#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Jackie Robinson Museum Opens, Ind Abortion Debate, NC PD Quits, Black & Missing Update, Heart Health

Episode Date: July 25, 2022

7.25.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Jackie Robinson Museum Opens, Ind Abortion Debate, NC PD Quits, Black & Missing Update, Heart Health While Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Indiana lawmakers about reproductive rights, protestors fill the state house as the special session on the abortion-banning process begins. An entire North Carolina police department resigns, saying the new black town manager created an environment they could no longer tolerate. Did you know there was a 6th teen wrongfully accused in the 'Central Park 5' case? Well, he was finally exonerated as well today. A white Washington State man is charged with threatening to kill black people in a different Buffalo, New York Tops grocery store. We have a sad update about one of our Black & Missing. It's now a homicide investigation. A Mississippi teen is called a hero for saving three girls and a police officer from drowning. I'll talk to that teen about his heroic act. And tonight's Fit, Live, Win segment, we'll talk about the eight ways you can get a healthier heart. Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. He makes sure that our stories are told. I thank you for being the voice of Black America, Rolla. Stay Black. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart.

Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? And B-Scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? I'm going to use the same method for the other side. I'm going to use the same method for the other side. I'm going to use the same method for the other side. I'm going to use the same method for the other side. I'm going to use the same method for the other side. I'm going to use the same method for the other side. I'm going to use the same method for the other side. Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. I don't think so. Today is Monday, July 25th, 2022. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered,

streaming live on the Black Star Network. We are live at the Jackie Robinson Foundation, folks. They are unveiling this week, tomorrow, the Jackie Robinson Museum tonight as a big event for their donors and others. We're going to break it all down for you folks on today's show.

That and more right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's on it, whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And he's rolling, best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks, he's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's Rollingin' Marten!

Yeah! Rollin' with Rollin' now! Yeah! He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best, you know he's Rollin' Marten! Now! Marten! Martin! that his family and the foundation, they have been wanting to do for a number of years. Y'all remember we were here for the groundbreaking. We recovered that when I was on TV one.

COVID hit. It got delayed. But this week they are opening the museum. It is a fantastic space tonight. They have a sneak preview for their donors and board members and invited guests. One of those folks is baseball aficionado, Mr. New York himself, Spike Lee. So he was in the reception. I said, Spike, I'm doing my show live.

I said, you want to step back? He said, when? I was like, well, going live now. We can do it now. Let's go. So he up the top. What's up, man? What's up, baby?

All good, Doc. It's always good to see you. Indeed, man. Good to see you. Congratulations. You're doing your thing, man. Man, I appreciate it. And, like, you're putting your money behind it, Doc. It's always good to see you. Indeed, man. Good to see you. Congratulations. You're doing your thing, man. Man, I appreciate it. And, like, you're putting your money behind it, too, so that's

that's... Do your thing, man. Hey, man, it's going great. So we were sitting here talking, and so Spike said, he said, so you can be at the ribbon cutting tomorrow. I'm like, yeah, we covered it live. Yeah, you did. And then we'll be live tomorrow night from the gala. The Live. Then we'll be live tomorrow night

from the gala. We'll be live from the block party on Wednesday. That's what happens when you own. You don't have to ask anybody for permission, which you know very well. Well, I know that you someplace, they tell you can't bring your camera. You ain't going. I know that.

Well, that's happened. That's happened. But the camera got in. Thank goodness for the cinematic on the iPhone. I just want to again, I know I sound like I broke a record, but you're doing your thing. You've been doing it

and continue to do it because we need you. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it. And you spread the word. You're not just putting stuff in your back pocket. You're like, boom, check this out. That's the only way. That's the only way.

Well, that's only for you. I can't talk about those other people. I only speak for me. There you go. I only speak for me. And I appreciate you for doing that. Man, I appreciate it. And also, I'm not done about those other people. Well, you know, hey, I only speak for me. There you go. I only speak for me. And I appreciate you for doing that, man. Man, I appreciate it. I appreciate it.

And also, I'm not done yet. Go ahead. You've been putting the work in for years. This is our new Johnny come soon train. Now, you've been here. Yes, sir. You're going to be here. Yes, sir.

Damn. That's it. Appreciate you. Absolutely. Absolutely. Of course, we had your wife on to be here. Yes, sir. Damn. That's it. Appreciate you. Absolutely. Absolutely. Of course, we had your wife on about a week ago for a documentary. So glad to see the things that she's doing. It's going up, too.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Of course, and I was last here in New York for your Kaepernick documentary. I appreciate you calling me, including me on that. You were laying down the knowledge, wisdom, some science, and science to back that up. You know, you ask me a question, I'm gonna answer it. They may not like the answer. Yes, I need you in this. I need you in this. Well, that was it there. Man, let's talk about

this brother here. I was talking to a couple of my guys before. So they have a statue out there of him in his football uniform. And so Anthony, he goes, who's that? I'm like, dude, that's J.K. Robinson. I said, baseball was his weakest sport. He was a greater football player, track player, than he was baseball. That's how bad this brother was. Bad brother. Bad brother.

And people, a lot of people, not a lot of people, we still don't fully understand. Jackie along with Branch Rickey changed America. And people understand that Jackie was 53 years old when he died. I mean, if you see him at the age of... I'm 53. You're good. No, but to your point...

Yeah, yeah, yeah. His hair was white as snow. And those years where he made that deal with Branch Rickey that he had to keep it in, no matter how many times they spiked him, no pun intended, through his head, the insults, the death threats, and you have to keep that in? Doc, that's... But think about it. He sacrificed his life because he knew the first time...

It was over. He knew. The first time he retaliated, that would have been it. And the thing that people don't understand, and I really wish TNT would reissue the movie. Andre Brower played him in the court martial of Jackie Robinson. I cannot find that thing on DVD. Maybe there's a VHS copy. What people don't understand,

Jack Robinson didn't take no stuff off of people. This was not a weak, meek brother. And that was before Rosa Parks. It was in Texas. Yeah. They said, we're going to court-martial you. He said, let's go to trial. And he risked getting a dishonorable discharge

because he said, no, I'm not. He said, I'm not sitting in the back of the bus. He said, not wearing his uniform. And so you take that defiance and what he did in baseball to hold that in because that was not his natural instinct. I read that Rachel said that when Jackie would come home, the blow of steam, he'd get a bucket of golf balls. They were white. And just whack, whack, whack, whack, whack. The biggest thing he could get.

But he sacrificed. He was 53. I'm 65. 53. Diabetes. You're 53. I'm 65. 53. Diabetes. You're 53. I'm 65. Diabetes wracked his body. All of that. I mean, and that's the thing. And I tell people all the time, you know, when we talk about the Kaepernick documentary,

I love when all these people were talking about how dare he kneel. And they would bring up black soldiers. I said, y'all clearly didn't read Jackie's book. He said in his book, he said, I will not salute that flag and stand for that song. Because of what he had to endure. And this was what was amazing, why his book was called Never Had It Made. He said, because if there is one black person who is not free, none of us are free. Yeah, he was a saint.

We can say that. Jackie's a saint. People in Brooklyn, the people's Republic of Brooklyn, we have so much love. I mean, Jackie played for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Then you got Campanella, Don Newcomb, Joe Black, Jim Gode. Well, see, I want to pick up on that because I've talked about this in many of my speeches. We rightfully celebrate Jackie Robinson. But I keep trying to explain to people it was only called the major leagues because white folks had the money.

The major league talent was in the Negro Leagues. My daughter's named after Satchel Paige. Really? Yeah, her name is Satchel. Okay. I mean, that's where the talent was. But here's another thing, though, is that there's a lot of correlation between Joe Lewis. When Joe Lewis was fighting, black folks were on

that radio. And the same thing with Jackie. Even if you weren't a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, they would listen to the game and they would say, how did Jackie do? Right. Because we knew the entire race. Can you imagine that?

Where the entire race is on your shoulders. And if you don't come through, that's going to put us back 10, 20 years. Right. Just that pressure alone could take years off your life. And for people who don't quite understand, Dr. King talked about this, when people would question him about Sidney Porter and Diane Carroll, and he would say, no, no, no, no.

I don't need them at the march because they are serving a purpose of what they're doing on the small screen and the big screen. But also, don't leave for Harry Belafonte. Right, right, right. But he was... You didn't include Belafonte.

It was with the criticism. Yeah, yeah. Because they would say, well, we see Harry, we see Dick. Why aren't we seeing them? And he would go, no, no, no, hold up. They are serving a purpose in the roles that they're playing, but they also didn't realize the fundraisers they were having at their apartments for the movement.

But also. And Jackie was a huge fundraiser for the movement. Listen, listen to this, though. You can't leave out Paul Newman. James Garner. James Garner. Peter Lawford. Peter Lawford. What's the man?

Who's the senior? Peter Lawford. Bennett. Tony Bennett. Harry Belafonte said. Bono Brando. Yep. So it was Harry Belafonte.

And Sidney was bringing the progressive white Hollywood. Right. Diane Carroll was holding fundraisers at her apartments in New York. Yeah. Jackie Robinson again that people you haven't read his book what he the fundraising that he did for the NAACP I mean he traveled around the country and he didn't hold his tongue because he did not have a lot of good things to say about Roy Wilkins who ran into LACP and he and again this was a

brother who was willing to criticize black folks, willing to criticize white folks. His whole deal was going after the liberation of black people. But I have to bring this up. He did feel very apologetic for one person he criticized. Paul Robeson. Paul Robeson. He testified before the Un-American Act. Now, his was interesting.

I had Della on my shelf, Della who runs Foundation, and that came up. And, in fact, someone is working on a documentary about that hearing. And what she said to me was, she said, if people go back and actually look at the testimony, he spent a small amount of time on Robeson. But it wasn't small enough that he said that's one he could take back. It couldn't be that small. Yep. Yep. But for me, it's so, I mean, you know this. Booker T, Du Bois. We get to these things where it's like.

Well, you went through that. No, you went through it. Leave me out of this. No, no. You went through it, No, you went through it. Leave me out of this. No, no. You went through it, but y'all sat down. No, I'll tell you a story. You and Tyler. I called him up.

I said, I'm going to get on the plane. I said, I need to come down there. I'm going to get on the plane. He said, Spike, come down. Gave me a tour of the mansion. The first one! Not the new one! And later on, he named one of the stages for me.

But I saw that it was getting out of hand. It was like spikes from the north. I was born in Atlanta. I went to Morehouse. My father went to Morehouse. My grandpa went to Morehouse. like spikes from the north. I was born in Atlanta. I went to Morehouse. My father went to Morehouse. My grandpa went to Morehouse. My mother and grandmother went to Spelman.

So I got southern roots, you know. But it was great that town. We squashed that. Right. We squashed it. I know. He told me. Yeah, it was squashed. But see, that's why when I interviewed Matty Rich.

What'd you say? When I interviewed Matty Rich. Yeah, yeah. And he was sitting there and I was like, y'all hadn't talked. He told me, I was like, and I was glad you answered. Mm-hmm. And I was, and I, and, and, because I was just, again, that's one of those things that Yeah.

my whole deal is, hey, I know him. I know you. And, you know, and his people hit me. He said, yeah, he said he got all the information. They haven't connected yet. I said, but that's the thing. That's where two men, hey. Brothers.

Two brothers. Let's sit down. Brother, brother. Chop this thing up. Chop it up. Chop it up. Chop it up. That's what's important. That's what's important.

Yeah. When you think about this museum and when people come through there, I think what's going to be so awesome, they're going to realize this man was way more than a baseball player. Chalk filled with nuts. See for somebody watching, they're like, what the heck are you talking about nuts? It's a coffee company. Came out of New York, and Jackie, he was thinking about it. He knew he was not going to play baseball forever.

And he was like a 28, 27, 28-year-old rookie. So he was seeing beyond. He knew it was more than. Then he got, what bank did he get involved in? In Harlem. Yeah, yeah. Black Bank. Yeah, Black Bank.

So he was a visionary. That's where I hope people, when we think about athletes, that we look at them not just through the prism of when they play, that the things that they do, they go way beyond that. Same thing, whether we're talking about actors, whether we're talking about, you know, Sam Jackson isn't just an actor. Denzel isn't just an actor. Denzel isn't just an actor. I mean, there's things that they are, they're more than that.

Where did Sam Jackson go to college? That house. He went to Morehouse. Okay, he went to Morehouse. All right, all right. Come on, man. I know you got a rep. We're on our black thing right now, man. Come on, we're in the Jackie Robinson Museum. We're on our black thing right here.

Right, but he wouldn't use LA. But I'm saying But I'm saying. I'm saying. Wait, wait, wait. Was Jackie friends with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? Yeah, he was. Where did he go to school? With the Boston University.

Underground. Underground. That's it. For the black thing, baby. He went to the house. He went to the house. He went to the house. And also, Marty and I,

Martin Luther King III, were classmates. Okay. And my father was a freshman. Dr. King was a senior. Hmm. Did they cross paths when he was there? Yeah, everybody knew who he was.

Gotcha. I mean, he was... They knew. I'm still trying to figure out the professor who gave him a C in preaching. Hater. I'm trying to figure...

You're a hater. I'm trying to figure... I'm trying to figure that one out. That one out. Who came down to King of seeing and preaching? I don't know what they were thinking. What's the, now let me tell you something. So when I got my, of course, if y'all saw, do the right thing. Of course, Spike was rocking the Jackie Robinson jersey.

And you make it perfectly clear to people don't be walking around with no jackie robertson dodgers jersey with his name on the back well he didn't have his name on the back i know but people can see this people people can see this movie who nothing about. So it was helping people who did not know Jackie. Right. But I knew that. I mean, I got a Jackie Robinson jersey, so I knew that. Right.

For it, too. And, in fact, the Houston Astros sent me. And actually, there were several people that saw the mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, and he had a 42 with his name on the back. They sent me an Astros jersey. You know, obviously, Major League Baseball, 42 is retired across all teams.

And they sent me a 42 jersey and they put my name on it, but I won't wear it. My deal is, I told them, I said, huh? You got a frame though, right? Yep, I got to hang it up. you got a frame though right yep i gotta hang it up yeah you got a frame but i won't but i won't wear it so my deal is i'm gonna get me one but i don't want my name on it it's his number cool and that's the thing that's the thing yeah and so i i would hope but you know and now and look we've been a hardcore Astros fan, Yankees fan. Hardcore.

Now, I'm going to tell you right now, if the Astros and the Yankees face each other in the playoffs, I'm telling you right now, we're going to go to a game together. He's going to be decked in all his Yankees stuff. But I'm going to have so much Astros blue and orange on, he's going to think I'm a Knicks fan. What's with this train that goes in the out? What is that? Oh, that actually is a, that's a throwback to the Astrodome. When the Houston Astrodome, eighth one in the world, when it opened, whenever they would hit a home run,

the scoreboard would light up and they had a train that was gone. So that's sort of a throwback to the Astrodome. The first time, this is a good story. 1968, the Astrodome. My father told my mother, my late mother, Spike, stay up to watch the game. Houston. Oh, University of Houston.

Houston. Louis Alcindor, Elvin Hayes. And Alcindor, he got poked earlier, so he had to play that game with one eye. And it's the Cougars, right? They destroyed the Bruins. But they met in the semifinals. And brother,

from Harlem, uptown, they did a job on it. But at that time, that was like the biggest college. It wasn't, It's still regular. It was the biggest college game ever. And I pleaded.

I said, you have to go to school tomorrow. My father called me. He said, Jim, G-E-M, Jim. He's watching a game with me. I was tired in the morning at school. But I'm glad he let me I remember that game 68

68 I was 11 years old so that had to be was that a fall game like was that so if that was if that was a regular season a regular season

that had to be like September, October, November no they don't cause pass what's a start to be like September, October, November. No, they don't cause a basketball to start until after Thanksgiving. Okay, which means that I think I was probably two weeks old. I was born November 14, 1968. You were. So I was here when the game got played.

Now let me see my phone. Let me see the actual date. Let me see the actual date of this game. Here's my phone. Let me see. I remember that game. Let me see when actual date. Let me see the actual date of this game. Here's my phone. Let me see. I remember that game. Let me see when that game was actually played. Let's see. And it had like, see the tennis that game. That thing was

60,000 people. Well, that's what put in the mind of the NCAA when they decided to go to March Madness in stadiums. Yeah. They harkened back to that. Let's see. Man, don't get a bad seat. You have to watch the J in stadiums. Yeah. They harken back to that. Let's see. Man, don't get a bad seat if you're getting to watch the Jumbo Trump.

No, no. I wouldn't even conceive yet. The game was January 20, 1968. Uh-huh. My mom and daddy probably had sex on Valentine's Day. Hey, hey, hey, hey, that's enough. No, no. I was born November 14.

It's literally nine months. My brother was born November 14th. It's literally nine months. My brother was born November 13th, 67. So both of us say we Valentine's Day babies. And his son was born November 10th. There you go. No, no, no, Chris, November 12th. So I'm like, yeah, y'all were having a little fun Valentine's Day, too. You always wanted to do a Jackie Robinson movie.

I'll tell you the story. First of all, deep respect to our brother Chadwick. Yes, he is. Great brother. This has nothing to do with him because I was, he was probably still at Howard. Yep. In my version of Jackie Robinson, I wanted to tell a life story. I did not just want to concentrate on 1947 because I don't think I thought that.

I still think that he was more, that was more than, he had a life before 47. He lived life after 47. Yeah. I really wanted to show the scope and the depth of the man. And the same reason why Malcolm X. Right. You know, and that's why I got, you know, conflict with the studio. Malcolm, he was evolving.

And you need to show those different phases of his life. You can't do that in two hours. Right. And the people are dealing with Jackie Robinson. You know, they don't want to do it. So it didn't happen. Would you still do it today? Or has that time gone past? I don't think it's past.

Also, I wanted Denzel to play Jackie, but Denzel said he was too old at the time. Well, see, now he would have to play the older Jackie. Yeah. So you would have to find a younger. His son. John David. You know, he played football at Morehouse.

I know. And that would be interesting. Yeah. John David as the. I do want to, I mean, I want both of them. But they were in a film together already. Malcolm X. John David is one of those kids that says, is in the classroom.

Right. My name is Malcolm X. Really? That was his debut. Wow. Did not know that. Very few people know that. Did not know that.

I would love to do something with Denzel and his son John David hmm you got talked about it no good good job David knows about him not deep but in the couple letter see that's only way see that that's why I's why I always speak to the wives. The women, I speak to the husbands. Because like Viola, I call Julius. Other catchers

like... And how did you get in touch with Samuel L. Jackson? Oh, I hit Sam. But I met his wife first. Matter of fact, I met his wife and Pauletta first. And they were like, oh my God, bro, we love you. And I was like, well, I'm sure appreciate that. And so that, so, so we got the end. That's right. You never, cause see,

it's like the Fred Gray interview. I called Fred, I called, I left the message and his wife heard the message. She said, he, he said, I get all his interviews. She said, no, no, no. You doing that one. She says, you going to do that interview with Roland Martin. And when I went down to

Alabama to do it his wife and the daughter was there watching it I gave him a shout out I was like y'all make the habit she's like he doing his interviews see so yeah I bet I always I don't ignore the wise I don't know the wise or the husband always talk to him him. You were just talking about, when you mentioned Malcolm X. And then I thought about, you told me, Harry Belafonte, when he told you, man, why you keep calling Ossie,

putting him in movies, you won't never call me. He said, he said, he said says i think it's a one hour and then we made the call for black clansmen how how old is 95 turn 95 this year we got to give love shell to rachel yeah sure just had a birthday. 100 last week. Looking sprightly out there. Just saw her. Just saw her.

Just saw her, absolutely. The queen. Rachel, one... My grandmother lived to be 100 years old. Wow. She put me through Morehouse and Spelman. I'm just kidding. She put me through...

No, no. Morehouse and NYU. No, no. He spoke right. Are you trying to say that's a Freudian slip? Yeah, uh-huh, uh-huh. Probably spend more time at Spelman than at More House, uh-huh. No, that's not true.

There's a line. What kind of TV is this? It's my show. It's called Roland Martin Unfiltered. Oh, I want to know what your audience show. It's called Roland Martin Unfiltered. Oh, I want to know what you're on. It's called Roland Martin Unfiltered. Okay, there's a line in school days where Jean-Claude Esposil, who plays Big Girl Mighty, and I play the character Half-Pint. He says, Half-Pint, you ain't seen no paws.

That was me. So, so, don't be a trizzler. That was your pods? That was me. No pods! So that's when you were just Spike Lee. You weren't Spike. Well, my mother gave me that nickname.

Really? Yeah. What's your actual name? Shelton Jackson Lee. Shelton Jackson Lee. Yes. But your mama called you Spike? Spike.

Where'd that come from? Why? She said I was a tough baby. She said you were a spike in my womb. But uh those are really some of the best four years of my life. My mother said, I'm giving Morehouse my baby, and I'm going to get back a Morehouse man. Send the baby, came back a man. Yes. And you've been running ever since. Well, I've been blessed.

But it's a lot of hard work. Oh, yeah. But just blessed. And got to keep going. Got to keep it going. You know, that's what we do. You know, the thing that... I'm not getting in trouble for that thing, right? No, no, no.

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Well, the the crew they wanted to laugh was that funny boy you you know everybody who saw school days we all know it's funny we all know it's funny we all know it's funny absolutely oh first of all I see the knife couldn't explain something y'all so So I sit down for the interview for the cabinet. And the first thing this guy goes, where your Jordans? I said, man, I ain't never owned no Jordans. He's like, oh, I got to see you some Jordans. I was like, look.

He says you. Ten and a half. All right. I said, I got sent these shoes, and I wear them. I said, Texas A&M football team gave me some. They had Adidas. They gave them to me. I wear them.

Give me your address. I said a black, I'll say it to you. We had some black-owned athletic shoe companies on the show. They said to me, I wear them. I was like, hey, Mike ain't sitting me none. I said, I wear the shoes for free. Now, don't take that, put that on me. Don't put that on money.

No, no, no, no. No, because when you asked me that, I was like, hey, Mike, I said, Mike, can you send me no shoes? But I do. I did win a pair of the initial Air Jordan golf shoes years ago. So I do have the Air Jordan golf shoes. Golf shoes. You ever have Mike on your show?

I have not. Would love to do it. Reach out to him. I last saw him at the f1 race in Miami We've never never changed them night. You know, I am Yeah, you're smoking everything but I would love to sit down and have a conversation with them would love to Love to I know Fred Whitfield. Yeah, he's on his team now. How's your golf game? Well, I played yesterday and my man wouldn't hassleendell Hassett, was originally a team golf classic.

Yeah? So we had a team, shot one under, but handicapped 6.5. Can you hang money on the golf? Mike is probably better than me, but he played way more than me. Plays every day. That's my point. On his own golf course. Wait a minute, him and Ahmad.

Yeah. Him and Ahmad. Ahmad. Him and Ahmad. Ahmad, we played in the Jeffrey Osborne Golf Classic. And Ahmad was like, he said, Roe, he said, if you play golf a little bit more, he said, you'll be dangerous. He said, well, you swinging? He said, I said, but Ahmad, I got to work. You don't got the time.

I said, Ahmad, I said, you 72 and retired, Ahmad. I said, I'm crazy. He's like, yeah, you're right. I said, come on, you're chilling every day. You better than Barkley? I don't know. I guess that's a yes. Your swing is better than that though, right? Ladies and gentlemen, what does that face say? That face says I'm about to cut Spike Lee out. That's that face. Man, please, Barkley don't want no part.

No part, sir. He don't want no part of me. I was texting Charles the other day, but Charles don't want no part of me. Mm-mm, he don't want no, trust me. You see my swing, you be like, yeah, that ain't Charles' swing. Matter of fact, let me go, let me see, who is this here? Okay, that's my brother right there.

Let me, we played golf the other day. Man, let me just. You ever played golf in Morrisville? Yeah, I ain't. On what golf course? I played. Farm Neck? I played Farm Neck, I played the new one, all the rich folks built. You didn't see my house? I played, I sold your house. I played the new one all the rich folks built.

You didn't see my house? I saw your house. I saw your crib. And what? You didn't see your flag? I saw all that. What flag did you see? I saw what?

Your 40 acres? No, your embassy of Brooklyn? No. What flag is it? First of all, I ain't been there in a while. The interlocks with the Y. Oh, it ain't been there in a while. The N interlocks with the Y. Oh, see, I ain't been there in a while. I ain't been there in a while.

You've been there a while. No, it's been a long time since I've been there. Because everybody keeps telling me, they're like, oh, man, what's going on? I said, first of all, it's too hard to get to Martha's Vineyard. That's first. Two, I ain't trying to see nobody I know. Like, if I'm on vacation, I don't want to see nobody I know. Well, you definitely want to go to Monsbury in August.

No. I don't want to go to no fundraisers. I don't want to, don't ask me about no money. I ain't trying to do none of that. So, yeah, it's... Where do you go? So, again, just so you know, Charles Barkley

wishes he had this golf swing. Oh, you'd love that, huh? Barkley wishes he had this golf swing. Oh, you'd love that, huh? Barkley wishes he had this golf swing. Good swing. He ain't got that. He ain't got that. It's windy, too, man. Oh, yeah.

Where was that? That was Lansdowne in Virginia. Virginia? Yeah. But I'm a golfer ball. How long have you been golfing? Took up my PE at Texas A&M since 1987. hands down in Virginia. Virginia? Yeah. But I'm a golfer ball. I'm a golfer. How long have you been golfing? Took up my PE at Texas A&M since 1987.

One of the best decisions I ever made. Needed four credit hours of PE. You in class, all the other players. The brother's like, man, I'm going to take basketball. Give me an easy grade. I'm like, hell, I've not played basketball. So my brother was here before me. He took golf.

I said, I'm going to take golf too. One of the best decisions ever. That's how was here before me. He took off. I said, I'm take off to one of the best decisions ever. That's how I connect with Sam. Most cats I've clicked with. It was through golf. It was through golf champs. Good golf, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Sam, Sam, Sam golf as well. When he stopped doing his own stuff to enter themselves. So we got a chance to play around together at his club in L.A. Who else is a good golfer? Let's see here. Ray Allen. Oh, Ray Allen can play.

I have not played with Ray Allen. Steph and I text. Yeah, he's evil. He can golf his ball. Uh-huh. Steph can golf his ball. How's Obama's playing? I'll play.

How's Obama's playing? Hold up. So here's the deal. I ain't never played with Obama. For eight years, he kept saying, Roland's going to go out and play. And I'm like, bro, eight years. You don't want to go to Mons Vineyard? No.

He was playing at Andrews Air Force Base. I was like, bro, what's up? He called everybody else, and he left-handed. I'm like, what's the deal? What's the deal, B.O.? What'd you say about him? Huh? Well, you know. You forgot What's the deal, B.O.? What'd you say about him? Huh? Well, you know.

Hey, you forgot about that. No, I ain't forget. I ain't forget. Why you say it was something? I ain't forget. You know it was something. No, no. You know it was something.

No, no. But that's also the role I play to get elected. See, here's what I tell everybody. This has literally been my journalistic philosophy. If you do good, I'll talk about you. If you do bad, I'll talk about you. At the end of the day, I'm going to talk about you. My role is not to be your cheerleader.

My role is to speak truth for black people. And where I critiqued him, I went hard. And that's the deal. You ever hear from him after that? I mean, when he was in the White House, you know, they would invite me when he would do the anchor meeting and stuff like that.

And I ain't never get invited to the birthday party and stuff like that. But that's fine. Because, see, my whole deal is... You get to invite the thing in Marla's venue? Oh, no, no, no. Hell no. Why not? I ain't getting none of that. Come on now. I ain't getting none of that. I ain't getting none of that. No, and I really, and I do. I really think it's because I am going to do what I do. And so here's the piece. If

that means I don't get invited to stuff like that, I'm good. The role that I play as a journalist and speaking truth for black America, it has to be said. And so that means that you're not going to kick it with some folks. And I'm good with that. I'm cool. I mean, other people, they're like, oh, my God. And I'm like, no. I'm like, nobody has to invite me to anything. Nobody has to be, you know, if it's like, oh, so-and-so had

a surprise birthday party, you didn't go, I was like, yeah, I don't, I said, I got a great life, I'm good. But when that light come on, and we go live, sometime I got to hit you. And everything ain't going to be all peaches and cream. And so, I hit him a few times. A left and a right? Left, right. With a left coming back. You talking Mike Tyson here?

I mean, not Mike Tyson. Riddick Bowe? I mean, more like Larry Holmes. Larry had a great jab. But that was the deal. That was the piece. Things need to be said, and I still stand on it. My biggest deal is I feel strongly he should have appointed a black woman to the Supreme Court when he picked Mary Garland.

And I went hard on that, and I'm like, sorry. And so people are like, yo, man, why'd you go so hard? I mean, look, that's it. I mean, my deal is, when you talk about legacy, when you talk about legacy, look, you know, it ain't like you being, you know, Mr. Chill ain't never gave your opinion on stuff. You know, you got crossed off a whole bunch of lists.

Don't even act like this is a foreign conversation. Don't even act like this is a foreign conversation. Don't even act like this is a foreign conversation. You right, you right, you right. Yeah, absolutely, you know I'm right. Just keep stepping, all right? That's it. Keep stepping. That's it.

And when you know that you're walking in truth, when you know it's not personal, it's not petty, it's not envy, it's not jealousy, and you speaking truth and some folks, they disagree, we cool. We can disagree. I'm good with that. But I'm a swing. Always. The defenses? Always.

Aaron Judge? No. No. You fell into that one. No, I didn't. Whose leader made the least home runs? No, I didn't. Josh Gibson. But I'm a swing like Altuve. You ain't that one. No, I didn't. Who's leading Major League's home runs? No, I didn't. Josh Gibson.

But I'm going to swing like Altuve. You ain't going to see it coming. Yeah. We ain't got them things. I'm going to see it like. Yeah, we got the thing over here with the buzz. Why stop the guy trying to tear his jersey off? See, I don't know why Spike going there.

You brought it up. We can talk about y'all letter. What letter? Oh, the letter Major we could talk about y'all letter what letter oh the letter major league baseball sent y'all that y'all went to court to keep uh from going public they became public i never heard about this okay shall we go to google to discuss we're going to commercial spot gotta get back to the reception now. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for a break. With that, maybe always good to see you, man.

I appreciate it, man. Thank you, man. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. We are going to a break. Rolling Martin Unfiltered, live from the Jackie Robinson Foundation with the Oakland Jackie Robinson Museum. You're on the Black Star Network back in a moment.

On the next Get Wealthy, with me, Deborah Owens, America's wealth coach, you see the headlines. All frightening, right? Interest rates are going up. The recession is on the way. The stock market is up and down. But you know what they say, scared money, don't make money. that's why i'm excited on our next get wealthy to have a conversation with someone who has written a new book fearless finances and she's going to share exactly what you need to do to secure your bag regardless of the ups and downs of the economy or the stock market oftentimes you can start with as little as $5. That's right here, only on Get Wealthy on Black Star Network.

Pull up a chair, take your seat. The Black Tape with me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. What's up, y'all? I'm Will Packer. Everybody, it's your man Fred Hammond. Hi, my name is Bresha Webb,

and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. And... Well, I like a nice filter usually, but we can be unfiltered. And... Well, I like a nice filter usually, but we can be unfiltered. All right. All right, y'all, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered here at the Jackie Robinson Foundation. That was, again, that was totally on plan.

Literally, I ran into this fight. And so glad he could spend some time with us to kick off our coverage, opening the Jackie Robinson Museum. Let me bring in my panel right now. Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies, California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Amakongo Dabenga, Professorial Lecturer, School of International Service, American University.

And Renita Shannon, she is a Georgia State Representative. Glad to have all three of y'all here. That was wild, too much fun. I think we pretty much covered every damn thing in that interview there. But Julianne, I'll start with you since you're there in Los Angeles.

I really do hope people with this museum really take the time to truly understand the depths of who Jackie Robinson was. And last week, of course, the All-Star game that took place in Los Angeles. And that's where, of course, the Dodgers, and that was a big salute to him. Then the Washington salute. All the different things surrounding that. Rachel Robinson was there as well. But this man really, really did far more for black people in America than just play sports. You know, Roland, first of all, I enjoyed watching y'all. Y'all silly. And when you got annoyed with Spike because he said,

I thought about you and you're, you know what, behind always calling Alfred somebody's daddy. So he just got you back, that's all. But it was a pleasure to watch. Y'all were really quite amusing. But more importantly, substantive. And when you think about Jackie Robinson, I think that, as you all said, it's not just baseball. It's so many more things in terms of the civil rights movement,

the fundraising that he did for the NAACP and others. And I think that, you know, maybe y'all put it in a little bit of context, but I think the only thing that I had a huge problem with Jackie Robinson about was his cooperation with the House, an American committee, and his testimony against Paul Robeson. And even if it was just two minutes minutes worth of testimony, it was unnecessary. You all started out the interview talking about brothers who had fun with each other and how you all were able to smooth it over by being a man, by doing that.

And I got that. But that was just, Paul Robeson, America broke Paul Robeson. They broke him. And they broke him because too many Black people cooperated with them. So, bad respect for Jackie Robinson. But that, from my perspective, is a blemish on his record.

Well, yeah. And look, the reality is, Omicongo, we go through this world and there are things that we do that are great. There are things that we do that we wish we could take back. But it's a reality of life. And I think if we look at the totality of who he was and that, you know, we can say, hey, that was one instance where we wish Jackie Robinson did not speak against Paul Robeson on full will what the American government was trying to do to him. But when you just look at how fierce he was in his criticism of Richard Nixon, of Barry Goldwater, of the Republican Party, and again, you read his book. I mean, he didn't hold his tongue against anybody. And as I said to Spike, including Roy Wilkins, who ran the NAACP. And Jackie was out raising money for the NAACP. Yeah. And Jackie was out raising money

for the NAACP. No, absolutely. I mean, the segment was powerful. I just felt like I was in class. I forgot we were doing the show. I'm like, wow. Like the things we picked up, you know, for me growing up,

you both were absolutely right in terms of when I was growing up and learning history, there was always like this faction, you know, Dr. King and Malcolm X, and you know, the list goes on and on. And Jackie Robinson, as I was, as a kid, not learning from like my parents,

but just like conversations on the street, people would, you know, kind of paint him as like this guy who kind of sold out. And it wasn't until I started getting older, reading my own history, learning stuff, that I learned about the complexities of this man, and I'm still learning. You know, when I see quotations like Dr. King calling him a freedom writer before they were

freedom writers and, you know, so much history and context there. And what you mentioned early about the support of the black banks, you know, something I didn't learn until this year. Right. And we owe this to our ancestors and the people who came before us. We owe this to the Rachel Robinsons who are still here, who went through that with him side by side. Because if we don't do that, we're going to repeat that history. I see so much, quote unquote, you know, beef that happens today between celebrities who have much more in common, who should be fighting more things together than when they're separated. And if we don't really learn that history, we are really doomed to repeat it. That's why I also appreciated Spike talking about squashing the beef with Tyler Perry. And so really at the end of the day, what Jackie Robinson was doing and that other thing you were talking about, Roland Martin, how Dr. King was talking about how certain celebrities who weren't visible in the face of the movement.

He was like, you need to be in those spaces because you can support us in other ways. We need that type of strategic mindset. And you know the celebrities today better than than not than i do so i hope some of that is going on behind the scenes because so many of them seem to be involved in a lot of foolishness and don't really get involved in things until it's too late until there's like a george floyd or until there's like a roe v wade reversal but we need consistent organization and commitment from people who are out there in this space. And your segment was a real reminder of the complexities of those who fought during this time and the lessons we can learn from them.

Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Why am I sitting there laughing? Because Spike just came in, he took my cell phone and didn't take his. So I guess he just realized we probably got a phone. This is my main phone. He took my backup cell phone. So I don't know how he missed it, that big old red case he got on his. All right, Representative Shannon, I want to go to you because one of the things that I think is important to say here, Jackie Robinson

dies in 1972. So we're talking about 50 years of work by his wife to keep that legacy going. The reality is this. Jackie Robinson Day, retiring the number 42 jersey, all of these things that have happened doesn't happen unless Rachel Robinson is a driving force. So in many ways, if you look at the legacy of today of the Reverend Arthur Martin Luther King Jr., we don't have that without Coretta Scott King. And you don't have any of this,

the Jackie Robinson Foundation, this museum, without Rachel Robinson. Yeah, and far too often that's the way it always is, is that Black stories don't get told. Our work does not get spotlighted until long after folks have died and gone. Their families have to work so hard to get the work spotlighted. One thing that I was thinking the entire time that you were having that conversation with Spike was that, you know, it's interesting because with Jackie Robinson, so often in pop culture, all we ever hear about is his career as an athlete. It's only ever in black spaces do we hear about his civil rights work.

And so I'm glad that now there will be a museum that's brick and mortar so that everybody can understand the full legacy of Jackie Robinson. So this is really important. Someone just asked in our chat, is Rachel Robinson still alive? Y'all, she's sitting out there. Yes, she turned 100 last week. And so she's there in the wheelchair in her white suit. And so she is still with us, still on the front lines. In fact, they were telling this used to be her office before she before she stopped coming into the foundation.

And so very much, very much still involved in this foundation and very much still active, still sprightly, still fighting on behalf. And for the people who are watching, look, we could have easily just had somebody on via satellite, via Skype, and had them on not being here. But tomorrow there's going to be the ribbon cutting taking place from 10 a.m. to 1145. We'll be live streaming that. There's a gala tomorrow night. We'll be live streaming that. On Wednesday there's a block party from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Kids, schools, and others, they've already signed up, RSVP'd, to come through the museum. We'll be broadcasting. And then, of course, they have a movie airing, documentary Wednesday night called After Jackie, and then a celebrity talkback. And so we are going to actually livestream the celebrity talkback as well. And this is a perfect example, Julian.

And I don't know if any of y'all saw the L.A. Times piece. It's on there. If you go to their website, y'all, their story that came out on Me and the Black Star Network, it's going to run tomorrow on the section of, I forgot what they call it, what section they call it, their calendar section. Let me double check.

Yes, the calendar section tomorrow. It's going to be on the cover of their calendar section. But this is precisely why black-owned media matters. Yes, Robin Roberts is going to be hosting this tomorrow. I think Major League Baseball is going to be carrying it. But these type of stories, they don't happen without black-owned media. And, Julianne, I've said this countless times, that we will rue the day when we have to ask, hope, and pray somebody else covers our story. And so I know somebody may say, you know, why would you spend, you know, the $3,000 to $5,000 with staff coming down here, hotel rooms, car rentals, to cover this? But the reality is, this is our history. This is our story.

And we shouldn't just hope a local television station drops by and gets 30 seconds or one minute of sound regarding this. No, this is important not only for this generation, but for the folks who are going to watch this and see this 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now. You know, Roland, you have done such great work. And what you mentioned, certainly some of the major networks will cover some of this, but nobody's going to cover all of it but you. You're going to be there for the opening of the museum. You're going to be there for the gala and the celebrity talkback.

And, you know, all props to Robin Roberts and all the other brothers and sisters who do mainstream media, but the fact is that they have to go to their bosses and ask, and in some cases beg, to get the coverage that, to get a fraction of the coverage that you're providing. So you've made the case. You make the case literally every day when you put your program on. You make your case when you travel and have your team travel with you to Essence, to NAACP, to Urban League, to wherever you go, because you're there and you're there for us. And so, you know, it's really, it's extremely important. It's also important, I mean, you and Spike talked a bit about your criticism of President Obama, and so you didn't get invited to the birthday party. Oh, well, the fact is that if you're going to have honest media, honest Black media,

we cannot hold anybody up on a pedestal and say that they are impervious to criticism. It's about being accountable. It's not about who you are. It's about what you stand for in terms of Black people. And there's so many folks who refuse to criticize folk when they're wrong, because they want to get to the party, or they want to... They don't want to ruffle anybody's feathers,

or they... People are sensitive. Well, that is not moving Black people's agenda. And so, right on, Roland. That's all I have to say. Amen. And, look, Okongo, I mean, I mean, look, here's... agenda and so right on roll and that's all I have to say amen look I'm a Congo I mean I mean look here's I got no problem saying it I mean when when President Obama's book came out we weren't on the list to interview him same thing with Michelle Obama and in here's a deal I'm not gonna sit here and and be all mad upset the bottom line is this here.

I don't regret a single critique that I had during those eight years because I know what my role and responsibility is. I made it. I'll never forget when, I guess, within the first 60, 90 days of his presidency, I wrote a column on CNN.com complaining about the lack of black people in this press office. And Valerie Jarrett called me and said she had just left the Oval Office and the president was upset. And I was like, why is he mad? She said, because Robert Gibbs came in waving your column. And she said, the president said an attack on his press office is an attack on him. And I

said to her point blank, Valerie, did I tell you before y'all got elected that the White House press office was as white as the campaign staff was? We have a problem. She said, yes. Did I tell you I was going to publicly call y'all out for that? She said, yes. So why are you calling me? And then she's like, what? She's and then it's true. And then she said, well, how are we going to do this? I said, you go tell President Obama to go hire some more black people. I said, let me be clear with y'all. I'm here for black people. I said, nobody else.

I said, if folk want to fight for other people, I said, I'm here for black people. I said, and I just sit here and carry water for y'all to get elected and not to see black people benefit. So when, you know, in 2014, when that article came out of Wall Street Journal saying $23.09 billion in small business loans went out to black people, went out to folks in America, and only black Americans only got $385 million, I immediately called the White House, jammed them up for 90 days, and pressed them hard on that. And so that's the point. I know what my role and responsibility is.

Look, it's civil rights organizations mad as hell because I said something. Guess what? Get over it. This is what we are supposed to do. We are not here to be cheerleaders. We are here to be chronicles of what happened. But this is what happens. I just said Jackie Robinson was raising money for the NAACP and was critical of Roy Wilkins, who ran the NAACP. If black people who are in leadership are so sensitive to criticism from

other black people, and yes, President Obama was, he hated black criticism. Well, guess what? If you got criticized by Republicans and you still sat down with him, well, damn it, you can suck it up and take mine. Yeah, look, at the end of the day, it's really about true. If you really love somebody, you really want them to succeed,

you don't do so by giving them a blind pass like so many people are doing with Donald Trump. Just let him do whatever he wants, because we love our president or whatever. You show your love by holding them accountable, by challenging them every single day to be their best. And really, at the end of the day, they say, stay ready so you don't have to get ready.

You got to continue to roll with the people that brought you to the dance. And at the end of the day, when it comes down to the Black community, our leadership needs to be held accountable by us first. And they need to listen to us first. Because nine times out of ten, we're usually right about the critiques that we're doing.

And one of the reasons why the critiques that you give, Roland, should be respected more is because you're doing it out of love for the Black community community i remember one time when you were on cnn and i was doing some eye reporting for cnn and you said something about kobe bryant i think he got in trouble over something that he said that was considered homophobic or something and you said something about it uh uh no no no no no no no no no no it wasn't no no kobe bryant made it was Bryant made it. It was in discussion about Kaepernick.

Okay. And I think Jim Brown as well. And Kobe made some comments in an article in GQ. I lit them up, and I remember I was in Boston about to get on a plane. That's where I was going. That's where I was going because I saw you in the the airport and your phone rang and you said, hold on, it's Kobe Bryant. And then y'all went into a corner and y'all were going at it like right before you got on the plane. And I just never forgot that

story. And I was like, wow, this brother will take it to anybody. And the respect was already there. Look, I mean, I mean, I, I, I, I, I, I critique Oprah when I ran Chicago Defender and I was in Chicago. But that's what we are supposed to do. I just think, Representative Shannon, what is required of lead black leadership is, hey. Folk will give you a fair shot. As long as someone is fair, as long as they're not petty, as long as they are not trying to shade you and being personal, but as long as they understand

that this is about the benefit of our people, that's what it boils down to. And that's why when I read Jackie Robinson's book, I Never Had It Made, I so appreciated it because he was so brutally honest. And folks, it was in his words and the book, he finished it before he died and it was published after his death. Yeah. So it's a few things, you know, as an elected official, I understand, um, folks feeling

like they're getting it from all sides, what you mentioned before about president Obama. But the thing is, is that they should be grateful for any information that comes from you, Roland, because your show and your commentary really reflects what Black folks are thinking and feeling on the ground. So in my mind, that is a cheat sheet. If you have gotten so busy working that you don't have time to understand

what's going on on the ground, they should be thankful to get that from you. And like another panelist said, there's just too much of folks forgetting who brought them to the dance. They get where they want to go and then they forget who got in there. And I know that as a Black

elected official, we know who makes our campaigns. We know who shows up and shows out for us. And it just can't be that once a person is elected, then they don't have time to hear what folks need and criticisms if need be. So I think it's a help.

Hey, it's what we do. Folks, I got to go to a break. We come back. We're going to talk to a young man who saved several lives by jumping into the waters as folks were drowning. It is an unbelievable story, and he will join us next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network, broadcasting live from the Jackie Robinson Foundation,

where they are opening tomorrow the Jackie Robinson Museum right here in New York City. We'll be right back. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday

on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. What's going on? This is Tobias Trevillian. Hey, I'm Amber Stephens-West. Yo, what up, y'all? This is Jay Ellis, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.

All right, folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered. So how many of you saw this story that came out of Mississippi? And that is these folks actually had gone into the waters there, gone to the waters there. And then all of a sudden they were having issues. And so this young man actually sees it, jumps into action and saves them. He's a young brother. He's a teen. He saved three young girls as well as a police officer. Yes. Folks, join me right now on Roland Martin Unfiltered. He is that brother, Corian Evans, joining us from Pascagoula, Mississippi. Corian, glad to have you on the show. How you doing, brother?

I'm doing good. Glad to be here. So take us through. What happened? Were you just walking along, riding a bike, and you saw these folks struggling in the water? What happened? Yes, it was actually after a party. Like, it was a party that night, and we were, like, the party, like, after it ended, we were all looking for somewhere to go. And we had went to this place called The Point, but The Point had also got shut down.

So that's when somebody was like, let's just all go to the boat dock under the bridge. We can just chill there, have a good time at the boat dock. You know, we don't have to worry about any police or anything. So we went under the boat dock and, you know, we were just chilling out and having a good time. And that's when, like, by this time, everybody, like a lot of people had left or were getting ready to leave. And I was getting ready to leave also. And also the car that drove in the water was,

they were getting ready to leave. So, like, I was just sitting in my car on my phone at home. So the car that went to the water with the three girls, they were at the same party you were at? Yes, sir. Okay, got it. So you're sitting in your car, and then what happens? Yes, sir, I'm just sitting in my car and um i just like i see a car um go behind me and like they're like driving at a decent a pretty good decent speed like towards the water

and i'm like like as i'm seeing this car because i'm watching the car as it's driving towards the water i'm like where they going like the street that way they must don't know that they're going the wrong way like in my head i'm not thinking you know they're about to run in the water like that's not that's not even on my mind i'm just like you know they're going to realize they're going the wrong way and turn back around and go to the road and then i just seen them keep going and going into the water it was like a ramp going down into the water. And so I'm just watching them. I'm in my driver's seat, but I'm watching them from behind me. And I seen them just go straight down the ramp.

And I realized I couldn't see their taillights no more. I seen their taillights driving, and then I just seen it go straight down. And I'm like, it's water down there. But at first, I'm not really just reacting like, you know, it's water. They just ran into the water because, like, that's water down there. But, like, at first, I'm not really just reacting. Like, you know, it's water. They just ran into the water. Because, like, that's not even on my mind. I'm like, there's no way, you know, they just ran into the water. And then that's when I seen somebody else.

Like, they was, like, across the boat dock from me. Like, parked out, like, across. And I seen them get out of their car and run towards the water. That's when I got out of my driver's seat, got out of my car, and I took off running towards the water. And, like, as I'm getting close to the water, I'm hearing people saying, help, help us, help. You know, just screaming help as I'm getting closer.

And when I finally got close enough to see what was going on, that's when I seen the car in the water and I seen the three girls outside the car saying help. And that's when I just ran. I ran home on the side of the boat dock, up the side of it. And I took my shirt off and threw my own shoes off, threw my phone in my pocket, threw my phone down. And, yeah, I just jumped in the water. And then the first girl, first I had to grab the girl that was closest to me, like from me coming to the shore because she had tried to swim a little bit out.

First I went to help her. I had to get her and bring her back to the shore. But out there, like, it was one girl trying to swim away from the car, and it was the two other girls were, like, they were still, like, close to the car, but the car was, like, underwater. You could still see the lights, but

the whole car was, like, basically sunk under the water. They were still by the car, and one of them was, like, one of them was, like, panicking. Like, one of them was panicking bad. And so after that took place, it was somebody that showed up. When I felt my feet hit the ground, that's when I, like,

kind of pushed her forward because I'm like, she can walk from here because I feel my feet hit the ground. And that's when I turned around to swim back, and then I seen one of the girls panicking in the water. But like I said, some of the car, like, like the top of it in the front, like kind of the front windshield was still above the water a little bit. So when it got hurt and I'm swimming her to the car,

I'm like, come on, let's go to the car. Come on. So we get to the car. I'll get them on top of the car. I'm telling them, you know, catch up, bro. Calm down, catch up, bro. You know, y'all need to catch up, bro. Y'all been swallowing water.

So we're just sitting on top of the car, and that's when the officer arrived. That's when Officer Mercer arrived. And, yeah, he got out of his car. He ran over there, and he got in the water, and he, like, swam to us on the car. And he's just telling her, you know, you're going to be okay. You're going to be safe with me. I'm going to get you back to the shore. Like, he's telling her she's going to be okay.

And she got, like, directly on his back, which, you know, wasn't really the right thing to do because when somebody is, like, directly on your back and you're trying to swim, you're not going to be able to swim. You're just going to, like, they're're gonna take you under because you can't even you know you're not as flexible as you would be if you're just swimming so when um she got on his back when they left the car and tried to swim back to shore she started taking the officer under like he was going underwater trying to come back up he was saying saying, I can't, I can't. Like he kept saying, I can't, but he was still trying to swim. And when I seen that, that's when I got off the car and I had to go and help her and the officer. Like I was behind them, trying to keep them above water

and also push them forward at the same time while keeping them above water. And as we got closer to the shore, I mainly started focusing on the girl because she couldn't swim and she was still panicking. My main focus wasn't getting the officer back to shore at this point. My main focus at this time

when I'm trying to get her back is just get her back to the shore because I'm knowing the officer can swim or he'll be able to make it back his shore. Once again, I had to the shore because I'm knowing the officer can swim or he'll be able to make it back his soul. So once again, I had to feel myself. When I got her close enough and felt my feet hit the ground, I pushed her to somebody, gave her to somebody at the shore. And when I turned around, I seen the police officer,

like he's like really in the water, like drowning. Like he's going underwater drowning. Like he can't swim. Like he swallowed a lot of water. His body was exhausted. And he just couldn't swim anymore. So that's when I had to leave again. And I had to go and grab the officer

and pull him back into the sewer. And I pulled him back in to the sewer and I gave him to somebody. And the last girl on top of the car, she was the one that she knew how to keep herself above water, and she also knew how to doggy paddle a little bit, but she couldn't swim. But luckily, she knew how to, like, you know, like, keep herself above the water, keep herself going under. So she was kind of trying to doggy paddle back to the shore, and I went out there, and

I just, like, basically sped up. I just helped her get back to the shore in a faster amount of time. But, yeah, man, the officer, he was most definitely the closest to drowning. When I got her back to the shore, and he got back,

he could barely stand up. He was throwing up a lot. It was crazy. Wow. That is an unbelievable story right there. And how long have you been swimming? I've been swimming since I was about three years old because my grandma always had a pool in her backyard.

Man, that is an incredible, incredible story. You are indeed a real life superhero for that. What has your life been like since this happened? Yeah, after it happened and just like my local city news posted it, the next two or three days, news channels from all across the nation was posting

me, Good Morning America, the Washington Post. When I seen all those posting me, that was kind of just unbelievable because those are shows and i mean good morning america's a show i used to you know see my mom watching in the morning washington post you know on cnn i mean not cnn nbc like those are all things i have seen on tv so just like seeing me on tv and like seeing them post and, you know, telling me, sending me messages.

Like, yeah, my life has been crazy. And, like, everywhere I go in public, people are, like, in my city, people are asking me, you know, are you the hero or are you the one who's saying I'm good? It's, like, everywhere I go. So that's probably what my life has been like, like, everywhere. Well, that is absolutely amazing. Brother, we are glad that you were there to

do what you did. Certainly, I'm sure those three girls and that police officer are thankful that you've been swimming since you were three years old. Yes, sir. Thank you so very much for joining us, Corian. And I'm quite sure, first of all, are you part of your school swim team?

No, sir, I'm not. Well, look, I'm sure maybe there's some future in you in aquatics. And so, again, congratulations. Thank you very much for being a real life superhero. And good luck in your future, young brother. Yes, sir. Thank you. God bless.

I appreciate it. Representative Shannon, I'm going to go to you. Look, the value of teaching our folks the importance of swimming, you see it right there. If he wasn't able to swim, that could be four dead folks, those three girls and that police officer. Absolutely. And, you know, not just able to swim,

but able to swim well because for how he recognized that folks were drowning because they were panicking and, you know, that was just really amazing. And I'm glad he told his story here because you can't get all the detail that he gave us just from reading the article. So that was amazing to hear firsthand. Oma Kongo? Yeah, man, it's kind of emotional for sure. You know, as a kid myself, you know, I had a situation where I almost drowned.

You know, my sister saved me. My youngest, who's seven, my son, you know, almost had an incident a couple of weeks ago. And, you know, we're in the practice. You know, he's learning to swim as well. You know what I mean? And so, you know, seeing that, to be quite honest, it was a lot, you know, to take in. But I'm so grateful at the same time to see this hero. And to be quite honest, there's a deeper layer to this because of the history of black people and swimming in this country not being allowed in pools, entire neighborhoods shutting down so that pools wouldn't integrate and all of that other type of history that we were denied. And so that the fact that this young brother was able to do that since three because of his grandmother,

it clearly benefited an entire community of people whose family members are alive today because of them. And then, of course, I don't even know if these kids were black or if the cop was black or white or whatever, but just as it relates to black and police relations, it's a positive story. Because outside of these tributes that is being praised, how would these officers treat this brother on the streets?

You know, so there's so many beautiful lessons that we can take from the story of this hero. And I'm just glad that you had him on to really go deeper into his story, man. It means a lot to all of us. Julian? You know, you see a young man like that, you can't feel anything but pride.

As you say, the whole issue of swimming with black people is really important, but he learned how to swim in his grandma's pool, but more than that, he extended himself. He had to be in really great shape to basically save four people. And again, like Omicongo, we don't know what the race of these people was.

But what we know is that his humanity basically came out. I hope that he continues to swim and perhaps gets a swimming scholarship somewhere or that he's lifted up in that little area I know, Pascagoula Moss Point. I was exiled there for a year when I was in high school. I know, past Cagoula Moss Point. I was exiled there for a year when I was in high school. Won't tell y'all about that. But anyway, it's... Yeah, yeah, yeah. You probably cussed a teacher out.

Actually, I got put out of about three high schools for, among other things, joining the Panthers. Yet I did cuss one teacher out. Another one, I asked her what the statistical probability of me turning my paper in on time was. That got me in some more trouble.

Okay, at least I'm consistent, y'all. But in any case, my aunt Annie Mae Randall taught 60 years worth of the fifth grade. And so people down there know Miss Randall, as they called her. It's an interesting area. It was very segregated, you know, in the late 60s, early 70s, perhaps less so now. But it's an area, it's a small, homey kind of area.

And so it just did my heart good to see that young brother. I mean, really, young men, you don't run into young folk like that that often. And so just hold him up. And I hope that through Roland Martin Unfiltered, we can get something together to help him out as he goes to the next level, college or whatever. Yeah. All right. Well, we certainly will find out.

Folks, hold tight one second. I've got to go to a break. We'll be back with more Roland Martin unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Folks, we are here live with the Jackie Robinson Foundation. Don't forget to support us in what we do. Download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And, of course, be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your dollars make it possible to do what we do, travel across this country, cover the stories that other people do not cover.

Check and money orders for all y'all folks who don't believe in new technology. Yeah, we still do old school. PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered, dollar sign, RM unfiltered. PayPal is rmartin unfiltered. Venmo is rm unfiltered. Zelle is roland at rolandsmartin.com.

We'll be right back. Sexy to me is the exact same feeling as running water. Ever flowing. Water always finds a way to get through. And so when you know that you're sexy, there are no questions about it.

It is an ever flowing emotion. It is an ever flowing feeling. When you question it, though, you stop the water. I actually, I struggle with this a lot, mainly because I've been told what sex you should look like, what it should feel like. As a model who did Sports Illustrated, you're told that this is what sells sexy,

but then you travel the world and what's sexy to one person is not sexy to another person. I'm more of a mind fuck kind of person. How can you stimulate the brain? To me, that's that's. Well up a chair take your seat. With me that the great car here on the black star network. Every week we take a deeper dive into the world we're living in.

Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. Peace and love, everybody. I'm Purple Wonderlove. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. What's up? I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin unfiltered. Paris Gabi has been missing from Memphis, Tennessee since March 2nd. The 16-year-old is 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 175 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about Paris Gottlieb should call the Memphis, Tennessee Police Department at 901-545-2677. 901-545-2677. And some sad news, folks, about one of the black and missing folks we reported on last week. 20-year-old Jimmy J. Lee is presumed dead. A suspect has been charged with the murder of the missing University of Mississippi student. On Friday, Oxford police arrested 22-year-old Sheldon Timothy Harrington Jr. for Jimmy's murder.

Police have not released the connection between the two, and they are still looking for Jimmy's body. Jimmy was last seen Friday, July 8th, near some campus apartments. His car was found the same day he went missing, about 2.5 miles off campus. Jimmy was last seen wearing a silver robe or house coat, a gold sleeping cap and gray slippers. Anyone with information with regards to Jimmy J. Lee

should call the Oxford Police Department at 262-232-2400, 662-232-2400. Folks, as I told you, we're here in New York City for the grand opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum. We covered the groundbreaking several years ago. COVID delayed things in a significant way, but now they are opening it. Tonight, there is a private reception for supporters of the foundation as well as donors. And tomorrow morning will be the groundbreaking, the revenue cutting and the opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum. But the work of the Jackie Robinson Museum really comes out of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. And Rachel Robinson worked to create these Jackie Robinson Scholars.

My next guest was one of those scholars, and she now is gone from that to actually being in baseball. No, she doesn't play, but she is the CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, Nicole Whiteman. How are you doing? I'm doing great, Roland. Thank you so much for having me on. So let's talk about that. I've addressed the scholars in the past.

But for the folks who don't know about the Jackie Robinson scholars, tell them about it. Yeah. So the Jackie Robinson Foundation was founded by my hero, Rachel Robinson, to perpetuate the legacy of her husband, Jackie, to really show people who he was as a man on the field and off the field, and to really give education, scholarships, and professional development and networking to minority students across the country who just literally had financial need and really needed that additional assistance to make it through life. And so your class, how large was the class? Oh my goodness, we probably had about 150 scholars, very different from the larger classes today,

thanks to the generous donors out there. Yes. And what did y'all do? You know what? So when I got the scholarship, it gave me the chance to go to Spelman. I tell people all the time, had I not received the Jackie Robinson Scholarship,

college was in question. But what tremendous opportunity came with that. I don't think that any scholarship recipient receives a scholarship understanding that is so much more than a check. It's a check. It's a New York annual summit. It's an opportunity to come and meet all the scholars from across the country, to network with your peers, but also to meet people you would never have interacted with, whether it be at the annual dinner, whether it be in conferences and panels, and as part of so many opportunities where there are corporate individuals and so much more. It's an opportunity, frankly, to just expose

yourself to the things that you might not have known, the things that your family might not have taught you as you were coming up. And so it just opened my world. You know, it opened my network. And I think it still continues to do that for so many scholars today. And I'm just so proud to be an alum. So how did you go from that to being in baseball with the Daughters Foundation? Yeah, believe it or not, my scholarship sponsor was JPMorgan Chase. I went into finance because they offered me a full-time job out of Spelman. Went into finance, did that for a little while. I went into publishing. I worked for Essence Magazine, for Black Enterprise Magazine.

Loved sponsorship, marketing, and advertising. And I moved to Los Angeles while working for Black Enterprise Magazine, and I met Della Britton Baeza, the president and CEO of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, and she asked me to come and work for them as they were opening up an L.A. office. So I joined the L.A. office team. I eventually became the VP, Western Region Officer, for the Jackie Robinson Foundation, which was my foray into philanthropy. And I always say I got this doctoral degree in nonprofit management working for the Jackie Robinson Foundation,

just a full circle of events, having been a former scholar and then working full-time for the organization and still learning and still growing and still being nurtured by the foundation and the family. And eventually, I had gone to work for some local nonprofits in L.A., L.A.'s Promise, a school reform organization and college summit. And I got a call one day from the Dodgers, and I was at the stadium, and they all said to me, why haven't you applied to be the executive director of the Dodgers Foundation? And so I like to say I was... You were like, really? I said, first of all, I said, I didn't know applied to be the executive director of the Dodgers Foundation? And so I like to say I was. You're like, really?

I said, first of all, I said, I didn't know you had a foundation, and I didn't even know that position existed. And so I learned a lot in the next two weeks. I interviewed with Magic Johnson, Mark Walter, the entire ownership group of the Dodgers, and I got the job. And I like to say to this day I was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers to be the CEO of the foundation. Now, were you a baseball fan before? So a sports fan for sure.

Interestingly enough, I was born in Brooklyn, New York, raised here in Manhattan. I had been in L.A. then maybe about 10 years thus far. So I hadn't necessarily been cheering for the Dodgers. But let me tell you, I cheer really loudly right now. Well, it got to be a little bit different to be a New York native and now working for the Dodgers. So it has to be a little conflicted. You know what, Jackie Robinson makes that okay.

Jackie played in Brooklyn, right? And Jackie played for the Dodgers. So I think it's a lot easier of a transition than a whole lot of other cities. Okay, that's true. And the last week, of course, the All-Star game was in Los Angeles. That was his big tribute to Jackie Robinson. Denzel Washington actually opened it up. Y'all can go to that video, please.

And this is someone who is still being honored in a significant way by Major League Baseball Force of Commerce. Yeah, 75th anniversary of Jackie breaking the color barrier. This is a tremendous year to be opening up the museum, an amazing year for Rachel to be turning 100. There's a lot of amazingness happening in the spirit of Jackie's legacy, particularly this year. And at the Dodgers and with the Dodgers Foundation,

we celebrate Jackie all the time. It's Jackie's team. At the end of the day, we really can. We carry that, you know, with a lot of pride. And we make sure that not just Jackie Robinson Day, but throughout the year, we're implementing Jackie's legacy in a lot of what we do. the impact because this is someone who brought a significant number of people, African-Americans, to watch Major League Baseball. Frankly, African-Americans were watching Negro Leagues. There are those who also talk about the fact that, unfortunately, by some of the Negro League players leaving, that destroyed the Negro Leagues.

And Major League Baseball has also tried to rectify that by now including those records and not with an asterisk next to it in an appreciation of what the Negro League players did for baseball. Yeah, that was a major move, and it's such an important move, removing the asterisk and making sure that those men are noticed and, frankly, celebrated just like every other Major League Baseball player because they were the league. They were just a different league, but they were the league. And to your point, many of the players who went to the league at the time came from the Negro Leagues. I think we're doing a wonderful job in baseball celebrating the Negro League Museum and what Bob Kendrick is doing and making sure that the legacy of these players lives on.

I think more people today are learning. History is happening. A lot of the teams across the country are making sure that they, whether they have exhibits or they have opportunities or special days to promote the Negro Leagues and what happened and who came out of that, some of that's happening, and it's amazing. Unfortunately, we're now, though, in a space. Look, I played baseball growing up in high school. But we're living in a space now where there are so few African-Americans.

What are y'all doing at the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation and what is Major League Baseball doing to really try to keep African-Americans interested in this sport that also pays the biggest salaries? A lot of things we're making sure number one that we have star players on the team who look like the young black boys and girls in the city of la like a mookie betts or a david price who can speak up for the community and who themselves have said we need more black players and we need more black fans we're making sure that we concentrate on the younger generation in los ang Angeles, we have a Dodgers Dream Team program, formerly Dodgers RBI, focused on ensuring that young black and brown youth have an opportunity to play baseball and softball completely free. We have 12,000 kids in the program at 88 different locations in Los Angeles, ensuring that you get

all the equipment, all the uniforms, everything you need. Coaches are trained, quality coaches. We did an assessment 10 years ago when we found out that the reason why our young black boys and girls weren't playing baseball or softball, it's expensive. It's an expensive sport. It's very different from a basketball. It's even different from football. It's a very expensive sport. And now you have the traveling teams, now you have what's essentially pro leagues.

You have a lot of working families to go along with those traveling teams, so that can be a reason that a player doesn't play. Coaches, we know a lot of families where dad and mom could just jump right in and be coaches. In a lot of our communities, that's not the case. In a lot of our communities, we're afraid to coach. In a lot of our communities, we just need a little training and we need a little understanding, which is also why coaches training is tremendously big for us. It starts with the younger generation.

We have to start. And we might not see some of these results for some time, but we have to get back to working on the young black boys and girls and showing them that baseball is an opportunity. Softball is an opportunity on the softball side, bringing Olympians like Natasha Watley out. So people can see people who look like them. There's obviously a need for a lot more black players in the game.

Undoubtedly, there is a need for a number of more black players in the game. I think it's happening in a lot of the farm systems. I think it's happening beneath what you see right now, and we're not seeing the results immediately. But I know that in Los Angeles, we have some specific efforts. I'm proud to say our club hired a vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion last year for the first time in our history. Courtney Moore is doing a fabulous job in making sure that, first of all, the fee on the field, it looks like there is an increase. But also within the office that people can see that there are front office jobs for black men and women. And there are people in those roles like myself doing it. And you can, too.

Well, that is absolutely awesome and it is always, first of all I'm just so excited that this museum will be here for people to actually come here and learn about Deckard Robinson far beyond even his playing time with the Dodgers. Yes. He was much larger than that. Yes, so big.

I mean my biggest sort of sad moment is that it's in New York and that I will have to take a few trips to come back here. It is not in L.A., but I can't wait to tell everybody to come and see it because it's phenomenal. And to watch Rachel Robinson at 100 years old just a few weeks after her 100th birthday experience the reveal of this museum is just so special. Yeah, but see what that now means, though. That means that they're going to have a traveling exhibit. Yes, traveling exhibits, virtual access. We all know about virtual with this pandemic. Yeah, we do. We do, absolutely. Nicole, we certainly

appreciate it. Good luck with the foundation. And maybe I'll give you a call when my Astros come to town. Boo! Boo! Don't call me when the Astros come. Like I told Spike Lee, I will be in all of my splendor. Oh, gosh.

Guaranteed. I love it. Guaranteed. All right, I appreciate it. Thank you. George Lopez is a huge, huge Dodgers fan. But hold on, let me switch phones because let me just show you all this. I'm going to end on this, y'all.

Where's my other phone? So I played in Georgia's golf tournament. Okay. And this was after the World Series. And George and I, we always have this shoe contest. And so I had ordered some customized Astros shoes. And I said, you know what? That's not enough.

And so then I took it further, and I think I got the rainbow jersey. I said, well, that's not enough. Then I, you know, because I'm born and raised in Houston. And so then I went on eBay, and I found the orange pinstripes for the old uniforms. And I said, you know what? That's not enough. Then I saw, then I got the golf bag.

Then I said, you know what? That's really not enough. Then I said, let me get, I saw Dwight Howard head on this. Oops, my bad. I don't know if y'all switched to the, I unplugged the phone. Dwight Howard head on this Houston acted that the foam hat yes yes I know but you can only buy in the stadium so I call a brother who was one of the minority owners and you just send me that hat so y'all go short again so when I showed up you'll see it

here when I showed up I had Astros car flags on my car. And so you might see here, I had these eel boots that were cognac, which looked good of orange. Then I had this large Texas belt buckle right there. And that's how I rolled up to the tournament. We are not letting you in Dodger Stadium with this. And Puig was in my group. Absolutely not. Security would probably ask you to leave. Puig was in my group

and I actually had these Tyler's Pro V1s with Houston Astros World Champions on them. And then look, I went all out. You don't understand uh y'all can show this too yeah i had the socks too yeah i had the socks too so yeah wow now and last year last year y'all come back last year uh heart is hurting oh no no no no last year so i i got so last year joe

and i you'll see Joe and I, and just so you know how I, yes, that's how I rolled to the tournament last year. Don't invite me. What? See, I'm going to rep my squad, and then Anthony shot these photos, and I had, of course, they had me with my Uncle Roro on the back.

So, yeah, you know, I had to look clean. I had to look clean in that jersey right there. So I'm just saying, being an alpha, I had to have the 06. I see. So I'll be happy to come back to the stadium when we play. We'll be here in New York at the Jackie Robinson Foundation Museum from now on. Oh, come on now. I know Holly Robinson-Pete.

She's still mad at me because she blocked me on Twitter after we won because her son was a bad boy, I think, and she really wanted RJ to get that ring. Yes. And I was like, sorry, Holly. Well, he got a ring in 2020. Yeah, she blocked me for like a year. He'll get another ring too.

Yeah, okay. Yeah, we're he'll get another ring too yeah okay yeah yeah we're gonna get another one too all right i appreciate it thanks so much thank you so much folks gotta go to a quick break we'll be back rolling mark unfiltered on the black star network live with jackie robinson foundation on the next get wealthy with me deborah owens america's wealth coach you see the headlines. All frightening, right? Interest rates are going up. The recession is on the way.

The stock market is up and down. But you know what they say. Scared money? Don't make money. That's why I'm excited on our next Get Wealthy to have a conversation with someone who has written a new book, Fearless Finances, and she's going to share exactly what you need to do to secure your bag, regardless of the ups and downs of the economy or the stock market. Oftentimes you can start with as little as $5.

That's right here, only on Get Wealthy on Blackstar Network. Pull up a chair, take your seat. The Black Tape with me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Blackstar Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you.

Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on Black Star Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together,

pull ourselves together and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. Sexy to me is the exact same feeling as running water. Ever flowing. Water always finds a way to get through. And so when you know that you're sexy, there are no questions about it.

It is an ever flowing emotion. It is an ever flowing feeling. When you question it though, you stop the water. I actually struggle with this a lot, mainly because I've been told what sexy should look like, what it should feel like. As a model who did Sports Illustrated, you're told that this is what sells sexy,

but then you travel the world, and what's sexy to one person is not sexy to another person. I'm more of a mindfuck kind of person. How can you stimulate the brain? To me, that's, that's sexy. -♪ -♪ -♪

Hi, how y'all doing? It's your favorite funny girl, Amanda Seals. Hi, I'm Anthony Brown from Anthony Brown and Group Therapy. What up? Lana Well, and you are is hot all across the country. And were you aware that the heat actually puts more stress on your heart? Yo, seriously, I thought it was reversed at like in the wintertime. That's the case. And so the CDC's Foundation, the Live to the Beat campaign, wants to help adults take steps to prevent heart disease as well as strokes, including heat strokes. Joining us right now,

Dr. Lisa Waddell, the chief medical officer of the CDC Foundation. She joins me from Atlanta with eight ways to improve your heart health. Glad to have you here, Lisa. First and foremost, heat stroke. We just saw a former Dallas Cowboys player, Marion Barber, die. Young guy, he died of a heat stroke. One of my uncles actually was just hospitalized.

I think he was released today because he is exhausted. So, you know, heat and heart, those two things can can can form a combustible combination. Well, Roland, thank you so much for having me join you today. And you're absolutely right. I mean, we have a significant problem with cardiovascular disease in this country. We've had this problem for a long time. And the heat epidemic, if you will, that we're experiencing all across this country with these rising temperatures is certainly a concern. Whenever you have these really high temperatures,

it puts a stress on the heart. The heart is having to beat faster in order to cool our bodies. And so it's really important that whether you have a history of heart disease or not, that you are taking those efforts to keep yourself cool so that you don't experience heat exhaustion where you are at risk of then subsequently going on and having a heat stroke where your body temperature gets so high, you stop perspiring, you can get disoriented, and then you can subsequently, unfortunately, you can die if that is not taken care of right away. Well, that is, again, you don't think about it because we see these stories where they tell people to be very careful with their shoveling snow because of the risk of heart attacks when that happens. But you don't necessarily think about that when you talk about the heat. That's right. I mean, when with cardiovascular disease, your heart is weakened, if you will,

right? And so any sort of stress and strain, whether it's the shoveling of the snow during the cold, or whether it's the stress of your body trying to cool itself down when it's really hot. Those are stressors on a heart that is not as strong. When you've got heart disease or cardiovascular disease, oftentimes your blood vessels may be narrowed. You often people have other risk factors such as diabetes. And so your blood vessels aren't as elastic. Again, they're narrowed. You may have high cholesterol. And so you've got plaque. And so you may have some evidence of because of the blood pressure haven't been high, your heart just isn't able to sort of pump as well. And so all of that leads to a weakened heart that isn't able to respond as well with heat or cold for that matter. And so that's why it's really important that we understand that we have a significant problem with heart disease in this country.

And while we had typically we were having some steady decline, what's happened now is over the last several years, that rate of decline of cardiovascular deaths has slowed down. And in fact, we're starting to see cardiovascular deaths or deaths from heart disease go up in a younger population between the ages of 25 and 64. And that's why we want to focus on what are some of those things that you can do to prevent that. Questions from my panel, Mr. Hot Yoga himself from Mocongo, you're up. Oh, thank you so much. And, you know, this is so such a serious issue., on the food and beverage side, are there certain foods, beverages that you would recommend? Like if we just had to do this like every day, just grab that one, you know, I used to say an apple a day keeps the doctor away and stuff. What kind of nutritional things do you recommend for us as it relates to keeping our heart healthy? That's a great question. And there definitely are things. That's one of our key tips.

We want folks to eat healthier. And eating healthy, particularly during the summer, may not be as difficult because we do have fresh fruits and vegetables. Many people have gardens. So you want to eat those healthier fruits and vegetables, those green leafy vegetables. If you aren't able to get the fresh fruits and vegetables, then it's better to get the frozen vegetables. Because we don't want to get the canned vegetables that are high in sodium. And why is that? That sodium is really bad for our blood pressure. And we know that high blood pressure is a significant risk factor for heart disease and stroke. So we want to keep that sodium down when you're out there grilling during

the summer, try to get some of those low sodium types of seasonings to use. And then the other is we want to avoid things that are high in saturated fat. So you want to eat your healthier. You want to avoid the margin. You want to avoid the butter. And instead, use some healthier olive oil. Eat some of those foods that have omega fats in it, like salmon and healthy fish. Thank you. All right. Representative Shannon, you're next. Sure. So I'd like to ask you about the correlation between with COVID and also some heart problems that we're seeing, particularly with Black folks. You mentioned that heart disease has been on the rise. And I know we were seeing articles last year that after folks had COVID, they were, Black folks were predisposed or were having a higher incident of strokes and just things related to heart issues. Do you have any information just around what folks can

do if they've recovered from COVID, what they should be looking out for to just combat any of that? I'm so glad you asked that because we had a problem before COVID. We certainly had a problem during COVID and we have a problem ongoing after COVID. And part of the issue is that during COVID, many persons changed some of their activities. If people were physically active, some of that actually was lessened. People were not comfortable, obviously, for exercising inside. More people picked up weight and gained weight during COVID. And then people deferred going to the doctor for their wellness visits and getting their heart checks. Some people were having signs and symptoms of perhaps a heart attack

and feared going into the hospital because of COVID. So we did see heart attacks and strokes go up during the pandemic. And so it's really important to reverse that course. And part of reversing that course is to make sure that we are getting back to our physical activity, making the healthier food choices, making sure that we've reconnected with our health care provider, making sure that we're taking our blood pressure medicines and any medication or other things to lower cholesterol. But yes, we definitely had challenges during COVID. And it's important to remember that over half of all Blacks, both male and female, have some form of heart disease. So many of us are very likely to be experiencing some form of heart disease. And actually, the high blood pressure rates in the African-American community here in

the United States are some of the highest in the world. So it's really important to have that connection with our health care provider in order to help us manage this condition. See, Julianne, that's why I believe in cussing folk out and keep your blood pressure low. All right. Well, actually, we want to reduce that stress, right? Hold on, Julianne. Lisa, go ahead. Lisa, go ahead. No, it's like, no, we don't want to cuss people out. We want to actually reduce that stress, right?

Because that stress... Oh, no, that reduced stress. Lisa, I cussed folk out. I am absolutely stress-free. Well, whatever mechanism you use safely to reduce your stress is good because stress is sort of that constant wear and tear on our blood vessels and on our heart. It's like a foot on that gas pedal constantly and you get this inflammatory response. And and that's just not good. And again, couple that with many of the risk factors that often we have in our community. Stress is not good. And so finding something to help you relieve the stress is another one of those healthy tips that. We often do not get enough sleep and sleep is

necessary for us to be able to restore our bodies and to rejuvenate and to make sure that our blood pressure is able to get sort of controlled and settle down in the evenings. And so rest is really important to reduce stress also. Well, I got somebody who follow us on the show. They always in the chat room saying, Roland, you cuss too much. He be sending me emails. Yeah, I see your emails, Ikeem, but I'm telling you right now,

I don't hold nothing in. I ain't walking around with nothing. And so I'm just letting you know, just look, cuss them out, move on. Julianne, go ahead. There you go. Cuss them out, move on. Just cuss them out. But, sister, um...

Black women, our awareness about breast cancer has increased, and we know that the incidence of breast cancer, we experience it differently, younger, et cetera. But what about heart disease? There are people who talk about women and heart disease, And we know that the incidence of breast cancer, we experience it differently, younger, et cetera. But what about heart disease? There are people who talk about women and heart disease. And it's something that we don't have as much awareness of as we do of, let's say, breast cancer.

So talk to me about black women and heart disease. And also, what should we notice? You've given us lots of tips. But are there particular things that black women should be paying attention to in terms of heart disease? Great, great question, because often Black women may not recognize that we may be experiencing some form of heart disease. Often in women, the symptoms aren't some of the classic symptoms of feeling like an elephant is sitting on your chest with sudden shortness of breath and pain radiating down your arm or up into your jaw. Sometimes it's just, I'm just not feeling quite right. You may have a little bit of discomfort.

You may feel more fatigue. But I think the thing we always tell women, and particularly Black women, is that we know our bodies. And if something is just not feeling right, then no one's going to generally know that better than you. And therefore, it's important to just express that and be firm about that, that something is just not right in order for you to get that EKG done or some of the blood work done. But certainly cardiovascular disease, again, is the leading cause of death and certainly is a significant cause of death for Black men and Black women and therefore is something that we definitely need to pay attention to. And again, the things that we can do, what all of us can do, again, just know your body, know yourself, pay attention to those small things, but also manage our blood pressure, manage our blood sugar.

If you have diabetes, it's important to be that you have to go out and's dancing, put on a couple songs and dance to the beat. Do a few knee lifts at the countertop. Do some counter push-ups. Keep some light weights near your desk and lift a few weights, just some arm weights each day. But doing some of those small things will eventually build up and that can make a big difference. And then I haven't mentioned smoking, but that is a significant risk factor. And so anyone that is smoking simply just needs to quit. Oh, I agree with that. I'm alert to smoke. I want you there 100%.

Doc, where can people go to get more information if they're looking for stuff online? Well, if you want more information, I strongly encourage you to go to livetothebeat.org. That's L-I-V-E-T-O-T-H-E-B-E-A-T, livetothebeat.org. There are videos there. There are lots of tips. There are fun things to do, ways in which you can get those fruits and vegetables in, tips on, you know, walking to places instead of driving when you can do that safely. So I encourage you to use those resources, share them with your friends and your family and your community groups. And then if you just want to know more about the CDC Foundation and what we do, you can certainly go to the cdcfoundation.org. But this is the time,

my friends. This is summertime. The heat is nasty right now all across this country. And I can't encourage us all enough to stay cool, watch out for your neighbors, use those cooling stations. Far too many people are dying from heat stroke and heart disease. All right then. Well, look, I appreciate it, Dr. Waddell. Thank you so very much. I look forward to having you back again.

Thank you so much. All right, let me also thank my panelist, Representative Shannon, thanks a lot. Thank you so much. Tomorrow morning, we get a schedule at 10 a.m. groundbreaking from 10, I think it's 10, 1030 to 1145, if I'm correct. Groundbreaking the Jackie Robinson Museum. We will be live. We will be live for that ribbon-cutting ceremony. And then we're going to be set up inside of the museum doing more interviews. And then they have the opening party. We're live entertaining.

Ray Chu is over that. We will be broadcasting that as well. So we look forward to that. So we'll be live here from New York City. That's taking place on tomorrow. Now on Wednesday, there's the block party from 10 a.m. to

10 a.m. to, give me Wednesday y'all, give me Wednesday. That's Tuesday, thank you. The block party is 10 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday. And then there's a screening of the After Jackie film. There's a celebrity talkback. And so we will have a celebrity talkback live right here on Roland Martin

Unfiltered. And then there's the Gila Dance Party. Folks, this is a perfect example of why Black-owned media is so important. When you hear me talking about this here, when you hear me imploring you to support us, to ignore the haters, that's why it matters.

That's why it's important for you to share our YouTube videos because we generate revenue. When our YouTube videos go up and we hit four, five, six, seven million, I'll tell you right now, we can earn anywhere from $70,000 to $100,000 that month. That's why that's important. Those resources give us the opportunity to travel this country, to cover more stores, to do more things.

Yesterday, we were in New Jersey. A man, Wendell Haskins, who's a Hampton graduate, had his original Tee Golf Classic. He's been honoring African Americans in golf for more than 20 years. We live streamed the awards ceremony with the honor Alonzo Mourning. We'll have the video hopefully tomorrow showing you sights and sounds of the golf tournament. Again, y'all, there's no other media out there. There's no other black-owned media out there.

And so what our goal is to give you all kind of facets of black America. Those who play golf, folks who are doing community work, what's happening with Jack Robinson Foundation. So your support matters. So first and foremost, by you downloading our Black Star Network app, by you telling a friend, nearly 2,000 folks watching on YouTube and Facebook right now. Imagine if each one of y'all told two people.

That's right. We can easily add 4,000 or 6,000 new subs right now. Imagine if each one of y'all told two people, that's right, we can easily add four or 6,000 new subs right there. So the Blackstar Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And when you join our Bring the Funk fan club, again, our goal is to get 20,000 people on an annual basis, contribute $50 each. That's $4.19 a month, $0.13 a day. I can tell you that as a value, we don't charge a subscription fee because I don't believe that a lot of our people, they can't afford to pay $4.99 a month. And there are people who have given us $1, $5, $10, $20, $25.

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Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Folks, thank you so very much. Hope you enjoyed my interview with Spike Lee. Look for the replay with Nicole as well, one of the Jackie Robinson scholars who's now the CEO of Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. And so look forward to seeing you tomorrow from New York City here at the Jackie Robinson Foundation and the grand opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum, 75 years after

he broke the Major League Baseball, white Major League Baseball color barrier. They kept black folks out. Jackie was the first, certainly was not the last. Thanks a bunch. See you tomorrow. Holler! This is an iHeart Podcast.