#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Houston MBE Program Struck Down. Confederate School Names Removed. Trump 2026 Election Plot

Episode Date: August 12, 2026

8.11.2026 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Houston MBE Program Struck Down. Confederate School Names Removed. Trump Threatens Election Emergency Build credit fast and get your first month for just a dollar at getkikoff.com/unfiltered today. Thanks to Kikoff for sponsoring us!   A judge strikes down a program designed to help minority business owners in Texas leaving entrepreneurs uncertain of their future. We'll have City County Council Member Willie Davis on to talk about the new ruling and what this means moving forward. Florida Rep. Angie Nixon joins us to talk about her campaign ahead of the August 18 primaries. The Progressive Democrat is on the front lines of resistance against Governor Ron DeSantis as she fights for a seat in the U.S. Senate. And her newfound surge in support has spectators wondering if she can win the primary election.  A new report in Iowa questions the true safety of having resource officers in the state's school after troubling numbers show that black children are disproportionately detained during behavioral disruptions. We'll talk to Iowa of ACLU's Veronica Fowler about the data and what ACLU next step will be.   Martin's Children's Book will be on to discuss how it's helping children grow their minds in math, reading, and boosting self confidence in and out of the classroom.  Black Star Network Partner: Chapter Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options. ____ Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You dig? August 11, 2006, coming up by Roller Martin on. streaming live on the Black Star Network. I'm live here in Atlanta. A major, major decision out of Texas. A judge is struck down Houston Minority and Business Enterprise Program that is going to have a devastating impact

on black-owned businesses in the city of Houston. We'll talk to a city council member there. Florida, Representative Angie Nixon is running for the United States Senate. We'll talk to her on today's show. Also, we're watching the election in Wisconsin. Will D.S. not a huge win there with Francesca Hong leading the polls in that race.

A new report in Iowa questioned the true safety of having resource officers in the state's school at a troubling number of black children are disproportionately detained. We'll talk to someone with the Iowa ACLU. Also, Martin's Children's book will be on to discuss how it's helping children grow their minds and math reading and boosting their self-esteem in the classroom. Plus, we'll talk the latest politics, including the latest stupid stuff that Donald Trump has said, insulting Somalians. No shot there. It is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin unfilcher on the Black Star Network.

Let's go. Folks, in Texas, a federal judge has struck down the race portions of the Houston Minority and Business Enterprise Program, a ruling that it is unconstitutional and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. city announced that they will no longer recognize or administer the program's MBE certification. On July 28th, U.S. District Judge David Hittner ruled a permanent injunction, blocks the city from using racial preferences when awarding public contracts. The case was brought forward by two white landscape business owners in Spring, Texas, who sued the city in 2003 after being denied certification.

Houston City Council, member at large Willie Davis, joins us right now. Councilman, they was glad to have you here. So here we got two white men who tried to file under the MBE sort of. Okay, all right then. So sorry, folks. So we don't have the councilman just yet. And so let me just let me do this here. So y'all let me know we have the councilman. But you know what? Continue the conversation. Then let me know when he comes on. So I have been warning y'all about this. So here's what these white folks, these right wingers have been doing. And Ed Bloom from Houston has been targeting many of these programs using the 14th Amendment,

using the Civil Rights Act of 1860, using all of these different 1866 against black folks. And so what you have, and the same thing happened in Tennessee, where a white woman sued the federal 8A. program saying that she couldn't qualify for the AA program because she wasn't a minority. And so therefore, a federal judge there overruled that program. Now, here's what's crazy. That same white woman qualified for a federal program as a woman, but she wanted to stop the program for black folks and others. And so what these white men are doing, they're saying, oh, we should be able to qualify

as a minority business. And so, oh, so because they won't allow us to apply, then, well, you should rule the program ineligible. In fact, two white men in Indiana sued the federal DBE program, and in going to court, the Trump administration announced, yeah, our goal is to actually end the federal DBE program, which is a $37 billion federal program. This is what Project 2025 is all about.

This is what the right wing is all about. What they want to do is they want to shut down the economic opportunities that have been provided for African Americans and others all across this country. And so they have been targeting city of Houston. I remember when Bob Lanier was the mayor of my hometown in Houston.

And they had a ballot initiative and they got mad because they tried to submit some ballot language that was jacked up. And Bob and there was like, no, no, no, y'all ain't doing that. And so they rewrote the language, pissed them off. It actually passed. And so this is what they had been doing. And so what you're seeing, you are seeing these attacks towards African Americans all across the country. They are attacking these programs on the federal level, on the county, on the state level,

on the county level, on the city level, in the school. districts there in Texas. In fact, that was a hub program historically underutilized businesses on the state level that was put in place by Texas Governor George W. Bush, Republican. Well, Maga Republican Greg Abbott, what did he do this year? Wipeed out the HUD program. So if we look at the federal program in the last year of Biden Harris, black-owned businesses received about $10 billion in federal contracts. $10 billion. That's only 2% y'all of all contracts,

but it was a record number. Well, Trump comes in, whacking contracts, not looking at MBEs, then also slowing contracts down, getting rid of them. So what was 2% is down to 1.2%. That means that's almost a $5 billion loss on the federal level. And so when you've heard me talk about this, I need you all to understand that we are literally talking about billions upon billions upon billions of dollars that will be taken out of black communities.

And what these white MAGA folks, they don't want 90% of, of the contracts. They don't want 95% of the contracts. They don't want 98% of the contracts. They want all of it. And I've challenged white women. And I've challenged them for years saying, why is it?

And whenever we have these battles over contracts, y'all white women are real silent when you are the greatest beneficiaries, affirmative action programs. I want to bring in my panel right now as we wait for the councilman to come on. Let me bring in Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA from out of D.C., Randy Bryant, entrepreneur, author, speaker, Washington, D.C. I mean, people really need to understand Mustafa and why we have been calling this a GOP war on black America, that they are targeting the entire black infrastructure. They are they are targeting economics. They're targeting health. They're

targeting academics. They're targeting social justice. They're targeting all of it. What the right wing, what the white white wing in America wants to do. They want to absolutely cripple any future black progress. Those elements that you just mentioned are the pillars, right? They are the foundation underneath of our community so that, you know, we have the things that are necessary to be able to live healthy and sustainable lives, to be able to send our kids to college, to be able to save a few dollars, all the things that every American says that they want to do. But unfortunately, there have been laws over the years that have stopped us from being able to fully participate. when they see us beginning to make some progress, even incremental progress, they automatically go into a strategic attack mode, beginning to, you know, dismantle the various laws that have been there, not to actually give us an upper hand,

but to give us an opportunity to be able to participate. You know, they look at the incredible things that Maynor Jackson did in Atlanta. When Maynard came in, I think it was in the early 70s, you know, less than 1% of the contract, were going to black contractors, even though you had a black city. And by the time he got done implementing, you know, very positive, well-thought-out steps, it was up to about 34%. When you look at Marion Barry, the exact same thing, because they understood that contracting played a critical role. It helped to build wealth in our country, helped to begin to shrink the wealth gap that has existed for centuries in America. It also helped to begin to heal our country, but they want to rip the wound back open once again,

reach inside, and pull out anything that's of value and take it for themselves. So, you know, that's what exactly is going on. That's why we talk for a year and a half about Project 2025 agenda, one of the other agendas that was out there. So, you know, we are now where we are. That's why our vote matters.

That's why we got to get engaged in the civic process because you've got to have the judges who are there who are going to do the right thing. and understand not only what's happening in this moment, but also the history that brought us here. Randy, again, we see the attacks on DEI. This is all about attacking black folks economically. And I've been yelling and screaming this.

I can tell you, Randy, I remember in 2023, I was at the NWACP Image Awards, and I was sitting on this DEI panel. And man, I was straight going off and people look at me like, oh man, you being too vocal about this. I'm like, I need y'all to wake the hell up. This is happening. It is happening. And I sat there, Randy.

And I listened to these silly-ass simple Simon Negroes, complain about Vice President Kamala Harris. She ain't doing enough. She ain't doing enough. And I'm going, yo, I'm not. happy about getting 2% of federal contracts, but it was a record $10 billion. And I said, the last thing that I want to see is that number go down.

Well, guess what? The number is going down. So I hope all the people who says she wasn't doing enough, and she wasn't doing this. I hope they're happy because here's the problem, Randy. If you go from 2% down to 1.2% in two years,

that means that by the time Trump's term is up, we may be down to 0.8.5% So you're talking about going from $10 billion down to maybe $2.5 billion. And that means it's going to take a hell of a long time to get back to $10 billion. And what does that mean? That means black-owned businesses have to lay off staff. That means that those families that work at those companies.

That means their houses are being impacted. Their kids in schools being impacted. And so that means that you're going to see a drop. in blacks tithing to churches. You're going to see a drop in African-Americans supporting HBCUs, supporting charitable giving. And so there is a tremendous downflow

and a tremendous with this downflow, the same economic downflow, you're going to see billions being washed out of black America because of decisions like this. Exactly

right. I believe that what people don't understand is that sometimes the war is between two candidates. And you may think this candidate did not do enough or won't do enough. What I don't think people understand what Project 2025 is, it is a plan for waging a war to completely cripple the black community. And the black community has historically gotten to places of middle class and upper middle class through government and through the government contracting. So it was very strategic for them to have Doge come in. and gut the government and cut government jobs

because that they knew was gonna specifically hurt us. And it has. Also with the government contracts, you realize that while we're around 14% of the population, we only ever had 3% of employer-based businesses already. And so they created these programs like the NBE and the WBE to get those numbers up. And still, even with those programs,

we're getting about 9% of the government contracts that were available to. us even with the programs. So now with... Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns into recipes, prep, cleanup, and half your Sunday gone. Factor solves all that. These are fresh, ready-to-eat meals designed by dieticians, delivered to your door, and ready in just minutes. No prep, no cleanup, no excuses. And it's not just about convenience. You're getting real food, balanced nutrition, and zero artificial stuff. Meals that help you stay on track for all of your goals, without the

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At participating Canadian restaurants, excluding Quebec. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier, and Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem. If you come over here to play games,

I'ma check you, okay? If you do some in the news that don't sound good, I'm going to play you. Join Yomeneika Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast. You're the problem with Yamanika. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? New episodes weekly every Wednesday

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Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast, Hollywood. Handbook. Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers. The show is famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller. The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere too, right? What do you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken, captured by some

sort of technology. Danny McBride. He loves over. Oh, that's fantastic. And you make it on you make your own. That's great. I call him Terro Reed. It's a good name. They're all named after cast members of American Pie. Yeah. Oh, gotcha.

I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachie Sobiesky. Yeah. I don't think she was an American Pie, but I still like that. Haven't looked it up. She was prominent around the same time. Yeah. Then Mary Steenbergh. Why are you guys talking to me?

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your podcasts. Without them, just like you said, we're going to get far fewer, if anything. I personally, you know, being based in Washington, D.C., have several friends who have lost close to 75% of their businesses. What also that we need to note is that black businesses, black business owners tend to employ black employees more frequently and at higher rates. So all of those employees definitely are impacted. If you walk around the city now, I mean, this, of course, is everywhere, but if you walk around

the city now, the restaurants aren't full anymore, people are not going out because they can't. And what people need to realize is that this is absolutely purposeful, is trying to completely cripple black economics so we can have, so we can barely figure. out how to make it day to day. And so I wish people, you know, had heated the warnings because we are under a targeted, well-planned out attack to bring us to our knees. And sadly, it is working. Councilman Davis joins us right now. Councilman, glad to have you here. Obviously, this decision by the federal judge in Texas is a devastating decision for black-owned businesses on top of the decision by the state to dismantle the Texas Hub program.

I mean, this is, this is not going to bode well for black owned businesses in Houston and in Texas. Well, thank you, Roland. Yes, I am certainly a little bit disappointed. And that's what I said a little bit, but should say much disappointed. because this is more than just something that is hurting black, but it's going to hurt a lot of small business people. And I'm thinking that grateful that our mayor is going to fill it.

And so based upon what's going on, we at council in Houston, we're going to have going forward and to make sure across the board, minorities are represented. They get a fair chance of creativity in the business world. Now, we had a great, our MWBE program

who came under some scrutiny from other minorities because the way our program was written and the way that she was going to solve some of the concern from other minorities. And so we went through that process and we thought we had gotten clear. And then once it got the court, the judge voted in favor of the plaintiff, which was very difficult. So here's the issue.

You and the city council now, frankly, have to be, get more creative. And I remember when there was the Hopwood decision in Texas where they sued and they could not use race when it came to admissions. And one of the things that Texas State Senator Royce West, he got with these rule Republicans. And that's when they came up with the top 10% rule and all of that. And so listen, there are different things that y'all can do. You can look at census tracks. you can look at favoring different things along those lines. And so are y'all meeting and having those conversations on how you can find race-neutral ways to ensure that black businesses and others are still able to compete for city contracts?

Good question, Robin. Our director has got a plan and the mayor, and they're working on it as we speak. It has not been presented as yet to council, but I'm sure within the next week we will. So that we can be assured that every body represents and that we can have a strong case because because I do believe that this can be overturned. You know, the matter about how to put it together and the way it's presented, that it can be overturned. Now, in the meantime, let me tell you, Roland,

and you've shown you what I'm pushing. Last year, I did what was called a financial symposium. And that symposium was made up of small businesses and bankers. And when it get down to the dollars, I often said, Our city municipalities don't have all of the money. Our county government don't have all the money. But the banks have the money. And what we also discover, Rowland, in most of our cities, redlining goes on.

And the Community Reinvestment Act of 1976 helps to protect our communities or the fact that some people redlined and we need to correct that. So I'm already along with whatever the mayor and I would direct the road out, I'm getting ready to have my second one annual financial support. And we had over 350 people registered

for the first time last year. So there are solutions. And I'm not saying, up your MWP. But what I understand, we need to be able to choose in the tour fit. Yeah. Well, I absolutely agree with that, Councilman, Davis. Listen, we'll wait to see what that proposal is that goes to the mayor of the city council.

We'll be paying close attention. We surely appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, my friend. All right, again, I'm just trying to warn people to understand what's going on here. We are facing a situation. a situation where all across this country, especially obviously on the federal level, but in these red states where African Americans are going to be targeting, and y'all, they're going after it all. They're going after the money. And so if you start taking away billions of dollars in contracts, you're going to be impacting not just those business owners, but their employees. You're going to be impacting the black law firms they use, the black accounting firms that they use. The downflow is going to lead to a washout. of the black community, and this is why we keep making the point, voting matters, because when you have your folk at the table, then you are able to impact the policy in a different way. And so

we're going to keep, we're going to keep hammering that, keep letting people understand that, because they need to realize how serious this is. Got to go to a break. I'll be right back, rolling mark and unfiltered on the Black Star Network. All right, folks. person for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company, and she texts me right after saying it's a great benefit. It was easy, a real person walked her through the whole thing, and now she understands better what's going on. But also it's not just her. A woman in Yonkers rode in saying the

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This will be a show where we bring brothers on that you don't see on every other talk show. Nope. Brothers that are doing work in local communities with black men for black communities. We're going to hear each other and try to understand so perhaps we can move forward together. No translation because we don't need anybody speaking for us. What we need is each other. No translation. Right here on the Black Star Network. Check it out.

That's your boy, Earthquake, you know, giving Roland Martin something to do. Because you know he don't know what to do. He's from Texas. Ain't his fault. Folks in Virginia, a federal judge. judge has ordered the Shenandoah County School Board to remove Confederate names from two public schools. Judge Michael Urbanski ruled on August 6th that restoring the names of Stonewall Jackson and Turner Ashby in 2024 violated the 14th Amendment and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act

by discriminating against black students and perpetuating segregation. The ruling sided with the Virginia NAACP in its lawsuit against a county school board's written statement of Confederate military names. The board is now ordered to change the schools monocrys again. A Virginia NWACP filed a lawsuit on behalf of six students and their parents in June 2004 after the school board voted five to one to change Mountain View High School back to Stonewall Jackson High in Honeywood Elementary, back to Ashby Lee Elementary, which combines the name of Robert E. Lee and Turner Ashby, a Confederate cavalry officer. I mean, Randy, what is this show?

goes to show you that these white races, they are so in love with the Confederacy, and they are Republican. They love the Confederacy so much. And so they change your name. This was in the wake of course, the death of George Floyd. And then Trump gets elected, they're like, hey, let's go back to the racist names. They're pitiful. The fact that they are still hanging on to these so-called heroes of theirs, and they lost the war. That's what. what I'll go get. Like, how are you celebrating someone who lost the war, but they cannot let it go? And they're just absolutely sad. And they see this new race is in charge as their opportunity to now honor their supposed heroes and celebrate the time that they wish they could have. I mean,

it very much tells you how they see black people and how they want us to be, how they don't want us to have freedom. People need to see that as a symbol for exactly what they want for us and don't want for us. You know, Mustafa, we're always making this point and you're listening to these people talk about, well, it's history, we can't forget our

history. No, what these white MAGA folks want to do is they want to celebrate the racist. They want our schools to still be monuments. And the judge is right, you damn Skippy. You're a black student hell. You don't want to sit here and say, oh, you

Yeah, I'm a Stonewall Jackson graduate known full well that Stonewall Jackson wanted to make sure that black folks remained in chains. You don't see in Germany them having schools named after Hitler and other Nazi war criminals. There's a reason for that. But in America, they love them some white domestic terrorists who were, again, the wrong side of the Civil War. Well, everything that you just said, you know, it's really interesting that when it comes to our children, they don't have. a problem with trauma, right? They'll allow our children to, as you said, go to those schools, be taught in those schools, look up and see the sign, the name on the side of the building, and have to reflect on that. But when it comes to their children, you could have a few words

in a book, and they have a problem with that. They have a problem with history when it comes to the truthfulness of history that kind of really lays it out for everyone. So I always think that that is very ironic that they're willing to traumatize our students, but they're not allowing that same type of openness to be a part of a process when it comes to their own children. Yeah,

it's because, I mean, listen, it's because they love their white races, and they want to celebrate them, and they want us to sit here and have to deal with their crap when it comes to that. And this is where I'm like, I'm sorry. You know, we have to fight back

and I'm sure there people are saying, well, me, I don't understand why you're making the big deal out of the names. But yeah, damn that. I mean, forget Stonewall Jackson. He was a white domestic terrorist, so was Robert E. Lee. I don't give a damn. Oh, my God. Listen, see, here's the one that cracks me up.

You listen to these people who go, oh, my goodness. I mean, Robert E. Lee was an amazing general, which is why Pete Higg said had his portrait restored in the dining hall at West Point. But guess what? Even according to Patton, Randy, Rommel was one of history's greatest generals. I don't see the Germans still celebrating Rommel as being an amazing military mind. Right. But the Germans have openly dealt with the Holocaust.

They have claimed responsibility. They have admitted that it was wrong. They say all the time, never again. They teach the accurate history in their schools. America can't seem to do that. America would like to act as if none of it really happened and what happened. They are always changing what the Civil War was about. They are always recreating history.

This is why we see how they are daily trying to take down exhibits at museums because they don't want to have the real history. much less deal with it, much less own it, much less pay reparations. They have come up with their whole fantasy like it's a movie, and they are living by that, whereas Germany has taken a completely different approach. Mustafa. It's about hate. It's about evil.

It's about power. That's what this is all about. You know, this current party has just anchored it. Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns out. into recipes, prep, cleanup, and half your Sunday gone. Factor solves all that. These are fresh, ready-to-eat meals designed by dieticians, delivered to your door and ready in just minutes.

No prep, no cleanup, no excuses. And it's not just about convenience. You're getting real food, balanced nutrition, and zero artificial stuff. Meals that help you stay on track for all of your goals without the grind of doing it all yourself. Grilled chicken, roasted veggies, steak plates, postables. They taste like something you get in a restaurant, but they come out of your microwave in two minutes flat.

If time, cost, or effort have been holding you back from eating better, Factor just took those off the table. Right now, get 11 free meals and free shipping. Hurry, this offer won't last long. Go to FactorMeals.ca and use code power. That's 11 free meals and free shipping, but only with the code power at factormeals.ca. Factor, Canada's number one ready-to-eat meal delivery service.

The new Red Bull Dragonberry and Tropicberry Energizers, now at McDonald's, made with freeze-dried fruit, and an electric burst of flavor. The all-new Red Bull Energizers, now at McDonald's. This product may not be right for you. High in caffeine, details of McDonald's.cai at participating Canadian restaurants excluding Quebec. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier, and Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem. If you come over here to play games, I'ma check you.

Okay? If you do some in the news that don't sound good, I'm going to play you. Join Yomeneika Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast. You're the problem with Yamanika. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? New episodes weekly every Wednesday is part of my new network, the Dear Chelsea Network. If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men. Do better.

or do less so I don't have to do so much. So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question. Who's the problem? I'm Yamanika, and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook.

Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers. The show is famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller. The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere, too, right? What do you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology. Danny McBride. He loves Boba.

Oh, that's fantastic. And you make it on, you make your own. That's great. I call him tarot read. It's a good name. They're all named after cast members of American Pie. Yeah. Oh, gotcha.

I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachie Sobieski. Yeah. I don't think she was an American Pie, but I still like that. Haven't looked it up. She was prominent around the same time. Yeah. Then Mary Steenbergin. Why are you guys talking to me?

I'm worried. I'm worried. Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play, play game? I just really. I get it. I'm trying to set you up for success here. Listen to Hollywood. handbook on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts self to hate and they

expect hate to be a leverage point they expect hate to be an opportunity for them to rewrite history and to do it in a way that glorifies things that never happened and to whitewash other things so you know that's the hate side of the equation that's going on there the power side of the equation is they figure that they now have a moment, so they are trying to do everything that they've always wanted to do, whether right or wrong. The evil aspect of it is, is that you often have people who say, who say that they, you know, believe in God, they believe in, you know, a higher power, they know what the words were that were written down in the respective books that are out there, but yet they refuse to follow any of those tenants in a way that is actually uplifting, in a way

that is healing in a way that actually would help to bring this country together because we have so much work that we still need to do, but that's not a part of their agenda. You know, they're putting on the full court press. They continue to throw these Hail Marys, and luckily, in many instances, the courts continue to knock them down, but that's not enough. We have got to really open our minds. We have got to make sure that we're understanding the game that is being played out in front of us, and we have to decide if we're just going to allow, it to happen or if we are going to utilize our power to make things change because we have a responsibility to our children to actually make sure that they are in a safer environment

and an environment that is nurturing and an environment that is telling the truth. And if we don't, then it is our fault for the things that we see will play out. Well, I'm going to say this again for the thousand time, Randy, and for the people who are watching and listening, elections has its consequences. And so who you elect the school board determines actions taken by the school board. Absolutely. It is

you know, we don't think about, we always think about the presidential elections and we forget about all the elections and how much they matter. I was thinking about that when you look at the qualifications to be a coroner in Mississippi because of all the tragedies when happening there and that's an elected person

and they only have to have a high school diploma. So right there, elections matter. We see what happens with our schools and how they try to change policies that can psychologically destroy a child because they don't think about our kids and they decide oftentimes what the curriculum's going to be, what books can and cannot be in the libraries and the names of the school. So it is absolutely vital that everyone decides to play a part and not just vote, but also run. You know, we really need to challenge white mediocrity.

They are very comfortable running for positions with no extra qualifications. It's not as if they're in some way doing better than we are. We just, I don't think, realize about working the system. They take these positions because they absolutely work the system. And so, you know, what I've been trying to tell people is I know that we're very frustrated with this system right now. but while we're trying to make changes to the system, we also need to work within the system to have as much power as we possibly can have.

And let me just give a shout out to the people who brought out a lawsuit as well. Yeah. I was just going to say, I really appreciate people challenging. You cannot. Yeah, it's real simple. You can't complain about a process and then check out of a process.

No, that simply cannot happen. All right. We're going to go to a break. We come back. We're going to talk to, of Florida State Representative Angie Nixon, who of course is running for the United States Senate, and said that primary is coming up this month. But before we go, folks, I've got this read for you.

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the period. Late payments may negatively impact your credit scores, individual results, may vary. All right, folks, let me get personal for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company, and she texts me right after saying it's a great benefit. It was easy. A real person walked her through the whole thing, and now she understands better what's going on. But also is not just her. A woman in Yonkers wrote in, saying the process was so simple, the enrollment was easy, and she was so glad she called. Then there's Maryland, 90 years old, in Florida, living on Social Security. Her premium climbed every single year north of $400 a month for coverage she could barely afford anymore.

So what does she do? She called Chapter. They found her the same top-tier coverage for hundreds of dollars less, 90 years old, and finally somebody in her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built to work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans. Yet Chapter's advisors are independent and honest. the only Medicare advisors that compare every plan nationwide.

They're focused on one thing, what actually works for you. If you're already in the right plan, they'll tell you. No games. And people who switched to a chapter saved an average of $11,100 a year. All takes us 20 minutes. You talk to a real person and is completely free help. So call chapter at 724-264-8-281. 724-264-8-1.

That's chapter. Carl Payne pretended to be Roland Martin. You ain't got to wear black and gold every damn place, okay? Ooh, I'm an alpha. All right, you're 58 years old. It's over. Then you are now watching. Rolling Martin unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undam-believable.

Folks, one week from today, voters in Florida go to the polls to vote in their respective Democratic and Republican primaries in the United States Senate primary for the representative, Angie Nixon. She wants to be the next Democratic nominee for the United States Senate. She is running against Alex Vindman. He has raised a ton of money. And so she is up again in Avalanche, of course, they're running for the seat currently held by Republican Ashley Moody, who was appointed to that particular job. Democratic Progress, the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida,

supporting Nixon over her opponent, high-profile retired Colonel Alex Vindman. Nixon, of course, has spent six years in the state house opposing Governor Ron the Senate's anti-black agenda. She also staged a May sit-in at the Senate's office protesting the GOP's mid-decade gerrymandering process. As a result, she was charged with two misdemeanors that she's fighting in court. However, that has not stopped her, nor those who believe in her race. She joins us right now.

Representative Nixon, glad to have you here. First and foremost, you heard me just say, listen, you're being outraged. But the end of the day, the person with the most votes actually went. How are you countering the avalanche of money that is going towards your opponent? What are you doing? For sure. So thank you for having me. I am countering it by going out and knocking on doors, having conversations, and doing what I've always done.

I am a community organizer, and I have built a large coalition of folks all across the state of Florida. and we know how to win, right? And so we're talking about the issues and we're meeting people where they are. Unfortunately, my opponent is acting like a politician right now. I don't consider myself a politician. I consider myself a community servant and someone who just really cares about people.

He's not showing up at events. He's refusing to debate. He is running away from questions, literally on camera. And that is showing up at the polls. A recent independent poll came out and showed that I have the strongest possibility. I'm the strongest Democratic candidate that could take on Ashley Moody this November. And that's because I always show up. Gotcha.

So what are the issues that you were highlighting? What is getting the attention of Florida voters? What are you focused on? Yeah. So as I travel all across the state of Florida, I hear the same. thing right it is people can no longer afford to be alive right folks are working harder than ever with nothing to show for it and so one of the major issues though is medical debt and people not being able to afford health care you know

we have the largest amount of folks who are on the ACA roles here in the state of Florida and when unelected Ashley Moody decided to vote to end the ACA subsidies that knocked off about 300,000 people off the ACA rolls. And it also jacked up health care premium costs all across the country. And so folks are really, really hurting here in the state of Florida. And it's very unfortunate because health care is a right. And so that's one of the major issues. Also, this housing crisis that we're currently living in.

Here in the state of Florida, we are the least affordable place to live in in a country right now. 18% over the national average as it pertains to renters. We're over 300% as it pertains to property insurance, and it's just so unaffordable. And of course, you know, we have these working family taxes on us that were put on us by Donald Trump, right? Who decided to put these tariffs on us and give away these tax breaks to the rich with his big BSville. I don't call it beautiful. It's BS. And so it's really causing people to struggle right now.

You mentioned affordability housing there. I mean, Rhonda Santis spent several years touting, oh, everybody's moving to Florida. The facts show that it's the case they're leaving Florida because the costs are outrageous, the housing, but also when it comes to insurance. Yeah, yeah. They're definitely leaving because of insurance, right?

I believe in a fully funded public option. Why are we allowing these companies to give a lot of money, their profits to shareholders when they oftentimes deny claims and they have been known to leave Florida after major storms? And so we need to make sure that we have a backstop with the federal government and holding these insurance companies accountable. Look, a lot of these issues are happening because. people like Ashley Moody, the Donald Trumps of the world, they're only beholden to their campaign donors.

And that's what the problem is. They continue to pass legislation to allow them to get richer. And everyday people are just continuing to struggle. They're being exploited on the job because these companies don't want to pay them living wages. And I really want to work to put an end to that. Question from the panel, Mustafa, you first? Yeah.

The representative is good to see you. You had mentioned a number of different things that folks in Florida are facing. I've been blessed to be able to work in a number of different locations. The climate crisis, you know, right now we're in the middle of hurricane season. There are a number of different things that are impacting Florida. If you're elected, what will you do to help folks to be better protected there in the state of Florida? Yeah, for sure. So we definitely won't be spending money.

I want to allow them to spend money that is dedicated to ensuring we have a quality infrastructure on expensive political stunts like Alligator Alcatraz. That's number one. They used a lot of our money that was supposed to go towards building out the infrastructure, providing resources for people in case of a natural disaster. They used it to pad the coffers of their campaign donors with no-bid contracts. They literally spent only over $200 million on porta potties, right? That's a whole lot of, you know, and it's so very unfortunate. And so I want to make sure that we are sending money back to Florida to make sure people have good infrastructure. There's a lot of flooding that takes place here all across the state of Florida.

And we have people like Ron DeSantis and these, oftentimes these Republican governors and things like that, they have not done what they needed to ensure that Floridians have a decent infrastructure in time of natural disaster to make sure that they are hardening the utility systems across the state of Florida. And so those are some of the things that I want to do. Make sure we're drawing down money to prepare people in times of natural disasters. Randy? Thanks so much for being here. I know for someone to be motivated to do with you're doing, takes great sacrifice. And I'd like to know, what is your hope for Florida?

What is your vision? Yeah, so my hope for Florida is the people, right? I believe that hardworking everyday people should get to shape what our communities look like and what our economies look like. Right now, the people that are shaping what our economies and community look like are these corrupt corporations and these huge, these really, really big billionaires, right?

right, these greedy billionaires. It makes no sense to me that we've produced the world's first trillionaire. And meanwhile, we have veterans that are living on the streets. Meanwhile, we have educators that are calling my office because they can't afford to live in this state and they're living in their cars. And so my vision for this next 250 years

is actually to build a new vision, right? One where every family has stability and one where every worker has dignity, dignity and one where every young person has the opportunity to reach the true American dream. And what that looks like is passing common sense legislation like Medicare for all. Health care is a right. We should not be allowing people to deny life-saving medical procedures or medicine because it's hurting someone's bottom line, right?

We need to make sure that we're passing things like universal child care so that we can ensure that parents have the opportunity to get to work and children have a strong foundation. And also definitely ending for-profit prisons. Why are we incentivizing people to not actually educate our children the way that they should be educated and ushering them into the school to prison pipeline so that they can make more money off of them when they are incarcerated? And so I want to put the power back in the hands of the people. The people should be. be determining the direction of our country and not just a select few. I mean, the majority of people, hardworking everyday people. And I'm excited about this people-powered campaign. We have

so many folks that are out knocking on doors and making phone calls, and we've done that with very little money. You know, it's just shameful how much money it costs to run campaigns right now. And it's shameful that the establishment is not supporting a black woman who has put her body and her life on the line for, you know, our democratic principles, which are to help benefit and improve the lives of working families here in our state and in our country. And I'm going to keep pushing, right? I'm going to fight for my state. I love my state. And I'm critical of my state. Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns into recipes, prep, clean up, and

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11 free meals and free shipping, but only with the code power at Factormeals.ca. Factor. Canada's number Number one, ready-to-eat meal delivery service. The new Red Bull Dragonberry and Tropicberry Energizers, now at McDonald's, made with freeze-dried fruit and an electric burst of flavor. The all-new Red Bull Energizers, now at McDonald's. This product may not be right for you. High in caffeine, details of McDonald's.cai at participating Canadian restaurants excluding Quebec. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse.

The world gets crazier, and Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible. You're the problem. If you come over here to play games, I'ma check you. Okay? If you do some in the news that don't sound good, I'm gonna play you. Join Yomeneika Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast. You're the problem with Yamanika. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was?

New episodes weekly every Wednesday is part of my new network, the Dear Chelsea Network. If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of women. then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less so I don't have to do so much. So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question. Who's the problem?

I'm Yamanika, and I'm out. Listen to you're the problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook. Every episode we're trying to help our guests

improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers. The show is famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller. The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere, too, right?

What do you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology. Danny McBride. He loves it. Oh, that's fantastic. And you make it on, you make your own. That's great.

I call him tarot read. It's a good name. They're all named after cast members of American Pie. Yeah. Oh, gotcha. I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachie Sobieski. Yeah. I don't think she was an American Pie, but I still like that.

Haven't looked it up. She was prominent around the same time. Yeah. Then Mary Steenbergin. Why are you guys talking to me? I'm worried. I'm worried. I'm worried.

Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play, play game? I just really. I get it. trying to set you up for success here. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And my country and even the party, because I love it and I want it to be better. But we really need to get money out of politics and actually allow, you know, construction workers and janitors to have the same amount of financial influence that billionaires can have.

And so those are a few of the things that I'm supportive of. And also knowing that nearly 800,000 people, black people lost their jobs, right? And so we really need to have a black agenda, one that actually helps benefit black people, the fact that our wage gaps are still so huge as it relates to black folks and white folks in this country, knowing that our net worths are not as high as other minorities. groups. And so those are some of the things that I definitely want to address when I become the next United States Senator here in the state of Florida. All right, then.

All right. Representative Mustafa, did you have another question? No, no, that was fantastic. Okay. Well, I appreciate y'all. I would love. Yeah, I would love everyone to make sure they follow me on social media, Angie for FM. go to Angie Nixon.com, join our pupil power campaign. Our average campaign donation is under $30.

Look, we have what it takes to win, as I stated. The most recent independent polls show that we're the strongest candidate to be able to unseat Ashley Moody. We literally have Republicans and NPAs that have changed their party affiliation to vote for me in this primary. They're knocking on doors. They're donating to our campaign. Let's change the trajectory of our country, y'all, let's do this. We're excited. One more week, Roland. One more week. Yep, absolutely.

Angie Nixon, we surely appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, folks. Got to go to a break. We'll be right back. Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Support the Word. We do join our Brain to Funk fan club. Our goals get $20,000. Our fans contributing on average 50 bucks each a year. That's $4,019.10 a month. 13 cents a day. You support all the shows right here on the Black Star Network.

if you want to use cash app. Use a Stripe QR code. Just see it right here on the screen. That's the credit cards as well. If you're listening, go to Blackstar Network.com for all the ways to give. Checks and money order, make it payable to Roland Martin unfiltered. P.O. Box 571.96. Washington, D.C., 20,000, 37-196.

PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo, R.M.R.M. Unfiltured. Zail at Roland S.martin.com. rolling that rolling martin filter.com will be right back. All right, folks. Let me get personal for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter,

a Medicare advisory company, and she texts me right after saying it's a great benefit. It was easy. A real person walked her through the whole thing, and now she understands better what's going on. It was also not just her. Woman and Yonkers wrote in saying the process was so simple, the enrollment was easy,

and she was so glad she called. Then there's Maryland, 90 years old, in Florida, living on Social Security. Her premium climbed every single year north of $400 a month for coverage she could barely afford anymore. So what does she do? She called Chapter. They found her the same top-tier coverage for hundreds of dollars less, 90 years old, and finally, somebody in her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built to work for you.

Too much fine print, too many plans. Yet Chapter's advisors are independent and honest, the only Medicare advisors that compare every plan nationwide. They're focused on one thing, what actually works for you. If you're already in the right plan, they'll tell you. No games. And people who switched to a chapter saved an average of $1,100 a year. All takes us 20 minutes. You talk to a real person and is completely free help.

So, call Chapter at 724-264-8-281. 724-264-8-8-1, that's chapter. Let me ask you a question. Why do so many people seem to... Let me ask you a question. Why do so many people seem to think they know black men so well? What they think we want, what they think we need. Hell, they even tried to tell us why and how we voted.

They never had a conversation with us. Never asked us how we felt. It brings us joy. What makes us angry? What makes us scared? How do we live? That's what this show is about. No translation.

because we don't need anybody speaking for us. We can speak for ourselves. This will be a show where we bring brothers on that you don't see on every other talk show. Nope. Brothers that are doing work in local communities with black men for black communities. We're going to hear each other

and try to understand so perhaps we can move forward together. No translation. Because we don't need anybody speaking to us. What we need is each other. No translation. Right here on the Black Star Network. Check it out. Hey, I'm Tasha Cobbs and you are watching.

Roland Martin unfiltered. But I need a little filter. I need a something. Blow me out. Make me a little 35. Got it. Folks, the federal jury on Tuesday blocked the U.S. Postal Service from implementing part of Donald Trump's executive order or aim at tightening rules for melon voting ahead of the November midterm elections.

Of course, that's going to determine who controls Congress. U.S. District Judge Indira-Tawwani in Boston expanded on. On an earlier order, she issued in June that prevented the Trump administration from implementing the policy in 23 mostly Democratic-led states. The judge's latest ruling blocks the postal service from carrying out Trump's directives anywhere in the country. In June, Tijuana's ruling only blocked USPS from implementing the policy in those 23 states. Several voting rights groups had urged the judge to go further asking her to prevent the

postal service from implementing the policy nationwide. On the Trump's orders, the USPS will be required. to compile list of eligible voters from states and deliver absentee ballots only to people on those lists. The order also calls for states to provide voter lists and adopt new ballot-balloting procedures before the Postal Service would make deliveries. Now, already, Donald Trump, he's going to cheat as much as he can. He's going to rig the election. Here he is a phone interview where he literally talks about enacting emergency procedures. They have the election.

So let me put an idea in your head, okay? Because it's so hard to get the Senate to do anything, now they're on recess, they don't get anything done if they never get the Save America Act done. You have the right to declare a national security emergency for elections. And the Supreme Court ruled in 1983 under Reagan that INS versus Shata, that if you declare a national security emergency as the president, the United States. They can't challenge it. It can only be overturned by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress. So if you do this in the next month, we will get photo ID, proof of citizenship,

and a limit to mail-in ballots. And let me just say the strangers have happened. Okay, I'll leave it at then. All right. We'll leave it at that. So let me let me finish with a couple. These people are insane, Mustafa. They're insane. They're done. bastardly. Let me say it that way. I think that's a better way of describing what's going on, because they have an agenda. They have a plan, and they're going to continue to try and implement it. They try and go around the courts. At first, they thought they would be able to manipulate the courts because they had a number of folks that they got into key positions, and that didn't work. Then they tried to utilize executive orders to be able to, once again, go around common-sense sets of actions,

and to move forward with their agenda. And that really hasn't also worked at the level that they thought it would, although there have been some instances when they've been able to do some very destructive things through executive orders. And so now, you know, they're looking for another set of opportunities to be able to move forward with real voter suppression or expanded voter suppression, stripping away people's abilities to be able to fully participate in the civic process. process. So that's why I say, you know, these are well thought out diabolical sets of actions.

But I don't think that it's coming from a place of not having the knowledge and information of what you're doing. I think they've just chosen to be able to do whatever they think they want to do. But I think what they fail to forget is that, you know, people are watching them. And there are going to be repercussions for many of these actions that they've done. So yes, on the federal level, a president is protected. But there can be state charges that are brought forward if folks decide to do that. So I would be very careful with some of the steps that they're taking and some of the folks who work for him that are willing to go out on a line. So, yeah, he can pardon you on federal charges, but he cannot stop state charges.

Randy? they're not even trying to hide it. I mean, they just admitted their plan right there on national TV, where it's been pretty obvious what they're trying to do. They do want to declare a national state emergency. They do want to make it where an election, a free and fair election cannot happen. They do want to ensure that this leader, I want to call it that is in office for another four years. I mean, I don't think that they're even trying to be shy about it. and they're just being bold about it.

We can only hope that fewer and fewer people follow him blindly because I think people are kind of getting, hopefully getting somewhat sick of him, but they don't even try to hide their cheating anymore. I mean, they're just, the level of audacity continues to shock me, although I should not shock me anymore of what he's doing. But they want to do everything they can with the mail-in voting friends. They're hitting us at all sides to ensure,

that this man gets in again, I believe. So with the mail-in voting, they know how many people are absolutely dependent on mail-in voting and what that would do. And it's striking to me how he tries to say that he's so pro-military, it would definitely affect their ability to vote. Of course, people who are disabled vets,

people with disabilities, people who are elderly, people who work off hours. But that's what he wants. He wants to disenfranchise as many of us as he possibly can so he can win. And that is the only way that he could win. Absolutely. All right, folks.

Let's go to Iowa. The America Civil Liberties Union have released a 37-page report titled Rethinking School Safety in Iowa, The harms of school resource officers. The report argues that school resource officers do not make school safer, but instead disproportionately harm black students and students with disabilities by funneling them into the justice system for minor behavioral issues. let's talk about this right now with Veronica Fowler. She's the director of communications for the ACLU in Iowa. Veronica, glad to have you here.

And so in looking at this report, how bad is it? Well, it's bad. We had found that black student, we basically did a lot of open records requests to schools in Iowa that had school resource officers. We looked at federal data from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. and we also looked at a host of studies about school discipline and racial disparities in schools. So this was a year-long project and very thoroughly researched. And we found numbers that basically reflect some other very disturbing national trends.

Black students in Iowa were arrested at 3.7 times, nearly four times, the rate of other students. even though studies that we cite show that they do not misbehave at a higher rate than other students. And then, of course, you also mention students with disabilities. They were either referred or arrested at 2.3 times the rate of students without disabilities. And so this is obviously disturbing because students are supposed to get equal treatment in schools, and these numbers suggest that they are not. This report was done at the behest of whom? Us. There have been, the ACLU has long been concerned about the role of school resource officers.

And the national offices and different state offices have done their own data collection and analysis and advocacy. And we decided that it was time for us to look at the situation in Iowa. You know, in Iowa, we only have 4% of the population that's black. And so these numbers are especially concerning because, because it suggests that black kids are in some ways being targeted or not treated equally. And that's not really the goal of anyone. Questions for the panel? Randy, you first.

Thank you for this work that you're doing. I recognize how valuable it is. And I'm just going to be honest about my frustration. My first job out of graduate school was a high school English teacher. And these, I mean, study after study has been conducted. coming up with the same information, right? I'm not in Iowa, but it's all across the country, and we've known this. What is it going to take for the change to actually happen?

It seems like the information, yes, that's great, nice, but then we still have the resource officers. The resource officers are more in schools where black children are. You know, our kids have always been disciplined more, starting in kindergarten. And every study has always shown that the minute that a child touches, has any interaction with the justice system, it's almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy, right? And so, but nothing is ever done, is ever done. So what are there plans? Are there any plans to actually do something with this information? Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Well, I mean, I absolutely agree. And I wish I could say a study like this is going to change everybody's minds and we are going to get overnight action. And that's not the case. But what I do think happens is the more studies that come out like this, the more it's demonstrated, the more schools are likely to listen and take action. You know, we've had a couple encouraging situations right after George Floyd, Des Moines, which is the largest school district by far in the state, reconsidered its SRO program and got rid of SROs. That's a hopeful sign. Also, in Ames, Iowa, where that's the home of Iowa State University, they also decided to look at the stats.

And in fact, one of the school board members was a sociology professor who had done work on racial disparities. And she sat down and really looked at the numbers. And as she said, the tears started coming down her face because she could see how clear the inequities were. And she was a leading force in leading the school board to get rid of their SRO programs. So we are hopeful that there will be other districts that will take action. But sometimes people have certain preconceived notions about SROs. They have the reasons that they might like SROs. They often say, oh, our SRO is wonderful.

RSO would never, ever treat students differently based on their color or their ability level. But that is a statistical sampling of one. Sometimes it takes hard numbers like this. And we also listed district by district what the racial disparities were. And some districts fared less well than others. In fact, strikingly, Waterloo, Iowa, which is the home of Nicole Hannah Jones, who of course led the amazing 1619 project. And her school of the schools that turned in data, because some didn't even really turn

in reliable data to the federal government, which is a problem in and of itself. But Waterloo, Iowa, their student population is 27%. And yet, black students accounted for 43% of the arrests. And it's just so disheartening because, you know, if you've listened to that amazing or read that amazing series, things aren't changing the way we would like. Right. Well, of course not, which is why we do what we do here,

because this is what happens when the folks don't want to do the right thing. We're so appreciate it. Thank you so very much for joining us and keep the fight. Thank you. All right, then. All right, y'all, you know what? I really try my best not to show you the stupid ass and I and stuff of Donald Trump. But when I listen, but when I listen,

to this nutcase. When I think about how these right-wing trolls responded when Hillary Clinton said deplorables, and then when Joe Biden called them, whatever the hell he called them, they just lost their mind, they just lost their damn mind. Y'all, listen to this pathetic individual as he talks about Somali immigrants.

These are people that have been not successful. They're people that have been, in many cases, failures. They come from other failed countries, and they come here and they tell us how to run our country. They come from places like I won't mention because I don't want to get myself into a controversy, but they come from countries that are not great. They come from, let's say, as an example, Somalia, they come in and then they tell us how to, How our Constitution, how our Declaration of Independence, how it works, it doesn't work that way.

And they're not smart. They have no aptitude. They have nothing going, and they're telling us how to run our country. And I just don't think it's going to happen. I think that they start off now. I may be wrong. Says a dumb-ass Randy who can't even read. That he's ever been to, I mean, just to hear that jackass speak.

it burns me up every time. And then I don't know if people are picking up what he's trying to put down, but to say that an entire group of people don't have aptitude and art intelligence is eugenics. I mean, it's eugenics. It is the foundation of white supremacist's bullshit. It is the, I'm sorry, I'm using that. I am so fired up. But to say an entire group of people is not intelligent.

Now, who could come out of their mind? and say that and to think that is the leader of this country and think that it's okay. This man, I mean, we are looking at, to me, the times of Germany and how people could support that is even disgusting. I'm disgusted by the people who follow this man because, and the fact that he's so unintelligent that he could barely put together a sentence. And this is the reason why his followers like him because he doesn't speak past a third grade level so they can understand what he says.

Pure, unadulterate, racism, Mustafa. Right. That's who he is, how he feels about African nations. It's clear, and that's all this is. This man is an absolute racist, a bigot. Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns into recipes, prep, cleanup, and half your Sunday gone.

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If time costs or effort have been holding you back from eating better, Factor just took those off the table. Right now, get 11 free meals and free shipping. Hurry, this offer won't last long. Go to FactorMeals.ca and use code power. That's 11 free meals and free shipping, but only with the code power at Factormeals.ca. Factor, Canada's number one ready-to-eat meal delivery service. The new Red Bull Dragonberry and Tropic Berry Energizers, now at McDonald's, made with freeze-dried fruit and an electric burst of flavor.

The all-new Red Bull Energizers. Now at McDonald's. This product may not be right for you. High in caffeine, details at McDonald's.ca, at participating Canadian restaurants, excluding Quebec. This is Chelsea handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier, and Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible,

you're the problem. If you come over here to play games, I'ma check you. Okay? If you do some in the news that, Don't sound good. I'm a play you. Join Yamanika Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast. You're the problem with Yamanika.

Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? New episodes weekly every Wednesday is part of my new network, the Dear Chelsea Network. If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less so I don't have to do so much. So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question. Who's the problem? I'm Yamanika, and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook. Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers. The show's famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent. episodes with Ben Stillard. The definition of what is a movie

has kind of changed anywhere too, right? What do you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology. Danny McBride. He loves Lowe. Oh, that's fantastic.

And you make it on, you make your own. That's great. I call him Tarot Reed. It's a good name. They're all named after cast members of American Pie. Yeah.

I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him, she so be asking. I don't think she was an American pie, but I still like that. Haven't looked it up. Haven't looked it up. She was prominent around the same time. Yeah. Then Mary Steenberg. Why are you guys talking to me? I'm worried. Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play play game? I just really, I get it. I'm trying to set you up for success here. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

But he knows itself, right? So, he knows. He knows that there's a base that feed off of that. America, unfortunately, has always wanted to look at others. And we all understand the otherism as less than. So he understands how to play to an audience. But let's break it down. So he said that these were uneducated people. I've spent time in numerous countries across Africa.

In Somalia, people speak multiple languages. How many languages does Donald Trump speak? And he doesn't even speak. his own hometown. Right. Very well. He barely can speak English and he speaks stupid. Right.

So, you know, so one for Somalians and zero for Donald Trump. When we talk about Africa, everybody who watches this show understands the extraction that has taken place in multiple countries there. You can look at their fishing industry where people cross over borders and illegally take, I think they've lost over 300. million dollars a year in illegal fishing that's going on. And you can go down the list if you look at their forest and how they have also been plundered. It's one thing after another, but they never bring that into the conversation when we talk about the infrastructure that's in a country,

the lack of economic stability that may exist. They don't talk about the destabilization that not only our country but other countries have played a role in. So he really, really has no truth to stand on, but truth is not something that he cares about. And when immigrants come to this country, we know they work extremely hard because they know that they have to. But that doesn't matter to him because he wants to paint them as less than. But there's no one who comes to this country from Africa or no one who is indigenous, black Americans who are indigenous to this country who have not superseded all of the hurdles that have been put in front of them. He's never had one. He was born with a silver spoon. His father was a racist. He's bringing

forward racist ideals. And he's trying to completely destabilize America because he knows that the 21st century is a browning of America. And he fears that. But we'll continue to move on. And to those brothers and sisters from Somalia, continue to do what you do. Well, he also is a moral degenerate. I mean, you know you're a pathetic individual. Biden talks about how his dad's prostate cancer is spreading and this fool Trump makes fun of that. He is a vile, despicable human being. All right y'all. Got to go to a break.

We come back. I'm really trying hard not to label this generation of students completely soft. But I saw this story that to me, I think it's dumb and stupid when it comes to colleges and grades. I will explain when we come back. Roland Martin unfilcher on the Black Star Network, support the work that we do, join our Braina Funk fan club. You want to contribute via cash hat.

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They found her the same top-tier coverage for hundreds of dollars less, 90 years old, and finally, somebody in her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built to work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans. Yet Chapter's advisors are independent and honest, the only Medicare advisors that compare every plan nationwide. They're focused on one thing, what actually works for you. If you're already in the right plan, they'll tell you. No games.

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and a country that was never built for us. We are talking about 18-year-old Nolan Wells, his family's search for answers, and the way that our own trauma is showing up in how we are reacting to the new. Where was Nolan in the 90 minutes between when you're claiming you last saw him and when you actually left the island?

Because 90 minutes is a lot of time. So where was he? Tune in on the other side of change only on the Black Star Network. Hey, what's up everybody? It's God be the funniest dude on the planet. And you're watching. Roland Martin unfiltered. All right folks, so I saw this story in the New York Times.

And let me just reach all the Hela. To improve student mental health, University of Michigan, E-Yorkman. Michigan eases grading. The university will make first semester grades pass or fail to encourage students to try different classes and lessen fears of what a low grade could mean. It says the University of Michigan will replace traditional letter grades for some first semester freshman with a pass-fail style grade to more gently ease new students into academic life. The plan will go into effect in the fall of two years. 2007 at the University's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts is intended to relieve pressure on a freshman and help them, quote, start strong and curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college-age individuals.

The university said in a statement. I am very cognizant of the issue of mental health. I understand pressures the students face in high school and college to get top grades. But how weak of a country can we be when we choose to aid weak-minded individuals? This sort of rings, this sounds like participation trophy stuff for me. See, I think what you're dealing with is you've got these students who come from high school. And a lot of them actually think they're smart. Then they get to college and they realize they're so smart.

And the problem I really have with this, Mustafa, is because for somebody who hires people, I will be honest. I see soft college graduates I see people who have not been challenged I see people who have not been pressured I see people who have not had to go through hell to get

to achieve their dreams so for the university to say oh it's so fragile it's so fragile so we understand it's rough so we're not going to

no you're either a pass or fail it's not going to be an A it's not going to be a B it's not going to be a D it's not going to be an F your pass or feel I'm sorry this is stupid this is just

dumb to me why do we sit here and play this soft games Mustafa, it's called earning it. Well, you do have to earn it. I mean, all of us came up that way, you know, but it's a new day, right? So I think we have to ask the questions.

One, are we making our students, are we helping our students to be competitive with the rest of the world? Because now jobs, you know, you've got lots of different folks who are competing for the same jobs that are out there. The second question I would have to ask in helping to provide. our students is we have an emerging, developing 21st century economy and are we helping them to be in a position to be able to actually not just participate, but to compete also in what this new economy is actually going to ask of folks. The third thing is that, you know, for some folks, you know, my parents and others, you know, trying to be able to go to school, to be able to go to college, there were a whole lot of things that you had to be able to navigate. Not only

did you have to be prepared academically, but you also had to deal with all of the, you know, bigotry and racism that was also a part of that. And even though some of that still exist in a smaller way, it's nothing that others had to go through, nor do, you know, whether it's my parents, my grandparents, or all of our parents, they probably never would want students of color to have to go through some of the things that they went through. The other thing that I'll say, Roland, is that this is not new, whoa. If you look at a... couple of the Ivy League schools, some of them, that's the way their grading system works as well. So I think, you know, we just got to, you know, ask the question, is it really helping students

to be prepared for the things that they're going to face, the sets of opportunities that are in front of them? And then, you know, people start to make some decisions. Some of those online schools that are really big now, they follow a very similar model also. So that's why I bring into our conversation that we're dealing with a whole new set of educational, of requirements. Randy, let me be clear. I was not a great classroom student in college. You know why?

Because I knew it was BS. Follow me what I'm saying. I knew at the age of 14 I was going to be a journalist. And I knew what it required to be a journalist. And so the work that I put in outside of the classroom is why I was able to excel so quickly in my first three years in the business. I, in essence, created my own curriculum outside of the classroom. Okay?

And I remember, I remember having a conversation with, it was an English lit professor. And man, it was a Tuesday, Thursday class. It was like 8, 15 to 9.30, and I was always late. So I remember one day Randy, he gave us our test back and he said, Mr. Martin, I want to see you after class and said, okay. So he proceeds to sit here and tell me, you come to my class late, you didn't do well on the test, you don't do well on assignments. When he got done, Randy, I said, hey, bro, I'm going to be straight up on a lot. I don't give a damn about this class. And he was, he was like, excuse me, I said, I don't give a damn about this class.

I said, man, let me tell you something. I work, no, I said, I work at the local newspaper. I said, and if I've got a, if I got a choice between reading your 100 pages and working late at the paper, I ain't reading your 100 pages. I said, so man, let me be real clear. I don't need an A in your class.

I don't need a B in your class. I don't need a C in your class. All I need is a D. I said, I am not going to expend a lot of energy trying to get an A or B in your class

when it's not going to have any relevance on my career. I said, ain't nobody going to ask me for some college transcripts. They're not. I said, so I'm going to spend as little time as I can on your stuff and a maximum amount of time at the newspaper, the TV station, and the radio station. Somebody, a keen on YouTube saying, lie, you lie. You're a damn lie. Tell me, I'm lying.

I ain't lying. That's exactly what I said. and I made a D in his damn class saw his ass the next semester I was like say dog what up because I understood I was only there rang to get a sheet of paper but the point I'm making is

I don't believe this helps a student I believe there is something about aptitude to understand your familiarity with the topic so and again now I made a different decision. But I'm just simply saying that if you're, now my journalism classes, yo, I was hardcore straight when it came to hell yeah, I wanted the A in those classes. But what this is

doing, Randy, this is creating a soft generation to be even softer. Well, one, I absolutely believe you did it. How could anyone question about you being outspoken? That should never be Damn right idea. But two, let me, this is some white people stuff to me, Roland. I mean, that's the way I see it. I mean, University of Michigan has 5% of us that attended. Like 45% of white people and then 30% Asian American and international students. And as a person who, you know, lived in California and really started to understand

the whole California's college system, there are always moves being made to ensure that, white students are successful. The rules, just like rules are changed to, you know, keep us out of the game or unsuccessful, also rules are changed to help white students be successful. And if you look at a lot of the white students, particularly kids who are legacy, that get into Ivy League schools, that get into schools like University of Michigan, they are there oftentimes because of legacy, because of people that they know, you know, because of family legacy. And they're not prepared really to go to school. They have been pampered just the same way as they're pampering these students now. My guess, I'm just, I'm just telling you what I think and my

experience has shown me is that those international students, about those 20% of international students and the Asian students are whooping their asses. And they are, they are, they are tearing them up and messing up the whole, the whole grading system, the curves. And those white professors and white people like, how do we fix this so our kids are successful and they still look good and they go to systems like this. I promise you that from what I've seen, it has something that has something to do with this. This is some white people stuff and I promise you they change the rules to ensure that those students look successful even when they're not because they were already soft and this gives them the path to continue to be soft and look at it that way because it's not

for our kids. And I promise you that they will never. be a school that has a high population of black and brown students that attend that will do that and you know no hbc u is going to do that but for these kids they're going to make it look give them the opportunity to look as successful as they possibly can no doubt in my mind see the problem the problem i have musta is that i'm not looking at those students solely in the classroom I'm looking at what's going to happen when they leave college. And I'm telling you, I've had to deal with this. I've had to deal with students I've hired, not focused, not motivated,

don't apply to their craft, don't study their craft, and it don't, oh my God, I mean, it's an eight-hour work day. You're asking me to work nine hours. Am I going to get overtime? I mean, I'm, I mean, I'm, see, I mean, I've had to deal with soft people work and I, and they no longer work for me. And I'm telling you, we are not producing students with resiliency. We're not producing folks are tough. It's like, oh my God, he yelled at me.

Man, take your ass to CNN or MS now or Fox and see. if you screw up, if you don't have that video or you don't have that damn graphic, watch how you get cussed out. And he's supposed to like, oh, no, oh my God, this workplace environment is toxic because they yelled

at me, man, listen, what I'm saying is you got to, if you're going to have people survive in the workforce, man, they got to toughen the hell up. And I'm sorry. this year

that was so concerned about the mental health no and Mustafa no I don't think you make things easier for people to deal with mental health

I think what you do is you have to walk folks through and say hey the reason we have this is because this will determine who cuts it and who does it it's really about

it's really about shredding it's really about being able to say hey can you tough it out. Hey, I'm gonna give this last one, Mustafa. This was pretty funny. So we're in college. I'm a sophomore. My sister's a freshman. Rough first year. She was used to all these great grades. And so she had to write a letter, you know, to scholastic probation. I was like, that's it. Girl, come here. So we went to the library. I grabbed that paper. Yeah. I start typing, man, the fiction that was flying off of my fingers was beautiful.

It was beautiful. Y'all, I was flowing. Man, I finished that. Zoot, plug typewriter, hand to my sister, read that letter, memorize it. I said, read it six, seven times, memorize it, and take it in. You go, you're going to stay in school. Hey, it was about Can you figure out a way to survive?

And that's all I'm saying is that's what we, we have to be, college has to be toughening people up, Mustafa, not making it softer. Go ahead. That's just me. Yeah, no, no, no. I feel what you're saying,

and I appreciate your lengths and Hughes moment there. I mean, college is supposed to prepare you for the future, right? But people use that often. but I think that it actually starts way before then, and hopefully you have parents who are making you strong and helping to prepare you for what the world is going to throw at you. So I think for me personally, you know, with my folks, you know, you start that work early on. On the mental health side of the equation also that. Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns into recipes, prep, cleanup, and half your Sunday gone. Factors solves all that.

These are fresh, ready-to-eat meals designed by dieticians, delivered to your door and ready in just minutes. No prep, no cleanup, no excuses. And it's not just about convenience. You're getting real food, balanced nutrition, and zero artificial stuff. Meals that help you stay on track for all of your goals without the grind of doing it all yourself. Grilled chicken, roasted veggies, steak plates, postables. They taste like something you'd get in a restaurant, but they come out of your microwave in two minutes flat. If time costs or effort have been holding you back from eating better, Factor just took those off the table.

Right now, get 11 free meals and free shipping. Hurry, this offer won't last long. Go to FactorMeals.ca and use code Power. That's 11 free meals and free shipping, but only with the code power at factormeals. Factor, Canada's number one ready-to-eat meal delivery service. The new Red Bull Dragonberry and Tropicberry Energizers now at McDonald's, made with freeze-dried fruit and an electric burst of flavor. The all-new Red Bull Energizers.

Now at McDonald's. This product may not be right for you. High in caffeine, details of McDonald's.cai at participating Canadian restaurants excluding Quebec. This is Chelsea handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier and Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem.

If you come over here to play games, I'ma check you. Okay? If you do some in the news at Don't sound good. I'm a play you. Join Yamanika Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast. You're the problem with Yamanika. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was?

New episodes weekly every Wednesday is part of my new network, the Dear Chelsea Network. If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less so I don't have to do so much. So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question. Who's the problem? I'm Yamanika, and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport.

And Sean Clements. We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook. Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers. The show is famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller. The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere, too, right? What do you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology.

Danny McBride. He loves Mawba. Oh, that's fantastic. And you make it on, you make your own. That's great. I call him Terro Reed. It's a good name. They're all named after cast members of American Pie.

Yeah. Oh, gotcha. I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was. in this, but I call him Leachie Sobieski. I don't think she was an American pie, but I still like that. Haven't looked it up. She was prominent around the same time. Then Mary Steenbergin.

Why are you guys talking to me? I'm worried. Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play game? I just really I'm trying to set you up for success here. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app, Apple

podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A lot of that goes back home also and how you're raised and how you're taught to deal with situations and that doesn't mean there are all kinds of mental health impacts that happen and i totally get that but a lot of that stuff begins there so you know then fast forwarding you know to college um you know for most folks unless you come from a privileged situation um you know the money that you borrowed or that someone paid for you to be there um took a lot so you know you got to take advantage of that opportunity and you've got to pour everything that you can't into it.

But I also want to say, you know, a lot of times for folks in their first year of college, especially that first semester, you know, they're trying to figure some things out. Some folks never been away from home. Some folks didn't have a good study habits. Now, that is not really acceptable, but that's just the reality of what's going on. So I think we've got to take all that into totality and understanding, you know, how we make strong young men and women to be prepared for what, you know, what to do next. So that's where I land on it.

Hey, hey, I'm just saying, Randy, somebody in the chat room, they were talking about, they somebody said, man, my parents wouldn't let me bring home nothing, anything less than A's and B's. Man, let me tell y'all something. Randy, I had an editor. He was an assistant managing editor at the Austin American Statesman. And he said, point blank. He said, show me a 4.0. journalism student who ain't got no experience and showed me a 2.5 who's got experience and got clips, he said the 4.0 ain't got a chance. Listen, I get people who go to law school. I get, listen, my niece at the University of Texas law school, they have a thing called the chancellors. It's the highest grade point average students. She's the first African American in UT law school history to be one of those chancellors. That's great. Listen, that's fine. If you're going to law or a doctor, whatever, but hey, I'm a firm believer.

If you figure out what industry you're trying to go in, and you better figure out how to be successful in that industry and figure out that skill set for that industry. And listen, if that classroom stuff ain't applying, look, you just do whatever you've got to do, Randy, to get that sheet of paper and get out. But I believe you building your skills. skill set for your career because listen and ain't no

listen all y'all out there with your magna kum loudi and your sum kuhloudi and all your ropes and all that stuff that shit don't mean nothing right now when it comes to your bank account and when it come to your job that's cute to have it then

and listen al-a-salam al-lakam-a-l-a-l-a-salaam congratulations all that stuff when you got it then but I saw right there Randy listen, that stuff ain't going to mean a hill of beans. So y'all go ahead and do all that. I'm trying to get these skills so I can get paid.

Right. I definitely think people need to look at their career path and figure out what's the best way to go. Those grades do matter if you know you want to go to graduate school or professional school. So then the grades matter. But if they don't, I believe skills do matter the most. I have a dear friend whose daughter just started college this Sunday. she moved into Bethune Cookman, and she was debating about schools and didn't get into her first choice school. And someone said to her, you know, I wanted to be a physical therapist.

And my primary school didn't let me in. And she said, so I went to another school. She said, guess what? I've been a physical therapist for 25 years. So at the end of the day, no one does ask you what your GPA was except, like I said, if you want to go on the school. No one really cares if you, you know, graduated summa cum laude or a thank you, Lodi. most of the time. So you do need to ensure that you are focusing on getting those skills as well. And again, listen, if your scholarship requires a certain GPA, I totally understand.

And so you do what you've got to do. But I'm just telling you, I'm just telling you right now, I just think that college teaches, college exposes a whole lot of who you are as a person. college to your point Mustafa being away from home you got to learn how to get your ass up yourself mama and daddy and then coming in the room telling you hey get up get dressed got to go to school because the school bus is coming no you got to do it yourself you got to figure out your food so if you get the dorm or you're in an apartment you got to figure out y'all's college is college is going beyond the classroom it's teaching you a whole lot about yourself are you codependent and what are you learning and so

I just think that when we start this whole deal, oh my goodness, folks in their mental health, it's meant to challenge you. It's meant to really press you. And I'm going to leave you out with this one. I had a journalism class. I was just telling this to the students last night in the National Association of Black Journalist's Student Projects. And they asked me to address the TV folks. and I remember Mustafa and Randy I'm in the class and so when it was test day what you would do is you would go to this class and they would hand you a sheet of paper with a set of facts and you had to write a story based upon the set of facts that they gave you so I came to class 15 minutes late and I left 15 minutes early it was a 50 minute class so I did my assignment in 20 minutes and so when they came to class 15 minutes and so when they came to class you

came back and gave what's the score the professor said I need to see you after class I was like all right so I think I made an 84 or 86 and she said now Mr. Martin if you had not come late and you have not left early and had you applied yourself you could have made an A on this

and I said ma'am let me be real clear I do not care about your A and she was like excuse me I said I want you to understand something. When I graduate, I'm going to have to write a story on deadline in 20 minutes. And if I do not train my brain today to take a set of facts and be able to whip that story around, I'm not going to be successful when I get out of here. So here's what's going to happen. You going to tell me how I made an 86. I said, so the next of you. I said, so the next

assignment. I'm going in here 15 minutes late and I'm going to leave 15 minutes early but it ain't going to be an 86. So the point there was I was preparing myself

for life after school while I was in school and I wanted tough professors. I wanted journalism professors who were tough who were kicking my ass because I did not want to be mean. yoker. And that's all I'm saying. If you want to be great, you know what? It's the great coaches.

It's the great mentors who put the screws to you because they see greatness. And I'm just saying, let's not make this thing easy. Quick break. We'll be right back. Rolling Martin unfiltered on the Black Star Network. All right, folks. Let me get approached her for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare. chapter, a Medicare advisory company, and she texts me right after saying it's a great benefit. It was easy, a real person walked her through the whole thing, and now she understands better what's going on. But also is not just her.

A woman in Yonkers rode in saying the process was so simple, the enrollment was easy, and she was so glad she called. Then there's Maryland, 90 years old, in Florida, living on Social Security. Her premium climbed every single year north of $400 a month for coverage she could barely afford anymore. So what does she do? She called Chapter. They found her the same top tier coverage for hundreds of dollars less, 90 years old, and finally, somebody in her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built to work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans. Yet Chapter's advisors are independent and honest, the only Medicare

advisors that compare every plan nationwide. They're focused on one thing, what actually works for you. If you're already in the right plan, they'll tell you. No games. And people who switched to a chapter saved an average of $11,100 a year. All takes us 20 minutes. You talk to a real person and is completely free. Help. So call Chapter at 724-264-8281.

724-264-8-1. That's Chapter. Folks, according to the Annie-E-K-S. Foundation's Kids Count Data Book Report. Black children face significant proficiency gaps in reading math nationwide. The report says roughly 85%

of black fourth graders read below grade level. Martin's Children's Books addresses that issue by offering books that support early literacy and math as well as workbooks while providing diverse stories that help with emotional awareness and social skills.

Author Latasha Martin joins us right now. Latasha Martin, How you doing? You're doing, Mr. Roland Martin. I am so excited to be here. I have been watching you for years. I am just so honored to be on your show tonight. I appreciate it.

Before I ask you, first of all, where are you from? Which Martins are you from? Well, Martin is my husband's last name, and we're a homestead, Florida. Where his people from? Peron, Guz, Richmond Heights, South Florida. Okay. Okay, I don't know, I don't know, I don't have any Martins that I know who are in Florida. My folks came from East Texas and so, but I'm sure somewhere up in there, there's some sort of connection there.

So let's get right into it. All right. We were just talking about, obviously, we were talking about college. We were talking about, you know, this whole past grade thing. But the reality is really the need to learn that the build knowledge in elementary school, and middle school is so important because it positions you for high school. And so walk us through your books. How do you help with that literacy?

What is it teaching? And where did this all start? Okay. Well, first, I am a veteran elementary school teacher. I've been teaching for 20 years in South Florida. I've taught kindergarten, third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade. So those are definitely the critical years where. especially for third graders in Florida, that they do have that fast testing that they need to pass in order to be promoted to the fourth grade.

So that's what I've been working on for the last 10 to 12 years. I've been working solely with third and fourth grade students to help them with their comprehension. So when our schools went to COVID break, which was 2020, and that's when I started building my business, I had time at home. I've always enjoyed reading. So my passion was always reading comprehension, literacy, exploring different genres. So from that and the extension that I had at home, I created my business. And my love of reading fostered my growth of my company. I have published six children books.

I am an independent children's book author. And I have published children's books. First, I started with books that related to my son. I have two of their older children now, a 20-year-old and a 16-year-old. But I used them for my first book, Black Boy B.U. I wanted to create a book where my children can see themselves in their books. So as a teacher, there are not a lot of stories that include African-American characters. So that was definitely one of my first goals was to create characters that look like my children.

They were my inspiration. They're also the characters in my story. So my first book was Black Boy B.U., which was just affirmations, teaching him that, you know, you love yourself, you have hairstyles that look like the characters in the story, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. They can see the name Isaiah and know a family member, a friend, or their name is Isaiah. So it's building the love of literacy with a connection to your community. So from that growth, I have included a Black Girl B.U, which is a positive. of affirmation for young girls. And then I went to focusing on my early literacy, which I noticed that the students, which you were talking about before, especially with the universities, that, you know, everybody's kind of, you know, kind of pushing them along. So my goal was to create stories that help children at the early age. So I have surrounded by numbers, which is helping children understand that numbers are everywhere. So it's taking the connection from your neighborhood to school and

making everything go with what they understand that they're working on. So as in understanding that I'm not just counting in school. I also can see when I go outside, I can count the number of steps. I can practice the same vocabulary understanding how my digit and my word form meet. And from there, I increased it to my latest one, which is the polite parade, which is something that, you know, a lot of elementary school teachers. just have been working on, which is manners. Unfortunately, something lately is that, you know, a lot of our kids struggle with interacting positively with one another. So I wrote a story that talks about,

you know, the polite way to interact with each other. Please, thank you. May I, may I have this? So those are some of the words that we don't hear deafly in our school. So it's something that wanted to bring back to see characters that interact with your same everyday life, but you can relate to them. Can I see myself in the story and still learn at the same time? So that's always been my goal. And along with my children's books, you know, people love to read, but they also like to take it and practice those same skills. So with my reading books, I made companion work books and coloring books for children so they can take it with them practice. Handwriting is also a big thing.

I don't know about universities because even, you know, with the computers, they stopped with the handwriting. So that's a big thing for a lot of children also. So my goal is to go back to the whole school ways of teaching. Let's questions from my panel. Randy, your first. I'm so excited to see your books. I'm a former English major and English teacher,

so I really believe that we need to work on literacy. What do you think makes your book special where kids want to engage with them? Well, what I really do enjoy about my books is that I love bright colors. So definitely with younger students, they need things that pop out to them. So it's not just the words,

it's the images also. Can they love to, when they open up a book, it has to be bright colors that jump out to them. So that's always my first goal. bright colors. And then the wording within my book, there's some that are like in black letters and some that are in color letters.

So I have different things within my stories that attract students. And it's not just reading. There's also questions within a lot of my books to interact with the students while they're reading, especially what's surrounded by numbers. It asks them, how many do you see in this picture? How many cars are there?

So it's just adding a different level to just reading a book. Thank you. Mustafa. Yeah, well, congratulations, Ms. Martin. I have two questions for you, actually. The first one is about the evolution of your books and the students who've been reading them. Could you share with us sort of how some of the students, maybe who you stayed in contact with, you know, sort of their evolution with your books?

well yes so my first book was black boy be you so that one's definitely a big hit as a time of you know self-empowerment for young boys and then they wanted to know you know was there more that i was writing about young boys because there's not a lot of books about afghan american boys you might see more girl books but my first couple of books definitely focused on the young boy so they wanted to see something else that related to them so i included surrounded by numbers where i where my characters, my main characters are young men. And then also, within my stories, a lot of the readers wanted to have additional that relate to their younger siblings. So not just like a third grader, you have something also that my kindergarten can relate to. So then I expanded my collection of stories to ABCs of kindergarten, where it helps parents get their kids ready for the first day of kindergarten.

and also learn about the alphabet phonics and rhyming words. So I listened to customers and readers and what they were looking for next, and that helped me to create my next set of books. My second question really quickly, illustration is so incredibly important when it comes to children's folks. Do you do the illustration? Do you hire other black folks who do the illustration? How does that process work?

Okay, I am definitely not an illustrator. I enjoy writing the story, so I did outsource my illustrations. For my characters, what I use are pictures of my children when they were young. So I sent illustrators a picture of my kids, and I said, can you please draw them? And then I was able to choose the best illustrator that came with images that I enjoyed the most. I had the most detail because within my books, I enjoy a lot of detail within the background of my books. My illustrators are overseas, so it's a little extra step that I have to do with my illustrations, speaking to them and getting them to understand what I'm looking for.

But it's still a struggle with illustrators here in the United States to definitely get someone that has everything that I'm looking for. Thank you. All right, then, folks, Martin's Children's book, go to shop, Blackstarnetwork.com. Shop blackstar network.com to check them out. So please do that.

And support Latasha's books. We certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Well, thank you for having me. All right. Good luck. All right, folks. Let me give you an update on the story out of Illinois.

Remember the guy? Oh, they have issues at the pool. Well, the property owner of the apartment complex has released a statement saying that it was not discrimination. You might remember where Leo Sullivan said that he was approached by a couple of white women when they came at demanding he showed his ID. The property owner says this in a statement at Art Living, we're deeply upset about the extensive misinformation being shared on social media

about our company and the doxing of our innocent employees. Our company has a long history of serving in diverse communities and we proudly employ individuals of many racial and ethnic backgrounds. we do not condone or tolerate discrimination of any kind, and to falsely portray this incident as discrimination, is reckless and harmful to our tenants and our community. Proud to Mr. Leo Sullivan's stay, he acknowledged the requirement to obtain a pool pass at the front desk before entering the pool area. The CCTV footage shows that he and four other unrelated individuals at the pool were all asked to show an ID or their pool pass as required to ensure the security of our tenants and guests. Our employees simply followed established property policies that are applied equally to all residents and guests. Since Mr. Sullivan never checked in with the front desk upon his arrival, never obtained a pool pass, falsely identified himself as a tenant and never provided ID when Plotly asked.

Staff had no way to identify him as a guest, so authorities were called to help resolve the situation. Now, Leo Sullivan is not publicly responded to the statement from Arton's Living. all right folks that is a it for us we are watching election results that are happening in South Carolina Wisconsin and Minnesota and other states so we'll have that for you tomorrow as well control room let me know when y'all have downloaded those photos and I just sent you all today we had our board meeting for the National Association of Black Luck Journalists and my alpha brother former UN ambassador for also former congressman former mayor

A long time lieutenant to Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ambassador Andrew Young, addressed our group. And so it was great to see him. Andrew Young, what, 94 years old? Let me tell you all. That mind is as sharp as ever. And so it was great to see him, great to hear him. We were here 42 years ago in 1984 when Ambassador Andrew Young addressed the convention. When I was chatting with him, we took a picture surrounded by Albu.

brothers. We took a picture with him and it was hilarious because he said when I spoke to NABJ in 1984, there were 500 journalists who were in the room. Folks, our convention kicks off tomorrow and our registration for this year's convention is almost 4,000 that goes to show you how far we've come. That's the photo right there of Ambassador Young with all the alphas. You see him right there. The next photo is, well, you should have showed when he was in the, when he was addressing us in our board meeting. And so it was absolutely great to have him, always great to see him. And so always doing his thing.

So we surely appreciate our good brother. Folks, that's it for me. Again, we kick off the convention tomorrow. Lots of things happening here in Atlanta. We got number of people who are coming through here, Senator John Ossov, House Democrat leader, Hakeem Jeffries. I believe Georgia's gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms and other folks are going to be here. And so we look forward to all of them speaking and addressing our convention. I will be carrying you several of the live streams.

Tomorrow night we have the opening ceremony that will be live when we're also live. So we're going to be carrying that stream as well. So I won't be at the opening ceremony. And to the Clark Atlanta folks, I got invited the president. They're having an event on their campus featuring Lindsay Davis of ABC, Byron Pitts of ABC, Shari Williams out of Philadelphia, and some other folks. I can't make that because I got to be here with you. So although we're here in ABJ, although I'm Vice President Digital, brother still working.

So we'll be doing lots of stuff. So look forward to all of that happening. All right, folks, if y'all are on YouTube, y'all need to be hitting the dog on a light button. 720. How have we got 723? Y'all know we should easily be at 1,000 likes. And so, man, y'all stop messing around hit the like button. So let's get another 280 before I sign off, okay?

So we can hit 1,000. All right, y'all. Do me a favor. If you want to join our Bring the Funk fan club, our goals to get 20,000 of our fans contributing, on average, 50 bucks each a year. They come up to $4.19. Since the month, 13 cents a day.

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I'll see y'all tomorrow, right here from Atlanta. Rolling by unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Hall! This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.