#RolandMartinUnfiltered - New COVID wave; Biden meets rights orgs; Black managers snub Walmart; BLM Utah calls US flag racist

Episode Date: July 10, 2021

#RolandMartinUnfiltered: New COVID wave threatens ALL; Biden meets with civil rights groups; Walmart's Black managers snub the big box retailer; PepsiCo Foundation and the National Urban League announce $10M Black restaurant accelerator program; Confederate monuments in Charlottesville to come down Saturday. BLM Utah calls American flag a "symbol of hatred"; Maaaaannnnnn ... A Racist cop got knocked out; A Louisiana teen makes history as the first Black winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee + Essence Throwback with Queen Latifah, Remy Ma, Kirk Franklin, Doug E Fresh and Teddy RileySupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered#RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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Pre-game to greater 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. Today is Friday, July 9th, 2021. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, COVID deaths worldwide have now passed 4 million. Medical experts fear we may be seeing a second wave. We'll talk to a black medical professional at North Carolina A&T about that. President Joe Biden and civil rights leaders on yesterday.

We'll talk with one of them about that meeting. Also, I talked with Cedric Richmond, President Biden's senior advisor about the Build Back Better agenda. We'll also talk about what they're doing to ensure black businesses are getting a part of these infrastructure dollars. In our Where's Our Money segment, we'll talk about a collaboration between Pepsi and the National Urban League that will provide black restaurants with the help

that they need. Plus, an internal survey by Walmart found many high ranking black employees wouldn't recommend working at the company. Plus, a Louisiana teenager made history as the first black winner. The Scripps National Spelling Bee will tell you about the many high-ranking black employees wouldn't recommend working at the company. Plus, a Louisiana teenager made history as the first black winner. The Scripps National Spelling Bee

will tell you about Zaliyah Avant-Garde. Plus, today's Essence Throwbacks features Kirk Franklin, Queen Latifah, Remy Ma, MC Lyte, and an epic performance by Teddy Riley and Doug E. Fresh. It is time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin on Filter. Let's go. politics with entertainment just for kicks he's rolling he's broke he's fresh's real the best, you know he's rolling. Martin. Martin. Four million people worldwide have died of COVID-19.

Folks, that is a devastating number. The case is 186,618,097. Here in the United States, 34,677,918 reported cases and 622,235 deaths. Now last week we told you about the Delta variant that is spreading rapidly and becoming the new dominant strain in the United States. Experts are saying another new variant, the Lambda variant, has already spread to 29 countries, including the United States, and is causing circulating heavily in South America. In North Africa, only 4% of Tunisian citizens are vaccinated, which is twice the average across the continent.

Countries are struggling with vaccination efforts due to a lack of accessibility. In Haiti, they're about to roll out their vaccination programs. Of course, they now have serious problems there because of the assassination of their president. While other countries face the difficulties of the pandemic, the CDC is saying vaccinated teachers and students no longer need to wear masks inside school buildings. The CDC's new announcement follows a decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations across the nation and a national campaign

making children as young as 12 years old eligible for the various vaccinations. Dr. Joseph Graves, Jr., professor of biological science at North Carolina A&T, joins us right now. Doc, glad to have you here. When we talked to you last year about COVID-19, you said there are

going to be different strains. That was, I think it was March or April. We now are seeing that. The issue that we're now dealing with is the vaccinations that have been created, can they counter these new strains? Well, right now, the good news is that they can, but we don't know how long that's going to be true. So the problem that I've been consistently pointing out to as many people as I possibly can is that evolution works and the virus evolves. vaccines do protect against both infection and also, most importantly, hospitalization and death, there's no guarantee that that's going to continue to happen. And let me give you a really concrete

example of this. In 1917, the influenza then acted very much like COVID does now in terms of mainly killing old people or people with pre-existing conditions. But after one year of evolution in the human species, by 1918, the 1918 variant killed across all age categories. And eventually the pandemic lasted five years and killed over 100 million people worldwide. And so my fear is that we're just beginning to see what COVID can do. And so the idea that people are falsely presenting is that we're somehow out of the woods is absolutely incorrect. And the thing here is you have these states that rush to open up. You have folks who are unwilling to take the vaccination. You've got conservatives who say,

look, I'd rather die than take these vaccinations. You've got people who are still acting a fool, upset with masks. And I'm sitting here going, y'all act like everything is all hunky-dory and all good. It's not. We've had Dr. Ebony Hilton, who's been on the show, she said a friend of hers

who was vaccinated actually got COVID. Other people have talked about that as well, them having the vaccination and still getting COVID. So you still got to take precautions. Yeah, absolutely correct. I mean, in the best of cases, the vaccines prevent infection of the Delta variant at 79 percent Moderna and 64 percent for Pfizer. But that means that 21 percent and 36 percent of people will catch the Delta variant even if they're infected. All right. So I want you to repeat that. If you have the Moderna shot, I've had that one. What's the percentage? The percentage is 21 percent can still catch COVID, even if you've had the Moderna shot. And that's basically one in five Pfizer. Pfizer is 64 percent, which means 36 percent can catch COVID. And that's basically one third. J&J. I don't know basically one-third. J&J?

I don't know what the numbers are for J&J yet, so I can't speak to that. But I would say very likely it's in the same range as Moderna and Pfizer. And so the point here is that right now, even though the vaccines protect you from catching COVID, it's still preventing people from being seriously hospitalized or dying. But we don't know how long that's going to last. And here's the problem that I've consistently tried to warn people. The larger the number of people are who are not vaccinated, the larger the opportunity is for the virus to evolve more transmissible and more dangerous strains. And that's why when I spoke with you back in March of 2020, I argued that it was really important for us to drive down the number of people infected,

not just in the United States, but worldwide. There needs to be an international effort to get vaccines out and to bring down the number of people infected as soon as possible. If we fail to do this, and unfortunately we are failing to do this, we are going to see more and more and more dangerous strains. And so far we haven't seen a 1918 influenza that kills everybody. But I hate to say it, and I hate it when I'm right, but if it continues on this path, I will say we will definitely see a more dangerous variant coming along in the not-too-distant future. And this is also why we've made this point that you've got to have the federal government putting the resources,

and I keep saying it, putting it in black-owned media, putting it in other forms to communicate to people the right information. And it doesn't help when you have these assholes at Fox News and OAN and Newsmax who are constantly out here fighting vaccinations, fighting masks, saying it's time to stop wearing masks on buses and trains and airplanes. And I'm like, are you idiot? Do you fools realize what's actually going on? Yeah. And you're absolutely right, Roland, because quite frankly, you know, reports have demonstrated that if the federal government had acted in a concerted manner in January of 2020, and in the right wing conservative media that enable his crazy messages to go to the public. These people are are irresponsibly killing people that did not have to die. So somebody's listening to us right now,

African Americans listening, and they're like, hey, doc, I don't care. I'm just not going to take this vaccine. Basically, what you're doing is you're playing Russian roulette with your wife, with your life. The reality is you

can very well die. If you take the vaccine, what you're saying is even if you get the Delta strain, you're not going to be as in bad of a shape as folks who do not have a vaccine. Correct. Vaccination will still save lives

with the Delta variant. And quite frankly, this comes down to not just a question of saving your own life, but saving the lives of the people besides themselves. And so, you know, the longer we go with people not vaccinated, the more we are essentially using the word Russian roulette or rolling the dice towards an apocalyptic pandemic. Now, again, I characterize COVID right now as a level three. But this non-vaccination, this anti-vaccine campaign is driving us in the direction of a level four and a level five. And we have an opportunity now to stop this. And if we don't, future generations are going to look at this foolishness. And that's if we have future generations, which are not at all guaranteed if we keep this nonsense up. But they're going to look back at the foolishness of this generation, and we will be held to count. Dr. Joseph Graves, professor of biological sciences at North Carolina A&T University.

We certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. All right. I want to bring in my panel. Michael Imhotep hosts the African History Network show. Brittany Lee Lewis, political analyst. Candace Kelly, justice correspondent, BNC.

I'm going to start with you, Brittany. It is utterly illogical. It is really illogical when you listen to these fools whine and complain and yell, when you listen to these nutcases on Fox News when they themselves have been vaccinated, when their building is still shut down, when Rupert Murdoch, who owns the network, has been vaccinated, was one of the early people.

They are so sick and demented because they are playing to their idiotic base and they're fighting this whole issue. It's just dumb. It's insane to me. You know, when I think about the fact that there are folks, you know, in other countries, too, who would just die to not only get a vaccine, but to get our vaccines. Right. And that the choices that we're making, and I thought Dr. Graves said it so pointedly, is that it's not just, even if you decide that you don't wanna protect yourself, right?

And you are playing Russian roulette with your own life, you are also playing Russian roulette with someone who's pregnant that hasn't gotten the shot, with someone who is immunocompromised that has not gotten the shot, with young children who are at risk because they are not of age to get the vaccine yet. So, you know, I just wish more folks would take this seriously, not only for themselves, but for so many other people around them, because we're losing lives

that just don't have to be lost. And, you know, you hit the nail on the head when you're talking about this misinformation campaign. I know I've heard so many people say, oh, I don't need to get it. What's the point of getting the vaccine if I can still get COVID? As if like the purpose of the vaccine is to ensure that people don't die. People are not having, you know, the hospitals are not being over flooded with bodies from being sick. And then, of course, the concept of herd immunity. So it's really unfortunate. And again, we're talking about people's lives here. I don't think look, they don't care about their lives. It's all about, frankly, politics. I mean, Candace, you have this idiot Charlie Kirk with Turning Point USA

going on and on and on trying to launch this anti-vax campaign when the co-founder of his own organization, the one who set him up for all the money he's making, that fool died last year of COVID. You know, the hypocrisy is really stunning. When we think about, first of all, these media organizations that you talked about and the doctor talked about,

is that responsibility right now actually to let people know that soon and very soon, you will probably be mandated to wear those masks. Soon and very soon, you may not want to give your 12-year-old an under a shot, but that's coming. When we look at the U.K. and that variant and how 90 percent of those people who are affected have been those people who have been between 9 and 12 predominantly. So there are a lot of things that are coming down the pike that the

media is just missing out on and informing people. And as you said, people close to home in every circle, no matter what circle you are, you can be someone who is crying that the vaccine is no good. And if people write in your circle of dying, this is a continued part of the lie. This all stems from Trump, the Republicans, and that whole era that should be done soon, but it is not. It is alive and well. And people just need to be warned and understand that this thing is going to morph. We've seen it morph already in terms of this COVID. We've seen it morph, and it's going to morph again, like the doctor said. And people just don't understand why they don't understand that it's coming, because we've seen variations already, and the numbers are only going up,

which is why we're at 600,000 people who have died in the United States of America of this. So the warning is out there, but it's up to people for them to listen, and it's up to the media to do their job to inform people that it's coming, it's going to change, and how we're comfortable now at restaurants

and traveling internationally, all that's going to change very swiftly. We know it's coming. We're getting the warnings. We're just not paying attention for some reason. And, Michael, to the Black people who are watching us, stop listening to these idiotic entertainers who don't know jack about science. Well, yeah, brother, I tell people,

I tell my listeners, get medical advice from medical professionals. Don't listen to these simple Simon-ass people on social media or these entertainers. A lot of these same people back in February and March of 2020 were saying Black people couldn't get coronavirus. How'd that work out for you? But even more importantly than that, when we look at the propaganda that Fox News is pushing and Rupert Murdoch, not only did Rupert Murdoch get vaccinated, but Donald Trump got vaccinated. Donald Trump and Melania Trump got vaccinated

before they left the White House, but they did it in private. So you have Trump supporters who are fighting vaccination. Now, I'm not saying they should get vaccinated. I'm saying seek out medical advice, okay? But here's the thing. A lot of this mask aversion, the GOP and Fox News, OAN, and these right-wing conservative media, they have taken the mask aversion and they have turned this

into an attack on critical race theory. And then what they have done is infiltrated local school boards. And Scruffy T-shirts, Steve Bannon, Steve Bannon on his podcast said the way to political power now is gaining positions in your local school boards. So this is all a coordinated effort. Yep. Okay? So this is really what we have to understand. But get medical advice from medical professionals. And, you know, I'm like the long range.

I don't take my mask off. I'm still wearing my mask. I don't care what the CDC says. I just don't have it on now because I'm on your show. But other than that, I still wear my mask. So we have to protect ourselves. And lastly, the great pandemic in 1918, 675,000 Americans died. Okay?

Between 1918, 1919, and early 1920, 675,000 Americans died. Okay, between 1918, 1919, and early 1920, 675,000 died. We're at 600,000 right now with coronavirus, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, Americans dying. So we have to be very careful. Uh, absolutely. And so, uh, folks, I'm telling you right now, if you're one of these people who-who believes in not getting vaccinated, I'm sorry, you now, if you're one of these people who believes in not getting vaccinated, I'm sorry.

You're crazy. Look, there's no flip side to death. Once you're gone, that's it. That's it. You're not Lazarus. Jesus is not going to breathe life back into your body. That ain't happening. And so you better want to live as long as you possibly can and not play these games.

And so also, if you're having events, y'all better sit here and have social distancing. You better mask the hell up. You better sit here and tell people to wash their hands. But people are walking around out here acting like everything is just all great and assuming everyone else is vaccinated, which is part of the problem when they just open everything up because people begin to assume, and I'm telling you right now, don't sit here and play games with your life. And then you be like the rest of these people I keep seeing

these stories who are going, oh, my, like there was some conservative who believed that crap. Then all of a sudden started whining and crying because they almost died. Yeah, that's what happens when you listen to dumbass Tucker Carlson and dumbass Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham and those idiots on Fox and Friends.

Now, hey, white America, if y'all want to kill y'allself by listening to Fox News, fine. Go on by yourself. Kill yourself. But don't come near us black people, okay? And Roland, we know when we look at the map for places that are not vaccinated and for those people who have voted for Trump,

you put them over one another, it equals up that if they're not vaccinated, then they probably voted for Trump. You look at the map, numbers almost are equal to the numbers of people who are not vaccinated and voted for Trump. We know where the message is coming from. Yeah, Charles McLaughlin on YouTube says,

mask it or casket? Right. That's a bumper sticker right there. I'm just saying, y'all can play games, but take the hell away from me. All right, folks. Yesterday, President Biden met with civil rights groups, and of course, while he was doing that, Vice President Kamala Harris was

visiting Howard University talking about how voting suppression is happening all across this country. The Democrats also announced they're going to spend $25 million to combat Republicans on voting requirements. That seemed to upset Georgia Governor Brian Kemp during an interview on Fox News. Kemp defended the state's, yes, voter suppression laws by responding directly to Vice President Kamala Harris. Here's this weasel. Hey, we've got to fight like hell. That's what I've been telling people. We have the truth on our

side. Now the vice president's lying like the president has been about Georgia's law. We actually add the amount of days that people can vote early on the weekends in the state of Georgia. We've got many more opportunities for people to vote early than President Biden's own IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA. WE'VE GOT MANY MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE TO VOTE EARLY THAN PRESIDENT BIDEN'S OWN STATE OF DELAWARE AND A LOT OF OTHER STATES WHERE THE DEMOCRATS ARE IN CONTROL. THEY'RE JUST NOT BEING TRUE FOR THE PEOPLE.

AND LISTEN, THIS IS JUST PART OF THEIR PLAYBOOK. THEIR LEGISLATION FAILED AT CONGRESS TO HAVE A FEDERAL TAKEOVER OF ELECTIONS, WHICH IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. NOW THEY HAVE THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WHEN WE HAVE, YOU KNOW,

VIOLENT CRIME, KILLINGS IN MAJOR CITIES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, A CRISIS AT THE BORDER, AND THE unconstitutional. Now they have the Department of Justice when we have, you know, violent crime, killings in major cities all over the country, a crisis at the border, and the fight they're picking is suing us over our elections integrity act. And they realize now after the Arizona ruling, that's not going to work. So now they're moving to the Democratic Party at the national level, trying to spend $25 million to cancel us. But my message is, look, we're going to stand up and fight. We have the truth on our side. But you need to be aware, they're going to try to cancel you. They're going to try to boycott your business, move your ballgame, just like they did the All-Star game in Georgia. They're going to

come after your way of life. This isn't a fight just in Georgia. This is a nationwide fight. It is one worth fighting, and that is what I'm going to continue to do. And that was a whole bunch of lying right there by Brian Kemp. We all know that's a trash bill. He knows it. We know it. And so it's simple as that. Joining me now is Melanie Campbell,

President and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. Dr. Janetta Cole, National Chair of the National Council of Negro Women. Both of them were at the meeting yesterday with President Biden. That meeting went a little longer than expected. Dr. Cole, how committed is this president to going around the country speaking on the issue of voter suppression and voting laws? My pleasure to respond to you, Professor Brother Roland Martin. Indeed, yesterday, the legacy civil rights organizations

were convened by the president and the vice president of our country. We expected to be in the Roosevelt Room for one hour. It was easily an hour and 30, maybe 40 minutes. What we were able to communicate to our top political leaders, is that in the black communities where we are invested, large, where we work, where we live, enough is enough. Voter suppression, which is being run in cynical but unfortunately effective ways by the Republican Party. And this is not a bipartisan issue. This is the fact. This sounds like, feels like, smells like the kind of voter suppression that I experienced growing up in the Jim Crow South. Yes, Jim Crow got all dressed up, cleaned up in a nice three-piece suit while she's in a St. John. But this is the same voter suppression that has haunted Black people

almost since we got here. In the old days, I'll tell you what happened when you decided to vote in your interest, when you decided that, indeed, it is your right to vote in your interests when you decided that indeed it is your right to vote. Do you know, in some situations, people were literally lynched. That's what happened when black people tried to vote. Or there were those silly games like, you know, come over here and read this passage of the Constitution

and interpret it for me in five minutes. Here's a bowl of, I don't know what it is, marbles. Tell me, before you go in to vote, how many marbles are in that bowl? And so the eight civil rights legacy organizations have said enough is enough. beyond grateful for the joy and the privilege of working with my sister leader, Melanie Campbell, as black women move into a week of action. Melanie, we had Cliff Albright on yesterday with Black Voters Matter, the co-founder, and he says this administration has to do more. He said the president has to step up and do more.

What did he commit to do? Give a shout out to being on here with our doctor leader, Dr. Janetta Cole, and did an honor to always have this opportunity to be with her and be out here fighting the fight for and with our people. Yesterday, what he really committed to doing, I say commitment, is really to use that bullet pulpit more. I think he heard us. That was a very, very focused around that, but also looking at what else can they do. Can they do more when it comes to the court system? Right now, we don't think so, after what happened last week

with the Supreme Court decision that has really impacted adversely the Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. But also, what can they do when it comes to executive action? And get out here and show the sense of urgency. Presidents go out and they sell what they need to sell if they can't get the Congress to move. So both President Biden as well as Vice President Harris, I think they heard that. I think part of what, I can't say with 100 percent, but I think a lot of what we had to say with him maybe have had an impact on him being able to

make this speech on Tuesday and use that bully pulpit because it's a powerful tool to use and you can do some great things from that pulpit, from that, I said pulpit, excuse me, but from that bully pulpit, but also some really horrific things that we know we can continue to live through. So I think that was very important and the sense of urgency, I think we left there

with them. If it wasn't there, I think it's more there now. Dr. Cole, so what is next? I mean, what should the public be doing? What should the folks watching and the people who are members of these various organizations? What the public should be doing is listening carefully to leaders in the eight legacy organizations as we make the call for action. I'm going to turn it back to my sister leader, Melanie, to talk more specifically.

But let me just say from my perspective again, growing up in the Jim Crow South, everything that we have gained, we have gained as a result of action. throughout the summer will be action in defense of our right to vote, which is at the center of American democracy. We're not just using words loosely. We're talking about a democracy under assault. That is the correct description when people based on the color of their skin are being systematically prevented from voting. Sister Mel, if the brother professor is willing, maybe you would tell us more specifically what we've got planned. And I want to make sure I'm clear.

It's not that we're saying it's time to act. It's time to keep acting. Organizers are going on. Cliff and Latasha, I was out there with them on that Freedom Ride a couple weeks ago. So it's about continuing to put the street heat out here and to make sure that we set the alarm bells for our community and others to know that this democracy, as Dr. Cole said, is under attack. And our vote, when it comes to the reality of what we're up against, if we don't see federal voting rights enacted in this country by August, quite frankly, Roland, because of the redistricting, then the idea of people say autocracy versus democracy, it will be that with what we've seen happen already with these 48 states, in your home state of Texas, the fight is on down there, right? But at the end of the day, one of the things that's really important is that we know that we can't go to the court, the system, the Supreme Court. Just let us know where they stand.

We have to have legislation, and we have to have it now, because if the redistricting is done with the same attacks that are on our vote with voter suppression laws, we're going to see the same problem, not just from the top when it comes to the Congress, all the way down to the school board. So that's one. So next week, what we're doing with Dr. Cole and I and others, Black Lives Matter, Fair Fight Action, Power Rising. Black women, we came together. A. Philip Randolph Institute, AFL, Democracy Initiative, and many others, Urban League and others, we're coming together for the Black Women and Allies Week of Action, and that will culminate on Thursday on Capitol Hill. So we're going to use social media. We're going to have a call-in day asking people to, we need your help. Not putting you on the spot, but we do need your help to help us get that word out. We want to, the Senate will be back. The House won't be in, but the Senate.

What we're saying is we have to be in the states. Every time they go home, we have to be out there making sure that they feel us. When they come back on Capitol Hill, they have to feel the presence, and we have to keep this on the front burner. So we're having this call to action starting on Monday with a social media day to start getting the word out and folks to understand. We're going to have a town hall virtually. And then we're going to have a day of action call in. We want to break the switchboard, calling and telling those folks we want to see them pass the For the People Act post-haste. And then on Thursday, we're going on Capitol Hill. And we're going to have a day of action. We're going to attempt to meet with senators. We're going to have some direct action on other things, a rally, and really show our presence for that week.

And then I know that the following day is going to be either the leadership conference is having something, because it will be a one-year anniversary from the passing of John Lewis. So we're going to get in some good trouble, if you will, in the name of our brother, the late Congressman John Lewis. And we have to keep the pressure on. So the meeting that we had, the mobilizations that have already been had, and we're trying to come together across generations, if you will. We have Tamika Mallory and others, Bernice King and others. It's just trying to get all of us together to, one, support each other's mobilization. So the whole idea of a summer of action

is not one group, but it's all of us supporting each other and coming up with ways to keep the pressure on. And minimally, if they don't do right, our people will be mobilized and understand what's at stake. And what they're doing to try to impact us will roll right on over and impact others.

Every time they try to do something to hurt us, we know historically it will hurt them. But unfortunately, it will hurt us more. But the issue here, Dr. Cole, is simple. There are two senators who've made it clear that they are not going to end the filibuster. And so the question is, this pressure, is it going to be targeting Sinema and Joe Manchin?

Kristen Sinema of Arizona, Joe Manchin of West Virginia. I mean, the arguments that Melanie laid out, we have made, we have heard, newest people have said it, but the reality is this here. There are two Democratic senators who are refusing to end the filibuster. That's why the For the People Act

and the Voting Rights Act has not been passed. All of that hoopla about Joe Manchin having a Voting Rights Act compromise, that died when they couldn't break the filibuster. He keeps hollering bipartisanship. She keeps saying bipartisanship. They can't find 10 Republicans. So, all right, what now?

You're so right. Let's just use simple arithmetic. We don't even have to call it mathematics. We need every Democrat, I mean every, to stand up and speak out and vote in the interest of the people. Historically, this filibuster has been used to stop issues being passed, acts being passed that are in the interest of the people. And so I'm not going to sit here, Brother Professor Rowland, and act as if this is just a little challenge.

You know, we can do the arithmetic and we can convince some more Democrats and maybe even a few Republicans. This is a serious challenge. And one of the things that I liked so much about our time yesterday with the president and the vice president of our country is that they had a spirit of realism, not optimism. Because when you do the simple math, it's hard to call it optimism. But realism says says that there are still ways that we can get legislative action because if we can't, then we have to ask, what happened

to our democracy? Melody, final comment. I would say, Roland, one of the things that we continue to speak out about is reform and the filibuster. We put that out there. And that's part of the message, too.

I mean, it's not about... I don't know that we can convince 10 Republicans. I, you know, participated in these meetings. First of all, the answer's no. Okay? I mean, I'm sorry. The answer's no. That's fine. But I can tell you this, brother, you know it.

We're not going to sit on the sidelines. We got to keep pushing and fighting. It's like that's the bottom line. But on the fight, did y'all press President Biden to put more pressure on Sinema and Manchin? Of course we did, Roland. Anybody that needs to be put pressure on, whether it's Democrat or Republican, we get that, right? So

as I stated at the beginning, we put it out there. We told them they need to use a bully pulpit. He is the head of the Democratic Party. So those two people are Democrats. So put the pressure on your friends and your foes. But also, I don't think we can just do it through the normal process of just sausage making, which is why it's important that we all do what we can to push and get the people.

We need a movement about this. We need a real movement that will take place in this country, because at the end of the day, whatever we do, we won't get anything. We could get something short term if we're able to get some other kinds of legislation passed. But if we don't have the ability in 2022 to pick the candidates of choice, we are in trouble for a decade and longer because some of us have lived long enough to know that. Right. So we know it's an uphill battle, and that's why it's like we need all hands on deck, and we've got to support each other, and we've got to raise the hill that needs to be raised with our friends and our foes.

Dr. Janetta B. Cole, Melanie Campbell, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. All right, y'all take care. Michael, I'll start with you. Here's the deal. I need to see Biden putting pressure on Sinema and Manchin.

He's not. He's not. When he spoke in Tulsa, he said two senators. He wouldn't even name them. We knew he was talking about, but he wouldn't name them. And so here's the dilemma that these legacy civil rights organizations are going to have. And Cliff and LaTosha with Black Voters Matter have talked about it.

You're going to come back to black folks and ask for more? What argument? What argument can be made that you got control of the House, you got control of the Senate, you control the White House, and you still can't get a voting bill passed? Roland, I'm going to try to be as respectful as I can. I saw press conferences yesterday. I saw interviews with people that were in the meeting, and I thought, I know I'm 50, and I think my hearing is going out,

so I thought I ain't hear what I heard, but I got earbuds on right now. Listen to them. So I thought I ain't hear what I heard, but I got earbuds on right now. Listen to them. So I respect the sisters. I think we need less love voting, more Amistad, slave revolt. First of all, I ain't hear anything about putting pressure on corporations that

help finance Sinema and Manchin, as well as the GOP. Okay? Dude, as I said weeks like, weeks ago, dude, we have to have an all-out 50-state economic guerrilla warfare push on this, man. This is serious. These people, the GOP, they're not playing.

They're trying to take us not back to 1865. They're trying to take us back to 1890, the Mississippi State Constitution, that Institute of Poll Taxes and Literacy Test that Janetta B. Cole was talking about, that goes back to Mississippi, and other southern states started following. FEC.gov, brother, ProPublica,

back in, I think, 2016, 2018, when Cindy Hotsmith was running for the Senate seat in Mississippi, ProPublica put out the information from the FEC.gov that talked about the Republicans who were being funded by corporations.

Dude, that's public knowledge. Federal Elections Commission. We gotta have we have to expose stuff like that but also on Sinema and Joe Manchin. Who are the corporations who are financing them? Notice how before today, now we know Toyota came out today and said they're not going to give any more money

to Republicans who... No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. They announced they had stopped funding those who would not certify the election. Then they quietly began to give money back. It wasn't until

the Lincoln Project and other groups publicly outed them where they were like, okay, yeah, we're not going to give any money, but all of those companies who were making all of those cute, public, dropping press releases after January 6th

quietly have gone back to giving money. Exactly. No, but I'm talking about the news that came out today about Toyota. Okay, that's what I'm talking about. Yeah, I agree with you on Exactly. No, but I'm talking about the news that came out today about Toyota. Okay, that's what I'm talking about. Yeah, I agree with you on that. Dude, we're speaking the wrong language to these

people. It ain't nothing... One of the things that Reverend William Barber is doing, and see, we got to expand this beyond just African Americans. This is people who don't vote for Democrats. This is young white people, white college students. This is Latinos.

This ain't just a black thing. Dude, these people are, look, man, we need a Boppy Johnson of politics that take these people's heads off politically, not figuratively, not literally, politically. We're not doing anything that's going to scare them. This is what I'm saying. So the other thing is we have to educate the masses. I was speaking in Atlanta for the Juneteenth Festival.

I did two presentations. I'm speaking, I talked to 50 people asking questions. How many votes does it take to get a bill passed in the House of Representatives? Everybody wants reparations, but nine out of ten people can't tell you how to realistically get reparations. Okay? So, we have to under... And lastly, I'll wrap up with this, brother, because this ain't my show, this is yours. Um, June 19... June 1941,

Executive Order 8802, President Franklin Roosevelt, which desegregated military jobs in the Department of Defense. He didn't do that out of kindness of his own heart. He did... He did that because Franklin, because A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeper Car Porters, put his foot up his ass and threatened to put 100,000 African-Americans marching on Washington to embarrass Roosevelt after we voted for Roosevelt. See, that's pressure.

This stuff here, man, they ain't scared of none of this stuff. The other thing is, one of the reasons why I think they're not talking about corporations, unfortunately, you know, I understand, they get donations from corporations, but to hell with that, man. Look, we need less love voting more. I'm going to stop.

The thing here, Brittany, when you began to look at in terms of what's happening, again, we know exactly why the Four People Act hasn't been passed. We know who the blocks are. And at the end of the day, at the end of the day, President Biden is going to have to do more. What do I mean by more? Easy.

President Biden needs to go to Arizona and yes, deliver a real hard-hitting speech on the issue of voting rights after the Supreme Court decision, which was the Arizona case.

He needs to not be afraid of Joe Manchin and go to West Virginia and look them broke-ass white folks in West Virginia in the eye and say, y'all are also being screwed. Mm-hmm. Absolutely, Roland.

So many important points have been made. First and foremost, Sinema and Manchin are full of it. And I think Michael is also absolutely correct. We have to hold them and their supporters, including those corporations, accountable. And we know that this whole, that they're hiding behind this notion of bipartisanship, but we know bipartisanship ain't a thing. Republicans don't give a damn about bipartisanship. Democrats need to grow a backbone, including Joe Biden, like you said, and get his hands really wet

to do something about this, because this isn't just affecting black folks. This is affecting everyone. Like you said, it's the poor white folks in Arizona. It's our Native American brothers and sisters. You know, I'm thinking about the folks who are living on reservations and tribal communities, which are located up to 20 miles from the assigned polling places, you know, where they're going to get hit hard. Everyone there doesn't have transportation or residential mail service. You know, the things that are being put forth are unfortunate. They're going to hit our democracy hard and it's going to literally affect all of us. And we don't have a lot of time. So you're absolutely right, Roland. Biden needs to do way more and especially in Arizona. Candace, it's real easy to tell civil rights groups, to tell black voters better, to tell

until freedom and others, hey, we need you to do more. No, I need you all to do more. And the point that Michael make, actually, I said that several years ago during a CBC forum where Sherrilyn Ifill was on the panel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Kristen Clark, then with the Lawyers Committee, the Secretary of State of California. I said to all of them, I said, y'all got to talk to the white folks too. Young white voters need to understand

they're targeting you. Listen, let's go back to George Floyd, right? When we think about the young white people who hit the streets in addition to the black people in order to have this groundswell of a movement that we never thought would happen in terms of police officers turning in the courtroom against each other, that said, we have to start a movement, a movement that's just as important as the movements that we've seen for this past year, because the Supreme Court has already made it very hard for us to fight voter suppression. So we have to go to the states like you said. Joe Biden has to go to regular, basic politics, go to the person, speak with them, sit with them, go to their state, and ask them and inform them about things that they might be wrong about.

That's really what politics is, just talking with people, negotiating, figuring out where we're going to have a meeting on the minds if you're far too left and I'm far too right. So you are right. There are some solutions. But today, I'm not sure if we heard that that was what came out of the meeting. Also, where is this $25 million going?

What exactly is it going to do that Kamala Harris talked about in terms of informing people, educating people, and making sure that voters' rights are not suppressed? What's going to happen with that money? That could help start this groundswell of a movement that Melanie was talking about that we need to shed light to bring attention to these facts, to let them know that just as important as it was for you to get on the streets and march in terms of George Floyd and justice in the criminal justice system, it's just as important when we talk about voting rights. You know, you talked about the Supreme Court case. A couple of people have talked about it on this panel. And I'm going to quote Justice Elena

Kagan and her dissent in that 6-3 decision having to do with the Supreme Court and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. You know, it's good that we have the Voting Rights Act on one hand, but it's bad that we still have to have it and have to go ahead and

validate it again because we just haven't reached... Oh, Candace, she froze? All right, Candace froze there. So let's try to get her back. Speaking of back, President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan is his three-part agenda

to revitalize the country's economy. It includes three plans. They are the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the American Jobs Plan, and the American Families Plan. Earlier today, I talked with Cedric Richmond, the senior advisor for President Joe Biden, with regards to the plan and also what are they doing to ensure black businesses are benefiting

from these contracts? Let's get right to it. President Joe Biden's agenda in terms of Build Back Better agenda. Exactly where does it stand specifically? How has this been helpful to Black folks? Well, I'm going to go back, Roland, but I'll try to do it very quickly. It was the day that we laid out the Build Back Better plan, and that was before the election, before inauguration. But we knew that in order to build back better, one, we would have to get the pandemic under control, invest in people's lives and give them some direct payments and help immediately to get us to a point where we can invest in infrastructure and then human infrastructure. So what we did was we passed the American Rescue Plan, $1.9 trillion in it.

It had 1,400 direct payments for about 165 or 68 million Americans, at least 1,400. It had the extended child tax credit in there enhanced, which will reduce Black poverty this year for children by 50%. It will reduce Black poverty overall by about 38% this year, along with an enhanced earned income tax credit. And in the American Rescue Plan, we put $5 to $ billion dollars in there to help farmers and pay off their loans of farmers who have been historically discriminated against and that's specifically for those black farmers. So we did the American rescue plan. Now

we came back with the American jobs plan, which is the infrastructure plan. We're going to get 10 million homes that have lead service pipes delivering lead to them. We're going to eliminate those. The 400,000 schools with lead pipes delivering water, we're going to make sure we do that because too many of those people who are on the other side of those service lines are black and brown. And we know that water with a high lead content leads to issues and problems. The other thing, Roland, I'd say is that we did the biggest financial investment in HBCUs in this country's history. We did $4.2 billion for HBCUs, $1.6 billion in capital finance,

loan forgiveness or debt forgiveness, which they had been asking for and desperately needed, and then another $2.6 billion to help them through the hard times. And so we know that the Black community is disproportionately taking the health pandemic effects of it and the economic. And so we're going to cap it off by leaving the American Jobs Plan and then going to the American Families Plan, which combined the American Families playing with those things that

were left out of the jobs plan and that's where we get out bill back better plan from and that's going to invest in another 2 years of free education. 3 and 4 years will be in school. Not daycare we're going to make that child tax credit that we did for one year we're going to make it. We're going to extend it out along with the enhanced earned income tax credit that we did for one year. We're going to make it, we're going to extend it out along with the enhanced earned income tax credit. And that child tax credit, 95% of the children in

this country, their families will get a tax break because of the legislation we passed. And families with children will start seeing checks come on July 15th, every month to the end of the year, because we don't think people should wait to the end of the year. We think they should get it every month to help them while they're raising children. So we think it's a comprehensive plan. And also in the families plan, you have paid family leave. You have money for elder care and our care economy so our seniors can stay at home as opposed to having to be somewhere else we're going to raise the pay of those people who work in the care economy which are disproportionately black and brown and female and we're going to invest in those title one schools that we talk about that are primarily schools in poor districts so that they have a smaller income base.

And we don't think we should cheat the children because of where they live. And so we're gonna do that. So it's a robust agenda, Roland, and I didn't even talk about all the things we did in terms of not contracting with private prisons, changing the guidance to federal prosecutors saying, do not go in there and just ask for the toughest sentence that you can, a longest sentence. Make sure that it makes sense. Or the fact that our Justice Department is suing

police departments across this country for pattern and practice violations and unconstitutional policing. We're charging officers like we did in the Ahmaud Arbery case and what we did in the George Floyd case. And then we're also suing to fight discriminatory voting rights actions that disproportionately hurt Black and brown people. So we have a big agenda. We're not saying we're done, but what we're saying is we're intentional about it. And by the way, and I'll start with this, we nominated four Black women to the federal courts of appeals. There's been no president in the history of this country that has nominated more than four African-American women to the

Court of Appeals. We've gotten two confirmed. And by the way, we're only on day 107. One of the things that you talked about, the rebuilding part. And I talk a lot on my show about Black businesses contracting things along those lines. A lot of this money is going to states. How do you ensure that black contractors, black engineers, black architects, African-Americans who are owning these firms are participating in this? And the conversation you're having with these trade unions and others, because we're talking about, again, this infrastructure bill, a trillion dollars, all of this building. How do we ensure that African-American businesses are participating in this on the federal level?

Well, one, we set the tone. And just look at what we did with federal procurement not too long ago. It used to be a 10 percent goal. We're moving it to 15 percent. And what that amounts to is 100 billion dollars over five years. But the other thing, I think it all starts at the top. And you have a president that's not afraid to say minority contracting or racial equity or economic equity. And he wants to make sure that black and brown people are participating. So if you look at what we did with the American Rescue Plan, we didn't send all the money to the governors. We sent a lot of money directly to mayors and then gave them the leeway

that they could spend some of that money on summer jobs programs, community violence intervention, recreation, afterschool programs, things that really invest in our communities. And so when you think of infrastructure, it'll be done with that same mindset and making sure that minority business gets participate, making sure they have the access to capital

to do the contracts, make sure that they have the bonding. But more than anything, make sure it is our expectation and desire for small black and brown businesses to participate. And as a part of that, when we talk about, you know, obviously going from agency to agency, we know one of the things that happened before, typically on Democratic presidents, you have an unbundling of contracts under Trump. They bundle them back. So you really have these large contracts. You know, it was Maynard Jackson who showed how by unbundling those contracts, breaking those primes into smaller contracts allows for black owned businesses to compete.

Is that also happening? Is that the edict that has gone down to different agencies? Yeah, that's our goal. And I think the president actually talked about that either in a speech or executive order. And then you have Ambassador Rice, who's running our whole of government racial equity department, so to say, our task force. And she's making real strides there. And we're going to make sure that we break down all those barriers. Yeah, you bundle a whole bunch of contracts, small Black businesses can't float those payrolls for all that time, nor get the bonding. And so that's been a way that people utilize just the procurement requirements and the size and scope of contracts to keep people out,

and especially small Black and Brown businesses. And what Maynard was able to do still shows today. If you look at Herman J. Russell Construction Company, which is one of the largest African-American in the country, it was because of that airport job. And so we get it, we know it, and we're pushing SBA to make sure that they are monitoring, that they are desegregating data, and that they are making sure that they're investing in companies so companies can get these contracts and be successful with them. And we just saw those announcements that Wells Fargo, I believe, are getting others stopping their lines of credit. And that's one of the issues as well. And so for for SBA, anything when it comes to insuring capital? Because look, as you know, a lot of Black businesses can float their companies for 30, 60, 90 days waiting on government contracts to pay

sometimes 180. And so that's also, is that also part of that responsibility or the idiot coming down from the White House to the agencies? Yeah, and I give President Obama a lot of credit. President Obama very quickly when he was in office said that he would like to get to almost, I think it was a 60-day or 30-day payment, and that would be our goal too. We think it's doable, but we think it's important, especially when you start talking about the size of contracts that are labor-intensive, floating that payroll, the matching taxes that go with it, all of those things add up to a lot of stress on small businesses. So

what we're also doing, Roland, is making sure that we give the SBA more money, billions of more dollars, and I think our plan is to give them either $25 or $35 billion more so that they can do exactly what we need them to do to help small, disadvantaged black and brown businesses grow. All right, then. Well, we certainly appreciate the update and appreciate future updates because, you know, we are going to stay on top of this, pushing this whole issue, not just in the private sector with these publicly traded companies as well, with our where's our money segment, but really on the federal side as well, because that's the only way I think we're going to be able to put a dent in decreasing this wealth gap if we expand, build capacity for our Black-owned businesses.

Roland, let me just thank you for what you're doing. I think what's really important is how you communicate to people and how you hold people accountable. Look, we don't mind passing that Janet Jackson test of what have you done for me lately. We believe if you look at the historic investment in HBCUs, if you look at what we're doing, what we want to do in housing and all those other things, we are being intentional about helping the black community, the brown community, and not leveling the playing fields, but actually bringing equity into it. So the more that we can educate people on exactly what we're doing, it's the more they know that elections actually have consequences that, yeah, we got rid of the Muslim ban. Yes, we ended private prisons, all those things that we did almost on day one to rectify the damage that Trump, President Trump had done.

They won't know about it, but for you. So thank you for giving me this opportunity. I appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. And we'll chat soon. Thanks a lot. All right. All right, folks, gotta go to break. We come back, first black winner of the National Spelling Bee. We'll show you who she is. She also got some basketball skills. We'll also talk about a Confederate statue. Bye bye in Virginia. Also, black senior executives at Walmart,

not happy with the company. All that's next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Back in a moment. I believe that people our age have lost the ability to focus the discipline on the art of organizing. The challenges, there's so many of them and they're complex. And we need to be moving to address them. But I'm able to say, watch out, Tiffany. I know this road.

That is so freaking dope. Racial injustice is a scourge on this nation, and the Black community has felt it for generations. We have an obligation to do something about it. Whether it's canceling student debt, increasing the minimum wage, or investing in black owned businesses, the black community deserves so much better. I'm Nina Turner and I'm running for Congress to do something about it. Seeing a non-constitutional filibuster being used to block constitutional voting rights,

and we can't stand for that. And people all over the country are saying they want VRA, they want the For the People Act, they want living wages, and they're tired. We can't separate this stuff. Voting rights, living wages, infrastructure, the same people are trying to block all of it together, and we must stand up together. We need a season of nonviolent direct action to deal with this and to change this nation. We must do more than just rally now,

because our democracy is being threatened. And the question is, which side are you on? That's how we want voting rights. That's how we're gonna keep voting rights. This is a serious moment. This is not a small moment that we're in. If we gotta sit in Senate offices, if we gotta sit in the streets, we're not gonna do an insurrection,

we're gonna do a resurrection. We're not gonna do an insurrection, we're gonna do active mobilization all across this country and in Washington, D.C. Some things you can't compromise on. We cannot fail in this moment. Hey, I'm Cupid, the maker of the Qubit Shuffle and the Wham Dance.

What's going on? This is Tobias Trevelyan. And if you ready, you are listening to and you are watching Roland Martin unfiltered. We'll be right back. I want to be put on in the worst way since the first day. I think it was a Thursday. You be that brother that I want to sing my teeth in. You want to make me want to.. Alright folks, that was Queen Latifah, Remy Ma and MC Lyte at Essence.

We're going to try to fix that video. Not sure why it is causing those problems but we will definitely get it taken care of. Folks, let's talk about a couple of stories. One that really jumps out that is kind of interesting, and that is black employees at Walmart are making it perfectly clear they are not happy with the company. Bloomberg reported today an internal survey where many high-ranking

black employees would not recommend working for the world's largest company. While the country's largest employer has been vocal about recruiting a diverse workforce and spending millions of dollars toward advancing racial equity, these black employees say they face barriers when trying to advance their careers, such as favoritism and internal politics.

Black employees make up nearly 21 percent of Walmart's workforce, but only 12 percent of the black employees are on the managerial level, and just 8% at the officer level. Candace, I'll start with you. Last year, I actually spoke at Walmart, at their Bentonville headquarters for their MLK program. CEO, Doug McMillan, was there. I got a chance to go to lunch after that with a number of

black executives. And the questions I raised to them then were, you know, what are the numbers? And really, when they talked about sort of the top tier positions, you never really had more than two. And we had a conversation about the kind of pressure that needed to be applied and making it perfectly clear, the opportunity that was there.

Then of course, the George Floyd death in May. Walmart announced that they were going to fund, spend $100 million over five years on issues dealing with race equity. But the thing that I keep saying to these companies, whether it's Walmart, whether it's ESPN, whether it's Walmart, whether it's ESPN, whether it's Disney, whether it's, I mean, we can go on and on and on,

that it's very easy to provide aid and scholarship to folk you don't know. But if you cannot deal with your own house, that's really irrelevant. It's sort of like the people who say, I want to help black kids learn, but you won't help your nieces and nephews who can't read. If you don't take care of home,

you ain't got credibility going outside of home. Exactly. So the fact that Walmart is talking about how they sponsored the Essence Festival, sure, that sounds nice on paper, like you said, but we know, first of all, I'm surprised that there were two people in various positions when you talk to these big managers and giants at Walmart.

Normally there's oh and oh, one and only. There's a one and only person, right? And I'm sure that you've been that person along your career, too. I know I have, and probably everybody on this panel. So the bottom line is like you said, what is happening behind closed doors when we have managers that are hanging out with each other, you know, during cocktail hour and babysitting each other's kids, and they're able to carpool at work. A lot happens outside of the office space and inside that apparently Walmart needs to look at.

Because listen, the employees said, pay not so bad, benefits not so bad, but no, no, no. I wouldn't work here. That wasn't even a marker or an indication in terms of I could stay here. The pay is good enough where I can stay here. They said it was okay, but I can't stay here, and I can't recommend friends or family to be here. That is a big deal. They need to have an internal assessment

as to what's going on, to why these 56, I believe, higher-ups said what they did so that they can correct it, because it's not going to be corrected with, as you said, just giving scholarships or money to Essence. The thing here, Brittany, in the moment that we're in, and this is what I keep saying to black folks who are in these spaces, you ain't getting shit today.

So why are you going to be so quiet tomorrow? At some point, people have to understand that unless you call folks out, and look, and I get it.

There are people, there are people who are afraid to lose their jobs. There are people who have kids in private school. They say, well, Roland, everybody can't be, and trust me, I've heard it all my whole career, Roland, everybody can't be as radical as you. You know, we all can't be, and trust me, I've heard it all my whole career, Roland, everybody can't be as radical as you. You know, we all can't do that. And I'm like, guess what?

Y'all just going to sit your asses in and be quiet and complain. And then what I can't stand are those parking lot militants. The ones who talk a lot of trash in the parking lot as you're walking to the car or leaving home, but then when you go back into the building the next day and it's time to speak up and you do so and you turn around and they're sitting here like, you know, and you're going like, yeah. At the end of the day, these companies are not going to change

unless we have black people inside of them who are forcing the change. Absolutely, Roland. I wish that I could say I'm surprised with Walmart. And I think that anybody who knows anything about the retail giant knows that they're famous for all types of, you know, anti-union policies, you know, the use of foreign labor, child welfare issues are notorious for wage theft. So, one, I'm not surprised. You know, I think it's a reflection of what's going on even at the bottom, right? Our hourly workers are struggling and constantly talking about the issues that they're running into at Walmart. So I'm also not surprised that we see that when it comes to the supervisors, and black people in general. I mean, the very institution of Walmart is racist.

Its business model is essentially racist, no matter how much philanthropy they claim to do. So I'm not surprised. And it's imperative that I hope everyone gets together and organizes against the chain, right? Because you're right, that's the only way that anything is going to change. You know, and the thing here is,

Michael, this ain't just Walmart. I mean, we could just sit here and just do a roll call of company after company after company after company after company where they have these issues. And look, Doug McMillan was a nice guy when I met him, was very receptive to what I had to say. And this is actually what I said.

In fact, Walmart was supposed to send me a copy of my speech. So let me tell my office. They never did. So let me tell my office where my video. But this is what I said to, and I spoke to all the Walmart employees worldwide. They were all by feet. This is what I said to, and I spoke to all the Walmart employees worldwide. They were all by a fee. This is what I said to them.

Walmart, you, by yourself, can change America. First of all, do people realize that there are several daily flights direct from New York to Bentonville, Arkansas. Y'all, I ain't say hell, you ain't got a lot of direct flights to Little Rock. But the reason there are direct

flights to Bentonville is because of Walmart. And Tyson Foods is down the street. So the reality is Walmart shifts industries. Companies like Amazon shifts industries. That's right. Procter & Gamble shifts industries. Apple shifts industries.

And so what I said to Walmart with the CEO, Dub and Miller sitting right there is that if you make a decision that this is what we're going to do when it comes to diversity, this is what we're going to do when it comes to advertising with black media, this is what we're going to do

when it comes to contracts with black owned. This is what we're going to do when it comes to contracts with black owned companies. You can alter the entire industry if you then say, and if any of y'all doing business with us can't match us, you can't do business with us. That is how you change the game. Mm-hmm. Yeah, we have to renegotiate our relationship with corporate America, brother.

I'm not surprised with Walmart. And I was just about to say, we have to do this with corporations across the spectrum that we spend dollars with. Now, this is connected to the protests of summer 2020, the George Floyd Black Lives Matter protests, when all these corporations came out and they said,

we're going to pledge this amount of money, that amount of money, things like this. How did you change internally, okay, and how are you treating African-American employees? But the other question I would ask Walmart and all these other corporations, why are you so silent now on these voter suppression bills as they're passing? It's like over 20 have passed state legislatures. Uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh. So you see, this is like, here's my whole deal. Follow me here, follow me here.

Okay. That's a separate issue. See, he, he, he, he, let me tell you why I'm separating them, okay? The reason I'm separating them is because... that gives the company an out. I want to deal with the money. Yeah, I agree.

See, because here's the deal. I think a lot of them, they want us to have that conversation. See, let me unpack that. And this is, let me unpack that. And I want everybody who's listening, people who are watching it and listening to the podcast to understand this. America

wants us talking about criminal justice reform, voting rights, mass incarceration. They actually are fine with that.

Not when we talk about the money. Because see, what we're talking about over here, Michael, with these senior executives, we're now talking company shares. We're now talking actual the ability to create wealth. We're now talking actual, the ability to create wealth.

We're now talking about high six, seven, and eight-figure salaries. Now we're talking about not just one or two. I'm talking five, 10, 15, 20 folks up and down the chain, folks on the officer level, director level, senior executive level, junior executive level, all throughout. Because see, now what the, see, see, see, again, if, and again, we should, Black Voters Matter group,

the groups should be challenging them on that But we also got to be real clear when we dealing with the money Because if we let them off the hook with the money And only focus on those things Then we're in the same situation Everything King was doing really from really after 63 was about the money. What happened was black people actually, we were so heavily tilted to politics that we didn't focus on the money.

This complaint here, but from the black employees, this is not a survey of all black employees. This survey that Bloomberg got their hand on was 56 senior black executives. That's a money conversation. I agree. As somebody that graduated from Wayne State University's business school, I totally agree. It's about the money as well. And when we had a conversation about the money, in addition to that conversation about contracts that these corporations, including Walmart, have,

contracts for janitorial services, contracts for advertising, all that, because that deals with African-American-owned businesses, contracts for advertising on Roland Martin unfiltered, that deals with African-American-owned businesses that for advertising on Roland Martin unfiltered. That deals with African-American-owned businesses that are allowed to grow, okay, because they have contracts with these corporations as well. That's another conversation dealing with the money as well. So I totally agree with you. We have to have multiple conversations.

Yeah. So I think what, now, according to Walmart, this was a preliminary deal. There were several affinity groups they had there. They have ongoing conversations. And the thing here, and it was very interesting because, you know, when we ate that lunch, a lot of the black employees were like, damn, this bro is, like, really radical.

And I'm like, hello? See, hello? See, hello? I've been there. I mean, again, my whole deal is when these companies invite me to speak, I don't change my message. I don't change my tone. I'm real clear. If you're going to invite me, you're going to get me.

And what I also do is I challenge black senior executives to say, hell, y'all can't be quiet. Because if y'all quiet, we know that brother in the mail room and that sister on the dock, we know she's going to be quiet. That's right. And see, right now, right now, Candace, where I am on this thing is

you got black people sitting on boards to direct us. They has got to say something. Here we are, out here, demanding these companies spend more with black-owned media. I need the black people sitting on the board at

Pepsi to say something. I need the black people sitting on the board at McDonald's, sitting on the board at Apple, the black folks sitting on the board at Square. We could go on and on saying something. You ain't there just so you can get some stock options and get some cash. You supposed to be there representing more than just you. You can't not say something now. Monday is not going to be the same. Monday shouldn't be the same in terms of

now that this report is out, what is the next step? The power is in the hands of those 56 men and women who are in those positions, and let it trickle down. Like you said, let them see what you're doing at the top. They're at the top of the top, not the top, top where most of the white men are, but for those who are at the top of their

game internally there at Walmart, they have to do something, and it will trickle down. They've got all the power. We're talking about it here tonight. They've got the power tonight, so Monday's got to look different. They have to hold Walmart accountable. And Brittany, I just want y'all to go to my computer. I just want to show y'all.

This is their website. This is the executive management team of Walmart. Doug McMillan, president and CEO. Dan Bartlett, executive vice president. You go down here and you see on this team, I mean, in terms of you get down to Kelvin Buncombe, Executive Vice President, Neighborhood Markets, Walmart.

Let's see, I'm looking for somebody else, Black. Ben Hassan is the Senior Vice President and Global Chief Culture, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer. But again, what I'm looking for, let me tell you what I look for, y'all, when I talk about corporate America, I look for people who have P&L responsibility.

I met Ben, great guy, but Ben don't have P&L responsibility. Other positions do. You go down here, you keep going, you keep going. Dr. Cheryl Pegas, Executive Vice President, Health and Wellness. Nice position, that's not a P&L position. Latrice Watkins, executive vice president, consumables, Walmart U.S.

And so this is the, so what you have on the executive management at Walmart, you got two black women, you got three black men, and you got a woman. And you got a man. And you got a black women, you got three black men out of nine, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 42, 45, 48. That's what you have. And then you have the board of directors.

I know Carla Harris. She's vice chair of wealth management at Morgan Stanley. I know her well. But this is where, yo, and look, Marisa Mayer used to be over at Yahoo. Randall Stevenson was over at AT&T. But the bottom line is Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCUniversal on the board.

I'm sorry. Sarah Fryer, CEO of Nextdoor. In fact, we're launching an initiative with Nextdoor beginning next Tuesday. This is where we need corporate board officers to be challenging and demanding, Brittany. Change, not slowly, far more quicker.

So I really hope, Brittany, that Walmart senior executives really listen to what these black senior employees, and in fact, one of the black employees said, is the pay great? Yes, the benefit's great, but they actually said they would not recommend any other black executive come to Walmart. That's a damning statement for a company, for a senior black executive to say, I ain't recommending nobody come here. That's serious.

That's a serious problem, right? And I think it's very telling to see what Walmart decides to do with that information. We know Walmart is worth $386 billion, not really billion, right? The company as a whole has more money than any of us would know what to do with, right? All of their top executives are paid well. There's no reason why Black folks should not be happy there. I mean, that's scary, Roland. So I do hope, like you said, that both the board of directors as well as those high-end Black executives work to change, continue to work,

because I'm sure they've done something, I'm hoping, but continue to change the culture there. Because the reality is Walmart is a large employer of Black people, of people of color, of working class people, right? We are the people that are making their business run and they are worth again, $386 billion. Change can be made and change can be made right now.

There's nothing stopping these people from making those necessary changes. And again, this is a Bloomberg report that came out. And let me say it again, this is not exclusive to that came out. And let me say it again. This is not exclusive to Walmart. It is company after company. And my challenge, and again, the National Association of Black Journalists,

we sent a letter requesting a meeting with Disney executives and ESPN over the whole Maria Taylor issue and some other issues. And I've been saying the same thing. You got culture issues. When you have culture issues, you got to address your culture issues. And we're seeing this in company after company.

And so hopefully we see this happen. Gotta go to a break, we come back folks. We're gonna talk about Assusta. First to win the National Spelling Bee. Next on Roller Mark Unfiltered. White supremacy ain't just about hurting black folk. Right. You've got to deal with it.

It's injustice. It's wrong. I do feel like in this generation, we've got to do more around being intentional and resolving conflict. You and I have always agreed. Yeah. But we agree on the big piece.

Yeah. Our conflict is not about destruction. Conflict's going to happen. Hello, I'm Nina Turner. My grandmother used to say, all you need in life are three bones. The wishbone to keep you dreaming, the jawbone to help you speak truth to power,

and the backbone to keep you standing through it all. I'm running for Congress because... Together, we will deliver Medicare for all. Good jobs that pay a living wage and bold justice reform. I'm Nina Turner, and I approve this message. We'll be right back. I've been strong. I'm gonna be put on in the works this way. Since the first day, I think it was the third day. You be that brother that I wanna sink my teeth in. You wanna make me wanna ask, where the hell you...

Hi, I'm Eric Nolan. What's up, y'all? I'm Will Packer. I'm Chrisette Michelle. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Folks, in Charlottesville, Virginia, two Confederate monuments will come down on tomorrow. That's right.

The removal of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas Stonewall Jackson will be open to the public, and the city has set up designated public viewing areas. A city council decision to remove the monuments comes five years after the initial petition by Zion O'Brien. A year later, the city council voted to remove the statues, and white nationalists responded by marching through Charlottesville during the Unite the Right rally.

The two statues will be stored in a secure location on city property until the council decides what to do with them. I say you just blow them up. What the hell? They really serve no purpose. Just blow them up. All right, y'all. Yeah, you know, look, again,

and for all the white folks out there who want their statues, fine. Put one in your house. But it does not need to be on city grounds. And let me also be clear, there's one party that is supportive of support of these statues, and that's the Republican Party.

That's who you see doing this. All right, folks, I love this Party. That's who you see doing this. Alright, folks, I love this story. In Tennessee, the Knoxville Police Department has launched an internal investigation into an off-duty officer knocked unconscious for allegedly making racist remarks. You got your ass knocked out. While attending

a wedding reception, Officer Tanner Holt reportedly told a black man there he didn't know they let black people in the reception hall. Witnesses say Holt continued to badger the brother with racist comments. After repeated pleas with Holt to stop, the black man knocked his punk ass out, unconscious. Holt was transported to UT Medical Center for treatment. No charges have been filed in the incident, and the Knoxville Police Department has not stated if or when Holt will return to duty.

See? Yep. Look. We trying to chill, Brittany. Listen, I bet you he won't say no foolishness like that again. I bet you he won't try that again.

He got all of us coming to him. I'm just, hey, I keep warning these white people, Michael. Y'all need to stop rolling. I'm just, hey, I keep warning these white people, Michael. Y'all need to stop rolling. I'm telling, what do I, what do I always say? Y'all gonna roll up on the wrong brother at the

wrong time and gonna get your ass knocked out. Right. Well, you know, brother, you know, he was blue before this. Now he's black and blue. They've been listening to Donald Trump too much. They've been sitting up here drinking the Kool-Aid and they think they can just say whatever and yeah,

you know, you were campaigning for an ass whooping and you just got elected. That's what happened. Simple as that, Candace. We see all these videos. People keep accosting people. I'm telling you, all of these people, they are lucky black people have lots of patience.

Yes, listen, I'm sure you talked about Mount Laurel, right? I'm in New Jersey, Mount Laurel, New Jersey. That man was so patient at the door. But this happened totally different. He's going to have some harassment and intimidation charges against him. It's going to be some charges on his side too, but let's make sure those harassment

and intimidation charges get stuck on that officer first. A dude in New Jersey, oh yeah, he learned a real valuable lesson. Real valuable. Now, I'm like, alright, dog, you want to keep talking that trash? And then, he was just so

dumb, he gave his address out. Yes. And then said he was drinking. Blamed it on drinking when he already had a history of harassing people already that wasn't related to drinking. None of it, Mason. You can see him try to blame that on drinking all you want to.

All I know is he got exactly what was coming to him. All right, y'all. Let's talk about this feel-good story. Sister of Louisiana makes history as the first black winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Check out 14-year-old Zalia Avantgarde's winning moment.

Maria, M-U-R-A-Y-A. That is correct. And there is your champ. The holder of three Guinness World Records, and now the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee winner, Zyla. Now before claiming the Scripps crown, Avant Garde won the 2020 Kaplan-Hexco Online Spelling Bee. She used that $10,000 prize on study materials in $130 an hour

sessions with a private tutor. Y'all, she's, you know, I was reading a story and she talked about actually doing spelling words seven hours a day. This is what she said. Spelling is really a side thing I do. Seven hours a day? It's like

a little hors d'oeuvre. Basketball is like the main dish. Alright, so her basketball skills have been all over. She holds three Guinness Book of World Records. She has this unicycle dribble. Check this out, y'all. So she is amazing with the basketball. As I said, ESPNW spoke with her about her superb accomplishments.

Here is what she told ESPN. My name is Sa'ilah Avakara, and I'm 14 years old. So I have a Guinness World Record for most bunt struggles in one minute with four basketballs. Don't remember the number, but it's a lot. Then I have one for most dribbles in 30 seconds with four basketballs. The main one I have is like the crowning achievement of all basketball Guinness World Records. It's the most basketballs dribbled within one minute simultaneously, which is six balls. For my 13th birthday, I decided that I wanted to celebrate becoming a teenager to do a Guinness World Record.

I don't know, it was just kind of like just rapid succession. I couldn't just stay doing one thing for forever, so you just keep going and going. I'm on the road and I put that on the game. Miss me with that boy. All right, y'all. That's an amazing story. Great smile there. And really, Candace, spelling is a side thing. She spends seven hours a day spelling words. You know what? That's what it takes to be great and

excellent and number one at something. What I love most about this story is that one day her father was just watching the spelling bee and said, hey, can you spell this word here? And she spelled it and kept spelling it and kept spelling it. And that's what happens when you expose young people to things that they never thought they could have done. I mean, no, we don't go around

doing fencing, a lot of horseback riding, but expose them to it. It may just take. She wasn't talking about spelling. She was talking about basketballs. He asked a question, opened a whole new avenue. And that's why we're here. What I love about this most really quick, though, is that when you put her name in Google, I'm sure you found this out, confetti comes down on your computer screen and the word that she spelled right is flipping all around. So, more power to Google for that move. It just made me happy to see that just by putting her name

in the Google search, everybody do it, you'll get confetti all down in your computer screen. And, of course, you see our lower third there, Brittany. She hopes to play in the WNBA if she doesn't go to work for NASA. Right. Right.

Wow. She's got options. Right. She is the epitome of black girl magic in all of the ways, right? And it just goes to show you, you know, typically when you think of people being a master at something, you don't expect them to also be very powerful and successful in a bunch of other spaces. And I think

that's what makes this young lady so very, very, very special. And really just a representative to all of us of the things that we can accomplish if we put our minds to it. So I do hope to see her, hopefully, at NASA and if she makes an appearance with the WNBA because her ball handling skills clearly are a match.

I saw that dribbling and that jump shot. Of course, Michael, her book of world records, most balls juggled in one minute with four basketballs, most dribbles in 30 seconds with four basketballs, most basketballs dribbled by one person simultaneously, which is six. She's brilliant.

I posted a video of her on the African History Network fan page today and people are going crazy. She's in a commercial with Stephen Curry as well. But one of the most amazing things, man, she's 14, but she only started competitive spelling at 12 years old. OK. And and, you know, yeah, her father saw something in her and saw that she had a knack for spelling as well as arithmetic. And she also has a coach, but I, who, she has a coach as well, a 20 year old college student, who's a former competitive speller as well. But what's

really important is all of our children have potential like this. If they have the right tutelage, the right coaching, the right support, the right love. Okay. All of our children have this genius in them. They just need the right teachers and right support to the right love, okay? All of our children have this genius in them. They just need the right teachers and right support to bring it out of them. So this is a fantastic story. She's the epitome of black girl magic. Kiki Palmer, of course,

who starred in the movie, Akilah and the Bee. This is what she tweeted out. She tweeted, go ahead and show it, please. See, y'all see it right there. The real life of Keela. You guys, so a great post there from Kiki Palmer. This also is a tweet that was sent out. First of all, that was an Instagram post from Kiki Palmer.

This is a tweet that was sent out by my frat brother, Dr. Walter Kimbrough, who is the president of HBCU, Dillard University in Louisiana. He says, this is awesome. Now let me run her this scholarship. So he's already trying to make sure that she goes to Dillard. So way to jump on that thing real quick, Dr. Kimbrough. Candace, Brittany, and Michael, we certainly appreciate it.

Thank you so very much for joining us on the panel on this Friday. Folks, we were trying to play earlier the throwback video, if you will, when Queen Latifah called out MC Lyte as well as Remy Ma at Essence Festival. Now we got it straight. Let's go ahead and check that out. Thank you. I wanna be put on in the worst way since the first day. I think it was a Thursday. You be that brother that I wanna sink my teeth in.

You make me wanna ask, where the hell you been? I like the way you be with all that personality. But I got way with you. It isn't over me. Hey! Make some noise for me, everybody! I wanna be down. I wanna be down with you No matter what time

Take it right, it's true I wanna be down With you, let's go! We were born three years ago Just a miracle, every day you know Look out, look up, to the moon We've got the heat so warm Make a new strike and get those bags full Born and stuck, stuck and struck Thank you. Get it when you want it, even though you got chips All the noise, don't matter Come in your car, I'll kick your ass

Drop it back with daddy from the hood of my car Bring it on, don't be broken on your baby boots All I wanna know is what's the place you're at I gotta get with you Please tell you that I want you You must be who you want you I wanna be down Make some noise for yo-yo

I wanna be down I wanna be down Hey! I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down

I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down

I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down I wanna be down what you want. I got what you need. I got what you want. I got what you need. I'm all the way up. I'm all the way up.

I'm all the way up. I'm all the way up. One nigga stop me. I'm all the way up. From that big house to a bigger house. And have a girlfriend, but the bitch is out. Chanel, Tarte, Bette, she ain't even out. With the gold chains and millennium brand new cocaine. All right, folks. And so we wanted to close the show out this Friday with a little fun.

I mean, we love music here as well. How about when Teddy Riley brought out Doug E. Fresh, the human beatbox, and Doug E. did his thing on the stage? I wanted to go ahead and show y'all that. It is always great to see my man Dougie Fresh when he hits the stage. And so we're going to play that. We'll end the show as well with our Bring the Funk fan club. Y'all know how to support us.

Join our Bring the Funk fan club. Cash app, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal.me forward slash or Martin Unfiltered. Venmo.com forward slash RM Unfiltered. Zell is rolling at rolling as Martin.com. Rolling at rolling Martin, venmo.com, forward slash rmunfiltered, zell is rolling at rollingsmartin.com, rolling at rollingmartinunfiltered.com. And so, just to end us on a great note, if y'all

actually want to see also the replay of the Essence Festival 2021 Virtual Festival, go to essencestudios.com, essence.com. We want to thank Coca-Cola for being the sponsor, being a partner with us. And so, we're going to close this Friday out with my man, Doug E. Fresh, Teddy Riley. How many of y'all ready to go back to 85, 86, 87? Here we go!

What? What's the matter with y'all? You know what? I like to ride the motor, get the shoe hold. Whoa! You know the shoes always turn my cold... Come on! Ladies and gentlemen, if you're happy with your lives, make some noise. Where's the party at? Party over here. Party up there. Party up there.

Party right here. Party back there. Party right here. All of you, over, 10. Hey-oh. Hey-oh. What? I'm a man named Wilbur. I've seen everything. I do music, pull a cover beat. Right hand man, Ricky D.

Rap, sing, make sounds, sing. For example, here's a song for you. Hello. Your reality beautiful. Black women in the house. They're here, anyway. Check out Medusa on the other side. And it's out of me. You're my queen. I'm G-O-Q-Z-I-E. Thank you. It's not the end of my life, I'm on dope I'm not the big part, wait up I'm not your just man, I'm the just man I'm in all the music, I'm young like dope

When you walk in the hall, what's me show? What improvement, yo, God? What? Don't ever get jammed on the groove What? Don't ever get jammed on the groove What? Don't ever get jammed on the groove Oh! Ho!

Ho! I'm a big brother. Teddy, do you remember this? Yep, yep. Yep, yep. One, three, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 49, 50, 51, 51, 52, 52, 53, 52, 53, 52, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, Storbritannia You have a donkey friend! That's my big brother. As you can see, most definitely, we are! Yeah, yeah! That's it! What it is!

That it is! That I am! We are one, we are number three, five! We're ready for this, right now! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!

Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on! One, two, three. Now that's how you win. Give it up for my big brother. Yo, Teddy, man, I gotta tell you, you doing this at this festival is one of the most special times in my life. Because you are, in front of these 80,000, you are my brother. You understand?

Now let me tell you something. We are proud of you, Bob. You're the fullest. Let me tell you something. We are proud of you, man. You're the fullest. Make some noise for the unbelievable, talented, gifted, my brother, Teddy White. Teddy, I got to tell you, man. You got so many artists back there. And I see one out there.

I ain't going to say who he is but i gotta tell you one thing your security is so tight i tried to get in back here and i was walking in and i was saying i gotta get to the stage i gotta go see mr riley i said excuse me, sir. Who are you? No way. And I said, I don't understand. I said, my brother. I don't know if you know me, but my name is... I am the Morgan B. Smith. That's what I told him. Then I said this, Teddy. I song, Morgan B. Rapp. We'll be right back. And you know me, and I'm a changer. $100 on the floor. And I own this shit because I made it control.

I'm a juicer. Don't get into a system of flaws. I'ma show you where to get this from. Now, this is how you Dougie. This is how you Dougie. This is how. This is how. This is how you Dougie.

This is how you Dougie. This is how you Dougie. This is how. This is how. This is how you Dougie. This is how. Yo. Give it up, get this out, you Dougie! Get this! Yo! Give it up for my brother, Mr. Dougie Price! I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time,

have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott.

And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to it. 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 podcast or wherever you get your podcast. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They

showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.