#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Mistrial in Breonna Taylor Federal Trial, LA Elections, Vidoe shows how TX Cop Paralyzed Black Man

Episode Date: November 17, 2023

11.16.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Mistrial in Breonna Taylor Federal Trial, LA Elections, Vidoe shows how TX Cop Paralyzed Black Man   The federal trial for the only officer charged in connection to the botched raid that killed Breonna Tayler ends in a mistrial.  The Democratic candidate running for Louisiana's State Treasurer, Dustin Granger, will join us to discuss the importance of Saturday's runoff and the state's Democratic Party.  Disturbing videos from a Texas County jail show the moment a police officer slams a black arrestee to the ground, paralyzing him from the chest down. His attorneys, Ben Crump and Harry Daniels will be here to walk us through the video.  The Department of Justice launches a new program to help jails improve conditions before an investigation is needed.  Texas lawmakers pass a bill allowing state police to arrest and deport illegal immigrants, and the state's school voucher bill is headed to the house floor. We'll talk to a state representative about these two hot-button issues.  The only black male co-defendant in the Georgia election case may find himself right back in jail for violating his bond agreement. We'll show you what Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis used as evidence to prove Harrison Flyod is trying to intimidate witnesses.  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. providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to ascenseofhome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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

This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today is Thursday, November 16, 2023. Coming up on Roller Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. A mistrial has been declared in the case of the former officer who was on trial for the death of Breonna Taylor. We'll give you those details about that case.

The Democratic candidate for treasurer in Louisiana is going to be joining us. Dustin Grange will be right here on the show. Also, he'll be talking about the putrid performance of the Louisiana Democratic Party in this election cycle. Disturbing videos from a Texas County jail show the moment a police officer slams a black arrestee to the ground, paralyzing him from the chest down. It's attorney Ben Crump, and Harriet Daniels,

will walk us through this video. The Department of Justice launches a new program to help jails improve conditions before an investigation is needed. That's hugely important. Also, Texas lawmakers have passed a bill allowing state police to arrest and deport illegal immigrants, and the state school voucher bill, well, is headed to the House floor.

We'll talk to a state representative about all the drama that's happening with Republicans there in Texas. Also, the only black male co-defendant in the Georgia election case could find himself back in jail for violating his bond agreement. No shock. We'll show you what Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis used as evidence to prove Harrison Floyd is trying to intimidate witnesses. Also, folks, remember when I blasted Chris Christie on ABC News? Well, that was a forum the other day,

and a gentleman jammed him up about the very thing that I did. And Christie is still trying to hold on to saying, oh, no, I only ran against Trump in 2016. Why that boy keep forgetting he tried to help Trump in 2020? And also, I'm going to show y'all another example of why some black people need to stop trying to move the goalposts to come to what has happened under President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Wait till I show you this back and forth I had on social media and how I just think some people are just delusional and all they want to do is complain just to complain. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Let's go. Best believe he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's Roland Martin Rolling with Roland now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's Roland Martin Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rolling with rolling now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best.

You know he's rolling, Martel. Now. Martel. Federal judge in Kentucky declares a mistrial of the case of the former Louisville police officer, Brett Hankinson, who was on trial for his role in the death of Breonna Taylor. Of course, he was on trial for violating the civil rights of Taylor, her boyfriend, and their neighbors during the 2020 raid that left Taylor dead. The jury, they began deliberating on Monday, could not reach a verdict on Hankinson's two-count indictment for deprivation of rights under color of law.

He was charged with willfully depriving Taylor and Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend, of the constitutional right to be free from unreasonable seizures, which includes the right to be free from a police officer's use of unreasonable force during a seizure. Hankerson was also charged with willfully depriving Taylor's neighbors, Chelsea Knapper, Cody Etherton, and Zayton Flournoy. Hankerson was acquitted of multiple wanton endangerment charges in a state trial last year. He, of course, is the only police officer who has gone on trial for the death of Breonna Taylor. This obviously is a huge blow to supporters of Breonna Taylor, as well as her family. And so they have been very much involved in this. There's no word whether federal prosecutors are going to seek a retrial of

Brett Hankinson. My panel right now, of course, is Recy Colbert, host of the Recy Colbert Show on Sirius XM Radio. She's out of D.C., Lauren Victoria Burke, Black Press USA out of Arlington, and will be joined a little bit later by Dr. Greg Carr, Chairman of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University. This right here, you know, Lauren, is not good news to the folks who have been fighting on behalf of Breonna Taylor. And hopefully federal prosecutors are going to seek a retrial. Yeah, I'm sure that they will, because what happened to Breonna Taylor is outrageous. She was a completely innocent person, and the cops came into her place and killed her. And it's an outrageous case, an absolutely outrageous case, which involves, of course, them getting together and lying after it.

It should not go away. And hopefully prosecutors will come back and try again, because it just shows you, though, in these cases, even when there's an outrageous death of somebody who's completely innocent, how hard it is to get someone in jail who is who has made a huge mistake that cost somebody their life, but happens to be a member of the law enforcement community so that they get benefits of the doubt and everything else that your typical plaintiff would not get in a likewise situation. But her death is one of the most outrageous cases of police brutality and police violence on the books in a lot of decades. And there's no way that this should just go away because of a mistrial. You know, look, great points there, Recy.

And look, this has been obviously traumatic for a lot of the folks there. You had Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who didn't do a damn thing. You had the grand jury who said, hell, he didn't even really present this to us. by use of a violation of civil rights charge to be the place where some justice was gotten as a result for her death. Yeah, unfortunately, though, people still want to reserve the right for cops to come in guns blazing when the the the residents are Black residents. It doesn't matter that these charges also related to neighbors that, you know, were affected by this guy feeling like this was guns of the Navarone, just shooting anywhere without any kind of clear target. It's still America 2024 and perhaps, or 2023 rather, perhaps if this had been closer to when there was this so-called racial reckoning, we might have seen a different result. But the reality is that the tide has turned back in favor of the cops and police brutality and by any means necessary. And I think that's very unfortunate because obviously Breonna Taylor deserves justice. Obviously, Kenneth Walker deserves justice as well. So there's still more work to do to try to move this culture, this society away from the attorneys, from Breonna's mother, or even Tamika Mallory

and the folks at Until Freedom, we will carry that live right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Going to a break, we come back. Primary, excuse me, runoffs are taking place in Louisiana this weekend. We had Gary Chambers on yesterday. Black turnout has been awful.

Louisiana Democratic Party, I don't know what the hell they're doing. We'll be talking to the candidate running for state treasurer on what he is doing to hopefully turn on African-Americans as to avoid a Republican sweep in Louisiana. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Don't forget to support us in what we do. Please join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your dollars are critically important to allow us to do what we do. Send your check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal or Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM

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The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

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

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Hey, Drew Scott here, letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the LA fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program, providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires.

Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to ascensivehome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. It takes the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard.

Hey, we're all in this together. So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's the culture. Weekdays at 3, only on the Black Star Network. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. We welcome the Black Star Network's very own Roland Martin who joins us to talk about his new book, White Fear, how the browning of America is making white folks lose their minds.

The book explains so much about what we're going through in this country right now and how as white people head toward becoming a racial minority, it's going to get, well, let's just say, even more interesting. We are going to see more violence. We're going to see more vitriol because as each day passes, it is a nail in that coffin. The one and only Roland Martin on the next Black Table, right here on the Black Star Network. This is Essence Atkins. Mr. Love, King of R&B, Raheem Devon.

Me, Sherri Shebron, and you know what you watch. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Democrats had a huge, huge win all across the country in the elections a couple of weeks ago. But the elections are not over this Saturday in Louisiana. They have the runoffs for several positions there. Of course, polls will be open from 7 a.m., closing at 8 p.m. Central on Saturday. One of the races that is up for grabs is for state treasurer. Republican John Fleming is running against Democrat Dustin Granger for that. Democrats are hoping that voters are going to elect Granger. Republicans have been

sweeping so many offices, of course, including the governor's mansion is changing hands from Democrat to Republican. And a lot of people have had a lot to say about the poorest results from the Louisiana Democratic Party, including my next guest, Dustin Granger, as well. Dustin, glad to have you here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. We had Gary Chambers on yesterday, and he was telling us about just deplorable black early vote numbers. And I'm just curious, you know, what the hell is going on in a state that's the second blackest state in the union? You've got folks like Black Voters Matter. They've been out there working the grounds.

But so many people have been targeting the Louisiana Democratic Party and leadership for just what I keep hearing is, frankly, doing nothing. Yeah, we've got a big problem, Roland. And we're doing everything we can. You mentioned Black Voters Matter. We have a lot of great organizations in New Orleans that have been turning it up here in the last few weeks. And look, we're just going to have to do this by ourselves. The state party has helped somewhat, but there is a lack of organizing, a lack of fundraising and recruiting that we really need to be doing four years before a gubernatorial election. And we're going to have to get with it pretty quick. So, you know, what are the areas that you are concentrating on? Obviously, New Orleans with significant black turnout.

But where else are you looking in the state? Roland, we've been going all over the state. So I've been I'm the longest running statewide candidate. So I started at the end of last year. So we're hitting up Shreveport, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, of course, Lafayette, Monroe, visiting a lot of these places multiple times, and even in the rural areas. So Boyle's Parish, St. Landry Parish, trying to meet people where they are and talking about the issues and talking about my campaign, especially about economics, because this state is an upside-down state. It's all about trickle-down economics, and race has everything to do with it. And I am talking deeply about that,

because a lot of Democrats do what's called colorblind populism, where they ignore race altogether. And I think we need to be honest and open about it. And look, we talked about that, obviously, from an economic standpoint in the state. And one of the things I think is really interesting, I sort of compare Louisiana to Mississippi, where in Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi, majority black city, and they're always catching strays, being targeted, being attacked by Republicans in Mississippi. But Jackson, Mississippi supplies more of the economic,

more of the dollars to the state. Well, New Orleans is the same. And so it's always interesting to me to hear Republicans in Louisiana attack New Orleans, but without New Orleans, the state does not have a significant economic boost. Yeah, because Republicans get all of their fuel from their race dog whistles for their scapegoating of the poor and crime to gin up a lot of this division, which they rely on to stay in power. It's an age-old strategy to divide and conquer, to get working people, to get black and white people fighting with each other while they pick all of our pockets. And targeting New Orleans is part of it because there's a lot of black people in New Orleans. So it's easy to target, and it feeds right into that narrative, which is all about essentially putting more money in their pockets,

their corporate donor pockets to keep them in power. Questions from the panel. Risa, you first. Yes. I just want to know for people who don't really understand the complete impact of your position, can you just give people one tangible thing that would be different from you as opposed to your opponent? Yeah. So right now, of course, the Republicans have politicized even the treasurer's office. So there's some things that the treasurer does as far as investing the state money and overseeing the pensions. Also, the chair of the bond commission.

So a lot of the projects from the budget goes down to the bond commission. I set the priority of those projects. So it's real important. But what I would especially do different is use the platform like it has been done somewhat in the past as a platform to push good economic bills and to be loud about it and to be a check on this far-right extreme government that it seems that we have now, especially with Jeff Landry. Somebody there needs to be a loud voice, hold them accountable before they do bad things, during and afterwards, and take an active role in

the legislature to push good economic bills. And look, it's the responsibility of a statewide position and a platform like that to speak directly to the people. So I would use the position to write to the papers, do radio and TV as much as I can to let people know what's going on, because sometimes they do devastating cuts. And when it happens to people, they don't know what the hell's going on because sometimes they do devastating cuts. And when it happens to people, they don't know what the hell's going on there. They'll probably just blame Biden or something, which is exactly what the Republicans in this state want them to do.

Lauren. Yeah, Justin, when, in your estimation, did the Louisiana Democratic Party go off the rails? I can't remember hearing all this low turnout stuff when Governor Mitch Landrieu was there. In your estimation, when did the party start to fail in terms of inspiring voters? Landrieu was lieutenant governor in Louisiana. And in the last election, John Bill Edwards won the runoff for governor by about 30,000 votes. Without that turnout, he's not governor. Dustin, go ahead. Yeah, I think it goes back, you know, probably back to the mid-2000s, 2012, around there. Of course, Obama being president had something to do with it. Mary Landrieu lost her U.S. Senate seat. I forgot what year it was. But right around there, things started changing

a lot. And also, I think, you know, national politics, our lack of local media and news coverage of politics, all happening at the same time, has led to it faltering. And, you know, Democratic politics, Republican politics have been changing a lot the last five or 10 years, and our current party structure hasn't really kept up with the change that's happened. We have a lot of more young people that want to get involved. And we just really haven't adapted. Well, I think absolutely when you talk about how the role that national politics plays. But also, it is critically important to have infrastructure. And one of the things that I was talking to Virginia's House Democratic leader, Don Scott, who will become the Speaker of the House in January, what he said is, he said, you cannot continue to only talk to people around election time. He said there has to be continuous.

He said it has to be 365 campaigning where you are talking, you're educating, you're telling people what we're doing, you're telling people why things are happening and why things are not happening. And he said that he's made it clear that in Virginia that the House Democrats are going to keep doing that even after the session starts, he said, because he said, we don't want to be in a situation of people accusing us of only coming around and only come to talk to them when it's the election season. Absolutely. It needs to be year round. And as I travel around all the local parish executive committees, a lot of them don't exist. Some of them, a lot of the neighboring parishes don't talk to other parishes. There's a lot of it's broken down, the infrastructure.

And that is because of the state party. And I'm pretty sure they have a really short staff. Fundraising has suffered. I put that on the leadership of the party. There's been some divisive things in the leadership of the party. Again, all of it isn't all their fault in the current administration for that. But we have to start rebuilding now. And I hope one of us in these statewide positions can pull out a win, because that's what I would be dedicated to from day one.

We need somebody at the state level being a champion for our party and not being afraid of Democratic politics. I feel like a lot of elected officials now, we're afraid to say we're a Democrat. A lot of white Democrats have left the party. And I'm going around the state and I'm telling people, like, look, keep your heads up. We are the jobs party. The Democrats have been the jobs party in the party of economic growth for 100 years. We're the party of working people. We need to stand up and own it. And the Republicans don't have any economic policy at all. It is only trickle down economics.

And all their divisiveness is all about serving that almighty dollar. All right. Dustin Granger, running for Louisiana Democratic treasurer. We certainly appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Again, polls open at 7 a.m. on Saturday, close at 8 p.m. Central. And so, folks, if you're Louisiana, please get out and vote. As I keep

saying, if you're going to complain, listen, at least say, I'm a voter, and then if you don't vote, shut the hell up. Dustin, thanks a lot. Thank you very much. Folks, we come back on Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Chris Christie was challenged by someone at a recent forum saying,

why should I actually believe you when you're one of the people who put Donald Trump in place. I got to show you how it's exchanged because it sounds kind of familiar to what I said to Chris Christie two years ago on ABC This Week. And boo. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

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

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Hey, Drew Scott here, letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing non-profit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the LA fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program, providing fully functional home

environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to asenseofhome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. He got real mad when I did that. We'll have that for you next right here on Rolling Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence.

On that soil, you will not replace us. White people are losing their damn minds. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at 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. Here's all the Proud Boys guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white people. Bye, Papa. Grow your business or career with Grow with Google's wide range of online courses, digital training, and tools.

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There are 1,000 scholarships available. Grow with Google and J-Hood and Associates. Be job ready and qualify for in-demand jobs. I'm Dee Barnes, and next on The Frequency, we have griot performance artist and author, writer, singer, and composer, Queen Mother Nana Camille Yarborough. Please join us for an incredible conversation of knowledge, wisdom, and power of the elders. I'm a perception changer. You're a rearranger.

You're a mind devourer and a problem solver. You're a beast eater, a soul excreter, a void filler, and a bio-spiller. You are a thought warmer, a plan former, a power orchestrator, and a tongue-translator. Right here on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question

for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie.

On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, inflation is on the rise. Interest rates are high. Can you still thrive during these uncertain times? On the next Get Wealthy, you're going to meet a woman who's done just that, living proof of what you need to do to flourish during these uncertain times. These are times where you take advantage of what's going on. This is how people get rich or richer. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Black Star Network. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture.

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Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Me, Sherri Sheppard with Sammie Roman. I'm Dr. Robin B, pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right. You know, don't you just love it when you can see far ahead of other people

and then people then begin to sort of start saying the same things that you were saying? Well, this week, Chris Christie was at an event at the Hudson Institute. And this exchange took place. It might sound a little bit familiar. Check this out. I have worked in the federal government for nearly 25 years. I worked for Homeland Security. I took a stand when President Trump was elected. I didn't like what was going on within that department. I did what I was asked to do as a federal employee, speak truth to power. Governor, I was fired for blowing the whistle on national security issues. I lost my family,

okay, but I didn't lose my dignity. Sir, you were part of that administration. As much as I want to be there for you now, how can I be here? How can I cast a ballot for you when you were an enabler? I'm sorry, but that's the word. I think I got the gist. Look, elections are choices. And I made a choice in 2016 that I didn't want Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States. And I tried to beat Donald Trump in the primary. I want you to remember, he was not my first choice to be president. I was my first choice.

That didn't work out. But it was a mistake. I don't know. I don't know how old you are. You look about my age. I don't know if you've never made any mistakes in your life. I suspect you probably have. I think the difference is, do you admit your mistakes?

And, you know, anybody else who claims a purity test on any issue politically in our country, be happy to have the conversation with you and see if you pass it. But I think what matters more is once you realize you've made a mistake, what do you do about it? I'm not standing up there trying to cozy up to him. I'm not standing there trying to rationalize his conduct. I'm not standing there saying I'm going to pardon him or I'd support him if he were a convicted felon. So yeah, if it's a purity test I think that the majority the overwhelming majority of our party will fail it no no no you cannot

I can't get in a debate today but if you qualify get 80,000 donors I'll get you on the stage and debate you then alright so that was Chris trying to be a little cute but you notice there was a little tone change there from Chris Christie. It's a little bit different than a couple of years ago on ABC This Week, September 2021.

Y'all remember this? I want to get another Republican perspective here from Sarah Isker. You know, there's same debate there. Chris believes the party's over time moving in this direction. Yvette disagrees. I think that perhaps we will finally see what we didn't get to see in 2016, where there were 17 candidates. Nobody dropped out so that you could have the one on one versus Donald Trump.

Perhaps it looks like Donald Trump is going to run again. We're certainly told that by all of his advisors and by all accounts from him. If it is Chris Christie versus Donald Trump in the Republican primary, Republicans will have a choice. And certainly Donald Trump is in some ways at his weakest that he's been since he left the White House. And in other ways, certainly what he has said and Trumpism has picked up within the party. It will be up to Governor Christie to make the case that there is somewhere else to go. But I do think if Trump runs, he may be alone in that lane and that could be helpful. I'm sorry, Republican Party, they made

their choice. And I appreciate the speech, Governor, but the reality is this. You have to admit, Sarah, you have to admit the role that you played in putting the person in leadership who is driving conspiracy theories. It's one thing to condemn them after the fact, but you have to own up to the role that you played in putting the person in power. The time- We both ran campaigns against you. No, no, no, no, no. First off, I don't have to admit anything to you. Can I finish? First off, I don't have to admit anything to you.

And second, I ran against Donald Trump in 2016. You also coached him. You ran against him. But when a person has principles, morals, and values, they do not support them even if you lose. And what they say is, I choose patriotism and the country over party and power. And the problem was too many Republicans chose power in riding with Donald Trump as opposed to patriotism in America. I'll sleep fine tonight with you judging my morals.

Well, guess what? As a voter who has 13 nieces and nephews, what I also want to see in America are Republicans and Democrats who have the guts to stand up to narcissists, to folks who lie, to folks who see the human, live a country in the wrong direction. And what that man has unleashed on this country, any Republican who stood with him has to own it and accept the role that they played. Yeah, well, that's fine. I'll accept the role that I played in the 2016 election running against him. And I'll accept the role. Let him finish his point now. Let him finish his point. And I'll accept the role that I played in my belief that Hillary Clinton was not the right person to be president. We all get to make choices, Roland, in this democracy. I made my

choice. I'm on record of my choice. And I'm not walking away from my choice. But it does not preclude me from being able to be critical when the person that I did support does things that I am against. And so this false choice that you're trying to set up, it's a false choice and one that the American people are not going to buy either. Let me just press one other point. Right now, I would argue that the fact that so many Americans can't buy into simple facts is probably the biggest existential threat we face to our democracy. So when somebody speaks up for that, isn't it something to be praised? Facts are critically important.

But again, when you support someone who said fake news, who when you were truthful and then push that, then when you have the networks and the conservative radio talk show host that whole echo chamber driving that that's the problem i am a native of texas who is still registered there and i'm dealing with greg abbott and dan patrick who is consistently lying and and making things up and you're dealing with that i'm dealing with people who are changing textbooks and as a and as a well here's the deal. I have a very basic principle since I've been a journalist. If you do good, I'll talk about you. If you do bad, I'll talk about you. You think you're persuading other Americans right now?

Somebody has to say what others are afraid to say. Sarah, you get the last word. If you want to persuade... I don't need to hear what Sarah had to say because it was BS when she said it. Here's the whole deal here, Greg. Christy keeps saying here, Greg. Christie keeps saying 16,

16. You notice how he don't want to talk about 20. Who prepared Trump for the debates in 2020? Christie. Who campaigned for Trump in 2020? Christie. And the fact of the matter is

Chris Christie ain't fooling me. If Donald Trump gets that nomination, guess who's going to say I'm voting for Donald Trump? Chris Christie. James Baker said it. Bill Barr was on television saying all this stuff

about how the man don't read. He got a small vocabulary. Frankly, how dumb he is, how petty he is, how childish he is. But when asked if he's a nominee, who you going to vote for? Republican nominee? Mitch McConnell, same thing. So I don't want to hear from any of these people. I'm trying to explain to all these crazy black folks out here who are, and I get you don't like certain things that have happened, but I am very clear about evil. I'm very clear about people who ain't got no interest in black folks and the Christies of the world, I'm telling every black person, these people are going to choose power every single time.

Absolutely. Of course, Ron, I mean, what can any of us do but agree with you on that? By the way, I just left about a thousand black male teachers downstairs here in Philadelphia. It's the Black Male Educator Conference. And so many of them coming up to me said, tell me. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really,

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

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

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

and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. podcast. Hey, Drew Scott here, letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing

nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the LA fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program, providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to ascensivehome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. I'm Roland. We watch all the time. We support the Black Star Network, so I wanted to pass that on before I said anything else.

Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Absolutely. Absolutely. But, you know, who can say, I mean, you know, it reminds me of something that our, our friend and brother and frequent, you know, guests here with you, Cleo Monago says, you know, Roland Martin has a moral compass. You may not agree with everything he says. You may agree with much of what he says, but one thing you don't have to have any question about is he has a moral compass. You know, what you said to Chris Christie there on ABC News is, and what he was confronted with, with that man who lost his job and his family, as he says, is the fact that Chris Christie

has no morals. It's what you said. He's a politician. Now, of course, when he was talking to that guy, he was right. Of course, you know him with the one thing that any politician must ultimately look in the mirror and have to ask her himself, am I willing to compromise my values? In Chris Christie's case, the answer is not yes or no, because he has no values, except he wants to be in the room. And that's the thing, Recy, that I need a lot of folks to understand. Again, in the next hour, I'm going to show some this sort of back and forth I had today on Instagram with some folks who are forever whining and complaining about Vice President Kamala Harris. What they say about Harris not doing. And then when you hit them with the facts by point, by point, by point, then they want to move the goalposts as well.

And I'm trying to get these folks to understand, politics is a zero-sum game. Somebody is going to win. And when you have folks who are willing to, they're going to, look, Nikki Haley went on CNBC and said all

these things, how bad Trump is. Then when was asked if he's a nominee, you're going to support him? She said, I will support the Republican nominee. These people are going to fall in line and they are going to forget January 6th. They're going to forget all that sort of stuff like that. And they're going to fall in line behind that man because they ain't got no problem with his evil ass being back in the White House. Yeah, and I don't even think it's a matter of them forgetting about it.

I think it's a matter of them saying that it's not a deal-breaker, it's not a red line because they're going to be in power and they're going to be able to put their friends in power. I mean, they're already recruiting hundreds of people to immediately be installed in the administration if Donald Trump or any Republican were to win. And so this has always been about power for the Republican Party.

It's not about morals. It's not about the high ground. It's not even about anything as much as these people pretend to be evangelicals and a number of things. It's not even about that. It's just about power and money. And I think that Chris Christie has created a lane that he's the only one left standing in so far in terms of the Republican candidates

to be the anti-Trump. But the reality is he was right there in lockstep with Trump until it was no longer politically expedient for him when he decided to run for president. And no matter what any of these people do, playing for second place, which there is no such thing when it comes to being the nominee, they're all going to fall in line as well. And so that's the reality of the Republican Party. The Democratic Party operates a little bit differently. The Democratic base operates a

little bit differently. The independents, the disaffected operate a little bit differently. And that's why Democrats have a different challenge than Republicans do. Lauren? Yeah, I mean, I thought it was interesting to hear Chris Christie's answer to that gentleman when he said that he had made the choice. You know, he made the choice that Hillary Clinton, he didn't want to see Hillary Clinton in office. The problem with that 2016 example is that we knew that Donald Trump was crazy in 2016. And in fact, we knew it right at the moment that he announced for president when he got up and said something completely bigoted

about Mexican immigrants. I mean, you wanted to align yourself and brand yourself to that, Chris Christie. And then we had the violence at the campaign rallies all during 2016. So I don't understand what was the confusion about 2016. You can't tell me that Hillary Clinton was a worse choice than somebody who was completely crazy and was showing themselves completely crazy at that time.

Remember the interview that he did where he basically tried to act like Donald Trump, tried to act like he didn't know who David Duke was, which was completely ridiculous. And Chris Christie wanted to brand himself to that. So I mean, you might as well just admit at some point that you just want to be on the side of the person who's winning to get some job in the administration or whatever the play was. That is what typical Republicans do that are supporting Trump. They're trying to position themselves for some sort of job in the administration. That's really what it boils down to. They don't want to be outside of that club should Trump win again. But the idea that you were confused, you know, that you just you made a mistake and and you didn't know who this guy was in 2016 is quite laughable, actually.

And forget don't forget Christie wanted to be his attorney general. That's the job that he really wanted and he didn't get. All right, folks, hold tight one second. In the next hour, I'm going to talk about the delusions of some people. When you literally state undeniable, easily Googleable, I'm going to use that word. Is it Googleable? When you can actually look up stuff and fact check. And that's the black people who still, in their minds, it didn't even exist. We're talking about things that have happened under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. I'm going to talk about that in the next hour. But coming up next, we're going to talk about the craziness happening in Texas, the targeting of illegal immigrants, and also Republicans

still trying to pass a trifling voucher bill as somebody who supports school choice. I'm calling this an absolute scam. We'll talk with an official in Texas next,

right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. I'm Dee Barnes, and this week on The Frequency, we talk about school-to-prison pipeline, book bans, and representing for women's rights. The group Moms Rising handles all of this. So join me in this conversation

with my guest, Monifa Vandelli. This is white backlash. This is white fear that happens every time I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

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

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

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

and it brings a face to them it makes it real it really does it makes it real listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season 2 on the iHeartRadio app

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

on Apple Podcasts. for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the LA fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to asenseofhome.org to find out more information.

Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. Forward towards what is written on the paper. Right here on the frequency on the Black Star Network. our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Do you ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network,

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of the new Sherry Shepard Talk Show. You're watching Roland Mark. Until then. All right, folks, 2022, 75% of all Texas voters under the age of 30 did not vote. And so when people ask after the fact, I can't believe what happened. It's very simple. When you don't vote, then you lose out to the people who do show up. Well, in Texas, a lot of progressives stay at home.

And Republicans can have a super majority in the legislature. They can control a governor's mansion. They have been passing all sorts of things. They now are advancing a house. They're trying to move through a voucher bill. All of the editorial boards in the state are saying don't support it. As I, as the founder of School Choice is the Black Choice, am calling this voucher bill a scam. What they really want to do is provide, give access to, frankly, suburban and rich folks to be able to tap into state public

funds to send their kids to private school. And if you run the numbers, guess what? The numbers ain't even there. Numbers aren't even there when it comes to the available number of private schools. They simply are not there. So that's one of the things that you're seeing right now. So I want to bring in Carl Sherman, who joins us now. Carl is a state representative out of Dallas. Carl, glad to have you here. We have this voucher bill, but we also have a plan of how they want to attack illegal immigrants, literally giving Texas the right to deport people, which is really a federal authority. And so we already know how they put this razor wire down there,

really on the wrong side of the border as well. And so what you're finding, you're really finding there are some sadistic individuals who are in charge in Texas in the Republican Party and how they want to go about governing. Roland Martin, you hit it right on the nose. And thank you so much for your coverage, Black Star Network, of bringing the veracity of information to the public. This is something that should concern all of us. As you look at what Texas is doing, it's a tragedy. And we have been fighting this for 207 days, a record 207 days in special sessions.

I don't know. This is 109th special sessions that the governor has called. Is this the third special session? It's the fourth. It's the fourth. And he was like, if you don't pass's the fourth. It's the fourth. And he was like, if you don't pass in the fourth, it's going to be a fifth. There's going to be a sixth. I mean, the governor is basically holding folks in the House and Senate hostage to get his way. Absolutely.

And this is not his grandfather's legislative body. Since 1957, they've been trying to do this scam. We've got over 5 million children in our public school systems, and we need to provide fair and equitable education experience to all students, regardless of their economic status. And this is simply a way for rich people to supplement the tuition for high-cost private school education. And what they're trying to, one of the things they're trying to do, this is the Texas Tribune right here, says most notably the bill includes a bump in the base per student spending by the state from $61.60 to $67.00. Go to my iPad. It would also increase teacher pay and include money

for better teacher preparation, more pre-K options, increase to special education and blah, blah, blah. So basically, the governor actually said, oh, if y'all want me to increase money for public education, pass my voucher bill first and then we'll do that. Absolutely. And look at this. The hypocrisy is that he's also increased the wages for teachers that teach in the rural areas versus those who teach in the suburban and urban areas. So there is a disparity there trying to get the rural Republicans to cave on this scam and provide this passage that he's wanted for so long. It is outrageous. And I expect, I'm proud of our members. I expect we're going to stand strong

against this. And I also expect that Republican rule representatives will stand against this, even though they've been threatened that he is going to run someone against them in the primary. Well, and because you have a couple of Texas billionaires who have been doing that. Let's talk about this other bill. So the Texas House passed a bill making it a state crime to illegally cross the southern border, allowing state and local police to arrest and deport illegal immigrants. I'm confused. That's a federal, that's federal jurisdiction. Absolutely. It's a repudiation against the Constitution for the state to do what it's done in passing. And, you know, this, we shouldn't be surprised.

We're the Juneteenth state. So we have this spirit of rebelling against the union. And so this SB4 has a history as well. I'm a former city manager, and I know that our police chief and my police officers had to contend with this issue. Look, you know, I refuse to be a part of something in which we are going against the United States of America. It's as though these folks think that we are our own country. And, of course, we do have those who want to succeed the United States. Questions from our panel.

Lauren, you're first. You know, I want to know what your feelings are about what the answer to mass immigration is, because, you know, apparently U.S. Customs has a statistic that in October there were 186,000 people across the border into Texas. What solves that problem? It's costing the United States taxpayers billions of dollars to take care of people who are not citizens of this country. What do you think we should do about that? The federal government is not doing anything, which I suspect is why the governor of Texas is now going into these extreme, more extreme, you know, not really solutions, but policy ideas. But what is your what is your feeling about what we do about immigrants coming across the border?

Yeah, immigration is an issue. It's paramount that we do solve this issue. And I've been working with representatives like Eddie Morales in the Eagle Pass area, who's got a smart solution to address mitigating asylum seekers. We could do this if we simply work as they do in the business sector to provide a commerce component to this. I'm sorry, an economic development part to this. We could process these individuals who are coming here orderly, who want to work in this country, and document those individuals as they come in. The jobs that they're seeking are jobs that we need filled, and we're not doing it the right way by simply sending people away in the way that we're doing them or shipping them to other states. We can do this. We can process them and we can keep their information. economic component to it in which the state will be able to also support our fight against fentanyl

and other issues that we have in this country. They could be a part of that solution. Our coastal folks at the coast have indicated to us that the resources are there for us to be able to do this plan, but we've got to have a smart approach to addressing this issue. Racy? Yes, I'm curious about the messaging around the fact that this bill does couple increases to public school funding and teacher pay. Is that confusing thing, muddying the waters? And where do the teachers stand in terms of the fact that they do stand, at least in the short-term, benefit from this bill if it were passed? The teachers union, AFT, and others are against this bill. They understand that this is a scheme. Look, we need to separate what they want to do with the vouchers,

and I expect that we will be motioning that on the House floor tomorrow, that we separate it so that we can vote on teacher pay. Our teachers deserve to receive pay that's commencement of the profession that they've committed themselves to. And we can do it. We're a state as a part of appropriations. I have been a part of appropriations. I know with our surplus of $32 billion, we could have taken this opportunity to move Texas from the bottom to just moving us up to 24 if we used all the resources that we have in appropriating education funds for public education. And the teachers stand with us. They are not falling for this scam, and we're committed to support them as we did with the recent passage of Proposition 9 on the Constitution amendments to ensure that our retired teachers are now going to receive COLA for pay. And again, before I go to Greg, exactly how did Texas get that $32 billion surplus?

Well, good question, Roland. It didn't come from property tax. It came from fossil fuel sales. So fuel sales tax increase due to inflation, that's really the contributory source of the revenue surplus that we have. And so it makes no sense that we would give property tax relief only. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the LA

fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to asenseofhome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. And not address, most Texans are renters. And we had an opportunity to also benefit those Texans who also rent of the 30 million plus Texans. Most are renters. Greg. Thank you, Roland. And thank you, Brother Sherman, as always, for coming on the network and keeping us all informed.

On the immigration bill, what do you think the prospects are if and when this bill is signed into law and we go to the courts? We know, obviously, with Arizona versus United States, it was Jan Brewer in Arizona in 2010 that signed a very similar bill in the law in the Ninth Circuit. And then the Supreme Court ultimately said it's unconstitutional. I mean, you're duplicating. In fact, they said the federal law preempts that state law in Arizona's case. And I think Scalia and Alito and Thomas dissented. And of course, Thomas and Alito are still around and the composition of the court has changed. Do you think, particularly given the kind of recent efforts of the Supreme Court to

maybe try to rein in this rogue Fifth Circuit, which includes Texas, do you think that when this case finds its way in the federal court, that this statute, that this new law that they're trying to pass that, you know, ultimately probably pass in Texas, do you think it will survive legal scrutiny in the federal courts? Well, it's my expectation that if it is based on legal grounds, it will be found to be unconstitutional. However, my biggest concern in regards to our courts and how the courts have been stacked as simply an extension of the Republican Party, it does concern me. And I'm not a lawyer. Certainly, I have been at the city level as a mayor and as a city manager.

I'll tell you that when the original SB4 passed that gave our local law enforcement the authority to show me your papers, basically. We found that, as you mentioned, was unconstitutional. What concerns me also is that they packaged this with not only SB4 but SB3, which provides $1.5 billion in resources. So there are several local jurisdictions that are looking at these resources as opportunities to beef up their law enforcement to really serve as antagonistic to many in the Brown community. You know, as a former city manager, I had to, my first police chief that I terminated was one who would send the officers

into the Latino communities and literally terrorize those communities. And so I was new as city manager and I had to terminate them. So you will have some zealots out there who will see this opportunity to persecute and prosecute the individuals that are in the Brown community. All right, Carl Sherman, Representative Sherman, we appreciate it. We'll see what happens in my native state. And again, I just hope folks understand

voting is critical because as long as they have a super majority, they don't have to listen to anyone on the opposition side. Roland Martin, thank you so much for having me here. Your mother is awesome. She's been in my district for so long. She helps make it informed, folks informed. My

name is Carl Sherman. As you said, I'm running to be the next U.S. Senator to take Ted Cruz out in the state of Texas. So I hope folks will come and check us out, carlsherman.com. I'm sick and tired of dealing with rich people problems. We're at a point of moral depravity uh that we've got to really address the issues and as a senior pastor i get it i intimately understand uh the issues that we're facing as a former mayor as well so god bless you thank you for having me on today appreciate it thanks a lot all right folks going to break we come back We'll be chatting with attorneys, Ben Crump, Harry Daniels, about one of the cases they are involved in. And also, why is it that some black folks refuse to accept facts

about what really happens with this administration as if what they're doing is a bad thing. And I'm still also trying to figure out the people who believe that black only bills can be passed in the Congress. I'm unpack that when we come back as well. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network.

On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's wealth coach, inflation is on the rise. Interest rates are high. Can you still thrive during these uncertain times? On the next Get Wealthy, you're going to meet a woman who's done just that, living proof of what you need to do to flourish during these uncertain times these are times where you take advantage of what's going on this is how people get rich or richer that's right here on get wealthy

only on Blackstar Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. On that soil, you will not be black. White people are losing their damn minds. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial.

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

Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. We welcome the Black Star Network's very own... I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

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

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

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

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Hey, Drew Scott here, letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the L.A. fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program

providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to asenseofhome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our L.A. community rebuild. It takes all of us. I'm Roland Martin, who joins us to talk about his new book, White Fear,

how the browning of America is making white folks lose their minds. The book explains so much about what we're going through in this country right now and how, as white people head toward becoming a racial minority, it's going to get, well, let's just say even more interesting. We are going to see more violence. We're going to see more vitriol because as each day passes, it is a nail in that coffin. The one and only Roland Martin on the next Table, right here on the Black Star Network. I am Tommy Davidson.

I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. Right now, I'm rolling with Roland Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. You hear me? Folks, Jefferson County, Texas jail officials have released surveillance footage from an incident that took place on June 12th, 2021, that allegedly left a black man paralyzed from the chest down. Christopher Shaw's attorneys say Beaumont police officer James Gillen flipped Shaw into the air and body slammed him head first on the concrete floor. Two of Christopher's attorneys, they are Ben Crump and Harry Daniels, are here to discuss this.

Now, Ben and Harry, we're watching the video here. Guys, go back to the video. Go back to the video. We're watching the video here. Guys, go back to the video. Go back to the video. We're watching the video here. And so you see them take down. I want you to do me a favor. Go back to the beginning. We should go back to the beginning, okay? Because I would like for Harry and Ben to sort of explain what went on. So first of all, freeze the video right here. What was he arrested for? Mr. Daniels? Roland, he was arrested for public intoxication.

A misdemeanor, a ticket at best for public intoxication. Okay, so he was publicly intoxicated, allegedly, and he gets arrested. All right, so now, they bring him into the jail.

Now press play. So they bring him into the jail. And so you've got one, two, three, four individuals. So they're pinning him up against the wall here. Looks like he's yelling. looks like he's kicking. Then all of a sudden, one takes him down, grabs him by the neck, body slams him to the ground, and you see right here, he goes completely motionless. That's correct.

And so it was that takedown that paralyzed him. That's correct, Roland. So as you can see, you had multiple individuals. One of the individuals who was detaining Mr. Shaw was a Beaumont police officer. That's Officer Gillen. The other three individuals were detention officers at Jefferson County. And in that video, you can see at some point that Officer Gillen, he grabs Mr. Shaw by the neck, which is unlawful, which has been ruled as unconstitutional in the state of Florida, the state of Texas.

And in response, Mr. Shaw responds to it by trying to move him off and kick him off or whatever. He takes his property, throws it, grabs him away from those attention officers, body slam him, which is what caused it. And the expression of character karate is as a death flip, slams him on his neck, on his head, put all his weight, ran him in the midst of shock, unconscious, which eventually led him to be completely paralyzed from the chest down. Go back to the beginning of the video.

See, Ben, this is what I never understand when we see these videos. You literally have three individuals, okay? Okay, yeah, you see some screaming. You see all of that. You got three. No, it's four people. It's four. One guy closed the door. Freeze it right here.

Freeze it right here. Freeze it right here. He's in handcuffs too, Roland. Right. So, I mean, Ben, you got four individuals. He's in handcuffs. And so, what is the need to body slam him? You tell me,

four people? Literally, one dude could take one leg One dude could take the other leg One could take one arm walk like the other arm and they can literally walk him into the jail cell Yeah, and rolling your Argonaut case for attorney Daniels and I it is excessive beyond belief Press play, guys. B, keep talking. Go ahead. Okay. He's in handcuffs.

He's in the jail. I mean, if you got to do this to a person who's already restrained by handcuffs in a jail, it is unconscionable that amount of force that leaves this young man rendered paralyzed for life. And as Attorney Daniels and Attorney Shaw's family, Chance Lynch and I talk, it gets even worse because they don't take him to the hospital after this.

I mean, they take him and put him in a jail cell, and it's not until they realize he's not moving that they finally take him to the hospital. And I think what Attorney Daniels said is also profoundly important. It's unconstitutional to do those choke holds. So you mean to tell me, so there's a woman, and just, guys, keep it on the video,

there's a woman who's in gray it on the video there's a woman who's in gray i guess who is a nurse or something along those lines so she steps up any i'm watching the video and when when a man goes from yelling kicking you can see you the phrase belligerent if you want, to motionless. Common sense says, uh-oh, something happened. Yeah. Roller, he had a large laceration. He was completely rendered unconscious, bleeding from his head. They do call emergency services. And to the end, Ben was saying, they go to emergency services, he goes to the hospital with the same person who flipped him. That person gave incorrect information to the hospital staff. They just said he fell on the ground.

They didn't tell him that he flipped him and fell on top of him, causing his injuries to him, and essentially brought him back to the jail. He couldn't walk. He couldn't move at that time. They had to pick this man up, Row Roland, pick him up over their head, carry him into jail, dress him out, put him back in a jail cell. Well, he stayed in that jail cell almost 23 hours

where he was defecating, urinating on himself, and begging for help. For 23 hours, he was begging for help. Nobody wanted to help him until he told the nurse that, my death is going to be on your hands. He eventually called somebody and the EMTs came and said this man is paralyzed. He can't move. So it's uncomfortable.

It's beyond... Go ahead, Roland. I'm sorry. Anything happen to this to the cop? Well, it's a federal lawsuit. We sued him. The sheriff of Jefferson County, she called the Texas Rangers in to do an investigation. We don't know what was presented to the district attorney's office, not district attorney's, but come. Right now we had a federal lawsuit against this officer, the healthcare facility personnel, as well as the city of Beaumont, Texas. But like Ben said, we're pushing this envelope.

We've been telling you all about this video. You all did a story. And now that the nation is seeing this video, this is almost similar to Freddie Cox, the case that took place up there in I think it was Connecticut, man? Baltimore. Baltimore.

Baltimore. Randy Cox in Connecticut. Randy Cox. Wow, unbelievable here. So y'all are involved in a federal lawsuit. So this took place in 2021. So no discipline against that officer? Hey, he's the chief of police.

He's backing his officers 100% on these things. We don't have plenty of experts to look at this thing and say this is absolutely incestuous use of force. Ben, you know, he does these cases all over the country. It doesn't shock us that the police is not, is backing him and no discipline is going towards his office at this time. And again, they body slammed him and they sit him in a chair and you see right here, you see about 10 people just standing around

looking at him and the whole time this man is paralyzed. And Roland Martin realized what attorney Harry Daniels said. They took him to the hospital, brought him back from the hospital, and put him in the jail cell even though he's paralyzed. I mean, you talking about inhumane. And right there, this video that's being shown, he's been mocked. Like, hey, man, you can get up and walk. Quit playing.

You can get up and walk. This man is paralyzed. His leg, he has the crippling effects of his hands where he's not receiving blood flow, any muscle strength in his wrist at this time. But, you know, they picked him up, changed him out, put him in a jail cell. He couldn't move. He just laid there in that jail cell until eventually an EMS was called

and the EMS immediately told the nursing staff that this man is paralyzed. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Before we go, Ben Crump, I do want to get your thoughts on the mistrial in the case of the officer, the federal trial, in the

case of Breonna Taylor, in the death of Breonna Taylor. You know, Roland, that underscores the importance of jury duty in the service. We had one African-American, Roland Martin, out of all 12 of them, on one of the most historic

cases ever in America. And thank God we had that brother. I don't know what the breakdown was, but the fact that some people want to acquit that officer of shooting that Breonna Taylor, but that black juror held out. And we got to celebrate that, and we got to get more black people on jurors. We see it all the time. I know Attorney Daniels too

that you have one black juror who would give in to the white jurors, but he stood his ground and thank God we can fight again for Breonna for her to get justice. All right. Gentlemen, Harry Daniels, Ben Crump,

we certainly appreciate both of you being with us. I appreciate it. Thanks, brother. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

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

Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple podcast. Hey, Drew Scott here, letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes

for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the LA fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program, providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds.

You can go to ascensivehome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our L.A. community rebuild. It takes all of us. Take that shirt off, man. No, no, that's not going to happen. That will never happen. Omega's found today. Tomorrow, you got two Omegas here. He got two.

He surrounded by the Qs, man. Hold up, hold up. Let me explain to y'all what this look like. This is Alpha. Let me explain to y'all how this go down. This is Alpha and the rest of y'all back there. And just so you know, Stephen, take this camera right here, Stephen, and I want you to put it on

this portrait right over here. I just want Ben and Harry to see this, because I want them to see greatness. I need the camera right here. I need the camera right here. Turn that camera. Turn it right. Keep going. Turn that camera right. No, no. Turn that one.

Yeah, keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Swing it around. No, no. Turn that one. Yeah, keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Swing it around. You're going to put my hero up. Swing it around. Keep going. Keep going.

Right. Keep going. Right there. I just want you all to see. You can zoom that thing out if you can. I just want you all to see right there. Lawn and Wall. My birthday was Tuesday.

Lawn and Lon Wall came by and he gave me this Alpha stole, so I went ahead and just put it right here on the MLK piece. Just for the both of y'all, since y'all talking a little smack, just gotta remind y'all, who's your daddy?

Hey, Roland, everybody eventually want to go to Omega Chapter, so you know how they work. Actually, nobody wants to go to the Omega Chapter. Nobody wants to go there. And plus, when you go there, you ain't going to know, so it don't matter.

Okay, we'll see. You got the mic. Have a great day, bro. I appreciate it. Say it again, Ben. I can't argue with you. You got the mic, mister. Yes, you are correct. And just remember, I keep telling y'all, when you're the president of Alphas,

always kiss the ring. Ben, let's get out of here, Ben. We're going to let you go on that. Mr. Q's happy Founders Day tomorrow. All right. Happy Youth Group Day. Come on. All right, Harry.

Thank you. I appreciate you. Thanks a lot. Grant Carr, did they actually think I was going to concede any ground? Of course not. Hey, you know what's so funny, man? Like I told you, these black male educators here in Philly, we did our panel, and then Mark Hill was right behind us. You know, he's the capo.

So the first thing Mark did, man, I said, man, I'll start this stuff. Don't you know we're your fathers? And they all started it. But everybody aspires. You know, everybody, look, I used to tell people all the time, I said, you know, a lot of little boys want to be cute when they're children. And then some of us grow up. Well, I ain't never wanted to crawl.

So I stopped crawling when I was three. So, yeah, you ain't going to never hear me taking pride in being called a dog. That ain't going to happen. All right. When we come back, y'all, I want to talk about, again, I deal in facts. I deal in reality.

And I'm gonna show y'all a prime example of what happens when you just post something that's factual and some black people are just so mad and unsatisfied and angry that they want to deny reality.

They just make up stuff. I'm talking about what's going on, the things that are happening with the Biden-Harris administration that's actually good for black folks, but some folks still got a problem with it. I'm going to show you what I'm talking about when we come back on Rolling Martin Unfiltered

on the Blackshirt Network. to put you on the fast track to jobs in high-growth fields. No experience is necessary. Learn at your own pace. Complete the online certificate program on your own terms. Stand out to employers. Get on a path to in-demand jobs and connect with top employers who are currently hiring. Take one professional career certificate program or all six. Earn a Google career certificate to prepare

for a job in a high-growth field like data analytics, project management, UX design, cybersecurity, and more. All professional career certificate programs must be completed by December 31, 2024. Scan the QR code to complete the application. There are 1,000 scholarships available. Grow with Google and J. Hood and Associates. Be job-ready and qualify for in-demand jobs. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Blackstar Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry

together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Blackstar Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. Farquhar, executive producer of Proud Family. Bruce Smith, creator and executive producer of The Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. You're watching Roland Martin. All right, y'all. So one of the things that we do on this show, I do on my social media, I'm all about providing people with real-time information about things that impact us

that, frankly, is not going to get covered on mainstream media. So I posted this item here. I'm trying to see. When did I post it? I posted this item here 19 hours ago. So why don't you go to my iPhone. So this is on Instagram, y'all. So I posted this on Instagram.

And so this is the actual post. And so it's a statement. It's a statement from Vice President Kamala Harris. And it says, statement by Vice President Kamala Harris on the Federal Communications Commission's vote to adopt new rules to prevent digital discrimination. Okay? So when you actually go down here and read it, she talked about 30 million people across the country don't have access to high-speed internet, communities of color, native communities, rural communities, and low-income households were disproportionately connected.

So then when you go through here and you read this here, you talked about the investment to lower monthly plans, installing thousands of miles of fiber optic cable, okay? And it says all here. And so she says, President Biden and I understand that getting online can be a bridge to an education, good paying job, quality health care and engagement with a broader world. Would I stop fighting to make it easier for everyone to access affordable, high speed Internet? Today's action is another important step toward fulfilling that vision. All right. So then when you go down to the comments and this is what I found to be quite interesting when I went down to the comments. And this is what I found to be quite interesting

when I went down to the comments. And so, you'll see, and I had to correct some folks. You know, A.J. Johnson was asking about, she says, more statements. We know she makes statements. Statements and photo ops. Please show me the more.

And I said, well, in the statement, they explain the more. And I said, well, in the statement, they explain the action. So you can't call it just a statement when it was a statement about the action that they took. Amanda Seals had said that this sounds like a misdirective of power to control who and how we can access the internet,'s available on apps i said no this stops companies from neglecting communities this actually happened when broadband first came out they went to affluent communities first and so i was sitting here you know and then you have some other people and you know talking about this is good and how things are important uh then people like oh what what what more will citizens have to give up to have internet available for all i don't know what the hell that even means

um um um you know then then you go uh then this person goes can't believe she talking about internet we having bigger problems in our country. Do y'all remember during COVID when millions of black kids could not access education because they didn't have computers or internet? Do y'all remember in Montgomery, Alabama, where they had, we had the school board member on, where they were converting school buses into mobile wifi stations so kids could access the internet?

Do you know how many people out there can't access job information because they don't have access to the internet? So I need the people out there who have Wi-Fi and internet to understand this ain't about you This is a major problem. In fact for all y'all people out there who claim y'all love HBC use Y'all do know that there are massive computer and Internet deserts on HBCU campuses as we speak. And so this notion that we have only Internet problems in rural America. No, there are Internet problems in major cities.

People simply can't afford it. So I had another one and I just got to show y'all this here. This person goes, I still don't know what she does. Isn't this a bit too convenient timing-wise? We're in the election cycle. I don't know what she does. I've never seen some of the... I love this one, y'all. Oh, my God, I love this one. I said, that means you ain't been paying attention.

This person goes, I have and i do see what you obviously do see now y'all don't laugh because this person actually typed this they said or maybe y'all i'm reading this so y'all know i'm not making this up or maybe the issues that are important to me and my community remain unaddressed. Okay, I just want y'all to, she said these things remain unaddressed. Number one, she writes black women childbirth mortality rates.

She actually wrote that. Number two, truth in education. Number three, FCC biases in regulation. The Post is about the FCC. Number four, expanded underwriting for student loan borrows. Then she wrote An appraisal regulations

For people of color The last one And real realistic grant funding For entrepreneurs Just hold on to us. Just hold on. So y'all, I then posted this here.

U.S. to spend $42 billion to make internet access universal by 2030. It was a reuters story that was in here lord have mercy uh this fool goes as much as i love let's say my mommy if she's wrong about something that's just what it is kamala has not and will not do anything to benefit black Americans specifically. And that's the problem. This internet thing is bullshit.

Run us reparations. I go, this is stupid. Congress appropriates money, not... I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

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

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher.

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Hey, Drew Scott here letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization.

Just days into the L.A. fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program, providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to ascensivehome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. The VP. Okay, hold up. Y'all, I'm not done. Because I just want y'all to understand what I deal with here. Same person goes, we are grown.

You're low vibrational. Energy speaks volumes. You are doing too much. No one over here is stupid. But if it makes you feel better as a grown woman to go around calling people stupid, okay. You are stuck on whatever you're on, and that's causing you to have a lack of understanding. No, I can actually read.

You know, and so then we go over here and then I got somebody who says ask about the contracts. Uh-huh. And then somebody went, well, why is it that? OK, hold up. I got to find this one, y'all, because I thought this one was too funny.

I love this one here. Person goes, the overall majority of the U.S. population that's black lives in urban areas, which already have options when it comes to the internet for those of us that live in rural areas we're having to wait for seven more years to get access to what was legislated in 1989 cable TV Act which provides the most connected high-speed internet access to subscribers by number tell us again how does benefits black people you're not waiting. Ben, I love this one here. Seriously, if you can't afford internet,

you have more pressing issues. That's a good point. Now, I love this one here. I love this one here, y'all. Roland making excuses for his homegirl. Black folks want things specific for us as requested. This Internet thing includes everyone else. So this isn't something for black folks to get excited about as much as she had us in mind. Uh-huh.

Y'all, these are actually real comments. So let me go to my panel. So I don't know who's sitting here calling me. I'm in the middle of the show, y'all. Here's the thing that's killing me, Recy. This woman said, I do pay attention, and the things are not getting addressed I care about like black maternal health hasn't that been one of the biggest things that the vice president has been focusing on

yes okay then the same woman said she's concerned about truth in education. Didn't the vice president travel to Jacksonville to light up Ron DeSantis and the Republicans for trying to get rid of black history in books in schools? Yes. Okay.

The woman said her issue was about appraisals and books in schools? Yes. Okay. The woman said her issue was about appraisals for homes. I swear I heard the vice president announce the administration's plans to deal with racism and appraisals as well as HUD and the DOJ announcing the crackdown on redlining. Or did I just mistake that? I was there.

Yes, that happened. So... And it's happening. I'm confused how somebody could say none of this stuff is being done, and I swear it happened. Any thoughts? I honestly thought that that was parody because the irony of listing literally Vice President Kamala Harris's portfolio as things

that she is not doing, that you're supposedly paying attention to and that you supposedly care about is unhinged if you are being serious and belligerently ignorant. So that's why I don't take people seriously when they say that they care about certain issues, because if you care, then you would actually be engaged on the action that's been happening for years. This isn't just a matter of something that has been a flash in the pan.

This is something that they have not only announced, but year after year returned to, to talk about the progress that's been made on appraisal biases, the progress that's been made in termsraisal biases, the progress that's been made in terms of just this week, actually, Vice President Kamala Harris announced that her initiative to expand postpartum coverage for Medicaid is now in 40 states, 40 out of 50 states for 12 months. That was not something that happened prior to Vice President Kamala Harris

making Black maternal mortality and maternal mortality a priority. And so I think part of it is obviously the way that people are targeted with disinformation. But it's also the attention span and stupidity of some people. DeSales, who rather than actually read the post to understand what it talks about, they say, this sounds like, you don't have to say what it sounds like when it's literally written right there, specifically what it's about had nothing to do with TikTok or censorship. It was literally about redressing discrimination and access. For people to say that, well, people can't afford it when this administration has expanded affordable broadband

to millions of homes that people are eligible for is stupid. For people to say that, well, what is this gonna do for black people in rural communities when this is about expanding rural broadband access is really ridiculous. And so this is the challenge that we have. It goes beyond messaging. It goes to the fact that sometimes people just feel like if they

don't see it happening right in front of their face, just not, I mean, beyond an Instagram post, which is explaining that this is happening, then that means that it's non-existent. And I'm starting to become at a loss to even know how to even reach those people. I think you can reach a portion of them, but some people just can't be helped. They can't be educated. They can't be saved, child. So, we gotta try to find the people that maybe they

just don't know, and they're like, oh, okay. That's good to know. Maybe there's some people like that out, and that's why we gotta get to the pole, because some of these other people can't be saved. Go back to my iPad here. Greg, this person goes, now again, we're talking about a $42 billion program that deals with internet.

Person goes, this does nothing for black people. The typical lift-all program for the Democrats, no tangibles, no votes. Now, the early, and I responded about, well, this is a damn lie. And then, so here's the thing for me, because the other person was talking about how, and this one person kept going back and forth

with me, Greg, on, no, no, no, no. I want to see legislation that is only for black people. And I see this over and over and over again. I mean, I'm talking about these FBA, these other people out here.

I hear them yelling it, and I'm sitting here going, what in the hell are y'all talking about? And I know for a fact, black mayors in major cities are putting proposals together to get some of that 42 billion because black people in many of these places do not have high speed internet. So you'll sit here and lay out this program, this program, this program.

It's like, no, they ain't going to benefit black people only. And you're like, fool, do you know anything about civics? And it is stunning to me when you just make a post that, hey, just let y'all know and stuff even exists. And these folks still, no, that ain't good enough because it's not only helping us.

Absolutely, Roland. I mean, well, first of all, at least in the venue that you've been sharing with us in this story, it's Elon Musk's Twitter. So we know that that... No, no, no. This was Instagram. So this is Mark Zuckerberg's

Instagram. Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse. Yeah, absolutely. Well, we know, and of course, you know, again, I just want to add again, our sister Reese has been telling us this for years. This is the weaponized ignorance. I just assume most of the people come from troll factor. Anytime I see tangibles now or anything like that, I assume that's a troll.

Now, you being the keyboard warrior that you are, social media sniper that you are, the Omar Little of the internet, you're going to take your time and just body them all. It don't matter. Now, in the case of Amanda Seales, yeah, that's a little disturbing. But I kind of understand that, too, because, you know, there are people and there will be people who probably rip this segment and post it on their shows on YouTube and other places to try to attack this as caping for the Democrats because they are pretty much consistent ideologues. So really, policymaking doesn't matter, except, of course, when they go to work and exercise their benefits. And, you know, so these are the kind of keyboard warriors who love being radicals from the safety of their well-resourced jobs and with benefits. But that aside, much of this is just weaponized ignorance.

Now, you know, thinking about this infrastructure bill that passed, you know, I just came up to Philly on Amtrak, and we know that the vast majority of that bill in the neighborhood of there's about $426 billion of that work, including $16.4 billion that's about to be spent just on the Northeast Corridor to improve interstate rail, federal rail, that is going to greatly benefit just in terms of transportation, the kind of big chunk of this work. But that requires reading. Brookings just released a report yesterday, an extensive report on the two-year mark of the infrastructure bill, how much has been spent, how much remains to be spent.

About 75 percent of the competitive bidding for money has not even been awarded yet. And the stuff that's been awarded has just slightly favored states that voted for Trump and now Biden in the last election. So, you know, people just won't take time to read. Finally, as it relates directly to broadband, as you said, according to Brookings, the National Telecommunications Information Administration stood up very quickly the formulas for people to get engaged in these competitive bids. And as you just said, finally, there's about $4 billion left remaining to be distributed. But of that $41.7 billion that is formula-driven or direct-driven,

this is why, as you say, voting matters. That stuff goes strictly and directly to the states. Now, if you don't want your money, our tax money, that's going to your state held hostage by some white nationalists in the statehouse or with a supermajority in the legislature to get messed this up, then you've got yourself to blame. And these Negroes who are real, who are in there fighting with you in social media, guess what? If you live in the South, don't point at the White House, point at the Statehouse. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated,

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of

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

Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast

season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the L.A. fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program, providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved.

Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to asenseofhome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our L.A. community rebuild. It takes all of us. My only question for them is, did you vote? Then be quiet. Lauren, the reason I'm taking my time to do this is because I really love,

first of all, what Greg just laid out there. So people always talk about, who gonna get the contracts? Well, first and foremost, fool. And people always talk about, who going to get the contracts? Well, first and foremost, fool. And I'm saying fool, and I know Cleo's always saying, Rowley, you shouldn't be calling people fools, and they're frustrating,

and, you know, PTSD, and all that. No, I'm saying fool because what pisses me off is on this show, we literally have a segment called Where's Our Money? And we are constantly talking about contracts and talking about taking down barriers. And the reality is what Greg is talking about, yes, the point is, do we have the firms out there that drop fiber optic cables?

That do that? Y'all, beauticians and optic cables, that do that. Y'all beauticians and barbers can't do this, okay? They can't do it. And so when we're talking about how do we build, we literally have a segment called Marketplace that focuses on black owned businesses. And what just drives me crazy, and again, I want all

y'all Negroes, especially dumb red and Kodak black, and I can go on and on a whole bunch of, I saw some other Azealia Banks and all y'all running around talking about Trump and

checks. Let me explain to y'all running around talking about Trump and checks. Let me explain to y'all. Under Trump, they bundled contracts, meaning only major firms could afford to bid on them. Biden administration, because I talked to the head of the Small Business Administration. I talked to the head of the Minority Business Development agency. They're unbundling the contracts because when you small you can't bid on large contract. So for all y'all who thought, oh there were glory days when Trump was there and we were just getting them stimulus checks, you ain't gonna be getting no contracts because they're going to bundle them back

for the big donors. We can't afford to get those. This right here, Lauren, is the minutia of policy. This right here, we talk about watching how the sausage is being made versus simply eating it. This right here

is what a lot of black folks are going to have to understand. There is a difference between when Democrats are in control of the House and a Bobby Scott of Virginia

congressman is chair of the subcommittee, it's a whole lot different than when Republicans control the House and they are over the committees. So for all y'all out there talking about that $6.57 billion that went to HBCUs, oh, that didn't just happen.

There was somebody who was in the chair who was making those things happen. And he was a brother, alpha brother, but he was a brother. But then they say, Lauren, did nothing get done. I ain't seen it. This has just been a waste of our vote. Yeah, you know, I certainly think people globally realize that the Republican Party is in another era, an era really that, of course, does not include the, you know, conservative Reagan era. We're out of that and we're into something that's, you know, obviously steering close to fascism. But as somebody who was, you know, watching the David Brinkley show when I was like, you know, 10 years old and watching Bob Maynard in the panel with David Brinkley, I never considered myself a normal person. And I think in terms of the way I pay attention to politics, which is on a very minute micro level,

I've always recognized I think we have to recognize that most people are not doing that. Most people are not living sort of a life where you're paying attention. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I agree 100 percent. My problem is when you actually show them the facts and you get, oh, that's bullshit. They ain't helping us. Yeah. I say that to say that, you know,

we have to be, I think, always mindful of the fact that most people are not college-educated in this country. Most people are not in the boule. Most people are not Greek. Most people are not... have never been in a palace. First of all, hold up. Hold up, hold up.

Just because you mentioned not in the boule. It's, let me just help you right there. It's 5,000 people in the boule. Right. That's it. All y'all, I love all these Negroes be hollering, boule, boule, boule, boule. It's 5,000. Just for all y'all folk out there who holler the boule, it's about 200,000 alphas.

And you're about to say omegas, kappas, it's more Prince Hall masons. It's 5,000 people in the boule. And it's about,000 people in the boule. And it's about having a good time. But this is the... I get all that, Lauren. My problem is when you

literally show folk and say, no, no, this happened. They ain't happened. She actually made an announcement. Like, it actually came out her mouth. It came out his mouth. Well, if it ain't just for us, like, I get that all the time.

They literally want funding bills only for black people, Lauren. I get that all the time. Where I'll build. I'm like, where I'll hate crime build. There's been actually three three hate crime bills in history that be

specifically black people. But I, anyway, I just... Well, the George Floyd bill actually did pass the House and, of course, was stuck in the Senate. I'm sorry, say it again? The George Floyd bill passed the House

in 2021, and, of course... Hold up, hold up, hold up. Who was over the House then? In 2021, obviously, the president... What did you say? Over the House then? In 2021, obviously, the president... What did you say? Over the House. So, obviously, the House was controlled by Democrats. So, hold on. So, you're telling me that George Floyd

actually passed the House? Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. I think the bill that everybody thinks about is the Asian hate crimes bill, which, of course, passed because of COVID. And we had a big spike in hate crimes against the Americans. But it also wasn't called the Asian hate crimes bill, which, of course, passed because of COVID. And we had a big spike in hate crimes against. But it also wasn't called the Asian hate crime bill. Yeah, I know.

So if I was called the COVID-19 hate act, I mean, hate crimes act. I know that it was called the COVID-19 hate crimes. It was an absolute bullshit bill. Yeah, it focused on, of course, DOJ, and actually it focused on law enforcement. No, no, no, no. It focused on creating a database, and it created one job in the

DOJ that lasted a year. Yeah, and Grace Meng, who is the congresswoman from Queens, Grace Meng got 30 million bucks to sort of, for that, she got $30 million appropriated for that bill that was really funneling money into community groups that

really sort of dealt with the issue of hate crimes. Stop, stop, stop. Hold on. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. $30 million to community groups. Not $30 million to Asian groups. $30 million to a number

of groups that dealt with hate crimes, correct? Yeah. So we do have the Black Maternal Health Act of 2023. The Black Maternal Health Act is an omnibus bill, which means basically that it's a collection of a bunch of other pieces of legislation, 13 pieces of legislation. And that is a pretty bipartisan. Actually, it's not that bipartisan. It's actually Lauren Underwood and Joyce Beatty and Don Beyer and a bunch of Democratic members. They may have actually a Republican member on that. I got to check that because it's actually a big, a big group of bills. And it is called the Black Maternal Health Act. But I do think what people

are thinking about is, you know, the the payment of reparations to the Japanese folks that were unfortunately interned during World War II. It's a fairly recent act that Ronald Reagan signed back in probably 1990. And so when people think about that, that was 20,000 per person who could verify that they were interned during Japanese internment, which, of course, was a crazy, terrible thing. Of course, the specific piece of legislation for black people you always think about, of course, is the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, which is actually very specific to black folks. And also the bill that specifically was in the response to black churches being burned down. Right.

Then you also had the Matthew Shepard, James Byrd Hate Crime Act. And also we had something called the Never Again Education Act, which Carolyn Maloney did in 2020, which was a Holocaust education bill, which was very specific to the effectively what they did was they allowed the Holocaust Museum, which is in Washington's incredible Holocaust Museum in Washington, for them to direct certain monies to educational programs for the Holocaust. So that was like some very specific things to specific groups. But, you know, if we had a Congress, obviously it was controlled by the Democrats, particularly in the Senate.

Senate is running so close, usually with Democrats. Last time Democrats controlled the House, it was by less than 10 members. But if you had, you know, a few more Democrats in the Senate, you'd probably get something passed like the Black Maternal Health Act. That's a major piece. But I want people to understand, Recy, that there are bills that are passed in Congress that are billions and billions of dollars that

black people can access. It does not have to say black internet bill. I mean, apparently it does. I mean, apparently it does. I mean, if you see an ice cream truck and they're giving out free ice cream, are you going to be like, oh, it's white people in line. That ain't just for black people. No, you're going to get your

ass in line. You're going to get you some free ice cream, right? Like, hello? I just think this whole idea that it has to be exclusionary in order for us to benefit when things are actually designed to exclude us without saying excluding black people. It's just really as backwards because the people on the other side, they find a way to make sure that we don't benefit. They find a way to make sure that we do not have upward mobility.

Look at what the Supreme Court just did around affirmative action this past term. And so it's very short sightsighted. It's very small-minded. And I think it's that the chaos agents and the people that really target us with disinformation do a good job of making it seem like all these other people are getting something that we're not, as well as convincing us that if we don't, if we're not the only ones to get it, it doesn't count. And I just think it's very detrimental for the Black community because what it serves to do is it serves to keep people disengaged, disillusioned,

and then that obviously benefits one party significantly more than the other. And so there are people who revel in being belligerently ignorant. People don't just say, oh, I don't know nothing about that anymore. People will look you dead in your face and tell you that something is happening as you are explaining to them that it's happening. And those are the people that are just energy drains. They drain the people around, the people that are trying to empower people. They drain everybody around them.

And they're just not our target audience. The only thing that really comes out of it is hopefully the people that just quietly are scrolling, the ones that don't comment, they'll just like a post and keep it moving, or they'll like a comment and keep it moving. Hopefully we're reaching enough of those people, because those people are the ones who, to Lauren's point, may genuinely not know, may genuinely need somebody to break it down and explain how it benefits

them. So luckily, even these exchanges with trolls, bots, whoever, the belligerently ignorant do to some degree... Very true. Well, Greg, I do have to find this one. This is going to be the last one here. So Jemele Hill commented on my post here.

And she mentioned about seniors paying $35 for insulin, talking about diabetes. She said, something that specifically impacts our community. This is no lie. I'm going to actually show. Greg, you're going to love this here. This brother actually said to her, I'm not arguing. I'm saying they've done nothing specific for black Americans. If things disproportionately hurt us, then a universal policy doesn't correct the disproportion. Greg, you're going to love this one here.

We would need specific policy to do that. This fool actually said diabetes does not specifically impact our community. That would mean we are the only ones who get it, which just isn't true. So basically he's saying capping insulin at $35 don't mean nothing because black people, we don't specifically get diabetes. So who cares if it matters?

Yeah, Roland, I mean, it is frustrating. I echo something Lawrence said. I don't think this is a question of intellect. I think this is a question of attention, a question of living in a society where media has eaten our attention spans and we live a harried life. I hope what that person meant was that the capping of insulin, the capping of insulin does not remedy a condition that is exclusive to black people. Um,

I'm, I'm, I'm being charitable in that reading. that ain't what he said. He was like, well, no, that doesn't work because it don't specifically impact us.

No, no, no, I know. I agree. I understand. I'm just, a reason I'm saying that is because,

you know, and you know this. I mean, in all of your years before you even got into journalism, of course, growing up and then going to school as a journalist, writing for a living, editing for a living. You know, the American populace generally just didn't have a felicity with language. There's a sloppiness at every level and every valence, quite frankly. And I don't want to get too deep into that. Well, I guess what I'm really trying to get down to is this. You know, Justin Jones was in D.C. the other day for the Democracy Summit, the thing that Nikohana Jones does at Howard. And one of the things that he said was that in these southern states, what you see is these white nationalists really pass legislation

at the state level that they're going to try to nationalize. And of course, that's no secret what he's saying. But when you don't participate in the political process as it exists, not the one we wish we had, I'm absolutely not only sympathetic to, but in full agreement with the socialists, even the communists would say, you know, universal health care, universal basic income, things that the Republicans used to support decades ago. And then Martin Luther King talked about, as you remind us, over and over again in books like Where Do We Go From Here. But that's not the system we have today.

Now, is that a system we can build toward? Absolutely. I think ultimately that will be something that if we have any hope as a species, we've got to go in that direction. But that's not what exists in November 2023. In the two-party system that we live in now, you've got to fight the battle on the battlefield that you have now. And this is where I think what we're witnessing here that you're walking us through becomes

very important to pay very close attention to. When you don't engage in the political process, even in a state like Mississippi, where you have at least 40 percent Black folk, and Elvis Presley's second cousin made the best showing a Democrat has made since 1999 but still couldn't win, and I'm taking that with a caveat, realizing that they set him up to run out of ballots in Hines County and Jackson, this kind of thing. When you don't participate in Louisiana, where at least a third of the people there are black, when you don't engage in the political process in Alabama or Tennessee, then you can't expect things that will not only intervene to improve everyone's life and make it better, you can't

expect those things to happen. I'll end with this. You know, there are people who wish black people all of the hell in the world who live in the United States. But I'm going to say this, and it may be a little unsettling for some people. If my elders in my community get some intervention that will help them in everything from health care to some assistance in staying in their houses, to being able to have heat in the wintertime. If a Klansman gets it, too, that is a secondary concern to me. And this is where we have to understand, even though we understand that reparations, there is something very personal about that as it relates to us, something very specific to us. Do not get caught up in the thing that affected us only and miss the thing that can improve your life, even if it so happens to help somebody else. We heard that from the brother, the guy that you have on Granger in Louisiana.

If you take the populist turn and turn hard into they screwing you because you poor. Damn it, a Klansman. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a

story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star studded a little bit man we got uh ricky williams nfl player hasman trophy winner it's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves music stars marcus king john osborne for brothers osborne we have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is.

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

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season 2 on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. And to hear episodes one week early

and ad free with exclusive content subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple podcast. Hey, Drew Scott here letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the L.A. fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program, providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please involved sign up to volunteer donate furniture or even donate funds you can go to a sense of home.org to find out more information together we can help our la community rebuild it

takes all of us might get her teeth fixed but you know what so will you get over it. I'm going to say this here, and this is why I'm saying this. One week from today, a bunch of y'all are going to be at home, and you're going to be traveling, and you're going to be with family members, and you're going to be around the dinner table, and arguments are going to break out.

People are going to say all sorts of stuff, and some of the stuff they're going to say is dead wrong. And so I need you, when that happens, to be armed with right information. Now, see, some of y'all might, and again, and Greg said it, and I know, oh, nah, man, you sitting here. I saw a comment, hey, you caping for

your girl. No, I'm actually stating facts. You know why? Because see, I grew up in a family that debated. And I saw as a kid aunts and uncles bring some bullshit to the debate and my grandfather was like yeah what did knock the hell out and I'll be

sitting there going he just lit your ass up. So y'all need to understand, I grew up, and you understand, we live eight blocks from my maternal grandparents. My grandfather died when I was 15 years old. So from the moment I was born, my existence for 15 years was always at my grandparents' house and around my seven aunts and uncles. And they had 34 grandchildren. And they had 70-plus great-grandchildren.

And I think they got like 120 great-great. So I grew up watching debates. And I grew up watching folk get obliterated who lied. And so why do I respond? Because in recent years, why do I respond on Instagram, on Twitter, in these platforms? Why do I do this? Because I don't know who's watching. I don't know who's watching. I don't know who's reading.

And if there's somebody who's on one of these pages who sees it and goes, I didn't know that. Matter of fact, let me go check that. Oh, Roland is right. Oh, my goodness. Rowland actually said on his show that the vice president of the United States and the Biden administration, they did address the issue of inequality in home appraisals. Go to my iPad. This is from The New York Times. Oh, my goodness.

They did do that. Oh, my goodness. They did have a conference on black maternal health and lay those things out. Oh, my goodness. They did have a conference on black maternal health and lay those things out. Oh, my goodness. They did have that news conference down in Jacksonville dealing with the red lining of the banks and discrimination. My goodness. That stuff actually happened. Black people, we had better understand, and Greg said it, and I just want to help all y'all out who running your ass around talking about just us, just us. In the history of the United States, going back to the period of Reconstruction, W.E.B. Du Bois' book was called Black Reconstruction.

But I just want to help y'all understand. Black Reconstruction wasn't all black. The quality of life of poor white people. Everybody listening, I need y'all to hear what I'm trying to tell y'all. Greg know this. Lauren know this. Recy know this. Let me help y'all. In the history of the United States, at every juncture when black people fought for a better life, other people benefited.

James D. Anderson, the education of blacks in the South, 1860 to 1935. I think that's the year frame. He notes that black people freed former slaves of African descent, went into state legislatures, and put it in the Constitution guaranteeing the right to education.

And then when Jim Crow came along and threw the black folks out, they threw a lot of stuff out except that public education. So I need our people to understand when we're fighting for billions on Capitol Hill to grant, we know some white folks going to benefit. We know some Latinos going to benefit. We're trying to make sure that we benefit too.

But the dumbest thing we can do as black people is to literally say, y'all sit over here and y'all argue over the hundreds of billions of dollars. We out. That's the dumbest thing in the world that can happen. When they are at the table distributing the billions of dollars. It is idiotic for black people to say, I'm checking out. So when you say, Louisiana, man, we ain't voting in that election on Saturday.

What you saying is, we've left everything nice and neat for your white conservatives to have. We out. And then you're going to complain when the white conservatives are sitting at the table and they're going, you get this here, you get this here, you get this here, and then your no voting ass over here going, we don't get nothing. No, cause your ass left the table.

The same thing apply. You don't eat next Thursday unless your ass at the table. I ain't never heard somebody having Thanksgiving meal who was not at the table. And they are not fixing no plates for us. So y'all mess around if you want to. But that's the real deal. And that's why over the next year, we must all fight misinformation and disinformation. Because remember what Trump said, black people, thank you for not voting. That was nothing more.

What's the word I want to use? That was nothing more shameful. Despicable than to watch a white racist literally say. my fellow Negroes, thank you for keeping your black asses at home and giving us control of all of this. So why do y'all think they tried to overthrow this sucker on January 6th? Because a lot of us showed up and he wasn't thanking us in 2020.

Final comments. Lauren, you first. Um, I don't know. I would just sort of echo what I was saying before, which is that, you know, we do have an age that we live in of misinformation and disinformation, and it's hard to break through.

It's hard to break through with some of these messages because people are very, as Dr. Carr alluded to, people are very busy and they are in their own lives. And, you know, as somebody who's worked in a few political offices in New York and Virginia, you know, when you talk to people on the grassroots level, you just talk to normal people who just have some issue with the government that they need fixed. And it might just be an unemployment check or something that's missing or veterans payment, something, whatever it is. You know, people are not as micro-focused as like me and my friends are in the echo chamber of the media. And so it just presents a very difficult challenge when you try to let people know what

their government is doing. And for our community, we have a very justifiable level of frustration when it comes to not getting the things that we should be getting after everything that Black people have been through in history. So the demand is high for some action, and it should be for Black people in this country, to say the least. And it's just hard to get to the people who really need to hear the message, who may not be paying attention to every micro conversation on some political talk show. So it's a huge challenge, and it does require a lot of thinking and a lot of strategic action on the part of people who want to communicate to that audience. Racy? To Lauren's point, the Democratic Party needs to invest in an information

infrastructure. Roland, you're always talking about infrastructure and organizational power, and the Democratic Party is severely lacking in making that investment that the Republicans, that foreign agents, that the chaos agents have invested in. It's going to take more than, you know, text messaging some of us, DMing us, oh, this is a good story, hope you post it. No, pay people, pay the infrastructure to tackle the information gap that people are not getting because of the fact that they have other priorities and other things that are taking their attention away, as well as the disinformation campaign that we're

being targeted with. It's not going to be resolved on an organic level. It's going to take consistent, persistent, and relentless messaging from credible actors, not actors in terms of, you know, the Screen Actors Guild, but in terms of credible voices like yourself, Roland, and those of us on this panel. And so until the Democrats figure out that this war is not one that's going to be won on ideas, on policy, or receipts, it's going to be won on who gets the information to the people the best and more relentlessly, then they're going to continue, and all of us, unfortunately, are going to continue to be faced with this kind of ignorance and belligerence from people. Greg?

Thank you, Roland, and thank you, Recy, for saying that. We are the ones who are most in harm's way. Every two weeks, out of my little HBCU professor check, taxes are taken out. FICA is taken out. My Social Security at 58 years of age does not go into a savings account for me to get when I retire. It's going to pay the people who have worked all their lives who are getting it now. There are open white nationalists in the federal legislature, Christian fascist nationalists like Johnson,

the Speaker of the House, who would love nothing more than to eviscerate Social Security for the people who are getting the money that I pay into it now and for me in the future if I live that long. Cassidy Hutchinson, a nice young white woman in the White House, now making millions of dollars off of a book because she suddenly has a change of heart and conscience, was in the damn White House when my tax money was used to gas protesters right there in front of the White House in the summer of

2020, when my tax money was used to pay for all types of fascists like Stephen Miller, who has a white fever dream of getting rid of all of us. And if Donald Trump gets back in the White House, he has already said a few days ago that they're going to deport people by the millions and put them in the equivalent of camps, of prisons, open air prisons, you know, like Gaza. But the point is this. If that's not enough to make you say, let me get involved, then quite frankly, you're not just putting yourself

in harm's way. You put my family in harm's way. You put in Lauren and Reese's family, you put in Roland's family in harm's way. You put in all the rest of our people's people family in harm's way. And that means as much as well-meaning and as frustrated as you are, as Lauren says, you're an enemy of yourself, not just us. Are you really going to commit that kind of suicide while these white folk take your tax money and laugh it off

and then get past it and act like they have a change of heart and make a few million more dollars? That should infuriate you. And if that doesn't infuriate you, then you should look in the mirror and ask yourself what does. Folks, I'm going to tell you what we're going to do. We're going to

keep doing this. We're going to keep telling y'all what the real deal is. We're going to tell you what we're going to do. We're going to keep doing this. We're going to keep telling y'all what the real deal is. We're going to tell you when I think Biden and Harris screw up. We're going to tell you when they do something right. And we're going to tell you when Congress is also doing things to benefit us. But I'm telling y'all right now, and I'm telling you, mark it, this past week with these fools, you do not want to see if they have a trifecta in D.C. Because it's going to look like Florida,

Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas. Tell me how that's gone for black folks. Lauren, Greg, Reese, I appreciate y'all being on today's show. Thank you so very much. Greg and Reese, I hate y'all missed the party on Tuesday.

No. We had a good time. Reese, there's still a bunch of alcohol left if you want to drink. So let us know. You've been busy going to concerts all over the place, you know. Yeah, thanks. Yeah, oh, no, no.

Yeah, yeah. My hubby had a town. He's a commissioner. He's an elected official. That's why I believe in voting, Chad, because he's a politician. So I unfortunately was, you know, I couldn't make the party, get my drink on. But happy belated birthday, Roland. I'm going to get somebody a liquor.

I'm going to get somebody a liquor. Yeah, I know you. You're going to slide by, and Greg, we still got your shirt here. No question. I got to bring you a gift. Get your Tennessee State shirt, so come on by. Lauren dropped by. She had a good time with it. Yeah.

You know she packed a plate when she left, too. No question. Home training. The double nickel, so. No question. Home training. The double nickel, baby. Happy belated. There'll be no show next Thursday, so happy Thanksgiving to y'all. Hope y'all have a great time. And there are limited arguments at your dinner table.

Well, am I tripping? You can argue with am I tripping. How about that? Okay, all right, all right, all right, all right. You can argue with your card game. But let me be real clear. Lauren might have that New York Yankees red cap. We know they losers.

But y'all know. They're always winners. They're always winners. Win. Well, they just won the Cy Young Award. I see that. 24 championships. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You got to go digging

them crates for those because y'all ain't done nothing in the past decade. All right, y'all have a great Thanksgiving. Enjoy the family. And again, any bag of hats

come to the party, they're not welcome. Right. That's right. Y'all take care. Folks, that's it. I'm going to see y'all tomorrow right here on Rolling Martin Unfiltered, the Black Star it. I'm going to see y'all tomorrow right here on

Rolling Martin Unfiltered, the Black Star Network. Don't forget to support us in what we do. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing on average 50 bucks each. That's $4.19 since the month, $0.13 since today. Your dollars make it possible for us to do what we do. Trust me, folks. Our plan is to go around this country

really, really speaking to our people, hearing from their concerns, thoughts and concerns about this country, this election. And so we want to be able to do that. And so when you give, it matters. We are right now about $250,000 short of where we were last year. So we've got a little more than a month to make up. So please send a check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash App is Dallas Eye RM Unfiltered. PayPal RM Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. 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. You can also watch our 24-hour streaming channel on all available platforms. Amazon News by going to Amazon Fire. You can also tell Alexa, play news from the Black Star Network, Pledge TV, Amazon Freebie, as well as Amazon Prime Video and be sure to get a copy of my book White Fear, How the Brownie of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at bookstores nationwide download

the audio version on Audible folks, I'll see y'all tomorrow hello, hello, shout out Gary Howard, one of the few omegas I like Gary's my man, and so Gary's birthday is today. So Gary always begging.

He always begging me for a shout out. So let me go ahead and let me go ahead and give Gary a shout out. I'm going to show him right here. Give me one second, y'all. Let me pull his photo up. So, you know, see, it's some omegas I don't mind being friends with. G. Howard's one of my NABJ homies. We always playing golf.

And so, shout out to G. Howard on his birthday. All right, y'all, that's it. I'll see y'all tomorrow. But Gary know 06 runs everything. Holla! Folks, Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punching! I'm real revolutionary right now. Holla! 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 scary.

It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Thanks for watching! Hey, Drew Scott here, letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the LA fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to asenseofhome.org to find out more

information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1.

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

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