#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Migrant Emergency, Black GA Man Convicted On Added Charge During Trial, Jeff Bezos take on Uju Anya

Episode Date: September 10, 2022

9.9.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Migrant Emergency, Black GA Man Convicted On Added Charge During Trial, Jeff Bezos take on Uju Anya  Thousands of migrants are being bussed to major cities, like New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.  D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser has declared a state of emergency.  We'll talk to an immigration lawyer and the policy director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration to discuss options for the migrants and the cities flooded with migrants with no money and nowhere to go.  A Georgia jury rejects a black man's stand-your-ground defense in the murder of a white teen, convicting him of a charge that was added during the jury instructions.  We'll talk to James Woodall from the Southern Center for Human Rights and discuss how that was even possible. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos decided he wanted all the smoke Thursday when he went after Carnegie Mellon University's professor Uju Anya for what she said about Queen Elizabeth the Second.  Well, Twitter let the e-commerce billionaire have it. Brigham Young University says it found no evidence of anyone yelling racial slurs at a black Duke volleyball player.  I'll tell you what they said about their investigation.  National Coalition on Black Civic Participation's Black Youth Vote launched its national "Black Collegiate & Community Challenge." I'll talk to the campaign manager about how they plan to motivate Black collegiate and community youth to vote in the 2022 Midterm elections.   And tonight's Education Matters segment, two businessmen are trying to educate HBCU students on how to get in on gaming.    Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Hold no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now. Black power. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. I thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roller. Be Black. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN.

You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Today is Friday, September 9th, 2022. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Thousands of migrants are being bused to major cities like New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

from Texas because Texas Governor Greg Abbott chooses to waste $12 million. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bauer has declared a state of emergency. We'll talk to an immigration lawyer and the policy director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration to discuss options for the migrants and the cities being flooded with them with no money and nowhere to go. A Georgia jury rejects a black man's stand-your-ground defense

in the murder of a white teen, convicting him of a charge that was added during the jury instructions. We'll talk to James Woodall from the Southern Center for Human Rights and discuss how that was even possible. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos decided he wanted all the smoke Thursday when he went after Carnegie Mellon University professor Uju Anya for what she said about Queen Elizabeth the day she died.

Well, Twitter let the billionaire know how they feel. Brigham Young University says they found no evidence of anyone yelling racial slurs at a black Duke volleyball player. I'll tell you what they said about the investigation and how Duke has responded. The National Coalition on Black Student Participation's Black Youth Vote launched its National Black Collegiate and Community Challenge.

I'll talk to the campaign manager about how they plan to motivate black college students and community youth to vote in the midterm elections. Plus, tonight's Education Matters segment, two businessmen are trying to educate HBCU students on how to get in on gaming. And also, we keep hearing this phrase, black folks, we control the culture, we own the culture.

No we don't. I'm gonna explain why that is a problem. It is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network, let's go. He's got it, whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's Roland, best believe he's knowing.

Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling With Funko Roro, y'all It's rolling, Martin Rolling with rolling now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's Roland Martin

Martin Thank you. Alright folks, since April, 9,400 migrants have been shipped from Texas and Arizona to D.C. The Department of Defense declined Mayor Muriel Bowser's request twice for National Guard assistance and now she's declared a public emergency in establishing an Office of Migrant Services to help those arriving in the city. Initial $10 million to stand up the new office and support organizations working in the field. We will seek reimbursement from FEMA for all eligible services.

And we have experience working with FEMA on the reimbursement of eligible services. And I'll say a little bit more about what we think FEMA could do to make sure that states and cities like ours aren't left holding the bag. And so, in order to create this new offices, I am declaring a public emergency. And this public emergency will give my administration the following authority. To establish a migrant services office with the DHS and direct the department to provide services and supports to migrants arriving from the southern border states, authorize the city administrator and the chief financial officer to set aside and spend funds to respond to the emergency, to authorize the chief procurement

officer to respond to the emergency, and directs the city administrator in the department to establish new programs that expand or modify existing programs in response to the emergency. I will also be sending emergency legislation to the council that codifies the new Migrant Services provisions. So we look forward to beginning this next chapter in our response. We recognize that we don't know and we have no control on all that is coming towards the district. But we do have control on how we make sure that our values are present in all that we do.

And the hard work that we have done to build our system of human services for D.C. residents is not broken. Now, you might be asking, why is this happening? It's because Republican governors are assholes. Yeah, I said it. And Texas Governor Greg Abbott is one of them. My home state. This idiot has spent $12 million of taxpayer funds to ship migrants to New York City, Chicago, D.C., and other places.

Yes, what a colossal waste of money. And guess who's quiet? All of these so-called fiscal conservatives. This is the same idiot governor who spent millions of dollars having the National Guard inspect vehicles on the border, but guess what?

They couldn't inspect the vehicles because once they put the tags on them, they couldn't open them to the destination. So you know what they were inspecting? Tires, wheel frames. That was it. This is the idiot who's the governor.

And that's why Beto O'Rourke should be elected governor and beat this fool. Talk about Uvalde, talk about the grid, but this is a perfect example. A total waste of money. Joining us right now to talk about what's going on is Attorney Maria Pia Pramish. I'm sorry, hopefully I got that correct,

from Corpus Christi, Texas. Ronald Claude, Director of Policy and Advocacy with the Black Alliance for Just Immigration. I got to start with you, Attorney Maria. I mean, look, let's just be, I mean, again, this is the Texas governor being an idiot, and the other Republican governors, and they think it's cute to put migrants on buses

and ship them to what they call democratic cities and say, fine, y'all deal with them. Yes. So what happens is before COVID, normally when a person would be crossing the border and they didn't have the documents needed to be in the United States, they would be deported, removed. But if they express fear of returning to their country, then the government could not remove that person. And they would go through a process to determine if that person could apply for asylum. So there would be a preliminary interview, whether it was a reasonable fear interview or a credible fear interview.

And if they pass that interview, then they would be eligible to proceed with an asylum application in immigration court. Now, President Trump then issued the MPP program and that put a big stop in immigrants being able to apply for asylum inside the United States. And so most people were being held in Mexico to process their application there. And then more recently during COVID, the CDC issued what we call Title 42 order that allowed DHS to turn everyone around, not even let them apply for asylum because of the COVID pandemic. And so when Biden decided to end Title 42, and again,

this is only litigation, Governor Abbott decided, okay, we're going to get immigrants in Texas crossing the border and applying for asylum. He didn't want those people waiting for their asylum process in Texas and decided to put them off. What he says is he's offering them, he's asking, would you like to go on a bus somewhere else? And so he is, those that are agreeing to that are being transferred to those states that you mentioned. The thing here that just makes no sense whatsoever, Ronald, is that here you have the mayor of D.C. having to pull aside $10 million. But Texas already spent $12 million.

I mean, it's literally a waste of money. Yeah, and again, this is part of... Hold on, Marie, one second. Ronald, go ahead. Yeah, no, absolutely. You're spot on. It is a waste of money. And quite frankly, as we're hearing about the fact that certain migrants aren't getting the protections they need in terms of refuge or even food or being sent to the cities where they don't know anyone.

I think, in particular, you're looking at it and you're like, well, surely there must be a better and more efficient way to welcome migrants into this country. JOHN YANG, National Public Radio Network, Maria? MARIA CABELLO, National Public Radio Network, Absolutely. I agree with you, Ronald. And again, this is Abbott trying to assert however little power he has over immigration laws, because that is very clear that that is the sole jurisdiction of the federal government. And so he—since Texas doesn't have any enforcement power over immigration laws, he's simply passing, transferring the immigrants to other states. So, what? This just continues?

No one can... ...or just put through hell, put on buses and then ship to cities with nothing and pretty much, oh, drop them off? Like, okay, city, your problem. Yeah, I... drop them off. Like, okay, city, your problem. Yeah. Sorry. Ronald first, then Maria. Go ahead.

Thank you. Yes. Exactly. I mean, I think what we're seeing now is that you're seeing a lot of community members and community-rooted organizations rallying to stand in the gap. But I think, again, we're all just looking,

especially at the government and making calls to government and philanthropy to support the work that needs to be done in order to make sure these folks are treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve. Because, you know, crossing the southern border is no easy task. In fact, DHS has accounted 750 migrants have actually died in the process. And that's only for what DHS can account for. So it's just that we know black migrants, particularly in indigenous people, as well as brown migrants, are going to be the ones most impacted by this. And to be sent to cities where they don't even know anyone or speak any of the language is just, it's extremely cruel. So I think what we're thinking of what happens next is us to really hold the government account,

because, you know, I think what we're also looking at is that clearly right now there's requests to increase police funding. There was, there's more, there's more funding for the Ukrainian war, support for the Ukrainian refugees. And I think what we're really asking is that that same level of assistance needs to also be provided in this scenario as well. Maria? I agree. needs is the help of their community and, more importantly, immigration lawyers that can assist them through the complex asylum process that they're starting when they come

to the United States and ask for asylum. Well, it's just illogical that the mayor of D.C. has to deal with this, the mayor of New York and Chicago, all because you have these idiot governors in Arizona and Texas, these Republicans who are being spiteful. Folks, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right. Bring my panel in right now. Akilah Bethea, communications strategist.

Michael Imhotep, host, African History Network show. Matt Manning, civil rights attorney. Matt, I'll start with you. You're there in Texas. I mean, this is literally a waste of money. That's what it is. It's a waste of money. And Governor Greg Abbott is an absolute idiot and an ass for what he's doing. Yeah. And this is basically an expenditure of public money for a campaign purpose. Greg Abbott is worried about, you know, his electability and reelectability against Beto O'Rourke. And he's doing anything he can to try to inflame and further, you know,

galvanize the Republican base here. So anything that, you know, involves the border or anything that they think is incendiary and scares people, particularly middle-aged white people who are the base of the Republican party, especially here in Texas, they're going to do. So that's what this comes down to. It's all a political stunt, the same kind of stuff we see DeSantis doing in Florida. And I think your point was really well stated earlier that it's sad that Muriel Bowser and the good people of D.C. have to spend $10 million to respond to something that Greg Abbott has

already wasted my tax dollars to the tune of $12 million on. It's absurd. And it is purely to make a political point. And that political point is the borders are unsecured or whatever. But instead of treating these people like humans and taking care of them here while they await their asylum proceedings, instead he's shipping them off so he can make a political point. And it's a waste of money. And I think you're exactly right characterizing him that way. There's a great point there, Michael, that Matt makes. It's really campaign.

I mean, he's using taxpayer money to make political points. It has nothing to do with public policy in Texas. No, it's about him desperately trying to show that he's tough enough on immigration. And it's just silly. It's silly. Well, you started out talking about how, I forget how you phrased it, Roland. He's stupid, things like this. No, I said he's an asshole.

Right, right. That's what I said. Right, right. And he's wasting taxpayer money. That's what he's doing. Let's not forget, he's a white supremacist. And this is what we're dealing with. Texas used to be part of Mexico. So

you're going to ship people who come across the border from Mexico, and Texas used to be part of Mexico. So you're going to ship people who come across the border from Mexico, and Texas used to be part of Mexico, and the U.S. got Texas because they made a colony out of Texas, instigated a war with Mexico, and then you have the Texas Revolution of 1836. And then when Texas comes into the Union, it comes into the Union as a state in 1845, they come in as a slave-holding state the year before the Mexican-American war started. But here's the deal, though. Even with all of that, at the end of the day, again, you're wasting money. You're wasting money. It's $12 million in accounting.

I understand. And actually, the cost is several hundred million he wasted using National Guard on the border. I agree. And then when he delayed those vehicles coming in and inspected them, some of those vehicles were semi trucks that were bringing supplies and food and things like this to the U.S. And they were delayed as well. But at the end of the day, this is an example of why elections have consequences. And the governor is one of the most strategic, important positions. You cannot have somebody who's a lunatic, who's the governor of a huge state, one of the largest states in the union. He should have been spending that $12 million, Roland, to eliminate rape.

Didn't he say he was going to eliminate rape in the state of Texas? How's that going? What initiative do you have for that? So this jackass needs to be voted out of office. People need to support Beto O'Rourke. I don't care your race, creed, color, things like this. That

governor, Abbott, is dangerous. He needs to be voted out of office, period. November 2022. It's extremely frustrating, Kelly, to have to sit here again, listen to the so-called fiscal conservatives talk about wasting taxpayer money, and they are all quiet about this.

They're all real silent. But beyond that, Roland, and I haven't really heard this angle, how is this not some level of human trafficking? How is this not a crime against humanity such that, you know, internationally someone can intervene, like international law can intervene and say, like, hey, this is human trafficking? Because it's not like these people have a choice.

They are against their will going from jurisdiction to jurisdiction with no support, no help on the taxpayer's dime. So when you look at it from that angle, Abbott is literally using taxpayer dollars for human trafficking purposes. And that's just sick. That is absolutely sick. Only for political gain, only for you to make a point and use human beings as political pawns in a moot point that is immigrants coming into this country. It's gonna happen. And frankly, Texas has the land. D.C. doesn't. New York doesn't. The other metropolitan cities up

north do not. And it's not like Texas doesn't benefit from migrants in their economy. So you're taking away from your economy. You're taking taxpayer dollars. You're committing human trafficking offenses all for the sake of getting back at a Democrat who doesn't give two dams about you? Like, that's a sick individual. Period. Yep, and that's why I hope folks in Texas elect Beto O'Rourke because what we're dealing with is just sheer ignorance from Greg Abbott. There's nothing about guns at the Uvalde and the mass shootings in this state. The electric grid is totally screwed up.

That's, and people died with the freeze there. Did nothing there as well. And so it's time for him to get defeated as well as that idiot Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. I mean, we truly have two of the dumbest people as the Governor and Lieutenant Governor in all 50 states in Texas. And that's the crap that we're actually dealing with. All right, folks, got to go to a break. When we come back, we're going to talk about more news of the day, including who owns the culture, our culture.

When you even hear that phrase, the culture, the culture, what does it even mean? I'm going to unpack and walk you through why we need to pay more attention to who owns our culture versus us being more concerned about the show and not the business. Folks, be sure to download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV.

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Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And don't forget, folks, White Fear, how the browning of America is making white folks lose their minds. We were just talking about that with Ship of the Migrants. Be sure to preorder your book. It drops on Wednesday. And so you can preorder White Fear at Ben Bella Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound, Bookshop, Chapters, Books a Million, Target as well. Also, hit your favorite black-owned bookstore and preorder your copy of White Fear.

Again, how the Browning of America is making white folks lose their minds. It drops on Wednesday. That's it, folks. I'm going to go to a break. We'll be right back. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe,

we all shine. Together, we are black beyond measure. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history.

Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at every university calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Can you believe the nerve of these Republicans?

They only want to block progress for our community. They talk about cutting Medicare and Social Security. They played politics with Veterans Health Care. They voted against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and funding for our HBCUs and against lowering prescription drug costs for our seniors. These Republicans keep trying hard to stand in the way, but President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats won't let them. They are delivering for us. The Democratic National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising. Pull up a chair, take your seat. The Black Tape with me, Dr. Gregg Carr,

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There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it. And you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. Waits $100,000. We're behind $100,000. So we want to hit that. Your

money makes this possible. Check some money orders. Go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington,000. We're behind $100,000, so we want to hit that. Y'all money makes this possible. Check some money orders. Go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Hello, everyone. It's Kiara Sheard. Hey, I'm Taj. I'm Coco.

And I'm Lili. And we're SWV. What's up, y'all? It's Ryan Destiny, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. A black Georgia man who shot and killed a white teen claiming self-defense under the state stand-your-ground law

was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, a charge that was added during the jury instructions. Yeah, I know that sounds crazy. Mark Wilson was initially charged with murder and aggravated assault. Wilson shot at a truck full of white teens who Wilson says yell racial slurs and tried to run him and his white girlfriend off the road in Statesboro, Georgia. That took place June 2020. The jury found Wilson was not justified in using his legal gun

when he felt threatened by the white teens. He was acquitted of the more severe charges of murder and aggravated assault. The voluntary manslaughter conviction carries up to 10 years in prison. Wilson's sentencing is September 20th. James Woodall from the Southern Center for Human Rights is joining us from Atlanta. James, glad to have you here. So, I'm confused. How is a charge added during jury instructions?

Who added the charge? Most definitely, Roland. Always good to be here with you. As it relates to the added charge of involuntary manslaughter, it is a process that is legal, unfortunately, in which if there is any evidence or the standard is slight evidence of a lesser offense being committed, then that charge can be given to the jury. And so the state moved for that to be added, the defense objected they wanted the state to prosecute the case that they indicted. And the jury returned a verdict that said everything that they alleged in their

indictment was not correct. And so Mark was justified in using force. I believe the jury's, you know, verdict also said he was justified in defending himself. And that's why, you know, the aggravated assault charges were all not guilty. That's why murder, the felony murder charge was not guilty. Even possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, not guilty. And so the interesting thing, though, Rowling, is in that move to add these lesser included, all of the lesser included were not included. And there is a misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter offense that could have been considered. And we our position is if the jury was given that they would have possibly even found him

guilty of a lesser included than what he was convicted of. And so that is something that we may see come up in the appeals process. So let me be clear. So the prosecution lays out their case. It's gone. They realize this ain't flying. So, OK, we clearly see we ain't proving this case. So let's put this lesser charge in and hope the jury buys that one. And they did. That's exactly what happened.

And it should really give everyone pause because when you think about, you know, the legal process here in this country, you should be able to, one, confront those who accuse you of an offense, but then, two, you should be able to put forth a defense if you do so choose. Mark didn't get the opportunity to defend himself against this, you know, Lesser included. All he had to do was make sure that, you know, what was included in the evidence that was

ultimately presented to the jury was around their aggravated assault, was around the felony murder. And prosecutors all over this country, not just in rural parts of Georgia, but prosecutors continue to use these kind of maneuvers and technical tricks to commit what we call illegal lynching. And that's exactly what happened in this case. We had to get one judge remanded from this case, or recused, rather, from this case. The prosecutor overcharged. The other individuals in the lifted truck were not even so much as cited for driving recklessly, even though they were under the influence of alcohol while underage, while

driving, while having open containers of alcohol in their vehicle, none of which was even so much as cited, you know cited by the law enforcement. And so that shows you the inequities of this legal system and is why we are continuing to scream into the valleys that there should be justice for Mark Wilson just as much as it was for Haley Hutchinson. It's just weird, this case here, because he claimed there were racial slurs,

but his girlfriend says she didn't hear anything? Well, you know, the interesting thing about that, Roland, is that one, it wasn't just the racial slurs. A lot of people would say, well, you shouldn't shoot at somebody because they're calling you the N-word or an effing N-word.

But they also were driving him off the road. They were drunk driving, swerving him into essentially a ditch. They were drunk driving, swerving him into essentially a ditch. And then they said, you know, his mom said this on the stand, that we're going to F-ing kill you N-word, right? That's the kind of menacing behavior that was demonstrated that night, which the jury also agreed, right? If they did not agree, he would have been found guilty of murder, and he was not. And so that tells you that there's more to this story. However,

because the prosecution and because the district attorney continues to act in unjust manners, we will never get the full story because of so many errors that happened in this trial. Gotcha. So we definitely hope to see something happen on the appeal,

and I would not be surprised if that gets a lot of attention on that appeal. All right. James, we appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Thank you. All right, folks. Going to a break. We come back.

This response to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, we talked about it some yesterday, but I want to pick up on it. Now it's interesting, you're seeing more media outlets now looking at having a critical look at her legacy in that of colonialism. And there was one professor, Carnegie Mellon, man, she lit into him.

Twitter got offended and deleted her tweet. Is it because Jeff Bezos complained about it? I'll unpack that on RollerMart Unfiltered with Blackstar Network. Download the app, Apple phone,

Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And don't forget to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar you give goes to support this show and what we do. So please send a check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Also, Cash App is RM Unfiltered.

PayPal, R Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, rmartinunfiltered. Venmo is rmunfiltered. Zelle is roland at rolandmartin.com. Roland at rolandmartinunfiltered.com. Let me get some shout-outs here. Jennifer Dungy, Denise Mazant, Phyllis Bell, Carl McKenzie, Joy Jenkins, Eaton Hart, Nathaniel Bonner, Donny Oford.

We have Gwendolyn Allen, Desmond Carter, Monica. Thanks a bunch. David Weed, Catherine Fuqua, Amani Woods, Erica Witherspoon. We also have Sharon Humphries, Shine Carwash, Erica Davis, Tawana Lewis, Lorraine Brandon, Jerry Goodwin, Jerry Cox. Let's see, Larry English, Daphne Curtis,

Andre Montgomery, Michelle Gorton, Mikey, Larnell Farmer, Pernell Moore, Pamela Rogers, Melissa Thompson, Sarita Torrance, Ashley Salls, Joan Warren, A. David Houghton, Fadali Avant, Ronald Fields Sr., Robert Brown, Chester Lester, Seth Cameron, Alicia Fletcher, Jerry Braxton, Bradrick Bennett, DKP24,

Keisha Brown, Profit, Deborah Grant, Kathy Painter, Leitha, Jesse Tate, W Painter, Leah Letha. Jesse Tate, Wandra Oliver, Joy Jenkins, Chasity Brown, Donald Jackson, Ralph Salvant, James Turner, Ronald Pierce, Ron Williams. Let's see here. Anthony Curtis Peel, Ann Robert Davis, Michelle Embry, Anita, Kamala Bell,

Brian Hall, Samoto Dabney, Michelle Embry, Anita, Kamala Bell, Brian Hall, Samoto Dabney, Brionte Brewer, Yusef Ali, and Joseph Bergen and Mike. That's it, folks. Y'all get on the show. I'll give you a shout-out. I'll be right back. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing.

Creating. Making moves. That move us all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Can you believe the nerve of these Republicans? They only want to block progress for our community. They talk about cutting Medicare and Social Security. They played politics with Veterans Health Care. They voted against the George Floyd Justice

and Policing Act and funding for our HBCUs and against lowering prescription drug costs for our seniors. These Republicans keep trying hard to stand in the way, but President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats won't let them. They are delivering for us. The Democratic National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Y'all know who Roland Martin is. He got the ascot on. He do the news.

It's fancy news. Keep it rolling. Right here. Rolling. Roland Martin. Right now. You are watching Roland Martin. Unfiltered.

I mean, could it be any other way? Really. It's Roland Martin. Javonta Williams was last seen leaving in a white Kia on August 29th in Chicago. The 16-year-old is 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 130 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes on his right arm. He has a bunny tattoo and the word heartless tattoo on his stomach. When Javonta disappeared, he was wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, black and green sweatpants, and black shoes. Anyone with information about Javonta

Williams should call the Chicago Police Department at 312-747-8274. 312-747-8274. 312-747-8274. Folks, the story of BYU. Remember the story of the Duke volleyball player who said that she heard racial slurs during the game? Well, they have released their decision today saying that there

was no evidence uncovered of any racial slurs. And the fan that was banned has been reinstated. Rachel Richardson, she's the only black starter on the volleyball team. You see her there on the far left. She claimed during the game between BYU and Duke that she heard the racial slurs. That led to lots of attention. Led to Duke University saying they would not play a game there

the next day. It was moved off that campus. It also led to the head coach of South Carolina, Dawn Staley, saying her women's basketball team will not play BYU to begin the season. This is what BYU released, their statement. They said, as part of our commitment to take any claims of racism not play BYU to begin the season. This is what BYU released, their statement. They said,

As part of our commitment to take any claims of racism seriously, BYU has completed its investigation into the allegation that racial heckling and slurs took place at the Duke vs. BYU women's volleyball match on August 26. We reviewed all available video and audio recordings, including security footage and raw footage from all camera angles taken by BYU TV of the match, with broadcasting audio removed to ensure that the noise from the stands could be heard more clearly. We also reached out to more than 50 individuals who attended the event,

Duke Athletic Department personnel and student-athletes, BYU Athletic Department personnel and student-athletes, event security and management, and fans who were in the arena that evening, including many of the fans in the on-court student section. From our extensive review, we have not found any evidence to corroborate the allegation that fans engaged in racial heckling or uttered racial slurs at the event. As we stated earlier, we would not tolerate any conduct that would make a student athlete feel unsafe.

That is the reason for our immediate response and our thorough investigation. As a result of our investigation, we have lifted the ban on the fan who was identified as having uttered racial slurs during the match. We have not found any evidence that that individual engaged in such an activity. BYU sincerely apologizes to that fan for any hardship the ban has caused. Our fight is against racism, not against any individual or any institution. Each person impacted has strong feelings and experiences, which we honor and we encourage others to show similar civility and respect. We remain committed to rooting out racism wherever

it is found. We hope we can all join together in that important fight. There will be some who assume we are being selective in our review. To the contrary, we will try to be as thorough as possible in our investigation, and we renew our invitation for anyone with evidence contrary to our findings to come forward and share it." Now, the folks, uh, now, despite being unable to find supporting evidence of racial slurs in the many recordings and interviews, we hope that all those involved will understand our sincere efforts to ensure that all student athletes competing at BYU feel safe. As stated by Athletics Director Tom Homo,

BYU and BYU Athletics are committed to zero tolerance of racism, and we strive to provide a positive experience for everyone who attends our athletic events, including student athletes, coaches, and fans, where they are valued and respected. Now, folks, the folks at Duke have issued a statement as well, and this is that statement. Let's pull it up. The 18 members of the Duke University volleyball team are exceptionally strong women who represent themselves,

their families, and Duke University with the utmost integrity. We unequivocally stand with them and champion them, especially when their character is called into question. Duke Athletics believes in respect, equality, and inclusiveness, and we do not tolerate hate and bias. Hashtag hate won't live here.

That is from Duke University VP and Director of Athletics, Nina King. The family of Rachel Richardson, they have not released their own statement with regards to this. Let's go to our panel. Kelly, your thoughts on this? The right wing has been calling Rachel Richardson, Jesse Smollett 2.0.

They have been furiously trying to knock down this story and calling it into question. Your thoughts? I think that this is a perfect example of why we say believe Black women, because clearly no one believes Black women. You are asked, like, what did this investigation entail other than asking white people

whether a white person disparaged a Black woman? You know, like, I don't see how that could possibly be objective. I don't see how that could possibly give any type of solace, solution, or anything towards this young Black woman who said that

a racial slur was hurled at her in the middle of a volleyball game. It is also not lost on me that this is coming from BYU, also known as Brigham Young University, also known as heavily rooted, founded upon Mormon values. And if you know anything about the history of Mormonism, they are not all that kind to Black people, certainly not Black women. So the level of trust I have for an institution that is literally founded on racist values

towards Black people doing an investigation on behalf of a Black person, I don't see the authenticity there. I don't see how this could possibly be genuine in any regard. And I think that this is just another example about how Black women have to work twice as hard to get a modicum of respect,

a modicum of dignity, integrity, whatever. And it looks like she's lying when she's not. I believe her. I believe her, and I feel like other people should still believe her because this was definitely a situation in which everything was rigged, in my opinion. Michael?

Yeah, you know, Roland, unfortunately, when it comes to incidents like this, just like in court, the burden of proof is on the prosecution. So it's like it's really hard to oftentimes prove something like this, especially when it's a loud event. But if you heard it and maybe your teammates heard it, but you just can't, you didn't record it. There was no recording around, no recording devices around to prove it, then, you know, it's like, you know, if a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it really fall? So, you know, I believe it's just the way, because the other thing we have to think of is, okay, the volleyball game is going on.

Why would she just make something up like this? If it didn't happen, why would she just make something up like this? If it didn't happen, why would she just make something up like this? So, yeah, you know, unfortunately, as it is now, there's no physical evidence. But, you know, I believe this is a good article from The New York Times that deals with this also. But this is one of those things, man, where it's, you know, a lot of times it's hard to prove something like this. Matt, and his situation where, again, folks are like, oh, she lied. It's a hoax. She made it up.

That's what her critics are saying. And, of course, in the Fox News, crowds reacting with glee. Of course they are. Look, 90.6% of people who live in Utah are white. You're talking about one of the most homogenous states as it relates to white Americans.

And to Kelly's point, one of the states that is least favorable for people of color, non-white people there. This exact thing happened to me at a soccer game when I was in high school. This happens. And at a loud event, I think Michael's exactly right. They're not going to be able to prove it.

And I think the reality is this woman had absolutely no reason to make this up. It's absurd. It's an absurd allegation to make up for no reason. And this is the kind of thing that is going to be co-opted by the conservatives and by the Fox News crowd to say, see, they're always lying about something. But it makes no sense. What reason does she have to lie about this? It makes more sense that, in fact, it did happen. And in addition to that, the fact that they expelled a fan that first day based on whatever preliminary investigation they did, I think should be given a lot of credence

because presumably someone pointed that fan out, said it was that person, and I don't know what they did to corroborate it. Well, according to BYU, the Duke folks pointed that person out, and then that's why they were removed. Well, even that, though, is important, right? Because if she pointed them out, and then the people on her team and the Duke folks stood behind her, then she's got other witnesses the same way you would in any case that you prosecute. And then it becomes a preponderance of the evidence, right? Did it happen or not happen?

So I think what BYU is trying to do here is trying to show, hey, we talked to a million people so we can wash our hands of it, and we're sorry that that poor fan no longer has the privilege, not right, but the privilege to attend sporting events in the future. And it's just a travesty that we're still seeing this air, you know, this time frame where you have this disbelief, like Kelly said. And this woman has no reason to make this up. And surely this happened to her. And unfortunately, she will get the bad end of you know a lot of the

rhetoric we're seeing these days but the other thing is Duke is an elite university it's one of the finest universities in the country I mean why would a woman who's playing at a super high level at a school like that have any reason to come out and make up a bold-faced lie none so we know what happened and no matter what their investigation shows she won't be able to prove it beyond saying that it happened, and it's unfortunate that we're in this circumstance. Well, there were 5,000 people at that game. BYU talked to 1% of the folks who were there. They said they talked to 50 people out of the 5,000 who were there.

So that's what they said. And again, her family did not release a statement, but they made it perfectly clear before. They were standing by her from beginning to end. And so that is the case there. Now let's talk about Queen Elizabeth II. First of all, what's quite interesting, Prince Charles actually spoke today. And if you want to show, which is strange to me,

I really don't understand this here. ABC, NBC, CBS, they all carried his first speech as king. But these are the same people who didn't carry President Biden's speech on saving democracy. I'm just trying to understand,

and maybe y'all can tell me why Prince Charles, actually now King Charles, speech. Y'all come on, show it, yeah. Maybe y'all can explain to me why that was worthy, literally, of all three broadcast networks carrying the speech, but when the United States president

gave a primetime speech talking about the threat to democracy, well, the EU did not quite see the coverage. Now, if you look at social media, you have seen all different types of responses to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who died at 96 years old. One that's gotten a lot of attention is this professor from Carnegie Mellon, Yuju Anya. And this was her initial tweet. She said, I heard the chief monarch of a thieving, raping, genocidal empire is finally dying.

May her pain be excruciating. Ouch. Now, that wasn't the only tweet that she sent out, but that particular tweet, oh, it got the attention of the richest person in the world, Jeff Bezos. This is what he tweeted. This is someone supposedly working to make the world better. I don't think so. Wow.

Well, folks weren't too happy with old Jeff. They began to rip him as well. Look at these tweets that went out. Imagine how people will react when it's your turn. Jeff, your work to bust unions and force workers to pee in bottles, please shut up. I know it's not you saying something

about making the world better. Those were three of the responses. Pretty funny coming from the guy who could end world poverty and homelessness 100 times over and simply chooses not to. It's never too late to improve the labor conditions and pay of your warehouse workers. Your workers piss in bottles en masse.

Sit this one out. Ouch. Headline. Billionaire opposed to paying his employees well so that he can go to space complains about other people not making the world a better place. No surprise that the richest man in the world is upset when the people don't bend the knee to the ruling class.

Breaking, man who has workers peeing in bottles and having miscarriages in warehouses to meet quotas tries to take the moral high ground. It's insane that Jeff Bezos tweets with us, a billionaire who blatantly and violently exploits workers and feels comfortable trying to have a morality battle on the bird app.

Now, the professor, Yuju, Anya, she didn't back down. Twitter did delete that particular tweet from her saying that it violated their standards. Not sure how that's the case.

But when you begin to look at her Twitter feed, boom. She said, if anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide, that massacred and displaced half my family, and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing upon a star. Yeah, I don't think she's going to be backing down from any of that.

That was some other, I'm looking at some other tweets that she had posted. I mean, again, she had, I mean, all kind of different tweets. She did respond to Jeff Bezos. She said, everyone, you and your merciless greed have harm in this world. Remember you as fondly as I remember my colonizers. Wow. Again, her

tweet to spur the reaction, Carnegie Mellon did offer a response. This was what they posted. They said, we do not condone the offensive and objectionable messages posted by Yuzhu Anya today on her personal social media account. Free expression is core to the mission of higher education.

However, the views she shared absolutely do not represent the values of higher education. However, the views she shared absolutely do not represent the values of the institution, nor the standards of discourse we seek to foster. So, his was interesting. And this was a tweet here that Yuji retweeted. Reminder that Queen Elizabeth is not a remnant of colonial times, she was an active participant

in colonialism. She actively tried to stop independence movements and she tried to keep newly independent colonies from leaving the Commonwealth. The evil she did was enough. This article here, this woman was, it says she was tortured with axes during Kenya's struggle for independence from British colonial rule. As Britain celebrates the platinum jubilee of its monarch, this old fighter wants to send her a message.

Let Elizabeth bring what belongs to me. Let's go to our panel here. I find it's very interesting when you, I said this last night, Michael, it's very interesting when people, they have this view that when someone passes, in the first 24, 48 hours, first week, you can't say anything bad about them. You hear the phrase, you can't say anything good about somebody, don't say anything at all. I saw a video of D.L. Hughley. He said that people should have compassion when someone dies. But I saw these pieces, I saw this back and forth

and these tweets from Uju Anya, and she talked about how her family was devastated, how they were massacred. And in fact, there was an interview that she gave, and she said this to the person in the interview. She said, I am the child and sibling of survivors of genocide. From 1967 to 1970, more than three million civilians were massacred when the Igbo people of Nigeria tried to form the independent country. And I said this, and I think it's important for us to say it. So people are angry that individuals who dealt with genocide

because of British colonial rule are not celebrating her life the way they want them to. Yet again, people gladly condemned Fidel Castro. And so this goes to what I always talk about. The person that controls the narrative controls how we think and feel. And frankly, the view in this country is don't say anything bad about Queen Elizabeth II because she was a great, wonderful, happy person and ignore colonial rule and its impact on indigenous people. Well, you know, Roland, this is one of the reasons why the Black Star Media Network is so important.

And last night I did a three hour broadcast dealing with Queen Elizabeth II, British colonial, British colonialism and slavery, because I watched a lot of the coverage all day long on MSNBC. That's basically what I had it on all day, watching MSNBC. And they didn't deal with any of that history, OK? The opulence, when they showed all the footage and going back decades, and they showed the gold carriage, the gold carriage drawn by 30 horses, and they show all the people in their regalia and things like this, They don't talk about the British colonialism that exploited people, tortured people, enslaved people to create the billions of dollars.

So you see that opulence displayed. You know, so now within the last maybe three hours, New York Times just published an article in Africa, the Queen's death renews a debate about the legacy of the British Empire, and it deals with Kenya and the Mau Mau Rebellion, okay? When you go, I did a lot of research yesterday on Queen Elizabeth, but also on Great Britain. When you look at how many African countries they got from the Berlin Conference of 1884, OK, and you look, they got the Gambia, Nigeria, where that sister's from, OK, they got Ghana, Sierra

Leone, they got Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, OK? So when you go talk to those African people who have relatives who were killed by the British Empire, they have no love for her. They have no love for King Charles III. May 19, 2022, when Meghan Markle married Prince Harry, I did a two-hour broadcast,

and I said, Black people watched the royal I did a two-hour broadcast, and I said, Black people watched the royal wedding and got teary-eyed, but you forgot about the transatlantic slave trade. Because I said she married into... This is no disrespect to Meghan Markle. I said she married into a family of colonizers. They're not colonizers because they're white.

They're colonizers because Britain colonized one-fifth of the world population a hundred Britain colonized one-fifth of the world population 100 years ago. One-fifth of the world population was under British rule. And they didn't rule with kindness. They didn't rule with a smile. They ruled with brutality. So I wish, I don't wish anything ill on Queen Elizabeth II. I sure as hell don't miss her. And I hope some more join her. Seriously. Go study the history of the British Royal Empire and how they got what they got. These are some demons.

These are colonizers. I understand. I may have expressed it differently than Ujah Anya, but I totally understand what she's saying. Because those were her relatives who were massacred by these white supremacists, by these colonizers, who then want to put a handshake and a smile.

They won't even have a conversation about reparations with Jamaica. Jamaica's about to sue them for reparations. They won't even have a conversation about reparations. So I have no love lost for them. Here are some. Etan Thomas, former NBA player, Kelly, he posted a couple of videos on his Twitter feed. I thought might as well play both of them. Just want to give folks a thought, a look at this.

So check this out. In 2022, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum jubilee. The celebrations took place over a four-day bank holiday. Millions of Brits parted in street parties and people around the world joined the long celebrations. But is celebrating the British monarch harmless fun, or does it normalize the monarchy's long history of colonialism? And is it a celebration of British imperialism? Here are four ways in which the British royal family has benefited from colonialism. They have historically benefited from the enslavement of human beings. In 1562, John Hawkins was the first Englishman to include African people in his

cargo. He traded these people for ginger and sugar. On his next voyage in 1564, Queen Elizabeth I funded a vessel for his journey. The British East India Company was formed in 1600 to exploit trade with Southeast Asia. They did that by colonizing land and exploiting people through the transatlantic slave trade. The figure who signed the royal charter allowing this all to happen was also Elizabeth I. Between 1690 and 1807, an estimated 6 million Africans were transported from Africa to the Americas on British and Anglo-American ships. The royal family and the British parliament protected the trade. After Elizabeth I's death, the Royal African Company was established in 1660 by the Duke of York.

The company transported more than 187,000 slaves, who were often branded DY, for the Duke of York. It's difficult to say how much the royals benefited from slavery, but many say it funded the entire British treasury. And it's safe to say that much of the monarch's significance, power and wealth stems from the enslavement of Africans. Lucy Worsley, the chief curator of royal historic palaces, says that all royal palaces from the 17th century have an element of money

which was derived from slavery, including Kensington Palace and Hampton Court. The royal family was built on a legacy of stolen land, goods and atrocities. Queen Elizabeth II's largest diamond, the Koh-i-Noor, was stolen from a 10-year-old prince in India along with his land, goods and atrocities. Queen Elizabeth II's largest diamond, the Koh-i-Noor, was stolen from a 10-year-old prince in India along with his land in the 19th century. It was transferred to Queen Mary in 1911 and was handed down to the current queen. Both India and Pakistan have asked for the diamond's return, but it's still very much owned by the crown. In India, between the 1700s and mid-20th century, an estimated $45 trillion was stolen by the British under the vestiges of the crown. Famines which occurred as a result of Britain's non-intervention policy led to the death of more than 30 million Indians.

In 1947, Now that was sort of like part one, then that was also a part two. Britain wanted to get Britain out of India quickly. The decision to carve up a country led to 15 million people being displaced and between one and two million people dying. Of course, this is just India. At its peak, Britain had colonized 25 percent of the world's surface. From the Mau Mau massacre in Kenya to concentration camps in South Africa, Britain, under the vestiges of the crown, has a long and bloody history of colonial atrocities.

And the royals have historically been at the center of them. The prestige of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is an organization of 52 independent member states. What it actually is is a collection of former British colonies and wandered Mozambique. The Commonwealth originated after World War II when much of India and Africa was becoming independent. The Commonwealth claims that it is an association of sovereign nations working towards shared goals of prosperity, democracy and peace. But critics say that the association promotes neocolonialism through free trade agreements which favour more developed economies.

British companies own more than $1 trillion of Africa's key resources. The Queen is the head of the Commonwealth and Charles has been appointed her successor, which allows the British monarchy to remain in a position of international privilege and go on tours of commonwealth countries. But that's not all. So, Kelly, what you're now seeing, I saw a story on CNN, I saw some of the stories, that you're seeing now reporters now, you know, the next day, follow what people are saying and have to do these stories because you just kind of can't ignore it.

Well, you can, but it's a little hard when now it's more of a Democratic situation where the media isn't the gatekeepers. And now people can actually drive independent media with social media. So they're not talking about it. The public still can. I think it's one of the many benefits that we don't, that we take for granted when it comes to social media. And that is, like you said, the gatekeeping of information by mainstream media is no longer. We can actually seek out real information, the truth, if you will, about pretty much anything we want to find out. When it comes to the death of Queen Elizabeth, it is

interesting to me how my timeline has been split. You have the people who love talking about the royals and all the glitz and the glam and they're mourning her death, but on the other royals and all the glitz and the glam and, you know, they're mourning her death.

But on the other side, similar to the professors, like, do you see what her and her family have destroyed over the course of 70 years and even beyond that on both ends of the timeline? timeline. I think you cannot take away the fact that whenever you are in power to this degree, you can be a nice person individually, but at the end of the day, you got that power by being just demonic, such as Michael said. I didn't want to say that word, but it really is several crimes against humanity, several unethical decisions, several evil decisions that brought about this monarchy, this level of power. So I understand people's pain and to some extent celebration of passing, because it marks the end of an era. And considering how her successor, her son, is not necessarily nearly as favored as she has been, I'm curious to see just how strong the Commonwealth is going to be after, you know, the-the funeralization of her

and him being crowned and all those things. I'm-I'm curious to see how he is going to try and keep it all together, if it's even possible in this day and age. Because, again, we have the information necessary to-to research and to, frankly, rebel against this properly, because we know what happened. We know how they got their wealth. And people want their things back. They want their diamonds back. They want their wealth back. They want their prestige and their dignity back. And

people are going to fight for that. Countries are going to fight for that. So I'm curious to see what's going to happen past these, you know, this mourning period, regardless of how you mourn or celebrate her passing. It's just going to be interesting to see. Matt, here's the thing for me.

Again, reading that professor's tweet, you're like, damn. She's like, I hope she suffered excruciating pain. But the one thing that I can't do, I didn't have folk who were, who were killed due to British colonial rule. I mean, these are people who are living today

who come from countries that have had to endure that. You just can't ignore their pain because someone else died. You just can't. That's exactly right. We were having this conversation at my law firm today during lunch, and one of my partners said, I'm glad she's dead, she deserves it, all of that,

which became a conversation about, you know, celebration of people and dying. But the larger thing here is that's literally what I said. I said, you know, it's easy in a vacuum to say that you can't necessarily understand how this professor has characterized her feelings on it, understandable feelings on it. But when you're literally the descendant of or a survivor of a genocide, I mean, what do you expect? And the reality is what we see is this sanitization all the time, not only with the British royal family, but with white people here in the United States. You know, it's a matter of trying to trot out all of the recent good deeds, right, to overlook a horrible foundation. And the reality is the British monarchy, number one, is completely obsolete. It's pointless that Britons even allow it to exist at this point and allow it to be subsidized by the government in any respect.

But their current wealth is based off of the backs of Africans and all of the people that they colonized around the world. So to say that they're philanthropists or they have some kind of saving graces, it is greatly dwarfed by all of the atrocities, as my two esteemed panelists have said. And it really doesn't matter at this point how many good things they do. Their existence is proof positive of a horrible foundation and of a heinous history. And that's a history that is never going to be, you know, whitewashed by any amount of good deeds. And beyond that, we're talking about things that occurred in people's lifetimes, you know, whitewashed by any amount of good deeds. And beyond that, we're talking about things that occurred in people's lifetimes, like

yesterday, literally yesterday. So you shouldn't be surprised that there are people who are celebrating her death, and you shouldn't be surprised that there are people who say, you know, there's no amount of time that we need to wait to talk about how someone was, you know, subjecting my people and the peoples around the world to this

horrible rule. And frankly, I understand it. All right, folks. Got to go to a break. We come back. We're going to talk about the importance of getting young black folks out to vote in this midterm elections. We'll also break down this notion of who owns the culture. When you hear we're doing this for the culture. Really?

I got some thoughts on that in terms of who owns the culture. I'm I got some thoughts on that in terms of who owns the culture. I'm going to break that thing down right here in Roller Mark. All right, folks, don't forget, we want you to download our Black Star Network app. Look, we've got nearly 900,000 people following us on YouTube.

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Together, we are black beyond measure. I remember being with The View when they said, we want to extend your contract. And I knew God said, it's time to move. It's time to go. And everybody was saying, Sherri, you got a great job. You're making all of this money. And I said, no, it's time.

And they said, you ain't going to be able to. You've been away from Hollywood. And I said, it's time to go. And when I didn't, that's when I realized I was about to go through this divorce. And it was going to be expensive. It was going to be a lot. And I said, I'm going to stay. I said, I'm going to stay for a couple of years. Make this money. See, go ahead. I'm going to go through this divorce, and it was going to be expensive. It was going to be a lot. And I said, I'm going to stay. I said, I'm going to stay for a couple years.

So you make this money. See, go ahead. I'm going to make this money, and then I'll get out lower. So it was a compromise. I'm going to do what you say, but I'm going to do it on my thing. And he went, really? He went, really. And you know when he went, really?

They said that we were heavy in contract negotiations. And they came, my manager called. She said, they're not going to renew your contract. And I went, hey, wait, what? Just yesterday, they was offering me more money. She said, they just decided not to renew your contract. And I remember sitting in front of the mirror at the view, and I went, what happened?

And it was very clear. God said, I told you it was time to go. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing. Creating. Making moves. The move is all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure.

On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. Did you know that 43% of Americans say that they're going to go deeper into debt because the cost of everything is rising because of inflation? On our next Get Wealthy, you're going to hear from money coach Lynette Kalfani-Katz as she shares exactly what we need to do to stay out of debt and get wealthy. When I paid off my $100,000 in credit card debt, I was just doing strategies kind of piecemeal. I was doing like what I thought would work. And then it was like, oh, great,

it did. It was effective. And then I was like, I should document this. I should explain, like, how I got out of debt. That's right here on Black Star Network with me, Deborah Odom, America's vote. When you talk about Blackness and what happens in Black culture, we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting.

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I'm Bill Duke. This is De'Alla Riddle. What's up, y'all? I'm Will Packer. I'm Chrisette Michelle. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation's Black Youth Vote is launching a national black collegiate and community challenge to motivate black young folks to vote in 2022 midterm elections. Christina Q is the NCBP Unity 22 National Campaign Manager.

She joins us from Aiken, South Carolina. All right then. So, Christina, what are y'all doing? Y'all got some cash prizes? What's going on here? Yes, yes. Hey, Roland, thank you so much for having us, and thank you for always being a consistent voice for the culture. We appreciate you. And so, yeah, we have a challenge and we are

challenging collegiate groups and community organizations to join this challenge. You can win up to $10,000 in cash prizes. And so we have sent this call out across the country and we are focused on engaging our young voters to get involved in this election cycle. We know the midterms are coming up in November, and we thought this was a cool way to get young people engaged into this election cycle. Now, obviously, it's not just national elections. You've got state elections happening. You've got folks running for governor. You've got state reps, state senators. You've got state elections happening. You've got folks running for governor. You got state reps, state senators, you got county commissioners.

And so how are y'all going about trying to educate people to understand why they vote matters in all races up and down the ballot? Yeah, Roland, I think what's most important in this season is reminding us what is on the ballot. Right. A lot of people, even with the frustrations with the current administration, we want to make sure that people understand what issues are on the ballot and the issues that impact us. We showed out in record numbers in the last general election, but the general election is not until 2024. So right now, what is on the ballot are your midterm elections and the issues. Abortion rights are on the ballot. We have states all over the country that are, that with the Roe v. Wade decision in the Supreme Court, we have states that are also trying to, trying to like,

you know, cause, cause, you know, issues and cause actual criminal charges for you having abortions in your state. So that's on the ballot. And we want to make sure that they understand that, you know, all these issues are on the ballot. I was seeing, I saw a meme on social media the other day talking about slavery is on the ballot. There are some states right now that are considering overturning our 13th Amendment, which is a real thing. And so we need to make sure that we are informing and educating our voters at every age level, particularly our young people, because social media is where we can really give them the information right where they are and where, because they're not watching CNN, they're not watching, you know, MSNBC, they are on their phones or Instagram or Facebook or YouTube, you know, getting their information.

So that's why it's so critical that we have these conversations about what's on the ballot and what's at stake in these midterm elections. And so are there particular states that y'all are targeting? Are y'all going to be having in-person rallies? Exactly what does this campaign look like? Yeah, so with the National

Coalition on Black Civil Participation, which is led by our fearless leader Melanie Campbell, we are focused in 11 states with the National Coalition. But this challenge is a call to all the states across the country. Even if you're not in our 11 states that we are focused on as an organization, you can still be a part of this challenge. And we will have Get Out the Vote rallies. We are also planning a Get Out the Vote concert and comedian tour. And so we are working through the dates.

That's going to be in October. And we are just working through creative ideas with our partners. We have over 40 national organizations that are partnered with us that will help us amplify events. And they are also hosting their own events that we will partner with them on to help get out the vote through this election. The way to learn more about what's going on in our campaign, you can follow us and go to our website at unitycampaign.org, and you can get all the updates on everything that we're doing

to keep everyone engaged going into the midterm elections. All right, then. Sounds great. We surely, then. Sounds great. We surely appreciate it. Good job. And I'm sure we'll be seeing you out there on the road. And rolling. I gotta say go Gamecocks. Now you know doggone well. I don't even know

why you even wasted your breath saying go Gamecocks. It's football season, Roland. We're gonna be ready for y'all this year. Okay, hold up. So, why don't you explain to the people since Texas A&M joined the SEC,

who have we beat every damn year? Look, I said we're going to be ready for this year. Every year. We're not talking about, we're not focused on the past, brother. No, no, no. Every year. I done told you about, we're not focused on the past, Roller. No, no, no, no. Every year. I done told you, Bakari Sellers, Joteka Eady, Anton Gunn,

all y'all Gamecock people, we gonna kick y'all behind every year. Y'all know, when we see the Gamecocks on the calendar, that's an automatic victory. Roller, I wore my shirt just for you tonight. I wore my shirt just for you tonight. Hey, cause you know you gonna take that L when we play.

So you know, doggone where. By halftime, y'all stop returning text messages. Listen, don't do us. We'll see you at CBC and we'll see you on the field this year. I don't even know where the game is. I just know we're going to beat y'all. We beat y'all at y'all plays, our

plays, neutral plays. It don't even matter. It's a new season, Roland. Yeah, y'all say that every year. And so I need my Gamecocks to join our community challenge. And Texas A&M, you're welcome to join the challenge as well. No, y'all need to find some players to beat us on the football field. Anyway, I don't know why you even brought that up. You just wanted that self, that abuse.

I wanted to message you tonight, Roland. No, I ain't the one that lost every year. It's all right. We still here. We talk trash. Win or lose, we talk trash. Y'all want to talk that trash that year? We beat y'all 55 to 10.

Uh-huh, I thought so. All right. Whatever. Now you want to say whatever. Uh-huh, all right. Appreciate it. Good night, Roland. Now you want to say good night. See, uh-huh. See, now you want to say whatever. All right. Appreciate it. Good night, brother. Now you want to say good night.

See, I know how to shut y'all down, bring that game up. All right. Take care. You too, brother. We'll see you later. All right. Look, if you're going to come on here, at least y'all beat us one time, y'all. They ain't beat us ever.

All right, y'all. So we were, this was interesting to me, y'all. So when, yesterday, it was, I mean, you saw the memes and everything going back and forth. Do this here. Put up Where's Our Money. Why don't you go do this here? Why don't y'all play that, play that, and then put the graphic up?

Because I'm about to talk about money, y'all. I'm going to talk about money. I'm going to talk about money, okay? So I'm about to unpack something real quick. Y'all don't want to miss this. Go ahead. We've been frozen out. Facing an extinction level event. We don't fight this fight right now

You're not going to have Black Army Alright y'all, so How many times have y'all heard somebody say We doing this for the culture This is for the culture We control the culture We for the culture. This is for the culture. We control the culture. We own the culture. And I'll be honest with you.

I really hate when I hear that. Because it's a lie. It's a damn lie. And this is not targeting the sister who tweeted this. So let me just see if I can just remove her name. I don't want to show her name. But she tweeted this yesterday

and I took exception and I commented on it and I just want to weigh in here. She tweeted, Black Twitter controls the culture. Woo! The way this subset will take over the entire platform when something big happens.

She was talking about black Twitter and Irish Twitter and everybody talking about when Queen Elizabeth II died yesterday. So when I saw this, I immediately said, no, see, there we go again. When we begin to say

black twitter controls the culture so let me say this here you don't control nothing you don't own what it means is black people we are a participant we are a participant.

We are the show in show business. While we are shining and flossing on stage, somebody else is counting the paper backstage. And when we're done shining and flossing, somebody else is going to the bank. And the reason I want us to reframe this conversation is because we've got to start looking at what happens with ourselves in a much more critical way to understand how we can change the economics of this conversation. On Wednesday, when we announced the deal with the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, I said we're talking about trying to create a whole new ecosystem here where we're not just saying getting sponsorship dollars, how if we're saying we're putting on events, then we're using black companies and black event planners and

caterers and transportation companies, and we're using black companies and black event planners and caterers and transportation companies. And we're using folks, audiovisual companies. It's an entire ecosystem. See, when we talk about the culture, if you're controlling the culture, you're also making the money. And you're not getting screwed out of the money. How many of y'all remember the news? Remember versus doing COVID? And remember Timberland and Swiss Beat said,

no, I wasn't ready for it yet. I wasn't ready for it yet. Remember Timberland, they said, we doing this for the culture. We ain't doing this to make money. It's for the culture. But then they later announced they were selling versus to Triller.

This was the LA Times story. Triller acquires Timbaland and Swizz Beatz music platform verses. Initially they said, we're doing this for the culture. It's for the culture. It's for the culture. That article was dated March 9th 2021. Y'all remember this story right here?

August 16th, 2022, Swiss beat Timbaland, sued Triller for $28 million in missing payments. A year later, the lawsuit says that Triller made the initial two payments, then stopped paying. I hear people talk about, oh man, we running the culture on TikTok. But then black creators are complaining how they're not getting paid and getting ripped off.

I hear the same thing on Instagram, other platforms. I hear this constantly. Now, here's the reality. African Americans, we are America's cultural tastemakers. The problem is we are constantly the show in show business. And so if we're going to sit here and have a real conversation about the culture, should

we not be saying we own the culture? Don't say we control the culture if you got to go ask somebody else for permission. See, if you control the culture, then you hiring black lawyers.

If you control the culture, you making sure you got black accountants. If you control the culture, all of a sudden, you're creating opportunities in the ecosystem for African Americans. That's when you control the culture. Words matter.

I am in the business of words. And I believe too often what we are getting excited about, we're getting excited when somebody is shining and flossing and we ain't asking a question. Who getting paid for this? See, look, there's a reason me growing up,

I didn't give a damn about no Air Jordans because my self-esteem wasn't based upon an expensive pair of damn shoes. My value as a young black man was not based upon the kicks on my feet. Because I knew I couldn't wear those to a job interview. And why was I going to make Phil Knight more money?

When we start thinking differently and seeing differently, y'all heard me say since we launched this show, we need, as African Americans, we need a reprogramming. And that's what I'm talking about. What I'm saying is we have got to stop shucking and jiving and dancing and performing for other people. And we have got to begin to say, no, I'm not doing that unless there's some equity involved. You take black performers right now. You got companies coming to them trying to kick endorsement deals to them. They should be saying, no, I want equity.

Why am I going to take the small money? See, some of y'all might be saying, well, Rolla, you can't call that money small. Yes, I can. If you're trying to pay me $5 million, and you're going to make $500 million, that $5 million is small. Matter of fact, while I'm talking, I need y'all to find that video of the brother who was in the Lion King, and his mama told him, son, if they're going to pay you that much for this.

Now, take that check. Y'all going to pay me on the back end. That brother has made more money. He turned down, I think it was a million. He turned down like a million dollars on the front end. His mama, his mama wasn't no PhD. She wasn't no formal PhD, but she had a street PhD. And she said, now son, if they paying you that much, I think your voice is worth a hell of a lot more. Y'all, that's owning. That's controlling.

We would say controlling the culture. And so I just want us to be thinking and operating differently. And I want us to start challenging others when we begin to use those phrases, doing it for the culture. BET ran all these promos. All these promos. The biggest night for the culture. The BET Awards is the biggest night for the culture. See, now we need to start asking the question, how?

What culture? For me, the BET Awards ain't the biggest night for the culture. It's not. We've got to have a redefinition. Folks on

YouTube are saying, the brother I'm talking about, his name is Jason Weaver. I'm talking about, his name is Jason Weaver. I'm just trying to get us to think different. I want us to stop saying things that are not true. Black people driving Twitter. We don't own that. Don't own no stock. But you got Isaac Hayes III over here

who's created a social media platform called Fanbase. I'm an investor. Why are black folks not flocking to Fanbase? Black people cause Clubhouse, which ain't that many people own, to go to, from a start,

to a $4 billion valuation in nine months. I heard black people going, oh man, I got my own channel. You ain't got no channel on the clubhouse. No, no, no. I own my room. No, you don't. You don't own your room on Clubhouse. They could delete your ass tonight and your room is gone.

You ain't even renting a room. You're borrowing a room. I'm just trying to get us to think a little different. And Isaac was talking about this here. And matter of fact, this was a tweet that Isaac hit. This was, what, three days ago? This was a few days, yeah. He hit this, pull it up, come on now, come on, come on.

He said, you can't have the independence and power of Tyler Perry building your businesses on top of corporations and infrastructure you don't own? Why you think he gave an entire speech about

building his own table in Atlanta and owning your stuff? I'm going to do this here and I'm just going to play it. Now BET Viacom might flag us, but Keenan, we get to cut out later, but let's just go ahead and play it. Listen. When I built my studio, I built it in a neighborhood

that is one of the poorest black neighborhoods in Atlanta so the young black kids can see that a black man did that and they can do it too. I was trying to help somebody cross. That studio was once a Confederate Army base, and I want you to hear this, which meant that there was Confederate soldiers on that base plotting and planning on how to keep 3.9 million Negroes enslaved. Now that land is owned by one Negro. It's all about trying to help somebody cross.

While everybody was fighting for a seat at the table, talking about Oscar so white, Oscar so white, I said, y'all go ahead and do that. But while you're fighting for a seat at the table, I'll be down in Atlanta building my own. Because what I know for sure is that if I could just build this table, God would prepare it for me in the presence of my enemies. Rather than being an icon, I want to be an inspiration.

So thank you, BET, my new family. Thank you, everybody. I want you to hear this. Every dreamer in this room, there are people whose lives are tied into your dream. Own your stuff. Own your business. Own your way. God bless you. Thank you, BET.

Thank you, Scott. I love you guys. Thank you. Now, let me go ahead and unpack. Kim Smith made some dumbass comment in the YouTube channel. See, this is what trips me out when you got folk who don't know what the hell they talking about, and they make dumbass comments, oh, but you think I don't see what you posted. He goes, Kim Smith tweeted, Tyler Perry don't have no power.

Akim, do you know how stupid you sound? Do you know how stupid you sound? The man just said he owns a studio that in land mass is larger than the top four studios in Hollywood. The annual payroll, Akim, since you want to say something stupid on a YouTube channel. is larger than the budget, larger than the payroll of a number of mid-sized American cities. I'm going to let that sink in for y'all. Because the Kim says you got something to say. And you don't know what the hell you talking about while you saying it The annual payroll of Kim of Tyler Perry studios And he just talk is a hundred and fifty four million dollars That's employees who are sending their kids to college Who are buying houses

Who are using the money for other purposes But your silly ass said he ain't got no power Well tell me this Akim Who you employing? See Akim You got power when you can take your camera and produce your own shows and you ain't got to ask nobody permission. It's power when you can distribute your stuff across the world and you ain't got to ask nobody. See, a Kim Power is when you Tyler Perry and you on your eighth plane, you own your own

island, you do all these shows and movies, and guess what? It was done by black people. Tyler Perry ain't never tried to cross over Tyler ain't trying to make no move with white people Tyler said black folks made me rich see I love it when y'all silly simple simons talk about oh so and so ain't got no power I can guarantee you this again. Elected officials in Atlanta and Georgia know about his power. I can guarantee you that. But see, your comment is an example

of black folks who don't know what the hell they talking about, but all you do is bump your gums thinking you sound smart when you actually don't. Y'all, controlling the culture is when you own. That's controlling the culture. we can get to that point where we are owning what's ours and now controlling what's ours, then we can have that conversation. I'm going to bring Kelly

Michael and Matt into this. And Matt, when I mentioned, you know, again, hiring lawyers, again, when you control, when you control a culture, when you say, no, no, no, no, he gonna be the lawyer.

She gonna be the lawyer. He gonna be the accountant. She gonna be the CFO. You do that when you control and own the culture. But when you just the show and show business, they tell you, no, no, you the talent. But when you just the show and show business, they tell you,

you the talent. You go on out there and perform. We'll handle the business. Matt? You know, I think the talent is indispensable from the product, and I think that's important. And I say that to say

because I do think that obviously, as you said, we're the tastemakers, we're making the culture. But I think the point that you're making is a salient one, that we don't own it in large measure. And I really like your point about hiring the black lawyers, hiring black accountants. There's a big push for that across the country. And I find a lot of clients come in and hire me because they want a black lawyer. And it's important that in the culture we have that same insistence on making sure that, you know, black tastemakers, to use your term, are being compensated appropriately. I mean,

that's the justice element of this, right? Because in this country, historically, we have been the ones to create the culture, but that culture has always been vilified until it became monetarily valuable to the larger culture, and then they just co been vilified until it became monetarily valuable to the larger culture, and then they just co-opt it. That's what happens. So we have to create a sustainable system of monetizing this culture that we not only create but have consistently been at the forefront at the entire time we've been in this country. I mean, that's really the crux of it. And that's why Tyler Perry and all the others who are, who have been economically able to not only create the

culture, but to own all of that culture. Even Brother Sam Cooke back in the 60s. Those are luminaries and those are people that we need to follow their example. Except, except, except Sam should have hired a black lawyer. I agree. Because Sam

let that white man draw the paperwork should have hired a black lawyer. I agree. Because Sam let that white man draw the paperwork up, and that white man created, he took Sam's company and made Sam an employee and Sam had no idea and that dude to this day owns

the damn royalties to Sam Cooke's publishing. That happened. But see, Kelly, it's some other folk who don't get it as well. Somebody who goes by the name Shaka Zulu made some ignorant ass statement on the YouTube channel. And I got to go ahead and call this out too.

I already smacked Akim for that dumb comment he made. Shaka Zulu tweeted, he posted on the channel, Roland, what does this have to do with the overall health of our community? Am I allowed to speak? Are you about to speak? Um. Um. What does this have to do with the overall health of our community?

Uh. Shaka Zulu. If all your ass ever will be is an employee that means you're an employee see Shaka Zulu when all we are are renters and not homeowners we ain't controlling the damn thing. When all we are are transient people who move from place to place and who can be moved around,

then our health and our community is impacted. You really don't understand the concept of what I'm talking about when I'm talking about owning our culture, which means owning our intellectual property, owning what we create, and not just simply dancing and singing and making things and tweeting things and posting things and somebody else making billions. Do I really have to make it any simpler? I literally can't put it. I can't go down to the first grade. I'm going to need you to come up at least to the fifth grade.

Kelly, go ahead. Well, nothing that you said was wrong. Nothing that Matt said was wrong. Nothing that Matt said was wrong. But what I will say is that not everyone can be an entrepreneur. And we know this. But there is a difference between being a consumer to the white economy versus being a consumer to your own. And that is the dollar circulates so that you actually benefit from it faster and you benefit from it better. So, you know, that's why we say buy from black businesses.

That's why we want more black entrepreneurs, because we also want black employees underneath those black entrepreneurs so we can circulate that dollar within our own communities. Right. Tyler Perry was absolutely correct. Like when you make your own table, you make the rules and you can invite people to your table. You can make sure that everything is in-house and you can have that power built upon itself so that it can benefit the community at large that look like you. And it's a beautiful thing when you realize that you created something, or in the case of those who do not want to create, you contributed to something that benefits you. And that is why we are so adamant about supporting Black business.

That's why we're so adamant about making sure that Black people own their things so that we can benefit from what we create. We cannot do that when all we have is what's on Twitter, when all we have is the memes and the surface stuff. We need to dig deep and realize that it's not going to be easy. We realize that there are going to be forces against us that will try to dismantle

it and turn, you know, Black Wall Street here and Rosewood there and Seneca Park and all these other historical moments in which we did try to build and it fell apart because the forces that be dismantled it. But that does not mean we stop trying. That does not mean we won't eventually succeed. And it also does not mean that, even though it might not be to the level of those things, it certainly can be, but in the event that it doesn't, it doesn't mean that we still can't benefit from whatever we create, so long as we own it.

Which is why I love being on this show with you, because it is Black-owned, it is Black media, and it really is unfiltered for what we need out there in the Black community. Yeah, I agree with everyone here on the

panel. There's so much more I can say, but I'll leave it there for now. The thing here, Michael, first of all, see, is y'all don't think I pay attention. Karina Wiggins, yeah, you said you didn't get a shout-out. Now you got a shout-out. You gave on Zale. You gave on August 6th.

See, I just saw it. But you didn't like to send an email saying, hey, you missed my name. So you should have sent me an email, Karina, but you got the shout-out. There you go. The thing I'm trying to do right here, Michael, I'm trying to get all them people who stood up and applauded Tyler Perry, you know what they should have done? They should have said, the moment I leave here on Monday,

I'm changing how we do business. Right. See, when Prince told him at the Soul Train Awards, own your masters, he was trying to let them know it's still folks signing dumb deals today. Right. What we're talking about, and look, this doesn't mean that you don't do licensing deals. It doesn't mean that you can't sell equity in your company. And see, again, it's like, I didn't get mad when Essence sold 49% of the other 51% because the reality is Johnson

Publishing Company made more money off of the sale of Essence than the owners of Essence did. That's just a fact. So I don't get mad when somebody black sells their business. I don't take it personal because I'm not the one who had to meet payroll. I'm not the one who had to sacrifice to build a business. But what I am trying to get us to understand is I want our people to stop helping others become billionaires. But then we see somebody black building something and we get all kind of questions for them and we'll question nobody white when they got something.

I want us to get out of the mindset of just giving our stuff away and getting nothing in return. Go ahead. Well, you know, brother, this reminds me of Dr. Carter G. Woodson in the Miseducation of the Negro, 1933, his most famous book. What we're talking about is reprogramming black America.

We're talking about reprogramming the minds of African-Americans that have been stripped of African history, culture, language, our spiritual systems. And we've been taught to see reality through the eyes of Europeans. So, you know, your thoughts create feelings. Your feelings create actions and behaviors. Your actions and behaviors create results. The clip that you showed of Tyler Perry is so important. One of the reasons why it's important is because the first movie filmed at Tyler Perry's new studios in Atlanta was a film called Black Panther that debuted February 16, 2018. They did $1.3 billion worldwide and was the number one movie for five weeks. Atlanta is like the real Wakanda.

Atlanta is like the real Wakanda. That's where they filmed a lot of that movie. They employed about 3,000 people. Disney, Marvel, they employed about 3,000 people in Atlanta. Oh, I'm sorry, in Georgia, in Georgia, including Atlanta. Pumped about $89 million into the Georgia economy. People talk about the Black Twitter and controlling the culture. Well, if you control the culture on black Twitter, then who remove Ujah Anya's tweet about Queen Elizabeth II? See, we're used to being social media sharecroppers.

We're used to being cultural sharecroppers. That doesn't mean that we don't have ingenuity. That doesn't mean that we don't drive. Yeah. That doesn't mean that we don't drive. Yeah, you drive hashtags, but you don't control the hashtags. You don't control the algorithms. You don't own stock in the company. You can't take tweets down. OK, so we have to understand the difference between being players on the fields and actually owners.

And I don't mean being an owner from a position of trying to oppress people like the British Royal Empire. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about being an owner, being able to employ our people, being able to empower our people. People talk about we're doing this for the culture. Well, what type of culture? Because a lot of this culture is a dehumanizing culture that calls our women B's and H's, calls our people N-words, dehumanizes us. But then when we get out of line and say something about another group of people, we get disinvited from Coachella like DaBaby did. DaBaby got invited to Coachella. He got invited to other concerts, putting out dehumanizing music, dehumanizing African Americans. He gets out of line for two minutes on stage, not on a record, for two minutes on

stage and makes homophobic slurs, things like this, and gets disinvited from the same festivals that invited him for dehumanizing black people financed by white corporations. So when you talk about you doing this for the

culture, whose culture? You doing this for the culture, whose culture? You doing this for white supremacist culture that finances the dehumanization of African people through media? We have to reprogram how we think. So this is extremely important. And lastly, brother, with Isaac Hayes III, I know you interviewed him before on Black Star Media Network. If possible, sometime soon in the next month, if you could bring them back to interview them to talk about fan base and educate the people on it and why

we should be on that platform. I think that would be fantastic. I'm going to close it out with this here. I was at Stevie Wonder's radio station KGLH and I stopped by and did an interview on air. And I was greeting the staff, taking pictures and stuff like that.

And there was a black woman who worked. She might have been in accounting. She may have been a support staff in sales. I can't remember. And so I came to her desk and I spoke to her, and she had a picture on her cubicle, and it was a photo of her son. And this is what she said to me. She said, that's my first rounder.

And I looked at her. I said, your what? She said, that's my baby. That's my first rounder. I said, sister, don't ever say that. Don't raise your son to be my first rounder. I said, sister, don't ever say that. Don't raise your son to be a first rounder. Raise your son to be the team owner. I said, the team owner got more money than the first rounder.

She gasped and y'all, she started crying. She said, no one has ever said that to me. She said, no one has ever said to me, raise my son to be an owner. I said, well, now someone has. Y'all, this is what I'm talking about. She was raising her son to be the show in the show business. She was raising her son to be a real part of the culture as opposed to, no, owning the culture. Here's a video of Jason Weaver

talking about that issue with the Lion King, and this is going to be the last comment before I go to break and I go to my next guest. Just a big upfront check with no royalties. That's initially what they tried to do, yeah. But you negotiated royalties on it. Absolutely. How big of a check was that when they offered

you the upfront check? Way more than what they initially offered. I'll just put it to you like that. Like, when I got my first royalty check, me and my mom thought it was a mistake. Okay, no, what I'm saying is, okay, when they gave you the first offer,

with no royalties at all, was it a huge check? Oh, yeah I'm saying is, okay, when they gave you the first offer. Yeah. With no royalties at all. Yeah. Was it a huge check? Oh, yeah. It was like, I remember it was like $2 million. What? Yeah. They offered you a $2 million check to sing the parts in The Lion King.

Yep. Not even do the voice yet, just do the singing parts. Just sing it. $2 million. Yeah, because they were on it like. They were cutting checks like that, huh? Well, you got to remember, they're coming off of. I guess you're the main character.

Yeah, and then they're coming off of Beauty and the Beast. They're coming off of Aladdin. You know what I'm saying? Disney, man. Disney had bread. Disney just would write a blank check, huh? They'll write it. And that was the thing that struck my mom.

She was like, because the agent called, our agent called and was like, Kitty, they offered Jason this. And we were all like, holy shit. Are you serious? I mean, you know, that amount of money to average middle class family in Chicago in the early 90s. I mean, that's something. But immediately my mom goes, wait a minute. After the excitement, the initial excitement wore off immediately my mom goes, wait a minute. After the excitement, the initial excitement wore off, she's like, wait a minute.

Okay, if they're willing to do that, okay, that's just a, so that's it? That's all he'll ever get for like the remainder of his life? They were like, that's it. He takes the money, that's it. She was like, no, let's negotiate royalties. Let's negotiate based off of royalties. And this was definitely at a time when Disney wasn't doing those kind of deals.

Unless you were like Peebo Bryson or somebody like that, like already established huge pop star that they had recruited. I'm sure his deal was way... That brother has blown past that two million, but they get us because they flash that money,

and we're like, we ain't never seen this much money. We ain't never seen $20 million. Negotiate the right deal, you can make $20 million. That brother's children's children will be earning money off the Lion King. Y'all, Disney still showing Mickey Mouse stuff. Imagine if somebody black owned the trademark or the copyright to Mickey Mouse. Y'all, that's generational wealth.

We got to always think on. Stop being the show in the show business. Going to a break. We have Education Matters. Stop being the show in the show business. Going to a break. We have Education Matters. We'll talk about esports. HBCU is next. And Roland Martin unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Black on 100%.

When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine. Together, we are black beyond measure. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not be black. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance.

We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women.

This is upon us. Yes, it's real. People young and old are evaluating their lives and making some determinations whether to stay or to go. But before you take the leap, you need to examine your motives and make a plan. It's not so much about doing this thing or starting this business or, you know, leaving where you are to do something different. It's about getting in touch with you, how to make change while also keeping balance. Here on the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, on Black Star Network. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine.

Together, we are Black beyond measure. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. Black TV does matter, dang it. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your boy, Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now. FAM, esports is a $1 billion industry. And my next two guests, they want HBCU students to be a part of this, monetizing them playing games. The founders of Community Media and HBCU Esports League, Ryan Johnson

and Chris P. Hey, how you doing, gentlemen? Good, how are you? First of all, for folk who have no idea, what the hell is esports? Simply put, esports is the amateur

or professional side of the video game industry. What we basically have been able to do, Chris and myself, who are both HBCU alum, is to create an opportunity for the HBCUs in North America to have an equal playing field, not only to earn money, but also to earn scholarships and other academic opportunities through the lens of gaming. So there's a parent out here saying, y'all ass can get paid playing them damn games? Absolutely. Absolutely.

We're looking at $70,000 this year for students alone at maximum playing video games. All right, then. And so, okay, so how does... So talk about the lead that you put together. How does that work? How many folks do you have? And what are you trying to build? Yeah, absolutely. So we're getting ready to start our third season on September the 13th. So our first year doing this, we had approximately six HBCUs competing.

Our second year, last year, we had over 30. And we're looking for around the same amount of HBCUs participating. The season runs the duration of 22 weeks. We divide the season into two splits. So we have a fall split and then we also have a spring split. We currently have Verizon, Discover, House of Hoops, and also Hot Pockets as our partners and sponsors of this upcoming season. So, you know, currently right now, as Chris mentioned, we do have a prize pool set aside for schools and, I'm sorry, for the students and institutions that are part of this upcoming third season. Okay, so when you're saying season, all right, how long is the season? 22 weeks.

All right, and so what's happening the other 30 weeks? Well, Chris, you want to touch on that? Yeah. No, so the other 30 weeks, we run ancillary tournaments. We have tournaments on a weekly basis. And then we're also building out esports and innovation labs on the campuses of HBCUs that compete within the league. All right, then. And in terms of you started with how many folks and then what are you at now?

What has your growth been like? Yeah. So in year one. Go ahead, Chris. I was going to ask, are you internally or externally? Both. Oh, cool. Internally, I started myself, Ryan, and another gentleman named Julian Fitzgerald. Now we're upwards of about, what, 12 people that we have working with us to be able to build out this league. In terms

of teams participating, we're upwards of about 35 HBCUs that now have full-fledged esports clubs and that are competing within the league. Okay. All right, then. Let's see. Questions from our panelists. Let's see. Who do I think spends more of their time sitting around playing games?

Um, probably Matt. I knew you were coming to me first. I know I'm not a gamer, but shout-out to my 12-year-old who teaches me how to play and is trying to lobby me to buy him a game tonight. Uh, nonetheless, I'm just gonna ask you, brothers, I think this is a brilliant idea, especially as an HBCU grad, a Howard grad. I think this is perfect. So have y'all teamed up with the school student activities to make sure that students who are interested in these clubs can

have it funded and subsidized by the school like they do other organizations? And if not, how are you, I guess, galvanizing interest at each respective HBCU? So, no, to answer your question is absolutely. So, we work very closely with leadership at the various institutions that are a part of the league. The first two years, we have worked with a number of corporate brands who have helped subsidize the creation and also the production behind the esports league itself. But, you know, as it continues to grow, I think there's going to be continued opportunities, especially as these esports programs at the various HBCUs develops and grows as well.

I think one important factor that, you know, Chris and I always like to call out is that when we began this two years ago, it was literally a month before the pandemic. So going into this third season is actually the first year that we'll have the opportunity to have all of the students on campus, you know, representing their individual institutions and really giving the chance for these esports clubs and programs at the various schools to grow and develop over time. So I think that there is really a large way to go. But to answer your question is that we work very closely dependent upon where esports falls within the institution. Some schools it could be athletics, some schools it could be student activities, some schools it could be within

the student recreation department. But what we've just tried to do on our end is be as flexible as possible to support each school on an individual basis these past few years. Kelly, next. Somebody named Roland Taylor in the chat room said they play a mean game of solitaire. No, dog.

That ain't the kind of games we talking about. Just the ones that you know. Kelly, go ahead. I mean, my extent is mind sweeper. I'm only a millennial on paper, but I digress. You're not a millennial on paper. You just can't play no games. I mean, both.

Both can be true at the same time. Anyway, regarding the HBCUs that are on your roster, where can we find the list, and how can more HBCUs participate? If an HBCU isn't on the list, how can they get in touch with you and join this league? For sure. One thing I would say, you know, mainly is it's through our social channels. That's how a lot of the institutions, especially over the last few years, have learned about what we've done. And then, of course,

it's also word of mouth. Just to kind of reiterate, both Chris and myself are HBCU alum. I'm a 2015 graduate from Oakwood University. Chris, 2016 from North Carolina Central. Oakwood! Lord, y'all don't let no meat on their canvas. Yeah, I know. They don't.

I gave a keynote there. I've been there. I was like, yo, where in the hell are the Popeyes? Yeah, I'm sorry. Go ahead. They're't. I gave a keynote there. I've been there. I was like, yo, where in the hell are the Popeyes? Yeah. I'm sorry. Go ahead. They're vegan. The whole campus.

Vegetarian. It's all good. It's all good, though. It's very good. I bet as soon as you graduated, you got you a three-piece. Hold on. Hold on. Is HBCU Esports League vegan?

Nah, we have a lot of mixed diets on this side now, so we switch it up, but we always make sure that at least Chris and myself are taking care of what we need. I got you. All right, go ahead and finish your point. But no, I was just mentioning to that, Kelly, I don't know if you finished your thought all the way through. Oh, no, I was just saying to that, Kelly, sorry, I don't know if you finished your thought all the way through. Oh, no, I was just saying, like, how, I think on your website it says there's 40 HBCUs represented,

but I didn't see a list of exactly which ones. I wanted to know if my HBCU made the list, personally. But just in any event. Is Bowie State on y'all list? Yeah, Bowie is a really good school that competes. Bowie's actually been with us since season one. See, Kelly, you ain't looking hard enough. See, he ain't looking hard enough.

Kelly, to answer your question, you can go to hbcuesports.gg. That's where, you know, schools can go reach out. We work with schools on a daily basis. So, you know, we don't like to oversimplify, but simplicity is a champion. So literally just email, hit us up on our socials through the website, and it pretty much tells you everything that you need to know. Michael, question. All right, Ryan and Chris, thanks for sharing this information with us.

With 83% of African-American teenagers being gamers, but only 2 percent working in the industry, is there a component to this now, or have you thought about adding a component that teaches how to code, that teaches writing programs, teaching these HBCU students how to create their own video games, how to market it to companies, or maybe create their own companies, so that we can employ to companies, or maybe create their own companies so that we can employ people as well, add another dimension to this? Yeah, that's actually where we got started

before the actual inception of the league. I was really around making sure that minority students, parents and institutions understood the career to, I'm sorry, the pathway to profession within the gaming space from the lens of what you just mentioned, through the lens of STEM development, through the lens of marketing, production, event management, graphic design, and a whole bunch of other professions that exist within the space. So there are also other opportunities that exist to the students outside of just the gaming. So as an example, we work with a number of video game publishers, corporate brands, as well as professional esports

orgs, and they actually provide internship opportunities to students within the HBCU Esports League itself as well. So I mean, to your point, the gameplay is the shiny object that people get to watch on a weekly basis and interact with. But the back end of what we're doing around skill development, job placement and training is actually the core of what we're looking to do to really start bumping up that, you know, that number around the amount of us that actually are represented within the industry itself. All right. Excellent. Thank you. All right. Again, tell folks where to go if they are interested. Yes. Follow us on social media, a community at CX community, CX, M M U N I T Y dot C O HBCU esports. We have our first broadcast of season three coming up next Tuesday at twitch.tv backslash community, CXMMUNITY. All right, then.

Now, last question. Now, is there a fee for each player? Do they pay a fee? How does that work? No, we don't charge the students. We've never charged students. We've never charged schools. Our goal, to Ryan's point, is just to create equitable opportunities for students of color in the space.

So everything is free. How do y'all make money? We get brand dollars. We get brand dollars and we give it back to the schools. But y'all keep some for y'allself? We still eat noodles now and then. Yeah. Yeah, but not to Chris's point.

Well, we need to have a conversation. Make sure y'all keep it up because you still got to build a business. So, yeah, I know that Oakwood taught you to eat them noodles, but you got to throw some chicken or something in them damn noodles. So, okay. All right. Well, look, good luck with it and hope y'all can keep building it and keep adding more schools.

Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you for having us. All right. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot, gents. That is it for us. Michael, real quick, come on. You got 20 seconds to give you a drop. Let's go. All right, everybody. Visit my website,

theafricanhistorynetwork.com, theafricanhistorynetwork.com. I have two eight-week online history courses starting up that I teach Saturday, September 10th, 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Ancient Kemet, the Moors, and the Ma'afa, Understanding the Transatlantic Slave Trade, what they didn't teach you in school. And then Tuesday, September 13th, From the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power, 1865 to 1968.

Visit our website, theafricanhistorynetwork.com. This will totally change how you look at history and politics. Thanks, Roland. This is why you're my favorite alpha. Okay. I said 20 seconds. That was 33, you long-winded ass. All right. Michael, thanks a bunch.

Matt, appreciate it. Kelly, go on and play your damn solitaire, your mind blaster, wind sweeper, whatever the hell you say that you play. Mind blaster. Say it again. Happily. What is it? I said happily. I will do it all. Yeah, okay. All right. Millennial

Minesweeper. Yeah, way to go. All right, y'all. That's it. Don't forget, y'all. Pull the graphic up. White Fear. Get your copy pre-ordered today. It drops on Friday. Excuse me, on Tuesday, September 13th. Get the book, y'all. Ben Bella Books. They're the publisher. We appreciate them. You can

pre-order your book Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Bookshop, Chapters, Books A Million, also at Target. We thank Target for being one of our partners here at Roland Martin Unfiltered. Thank you so very much. Also, if you want to support Black-Owned Bookstore, you can pre-order the book through a Black-Owned Bookstore as well. So please get your copy. When I see you, I can go ahead and sign it. All right, folks.

That is it for us. Somebody said Kelly looks very pretty today. I guess they like your is it for us. Somebody said, Kelly looks very pretty today. I guess they like your braids, Kelly. Alright, y'all, that's it. If y'all want to join our Bring the Fuck fan club, do so. These are all the people who've actually contributed. Yes, we got to go that fast because there's a whole bunch of names. If you do not see your name, just simply send me an email.

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I can read this without even looking at it. Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, R Martin Unfiltered, Venmo is RM Unfiltered, Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And my niece, Alanna, had to never tell me that she plays e-sports. That girl can't play no real sports.

She don't play no e-sports. That's right, that's why she spend all the time on her phone. Yeah, uh-huh, that's it, precisely. Ain't making no money playing e-sports either, just broke. All right, y'all, that's it. Precisely. Ain't making no money playing esports either. Just broke. Alright, y'all. That's it. I'm gonna see y'all on Monday. Have a fantastic weekend. Get some golf in. I plan

on it. I'll see y'all on Monday. Ho! This is an iHeart Podcast.