#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Louis Gossett, Jr. Dies, Crystal Mason Acquitted, Tenn. GOP Allege Dems Back-Door Dealing with TSU

Episode Date: March 30, 2024

3.29.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Louis Gossett, Jr. Dies, Crystal Mason Acquitted, Tenn. GOP Allege Dems Back-Door Dealing with TSU  Black Hollywood is mourning the loss of the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar, Louis Gossett, Jr.   Tonight, we celebrate his life.  #BlackStarNetwork partners:Fanbase 👉🏾 https://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbaseAli Siddiq 👉🏾 https://www.moment.co/alisiddiq"Shirley" NOW available on Netflix 👉🏾 www.netflix.comBiden/Harris 👉🏾 https://joebiden.com/ Texas is finally getting it right. An appeals court reversed Crystal Mason's conviction and five-year prison sentence for illegally voting in the 2016 presidential election. Crystal and her attorney will be here to discuss this long-awaited decision.  Tennessee House Speaker Camron Sexton says the Democrats had some back-door dealings with the dismantling of the TSU Broad of Trustees.  A Michigan State lawmaker mistakes buses of NCAA basketball players as "illegal invaders." And a Minnesota scholarship named after George Floyd is being called discriminatory.  Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #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. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your 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 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. Martin! Today is Friday, March 29th, 2024. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Black Hollywood is mourning the loss of one of the finest actors of his generation. Oscar winner Lou Gossett

Junior passed away in Malibu. Tonight we will celebrate his life right here on Roland Martin unfiltered. Texas finally getting it right. An appeals court has reversed Crystal Mason's conviction and the five yearyear prison sentence for illegally voting in the 2016 presidential election.

Crystal and her attorney will be with us to talk about this long-awaited decision. This nightmare is finally over. Tennessee House Speaker Republican Cameron Sexton says Democrats had some backdoor dealings with dismantling the Tennessee State University Board of Trustees will show you the video. A Michigan state lawmaker mistakes

buses of NCAA basketball players. As illegal invaders. He's white. Republicans are crazy and a Minnesota scholarship named after George Floyd is being called discriminatory. I told y'all they coming after everything. It's time to bring the funk.

I'm Roland Martin on Filter from the Black Star Network. Let's go. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's Roland. Best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics

With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling With Uncle Roro, y'all It's rolling, Martin Rolling with rolling now It's Rollin' Martin, yeah. Rollin' with Rollin' now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Rollin' Martin now. Martin! Our town ¶¶ Folks, we have lost another entertainment giant,

Lou Gossett Jr., the first African-American man to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in An Officer and a Gentleman. He also won an Emmy for his role in the TV miniseries Roots. He has passed away. Lou Gossett was 87. In 2010, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but it has not been confirmed that that contributed to his passing.

Again, over the course of his career, he has been in numerous movies, most recently in the new edition of The Color Purple. We of course had an opportunity to talk to Lou Gossett on many times. There are so many different movies that he played in, TV shows that he played in. You name it. This was some of what we talked about when we talked in December 2022 on Rolling with Roland on the Black Star Network. It's nice to be this age.

We're grateful to be unscathed, broken legs and stuff, you know, and all my sports injuries. But I've been given the opportunity by God, my God, to be in Israel and Africa and Japan and Australia and Egypt and South America and Central America and Mexico,

Canada in 80 years. There's no career out there that long. I have nothing to complain about. I wake up the next morning, you got me another one? Thank you. Thank you, God. Thank you. It's good to see you. I've been in that place where I was concerned, and it gets you angry, and then finally you take a deep breath and say, oh, wait a minute. You can't do nothing about it except speak your mind and get on with the day. But it's a good time to be alive.

When you... How do you... Let me phrase it this way, what still excites you about either the stage, the small screen, or the big screen? What still makes you just, let's go? New talent. New talent. My favorite actress is Taraji Henson. Another one is the girl that played my daughter in The Watchmen.

I can't remember right now what her name is. King. And there's some... Regina King. Regina. And others. Writers. The director from, it's called the Purple. Fantasia.

There's some people out there that's very exciting. In all walks of life. The athlete's amazing. That kid from New Orleans. He's amazing. So when you're doing these projects, so for you it's being able to share space with this new generation. I'm blessed. I'm blessed. And it's a mutual, I don't know, we don't have that kind of time, but I tell you, I felt so self-owned.

All the thanks and congratulations, the mutual family over the last couple of years that I've been fortunate to be around. The respect is there. They like it when we contribute some knowledge to them. That was, again, 2022. 2012, Lou Gossett appeared with me on Washington Watch. We also talked to him later on News 1 Now. So, I mean, a lot of different conversations that I had with him.

And so in 2012, with TV One's Washington Watch, we had our Hollywood edition of the show. And this was that conversation. Obama in 2008 with money, support, endorsements, also hitting the campaign trail. What about this time? With me to discuss just how the president is perceived here in Hollywood are a number of great people. First off, Lou Gossett Jr., Academy Award winner. Lamar Rucker, Tatiana Ali, and Keisha Knight Pulliam.

Folks, how we doing? Fantastic. All right. Love it. First of all, let me start off this way. It's been interesting reading some of the comments from other folks. Let's say Matt Damon has been highly critical of President Obama, saying that he hasn't been tough enough, he hasn't stepped up to the plate.

And so when you hear these criticisms, what do you think? And also, what's your assessment of the job the president has done thus far in the past four years? I think he's done a monumental job. I think the least of it is him being black. I think he's our president, right? He's upset some black people because they didn't have programs for them,

but he has been the president for the entire country. And now his record is beginning to show because unemployment is down, Wall Street's up, Detroit's waking up, all his promises. And he inherited a problem with a deficit, and he's doing beautiful. His next four years will put him in history books. He's already saying he's getting elected.

Oh, yeah. Go right ahead. I think you touched on some really important points. You know, President Obama was given a job that could not be done in the time frame that has passed. He needs extra time, not because he hasn't done his job thus far, but because the problems that he inherited were so great. I'm a very big, avid Obama supporter. I went to the Women for Obama luncheon where Michelle Obama spoke the week before last, and I'm working with the campaign on college campuses. And I feel like, I think a lot of people recognize that, you know,

there's still work to be done and he's the person to do the job. The next generation, young folks, huge, huge part of his platform in terms of his support in 2008. We've seen young folks not particularly happy with the job the president has done when you look at some poll numbers. I speak on college campuses all across the country and when I would say President Barack Obama in 2009, huge response. In 2010, pretty good response. In 2011, okay. It's just real interesting. So I can always tell by applause levels how folks are feeling at the time. I think I worked on the campaign last year.

Yes, because you were in my book the first. Yes, you were. Yes, and I spoke on a lot of college campuses. And there's an idealism that Obama's message really hit on that spoke to young people. And I think the reality of what he was confronted with is a very different thing. I'm really excited to see, and I kind of, I'm speaking it into existence. I think we all are. I mean, Mitt Romney, I don't even. Who? Yeah, exactly. So that can happen. But I'm excited to see this second term because that's

the real freedom. There's no, this is the second term. It's the last term. You don't have to worry about reelection. You can really go for broke, which is incredible because in this first term he did. He has gone for broke health care. The economy is now making this upturn. And hopefully no one's going to want to see a switch while things are finally going upward. I think that's what's key. I mean, you talk about the, you know, the younger demographic and, you know, the younger generation, which includes us. And I think in saying that, I think this idealism is actually, you know, really, really the perfect word. And unfortunately, based on that youth, sometimes you can be very short-sighted. I don't think you really understand the long-term ramifications and how long it actually takes something

to evolve into what it's supposed to be. So I think once that starts to be evident, there's going to be a greater appreciation for this last four years and the next four. But most of us are kind of really in this immediate gratification phase that we expected things to happen and turn around much faster than they really can. One of the things that we talked

about on this show on many times is that when it comes to making it clear what we want and desire, I've heard African-Americans across the country, they say, well, Roland, we really shouldn't ask for certain things because, you know, whites will be looking at it and i said time out 95 he got 95 in the black vote black women voted at a higher rate than any other group in america i said yes he's african-american yes i said he's also the 44 the president my belief is that black folks like anybody else have a right to say this is what we want and desire because we also voted too. So what do you make, though, when people say, no, no, no, no, no, don't do that because that might jeopardize the brother's opportunity. We're so happy he's there. Don't you be no rabble-rouser now.

I mean, I've heard that from a lot of people. This is a dynamic that we might have forgotten about what JFK said. He said, ask not what this country can do for you, but what you can do for the country. We have an opportunity. You young folks have an incredible opportunity to be three-dimensional, responsible Americans and keep that man in the White House probably for another four years if it was possible. But it's not waiting for him to do a program for them. It's the modicum of America, regardless of who you are, is what you can do for the country.

And that's what got him in there in the first place. And that brings the country together. There's been so much pushback from Congress. It's been such a war in Washington that, I mean, you literally see our president waging war against, I mean, or Congress waging war against him. And he's traveling. He's had to go the route of traveling across the country and trying to mobilize support for the things that he's doing. What that means is that African-American women, whatever segment you think you're in, we should be mobilizing and give him the pressure that he needs to get things done, to be able to go into Congress and say,

look at what your constituents are saying they agree with me change our perspective because this is our country you know it isn't you know those people over there know we all make up this country and it is all ours and we have to take ownership of that and understand that when we vote we are putting people in office to represent our voice everyone's voice black white whoever wherever you are if you're an American citizen they are their job is to fight our cause. And we have to hold them accountable. We have to let them know, yes, we put you in office to be our voice.

And, you know, follow up. You know, not enough people are really proactive with that and really find out what's going on. Okay, what is this congressman, what is his voting record? You know, what has he stood for? Is it in conflict to what he says he stands for, or is it in actuality that he is doing what he says that he's doing? Now, all of you have said that clearly you expect him to be reelected, but obviously one never knows.

I will do my part. I got you. But follow me here. But isn't it also important for black folks to demand that Republican candidates speak to our community as well? Because if they happen to be elected, they will also be president, as you say, of the entire country. So the Republicans have to come to the plate. Haven't quite come to the plate yet because it's in the DNA. They have to make a larger adjustment to speak to us, I believe, because that's the way it's been for generations. The Democrats don't have to make such an adjustment because they have more African-American representatives. But the Republicans, you're absolutely right, have to be sensitive enough and compassionate

enough to speak to us. But in the meantime, we have to be in that place where they can't do anything else but speak to us with the truth. That's our job. Final comment. The job of the young folks. Ten seconds. I don't see, I mean, honestly, the Republicans have put themselves in such a corner with Tea Party ideology and morality that I think that's a really difficult turn for them to make. And I don't know if that's going to happen.

It is, but I will tell you this. The way that it's made is by showing up and them having to respect the fact they're coming out. They're going to vote. And that's the only way. Your vote counts. And if they don't believe it, they're not going to worry about you. I made the point very simple. Whoever the nominee is, that person should come on TV One, come on this show, speak to black folks.

Because you want to be the president? You talked 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 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 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.

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.

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

Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. I'm out of time. Lou Gossett Jr., always a pleasure. Lamar Ruckert, thank you so very much. Tatiana Ali, he should not pull you. Thanks, but Tatiana's like, that ain't gonna happen.

All right, folks. That was a very interesting day cause we also had another panel with Richard Roundtree who we lost last year. So two giants we've lost in back-to-back years. Just get some thoughts and reflections from our panel. Matt Manning, sub-route's attorney out of Corpus Christi joins us.

Of course, we're out of Detroit I keep telling y'all how do I keep letting signals on the show Michael Imhotep hosts African History Network show Kelly Bethea communications strategist glad to have y'all on you know the thing that's one of

the things that stands out I think if you look at the career Michael of Lou Gossett, I mean, this is somebody who, he was always about blackness, very much Afrocentric, and proud of that and the roles that he took. Yeah, yes, you can tell in some of his dress. He was Afrocentric.

I saw numerous... He had over 100 TV appearances, number one. That's Diggs Town that you're showing right there. It looks like that was Benny Urquidez, who's a martial artist also, kickboxing champion. They showed who's the referee. You know, so I saw movies like Sadat, where he played Anwar Sadat, the leader of Egypt, who was assassinated.

Even though he won the Oscar in 1983 for An Officer and a Gentleman, he stands out to me for the TV miniseries Roots. I saw it when it originally aired on TV in 1977. It aired at nighttime. I watched it with my parents, OK? And we—millions of people across the country watched Roots every night. We never saw anything like that before. And he brought dignity to the role of Fidler. And The New York Times has his obituary today, and they quoted him as talking about, why

choose me to play the Uncle Tom? This is what he referred to Fiddler as. And he went on to say that he—but he came to admire the survival skills of forebearers like Fiddler, he said, and based the character on his grandparents and a great-grandmother. So this is a brother who we saw on two roles on Good Times. We saw on The Jeffersons. And also, he had a short-lived TV series in 1989. I think it was Gideon Oliver. This is him on The Jeffersons. Very versatile actor. I can't remember of any role that he may

have played that maybe brought shame to African-Americans. OK, so this is a huge loss. It was always about dignity. It was always about righteousness, Kelly, in terms of how Lou Gossett wanted to portray himself on the screen. Absolutely. To Michael's point of always portraying roles that show dignity, no matter how possibly controversial he may have found them out to be, one of my favorite roles, and probably the first time I was exposed to Lou Gossett Jr., was his role in love interest of the daughter. And he, if I recall at that, when I was studying Raisin in the Sun, I gravitated to his character because I have a lot of people in my family, myself included, who had to struggle with that internal dialogue myself.

One of the last roles that he played that was one of my absolute favorites was when he was the grandfather of of regina king's character in watchmen i thought that was such a dignified poignant role because even though he wasn't uh you know he didn't have a whole lot of lines but his entire character was the reason for her entire being. And it just felt very almost foretelling as to how his legacy is going to be for other actors and other entertainers, other artists, that, while he might not be here, his influence is so pervasive throughout this industry, throughout this country, throughout this culture. And he will be deeply missed.

Matt? I think Kelly and Michael covered it pretty well. But what I think is so extraordinary is that he had such a high level of output and dignity and acumen at his craft for 70 years, which is really extraordinary, if you think about it. His first Broadway appearance came when he was 17. So for him to have seven decades on the screen and on the stage at such a high level of output is really an extraordinary feat. And I think Michael's sentiments regarding Fiddler are a lot of mine.

I actually just watched the original miniseries again for the first time because I just read the book several months ago. And what I thought was so compelling about his performance is the Fiddler that he depicts in the miniseries is after Fiddler has already been basically taken advantage of by the master, where he thought he was going to buy his freedom. And the reason that's important is I think he really embodied the internal conflict that's in the book, in the role, in how he was caring for Kunta. And I just thought his performance was extremely compelling. So there's nothing to be said beyond we've lost a giant, but I appreciate him being such an exemplar at his craft and showing us how you can have this kind of output for this long.

Folks, we've got lots more to share with you with regards to Lou Gossett Jr. Of course, at the end of the show, we're going to play the full interview that I did with him. I caught up with him on the American Black Film Festival red carpet. I caught up with him on the American Black Film Festival, Festival Red Carpet. I caught up him in some other areas. So again, lots of stuff to talk about

when it comes to Lou Gossett Jr. But coming up next, Crystal Mason, we'll chat with her. She finally, finally is free. It's been an eight year ordeal that she has had to deal with and how Tarrant County prosecutors have been trying to put this black woman in jail. It is nonsensical. It's exactly what the appeals court announced last night. You're watching Roller Mark Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. This is Attorney Demario Solomon-Simmons.

I'm a national civil rights attorney. I'm also the founder and executive director of Justice for Greenwood. Many of you guys know I've been leading the fight for the last two living survivors and the Greenwood community overall. We have a historic hearing coming up on April 2nd at 1.30 p.m. in front of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. I need all of you to support us as we try to get justice for this issue

for the first time in almost 103 years. Sign up to support us during this hearing on Tuesday, justiceforgreenwood.org, backslash watch party, April 2nd, 1.30 p.m. We need your support, your messages, and your prayers. We appreciate you. Justice for Greenwood. Fanbase is pioneering a new era of social media for the creator economy.

This next generation social media app with over 600,000 users is raising $17 million and now is your chance to invest. For details on how to invest, visit startengine.com slash fanbase or scan the QR code. Another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits. As bad as Trump was, his economy was worse, and black America felt it the most. He cut health insurance while giving tax breaks

to the wealthy and big business. He stoked racial violence, attacked voting rights, and if reelected, vowed to be a dictator and, quote, get revenge. He can't go back. As president, I put money in pockets, created millions of new jobs, and capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month.

There's a lot more to do, but we can do it together. I'm Joe Biden, and I approve this message. On the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, people can't live with them, can't live without them. And I approve this message. treated. This goes for males and females. Trust your gut and then whenever that gut feeling comes, have a conversation. Knowing how to grow or when to go. A step-by-step guide on the next A Balanced Life on Blackstar Network.

This is Essence Atkins. This is Love King of R.B. Raheem Duvall. This is me, Sherri Shebritt, and you know what you're watching. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Folks, we have been covering this story for years. In fact, the first episode of Roland Martin Unfiltered, we talked about Crystal Mason, what she has endured in Texas.

This started in 2016. That's how long this case has been going on. When she tried to vote in the election, she, bottom line is, didn't realize that she could not vote. Folks, they have been pursuing her to send her to prison since 2016. Late last night, the Texas Second Court of Appeals acquitted Crystal Mason, and she was facing five years in prison for that conviction.

She and her attorney, Kim Cole, join us right now. Crystal, free at last. Yes. Yes. What was your reaction when you got news of the appeals court? Because they heard it a year ago. So you've been waiting for this decision for a year and it came down late last night. Yes.

When I heard the news from my attorney, ACLU, gave me a call, I was overwhelmed, filled with joy, just thanking God for carrying me through this long seven years. This journey was very rough. And I'm just so grateful right now. I'm just thanking God every step of the way because I know this wouldn't happen if it wasn't for him. So that's where I'm at.

I'm just so grateful right now. I'm so thankful for all the support that I have had on this journey. Thank you, Roland Morton. Thank you for covering my story every time you had a chance. Thank you. Kim, absolutely. I mean, look, it was a case that was just nuts from day one. And the stuff that they put you through.

And for people who don't know, you were out. You had served time in federal prison. You were out. And as a result of this, you had to go back to federal prison as a parole violation, correct? Correct. As a supervised release violation, yes. My supervised release and my trial on, in 2018, he testified on the stand and said, no, we never told her she couldn't vote. No, she never signed anything. I was doing everything I was supposed to do. I came out and been productive in society, raising my business, my kids and everything. And I went to fill out a provisional ballot because I believe I had the right to vote.

And I was sentenced to five years. And from that, Judge McBride determined that I should go to prison because I caught a new offense. And they sent me back to prison for 10 months and gave me another 24 months on supervised release. So you were on supervised release. You had to go back in for 10 months. Then they added two years to that. Correct. Yes. And so, again, you had a job, you had a home, so now it completely disrupts your life. You come out, and then when you come out, Tarrant County is still trying to pursue you. Correct.

Kim, here's what, again, that just befuddled me from the beginning, that her ballot actually was never cast, correct? It was never counted. Right. It was never counted. No. But it was like, I mean, these prosecutors in Tarrant County,ant County, they took such a hardcore position. It was like, no, no, no. We're going to make an example out of this black woman. Well, Roland, that's what the prosecutor said in his summation at the trial. specifically requested that the judge send a quote, send a message to the voters and to sentence

Crystal to a stern prison sentence. Roland, make no mistake, the court's ruling today could have been made years ago. It could have been made in that courtroom the same day she went to trial. The judge ruled that the evidence presented in Crystal's case did not add up to her knowing that she was not eligible to vote. We've been saying that the whole time, Rowan. Have we not? She didn't know. She did not know. She said that on the stand that day. Their own witnesses, as Crystal said, the supervisor

over the region of the Federal Bureau of Prisons testified on the stand. This was their witness. He testified. We never told her anything. So he testifies we never told her. She doesn't know and they're like, damn that. We're sending her anything. So he testifies we never told her. She doesn't know. And they're like, damn that.

We're sending her to prison. It was to send a message, Roland. Tarrant County is one of the largest. Matter of fact, I believe it's the only urban red district in this country. Yep. And their motto is to keep Tarrant County red. Period. It doesn't matter if an innocent woman has to go to jail.

They had an agenda. And they wanted to send a message to the voters of Tarrant County. That's what the DA specifically requested. But, Roland, what they got, the message that was sent wasn't the message that was received. Mm-hmm. It ignited a fire in Crystal, and she, as well as almost every member of her family now, are deputized to register people to vote.

There you go. Crystal, how did it make you feel when we kept seeing these stories, like this one right here, where a Georgia Republican Party official voted illegally nine times and all he got was a $5,000 fine. It was, it saddened me that you actually had people that really committed crimes. 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, 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 man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. 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. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives.

Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. You actually had people that actually voted. You got people that voted twice, two, three times up under somebody else's name. And yet it was they were looked over. So I know exactly what the purpose was. Yeah. I mean, here's the NBC story. Brian Pritchard, first

vice chair of the Georgia Republican Party and a conservative talk show host, was fined $5,000 for voting illegally and registering to vote while serving a sentence for a felony conviction. Pritchard was also ordered not to commit further violations to face public reprimand for his

conduct and to pay the state elections board investigative costs. They basically did this here. For you, this man voted nine times. For you, it didn't even count. They said, uh-uh.

Stick this woman in prison. Roland, you don't even have to look to Georgia. in the same county there was a judge who forged signatures to get his name on the ballot in Tarrant County and he got off of probation

wow same county and let's not forget this is the same county where the affluenza teen case came out of. A young man committed several crimes, stole alcohol, stole a vehicle, killed four people, and got off with probation. And Crystal, you were in 2016. What Kim was talking about, go to my iPad.

That judge, that happened 2018. Mm-hmm. Yep. Unbelievable. So, Kim, is it all over? Or?

No, it's not over. It's not over. Oh, no. They must. Oh, you're talking about the criminal case. No, no, right, right, right. The criminal case. Okay.

The criminal case. Now, can Tarrant County appeal this decision? They can. They better not. Because they did that before. They made the wrong decision years ago when we first appealed it, right? We had to appeal their decision. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals came back and said, yeah, you might want to take a second look at that because that's not what the law says. The law says that she has to know that she's not eligible to vote.

And they found they upheld her conviction saying that it was enough that she knew that she was on supervised release. That doesn't even make any sense. Who doesn't know their own circumstances? Right. That's silly. So that's the standard they applied. So the Court of Criminal Appeals sent it back down. They remanded it back to the second court of appeals who made their ruling last night. They sent it back and said, you guys might want to take a second look at this because you applied the wrong interpretation of the statute. Even though the statute clearly says that the person commits the offense if they vote in an election or attempt to vote in an election, which the person knows that he or she

is not eligible to vote. It's in there. You said the person has to know. You said this is not over. What's next for y'all? Oh, absolutely not. Absolutely not. Tarrant County cost Crystal and her family years of... I would almost call it a terroristic act. She was

a political prisoner for a while because she had to go back to... I mean, she had to go back to prison. And this was all behind a political ploy. So, Tarrant County owes Crystal Mason. And y'all

gonna sue the county? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Crystal, that was a brother in Houston who voted in 2020. He waited six hours in line. They arrested him.

He was found, hadn't done anything wrong. He said this year, I'm not voting again. He was so traumatized by that. He says, I'm not voting again. Ron DeSantis in Florida had the cops arrest a number of formerly incarcerated people, and all of those cases were legally voting, and all of those, they were told they could vote, and every single one of those cases were thrown out. Do you believe that this is an effort by Republicans in Texas, in Florida, and elsewhere to send a chilling effect and to scare any person,

but especially any black person who had previously served time in prison or jail? Absolutely. That's exactly what it was. It was to take a mother with kids to jail in the black and brown community for, again, who encouraged you to go vote? Your mother, your grandmother, they instilled that in you. So, of course, that's exactly what they did, because that would make somebody say, oh, no, I'm not going to go vote. And I can possibly go to jail, leave my kids, my family. So that's exactly what they did.

And I'm just grateful for the outcome to let people know that don't let my story, took seven long years, but don't let my story that scared you, but encouraged you to go to the polls because our votes matter. Mm, mm, mm. Finally, this criminal aspect is over.

Um, how are you going to celebrate? Oh, well, right now I'm just trying to take it in. I'm just trying to take it in. Like, I'm still shocked. I couldn't sleep last night. I woke up early this morning calling Kim. And I'm just overwhelmed. Like, it's, it's hit me, but it hadn't really hit me.

You know, like, wow, that I'm really done. I'm off of an appeal bond that I've been on for six years. I'm off. Wow. And are you completely done with your federal requirements? Yeah, I've been done with that, yes. Well, Kim, Crystal, y'all let us know when you drop that damn lawsuit against Tarrant County because we absolutely will have you on because they deserve to be sued

because their actions were beyond despicable. And every single prosecutor involved in this, shame on them. Will do, Roland. This was malicious, and we absolutely will let you know. Thank you for following this from beginning to end. Absolutely. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. We're going to go to a break. We'll chat with our panel about this. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Support our work. Join our Brena Funk fan club. Send your check and money order to PO Box 57196

Washington, D.C. 2003-7DAD-0196 Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, R. Martin Unfiltered Venmo's RM Unfiltered, Zelle Roland at RolandSMartin.com Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com We'll be right back.

Fanbase is pioneering a new era of social media for the creator economy. This next generation social media app with over 600,000 users is raising $17 million, and now is your chance to invest. For details on how to invest, visit startengine.com slash fanbase or scan the QR code. Another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. We look at one of the most influential and prominent Black Americans of the 20th century. His work literally changed the world. Among other things, he played a major role in creating the United Nations. He was the first African American and first person of

color to win the Nobel Peace Prize. And yet today. 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 Glott. And this is season two 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 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. I always had to be so good no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree.

It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. He is hardly a household name. We're talking, of course, about Ralph J. Bunch. A new book refers to him as the absolutely indispensable man. His lifelong interest and passion in racial justice, specifically in the form of colonialism. And he saw his work as an activist, an advocate for the Black community here in the United States as just the other side of the coin of his work trying to roll back European empire in Africa.

Author Cal Rastiala will join us to share his incredible story. That's on the next Black Table here on the Black Star Network. Hi, I am Tommy Davidson. I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. I don't play Sammy, but I could. Or I don't play Obama, but I could. I don't do Stallone, but I could do all that. And I am here with Roland Martin on Unfiltered.

Folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered. This is my panel. Matt, I'll start with you. If there's anybody, Matt, who should be targeted in re-election, it's this man right here. This is Phil Soros. He is the district attorney for Tarrant County. Every black person in Tarrant County should be campaigning against this man

because he could have easily said, y'all, enough is enough. Listen, we mess it up, but bottom line is, she went to federal prison for 10 months on a violation. Why in the hell are we trying to pursue five damn years for a ballot that never even got counted? Yeah, they should definitely primary him. And I'm really glad that this case, this story came up today because just yesterday I got an opinion from my local

court of appeals where I lost an appeal that I'm going to take up. But I wanted to tell the viewers that it's extremely difficult to win on appeal, especially in the second court of appeals, which is there over Tarrant County. It's one of the most conservative in the whole state. So what happens on appeal most of the time is the judges on appeal are looking to see whether the judge below made a mistake. And what I'm so happy that Ms. Cole mentioned is that, you know, they actually lost on appeal at the first level.

Now, in Texas, we have two Supreme Courts, essentially. We have one that's all civil, called the Texas Supreme Court, and one that is all criminal, called the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. So what's important about this is, the highest-level criminal court in the state of Texas said that it was — they used the wrong law, and the evidence was insufficient. They sent it back, and the lower court of appeals found the right decision. What's so remarkable about that is, it's very, very difficult to win on appeal. What's also remarkable about this is that there was ever a conviction. This is a case every day of the week. A prosecutor who has their eyes open should recognize not only could they not prove this

case, but they don't have the requisite evidence that she didn't know. And obviously, the testimony corroborated that. And what's scary about this is if they want to make a political statement, they can completely sacrifice all decency and just run you through the ringer as they did her. Now, I'm glad to hear that her attorney said the word malicious, because what I thought is the way this lawsuit will likely be brought is a malicious prosecution lawsuit and or a selective enforcement lawsuit under the 14th Amendment, because it's pretty clear that in this very county, you have other people who have engaged in the same alleged conduct who have not received anything punitive at all, let alone punitive to this extent.

So, hopefully, they're successful in that lawsuit. And I will tell you, those are difficult lawsuits, considering all the immunities that prosecutors and judges have. But the larger principle is, one, they climbed the mountain and they won an extremely difficult case that they should never have had to be a part of. But two, it's scary that despite all our systems of checks and balances and purported rule of law following, if they want to get you and they're out to get you, they will do what they can to get you. And that's what happened in this case. And I'm glad she had a formidable team that fought for her and won against all odds at the appeal. I mean, this was absolutely malicious prosecution

in every regard, Kelly. I mean, it just made no sense. I mean, literally, the man testifies we never instructed her that she could not vote. She did not know. They were like, yeah, whatever. No. And I have to remember what exactly was happening exactly eight years ago, right? Not necessarily to the day, but what was happening eight years ago. We were in the middle of yet another election and Trump was on the ballot for the first time. And if you recall, and I'm sure you do, there was already hints in the air of possibly prosecuting people for false ballots and trying to vote fraudulently and the like. And this case, to me, makes it abundantly clear that she was used incorrectly as an example for the right to feel validated in their response to fraudulent voting and why Black people need to have restrictive access to voting, right? So now that the fire has somewhat sort of died just a little, just enough for this to more or less slide under the radar, if it weren't for your show, she would be free. And frankly, nobody would know about it because it's not necessarily being

covered. So that's my perspective on this. This was a purely political move on behalf of Tarrant County. I agree with, I believe Matt said something along the lines of the DA for Tarrant County needs to be primaried because this needs to be in the face of every voter, not just Black voters, but white voters, Hispanic voters, Asian voters, any voter in that county, because if anything, that DEA has made it clear that it's not just Black people who are on the line for having their rights taken away. It appears to be that if you are against any of his ideologies at all, if you are against any GOP ideology at all. He will try to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law, unnecessarily so. He will attack you until he can't attack no more.

And that's what we are seeing with this woman here, Crystal Mason. Thankfully, that leg of the process is over and she can get her just due in civil court. This, Michael, would make me a one-issue voter. I don't give a damn about anything else. Take his ass out at the ballot box.

Take this man, Phil Sorrells, out at the ballot box. And if he chooses not to run and retires and any of his other people, and they were involved in this decision, take their asses out to. Absolutely, Roland. We have to understand why people suppress our vote, especially Republicans. They fear our vote. And Republicans fear our vote oftentimes more than we value our vote.

And this is why I've said before numerous times on your show, we have to stop telling African Americans to exercise your right to vote. You don't—if you want to exercise, you go to the gym and work out. You vote for power. You vote for black power. And historically, you've had—in these former Confederate states, they've put impediments in the way of the 15th Amendment, because they feared African Americans voting these people out of office and having political power. In the 1940s in Texas, they had what we'll call all-white primaries.

The Democratic Party was given power by the state legislature to have all-white primaries and exclude African Americans from the primaries. This led to the U.S. Supreme Court case in 1944 of Smith v. Allwright, that was won by Thurgood Marshall on behalf of Lonnie E. Smith. And the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all white primaries were unconstitutional. So there's a deep history of this in Texas. And then, when you talked about the article from NBCNews.com, Brian Pritchard, first vice chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, a judge ruled that he voted illegally nine

times. Now, this is the same guy who spread claims of widespread voter fraud in the stolen election in 2020. And this guy voted illegally nine times. You can't make this stuff up. This is why these people have to be defeated each time at the ballot box, including in 2024. This is about self-preservation. Absolutely. And again, this woman, I mean, just imagine you serve time in federal prison, you get out, you're supervised, released, you're with your family, you're in a home, you've got a job, and then this happens, and then they go, oh, no, no, you've got to go back to federal prison. Ten months. Added two years. Then when she gets out of federal prison,

they still pursue her to throw her in state prison. I mean, it is beyond me. And I'm telling you, Matt, every black person and every person of conscience in Tarrant County should be completely motivated in the next election to say, feel got to go. Yeah, I'm with you completely. I mean, it's it's abhorrent what they did to her. And what's so sad about it is, frankly, you know, I think they probably thought, look, she's a felon from having

been in the federal system. And one, she's a black woman. So we know that they were targeting her. Right. And that's just what evidence shows here. But I bet they felt like they, you know, had cover because here, in fact, in the judge's opinion, they talked about how her prior conviction was something relating to an alleged fraud or something. So they talked about how her prior conviction was something relating to an alleged fraud or something. So they were claiming that her testimony may not have been considered credible. But the reason that all of that is hogwash is because they had evidence from people involved in the process who testified they hadn't told her she couldn't test—she could not vote.

And what's so problematic about that is, in Texas, we actually have laws that relate to the restoration of former felons' rights, but also the possession of guns. And a lot of those laws are written very nebulously. I have literally had clients come to my office before who were getting off of parole or off of supervised release, and they just could not understand whether the law empowered them to do certain things, because the law is written poorly. So here, where you have evidence where they've said we did not apprise her that she could not vote, that to me would have killed it as a prosecutor. I would have said, no, well, we don't have any evidence to prove that she had the requisite intent that we need.

But if you're trying to target somebody for a political purpose, then you overlook that. And that's why I'm hoping that their malicious prosecution claim will be successful because this is as prima facie evidence as that, as it comes, I think. Take them out, take them out. All right, folks, going to go to break. We'll be right back. Rolling Mark unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Don't go anywhere. Back shortly.

Fan base is pioneering a new era of social media for the creator economy. This next generation social media app with over 600,000 users is raising $17 million, and now is your chance to invest. For details on how to invest, visit startengine.com slash fanbase or scan the QR code. Another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits. This is Attorney Demario Solomon-Simmons. I'm a national civil rights attorney. I'm also the founder and executive director of Justice for Greenwood. Many of you guys know I've been leading the fight with the last two living survivors and the Greenwood community overall.

We have a historic hearing coming up on April 2nd at 1.30 p.m. in front of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. I need all of you to support us as we try to get justice for this issue for the first time in almost 103 years. Sign up to support us as we try to get justice for this issue for the first time in almost 103 years. Sign up to support us during this hearing on Tuesday, justiceforgreenwood.org backslash watch party, April 2nd, 1 30 PM. We need your support, your messages, and your prayers. We appreciate you. Justice for Greenwood. I'm Faraiji Muhammad, live from LA, and this is The

Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation, you and me. We talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together, so let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's The Culture, weekdays at at three only on the Black Star Network. My name is Lena Charles and I'm from Opelousas, Louisiana. Yes, that is Zydeco capital of the world. My name is Margaret Chappelle. I'm from Dallas, Texas representing the Urban Trivia Game. It's me Sherri Shepherd and you know what you're watching. Roland Martin on Unfiltered.

All right, folks, welcome back. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has appointed eight Tennessee State University alums to the Board of Trustees. We discussed that yesterday and even laid out exactly who all of those members are. Here they are again. Now, the folks at Tennessee Holler, they, of course, are a nemesis of the Republicans there in the legislature.

They actually shot this video here where the Speaker of the House said, oh, there were some Democrats who were very much, uh, supportive of this effort. Listen to this. What did you think about the TSU bill in there? Did you feel like the optics are as bad as some of those Democrats were saying? No, because you had the Democrat caucus that we worked with and that some were supportive. Who was supportive? They didn't seem to be supportive of that. 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 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 thing is. 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. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper.

The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org, brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. You need to go talk to them. There were no Dems that voted for that. Behind the scenes, they were. Oh, behind the scenes? Oh, you're trying to start stuff, huh?

Which ones? an amendment in government operations that vacated Green Board members. That was the only spark of force behind the bill. Now, I was told when session started that there would be a substitute in the Senate bill. We're never on board with a total vacate of the bill. Now, House Representative Antonio Perkins, yesterday before the House voted, questioned, why was Tennessee State the only public university in Tennessee that was hit with five audits in one year? And Chairman Reagan, I think I know you. And you know me. I know what kind of person you are.

I'm not gonna sit here and call anybody in this room a racist or say that this is a racist issue, but I will talk about it being disparate because I don't want my mic cut off, but let's talk about the difference in how this university is treated. Let's talk about the fact that we had a finding of $544 million

that was actually commissioned by our very own speaker. $250 million of those dollars were given to Tennessee State University the next year, and I wish, today, I wish that we had not given that $250 million to Tennessee State University, because that's when the fight began. As soon as the money was given to Tennessee State University, all of the problems became apparent or were sought after. $2 million put into the budget for an audit for a university, this spirit never ever happened in the history of the state of Tennessee.

Seven audits. Y'all didn't know that, did you? Seven audits. Five of them by the state. Those of you from East Tennessee, UT has never dealt with a situation like that.

And I'm just talking about the disparate treatment of the one black university in our state. You have to ask yourself this, right? $544 million. Imagine what Tennessee State University looks like with an influx of $544 million. Imagine the people that could be there answering phones, helping students, scholarships, housing. housing but instead we choose to hand over 250 million dollars and then tell them how bad of a job they're doing well how can you do a good job if you are short 544 million dollars now I want to speak to these members I want to speak to these members, I want to speak to these members that I know have an independent mindset. I want to speak to the Sam Whitsons.

I want to speak to the Mark Whites, the John Gillespie's, the Lord Russell's. Representative Parkinson, Representative Parkinson. I would ask you not to call out names because that gets you in a position. So, Representative Parkinson. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thought I was speaking positively of them. But to those members

who know when right is right and wrong is wrong, who will speak to the disparate treatment of our HBCU, our one land-grant institution that we know has not been treated properly. Then we turn the tables on them and say, you didn't get this corrected in the correct amount of time.

Well, let's do seven audits or five audits from the state, and especially one for $2 million that's looking for criminal activity on UT. Let's see how clean their audits come back. And I'm sorry, UT and President, I love you, but I'm just trying to make a point, y'all. This is not right. We have the power to let this action be corrected. Let me tell you about power in my 47 seconds.

Power gives you the ability to bless someone or the ability to destroy someone. You only get two things with power, the ability to bless someone or the ability to destroy someone. And to you members, I'm going to ask you this, how are you going to use your power today? Let's go to our panel. The thing, we discussed this yesterday, Matt, and we've been talking about it all week. First of all, folks, we're going to be in broadcasting live

from Nashville on Monday. You can go ahead and show the graphic. 11 a.m. local time, 12 Eastern. We're going to be in the State Capitol Rotunda broadcasting a news conference. And then that evening, we're going to be on the campus of Tennessee State University hosting a two-hour town forum broadcasting from there. Guys, you have the graphic? Can we?

All right. So, so we're going to be there broadcasting. Our goal, of course, is to highlight these issues and to speak to the issues. Again, everybody's invited over to the public that evening. We'll be on the campus again of Tennessee State. And so look forward to that conversation. Matt, you heard the representative there, Representative Parkinson talk about,

they had a committee two years ago that showed that Tennessee State had been underfunded by to the tune of $544 million. Then in September, the Biden-Harris administration sent letters out, Education Secretary Cardona and Bill Sack Ag Secretary, stating that a number of HBCU land grant institutions in about 16 states, frankly, had been cheated out

of $13 billion in land-grant money. In Georgia, the Black Caucus there sued Georgia. Fort Valley State, for instance, they said was owed $603 million. And I said yesterday to Tennessee Representative Harold Ford, and he said, well, we were hoping we'd get this taken care of in the budget. I'm sitting there going, no, you've got to sue them. I think there should be massive lawsuits in every single state where you have a public HBCU

where they have been cheated out of this money. Story like this about Florida, and I think it was FAMU with a similar issue where they've been cheated out of money for decades. And that's what's so horrible about this is that they've underfunded this school for a very long time and are hyper-fixing it on trying to get issues there, despite the fact, in one of the articles that I read, that the University of Tennessee at Knoxville apparently had some of the same housing issues and some of the other issues that have been

attributed to TSU and its audit. And what I think is interesting about this situation is I was on the Tennessee state website to make sure I learned more about how the board of trustees is populated. And it looks like under Tennessee law, the governor gets to appoint eight of those 10 members on the board. So that's a problem because it seems like the lack of local governance is baked into the law. And it creates a situation where if you have a supermajority or you have a Republican or somebody who is an enemy of the school, essentially, they can vacate a board because they serve at the pleasure of the governor. And I don't know all the procedural requirements for that. But the larger issue is if the schools don't have local autonomy and local authority,

then they're always subject to this exact thing happening. And what we know is it's targeting, full stop. I mean, the fact that UT Knoxville has had some of the same issues and has not had an inordinate number of audits in a very short period of time and isn't being called to the carpet shows you that they are looking for fault with the black school, where they're not looking for fault with other flagship universities. But I think part of the issue is, going forward, there needs to be a recalibration of how the schools can even govern themselves. And I know there are probably similar mechanisms in other states and similar

board-of-trustee-type situations. But the problem is Tennessee state needs to be able to govern itself. And the problem is with Bill Lee now being able to put in all 10 people on this board, or rather all eight of them, I think, that are appointed by him. And then there's one other member that's populated, I think, by the school, a faculty member. That allows him to control and Republicans, frankly, to control Tennessee State's future going forward. So there are multiple issues at play here, and I think it's called the Focus Act.

And if I were a Democrat in Tennessee, I would be working nonstop to repeal that so that the local schools have local autonomy. The thing here that I am trying, and we've been sounding this alarm, Kelly, every HBCU where Republicans have a supermajority, they had better prepare themselves because Republicans are going to repeat this kind of crap here all across the country, and especially all across the South.

Absolutely. And I would go a step further and say, even if you have an HBCU that is not in a GOP stronghold, I would still urge those HBCUs to fight to make sure and ensure that they have self-governing capabilities, because politics are politics. There's no guarantee that your governor will always be an HBCU advocate. So you need to prepare yourself to make sure that anything that comes your way, you have solid footing and you won't be swayed one way or the other. But what I will say regarding Tennessee specifically, it is astounding to me how the half a billion dollars that they have not yet received, that's how underfunded they have been, and yet they have some of the most incredible alumni in the world. They have some of the best students on the planet right now. The education that people get at TSU and every HBCU is bar none. And the fact that we have a history of being underfunded, the fact that we have a history of being disenfranchised and overlooked and underfunded across the board, and yet you still have this legacy of excellence. Can you imagine if we actually were funded, if we actually did get our worth?

And it wouldn't just be a benefit to just Black students. It would literally be a benefit to the entire country, because it would be a reflection of the entire higher education system in this country and how excellent it can all be. But racism rears its ugly head every time. And we get stuff like this. And to me, it's just sad, the fact that racism disenfranchises everyone, but they only think of themselves. And that's how things like this just keep going and perpetuate. Michael, I'm telling you, people need to understand when you start looking at CRT, WOKE, DEI,

affirmative action decision, everybody kept talking about affirmative action decision. Oh, this is a silver lining for HBCUs. No, it's not. They are going to be attacked. And these Republicans are not going to want these places to be bastions of black power. Correct, Roland. All this is a continuation of the U.S. Civil War and the end of Reconstruction. If you understand what these white supremacists were doing from 1865 to 1877, then going into

the Jim Crow era, where they're rewriting state constitutions to impose poll taxes and literacy tests to attack African Americans, this is a continuation of this, and it's a continuation of them using the laws and the power of the state legislature, as well as the governorship, to attack African Americans. I've said numerous times on this show, politics is the legal distribution that scares wealth, power and resources, and the writing of law, statutes, ordinances, amendments and treaties. And this is what we're seeing here. Everything that governs our lives turns on the vote. And reading the article from NBC News on this, as well as one from News Channel 5, Nashville,

they talk about how over a 30-year period of time, Tennessee State University has been underfunded by the tune of $2.1 billion, OK? And that's underfunded from the state. Right, no, no, no, no, no, no. The $544 million is from the state, the $2.1 billion. 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 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 man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. 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. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more.

Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. And that's what they're owed because of those land grant dollars from the federal government. Yeah, land grant, it's a land grant colleges. Yeah, land grant. No, I'm saying, so yesterday when Harold Love was on, he said that you had Republican, they were, they were trying to mix the two together. It's supposed to be, no, those are two separate pools of money. A Tennessee committee in 2022 determined that Tennessee state was owed five, they were underfunded to the tune of $544 million by the state at 2.1 billion. That's what they actually are owed as a result of those federal dollars. Okay. So we're talking about close to 2.6 billion.

2.6 billion. Yep. 2.6 billion. Exactly. Okay. So all of this is a fight over money and power. Scarce wealth, power, and resources. And this also deals with the power of a governor. Okay? Because the governor has the authority to appoint the board to

this HBCU, Tennessee State University. And first of all, you did a fantastic segment, Roland. I watched the entire thing. It was about 46 minutes. And Dr. Greg Carr yesterday was fantastic as well in his analysis on this. And he said that these white supremacists are running a Boston on us. And this is going to be the model that they use from state to state to state.

So this is why we have to fight back. This is about self-preservation. I keep letting folks know that this thing is real. So folk need to understand it's happening now. While that happened, the governor also signed a bill repealing police traffic stop reform was made in Memphis after the fatal beating of Tyree Nichols by Memphis cops in January 2023.

GOP lawmakers pushed this bill, despite pleas from Nichols' parents, to give them a chance to find a compromise. Lee's signature means that the law outlaws so-called pretextual traffic stops, such as for a broken taillight and other minor violations, that that law is immediately rendered null and void. Lee agreed with Republican lawmakers who said Nichols' death needed to result in accountability for officers who abuse power,

but not new limits on how authorities conduct traffic stops. And this is what we talk about and the fact that they did. I mean, this is all because, Matt, they have a super majority and they can do whatever they want. And it doesn't matter what Democrats have to say. Yeah, that's exactly right. And it goes back to the same point I made earlier about local control and divesting Memphis, a Democratic stronghold of its autonomy. But what I think is especially insidious about this particular bill is the messaging that they're trying to advance. And what they're saying is, yeah, the officers who engaged in this need to be held accountable, but we don't need to take away officers' ability to do what they think is

right on the street. And they're trying to sell that as though it gives officers more freedom to make the stops that they think are appropriate in enforcing the law. But what it's really saying is we think the people in Memphis, one, can't do something that is a justice reform measure, where you're going to stop officers from being able to use pretext stops, which is one of the biggest issues in policing, pretext stops, where they pull you over for some minor infraction to try to search your car or do some other thing, and a major arrest ends up coming out of it, right? That happens all the time, where they use a pretext to stop you.

So not stopping the police officers in Memphis from doing this sends a message to say, one, we don't think you can govern yourselves, and, two, we're going to give police officers carte blanche to do whatever they want, even if it is shown that those pretext stops don't correlate with a large number of felony stops and are racially divisive and racially discriminatory, which we know that they are both in Tennessee and across the country. So I think the messaging especially is problematic here because the people of Memphis elect their representatives, and those representatives have the autonomy to decide what is best for their community, and that is normally what we hear conservatives trumpet in all of the state houses where conservatives have a supermajority, including here in Texas. So it's interesting that they turn back

on their own word and ideology when it's advantageous for them to do so, despite it crowing this all the rest of the time. The crazy thing for me, Kelly, is you got people who don't even live in Memphis, who are not from Memphis, who are not from Memphis, who are now telling Memphis what they can do. And I guarantee you those same Republicans

will be mad as hell if Memphis are telling them what to do in their city, in their county. Well, sure. But if anything that the GOP is good for, it's hypocrisy. So what's good for the goose isn'tP is good for, it's hypocrisy. So what's good for the goose isn't always necessarily good for the gander as far as they're concerned. If it's good for them, it's good. If it's good for somebody else, it's bad.

And they don't want that to happen. So I echo Matt's sentiments. really, this boils down to a power grab, a disenfranchisement, yet again, of people of color in that jurisdiction, and trying to maintain what little power they still have and have an attempt to grow that power, so that they don't come back into this situation. But hopefully with voting, with vigilance, you know, some things can turn back around. We say it all the time, Michael, why voting matters. You've got Republicans in Louisiana, that MAGA, Jeff Landry, now the governor. Now they want to rewrite the state's constitution in two weeks. People better understand

what happens when you stay your ass at home. So all y'all people sitting there talking about, oh, I'm going to go ahead and stay at home in November. Okay. You're a damn fool. You're a damn fool and don't understand history. Go back to 1898 when Louisiana

rewrote their state constitution. They imposed poll taxes, literacy tests, a grandfather clause, but they also imposed a 9-3 clause for criminal court cases, so that if you were found guilty in a criminal court case, it didn't have to be unanimous. It could be 9-3. And they did this specifically—when you go research this, they did this specifically to nullify any African Americans that were on a jury, because it was legal for African Americans to serve on juries in Louisiana in 1898. So they did that so that if African Americans on the jury found that an African American defendant was not guilty,

nine white people found them guilty, guess what? You're guilty, and you go to prison. That—then, decades later, it was switched to 10 to 2. It was made unanimous somewhere around 2018, OK? So, this is a legacy of that Jim Crow era. People don't—your understanding of politics is directly related to your understanding of history. When I hear people talking about not voting, staying at home, they are trying to wipe us

off of the political chessboard. They're doing it at the state legislature level. They're doing it at the local level. They're trying to take back the White House, keep the House of Representatives, and take back the White House, keep the House of Representatives, and take back the Senate. And then, if you study what the Heritage Foundation is trying to do with Project 2025, OK, they're trying to repeat the same game that they ran in 1980 with the first Reagan administration. The Heritage Foundation, this right-wing think tank, they put out a book that contained 2,000

policies that they wanted enacted by the Reagan administration. The Reagan administration enacted 60 percent of those policies, downsizing government, you know, reversing policies that were beneficial for African-Americans. They're trying to do the same thing again because it worked, and we still haven't figured this out. This is why voting is so important. But you have to understand history, economics, law and politics and how all this comes together. Hold tight for one second. When we come back, we're going to talk about folks now targeting a scholarship made after Jewish Floyd. Y'all, I'm telling you, anything out there for Black folks, they coming after it. You're watching Roland Martin on the filter on the Black Star Network.

Fanbase is pioneering a new era of social media for the creator economy this next generation social media app with over 600 000 users is raising 17 million dollars and now is your chance to invest for details on how to invest visit startengine.com slash fan base or scan the qr code another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits or scan the QR code. Another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits. As bad as Trump was, his economy was worse and black America felt it the most.

He cut health insurance while giving tax breaks to the wealthy and big business. As president, I put money in pockets and capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month. There's a lot more to do, but we can do it together. I'm Dee Barnes, and next on The Frequency, Beyonce has always been country. We're talking to music, pop culture, and politics writer

Taylor Crumpton about her new article on Beyonce's new country songs and how country music has always been part of Black culture. Since the release of Texas Hold'em and Sixteen Carriages, there has been a definition of what Black country music is and a definition of what white country music is. White country music historically has always won the awards, has always got the certification.

Black country music has not. This is a conversation you don't want to miss. That's next on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. Hello, I'm Paula J. Parker. Trudy Proud on The Proud Family. Louder and Prouder on Disney+. And you're watching Roland Mars Unfiltered. Well, white conservatives strike again.

This time they're going after Minnesota's North Central University's George Floyd Memorial Scholarship for young black students. A legal complaint filed by the Equal Protection Project with the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights says that the scholarship violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by exclusively qualifying for black students.

The law prohibits intentional discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in any federally funded program or activity. Here's the scholarship's description. Thank you for your interest in the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship. or activity. Here's the scholarship's description. Thank you for your interest in the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship. The George Floyd Memorial Scholarship provides a way to invest in a new generation

of young black Americans, poised and ready to be leaders in our community and our nation. We believe that the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship will enable North Central University to increase our number of black students who will impact the learning environment in a positive manner. Diversifying our learning environment is key to being a university that looks and acts like heaven. Well, guess what? These are these are the requirements here. But let's just be real clear. These folk here, they ain't Christian.

They don't care. And bottom line here is, Michael, and I keep warning people, I keep warning them, if there's any program to help black people, all these white racists coming after all of them. Yes, they are, Roland. And this is a continuation of the conversation that we had with the sisters who founded the

Fearless Fund and the lawsuit that white conservative Ed Bloom filed. Now, I know they're citing Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. I guess they're citing Section 601, ndiscrimination and federally assisted programs, which makes race-based programs illegal. If people go to archives.gov and read the 1964 Civil Rights Act and look at Title VI, Section 601, it explains it there. Now, the distinction that I need made, are these federal funds rolling or are these like funds from another source? Because the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Section 601, deals with federally funded, federally assisted programs.

Well, they're claiming any, because this university receives federal funds, there can't be a scholarship that targets African Americans. Matt? So, you know, Michael kind of got right where I was going to go. I think it's a matter now of changing the strategy. And I think that schools who want to provide a scholarship like this need to have a link on their website that shows all the available scholarships, but the money has to come from a completely private entity, private endowment or private foundation. Because what's problematic about this, I read the Title VI complaint, and I have a case adjacent to a Title VI complaint right now. And it's exactly, from my understanding, what

you said. It is an organization or an entity that receives federal funding. If they're discriminating in the benefits of their programming, if they're discriminating in the benefits of their programming, then they're in violation of the law. And what makes this very tenuous legally is the case from last year, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. They have actually cited that case in their Title VI letter to the Department of Education Civil Rights Office. And what it says in that case is it says that even if the motive is essentially a positive one, i.e. to empower people of a particular protected class here, Black Americans, it runs afoul of the law.

And the problem is I don't think they're wrong, at least as it relates to the letter of the law. So now it's incumbent on us, people who are trying to support Black students particularly, to find ways around that. And frankly, that has to be completely private money that's doling out these scholarships that is not in any way, you know, adherent to the federal funding or receiving federal funding. And that's what I see as the problem here, because they're trying to use it as both, you know, a sword and a shield, essentially, in saying, well, if you are saying that we're discriminating by not allowing enough Black students in or, you know, as it relates to admissions programs, then anything that is just for Black people is something that runs.

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 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. 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.

The foul of the law and the way the law is written, I think there is a little bit of a hole there. So I don't know how to do that beyond strategizing and putting the money in a pot that has no federal funding whatsoever. Kelly. Now, I echo the sentiments of Matt here. I immediately thought of the scholarships that I have received in the course of my academic work. there were scholarships in place, again, almost completely privately funded, that were targeting people of color in very unique ways. So it wasn't that white people couldn't get them, but you had to be where Black people are in order to get them, that being an HBCU. So if you have, like, again, Matt, like Matt said, you have to be strategic in this regard in order to get what you need. And there will always be a way to get Black people what they need.

So I'm not necessarily worried about that. But I will say that it is frustrating for what I find to be a somewhat dying breed of Americans being this staunchly racist, this gung-ho and adamant about not helping people of color, still controlling what is necessary for people of color to survive and thrive in this country. Hopefully, like I said, this dying breed will die off sooner rather than later. But in the meantime, strategies will come into play to make sure that we have what we need. Indeed,

indeed. Michael, Kelly, Matt, I appreciate y'all being on today's show. Thank you so very much. Folks, we come back and we'll continue our tribute to the late, great Lou Gossett Jr., who passed away last night at the age of 87. You're watching Roller Mark Unfiltered right here on the Blackstar Network.

This is attorney Demario Solomon-Simmons. I'm a national civil rights attorney. I'm also the founder and executive director of Justice for Greenwood. Many of you guys know I've been leading the fight with the last two living survivors and the Greenwood community overall. We have a historic hearing coming up on April 2nd at 1.30pm in front of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. I need all of you to support us as we try to get justice for this issue for the first time in almost 103 years.

Sign up to support us during this hearing on Tuesday, justiceforgreenwood.org backslash watch party, April 2nd, 1 30 PM. We need your support, your messages and your prayers. We appreciate you justice for Greenwood. On a next, a balanced life with me, Dr. Jackie. People can't live with them. Can't live without them. Our relationships often have more ups and downs than a boardwalk roller coaster, but it doesn't have to be that way. Trust your gut. Whenever your gut is like, this isn't healthy,

this isn't right, I don't like the way that I'm being treated, this goes for males and females. Trust your gut, and then whenever that gut feeling comes, have a conversation. Knowing how to grow or when to go, a step-by-step guide on the next a balanced life on black star network janet actually called me and she said do you remember us having an argument in the studio whatever whatever and i said no not really because we never argued in the studio and she said well there's this piece we found and can i can you come over and watch it with me? And I said, sure. And I went over and watched it, and I loved it. I just started laughing.

I said, this is great. This is great, Janet. And she said, okay, so you're okay with this? I said, yeah, I'm fine with it. Because literally, we worked together for, I mean, I don't know how many days we've been in the studio together. And literally, we had maybe one argument like that. Right. And it was captured.

But of course, that's the thing that, you know, people want to see. But yeah, that kind of thing happens. Some days that's with, you know, your voice isn't good today. Let's just go see a movie or let's go just chill.

You know, some days it's tough love. Like, you got to do that again. Hi, I'm Jo Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on Disney's Louder and Prouder Disney+. And I'm with Roland Martin on Unfiltered. Thank you. You laughing at me, dick brain? No, sir. You better stop eyeballing me, boy. I'll rip your eyeballs out to sockets and skull fuck you to death.

Yes, sir. What's your name, boy? Mayo. Zach Mayo, sir. How did you slip into this program? I didn't know the Navy was so hard up. The winner is Lou Gossett Jr. You know when you prepare a speech, it's no use because it's all gone. I tried to get my kid to come up here to share this with me, but there are some special people

I would like to share this with. Specifically, tomorrow is the 17th anniversary of my relationship with my one agent, Mr. Ed Bondy. They say marriages don't last. I've got a spirit that guides me, starting from my great-grandmother who died at the age of 117, and my mom and dad, who I know are watching, and my cousin Yvonne. Thank you. You make everything fall into place.

And all you other four guys, this is ours. Thank you. Lou Gossett, of course, winning. And in fact, if I'm correct, he was the first African-American to win an Oscar since Sidney Poitier did. That's why it was so historic. Four years ago, we were on the red carpet at the American Black Film Festival

and talking to a variety of folks and Lou Gossett came by. And so we had an opportunity to chat with him. And so we're gonna show you some of that conversation. It was interesting in that same red carpet, we also, I talked for the first time opportunity to chat with him and so we're going to show you some of that conversation and was interesting in that same red carpet we also I talked for the first time and only time with Lance Reddick who passed away last year as well here is our chat with Lou was a little difficult all right GMC Sierra hold up let's see it come right, so we're going to get this set up right here.

So video, here we go. I think we got it going. I think we got it. All right, here we go. All right, go ahead. Because of, you know, loss of John Singleton. And so it's always good to see. About to see him right, talk to him now. It's always good to see my man.

How you doing? You looking good. What's that food you're eating? Give me some. Well, of course, I'm going to kneel down here. I got this when I was, I just got this when I was in Ghana in December. So I got this outfit here. Well, I was in Ghana in November.

Did you get my message? I didn't get your message. But you do call me. When you call me, I'm like, you should call me. It's important. Click. I'm going to talk to you. I got some stuff to talk to you about.

No problem. Hit me anytime. I have a foundation. It's called e-racism. And now is the time for it to be in action. After we travel around, we see what the situation and problems are, I think it'll make sense to you. What this is in its year is the accumulation of all the football,

all the fights, all the falling off horses, all the punches over a 60-year career. Absolutely. It's my choice to be like this, Ray. You've been honored tonight, and it's great to see so many people who want to come out and show you some love tonight. I'm amazed. I'm pleasantly amazed, especially these young folks.

That's amazing. It's a miracle. But they've been watching you. We've been watching you. Yeah, it's a pleasure. Great pleasure. You look good, sir. Well, you know, I'm just trying to do like you.

You know, I see you got the relaxed black tux tonight. Yes, sir. Yeah. It's just I'm uncomfortable. I understand. I'm real comfortable. And I tell them all the time, see, if you wear an African outfit at a black event, they can't turn you away.

That's right. See, they can be uncomfortable in a tuxedo. We'll be real comfortable. Very comfortable. Very comfortable. All right, Doc. I'm going to see you later. I'm going to see you. Give me aedo. We'll be real comfortable. Very comfortable. Very comfortable. All right, Doc. I'm going to see you later. Always good to see you.

You give me a call. We'll chat any time. All right, you take care. All right, folks. Louis Gossett there. So appreciate it. So we're always, we're always. Well, in 2016, when the remake of Roots was released,

we chatted with Lou Gossett Jr. on TV One's News One Now. Very touching right here. Let me quickly get a photo of this. It's done and then it would be up in the thing and then we get on with normal. We had no idea that this was going to be a guard shot and we had no idea there was going to be lightning in the bottle. But we were getting this acceptance now because the society was growing up, if you know what I'm saying. We needed to step on the southern market, put it on from Monday to Friday and get rid of it.

But we had our say and then we'll go back to normal. We did the very best we can because we never knew we'd get another opportunity to do it again. So all of a sudden you guys begin to win these awards, Emmys, Golden Globe, Peabody. What was the reaction from the cast with the love you were receiving from across the country? Totally surprised. But then you back up and you say, it's like Alex Haley's grandma said, God may not be there when you want him, but he's always there on time.

So it was, the roots was a time, a thing whose time had come. Everything was right. We had no idea that it was going to be so enormously successful, nor did ABC. When it hit, the entire world stopped, including the southern market. And it was still the highest-watched television series in television history, because the time had come. So then we started to say, well, maybe this is not just a little special thing. It took a minute for us to realize how important it was, as we got our awards and we got our

different invitations to different venues. It took over a year for them to not expect it to put programming. And that's where John Amos came with the Jeffersons and Good Times, etc. And then things have gotten better incrementally every year since then. How important was the success of the original route to launching the careers of so many African Americans in Hollywood? It opened a lot of doors. It took a minute for those projects to be prepared over a year, year and a half, and then they started spilling out. I wound up doing Sadat,

managed to do Lawman Without a Gun, Benny's Place, Satchel Paige. Thank God for television, because all those stories needed to be told, but only after Roots was done. So here we are now, focused on the 40th anniversary of Roots. What do you see as the long-term impact of this miniseries on television and Hollywood? Well, it's had an incredible impact because it's still the most watched television series

in television history, including the Moonshot. More people watched this than watched the Moonshot. watched television series in television history including the moon shot more people watched this than watch the moon shot so roots is such historical blockbuster that we're gonna do it again and Mark Roper thought to do it again because his children didn't understand the original roots so he's translating using contemporary famous people to play the same parts more power to them but the door is wide open for the rest of our story. The rest of our legacy has to come. And there's an audience waiting to see it. In films,

12 Years a Slave, The Help, et cetera, there's so much more to tell. And now our filmmakers have the opportunity, because there's so many venues, to tell those stories straight from us to the public. Thank God for Roots First, and we've gone incrementally in that direction ever since, but faster now than before. Now, of course, Roots is now being remade. It's going to air on the History Channel beginning of Memorial Day. Now, when I talked to you at the Trumpet Awards, you said this. It's been done. We can't reinvent the wheel. The story's been told. There's so much else. There's a continuum. There's the Harlem Renaissance. There's the cowboy. There reinvent the wheel. The story's been told. There's so much else. There's a continuum.

There's the Harlem Renaissance. There's the cowboy. There's the soldiers. The literary people. W.E.B. de Bois. There's so much to tell in continuation. So that's a legacy. We should need to continue on if we have that airtime.

I know why, because he wants to be like his dad. But I'd like to encourage him to continue on with the legacy. There's so much to tell. It's never going to be over. It's like Yogi Berra said, it ain't over until it's over. We have a lot of stories about us that people need to know about. So the question I have, why have you changed your mind? Well, my take was that my initial gut take,

and they punished me because I'm not part of the New Roots, but it's okay. David Wolfer did a beautiful job, and so do we. That's been done. Just reshow it to the next children and explain to them what it's about. Mark Wolpert made a decision. I have to respect his decision to show his children the roots that they would understand.

Okay, that being done, we still have the rest of our legacy to tell. So if he hasn't done it, we're going to have to. We're going to have to do that. So I can't put that down as much as I used to before because my gut thing is, why reinvent the wheel? Your father did a brilliant job

and so did us. Why do it again? Obviously, it's his decision. So we will see it. Compare the tape. The great Forrest Whitaker is playing Fiddler. I got to see him do that.

There's Lawrence Fishburne. I got to see him do that. There's Laurence Fishburne. I got to see all those people do that again. And then now we've got two. Now we still got to get on with the rest of the story. So when it comes to Roots, you have of course, Will Packer was producer. Mario Van Peebles is one of the directors. How important is it to have African Americans

who are in front of the camera and behind the camera telling these stories. Well, the change is a consciousness. So we just talked about this in another interview, wondering when we're going to get another shot and when we're going to get another, when are they going to give us an opportunity? We don't have to wait for them giving us opportunity anymore. There's so many venues and there's some money coming that we finally can tell our own story our own way. And then to level the playing field. And that's what Selma is. and that's what other things have done.

So Ava and Will Packer and others. And Denzel now on HBO and Fuqua, Antoine Fuqua. What a combination of people. We don't have to wait for another opportunity. We can create the opportunity now. It's the beginning of that new mentality. It's very exciting of that new mentality. It's very exciting to know how much more is going to happen.

I'm directing my next movie with Nick Cannon and Lisa Leslie. And we've had you on TV One before talking to the next generation of young actors. What do you say to the likes of Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, and all these other young brothers and sisters who are coming up in Hollywood? Well, my answer is go for it. Go for it. There's no such thing as impossible these days. There's so much. All we have to do is prepare properly, and the opportunity will come. No such thing as impossible. You shoot for a 10, you get a 5. That's 5 more than you had when you

started. Go for another 10. Go in that direction, and don't give up. All right, Lou Gossett, always good to see you, brother. Take care. Thank you, Roland. Still got my love and respect. God bless. Folks, Roots, the complete original series is now available in digital HD for downloads from digital retailers

and will be released on Blu-ray on June 7th. Folks, we talked to Lou Gossett in December 2022. He showed us a video, he was in a car, and the cast of The Color Purple paid tribute to him. And Lou told his folks to send it to us,

and I thought he had airdropped it to us. I'm gonna keep looking for it. But it is on YouTube. It was shot from another angle and Fantasia posted this in her tribute to Lou Gossett today

on Instagram. We just wanted to say thank you so much. We thank you, dear legend. You may not think of yourself this way, but we know you are. We are on your shoulders. We thank you and appreciate you so much. And all that you gave to us today, we thank you so much.

We thank you for everything that you've done. All of the work and the races you've learned all of the words and races you've learned. Louie, thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, we want to say thank you. Thank you. Man, Lou was so moved by that. And he was just, he just thought it was amazing how they paid their respects to him for that. And so we certainly appreciate him and his work. And normally when folks, when we do these memoriams, we normally invite a number of artists and others to reflect

on them. But because we had so many interviews and interactions with Lou Gossett, Jr., we wanted to actually spend the time and show you those. So we're going to go to a break and we come back. We're going to have for you that one-on-one interview that I did with Lou Gossett, a Rolling with Roland interview. I'm so glad he would call me and he would hit me up and he would say, man, we got to sit down and talk.

And I was so glad that we finally, finally made that happen in December 2022. And so we'll do that. So that is it for me. I will see you guys on Monday live from Nashville in our continuation of the tribute to the great Lou Gossett Jr. who passed away at the age of 87. He is now an ancestor. I'll see you on Monday. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 ¶¶ ¶¶ This is Attorney Demario Solomon-Simmons. I'm a National Civil Rights Attorney.

I'm also the founder and executive director of Justice for Greenwood. Many of you guys know I've been leading the fight for the last two living survivors and the Greenwood community overall. We have a historic hearing coming up on April 2nd at 1.30 p.m. in front of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. I need all of you to support us as we try to get justice for this issue for the first time in almost 103 years. Sign up to support us during this hearing on Tuesday, justiceforgreenwood.org, backslash watch party, April 2nd, 1.30 p.m. We need your support, your messages, and your prayers. We appreciate you.

Justice for Greenwood. As bad as Trump was, his economy was worse, and black America felt it the most. He cut health insurance, while giving tax breaks to the wealthy and big business. He stoked racial violence, attacked voting rights, and if reelected, vowed to be a dictator and, quote, get revenge. We can't go back.

As president, I put money in pockets, creating millions of new jobs, and capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month. There's a lot more to do, but we can do it together. I'm Joe Biden, and I approve this message. Fanbase is pioneering a new era of social media for the creator economy. This next-generation social media app the creator economy. This next generation social media app with over 600,000 users is raising $17 million and now is your chance to invest.

For details on how to invest, visit startengine.com slash fanbase or scan the QR code. Another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits. 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 But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. 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 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 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. I always had to be so good no one could ignore me.

Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org. rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org

brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Look, we've been trying to do this for years. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Finally. Finally, finally, finally. It's good to see you, sir. Doc, how you doing? I'm blessed and highly. I'm very lucky, man.

I'm here on God's time, you know. I's time. You can look at the length of my career. Started at the age of 17 in 1953. I have a photograph of me and my great-grandmama who's from down here. She had to be approximately, in that photograph, 110. Wow. So she was a slave. So we don't know I say approximately because the Bible didn't get started until after the slaves were freed and her birth was not recorded in the Bible. And she remembers the Bible being started. So the next time I'll show you these photographs. So now I've been doing this since 1953 and this is what year it is now.

I'm on borrowed time. This is the longest career that you can think of. Now, see, it's interesting listening to you. So I just saw Emancipation. Yes, sir. Yes. Starring Will Smith. Yeah.

And it's amazing when we have these conversations with people and they say, oh, slavery was just so long ago. And so for you to say, no, my great-grandmother was a slave. Yes. And I think it's now to our benefit. Because when you travel, like Glenn is traveling now and others will, we get to see the condition of other countries, other oceans, other cultures. And if we believe in God, a lot of us do. He's telling us if you don't get rid of that stuff that makes somebody superior or

inferior and work together for that mutual salvation, everybody's gone. So I walk around talking to the kids with my foundation, which is that one. But as an elder, let's go for what it's worth. I don't get into anybody's face, but the truth is the truth. We are desperately needed at our best for the salvation of mankind. I want to talk about that. Obviously, we really want to go into detail about roots. But I did a video after I saw Emancipation, and it absolutely bothers me when I hear people say, look, man, I'm sick of these slavery movies.

We're more than that. That's pain. That's black trauma. And my deal is Jewish folks make it perfectly clear. Of course. Never forget. No, never forget. And I say, I don't care what you say, when I see many of these films, I'm seeing resilience.

I'm seeing a fight. I'm seeing never broken. No such thing as impossible. And so for me, it's not trauma. It's called history. Yes, it is. Now, there's a trick in it, though. And the trick is if you hold on to that resentment, we're the ones that get the cancer.

We're the ones that get the high blood pressure. So we need to take it and put it aside as we go ahead for the benefit of us all. We just have one of the oldest cultures that's desperately needed for mutual salvation. That's the consciousness for us to behave as if we have the keys in our roots to save mankind and be a major contribution to our mutual salvation, that puts us where we belong. I gave a commencement speech to Granville. Yes, sir. And the title of the speech was, Never Say Toby.

Ha, ha, ha. Tony, yeah. And so when I gave the commencement speech, and when I worked in newspapers, among the black staffers, I would say that. They would be frustrated. They would be upset. I would say, never say Toby. Never say Tony.

Never say Toby. Toby. And the white staffers never knew what the hell I was talking about. Yes, sir. And the black folks were like, bro, did you say never say Toby? I'm like, yes, never say Toby. Toby, yeah. And the white staffers never knew what the hell I was talking about. Yes, sir. And the black folks were like, bro, did you say never say Toby? I'm like, yes, never say Toby. And they were shocked that I would say that, but I was trying to get them to understand, don't let them break you. Yeah, but we're getting to a place where the way we think and feel now is for the benefit

of everybody's benefit. There's no enemy. We're together. Otherwise, we're on this 747 airplane, you know, and it's at 30,000 feet and it's about to crash. The people inside the plane are fighting over who's going to be in first class. Right. That doesn't make sense. Now it's time to, sometimes reluctantly, bury the hatchet a little bit and work together for our mutual salvation. And that one act puts us where we belong.

You mentioned consciousness. Yes, sir. And I've said for years, black America needs a massive reprogramming. Oh, yeah. A deprogramming. Deprogramming and massive reprogramming. Oh, yeah. A deprogramming. Deprogramming and then reprogramming, reminding before Fiddler what we came with. We were told to get rid of that stuff.

Now that very same thing that we're told to get rid of is one of the things that's most necessary for our mutual salvation. The love of God, the pride in the earth, the water, and one another, men and women, women and men, children. There's this child the other day, he's in the papers, 12 years old. His voice don't go any higher than that. Because he's a 13-year-old. And I got proud of it. Walking down the street, I said, I got him. That's not us.

That's not us. It breaks my heart. That's not the boy I remember in front of the Maasai line in the Kenya. Or the kid who was from the Ashanti. That's not them. That's not our children you've never you've never been shy

or afraid of Afro centric roots and it's amazing a lot of our people man I'm not from there and so if you're wearing the clothes and people

man what are you doing? You're just like, it's a costume. It's always interesting when I'm having these conversations with some individuals and I explain to them all the time, one, if that's your view, you clearly have never used your passport. And two, you've never actually had that experience of stepping foot in the motherland and seeing and feeling and understanding where we actually come from and where civilization comes from. Well, I believe very much in God. Full circle. Tried everything. Billy Dee Williams.

We did all that stuff. We know, up in Harlem and the dance and all that. Finally comes down full circle, God's still in charge. He's over in the corner with his own sort of, with a laugh, with a smile on his face. What if he's in charge? We're going to come back to the truth eventually. And there's roles that we played back in Africa before we got slavery. And there's a reason why we control the planet. We made a lot of mistakes.

But we control the planet with that system. Of whatever age, there's something for you to do with the benefit of the whole tribe. Make the bed, gather the beans, we'll get the eggs, and the women will cook. It would go that way until you become a father and then an elder, which is I become a griot. As long as that's the first order of business is to feed back whatever it takes back to the tribes. Everybody listens. If somebody falls out of line, they stick out like a sore thumb.

Now they're all sticking out like a sore thumb. So you can see the difference of what we used to do as opposed to what's happening today. It breaks my heart to see a kid whose voice has not even dropped yet. I shot that. That doesn't make sense. That's not us. That's not us. So for what it's worth, until God calls me,

I'm so fortunate to be left alive and reasonably healthy to open my mouth like here and everywhere else and say it's more for us to do. Go back to the basics. And the ones who are listening are shining and sticking out like wonderful sort of the athletes, the actors now. I'm so proud to still be around to witness. Even Will Smith. That is one of the finest actors and gentlemen I know. He deserves to get what he's

getting. That was an emotional thing. That's something else. But there's so many of them out there. It's great to be sitting here and listening and watching these kids. Taraji Henson. Boy, there's some good ones out there. They're so good, man. I'm glad that they're getting an opportunity to grace a soundstage with them. Where'd they come from? I'm looking down. I'm going to put my tobacco down. I'm going, good, yeah, look at you. I saw some young brothers and sisters out here

I'm very proud of them it's interesting you say that because there were anybody who understands the history of when Roots was being made yes sir every black person in Hollywood was trying to be in that

and so many people just believed Roots was being made. Yes, sir. Every black person in Hollywood was trying to be in that. And so many people just believed after the fact, because of the ratings and all the attention, that it would just throw open so many doors for black actors. And it didn't happen. It was the season of Roots. It was put on because it had to contract with David Walper and Fred Silliman. As realistic, you would lose ratings for seven days. And then we'd be finished and go back to normal. And the whole thing flipped around.

My best friend in Roots was Vic Morrow. We grew up together. We played ball together. Great athlete. And I came on the set as Fiddler. And I had just met LeVar. We hung out and we fell in love. That was my father and son. Big brother. And Vic said, Hey, Louie. New York guy. I said, I want to apologize in advance. I said, Why? He said, Well, you'll see. So I'm standing there as Fiddler, I'm looking at LeVar Burton and Kunta Kinte at the same time. I look at my friend Vic Morrow

asking Kunta Kinte to say Toby. I got mixed emotions because he apologized, he knew what was going to happen. So finally when LeVar finally said, Kunta Kinte said, my name is Toby. It broke my heart. So now he's cut down and that's the end of the scene. But I kept on going and he kept the camera going. I said to him, I wiped his hands. I said, what do you care

what that man wants you to say? Kunta Kinte, that's your name. That's who you'll always be. And I looked up at Vic and I said, there's going to be another day. You hear me? There's going to be a better day. And kind of Vic's in his acting thing, just like that. There's a double truth in our counterparts. And that's what I pray for on a daily basis.

That those men, those Vic Morrows, those James Garner's God rest his soul, those guys, those Marlon Brandos, we're going to put those people together, men and women of all ages, to save this planet for one another. University of Georgia is like that now. It's getting there. University of Georgia is like that now. It's getting there, getting there, after traveling around the world. I don't know if you can notice this. People want to fight, and it's also so good with the picket signs.

But if they win that with the picket signs, that's only half of their success. So it's interesting, as you talked about, that season of Roots. Yes, sir. And I've had so many conversations, again, with Richard Lawson and Lynn Turman and Bill Duke, Jack Gay and others. And the reason why I think the stories are important and why we have to hear them, so people understand, when they turn that television on today, when they go to the big screen and they see these movies and shows, understand it was a long battle, struggle, fight to get that, to get to even just where we are today. Right. Well, we've got other options now. We can just open our mouth and we're on screen.

You know, I'm flirting with the story of Mary McLeod Bethune. So I heard about Mary McLeod Bethune's friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt. And it became real tight, real quick, because her husband was dying of alcoholism. So she came one day to the White House and he was in a wheelchair with a blanket. She grabbed the blanket, pulled the bottle, and aimed it like this, and she said, true story, I'm going to give this back to you, but here's what I want you to do first. I want you to integrate the armed forces because we're losing the war. And FDR said, no, they're not capable.

He said, I don't care what you say. Call Ike. He calls Ike and says, I want you to integrate the armed forces. He said, those people are not prepared. I don't care. We're going to integrate the war. Tuskegee Airmen, 135th Regiment Armory, Harlem, and five others others and so we're going to put them on the world's biggest bigots in the United States Army

it was Patton I said give them to Patton, he said I'll take care of that, leave them to me North Africa El Caim then they get their reputation as chess masters, he was a chess master he was about to annihilate the British in El

Cayenne, North Africa. There's one last spot for him to go before he says, charge. A young Tuskegee airman looked out the window and said, wait a minute, that's the such-and-such maneuver. Called the tank battalion and said, go to that place and don't give it up. As a result of them not giving it up, they beat Field Marshal Rommel, sent him up through Italy, back to Berlin, calling the people to the Svats. Where did it get started? The friendship of Mary McLeod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt. So when FDR died, Eleanor Roosevelt was responsible for the United Nations, Ralph Bunche, A. Philip Randolph, Walter White, and others. She was in the middle of all of that.

Mary McLaughlin. That's the story that we have to tell. Right. And there's so many like it. It's because it was supposed to be dangerous if we knew. It's essential that we all know now. Right. And to me, it's dangerous if we don't know. Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. Absolutely. Absolutely. More people didn't know me, didn't know about you. I've known you many years. Yes. I remember. I remember.

You're an owl. And you're necessary. 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 eye... 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. I 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 multibillion-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, It's bad. It's really, really, really bad. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott.

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. 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. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before.

I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. One of the things I love to see,

I love to see you mentioning Will and Taraji and this whole new crowd. Yeah, I just finished working with Taraji. I love to see them give appreciation in your presence. Well, I have something to show you, but I can't show you here. I'm going to show it to you today. A thank you from Taraji. See, the reason I think that's important, because I think about my grandmother. So my grandparents lived eight blocks from us.

Got you. And so basically nearly my whole family went to the same Catholic church. It was found in my grandparents' living room. And the thing is, when you walked into my grandparents' house, you greeted them first. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And it didn't even matter if there were other aunts. I remember I kissed my Aunt Helen first.

My Aunt Helen... You had Aunt Helen, too? No, my Aunt Helen was my grandfather's sister. Wow. They lived, like, three doors down from my grandparents. My grandmother got an attitude. No, it was attitude. No, it was hot. Yes, sir.

That I dared greet Aunt Helen before her. Yes, sir. I'm like, well, I ran to her first. No, she didn't like that. And so, to me, it's always important when we are in the presence

of those who came before us, paved the way, that we... You get that in honor. And every time. And not just, oh, you know, I saw the president. I mean, that's important to me. You got that right. That's vital to me when that happens, that if you're sitting over here, folk make, no, you walk across that room and you say thank you or good to see you.

You got that right, sir. You got that right. That's what we have to spread around the world. Those people should be honored. Because first of all, they have knowledge. We have to milk the knowledge from them. There you go. They have something to order for what it's worth.

I'm trying to do your job now. I'm trying a little podcast called For What It's Worth. Not a hammer. Just knock on that door and say blah, blah, blah. I'm going about my business. That's what we do when we get this age. My great-grandmama, I don't know how old she was when she passed away, but she had one thing that I remember. It was railroad mill snuff. It was down here in Georgia. So she had two friends who were the deaconesses of the church, First Baptist

Church. So she said, I don't know, I'll keep talking about it. Oh, I'm at least ten years older than both of you. You know that? Thank God. who is it? Somebody asked her to go. But she had to think that God was here before you got here. He was here while you're here. He's going to be here long after you go. So you better calm down and let him run things. That's it. We all have somebody in our lives, like you said.

Listen to him. Listen to him. In your field, who were those pillars for you that when you were in their presence, you just wanted to listen to them and just ask them questions and just... Well, I was adopted. I was 17 years old on Broadway in 1953. Not supposed to be possible.

Straight into high school. So the people that used to come and bring me sandwiches was Adam Clayton Powell and Hazel Scott. Paul Robles was the one who was in town. He was so happy to see this young kid and show up in this. He went to tears. He would laugh. He'd shake your hand.

His fingers were by my elbow. He was a big, wonderful, big boy. That's what he was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And there was Hazel Scott, who was in the play with me, Take a Giant Step. Frederick O'Neill, the first black person to act as equity. Estelle Hemsley. I had Max Glanville. There were some very nice

people. Used to come and bring me my sandwiches and my barbecue from Harlem. And so that was, oh my goodness. Wilt. I used to hang out with Wilt a lot. I was the kid on the block. I was so spoiled, man. I was so spoiled. So my great-grandma came up one day, and she says, oh, Grandma, you came, you made it.

And she slapped me. And there's a room full of famous people, right? Right. I said, well, you slapped me. She slapped me again. She says, I taught you how to be respectful for your grandma, and I didn't see that up there. I said, no, no, that's a play. That's a play. I don't care. And I'm going to come

back next week and make sure you don't say it again, right? You have Paul Robeson on the floor in stitches. You're like, I'm acting. I said, somebody else is like, I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. So there's a lot of little stories like that. That's hilarious. Why did you slap me? Culture clash. Paul Robles was like a kid. If he saw something like that, he'd be in tears. He'd laugh so hard. Great man. I think out of all... Josephine Baker, another one Out of all the figures When I think about

Activists And even entertainment Fundamentally Robeson is I think the top of the list Completely underrated Oh my god Not fully

One, just the athletic feats Right, Emma Jackson underrated. Oh my God. And not fully, I mean, one, just the athletic feats. Right. Emma Jack Johnson alone. Being a lawyer. But when you just think about central figures of the 20th century, I hate that more people really don't

understand. He still has yet to be really honored. Yeah. But there's a man, Kofi, I'll send him to you if you like. And you'll see Paul Robeson in front of you. He does a one-man show. And you should probably meet that young man. Absolutely. It's nice to be this age. We're grateful to be unscathed. I've broken legs and stuff, you know, had sports injuries.

But I've been given the opportunity by God, my God God, to be in Israel and Africa and Japan and Australia and Egypt and South America and Central America and Mexico, Canada, in 80 years. There's no career out there that long. I have nothing to complain about. I wake up the next morning, you got me another one? Thank you. Thank you, God. Thank you. It's good to see you. I've been in that place where I was concerned and it gets you angry

and finally you take a deep breath and say, oh, wait a minute. You can't do nothing about it except speak your mind and get on with the day. But it's a good time to be alive. When you... How do you... Let me phrase it this way.

What still excites you about either the stage, the small screen, or the big screen? What still makes you just, let's go? New talent. New talent. My favorite actress is Taraji Henson. Another one is the girl that played my daughter in The Watchman. I can't remember right now what her name is. King.

Regina King. Regina and others. Writers, the director from, it's called The Purple. Fantasia. There's some people out there that's very exciting. And it's in all walks of life. The athlete's amazing. That kid from New Orleans. He's amazing.

So when you're doing these projects, so for you it's being able to share space with this new generation. I'm blessed. I'm blessed. And as a mutual, I don't know, we don't have that kind of time, but I tell you, I felt so self-owned. All the thanks and congratulations. The mutual family over the last couple of years that I've been fortunate to be around. The respect is there. They like it when we

contribute some knowledge to them. They're out there saying, what's next? They're brilliant. But it's the old days when we created the original gangbanger and the original gangster. Mom was on the phone too long. The kid was in a high chair where the food wasn't on the floor. So he came out in the street and said, pay attention. They're really doing it now. But most of them are still here. They're salvageable.

And they'll take their cell phones eventually and put it in their back pocket and listen. That's a blessing. And I'm very proud to have a semblance of a relationship with those young people. Harry Belafonte. I love that man. As well. Yeah. As well.

Mr. B. Yes, sir. Absolutely amazing. When he had convened a meeting of the elders. Yes, sir. And it was here in Atlanta. Yes, sir. And he talked about this in his documentary.

He says that as he was sitting there, as he was sitting there listening to all the elders, he said it hit hit him I don't need to be in this room and that's when he then purposely went out and began to go find young people mm-hmm and to engage them and talk to them yes sir because he said the solutions for the future are not going to be solved in the room with elders he says we got to be able to be interacting with young. Yes, sir. There's so many stories to tell you. We need a lot of time to do that. My lifetime friend with Floyd Patterson, he was the El Diablos, Bedford Stop.

Stingy brim hats, satin jackets. And I had my cousins, the El Quintos. And I came and went to the wrong neighborhood. And a gang had me up against the wall. And somebody said, get out of the way. The man took a zip gun about this big with a big fat rubber band and put it between my eyes like this. We looked eye to eye they pulled the trigger and the rubber band broke.

Now the Guinness Book of Records does not have the fastest 10 blocks in history. I still hold that record. You know who that man was? Who? Floyd Patterson. Wow. Before he went to the Whitworth School. And we became close. Yeah, we became close after that.

Yes. I told him, he remembers me and I remember him. Man. And that's the story, yeah. Yeah, that is a story. Yeah, he almost killed me. But the rubber band broke. That's divine intervention.

Absolutely. Yeah, we run the Greenwood Lake before the championships. Quite a man. Now how did y'all go from that to friends? Because we looked at each other and said, I remember you. He said, yeah, you remember me. I remember you. Why would you remember me? And I told him, he said, yeah, that was me. Him and his brother ran the El Diablos. His brother died in Sing Sing. And he went to Whitwick School for Boys.

And you're like, thank God that rubber band... Yes, sir. Thick red rubber bands and things. And my butt said... I'm from Brooklyn. I come from there, from that whole area. It's amazing. The life is really nice. I'm from Brooklyn. I come from there, from that whole area. It's amazing. The life is really nice.

I'm very grateful. When you think about moments like that, and it happens to a lot of people, and it's always interesting to me when folks say, well, it just happened. I'm like, no, no, no, no. That was... A message. God knows what you were destined

for. Yes, sir. And what was sad to me is when I see, especially when I see the story of another young brother, young rapper, shot and killed, a brother at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffle House. Yeah. Take off, cats are sitting here playing a dice game. And when it happens, for me, what comes up is,

or even, you know, DJ Twitch takes his life at 40. I always think about. I always think about what the world misses when these lives are taken so young. And so when I hear that story, I mean, all the things that happened after that would have never transpired. You pray on it very hard. And I think their messages, God's giving us messages hard and soft. So sometimes we need to hear a hard message to get our attention and blink our eyes

to do something about it on a daily basis. And I'm very grateful to still be alive to open my mouth there's a to do that every now and then I can't get up in the morning I'm 86 you know but since I can't I'm up you know I've got some nice people working with me and for me to help me do that so you said you said open your mouth and the thing that I say this all the time to journalists or even media personalities. I tell them, you need to respect this microphone.

Yes, sir. And I said, what I mean by respect it, you need to understand the power of it. How literally what you say could alter someone's thinking, could change their mind, could change the direction of their lives. When I ran Tom Jonah's site, blackamericaweb.com, I was the founding editor.

We didn't have a praise and worship channel. And I say, well, you can't have a black website and give a praise and worship channel. So I created it. And I wrote a column one day and I literally cannot remember what it was. And a woman sent me an email. Woman sent me an email. A woman sent me an email. And she said, you know, I listen to Tom's show, and I hear this every day.

She said, I listen to his show, and I keep hearing him talk about this website every day. Gotcha. And she said, and I never went to the website. But today, I decided to go to the website. And she said, and then I went to this channel, and then I saw what you wrote. And I read what you wrote.

She said, I want you to understand something. She said, I had already planned my suicide. She said, I had already planned it. I knew when. I knew how. And I was simply waiting for that day. She said, yet, I read what you wrote, and now I understand that there's a purpose for my life.

Now, when I told that story, she was like, oh, my God, that's amazing. I said, no. I said, let me flip it. I said, what you need to understand is if God told me to write it and I never wrote it, she would have never read it. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I said, so the piece for us is when we have to say something to somebody, I said, say it because you do not know who is being sent to hear it.

Absolutely. I find here in Georgia, what I say to you sometimes doesn't fall right on black or white ears. Right. Because they want things to stay as they are and slowly grow. But if they want to stop me by killing me or shutting me down, they're shutting down somebody who's going to save their life tomorrow. This doesn't make sense. Doesn't make sense. That old, I'm better than you are doesn't make sense. I know a lot of cops. The good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern.

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 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 two 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 does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcast, 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 podcast. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before.

I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids,

the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together. So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's the culture. Weekdays at 3, only on the Blackstar Network. The media is the second most powerful medium in the world. You see a coup anywhere in the world, it's the guns, it's the military first, media is always second. Yes, sir.

So what you do, what I do is so powerful because we literally, what we do goes around the world. Absolutely. Now, especially now. And people are forming opinions and perspectives based upon what they see. So that movie, that radio project, that broadcast, I mean, we literally could change minds. That's what happened. And that's why I say, folk, don't take lightly that power that you have. And some of us knew.

Some of us knew. They had the television. You weren't television. You must have been a teenager when television was in New York City. The Goodwill and East Side and West Side, that's where Sicily and all those people came from. So I did a thing called The Nurses. And I played a juvenile delinquent that just shattered his stomach. And at the end, I'm running from the cops, and the stitches break. And I die. They put her away. I get my first job in national television in Kenya and Tanzania.

So I get off the plane in Nairobi. I get in the car and go to the Hilton. But when I get to the Hilton, the traffic has stopped. This young man says, could you do me a favor? I said, yeah. He says, open your shirt. So I went up the shirt. Yeah, go, you go, you go, you go, you go, you go, you go. How did you do that, sir? open your shirt. So I went up the shirt.

Yeah, go, yeah, how did you do that, sir? How did I do what? How did you come back to life? That's early television. Wow. That's a story. We had Joe Mocanian as president.

His wife did the same. How did you do that? They didn't know about acting. They knew now. So like a great-grandmother? Yeah. So there's some stories that does in my book. But that's the power, and that's why it's like,

understand that even if it's a movie and it's fiction, the words that you speak, the role that you play, someone is watching. Yes, it is. That's new for me. And someone is paying attention.

And literally one scene could just completely alter someone's view. Yeah, because I've been told across the South it's supposed to be dangerous down here. I mean, some of the guys, some of the cops. I said, you raised me an officer, a gentleman. I had a sergeant just like you. And he said, well, it saves my life.

He comes to my house sometimes. And under other circumstances, he'd be on the other side of the street. Maybe his father was, but not meaning him. When you, speaking of that... When you were doing that movie, were you thinking about and understanding the racial implications of this hardcore, stern, black officer? The officer in general?

Yeah. And how folk would react to it. Well, no, because the officer in general, I was getting a part. It was a break for me. They fired a white actor and paid him off because somebody had done some research and say 90% of the DIs teaching the naval officers to be pilots are black. So initially that was a white actor? Initially it was a white actor. I can't remember his name, but I think I can remember. And it was a tribute to Richard Gere. He was Mr. Goodbar.

He was the new movie star. So he was ready to do that and be the lead and beat up the Marine and win the girl and all that stuff. And the Marines showed up with me after six weeks of rehearsal. I was a DI when I showed up. It was my shot, you know. The DI said, oh, no, that's not what we do. So slowly as we did it on a daily basis, the Marines let them say what's real. How do you make a man out of a man? I don't care what color you are, what religion.

You've got to listen to these rules. I'm your D.I. Now, for you, what was it like to transform into that? Oh, in a way, it was a secret pleasure because I never got a chance to do it in the streets of Los Angeles. I got legally the ability to tell the movie star to get down and give me 50. I want your DOR. So that whatever was in my system, I was able to legally do it for Taylor Hatch. So sort of like when Jamie Foxx played in Django Unchained. Yes, sir.

So for you, it was like, okay, all of this that black folk been carrying. The director said, let him have it. I'm about to take it out on Richard Young. Oh my God, yes. Did he understand that? Great professional actor because he went for it.

That's why it's such a good movie. So you took all of that our history and subjugation and having to bow down they should have the Oscar the Marines they would not let us lie

about them in that movie they tried to fight for a week that Richard would win the fight and they said that don't happen in real life no no no that should be their Oscar. Because they pushed me right through, representing them. So I said, we just had a birthday

a couple months ago, the Marines' birthday. I'm a Marine. Do Marines still come up to you? Yes, sir. And every foreign country has got an embassy, and that's manned by the Marines. So I'm an honorary Marine. And I represent the Montfort Point Marines. So it's a very good feeling, a very secure feeling. Very secure. So many actors want that Academy Award. Did it mean that much to you?

Was it validation? Or for you, did you say, I don't need the award to validate me? Well, I needed validation. Even today, I sink into that low self-esteem. I'm old now. I forget my lines and stuff.

In my mind, I see it with a scissor. That's it. That's me. But I'm just very grateful. I'm still there. I did not as good a job as I thought I would do on The Color Purple. I played that and others. I forgot my lines. But it's there. It's still there. I was born with it.

Whenever I ask musicians or actors this question, typically it's something that we wouldn't associate as their favorite. Some people hate when I ask this question. Like, oh, it's like picking your favorite child. So I ask it this way. What role have you relished the most? Just, it just, you just, even thinking about it now, it makes you just feel great when you think about that role.

Enemy of mine. Five and a half hours of makeup, looking like a lizard, come from another planet. Most difficult job I've ever had to do. Storyline, those enemies become friends, lifetime friends. And he has a baby. And the philosophy of the story between Dennis Quaid's character and my character became two lifetime brothers.

I had six months in Germany. That's amazing stuff. Everybody turned it down because it was so hard. Dennis Dustin Hoffman wants to play it, but it's too hard. I said, yeah, hand it here. I went down to Munich and ate the food, the sauerbraten, and got out of sleep and got in good shape. And the philosophy of that movie, if you see it, Gleep Defined, I'll never forget it. I'll never forget it.

We were chatting before the cameras rolled, and we were talking about Glenn Turman. Oh, yeah. My baby brother. The folks, just the cast and the raising of the son. Mm-hmm. When you think back and reflect on Sir Sidney. Oh, yes, sir. What comes to mind? Love, respect, honor, role model

best friend, benevolent brilliant, smooth him and Harry. And I follow him and Harry and Sammy for a while. Leon Bibb. Roscoe Lee Brown. I followed them around faithfully because they had something to offer.

Maya. Cicely was my leading lady. She was a lot of leading ladies. And an actress by the name of Beverly Todd. That society. She's still around. The world's still around. Something was very rich about those people.

I stuck with them as much as possible. The thing to me with Poitier, just the word presence. It was just always just interesting.

And the few times I was in a room just to watch how others would approach him. Yeah. I mean, and it really was. Royalty. That's exactly what it was. Mm-hmm. That's exactly what it was.

And he did it for himself. He's up on ruse listening to radio and television, learning how to get rid of that accent. He did it for himself. He did it. And that's to be respected. I miss him terribly. But right behind him was me following along with him. It was hard for me not to act like him. He was so good. Really? He was that good. Another one that I talk about

that not enough people talk about is Woody Strode. Remember Woody Strode at all? I have a film called Sergeant Rutledge? Woody Strode. Woody Strode, S-T-R-O-D-E. He'd come to my house, I'd show him a picture, painting of me and him and a picture I did called Gathering of Old Men. Ernest Gaines did it. The first thing he did was Jane Pittman, the second one was Gathering the Old Men. And Woody Strode went to UCLA, All-American.

He was an all-star football player, track star, and he was nominated for an Academy Award in a thing called Sergeant Rutledge. And then he was sent to Italy where he could do some work. So he did Demetrius and the Gladiators with Kirk Douglas. And he stayed there and did a lot of movies. Just look him up. He was my hero.

Woody Strode. There's some great ones out there, man. Some of them are still alive. Great ones. When you were talking about Glenn Turman and y'all's relationship, the thing that, when I last talked to him, is that I still crack up that Glenn, like, Glenn, are you from Harlem? I still crack up that Glenn I was like Glenn

are you from Harlem and you swear he a southern cowboy you know so I get a kick out of that and he said that his greatest dreams what's that one thing you want to do

he said a real true black western so I ask you, is there something that you have always wanted to do, that you have yet to do, and what is that? Voted question.

The character that I always wanted to play has been played. I don't think it was good enough, but it's still there. The Bass Reeves story. Bass Reeves was the most successful marshal in the history of the West. And always got his man except for one. I've got a photograph of him in my office. There's some other stories. I'm working on a man by the name of

Colonel Hubert, the Black Eagle Julian. You know that name at all? Well, you know... Colonel Hubert? Hubert Fauntleroy Julian is the Black Eagle. So now he uses the Black Star shipping lines. Right. So how Marcus Garvey got his Black people out of Holland

to go to Jamaica first before they went to Liberia. They used the Black Star. It was owned by Colonel Julian. Colonel Julian had a little biplane, and the Red Baron called him a schwarzer. And he challenged the man in the middle of the English Channel and sent him home. So he was one of those people.

They've taken him out of the history books of Marcus Garvey. If it wasn't for him, Marcus Garvey couldn't have gotten to Liberia. It was his stuff. He supplied all the weapons. Because most people, if they do, first of all, if anybody talks about Marcus Garvey, even if they talk about that, and they mention the Black Star Cruise Line...

Yes, that's Colonel Julian. Like, literally. That name never comes up. They take it out. Yes. That's Colonel Julian. Like, literally. Yeah. That name never comes up. They take it out. I want to put it back. It's a very special Jamaican, both of them Jamaican. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture,

we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people powered movement. A lot of stuff that we're not getting, you get it and you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in Black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking

them to cover our stuff. So please, support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people, $50 this month, raise $100,000. We're behind $100,000, so we want to hit that. Your money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196 Washington,000. So we want to hit that. Y'all money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. The cash app is DollarSignRM unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin unfiltered. Venmo is RM unfiltered. Zelle is rolling. 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. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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. I always had to be so good no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes

that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. As somebody who loves history... You too, yeah.

All of those stories are so important. Yes, sir. Just to understand how things happened and the intersection and how things were connected. And I've given speeches and I've mentioned someone or mentioned someone's name. People are like, oh, my God, never heard that. And it shows you how so much of our history is just completely untold. There are just troves of names and stories that are worth telling.

Oh, yeah. Whether documentaries, whether movies or whatever. There's these families called the Jackson family I think outside of Tulsa when they bombed Tulsa that's right they were missed because they were not in Tulsa just on the outskirts they weren't in Greenwood they were in Greenwood right outside and they still have the property I'll try to get that done so I don't want to ask anybody else I I want to ask us. We have to have this network so that these young people know

how prolific the history is. Good and bad. Well, that's why, so just so you know, I was working with some folks, and we hired these marketers to come up with a name for my network. And I expressly told them, don't come back to me with an African name. Here's why.

I said, I don't want to have to explain the name of the network while I'm trying to explain to you what the network is. Yes, I hear you. That's why I did that. That's a distraction. So it wasn't like, okay, I don't want an African name. I said, I got finite time to explain the network. I can't try to explain the name and the explaining network.

So they came back with these names. I'm like, I told you I don't need this. And so one of my guys, he's like, look, we got you a name. And I just come back from Ghana from the year of return. And I took a photo above the Black Star Gate. And I was sitting there, and I was just, again, I had spent probably $10,000 with his marketing group and came up with a name literally that quick.

And the reason I saw my OTT network is called Black Star Network. Gotcha. And the reason, because, so why did Garvey want to do that? Because he wanted to connect the African diaspora. Yes, sir. And so my whole deal was, it's the same thing with the network. And what I tell people is literally what you just said. Because people coming after TV One are like, oh man, I wish you'd go back

to CNN. I wish you had a show on MSNBC. And I said, I'm not interested in asking someone else for permission to tell our story. I agree. And it's not revolutionary. No. I want to be able to say yes, no. And being able to own the cameras and being able to say, no, we're going to go here. So, yeah, we're going to go to Liberia for two weeks. We're going to go. We're going to go. That's exciting. We're going to go. We spent six days in Tulsa covering the anniversary of the race massacre. And to me, that's really it. It's having the freedom to not ask somebody else for permission.

For permission. Because we got so many stories. Oh, so many stories. So many stories. So many. We could talk for hours on those stories. I've done research on all my career. That's close to 70 years. All of them were turned down except a year recently.

But now's the time. You've got universities, you've got audiences. There's programs like this. And the key is the gatekeepers no longer control access. It's a different world game. That's why I love to see what's happening in Nigeria. It was tough last time. I just love to see

how African nations and how folks in the Caribbean, how young filmmakers in the United States are taking this phone and creating full-scale movies. And that's the thing that I tell people, young and old. People come up to me and they say, oh, I want to do this, I want to do that,

but I can't afford all of this. And I say, listen. That's gotten so sophisticated. I said, this, this right here, that's, I said, start here. I said, do not let the inability to purchase all of this keep you from telling the story. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I've enjoyed this, by the way.

Thank you. Well, you know, we've been waiting for a long time. Yeah, but we've gone through changes. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Now is the time. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Now is the time. Your book. Yes, sir. You call it An Actor and a Gentleman. Mm-hmm. I always ask anyone who writes a book this, even when they wrote it,

was there a wow moment? So even when you were writing and researching and remembering, what was that moment where you went, wow! Oh, yeah. I can count them, but the biggest, if you have time. Yeah. We got time. I can count them, but the biggest, if you have time.

Yeah. I wouldn't work in South Africa. We got time. I own it. Okay, got it. I wouldn't go to South Africa until Mandela was going to come out of prison. Right. I've been invited. I did A Good Man in Africa, you know. But the first movie produced independently after Mandela was coming out of prison was

a thing called The Reason. And it's kind of a throwback of the Truth Commission. So I moved to South Africa, and I'm having a good hot and cold places, people watching over corners and stuff, but I'm looking around. I learned to meet the Mandelas and the godfather of the ANC, the Tambo family. And in the Tambo family was the heir apparent after Mandela would retire. It was Chris, H-A-N-I, Hany. He was dating his niece. And Albino, I'd still be there.

She'd have me by the throat. She was so different. Oh, God. I was moving there. I was moving there. She took your heart, huh? Oh, gosh. The whole culture.

The whole culture. So now Chris Hining was, and then they celebrated his success at this football stadium. There was a man behind him saying, stop firing those two guns. His name was Chris Haney. He was in the government. One morning, a white woman and a man shot Chris Haney in the chest seven times. So when you do that in Georgia, you go to this flower man and you bring the flowers to the mom, to the wife.

That's all I was thinking about. My driver, he's a former football player with Jerry Carroll. We got on the freeway, went to the hunting household. When we look up, we're surrounded. On the left is all the white guys with their tanks. On the right side is all the young blacks with their swords and And on the right side is all the young blacks with their little swords and stuff. We can't back up. Can't go forward. Heart's going boom, da-boom.

That's it. You're like, what did I walk into? What did I walk into, right? So I took a deep breath, got the flowers out, and started walking toward the house. And they got out of the way. Heart's going boom. That's all I could hear was boom. And things on the radio, walkie-talkie.

So finally I got there and knocked on the door. I told my friend Dolly Tambo. You know that name, Dolly Tambo? That's part of that family. He opened up, grabbed me and said, get in here. I said, what happened? He said, you're crazy! You just walked into the mouth of the devil! You may not live! I mean, he was very upset. So while I'm here, can I give this flower

to the missus? And I took it, and she looked at me, and I was nuts. Three or four hours later, Oliver Tambo, the godfather of the ANC, Adelaide, his wife, she said, I think I'm going to try and see if I can get you back to the hotel. So she goes out and she speaks for three hours and she cried, spoke in three or four different languages.

She was on the ground, whatever she was saying. And she came back exhausted, soaking wet. She says on the ground. Whatever she was saying. And she came back exhausted, soaking wet. She says, I think maybe you can try it now. So my man, Jerry Crowe's gone. The football player, Jerry Crowe, he's gone. He's gone. So now we get in the car and we're followed all the way, halfway to this

Stanton Sun named hotel. And we got there. all the way, halfway to this satin sun named the hotel. And we got there. I could take a deep breath. That's a wow. That's a wow. Coming back to do A Good Man in Africa,

the white people, I'm the first ones off the plane. I said, oh, they haven't forgotten. So he grabs me and tells me that he was one of the soldiers. His name was Hilgar, I think his name was, from New Zealand. And he took me off the plane first. And after that he said, I want to tell you a story. He was in one of those tanks. And his commander said, put that man in your horse

crosshairs. So that's one of the stuff I heard from the walkie-talkie. And all of a sudden I came close and I said, oh, no, no, wait a minute. That's Lou Gossett Jr., a white Dutchman. So the life was saved because of the movies. Wow. Otherwise I'd be dead. And that's two times. More than that. Wow. Yeah, that's a wow.

Yeah. A white Dutchman gets the order, put that black man in your crosshairs. And he does. He was assigned when I came back as my buddy. That's Lou your crosshairs. And he does. That's Lugasa Jr. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. He became my bodyguard.

Thank God for the big screen. Tell me something. There you go. That is a... That's a wild moment. I want to go back. The only thing I would regret was that Zulu girl. See, that's. I want to go back. I want to go back. The only thing I would regret was that Zulu girl. See, that's what I was going to say.

See, I was going to go back. What is it? When you said it, I was like, you know, why is he thinking this? What is it about a woman that captivates a man? I don't want to figure it out. I just want to be happy it's there. I mean, just, I mean, the idea of you wake up thinking about them, you think about them all day, you go to sleep,

you want to see their face. It is, it's just a fascinating. It's old. It's old as people. Because back in Africa, there's no husbands and wives. There's tribes. And a job to do for the benefit of the whole. So it's a free feeling.

See, I was having a conversation the other day with a friend of mine, and we were talking about this, and he said, there's a difference between loving someone, being in love with someone, and desiring someone. Yeah. Sometimes all three come together. I think what

sounds like what you're describing that Zulu woman all three converged almost two and a half two and a half so she's now married to somebody else with a silver mind so she's alright Bridget Mochsepe

but she just she took me right off the ground that was it bad mistake in Mochsepe. But she just... She took me right off the ground. Bad mistake. I should have stayed there and fought for her. I mean, you had the Dutch bodyguard. I have no complaints, though, man. Everything's okay. I'm an old man now. I can reflect and be very grateful. Very grateful. We have some contemporaries out there, the Deons. I'm okay. I'm okay. Everything's okay.

Was it hard? Other people, other artists have said this to me, that it is very difficult for people who they love, whether they're family or a partner, to understand that their craft is actually their most important love. Well, it's a tough one.

That's not racial at all. Has that been the case for you, where your craft is the... That's... That's your first marriage, your first love. Once you start getting successful in your study the things that you have to go through in order to loosen your instrument to play those parts, to get hired again and be successful globally. First locally and then globally. Your first marriage. So how do you deal with that?

How do you deal with... You pray that who you're with understands. They take it with you sometimes when they like the lights and stuff. But how do you also even deal with it when, and again I'm converging these two forces. When you're with someone, you're a partner, you're married to someone, and then you have this love, and then you encounter someone else

who takes your breath away. Because, and that's the thing that I think, again, when that thing is what you love, and it's not that, to me, it's not that you crave the attention. No. But it's just that when you know that this is what I was put here for, it's hard for, someone has to understand that. That, look, this is my thing. That's not Rachel at all.

It's not Rachel at all. It's a dynamic. It's tough. Male, female, female, male. Female, female. Male, male. Now many times that you had to pick? When you had to make clear? Yeah, you have to be clear, honor your reason why you're traveling what you have to do in front of your audience so it's more than doing the movie, you have to push it, you have to be present you have to be charming, and every now and then God steps in there

with his little devilish arrow. And that's what happens. That's what happens with some of them. That's what happened probably with one of the greatest athletes, OJ. 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 multibillion-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 ban is.

Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Cor 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. I always had to be so good no one could ignore me.

Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. And the man with the bad leg, Hollywood,

Dion. Those are my heroes, you know. Walt Frazier. Some great ones out there. Pull up a chair. Take your seat. The Black Tape. With me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the

Black Star Network. When we have these discussions with people, it's always... When I think about greatness, I had a... And I would love to know if you've ever had one of these conversations. So I'm at the Jeffrey Osborne Golf Tournament, and it gets rained out. Massive storm comes through. So we're sitting at the table and sitting around talking, and so I'm sitting here, and Ahmad Rashad is sitting here, and Eddie LaVert is sitting here, and Barry Bonds is sitting here,

and Sugar Ray Leonard is sitting right here. And we're having this discussion about greatness. Because I brought up something Eddie's saying, and I brought up, and he was talking about, man, you're the smartest guy on television. And he's asking me questions, and then Amad is talking about what it requires to be a great wide receiver, and Barry is talking about what it means to be a great baseball player. Then Sugar Ray Leonard is talking about what it means to be a great wide receiver and Barry is talking about what it means to be a great baseball player. Then Sugar Ray Leonard is talking about what it means to be a great boxer.

And he says something, he says, man, you've been a great boxer. I was like, are you out your mind? He said, no, no, no, no, no. He said, last night we were on stage and I saw you dancing. He said, all I could do is look at your feet. He said, he's like, is your foot work? I was like, what are you talking about? He said, no, your footwork. He said, I thought you, all that twisted, you were going to fall down.

I said, first of all, to be a boxer, you got to take a punch. Ain't let nobody hit me. I said, footwork is great. But it was just

this fascinating discussion we had. Oh my God, I wish a camera was rolling. And it was just a whole discussion about greatness. Have you had those conversations with peers or people you respect

where you wanted to just, no, I need to know, what does it require to be great, to become a legend, become an icon? I have the slightest idea. It's good fortune. Blessed by God. You look at it, you reflect on it, and it's almost like bingo. You prepare for it.

The best you can do is prepare for it, and each day you get better and better. Never wanted to quit? Yeah, quite a few times. How close did you come? I wanted to... There was you come? I wanted to there was a time when I had to choose between basketball and sports

early on baseball and sports and then I got work and every time I was threatened to quit I'd get a job so I was making somebody else some money so I didn't want that to happen I guess

but I got the good fortune of bringing my children who are still upset but they came with me through nine and ten different universities and countries. It's a tough one. They're still upset they don't have a check. And I think father and son or father and daughter is much more quality than that. It's the hands-on relationship the way it would be back in the days of the tribes. Any regrets?

No. I'd question God if I did that. Yet this is one great big sandwich. There's some things if you do that then you can't live today one role that I do I have a DVD Satchel Paige oh boy that was fun

that was fun in Mississippi he was there when we started really? he was there he traveled started. Really? Yeah. He was there. Wow. He traveled in a suitcase, two suitcases. His dishes, all stuff was in one, two suitcases.

Beverly Todd was my wife. Again, Page, another one of those, people talk about Jackie Robinson, they talk about... But Page was just unbelievable. Oh, yeah, yeah. He was... He should have been the first black, but he was 60 years old at the time. Great athlete, though. Smart.

Josh Gibson. The second baseman. Wee Willie from the Black Leagues. Yeah, yeah. The Hall of Fame. They just died last year. Great performances, great people.

Josh Gibson, all of them. You crossed paths with so many people. Yes, sir. Yeah, very grateful. Who would you say, and granted, you got lots of choices. That was just absolutely fascinating. Anwar Sadat.

I had to play him. There was very little look on him on films for him speaking. So I was invited. He collected black artists. Roots, the old private library, which is how I got to play his part by his wife, Jian. Fascinating man. He was more black than any of them, because he's a Nubian.

Yes, yes. And his feelings were very deep. Oh, I remember vividly I was in these... Eighth grade was assassinated. I remember that. I remember that moment when he decided to go to Israel. Get off the plane and go to Israel. How deep that decision had to be. I remember the movie. I remember watching you

in the movie. That was... Yeah. Yeah. I was always fascinated by the Sadat, because again, you... My dad watched news all the time. And so you're always watching news and you're like, who is this black man? Yeah, he's a great man, great man, great man. The two of them, Ben-Gurion and Sadat. And Golda Meir, the whole area is a very historical area that God has seen fit me to participate. As Sadat, as Egyptian culture, as opposed to the other culture of Africa. Going there after the Six-Day War with Tony Curtis on that way.

Going back for Iron Eagle 1 and 2 another way. So I can go there now. I don't know. But last time I went, I didn't even need a passport. And they killed one another. So it's something about God's influence on us that we have to take advantage of. Favorite African nation? Ghana. Why? I don't know.

I like the style. I like the style. Ghana, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, that whole section. If you come to places like in Georgia and Florida and South and North Carolina, you see very people who look like they come from the same family, which means that they've got a whole tribe. They all came off the boat and sold in one area. Everybody looks like cousins. They're all the same tribe. That has a good answer.

And then the one that was not expected is if you have the whole tribe put together, watch out, they're going to come back together and do the old roots and stuff and that's happening a hundred years from now as in me a kid it's gonna be clicking through and they're gonna come gonna come past movies there might movies. There might be a bookstore coming past this book. And they might go, who costed you? They might be Googling, they might be looking it up.

And they're going to see these long histories. They're going to see these long career. What would you want that kid a hundred years from now to know who Lou Gossett Jr. was? I want them to get it out of the book

and out of the book a hundred years from now it would be a thumbprint button push so they can learn about me or Sidney or Harry. I go... We need to do that before we get out in the street from our parents and our grandparents. We have to know who one another is. We all have the same basic family rules, I believe.

We have to honor and obey and respect. We have to be more like the tribe that forced the man to make us slaves. We had the keys to the kingdom. We had rule over Russia. The first ones really in America. But that's over. We made our mistakes too. We need that respect back. First we have to give it to ourselves.

So that keeps that elder relationship, which is what I'm doing, for what it's worth. A hundred years from now, it's going to be easier. So that's what I think. I'm not going to be here a hundred years from now. But you never know what God does. It's going to be easier, I think, in the not-too-distant future for us to talk about Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee and Paul Robeson. It's not just a personal memory.

They helped me a great deal, but the kids behind me and behind the other kids, it's going to be easier. I just want their curiosity to be strong as mine is, to know who they are. People you might not know. You know, there's so many, so many, so many. Roxley Rocha, Maya Angelou, Raymond Saint-Jacques, Charles Dordogne. Some great ones out there. These kids don't know who they are. Last question for you.

We began you talking about God waking you up every day. And when you are doing something, when you are, whether it's with your foundation, whether it's when you're speaking, whether it's a podcast, whether it's when you're acting, is it your great-grandmother or is it someone else

who is still there, who you want to... I don't want to say impress, but that when you do something, when you work, you are thinking of this person and thanking them for what they put in you. Who is that? My mother, my great grandmother, and God. But the elders fed me. Mary McRosby's counterpart was in the First Baptist Church

was Madame C.K. Chappelle. They dressed the same. The aunts, the churches, the black church was very powerful. The ones that got to schools, they were smarter than they were expected. Some of them might have been maids, but they sure picked up the right things and gave it to us. I'll never forget those women, some of those men, those elders, that I had them to thank on a daily basis.

Them and God. This is gravy time, man. This is gravy time. This is gravy time, man. This is gravy time. This is the longest existing career of anybody. Starting in 53. I'm amazed. That's God's work. And me obeying, as my great grandma would say, a hard head makes a soft behind.

I'm very grateful. I'm very grateful. I'm grateful that you offered to talk with me this long. I'm very blessed. Thank you for that. Well, I've been wanting to do it, and I appreciate that we finally got a chance to do it. I look forward to it. Next time you come to my house, I need you.

Let's do it. You got it? Yes, sir. All right. All right. Bring those hungry brothers with you. Not a problem. Look, I appreciate it.

Thank you. 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 Glod. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man.

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

Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. This is an iHeart Podcast.