#RolandMartinUnfiltered - New Orleans terror attack, Vegas Cybertruck explosion, Diversity grant programs under siege

Episode Date: January 5, 2025

1.2.2025 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: New Orleans terror attack, Vegas Cybertruck explosion, Diversity grant programs under siege #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Curl Prep | Visit https://www.curlprep.com/ for natural hair solutions! Us the discount code "ROLAND" at checkout #BlackStarNetwork partner: Fanbasehttps://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbase This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.  This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. You should read the Offering Circular (https://bit.ly/3VDPKjD) and Risks (https://bit.ly/3ZQzHl0) related to this offering before investing. Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox  http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 starts that a little bit, man.

We met them at their homes. We met them at the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to 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. It is Thursday, January 2nd, 2025. I'm Candace Kelly sitting in for Roland.

Here's what's coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered here live on the Blackstar Network. We'll have the latest on Louisiana's Burbank terrorist attack that left 15 people dead and over 30 injured. I'll speak with a New Orleans spe councilman about the inve measures the city is taki events like Mardi Gras an Diversity Grant program i barriers to entry for und will talk to one of the a

folks get the help that t are seeking presidential pardons to overturn their wrongful convictions in a 1984 murder case. One of the wrongfully convicted will be here to share his story. And in our Fit, Live, Win segment, I'll speak with a doctor who will explain why so many women are requesting long-acting reversible contraceptives. It's time to bring the funk on the Roland Martin Network streaming live here. Let's go. Best believe he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks

He's rolling Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rolling with rolling now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's rolling, Martel. Now. Martel. Bourbon Street has reopened and the Sugar Bowl is underway in New Orleans a day after 15 people were killed and 30 injured in the French Porter terror attack. FBI officials say they believe Shamsa bin Jabbar acted alone when he barreled a pickup truck down the sidewalk of Bourbon Street, 17 people and injuring dozens before he died in a shootout with New Orleans

police. To give us the latest, New Orleans City Councilman Eugene Green, who represents District D, who joins us here now. Thank you so much for being with us, Councilman. I'm pleased to be on Roland Martin Unfiltered, and I appreciate you hosting me on this evening to share information with the public. Absolutely. And why don't we start off with the latest? What is the latest information that you have? We certainly know a lot about the man who did this or allegedly did this, as we are looking at DNA, I understand. But tell me, what is the latest that you have? Well, the latest that we have is that the FBI has said that he acted alone. I think that one of the challenges that's going to exist for a long time is that no matter what, we're going to still ask ourselves, why?

Why would you do something like this? When you attack Bourbon Street at 315 in the morning, you're attacking young people who are just enjoying themselves. You're taking on basically humankind, people who want to have a good time. Drove all the way from Houston to come and stay in a short-term rental to make bombs that he placed in a couple of spots. It's just going to always be a challenge to get to the bottom of it. But I will say this. My condolences to the persons who lost family members and to those who are injured.

I certainly hope for their speedy recovery. I do want to say that we've had a great response from our community and the nation, a great outpouring of support and grief from the nation, a great response in terms of our local community, sharing information with our law enforcement officials, sharing blood, for example. There was lines for the blood bank today. There's just a lot going on in the city. The terrorists did not succeed in doing anything. The game is happening right now. Bourbon Street opened today at noon again to not so long after it was closed because of this tragedy. I mean, it's just a tragedy all around, but the city is responding. The city has recovered before from Hurricane Katrina, hit hard during the pandemic. We host a variety of events. You asked about security. We just hosted a massive Taylor

Swift three-day concert series. We host the Jazz Fest. We host Super Bowl often. This is our 11th Super Bowl that's taking place in February, of course, there's the Mardi Gras, but then there's the Bayou Classic, the Essence Festival, and other events, Final Fours. So we as a city know how to host major events. We're going to continue to do what we can to keep our visitors and our residents safe at those events. But once again, on this day, my heart is heavy because people have lost family members. And to those who are watching, who are members of families where you've been victimized, I'm so sorry for your loss and my condolences, but we're moving in the right direction as a city. And we do have names of some of the victims who have been positively

identified. I want to make sure that we acknowledge these people. I know that certainly you are well adept at having big events with thousands of people. What can you tell people about maybe perhaps some extra precautions that you're taking in light of this and in light of the fact that you are aware of the safety issues, but this happened? It's important to recognize that there is law enforcement in larger numbers in the city right now. It's important to recognize that there is law enforcement in larger numbers in the city right now. It's unfortunate we didn't contemplate that someone would run past and ride on the sidewalk with the purpose of trying to kill people. That's all that was. Very honestly, you won't be able to do it now because the sidewalks will be blocked. But it's important to recognize that the 1st Street Bourbon Street, is one of many streets in the French Quarter,

and our city is 300 years old. We haven't had this type of attack other than somebody who was, you know, inebriated, who was drunk at the time and had this kind of event. The bottom line is that we've learned a lot from this, and we're taking precautions to make sure that what we can do, especially on Bourbon Street and in our higher profile areas, is keep our residents and visitors safe. It's just important to recognize that when, and I know we all recognize who are on this line, when someone is hell-bent on killing other human beings and doesn't care about their own life, comes all the way to a city for the purposes of basically getting killed, it's very hard to determine what that person's going to do. This particular person chose to go down Bourbon Street,

but Royal Street is one block over, could have gone down Royal Street and there were no barricades there. So you just don't know. And at the end of the day, we're trying to get as many answers as we can. But I think our citizens are resting a little bit easier knowing that this person acted alone, that there's not a group of folk conspirators in the city causing havoc. It's just unfortunate to think what happened on yesterday. And as you mentioned, he acted alone. This is not connected with any other alleged terror attacks that happened recently. And that's something that I'm sure you want to make clear. Absolutely. We want to make it clear that we're having a game right now. For example,

Bourbon Street is open and there are other events going on in the city. We don't have co-conspirators going throughout the city, creating pipe bombs and putting them in special places. We are eternally vigilant. We are more vigilant now, but I know that the citizens of our city and also those who have watched the city come throughout the country are more comfortable knowing that, unfortunately, as terrible as it is, it was a lone wolf and someone who acted on his own. And at the end of the day, there's no vast conspiracy of spirit throughout the city. And certainly I'm sure you want to remind people that when they are part of big crowds, they have a job to do too. If they see anything that is suspicious, they're part of the equation too, making sure that something like this doesn't happen again. If you see something, say something. Now, we've had residents now after the fact say, I saw this. Visitors say, I saw this. If you see something that you think is suspicious,

at the end of the day, call it in. That's the only way that we're going to get some attention to it. Yes, we have massive events. We're going to have this Sugar Bowl. We're going to have this Sugar Bowl as tonight, the Mardi Gras Festival and the Super Bowl going to bring in hundreds of thousands of people. It's certainly possible that there'll be bad actors. If you see something, let us know in the interest of protecting the public. What is the latest information or more information that the city has to uncover about this that's being worked on right now? Very honestly, the investigation continues because there was a short-term rental which caught on fire where there were bomb-making materials there. There were a couple of IEDs, improvised explosive devices, in different places in the city. So there's still an ongoing effort to determine what this perpetrator may have done in terms of putting devices in the city that were harmful to other people.

But we have done a thorough sweep of the French Quarter. They're not going to be there. And every day, I guess every few minutes, we get a little bit more information about the perpetrator of these events. It's a very, very sad story how someone could kill other people like this. On his drive from Houston to New Orleans, he was talking about killing his family. We're learning now that he had financial difficulties, but he was a veteran of eight years of the military. He was respected by his fellow members of the military. This is a challenge to determine what happened here, but we're not leaving any stone unturned. We're making sure

that our citizens and our visitors are going to be helped. And we're also going out of our way to make sure that they're protected. But we're also going out of our way to make sure that assistance is available to the families of victims, because this is a very horrific incident and we sympathize with you. There are resources available through the City of New Orleans, the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office, the New Orleans Police Department, and the District Attorney's Office. You can contact one of those offices if you're a victim of this crime, if you have a family member who suffered because of it. We want to assist. All right.

Councilman, I want to thank you so much for being with us today. I mean, giving us the latest. New Orleans City Councilman Eugene Green, thank you for all the information and for being on the case. I mean, giving us the latest. New Orleans City Councilman Eugene Green, thank you for all the information and for being on the case. Good to see you. And I do want to thank Roland Martin again, unfiltered. I can't say this enough. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share with the nation what is going on in New Orleans and giving me a chance to say thank you to the nation for the support that you've shown to our city in this time of challenge. We're going to rebuild stronger. We're going to continue to for the support that you've shown to our city in this time of challenge we're going to build rebuild stronger we're going to continue to be the great city that we've been but it really

helps when we have entities such as roland martin unfiltered who are giving us an opportunity to let the public know that we're still strong as a city and we welcome you to our city all right and we thank you for that we know new orleans remains strong, as it always has been. Thank you again. You're welcome. All right. I want to bring in my panel right now. Today, I'm joined by Dr. Greg Carr with the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University out of D.C. Robert Petillo, host of People, Passion, Politics, News, and Talk, 1380 W.A.O.K. out of Atlanta, Georgia. and Cameron C. Trimble, CEO of Hip Hop Politics Media and former White House senior advisor. Good to see all of you today. I think that this is all really, Dr. Carr, just some precaution that we all have to take when we look at this man. I'm

sure you've seen the video of him talking, looking normal, And that's what we have to keep in mind when we think about people who do these kinds of acts. There's not a look. There's not a way that they are. This was someone that was serving in the military. He was a realtor. Seemed perfectly normal as we might know it. Yeah, of course, Candace, and it's good to see you. Happy New Year and to everyone. Yeah, I, you know, with all due respect to Councilman Green, if I would ask them, I probably would have asked him, what makes you so sure this man did not act alone? Of course, the idea that we would take anything that federal law enforcement, certainly as black people, says at face value with an event that just happened. I think that's probably something I'd advise a little caution on that. That having been said,

because narratives kind of congeal very quickly and then harden into concrete. And I'm sure everybody wants their, their, their, their to be more confident. They want their fears allayed. Of course, the most important thing for the NC two NCAA was for Georgia and Notre Dame to be battling it out down there today. I don't know that the Super Bowl shouldn't be moved. I don't know where it could be moved if it was going to be moved. But I will say this, this type of incident, and we've seen right now there's news, I guess, out of South Carolina in the last few

hours that a section of I-85 has been shut down, a truck, a suspicious truck has been identified. I think we're all on edge as we enter this year. And I don't know that the political climate is going to get better. Certainly if Patel gets in charge of the FBI, he's the one who's saying they need to downsize the FBI. It may even become harder. I will say one other thing. I thought that Alethea Duncan, the special investigator for the FBI,

did a good job at the initial press conference while John Kennedy was handstanding and putting his hands on her, trying to get her off the podium so he could score a few political points. She remained rock solid. So we certainly hope that those folks in the FBI will indeed do their jobs. But I'd slow my roll on the lone actor thing. It seems too convenient too quickly for me. Cameron, do you agree too soon to call this a lone wolf situation? I hear you, Dr. Carr, in terms of that. I think and I definitely agree that in times like this when these – we're racing for the facts.

We're racing for the facts right now, the FBI and all law enforcement, because they had such large events with the Sugar Bowl, with the Super Bowl coming up, Mardi Gras coming up. They need to allay the public fears there. I think the radicalization that we have already started to see of this terrorist, which he was, and the information that has been coming out, he clearly was radicalized. They said he pledged his allegiance to ISIS over the summer. So I think there's still so much investigation that they're going to have to do to see how that happened, how a person from our military here, American here, was able to be radicalized and who he was in contact with. So for them to be able to jump out and just say it was a lone wolf, I think that is also some, just kind of to allay some of the fears of the public. But I think this is this speaks even more to the diligence in the diligence that we have to have that we do not know that. As you mentioned, Candace, there is no look. There is no necessarily specific profile of what a person like this who could go off the deep end and to be able to what this was a very coordinated attack.

So we do have to do have to respect and understand that, that where and where and how this could come in to kick off a year like this. I just hope this does not lead to a slew of of terrorist attacks or and then also the massive gun violence, the mass and mass shootings that unfortunately have plagued this country for so many years. It just sucks that that such an iconic city like New Orleans would have to endure something like this. But I think with Dr. Carr that we should we should have some some caution on this and wait for more investigation and facts to come out. Robert, I think one of the interesting takeaways is that we're talking about really dismantling the FBI, potentially after January 20th, but it's the FBI here who is doing the work in order to make sure that we have gotten to where we are right now. Well, you know, I think to just kind of echo what Dr. Carr is saying, we have to

not just run out here and make these broad statements and declarations without knowing all the facts. I remember I was a junior in high school in Ms. Banks' AP English class, and they said that a plane accidentally crashed into one of the towers. So we wheeled in the big TV and turned it on the classroom. Then the second plane hit and then the Pentagon plane. And then we said, oh, maybe that wasn't an accident. So you get out there and make these broad proclamations. I think often we find out that they may have been in error. So we should take some caution in these statements before encouraging people to go back out and start celebrating the next football game or the next festival to put money into the city's economy. Let's make sure about these things first. Let's talk about the things that we know. We know that this attack happened, but we also know this individual pledged his allegiance to ISIS. So is he a lone wolf or is he a member of ISIS? Is this somebody

acting on their own accord? Are they acting at the direction of an international terrorist organization? You cannot be both a lone wolf and a member of ISIS. That's like saying that you play one-on-one basketball, but you also play for the Hawks or something. It just doesn't make sense. Also, let's take the rest of the contextual information we have in the news. The same day, we have the cyber truck that exploded outside a Trump hotel and casino in Las Vegas. We saw the largest ever raid in a Virginia farm of explosives being found. We have a truck full of explosives in South Carolina. We also had other buildings in the world being damaged on that same day. So before we kind of run out here and say this is a lone wolf attack, let's make sure that we know as we are transitioning from one speaker to a majority in the other party, and also put this into the international

context. Because if this individual didn't indeed join or pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, well, which one? There's a big swath. We can talk about ISIS. We can talk about ISIS-K in Afghanistan. We can talk about ISIL in Syria, where we just saw the Assad regime fall. We can talk about the U.S. footprint and the actions of the Israeli government, that there's mass, rash of assassinations we've

seen throughout the fall, and that has a connection with what's going on. At this point, we've seen these vehicle attacks taking place in the Christmas market in Paris. We've seen this happen in Berlin. We've seen this happen all around the world. So let's look at this in an international context and find out. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley

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and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of

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

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assuage the fears of individuals and keep the wheels of the economy going than actually based on any analysis of what could have happened in the last 48 hours with regards to this individual. And, you know, Robert, you bring up so many good points, a lot of ways to connect the dots. We're going to do a little bit of that on the other side of the break when we talk about that cyber truck that you mentioned out there in Las Vegas in front of the Trump International Hotel. Stick with us. We've got more of the latest headlines front of the Trump International Hotel. Stick with us. We've got more of the latest headlines here on the on Roland Martin unfiltered. We'll be back after a break. Now streaming on the Black Star Network. I was challenged by my uncle early on before I even had a career.

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The man who rented the cyber truck that exploded outside of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on New Year's Day has been identified as U.S. Army Master Sergeant Matthew Nibblesberger. The 37-year-old special operations soldier was on leave from his base in Germany. Now, although investigators are still examining DNA evidence of the person found in the truck, Las Vegas Metro Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill says that Livelsberger's identification and his credit cards were found at the scene. The coroner's office said that the person in the truck sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and a handgun was found at his feet. Now, seven people suffered minor injuries when the truck was filled with firework-style mortars and gas canisters exploded. Investigators believe the explosion was intentional, but have yet to determine a motive. They do not think that the explosion and the New Orleans terror attack are connected.

You know what, Robert, I wanted to start with you because you put so many dots on the map that could be connected. And here we have the same conversation that perhaps they are not connected. I think what's most interesting, though, is Trump's response right away that this potentially could have been illegal immigrants. I also think that it's a sign that we have a cyber truck from Tesla in front of Trump Towers. What are your thoughts about all of this, Robert? Well, look, I think trust in the federal government is at an all time low, particularly when they tell us things are what they don't appear to be to our faces. Part of the reason Trump was elected, part of the reason we saw this rise in the counterculture, the counterculture right, is because people didn't believe the COVID information, for example. They still think that you can take ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine or whatever it is in order to treat that. So when you say that there's no connection,

but you have an Elon Musk built cyber truck and from the Trump Tower exploding, and there's an army veteran who does it, I think people are going to have more questions than simply saying, well, that sounds like something that happens on New Year's Day every year. I think that we're going to need our government to come clean to the American people and start rebuilding that trust so we can believe the words that they say.

If you think about the last 25 years of American politics, we relied to about 9-11. We relied to about why we went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. We relied to on so many occasions. Of course, these people don't believe that when the government simply says everything's going to be all right, you can trust us. And I think we're going to need a clear and transparent investigation. And people have a right to be very concerned when you have people like

Kash Patel, who's an internet conspiracy theorist, taking over the FBI. When you have Elon Musk and Vivek saying they're going to gut the federal government and essentially transition us to a digital technocracy where we'll have algorithms filling the roles that are currently being filled by human beings. I think we have a right to want to know exactly who's running the federal government when it appears that the president-elect of the United States is a wholly owned subsidiary of about 25 billionaires who are currently making policy of the United States government. And in fact, you have a cabinet and appointed officials that have a net worth of over a trillion dollars making decisions of what

happens for the American people. Of course, folks are going to have questions. I think those questions are valid to ask, and the government has a responsibility to tell the truth and level with the American people. Cameron, did it kind of strike you that this was a Tesla truck and Trump towers? We can't deny the symbolism. We cannot deny and put our heads in the sand of where we are politically. As is mentioned, we are about to undergo a transition of power, and we have, I think, an unprecedented, how do we say, an unprecedented times where a private citizen, Elon Musk, and the richest man in the world currently is about to get kind of unchecked power, uh, adjacent to, and affecting our, and affecting our federal government. Um, but without all the checks and balances that come with being in an appointed, uh, an appointed, uh, someone appointed in the actual government. Um, so I think this is, this is what scares me is that we, Trump hasn't even taken power yet.

But for such violent acts like this to happen, it's and for for the for the former president to immediately call this to immigrants, migrants to continue to do the fear mongering amongst the American people. It does not set a good precedent and it does not set, I think, a good tone to start off. So this is something that we as American people, we as Black folks definitely have to prepare for, that we can't believe everything that is coming out of his mouth. But the fact that it was a Cybertruck, the fact that it was right in front of Trump Tower in broad daylight, there's no accident there. You know, Dr. Carr, Cameron makes a very good point in that it's not even in the role of the president yet. And here we have this already tweeting. This was, in fact, in legal immigrants,

a little bit of foreshadowing of what we're going to see. I think that that's kind of the big takeaway here. I would agree with you a hundred percent, Candace. A takeaway, this is not only a preview, it's actually a continuation of what this addled, clearly mentally unwell man has been doing for quite some time. If folks were actually fighting for democracy, as we like to hear bandied about, they would be in court now, whether they would win or lose, to say that he should not be able to take an oath of office on the 20th, unlike the anniversary coming up in a few days of January 6, 2021, where his hillbilly horde stormed the Capitol and nothing happened. You know,

Joe Biden can give out medals to Benny Thompson and to Congresswoman Cheney. And this is very nice. But sometime between now and the end of 2025, we're probably going to see Donald Trump give out medals of his own to the people who stormed the Capitol. Terrorism, the call is coming from inside the House. This is, you know, this is a well-worn trope in U.S. domestic attacks. Remember Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City? These are military guys. And in the case of this guy, Littlesberger, these guns he purchased seem to have been purchased, according to the FBI, in the past couple of days,

past few days, December the 30th, they say, the firearms that were found in that car were purchased. And as Robert has said and walked us through very, very succinctly and clearly, you talk about Elon Musk, he's on his Twitter saying that, you know, the takeaway from this is that his car protected people from the blast. That's right. And, you know, and Donald Trump is out here tweeting, I thought he killed ISIS. I thought he destroyed ISIS. So you find this ISIS truck, which is it, man? Donald Trump shouldn't be

listened to for anything. This guy shouldn't even be President of the United States. He should not be able to be put back in that office. But since he is, I think in terms of buckle up, yeah, we have to buckle up and see what's coming next. All right. As we buckle up, we will to buckle up and see what's coming next all right as we buckle up we will continue to follow all of these stories stay with us we're going to bring you more headline news when we come back after three

now streaming on the black star network i was challenged by my uncle early on, before I even had a career. Like, I was maybe eight years old and my uncle said, what do you want to do? And I told him I wanted to be a rapper. And he said, okay, well, I don't know anything about the music business, so what you should do is learn everything there is to know about the music business

and I'll make sure that you have the resources to push you through. And so I went and bought books, all you need to know about the music business, hit me in, I just went and bought a bunch of books, just started reading as a 10 year old, just reading, reading. And so I learned all things licensing, mechanical rights,

I learned about publishing, learned about how composition is broke up into two pieces, the writer's portion and the producer's portion. But by the time I actually learned I can't bend, I was ready to like, okay, I got it. He was going to prison. So I had all this information. All this knowledge.

All this knowledge. You like what I'm gonna do with it now. what's up y'all look fan base is more than a platform it's a movement to empower creators offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in black-owned tech infrastructure and help shape the future of social media investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The Black community must not only consume tech, we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding Black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital directly through their community, through the Jobs Act. to rule their community rule the jobs at curl prep natural hair solutions at curl prep calm for curls locks braids twists

and even those wigs and extensions. Women, men, and children are loving this line. Look at this video and you be the judge. People line up to see this product in action at hair shows, and when they take a seat and try it, they don't believe it's their hair. Buy the products at CurlPrep.com. It works on all hair types. Use code ROLAND, that's R-O-L-A-N-D, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. Parents, remove the ouch. You will love this system because you can comb the product through your child's hair with your fingers. It's all at curlprep.com.

Use code ROLAND, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, in collaboration with a coalition of five prominent civil rights organizations, is defending a private grant program aimed at reducing barriers to entry for underrepresented entrepreneurs who own full-time package delivery businesses in partnership with Amazon. The program, which offers a $10,000 stipend to eligible business owners, is currently awaiting approval. However, several plaintiffs, who are white business owners, claim that Amazon's diversity grant program is discriminatory. Sabrina Talukdar, Senior Counsel with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, joins us now. Did I get your last name right, Sabrina? You did. It's Talukdar. It's scarier than it looks, but you were perfect.

All right, Talukdar. Well, you know, thank you so much for being with us. This is something that is not new. There have been people who have brought claims for this particular program before. Talk to me a little bit about the argument that is being made in court against this particular program. this has been made but the gist of it is that plaintiffs who are white business owners are alleging that amazon's diversity grant program is discriminatory and under this grant black latino and native american business owners who have been accepted into an extremely competitive selective program called the delivery service Partner Program are potentially eligible for consideration for a $10,000 stipend. However, like many other cases that bring alleged reverse discrimination cases against private equity initiatives,

the plaintiffs have not applied for the DSP program, which is a prerequisite for being considered to the grant itself. These plaintiffs are saying that they're being harmed by the Amazon's diversity grant program and that they have legal standing to sue under a historic civil rights statute, which was meant to actualize the promises of the 13th Amendment and to ensure Black economic freedom at the height of the Black codes after the Civil War. And, you know, when it went to

court before, as you said, the applicants had potentially, they had not applied. In this case, they haven't applied either, correct? Correct. This is a trend that we're seeing. Yeah. So would the outcome you expect to be the same? We are very hopeful and cautiously optimistic that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is where this case currently sits, will affirm the ruling of the Southern District of California. The Southern District of California actually dismissed the plaintiff's lawsuit for lack of legal standing, which is not having a real harm, and for failure to state a claim, which is that there's no viable legal argument. And the underlying reason is because the court said that the plaintiff's claims are just conjectural, hypothetical, and speculative, that because they are unwilling to apply for such a highly selective and competitive program that accepts only 3% of applicants, that these claims just completely lack real legal standing under Article 3. What would be the defense legal strategy here in something like this anyway? Because you do have

a group of plaintiffs that are saying, hey, we have precedent cases, the Supreme Court, we have information in terms of what cases across the country have been and determining that we need to be treated legally? What is the defense in that regard? Well, I think first that the Supreme Court ruled on a different matter in the case of SFFA, which only pertains to higher education. And the line of cases that we've recently seen are attacks against private equity initiatives in the economic world. And in that world, we have seen most cases being dismissed all across the country in federal courts of appeal based on legal standing because most of these plaintiffs have not actually filed for the program or the application process that they are challenging. And so a lot of courts

haven't even gotten to the merits of the claim because these cases are so weak that they fail basic legal procedure. And that's what I really want folks at home to remember, that these attacks are not about merit or fairness. They're fueled by fear, fear of competition, fear of change, and fear of an equitable future because the programs that they're attacking that they are not applying for don't take away opportunities. They just level the playing field to maximize the talent and potential of all Americans. This program, the DSP program, creates jobs. It creates an ethos of self-reliance and just makes such an impact in the community where the DSP folks are from. And to attack this really underscores that, you know, what this case is really about is our core shared value, that the American dream belongs to every American,

not just the economically elite or wealthy. Can you give us an idea about what Amazon had in mind when they started this program and how many people have received this $10,000 grant? The numbers are right now not available, but the program was, as you said in the beginning, it's meant to reduce structural barriers to entry for Black, Latino, and Native American entrepreneurs. And that's because there have been so many longstanding historical structural barriers for these communities to be able to start small businesses on an equal footing with white business owners. For example, Native American business owners accounted for 0.0015% of all venture capital funds in the last year. Black American and Hispanic American business owners actually also equated for less than 1% of all venture capital funds.

And we're seeing even more rejection from loan investment firms and more because of structural inequities. For example, native business owners can't use trust land as corral. And ITINs, which is a tax ID number, cannot be used for many financial loan institutions. So a lot of people from Black, Hispanic, and Native American communities just don't have access to the venture capital funding, to the investment, and all of the materials and networks that go into creating a small business. But the reality is that every discouraged Black, Latino, Native business owner represents an engine of economic growth that could have brought jobs, wealth, and so much more to the community and the country. All right, Sabrina, I want you to hang with us until after the break. We're going

to take some questions from our panelists. Stay with us here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. We'll be back after a short break. Thank you so much. Coming soon to the Black Star Network. Well, y'all, when you're on that stage and you're seeing two and three, four generations in the audience, that's got to speak to you about the power of what y'all have become. Oh, most definitely. I think we were doing our show before our break. And remember, I was watching this kid.

I could not take my eyes off him because he was about nine or so. He was sitting in the front row with his parents. Over on the right hand side, yes, yes, yes, yes. I was amazed that this kid knew everything. And he was, I was like tripping to see how many songs this kid actually knew. And he knew them all.

And he knew them all. And he knew them all. We had to go over there and bring him on stage and take a picture with him, you know, at the end of the show and stuff. Because it was just that amazing. It was like, this is crazy. You know, the music travels everywhere. You know, like what Phillip was saying, seeing this young kid. Then you see, hear our songs on commercials, cold commercials. Then you have the younger ones that seen out here our music and animation Curl Prep Natural Hair Solutions at CurlPrep.com.

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Parents, remove the ouch. You will love this system because you can comb the product through your child's hair with... I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

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Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

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

Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple podcast. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves.

A wrap away. You got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Your fingers. It's all at CurlPrep.com. Use code ROLAND, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of FanMates. FanMates is a free-to-download, free-to-use, next-generation social media platform that allows anyone to have followers and subscribers on the same page.

Fanbase was built through investment dollars from equity crowdfunding from the Jobs Act. People just like you help build Fanbase. And we're looking for more people to help build Fanbase. We are currently raising $17 million in a Regulation 8 crowdfund on StartEngine. We've already crossed $2.1 million, but we're looking to raise more capital from people just like you that deserve the opportunity to invest in early-stage startups without having to be accredited investors. So right now, I'd like you to go to StartEngine.com slash Fanbase and invest. The minimum to invest is $399. And then use Fanbase to connect with friends, grow your audience, and be you without limits. All right. We're back talking about this long lawsuit that's trying to get rid of the Amazon Diversity Grant Program. We're going to go to our panelist, Dr. Park. Do you have a question,

Portabrina? Thank you, Candace, and thank you, Counselor. Thank you, Mr. Libda. As we know, you know better than we do, these white masses have been after 1981 for decades. How concerned are you and other civil rights lawyers that the incoming administration will, in addition to not only not defending Section 1981, flip on the other side? I'm sure you know better than we do. Again, the Comcast case in 2020, the 1981 case where they kind of heightened the barrier by saying that it's not enough to prove that you might have been discriminated against, but you have to prove that but for your race, you wouldn't have been discriminated against. And if they can offer some alternative explanation for why the program unfolds as it is, you can defend yourself against the 1981 claim. And my other question really has to do with standing. You walked us through standing. They have been out here in the Wild West saying, you know, they don't even have standing. They can't prove that they

were harmed. How concerned are you that cases like this might be more successful in a hostile federal administration like the Trump administration? Well, I think to your first question on the future of Section 1981, I think that we've seen in this line of cases against private equity that has raised remedial programs, we've seen Section 1981 really turned on its head. And you know better than me that Congress explicitly designed this act to further the aims of the 13th Amendment by creating a remedy for discrimination that curtailed Black Americans' ability to enter contracts and fully participate in the nation's economy. And in this case of Alexander v. Amazon, the plaintiffs have weaponized Section 1981 to eliminate a program that is meant to level the playing field for Black, Hispanic, and Native American business owners.

And we've seen kind of a hodgepodge of cases about this. And we've had one case, which is known as the Fearless Fund, where Section 1981 was discussed. But the reality is, to go to your second question, is that a lot of these cases have been dismissed on standing grounds, which is just whether or not you have suffered a real legal injury that allows you to bring a case into an Article III court. And to the question of whether or not I'm worried about it, of course, in such a judiciary system that is, you know, stacked with certain kinds of judges, we're, of course, worried about how any case will go. However, we have also seen cases like Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine versus the FDA decided the Supreme Court based on standing grounds.

And we are cautiously, you know, thinking about these issues just like you are. And we are hopeful that at least in Alexander v. Amazon, that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will affirm the lower court's decision and dismiss the plaintiff's lawsuit for lack of standing as well as failure to state a claim. Because like I said earlier, this is not just any random grant program. This is a competitive, multi-tiered, highly selective program, which is race neutral. It has race neutral requirements. And you have to be one of the top 3% of, I'm sorry, less than 3% of all applicants that apply to this program get it. And, you know, these programs don't take away opportunities. Nothing took away the plaintiff's opportunities to apply for this program because the Amazon Diverse Grant exists. All this program tries to do is ensure that every small business owner in America gets a fair shot at their American dream.

All right, Cameron, questions for Sabrina. Thank you, Counselor. Thank you, Counselor, for kind of educating us on this. I have a kind of a two part question. One, if this is a case that if this is a case that is able to set some level of precedent, if it goes into the appeals court, is that something that given if there is a precedent set or if this does go the wrong way, is that something that can be used to dismantle other grant programs? And then more specifically, we're live right now on Roland Martin Unfiltered. And while we're doing our best to inform and educate people, we're two years away from the next major federal election. We need to give people marching orders to not just let them know

something is happening, but what can people, what can the power of the people actually be able to be directed to do to be able to fight back against this? Because it feels that if an Amazon, competitive Amazon program that is race neutral is taken down, it would stop them from smaller companies that don't have the future responses or organizations that also want to put competitive programs that could help minority communities by some of these structural inequities. They may not even propose grants up, but they may look to reclassify or take some of those grants down. And that could have a sweeping effect on folks who need these kinds of supports. So I want to know how we can direct people, and if this case does go the wrong way, does

it set a precedent that allows other grand programs to go? You know, I hear you sound a little muffled there, but I think you get the most of the question, Sabrina. I think so, and I think both of those questions are actually connected, because what we've seen across the country is that these cases have been dismissed because they lack standing. And again, standing is someone hasn't suffered a legal harm because plaintiffs are not district court's decision, it'll only exacerbate a chilling effect that already exists. Across the country, we've seen private remedial efforts go through these really terrible chilling effects where folks are really scared to have DEI programs. And these programs close the very real economic gaps

that the historical legacies of slavery, segregation, and racism have created in the United States. However, what we try to tell people at nonprofits or other small businesses is that legally, you have the right to exist. And legally, you have the right to exist and legally you have the right to have certain kinds of programs under many kinds of defenses. And it really depends on the organization and what they want to do and how they want to fight. But DEI and programs that are about diversity and accessibility are not outlawed in the United States.

Again, the case SFFA really pertained to affirmative actions in higher education settings only. So right now these programs are allowed, but this onslaught of litigation has just really had terrible chilling effects that affects the private sector as well as the nonprofit community as well. All right, Robert, last question before we go to the break. Absolutely. And I thank you

so much for sharing this information. I've worked on amicus briefs in both 1981, 1984, voting rights cases, et cetera. And I've seen the legal playing field change over the course of the last decade or so as conservative groups are really invested in attacking much of what we call the civil rights movement through the court system. If you look at Stephen Miller's organization, if you look at many of the other groups that are fighting tooth and nail to reverse every bit of progress that we've made, I wanted to take things big picture and talk about what happens if we lose some of these protections on the federal level. We talk about it in kind of lawyer terms often. We can talk about it from just the average person's perspective.

What happens if we lose the protections that have been accorded to us under many of these legal frameworks that are currently under attack? Well, I think in this instance, it's helpful to talk about it from an economic perspective because this case deals with race remedial efforts in the private equity context. And what I really want folks at home to know is that rolling back diversity initiatives harms the country as a whole. If you care about job creation and you care about strengthening the U.S. economy, you care about DEIA initiatives. And that's because entrepreneurs of color are more likely than white employers to hire from

within their communities. And the reality is that every discouraged Black, Latino, and Native American business owner represents an engine of economic growth that could bring jobs, wealth, and the ethos of self-determination to their community and country. For example, you can just look at the DSP program and former winners that we've highlighted in our amicus brief. For example, we highlighted a Black woman who has a delivery service program in Maple Grove, Minnesota. She currently employs 100 people who are mostly people of color and has a starting wage of $20.25. And these are the kinds of localized programs that promote growth that will be cut for everyday Americans. And that affects all of us because curtailing race remedial programs

curtails the strength of the U.S. economy overall. And I have two very boring statistics to share, but I think that they're pretty important. For example, the McKinsey and Company reported that if existing Black-owned businesses reach the same average revenue of white industry counterparts, we would get a 1% increase in GDP growth. That means an additional $200 billion in recurring direct revenues. And similarly, the Stanford Graduate School of Business found that if Hispanic-owned businesses could generate 1.4, they can generate $1.4 trillion in additional revenue today if they were equitably funded. So the loss of civil rights protections, the weaponization of historic statutes like Section 1981, of course impacts disproportionately communities of color, but DEI affects all of us. And that's why the core of this case is about a shared American value, that the American dream belongs to everyone. And small business owners especially deserve to be included in the American dream. And so if, you know, as you

were saying, the litigation landscape has changed so dramatically in the past few years that if we care about strengthening the economy, if we care about presenting a strong economic front to the world, then keeping diversity initiatives is essential for all of us. Well, listen, Amazon had this program for a reason. They certainly saw a need. Counselor Sabrina, I want to thank you so much

for being with us and breaking down this information. Thank you so much for having me. And thank you so much for being with us and breaking down this information. Thank you so much for having me. And thank you so much for the panelists for your excellent questions. Absolutely. This is a case that we will be following. All right. Stay with us here on Roland Martin Unfiltered live on the Black Star Network. We'll be back after the break. Curl Prep Natural Hair Solutions at CurlPrep.com.

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Parents, remove the ouch. You will love this system because you can comb the product through your child's hair with your fingers. It's all at CurlPrep.com. Use code ROLAND, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. What's up, y'all? Look, Fanbase is more than a platform. It's a movement to empower creators, offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in Black-owned tech, infrastructure, and help shape the future of social media. Investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital

age. The Black community must not only consume tech, we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding Black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital directly through their community, through the jobs ad. Now streaming on the Blackstar Network network i was challenged by my uncle early on before i even

had a career like i was maybe eight years old and my uncle said what do you want to do and i told him i wanted to be a rapper he said okay well i don't know anything about the music business so what you should do is learn everything there is to know about the music business, and I'll make sure that you have the resources to push you through. And so I went and bought books. All you need to know about the music business hit me, and I just went and bought a bunch of books to start reading as a 10-year-old, just reading, reading. And so I learned, you know, all things licensing, mechanical rights.

I learned about publishing. I learned about how composition is broke up into two pieces, the writer's portion and the producer's portion. So by the time I actually learned I can't bend, I was ready to like, okay, I got it. He would go into prison. So I had all this information. All this knowledge.

All this knowledge. You like, well, what am I going to do with it now. This is Tamela Mann. And this is David Mann. And you're watching Roland Martin. Unfiltered. In 1985, black men were tried for the 1984 murder of Catherine Florek, in Washington, D.C. Six of those, Chris Turner, Cliff Turner, Charles Turner, Levy Rouse, Russell Overton, and Timothy Catlett, were wrongfully convicted of that murder and collectively spent over 250 years behind bars.

32 years later, evidence confirmed that another man, James McMillan, murdered Fuller after committing a similar assault in 1992. In both cases, McMillan brutally sodomized and beat the victims. McMillan's presence at Fuller's murder scene was not disclosed at trial. The six men are now applying for presidential pardons with the support of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project. Chris Turner, who was 19 years old, he was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated, joins us now. Chris, thank you so much for being with us today.

Thank you for having me. Yes, I know that these are some days where you have had to practice a lot of patience because this has already gone up to the Supreme Court. So I'd imagine that this is the last, the end of the road if this does not happen. Tell me where you are now in terms of this pardon, in terms of how you're feeling, hearing anything about what might come down the line. No, we're just confident that President Biden will hear our story, will do the due diligence to investigate and realize that these men wrongfully spent time in prison that they should not have.

And that this is the last storyline to go out, I think, to attach to the legacy. But we're just confident that he'll do it because it's the right thing to do. We've already served the time, as you spoke on, that we should not have served, it was unfortunate that these some of the facts were withheld in this particular case that led to the Brady violation that ultimately went to the Supreme Court. That just didn't land in our favor for various reasons or another, but we are confident and hopeful at this stage that eventually President Biden will do the due diligence and allow us to clear our names, clear our family names, and bring justice to the community that rightfully deserved it. And you mentioned the Brady violation. There's a Brady rule. You have to make sure that all the evidence is turned over to both sides. In this

case, we're talking about the information about this man who was at the scene at the time. But I am wondering, with this violation, the Supreme Court, what was their reasoning for not allowing a retrial? That's beyond my understanding and my comprehension. I still wrestle with that today. Justice Caton and the Honorable Justice Ginsburg, they thought that these men should get a retrial. Unfortunately, the majority ruled against us for various reasons or another. I think the actual spirit of Brady was designed to protect these type of things from occurring. And in this particular case, it didn't. They had their own views as to thinking that maybe it would not have swayed a jury. And I'm wrestling with that thought pattern today. The jury's voted and extenuate lengths of time they deliberated and they didn't have another alternative. And so I think if this alternative had been given to the jury,

I think that the jury would have, in fact, voted not guilty against these men. And these men would have went on and lived their life and done some of the things that they have since done since their release. You know, when we're talking about a situation where if you do get this pardon, if you are stopped for speeding, for example, there won't be a high alert on record as to who you are, because that's what happens right now. When you go apply for a job or when you go try to find some place to live or when you have an innocent encounter with a police officer, all of that is escalated. Absolutely. None of our stops are like ordinary pedestrian or traffic stop. You know, it's automatically a high alert. As you touched on in our housing, our job placement, all the things that we would be entitled to without this blemish on our record

is being held against us. And it's unfortunate that we still have to fight 40 years later when it's clear and convincing evidence in front of everyone that the men who spent time in prison for this murder are not the ones who committed it. And two of those who originally convicted, two of your friends, your brethren, those people who you have just an amazing connection to because of this experience, they have passed on. But you and your brother certainly have been making the rounds to make sure that your case has been heard. What has that been like for you? Because you certainly display so much grace that a lot of people wouldn't have in this process. Well, at the end of the day, we always represent each other to the fullest. Kelvin Smith and Steven Webb,

unfortunately, are not with us today. And we still hold their names high. We think a pardon for us is also a pardon for them. And we just continue to fight. We we uh we don't have to uh wait until after we have gone to get a partner to get recognition we hoping that the part will take place in our lifetime the six of us that are left because we know tomorrow isn't promised to anyone and um we're just confident and we're hopeful that it'll get done. But like you say, we've been carrying it around. We've been making our rounds. We've been showing who we are.

We're hoping that people will read the character of the individuals that we were then and who we are today. It hasn't changed. Our convictions are still the same. We maintain our innocence for over 40 years and we still maintain our innocence today. And we're just confident. We know we don't have a perfect system. We knew that 40 years ago, we didn't believe that innocent people went to prison. We grew up watching Curry Mason and all the different TV stories, and we didn't know in real life that's not how it's played out. Mistakes are made. You get tunnel vision and you go in the wrong direction and ignore

the facts that are in front of you. And I think that's what happened in this particular case. And we are asking that justice be given to these men while they are still alive, while they still have years in front of them to go on and do some of the work that they're called to do. From what I understand, the president is certainly aware of your specific things at this time. What's the timeline in terms of when a decision could possibly come about? There is no timeline at this particular time. It's just sitting on, it's in front of him. And we have no control of that timeline. We just confident we just try to get as much information out to his office as we possibly can try to get as much information and facts to the Justice Department and hope that everyone will look at this case for what it is and see the horrible mistakes that were made and that they'll just try to right the wrong just as soon as they possibly can. But we have no definitive timetable at this particular time. We're just hoping that people will support our petition at 8thandH.org.

Excuse me, 8thandH dot org. Excuse me, 8th and H justice dot org. You can go there and you can join our petition. And we're hoping that people are just here. Hear those facts. You can see the story and learn about the story and. Help right or wrong. That was greatly done here in our nation's capital. You know, before we go to the break, we're going to keep you for another segment, but I have one more question, and that is, I know that your grandmother, she played a very important role in kind of building you up to the person that you are and what you give back to the community. What did she do for you in terms of how you live your life today?

Oh, she is everything she's the sole reason why my character is as strong as it is while my determination is what it is um I just wish she could see the man that she groomed me to be the person that she wanted me to become. I just wish she was here today to see that I'm fulfilling everything that she tried to instill in me. Yeah, but that is beautiful. Listen, we want you to hang with us for some questions from our panelists when we come back after the break. We are speaking to Chris Turner. Stay with us. We'll be back after the break. Curl Prep Natural Hair Solutions at CurlPrep.com. I'm gonna stop.

For curls, locks, braids, twists, and even those wigs and extensions. Women, men, and children are loving this line. Look at this video and you be the judge. People line up to see this product in action at hair shows, and when they take a seat and try it, they don't believe it's their hair. Buy the products at CurlPrep.com. It works on all. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time.

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

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

And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things stories matter and it brings a face to them it makes it real it really does

it makes it real listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season 2 on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to hear episodes

one week early and ad free with exclusive content subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves.

A wrap-up way, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. All hair types. Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. curlprep.com use code roland lowercase letters to get a 15 discount

what's up y'all look fan base is more than a platform it's a movement to empower creators offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in black-owned tech infrastructure and help shape the future of social media investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The Black community must not only consume tech, we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool

for funding Black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital directly through their community, through the jobs ad. Now streaming on the Blackstar Network. I was challenged by my uncle early on before I even had a career. Like I was maybe eight years old and my uncle said, what do you want to do? And I told him I wanted to be a rapper.

He said, OK, well, I don't know anything about the music business. So what you should do is learn everything there is to know about the music business. And I'll make sure that you have the resources to push you through. And so I went and bought books. All you need to know about the music business hit me. And I just went and bought a bunch of books to start reading as a 10 year old. And so I learned, you know, all things licensing, mechanical rights. reading. And so I learned, you know, all things, licensing, mechanical rights. I learned about publishing, learned about how composition is broke up into two pieces, the writer's portion and the producer's portion.

But by the time I actually learned I can't bend, I was ready to like, okay, I got it. He was going to prison. So I had all this information. All this knowledge. All this knowledge. All this knowledge. You like it, well, I'm going to do it now. Now that Roland Martin is willing to give me the blueprint.

Hey, Saras. I need to go to Tyler Perry and get another blueprint because I need some green money. The only way I can do what I'm doing, I need to make some money. So you'll see me working with Roland. Matter of fact, it's the Roland Martin and Sheryl Underwood Show. Well, should it be the Sheryl Underwood Show and the Roland Martin Show? Well, whatever show it's going to be. It's going to be good. All right.

I'm back now with my panel and Chris Turner, who's waiting for a presidential pardon from President Biden. I want to go to Dr. Carr. Question for Chris. Mike, do you mind mentioning a little bit your work as an educator, as a fellow educator? I feel like, and I'm sure I'm not alone. I know I'm not. In fact, that your work with Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and particularly with the Free Minds

Book Club, you and your brother, but you know as a former chair of the board there, could you talk a little bit about the importance of your work as an educator, particularly around literacy? And I know that the Free Minds Book Initiative published a book, and I have that book of young people who are trying to express themselves. How might you have a few words for young people out there who might find themselves caught up in a system that really has a target on their back? Say some words about yourself as an educator and dealing with literacy. Oh, that's a great question. I mean, I love trying to communicate to the young people.

I try to get especially our young black males to understand that. Don't get caught up. Don't go for the bait because it's a setup from the get up is what I always start off with. It's a setup from the get up. When you think that it is all glitter and it's gold, it really isn't. Don't go for the bait. That pipeline to prison ordeal for me is real. And I do a whole lot of mentoring. You mentioned Free Minds Book Club for returning citizens. We do a lot of build up. We do a lot of building each other up. You know, we say you hear that old adage that steel shopping, steel men shopping, men like steel shopping, steel. And so what we always try to do is we try to reinforce, we try to reiterate to every individual, where you've been,

I've been there. What you're thinking, I understand. If I didn't think it, I know someone who did think, who did have that thought process. And this is how you, the best way I think that you can go about dealing with that, overcoming the obstacles. We always talk about one out of every three black men are on parole or go to prison. And what I do is I remind them that there's two out of three that don't go. And so you need to be that two out of the three that don't don't go for the bait. You know, you're going to do well. You well. Your best years are in front of you. When they have down days, they be telling me all the different stories that they go through, and I tell them, guess what? You are a survivor. You have already overcame the worst thing that

you've encountered in your life, and you're still here. So you are a survivor. You can get through those things. And I share that with the young men and the young women as well. And I give them a lot of real talk. I do the straightforward. I only try to do the scared straight stuff. I try to get in their mind. I learn their language because if you can't reach them, you can't teach them. And so I listened to the music they listened to, their artists. And then I started having the debates that they have online with them to gauge their thought pattern. And then they begin to see me as one of them. And so we begin to get in on some personal topics and they'll come to me with things that they may not go to others with. And so I just feel great being in that position to be able to share my story,

to share my experience. Like many of my students that I encounter on a daily basis, they don't know my story. I give them bits and pieces of it, but they have no idea who Chris Turner is. They just know I'm just a cool person. I'm just a lit person. Oh, God, it's just lit, as they call it. You got to use their lingo, Chris, right? All right. Question from Robert. It's so great hearing from you, hearing the story and all the work that you're doing in the community. I did have this question. It was two months ago, basically, that we had right before the election where we had the president, the vice president, the Democratic Party going to Black folks around the country saying, we need you to turn out in

record numbers. We need you to be the backbone of the party. We need you so much politically. And then as soon as they lost, we're sitting here, you know, kind of bowing and scraping for pardons and clemency while, you know, Hunter got 10 years to do whatever he felt like, et cetera. What do you think we have to do to mobilize as a community to make sure that we're negotiating from a position of power on these discussions, as opposed to seemingly having to fight everything that they said before the election, kind of go through the back door to try to get the same justice that we should be accorded as any other community is? I just think we got to do a better job of educating ourselves on the vote, the power of the vote. I think we have to go back and look at some of the things that took place during the civil rights era and a lot of the vote. I think we have to go back and look at some of the things that took place

in during the civil rights era and a lot of the movements and how a lot of those different organizations galvanized the power of their votes and their voting power to be heard, to have a seat at the table. You know, everyone should have their plate. And, you know, you don't want a salsa plate. You want a real plate at the table. And so in order to do that, you have to go back. There's a old saying that history repeats itself in the minds of those that don't know history. And I think if we go back and study a lot of the things around the civil rights movement and a lot of the things that led to the voting power, the voting blocks, that if we get back to those grassroots concepts, I think we'll find ourselves in a better position. All right, Cameron.

Mr. Turner, thank you so much for sharing your story. And we are all with you as you seek that pardon. I've been a D.C. resident now for over 20 plus years. And I think your story in this story is not just a cautionary tale, but cautionary tale. But but something that can be used as a as an opportunity to teach and hopefully guide, I think, some of the youth and the folks that are in the streets here in DC. What have you been doing or how have you, what have you been doing maybe here in the district or ways that you've seen your story and your opportunity to connect to not just the youth, but even those who may be going a little wayward, but I just think it's such an inspirational story and love the work that you're currently doing.

But if you could talk a little bit more about anything that you may have been doing specifically here in the D.C. or DMV area. Specifically, I work with the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, which is. Organization that deal with wrongful convictions in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. I also get a chance with Free Minds Book Club. We get a chance to speak to some of the graduating police classes, the incoming cadets, and you get a chance to do some community building relationships with them. You try to instruct them to be vigilant in the community, to become a part of the community. Don't try to defend necessarily police the community without becoming a part of it. Learn who the leaders are in the community. Get to know their names, get get a lot of social contact with them, because we have to try to break down the barriers, break down the misconception, break down a lot of the old things that have plagued our communities for so long, especially without youth. We can't just see a guy in a hoodie and automatically think that he's Trayvon Martin.

The things that Trayvon Martin had to go through, we shouldn't automatically judge how Black men for wearing their hoodies or having dreads and some of the things. And what we should do is get the, on a personal basis with them, have dialogue, have communication. And so we try to do those things. We also with greater Washington urban league, we do a back to school backpack giveaway from ages,

pre-K all the way up to high school level. That is some of the most moving work that you could do to get a chance to talk to the youth, to get a chance to talk to the parents, to hear them say thank you for doing that. And I get returning citizens to help me do these things. And people have no idea how moving it is for them to come back. Because whether we are understanding or not, I try to get people to understand that these men who left our community during the height of the drug epidemic, during the cracker, during the war on drugs, they're coming back. And many of them left as teenagers, as kids. And so they're coming back with a different mentality, coming back as men.

A lot of them have educated themselves while they were away. And so they have a different understanding of the misconception that they play in their community. And they want to give back. They want to build their community up. The men and women who were once part of the problem now want to be the solution. And we echo those things. And so we get a chance to do a lot of that stuff. Men being released from prison. I don't know if you know my full story. When I was released from

prison in 2010, I'd never had a cell phone. I'd never seen a cell phone. And so my journey took place from California. I was released from federal custody in California, Modesto, California, with $50 and a bus ticket to get back to D.C. What we do is now we go get those people. We pick them up at the Greyhound stations. We're going to go pick them up at the airport. We want to try to get them their first meal. We want to

coach them back and reenter into a society that is not the same society that they left. We love doing the work, many of us. And we just, it's like our calling. Yeah. Chris Turner, I want to thank you so much for being with us this evening.

I mean, it's such a powerful story and you display such grace. I hope that the right people are listening to this to make that party happen for you. Thank you again for doing that. Thank you very much. I'm honored that you had me. Yeah, absolutely. And we are better for it that you are here. All right, folks, stay with us. Roland Martin on filter continues after the break. Now streaming on the Blackstar Network.

I was challenged by my uncle early on before I even had a career. Like I was maybe eight years old and my uncle said, what do you want to do? And I told him I wanted to be a rapper. And he said, okay, well, I don't know anything about the music business. So what you should do is learn everything there is to know about the music business, and I'll make sure that you have the resources to push you through. And so I went and bought books. All you need to know about the music business hit me, and I just went and bought a bunch of books to start reading as a 10 year old.

Just reading, reading. And so I learned, you know, all things licensing, mechanical rights, I learned about publishing, learned about how composition is broke up into two pieces, the writer's portion and the producer's portion. So by the time I actually learned that came back I was ready to like okay I got it. He was going to prison. So I had all this information. All this knowledge. All this knowledge. what's up y'all look fan base is more than a platform it's a movement to empower creators offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in black-owned tech infrastructure and help shape the future of social media investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The black community must not only consume tech, we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital directly to rule their community

through the jobs ad. Curl Prep Natural Hair Solutions at CurlPrep.com. I'm in shock. For curls, locks, braids, twists, and even those wigs and extensions. Women, men, and children are loving this line. Look at this video and you be the judge. People line up to see this product in action at hair shows, and when they take a seat and try it, they don't believe it's their hair. Buy the products at CurlPrep.com.

It works on all hair types. Use code ROLAND, that's R-O-L-A-N-D lowercase letters to get a 15% discount. Parents, remove the ouch. You will love this system because you can comb the product through your child's hair with your fingers. It's all at CurlPrep.com

Use code ROLAND lowercase letters to get a 15% discount. I'm Russell L. Honore, Lieutenant General of the United States Army, retired, and you're watching Roland Martin on Filth. A racist Virginia landlord will spend years in prison for stealing the identities of his black tenants. L. Merriman, who owned more than 60 rental properties in Newport News and Hampton, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and racially motivated interference with housing and employment. Merriman's properties were primarily located in low-income neighborhoods where he predominantly rented to Black tenants living in poverty. He harassed his tenants with racial slurs and engaged in fraudulent practices,

including forcing them to pay security deposits repeatedly. And you know something, Dr. Carr, this is a man who was renting apartments that had no working stove, no working refrigerators. Certainly there are so many laws that he broke. This is something that I'm just... It's amazing what people think they can get away with, with all the laws that are on the books. No question. And he would

have gotten away with it, but for the intervention of the federal government. You see the Eastern District of Virginia and Jessica Abrams, we all read, standing in the gap. How do you have a bathtub, Candace, with a hole in it? I'm trying to figure out what level of degradation do you have to have?

And what struck me, and I'm sure it was the case with you all as well, Cameron and Robert, the sister, the black woman who he not only forced her name to get these relief benefits during covid but then threw out had her haul of stuff thrown out and uh had a car towed while she's in the hospital so uh it is an egregious example and i don't care whether you're democrat or republican whatever you are the federal apparatus should stand in the gap for folks like this and we can only hope and force this current incoming administration to continue to stand in the gap when it's so egregious that only the most open races could say that this shouldn't be

prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And, you know, Robert, this has a lot of tentacles, though. When you think about it, people actually rented the apartment with the hole in the bathtub and no refrigerator and no stove. I mean, we can talk about everything with minimum wage, to housing conditions, to the lack of housing that's available, to the fact that people are just living in poverty. It is real indicative of the state of America that we live in right now. You're absolutely correct. And I think people, we have a lot of glitz and glamour and media and

social media in this country, and we forget there are still people living in abject poverty and who will take any form of shelter over their heads because of the alternative. I remember growing up, you know, having a single mother after my father passed away, who was an immigrant in this country, who didn't speak the language, who didn't have the credit score or the money, and the substandard living conditions that we put human beings into this country is a disgrace. And then we go around the world calling ourselves the civilized first world and saying, look at these people in third world huts, not doing anything about those same huts that exist here in America. And we are in very deep danger, as Dr. Carr articulated, because the incoming administration does not believe in any of the federal laws that are being used to punish this individual currently. If you're going to a Justice Department headed by what could have been Matt

Gates and now by Pam Bondi, we're not going to see these sorts of prosecutions and investigations taking place. When we talk about votes matter and conversations around that, we have to talk about how it impacts the everyday lives of individuals. And we have a justice department that no longer is going to be enforcing consent decrees. You're going to see racial profiling and violence against African-Americans increase. We have a justice department that no longer believes in racially motivated crimes and hate crimes as we saw in the just sessions. Then crimes exactly such as this will no longer go prosecuted. So we have to start taking a holistic approach of how we view our votes and how we view politics and understand that for the next at least two

and perhaps four years, we will not have these protections in place and we need to start planning around that and figuring out how to work through the system where we've always tried to exist in, being in a nation within but without the protections of that constitution. Absolutely.

And you know, like Dr. Carr said, Cameron, this is something that was unnoticed until the feds actually stepped in and did what they were supposed to do. But it just, again, showed the state of the people and the mindset that people have. And the mindset of this man, the wherewithal that he got away with this for so many years

and would even attempt to do that is just egregious and mind-boggling. It is egregious and mind-boggling. It is egregious and mind-boggling, and it is kind of disturbing. I echo the sentiments of our other two panelists. Like, we can't get glazed over by the glitz and glamour that social media and all the great things in this country to understand how many folks are that desperate, are living in poverty, are looking for housing, that the

housing crisis that is affecting so many different neighborhoods, states and cities and rural areas across the country, that this may have been, this obviously was the only option for so many of those residents. And again, the alarm bells must be raised, the diligence level must be raised as we go into these next two to four years, because we need to make sure that whether it's through the civil rights divisions of the U.S. Justice Department or other folks where federal and state authorities are able to step in the gap. We've got to make sure that they are there to help prosecute and help defend our citizens.

I'm glad this guy's being taken to the fullest extent of the law and make sure he is fully prosecuted there and then that hopefully this also brings some relief to those residents who were defrauded to be able to, who were defrauded out of their funds to be able to find better housing.

But we've got it. We've, this unfortunately paints the picture of how many, how desperate people really are in and around this country for housing. Yeah, absolutely. People really are in and Around this country for housing Yeah absolutely listen He's going to jail prison 20 years that is justice That's what happens Alright stay with us we're going to be right back

With our last segment of Roland Martin And Phil Hurd we'll be back after this Bye now streaming on the black star network i was challenged by my uncle early on before i even had a career like i was maybe eight years old and my uncle said what do you want to do and i told him i wanted to be a rapper he said okay well i don't know anything about the music business so what you should do is learn everything there is to know about the music business and I'll make sure that you have the resources to push you through and so I went and bought books all you need to know about the music business hit me and I just went and bought a bunch of books just start reading as a 10 year

old just read and read and so I learned you know all things licensing mechanical rights I learned about publishing learned about how composition is broke up into two pieces, the writer's portion and the producer's portion. So by the time I actually learned I can't bend, I was ready to like, okay, I got it. He was going to prison. So I had all this information. All this knowledge.

All this knowledge. You like, well, what am I gonna do with it now. Curl Prep Natural Hair Solutions at CurlPrep.com I'm in shock. For curls, locks, braids, twists, and even those wigs and extensions. Women, men, and children are loving this line. Look at this video and you be the judge.

People line up to see this product in action at hair shows, and when they take a seat and try it, they don't believe it's their hair. Buy the products at CurlPrep.com. It works on all hair types. Use code ROLAND, that's R-O-L-A-N-D, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. Parents, remove the ouch. You will love this system because you can comb the product through your child's hair with your fingers. It's all at curlprep.com. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time,

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

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

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

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

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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 adopt us kids.org to learn more brought to you by adopt us kids the u.s department of health and human services and the ad council who's cold rolling lowercase letters to get a 15% discount. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. Fanbase is a free to download, free to use next generation social media platform that allows anyone to have followers and subscribers on the same page. Fanbase was built through investment dollars from equity crowdfunding from the JOBS Act. People just like you helped build Fanbase, and we're looking for more people to help build Fanbase. We are currently raising $17 million in a Regulation 8 crowdfund on Start Engine. We've already crossed $2.1 million, but we're looking to raise more capital from people

just like you that deserve the opportunity to invest in early stage startups without having to be accredited investors. So right now, I'd like you to go to startengine.com slash fanbase and invest. The minimum to invest is $399. That gets you 60 shares of stock in Fanbase right now, today. And then use fan base to connect with friends grow your audience and be you without limits hey this is motown recording artist kim you are watching roland martin unftered. Boy, he always unfiltered, though. I ain't never known him to be filtered. Is there another way to experience Roland Martin than to be unfiltered? Of course he's unfiltered.

Would you expect anything less? Watch what happens next. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, doctors have seen a significant increase in requests for long-acting reversible contraceptives, which provide pregnancy prevention for three to five years. According to a study from the National Library of Medicine, when Trump won in 2016, there was a 21% spike in women seeking long-term birth control. Dr. Donna Adams-Smith, a board-certified OBGYN, has witnessed the increase in women prioritizing their reproductive health and acting quickly to secure long-term birth control options. She joins us from Augusta, Georgia to discuss this trend. Thank you so much, doctor, for being with us today. Thank you for having me. I appreciate us having this conversation.

Absolutely. So it's all connected. And I want people to actually understand what this acronym, as it's often referred to, LARC, Long Active Reversible Contraceptives, actually refers to, because we're talking about IUDs and other things too. Yes. So these are methods of contraception that is not dependent on you taking them regularly and that they can last anywhere

from three months to actually 10 years, much more effective than even tubal ligation than emphysectomies. And so for those individuals who are looking for a type of contraception that is reliable and not dependent on human error, it is truly the choice for contraceptive care. Yeah. And when we talk about choice, we're talking about choice in so many ways. I think because we've been looking at this spike, we're talking about the choice that women probably believe they don't have anymore, but they do get pregnant. So they're making sure that that does not happen. election that I saw a significant spike in my own practice. So between November 5th and December 31st, I actually had approximately 40 consults for some type of long act and reversible contraception. Many patients were very pointed in saying that they wanted that contraception placed by the end of the calendar year, but definitely no later than January 20th. You know, I'm wondering if you can draw the connection in that people are getting these long-acting reversible contraceptives, so they're not getting pregnant for three to five years. So when we look at what's going on in politics, it really shapes the nation in terms of what it

looks like, who's having children, and ultimately what we're going to look like decades from now. Right, right. The concern with patients is that if they become pregnant and that pregnancy is an unsafe one, that they will have no options for management of their lives. I mean, we're really looking at a matter of life and death. And so we have patients who have health conditions that they know that a pregnancy is not conducive for at least a safe pregnancy. And they know that there is no contraception that's 100% safe. And so the concern or effective, we know that of the 5 million pregnancies that we had last year, 42% were unintended and they were due to contraceptive failures. So there is a concern that if they get pregnant, that there will be no options for management for them in case that we deem the

pregnancy unsafe. But another caveat to this is that the particular incoming administration has made it very clear that they intend to reverse Obamacare. And currently in Obamacare, contraception is covered at 100%. And so these are patients who have a concern that if the Affordable Care Act is overturned, they'll no longer have access to contraception. So they're attempting to get whatever contraceptive means they can have in place if that happens. So what is it that you would tell a woman who feels compelled to get a LARC compared to maybe being on the pill? Are there dangers associated with LARC that women are putting themselves more in because of what's going on in the world of politics? Or do they play out kind of equally the same? I think they play out,

you know, LARCs are very safe. And in many cases, they, some of the cases, they have decreased hormonal exposure. But from a political standpoint, there are certain factions that consider certain LARCs like IUDs as abortifacients. So there is a concern that if IUD can be placed, that it is a means of termination of pregnancy. And so there are some patients who have concerns that if they decide they want to use this later as a means of contraception, that is quite reliable, that has decreased hormonal exposure, that that option will no longer be available to them. And in Augusta, Georgia, in Georgia, what's your feel about how women are feeling in general about insurance that's available to them, rights that they have lost and options that they think they have or don't have? In Georgia, there's a significant concern because we have essentially a number of maternal health care deserts.

Eighty one percent, 81 of our counties, pardon me, do not have maternal access. So there are women who are afraid to get pregnant in Georgia because they can't find providers to take care of them in a meaningful manner. We had two very high profile cases of women who became pregnant, who knew that pregnancy was not safe for them. And they attempted to have some type of bodily autonomy in order to terminate those pregnancies and ended up dying as a result of those pregnancies. And our entire maternal mortality review team was actually disbanded behind those particular deaths because it was felt that they leaked that information to pro-Republica. So in general, women in Georgia feel that not only are our

reproductive rights hampered, that we are actually limited from letting the world know about it. Well, listen, Dr. Donna Adams-Smith, I want to thank you so much for being with us today and really setting light on what's top of mind for so many women and men in this country. Thank you. It's Dr. Donna Adams-Pickett. Thank you for adding that. I want to get it right. Dr. Adams-Pickett. Good to see you. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. I also want to thank our panel on this evening, Dr. Greg Carr, Robert Petillo and Cameron C. Trimble. As always, good to see you and have your viewpoints. Very important, as always. Good time with you. All right. And I'm Candace Kelly. I will be back tomorrow with more headlining news filling in for Roland Martin Unfiltered here live on the Black Star Network.

Have a good night. Folks, Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punching! I'm real revolutionary right now. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. I love y'all.

All momentum we have now, We have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time,

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 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 star that in 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 them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers. But we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else. But never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication.

Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.