#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Harrison Floyd Remains Free, HBCU hosting Presidential Debate, Steve Perkins Shooting Update

Episode Date: November 22, 2023

11.21.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Harrison Floyd Remains Free, HBCU hosting Presidential Debate, Steve Perkins Shooting Update A Georgia judge does not revocate an election interference defendant's bond but says it needs to be modified to include social media. I know Harrison Floyd is glad his ass is not going back to jail - yet.  An Alabama police chief says his officers did not follow department policies when a black man was gunned down in front of his home during a dispute with a tow truck driver. Lee Merritt is here tonight to update us on the Stephen Perkins case.  Virginia State University will be the first HBCU to host a presidential debate. VSU's president and Assistant Vice President for Government Relations are here to tell us how they secured the 2024 debate.  While Democrats urge the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn Republican-drawn legislative maps, the conservative justices question the timing of the redistricting challenge. The Senior Director of Redistricting at the Campaign Legal Center will join us to explain why the conservatives have a problem.  In tonight's Marketplace segment, a black-owned company with backpacks to keep your hats from getting damaged and fashionable concealed carry handbags.  Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox  http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastain. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two 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 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback.

Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pregame to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Today is Tuesday, November 21st, 2023, coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network.

A Georgia judge does not revocate an election interference defendant's bond, but says it needs to be modified to include social media. Harrison Ford surely is happy he's not going back to jail, but you know he'll do something to send him back to that jail. Alabama police chief says his officers did not follow department policies

when a black man was gunned down in front of his home during a dispute with a tow truck driver. Lee Merritt, attorney for the family, is here tonight to update us on the case of Steven Perkins. Virginia State University will be the first HBCU to host a presidential debate. President of VSU and the Assistant Vice President of Government Relations will join us to tell us how they secured the 2024 debate.

Also, while Democrats urged the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn Republican-drawn legislative maps, the conservative justices questioned the timing of the redistricting challenge. This is laughable. The senior director of redistricting at the Campaign Legal Center will join us, folks, talk about this here.

Plus, in tonight's Marketplace segment, a black-owned company with backpacks to keep your hats from getting damaged. Oh, trust me, y'all, you're gonna really love this segment. It's time to bring the funk on Rolling Martin Unfiltered with the Black Star Network, let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it.

Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics with entertainment just for kicks he's rolling it's uncle ro-royal it's rolling martin yeah

rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martel now. Martel. We're going to be hosting the second general election presidential debate. The Commission on Presidential Debates chose VSU as the first historically black college university to host the second of these scheduled general election presidential debates in October of 2024. Virginia State University President Dr. McColl Abdullah and Eldon Burton,

the Assistant Vice President for Government Relations. Join us right now. I'm glad to have both of you here. First of all, Fred, congratulations. How did this happen? You know, look, we had a wonderful team that got together, led by Mr. Burton, who unfortunately is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated. But he led an incredible team at Virginia State to make sure that we could bring this home to VSU.

So we're very excited about it. I can't wait for our students to get a chance to experience this event. Eldon, for folks who don't know, what is that particular process that you have to go through to make this happen? So you have to apply on, they send you an application, you have to apply, and then they'll come down, they'll do a site visit. President Abdullah gave me a wonderful opportunity and a wonderful idea after we had hosted

the gubernatorial debate earlier in 2021. And he said, if you can get the gubernatorial debate, then you can get the president's debate. And so I just went ahead, sent in the application, and they came toward our state-of-the-art facility and the multipurpose center, loved our campus, and I'm glad that they chose us. So, and so what was the process? How long did it take? And what was the application process? All the sort of stuff that goes along with that. Yeah. So we we didn't know how many other schools had applied. We applied. It takes takes months upon months of back and forth and making sure that we have all the necessary facilities and everything that they need. We have to look into broadband and all the

infrastructure that we have. And so once they get beyond that and they come down to do the site visit, we bring our teams together and we walk them through campus. And they loved our campus, and I'm glad that they saw fit to have it at Virginia State University. Now, President Abdullah, were they looking at Virginia being a battleground state? Were they looking at other universities in Virginia? Roland, I'm honest. I wish I could answer that question. I mean, I do make that assumption, but I don't know.

I know that the other states that they picked, I think one is in Texas, Utah and then in Pennsylvania. And so I don't know if politics had a role in it. I just know that our team came with the came with the program and and delivered it for us. It's a it's a great day for Virginia State. Now, we don't know, though, if this will actually happen. If Donald Trump is the nominee, we know what happened last time. He complained about these debates, saying they were grossly unfair and did not participate in several of them. So hopefully you will have an opportunity to have a debate on the campus, Elgin. Yeah. So we we know that it's not mandatory for them to participate in the debate, but we hope that the nominees will come and will participate. VSU will be ready. We will leave that up to the Commission on Presidential Debates to make happen, but VSU will be ready to lay out the orange carpet.

And we're excited about the opportunity it brings for our students to be front and center and learn firsthand about this part of the democratic process. Well, Fred, here's my suggestion. We know how ornery Donald Trump is. If he's a nominee, Biden's a nominee. Go ahead. And your backup plan should hit President Biden about having a major town hall on the campus just in case? Because again, Trump is known to try to look here. He's not participating in Republican debates. So let's look at a plan B just in case. Well, look, I tell you, having the whatever candidates show up in addition to the media to have all of the kind of national media and national candidates come to Virginia State, I think there's a lesson to be learned either way.

I think having all of these adjunct professors, if you will, come to VSU to have an event, it's going to be a great day no matter who shows up. All right, then. General, congratulations. And again, so before, HBCUs, there were debates, Republican and Democrat, on an HBCU campus. Will this be the first time a general presidential debate is on an HBCU campus? This will be the first time that a general debate, presidential debate, will be on our campus. It'll be in the multipurpose center, the same place, Mr. Martin, where you delivered a commencement address a couple of years back. I want to thank you for that address.

Thank you for your support of Virginia State. And thank you for your support of HBCUs. But in that building, we will have the presidential debate. Yes, sir. All right, then. We're certainly looking forward to it. And you can count on us broadcasting the show live from there if it happens. But if it doesn't, trust me, we'll come up with a plan B.

Okay. Sir, we expect you to show up anyway. We expect you to be in the house no matter who else shows up. Oh, yeah, that's going to happen. Thanks a lot. All right. I want to introduce our panel right now. To Run Walker, founder of Context Media out of Atlanta.

Joy Chaney, former executive director of the Washington Bureau, and senior vice president of policy and advocacy at the National Urban League. Michael Imhotep hosts the African History Network show out of Detroit. Glad to have all three of y'all here. Joy, this is a huge, obviously this is one of those huge deals.

Lots of attention sort of around this, and again, for an HBCU to be in that spotlight, I think is huge. It is mammoth. I'm a Howard graduate. So, you know, that would have also been good. But VSU deserves it. Kudos to his team. I hope everyone gets a raise. And more importantly, I hope that they get additional resources. I think where the president was leaving office right is not just the presidential debate, it's all of the resources that will come along with them having not just a Democrat, not just a Republican presidential debate, but a general election presidential debate. That means the entire nation will have their eyes on VSU.

That's going to result in more resources, more people being interested in teaching there, more students. This is a big deal. To run 2020, I was there at Texas Southern University. We broadcast from there when the Democrats had a debate on their campus.

But obviously, a primary is totally different from a presidential race. It is, and it's really important, I think, campus, but obviously a primary is totally different from a presidential race. Yeah. Yeah. It is. It is. And it's really important, I think, to understand that it's very important for this presidential

race to have presidential debate to happen on an HBCU campus. It could have been FAMU, but I'll leave that alone. But the thing about this is, you know, we've been having, there's a lot of conversation around the Democrats, and there's also a lot of conversation around this particular administration and some of the disconnect that may be happening with black voters. So I think what has to happen is you have to be able to bring your message to the people. And it can't just be for the people in the room. It has to be for voters outside of the room and people who are very concerned about what's been happening over the past eight to 12 years of moving up to the present day because nothing happens in a vacuum.

But you do have a lot of Black voters out here who do feel frustrated. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith.

Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time,

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

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

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

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

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

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. You have a lot of black voters out here who don't feel like they're not being heard,

and they have to be able to feel like their concerns and their conditions are being talked about. Well, the thing here, Michael, there typically are three presidential debates, one vice presidential debate. And so we don't know what the format of this one is going to be. They have different formats. Some are sort of town hall-like. Other ones, whether sort of in the two moderator and the two podiums. But here's the deal. We already know what Trump did last time. And this is going to be a situation

where I dare say if there's going to be a debate, this is where... First of all, we already know. Biden's nominee, he's showing up to Virginia State. Trump may sit here and say, I'm not doing any debates.

This is where he can be pressured to show up by saying, oh, so you're going to diss the HBCU? Right, diss the HBCU after Trump lies and talks about all he did for HBCUs. And that was Representative Alma Adams' bill, by the way. She really doesn't get credit for that.

I think she should take credit for it also. But this would be an opportunity for President Biden to talk about front and center how the Biden-Harris administration has helped HBCUs to date. I think it's about $7 billion that have gone to HBCUs in 2021. There's a record of $5.8 billion that went to HBCUs. That doesn't get talked about enough. But this is also an important opportunity for him

to talk about how his policies have helped the African-American community as well, whether we talk about the economy and 14 million jobs created, whether we talk about the lowest unemployment rate of African-Americans early this year, since they have been recording unemployment by race going back to the early 1970s, I think it was, for him to talk about the impact that the CHIPS Act is going to have bringing down inflation, how that is helping African-Americans as well. Talk about the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, to talk about how climate change and the bill he passed dealing with climate change as well is going to help impact impact African Americans. And once again, with this being at an HBCU, this helps to put our issues front and center and policies that are

good for African Americans are good for America in general. So. Well, well, let's be clear. Let's be clear. That's only going to happen depending upon who's asking the questions. So again. Well, yeah. So again, the President's Commission, they're also going to pick the moderators, so we'll see who they're going to pick as the moderator for this. That dictates, frankly, what questions get asked. Hold tight one second.

Go into a break. We come back. We're going to talk about the bond hearing that took place in Atlanta. You know that crazy dude who used to be over at Blacks for Trump? Yeah, he was talking lots of trash on the social media. Almost got his butt thrown back in jail. We'll tell you what happened there. Also, I got some other stuff we're going to talk about as well.

So, jam-packed show. Looking forward to a great conversation. If you're watching on YouTube, hit that like button, folks. Hit the like button. Also, be sure to join our Bring the Fuck fan clubs and your chicken money order. PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered,

PayPal, R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And, of course, download the Black Star Network app, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And you can also, of course, get a copy of my book,

White Fear, The Browning of America's Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at bookstores nationwide. Get the audio version. Yep, I read it right there on Audible. We'll be right back. Thank you. digital training and tools. Gain in-demand job skills with flexible online training programs designed to put you on the fast track to jobs in high-growth fields. No experience is necessary. Learn at your own pace.

Complete the online certificate program on your own terms. Stand out to employers, get on a path to in-demand jobs and connect with top employers who are currently hiring. Take one professional career certificate program, or all six. Earn a Google career certificate to prepare for a job in a high growth field like data analytics, project management, UX design, cybersecurity, and more.

All professional career certificate programs must be completed by December 31st, 2024. Scan the QR code to complete the application. There are 1,000 scholarships available. Grow with Google and J-Hood and Associates. Be job ready and qualify for in-demand jobs. I'm Dee Barnes, and this week on The Frequency, we talk about school to prison pipeline, book bans, and representing for women's rights. The group Moms Rising handles all of this. So join me in this conversation with my guest, Monifa Bandele. This is white backlash.

This is white fear that happens every time black people in the United States help to walk the United States forward towards what is written on the paper. Right here on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. Hey, what's up, y'all? I'm Devon Franklin. It is always a pleasure to be in the house. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stay right here.

Hold on one second, one second. The The The The The The The សូវបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា� Autumn Lewis has been missing from Buffalo, New York, since November 10th. The 16-year-old is 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs 115 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with

information about Autumn Lewis is urged to call the Buffalo, New York Police Department at 716-853-2222. 716-853-2222. 716-853-2222. One of the Georgia 19 remains free tonight, but gets a stern warning from the Georgia judge

who says the bond, his bond, needs to be modified to include the nuances of social media. Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee heard arguments from DA Fannie Willis, who actually represented them herself, at Donald Trump's co-defendant Harrison Floyd's social media posts and broadcast interviews violated his bond agreement not to interfere with witnesses. This is what McAfee said in today's ruling.

At the time of indictment, we were in this courtroom in the middle of another murder trial, so I was not able to conduct the first appearance for Mr. Floyd. But throughout that week during the trial, we were presented with these consented bond orders, which were negotiated by the parties, and then I signed without a hearing. And Mr. Floyd agreed to abide by the terms of it. And I think it's clear from the case law there is no constitutional right to bail. And a bond can contain special conditions as long as they're reasonable under the circumstances. And often those can curtail or even eliminate a defendant's constitutional rights under the First Amendment and under the Fourth Amendment, such as forbidding contact. We see that quite commonly. And the question becomes,

the trial court has to balance the rights of the accused, as well as the public safety interests that are raised by any particular case. But I'll also note that a defendant is generally allowed to publicly criticize the merits of a case to say that the prosecution doesn't have a case, to challenge the strength of the evidence. The speak is mine. And I don't see anything in this consent bond order that limited general criticism of the state's case. Each of these conditions had components to them, had preconditions, but there was no general limitation of talking about this case. But obviously that criticism cannot cross a line and ever evolved into witness intimidation. And I think as the defense was willing to concede here, Mr. Floyd seems very boldly willing to explore

exactly where that line lies in this case. And I think the state has made a compelling argument on many of these points. But in categorizing these statements, on the first point of intimidation, we don't see, as we might see in these bond conditions, as they're traditionally understood, someone posting the personal info of a witness or a co-defendant. We don't see someone directly messaging, again, as that's traditionally understood. And we don't see in the wording an explicit indication that something ought to be done about these individuals or that they should be targeted in some way. I read these as seeing more that someone is wanting to defend his case in a very public way. And so on the question of, and especially when it comes to the public officials, I think we've, as Mr. Sterling testified, when it comes to intimidation,

they've endured far worse than is presented in this motion. I think it becomes a much closer question when we start talking about whether this is direct or indirect communication. And we're getting into also kind of a question of at what point is someone responsible for the response of others? And I don't know if those are necessarily settled questions under the traditional bond limitations that we used in the phrasing that we used in this case. And ultimately, I think that, first of all, the defense argument that there was no knowledge that these were potential witnesses. That's not one that I'm, an argument that I'm buying. I think that we can't hide behind a veil of ignorance

when certain witnesses have testified before the special grand jury are very much known to be involved in the facts of this case or just recently pleaded guilty and were known to have a public cooperation provision. I also think that when we're talking about the facts of this case, that is a broadly understood term. And if someone is just denigrating another person who is known to be a witness and talking in reference to their proffer, that's also satisfying that precondition. But when it comes to to while there may I do think that in several instances here there has been a technical violation of mr. Floyd's bond and that communications he made wound up before the eyes and ears of potential witnesses and co-defendants. But not every violation compels revocation.

And so I am stuck on the question of notice and that the bond conditions as written in my mind were not specific enough to account for the nuances of social media. Now, the judge said, look, y'all need to work this thing out. During the testimony there, finally, Willis, go to my iPad. This is Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

As evidence that Floyd had violated the terms of his bond, Willis cited 21 Floyd social media posts. In one of those posts, he tagged attorney Jenna Ellis, who recently pleaded guilty to one felony count, and is now a witness for the prosecution. In the post, Floyd questioned Ellis' ethics, suggesting she was stealing money raised for her defense and urged her to return the money she had raised.

Through her attorney, Ellis told prosecutors she saw the post. She said, quote, Yes, I believe it was meant to both intimidate and harass me she saw the post. She said, quote, Willis also highlighted Floyd's social media posts about election worker Ruby Freeman, who Trump falsely accused of voting fraud, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gabrielle Sterling, Chief Operating Officer for the Secretary of State.

Now, the judge said technically he did violate the bond, but wanted them to work through some language. I mean, here's the deal here, Torun. You know, look, the judges are saying we've got to protect First Amendment rights. But what they're not going to do is allow these Trump people to do what Donald Trump does himself, which is literally... A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin.

And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. 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. 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. Attack people, especially witnesses. Yeah, this man is really skating on some very thin ice here, and he got a really good break. You have to be very careful when you're under an indictment and you're looking at some very serious charges when it comes to playing around with trying to intimidate voters.

And we know that the Trump camp and the hard right is very good at manipulating social media to basically send people to basically physically harm people that they feel are threats. You know, we've seen them swap people. We've seen a lot of situations where people have feared for their safety. You mentioned Ruby Freeman. This woman went through a whole ordeal where her life was threatened just because she was a poll worker and she was considered to be somebody who was, quote unquote, stealing the election. And another thing is, you know, this particular situation is another object lesson that you cannot do what those people do and have brown skin and expect to get the same results. Everybody else who got picked up by the feds that day bonded out.

He's the only person, as far as I know, that's still sitting there. You know what I mean? He should have been like his name, say, Harrison Ford, and rolled out from under that boulder before he saw it coming and stuff, but he wanted to sit there and be with his people, and we now see the result. How would the vice of his counsel? Well, Michael, when you show up looking like

a leprechaun in court in that green suit, I don't know what the hell he's thinking. Well, Harrison Floyd caught a break today, but as one of his attorneys said, he was walking close to the line. OK, the social media posts, especially the one directed towards Jenna Ellis, it looks like it was probably designed to intimidate co-conspirators. These are co-conspirators with his who are going to be witnesses. But we'll see how all this turns out. We'll see if there are other violations as well. But yeah, he did catch a break today. But the next time, and there probably will be other

violations, OK, because I think he there probably will be other violations, okay? Because I think he's trying to be like a black Donald Trump except broken to Donald Trump. But there will be other violations, but the next time he may have his bill revoked. Joy? He caught a lucky break. had a judge who was willing to be measured when it was obvious that he had gotten across the line, at least in a few of these instances. And what's worse is what happens if someone were to act on some of his obviously foreseeable, it's foreseeable that someone might take this to be threatening. It's foreseeable that someone might act on this in a way that

perhaps he wouldn't. It's foreseeable. And so someone might take those words and, God forbid, do something awful with them. So he has to be very, very careful. It would not be worth that. Moreover, if he loses his attorney, there is, it was hard enough for him to get an attorney. It will be much more difficult for him to get one as well he should listen to the advice of counsel he should shut up well when you

think that you are a black Donald Trump that's a little more hard to do but that's what you have but he's going to take it all the way and so I can't wait until he gets convicted and thrown in jail for being dumb.

So we'll see what happens. All right, y'all, when we come back, we're going to talk about this case that when you look at this, unbelievable. Frankly, a brother was ambushed. Ambushed by cops

as they helped a tow truck driver snatch his vehicle. Frankly, a brother was ambushed, ambushed by cops, as they helped a tow truck driver snatch his vehicle. Wait till we show you what the police chief had to say today about the actions of his officers. You're watching Rollo Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, have you ever had a million dollar idea and wondered how to bring it to life? Well, it's all about turning problems into opportunities. On our next Get Wealthy, you'll learn of a woman

who identified the overload bag syndrome and now she's taking that money to the bank through global sales in major department stores. And I was just struggling with two or three bags on the train, and I looked around on the train and I said, you know what, there are a lot of women that are carrying two or three bags. That's right here on Get Wealthy,

only on Blackstar Network. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from LA, 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 Blackstar Network. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy.

Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for a balanced life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. Bruce Smith, creator and executive producer of Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. You're watching Roland Martin Unkilled. An out-of-town police chief says his officers violated department policies when they shot and killed a black man

during a dispute with a tow truck driver. Steve Perkins died on September 29th when cops were called to his home because a tow truck driver was trying to repossess a vehicle. That driver reported that he was being threatened with a gun. Family and friends

say the repossession was a mistake. The unarmed officer, the unnamed officer, who fired the fatal shot remains on paid administrative leave. Now, we talked about this beforehand, so folks, let's cue the video up so you can understand what actually took place here. The tow truck driver arrived on the scene,

says he was threatened. But here's the problem. When he came back, video reveals, and we showed the video, where officers were literally hiding behind vehicles, waiting for the driver to come back up. Come on, guys, roll the video. So here's the right here. So here are officers waiting behind these vehicles. Car pulls up, and then all of a sudden, then a shot is fired.

What the heck was going on? Lee Merritt represents the family in this case. Lee, glad to have you here. So the chief said they violated department policies. Well, that was the officer who fired the shot. But multiple officers were involved in this, correct? That's right. How many?

There were at least five officers involved directly on this thing. Okay, five officers. And again, as we said there, you know, we're watching this whole thing play out. They're hiding behind other cars. It was essentially an ambush.

That's exactly what it was, Roland. I have never seen a policy where police officers assist a tow truck driver in a repossession at all. But if they are going to assist in a repossession, let's say that there was some concern about the safety of the tow truck driver, an ambush that violates the Fourth Amendment, that violates Mr. Perkins' right in his home, that has

caused this really terrible tragedy, is certainly not the policy or best practices anywhere in the country. Okay, so the family says it was a mistake. Was it? Have y'all communicated with the car company? Was it a mistaken repossession?

It certainly was a mistaken repossession. We are actually, the family has been granted the vehicle back. But one of the more callous aspects of what happened that night is after they got done gunning Steve Perkins down in his front yard, they went ahead with the tow. And so the family was able to recover that car because the car was not, in fact, in repossession. It was a mistake. And so the tow truck company and the person, the financial officer responsible for that car being in repossession status is also named in the family's federal civil rights. So we clearly had a mistake in that mistake, coupled with these officers assisting this tow truck driver by essentially setting up an ambush that has left a black man dead.

That's exactly it. And in America, generally, that means that these officers will be acquitted. The part about this case that concerns me, obviously, the officers violated policy. The chief has confirmed that in his most recent statement. The mayor has confirmed that in the most recent statement. Police officers are not supposed to participate in the tow. They're certainly not supposed to set up and ambush a civilian. But this civilian came out of his home with a weapon, with a light affixed to a weapon. And very often in American jurisprudence, if an officer faces a Black armed citizen, that is enough to suspend every constitutional right, the right to protect your home, the Second Amendment right, the First Amendment right, generally those go out of the window.

In this case, we're going to be fighting again, like we had to fight in a Tatiana Jefferson who was legally armed, like we had to fight in Cameron Lamb in Kansas City who was legally armed, to hold an officer accountable who gunned down a black civilian who was legally armed protecting their property. This, again, this is just one of those strange stories. The shooting took place at what time? About 2 a.m. in the morning. 2 a.m. in the morning.

It is, again, just baffling that cops would, like I can't remember police assisting in a vehicle repossession. No, it's certainly not against the, it's certainly not a part of the policy. Often we complain that law enforcement officers are aligned with business owners and corporations against civilians. And we see that play itself out in their practices. But to have here a private entity come to illegally take someone's car and to receive the assistance of law enforcement only to find out subsequently that the toll was illegal and certainly the policies that they're really... A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.

Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick.

Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One. Taser Incorporated.

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

I'm Greg 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 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 don't wear illegal as well. All right. Lee Merritt, we appreciate it.

Thanks a lot. Thank you. This right here is just beyond belief, Michael. Again, this mistake by this person, that cost this black man his life. This mistake by

this company, this administrative person, plus what these cops did, that man is dead. Yeah. You know, I know the attorney there, Lee Merritt, said that usually in a situation like this, those officers get off. Hopefully, hopefully they won't in this case, but we'll see what happens in court. But also, I know there's going to be a civil lawsuit as well. But, yeah, this is a tragedy. It was apparently the car should not have been towed.

But also, yeah, I've never heard of a situation where police officers assist in a repossession of a vehicle as well. So this looked like wrong on so many levels here. So hopefully some level of justice will come from this as well. Toleran, again, I just sort of just shake my head and just sit here and go, only to black people. Happ, only the black people. Happens only to black people. First of all, I want to say, you know, rest in power to that brother who lost his life. But I've talked about this a lot of times.

You know, if you are black and male in America, your skin is the weapon. And I've never heard, like the brother said before, and like Attorney Merritt said, if this was a simple repossession, why do you need cops to come assist you with that? I could see if it was called in as a theft or if it was called in as something like an actual, like a break-in, but this was a repossession. Why not just go up, try to contact this man, and then leave? And why were they hiding behind cars and basically it looks like they ambushed this man, as you said, to basically take his life over a vehicle. You know what I mean? And why come only one officer is being charged? It seems like what they're trying to do is throw this one officer to the wolves and then so the other ones can get off and everything and they can make this a tidy case and help us just make it case closed.

What has to happen, I think, is there has to be light on this case. There has to be aggressively pursued. And there has to be more media light on this because these sort of things happen in small towns in the South, all over the country. I mean, all over the South. This is a tradition and this can't happen here. And here's his family, Joy, having to pick up the pieces, had to bury a loved one and not having to demand answers because somebody screwed up and said repossess his vehicle. And here he is again,

someone's coming there, he's defending his property. Correct. In the middle of the night. Let me just tell you what, let me just say this. This is why many even oppose the idea of repossessions. Because the value of that car is significantly diminished, right?

Who knows how long he's even had it? So one, we need to reduce these kinds of interactions and altercations to begin with. So a lot of questions there. Two, if you felt that the tow truck driver was in danger, why would you send him back hiding behind him? A civilian, it's outrageous. And then to ambush this man carrying a legal weapon is completely un-American. And what I have not heard from,

has the NRA said anything in defense of this law-abiding citizen protecting his property in the middle of the night, his property and his family? He didn't know who was coming to his door. This was wrong. This was tragic. And I can only imagine how he must have felt, already frustrated. Something financial might have happened that even led him. I know we focused on the fact that

it was a wrong repossession, but what if it were a real repossession? It still wouldn't have been okay. It still wouldn't have been worth his life. It was too valuable. I certainly hope that there are people lose their jobs, perhaps even their freedom. When you are a police officer, breaking policy has to mean more than an administrative tap on the wrist. This was unacceptable. This resulted in someone's life. You must feel the pain of

this mistake. Alright, folks, hold tight one second. I've got to go to break when we come back. We got lots to talk about on today's show, including this case out of Wisconsin. So Republicans, ooh, they big man. The Democrats now have a 4-3 majority

on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court, and they do not want them to get rid of political gerrymandering. We'll talk about that right here on Rolling Martin Unfiltered. Folks, do not forget to support us in what we do. It's critically important that you support us by joining our Bring the Funk fan club. We are $240,000 under where we are last year. Now, this is what we ask, 20,000 of our fans to contribute on average 50 bucks each. That comes out to be $4.19 a month, 13 cents a day.

So not only are you getting this show two hours a day, you're getting Farraji Muhammad's show two hours a day. You're getting weekly shows from Deborah Owens, from Dee Barnes, Jackie Wood Martin, Greg Carr, Stephanie Humphrey, Rolling with Roland. You're getting the live events that we cover, all of that, folks. There is no other Black-owned media outlet.

Let me be perfectly clear. There's no other Black-owned media outlet that does the amount of original content we do every single day. Not Ebony, not Essence, not Black Enterprise, not Urban One, not Blavity, not Degrio, any of them. And so we are building this Black-owned digital media network because we know information is power, and we believe you need to be getting it unfiltered from an independent source. I don't have millionaires and billionaires cutting checks, funding us.

I would love to have these Republicans who are giving $7, $10, $15, $20 million to these many outlets. We ain't got none of that, folks. Literally, our monthly costs are $195,000. We're fighting the good fight when it comes to advertising as well, but that is not easy. You might have seen the last few days. As a matter of fact, we're going to talk about it as well. All of these companies that are pulling their advertising from Twitter, which is now called X, it's amazing. Most of these

people don't spend any money with black-owned media, but they're always telling us brand safe. So that's the battle that we are in. So please, so you're checking money orders at PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, or Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered, Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartUnfiltered.com. We'll be right back. Next on The Black Table, with me, Greg Carr, working under the constant threat of violence. Nearly 50 bomb threats over dozens of HBCU campuses.

In 2022, we'll talk to our HBCU Master Teacher Roundtable about the stress, the strain, the frustrating lack of answers, and real community-grounded solutions to the threat of violence we face at HBCUs today. Join us for The Black Table, only on the Black Star Network. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting.

You get it, and you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in Black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff.

So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people, $50 this month, 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 Peel 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. ¶¶ Farquhar, executive producer of Proud Family. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. I'm being frozen out. Facing an extinction level event. We don't fight this fight right now. You're not going to have Black Army.

All right, folks, you heard me talk about the battle that we are always fighting when it comes to advertising dollars. And I'm sending some text messages to some people about this segment as we speak. And what's interesting to me, and just so y'all understand how this game works, you know, we often hear from these people, they're saying, oh, brand safe, brand safe, brand safe, brand safe, you know. So y'all cover the news, controversial, you're very opinionated. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding.

But the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Banik-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and

consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future

where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated,

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

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

to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug 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. Safe, brand safe.

Yet, what was interesting to me is where they do spend their money. If y'all actually record all the Fox News shows for 24 hours, you're going to see a whole bunch of 1-800 commercials, a bunch of direct marketing, but you're also going to see some major commercials. For instance, do y'all know Mercedes-Benz actually has a sponsored segment on The Five? And they say

some of the most foul, shameful stuff every single day. So, Elon Musk's Twitter, I don't give a shit, call him X, whatever the hell, is having some issues because the folks at Media Matters reported on how they

were placing ads next to what they described as anti-semitic content. Because Elon Musk endorsed these anti-semitic posts, and he tried to say he didn't. So here's what's happened. Go to my iPad. This is a New York Times story. Advertisers flee X as outcry over Musk's endorsement of anti-Semitic post-grows. Disney, Apple, Paramount, and Lionsgate halted marketing on X, formerly Twitter, as Elon Musk faced a furor over anti-Semitic abuse on his social media platform.

And then when you go through here, it's interesting. Disney said it was pausing spending on X, as did Lionsgate, the entertainment and film distribution company, and Paramount Global, the media giant that owns CBS. Apple, which spends tens of millions of dollars a year on X, also suspended advertising on the platform, a person with knowledge of the situation said. They followed IBM, which cut its spending with X on Thursday.

And there are a bunch of other advertisers. So here's what I find to be interesting. I put this tweet out there, and I said, well, you know, why do people are in advertising on Twitter? Why are they supporting black-owned media? You know, I go through here, and I see Lionsgate. This is the same Lionsgate that has all... Y'all know Lionsgate owns stars, right? It's the same Lionsgate.

Got all them black shows. They got all them power shows from 50 Cent Courtney Kemp they got all these shows and we reached out to them in the last couple of years not a penny now they always want their stars

to come on the show. See, I keep telling y'all. See, they value my platform enough to want the stars of their shows to come on, but they don't value us enough to spend money with us. I sit here and, you know, like, I see Apple. Look, you know, we did a deal earlier this year. It was in June, I think, with Apple for Swagger. I'll tell you, it was a $10,000 deal.

It wasn't a major deal. But they're spending tens of millions of dollars a year on X. And I wonder, what's the outflow to advertising with black-owned media. Paramount, they all want us to watch the remake of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and all their different shows. Where the money at?

NBC, Comcast, pull their money. You know what? In fact, I got a theme the other day that was a black star on one of the NBC shows. They were trying to come on my show. We ain't never heard from NBC about placing ads on our show. We ain't never heard from NBC about placing ads on our show. And so if y'all want to understand the reality of why black-owned media remains small, why black-owned media cannot thrive, why black-owned media is stuck where we are, it's because what happens is, and I'm telling y'all, I see this constantly.

What happens is everybody wants us, everybody wants us to run their content for free. But they run ads other places. And guess what? 90% of the money that Twitter makes comes from advertising, just like every other media company. And this right here, Joy,

is what we are constantly fighting and constantly dealing with. And so I say to those companies, great, you no longer want to spend the money with Twitter? Fine, turn around and actually spend that money with black-owned media. Joy, you're muted. Nope, I'm on.

There you go. Black, you know, showrunners, black people with influence really need to be saying, we're calling out the companies that we work with and we're saying, we want to work with you, but we need to see you giving back to our communities. Black people are really starting to ask. We don't want to just be

consumers. We want to be owners. We want to control our media. When you, you know, diversity is important, despite what the Supreme Court says. We need it in the media. It changes the stories that get told. It changes who controls the narrative. And so, you know, we're going to have to start deciding whether we want to support companies who are admittedly saying, we support folks who for a long time X has been doing, when it was Twitter, even now it has been doing plenty to give these companies pause about whether they should be advertising. The fact that most of us don't have another place to go to reach the world but them is also alarming. And it's because all of the advertising dollars are going towards this awful platform.

It's time. And hopefully the rest of us can follow. I know I've been considering backing off. We need them to then turn somewhere. And I think this network is just the place to do it. Roland, you got your number? And I'm seeing some people comment. I love people always got something to say.

And they're talking about, oh, it's a return on the investment. Black people watch more TV than anybody else. So the reality is this here. We are the consumer. I saw a video from George Frazier earlier today. I'll try to find it. And the bottom line is, man, we're driving all of this. We are the ultimate consumers. We are the ultimate

consumers. We're the ultimate consumers. And we are making everybody else rich, these companies rich. Like, I saw a story, matter of fact, today. Tubi. Growth is up 30%.

Oh, they targeting black people left and right. Guess who owns Tubi? Rupert Murdoch. Fox Corporation. Black folks built to run the Fox Network with In Living Color and Rock and all those shows

with the local stations they own. That's how they were able to launch Fox News. And here we are running around, blowing Tubi up, and same thing is happening. Boy, everybody loves us because we make everybody billions of dollars.

You know what? I'm glad that you're as passionate about this as I am because I talk about this on a regular basis. I'm on Twitter a lot, probably more than I need to be. But as the sister said, it is an excellent place to be able to get a message out with the minimum of effort. The downside of that is, as you said, because we are so brilliant and because black people are so talented, a lot of things that we do, we do with no effort. A lot of the things that we create, the trends we create, we do with no effort. And because we make it look so easy, other people who are looking at our culture feel like they can pull it from us for free. And unfortunately, that is true in a lot of cases. You know, a lot of people, some kid who makes up a new dance in St. Louis somewhere, it goes viral. And then somebody

takes that and then it starts going around the country, who gets to benefit from that when a song gets made off of that? Some white influencer in Orange County somewhere, some singer starts doing it, he gets paid off of that. Black people who create this culture don't get paid off, and that ties into media as well. We have to start looking at what our worth is, literally. And we also have to start building networks amongst ourselves to start talking to people who know how the inside of the industry works so we can try to capitalize on these things. And I'm going to say this, and this may make some people mad. We really got to start seeing the value in the things that we build for

ourselves, whether it's my company, whether it was Roland Martin, whether it's Black Star Network, whether it's a lot of these other creators who have brilliant ideas, but they may not be able to bring it to scale. But we've got to be able to start seeing the value in the things that we do and start waiting for somebody else to give us a check. You know what I mean? Advertising is important, but we can also create our own media and fund ourselves as well. Yeah, but to run, here's the problem, though.

The reality is, okay, creating our own media and funding it ourselves, that doesn't also pay all the bills. And you can't grow in scale. And so and so here's the piece. Three hundred and twenty two billion dollars. Three hundred and twenty two billion dollars will be spent in 2023 on advertising. Advertising is all over the place. It's billboards, it's radio, it's television, it's digital. It's on the side of buses. It's all of that. And so all I'm saying, Michael, is that if Disney, Comcast, Paramount, if all these major media companies are reaping billions upon billions from advertisers, so should black-owned media, especially when we're buying their products.

That's right. Absolutely. I totally agree. What these corporations, whether it's Fox News, whether it's Disney, IBM, et cetera, that refuse to buy ads on Black Star Media Network or other African-American-owned media, they want media sharecroppers. Let's just be honest. They want media sharecroppers, okay? They want us to buy their products. They want us to watch their programs. I don't even watch two because from

what I hear, it's a lot of low-budget, nonsensical movies anyway. So they may have one or two good ones, but looking at some of the quality of it, I can see why Rupert Murdoch will put out something like that. Rupert Murdoch is a very problematic person on multiple levels. So what you invest in shows what you value and what you invest in, you also empower. So if these corporations were to buy ads on African-American owned media, especially the Black Star Network, OK, they would then it's a tacit endorsement to a lot of the messaging that comes from powerful media like this. So I think we need to leverage our dollars. We need to put pressure on these corporations. And we need to go back and study what Reverend Jesse Jackson did with Rainbow Push in 1980, 1981, with that nationwide economic boycott of Coca-Cola, that nationwide economic boycott of Coca-Cola and what he was able to get from Coca-Cola as a result of that.

So, you know, to echo Dr. King, we always have to anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. We have to do that here as well with these corporations. Final comment I'll say on this here. To all you simple Simon Black people who I see commenting, who say, oh, well, if the viewership was there, then the money

would be there. Let me tell y'all how dumb y'all are. On YouTube alone, on YouTube alone, because again, I just don't, some of y'all don't pay any attention whatsoever to facts. And that's why I got to sit here and correct some of y'all on your silliness because some of y'all just say just dumb stuff and you ain't check no facts. This here is called YouTube Studio. This gives us a snapshot of how we do.

In the last 28 days, the average that we've done is 6.8 million views. Now, mind y'all, we got our own app. We stream on Facebook, Instagram, Twitch. Plus, we got four fast channels. So, we're all over. So, it's 6.8 million in the last 28 days. Hmm. The last 90 days, we've done 25,621,471 views. Huh. In the last year, on YouTube alone, we've done 112.4 million views. Now, try that bullshit with me again, saying we don't have the numbers. We got the numbers. We don't have the money. Right.

That's the fact. All right, folks, hold tight one second. We come back. We're going to talk about don't have the money. Right. That's the fact. All right, folks, hold tight one second. We come back. We're going to talk about what's happening in Wisconsin. Boy, Republicans, they are not happy that Democrats got a 4-3 majority on the state Supreme Court. And they're like, how dare y'all bring this gerrymandering case back up? Dang, say that, North Carolina, when they took control of that court and immediately reversed three decisions that were decided three months earlier.

We'll talk about political gerrymandering in Wisconsin. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action, and that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business

from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.

But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

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

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

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug 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. How that could change the balance of power in that state. You're watching Roland Martin on the filter on the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn minds there's an angry approach from the mob storm to the u.s capital we're about to see the rise of what i call white minority resistance

we have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys, guys. 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. I'm Dee Barnes, and this week on The Frequency, we talk about school to prison pipeline, book bans, and representing for women's rights. The group Moms Rising handles all of this. So join me in this conversation with my guest, Monifa Vandelli. This is white backlash.

This is white fear that happens every time black people in the United States help to walk the United States forward towards what is written on the paper. Right here on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. Me Sherri Shebra, and you know what you're watching, Roland Martin unfiltered. Well, today in Wisconsin, conservative Supreme Court justices vigorously question why they should overturn Republican-drawn maps they claim Democrats

hope for more favorable results. Now, keep in mind, all of this is a result of a Democrat winning a state Supreme Court seat by 11 points in April that flipped the court four to three. Boy, these conservatives are not happy at all. They even said, this is wrong. If you would be doing this, if the results hadn't changed

and the attorney said, no, that's not true, we would still be filing these suits. They point blank say how they impact and how they frankly are written in support of Republicans. And folks, it's not even close. It's not even close how what the Republicans have done. They have literally gerrymandered themselves into absolute power.

You look at the votes cast. Democrats can win 55% of all the votes in the state, and they still will not be in power. Republicans control the Senate 22 and 11. They dominate the legislature. You know what they then do? They then block the Democratic governor from doing what he wants to do. They strip power from other Democrats elected statewide

as a way to punish them as a result of this. Mark Gaber is the senior director of redistricting at the Campaign Legal Center, joins us from Madison. And Mark, this is, first of all, I love how Republicans get power and then go, elections have consequences. Then get mad when Democrats win and Democrats go, guess what? Our turn. Yeah, well, Roland, you summed it up well for how extreme the situation in Wisconsin is.

And by the way, I wish you hadn't told me you have seven million people watching this before we started. But but you're right. I mean, the gerrymander in Wisconsin is more extreme than we see anywhere else in the country. The Wisconsin is a swing state. We've seen this in every presidential election. Going back to 2000, it's usually decided by 10,000, 20,000 votes. And this last election, Governor Evers won by the largest margin of any of the candidates in the ballot. I think he got like 52% maybe. And he carried 38 of the 99 districts in the assembly. Meanwhile, Ron Johnson, the Republican Senate candidate, won by a smaller margin over Mandela Barnes. 26,000 votes. Yep, exactly. And you know what? Ron Johnson carried, I think, 23 or 22 of the 33 Senate seats. He carried 70 percent of the Senate seats,

winning 51 percent of the votes. So the situation in Wisconsin is egregious. The case today, ironically, is actually about a different legal issue. It's about whether the districts are detached pieces, whether they're contiguous. And I can regale you about that. But that was the legal argument today. But the two things go hand in hand. This is an NBC story right here. I love this here. They said some, let me pull it up right here

because it's laughable when I see it. They say some have compared the state's map to Swiss cheese. And they were arguing over the concept of contiguity and how the map should be applied. And we know a game is being played. They will create these districts. They'll be snaking through, grabbing people from different places. And Wisconsin is so sadistic. They were one of the first states where, and I forgot the dude, he died,

and his daughter turned over his laptop. They were one of the first states that used algorithms to create the districts. Now, I remember reading a story because there was a Republican who complained about that. And what they did was they said, they would tell the Republicans, okay, you could come into this office to look at the maps. You were sworn to secrecy,

couldn't take anything with you, and they showed how they used computers to parse the maps to create this super majority. That's what they did. It has nothing to do with the will of the people. It was all about how can we completely have power.

That's right. What they did in 2011 was made it so that voting would no longer matter in Wisconsin. It didn't matter how the people voted. It didn't matter whether they swung from Democrat to Republican, even when some Republicans would decide, hey, we're going to vote for the Democrats this year. We think we want to change. We want to send a message. Didn't matter. There was one election in 2010. And after that election, the Republicans got in charge, and then we were done with having elections matter in Wisconsin. And we've seen situations where the Democrats have won 54 percent of the vote, as you said, get 38 seats out of 99. And this was done in the most

extreme way, in secrecy, as you said. You know, we found out about this because of a lawsuit and were able to get discovery of what exactly happened with the secretive meetings at the law firm across the street from the Capitol. And it's just this is not how democracy is supposed to work. You know, voting is supposed to matter. And hopefully, you know, at long last, we'll see a fair map. You know, the court is deciding this legal issue about whether the maps are constitutional. And the court had a case a year ago, and they really abdicated their responsibility. They basically just said the legislature has provided this map. We're going to put it in

place. Even though the governor vetoed the map, the court ordered that map in place. And that's part of our, that was part of our argument today, that that really goes well beyond the court's power to override the governor's veto in that manner. And the reason I got a kick out of it, because these conservative justices, I mean, they've been pissed since the Democrat won. And Republicans in the legislature even went so far as saying that they were going to impeach her. And they thought by getting the advice of some former conservative Supreme Court justices was going to bolster their case. And then most of them said, do not do this. And then they backed off of it. And so what they're really saying is we love it when we win. We hate it when you win.

And so therefore, we will do whatever we want to to ensure that we remain in power, even to the point where some of these Supreme Court judges got angry that the majority was deciding to move forward with, you know, mundane things in the building. And it's kind of like, well, that's what happens when you got the majority. I mean, 4-3, 5-4, hello. Well, look, I make it a practice of not talking about the justices or the judges I appear in front of. But the legislature did make this argument that Justice Protusewicz should recuse. And it really was just a frivolous argument and I think disrespectful, both of Justice Protusewicz and of the court as an institution. There's just no legitimate argument to say that the new justice shouldn't be able to hear a case.

The people of Wisconsin elected her to hear cases that come before the Supreme Court. She won by 11 points. That was a blowout. Right. And, you know, this was the largest. There's some complaints about how the Democratic Party had worked on her behalf. This was the most expensive race in judicial history in America. And the same thing can be said about every other election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. They were not the most expensive, but they each got, on all sides, got money from various political parties, yet no one is saying that those justices shouldn't be hearing the case. They've all been elected. They're all judicial officers. They are expected, and they do hear the case and hear the facts and hear the evidence and hear the law and come to a decision. And I just I find it just disrespectful that this argument is being made in this manner. Questions from my panel. Joy, you're first.

I mean, this is completely a victory for the voters. I mean, what do you—I'm trying to get the right question here, but what do you think voters need to think about this moment? How do they need to get engaged here? You know, just give us some intake. If you're a voter out there, what should you be taking from this case? Well, hopefully help is on the way. Wisconsin has suffered under unconstitutional maps in so many different ways. Like, you know, obviously it's a partisan gerrymander that's horrible, but there's so many little technical

things wrong with the map that violate the state constitution. And so what I hope, you know, and I don't make predictions about how my cases turn out, but what I hope is that in November 2024, Wisconsin, and I'm from Wisconsin, just to put that out there. This is my home state. I care a lot about this. I hope that finally in this next election, voters will be voting in a map that is responsive to them, that whoever they want to vote for, that the end of the day, the results of those elections translate into who's elected. And that seems like the most basic part of a majoritarian democracy. And I'm really hopeful that we'll get that. So what I would say is turn out in 2024. Help is on the way.

And if, you know, hopefully we'll have a map in place for you that finally reflects the democracy that the state's supposed to be. Michael, your vote matters. So if the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturns these gerrymandered legislative maps, can you talk about policies that are pressing in Wisconsin that could be affected or could be put in place if you can get the right people in place, get more Democrats in place, et cetera? Can you talk about how this can result in policy changes that impact people in Wisconsin, especially African Americans, if possible? Yeah, let me give you an example. In our litigation that's before the court right now, there was what's an amicus brief. It's a friend of the court brief that was filed by mothers of children who suffer from lead poisoning in Milwaukee. And they eloquently talked about how hard it is to get the state legislature to do anything about this problem right now and how the state legislature has taken away

the power of local governments to do anything about this problem. And one of the things that just struck me is they said that because of the gerrymander, what they're having to do is go into suburban white communities and go to churches and ask suburban white women to call their legislature legislators and what you know republicans in the suburb and try to get them to care about this and and like that's their latest strategy because it's not enough to go to their own representatives because they're in the minority and they're stuck in the minority because of the way the map is gerrymandered and this just struck me you know you ought to be able to go to your own legislator and have them have that in a swing state and have them have the chance to build a coalition of, you know, well-meaning people. but so far it hasn't. And I was just so struck by that. What a real example of the harm that comes.

It's not just about Democrats and Republicans. This harms people and their daily lives and their ability to protect their families from environmental dangers. So I just think that sort of, for me, is the perfect example of what's wrong with this. Toran? Thank you. That sort of, for me, is the perfect example of what's wrong with us. Toron. Thank you. I don't believe anything happens in a vacuum. And it seems like what you're describing that's happening in Wisconsin is sort of a pattern of balkanization and gerrymandering that's happening across the country where right-wingers want to kind of break up the votes in every sitting locale. So my question to you is, do you see this as a pattern that's happening nationwide? And how can people who are concerned about where their vote goes

and the quality of their vote can push back against? Yeah, I mean, gerrymandering is obviously not a new thing. And it got really bad in 2011 because there was the Tea Party wave. And I'm not, you know, right now, the worst offenders are, for the most part, the Republican legislatures. There are states where the Democrats do this, too. I mean, Illinois is pretty badly gerrymandered. And like, nothing should be gerrymandered. All of the states should just be fairly drawn to represent whoever lives there and, you know, in an equal basis. But it is the case just factually that the worst offenders right now are Texas and Wisconsin and Florida.

But there is hope. Over the past decade, a lot of states, voters in states, particularly states that allow voters to pass initiatives at the ballot box, so Michigan and Colorado and other states, Ohio is going to have one here in the next election, there's going to be the opportunity to vote on independent commissions. So just take this away from the politicians entirely. And that way you have independent folks who are just citizens of the state, who are, their main goals are to enforce the Voting Rights Act, comply with federal law, and then draw districts that represent the communities and that aren't skewed in favor of certain parties. So, you know, it's not all doom and gloom. We have seen a lot of progress in a lot

of places. And hopefully we'll get through, you know, this lawsuit. We'll end up with a good result in Wisconsin as well. But there has, there's, we got sort of at the worst point of gerrymandering, I think, over the last decade and the second half of President Obama's first term. And it's taken a decade to dig out of that and try to end this. And I think Wisconsin's kind of the last stand of the states that were really bad, obviously, as Roland said at the beginning, we're seeing backsliding in North Carolina. You never actually, like, you can't let your guard down. Once you win something, you got to keep trying to protect it. Well, and keep in mind, Ohio created their very commission, and the Republicans, they're like, yeah, we're going to ignore it. I mean, so it's absolutely.

Ignore the Supreme Court. They just weren't going to, never mind. Yeah. They're like, okay. New commission. We're back on the ballot. Said, okay, you weren't going to follow that rule. We'll make it so you can't get out of this.

Yep, absolutely. All right. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me. Good luck. Thank you very much. All right, folks.

We come back. Derek Chauvin goes to the Supreme Court trying to get his case reviewed. We enjoy prison, son. We'll be back on Roller Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Grow your business or career with Grow with Google's wide range of online courses, digital training, and tools. Gain in-demand job skills with flexible online training programs designed to put you on the fast track to jobs in high-growth fields.

No experience is necessary. Learn at your own pace. Complete the online certificate program on your own terms. Stand out to employers, get on a path to in-demand jobs, and connect with top employers who are currently hiring. Take one professional career certificate program or all six. Earn a Google Career Certificate to prepare for a job in a high-growth field like data analytics, project management, UX design, cybersecurity, and more. All professional career certificate programs must be completed by December 31, 2024.

Scan the QR code to complete the application. There are 1,000 scholarships available. Grow with Google and J. Hood and Associates. Be job-ready and qualify for in-demand jobs. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting.

You get it. And you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff.

So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people, $50 this month, 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 $RM Unfiltered.

PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherri Shepherd Talk Show. You're watching Roland Martin. Unfiltered. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down a request to review the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer

Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty in the death of George Floyd. He is serving 22 1⁄2 years in prison for second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter for the May 25th, 2020 killing of Floyd. Chauvin's attorneys said in their appeal that the former officer suffered from prejudicial pre-trial

publicity and that he was denied a venue change, suggesting jurors leaned toward conviction to avoid civil unrest instead of actual guilt. He-he-he-he-he. Now, Tarun, they pretty much got it right.

Yo, puck-ass guilty. You would come to me first. Let him rot. I don't care. He needs to stay in there until they drag him out. Um, I never will forget where, um, me and some friends were sitting around when the verdict came down because, you know, we know the way the system works here.

There's no guarantee of anything. And I'll never forget that look on his face when he got that sentence and his eyes bugged out, like, who, me? I'm a white man. I'm not supposed to, this isn't supposed to happen to me. And it's just kind of wild that, I shouldn't say I'm surprised because, you know, when you have the audacity to take someone's life when somebody's begging

you and screaming at you to take your knee off their neck, of course you're going to try to use the system and feel like there's a miscarriage of justice. But no, he got what he got. He gets what he gets. And he needs to stay there until they carry him out the box. I hope you got lots of cigarettes. Absolutely. Let's go to Chicago,

folks, where a former Cook County judge is facing felony charges. So prosecutors say she allegedly stole $300,000 from a Tuskegee airman. Go to my iPad. Of course, this is a World War II vet. This is the Chicago Sun-Times story. And again, she used to be a judge in the courthouse, came back to face criminal charges

and they say she took more than $100,000 from the financial accounts of Oscar Wilkerson Jr. It took place over a couple of years. She was given control of his finances when he moved into a nursing home.

Now, she was the head of Child Protective Division, the Cook County Juvenile System, until she, yeah, retired. She's the niece of... So this is absolutely crazy, folks, this happened. And just, again, it's crazy. Now, she's the niece of Wilkinson's former wife. And he died in February,

the day before his 97th birthday, as you see. But again, Michael, how your ass... I mean, I guess, you know, innocent until proven guilty. You're accusing your ass of stealing 300 grand from a damn Tuskegee airman. Yeah, Roland, that's shameful. You know, somebody who served in World War II, African Americans fighting in World War II,

were fighting the Double V campaign. They're fighting against Hitler and the Nazis, but they're also fighting against racism and lynchings and segregation here at home as well. And, you know, I don't understand. So we'll see how this plays out. All this has to be proven in court, once again. I'm not a defense attorney, but I've been around enough of them to know this.

This all has to be proven in court. But just the allegations alone, I don't know if this is true. I don't know how somebody could do that, especially to a Tuskegee Airman. And these brothers faced racism in the military. They faced racism in the Army, sacrificed their lives to fight for a country that discriminated against them when it came to them taking advantage of their GI Bill benefits when they got back home. So we'll see how this plays out. But if these allegations are true, you know, this is a tragedy here. I don't understand how something like this could happen.

Well, I do. Greed. That happens. Folk who believe they're going to get away with it. That happens as well. You know, these things happen a lot. And the reality is, you know, folk don't like to sit here and be held accountable.

Yes, innocent until proven guilty. But, my goodness, that's awful. Here you had, again, a brother, 96 years old, who was, who they say money was taken from. Okay, have y'all seen this here? A lot of these folk, you know, are commenting publicly with regards to what's happening in the battle between Israelis and Hamas. And some folk, I don't think they're getting the message. So Melissa Barrera, she's an actress. She's supposed to be in Scream 7.

Well, she got fired from the movie. Go to my iPad. She got fired from the movie because of her social media posts with regards to the movie. Go to my iPad. She got fired from the movie because of her social media posts with regards to the war. And so Deadline says she was let go due to her Instagram stories, which have been perceived as anti-semitic. Okay, so that's one. So then you also have, let me pull this up, Susan Sarandon, she spoke at a rally, and she actually, let me pull this story up right here, she got dropped by her talent

agents because she said, go to my iPad, her UTA was her talent agency, she spoke at a rally where she says American Jews are getting quote, a taste of what it feels like to be Muslim. Well, that cost her right there as well. Now, check this out.

Then you have this other story. So a Jewish man in New York, he was captured on video. Let me pull a video up, y'all. He was captured on video saying this. This is the video that was shot. He was talking to a food vendor on the streets of New York. Listen to this. To my friends in immigration.

Really? Okay, go, y'all. And to the Egyptian, the Muhabarat wants your picture. Okay, y'all, let immigration. Really? Okay, go, y'all. And to the Egyptian, the Muhabarat wants your picture. Okay, y'all, I go. Yeah? A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action, and that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg

Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain.

I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops 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 One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-stud 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. You know the Muqabarat? Hmm? The Muqabarat. No, I don't know.

You don't know? I don't speak English. No? Yeah, go. The Muqabarat in Egypt will get your parents. Go, go, go. Does your father like his fingernails? They'll take them out one by one.

Why should I go? Why should I go? Tell me why I should go. like his fingernails, they'll take them out one by one. Why should I go? Why should I go? Tell me why I should go. I'm standing here. I'm an American. It's a free country. It's not like Egypt. Smile for me. Did you rape your daughter like Mohammed did? Did you rape your daughter like Mohammed? I don't speak English. You only speak English? No, no English.

You don't speak English? Yes. Alright. See, that just shows how ignorant you are. Because your Muhammad was a rapist. It says in the hadith, in your holy book. Muhammad. What? Muhammad. Muhammad, your prophet. You know who he is. My prophet? Yeah. He was a rapist. He raped Aisha. Does it say that in the Hadith or not? You know that? I don't speak English.

What? No English. You don't speak English? What do you speak? What do you speak? You speak Arabic? The language of the Quran? The Holy Quran?

That some people use as a toilet? What do you think of that? People who use the Quran as a toilet? What do you think of that? People who use the Quran as a toilet. Does it bother you? Does it bother you? Tell me the truth. I don't speak English. You don't speak English?

Ah, that's too bad. That's why you're selling food in a food cart. Because you're ignorant. But you should learn English. It'll help you. Of course, yeah. When they deport you back to Egypt, and the muhabarat wants to interview you for being a... To my friends in immigration.

Really? All right, y'all, so here's the deal. That guy's name is Stuart Selderwitz, and here's what happened to Stuart. Now, that was not the only video where he was busted. Here was a second video that was recorded by the cart vendor, and this is the one that really went viral and has caused Stuart a little problem.

Watch this. Go. Why is she here? Go. Why is she here? Go. It's not my fault that you pray to a criminal. Listen, listen, I'm working now, okay? Can you leave, please? Go, please. They're not working. There's nobody here. I'm just working here, yeah.

There's nobody here. And we're going to put big signs here that say, this guy believes in Hamas. Do you want to buy something? No, I don't. Okay, why are you sitting here? I won't give you a penny of my money. Listen, listen, why are you sitting here?

What? Do you want to buy something? No. Okay, go. I don't want to go. I have a right to stand here. You have no right to be on the sidewalk. Do you have a permit? Yeah, I have a permit.

I have everything. I have a license. Okay, but you don't have a visa. I have a visa. Go. What do you have? It's not your business. Go.

Oh, it is my business because I actually know the guy who owns all these. I have American citizenship. Do you have it? You're an American citizen? Yeah, do you have it? How? How did you become an American citizen? It's not your business. Go. Oh, you're right. I was American citizen. You have it? You are American citizen? Yeah, I have it. Now how? How did you become an American citizen? It's not your business.

Go. No, you're right. I born here. But you're a terrorist. You support terrorism. Listen, go. I'm not support something. You do.

You support terrorism. I'm not some. You support killing little children. I'm just working here. You're a terrible person. You kill children, not me. What? Go.

My kids? What about my kids? You kill children, not me. Go. I didn't kill children. Okay, I see here. You know why? If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, you know what? It wasn't enough. It wasn't enough. Go, go, go, go. All right, y'all. So that guy's name is Stuart Selderwitz. He actually worked for the Obama administration in the State Department.

He has been fired from his job. He was apparently working for a, I'm trying to pull it up, the company he was working for. Bottom line is, homie no longer has his job. It was called Gotham Government Relations. He joined them a year ago as its foreign affairs chair. Here's the thing for me, Joy, that is dumb. This dude is dumb for attacking this man who's just doing his job. I think it's stupid, people tearing down the photos of hostages. That's dumb.

There have been people who have been fired. The photos of Israeli hostages posted, and folks have gone, torn them down, and they've been fired. It was a public defender who resigned from her job as a result. And so I don't, I just don't understand the need of folks to do that. Here's

the reality. 1,400 Israelis dead. Several thousand Palestinians dead. I keep saying death is death. And it's not justified death. It's real. I am

hopeful. I see the stories out there. They're nearing a potential ceasefire in order to release hostages. Hopefully that leads to something else. But you literally have people who are accosting others with an opposing view, people who are Jewish, people who are Palestinian or even who are not. And it's just shameful. It's shameful. You know, the speech is sacrosanct

in this country. But there is a line where you cross where you are harassing people, where you are inciting violence. That is not okay. That is not okay. So we want to protect people engaged in constitutionally protected speech. That's why I'm so proud of what the ACLU is doing, protecting students who are exercising their right to speak out against what they see as injustice in Palestine, in Gaza, in the Gaza region, and those students who are speaking out in favor of Israel. We want to protect that kind of speech. But what Stewart was doing should not be protected. And I hope that in addition to

being fired from his job, that folks are looking to him to make sure he is not some kind of risk, some kind of violence risk to, you know, both the people who are selling on the streets. I don't know if it was the same vendor he was harassing or if it was another one or anything else. Stewart is clearly on the edge. And frankly, they need to look back. He was a government employee. Did anyone have any complaints against him? Because Stewart's problems didn't just begin on October 7th. This is someone who's deeply disturbed. We are tired of people who are deeply disturbed for

reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with what is going on in Israel and Gaza. Making it about that, doing it in their name, they are wrong. Ron, this guy said 4,000 kids killed wasn't enough. I heard somebody else yell at some Jewish protesters, Hitler didn't finish the job.

That's some evil shit to say. You know, first of all, this particular conflict is bigger than what happened on October 7th. This is a conflict that goes back at least 70 years, going back to 1948. And even if you want to get outside of the technical historical record, we can go back to the Bible, the Koran and the Talmud and say this has been going on for millennia. But this particular situation is bringing out a lot of dark energy from just regular rank and file people. You know, we've seen the images that are coming out of Palestine. We've seen the images of hospitals being destroyed.

We've also seen the images of hostages being taken. And I feel like a lot of people are seeing these images and they're shocked by them and they're horrified by them. But the fact remains that passion, anger, and rage are valid emotions. What you do with those emotions is on you. And this is actually really surprising to me. I figured this guy was either some sort of investment banker or a broker or somebody who worked on Wall Street. The fact that he actually had a position in foreign policy and he worked in government administrations really is scary to me, because that makes me wonder what sort of policy was he crafting while he worked in government? What sort of policy was he crafting, and whose ear does he have right now if he's willing

to be bold enough to go out on the street and not even harass somebody in a government position? He's harassing some random guy with a food stand in New York. And it also shows you that I say this a lot, too. We got to get out of this idea of thinking that this sort of bigotry only happens in Mississippi and Alabama. That sort of mentality happened in New York, which is supposed to be the most diverse city in America. That sort of mentality happens everywhere. I just, for the life of me, Michael, don't get this notion of, let me literally attack somebody. I mean, to say Hitler didn't finish the job,

and to say 4,000 kids being killed, not enough. Mm-hmm. That's some evil. That's evil to say that that's pure evil but people uh like stewart little here are bullies and they they only pick on people who they think won't fight back and he's gonna make the mistake he's gonna run up on the wrong person on the underestimate them and they and're going to whoop his ass. That's what's going to happen.

I'm sorry to say. People like that won't stop, OK? There's something wrong with him. But he's going to run up on the wrong person on the right day, and they're going to whoop his ass. That's what's going to happen. So, but yeah, this is a complicated issue, as Teran was saying, and this also goes back even before 1948, when Israel declared their independence, going back to about 1516, when the Ottoman

Empire controlled that area that is in where we have the conflict. But it's important for people to really understand that the lives of Palestinians are equal to the lives of Israelis. The lives of Israelis are equal to the lives of Palestinians. OK, so you have innocent people on both sides being killed. Now, there are more casualties on the Palestinian side right now. it's close to 14,000. But this is a complicated issue dealing with not just Israel and Gaza,

but also Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, so that whole region, Northeast Africa and Middle East. So, hopefully, they can come to some resolve here.

And the real question is, who's going to control Gaza after Hamas? Got it. Which is the government. Yeah. Well, I would just say to folks, be wary of what you post., be wary what you post.

Be wary what you say because you could be guaranteed you losing your job. Just letting you know. All right, y'all, we come back. Marketplace segment. We'll talk about a company that makes products to protect your hats when traveling. Trust me, you don't want to miss this. There's different types of hats, and I'll show you exactly their products. It's pretty cool.

You're watching Roller Martin Unfiltered right here on the Blackstone Network. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, have you ever had a million dollar idea and wondered how to bring it to life? Well, it's all about turning problems into opportunities. On our next Get Wealthy, you'll learn of a woman who identified the overload bag syndrome and now she's taking that money to the bank

through global sales in major department stores. And I was just struggling with two or three bags on the train. And I looked around on the train and I said, you know what? There are a lot of women that are carrying two or three bags. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns.

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

So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. Waits $100,000. We're behind $100,000. So we want to hit that. Y'all money makes this possible. Check some money orders. Go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C.,

20037-0196. The Cash App is $RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at Rolandunfiltered. Venmo is rmunfiltered. Zelle is roland at rolandsmartin.com. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from L.A., and this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation, you and me.

We talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 PM 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.

Me Sherri Sheppard with Sammie Roman. I'm Dr. Robin B., pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks. So when I was in a... A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action.

And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull

will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

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

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. 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. Atlanta for InvestFest. Randy Bryant, who you often see on our show,

she actually had a booth that was in the exhibit halls. A whole bunch of vendors that were in there. So as I was heading over to her booth, I was speaking to people, taking selfies and stuff along those lines,

and I came across this one booth where I saw this pretty interesting box. And so this is what it was. And I came across this one booth where I saw this pretty interesting box. And so this is what it was. And I saw it, and I was like, yo, what's that? And so the assistant was in the booth. She began to tell me exactly the products they had. And I was like, yo, that's pretty cool.

And so she gave me her card, thank goodness, because I completely, I told her, I also told her to email me. She didn't email me. But thank goodness I remember I had her card, and I found it. And so I told Carol, hey, let's get her on the show. Because, you know, we always want to feature different black-owned businesses. You got Christmas coming up. And I just saw this, and I was like, yo, this is a really great product, folks. And so the company's called the Welkin Society.

The CEO is Tadrika Strickland Peacock. She joins us right now. And Tadrika, glad to have you here. And so this is actually a product that protects your hats while you're traveling, correct? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. that protects your hats while you're traveling, correct? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. It is a hard shell hat case. It is a backpack as well.

So you can have a diverse carry. The straps are adjustable, so you can change them to make it a cross body. Not only can you carry your hat in here, we also have the ability to open it a cross body. Not only can you carry your hat in here, we also have the ability to open it up and inside there is a removable brim protector. So you can actually carry your clothes, shoes, outfits, toiletries.

You can have your whole outfit in here and just get ready. All right, so help me. So I, which is backpack. Faith, come here. So faith is my niece. She's uh, she's at how you risk get over here Come on, you might have a little something get over here Get over here. You walking slow. We don't live TV. You got to move faster All right, so so when you say okay, so when you say it, it's a backpack so Now is it is it for both shoulders or just a strap across? Both shoulders.

OK, I don't know how that's done. OK, you got to show me how that's done. But you see this right here? You attach the strap up here, and then you attach the two down here. So these parts right here are going to go on your body. Okay, we'll figure that out later. Okay, but in the meantime, you can

actually put it on. Come on, stick your arm through. Come on, Rockhead, stick your arm through. Alright, I messed up your bun. You'll be alright. So you can actually, again, you put it across your body so you can actually carry it. And what's interesting is, step over here.

So what was interesting is that when I open it up, so this is on the inside. Now, is this, does this one on the inside come with it or is this a separate hat box? No, that's a separate hat box. Gotcha. All right. Because, no, I'm just checking because this was on the inside of that one. And I was like, okay, does that come on the inside? Now, this one is actually pretty cool because I thought this was cool

because so I have, I play golf, and I have different straw hats. And so this one here holds your smaller hats, right? Yes, sir. Yes, sir, it does. And it is a backpack as well. All right, same thing, the backpack as well. Now, the reason I liked this one, all right, just take this one off, sir. Yes, sir. It does. And it is a backpack as well. All right. Same thing. It's a backpack as well. Now, the reason I liked this one... All right. Just take this one off, Faith.

So the reason I like this one is because... All right. Hold that. So what typically... So I'm going to show you the con... So typically, like, I have cowboy hats and other hats as well. Uh-huh. And so this is the normal... This is the normal style hat box when you travel.

And so the problem with this, the problem for me with this one is that pretty much it only fits one hat. It only fits one hat. So what I thought was cool about your, what I thought was cool about your hat box when I popped this one open, was, when I popped this one open, was that when I opened this one here, I kept this in,

because you said this is the brim protector, right? Yes, sir. All right, what I thought was cool is I can literally carry three cowboy hats in one. Yes, sir. So that way, because part of the problem when you're traveling, you know, you only got one, so now you got to sort of coordinate all your clothes around that one

particular hat where I can do different ones here. And you also have one for baseball caps, right? Yes, sir, I sure do. All right, and so same thing. All right, take that one off, Faith. So this one's also pretty cool. Now, this one has only, doesn't have a backpack, right? No, it's just a shoulder strap.

All right, so just a shoulder. Yeah, you can just put that across your body. I thought that one was also pretty cool. And you said you don't have to actually carry hats and you can carry other stuff. Yes, sir. Right, and so I thought this one was pretty cool too because this one has enough room.

I told you I tried this. See, I know to run and I'm like, so I actually pull this, so I actually put in one, it's an alpha hat, Astros, Roland Martin unfiltered, another Alpha hat, my homeboy, Wendell Hogan's original T-Golf Classic, and another hat.

So actually, this one, I actually was able to put six baseball caps in this one. Yes, sir. So how'd you come up with this? Well, you know, living in Atlanta, you go to the airport and you see a lot of things. And I saw so many people in the airport

with five and six hats on their head traveling. Are you serious? I'm telling you, you have a wife will have on two hats, the husband got on three. It's crazy in the airport. But people will wear multiple hats on their head so they don't have to take their hat. Or, like, for the ball caps,

they actually attach them to their duffel bag and then try to put it up in the overhead compartment. Well, of course, they're going to get crushed up there. You know, you can only protect it so much in the overhead compartment. It's like a free-for-all. So when did you create this? What year was it?

I created this in 2021. So, but the idea came from just walking around the airport going, they ain't got nothing to carry their hats in. Yeah, a lot of my products that I have are because of things that I feel that people need that we just don't have. I'm a creative in that nature. I also like to help and do service. So my hat cases are just one of the many products that I offer that provide

protection against the natural and technological element. Gotcha. All right, hold up. I needed something to cover up. I needed something to cover up Faith's buns. So let me, what? Your mama just texted me. She said I can do this. She said,

cover that bun. Let's see. Cover that bun up. There you go. Don't pull on the brim. I had the brim done, girl. That ain't going to do it. Your bun is too damn big. That'll do it. Don't touch the brim.

That'll do it. There you go.. Don't touch the brim. Okay, okay, I'm sorry. That'll do it. There you go. I'm smushing your bun. All right, so you talked about for the hats. What other products do you have? Well, I also sell prescription-ready blue light glasses. All of our glasses are prescription-ready like the ones I have on,

but they're pre-coded for blue light for people that just want a nice pair of fashionable blue light glasses, but don't feel like they need to go to the optometrist to get glasses. They can just buy mine right off the bat. And then if they do need prescription, they can take them to the optometrist and get prescription in them. Our sunnies actually are the blue light glasses with the actual sunglass component attached. So you have the option to wear sunglasses and your regular glasses too. A lot of people don't like transitions. Those were created because I kept seeing people at the store that would have on their regular glasses and have sunglasses sitting on top of them. All right.

I was like, this is crazy. What are all the other bags you got in front of you right now? So this is our newest product. These are our concealed carry bags. All of our concealed carry bags lock to protect tiny hands and sticky fingers. Oh, that's right. You showed me that bag. I was like, I ain't going to need that.

I don't carry no gun. But go ahead. Say it again about the tiny finger things. Tiny hands and sticky fingers from accessing protective devices. All of our bags come with a removable holster for people like you that don't necessarily carry a protective device,

but want to protect their passports, wallets, phones while they're traveling. They can just lock it up in here and all of our bags lock and all of our bags have removable holsters for that purpose. Because we know that everybody doesn't carry protective devices, but they may have medications. They may have other items that they may want to protect and store away and lock up. So all of our bags that you see here are basically we're doing a movement called Tastefully Tactical. We believe that you should not have to look like what you carry.

If you want to carry concealed in a bag, it shouldn't have all those rivets and buckles and things on it or look military. It could look professional. It could look casual. It doesn't have to basically look like what is going on with the bag. Cool. Uh, questions for the panel. Uh, Joy, you first. First of all, sis, I love this. I don't know if you can hear me. I love it. She got you. Thank you. Please tell me, please tell me you are hearing from the NRA and they are

going to allow you to sell at their conference. I have not, but I have worked with NAGA, the National African American Gun Owners Association, and I was at their conference this past summer. And did you see a lot of bags there? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I did get a lot of

support from the community. Yes, sir. All right. Toron? Yes. First of all, sister, that's a brilliant idea. I got to go while you were talking about Roland. I had to go put my scully on and everything just to give you an idea for another. You don't need no damn bag for that. You can just stuff that in a damn backpack. You put that in your pocket. I want to be fly, too, like y'all and stuff. I ain't gonna rock no cowboy hat, but I'll put on a hoodie when I got to go outside of my sculling, you know what I mean? Plus, I got a lot of hair up here.

You don't need no bag for that. Look, we sell satin-lined scullies too. I just don't have them out today, but we sell satin-lined scullies to keep those edges fresh and safe from getting rubbed out by the hat. So we do have those. I ain't got no more edges. Baby, he ain't got no hair. He don't need...

He ain't got no hair. He don't need no satin line, uh, Scully. He don't need none of that. He got a... He got a... He got a little bit. Yeah, Joy can use it,

uh, but... Go ahead, Tori. Why don't you ask your question? No, real quick, though. Um, first of all, your stuff is brilliant and your ideas are amazing

and I wish you much success. Have you thought about maybe hitting up some markets where players like brothers wear a lot of hats, like the D.C. area, Atlanta, where you see a lot of brothers rocking fedoras? And have you thought about reaching out to maybe like religious conventions? Because, you know, sisters wear their crowns to church for conventions. Have you thought of that? Yes, sir. I actually talked to some people about preparing to attend some of those conferences next year. I'm learning about conferences as I grow in my business.

So eventually I'll have my great list of conferences to attend and I'll be able to align them with my product line. Thank you. Much success. This stuff is beautiful. Michael. Thank you. I product line. Thank you. Much success to you. This stuff is beautiful. Michael. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Hey, Cedrica. Hey, this is a fantastic idea,

and I could definitely use the wonderful baseball hats for, like, my Phi Beta Sigma fraternity baseball hat. Roland doesn't know anything about this. You damn right. I don't know nothing about that. I don't know nothing. That little flimsy-ass hat, I don't know nothing about that. I don't know nothing. That little flimsy ass hat, you don't even protect that hat. Roland.

That little flimsy little hat. Roland, Roland, Roland. You're rolling. You're like a black Yosemite Sam, Roland, with that hat on. Hey, hey, hey. Don't hate. I'm native Texan. Don't hate.

And listen, listen. That's why I kept telling Faith, don't touch my brim. I took mine in and had them properly steam the brim so it was just right. So that's why I got – see, I teach her. You ain't got a cowboy hat, do you? I got to teach her when you do a hat, you got to be slow right here, and you got to hold it like this here so you don't mess the brim up. But those of you who don't nothing about hats,

that don't nothing about hats, that's how you do it. Right, I understand. And that's how you're supposed to put it on, like this here. See? You don't know. Go ahead and ask your little question. So, Cedrica, for my LL Cool J Kangol hat right here, would I wear the same?

Would I use the same one for the baseball hats for this one? Or do you have something like a different style for this? No, that one would actually fit in a baseball cap one because it's got a wide enough base for that one to fit and not be messed up. OK, so for the baseball hat one, like about how many do you say six? How many hats can you get in there ideally? Now you are talking about a cat tol hat, so that's a whole different hat because those are... Just say for baseball hats.

I could have fit about eight. I got six in here right now. Okay. I probably could have fit another two in there. And again, this large one, like I have fedoras as well and other cowboy hats.

So, again, I got three, and these, I got three large cowboy hats in here. Fedoras are a little smaller. And so, yeah, and this is, and again, this is easily, this could actually slide under the seat or even fit above. Okay. Yes, sir. All right, great idea. So what's the range, the cost for, like, the baseball cap one, the large one, and the mid-sized one?

The baseball cap one is $66. The medium-sized one in the middle, that one is $100, and the large one is $200. Gotcha. Well, listen, when you, well, first of all, one of my cowboy hats was $140 by itself, and the last thing you want to do is get your nice hats messed up. And I'm sure you sell a whole bunch of these for all them

Dorothy Height-style church sister in them hats, huh? Yes, sir. Well, them and the fedora wearers, because, you know, Atlanta is the land of the largest brim, so that's why I created this case, because I initially started with the case in the middle, and I got a lot of big brim guys and girls

saying, hey, you know what? You got something bigger than this, and so I went into the lab and created this one. Where do you make your products? Where are they made? They are made overseas. Okay. I got you. And so you've been doing this

since 2021? Yes, sir. Well, I'll tell you from a hat person, I know my dad's watching, and no, I'm not bringing these home for you. So, just letting you know right now, don't even send

me no damn text message, you know, because, you know, when I have alcohol folk and other kinds of, like, bring me one of those back. No, no, I ain't bringing this home. But the reality is, and like I said, you know, this is the traditional style right here, and I always

hate it. I always hate it. I always hate it. Like, I was flying the other day, and one of D.O. Hughley's guys said the entertainer flies with his hats as well. And I hate this because, again, all you can do is just carry this, and you can really only fit one hat in it. And so I like the fact that you can throw this

over your shoulder, wear it as a backpack, and, again, you can get three large, let's say the three cowboy hats in here as well. So you have your discount code. So the website is? www.thewelkinsociety.com First of all, why is it called the Welkin Society? Where did that name come from? Welkin means heaven. TheWelkinsSociety.com. First of all, why is it called The Welkins Society? Where did that name come from?

Welkin means heaven. It's a word from the Old English, late 1700s, early 1800s. Okay. All right, then. So go to TheWelkinsSociety.com. I want you all to use the discount code ROLAND20, R-O-L-A-N-D-20. And so you all can check out these products. You can check out the other products there as well. And so you can do that.

I know you're going to text your mom and daddy to buy you something. What? You text your mom and daddy to buy you something. What? One of the products or something like that, you know. Yeah, sure, sure. Girl, shut up. Anyway, so again, go to thewelkinssociety.com

use the promo code ROLAND20. So, Jika, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Good luck and great to meet you there at InvestFest. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Roland. I really appreciate you giving me the opportunity to be on your show today.

Alright, well let us know how the sales go from all the people who are watching. So we appreciate it. Thank you, sir. All right. Thanks a lot, folks. That is it for us. Again, Michael, you don't need no hat,

but a little bit of a little flimsy ass. I mean, there ain't nothing to protect. You could as bad as just roll that son of a bitch up and just stick it in the backpack. And Toron, I don't know what you're talking about. You don't... Again, you can stuff

yours in the pocket and you'll be fine. That's how they get less. All right. All right. And I know Joy. I know Joy. You got Joy. I know Joy. You got one of them Dorothy Hyde church hats. I most certainly do, and it's in pink and green for Alpha Kappa Alpha. I guarantee you got more than one of them big-ass hats.

Can't sit behind you at church. We ain't seeing nothing. Never. Nothing. All right. Y'all, that is it. Big word, no big hat. That is it. Let me thank Joy, Toron, and Michael.

Tune in to tomorrow's show, folks. I'll be chatting with Corrine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary, about the economic gains under the Biden-Harris administration. Also, George Wolfe and Colman Domingo, the director and the star of the Netflix movie, Rustin, joining us as well. Plus, an exclusive interview, one hour interview,

with former Attorney General Eric Holder, where he talks about their work fighting for voting rights all across this country. It's a fantastic show tomorrow. Can't wait for y'all to check it out. So we'll see you then. Y'all be sure to have a great one. Don't forget, support us in what we do. Join the Bring the Funk fan club.

See your ticket money order. PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 2-0-0-3-7-0-1-9-6. Cash app, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal, R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And then you can also download the Black Sun Network app, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV.

You can, of course, also watch our 24-hour streaming channel. It's on Amazon News, so go to Amazon Fire. You can also tell Alexa to play news from the Black Star Network. You can also go to Plex TV. You can go to Amazon Freebie. You can also go

to Amazon Prime Video. And of course, be sure to get a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at bookstores nationwide. Download the audio version on Audible as well. And if you have a rockhead niece like mine, I got nine of them, all you gotta do

is just keep just smackin' upside the head, especially when they wear piercings in their nose. What is wrong with you? Don't sneeze, you're gonna blow out some metal. All right, I gotta go, I'll see y'all tomorrow. Holla! Make sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Rolla. Be Black. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network

and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scary. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? you Thank you. A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. Small but important ways.

From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Sure. 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. 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 thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.