#RolandMartinUnfiltered - GA Trump Trial Date Requested, OK Greenwood Settlement Talks Denied, Remembering Clarence Avant

Episode Date: August 17, 2023

8.16.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: GA Trump Trial Date Requested, OK Greenwood Settlement Talks Denied, Remembering Clarence Avant Georgia district attorney wants to start the trial for Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants one day before Super Tuesday primaries and we'll take a look at who is making civil war threats because of Trump's criminal charges. The survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre will get another chance for reparations after a lower court judge dismissed the case.  Damario Solomon Simmons is here to update us on the latest developments. A 13-year-old Mississippi girl is forced to give birth to her rapist's baby due to the state's strict abortion ban. We will breakdown down why folks who say they are pro-life are lying!   Multi-talented filmmaker, writer, and comedian Chris Spencer will stop by to talk about his motion picture directorial, "Back on the Strip, that hits theater Friday. And we continue to pay tribute to the godfather of black music, Clarence Avant. We'll replay my conversation with filmmaker Reginald Hudlin about his documentary on The Black Godfather." 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's Wednesday, August 16th, 2023. Coming up on Roland Martin on a filter. Streaming live on the Black Star Network. The Georgia D.A. who has indicted Donald Trump and 18 others wants to start that trial in March. Oh yeah, Fannie Willis is not playing around.

The survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre will get another chance for reparations after a lower court judge dismissed the case. Demario Solomon-Simmons will be here to update us on what happened. A 13-year-old Mississippi girl is forced to give birth to her rapist baby due to the state's strict abortion ban. A 13-year-old raped and because of their decision,

now has to care for that child. All right, folks, comedian Chris Spencer is going to be joining us to talk about his new movie. First time he's been in the director's chair. It's called Back on the Strip. Hits theaters on Friday. Plus, we continue to pay tribute to Clarence Avant. I had a conversation with Reggie Hutland,

who did the documentary The Black Godfather, when it came out, and we'll show you that conversation. It is time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin on filter, on the Black Sun Network, let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine.

And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's Roland. Best believe 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. Yeah, yeah. It's Uncle Roro, y'all.

Yeah, yeah. It's rolling, Martin. Yeah, yeah. It's Roland Martin. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. Martin. Fannie Willis has made it clear, I'm ready.

Y'all ready? Let's get it on. She has made clear that she is ready to try Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants on March 4th. She is asking a judge to set a trial date of March 4th for all those accused of trying to overturn the Georgia's 2020 election. She also asked to schedule arraignments for the defendants for the week of September 5th. The filing indicates Willis is seeking to quickly initiate the process of sharing the discovery with all 19 defendants and wants to keep her word to hold a trial within six months. Bliss wants to give defendants until 10 days after the arraignment to opt into reciprocal discovery. If they opt in, all parties shall serve discovery materials

then in its possession to opposing counsel no later than September 29th. Trump and his cronies were indicted on 41 counts, including racketeering, violating the oath of office, and forgery. His former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, they are trying to get this moved out of state court to federal court. It's a whole lot of drama going on. Let's talk about it.

Robert Portillo hosts People Passion Politics, News and Talk 1380, W-A-O-K, out of Atlanta. Rebecca Carruthers, vice president, Fair Elections Center, Washington, D.C. A. Scott Bolden, attorney, former chair of the National Bar Association and D.C. Chairman of Commerce's PACS. He's also out of D.C. as well. Robert, I want to start with you there in Georgia. And that is all these people out here speculating, oh, she should wait.

This idiot Dan Abrams was like, oh, she should drop her case now that Jack Smith has moved forward with his case. Her case is totally different from his. There's some overlap. But what she is making clear, we don't have to sit here and try to wait until after the election or wait 18 months. Her whole deal is, guess what? If this was any other trial, we're ready to go.

Well, there's a little bit of gangsmanship going on here. The trial's not going to commence in six months or eight months or 18 months. It's just not physically possible in the Fulton County Courthouse. It's just not something that can physically happen. Why? Hold on. No, no, no.

Wait, wait, wait. Before you go there, explain to the audience why. Why can't it happen in six months? Okay, so one, you have 19 co-defendants with 41 charges, different charges for each co-defendant. Donald Trump has 14 charges. Rudy Giuliani has 13 charges. Some people have one charge. Some people have five charges. You're already seeing Mark Meadows. He's filing to move to sever his case and move that to federal court. Each one of these 19 co-defendants is going to file a motion to sever, and they're going to have 19 separate hearings for that motion to sever. Regardless

of how that comes out, they're going to have discovery. They're going to have 19 separate hearings for that motion to sever. Regardless of how that comes out, they're going to have discovery. They're going to have fights over discovery. They're going to have motions calendars. They're going to have fights over the motions calendar. Even getting that number of witnesses in to testify, getting one case in Fulton County done in six months is a Herculean effort. Before, I had a case that started in 2013 and ended in 2019 before. So I think what DA Willis is attempting to do is just what we're seeing from Mark Meadows,

which is the reason Mark Meadows is moving this case to federal court is because he has an agreement with Jack Smith to testify against President Trump. She is setting this timeline out. So particularly these lower level figures, not the top line figures of Trump, Giuliani, Powell, Eastman, not those people, but the remainder of them, giving them the opportunity to cooperate with the state to enter into agreements, and then setting out a calendar to get those things done, because the sooner you get those things done, you can put more pressure on the big dogs in the crime syndicate to move their cases along. This is very much analogous to the Young Thug YSL case, where you saw people like Gunna and other people get their cases along. This is very much analogous to the Young Thug YSL case, where you

saw people like Gunna and other people get their cases resolved early. Meanwhile, Young Thug is still awaiting trial. And even in that case, it took two or three years to indict the case. Then they've waited 18 months now just to try to seat a jury in the Young Thug case. So the idea that the Trump case will move faster than the Young Thug case, I just don't think is physically possible. But I do think it's gamesmanship on her part to try to push more people to cooperate. Scott? Yeah, you know, I agree with Robert. I would offer a friendly amendment.

The court's trial schedule is in play as well. On top of all the motions, they have a trial calendar for other cases. And so all of the defendants at some point are going to move to go to federal court because they're going to want to get out of state court. I don't think they can avoid getting pardoned, if you will, even if they're in state court. What's scary about federal court is that if you get a judge who believes in ancillary or pendant jurisdiction, sorry to take you back to law school, Robert, but those cases could stay in federal court. I doubt it because the standard for review requires them to be committed these acts in the ordinary course of their presidential or appointed duties.

And I'll be honest with you, being involved in a criminal enterprise and undermining votes and trying to steal an election at the state level just isn't going to qualify. There's a president for this in a prior case. The name escapes me, but in one of the Trump cases. So getting to trial as a practical matter is going to be tough. Secondly, or lastly, let me just say this. You also have this schedule of these other cases that you're kind of fitting in around those trial dates that have been set already. And even if they've been set already, those dates could be moved off or moved upon or moved out or rescheduled.

And so the wills of criminal justice tend to move slowly for all the reasons that Robert gave and all the reasons that I've given. You know, Rebecca, the thing here, it's amazing to look at some of these folks. Ruth Marcus with the Washington

Post writes this column by saying, oh, my goodness, is this going too far? In this case, dealing with Donald Trump, which to me is sort of like, OK, that's stupid. What do you mean too far? And, you know, all of these people, I just love how they all are just, you know, everybody is just sort of, you know, just I won't say making stuff up, you know, but it's this idea that, oh, this guy is just so different and that we should just sort of just change how we deal with him. I'm sorry if you get indicted four different times, you deal with it. There are other people that have been indicted in multiple cases in different parts of the country, and we'll hear all of these excuses.

And I dare say the reason Donald Trump keeps doing what he's doing is because he's never held accountable. As long as you keep making excuses, as long as you keep creating this whole separate, you know, thing here, it goes to show you, again, the problem. And I think that really for me is, you know, the big problem here. I mean, look, I was laughing.

I'm setting the video up right now. I was laughing. I mean, listen to this nonsense by those idiots on Fox News. Greg Gutfield, truly one of the dumbest people, okay? I don't even know why he is even having conversations on a news network when he is a flat-out unfunny comedian. But this is literally him talking on the number one news show on cable sitting across from real people.

And this is the stuff that's being fed that I think feeds into this whole narrative. Oh, this was just this is just too much for the Donald. What federalism allows states to do to enforce their laws here. And we'll see to your point, which you said is exactly right. Judge this, his state of mind, if they have evidence showing his state of mind is different than what he claims he'll have he'll have you don't think this is totally over the top as a jet for i mean even when everything makes sense except it's all bullshit it's all non-stop we know this is designed to banish and isolate and to destroy a political outsider who predicted this chuck schumer remember he said don't mess with the intel agencies.

Don't mess with the intel agencies. They'll arrest your team and keep it off the field. Do you not think he's done anything to deserve any of this? He is probably one of the most troubling, consequential figures in history. But no, he doesn't deserve any of this. And by the way, why didn't they indict him until he announced he was running for president? They probably had to give me a break.

What federalism allows states to do is to enforce. Oh, he's one of the most troubling consequential. I mean, Rebecca, that literally is what these people are running around. And then again, you got some people immediately like, oh, yeah, I think it's too much. No, if you if you right now, Arizona is looking at investigating him. He might get indicted in Arizona. People have people forget they were trying to stop the election in multiple states. In Michigan, in Wisconsin.

The list goes on with other states that are reviewing this. Personally, I do appreciate that D.A. Willis is setting an aggressive timeline as far as with the court's calendar. And the reason why I appreciate that, just like the defendant, Donald Trump and the rest of his other 18 folks, they have the right to a speedy trial, but so does the American public. We watched these events play out three years ago. And for all these people on Fox News and even in The Washington Post yesterday, one thing that I want to point out is whatever happened to states' rights? I thought all these people for states' rights. So shouldn't a state have the right to determine if they're going to

enforce the laws in their book? And if D.A. Willis saw that there was violations of Georgia law, then she has every right. The state of Georgia has every right to bring prosecution against Trump and his co-conspirators. So I'm excited that she's being very aggressive. And, like, I heard Robert's point, but one thing I want to point out about the YSL cases and Young Thug is that she, you know, her office had the ability to prosecute 10 people at one time. Sure, Young Thug, which is the biggest fish in the YSL group of cases, yeah, he's just now getting his day in court, but we still saw the occurrences around the YSL gang. We've seen that prosecutions have already started.

So I expect some of the co-conspirators to flip. And I think by her being aggressive with the court dates, it's also going to apply pressure for some of those folks, i.e. Mark Meadows, to go ahead and flip and turn on Trump. I'm just literally sick and tired of people, Robert, who throw out that, oh, this is like too much. We as the American people,

we can't handle this. Oh my God. Let me be, I need people to understand. Had Richard Nixon not resigned, this would have happened to Nixon. See, I'm tired of this note. What's etched in stone above the Supreme Court? Equal justice under law. There's supposed to be one legal system. And so I'm sorry if you did it. if you got to face 10 trials, 10 indictments, so be it.

But I am not going to sit here and play this silly little game of, oh, this is just the world can't handle. We just can't handle the possibility of seeing a former occupant of the Oval Office have to endure this. And then the story is, oh my God, what happens if he gets convicted? The Secret Service, they're not going to allow him to go to prison. I'm sorry, Robert, can you please show me a statute where the Secret Service can say,

yeah, if you're convicted in a courtroom and sentenced to prison, we have the right to say you can't go. If the law says they must protect him 24 hours a day, guess what? It's going to be some Secret Service agents sitting their ass outside of a prison cell watching his ass. Well, a couple of things, Roland. One, I agree with the people who say this is just too much. This is just too much to have a president commit this many felonies and still be walking around as a free person. Let's be for real. If anybody else that you knew, somebody just came in to apply for a job sweeping the floors at the Black Star Network,

and they said, hey, I'm currently under indictment in four different jurisdictions for 92 counts that carry to a penalty of maybe up to 1,000 years in prison. Also, I was just found liable for rape a couple months ago. And my previous business got found liable for $2.5 million in fraud. Can I sweep the floors at Roland Martin unfiltered at the Black Star Network? Nobody would hire that person. So, yes, this is entirely too much. But at the same time, let's kind of think about this conceptualization around a head of state not being able to be imprisoned. Right now, Imran Khan in Pakistan is serving a three-year sentence for not doing a tenth of what Donald Trump had done. So you mean to tell me our legal system is weaker than the our legal system is weaker

than the Pakistani legal system? You can look at Niger, where President Basum is currently in custody, being held by the military for not getting Boko Haram under control and selling out their resources to France. You mean to tell me Niger can jail their former leader, but America can't? What will happen is Donald Trump will be transferred to one of the very nice resort prisons in South Georgia, down in Jefferson County. I had one of my older clients go down there, and it was great. I went to him. We were doing his appeal. He said, look, man, don't work too hard. It's great down here. I said, what do you mean? He said, well, no, but I'm on the outside. I wake up at 3 o'clock every day. I work a 12-hour day. He's like, in here, we got 500

channels of cable. We have a spa. We have therapy. We have all-you-can-eat burritos. They gave me a puppy to do puppy therapy. Well, Donald Trump will be fine. He'll be in a very nice resort prison. Secret Service will be around outside to make sure no one bothers him. And he will do his five-year mandatory minimum sentence. Remember, the Secret Service is under the Treasury Department. They are not a military branch. The idea is that the Secret Service will stop Donald Treasury Department. They are not a military branch. The idea is that the Secret Service will stop Donald Trump from going to prison. Secretary Yellen is in charge of the Secret Service and will tell them to take him to prison. As long as he is safe, secured and monitored, he will be completely fine. And we have to get out of this idea that

we have monarchs or kings in this country. You can be held liable just as anybody else. They will just simply adjust the rules to make sure you can be safely kept and you won't get shanked. Donald Trump won't be going to Oz. He will not be going to the wire or anything like that. He'll be in a nice club fed and he will be OK. But I do think that this case with Fannie Willis is the case most likely to put Donald Trump in prison because there's not really a way to plea out of it. There's not a way to get a pardon. There's not a way to get clemency. There's a mandatory minimum sentence. Even the Jack Smith cases, there are ways for Donald Trump to come out of it with a guilty conviction and not serve jail time.

This is most likely what will put Donald Trump in an orange jumpsuit. I just laugh, absolutely, over and over and over again. Just this, oh, my God, this is just too much. Nah, not enough for me. Hold tight one second, y'all. We come back. We're going to talk about the three survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre. They're getting another shot in court, this time for the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

We'll explain next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Y'all, do me a favor. We need you to support us in what we do. First of all, your contributions absolutely matter. Trust me, we're independent. We don't have millionaires and billionaires sending us checks. So when you donate, you are allowing us to be able to pay staff, pay reporters, do all the different things.

And so do me a favor. Send check and money orders to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash App is Dallas Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, or Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans on an annual basis,

contributing at least 50 bucks each. That's $4.19 a month, 13 cents a day. And so if you can't give that, totally understand. We got people who have given more. We appreciate every dollar that you've given. What that does raises a million dollars, which allows for us to be able to fund what we do. All of this, folks, between this show

and the six other shows on the Black Star Network, it's $195,000 a month. Numbers are real. They're just simply real. And so we know the value of black owned media but we also have a supported and so please do so uh don't forget also download the black star network app apple phone android phone apple tv android tv roku amazon fire tv xbox one samsung smart tv and be sure to get a copy of my book white fear how the browning of

america is making white folks lose their mindss for that book go right into the show. 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 Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

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

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things.

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

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

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, Target. Download your audio copy on Audible. We'll be right 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 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. Monefa Bandele on the next Black Table here on the Black Star Network. Me, Sherri Sheppard, and you know what you're watching, Roland Martin, unfiltered. Folks, a story out of Houston, Texas that's gotten a lot of national attention has now resulted in the guilty verdict for A.J. Armstrong Jr.

He was a young man in 2016 who was accused of shooting his mother and father in the head, Don and Antonio Sr. as they were asleep. Antonio Armstrong was a star football player at Texas A&M University. Both of his parents had a fitness company. And the first two trials ended in hung jury. But they tried him a third time.

Of course, he had about 40 hours of witness testimony, over 11 days, and the jury deliberated for about 10 hours before rendering this decision. It literally came down just a few moments ago. All right. Call center 1546111, the state of Texas versus Antonio Armstrong, Jr. We, the jury, find the defendant, Antonio Armstrong, Jr., guilty of capital murder as charged in the indictment. It's signed in the foreperson of the jury.

Does either side wish for the jury to be called? Yes, Your Honor. All right. All right, ladies and gentlemen, when I call out your number, I'm going to ask you if this is your verdict, and you say yes it is or no it is not. All right? And these are your jury numbers, not your panel numbers. All right, jury number one, is this your verdict? Yes, ma'am. Jury number two, is this your verdict? Yes, ma'am. Jury number three, is this your verdict?

Yes, ma'am. Jury number four, is this your verdict? Yes, ma'am. Jury number five, is this your verdict? Yes, ma'am. Jury number six, is this your verdict? Yes, it is. Jury number six, is this your verdict? Yes. Jury number seven, is this your verdict?

Yes, it is. Jury number eight, is this your verdict? Yes, it is. Jury number nine, is this your verdict? Yes. Jury number ten, is this your verdict? Yes. Jury number eleven, is this your verdict? Yes, it is. And jury number twelve, is this your verdict? Yes. Juror number 11, is this your verdict?

Yes, it is. And juror number 12, is this your verdict? Yes, it is. This was a strange case because, so when his parents were shot and killed, they allowed for him also to attend the funeral. He had support of his family members. Now what was equally strange is that the defense literally tried to suggest that it was his brother who did the murder.

So it was this story got 2020 did an expose on it. And it was just one of those just strange stories that, again, that attracted a lot of national attention. There were folks who were trying to get him. First of all, family members were literally, and I know some of the family members were literally, they were raising money for his defense. There were billboards that were put up in the city saying, free A.J. But the prosecutors, they contended that all the evidence pointed to him

as the one shooting and killing his parents. A.J. Armstrong Jr. is 23 years old. This happened when he was 16. He now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. Certainly, just sad all the way around when you think about this particular story.

And again, you know, loss of life of two parents, both African-American. And now this young man, again, it happened when he was 16 years old in Houston. And now he now faces life in parole. And this here is a photo of A.J. with his father, A.J. Armstrong Sr. And that young man now in prison for the rest of his life. When we come back, we will talk about the case out of Tulsa. They get an opportunity, the Tulsa Race Massacre survivors, they get an opportunity to plead. 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 Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way.

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

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

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. The case to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. We'll explain that next. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not. White people are losing their damn lives. seen a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence.

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 every 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. Here's all 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 Beat. 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. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer

of the new Sherri Shepherd Talk Show. This your boy, Herb Quaid. And you're tuned in to... Roland Martin, unfiltered. After a lower court judge dismissed the case last month, the Oklahoma Supreme Court says it will consider a reparations case from survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. But the state says it will not consider a settlement with the three survivors.

Demario Solomon Simmons, civil rights attorney, founder of Justice for Greenwood, is joining us now. He's representing those victims. And so explain what happened here in terms of the Oklahoma Supreme Court agreeing to hear. You tweeted that this was one of three things that need to happen. Yeah, good to see you, Roland, as always. And thank you for having me back on the show. I miss you guys. Listen, this is a huge victory and a huge development for us.

As you stated, we were dismissed with prejudice by our trial court judge, George Caroline Wall. And in the state of Oklahoma, every case, every case that is appealed goes to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. And then 99 percent of those cases are then sent back down to the Court of Civil Appeals. And then that takes at least a minimum of a year process. And then at that point, the Supreme Court could consider taking the case or not. So the first thing we needed to do was to convince the Supreme Court of the historical significance of this case, the ages of my three clients, 109, 108, and 102 years old, and the impact that this case will have for all lawsuits in Oklahoma, that they should actually hear the case themselves. They only do that in about 1% of the cases that are filed here in Oklahoma.

And I'm happy to report here on Roland Martin Unfiltered that they actually agreed with us to hear our case. So it's still, it's stunning to me, the defiance Oklahoma to to act as if there were no public officials involved, to act as if this is no big deal. I mean, they literally are trying to burn it down a second time. Absolutely, Roland. And this is why I continue to say that this case, this case right here will decide and prove if this is a nation of laws or a nation of men and women. It will prove, do black people have a right? Do they have rights that people have to respect? Or is this 1857 when Dred Scott, the judge in Dred Scott, said black people have no rights and a white man is bound to respect. Because when you have a scenario here where it's the largest, most destructive, deadliest, and most costly domestic terrorist attack in the history of this country,

40 blocks burned to the ground, over 12,000 people suffered the massacre, up to 3,000 people were disappeared, never to be heard again. Over 8,000 people was confirmed to be homeless, to live in tents and squalor for up to a year and a half. You have hundreds of insurance claims that were filed and not paid. You have hundreds of photos. You actually have video from 1921 showing the destruction. And you still have living survivors, three flesh and blood human beings who suffered and remember the massacre, and that these people cannot have a day in court, because that's all we're asking for at this time, Roland. We just want our day in court to prove our case, have our experts coming from around

the nation and testify about what happened and what the nuisance that was created and what would it take to fix the legal term or to abate the nuisance. That's all we're asking for at this point, a day in court. If we cannot have that, then what case can we get justice for? If we cannot have this victory, then all of us are at risk

because it means that you can have the absolute worst thing happen to you and this court system will not give you any legal redress won't even hear your case in court questions for the panel scott you're first yeah i don't think there's any doubt from a legal standpoint or practical standpoint this happened but were there lawsuits filed before or at and around the time of the Tulsa massacre? Because I know you're going to, I haven't seen all the cases, but you've got standing issues, you've got statute of limitations issues.

I understand the nuisance argument. But in the end, this is decades later, you deserve your day in court. But what's your argument against the fact that you could have filed this lawsuit, not you, but a lawsuit or similar lawsuits could have been filed well before 2023? Man, great question, Scott. And I'm glad you brought that question. First of all, I want to say that there were lawsuits started to be filed two days after the massacre by the great B.C. Franklin, who is the father of Dr. John Hope Franklin, the America's historian. And those lawsuits sat in the Tulsa County District Court system for 16 years.

The court refused to hear them, and then they summarily dismissed them in 1937. And then the most famous lawsuit that was filed outside of our case was filed by my mentor, and I got a picture of him right here, Charles Overture, who I will be in D.C. this weekend attending his memorial service as he was the lead counsel of the cases that was filed in the early 2000s when I was a law clerk and a baby lawyer. And those cases were kicked out on statute of limitation grounds. I don't think that was the right decision. I think the judge and the justice system area, those are federal cases.

The unique thing about our case, Scott, I can't see any of you guys anymore, so I hope you're still there. We're all here. Go ahead. The unique thing about our case is that it is a state-based case, not a federal case, and it's based upon our public nuisance statute, which has been in Oklahoma since 1910. And a public nuisance statute said it does not have a statute of limitation. It simply says that if the nuisance is ongoing, then you can continue to have a live case.

And that's what we have here. We have a nuisance that started in 1921, but has continued since that date. There's never been any issue that stops that nuisance. We have the right to go into court, and we feel very strong the Oklahoma Supreme Court will look at this case, reverse it, and get us back into discovery. And let me give an example for everyone when we're talking about a nuisance continuing. About 12 years ago, the BP oil spill happened. And everybody remembers that oil was spilling out into the Gulf of Mexico for about 45 days, millions of gallons of oil.

So that was what we would call the triggering act, just like the massacre when they were dropping bombs, burning homes, killing people as a triggering act. But then once they capped that oil spill and that oil was no longer gushing out. But you still had oil polluting the ocean. You still had oil killing fish. You still had oil polluting the air. And long as that oil is there causing a problem, it doesn't matter if it's one year, 10 years, or 100 years, that nuisance is ongoing and it must be abated. That's the same theory here. That's exactly what happened here. And we have cases here in Oklahoma

that go back as far as 85 years where a nuisance is still continuing. You're rolling if I may. So what's the public nuisance you're arguing in the case then? Race discrimination, racial oppression, racial violence, and the manifestations of that over 75 years?

No, no, those are the things that we're arguing. And I'm gonna answer that question of what we are arguing, but I wanna make this very clear far as a procedural scenario. In Oklahoma, and the lawyers, I know the lawyers understand it, we have what's called notice pleading. That means, Roland and everyone else,

that we have a very low bar. We basically have to say, hey, we had this happened to us, this is the claim we're making, and we want it to be made right. We don't have to be specific in particular about what our remedy would be. That is what our court kicked us out on. She said we did not provide a proper remedy, and therefore our claim fails. Well, she's wrong about that because since 1984 in Oklahoma,

it's notice pleading. So we don't have to, even though we did, and we can talk about that depending on how much time we have, we don't have to come with the specifics of what the remedy shall be. So that's number one. But number two, Scott, as far as like, what is the nuisance? One example, I'll give you one great concrete example. In 1921, the largest African-American-owned hotel in the nation was owned by a man by the name of J.B. Strafford, who happened to be an attorney also. That hotel not only was the largest hotel in America owned by an African-American, it was also the largest employer in Greenwood, and it was a great source of housing and a tax base. That hotel was destroyed, burnt to the ground. It was never allowed to rebuild. It's still a vacant lot right there today where that hotel was located. That is an example of a public nuisance, because in Oklahoma, a nuisance is when you make property uninhabitable. And what can be more

uninhabitable than being burnt down to the ground and never allowed to be rebuilt? Rebecca. Sure. Thank you so much for being here tonight to talk about this. So even two years prior to the Tulsa 1921 was the red summer of 1919, where, as we know, over three dozen Black communities across the country was also burned and looted and all of those things. Is there a broader legal framework that descendants of these massacres should be considering? Because just like to Scott's point, we all know that it was formerly members of the government who backed and allowed these atrocities to happen to Black communities a century ago. But what is the formal legal framework to actually prove that in court? What is the basis for us to even think about this even beyond Tulsa,

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

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

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

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

to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Sh Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man.

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

and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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 TaylorPaperCeiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Yeah, Rebecca, thank you for that question. And you're right. You know, what happened in Tulsa is not unique as far as mass, as far as them attacking black

communities. The thing that made Tulsa unique is the size and the scale of the attack and the destruction and the amount of $200 million in property damage, over 12,000 people impacted, 3,000 people never heard from again, et cetera. To your specific question, that's why our case is so powerful and important for us as a nationwide movement, is because it is a real, live legal case. It is—it does have a theory that can work. We should win here on the law.

And I'd say in other states where they have similar public news and statutes, this is something that we are looking at for other communities across this nation, and everyone should be looking into that. And another thing that you should be doing if you are a descendant of one of these massacres is make sure you are organizing now and getting those stories and that information from those elders. One of the things that we do at Justice for Greenwood, besides our litigation, is we have a genealogy project called We Are Greenwood. And we're doing that. We have about a thousand descendants in our network. We take all histories and we do genealogy. So you can start putting those communities back together, bring together those resources. So when you are ready

to advocate for policy or legal redress, you have the right people at the table. Robert? Kind of expanding on Rebecca's point, it seems that this is successful, will open the door for all sorts of litigation. You know, if I'm still alive and I got bit by one of those race dogs from Bull Connor, that seems that's a civil suit. You know, the descendants of lynching victims seem like they should have their day in court. Can you talk a little bit about kind of the breadth that this could open up to if the courts open up this Pandora's box to allow civil suits for the descendants or for the living victims of racial violence, all the way down to, have you

got a hose put on you by the cops? That's a city action. That's a state-level action. And therefore, you should be able to sue for the injuries that you incurred during that period of time. Well, see, I think this is where we have to make the distinction of our case versus what you're saying. Those will be personal injury lawsuits. And those personal injury lawsuits will most likely be shut down because of statute of limitations. Now, not to get too technical, but, you know, there is a thing called tolling statute of limitations, but it's very difficult to do. Most of those cases are going to get kicked out of statute of limitations. We're talking about legally, right?

What is a legal theory that can survive in this legal system that we have to practice in? That's the unique thing about the Oklahoma nuisance statute. It is something that does not have a statute of limitation if the nuisance is ongoing and continuing. And additionally, the nuisance is not for individuals. Our three living survivors are the three last survivors of the massacre. As a part of an abatement plan, there may be things in there that they can personally receive, but that's not what this case is about. It is not about individuals. It is about the 40 blocks that were destroyed, the 1,515 homes that were destroyed, never rebuilt, and what that did to the community itself. That is the powerfulness of this particular lawsuit. And this is why it allows us to move

forward with this case in a real live action. This is not an academic exercise. This is not just making a public PR statement. We have a law that allows us to be successful. Different laws in different states can be utilized differently. So I don't want anyone to think just because what we're able to do would automatically mean that you can, you know, your example, say, hey, I was bit by a dog in 1965. Therefore, I can bring a lawsuit in court. That may or may not be true. It depends on what your state statute says, what type of laws are available there.

But that's why the unique nature of this particular case and other public nuisance cases that are out there throughout this nation. There are about 20 other states that have a public nuisance law that's very similar to Oklahoma. Ours has been on the books for 123 years, since 1910, as it's stated. We have case law where cases go back 85 years. In fact, the state of Oklahoma utilized opioid litigation. They went back about 35, 40 years. So there's precedent for what we're doing here, and it can be a model, but it depends on the state.

All right, then. Well, tomorrow, keep us abreast. What happens next? So your particular date before the Supreme Court? No. The Supreme Court has no dates or guidelines when they have to respond back to us. Our next hurdle, the next thing that we're hoping to happen is that we get oral argument. We want an opportunity to be going in front of our nine Supreme Court justices,

answer those tough questions like these lawyers that Rebecca gave me. We look forward to being able to do that, answer those questions, and these lawyers that Rebecca gave me. We look forward to being able to do that. Answer those questions and then for them to make a decision. I will say this last thing, Roland. I did speak to the survivors, all three of them today and they made it clear they wanted me I told them I was coming on with you and they said

hello, they love you. Definitely Uncle Red, you his guy. They wanted to make it clear that listen, they are definitely tired. They're all over 102 you as God, they wanted to make it clear that, listen, they are definitely tired. You know, they're all over 102 years old, but they plan to be here for the long haul. But they're hoping and praying that the Supreme Court will give a decision, ultimately an ultimate decision as they've done so quickly on retaining the case. Well, look, they have been fighting a long time, and we absolutely stand with them, give them our best.

And hopefully the Supreme Court of Oklahoma will do the right thing. All right, we appreciate it, DeMauro. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. Peace. All right, folks, got to go to break. We come back. Lord have mercy.

How trash, how trash are these folks in Florida? We got three stories we're going to talk about, and I'm telling y'all, I keep saying elections have consequences. And what happens when we do not do our part? We get crazies in power. We'll explain next right here in Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, you're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. 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, raise $100,000. We're behind $100,000, so we want to hit that. Your money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered.

PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. 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. 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? Thank you. Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. All right, the anti-woke idiots in Florida, all of their acts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

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

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. 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, brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. ...are having consequences. A black student group, they are actually having to change their name in order to maintain their funding. Now, in response to the change in state law, the Black Male Achievers, a student organization at a community college in Tallahassee, Florida. They're now having to explore alternative names like male achievers or scholar male achievers to ensure they continue to access necessary financial support. Florida's Stop Woke Act prohibits student groups from receiving state or federal government funds except for student activity fees. Now, the law, widely seen as part of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' anti-woke

agendas causing concern among the organization members, motivating them to respond to potential funding challenges. The law banning DEI programs went into effect on July 1st. Now, also happening in Florida,

protesters rally against the state's controversial black history teaching standards. Teachers, students and activists took to the streets in Miami, folks, marching to the school board of Miami Dade to voice their objections. Professor Marvin Dunn, who we had on the show yesterday, a psychology emeritus professor at Florida International University, organized the march, protesters want board members to reject the new statewide standards requiring middle school teachers to instruct students about the benefits enslaved people allegedly gain from being enslaved. names Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, the Florida Board of Governors, and New College's trustees as defendants accusing state officials of violating freedom of speech by creating overly broad laws which are unconstitutional and restrict speech on gender and queer identities, race, sociology, and feminist philosophy. Ron DeSantis claims diversity, equity, inclusion, and CRT programs are discriminatory, exclusionary, and a form of indoctrination. Now, check this out, folks. It's not just that. If you want to show a perfect example of some black folks who love to, frankly, speak against

black people for their benefit, check this out. So, you know, the district that oversees Disney World, Ron DeSantis has been fighting Disney. There was a lawsuit involving them. Well, guess what? You've got a black man who is chair of this new district. Well, you know what he's decided? He's decided that, hey, you know what? We don't need these DEI initiatives. His name is Glinton Gilzean Jr. Glinton Gilzean Jr. Now, why is this important? Because this is the same Glinton Gilzine Jr. who, again, for the last seven years,

has been head of the Orlando Urban League. Yeah, Orlando Urban League. Okay? Now, I'm going to show y'all exactly who this guy is. Okay? I'mall who exactly who this who this guy is. Okay I'm gonna show you exactly who this guy is. This is a photo of him right here. This is Clinton Gilsey this Okay, let me pull it up. This is Clinton Gilsey jr And so what what this what this group just did was they outlawed All dei in this district where Disney is.

But in addition to that, they also struck any race-based contracting in this particular area. Now, we reached out. We reached out and wanted him on the show. And so this is what—and so we want him on the show. Still would love to get him on. I'm going to show you this tweet. You guys are going to laugh about

this one. I saw this tweet today. This was from a Republican. This was from this guy named Benny Jacquez who happens to be a state representative Florida District 59. He posted this tweet. It was great catching up with my friend Glenn Gilzine, the new administrator of the Central He posted this tweet. contracting, the district is now accountable to the people and no longer a corporate kingdom. Way to go, Glenn.

Now, again, the guy on the left, he ran the Orlando Urban League for seven years. So quite interesting, Rebecca, that somebody who would be running the Orlando Urban League and anybody who has gone to, I mean, I was at the National Urban League Convention this year, and they actually celebrated a number of DEI officers, and so here you have somebody who was being handsomely paid

the last seven years by black people supporting DEI, and now he gets a new job with DeSantis, and now, oh, let's get rid of all DEI. So I'm going to be very careful how I say this, but if you are black in this country, whether or not you immigrated yesterday,

your family was here for generations, like my family's been here for generations, or whether you are a descendant of immigrants who've been here for a handful of generations. You need to understand the history of this country, and you need to understand the anti-Blackness in this country. Unfortunately for Glenn, his background is, his grandparents immigrated over from Jamaica. And I really hope his grandparents really gave him the history of why they immigrated

over to the U.S. from Jamaica. really hope his grandparents really gave him the history of why they immigrated over here to the U.S. from Jamaica. I hope his family really talked about what it was like with the decolonization of Jamaica when Black folks took back over the country of Jamaica. But what's unfortunate is we have a lot of people in this country, even those who are descendants of folks who've been here for centuries centuries who do not understand the history of anti-Blackness in this country. So what happens in turn is that we now see Black faces being used as puppets by conservatives to push an anti-Black agenda. I know last week I mentioned I would not be surprised if Tim Scott becomes the candidate for the Republican Party. And the reason why I

firmly still say that is because it is very convenient to have a black face to push anti-blackness as a way to further destroy black communities in this country. So check this out, folks. So this is what he stated when they made this announcement. He said, our district will no longer participate in any attempt to divide us by race or advance the notion that we are not created equal. This is what Gil Zane wrote as the former head of the Central Florida Urban League, a civil rights organization. I can say defensively that our community thrives only when we work together despite our differences. Now, guess what? Marielle wasn't having any of that.

So Marielle blasted the decision. Quote, the National Urban League and our nationwide movement of more than 90 local affiliates are shocked and dismayed by Glenn Gilzean's betrayal of the values at the very core of our mission. Now, mind y'all, Gilzean, y'all, was the CEO of the Urban League in Central Florida from 2015 to May. So, huh, June, July, August. Wow, it just took him three months to go. DEI is horrible. What were your ass saying the last seven years, Glenn, when you will cash those Urban League checks? This is what Morial says. The National Urban League is more than a century. First of all, this is actually this is what Morial says. His rejection of diversity, equity, and inclusion principles is a rejection of the Urban League movement and the pursuit of racial justice itself.

We vigorously and emphatically reject any implied association with Mr. Gilzine's current words or actions. His political expediency is all the more offensive, given his previous vantage point to the harm he knows it will cause. Now, the story lays out here, again, and so this is what they claim. They claim that, according to an internal investigation, his previous leaders implemented hiring and contracting programs and discriminated against Americans based on gender and race, costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Now, here's what's laughable, okay? I guarantee you, Robert, that if they show the internal report, and we're going to ask for the so-called investigation, we're going to see largely white folks have been making

all the money. And see, this is what I've been trying to tell everybody what's going on. And they will use a black face and a white space to advance their initiatives. These people are going after everything. The Blum lawsuit, they're going after the Black Venture, the Black Female Venture Fund in Atlanta. That's a part of it. Stephen Miller, they're going after black law firms. They're going after Kellogg's in corporate America. These people want to attack any and every program that has tried to level the playing field for African-Americans and others, and they're not going

to stop. Black people must be prepared. If there is any program that's involving a school, that's involving education, that's involving corporate America, law, media, you name it, these folks are going to sue everybody because they want to stop any and all black and minority advancement. And white women, y'all better speak your asses up because y'all are part of this, too. Well, Rowley, you know, this is very much like South Africa towards the end of apartheid, when you saw the ruling white class entrench themselves in the bureaucracy and used the court system in order to maintain economic power. Part of the reason for the social strife and economic division that we're seeing right now in Johannesburg and Durban and other areas of South Africa is because of that

process. We're seeing that play out right now in America as we're in the last days of the white majority. These are the death whistles of them not going down without a fight. We saw the Supreme Court in the North Carolina, the Harvard decision, saying that you cannot use race as a factor when it comes to college admission. If you look at the Colorado case with the website designer, people think that case was about gay people. It was not. It was about black people. Because if you can have a law saying that you can discriminate against the homosexuals because it's against your religious values, the Ku Klux Klan is a Christian organization. It could be against their

religious values to serve African-Americans. You have the same equal protection 14th Amendment analysis for either. So we've already seen the Supreme Court decide on the side of segregation in these cases. Next term, we're going to see a frontal assault on the Commerce Clause and Dormant Commerce Clause, which allows federal action to regulate private enterprises, which happen in-state. That's a long lawyerly way of saying the only reason you can't have segregated restaurants right now is because there's federal laws against it. If you have a state that doesn't have laws against that, within the next year to two years, that will no longer be illegal, and we will see the resegregation of America. They are now taking that same 14th Amendment analysis that we're seeing under equal protection that they used in

the affirmative action cases and using that to attack diversity, equity, inclusion programs in corporate America around the country. Remember, Florida is just patient zero for many of these things. These companies, these governments are saying how far you can push it in Florida. If it works in Florida, it will expand out to every other red state in the nation. We saw that with stand-your-ground laws. We've seen that with the constitutional carry laws. We've seen that with so many other initiatives, these six-week abortion bans. They all start in red states like Florida, Georgia, Texas. And then if it works there, they can get it passed to federal courts and metastasize it through the entire system. And we'll see it matriculate across America if we don't nip it in the bud right now.

So having these co-conspirators, these collaborators on their side, which are working towards their goals of resubjugating Black folks for 30 pieces of silver, I think we understand exactly how this happens. You repeat these people every generation. He's the same person who put us on the boat. 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 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 one, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

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

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

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

Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. To get here in the first place and took a little nice hefty rants to go with it when we got started. And I think we have to understand what is going on and fight it at every corner. Also, Scott, understand this same individual, he also is the chair of the African American

History Task Force there in Florida. The same brother. How ironic. How many pieces of silver How many pieces of silver? It's not ironic. How many pieces of silver did these two—you don't like me to use those words.

Let me stop. How many pieces of these American Negroes did they take? Do we know? Because they sure look like they're taking pieces of silver. This is one of the most ignorant things about this anti-DEI. And the ignorance is, if you look at Gil's own statement, the former executive director of the Urban League, he talks about our inability or our abilities will never be less than anyone else's. And we'll look like the same people or we have the same—like these set-asides or affirmative action means that black people are underperforming in some way.

And affirmative action in whatever field of human endeavor does not say that. That's not affirmative action. Affirmative action is evening the playing field to correct historical racial discrimination against a group of people, including brown people and white women, whether you agree with that or not. And so the basis for all of this, at least this getting rid of these DEI programs and set-asides is just rooted in ignorance. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Oh, but Scott, it gets better.

Oh, it gets better. Because, see, you know there are receipts. Go to my iPad, Anthony. This story here. After axing diversity and inclusion programs, hypocritical statements discovered from tourism oversight district administrator glinton gilzeen now mind you he's getting paid four hundred thousand dollars to be the administrator of this district so uh so check this out uh so this apparently this guy scott maxwell um this guy scott maxwell found this here oh my goodness, what does it say? In an October 2021 Instagram post signed by Gil Zane, he noted that he was proud of Disney's diversity

and inclusion programs. Oh yeah, oh yeah, no question about it. Quote, quote, I am, quote, I am proud that Disney has expanded its efforts to help countless black owned businesses and entrepreneurs through its supplier diversity program. It takes everyone in our community to work together to end generational poverty

and I am thankful that we have Disney leading the way. Oh, ain't that something? Ain't that something? Bro, what you know? Wait, wait, wait, no, no, no, hold up, hold up, hold up Oh, ain't that something? Ain't that something? Bro, what you doing? Wait, wait, wait. No, no, no. Hold up, hold up, hold up. I ain't done.

So, again, what you have here is this nonsense here. And then, now, the Urban League, this is funny. The Urban League, on their website, they actually have this posted, Magic Diversity Game Changer, Glinton Gilzean. It's dated August 15, 2023, which was yesterday. I'm not quite sure. And apparently, it lays out how he's been the greatest leader, stuff along those lines.

Now, what's weird is they say to read the full article, click here, and it was something dealing with the NBA. I hit Mark Morial to find the full article, click here. And it was something dealing with the NBA. I hit Mark Morial to find out what's going on here. But this is what we're dealing with. Here's a Negro who now gets $400,000. So now he now gets a check. And now his whole attitude, Scott, is, oh, we're going to shut this thing down for the rest of y'all black people because I'm getting paid by DeSantis.

More ignorance. shut this thing down for the rest of y'all black people because I'm getting paid by DeSantis. More ignorance. Let me tell you how much more ignorance there is. That we know there's empirical data to support in corporate America and educational communities in boardrooms, in law firms, media, that diverse organizations

that practice inclusion and diversity are more powerful organizations, more powerful corporations, develop better results, make more money, get better results. There's empirical data out there from a ton of research institutions and foundations, legitimate ones, that tell you this. When you get rid of DEI, and since when did we become some race-blind community where all of a sudden in 2023 we're all even, they don't see race, and therefore there's this even playing field with socioeconomic and health numbers across the board. Those disparities are real between white folks and black and brown people. It's like the ignorance is ignoring the reality of that data, both in DEI data, better results, and the data of the socioeconomic and health care health disparities between these races. What is it just it's our fault that we simply can't measure up in these numbers,

and therefore affirmative action is curing that? That's not affirmative action. It's all bullshit, man. And I'll tell you something else, too. In Florida, that lawsuit about violating the First Amendment in regard to gay Americans, gay folks, black people and brown people need to bring that same lawsuit, because I don't know how you get around that being a constitutional violation of your First Amendment saying you can't say gay. You can't talk about black. You can't talk about diversity or a college institution or rather a college organization kind of change their name under that law.

Somebody's got to bring a lawsuit because it's all constitutional violations of our First Amendment, period. But the thing that I'm trying to get us to understand here, Rebecca, is this is an all-out assault on black progress. It's an assault on black progress getting into college. It's an assault on getting jobs. It's an assault of being able to grow African-American wealth. And that's what they're trying to stop. Look, look, when Stephen Miller, that white nationalist, that white supremacist, when they sued to stop the black farmers and Hispanic farmers from getting their money, oh, they didn't, $5 billion Congress set aside. Now, again, now the white farmers got $25 billion.

But then they're like, oh, no, this program, the white farmers can't apply for this. Hell, y'all have access to $25 billion. I just need everybody to understand. And, again, all you simple Simon-ass people who are listening to these crazy yahoos on YouTube who don't know shit, when we're talking about voting and how these things matter, if you are, and I ain't got no problem saying it, if you are a black person who is considering voting for Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis or Greg Abbott

or any of these Republicans, including Tim Scott, you literally are voting against black interests. I ain't got no problem saying it. And I'm not basing this on emotion. I'm not basing it on anything but empirical data. Who are the individuals right now who are pursuing the anti-CRT, anti-DEI, anti-diversity, anti-multiculturalism. These are Republicans. It is the Republican Party.

Pure and simple, y'all. In Florida, in Mississippi, in Alabama, in Louisiana, in Texas, in North Carolina, in South Carolina, in Tennessee, in Arkansas, and on and on and on. In Arkansas, it is Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders who says we are going to keep paying for European history AP classes. We are not going to pay for African American studies AP classes. We can go on and on and on. Who are the people who are attacking affirmative action and admission policy?

It is the Republican Party. And so if you are black and you right now are sitting here going, oh, you know what? I like the tax policy of Republicans. Well, guess what? If your ass qualifying for a contract on the federal level, if you are qualifying for contracts for city, county, state, school board, federal as well, they are coming for you. They are coming for your children.

Do understand that. And so I need these ignorant folk, Rebecca, to understand that how you vote and how you not vote has a direct impact on the type of crap that happens here. You know, Roland, I'm going to take it a step further. I'm going to speak on behalf of my ancestors right now. You know what? You want to take back affirmative action? Cool. You want to take away DEI? cool. Keep your little funky DEI. But run us our reparations then. If that's what we're going to do, let's cut a deal then. If you don't want affirmative action in this country, you don't want DEI programs in this country, then run us our money. Let's go ahead and cut that deal. The other thing, too, even thinking about the move to

resegregate this country, bottom line, my ancestors never asked for integration. My ancestors asked for desegregation. And what desegregation means is equal access to economics and opportunities, equal access to be able to have housing, equal access to have opportunities to education, equal access to have economic opportunities in this country. That's what my family, that's what my ancestors asked for. We didn't ask for all this other stuff. So run us our money, and then let's desegregate. And I'm real clear, Robert. I ain't playing footsie with none of these people.

And I know there's some simple Simon-ass fool watching who was saying, oh, here you go. Just give our votes to the Democrats. No. What I'm saying is, you challenge those, you push those, you pride those who you vote for. But this is not hard. This is real simple.

And I'll be real clear. All the Negroes who were talking about, oh, man, Brian Kemp, Brian Kemp has done some good stuff for black people. I went and checked. Black folks were getting 1% of all Georgia state contracts. Please, by all means, show me how good Master Kemp has been to us. Look, Roland, one, you didn't tell me it was $400,000. I might sell something of y'all out for $400,000. That's a good little chunk of change.

Something of y'all has got to go. But look, for the people who are saying we need to have representation and the way you make changes to be on that side of the aisle, a couple weeks ago, Tim Scott and some of the other Republican candidates said to Ron DeSantis that your program of saying that there were bright sides to slavery, there were benefits to slavery, that's offensive to even us. You know, Tim Scott, the president of the Black Conservative Federation,

a lot of black conservatives stood up to Tim Scott or stood up to Ron DeSantis on that. And what did Ron DeSantis say? Set your black ass up and get me some sweet tea. So what's the point of having a seat at the table when you're still getting treated as a second-class citizen? What exactly is the benefit of supporting some of these parts that the Republicans are standing up for when it comes down to this acid test of just simply a level of respect, a level of understanding you as a group, a level of being able to at least commiserate and push policies forward that will benefit your community? Rhonda Santos and Vivek Ramaswamy are running to the right of Donald

Trump. They're saying they will repeal the first step back. They're saying they will repeal the criminal justice reform that Donald Trump put in place. Vivek says he will repeal Juneteenth as a holiday. So when these people are running to the right of Donald Trump, running to the right of Mussolini, running to the right of many fascist dictators around the world, believe them when they say it to you. They are not joking. This is them being moderate, what they're saying out loud. This is the compromise position that they say on the campaign trail. So if they ever get into the office, they will be going far further to the right than this in a way that will be. 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 Glott.

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 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. Dangerous to all of us. And I think people have to understand that right now when you're looking at programs like this, the same way that after the war you had so many people down in Argentina talking about,

well, I was just following orders. It wasn't really me. That's the same way these people are going to act who helped Ron DeSantis during this process of trying to resegregate Florida. I need everybody hearing the sound of my voice to understand what I'm telling y'all right now. Why did I write my book, White Fear? Because it comes down to the money.

It comes down to black progress. Y'all, there's no... You literally have white men like Ed Bloom suing this fund in Atlanta. Right now, y'all, black people, not black women, not black men, black people, period, get less than 2% of all venture capital funds in America. And they suing this group because they want to target black women-led businesses. We get less than 2%. They like, man, that 2% is just too that damn 2%, that 2% is just too much.

Oh, that 2% is just too much. We can't have that. Again, I need y'all to hear what I'm saying. On a federal level, black people are getting 1.67% of all federal contracts. $560 billion annually in federal contracts. Black businesses get 1.67%. And they saying, ooh, them Negroes getting way too much money. I need y'all to understand.

This is what they're saying. And they keep saying, oh, what's fair? What's fair? And again, but y'all notice, see again, so remember when Deanna Bass was here and I was talking about, oh, you're calling yourself pro-life? No, you're really anti-abortion? So when they say equal, we are equal.

Well, then let's show equal in other areas. So you can't deprive us of health resources. Education resources, economic resources, and then go, oh, no, we're all equal. We're all the same. What you are witnessing, y'all, I'm telling you, and a bunch of black people are walking around dazed and confused, and there are Negroes like Glenn

Gilzean who are like, I'm a superior Negro, so the rest of you should be doing better. Well, Glenn, there's a whole bunch of us who are smart, who are talented, but we also understand that the magical Negro doesn't exist. And there was that one black person, post-slavery,

and there was that one black person doing Jim Crow who white folks love to prop up. And guess what? A lot of us were still getting screwed. All of y'all watching when I'm trying to explain to y'all voting and how the dots are connected, understand what's going on here. Right now in Virginia, there are elections in November, all seats in Virginia. Democrats are three seats away from controlling the House. They control the Senate by one seat.

Oh, Republican Glenn Youngkin is the governor, but Louise Lucas controls the Senate. If Democrats take control of the House, Don Scott becomes the House majority leader. Lucas is black, Scott is black. Now here's where some of y'all right there just got lost. Because I see some of y'all, man, some fool, and he talk about, we need to separate.

Where your ass going? You can't even move to the country and escape white folk. The thing I need people to understand is this here. And again, this is when y'all got to stop listening to stupid people who get stuck on stupid by saying, oh, here you go, saying we should vote for the Democrats. It's two parties, Republican, Democratic Party. Which of the two parties are you likely going

to get what's on the black agenda? It's only two. All y'all hollering third party, that shit cute. It's cute. But it ain't gonna happen. I'm just trying to tell y. It ain't going to happen. It's cute. And I'm not saying ignore the Republicans.

I dare any Republican candidate to come sit with black people and say your agenda. But this is what I want to know, Robert. This is what I want to know, Rebecca. This is what I want to know, Rebecca. This is what I want to know, Scott. If any Republican that comes to sit before black people, I want black people to ask them a series of questions. First, do you support expansion of voting rights or do you support the current efforts of the Republican Party to constrict voting rights? That's number one. Number two, do you support ballot drop boxes or are you against it? Do you support the expansion of polling locations or are you against it?

I want to hear those questions asked first. I want to hear questions asked specifically about the growth of black businesses. I want to hear questions specifically about resources being added specifically for the children who are most in need educationally. I didn't say black kids. I said, check the data. Where is the greatest need? Are you willing to put more resources into those areas? I want, because see,

if y'all read Randall Robinson's book, The Debt, he talked about this here where Maynard Jackson said, we need to come up with basically the black agenda and put it on a card that can fit in everybody's wallet so anytime a politician came, we could say,

do you support this, this, this, this, this, this? And see what they say. So again, I'm not saying don't consider Republican. What I am saying is ask them a series of questions that goes beyond your personal pocketbook. I can tell you right now, when you ask those questions, it ain't going to go well for Republicans. Now the Democratic candidate may not agree with you on all your issues. But, Scott, Rebecca, Robert, if I'm sitting, if I'm asking a series of questions, and I got 10 issues, and the Republican agrees

with me on one out of 10, and the Democrat agrees with me on five out of ten. I am not going to say they are equal. Because the math just don't math. And that right there, Rebecca, I think is the problem. When people say, oh, both the lesser of two evils. This real simple. If I got 10 asks, one says I'm down with one, one says I'm down with five, common sense says I should go with the person who down with me on five because five is

better than one. And I can push the five to get to 10, but it's a long ass haul to get to one to get to five, but it's a long-ass haul to get to one to get to five, much less 10. You know, Roland, that decision calculus is a decision calculus based upon survival. I also, as a community, understand that the black community is not a monolith. We make up many different communities.

We have different stories and different journeys with how we got to this country. Something else that we have to think about beyond survival is how do we thrive? How do we go from surviving to thriving? And so we also need to figure out which party, which group, which politician is going to cut a deal with us. Because bottom line, we need to survive as a community, but we also need to thrive as a community. We need to increase Black wealth in this country instead of being severely outpaced by white folks in this country. We need to decrease the pay equity gap in this country. We need to make sure that Black entrepreneurs have access to capital. We need to make sure that our Black kids actually have quality education.

We know the majority of public school students are students of color, and there's a lot of black students. And then we see in states like Arkansas, states like Florida, these public schools no longer want to teach black history. But we also need to be cutting a deal and demand the best education that our black kids can receive. So there's a lot of things. It's great if Democrats want to give us five out of ten. It's horrible if Republicans only want to give us one out of ten. But bottom line, I even want to go higher. So I think that's the baseline for votes. But if you actually want us to get out and support,

then we need to know who's going to cut a deal with us, a deal that has generational impact and not just impact on the next election. All I'm trying to get the people to understand, Scott, is elections have consequences, and what I'm not interested about,

I'm not interested in you bitching after the fact if you were never in the game when you could have made a difference. Exactly. I'd add to that list in regard to that card you talked about,

I'd add values, right? Who shares my values or the values of black America? Because what you don't want to do is say, just vote straight Democrat or vote for black Democrats, because there's some black Democrats out here who don't share our values, don't agree with that list. Right. And so I don't put the race question into who I vote for. I make it a value question. If you share my values and you aren't black, you're brown, you're white, you're yellow, you're red, then that's who I want to support. Because I know even if there's five out of 10,

if he shares, she shares my values, then I got a shot at the other five, quite frankly. At least that's my process for thinking. But I don't know why we can't get black people to vote. As you say, vote more. Not that they don't vote. I still say vote. I'll add vote more. But why is it so hard for black people to vote up and down the ballot, to vote in every election? It's such an easy thing to do, and yet we just don't do it.

And that's why we're in this third reconstruction, as you say often, and why we are suffering. I mean, I often say in 2043, we're going to be a country of color. That's an incredible fact for us. But is black America ready to lead and to be a country of color and to lead this democracy, this experiment of ours, right, which we will be in control of from a voting standpoint. And I fear not, or I fear that from a socioeconomic and health care disparity standpoint, not only are we not ready, but more importantly, we don't have a consciousness about leading and voting and what that means for our communities of color.

That's where the work needs to be done between now and 2043, in my opinion. Here's the whole deal, Robert. And I think and again, I see these people. They run little miles in chat room time. But, oh, you know what? You don't support this. You don't support that. Look, it's real simple. And again, and I'm going to say this again to anybody who keeps yelling reparations. You can't get reparations from policy makers unless you change the politicians

who are setting the policies. So if your simple ass ain't voting, you are guaranteed never to get it. who are setting the policy. So if your simple ass ain't voting, you are guaranteed never to get it. It's like 100% guaranteed. So it's like Robert the dumbass who said, I ain't voting for the president cause the electoral college,

that's who they picked the president, so until they change the electoral college, I ain't voting. Dumbass, the electoral college is in the constitution. You gotta vote to change the constitution. And the vote comes in the House and the Senate, signed by the president, then it's ratified by the states. So guess what? Your simple ass ain't going to never change the electoral college

because your dumb ass don't vote for the people who could change the law of the electoral college. That's how stupid some of these people are, Robert. Roll out. I need you to get on some edibles real quick. You got to calm that down. No, that shit ain't never happened right there. Hell no.

I want to be in full control of all of my faculties. Just some nice sativa. Just calm it down just a little bit. But look, Roland, I've found that in the last few years, for some reason, conservatives have started taking famous quotes from civil rights leaders and then perverting them to their own causes. First, we saw them take the, quote, unquote, I have a dream speech, and then just kind of narrow it down to the content of the character, not the color of their skin. And then I started seeing Mike Huckabee and other conservatives use that to justify taking away diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Ron DeSantis using that quote to justify getting rid of affirmative,

getting in front of affirmative action and taking away CRT, as he calls it, programs. Now the new one that we've seen black conservatives using is they take a quote from Malcolm X, where he says, you put Democrats first and they put you last because you're political chumps. And they take that one little bite out and use that as a justification for saying why black folks don't need to be going for the Democratic Party. You can just literally rewind that clip about 45 seconds. And what Malcolm is actually saying is that any group that can use their vote in a block, any group that's able to put together their votes and be able to be that swing vote in any election has tremendous political power. He talks about the fact that in 1960, the election was basically tied. He talks about the fact that in 1960,

the election was basically tied. He said it was tied so much they had to go to a recount, then it got accounted over again after that. And if we hold our votes and make sure that we're using it as a block to negotiate between both parties, then we have the opportunity to make real changes. Right now, the only party that's negotiating with us is the Democratic Party. I would love it if the Republican Party would come over and start negotiating with us is the Democratic Party. I would love it if the Republican Party would come over and start negotiating with us. I want Republicans to start saying, I'm a 1865 Republican. Say, I'm a radical Reconstructionist Republican. Campaign on the same platform that Senator Stevens campaigned on back in the 1864 election. Start talking about Sherman's field order number 15 and what you're going to do for African-Americans. It's not as if they, as a grand old party, they didn't used to hold these ideas. But instead of talking about that,

you only hear about these broad neoconservative social warfare terms that they want to fight these elections over. And unfortunately, there's a lot of folks in our community that fall into the culture war arguments. You're anti-immigrant. So therefore, you say you want to vote Republican. You're anti-woman. And you want to restore the good old nuclear family where women were in the kitchen cooking dinner five nights a week. And therefore, you vote Republican. You don't like gay people. Your daughter just came out as being non-binary. So now you want to vote and support Ron DeSantis. Get over the culture war and vote in your own interest. Unless Republicans are willing to be 1865

Republicans, they don't really have anything to say right now because the 2023 version appears to be very similar to the 1919 version when Woodrow Wilson was in the White House. I'm going to close this out with this. I got some fool on Instagram, I mean on YouTube, saying Vita Man

Vita Man, V-I-T-A-M-A-N. Wrong, rolling wrong. 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 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 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 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 taylor paper ceiling.org brought to you by opportunity at work and the ad council oh you're gonna vote for them anyway do you think they're gonna give you what you want? Let me tell you how stupid you are. This ain't gonna take long. Chris Spencer up next. This ain't gonna take long at all. First of all, your simple Simon asks, there's a process that's called you desire in the primary. Now, if there's a Democrat who is not doing what the community wants, we can vote that person out in the primary and vote our person in and then vote for them again in the general.

So there's a way to hold people accountable who are not doing what the community desires. We see it all the time. There are people who are challenged in primaries all the time, and they lose. That's what the whole system is. So that's just stupid. The last point is this here, and y'all heard me say this.

Elections are end of one process and the beginning of another. So when the election is over, then we got to be on they ass. It's writing letters, calling, emailing, because you have to now pressure them to do what's right. You got to show up at they town hall meetings. You got to be in their face, because guess who does that? The other side, the other folk who disagree with you. Too many of us check out of the process. And I know this, because my mama and daddy

were involved in the civic club growing up. I participated as a kid, traveling to Austin, Texas on a bus with the Metropolitan Organization and my mama when they had rallies on the weekends. I spoke before the city council when I was in the 10th grade. I saw with my own eyes how regular, ordinary people, folk who didn't go to college, who didn't have college degrees, my mom and daddy combined, ain't never made more than $50,000 combined in their whole life. So don't try to say, well, you probably came from hell.

No, I ain't come from no damn money at all. But what I saw were people who gave a shit about their families and gave a damn about their neighborhood and were willing to be involved politically. And so, yeah, I was eight and nine and ten handing shit out at the polls on election day Cuz mama and daddy were involved they ran phone banks and were vaulting campaigns So when I'm telling y'all what we have to do I'm not sitting here speaking from from some theoretical thirty thousand feet high as position I'm telling you what I have experienced my entire life from when I was 7,

8, 9, 10 years old. Saw it with my own eyes. And so when we say our communities are not changing, it's also because too many of us have given up, we have checked out and we are waiting on somebody else to be the savior to come save us and what we should do is abide by what MLK said on April 3rd, 1968 that when black people move as a collective, then collectively we can get things changed. You better start because I'm telling y'all we on the clock and what the Republicans have in store for black people, if they control the Senate next year and if they control the House and they control the White House, I can guarantee you if you pissed off now what's happening in

Florida, you're going to be real pissed because they're going to try to put this stuff in place across the whole country. We'll be right back. You go into a barbershop in a 700 credit score neighborhood, black or white. They're talking about their ideas and they're talking about how they're going to move on those things. You go to a barbershop and a 500 credit score, equal brilliance, but bad culture, they're talking about other people. Go to a winner's barbershop, here's what I'm doing. You go to the barbershop where people feel defeated, they're talking about other people.

Either celebrities or people they admire, but also often, I don't like Joe. I don't like Roland Martin. Let me tell you something. I don't want to tell people, how could you not like anything here you see? You should just be like, this is amazing. It's cool. You may not even like how he does it or how I do it, but it's like, you know what? They're succeeding. They're killing it. All you should be is, that's fantastic. But if I don't like me, I'm not going to like you. If I don't feel good about me, it's hard for me to feel good about you. If I don't respect me, don't expect me to respect you. If I don't love me, I don't have a clue how to love you. And here's the big one. If I don't have a purpose in my life, I'm going to make your life a living hell.

I'm Faraj 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. Hi, everybody. I'm Kim Colson. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. Yo, it's your man, Deion Cole, from Black-ish, and you're watching... Roland Martin, unfiltered. All right, folks, a new movie drops on Friday.

It is called Back on the Strip, and it is directed by a reformed stripper, Chris Spencer. He's a comedian. He's a writer. He's an actor. And so the new movie comes out. Man, stop adjusting the damn camera. You're bouncing over there. I look at you like you're head bobbing.

People are yelling at me to move. I'm sorry. Yeah, I mean, look, we done had to connect it for the last 20 minutes. I mean, you got that. Listen, hearing you rant, I'm like, you should run for president. Oh, hell no. It's a pay cut. So new movie's coming.

At least you ain't got to show your taxes. New movie's coming back on the strip. Here's a preview. You're all set. You guys are going on last because you had the best audition. Must be talking about us. We got gangsters in the house. Ooh.

We ain't just rappers. We gangsters. We come from the streets. Of Beverly Hills. Sit your down somewhere. Ladies, I'm gonna give you what you've all been waiting for. Are you out of your mind? Excuse me, Lord. You got the in me. Those old ran at my highest bar tab in weeks.

Sometimes you just wanna get wild. All I asked was to hang with my girls, trying to hang with the guys. Go ahead and hit me, we're in a thing. What you do, push it back. And make that. If the stripper pushing her hair, that's my kind of trick. Woo!

Bop it and climb it. Push it, push push. Put the heel. What the hell? It smells like nine layers of hood rat push. Put the heel, push it real good. How did I not know this dude was white? Doc is out.

Why am I out? I loved being black. Being white is so boring. You ever try to stay awake, watch episode of The Crown? Those ladies were way more handsy than even in our day. They got me pacing back and forth, talking to the Lord right now. Push it, push it, real good. in our day. Look at me pacing back and forth, talking to the Lord right now. Woo!

Push it round the clock! Round the clock! Round the clock! You ready for round two? Stop crying! Stop crying! All right, Chris Prinses joins us now. Chris, glad to have you here.

Thank you, sir. You know, it gives my better judgment. It was a drop you recorded. You actually had the nerd question. That's why I wore my alpha shirt today, because you said something. Y'all find that drop when Chris was talking some trash about me being an alpha and then got my age completely wrong because I mean I know you pushing 70 but it's all good so I got your age wrong you got all that yeah you yeah you now we're gonna play it for you because I'll because I meant to text you about it but then I said well when I get him on the show I'm gonna ask him about it's all

good though so let's talk about back on the strip yes sir who let you direct uh society uh this uh independent company called gbn uh a good friend of mine uh not a good friend he's a good friend of mine now uh gino taylor uh read the script noticed my talents and uh my script was actually written by myself and my writing partner, Eric Daniel. And they're like, who's going to direct this fantastic script? And my writing partner was like, Chris. And I was like, yep.

And that's kind of how it happened. So you directed and you wrote it as well? And produced it. Along with my wife. Oh, so you're trying to be talibary. Something like that. Minimum of wands. Well, plus, if they go ahead and, you know, if you do all of that,

that means they can say, we can pay you less. You get one check. Maybe I should break up for money purposes. Yeah. You should be getting three separate checks. He said you produced with your wife? Yes. Yes.

I produced with my wife, who was basically the glue throughout this whole project. Because, you know, as an independent and, you know, a lot of things happen. You know what I mean? And so she was right there. I don't even want to. I guess I could say sometimes in front of me. Sometimes we say they're by your side. She was in front of me.'t even want to, I guess I could say, sometimes in front of me. Sometimes we say they're by your side. She was in front of me, and I was like, please help.

And so her expertise in the business, along with this incredible crew and cast of other people, made for an incredible ride, and I hope you guys enjoy it. So at the time when she was like, Chris, let me holler at you. Yeah. And you were be going. Because you know what sometimes you need that person to go. Remember to do that to you I don't trust you do he do is some right now.

But I told you what he's doing some He's doing some ancient shit right now. Now, typically when you're doing something on your own, first time director, you had to call in some favors. And so when it came to casting, did you have to sit here and say, all right, some of y'all owe me, so bring your ass to the movie? Not

at all. As a matter of fact, most of them actually said yes before they even read the script. I told them the concept and they were like, yo, this is something I want to do. I love to work with you. Yes, yes, yes. I mean, J.B. Smoove, of course, you know, from Real Husbands of Hollywood as long as as well as Faison and Tiffany. We've been known each other forever. J.B. and Gary. I mean, Gary and Bill, I've known

them 25, almost 30 years. And Tiffany, I've known since she was 15 years old. So a lot of those were no-brainers that we would all work together again. Wesley was the one, although I've known him, you know, actually the producers brought him to the table.

And yeah, it was great. They already had a relationship. They had done films before. Wesley, of course, I've known for years. And they told him about the project and he actually said yes before reading the script. Now, the problem is when you know so many people, everybody can't be in.

So did you have to deal with some folks who were like, say, Chris, what's up? Brooke couldn't get a call. Until today. And sometimes I've had, you know, of course they all know about your tongue. I, too, have a sharp tongue. So many of them was like, yo, why you ain't put me in the movie?

I was like, why ain't nobody put you in any movie? But that's just only after they badgered me so much. But I'm like, listen, this is my first of hopefully many. So hopefully I will be in a seat where I'll have a bigger budget and I can have a different cast and you can be a part of it. But right now, these are the guys that fit this role. There was nothing for you in this project. Gotcha.

See, you were nice about it. Yeah. Because I didn't. A couple of them I had to go, well, you know you're not good. You should really go back to school. Look, sometimes you got to be honest with people. Let's see here. Questions from our panel. Let's see who I think probably is the

most ignorant one. Well is the most ignorant one. Well, the most ignorant one on the panel is Scott, but probably the most ignorant one with humor. I'm gonna tell you right now, Chris, if you ever need somebody in a movie who is a gun nut aficionado, feel free to call Robert Petillo. You do not need to call

the prop department because he got everything from a.22 to a bazooka. I guarantee... That's not Alec Baldwin's guy, is it? No, I guarantee you, I guarantee you, Robert

got an AK-47 sitting under his chair right now. Assault rifle. Why do you think I just have random AR-15s around just sitting places? Because your ass do. Boom. Watch this, Chris. Watch this, Chris. Watch this, Chris.

Damn. It's Robert's panic room. He does this every week. Look at that shit, bro. Look at that. That's crazy. Oh, my God. Look, we're in Georgia.

Listen, listen. These microphones might come any day. Say it again, Chris. Say it again. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future

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

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

Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players

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

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend.

At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Hey, Chris. If you got that many guns, it's time to move. Oh, no. He in Georgia, Chris. Oh.

The whole point, the whole point of being in Georgia is to be able to have our wonderful governor to pass these nice laws. So if the maggots start acting up after Trump goes to jail, everybody will be ready and prepared just in case. But I did have a question about, one, does J.B. Smoove have a deal with the devil? How is he in everything at all times? He's Caesar. He's doing every movie, every TV show. He seems to be in the background everywhere on earth. Because he's so good. You know what I mean? There was a time when people were saying the same thing about Sam Jackson and, of course, Kevin Hart. When you're good, you're wanted, and people, they want you, and you're needed, and your talent, you know, is usually what they're dying to expose

and actually enhance their projects. And that's what I'm doing. Absolutely. And I just love the fact you were able to bring all these artists together. How did you get all these, one, egos, but two, schedules to line up to get this much talent into this movie? The egos were no problem because we've known each other for over 25, 30 years. So we know who ain't shit and we know who is shit. And we know who to respect. We all respect each other. We love each other.

Comedy, we're a big fraternity and we all respect each other and love each other in terms of schedules that was rough i must admit but my wife was also the casting director uh along with the line producer um they had and the first ad they had a tough time trying to uh you know because all of them all of them are stand-ups so they made a lot of money uh or missed out on a lot of money from gigs they had to turn down to do the movie. Now, y'all shot the movie in Vegas? Yes, in Vegas. It was 101 million degrees.

And how many days? 20 days. 20 days. Got it. Rebecca. Chris, thank you so much for being on tonight. You spent many years being a screenwriter, and oftentimes on the show, we talk about pay

equity. So in light of the WGA striking, what does pay equity look like for Black screenwriters in Hollywood? Hmm. What is the exact definition of pay equity? Well, you define it. Okay. So right now, we're not being treated fairly. equity. Well, you define it. Okay. So,

right now, we're not being treated fairly. And let me give an example. I have a show called Real Husbands of Hollywood. It aired first on BET. It now can be seen on Amazon, Netflix, Hulu,

and a few other streamers. Have I gotten another check for that? No. So that's why we're out there striking, because there's some things that are going on that are unfair. So you got paid when it aired originally, but when it gets resold to the other streamers, you don't get any residuals?

I have not yet. Isn't that crazy? That is crazy. Yeah. And listen, there was a point where I understood, like, okay, it's under the Viacom umbrella. So when it was on MTV and Comedy Central, I heard, yeah, you're probably not going to get any money

because it's under this umbrella. But when it started going to these other places, that's when I started to go, something's wrong. And something is very unfair. Because how are people paying a premium price for the show that I did over here, and I'm not getting anything from it? And that's a lot of why we are striking. All right. Scott! Hey, Chris. Congratulations on the movie.

Scott Bolden here. We met with Turk and Steve Capers. We're great friends with them. Man, that's the damn question! Will you leave me alone? Will you sit on the stage? Oh, I met you here. I met you there. We took a photo. We had

Martha's Beans together. That's where we met, actually. Exactly. Stop it, Roland. Damn. You got your directorial debut. I knew you were writing, but on the stand-up comedian's base, are you still going to do stand-up

or are you going to focus on writing and directing? As a matter of fact, I just shot my comedy special called Yellow Belt, which is actually in the process of right now figuring out who's going to give me the best deal. But of course, this strike has slowed everything down. But yeah, no, no. Stand up is number one. That is my first love.

Yeah. Are you all going to bring the influencers brunch back to DC for CBC weekend yeah Turk Stevens and I we plan on taking it all over the country if not the world it's been very very successful in Los Angeles a lot of fun

and you do remember how well we did in the DC area yeah absolutely have you decided that one thing you're not going to do again, that is host your own show, or do you want a second bite at the apple? I definitely would love a second bite at the apple. And for those who don't know, Chris, was the show Vibe? Is that what it was?

Yes, sir. How long did that show last? It was long enough to go vuh instead of vibe. Actually, you remember I did 11 weeks, which is roughly 55 shows

and then Sinbad came and took it over. Got it. Got it. Again, though, for a long time people were kind of like, oh my God, Chris Prinsen was an awful show host. But, again, what people don't understand is it's a different animal. Actually, go back and watch, and you'll go, he was actually pretty good.

What I was bad at, Roland, was the monologue. Because you and I are storytellers, and also, although we tell jokes, it's hard to read a joke. Jay Leno, you know, guys who are straight monologists, and you know, they, that was in their, their rhythm. My rhythm is as more of a shit talker. And so as I started to become better at reading the prompter and making it my own, I got fired. But it also goes, but it also goes to what I'll say it goes to.

The problem is when you have a formula, how it should be done. And I think that is always the mistake that people make. And they don't want to get out of that rigid system. I mean, it was sort of like, I mean, I had somebody in the studio. They were kind of like, so, you don't really read the prompt, do you? I'm like, nah, that's a guide. I'm like, so, if I

don't want to, I don't have to. And I remember when I beat at CNN, that was the original vision. I called it a scripted, unscripted show. And my deal is, get out of, it has to be this way. I'm like, let stuff flow, let it flow, and that's the this way. Like, let stuff flow, let it flow. And that's the problem.

And so, again, and look, that was a long time ago when you hosted the show, and that's one of the problems. I think now it's not as rigid. And so people are, it's a lot more free-flowing, and I think that it helps. But that's always part of the problem when there's a rigid system. Like, imagine if Allen Iverson had to play for Bobby Knight. You know what I mean? Yeah, that wasn't going to work out.

It's not going to work out. Well, hell, I remember, look, David Edwards, God rest his soul, when he played for Georgetown, John Thompson told him, do not dribble between your legs. And that was his thing. He can't play ball at Texas A&Mm but that was his thing so some cats are like

that so it's always a matter of flowing uh last question when you did this movie here obviously obviously when you are a writer you want folks to pay attention uh you also directing so you can't waste time because time is money how much freedom would you give your folk to free flow when they saw the opportunity? Well, I learned this from Kenan Ivory Wayans. He would say, listen, give me the first take as written. Got it. And then play. And you got to imagine, I have Bill Bellamy, Faison, Gary Owen, Tiffany, J.B. Smoove.

They're all improv magicians. So many times I was like, yo, you could just go on the first take. Especially now that we have 20 days and we got to get the hell out of here. And then Wesley Snipes, you know, it was just like, we were all in awe of basically working with the GOAT. But what was great about him was he actually looked up to us too. You know what I mean? Like, you know, he knew the set. He knew all the... Although we knew him,

but it was mostly in the clubs or, you know, in the gym. But he actually, you know, he watches TV, too. He enjoys comedy, too. He's seen everybody's comedy specials. He watched Def Jam, Comic View. He's seen us on sitcoms. So when we were like, Wesley, he'd be like, yo, that thing you did on blah, blah, blah. Yo, I like wesley he'd be like yo that thing you did on blah blah blah

yo i love that we like wesley knows me oh yeah no people i mean he watches this show i sent him a text uh for his birthday uh and again he like damn you like recounting segments and so you sort of forget that guess what other folk watch too and so we love seeing each other as bad as people talk about tubi we be watching tubi or you wouldn't be able to quote it good point good point all right so they found a drop where you were talking a little trash i don't even know where they shot this go ahead and roll it damn place okay okay how i Okay, hold on. Sorry, y'all. The audio was low. Come on.

Restart it. Let's have the audio full up. Let's go. Come on. Get the audio full up. 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. You are now watching on. I'm on the mark. That's what you're looking'm Mark. Listen, now how funny would it have been if I would have said you're 48? No.

Well, first of all, that's factually incorrect because I'm 54. Yeah, but guess what? I shot that six years ago. Huh? Yes, yes. And so I know you're younger than me. I know you're younger than me. And I figured I would see It was called a joke. And I figured I would see. It was called a joke.

And I figured I'd see you at Sid's. You going to be in Cabo? Yes, sir. Gotcha. And so just do understand, it's going to be all black and gold. So, I mean, I was going to do something else, but I said, Chris is going to be there. So it's going to be the black and gold golf bag, the outfit, all that. There you go.

All that. Yeah, listen. Listen, nobody can say that you don't come out stylish. Now, they might not like your style, but you still be stylish. And I don't give a damn. You have not yet to give a damn. I have never given a damn.

You ain't got no kente cloth or some royal regal Ugandan wear and made into some golf clothes. Hold my beer. Yeah? I'm sure you do. So I'm going to have to break that out for you next time. Oh, you're going to have to? Okay.

Oh, yeah. First of all, you know, look, my fans send me all kinds of stuff. So I know somebody right now is working on a can't take pattern golf bag. It's happening. Ooh. Okay. It's happening.

You know, it's happening. All right. We need to. Oh, now we need to. Okay. Gotcha. All right. Folks, the movie is called back on the strip.

It hits theaters on Friday, August 18th, August 18th. Go big or go home. That's our moniker. Y'all know how important it is. The first weekend. I'm going to be in L. August 18th. Go big or go home. That's our moniker. Y'all know how important it is the first weekend. I'm going to be in L.A. tomorrow because I'm going to play Golf Friday with Darius Rucker, and I'm going to go to his concert. So I may go check it out on Saturday. So are you going to do what some people do?

You're going to be theater hopping? Yes, sir. We're going to actually buy out a theater in Englewood or somewhere. I believe it's Englewood or the old Magic Johnson and then I'm going to go boom, boom, boom, boom, boom and just hear and wave at folks and shake hands. No, no, no, no. I'm going to a movie theater where white people are

because I want to actually hear the follow-up joke because see, with black people, you go to a comedy, you cannot go see a movie with a whole bunch of black people because you literally are going to miss the joke or the dialogue after the joke. And you got to see it twice. But as a comedic writer,

that's what I want to hear this time. I done heard the joke. I want to hear them talk to the screen. Well, I don't sit next to them. Shut your ass up. I'm trying to hear the damn movie. I do hate people who talk during movies. It jocks me. You ever get mad at somebody

talking at the movie screen and then find yourself doing it? Will you shut up? No, I don't do that. I'm going to tell you how crazy I am. I don't know Scott has done this here. Robert, he probably point guns at people. But when our family gets together, I

hate watching movies with the rest of my family. And they watch it right now, and they all know. I remember when Barbershop came out, you know them big old spotlights that you keep in your car when your car break down? Anytime somebody in the family talked, I would hit their ass with the spotlight. And it was one of them, like, really bright lights.

I probably hit my mama by 6, 8. I was like, Mama, stop talking. I'm telling you. So, dude, I laid a room. Dude, I can't stand it. Y'all talk too damn much. They talk too much. Scott, Robert, Rebecca, y'all ain't got no family members who talk. They talk too damn much. And he was like, what happened? Because you were talking. That's why you asked me what happened. No.

Hey, bro, you know what I do? If you're at home watching it, I just keep rewinding it back. Nope. I just rewind it back. Hell no. No. Hell no. We got to do that for my daddy because he'll fall asleep.

He'll come back. I'm like, hey. Wait, wait. When he watch it? When he rewind? Hey, y'all don't understand. I got so frustrated. I said, fuck it.

I went to the other room and said, look, I ain't watching nothing with y'all. That's funny. I can't. Look, Roland, I have advice. Look, Roland, just a piece of advice for married men. Whenever you're watching a series with your wife, just make sure you pre-watch every episode that comes out. Then re-watch with her if it's the first time

that you've ever seen it. Because you have to stop every three minutes to talk about what just happened or now she's seen something or there's usually a side quest or a side story somewhere in there and out. Pre-watch everything. It makes life easier.

Hey, Robert, let me explain something to you. We don't watch the same damn shows. Okay? See, we done already saw that problem. Two, I got seven viewing stations in my house. So we ain't got to watch no TV together. You can watch over there, there, third floor, second floor, first floor. I'm good.

Now, we ain't doing all that. We ain't doing all that. There's not one show y'all watching together? Hell no. She be watching all them SIs, CSIs, NCISs, all them damn shows. She's like, I don't like your shows. I don't like your shows. Perfect.

Holler to Lisa. See, Rolly, this is where you're supposed to say, we watch the Black Star Network together every night. See, right there. Just slide that in there. Hey, guess what? We don't watch the Black Star Network together because night. Hey, guess what? We don't watch the Black Star Network together because I'm actually working. We ain't doing it.

So, no. So, yeah. See, Chris, you better see. You and your wife work on a movie together. Yeah, that couldn't happen. That couldn't happen. Listen, it just came to fruition after, you know, we started doing our, we had a podcast called Date Night.

Oh, I remember. Yeah. Oh, yeah, you guys, we had a podcast called Date Night. Oh, I remember. Yeah. Oh, yeah, you guys were on it. I was like, yo, I actually like you. Wait a minute. Y'all got to say, we did the podcast. I was saying some stuff. Chris' wife was like, don't your ass listen to him.

She was like, mm-mm, do not listen. And Chris was sitting there like, how in the hell is he getting away with all this? It was like, uh-uh, totally different. That's it. All right. Listen, I got to go, Chris. Appreciate you, man. Good luck. We're back on the strip. And next time, don't be having, don't be telling me

my people reached out. I'm just going to leave you out with this here, Scott, Robert. Hold on. Hold on a second. Because many times things get fall through the cracks. So if they can keep the schedule

right, then I don't have to worry about, oh, shit, I should have, oh, you know what I mean? No, no, no, no. I understand. So let me tell you what happens. Yesterday, I'm talking to Payne Brown, and Payne Brown says, hey, Roland, by the way, do you know Chris? I'm like, yeah, I know his ass. He's like, hey, he got a movie coming out.

It'd be great to get him on the show. I'm like, I text his ass on some other bullshit all the time. He ain't say nothing about, yo, let me come on and discuss the movie. And so then he put, so Payne sent a group text. Me and Chris, I was like, yeah, you can come on tomorrow. And he's like, oh, yeah, my people was supposed to be here. I was like, did his ass just hit me with my people? Sorry, sorry, sorry.

I was like, yeah, he'll come on, I said, but I'm going to go ahead and let him know. I said, just text the brother. Chris was crazy. If there's an audience that's tailor-made for this damn movie, it's yours. So that won't happen again when I do Back on the Strip 2. All right. Again, folks, watch Back on the Strip. Hits the theaters on Friday, Christmas. I appreciate it, bro.

Thanks a lot. I appreciate you, man. Thank you. And bye, everybody else on the panel. Scott, Rebecca, Robert, I appreciate y'all being on the panel. Thanks a bunch. I saw some photos of Scott.

Your ass a month is being with your little capers. So, you know, whatever. I mean, I can tell. We were looking good. Actually, I was looking a little raggedy. Just letting y'all know. Y'all were looking a little raggedy. But you're not alphas, and so

look, you can't be that great. All right, y'all. It's past 8 p.m. We need to go. First of all, stop talking, see? I ain't cussed you out all. I ain't cussed you out in my three weeks, Scott. So, you know, I mean, I've been real nice. I mean, do not allow me to revert

back to the old ways. All right. I see y'all later. We're going to go to a break. We come back. We're going to play the Reggie Hutton interview for the Black Godfather as we celebrate Clarence Avon, who passed away Sunday the 8th of 92. We'll be right back with Rollerball Gun Filters. 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. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

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

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star

studded a little bit man we got uh ricky williams nfl player hasman trophy winner it's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves music stars marcus king john osborne for 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 taylorpapersilling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. On a next A Balanced Life here on Blackstar Network. Hi, my name is Brady Ricks. I'm from Houston, Texas. My name is Sharon Williams.

I'm from Dallas, Texas. Right now, I'm rolling with Roland Martin. Unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamn believable. You hear me? I'm ¶¶ Entertainment mogul Clarence Avant died on Sunday at the age of 92. In 2019, Reggie Hutland, producer and director of a Netflix documentary called The Black Godfather. It was the first time many people even knew who Clarence Avant was, how he impacted the careers and lives of so many different people. I was at the American Black Film Festival that year where I did a Q&A with Reggie. After the Q&A, he and I sat down for a conversation about The Black Godfather.

And here it is. I hope you enjoy. Let's talk about Black Godfather, Reggie Hedlund. This is, first of all, an absolutely amazing documentary. And what I love is for someone, I know Clarence, you know Clarence, but for that person out there who has no idea who the hell this black guy is, he was, he is, not was, he is the man who everybody wants to know. Absolutely. You know, one of the most gratifying things is you see people who know Clarence very well who go, you actually got him.

You got the whole him, which is very touching. And what is interesting about it, what's interesting about it, again, when you see when you see the documentary and you're hearing these stories and you're going, seriously? Seriously? Especially the one where you had CBS and making E.T. and all these different people at the table. And they're like, well, who is Clarence here for? Well, Clarence is actually here for all of us. And how he is the ultimate connector, if you will. Right.

That's why I always try to have at least two or more people telling a story. A, just to get all those different perspectives on it, and also to confirm it really happened. Because these stories are kind of unbelievable. You go, wait, this guy did all those things? And you go, yes, yes, yes. All these things are confirmed. What was also, I think, what was important is that when you look at the telling of this story, the fact that you had this white man who was in the business who became Clarence's Sherpa, his guide,

somebody who said, I am going to show you the business, but I'm also going, because I also recognize something in you that's also valuable for what we do. Yeah, it's an extraordinary experience, an extraordinary relationship between him and Joe Glazier. He calls Mr. Glazier. Always Mr. Glazier. Throughout the entire documentary, he always says Mr. Glazier. He doesn't say Joe. No, no. And in the same way,

when you are around people who work with James Brown and they only say Mr. Brown, you just go, oh, that's that old school thing where you do that and you always do that. That person could be gone for 40 years. They will only say Mr. Glazier.

Mr. Brown. There's this great story, not in the film, where Joe Glazier loved baseball. He had a section at Yankee Stadium, right, when there was a nameplate that said Joe Glazier, where he sat. And so he would call Clarence and go, we're going to the NGA. Pick you up at 630. So they'd be walking down to the seats and Clarence would stop because at a certain point,

black people aren't supposed to go. So Joe would turn around and go, what's wrong with you? Because I'm not supposed to be down there. So you're with me. And not only would he take Clarence down there, he would tell, hey, Governor Dewey, move over. This is Clarence's seat. He's sitting next to me.

And he would tell Clarence, just listen. You're going to learn some stuff. That is wild. And then what he is seeing is he is seeing how power is wielded yes and Joe's statement at the end of that is like this is going to be a little in the vernacular Joe would say

they shit just like you shit there's no reason for you to defer to anyone whether they're a movie star or a politician, whoever. They're all just people just like you. What's also, I think, compelling about this particular documentary is the fact that here is someone, not more than a ninth grade education, but it shows people the value of their education, the one that you cannot get in a classroom. Absolutely. Clarence grew up in an environment where it was a fight to survive. It was a fight to survive in a home with an abusive stepfather.

It was a fight to survive in a town infested with Klansmen, where you couldn't walk down the street without a possible threat to your life. And so through that, he developed not only the instinct of how to survive, he maintained a value system that said, I'm going to fight for right. And that's quite exceptional because you can get into a survival mode and be very selfish. Well, you know, it's just, you know, I'm fighting to live. I'm fighting to live. But it's like, no, no, no.

Let's fight for right. Let's fight to protect people who are defenseless. That's a different, higher mental state. That actually gave me the wind up. I know. It's never going to happen. No. Yeah.

Yeah. Y'all about to get cussed out over there. No, we're on a special day. On a whose day? Me and Kevin already had a different conversation. All right, let's go. So here's one thing that also I thought. So there's this point that also I thought is important in the documentary, where you, you see these five white guys, all of these music heads,

all of these folks are sitting there and talking about him. And I'm watching it, and I'm literally saying, why is it Clarence in one of those positions? Because they're talking about his brilliance. They're talking about just how this dude, just how smart he is. And I'm going, why in the hell isn't he in one of those positions

earning the millions and millions of dollars and not having to have a couple of his friends bail him out when his record label goes under and he loses the radio station? And I thought about other African Americans who just as smart, just as brilliant, but never got to sit in that top seat.

Look, I agree. I think in the unique case of Clarence, I think Clarence ultimately decided he loved making deals, he loved connecting people, but he didn't enjoy being an operator, you know? So even though he had two record labels, he had a radio station and all that, what he liked most was the deal and the hunt. So I think in the back half of his life, he said, that's what I like to do. This is, you know, so I'm going to focus on that. That said,

there are so many enormously talented people who do not get the shot that they deserve. And the opportunity to prove themselves, the opportunity to mess up, and then get a second

and sometimes third shot. And that's a shame. And hopefully this movie will inspire more people to ask that same question that you just did. It took you three years to do this. An enormous number of celebrities

who were in this. And you watch it and you go, dang! Who didn't this dude connect with? Absolutely. And here's the thing. He didn't just connect with them, work with them, do a deal with them. Those people still feel a very deep connection to the point when you call and say, we're doing a documentary for Clarence, they all say yes.

Two presidents say yes. You know, two of the greatest sports legends ever, Jim Brown, you know, Henry Aaron, say yes. Unbelievable. But they say this guy made a meaningful difference in my life. I love the Coca-Cola story in Hank Aaron, how Clarence just called. And I don't use the N-word, but basically he tells his white CEO, black folks buy coke. A lot of coke. And I mean, just straight up.

And the thing is, he walks into the boardroom. He pulls his chair up to the desk. So basically, it might as well be his desk as much as the CEO's desk. Doesn't say hello. Just cuts right to, we filed out a code. And that's the beginning of the negotiation. Now, you know how it's going to go if that's... Right.

If that's the beginning of it, you know how this thing is going to happen. Absolutely. What do you... Clanch is 88. I called him a few days ago, and he said, man, I've gotten more calls around the world than I ever have in my life. There's so much we can learn from from watching a documentary like this here. I think about the Jerry Wine Drive book, that documentary.

There was so much I learned reading it in terms of how you deal with people, how you negotiate, how you visualize things. What do you want a young African-American or somebody of any race, and because Netflix is also worldwide, there are people all around the world seeing this, what do you want them to learn from this that they can use no matter what their field is. Clarence's ability to evolve is unbelievable. This is a guy, I mean, ninth grade education, Climax, North Carolina,

sharecropping, which is virtual slavery. That's not a promising start. But somehow, he made the most out of any window of opportunity he was given. And he was able to rise to the occasion to the point that he's sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom of the White House. He's doing deals with the top power brokers in New York and L.A. It's because he never hit a ceiling where he wasn't competent anymore. He kept having curiosity. He kept learning. And he never said,

here's these external reasons that have stopped me from getting what I want. He always checked himself and said, how do I grow to be ready for the next thing? And that's a lesson for every person. I don't care what level you are right now. Last question. You've got a ton of stuff.

Yeah. When I talked to Harry Belafonte, he had 800 hours worth of content when he did his documentary. What the hell are you going to do with all the rest of that stuff? Because I'm taking a bunch of stuff that you haven't even used.

Yeah. There's a bunch of stuff. There's amazing stories i just you know mentioned one to you there's a right which was the one about the joe and the um and going to the stadium that wasn't in the documentary right we have an easy hour of stories just great stories great deals great everything so look this movie is so successful. Perhaps we can find a way to show folks some more stuff. It's called The Black Godfather. If you have not seen it, you want to see it.

It is an amazing documentary. You guys did a great job with it. And I just appreciate that Clarence laughed for the story to be told because I think we need to hear more about figures like him in hearing their stories and also celebrating them while they are still with us.

Absolutely. Thanks to the Avon family, thanks to Netflix and the amazing crew that dedicated their lives over all those years to make it happen. Okay, I'm like a Baptist preacher. One final question.

Okay, you did this here. Is there a doc or someone living or deceased that you would love to do? There's several. There's people that I want to do, and there's also subject matters and events. Got it. Right? So, I mean, this is my first feature length documentary. It seems to be very enthusiastically received.

So in addition to feature films and television and comic book and live events, I'm going to mix a little documentary action into my future line of product. All right. Sounds good. Always good seeing you, my brother. Always. Appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Yes, sir.

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. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. 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 2 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 TaylorPaperCeiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.