#RolandMartinUnfiltered - N.C. Supreme Crt. revisits voting maps,Ca. NAACP Chapter rejects reparations plan,Lance Reddick dies

Episode Date: March 18, 2023

3.17.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: N.C. Supreme Crt. revisits voting maps,Ca. NAACP Chapter rejects reparations plan,Lance Reddick dies The Republican-led North Carolina Supreme Court reheard arguments from a redistricting case it ruled on in December.  If the state's highest court reverses, state legislators will determine the electoral districts, shifting the political power in the state.  I'll talk to a North Carolina State Representative about what this will mean for North Carolina Voters.  After years of debate about reparations, one city is close to making it a reality.  But San Francisco's NAACP chapter opposes the proposed $5 million in reparation payments for descendants of enslaved people.  The Co-Chair of the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP will be here to explain why they want the city to reject the proposal.  As three more people face murder charges in the death of a black man in police custody, his family views the security video of the incident that led to his death.  They say their son was tortured before he died.  Ben Crump, the family's attorney, will be here to give us the latest on the case.  In our Education Matters segment, an organization uses books to teach financial literacy and gives out stocks.  I'll talk to a Global Children's Financial Literacy Foundation Co-Founder about how they are equipping kids with financial skills. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. We're Water Day, and we'll talk about how water is the newest, scarce commodity that could determine the future for many countries. Also, we'll talk about Planned Parenthood, how critical the issue of abortion was in the last election, what does it mean in the next election, and also how a university student created a sensor to know when your guns have been moved. We'll talk about that as well. Lots for us to talk about on today's show. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin Dunn-Pilcher on the Black Star Network. Let's start. The scoop, the fact, the fine And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling Best believe he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling

Yeah, yeah It's on for a royal Yeah, yeah It's rolling, Martin, yeah Yeah, yeah. It's Roland Martin. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best.

You know he's Roland Martin now. Martin. Martin. Folks, there are three branches of government, the executive, legislative, and judicial. We often talk about executive and legislative because we think in terms of the president, we think in terms of Congress, the governors, the legislatures. But the reality is the judicial branch is an equal branch and it's just as important. We've talked about North Carolina, how Democrats used to control the Supreme Court there. Now Republicans do. That dictates in terms of what gets made into law. Well, in Wisconsin,

they have the opportunity, Democrats, to take control of the state Supreme Court. Editor of Wisconsin Politics. It's happening. And so what people have to understand what's going on right now when it comes to Wisconsin, and that is if Democrats are able to win this open seat, that means they would have a four to three majority. That means that gerrymandering could be outlawed, overturning a lot of the crazy policies that have taken place by Republicans there. Now, there's a debate taking place with those candidates. This is it right now. Let's actually listen to some of this right now. Is there a countdown? Yes. Okay. I'm not seeing it. I'm not seeing the countdown.

It's green. And is it going to give seconds? Oh, it's just going to say the one minute? All right. So I'm sorry to take everybody's valuable time with that clarification. That's a broad and robust conversation. I don't resent all organizations trying to keep me from coming to the Supreme Court. This is what our Constitution protects. This is the best tradition of democracy in our country. And so as I look at this, I think one of the most important responses to it is to have an understanding of the court's job that insulates it from the effects of anyone's outside interest.

And so as I've described time after time, it involves understanding that everyone has political beliefs, but you need to set those aside and you need to have a methodology so that when you analyze cases and write opinions, that it squeezes out all personal views

and personal politics to make sure that the conclusions are commanded by law. You know, I just came out of criminal court. I spent three years handling homicide and sexual assault cases. Before that, two years dealing with really intense drug dealing cases. And I can tell you that the shortfall impacted my courtroom each and every day. Each and every day. The public defender's office would send me a letter and say, dear Judge Janet, we contacted 700, 800, 600 potential attorneys to see if we could find someone to represent the accused, and they frequently couldn't. Justice was delayed.

We had to adjourn cases over and over and over because there were not enough public defenders or public defender appointments in the system. The rate absolutely has to be raised. Thank you very much. Our next question is from Emily Fannin, and it will be for Judge Pogosiewicz. Wisconsin manufacturers and commerce have spent more than $3 million on ads trying to rent you. All right. Jonah Gus is right now. Dr. Robert Biko Baker, Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Doc, glad to have you here.

Again, there are a lot of people, Doc, who just don't understand how vital these state Supreme Court positions are. And if a Republican or Democrat is in the seat, that dictates a whole lot as to what becomes law in Wisconsin. Such an important point, Roland. I appreciate you always having me on and really paying attention to our state. You know, we're in the North, in the Midwest, where not a lot of Black people are, but, you know, we really appreciate your leadership. Yeah, I mean, this case is so important. For those that don't know, Dan Kelly, who's going up against Janet Pertusay, which is a Scott Walker appointee who initially sat on Wisconsin Supreme Court from 2016 to 2020. And the interesting about Dan Kelly is, even though he's a Skywalker appointee, he never served as a judge prior to being a Supreme Court justice. And he actually attended the Christian Broadcasting Network University, which was started by Pat Robertson. So for

Wisconsinites, this is the type of guy that we don't typically elect. And again, as you said, partisan politics, even though they're not supposed to be there, are always involved in the Wisconsin Supreme Court races. On that point, I mean, the reality is the right, they want hardcore Federalist Society approved judges on the state and federal level. I mean, it's clear. And again, one of the things that's up for, you know, really in the Supreme Court's hands this next cycle would be the 1849 abortion ban. This is an old bill that was put in place long before Roe v. Wade and the Emancipation Proclamation. And since the gutting of Roe v. Wade and the Emancipation Proclamation. And since the gutting of Roe, what we've seen is medical professionals sort of being on standstill because they believe this abortion ban could make them liable for abortions. And so, so much is at stake. A lot of times we just think that that doesn't affect us.

It's not really Black people running. But everything from voter ID to union rights is on the ballot this election season. And in fact, what we also saw Republicans by control, by gerrymandering, they dominated the legislature. And so what happens when the voters picked a Democratic governor? Well, they then stripped him of a lot of his powers. What happens when they sued? It went to the Supreme Court. That's right. And, you know, we just saw Governor Evers approving these lease change maps that saw Republicans sort of controlling the legislature in the same way that it had been over the last 20 years. And, you know,

the Supreme Court decided these cases. And it's really going to be up to the next Supreme Court justice, because they're elected for every 10 years, to decide the 2030 redistricting. And I know that seems far away, seven years away. But if we really want Wisconsin to reflect the diversity that's coming here, we have to do something about gerrymandering. So the Supreme Court justices in Wisconsin are elected every 10 years. Every 10 years. Usually people leave when they years, Scott Walker, who we all know from really see his policies be shaped through this election of the Democratic Supreme Court candidate, Janet Portisiewicz. But I don't know. It's going to be interesting, Rowan. As we often talk about, there isn't

much investment in Black voter groups. And I feel like this case, this race, is really about voters out of state. And I feel like this case, this race is really about voters outstate. And I feel like the Democratic Party, unfortunately, continues to ignore the base. And with not a lot on the ballot this time, I feel like we could see low turnout in Milwaukee again. And so hopefully, you know, people watching this show realize how important this race is and get out to vote on April 4th. Hold on one second. I'm going to go to a break. I want to pick up on that point. And then I want to talk about, again, what happens when someone is out of office, but because of who they appoint to judicial positions, how they can impact stuff long after they've left. You're watching Roller Martin Unfiltered on the black star network back in a moment hatred on the streets a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended

into deadly violence white people are losing their damn lives there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash.

This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women.

This is white fear. 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 Blackstar Network. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts binge episodes one two and three on may 21st and episodes four five and six on june 4th ad free at lava for good plus on apple podcasts yo what's up this your boy ice cube hey yo peace world what's going on it's the love king of rb raheemon, and you're watching Roller Martin, Unfiltered.

Alright, we're back with Dr. Robert B. Co-Baker. Doc, you said something about Governor Scott Walker that I think is important. And I make this point all the time that, and too often, Democrats for the longest did not really focus on the long-term judicial appointments. By Mitch McConnell blocking 100 judicial appointments by President Barack Obama in the final two years of his presidency,

he cleared the pathway for Donald Trump to be able to appoint them. These are people who are there for life. And so even though Scott Walker is no longer the governor there, to your point, the judicial nominees, his philosophy remains in place based upon who he picked for the courts. That's right. And Dan Kelly was, you know, one of his appointees. Again, this man went to Christian Broadcast Network University in a state that has Marquette Law, Madison Law. This man went to an evangelistic university from the South. And no disrespect to those that follow Pat Robertson.

My grandma used to love watching Pat Robertson. We know that those churches don't necessarily reflect the values of Wisconsinites. And he put Dan Kelly there because over his career, he fought political battles. For example, in 2010, he was at the forefront of the Wisconsin Republicans' fight for redistricting. He fought for open carry on Madison buses. this man in 1999 fought to make sure that students could not get fees from their own school fees. And so this man is a very conservative person. He doesn't have much judicial experience, and he's going to be setting precedent for the next 10 years. And so I encourage everyone to vote, you know, even if you're Republican.

But this is one of those races that we need to be paying attention to. You talked about the Democrats and putting money on the ground. This is why I keep saying to people, do not send money to the Democratic National Committee, don't send it to candidates. Send the money to third-party groups like Black Voters Matter so they can have the resources to do voter activation on the ground. Because the bottom line is we're going to be impacted negatively by a Republican majority on the state Supreme Court in Wisconsin. So are there third-party groups? Are they on the ground? Are they active?

Are they door-knocking to African Americans? Explaining to them why this election is important. Well, I'm not at every door, and I'm not on every phone, but I heard, at least the internet told me, that this election is going to cost $30 million. And I'm assuming the most of those resources are going to TV and radio ads. And while I'm sure there are organizations that are knocking doors right now, the truth of the matter is we spend too much money on mainstream media. You are a digital platform. You know how many people texted me

and tweeted me the last time I was on here? We need to invest in third-party media if we want to talk to, you know, what people are, say, are calling occasional voters. But that's also why what I'm saying to our people is, you know what, fine. Let the money people

want to give that sort of stuff. Don't waste our precious money going to the campaigns when those white consultants are going to put it on television. If the money goes to Black Voters Matter, I don't know if there's a Wisconsin-specific group there as well, but there are black groups who do this work every day. If we send our money to them, we know where the money is going to go. We know it's going to go to people on the ground. It's going to go to the grassroots. And that's what I keep saying, even for 2024.

That's where we have to be thinking. This is what I said in the Breakfast Club. When Charlamagne asked me the question, well, the candidates should be spending more money. I'm like, yo, we can't wait on them. That's true. So what I'm saying is, it's like, yo, we're going to invest in our groups, and we know how they're going to spend the money. What you're talking about is high math and high power building, and we need to pay attention. When I was a nonprofit leader, I always talked about the youth organizations I worked with putting our own money in there and not waiting for foundations or big money people to invest in us. It's time for people of colors, especially millennials and Gen Zs

who are getting into the stock market or the real estate market, to invest in candidates. You see when we have people of color, especially at the local level, how things change. There are benefits that we can get into. There's real estate projects. There's community block grants. But what you're talking about

takes a lot of education because for most of us, when we think of elections, we think of only the president. But we're seeing right now why this is so important, long after that. I want to bring in my panel,

Robert Bartillo. He's the host of People, Passion, Politics, News Talk, 1380 WAOK. Rebecca Carruthers, Vice President, Fair Elections Center. Teron Walker, founder of Context Media. passion politics news talk 1380 waok rebecca carothers vice president fair elections senator to run walker founder context media rebecca i want to start with you uh again getting people to understand how crucial state supreme court elections are in wisconsin this is going to be

huge if the republican or democrat, because that will determine ideologically how the court could rule on any number of cases. We've spent the last few months organizing students in Wisconsin on college campuses, making sure that they understand that there's an election that's going on. We've been reminding them of the stakes. If they care about abortion rights, they have to vote. If they care about redistricting and for redistricting to occur fairly, they need to vote. If they believe in the right to organize through unions, they need to vote. If they believe that people should have access to the ballot instead of additional burdensome restrictions, they need to vote. because we're reminded what happened in Ohio with that Supreme Court race. And we're aware of what's happening right now in North Carolina

because of that Supreme Court race. There's a lot of voting laws and voting cases that this current more conservative North Carolina court decided that they're going to review those cases all over again, which doesn't make sense. The same thing that's been going on the last 14 years in Wisconsin is going to continue and get worse if students, if young people, if communities of color do not show up in two weeks to vote. You know, this is the thing here, Robert, that, again, it's not sexy. We don't see these candidates in the same vein as president, governor, you know, positions along those lines. But the reality is who sits on a state Supreme Court is equally important as to who the governor or the president is. It absolutely is, Roland. And I think we've talked about previously on the show that if

you remember in apartheid South Africa, when that regime was falling, what you saw was the ruling white minority power structure entrenched themselves in the judiciary, entrenched themselves in the bureaucracy of the nation, because they understood that you could have unfeathered and un-elected power by pushing yourself into the court system. We saw the same thing in Kosovo after the fall of the Milosevic regime, where the dominant party decided to, even though the nation broke up, to entrench themselves into the mechanisms of power, because they understand that is the way to avoid the democratic process while still controlling much of the country.

And as was mentioned earlier, we have seen the Trump regime and more so the Mitch McConnell regime over the course of the last two decades blocking Democratic judiciary picks, pushing through their own. During the Obama administration, they really went to work on the lower level, the district court levels, in order to exert control over the system so that now, despite not having won a popular vote since 2004, they still have control of an entire co-equal branch of government. So when it comes to these judicial races, we don't see the party apparatuses turning out in the same way that they do for congressional seats. The amount of time that they're spending reporting on Donald Trump pretending that he was going to go to jail yesterday, progressive and liberal media could have been focusing that

attention on some of these judicial races and the elections around the country because you're going to need that turnout from African-American voters, that turnout from Latino voters, that turnout from young voters. And if you do not explain these issues to them and put the money behind it, then you're going to continue to fall behind. And one of the greatest failings of the Democratic Party over the course of the last probably 15 years or so, since Howard Dean was in charge, is not understanding you have to campaign at all levels of government and in all 50 states at all time in order to build the party apparatus that can win in the future. Think about tomorrow, not just the immediate election in front of you.

TODD WOMACK, Former U.S. Secretary of State for Democracy and the Constitutional You know, there's a saying, you may not go out and look for a fight, but if somebody hits you, you're in one. And one of my biggest frustrations with the Democratic establishment is the fact that they focus so much on national campaigns and national congressional campaigns. And they overlook a lot of the local campaigns and the state campaigns that could really give them an edge in the major primaries and major elections. Protasiewicz, and I hope I'm not butchering her name, is a very dynamic candidate. She may not be flashy, but a lot of her points are very, very appealing to progressive voters and people who care about justice. She is very aggressive at going after Kelly. If you listen to some of her policy platforms and if you listen to some of the things she said on the debate stage, she's called him out about things he's

done as far as, like, Act 10, which has to do with, like, ballots and has to do with, like, voting blocks and ballots. She's been very vocal about him not taking soft money, as he says in his campaign platform, but also pointing out the fact that he was a member of the RNC and about the soft money that can fund a Republican campaign without having to directly give you a donation. If the Democratic apparatus doesn't get behind candidates and win these grassroots elections and these, like you said, the less sexy elections and talk about these people and blow them up, a lot of times they only have themselves to blame when things don't pan out the way they're supposed to. You have to get the people on your side. And to do that, you have to make them aware of what's going on outside of your wheelhouse.

Dr. Baker, final comments. No, I mean, I think that's right on. You know, Judge Janet is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is a circuit court judge. She knows the realities of being in an urban environment. You know, it's up for urban voters this time out to really make a difference. And I feel like the point that you're making about us funding our issues is key. And so I encourage everybody that's watching me right now,

encouraging watching the show right now, to turn out the vote on April 4th. All right, folks. Dr. Baker, we appreciate it. Thanks so much. Folks, hold tight one second. Got to go to a break. We'll be back on Roller Mark on Filtered on the Black Star Network. Hopefully, I'll be in studio sitting in wall-to-wall traffic here in the nation's capital.

Don't forget to be on YouTube. Hit that Like button, folks. Hit that Like button. So we should easily be over 1,000 likes every single show about this time. Also, download our app, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, and of course, please support us by joining our Bring the Funk

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Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. We'll be right back. A lot of these corporations or people that are running stuff push Black people if they're doing a certain thing. What that does is it creates a butterfly effect of any young kid who, you know, wants to leave any situation they're in, and the only people they see are people that are doing this. So I got to be a gangster, I got to shoot, I got to sell,

I got to do this in order to do it. And it just becomes a cycle, but when someone comes around and is making other, oh, we don't, you know, they don't want to push it or put money into it. So that's definitely something I'm trying to fix too, is just show there's other avenues. You don't got to be a rapper, you don't got to be a ballplayer. You can. So that's definitely something I'm trying to fix, too, is just show there's other avenues. You don't got to be a rapper. You don't got to be a ballplayer.

You can be a country singer. You can be an opera singer. You can be a damn whatever, you know? Showing the different avenues. And that is possible. And it's hard for people to realize it's possible until someone does it. Coming up on the next Black Table, a conversation with Professor Howard W. French

on his new book, Born in Blackness, covering 600 years of global African history and helping us understand how the world we know today is a gift from black people. There could have been no West without Africa and Africa. That's on the next Black Table with me, Greg Carr, only on the Black Star Network. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, and my new show, Get Wealthy, focuses on the things that your financial advisor and bank isn't telling you,

but you absolutely need to know. So watch Get Wealthy on the Blackstar Network. My name is Charlie Wilson. Hi, I'm Sally Richardson-Whitfield. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

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

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We'll be right back. Lisa Lovick has been missing from Vine Grove, Kentucky since November 29th. The 17-year-old is 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about Jaleesa should call the Vine Grove, Kentucky Police Department at 270-877-2252, 270-877-2252. New Haven, Connecticut Police Chief recommends firing four officers for mistreating a black man who was paralyzed while in custody. Richard Cox was injured in 2019 while being transported to police headquarters on gun charges. But officers braked hard to avoid an accident. behind his back, slid headfirst into the metal partition between the driver and passengers compartments, breaking his neck and leaving him paralyzed with the chest down. Officers mocked

Cox and did not immediately provide him with medical treatment. Police Chief Carl Jacobson said this recommendation proves they are trying to ensure the officers are held accountable for their actions. And I just want to conclude, you know, saying to the community that we said we would be transparent and accountable, and that's what we're doing. And to the officers that I still believe in procedural justice. Procedural justice is when you give people a voice. If we gave Randy a voice that day when he said he was injured, we wouldn't be here today.

If we treated him with dignity, we might not be here today. If we were neutral in our decision-making when he said he was injured, we might not be here today. And I ask my officers to continue to take each situation under those guidelines and to treat members of this community with respect and dignity, whether they're an arrestee or a complainant or whatever their case may be. Officers Oscar Diaz, Betsy Segway, Jocelyn Lavandier, Ronald Presley, and Luis Rivera have been criminally charged on allegations they cruelly mistreated and neglected the cops since the incident. The police department revises policy and added seatbelts to the prison vans. Jacobson's recommendations will go to the city's police commissioners who are expected to hold hearings in late April or early May. I'm just trying to understand here, Toe Run, how do you have a police van and you don't have seat belts? You know, I always say that when you're a Black in America, when you're a black man in America, your weapon is your skin tone. And there is absolutely no excuse for what happened outside of white supremacy.

And seeing the pictures of these officers shows you that you don't have to be white to perpetrate white supremacy. New Haven is not a poor city. New Haven is a very wealthy township that gets a lot of money from the Ivy League school that's in this area. There is no excuse for a police van to not be outfitted with seats, to not be outfitted with proper restraints if you have a suspect that you wish to restrain. This seems like negligence, obviously. And also, firing these officers is not enough. Firing these officers is a way for the police department to cover its behind, so to speak. I feel like if you're going to have officers that are disincompetent or that is negligent or this deliberately inhumane, then you need to start going after the police pensions. You need to start going after police unions. This is a way for the for the police department to cut their losses and let these people get thrown to the wolves without doing a proper investigation of police procedure. Cause I want to know how long have these procedures

been going on? It sounds almost like what happened in Baltimore with Freddie Gray, where there was sort of like this unspoken history and this unspoken practice of treating certain, um, suspects a certain way. That's what it feels like. And I think that's what needs to be investigated. And this needs to be investigated on a federal level, not just from one city. It just it just again, you just have to ask yourself, Rebecca, how do you have how do you transport people in vans and you don't have seatbelts? It's kind of basic. Well, I would have thought that's against the law to have a moving vehicle that you operate, such as a van, and not have seatbelts. Like, hasn't that been the law since the 70s to have seatbelts? So for me, this just brings back the whole idea of reform or completely getting rid of police and figuring out what is the new way, how should we actually look and view public safety? Because I know on this show previously, we talked about, oh, well, if there's a mental health issue,

then maybe there should be medical professionals. But we saw on your show the other day that there were medical professionals in that particular case. And we still had deaths that happened with someone who was in police custody. So at this point, I don't know that reform is even enough. We really have to rethink how do we handle public safety in this country, because right now it's not working. The second point is we see that it's not just white police. We see that it is Latinos. We see that it is Black folks as well who wear the badge, who are doing these things. And so we understand that, yes, white people and brown people can also be the purveyors of

white supremacy. But at this point, it's the institution that's not working. We keep saying it's just a few bad apples, or I should say folks say it's just a few bad apples, because I don't believe that. One thing that I do know is if you have five bad apples, it ruins the entire bushel. Those bad apples didn't just appear out of nowhere. And so at this point, police reform in of itself is not enough for this country. Louisiana cop has always been charged with killing a black man, has quit the force. Alexander Tyler has resigned from the Shreveport Police Department after being placed on administrative leave following the shooting

death of Alonzo Bagley. He is facing one count of negligent homicide and was freed on a $25,000 bond. Unarmed, Bagley was shot in the chest on February 3rd by Tyler after responding to an alleged domestic disturbance call. Bagley's family is suing for more than $10 million for wrongful death and violating Bagley's Fourth Amendment rights. You know, Robert, to run with just making a point about pensions and stuff, you know, I'm just a firm believer that, you know what, you get charged and get convicted, you should lose your pension. Well, you don't think they have to be part of it. And just the fact that this officer quit instead of being fired, the fact that because of sovereign immunity, you can't go after not just their pension, you should be able to go after their house, their vacation home, their boat, their children's college fund, all the way down the line.

Because what you have to change clearly is individualized activity. And as a society, our primary tool clearly is individualized activity. And as a society, our primary tool to change individualized activity is either the criminal justice or the civil justice system. These individuals understand that there's a very low chance of them being prosecuted by the criminal justice system in securing a conviction. Therefore, you have to change the standards and change this qualified immunity, whether it's jurisdiction by jurisdiction or federally, to ensure that people, when they swear in, when they become an officer, they understand that these stakes are higher, that there are some professions where you just can't say, oops, my bad. Lawyers can't say, oops, my bad, and then you get the death penalty.

Doctors can't say, oops, my bad, and then you die. Police officers cannot just say, oops, my bad, when they shoot somebody. That has to be the standard across the board. And just as lawyers can be charged with legal malpractice and they can be sued individually, doctors can be sued for medical malpractice. Officers need to be able to be sued personally in their individual capacity and with a waiver of sovereign immunity for law enforcement malpractice. And until we start doing that, we're not going to see changes in the system. Let's go to North Carolina, where a Black business owner says her racist white neighbors vandalized her property.

Angel Pittman planned to start a mobile hair salon company using three school buses she purchased. Well, Pittman alleges her angry white neighbors broke windows, stole two catalytic converters, slashed wires and tires, destroyed the transmission, smeared feces and urinated on them, and wrote racial slurs on the buses. Pittman got to a heated exchange with her neighbor in January and believes he is the neighbor behind the attack. She says he has Confederate flags, swastikas, and KKK signs in his yard. Pittman reported the attack. However,

the Rowan County Sheriff's Office told her they would not pursue the case without eyewitnesses or video. She sent him a GoFundMe and raised over $100,000 to fix the damages. Boy, that's pretty much a damn shame there in North Carolina, Rebecca. Well, Robert's shirt tonight says it all. You know, in situations like that, you know, if you're not being protected, then there is a constitutional right that you have to consider, intimidating her, doing property damage. I don't know if North Carolina has a castle law or he follows the castle doctrine, but I know if that was in Florida or if that was in Texas, if you're doing that to someone's property on their property, then, well, you know, you have you have what Robert's shirt says tonight. Indeed, folks. In Houston, the Texas Education Agency met with the public for the first time after their takeover of the Houston Independent School District. They did so after dissension among the board, but also chronically low scores at historically Black Wheatley High School there in Houston, which now has a Hispanic majority population.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, she actually was in attendance, and she actually spoke as well. Parents are still paying their taxes. So... I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future

where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th and episodes four five and six on june 4th ad free at lava for good plus on apple podcasts the state legislature representative reynolds has introduced a bill

that would give the commissioner discretion discretion to not do a takeover. By the way, you know his options, he says, would be to totally close Wheatley or to take over the school or to take over the school district. I've argued with him that I believe he has the ability administratively to pause his decision to suspend his date. Now is getting ready to change the formula. They're insisting on the star test. They're not letting the children breathe. After the pandemic, you're going to come down hard on these children and teachers when they have been miraculous and they have

gotten through the pandemic and you changing the rating. The other thing is they are saying that the conditions are going to be easy. They're not to get out of the Board of Managers. Let me let you hear what they say. In order to get out of them, no campuses should get failing grades for multiple years. We'll be in this for the rest of our lives. They're taking back but they're only going to answer questions which I'm absolutely opposed that they would come and answer only questions on the Board of Managers. You are old. You are old answers about the takeover. All right, folks.

When we come back, we're going to talk about the big World Water Day. We also hit the plan parenthood as well. So a lot more to cover here on World of Martin on the Black Star Network. Don't forget, please, to download our app, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Also,

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Lose Their Minds. And, of course, be sure to watch us on Amazon Fire on Amazon News. So our 24-hour streaming channel is seen there. So just go to Amazon Fire, pull up Amazon News, and check us out. And don't forget, I'm going to be in Chicago broadcasting the show Friday. It's Friday, folks. That's 6 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Central, Chicago time. We'll be there at the Black-owned restaurant there mayor, is going to be there. And correct me if I'm wrong, Carol,

I got a text message saying that after I was on WBON radio today, Paul Ballas' campaign got a phone call saying, why haven't y'all confirmed with Roland Martin? And I was told that he is also going to be there on Friday. So both male candidates from Chicago are going to be in tow. So we'll see what happens. Folks, I'm going to go to a break. We'll be back.

Hold it right now, folks, on the Black Star Network. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it when you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us.

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We are literally stuck between two worlds in purgatory. How to get out of purgatory and regain your footing and balance. What emotions they're feeling and being able to label them because as soon as you label an emotion, it's easier to self-regulate. It's easier to manage that emotion. The next A Balanced Life on Black Star Network. 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. Hey, I'm Cupid, the maker of the Cupid Shuffle and the Wham Dance. What's going on? This is Tobias Trevelyan. And if you're ready, you are listening to

and you are watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. សូវបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា� Thank you. The សូវបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា� Thank you. Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. All right, y'all. The D.C. Court of Appeals made a big decision today saying that one of Donald Trump's lawyers has to actually appear before them and testify with regards to the case of those documents that were found at Mar-a-Lago. Now, you might say, I don't see what the big deal is. Actually, it's a pretty

big deal for federal judges to say that the attorney-client privilege between a lawyer and his client has been pierced because the DOJ has said that Trump's lawyers were aware that what he was doing was criminally wrong. Robert Petillo, this is a hell of a decision, and it's not a common one. In fact, what was interesting last night, they literally gave both sides until midnight to comply and said, we're going to be deciding this tomorrow. And this wasn't just one federal judge. This was a three-judge panel of arguably the second most important federal court behind the Supreme Court.

You're absolutely right. And also, shout-out for the Ronald Isley look you got going on. I like that. I got to get my swag up like that. No, no, no. Let me remind you, I'm from Houston, so, you know, plus we also got the boots, too, so the black cherry boots. But I'll go ahead and show them.

Hey, don't pull a muscle trying to get the boots on camera. No, no, I'm not. This ain't my first rodeo night. You might pull a muscle grabbing one of those guns under your seat, but I'm just saying. Well, look, Rowlett, I think that this is part of why we have to continue monitoring what goes on with these various Trump legal situations because everyone got distracted by this canard that Trump threw out there that he will be

arrested on Tuesday. You know, we saw the entire international news media run behind this fake story when anybody who's ever worked with the DA knows they don't tell you what day you're going to get arrested. They don't tell you what day you're going to get indicted. They don't even know because they don't know when the grand jury is going to come back over the decision. So it's a completely made-up story that somehow people, despite a known liar telling them it, they still believed it. But in reality, the reason I think Trump did that was for two reasons. One, because I think he brought in something like $3 million in fundraising from his MAGA base over the course of the weekend because of the fake story that he floated. But two, because it distracted from cases like this,

this federal case against him, where his lawyers are going to have to come in and testify, distracts away from Fannie Willis and Georgia, where they're talking about RICO charged against Trump for the election interference claim. It distracts away from the Jack Smith Independent Counsel investigation to both Trump's role in January 6th and the documents case in Mar-a-Lago. So I think that what we have to start doing is filtering through a lot of the chaff that Trump throws out there, filtering through a lot of the fake news stories and then concentrating in on these real stories that have the opportunity to change constitutional history, because we're looking at the first potentially criminal president to be charged with actual federal charges,

not a misdemeanor charge in Manhattan, not a very low felony such as a document case or election interference, but the real opportunity that this man could go to jail potentially for the rest of his life for the crimes that he's committed, but while in office and thereafter. And this is why it's crucial that particularly in outlets like this, we are able to filter through a lot of that BS. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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

It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Going on in mainstream media and key in on stories like this. What this here says, Toron, again, is that when you watch all of these Republicans defend this

thug in everything that he does, it shows you how literally they do not care about the rule of law. And for federal judges to actually have an attorney

testify and say your attorney client privilege does not apply, that means that's a lot of smoke there from the Department of Justice. It absolutely does mean that. And to your

point about that Republicans don't care about the rule of law, this is something that people really need to understand. The Republican Party and the leadership of the Republican Party, as we know it now, only cares about one thing, but it's also how it also proves how easy it is for them to rile up their base, because deep down, the people who really control these messages and the people who are supporting this man know that what they're doing is evil and they know what they're doing is wrong. But if it allows them to keep power and if it allows them to keep political power in this country, they don't care. That's where I think they sometimes have an advantage over people on the left and progressives, because as a general rule, people on the left and the progressives tend to maybe have more dilemmas about the actions they take.

The Republicans have absolutely no dilemmas about any kind of moral ambiguity. If whatever action they take lets them win, they will win. And if supporting Trump gets them to win, they will win. Now, to your point about what this means, I think, to the brother's point that spoke before me, that I think we're seeing unprecedented actions being taken against people who have had high levels of political power in this country. If you go all the way back to the Nixon administration, when Watergate happened, Nixon was allowed to resign, and Gerald Ford was able to pardon him instead of Nixon going to trial.

And I personally think that that was a mistake. I think if Nixon would have went to trial, a lot of the things we saw in Trump would not have happened 40 years down the road. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens. My only fear is I think if something does happen, if he is indicted, I'm really concerned about what his base is going to do. I really feel like his base is going to—whatever they do is going to make January 6th like a street fight. That's what concerns me. I want to switch to another story here.

You know, Rebecca, I had more people trying to hit me up, telling me that I should have been accepting crypto on the show as opposed to cash donations. And I was like, I'm like, yeah, y'all keep that Bitcoin bullshit.

Now, you know, Anthony, who works on the show, he's big into Bitcoin and the crypto. I don't give a shit about crypto because here's what I know. I know a dollar. I know five dollars, ten dollars, twenty and a hundred. I know pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters. I know what works. And if you want to understand what's with that, here's the whole deal. Go to my iPad.

The SEC has charged a number of celebrities with crypto violations. Among them are the people, this is seen before, actress Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul, Soulja Boy, Austin Mayholm, Kendra Luss, Lil Yachty, Ne-Yo, and Akon. It says all the celebs

except for Soulja Boy and Mayholm agreed to pay a total of over $400,000 to settle the charges without admitting or denying their guilt, according to the SEC. We've seen stories where they were trying to serve Shaq. They were going after other people. It goes to show you that all of these so-called new, you know, oh, this is going to somehow change the world. Man, y'all can keep all that craziness because bottom line, crypto to me was a joke,

is a joke, and will still be a joke. Well, I think it's important to invest and to look for quality instruments to invest in because we know with recession that just having your dollars just sitting there and not actually working and doing something for you, you're actually losing money. But even to the point about the Trump topic and now with crypto and with the market and what's going on, I will say that what's going on with Trump is a distraction with what's going on with our financial markets, when we see that the banking industry, not just within the U.S., but even internationally with Credit Suisse, we're seeing that there's some instability that's happening.

We also see the instability that's happening with geopolitics, when we saw Jinping and Putin meeting together in Moscow to talk about a possible peace treaty or some type of alliance. But instead, we're so focused on Trump, we know Trump's not going to get arrested, indicted, or received inside of a prison. However, when it goes back to crypto, you know, I tell anyone, talk to a qualified financial advisor and actually figure out what works for you and your money. But all those people who were taking their large sports contracts and they were getting paid in crypto. I would just say that the value of their

bank accounts sure looked different compared to when they did it at the height of crypto and specifically Bitcoin during the pandemic. It was similar to GameStop. It was fun for a moment, but now it's not worth anything. Listen, I'm going to tell you this right now,

and somebody out there listening might think it sounds crass. Donald Trump wouldn't think so, considering he paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 to stay hush. But if y'all want to know when we really are going to switch to crypto, the day strip clubs start taking crypto, that's when you know the game has changed, okay? Oh, yeah. Roland, you are exceedingly late on that

if you haven't been to Atlanta lately. They got a Bitcoin machine, or at least they did in Magic City for a while. So that's... No, no, no, no, no, no. That bit didn't happen. So I've heard. No, let me be real clear.

You said they got a little Bitcoin machine. You know damn well that ain't making it rain because it's dollar bills. They don't be sweeping up coins at Magic City. It's still dollar bills, 5, 10, 20, and 100. I'm telling y'all right now, y'all...

Look, I'm going to tell y'all, I have seen a young lady with a wristband with a QR code on it, where you can scan it, and you can either cash out Venmo directly to or to her account, right on her wrist. Let me say it again. Yeah, catch up, Roland.

Let me say it again. That QR code is cash out Venmo PayPal Square. She taking money. They ain't trying to take no damn money. I don't know. Okay, all right. You might want to check with Joe Budden when he shows up to Starlight. Oh, guess what?

And as you just said, all the people who took that crypto right now broke as hell. Here's what we know. A dollar is a dollar. A hundred is a hundred. Y'all can keep that crypto all y'all want to. Don't come to me with them damn coins because here's the deal.

If I can't spend that money anywhere, I don't want no part of y'all crypto. So y'all can keep that crypto. All right. I got to go to a break. We come back. We're going to talk about something that's way more valuable than crypto. And hell, you can make more.

It is made more valuable than a hundred dollar bill. That is water. We'll explain next right here in Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Don't forget. Download the app. Y'all, if y'all on YouTube, hit the like button. I see a bunch of y'all commenting and stuff right now. Man, y'all commenting, you hit the like button.

We should easily go 1,000 likes right now. It impacts the algorithm. So hit the doggone like button. And yeah, Robert, go to the wide shot. Robert, I know you wish you could rock the black cherry boots like I got on right now, but everybody ain't able. I'll be right back. 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, Farhaji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress,

whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this this country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people the fear that they're taking our jobs they're taking our resources they're taking our women this is white people I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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

It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Hey, I'm Antonique Smith. Hello, everyone. It's Kiera Sheard. Hey, I'm Taj. I'm Coco. We'll be right back. It is called a commodity that will be more precious to the world than oil. We're talking about water. Now, if you got access to it,

you probably say, pfft, alright. Ain't no big deal. I mean, y'all know how bad it is in America now. I mean, hell, folks are spending literally billions of dollars just to have bottled water when we used to simply get it right out of the faucet. Let me turn it this

way, because they ain't paying no advertising, so they ain't getting no freebie. But the reality is in many parts of the world, again, water is a tremendously precious asset. And so it actually has literally national security implications. And so let's talk about this with Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA, Poppy C'mon Freeman, activist and co-founder of WE Act Radio,

and author of Nineveh, A Conflict Over Water. He joins me from D.C. Glad to have both of you here. Mustafa, I want to start with you again. For folk who may say, okay, man, I hear you. I mean, walk them through how literally water is considered to be a commodity that would be more precious than oil. Yeah, without a doubt. You know, when we often look at our planet, we see all the blue, which is the water that

makes up our planet. But less than 1% is actually able to have fresh drinking water. So it's a precious resource that we have, and it's one that's being impacted by pollution. It's being impacted by the climate crisis. And it's also been impacted by racism, because of redlining and restrictive covenants and a number of other things, it's made it more difficult for our communities. And for most folks, they're like, well, you know, it's not that important. We've got 7 million Americans who get sick every year from dealing with unsafe drinking water. And

a person dies every 10 seconds on our planet because of lack of access to healthy water and getting diseases from it. The thing, Poppy, I saw this earlier today that was pretty interesting, and it was talking about the amount of rain and snow that they've gotten in California and they said, hey, that this is not, this hasn't stopped their, still

hasn't impacted their drought. I mean, that's still an issue. That's still an issue. Well, what we need to understand is that this is not something new. This has been capitalism, disaster capitalism, one-on-one over and over. The Colorado River drying out is not a surprise. The water levels in the dams there is not a surprise. Wall Street is here to cash in and capitalize

on those inequities. And what we need to understand is that it's a profit motive that's driving all of this. When we look at the Flint water crisis, we know that's profit-driven. When we look at Detroit, Michigan, you have people there who can't afford the exorbitant water bills, so they end up getting their water cut off. And what happens when that does, occurs? Child protection services take their kids. So we actually have water refugees right here in the United States. And on top of that, no one is mentioning the fact that Nestle, a foreign corporation, comes in, pays Michigan $200 a year to pump a million, over a million gallons of water a day. And there's nothing said about this,

because it's making money for those that has been predominantly discriminating and exploiting the world for its resources, and that's why water is the new oil. We need to make sure that we understand that human rights need to be taken into account. Water should be looked at as a human right and not a commodity. And that is the difference. Martin Luther King said we need a

revolution of values. And until we implement those new values, we will continue to get what we always got. And that will be not enough water or dirty water. There are places, Mustafa, here in America where governments are not necessarily in control of water flow. We've been seeing what's happening in different parts of California where private landowners are playing a role

in this. So, you know, walk folks through who may not understand how there are literally water battles right now in the United States. Yeah, well, Poppy talked a little bit about some of it, but, you know, also look at what's going on with the Colorado River. You've got these compacts that have been in place for decades upon decades. And because of the shrinking water supply, you have these battles that are currently going on between states. And those who are at the headwaters are the ones who reap the most benefits. And then those who are further downstream

are having a more difficult time. So we're seeing out West a number of these different types of situations that are going on where folks are literally fighting for survival. Farmers are controlling some of the water, but the states and other entities are also playing a significant role. And you're going to see a lot of real challenging situations that are going to play out, not only in what's going on out west, but across the country, because the IPCC and the National Climate Assessment Reports, those are the top scientists around the planet have shared with us that there's going to be struggles in this space. And we know that the disproportionate impacts

always fall and the burden is on black folks and brown folks. Questions from the panel. Rebecca, you first. Sure. You just mentioned the Colorado River. And I remember in January, the Arizona AG said that she was going to end the Saudi farming agreement in Arizona, where the Saudis were planting a lot of alfalfa and then shipping that back to Saudi Arabia for their livestock to use. Do you envision other state governments that are impacted by the dwindling Colorado River doing the same thing, ending some of those foreign farming agreements? Most likely that is going to happen because, as has been stated earlier, you know, we have

a number of foreign entities that are playing big roles. And whether it's agriculture or things that are happening in the manufacturing space, that requires huge amounts of water as well. And folks are going to have to start making some tough decisions if they want to make sure that folks here have this precious resource or if we are going to allow the products that are being created and shipped to other places to continue to grow and grow in their water use. So I do see folks stepping up into that space and starting to say no more. Toron. Good. Hello, brothers. Let me ask you, Mustafa. There's a mentality in the states that these things that you're talking about tend to happen in, quote unquote, third world countries or places

far away from America. But we've seen that Flint and Jackson and other cities are having some of these same issues. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, I feel. With the aging out of America's water supply and our pipe system and the quality of water we're getting, do you think that there's going to be a humanitarian crisis in the United States on the horizon? Oh, without a doubt. And our other panelists is also sharing that as well. You know, we know without a doubt that there is going to not only be a humanitarian crisis, but there's going to be other public health crisis. There's going to be an economic crisis that's all tied to water. We see the dynamics that played out. Y'all just

remember when we first went into the COVID-19 pandemic and when people went to the grocery stores and they couldn't find water and they couldn't find food on the shelves, how everybody freaked out. So we know that these similar dynamics are going to play as we see a shrinking water supply. You won't be able to grow crops in the same places that you once were. And of course, water plays a big role there. And you're not also going to be able to afford, because if we don't rebuild the infrastructure, then the cost of water is going to continue to escalate, and it's going to price a lot of people out. Poppy also shared with folks the dynamics that have been going on

in Detroit, where folks can either access or afford the water and the dynamics that are playing out there. But that is just one example. It's happening in multiple locations across the country, and we didn't even talk about the impacts that are happening from CAFO, Certified Animal Feeding Operations, in North Carolina and a number of other places that are putting these stressors on our water supply, and coal ash, and now PFAS is also in our water supply. So all of this is going to continue to place these stressors

that are just going to have folks bugging out. Papi, go ahead. I just want people to understand that in my book, NinevehNovel.com, it paints the picture of a world that water has been priced beyond affordability of the masses, forcing them to collect rainwater. It shows what will happen when these resources are in the hands of a few people and the commodification of those resources at extreme fascist level. Right now, some of us are acknowledging the 20-year anniversary of Iraq war. You know that war was fought about. It wasn't even a war. It was an invasion. It was robbery.

And we saw it. And it was millions of people that protested about it, and it still didn't stop. But yet, Blackwater, the mercenary organization that made a killing, literally and figuratively, there, the owner being, what is his name, Betsy DeBose's murderous little brother, Eric. Eric Prince.

Yeah, thank you, sir. Eric Prince. Now, Eric Prince is no longer in the mercenary business per se, but what is he doing now? He's in Africa, which represents the largest amount of agricultural land available on the planet. And they are actually currently right now still in people's land, making sure they have land to grow food and control the water. And Eric Prince is there now in Zambia providing security because they already know what's coming down the pipeline unless we do something different. We need to have a national water policy in this country to offset what's going to happen. Otherwise, I advise all

your listeners to go to Miami, go to South Beach, take a lot of pictures, because it's going to be gone in 20 years because it will be underwater. When the polar ice caps melt, and they are melting, the ocean levels are rising. And whether you have enough water or too much water is going to be a problem. And until we stop dancing around this issue and address the real facts, we're going to have a lot of suffrage that could be avoided. So I urge everyone to take this very serious. Deborah Rutter, the president of the Kennedy Center, is doing an event right now called the River Run that's acknowledging this issue. And she says that artists bring attention to issues that we don't

talk about and help us understand the world that we live in. And I hope that everyone is hearing this right now. All right, Dan. Gentlemen, we live in. And I hope that everyone is hearing this right now. All right, then. Gentlemen, we appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Poppy, thanks a lot. Mustafa, we appreciate it. Thanks as well. All right, folks, got to go to a break. We come back. The importance of the abortion issue,

the choice issue, played a huge role in the 2022 midterm elections. What is the plan in 2024? But specifically, what are they doing when it comes to African Americans, that outreach as well? We'll talk with an assistant who runs Planned Parenthood.

Folks, you're watching Roland Marc Dunn-Filchert on the Black Star Network. A lot of these corporations or people that are running stuff push black people if they're doing a certain thing. What that does is it creates a butterfly effect of any young kid who, you know, wants to leave any situation they're in, and the only people they see are people that are doing this.

So I got to be a gangster, I got to shoot, I got to sell, I got to do this in order to do it. And it just becomes a cycle. But when someone comes around and is making other, oh, we don't, you know, they don't wanna push it or put money into it. So that's definitely something I'm trying to fix too, is just show there's other avenues.

You don't gotta be a rapper, you don't gotta be a ballplayer. You can be a country singer, you can be an opera singer, you can be a damn whatever, you know? Showing the different avenues. And that is possible, and it's hard for people to realize that it's possible until someone does it. Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punch! I'm real revolutionary right now.

I thank you for being the voice of Black America. All the momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home, you dig? 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. Hey, yo, peace world. What's going on? It's the love king of R&B, Waheem Devon. Hey, yo, peace world. What's going on? It's the love king of R&B, Waheem Devon.

Hey, I'm Qubit, the maker of the Qubit Shuffle and the Wham Dance. What's going on? This is Tobias Trevelyan. And if you ready, you are listening to and you are watching Roland Martin, y'all. You know, Rob Portillo loves his gun. That's why he wearing his gun.

I know a lot of cops cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution, but not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

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

Today, and of course, we talk a lot about gun safety, gun control in this country. And one of the saddest stories we always hear is when someone, especially a kid, gets a hold of a gun and ends up killing themselves or a friend. Well, my next guest actually came up with an invention that hopefully can stop that from happening. Welcome to the show, Kayla Austin. She's the CEO and the founder of My Gun's Been Moved. And so she has an invention that will let you know, will alert you when your gun has been moved. So Kayla, glad to have you on the show. So tell us about this invention.

Hello. So as you mentioned before, my name is Kayla Austin. I'm currently at Howard University. And I started My Guns Have Moved when I was 12. I'm from the Chicago area. And I did a research project where I studied gun violence, specifically against youth, and realized that a lot of shootings

involving children and teens stem from having that access in the home. So we went through a few design changes, but My Guns & Moved currently is a smart pad. And so you just can place their firearm on it. A lot of firearm owners, instead of using a safe, are placing their guns in drawers, shelves, areas like that, thinking that children don't know where they are, but they do.

So this is a smart pad that gives parents a way to monitor if their child obtains access to their weapons. So an alarm will go off when the firearm is removed from the pad. And then from our app, our users can either call an emergency contact, so that could be a spouse or a neighbor, or they can call law enforcement as well if they can't intervene in time themselves. So when you say the alarm goes off, I mean, is it a loud ringing? Is it a loud bell? I mean, what is it? Or does it go off on your phone, or does it go off right there in the room? So is it like a smoke detector? Yeah, so we're still working we're working through the tooling now,

like actually deciding on what type of sound that it will be. But the sound will come from the actual device. You need to ask my talk and put it down! I don't know, maybe go with that. Yeah, so there will be some type of audio that comes from the hardware, and then from our phone is where our user is notified. All right. And so, coming up with this, I mean, did you,

we said you did your research. Did you have any personal experience losing friends or loved ones where this actually happened or experiencing this yourself? Yes. So I would say what had really pushed my passion was when I was working on this project where I was studying this issue, I had my passion was when I was working on this project, where I was studying this issue, I had a Thulian member who I was talking about it with. And she actually told me that when she was four years old, she shot herself in the hand when her sibling was

also in the room with her and that she was just grateful that she ended up, it wasn't a fatal situation. She shot herself in the hand, not somewhere more prevalent and she didn't hurt her sibling as well. So hearing her story, realizing that this happened to someone that was close to me and hearing about how often these accidental shootings and shootings involving parents' guns happen was really what pushed me and what motivated me to keep going and make this thing real life. All right. We'll get the questions from our resident absolute gun lover himself, Robert Petillo.

Well, I think this is an absolutely great product and a great idea. I'm going to tell you guys a very stupid story. So when we were kids, me and my sister, my dad had a nickel plate at 45. And so we saw in a movie that they were playing Russian roulette where they would spin the cylinder and pull the trigger to their head. So we decided to do that, and luckily we both lived. But because if your product existed back then, somebody could have intervened with our young dumbasses to stop us from doing so. So with this product, what's the rollout plan on it?

How do you plan on getting this into consumers' hands? Yeah, so I'm currently at Howard University, and so I've been able to just – I feel like someone from Howard is in the room everywhere. And we've had gun store owners reach out to us as well. We were also at CES in Las Vegas, which is the largest tech conference in the world. So we're trying to reach out in our network to get more black gun owners, especially black gun owners. And I would love to talk to you more after this. But we're currently in our manufacturing stage now, hoping to launch this in the next nine months. But we're making the effort to work with like gun violence prevention organizations, people who are doing that work already,

and who are interested in that space to get our product out. All right. I had a second question. So a big problem that most people in Atlanta have and many other cities is people break into their cars and stealing guns. Is there any ability to create a mobile version of this where you can have it in your car? So if your gun moves in your car, so it steals it, you can be notified automatically and then hopefully intervene before it's just gone and off, you know, committing more crimes throughout the city. Yes. So our product is primarily focusing on like being in the home, but that's definitely been a thought of mine. I would love to expand into that area as well.

Robert, just curious if you had to get, first of all, are there tags for each gun? Is that how it works? No, there's no tag. So it's a smart pad. No, I'm saying what I'm saying, but how many, so how many weapons can fit on the smart pad? So it will be aimed for the size of a handgun, so like one handgun. But you're able to have, we're building this so you can have multiple pads connected to your phone, connected to the app as well. Robert, how many pads would you have to get? One, two. The hell, you got a bazooka? No, no, no, just a few of them. That's what I'm talking about.

That's what I'm talking about. A good amount. So, um, I'm just curious. Do you have pads big enough for these big-ass guns he got? Unfortunately, no, not right now. We want to expand into those larger-sized weapons, but our primary focus has been handguns. So six were my closet guns.

Six just from your closet? Yeah. What, you got guns elsewhere? Hey, look, Mr. ATF, what about all these questions? Don't ask no questions. First of all, let's be real clear. I'm trying to help the sister out

to grow and expand her business because she already said her pad is mainly for handguns. Your ass coming out with AR-15s, bazookas. You coming out with all... We'll make him some custom ones. Right, so she's gonna have...

We're gonna ask some more questions. She's gonna... Hold on, hold on. She's gonna have to make, you know, I think... Give me a shot, Henry. She's gonna have to make a gun pad the size of this damn table right here for you, Robert. It's going to be like this wide.

That's not a bad idea, because I just built a.308 rifle for 24-inch barrel last weekend. So, you know, you need to have one for all sizes. Now, wait until I get my.50 cal. Then we're going to do that one outside. Caleb, you need a gun advisor. We'll send you Robert's damn number... Email me after the show, Caleb. Yeah, we'll send you Robert's damn number,

because, yeah, he got the gun stuff down pat. Rebecca, go. You got a question? Okay, so as we're leaving Robert's panic room... So just asking a question, putting on my attorney hat real fast. I'm assuming that you've taken the steps to make sure that you own the patent to this technology, or at least getting the utility patent to make sure that as you get this out to the marketplace, that you will be covered and you will receive all the money that you should be getting for creating such a wonderful invention. And then my second

question is, are you looking to go on a show like Shark Tank or are you looking for other investors in your technology? Yes. So what was the first part of the question? First question was, have you got the patent for your device? Yes. So currently I have a provisional patent. As I mentioned earlier, I went through some design changes. When I was 13, I had a patent pending on like the original design of it. So now we're restarting that process to make sure that this is fully protected, especially as like a black business owner. We know how important that is for us to like go through that. So that's what we're working on currently now.

And we are definitely always looking for investors and people to fund. We currently have our safety circle, which is on the My Guns & Move website, which is our GoFundMe where we're crowdfunding. And then as far as future opportunities and pitches, all I can say is be on the lookout soon. Some really cool things coming. Don't run. First of all, Kayla, your invention is brilliant

and it's definitely needed. A quick story. I had a close friend when I was in high school sneak his father's gun out of his drawer. He just had it in a drawer, and he was running around his neighborhood swinging it around. He ended up hitting one of his friends. That sort of thing, yeah, that sort of thing happens a lot because a lot of times people don't have any kind of understanding of how to be safe with guns. So let me ask you this.

Have you partnered with any gun manufacturers or have you thought about partnering with people who are focused on gun safety to try to maybe market this in a way to try to get this out to the general gun consumer? Not Rob, because Rob has got an army, but brothers who just have one or two pieces that they have inside the home.

Have you considered that? Yeah, it's definitely something we're considering and also making sure that we're building our network amongst firearms owners. So as I mentioned before, I would love to really like stay in contact with you guys, get your feedback and more ways that you think we can increase our outreach as well. Okay. All right. Kayla, where can people go to get more information right now to check out your device. Yeah, so to get more information, you can follow us on Instagram at MyGunsAndMove, and you can also check out our website at MyGunsAndMove,

where we also have the ability to enter our safety circle. And then also on Instagram, there is a link to your pal, you can move to the website soon, where you can also join our safety circle newsletter. It's like we'll be sharing updates on things that we're doing, ways to get involved in that sort of thing as well. All right. Well, congratulations.

And the surfboard-sized pad will be called the Robert Petillo Special once you have it done. So, Kayla, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Of course. Thank you. All right, folks. Got to go to a break.

We come back and we'll talk to the sister who is the CEO of Planned Parenthood. That's next. YouTube folks, hit that like button folks. I don't know why we're now over a thousand. Well I gotta keep asking y'all to hit the button. Y'all commenting all the time. Hit the doggone like button. It's simple.

Click like, move on. Folks also, hit share and like on Facebook. Same thing when it comes to our Black Star Network app. And speaking of the app, download Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. You can also, of course, support us in what we do

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How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at bookstores everywhere. Plus, you can download the copy on Audible. And Chi-Town, I will be in your city. I'm actually there for a private signing tomorrow. On Friday, the public signing will be taking place at Chemistry Chicago Restaurant. They are on South Harper, a fantastic black owned restaurant. We'll be there beginning at 5 p.m. Central.

To RSVP, simply go to WVON's website or go to their Instagram page. You'll see the link as well to register. And then Charlie Dates hit me, Pastor Charlie Dates. I'm gonna be at Salem Baptist Church on Sunday. I was a member there when I lived in Chicago under Reverend James Meeks. He is now retired. Charlie Dates has taken over, and so I'll be signing at Salem Baptist Church on Sunday as well.

But definitely want to see y'all on Friday there at Kimmon Street Chicago Restaurant. All right, folks, got to go to break. Pace the bills. I'll be right back. Hatred on the bills. I'll be right back. Hatred on the streets. A horrific scene. A white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time,

have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. You will not be able to stop me. White people are losing their damn lives. You will not! folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash.

This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white people. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, and my new show, Get Wealthy, focuses on the things that your financial advisor and bank isn't telling you, but you absolutely need to know. So watch Get Wealthy on the Black Star Network. 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. What's up, what's up?

I'm Dr. Ricky Dillard, the choir master. Hi, I'm Amber Stevens-West from The Carmichael Show. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. The The Thank you. Să ne urmăm. The Thank you. All right, folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. We have seen the results of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Now, let's be real clear.

Anybody who believes that a woman has a right to choose should not be shocked by what has happened. The right is made perfectly clear what they were going to do. They, and then of course, with that ruling, what did Clarence Thomas say? They wanted to go after birth control next. They want to go after everything. You now actually are seeing this. You're seeing states banning what some call the abortion pill or plan B. You see them, some people want to go after contraception. You even had places like in Florida and other places

where they wanted girls to turn in data on their menstrual cycles. Again, what these folks, these so-called family values folks, and remember, these are the same people when it comes to guns, they yell limited government. values, folks. And remember, these are the same people when it comes to guns. They yell limited government. But on this issue, they want massive amounts of government. It was a huge issue in the 2022 election. Many people believe that it greatly helped Democrats and prevented a massive red wave from taking place across this country. The issue of a woman's right to choose is going to become a major issue in the 2024 election. I keep saying on this show, you cannot be waiting

for 2024 before you begin to talk about the election. You must begin to lay the groundwork, the foundation today for next year's election because it is going to take a lot because, again, the right, the momentum is picking up. You see the actions that are taking place in various states as a result of that Supreme Court decision. Joining us right now to talk about this further is Alexis McGill-Johnson. She is the president and CEO, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Alexis, glad to have you here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. As I said there, this was a this was a major part of the 2022 election. And I dare say it is going to be even bigger come the presidential election next year.

Absolutely. So, Roland, it's so good to be with you. Thank you so much for having me and taking on this conversation. You were absolutely right. In 22, you know, I've been known to say abortion has actually saved our democracy. The fact that people were so fired up after the Constitution undid 50 years of almost 50 years of precedent, taking away our constitutional right to control our own bodies, and also understood it in the context of the rollback of our voting rights and our secure access to participating in Democratic elections, changing the way we fundamentally teach history and education. All of these things, I think, intersected. And we know that when the opposition, you know, tried to claim victory after Dobbs,

they made it clear that Dobbs wasn't going to go far enough, because returning the decision back to the states, when there's no state in the union where these abortion bans are popular, they proclaimed that they were going to make 24 the litmus test for a national abortion ban. So we know they are going to continue to bring it up. They're going to double down, as you mentioned, on all of these crazy bills and bans that they are coming for. And, you know, and I have to believe that the people are going to continue to show up to demonstrate that they are not going to stand for these encroachments upon our bodies for their power and control. Obviously, you're not going to have the immediate effect of the Dobbs decision. And so from a strategic standpoint, how do you keep this top of mind for folks

who next year may decide inflation, who may decide the economy, who may decide other issues are more important? It's a great question. And I think this is a question that people were asking somewhat in the aftermath already after the Dobbs decision, when we saw inflation go up and when we saw the economy, you know, respond to the inflation concerns. You know, my response to that is that we are seeing the impact of the Dobbs decision. People are making incredible journeys, sometimes upwards of 400 miles one way just to get access to medication abortion and having to, you know, get back in time so that they can attend to the children they already have, the elders that are living with them and making the choices that they need to do.

We are watching already in real time people who have intended pregnancies that are no longer viable, who are essentially going need to have a miscarriage care, abortion care, and they are being told they need to get on planes in order to get that care. Those stories, I think, are forming a really important foundation that, you know, will continue to be in people's minds as they go to elections. It's not just as if you take away a right and one day you stop thinking about it, right? It's happening in real time. You know, our job and our strategy is to continue to keep the issue salient so that these stories are still being told in the context of these bans and in the context of the broader story. One of the things that we saw is Gen Z, millennials, which we know is a generation that is the most diverse generation in our

history, they saw the link not just to abortion rights, but to attack and assault on all of the other rights that they know are important to maintain free and authentic lives. They are packing this in. And so, like, he can the economy and inflation aren't always the things that are driving. It really is around what is the world that we want to see? And we know that just like 22, 24 is either going to be the end of our democracy or the opportunity for us to continue to realize the progress that we've made towards an inclusive

democracy. I've got to go to a break. We come back. I want to talk about what you're also doing when it comes to the state Supreme Court. There's a huge race coming up in Wisconsin. April 4th, we saw what happened when Republicans took control of, regained control of the Supreme Court there in North Carolina. So we'll talk about that next. Folks, we're talking with the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood. We'll also take questions from our panel as well. You're watching Roller Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network.

On the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, re-entry anxiety. A lot of us are having trouble transitioning in this post-pandemic society and don't even realize it. We are literally stuck between two worlds in purgatory. How to get out of purgatory and regain your footing and balance. What emotions they're feeling and being able to label them because as soon as you label an emotion, it's easier to self-regulate. It's easier to manage that emotion. The next A Balanced Life on Blackstar Network. We'll be right back. We have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scary.

It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? What's up, y'all? I'm Will Packer. Everybody, this is your man Fred Hammond. Hi, my name is Bresha Webb, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. And, well, I like a nice filter usually, but we can be unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome back.

We're talking with Alexis McGill-Johnson right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. State Supreme Court race in Wisconsin. If Democrats were gained control, they could have a 4-3 majority. That is huge because of that 1849 law in that state. We see Republicans have taken control of the North Carolina State Supreme Court. So obviously so much attention was focused on the U.S. Supreme Court. What are y'all doing? What are you looking at when it comes to the state courts? And now what we're seeing in the wake of the Dobbs decision?

Well, look, I mean, Roland, I think what it does is it illustrates how important. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated And it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. It is to understand where candidates sit on every level of every ballot. Oftentimes when you are in a election,

the state Supreme Court line is all the way at the bottom or maybe on the back of your ballot sheet because you're always going in maybe for a federal race or your governor's race or your state senator's race or your mayoral race and your candidates. But those state Supreme Court lines, those elections become have become even more important now that we are watching the reality of these states moving to ban or enact further restrictions that are not in alignment with where their state constitutions are or where the voters have said they would like to be. So in this state of Wisconsin, this Supreme Court, state Supreme Court race. There is a candidate, Janet Bratisiewicz, who is,

you know, unabashed, you know, very pro-abortion rights, pro-reproductive rights, Supreme Court justice. We have seen millions of dollars being poured into a race that normally would not yield that kind of energy. But because, as you said, there is an 1849 law on the books, 1849. We weren't even free, much less, you know, women free. And they are looking to roll us back to 1849 and continue to take our rights away in Wisconsin. So, you know, our energy, the resources that we are investing there look a lot like what you would see in a state or federal campaign. We are mobilizing people. We're engaging folks. We're making sure that they understand what's at stake and that we can no longer just pay attention to what we would consider top of ballot races.

We have to pay attention to what's happening in our state Supreme Courts, our DAs, our prosecutors, local sheriff, all of these races matter now even more because these decisions have been returned to the states. Last year, I heard a lot of conversation about the impact of the Dobbs decision on Black women and Black communities. Yet, when I

was having conversations with a lot of Black owned media outlets, I was not seeing the level of investment on the ground, but also in black-owned media when it came to advertising. I was seeing things happen other places. What about that? Because the reality is we know that black women are the largest Democratic voters. Black men are the second largest Democratic voters.

And so if you want to see folks who are pro-choice in office, that's going to mean turning out the two largest blocks of Democratic voters. And so what are those discussions like about the importance of investing in those communities when it comes to messaging, when it comes to talking about this issue? And will there be a concerted effort specifically with Black-owned media for 2024 to reach the individuals who are not necessarily being reached by mainstream media? Well, thank you for the question, Roland. I think it is critically important. You know, most of our media decisions have been made on the local level at Planned Parenthood.

But I have a national initiative called the Black Health Equity Initiative, resources that we received from a large grant last year that I went to our boarded community and said, I want to spend against what it will mean to turn Planned Parenthood into one of the best places for Black women and femmes to get access to health care. And that means we need to invest in campaigns. We need to invest in media. We need to invest in Black-owned media in ways that demonstrate our commitment to the folks who are also trusted messengers in our community. You know, with respect to the broader community, look, I think these are conversations that we

need to continue to have. There's always been a false choice, it seems, between turning out a base, which has been taken for granted for, you know, decades, if not centuries, as well as, you know, or versus turning out the kind of bipartisan voters who, you know, who straddle the line and live in the suburbs. And I think that we can, what we have seen consistently, and I think particularly in the midterms, is that people are crossing party lines, they're crossing generational lines, they're crossing racial and ethnic lines in ways that, because they understand how critical this issue is, not just for their personal autonomy, but also for our democracy in general. And we need to ensure that we are carrying that message to

our communities and demonstrating our commitment through those resources. Well, definitely love to hear more about that Black Women's Health Initiative because obviously that's, you know, we target Black folks 365, seven days a week on this show. Rebecca, your question. Yes, thank you, Alexis. Over the years, I've worked with many candidates, and I've brought them in front of the Planned Parenthood board plan for specifically and actively recruiting Black women running for office and supporting them financially? Because that second part is so important, but also the ask, asking Black women, asking Black people, period, to run for office. It's such a great question. So when, you know, we have a political action committee, our federal PAC, that endorses candidates on the federal level as the national organization.

And I'm really proud of the record we have over the last few years from the time I was chair until the time I stepped into this role where the majority of candidates that we have endorsed have been people of color and women and Black women. And we've mobilized the resources that we have in our community towards these candidates and put up very specific links and, you know, done all the things to make sure that people have easy access. We're talking through and engaging, you know, all of the candidates, folks like Sherry Beasley in North Carolina, folks like, you know, in Wisconsin, Mandela Vars, I know he's not a Black woman, but people who are strong reproductive rights folks. I think it becomes even more important for us in this moment to identify in these open seats, in these races, to build from our bench. We have so many people, Planned Parenthood, I think because of who we are, because of folks who

jump into a crisis at any time, are coming in and training and wanting to go out and seek higher office. So we're building that pipeline and also working with our partners across the movements to ensure that we have voices that look like us, that talk like us, that can speak to the complexity of what it means in the Black community to be a supporter of reproductive rights, how it connects to democracy, how it connects to our faith. All of those things are considerations that we are building and developing inside of our action fund work. Robert? What is the plan for down-ballot races? Because you spoke about federal races, but what about down-ballot races?

When I look at candidates in Mississippi and Alabama and Louisiana and Texas where abortion rights, you know, are dwindling. Yeah. you know, are dwindling? Yeah, I mean, look, I think that we are, so we work with our local affiliates to prioritize down ballot races and make sure that they have, you know, the access that they need and the resources that they need to run. You know, I think in general, the importance of down ballot races is now just becoming to the fore for many folks. Some people come in every two years, every four years, and they check the top of the ballot, they never move down the ballot. And so our voter guides, you know, continuing to send out through our, you know, communications to our Action Fund members, why it is so important to go all the way through.

And I think particularly as we see in the Supreme Court race that the levers of power cannot shift unless we actually actively participate. So those are conversations that we're actively having with our affiliate partners on the Action Fund side and our community partners and our state reproductive justice partners. JOHN YANG, National Public Radio Network, The Washington Post. Robert? ROBERT COSTA, The Washington Post. According to some recent polling, between 25 and 30 percent of Democratic voters consider themselves to be pro-life. The same poll said around 30 percent of African Americans generally see themselves to be pro-life, and particularly for African American men,

nearly 40 percent or nearly 45 percent are pro-life. What is being done to help messaging so that we can better talk to people who vote Democratic, who are part of the base, but who may not be pro-life, to help them understand the issue in a way that isn't a direct attack, but to bring them over to a compromise position so you don't risk pushing people to a party where they might not agree with anything over the life issue, but where you can build coalitions and find places of compromise to help get the maximum turnout, to get candidates who will vote in your favor but maybe disagree on certain issues?

That's a great question. I think what we have seen consistently is that the majority of people in each state believe that, they believe that Roe should have been the law of the land. And they believe that not because they personally supported abortion rights or they personally supported themselves having abortion, but because they understood that the decision needed to be made by the person who was pregnant, you know, and their partner and their pastor and all the folks who legitimately need to be in the decision and not the lawmaker down the street. When you look at these messages, when you look at these decisions being a function of the power and control of state lawmakers,

as opposed to the power that we, you know, that's what bodily autonomy is. It's our ability to make the decisions about our own bodies and not have the interference of government intervention. That's why we saw a Kansas. That's why we saw a Kentucky. That's why we saw a Michigan in the midterms. you know, seem to lean more Republican or at least be more purple because people really bristled at the idea of the government making these decisions for them. And I think we need to continue to lean into that messaging and help people understand that doctors need to be making these decisions with patients, not lawmakers and lawyers. I got about 90 seconds to run your question. Yeah, my question is, how much work is being done about trying to shift the narrative from the way the right and the hard right talks about abortion and Planned Parenthood into making this more of like an education issue about like the fact that so many states that are pushing back

against these ideas are like southern states that already have a terrible record with sex education. Has there been any movement on that, as far as like making this an education issue, outside of just the physical act and the procedure itself? DR. Of course, no. Not only do they have the most egregious rates on sex education, and, you know, the states where they're only practicing or teaching abstinence in their

schools, we also are seeing that these many of these bans are the same states where they have the highest maternal mortality rates, the highest infant mortality rates, the lowest well-being rates for children. And so I think it is incumbent upon us to continue to ask these questions, because obviously they continue to hit Black women, you know, more than three times in many of these states and cities who are more likely to die from these causes. And so in many ways, whatever choice we make, whatever choice we make, we are more subject to die as a result of the health care system and our inability to make the decisions that are best for our bodies because our doctors and the hospitals

and the people who give information are subject to criminalization. And that's where I think we really need to expand the conversation. All right, Alexis McGill-Johnson, we appreciate you joining us. Look forward to having you back. Thank you so much, Roland, and everyone.

Thanks a bunch. Folks, we're going to end on this note. Class of some Black students. One student had to answer the question right. Then they all got some time off. I love their reaction when she got it right. Check this out. Harley, it's up to you.

All right, parents, we made a bet. If Harley gets this right, then we can have free time. If she don't, then we still working. Harley, what answer did you write down? Yeah! Y'all see the two young brothers in the left corner? You swear they just won the NCAA championship. They like, Lord, we got free time. They got shit and tears.

Saw this video. Phillip Lewis, my frat, posted this. So I figured we'll end the show with that. Nothing like Black Joy. Folks, that's it. Toe Run, Rebecca and Robert, thanks a bunch. Appreciate it, folks. I'll see y'all tomorrow from Chicago.

Y'all have a great one. Chicago, I'll see y'all tomorrow from Chicago. All right, y'all have a great one. Chicago, I'll see y'all Friday for my book signing on white fear. Look forward to being at the restaurant there. Don't forget the RSVP, and we'll see you then. Holler! Folks, Black Star Network is here. Hold no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now.

Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roller. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black

Own Media and something like CNN. You can't be Black Own Media and B-Owned Media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-Owned Media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Pull up a chair. Take your seat. The Black Tape.

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