of keep the CEO accountable to the company. And so typically a lot of black founders wind themselves getting voted out of their own companies by these board takeovers by other people that are coming on the board. When it comes to the company that I built with Fanbase, I don't have a board. That's because I raised independent capital. I haven't gone to VCs. So you've got to be careful when you're raising capital, especially from venture capital,

because they do want things like board seats. And what happens is VCs will often look at your company as something to flip. So you might have a billion-dollar idea, and all they might want to do is give four times the return on the investment that they made. So you might have a billion dollar idea and all they might want to do is give four times return on the investment that they made. So they give you a million and they get four million. They'll be ready to sell your company way before you can take it to something to be a unicorn. So you've got to be careful in the way that you constitute and construct your board. And MoviePass really, it really bothered me because once Stacey and Hamet were gone, you have Mitch Lowe and Ted Farnsworth, who eventually wind up putting in a bunch of capital.

And both of the guys are about to go on trial for securities fraud with the SEC. But they put founder and CEO of MoviePass. They totally whitewashed these two black guys out of the company. If you watch the documentary, there is a happy ending to the documentary. I won't give it away. But that part really bothered me that these two guys built a company from the ground up from 2011 all the way to 2017, 18. And these guys come in and crash the company and take it over. Absolutely crazy. Questions from our panel. Rebecca, you're first. Hey, Isaac. It's Rebecca. It's good to see you again tonight. So for would-be founders, especially in more of the tech space, what are the top three things that black founders should do to protect their company?

I think initially you should create multiple classes of stock, right? I think you should create two classes of stock, common stock and voting stock. And then I think as founders, you should try your best to maintain control of all the voting stock. So that way it gives yourself power, right? You want to try to put as much equity as you can yourself in your company so that it limits the amount of equity that people can take, which is ownership and power, especially dealing with venture capital. It's tricky. So that's why, secondly, I think I recommend, I recommend people trying equity crowdfunding, like what we've done with Fanbase, as an alternative way to raise capital.

Because even with UC was going on with Fearless Fund and the fact that they lost their appeal in the 11th Circuit Court, it's just like we have to find ways to bypass these racist practices, right? And then I think, thirdly, you just have to be mindful of sometimes, especially as a black founder, there might be an air of racism that might want to prevent you from scaling your company to being somebody that is a Zuckerberg or is a, you know, Edmund Spiegel or, you know, Jack Dorsey or somebody that builds a monster platform.

So you really got to keep your head on a swivel about who's really, you know, has your best interest in mind when you're constituting and constructing your company. Scott. Yeah, I haven't advised a lot of entrepreneurs and folks like who have startups, whether it's in the IT space or otherwise, one of the things I would supplement your advice and counsel is that getting good counsel, a good accountant, getting a good kind of corporate strategist is really, really important. Money's tight, and maybe you can't afford it, but you can't afford not to have it,

because the way the company was set up, it was me extrapolating from your remarks and kind of I looked this up before. You know, there was a lot of money that was burned through. But the way the stocks were set up and the agreements with these folks that didn't look like them, it was teed up for them to be moved out of the company. And it happens in real estate. It happens in startups all the time. The founders had to know that they, in exchange for the money, they were subjecting themselves to some risk that they could be moved out of the company through these board seats. Do you agree or disagree with that? No, that's true.

I think Stacey and Hamed, you know, trusted, you know, they were too trusting. No, yeah. You can't trust nobody. You can't trust nobody. Who do you trust? They were a little too trusting in that situation. And the way that I constructed fan base, honestly, I built it. I knew that.

But I remember this. Remember, Steve Jobs got voted out of Apple. Exactly. So you always want to try to protect yourself as the founder as best you can. And so that's why those two classes of stock, I think, are extremely important in the way that you construct your company. But, yeah, you can't, you got to keep your head on a swivel and be careful who you trust. And you can't give up majority ownership of your stock or even put it at risk in exchange for that money piece. You cannot do that because this is exactly what will happen by being too trusting. But also, if you give up or put at risk your majority ownership, it's your idea, it's your passion. You're the entrepreneur. And, you know, there's a saying with entrepreneurs, you know, you go as long as you can until you can't manage how you've grown this thing, right?

Then you've got to either sell or you've got to get out of it, if you will, up to your management experience. And so often entrepreneurs don't, one, realize that, but two, you should never give up or put at risk your majority stock interest, because it's your idea, it's your baby. 100%. Robert? You know, given the way that MoviePass ended and kind of the collapse of the company, is there ever something to be said for taking the money early, avoiding some of the risk down the line, and being able to cash out and simply invest that into another venture, particularly given when now you have people who are associated with the new company facing federal charges, et cetera? Well, the irony in that is that Stacey and Hamed

actually had equity in the company. And this is something that also happens, is the company kind of merged up under a publicly traded company and got acquired. And this is something that also happens. The company kind of merged up under a publicly traded company and got acquired. So they were on the stock market. So the equity that both gentlemen had, I think the equity I think that Stacey had was worth about $80 million. But within that one year, there was a restriction that they couldn't sell their stock for 365 days. And it went from $ million dollars down to pennies within 365 days because the guy spent 150 million dollars uh you know mitch lowe and ted farnsworth they burnt all the money you know gallivanting around coachella spending money the hosting events hanging out

with celebrities and partying and they crashed the company uh within a year so imagine having something worth 80 million dollars is worth pennies in less than a year, and you have no control over that. So, yeah, that's something that was extremely terrible. Oh, man. So, folks, if you go to HBO Max, you can check the documentary out. Isaac, give us an update on the raise for Fanbase. Hey, Fanbase, listen, we are raising right now on startengine.com slash Fanbase. Everybody that hears my voice, go to startengine.com slash fanbase and invest.

We're almost at about $1.3 million. I'm raising $17 million. The minimum to invest is $399. You get 60 shares of fanbase stock. It's $6.65 a share. And I think what's important about this, again, is these companies are changing. You see that Instagram is even trying out like unskippable ads, right, that you can't even scroll past the ads on the platform anymore. It's a lot of little things that are starting to happen with these companies.

And so I think, again, the opportunity for users to have equity in social media, that is why I built Fanbase. So we're almost at about 700,000 users. We're on iOS and Android. We've previously raised 10 million. So this isn't a far stretch for us to go ahead and raise to 17. And you have ownership equity. We talk about equity so many times in a startup and you can rise and grow with the growth of the company. So if you want to invest, go to start engine dot com slash fan bases on my shirt. Make sure that you go check

it out and have some equity. And I say this before, 28,500 people investing $600 is $17 million, and we can close our round. If you know some people, forward the link to them, tell your friends, invest with your grandkids, your kids, your friends, and let's all go together because this is the opportunity to own part of a tech startup, a social media tech startup that is rivaling these other platforms. They're actually copying what we do. So I'm really excited about this. And I want as many of us who look like us on the cap table as possible. So go to startengine.com slash fanbase to invest. The minimum to invest is $399. I'll keep you posted rolling every time I come back on the show.

But check out MoviePass. And as a founder, be careful who you let in the hen house. Absolutely. Isaac was really appreciative. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Folks, I saw this video on social media and I had to go ahead and show you this. So that was a graduation in Wisconsin. And as this young woman is about to cross the stage, her racist dad literally storms the stage and physically removes the black superintendent from the stage.

Watch this. Elise Kathleen Eddy. Thank you. Oh. Excuse me. Where's Brandon? Oh That way, Michael. No, no. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

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

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

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

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before.

I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Where's Brendan?

Brendan? Who's that? Elise. That black superintendent is Baraboo, Wisconsin Superintendent Rainey Briggs. Again, he was on stage, including with school board president Kevin Bodak and principal Steve Consondine. The man only confronted Superintendent Briggs. This is not the first incident at this particular school in 2018. A photo circulated of students at Baraboo High School giving a Nazi salute in a class photo. That right there is absolutely outrageous, Scott. Yeah, you know, Roman, I often say, having grown up in Joliet, Illinois, these pockets of communities all around us just aren't Washington, D.C., New York, L.A., Chicago. I mean, they just, it's like their time warped and don't know history, don't know the 1965 Voting Rights

Act, Housing Act. And the amount of racism, manifest racism, manifest verbalizing of the N-word is just unbelievable in some of these local communities. And I remember growing up in Joliet, Illinois, and this was, I was in high school from 76 to 80, and my parents were civil rights activists. I was at a Catholic school. And I'm going to tell you, the N-word was not a big deal. I got called the N-word almost every week and stuff, and went through either fighting or joking or getting suspended or yelling names back just to defend myself. And I wasn't alone. And Joliet, Illinois and New Lenox, Illinois weren't alone in those

communities where it's like in time warp almost, notwithstanding the media. And so we just got to fight it. I guess my question to you, Roland, is have you read what happened to the superintendent? Because the video doesn't show him coming back on stage. Was there an altercation behind stage because there was a disruption? And did the graduation continue? Superintendent came back on stage. Graduation did continue. And I believe that father got arrested.

Yeah, absolutely. But these local communities, Roland, now you got a black superintendent handing out diplomas and crazy white folks rearing their ugly head because he didn't want that black man touching his white daughter, who is responsible for her graduating, by the way. That's how idiotic it is. So it's unbelievable. All right. Okay. Rebecca.

Well, here's an added wrinkle to that story. As I saw in the town of Baraboo, the school board president is now, they're trying to recall the school board president. And the reason why, they're saying he's mismanaging money. And one of the examples of him mismanaging money is the superintendent's pay. So just the run, run that back. There are families and parents who's upset with how much the superintendent is making. And I guarantee you up in Baraboo and like he's making a million dollars a year, but they don't want that black man making whatever he is making. And I guarantee you, up in Baraboo, it ain't like he's making a million dollars a year. But they don't want that black man making

whatever he's making. Now, that black man is from an hour away in Madison. Maybe he and his family need to leave Baraboo and go back down to Madison. Robert? If you're a black man and find yourself in Baraboo, Wisconsin, you've probably already made a mistake. I'm just going to put that out there. But, you know, I've noticed throughout my life and throughout generations, people usually create the thing that they hate the most. And his poor daughter is going to go off to college now.

And when she shows up at Thanksgiving with Jaquan or Jamal or something like that, and he has to look at that brand new baby that she's bringing forward, he's going to realize they're bringing that girl up in a family of hatred, teaching her to hate those people. He's now created exactly the thing that he sought to destroy. So congratulations to his daughter and his future son-in-law, Jaquan.

And he's going to be a big black man soon. She's going to bring home a big black man. Tall, big tall big muscular football player are y'all done are y'all yeah we done go man i gotta go man i got a hard stop at eight i love you guys but i gotta go well if you gotta, shut up and stop talking then. Well, I know, but the show's going to miss an element that you're not going to have when I go. It'll never be the same without me. So just cover for me, okay? No, we'll be greatly improved.

All right, y'all, that is it. Let me thank Robert. Let me thank Rebecca and I'll tell Scott. I will, folks, tomorrow I'm back in the studio, and I'll have some great video from the Steve Harvey Golf Tournament here in Atlanta for you on tomorrow's show. That's it. Don't forget, support us in what we do.

Join the Bring the Punks fan club. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing on average 50 bucks a year, $4.19 a dollars and 19 cents a month 13 cents a day send your checking money over to p.o box 57196 washington dc two zero zero three seven dash zero one nine six cash app dollar sign rm unfiltered paypal r martin unfiltered vimos rm uh unfiltered sale rolling at roland s martin.com rolling at roland martin Unfiltered. Zale, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Download the Black Stud Network app. Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV.

Also, be sure to get a copy of my book, White Fear, The Browning of America's Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at bookstores nationwide. There'll be an audio version and audible. And don't forget, I have less than 200 copies. We probably have less than 100 now of my book, The First. President Barack Obama's Road to the White House was originally reported by Roland S. Martin.

I am personally autographing all copies. I have cut the price to $10. That's it. Once these books are gone, that's it. I have looked at my house in Dallas, my brother's house, my sister's house, my house in the DMV. These are the only copies left. And once I get rid of them, they are gone. I'm not reprinting this book again. So if you want your personally autographed copy, go to RolandSMartin.com forward slash the first. RolandSMartin.com forward slash the first.

And you can get that particular book. Folks, that's it. I'll see y'all tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Holla! Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punch! A real revolution right now. Thank you for being the voice of Black America.

All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? 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.

I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. 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 I'm Greg Glott. It does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an iHeart podcast.