#RolandMartinUnfiltered - No charges in Leonard Cure death, Dems warn of massive Medicaid cuts, 21 DOGE staffers resign

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

2.25.2025 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: No charges in Leonard Cure death, Dems warn of massive Medicaid cuts, 21 DOGE staffers resign A Georgia deputy will not face charges for killing an exonerated Black man during a violent traffic stop. Leonard Cure's family attorney, Harry Daniels, will discuss how the family is coping with the lack of justice. Democrats are warning Americans about the largest Medicaid cut in history. Twenty-one staff members at DOGE have resigned, refusing to participate in dismantling critical public services. White House says it will control press access to the twice impeached criminally convicted felon-in-chief Donald "The Con" Trump,  rather than allowing reporters to do so. I'll explain why this is a significant issue. The Black Georgia election workers will finally see their money from disgraced Rudy Giuliani.  We'll also discuss why it seems Florida Congressman Cory Millis is getting a pass on assault charges, as the MAGA D.C. Federal Attorney Ed Martin has declined to sign the arrest warrant for the lawmaker. #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 platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. streaming live on the Black Star Network. A Georgia deputy is not going to face any charges for the fatal shooting of an exonerated black man. The attorney for the family of Linda Kier, Harry Daniels, will join us on the show to talk about this case. Also, Democrats are warning Americans for the largest Medicaid cut in history. We'll talk about that.

We'll hear from Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on this very issue. Also, 21 staff members at Doge have resigned, refusing to participate in the dismantling of critical services. Also, the White House says it will now control the media in the pool. White House correspondents are not happy about this. Also, the twice-impeached, criminally convicted

fellow, the chief, Donald, Donald the Con Trump, he's rolling out, y'all, a gold card. Literally, that will allow for rich people to spend $5 million to essentially get ahead

of the green card process. What the hell is he doing? And the black Georgia workers who sued Rudy Giuliani, they have settled that case and it is now being dismissed. We'll also discuss why a Florida congressman, well, the cops wanted to arrest him on assault of a woman. He's also married.

But Trump's U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. did not seek charges against him. So Republicans no longer get convicted or charged of any crimes. And I'm going to talk about folks who need to understand why we must channel the outrage at the firing of Joy Reid into such an act. Roll the mark on the Blackst Whatever it is he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine And when it breaks he's right on time

And it's rolling, best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling, yeah It's on go-go-go, y'all Yeah, yeah It's rolling, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and Martel Martel 12th of October 16, 2023, Linda Cure was shot by a deputy officer in Georgia. That officer, who had been fired from a previous job in law enforcement in 2022, is not going to be charged in his death. Now, Cure died three years after he was exonerated

by Florida authorities who freed him from prison, but he had served 16 years for a crime he did not commit. Now, that traffic stop resulted in a violent struggle, and the 53-year-old was shot. Joining us right now is Harry Daniels. He is the attorney for the Cure family. Harry, glad to have you here. So walk us through why. Why was this decision made by the district attorney not to charge, indict this officer? I think that the reason was because objectively, when they viewed the video and asked themselves the questions, could they get a conviction in this case,

particularly with the use of force that led to the death of Mr. Cure, I think that their answer was no. To the extent, well, could a civil liability, which is a standard that's different in a civil case, proponents of the evidence versus beyond a reasonable doubt,

that's a different standard. But I think when you look at the video in its entirety, then leading up to the shooting of Mr. Kure, I think the district attorney's office concluded that they don't believe they could be able to get a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt of any type of crime or murder of a volunteer manslaughter against the officer. So what I want to do is I want to roll this video from the beginning. Audio up, please, so folks could actually see what transpired. Okay, guys, roll it.

Step out. Step out. Get out. Get out! Get out! Get out! Put your hands back here. I ain't doing shit. Put your damn hands back here. Who are you?

Staff Sergeant Officer Sheriff Saul. My name is Yahweh. I don't care. Step to the rear of this vehicle. In the name of who? In the name of the law of the state of Georgia. Step back here. Now you're getting tased. Watch me now.

Put your hands on the back of that truck. Do you see that? Put your hands on the back of that truck. Back of the truck. Both hands. Turn around. 34, can you send me another unit? Both hands. Turn around. 34, can you send me another unit?

One not compliant. Still out of unit 34 at the 8 office. Your name is Officer who? Staff Sergeant Aldridge with the Camden County Sheriff's Office. Who's County? Camden County. Put your hand behind your back. Do I have a warrant?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Excuse me. Put your hands behind your back because you're getting tased. I'm telling you that right now. Why am I getting tased? Because you are under arrest for speeding and reckless driving. I'm not driving. Nobody was hurt. How was I speeding?

You passed me doing 100 miles an hour. Okay, so that's a speeding ticket, right? Sir, tickets in the state of Georgia are criminal offenses. I don't have a ticket in Georgia. You do now. Why? You passed me doing 100 miles an hour. Criminal offense and what?

Am I going to jail? Hands behind your back. Yes, you are going to jail. Hands behind your back. Put your hands behind your back. Okay. Yeah, bitch. Yeah, bitch. Yeah, bitch. Stay down! Stay down!

Stay down! Cambria, shots fired! Shots fired, Cambria! Stay down! Do not get up! Stay down. Do not get up. Stay down. Stay down. Stay down.

Damage shot first. Suspect down. Can you send me help? Stay down. Can you send me help? Stay down! Stay down! Stay down! Dammit, are you clear? Stay down! Do not get up!

You all right? You got that coming? Yeah. Hey, this is what I need to understand. What led to the initial stop? What was he doing? So, this video that we have, and I don't know if that's out to the public, but I believe a portion of it is. Mr. Kerr passed Deputy Allrich, Buck Aldridge, speeding. He passed him on the left side.

He was maintaining his lane. And it was a simple speeding violation. It wasn't reckless. He just passed him on the left side. And I think it's the video. I actually may be saying all this. Maybe after he passed him. But he passes him, and Aldridge immediately goes after him.

Immediately, that's a pass right there, you can see it. Aldridge goes after him, turns lights on. Cure immediately begins to go to the right, veer to the right, and begins to pull over. There's no high-speed chase. There's no endangering the public, other motorists on the road. None of those factors took place. You can see where the deputy gets behind him. You can see he started to turn his brake lights on, as you can see now.

And he turned his signal light on and began to get over. Although unlawful to speed in the state of Georgia and a lot of other states, he's still a compliant motorist when he began to pull over and pull over for the officer. Lawful for the officer to get behind and put his lights on and began to pull over.

So I want to do this now. I want to do this now. So now we have that. All right. So control room. Now I want you to play the beginning of the video we just showed. Because I remember this vividly when we first aired it. And I talked about the actions of the officer, the level of aggressiveness. So now, folks, roll it.

So now we saw him passing, now signaling to Buwa to the right. Now let's play again. I'm going to see the beginning of this for the audience. Go. 10-4, change the items to the Tinko. Go. Step out! step out step out get out get out put your hands back here i ain't doing shit come on all right so so this is this is precisely the issue that i have and this is what i don't and this is precisely the issue that I have.

And this is the problem, I believe, when it comes to police in these stories. The police, these officers, his tone, his actions, he escalates a situation from the beginning. He escalates. How he's yelling, how he's approaching, it's a speeding violation, to your point. So it's not like this is a really major deal here. His actions establish the tone for how this traffic stop proceeded. Right. And one of the things that we're dealing with, particularly Ben and I in this lawsuit, you're talking about his speeding. He said he was going 100 miles per hour.

There's no way Aldridge could determine that because Aldridge was not running radar. As you can see, they was going in the same direction. So he's a guesstimate or estimated how fast, and they usually call his pacing, how fast he believed that Aldrich was driving. But he escalates this, and he tells them to get out of the vehicle. As an officer on a side of the road by yourself,

the first thing you're not going to do is tell a person to get out of the vehicle. You don't want to get out of the vehicle because they may have a weapon. You want to see, make sure the person's not having a weapon, or the person, if you feel like you're going to make an arrest, you tell them to take

the keys, throw the keys out the window, leave your hand on the steering wheel. He immediately tells Mr. Cure to get out of the vehicle. He escalated a traffic stop that eventually rose to an unlawful use of the vehicle. So he escalated a traffic stop that rolls, a vision rolls to an unlawful use of the passenger

that subsequently led to Mr. Kiervan's shot and killed by him. I mean, the thing is here, here's the shit. I've been pulled over for speeding. I've been pulled over for driving 80, 85, 88.

In fact, I remember literally driving from College Station, Texas, to Dallas. And it was a two-lane highway. And I pulled to the left side, the cop. And I literally look over, and I see it's the cop. What hell, I'm already here. And I sped up. Cop pulls me over. He was like,

did you actually look at me and then sped up? Well, hell yeah. I mean, I was already here. So, because I was trying to get back to Dallas for a meeting. And the bottom line is, he approached my car. Sir, can I please see your driver's license and your insurance? Gave it to him.

You saw me. You saw the police. That's what it was. So this is the problem we're always talking about. The actions of the cop at these traffic stops is what determines 98% of the time how the stop is going to go because of their tone, their actions. They are supposed to de-escalate, not escalate. Right. This is absolute agitation by this officer, this deputy here in Camden County. Camden County is no strangers to corruptions and

unlawful acts of police officers and deputies. This officer particularly was fired from another agency within Camden County, Kingsland Police Department, but not one, not two, but three excessive use of force violations. He was fired, He was terminated.

He was subsequently hired by the Canada County Sheriff, who's recently had been voted out of office, and enrolled in, before this incident with Mr. Keir. 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, It's really, really, really bad. Plus on Apple Podcasts. He had another incident with an African-American black man on Saudi road who he chased for a short period of time. The car crashes.

The motorist who was running from him, they sustained some injuries, is laid over the passenger side seat upside down. Ulrich comes up, holster his gun and punches this man in the face completely helpless, unjustified. Then subsequently tased him and sent a canine dog on him. The sheriff knew this. He knew the bad acts of Buck Ulrich, but he still kept him on. So Ulrich has

a history of escalating aggression towards motorists, and this is the reason why when his car stopped, when Mr. Kier stops his truck, he gets out of the car and immediately aggravates and escalates this matter, and Mr. Kier would be alive today

if he just had a police officer who says, use common sense. This is a speeding ticket. There's no reason to escalate. There's no reason to tell somebody to get out of the car with your taser pulled. But they chose to do that anyway. And Mr. Cure ultimately lost his life. We believe that the taser was unlawful.

Subsequently, Mr. Cure had a right to defend himself. I would suggest in this situation when the person has a weapon, and subsequently Mr. Cier was shot and killed. And I knew the district attorney, we knew the district attorney was never going to bring charges on this. You know, this is one of these cases where, you know, they don't even bring charges

when they got a clear-cut case of murder, let alone a case where a black man is trying to defend himself who was subsequently shot and killed by a law enforcement officer. So there won't be criminal, but y'all absolutely are pursuing a civil case, correct? Absolutely. The civil case is ongoing, not

just the case as the wrongful death for the unlawful use of force against both all race, but we also sue the Camden County Sheriff for practicing policies as it relates to other cases. And in the role of Y'all Know Stranger, the case in Camden County, we had multiple, multiple cases in Camden County

where this sheriff swept it under the rug, and eventually these people found out of using unlawful use of force, bad conducts, bad actors, slip it under the rug, and eventually these people found out using, unlawful use of force, bad conducts, bad actors, and we feel like this is something that needs to be changed. The policy in Camden County needs to be changed, so we have brought a policy and practice lawsuit against the sheriff, the former sheriff of Camden County.

So we have a long way to go in our civil suit. The Cure family is motivated to pursue justice on his behalf. You know, Mr. Cure was in prison, he was in prison for 16 years, wrongly convicted, just to get out and be shot and killed by a rogue and a

deputy in the Camden County. Last thing here, let me, while I have you here, just share with our audience, I mean, you've had to deal with a number of these cases before, along with Attorney Ben Crump, Lee Merritt, and others. Explain to people how difficult it's now going to be on the federal level with this Department of Justice, this FBI, this U.S. attorney in D.C. I don't think people understand that essentially y'all can't look for help from the federal government because of the type of people we now have in charge.

Right. So the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is simply non-existent. You can see that the Department of Justice has recently deleted the police role or list where you had officer misconduct, and they deleted the list. The list that was put together for a list to show the officers that committed bad conducts and actually committed crimes were convicted. The Department of Justice deleted it. The agreements with the city of Minneapolis and other cities dealing with police reform are a complete halt, stop on the agreements that was in play. So we don't anticipate any help whatsoever from the Department of Justice.

Matter of fact, when the new administration came in and before they appointed their people in the Department of Justice, I told Ben, Lee and others that we are the Department of Justice for the next four years. It's going to be us. And we're going to continue to fight, continue to pursue justice, and the local level district attorneys own up. So at the end of the day, right is right, wrong is wrong. And we are more eager now and seasoned to fight this fight on behalf of the people, all colors, all races, because use of force, violations of use of force, and unlawful use of force,

dealing with law enforcement misconduct, really has no color, but unfortunately, it's happening more to black people than others, but we are poised and ready for this fight, and just continue to work. All right, Harry Daniels, we appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot.

Continued great work. We appreciate it. Thanks, Rolly. You have a good night, man. All right. Thanks Dan, I certainly appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. Continued great work. We appreciate it. Thanks, Rollie. You have a good night, man. All right. Thanks a lot, folks. We'll be right back on Roller Mountain Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. This week on the other side of change. Abolition focus.

Should we aim for reform or abolishing the entire system? Kamone Felix lets us know how much possibility lies in abolition. That is such a radical image because it offers the suggestion, a suggestion that we already know to be true, which is that we have what it takes to take care of each other and to take care of ourselves. Watch us on the Black Star Network. So tune in to the other side of change. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. Have you ever had that million dollar idea and wondered how you could make it a reality? On the next Get Wealthy, you're going to meet Liska Askalise, the inventress, someone who made her own idea a reality

and now is showing others how they can do it too. Positive, focusing in on the thing that you want to do, writing it down and not speaking to naysayers or anybody about your product until you've taken some steps to at least execute. Lease gut, ask a lease. On the next Get Wealthy, right here, only on Blackstar Network. 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 Act. Coming up on the next Black Table, a conversation with Professor Howard W. French on his new book, Born in Blackness, covering 600 years of global African history and helping us understand how the world we know today is a gift from Black people.

There could have been no West without Africa and Africa. That's on the next Black Table with me, Greg Carr, only on the next Black Table with me, Greg Carr, only on the Black Star Network. 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 become oh most definitely i think we were doing our show before our tour before our our break and remember i was watching this kid i could not take my eyes off him because he was about right nine or so he's sitting in the front row with over on the right hand side yes 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. 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 his young kid. Then you see, hear our songs on commercials, cold commercials. Then you have the younger ones that hear our music in animation. Now that Roland Martin is willing to give me the blueprint. Hey, Saraz. 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 Lundgren show. Well, should it be the Sheryl Lundgren show and the Roland Martin show? Well, whatever show it's going to be, it's going to be good. Thank you. All right, folks, let's introduce our panel on this Tuesday. Glad to have them in the house breaking down the issues. Dr. Larry Walker, of course, he is

joining us out of Orlando, Florida. Glad to have him on the show. Always glad to have good Alpha brothers here. He's with the University of Central Florida. Also, Joe Williams. Sorry, Joe Richardson, I'm sorry, civil rights attorney out of Los Angeles.

And Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, another alpha, former senior advisor for environmental justice for the EPA out of D.C. And so, Joseph, you, Joe, you're sitting here among three alpha brothers. So that's how we roll. Let's get glad to have our brother panel. So, Joe, this is the thing that I continue to say when we do these stories. A fundamental issue for how these cases ends up is always going to be how does the cop behave? That's that's step number one. They set the tone with how they act. And if their job is to protect and serve, they're going to do it a certain way. Like, you know, the time they got you dead to rights because you sped and sped right past them, looked at him and kept doing it.

But he still approached you a certain way because he also knows that this contact can go a lot of different ways. And it's an opportunity, by the way, to make sure they reinforce the notion that they're there to protect and serve and hold accountable as well. There's nobody out here that drives that should expect that maybe if they're speeding, they won't get pulled over. However, they should expect, be able to expect to be treated a certain way, to be treated with respect. And this guy actually undermined his safety from the very beginning, yelling and telling the guy to come out. To be honest with you, I would have had a different problem at that site. I wouldn't have wanted to come out of the car because I would have been worried about getting shot for coming out of the car without my hands up in a certain way. And he did it all wrong from the very

beginning. He was so aggressive that he wasn't even thinking straight. He put himself in jeopardy. And what you're supposed to do is not only protect yourself, but also protect the person that you're serving, even if the person is in a bad mood or in a certain place before you because as you pulled them over. And so the tone was set with the way that he dealt with what is now the deceased brother at the very, very beginning. He did it in a way that was unsafe. He did it in a way that is contrary to what ought to be their policy. That's the, I think he answered the question before I had the opportunity to ask it.

It's like, are these guys guilty of breaking their own rules or do they just have the wrong policy? Clearly he should have done it a very, very different way. And there's an argument that depending on who it is, maybe if it's a different complexion to the person that's getting pulled over, et cetera, maybe it would have been dealt with differently at the very beginning. You know, again, what you have here, Mustafa, I mean, you have just these cops with a God complex who thinks that they can do whatever they want to. I mean, he jumped out on 12. Like, there was no effort to approach the car,

sir, please put your hands outside of your way. It was a speeding ticket. That's all it was. It was speeding. It wasn't like he was sitting here weaving through traffic. He wasn't hopping on the median. He wasn't, you know, wasn't doing any of that. It was a speeding ticket.

I mean, this is, and this is why I keep trying to tell people, well, we need more training. No. These are the cops who should never be on the force because you, it's like, it's like a spark and they just go straight from zero to a hundred. Yeah,

I mean, you know, we all know that there are officers who should not, you know, continue to be able to be on the force to carry a gun, to hold people's lives in their hand. So that goes without saying. We understand other professions where, if you have these types of egregious behaviors, if you hurt somebody, if you take somebody's life, you're no longer licensed, you're no longer allowed to practice whatever that particularly might be.

But we also have to also understand that there is value in de-escalation because this officer is a prime example of that. You know, when you're properly doing de-escalation, it gives an officer the opportunity to assess a situation because they're taking their time and they're going through the steps that are necessary. When you don't do that, when you're at 10 or 12, you know, then you've missed the opportunity to actually be able to make that assessment of what's going on and know how to, you know, how to operate. You know, he could have waited until, you know, the next officer came. There are a number of different things that he could have done.

And I know that de-escalation actually works because the Louisville department actually put a process in place and made a 28 percent decrease in these types of incidents, whether it's just police brutality or a number of things that are associated with it. So it works when you want to make the investment. But if you don't, and you're going to put officers who have these records of misconduct or a number of other things out there on the street, then you're going to get these types of results. Because we know, unfortunately, in our country, we've got about 1,365 people, I believe was the number last year, of folks who were killed by police. So it would just make sense to have, one, a better group of officers who are actually out there, and two, to make sure you're making the

investments so that they have the skills that are necessary to be able to interact with citizens in a very respectful and human way. It just, it just, every time we show these videos, I mean, listen, nine times out of ten, Larry, how the cop reacts dictates how the stop is going to end up. And it's unfortunate. I think one of the things we have to note is when it comes to these interactions that black people are two to three times more likely to be killed than other groups based on interaction with law enforcement. So I think that's a really, that first data point is really important.

You know, the other thing is, you know, as Mustafa talked about, you know, utilizing these de-escalation, you know, techniques to ensure that these interactions between law enforcement and, you know, individually black folks don't go down the way that it did. I think the other thing is, Roland, and we talked about this in the story, is that this police officer sounds like he shouldn't have had a badge. So he shouldn't have been in a position to be a law enforcement officer and pull someone over. I know that some states have passed laws where individuals who, you know, law enforcement got in trouble in other parts of the state aren't allowed to kind of move from one place to another. But we need a national database to prevent individuals from, you know, in some cases they move from state to state, and then they once again are in situations where they de-escalate or they panic and someone is shot and killed.

And disproportionately, those folks end up being Black. But we need to do a better job as a nation. I know you just talked a little bit earlier. We know for the current administration has, you know, deleted a lot of DOJ data in terms of law enforcement, you know, interactions with, you know, citizens. But, you know, simple training is not enough, particularly when you don't see someone's humanity. And I think that that's something that we really had to have, you know, an important conversation about. And that's why just training and ensuring someone, you know, know what policies

and procedures are is not just enough. All that won't matter if you don't see that person as a human being. And now we unfortunately see, you know, this gentleman's lost his life and a number, a long line of black folks who probably should be here today with their family members and not having a family funeral. And that's always the point that I'm always raising, that he's dead. The cop, he can get fired.

He can go get a job somewhere else. But this brother's dead. You don can get fired. He can go get a job somewhere else, but this brother's dead You don't come back from death and Then this is the fundamental problem that we face. There was a video that I saw I Can't find it. It was I can't find it. It was I saw it started several few years ago I'm also on YouTube and where does it I? Know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser 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 one, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th.

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Female cop. She was just going bonkers. Yelling at a dude, tell him to shut up. Stop talking. She eventually got fired. She eventually got fired. But it was a crazy video.

And we've just seen this so many different times of these cops who just don't know how to behave, who just don't know how to respond. And these are the people who don't need to be on the force. These are the people who need to be fired. And the problem, you said, is too often, too often they keep getting rehired at other places. And so the problem just transfers. The cop in the Sonia Massey case, same thing. I mean, this cop, I mean, he should have not been hired at that police department.

And that's the thing right here, Joe. It happens over and over and over again. And this Trump Department of Justice, they don't give a damn. They don't care about citizens. They side with law enforcement. And so for them to get rid of the database, were you able to track these cops? So they don't mind these thugs. So Trump was like, sure, what the hell?

Beat people, shoot people, tase people, kill people, whatever the hell. Hey, in my book, you're great. And, you know, just proportionately, as a point has just been made, this really affects black folks disproportionately. But that being said, there's a whole lot of white folks that could potentially be negatively affected by a rogue cop that doesn't care because they start off at 125 degrees at the very beginning. This particular cop had been accused of, you know,

roughing up a woman in a way that he shouldn't have. He had several incidents where he did excessive force and apparently lost his previous job because of it. Nobody's better off for cops that, among other things, out of fear, hatred might be part of it, but fear, too. Saw part of it, but fear too. Saw a brother. He comes out. A lot of times people puff up because they're scared, because they're scared of having to do something, right? I've been pulled over in situations where,

you know, you have to be the person to de-escalate because the police officer is escalating. I was speeding, okay, but I'm going to try to be compliant. I'm going to try to do what you need to do. But even in that situation, nobody ordered me to get out of the car right away and all of these other things. And so he came across the wrong situation. But between him being hired where he was and continuing to have the opportunities that he'd had, despite the mistakes that he's made, the mistakes of the same ilk. This ended up being a terrible, terrible combination. And then add, like you said,

what's happening with the Justice Department, where effectively we won't have a Justice Department for a period of time and records will go away, consent decrees will go away, records of police activity related to illegal issues, stops, arrests, brutality, et cetera, a lot of that's going to go away. And so now we are not going to have the numbers that we need to have in order to continue to demonstrate that what's going on is going on and that it's a problem that needs to be remedied. And so, you know, we have a problem this way, and we're going to have to become the Civil Rights Department until further notice, because we're not going to get any help at the top.

You know, we'll see what happens with this case, you know, because this is not an easy case, even though I see the route. But you could run across an unsympathetic jury that really doesn't care. And so we're going to have to do the best we can here. And that includes us, by the way, as citizens doing the best we can to deescalate because these police officers are not going to do their job. All right, gentlemen, hold tight one second. We come back. We're going to talk about Democrats on the Hill speaking out against the Republicans. Atrocious budget plan. We'll have that next. Folks, don't forget, support the work that we do here at Roller Martin Unfiltered and the Blackstar Network. We want you to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing on average $50 each.

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2003-7-0196. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered, Venmo, RM Unfiltered, Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. We'll be right back. We begin tonight with the people who are really running the country right now. Trump is often wrong and misleading about a lot of things, but especially about history. Donald Trump falling in line with President Elon Musk. In the wake of the unsettling news that MSNBC has canceled Joy Ann Reid's primetime show, The Readout, Roland Martin and the Black Star Network

would like to extend an invitation to all of the fans of Joy Ann Reid's MSNBC show to join us every night to watch Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming on the Black Star Network for news, discussion of the issues that matter to you and the latest updates on the twice-impeached, criminally convicted felon-in-chief Donald Trump and his unprecedented assault on democracy, We'll be right back. black voices in media. We must come together and never forget that information is power.

Be sure to watch Roland Martin Unfiltered weeknights, 6 p.m. Eastern at youtube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin or download the Black Star Network app. Hey, what's up? It's Tammy Roman. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherri Shepherd Talk Show. It's me, Sherri Shepherd, and you know what you're watching, Roland Martin Unfiltered. House Democrats united on the capital steps to warn Americans about the massive spending blueprint that would translate into the steepest Medicaid cuts in the program's history. Republicans want to cut $880 billion out of Medicaid. Democratic leader in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, said Republicans are,

Democrats are vowing unanimous opposition to this particular budget bill. Good afternoon. Today we stand together as House Democrats with the American people to push back against this reckless Republican budget. Thank you. this reckless Republican budget. This is a critical moment in the American journey.

Everything we care about is under assault. The economy is under assault. The safety net is under assault. Our very way of life as a country is under assault. Democracy itself is under assault. Donald Trump, the administration, and House Republicans are hurting the American people. It's unacceptable, unconscionable, un-American and we are not going to stand for it one minute. The Republican budget represents the largest Medicaid cut in American history. Children will be devastated. Families will be devastated. People with disabilities will be devastated. Seniors will be devastated. Hospitals will be devastated. Nursing homes will be devastated. So let me be clear, House Democrats will not provide a single vote to this reckless Republican budget. Not one. Not one. Not one. They will not get a single Democratic vote.

Why? Because we're voting with the American people. We're voting with the American people. We will push back against the Republican budget today. We will push back against the Republican budget tomorrow. We will push back against the reckless Republican budget until it's buried deep in the ground, never to rise again.

Never to rise again. We stand with the American people until victory is won. The reckless Republican budget will hurt everyday Americans who rely on Medicaid, rely on nutritional assistance, and rely on veterans benefits. This is not a reality show.

This is not a joke. This is not politics as usual. It's a matter of life and death. And so we will stand with the American people. Stand with them today. Stand with American people. Stand with them today. Stand with them tomorrow. Stand with them next week. Stand with them next month.

Stand with them this year. Stand with them next year. Stand with the American people until victory is won, this budget is defeated, and America is restored. So it's our honor as House Democrats to be joined today by three incredible Americans whose quality of life depends on all of us stopping this reckless Republican budget, which is a betrayal of the American people. We need to listen to these stories. We're committed to making sure that these everyday Americans can tell these stories and that their stories are heard all across the land.

So this is obviously going to be significant significant cuts that actually will take place and one of the things that's happening right now is you're seeing these Republicans getting their asses handed to them in these town halls. Now, I'm going to talk about that in a second. But after today's news conference, one of the reporters did ask Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett that if she ran to Elon Musk, what would she say to him? If you could speak directly to Elon Musk, what would you say? Fuck off. That's it. Well, that was to the point.

What's interesting, Mustafa, is that these Republicans, several of them went home and they had town hall conversations and they were getting lit up by their constituents, not happy at all with the news of all of these these doge cuts. Six thousand veterans have already been laid off, willy-nilly firing people. So, and one of them came back. He was like, hey, we might want to slow these cuts down. This is what happens when the people speak up. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's really interesting.

You know, I grew up in two places. Most folks know that, Appalachia and then over in Michigan. And, you know, when folks come back home to Appalachia, you know, they grew up in two places. Most folks know that Appalachia and then over in Michigan. And, you know, when folks come back home to Appalachia, you know, they're catching it. And because people understand there are two things that people really care about. One of them is jobs. The other part is health care. And we got 67 million folks in our country who are on Medicare. Eight million of those are people who are younger than 18. They have, you know, very serious conditions that are going on. Most of them are folks who are 65 and older. And people want to have that health care because they understand that it is a lifeline. And these folks are literally trying

to cut the lifeline that people all across our country, whether they're black folks or brown folks or working class or lower wealth white folks, folks know that if you don't have health care, then there's a great way for you to actually end up going into the poorhouse, if I can say it that way. So folks are upset. This is probably taken kind of lightly. People are mad as hell because there is a set of expectations. The other thing in our country is that once someone has the benefit, it is incredibly difficult to take that benefit away from them or to weaken that benefit or to cut that benefit. But this administration seems to have the hubris that they think that they can do anything and there will be no repercussions for their actions,

and they're incorrect. They're incorrect in states like Louisiana and Mississippi and West Virginia and Arkansas and Alabama, which are some of the sickest states, you know, in our country. But there are a number of others that are right there next to them. So you are literally shortening people's lives. You're taking some people's lives. You're putting people in the poorhouse when you don't have to do this. And of course, you're weakening the medical infrastructure, which is so incredibly important inside of our country. So, you know, you can continue to mess around, which you'll end up finding is that they'll end up voting some of you out. Larry, this was a map that CNN put together that showed the number of federal workers in states

that Donald Trump won. They keep complaining about how big the federal government is, 2 million federal workers. Well, guess what? 979,900 federal workers, that's almost 1 million, are in red states. So guess what? If they start bringing the meat cleaver to federal jobs, you know what they're about to impact? Red states. That means those folks are going to be without jobs. That means unemployment benefits.

That means SNAP benefits. That means loss of health care. That means potential loss of homes. That means being evicted. So, oh, yeah, it's going to have a huge impact. And what I keep saying to people over and over and over again that these white conservative voters are going to have to feel the pain

because they thought that Trump was going to be going after the other people. I love hearing this phrase, we didn't vote for this. You know, Roland, you hit it right on the nose when, you know, we heard President Trump and Elon

Musk before the election say that it was going to be some pain. But folks interpreted that to mean Black pain. And now they're finding out that the social safety net, which benefit, which, you know, provides support for all Americans, applies to folks who voted for Donald Trump.

And so, in my opinion, Roland, and you talked about, you know, a lot of these, you know, we've seen the last couple of weeks, constituents coming to these town halls. The bottom line is, Roland, just three months ago, they rubber-stamped all this. So, yes, all politics is local, and we'll have an election, at least in the House, in the next two years, and a few Senate seats. But really, with these members of Congress saying, you knew what you signed up for. So the reason why you don't see as many Republicans today with this budget resolution peeling off and may not see as many individuals peeling off as it relates to the overall budget cuts is because many Republicans feel like you rubber-stamped this. And once again, the interpretation was that this is going to dramatically impact Black folks.

But SNAP and Medicaid and some of these other programs, Social Security, while disproportionately individuals in red states, poor rural areas, are dependent on these programs. And Roland, when you eliminate the social safety net, you have these issues relating to tariffs, and it's going to impact consumer spending. And within the next two years, we're likely to have a recession. When you have a recession, and you've eliminated the social safety net, it's going to increase crime, and we're going to face some serious long-term issues as a nation. Just real clear with these people, Joe, and that is, y'all keep saying we didn't vote for it. Yes, you did. Yeah, as a matter of fact, you did.

You voted for this and you know, this is very difficult. You know, we all go through things and we have to find our ways to be the way we need to be. But I gotta tell you, there's a human part of me

that makes compassion a little bit more difficult in moments like this, where you elect a certain person who's not thinking about you. You had no good reason to believe that he was thinking about you. And then once it happens,

it goes down and he doesn't think about you. And now you're wondering, you got your hands up in the air and your mouth open. And I'm it happens, it goes down and he doesn't think about you. And now you're wondering, you got your hands up in the air and your mouth open. And I'm like, but you knew who he was. He told you who he was. He let you know who he was. You know, it's just kind of one of those things. He says this about you, but then you just deflect it as if he's not saying this about you. He's been for the rich from the very, very beginning, not for poor people, not thinking about poor people, not thinking about people of modest means, et cetera. And the fact that he has taken a chainsaw to finances, et cetera, and government funding without a scalpel, as opposed to the fact that he has done that has created a serious, serious problem, which guarantees not only

the intended consequences of shutting some people out, which is amazing. People were blind and they couldn't see that was coming. But there are going to be unintended consequences as well. This is not going to be good for the markets. This is not going to be good for people's long-term prospects at all. There are more white people on welfare than there are black people on welfare. There are more poor white people than there are poor black people. So there's no way that he is going to take a hacksaw to funds and social safety net, and it doesn't affect them. It's absolutely going to

affect them. And it's starting and happening already. Ask farmers that were dependent on certain money and certain support that haven't gotten it. They're already at incredible crossroads in their lives, where multigenerational farms are in the midst of potentially being lost or jeopardized. And so you knew this was coming. And it's something in law, a lot of times we say, you knew or should have known. And if you knew or should have known, if you should have known but you didn't know,

you're going to be just as bad off as if you actually knew. And the same thing is going to be true here. If you should have known what the president was going to do and you ignored it and acted like he wouldn't do it, you didn't know. Ignorance was bliss. Well, now you're not going to be able to be ignorant and be blissful because you're going to have things that you've come to count on and rely on or that your mother's relying on or somebody that you know is relying on. You're going to have those things go away. And here you are.

Absolutely, Mustafa. I mean, you know, like you always say, we tried to tell them folks are hardheaded and folks always think it's never going to happen to me. It's never going to happen in my community. It's never going to happen to my family until it does. I think for me, the question now is what are you going to do about it? Are you actually going to push back against, you know, your elected officials who say, well, you know, there's nothing that we can do? Are you going to hold folks accountable? And are you going to evolve in your thinking to make sure that the choices that you make with your vote are one that's actually going to be helpful to your family and to the next set of generations to come. So that's the moment that we find ourselves in. We can't change the past,

right? The vote has been certified. But you can make sure that you are getting extremely focused on holding people accountable in this moment and getting prepared for the midterms. So we'll see what folks do. All right, folks. Moving forward, the White House will decide which news outlets have access to the twice-impeached, criminally convicted felon-in-chief Donald Trump. This decision reduces the authority of an independent association of journalists, the White House Correspondents Association, which traditionally has determined which publications are included in the press pool. They also pay for that. During a White House briefing today, the clueless press secretary, Carolyn Leavitt,

announced these changes following a judge's preliminary ruling that the Associated Press does not have to be included in the White House pool. Listen to this. As you all know, for decades, a group of D.C.-based journalists, the White House Correspondents Association, has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the President of the United States in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore. I am proud to announce that we are going to give the power back to the people who read your papers, who watch your television shows, and who listen to your radio stations. Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team.

Legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades will still be allowed to join, fear not. But we will also be offering the privilege to well-deserving outlets who have never been allowed to share in this awesome responsibility. Just like we added a new media seat in this briefing room, legacy media outlets who have been here for years will still participate in the pool. But new voices are going to be welcomed in. 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, But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. 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. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. As well. As part of these changes, we will continue the rotation

amongst the five major television networks to ensure the president's remarks are heard far and wide around this world. We will add additional streaming services, which reach different audiences than traditional cable and broadcast. This is the ever-changing landscape of the media in the United States today. We will continue to rotate a print pooler who has the great responsibility of quickly transcribing the President's remarks and disseminating them to the rest of the world.

And we will add outlets to the print pool rotation who have long been denied the privilege to partake in this experience, but are committed to covering this White House beat. We will continue to rotate a radio pooler and add other radio hosts who have been denied access, especially local radio hosts who serve as the heartbeat of our country. And we will add additional outlets and reporters who are well-suited to cover the news of the day and ask substantive questions of the President of the United States depending on the news he is making on that given day. Let me explain to you how dumb these people are.

First of all, there is a cost to be in the pool. Typically, that cost, I mean, it can literally cost $300,000 to $500,000 a year. When you fly on Air Force One, and I've flown Air Force One once, I've been on Air Force Two twice, you have to pay for the ticket. On Air Force One, they charge you the price of a first class ticket. Air Force Two, they charge you the price of a coach ticket. So you have to pay for that. So there's a cost there. And so everybody is not a part of a pool.

Okay? So these idiots don't even realize, okay, if y'all want to include all these other different people, who's going to pay for it? That's one of the reasons why the major news outlets have actually been a part of that. Well, guess what, Carolyn, she got jammed up by someone even from Fox News regarding this decision. I want to watch this exchange. The reason that they wanted this five things email was just to see if people are actually alive, citing that there are some federal workers who might not even be alive. All right. So that was the Doge email. But I'm going to pull up in a second this exchange, which I thought was quite interesting, because what these people don't understand is, again, I'm just laughing at what the Trump people are doing. What the Trump folks want to do is they want to put their right-wingers into the press pool. Donald Trump wants their own people.

The Pentagon, they kicked out CNN, NPR, and others to allow in Breitbart and these right-wing media folks in there. And so this is what I've made clear, and I've sent it to some of the White House correspondents. I'm like, your strongly worded statements mean nothing. They mean nothing. Eugene Daniels, a brother with Politico, is president of the White House Correspondents Association. And he posted his statement on Twitter. If y'all have that, pull it up, please. He posted his comments on Twitter with regards to how the White House Correspondents Association feels about this change. And so what they said

was, give me a second, I'm going to pull it up for you. They said, this move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps. For generations, the working journalists elected to lead the White House Correspondents Association Board have consistently expanded the WHCA's membership and its pool rotations to facilitate the inclusion of new and emerging outlets. Since its founding in 1914, the WHCA has sought to ensure that the reporters, photographers, producers, and technicians who actually do the work 365 days of every year

decide amongst themselves how these rotations are operated so as to ensure consistent professional standards and fairness in access on behalf of all readers, viewers, and listeners. To be clear, the White House did not give the WHCA board a heads up or have any discussions about today's announcements. But the WHCA will never stop advocating for comprehensive access, full transparency, and the right of the American public to read, listen, and watch reports from the White House delivered without fear or favor. Eugene Daniels, White House Correspondents Association President. So guys, let me be real clear. Donald Trump don't give a damn about the strongly worded statements. Here's what Eugene Daniels and Kelly O'Donnell and Peter Alexander and all the reporters of these outlets, Associated Press, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, maybe Fox News, all of them.

Tomorrow when Carolyn Leavitt walks in, they should all stand up and walk out. And literally go stand outside of the White House and say, we're not covering your briefing. When Donald Trump, if he's whatever, when they're out there and he's coming out to Marine One, we turn the cameras on. We're not going to go cover it. Do understand something here. Donald Trump craves media attention. It is his oxygen. And not right wing. He craves the New York Times.

He craves to be on CNN and NBC. Oh, he'll criticize them, trash them, dog them left and right. But he desperately wants to be there. The only way that these media people are going to get his attention is if they boycott and walk the hell out. You have to play hardball with a bully. You got to punch a bully back. But you know what? I don't think they're going to do it. I think they're going to punk out. I think they're going to accept this. And he's going to say, go further.

And go further. And go further. He said, I want to be a dictator on day one. That's exactly what he's doing. And part of the problem is that mainstream white media has been too compliant? See, I'm wearing this shirt right here, got the lower third. Right here. America needs black journalists.

America needs black-owned media. Because, see, too many of them, they accept the bullshit. They accept being smacked around. They accept being mistreated. Ain't going to happen with me and others. This is an effort by Donald Trump to say to the media, I'm going to control you. I'm going to own you. You know what?

Y'all ain't going to do nothing. Because your bosses are wimps. Your bosses are scared. The problem is where we're operating today is that corporate media is more focused on mergers. It's more focused on them making more money. They're not focused on a free press. They're not focused on a free press. They're not focused on holding him accountable. They're scared.

They want their mergers. Sherry Redstone, Vicon Paramount. They desperately want the Trump administration to approve the acquisition of their company by Larry Ellison's son and Sundance. David Zaslav, Warner Discovery, desperately wants to be able to acquire some other companies in order for them to increase their scale, because those two companies are actually the two smallest major media companies.

You see NBC and Comcast, they're splitting off their assets. And so MSNBC and other cable networks are going to a separately publicly traded company called Spinco. And Comcast is still going to retain NBC. I can go on and on and on how all of these companies are looking to do deals. So therefore, they don't want to get on the bad side of Donald Trump. And he knows it. And so he's going to run roughshod over all of them.

And you know what they're going to do? They're going to bend over and take it. And then they're going to say, thank you, Donald. Please screw us over again. That's what's going to happen. Because they don't support, they don't really support a free press they support making more money and if that means

blowing off the journalists if that means whatever because you know what after that statement today Bob Iger at Disney which owns ABC after that statement today, Bob Iger at Disney, which owns ABC,

Brian Roberts, who runs Comcast, the top leaders, they should have issued statements. No, not their news presidents. No, not their division leaders. They should have issued statements and say, we will not tolerate the gross disrespect of a free press. But when you care about money and when you care about your other deals, that is what you worship. You do not worship the First Amendment.

Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, trust me, he ain't Katharine Graham. His president of the paper, Will Lewis, he damn sure ain't Catherine Graham. His president of the paper, Will Lewis, he damn sure ain't Ben Bradley. Y'all need to understand what we have today are weak, impotent media leaders who have no desire to challenge Donald Trump

or Elon Musk because they have been neutered. And this is why black-owned media is so important. This is why we've got to have free voices. People who are like William Monroe Trotter, who in the White House challenged Woodrow Wilson. He was kicked out of the White House by Woodrow Wilson, but he was willing to challenge him. I want you all to read Ethan McKaylee's book on the Chicago Defender. The federal government literally threatened to charge black newspapers with treason because they were writing about the racism that black troops were enduring. The federal government said that this was not good for morale. So instead of getting rid of the racism, they wanted to get rid of the black newspapers.

Those are facts. That is not what we have today. Larry? Roland, you highlighted it in terms of, it's really important for the White House Correspondents Association, you have to show some spine when it comes to this issue. Listen, I've been reading about authoritarianism, and one of the things that's really a key tenet is a free press. And you see them running in circles and running away from the issue. A united front is the only way to address this issue. And if they continue to capitulate and turn their backs and, you know, run around like, you know, with skunks and, you know, and just pretend like it's not all burning down,

this will get progressively worse. And as you said, he will take inch by inch, yard by yard, mile by mile. This is just the beginning of a four-year term. allowed the White House to dictate whether it's the AP or other traditional units have the opportunity to cover the president of the White House on behalf of the American people. But if they don't do anything, and strongly worded statements are not going to do anything. And listen, they better start taking the approach of civil rights leaders from decades gone, because that's the only way that you're going

to turn the tide on this. And one other thing I want to add, Rowan, is that history is watching. And those individuals, once again, who are not willing to stand steadfast and fight for every inch, not only in terms of the press, but overall our freedoms and what is supposed to be a democracy, years from now, people will ask them and discuss, where were you when the walls fell? Absolutely. This is one of the two books that I have on William Monroe Trotter.

And the book is called Black Radical, The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter by Kerry Greenidge. And the thing here, Joe, is simple. This man was willing to look the president of the United States, one of the most violent racists in American history, to occupy that office, Woodrow Wilson. And he pissed Wilson off so much, Wilson threw him out of the White House.

These folks, they crave access, Joe. They crave access, Joe. They crave access. They are unwilling to be modern day William Monroe Trotters. Yeah. And, you know, folks are going to have to follow my friends watching. You'd have to pardon us if we're a little pessimistic on this point, because if you really want to be honest, you really want to know the truth about it, they made Trump twice. The media, the mainstream media has made Trump president twice. They didn't do it once. They did it twice. They've normalized the things that he has done that have been unconstitutional.

They've normalized—and the second time he won, even though—quote, won—even though there's an argument that there are 3.5 million votes suppressed and all of these other things, they call it one of the greatest comebacks in political history. They have, from the very beginning, because Trump was sensational and he was interesting and dynamic and charismatic, they have effectively normalized him and made him a serious candidate when he wasn't and made him president twice. And so now you have to pardon me if I'm a little concerned

or a little skeptical of the notion that they would actually stand now and do what they need to do in order. Because even after he made them president, he's still dumping them. I mean, they could say that out loud. They said, man, we made you president. Why are you doing this? They could have that conversation.

But even after that, he's kicking them off to the side because he wants all his far right friends to be the media. So it is a serious problem when you have folks that allow the president of the United States pick who he wants to be covered by and therefore influence what the news actually is and therefore make it as flattering and unrealistic and maybe even untruthful, as untruthful as he wants it to be. We are in a very, very serious place and juncture. And we've, you know, but we've been here for a while because to my mind, he's been elected twice by the media.

He's been normalized by the media. He continues to be normalized. The things that he does continue to be minimized by the media. And you would like to think that at some point, you know, maybe at the moment that they find themselves out of the pool, out of the press pool, that they would, you know, gain a spine and say,

we need to take this thing another way. But I'm not going to hold my breath. Bottom line is, they scurred. They scurred, Mustafa. It's all about money. It's capitalism. These people who own these big media companies, they don't care about the journalism.

They care about the money. They care about the streaming. We are long past the days of Bill Paley and Arlitch, Leonard Golderson, David Sarnoff. We're past the days. These individuals now, they want to be richer and even richer. These folks, Jeff Bezos has so much money, he could never. The man got

divorced and his wife got billions and he still made more money. But it don't matter because they want more money. It's more money. It's more money. It's more money. But it don't matter because they want more money. It's more money. It's more money. It's more money. They don't give a damn that they are literally turning these media institutions into roadkill. Yeah, it's not about the truth. It's not about making sure that you place the spotlight on the issues that need to be brought forward to the American public. It is about stacking dollars. That's all it really

is about. And so we just got to make sure that we're understanding the game, but we also have to understand what can come out of this situation. You know, when you look at Russia, you have a state-run media system. When you look at North Korea, state-run media. When you look at China, state-run media. When you look at Nazi Germany, one of the things that Hitler did when he came in is he understood that he had to control the narrative. So eventually they made sure that they eliminated and then made sure that they created what the narrative was going to be, and that's through the media. So we have to be extremely careful in this moment that we don't find ourselves in a very similar situation to the folks that Trump is cozying up to. So it's right there in front of us. The question becomes, will Fox get a spine? Will we make sure

that we are also supporting the entities that are going to make sure that the truth is being told and that there's a spotlight on the issues that so many of make sure that the truth is being told and that there's a spotlight on the issues that so many of us care about. So we have some power in this situation, but we've also got to make sure that we utilize that power. Indeed, indeed. All right, folks, got to go to a break. We come back more on Roland McDonald and Filch right here on the Blackstar Network. Again, don't forget, support the work that we do. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. If you want to contribute via Cash App, do so by using the Stripe QR

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Go to BlackstarNetwork.com. Back in a moment. Coming up on the next Black Table, a conversation with Professor Howard W. Fritch on his new book, Born in Blackness, covering 600 years of global African history and helping us understand how the world we know today is a gift from black people.

There could have been no West without Africa and Africa. That's on the next Black Table with me, Greg Carr, only on the Black Star Network. This week on the other side of change. Abolition focus. Should we aim for reform or abolishing the entire system? Kamone Felix lets us know how much possibility lies in abolition. That is such a radical image because it

offers the suggestion, a suggestion that we already know to be true, which is that we have what it takes to take care of each other and to take care of ourselves. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to The Other Side of Change. 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 I was like tripping to see how many songs this kid actually knew. 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 Philip was saying, seeing his young kid. Then you see, hear our songs on commercials,

cold commercials. Then you have the younger ones that seen our, hear our music in animation. Hey, this is Motown recording artist Kim. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. 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. You know, we really do have a stupid person who's sitting in the Oval Office. We now have a lot of drama taking place at this fake Department of Government Efficiency.

On Tuesday, more than 20 civil service employees resigned from Elon Musk's fake department, stating they did not sign up for the task that they were being asked to perform. In the resignation letter obtained by the Associated Press, the staffers wrote in part, We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations. However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments. We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize American sensitive data, or dismantle critical

public services. We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize Doge's actions. We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations. However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments at the United States Doge service. The employees also expressed concern that many of those recruited by Musk to help him reduce the size of the federal government are political ideologues who lack the necessary

skill or experience for the task at hand. Not only that, y'all, y'all want to know how dumb Donald Trump is? So he signed an executive order today. And literally while he was signing the executive order, he decides to throw out this idea that we're going to start selling a gold card for rich people to bypass the immigration process and buy their way into America. OK, y'all might think I'm lying. No, this dumbass actually said this. Listen. Would a Russian oligarch be eligible for a gold car? Yeah, possibly.

Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people. It's possible. They're not quite as wealthy as they used to be. They're not as wealthy as they used to be. I think they could afford $5 million. No, a lot of people are going to want to be in this country, and they'll be able to work

and provide jobs and build companies and pay taxes. All of those things. It's an incredible thing. I mean, this is the group that is the first to hear it. Nobody's heard about it. Nobody ever thought about it. But we've been thinking about it very, very strongly over the last week.

And I was going to announce it sometime next week. And I figure, why not? We have a lot of cameras blazing right now. This is might as well. We might as well do it now. We'll have Carolina now. Y'all, seriously, a gold card. So, what the hell? They can just, you know, bow their way in. And so, hey, we're going to sell it for $5 million. And so, okay, listen to this idiot, actually.

I tell y'all, he's just stupid. Listen. Everything else is going to be very good. We're going to be... 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. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Selling a gold card. You have a green card. This is a gold card.

You have a green card. This is a gold card. We're going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million, and that's going to give you green card privileges plus. It's going to be a route to citizenship, and wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card. They'll be wealthy, and they'll be successful, and they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people.

And we think it's going to be extremely successful and never been done before or anything like this. But it's something that we're going to be putting out over the next, would you say, two weeks out? Do you want to say a couple of words about it? So what the hell? We're're just gonna do a gold card. Um, I really hope, Joe, those broke-ass people in the red states are watching this and realize he never gave a damn about y'all. Y'all were just too stupid to hand him your votes. He's saying, I'm here for the rich people. I'm here for the people who make a whole lot of money.

The rest of y'all can go to hell. And I keep saying it. These broke-ass MAGA white folks, they so broke, he wouldn't even let them walk their asses through one of his hotels. They couldn't even walk into the lobby. They would see they broke-ass coming and say,

no, no, no, no, y'all can't walk through the front door. But they believe this idiot cares about them it's interesting because a lot of what he does and what he quote sells is out of regular folks demographic and last time I checked there's a whole lot of regular

white folks just like there's a whole lot of regular black folks right and like there are a whole lot of regular black folks, right? And these folks are priced out of this. I mean, out of the abundance of the heart that mouth speaks. He's talking about putting rich people in front of the line, okay? And so, you know, we've got all these problems, and we're overcrowded, and we've got all these problems, and we've got to get rid of all these people that shouldn't be in our country. But we can bring these folks to the front of the line, and they'll pay a lot of taxes,

and they'll hire a lot of people. Now, it sounds like trickle-down. That's kind of what it sounds like. But that's how he vibes. This is very much him. This is very much who he is. And I stopped. I want to thank you, Roland, because I get the opportunity to say what I want to on this type of forum.

I can go back and forth and I can argue and I can hypothesize. I didn't stop trying to explain it to people on Facebook. I didn't stop trying to explain it to people on Instagram. Look, just keep living and you'll see how it goes. When your mother can't get her Medicare, can't get her Medicaid, when you got to pay more than $35, $50 a month for your insulin, then you'll know. Or maybe you won't and you'll just be where it is that you are, but you're going to struggle. So I can show you better than I can tell you. And he keeps doing things that show us, show us, and show us all the more. And so we'll see how loud they cry wolf as if this is something that they didn't expect or that wasn't going to happen

or that wasn't inevitable. But once again, here we are, and it's just going to continue. Regular people are getting ready to have a much tougher time than they've had for a long, long time. And listen, this thug is nothing but a grifter. In the same news conference, Mustafa, he was literally showing, hey, hey, here are the new products I have to sell. Watch this dumbass.

Look. Yes. See that? Trump was right about everything. It just came in. Somebody sent it. I said, this was sent in by a fan. I said, I think we should make some of them.

But we were pretty much. You want one? Are you allowed to take one? Because he'll consider it. I know him well. He's sort of a stiff. Brian, you're not a stiff. You're sort of a stiff guy.

He'll take other things, but not a free hand. Always say yes to the president. Always say yes to the president. Would anybody like one? Mr. President, an easy question. I don't even know who that ass kisser was over his left shoulder. Always say yes to the president. Always say yes to the

president. I mean, these are nothing but grifters, Mustafa. They are grifters. They are there to cheapen the Oval Office, the White House, to make a buck. That's all this is. This is a grifting operation. It's the fleecing of America.

It's exactly what it is. You know, they continue to sell off pieces of America. So when he talks about, you know, whatever the number is going to be, $5 million for you to be able to get to the front of the line, that's the pay to play. That's the world that he comes out of. If you ever followed his career, you can see how he's always paying folks off to be able to do the things that he felt that he should be able to do. And in many instances, you know, folks just went along. Now, there were a few cases, of course, that he got caught up in, but that's what's going on when he, you know, sells these gold tennis shoes for an exorbitant amount of money or sells a Bible, doesn't even

know how to hold the Bible. He has it upside down, but yet he wants to sell it for whatever the number was. You know, it continues to be, you know, just selling off pieces of America. And people saw many of these things before. They didn't know about the $5 million to be able to get in the front of the line. But they did see the other things, and they said, OK, we'll continue to ride with you. Now we find ourselves in this moment where there's much more serious and egregious things that he's doing that are going to impact folks. I can tell you the vast majority of people that I know are not going to make $5 million in their lifetime. There's a whole bunch of folks probably won't make a million dollars in there

because they're out there just grinding and trying to put food on the table and keep the lights on. But, you know, that is not of concern to him. I'll close with this. If he was serious about immigration, then he would be working for Congress to actually make the changes that were necessary to have a fair and equitable immigration bill. But he's not, you know but he's not interested in that. But he will say that if you have enough money, then you can get to the front of the line, you can come to this country, and then you can do what you want because you'll have your

citizenship. Now, actually creating jobs, if you really take a look at a whole bunch of the folks that he's been chasing around and deporting and those types of things, those are individuals who actually helped to create jobs inside of this country. So we need to make sure that we have a fair and legal immigration system that is built on equity. Larry? So basically, you know, a lot of these folks out here fell for the banana and tailpipe. So what do we have here? So for, you know for those individuals, like let's use an example, Roland, who have TPS. We know the Biden administration extended it for a number of groups, and the Trump administration then rescinded that. Villains Willens, Haitians, obviously the challenges,

Cubans, et cetera, and individuals from other countries that are facing extreme economic and various other challenges, TPS status has been revoked. And some of those people, their status ends as early as next month. So you have those folks on the other hand, and then the other group of individuals, if you got 5 mil, holler at us. And first of all, I don't know how they came up with $5 million and not $10, $15 million. It might as well be some much even larger amount of money. I have no idea where that number came from. But the other thing is, this is a clear indication that people voted just a couple months ago, Roland, and not necessarily these people I'm talking about who were with TPS status because they're here, once again, because of challenges

in their country, but their family members voted for this nonsense. And now they're going to end up having to leave the country or get deported, going back to countries, once again, that are struggling for various reasons. On the other hand, and he mentioned, someone said a Russian oligarch. So pretty much a rich criminal gets over on people and can give you several millions of dollars and have a golden parachute here in the United States. But it's never clear for some communities about who and what he values. But here we are. And like I said, just a few months out of the election.

And a lot of people, as you said before, are finding out and will find out even more over the next four years. Well, that is it. And I just sit here and I just laugh at these old broke folks. What, somebody want to say something? Go ahead. I'll say something real quick, because Republicans have been talking about for decades now about folks getting into the line and following the immigration system, right, and having to go through all those steps that often takes years and years and years for you to get your citizenship. And now, you know, Donald Trump has said, well, that's no longer the case. You know, if you got platinum card money,

I don't know why he called it gold card. Anybody can get a damn gold card. Then, you know, now you can move to the front of the line. So it goes completely against everything that they said that they believe in. Now the question becomes, are they going to make sure that they are crying out about that? Because that has been one of the major items that they have used to get people to vote. So we'll see how it plays out. Oh, absolutely. All right, folks. The fallout continues with regards to Joy Reid's show being canceled on MSNBC. Last night was her final episode. And so on last night's show,

she talked about, you know, what she'll be doing next, how people can actually reach her. Do y'all have, if y'all have, do y'all have her comments from last night? Okay. So again, so on last night's show, she, of course, got praised by a variety of people, former colleagues there. She spoke about about in terms of really what she is going to be doing and even how she even opened her show, talking about, again, what the focus is. So just take a listen to how she opened last night's show. But I think we begin tonight with what I think is the question. When you are in the midst of a crisis, and specifically a crisis of democracy, how do you resist? When fascism isn't just coming, it's already here.

So what, if anything, can you do about it? Well, for one thing, you can try to learn from history, from what people in this situation, in countries around the world, and in America, have done before. As my friend Rachel Maddow always says, history is here to help. America hasn't always been a free country for everyone, and we've had resistance movements from day one, from enslaved people fighting their captivity. Shout out to Harriet Tubman, who was a 92 percenter before 92 percenting was cool, and even taking up arms during the Civil War, to the women's movement and the workers' rights movement and the Stonewall gay rights movement, they've all been versions of the fight

to make this a free country for everyone and to have a true multiracial democracy. And that is history's most important lesson, right? That the most important thing, the first rule, is to fight back, to never stop resisting. Do not obey in advance, as Tim Snyder put it. Do not take the knee to throw in a Game of Thrones reference. Even if it's scary or uncomfortable or inconvenient,

just keep saying no or finding creative ways to say no in small ways and large. Medgar Evers said, do not shop where they will not employ you. Dr. King championed the Montgomery bus boycotts to become the leader of the civil rights movement. The labor rights movement shut down factories and hobbled industries to win the 40-hour work week

that you enjoy right now, and more recently, to ensure the right of workers to work from home during COVID. People have marched against the Vietnam War and the war in Iraq and against the decimation of Gaza using our tax dollars. You don't always win every battle, but the whole thing is about resisting.

Absolute bombshell this afternoon. So, dear folks have been responding. Well, it took us a while. The National Association of Black Journalists, they've released their statement. And their statement says here, so we can pull it up. I'm going to try to pull it up over here as well

so I can zoom in on it, because, guys, people can't see that. So this is quite interesting. They say the National Association of Black Journalists met with NBC Universal's Head of Diversity yesterday to discuss concerns about recent changes that have affected the black voices seen and heard on air every day. While NBC Universal Leadership, while NBC Universal Leadership has assured us that they, let me just pull it up right over here, guys, so I can zoom in on it. OK, go to my iPad.

They say, while NBC Universal Leadership has assured us they are committed to elevating black voices, we are disappointed by the removal of Joy Reid from her slot. Reid is a long-time journalist and host of The Readout, a major political commentary program. While we congratulate Simone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez on their new roles in Reid's former time slot, we remain concerned about industry-wide patterns in which black talent is disproportionately affected by corporate changes. We also have learned that other journalists and commentators

representing diverse communities have been removed from their slots. As we continue examining this issue and working with NBCUniversal on their commitments to diversity, we urge news leaders across the board to recognize that removing black voices affects how networks shed light on issues of great importance to our communities. Reducing those voices also limits the diversity of content and viewpoints. Networks must also ensure that more black journalists by trade have opportunities to contribute. We urge all news platforms to add rather than subtract from the diversity of their talent both on camera and behind the scenes. That's the statement.

So let me preface this. I joined NABJ in 1989. I was elected, I was a founder of the Texas A&M University NABJ chapter. I was elected the national student representative in 1989, serving through 1991. I served in leadership capacities in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth Association of Black Communicators. I belonged to chapters in Houston, in Chicago.

I later was elected to the board as secretary. The third time I was on the board, I was asked to step in to be the vice president for digital and then was elected to a term. I've been honored with the NABJ President's Award. I've been honored with the NABJ Journalist of the Year in 2013. In 2021, I was elected the youngest living person to the NABJ Hall of Fame. I have donated money, I have contributed, I have spoken at various sessions. But this statement is a piece of shit. This statement is weak. This statement is weak.

This statement is impotent. First and foremost, the statement isn't even signed. There's no quote in this statement from the president, Ken Lemon. There's no quote in this statement from Executive Director Drew Barry. What is this? Not only that, go to my iPad, Anthony. It says that we met with NBCUniversal's

hit of diversity. You did what? You don't meet with the head of diversity. You meet with the goddamn president. You meet with Mark Lazarus, the CEO of SpinCo, the company that will be overseeing MSNBC Mark Lazarus

Rebecca Cutler is the president of innocent BC You don't meet with the head of diversity who had no role in this Who has no P&L responsibility? Really? Let me explain something to y'all. When I was on the board, and we were kicking Jeff Zucker's ass for no black direct reports, CNN said, but we'll meet with the board. We're not going to meet with Roland Martin.

And I said, if y'all meet with them without me, I'm kicking all y'all's asses. They didn't meet with CNN. When we were going after ABC, ABC offered for their vice president, Barbara Fedida, who was later fired because of some racist comments, fired her so they offered to meet with her and somebody else. Our president at the time, Sarah Glover, was going to meet with her. I said, no not I said presidents don't meet with folk lower than the president

I said you as the president of the National Association of Black Journalists you do not meet with underlings you meet with folk on your level. And so I can tell y'all when we went after, when there were issues with ESPN and I was on the board, we met with Jimmy Pataro, who was the president of ESPN. When we met with Disney, we met with Peter Rice,

who was one of the top executives at Disney. When we challenged Jeff Zucker and CNN, we had a meeting with Randall Stephenson's subordinate, and the meeting was supposed to lead to a meeting with Stevenson because our leadership walked into the meeting and had a weak ass ask making us look like fucking fools. That never happened. This is the statement you release regarding the cancellation of Joy Reid's show?

This? This is a statement you released? This weak ass statement? The word dropped on Saturday that Joy was being ousted. And this is what you worked on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and released on Tuesday. Do y'all understand that this year will mark the 50th anniversary of the National Association of Black Journalists? met in Washington, D.C. in order to create this organization. And I had the pleasure

of knowing and meeting if you go to my iPad, these are the founders. No Norma Adams Wade. No Paul Brock. No Reginald Bryant. No Maureen Bunyan. No Charlie Cobb.

No Joe Davidson. I know Allison Davis. I know Paul Delaney. I know and met William Dill Day. I know Sandra Dillard and Joel Dreyfus and Sam Ford. I knew Vernon Jarrett very well. Knew Claude Lewis. Sandra Dawson Longweaver. Ploria Marshall. Knew Vernon Jarrett very well. Knew Claude Lewis.

Sandra Dawson Longweaver. Ploria Marshall. Asel Moore. Les Payne. Chuck Stone, my alpha brother. Francis Ward. Vince Sanders. John White. Talked to Dwayne Wickham on yesterday.

Former President Merv Osmond knew him well, another alpha brother. And this type of statement with what's happening to black journalists, this is what we release? This is a fundamental problem with black organizations. Having weak leadership. Unwilling to stand up. Unwilling to put your damn name on the press release. When I sat on that board, there's no, I wrote many of the statements that we released. How scared are you to put your name on it? If you're unwilling to put your name on it, damn it, don't run for office.

Yes, I'm talking to you, President Ken Lemon. what I've witnessed over the last several years of NABJ leadership has been despicable two years ago Birmingham we give the NABJ 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.

BJ, Journalist of the Year Award to Jim Trotter free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We waited to 2004 and we just dropped it out there to the public. If you go to YouTube and pull it up, you're going to see it's only have 12 views. And hell, it was 11 till I pulled up last night. Here's the problem that we have, because this goes beyond NABJ. Where is black leadership? Where are other black organizations? Why is it right now organizations are so quiet? Why is it

that folk don't want to say anything? So quiet. Why is it. That folk. Don't want to say anything. Well we have to understand. That these companies. They know. And they can smell weakness. They know. When we have spineless leadership. They know when we have spineless leadership.

They know when folks are unwilling to say what needs to be said. They know we can ignore them. They won't say nothing. They won't do nothing. And here's the greater issue. What signal does this send to the membership? And if it comes knocking on their door, they know NABJ ain't going to have their back. Folks, when we talk about black leadership, when we need to understand that what it means

for black leadership it means being leaders let me be real clear let me be real clear hell where's NABJ's statement today on what Trump just did with the White House press corps? Silence.

Silence. What I need people to realize that there is a difference between you holding the title and being a leader. President might precede your name. Well, that does not mean that you are a leader. And I fundamentally believe that the problem that we have today with too many of our black organizations is that we have folk with titles

who are merely present. But have no presence. We got folk with titles. Who, when they walk into the room. The room never shifts. See, I'm sorry. Excuse me, and I know within NABJ that I grew up watching real leaders.

That when something happened, they had something to say. I remember when we were in Houston and there was a panel and Bushwick Bill referenced the word bitch to one of the women there and said Mel Estes Sumter who later became president heard about it and stormed into the room and checked him at that moment and says, you will not

refer to any woman in this organization ever as a bitch. That's leadership. Leadership is when we had our convention in 2018 in Detroit. And they actually had a twerk contest on stage. And even Luther Campbell called him out. And there were some sisters who were offended. And I went when I wasn't in the room.

But when I heard about it, I went up to the brothers in the Miami chapter and said, let me holler at you. Y'all are going to apologize to the sisters for what y'all did. Oh, I know a couple of them were mad as hell at me, but I didn't give a damn. Because I wasn't going to be a board member and be silent when that happens. This statement from NABJ regarding Joanne Reed is simply unacceptable.

It is weak, it is impotent, and it is not representative of the NABJ that I was raised in. That I was trained in. It does not represent the legacy

of a Chuck Stone, of a Les Payne. It doesn't represent the legacy of a Vernon Jarrett. And all the brothers and sisters who are now ancestors, who created the opportunity for us to have an organization that speaks with integrity, morals, values, principle, and ethics for black journalists. NABJ, you have got to do better because this ain't it. To my panel, Larry, you can start. You know, Roland, you know, as you highlight the organization, you mentioned Chuck Stone. I'm from Philadelphia, so I remember reading his writings, you know, as a kid growing up. And, you know, the organization has a long history of not only in terms of, you know, writing, but Black activism.

And this is really, this is what we need right now. These are dire times. You know, writing, like you said, you know, bland statements, you know, that kind of say, you know, this is bad, but, you know, kind of winking a nod and not taking a more aggressive approach is not going to get it done today. We really need servant activists in today's society, particularly in the media. As I said earlier, the media is under attack and it's one of the pillars of a strong democracy, and it is failing us. And to see Black folks, you know, in particular in leadership positions in an organization that plays an important role in terms of making sure we have a diverse workforce relating to the media, you know, put out a statement, as you said, it's really almost like they use AI to put it out. It doesn't really have a lot of teeth to it said, it's really almost like they use AI to put it out. It doesn't

really have a lot of teeth to it. And it's not acceptable. And we have to be able to continue to hold individuals' feet to the fire to make sure that they are capable of living in this moment and in some cases being defiant and willing to put it on the line to make sure that black folks in this society has a voice that people hear we have to say and that we can thrive in today's society joe it will always take enormous sacrifice uh uh in order to get us from point A to point B. And the more urgent the times are, the more urgent the sacrifice is needed, and perhaps the deeper the sacrifice is needed. You would think that journalists would know how to write, okay? And I'm not a member of NABJ, but I think that I understand the urgency that you underscore in terms of a journalist's

group being able to speak to what's going on in the moment as it pertains to all of the attacks on the free press, all of the attacks of individuals, including Black folks, that are really speaking truth with their journalism and uncovering things that need to be uncovered. So I guess the question becomes, who are they really trying to please? What exactly are they scared of? Because the fact of the matter is, if they're scared of something in terms of maybe their rights being taken away, things being undermined, well, that's already happening. It kind of reminds me of, you know,

when I'm representing somebody who's got a terrible employer and the employer is out to get them and cut their head off and they're scared to sue them. And I say, well, I guess I understand somewhat, but they're moving on you regardless. That's why you're here. So the question becomes, there are certain obligations and responsibilities to whom much is given, much is required.

So there are certain obligations and responsibilities that come with sitting in your box. You could have gone and been a bean counter, and maybe you wouldn't have had to speak truth to power in a public way. But you chose something that actually obligates you to do that, particularly in light of what it is that we've had happen, what it is that we've seen happen historically as it pertains to journalists, as it pertains to fighting for First Amendment rights. And that just creates an urgency. We can't get rid of the fact that the urgency is there. And so, therefore, my hope is that we always meet the moment. And in moments like this,

when we are admonished that we aren't meeting the moment, hopefully we respond not by recoiling and covering ourselves up and going and rolling up in a ball in a corner, but by actually meeting the moment, because our freedoms absolutely depend on it. So, hopefully, in ABJ and similar organizations, from bottom to top, we get to work and do the things that we need to do in that regard. You know, Mustafa, I'm sure there are going to be some people who say, man, you didn't have to go so hard. Couldn't you just have called some folks and talked offline? No, sometimes you can't have that private conversation. Sometimes you got to go ahead and make it public.

And I just, I mean, again, I'm just real clear here. I'm just real clear here. This is not a moment for feckless leadership. And Mustafa, I'm very clear. If you don't want to do what the job requires, then damn it, resign. Don't run for the office. But if you decide... Mustafa, here's what people don't realize.

2011. I think it was 2011. NABJ was critical. We were critical of what happened was CNN, they had hired Erin Burnett. They gave her a show at 7 o'clock. They had pushed John King's failing show back to 6 o'clock.

I mean, it was horrible. There wasn't nobody watching that show. And then the other networks actually had hired hosts and they weren't all these shows had hosts and nobody was black. So we were debating the issue. And I was on the board. I was at CNN at the time. Out of all the was on the board. I was at CNN at the time. Out of all the people on the board, I was the only one on the board who had the possibility of actually being a show host at one of these networks. And we were discussing, should we give CNN and MSNBC the thumbs down award in 2011?

So we were having this conversation, and there was a sister who was on the board who worked at CNN who felt that I should refrain from voting and criticizing CNN because I worked there. And I said, baby, let me explain something to you. I said, I was elected as an executive officer to lead. I said, now, if I'm going to abstain, I need to leave the board. And in my speech, and in my speech to the board, I literally said, I am a potential beneficiary of hosting one of these shows.

But I will be shirking my responsibility to the membership that elected me if I put my personal ambition before the membership. And I voted to grant them the thumbs down award. Well, here's what was crazy. We did that. And one of our former presidents runs off and tell the folk at NBC because they've been so good to us with donations and they objected then we voted a second time to

give them a thumbs down award. Then the outgoing president, being weak, didn't put the statement out. Then the weak incoming president waited nine months

to put the statement out. And I'm sitting here trying to tell this sister worker at CNN who's on the board, I said, baby, you probably ain't never even made $100,000 there. I said, you don't understand how much executive producers make on these shows. You don't understand what it would mean to have black show hosts and the ability to create. Well, I went through this whole thing but the dip but the key is i could have been selfish and said man i ain't gonna sit here and vote because you

know what they i might get one of them jobs so i ain't gonna going to sit here. I ain't going to say nothing against my master because they're giving me a check. And maybe the difference between me and her, Mustafa, is CNN wasn't my only check. I had a TV One check.

I had a Tom Jordan morning show check. I had speeches and books check. And CNN. I had five lines of revenue money going to my media company. CNN was number three. Maybe that's probably why I wasn't afraid to make that vote. That to me, this ain't about being arrogant or cocky or somebody saying, oh, man, way to go.

No. When you are elected to leadership, you are to put your personal ambitions on the shelf and you are to lead for the people who chose you. Without a doubt, you know, just let me add one other thing to what you said. It is also about moral fortitude. And there are far too many people who do not have that, or they are afraid to tap into it because there is accountability that comes with that. There is, for some people, there's responsibility. and there's also sometimes something that you may lose if you hold on to your moral fortitude. I know my mama is watching because she watches your show all the time. And one of the things she always says is tell it like it is. And when she says that, I always laugh, but I understand what she means because she's like, no matter what, whatever the cost is, it is always better

to just make sure that you are telling it like it actually is and making sure that you are also letting folks know that you're not just going for the okie doke. So I appreciate that. You know, what I would ask our brothers and sisters over at NABJ, you know, is also, why don't you just say it with your chest? Because Ida B. Wells would do that. Because we understand that she actually was under great pressures, right? She didn't know every time that she walked out of her office or out of her home if somebody was going to kill her or lynch her or whatever the situation was. That woman had a bounty on her head. Yeah. They fire a bomb.

I got a mural in my office called Black on Media Matters. The reason you don't see a cover of any of her newspapers because they all burned up. They all burned up. Now, y'all should already have a shot in there. They all burned up. No, don't take that shot. They all

burned up. We have her name on the mural, but they all burned up. That's why. That woman had a bounty on her head. So that's how serious it was for her. And as the brothers on the panel today have said, that's how serious it is also becoming in our country. And the question becomes, will you stand up? Will you do the right thing? Will you build partnerships and relationships that allow you to not necessarily have to be the only one out there because we are moving together in solidarity? You know, I remember the words of Dr. King when he said the ultimate measure of a man or a woman is not where they stand in moments of comfort or convenience, but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy. And that last part is where people get tripped up because they're okay when everything

is easy. You know, it's easy to talk about environmental justice when the Biden administration is throwing, not throwing, but they are making sure they're sending money to the communities that need it or housing justice or transportation justice or all these other types of things that we fight for and should be fighting for. But when things get tight, that's when you find out who's really got the spine for it, right? That's when you find out who's really real about what is necessarily be done. And I'll close with this, Roland, because you also talked about folks not having confidence in our black organizations. When you talk to brothers and sisters who are on the street about, you know, an organization that's been around for a while, they want to know, so what have you done recently?

You know, I appreciate what you may have done in the 40s, 50s, or the 60s, but what are you doing now to make sure that you are lifting what's happening inside of our communities? What's going on in the hood? And if you don't have a response to that, then folks are just going to be looking at you like you're just some antiquated organization that is out of touch with what's going on.

So folks got to say it with their chest, but they also got to back it up after they say it with their chest. And that's what Ida B. Wells did. And that's what a number of other luminaries did. And that's why we lift their names up, because they weren't afraid. They weren't scared. Right. They made sure that when the time come that they stood right there in the fire and did what was necessary. This is, come on, move the camera, y'all. I need to shout out Ida B. Wells in it. So the reason I got up to come over here and show y'all this here, thank you, is this here. That was a black journalist with courage. I purposely am wearing the shirt, America needs black journalists. But America don't need weak black journalists.

America don't need feckless black journalists. America needs black journalists who are going to be soldiers without swords. Go watch the PBS documentary on the black press. It was called Soldiers Without Swords. And that's what we have to have these days. And so you said, say it with your chest. And again, we need folk who are going to be willing to stand up, folk who are going to be willing to represent the interests of the people. And when I say, and look,

I don't mean no disrespect to anybody who's got a vice president for diversity title. But let me be real clear. They ain't got no power. Somebody with a VP for diversity title, they got no power. And so NABJ, don't ever do that again. If something happens to a black journalist on a local level, you meet with the editor and the publisher.

You don't meet with the assistant city editor. If something happens in a television newsroom, You don't meet with the assistant city editor. If something happens in a television newsroom, you meet with the news director and the general manager. You don't meet with the assignment editor. When something happens with a magazine, you meet with the executive editor or the head of content and the media CEO or the publisher, you don't meet with the fashion editor.

And if you're talking to a network, you don't meet with the VP of diversity. They should have met with Rebecca Cutler, the president of MSNBC, and Mark Lazarus, the CEO of SpinCo. Now is not the time for weak folk in positions of power. Because weak folk in positions of power make the position weak. And time is up for all of that. I'll be right back.

This week on the other side of change. Abolition focus. Should we aim for reform or abolishing the entire system? Kamone Felix lets us know how much possibility lies in abolition. That is such a radical image because it offers the suggestion, a suggestion that we already know to be true, which is that we have what it takes to take care of each other and to take care of ourselves. Watch us on the Black Star Network,

so tune in to the other side of change. We begin tonight with the people who are really running the country right now. Trump is often wrong and misleading about a lot of things, but especially about history. Donald Trump falling in line with President Elon Musk. In the wake of the unsettling news that MSNBC has canceled

Joy Ann Reeve's primetime show, The Readout, Roland Martin and the Black Star Network would like to extend an invitation to all of the fans of Joy Ann Reeve's MSNBC show to join us every night to watch Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming on the Black Star Network for news discussion of the issues that matter to you and the latest updates on the twice impeached criminally convicted felon-in-chief Donald Trump and his unprecedented assault on democracy as well as co-president Elon Musk takeover of the federal government.

The Black Star Network stands with Joy Ann Reid and all folks who understand the power of Black voices in media. We must come together and never forget that information is power. Be sure to watch Roland Martin Unfiltered weeknights, 6 p.m. Eastern at youtube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin or download the Blackstar Network app. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial.

This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have been... 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. This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because

of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is Whitefield. other side of change. Abolition focus. Should we aim for reform or abolishing the entire system? Kamone Felix lets us know how much possibility lies in abolition. That is such a radical image because it offers the suggestion, a suggestion that

we already know to be true, which is that we have what it takes to take care of each other and to take care of ourselves. Watch us on the Blackstar Network, so tune in to the other side of change. Hey, what's up? Keith Tony in a place to be. Got kicked out your mama's university,

creator and executive producer of Fat Tuesdays, an air hip hop comedy. But right now I'm rolling with Roland Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged and undamned believable. You hear me? All right, now our panel is declining to authorize an arrest of Republican Congressman Corey Mills of Florida. Check this out. Last week, Mills was accused of physically assaulting a 27-year-old woman with whom he was having an affair. Mills is married. Officers

responded to an incident at the two-term congressman's residence where they found a woman with, quote, fresh bruises on her arm, unquote. The victim allowed the responding officers to listen to a phone call in which Mills instructed her to, quote, lie about the origin of her bruises, unquote. Mills was not arrested at the time, but when he was informed that an arrest would be forthcoming, the victim returned and recanted several details about the altercation. An arrest warrant for Mills was created on Friday and sent to the U.S. attorney for ratification. Now, the reason that's important, y'all, because in D.C., the U.S. attorney has jurisdiction.

However, the U.S. attorney, Martin, who represented Proud Boys and January 6th white domestic terrorists, his office refused to sign the warrant, returning the case to the Metropolitan Police Department for further investigation. So basically, Joe, what Trump's people are saying is, hey, we're MAGA, and we won't indict or arrest a MAGA Republican for physically assaulting a woman yeah we're going to take care of our own

we're going to cover our own and so therefore I mean this is just another one of these situations where if you are actually concerned about justice and what's supposed to be true justice in the American way people ought to be true justice in the American way, people ought to be yelling out loud about this. This is domestic violence, where someone was scared, someone was beat up, and ultimately they end up helping to try to cover him, cover for him,

as scared women or scared domestic violence victims can often do. And so here it comes to the prosecutor, to you as attorney, who's actually supposed to. That doesn't mean the person's going to be convicted. There's still a process to be undertaken. But clearly there should have been an arrest. And so you put people in these positions of authority, and now they get to pick and choose who they want to prosecute. And so they want to prosecute one of their own, because at the end of the day, hey, they just got a two-vote majority in Congress.

So can you really fault them for being self-centered and self-motivated to ignore justice when it's appropriate and convenient for them? So this is going to be a thing. I think it's going to continue to happen. You've got the Fox guarding the hen house, big time. Larry, keep in mind that Martin also said this the other day. Go to my iPad, Anthony. As President Trump's lawyers,

we are proud to fight to protect his leadership as our president, and we are vigilant in standing against entities like this. AP refused to put America first. Edward R. Martin, Jr., United States Attorney, District of Columbia. Larry, the U.S. attorney is not Trump's lawyers. They represent the people of the United States. This is the problem with this thug being in the Oval Office. His minions believe that they are there only to serve him and not the American people. That statement

that you just read and I remember seeing a few days ago is straight out of an authoritarian playbook. In Chile, in Russia, and in various other countries, we've seen this over Mussolini, we've seen this over the decades. It's the same playbook rolling. And so, yeah, I mean, they're not—we saw what happened with the January 6th insurrectionists.

So none of this is going to be surprising. And people should really prepare themselves for more of this over the next couple of years. President Trump has complete immunity, and he's put in place, from DOJ and various other places, individuals who are completely beholden to him and will completely continue to ignore the U.S. Constitution. So, this will only get worse. We'll continue to hear stories about this. The story I'm most interested in—and this one certainly is interesting—but the billions and trillions of dollars that will eventually be stolen from the U.S. Treasury that, you know, we'll certainly find out years from now.

And probably those individuals won't be prosecuted either. So this is from the very beginning of a long road of individuals who've committed crimes and they're being ignored. Mustafa? Well, you know, it's supposed to be what the party of family values, right? That has been their mantra for decades now. And we see what the party of family values, right? That has been their mantra for decades now. And we see what the party of family values actually stands for. Because when they see someone who's done some type of an action like this, then you hear silence. You don't hear them saying anything about it.

You don't hear them saying, asking him to, not even at a minimum, to apologize. But much more significant actions should be going on in relationship to putting your hands on a woman. And the other part is that we know that we have two justice systems that actually exist inside of America. You know, right now, a justice system that would hold all of us accountable and many, many other people across our country if we did something like this. And the other justice system is for those who have privilege and power, or at least assume power in this moment. So we just have to be aware of sort of the playbook that is currently playing out in front of us and make

sure that we're prepared for the things that are going to come, as the other brothers have shared, over the next couple of years. Absolutely. All right, folks, we have lost some amazing figures in the area of music. Gwen McRae, the soulful voice behind classics like Rockin' Chair and Funky Sensation, passed with the age of 81.

Known as the queen of rare groove, Gwen's music wasn't just played, it was felt. Her songs filled with passion and funk became the soundtracks, the cookouts, family gatherings, and late night grooves. She gave us music from 90% of me to keep the fire burning. That's

to the test of time. Born in Pensacola, Florida, Gwen started singing in church and went on to bless us with 14 albums over her decade-long career. Even if you don't know her name, trust me, you know her sound because artists like Lady Gaga, Mobb Deep, and Cypress Hill have all sampled her music, proving her influence stretches far beyond her era. In 2012, Gwen suffered a stroke that took her away from the stage, but her voice, that never faded. Gwen McRae leaves behind a legacy of soul, groove, and timeless classics

that will continue to move us for generations to come. Folks, we'll say goodbye to another soul legend, Chris Jasper, the Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and iconic Isley Brothers member. He passed away at the age of 73. His family confirmed the news sharing that Jasper was diagnosed with cancer just December. He was born in Cincinnati, where he grew up as a classically trained musician, but soul music was his destiny. He lived in the same apartment complex as the Isley family and lived by high school.

He had already formed a band with Marvin and Ernie Isley. That connection led him to tour with the legendary Isley brothers while studying at Juilliard and Long Island University. Before long, he was writing hits for the group, including the 1972 classic, Love Put Me on a Corner. But his voice and musicianship

gave us timeless records like For the Love of You and Caravan of Love, songs about love, unity, and making the world a better place. Folks, man, this is a big one here. Grammy-winning singer and pianist Roberta Flack. She passed away on Monday at the age of 88. According to a statement from her publicist, Elaine Shock,

she died at her home surrounded by her family. In 2022, Flack revealed she had been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and she could no longer sing. Flack was discovered in the late 1960s by jazz musician Les McCann. Flack made history in 1973 with her hit, Killing Me Softly, with his song. She became the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for Best Record. A classically trained pianist, she was so gifted at the age of 15 she received a full

scholarship to Howard University. And of course, many people remember the amazing songs she did as duets with Donny Hathaway, who also was from Howard University. Folks, Roberta Flatt passed away at the age of 88. And we close out this memoriam, folks, with the loss of the Iceman, Jerry Butler. He was the co-founder of the Impressions, a renowned baritone

singer and songwriter. He passed away at the age of 85. His hits, For Your Precious Love and Only the Strong Survive, Butler, who earned two Grammy nominations during his career, passed away at his home in Chicago. Born in Missouri, he was just three years old

when his parents, who were sharecroppers, moved the family to Chicago as part of the Great Migration in the late 1950s. He formed the Impressions with his childhood church friend, Curtis Mayfield, who, of course, passed away in 1999. But Jared Butler, folks, was not just a singer. He also was an activist and a politician, serving for a number of years as a Cook County Commissioner. That's right, served on the Cook County Commissioner's Board there in Chicago.

And so even though he was serving on the board of Cook County, he also was still performing. And so Jerry Butler, we remember him for all that he did. And so Jerry Butler also was a fellow member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. And so we salute these four musical greats. Folks, on Saturday, I was, of course, in Los Angeles for the NAACP Image Awards, where the Chairman's Award was given out to Vice President Kamala Harris. The President's Award was given to Dave Chappelle in her speech.

Vice President Kamala Harris encouraged folks not to give up and to stay the course and end the fight. I want to thank you, Chairman Russell, for your kind words and your longstanding leadership. To Devin, I'm so proud of you, and it is so good to see you. I know the future of our country is bright when I look at you. So I will say, as a very proud lifetime member of the NAACP, I thank everyone here for your tireless advocacy and for your years of support.

To receive this award has very special meaning for me. As everyone here may know, I grew up inspired by the work of the NAACP, inspired by all those who took up the fight for justice, for equality, and for opportunity. Their example is part of the reason I chose a life of public service, seeking to always live by the words of a distinguished NAACP founder, W.E.B. Du Bois, when he said, that our best work can be done, and not some future day or future year. And this sense of urgency is what we must have today, knowing, as the saying goes, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. The price of liberty. The price of liberty to stay alert, to seek the truth,

and to actively participate in the fight for America's future. This organization came into being at a moment when our country struggled with greed, bitterness, and hatred. And those who forged the NAACP, those who carried its legacy forward, had no illusions about the forces they were up against, no illusions about how stony the road would be. But some look at this moment and rightly feel the weight of history. Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy, and ask, what do we do now? But we know exactly what to do because we have done it before and we will do it again. We use our power. We organize, mobilize, we educate and we advocate.

Because you see, our power has never come from having an easy path. Our strength flows from our faith, faith in God, faith in each other, and our refusal to surrender to cynicism and destruction. Not because it is easy, but because it is necessary. Not because victory is guaranteed, but because the fight is worth it. And while we have no illusions about what we are up against in this chapter in our American story, this story will be written by you, written by us, by we the people. I thank you.

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. Thank you. Get the panelists' comments on that. I got to play this here. So Kerry Washington, she got the NWC Image Award for the Tyler Perry movie on Netflix, featuring the sisters, of course, who were delivering the mail during World War II. Now, what's so hilarious is, first of all, so I'm going to play y'all her acceptance

speech, but the funny thing is what happened after. Roll it. As you know, on award shows, when people look surprised, I never believe that they're really surprised until Beyonce at the Grammy's. That was like, but I'm just shocked. I'm shocked because the women that I'm nominated with are so extraordinary. So extraordinary.

I love you all so much. And I'm honored to be in a category with you. I wanna thank the fans. I want to thank my family, my husband, my children, my parents. I want to thank Netflix. I want to thank Tyler Perry and Nicole Yvonne. I want to thank our beautiful, award-winning Best Cast Ensemble. And I want to most importantly thank the women of the 6888.

The 855 women of the 6888. The 855 women of the 6888 who proved to us how extraordinary black women are, how extraordinary we have always been. At a time when our history is being ripped from us, when people are trying to get us to not tell our stories, we are telling your stories, ladies, because you are calling us forward into our greatness. And that's what tonight is about. It's about all of us being called into our greatness. So remember your greatness,

because that is what the fight is for. Thank you, NAACP. Oh, my God, I'm shaking. Okay, thank you. All right, so here's what happened, okay? So when Carrie walked off, she went, oh, and she came back to the microphone. And she wanted to say something else,

but they had introduced Clifton Davis and Carla Mosley to come out to present the next award. So this happened. Um, these guys are great. They have an amazing show that's going to be premiering soon. But I did not thank Tyler Perry. I did? You did.

Thank you. You did! No, but they did not do it. Let's all thank Tyler Perry. All right, so Mustafa, Larry, and Joe, okay, here's what y'all don't realize is, I'm gonna have y'all play the second one again. So the audience said, you did. Now, the voice of God who was presenting, who was announcing the presenters, was MC Lyte.

You hear MC Lyte go, you did. Play it. These guys are great. They have an amazing show that's gonna be premiering soon. But I did not thank Tyler Perry. I did? You did. No, but they did not do it. Oh, my God, that was hilarious.

Tyler Perry, actually, I texted him. He got a huge kick out of that. So that was pretty funny there. But I just want to get your thoughts, what the vice president had to say. Mustafa, I'll start with you. I mean, you know, she always makes sure that she has the right words for the right moment. Enough gratitude, but also. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time,

have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Painting the picture moving forward, it reminded me of Michelle Obama when she once said the history has shown us that courage can be contagious and can take a life of its own. And, you know, when the vice president was running, she brought a new energy into the space and she helped people who often felt that they were unseen and unheard to know

that they had a voice and that they had a champion for them. So I really appreciate the NAACP honoring her, the work that she's done, the work that I'm sure she will still do, but also making sure that we understand that, you know, we take the baton and continue to move forward. So I thought it was a very positive moment, and we got a lot of work to do, but we'll get it done. Larry? Yeah, real quickly, as she highlighted, the fight goes on, and I think it's important that she knows that she's been a lifetime member of the NAACP.

So folks out there, get active, get involved, and let's continue to support her as she figures out what she wants to do next in her career. Joe? She reminds us of our North Star, what we need to be looking toward, and that she was a fine presidential candidate, a wonderful presidential candidate, and a worthy presidential candidate. And so hopefully we take those words and continue to do the work. This is a long term thing. And you've got to believe the right right is going to win out. And as it pertains to Kerry

Washington, listen, brother, brother Tyler Perry is the one. So I ain't mad at her that she went back, interrupted the show and made sure she thanked the brother. I ain't mad at her that she went back, interrupted the show, and made sure she thanked the brother. I ain't mad at her at all. Always wise. All right, y'all, real quick, we got some breaking news. Y'all been knowing about that crazy-ass mayor in Dalton, Illinois, Tiffany Hinyard. Have y'all all been seeing the videos I had on the show where she was over there lying about stuff?

Well, y'all, they had the primary uh today and uh y'all she gone she got dog walked in the primary she loses uh to trustee jason house go to my ipad come on come on she loses by a landslide uh in the south suburb of chicago uh and and when i say she got beat down, she got beat down. According to, I saw one, I think she, polls closed at seven, and it looks like she only got, look at this here, she got

12% of the vote. 536 votes. He got 87% of the votes. He got 87% of the votes. Damn! I mean, I done seen some races, but

that's an ass-whooping when all you got was 12% of the vote and you the incumbent. It's clear the folk in Dalton, Illinois was sick of her ass.

You know, I remember when you had her on the show, Roland, you know, I was a guest then and, you know, you had some really important questions she never quite answered them, so now her constituents is answering. Uh, I bet that they, Joe, we call that a straight

up hashtag team whip that ass beating. Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, she's in bad shape on that, and so that's done. But the good news is there probably won't be any federal charges because, you know, she's got a government that might be a little

bit sympathetic to that type of thing. But if Illinois decides to move on her, she's going to have a separate problem. So losing the election in an embarrassing fashion might be the least of her worries. Oh, yeah. I mean, at the rate we're going, Mustafa, hell, she'll be hired by the Trump administration. It's quite possible because they know that they need to work on their diversity. But, you know, besides that, I mean, there's a whole lot we could have said today on the show about many of the things that they're doing and these people they're putting in position and how it lines up with the things that they say about DEI, which we all know are

not true. But that's for another show. You know, in relationship to this, you know, that's why we love the beauty of We the People, because the people, when given the opportunity and there is a fair process, they are going to choose the right individual to be able to lead them. So I'm glad that folks had the opportunity to actually do that. And they cast their vote. And now they have, you know, new leadership. So we wish the new leadership well. But as Ida B. Wells said, we're going to keep our eye on what's going on. We're going to make sure that there's real truth coming out of

whatever administration it is wherever across the country. Indeed, indeed. Mustafa, Joe, Larry, I appreciate y'all being on today's show. Thank you so very much. Hey, folks, don't forget support the work that we do. This is all about speaking to the news and issues that impact African-Americans. And let me explain something, y'all. It's a lot of people who not black who watch us.

Tamika Mallory sent me a text today. I just want to read this for y'all real quick. She sent me a text. She said, Ro, thanks for having me on your show last week. Of all of the ways people told me they learned about my book tour, your show was mentioned at least 20 times by different people of all ages, even one white woman. Outside of my Instagram, you were my biggest push for the weekend. Amazing events. Appreciate the support. Hashtag black media is key. We have to support you, folks. And it's always interesting when people come on this show and they go, oh, my God, man. People calling me and texting me and folk I hadn't heard from in years who I went to school with.

Yeah. I'm like, yeah, we're literally we're doing 30 plus million views a month. Folk are paying attention. They are reading. They're listening. They're watching. They're understanding. Not only are they following us when it comes to watching the show on YouTube or Facebook or our Black Star Network app, they also are looking at our show on the various apps. Pull that graphic up.

If y'all, for our Black Star Network app, you can, of course, download the app on your phone, your Apple phone, your Android phone. But also, we're available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. So that's the app. And, of course, and understand, and I'm very transparent, y'all, that app costs $150,000 a year. Why don't we have the app? Because it's not just to be on those platforms. It's also just in case if Facebook or YouTube decides that they don't want to run our content,

we have our own place to run our content if any of these platforms says no. That's why we spend $150,000 a year to do so. So when you support this show, that's what you also are supporting. You are supporting the work that we do. You are supporting our broadcast all across the country. You're supporting when we travel. You're supporting the new shows that we have. You're supporting the staff that we hire and the new people who we're adding to the show as well. And so all of those things are critically important. And I'm always, I'm just trying to get us just to understand that we have to be absolutely about building Black-owned media. It's about us supporting Black-owned media. It's about us not willing to run from Black-owned media

because it's not about just what somebody else says or does. It's really also about how they're going to be able to impact us, how we're going to be able to tell our story. Because I'm just not interested, y'all, in asking somebody else to tell our story. Y'all heard me say this a thousand times. I do not believe that white ice is colder. And so we, and I say that because a lot of us, we all about validation. We are all about what they say and what they do. And so I just want you to understand why it's also important for you to support. Let me also give y'all an update. Again, being transparent. Y'all remember on 2020, December, 2020, we got us a sprinter for our mobile broadcast. Go to my iPad.

These are the photos of that particular sprinter. And so y'all see it was an amazing sprinter. It looked great and all of that. But guess what? What happened was we were returning from essence in 2022 that was a fool who decided uh to swerve in front of our serve swerve in front of uh our uh sprinter uh which caused it to be completely total this is what it looked like uh and so this is what it looked like literally on the freeway there um i was of course uh deshaun Smith, our driver, was able to walk through the

front windshield, that cocoon. You see this right here. This is the, those airbags all deployed. That cocoon protected him. He had some aches and pains, some minor scratches, but the bottom line is he walked through the front window. So he was able to survive that. Well, we were working with a black owned company who screwed us out of a lot of money. I'm trying to get that money back. Trust me. And if I got to file a lawsuit, I will be filing a lawsuit against that woman. But we talked to another particular company about it. And so what's going to happen is in April, our new vehicle is going to come to us. Now, this is not going to be a Sprinter. It's going to be actually a larger vehicle because what I did not like having that on the Sprinter that we had,

they had a fiberglass. Let me just show you so you can understand what I'm talking about. So you will see right here, this is on the back of that Sprinter. They had this fiberglass trunk. And so that fiberglass trunk, you see it right there. It actually was extended on the back and actually threw the weight off on the back of it. And so I didn't want that for our new vehicle. And so what I did was I looked at the various options and we chose to go with a Ford F550. It's going to be 35 feet long. And so this is not itself, but I just want to show you some of the features. This is what the bathroom is going to look like in our new vehicle. This is what the microwave, the counter, and the refrigerator looks like as well.

This is how some of the seating works. So that curtain right there, that's where we're actually going to have a wall there with a television on it because the driver's on the other side of that particular curtain. So this right here, you see the one at the bottom. We're going to have 48 inches of trunk space. That's going to allow us to be able to carry our gear because I want to be able to have that so we don't have that fiberglass trunk on the back. Everything is going to be all in one to provide more safety when we travel and broadcast from it as well. So this is typically what the door is going to look like coming into the vehicle. And so this is what it's going to look like on the exterior. It's going to be black. And so this is just an example of what some of some of the other vehicles look like. Then you have this is another example of what the vehicle looks like. This is

one of the ones they did that had an awning. I was going to get the awning because a lot of times when we travel, we want to be able to have something underneath. But the problem was that when they do these awnings now, when the wind starts kicking up, it automatically closes. You don't have any manual control. So I didn't do that because we have our pop-up tent. We can use that. So I didn't get the awning of the vehicle. This is also an inside, what's going to look. It's not going to have this color scheme, but you have a sense of what the inside of the vehicle will look like. And so the folks at LGE are building it. It will be delivered to us in April. And again, this is going to allow us to be able to now, when go on the road, we can almost even do a broadcast from the inside because in the back of the vehicle will be two captains chairs.

It's going to be a television above us. And so if we want to do a one on one interview in the vehicle, if it's raining outside or whatever, we can actually do that. And so I wanted to show you that because a lot of you contributed to help us get our new vehicle. And I'm always saying how we have to be, you know, again, let y'all know what we're doing, because when you are investing in this show and you're investing in my vision and for the show and this network, I want to show you when you give donations, I want to show you what it's going to. And so when we travel, we now are going to be around the country and we're traveling around Virginia, helping Speaker Don Scott hold on to the house. We're going to be that's what we're going to be doing.

We're going to be broadcasting with that vehicle, how we cover marches and things like that. We can mount cameras on the outside of the vehicle like we did for Reverend William Barber's march in Texas, like we did in Tulsa for the 100th anniversary of the race massacre. And so I just wanted to give y'all an update. Some of y'all have been emailing me saying, hey, what's up? What's going on? And like I said, you know, it was total in July of 2022. We were working with a black owned company and they messed us around in a huge way. It has been a huge mess. And so I'm dealing with that, trying to get our money back. And it is six figures. And if need be, I will take her to court to get our money back. But that's what's going on. And so that's happening as we speak.

So y'all want to support us to join our Bring the Funk fan club. You now understand what your resources go to do here. So if you want to give you a cash app, use the Stripe QR code. That's it right here to give you a cash app. And then, of course, if you are listening, go to BlackstarNetwork.com. See the QR code. You also, of course, can send your check and money over to peelbox57196 washington dc 20037-0196 paypal is r martin unfiltered venmo is rm unfiltered

zale rolling at rolling s martin.com rolling that rolling unfiltered.com i see y'all in the chat no we would i will not be having no Carolina blue as our vehicle. It's going to be black and white. Don't even try it. That's the colors of our network. Y'all better go somewhere else with that nonsense.

All right. Don't forget, of course, you also want to download the Blackstone Network app, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV.

Be sure to get my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. Get it from bookstores nationwide. Also, if you want to get the version I read on Audible, you can download it there. Get our Roland Martin Unfiltered Black Star Network merchandise. I know they've been slow.

We told y'all one of their service centers was down and they were replacing it. And so it's been some issues. So if y'all have any issues with your products, send us an email at info at RolandSmartin.com and we will hit our representative to check on that as soon as possible. And so get your shirt, hashtag, we tried to tell you FAFO2025.

Don't blame me, I voted for the black woman. Go to RolandMartin.Creator.Spring.com or go to the BlackstarNetwork.com. Also, what we want you to do is if you want to download the app fanbase be sure to do that uh if you want to invest uh almost 10 million dollars of the 17 million in the series a raise has been uh has uh has been raised and so go to startengine.com forward slash fanbase as possible. Some of y'all are asking me in the chat what happened to the driver. Well actually what happened was the guy was playing

games on the road and what he did was he slowed down and looked over at Deshaun's smile and sped up and jumped in front of him and that's what caused Deshaun had to swerve to miss him and that's why the sprinter rolled seven times on the highway there in Alabama. And so once the vehicle arrives, then we're going to actually take it somewhere else and it's going to be outfitted with 360 degree cameras. So if anything happens in the future, it will be recording all the way around the vehicle. If anything like that ever happens in the future, God forbid. All right, folks, that's it. I'll see y'all tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Howl! Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now. Thank you for being the voice of Black America. 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 scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? This is an iHeart Podcast.