#RolandMartinUnfiltered - MAGA Voting Rights Power Grab. Stacey Abrams Dire Warning. Justin Jones Stripped of All Committees.

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

5.13.2026 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: MAGA Voting Rights Power Grab. Stacey Abrams' Dire Warning. Justin Jones Stripped of All Committees. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has called for a special legislative session to redraw electoral maps following a Supreme Court ruling. This move aligns with several southern states controlled by Republicans that are attempting to undermine Black voting power. We'll discuss this issue with voting advocate Stacey Abrams and Gerald Griggs, the NAACP State President of Georgia. Texas Congressman Marc Veasey, Co-Chair of the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus, will join us to explain why federal oversight of election changes is crucial in states with a history of voter discrimination. Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones will be here to talk about how he was stripped of all his committee assignments for protesting the MAGA power grab in his state. The Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries calls out Republicans over their failed policies that are worsening the affordability crisis. In tonight's Crockett Chronicles, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett challenges the silence from Republicans who did not attend a recent hearing and will urge the public to pay attention to who is willing to fight for survivors and who is not. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. From IHeart podcast, Saigon. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. It's for Vietnam. They're pouring patril all over here. Freedom for Vietnam! There's a fire coming to this country and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And here's Heather with the weather.

Well, it's beautiful out there, sunny and 75, almost a little chilly in the shade. Now, let's get a read on the inside of your car. It is hot. You've only been parked a short time, and it's already 99 degrees in there. Let's not leave children in the back seat while running errands. It only takes a few minutes for their body temperatures to rise,

and that could be fatal. Cars get hot, fast, and can be dead. Never leave a child in a car. A message from Nitsa and the Ad Council. On paper, the three hosts of the Nick Dick and Poll show are geniuses. We can explain how AI works, data centers, but there are certain things that we don't necessarily understand. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win Stupid Prizes.

Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift, who said that for the first time. I actually thought it was. I got that wrong. But hey, no one's perfect. We're pretty close, though. Listen to the Nick Dick and Poll show on the IHeart Radio, app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

It's between like CNN. Time to be smart. You dig? He is going to call a special session. They can take a ticket stab as taking out Congressman Jim Clyburn. Organizers are planning a massive day of action. He can state, one of them recently passed Congressman David Scott. And so we'll see exactly what's going to happen there.

South Carolina governor announced that he's going to call a special session to again to try to redraw the seat of. of Congressman Jim Clyburn. An effort failed yesterday when all the Senate Democrats voted against it and five Republicans join them. If they do a special session, it will only require a simple majority of Republicans. And so they have the votes to actually get that done. And so this attack continues, the targeting of black elected officials later in this show.

We're going to talk to Congressman Mark V.steen of Texas. His district was wiped out in the initial gerrymander. to Texas. He's one of two African-Americans who will not be returning to Congress. We'll also be talking to Gerald Griggs, who runs the Georgia NWA CIP what was happening in Georgia, and Tennessee rep Justin Jones will join us. Republicans there are attacking Democrats, removing them from all committees as a result of them protesting the action to wipe up the congressional seat in Memphis. What we are seeing, as we keep saying, y'all, is a massive attack on Black America.

And the only response that we can actually have is a massive, massive, massive vote. And so on Saturday, we're going to be in Montgomery talking, first, we're having a massive rally. They're going to be satellite rallies all across the country as well happening on the same day. This is all about creating the largest black voter mobilization since, to be honest, the election of Obama in 2008, before that, the 1965 Voting Rights Act. David she ran twice for governor of Georgia, was very much involved in voting rights. joins us right now. And Stacey, glad to have you on Rolla Martin on Philcher.

We have been framing this as a GOP attack on Black America. I have been saying from over than a year, Republican Party was to completely defund Black America. They're targeting every facet, political power, they're targeting nonprofits, they're targeting economics, they're talking to education, health, you name it. And so this year, the Republican Party, what they're doing right now poses an existential threat to the future of black America.

I think you're right, but what I think we have to understand is why. This is about power. This is all about power. We know that in 2046, the United States of America is going to be a majority-minority country. And they know that the community that has been the most both at risk and responsible for the advancement of communities of color, where the advancement of the marginalized and the oppressed has been the black community. So if you take us out, if you diminish our political power, you eliminate our economic power, you remove our educational opportunities, that gives the authoritarian regime, because that's what this is, it gives them the ability. Pride is like love.

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Stream us on your phone or listen now at iHeartRadio.ca. Number one hits, millions of records sold, awards, sold out tours. You think that Jonas brothers are satisfied? Nope, it's podcast time. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Hey Jonas is available now, and their first guest is a big one, Paul Rudd. You know, Steve Carell is a great singer. Can you tell you not to audition at the office or something?

I told him. Whoa. We were filming Anchorman. Clearly, I was the idiot. Thank God he didn't listen to me, right? Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. The United States will not stand by and allow any power.

Ever great, take over another country. From My Heart Podcast, Saigon. Please allow me to introduce Joseph Sherman. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? I should stop talking so much. I like hearing you talk. One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam.

I've taken a hit from Japanese ground fire. Do you rate me? They're pouring petrol all over him. He's holding matches. Saigon, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Rob Benedict. Sting, here's madness. The world should hear about this. There's a fire coming to this country and it's going to burn out everything.

Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about and they are experts at everything. Here, the Nick Dick and Poll Show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Cougler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director. Who do you think he is? I don't know. You mean it's the like the president?

You think Canada has a president. You think China has a president. Lozah Crosette. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at like. It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep.

It was a good one. I like that saying. It is an actual Polish saying. Yeah. It is an actual Polish saying. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win stupid prizes. Yes.

Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick, Dick, and Paul show

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. To construct the America, they wish they had, as opposed to the America, we have helped to build. And so it is absolutely true

that they are targeting us intentionally, assiduously, but they are doing it by misunderstanding where we are today. using a Jim Crow playbook in a very different era. There are enough of us, especially when we are in coalition with other communities of color and with people of good intention that we can

not only fight back, we can win. You're absolutely right. First of what you laid out is really the thesis of my book, White Fear, the Brownie of America's making white folks lose their minds. I've been yelling and screaming this since 2009 that what is taking place today was going to happen. But what also has to happen, though, is we've got to be maximizing our vote. What y'all did in Georgia, I mean, I will never forget, 2012, the night Obama won, I was waiting to go on CNN. Then Congressman Chris Van Hollen was in the wings, and I said, Senator Van Holland, I don't understand why y'all are not aggressively trying to mobilize and organize in Texas and Georgia. He said, Red State, it's going to be too expensive. I said, no, it's not,

you have to this multi-year. He pretty much blew me off. Well, it was in 2012. Well, y'all didn't wait on National Democrats. Y'all said, hey, we're going to mobilize and organize this state. It showed up in 2020. The investment has to be made, and I dare say right now, Stacey, these white progressives and donors and others,

as opposed to, you know, waiting to fund the things, you know, for the general election, they've got to be funding a massive voter turnout right now that is akin to what happened in 1965. It cannot be wait for the fall. This has to be taking place.

as we speak. Absolutely. And I'm going to add one number or one date. When I ran in 2018, we didn't register 800,000 people, but we added 800,000 people to voter participation. In 2014, Jason Carter, who was the candidate, ran a great campaign, turned out 1.1 million Democrats. When I ran in 2018, we turned out 1.9 million Democrats. We tripled Latino turnout, tripled Asian American turnout. increased black participation by 40%, increased youth participation, and we held an increased white voter turnout. And so I say that to say, we got the benefits and the spoils in 2020 and 2021,

but we got to remember they were practicing voter suppression in 2018. I am not saying before people start flagging their hands, I am not saying I won in 2018, but I am saying that we saw a dramatic transformation in our electorate without national investment. It was not a presidential year investment that changed the demographic voting patterns in Georgia. It was a midterm election in 2018. We had it 100,000 people.

And if we could do that in Georgia without that national intention, we can do that everywhere in 2026 and 28. Again, you talked about that. But right now, what really has to happen, I keep talking about a freedom summer. and it has to be massive turnout, massive registration. But also, we need white allies to be registering white people. I mean, black folks are making it happen. And we've seen what's going on on Saturday. This needs to be happening.

Look, Latinos are criticizing Puerto Ricans and others in Florida, criticizing what Ron DeSantis did to them. I'm like, well, guess what? Y'all are going to be organizing and mobilizing your community as well. This is all hands-on-deck. Yeah. It's all hands on deck, but the reason I wanted to emphasize is that we keep thinking that we've got to wait for a presidential election to win. And I think you're right. This is an all hands on deck moment. And the reason I lifted up 2018 is that we've done it before. We came very close. We came within 54,000 votes of winning the governor's race. We flipped 14 house seats under Republican drawn maps. They gave themselves those seats and we took them back. And so I want us to understand that this isn't about. 20 years ago or 30 years ago, this was eight years ago. We know how to do this.

And you're absolutely right. We need the investment, but we also have to connect the dots. Since 2018, we've gone through COVID. We've gone through inflation. We are now heading into recession, possibly. We're in another war. And what we have to do in order to mobilize those voters is not just say, vote because we need you to vote.

It's vote because your life depends on it. But then we've got to connect the dots. We've got to explain why health care is broken, especially in the South. We've got to explain why housing is a problem in the South. We've got to explain why education is under assault. We have to do the work. This freedom summer and freedom fall has to be about showing people the freedom, the democracy guarantees, but only if we seize that power.

They are playing for power. We've got to play for power to. Absolutely. Initially, Governor Brian Kent was going to sit out this gerrymandering. Not today. He announced he's calling the special session on June 17th. Yesterday, people thought that Congressman Jim Clyburn was safe. When the Senate voted it down to gerrymandering, the governor's calling a special session. So Georgia, they may be looking to take away a couple of seats there.

So your thoughts on this decision, this continual attack, you've already seen it in Tennessee, in Alabama, in Mississippi, the governor caught off their special session. because the federal courts basically punted on the need to redraw the map. They were supposed to redraw their state Supreme Court maps because they were racial discriminatory. Well, because it's Louisiana versus Calais decision, they now don't have to. And so black folks are clearly getting screwed by this, I don't call them a Supreme Court. I call them the extreme right court. Absolutely.

So I want to put into context what happened in Georgia. So Georgia's been trying to break democracy for a while. And part of the reason for the special session in June is that the state legislature, the Republican-led state legislature, has removed the mechanism for actually counting ballots in Georgia in November. We use a QR code, and that QR code is no longer legal, but we don't have a backup plan. And so one of the reasons they have to call that special session is to deal with that. They are layering on top of it a redrawing of the maps. But here's the thing to understand about Georgia. Those maps are going to be redrawn after our primaries, which means it won't affect.

the legislative seats, the congressional seats for 26. They're changing the maps for 28. And what we also have to understand is unlike Tennessee, unlike South Carolina, unlike Alabama, unlike Louisiana, unlike Mississippi, state of Georgia is 46 to 48 percent people of color. They no longer have a slam dunk if they try to change the maps. And so they've pulled back as many as they could

to get us down to the four that we have. But what they cannot do is stop us from fighting back. And so Georgia has a real opportunity in this upcoming election to flip our house to win statewide elections. But we can do a lot between now and November that other states don't have the opportunity to do.

South Carolina is in a different posture. They can absolutely try to crack in South Carolina, the Black District, Jim Clyburn's District. The thing to remember there is that five Republicans just yesterday said no. McMaster may try to do it again, but what those folks are looking at is not what happened in Indiana,

alone because they're worried that they're going to get treated like Indiana. They're also worried about the fact that they can count. In order to crack Jim Clyburn's district, you got to put those people somewhere, and they're deeply concerned that their districts will be in jeopardy. But what we can do with all of this, Roland, is remember that they are clearly afraid, which is why they are moving with such speed. You're absolutely right. We have to be at the ballot box, but we also have to be at the courts. I was in Nashville the day they did the first hearings on that map and then passed them that Thursday. The lawsuit got filed the next moment. So we've got to support those lawsuits.

We've got to make certain we're connecting the dots for community members. We've got to use every civic organization we have churches, the Divine Nine, everyone who has a conversation has to have those conversations. But then the last thing you said is critically important. This is a coalition moment. We are 15% of the population, but we are 100% of the target. And so we need friends. We need to be in coalition with black, brown, white, every community that is of interest that believes in democracy.

Because we've got to remember, this isn't about a horse race anymore, Democrats versus Republicans. This is about whether we're going to have authoritarianism that seizes our power or democracy that means we share our power. And as long as we play a horse race game, we're going to lose. But when we start running that marathon to save democracy, that's when we win. Last question for you. One of the things that I keep saying is that we have to inform, enlighten, educate folks of what's going on. To your point, hear the issues and walk them through. I also have been saying that in every one of these southern states, in every city, somewhere there should be a citizenship training event happening every single week. It has to be consistent. It can't just be speeches. It has to be literal training as well, June 12th,

June 13th, y'all pull up in the control room. Bishop William Barber and I having a virtual training. We've already signed up more than a thousand people who want to get trained into organizing and mobilizing. Folks, if you want to sign up, click that link. If you go to blackstar network.com or repairs of the breach.org, you can actually click that link and you actually go to it. But this is what is going to have to take.

This is going to have to be a week by week day by day thing. But I keep saying, Stacy, we can't wait until after Labor Day. September and October. No, it has to be now. There's a sense of urgency that has to be taking place now. Well, I created the Ten Steps campaign, and I'm so proud that we have more than 70 partners. Those partners are national organizations across this country that are doing exactly what you're talking about. They're doing civic education. They're doing mutual aid. They're doing all of the things it takes for us to fight back. And that's why I shape this as not a Democrat versus Republican thing. This is democracy versus authoritarian thing.

When we understand, because you said at the top, this is an existential crisis. Do we have a democracy where we have shared power, where we have our individual freedoms, and where there is accountability, or do we live under an authoritarian regime where they have seized all the power, concentrated it, taken our freedoms, and refuse accountability? And so the 10 Steps Campaign, if you go to 10 StepsCampaign.org, that's where you can find who's operating and where you live. What can you do? We have a map. We have a mobilized link.

We can help you find what you need, but we can also help you find the training that you need. Our mission is exactly what you're describing. We need all hands on deck. We also need to believe that we are entitled to more, that we should demand the democracy we deserve. Elections are part of it. Elections can't be all of it. So we've got to do the work for November, but we've got to work from now through November and then into 27 and 28 and 2030 when the U.S. Census happens because that's their next stab. They're going to try to change the lines now and change the numbers next.

We've got to anticipate what's coming and we've got to do that work. And one of the things I'm encouraging people to do is go to 10 StepsCampain.org. You can learn about our Read Them Home campaign. You can learn about how you can get connected in your community, how we are in this fight together because together we can win. Absolutely. Thank you, Ms. Shirley appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Thanks for having me. All right, folks. Quick break. We come back. We'll check with my panel as we continue to break these things down. Also, Congressman Mark Visi will be joining us right here on Rolla Martinon, Philtered on the Black Star Network back at a moment. This is a national issue.

And it's happening right here in Middletown. This isn't just about a school. It's about opportunity. It's a state of education on 23. No one can give us an answer why. Roland Martin is coming to Middletown. He wants the country to know about our struggle for our children's education in future.

Families need an option. Surgery are waiting. Many children will fall in the gap. The examples are right there. We'll never know. Middletown has repeatedly been denied state funding without any legitimate or legal reasons. To stop us open to serve our community.

They don't want for your children what they want for their own children. Every parent in the world wants the best for their child. We want to hold people accountable. We need to know the why, and you need to follow the law. We're going to do what we always have to do. Fight for justice. Fight for what is right. Be a part of this conversation.

Ask questions. Demand answers. So you may go pain. I've been trying to erase black political power since Reconstruction. Now the Supreme Court is helping them finish the job. First came Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, the ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act. Then came Bernovich in 2021. Another ruling.

Another piece torn away. Now comes Calais. The case civil rights leaders warned could cripple the last major federal protection against racial vote dilution. And within days, Tennessee eliminated its only majority black congressional district. District, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama. The same strategy is spreading across the South. The old Jim Crow used poll taxes and literacy tests.

The new Jim Crow uses gerrymandered maps, voter roll purges, polling place closures, and court rulings that make black communities politically invisible. But this story doesn't end in a courtroom. It moves to Selma. May 16th is a National Day of Action. Faith leaders will gather at the Edmund Pettus Bridge at 9 a.m. A mass rally follows at the Alabama State Capitol from 1 to 5 p.m. 1965 was Freedom Summer.

This is Freedom Summer 2.0 because they are still trying to erase black political power, and we will not bow. This week at the Black Table, we discuss a place, an idea, a dream, and a reality that everybody on the planet should know about. a place called Mound Bayou. What about black people creating their own country, not from the outside end, but from the inside out? That's next on the black table, right here on the Black Star Network. On a next, a balanced life with me, Dr. Jackie, a relationship that we have to have.

We're often afraid of it and don't like to talk about it. That's right. We're talking about our relationship with money. And here's the thing. Our relationship with money oftentimes determines whether we have it or not. Balancing your relationship with your pocketbook. That's next on a balanced life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Black Star Network. With medicine and science under attack, I want to keep you and your family informed and healthy.

I'm Dr. Ebony Hilton, and I knew at the age of eight that I wanted to be a doctor. So I studied hard and became the first African-American female anesthesiologist, higher at Medical University of South Carolina since this opening in 1824. And I always say I was made into a doctorate, but I was born to be a mom. And as a new mom, wife, sister, daughter, and friend, I understand how frightening and medical crisis can be. I care for individuals on some of the worst days of their lives, and it's my mission to provide you with a safe space to gain clarity on issues affecting your mind, body, and soul. I recognize that there are health disparities, particularly as it contains the race. And I want to help bridge the gap between you and your health care providers.

Join me every Thursday for Second Opinion on the Black Star Network, where each week I'll invite experts from various medical fields to share the latest health groups. We'll discuss topics such as a vaccine debate, mental and central health, medical bias, infertility, menopause, andropause, nutrition and aging. Together with my medical colleagues, we aim to provide you with a second opinion. Don't miss it Thursdays only on the Black Star Network. Hi, I'm Swain Cash, Basketball Hall of Famer, and you're watching Black Star Network. President CEO Fair Election Center out of D.C., Robert Petillo, civil rights attorney with the

Patillo Law Group out of Atlanta, Zborra G, D-E-I-A consultant, and employment specials out of D.C. Let's go right to the panel. Listen, I've laid it out, Rebecca, all hands on deck. We now see what's going on, Georgia, South Carolina. We see what's happening. And again, this is undeniable. It is an absolute undeniable attack on black America. Folk had better wake up.

You know, I think it's very important for your viewers to understand the full ramifications post-A-Wa-World. So right now, you hear us talking about congressional. maps. You also hear Governor Kemp say, hey, we're going to redraw these congressional maps ahead of 2028, but also we're going to redraw state house seats as well. So that's both the state house and the state Senate. But guess what? As a result of CalA, they can also go down to the county level. They can redraw county commission seats. They can redraw school board seats, city council seats. If you have utility districts, they can redraw those seats as well. And there are majority black seats.

seats, majority minority seats, or seats that have at least 35, 40 percent black folks in that district, which means that's enough of a tipping point to actually have a person of color representing you in that seat. So people just need to understand and buckle up that we're in for the loan call here, because what we're seeing, especially across the South, but we're starting to see this appear in other states too with attacks of voting rights. for instance, in New Hampshire, in Utah, South Dakota, recently they just passed new changes that impact starting in these elections and then going into 2027. So we see an attack on.

Canadian women are looking for more. More to themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world are of them. And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast. I'm Jennifer Stewart. And I'm Catherine Clark. And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women. Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians. and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey. So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us. Listen to the Honest Talk Podcasts on IHartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Number one hits, millions of records sold, awards, sold out tours.

You think that Jonas Brothers are satisfied? Nope, it's podcast time. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Hey, Jonas is available now, and their first guest is a big one. Paul Rudd. You know, Steve Carell is a great singer. Can you tell you not to audition the office or something? I told him.

Whoa. We were filming Anchorman. Clearly, I was the idiot. Thank God he didn't listen to him, right? Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. The United States will not stand by and allow any power, however great, take over another country. From IHeart Podcast, Saigon.

Please allow me to introduce. Joseph Sherman. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? I should stop talking so much. I like hearing you talk. One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam. I've taken a hit from Japanese ground fire.

Do you rate me? They're pouring petrol all over him. He's holding matches. I'm on a landmine. Four pre-dine! Let's get out! Freedom from Vietnam! Run!

Saigon, starring Kelly Marie Tran, and Rob Beggie. The sting here's madness. The world should hear about this. There's a fire coming to this country and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about and they are experts at everything. Here, the Nick Dick and Poll show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Coogler did that I think was so

unique. He's the writer director. Who do you think he is? I don't know. You meet the president? You think it's the president? You think Canada has a president? You think China has a president? Los Wau-Rouzette. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night.

It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep. It was a good one. I like that thing. It is an actual Polish saying. It is an actual Polish saying. Better version of Play Stupid games win stupid prizes. Yes.

Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift, who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick, Dick, and Poll show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Redistricting, but we also see an attack on what it takes to register the vote. And we also see an attack of what it takes to stay registered to vote. So people need to understand that this is a full front assault on all sides when it comes

to accessing the ballot box in this country. Robert, this is not about Republicans and Democrats. This is about white power, and they want white Republican power. You're absolutely correct. And the scariest part about this is there's a line from Gil Scott Heron and the winner in America where he says nobody's fighting because no one knows who to save. You have many people who are so discouraged by our electoral system, who have been so downtrodden by what they feel is being two political parties that do nothing to them,

that as we saw in the last election, many people just checked out of the political system. And now the apocalypse that we have been warning about for the last several decades is right here on the doorstep. And it seems to people aren't even motivated. And this falls into the daily chaos that has been of the current administration. People cannot become complacent. We cannot think this is just another passing story of the week. This is 60 years of the baking. They have been willing to overturn these laws for decades, for generations.

and now they have that power. We've seen them chipping away at it. Now they've taken a full hatchet to it. And we have to get ourselves together and help people to understand that if you remove black folks from Congress, let's just say, just take it that simplest level. You just take black representation

and cut it in half in Congress. Well, the next time there's a question about police brutality. That bill is even making into the floor for a debate, let alone for a vote. And we're talking about black maternal health. You can push that out the window. And nobody can be worried about that.

There's no one in the room to talk about it. You want to talk about the unemployment rate in black communities and diversity, equity, inclusion programs. Those are all going to be gone for generations to come. We're talking about the resegregation of America. We're talking about setting black America back a century, essentially. We're talking about forgetting all the things that our ancestors have passed down to us and simply throwing it out the window without even putting up a fight.

And I think that's the biggest issue for me. I need to see people fighting the weight of this fight needs to be fought because the other side is energized. side, they may have their little civil wars, their little discussions, but they are united in one thing. They want to take the right to vote away from black people, and they want to have full power control over this country. Zabora, I am consistently saying that when you wipe out black political power, you're wiping out the access to billions of dollars. And if you have white, conservative Republicans in these seats, they are not going to be looking out for the interests of black people, black communities, black neighborhoods. And so we're about to see a

massive shift in resources and folk had better wake up to realize what is happening. It is before our very eyes. We are already seeing the massive cut in resources. We're looking at budgets being cut. We're looking at students that are in grad school, about to lose graduate plus loans coming up in July. We're changing professions that have been professional programs that are taking a lot of time and a lot of work. We're seeing the attack not only in our voting, but we're seeing the attack in our education of our black individuals. And if these things weren't important, why are they attacking them so much? We have to remember what Fannie Lou Hamer said. Nobody is freeing to everybody free. And this voting isn't a preference. It's not something that we're,

that is just something that we're doing for, Right now, people really have to understand that this is life or death. This is the future of your children, your children's children. And if you do nothing right now, what does that look like for them? What does that look like for their education? Things have been given to our generation just way too easy where we have access to school. And even if it hasn't been fair, or just we've had access to it because of pilgrims, because of all of these other resources

and we are losing these resources and if we don't get up and vote if we don't get off our butts and really get out there and get community oriented and understand that even if you are rich or you have all of the resources you need, there's somebody

that does not have those resources and we have to fight for them. Too many people throughout our history have far for us to have these rights and we have to go take water to the polls. Be someone's transportation. We have two hands. Take one person in this hand and one person in this hand and you make sure you're not just taking yourself to the polls, but you're getting your family,

your cousins, your brother, your sister, them, and everybody getting out there and they're voting. And they are aware. We got to educate each other. We're waiting for someone to come in our communities and educate us and change things for us. But if you're saying you're not being heard, but you're not voting where your voice is able to. to be heard. What are we doing? We can't keep saying, screaming at social media

and screaming at TikTok, saying we don't like the way things are going, but we're not showing up in the primaries. We're not showing up in these local elections. We don't know what's going on. You don't have the right or the, you can't keep saying what you don't know. When you can go find out everything else,

you can get on chat, GBT, and find out everything else. We got to get out there and we got to do something. This is time to get off our butts and really get in the community and make some differences. And Rebecca, if people want to keep just sitting here yelling tangibles, tangible, tangibles, which, let's be real clear, those of us who understand politics have always talked about presenting our issues and having an agenda. So there's a notion that that never existed before is nonsensical.

But the reality is this here. You are guaranteed not to receive anything if there are people who don't look like you in there. And let's be real clear. And I've been seeing, you know, a number of these little black conservatives hop up on Instagram and do all their posting and talking to all these stories about, oh, black, you know, oh, how great Republican Party is. let's be clear, they have a significant anti-black agenda. It is an anti-black agenda. Roland, I would say right now the ultimate tangible in this country is actually being a first-class citizen. I would say that the ultimate tangible in this country right now is actually having the ability to show up, register the vote,

cast your ballot, and your ballot indeed count it. I think a tangible in this country is the ability for you to be able to, for, they have proper housing, that have access to health care. I think a tangible is for you to be able to elect someone who has your interest in mind. To me, that's a very big tangible, not just in this moment, but that's a very big tangible of living and being a citizen in this country. Not only that, I think it's very important for people to understand. When the Republican Party was responsive to black folks' needs, guess what?

We voted Republican. When the Republican Party stopped being responsive to black folks' need, we start voting for the party that was responsive to black folks' needs in this country. People have to understand that for black people in this country, we have been extremely pragmatic over the centuries. We vote for those who is more aligned to what it is that we need, who's responsive to us, who understand that we are taxpayers. So we also have to say in what this country looks like,

and what our local communities look like. So this isn't about Republican. This is not about Democrat. This is not even about progressive versus conservativism. This is whether or not I get to be a full-class citizen, a first-class citizen in this country or not. Absolutely. And it is going to take folks going everywhere, Robert.

I mean, going everywhere, hitting every facet of Black America. That is what is going to take. and no one can be left out. And again, it has to be constant. It has to be consistent. It has to be every single day. All right, Zabor, we're going to get Robert a signal straight. Zabor, that's for you.

Yeah, definitely. I think that we're looking at all of these seats and our representation being took away. If you have no black people in the room, how do you, how do our interests be represented? in it. So when you say, I'm not showing up to vote, and I'm from Houston. We had

so many people not show up to vote in these last few elections. When you say you're not showing up to vote and you're looking at them taking the seats away. We had Sheila Jackson Lee seat forever, and now who knows what we're going to have with all of this remapping and how they're

spreading these seats out in Tennessee. You know, so representation matters. When you are not represented, your voice is not in the room. And so once again, I stand on we got to do something. We cannot do this like we've been doing it. We can't keep sitting down. We can't keep looking at Texas and Louisiana are making headway

and spreading their ideology throughout the rest of the U.S. and all of these southern states are where it's concentrated that they are still in our power. You know, they don't, we we have 12% of black people being represented in Congress already. So if you take away that representation that's already very minimal, what does that look like for us? What does that look like for our kids? Do we see what's going on with the Department of Education?

Do we see what's going on with the enforcement of disability rights? And these things are impacting every area of our life. And if we are not careful, we're going to lose. and we're going to wake up and not be able to say that we did anything about. Robert, having numbers mean nothing if you do not use your numbers. This is the thing that I think people need to understand, that we can turn this gerrymandering fight right back against these people if we organize. You know, Georgia's a state where I'm at,

where we're talking about 35, 36 percent of the population being African-American. You add in Latinos, we're pushing 40 percent of the population in this state. So you want to redraw these maps? Well, let's register people. Let's turn out people. Let's build the type of coalitions that we've needed. Yeah, we need to make sure that when folks are standing up, when folks are fighting, that they understand exactly what these battle lines are,

that we aren't simply dealing with this imperial presidency that gets to do whatever they want. We're not dealing with a pontiff or a potentate, that we get to fight back. And guess what, if we take back the House in this November's election, then we get to have oversight here. We get to actually find out what they've been doing with all of our money. And we get to set up for the 28 election. And we get to make these demands going into 2028. We get the Democratic Party note.

Well, look, if we're saving your tails this time, then I want a project 2025-style agenda when we walk in that door on day one. We want everything that has ever been on our wish list because MAGA got everything that was on their wish list. So Donald Trump can do that for his base and for the people behind him. We are expecting the same thing going forward. But it's a fight that we can win. As Reverend Jackson will say, we've never won a fight that we didn't fight. We've never lost a fight that we did.

So it's time to get out there and fight, and we're going to go forward. Absolutely. Our folks, got to go to a break. We come back more on Rolla Martin on Filton. We'll be joined by Congressman Mark Visi on the show. Also, we'll talk with the lead of the NWACP in Georgia about what Brian Kemp is trying to do there. You're watching Rolla Martin on Filton right here on the Black Star Network. Back at a moment.

This is a national issue. happening right here in Middletown. This isn't just about a school. It's about opportunity. Count of test, our education is approved, ranked as number one by the Connecticut State Board of Education in 2023. No one can give us an answer why. Roland Martin is coming to Middletown.

He wants the country to know about our struggle for our children's education in future. Families need an option. Certainly, I'll wait. children will fall in the gap. The examples are right there. I guess we'll never know. Middle Town has repeatedly been denied state funding without any legitimate or legal reasons.

They're so hard to stop us open to serve our community. They don't want for your children what they want for their own children. Every parent in the world wants the best for their child. We want to hold people accountable. We need to know the world. We're going to do what we always had to do. Fight for justice. Fight for what is right.

Be a part of this conversation. Ask questions. Demand answers. See you May 14. They've been trying to erase black political power since Reconstruction. Now the Supreme Court is helping them finish the job. First came Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, the ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act.

Then came Bernovich in 2021. Another ruling. Another piece torn away. Now comes Calais. The case civil rights leaders warned could cripple the last major federal protection against racial vote dilution, and within days, Tennessee eliminated its only majority black congressional district, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama. The same strategy is spreading across the south. The old Jim Crow used poll taxes and literacy tests. The new Jim Crow uses gerrymandered maps, voter role purges, polling place closures, and court rulings that make black communities politically invisible. But this story doesn't end in a courtroom. It moves to Selma. May 16th is a National Day of Action. Faith leaders will gather at the Edmund Pettus Bridge at 9 a.m. A mass rally follows at the Alabama State Capitol from 1 to 5 p.m.

1965 was Freedom Summer. This is Freedom Summer 2.0 because they are still trying to erase black political power and we will not bow. on a next, a balanced life with me, Dr. Jackie, a relationship that we have to have. We're often afraid of it and don't like to talk about it. That's right. We're talking about our relationship with money. And here's the thing. Our relationship with money oftentimes determines whether we have it or not.

Balancing your relationship with your pocketbook. That's next on a balanced life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Black Star Network. To the other side of change, only on the Black Star Network and hosted by myself, Ria Baker, and my good sis, Jemira Burley. We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture. And we don't just settle for commentary. This is about solution-driven dialogue

to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to the other side of change. This week at the Black Table, we discuss a place, an idea, a dream, and a reality that everybody on the planet should know about.

called Mound Bayou. What about black people creating their own country, not from the outside end, but from the inside out? That's next on the black table, right here on the Black Star Network. I'm Brittany Noble, Midwest-born HBCU educated

with experience in newsrooms across the country. Well, I've teamed up with Roland Martin to bring to you the breakdown. This isn't just news. It's our stories, our voice, our community. Join me for the breakdown. Friday for Friday at midday, only on the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene.

A white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not. White people are losing their damn minds. There's an angry pro-Trump, Trump mob, storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress,

whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at every university calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the proud boys and the boogaloo boys, America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitude. Pride is like love. You feel it in your heart. IR. Radio. Canada's number one streaming app for radio and podcasts,

including IHart Pride Canada, your favorite hits, and must have party bangers, plus personalized and curated playlists, like back in the day Pride. Come together, celebrate love. Take pride with you anytime, anywhere. Just ask your smart speaker to play IHart Pride Canada. Stream us on your phone.

Or listen now at IHartRRRRRRRR, Radio.ca. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, for people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. The United States will not stand by and allow any power, however great, take over another country. From My Heart Podcasts, Saigon. Please allow me to introduce Joseph Sherman. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? I should stop talking so much. I like hearing you talk. One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America. apart. This is for Vietnam. I've taken a hit from

Japanese ground fire. Do you rate me? They're pouring petrol all over him. He's holding matches. I'm on a landmine. For free time. Let's get out. Freedom for Vietnam. Run! Scagon, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Rob Benedict.

Sting, here's madness. The world should hear about this. There's a fire coming to this country and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the I-Heart Radio Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about,

and they are experts at everything. Here, the Nick Dick and Poll show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Cougler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director. Who do you think he is? I don't know. You mean the president? You think Canada has a president?

You think China has a president? President Levoix Rousette. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night. It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep.

It was a good one. It is an actual Polish saying. It is an actual Polish saying. It is an actual poem. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win stupid prizes. Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift,

who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick Dick and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Resources, they're taking out women. This is Whitefield.

What's up? It's Talib Kuali. I'm CEO. This is the Black Star Network. Folks, as I said earlier, Governor Brian Kipp of Georgia is calling a special session on June 17th to change their maps. Now, they won't go into effect until 2028. Georgia has a primary taking place on Tuesday. But when it comes to those two Supreme Court races, that's all for all the marbles.

We have both of those Democratic candidates on, and so we'll talk more about that, give you their names in a little bit. But again, what Brian Kipp is trying to do, now he's already signed into law a change that made various races in county races like DA nonpartisan because that they have been afraid of losing and they've been getting their butts kicked on the local level. And so the regular session of the 2006 General Assembly concluded on April 3rd, requiring a special session. to address redistricting. According to Kemp's proclamation, lawmakers will have two specific purposes during the special session.

The first is to consider enacting, revising, repealing, or amending a state law regarding the division of Georgia into appropriate districts for the state senate, state house representatives, U.S. House of Representatives, or any other state office

elected by any district. Any changes made will take effect for 2008. The second purpose to address challenges arising from the July 1st, effective date of modifications to the state election code enacted under 2004 Georgia law. To talk about this is Gerald Griggs, the president of Georgia State NAACP.

You're glad to have you here. So walk us through, how do you see this? How do you see what's going on here? In addition, of course, Kent, like I said, just signing this bill making certain elections nonpartisan in five major metro-alantic counties. Now, not the whole state, just those five counties. So what you have here,

is a continued power grab by the governor. In signing that bill, which specifically targeted five metro Atlanta counties in certain races like DA races and other races to be able to remove the partisan envelope from those races. They were DA races, county commissioners, tax commissioners, and other local offices. Again, predominantly black counties, Fulton, DeKalb, Garnett, Cobb, Clayton, Counties, making them nonpartisan because they've been getting their asses kicked by how, having it D versus R. Exactly.

And they want to be able to remove the ability for them to choose their candidate of choice by removing those symbols. But now what the governor also did in this new calling of the special session, he's going to redraw the district lines because of the decision made by the Supreme Court. This particular decision will only go into effect in 28, but it signals a turn that we have been concerned about for years in Georgia, and that's continuing reduction of the power of the African-American vote to pick their candidates of choice through voter suppression and gerrymandering. So what we are seeing is the continued over-encroachment on the African-American vote in the

state of Georgia, and we are completely focused on fighting this with every fiber that we have, because there, as you have said, there's already a primary election that is going on and nonpartisan and races, which will occur on the 19th. So we want everybody in the state of Georgia to, one, watch what's happening in real time, and they continue effort to silence African American voters and people of color. But two, go out in mass numbers and vote in this election and in the degeneral election, which will be the midterm election, because our redistricting will not take place ahead of the midterms. And again, so let me walk people through.

I'll give you an example what happened in Texas. Texas, your large counties used to be red. Dallas County, first of all, the entire state of Texas used to be blue. Then it went red. Well, then Harris County, Dallas County went back to blue. And so Republicans and the legislature was so incensed they kept getting their asses kicked in in Harris County. So what they did was they got rid of straight ticket voting. Now, Republicans used to clean up straight ticket voting.

Well, then Democrats figured out how to mobilize and organize around that. So then they got rid of straight ticket voting. The last time you asked your ticket voting in Texas was 2018. This is what Republicans do. They are constantly trying to change the law to rig elections to make it easier for them to win because they cannot win in places where you have to make an argument to the voters while you're the best. And so what they want to do in this case by this law he just signed, they want folks not running under a D or an R banner.

And so to be able to say, oh, no, let's sort of cloud, cloud who's running. Now, when you talk about redrawing these lines, they want to sit here and wipe out black political power on the state level with state reps, state senators, and it can go all the way down. This is why I keep saying to black folks in rural Georgia and those five populous counties, you better understand the game at play because this is about white conservative Republican power. Absolutely. And it's about the growing diversity that's happening in the state of Georgia and wanted to silence the voices of that diversity. In those five counties, we had an unprecedented turnout to elect five female black district attorneys as well as other elected officials. And so that's why they're targeted them with specificity. And then we talk about the redistricting, we continue to see the diversification growing in. in the Black Belt down below Macon, as well as the Metro Atlantic counties. Now you're seeing more and more counties taken over by African Americans and people of color.

And so they are targeting them to make sure that on the congressional level, that they silenced those voices. But he's gone a bit further in redrawing district lines for state Senate as well as State House, which we haven't seen in the other redistricting battles. It was simply the congressional district. So our government,

is going a step and beyond to redraw the lines, and he's used to doing this. He's the same governor when he was a secretary of state. He presided over his own election, and we saw how that turned out. So they are resetting the rules, replaying the game, and slanting the game away from the continued growing of African-American minority voting power in the state of Georgia. Absolutely. Questions from my panel. Zabor, you first.

So I guess my question would be, we see all of the things that's going on, but what would you say to the young person that is just feeling overwhelmed with everything that's going on and they don't feel that their vote counts in those areas? And how do we get them from just complaining about it to really getting active in the communities and seeing how they really are affected and do something, give them some tips? on how they can change, you know, really impact change. Well, I think we have to educate them on the power of their vote. If your vote didn't have power, they wouldn't be trying so hard to disenfranchise you. And in Georgia, you have an opportunity to push back on that in real time because, again, he set it out to 2028. And so we have the 2026 midterms where in the state of Georgia for the first time,

you can flip the state house and then be in control of redistricting. So what I would say to the young people is this is an opportunity to learn from your history because we in Georgia have a long history of pushing back on these draconian efforts to suppress the vote and to push back on our growing political power. But you also need to understand that they're trying to overwhelm you. So you don't allow that spirit of fear to come in. You focus, mobilize, and use the spirit of your ancestors in this state to push back. and it starts with the primary election that's happening right now.

Early voting is still going on right now. Rebecca? Yep, since the last time we've had a federal election, Georgia has criminalized certain aspects of how we organize. One of the ways that they have criminalized is how we support people who are waiting in those hours-long lines. Another way that has been criminalized is how we gather in the streets. Another way that has been criminalized is even

with how we do certain voter registration tactics that were legal, but now have been made questionable. So tell me, what is the way in which you are encouraging community members to get engaged in Georgia? And what types of education are you all doing on the ground to make sure that people understand how to do this work, but in a work that doesn't run afoul of these new restrictive loss? And thank you for that question. It's important. So you're talking about Senate-built SS. SB 202, which we are currently in litigation right now for that bill. But what I would simply tell people is for the line-womber provision, move it back 50 feet,

and make sure that you are not providing food or substance for somebody to actually vote a certain way, but you are providing comfort for them. So you move it back a few feet. And what you simply say as far as organizers are concerned, make sure that you're in direct contact with our legal defense team, the NAACP LDF, or the lawyers committee on civil civil. rights or your local civil rights activists so you can know what your rights are under the new election code while it's still under litigation. And most importantly, what I would tell individuals

is you need to be a part of an organization that's been doing this for decades so that you can understand how the changing terrain will change our tactics. We need to organize. We need to be ready to mobilize and we need to be strategic in how you deal with these new attempts to suppress the vote. But what I would simply say to those organizers is we have to be steadfast in our use of our tactics, but we do have to revolutionize them. Every time that we are successful, we expect them to try to change the law, and we have to be one step ahead of them. That's why you always stay engaged with your local civil rights attorneys, and you make sure you understand the new code and what you can and cannot do. Robert. Hey, Gerald, how are you doing?

One of the things I think we both, I'm doing great. I think one thing both of us have seen just on the ground here in Georgia is that it seems like every time we start making progress, every time we start to move the ball forward over the 20-plus years, both of us have been in this, that the Republicans always seem to be able to, when they get back into power, unite and make a concentrated effort on attacking the vote, whether that be the first voter ID bill way back over 20-something years ago, whether that is redistricting. How do we make sure we're getting ahead of these issues going forward? So that we're not caught on our back foot where we're always seemingly fighting back against these things.

But when we actually have power, when we actually have majorities, that we can push forward the type of legislation that's necessary to prevent these things and head them off before they take place. I think in Georgia, we're at a particular crossroads here because we probably will see with the results of the midterm election in 26 to take over the state house. And once we take over the state house, we've got to pass the John Lewis Voter Advancement Act, which would allow from the Georgia Constitution more power to protect voting on the state level. So I think that's first. I think secondly, we have to make sure that we

elect individuals that have a backbone and that have imagination to understand that there's always going to be a direct attack when there's any progress. And we have to prevent that direct attack by being preemptive instead of reactive. And I think third, we have to summon the courage of our ancestors to return to the old strategy of mass meetings. It's incumbent upon us to organize digitally and to talk about these things, but we got to get together around the table

in our churches, in our community centers, and plan so that we can be ready to mobilize at a moment's notice. And I think that's one of the things that State Conference of the NAACP has also already launched. We already have our GOTV that's already running strong, so we're going to make sure that there's record turnout in Georgia. It's all been over 500,000 have already early voted. But we need to make sure we get back to the basics, and the basics are the mass meeting so people

can understand what's happening in real time and be ready to mobilize. All right, then. Gerald Griggs, we appreciate the bad. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Folks, joining us right now is Texas Congressman Mark Visi. Glad to have you on the show. We have been looking. Look, all of this stuff started there in Texas when Donald Trump told Republican MAGA, Governor Greg Abbott, I won five seats. And then they responded.

Now we're seeing with this Louisiana versus Calais decision, the Supreme Court, is doing the bidding of, I call it the extreme court, during the bidding of these Republicans. And so we see what has happened in Mississippi, in Alabama, in Tennessee. South Carolina is about to move. We're talking about Georgia as well. North Carolina had already gerrymandered. And so, you know, what are you hearing from your CBC colleagues about this attack on black political power? Yeah, obviously, that is the number one topic right now in the CBC is like, what are we going to be able to do? What does the future of the CBC look like because of everything that we're seeing from these southern legislatures?

I will tell you that when I saw what was happening in Texas and how easily the Republicans in Texas, says went along with this and how easily Greg Abbott went along with that. I was not surprised that he moved to other parts of the South. You know, there are many of us have been warning that it was probably going to happen all along, particularly in light of the Calais case. And no one knew at that time when it was going to be, when it was going to be determined. But it was always a concern, always a fear. And again, I'm not surprised. And we have to be ready to fight back and we need to fight back with whatever means we have. One of the things, things that I've been talking about. And Roland, I know that you're an A&M fan. I'm a big sports

fan. I've been telling people, we, we as fans, we have to stop watching these games. We cannot continue to let them exploit our children and make them billions and billions of dollars while they take our voting rights away. And it's not just the voting rights. It's everything that has been happening in southern states, particularly at universities, whether it was the fire, of Dr. McElroy at N.M, whether it's the gutting of DEI programs, the elimination of teaching critical race theory at universities and not allowing real black history to be taught at southern universities. It's a whole laundry list of bullshit that they're doing in southern states.

And we need to fight back with whatever we have. And I think right now, sports is one of the things that we have. Well, I'll be honest. I think it also has to happen. I would love for these parents of a lot of these top recruits to say, no, thank you. We're not going to send our kids to any of these SEC schools. And that means that if you are Texas and Texas A&M,

if you are Alabama and Auburn, if you are Mississippi State and Ole Miss, if you're Tennessee, if you are Georgia, if you are the University of Florida saying thanks, but no thanks. Now, there are people out there who are saying, well, I think this is unfair to ask these black kids to do this. That's not what it's about. It's about knowing full well that the individuals, especially at these state schools,

they're being led by these MAGA Republican governors, these MAGA Republican state reps and state senators, they want to cheer them on. They love DEI Saturdays, but they cannot stand DEI. They love having these black bodies. bringing them joy, bringing in millions and billions of dollars, but they want to deprive black communities of resources. You had Kathleen McElroy, an esteemed journalist,

a graduate of Texas A&M, who was willing to come back to run their journalism department, and it was Republicans on that Board of Regents who were being told by Greg Abbott, do not do this. It was a black man, Bill Mayhomes, who was the chair of the border regents, who went along with this. It cost taxpayers

a million dollars to settle with her. And I said then, top black recruits do not come to Texas A&M. And so we know we know when the black athletes stand up. When you had that brother, matter of fact, let me pull his name up.

It happened in Mississippi. He was a running back. When that brother stood up and said, you know what? Yeah, I ain't really feeling playing under this Confederate flag. When that brother did that, dog, they changed that flag with the quickness. They removed that flag from the Confederate emblem from the Mississippi State flag

because they were scared to death of these black athletes not going there. And so black athletes do have that level of power. Yeah, black athletes absolutely have that level of power, and we need to use it. And, you know, people are saying that we shouldn't put this just on the athletes, and I agree with that. We need to make sure that we are doing our part. I'm not buying any merch. I'm not watching any of the regional games.

I will watch some West Coast games. I'll watch some games in conferences where the states are not treating black people like were their property again. But I am going to do my part, and we're asking people. grandparents, students, student athletes, jump in that portal. I know it's too late

for this season, but like you mentioned in the segment right before I came on, Georgia is talking about doing this in 2020, and there's already word going around

that Texas is going to redistrict again in 2020 and take us down to only six Democratic seats statewide. And I believe that Greg Abbott will do it. He's fool enough to do it

if Donald Trump ask him to do it. And so we need to understand this is going to be a long-term play, and we need to make sure that we are focused. And like you said, there was just one guy in Mississippi that made a difference. Yeah.

If we can get a handful of athletes and a handful of parents to go along with this, and we stop watching and that money stopped coming in, we can make a difference. His name was Kylin Hill. And Kyleon Hill, this was on, I need everybody on saying, go to my iPad. This was on June 22nd, 2020. Pride is like love. You feel it in your heart. IR. Radio.

Canada's number one streaming app for radio and podcasts, including IHart Pride Canada, your favorite hits, and must have party bangers, plus personalized and curated playlists. Like back in the day pride. Come together, celebrate love. Take pride with you anytime, anywhere. Just ask your smart speaker to play IHart Pride Canada.

Stream us on your phone. Or listen now at iHeartRadio.ca. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember

I think it was on a call about what we should call it And we were thinking I'm originally calling it One of the early names of our band Before Jonas Brothers This is how you guys remember it going down Yes I have a very different memory of this We were talking about a thing

A bit for the podcast People could call in and say hey Jonas And then I wrote down on my little notebook Hey Jonas and offered it up as a potential title For the podcast But thanks for remembering that guys listen to hey jonas on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast just listen we don't care where you hear it this is sagon the story of my family and of the country that shaped us

the united states will not stand by and allow any power however great take over another country from i heart podcasts sigone please allow me to introduce joseph sherman you don't think i'm serious about a free vietnam i should stop talking so much i like here hearing you talk. One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam. I've taken a hit from Japanese ground fire. Do you rate me? They're pouring petrol all over him. He's holding matches. I'm on a landmine. Or free time. Let's get out. Freedom from Vietnam. Run! Saigon, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Rob Benedict. Sting here's madness. The world should hear about this. There's a fire coming to this.

and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about and they are experts at everything. Here, the Nick Dick and Poll show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Coogler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director. Who do you think he is? I don't know.

You meet the like the president? You think Canada has a president. You think China has a president. The law crusade. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night. It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus.

Yep. It's a good one. I like that. It is an actual Polish saying. Yeah. It is an actual point. Better version of Play Stupid Games win stupid prizes. Yes.

Which by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift, who said that for the first. time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick Dick and Poll show on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, June 22nd. Kyleon Hill tweeted, either change the flag or I won't be

representing this state anymore. 100%. And I meant that I'm tired. This was in response to a tweet from Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves saying that people are floating this separate, this other flag

and so they're not going to change it. Well, guess what happened? Eight days later, that flag was gone. Yep. Because white coaches, other players joined in, white coaches went to them and said, hey man,

listen, we went to lose some black ball players. So y'all going to have to sit here and do something. That's right. That same Tate Reeves, that racist Tate Reeves, on June 30th, sign a bill into law.

That's how fast it moved. On June 22nd, a black football player at Mississippi State said, I am not representing this state. He's one of the top running backs in the country at that time. Eight days later, that Confederate

emblem was removed from the state flag. because they knew those white Republicans in Mississippi knew. Ole Miss and Mississippi State could not survive, could not win any games having just white ball players.

Yeah, that's right. And Roland, there's even a more recent example. And I hate that I cannot think of her name right now. LSU basketball players. She's in the WNBA now. The same governor that's signing this racist map into law in Louisiana right now,

Governor Landry. He said he was going to put a Charlie Kirk statute up at LSU, and she went on Twitter and called his ass out on it and said, bullshit, you will not put up a Charlie Kirk statue, and the Charlie Kirk statue is still not up. They were going to put it right by the Mike the Tiger mascot that they have there. And so these athletes, if they use their voice, they can make a big difference, and we can start to finally work on resetting some of this because the damage that the Republicans are doing and these states are going to affect us and not just on the federal level, as the previous

guests you had on pointed out, state legislative seats, county commissioner seats, city council seats. This is going to impact us for a long time if we do not act now. Yeah, that was Ploget Johnson, and what she did was she

quote tweeted, let's see we'll pull it up. So Jeff Landry put out this video saying they're going to do this Charlie Kirk statue. Give me one second. fully back up. She quote tweeted these four right here, those four question marks. And yeah, that did not happen. And it still has been put up. So yeah, what we are saying to black athletes, but more importantly, we're talking to their black grandparents and their black grandparents. And this is all this requires, Representative V.C. If one, if one top, if one top

300 recruit. If one says I will not be going to a SEC school in a state where they are disenfranchising black people, I'm telling you

it is going, that's all we need is one. Just one. And that, and listen, that brother may have all, well, may have already was going to sign with, you

Illinois or Big Ten School or ACC School or somewhere else. But guess what? And not just SEC, make it clear. Y'all ACC schools? Yeah, ain't coming there as well. This is what we're talking about.

What we're talking about is this is the opportunity to break their backs because we have to use everything at our disposal and athletics is one of those and guess what? Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, those schools cannot survive playing football or basketball without black people.

That is absolutely correct. And I also want to remind the parents and the grandparents and the student athletes that may be listening to us right now. They don't care about our kids. I will give you a perfect example. of that because a lot of Republicans, and I've done social media on this, I'm doing something on Instagram and Facebook every day, urging people to hop in the portal, hop in the portal. There's something I'm saying repeatedly.

We have a bill on the floor next week. It's called the SCORE Act. And if you look at the language in the SCORE Act, it goes after black athletes. It says that you can use name, image, and likeness, but you can't have a sponsor or an endorsement from a product that your school has a conflict with. So if you go to TCU and TCU is with Nike, you can't sign a contract with Adidas.

That means you can't leverage your name, image, and likeness. That is the bill that Republicans have on the House for, and it is coming out of LSU. Everyone knows it is Steve Scalese because he's on Energy and Commerce Committee with me, and it is their bill. It is a bill that's coming from LSU. But you also, but you also, but, but here's the deal, you all, to be honest, and listen, I want to ask them. You also got some black caucus members who are sponsored on that. Sharmar Fingers in Alabama.

You've got another system of pull the name up in a second. And so, you know, I would hope that they are going to withdraw their names from the, from the score act because of the score act. And we're going to do something on that on Monday show. We're going to go in depth on that. the SCORE Act absolutely is targeting black athletes. It is about black athletes preventing them from being able to reap the financial rewards. And so that to me is what we need to be dealing with when it comes to the SCORE Act. And again, there are some black caucus members who are standing with them.

I'm sorry, that bill needs to be defeated. That is an anti-black athletic bill. 100% is it is a black anti-athletic bill. And it just shows that when these conservatives are going on X or Twitter, going on social media saying that you're not going to be able to get the black athlete out of the SEC. The SEC has the best collectives. If they pass this score act, it is going to take money out of the black athletes' pocket. And so to me, like Donald Trump said, you don't really have a lot to lose because they are going after us anyway.

They're going to find a way to continue to make sure that we have no leverage at all. And it's time for us to stand up now when it comes to the SCORE Act and when it comes to redistricting and use everything that we have at our disposal to make sure that they understand that this is serious now and that we are not going backwards. Absolutely. Congressman Mark Visi, I'm surely appreciate it, sir. Thanks a lot. Good to see you, Roland. I'm going to go to my panel. I'm going to tell you right now, Robert, this is real simple. Everything is on the table. Everything. Dr. King said April 3rd, 1968 at Mason Temple, his last sermon in Memphis when he said, we must redistribute the pain. He said we must practice economic withdrawal. This is where we have to be talking with and educating parents and grandparents and athletes about what their power. is and getting them to understand that these folks, they take your talent now.

They want you running and passing and catching and shooting, but they don't want to employ you when you're done. They don't want to sit here and provide economic opportunities for you. They want to pull economic opportunities. They want to pull health opportunities. And so this is where they must be hit. I'm telling you, Robert, if one, two or three black athletes publicly say, I will not go to one of these southern

schools, one of these SEC ACC schools, trust me. It will send shockwaves through these legislatures and last thing they want to see are their schools getting their asses kicked on the top black talent and says, holla, I ain't coming.

You're right, Rowling, and also, we have to vote for our bullets, we have to vote for our remotes, we have to vote for our activities. On Saturdays, if you were saying that the students need to make new decisions, then we need to make those decisions also. We need to be doing something else

on our Saturday afternoons other than watching SEC football because if we are saying that they are exploiting these athletes, then every eyeball that we're giving, every penny that we are betting on them on draft kings, every jersey we are buying, every piece of merchandise, every ticket to the game, that's all supporting that same system.

So we can't be saying that other people need to be sacrificing, but we're not willing to make the sacrifice. We can absolutely make change, make these policies go away exceedingly quickly. If all of a sudden, not just with our dollars, we're not supporting them, but with social media and societally, we're not supporting them, because black folks are the tastemakers of America. We set the social trends.

You ain't got no heat in the streets, as they say, unless you were popular in the black community. So if we are going to say the athletes need to have a blackout of these schools, do we need to have blackouts there also? Show up at your local HBCU, buy tickets, donate to the booster fund, hang out for the fifth quarter. If you're an Alabama fan, become an Alabama A&M fan.

If you're a UGA fan, become a Clark Atlanta fan, and you do that across the board, you'll see these policy changing real fast. Two members of the CBC, Congresswoman Sheila Bynum Coleman, and Congressman Shimari figures are the two who are co-sponsors of that score act. And Rebecca, yeah, is that just turning it off?

Guess what? Meet those folks with protests, let them know what's going on. See, again, apartheid got taken down because of money. apartheid got taken down because it was sanctions, because it was divestment. And this is what needs to be happening right now. We should be asking questions of the largest companies in Mississippi, in Alabama, in Florida, in Tennessee, in Georgia. Do y'all stand with them or do y'all stand with us consumers? Rebecca, you're muted. So like what you're missioning, a lot of these companies, their favorite color is green.

So just like you quoted Dr. King, talk about redistributing the pain, and we're talking about economic pain, we're talking about financial pain, for these people who are on the sidelines and for these corporations who are at the sidelines and who are just looking off into the distance as these abysmal things are happening to our black communities in this country. What people have to understand, the economic impact isn't just for the hospitality industry where these games are being played. The economic impact isn't just for the university. It's not just in the commercials that they run and the local channels that receive the money. But here's something else that we have to think about.

Sports is so popular now, especially when it comes to betting. And if all of a sudden the very thing and the very platforms that promote sports betting, now they have a bunch of uncertainty because there's a bunch of athletes who aren't going to be where those athletes were supposed to be as people start to put their bets in, it's going to impact so many people in their pocketbooks. It's also going to impact everyday people who are invested in sports betting in this country. So as much as they've tried to tell a lot of athletes to shut up and dribble, the reason why they're telling athletes to shut up and dribble is because of the economic impact.

So people have to understand how wide and how vast and the billions of dollars that's in that particular market. Robert? Look, Roland, the battlefield is already upon us. And we shouldn't be talking about things that we could do or should do or could possibly do. We have to talk about what we is going to do. We need to be putting together the battle plan for how and exactly why

we're going to be promoting to our people to black out the SEC for this fall. And why we're going to tell them that well, maybe we need to be pulling back some of our support from me in these NFL teams since they got rid of their policy before the 2025 season to require to have a minority offensive coach

on the roster in order to open up that pipeline to future coaches. We have to say, if we're going to have a boycott, let's have a real boycott. Not we're going to occasionally sometimes maybe post about on social media about a boycott, but that we're really talking about inflicting the type of economic pain,

necessary to force action. You can look at the situation between America and Iran right now. We've had sanctions on Iran for the last 50 years and did not change their action. That is all to say that we can't expect these things to take 72 hours or 60

days to work their way out. If we're going to be talking about doing these sorts of activities, they have to be planned for the long call, perhaps not just years, decades, generations. They fought for three generations to overturn the voting rights said. We can't seem to keep We have to get these things together

because the fight is right here in front of us now. Zabor? We got to know that this is about collective survival. We can't just keep thinking that we're going to work in our solos and not make anything happen. Whatever power we have, we have to use it. We have to make sure we choose in institutions that align with our community dignity.

Yes, you can go there, play football, do all the things. But if that school is not going to support you and your education. If that state is not going to bring the dollars, dollars, money makes sense. We can't keep doing things that we're not hitting them where it really hurts and using our power that we have to really impact the policies that they are having.

They are removing black organizations like black student unions and doing all of the things that make black people marginalized at these schools. So yes, you may be going there. for a successful athletic career, but what about your education? What about the support that you're going to need to pass these classes?

And you may get the support you need because you are a star athlete, but what about the other black individuals that are gonna give you community in those spaces? So we have to have ownership over our access, ownership over our skills and talents and gifts, and realize who's owning what, who's controlling, what, and how can we be entrepreneurial

over the things that really matter us. We can't be going to schools where they're limiting our success and those congressmen are voting for the score act that's going to impact the athlete directly. You know, we really have to understand that this is our economic and political power. And they're not separate. They're one thing and we've got to utilize them in that way. We got to get smart about how we're using our economic and political power and really realize that it's not just affecting you. It's not just affecting you. It's affecting your classmates, it's affecting your family, and it's going to affect your bottom line.

Yep, absolutely. All right, folks, I'll go to a break. We come back. The Attorney General, the MAGA Attorney General in Louisiana at war with the New Orleans City Council. A.G. Liz Merrill fires off a letter. Well, the Mayor of New Orleans Helena Marino fires back at her. We'll talk about that.

We'll also hear from Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones about the MAGA Republicans there wiping out Democrats from all committees because they didn't like them protesting the stripping Memphis of a congressional seat. We'll discuss that as well. Donald Trump attacks another black female reporter. Have that for you as well. Folks, you're watching Roland Martin Unfilter

on the Black Star Network. Don't forget support the work that we do. Join our Breindafunk fan club. Listen, there's no other show in America. There's no other show that is speaking to the issues that is sitting here, that is centering us. every single day. So your support of this show is absolutely critical. So please support us by

joining our Brena Funk fan club. Use a Stripe QR code. You see it right here. You're listening. Go to blackstar network.com. That's for cash, chap and credit cards. Checks and money order. Make it payable to Roland Martin unfiltered. P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 203-7-0196. Paypal Unfiltered. Benmo, R.M. Unfiltered. Zail at Roland S.martin.com. Rolling at rollingmarkdown unfilter.com. We'll be right back. This is a national issue. And it's happening right here in Middletown. This isn't just about a school.

It's about opportunity. Count, test, allocation, education on 2023. No one can give us an answer why. Roland Martin is coming to Middletown. He wants the country to know about our struggle for our children's education in future. Families need an option. Surgery are waiting. Many children will.

fall in the doubt. The examples are right there. We'll never know. Middletown has repeatedly been denied state funding without any legitimate or legal reasons. They're so hard to stop us open to serve our community. They don't want for your children what they want for their own children. Every parent in the world wants the best for their child.

We want to hold people accountable. We need to know the why. and you need to follow the law. We're going to do what we always have to do. Fight for justice. Fight for what is right. Be a part of this conversation. Ask questions.

Demand answers. See you May 14. I'm Mark Curry, and you're watching the Black Star Network. That's why I got these glasses on because that Black Star is bright. So a black man in New Orleans who's served time in prison gets elected to the criminal clerk.

well the Republican control legislature decide on their own you know what we're going to get rid of that position so therefore we're going to merge the criminal clerk with the civil clerk pride is like love

you feel it in your heart iR radio Canada's number one streaming app for radio and podcasts including iHeart Pride Canada your favorite hits and must have party bangers plus personalized and curated playlists like back in the day pride come together celebrate love take pride with you anytime anywhere just ask your smart speaker to play iHeart pride canada stream us on your phone or listen now at ihartradio

dot ca hey it's us the jonas brothers and guess what we have some big news what's the news news huge news we created our own podcast called hey jonas we invented a podcast well we didn't invent it we just contributed to it first people to do podcasts Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, for people could call in and say, hey Jonas, and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas,

and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. The United States will not stand by and allow any power, however great, Take over another country.

From My Heart Podcast, Saigon. Please allow me to introduce Joseph Sherman. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? I should stop talking so much. I like hearing you talk. One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam. I've taken a hit from Japanese ground fire.

Do you rate me? They're pouring petrol all over him. He's holding matches. Amana land. Free time. Let's get out. Freedom for Vietnam. Run!

Saigon, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Rob Benedict. Sting here's madness. The world should hear about this. There's a fire coming to this country, and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about and they are experts at everything. Here, the Nick Dick and Poll Show, we're not afraid to make them mistakes. stakes. What Kugler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director.

Who do you think he is? I don't know. You mean it the like the president? You think it Canada has a president. You think China has a president. Does La Crosette. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night. It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep. It was a good one. I like that snake. It is an actual Polish saying. It is an actual Polish name. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win stupid prizes. Yes.

Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift, who said that for the first time. I actually thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick Dick and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Then, so then New Orleans resisting that. So what happens? Well, the attorney Jim. of the state, she sends this out to them today.

This is her tweet. This is MAGA Attorney General of Louisiana, Liz Morrell. I am demanding the immediate rescission of the New Orleans clerk's resolutions or these officials could face potential forfeiture of their offices. I specifically asked the New Orleans City Council to wait for the Louisiana Supreme Court to weigh in. Instead, they knowingly refuse and move forward. with resolutions that attempt to displace Chelsea Richard Napoleon from her lawful office as clerk of court for Orleans Parish. There is no vacancy and no public official should recognize this fictional office or Judge Calvin Johnson's purported appointment to it.

Louisiana's usurper laws carry serious consequences and I will enforce them. Well, New Orleans Mayor Helena Marino said, oh, That's how you want to roll? She said this. Hey, everyone. I'm coming to you today to make it perfectly clear that I will not be intimidated or threatened by the state attorney general. I received a letter from her today, threatening to remove me from office due to my support of recent counsel action where they appointed an interim clerk of court. In this letter, she also threatens to work to remove our district attorney and five members of our New Orleans City Council, Council President Morrell, Vice President Willard, Councilmember King, Council Member Hughes, and Council Member McCarran, and then says that it would be up to the governor to appoint all of our replacements.

I'll also say that it is surprising that the Attorney General put all of this in a letter, considering that there is a criminal law, which is revised statute 14122, that prohibits intimidating or threatening a public official in an effort to try to influence a decision or change their position. In this case, the letter says that we must reverse. course and change our position on appointing an interim clerk. There's also a variety of different ethical and professional conduct issues with this letter that was sent. The issues surrounding the clerk's office should all play out in court. Let the process work, let the legal process work, instead of threatening and intimidating people to try to get them to back down. And so bottom line,

I'm not going to be threatened. I'm not going to be intimidated, and I won't back down. I hope you'll have a great day, and thank you for listening. What's going on there is the former civil clerk, Chelsea Richard Napoleon. She's upset because of what the New Orleans City Council did. So she's now filed a lawsuit against the City Council. Bottom line here, Rebecca, is MAGA Republican Governor Jeff Landry, MAGA Republicans in the legislature,

they want to control New Orleans. They want to tell New Orleans what to do. They want to remove particular office. They want to destroy the congressional seat in New Orleans. And see, here's what's nuts. New Orleans? Just like Jackson, Mississippi, the state of Louisiana is broke as hell without New Orleans.

New Orleans represents 60 to 70% of the state's economy. but these white MAGA conservatives hate the fact that New Orleans is black. Yep, Orleans Parish has the port of Orleans. There's a lot of money that goes through New Orleans, especially in terms of economy. The economy, there's two large economies that drive Louisiana. And one is the oil and gas industry, and the second is tourism. And without New Orleans, there would be a lot of things that wouldn't be paid for in that state. Now, something that I want to lift up is that I think there's like

two more statewide people who are officially are unnoticed that there are recall efforts for them. So if you live in Louisiana and you don't like what's going on in the redistricting, you don't like what your governor is saying, you don't like what some of your other state elected, so statewide electors are saying, there is active petitions right now that if you are a Louisiana resident, you can sign in order to have a recall of those elected officials who, guess what, aren't serving you or your interests.

Folks, here it is right here. Make notice. Louisiana deserves better.com. Louisiana deserves better.com. They have to get 600,000 signatures statewide to recall MAGA government. Governor Jeff Landry. They need 50,000 signatures to recall

Seat Edwards in East Baton Rouge Parish. Okay? If you go to the website, you see it right here. When you click, sign the petition, it takes you right here. All the data is on here. These are the campaign leads. Yes, a sister was leading this issue who called this effort. And so this is what this is all about, y'all.

because what these folks want to do, they want to dominate, they want to control. It is about power. They want to wipe out black representation. They want people to be, have, they want to have their foot on folks' neck, Robert. And this is where we need all those black folks in Louisiana. Way too many black folks in Louisiana to not be turning out mass numbers. This is how you kick Jeff Landry's ass.

And I'll note to people, Jeff Landry's poll numbers aren't much better than Donald Trump's right now. He's polling in the 30s. It's not just the black folks who are mad at Landry. Poor folks in that city, rural farmers, many people who are promised many of these things by conservatives when they come into office are very dissatisfied. And it's not enough simply to recall the governor if you're going to have just his accolites there also behind him. You have to change the entire legislative system. You have to make sure that, particularly in the deep south, but African-American population numbers are continuing to increase

those percentage of state population. If we vote our numbers, we win. It just comes down to that. It was a turnout game at this point of time. If we build the coalitions that are necessary, if we put together the type of groups that can go out and motivate, particularly to young people, because I haven't seen young people this disenchanted with politics

in probably the last 25 years of. doing this and being involved in this work. That if you talk to Jen Ziers, if you talk to Gen Alphas, you have to remember that if you're 18 now, you've been living through Donald Trump since you were eight years old. This is kind of the only version of politics

that you know. So if you're between 18 and 24, the Obama years are kind of something from the history books. This is a distant memory to you. It's not something that you Tanswee had a connection to. And when you've been living through this level of political chaos, the dirty talk, the dismissing of people, the destruction of rights.

This has been going on for the majority of young people's lives, and many of them have simply given up on the system. They are just nihilistic about the future of this country. So it's our job with the older generations to make sure they understand that there is hope going forward where that hope doesn't get activated if you're not willing to put in the work if you're not willing to fight for it. This is the response. This is the response from those New Orleans City Council members.

Listen to this here. Yeah, give me a second. Come back to me. This is from the New Orleans City Council website. So their music is playing, not the other audio. Let me see if audio plays, is playing on this. Give me one second on this other video. Give me one second.

So I was playing the audio from the New Orleans City Council. So they have the music up, but not the members. Give me one second. New Orleans City Council. So the mayor has responded, and so do the city council members responding as well. Let's see here. Is the audio straight on this? Do you not, should not hear speakers?

Okay, come back to me. All right, Cole. I'll try to find another video. Zabur, your thoughts on this. Yeah, you can't just keep abusing power. In every part of the government, whether it is locally. or federally, we're watching people that think it's okay to abuse power when you see. You know what the loss is. You know you can't intimidate a public official. However, you think that the laws don't apply to you. And this is why our responsibility as voters, we have to know that we have to vote these people out. We have to go to their offices. We have to hold them accountable. Their offices are the people's. office. Their responsibility is to us as voters, and we can't allow them to keep doing things

that is not really considering their constituents. How do you threaten someone and how do you act like that New Orleans don't have the economic power that it does have? You can't keep overstepping and stepping out of place and think that we as voters are not going to hold you accountable. That's not, they can't continue to happen. We have to know that there is a criminal liability and by the full extent of the law, we're going to hold these people accountable. When you are using state power to pressure locally elected officials, you're risking crossing those lines from oversight to intimidation. Hold tight one second.

This is the city council members responding. All right. Not sure what's going on with the audio here. And so we'll try to get this straight. I'm going to send this to the control room for y'all to be able to grab. Let's get one more go. Nope. All right.

Not sure what's going on with. I'm playing it directly from Twitter. So not sure why that audio is not playing. Let's do this here. We're joining us right now. Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones. Representative Jones, we were talking about what's happening in Louisiana, where the Attorney General there, Liz Morrell,

is telling newly city council members, you don't do as I say, I'm going to remove y'all from office. You got in your state where they're wiping Democratic. from all committees because MAGA, white supremacists, Speaker of the House, Cameron, Sexton, did not like their response to stripping Memphis of congressional representation. And so we're seeing threats. We're seeing gerrymandering.

What we are seeing here is absolutely the rise of the Confederacy. This is the largest attack on black political power since Reconstruction. And what these white mega conservatives want to do is they want to put black people in their place. I mean, that's exactly it. Yesterday, the Speaker of the House sent a letter to every Democrat, which includes every black member of the Tennessee House of Representatives saying they are no longer on committee. So we're going back to Jim Crow committees.

These are Confederates who are trying to send a message of, you know, political lynching or political whipping, I should say, that if you step out of line, that you will be punished and you'll be treated as second class. The Speaker of the House, we know is the Grand Wizard and Chief Cameron Sexton. And so we have to raise the message across the nation that we have nothing to lose as black people in the South. We must fight with everything we have. We must stand up, do things out of the ordinary. We cannot be cowardice, but we must be courageous in this moment and fight back because if we don't, if we're not careful, we'll be like the end of reconstruction. We will have no black

lawmakers left in the South. They did the federal maps this time, making all nine districts in Tennessee majority white at the federal level, and they're going to do it to the state districts come January when we reconvene the legislature. And so whether you're in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, these folks are really intent on bringing back the Confederacy. And we must be clear that this is a war against black folks in the South, and we must treat it as such, and we need our allies across the nation to stand with us to give us resources to not abandon the South,

but to stand with us in this moment of crisis and chaos and of civil war that we're going through. Well, also, what you finally are seeing are some Democrats who are, I suppose, finally waking the hell up. You had this man, this Senate president in Maryland, Bill Ferguson. He was a Democrat, Senate president.

He pushed back against Maryland governor, Westmore, and others did not want to gerrymandered out a Republican there. Well, guess what? Now all of a sudden he apparently is now looking into ways to do that. So he's finally waking up. See, this is where these white Democrats in these other states are going to have

wake up. Not only that, Governor J.B. Pritzker, okay? He tied gerrymandering in Illinois, to what happened in Indiana. That was stupid. And we were now seeing whether the Missouri Supreme Court has affirmed the wiping out a Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver seat.

We saw yesterday Republicans in South Carolina joined with Democrats to stop wiping out his seat in South Carolina. Now the governor says he's going to call a special session to wipe out that particular seat. We saw what happened in Tennessee.

We saw how this extreme court allowed Alabama to move forward with the old map wiping out Congressman Shemari figure seat. Mississippi wants to wipe out the seat of Congressman Benny Thompson, and so over and over again. And so this is where weak-ass white Democrats are going to need to get out their asses and get in the game to realize that if you are so-called ally, I don't want to see it with your mouth. I want to see it with your action. That's it. You know, I'm actually, and I came to Sacramento

today from the South to meet with the California Black Caucus because we need folks all across this nation to stand with us and fight back. This is like, again, I don't stress it enough. This is a civil war they're waging against black folks in the South. And we need folks to stand with us, not just in terms of posts, but to come to South to join us in Montgomery this weekend and going forward as we continue to take direct action and mobilize. I was talking to Reverend Barbara about, you know,

how we're going to have a freedom summer this summer to really turn out black voter, you know, participation like we've never seen since the 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed initially. You know, we need folks to be courageous. And I think that we see so often some of our allies who are white have neglected the South, have written off the South, not recognizing that the majority of black people in this country live in the South. And so if you want to change this nation, this is the front line to do it in. And so we need folks to stand with us to help, you know, give us resources to help build infrastructure. Because this is a long-term battle that the Republicans and the Neo-Confederates have been planning for decades.

The Votor's Act did not just come down in one day. This has been their dream since it was past to begin with. And I think that we have to have folks of our side of the aisle, including black and white Democrats, realize that these folks are not our friends, but they see us as, you know, their opponents, they are enemies of democracy, and we must be bold, unapologetic, unrelenting, and do things out of the ordinary. It's not going to be a letter or a simple, you know, strongly worded op-ed that's going to stop these folks. It's going to be direct action, organizing and making a consequence. Because these white supremacists, whether they wear white sheets or black robes in the Supreme Court,

are a danger to us all, and we must treat them as such. and it's time for us to rise up and let them know that if they come for one of us, they're coming for all of us. I'm also, I'm looking for where Vince Evans, who's executive director of the congressional black caucus, he actually called out Bernie Sanders. And he said, you know,

here you are the Supreme Court decision that's impacting black voters. And he's like, okay, Bernie, where you at? this is this is the story right here as CBC director calls out Bernie Sanders for crickets after attacks on black voting rights and then he posted

Vince posted on Twitter has anybody's checked on Senator Sanders because black political power is under attack and somehow we can't seem to run him down if y'all know somewhere else to check let me know so we can get word to him and he was talking about like okay again where you at

I mean and again Vince was absolutely on the mark for actually saying it. And in fact, in fact, this is what he tweeted. He said, this is the, give me one, so don't pull it up yet. Don't pull it up yet. Don't pull it up yet. I want to blow it up. Give me one second. Let me zoom in on it. And so here we go. He said the Supreme Court decided Calais on April 29th.

Since then, black political representation has been under direct assault across the South. and I haven't heard a mumbling word from Bernie Sanders. I checked both his ex-accounts silent. I checked his Instagram, nothing. I checked his Senate website, Crickets. At this point, I'm starting to get worried. Has anybody checked on Senator Sanders? Because black political power is under attack,

and somehow we can't seem to run him down. Canadian women are looking for more. More to themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world are of them. And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast. I'm Jennifer Stewart. And I'm Catherine Clark. And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey. So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us. Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on I Heart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Number one hits, millions of records sold, awards, sold out tours. You think that Jonas Brothers are satisfied? Nope, it's podcast time. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

Hey Jonas is available now, and their first guest is a big one. Paul Rudd. You know, Steve Carell is a great singer. Can you tell you not to audition at the office or something? I told him. Whoa. We were filming Anchorman. Clearly, I was the idiot.

Thank God he didn't listen to him, right? Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. The United States will not stand by and allow any power. ever great, take over another country. From My Heart Podcast, Saigon. Please allow me to introduce Joseph Sherman. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam?

I should stop talking so much. I like hearing you talk. One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam. I've taken a hit from Japanese ground fire. Do you rate me? They're pouring petrol all over him. He's holding matches.

I'm on a landmine. For free, Let's get out. Freedom, Mom, and Ah! Run! Saigon, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Rob Benedict. Sting, here's madness. The world should hear about this.

There's a fire coming to this country, and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about and they are experts at everything. Here, the Nick Dick and Poll show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Coogler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director. Who do you think he is? I don't know.

You mean, like, the president? You think Canada has a president. You think China has a president. The law crusade. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night. It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus.

It was a good one. I like that snake. It is an actual Polish saying. It is an actual Polish thing. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win stupid prizes. Yes. Which, by the way,

wasn't Taylor Swift, who said that for the first time. I actually thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick, Dick, and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. With somewhere else to check,

let me know so we can get a word to him. I think that's justified criticism. How in the hell can you not say anything? Now, if you can, so this is a moment where folk have to be called out and chastised, because if you claim to be an ally, you'd be an ally not when you want to when other folks need you. You know, one of the biggest things that we're seeing this moment is that for so long, the Democratic Party has ridden off the South. And if you're not North Carolina or Georgia or what they call a swing state,

you are treated as if you don't exist. So Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, these are states that they have neglected systemically for so long because they don't see them as politically expedient to change. But this is showing us that this has been a front line that we should be waging battle in because the Republicans have been waging battle in them and have been strategizing to keep them voters oppressed. And so, you know, I think it's on the whole entire Democratic Party to recognize the importance of the South, not just the states that they love to come to every four years as battleground states, but the states that are not red states, but are our oppressed states.

Again, one in five black people in Tennessee cannot vote because a felony disenfranchisement. You know, we have the lowest voter turnout. You can use a gun permit to vote, but you can't Let's do NID card to vote. This is designed intentionally to keep us in the system of Jim Crow and racial apartheid because that's what it is. And now it's just being brought to the surface. And so I think that we need leaders from all across the nation. Our message is what Dr. King said 60 years ago. Come South.

Come stand with us in this moment. We always have politicians come during Selma the anniversary. Well, this is our real Selma moment. It's a moment to continue the struggle. Stand in the faces of these southern legislatures with the new Jim, you know, George Wallace's and Bull Connors. Their names are Cameron Sexton and Governor Landry and Governor Bill Lee and Marsha Blackburn. These are the folks who are going to beat out in history books as our Bull Conners, and let's fight like hell and confront them.

When the Speaker of the House gave me that letter kicking me off my committee, I tore it up because he's expelled me. What else can you do? We have nothing to lose black folks in the South. It's time to rise up. It's time to let them know that we're going to fight like hell against this new Confederacy, and the only thing we have to lose are our chains. Now is the time not to be intimidated, not to try and play patty cake with fascism,

but it's time to fight back with every tool that we have, and to make it uncomfortable, to hurt them economically, and to wage a battle that future generations will be proud by what we did in this moment. Well, you said you're there in California. I would hope California Democrats and the legislative black caucus there should be saying in California. That's how they want to do in the South. Let's do a 52 to zero map in California. That's it.

I mean, we need folks to recognize this moment. We know California passed Prop 50. We're still waiting on New York. There are states like New Jersey. There are states that the Democrats can gerrymen. I don't want it to get caught up as a partisan gerrymander because what is being done in the South is a racial gerrymandered. I want to be clear about that for the record

and for the lawsuits that going on. It wasn't just about partisanship. It was a racial retaliation. They waited for the VRA to be struck and down. And they want to make this about partisanship tit for tat. This is a racial backlash that we haven't seen in 60 years since the Voter Rights Act was passed. This was about intentionally suppressing black voter turnout.

It's racism. It's a clear pattern being done by these sudden legislatures. Who got calls like our governor did. He called Bill Lee, the governor of Tennessee, and said, get these. black folks get their district, take it from them. We've been waiting 60 years to do this, and the governor jumped like he does often when this white supremacist's in chief calls him and did it within less than a week. Within a few days, we had a new map breaking up the only

majority black district we had left in Tennessee. And so, again, I want to be clear for the record for the legal cases and for history that this was a racial gerrymander. It was not just a partisan gerrymender. And the way I know that, Rollins, they said we based these new maps off the census. Well, if you look at the census, the census does not say what party you are, but it does say what race you are. This map was drawn using racial data, and I hope that the courts see it. I don't have a lot of faith in the courts right now,

but I hope that we see that as we organize and lift it up, we have to be clear that this is race, this is a racial jury manager, it's Jim Crow, and we have to be clear about letting them know that we're going to fight like hell against these new KKK white supremacist agenda that we're facing in the South. Yep, absolutely. Representative Jones, I certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Thank you. It is absolutely a bad. Oh, by the way, y'all, the day after Vince Evans posted that this is what Bernie posted and I'm sorry Senator Sanders

this is bullshit he posted the damage from a reactionary Supreme Court Citizens United allows billionaires to buy elections ending Roe v. Wade

takes away a woman's right to control her body Louisiana versus Calais strips voting rights away from black Americans

rights are under attack fight back that's the best he can do Rebecca all right Robert really well this is the

this is the issue, Roland, and this isn't anything new, that we've often painted these issues such as voting rights and civil rights as being black issues, and they view them as being a niche black issue for some reason. That's why during the Biden term, when we tried to pass updates to the voting rights act that would have prevented much of this, many people on the progressive base weren't as supportive as you would have hoped. They did not make it an agenda item. They thought that if you pass something as voting rights or civil rights, that would be seen as a black issue, it'll scare off those suburban white voters who have already gotten the maga mine virus and we're never going to come back across that aisle. But that was the rationale of that point

of time. You saw something similar with Obama when he was passing Obamacare. You have people at Claire McCaskill, another moderate, quote-unquote, Democrats who are the ones in the Senate who prevented there from being a government option that would have actually made Obamacare a more effective program than what we ended up getting, which is a very diluted version. And we see this often with the progressive movement where they will say, well, animal rights are more important than African American rights. Environmental issues are more important than African American issues. Women's reproductive health, God bless it, is more important than African American issues. Gay issues are more important than African American issues. And this is where you see a large

portion of this discontent among young people when they start calling for tangles, when they say, well, we put you in office, we turned out and voted, we did what you told me to do. And now you're telling me we have to save the penguins instead of actually deal with issues. such as reparations or criminal justice reform, housing reform, education reform that would affect the black community. And we need these folks to understand that allyship means that that doesn't just mean we vote for your thing. That means that also you are going to vote for our thing

because helping us helps you. Passing affirmative action then held white women and Asians more than help black folks, but it seems as being a black issue. When you're looking at voting rights, that didn't just affect African Americans. That affected nearly everybody who did not have full sense. citizenship rights in 1776. You became a full citizen with the voting rights act as well. So we need to have a come to Jesus meeting, a meeting with our progressive or liberal allies

and friends. They let them know, don't just expect us to turn out for your thing. We're going to need you to advocate just as hard and fight just as fervently when things that you view as being helping the black community, because that also helps you on your agenda. It should be put on notice when they're absent. Zabor? Power power is so important and the South is so important and making sure people understand

that this is racial gerrymandering. Representative Jones, every time I hear him talk, he says stuff that's so positive, so impactful. And because he's so young, I hope that young people hear what he's saying. Like, the Democratic Party

keep riding us off. They keep not recognizing what our needs are. They keep not taking our vote for granted. They keep taking our vote for granted, right? So, like, what do we do to hold these people accountable? How do we show up in these offices and really make them hear us when we walk in there and we're giving them strategies to get to our communities?

And we can't change that room. We got to change our communities. We got to go to the churches. We got to get to the grandmothers. We got to do what it takes. because we can't keep asking for support. We've got to take over. Yep.

Indeed, indeed. All right, folks, time for Black Star Network headlines with Brittany Noble. On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously appell the congressional map that targets Democratic representative Emmanuel Cleaver seats in Kansas City, Missouri. The ruling represents yet another setback for Democrats who have encountered numerous problems, redistricting challenges across the country in recent days. Missouri map created by Republican lawmakers last year redraughts the state's eight congressional districts making Cleaver's seat more competitive for Republicans. And although a local group

called People, not Politicians, has submitted signatures to allow voters to weigh in on the new maps. The Supreme Court's decision ensures that the maps will remain in effect for this year's term elections. And Alabama construction worker is suing the Department of Homeland Security after being arrested three times by federal immigration agents, despite being a U.S. citizen. Court records indicate that Leo Garcia Vinnigis was shackled and detained by federal immigration officers for a third time earlier this month.

He claims that on the morning of May 2nd while he was parking in front of his house in Silver Hill. A unmarked SUV blocked his vehicle, and he alleges that before he could show his Alabama-issued real ID, ICE agents pulled him out of the tree, he was driving and handcuffed him. Now, he is the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit challenging the immigration enforcement policies of the Department of Homeland Security.

He was previously detained twice in 2025 during a raid on private construction sites where he was working, even though he possessed a real ID that identified him as a U.S. citizen. A DHS official stated in declaration filed in his lawsuit last year that real ID can be unreliable for confirming U.S. citizenship. Louisiana state police have reached a tentative settlement, a $4.85 million settlement with the daughter of a black motorist who died during a 2019 arrest involving officers. Ronald Green was fatally shocked with a stun gun, punched,

and also dragged during a traffic stop in Monroe. That happened on May 10th in 2019. State police arrested the 49-year-old, unarmed. black man following a high-speed chase. Now, the settlement agreement was reached during mediation, which concluded on Tuesday evening and is still subject to state legislative approval. Body camera footage released in 2021 showed troopers surrounding Green and shocking him with the stun guns, even before he could exit the car, despite him raising his hands and pleading for mercy. One officer wrestled Green to the ground, put him in a chokehold and punched him in the face,

At least six white troopers were involved in the arrests, and five of them were criminally charged. None of the officers received jail time. Master trooper Corey York faced the most serious charges, including negligent homicide. He reached a plea deal in October of 2024, resulting in a six-month suspension, supervised probation and a $1,000 fine. The settlement would end a federal wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of crime. Memphis Grizzlies forward. Brandon Clark passed away. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that Clark was found dead at his home in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.

With the possible drug overdose cited as the cause, authorities discovered drugs at the location, but there was no evidence of foul play. Clark was drafted in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019 was traded to the Memphis, Memphis Grizzlies just two weeks later. He spent his entire seven-year career with Memphis. In Atlanta area, church is making a significant investment in the black community through a comprehensive, affordable housing initiative. New Birth Missionary Baptist Church is launching the New Birth Village to help black families build generational wealth.

This development is expected to provide more than 390 homes in that region. The church is contributing about 35 acres of debt-free land from its campus and is also investing in a pre-development and infrastructure collaboration with developed partnerships. Well, the initiative targets middle-class families who often earn too much to qualify for subsidized housing programs, but are increasingly unable to afford home ownership in the Atlanta metropolitan area. So this development aims to serve first-time homebuyers, teachers, nurses, public safety workers, seniors, and even young professionals. All right, folks, be sure to catch the breakdown of Brittany Noble every day, noon, eastern right here on the Black Star Network.

The breakdown of Brittany Noble, every day, noon, eastern right here on the Black Star Network. Donald Trump loves to attack reporters, especially if you were a black female. Earlier, of course, last week it was Rachel Scott of ABC. The most recent one a couple days ago was Kayla Gardner of MSNOW News. Watch this. We have a ballroom that's under budget. It's going up right here. I've doubled the size of it because we are.

We obviously need that. And we're right now on budget, under budget, and ahead of schedule. I double the size of it, you dumb person. You double the size. You are not a smart person. What about the president? Mr. President, right over here. Right over here.

And based on a lot of things that have happened over the last year, we are, we double the size of the ballroom. So we're going to have a ballroom that. that's appropriate for the White House. We double the size. The ballroom now is ahead of schedule, and it's a little bit under budget, depending on the finishes that we are.

Dumb, not a smart person. This is what he does, Rebecca. He calls him stupid. And these people on the right, actually, I'm going to go to the board first. These people on the right, they love to sit here. And, well, you know, Biden, he called Peter Ducey, dumb son of the bitch.

Well, he was not lying. He was right. But Donald Trump, even the first time, attack reporters, attacked them while he was running, and they dismissed this. He is an absolute imbecile. He's been an imbecile. He's going to stay an imbecile. This is a pattern of behavior. He has a lack of respect for everybody.

You know, he doesn't think about how his actions impacts anybody else. He don't care about how his actions impact anybody else. This is an isolated incident. he has a very low emotional IQ. He just has no emotional regulation. And the way he disrespects individuals that are educated, individuals that are women, individuals that are black, it's just, I can't even believe this is the president of the United States

that is doing these type of hideous kind of behaviors, and no one holds him accountable. I press, American press is under attack. And if we don't understand how important the press is and how important it is to ask the right questions and have the right people in the room and to have respectful and very great engagement with these individuals, what are we doing? And it shows just the state of where America is and how we are just desensitized to our reporters being attacked. This is not right. This is not American. this is not democratic.

This is just very disrespectful, and black women have to be protected. There's no reason why a man is able to talk to a woman in that manner, and no one is holding him accountable. He is a pathetic individual, pure and simple, Robert. And look, one of the issues that I have with this is, where is the sense of community among journalists? where are the people who are going to stand up and say, we're not going to tolerate this? The first time that he did this, all the journalists should have walked out of the room

and not come back, because this man thrives on attention. He thrives on headlines. There was an analysis done within the last couple weeks saying that currently, Donald Trump is the most famous person on the face of the earth. You can go to a village in the middle of Uganda. They know who Donald Trump is.

You can go to the Amazon rainforest. They know who Donald Trump is. He needs that to fill him. his narcissistic ambitions. So if he's going to be talking to your co-worker in this way or someone in your profession this way, then starve him of that oxygen.

He rose to power in 2016 because CNN and other networks will put a camera on his rallies and just play it for three hours straight in the middle of the day because it was free programming for him. He got $3.4 billion of free advertising during that election. So if you

starve him with that attention, starve him of those views, starve him with the interviews that he's so needs to simply survive, that he'll change his behavior. But right now, there are absolutely no consequences for his actions. And as I said earlier, remember, we have a whole generation now

that has grown up with this for the majority of their formative years. You take on the personality of your president when you're growing up. If you grew up during the Clinton administration, you've kind of cooled and laid back. If you grew up during the Reagan administration, you're a little bit crazy.

But this generation growing up with Trump, they're going around talking to people like this in real life. Look at Nick Fuentes in the Groyford movement. They make their whole trade. Nick Fuentes said, I say the N-word almost every day. I never got in trouble until I start questioning Israel. If you look at Chud, the guy walking around black communities, calling them the N-words and apes and stuff for online content.

This is creeping into our American society and our American system. And when it's coming from the top, when it's coming from the most powerful man in the world, how do you tell your 16-year-old little brother, somebody who's constantly online, don't act like that. And he can say, well, if I act like that, I'll become the president of the United States a billionaire and have a former porn star as a wife. I mean, we have to start putting some kinds of rules and regulations back in place

so that we have some form of decorum because we have now descended to the lowest possible denominator to the point we're having a USC fight in front of the White House. This is the level of ghetto that this administration is brought to America. And my family fought too long and hard to get out the hood. to take the, what's the whole country to send down into it. Absolutely, folks. Again, what we are, we're dealing with, absolutely just insane.

The craziness that we're having to deal with every day when it comes to these folks. All right, folks, some sad news to report. Legendary Sports broadcaster Charlie Neal, the voice of HBCU football for a very long time on B. Canadian women are looking for more. More to themselves. their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world are out of them.

And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast. I'm Jennifer Stewart. And I'm Catherine Clark. And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women. Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey. So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us. Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on IHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers.

And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas

brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. This is Saigon, the story of my family, and of the country that shaped us. The United States will not stand by and allow any power, however great,

take over another country. From My Heart Podcasts, Saigon. Please allow me to introduce Joseph Sherman. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? I should stop talking so much. I like hearing you talk. One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart.

This is for Vietnam. I've taken a hit from Japanese ground fire. Deuterate me. They're pouring patrick. all over him. He's holding matches. I'm on a landmine. For free time. Let's get out. Freedom. Come in. Nah! Run!

Saigon. Starring Kelly Marie Tran and Rob Benedict. Sting, here's madness. The world should hear about this. There's a fire coming to this country and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

When you listen to podcasts about AI and tag, in the future of humanity. The hosts always act like they know what they're talking about, and they are experts at everything. Here, the Nick Dick and Poll Show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Kugler did that I think was so unique.

He's the writer-director. Who do you think he is? I don't know. You mean the president? You think Canada has a president. You think China has a president? Does law a crusette. God, I love that thing.

I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it. It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep. It was a good one. I like that snake. It is an actual Polish saying. Yeah.

It is an actual Polish saying. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win stupid prizes. Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift, who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick Dick and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. E.T. WTBS has passed away.

He was 80 years. years old. He most recently was doing HBCU sports for HBCU Go last year. He was honored in the the 2012, I'm sorry, in the Swack Hall of Fame. Charlie Neal, born in 1945. Again, so many people remember his voice and this is when he talked about being that Swack honorary. Yeah, Charlie, you are being inducted into the Hall of Fame for the Slack. Congratulations. Congratulations. Yeah, Charlie. Yeah, Charlie.

I see you, man. Well deserved, big man. They had a press release earlier this week, the Southwestern Athletic Conference, and it's kind of interesting. And of course, my career with HBCU started with Black Entertainment Television back in 1980. 44 years I've been doing this, and the SWAC was one of the teams of conferences that we were very much in bed with. At the beginning, Joe Johnson, the president of Grambling State University, was a big

proponent of what BET was doing at the time and I'm just fortunate and grateful that I'm able to sit here 44 years later with you guys you guys and do this thank you so much hey listen it's only right we celebrate the right way it's only right we celebrate the shawlily it's only right we celebrate the legend the way you should be celebrated man you know how to surprise a person yes real quick let me say this because charlie's going to Swack Hall of Fame. He's the Black College Football Hall of Famer. He chairs our selection committee panel. And just everything you do, your commitment to historically black colleges and university, it's historic, Charlie. You know, we talk about people whose shoulders we stand on.

We stand on your shoulders because everything you've done and you've committed to all of these people here who support black colleges in those institutions. Thank you so much. You're going to make me cry. That's right. Well deserved, brother. You've been killing it. You have set the mark for all of us. Thank you, John. It's great to have you as a partner. My little brother here. We have a good time, and it's great to be part of this. I'm telling you guys, we celebrate you.

We appreciate you. So keep doing what you do. John, do not take it easy on him during the broadcast. He does a guy. Thank you so much for joining us, guys. Real quick, real quick, can you name off the other Hall of Famers that are joining you for the swag? Yes. Well, two of them, Pete Richardson.

Big loss. Charlie Neal passes the way at the age of. of 80 years old. Let me thank our panel for being with us today. Zabora thanks a bunch. Robert thanks a bunch. Rebecca, I appreciate it as well. Thanks a bunch.

Folks, tomorrow we are going to be in Middletown, Connecticut, broadcasting there for our school choice is the black choice conversation with Dr. Steve Perry and his school there. We've been running the commercialist, running again right now. We're gonna be there broadcasting tomorrow at Cross Street AME Zy

on church. Roll it. This is a national issue. And it's happening right here in Middletown. This isn't just about a school. It's about opportunity. Count of test. Our education is approved. Ranked is number one by the Connecticut State Board of Education

in 2023. No one can give us an answer why. Roland Martin is coming to Middletown. He wants the country to know about our struggle for our children's education. and future, families need an option. Surgery are waiting.

Many children will fall in the gap. The examples are right there. This will never know. Middletown has repeatedly been denied state funding without any legitimate or legal reasons. They're so hard to stop us open to serve our community. They don't want for your children what they want for their own children. Every parent in the world wants the best for their child.

We want to hold people accountable. We need to know the why. We have to do. Fight for justice. Fight for what is right. Be a part of this conversation. Ask questions. Demand answers.

See you May 14. That's right, folks. I want to see y'all there tomorrow. Let's pack the church out. Friday, we'll leave Middletown, Connecticut, and go to Montgomery, Alabama. I'll be broadcasting outside of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church on Friday, and of course,

we'll be there for the massive rally, the National Day of Action for Voting Rights. All roads lead to the South. First of all, if you want more information, what you need to do is you need to go to. You need to go to all roads lead to the South. No, leave it up, please. Leave the graphic up.

Go to all roads lead to the South.com. All roads lead to the South.com. Lots of information there. Not only that, folks. you're going to see there are a number of people who are going to be holding events in other cities around the country. So we'll be there in Montgomery, but we'll be able to go,

if you go to the website, you're going to see there will be things happening in other cities. So track everything there on that. So all roads lead to the south. So we'll do the show on Friday. We'll do the show on Friday, and then on Saturday we will have our broadcast. Now, we're going to be live from Selma first.

Be live from Selma first. And then we're going to be, so that's going to be at 10 a.m. Eastern on Saturday. And then we'll be live from Montgomery at 1 p.m. Eastern. And so we're going to have full coverage of what's taking place there in Montgomery. We're going to be, of course, it's going to be the rally. It's going to be at the state capital. As I said, this is Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

We're going to be right there at the church, just right there on the sidewalk. And then, of course, the state cap is literally right across the street. And so we look forward to that. And so really, really, really important broadcast going on. And so we're going to be the home. We're the media partner for this rally. And so lots of things we want to focus on. This is about mobilizing, starting Freedom Summer, 26, 2026.

This is about registering people, teaching people, enlightening people, letting people know what's going on. And so a lot of people, I've been seeing y'all on social media saying, okay, what's next? What do we do? What do we do? Well, this is what we do. This is the beginning of that mobilization, that organization we're talking about. And so a lot's going to be going on. Don't forget, if you want to sign up for the training that Bishop William Barbering Repairs of the Breach is doing, go to blackstarnetwork.com. You'll pull it up.

Go to blackstar network.com. You can click that, go right into there, click the link for you to sign up. The black men's organizing corp. And so, but guess what? Here's a deal. It's not just black men. Black men and black women. We started this by saying we want to get 1,000 alphas.

And so we're nearing that goal. Guys, leave it back up. We say we want to get a thousand alphas. Then we expanded that to black men. Then sisters were hitting us as well. Now we've expanded that. So if you go to black starnetwork.com, or go to Repairs of the Breach website, you can sign up for this, okay?

Y'all, scroll down and click the link. When you click that link, it has all the information for you to fill out, for you to sign up. This is what is all about. You see the form right here. So we're nearing 1,000. You know what? I want to double that. I want us to train.

It's going to be a virtual training, okay? If you've already sent me an email or signed up, you're going to be getting an email soon. It's taking place June 12th and 13th. June 12th and 13th, this training, it is to teach you how to organize and mobilize when it comes to voting. And so that's happening. And so you're going to see other efforts come out of what's happening on Saturday. So all of this is going on because this is about us training and teaching African Americans because it's critically important we maximize our numbers in the November election.

All right, folks, support our work. Listen, traveling to Connecticut, then turning right around. traveling to Montgomery, we're bringing about 11 people there. Listen, that costs money, all right? We ain't getting paid to do it. And so when you support this show, you are supporting our ability to able to travel this country to cover the stories that matter to you and others. And so, Cash App, Mr. Stripe, QR coach, you see it right here.

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Yesterday, we, of course, had melon brand on the show, and so their products are on the website. And so all the products you see in our studio, all these products are on BlackstarNet, on a shop, Blackstar Network.com. Y'all, you need to zoom that camera out. It's too tight. You need to see the full logo. Okay? That's how we do every single time.

So here's going to put this melanin brand up here. So again, get all these products you see right here. All these products, if y'all zoom that camera out, that's where it should be. All these products all right here. Everything that you see right here, all these black-owned products are on. Shop Blackstar Network.com. So support our Black-owned businesses. Don't forget, download the app fanbase.

Follow me at Roland S. Martin. Get that app fan base. Download it today. Don't forget to support our Black Star Network shows. First up, Balance Living, Reverend Dr. Jackie Hood, Martin. Okay. These are all about shows.

Other side of change, new episodes every Monday. Balance Life, new episodes every Tuesday. The Breakdown of Brittany Noble every day. A second opinion with Dr. Ebony, Jade Hilton every Thursday. The Black Table, the Black Table talk with the Black Table with Dr. Greg Carr's every Friday. And, of course, Rollins Book Club drops every Friday. Folks, that's it. I'll see you tomorrow on a Rollermont on Filton and the Black Sun Network.

Howlop. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. First people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. From IHeart Podcast, Saigon. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? One city, a divided country. and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam. They're pouring patric all over here.

Freedom for Vietnam! There's a fire coming to this country, and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And here's Heather with the weather. Well, it's beautiful out there, sunny and 75, almost a little chilly in the shade.

Now, let's get a read on the inside of your car. It is hot. You've only been parked. a short time and it's already 99 degrees in there. Let's not leave children in the backseat while running errands. It only takes a few minutes for their body temperatures to rise and that could be fatal. Cars get hot, fast, and can be deadly. Never leave a child in a car. A message from Nitsa and the ad council. On paper, the three hosts of the Nick Dick and Poll show are geniuses. We can explain how AI works, data centers, but there are certain things that we don't necessarily understand.

version of play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift, who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong. But hey, no one's perfect. We're pretty close, though. Listen to the Nick, Dick, and Paul show on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.