#RolandMartinUnfiltered - LA Police Kill Unarmed Black Man, TSU Band Wins Grammy, Mass Shooting In The US, GA Micro-Community

Episode Date: February 15, 2023

2.14.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: LA Police Kill Unarmed Black Man, TSU Band Wins Grammy, Mass Shooting In The US, GA Micro-Community Today we will discuss a new proposed Bill out of Indiana that would stop citizens from observing law enforcement interactions within 25 feet. We will break down what this Bill means, how it will impact citizens, and what this means if it passes the State House. An unarmed Louisiana man was shot and killed by police officers after a neighbor made a loud music complaint. We will speak with the family's attorney, explaining what happened the night and how the family is fighting for justice. There have been over 70 mass shootings in 2023 after the recent shooting at Michigan State University. We will discuss this recent phenomenon and why the rate of mass shootings is rising. In our Marketplace segment, one man's solution to make homeownership a reality for people in Atlanta after building the nation's first Black-owned micro-home community. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. 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. 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. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today is Tuesday, February 14, 2023. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network, a new bill in Indiana, if passed, would prevent people from actually recording law enforcement within 25 feet.

We'll break down this bill and what it means for citizens. Also, an unarmed Louisiana man was shot and killed by police officers after a neighbor made a loud music complaint. We will speak with the family's attorney about this story. Also, there have been more than 70 mass shootings in 2023 already. The latest at Michigan State University where eight people were shot, three actually have died. The gunman killed himself. Also, in our Marketplace segment, one-man solution to making home ownership reality for people in Atlanta

where he's building the nation's first black-owned micro-home community. Also, we'll tell you what is next for the president of Prairie View A&M University, Dr. Ruth Simmons, and also how the alumni there have responded to her decision to step down at the end of the month. Folks, it's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. The news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling Yeah, yeah It's Uncle Roro, yo Yeah, yeah

It's Roland Martin Yeah, yeah Rolling with Roland now Yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's fresh, he's real, the best you know, he's Roland Martel. Now! Martel! Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. Alright folks, a loud music complaint leads to the death of

an unarmed black man in Louisiana. Alonzo Bagley was shot in the chest on February 3rd by Shreveport police officer Alexander Tyler after responding to an alleged domestic disturbance call. Now, the family is suing for more than $10 million for wrongful death and violating Bagley's Fourth Amendment rights. The family is waiting for the release of the body cam footage to show exactly what happened. Joining us now is Ron Haley. He is the attorney for the Bagley family.

Ron, welcome to Roller Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, do we have Ron? All right, so OK, so having some connection issues, so we'll actually come back to Ron on that particular story there, folks. Let me start with this. We told you last week the president of Prairie View A&M University, Dr. Ruth Simmons, she actually announced that she was stepping down from her post because she felt that she was not being allowed to make all decisions as president of the university from the Texas A&M system. Well, today, Rice University announced that beginning in April, Dr. Simmons will be coming aboard as a fellow of the university. This is give me one second. I'm going to go and pull this up, folks, so you can check it out. And remember when we talked about her particular letter,

she was very specific in how critical she was of this decision by the folks with the Texas A&M University system. And I'm going to show that statement again, so control room, be sure to get that up because there was something that I thought was really valuable, was really valuable about what she did and what she set up there. Because one of the things that she really called on for the alumni to become more aggressive and demanding change of, again, the A&M University system. This here is the statement that was sent out today by Rice University announcing her decision from the office of the president. And it says, I'm pleased to announce that Ruth Simmons, the president of Prairie View University,

also president emerita of both Brown University and Smith College, has agreed to join Rice University starting April 1st as the president's distinguished fellow. President Simmons will work with a variety of programs across campus and will advise the president's office on various matters. She, again, is one of the nation's leading educators, and Rice University, located there in Houston, certainly is happy to have her. Now, when we talk about, again, her leaving, the president of Prairie View A&M University, excuse me, Prairie View A&M Law

Association, they were not happy at all with the decision that she would be leaving. They were really, frankly, upset with the A&M system. In fact, last night, they had a meeting of the Alumni Association where they actually talked about that. This was actually the statement that went out from Mark Falls, who is the president of the Alumni Association. He said, while it appears her early departure may have been triggered by a dispute regarding the scope of President Simmons's power and authority during her final months in office, this is not the issue that matters most to alumni and students. We care about the treatment of our president, as well as about whatever actions taken by the Texas A&M Chancellor and Board of Regents serve the best interests of our university, faculty, and student body.

One of the things that they also stated is that in the history of the Texas A&M University Board of Regents, there's never been a Preview A&M graduate who has sat on that Board of Regents. This is, again, what the statement also said, we remain hopeful that the rumors are unfounded. The Chancellor and Board of Regents understand why these types of programs offerings are important for students enrolled in a historically black land grant university founded on the grounds of a foreign plantation. Now, remember, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, he's also talked about getting rid of DEI programs. And so this is one of the things that you're seeing there as well. And they have made it clear the alumni says they want to meet with the board of regents and want to meet with Chancellor John Sharp and also meet with Texas Governor Greg Abbott to actually discuss these issues.

My panel is Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA, Randy Bryant, diversity and inclusion strategist, speaker and trainer, Dr. Larry Walker, assistant professor at University of Central Florida. And I'm going to come back after the break and we're going to talk to them about this here. And I'm going to read for you again what was in that statement, because, again, if you read it, this was a very well-crafted letter. And Dr. Simmons is calling on these black graduates of Prairie View A&M to stand up and fight for the university and not be treated as if this is the antebellum South. And as if there's somehow second class to the Texas A&M University system.

And so we're going to do that when we come back. This is, again, a critically important issue. When you talk about an historically black university, right now where you're having these schools that are under attack by Republican governors across this country, and so when you have a Ron DeSantis doing what he's doing in Florida, what is the impact on a Florida A&M? You're talking about Texas and getting rid of DEI programs. Well, and also trying to stop the teaching of black history to African American

studies program. How does that impact HBCU, state HBCUs like Prairie View A&M University and Texas Southern University? So we'll talk about that next right here. Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Next on Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. Listen to this. Women of color are starting 90% of the businesses in this country. That's the good news. The bad news?

As a rule, we're not making nearly as much as everyone else. But joining us on the next Get Wealthy episode is Betty Hines. She's a business strategist, and she's showing women how to elevate other women. I don't like to say this openly but we're getting better at it. Women struggle with collaborating with each other. And for that reason one of the things that I demonstrate in the sessions that I have is that you can go further together if you collaborate.

That's right here on get wealthy only on black star network. on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. An hour of living history with Dr. Richard Mariba Kelsey, thinker, builder, author, and one of the most important and impactful elders in the African-American community. He reflects on his full and rich life and shares his incomparable wisdom

about our past, present, and future. African genius is saying that my uncle was a genius, my brother was a genius, my neighbor was a genius. I think we ought to drill that in ourselves and move ahead rather than believing that I got it. That's next on The Black Table, here on the Black Star Network. Yo, it's your man Deon Cole from Black-ish, and you're watching... Roland Martin, unfiltered. Stay woke. Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. All right, folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered. This was the resignation letter we talked about last week of Dr. Ruth Simmons at Prairie View Animal University. Come on, folks, let's pull it up. So you see what she laid out in terms of where she said she accounted on working assiduously to ensure the success of my succession by completing in

full and as able as I can my responsibilities as president. However, I was informed recently that I could only continue as president with limited presidential authority. My immediate response was that I could not and would not agree to being president in name only. Keep going, please. And then, of course, now, again, folks, y'all still haven't corrected this graphic, folks. She said, no enduring

good can arrive from the subservience to low standards. But I want you to go to the next page, please, because this is the most important thing, where she says that, where she says, point blank, I will continue to speak out for high standards and just decisions on behalf of the university and other HBCUs. I will support the efforts of faculty, staff, and students who seek the best for themselves and the university.

This is the key. We must not be held hostage. Pull it back up, folks. Okay, again, we must not be held hostage. This is a key period here where she says, again, it's the last paragraph. Go to it, please. We must not be held hostage to how others choose to see us or treat us, but instead continue to chart our own path, demonstrating the pride, commitment and integrity that defines us. Randy, I want to start with you. Simmons talking specifically to African-Americans saying we must be looking out for the best interests of black folks being a part of a university system that is led largely by white folks? Right. You know, enrollment at HBCUs has significantly risen in the last eight years. I mean, it's been a steady increase, but if Donald Trump did nothing else, he made people want to seek HBCUs. And the increase has not

only been with Black students, it's also been with non-Black students. About 20 percent of people attending HBCUs now, the increase is with non-Black students. So, of course, we're seeing even in Congress that they're bringing this issue up because it's an issue for others when we are now growing. And I believe what we're seeing right now is an attack on our HBCUs and those who lead them to lose any sort of power and to be taken over. Go ahead. Mustafa, what you see here, again, when you look at this particular letter, when you look at how she crafted the letter, Dr. Simmons is really calling on PV alumni and students to say, this is your school. And as we're now dealing with these

attacks by Republicans against diversity efforts, this is really her also saying we can't allow these folks to diminish African-Americans, to diminish African-American studies, to diminish black history in their quest to appeal to white conservative voters? Yeah, you know, it really is about making sure that we are owning and honoring our power in this moment, especially in relationships to our HBCUs. My dad used to have a quote. He used to say, don't you love me, but show me you love me. And through that showing me that you love me in relationship to HBCUs. It is about understanding these dynamics that are going on, that if we are not fully engaged, if we take one step backwards, that folks will continue to erode our institutions, the leadership at our institutions.

And we see it. It's very reminiscent of an apartheid-esque sort of set of actions that are going on across the country, whether they're in Florida and Texas or a couple of other states, where they continue to try and weaken our education and take power away from folks. So this is a moment for us to own our own and to make sure that we are supporting, but we are also pushing back against these injustices that these governments are moving forward on. And what this also is, Randy, this is a call to arms, if you will. Yes. Because if folks do not respond righteously, then, frankly, these leaders in Texas, these Republicans in Texas, these white Republicans in Texas are going to have the view we can do

whatever we want to do. Absolutely. This is a call to everybody, whether you attended an HBCU or not, you must value what HBCUs have been for our community. And it is a call for all of us to respond and protect our institutions because they are at attack. They absolutely are. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future

where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th.

Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real.

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals.

Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position, pregame to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. So again, we're seeing what is happening. And so again, Dr. Simmons, her last day was going to be February 28th at Prairie View, and she starts April 1st again there at Rice University. All right, let's go to our lead story. We were telling you about

the story out of Louisiana where a black man, okay, we're still in connection issues with him? All right, so fine. Let me know, folks, when we actually have our guest on that particular story so we know, so we can have the audio of that. Folks, some breaking news from the Department of Justice. Four Florida men have been arrested in a plot to kill the Haitian president. But the grand jury also has returned an indictment against 11 people. This came down just about 30 minutes ago from the Department of Justice. And let me go ahead and see if I can pull this up for you. This is an email from the DOJ saying that this morning, U.S. federal law enforcement arrested two U.S. citizens. You should have it right now. Pull it up, please.

Go to my iPad. They arrested two U.S. citizens and a legal permanent resident living in South Florida and one U.S. citizen living in Tampa with regards to their participation in the July 7, 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise of Haiti. Following the arrest, a South Florida the U.S. permanent resident of Miami, also a Venezuelan American, and a former U.S. president. The court is now in the process of finding out who was the person who was the person who was the person who

was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who

was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the person who was the are Arcangelo, Patel Ortiz, a Colombian national and a U.S. permanent resident of Miami, also a Venezuelan American, and then also two of the individuals

that made their initial federal court appearances today at 2 p.m. This is a statement from Attorney General Merrick Garland. Today, individuals who we allege participated in the planning, financing, and orchestration of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise will face justice in an American courtroom. The court documents until today outlined an alleged plan by the defendants,

some of whom were operating within the United States, to remove President Moise from office by either killing or kidnapping him in order to replace him with a candidate who would serve their political goals and financial interests. The Justice Department will not tolerate individuals plotting violent attacks from U.S. soil and undermine the role of law abroad. That is, Mustafa is a huge deal there. Of course, remember what took place when he was assassinated, where all of his guards, nobody, he was the only person, him and his wife were the only people who were injured. He was killed. His wife was also injured. But all the people who were protecting him, nobody else was injured.

It was clearly there was an inside job going on there. And these indictments indicate that. As they often say, the fix is in. When you take a look at how this has actually played out, you know, there on the ground in Haiti, you know, it makes you remember the destabilization that has been a part of governments and others in trying to, you know, manipulate what goes on in Haiti. And it's interesting also that we're getting these facts, but you got to really peel back the layers of the onion, if you will, because that have this type of thing go on, take significant resources and coordination at a number of different levels. So it'll be interesting to see, you know, who

actually additionally played a role or the finances that they invested into this to, you know, take the life of the president? Randy, this is what the D.O.J. says here. According to court documents from at least February 2021 to July 2021, South Florida served as a central location for planning and financing the plot to oust President Moise from power and replacing him with someone who would serve the co-conspirators' political goals and financial interests. It says here, these individuals, Ortiz and Triago, principals of Counterterrorist Unit Federal Academy and Counterterrorist Unit Security, another gentleman with Worldwide Capital Lending Group, both South Florida companies. According to charging documents, Bergman, who lived in Tampa, had ties to Sinan, a dual Haitian-American citizen who held political aspirations in Haiti. I mean, this is just stunning, this brazen attack that took place that was plotted, planned and plotted here in the United States,

and then carried out there in Haiti, where he was heavily guarded, heavily guarded at his home. Right. I mean, I remember when it happened, and it was very clear that it had to be an inside job, the fact that, you know, they were killed and nobody else was injured, just as you said. But if people look at the history between Haiti and the United States, while it is shocking what happened to them, it's not actually surprising. I mean, we've always had this interesting, tense relationship with Haiti. And Haiti has been a small country that has fought for freedom in a way that I don't

know if any other country has done. They are willing to go down. I mean, they hosted the first slave revolt. So this spirit has really upset a lot of people with strong ties. So we think that Haiti is nothing and it's not important and we shouldn't worry about it. But those who are aware of the history and the strength of the tenacity of Haitians do worry about it. And they recognize that they are in a better position if they control that government. And speaking of control, the DOJ says that Sanan was going to replace Moise. And in exchange, once Sanan became president, he would award lucrative contracts to CTU for infrastructure projects in Haiti, the provision of security forces, and the provision of military-type equipment to a Sinan-led Haitian government,

according to the allegations, in that Von Tamila and his company Worldwide agreed to help finance the coup d'etat, extending a $175,000 line of credit to CTU and sending money to co-conspirators in Haiti to purchase ammunition. And so the DOJ lays out just in detail exactly how this coup was planned. And so, again, four individuals today arrested in South Florida for their participation in the assassination of President Moise in July of 2021. And a federal grand jury has returned 11 indictments against 11 individuals for their role in this assassination. And so we'll have more details as they become available. All right, got to go to break.

We come back. We'll talk about this case out of Louisiana. A black man shot and shot and killed because of a complaint about music. That's next. If you watch it on YouTube, hit the like button. Same with Facebook. Same with watching the Black Star Network app. Be sure to download our app on Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku,

Amazon Fire TV. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back.

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

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up.

See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org.

Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Fox 1, Samsung Smart TV. We'll be right back. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, you're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting, you get it, and you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause

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20037-0196. The Cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. Go on that soil. You will not be like us. White people are losing their damn lives.

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

at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women.

This is White Beat. This is Judge Matthews. What's going on, everybody? It's your boy, Mack Wiles, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. We'll be right back. Top of the show, we're telling you about the story out of Louisiana. Alonzo Bagley shot and killed by police officers after a call was made about a disturbance based upon loud music. Ron Haley is the family attorney. They're suing now for $10 million. Ron, glad to have you here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. So explain the circumstance.

Alonzo at his home. It was an apartment. Was it a house? And then a call is made complaining about loud music. Hey, thank you for having me again, Roland. Yes, that's what happened. There was a domestic complaint for noise. It's a very small apartment complex in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Officer Alexander Tyler was one of the responding officers from the Shreveport Police Department. Once Officer Tyler arrived, he tried to gain entrance into the apartment complex. Mr. Bagley's wife allowed him to come in. Mr. Bagley did not want him to come in. Mr. Bagley did not want him to come in. There was a short verbal encounter between Mr. Bagley and Officer Tyler. At that point, my client turned around, went to the bedroom. From that standpoint, he jumped from the second floor of his bedroom and went hid under the stairwell in a nearby apartment building. Both officers gave pursuit and my client went to give himself up. My client stepped from under the stairwell, both hands in the air, and Officer

Tyler shot him one time in the chest, center mass. Biochem footage has not been released. It's not been released. We anticipate that release hopefully this week. When you say your client, he had his hands up. Is that based upon witness testimony? That's based upon witness testimony and information we've gathered from those who've seen the body cam footage. And so has the department offered any explanation? Is his officer, is he on administrative leave? Is he still working the streets? He's on administrative leave at this point in time. Louisiana State Police has now taken over the investigation. And I know that probably gives an ire to a lot of people out there, given the problems Louisiana has had with the Louisiana State Police. However, Colonel Davis,

who is now the superintendent of the state police, said that this is a new ballgame, that things will be handled differently. And so we have to take him at his word. This is an opportunity to show that things are now different within state police. This could be the first right step and many steps that need to be had to create trust between black and brown people, really all citizens of the state of Louisiana and the Louisiana state police. Has the police department released a police report? Did this officer say that your client was brandishing a weapon? What was the rationale given

for firing a fatal shot to his chest? They have not released a police report, but what I can say, Roland, is that in the Louisiana State Police press conference, they were very emphatic in saying that Mr. Bagley was unarmed. Wow. So, yeah, I mean, that body cam footage. Now, how many officers were on the scene?

So how many different body cam footage is there? Was it only this particular officer, the one who fired the shot, or the other officers who also were nearby? There are two officers on the scene. Wow. So again, officer comes to his apartment. Your client jumps out of a window to hide under a stairwell. This was all about a noise complaint? Yes, but it's important for the country to know that my client has had prior history with the Shreveport Police Department. He has successfully sued them for an excessive force case, a case that was brought forth in 2018 that he recently settled in 2021. I don't believe this

is necessary retaliation, however, because this officer was not on the force at the time. However, this definitely plays into my client's mindset as to he wants to flee from the police when he has an encounter. And, you know, the conversation that needs to be had is that when you have other bad encounters with the police, it causes the next encounter not to be that good. It causes a different reaction for somebody who does not have history with the police.

And this is at the... This is right on the doorsteps of the Tyree Nichols video coming out. Two and a half, two weeks later, after Tyree Nichols, we have an unarmed black man killed by law enforcement in Louisiana. Wow. That is certainly, again, shocking and stunning. And so you've already filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family against the city. We have. We named the officer individually. Listen, we plan to be aggressive with this litigation and not leave any stone unturned.

With the information that we had at the time, we felt extremely confident in moving forward against that officer. Once the state police reports are released, hopefully by this week, we definitely will add the city of Shreveport, the Shreveport Police Department, to that lawsuit for the vicarious liability on behalf of their officer, Alexander Tyler. Wow. Ron Haley, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. Talk to you soon. I'm going to bring in my panel here, Mustafa, Randy, and Larry Walker. Larry, I'll start with you. I mean, my goodness. Again, a noise complaint leads to the fatal shooting of another black man at the hands of police. Roland, these stories are not even weekly.

They're daily. And, you know, as you know, in terms of what we just heard in the last few minutes, this is reckless behavior. And black people can't listen to music. We can't sit and birdwatch. We can't sit on our couch. We certainly can't drive cars. And we're continuously the victims of this kind of violence. And it's tiring. And it also, in terms of anxiety that it gives members of the Black community after these continuous murders. But once again, this is another reckless act and needless killing of a Black man. And Rowan, we're on your show all the time talking about police reform. And it's repetitive violence, but there are no outcomes.

And we certainly know with Republicans holding the House that we're certainly not getting any police reform this year. And this is why when you talk about voting, voting is so important, because we need comprehensive police reform to ensure that Black families don't have to consistently file lawsuits, bury their family members, and then grieve for the rest of their lives. It is, again, it's just one of those things that we got to keep covering, Mustafa. Keep giving attention to. We had Samuel Sengawi on earlier this year talking about how last year was the deadliest on record, police killing folks. And again, how do you go from arriving at the scene of a basic noise complaint, a minor misdemeanor to a fatal shooting?

I think you arrived there because we're seen as sacrificable people. And when folks have that mentality, it plays out in very deadly ways for our community. Last year, I think it was 1,183 people were killed by police. 25% of those were African-American brothers and sisters. And out of that is a communal trauma. So when you see folks running from police, there is a reason for that. And it is because, as was shared earlier, that we continue to be brutalized inside of our own community. So, of course, people are not just going to stay around and wait, and especially if you've already had a case against them. So you know that there are some folks who are watching you. There are some folks who may want to do you additional harm. So that's where the communal

trauma comes into the equation. So as long as we are seeing a sacrificable people, we have to continually fight and push against the system to make sure that the reforms are in there and that these individuals are hold accountable. As was shared, the man allegedly had his hands up. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st,

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

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We gotta set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game.

We gotta make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Someone could still shoot you in the chest and not have to, you know, worry about what the repercussions are going to be. So there's a reason for that communal trauma. And once again, it's

because we are living in these killing fields and we are seen as sacrificeable people. Randy. What's upsetting are a couple of things, and this is why there is no change. One, there is no empathy. I know that we're going to see a lot of things, and this is why there is no change. One, there is no empathy. I know that we're going to see a lot of comments of people saying, why did he run? Why did he run? That question is always asked. And it's if people, the cognitive dissonance, the decision to not try to understand Black people's plight in this country, where we see police as a threat

and not as a help. That's what needs to be understood. So just because someone runs does not mean that they are dangerous. And certainly on no occasion does that mean that they should be murdered, because that's what it is. Secondly, I'm really annoyed with people, the police policing themselves. Unfortunately, but very, I believe, rightfully, I don't trust the Shreveport police to come back with a report that reflects that they have really looked at the case fairly. And that's the problem, that the police keeps getting to police themselves. And also, just lastly, if you look at, I love going to the website Police Scorecard, and they look at how police have performed over the years. And you will see what's really interesting is that Shreveport, a lot of the characteristics they look at to review these

police departments, they have N.A. because they're not reporting how many people have complaints against the police department for falsely being arrested. But you will see that their record for how they treat people that they think are suspected of committing a crime is not stellar. And it does not matter if the crime is violent or not. So the whole department, it seems to me, needs to be reviewed, not just from this horrific incident, but all the way through and held accountable. All right. Hold tight one second. We'll be back

on Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Be sure to support us at what we do by joining our Brena Funk fan club. Your dollars make it possible to travel around this country, covering the stores that matter, checks and money orders. Go to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash app, Donaldson, RM Unfiltered. Pay pedals are Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. We'll be right back.

Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punch. A real revolutionary right now. Thank you for being the voice of black America. 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 scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Most people think that these television shows that tell stories about who we are as black men, and then they paint these monolithic portraits of us. They think that they're being painted by white people.

And I got to tell you, there are a whole bunch of black folk that are the creators, the head writers, the directors of all of these shows, and that are still painting us as monoliths. So people don't really want to have this conversation. No, they don't. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. An hour of living history with Dr. Richard Mariba Kelsey, thinker, builder, author, and one of the most important and impactful elders in the African-American community.

He reflects on his full and rich life and shares his incomparable wisdom about our past, present, and future. African genius is saying that my uncle was a genius, my brother was a genius, my neighbor was a genius. I think we ought to drill that in ourselves and move ahead rather than believing that I got it. That's next on The Black Table,

here on the Black Star Network. All right, folks, we told you how the state legislatures across the country are trying to keep citizens from recording police interactions with residents in Indiana. The state representative Wendy McNamara has authored a bill that would make it a crime for a person to come within 25 feet of a police officer performing duties if the person is told by the officer to stop and move away, they can be charged with a Class C misdemeanor. Now, over the past several years, these videos have certainly played a huge role in convicting cops. McNamara believes the bill would prevent chaos at crime scenes and protect officers. Quote, if there's something that we can do to prevent that escalation, preventing the officer from being touched by someone who's not even involved in the situation.

I hope this bill is the one to do it. Indiana already has laws preventing civilians from interfering with law enforcement, and the ACLU believes this bill is not a solution to lowering crime and will stop police accountability. Last week, it passed unanimously out of the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee. Now it's going to be for a vote in the full house. The thing here, Mustafa, is we recognize what's going on. It's not like you have a rash of incidents where people are interfering with cops. In fact, in nearly all cases, they don't. This is about not wanting these cops to be held accountable, period.

That's exactly what it's about. You know, you've got these racist individuals who are in political positions who understand the dynamics that are going out there. So one side, they want the money from police unions and others. So they create, you know, these archaic types of laws and bringing them forward into the 21st century. You know, the other part of it is that they don't want true accountability when it comes to our communities. Now, if it's reversed, then of course they want their just due and their rights to be protected. But when it comes to black and brown communities, they have no interest whatsoever. Hopefully there will be a huge outcry against these types of things to hold people accountable and to get

better people running for office to replace these individuals who have no, you know, no right holding these public offices. Well, Bob Lani, as I doubt that's the case, unfortunately, Larry, we see these things happening over and over and over again, where these Republicans, these legislators, they'll do whatever to protect cops and not citizens. We need to call this what this is. These are anti-black policies. And obviously this is not new. This has been happening for generations.

Another thing I want to highlight, we talk about elections on your show a lot, Roland. And so what's really important here is to remember the importance of state and local elections. And this is an example of that. So we need to make sure that this representative gets voted out the next time she's up for reelection. And this is, once again, an example of folks not seeing black people and the challenges, particularly when it comes to our interactions with law enforcement. They don't see our humanity. And so when you understand that, you understand you can't have a conversation, negotiate with these people. You have to hold them responsible by voting them out. It is not enough to shame them, you know, supporting this, sponsoring this legislation. We need to get rid of these folks.

These anti-Black policies, particularly since the Trump administration, have accelerated. And we're kind of in the back of a period of where it's like the new Jim Crow. So we need to make sure, once again, we hold these folks responsible, understand their anti-Black policies, and make these legislators understand that we won't allow these kind of bills to pass. And Randy, it boils down to they hate accountability. You would think these people would actually want more accountability. They really don't. Not if you're doing wrong, you don't want accountability. And what they're up against is Black people's ingenuity and tenacity.

We have always found a way. So if traditional laws don't protect us, we will find a way to protect ourselves. And videotaping has been a powerful tool for us recently. So, of course, of course, they want to disarm us from that tool, from using that tool. Of course, it's not really surprising. Indeed, indeed. All right, folks, let's talk about this. This is out of Tennessee. A former Memphis police officer is facing up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to violating the civil rights of a man in his custody,

Armando Bustamante admitted to hitting a man he arrested in January 2021 in the head with his service weapon and his hands without legal justification. Bustamante pled guilty to one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law. His sentencing is scheduled for June. This is another victory, Randy, for the Department of Justice, this decision that actually came down today. Great decision. Happy to see it. I will say, not to be a skeptic, it's always interesting to me the people that they choose to hold accountable. Let me just say, the people that there's, if they have to make an example and say, yes, we do hold our police force

accountable, the people that they choose to do so is very interesting to me. I just think we should pay attention to that. Well, look, but the reality is this here, Larry, the Department of Justice under Kristen Clark, I mean, they've sent a lot of white corrections officers and wardens to prison as well. They are going after cops, and we have seen them get convictions, black cops, white cops, Latino cops. And so we finally have a real civil rights division under the Department of Justice led by Kristen Clark. Progressive division making things happen. You're right, Kristen Clark.

Obviously, we saw that she was nominated and confirmed. Many of us in the black community were excited because we know about her history in terms of work on these kind of civil rights issues. And you're right, DOJ is holding police officers, corrections officers, et cetera. They're holding them responsible.

You've got to hold these people accountable. Because these incidents we talk about on your show, Roland, they happen every day. And they've happened for generations in the black community. And it's good to see them take the necessary steps to ensure that American public

know that the DOJ has the back of the black community and won't allow these incidents to continue to happen. You have to hold people accountable and put them in jail. Mustafa, I have no idea why in the hell this White House is not making more noise about how aggressive the DOJ has been holding police and holding corrections people accountable.

I mean, we cover this stuff constantly. These other media outlets, they don't, including black media outlets. But I mean, it seems like every week this is happening. I don't know what the hell the communications people in the Biden White House are doing. I don't know either. Maybe it's being driven by, you know, those folks who do some of the polling and they find that this particular issue, especially when it is making sure that black and brown haven't pulled their act together and figuring out ways to really, you know, move this issue forward for the country to see that justice is happening and justice is supposed to happen for everyone who's inside of this country. But again, there are wins. And so you should always be touting your wins, especially in an area where you're weak with black voters, your most important two constituencies, black women and black men. Folks in the Alabama family, they're suing the Walker County Sheriff's Office, claiming their loved one froze to death while in police custody.

Anthony Tony Mitchell died in custody on January 27. The lawsuit claims multiple jail officials, including Sheriff Nick Smith, deprived Mitchell of his constitutional rights by leaving him in a restraint chair and placing him in the jail's walk- his two-week stint in the jail. Internal surveillance shows what appears to be Mitchell limp with his head and feet, dangling as uniformed personnel being carried into the loading area of the Walker County Jail. Now, the video contradicts an earlier statement from the Walker County Sheriff's Office claiming Mitchell was alert and conscious when he left the jail for transport to a local hospital. What? I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

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

it makes it real it really does it makes it real listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season 2 on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts

or wherever you get your podcasts and to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. The hell, Randy? A walk-in freezer?

I don't know what to say when you see people act as if they have no respect for humanity. And it's something I talk about all the time when I'm talking about DEI. When you act a certain way towards one group, I promise you it bleeds. I promise you it bleeds. And that's why it matters to everyone the way that one group is being treated, because this is not new. I mean, we hear people dying in jails and prisons all of the time from poor care because they're not even seen as humans by some people. So it's heartbreaking, but it's not something that is new. I just, I mean, talk about absolutely barbaric, Mustafa, a walk-in freezer. That's where you place folks. I hope every single person involved here

is indicted and convicted and sent to prison themselves. You know, power corrupts. You have these sheriffs in certain areas across our country that have huge amounts of power. And with that power comes the ability to tell the truth or to lie. And we talked about on this show before, you know, the huge amount of police officers who give, you know, these statements that are not truthful, in some instances are just straight out lies and things that have been changed. So when you follow this case, I actually talked to one of my uncles who's in law enforcement, and he reminded me that, you know, there are a number of law enforcement agencies across our country that need complete reform, that need to make sure that you're getting rid

of these individuals who continue to do these barbaric and brutality types of sets of actions across our country. So we've got to make some really tough decisions about making sure that we are truly changing, you know, how enforcement operates, where they are, what the accountability is and what the oversight is. And if we're not willing to do that, as was shared earlier, this brutality will happen in all kinds of communities, you know, working class white communities, lower wealth communities, along with black and brown and indigenous communities. And this is why you've got to have real prosecution. Unfortunately, Larry, too many district attorneys and attorney generals

don't want to do it in their cities in the state, so therefore it's left up to the feds. Yeah, and this is, you used the right term in terms of barbaric. The other thing to keep in mind is you can't reform this. Anyone involved in this murder, those individuals should be prosecuted and sent to jail. And you talked about this relationship between the district attorneys and police officers, the cozy relationship. You have to have checks and balances, because if you let this go, something like this will happen again. And I wouldn't be surprised if something similar has already happened and it was covered up in some other cases. But you have to hold these people responsible or once again, citizens will

become victims of this kind of brutality. Indeed. All right, folks, coming up next, we'll talk about the city of Baltimore voting tomorrow on a contract that could very well be taken from a black-owned company in favor of a mainstream business. What's going on in Baltimore? We'll talk with the president of the Baltimore City Council next. Also, Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina, now that she's running for president, why is she dissing woke when she wants to talk about Mother Emanuel and bringing down the Confederate flag? We're going to show you how she used to feel about that Confederate flag. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Next on Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. Listen to this. Women of color are starting 90% of the businesses in this country. That's the good news. The bad news? As a rule, we're not making nearly as much as everyone else. But joining us on the next Get Wealthy episode is Betty Hines. She's a business strategist, and she's showing women how to elevate other women. I don't like to say this openly, but we're getting better at it.

Women struggle with collaborating with each other. And for that reason, one of the things that I demonstrate in the sessions that I have is that you can go further together if you collaborate. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, a relationship that we have to have. We're often afraid of it and don't like to talk about it. That's right. We're talking about our relationship with money. And here's the thing. Our relationship with money oftentimes determines whether we have it or not.

The truth is you cannot change what you will not acknowledge. Balancing your relationship with your pocketbook. That's next on A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives, and we're going to talk about it every day

right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on The Black Star Network. Hi, I'm Gavin Houston. Hi, I'm Carl Payne. Hey, what's up, y'all? This is your boy, Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now. All right, folks, lots of drama in Baltimore over a contract dealing with the city's conduit system. The mayor of Baltimore announced that BG&E, of course, will be getting this particular contract.

The mayor, of course, is Brandon Scott. Now, the problem is it's been a black-owned company that has been involved in fixing this problem that took place in Baltimore. Now, go to my iPad, please. It says here BG&E will have broad control over the city's underground conduit system, which houses 700 miles of utility cables. In November, voters passed a charter amendment that bars the city from selling the system, which the mayor said is not happening. But again, what is happening here is folks are really upset with this decision by the mayor to award to BG&E saying it hurts a black-owned company that, again, that came into Baltimore six years ago, fixed the system, and they hired a bunch of people,

and now they're going to be screwed and losing money out to this mainstream gas electric company. Nick Mosby is the president. He's on the board of city council there. He's the president of the Baltimore City Council. He joins us right now. Nick, glad to have you here. So what the heck is going on here? I mean, you would think black mayor

would be supportive of black business interest. And what you have here is the decision to give it to Baltimore Gas and Electric versus this black owned company. Has the mayor's made this decision, but does this council vote on it? And will the vote take place tomorrow? So, no. In Baltimore, for a deal like this, the board of estimates, it's a fivemember panel comprised of the mayor, two of his appointees, myself, and the comptroller. So the mayor pretty much has supermajority over that Board of Estimates vote. What folks have asked for is just for us to take a step back to really slow down

this process and see from an internal perspective what's going to be beneficial not only to the current taxpayers of the city of Baltimore, but for future generations. This is a precious city-owned asset that private industry has frankly tried to purchase for quite some time now. And we're just asking the mayor to take a step back, evaluate this, and really develop a model and projections that show us what puts the city in the best foot forth in the future. So how much, first of all, how much is the contract on an annual basis? So right now it's roughly about $28 million. It's going to go up to about $34 million per year under this new agreement.

But see, it's really about the way that it's being handled. So right now, private institutions, corporations pay the city to utilize the conduit system under our grounds. In this new agreement that the mayor tried to do, and we found out through the media that they were going down this path of putting this forward, that company is going to be allowed to keep their money and they do the capital improvements on the conduit underground system. So ultimately, they have full control and oversight over what happens. Now, the voters, as you stated earlier, went out and overwhelmingly, close to 77 percent, voted that they did not want us to sell our underground conduit system. And this is really one step closer to doing that.

It's kind of like you, Roland, you're renting a house from me. I'm the owner of the house. You're paying me rent every single month, say $3,000 a month. And then you come to me and say, well, hey, I just want to keep the $3,000 and I'm going to decide how to fix up the house the way I see fit. But hey, you still own it. So it's ownership and only name in this deal that the mayor is trying to strike with this private corporation. Now, was there a black owned company that actually has been doing the work? And my understanding they've been receiving high marks? Yeah, so under a previous administration, similar deals were proposed. And the mayor at the time, Stephanie Rollins-Blake, she really pushed back aggressively. And they struck a settlement. And that settlement is the amount that we're getting from the private corporations today.

But the city was real smart at the time. They went out and they got efficient, competent, a team of experts to really work on the network in a way that wasn't happening before that settlement. And in the past six years, there hasn't been any major issues, any complaints, any concerns. And that's part of the reason of why folks are trying to figure out what is the current rush. Like, what's the motivation to do this in the dark? And then once it comes to light, to just try to get it approved as quickly as possible without us really vetting this and ensuring that we're just not selling off. I mean, one thing where everyone knows when they fly into Baltimore, they fly to Baltimore, Washington International, Thurgood Marshall Airport.

There was a time when Baltimore City owned that airport. And when you look at some of our systemic issues that plagued our city for far too long today, the disproportionate amount of disinvestment in certain communities, particularly black communities, we understand and know that if we still own that airport, the revenue stream that that would present to us providing city services and staying on top of some of the deferred maintenance throughout our city. So this is why this decision right now is so important, not for me, not even for my children, but potentially for my children's children. Okay. I've covered city hall, I've covered county government. And so here's what I'm trying to

understand. If there's a company that is actually handling something, handling a project, and it's been going well, and they have done an efficient job and gotten high marks for it, why would the mayor or the city or the board of estimates switch? I mean, to me, if somebody is doing a good job, you keep you continue with that agency. I mean, that's what is perplexing everyone behind this deal. And the key is, if you make that decision, you know, what are you making up the basis of? You know, what projections, what concerns, what issues are you bringing to the table? And to date, we haven't seen one or any, by that matter, that kind of fits into this. But again, it's just the motivation. You know, what is the concern? What is the rush? What is the lack of transparency that we see unfold on this particular deal?

I think that is what many residents are concerned about. Frankly, as a city council president, that's what I'm concerned about. That's what many of the council members, that's what the comptroller is concerned about. And we just want the mayor to slow this train down. We've asked for him. We've tried to defer it. They're saying that we can't defer it. We've asked for him to withdraw it. And there's been a lot of debate and we'll continue to have a lot of discussion back and forth.

But I think that this is one of those issues that are just too important for the shaping of our city, for us not to take it serious and for us not to do it in a very open and transparent and accountable way. All right. Baltimore Council President Nick Bosby. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Always. Thank you so much, Roland. All right, folks. Nikki Haley, Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, former governor of South Carolina, threw her name in the hat to run for the public nomination for president. She released this, frankly, strange four-minute video. Y'all got the video? Roland. The socialist left sees an opportunity to rewrite history. China and Russia are on the march. They all think we can be bullied, kicked around. You should know this about me.

I don't put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you're wearing heels. Stop right here. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

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

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

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

Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things.

Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal.

We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things.

Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Stop. Okay, first of all, I don't put up with bullies. You work for Donald Trump. Enough said. Keep playing. Nikki Haley, and I'm running for president.

All right. Y'all the longer version? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're the longer version. Because in the longer version, she talked about, she invoked Mother Emanuel. She talked about woke, all this sort of nonsense, you know,

which is laughable coming from her because, you know, all of the BS that she's been throwing out. And so, and I've been just laughing, laughing at the stuff that she's actually put out because, I mean, let's just be real clear. This is the same person who said she would not run against Trump. Go to my iPad, please. Hit play.

Not white. I was different. So watch the, let me go back to the beginning. Here it is. The railroad tracks divided the town by race. I was the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. Not black, not white. I was different.

But my mom would always say, your job is not to focus on the differences, but the similarities. And my parents reminded me and my siblings every day how blessed we were to live in America. Some look at our past as evidence that America's founding principles are bad. They say the promise of freedom is just made up. Some think our ideas are not just wrong, but racist and evil. Nothing could be further from the truth.

All right. Now, y'all saw, come back to me now. So y'all saw how, again, she slides in the 1619 Project, okay, which all these conservatives got a hard-on about. And so let's listen to more Nikki's nonsense. In China, they commit genocide. In Iran, they murder their own people for challenging the government. And when a woman tells you about watching soldiers throw her baby into a fire, it puts things in perspective.

Even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America. I was born and raised in South Carolina, so I have seen the very best of our country. People here threw out the old, tired political establishment and demanded accountability for their tax dollars. Industry reports called us the beast of the Southeast, which I love. People came by the thousands for fresh starts.

Moms and dads held their heads up high. Children learned that it was always. It's a great day in South Carolina. It's a great day. It's a great day. A great day. A great day in South Carolina. We were strong.

We were proud. And when evil did come... Police in South Carolina are looking for a gunman following a shooting at a church... Several victims. We don't know the severity... We turned away from fear toward God and the values that still make our country the freest and greatest in the world. We must turn in that direction again. Republicans have lost the popular vote. I'm not going to play any more of that crap, OK?

Because first of all, Nikki Haley is pure trash, and she knows it on this issue. This is the same Nikki Haley who a couple years before defended the Confederate flag, defended Confederate monuments. The only reason that flag came down

is because nine black people paid with their lives for it to come down. And the Republicans still did not want to take it down. So ain't no way in hell I'm giving Nikki Haley any credit whatsoever for what took place. But I'm going to do this here. I'm going to go to a break. We come back.

I'm going to show you why Nikki Haley is a liar, how she's a liar. And then I'm going to show you a contradiction, because y'all heard her talk about oh, how dissidents in China are jailed for speaking out. What about that black woman who's an activist in South Carolina

who's in prison for four years because she was protesting? Yeah, Nikki, we got receipts. And I'm going to have them next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Pull up a chair. Take your seat at 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. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. White people are losing their damn minds. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history.

Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr.

An hour of living history with Dr. Richard Mariba Kelsey, thinker, builder, author, and one of the most important and impactful elders in the African-American community. He reflects on his full and rich life and shares his incomparable wisdom about our past, present, and future. African genius is saying that my uncle was a genius, my brother was a genius, my neighbor was a genius. I think we ought to drill that in ourselves and move ahead rather than believing that I got it. That's next on

The Black Table, here on The Black Star Network. This is Judge Matthews. What's going on, everybody? It's your boy, Mack Wiles, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome back. So play again. So I just want you to understand what Nikki Haley is doing right here. This is her attacking those of us who properly have defined America as being founded on racist principles.

It's just a fact. Watch this and listen. So I want you to listen to what she has to say again. And I want to unpack this so you can understand what's going on. Watch this. This is evidence that America's founding principles are bad. They say the promise of freedom is just made up. Some think our ideas are not just wrong, but racist and evil. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Okay, Nikki, let's just be real clear, because when you talk about how people feel, well, we actually got lots of evidence. First of all, ain't nobody black saying we don't understand freedom. In fact, Dr. King talked about how we're going to make America true to what it put on paper. Black folks understand we have been in a constant quest for freedom in this country somehow. As a matter of fact, it was the work of black people that created the opportunities for your immigrant parents to be able to come to this country, Nikki. So you should put some respect on what black people have actually fought for. But it's interesting to listen to Nikki Haley talk about China and Iran, what they're doing.

Remember this case right here, where this black woman who's pregnant, the judge in South Carolina upheld her going to prison for four years because they said that, oh, she was interfering with police. It was a racial justice protest. And Brittany Martin was out there. They said she breached the peace in a high and aggravated manner. Why? Because, oh, what? She was shouting at them.

Is that what it was? That's a game they want to play? See, this is what we're dealing with, folks, here. We're dealing with somebody like a Nikki Haley who makes these sort of statements and these sort of cons. But we know exactly who Nikki Haley is. And we know she stands in support of this liar, Donald Trump. And we also know how she has defended him. And so people like her want to somehow act as if we can ignore what they've said and what they've done.

Nah, but see, we got receipts here. And we're not going to play these games as folks like Nikki Haley. Again, lie and lie and lie. But this is the same person, remember, who made her comments about, oh, Donald Trump has never knowingly lied to me. Girl, we know that man was the biggest liar ever in the Oval Office. We know that. But you defended him. You made excuses for him. In fact, here's Nikki Haley right here. Y'all remember this news conference? In 2024, will you support him? Yes. If he decides that he's going to run, would that preclude any sort of run that you would possibly make yourself? I would not run as President Trump. Nikki Haley. So we already know Nikki Haley is lying. Okay, now watch this, y'all.

Listen to this here. Go back to my iPad. Watch this. Is set to announce her presidential run in mid-February. We need to go in a new direction. And can I be that leader? Yes, I think I can be that leader. I've never lost a race.

I said that then. I still say that now. I'm not going to lose now. But stay tuned. Yeah, we're going to stay tuned, Nikki. We're going to also break down again how you have also, again, lied and how we can't even trust you. But do y'all remember this again, Nikki Haley trying to take credit for bringing the Confederate flag down, Mother Emanuel, when black, who was, they were killed

by a white supremacist. Watch this. The United States have the right to secede from the Union. I think that they do. I mean, the Constitution says that. If it became an issue where the state of South Carolina needed to secede from the union, would you support it? You know, I'm one of those people that doesn't think it's going to get to that point, and let me tell you why. While we are seeing all of this federal intrusion come into our states, the way I will handle it is I'm going to get a coalition of governors together that turns around. Let's take the health care situation, for example.

I'm going to get a coalition of governors that turns around and goes to Washington and says, this is what you can do, and this is what you can't do. We are this many governments. We represent this many people in this many states. Rather than mandating health care on us, this is what we want to do. We want to be able to provide incentives for small businesses to offer health care. We want health care savings account. This is what we need from Washington. We need you to be able to allow us to have insurance companies cross state lines so that we can get insurance from wherever company we need across whatever states we need. I believe that less thought and faith is being lost in Congress. And as that happens, they're going to look at our governors for good conservative policy.

I'm not just going to say no to Washington. I'm going to make sure we have solutions as to how we can keep them out and keep the states in control. When we do that, not only will it be me

as a governor, I think it will be several states' governors that go and take our states back and keep Washington out of the way. So I'm one of those that's an optimist by nature

that doesn't think it's going to get to that because I will fight as hard as I need to to prove why D.C. needs to stay. I'm sorry, y'all. Do y'all know why I find it to be actually hilarious? I love it when Nikki Haley says, I need Washington staying out of the way. Do y'all know how much money from the federal government goes to South Carolina and is responsible for their budget? Nikki, you needed that federal government money in South Carolina for your budget.

Let's stop sitting here playing games, Nikki Haley. And Larry, I want to go to you. This woman is a fraud. She is a fraud. She is a fraud. I am not going to give her any credit for that Confederate flag coming down in South Carolina because the only reason it came down, because nine black people, including a state legislator, was shot and killed in his own church. Yeah, absolutely. And I just remember a black woman physically went up up the pole, took that flag down, right? So, you know, it's interesting. She's about as reliable

as a chameleon in a zoo because she's constantly, first of all, always shifting, you know, from shifting one policy issue she supports that she doesn't support it anymore. But you're right, the point you made about federal funding, I always hear some of these governors and leaders of states talk about succeeding from the United States. But when it comes to those tax dollars, it would be a whole nother conversation. It's just political talk, and it doesn't make any sense. She's never going to get the Republican nomination, and she's not even qualified to be president of the United States. She was handed the U.N. position by the president, even though she had,

former president, even though she had any experience. But she's constantly switching from topic to topic. She talked about 1619 Project, and then at the same time talked about the murders of Mother Emanuel, like they aren't connected. Right.

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

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

And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.

Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't

working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things.

Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. White supremacy. And in fact, she was interviewed by the Sons of the Confederate Veterans. And listen, Randy Mustafa, what she actually said. I feel like it's been resolved to the best of its ability. I mean, I wasn't here when they actually went through and did the negotiations. I understand that it was brutal, but I think that they came up with the best solution we're going to hope for.

You know, what people need to, what I tend to look at as the practical side of the matter is, you know, you had two-thirds, it takes two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate to change that. That's not going to happen. I think right now the Confederate flag, where it is, is where the legislature is comfortable with it. I think that there was a compromise among the state on where it should be. And so it's not something I see as a priority right now. I think right now we need to be focusing on jobs and our economy and our education.

For those groups that come in and say they have issues with the Confederate flag, I will work to talk to them about it. I will work and talk to them about the heritage and how this is not something that is racist, this is something that is a tradition that people feel proud of, and let them know that we want their business in this state and that the flag where it is was a compromise of all people that everybody should accept as part of South Carolina.

Oh, let's go ahead and just stop right there. There's more I want to play, Randy. But this is Nikki Haley saying, if the group's got a problem, I'm explaining to them why they need to stop having a problem with it. But also, we want y'all money to keep coming to the state. And it was a compromise of all people. No, it wasn't.

Black folks didn't want that damn compromise. And Nikki Haley is straight up lying about. And then, well, I got other things I'm focused on. Yeah, you don't give a damn about racism. Randy, go ahead. I just want to go off. You know, Nikki Haley is a person that disgusts me because every now and then she will bring up race and diversity when it supports her every now and then. But her record supporting bigotry and laws that support bigotry is solid. If she can say nothing else for her to say that she feels about all Americans is a joke. Let's just say for the fact that her name is Nimrata Ranjala. Okay?

She has completely wiped out her heritage and only brings it up very slightly when it's convenient. But for most of her life, she really tries for people to forget her heritage. So if she cannot even embrace her Indian heritage, both parents, I don't know why anybody would expect her to embrace who they are. She's a phony. She's a fake.

From her name all the way to everything that comes out of her mouth. And she is a fraud, Mustafa. That's exactly who she is. Well, you know, as you always say, check the receipts. You know, when you go back and look at when she was governor in South Carolina, if she truly cared about poor people, then she would not have vetoed the bills that she did around health care, around education, around she slashed the budget for welfare,

and also for the arts. So there are a number of things, both on the state level, where she failed the folks of South Carolina. And then when you look at what she did on the international level, you know, some of this stuff is just inexcusable. Yes, you were working for the president. And yes, the president at that time had his own ways of looking at things. But you were the voice for the United States on the international scene. So when we pulled out of the Iran deal, when we pulled out of the climate change deal, you were literally, you know, putting a crosshair on people in our country and across the planet. Indeed, indeed. Hold tight one second.

Got to go to a break. We come back. We're going to talk about Tennessee State winning two Grammys last week. We'll be joined by their band director next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. Next on Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. Listen to this. Women of color are starting 90%

of the businesses in this country. That's the good news. The bad news, as a rule, we're not making nearly as much as everyone else. But joining us on the next Get Wealthy episode is Betty Hines. She's a business strategist and she's showing women how to elevate other women.

I don't like to say this openly, but we're getting better at it. Women struggle with collaborating with each other. And for that reason, one of the things that I demonstrate in the sessions that I have is that you can go further together if you collaborate. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, and my new show, Get Wealthy, focuses on the things that your financial advisor and bank isn't telling you, but you absolutely need to know. So watch Get Wealthy on the Black Star Network.

Hi, I'm B.B. Winans. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. What's up? I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Alright, folks. The folks at Tennessee State are still feeling good becoming the first collegiate band to ever win a Grammy. In fact, they won two. The aristocrat of bands, of course, won two Grammys last week, the 65th annual Grammys. And again, they scored two for Best Roots Gospel Album category for the Urban Hymnal

and their feature on J.I. was the poet who say by the door. Joining me now is Dr. Reginald McDonald, director of Tennessee State University Band and Orchestra, as well as Grammy award-winning executive producer of the Urban Hymnal. Also, Professor Larry Jenkins, the assistant director at TSU, as well. Glad to have both of you here. Also, Curtis Oluwumi, the drum major and lead trumpet player on the Urban Hymnal, is there, as well as Isis Rucker, Tennessee State University baritone player. Glad to have all of you here. So I take it you guys are still riding mighty high after what happened last week. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. So it's still kind of surreal in a sense. I don't think it's really set in the accomplishment quite yet because we still have some other things that we are striving to accomplish. And so we just kind of hit the ground running this week and started working on other things. But, you know, it's one of those things that, you know, words couldn't even properly convey how we feel. But we are excited. We are happy. But still surreal. So how did y'all get involved in the project?

So getting involved in the project really started with an artist in residency program with a good friend of mine now, Sir the Baptist, and that turned into us, you know, creating an album or coming up with the idea to create an album as a result of the program. And next thing you know, we started to take it higher and higher. The features were amazing. The people who came in and donated their talent were just simply incredible. And then the students were excited about it,

and we just got on this train to do something that was never done before. And the product was the Urban Hymnal, and it's just been an amazing, beautiful ride ever since. And then, of course, it expanded to other people. Pastor Jamal Bryant was involved in this as well, and it sort of kept growing and growing. And then this thing just took a life of its own. Yes, it did. It did. And though everyone who, you know, donated their time and their efforts to this project is so, so appreciated because they didn't have to. Right.

You know, they stepped in and wanted to, you know, give back to our university, give back to our students and as well make history. And you know, just watching them, you know, seeing Curtis and the rest of the students really jump in and tap into this project was, I mean, just incredible. In a sense, it kind of became a labor of love with the number of artists that were presented on this album and how everything came together. And also, it was a learning lesson for our students with regards to making things work, you know,

having a vision, cultivating that vision, and working towards that vision and not allowing anything to deter you along the way. And, of course, as you get the countdown, we shared the video y'all pulled up. Of course, y'all had watch parties as well. And when that announcement was made, it sort of reminded me of March Madness Selection Sunday. Roll it, folks. Yes. So like I said, it was sort of like March Madness when a team gets picked to make the tournament and how they responded. So it looked like the whole student body, everybody on campus was in there. It looked like that.

Yeah. It's pretty cool. So we was actually in California when a particular watch party was going on. Curtis was with us. Of course, you saw Professor Jenkins on stage, and I was out there. And so actually we was looking at the students. We were streaming the students, and we was watching everything that was going on with the Grammys and just kind of had both things going on at the same time was just

breathtaking. And I take it all of you your phones were blowing up with text messages and all kind of other stuff, right? And, like, my mom had called me and was like God is oh my God! Oh my God!

Mind you, I'm like still catching up on the program because I'm trying to get dressed trying to check in the hotel, trying to get settled in the room. So I'm like still catching up on the program because I'm trying to get dressed, trying to check in the hotel, trying to get settled in the room. So I'm like, what is going on? Then I get a beat on the door, prop green. So just to see all the reactions, man, it just feels so monumental, man. That's been my word for this whole process, monumental. So, yeah, definitely a great feeling, great feeling.

Well, and obviously that was the case for the first one. And then the second one. Oh, man. Yes. And this is the poet who sat by the door, J. Ivey, who he was featured on our album and really served as like a mentor for at least myself and so many others throughout this entire process. And we had the opportunity to contribute to his Grammy award winning album. So, you know, we are just forever indebted to J.I.V. for his amazing work and accomplishment. Cause that was historic as well.

The first time that that category even existed. So, you know, we're so thankful to be a part of his Grammy award winning album. And, you know, it's the same way be a part of his Grammy Award winning album. And, you know, it's the same way with him being a part of ours. It's just love both ways. Questions from our panel. I'll first start with you, Larry. Yeah, so, gentlemen, congratulations.

I can't ask you a question without saying that my son, Jacob, is a sophomore at TSU. Yeah, All right. Now, Larry, we got to specify, it's Tennessee State, because I'm from Houston, so when folks say TSU, when they say TSU, they think Texas Southern,

so we got to be specific. I'm just letting you know, because I ain't trying to get the TSU Tigers out of Houston tweeting me saying what the real TSU is, but go ahead. There's only one TSU. And look,

my high school is right across the street from Texas Southern, and I've done both commencements, and so I got to lean towards hometown because it's literally across the street from John Bates. Go ahead, Larry. So let me be clear. I'm an HBCU

alum, so I know how this works. Tennessee State University and Nashville, Tennessee. So my son is a sophomore mechanical engineering major. But the question I want to pose to you guys is the bragging rights. Let's talk about that. When you have these Battle of the Bands and these other competitions,

what kind of bragging rights does this give the university now? Well, you know, I was actually thinking about our new introduction today, which we won't share until next fall. But one of the things with regards to bragging rights, we don't have to make up a name or give ourself an accolade. Ours is history and facts. So, you know, I was going to say a couple of my colleagues' special names that they call their bands, but I won't do it on national TV. But just know ours is facts. We don't have to make up any accolades at this point. Facts.

Randy. Well, first, I'm just so happy for y'all. Yes! I was just, as a fellow HBCU grad, that was me then, that was me now. I'm so proud, congratulations

it means something to the whole community, so I'm just so proud, second I have to say, look what happens when we come together, right like when you just got all these people working together, we create magic, and

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

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

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs Podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care

for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals.

Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. What I want to ask is, was that the goal from the beginning? Did you say, we're going after a Grammy?

So with that, the objective was to create the art. And we wanted to also really just put a stamp on culture. So if you look at the category that we went in, it just made sense after we created this album. And with that being said, the goal of it was to, and we can look beyond religion some of this too, and look into culture. The goal was to preserve and also even bring some of our hymns and some of our traditional things to the contemporary at the same time while keeping our roots aligned with the original. So that's why this album, yes, it's a roots album,

but you catch so much nuance from the beginning to this point. And when we got to that point where it was time to submit, we knew that it was something that, you know, we should do in regards to history and something that we wanted to give it a shot for because we were that proud of the product and wanted to go even further with it. So it was not necessarily just the goal, but it was something that as we did this, we said we have to go for this, for the culture, for our history, you know, for those roots. And just to add a little bit more to that, in this particular category, our sister institution, less than a mile from us, Fisk University,

the Fisk Jubilee Singers won a Grammy in us, Fisk University. The Fisk Jubilee singers won a Grammy in this specific category last year. And for us to win one this year aligns with all of us working together, aligns with the history, aligns with the culture, keeping all of that together. I think I'm going to create a new hashtag, Historic Jefferson Street, the Grammy mile,

because we're less than a mile from Mustafa. Mustafa, your question. Congratulations to Tennessee State University. You all are amazing. I was thinking about the win and the hashtag Black Love and how you all are spreading that through your actions. With so many programs, music programs being cut across the country, you know, at elementary schools and middle schools, that's where I got my start, playing trumpet when I was seven years old. How would this actually be able to help to bring more of these really talented young people into the mix? What's your ideas about how we do that?

I can speak from experience, you know, just being involved within music, within the black culture and the black community and our black schools and our HBCUs. It's very imperative that we keep it going because, you know, nowadays everybody's so focused on like the wrong thing when it comes to art, you know, and, you know, they want the recognition and not be able to trust the process. So you see the video playing, you know, this is what we do. You know what I'm saying? This is what we do. We go to practice.

We work hard. We have fun. We put on a show and we perform, you know. And it's very important that we keep the music alive, especially within the younger generation. You know, myself, I try my best whenever I go back home, go to all high schools, middle schools, elementary schools. And I just be like, hey, yo, if you don't play and march in college, just keep playing an instrument. You know, you never know what opportunity or what door is going to open up. Who might hear you or who might see you like, yo, I need that person playing that horn.

So it's very, very important, you know, that we keep the music alive, man. So support art, support music, support creativity, and support us. Absolutely. I want a little bit of a step further. I got about 20 seconds. Go. Okay. So with regards to having music in our schools, this album should open up minds with regards to there's more than one way to teach our kids and still be able to allow them to flourish and grow yes yeah you don't always have to follow western european

models of what music is uh indeed gentlemen uh congratulations uh to you uh the bay and the university as well tennessee state. Again, congratulations on these two Grammys. Thank you for my gift. Good luck. Appreciate it. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. All right, folks, got to go to break.

We come back. Unfortunately, another university, Michigan State University, are dealing with sadness as three of their students were shot and killed by a gunman last night. That is next on Rolling Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Most people think that these television shows that tell stories about who we are as black men, and then they paint these monolithic portraits of us. They think that they're being painted by white people. And I gotta tell you, there are a whole bunch of black

folk that are the creators, the head writers, the directors of all of these shows and that are still painting us as monoliths. So people don't really want to have this conversation. No, they don't. Black Star Network is here.

Oh, no punch! A real revolution right now. Thank you for being the voice of Black America. 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 scared. It's time to be smart.

Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, a relationship that we have to have. We're often afraid of it and don't like to talk about it. That's right. We're talking about our relationship with money. And here's the thing. Our relationship with money oftentimes determines whether we have it or not. The truth is you cannot change what you will not acknowledge. Balancing your relationship with your pocketbook. That's next on A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson.

Hi, I'm Eric Nolan. I'm Shante Moore. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks. There have been 67 mass shootings in the United States in 2023 alone. Last night, three Michigan State University students died as a result when a gunman came onto the campus. No involvement, no connection to the campus, and they were killed. Those three students, again, just going about their lives and now their families are preparing their funerals. It is certainly just a sad, sad story there.

You see the names right there as well of those three students. One of them is an African-American sister gunned down. The gunman turned the gun on himself after he was being pursued by police. And this is the first mass shooting in a college or university this year. What was even sad, there was a student who was at Michigan State who was one of the students at Sandy Hook and who talked about just how she, how shocking it is for her to have to go through these two mass shootings in her lifetime.

And that really is what many of our students are having to deal with these days. We could talk about Parkland. We could talk about Santa Fe. We can go on, U of L, we can go on and on and on. What we're dealing with in this country. Brenda Goss Andrews, she's the president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. She joins us

right now. And Brenda, what's interesting is you have these Republican politicians who say, oh, there are no laws that we can pass that will stop mass shootings. But we know for a fact that when assault rifles were banned, we saw a drop in mass shootings.

And when that law was allowed to expire, we saw an increase. There's no denying this. Absolutely, Roland. Well, first of all, I'd like to give condolences to the students and families at Michigan State. That's where I got a graduate degree from. So I have a special place in my heart for Michigan State University. But you're absolutely right. And we just keep talking about how this

needs to stop. But we just keep bringing lip service to it. And we're failing our young people. And you just said it just now, all the shootings from babies. We are killing off our next generation of leaders. We're the grownups in the room, but we aren't doing anything. And certainly assault weapons need to be banned. There is no useful purpose for civilians to have assault weapons. But I think the key, Roland, is, and we need to talk more about it everywhere, is that we have to vote. Voting is at the root of all of these things, because these are legislators and people we put into office that are not protecting the citizens. Our young people, and this is kind of a call to action I like to put out there,

our young people, especially those that are 17, able to register and 18 years old, that you go tomorrow and register. I think you can pull them up online. And, Rhoda, we're going to have to depend on the young people now to do something about this because the grownups in the room, we just keep talking about it, but we don't do anything about it. And until we do that, we're going to see this, unfortunately, over and over again. Well, the thing that jumps out at me on this is that Republicans love to tout police departments, police unions, police endorsements in law enforcement. But anytime we talk about gun control, they don't give a damn what cops have to say. Absolutely.

We have a group of legislators that just refuse to take action. I think, you know, the guns are just part of their DNA. And if you look at the beginning of our country, it was violent. It was violent takeovers and guns. And they always want to talk about the Second Amendment to bear arms. Certainly that's there. But it doesn't give us a right to just kill indiscriminately. You know, they're getting this messaging confused,

but then you know, really, it's a lot of money tied into the gun industry. And a lot of people that get money, you know, for their campaigns and a lot of things. So anytime you have money at the root and the nexus, it makes it very, very difficult. Well, look, we saw a lot of these legislatures repealing, like in Texas and other places, allowing

people just to carry guns now without any permits. And again, numerous police chiefs and sheriffs were saying, don't do this. And they were just like, yeah, whatever the hell. So I just, when it's law enforcement, especially these white cops, these white police chiefs and

sheriffs, going to stop allowing themselves to be used as props by these Republican legislators when they only want them to, when it comes to, you know, standing next to them. But when these same sheriffs and these police chiefs are saying, do not make it easy to carry guns, they just totally ignore them. Well, this is absurd. This is about the value of life. This is about humanity. It doesn't matter, you know, which party you're in or the color of your skin.

This is about people. This is about humanity. And this is about us losing an entire generation to gun violence. Permitless carry is ridiculous. It's like the Wild West. We might as well buy horses and ride up and down the street. And certainly we do have states, but Roland, I still go back to how we can stop this, but we have to do it at the ballot box. And we have to continue talking about voting and voting these people out that don't represent us, represent our issues and represent our values. That is the only way we're going to be able to stop some of this.

Indeed. And I just it just amazes me, Randy, when we keep seeing how these how these folks operate And they are going to do nothing about mass shootings. They literally are not. Look, after Sandy Hook, it's abundantly clear. They do not care. Those kids were slaughtered, and they still did nothing. Randy? I agree with you. I told people once Sandy Hook happened and nothing was changed, I was like, we're lost.

We are lost. And what's so sad is that at least when Sandy Hook happened, we pretended that something may be done. Now, when a mass shooting happens, it barely makes the news. It's just, like, not that important. The fact that the college is, you know, closing down for two days and then it's business as usual. You know, this has become unfortunately mass shootings have become every day are no big deal in American culture. And we ought to be ashamed. Indeed. Mustafa. You know, we often talk about these killing fields that exist inside of our country.

And unfortunately, our schools is a part of that now. We've got more guns in our country than we've got people. Last year, what was it, 647 mass shootings, 44,000 people died as a result of guns last year. And just recently in Missouri, you know, the legislature there passed a law allowing kids to be able to carry guns on public lands and in other locations. So as my grandmother says, when you know better, do better. We're not willing to do better. We're going to continue to see people lose their lives. Indeed.

And Larry, go ahead. Well, these killings that come to commonplace, my colleagues just talked about, and someone teaches post-secondary institution in a state that wants to change and make the gun laws even more liberal. These kinds of shootings and killings worry me. But once again, this is a connection between culture and violence. You watch television. You look at news ads, et cetera. We glorify this kind of behavior as it relates to guns and also as manhood.

So we need to also have a conversation about masculinity, violence and guns in the United States. Again, in terms of you talked about voting, Brenda, but what more can be done? And here's what I'm waiting for. When will FOP, the sheriff's organization, and others join Noble and say, let's stand unified as law enforcement organizations and call this out? The problem is they won't do it. So, therefore, they're giving these people cover to do nothing about gun control. You know, Roland Noble, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, we've been in this fight since 1976. So we are out here, at least I am as the national president, you know, talking to legislators, you know, talking to many people, you know, about this issue.

Sometimes other organizations are also at the table. But I can't control what they're saying. I just make sure that noble's message is out there, you know, and how we feel about it. And we take it to the community. We do a lot of programs. We have a safe and secure gun program that we're doing with every town, because this is something that we're missing also about our young children. And these killings, these murders are happening in our urban communities where our young children are getting a hold of guns in the homes. But we're not doing that kind of talk. So we as an African-American community, we have got to talk about it on all levels. We need to talk about our black-on-black

crime that's happening every day, every weekend, you know, in our major cities, in our urban communities. So we need to talk about that as well, because that adds to the gun violence. That adds to the number of young people, especially young people of color, that are killed every day. Indeed. And look, the black-on-black crime and the white-on-white crime, too. We're going to call it what it is. Brenda Goss, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thank you for having me. And again, folks, certainly prayers go out to the families of those three college students shot and killed last night at Michigan State University. And prayers go out to the entire Spartan family, the student body, its faculty, staff, alumni as well. Randy, Larry and Mustafa, I appreciate y'all joining us on today's show.

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