#RolandMartinUnfiltered - MLK’s Warning Comes Alive. ICE Terror in Minneapolis. Crockett Sets Jan. 6 Straight.

Episode Date: January 16, 2026

1.15.2026 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: MLK’s Warning Comes Alive. ICE Terror in Minneapolis. Trump Chaos Mounts. Crockett Sets Jan. 6 Straight. Tonight, as we head into the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the America Dr. King warned us about is on full display. Minnesota is currently under fire. Secretary Kristi Noem defends ICE as they intimidate residents. Immigration Attorney Yesenia Planco will join later with advice on what to do if stopped by ICE. And, speaking of ICE. A recent poll by CNN shows that America is afraid of ICE, and they aren't making cities feel safer. On Monday, a Minneapolis councilman feared for his life as ICE agents assaulted him for recording them, and just two days later, an ICE raid in the same city led to a second shooting of a man on Wednesday, following protestors and tear gas. We'll be covering it all. Trump's second term is already producing more chaos and corruption than the first, and the damage is compounding fast. The Center for American Progress is tracking it all with its new Trump Global Weakness Watch--and the senior vice president joins us to break it down. And, to add more injury, the Trump administration is laying off employees who are part of a civil rights agency founded in the 1960s with the U.S Department of Justice. While maga is trying to rewirte the history of January 6, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett sets the record straight.  #BlackStarNetwork partner: Fanbasehttps://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbase This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.  This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. You should read the Offering Circular (https://bit.ly/3VDPKjD) and Risks (https://bit.ly/3ZQzHl0) related to this offering before investing. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Everyone needs to take care of their mental health, even running back Bijan Robinson. When I'm on the field, I'm feeling the pressure, I usually just take a deep breath. When I'm just breathing and seeing what's in front of me, everything just slows down.

It just makes you feel great before I run the play. Just like Bijan, we all need a strong mental game on and off the field. Make a game plan for your mental health at loveyourmind playbook.org. Love your mind. Brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and the ad console. The social media trend is slanding some Gen Z years in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired

and the massive TikTok boycott against Target that actually makes no sense. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media. You can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast. Listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is, You can decide who takes home the 26 IHard Podcast Awards

Podcast of the year by voting at IHeartPodcastawards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at IHeartPodcastawards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. Okay. Waw, look, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, okay. Don't not there. Like CNN. On the filter, streaming live on the Black Star Network. I'm live here in Columbus, Ohio,

where I'll be speaking to the Columbus Education Association's annual MLK dinner. Today, MLK's actual lots of events happening all across the country. It is certainly, a different type of MLK celebration this year with all of the attacks on African Americans. And so we'll talk about that. Also, Minnesota, they are still on fire. Secretary of Department of Homeland Security, Ice Barbie, Christy Nome, defends ICE as they continue to intimidate residents in that city. Also, speaking of ICE, a recent poll by CNN shows that Americans are frankly afraid of ice and will show you how ICE is being handling a lot of these interactions with the public. Folks, the Global Center for American Progress created the Trump Global Weakness Watch, which shows 80 ways the administration has undermined American power. Also, in our Blackside Network marketplace segment, Emir Horton's mom told him two things the man needs. A watch and a wallet.

We'll talk about his luxury company. Lots to break down. It's time to bring the fog on Rolla Martin unfiltered on the Black Sun Network. Let's go. In Columbus, Ohio, M. MOK celebration with the Columbus Education Association. I'll be giving the keynote speech. We are, of course, on this is the actual birth date of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We'll turn 97 years old today. And so you look at what's happening this week, but also really today begins the kickoff to various events happening all across the country, celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. King, but also the movement that he played a significant role in. I'll be here tonight. I'll be speaking in Dallas, the city of Dallas's M.K. celebration on Saturday night. There's so much to deal with. And one of the things that people often mistake is that on his birthday this weekend, folks talk about, they reflect on who he was and what he did. But what I always am saying is that we must be, if we're talking about what are you focused on, we should be doing what Dr. King would be doing.

We are writing now. Look at what's happening in this country. Attacks on DEI. The attack on the black agenda on voting rights when it comes to poverty. what ISIS doing, how they are using Gestapo tactics against American citizens. There is no doubt in my mind, if Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were alive today. He would be not using his birthday, the federal holiday on Monday, as a day off doing charitable works and those things have been happening. He would be actually protesting.

He would be actually nonviolent protests, raising the consciousness of people to the indignities that are taking place from the federal government. And so what we are seeing right now, again, in Minneapolis, with the protests happening there as well, is people are sick and tired of being sick and tired of sick and tired of what they're seeing these heavy-duty tactics used against American citizens. And when you have the federal government, led by Ice Barbie Christenom, literally defending these actions, it goes to show you how a shame for this administration is. And so we have been caught.

All right, son. Time to put out this campfire. Dad, we learned about this in school. Oh, did you now? Okay. What's first? Smokey Bear said to. First, drown it with the bucket of water, then stir it with the shovel. Wow, you sound just like him. Then he said, if it's still warm, then do it again.

Where can I learn all this? It's all on smoky bear.com with other wildfire prevention tips, because only you can prevent wildfires. Brought to you by the USDA Forest Service, your state forester, and the ad council. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Z years in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense.

I will continue getting stuff from Target. And I will continue to not pay for it. And the MAGA influencers whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulate. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things. happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride who the most delulu takes on the

internet, criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective. Join in on the insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is, you can decide who takes home the 26 IHeart Podcast Awards podcast of the year by voting at IHeartPodcastawards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at IHeartPodcastawards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen.

Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. I'll bring these verities things. And this is what she actually had to say about Americans and their proof of citizenship. Listen to this. In every situation, we're doing targeted enforcement. If we are on a target and doing an operation, there may be individuals surrounding that criminal that we may be asking who they are and why they're there and having them validate their identity. That's what we've always done in asking people who they are so that we know who's in those surroundings.

And if they are breaking our federal laws, we will detain them as well until we run that process. Folks, joining us right now from North Carolina, during North Carolina's immigration attorney, your senior Polanco. Glad to have you on the show, Ms. Polanco. Let's be clear here. What we are witnessing by ICE, what we are witnessing with their actions is beyond shameful, the treatment of American citizens, the people who have their paperwork. They don't care.

I saw before I came on the air, I saw our story where they threw tear gas. into the car of an African-American family and the babies stopped breathing. Donald Trump, Christy Knoem, Stephen Miller, they have allowed these people to unleash their level of hate against the American people, also against undocumented workers. Thank you, Mr. Rowland. Thank you so much for having me and giving me this opportunity to speak and for shedding light on this very important issue. First of all, we do not live in a police state.

We live in a free country where we have protected rights by our Constitution to walk freely in our streets. There are limits as to identifying ourselves in a vehicle, in a public setting, in a public building. But walking in the street, not only do we have the freedom to walk freely in the street without identifying ourselves, without having to prove our citizenship. We also have the right to protest and the right to assembly. and we have the right to ask authorities to identify themselves. So let's just start there. So again, for the people out there who don't know,

we always talk about know your rights. What exactly, we actually still live. Can you hear me? Yes, I can. You can hear me, correct? Yes, I can. Okay, so just understand, we have a delay. So, okay, so we have.

We have a delay, so we'll just work through that. This is where we are. They are accosting people, making demands of them when it comes to their ID, snatching people out of cars. So let people know what are their actual rights if they are approached by someone from ICE or Border Patrol? Absolutely. First of all, you have the right to remain silent.

The Constitution gives us all the protection and the right to remain silent. You also have the right to ask whether or not you're detained. We have to understand again that we do not live in a police state. We have the right to freely walk around in this country. And unless ICE has a judicial warrant, a warrant to detain or stop or arrest an individual, the individual has the freedom to walk away. So everyone enjoys these freedoms. Everyone enjoys them whether you're a US citizen or not,

whether it doesn't matter the color of your skin or the country that you are from, or whether you are a US citizen by birth or by nationality. What's important is for you to remember that you have the right to remain silent, to not have to identify your citizenship, and to ask whether or not you are detained. If you are detained,

by any authority, whether it's ICE or a local authority, then you have the right to a lawyer. You have the right for your lawyer to be present if you are going to be questioned further. Anything that you say, if you want to take with the presence of your lawyer could be used as an issue, if it would be used to get to be.

So, so here's the issue right here. If there's someone, if there's someone, if there's someone, so let's say ICE or Border Patrol approaches someone, and we've seen these videos, are you from here? I hear your accent. And if that person is a legal resident, what should their response be? Because we are seeing ICE agents and Border Patrol agents literally demand people's IDs or pass. on the spot. Can they make those demands and are we can they make those demands of people who are here legally then do we have to hand them our ID and our passport? So I'm so glad you asked that question and putting that we have to make sure that we identify whether the individual is a you a citizen with birthright or nationalized nationalization or whether we're talking about someone who is an immigrant who has a green court or temporary protective status. I want all U.S. citizens to know that they do not have to prove their citizenship. U.S. citizens do not have to prove their citizenship.

They also don't have to prove their identity unless they are driving, and there is reasonable, articulate suspicion that they have, that gives the officer a reason to stop a vehicle. So we have to maintain that understanding and protect that. right. Some non-U.S. citizens, some immigrants do have to show proof of their identity and proof of their status, including proof of their lawful permanent residency status or temporary protective status. Those individuals know who they are. And historically, what we've seen in the last year is that they have been able to show proof of their identity. And a lot of individuals have

still been detained even if they have shown proof of their lawful permanent resident status. So we have to make sure that we distinguish a U.S. citizen versus an immigrant. And depending on their status, they know that they have to show proof of their identity and of their status. And they are showing proof of their identity and their status. All right. Attorney Polanco, we certainly appreciate you joining us. Thanks a lot.

Thank you so much. I'm so glad that you are shedding light. To break, we'll be right back, rolling Martin unfiltered here on the Blackside Network. If in this country right now, you have people get up in the morning, and the only thing they can think about is how many people they can hurt, and they've got the power, that's the time for mourning. For better or worse, what makes America special, it's that legal system that's supposed to protect minorities

from the tyranny of the majority. We are at a point of a moral emergency. We must raise a voice. of outrage. We must raise a voice of compassion and we must raise a voice of unity. We are not in a crisis of party versus party. We are in a crisis of civilization, a human rights crisis and a crisis of democracy itself. And guess what? You've been chosen to make sure that those that would destroy, those that would hate, don't have the final and they don't ultimately win.

They said the quiet part out loud. Black votes are a threat, so they erased them. After the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, Republican legislatures moved fast. New voter ID laws, polling place shutdowns, purges of black voters from the rolls. Trump's Justice Department didn't stop it, they joined in. In 2018, his DOJ backed Ohio's voter purge system,

a scheme that disproportionately erased black voters, their goal, erase black votes, and political power. Yeah, that happened. These are the kinds of stories that we cover every day on Roland Martin unfiltered. Subscribe on YouTube and download the Black Star Network app. Support fact-based independent journalism that centers African Americans and the issues that matter to our community. My name is Bill Duke, and you're watching Roland Martin.

unfiltered. Folks, want to bring my panel, my Thursday panel. Join me is right now, Dr. Gray-Carre, Department of African American Studies, Howard University, joining us out of D.C., Greg, glad to have you here. Winconi, Cient, CEO and co-founder, Palaticking out of D.C., Dr. D.C., Dr. D.C., Dr. D.C., also out of Washington, D.C., glad I have all three of you here. Well, Cooney, I want to start with you, and that is this year.

I'm always bothered by how people respond. respond around this time and and I dare say with the attacks that we see from Donald Trump Stephen Miller Chrissy Nome against this country how they're utilizing the law enforcement how utilizing Border Patrol and ice there is no doubt in my mind that Dr. King and all of those foot soldiers and those civil rights leaders would there would be massive resistance massive protests against what we are seeing and this is not a moment for people to be scared and to back down from these thugs in Washington, D.C.

Martin Luther King said our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter. And I think that's exactly what we're positioned to do here today, Roland, is talk about the issues, the things that we're seeing in Minnesota and throughout our nation, frankly, are discouraging and disparaging to people of color all over this nation. And so as we are threatened by, you know, being thrust back into the 1960s and even prior to that, I think it's really, really important that we remember those words of Dr. King and continue to take the streets to protest and have to stand up for our rights. It's a shame that we have to continue to do so in 2026. But that's exactly what we have to do to honor Martin Luther King's 96th birthday.

All right, folks, I can't hear Wyn Cooney. So I'm just going to go by the video return. Nola, I'll go to you. Donald Trump, again, when you look at how they're responding, they want to provoke people. They want to attack people. They want to use the power of the government. They want a fight. And they are continuing to antagonize folks, and they're not going to stop.

And this is a moment where there has to be mass resistance against what we're seeing, because these people will go as far as they can. There are no limits when it comes to Donald Trump and his actions against the American people. Right. There needs to be resistance and strategy. The resistance part, you know, people are out there making their thoughts and feelings and their voices heard.

The strategy part. So what do we do when martial law is declared? You know, what are the conversations there? Strategically, what are people thinking about? And, you know, I want to say this one thing about fear, and this is actually something that Dr. King talked about, fear is actually quite necessary. It can be a very strong motivator, but you have to want to be able to move beyond that fear. So I know that there are tons of people out there. They are looking at all of this footage, and they're like, you know what?

I don't know if I want to be out there on those streets because I don't want to die. And honestly, I cannot blame anyone for that, right? However, as we have said since all of this has started, being outside is not the only way to get involved, but you got to do something. This is everyone on deck right now. We cannot afford for people to stay home the way that they did in 2024. Hey, Donald, you already heard Donald Trump say that he wants to do both the Insurrection Act, and that is what their goal is. and last year when I was talking to various activists, that was their concern. They want to do this.

They want to invoke that act. That's what we're seeing. You're absolutely right, Roland. Certainly, we know that factless, white nationalist judge Brett Kavanaugh, part of the MAGA 6th on the Supreme Court, wrote separately in his concurrence to the 6-3 decision in Trump v. United States a few weeks ago, to do exactly that, to open up that vein. While the court said you could not use the, they were going to uphold the injunction against using the National Guard

in Washington State and California and in Illinois, at least until the issue is resolved on the merits, Beer Kavanaugh wrote separately to underscore and support, and with a little bit more than a wink, almost like a green light, support the idea of the Insurrection Act. And of course, now you see there was a professor at Harvard who he cited favorably who was saying that this expansive power under Article 2, the Constitution allows the president to do exactly that. Let's just say that he enacts the Insurrection Act, that it survives legal challenge, and they put the military troops in the street.

Fine. I agree with what Dr. Haynes has said. Nola has said there are many ways to fight. And I think in the spirit of Martin King, the most potent weapon we have is not the protest, not the demonstration. are those things that are very potent, it is the selective buying. It is withdrawing the economic power. I don't do service projects on Martin Luther King. Everyone needs to take care of their mental health, even running back Bijan Robinson. When I'm on the field, I'm feeling the pressure, I usually just take a deep breath.

When I'm just breathing and seeing what's in front of me, everything just slows down. It just makes you feel great before I run the play. Just like Bijan, we all need a strong mental game on and off the field. Make a game plan for your mental health at love your mind playbook.org. Love your mind. Brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and the ad console. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Z years in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired.

I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense. I will continue getting stuff from Target. And I will continue to not pay for it. And the MAGA influencers, trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulation.

You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast, hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride through the most delulu takes on the internet, criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective. Join in on The Insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is, you can decide who takes home the 26 IHard Podcast Awards podcast of the year by voting at IHeartPodcastawards.com. Now through February 22nd, see all the nominees and place your vote at IHeartPodcastawards.com.

Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. Birthday because I pay taxes, and rather than paint a school building or pick up trash, my question, I think, Dr. King's question would be, where is my tax money that should have paid for the garbage pickup and for the school painting?

We need a list. We need our best organizations and platforms. to generate and then widespread disseminate lists of those organizations that support these white supremacists, and we need to break their economic backs. And it's going to be painful because I know y'all love Amazon and Jeff Bezos gave $200,000 to the Easter Egg Roll. I know you all love Google and you love meta and all those who've given millions to help build this funky ballroom or to support this 250 birthday anniversary. But let's be very clear.

When we break their economic facts, we will begin to win. We learned that lesson from Martin King in 1955 and 56 in Montgomery, Alabama. When Cooney, yesterday we had a faith leader from Minneapolis on, and on January 23rd, they're doing that. I'm here at the Columbus Education Association. The Teachers Union in Minneapolis has set out, made it clear to their teachers. You have to make a decision, which side are you going to be on? And so this is the thing that people have to understand. The economic withdrawal, what did Dr. King say on April 3rd, 1968?

He said, we must redistribute the pain. I need people to understand that. Okay, everybody on this day, we love to go back and we love to play the mountaintop part of the sermon, but if you go back and listen to the full 43-minute and 16-second sermon, you will hear he laid out, he named check companies, we must boycott. What people need to understand what we are seeing out of Washington, D.C., point blank, are absolute thugs. They have no care about the Constitution. They do not care about civil rights.

All they care about is making more money, and you have to hit them in the pocketbook. And so I'm going to be really watching to see what happens on January 23rd to see how this thing commences, because at the end of the day, they are not going to stop. You're absolutely right. And all the panelists are absolutely right. Economic destruction is the only way to bring white America to its knees, quite frankly. And the black church has been stumbling as of late. But the one thing that I could say that they're doing right is by making sure that people

are paying attention to this economic boycott. In fact, just last month, Jamal Bryant was honored at the root for that for the target boycotts and buy-ins and although he wasn't the single-handed person that put that boycott together he was hailed as the leader to that charge and I think we need to continue to follow the pattern of boycotting these organizations to ensure that these monies are not only not going to support white supremacy but we can recircle them and recycle them into our black communities the black community is a community where the dollar stays in the least and in order to truly be able to combat white supremacy we need we need to be able to fund our own

movements our own education systems and the only way to do that is to bring back the black dollar into the black community well I think also what's happening here and and and we see what happens when it begins to bill we are seeing through the polling no what happens when frankly white folks wake up and what you're seeing you're seeing people who were stunned shocked with what to Renee Good. Black people, look, we know that history, and this is a moment of reckoning for white Americans. This is a moment of reckoning for the people who were on the fence who didn't vote. The people, some of them who did vote for Donald Trump, for those independence

as well, for the people who said, oh, I don't like the things that he says, but I support the policies. Well, guess what? This is one of the policies that they actually voted for. And now, if they have second thoughts, we see his collapsing numbers among Gen Z voters, about millennial voters, among Latino voters. The only way to change is for these people to make them pay at the ballot box. So two things. Hit them economically and make them pay at the ballot box

in these elections. Absolutely. And this is a playbook out of every tyrant, out of every dictator ever. What you want to do is you want to keep the people uninformed. You want to keep them ignorant. You want to keep them starved. You want to oppress the people as much as possible.

But here's what's interesting and also kind of hopeful about being in this country is we really, we never really had a history of regime change, right? As far as we know, we've had some raggedy version of democracy, right? And it got strengthened in the 60s, but we've had some form of Republican democracy that's existed, right? So that, I bring that up to say that it's not going to be that easy. for Americans just to sit down and shut up, right? While I am actually, I could care less about that 30% or 28% of MAGA, MAGA is going to be MAGA. Again, it's about the folks who stayed at home. And like you said, it's about those independents who are seeing what's happening. But here's what I noticed today. And this is how they're going to counter the economy. Watch out for this. I noticed how inexpensive gas is. They are going to use that as a marker for the economy and they're going to bang it home over and over and over and it's going to resonate with the same sort of people who did the wrong thing in 2024. So that that onus is on the Dems and on their messaging. You know what? As I look at history grade and when I listen to people say, oh my God, this is the worst president ever. First of all, that tells me people don't have a full understanding of American history because if you go to Woodrow Wilson, if you go to Andrew Jackson, if you go to Andrew Johnson and you go to some other people as well to understand this.

But I do believe it's important to use to look at Andrew Johnson, to look at how he wanted to destroy post-reconstruction, how he wanted to re-institute white supremacy. But also it's important that President who Trump always praises, the one who ignored a Supreme Court order when it came to Native Americans and the Trail of Tears. And so we need to understand

there is precedent for the type of thuggish behavior a completely ignoring of the rule of law that we are witnessing from the thugging chief Donald Trump. Absolutely, there is. You name checked Wilson, you name checked Andrew Johnson. There have been some magnificent racists

And I would include, and I think, you know, as you talked about before, would include as well every president of the United States until Abraham Lincoln. Because they were all human traffickers or they were presidents at a time when we were human traffic. So the idea that Donald Trump could be called the worst president in American history is an exquisite display of historical amnesia, learned stupidity. Washington, Madison, Jefferson, James Monroe, Zachary Taylor, you name them all, all the way down,

Millard Fillmore, James Knox Polk, all of them presidents of a slave regime were worse than Donald Trump. Now that haven't been said, Donald Trump wants to drag us back not to the 20th century, but to the 19th. He would prefer nothing more than for us to be back into captivity, perhaps even direct captivity, obviously. But the answer to it, I think, is, and I agree with you, Nola,

there's some hope here. The historian Heather Cox Richardson gives the metaphor of the pendulum. Every time you've seen in this criminal enterprise, the pendulum swing in one direction, it swings with equal force in the other direction. When they put this criminal enterprise together in 1776 and 1787, respectively, they laid the seeds for the United States Civil War. And hundreds of thousands of people died in the Civil War, and African people fought their way out of captivity.

And then over the next century, they tried to put us back into captivity after a brief reconstruction. So what did we do? We swung that pendulum the other way and put a floor under every human being who would ever walk in the country in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s. And then they clawed their way for 60 years trying to swing the pendulum in the other direction. And they finally caught the car in the elections of 2016 and 2024. And now the pendulum gets to swing the other way. Now here's the difference between this time, the 1960s, the 1860s. Here's the difference. Oh baby Stephen Miller, my little friend, the demographics have changed. The United States of America of 2026 looks a whole lot more like the rest of the world, you little white supremacist Creight.

And as your little worldview collapses, this is your dying bleat. Because when the pendulum swings back the other way this time, it's going to have a few white people with it. It's going to have the African people with it. The indigenous Latinos, including the indigenous Latinos, who were here before any of us as well, the Asians, and when we fix it this time, it ain't never going back.

It's time to put our foots on the neck of white supremacy and snap it's increasingly brittle spine once and for all. There's where the hope lies. Just know that these pendulum swing and now it's going to swing back in the other direction, perhaps forever. Folks, gonna go to a quick break. We come back.

We'll talk about how Donald Trump not only is attacking American citizens, how he doesn't give a damn about our European allies. We'll talk about, how his thuggish behavior is being displayed on the international stage. You're watching Roland Martin Unfilcher on the Black Star Network live here in Columbus, Ohio, for the Columbus Education Association's annual MLK Gala. I'm a keynote speaker.

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Rolling at Rolandunununfilter.com. We'll be right back. This week on the other side of change. book fans, anti-intellectualism, and Trump's continued war on wisdom. This is a coordinated backlash to progress. At the end of the day, conservatives realized that they couldn't win a debate on facts. They started using our language against us, right? Remember when we were all woke and the woke movement and all that kind of stuff?

Now everything is anti-woke, right? When we're talking about including diversity, equity, inclusion, higher education. Now it's anti-D-EI. All this are efforts to suppress the truth because truth empowers people. on the other side of change, only on the Black Star Network. Hey, everybody, I'm T.D. Jackson. I want to encourage you to watch Roland Martin unfiltered. It'll blow your mind.

What we are seeing on the international stage also shows you the thuggish behavior of Donald Trump. Going in kidnapping, the president of Venezuela Maduro. The actions right now are threatening to bomb Iran. We've seen the bombing take place in Syria. see him saying that they will do whatever they necessary, even take Greenland by forth. That has forced France and other European nations to literally move troops to protect Greenland. He wants to blow up NATO. He believes that he can do whatever the hell isn't that he wants to do, and Republicans are going to support that. In fact,

yesterday, J.D. Vance broke, what cast the deciding vote, that stopped the war powers being taken from him. So that was a resolution. The more you listen to your kids, the closer you'll be. So we asked kids, what do you want your parents to hear? I feel sometimes that I'm not listened to. I would just want you to listen to me more often and evaluate situations with me and lead me towards success. Listening is a form of love. Find resources to help you support your kids and their emotional well-being at soundedouttogether.org.

That's sounded outtogether.org. Brought to you by the Ad Council and Parenthood. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Zier is in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense. I will continue getting stuff from Target. And I will continue to not pay for it.

And the MAGA influencers whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulate. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media. But you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast. Hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride through the most delulu takes on the internet, criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective. Join in on the Insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is,

You can decide who takes home the 26 IHard Podcast Awards Podcast of the year by voting at IHeartPodcastawards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at IHeart Podcast Awards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at Audible.

for Congress to say, hey, you've got to come to us before you do any more taxes of Venezuela. And so Republicans who were complaining about his actions, guess what, they buckle. Yeah, I'm talking about you, Josh Hawley. I'm talking about you, Senator Young of Alaska. And this is what we are dealing with. I want to bring in right now, Damien Murphy, the Senior Vice President of National Security and International Policy, the Center for American Progress. And Damien, his was crazy.

We have seen numerous ambassadors resign. We are seeing how they are changing, how they are treating other countries. We saw yesterday the visa applications process being stopped for 75 countries, black and brown countries. There is a brute force that is taking place. America is not treating allies like allies. Donald Trump is treating, frankly, the world.

frankly, the world like he treats his children. Yeah, no, completely agreeing, Roland, want to thank you very much for having me on. I mean, I think a lot of this goes back to a speech that J.D. Vance made in Munich about this time last year in February, where he criticized our European allies and said that Europe is under a civilizational threat, right?

And the undertone of that, what he was really saying was that, you know, too many folks were coming into Europe from abroad, too many immigrants, too many migrants, and it was changing the cultural makeup in a way that he didn't like, that people like Stephen Miller didn't like. So that's really the core of what we're seeing in terms of these attacks on our European allies, allies across the globe. You know, it's deeply seated in this view that civilization needs to look a certain way, and if it doesn't, then they're going to be on the other side. of the United States.

I want to stay right there because what people don't seem to want to accept is that the United States exported Jim Crow. The reality is when you had Americans who owned or were involved in various ventures across the world, they brought Jim Crow with them. I remember reading the book on Robert Abbott, who was the founder of the Chicago Defender. And he would do an annual trip around the world and how he talked about visiting places and being denied ability to stay at hotels that were operated by Americans. Hitler sent his emissaries to the United States to study Jim Crow to bring those practices back to Germany. And what we are seeing, yes, we're seeing these American folks who are complaining about immigrants who are complaining about people of color in these.

various countries, these African nations as well. We're seeing, we're seeing all of that. We're seeing, we're seeing all of that happen right now. So they want to tell those folks about, don't let these people in, but those countries are also dying because, frankly, their population is shrinking. That's right. That's right. Well, and I mean, we're seeing this in a really, really organized way, right? So, you know, someone like a Stephen Miller, a Steve Bannon, a J.D. Vance sees real inspiration in people like Prime Minister Orban in Hungary, you know, who has done some of the most terrible stuff with respect to immigrants and, you know, promoting this version of white Christian nationalism. So they really do kind of get sustenance from that, get inspiration from that, and spend a lot of time together. There's a lot of travel back and forth across the Atlantic to trade ideas, to network together.

You know, and you're seeing this with far-right parties across Europe in Germany with the AFD party. In the UK with the Reform Party, this guy, Nigel Farage, who runs the Reform Party there. You know, kind of an extreme fringe figure, you know, throughout, you know, these past couple years. You know, just a couple months ago got a meeting in the Oval Office with Donald Trump, right? So, you know, just so many examples where, you know, the president himself and the administration have really just spit in the eye of our European allies, those that, you know, have been close with us for so many years and have, you know, fought alongside us in places like Afghanistan and stood by us after September 11. You know, those governments that are in power right now, you know,

Trump is, you know, basically doing what he can to undermine them by empowering the far-right movements across Europe. What does it, I mean, look, you just had the woman who was granted the Nobel Peace Prize, doing all she can in a favor for Trump. She came out today saying that she presenting him her Nobel Peace Prize. Well, guess what? She can do whatever she wants to do, but his name ain't on it. He didn't win it.

He's not going to win it. And the reality is what Donald Trump wants to do, he wants everyone to be subservient to his interest. wants to force everyone and I think the only way this thing changes and we're seeing this is if these other nations say you know what we're gonna bypass y'all and we're gonna do our own trade deals we can do our own efforts because these nations have to recognize that they can no longer depend on the United States to be that friendly ally Roland it's it's already happening you know we're a little more than a year almost we're not even a year

into this administration, right? The anniversary of the inaugurations coming up. We're not even a year into this. And the Europeans have already, you know, very close to signing a trade deal with countries across Latin America. They're also very close to signing a trade deal with India, which would be a huge boom for both of their economies, right?

So the rest of the world is moving on without us. If you look at the G20 summit that happened in South Africa, you know, just about last month or two months ago, You know, the United States boycotted because the president was, you know, had all these false claims, these terrible claims that somehow the white population in South Africa is a victim of racism from the government and therefore would be given refugee status to come to the United States. So Trump, you know, boy, the administration boycotted that important conference down in South Africa, that G20 conference. And, you know, so the U.S. is absent when big important decisions. are being made on climate, on trade issues, on national security issues. We're just not at the table because of, you know, delusions that he has in his head about, you know,

racism against white people in South Africa. I mean, it's absolutely ludicrous. Absolutely. And we see, of course, when he, look, he said point blank gave a speech, hey, I want more people from Sweden in Denmark. They want white people coming into the country. They do not want black and brown people. I'm going to go to our panel with questions or comments.

Delo I'll start with you. Ann? Hey, no one. It's great to see you. I have a question for you. I'm going to take the audience a little bit out of European security. And one of the issues that irritates me to know in looking at all of this is we are actually seating so much ground to China and it is mind-blowing.

Can you speak to that a little bit and what that impact is on us domestically? So we just rolled out this new tracker at the Center for American Progress this week that looks at all the ways that the Trump administration. Yeah, it's really, it's a great tool, right? And it shows all the ways that this administration has undermined U.S. power abroad and U.S. influence abroad. And we see that most acutely, as you say, with respect to the relationship with China. And just a couple of examples, right?

You know, Roland referenced this before. So many of our ambassadors have stepped down. A lot of them have just been fired, right? The administration with really no cause and no reason has fired hundreds of US diplomats, right? So that means less Americans in embassies, manning these embassies all around the world, and that void gets filled by China.

So if you're an American business who's trying to break into a market in Southeast Asia or sub-Saharan Africa, and you need the help of the US embassy, there's less people there that can help you do that. China's filling that void. You know, we see it with the tariffs, you know, probably in the most acute way, right, where Trump has just gone on this really irrational, you know, imposing tariffs all over the world,

so no real logic to it, no real rhyme or reason to it. And, you know, what he says is that he wants to bring manufacturing back to the United States and he wants to lower prices for the American people. Well, since these tariffs have gone into effect, prices have gone up over the course of this past year for everything that people buy at the grocery store or other consumer goods that, you know, a lot of which have to be imported to the United States. And manufacturing jobs have also gone down in the country. So the, you know, the two things that he's trying to solve for, the tariffs don't do that. Again, China wins. China fills the void. You know, we also see this

in, you know, our ability to influence countries around the world and, you know, try to develop diplomatic relations with countries around the world. So, you know, a couple of our tools, communication tools that we have to do that, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe, Trump administration has gutted all of those things. How does that void get filled? Chinese broadcasts going to all these places in the local language to gain influence, and we're just seating that field all over the place, all around the world. Winconi. Thanks for having me this evening. With the abduct, of President Maduro, I just was curious, what are the greater implications for Latin

America at large? And what precedent does this set for abducting other world leaders whose policies we simply just may not agree with? Yeah. I mean, this was so clearly a breach of international law, first and foremost. But then second, he had no authority under American law to do what he did. No congressional authorization, really no even informing of Congress that he was going to do this. So, you know, I think that there are domestic, you know, pieces to this where, you know, he's clearly sidestepping the law. In terms of your question, how this plays out across the region, look, I mean, you know, this is our backyard. This is, you know, the part of the world where we should

be leaning in on all of our relationships, right? You know, diplomatically, through the business community through civil society you know kind of getting together across the region and you know what the what Trump has done with with this signal and even more importantly actually these extrajudicial killings that we're seeing all across the Caribbean I mean dozens and dozens of people being killed with you know no completely illegally right this is these are extra judicial killings that we're seeing no authority of law happening here right so the message that this sends broadly across the region is that the United States is not a trusted partner.

And those things come home to roost. They come home to roost in terms of migrant flows across the region. They come home to roost in terms of countries wanting to trade with us. They come home to roost in terms of kids wanting to study here in the United States. For so, so long, this place was a beacon for students from around the world, wanted to come here, learn in our universities. Knowla sees this at Georgetown. Wanting to learn our universities, really

feeling a magnetic draw to this place, all across the board. Universities here in the United States are seeing declined registration by foreign students. And that's because they don't feel as though this is a welcome environment to come to. So when the administration, when the president takes actions like going after Maduro in the way that he did

in an illegal fashion. It sends a message that goes much beyond Venezuela. It goes much beyond the northern part of South America. It's a message that he's sending around the world. And that's one of the US is a bully that might makes right, that that's how we conduct ourselves around the world now, and that folks just aren't welcome here. Great car.

Thank you, Roland. And thank you, Mr. Murphy. I want to pick up right there where you are, talking about and then coming through, whether be J.D. Vance in Berlin or Senator Eric Schmidt here in D.C., with an exquisitely white supremacist rant about who belongs in American, who doesn't, which I thought was just pure comedy. Could you say a few words on where you see this going in terms of the potential for, ultimately a collapse of this ideology of global white supremacy, which probably got on track four or five hundred years ago? Are we at an inflection

point as the world. I was reading Edward Luce in Financial Times the other day, he had an op-ed, how to de-risk from America. And pursuant to what you said, he's saying, you know, South Korea and Germany and Australia and Poland and Canada, maybe debates now about whether they should go nuclear. He said if Venezuela was nuclear, Nicholas Maduro would be in Caracas and not Brooklyn. The whole concept of the BRICS common currency unit, the whole idea of creating these places to go around, the swift process, they can actually deal this. You talked about the bilateral agreements in Mercosur agreement with the EU.

Are we looking at a moment when the inevitable balance of power in the world, whether you look at demographics, whether you look at powers being able to evade the United States, are we looking at that inevitable moment when the ideology of global white supremacy might have reached its breaking point? And maybe we're looking at the beginning of a renegotiated world system. What do you think about that? I mean, we're certainly starting to see indications, you know, like I mentioned before, the Mercosur agreement, other agreements, where countries are, you know, starting to hedge their bets. You know, and I think that part of this goes back to, you know, Trump's first term, right? Where, you know, so many of us that, you know, deal in the foreign policy community, deal with, you know, foreign interlock.

Everyone needs to take care of their mental health, even running back Bejan Robinson. When I'm on the field, I'm feeling the pressure, I usually just take a deep breath. When I'm just breathing and seeing what's in front of me, everything just slows down. It just makes you feel great before I run the play. Just like Bijan, we all need a strong mental game on and off the field. Make a game playing for your mental health at love your mindplaybook.org.

Love your mind. Brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and the ad console. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Ziers in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense. I will continue getting stuff from Target.

And I will continue to not pay for it. And the MAGA influencers whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulation. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things. happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride who the most delulu takes on the internet, criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective. Join in on the

insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is, You can decide who takes home the 26 IHard Podcast Awards podcast of the year by voting at IHartPodcastawards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at IHartPodcastawards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen.

Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. You know, a lot of the conversation during Trump's first term was this was all just a car crash, right? This was all just a terrible accident, and don't worry, we're going to write ourselves as a country. And, you know, countries around the world said, okay, well, you know, it seemed like, you know, this guy had a lot of popular support, and, you know, he did pretty well in the elections, but we'll, we'll buy what you're selling. And that was kind of the message when the Biden administration came in. Now when we've had conversations with those people, it's a, you know, fool me once, shame on me, or fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. You know, they're not buying it anymore.

And, you know, even if, you know, or when, when we come back into power and Democrats come back into power, it's going to be a much, much harder conversation with countries around the world, right? I mean, Trump has really changed. really changed the face of who we are and changed the character of who we are, I think, in so many pockets around the world. You know, before working at the Center for American Progress, I worked for a long time in the U.S. Senate. And with senators, we travel abroad and meet with folks around the world.

And a consistent message from, you know, senators on our side was, you know, what kind of world do you want to live in? Do you want to live in a world that's, you know, that's, you know, that's... where the rules are set by a Russia or a China, you know, kind of an authoritarian country, or do you want to live in a world where, you know, the United States is playing a leadership role? And, you know, recognizing all the flaws

that we have as a country and all the mistakes that we make, you know, countries more often than not would say, you know, we wanna be aligned with the United States. What we've seen with Trump over this past year is that the United States, in terms of how it's conducted foreign policy and domestic policy, see Minnesota and see all the repression that we're seeing

across the country, that he's making us more like Russia and more like China. And the world sees that, you know, the numbers for the United States, support for the United States, the polling shows. And that is not a good thing. Way down. No, it's not. It's not good for us. You know, it's not a good thing at all.

Danny, we appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Folks, we're about to start the program here. Brittany Noble is going to be hosting the second half of the show, but we're going to be live from here when I speak here in Columbus, Ohio. So look forward to that. So I'm going to go to a break. We'll be right back. Roller Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network for on today. The 97th birthday, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. At the end of the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965, Dr. King stood in front of the Alabama State House and told 25,000

Americans that the greatest threat to the greedy oligothy is when poor blacks and poor whites and others mobilize together and form a voting block that can fundamentally shift the economic architecture of our nation. In America today, we have fewer voting rights protections than we did when the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. And state legislatures have abused their power to try to pick their voters rather than let the voters take their legislature. Meanwhile, every day people are suffering while the greedy get richer and richer. Dr. King was right and many others were right. The billionaires who think they can buy our politicians are afraid of people coming together across dividing lines and building power together.

In 2013 and 2014, we together in this state built out the Morrill Monday movement. And in 2014, more than 80,000 people showed up in Raleigh for a mass people's assembly. assembly. We mobilized our power. We mobilized our vision. We did not continue to just resist what others were doing. We claimed the world that we wanted, the society that we wanted. And what we did energized was not partisan, it was principal. Here we are again now in 2026. And it's time to love forward together and mobilize. This is our Selma moment. And we need everybody, regardless of your race, your creed, your color, your religion. religion, your sexuality, whoever you are, if you love voting rights for all, if you love

abolishing poverty and bringing into reality, living wage, if you love health care for all, if you love, love, and grace and mercy, and do not want to buy into the religious nationalism of hate and meanness and a lack of empathy. If you want to love forward together, welcoming immigrants rather than suffering ice rage, if you love that. the environment and want to see it cared for rather than the polluters taking over. If you love fully supported public education, if you want to love, not hate, and to have peace and not war, to stand against unchecked militarization and the militarization of our cities, then it is time to come together and mobilize our power and our passion for justice.

then we now are in a moment where we must move from resistance to loving forward and mobilizing our power. So from February 11th through the 14th, North Carolinians are going to be walking and marching and caravanning from Wilson to Raleigh. And on Saturday, February 14th, Valentine's Day, we will hold a massive people's assembly for a moral agenda in Raleigh, North Carolina. saying it is time to love forward together. We are marching from a district that MAGA extremists because of a call from President Trump decided to gerrymandar the first congressional district, take it away from the people,

and we are inviting all defenders of democracy and champions of the common good to meet us in Raleigh on February 14th, to reclaim a moral agenda, an agenda for going forward to pursue the society and the democracy that we want not only for ourselves but for our children's children for somebody's been hurting our people and it's gone on far too long and we won't be quiet anymore we will love forward together hatred on the streets a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly

violence. White people are losing their their minds. There's an angry pro-Trump storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise 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 we 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 in 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 out women. This is white fear. This week on the other side of change. book fans, anti-intellectualism, and Trump's continued war on wisdom. This is a coordinated backlash to progress. At the end of the day, conservatives realized that they couldn't win a debate on facts.

They started using our language against us, right? Remember when we were all woke and the woke movement and all that kind of stuff? Now everything is anti-woke, right? When we're talking about including diversity, equity, inclusion, higher education. Now it's anti-D-EI. All this are efforts to suppress the truth because truth empowers people. on the other side of change, only on the Black Star Network. I'm Ryan Wilson, CEO co-founder of The Gathering Spot,

and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Welcome back, and thank you for staying with us. I'm Brittany Noble, filling in for Roland Martin. Well, the Trump administration is reversing course on firing nearly every employee at America's peacemaker. It's an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice that started in the 1960s. The agency is tasked with ending racial and ethnic tensions in the U.S. communities. DOJ disclosed that it had rescinded layoff notices it issued in September to 13 employees

of the Community Relations Service as part of a reduction in force. Those job cuts would have eliminated almost all of its employees, a fact civil rights group cited in a lawsuit arguing the firings were part of an unlawful effort by Trump's administration to dismantle community relations service. Now let's get straight to our panel tonight. We'll start with NOLA. What message does this send about how seriously the government takes racial peace? Sorry, I'll be the lab, but this government and race, I, you know what, I'm worried.

I'm worried because one of the things that I've been hearing from friends that are brought back, they kind of go back to nothing to do or, you know, what they were doing, like their departments and bureaus are completely destroyed. So, you know, it'll be interesting to see what this actually looks like because I have heard stories to where you wouldn't be celebrating this. What they do is they get you back because legally they have to or for whatever reason, and then your job is pretty much gone, and so you're sitting there. So they're forcing you out in a different way.

But, you know, it'll be interesting to see what happens. but I'm sorry, I'm a zero-ups to give with this administration regarding race and doing what's right. Whatever, we'll see. You almost have to laugh to keep from crying. Greg, what risk do we face if CRS had actually been eliminated? I don't, I think there obviously are risks as it relates to just, you know, the bureaucracy, the administration, you know, being able to even have a toll hold in a conversation like that. But of course, we know that the Justice Department said that it's going to reinstate the employees as a matter of administrative discretion. And it didn't say that they would be resuming work on community relations service function.

Behind this is a particularly nasty little man, a nasty little piece of work named Russell Vote, who, in addition to being a religious zealot, seems to think that because he has mastered the minutia of bureaucracy, that he, who he, of course, subscribes to the whole expansive Article II powers of the president, seems to think that even if Congress encumbers funds or votes for and gives funds for administrative functions, that the President of the United States can do over the hell he wants. I'm saying that as a backdrop to this. I think what we're faced with now is a crisis that has to be confronted in the federal legislature, in the Congress. Even as we see, I talked to Benny Thompson earlier this morning,

was interviewing Congressman Thompson, who sits, of course, in Homeland Security, and he said he was going into a meeting this morning where they're going to talk about ICE and DHS and in the appropriation bills that are being passed now, whether or not you can chop out money that's being channeled to them. Well, we know Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and them haven't had the courage to say you need to defund them. But we also know that even if they were to defund them, that this reckless presidency would simply draw the money from somewhere else and do whatever the hell they want. I think probably what's going to happen in this specific circumstances is they'll reinstate those folks

and they won't have them working on community relations service functions. And then they're going to go back to court. So we'll have to see what happened. Wintuni, what should we watch for next? I think we really need to pay attention to what Dr. Carr said. I think what's next is seeing if CRS is actually going to be reinstated, but further what the actual occupation of those in CRS is actually going to be. We know that a bipartisan appropriation package recently moved towards through Congress to

appropriate $20 million to the community relations service. What we don't know is how that money is going to be used. So I think as Americans, we need to be diligent. We need to follow this case diligently and not only be content with them reinstating those jobs, but ensuring that they're back to work doing the type of work that they were doing in 2020 when George Floyd was killed and making sure that they're able to continue to defend racial rights here in the United States. Well, we will have much more after the break.

Stay with us. You're watching Brolin Martin unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. We'll be right back. Next on the Black Table with me, Greg Carr. America is being reshaped in real time by a group of six people, unelected, and without any checks and balances. By the end of the current Supreme Court session, as you can, education, the workplace, who gets to elect our leaders, and so much more could radically change.

This week, we reconvene our legal roundtable and look at what the new America may look like and how we should respond. That's next on the Black Table, right here on the Black Star Network. On a balanced life with Dr. Jackie, we're talking about the ups and the downs of the holidays, the ebb and flow of life, those things that keep us running and gunning. But you know there comes a time The more you listen to your kids, the closer you'll be. So we asked kids, what do you want your parents to hear? I feel sometimes that I'm not listened to. I would just want you to listen to me more often and evaluate situations with me and lead me towards success.

Listening is a form of love. Find resources to help you support your kids and their emotional well-being at soundedouttogether.org. That's sounded outtogether.org. Brought to you by the Ad Council. pivotal. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Z years in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired.

I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense. I will continue getting stuff from Target and I will continue to not pay for it. And the MAGA influencers whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have

the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulate. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride through the most delulu takes on the internet, criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective. Join in on the insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is, you can decide who takes home the 26 IHard Podcast Awards Podcast of the year by voting at IHeartPodcastawards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at IHeart Podcasts. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at Audible. dot com. It's where we need to just sit down, sit back, and relax, giving you a chance to really find out who you are and how you're going to move your life forward. How do I learn?

How do I grow from this? And that's where, you know, resilience comes. So I'm literally walking this out in real time. It's just giving myself all the grace, all the space, all the permission that I need. We're talking about all of these things this week on a balanced life, Dr. Jackie here on Black Star Network. How you doing it? I'm Mark Curry and you're watching the Black Star Network.

That's why I got these glasses on because that Black Star is bright. Well, in Wednesday's committee hearing, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett dismantles the conspiracy theories surrounding January 6th and puts the facts on the record. Take a listen to how Crockett challenges the fear-based narratives being pushed by Republicans

and exposes the contradiction at the heart of their claim. about law enforcement, political persecution, and accountability. I don't know where I want to start. Like, I am so frustrated with this country, and I don't think that I'm the only one. And to know that we have former law enforcement here, as someone who worked with law enforcement consistently as a practicing lawyer, I'm quite concerned. I'm alarmed by some of the things that you said.

Specifically, Mr. Specialale, am I saying it correctly? Okay. Mr. Speciali, you said, and I may quote you incorrectly, so correct me, you were warning your family about the possibility of the FBI busting into your home. Is that correct? Close enough. Yes, because they were raiding American citizens all over the United States for trespass. And you'd agree with me that that's, I mean. No, I don't agree that you should use FBI tactical teams to raid people who are trespassing. That's not what I was saying. I'm sorry, I was moving a little slow because I wanted to make sure I quoted this correctly.

Are you aware that the FBI recently executed a search warrant at a Washington Post reporter's home? No, I'm not aware of that. Okay. But you'd agree with me that doing something like that with the FBI sounds like what you were afraid of happening. And to be clear, that never happened to you, correct? No, it didn't, but I wasn't aware of the FBI investigation for two and a half years. But you did not, so they never busted into your home. but you were concerned and you felt like that that would be wrong.

And so what I'm trying to understand is that there's a lot of complaints about the Ray FBI, and I won't opine on that, but I will make it clear. And Mr. Romano helped me out if I'm wrong, but was Mr. Ray appointed by Donald J. Trump himself? Mr. Christopher Ray, who was the FBI director. Okay, so he was appointed by Donald Trump. And right now, it's interesting because we see here and we're talking about. about domestic terrorism and every day there are Americans concerned about ice and what ICE is doing so let me ask you a different question that you may be

familiar with as it relates to the training that the average FBI officer gets before they are admitted as officers is it longer than 47 days yes or no I don't think that I'm the person that you should be asking that question I think the retired FBI agent should be. Anybody want to answer that who's been in law enforcement? Yes, ma'am. The FBI Academy ranges anywhere from, it changes in length and duration.

It can go from 12, 14, 16. It's up in up to 18, 20 weeks. Okay. Thank you so much. So here it is. We have people, and I know that there have been conversations about political opponents.

I believe it may have. have been you, Mr. Piotota, that you talked about political opponents being prosecuted. Let me ask you, Mr. Romano, though, are you aware that this DOJ has gone after Jerome Powell or is going after Jerome Powell? I'm aware of reporting to that effect, yes. Are you aware of this DOJ going after Tish James? Yes. Are you aware of this DOJ going after James Comey?

Yes, after the president tweeted that they should. And are you also aware that James Comey is not currently being prosecuted? His case was dismissed. I am. Are you also aware that Tish James case was dismissed? Yes. Are you also aware that a number of times that they tried to indict Tish James, they were unsuccessful? I am.

Now, as a career prosecutor, how many times did you have to try to get people indicted before you could finally secure an indict? I never had the grand jury rejected indictment that I present. Oh, okay. All right. Well, it seems like maybe they still need you there because they are struggling. In addition to that, I want to talk because the conspiracy theories are driving me insane. And maybe it is because I'm used to the law, just being the law and practicing and getting into a courtroom and maybe it's because I've been there. But I am so confused about how they're like, oh, these poor little people, they did nothing wrong. and that's why the president let them all out of prison. Let's talk about the process, okay?

Because you can say that an investigation has been flawed, and Lord knows, as a criminal defense attorney, it was my job to make sure that I dug into every single flaw because I can tell you in almost every single prosecution that I've had to go up against. The only thing I was looking at is how much did you mess up so that I could represent my client well, right? But it didn't mean that I would get them off.

So I'm trying to figure out, did these people, over a thousand people, get convicted of something that they did in a criminal way on January 6th, yes or no? Yes. Okay, so then you come back and they were convicted by what? A jury? Some of them? Mostly juries, some judges. And some people actually did what we call a plea bargain, correct?

Correct. Meaning that they walked in and they said, I am guilty, correct? Yes. Okay, so the final point that I'll make because I know I'm running out of time is there was some stuff about white supremacist and the concerns about people being alleged to be white supremacists. Some of the people that got convicted were neo-Nazis. Have they been clarified as white supremacists or not?

Yes. Some of the people were proud boys. Have they been declared as white supremacists or not? I believe so. Okay. And then the Confederate flag, has that sometimes been associated with white supremacist groups? I would certainly say it was during the Civil War and since... Okay. And then there's this sign. I'm not going to do it, but it looks like the okay sign with the hand gesture.

Has that been associated with white supremacy? Yes. Okay. And as one of the prosecutors that prosecuted some of these cases, did you not have defendants that you felt like may have been white supremacists based on the investigations? Yes, in some cases, we had evidence explicitly of it. Thank you so much. I'll yield. Greg, we will start with you.

What are your thoughts about what the Congresswoman just said? Well, you know, Congresswoman Crockett with her characteristic laser-like. precision was able to again just show the contradictions but I have to say that the white nationalists in MAGA and the white nationalists who support them and love them don't care about that don't care about logic they have one goal and one goal only and that is to advance their ideology is why listening to our Damien Murphy talk is very important to stress that J.D. Vance, a nasty little white supremacist, speaking in Germany to his blood

ideological kin, Steve Bannon doing the same thing, Eric Schmidt, a nasty piece of work Senator out of Missouri with an open white supremacist bleaked right here, Washington, D.C. at this conservative conference. They are all trained on one thing and one thing only. The advancement of their narrow view of humanity wrapped in the white race. So Jasmine Crockett can expose, and not only Congresswoman Crockett, but anyone can expose all of this

as many times as they want. That really doesn't matter. What does matter is how these Congresspeople, how these representatives and how these senators vote on the appropriation bills this month. A federal shutdown is unlikely of the dozen bills that collectively formed the funding of the federal government through the appropriation bills, three quarters of them are already passed the vote.

But the one bill that we need to focus on right now is the bill that's going to fund the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. And no number of got you moments in hearings is going to stack up to enough to replace enough votes to stop these white nationals dead in their tracks. and so we'll see what's going to happen and we need to keep the pressure on, which means call your representative and tell them you need to vote no on funding for ICE, no on funding for DHS. Nola, I want to move on to you.

And I got to ask, what would the response be like to January 6th if the rioters had been black? They'd be dead. We wouldn't be having a conversation. We definitely still wouldn't be holding hearings. I was at the hearings

last week, last Tuesday, the 1-6 hearings, and they were heavy. I sat in an earshot's distance from Nancy Pelosi, and I just watched her the entire time sit there as she waited patiently to give her testimony.

This was a moment in our country that we haven't felt that kind of confusion and pain since 9-11. It's not the same situation, but it is the same sort of emotional impact, like, what did I just watch? And 9-11, there were outsiders attacking us,

but these are Americans attacking the Capitol and Capitol Police folks, you know, Harry Dunn, you know, was there last week, and to know his story and to know so much of what actually happened. And the fact that we are still talking about it, having to that point, that's the maddening point of all of this. And what I love about Crockett's precision, and what I would love to see going forward because where I'm at what all it is is we have to offer the people something beyond all the foolishness in the Michigan that the Trump administration is doing. We are so busy with rapid response, rapid response. I want to see that brilliance and that creativity and that precision thinking about strategies about how to move beyond this moment. That's where I'm at with all of this. I'm tired of being distracted by, oh, what did Trump do this two seconds?

I'm tired of that. And, Kuni, why is it critical for black lawmakers to be vocal in correcting the historical record around this? I mean, I think we have to continue to be vocal about correcting all of the misinterpretations in this country. But like Nola said, I think we have to focus on what has to. happens next, right? We can continue to correct the history books as we've done for the last two, three hundred years. But unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be enough to Assange White America.

So we really do need to focus on strategies to move forward. A few months ago, we saw that Turning Point USA's little brother, Club America, was instilled in every high school in Texas, and Greg Abbott signed that into order. This is coming out of Jasmine Crockett's state of Texas. And that was scary to me because what that says is there's a pipeline directly from high school, Club America, to Turning Point USA. What does Black America? What do people of color in this country have as a breeding grounds for us to create movement forward in this country? The scariest part about white supremacy is that it's so well organized.

It's so well orchestrated. It's corporate. unfortunately, Black America still does not have a strategic thrust in terms of how do we push forward. I think Dr. Carr brought up some salient points earlier this evening about, you know, stifling them economically. But I think we really need to sit and huddle as a people and figure out how do we move forward because simply correcting the historical narrative isn't going to cut it anymore. Well, we have much more for you on the other side of the break. Roland Martin on Filter will be right back. here on the Black Star Network.

This week on a balanced life with Dr. Jackie, we're talking about the ups and the downs of the holidays, the ebb and flow of life, those things that keep us running and gunning. But you know there comes a time in each of our lives where we need to just sit down, sit back, and relax, giving you a chance to really find out who you are and how you're going to move your life forward.

The more you listen to your kids, the closer you'll be. So we asked kids, what do you want your parents to hear? hear. I feel sometimes that I'm not listened to. I would just want you to listen to me more often and evaluate situations with me and lead me towards success. Listening is a form of love. Find resources to help you support your kids and their emotional well-being at soundedouttogether.org. That's sounded outtogether.org. Brought to you by the ad council and pivotal. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Zers is in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target

that makes no actual sense. I will continue getting stuff from Target and I will continue to not pay for it. And the MAGA influencers whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulation. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast. Hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride who the most delulu takes on the internet,

criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective. Join in on the insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is, You can decide who takes home the 26 IHeart Podcast Awards Podcast of the year by voting at IHeart Podcast Awards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote

at IHeartpodcastawards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com.

How do I learn? How do I grow from this? And that's where, you know, resilience comes. I'm literally walking this out in real time. It's just giving myself all the grace, all the space, all the permission that I need. We're talking about all of these things this week on a balanced life with Dr. Jackie here on Black Star Network. This week on the other side of change. Book fans, anti-intellectualism, and Trump's continued war on wisdom. This is a coordinated

backlash to progress. At the end of the day, conservatives realized that they couldn't win a debate on facts. They started using our language against us, right? Remember when we were all woke and the woke movement and all that kind of stuff, now everything is anti-woke, right? When we're talking about including diversity, equity, inclusion, higher education. Now it's anti-D-EI. All this are efforts to suppress the truth because truth empowers people. You're watching the other side of change only on the Black Star Network. What's up? It's Talib Kuali, I'm CEO. This is the Black Star Network. Well, several career prosecutors inside the Justice Department, Civil Rights Division are walking out and it's over the lack of accountability following the deadly

ice shooting. Six senior prosecutors in the Civil Rights Division announced their exit on Monday after being told there would be no civil rights investigation until the fatal shooting of Renee Good by federal immigration agent Jonathan Ross. Prosecutors offered to drop all of their work to help investigate the Minneapolis shooting, but the Department of Justice said no. The story is now blip. The officer who killed Good is being treated like a victim instead of the criminal that he is and it's forcing the civil rights lawyers to throw in the towel. Also, a federal judge in Minnesota halts Trump's attack on the state on Wednesday U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino blocked the Trump administration from withholding $80 million

in funds from Minnesota's food stamp program. Now, the court order prevents the United States Department of Agriculture from placing the funds on hold pending the lawsuit. Minnesota officials say the funding freeze was political retaliation against Democratic leaders. Let's bring in our panel again to discuss some of these news headlines. Mekuni will begin with you. What stands out to you about these stories? What stands out to me is that there's no sense of normalcy in this country. Unfortunately, I think we have been living in the twilight zone for quite some time, certainly since President Trump has been inaugurated, and between the DOJ, Max Exodus, and what?

what's going on in Minnesota, I think it's clear that we're in a state of peril here in the United States. And we really, quite frankly, have no business in interfering in other people's countries while our country is in a state of ruin. Greg, what are your thoughts? Yeah, I agree. I agree wholeheartedly. You know, this with the six that have resigned in Minnesota, of course, the big name there, Joseph Thompson, and second in command in the office who was leading this large scale fraud inquiry that began in the Biden administration. This hollowing out of justice now, we're talking about her numbers discussed that have pushed over 3,000 total resignations or firings since Bozo and his crew came back in last January.

Pam Bondi is indefensible. She's a joke as a lawyer. as an administrator. And I think that, again, just going back when Damien Murphy was talking about, the United States of America is unilaterally abandoning any notion of being the leader in terms of the modern world system. And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

I don't have a dog in that fight. Bozo and his crew, about half his cabin, is going to Davos next week. I don't think they're going there because they think they're in a strong position. I think they're going there because I think they realize that their position is very precarious. Now, finally, the challenge we have, I think, as black people is exactly what we just earned. We need to caucus. We need to get together. We can't get everybody together.

We need to increasingly cluster together and try to figure out how we are going to weather this storm. because the United States of America in this domestic unilateral disarmament and in this international adventurism that's going to force the other countries of the world to finally grapple with a post-American world order means that the

African in America is going to have to make some very difficult choices. First and foremost, are we going to go down with these white boys? Are we going to go down with the United States of America? Are we going to try to figure out how to negotiate something very different in a post-American landscape?

Nola, I'm interested. What are your thoughts right now? Well, I'm thinking about people who ask questions about, well, why did they leave? Why don't they stay and fight? And this kind of goes to my earlier point about when the administration first started getting rid of people at hoc and then bringing people back because, you know, people actually are needed to do the work in as much as they get hard-ons about AI. we're not quite there yet, right? So, you know, people had to go back to work, but what work? And so they're making working in these spaces so uncomfortable, and you have to ask yourself at something. Do I still believe in this mission?

Is this who I want to represent, you know, in terms of what I stood by and what I watched happen, right? So to the folks that are questioning why people protest in different ways by leaving these roles, you have to understand the conditions that folks are working in. And when you see injustice, and this is true injustice, you really do need to have a come to Jesus talk with yourself. Now, what I will say is it effective when people leave these roles, right? I would suggest that this administration is going to try and do whatever it wants to do anyway. It doesn't really matter, you know, who is a roadblock, who is a moral actor, you know, who cares about ethics, who cares about the law. They're going to do it anyway.

So those are just kind of like my initial thoughts because I did see some people on social media asking, well, you know, why did they leave? You know, that doesn't make sense. You know, why would you do that? Why is that a former protest? And I just wanted to add some context. Well, thank you for that. We also have some sad news to report today. Kristen Pierce, Sherrod, the CEO of Harold's Chicken, has died at the age of 55.

She is also the daughter of the founder of Harold Pierce. Her family announced her passing on social media. They did not say when she passed away or the cause of death. Harold Chicken, a famous food chain in staple in Chicago, was founded back in 1950 by Harold Pierce and his wife Hilda. The popular chicken restaurant has been in operation for more than 70 years and expanded to eight different states. Also, the hip-hop community is mourning the loss of Grammy-nominated R&B singer John Forte. He was 50 years old. The rapper and producer was found dead on Monday afternoon at his home in Massachusetts. Police found no signs of foul play and the cause of death has not been revealed.

field. Through collaborations with rapper Wycleft John, Forte lent his talents to tracks like we trying to stay alive in Street Jeopardy. By 1998, he kicked off a solo career with the debut album titled Polly Sci. And in 2001, he dropped a follow-up called I-John. He leaves behind a wife and two kids. We have much more with Brolin Martin unfiltered. Please stay with us here on the Black Star Network. If in this country right now, you have people get up in the morning, and the only thing they can think about is how many people they can hurt, and they've got the power, that's the time for mourning.

For better or worse, what makes America special, it's that legal system that's supposed to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority. We are at a point of a moral emergency. We must raise a voice of outrage. We must raise a voice of outrage. We must raise a voice. of compassion and we must raise a voice of unity.

We are not in a crisis of party versus party. We are in a crisis of civilization, a human rights crisis and a crisis of democracy itself. And guess what? You've been chosen to make sure that those that would destroy, those that would hate, don't have the final say and they don't ultimately win. They said the quiet part out loud.

Black votes are a threat. So they erased them. After the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, Republican legislatures moved fast. New voter ID laws. Polling place shutdowns. Purges of black voters from the rolls. Trump's Justice Department didn't stop it.

They joined in. In 2018, his DOJ backed Ohio's voter purge system, a scheme that disproportionately erased black voters. Their goal, erase black votes and political power. Yeah, that happened. These are the kinds of stories that we cover every day on Roland Martin unfiltered. Subscribe on YouTube and download the Black Star Network app.

Support fact-based independent journalism that centers African Americans and the issues that matter to our community. On a next, a balanced life with me, Dr. Jackie, a relationship that we have to have. We're often afraid of it and don't like to talk about it. That's right. We're talking about our relationship. relationship with money. And here's the thing. Our relationship with money oftentimes determines

whether we have it or not. Balancing your relationship with your pocketbook. That's next on a balanced life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Black Star Network. I'm Mark Morial, president, CEO of the National Urban League, and I'm watching a Black Star Network. Well, growing up, Amir Horton's mother told him a man should always have two things, a wallet and a watch. Well, These days, he's filling his wallet with the sales from his luxury watches. Ertha by Amir. Amir joins us from Atlanta to talk about his beautiful time pieces. Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you for having me. It's such an honor. Thank you so much. Well, tell us, as I understand, you are the youngest black founder and CEO of luxury watches. Tell us more about how you got started. Rumor has it. Yes. So I have always had a passion for timepiece.

since I was a teenager. Like you said, my mother, she gave me my first watch. She just walked in the house, and she said, two things a man should always have our wallet and a watch. And so it stuck with me ever since to the point where I was wearing so many timepieces growing up. I had this dream of one day having my own collection, but it wasn't in a form of having my own brand. It was in a form of collaborating with an established watch company

because my background before diving in entrepreneurship was in television. And so initially the dream was, I'm going to become famous for working in TV, and I'm going to pursue an Emir Horton collection with a watch brand. And I moved to Los Angeles to pursue that career in television right at the college and was homeless for about four months. Despite working for one of the largest media companies in the world, I wasn't making enough money and I wasn't stable financially or in housing. And so eventually I got stable.

I said, what can I do? What can I build? really take back control of my economic freedom, but also be a better manager of my time and empower others to do the same to accomplish that mission in life. And that's when watches came to mind. And I said, instead of partnering with the brand who was already established and allowing them

to get wealthier off of my creativity and innovation, when they don't give back to communities that I come from, they don't care about efforts that I care about, why allowed them to get wealthy off from our creativity, innovation, when I can just create my own brand and position it in a way that it becomes a market leader, just like those companies I once wanted to partner with. And so that was in 2020 when I first launched a brand.

And so we're coming up on six years this year and have made really great success so far. Well, congratulations. You are certainly an inspiration. Tell us more about what makes your watches stand out, of course. Yeah, so I would say one of the biggest things that our customers appreciate about our time pieces and comparison to the others is the versatility of it.

They appreciate that they can wear it across any occasion. And that's what we really proud ourselves on, is being able to add a touch of luxury to any attire for any occasion and don't have to break the bank in order to do that. When I was coming up, that was one of the first things that I took notice of was, I'm like, I like these timepieces, but I can't wear it everywhere that I go. And if I do find a timepiece that I could find, that I could wear for any occasion or any with any attire, I had to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to be able to do that. And so our customers really love that they can wear this for no matter where they're going.

And so our products are unisex. We don't have men and women. Everyone needs to take care of their mental health, even running back Bijan Robinson. When I'm on the field, I'm feeling the pressure. I usually just take a deep breath. When I'm just breathing and seeing what's in front of me, everything just slows down. It just makes you feel great before I run the play. Just like Bijan, we all need a strong mental game on and off the field.

Make a game plan for your mental health at love your mind playbook.org. Love your mind. Brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and the ad console. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Z years in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense.

I will continue getting stuff from Target. And I will continue to not pay for it. And the MAGA influencers, whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulation. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast, hosted by me, Brad Palumbo.

Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride who the most delulu takes on the internet, criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective. Join in on the Insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is, you can decide who takes home the 26 IHeart Podcast Awards podcast of the year by voting at IHeartPodcastawards.com. Now through February 22nd, see all the nominees and place your vote at IHeartPodcastawards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible.

There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. Instead, we have dawn and dusk. And so if you're looking for a timepiece during the evening where you're going out to dinner, those will fall under our dust tone colors. And then during the day, you want to hit a brunch with your friends. We got something under the Dawn Collection as well. Tell us more about how you want people to feel when they put on one of your time.

pieces. Yeah, definitely confident. You're going to feel confident. I know for me, every time I put on a piece, I feel confident. I feel empowered that I can demand a room without happen to say anything. And that's what our products do. They're very bold, they're minimum, they're distinctive. And they will speak before you say a word in the room and they will start conversations for you. And so when you walk into a room where you're wearing an earth to watch, that's what I want you to feel is that I can own this room. I am in control of my mission. I'm in controlling my time and I'm here to take business. I love that.

Let's bring in our panel. Greg, we'll start with you. Any questions for Amir? Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Brittany. I appreciate you. And brother, Amir, Philly stand up, brother.

Yes, sir. You definitely got to do that. Man, I was looking at your website. I like that Vision Collective, a collection, particularly that kind of aqua join. I'm like, I'm going to have to scoot that. Kajja, just a quick question. You seem to have a real deep command of time pieces. There's a signature style that looks like many of your timepieces have with that little pie wedge

on the left hand side, I guess left facing us. Could you explain, you know, how you develop that watch face design? And then maybe if you have maybe a moment to walk us through one of the five pillars that I saw on your website, this whole question of social justice, this whole question of how to you want your company to really have a dimension that is always giving back to the people and appreciate you brother yeah most certainly so we are working with our manufacturer they have been in this industry for over a hundred plus years and one of the things that I told them like yes this space is very is becoming oversaturated with new markets overseas like in China and India

is becoming more easy to create a watch and so one of my things that I do like internally I have a very strategic creative map that I go through when I am designing a new design and a new product with our vision collection I actually was in a very dark space just an entrepreneurship because we were sold out of inventory and it was more money going out and it wasn't that wasn't coming in because we were sold out and so trying to continue to bootstrap a business with no limited with limited funding limited marketing all those things it was very very tough but the only thing that kept me going was my vision and so So the design philosophy behind our products are always supposed to tell a story.

And even in this watch, there's actually pigmentation inside of it that illuminates in the dark. And I said, I want this to illuminate because even in our darkest moment of time, we have to be able to see our vision at all costs. And so I wanted to ensure that our manufacturer, I needed not only the time, but I wanted us to see the days of the week. I wanted us to see the calendar day on there. I know we live in a digital air where we can get that. information on our phone but I'm like no I want to go into okay get that whole beautiful beautiful thank you brother yep yes when Cooney do you have any questions sure Amir this was really incredible I love how the time pieces look

I love that it's named after after your grandmother I think that's really really impactful a question as you know a lot of the times we don't connect as often as we should with our international brothers and sisters do you guys ship internationally and what has been your imprint maybe on the continent and beyond that yeah that I am exploring it one of my goals for the brand is to get ethically sourced gold and ideally I would love to get that from the continent so I have been working with our manufacturer for about a year some change to see how can we make that happen

of course we have people always asking can we be brand ambassadors in So I have never been over there. That is my goal to go over there and actually be able to meet with people, but we do sell internationally. We have customers in Canada. I've been on the cover of magazines in Canada, also in the UK,

so we have some customers over there as well. And so my vision for this brand, the name Earth is literally in the name of the company. I'm thinking global. That's where I want to go. Love it. Thank you. Thank you. And Nola.

Oh, my goodness. I have compliments and then I have a question. So first and foremost, that time spent in Hollywood, it is definitely working for you in the way that you are able to bring your own story into the way you talk about your watches. And I think that's so powerful and you do it effortlessly. So your time in Hollywood, you definitely picked up a few things because your storytelling's on point, brother. Like, for real, for real.

So that's one thing. And then secondly, I just want to say kudos to you because, you know, I'm one of these women. like a very elegant man. You don't have to have all the bells and whistles. I don't like that. You know, my grandfather and my father, they wore elegant watches and the watch was like the centerpiece for them. So that kind of brings back that nostalgia for me, you know, women who tend to like more of an elegant styled man. So those compliments, I just wanted to get out of the way. Part of your storytelling, you're talking about ethics, you're talking about social justice, you're talking about community. Now, we are seeing in real time,

When, you know, we're seeing with Uncle Nearest, we're seeing with the black makeup artist Pat McGrath. We are seeing when brands, good brands, start to scale. And, you know, you get some of that infected money in your brand and it kind of messes up your vision. How are you circumnavigating that? How are you dealing with that? How can you remain ethical while also, I'm assuming, have goals of scaling? That's a really great question. and something I have been thinking about quite a lot because my thing is to I'm trying to

position the brand in a way that it can rely on me not being being absent and so in order to do that in order to build a billion dollar brand multi-million dollar brand oftentimes that comes with taking up capital investment and I know that you know trying to release full control but in a way that does not affect the integrity of what I am building. I'm still trying to figure that out. I know Dr. Greta asked earlier today about like the social piece, the social aspect of my company. Something that I take pride in and really, really passionate about is being there for young black men, especially young black men in Philadelphia. And so like last year, we became from what I was told at least the first black watch company in Atlanta to partner with men's warehouse to take

under-resourced teenage black boys on their senior prom where we provided them with the suits, we provided them with the haircuts, everything that they need, as well as a luxury timepiece, many of which was the first luxury item that they have ever owned, ever in life, never even thought they could have a luxury watch. And so when I think about those things and how I want to show up from my community and having to take investment, which oftentimes comes with losing control, we're still trying to navigate what that looks like for the brand in long term, honestly. Amir, before we let you go, can you tell us a little bit more about the connection with your grandmother and where the name of the company came from? Yeah, so, Ertha, my grandma, her and my pop pop, they actually watch it right now.

They are huge fans of Roland Martin, maybe on their TV, turn to Roland on the filter every day. So they watch it right now. But my grandmother, she is, she's my go-to person. You know, she's the matriarch in our family. She's the person who everyone goes to. She's a God-faring grandmom too, and she's literally my best friend. And so when I was thinking about what I wanted to name this company, I was like, I wanted to represent strength. I wanted to represent Legacy, and Ertha was the first name that came to my mind.

Wow. Well, I know that they are watching right now, and I know that they are so proud. So we thank them for their supports, and we thank you for sharing a little bit about your story, and we'll have to support you. Thank you, gosh. Shop Black Star Network, Shop Eartha. I appreciate you guys so much. Absolutely. Thank you so much for joining us.

And thank you everyone at home for watching Roland Martin unfiltered tonight. Roland Martin, we'll be back again tomorrow at the same time. Appreciate you. Have a wonderful night. We'll see you soon. The more you listen to your kids, the closer you'll be. So we asked kids, what do you want your parents to hear? I feel sometimes that I'm not listening.

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