#RolandMartinUnfiltered - House GOP bans DC mayor; GOP Biden probe; Black woman on Mi. state court; Calls for Santos to resign

Episode Date: January 12, 2023

1.11.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: House GOP bans DC mayor; GOP Biden probe; Black woman on Mi. state court; Calls for Santos to resign Congress passed a new rule banning D.C.'s Mayor Muriel Bowser from the U.S. House floor. We examine how this Republican political move penalizes democratic policymakers.  We will speak to the first Black female justice in Michigan's state court. Michigan Justice Kyra Harris Bolden is joining us to discuss this historic appointment.  A Texas community is renaming a recreation center after Atatiana Jefferson, the black woman killed by a white police officer.  Calls are growing louder for newly elected disgraced congressman George Santos to resign. We will show you the video of the two Democratic members of Congress who hand-delivered his ethics complaint.  Continuing our New You Fit Live Win, Fitness Expert Funk Roberts specializes in helping men over 40 get and stay fit.  Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. We'll be right back. Make sure that our stories are told. I thank you for being the voice of Black America, Rollin'. 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 scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Să ne urmăm. Today is Wednesday, January 11th, 2023.

Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Congress passed a new rule, Republican-led House. The Republican-led House has passed a new rule banning the mayor of D.C., Meryl Bowser, from the House floor. Yeah. We'll talk about how trifling this is.

Also, we'll speak to the first black female justice in Michigan's state court. Michigan Justice Kyra Harris Bolden will join us to discuss her historic appointment. A Texas community is remaining a recreation center, renaming a recreation center after Atiana Jefferson, the black woman killed by a white police officer in Fort Worth.

Also, calls are growing louder for newly elected disgraced Congressman George Santos of Long Island to resign this time. Democrats and Republicans are saying, yeah, you gotta go. Also, continuing our FitLive, first of all, I knew you in 2023. We'll talk with fitness expert Funk Roberts,

who specializes in helping men over 40 and 50 stay fit. So look forward to that conversation, y'all. It is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on 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 believe he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's rolling, Martin Rolling with rolling now.

Yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best, you know he's Rollin' Martin now. Martin. Now that Republicans are in control of the U.S. House, they are changing the rules. And one of those rules, they are preventing the mayor of Washington, D.C., from having access to the House floor. But it's not just her. It's also folks from Puerto Rico and other territories. Again, so Republicans made the change on Monday night when they passed the new House rules package.

The change bans Bowser, as well as the governor from U.S. territories like Puerto Rico, from being on the floor. Although the move will not impact Bowser's mayoral duties, Democrats believe it sends a clear political message. The new rules grant 17 categories of people, including governors and foreign ministers. A. Scott Bolden is a lawyer here in D.C., Joe Richardson, civil rights attorney, as well as Monique Presley, legal analyst and host of Make It Make Sense with Monique Presley. Glad to have all three of you here. Scott, okay, so for people who don't understand, the reality is Washington, D.C., of course, we know, is not a state. And so Congress— It should be.

Well, we know it should be. Congress has authority. And so what typically happens is when Democrats are in control, they treat Washington, D.C. and its elected officials a lot differently than Republicans do. Yet, when there's something that Republicans want, then they'll oppose their will. So, for instance, when Republicans supported opportunity vouchers

for folks to be able to take public dollars and go to private schools, they passed that law governing Washington D.C., and so you've always had this back and forth over how Republicans treat leadership in Washington D.C. compared to Democrats.

Which is why they won't pass the necessary legislation for statehood because eight out of every ten people in D.C. are Democrats. But they have no problem when we save them on January 6th when the Capitol Police needed the help the most. It was the D.C. police that were there and our tax dollars at work. It is also why they will not allow us to tax at the source of income. Sixty percent to 70 percent of every individual who's in Washington nine to five during the week is a Maryland and Virginia resident.

And we lose those tax revenues. But that's another issue. The message being sent here by the Republicans is complete nonsense, if you will. She's always the mayor of the District of Columbia, can be on the floor for any number of reasons as the guest of both Republican and Democrats. And so it's more pettiness on the part of the Republicans. That's why we don indentured servants to America and why we obviously continue to rely on the federal government because they will not allow us to be self-actualizing as a jurisdictional entity. Monique, again, Republicans are showing who they are by being, as Scott said, petty. You're on mute. You're, petty. You're on mute. You're on mute. Happy New Year, Scott.

Well, you should know by now I don't operate a computer. When you ain't holding your tongue about your bad, I'm just letting you know. Here he comes helping. Roland is the host, Scott. Listen. They're not just petty, right? They're racist.

And this seems petty. This seems like, you know, petty with no purpose. But as Scott said, yes, indentured servants, yes, District of Columbia is left-leaning, is heavily Democratic, is chocolate still, even with all of the gentrification and amelioration, still chocolate. So when they do these things, what they are saying is no Black folks for us, right? It's not just about politics. It's not just about a vote. It is about taxation without representation.

And they won't even enable the leader who should be governor for the District of Columbia to be there where the action happens, even though it's not like she could have a vote. It's not like unless she was called upon, she could have a say. But there are many things that are not covered that need to be covered. You know, they're doing all of this, asking for C-SPAN to have more reach with its cameras, et cetera, and so on. There are things that directly affect the District of Columbia every single day. Decisions about federal dollars, decisions about federal buildings, decisions about the way that income is generated and the things that Scott pointed out. And they want her, because she is effective, they want her out. Joe, first of all, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, she is the D.C. representative in Congress. And again, when the Democrats are in charge, she actually gets a vote.

Well, Republicans in charge, we see how that changes. They're showing us exactly who they are. Yeah, no doubt about it. And Happy New Year, everybody. And Monique stole my term, taxation without representation. You know, that's just what this describes. I mean, this describes this clearly. And it's their term. It's the reason why America was founded. And fundamentally speaking, I mean, we all know, we can see 101, right? We talk about 2043. Well, it's been done happened at Washington, D.C., right?

There's always been majority-minority, always mostly Black folks. And so, therefore, Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has been a D.C. representative for 30 years or more, I remember seeing her in 1992 when I was working with Congresswoman Waters, they've been fighting the good fight. And by and large, you know, until the mid-'90s, most of the time, the Democrats had the House. And so even while they were kind of going along the road with some of these things, they could still be there. They weren't flushed out just because they were black. And they reminded them of a reality that's a little bit closer than the Republicans actually wanted to be.

But here we are again, right? And, you know, I guess the thing that we can take solace in, our silver lining is that the Republicans, I sense, could continue to make the mistakes and have the fumbles that will prescribe this as just a two-year problem. Well, these are American citizens. That's who they are. Folks in Puerto Rico, they are American citizens. And you see how Republicans treat American citizens.

They don't particularly want to have a vote in Congress because, again, they're scared those are going to be blue territories and not red territories. All right, folks. Hey, Roland, the GOP may not know that they're scared those are going to be blue territories and not red territories. All right, folks. Hey, Roland, the GOP may not know that they're American citizens. Well, no, trust me, they know. But we know how utterly silly they are. All right, hold tight one second. We'll talk politics more when we come back.

As they continue to go after President Joe Biden, we'll tell you about that. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Also join our Bring the Funk fan club. Senior Check-In Money Orders at PO Box 57196, Washington D.C. 20037-0196.

Cash App is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. And Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And be sure to get a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. In fact, folks in St. Louis, I will see you on January 21st at

3 p.m. at the St. Louis Area Urban League. I'll be discussing my book and I'll be questioning about it by Mike McMillan who leads this Urban League as well as my man Tef Poe. So looking forward to coming to St. Louis. So mark your calendars. It's going to be free and open to the public. You guys can get your book.

I'll be signing copies as well. So make a note. In St. Louis on the 21st of January. That's a Saturday after next. And really looking forward to it. So St. Louis, let's do something, folks. But if you're not in St. Louis, you're in St. Louis, you're in St. Louis on the 21st of January. That's a Saturday after next. Really looking forward to it. So, St. Louis, let's do something. Folks, but if

you're not there, order your book from the bookstore. Download the copy from Audible. Order through your favorite black bookstore. Alright, folks, I'll be right back on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Most people think that these television shows that tell stories about who we are as black men, and then they paint these monolithic portraits of us.

They think that they're being painted by white people. And I got to tell you, there are a whole bunch of black folk that are the creators, the head writers, the directors of all of these shows and that are still painting us as monoliths. So people don't really want to have this conversation. No, they don't. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Kopp. Our legal roundtable is back in session as we look at yet another potential landmark case being considered by the United States Supreme Court. This one is called 303 Creative v. Alenis and may be the most important and far-reaching First Amendment, that is, freedom of speech, case of our time. three creative versus elenis and maybe the most important and far-reaching first amendment that

is freedom of speech case of our time it could depending on how the court rules open the door for a return of jim crow segregation laws it's true if you say we can discriminate against one you're saying we can discriminate against all. That's on the next Black Tape. Don't miss it right here on the Black Star Network. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on the culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. filtered. Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. Well, the House Republicans opened their long-promised investigation into President Joe Biden and his family with the power of their new majority in the House.

Demands for information from the Treasury Department and former Twitter executives are beginning to lay the groundwork for public hearings. The House Oversight Committee sent letters to the Treasury Department requiring flagged suspicious financial transactions by members of the Biden family. Lawmakers also want testimony from multiple former Twitter executives involved in the company's handling of an October 2020 story from the New York Post

about Hunter Biden. Republicans claim the story was suppressed for political reasons. So we can expect more of these shenanigans, Monique, taking place over the next two years as long as the Republicans are in control of the House. And you know what? What the heck? Hey, of course, Biden is not going to do it, but be fair play. Hell, fight them the way Trump did. Don't give them a damn thing. Right. No, I mean, he's not going to do that. It's going to be different because he's not going to have anything to give. So that's a different story. They will cooperate as much as they can cooperate, but there's not going to be reams and reams of evidence in the ivory tower.

There's not going to be reams and reams of documents, and I'll probably talk about that later, from Mar-a-Lago all the way to House offices. That's not going to happen. The thing that concerns me about this is the thing that always concerns me. This is happening from the fiscally responsible party, right? These are the people who don't believe in wasting money, don't believe in wasting taxpayer dollars, want to decrease government spending and financing for useless, wasteful things. But here they are. That's all they really care about doing. And it's not by accident. And it's not just petty. I'm not going to talk about racism right now. I'm going to talk

about another thing that is their problem. They have no ideas. They don't have big ideas. They don't have small ideas. They have no way really that they have considered in order to take America forward. So they have to fill the time with something, and this is it. Joe, and again, I'm just trying to tell people it's going to be more of this. It's going to be more childish behavior, more pettiness, and we're going to see that. And what the American people are going to show,

oh, y'all actually had no agenda. Oh, you actually didn't want to get anything done. First of all, they already, with their decision to try to repeal the funding for the 87,000 new IRS agents, first of all, which would be hired over 10 years, not like it's going to be hired next year, by that decision, it will decrease the amount of money the IRS brings in. And so their decision will actually increase the deficit by $100 billion. But they claim they believe in slashing the deficit. Right. Yeah, exactly. So you want to slash the deficit.

Start off with all of these tax breaks that you've done. You know, now you want to have a fight on the floor about, you know, well, you've got to do cuts to go along with it. We won't agree with the debt ceiling increase and all these other things. Well, that was a discussion to start at the beginning. Now, if you go back to the last platform for the Republican Party when Trump was elected, well, dominated for reelection. There was no platform. So they're letting you know that they have no agenda. They've created a committee about trying to see about the distrust of government. I forget what it is that they call it, you know, with Jim Jordan dealing with that. And so I think that, again, the Republicans are going to give us a lot of help to help us keep office, maybe even to spite ourselves in a moment on the Democratic side, and to

get the House back. But here's what the Democrats have to do. Democrats have to make sure their narrative is what it needs to be. We are very poor at narrative. Now, we have gotten some help. It's looked better lately. You know, we used to say a few months ago, we're talking about how Republicans keep it all together. They get power and then they dole it out and they stay together. And right now it looks like the Dems are the ones that are staying together folks that elect them who don't want them to get anything done or didn't send them to get anything done. OK, and then we have to make sure that the narrative is what it needs to be.

So people blame the folks and the party that needs to be blamed for it. So, yeah, so we'll see how it all goes. But the narrative is there to be told that these guys don't have an agenda. They don't want to accomplish anything. And at the end of the day, I would like to think that the American people aren't going to be pleased with that when we still are bringing inflation down, even though there's been progress, when we still are doing things that need to be done and people are hurting. And so we'll see how well we tell that story. Well, you know what? I'll say this, Scott. The reason I think you're going to see a difference when we talk about this narrative is because Hakeem Jeffries is now the Democratic leader. Look, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who never

appeared on this show, you know, she didn't do a lot of interviews. She really wasn't out there being very vocal. In fact, here is Congressman Hakeem Jeffries eviscerating going after the Republicans with regards to their bill where they want to enact a national ban on abortion. Watch this. You come to the floor as part of your march to criminalize abortion care,

to impose a nationwide ban, to set into motion government mandated pregnancies. So that's the distinction for today. As Democrats, we believe in a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive health care decisions. Period. Full stop. A decision that should be between a woman, her family and her doctors. Period. Full stop. We believe in Roe v. Wade. You wonder about our position? That's it. The Women's Health Protection Act, that's it. Freedom to make your own reproductive health care decisions, that's it. As compared to a clear effort, that's what this bill is about today, a march toward criminalizing abortion care. I think, again, Scott, I think it's going to be a little different

when you talk about messaging for the Democrats with Jeffries as the leader. Well, I think the White House should follow suit and learn a lot from Hakeem Jeffries. He's going to be not only out there speaking early but often, but he's an articulate, eloquent, and passionate voice for what it means to be a Democrat in this country. You know, the White House messaging has to be better on this. The Republicans are all about power and about fighting and what have you. The bread and butter issues that they ran on in the midterms, this is not what they are trying to make this country better on. They're trying to do investigations. And I think the White House ought to treat these investigations as annoyances, right? Nuances, but not annoyances, but annoyances in regard to cooperating or not cooperating.

Because the focus that can be going on in the background, the Democrats have to message that we're about making America better, fixing America's problems and the bread and butter issues with the party for that. The Republicans will implode, notwithstanding these investigations, because of that far-right extreme Freedom Caucus that has always been changed. As I understand the rules, might be able to change speakers at any time, if you will, with just one person complaining. And so the Democrats have to stay above this fray.

They cannot get down with the clowns and the circus. They've got to stay above the fray and message that they're really the best party to lead America. And I think you're going to see this because of the Republicans. But you've got to fight, though. I mean, you still got to fight back. Yeah. You fight back annoyances, for sure, right?

But you do it in a way where you're not down there fighting with idiots. You want this document? Okay, we'll give you this document. And then you message that document. You message what it means, and you message how petty and inappropriate it is or the meaninglessness of it all. For example, with Biden's documents, the security documents that were found, right? I think they handled that just right. They voluntarily turned it over to DOJ. He says, hey, I don't know what this is, but we did these, we went through this procedure. That's what it is. Republicans can yell and scream and say, this is the same as Trump. It's not the same as Trump. Messaging, messaging, messaging. And they don't have to

get down and fight the Republicans over these security documents that Biden had, because they'll try to do the comparative. It's nuanced messaging. You give them what they want and then ignore them while opposing them in a way that is far more sophisticated than what the Republicans are showing America with their clown show last week and their clown show with these investigations. I don't know. Here's my whole deal. Look.

But what do you want to do? Fight, yell, scream, and look just like them? Scott, Scott, Scott. You want to do that? If you listen, you'll know. Every time, every time Jim Jordan opens his mouth, I would say, ain't you the same one who ignored the subpoena for January 6th? Oh, so now you believe in the rule of law. Every time they try that, I would hit them with something along those lines by saying, oh, so now y'all care about subpoenas.

Now you care about congressional committees. Now you care about congressional committees. Now you care about this here. Play their own words and smack them in the head with their words. Gotta go to a break, folks. Yeah, but hypocrisy only will get you so far. Scott, Scott, Scott, Scott. I told you, Scott. I was clear on what I said.

Now, coming up next, we're going to talk to the first black woman to serve on the Michigan State Supreme Court. Look forward to having a conversation with her. That's right, folks. It's a sister now on that Supreme Court, and she'll join us next. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. 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.

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PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. The number of people working from home has quadrupled to almost 30%. You're going to learn how you can now create your money space. It can impact your mood, your mindset, and your ability to get wealthy. Interior designer Nikki Kluge joins us to share exactly what you need to do to create a winning workspace. Make a space that is going to instantly put you in the mindset so that you can be more productive,

so that you're organized, so that you're inspired, or you're really focusing in on the task at hand. That's right here on Get Wealth bench, and now you have to do this for Justice Bernstein every time we take the bench, and now you have to. Oh, gosh. Well, history was made at the top of the year, folks, when the great-granddaughter of a lynching victim became the first black woman associate justice on the Michigan State Supreme Court. Kyra Harris Bolden was sworn in as the first black female justice in Michigan State Court's 185-year history. She was appointed to the high court by Governor Gretchen Whitmer last year.

Bolden, an experienced former criminal defense attorney, will succeed Justice Bridget Mary McCormick, who retired last year. Bolden is one of seven female justices in the state. She joins me now. Justice Bolden, how are you doing? I'm doing well, doing well. Thank you for having me. Well, you couldn't help but smile when we played that video there of them trying to get your robe. I mean, that still has to be a new, wonderful feeling for you. It is, it is. And I was smiling because whenever I see my daughter in that clip, it's just so... It just brings tears to my eyes.

And I'm sitting in her room because she usurped my office. So these are the books behind me. But... Hold up, hold up. How you on the Supreme Court? And she, you ain't got the authority at the crib? No, no.

Everything is about my daughter now. So she took over my office so she could have a place to sleep. I think that was a good decision. Gotcha, gotcha. It is, first of all, people don't understand me, you actually were running for Supreme Court, correct? Yes, that's correct. I spent the better part of last year running for the court while I was pregnant.

I had a baby midway through the campaign, and I finished the campaign with the newborn. And so and now, of course, then the governor appoints you to the position. And one of the things that is important, we've seen this with President Joe Biden on the federal level, former defense attorneys, former public defenders being appointed judges all too often in American history, when we look at judges, whether they've been federal judges, whether they've been on the state Supreme Court, any levels, they've been largely white men who were prosecutors. Yes, yes. And I am very different from that, obviously. You know, being someone that is would be considered young, being someone that is a new mom, someone that is a descendant of a lynching victim and being the first black woman on our Michigan Supreme Court in 2023.

It is unacceptable. It is unacceptable. It is unacceptable. I'm proud to be that representation, but it is time for representation like this across our country. Oh, absolutely. And the reason I bring that up, because, you know, there's a sign over the Supreme Court that is etched in stone, equal justice under law. And the fact of the matter is we know as African-Americans that has not been the case since the inception of this country. And when you begin to diversify the bench, not only when it comes to color, not only when it comes to gender, when it comes to experience, then you're bringing a different perspective. We've already seen that with Judge Katonji Brown-Jackson. She came out the gate on the U.S. Supreme Court with her questions. She didn't play the usual, let me just sit back and be quiet and just be happy I'm here. No. I mean, she came out bringing all of that perspective to the Supreme Court on day one.

Absolutely. Absolutely. It's so important. So the voice of a Black woman has not been represented on the highest court in the state of Michigan until now. And I understand that weight. And when you create space and bring different perspectives, you know, I think something wonderful happens. It's so important to have a diversity of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences at that table because they're making what we are making. It's my first day. We are making decisions that really affect the lives of Michiganders for generations to come. And so it's important to have that diverse voice at the table to make sure you're bringing in all the experiences of Michiganders when we're making these very, very important decisions. You know, one of the things that, as I think back, and I'd love to get your thoughts on this as well,

is when you look at this state, and most people, again, when they look at Michigan, people think, oh, Michigan, blue state. It's blue collar. You got black folks in Detroit, but there's a whole lot of red in Michigan as well. And then we saw the last couple of years where you had a decision by the voters

when it came to redrawing congressional lines. We saw this year how the courts ruled when it came to the issue of abortion being on the ballot. For years, we've heard conservatives complain about activist judges. We're seeing what is happening with other courts as well. If you could describe your judicial philosophy, what would that be? So that's really interesting. Obviously, I get asked that question a lot. I think maybe because I am on the younger side, I have said over and over again, for me, I don't want to put myself in a box and to tell people that I'm going to look at

every single case in the exact same manner. I don't think that's fair to Michiganders. And so I want to take in as much information as possible and make the best decisions possible. And that may be different philosophies and different methods depending upon the case. But I think each case deserves its own unique set of eyes. And that's one thing that I think is also unique that I bring to the table as well. When we talk about the law, we are seeing and I think people are seeing that we always hear about, oh, it's important to get elected officials in place because we can change the law or pass new laws. But in this country, there are three branches of government, and that is the legislative, there's the executive, and then there is a judicial.

And I have long said, my TV One show, this show here, to African Americans, we cannot overlook and ignore the importance of judges. Absolutely. It's so important. So with my own family history that you mentioned earlier, my great-grandfather, Jesse Lee Bond, was lynched in Tennessee in 1939 after asking a store owner for a receipt. And a lynch mob ensued, and he was beaten and castrated and thrown into the local river. And the coroner deemed it an accidental drowning. Wow. As a result, his murderers walked free. And so that really inspired me to get involved in the justice system, but also just underscores the importance of the judiciary, because that is your last resort.

And for us here in Michigan, the Michigan Supreme Court is literally the last court you can go to for a resolution. And so it's incredibly important to know who your justices are and know their perspectives and know their backgrounds. And so I am very honored to be in this position, to be a representation for so many that have not seen this type of representation. There was a little girl that I met over the past year, and her name is Kyra as well,

and I just saw her in an event yesterday, and the way that she looked at me, she just beamed. And that really warms my heart because it's not just about the representation at the table that we're able to have at the Michigan Supreme Court, but it's all of the young boys and girls that now know that they can aspire to be on the highest court in the state of Michigan and on the United States Supreme Court. I think that is something that is extremely important. You talked about that history and the perspective. I think back to Thurgood Marshall, who talked about what it was like for him being on that Supreme Court and bringing that experience to bear. Oftentimes when cases come forward, there are judges who take a very 30,000 feet

from above, standoffish, just sort of this is what the law says, and not taking into account the human reality that exists. And so when you think about your experience and what you've done in your career, how does that also help you when you're going your experience and what you've done in your career, how does that also help you when you're going to be sitting there making those judicial decisions? Oh, it's invaluable. So before I was appointed and ran for office for the Supreme Court, I was a legislator in the state of Michigan representing my hometown of Southfield, which is a majority

minority community, about 70 to 80 percent Black. And so I bring that with me. I have been a public servant for the past four years. I know how impactful our laws are as a result. Before that, I was a litigator. And before that, I was a judicial law clerk for a judge in Detroit. And so I absolutely understand how our laws impact everyday people. And that's why I'm so fortunate to have that voice at the table, because I know that each case affects people. And that perspective really is helpful when making decisions. Hold on one second.

I've got a panel of lawyers. They absolutely are salivating at being able just to ask you some questions. And somebody sent me a text asking me, black folks will, so you gotta understand, you don't have to deal with this. Black people will just text me

while I'm working in the middle of the show. And somebody texts me asking, is she an AKA? Is she a Delta? What is she? I am a woman of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. Okay. All right. So I'm just, so just like, again, that's the kind of text I get from folks.

So hold tight one second. We come back. Our panel of lawyers want to ask you some questions as well, folks. We're talking with Kyra Harris-Bolden, the first black woman to sit on the Michigan State Supreme Court. Glad to have her here. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. See, this is also why we do this, folks, for stories like this here. Of course, you can join us by downloading the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone,

Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, X-Box One, Samsung Smart TV. You can also join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your dollars make it possible for us to do stories like this. A child around the country. I'm going to be in Houston tomorrow broadcasting outside of the Houston Independent School District where we're fighting the attempted firing of Tiffany Guillory,

the principal of the Houston Independent School District. And I'm going to be in Houston tomorrow broadcasting outside of the Houston Independent School District where we're fighting the attempted firing of Tiffany Guillory, the principal at my high school, Jack King's High School. So we'll be there. And so you can support us by sending a check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered.

Paypal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartiniltered. PayPal is rmartinunfiltered. Venmo is rmunfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And be sure to get your copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. We'll be right back. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not... White people are losing their damn lives.

There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash.

This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here'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 fear. On the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, listen to this. Good fortune happens when opportunity meets planning. In other words, success is no accident. Thomas Edison said that, and it's such a great message as we enter into this new year. Planning for success and balance in 2023, planning for it, and then how to live it. I'm always working towards those goals. I'm always moving in that direction. If something gets me off track for the goal, I hurry up and determine, oh wait, you're off track.

Get back over here on your track on what you're supposed to be doing. And I continue to work to those goals. That's next on A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network. Hi, I'm Amber Stephens-West from The Carmichael Show. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered.

We're talking with Michigan State Supreme Court Justice Kyra Harris Bolden. Let's go to my panel of lawyers. I guess I was—hold up. See, Monique thinks she's going to my panel of lawyers. I guess I'll... Hold up. See, Monique thinks she's going to get the first question. No, you're not, because you got the first one in the last segment. So Joe gets the first question. Yep, yep. Sorry. See, I know you over there was waiting. I didn't even get

to answer the last one. See, not one of y'all is the host. Not now one of y'all is the host, so calm down. Go, Joe. I didn't even get a turn. Go, Joe. That's sex. Stop letting her do it.

Joe, y'all taking Joe's time. Joe, go. Just as hair is folded, I have to start off by saying how incredibly proud we are of you. I am individually all the way here from California. I want you to hear my spirit and understand that. I told my daughter to watch this. She's doing news interning in Myrtle Beach. I said, when you get home, you watch and rewind this. So that's the first thing is our heart is just so warmed by watching you and seeing you.

But let me ask you, what can you tell us just in general about the appellate process, how things get to the Michigan Supreme Court, kind of a one-on-one for people that don't know? Are there certain things that there's original jurisdiction with the Supreme Court, or is it always trial and then appellate and then Supreme Court? How does that happen? So the Michigan Supreme Court is a court of last resort. And it is an appellate court, which means you have to go through your district or your circuit court, go to your court of appeals, and then you have to appeal from the court of appeals. But 98 or roughly about 98% of cases will stop at the Court of Appeals. And so the Michigan Supreme Court will

hear about 2% of mostly the most important cases. Now, there are some cases that get expedited review because they're time sensitive. Those would be kind of your election issues and things like that. But for the most part, I think maybe what people might not know about this job is one of the most important parts of this job is just deciding which cases are taken up and having that voice at the table so that people can even get that shot to present their case before the Supreme Court is incredibly important. And that's why it's incredibly important to have justices on the Michigan or on whatever Supreme Court, but justices on the Michigan Supreme Court that you know. Thank you so much. Such an honor to talk to you.

All right. Monique. Your Honor, congratulations. I am excited and just so proud. And here's my question. There are girls rising. There are young women-to-be who desire to have the opportunity and to serve in the manner that you are now blessed to be able to serve. What suggestions do you have for them for a path? What would you say to the 11-year-old who's just starting to figure out, I think I see myself there? Yeah, that is a wonderful question. The thing that I can communicate that was very important to me in my success are mentors. So I stand on the shoulders of all of the black women that have come before me that have broken down doors and chipped away that glass ceiling for me to be here. So I just want to be clear, I would not be here if it wasn't for black women wrapping their arms around me and

pushing me to this position. But just thankful for every single mentor that has guided me, that has given me great advice throughout my career. I would say that's the most important thing. Get people who you trust that are in positions that you want to be in and really create that relationship because it has really been invaluable to me. Thank you. Scott? Justice Bolden, congratulations. I know we're related like like all black people are, since we share the same last name. She ain't claiming you at all. Yes, she is. If she looked at my legal background,

she would be proud, I think. But this is your show. The operative phrase there is, I think. This is your show. My dad was a state court judge in Illinois, and just congratulations. I heard an interview with CNN, and they-they-they were trying to put you in a

box because you're a former legislator, and then your new job is a Supreme Court justice. I thought your answer was excellent because this is a different job. But my question has to do with whether you think being a former criminal defense lawyer, being a former legislator, and now deciding judicial cases where independent legal thought and judgment on your part is very different than those other opportunities or those other jobs you had, is that going to be an asset or will it be difficult for you to separate the politics and your criminal defense background from your judicial decision making? So I think it only enhances it. So most people that are judges or justices have worked in the legal field. A lot of them have been prosecutors. And I have a different

experience being a judicial law clerk and being a legislator. And what I have always said was when you're talking about legislative interpretation, how better to get at what the legislature intended than to have a former legislator. So I think my life is an asset to the bench. And I'm reviewing cases and I'm thinking, you know, how things were done in the legislature. Currently, nobody else on the Michigan Supreme Court has that experience. And I'm very happy to share my experience with my colleagues. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. You, of course, you just started, but you did have to start with some bit of a controversy. You named someone as a clerk who had passed a shooting,

a police officer in 1994, rehabilitated themselves. This caused a controversy. He resigned. Another justice was highly critical of you who has now apologized to you for it. Here's what I don't understand about that whole thing. How can we sit here? How can a legal system, how can this public talk about

if you commit a crime, you serve your time, and then you are to rehabilitate yourself? That's what this individual did. And now being penalized for it, you made the decision to hire them, of course, except for his resignation. But I thought that's what we are encouraging folks to do, that is to better themselves after they have made a mistake. So I picked a great group of staffers, and that includes people with diversity of background, perspectives, education. And I think it's important to have all of those experiences at the table, particularly people that have been marginalized in the past. And so we are moving forward. We are going to make sure that we're making the best decisions possible. But, you know, I think it's

important for people that come from marginalized backgrounds and communities to have a seat at the highest court in the state of Michigan. Again, that's the bottom line is we should be encouraging folks again to to to really to really. I just thought it was just blown up. It was out of proportion. And it also sends a signal to individuals who have gotten out that, oh, you can fix your life. You can get your stuff together. But there's going to be a limit to where you can actually get a job, which is part of the problem we have. Those who are formerly incarcerated, the whole band, you know, checking the box and whatever. This is an issue that we face all across this country where people don't want to see formerly incarcerated folks, no matter what crime they commit, get jobs. Yeah, I can only say for myself, I believe in restorative justice and I believe that the justice system can work.

And I believe I've shown that. And, you know, again, in my first few days, we are going to, you know, make sure that we're making the best decisions possible. And I will continue to make everybody proud that has supported me. Well, again, congratulations on this historic appointment. Glad to see you there. And you're absolutely right. Not just young girls, not just young Black girls, but also young Black boys seeing representation

on the highest court in the state of Michigan is critically important. It's unfortunate that we are in 2023 still experiencing first, but we got that one out of the way

and we definitely hope it is not going to be the last. Yes, and it won't be. All right, Justice Kyra Bolden. We appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Thank you so much. Folks, again, if you want to understand why this show was created four years ago, almost four and a half years ago, it was for stories like that, for us to be able to have the time and space to talk with a Justice Kyra Bolden. Just the other day, the Washington Post did a story on the brother who has been taking down these Confederate monuments all across the country. And what was interesting is, what's interesting is people were sending me the story like it was news. And I said, yeah, I talked to him in 2021. And I posted that.

And folks are like, well, Roland, you know, some folks may have not seen your show. I said, no, that wasn't the point. The point is oftentimes black folks will send stuff around that mainstream media reports on that we had already done here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. If you want to understand why our platforms matter, it's because

we're giving voice to folks who aren't necessarily going to be covered. Even when they do get covered by mainstream media, we still bring a different perspective, which is why it is important for us to not only financially support Black-owned media, which is why we fight for advertising dollars, is why it is important for us to not only financially support black-owned media, which is why we fight for advertising dollars, but it's also important for us to also share clips

from this show and let people know it even exists because, as the first black newspaper, Freedom's Journal, said, we wish to plead our own cause too long have others spoken for us. And so we were glad to give an opportunity for Justice Bolden to be able to speak for herself and for our laws people to ask her questions as well.

Folks, got to go to a break. We come back on Roller Martin Unfiltered. More on the show. We'll talk fitness with Funk Roberts about men over the age of 40. We'll have our black and missing as well. We'll cover some other news of the day. Download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone,

Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And of course, join our Bring the Funk fan club. Send a check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash App, Dallas Sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RM Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered.

Sale is Roland at RolandWesMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnnderfiltered.com. And get a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America's Made White Folks Lose Their Minds. Back in a moment. Most people think that these television shows that tell stories about who we are as black men,

and then they paint these monolithic portraits of us. They think that they're being painted by white people. And I got to tell you, there are a whole bunch of black folk that are the creators, the head writers, the directors of all of these shows, and that are still painting us as monoliths. The people don't really want to have this conversation.

No, they don't. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Kopp. Our legal roundtable is back in session as we look at yet another potential landmark case being considered by the United States Supreme Court. This one is called 303 Creative v. Alenis and may be the most important and far-reaching First Amendment, that is, freedom of speech, case of our time. It could, depending on how the court rules, open the door for a return of Jim Crow segregation laws. It's true. If you say we can discriminate against one, you're saying we can discriminate against all. That's on the next Black Table. Don't miss it right here on the Black Star Network. We're all impacted by the culture,

whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives, and we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Blackstar Network. Hey, what's up, everybody? It's Godfrey, the funniest dude on the planet.

Hi, I'm Israel Houghton. Apparently, the other message I did was not fun enough. So this is fun. You are watching... Roland Martin, my man, Unfiltered. All right, folks, Black and Missy. The Dallas Police Department is looking for a critical missing person. 82-year-old Fred Harrison was last seen walking on January 7th at about 9 a.m. He is 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 175 pounds, and is bald with brown eyes. Mr. Harrison was last seen wearing a black jacket and khaki pants. He may be confused and in need of assistance.

If you have any information about Fred Harrison, please call the Dallas Police Department at 214-671-4268. 214-671-4268, 214-671-4268. In Indiana, a former Indiana sergeant is pled guilty to one count of obstruction of justice. In 2018, Muncie Police Sergeant Joseph Cresta responded to the scene of an arrest where multiple officers under his supervision used excessive force against a civilian, resulting in serious injury to their face. The day after the arrest, Crescia conducted a supervisory review of the incident, noting that he watched a video and falsely deemed the use of force was justified. He pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice by writing a false report to cover

up the excessive use of force by other MPD officers under his command. He is the fourth Muncie Police Department official to plead guilty concerning this investigation. His sentencing is set for June 27th. He faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. The thing here, Scott, that again jumps out, and this is what we talk about all the time, again, pled guilty to writing a false report and covering up the excessive use. This is the problem. These lying cops when other cops do wrong. Yeah, and it happens all around the country in every prosecutor's office.

DOJ could just sit a monitor in each criminal complaint room and just sit there and you could prosecute several, not all, but prosecute several. When I was a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, I used to be in the criminal attorney's office. I used to be in the criminal complaint room, and the police would come in. And, you know, we're stuck with the facts that they give us. And you go through the paperwork, and you see this, and it doesn't make sense to you. And you cross-examine the police, and they've got their story set. They've got their lies set. They've been trained up to say it the way they want it to come out.

And very oftentimes, prosecutors are just stuck with that story, even if they don't believe it. So either the police have to make it make sense, or you've got to find something to hang your hat on as to why it was a bad arrest. Sometimes you can do it. Sometimes you can't, even if it sounds bad to you. And so I'm not surprised. But lastly, think about this, Roland. If DOJ could prosecute these types of cases in every jurisdiction, it would serve as a deterrent to police departments don't have enough resources for that to happen, or we don't have attorney general's offices or DOJ resources to do it in every jurisdiction. It would be a key deterrent to future police brutality cases. Joe? Well, you know, it's a problem when the people that you rely on for testimony, you're supposed to turn around and prosecute. Until you separate the prosecution of police and put it with either a state's attorney or somebody especially appointed that does not rely on these police officers to keep their 90% prosecution rate, you're going to continue to

have the same problem. In this particular situation, they were perpetuating a lie. One of the people that was being protected by this false report was the chief's son. So, hey, this was all a club. It was all in the gang. And it was about covering up. So everybody, including the chief's son, and by, you know, by elimination there and by extension, the chief could stay safe. I'm glad that this is happening more often to the point that was just made. If you could do this in every jurisdiction, there would be enough of it to do. This is not a rare occurrence. It continues to happen.

Fortunately, people are pleading out a bit more because they're actually getting investigated, right? I would think that even though the U.S. attorneys, et cetera, and the Justice Department is supposed to be nonpolitical, my sense is they have gotten more bandwidth to do the things that they need to do under this administration. So I'm glad for it. I hope that it continues. And I hope that people realize just because you comply, here's a brother that complied. Okay. They told him to do something. He did it. He still got his face smashed in. So you can't tell me that compliance in and of itself is actually going to save you. I'm not telling you that not to comply, but people, you know,

come around and say, well, if he had complied, then there wouldn't have been that problem. No, not necessarily. We can go back to the brother in Minnesota and let the cop know that he had a gun and what ended up happening. He was shot three or four seconds later. So this is a real thing,

and we keep dealing with it time and time again. And this case is not in the script here, but was this, Monique, this was on the federal level. It wasn't on the state level, was it? No. Yeah, it's a federal case, but I guess the point where I disagree, where I continue to disagree is when we on the civil rights side continue to point out the so-called symbiotic relationship between prosecutors and police

to the point that they cannot keep their oath and do their jobs, I don't believe that that's true. And if it is true, that is part of the broken system. And the fix for it is not to remove them from their jobs. It is to put people of diverse backgrounds in the jobs, in the communities who will honor the oath as a prosecutor. And what happened here is that it was honored, but we've seen Kristen Clark and her team have to go basically sweep the country, as Scott was discussing, and clean up here and there and here and there. And I think what we really need to do, one of the things that needs to happen is that for those of us who never in life wanted to be prosecutors, or even ones like Scott who did, to encourage the young lawyers to be who

are coming behind us to serve with integrity in that capacity, because that is what we need. We need representation there, the same as we need it every place else. Well, again, the most important thing for me, I'm tired of lying to ass cops, and I'll keep saying it. When these cops lie on these damn reports and they're covering stuff up, they got to go.

When they're not turning those body cameras on, attempting to cover stuff up, they got to go. If you have a turning those body cameras on, attempting to cover stuff up, they got to go. If you have a badge and a gun, you have the level of authority that very, very few people have, and that's a sacred trust. And look, I don't want to hear any of these people, oh, it's hurting morale. Guess what?

Act right, do right, then you don't have to go to jail. That simple as that. In Philadelphia, folks, in Philadelphia, Department of Prisons Sergeant pled guilty to a violation of civil rights and falsification of records related to the use of excessive force of a detainee. See, here we go again.

Ronald Granville admitted he strip-searched a pre-trial detainee at the current front-hold correctional facility where he and four other officers physically assaulted the man. The detainee was hospitalized with injuries to his face, ribs, and scrotum and had to undergo emergency surgery.

The correctional officers also falsified records and submitted false reports about the incident. The investigation into the other correctional officers' actions is ongoing. Same thing here, Monique. Again, correctional officers covering things up, falsifying records.

They are protecting folks, and they keep protecting folks. And this is why I keep saying I'm glad to see the DOJ's, Christian Clark Civil Rights Division, they're not just going after police departments. They have put a lot of these people in these prisons in prison for how they have treated inmates. Yes, and one of the reasons why that helps is obviously it is justice. So it's a function of the Justice Department

to have justice met on behalf of these incarcerated citizens who do not have all of their rights and cannot fully defend themselves and count on the government, those who are holding them, to do it for them. So for that reason, it must be done because their constitutional rights were violated. But the other thing that it does, as my two colleagues have pointed out multiple times tonight, is it serves as a deterrent against bad behavior because even if you have line officers, line correctional facilities officers

who would want to do this, it ends up being the chiefs of police. It ends up being the sergeants who are saying, not on my watch because the consequences won't just go to you. The heads will roll all the way uphill and back down again. Joe?

Yeah, I mean, Monique, listen, I like your idea of what you said before. There's no question that prosecutors ought to be doing the right thing. But most of the time, that's why the federal government is a backstop, right? I mean, these things that we've been talking about today are both DOJ, right? It doesn't happen often enough on the state side, right? And so I would love for us to get to this place where we know that the prosecutors are going to do everything that they need to, but just in, you know, self-survival and enlightened self-interest, these guys are going to be less inclined to convict somebody that they depend on. Because if you convict him, too, how many cases go away with it, right?

You know what I mean? And so, you know, it just goes against our enlightened self-interest. People starting off with the best intentions, right? And not every prosecutor has the best intentions. They should, but not everyone should. So, again, I'm glad they're doing this. The federal government is a backstop. The DOJ is doing what it is that they're doing. But on the state side, I would still reiterate

that, you know, when you're dependent on the folks that you need to testify and you have to turn around and snitch them out, you know, it just doesn't rub the right way and it doesn't happen often enough. And Scott, Joe's making a great point. Unfortunately, you're not seeing equal justice under law on the state level for these things to actually get done. It's the federal folks having to step in, and that really shouldn't be the case. Because they need independence at the state level. You don't have that.

Whether you put diversity lawyers and prosecutors, they're still relying on these police officers. I don't think putting diverse, well-trained folks in there, I think it has to be independent in some way. But this case really bothered me, because they stripped this guy, and then they beat his ass and injured his scrotum. There's something more going on there.

I didn't have the police report. But it's got to be one of the most inhumane things to do to a human being, to strip them and then beat their ass. And I often wonder, have we interviewed these correction officers or police officers? Have they done something so inhumane? I say, why didn't you do it? What did this guy do? It's never justified. This is inhumane and say, why didn't you do it? What did this guy do? It's never justified.

This is inhumane treatment. Easy, because they've always gotten away with it. And the American flag. They've always gotten away with it. And that's the deal. They've gotten away with it in the past, and now they're being held accountable. But again, the accountability should also be on

the state level, and too often... I'm getting to something else. Too often... What's in there here? No, too often... It makes them so angry. It's abusive power. Did I add something?

Too often these DAs will actually... Hold on, I got to go to a break. And so we'll pick up on this as we come back. Plus, we'll talk about the San Francisco art gallery owner who just poured water on a homeless person. Wait till you see this video. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

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Zelle is rolling at rollingsmartin.com. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. The number of people working from home has quadrupled to almost 30%. You're going to learn how you can now create your money space. It can impact your mood, your mindset, and your ability to get wealthy. Interior designer Nikki Kluge joins us to share exactly what you need to do to create a winning workspace. Make a space that is going to instantly put you in the mindset so that you can be more productive, so that you're organized, so that you're inspired, or you're really focusing in

on the task at hand. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Hey, I'm Qubit, the maker of the Qubit Shuffle and the Wham Dance. What's going on? This is Tobias Trevelyan. And if you're ready, you are listening to and you are watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. All right, before I go to this next story, Monique, you had a comment. Yeah, I just wanted to say that this is where the new version of organizing and activism and strategists are so necessary across legacy organizations and across new ones. transportation, we can do what international organizations do to entice our young gifted people to go and do mission work overseas, to go and do volunteerism, to go and serve as lawyers, as doctors, you know, all of the organizations that do that.

We need that same work in these United States. And it's not the giving of free will. It's not the lack of opportunity. We need a combination of the funding plus the strategy so that these areas that are most precarious for our people have more representation of us in them. And so just in terms of solutions, I would love to see conversations around what we could do to get more of us in these spaces. Well, the thing here, Joe, on that particular point, the reality is, if you go back to when Obama was president, Black Lives Matter, when you get the protests, so many people kept

focusing on Washington, D.C., and legislation in Washington, D.C. It was really then people began to realize, wait a minute, we're going to actually change. D.C. has very limited power. Even when it came to police abuse, a lot of people realized during those protests, yeah, we can get federal law, but you got to change the state law, and then you got to change the local prosecutor.

And so then you begin to see the shift where a lot of organizing groups begin to realize, yo, we got to start running progressive DAs. The reality is it's really only the last, I would say, five to eight years, you've seen a much more aggressive push to get progressive district attorneys and also progressive judges and the funding behind candidates running for that? Because again,

so long, the emphasis was always on D.C., D.C., D.C. So you have, even in what they call liberal cities, right? I mean, you know, just go back and look at the recent documentary with Reverend Sharpton or look at what they're talking about with the, you know, with Grody Giuliani and all these other people that were in so-called liberal cities. The police departments were still islands. They were still islands that were not progressive. People that call themselves Democrats in and of itself, that doesn't mean anything. Minneapolis has problems and they're a, quote, liberal city.

L.A. has problems and they're, quote, liberal city. And so you do have to have a political movement that is locally based, even while hopefully your federal government is your backstop, you still need people, certain people on DAs. You need certain people on the city council. You need certain people on the planning commission. It's going to affect what's built and what's not built.

You know what I mean? When people speak in code about the exclusivity of their cities and keeping their charm or whatever else, and they're not trying to build with density that actually helps you deal with cost issues and some of those types of things. level and particularly as it pertains to things dealing with policing. And so that's the only way that you actually have the chance to affect the change. And the other part that you need, it's a shame it took George Floyd dying like he did. Sometimes things change when everybody's watching. You turn on the lights. Speaking of a damn shame, folks, watch this video here. A San Francisco video has gone viral showing an art gallery owner using a hose to spray a homeless woman in front of his business. Roll it.

Art gallery owner Collier Gwinn sprayed the woman during freezing temperatures as she slept outside the Barbarossa Lounge, the rigged door to the gallery. Now the woman frequented the area

and often slept on the sidewalk. Gwinn said he tried to help the woman, but she refused his help. The police were called, but both parties refused to press charges. Scott, look, we're seeing these stories

and we're seeing people complaining in San Francisco and Los Angeles about the homeless crisis in this country. But for you to get a water hose and spray someone like that? The woman was psychotic, too. She's mentally ill. She couldn't comply with his request.

And he knew that. It's just so inhumane. I keep getting, what is wrong with people? So how was the hose and spraying her with water gonna get her to respond to his command to move away from the art gallery? How was that gonna help this homeless situation or this woman who could be a mother, a daughter,

a sister, a friend of any of us who is homeless now and mentally ill? a daughter, a sister, a friend of any of us who is homeless now and mentally ill. It's a broader issue, broader problem, but this short-term solution by this man, he should have been arrested, if you will, for assault, right? He should have been. I don't care who wants to press charges.

He should have been arrested, but this is not a short-term solution. And just, just really, really highly inappropriate. Joe. Yeah. I mean, ditto. And I forget what locality they're in, but you know, somebody ought to take that case on the civil side. Okay. Somebody ought to take that case on the civil side because that's not something that should be happening under any circumstances at all. And, you know, when you're dealing with the unhoused, you're dealing, you

have a property owner. As a citizen, you have certain responsibilities, okay? And one of those responsibilities is that you shouldn't be doing harm, even through your frustration and your moments where you're trying to run a business and you've got somebody

that's psychotic that's sitting in the front of it, the answer is not hosing them down with water. It didn't help. All it did was get him some attention, you know? And of course, he's unapologetic, and the police should have pressed charges against him, as far as I'm concerned. And so, you know, with power, with property ownership, with citizenship, comes certain responsibilities. And you can't just stop over those that are the least of us because

your life is inconvenienced because you were trying to open up your storefront in the morning. You call the police, keep a relationship with them, and go down that road. But you don't need to put water on anybody. Monique? Yeah, it's not too late for him to go to jail. And people need to be asking that he be arrested for assault and for battery. That is not his property that she's on. It looks clearly to be like street domain property. And yes, she was probably there and not supposed to

be. And yes, they probably could have ticketed her, ticketed her. And yes, if he had called the police, they probably could have insisted on her moving to, to wherever, because they don't have a place for the young house to go. But what he did not have a right to do was that, uh, and it is all on camera. What would be next? Sicking dogs on her? No, it is unacceptable, and it should still be punished. Yeah, Monique, one of the issues for them was she could not be the complaining witness, the homeless woman, because she was psychotic. To arrest in most jurisdictions a misdemeanor.

If the police don't observe it, then they have a third party witness or the complaining witness here. You didn't have that. But whoever took the video could have filed a complaint against him, and he would have been arrested for misdemeanor assault charges, whether it's California or anywhere else. For whatever reason, that didn't take place. But you're right. That could still take place here based on the video. That could still take place here based on the video. But just really, really awful treatment of homeless people. They may be a nuisance and an eyesore, but they don't give up their humanity because they are homeless or poor or disenfranchised. Folks, there are a number of jurisdictions now where where where assaults are concerned, whether the complaining witness is willing to step forward or not, they are able to do it.

I don't know what the law is in that particular jurisdiction, but that is the way it is in Maryland, and not just for domestic cases, but for assault and battery in general. They have to be seriously injured. Gotcha. They have to be seriously injured. He was. I'm going to the next story here, and that is we've lost a civil rights legend, Cleo Orange. She has passed away. Cleo was integral to the civil rights movement.

She worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a staff organizer at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Poor People's Campaign. She later married civil rights activist James Orange and remained a staple in the SCLC. Orange continued the fight for social justice with Reverend Bernice King at the King Center. Cleo Orange, she passed away of lung disease on January 4th. She survived by her daughters, Tamara, Deidre, son Cleon. Two of the daughters passed away previously. She was 78 years old.

Also, folks, it's some great news. Of course, the brother with the Buffalo Bills, who, of course, had the cardiac arrest in a game a week ago, he's actually been released. DeMar Hamlin has been released from a Buffalo hospital. Now, remember, he was released yesterday from a Cincinnati hospital, went to a Buffalo hospital. He's now been released.

Tests were, comprehensive tests were run. A series of cardiac, neurological, and vascular testing took place, and there were no previous conditions. And they said that it was the actual, the hit that caused the cardiac arrest, not a previous condition, as other cardiac experts had talked about. But it is absolutely awesome and wonderful that this brother, again, folks, it was 10 days ago when he was fighting for his life on the field, and now he has been released from a Buffalo hospital and is headed home. And so Damar Hamlin's family absolutely is elated with that news. He's going to continue rehabilitation at home for this. And the bill's release of this statement,

Damar Hamlin has been discharged from Buffalo General Medical Center, Gates Vascular Institute, a Caleda Health facility in Buffalo, New York. Hamlin was admitted on Monday and went through a comprehensive medical evaluation as well as a series of cardiac, neurological, and vascular testing on Tuesday. James Natler, MD, critical care physician and chief quality officer at Kalita Health and the care team led for Hamlin said, we have completed a series of tests and evaluations

and in consultation with the team physicians, we're confident that Damar can be safely discharged to continuous rehabilitation at home with the bill. So that is absolutely some great news there. All right, folks, got to go to a break. If you're watching YouTube, hit the Like button. Facebook, hit the Share button. Comment on the Black Star Network app as well. And so we should easily be at 1,000, 1,500 likes on YouTube.

And so when I come back, I better see there's over 1,000, y'all. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. That these television shows that tell stories about who we are as black men, and then they paint these monolithic portraits of us. They think that they're being painted by white people. And I got to tell you, there are a whole bunch of black folk that are the creators, the head writers, the directors of all of these shows

and that are still painting us as monoliths. The people don't really want to have this conversation. No, they don't. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carman. Our legal roundtable is back in session as we look at yet another potential landmark case being considered by the United States Supreme Court. This one is called 303 Creative versus Elenis and may be the most important and far-reaching First Amendment, that is freedom of speech, case of our time. It could, depending on how the court rules,

open the door for a return of Jim Crow segregation laws. It's true. If you say we can discriminate against one, you're saying we can discriminate against all. That's on the next Black Table. Don't miss it right here on the Black Star 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 Blackstar 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. That's Kim Whitley. Yo, what's up? It's your boy Ice Cube. Hey, yo, peace, world. What's going on? It's the love king of R&B, Raheem Devon,

and you're watching Rolander Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome back to Roller Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. So lots of movement happening when it comes to the Senate seat of Dianne Feinstein in California. Earlier this week, Congresswoman Katie Porter publicly announced that she was running for the seat. Well, reporting out now suggests that Congresswoman Barbara Lee told the Congressional Black Caucus in their meetings today that she also was going to run for the seat. Now, she was quoted as saying that she was simply informing her colleagues of some different things that may be happening,

that she also talked to Feinstein and that Feinstein said that folks have to make their own decisions. What was interesting here, Monique, is that Congressman Adam Schiff was ripping Katie Porter for saying, how dare you make this announcement while we have a flooding happening in California? Well, keep in mind, Schiff also wants to go after the seat as well. So there's a political grandstanding right there.

And so it's going to be really, really interesting to see what happens here. Feinstein is 89 years old. Frankly, should have retired six years ago. And the bottom line, she needs to go. She needs to make the doggone decision that she's stepping down because, frankly, pass the damn baton. We got too many of these senators who are way too old. And, again, she's slowed down considerably.

Give the next generation. Now, granted, when you say the next generation, Barbara Lee is 71. But, again, that's 18 years younger than Feinstein. But if you look at Congresswoman Barbara Lee and the 80-year-old Maxine Waters, they're moving a hell of a lot faster than Feinstein. But if you look at Congresswoman Barbara Lee and the 80-year-old Maxine Waters, they're moving a hell of a lot faster than Feinstein. But this is the problem too often in politics when one generation doesn't understand it's time to go. Look at Debbie Stabenow. She said it. Hey, we have a whole crop of new leaders in Michigan. I'm stepping down in 24 for the next generation to come up. Your thoughts

on Lee? No, I mean, you said all of it, and we're not going to lose no matter who wins out of the three that you just named. Those are stellar public servants. Would I like there to remain a woman in that seat in the Senate? I don't think that we should lose one. But no matter what, you know, I think this is one of those things where because Senator Feinstein did not do what Nancy Pelosi did in the speaker position and literally pick her air, groom her air, gather caucus support around her air and ensure that they just swept through like it was all planned, like a precision, well-oiled machine. This is not happening that way. And so because it is not happening that way, it's going to be whoever jumps. And I look forward to what I think will be healthy and respectful debate about what California deserves in that seat.

Absolutely there. All right. Scott, your thoughts? Yeah. You know, in the private sector, we talk a lot about succession planning, and sometimes it's painful, sometimes it isn't. Here, unfortunately, it's not clear what Feinstein is going to do. And whatever she does, if she doesn't run, it's going to look like the Democratic Party, who has loved her and she's loved it for so long, that she's being pushed out by the younger generation. And perhaps she is responsible for it because she's taken way too long to determine what's next. She's been in politics at least 60 to 70 years. And so it's unfortunate that Dems

will retain that seat no matter what. But we're a long way from 2024. And Senator Feinstein deserves better, not blaming anybody, but she deserves better for herself and her decision making. But she deserves better from the Democratic Party than to look like she's being forced out. So we'll have to keep an eye on the story. Dude, she ain't being forced out. She's 89. It's time to go. Okay? It's time to go. It's real simple. All that, she deserves better. No, damn it. Sometimes you got to know, sometimes you got to know when it's time to leave. And guess what?

And guess what? And guess what? You might need to give. Well, guess what? You're an age discriminator. No, I'm not. Anybody knows she needs to go. It's time to go.

Damn it, sometime it's time to go home. It's sometime it's time you take your ass home. All right, listen up. In Fort Worth, the city council unanimously approved the renaming of the Recreation Center after Atiana Jefferson, despite some opposition from people who live in the area there. She was killed by former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean,

and of course, he is currently in prison for her death, and so that action was taken by the Fort Worth Police Department. All right, y'all, I've got to go to break. We come back. We're going to talk with Funk Roberts about fitness for men over the age of 40 and 50. And so we're looking forward to having that conversation as we continue

our discussion on a new you in 2023, giving you various advice and counsel from different experts, from fitness folks and dietitians as well. And so we've had some great conversations thus far. And so we look forward to having this conversation with Funk as well. Don't forget, folks, support Rolling Mark Unfiltered and Black Star Network.

Download the Black Star Network app. We're available at Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your dollars make it possible for possible to do what we do. Send your check and money orders to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign RM Unfiltered.

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unfiltered. PayPal is R Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. The number of people working from home has quadrupled to almost 30%. You're gonna learn how you can now create your money space. It can impact your mood, your mindset,

and your ability to get wealthy. Interior designer, Nikki Klug, joins us to share exactly what you need to do to create a winning workspace. Make a space that is gonna instantly put you in the mindset so that you can be more productive, so that you're organized, so that you're inspired, or you're really focusing in on the task at hand. That's right here on Get Wealthy,

only on Black Star Network. Ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, yeah. Hey, I'm Antonique Smith. What up, I'm Alana Wells, That's right. All right, folks, we've had these various segments called A New You in 2023, tight drive, fit, live, win segment. And we have a variety of people. And when I was walking along the beaches of Jamaica, first of all, there were a number of people who I had not had on the show since we had the TV One show, so we've had them on as well.

We've got more to come. And then there were some new folks as well. And so the whole idea is offering you a variety of perspectives as we begin 2023. Every course, every new year, folks begin with resolutions. They say, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, I'm going to start doing something different. But the key is also having information in terms of what to do. And we're going to be using this show to be reminding you

of that. And so it's not just going to be just for this month. Of course, we have our Fit, Live, Win segment every single Monday. And so we'll be pushing that. And so my next guest really focuses on a man 40 plus, 40, 50, and 60, offering them tips, diet, food information, workout information. He loves the kettlebell if you follow him on Instagram. And so Funk Roberts joins us right now. Funk, how are you doing? I'm amazing. How are you?

You're in Toronto, right? I am, yeah. Beautiful Canada. All right, then. So let's jump right into it in terms of there's so much information out here. And it's amazing to me if you look at the magazines, you look at video. I could be on YouTube and I'll see these ads. You're wasting your time being on the treadmill, being on the elliptical.

You should be doing this. No, you shouldn't be eating this. No, you should be doing this. And it gets to the point where people are like, damn, you know what? I ain't listening to none of this. I'm just not even going to do anything. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of information out there, and information overload's a big, big, big problem.

But the thing is, you have to gravitate to somebody who's going to show you or teach you how to get fit or healthy based on your age, based on, you know, your goals. So for me, helping men in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s was perfect for me. I'm 53. And, you know, when I was younger and when I reached 40, I did suffer from low testosterone. I had a big belly and I couldn't figure out how to lose weight. And I didn't know what was happening with me. Now, hold on, hold on. I want you to stop right

there. How old were you when that happened 39 years old so you were 39 okay go ahead so 39 years old Here I am still I was posting videos on YouTube so I'm this big fitness person but deep down inside and when I looked at myself I still had a big belly. My energy levels were low. Every time I worked out, I'd get injured. And I really started to not feel like the person I was. I kind of felt like I lost my manhood. You know, my sex drive was down and all of these things were happening, but I didn't know going to do is work out harder, work out more to try to lose the belly fat or jump on all of these different diets. But it wasn't until I went to the doctor and the doctor said to me, hey, man, your testosterone levels are like 190 when they should be at 7, 8, 900. And at that point, I didn't know. I didn't correlate testosterone and health and, you know, losing weight. I thought, well, I'm a big guy, 215 pounds, big and puffy.

I must have lots of testosterone. But, you know, on the contrary, he told me, listen, man, your testosterone level is over a grandfather. You need to focus on this. And once I learned the power of increasing your testosterone and what that does for us as men,

it completely transformed my life. So when we go through these tests, these blood tests and things along those lines and people going and getting their numbers run, the thing for you was understanding what your testosterone level was. So then let's just say it was normal or high. So basically then you rule that out.

But for you, it was, this is what it was normal or high. So basically, then you rule that out. But for you, it was, this is what it was. And then that now then determined what your next step was. For sure. So my next step was, okay, well, I'm glad that I found out that this was the cause of me not having energy, me not being able to lose belly fat,

me not being able to build muscle. So once I started to change my nutrition, change the type of workouts, change and focus a little bit more on the recovery, and really developed a program or system for us guys as we're getting older. Because when we get older, not only do we suffer from low testosterone, our testosterone levels naturally decrease one to two percent every single year after the age of 40. Plus we suffer from sarcopenia, which is a natural loss of muscle due to aging. We do not want to be losing muscle because the more muscle we lose, the weaker we're going to be,

we're going to be more susceptible to injuries. So that's the second thing. And the third thing that happens when we reach 40 is our metabolism slows down. And that's not done naturally, but that's just due to our lifestyle. So once I realized that there are certain things we can put into place, specific workouts, specific nutrition system, specific recovery protocols, focusing on sleep, my body completely transformed, my health completely transformed. And my 40s were better than, you know, my 20s and my 30s. And I was a professional athlete back when I was younger. And so that's when I decided to implement this on other men over 40.

10,000-plus men are transforming their lives using this system. Now, you just said something there when you said diet, when you said working out, different workouts. You said sleep. 100%. So the very first, you know, there's a lot of pillars that we need to focus on. So the first and easiest one we can focus on is sleep because sleep, getting seven to nine hours sleep is crucial, not only for our hormones, so helping testosterone, increasing our testosterone levels. Testosterone production happens overnight when we're sleeping, and in the morning, that's when our testosterone levels are the highest.

So if we're not getting seven to nine hours sleep every night or striving for that, then we're doing our hormones a disservice. Plus, when we're working out in the gym, whether it's body weight, whether it's with dumbbells, whether it's with kettlebells, we're trying to build muscle. But muscle isn't built in the gym. We're actually breaking down muscle. So during sleep, that's the time our muscles are going to recover, get stronger, and allow us to get prepared for our next workout or what we're doing the next day. And, of course, we know that when we have better sleep, our energy levels are higher, our brain functions better. It's just overall the, you know, the shortest thing that we can do and focus on that will give us the biggest results.

And, look, I mean, the reality is we're now living in a world where, look, I remember growing up in Texas, we had the blue laws where stores were not open on Sundays. Now all of a sudden, I remember when the laws changed and then they opened. And now stores open earlier. Now you've got 24 hours. Now you have folks who were essentially, they're working seven days a week.

And one of the things when I was in Jamaica, I was tweeting, I was posting, I called this shedding, shredding, and cleansing process where really what I was doing, I was thinking about everything. I was thinking about personally, personal relationships, professional relationships, thinking about the business, every person who works with the business, partners I work with. I was examining every single thing. And one of the things I did before I actually left, I got this sleep ring because that was one of the things. For the longest, I operated off of anywhere from three to five hours sleep. And I'm talking about

high performing. I could go 16, 18 hours. And one of the things that I said was going in 2023, I said I had too many people who have access to me, people who were texting me, calling me late night, early in the morning. I started saying, fine, you want to meet with me? Go through my assistant. sort of these firewalls to protect the time because it takes me so long. My brain is moving so fast that literally if I'm doing any work after 10, 30, 11, it's probably going to be four hours

before I can actually go to sleep because my brain is moving. I had to actually change when I leave here what I do after work and I say, fine, if you want to talk to me, and I ain't talking to everybody, but I'll talk to folks between 9 and 10. But once 10 o'clock hits, I was forcing myself to come down in order to hit that six, seven-hour sleep mark. Yeah, I mean, listen, I know that you mentioned that you were high-functioning with four to five hours, but really and truly, if you look at it, imagine if you had seven to nine hours sleep every day,

how much more you could do. And it's about sustainability. Well, first of all, Funk, that's scary. If you know how I perform, that's real scary with that seven to nine. Trust me. But go ahead. It's like when you're at a circus and you see the guy or girl with the plates,

spinning the plates. Sure, they can spin the plates for so long, but at some point, those plates are going to fall. So yes, maybe you can get away with this for a certain amount of time, but it only will catch up to you at some point where your immune system breaks down,

where maybe you get some unfortunate chronic health issues. It's just about treating your body and your health at its peak, right? Really and truly focusing on that. So I like the fact that you're setting boundaries for your sleep, and that's good. Obviously, it's not going to turn over right away, but once you start to set those boundaries and focus on getting enough sleep, then it's about hormones too, right? Because your hormones, if you went and got some blood work and got hormone checks,

you may see something that may alarm you. Absolutely. All right, so hold tight one second. I'm going to go to a break. We come back. We got questions for our panel. Folks, be sure to hit us up. I see you all in the chat room as well. I see your

questions and comments. Pull up Funk's information. If you want to follow Funk Roberts, you can follow him on social media. Instagram, FunkRobertsFitness, not the.com, y'all. It's at Funk Roberts Fitness. The website is Over40Shred.com. His email is there, FunkRoberts at gmail.com.

And of course, his supplements are at FunkSupplements.com. Don't forget, download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. You can also, of course, join our Bring the Funk fan club. PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered,

PayPal, R Martin Unfiltered, Venmo is RM Unfiltered, Zale is Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And 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 various bookstores. Target, Books a Million.

Download the book through Audible or order through your favorite black bookstore. We'll be right back. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not replace us. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We've seen shouts. 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. Here wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America,

there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Most people think that these television shows that tell stories about who we are as black men, and then they paint these monolithic portraits of us. They think that they're being painted by white people. And I got to tell you, there are a whole bunch of black folk that are the creators, the head writers, the directors of all of these shows, and that are still

painting us as monoliths. So people don't really want to have this conversation. No, they don't. Hello, everyone. It's Kiara Sheard. Hey, I'm Taj. I'm Coco. And I'm Lili.

And we're SWB. What's up, y'all? It's Kiara Sheard. Hey, I'm Taj. I'm Coco. And I'm Lili. And we're SWV. What's up, y'all? It's Ryan Destiny. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. We're talking with Funk Roberts about his workup plan for men 40, 50, and 60. Since Scott is always whining and complaining, he doesn't get the first question.

I guess I'll let you ask the first question today, Kappa Man. Thank you. You know, one of the things that's so important is making these choices in our life. You know, for busy folks in 40s, 50s, and 60s, there are a lot of things, a lot of stress factors, a lot of choices you could make, whether it's to generate income or take care of your health. And you know all the downsides when you don't choose health over money or over stress or representing clients and what have you.

How do you psychologically, you know, kind of force yourself to say, I've got to take care of my body because if I don't do a better job at it in my 40s, 50s, and 60s, all the other stuff I'm doing to make money won't really matter. And I'm going to leave this earth early if I don't prioritize my body. But so often, many of us continue to make the choice of working, representing clients, making money, and we'll get to that health issue later. Any commentary on those choices, those bad and good choices? Absolutely. You made a very good point. It boils down to value systems. We all have different value systems. Like you said, some value work, some value making money, some value their family or maybe coaching. Or for me and my wife, we value health and fitness.

So not everyone is going to have that at the top of their value system. The thing is, no matter what you value, your health has to come first. If you're not healthy, you won't be able to excel in whatever you want to do. So I have business, I have three or four different businesses, seven figure businesses. And if I'm not healthy, if I'm not focusing on keeping stress levels down, if I'm not focused on ensuring I get a workout in or do some mobility, if I'm not, you know, focusing on nutrition, ensuring that I'm fueling my body, what it needs for my brain to function at its peak, for my body to function at its peak, for energy to function at its peak,

that I cannot do the things I want to do at the level I want to do it at. And like you said, you're going to leave here too early, not leaving the legacy you need for yourself or your family. And it was something that you could have avoided by focusing and putting your health and fitness first doesn't have to be you know the gap doesn't have to be too long it's just about refocusing and and putting together a plan that works with both you know wake up in the morning do five minutes of a workout making sure that you're planning your meals but the meals that you're eating, the food that you're eating is good, healthy foods.

Well, it doesn't matter. Make all that money then if you can't enjoy it. Joe. So, Brother Baldwin asked a very deep question, you know, that allowed us to talk about value systems and everything like this. But I'm simple. So here's mine right here. How do I do the kettlebell without throwing my back out? My back, you know, I threw it out pretty good once or twice. And over the years, I just wasn't stretching. And I do have a trainer now. But that kettlebell, you know, I know it's good for you, but I have to make sure I have to be real careful to make sure I don't screw it up.

And in general, too, talk a little bit about back health and how you do those things that help to strengthen your back and the muscles around your back. That's singing my song. Absolutely. So first and foremost, before you touch the kettlebell, we got to back pedal and do a little body weight work so that you can at least know how to move your body using your own body weight with your exercises then you move to the dumbbell and of course when you get to kettlebell training you it's a skill so you have to have you have to learn how to use

it you have to practice using it so that you can get the benefits of what kettlebells can bring but you brought up a great point when it comes to back health because i also have or have had back injuries in the past and so as we get older we don't recover the way we used to when we were in our 20s we could work out four or five six days a week go to the gym uh go to work go out at night eat whatever we wanted to and pretty you know it we could pretty much recover better than we can now. But as we get older, it's less about the workouts and more about recovery. So don't get me wrong, you still have to get those workouts in 30 minutes, 20 minutes, but it's the recovery piece, the mobility piece, the core training. So some of the ways you can strengthen the back

is first and foremost core work. You guys hear this all the time, but ensuring that after your workouts, you spend five to ten minutes on ab or core training. Also, mobility. So making sure that you have that mobility, opening up the body because we are so crunched over all the time, right? We're on our computers. We're at our car. We're on our phones. We need to open up your body and you know generally speaking if you have lower back issues it may not just be the

lower back unless it's something traumatic it's more about glutes we have to we have to activate those glutes get the glutes working so two that's one of the biggest parts muscles in our body are in the glutes not the biggest but a lot of muscles are in our glutes. And because we're sitting all the time or we don't know how to activate it, our lower back is starting to take the brunt of a lot of the things that we're doing. The movements, everyday functional movement, let alone what we do in the gym. So mobility, yoga, you know, core work, those are key pillars actually in my program. You know, I make these guys do this because I know that the recovery piece is important, and I don't want them to get injured.

The last thing I want are the guys in my program getting injured, you know, two, three years down the road when the recovery piece is going to be the key. So, yes, definitely mobility has to be part of your overall health and fitness, but you'll feel better. You'll feel better overall. I got two and a half minutes left. Monique, go. Hi, Funk. Hey, Monique. How are you? Good to see you. I'm really great. I'm so glad that people are getting this information from you. I have a question about women who love their men because we have fathers and brothers and husbands and sons who we know need what you can provide, but might not know the right way to put the opportunity in front of them without raising up the negative side of the alpha

that will poo-poo it because we tried to say it. So, you know, I lucked out with you my first two times. Monique, we ain't got that much time. Monique, we ain't got that much time. You gotta answer the question. Okay, we ain't got that much time. Monique, we ain't got that much time. You got to answer the question. Okay, but don't talk. So I want to know what we can do. What you

suggest we can do, ways that we can get your program in front of the men we love or vice versa. Got it. Go. Yeah, it's just really and truly just telling the men you love how much you love them and how much you want them to be healthy. How much you value them as the men in your life and how you want them to be healthy. And so without, you know, nagging, it's just, listen, I want to do everything I can to help you get healthy.

Let's go to the doctor and get some blood work done. You know, there's a program out there that, you know, you should at least take a look at that's specific for men. You know, it's about the support, because you're totally right. Sometimes we can take that as a negative thing. What? I don't look good. I don't feel good. But in general, it's all about just feeling it's the love that we actually need

to do this. Folks, pull up Funk's information, please. I'm almost out of time. Again, this is where you can reach Funk. Funk Roberts Fitness on Instagram, over40shred.com. His Funk's information, please. I'm almost out of time. Again, this is where you can reach Funk. Funk Roberts Fitness on Instagram, over40shred.com. His email is there, plus funksimplements.com. Funk, man, I appreciate it. Thanks for your great information.

Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Take care, everybody. All right, folks. Speaking of living long, shout out to one of the three Tulsa Race War survivors, Van Ellis, y'all. Of course, remember, we were kicking it with Uncle Red. He turned 102 years old today.

I would often see him on the Tom Jones Morning Show cruise, Fantastic Voyage, dancing at 1 and 2 o'clock in the morning. Even with his walker, he was getting it going. And so, Uncle Red turns 102 today. Happy, happy

birthday. Folks, that is it for us. We appreciate you joining us. Joe, Monique, Scott, thank you so very much for being on our panel. We appreciate that. Folks, tomorrow I'll be broadcasting live from Houston, outside of the Houston Independent School District, where they're trying to fire the principal at Jack Gates High School, Tiffany

Guillory. She's doing an amazing job. They won't explain to the community why they're doing it. And so we're gonna be broadcasting from there. I'm gonna be speaking to the school board there as well, protesting that decision. It is on their agenda. We're gonna try to stop it from happening. So I'll be in Houston tomorrow.

I'll be back in studio on Friday. Download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. Check in money orders. Go to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign RM Unfiltered, PayPal RMartin Unfiltered, Venmo is RM Unfiltered, Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com is rolandatrolandesmartin.com rolandatrolandartunfiltered.com Thanks a bunch. I'll see you tomorrow.

HO! This is an iHeart Podcast.