#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Jay-Z And The NFL To Give Money To Group Who Cut Dreadlocks, Professed All Lives Matter

Episode Date: September 11, 2019

The controversy over JAY-Z and Roc Nation's deal with the NFL continues. The Crushers Club is one of two groups working with at-risk Chicago kids that will receive part of a $400,000 donation from Roc Nation and the NFL as part of the previously announced "Inspire Change" initiative. The organization came under intense scrutiny on social media for a photo posted on social media that shows Sally Hazelgrove, president of the Crushers Club cutting a young man's dreads off. The group is also know for encouraging the phrase "All Lives Matter". Watch the 9.6.19 edition of #RolandMartinUnfiltered https://youtu.be/PNUFAZwHsLs - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Life Luxe Jazz Life Luxe Jazz is the experience of a lifetime, delivering top-notch music in an upscale destination. The weekend-long event is held at the Omnia Dayclub Los Cabos, which is nestled on the Sea of Cortez in the celebrity playground of Los Cabos, Mexico. For more information visit the website at lifeluxejazz.com. - 📘 Check out #RolandsBookClub and some of his favorite tech gear http://ow.ly/M5zF50uJPam ✅ NOW AVAILABLE: #RolandMartinUnfiltered Merch - https://bit.ly/2VYdQok ✅ Subscribe to the #RolandMartin YouTube channel https://t.co/uzqJjYOukP ✅ Join the #RolandMartinUnfiltered #BringTheFunk Fan Club to support fact-based independent journalism http://ow.ly/VRyC30nKjpY ✅ Join the Roland Martin and #RolandMartinUnfiltered mailing list http://ow.ly/LCvI30nKjuj The Roland S. Martin YouTube channel is a news reporting site 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. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man.

We met them at their homes. We met them at the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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

You want to support Roland Martin Unfiltered? Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roland Martin Unfiltered. By going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com, you can make this possible. The controversy over Jay-Z and Roc Nation's deal with the NFL continues. The Crushers Club is one of two groups working with at-risk children in Chicago that received part of $400,000 in donations from Rock

Nation and the NFL as part of their previously announced inspire change initiative but the organization came under scrutiny recently when on social media posts like this showed up this is crushers clubs president Sally Hazel Grove cutting a young man's dreads off. They are also known for encouraging the phrase all lives matter. I guess all hair doesn't matter, but to them, all lives matter and more. Are there organizations that are better suited

for this kind of donation? Let's go to the panel and talk about this. I don't know about you guys, but I was absolutely furious when I saw that. Obviously, I have locks. I've had locks for over 20 years now and it is a not only a physical thing to me so I saw that frankly as an assault on those young men but it's a spiritual thing to me. Right. And it's something

that she had no clue about. Of course not. The depth and the significance of it. A complete disrespect to us as a people to say that you cannot be someone who achieves significantly if you maintain your hair as it grows out of your head. Yet here she is with a, you know, a helmet head and her hair apparently is fine. OK, so, you know, it's very interesting to me. What are your thoughts about this particular controversy, yet another to come out of this interesting and controversial Jay-Z-NFL collaboration? Yeah. I am not an expert on the Crushers Club, but obviously a picture is a thousand words, right? I think obviously another sort of another moment of how hard it is for a minority group to assimilate in a country particularly with our history over

400 years, I mean it would be nice if JC had some political advisors. Maybe I'm sure he does I'm sure he talks to people. I'm sure he I think the only people he talks to are his accountants I mean and again, I'm sure he's not a dumb guy at all And that's what kind of makes it even harder. Because if you're dealing with somebody stupid, then you would just be like, OK, he's stupid. That's what this is. Right.

But Jay-Z is not a dumb guy. And so this is disappointing on a lot of levels. The fact that he has not stepped up after everything that happened a few weeks ago and sort of maybe just took the edge off things in terms of just saying something about Colin Kaepernick's efforts. I mean, Colin Kaepernick paid effectively with his career. Absolutely.

You know, to use Roland's term, he was white-balled, right? And we all know it, right, in front of everybody's face. Right. This is not the type of thing that we need to wait 40 and 50 years to figure out, as we did with Muhammad Ali and, you know, we did with Jack Johnson and so many other athletes who put, you know, their politics and their personal beliefs before making the money

and being popular. Right. So we know right now in real time what Colin Kaepernick had to sacrifice. Right. So it shouldn't... It's not hard to figure out. Right. You know, we're an information society.

So this is not a good thing. And hopefully Jay-Z will... I have confidence that Jay-Z will figure it out and make a turn. Really? His wife will nudge him. Yeah, I do. I know he signed a contract. I know all that, but I also know that somebody will get in his ear, I think, at some point.

What do you think? Do you have confidence? The only reason that Jay-Z did this was because he had to respond to a lot of black Twitter. This was essentially a PR stunt. So he chose a city that, and I'm a native Chicagoan, I'm very familiar with this organization. He chose a city that already has a large amount of disadvantaged youth, disengaged youth, a large amount of African-American males that will not see a high school graduation, much less college. And coming off of, in the previous years, we had three years without a state budget. And a lot of those community organizations that serve those

youth that are in turmoil had to face shutting down. And budget and a lot of those community organizations that serve those youth that are in turmoil Had to face shutting down and these were a lot of the black run organizations This organization was well known for what it did to black youth in the same way that a lot of the charter schools in the city Are very known for what they do to black youth. It is destined assimilation. They tell you how you can wear your hair They tell you what clothes you can wear They try to change your vernacular. All of these things designed to shape you into what they feel is going to help you become successful.

It has nothing to do with academics. It has nothing to do with your actual progress. It has everything to do with them erasing your culture and who you are. And I think that when you have an organization like this, it is important to call it out. I'm upset that just now it's getting a national resonation. Because this organization has been doing this for years and receiving a ton of funding at the federal level,

at the state level, and at the local level to basically take young black males and turn them into something else and tell them that what they look like, how they walk, and how they talk is wrong. And for Jay-Z, someone who is from Bed-Stuy, someone who has represented black people for a very long time, someone who a lot of these young people actually look up to, to decide that this is the organization he wants to support. And I'll give it to you. I think that Jay-Z is a very smart man. Now, did he handpick this organization?

Probably not. There was probably somebody along that line who did. But there should be something from him right now. He should be out responding to this immediately. I'm frustrated that he is not. Yeah, that is interesting. Don't you think, Eugene? I mean, all of a sudden he's MIA. He had a lot to say. He had a lot to say when he had this very well-crafted press conference where he's talking about, you know, we're done with kneeling as if he could speak on behalf of

the entire black community, right? But now all of a sudden when these controversies are happening, and particularly this one, which a number of people are finding especially egregious, you cannot find him anywhere. Where is Jay-Z? And also, what do you think can be done to correct course here? I don't really think that he can correct course here unless he comes out and somehow undoes what he did to basically stab Colin Kaepernick in the back. Y'all give me slater and hope while I'm trying to get a title deal? So, let's take a couple things here. Let's take a couple things here.

I'm almost 100% sure he didn't handpick the organization, right? Absolutely. I'm also, also on the other end of it, his efforts don't start with the funding of this, well, the, I guess, grant that this organization received, and it doesn't end there. You know, the broader effort that's going on with reform, you know, goes well beyond anything this particular organization can do. I mean, we're all involved in the orgs and we all understand to a degree how the organization funding works. It's all a relationship.

And so somebody in this organization, had probably an in with somebody either on the NFL side or one of the organizations that Jay-Z is affiliated with and was able to grab funding here to potentially try to solve a problem. I mean, we've all dealt with principals at a very high level. Also, Tom, just a lot of things are delegated. But at the end of the day, you know, the blow-up typically blows up in the face of the principal. I mean, you know, Jay-Z literally currently wears his hair near free. So, you know,

I think he probably has to address it at this point because of the stirrup that it's caused. But I agree with Amisha that it is a response to Black Twitter,

you know, who sometimes can have a larger voice than they probably should. And then, you know, I think it's probably one of those things where we probably just sit back and watch and, you know, take a, probably one of those things where we probably

just sit back and watch you know take a one a holistic view of what's going on but two you know

see where the actual hard efforts are going you know and I would direct folks attention to reform more so than

you know what this particular organization does well that's the question and that's the big question what the hell is where's the reform where's the question, and that's the big question. What the hell is the reform? Where's the reform? Where's the beef, Jay-Z? I mean, I don't see it here. And what's interesting to me is that, you know, he came out...

Honestly, I'm seeing a lot of inconsistencies, because he came out with the press conference saying that there's going to be reform. Then after that wasn't received well, there was some leak about him having part ownership in the team, which all of a sudden has evaporated, right? Apparently that was a lie. Okay, where's Maury

Povich when you need him, right? Because I believe if that was the case, they would have announced that at the actual press conference. That would have made sense. And now this comes out, and I agree. I'm sure he didn't handpick this, but this tells me that there was no honest attempt to really be involved in creating social change.

It was about him creating a partnership with the NFL for his own benefit. David Chappelle was right when he said a long time ago, we need to stop looking at these celebrities as the thing that's going to correct stuff. I believe that. Absolutely. I mean, this is a smarter celebrity. Jay-Z is a smarter celebrity, in my view, than most. But at the end of the day, he's a really good rapper.

He's a really good lyricist. He's a really good rhythm guy. And he's not the best, but he's all right. He's not a political scientist. But he's the same. He's the same Jay-Z who blamed a lot of the community violence and a lot of the disengaged youth on black fathers not being at home.

Oh, god. I'm sorry. I'm not giving Jayay-z a pass here i'm giving him not a pass because that's and it's also something that is a republican talking point he's making a deal with a bunch of businessmen in the nfl they want him to sit there he's a black person that's to be their person of of color that they're sitting next to at a press conference that's his role in that moment whether he recognizes it or not so So I'm not looking for Jay-Z to be the person in this moment that is the guy that figures this out. They're not making a deal

with Reverend Barber, right? If they make a deal with Reverend Barber, then I'd say, okay, then this is the place. I think he fully recognizes it. I think we're not giving Jay-Z enough credit.

I think he's a brilliant man. He recognizes it, and his pockets are getting full. Absolutely. He recognizes the business deal, but we're looking for more than that. And we should be. Well, the thing is, Jay-Z said it himself. He says, I'm not a businessman.

I'm a business man. Right? That's what he said. And so that is his priority with this. It's not about doing anything to advance the cause. And he was perfectly fine with throwing Colin under the bus. Well, where's the beef then, Eugene? So the thing is this.

Reform. Organization reform. $50 million funded. Largely money pulled personally by Jay-Z and other folk. They're currently bailing people out of jail. They're currently... That's not the NFL, Eugene. That existed prior...

I'm not talking about that. I mean, it's very good that you brought that in, but that is completely irrelevant to this conversation. We're talking about the specific deal that he made with the NFL in order to undercut the movement that Colin Kaepernick started and in order to justify their white-balling of Colin Kaepernick. Where is the social justice action specifically in relation to his connection with the NFL? A very big part of that deal provides a funding mechanism for organizations to actually go out and be effective with what they're doing. Right. Organizations like this that cut off people's hair and maybe organizations that blame black women for raising children. Are those the types of organizations

they're going to continue to select? Absolutely not. I mean, look, if we're taking a full holistic view of this, right? Yeah. You're looking at, if you're taking a full holistic view of this, looking at somebody who just had an organization fund that's in tune

to $50 million with Van Jones at the head of it. Oh, that makes me feel a lot better. We're looking at, we're dragging somebody over a mistake that we probably can't even actually attribute to them. You know, in regards to Colin Kaepernick,

if Holt said there was a conversation with Colin, I'm probably on the side of Holt to say there probably was a conversation with Colin. But if we're keeping it 100 here, you know, Colin Kaepernick probably needs to come out and say something himself. We've all been rocking for him for a couple years now. You know, look, he got

his cash and did what he did. Eric Reid got his cash and did what he did. Excuse me, is he not supposed to? And the ball is still moving forward. Nobody said that, look, you know, there's one singular way to address this issue or there's one singular path or that Colin Kaepernick is the end-all, be-all on it.

Let me just say this, Eugene. Good luck with getting your title deal. But I will also say, because you're doing a great job for it right now, I hope they really compensate you well. But let me just also say here, is Colin Kaepernick supposed to take a vow of poverty? Once he has been, once he has, let me finish. Once you have a group of owners colluding not to hire him anymore,

are we supposed to say that he's not supposed to make money any other way? Once you have seen that his main employers have colluded to not hire him anymore? I don't think that's the argument you're making, is it? No, it's not the argument I'm making. But the argument that I am making is, look, when Colin Kaepernick took a settlement in that particular case, which we all supported him from day one, that kind of closed the chapter, the page on that chapter. I said, okay, what's the next steps forward here? Next step forward needs to look like second step back. Reforms, more black DAs, more black state's attorneys, which a lot of things are coming out of the reform organization.

We're just going to title it reform. But there are a lot of things that they're supporting. What I'm saying is this. Look, there's an attempt to drag Jay-Z over a misstep or two and ignore the broader, broader, broader scope of things that he's done. I mean, look, he was, when Freddie Gray happened, you know, he put up cash to get folk bailed out

when judges were trying to hit people with a half-million-dollar bail for breaking cop car windows. When Ferguson happened, he funded a lot of the folk getting bailed out. So it's not, you know... Listen... It's, you know,

one more time, I think this is something that's been largely blown up out of proportion in regards to the full scope of things. Okay, I think we're having... Eugene, thanks.

We've got to bring in the rest of the panel. Legacy of work. Okay. And then take one blip on the timeline and drag them and disregard the whole... everything you said they're

done. Is it just me or are we conflating issues? You should get a check after that defense. You should get a check after that. That's his PR flack. I mean, give me a break, man. Sally Hazelgrove, who's cutting the hairs, already apologized. Jay-Z has said nothing. You know what? Eugene, you just said more than Jay-Z. Yes! Why is that? Why can't the great communicator with all those albums, with all that rapping, now all of a sudden can't say anything about what's going on with Kaepernick and this thing with the haircutting? Like, why is he suddenly silent?

I mean, even if he just does it to his publicist, say something. Right, right. But you can't say nothing, not in this world of communications we live in. Absolutely. What do you think? Oh, absolutely. I felt that he should have said something immediately. We know that he didn't

handpick these organizations, but there's something to be said about every single one in the city that was chosen being white-led. Every single one having a very similar agenda. So I'm sorry. Again, as a native Chicagoan, I took offense to it. We have several organizations in the city that are working very hard to help young black

men and black women that they could use the help. They didn't get anything. So I don't know how they went about choosing these. But there is a real gripe that people should have, because if you're someone who has the mantle that Jay-Z does, you should be a little bit more intuitive. And the people who you decide to give money to or who your organization decides to give money to, if you're the NFL, should you should be more intuitive about where this ends up going. What Jay-Z did was essentially help to close a chapter on a lot of the abuses that we've seen in the NFL organization, specifically as it came to them basically shutting the door on anything that had to do with people protesting police brutality,

which is a fundamental right. You know, now that I think about it, whether he knew or vetted them or did not vet them does not matter to me. Because now everybody knows there's a problem. Right. So you can comment anyway. Right.

It's like, where is he? Like, in this moment, like, where is he? Where are you, Jay-Z? You've got to manage a project, you know. Where are you, Jay-Z? Someplace. Somewhere. And Lord, please. Please, Jay-Z.

All I'm asking is just don't bring Beyonce down with you. Okay, that's my only hope. That's my only hope. Because I want to be able to go to her concerts in the future. All right. All right, folks. Back to that Rolamark unfiltered video in just one moment. All right.

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Now back to your Roland Martin Unproven Fini. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man.

We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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

Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.