#RolandMartinUnfiltered - New CBC Sworn In, Republican Leadership Circus, Damar Hamlin Update, Diversity in Media

Episode Date: January 4, 2023

1.3.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: New CBC Sworn In, Republican Leadership Circus, Damar Hamlin Update, Diversity in Media The Congressional Black Caucus of the 118th Congress was officially sworn in this morning. We will show you the historical ceremony and discuss the CBC plans for this new Congressional session. The chaos in the Republican leadership battle continues with Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy falling short of the votes needed to become the Speaker of the house. We will explain what this means for Capital Hill. Monday Night Football had a devastating injury for Bills Safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest after a play. We speak with a cardiologist to explain the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest. We will also talk to Jemele Hill about how the NFL handled this situation and what can be done to protect players. After 40 years of black broadcast television, the inequities for T.V. Broadcast ownership is still a big issue in the industry. We will talk to Soo Kim,  Managing Partner and  CIO of Standard General, about his new acquisition and what this means for diversity ownership in the future. In our fit Live Win segment, we will talk to fitness expert Gym Jones about how to stop the repeated cycle of crash dieting and weight loss failure and finally lose weight in 2023. Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Streaming live on the Black Star Network. The Congressional Black Caucus, the 118th Congress was officially or ceremoniously sworn in this morning. But they're actually not fully sworn in because there's the drama as to who's going to be the next Speaker of the House. Four votes have been taken. Republican Kevin McCarthy has failed all four times. We'll show you that drama live from the House of Representatives. Also, we talked to the incoming chair of the Congressional Black Caucus,

Nevada Congressman Stephen Horsford. Also, chatted with other members, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Jim Clyburn, Robin Kelly, N Nakima Williams, Joyce Beatty, and so many others. And we'll share all of that with you folks on today's show. Monday Night Football, folks, had a devastating injury to Bills safety, Damar Hamlin. He suffered cardiac arrest after a play.

We'll talk to a cardiologist who will explain the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest. Jemele Hill will also join us to discuss how the NFL poorly handled the situation and what can be done to protect players. After 40 years of black broadcast television, the inequalities for TV broadcast ownership continue not only when it comes to African Americans but also other minorities.

There's a major television deal that's looming, an $8 billion deal led by Korean billionaire, Soo Kim, the managing partner and CIO of Standard General. He will join us, talk about this acquisition, talk about the criticism that's been leveled at him that he's not the right kind of minority and what he wants to do when it comes to black content creators and black-owned media companies. And over the next 10 days, folks, every day, we're going to have our Fit, Live, Win segment,

trying to get you off to the right start in 2023. First up is going to be fitness expert and diet expert Jim Jones about how to stop the repeated cycle of crash dieting, weight loss failures, but also we're going to focus on how to slowly begin your process. How to slowly begin your process to build

your stamina and for you to have a fitness lifestyle. We'll talk about that. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got it.

Whatever the biz, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the 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

With Uncle Gro-Gro-Yo Yeah, yeah It's rolling Martin Yeah, yeah Rolling with Roland now Yeah He's punk, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's Roland Martin Now

Martin Alright folks, on the U.S. Senate side All right, folks. On the U.S. Senate side, Senate members were actually sworn in today. Here is video of Vice President Kamala Harris swearing in to a full six-year term Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock. Please raise your white hand. Okay. Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter so help you God congratulations Okay, so Senate, no issues.

They're in session. Everybody's all good. House members have not officially been sworn in because House members aren't sworn in until they're the Speaker of the House. There currently isn't one. Why? Because 20 holdout Republicans have been voting against Kevin McCarthy to be the next House

Speaker. In fact, it's been so embarrassing today, y'all, so embarrassing, that they've had now four different votes, and he has not been able to get the majority on any of those votes. It's been hilarious, to be honest, to watch what has been going on, to watch how Republicans are in total disarray, how you've got people who are just utterly clueless about what they're doing. They can't pick a leader.

And so, boy, you can't have much hope that they could be able to govern if they don't even know how to pick a leader. You know, the graphic there says failed two. No, that's wrong. There have been four votes. And so he has made clear he's not dropping out. But these 20 renegade Republicans said they're not backing down.

In fact, in the first round, he lost nine. It went to 19 in the second round, 19 in the third round, 20 in the fourth round. So we have no idea. Now, let me explain to people how this process works.

You keep voting until you get a speaker. I was looking at the twitter feed keep voting until you get a speaker. I was looking at the Twitter feed of Michael House was not chosen on the first ballot. Okay? A hundred years. Now, as we look at what's going on and you look at all of these numbers, you look at what's happening here, you've had other votes, folks, where you've literally had 100, I'm trying to pull it up right now.

Let's see here. According to Michael Beschloss, he said that in the year, give me one second, I'm going to pull it up for y'all so I can just show you. He said in 1855, 1856, the House Speaker Contest, go to my iPad, went to 133 ballots. 133 ballots. Now again, they keep voting. So what happens?

Republicans, they stand up. They nominate who they want to nominate. The Democrats have been steadfast, and they've been nominating Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a very enthusiastic way, matter of fact. Here is one of the members today, again, putting Hakeem Jeffries, the first African-American to ever lead a party in the House or even the Senate. This is them putting his name in nomination.

Thank you. I believe in the honor of Hakeem Jeffries. I give you Jeffrey. That was the first round. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi stands up and puts Jeffrey's name in nomination. You see her there blowing him a kiss. Later, other members did it. They have been steadfast in their support. In fact, in the last round, after they put his name in, they begin to chant, Hakeem, Hakeem.

And it's hilarious watching this, because Republicans are sitting over there, sourpuss, mad upset. So what they've done is they've adjourned now until tomorrow. The Republicans are going to go back in the caucus and try to figure out some type of deal, but there may not be a deal even be had. This is utterly, utterly hilarious watching what is going on here. And it shows you, again, the ineptitude of the Republicans in the House, how they can't even figure out how to pick a leader. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice at EPA, joins us. Randy Bryant, diversity and inclusion strategist, speaker and trainer, joins us right now as well.

We'll be joined in a second by Michael Brown, former chair of the DNC Finance Committee. I must say, Mustafa, it is hilarious to watch the public humiliation of Kevin McCarthy, a man who has kissed the ass of Donald Trump, who voted not to certify the election, who has said and done anything. He has done everything. He's been on his hands and knees begging and doing whatever to get Republicans to vote for him. And it is all failed. It has been, you know, he's made a huge amount of concessions to the most radical aspects of the Republicans, especially, you know, the right wing side of the of the Republican Party.

And it has done nothing for him but take him to this particular moment. And in this moment, we now see that there's a disarray inside of the Republican Party, but it also sends a clear message across the country that Republicans are not ready to take leadership in the House. And that translates also to the policies that have their party, you know, separated and will cause lots of unnecessary sort of disproportionate impacts across our country. So it's going to be interesting to see if they can get it together tomorrow, I believe at noon, when they come back to once again try and vote to elect who will be the next speaker of the House. You know, Michael, I mean, you sit here and you watch this and you see just the total disarray. And Democrats are in lockstep. Every time there was a vote, Jeffers got 212 votes.

McCarthy goes down, goes down, goes down, goes down. And if those 20 Republicans remain steadfast, Republicans are going to have to figure out who else can be their leader. Hold on. I think we have some issues with your audio. Guys, let me know. We have Michael's audio straight.

Okay. Yeah. What I'm getting is something on your end. No, we have Michael's audio straight. Okay, yeah. All right. What I'm getting is, okay, it's something on your end. Y'all figure it out with Michael. Let me go to Randy, and we'll go back to Michael once we're ready. Randy, again, we're watching this thing play out in real time. And after every vote, I mean, Kevin McCarthy gets emasculated even further every vote. Yes, I would say it's been very enjoyable to watch him get what he's due.

You know, he's certainly not a fan of ours. And it does send a clear message that the Republicans are not ready to lead. But it also shows, it should show America, that Donald Trump does not have the power that we think he does, nor the support. So as he says that he wants to run for president, maybe we really shouldn't be quite as boastful. Some people, I feel, are very, assume that he's going to win and has a lot of power, but it shows that he does not have the power that we once, that he once did, and that some people still think that he does. I hope we got Michael back and his audio is fixed. Okay, Michael's audio is not straight

yet, so let me know. But this, it is, watching it unfold, this, you also see the discipline, Mustafa, of Democrats. And you got so many people who are like, whoa, some Democrats, they should help McCarthy out, form a consensus. No, if I'm a Democrat, I ain't doing a damn thing. I'm going to let y'all sit here and look like fools, even if we got

to vote for the next two weeks. I think you're exactly right on that. There's really no need for Democrats to actually move into this space, allow Republicans to continue to do what they do, you know, Republicans have to have policies to be able to address these needs that are happening across the country. But if you can't even get together to elect, you know, who's going to lead, who's going to be the speaker of the House, then that shows that we should have great concerns also on how you are going to govern and the policies that you will try and move forward on. So Democrats should just sit back, have some popcorn and watch this play out and allow the rest of the country to understand that Republicans are not ready for the seriousness of being, you know, a leader on the House side of the equation. Michael, hopefully your audio is fixed. Go ahead.

I hope so, too. Happy New Year. There we go. We're good. Happy New Year to everybody. You know, when you have a lack of leadership, this is what happens. And clearly, even Republican senators have said they don't know if the House is going to be able to govern. All they want to do is burn things down. All they want to do is throw out conspiracy theories. All they want to do is talk about election denialism. That's all they want to do is burn things down. All they want to do is throw out conspiracy theories. All they want to do is talk about election denialism. That's all they want to do. They're

not they're not they don't care about policy. That's not what they care about. But what happened was when then leader McCarthy laid down with these folks and gave them some runway, it then gave them the power. Now, obviously, we know the power started back with Newt Gingrich and his folks. But that doesn't mean you can't contain them. Keep in mind, Speaker Pelosi showed what leadership is all about, because clearly on the Democratic side, you have some folks on the far left that could be called extremists, depending on what you think about, or progressives. But you know what? She kept them in line. McCarthy doesn't seem to have that power.

And because of that, not only is he not going to be speaker, I don't even know if he'll be in Congress in a year. So, you know, you reap what you sow. And I think that's what's happening right now on the House side with the GOP. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's absolutely again, it's frankly, it's I would use this phrase, Randy. It's delicious to watch. Yes, it is. And so, folks. And so, again, they've adjourned. They've adjourned. They've adjourned. But now, again, they're going to come back tomorrow, and we'll see if the Republicans strike some kind of deal. If these hardcore Republicans decide to stay together, we'll see. So they come back tomorrow at noon on Wednesday to start voting again.

Got to go to a break. We come back. The Congressional Black Caucus held their ceremonial swearing-in. We'll hear from them what their plan is now that them being Democrats, they're going to be in the minority. What role they're going to do, what role they're going to have in shaping policy when it comes to African Americans and their constituents.

Also on today's show, we'll talk about, again, that shocking, shocking scene last night, the Monday Night Football game, giving the update on the health status of the Buffalo Bills player who was injured and had cardiac arrest in the game, performing CPR on the field. His heart stopped. We'll tell you about that.

And New Year, third day of the year. Want to get you started off right, how to be in the right frame of mind to approach your health, to approach diet, to approach working out. Jim Jones is going to join us here. Can't wait to have him here in studio. Folks, you're watching Roller Mark Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Support us in what we do. Download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV.

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rolling that rolling martin unfiltered.com be sure to get your copy of my book white fear how the brownie of america is making white folks lose their minds amazon barnes and noble target also ordered from audible if you want the audio copy i'll be right back I love directing. It's a different kind of piece. I do believe that the 30 years I was acting was to prepare me for what I'm supposed to be doing and that what I really am good at. But when you were acting, were you even thinking about directing? Nope.

So what the hell happened? If you had asked me 15 years ago, I probably would have said, no, I don't know. but I really am good at. But when you were acting, were you even thinking about directing? Nope. Were you, so what the hell happened? If you had asked me 15 years ago, I probably would have said, no, I don't know. I was doing Ava DuVernay's first film, I Will Follow. And during that process, I think, cause it was her first film, maybe I- Did she self-taught?

Absolutely. I probably gave too many suggestions. And at some point, Ava said to me, I think you're a Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday

on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. The Supreme Court is back in session. God help us all. It is no exaggeration to say that this current session could completely reshape this country and redirect our future for generations to come. And not in a good way. We invite Dr. Valetia Watkins and Professor Angela Porter, our legal roundtable,

back to the show to put it all in perspective. That's on the next Black Table. Please don't miss it right here on the Black Star Network. I'm Chrisette Michelle. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. As we said, the CBC had a ceremonial swearing-in. They were sworn in by Marsha Fudge, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, former CBC member from Ohio. We were there.

We live-streamed the entire event. If you want to watch it, go to the Black Star Network app or go to our YouTube channel. And they talked about the accomplishments of the CBC the last two years and what the vision is going to be moving forward. As a former chair and member of the Congressional Black Caucus, I take great pride in administering the oath of office this morning. For more than 50 years, the Congressional Black Caucus

has been the conscience of the Congress, the moral center that ensures that the people in communities whose blood, sweat, and tears built this country are never forgotten by this storied institution. That black people, people of low means, and those who have been marginalized or pushed aside will always have a voice, Mr. Leader. CBC, I do not know if we have ever needed you more than we need you now.

We need you to be that sure and steady voice for the voiceless, to guarantee that the people of this country are never silenced, never again cast aside or forgotten. I am confident that you will begin this 118th Congress grounded by the generations of activists who fought for justice and equality. CBC, I need you to unleash your power, to make real the promise of democracy. For you may be the only thing that stands between democracy and anarchy. We need you to energize a movement that will change the course of history as only you can.

Spring up a well of strength. Be immovable like the tree planted by the rivers of water. Give birth again to the dawn here on the pulse of this new day. Congratulations my friends. Congratulations. After more than a hundred years of striving, this was the Congress that finally passed a law making lynching a federal crime. The Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act.

And it was this Congress that made June 19th a federal holiday with Juneteenth's Independence Day Act. It was this Congress that passed the Respect for Marriage Act, requiring that interracial marriages be recognized along with same-sex marriages throughout the United States. And yes, it was this Congress that made sure the American Rescue Plan included billions of dollars for predominantly black institutions of higher education. Love my HBCUs.

It has already been said, but the last Congress was one of the most productive, and the benefits of the legislation that we passed, led by members of the CBC, will continue to be realized in the months and years to come. Just this week, the provision to cap the amount that seniors pay for prescription drugs at $2,000 and capping the amount that seniors pay for insulin at $35, it went into effect. This legislation was led by the late Elijah Cummings and others and is now law thanks to the Congressional Black Caucus and President Biden. Because of efforts led by members of the Congressional Black Caucus Task Force on Black Maternal

Health, we are protecting black moms and improving maternal health outcomes. To that end, thanks to provisions passed by this Congress, most states now have to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to one year. That was the Congressional Black Caucus. The CBC is working to ensure that all Americans, and especially black families and communities, can live with dignity, safety, respect, and achieve greater economic opportunity. The CBC has met with President Biden and talked about our shared priority around racial equity and justice and I look forward to building on these efforts in the 118th Congress as we ensure racial equity and

accountability throughout the federal government and in the private sector. For generations, entrenched disparities in our society and economy, at times facilitated by the federal government, discriminating policies, and unaccountable institutions have made it harder for black Americans to have a fair shot. Centuries of injustice and decades of disinvestment by black communities not only undermine the American promise of equal opportunity, but it also keeps our entire nation from reaching its potential. The Congressional Black Caucus has worked to eliminate these inequities and we will continue to lead in these areas of racial equity,

opportunity, and justice in very intentional and purposeful ways in the months and years to come. When the official ceremony was over, we caught up with several members of the Congressional Black Caucus who talked about what their priorities are going to be. This is what they told me. Congresswoman Lee, go ahead. Glad to see you here. Good to see you as well.

We're going to win big this year with the Congressional Black Caucus standing in the gap. Even though Democrats are in the minority, we know how to fight being in the minority. We know how to fight for justice, for freedom, for our voting rights, for racial equity and justice. We understand what is taking place, and we know we've got to keep fighting regardless. Well, look, we're looking forward to that. And obviously, got to get your thoughts on your fellow CBC member, now the leader of the Democratic caucus. You mean Steve Horst?

No, Hakeem. You're talking about, oh, a Democratic caucus. The leader. Leader. The leader leader. No, this is historic. And Hakeem and I are good friends. He comes from Brooklyn, the home of Shirley Chisholm, who's a catalyst for change.

Well, he's also a catalyst for change. And he is a historic figure now. And he's always been a fighter for what was right. And now he's able to now bring the Democratic caucus together in the minority to fight for what is right. So I'm really happy. I'm proud of him. And between he and Stephen Horst for chair of the CBC, this is going to be an awesome two years.

All right. We appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Thank you. Thank you. All right, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, how you doing? It's always good to see you. I got to ask you this here.

Look, last election, Florida, you had Congressman Val Demings who ran. It's so much has changed in your state. I mean, really, what is required to make Florida competitive again for Democrats? Well, according to statistics, Florida is the fastest growing state in the country. So it appears as if the Republicans from New York followed Trump to Florida. And so it has become so terrible that we have a super, super majority in the Florida House and the Florida Senate,

and our governor drew the redistricting lines. So we've got to just empower black people who are left, white people who are Democrats who are left, from the rural areas to the urban areas to vote. They've got to vote. They can outvote anti-Semitism, anti-racism, anti-Trumpism. They can outvote it. But we've got to incentivize them. Okay. All right. I appreciate it. Thanks a bunch.

All right. Congressman Meeks, I'll get you real quick here. I just want to get your thoughts again. Obviously, this is a different role you're going to have now than you had the last few years. Just talk about really what the focus and the goal of the CBC moving forward. Still, making sure that we legislate and bring the issues that are important to our people, to our constituents, back forward, to make sure that we preserve democracy,

that we fight for voting rights, to make sure that our communities' voices are heard, to make sure that we talk about affordable housing, to keep people in their homes and people have food to eat. That still becomes the objective and the motivation and the movement of the Congressional Black Caucus, making sure that we're providing for our people. Economic development is absolutely crucial. As we develop some of the accomplishments we made on the 117th, you talk about the infrastructure bill. Well, there's opportunities for our businesses to make sure that they are entitled,

because they are entitled to and have the ability to create wealth and move forward therein. So we're still going to be doing what we do. And your thoughts about your fellow New York homeboy, now the Democratic leader? I'm so proud of Brother Hakeem Jeffries. I call him my little brother. I think that, you know, the whole focus, I know the focus of the entire Democratic caucus, but especially members of the congressional caucus, we will not rest until we get to that next step and he becomes the Speaker of the House of Representatives. All right. Appreciate it. All right. Always good to see you.

Arsha, you're leading the CBCF. You haven't been there long, but what is the goal moving forward? The goal is three things, Roland. One, we want to make sure that we are cultivating the next set of leaders. When the CBCF was founded, those original members said, we want to create a pipeline for black leadership, and that's what we are doing by giving out scholarships, by providing internships, fellowships. We help people pay for all of medical school, all of law school.

We know that unless we provide these kinds of opportunities for young black people, the leadership pipeline is going to be drained. We want to make sure that the Clyburns, the Maxine Waters, the Joyce Beatys, that we are creating the next generation of those leaders to help make sure this democracy remains strong. What about also when you look at, we talk about economics. And so one of the things that I was sharing with somebody, I've always said that our organizations should have what I call racial indexes. And that is if you've got corporate partners that come to the table like,

yeah, we appreciate you supporting the organization, but what are your black-owned contracts? What are you doing with black-owned media? What are you doing with black transportation companies, catering companies, event planning companies, sort of driving that as well? Because that economically changes black America as well. Well, I'm so glad you asked that because we have a division of the foundation called the Center for Policy Analysis and Research, and the National Racial Equity Initiative for Social Justice is a part of that. That is our accountability division, as I call it.

That's where we do the research on economic issues, on poverty issues, on criminal justice, on voting rights. That is the substantive part of who we are and what we do. And, in fact, we are working on a report right now that is providing a roadmap for corporate partners to say, if you are supporting this work, if you are supporting organizations like the CBCF, here are the things that we want to make sure your companies are doing to ensure that you are true to the values, that you are true to the support that you are giving. The people who are around the table, particularly our board members, they are from corporations that are investing in the future of black America. So they're not just coming to the events.

They are saying, we want to fund this leadership. We want to fund this research that will help solve problems. So that's what we're asking all of our corporate partners to do. All right. Sounds good. Looking forward to it. All right, Roland. Thank you.

Good to have you. Thanks a bunch. All right, folks. In the next hour, we're going to hear from more members of the CBC with regards to what their plans are, again, now that they're going to be in the minority in the U.S. House. Got to go to break. We come back.

We're going to talk about what happened last night in the Monday Night Football game where a Buffalo Beals cornerback suffered cardiac arrest, had to be administered CPR on the field. What the hell took the NFL so long to call the game? What is his health status? And exactly what happened and how common is it? We'll discuss it next with the Cardiac Arrest. What the hell took the NFL so long to call the game? What is his health status? And exactly what happened?

And how common is it? We'll discuss it next with a cardiologist. We'll also be joined by Jamel Hill. We'll talk about player safety as well. Folks, you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. We'll be right back. 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.

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

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals.

Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position, pregame to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. White people not replace us.

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

at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the proud boys guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Bye-bye, Papa.

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. Hello, everyone. It's Kiara Sheard. Hey, I'm Taj. I'm Coco.

And I'm Lili. And we're SWB. What's up, y'all? It's Ryan Destiny. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Many people still are shocked and stunned by what happened last night during Monday Night Football when the game was suspended after a medical emergency regarding Bills safety, DeMar Hamlin. Now, folks, he collapsed on the field. We're going to show you the video.

And so it could be triggering for some folks. I just want to let you know that right now. And so this is exactly what happened last night during the game, Bills versus the Bengals. It just is a face mask. All of a sudden he collapses, just collapses on the NFL. Just his face, man, all of a sudden he collapses on the field.

What then happens is the personnel, the personnel, they rush into the field. They begin to administer CPR on the field. Game was stopped. Then at some point the teams went to their respective locker rooms, and it took forever for the NFL to actually say the game was going to be postponed, that it was not going to continue. We now know that he suffered cardiac arrest. He was taken

to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where they actually have a trauma unit. Hamlin is, his vitals were stable. He's currently sedated. He is in critical condition. He's a second-year, sixth-round draft pick from the University of Pittsburgh. And, of course, folks, it was shocking. His mother was at the game last night. Here's video of a previous game of him greeting his mother before the game. They were there.

And, again, so many people have been commenting on this and just shocked this could actually happen. But it's actually not the first time this has happened during a game. The question is, what actually happened? Cardiologist Dr. Jane Morgan joins us right now. Doc, glad to have you on Roland Martin Unfiltered. So can you explain to us this, whatever's being described, where you get a hit on the chest, all of a sudden that can lead to cardiac arrest? And you may have heard and you may have seen on social media, maybe on any other newscast that they're talking about commotio cordis, which is a Latin term that literally means agitation of the heart. But what that

actually means when we translate it is that there was a malignant arrhythmia, meaning that his heart went into an abnormal rhythm. And that abnormal rhythm is called ventricular fibrillation No matter what causes it once you develop that abnormal rhythm your heart is no longer beating in Conjunction in a coordinated fashion and so you're not able to pump blood which is carrying oxygen and within a few seconds five or six Seconds you can completely lose consciousness, which I think we saw there within six seconds of that hit standing. So therefore, it appears it was not a spinal injury. He was able to stand up completely erect and then collapsed with the loss of blood flow to the brain and other organs. And if you're hit on the left side, is. And it's a, if you're hit on a, is it on the left side? And so is,

is that what it is? Because if you look at the play, he makes the tackle and he comes down on his left side. You know, it is extremely rare, but you are exactly right. You're hit on the left chamber of the heart, the anterior chamber of your heart in your left chest, but also at a very specific angle and also at a very specific time in the electrical coordination cycle of the heart. So all of those things have to come together. In other words, your electrical cycle was interrupted. You have a distortion of the heart muscle right at a very specific time in the heart called repolarization and electrical signal in the heart. And so all of those things have to come together, which is why it is rare, but it certainly occurs. And we generally do not see it in football. We see it in sports that require

projectile-type objects like hockey pucks, things that can very rapid rate, they're very hard, and can completely have a big impact on the chess or baseball. In fact, I'm glad you brought that up because Chris Pronger was a hockey player. We have a video here. This happened in 1998. It was during a game. It was during a game. Y'all have the video there, folks. You should play there. During a game, Puck hits him very similar,

and the exact same thing happened. You see him collapse there. Twelve weeks later, he was back on the ice and went on to a Hall of Fame hockey career. So even though this happened, based upon if he's able to recover, come back fully, it doesn't mean that his career is over. And so here are a number of things. You know, when we talk about cardiology and a lot of traumatic injuries, we look at things in a stepwise fashion. Right. This is not sort of one big statement that we would need to make. So the first thing when someone has sudden death,

which is actually what happened, this is cardiac arrest is sudden death, is that you must receive CPR or defibrillation fairly quickly. It appears that he began to receive CPR. Generally, when you get defibrillated after sudden death, if you can be defibrillated within the first minute, you approach almost a 100% chance of recovery. If you can be defibrillated within the first two minutes, you can approach almost an 80% recovery. I could not see on the field when exactly he was defibrillated. I understand a defibrillator came to the field. I have watched every video I could find, but I could not see because of the people surrounding him. But after that defibrillation, the next step is he reached the hospital with a pulse, as I understand it. So he made that

next step. Then he was intubated and sedated and maybe even his body cooled to recover. And so the next step now will be to see if there's any return of neurologic function. And that necessarily doesn't happen overnight. So we shouldn't be concerned if he suddenly doesn't develop a full return to neurologic capacity within a day or so. It may take a few days, but that's where we are. And we measure it really in steps and progress and support the patient along the way. And the key is that he is still alive. And the key is that he received emergency resuscitation immediately. Without that, he most certainly would die.

It is very important for people to learn bystander CPR such that you can intervene. You really can make a difference between whether somebody survives or doesn't survive or whether they survive in different types of neurologic deficits or whether they're able to come back completely. Dr. Jane Morgan, we certainly appreciate you joining us, giving us that full breakdown. Thanks a lot. Thanks, Roland. I want to bring in Jamelle Hill right now, journalist, author, a contributing writer for The Atlantic.

And, Jamelle, there's so many things around this that we can break down. But this is the thing that people need to understand. And I tell people all the time, I don't get upset when a player holds out, when a player is seeking more money. These guys can actually die. I was texting somebody last night and someone said, they posted this, and they said, we've never seen this. I said, well, actually, we have.

And they were like, what do you mean? I said, Reggie Brown with the Texas A&M. He was a star linebacker at Texas A&M. Suffered a spinal injury, a neck injury when he played for the Detroit Lions. They had to administer CPR on the field. He almost died on the field playing. They're playing a game where death is real or severe paralysis is real. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing that I think people take for granted watching the sport. When they hear us say that they're involved in a car crash, the equivalent of a car crash on every play,

I don't think people really understand the magnitude or the gravity of what that actually means, what people are putting their bodies through just to play this game. We see a lot of times what is the result of these kind of traumas, constant traumas to the body over time. Like many of us have seen players who, you know, had a full NFL career. Somebody like Earl Campbell comes to mind, Earl Campbell, who, you know, had a full NFL career, somebody like Earl Campbell comes to mind, Earl Campbell, who, you know, has very limited mobility because of many of the injuries that he suffered. And we've seen countless players. We know about the impact of head trauma, the impact of concussions,

what that has had on players later. The reason this was so different, and thank you for bringing up Reggie Brown because I also was struggling to remember if i'd ever seen a situation like this i i had not you know frankly but i forgot about uh reggie brown where you had a player who needed to be resuscitated right there on the field but that's what makes this different is that when you saw when you know about the situation and then to see the players react the way that they did because some of them clearly saw him having cpr administered to him we all know what that looks like and we all know what that means and that's different i mean they've seen guys that is way they've seen guys blow achilles blow acls have concussions but when you're on the field and you're seeing them pumping a chest,

that is, in fact, we wanted Annie Apple, who was the mother of Eli Apple, she originally agreed to come on tonight. She said, you know what? I can't. It was still so raw. As a mother of an NFL player, she says, I can't talk about it publicly yet. Yeah, a mother who was in the stands when this occurred, because I'm friends with Annie, and I saw some of the tweets that she had about it. And yeah, I mean, that's what makes this so different, is that, you know, NFL players, they have a very different mentality than the rest of us mere mortals. They understand what their body is going to suffer, what they're going to go through. However, this was a lot different because, as you pointed out, they see the visual of one of their fellow peers

dying on the field. And that's why instantly you saw players crying, you saw them kneeling in prayer, you saw them, you know, running away. Like, they realized that it's very possible that they could be in the traumatic situation of seeing someone else die on the field in this game that they have dedicated their lives to. And so the reaction, not just their reaction, I think incurred a different reaction in the public. As you said, we've seen guys, unfortunately, you know,

you think about Ryan Shazier who tweeted about this as well. I mean, the impact that it had on his physical mobility when he suffered through his injury. Ryan Shazier, Daryl Stingley. Yes. People who were paralyzed. I mean, paralyzed on the field. We have seen that before, but this was completely different.

And I hope what it does in the public consciousness is not only remind them that these are human beings, despite the fact that they are seemingly doing superhuman things, but also, as you said, the money impact of this game. When players hold out, when players are about their money, nobody should complain about it because they are literally risking their lives every time that they put those pads and that helmet on. Hold tight one second. I've got to go to break.

When we come back. I want to talk with you and my panel about the NFL's reaction because we were watching this thing unfold last night and people are going, surely you're not coming back. And then there was this, you know, okay, five-minute break. And then all of a sudden the team's like, damn that. They went to their respective locker rooms. And now the NFL is trying to push back on that.

But they waited a long time, Jamel, to come out and say, we're not playing this game. I want to break that down next. Folks, you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Support us in what we do. Download the Blackstar Network app, folks. We've already crossed 50,000. We want to get to 100,000 downloads.

Download an Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. If you got all of those, download on all of them. They all count. Also, join our Bring the Funk fan club. Jamel is a member. Folks, you want to support us in what we do, your dollars make it possible for us to do what we do. Our monthly goal every year is to get 20,000 of our fans who contribute on average 50 bucks each that comes out to a million dollars a year. That is huge for us to be able to do what we do to cover the stories that matter.

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This is about covering us. Invest in Black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people, $50 this month, raise $100,000. We're behind $100,000, so we want to hit that. Y'all money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered.

PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. I love directing. It's a different kind of piece. I do believe that the 30 years I was acting was to

prepare me for what I'm supposed to be doing and that what I'm really I'm good at but we were acting were even thinking about directing Were you so what they'll have you had asked me 15 years ago? I probably would have said no I don't know. I was doing Ava's Ava DuVernay's first film. I will follow and During that process I think because it was her first film, maybe I... Did she self-taught? Absolutely. I probably gave too many suggestions.

And at some point, Ava said to me, I think you're a director and you don't know it. I'm Bill Duke. This is De'Alla Riddle, and you're watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Stay woke. All right, folks, it took a very long time last night for the NFL to say the game was not going to continue. Today there was a call where former NFL player and NFL executive Troy Vincent said this. This is from Eon Rep Report. Troy Vincent on a call says while he was in constant communication with those involved, neither coach was talking about resuming play.

The players weren't. It was really about DeMar. How do you resume play after you've seen such a traumatic event? Okay, here's the problem with that, okay? That's not what ESPN was saying last night. In fact, this is a statement that the folks at ESPN put out with regards to last night. Now, remember, they were live on the air, and they were actually in communication with league executives about what was going on.

And what we kept hearing was that they were going to take a five-minute break and then come back. This is what ESPN put out. That was constant communication in real time between ESPN and league and game officials. As a result of that, we reported what we were told in the moment and immediately updated

fans as new information was learned. This was an unprecedented, rapidly evolving circumstance. All night long, we were afraid for speculation. Now, bringing in Mustafa, Randy, and Michael in this, Jamel Hill stays with us. Jamel, somebody lying.

I mean, it's just that simple. It's just that simple. Like, somebody is not quite being truthful here, or either, I know it's hard to believe in an organization as big as the NFL, a billion-dollar organization, but clearly the left hand and the right hand were not communicating

because even independent of the ESPN report, let's all go back, when as soon as they said that, hey, they're giving the guys five minutes, what did you see? You saw players and personnel start to get activated on the field as if they were about to play the game until we saw the coaches approach the officials. Which we all know. Say we're not doing it.

We all know, watch the NFL, when the players go back, when the quarterback is tossing the ball, they're warming up. Right, exactly. And that's what I, I didn't see Josh Allen specifically, but I saw players looking like they were warming up and about to play the game. And all of us watching at home are thinking, are they crazy? Like there's no way that something this traumatic could happen on the field. And these guys would be in empty mental shape to play a football game.

We just showed the timeline. And not this week. We just showed the timeline. Here's the timeline. Put it back up, y'all. So he gets injured at 855 and collapses. Okay. Game is temporarily suspended at 9.18. The

game is not officially postponed until 10.01. It don't take that long. And what you saw was, and they had the video, they had the video, Jamel, of Joe Burrow going to the Bills locker room. The coach is going. It was

clear. The coaches and the players were like, damn them. We ain't continuing this game. Which is kind of the whole problem, Roland, is that this should never have been a decision that needed to be left up to the players and coaches. They never should have even had to do that to advocate for themselves. The league should have done this pretty immediately because it was pretty clear to all of us at home, pretty clear to anybody with common sense,

hey, don't play. Yep, that's it. This right here, Randy, when you talk about leadership, oh, this is failed leadership. And here's the other deal, Randy, Troy Vincent should not have been on a phone call today.

This is where the NFL commissioner should have been out front and center. I think we have to be honest about the NFL's history. There is a racist history from the beginning when you look at the NFL. And I believe last night what we saw is that sometimes they don't see our men as people. They don't recognize that they're going to have feelings after this. You know, I've actually been thinking, I hope that they're offering therapy to players not just that played last night, but across the entire league.

I believe that they see dollar signs. I think they see them sometimes as people who just do a job and make a lot of money and not as human beings. And last night, what we saw, when we saw the way that those players reacted, seeing their colleague on the ground after a cardiac arrest, we see that they are human, that they care. But I don't believe that the NFL has ever shown that they see the same thing that we did. Mustafa, what often happens is when it comes to these teams,

guess what? Go to commercial break, gather yourself. We got commercials. We got fans. We got to go back to playing ball. You know, the NFL has always suffered from a plantation mentality. You know, they see individuals who are playing on their teams as these cogs that can be placed in and out whenever necessary. And as long as we allow that to continue to happen, then we're going to continue to see these types of egregious sorts of actions that go on.

So, you know, I continue to send out prayers. I'm sure everybody else does for Brother Hamlin that he heals. But the NFL also has to be willing and interested in changing the roots of where they come from and how they interact with these young men and the value that they no longer see in them. Now, they see the value when they have something to give, but in their whole humanity, I'm not sure if they see the value that's necessary in honoring them as human beings and especially as men of color, since that's the majority of the NFL. Michael, they're not going to do it, but there should be an absolute investigation into what the hell happened, why it took so long. Right, Roland. And I think a lot of it has to do, and Jamel's talked about this on several occasions, is

the business model of the NFL is different than the NBA and Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball and the NBA, those large contracts from basically the top superstar all the way down the bench are all guaranteed money. The NFL, only the top stars are guaranteed money, and only a few of them, he's a bad example. For another quarterback that may have a $200 million contract, $100 million and some change may only be guaranteed, but not the full $200 million. So as you get further down the superstar line, down to the kind of rank-and-file player, they're not making as much. I know some of the people at home think, oh, they're an NFL player, they're millionaires. That's not true.

And I think if the business model changed of the NFL, you would see more humanity because they would see their players as partners like the Major League Baseball and the NBA do with ownership. In the NFL, it is much like that plantation mentality. And that's why what happened last night. Though, I think we still have to give credit to the NFL last night for the medical attention that was given to that young man. Yeah, but let's be clear. That medical attention, you know this very well, that's also been negotiated by the NFL Players Association.

Right, well, that's right. I mean, to have ambulances there, to have, I there to have i mean let's because again anybody who's followed the nfl for the last 20 30 years ain't like they really have been that focused on player safety no but you're correct about this negotiation well now hopefully when the next cba comes we'll talk about maybe a greater share of economics to the players well here's the deal, though. But there is guaranteed money in the NFL.

I didn't think there was a guarantee. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Hold up, Michael. Hold up, Michael. I got this. Let me do what I do. Jamel, there's guaranteed money. The guaranteed money is the TV contracts going to the owner,

which is their way of making sure there's never going to be a strike because they get their money up front. So they're always protected. You did a podcast where you talked about the college players where you said the only way this game changes is when the players go, nah, we ain't going out there. They have to force the change. That's the only way it happens.

Well, and it's unfortunate. And as Michael just alluded to, here's a major problem with that economic structure and why it constantly works in favor of the owners. See, to be able to sit out during a strike, everybody's got to have money. And the reality is the distance between what the quarterback makes versus what the guy who's second or third string or on the practice squad makes is so significant and so stark that they can only afford to hold out for so long. And the NBA is different because you have the average salary, I believe, is almost $3 million a year per player. $3 million a career, a whole lot longer than, say, $300,000 or $400,000 a year will. Or if you're on the practice squad and you're only making like $7,500 a week or something like that.

So this is why the players are in a much different bind. And that's why they not only need a collective strategy in terms of player empowerment, what they need is they need the highest paid players in the game to be the leaders. They need the Tom Brady's, they need the Patrick Mahomes, they need the quarterbacks to put pressure on the quarterbacks yep to put pressure on the owners otherwise they will never get the system that they truly deserve but as long as the quarterbacks are

segregated and treated as a special and different class and set apart from the rest of their teammates i don't know how much faith i have in that actually happening but the quarterbacks have got to be the center figure of this. They've got to be the face of player empowerment and player involvement because realize the quarterbacks are protected now. All right. You see what happens when you get close to a quarterback in the league these days. It's a whistle. They protect those guys at all costs. That needs to be the case for everybody on the team. And I'm not just talking about hits. I'm talking about in terms of medical care, all these other things that the players need to fight for to have a stronger

voice in the league that they have made billions of dollars for. Indeed. Jamel Hill, we truly appreciate you joining us. Thanks a bunch. Thank you. Again, folks, prayers continue for that Bills player. Pray for his family as well as he remains in critical condition in the Cincinnati hospital.

Folks, got to go to break. We come back. We're going to talk with Korean-American billionaire, Su Kim. He's trying to lock down a deal to an eight. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

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

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

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

and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content,

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them.

Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Billion dollar deal to buy the TV station, Tegna. Some have said he's at the right kind of minority. They throw out racism charges. He's going to respond to that,

but also talk about his vision for empowering black content creators and black owned media. Our exclusive conversation next right here on Roland Martin unfiltered, 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.

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. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders?

Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. The Supreme Court is back in session. God help us all. It is no exaggeration to say that this current session could completely reshape this country

and redirect our future for generations to come. And not in a good way. We invite Dr. Valetia Watkins and Professor Angela Porter, our legal roundtable, back to the show to put it all in perspective. That's on the next Black Table. Please don't miss it right here on the Black Star Network. Hi, I'm B.B. Winans. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. What's up? I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. We've been frozen out. Facing an extinction level event. We don't fight this fight right now. You're not going to have black on you. facing an extinction level event.

We don't fight this fight right now. You're not going to have black on you. I talk a lot about on this show. I talk about resources. I talk about ownership. Talk about what happens when we are able to change this dynamic. When you look at television, minorities make up a significant number of folks who watch television. You look at the Nielsen numbers, the numbers are dramatic. When you go to ownership, it's a whole different focus. And what you're now seeing, you're now seeing more people of color, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino and others who understand the power of media and what it means when it comes to actually owning.

And so here's a perfect example. Minorities account for less than 2 percent of all owning of U.S. TV stations. There are currently 10 black-owned U.S. television stations nationwide. And there is a new deal that's actually happening right now where Standard General is trying to acquire Tegna. It's about an $8.4 billion deal. There's been a lot of conversation back and forth. And what's interesting is Sue Kim, who's the managing partner and CIO of Tender General, has been battling folks who've been saying that he's not the right kind of minority. And so you had this battle happening with the FCC and Department of Justice.

So what's really going on here? Sue Kim joins us right now in this exclusive interview. Glad to have you on the show, Sue. Roland, thanks for having me. It's a real pleasure. So let's, I'm trying to understand this. When you hear critics, they've actually said you're not the right kind of minority. How does that make you feel?

Well, you know, I'm trying to go, you know, what's the saying? When they go low, I go high. I'm trying to, you know, look, I trust in the process. I trust that the regulators will see through that kind of sort of uncomfortably, I think, just, you know, statements that really have no say in the public discourse. But it's not great. You know, it's not great. And look, you know, what I've said from the beginning is I pointed out for the fact that our ownership and, you know, me being the attributable owner of these TV stations would change the minority ownership landscape by a huge amount, you know. And when I made that comment, we got these public comments on the, you know,

by opposers on the FCC docket saying that, right, well, that's not what we meant when we meant minority ownership. That's not what we meant. And that's, yeah, I mean, that's, you know, Roland, that sucks. You know, I don't know what to say. It's not the world that I want to live in. And I don't really understand because I frankly, you know, believe that that that we will you know, that we have a lot of good to do. So so so when it comes to this, first of all, Tegna owns a number of stations in markets with first with a lot of African-Americans.

We're showing the map right here of those particular stations. And as a part of this, you have to also sell off some stations to satisfy requirements. There have been a number of other provisions that you have made, concessions made as well. You wanted this deal to close by the end of 2022. Obviously, it did not. What do you think now is the holdup? For people who don't understand, why is the Department of Justice and the FCC involved in this? Just explain to people who don't know. Sure. Look, it's just so it doesn't matter background. So Tegna is actually the second largest local broadcaster by revenue.

So it is a company that matters. It actually is, you know, I think they paid somebody a lot of money to rename the company to a name that doesn't really mean a lot. But the company used to be called Gannett. And so when it owned a lot of newspapers and TV stations, the newspapers were spun out. And now it's just the TV stations. It was Gannett, but also B-Lo. Oh, for sure. and TV stations. The newspapers were spun out, and now it's just the TV stations. It was Gannett, but also Bilo. Oh, for sure.

Yeah, so the reason I know Bilo well, because, of course, I still own a home in Dallas, and WFAA in Dallas is the number one TV station and one of the top ABC affiliates in America. Absolutely. This is a company that matters. Again, second largest local broadcaster by revenues. And it was actually kind of interesting because like some of the comments, like when I actually called out that comment of, well, maybe this is not the right kind of minority or that's not what it's meant by the civil rights movement. Yeah. When I called that out and said, well, what does that even mean? They sort of dug themselves in the deeper hole by saying, well, actually, what we meant is that it doesn't make sense for one person to be the attributable owner of all of these stations that you really be split up. And that comment doesn't make any sense to me either. So, because Roland and I said that, like, wait, hold on a second here. You're saying that it's okay if we have a few stations, but if we have too many, then that's a big problem. Or that there should be like, you know,

lots of minorities owners and they should only have that there should be, like, you know, lots of minorities owners and they should only have a few stations each. But, you know, if there's one person that owns all these stations, it can't be right. So, look, you know, we, again, have looked through this stuff and tried to take the high road. But, look, I mean, I think that this commentary is having some influence or impact in the regulatory process because this deal has taken a long time. We're in our, I want to say, our 11th month of review here. And so, yeah, we have made concessions that basically address each of the concerns that have been put up, but there's been concerns about local newsrooms, jobs, there's been concerns about, you know, the possible, like, negative consequences of synergies we have in our deal. And we've actually gone in and said, look, we're willing to address each of these concerns.

You know, what I would say is, look, what I hoped for in the very beginning is that we'd be treated like everybody else. I would say that, you know, maybe that was too much to hope for, but we're still very optimistic that we've put together a series of responses that addresses each of the concerns that we've heard. And now, look, I think that we're still waiting. The latest set of changes, Roland, has now started a new common process. So that'll be the third common process in our deal. And so, look, we'll go through the common process over the next few weeks. And if there's another series of, you know, asks from us, we'll think about whether or not how we can deliver them.

And, look, we're here to get this deal done. We think it is important that we represent the kind of change that this industry needs so badly. Look, TV is a very old media form that needs to evolve. And that's what we're doing because we've been in the space for a long time we have a pretty good sense of how we need to evolve it and uh and what we need to do for tv to be relevant for the next decade the next century really um and we're really uh excited to to tackle that so we want to get past these these smaller um objections but right now just so you know just to answer your question roland uh we've addressed i believe every, every verbalized concern and everything else publicly, every public comment. I cannot address the fact that I might be the wrong minority for some.

But I, again, through my own actions, I think we can we can we can address that. Reverend Jesse Jackson, senior Rainbow Push, released this letter. And he said, quote, after meeting with Sue Kim and upon careful and scrupulous review of his record on diversity and inclusion, my team and I wholeheartedly support the purchase of Tegna. Sue Kim, being Korean-American, is sensitive to the plight of racial justice, equity and inclusion. And he said that it is my strong belief that Sue Kim will be committed to inclusion, which leads to growth in the in the America of our dreams. He will honor the spirit and the law representing the best in American ideals. I talk a lot about the importance of partnerships, of joint ventures, of African-Americans aligning with Asian-Americans, Latinos to understand our power. I talk about 2043. And and for me, as a black content creator, as a owner of a

black-owned media company, I understand how hard it is for us to get ad dollars, for us to be able to break through those barriers. And so what is your vision if you're able to close this deal to provide opportunities for black content creators, black journalists, black-owned media companies? Okay, there's so much there. Let me just, Pierce, let me just work backwards on that question. So what I would say is as follows, right? So look, we're in the turnaround. So Standard & General, my investment firm, is actually in the turnaround, stressed company, investing business. This is what we do. We get involved in businesses that really need to change, like could use a nudge forward, change the ways they've been doing business.

And television, as an industry as a whole, but Tegna specifically, needs a lot of evolution. And so that's what we're there to bring. Look, we believe that change isn't just about changing one person. You know, it's actually, in some ways, I agree with the petitioners in the sense that, you know, just making sure, oh, we hired one person, everything's good, let me check them, you know, whatever. That's not, that doesn't do anything. You know, what I believe is that in the end, every company, for it to be successful, needs to reflect its audience. And when I say the company needs to reflect its audience, I mean that means that, you know, the actual staff and the content generation needs to reflect its audience.

That means the management needs to reflect its audience. That means the ownership and the board needs to reflect its audience. So, look, we've been doing this for a long time. And look, for the board and the officers of the company, that's relatively easy for a company like ours that we have the ability when we invest to change that. And we've brought, you know, one of the reasons why Reverend Jackson, you know, looked at our track record of having brought in more than two dozen women and minorities into C-suites of, you know, officers and directorships of public companies. We've done this over the last decade. And that's because we believe, not because we want to check boxes, but because the companies that reflect their audiences and their customer bases are just stronger and better businesses. So when it comes to media specifically, that means, Roland, that

it's not just about hiring a few people, but actually making sure that the community feels like that station reflects their voice. And that's going to take work. That means we have to source our content differently. We need to go and make sure that – and obviously this speaks to our primary product, which is actually local news. But also because there's so much airtime and the networks only provide, you know, some programming per week and per day, all the rest of that programming is up to us to fill. And we should fill it with content that matters for our local communities. And so, look, I think that when I look at some of these markets that we're in, you know, I don't believe that currently the stations reflect its communities.

And so I think that that's the opportunity. Like, you know, for example, like, you know, our station in Atlanta, obviously the demographics in Atlanta are very different than the demographics in Portland. And I think that, you know, the model of management for those stations have to be different. And we're ready to, you know, bring the change, you know, change the way we've done business in the past. And that's what's so exciting about this opportunity. That's why we think it is in the public interest. And I think that our ownership will not only see a change in the actual personnel at the stations, we're going to create more jobs, but the jobs are going to go to people who also reflect the audience

and can also, you know, I think reflect the content that the audience is looking for. That's actually the most important thing. Because, you know, what you've done, you know, is you've gone with your audience. You know, you've gone from cable TV to digital media, and that's amazing. That's an amazing journey. And, you know, frankly, you know, we need to start to incorporate that kind of entrepreneurialism, that kind of open thinking, that forward-mindedness in our station group. Because we do have the legacy assets, the incumbent advantages of the platform.

But you know what? We're not doing anything with it. You know, we're doing the old thing. In fact, Tecna used to produce, it was a morning show of targeting black women, and it was produced by Tecna at other stations, and we ran it on TV One. It was later canceled, but that's a perfect example. When you talk about reaching that customer base and yes, for me, I'm like, hey, to be able to partner and to be able to say, hey, we have content, you have distribution. And then also when you talk about

back in the relationships, when it comes to reaching in these advertisers, because we get screwed by these ad agencies that they literally won't to give up the time of day. And that's the kind of thinking that has to take place. And I can tell you flat out, you know, Sinclair ain't having that conversation with me. These other folks out here, they aren't doing that. And if you're African-American, if you're Latino, you're getting locked out. And again, when you get locked out, this industry spends $322 billion a year on advertising. Black-owned media gets 0.5 to 1% of that. And again, so we want to explain what's happening economically, what's happening in Black communities. We can point to lack of access to economics. And I tell people all the time, I'm not interested. People are like, well, you know, we need access to capital. I'm like,

yeah, but I'm not looking for a loan. I want a deal. I don't need a loan. I'm debt free. What I need is to be able to grow and build capacity. And so that's the thinking to me when you talk about being able to partner. I got go to a break, so hold tight one second. We're gonna pick up the second half of this conversation. Folks, we're talking with Sue Kim, who is with Standard General. Again, they are awaiting federal government approval of a $8.4 billion deal to acquire the Technostation Group.

We're talking what that impact is gonna mean for African American viewers, but also African American content owners. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. I love directing. It's a different kind of piece. I know a lot of cops,

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was to prepare me for what I'm supposed to be doing and that what I'm really good at. But when you were acting, were you even thinking about directing? Nope. Were you, so what the hell happened? If you had asked me 15 years ago, I probably would have said, no, I don't know. I was doing Ava DuVernay's first film, I Will Follow.

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hi i'm eric nolan i'm shantae, my name is Latoya Luckett, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered. We're talking with Sue Kim of Standard General, discussing the acquisition that they are hoping to close this year of Tegna. We've got three of our panelists here. Randy Bryant of Sue is a diversity, equity, and inclusion expert. So, Randy, what's your question for Sue Kim? I really want to almost apologize, although I have nothing to do with this,

that someone made such a horrible statement to say that you were not the right minority. That's not only an inappropriate statement, that is an inflammatory statement. And I'm sure, as you know, structural racism is designed to pit minorities against one another. And so I would say that was a very strategic statement on someone's part. And I'm sorry that you're having to wade through those waters right now. What I'd like to know is what are you going to do? I think you've outlined it pretty well now, but what are you going to do to ensure that as you are championing diversity, that you ensure that in all levels of your organization that is indeed diverse. Yeah.

Randy, thank you for that. And thank you for the commentary. I almost had to hold my tongue because I actually, I understand exactly what it was. And you're 100% right that actually, you look I grew up in Queens you know I'm an immigrant you know and uh the nice thing about growing up in Queens is it's actually like the most diverse county in the world or something in the country there's like hundreds of languages spoken and you learn you know pretty quick that you know that that's a good thing and you just deal with it and you kind of got to get along. And so, and, you know, I also witnessed actually early in my life that that kind of pitting on, you know,

especially Black and Asian, that sometimes the system is set up, you know, to pit us against each other. And that's something that I'm actually super conscious of. I've always been super conscious of. And I always said that that is, that's a false dichotomy. That's not something that is good for any community. And it's like a, and it's like a, it's kind of like, you know, it's, you know, I don't know, again, it was just sort of like making us fight for economic scraps, you know, you know, I don't know, again, it was just sort of like making us fight for economic scraps, you know, you know, and, and, and all these situations were like, like in Crown Heights, and there was Korean businesses and, and, you know, black customers fighting each other. And

that's because we're, we're, we were being put in a situation that we're fighting over scraps and, and, you know, other people were just happy watching us fight over it and and and obviously you know it was very formative but you know when I'm a senior in high school I'm watching the L.A. riots on TV and like you know the Knicks were in the championship you know almost won and then all of a sudden they cut out and it's like you know whatever. Hey, Sue, hold up. They didn't almost win. My Rockets handled their business. So I know you, Brooklyn, but I need you to understand I'm born and raised in Houston, so y'all didn't almost win, but you're probably still mad John Stark kept shooting the bricks. Oh, my God. I really am. And I still remember all that sort of like seared in my memory. And, again, it took me a little while to process that, Randy. And I realized later that that was – it was a setup, you know.

And so, look, that's why I've been working on – you know, again, we've been doing this work for, like, over a decade, you know, because we have a company that has the ability to change companies. And we start by changing the tops of the companies. But we try to make sure that that gets radiated down. That's actually super important. At TechNet, it's even actually more important. Because, again, in order for this company to actually evolve, it's got to meet its audiences and where they are. And where they are is not necessarily waiting at home 11 p, 11 PM for the news. You know what I mean? Like, and because, you know, by the way, news is more important than ever. It's just, they just don't,

they don't consume it in this way anymore. And so we need to go and change the, the, the, the way we program, the way we schedule and, and, and who are actually bringing this news to people. And I think that in the changing of things, the new order won't look exactly like the old order. And that's the change that we represent. And that's why I'm so confident that, you know, when I say, well, actually, I think I do represent the right kind of minority because I think I understand all the challenges that we all have here.

And and and and and a pathway to to actually make that, you know, to change it over time. And and again, it's this is not about just a few hires. This is about actually changing the production process, you know. And, you know, frankly, you know, these TV platforms are still relevant. You know, they still command audiences and have loud voices, not as loud as they used to be, but

more than enough to make an impact. So I hope that answers that question, Randy, and I appreciate the sentiment. What I was thinking, I'm sorry. No, Randy, go ahead. I was just saying what I was thinking when we were talking about, you talked about the Rodney King, the riots that happened, and that certainly created division, which was very much pushed by the media and the intent to create division, because if you look back, the majority of people who were arrested during those riots were actually not Black Americans.

We're talking about Korean-owned stores being looted during these riots, and that created tensions. But if you look back at the records, there were not primarily Black Americans that were doing the looting. It was actually a lot of people from Central America. And then we go now to the last few years with COVID and the atrocities that were happening, the violence, the uptick in violence against Asian Americans. And for a while, they were trying to, they really were highlighting on the news when it was a black American, although the majority of these crimes were not done by black Americans.

And so I just wonder if that's something that you'll be considering. One, the stories that cover the people that cover them, but how they're covered, because we definitely see the agenda that happens. Oh, Randy, absolutely. Now you're talking. You have to actually, it's not just changing one person. You have to change the process, the production, the entire, you know, and to do that, you have to, you know, look, as a private company, you know, with a change mandate, you know, we can actually start to do that and evolve. And I think the business will react well to that. In the end, like, you know, I think even the people that are at the stations

know that something's got to change, right? Because the same old thing is not going to keep working. And so, again, we're all going to be aligned to go where the audiences are. And I think that 100% philosophically, you know, I am so committed to not being divided. It's just something that, like, it's so deep ingrained. Like, I've seen it. I know what forces are in play there, and it just won't happen. So that's why, you know, we've been, you know, again, when I think about how we're changing the companies that we're involved in to better reflect their communities,

look, I mean, the reality is Asian Americans are only so much a percentage of the whole country. Obviously, in New York City, the percentages are getting higher and higher, and different communities, it changes. So it's not enough for me to just be focused on the Asian journey. You know, it's never has been. I'm focused on the American journey, you know, and and that is one that I believe is, you know, you know, takes the best of everything that's in the world and and and and is, you know, a big tent. And that's what makes us who we are. And that's, you know, like, I'm optimistic about it. I'm optimistic. Question from Michael. Michael?

Congratulations. I hope your deal gets done as soon as possible. Thank you, Michael. You're welcome. When you looked at historical deals by majority media companies, did they have to go through the same kind of level of scrutiny that you have to go through with issues that have to be alleviated, questions, or is it a complete level playing field? Everybody's asked the same questions and have to go through the same level of due diligence. Look, Michael, I mean, I'm going to look. We've been in the TV ownership space for 12 years, actually. We've bought dozens and dozens of TV stations level than we've been in the past.

I don't actually know what's driving that. Obviously, we've seen some of these negative commentary. There could be some, I don't know, maybe some wrong political pressure. Look, I want to say that I don't want, I do have faith in the system. I don't want to, you know, I know the regulators have an important job to vet all concerns and what petitioners are saying. You know, you probably want to ask somebody else that has expertise in the space that our experience, like, have we been treated the same as everyone else? And, and because I feel like if I say something, then like, you know,

like, you know, people are like, oh, he's just a complainer. And, and, or like, you know, he's trying to influence the process that's going on now. We're, we're, we're, we're, we're, so, so the answer is, all I've asked is to be treated like everybody else. You know, like – and, you know, in the end, I have faith that we will. Mustafa. Thank you and good luck. Mustafa.

Thank you, sir. I used to actually help lead a federal agency. So my comment is that it's very rare to see someone have to go through, like, three comment periods and those types of things. My question for you, and I have a whole bunch of them, but I'll just lead with this one. How will young people play a role in the vision that you have moving forward if you're successful? That's a great question. Okay, look. Okay. So, first of all,

just going back to the agency question, look, we're going through the common period again for the third time. I can't recall a deal that has ever had more than one common period. But again, I'm not complaining. I just wanted to make the observation that it may not exactly be the same. In terms of young people, you're hitting the nail on the head in terms of why the business needs to change and go where the audience is. Young people, they're actually now more than, you know, there are more people that never paid for TV than paid for TV. And by the way, that's how it was when I grew up. I never had cable TV. But, you know, again, for the last, you know, from 1990 to, you know, to now, you know, it's just it's just the way the market forces work. It used to be a time when there was free television. Absolutely. And free TV that did require you to get an antenna, a broadcast antenna and all kind of other stuff.

I mean, there was a time. Right. And, and, and, you know, in some ways, it's very interesting because if you think about all the internet, um, what the great thing about social media is that it is, uh, uh, you know, in some ways, in some ways, again, I'm going to caveat that and come back to it. It is great democratizer that the whole audience, you can post anything, people can find each other. Um, and so that, you know, it has some real benefits, you know. I think the problem, though, I think there are some real problems with social media. Like, for example, they call it like Facebook News or Apple News. And I don't want to begrudge any of these companies because they do wonderful things.

But there is no, they don't, neither Facebook or Apple has a news desk and pays journalists. They don't pay journalists. They don't pay editors. They don't, they don't, they're not publishers. In fact, I can tell you this, Sue, without a doubt. We are being currently throttled by Facebook. I have 1.3 million followers on Facebook. And when we launched Roland Martin Unfiltered, we used to, after a two-hour show, we may have anywhere from 45,000 to 75,000 views. We would have 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 people watching at one time. I remember one time we ran a panel, Jane Elly and I did,

and it was 2 o'clock in the morning, and there were 10,000 people who were watching live. Right now, if I pull it up right now, I can guarantee you there's not more than 230 people watching. I've had two Facebook execs tell me that, oh, there's a glitch in our system. And no one wants to answer to me what's the glitch, but it's no doubt that they are purposely throttling our audience because they want me to pay to boost to the people who already follow me,

who already, my followers tell me they don't even get their notifications even though they checked it. That's the games that they also play. Well, yeah, yeah. So there's actually two parts to that I want to unpack. First is, look, we live in a world where all of us... I'm sorry, I'm told 70... Right now, 78 people are watching us on Facebook,

but I got 1.3 million followers, yet 2,000 are watching on YouTube right now. I have 980,000 subscribers. Go ahead. Right. Look, absolutely, look, Roland, that is the problem with our current generation of technology, which is great. There are some serious problems. The first one, by the way, is that it depends solely on all of us content creators, whether it's your daughter dancing, making up a dance and putting it up and then getting billions and billions of views, but maybe not getting paid for it, by the way.

All of our content, when we upload it, that's our pictures, our baby pictures, all that stuff, belongs to the platform, which is nuts. We're taking all of our property, that's our property as content creators, content owners and rights holders, and uploading it onto a platform to reach an audience, because we have to, because that's where the audience audience is and yet we don't own any of it yep you know they might deign to give you a little piece of it back to you which is something that you already own so so that's number one number two is actually more insidious which is what you're talking about which is not only you know do they not pay you for your content, but more importantly, they decide who gets watched, you know? That's right.

And even though they say they don't do it, they say that, oh, we're a publisher, we're not a platform. I'm sorry, we're a platform, not a publisher. We're a dumb pipe, you know, but that's not true. If the pipe can point to who's going to get the pipe, then it's not dumb at all. It's actually very intelligent. It's very smart. And, you know, if, you know, right, you know,

voices are being demonetized and throttled, you know, and that's crazy. And that's just, that's not a world. So actually to go back to that point that you raised, like, well, how do we, what's the impact of our deal to young people? We believe that actually that, you know, the tenants of local news, which is live, which is local news content generation, we could actually, and again, we could bring that to this current generation because news is more important and more relevant than ever. We just have to figure out a way to deliver it, not only on air, which is still relevant, and not only at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., but also digitally through the phones where people are.

You know, we need to, you know, so that's number one is to reach audiences where they are. And then number two is reach audiences with the content that they want. So, you know, what we're going to do is encourage people to create content for us. So not only are we going to have, we obviously are employing, you know, journalists and editors, but we're also going to, you know, have more people able to access both the airwaves and the Internet

for this content that people want so badly, which is local, you know, relevant local content and local community content. And I think that's going to – I think we're going to offer a – it's an old company, you know, in some ways an analog company that's going to offer a future that's a little bit brighter than our current digital future. Again, our current digital future is that these five monster platform companies take it all. We put all our content up there, all the audiences on the other side. The audience has to watch ads and pay subscription fees and then get told what to watch, and the content creators might get a little piece of a fund. That is just not the future. That cannot be our American media future. The next generation will be a fairer system. And since we need to change anyway, we're an analog company,

the television is, we need to go to an evolution. Let's just skip past Facebook. Let's skip past this current generation and to a new one that uses both the airwaves and your phone to get you the local content that you want. And I think that's going to be done in a much more inclusive way where there's going to be more voices, more local variety voices, not just a couple of people reading news on the desk. Well, I think that those, yeah. Well, what you just described is exactly why I created this show September 2018, why I created the Black Star Network September 2021, because, and like literally even the folks at YouTube News, YouTube told me,

oh yeah, sorry Roland, but black folks don't watch news. I said, I'm going to show you. And I said, trust me, they do. And like literally, they were like, yeah, we're funding other stuff, but yeah, and I said, okay, I'm going to show you. And we proved it. And we continue

to prove it. And we continue to show you and we proved it and we continue to prove it and we continue to show no there's high quality content that doesn't have to go through the other gatekeepers and so all this is important because we've got to have diverse voices who are owning because when you own you make the decisions and you're not and you're not asking permission exactly and you're not asking permission. Exactly. And you can magnify, you could be included. It's just there's just more we can do. Yes, sir. And I'm excited. Look, again, I'm optimistic for the future.

We've been through a lot. But, you know, look, we've met every objector. We've addressed their concerns, you know, and there's real economic, you know, the cost of doing so. But we're happy to do it because we know the future is bright. We know the opportunity is so large because the current business needs to be changed. All right. So, Kim, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. We'll be tracking this decision by the federal government as it unfolds.

Thank you, sir. Thank you again. Folks, going to break. We come back. A lot of us, a lot of us are already talking about New Year's, working out, eating better. But then we'll all blow those resolutions in a couple of weeks. Well, Jim Jones joins us to talk about how do we do it smartly and to create a lifestyle change and just not something that's real quick

just to make us happy. That's next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Folks, Black Star Network is here. 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 scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home.

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I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir.

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Henry was like, how did you just go walk off the camera? Well, I had to go get my protein shake. Because we talk about, because here's the deal, you know, trying to get five meals in a day, and you want to get all based upon the time. So I was like, dang, I should have done this actually 45 minutes ago. I said, let me go get this done now. And so when we talk about trying to create a new focus, create boundaries, create all different things, people are going through that because it's the new year.

And people have resolutions. They're now talking about, okay, I want to work out. I want to eat better. I want to sleep more. And people do all those things. And then what ends up happening is they blow it off in about two or three weeks, maybe a month. They spend crazy amount of money on equipment, clothes, gym memberships, you name it, and then they never really succeed. So I hit my man Jim Jones and said, Jim, what we're going to

do is we're going to spend the next, the first 10 days of the month having different people on, talking about different facets. And this really came to me, y'all, when I was in Jamaica. And the 10 people came to me and I said, I want these 10 people for very specific reasons. And so that's why Jim is here. And so, and Jim, we talk about this a lot. And this really is, to me, an important thing because it's really mindset. Because what happens is, all this energy they focus on, okay, the first of the year, and it's like, I'm going to lose 30 pounds, and they think they're going to lose it in the first month.

And what ends up happens, they get frustrated, they get upset, and then, of course, then they get despondent, and then by March 1, it all is completely out of the window. No question. No question. No question. So you know what, Roland? I brought you three secrets today. Okay. Three tips, okay? Because what's happening is people, you get in there, they're falling off, right? They get in there. I see them.

Gym is crowded right now. I just came from the gym, Roland. I couldn't get a machine. Couldn't get nothing. I couldn't even check my ID. There's so many people in there, right, Roland? But the thing is, what's going to happen is in March, it falls off, right? So let me give you three things to keep you guys in the gym. Number one, do not bite off more than you can chew. When you set your fitness goals, don't bite off more than you can chew. Don't set these big, illustrious goals. Keep it simple. You know, don't say, hey, I'm going to go to the gym five

times a week. If you ain't been to the gym all of 2022, you're not going to go one day in 2023. But also, I think that there are people right now who are watching who, first of all, they can't afford your membership. For sure. For sure. For sure. So the thing is, for me, start where you are. Yep, exactly. Start where you are.

Exactly. So you understand that, you know what, listen. And trust me, here's how I want people to understand. So I was in Jamaica 10 days. Okay. Yeah, I saw it. Get there the first day, really sleep the first day, fly in, two hours to the grill. And so I worked out one day.

Yeah. One day, went to the gym. Right. Worked out. All right. And normally I play golf on vacation. The golf course and the grill was awful. I played nine holes.

That was it. Okay. So really what I did was I walked first to it. I walked about three miles a day, three miles a day. Then I moved to four. Then I moved to five. For sure. And so eight, we had our meals, had the French toast for breakfast,

had the eggs and the bacon, had fruit. I didn't like the vegetables, so I had fruit nearly every single meal. For sure. So I get back today, and I can tell. So I got a massage twice, went to the steam room several times. So I get back today, get back last night, don't weigh myself, weigh myself this morning. So I hit, put my diet together, and he was like, all right,

how bad was vacation? I said, no, I lost seven and a half pounds. He's like, what? And it really was the walking every single day. Here you go. And so if you can't afford, so the thing is, if you say, listen, all I can do is walk two, three, I ain't got a treadmill. Exactly. Again, start where you are.

Exactly. And just take it slow. Exactly, exactly. And really, you nailed it. That's what I said. Don't bite off one you can chew. Get up in the morning, do about ten squats, ten push-ups, run in place for a little bit.

Fitness is about consistency, Roland, right? And fitness is addictive. The more you work out, the more you wanna do it. Roland, I've watched your journey over the past three months. You've been getting at it. Well, this morning, when I was, we covered, we had to, I got in at, we landed at 8.30 last night. Took us an hour and would have to go through customs

Yeah, we finally get out we go home and The CDC swearing-in was at 9 a.m. I was like, hey I see it. I got to get a workout exactly cuz I know I'm not gonna get it afterwards exactly It's gonna be a long day. So I said, you know what? Get up at 530. Yeah do 30 minutes on the ell long day. So I said, you know what? Get up at 530. Yeah. Do 30 minutes on the elliptical. Yep.

Yep. And I did. Got out of the way. Yeah. Knocked it out. But again, it was just I had to commit to doing it. Absolutely. And then saying, all right, let's go.

Yeah. And you said a key thing. As you were already thinking about the workout before you woke up, right? Working out is addictive. The more you lay my stuff out. There you go. That way I ain't surfing in the morning. I was like,? Working out is addictive. The more you lay my stuff out. There you go. That way I ain't surfing in the morning. I was like, listen, I had to lay it all out, and that's what it was.

No excuses. Like you said, and, Roland, you can attest to this, and everyone else can. The more you work out, the more you're going to want to do it. If you can do one day, two days, three days in a row, three days turns into one week. One week turns into two weeks. Two weeks turns into a month. A month turns into a whole year. Right.

About that consistency. The second thing is don't overcomplicate it. Two weeks turns into a month. A month turns into the whole year. Right. But the consistency. The second thing is don't overcomplicate it. Fitness is about movement, Roland. Movement and being consistent in your movement, brother. Dude, that's what I'm telling you. Yeah, no question. By being on vacation, I literally said, yo, I'm going to walk every day. And again, this resort has a massive sports complex.

And I tracked it. I tracked it as well. And I probably did anywhere from 18,000 to 25,000 steps every day. Okay. And that was just walking. It was like literally I'm just walking. I wasn't walking fast. Right, right.

I wasn't sitting there power walking. Right. I was like I'm just going to walk four or five miles a day. Yeah, exactly. And that's what it's about. Just do what you like. Like, Roland, you like to dance, right? And, Roland, I use you as an example because I feel or five miles a day. Yeah, exactly. And that's what it's about. Just do what you like. Like, Roland, you like to dance, right? And, Roland, I use you as an example because I feel like you're a person a lot of people can identify with, right?

They're very familiar with seeing you on television, on this network. If they can see you do it, they can know they can do it themselves. Right. The thing is, you like to dance, right? That's working out. Y'all know Roland got loose hips. You know what I'm saying? Your hips are loose for a brother, Roland.

My knees work. Your hips are a little too loose, Roland. Now, Michael Brown right now is a little upset. He ain't as flexible. He's an Omega. Okay, okay. He ain't as flexible. He can't hop at all anymore.

We can go fresh, eh? We can go fresh, eh? No, he can't hop at all. He can't hop at all. Okay, okay. All he can do is throw the sign up sitting down. He can't hop. He can't do none of that.

Right. See, I'm Houston. See, Michael, we got, you know, you got Megan Thee Stallion knees. It's a Houston thing. You don't hop. He can't do none of that. See, I'm Houston. See, Michael, you got Megan Thee Stallion knees. It's a Houston thing. You don't know. The thing is, that form of dancing, as funny as it may be, that's exercise, right? So if you like to dance, turn on that music, dance 15 minutes a day, dance 20 minutes a day. People don't understand.

Moving burns calories, right? That's what it's all about. If you move, you burn calories. Be consistent in whatever you do. And the thing is, if you stay consistent in the movements you like, you burn calories, be consistent in whatever you do. And the thing is, if you stay consistent in the movements you like, you're going to fall into working out. See, dancing, use it as a gateway into getting into the gym.

Third one. Yep. Hey, my third one is if your meals ain't right, get about that, Jim. Don't even get in the gym. Listen, if you know your diet ain't right, you're not living right in that kitchen, don't even do it. If your diet's wrong, don't step foot in there. I tell people this. I'd rather you take the time to meal prep than even go to the gym. If you got 30 minutes a day, get that meal right first.

So today, perfect example. So I have a whole meal plan. I'm going to go to Mustafa, Randy, and Michael next with questions. For sure. So I got a whole meal plan. Yep. And I knew today I was leaving so early, I could not meal prep. I didn't have time.

Yeah. So I said, all right, I could not meal prep. I didn't have time. So I said, alright, work up this morning. I did protein shake, green apple in the car. They had all kind of food at the event. They had some eggs and they had some bacon.

And I was like, okay, let me hit the eggs protein. Alright, so then when I came to the office, I said, you know what? So I went to chop. Yep. Got me salad. Got me salad chicken. There you go.

That was lunch. There you go. So that was three meals. Uh-huh. This was the fourth. There you go. Still got more salad left. Okay.

So I'll eat the fifth one. Right. And again, that was just like, and not, the key, and I've done it before, so that's why I ain't even tripping, not succumbing to the snacks, grabbing some cookies, or quickly going to get some fast food because there's like, no, make the right option. And then, of course, having, I probably already had two and a half liters of water. Yep. And you know what the key, the secret to that is, if you wake up in the morning and you don't know your meals, you lost for the day. You have to wake up intentional.

You have to have them laid out. If they're not laid out, what's going to happen is you're going to be on the fly. The temptations will get you. You've got to wake up with a plan. You've got to wake up with a plan. All right, so let's go to questions here. Let me see who going first. Who needs it the most?

Who needs it the most? Well, I've been looking at her bathing suit photos, so she probably got something to say. She's been all on Instagram showing all her little looks. Okay. So we'll go ahead and start with Randy. Well, Jim Jones, great to see you. I appreciate the advice. I definitely am a snacker and I wanted to ask you, is there, you know, is there room for the type of person, type of eater you are? Like being realistic, because some things I just can't do. Right. Like I'm not going to give up my snacks totally. So what is your advice when it comes to. OK, but Randy, when you say snacks, what snacks, what are they? Right. What are your snacks? What are they? Right. What are your snacks?

It depends on the day. Okay, but what are they? Well, it could be really good. Like, I do love fruit and veggies, but some days it's Cheetos. Okay. See, now, Rowan, this is how it starts, right? This is how it starts. So what it is, don't get mentally defeated, right?

I tell you what. Write down a list of 20 healthy snacks that you know are healthy and pick and stay inside that list. When you already say to yourself like, hey, some days I'm good, some days I'm bad, you're already letting the bad already in. You're already defeated. What I need you to do, Randy, is take a sheet of paper, write down, before you post on

Instagram, before you get the thirst trapping when you in the Turks and Caicos and the Maldives, what I need you to do is write down 20 snacks for me, 20 healthy snacks and stick to those snacks. Okay, Jim, so define it. I'm walking, y'all see I'm walking over because I left my water. For sure.

So, okay, I'm going to come back to Randy, but what's a healthy snack? So a healthy snack would be, so like, peanuts. I like to do an apple, a slice of apple. Okay, hold on, hold on. I hate peanuts. How about pecans? Pecans, whatever, yeah. Yeah, pecans. Almonds. Almonds, yep. I love to do an apple, a slice of apple. Okay, hold on, hold on. I hate peanuts. How about pecans? Pecans, whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pecans.

Almonds. Almonds, yep. I love to do, get an apple, cut it in half, put peanut butter, almond butter, put that on there. I hate peanut butter, but I'm going to do the apple. You can do the apple. I can do the apple. Okay, okay. I ain't doing the peanut butter.

You do the almond butter? Can you do the almond butter? Hell no, man. I'm just going to do the green apple. Okay. Look, we doing the apple. Okay, okay. Now down. I'm just going to do the green apple. Okay. Look, we doing the apple. Okay, okay. Now you being extra.

So shakes, people don't understand. A smoothie, a shake, that is a meal. That's a snack, right? Got it. That is a snack right there. I like myself. I like pretzels. I just stay away from extra sugars, and that's the main thing.

If you snacking, stay away from extra salts and sugars. We don't want anything to spike spike that blood pressure raise that cholesterol just stay off the sugars and starches on the snack. Random go back to you just say just say all you to because you out OK, we talk about can you ask him to lift his shirt up. This is a minute. Check for that. Is that a trifling Randy go and go you but do a follow-up and go.

I just want to know so you don't believe in cheat meals, cheat days? So, okay, you said a good thing, right? This is the thing. Y'all do a cheat meal, turn it to a cheat day, to a cheat life. There's no cheat day, okay? Yeah, you can't do no cheat. Y'all got to stop that. What is a cheat day?

That's a whole day. If you're eating bad, then y'all say a cheat meal. So what happens is, this thing is about momentum. You get one cheat meal. I've been there. And if you do a whole day of eating bad. And then y'all say a cheat meal. So what happens is this thing is about momentum. You get one cheat meal. I've been there. And if you do a cheat day, it becomes a cheat weekend. And then all the work from the previous two weeks is gone in three days.

Gone. You already know. Then February, March, you back at home. You're not in the gym. You're not working out. Then you got to wait until next year, 2024, to start all over again. That's what I say. Y'all got to keep it tight for me in these first four weeks.

You've got to keep it tight for me. Got to keep it tight. All right. Let's see here. I'm going to let Mustafa go. He's an alpha. So I'm going to make him go last. Mustafa, go ahead.

Jim, thanks for everything you're doing. A question. How important is protein for men after they're over 35? Because I run about four or five miles a day, and I notice when I don't get enough protein. Your ass ain't over 35. No, I'm

just asking, because that's when most folks start to slow down after 35. Mustafa, how old are you? Oh, no. I'm way past 35. That's my point. I'm messing with you, Pratt. Go ahead. No, I'm going to slow down after 35. Mustafa, how old are you? Oh, no, I'm way past 35. That's my point. I'm messing with you, Pratt. Go ahead. Finish your question. Go ahead. Okay, protein.

How valuable is the importance of protein? For sure. Protein is very invaluable, Mustafa, but you know, one of the things over 35, the testosterone goes down too as well, right? So I think the main thing is, what I saw is over 35, your energy level starts to as well, right? So I think the main thing is what I saw is you're over 35, your energy level starts to decrease. I'm more focused on consistency in the gym because if you're working out more, you're going to eat more. You're going to crave that protein, right? I didn't

see men over 35. Let's keep the energy and the testosterone levels up. And the way we do that is by making sure we being active. Now, if you want to know what type of proteins to take, anything lean, chicken, fish, steak, mushrooms. I know somebody who loves bone broth. Bone broth? I don't know if there's a lot of nutrients in that, but I mean, I hear a lot of people do that. For protein? For protein, but I mean, I'd rather you go to the more conventional things. And listen,

there are times where I go without eating any meat. You can find a lot of plant proteins, too. There's just so many options. But stay away from that Beyond Meat and that fake protein, because if you're going to the fake, too. There's just so many options. But stay away from that Beyond Meat and that fake protein, because if you're going to... The fake Beyond Meat, there's just so much stuff in there. It's all just fake stuff and just additives and preservatives. Let's just try to stay to the real

natural meats, fruits, and vegetables. Michael. So, Jones, how are you, sir? I'm good, brother. Happy New Year to you, too. And don't listen to Roland when he's talking about my frat, please. Your youth group? Go ahead.

What was he talking about? His little youth group. Okay. His little organization. Jim. Okay. Jim, see, you know why he gets this advantage when he talks about me and my frat? It's because he knows my other...

I had one grandfather that was a Q. My other grandfather was an alpha. So he knows I cannot retaliate when he talks to me. Because he had one smart grandfather. I go fresh aim. I go fresh aim today. I go fresh aim. The question I hear a lot, whether it's from my kids,

I have three sons, is when they do want to eat healthy, they complain that the healthy stuff is so much more expensive than the non-healthy stuff. Right. So how do they battle that? Right. Well, first of all, Roman, he was your most polite panel host.

He wished me Happy New Year, asked me how I was doing. Hey, brother, you're all right with me. Okay? You were the one that wished me Happy New Year. The rest of them just bombard me with questions. Jim, can I get this? Jim, how I lose this? Because they know doggone well we don't have that much time.

Okay. Michael trying to take as much time as he can. Okay, okay. Well, I tell you what, Michael. That's a great question. Great, great question. So I actually am a spokesperson for a grocery store down here, Giant Foods. This is what I specialize in. I make videos only to show people that eating healthy is not,

it doesn't always equal more expensive. It rarely does, right? What I think it is, that's an excuse that people use not to do the research and eat healthier. They say, oh, it's too expensive. It's not too expensive. I know if you go to, and I want to give you a longer answer. We're pressed for time. If you go to my Instagram page at G-Y-M-J-O-N-E-Z, all I do is make affordable grocery store videos,

how to go in a grocery store, spend $25, get five meals, 10 meals under $50. That's what I specialize in doing. I would give you more of a rundown, but we're pressed for time. But I tell you this, G-Y-M-J-O-N-E-Z on Instagram. I got plenty of content showing you all the secrets on how to eat healthy and keep it affordable. And if you have any questions, you can always shoot me a DM, an email. I'll respond right away. You know, I think that and again, the reason I wanted to start this way because again, it really is mindset. It's mindset. And that's really

what it boils down to. How do you change your mindset and your approach? And I think for a lot of people, again, they get so caught up and wrapped up. Oh, okay. So come January 1, I'm going to be in the gym every single day. And I'm just telling people just real basic is how you approach it.

And, again, that's all I did. Today, in fact, what happened was when I walked the chop. Okay. I didn't order DoorDash. Yeah. It's just three blocks away. I walked. Yep. And I said, when I walked to Chop, okay, I didn't order DoorDash. Yeah. It's just three blocks away. I walked. Yeah.

And I said, you know what? Even though I was on the elliptical this morning, my whole deal, I said, you know, if I just walked three to five miles a day when I was in Jamaica, I said, if I got an hour, if I'm downtown, I'm just going to go walk. Put my headphones on and just go walk. There we go. Absolutely. But again, to me, I'm just going to walk. Put my headphones on and just walk. But again, to me,

it's just starting. But the key thing, I think out of everything that you said, the key word was consistent. Consistency. If your workout's not consistent and your eating's not consistent, at the end of the day, all this stuff don't matter. And Rowan, I'm glad

you said that, but the secret to this is fitness is addictive. It's going to go one of two ways. If And, Rowan, I'm glad you said that. But the secret to this is fitness is addictive, right? It's going to go one of two ways. If you can just start, I tell you, I challenge everybody. The first days of the new year, try to give me five days straight. I promise you it'll go six. It's addictive. It's going to be either one way.

Either you're going to get addicted to working out or addicted to not working out. So use fitness as a drug. Use it the right way. I challenge everybody watching, all the panelists, my ones, my sister who was thirst-trapping on the gram, my brother who got five different fraternities, my man for the 50 and over. Listen, AKA.

They trap it out. So just give me five days. I challenge everyone. Now, Randy, you know you don't want me to pull up your Instagram. Don't look like that, but listen. Consistency and momentum is the secret here. If y'all can give me five days, I promise you'll make it.

If you can give me five straight days, because on day number six, it's ingrained into your mind. You're going to wake up. You're going to do something. Any form of activity, Roland, that you do in your lifestyle, that's fitness. Fitness isn't always going to the gym. If you want to dance, if you want to, you. If you wanna dance, if you wanna, you know, if you wanna stroll, whatever, you know, whatever divine nine you may be,

if you wanna do whatever you do, right? If you wanna take a walk, if you wanna just work out at home, that is fitness. And so we gotta remember that fitness is movement, and movement is a lifestyle, because you gotta move every day, right, Roland? And when you say movement, that includes even if you are on the swing set or you're doing cartwheels.

Go to my iPad, please. So even if you're just. That's all right. Even if you're just. Oh, Randy. Oh, yeah, Randy. Randy, you posted it. It's public.

Randy, you ain't living right. Randy, we're just showing that you have. Now go back. Go back. Go back. You're missing the cartwheel. So that living right. Randy, we're just showing that. Now go back. Go back. Go back. You're missing the cartwheel. That's right. You got the movement going, Randy. What?

You posted it. Hey, Randy, you ain't living right, Randy. Oh, man, Randy, you ain't living right. Let me just say my opinion. I try to encourage women that there are no rules and even for us that are over 50, we can still feel alive and good and healthy in our bodies. And in fact, you were talking about dancing. Here's Randy dancing right here. OK, I know protein in that champagne that's in her hand.

Right. Right. At least she was dancing. She was dancing. She was moving. But I see the drink moving, too, though. So you're saying that movement counts? That movement does count.

I see you put down the champagne glass. But the movement, hey, Randy, you're on the right track. Go back to it, Henry. That movement counts. No, that counts. That counts. She's on the right track. We're on the right track.

See? We're on the right track. Randy, I'm trying to help you out. I need her to get a, that movement counts. No, that counts, that counts. You're on the right track. We're on the right track. See? We're on the right track. Randy, I'm trying to help you out. I need to get a little lower though. She need to get a little lower, get the legs involved. You burn more calories in the legs. She ain't got knees like you, Roland. Hey, Randy, you're gonna get a little lower now.

Let's- Randy, you gotta go down. There you go, there you go. Randy, you gotta make that thing. Come on, Randy. There you go. Come on, Randy. There you go. Make sure you come back up, too.

I see a lot of people went down. They don't come back up. See, Michael mad right now. Yeah. Because, see, if that was Michael, there would be a pause coming back up. See, Michael mad. Michael said, damn, did he just go down and come right back up? You went down.

See, Mike, you can't do that, Mike. Mike, Mike. Houston knees, Mike. Mike, they said you were in a one-way flight. Mike, one way. You go one way. Take it one way. Down and not up, Mike.

That's wrong. Mike get about right here, and then he going to grab that table. Right. And hold on. See, you know, Mike, I ain't grabbing nothing. Don't let him do you like that, Mike. We're going to go sit here, Mike. We're going to go sit here.

Jim, because he knows I pick up my golf ball, I use the back of my putter. See, right there. What did he say? He said he would get his golf ball out and use the back of his putter. He ain't even trying to bend down. Man, Mike, we're going to work on it, brother. We're going to work on it, brother. One step at a time. One step at a time. I'm going to hurt my back.

No, Mike need a reflexologist. He need, yeah, he going to need all that. All right, well, Mike, next week we're going to bring a reflexologist in here. All right. Jim, I appreciate it, man. Again, folks, he says give him five straight days. Give me five. All right. Jim, I appreciate it, man. Again, folks, he says give you five straight days. Give me five.

Be consistent and ignore Randy and her cheat day snacks and all that. Find you some good snacks. Randy, put them damn Cheetos down. Put them things away. Consistency and momentum

is what we're shooting for. Two words. Consistency, momentum, five days. I promise you'll stay locked in. You'll have a great 2023. Hey, Randy, somebody on YouTube asked, are you married? Oh. I'm telling you. I'm just.

Hey, man. I'm just. Hey. Somebody said, Randy, I'm available. Man. Man. I'm just reading the comments, Randy. That's all. She looks amazing. Boom, boom, I'm available. Man, oh man. I'm just reading the comments, Randy. That's all. She looks amazing.

Boom, boom, boom, girl. That's Belinda. Belinda's like, boom, boom, boom. So Randy, they ain't even, what? You posted, Mr. Graham is public. Trapping ain't dead. Trapping working. There's trapping, it's working.

Randy's working. I ain't mad at it. Jimmy J ain't never mad at you trapping. It's to encourage my sisters that we can continue to you know, own our sexuality, our bodies, be healthy regardless of the age.

I'm here for that. I'm here for that, Randy. I'm here for that. Randy, stop blushing. You posted on Instagram. You know everybody want to see it. I am bright red right now. I know. You just mad I showed it, but hey,'m here for that. Randy, stop blushing. You posted on Instagram. You know everybody wants to see you. I am bright red right now. I know. You just mad I showed it, but hey, if you hadn't posted it, I wouldn't have nothing to show. I have to own that. I have to own that.

Alright, Jim, tell them folks where they can find you. Listen, man, find me on Instagram at G-Y-M-J-O-N-E-Z. On Twitter at JimJonesGlobal. That's G-Y-M-J-O-N-E-Z Global. Roland is going to retweet everything I say because I got to get my followers up, y'all. So, hey, panel, please follow me on Twitter. I need some help, y'all.

If I say something, just retweet it. Hey, Randy, y'all help me out on Twitter, okay? Yeah, you know, I'll go ahead. I guess I'll retweet some of your stuff. Yeah, man. Roman, help me out, brother. Help me out. All right, all right.

I feel something less fortunate. All right, y'all. That's it. Jim, I appreciate it. Folks, we were supposed to talk to the sister who has a caviar business, but she's in Jamaica. Her shadow's not great, so we're going to have her on the show next week. And so, again, we appreciate that.

Again, if y'all want to support us in what we do, now remember, for the next nine days, and so I want to start today. Carol, who we got tomorrow? Who's tomorrow? So my man Terry Starks, the diet doctor on Instagram. Terry's all about food plan. It does not involve any drugs, anything, or crash diets. Same thing.

It's about consistency. And I'm actually, so two things happen. So Jim and I are going to be getting together, same thing. It's about consistency. And I'm actually, so two things happen. So Jim and I are going to be getting together, working out, and I'm actually doing Terry's plan for the next 35 days. So you'll actually be able to see in real time, I just got to make sure I don't do like Randy, you know, and, you know, succumb to the pressure. And so, yeah.

So again, folks, that's what we're doing. and succumb to the pressure. And so, yeah. So again, folks, that's what we're doing. So the whole point for everybody who's watching, I'm doing this because I want you to have smart, sensible, easy things to do to begin the new year. We don't want to make this thing about dieting or working out. We want to make it about an actual lifestyle. That's what we want to do.

So don't forget, support us in what we do. Download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your dollars make it possible for us to do what we do. Trust me, y'all, doing this show, it ain't cheap.

The studio is not cheap. The production, the equipment, y'all, doing this show, it ain't cheap. The studio is not cheap. The production, the equipment, everything. Hell, the Comcast bill for a high speed, for what we have, ain't your home, Internet. Trust me. So, ain't none of it cheap. Check and money orders go to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, R. Martin Unfiltered, Venmo, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, R Martin Unfiltered, Venmo is RM Unfiltered, Zelle, Roland at Roland S Martin dot com,

Roland at Roland Martin Unfiltered dot com, and of course get my book White Fear, How the Brownie of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds available at all bookstores, Target, Books A Million. Download the copy on Audible. Folks, that's it. I'll see you tomorrow.

Maybe we'll have a Howl speaker. Or maybe the Republicans will still be stuck on stupid. We'll see. I got to go. Howl! I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two

of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that in a little bit, man. We met them at their homes.

We met them at the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position.

Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.