#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Monkeypox Cases Soar, LA Shreveport mayor disqualified, Black-owned bandaid company 'Browndages'

Episode Date: August 3, 2022

8.2.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Monkeypox Cases Soar, LA Shreveport mayor disqualified, Black-owned bandaid company 'Browndages' A spike in Monkeypox cases is forcing the state of California into a state of Emergency,I'll talk to an Infectious disease specialist about what you can do to stay safe. More stories of racial discrimination at entertainment parks are popping up after news of the sesame place incident in Philadelphia went viral. You'll meet a family who had a similar encounter at a New York Lego-land. We are now eight months into the year, and a new report finds that there have been more police killings in 2022 than ever. We'll speak with Samuel Sinyangwe of Mapping Police Violence about these alarming numbers. And the current Mayor of Shreveport says he's disqualified from the upcoming mayoral election. I'll talk to Mayor Adrian Perkins about a court ruling that left his name off the ballot. And in tonight's marketplace segment, a black-owned bandaid company. Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You dig? Today is Tuesday, August 2nd, 2022. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Monkeypox now declared a public health crisis in the state of California. Exactly what is it? How major is this? We'll have a black infectious disease expert here to tell you all about it. Legoland is being sued for discrimination. Folks, it's not the Sesame Place. Another amusement park targeting black folks will have a lawyer

who has filed that particular lawsuit on today's show. Also, folks, eight months, eight months into the year and already police have killed more people in America this year than they did last year. We'll have the data man behind a study that shows you what's happening with police killings all across America. Also on today's show, the mayor of Shreveport has been disqualified from running for reelection. Mayor Adrian Perkins will be joining us right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. And did y'all know there's a black band-aid company? Yep, we have them here in our Marketplace segment where we feature black-owned businesses.

Folks, it is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the biz, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the find. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's Roland.

Best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's on go-go-royal It's rolling Martin Rolling with rolling now It's Roland Martin Yeah Yeah Yeah Rolling with Roland now Yeah

He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's Roland Martin Now Martin Folks, another state has declared a state of emergency due to monkeypox. It is growing across the country and across the world. Nearly 800 cases have been reported in California. Governor Gavin Newsom declared the state of emergency on Monday and will help coordinate a government wide response. This comes after cities after New York state, as well as San Francisco, declared a public health crisis.

We're joined now by Dr. Alexia Gaffney. She's a infectious disease expert. And we're certainly glad to have her here. So first and foremost, Dr. Gaffney, what the hell is monkeypox? So monkeypox is an infection primarily of the skin caused by a orthopoxvirus or monkeypoxvirus. It is not at all related to chickenpox. I've gotten a lot of questions about that. So we'll just get that out the way. If you've had chickenpox or been vaccinated against it, it doesn't matter. It doesn't help you with monkey pox

because chicken pox is not a true pox virus. So monkey pox, smallpox, pox viruses are viruses that can be transmitted by multiple routes of transmission. And what they clinically present with are these very prominent pox marks or, you know, fluid filled blisters or lesions on the skin. And in the case of monkey pox, you often, but not in the case of this particular outbreak that we're seeing, but in the traditional case of monkey pox, you would often see lesions that began on the face, around the mouth, around the eyes, and then kind of spread through the rest of the body. In the cases that we're seeing with these current outbreaks of monkeypox throughout the United States and throughout Europe and outside of Central and Western Africa,

where they traditionally occur, we're seeing spread of lesions that are starting in the stomach, the abdominal region. We're seeing lots of cases where people are having lesions on the genitals and the rectal mucosa because although this is not a sexually transmitted infection, we are seeing sexually related exposures and possible sexual transmission. But the primary mode of transition is through respiratory droplets, right? So if I'm speaking and you and I

are within three or four feet of one another and I have those little spittles of saliva that you can see, that can carry that virus that can land on your face, it can land in your mouth or in your nose, and that's why we see the traditional spread from the face down. Monkeypox virus can also be spread through skin-to-skin transmission, right? So if I have lesions on my skin, whether I know they're monkeypox or not, if someone else has skin to skin contact with those lesions, they can pick up the virus that way. So some of this, you know, quote unquote, sexual transmission may be secondary to skin to skin contact.

And then not everybody who's experiencing monkeypox in this current public health emergency is having skin lesions. We're seeing patients who have lesions in the mouth, in the back of the throat. We're seeing people who have lesions in the eyes. We're seeing people who have lesions in the rectal tissue or the anal tissue when we're talking about sexually transmitted cases. And so there's multiple routes of transmission. And so, you know, this picture here that you're showing is probably someone who's had the infection for some time. Their lesions are starting to crust over. And that's what happens, right? Someone, and I didn't even mention this. Let me take a step back. So the rash is not even the first symptom, Roland.

People first become ill with what we call a prodrome of flu-like symptoms. And we always say that, right? Flu-like symptoms. And you can have flu-like symptoms even when you don't have the flu. So you can have fever, fatigue, malaise, headaches. You might have swollen glands or lymph nodes in the neck area, the armpits, the groin, usually in proximity to where the virus was picked up.

And then people may have muscle aches, joint pains. And then a week or so after that, they may begin to develop these rashes. And initially, the rashes are like flesh colored and they just start to become raised. They're blister like, but they don't have that thin, transparent, clear fluid filled appearance like chicken pox or herpes lesions.

The lesions are usually thicker. And then as the lesions age, which is over a period of two to four weeks, the lesions begin to crust over and eventually the scabs will fall off and then the skin will heal. Unlike chickenpox or herpes virus outbreaks, the lesions that monkeypox causes can be very scarring and very disfiguring. So someone like this person here may have evidence of those pockmarks for months or years to come, as opposed to other, yeah, where you get thin blisters, they may heal up and you may never know they were there. So the running joke on social media is that, oh, people will take monkeypox virus more seriously because people don't mind if they're sick or dead, but people don't want to be ugly. And, you know, I think that's just, you know, points to where we are as a society, as a culture, and as a nation.

Like, this is a very serious condition. It can have serious consequences beyond just this scarring. And, you know, here we are yet again cracking jokes, stigmatizing this condition, and trying to link it to solely one group of people. And we'll get into that. But in more serious cases, beyond just feeling terrible for a week and having painful rashes that can persist for two to four weeks, people can also have encephalitis,

so inflammation of the brain. I talked about how lesions can involve the eye, so they can involve the eyelids, but they can also involve like the whites of the eyes, the sclera or the conjunctival tissue. And when that happens, there can be a lot of inflammation and a lot of scarring. People can have visual disturbance and even blindness as a result of that. People can have vasculitis or inflammation of the blood vessels. People can have vasculitis or inflammation of the blood vessels. People can have gut symptoms. So this virus is not just limited to the skin. And so we've seen cases of men who have sex with men who have had rectal involvement

and have incredible rectal pain, incredible abdominal pain, lack of appetite, inability to eat. So, Doc, hold on. I want you to hold right there. Hold on right there because I want you to explain why is the World Health Organization recommending that gay and bisexual men limit sexual partners? One of the stories I pull up here says about 99% of monkeypox cases are among men. And at least 95%

of those patients are men who have sex with other men. Why? And you have, the New York Times has a story here where the headline was, in monkeypox, gay men confront a crisis with echoes of the past? Yeah, so it really is just where the virus happened to land, right? So if I went to Europe or if I went to Central Africa or Western Africa and I was patient zero who happened to bring monkeypox back home with me or I happened to have, you know, close contact with someone who had that type of travel history or exposure, and I happen to bring that virus back to my community, then we would be saying, what, monkeypox is a disease of Black women physicians or Black women entrepreneurs? So it just happens to be that the virus first landed in someone in that community.

And then think about our social networks, right? Roland, you probably hang with people who work in media. I hang with people who work in medicine. And gay men or men who have sex with men, whether they identify as gay or not, are hanging out with and socializing with other gay men and men who have sex with men. So because of the very contagious nature of this virus and because you can get it through

multiple routes of transmission, it is spreading within that community. And so, yes, we do want to protect that community because that's where the virus is predominating right now. But we are kidding ourselves if we believe that this virus is going to solely stay within the gay male population. It can be spread through so many different routes, and we didn't even talk about the fact that you can get it from furniture,

bed linens, shared towels, you know. So think about- Okay, so let's, so let's, so let's, okay, so, all right, so let's just stop right there, because because so I was on a thread earlier with some folks and we were headed to Las Vegas for the National Association of Black Journalists Convention. And these folks are like, oh, hell, some of them talk about they bringing their own beds, bed linen, all kind of other stuff. So. All right. How then? Look, I, I got to give a speech tomorrow in Tampa. I didn't fly to Las Vegas. All right, so how does a person protect themselves?

Is there some type, is there a disinfectant that we can actually buy to spray on the sheets and the linen? And then how do you even know somebody potentially has it? If it's so contagious, how do we and then what do I know? How do you even know somebody potentially has it? It's so contagious. How do you protect yourself? So it's think about like with COVID, right? If you were someone who was serious about preventing COVID and you were going to a media function, a family function, a church function, you would ask, well, what's the rules, right? Do people have to wear masks? Do people have to isolate? Or am I gathering with a group of people who is taking precautions not to go out

and get infections? A lot of my patients who know they're at risk, they come in and tell me, you know, Dr. Gaffney, I'm concerned I'm at risk because, you know, I'm going to bars and going to clubs. I'm going to the hangouts and the meetup spots. You know, I I don't necessarily have multiple partners, but my partners have multiple partners or, you know, people are saying I have multiple partners. And I know this is what they're linking this virus to. But it's more than that. So really it's about knowing what the people you are in contact with are up to and knowing whether or not you are surrounded by a group of high risk individuals. So I'm still wearing my, okay, doc. Okay. Okay. Hold on.

All right. All right. So, okay. So hold up. All right. Okay. So hold on. So it's a perfect example. Okay. So I'm going to a convention. It's going to be 3000 people there. It is a perfect example. Okay, so I'm going to a convention. It's going to be 3,000 people there. It's in Las Vegas. Okay? I don't know where in the hell these people have been. So if you can get monkeypox that's on furniture and whatever the hell, so what the hell are we supposed to do?

So same thing like we've been doing, right? Wash our hands. Hopefully the hotel or convention center that you all are visiting is doing things like disinfecting the surfaces, tabletops, desktops, you know, the chairs that you all will be seated in. Bed linen should be washed in a hotel with hot water and some type of disinfecting process. So hopefully you're staying somewhere where the bed sheets and bed linens have been changed. That's all you can do. That's all you can ask. Is there anything? So I had someone say they were going to get hold on one second.

They said they were going to get the Clorox disinfecting mist for the sheets. Waste of money. Does that actually work? with bleach or disinfectants that are labeled as being antiviral or killing viruses on contact. With bed sheets, bed linens, I mean, you would have to saturate them and let them dry. So that's a little challenging. You know, I would go somewhere where they have good ratings and where I think they're, you know, cleaning their bed linens. And I suppose you could lice all the sheets, but I, no one can make any promises regarding that, you know, in terms of what you could realistically wipe down and disinfect when you get on the airplane,

right? Wipe down the window, wipe down the armrest, right? Wipe down the seatbelt buckles, wipe down the tray tables, and then clean your hands with disinfectant afterwards. I wouldn't be wearing short shorts or short pants on an airplane, a train, or any of those things. I'd be wearing long pants, you know, because you're sitting in a seat for hours and they're not cleaning planes the same way they did

when COVID first landed. And I'm sure they're not changing their cleaning practices just because a particular group of people is now predominantly impacted by monkeypox. We don't see this as an overall public health issue. We do. It is. We know it is. But general society doesn't. The news doesn't. And it's being reported as just affecting this one group of people. And until that changes, we're not going to see the types of universal precautions or universal cleaning where we can expect to just go sit down on any random chair, airplane seat,

train seat surface, and feel safe and protected. So for me, I don't ever get on an airplane in shorts. And this certainly would not be a time get on an airplane in shorts. Um, and this certainly would not be a time where I would start doing that. I would continue to wipe things down with disinfectant, um, and clean my hands as we have been doing over the course of the pandemic. I've never been on a plane without a mask, even pre-pandemic, but certainly since the pandemic. And I have no intention to do so. Nothing on an airplane is so amazing that I need to be breathing in the air of the people around me

because sick people get on and off planes every single day. All right, so I just posted in this chat, I said, I have a black infectious disease expert on now. And she said that Clorox disinfectant ain't going to do shit. She said you would have to saturate them and let them dry. And the response was, I'm bringing my own sheets. So listen, bring your own. Lord.

But, you know, there's so many things to talk about and so many things that we talk about in the background as a medical community that the general public is not privy to. the world, there have been cases where someone who works in a healthcare setting or someone who's taking care of someone with monkeypox, like stripped the bed and gathered up the sheets and got monkeypox infection that way, right? Because we just said this virus can live on the surface of things. So you don't want to be sharing towels and washcloths and you want to make sure, yes, that you have access to clean bed linens, but you better doggone protect your skin if you're going to go in a hotel with the concern in your mind

that I need to bring my own sheets because I don't trust their sheets. Well, if you don't trust their sheets, you don't want to take them up with, you know, short sleeves on and gather them and go throw them in the corner. Now you've had skin-to-skin contact with a fomite

or an inanimate object that can potentially spread this infection. So there's so many things to think about. And I think we just have to be, you know, reasonable. We have to keep our wits about ourselves and we just have to take basic precautions. Like, I'm shocked that, you know, people didn't really have a habit

of just washing their hands and keeping their hands clean pre-pandemic. I'm glad that folks who didn't have learned, but we have to keep that up at this point. I know, it's a lot. Shit, COVID, monkeypox, this shit is depressing. All right, I know I got some questions from my panel. Ask your way.

Let me just go ahead with the questions from my panelists. I got Demario Solomon-Simmons, civil rights attorney and founder of Justice for Greenwood, Michael Imhotep host, the African History Network show. Got a Cleo Monago social architect, chief advisor, Black Men's Exchange. Glad to have all three of y'all here. I know Demario is real happy. The Omega Convention is over because that monkeypox could have spread real quick there. So with all the shenanigans that were happening in Charlotte, but we, oh, you didn't think I was going to take a shot?

There's going to be some skin contact. Y'all don't keep y'all's clothes on. Let, let the ass know, Doc. See? See? There's some omegas around. See? There's going to be some clothes off and some skin-to-skin contacts.

So any omega meeting can be a breeding ground for monkeypox. All right, Mario, you get the first question then. I went to HBCU, I know. Demario, you're muted. Wait, we can't hear you. You're muted. Oh, sorry. I'm sorry.

I was laughing so hard. My God, I can't even say anything. Bros, keep your shirts on. Your sister's doctor just said you can't even wear shorts on a plane. I mean, this stuff, I'm feeling rolling. This stuff is crazy. Monkey Paws. Doc, I know you already said it, but can you just once again, what is the best way to protect yourself in addition to keeping all your clothes on, to my brother and my frat brothers. So, know what's going

on in the environment that you're traveling to, right? If I'm in New York, we have the highest number of cases, and there are hot spots for the cases based on people's social activities and social behaviors.

So if I am going to travel in a state where there's a higher prevalence of the virus and I'm going to, and I know I'm going to hang out with a group of folks who are more likely to have the virus just based on people's social networks and where the virus is spreading right now, then maybe I'm going gonna fall back, right? But if I'm a journalist, I'm just going to hang out

with journalists who've been generally at work, they're not on the party scene, um, and hopefully they're doing basic things like wearing masks and washing their hands, and that they're reasonable people who would stay their butts at home if they had flu-like symptoms for any reason, then I feel pretty reasonable about that, right?

We tend to run in similar circles, whether it is our work groups or our social groups or our parenting groups or whatever the case may be. So you kind of know who's taking things seriously and who's not, and you can just kind of survey who's taking things seriously and who's not. And you can just kind of survey and ask questions. Beyond that, you're going to keep wearing a mask because you don't want to pick up COVID or other respiratory viruses or things that are out there. You're going to wash

your hands. You're going to avoid touching your face or touching your skin unnecessarily. And you're gonna avoid close contact with people whom you don't know and who haven't... who... You know, you don't know what they've been up to. Now, when you gather with 3,000 people for working purposes and things like that, well, maybe you're not gonna wear your mask on the stage to-to give the talk or whatever,

but maybe if there's a huge networking event or everybody's in the room, you might keep your mask on when you're shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of folks or standing in a circle within six feet talking to a bunch of folks. You know, protect yourself

in all the other ways that you can from everything else out there, COVID and otherwise. And then, you know, we don't all have access to a monkeypox vaccine. So the most important thing to do is if you develop symptoms, you know,

go seek medical attention immediately. And Doc, first of all, you must have never been to a NADJ conference. They're gonna be partyingying and all that stuff. That's what Roland does. I thought you knew that. It's a lot damn safer than an Omega convention. I can tell you that.

I don't know. I've been to plenty of NABJ conferences with you, Roland. I don't know how safe it is. Now, Doc, one other question, and I'm done. What are the symptoms? Trust me, it's safer than y'all conclave. Hey, shout out to our new grand boss of this, brother Ricky Lewis. But, Doc, what are the symptoms besides the flu?

Hey, man, come on. Come on. Hey, we ain't got time for all that. Focus on monkeypox. So before the rash occurs, people will have what we call a prodrome. So early symptoms are very nonspecific. It may be fever, but it may not be fever. But people typically will get fatigue or, you know, feel very tired or malaise. They'll have headaches, muscle aches, joint pains. They may have swollen

glands or lymph nodes in the neck, armpit, or, like, groin area. And that's typically related to the area of the body where they had exposure or contact with the virus. And then a week or so after that, or a week to two weeks, people can begin to develop the rash. And the rash starts off as, like, firm, fluid-filled... I'm gonna say blisters, but they're not really blisters because they have a thicker skin or thicker wall than a typical blister would. And they usually pop up in crops or clusters and lesions can appear at different times.

So and that can occur over a course of like two to four weeks is typically how long people are sick. So if people, you know, are not feeling well, they need to stay their butts at home. And people, if they're not feeling well, they need to, you know, reach back to the people that they've had previous contact with and see if anybody has been diagnosed with anything. Of course, you're going to screen for all the things that you would get screened for, right? Do you have COVID or not? Tests are very readily available.

Do you have flu? Do you have some other identifiable condition that can be easily tested for? Because testing for monkeypox requires us as clinicians right now to find a lesion, unroof that lesion, scrub the base of it with a special swab, and send it to a lab for PCR testing to see is it monkeypox or does it test positive for orthopoxvirus. And that's how we're confirming cases right now. I gave you way more than you asked.

All right. All right. Well, Dr. Gaffney, I appreciate it. I've got my next guest waiting. We've got lots more questions, but it won't be the last time we actually have some questions with regarding to this issue of monkeypox. Hopefully these people will take care of themselves because damn we already got dealing with covid now monkeypox i don't even want to know what's what's the third you know they say this stuff works in threes i don't even want to know what's number three uh dr dr gaffney with

polio i lord all right doc we appreciate it thanks a lot thanks for having me on you all have a great day polio right, folks. We've got to come back real quick. When we come back, we'll talk about this lawsuit dealing with Legoland. No, not Sesame Place. Now some black folks said they've been discriminated against at Legoland. Damn! That's next on Roller Mark Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders?

Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing, creating, making moves

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for the whole year. You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com Hey, I'm Antonique Smith. Hello, everyone. All right, we've been telling you about Sesame Street and the lawsuits there. Now you got more stories across the nation dealing with unjust treatment.

A Connecticut family, folks, a Connecticut woman says she and her family were mistreated at Legoland in New York. Bridgeport mom Brianna Ramsey says last month she was at Legoland when she felt like her daughter and nephew were ignored by costume characters in a video she took during a dance party she says when she watched it back it was clear to her that the white children got greeted with enthusiasm and the children who were not white were overlooked here is the video is that what you're talking I think I make it. Legoland issued this statement in response to the allegations. They said providing a safe, fun environment for children and their families is our number one priority. As soon as we were made aware of this incident, we immediately attempted to contact the guest and open an urgent investigation. Our company has zero tolerance for any behavior which doesn't make our guests feel fully included. We always strive to create an environment and experience where everyone feels welcome. We are

joined now by Breonna Ramsey and her sister-in-law, Shaquana Johnson-Williams, as well as the family's attorney, Darnell Crossland. Glad to have all three of you here. First off, Brianna, when did this happen? Hi, this happened on June 14, 2022. And first of all, you showed that video there. So what was the total amount of time? Did the characters ever come over to the children, ever interact with them, ever greet them? So while we were there, I want to say they were dancing for about 10 minutes. We came in the middle of the dance party. We didn't get to see it from the beginning, but throughout the dance

party, the only time that they interacted with the children is when the children were trying to go up to the Lego character as they were nudging them back from getting in contact with them. But as far as the employees dancing with his children, they did not dance with them. In terms of, we read the statement there from the company, Darnell. Did they actually connect? Have you all actually talked? What conversation is taking place?

So far, Matt Besterman, he's the head of public relations. He's a public relations manager. And he sent out an email, which I have in front of me, giving a statement that he's committed to diversity, et cetera. And so within the next day or two, I plan a meeting either in person or by video with him. So that's the only thing we got back so far. Shaquana, in terms of the experience, did the children say anything? Were they aware of this in real time, or was it when you went back and looked at the video? Well, when me and my son and my niece and Brianna were walking back to the car,

my son was asking me why did they not want to be his friend. So he understood what was going on. He just didn't know the severity of everything. And so what conversations, Shaquana and Brianna, did y'all actually have to have with the children? Well, I explained to my son, you know, you're going to have people that don't want to be your friend, but you still have to continue to be nice to people.

It's hard to explain to a four-year-old initially what's happening when you're still shocked by it happening at a place where you think you're going to enjoy yourself. Brianna? I agree with Shaquana. It was very hard for us to have a conversation with our children to explain as to what happened, as this isn't something normal that we're used to. My two-year-old, she doesn't completely understand, but as you see here in the video, when the employee walks past her,

she stops dancing and she's looking like, okay, and he stops dancing as well. But as we're going back to the car and hearing a child say, why don't they want to be my friend? Why won't they play with me? It's very hard to explain and it's very sad because in the world that we live in today, we didn't expect for this to happen, nor would we want this to happen to anyone.

So, Darnell, what do you want to see happen? So, Roland, it's just important for us to understand a couple of things. and Sesame Place and these different institutions, although they're private institutions, they're so large that we sort of look at them as a quasi-governmental agency, where they should respect the federal mandates of equality and not do anything that's based on racial discrimination. They're selling a product, and that product is the experience. The kids are supposed to have a great experience. And when you look at what happened here, there's definitely product liability here, because the experience is defective. If these kids are now traumatized, they're not feeling love,

they don't feel like they're liked, they feel like no one wants to be their friends, then that product is damaging these children. And if that's the product that they're going to be selling, then they need to stop selling those products. So we were reminded as Black people that this was June 14th. This was five days before Juneteenth, which we celebrate allegedly being free from slavery and from this type of discrimination. And this is what happens. So when Billy Murphy and Ben Crump and other people started coming out with this, and then I get this call, we realize that it's not an isolated incident. This is truly like a Me Too movement where these families who experienced this felt like they had no one to turn to,

and they felt like it was just them. But when everyone else starts coming forward, you realize quickly it's not just you. And so what we want now is a real sit-down. We want policy changes to be in place. We want these people to be fully refunded for every dime they spent that day for that experience that was defective. And then we want

other damages that may send a message to these other parks that this shouldn't happen. All right. Well, look, we certainly will let us know what happens with this case. As you said, we're seeing we saw what happened with Sesame Place and now we're seeing what's happening here. Let us know how it gets resolved. Thank you. Thank you. All right, folks, I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Thank you so very much. The thing here, look, I see people commenting in our message board saying, oh, this is a reach.

Well, some people said the exact same thing about Sesame Place until other parents begin to come out as well. So don't be quick to call something a reach, folks, when you actually have what is a problem here. All right. Let's talk about this next story. And that is Byron Allen. We talked about last week. It was last week. Purchase Black News Channel for eleven million dollars out of bankruptcy. And people were elated. They were like, oh, my God, he's saving Black News Channel for $11 million out of bankruptcy. And people were elated. They were like, oh, my God, he's saving Black News Channel. No, he's not. The Griot announced yesterday that Byron is converting the distribution of Black News

Channel into the Griot. Now, let me explain that. A year ago, Byron Allen purchased two over-the-air networks from MGM, two networks he purchased. And so he launched on MLK Day 2021, he launched the Griot TV. And there were movies, shows, things along those lines on there. And so BNC shuts down. He buys them out of bankruptcy. And so the distribution that they have, Byron is now converting that network, the real TV, which was an over-the-air network, to a cable network. And so it's going to be that same content. So all these people, there were people on social media who were trying to come at me, man, you did this whole breakdown of why BNC failed. Ha! What you got to say now that Byron

Allen has bought Black News Channel? There's no more Black News Channel. The Griot is not going to be a 24-hour Black News Channel. Now, I tried to tell y'all smartasses that who tried to come at me, and they kept saying, well, you need to break down for 47 minutes this purchase. And I told y'all, there's nothing to break down until you find out what his purpose is for the network. Now we know what the purpose is. It's going to go from an over-the-air channel to a cable channel, so-called fast channel, the different

phrases for it, but it's going to take the existing content of the Griotv, and that's what is going to be on there. Now, they may have new shows. They haven't announced any of that, but what did I tell y'all? Black News Channel is dead, and now

this announcement, even Byron Allen is not reviving Black News Channel. So for all y'all who kept running your mouth telling me why I won't do a deep dive, what did I tell y'all? Wait until you find out what the real news is before you start commenting. That's why y'all just run your mouth and I'm the damn journalist. It's called waiting. It really drives me crazy, Cleo, when people want to just jump to conclusions who don't understand business, don't understand what's going on. And that's what happened here. And again, Byron is making a business decision. And so you're not going to have a 24-hour Black News channel like you did when BNC existed.

Once this sale goes through, that's it. It's done. Right. Well, I don't know yet what the relevance of any of this is for Black people. I had been on the Black News channel a number of times and was wondering what was going on over there. It was like going to another planet. It was a bizarre environment. And I don't expect what Byron does

to make it any more relevant to Black people or helpful to Black people. But I got to backtrack a little bit, man. If you don't mind, you asked the panelists who were on your show or the guests on your show a moment ago, what did they tell their children? And there was a pause about what happened at Legoland. And one of those, I think it was a sister who said, she told the child, some people will not be your friend. Well, those children are being set up to question their worth as Black people,

because the racist behavior that they experienced and the humanization dismissal of them that they just experienced was not contextualized and it wasn't like explained to them that Legoland is wrong, that racism is wrong, and baby, you're not wrong. They don't see your value like I see your value because they're ignorant and I need to let you know that I love you and these people are wrong. And that's what the black child, black children in society need to hear, Roland, very explicitly and clear that this is a racist society and stop telling black children, well, not everybody going to be your friend and not give them any explanation about the corruption, the human corruption of white supremacy mythology, which contaminates

the human experience in this country. If we don't put it in context, the kids are going to question their worth because there's so many things in the culture that already sets them up to question their worth. So we've got to be clear with them. And frankly, those responses, we're not everybody's going to be your friend in the midst of racism, is impotent and it's not going to help. And even adults go through what those children go through. I was in the lounge of a famous airport recently, and I was one of the other brothers at a Utah, what do you call it, overnight layover, that's what it's called.

And the people who worked there were grinning in all the white folks' face and wouldn't pay no attention to me. But I'm real clear on who I am, so it wasn't going to affect me. And I know they're tripping. But Black parents need to nurture their children and love their children in a racist society so when they see something crazy, they'll go, that's what my parents told me. Those people got a problem, not me. And I wasn't made clear from what I just got finished hearing toward those children

when they were in the midst of that madness. So pardon me for backtracking, but I had to say something. Well, the bottom line is these things go together, Michael, because the reality is the images that we show, what we focus on has an impact in terms of self-worth and how we value ourselves. And again, look, this Griotv is

going to be another black cable entertainment channel. And again, look, that's fine. If you own something, you have the right to make whatever decision you want. I have continually said that the biggest

problem that I see in black America is that we are laughing ourselves to death. We're being fed comedy shows. We're being fed movies. There's loads of entertainment. We're not getting enough news and information. So therefore, we're not fully aware of what the hell is going on around us. And then when something happens, we start yelling, why didn't we know? Well, because you don't have as many black-owned information sources to give you the information you need to know. Absolutely. You know, what you do for yourself, what you do to yourself, and what you allow the people to do to you and get away with is based upon what you think about yourself. What you think about yourself is based upon what you have been taught about yourself.

What you've been taught about yourself is based upon everything you've read, heard, and seen about yourself. So I saw on, I have, I'm trying out Sling TV, and I saw that the Black News Channel changed over to the Griot yesterday. The change happened yesterday. I read the article from the griot.com yesterday. So I was looking at some of the programming.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what their programming is, what have you. So I think it's, Byron Allen was able to buy it for $11 million when a few months ago back in March, when we got the news that Black News Channel filed for bankruptcy, Shahid Khan wanted $100 million for it, which was, we knew that wasn't going to happen. But it's good he got it for $11 million. I want to see what type of programming they have. And I'm sure there will be some type of news programming. No, it won't be 24-hour news.

And a lot of the 24-hour news they have was repetitive as well. So hopefully he's able to do something positive with it to really bring. You can, you know, if you have news, you can have, you know, two or three entertainment, black entertainment shows, things like this, but we definitely need the information. So I want to see what he does with the Griot TV. Well, we've seen what he did. I mean, again, DeMario, I mean,

you and I have been places together. You've been on the show. Again, all three of you. We've had other lawyers and doctors. I mean been places together. You've been on the show. Again, all three of you. We've had other lawyers and doctors. I mean, perfect example, just having Dr. Gaffney, a black infectious disease expert. I keep saying this. And again, and let me be clear to everybody. When I look at the existing landscape, you turn on OWN.

You see lots of black. It's rally shows. You got dramas. You got all this sort of stuff. You have very little news and information. It's almost non-existent. You turn to TV One, nothing. I used to be, I was there for eight years. We had a Sunday morning show for four years, and we had the Daily Show for four years. Nothing. The assistant network is Clio TV. Mostly you got cooking shows on there. No news and information. You turn over to BET. You ain't going to find no, no. And BET is black targeted. No news and information. You do have some on Revolt. You got some, you know, more than others. And so I am hopeful that there's

going to be a block of time on Byron Allen's Griotv with news and information because I'm going to continue to say this over and over and over again to Mario. We as a people are being starved of information. We are being fed tons of reality shows. And look, I watch drama shows on OWN. I watch Queen Sugar. And I'll be honest with you, it pisses me off when them damn Love and Huntsville and all them other damn. Because I'm sick of these fucking reality shows. I'm sick of them.

I don't give a damn about any Housewives show or whatever, but what I'm talking about, and Cleo talks about this here, is literally what we are being fed, which then is defining us, will be presented to us, and then we're walking around utterly clueless, and then when shit happens in D.C. or in states or in cities, folk like, damn, I wish we knew. Well, depends upon what you watch. If I chose to sit here right now, and I'm just going to give you an example, Demario. You know, we had a conversation with the folks at YouTube and they were like, hey, we have a list of daily hot topics that if you talk about, then you'll get picked up in the algorithm a lot faster for folks to see. Well, I don't give a shit about all that pop culture

stuff. Beyonce is from Houston. Her new album is Renaissance. Wonderful. I'm not about to spend 45 minutes talking about her new damn album. I'm not. And I just think that we as a people are being hurt for lack of quality information. No doubt. I mean, you have to also bring in the sports. I mean, I'm a former football player.

I love football, but sports has also really fed to us on a continuous basis. You know, and I really think it really matches up to what the brother stated. I haven't been on a show with him before about what we understand about our place here in America, who we are, and who the others are to treat us a certain way. And when we have so many reality shows and things of that nature, it's not dealing with the, in the Dillard's, that gave a 20-minute discussion with the white races that called him, you know, the N-word, and everyone wants to talk about how gracious he was. You know, we need to be better prepared on how we deal with those situations. We need to be better prepared to understand what our legal rights are and how we punish people when they tread on our legal rights.

So I'm right here with you. We all like to be entertained. We get to entertain on this show. We get to have fun. We get to laugh. But, you know, having people on here with real knowledge, like the doctor you had on, I mean, she was so clear, so impressive, so able to get the point across of what's going on with monkey pox, what we need to do to protect ourselves, what we need to do to protect ourselves from these other diseases, that you just don't see that type of in-depth information targeted to our community and to many other places. So I'm hopeful that the Griot will also have some great programming. I think, you know, I read the Griot regularly. They're news stories.

I think they produce some decent, some good content. I would love to see that spill over into the TV world. But I'd love to continue to see you, Roland, and your show continue to get more and more and more exposure because you do provide the information we need. You do expose us to doctors and lawyers and people in our community that are doing the real work. And so for that reason, I really appreciate this platform. You see, the thing, Cleo, that people who are watching don't understand

and I just need people to really get this. It was a few years ago and I am looking for the interview and it's driving me crazy. I can't find it. But Sheila Johnson, co-founder of BET, she owns Salamander, Innersbrook Resort. She owns all of that. She was being interviewed when OWN launched, and she talked about the kind of programming that it needed. First of all, when Oprah's network launched, the only black people on there was her and Gayle, just straight up.

And nothing worked. They had the Judds on there. They had Rosie. They had all kinds of people. What happened? It wasn't until Sweetie Pie. That's right. Did 460 460 thousand viewers then they started adding

the toya jackson uh the guy's show beverly johnson had a show that's when she went made up with iyanla ever since then dion uh and tracy had a show flex and shawnee's had a show ever since that you ain't seen no white shows on on it's It's all black now, but it's not black-owned. Discovery owns it, but it's fully entertainment. But this is what Sheila Johnson said in the outset, Cleo. She said it needs to have more diversified programming. She said, but I need people to understand. She said the advertisers, they only, I need everybody to listen to what I'm saying to understand. She said the advertisers, they only,

I need everybody to listen to what I'm saying right now. Sheila Johnson said the advertisers, the agencies, they only want to put the money towards entertainment shows. She said then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because if they if if the only shows that rate are entertainment shows and movies and reality shows, then they only want to give money to that. Then that's the only thing that's going to get outputted. Now, I need everybody to listen. We have been engaged. We will be four years old, Cleo, September 4th. Black Star Network will be one year old September 4th.

And these agencies, these companies, oh, we need brand safe. We need brand safe. No controversy, No news. Well, excuse me. When I see some trashy-ass housewives show, that's brand safe? That's brand safe? The reality is this here.

Are we getting, first of all, let me thank Essence Communications and Target. Y'all been seeing their spots. We finally secured them. Their spots are running. We've had some spots from GM, some from Verizon, Coca-Cola, Amazon, Nissan, Procter & Gamble, Buick. But are we seeing them every day? No. And so what then happens is we can't build and grow.

Right. It's entertainment. So I get it. I understand the move that Byron is making. But I'm still going to contend, Cleo, that when we don't have affirming content, black affirming content, when we don't have historical, black historical content, when we don't have what has happened to us on a daily basis, we then are going to be laughing ourselves to death, and we're gonna be so clueless about the world around us.

And so when things are happening, targeting us, we ain't gonna know what the hell's happened because we busy laughing and joking and being entertained. That's why Black parents, the guardians and influence in young Black people's lives, needs to teach Black children critical thinking. You need to give them an analysis about where they live so they can decode white supremacy mythology and its agendas and crazy behavior at whim. You just got finished talking about OWN and Sweetie Pie, etc.,

but you also mentioned that there was no news. You also mentioned that there's nothing to get the black mind to come out of the trance and go into a proactive self-defense or self-protecting or prosperity consciousness, because white supremacy mythology that runs everything, including black people, does not want that to happen. And the reason why they, as you already know, keep only showing things that are entertaining, because entertaining keeps us in a trance. It keeps us complacent. It keeps us keeping our mind off of the issues that impact us so we can stay complacent and they can keep on running over us and keeping our children in a cycle of confusion. But I think it's important to underscore that Black parents can change that. What white people do and don't do

becomes irrelevant if our children can see through it. But what our parents keep doing is saying stuff like that they don't want to be your friend instead of giving them context around what's going on. From Congress to the schools, we are in a blackout in terms of black critical thinking. You can be in the third grade in New Jersey and read about LGBTQ, but not about critical race theory or critical race fact. And some people won't even break down the fact that the people who have pushed LGBT stuff to be in schools are not pushing critical race theory.

They're racist, too, and making prioritizations of things that are not affirming of Black people, too. The bottom line, man, is that our parents and guardians of children or the uncles and aunts or people who are around Black children need to tell them what's going on so they can stop going back into this trance, because that's what OWN looks like. When OWN and even Byron, I mean, Byron has put some interesting things on the grill, but nothing game-changing, nothing that reawakens Black people or finally awakens Black people to not care what white people don't do. Because, see, I don't really, when you talk about their entertainment perspective,

they're doing what they've been doing before I was, you know, all of our lives. They're redundant. But we have to stop being redundantly complacent, redundantly passive, redundantly not speaking to our children, speaking power to them so they can feel good about themselves and be able to resist and navigate past

white supremacist norms because they're going to run into white supremacist norms. The lack of news in the black landscape, excuse me, in the media landscape of the United States is a white supremacist norm that keeps black people tripping instead of focused. So I'm glad you're doing what you're doing, and I'm glad that Apple and Orange and whoever,

whatever these companies' names are supporting you, but you know it's not enough, and we need as much as we can get, and we're not getting it. And there's Black people. I'm going to close with this. There's Black people who didn't get no guidance from their Black parents who are glad to be in close proximity with White people who are fighting for access to Whiteness, who are fighting for proximity to Whiteness and being the CEO of Whiteness and being the vice president of Whiteness instead of fighting for Black power.

Well, until we fight for Black power and become clear and talk to our children about having an analysis regarding society they live in instead of saying they want to be your friend, we're going to continue to go through this and we're going to continue to have Black people involved in the silences of Black voices. That's what a black parent is doing.

They don't give their children the information. And this is the thing, Demario, that I keep trying to explain to people, that I keep trying to explain to black people, that we have to be willing to make it clear that you're not going, that we are not going to keep, we're not going to continue to spend our money with companies that then don't want to turn around and reinvest in us. Dr. King talked about that April 3rd, 1968. You know, when we were in Tulsa a year ago, I was scheduled to speak on a panel that they had. So the city of Tulsa, they had this

Black Economic Day. And you and Tiffany Crutcher, y'all didn't want me to speak there, but I wanted to speak there. And the reason why I wanted to speak there, but I wanted to speak there. And the reason why I wanted to speak there, I couldn't speak because then we had to be over at the Greenwood Center because Biden was speaking. So we had to be inside the bubble because they was closing it off. Here's why I wanted to speak there, because I took a photo of the advertisers of the companies that were sponsoring the Economic Empowerment Day. This was June 1 Salesforce, Walmart.org, Capital Group, National Association of Counties, First Oklahoma Bank, Prosperity Bank, QT, Boeing, Vast.Bank, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, PepsiCo, Black Rock City, and the American College of Financial Services. See, DeMario, the reason I wanted to speak there, because I wanted to challenge them to their face. What is your current black spend?

Not you sponsoring this Economic Empowerment Day. What are you expending right now on black people? What is your advertising spend? What is your black business spend? And that's the piece we talk about. Oh, man, how do we build black media? And let me be perfectly clear, whether it's whether it's the Griot TV, whether it's Revolt, whether it's what we're doing here. Look, $322 billion is being spent every single year on advertising. Black-owned media, DeMario,

is getting.5 to 1% of that money. But, everybody watching and listening, I need y'all to hear what I'm about to tell y'all. Black people are watching more TV per week than any other ethnic group in America, and it ain't even close. Right.

So when people hear me talk about this, DeMario, I'm talking about the money. And the reason we don't have 50 to 100 employees, because they don't want to give the money. And the reason we don't have 50 to 100 employees, because they don't want to give the money. Mario, I can tell you how many times we've had calls with ad agencies and we've had 10 meetings and the reward for us is an 11th meeting. And it's the new person. And then this is how the call goes. So tell me about your company. What the hell you mean? We got a network. It's an OTT, like every other network y'all fund.

So what do y'all do? Seriously? What type of advertising? It's as if we're coming from outer space with something they've never heard of when what we do is no different than what discovery does. NBC with Peacock, Disney with Disney.

You got a Hulu and the other platform. It's all there, but they look at us like we're crazy. And I'm trying to get black people. I'm trying to get the people who are watching right now. Like you got some, okay. Perfect example.

Uh, uh, uh, Lana Latham. She goes still begging, uh, uh, Lana Latham, she goes still begging. Well, tell me Lana Latham, since your ass so smart, are you aware that Disney closed $9 billion in advertising during the upfronts? Better yet, Lana, do you even know what the hell the upfronts? Better yet, Lana, do you even know what the hell the upfronts is?

Okay, Lana, since you want to be a smartass and since you want to sit here and question me on this here, let me walk you through this, Lana. The upfronts is when the television networks pitch to the advertisers in May all their shows.

And you know what they then do? They negotiate dollars. So Disney took down $9 billion in advertising. Y'all didn't, I didn't stutter, DeMario. Disney executed $9 billion in ad sales. Disney, Discovery, NBC, all of them negotiating billions. Now, let me tell you what happens. That's in May and June, April, May, June.

Then there's called the second window. That's in May and June, April, May, June. Then there's called the second window. That's in September. OK, well, they negotiate secondary deals. Then tomorrow, there's something called the scatter. Do you know what the scatter is? Whatever we got left. What? That's the scatter guess where black media money comes in

in the scatter we don't get the up front money we don't get the secondary up front money we get the scatter so money. We get the scatter. So we get whatever's left over. So then you have some smart ass like Lana or you begging.

No, Lana, it's not called begging. It's called negotiating. Because we are a media company just like Disney, just like NBC Universal. But the difference is we black. Last point here, Demario, Urban Edge Network, they handle our advertising. They've got some white folks who work with them. One of the white execs came to my man, Todd Brown, Alpha, and said, Todd, I need you to explain something to me. We've sold for other companies.

Based upon the portfolio that we represent, we should have taken down 100 million advertising by now. We aren't even at 10% of that. He said, what the hell is going on? Todd said, welcome to blackness. The white guy. The white guy said, based upon our knowledge, we should be getting 100 million, not even 10%. That is what people need to understand

why black-owned media can't grow. We can't send crews out because they literally are choking us off from the money, but black folk keep watching and keep making the advertisers money. Demario, go ahead. Yeah, three quick points, man. I really

resonated with everything you said, but particularly that last point because I had the same interaction with my white co-counselor, particularly they come out of somewhere, a place out of Oklahoma, and they're working on a case and they're not really dealing, usually dealing with civil rights cases. And they're like, wait a minute, judges usually don't talk to me this way. Judges usually don't do this to me. Opposing counsel is usually a lot more accommodating.

And I say the same thing. Welcome to my world, the black tax. So that's a real thing. Secondly, it's not begging when you want just what's fair, what we should receive. The law that was passed and the law that even Byron Allen tried to use a couple years ago with the Civil Rights Act of 1866, what we call Section 1981 lawsuits, which is the law I still use today. One of the things in that particular law is that we want to be treated the same as anyone else or as a white person is treated when it comes to commerce, when it comes to contracts. That is the negotiation of a contract, that is the execution of a contract, and that has been able to defend

a breach of a contract. And that's what you're talking about here, Roland. You want black media to have opportunity to be a part of that upfront, to be a part of saying this is what we do, these are our numbers, therefore, fairly, outside of us being Black, we will receive this amount of money. That is just fairness that we should receive. Thirdly, I think it speaks to the lack of Black people that are in these positions of power, as you know, or what I like to call the exceptional Negroes, that are in these positions of power to have the opportunity to say, no, I want to make sure you spend X amount of dollars with Roland Martin. And trust me, Demario, they ain't doing it.

Well, it's not enough people doing it. I told you why they ain't doing it. I was just about to point to you what your comment was, Doc, when you said they wanted to have proximity. Too many people want to have that proximity. They feel safe, and they've got their little piece of the pie, and they're good with it. But if we had enough people that was inside of these corporations

and these businesses saying, no, you have a duty to provide X amount of dollars to these Black-owned businesses, not just because they're Black, but because they're Black and excellent, because they reach a demographic that others cannot reach, because they're doing good work. We need more people to be upfront and powerful about that particular dollar when it comes to dollars and cents. This thing is about dollars and cents. We have to get the money into our community so therefore we can continue to support ourselves. But it's not right for us to spend, be the number one consumer of these shows

and not have our people get an opportunity with advertising dollars. It's not just about dollars and cents, though. They don't. It's not. Well, in this context, it is, though. But in this context, it is. Roland Martin used to be on CNN. He was the most powerful, the most clear. He had the most erudite analysis, particularly as it related to Black people. And he brought

a perspective that was clear regarding Black states of mind, Black people's relationship to policy in this country. That was literally brilliant. And he's not there anymore. Because damn that, we want power. Damn that, we want Black people to be entertained, submissive, passive, confused. Thinking shows called Power means that they have power because somebody's a great crack seller. Whatever that do with selling

power. And they're keeping us in a cycle of passiveness and distraction. And when somebody like Roland and others who are trans breakers, who will break black people out of the trans by how they execute facts that are relevant to black people, they got the goal. At least from white

majority landscapes. So let's stop playing games, because when you just got finished saying that, OK, well, there's Black people, and I said it also, who are in these systems for close proximity to whiteness, well, that's why they're in there. And that's why I brought up Roland in the first place, and why he's not in there on a consistent basis, because he don't kiss they butt. So people who have name recognition in the society, the majority of Black people who have perpetual positioning in the media landscape are Black people who are passive, who are accommodating, who are in close proximity, many who literally marry them, who are compromised by their desire and need

for being white spaces. And they don't have... That has... That equation has nothing to do with what's gonna advance Black people. And the United States media is not interested. And they only want to give us the scraps so we can shut up and be glad we got something, which is why we get these scraps that... that...

that Roland described. But they're not interested in Black people having equity and power and a clear, autonomous voice in the media landscape. And they're not going to have it. They're not going to let it happen. And they're going to keep on bringing in decoys. And because Roland

would not be a decoy, that's why he's no longer at CNN. You got to understand this decoy. And that's why I keep saying, folks, you're right. Cleo's absolutely right, because there was a meeting where they said, we need to go hire us another Roland Martin. And somebody said, well, we already have Roland Martin. They said, no, no, no.

They said, another Roland Martin. And I've said this publicly. That's when they went out and hired Van Jones and Charles Blow. I've told Van this. So I said and told Van that when I was there. So this ain't no shade hating, but this is also why I need to explain to people this is why we have to own because we have to set the agenda. I'm going to go to a quick break.

My next guest has a report out that details police shootings and where they are now. Trust me, mainstream media ain't trying to book him as well. That's why Black-owned media matters. That's why you've got to support us. YouTube, y'all should be hitting that Like button. Same thing on Facebook. We should get 1,000 likes easy. Folks, if y'all want to download the Black Star Network app,

this is why you need to download it, okay? We should be at 100,000, 200,000, 300,000 downloads. Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And again, your dollars matter when you give to us. Trust me, the money is being used. We, you know, we're actually behind this year. But, you know, we need if 20,000 of our fans contribute an average of $50 each, $4.19 a month, $0.13 a day, that's $1 million.

Folks, that is desperately needed to us to be able to grow and build and do what we do. So far, we are way behind that. We're at around 5,000. That's how far behind we are. It matters because here's the deal. What you think is going to happen if this show is not here two hours a night? I want you to think about that. Send check and money orders to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash App is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RM Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered.

Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Back at home. at RoboLessMartin.com. Back in a moment. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure.

Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Blackstar Network for a balanced life with Dr. Jackie.

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Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. Hey, I'm Antonique Smith. Hello, everyone. It's Kiara Sheard. Hey, I'm Taj. I'm Coco. And I'm Lili.

And we're SWV. What's up, y'all? It's Ryan Destiny. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. A new report finds at least 703 people have been killed by police nationwide through July 31st of this year. According to the report by Mapping Police Violence, police have killed more people in the first seven months of 2022 than any other year on record. So far, there have only been eight days where the police did not kill someone. Samuel Sinyalwe, data scientist and executive director of mapping police violence,

joins us now to discuss this and more. Samuel, always glad to have you. I doubt mainstream media is blowing your phone up. You've got this whole debate right now. We should be funding cops and giving out more money. More people killed this year than any other time on record. That's correct. And so 703 people this year have been killed. That's 40 more people through July 31st this year compared to last year. So the police have increased killings, about 40 more lives so far this year. So it is a crisis.

And as you said, I mean, this is not something that mainstream media, national media is really focusing on right now. So this didn't go away. It's not like just because the conversation isn't focused so much on police violence that suddenly the police have stopped being violent. In fact, they're more violent now than they have been in any other year on record. And if nothing is done to stop that, that's just going to keep continuing.

That's what the data suggests. And we've seen this steady uptick now for quite some time. And all we keep hearing, Samuel, all the morale of the cops, they're being downtrodden and berated and they feel defeated. And we've got cops retiring at a fast rate in New York City and Chicago. And there's this whole woe, you know,

woe is me and how just hard their jobs are. Yet these same folks are not dealing with 703 people killed by police. Exactly. The police, despite all of those narratives and that rhetoric, the police have never had more money than they have right now. And despite that, you see folks in Congress, I mean, including in the White House proposing more funding for police, hiring 100,000 new police officers across the country. That is the exact wrong direction to go in. What the research shows is that the more police officers you hire and the more money that you give to police, the more arrests they make, particularly for low-level, nonviolent issues.

So issues having to do with folks, do with folks being homeless, folks having substance use issues, folks having mental health issues. And the more arrests that are made for those types of issues, the research also suggests that the more force police end up using and the more people end up being shot and killed by the police. So that is the exact wrong direction, particularly given what we've just talked about in terms of this year setting records in terms of police violence, the wrong direction for us to go in. We need to be thinking about alternatives. We need to think about extracting ourselves from this carceral state and instead taking those resources, investing them in communities, improving public safety solutions that don't cause this type of harm.

There's a conversation going on right now about, oh, they need more, more, more, more, more, hire more cops. That's going to decrease violence. I'm sorry. Show me where. I mean, is there anything to back that up? Is there anything to back that up? So basically, the research literature is all over the place. It is not settled at all whether pouring more money into a police department has any effect at all on crime. And especially the studies that have come out, they all have the same limitation, and that is that they don't even consider the role that putting more money into policing can play in increasing crime, in increasing violence, in increasing the number of community members who are harmed and even killed, in this case, by the police. So, you know,

this is not an evidence-based strategy to continue to invest money in the police. If anything, the evidence suggests that that can actually cause more harm than it helps. Questions from my panel. First, Dr. Mario. Yes, Samuel. Good to see you, brother. I know you was in Tulsa not too long ago, so I appreciate your work. You know, it's really interesting to me when I see that these numbers continue to go up.

And on the other hand, you see President Biden for one thing, it's harder than ever to be a police officer. Just completely made up. That's a completely made up statement. It's easier than ever to be a police officer. It's just a completely made-up statement. It's easier than ever to be a police officer. I mean, their jobs are protected by union contracts. You can't even get rid of them when they're, like, completely wrong. They get fired. They get their jobs back. You know, what I would like to see, and the question I ask you when you're talking to folks about these numbers, is there any appetite from any of the policymakers,

congressional leaders, the tie, okay, you want more money for police? Well, you need to give us qualified immunity to be stripped out. You need to give us some better legislation. So if you're going to get more police officers, there can be some level of accountability. What I see in my practice each and every day going against police departments across this country,

there's almost zero lack of accountability for officers that they shoot somebody in the back, they beat somebody, they steal money, they do any type of a crime. So have there been any discussions that you've had with any policymakers that say, okay, this money for cops, we don't think it's a good deal, but if you give us that, you've got to get rid of qualified immunity and you've got to get us better accountability. So in many cases, it's a very different conversation that happens around police funding and police accountability. And that conversation, interestingly enough, doesn't really happen so much in Washington because federal funding makes up only a tiny

proportion of the actual amount of resources and money that local police departments have at their disposal. Most of that money is locally controlled, is raised locally, and your city council or if it's a county sheriff, your county sheriff has discretion over that. And so when we want to address the demand for more and more officers, more and more funding, that tends to be a localized demand. And those conversations are actually happening a lot behind the scenes in the context of police union contract negotiations. So you mentioned the police unions

and the power that they have. A lot of that power has to do with the fact that every four to six years, they are able to renegotiate their contract. And those contracts already contain language that undermines accountability. So in some cities, the contract will say, we're going to erase all records of officer misconduct after two years or three years, in some cases after one year.

And so to remove that, so to even start from a reasonable playing field of not erasing the evidence of misconduct, The police union will demand a raise for all the officers and additional funding for the police department as a whole. And that will make up the lion's share of why we see an increase in police budgets year over year. So in many ways, it's not like they're saying we need more money for the police and we can say, well, we want accountability in exchange. In fact, the conversation is even we're even more disadvantaged than that in the context that when the union is demanding more and more money, they already have provisions that they've negotiated that are solved, that are written into legally binding documents that erase the evidence of misconduct,

that that restrict the ability of misconduct, that, you know, restrict the ability of oversight agencies to investigate officers. So even to remove the bare minimum, to remove those terrible provisions in those contracts, they're asking for more money. So, like, we can't... I mean, this is like a hostage negotiation. We can't be in a situation where even to even understand,

to even track misconduct, we have to give the police more money. I mean, like they should, with all the money that they get, the largest, usually the largest general operating expense is on police at the city level. With all that money, you're telling me that they can't track misconduct without additional money, that they can't track this without a huge multimillion dollar investment in policing that could have actually gone into communities and made a big difference in keeping people safe. So, you know, I'm not hopeful that that much will be that will really gain too much from a conversation around at the federal level, in particular around around what they're offering with police funding. We have to block that provision. Now, in that proposal,

they do offer some funding for alternatives as well. So if we could disconnect those, keep the good stuff in that proposal, remove more funding for the police, because we know that's not going to help, and move forward what people can all agree on, I think that actually would be a better strategy. Can I ask a question?

Michael? Yeah. Thanks for coming on today. I went to your Twitter page. I was looking at the information. First of all, do we know what percentage of the police killings this year, I think it's 703 or 706 people killed by police this year. Do we know what percentage have been deemed justifiable and what percentage have been

deemed unjustifiable? Do we know that yet? I know the year isn't over with, but do we know that yet? So we don't know that yet. It's too preliminary in part because there's usually an investigation that investigation could take many months. So because we're talking about this year, we're seven months into the year, about half of the data, we wouldn't expect there to be a decision yet. But looking historically, it's remarkably consistent year over year,

the percentage of cases, for example, that lead to officers being prosecuted or indicted. That tends to be about 3%, between 2% and 3% of the total number of people killed by police 3%, between 2% and 3% of the total number of people killed by police. Only between 2% and 3% of those cases lead to officers being charged. And then it's even less than 1% of those cases that lead to officers being convicted of a crime. And then once they're convicted, they get a lesser sentence than civilians convicted of the same crimes. So if you were convicted, let's say, of manslaughter, police officers on average get

a lesser sentence for manslaughter convictions than civilians. So the system is rigged at every level. It is extremely unlikely for officers to be disciplined or fired or prosecuted following a police shooting. We're talking about, you know, one, two, three percent of cases. And then actually... That's because they're a union contract. Yeah, that's because they're a union contract. Just very quickly here, number one, two, three percent of cases and then actually see... That's because they're a union contract. Yeah, that's because they're a union contract. Just very quickly here, number one, if they're going to hire 100,000 police officers,

which averages out to 5.4 per 18,000, when you average it out to 18,500 police departments, it averages out to about 5.4 additional officers. Personally, I think African-Americans need to be applying to get these jobs so we can be the type of police officers that we say we want to see. If we want officers who deescalate as opposed to escalate situations,

if we want officers who use lethal force only as a last resort after you have exhausted other things like this, other options, if we want people, if we want officers to treat people like human beings and respect their humanity, okay, we need to apply and get these jobs and be those type of officers that we want to see. And I'm glad you

mentioned the other crime prevention measures that are in that $37 billion which is part of the White House budget. That's extremely important and we need to highlight that as well. Yeah. Cleo, question?

Michael, I'll just say to Michael first, you've got to make sure those black cops like black people. I agree. I agree. They don't like black people. They don't prove to white people how committed they are to them and do some extra beating on Black people. So we need to have a system in place to purge internalized white supremacy out of Black people as part of law enforcement. But I want to ask the brother something.

Um, because whiteness is multi-cultural, it's a multiracial phenomenon now, white supremacy. But I want to mention, I asked him to give me his analysis of something. Um, police have been doing what you just described I want to mention, I asked him to give me his analysis of something. Police have been doing what you just described all of my life, and some people consider me an old man. I remember the Black Panthers, et cetera, having similar analysis about the police. And you just told me, and I knew it was true because I had already studied the FBI surveillance reports, that it's worse.

So I have a dual question. One is, why is it worse? And why has there been so little success, even in the face of Black people being murdered by the cops in broad daylight, and even by civilians like Dylann Roof, et cetera, in broad daylight? Why has there been more perspective, hardly any progress

made regarding preventing police murder of Black people and everybody else that they're murdering? What do you think is the core elements keeping it in place? So to understand that from a data perspective, we've got to dive deeper than sort of the national level and just the national numbers. And so one thing that is interesting is that when you break the data down by region and by size of city, and you just look at the largest cities in the country, right, you look at the largest 30 cities in the country, what you see is actually an improvement. You see fewer police shootings over the past five or six years. So you see a decline. You see fewer people killed by the police over that time period.

And the cities where you see that reduction happening are the cities that made large reductions in arrests, particularly arrests for low-level nonviolent offenses. So these are cities that are making fewer arrests now for, you know, things like, you know, folks who are trespassing or homeless, loitering, things like drug possession, mental health issues, so, like, disorderly conduct, things like that. The cities that made fewer arrests for those issues have reduced police shootings, both fatal and non-fatal.

Problem is, most places, especially outside the largest cities in the country, have actually increased police violence. It's gotten worse. And I think now this is, there's a lot of research that's looking into this, and I think it's still a little bit inconclusive, but it looks to be like a backlash. It looks to be like the cities where folks were most organized, where, you know, perhaps the politicians in charge were a little bit more sympathetic and likely to implement more far-reaching changes, places that have started to experiment with alternatives to mental health response,

places that have started to decriminalize things like drug possession, particularly for marijuana, cities that have started to move in a different direction, a direction consistent with what organizers and activists have been pushing for for years. They've seen improvement, right? But everywhere else has reacted to that. There's been a backlash to that where things have gotten even worse, and it's offset that improvement. So what that tells us is, one, that organizing and protesting can and does and has made a difference. However, because of how decentralized policing is in this country, with 18,000 different police departments, they all have their own police chief and leadership, they have their own policies, their own culture, their own data collection and use of force

collection practices. Because of that, those gains are concentrated in a small number of big cities and everywhere else has started to move in the opposite direction. And now we're actually seeing, and I think getting to your question, why things are really getting worse now, I think now we're seeing that backlash has reached the big cities too. Now we're seeing that backlash in San Francisco. We're seeing that backlash in LA. We're seeing that backlash in Chicago. We're seeing it in New York with Eric Adams now. So I think the initial push to move in the right direction that cities had started to take up and

started to actually work a little bit is now being repealed, and everywhere else is also moving in the wrong direction, too. So my question is that especially given there's some examples of success, there's some case studies that have elements in place that had a positive outcome in terms of reducing crime and police violence.

That makes the question even more underscored for me, is that given that to universalizing something that could actually be helpful in terms of reducing police violence? So to your point, and I think this shouldn't be a surprise, but I mean, it's white supremacy is why. And so the reason is white supremacy straight up, because in reality. Right. Let's see cities that are that started to move in that direction. Look at San Francisco, you look at New York, even L.A., what's happening now? There's a huge backlash. And what's that backlash driven by? It's a narrative about crime, a narrative that tries to blame any type of reform or change to policing, that tries to blame that for any type of change or increase in crime. That's the narrative. That right now, frankly, is doing a lot of damage, right? It's doing a lot

of damage. So what are we going to do about this? What can we do about it? That's the narrative. The thing that is interesting— Hold on one second. So, Sam, about 30 seconds, because I've got to go to a break, but go ahead and finish your comment, please. I'm saying when we look at the actual data, so that's the narrative, that police reform, anything to reform the police will increase crime. That's the narrative. When we look at the data, those cities that reduced arrests for low-level offenses,

they've managed to reduce police shootings, and they had less of an increase in crime than the cities that continue to double down with that broken windows, zero-toler tolerance policing model that got us into that mess. So actually, it is safer both from a public safety crime perspective and from a police violence prevention perspective to move in the direction that organizers have been fighting for for years. And now we need to use that data to make the case for making more progress. Samuel, where can people go look at this report if they're interested?

So people can go to mappingpoliceviolence.us. You can see the data there for your city, for your state. Get the data, use the data to make the case for change. And you can reach out to me directly, samswey, S-A-M-S-W-E-Y, the number one, at gmail.com. All right, Samuel, we appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. Thank you.

All right, folks, got a quick break. We'll be back. I'm Roland Martin, on the Black Star Network. The exact same feeling as running water. Ever flowing. Water always finds a way to get through. And so when you know that you're sexy,

there are no questions about it. It is an ever flowing emotion. It is an ever flowing feeling. When you question it though, you stop the water. I actually, I struggle with this a lot, mainly because I've been told what sexy should look like, what it should feel like. As a model who did Sports Illustrated,

you're told that this is what sells sexy, but then you travel the world and what's sexy to one person is not sexy to another person. I'm more of a mind fuck kind of person. How can you stimulate the brain? To me, that's sex. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are Black beyond measure.

Pull up a chair. Take your seat. The Black Tape. With me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us.

Growing. Creating. Making moves that move us all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Hi, everybody. This is Jonathan Nelson. Hi, this is Cheryl Lee Ralph, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Janiyah Walker has been missing for almost two months from Milwaukee. The 15-year-old is 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighs 130 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

Janiyah's mother says the teen suffers from depression and PTSD. Anyone with information about Janiyah Walker should call the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Police Department at 571-245-4855, 571-245-4855. The U.S. Senate has confirmed Michael Langley to become the first black four-star general in the United States Marine Corps. The announcement was made by Senator Chuck Schumer. Of course, this is a huge, huge deal here that Langley has commanded Marines at every level and served in multiple continents, being deployed to countries like Japan and Afghanistan over the course of his career. The Marine Corps issued this tweet about the historic feat, and that is, today, Lieutenant General Michael Langley was confirmed for promotion to the rank of four-star general and will take command of U.S. AFRICOM.

M. Langley, who began his career in the Marine Corps as an artillery officer in 1985, is the first black Marine to be promoted to the rank of general. In the Marines' 246-year history, 73 white men have reached the four-star ranking. He is the first African-American. And, DeMario, I'll do you a favor. He's an Omega. Y'all finally have one who makes some history. Way to go.

All right, then. And you probably had no idea either. Well, you know, it's bittersweet because you want to see... It's bittersweet because you want to see the brother that stands at the highest level of his profession, and that's fantastic. But on the other end, I mean, what is our military doing to other countries around this country, and that's fantastic. But on the other end, I mean, what is our military

doing to other countries around this country, and how does that really help us try to get true freedom, justice, and equality for our people? So it's a tough deal, but I'm happy to see Omega Brother do that, but at the same time, I mean, you know, our military done a lot of bad stuff around this world. Well, that's why

I also have some folks in power and you also have of course a black head of the secretary of defense uh there as well folks let's talk about you know i said as my father's a big non-veteran and so i don't say that slightly but i just think you know we have to think about that i got you i got somebody understand let's talk about russia britney grinder was back in court today for her I don't say that slightly, but I just think, you know, we have to think about that. I got you. I got you. I understand. Let's talk about Russia.

Brittany Griner was back in court today for her trial for possession of cannabis. During the hearing, prosecutors called a state narcotics expert that analyzed the cannabis found in Griner's luggage. Her defense also appealed to the specialist to challenge the analysis, claiming that the analysis was flawed and did not conform to official rules. They also argued that Greiner was prescribed medical cannabis by a doctor before her time in Russia for pain with injuries to her spine, ankle, and knees. The trial has had adjourned until Thursday, and closing statements will take place if convicted. Greiner could face up to 10 years in prison, and also the negotiations continues with the possible prisoner swap of Greiner. The NAACP is demanding President Biden eliminate a large portion of debt for black borrowers. National Director of Youth and College of the NAACP, Wisdom Cole, says the student debt impacts black borrowers disproportionately. The concerns come as President Biden is expected to make a decision this month

on whether to extend a national pause on student loan debt payments or issuing some sort of cancellation. Cole's remarks follow the comments made by NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson in a letter to the president demanding he cancel at least $50,000 of debt for black borrowers through an executive order. Cole also calls on the people to vote in the upcoming midterm election for candidates with concrete student debt canceling plans. All right, folks, going to break. When we come back, we're going to have our segment on Marketplace. We feature a black Band-Aid company.

That's right. We'll tell you who they are next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstone Network. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders let me tell you living a balanced life isn't easy join me each tuesday on black star network for a balanced life with dr jackie we'll laugh together cry together pull ourselves together and cheer each other on so join me for new shows each tuesday on black star network a balanced life with dr jackie each Tuesday on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie.

When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing, creating, making moves. The move is all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Hi, I'm Vivian Green. Hey, everybody, this is your man Fred Hammond, and you're watching Roland Martin, my man, Unfiltered. Hey, husband and wife duo started a company expanding the range of colors of Band-Aids. The company was founded in 2018 and business boomed in the summer of 2020.

Brownedages offers a variety of products specifically for melanated skin. Joining us now is, is it Intisar Bashir, co-owner of Boundages in Columbus, Ohio. Is that correct? Yes, that's correct. All right then. So where did the idea come from? What happened? Did you put a band-aid on and you're like,

damn, this ain't matching my skin tone? Pretty much. That's exactly what happened. Once we realized that bandages were supposed to match our flesh tone and the ones that we were purchasing at stores didn't match anyone in our house, we said, hey, let's, you know, why not? Why not us?

So we went ahead, you know, we found the necessary manufacturers and the graphic designers and whatnot to get our product out there on the market. Now, did you have people saying to you, what's wrong with y'all? We already got, we don't need no brown bandages. The regular little bandages work just fine. Initially, no, we didn't. Initially, we launched

at a convention in Atlanta, Georgia, and we were received so well. Now that we've been in the business for a few years, the online commentary, we get that a little, but overall we have a lot of support from just people around the country, around the world, really.

Gotcha. And how has business been in terms of units being moved, things along those lines? How's that going? Business has been wonderful. We've definitely been blessed over these last four or so years. At one point in 2020, we sold completely out of the product that we had planned and in stock for the remainder of the year. We sold out within six days. So, like I said, we've been well received. We've restocked many times since then, and we just continue to try to provide the products that our community needs. Now, are you manufacturing these in the United States or you're overseas?

No, currently we're overseas, yeah. Gotcha. All right. Questions from our panel. I'll start with you, Cleo Monago. Well, when I was a little kid, someone back then did the same thing, made Band-Aids that were either multicolored blackness or that were invisible, so they would have no quote-unquote flesh tone, which is code for white.

So I'm glad to see the idea back. I was told that Johnson & Johnson back then interfered with their production and the whole thing stopped. But I'm glad to hear that you're persevering and getting it done and people are responding. And in this age where, to some extent, since the murder of George Floyd, the problem of white supremacy mythology is under the microscope. It may be easier now to get this work done,

and apparently it is for you, to a level of success. So congratulations. I have no questions except for I'm glad to see this happening and that you're doing well. Yes, yes. Thank you so much for the congratulations.

All right. Let's see here. Michael. All right. Let's see here. Michael. All right. How you doing today, sister? Congratulations on browned edges. What how many products did you start out start off with at first? And how did you decide to come up with the new product offerings as well? I see brownedages for girls, brownedages boys, brownedages unisex, assorted, things like this. How did you, what were the products you started with first, and then how did you decide to add the product offerings? Initially, we launched with three products. We launched with three different boxes. Our assorted box that had, you know, the four different assorted shades of brown in it.

And then we had two children's boxes, a girl box that had two girl characters and a boy's box who had two boy characters. Once we had been on the market for a while, a lot of people asked if we could do a unisex team because, you know, there are some families who have boys and girls in their family. They didn't necessarily want to have to purchase multiple tins. So that's how the unisex box came to fruition. And then also people were saying once they figured out what shade they were, they didn't necessarily want to have an assorted box with other shades in it that didn't match their skin tone. So that's when we went ahead and developed individual shade boxes. So all of the five shades that our bandages come in, you can buy it in the assorted box that has all five shades in it,

or you can buy individual boxes that are all ebony, mocha, caramel, wheat, or sand. And from there, we decided to get a first aid kit. We have just, I'd say in the last four or five months, we launched elastic wraps. So like an ace bandage, but in our flesh tone. And it's just like, whenever our consumers reach out to us and give us ideas of things that, you know, they want to see on the market that would be, you know, inclusive to them, we try to look into it and see if it's feasible and move forward with the idea. All right. Thank you. This is wonderful.

All right. Let's see here. Demario, your question for our guest. Yeah, this is so dope. This is dope. Where can you let's see here. Demario, your question for our guest. Yeah, this is so dope. This is dope. Where can you find these? Is it just online, or are you in any retail spaces like Target or something like that? Tell me where I can get this product.

I hope I don't have to use it anytime soon, but I want to have it in the household. Yes, yes, yes. Yes, we are primarily an e-commerce business, but we do have our products in different mom and pop stores around the country, which they are all listed on our website. We're working on some things to get in, you know, some bigger big box stores. But as of yet, we haven't made that transition. But all of our products are available on our website. Oh, this is good stuff. I'm so I didn't know anything about you.

I'm really glad that Roland does this segment is so important to entrepreneurs like yourself in our community. And I will be ordering some for our for myself and friends and family. Ms. Thank you so much. The President of the United States of America, Mr. I want to mention that there are black

children that I've seen who cut themselves or scratch themselves so they can have flesh colored bandages or white colored bandages. It's wonderful that you've created an intervention on that phenomena. OK. All right. Well, look, Insatar, I appreciate it. Good luck with the brownages, and I hope y'all sell a lot more. Thank you so much for having me. All right. Thank you so very much. Be well. Let me thank Michael, Cleo, and DeMarco for joining us on today's show.

Gentlemen, I thank you so very much. Folks, I'm going to see y'all tomorrow. I'm in Tampa. I'm giving the keynote address to the National Association of Real Estate Brokers. Their 75th anniversary. We'll be live streaming my speech as well. Then I'll be flying to Vegas for the National Association of Black Journalists Convention. So thank you so very much.

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