#RolandMartinUnfiltered - GA Trump Indictment, Sen Tuberville Hold leaves Military Leaderless, Remembering Clarence Avant

Episode Date: August 16, 2023

8.15.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: GA Trump Indictment, Sen Tuberville Hold leaves Military Leaderless, Remembering Clarence Avant Former President Donald Trump is now facing 91 charges with the latest indictment in Georgia on state charges. We'll break down the charges in his fourth indictment and discuss the potential implications of these charges. For the first time in history, three of the five U.S. military services are operating without Senate-confirmed leaders, thanks to Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville. We'll examine how this leadership crisis could impact our nation's defense. A Florida federal jury convicts a white man for a racially motivated attack against Historian Dr. Marvin Dunn and five other Black men near the 1923 Rosewood Massacre site. Dr.  Dunn will join us to explain how this incident impacted him. We'll also continue to honor the life and legacy of the influential music mogul Clarence Avant who passed away at 92.   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.  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. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man.

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

I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes, rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers

at taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Today is Tuesday, August 15th, 2023. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Donald Trump messed with the wrong black woman. Fannie Willis, the DA in Fulton County, slapped him and 18 others. With 41 counts, we'll break down the charges in his fourth indictment

and talk about potential jail time. For the first time in history, three of the five US military services are operating without Senate confirmed leaders. Thanks to that idiot out of Alabama, Senator Tommy Tuberville, who examined how this leadership crisis could impact our nation's defense. A Florida federal jury convicts a white man

for racially motivated attack against historian Dr. Marvin Dunn and five other black men near the 1923 Rosewood Massacre site. Dr. Dunn will join us on the show. Also, six white cops in Mississippi pled guilty to state charges.

They're now wearing prison jumpsuits. This is after pleading guilty to federal charges. Plus, we'll continue to honor the life and legacy of Clarence Avon, who passed away at the age of 92. We will hear from Reggie Hutland, who did the documentary on Black Godfather. Also, Marsha Withers will join us. Of course, it was Clarence Avon who discovered Bill Withers. They also have a new book out called Grandma's Hands.

Plus, Jimmy Jam will join us to talk about how it was Clarence Avon who connected them with Janet Jackson, and the rest is history. It is time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin, I'm Phil Chutney. On the Black Star Network, let's go. He's got whatever the piss he's on it Whatever it is he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine And when it breaks he's right on time And it's rolling, best believe he's knowing

Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's Roland Martin Rolling with Roland now He's funky, he's yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah He's punk, he's fresh, he's real

The best you know, he's Rollin' Martel Now Martel Oh, Donald Trump did not have a great late night. He might have had an upset stomach last night after Fannie Willis and a Georgia grand jury indicted him and 18 others for allegedly scheming to illegally overturn the 2020 election

and stop a peaceful transition of power. The 98-page indictment lists the 41 charges against 19 defendants, from Trump to his former attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows. Fulton County DA Fannie Willis again laid it all out, and boy, was it a barn burner around midnight last night. Every individual charged in the indictment is charged with one count of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act through participation in a criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia and elsewhere to accomplish the illegal goal of allowing Donald J. Trump to seize the presidential term of office beginning on January 20th, 21.

Specifically, the participants in association took various actions in Georgia and elsewhere to block the counting of the votes of the presidential electors who were certified as the winners of Georgia's 2020 general election. As you examine the indictment, you will see acts that are identified as overt acts and those that are identified as predicate acts, sometimes called acts of racketeering activity. Overt acts are not necessarily crimes under Georgia law in isolation, but are alleged to be acts taken in furtherance of the conspiracy. Many occurred in Georgia and some occurred in other jurisdictions and are included because the grand jury believes they were part of the illegal effort to overturn the results of Georgia's 2020 presidential election. The acts identified as predicate acts or acts of racketeering activity are crimes that are alleged to have been committed in furtherance of the criminal enterprise.

Acts of racketeering activity are also charged as separate counts in the indictment against those who are alleged to have committed them. All elections in our nation are administered by these states, which are given the responsibility of ensuring a fair process and an accurate counting of the votes. That includes elections for presidential electors, Congress, state officials, and local offices. The state's role in this process is essential to the functioning of our democracy. Georgia, like every state, has laws that allow those who believe that results of an election are wrong, whether because of intentional wrongdoing or unintentional error, to challenge those results in our state courts. The indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia's legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia's presidential election result.

Subsequent to the indictment, as is the normal process in Georgia law, the grand jury issued arrest warrants for those who are charged. I am giving the defendants the opportunity to voluntarily surrender no later than noon on Friday, the 25th day of August 2023. I remind everyone here that an indictment is only a series of allegations based on a grand jury's determination of probable cause to support the charges. It is now the duty of my office to prove these charges in the indictment beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. And now keep in mind in that same news conference when she took questions, Fannie Willis made it clear that, guess what? There are mandatory minimums in Georgia.

If convicted, ain't no probation. Governor can't parole you. Michael Sozon, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, joins me from D.C., attorney Gerald Griggs, the Atlanta NAACP president also here as well. Gerald, I want to go to you. Judy Yolley, Sidney Powell, you know, a number of folks. But there are a couple of black folks who are also on this list. One of them, Black Voices for Trump.

And then this is the Trevion, who was a publicist. You'll see Trevion Cootie. She was a publicist for Kanye West as well as R. Kelly. She also indicted. She's been talking a lot of trash on her Instagram and Twitter pages. Bottom line is these folks better take this thing seriously. They could be facing prison time. Absolutely.

You know, I was looking at the numbers as we were going through the indictment, and they're facing, including Donald Trump, about 76 years in prison, and we're dealing with a very serious prosecutor, and so they should take it very seriously. You know, Fannie Willis has handled RICO cases ever since she was an ADA, having Georgia's longest RICO trial, which is the Atlanta Public Schools cheating trial, which she was successful in. And she has the YSL case and she's indicted a number of gang RICO conspiracies. So she's very seasoned and experienced and she's very focused on this case. So people need to take it seriously.

Ms. Willis has investigated for over two years in this case, and last night a Fulton County grand jury returned indictments that speak to what happened, and it's a speaking indictment. You see the criminal enterprise, you see the predicate acts, you see the attempts to subvert the will of the people. And so I think she's very serious, and I think they should take it very serious as well. It is beyond hilarious, Michael, to watch these Republicans lose their minds and go, Trump did nothing wrong. Indeed, it is. And, you know, they have they are starting to come up with potential defenses, either in this or the federal case about how he was just exercising his First Amendment rights.

But I think that the defenses are they don't sound to be the strongest right now. We'll see what happens when they get into court. But I mean, ultimately, I think this case, again, sends a very strong signal that no one is above the law in this country, not even a former president. And it's courageous of Fannie Willis to bring this case forward. And it's incredibly interesting to see that she's charging it as a RICO case at its heart. I mean, this is about election-related racketeering, a big criminal enterprise usually used against the mob, although, of course, she and others have used it more broadly in recent years. Criminal enterprises come in all shapes and sizes, and this is alleged to be a criminal enterprise that was designed to allow Trump to thwart the peaceful transition of power in this country. You know, the thing, Gerald, that I find

all to be interesting, again, Donald Trump, the constant attack on black people. He kept attacking four cities, Atlanta, Fulton County, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Milwaukee. And he's getting his comeuppance from black prosecutors. AG, New York AG, Latish James, Alvin Bragg, the DA in Manhattan, and now Fannie Willis. And so, it must be driving him and his crazy supporters out of their minds because they kept attacking black people and it's black people who are holding them accountable and

As you know all the time rolling is black people and Pete Minorities that continue to defend the democracy and these lawyers are very serious about the rule of law, you know Many times there are people that say they're law and order Well, no one's more law and order than a prosecutor Especially a serious prosecutor like Alan Bragg or like Fannie Willis or like Tish James. And so they are holding him accountable in a way that he's never been held accountable before. And what he failed to realize is all of those places you named that he was attacking, he said that people weren't voting. He said that there was all types

of dead people voting and all those things. Those people heard him. And now they're speaking back in several languages that he doesn't understand. One, that's the ability to vote. But two, that's the ability to hold individuals accountable who discount the voices of millions of African-Americans who voted in 2020 and voted in overwhelming numbers. So he is getting his comeuppance, and I think that these strong African-American prosecutors are standing for the rule of law and making sure justice, in fact, reverberates all over this country

and no one is above the law. Now, you get all sorts of different things in this indictment here that I found to be interesting, Michael, where, quote, just say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressman. I mean, Jesus. And for them to say, oh, no,

he was just talking. No, they were literally plotting. That's right. They had a multi-pronged plot to steal the election. That's what's been alleged. There seems to be a lot of evidence to back that up. They did it in various ways by trying to influence state legislators to throw out the results, to arrange for fake electors. Remember

the whole pressure campaign on Vice President Mike Pence, which is mentioned as part of the scheme as well. And I want to mention two other people who I think really always stick out in my mind, and that's Ruby Freeman and Shea Moss. They're the election workers who had spent so many years working in Fulton County and Georgia to help protect elections. They worked at the polls. They worked within the election system, dedicated public servants. And they had their lives trashed by Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, and others who were part of this criminal enterprise. You'll remember that both of those women testified in front of the January 6th committee in Congress, incredibly powerful, emotional testimony, where they said that they had their lives threatened,

their lives turned upside down, they were afraid to even leave their homes. And most recently, just a few weeks ago, Rudy Giuliani admitted in a court proceeding that he did lie about them when he and Donald Trump and others accused them of taking multiple steps to change the election results. Those two women always come back in my mind as people whose lives have been utterly affected by this sort of criminal scheme that Donald Trump and his team embarked on. Gerald, one of the things that we've made clear, Fannie Willis said that Trump and the others, they've got until noon Friday to turn themselves in. And the Fulton County sheriff has made it clear, he said, unless someone else tells me otherwise, they're going to be handcuffed, mugshot, fingerprinted, just like anybody else who has been indicted in Fulton County. Yes. And, you know, the sheriff has made it abundantly clear that he will follow the process

that any criminal defendant goes through when they are processed after a grand jury indictment, which means that there are grand jury warrants that have already issued. So they've given them a dead-end turn-and date. If they don't turn themselves into the Fulton County Jail to be processed, that means fingerprinted, that means mugshot, that means that perp walk, they are going to see the fugitive squad come after them. And so I think people need to understand we have shifted from a political conversation into a legal conversation. And the law is quite clear on the process here in Georgia.

Title 17 does not have an exception for anybody that's running for president or somebody that's a former president. It's for everyone. And Title 17 says you got to go through this process. The sheriff 17 says you got to go through this process. The sheriff's saying you got to go through this process. So they will go through this process. And I think once they get inside the Fulton County Detention Center and they see that it's real in there and they are brought over to the jail courtroom and they have their first appearance

where the judge, the magistrate judge, will determine whether or not they get bond. And there's no guarantee in Georgia that you will actually get bond. And so they are going to experience something that we have not seen before. That is the wheels of justice turning the proper way, the consistent way, the way that they turn for everybody. And so, you know, as a criminal defense attorney who's practiced in Fulton County, I can tell you that Fulton County is a serious jurisdiction with serious judges, a serious prosecutor, and serious jurors. And these individuals who are now charged with 41 counts facing up to 76 years need to start taking it serious. I would strongly advise they turn themselves in immediately so they can get on

that morning calendar to see if they can get bond. You know, the thing that, you know, was interesting here when you look at what took place late last night, Michael, you know, you saw her, first of all, take her time, go through all the necessary steps, and then you see how this thing just kept going. And one of the things, this right here is the front page of the Atlanta Journal of Constitution today. Trump, 18 allies indicted in Georgia. That's the entire front page. Here's one of the things that I found to be interesting. Dan Abrams was on News Nation, and he made one of the dumbest comments in the world. He said that he felt that Fannie Willis should have dropped her case since Jack Smith indicted

Donald Trump for similar things. But she's the prosecutor of Fulton County. Her job is to enforce Georgia laws. And there are many other cases where look, we talk about Ahmaud Arbery. There were state charges and there were federal charges. And both things

still went forward. So I'm just tired of people sitting here, frankly, giving Donald Trump privilege, if you will. I don't care if he was in the Oval Office. The bottom line is no one is above the law. Treat him like you would treat anybody else. Exactly. And that's true at the federal level or the state level, both. And I agree with you,

whether it's Van Abrams or others, there's starting to be this line of thought coming out from people. There's a well-known columnist at The Washington Post, Ruth Marcus, who just published on this in the last several hours with a title something like, the Georgia indictment may have been one indictment too many. And her thesis was something similar, that that this should be handled perhaps at the federal level. Jack Smith is already handling it. This is a sprawling case. It's muddying the waters. But, you know, certainly there's a very strong view that Willis has done the right thing here in Georgia, upholding Georgia law, using the Georgia RICO statutes. And I think that, you know, clearly Georgia may have been the centerpiece of the schemes from Donald Trump and his allies and what they allegedly did. I mean, Donald Trump's

call to Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state, which most of us have heard by this point, was is out there for everyone to hear and is very flagrant and is at the heart of the matter. And I think that that sort of boldness and flagrant actions that were taken by Donald Trump and his team. I can see why a strong prosecutor like like Fannie Willis wants to be able to bring some measure of accountability. And Gerald, look, when you look at what's going on here, look, Judge Cannon is going to be holding a hearing on August 24th in the documents case. They must turn themselves in by June 25th. And then Judge Chunkin is going to be holding a hearing in D.C. August 28th. So, Trump and his lawyers, hey, get that plane

busy, because they're going to be hopping from city to city to city when it comes to all of these different indictments. Yes, they're going to be very busy in the next few months. And the thing about all these cases is if Mr. Trump truly wants to defend himself

and say that he's not guilty, he can file a demand for speedy trial. This case in Georgia could be tried in the next four months if he decides to file a demand for speedy trial. You know, in Georgia, once you've been arraigned, if you file it within those 10 days, you can be on the next trial calendar. And it has to be tried within the term of court, which is two months, or the subsequent term of court, which is the next two months. So if he's interested in clearing his name, he can file that speedy trial demand and be in court.

And to answer your other question about people like Dan Abrams and these others that are expounding on Georgia law, and they're not Georgia lawyers, know that they live in Georgia, Georgia is the type of place where we pride ourselves on justice. This is the birthplace of the civil rights

movement. And it's important that voting rights are protected. It's important that any criminal behavior is prosecuted. And that's what Fannie Willis is doing. And so she's standing up for the citizens of Georgia, whom she represents, and it's time for Donald Trump's lawyers to stand up for him in a courtroom and make cogent legal arguments. There's no argument

that, oh, because he's charged in federal court, you can't charge him in state court. They're separate sovereigns. This was state court activity. He called into Georgia and asked to find 11,790 votes. And so it's time for Georgia's voters and Georgia's citizens to determine whether or not that was a violation of Georgia law. Indeed. All right. Lots more to discuss. Michael Gerald, I really appreciate you joining us. Thanks a lot. Thank you.

We're going to go to break. We'll be right back on Rolling Rock Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Unlike Donald Trump, nobody here has an indictment. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley

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

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

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

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals.

Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. hatred on the streets a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn mind there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the u.s capital we're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting.

I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the proud boys and the boogaloo boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources,

they're taking our women. This is white fear. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from L.A. And this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together. So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble

we can get into. It's the culture. Weekdays at 3, only on the Black Star Network. Hello, I'm Marissa Mitchell, a news anchor at Fox 5 DC. Hey, what's up? It's Tammy Roman, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Oh, there is nothing more exciting than to see those on Fox News just beside themselves because their antichrist, Donald Trump, has been indicted. Listen to Jeanine Pirro today on The Five. It's not whether he wanted to overthrow it, but did he believe that he won? If he believed that he won, pursuing all these avenues are OK for him because in themselves they are not illegal.

If you say, look, I need to find 11,000 votes, that's very different from saying I need you to find me 11,000 votes somewhere. He just knows he's behind by 11,700 votes. And finally, did he know he lost and did he then pursue all these avenues or did he believe he won and was doing everything he can? It's going to be very hard to prove that. Okay. All right. I'm sorry, y'all. It's going to be very hard to prove.

Y'all, the fool literally hired two companies who said you didn't win. You didn't win. There's no proof. You didn't win. Oh, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice at EPA out of D.C., Dr. Larry J. Walker, assistant professor, University of Central Florida, out of Florida. So I love that one. I need 11,000 votes, but he ain't saying I need you to go find me 11,000 votes.

Stop it. These people are insane, Mustafa. Yeah, they definitely done lost track with reality a long time ago. We we're about to get down to it because we're going to move from sort of, we're going to move toward facts and getting away from opinions, which is what they continue to move forward on. They know they're putting out the false narratives. They know that he knew that what he was doing was conspiracy, a secret plan to do something unlawful or harmful. So he was very clear with what he was doing by the moves that he was making. And now he's got to pay the price. And he's going to pay the price

with a DA who's down there who got 90% conviction rates. That's a pretty high rate. So he's going to find out what time it really is, along with those 18 other co-conspirators. So everybody grab your popcorn, because it's going to get really interesting. I was cracking up last night, Larry. Look, the best comedy really was on Fox News as they were just beside themselves over Trump. I mean, they kept talking about Hunter Biden was kind of like, stay on message, cover the news. And that's their deal. They don't want to deal with the fact that their boy is in some major trouble.

It's true. And, Roland, I'm reminded of Dr. King, that quote about the arc of the universe when it comes to justice, being long but bending towards justice, particularly last night, like you said, watching some of the folks on many of these different platforms lose their absolute minds. And the bottom line is, Roland, if he would have just taken his L, he wouldn't be in this situation. But in that call that, you know, we talked about in terms of asking for those more than 11,000 votes, this is after the votes have been certified in the state of Georgia. So I'm not quite sure what the argument is.

The other thing is, Roland, I'm reminded of that poem I think many of you are aware of, what excuses are tools of the incompetent. So the bottom line is not only in terms of being a criminal and leading a criminal enterprise with the RICO charges, but also they weren't very good at it. But I think the most important thing to keep in mind is in terms of how very close we came to not having a democracy anymore, Rowan. And we can't emphasize this enough,

as I know you've talked a lot about the 2024 election. Just because we see what happened last night and over the last couple of weeks, this fight is not over. It is ongoing and we have to stay vigilant. We have to prepare to hold these people accountable in the courts, but also hold them accountable in 2024 when we go to the ballot box. You know, these people, again, I just want to show you all just more just just again, pure laughter. Watch this. of legal analysts and they say what is different about this case than the federal cases is Georgia

has laws that are specifically tailored to election interference and things like that. Andy McCarthy, a Fox News contributor, and also he wrote an op-ed in the New York Post, he said that the Georgia indictment is the most perilous threat to former President Trump. Does President Trump know that this is a perilous threat? We do not agree that it is a perilous threat because we actually have inside information. So I love when people... What inside information? Well, the inside information, Steve. And you used to love Trump, but I've got to tell you, I mean, this is something I'm not going to breach, right? I have confidentiality and I

have ethics and I'm going to continue. But I think you need to understand something. When somebody is given a report and he has reports that show that there was interference and you could be advised by one lawyer that says, oh, I don't think so. And you could have another lawyer that says, no, I do think so. And here's some reports. And we know that there were issues in Fulton County, right? We know it's not a question. There was election issues and the integrity of our election is in question at this very moment. And when he says, I want to look into it, I don't trust it. We need to look into it. That's his obligation as a president. Okay. All right. So here's the problem here, Mustafa. And this is the problem that they are going to have. Republicans control the state.

In fact, this fool, Donald Trump, literally tweeted this out. complex, detailed, but irrefutable report on the presidential election fraud which took place in Georgia is almost complete and will be presented by me at a major news conference at 11 a.m. on Monday of next week in Bedminster, New Jersey. Based on the results of this all caps conclusive report,

all charges should be dropped against me and others. There will be a complete exoneration. They never went after those that rigged the election. They only went after those that fought to find the riggers. This is how the Republican governor of Georgia responded. The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen for nearly three years now. Anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward under oath and prove anything in the court of law. Our elections in

Georgia are secure, accessible, and fair and will continue to be as long as I am governor. The future of our country is at stake in 2024 and that must be our focus. It's a little hard to make that claim that his lawyer is making when you had Republicans who were saying, dude, there were no issues. You lost. Yeah, they're grasping at straws. We all know that. I mean, if you have a definitive report that proves...

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 Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way.

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

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

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I always had to be so good no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive.

But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes, rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org. rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org, brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council.

There was some injustice that happened, then submitted for the record. And when you have your day in court, then it will be brought forward. But we know that they have been utilizing these talking points for a long time. Rudy Giuliani did it. Mark Meadows did it. And a number of the other folks that are part of the folks who have now been indicted have

been continuing to share these false narratives without there being any backing up of any facts. And that's why I think facts are so incredibly important. Legal facts will bear out. And once again, it will no longer be about, you know, your opinion on these types of things. Folks do not bring RICO charges forward if they don't already have their facts together on how you ended up breaking the law. So we will see it play out here very soon. They'll have their moment in court and we'll see how it plays out. The thing is, the secretary of state of Georgia, Republicans, said the exact same thing. It's a little hard to keep saying we got reports when you're the people that were endorsing you said you're wrong.

You're a liar, Larry. It didn't exist. Yeah. So, Roland, the reports are in the mail. So, I'm not quite sure what exactly Trump is going to, when he has his press conference, what he's going to reveal. But we do know this, it's lies and information. This is essentially

how he's trying to address this issue. He's going to, when this goes to trial, and we'll see once again, as my colleagues said, what evidence they have. But it's clear this is a criminal enterprise. And all they're trying to do is continue to, you know, put out various social media platforms and television as much information as possible to muddy the waters. But the reality is this is the fourth time he's been indicted. And if you look at the indictments, the evidence is clear. We talk about, you know, obviously we talk about the conversation we just had a few minutes ago about calling about the secretary of state about the 11,000, finding 11,000 votes, but they have emails, they have witness interviews by other

Republicans from the state of Georgia highlighting this criminal enterprise to overthrow our election. So I wish them, well, I don't wish them the best of luck in the trial, but I look forward to seeing it live and on television. And it's really going to be important for, you know, Americans to really see what's been happening behind the scenes. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. All right, folks, hold on one second. Going to a break. We'll be right back on Roland Martin Unfiltered, the Black Star Network. Support us in what we do. Download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, RoteCube, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. You, of course, can also contribute app apple phone android phone apple tv android tv road to cool amazon fire tv xbox one samsung smart tv uh you of course can also contribute to our brena funk fan club see your chicken money

order peel box five seven one nine six washington dc two zero zero three seven dash zero one nine six cash app dollar sign rm unfiltered paypal r martin unfiltered venmo is rm unfiltered paypal r martin unfiltered vimmo is rm unfiltered sale rolling at rolling s martin.com rolling that rolling martin unfiltered.com be sure to get a copy of my book white fear how the browning of america is making white folks lose their minds available at bookstores nationwide amazon barnes noble download the audio version on audible we'll be right back back. Question for you. Are you stuck? Do you feel like you're hitting a wall and it's keeping you from achieving prosperity? Well, you're not alone. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, you're going to learn what you need to do to become unstuck and unstoppable. The fabulous author, Janine K. Brown, will be with us sharing with you exactly what you need to do to finally achieve the level of financial success you desire through your career.

Because when I talk about being bold in the workplaces, I'm talking about that inner boldness that you have to take a risk, to go after what you want, to speak up when others are not. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Black Star Network. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Cox. The United States is the most dangerous place for a woman to give birth among all industrialized nations on the planet. Think about that for a second. That's not all. Black women are three times more likely to die in this country during childbirth than white women. These health care systems are inherently racist. There are a lot of white supremacist ideas

and mythologies around black women, black women's bodies, even black people that we experience painless, right? Activist, organizer, and fearless freedom fighter, Monifa Akinwole-Vandele from Moms Rising joins us and tells us this shocking phenomenon, like so much else, is rooted in unadulterated racism. And that's just one of her fights. Monifa Bandile on the next Black Table here on the Black Star Network. This is Essence Atkins.

Russell Love, King of R.B. Raheem Duvall. Me, Sherri Shebron, and you know what you watch. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. So let's deal with the black people who were indicted. One of them is Trevionne Cootie. If y'all look at her social media, nuts, okay? She, but then again, she was the publicist for R. Kelly as well as Kanye West.

And I remember coming across her here in D.C. and she was all excited because she had one of the big Sharpies from Trump signing a bill and she was talking about how she could sit here and put a debate together with me and Kanye West. She got Kanye on the phone and I was kind of like i don't give a i really don't care uh and so uh if you look at her twitter page i mean again okay uh go to my ipad uh and so you see this this tweet she posted here about Trump 2024.

And then you go further down her page. Then she goes, everybody can see what's happened to Donald Trump. You don't have to like him. You might even hate him. However, you cannot deny the global mass concerted efforts to destroy him before Russiagate, J6, and Georgia. They made you hate this man. Now ask yourselves why. You must hate yourself posting some of this nonsense. Let's see what else

that's... Then she posted she retweeted this video, staying with Trump. That makes no sense whatsoever. And then she got some other, Trump is the man. He's the bomb, bigotty, all this sort of stuff. Whatever.

If you go to her Instagram page, you really see some nutcase stuff. And so, you know, that's just, again, one of those tweets that, you know, you just sit here and go, really? Now, here's this other guy, Harrison Floyd. He is over black voices for Trump. He also got indicted. I love this here. Four days ago, he goes, keep that same energy when the truth comes out, Rick Wilson. The receipts don't lie and the best is yet to come.

Yeah, and Ben, you know, all these people, Ken and so on, standing with him. Guess what, Harrison? The receipts came out. Yo ass indicted. You stupid. And here's the other thing here. Jenna Ellis, who was a Trump attorney, well, guess what?

So Trump's PAC is not paying her legal fees. Why? Because she has endorsed Rhonda Santis. This shows you, Larry, all of these people are stupid. Anybody who got in bed with this dude is an idiot because he doesn't care about you. He cares about himself. Yeah, and he better get those prison jumpsuits ready.

Listen, I don't understand why people haven't been paying attention, not just in terms of his political career, but his career in general. Donald Trump will throw you to the side, and all he cares about is himself. He's a narcissist, and he has a long history of focusing only on his own needs. And like you said,

Rola, you know, Ellis and some of these other people, all these other individuals who were indicted, they're in a lot of trouble. These RICO charges are really serious, five to 20 years per indictment. And, you know, if they don't realize really soon that they're in this by themselves, they're going to continue to dig holes. And many of these individuals who are attorneys are going to lose their law license. And then they won't be able to practice law and won't be able to take care of their families. But it'll be well-deserved. But anyone who thinks that he's going to come to their aid financially or in any other way hasn't been paying attention for the last several decades. He's focused on himself. He's going to try to save himself and i think that some of those folks might give uh give a give some of those folks in georgia a call to cut a deal before they go to uh end up going to prison

for the rest of their lives i mean look i you got to be dumb to put i mean look at all these lawyers mustafa who got indicted i mean you literally are going to put your law license on the line defending that idiot? Yeah, well, you know, folks drink the Kool-Aid. And evidently that Kool-Aid was really intoxicating and made you actually lose all the intelligence that must have just seeped out their bodies because this is real. And y'all about to get some act right. And that act right is them concrete floors and them steel bars when they close behind you. So as Larry said, you might go ahead and get in line and begin to be a part of these dominoes

that are going to fall, this house of cards that's going to fall, because if you continue to support this foolishness, you're going to spend a lot of time in jail. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you're going to spend some time in jail. And I think what's going to be happening real soon, you're going to see a lot of people plea bargaining Larry because once it becomes real, it's going to be like, how can I get out of this mess?

Yeah, everybody's tough in the beginning, but this is state, not federal prison. That's a different, so we should also add some context to the difference between state and federal prisons. So this is not a game. And so when she announced those RICO charges, going after, you know, historically going after mob enterprises, she sent a clear message. And as you had a gentleman from NAACP on earlier, this is not the first time she used a RICO charge. She's used them several times. So it is really important for those folks to get lined up and make phone calls and make some deals to ensure that they don't spend years and if not decades in prison. This is not a game. And as I said earlier, Donald Trump is not coming to your defense. to ensure that they don't spend years and if not decades in prison.

This is not a game. And as I said earlier, Donald Trump is not coming to your defense. The other thing, Roland, is the amount of money it's going to cost people in legal costs to fight these charges. So once again, if these individuals really care about ensuring that they can spend some time at home with their families at some point, they better cut deals now. Because if they don't, you don't want to be at the end of the line when everyone else has cut their deal cut, and then you spend decades in prison.

And you are right. All right, folks, we come back. Let's talk about Tommy Tuberville getting blasted by everybody for blocking military appointments. Is the pressure getting to him? We'll see. You're watching Roller Mark Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from L.A.

And this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together. So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into.

It's the culture. Weekdays at 3, only on the Black Star Network. Up next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes. The shooting of Megan Thee Stallion and the subsequent trial of Tory Lanez. Megan has been treated like the villain. The experience that Megan went through is something that all Black women face

when we are affected by violence. This is something that's called massage noir. There's a long history of characterizing Black women as inherently bad in order to justify our place in this society. Next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes. On the next A Balanced Life with Dr. jackie we're talking all things mental health and how helping others can help you we all have moments where we have struggles

and on this week's show our guests demonstrate how helping others can also help you why you should never stop giving and serving others on a next A Balanced Life here on Black Star Network. I am Tommy Davidson. I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. Right now I'm rolling with Roland Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. You hear me? Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă! U.S. Navy, the latest military branch without a Senate-confirmed leader because the idiot out of Alabama, Tommy Tuberville, continues to block them because he doesn't want the Pentagon paying for abortions, and they don't,

but he's too stupid to know the difference. He's been blocking more than 300 military appointments and impacting troops and their families. They literally cannot move. The Navy's Chief of Operations, Admiral Mike Gilday, recently retired, leaving the branch without a Senate confirmed successor. He was relieved by's Chief of Operations Admiral Mike Gilday recently retired leaving the branch without a Senate-confirmed

successor. He was relieved by Vice Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who performed the Chief of Naval Operations duties pending the Senate's confirmation. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was not happy and

blasted him without naming him. As you know, more than 300 nominations for our outstanding general and flag officers are now being held up in the United States Senate. That includes our top uniform leaders and our next chief of naval operations. Because of this blanket hole starting today, for the first time in the history of the Department of Defense, three of our military services are operating without Senate-confirmed leaders. This is unprecedented, it is unnecessary, and it is unsafe. And this sweeping hold is undermining America's military readiness.

It's hindering our ability to retain our very best officers. And it is upending the lives of far too many American military families. Our troops deserve better. Our military families deserve better. And our allies and partners deserve better. Our military families deserve better. Our allies and partners deserve better. And our national security deserves better. So let me say again that smooth and swift transitions of confirmed leadership are central to the defense of the United States and to the full strength of the most lethal fighting force in history. And it's time for the Senate to confirm all of our superbly qualified military nominees and to the full strength of the most lethal fighting force in history.

And it's time for the Senate to confirm all of our superbly qualified military nominees, including the 33rd Chief of Naval Operations. The group Vote Vets, they have not been silent as well. They've been running this ad in Alabama and Mississippi. All year, Senator Trouble has been playing politics with our military, blocking hundreds of promotions, leaving holes up the chain of command. Senator, you wouldn't take Auburn to the Iron Bowl without your offensive and defensive coordinators on the field.

So stop sacrificing our national security for your political games. You're hanging our military out to dry just like you did the players at Ole Miss. The military is not your political football. Just let our leaders lead. Now, they have been running those ads. In addition, they have been flooding social media with videos from various retired military leaders. Watch this here. I'm Bruce Babcock, retired U.S. Air Force colonel.

I was in Germany when the wall came down and the Cold War ended. I was in the Middle East. I arrived there six weeks before Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and spent 10 months on a wartime footing. I spent four years in D.C. on a special assignment providing nonpolitical support to our nation's leadership. I was again on D.C. on 9-11. And I provided communications equipment to Katrina and to other major disasters. In these 26 years of active duty, I learned what chain of command means.

I also learned the value of diversity and how we must care for all of our military members regardless of who they pray to, who they love, or what their medical needs are. Senator Tuberville is decapitating our military because he opposes providing medical care to military members with crisis pregnancies. He seems concerned somehow the military is too woke by taking care of women. By withholding promotion of over 300 leaders, he's using an inappropriate tool, and I could not disagree more with his goals or his methods. I view what he's doing as wrongheaded and harmful. The military must be a diverse force. It must not be prejudice against the women who serve. It must not be decapitated either. Decapitation sends the wrong message to

our foes, to our members, and to our recruits. The line here, again, you have an increasing number of military voices, Mustafa, who are making it clear that Tupelo is wrong. And polling data is also showing it is having an impact. Are Republicans going to go to him and finally say, look, dude,

you're causing damage here. And this is ticking off. And again, you've got military people who literally cannot move. They're them and their families are stuck at existing places because until they get confirmed and their orders are received, they can't pack up and move. Yeah. You know, I've never really understood Tuberville, maybe because we come from two completely different levels of education and intelligence. But, you know, to damage one of your core supporters doesn't make any sense. To put America in jeopardy doesn't make sense. To not support military families doesn't make sense unless you understand the game that has been played.

It started being played when President Obama was elected, and they said that we're going to make sure that no matter what he does, he's not successful. And then we move to now under the Biden administration, and they brought those sets of actions forward. And they look for any opportunity to slow down a process or to make sure that folks can't be successful. So all he's really doing is hurting America, and at the same time he's hurting the Republican brand, which is supposed to be supportive of the military, and he continues to put America in danger.

We just saw recently when Russia started shooting those missiles across ships there in the sea. So, you know, he just needs to get his game together. Bottom line of what you're dealing with here, Larry, you're dealing with people who just flat out don't support the military and they should be challenged. They should be pressed for what they're doing because, again, they constantly lie about supporting the military and tell them when it's time to support them. Yeah, and this becomes, particularly when you talk about supporting, you know, United States veterans. You know, Roland, this is from a, you know, as a former Hill staffer,

this is, Senator Tupelville's position on this is really bizarre. It's, in my opinion, unforced error. Or it's like playing basketball and shooting on your side of the, scoring on your side of the court. I don't really see how he gets a win in this. And he really simply should stop because, like we're saying, we're talking about, you know, our you know, our readiness to make sure we keep obviously, you know, countries like Russia and China at bay and that our military, you know, not only in terms

of our leaders ruling, but it's also important to keep in mind is that, you know, we're we're leaving the summer here. And a lot of these people have who are going to, you know, not only in terms of our leaders rolling, but it's also important to keep in mind is that, you know, we're leaving the summer here. And a lot of these people have, you know, who will be confirmed by the Senate have to move their families, their children. So now that we're starting the fall semester here in many jurisdictions, what's going to happen if, you know, sometime in October or November, he changes his mind. These individuals will have to move their children during the academic school year. And you don't need to create this kind of stress on individuals who've committed to supporting and protecting our nation. Tuberville needs to stop. It doesn't make any sense. It's not going to be a political win, and it's hurting our military readiness.

Indeed, indeed. All right, folks, got to go to break. We'll come back. President Biden is in Milwaukee talking about Bidenomics, talking about how the economy is going. Also got some harsh words for Senator Ron Johnson, who opposes outsourcing of jobs, but opposes the infrastructure bill, but is happy about the jobs that are coming to Wisconsin. Hmm, strange. Also, a Florida man in prison because guess what? He went after several black men

near Rosewood massacre site. Got his ass handed to him. We'll talk to historian Marvin Dunn next who was a part of that as well. Plus we continue our salute to Clarence Avon. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated.

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

And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

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

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I always had to be so good no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org

brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. That's the way it started at the age of 92. We're here from Jimmy Jam, Reggie Hutland, and the widow of Bill Withers, Marsha Withers. You're watching Roller Mark Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture. We're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people powered movement. A lot of stuff that we're not getting.

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Question for you. Are you stuck? Do you feel like you're hitting a wall and it's keeping you from achieving prosperity? Well, you're not alone on the next get wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's wealth coach. You're going to learn what you need to do to become unstuck and unstoppable. The fabulous author, Janine K. Brown, will be with us sharing with you exactly what you need to do to finally achieve the level of financial success you desire through your career. Because when I talk about being bold in the workplaces, I'm talking about that inner boldness that you have to take a risk, to go after what you want, to speak up when others are not. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. On a next A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie, we're talking all things mental health and how helping others can help you.

We all have moments where we have struggles. And on this week's show, our guests demonstrate how helping others can also help you. Why you should never stop giving and serving others on a next A Balanced Life here on Blackstar Network. Farquhar, executive producer of Proud Family. Bruce Smith, creator and executive producer of the Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. You're watching Roland Martin. President Joe Biden was in Milwaukee today talking about what is happening with the economy and manufacturing, you know, returning the jobs that Trump said he was going to do in his four years.

Never happened, but it's been happening under the Biden-Harris administration. Here's some of what the president had to say today. It's about our progress, building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down. You know, we trickle down economics, not a whole lot landed on my dad's kitchen table. But when the middle works and the bottom has a shot up, the wealthy do very well. I'm a capitalist. If you make a billion dollars, go make it. I mean it. Just pay a little more taxes than you're paying right now. Eight percent doesn't quite get it. Just pay a little more taxes than you're paying right now. Eight percent doesn't quite get it. Look, I came to office determined to move away from the trickle-down economics and to focus on the middle class. Because I said, when the middle class does well,

everybody does well. Everybody does well. The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal started calling my plan not initially as a compliment, but as a compliment to Bidenomics. But guess what, folks? They're talking about it differently now. It's working. It's working. I'm serious. Because we're investing in America.

According to Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, my plan is leading to a boom. They call it a boom in manufacturing and manufacturing investment, as you're seeing right here in this factory. Over 13.4 million new jobs. 150,000 new jobs in the state of Wisconsin. Nearly 800,000 new manufacturing jobs nationwide more than 20,000 manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin from Green Bay to Verona to Pleasant Prairie we've added more jobs in two years than any president has in American history in a four-year term. More in two than any has done in four. Unemployment has been below 4% for the longest stretch in over 50 years. 50 years. Wisconsin's unemployment rate is just 2.5%. That's lower than it was every single month.

The prior administration. We've recovered all the jobs lost during the pandemic. We've added millions more. People are coming off the sidelines, getting back into the workplace. Remember a while there, they're saying, well, Biden just allowed people not to work and get paid. Guess what? The higher percentage of American workers are working today than ever before. And while unemployment is down, in case you haven't noticed, inflation is down, too, and it's going lower. Remember what the experts said? To get inflation under control, you needed lower wages and higher unemployment.

Not a joke. Those of you who are economists know that's the economic mantra. To get inflation under control, fewer jobs, more unemployment, that's number one, and making sure that you don't have to deal with, that's what they say caused inflation. But I never thought the problem was too many people working or working people making too much money. And one reason we've seen inflation fall by two-thirds

without losing jobs is that we're seeing corporate profits come back down to earth. You know, we've done more. We have more to do with inflation. It's just about three percent now. It's predicted to go lower than that. We're near the lowest point in over two years. And at the same time, we pay for low wage workers has grown at the fastest rate in two decades. Wages are growing faster than inflation. Folks, that's Bidenomics. It's about growing an economy by strengthening the middle class.

And making things in America again. You know, it's in stark contrast to the conservative Republican view, the so-called MAGA view, which is focused on corporate profits. They say we should find, and the rationale up to now has been, let's find the cheapest place in the world to make our product. Let's shut down the corporation, the operation in America, and send it overseas, and then send the refined product back to America and sell it here. That's the philosophy. But you know who believes that? Your significant senator, Ron Johnson. He believes outsourcing manufacturing jobs is a great thing.

He's on record as saying he doesn't agree with American work. This is what he said. American workers should manufacture. He doesn't think they should manufacture products that require a lot of labor. Here's what he said, quote, let the billions of people around the world do that. End of quote. You wonder why the hell we got ourselves in trouble. Well, we've been letting them do that for too damn long. It's time to build American products in America.

You can see how Ron Johnson's rationale and mega-rack-a-now have worked out. Between the year 2000 and January 2021, Wisconsin alone lost more than 136,000 manufacturing jobs alone. I'd like to see Senator Johnson talk to those 136,000 people and tell them it doesn't matter whether you manufacture things at home or overseas. Sure as hell does, man. Not only for those 136,000 people who lost their jobs, but for their families and their communities and the economic growth it generated here at home. Let's take a look at how the Johnson philosophy played out the real time in Wisconsin. Like in Kenosha, about 40 miles from here, there used to be a lot

of people assembling automobiles there, making a direct living for their families, generating economic growth for Kenosha until American Motors plant closed in 88. Or take a look at Milwaukee, known as the manufacturing powerhouse for so long. That's when I got to the Senate. I've been around about 200 years. When I got to the Senate in 1973, Milwaukee was a manufacturing powerhouse. That's how it was referred to. Not a joke. Not a joke. I don't have to tell anyone in this audience how hard people here work.

And all of you, all of you, all you've done to keep this city strong. Still, by early 2000, Milwaukee had lost around two out of three factory jobs. 80,000 jobs were gone. 80,000. When those jobs were lost, something else was lost as well. Pride. A sense of dignity.

My dad, and I swear to God this was an expression, he used to have an expression. My dad was a high school educated guy who was well read and worked like hell. He didn't have a chance to go to college. He used to say, Joey, and this is a God's truth, Joey, your job's about a lot more than the

paycheck. It's about dignity. It's about respect. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, honey, it's going to be okay and mean it. That's what a job is about. That's what a job is about. And when the breadwinner in the family loses their job, they lose their pride and the sense of dignity that goes with that. People like Ron believe that it's a good thing that corporate America bottom line is if that's all you need to look at, it's good for America. Well, that's not my bottom line. From the day I took office, I was determined to turn around with what now they're calling Bidenomics. It's one of the

reasons why I fought so hard to write and get past the Chips and Science Act. We used to invest more in science and research than any country in the world. Almost 2 percent of our gross domestic product, now it's about seven-tenths of one percent we invest. We're the best engineers in the world. We're the best scientists in the world. We're the best researchers in the world. We're the best scientists in the world. We're the best researchers in the world.

What the hell are we doing? Well, guess what? That Chips and Science Act has generated $231 billion in the last 18 months in private investments making semiconductors here in America. By the way, we, the United States, invented those semiconductors. We invented them when we went to the moon. There are those small computer chips the size of the tip of your finger, affecting nearly everything in our lives, from cell phones, automobiles, to the most sophisticated weapon systems in the world. Let me give you one concrete

example. I'm with the chairman of the largest chip maker in the world in South Korea. It's called SK when I was in South Korea. They're investing now 22 billion dollars, billion in America. And I asked him why. I said, God, why America? And he said, number one, think of this now. Remember it. Number one, there's no safer place in the world to have my investment than the United States of America.

And number two, you have the best workers in the world. And he's right. That's the truth. It's about time Ron Johnson's friend understood that. Look, folks, they think you want an IBEW. I wouldn't be standing here this time without you guys. But the IBEW, they think, average American, they're not being mean or anything.

They think, well, being an electrician, you say, I want to be an electrician, and you get a card. Four to five years of apprenticeship, hear me? Like going back to college, four to five years. You get paid, but not nearly what you get paid when you get your card. You got to talk more about what you do and what it takes to get it done. People aren't trying to be mean.

They just don't know. But I'm sure it helped tell them. The bottom line is we invented chips here in America. We used to produce them here. We used to produce 40 percent. And now we're bringing them back home, thankfully. Thankfully. them here. We used to produce 40 percent. And now we're bringing them back home. Thankfully, thankfully, we have people like Tammy Baldwin, who championed, I forgot too,

bi-American policies leading the resurgence of manufacturing in Wisconsin and across the country. You heard me say it before. Where in God's name is it written that America can't lead the world again in manufacturing? Where is that written? Folks, nowhere. You got it. Since I took office, we've attracted more than one half trillion dollars. Let me say it again. One half trillion dollars in private investment in American manufacturing and the industries of the future. Spending on construction of manufacturing plants that need to be built nearly doubled in the last two years.

And you know, that's not just the permanent jobs. They're generating growth, economic growth. Look, construction jobs do that as well. We've added 600,000 good-paying construction jobs since I took office. When they build these plants to build these chips, guess what? They call them fabs. They're as big as football, long as football fields. That's how big they are. They're gigantic. And guess what?

The people who work there, you know what the average salary is in these fabs? $116,000 and you don't need a college degree. What the hell are we talking about? Folks, instead of exporting American jobs, we're creating American jobs, exporting American products. And they're being built right here in Wisconsin and places where factories have been shut down. Look what you're doing here. Engateam came to Milwaukee 10 years ago thanks to tax incentives and clean energy during the Obama-Biden administration. Then exactly one year ago tomorrow, I signed a significant piece of clean energy legislation combating the existential threat of climate change, the single largest

investment ever anywhere in the world, without one single member of the other team voting for it. That law reauthorized those clean energy tax credits and expanded them. As a result, this company predicts that demand for the wind turbine generators, which they're making right here in this facility, will double next year. And since I took office, the private sector has announced more than $3 billion in investments, not million, billion, in investments for wind energy manufacturing in America. By the way, it's cheaper, cheaper, cheaper than fossil fuels. Cheaper than fossil fuels.

And that's not all. Until this year, this company didn't think it made sense to make chargers for electric vehicles in the United States. But then, when I signed the bipartisan infrastructure again, which Ron Johnson and his friends didn't vote, they all voted against, that law invests $7.5 billion to build a network of thousands of electric vehicle chargers stretching across the country, including on I-94. By the way, over 500,000 of these charging stations. That's real jobs. That's real money. And by the way, my grandpa, Biden, who died very young — he was — died in the hospital I was born in,

six days before I was there, before I was born. He worked for the American Oil Company. His job was to go from town to town, expanding the American Oil Company, building new gas stations. People didn't know where they wanted a couple thousand gallons of gasoline under the ground where they are. What happens if you build a gas station? You end up with something like a 7-Eleven or a donut shop or a drugstore around you. It generates economic growth. We're going to be building these facilities all across America so you can plug in and go the width of the country. That way you can travel coast to coast

without worrying about running out of power. Every single one of these charges must be installed by workers certified by the IBEW plan. Every one. That was the condition. Every one. And every single one must be made in America. Now, there's a provision in the law that I thought I knew a fair amount. But I didn't realize, maybe you did, Tammy, but I didn't realize back in the 30s, they passed a law that's consistent with international trade, that if the Congress passes a law to spend money

and the president has to decide where to spend it, he or she has to spend it on American workers and American products. Well, most presidents, including Democrats, didn't pay a lot of attention to that. But I did. And so now to use a non-American product, you've got to have a real good reason to prove to me you can't, in fact, get it from an American product. Look, folks, this company concluded that it was an opportunity for them as well. And now they're making fast charging EV chargers here in America, right in Wisconsin. Their goal is to manufacture 13,000 highspeed chargers every single year. And guess what? To the chagrin of your senator, the other senator, it's going to add 100 good-paying jobs. Folks,

this is happening across the state. It's a direct result of those clean energy investments I signed in law a year ago. Folks, as I've said for a long time, for a long time, when I think jobs. Not a joke. When I think climate, I think jobs. That's the future. By the way, Texas, the state of Texas, a very enlightened governor, a very state of Texas has the highest number of wind and solar facilities, I think, of any state in the nation. And it's cheaper than the state of Texas. And it's cheaper than the state of Texas has the highest number of wind and solar facilities, I think, of any state in the nation. And it's cheaper than fossil fuel. He wants to shut them down.

Isn't that enlightened? Like the 12 solar energy products and Allon Energy is building across Wisconsin, creating more than 2,000 jobs, local construction jobs. Most of them union jobs, and in the process of serving customers in Wisconsin, saving them more than $1.6 billion in energy costs. These are facts, not fiction. And back to Kenosha, which was hit hard by the American Motors when it closed. Now, Paris Solar has broken down on the state's first large-scale solar and battery storage project in Kenosha County.

It's creating 300... Mustafa, here's the thing right here. If this White House wants to connect, they are going to have to... Again, having him speak in this way is great, but again, I think they're going to have to go on a national tour of really going deep in the communities, sending a variety of people,

having not just listening sessions, but what I call them teaching sessions, connecting the dots and showing again, what the American Rescue Act did, what it did for colleges, what different communities, black unemployment at a historical low on and on and on. You have to connect the dots and you have to do it in a way where you explain to people in language that they use every day how things have actually gotten better. You hit it right on the head. I mean, I'm all across the country

connecting with folks. And here's the thing. Ninety nine percent of the folks have no idea about the things that the president just shared, which are incredibly important things that are transformational sets of opportunities. And when they don't know anything about, of course, they don't see themselves reflected in it. So you have to actually spend time with everyday folks, breaking it down, helping them to understand and be able to see best practices, seeing people who started their own businesses, seeing how this change is happening. But they've got to see themselves reflected in it. If you can do that, then it is a winning issue. If you don't, then it's just chatter from Washington, D.C., even when it's not in Washington, D.C., because they just see the, you know, the talking heads that are there. But here's the other part, Roland, which I know you always focus on as well, is that we've got to also make sure with all these huge sets of opportunities around manufacturing and other things that are happening in that space that black and brown folks can create their own businesses. So how does that happen? What does that look like? What are the steps that are necessary and how are you going to help people to walk through the process

to be able to plug in to these hundreds of billions of dollars that are out there? And if you don't do that, you're missing an opportunity, not just a political opportunity, but an opportunity to help to address the wealth gap in our country and to transform America into a 21st century America. We got a historian coming up, Larry, your professor. It's called teaching. You literally have to teach people. Everyday folk don't live and breathe this stuff. And you literally got to break this thing down in a way where they go, damn, I didn't realize that.

But you can't just do it sort of in these sort of large speeches and, you know, 30,000 people. No. It has to be sort of these town halls, the seating. I mean, and you do it now. The campaign has to be thinking about this now, mid-August, over the next 10 months. So when you get to next August and dead lives are coming up to register, folk now understand. Yeah, so, you know, the campaign is basically is on, right? So and you've seen when we've seen the president and VP out a lot more in the last several weeks. But you're right,

Roland, this has to be what I would describe as maybe if the Biden administration wants to use this, teach-ins. So they literally need to go into, like we've seen with this, you know, discussing this, you know, recently, but should go into communities and talk about how in April the Black unemployment rate for the first time in 50 years of collecting data was below 5 percent. And also in terms of closing the gap between the white and Black unemployment rate in the United States. Talk about the, continue to talk about the infrastructure bill. I think one of the things about the infrastructure bill in particular, Roland, is not just in terms of the impact it's having on us now, but it is generational and help build generational wealth. Because black folks in particular who are getting these jobs can buy homes, send their kids to college, which

can help build generational wealth. And the president has to make that connection. And like you said, it's going to be really important, once again, these, as I described them as teachings, to go to local Black and brown communities and talk about in detail about how the Biden administration, after passing the Inflation Act, how inflation continues to dive. These are really important conversations that he has to have with these communities to get people excited, to get them to go out to vote so he can ensure he wins in 2024. My next story,

we're going to come to this after the break, a white man going to prison for a racially motivated attack. Guess what? It was a federal case. The DOJ is killing it. The Biden folks don't know how to even talk about it. We'll talk with the historian.

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 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 two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine 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 iHeart radio 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. degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skill through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves.

Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. We're in the center of this. Next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not be free. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol.

We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this.

There's all the Proud Boys died. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Cox.

The United States is the most dangerous place for a woman to give birth among all industrialized nations on the planet. Think about that for a second. That's not all. to give birth among all industrialized nations on the planet. Think about that for a second. That's not all. Black women are three times more likely to die in this country during childbirth than white women. These healthcare systems are inherently racist. There are a lot of white supremacist ideas

and mythologies around black women, black women's bodies, even black people that we women's bodies, even black people that we experience pain less, right? Activist, organizer, and fearless freedom fighter, Monifa Akinwole-Bandele from Moms Rising joins us and tells us this shocking phenomenon, like so much else, is rooted in unadulterated racism. And that's just one of her fights. Monifa Bandile on the next Black Table here on the Black Star Network. It's John Murray, the executive producer

of the new Sherry Shepard Talk Show. This is your boy, Herb Quay. And you're tuned into... Roland Martin, Unfiltered. A Florida federal jury convicts a white man for a racially motivated attack against historian Marvin Dunn and five other black men near the 1923 Rosewood Massacre site. David Emanuel, a 62-year-old white man, found guilty of willfully intimidating the victims, attempting to injure and intimidate them through a vehicle. It took place September 6th of last year. Emanuel tried to run over Dunn while surveying land near a public roadway. Emanuel approached the victims and shouted racial slurs

and expletives before driving his pickup truck towards them, nearly hitting Dunn. Emanuel now faced up to 15 years in prison. That's what you white folks do when you're racist. Historian Marvin Dunn, Jones is now from Miami. Marvin, glad to have you here. See, Marvin, here's the thing that I keep saying, and I wrote my book, White Fear, how the browning of America is making white folks lose their minds. And people kept telling me,

oh, I think you're just making a big deal. I'm like, no. I'm like, these things are real. And what you have is they're a group of white folks in this country who cannot handle the fact that this ain't the Jim Crow days. And we are not about to bow down and accept second class status. Take us through just, again, here you just yell out, surveying land, and all of a sudden, your life was on the line. Well, thank you, Roland, for having me on the show.

I appreciate that. What just happened last week in Gainesville, Florida, is very unusual. For a 12-, 12 person in Central Missouri, no black. And you're incorrect in your introduction. He faces 10 years on each count. So this man is looking at 60 years in federal prison.

Tomorrow in Alachua County, he has to stand state trial for using his vehicle as a deadly weapon. So he is facing a lot of time in prison over a moment of anger and racism that is going to destroy his family. He got, okay, so he was found guilty in federal court, and now he's facing state charges. Yes, correct. Tomorrow in Gainesville. Look, so I saw this photo. This is you. You posted on your page.

So was this flag flying outside of his property? Roland is crazy. The man just got convicted of six counts of hate crime. Ten years. Looks like we're having an issue. I went up to Rosewood last Sunday. I took 30 day-accounted teachers up to my property in Rosewood. I'm the only black person today who owns land in Rosewood.

I own five acres of land in Rosewood. Wait, wait, wait. I don't want you to go past that. You said to date you're the only black person who owns land in Rosewood, which used to be all black? That's correct, sir. I own 5.61 acres of land in Rosewood. Wow. That's the property that I was visiting. Yeah, go ahead. So when this flag is hanging, what is this property? Right across the road from me. This whole thing started, I brought some people up there back in September to work on surveying how we're going to clear our property so that we could have an event for the 100th recognition of the Rosemont Master.

Sounds good. Actually, guys, so let's do this here. Hold on, hold on, Marvin, hold on. So here's what's happening. So we're having some issues with Marvin's video. So, folks, do me a favor. Call Marvin on audio. And then that way, because one, when you have video, you're trying to see so much video,

call him back. Let's do audio only. That way we can actually hear him more consistently. And so just call him back on FaceTime audio. Okay, folks? So do that right now. So I just want to make sure that we hear him. I mean, this is one of those crazy stories,

Mustafa, that we keep talking about. And it's again, this is a win for the Department of Justice. This is what the federal folks are doing. I don't understand why they're not talking about these things from the podium, because they have been convicting racists left and right in police departments, in prisons and jails. That's how you frame a narrative. As you said, there's been huge wins under this Department of Justice. And since I don't work in the administration anymore, you know, I'm just going to have to make my best guesstimate that they still believe in that mythical white voter who's going to come and vote for Democrats in huge numbers.

So they try and stay away from these important stories. That doesn't mean they don't do the work, but they don't really utilize and highlight how this is helping to address the systemic racism that still exists inside of our country. But, you know, if you want to expand your base, share with folks how you're doing good work. Hopefully those who have open minds will then, you know, give you a serious look to see if they want to give you their vote. We have Marvin Dunn back on audio. So, Marvin, again, you were saying you you you're the only African-American on land in this Rosewood area. And y'all were preparing for the 100th anniversary of this event. So go right ahead with your comment.

That's correct. Go ahead. Well, we were preparing to leave my across-the-street neighbor. I've not spoken to him since I owned the property, nor he to me since 2008. And he rolls out of his side of the road in his big white truck with the huge wheels and what have you. And he lets down his window and he asked, what's going on out here? And I responded, well, sir, this is my property and I'm getting ready to. And that's as far as I got.

He said, well, if that's your property, why don't you all park on your side of the road? I said, well, this is a county road. We'll park wherever we wish. Threw him to a rage. Slams on the brakes, does a U-turn, and starts shouting, using the N-word. I won't repeat exactly

what he said, but shouting at us, using that word over and over again. One of the white men who was with us, he wheeled his truck towards him and yelled, you're just as bad as the niggers. And then went back and while we're trying to

figure out, my God, what just happened? He comes back out at full speed, turns his truck towards us, and almost kills my son and me and others who are standing in the road. And then he speeds off. So we called the Leverett County police. They came out. They arrested him.

It took a few days to do that. And charged him with using his truck as a deadly weapon. And when I drove back to Miami that and charged him with using his truck as a deadly weapon. And when I drove back to Miami that. Looks like we lost talking about this. Yeah, go ahead. You said, oh, no, no, no. Mr. Marvin, you said I was driving back to Miami. Yeah.

And when I got back home, I called the FBI. And I reported this as a hate crime. And folks knock the FBI these days and all of that. But they did a great job on this case. They prosecuted it. They charged him with these six counts of hate crimes. And last week before an all white jury, except for one Asian gentleman on the jury, they found him guilty. And now tomorrow, he has to stand trial in the state court using his vehicle as a weapon. So he's going to prison. But I'll tell you something. Can you still hear me good?

Yeah, we got you. Go ahead. Okay. I have not seen that flag, only if I got there last Sunday I took 30 teachers from Miami up there to visit my prophet and to teach them the truth about what happened in Rosewood because the state is requiring them to teach a lie about Rosewood

so I had not seen that flag he's had his DeSantis land flag up for months but this thing that you're showing on your program right now so this fool this fool is on trial. He's now he's going to go to federal prison, try to stay prison. And he's like, oh, I'm going to be defiant and I'm going to sit here and raise this flag.

Well, guess what? By doing so, prosecutors get to show that in the sentencing phase to show exactly how this guy is completely unrepentant with his racism. That is correct. Now, when I go to my property, and this is a rural area, Roland, there's just white folks out there. Everybody has five acres. People have their homes back in the woods, so you can't really see their houses. But now when I go to my property, I have to hire an off-duty Florida Highway Patrolman to sit at my gate to make sure I don't have to put up any crap. I'm a private property owner in Rosewood, Florida, and I need police protection to visit my property because of this fool and others around there who are like him. Wow. Look, I... You know, let me make one of the points. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. There's a lot of fear. I'm Let me make one other point. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead.

There's a lot of fear. I'm sorry. Go ahead, Roland. Go ahead. You said you want to make another point. There's a lot of fear. Go ahead. There's a lot of fear among my white neighbors that the black folks are going to come back and take their land away from them. A lot of these folks don't even know what happened in Rosewood. They just moved to Rosewood in the last few years. But there's this fear that the blacks are going to come back and take the land, which is not going to happen, because once the state of Florida paid reparations to the Rosewood survivors, the agreement was that there would be no more demands on land in Rosewood.

So that's one reason why some of the white people are very, very anxious about blacks coming around. But I'll tell you this, and I'll stop. Those five acres that we have, that I have, with the co-owner in Rosewood, will remain committed to saving the Rosewood story. We have a track of the old railroad track that was used to evacuate people during that massacre. You know, they brought the train in late at night, and they sneaked some of the women and children on the train, no boys over 13, and they eased them out of Rosewood. And the only part of that railroad track that's still there is on my property. They took the rails out, but the railroad bed is still there. So when we go, when I take high school

students and their parents or grandparents there or teachers as we did just this past Sunday, we walk that bloody ground. We walk that railroad track and we tell that story. And that's why keeping that history is so important. When is the 100th commemoration? When is it?

When is what? The 100th commemoration. It was last January. Oh, we had a grand time. It was last January. We had, I don't know, several hundred folks out there on our property. Got it. That was last January.

All right. And this event happened in September before that as we were preparing for it. Gotcha. All right. Well, look, first of all, we're glad that you are still with us, Marvin, and we're glad to see that you called the FBI

and they were jumping this case, and this guy is going to be head to prison. And so I'm sure when he gets there, they'll be delighted to say, come on in. Come meet me. Well, see, his problem is going to be people know who did what in prison.

Oh, that's what I'm saying. He's going to get to prison. And these brothers are going to be he, you know, people know who did what in prison. Oh, that's what I'm saying. He's going to get to prison. And his brother is going to know that this man is there for a hate crime. So he is going to have to be protected by the prison authorities because his life is in danger because people know what he did. Well, guess what? Hashtag, we tried to tell you. Marvin, we appreciate it, man.

Thanks a lot. You're welcome. Thank you for having me. Thank you very much. Boy, Larry, I tell you, I keep trying to say, these white folk keep acting the fool. You gonna pay the price? Yeah, it's funny, Roland, because I just

had a conversation recently about talking about the COVID massacre and, you know, the laws that went into effect here in Florida on July 1st and, you know, the laws that went into effect here in Florida on July 1st. And, you know, obviously the issue about curriculum changes, you know, enslaved Africans. It's a wild place to be down here, I'll tell you that. But, you know, I'm glad you paused and asked him to emphasize the craziness of it's been over 100 years since we had the massacre in Rosewood, and the fact

that he's the only Black person that owns land there, and that he almost was killed by a racist in the same community that was burned to the ground. And I don't think there are, you know, obviously I hope the people are watching this show, but the symbolism of him using a truck to try to run these folks over, including his son. And like I said, him being an owner of land in that historic but tragic place.

And also when you connect that, what we're talking about with Donald Trump and overt racism about trying to eliminate the black vote, it's really important, I hope, for people watching this show, once again, that we're organized and that we don't continue to allow this to happen in states, not just red states, but any state, and that 2024, that we continue to put people in office who ensure that the DOJ will take these people to court and make them go to jail for a long time. Indeed, indeed. All right, folks, hold tight one second. We come back. We will pay tribute. Clarence Avon, passed away Sunday at the age of 92, an amazing figure.

I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1.

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

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. 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 ban is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

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

Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Music, entertainment, politics, you name it, he was indeed a true Renaissance brother. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Blackstar Network. We talk about blackness and what happens in black culture.

We're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people powered movement. A lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it and you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in black-owned media.

Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. Ways to $100,000. We're behind $100,000. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month weighs $100,000. We're behind $100,000, so we want to hit that.

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Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Cox. The United States is the most dangerous place for a woman to give birth among all industrialized nations on the planet. Think about that for a second. That's not all.

Black women are three times more likely to die in this country during childbirth than white women. These healthcare systems are inherently racist. There are a lot of white supremacist ideas and mythologies around black women, black women's bodies, even black people that we experience pain less, right? Activist, organizer, and fearless freedom fighter Monifa Akinwole-Bandele from Moms Rising

joins us and tells us this shocking phenomenon, like so much else, is rooted in unadulterated racism. And that's just one of her fights. Monifa Bandele on the next Black Table here on the Black Star Network. Me, Sherri Shepard with Tammy Roman. I'm Dr. Robin B, pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 Folks, Clarinet Vaughn, of course, was a leading figure in the entertainment sector, in music as well. He passed away Sunday at the age of 92.

Tributes have been pouring in since news of his death dropped on yesterday. Of course, we paid tribute to him yesterday. Joining us right now is someone who knew him quite well, Congresswoman Maxine Waters of Los Angeles. She joins us on the phone. Congresswoman, glad to have you here. How long did you know Clarence Avon? Oh, thank you so much for having me on to talk about our friend and one of my heroes. I guess I've known him for, I don't know, 30, 40 years. I guess I've known him that long. And Jackie, I knew Jackie before I knew Clarence. Jackie was out supporting Watts, women in Watts, in daycare and childcare.

The Neighbors of Watts was the name of the group that she raised money for and supported. And I met her when I was back in Head Start. And then from there, I met Clarence Avon. We became great friends, not only, you know, good allies and friends and politics and the kind of support that he built for me and for others, but he liked to let us know what was going on in the industry and how it worked. And I met a lot of people through him. There are a lot of people who are in the entertainment space who, frankly, don't concern themselves with social issues, political issues. They just want to focus on what they do. He was not one of those folks. He absolutely was about the community and was not detached from the black community?

Not at all. Not only was he not detached, there were certain candidates running for high office, whether it was in the United States Senate or president or Congress, who sought him out. And I want you to know, Bill and Hillary Clinton became very good friends of his. And I was at his home when he raised money for Bill Clinton. Well, absolutely. As a matter of fact, Steve McKeever, we had him on yesterday. And Steve said, he said, man, I didn't bring up the fierce fights that I had with Klans over Obama. Because Steve, of course, was on Obama's finance committee.

His daughter, Nicole, supported Obama. He said, man, we had some knockdown, drag out fights over that. He said, but he said Clarence came to appreciate and respect Obama after he won. But but, hey, he was fiercely loyal, loyal to those he supported. Absolutely. And they never tired of opening up their home for their friends and people that they supported. And Clarence was very interesting because he was a great businessman and he knew how to handle, you know, some of the giants in the industry around the negotiating table. But he liked my audacity, and he encouraged me in some of the antics that I would undertake, in the ways that I would approach dealing with some of the issues. He would call me.

He would tell me in some very, very descriptive words, go get them. Well, that's the one thing that's been made clear. He was not one to be shy when it comes to using what I grew up calling the $100 words. That's right. That's right. He used them in, you know, just lovely,

casual conversations with his friends. And he used them at the big conference tables in Hollywood. And he never changed. He never let up. That's who he was. And, you know, when you sat with him and you understood where he came from, you know, from the deep south and how he cared about his relatives and his friends and how he would fly to see about his brother and all of that, he never departed from his relationships with his friends and, you know, that that that were with him when he had nothing. You know, one of the things, we often hear people say this, and it really is, I think, important to say when people say, you know, I don't know how so-and-so is going to be replaced. I mean, my goodness, this year alone, we've lost Harry Belafonte.

We've lost Charles Ogletree. We lose Clarence Avant. And the thing that, and the reason I'm bringing up Avant and Harry Belafonte, because these were individuals who were entertainment, who understood it wasn't just about singing and dancing. It wasn't just about making money. And I am, you know, when I have these conversations with folk, I'm often saying to them, look, we can't just be. And I literally had a conversation yesterday with this corporate sister who said, you know, hey, you know, I'm in this new position and I'm creating generational wealth for my child.

And I said, but it can't just be about you getting paid. It has to be a commitment to the broader black community and not just you getting a check. I said, so black people are sitting on boards of directors. They can't be sitting there as bumps on the logs

not doing a damn thing collecting their stock options. It is about what are you doing for black people and that's why I think it's important for us to remember and talk about all the things that Clarence Avant did, because it wasn't just about him. If it was just about him, he could have gone on and been a billionaire if he was solely focused on that. But that was a commitment to black people. Absolutely. And I think that you expressed it, you know, in a most profound way. And I want to tell you the names of the people that you just mentioned. And of course, Randall Robinson, you know, I went to St. Kitts, you know, to his funeral. But these are people that cannot

be replaced. They cannot be replaced. And I feel a great deal of sadness, a great deal of sadness about the passing of all of these individuals that you have just named and the other ones that we can think about. But I want to tell you what makes me even sadder. As I look at these indictments that this brilliant DA in Atlanta, in Fulton, is bringing forth for the RICO crimes that have been committed. There's a black woman on there. And I said, let me see who this black woman is. And how would she be involved in this criminality, in this undermining, you know, democracy and undermining the vote and tampering with voting. Who is this woman? And I started to look her up and read about how she got to be indicted. This woman actually went to the home of one of the black women who had been working on the polls to tell her

to sign a paper to say that she had committed a crime and took the woman to the police station. Oh, yeah, that was that. Yeah, that was Trevion Coote, who worked with worked as a publicist for R. Kelly and Kanye West. I actually met her and we let's just say we had some words. And she has been going hardcore for Trump. And guess what? Now her behind in trouble. Well, not only is her behind in trouble, but, you know, she will be scorned, you know, by our people, our community for what she did.

You know, it was not simply, you know, taking the money from the dirty hands in the way that she did, but it was about undermining the most vulnerable people, the most vulnerable people who didn't even know what she was talking about, that she was leading to the police station to turn herself in, saying that she had done something wrong. I won't ever forget it. I don't know what's going to happen with these indictments, but I want her to be dealt with just as harshly as Trump is going to be dealt with. We can't afford to continue to have people like that, you know, attach themselves in ways that they can make money, particularly where these kinds of controversies

are involved. They are a detriment to our community, a detriment to our people. And when we look at all of the work that our heroes and sheroes have done, many of whom you mentioned today, we cannot afford to forget their sacrifices and not allow this woman to get away with what she has done. It is absolutely unacceptable. I absolutely agree. Congressman Maxine Waters, always appreciate to have you on. Thanks a bunch. Thank you for always remembering our heroes and our sheroes

and not letting their history and their sacrifices be forgotten. Indeed. That's why black-owned media matters. Thanks a lot. Folks, one of the folks that Clarence Avant discovered, pushed, supported, backed because of his voice, the late, great Bill Withers, his wife.

Of course, this is a photo of 2014 when I was at Oprah's. It was an amazing time, my first time meeting Bill Withers. He was there singing with his daughter. That was an unbelievable song that his daughter sang that brought a bunch of the brothers there to tears. Marsha Withers joins us right now.

And so his was amazing, y'all. So I called Marsha last night, and really I was calling her to check up on her because there are a number of sisters who've lost their spouses. And I said, look, I had on my mind, and then she tells me about a book that they're doing that came out today called Grandma's Hands. I was like, well, look, we're going to have you on the show as we do our Clarence Avon tribute, but also talk about this book as well.

Marsha, glad to have you here. You know, Clarence was quoted as saying, look, when he heard Bill's voice, he's like, I got to sign this dude. That's what I heard, too. Bill was managed, I had a manager, Forrest Hamilton, who was taking his demo tapes that he made around, and it got to Clarence. And Clarence heard something in his voice and his writing because he wrote all of his own songs. So that's how it started.

And I'm forever grateful to Clarence for recognizing his talent and giving him a shot in this business and starting his career, you know, as a songwriter and an artist. Indeed. And of course, Grandma's Hands, one of his hits. And today, y'all are dropping this book. Tell us about it. Yeah, Bill wrote Grandma's Hands, what, in 1971, 70, 71, about the relationship he had with his grandmother. They lived in Beckley, West Virginia at the time. Bill was born in Slapfork. And she was very instrumental in raising him.

And the impression that she made on him, he was able to, what, describe years later in a song, put in a song. I have her tambourine. I have it in my home. She took him to church. You know, he learned and appreciated music from her. And she was a major figure in his life. She lived with him and his family the last few years of her life, passed away when he was 15. But she was a major figure for him. And one of the reasons why we wanted to get this book published is because we wanted to bring attention to grandmothers in general. Can I give you a little history about the book, how it came about? Go ahead. Okay. Joel Harper, who is a little independent publisher

of Freedom 3 Publishing, did a book called Frankie Finds the Blues. His grandmother took him to a blues concert and introduced him to the blues. And it's biographical. It's what happened to Joel. So he sent the book to us in 2018, and Bill and I really loved it. And a year later, he contacts us about possibly publishing a book on Bill's song. And we loved the idea. We weren't book publishers, but music publishers,

so we knew we needed someone to get involved with that with us. And Joel, you know, came up with the whole idea of doing, you know, this book and had artists in mind. And we loved the idea and wanted to do it. Of course, Bill passed away in 2020. And, you know, before we really got into the meat of it. So this is the result of the work we've done in the last year and a half to get this book to the world. The artist is, the illustrator is an artist by the name of Gregory Christ. He's an award-winning artist. He's done a beautiful job on the artwork, and we And we're like so happy with how it came out.

Bill's record label, Sony, got involved by hiring, commissioning the artwork from the book to be made into a animated short, which you are seeing now. It's so lovely. And the music on that particular animated video is bill's vocals and our daughter cory's vocals along with some new music for this animated show so we're really proud of it coming out and we hope to do this whole movement in appreciation of grandmothers and grandfathers too. And, you know, just to hold them up in high esteem and to bring, you know, bring them into everyone's mind and attention because of all the

work they do and how valuable they are to young people. Where can folks get the book? Folks can get the book on grandmoshandsbook.com or Amazon. Cool, cool. And I'd like to show you. There you go. All right. Beautiful book. Indeed.

Last question for you. The song that Corey sang at Oprah's, is she going to release that? That's a good question. So that book is I Am My Father's Son. It was a book, I mean, a song that Bill wrote inspired by, you know, of course his dad, but Bill Russell asked him to, you know, to write a song for his statue unveiling, you know, in 2014. And Corey sang the demo for him because he had stopped singing. So she sang the demo for him because he had stopped singing. So she sang the demo for him.

And when B.B. Winans asked him to be a part of the gospel brunch, he sent him the demo. And he said, oh, my God, we love this song. We want you to do it. And he said, oh, no, I'm not singing. He said, you guys got to get some other guy to sing this. And B.B. called him back and said, we want Corey to sing it. So it was meant for a guy to sing it. So she never has recorded it.

Johnny Mathis has sang it in the past, too. Who? Johnny Mathis actually sang it first. Well, we got Jimmy Jam up next. Maybe we can find a brother to sing it because it was an amazing song. And, again, brothers were crying. I know. I was there.

Kevin Lyle, Stedman, it was unbelievable. It was moving. It really was moving. Yeah, it was very much so. Well, thank you for having me on and letting me run my mouth about talking about our book. But I'm so happy to share it with everybody, you know. And it's about our mission is not, you know, we were talking about money and doing stuff for the community. Our mission really is about bringing attention to what, first of all, a song about a grandmother.

You know what I mean? But grandmothers and grandparents in general, you know. Yep. The work they do. All right. Keep these kids in line. I'm one now, too. I have a three-year-old granddaughter. Well, look, look, I ain't got no grandkids, but I will jack a niece and nephew up in a heartbeat.

Marsha Withers, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. Folks, thank you. Going to go to a quick break. We come back. Jimmy Jam will join us. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

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Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Man, who was the one who put Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Jan Jackson together? Clarence A. Vann. Can't wait to hear that story. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered

on the Blackstar Network. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 Question for you. Are you stuck? Do you feel like you're hitting a wall and it's keeping you from achieving prosperity? Well, you're not alone. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, you're gonna learn what you need to do to become unstuck and unstoppable. The fabulous author, Janine K. Brown,

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Megan has been treated like the villain. The experience that Megan went through is something that all black women face when we are affected by violence. This is something that's called massage noir. There's a long history of characterizing black women as inherently bad in order to justify our place in this society. Next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes.

Carl Payne pretended to be Roland Martin. Holla! You ain't got to wear black and gold every damn place, okay? Ooh, I'm an alpha, yay. All right, you're 58 years old. It's over. And you are now watching... Roland Martin, unfiltered. Uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 It's always fascinating to find out how people were put together and how did it happen. documentary, Black Godfather, you would have seen them talk about how Janet Jackson got connected with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

And of course that led to massive number of hits. Well Clarence Ava was at the center of that. I think that right now is half of that deal. Jimmy Jam, Jimmy, glad to see you. Glad to have you back on the show. I saw you. Our theme music was playing. I saw you sitting here, bobbing your head.

The ladies of En Vogue actually did that for me, and they gifted the song to me. I actually wanted them to do the themes off my TV One show, and the people at TV One was like, oh, it sounds too dated. And I was kind of like,

y'all showed some bland-ass canned news music, which was awful. So when I got my own show, I said, I want to use this. And they said, Roland, we appreciate what you do, so we're giving you this song. And so thanks to Cindy and Terry for doing that.

And I'll pull the producer's name up, guy's name in a second. But let's talk about Clarence Avant. When did you first meet him? We first met Clarence when Terry and I came to L.A. for the first time, which was 1982. It was between the tours. We did the Controversy Tour with Prince at the time,

and so it was basically off a tour. So that's when we met him and went to his office. He called us the two thugs because we walked in with our, you know, our hats and sunglasses and suits. And he said, who are these two thugs? But he really liked a record that we had done, which was we did a record called High Hopes for the SOS band. And we didn't produce the song. We'd only written the song.

And he was curious if we had produced the song, what would it sound like? And we said, well, Clarence, we have the demo. We can play you the demo. And so we played him the demo and he loved the demo. And he said, I want you guys to do some songs on the next SOS band record. We said, great. So that was literally our first time meeting him, and we were hired immediately, which was pretty cool, actually. So he heard something and then thought, these guys are more than singers.

Yeah, I don't know. I think he, well, he had gotten, I will say the introduction to Clarence was actually made through a couple of people. Dina Andrews, who worked at Solar Records at the time, we had done some things for Solar Records, Climax and some other things like that. And then Sissy Nash, who was also there at that point

in time at solar but then um it was interesting because one of the things that happened and you mentioned the black godfather the documentary which is absolutely mandatory for people to see um i think um but one of the stories that we talk about in there is when we met Clarence, he said, your manager, your price that your manager's asking. And we said, oh, we can lower it, man. We can lower it. He said, lower it? He said, she's not asking for enough. You guys got expenses? You got recording studio expenses? You got all that stuff? And he said, here's what I think is fair fair and i can't remember what the dollar amount was but it was twice as much as we were even asking for and we were like wow for someone to do that was amazing to us and that was our first impression of clarence was he wanted to be fair and he wanted to tell us you know you're

not asking for enough money your value is what you're worth. Like he always says, life is about numbers. It's a number. And we weren't asking for the right number. And he told us right away. Wow. So Jan Jackson, she does a couple of albums. She's with her dad. She's sort of frustrated that it really hasn't gone anywhere.

And then Clarence goes, hmm, I got an idea. Yeah. Well, Clarence was more the facilitator of it than the idea person because John McClain, who was at A&M Records at that point in time, he was the A&R person at A&M Records.

We had met John McClain when we met Leon Silvers III. And Leon Silvers III was actually the first person to kind of put us in the studio and do things with us. But John was there that same day that we met. So he always said, I want to do something with you guys. So there was another artist on A&M we were supposed to do. And for some reason, it didn't work out. I kind of know the reason now, but it just didn't work out at that point in time.

And John was kind of, he said, I'm embarrassed, man. He said, is there anybody else on our roster you'd like to do? And we said, well, send us the roster. Because this is pre-internet and all that stuff. So I think he faxed us. Simmons, here's the fax. Yeah. So he sends the fax.

And on the fax, there's a list of names of all the people on A&M Records. And Terry and I's fingers go down. We both stop on Janet. And we looked at each other, and we said, Janet. So we called John. We said, John, we want to do Janet. He said, really? And we said, yeah.

He said, you want to do how many songs you want to do, man? Two or three songs? We said, no, we want to do the whole album. He said, you do? And we were like, yeah. And so, of course, Clarence was the one then that had to go in and make the deal and navigate the Joe Jackson piece of it, where she was kind of at that point leaving her dad as her manager. The A&M part of it, where all of a sudden they're going to send this girl to Minneapolis, but we don't have a track record or anything at that point. It's not like we're really known. I mean, we've had a couple of hits, you know, but not to the point where somebody would just trust us with a whole budget to just go do that type of thing. But Jerry Moss and Clarence were really good

friends. And he just said to Jerry, come on, these are the guys. Let's get this done. So Clarence made that happen. And, of course, Control was a big success. But even more importantly, the follow-up to Control, Rhythm Nation, that was the one where things got weird because, obviously, our price had gone up and there was a lot of conflict that was kind of going on and negotiations and stuff. And at one point I remember Janet calling me and said, do you guys want to do the album? And we said, yeah, do you want us to do the album? And she said, yeah. We were like, well, what's the problem? Well, you know, not to blame lawyers or anything, but there was a bunch of people that got their noses in it, you know, unfortunately.

And Clarence was that person that could clear all of that mess out. Because it's like, he would be in the room and it would be like, well, we know they represent them. We know they represent them. Who does Clarence represent? And the answer, everybody in the room

is who Clarence represents. And I swear to God, a week after we made the call to Clarence that we can't figure anything out, we were in the studio working on Rhythm Nation. So literally, you know, if it wasn't for Clarence, these records wouldn't have happened, you know? See, that's what I find to be fascinating, again, because from a consumer standpoint, we just sort of think about producer, artist, but no, the reality is somebody has

to wade through all of the minutia, all of the red tape, to get these things done. And again, for him, it was, look, let's just get it done. Let's cut through all of the BS. And that's why I think all these stories are fascinating,

because we talk about how, you know, to your point, there were other people who said, like, who is he representing? And his whole deal is, I'm representing the end result, which is a deal. That's right. Not the egos. Right. And, you know, and it's funny, That's right. Not the egos. Right. And it's funny. And I don't remember the exact number.

But once again, because Clarence is about numbers, the thing that I remember is on Rhythm Nation, I remember that he said something to Jerry Moss like, you know, give those guys, you know, just give them the budget or whatever, whatever, whatever. And Jerry was like, well, what do you think? What kind of budget? And he said, give them a million dollars. And he said, a million dollars? He said, let me tell you this. He said, how many copies of Control did you sell? And he said, I don't know, at that point,

five million copies or whatever. He said, OK, so five million copies of Control at $10 a record. So you guys have made, what, $50 million off that record? And you're going to tell me you don't have a million to give these guys? And it was like, oh, OK, if you put it like that, you know what I'm saying? That's what it was. He just broke it down. If you put it like that, you know what I'm saying? That's what it was. He just broke it down. If you put it like that, yeah, that's how I put it. Questions from our panelists.

Mustafa, you first. Jimmy Jam, by Clarence Avon. Yeah, Jimmy, thank you for everything that you've done for the culture. If you had the opportunity to talk to Clarence one last time, what would you say to him? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The life that I live, the

my, he took me so far beyond my wildest dreams. When people talk about, you know, was this your dream to do this and whatever? He took us so far beyond what our dreams were. We're just two guys from Minneapolis

that happened to love music and just wanted to make music and he took us he saw us greater than we saw ourselves um and so I just I mean thank you would be the only thing that I could say to him we we were you, we don't really have any regrets. We were in touch with him. You know, it wasn't like I felt like, oh, we didn't get a chance to say goodbye or none of that. We don't really feel that way. We got a chance. He knows exactly how we felt about him, about our love for him, not only through what we say to him, but through our actions towards him

and his, and his family, his beautiful family. And, um, but yeah, I, you know, I always have a regret about leaving things unsaid. Um, I've talked to Roland about it a while back when, when Prince passed away, there were so many things that I didn't, I felt like I didn't get a chance to say to Prince that I wanted to say. And I kind of, in my later life, have made it a point to reach out to people. As soon as they pop in my mind, I'll just reach out. Just go, hey, you were on my mind. And so with Clarence, I feel like both Terry and myself really put that into practice. We really were in touch as much as we could be with Clarence.

I don't feel like there's things unsaid. I would just simply say thank you. Larry? We talked about the documentary which is really good. It came out a couple years ago. What are some of the other ways that you think Clarence and keeping other Black icons, keeping them in their memory alive

so the younger generation of music artists know of the path they lead for those new artists? Well, it's interesting because I think there's – Clarence was singular as far as his impact and his, you know, kind of what he did. He's singular. printer. We all have a roadmap on how to elevate and how to collaborate and how to make people aware of the past as we go into the future. So we go in with, you know, the knowledge and those types of things. So to me, it's just a matter of passing those lessons on. You can't really make people listen, but you can certainly tell the stories.

And I think that's what I think Clarence was able to do for us. You know, maybe a little bit off your question, but I think when I think about Clarence, I think about me personally. You know, I was the first, well, just kind of a full circle story. I was the first African-American chairman of the Recording Academy. And that happened because when we first met Clarence, he said,

what are you guys going to be doing in seven years? And we said, making hits. And he said, no, no, no, no. Besides that, what are you going to do? And we said, besides that, what do you mean? And he said, who's going to be the next people that are signing the young writers and putting the labels together and putting the music together? And who's going to do that? Like, who's going to be the next Barry Gordy and the next Clarence Avant and the next Dick Griffey

and so on and so forth? Like, who are those people going to be? And we said, hmm, I don't know. And he said, and who's going to get involved in politics? Who's going to get involved in philanthropic events? Who's going to get involved on boards of companies? Who's going to be involved? Like, he put all these things in front of us that we're just thinking, we're just going to the studio and making records. And he put all those things in front of us and so when i got a call from the recording academy about maybe i would like to join the board of the recording academy i called clarence and i said

clarence i said they're asking me to run for the board of the recording academy what do you think of that and he said and i'll kind of try to mute my language a little bit he's like the show's called unfiltered so just just quote him. Oh, okay. Well, he basically said, motherfucker, better get your ass in there. They don't allow any of us in that room. And I was like, okay, cool. And so they let me in the room, and I became the chairman of the Recording Academy. If Clarence wouldn't have planted those seeds, I wouldn't have even had a thought of that,

of what that meant to do that. And so the coolest thing for me was when I got into that position, the very next year, you know, there's a committee that kind of puts together who's going to get the Lifetime Achievement Awards and the Trustees Awards and all those kinds of things. And when they came to me, my hand raised and I said, Clarence Abon. He's got to be the one. Because there is no me sitting in this position without Clarence. It's as simple as that. So Clarence got a Trustee Award from the Grammys,

which was amazing. And then later on in life, I was on, you know, because he would always say, get on those committees, get in those rooms, get in those boardrooms. And I was on the board of the Hollywood star on the Walk of Fame. And when Clarence's name came up, we were like, Clarence should have a star. And the cool thing is Clarence's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ended up right next to Terry and my star. So we were together linked you know on on hollywood boulevard which is which is pretty amazing but it showed me that you know you have to you have to be in the room that's that's the

most important thing when the decisions are being there you go well and he was also saying to you though that you're bigger than just making records and use your influence to go beyond just the lane that you are in. And I think that what happens a lot of times is that a lot of us get consumed by just what we want to do, but the ability to pick that phone up and get somebody a job, be able to put somebody on. When somebody says, hey, I'm looking for somebody, call this person. I mean, at the end of the day, that's really what he was saying. Well, the perfect example of that is and he was one of the first people to text me when we found out about Clarence's passing was L.A.

Reed and L.A. Reed texted me and just said, thank you for introducing me to Clarence. It changed my life. And once again, that went back to a seed that Clarence planted. He said, if you ever see anybody out there that needs my help, you know, they're obviously talented, but maybe they're having some business problems or there's some things I can work out or negotiate. Let me know. And I remember a couple of months after he told us that, we ran into L.A. at like an industry event. And he just said, hey, can you introduce me to Clarence Avon? And we were like, yeah. As a matter of fact, we can.

And so we called Clarence and we said, Clarence, maybe you told us if we've come across somebody that needs your help, we got these guys, L.A. and Babyface. And he said, L.A. and Babyface, what kind of name is that? He started laughing and stuff. And we said, no, no, they're really super talented, super talented. And he said, okay. So anyway, we hooked them up. And obviously the rest is history with what happened there. But L.A. acknowledged that.

The reason I think is interesting as what you just described, like literally I was... So what happened was a lot of celebrities pass away, especially men, and a lot of people forget their spouses. And so I said, you know what? I need to call

Marsha Withers just to check on her. I need to call Elgin Bayers just to check on her. I need to call Elgin Baylor's wife, Henry Aaron's wife. And I've been putting it off. And so I'm listening to Bill Withers driving home. I said, let me just call her right now. So that's when I called her. She tells me about the book.

And I'm like, fine, come on the show. And then, so today I was listening to, I was playing golf today. I was listening to Lean on Me. And I was listening to the words of that. And again, basically what the words convey is, brother, when you need something, I'll lend a helping hand. And so when I was in a break, a brother hits me. He was like, hey, do you know Chris Spencer? I was like, yeah, I know Chris Spencer.

We text all the time. He's like, we know you got a movie coming out. You know, we have him on the show. I was like, I said, I text his ass. He ain't said nothing. So he texts him. I'm like, yeah, I know Chris Spencer. We text all the time. He's like, we know you got a movie coming out. You know, you have him on the show. I was like, I said, I texted his ass. He ain't said nothing. So he texted him. I'm like, Chris, done. I'm like, you could be on tomorrow. The whole point there is, which I think when you're

listening to all of these different stories about Clarence Avant, the point was make yourself available to help people. It's not about you getting a check, but if you have a platform and if you have relationships, the relationships serve

no purpose, just you holding on to them. The purpose of the relationships is for you to be able to share them with other people. Exactly. And if Clarence A. Watt doesn't do those things, we're not having this conversation. Right. Well, Clarence Ava doesn't do those things, we're not having this conversation.

Right. Well, Clarence lived to do that. Like with a passion. He lived to problem solve. He he lived to uplift. And he did very much see people better than they saw themselves. Very much so. And that that's so important to me, that element of it. And Terry and I vowed when we got in business with Clarence, we just said, we're going to make this fun for you. Because at the point we came in with Clarence, he wasn't really having a lot of fun in the music industry.

And we were having a great time. I mean, Terry and I, I mean, we didn't have any money. We were broke. We're walking everywhere. We got these heavy suits on in the middle of 90 degree weather in L.A. because that was all the clothes we had. But we loved every minute of it. We just loved because we were getting a chance to make music.

And that's all that really mattered to us. And we said to Clarence, we're going to have some fun. And I'll never forget when he came to Minneapolis and we played him, well, no, the first, when we, Alexander O'Neill, he had sent a singer to Minneapolis and the singer wasn't cutting it. He just wasn't that good.

And we said, Clarence, we got this other guy up here, man. Can we just put him on the record? And he said, yeah, what's his name? We said, Alexander O'Neill. He said, what is he, Irish or something? We said, no. He said, what kind of name is O'Neill for a black man? I said, I don't know, Clarence. I said, that's just his name, Alexander O'Neill. And so we did the record and he heard it.

He immediately flew him to L.A. and he got the deal. So that was the first album. When we did the second album, we couldn't figure out what the single was going to be. And we said, Clarence, come to town and listen to everything and tell us what, pick the single. And he said, OK. So he comes to town. He listens through everything. And he goes, yeah, you got to go with that fake.

And we said, fake? And he said, yeah. And we said, really? I said, for the single? He said, oh, yeah, that's the one. That's the one. And of course, he was right. Record went totally straight to number one.

And... But at that point, we realized Clarence is having fun now. You know? Because he's got Saturday... He's got Sherelle and Alexander O'Neal. He's got Saturday Love. He's got that happening. He's got Alex's solo stuff. He's got Sherelle's solo stuff. He's got S.O.S. band.

And all of a sudden, I think he was having fun. And we used to love watching him smile. And Terry was always giving him gadgets, right? Whenever a new stereo thing would come out. Remember this Bang & Olufsen system? Terry just bought him this beautiful Bang & Olufsen system where the CDs hung on the wall and it was like a jukebox type of thing. He loved doing that kind of stuff. And Clarence loved it because he would like figure out how to work it. And then that was like his stuff. So we just, I don't know, man, we just loved doing things because of the appreciation that we had for him and the opportunities that he gave. And we watched how he looked out for other people. I was looking at a picture in our studio when he first walked in. There's a whole bunch of pictures of different people. And I was looking at a picture of us and Teddy Riley

together. And I remember Teddy Riley when he won. He should have won an ASCAP Writer of the Year Award, but he hadn't put his name on the records for some legal reasons or whatever. And we said to him, hey, you need to put your own name on your records. This is your legacy, right? We happened to be at Clarence's Christmas party. When we told him that, he said, I don't really care about that, whatever, whatever. Six months later, we're at Clarence's Christmas party. He said, man, I thought about what you said, and you're right. I do need to get my business together and get my business right.

I said, yeah. I said, okay, well, you're in the right house for that to happen. And I took him to Clarence. And obviously, once again, with Teddy, the rest is history. So the ability to be able to bring people to Clarence and watch the result of what happens from that was just amazing. You know, he really changed people's lives. And even people that you didn't directly come in contact with, but the reason they're in a job or they have the ability to do something is directly related to him in some way. It is, you know, the thing that when you think about these stories,

this is the final point here. Harry Belafonte, when he did his documentary, he shot about 800 hours worth of stuff. Literally, they shot 800 hours worth of stuff. And he did his memoir. And one of the reasons why he said

he did that, he said because when Marlon Brando died, he said Marlon Brando never did his own documentary, never did his own book. He said, and all of those stories died with him. And even when Clarence

was being irascible, when Reggie Huntley was doing the documentary, but thank goodness the doc was done. Yes. Because Clarence never did a book. And the reason all of these stories are so important is because when you know Paul Harvey used to have a phrase called now the rest of the story.

Yes. In many ways, what you're describing, what Steve McKeever was describing, what Maxine Waters and everybody we've had on, you're now getting an understanding of the rest of the story. And you're hearing, oh, how that

happened and how that happened. And for black people, we need to hear that. For artists today, they need to hear it because when one becomes an ancestor, all you have left are those memories and it's better to have a

story told than one that's untold. Your final comments. Right. Absolutely right. I totally agree. I'm glad the story has been told with Clarence and the thing is we will continue to tell the story has been told with Clarence. And the thing is, we will continue to tell the story through our actions and our deeds. The seeds that he had planted in us, we will continue to live.

And his legacy will stay alive. And there's not a day—well, listen, when he was alive, there wasn't a day we didn't think about Clarence. We will think about him every day and make sure that he's giving us our daily cuss out of something that we were doing wrong. You know, before we make a decision, we'll go, what would Clarence say? And he's going to be like, motherfucker, you better, you know, so we'll tell him. So, but it's all good, man. And I'm glad you, Roland, thank you for elevating the discussion about him and devoting so much time to the people that love him and want to express their thoughts. Because I think it is important. I think it's so important for people to know. Indeed. Well, I always appreciate when I reach out, you get back to me and doing this. Look, you're busy as well. But again, being able to tell the story and share it for people to hear it,

who had no idea, who never actually got a chance to meet him like you did, like I did, is always critically important. So, again, we appreciate it. And I cannot wait to people see our Rolling with Roland, a one-on-one interview with you. We shot in L.A. They're going to really enjoy that conversation. We're editing that and the others as we speak right now, so can't wait to drop it. Awesome. I look forward to it. Thanks a lot.

All right. Final comments, Mustafa and Larry. Mustafa, I want to start with you. When we lose someone and they become an ancestor, and I say this all the time, if people want to understand why black-owned media is so critically important, when I look at that wall in my office, Black-Owned Media Matters, and I look at all of those black publications, Negro Digest, Ebony, Jet, Chicago Defender, Pittsburgh Courier, and on and on and on. The reality is that for mainstream media, white media, Clarence Avant, okay, whatever.

Yes, New York Times has done the obit. Yes, the trades, Deadline, the rap, the Hollywood Reporter. But one story, and there you go, it's done. And I just think it is so critically important for us to tell our story and devote the time because it's so easy to just say, oh, sure, let's have another hour conversation about the Trump indictment or another conversation about this and that or the other. But there are so many things that black folks have done

and are doing, and then when they pass, we don't focus on and talk about and share. And I just simply say, and then when you own it. 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. B one two and three on may 21st and episodes four five and six on june 4th ad free at lava for good plus on apple podcasts i'm clayton english i'm greg glad and this is season two of the war on drugs podcast sir we are back in a big way in a very big way real people real And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

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

We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine 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 it. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper.

The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at TaylorPaperSealing.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Then you can say, yeah, we're going to spend the hour, and I don't have to ask anybody's opinion, because literally, I don't think, I think probably if I went back and checked the major networks, I doubt very seriously if five minutes of time collectively

was spent discussing the amazing life of Clarence Avon. Yeah, we just, you know, it's such a blessing to be able to honor our own, to be able to share with people our journey, you know, how we transform industries. If you think about Mr. Avon, you know, all the moves he had to make in the 60s and the 70s and the 80s and all the way up and still being relevant and still helping to uplift our people, you know, that is our history. It is a living history. And that's why this network and us honoring our elders and those that they have touched is so incredibly important because it's a part of that North Star that I'm sure he followed and so many others about how, through a communal way, we can make sure that real change happens. So I honor Mr. Avon. I want to thank you also, Roland, for allowing me to be a part of this conversation

because it was incredibly fulfilling, I know, for my soul and for all those who are watching to be able to see and hear the folks who have been touched, but also to see the pathway that incredible folks like Mr. Clarence actually did. So that's the beauty of owning your own and being able to tell the stories that are so necessary, both in this moment and for future generations. You know, Larry, during COVID, there were a number of people who we lost and there were no funerals. You know, we're used to these big celebrations and there were none. I remember when Bill Withers passed away.

I remember when Waz escaped from me. Of course, we had funerals for C.T. Vivian, for Henry Aaron, for John Lewis. But, you know, we had distancing, everything along those lines. But there were so many others that we did not get a chance together to do that. And what I said to people, I said, by virtue of what we do on this show,

it's a way of doing what I call them virtual home-going celebrations. And that's consistent with what we do in the black community, Roland. And Mustafa just talked about the importance of your platform. Because honestly, you're right. We're not having this discussion. Hearing, you know, Jimmy Jam, you know, talk about how he connected with Janet. I mean, I couldn't have any time since I listened to both the albums he lessons. Oh, I love Alexander O'Neill.

So hearing some of that context and him telling the story and the impact he had on his life, and then obviously Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and how they impacted Babyface and L.A. Reap, you know, and that's why I asked him that specific question about, generations in terms of passing information on, because it's critically important, because that's what we do in the Black community. We have a very strong oral tradition of passing this information on, and much of what you did today is consistent with that tradition. But listen, he had a tremendous impact, not only music, but obviously politics. And it's really important, like I said, beyond the Netflix documentary, that we continue to find other ways to honor his name and you're doing it this evening. Indeed, Mustafa and Larry, thanks a bunch. Final comments, folks. We were going to play you the interview that I did in 2019 with Reggie Hutland about the Black Godfather. We will run that tomorrow. And again, I just can't stress enough to folks who are watching, who are listening,

why these things matter. There are some people who we mentioned. There are others who might get 10 minutes, who might get 15 minutes, who might get 20, 30 an hour. Some who may get multiple days. Of course, we celebrated my man, Mr. B, for two weeks. But I really want the audience to understand. And we shot this video. Is it on this phone here?

I want to close the show with this because I need you to understand why what we are doing absolutely matters. I was in Birmingham on, just give me a second y'all. I was in Birmingham last week, and the book signing Friday. And a young lady, and I don't have it with me because they're shipping it to me, but a young lady, she made this blanket for me. And so she had these different items from the show on the blanket. And I'm looking, Jesus, I'm looking for the video.

First I'm trying to figure out which phone of mine did we shoot it on. And what was amazing. Okay. All right. So now I got to edit this because I think what happened was somebody shot this in time lapse. Okay. That sucks. We got to time lapse. Okay, that sucks. We got to change this.

Okay, I gave my phone and they shot it. So I got to figure out how to fix this time lapse, how to correct it. Okay, so here's what happened. So this young lady named Skylar. And Skylar comes up to me and she says, hey, I made this blanket for you. And she says she made this blanket. And, okay, so again, this video is on time lapse. I can't, so go to the video.

So Skylar makes this, I'm just going to scroll it, y'all. So Skylar makes this video for me. Excuse me, this blanket for me. And she says, she has different things on it, alpha stuff, show stuff, different things on it. And she said they were trying to give it to me beforehand, and she wanted to present it to me. So it's a full blanket. But this is what Skylar told me.

She said, my mom homeschooled me. And the reason I made this blanket for you, she said, because you were my black history class. She said, I was homeschooled. I, my mom and I watched your show every day. And she said, because of what you cover, you were my black history class. So folks understand, you don't know who's watching this show. I was like, yo, that was crazy. This happens all the time.

People come up to me. And so when we talk about why black-owned media matters, it is because we are in a position to where we are not having to ask somebody to please cover us. And so the tribute to Clarence Avon is critically important because there's somebody who's learning about this man who didn't even know he existed. There's somebody who's learning about him

who can't afford Netflix, and they've never seen the documentary. And so when we talk about why this show matters and why Black-owned media matters, and when I'm talking about why we're fighting for advertising dollars and we're fighting for all of this, it is because we know that somebody out there is learning, because somebody is watching and listening, and they had no idea. They've never met Marvin Dunn, the historian. They don't know anything about

these stories. And so this is why it is critically important. Folks, that is it for us today. We will see you tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Have a great evening. © B Emily Beynon 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 and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios.

Stories matter and it brings a face to 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. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me.

Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart podcast.