#RolandMartinUnfiltered - No Trump immunity in NY, Neb. Dem claims no bold ideas for working class, Popovich slams Trump

Episode Date: December 21, 2024

12.17.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: No Trump immunity in NY, Neb. Dem claims no bold ideas for working class, Popovich slams Trump #BlackStarNetwork partner: Fanbasehttps://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbase This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.  This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. You should read the Offering Circular (https://bit.ly/3VDPKjD) and Risks (https://bit.ly/3ZQzHl0) related to this offering before investing. Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox  http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

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

Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. Fanbase is a free-to-download, free-to-use, next-generation social media platform that allows anyone to have followers and subscribers on the same page. Fanbase was built through investment dollars from equity crowdfunding from the JOBS Act. People just like you help build fan base. And we're looking for more people to help build fan base. We are currently raising $17 million in a Regulation 8 crowdfund on StartEngine.

We've already crossed $2.1 million, but we're looking to raise more capital from people just like you that deserve the opportunity to invest in early stage startups without having to be accredited investors. So right now, I'd like you to go to startengine.com slash fanbase and invest. The minimum to invest is $399. That gets you 60 shares of stock in fanbase right now, today. And then use fanbase to connect with friends, grow your audience, and be you without limits. Folks, Black Star Network is here.

Hold no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now. Black power! We support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. I thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roller. Be black! I love y'all! All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going.

The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Folks, today's Tuesday, December 17th, 2024, coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network.

Justice Juan Merchan has rejected Donald Trump's argument that his hush money trial was tainted and he is not going to drop the case, saying the immunity from the Supreme Court doesn't apply to this case. The Department of Justice finds a troubling pattern of civil rights violations by the Mount Vernon New York Police Department. A school shooting took place in Madison, Wisconsin. We have the latest updates.

Also folks, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez loses a ranking committee chair to a 74 year old Democrat. The Democrats need to understand it's time to turn the page on its old leadership. It's a lot we're going to unpack on today's show. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin on the filters of the Black Star Network. Let's a lot we're going to unpack on today's show. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin on the filters of the Black Star Network. Let's go. Entertainment just for kicks He's rolling

Yeah! With some go-go-royale Yeah! Yeah! It's rolling Martin Yeah! Rolling with rolling now Yeah!

He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's rolling, Martel. Martel. In New York State, Justice Juan Merchan has rejected Donald Trump's argument that his hush money trial was tainted by evidence. Merchan's ruling that Trump failed to raise his immunity argument in a timely fashion and didn't object to the use of certain evidence stemming from his time in the White House. Trump called the ruling illegal and psychotic and said in a social media post that Merchant had, quote, little respect for the Constitution. Trump faces as long as four years behind bars. The case is the only one of four criminal prosecutions to actually go to trial.

Now, in Georgia, they have halted that particular case because of the election results. Here's what I don't understand. Oh, here's a new one. Donald Trump is also now saying that, ooh, that was jury misconduct. Can you say this is just more Trump bullshit over and over and over? That's exactly what we have going on here. And so this is no shock that he would be saying all of this because he doesn't believe in accountability. And he frankly thinks he can do whatever it is that he

wants to do. All right, let's break it down with our panel today. Of course, Ms. Santiago Ali, former senior advisor, advisor, environmental justice at the EPA, joins us right now. Dr. Larry Walker, professor out of Florida. Doc, glad to have you here. Derek Jackson, also state representative in Georgia. Glad to have you here as well. So let's get this thing started.

Here's the thing that I'm still, Derek, I'm going to start with you. I don't know why the folks in Georgia are halting this. That's the state case. The memo that says, oh, a president can be prosecuted, that's federal. That has nothing to do with the state case. And so I'm glad to see that this judge in New York State has rejected the argument of throwing out the guilty verdict. No, the verdict should not be thrown out.

He was convicted. It should hold. You're exactly right, Roland. I mean, the case right here in Georgia, Fulton County, where I stand today, should move forward. I mean, it's the state case. There's no change in the evidence. He broke a state law. And in my humble opinion, when you think about where we are in another few weeks, you're going to have an individual with 34 felonies to occupy the Oval Office. And so I asked my Republican friends, what does it mean for a country like ours to have the rule of law?

If you have an individual who, you know, should not be tried federal or state, you know, they're guilty. I'm not guilty, but allegedly broke the law. I mean, we have them on tape, Roland. So I think the DA, Fannie Willis, should move forward with this case, regardless if he is in the Oval Office or not. Larry? You know, it's one of the, I guess the best descriptor is, you know,

justice for me and not for thee. It's a release to the comments you just red-rolled. Listen, we have a two-tier, I could say two-tier, we have like a three- or four-tier justice system in terms of how it works, depending on how much power and also your race. And I think this is a clear example.

My colleague just talked about, and you mentioned, the case being dropped in Georgia. And I'm glad the judge stood steadfast because we can't keep having these conversations about people who commit crimes. Particularly, we talk about nonviolent offenders all the time and folks get thrown in for years. And then, you know, someone who commits multiple crimes, a serial crime committer, you know, across multiple states over multiple decades gets to walk away. It's not fair. You can't talk about the importance of, you know, holding people accountable. It certainly is an example for the country or for young people,

because once again, we see that there's a tiered justice system, you know, this intersects with race and power. So this just confirms, you know, all the conversations we had. Roland, this is another reason why we need to have conversations about how racism and power work in America in terms and also we having generational wealth. So this is, you know, I'm like I said, I'm glad the judge, you know, stood the ground. This is the right thing to do as it relates to once again, we hear a lot about the rule of law. So if you believe in the rule of law, then everyone should be held accountable. But once again, we see how other not every

individual is treated the same. And that is going to continue over the next couple of years. Mustafa. James Baldwin once said, I can't believe what you say because I see what you do. So when we look at the Supreme Court and it says equal justice under law, we have to ask the question, as the brothers have already shared, what does that really mean inside of our country? We know that, you know, Donald Trump for 50 plus years now has been able to either escape the law or been able to buy his way out of situations. And we've seen it play out in many of these various cases that have been brought forward. So, you know, there comes a moment when the country has to make a decision. Republican Party has to make a decision. You know, if they want to be seen as a legitimate party, if they want to be seen as someone who actually believes in the rule of law, and if the answer to that is yes, then they should be calling out, you know, these injustices

that we continue to see when each time Donald Trump is able to find a way, a loophole, or just, you know, to thumb his nose at the law when everyday people don't have that opportunity. You know, and look, he's not going to do that. And again, I just wish these people had some guts. And here's the deal. I keep saying this was a memo that was written under President Nixon. It's never been adjudicated. No judges rule on it.

I say you move forward with the case, and if a judge rules, they rule. Derek. Yeah, you're exactly right, Roland. I mean, as my good brothers just mentioned, I mean, what is justice in America? Is justice based on one's pigmentation of their skin? Is it based on one's size of their bank account? I mean, and so if we are going to continue to be this beacon that my friends on the other side of the aisle love to say that we are in this world, what is the standard? I mean, I just mentioned today, Roland, because there's some conversation saying that President Biden should pardon Trump. And I told the world today who would listen, absolutely not, because we're in this predicament because Ford gave Nixon a pardon. And so I know we overuse the word precedent, but this is unprecedented and we

need to be courageous and stand hold to if we are to believe in this rule of law, as has been articulated, then we should not allow for President Biden to give Trump no pardon. But he said if President Biden doesn't pardon him, he's going to pardon himself. Well, I've been real clear. There's no way in hell he should actually get a pardon from Biden. Gentlemen, hold tight one second. We come back. We're going to talk about President Biden speaking at the DNC reception. Both he and Vice President Kamala Harris. He makes it clear that he's not going to go anywhere nor is she also uh democrats uh are making some changes among their leadership uh but is it time for them to turn the page to a new generation we'll talk about that plus uh young dro less brown i chatted with both of them at the uh global hope forum last week in atlanta

we'll share those interviews with you as well. Folks, we'll be right back. Roland Martin, Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 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.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Dr Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players

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

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We gotta set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We gotta make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback.

Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. 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.

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But it's different for everybody. It's all a part of a balanced life. That's next on Black Star Network. star network hatred on the streets a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn lives there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the u.s capital we're about to see the rise of what i call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate

black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash.

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

What are you doing? My name is Mark Carey, and you're watching Roland Martin. Unfiltered, deep into it, like pasteurized milk. Without the 2%, we getting deep. You want to turn that shit off? We're doing an interview, motherfucker. Folks, the Ohio Democrats are picking their committee leadership and there have been some changes. Longtime Agricultural Committee ranking Democrat David Scott has lost his position. He was voted out. There were lots of concerns over his health and stewardship of the committee. But the one folks have been talking about is the House Oversight Committee,

where Gary Connolly has been battling Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. Well, that was a leadership vote. Then that was a total caucus vote. AOC lost out to Connolly. Now, here's the concern. Connolly is 74 years old, is battling esophageal cancer. And then you have Ocasio-Cortez, who's a younger member. And you've got a lot of folks who have been on social media saying, here go Democrats again, screwing this thing up.

The reality, Mustafa, Congress is about seniority. That's what they look at. But I think it is important here you have what an 84 year old Nancy Pelosi who was against AOC pushing Conley. And I get seniority. I get knowledge and expertise. But also, I think it is important to have some younger, fresher voices leading leading the charge, especially against these crazy, demented MAGA people. And I think this is an example where just just like, you know, when the Democrats, they chose to lead the communications and policy committee, they chose Congresswoman Debbie Dingell over Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. And I'll tell you, if I look at the last two years,

who has spent more time speaking on behalf of Democrats nationally and national media, it's been Congresswoman Crockett and not Congresswoman Dingell. Yeah, you know, when you have youthful members who have experience, because many of these folks who we've just, you know, talked about, you know, they've been in the fire, you know, they bring this energy that is so needed in this moment. you need that energy to be able to push back against all the craziness and chaos that that's going to be coming you need it also to sort of mobilize folks around the country for them to get excited and seeing someone who was able to articulate a message in a way that

resonates with them and we know that if we're gonna an honest conversation, that when it comes to younger people, you know, they're trying to make some decisions about whom they want to support moving forward over probably the next decade. So it'd be great if they see somebody who they feel that they connect with and somebody whom carries their values. Now, you know, full transparency, I worked for John Conyers when he was chairman of Judiciary Committee, and he had been there for a long time. He knew the ins and outs. But we've got to have a mix so we can honor our elders and the wisdom and experience that

they bring. But you've got to have that innovation and ingenuity and energy that younger members bring, especially in this particular moment. And the thin thing here, Larry, Ocasio-Cortez, she's 35 years old. It's not like she is wet behind the ears. She's been there. And I can tell you, when you look at how she prepares for these committee hearings, she's very prepared. This is an example where I believe the Democrats desperately need youthful leadership, even though when the leadership stepped down, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Congressman Jim Clyburn, all three still remain in Congress, and they're still there, and all of them over the age of 80. You know, and this is just a perfect example of where you do need fresh voices, fresh perspectives when it comes to the new challenges the party faces.

So the Democratic Party needs a communication reset. And so you talk about Congresswoman AOC, you know, obviously just losing the vote this afternoon. And there are a lot of red flags of this. You just talked about, you know, former, you know, Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, behind the scenes working the phones and working members quite hard to make sure AOC wasn't the chair of the committee. Now, as Mustafa said, we were both congressional staffers and worked for senior members who were either chair or ranking members on committees. And listen, I get the seniority system and how it works. But when you talked about Congressman AOC, and then you mentioned Congressman Crockett, both extraordinary communicators to communicate to a

new generation of voters. So you have to appeal, particularly we saw the electorate and we saw some young voters, mostly white voters, lean more right, but also a lot of voters from minoritized backgrounds not sit out and not vote. You need to re-energize the base and those individuals who are – who feel disenchanted, don't feel like the party is speaking for them. This is not the way to go to do it one of the things i'm going to add is you mentioned congresswoman crockett i think i read after she lost recently in terms of the opportunity for a post to congresswoman dingle and she said she wasn't going to seek a leadership position again so this is not this is you can't do this another challenge a democrat is going to have when it comes to you know these young members particularly who who works excellent communicators is they may decide just to serve their constituents and do less press. Congresswoman AOC really campaigned extraordinarily hard for VP Harris. She was everywhere. And so was Congresswoman

Crockett. You have to do a better job empowering the next generation. And the biggest complaint when people talk about term limits is exactly what we see here. Members of Congress who've been around for decades advocating for someone else who's been around for a long time, and while at the same time ignoring that you need a new generation of voices. Listen, Roland, going

back to Dr. King, and he understood this. You need to have another generation empower young people to make sure that your legacy leaves on after you're gone. Well, Derek, when it comes to Congress, their notion of empowering young people, uh, is to put them in charge when they're 60. You know, and that's the sad part, Roland, you cannot encourage those under the age of 35 telling them, wait your turn. I mean, we're all young enough to remember when there was a young Barack Obama and a lot of the senior Democrats said to Barack, wait your turn. Now is not your

turn. And Barack, you know, he resisted that. He said, no, there's an urgency of now. Here's the other point that I would definitely want to add to what Larry and Mustafa has already articulated, Roland. I read something where the average age for Democrats up on the Hill is 66. The average age for Republican is 50. And so we got to ask as a Democrat, we got to ask ourselves, are we going to be about this fight or are we going to do the status quo? See, because status quo, in my humble opinion, is not going to get us where we need to be in 2025 and 2026. We have some very strong young leaders who have truly proven that they understand the issues. They can be about that young base to help us win. So I say to those like James Carville, who continue to repeat the same old story over and over again the last three decades that they know best and so i

say to james carville we appreciate what you said appreciate where you all got us now it's our turn well i'll also say uh you don't actually need a title uh to actually make these appearances to go on air and so that's one of the things that's important you know i've i've never believed that uh i mean when i was in uh my 20s and 30s uh i couldn't stand people say it's time to pass the baton i'm like listen y'all can keep the baton we run a whole different race y'all knock y'all cells out uh and so that's the approach i've always taken and i will continue to take all right folks gotta go to break we come back uh. President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, both of them speak at the DNC holiday reception. Both talk about the future of the party.

Also today, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke in Maryland where she gave a speech speaking to young folks talking about a path forward. We'll show you both of those right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. Fanbase is a free to download, free to use next generation social media platform that allows anyone to have followers and subscribers on the same page. Fanbase was built through investment dollars from equity crowdfunding from the Jobs Act. People just like you help build Fanbase and we're looking for more people to help build Fanbase. We are currently raising $17 million in a Regulation 8 crowdfund on StartEngine.

We've already crossed $2.1 million, but we're looking to raise more capital from people just like you that deserve the opportunity to invest in early stage startups without having to be accredited investors. So right now, I'd like you to go to startengine.com slash fanbase and invest. The minimum to invest is $399. That gets you 60 shares of stock in Fanbase right now, today. And then use Fanbase to connect with friends, grow your audience, and be you without limits. on the next A Balanced Life with me Dr. Jackie tis the season tree trimming party going and gift giving and I don't know about you but for, sometimes it can be overwhelming and sometimes it's just downright

exhausting. Surviving the holiday season, we've got tips for you for staying sane, solvent, striving, and thriving, and sometimes keeping a little money in your pocket. Two things just out of the gate, set boundaries and set a budget. On a next A Balanced Life right here on Blackstar Network with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, are you working hard and yet your performance doesn't reflect your paycheck? On the next Get Wealthy, you're going to learn some savvy career moves so that all your efforts actually show up in your bank account. Joining us is the founder of a career network, and she's going to share the three R's of accelerating your financial growth. Here's a tip as well. If you are an individual contributor and you desire to be a leader, do the work where you are now. Because if you do the work where you are now,

when you do reach the level, you'll be prepared to stay there. Right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. 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. 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-ibillion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1,

Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

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

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback.

Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. 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. Vice President Kamala Harris was in Maryland today talking to young folks with a message for them about focusing on the future. Here is what she had to say. Indoor air quality, LLC dispatcher and service year option member, Lauren Muir. Good afternoon. My name is Lauren, and I am an 18-year-old currently enrolled in the Maryland Service Year Option with Anthony and Son. This is an HVAC company, and I am honored to be working as a dispatcher apprentice in Rockville, Maryland.

I grew up in Montgomery County and graduated from Seneca Valley High School this June in 2024. It is currently the largest high school in the process giving back to my local community. I enjoy meeting new people in my local area and other areas in the DMV, but so far my favorite thing has been going on site to watch our techs and learning about the industry and HVAC. This is an amazing program that has given me and others a new direction and given people a push in the right direction. This is a revolutionary program that was created in the mind of Governor Wes Moore, and it truly gives people enrolled in the program an amazing job experience,

professional development, money management, and other important skills. We could have not done this without Governor Westmore's vision and believing in all of us. For this, we are grateful. She has a strong commitment to supporting youth and young adults, and she is all about empowering us and being successful in our endeavors. She is committed to building strong relationships and ensuring all voices are heard. She is a trailblazer, thoughtful, inspirational, and she is our 49th vice president. She is the true definition of service. And now, it is my honor to introduce the first woman to be elected vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris. We're here for Lauren! Good morning, everyone.

Have a seat, please. Good morning. Oh. Oh. I just love seeing all of our young leaders. You know, when I look out at all of you, I know and I feel so strongly the future of our country is bright. It is bright because of all of you. And I want to thank Lauren for her kind words and her commitment to your community, Lauren, and for the example you are setting.

It is so good to see all of you. So, well, you know what? So, let me start with just what has happened actually yesterday before I begin my other comments about the horrific shooting yesterday in Madison, Wisconsin. Of course, it's another school shooting, another community being torn about and torn apart by gun violence. And, of course, our nation mourns for those who were killed, and we pray for the recovery of those who were injured

and for the entire community. But, look, as we hold our loved ones close this holiday season, we as a nation must renew our commitment to end the horror of gun violence, both mass shootings and everyday gun violence that touches so many communities in our nation. We must end it and we must be committed to have the courage to know that solutions are in hand, but we need elected leaders to have the courage to step up and do the right thing. So with that, I will return to the reason we are here today. And I first want to thank all of the incredible leaders who are with us, including Governor Moore, my dear friend. Your extraordinary Lieutenant Governor Miller. And someone I have worked with and known for so many years, your Senator-elect, also Brooks.

And to all the young leaders who are here, I thank you for your service to the people of Maryland because look each one of you has decided to dedicate yourself to the work of service the work of lifting up the condition of other people people who often you may never meet the work you do in service will affect people who for for the most part, will never know your names. But their lives, because of your work and your dedication, will forever be touched in a positive way. You know, I do believe that public service is a noble calling. It is noble work. And it is an expression of optimism. Which is you know and believe and it is being verified to each of you every

day that the work you do that can lift people up has effect. It matters. Your work is about the optimism that comes with knowing that one individual can make a difference in the lives of so many people. And God knows when you have a whole group like this doing it together, the impact you have on our nation like this doing it together. The impact you have on our nation and by extension the world. So today I came by to express my gratitude for the work you

like so many across our nation have been doing to lift up our fellow American. And I am here to reaffirm our shared commitment to the work ahead. You know, over the past several weeks, since the election, I have received tens of thousands of letters from people across our nation, many of them young leaders. Americans from every walk of life, people of every age, race, faith, and political party. These letters share a common theme. Yes, there is disappointment. But there is also resolve for the future. One letter in particular stands out, which I'll share with you.

A young woman named Sasha writes, quote, There is nothing in the world that will take away my drive, energy, passion, and the destiny that I have to help the people of our country. And I think any one of you is Sasha. Could be, right? Nothing's going to take away that drive, that passion, that energy, that commitment. So Sasha, like all of you, inspire me. Young people who are rightly impatient for change.

I love that about you. Impatient for change. Who will not let anyone or any circumstance defeat your spirit or your sense of purpose. You will not allow your spirit or your sense of purpose to be defeated. You who have, I think, by your actions adopted some advice my mother gave me a long time ago. She would say to me, Kamala, don't just complain about what is wrong. Do something about it.

Make it right. That's a life you all are living. You reflect the best of the America I have seen. Be it during the campaign, during my four years as Vice President, and throughout my life. An America where we recognize that we are all in this together. That no matter our background, we share the same dreams, aspirations, and ambitions for ourselves and our family. That we all have so much more in common than what separates us, that is our knowledge.

An America where we are guided by the ideals that have always defined us when we are at our best. Dignity and decency, fairness, freedom, and opportunity for all. An America where we recognize that the true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down, it's progress, you all know history. The story of America's progress when we have made progress, in many ways, is the story of people who stayed true to their ideals even in the face of difficulty. The story of Americans who yes faced disappointment but did not grow weary, did not grow weary,

who faced setbacks but did not give up, people who refused to let the light of America's promise dim or burn out in moments of challenge. The movements for civil rights, women's rights, workers' rights, the United States of America itself would never have come to be if people had given up their cause after a court case or a battle or an election did not go their way. What Sasha wrote and what we here know is that in moments like this the true test of our character is how resilient and persistent we are to pursue the future that we all can see. The true test of our commitment is whether in the face of an obstacle do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves

and as we then approach the end of this year, many people have come up to me telling me they feel tired, maybe even resigned. Folks who have said to me that they're not sure whether they have the strength, much less the desire, to stay in the fight. But let me be very clear. No one can walk away. No one can walk away. We must stay in the fight. Every one of us, including the fight for an economy that

works not just for those at the top, but for working people, for all Americans. The fight to make sure everyone has a fair shot to pursue their ambitions. the fight for our ideals, including the equality among us, the freedoms to which we are entitled, the dignity that we possess and is possessed by every one of us. So we must stay in the fight because that is the responsibility, in my opinion, that comes with the privilege of being an American. And that responsibility has always then fueled the American experiment. In our country, you see, the recognition that we are all created equal with certain fundamental rights and freedoms, the belief that here in our country anything is possible, the promise of America itself is a powerful yet fragile

idea. Powerful because it has inspired billions of people and made it possible for us to become the strongest, most prosperous nation in the world. Yet fragile. Because that idea is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it. Only as strong as our faith that we, the people, are the ones who make it real. So I will say this as we close out this year. I ask of you this, that those here and anyone watching, that you will not walk away,

that you will stay true to your spirit and your sense of purpose, that you will continue to fight for the promise of America. And I ask you to remember the context. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for

Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st

and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way.

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

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. a long game. We gotta make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right

position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Next in which you exist. Yeah, I did that.

I ask you to remember that this struggle is not new. It goes back nearly 250 years to Lexington and Concord. Generation after generation, it has been driven by those who love our country, cherish its ideals, and refuse to sit passive while our ideals are under assault.

And now this fight to keep the light of America's promise and to ensure it burns bright, well, this fight now, it continues with you. You are its heirs. We are its heirs.

So I'll end with this. Get some rest over the holidays. Spend time with the people you love. You know, I believe family comes in many forms. There's family by blood and there's family by love. I urge you then after you have had some rest, in fact, I challenge you to come back ready, ready to chart your drive, your energy, your passion to help our fellow Americans and be ready to get back to work

fighting for opportunity and freedom, fighting for fairness and dignity and fighting for this country we love and the future we share. God bless you and God bless the United States of America. Leigh, I want to start with you. You know, the vice president has been making similar remarks and a number of settings. The different Christmas parties she's been having at the vice president's residence. who are troubled, who are bothered by the election results, who are still angered, folks who are upset with what has gone on. They they're angry that that she lost. And she said, you can't give up. You've got to stay in this. And I think that that is a critical message.

And even when President Biden was speaking at I'm going to play that in a bit, at the DNC holiday reception, he talked about, kid, you're not going anywhere. He would say the same thing to her that you have to stay in the fight. It's, you know, the world is, Rowan. She's been pretty consistent since the election in terms of highlighting why Democrats and age, but she's part of that, you know, that next generation of policymakers who have a great deal of experience. And so, you know, Rowan, yeah, she's telling people to stay in the fight. It's certainly noted in terms of, you know, Black folks throughout history in this country have faced multiple ups and downs as a right to fight for racial justice, particularly when it comes to, you know, Black political empowerment. I do want to note, Roland, that, you know, her message is really important, particularly to young voters. But for Black folks in particular,

we've been playing at this game in terms of looking, you know, looking for a fair and equitable society for generations. And she highlighted some people told her, tired, I've talked to a lot of black folks who are simply exhausted. But I'm highlighting this because we have to talk about the impact that this fight for racial justice, it has on our overall well-being. And we have to acknowledge that. But I do think it's important for black folks that particularly we need the young black voters to empower them to run for public office. Certainly we need to fund those elections.

But like I said, I look forward to seeing the path, the journey, you know, this laying forward for BP Harris, including maybe for the rumors running for governor of the state of California or other possible, you know, opportunities. But she's right. The fight is ongoing. But we have to recognize the overall impact it has on our well-being. But the thing here, Mustafa, that I think a lot of people need to understand is that this ain't Burger King. You ain't going to always get it your way. And there are going to be fights. They're going to be difficult days ahead. And to me, I think people need to understand that and recognize that, as she said, go spend some time with friends and loved ones and family, get some rest and come back, get in the fight. No, I mean, she's exactly right. But I think we also have to have an honest conversation. I'm reminded of the words of Fannie Lou Hamer when she said, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. So for me, what that means is that, yes, you know, we take a moment to

recharge, but we also got to start to do things differently. You know, on this show, we continue to highlight for folks of them making the right investments with the right types of organizations who are out there on the ground and not waiting until the last minute. So people get sick and tired of folks continuing to do that. We talked earlier about folks not wanting to create space for younger people to be able to move into leadership positions. So that's another way of burning people out, and they get sick and tired of continuing to knock their head against the wall. So I agree with the vice president about us getting back into the fight. The question becomes, especially for me coming out of the

social justice movement, is what does that fight look like? And will my voice be honored in that space? Will the organizations that are out there on the front lines get the resources they need so that we don't have to continue to hit our heads against the wall because we know how to do the work, we know how to get people energized, we know how to get people engaged in what's going on, so we have to ask that question, are we willing to finally begin to create these 21st centuries that are so necessary

and stop operating from 20th century sort of paradigms that we continue to do? So yes, to the things that the vice president shared. But the question also becomes that when we come back energized, when we come back ready to do the work, will we also be able to put in new systems

and new ways of doing things so that we... I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st

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

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We gotta set right back. and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position, pregame to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council.

You can get the wins on the board. You're not going to win every election. Doesn't matter if it's a local election all the way up to the federal, but we do have to make sure that we are creating an opportunity, a foundation, so that if folks do everything that they're supposed to do correctly, that we can be competitive moving forward. Well, that's why, Derek, I believe it requires a plan of action. We lost Jim Lawson this year, the architect of the Niagara movement.

And I go back to the interview I did with him in 2018 when he said they spent six months meeting and discussing why they wanted to do this movement. Then they spent six months discussing what they were going to do. I think what we're dealing with now, and look, I get it. Reverend Sharpton and his organization, they're planning this march on January 20th in D.C., King's Day, that's fine. But the thing for me is, when's the planning meeting where you're discussing how you're going to fight?

The things that Mustafa talked about, I have long been saying, you know what? You got the DNC picking their chair. You're black men and black women, various leaders. Are they going to be sitting down with those folks who want to be the be the chair and saying, I want to hear from you directly. What is your plan of action? But here's the other piece. I'm not just interested in hearing what white folks are going to what their plan of action is. I want to know what's the plan of action we're going to hand to them.

And so that to me, I think is important. You know, I'm sitting here right now looking at what's at stake in 2025. You've got gubernatorial races in Virginia, in New Jersey. You've got several other critical races. You've got a black speaker of the House in Virginia. The question is, do Democrats still contain control of the House there as well? I can go on and on and on. So the thing for me is, okay, how do we fund that? See, I'm not interested in just complaining about what resources we did not get in our communities in 2024. I want to know how then do we say this is what we need in 2025 and this has to happen also what how we also going to fund those things as well that that is what's jumping out at me and I would rather be on the offense than the defense and I would rather be reacting in a in a in a in a much more strategic way as opposed to waiting for somebody to say, hey, now let's talk.

No, I would rather be the one said, no, we're talking. Meet us on this date. You know, I agree with you, Roland. But I will also say we got to go more than just planning, right? I can remember I was six years old when a meeting took place in Gary, Indiana in 1972 talking about the black agenda. I remember Roland, I was 29 years of age at the first Million Man March. Again, there was a plan

put in place. And so, you know, I don't care if we go back to 1972 or 29 years ago when we did the first march in Washington with the first Million Man March. I say we got to have both a political strategy, an economic strategy, and a cultural strategy. As a retired naval officer, I would tell you, Roland, that we don't need to exhaust a lot of time putting this plan together. I'm reminded that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again, expecting a different outcome. So I say, let's go back to what Dr. King did in the 60s, where they simply met in the basement of a church. And they realized who's going to do what.

They had the lawyers in place. They knew that they were going to need some money. And then they put that Montgomery bus boycott into action. I say, let's do what they did in Gary, Indiana in 1972. And they start talking about what we need to do to reduce that gap between white and black families. And so, yes, I agree we need to have a strategy, but the urgency is right now. We cannot wait. We should be planning what we're going to execute in 2025.

These upcoming elections a year from now, we should be planning what we're going to do in 2026. A lot of folks are going to be running at the U.S. senator and Congress and the licensed governor. And then 2028, we just need to knock the cobwebs off rolling on some plans that worked effectively 40, 50 years ago. But the reason I have to push back on that, because I think the problem is those were meetings. Those were not plans. When I look at the Million Man March, that was a gathering. That was actually no plan.

That was actually no plan that came out of the Million Man March. And then the 10th anniversary, you had almost 400,000 that met. That was no plan. That was conversations about stuff, but there was no plan. 20th anniversary, you had a couple hundred thousand. Same thing. Conversation, no plan. What I'm saying is I believe that the mistake is gathering.

And then you have to say, well, why are we gathering? I believe a gathering should be to launch something, to announce something, to give people the steps on where we're going. I don't believe in having a gathering just to have a gathering. So when people call me Mustafa and they say, well, Roland, let's meet. I then go about what? What are we meeting about? I then go, who else is going to be there? What are we trying? Like, what's the point of the get together? Listen, that a White House Christmas holiday reception this morning. I was there and I got a chance to say a couple of things to President Biden after he finished speaking.

And after people came up to me and they said, you know, there are things we need to do. And I go, OK, fine. When is it? Who's going to be there? And then if I go to it, I'm then going to say, OK, what are we doing? I believe when you look at Gary, Indiana, the black political convention in Gary, the mistake that came out of Gary is that they resolved that the future of black America was dependent upon a political strategy. They actually left out the economic piece. And that was a mistake. I believe that it was great. It was wonderful that we gathered at the Million Man March. But what happens after that? And how do you keep that going?

What is that agenda? All those things that you have to do to keep it moving forward. That's what jumps out at me. And I just believe that when you talk about it now, and like, for instance, I've made it clear to some people we are we are still constituents. So what is going to be the black agenda that's put in front of Trump and the Republicans? Not sit out, but what's the black agenda?

We are still constituents. And so that to me, I think is what is so critical. And I haven't seen it yet. Maybe those conversations are taking place, but I haven't seen it. I'll be very curious to know what that is, because also I would say from a media standpoint, you're going to need a media strategy to also get the word out about what you're trying to do. Yeah, you know, so many of us who are students of history, you know, and Roland, I've heard you talk about it before, Dr. King's book, Where Do We Go From Here? And, you know, some of the things

that they talked about at that time, you know, In this particular moment, we have to make a decision. The decision is are we going to be reactionary? Reactionary means that you don't have a strategy and whatever this particular administration or your governor or your county commissioner or whoever it might be, whatever they decide then you are going to react to that and then make some decisions after they've shared with you what their vision is. We have the opportunity in this moment to do a couple of things. One of them is to make sure that we have our strategy, our action strategy in relationship to the Trump administration.

Does that mean that they are going to move forward on the things that we might suggest? You know, we don't know until you'd be able to move those types of things forward. But we have a good idea of how that would probably be received. The other part of that is, how are we going to make sure that we are putting in place the things that are necessary? How are we going to hold corporations accountable for the sets of actions that they are going to do? How are we going to make sure that we are moving forward with getting the right types of people prepared for the midterm election? And we've vetted them and we've made sure that they understand what our sets of needs are going to be and what our sets of

expectations are going to be. We can go down the laundry list of when you're being proactive of the things that you do and you put in place. And then if you're a reactionary, how you get, as Malcolm once said, the crumbs from the table. But it all becomes, you know, sort of apparent once you get the right folks together, make some decisions, make sure that you are hearing from all the other types of folks around the country so that it is not just an elite group of individuals, but it is actually representative of what the people are asking for. And then you can build real momentum around that.

And then you talked about the communications, which is critical because you've got to be able to continually feed people. What are the steps that are about to happen? What are the successes that are going on and where are we continuing to run up against certain impediments and how are we going to get around them? But all of that goes down to having strategy. Somebody who comes from the movements that I have, because we never had a huge amount of money, we always had to have strategy. And every time that we've had a success has been because we've had that plan that was in place. Everyone understood their role and they understood what we were up against. And then we just build off of whether small successes or medium. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time,

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

This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back.

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

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

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up.

See, retirement is the long game we gotta make moves and make them early set up goals don't worry about a setback just save up and stack up to reach them let's put ourselves in the right position pre-game to greater things start building your retirement plan at this is preispreetirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. More large successes. So if you're not going to do that, then you're not serious about being a real player in the game, and you're not serious about making change inside of your community. And I hope I don't hurt anybody's feelings, but that's just the reality

of what it is. Well, Larry, it's the same thing that the vice president is going to have to do. The vice president is going to have to take a hard look in the mirror and say, where did we fail? Where did we go wrong? What do we do? She has to do her own autopsy, not only of her campaign. She also has to do that for herself. So for instance, there's talk that she's made a clear she's not going anywhere. Okay, what does that mean? Does she run for governor of California in 2026? If she does that, she's not running for president in 2028. Does she run for president in 2028? If she says, I'm not going to run for governor, but I'm going to run for president 2028. Let's just be honest. She's not going to have the perch

of the vice presidents. She's going to have, it's going to be an open, it's going to be an open primary. So now the question is, how do you now confront the negatives? How do you now confront the narrative that has been formed around you and about you. So what actions does she take over the next one, two, three years that positions her to be the front runner for 2028? And so all of those different things that that has that that has to be decided. And I think that it's not as easy as some people say. Like I saw one poll that said, you know, she's polling at 33% for 2028. I'm like, y'all, anything right now for 2028 is utterly ridiculous. But that's what has to happen. And so now the question is, you know, what is her position to come? Does she decide to be does she decide that she is going to be leading the smart understanding of of what the plan of action

is and i just think that um you know again for african americans our agenda is very simple is how do we steal even when we amongst ourselves see i can't tell somebody you need to vote in 2025 if they didn't vote 2024. I now got to get to why didn't they vote? What is it? Why are they checking out of the process? And so I believe there has to be, there should be, you know, a listening tour of black America as well, because we are seeing the numbers don't lie. Last election, the Baton Rouge runoff election as well. The Louisiana election last year. We're seeing where you have significant numbers of black people. We're sending out elections and then crying about it after the fact. So I agree with a lot of the points that you made, Roland.

I think that, so there's a couple things here that, yes, they're post-mortem, the VP Harris has to, with trusted advisors, and, you know, also I would say people who are community-centered has to really kind of reflect on what went wrong and have some thoughts about that in a second. We do have to, and I agree with you about the listening tour. I think there are a lot of other methods, you know, because as a researcher, we need to really dig down and figure out, like you said, why there are folks, there are less Democrats that came out, particularly, you know, like I said, those minoritized backgrounds. So

we need to really, we need to be in a data collection. That's how I would describe it, in terms of figuring out not only why people didn't show up, but what do they want for the future? It may be very different from what you saw from the Democrats in terms of what they talked about. I don't think it's very different. I think the messaging was off. So I want to be clear about that. The other thing is that the VP Harris has to kind of thread a needle here. And I want to acknowledge that she ran with two hands behind her back. What do I mean by that? First of all, she had to deal with how racism, sexism, and misinformation intersect. And then she had Biden's folks running the campaign instead of being able to have an opportunity to hire her own people, right? So she ran with two

hands tied behind her back against these headwinds, so to speak. I think the other thing is in terms of VP Harris and what we do moving forward, I think we're already behind the eight ball. And what I mean by that is, I want to go to what Mustafa said about being proactive and reactionary. Democrats have a tendency to do this. Your point about having a black agenda put in before the Trump administration, that's

something we should already have. Okay, if VP Harris wins, what do we have? If Donald Trump wins, what do we have? You always, you have to, the Republicans one of the things about them in terms of the policy, I've seen this work on the Hill and after, is that they, we talk about Project 2025 is, they're always collecting information and planning when it comes to not just policy, because you get to the policy, it's messaging. How do I message,

listen, it's great if, you know, in terms of student loan relief and so many other stuff, but how was it messaged? How the Republicans said was, oh, you're giving all these people, you know, all these, you know, rich middle-class people student loan debt, not micro-targeting and explaining in terms of Black folks are more likely to benefit from that. So we really, and one of the things about this policy issue, we've got to focus on the messaging. The Republicans have excelled at it for decades. The Democrats have to play catch up. They have to constantly revise, revise whatever policy and messages they have continuously. You can't pause because you think somebody's going to win. You always have to have

updated policy and messaging piece and a policy piece relating to economic issues, et cetera, to reach the masses and to make sure you respond in times of crisis. It's really about crisis management. And the reality is Democrats have not responded to crisis as it relates to what we've seen here in the last couple of years. And Mustafa, the last couple of weeks, what Mustafa said is that we're reactionary and not proactive as it relates to messaging and policy. Absolutely. And I think how you communicate, what you communicate is all critically important. But also, Derek, who you communicate to, you know, it's there. The recipe for winning is there. But you also have to execute that.

And there were a lot of flaws and there were a lot of things that were going against the vice president in this race and also some of the Senate races. And we have to also understand, take a hard look at, you know, the upcoming Senate races and many of them in red states and what that means. How do you flip those voters? But also, I'm looking at black people. How do we get black folks to understand that the couch cannot be an option for us? You know, you're exactly right, Roland. I know here in Georgia, three million registered voters did not vote in Georgia. Of that 3,700,000 of those registered voters that voted in 2020 did not vote in 2024. But we also got to be honest here, Roland. I mean, you know, I heard former President Bill Clinton, he gave his forensic analysis. But I also heard former President Barack Obama gave his analysis and they were miles apart.

Bill Clinton was talking about identity politics. Barack Obama was saying, speak to your base. And so we as Democrats, we got to ask ourselves, do we want to still do this thing called identity politics where we try to have a message for everyone in every way? And I think that's I think that's a nonstarter, to be honest, because if you look at the Republicans rolling, the Republicans only speak to one individual. That is the white man. They don't even speak to one individual. That is the white man. They don't even speak to white women. Whereas Democrats, we're trying to speak to everyone.

Yeah, but you have to. And that's what I say. First of all, listen, the Republicans have it easy. You're right or hard right, okay? And the reality is the Democratic tent is a larger tent.

And that's what you have to do. And so guess what? That ain't going anywhere. That ain't going anywhere. That ain't going anywhere. So Democrats can complain about, quote, identity politics. Everything in politics is identity politics. Income, education, rule versus urban. That's all identity politics.

But the only time they criticize identity politics is when typically it involves race. And then you can say gender, you can say sexual orientation, but typically it's race. What I continue to suggest that Democrats are going to have to figure out, and they're going to have to be honest, Democrats are going to have to figure out, and they're going to have to be honest, Democrats are going to have to deal with this. Democrats are going to have to understand white fear. They're going to have to understand

how the buttons of white fear are pushed. They need to under, perfect example, Democrats are sitting here talking about, oh, we've got to figure out how to talk to these working class voters you pass the policies so it's not policy

it's not the defining point that Democrats have to confront it's culture it's culture The defining point that Democrats can have to confront its culture. It's culture. And they have to confront whiteness. And white Democrats are going to have to be honest about this. The Bernie Sanders of the world, they're going to have to understand whiteness is real. Elizabeth Warren, whiteness is real. Elizabeth Warren, whiteness is real. You've got Tim Young, Tim Ryan,

former congressman who ran for Senate, lost to J.D. Vance. He threw out this dumbass suggestion in Newsweek, oh, we should move the D.C. National Office headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Youngstown, Ohio. That's stupid. That's stupid because you got crushed in Youngstown. And those those white voters in Ohio, they're voting on culture. They're not voting on economics, because if white voters were actually voting on economics, then it would have been a landslide victory for Vice President Kamala Harris. That's just a fact. And I think, Derek, I just think it's Democrats, it's hard for Democrats to want to have to look in the mirror and address whiteness. I agree with you, Roland. But if you think about if we're going to do an analysis during that one hundred and seven days of her campaign,

there were a few areas that tripped her up. Gaza was one. Right. And so if you think about Gaza was an issue up in Michigan, right? They were telling you this is an issue. This was an issue in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. It wasn't so much an issue down here in Georgia.

Down here in Georgia, the issue was talking about the economy. And the sad part is, Roland, Georgia has a very strong economy. But we as Democrats just do not fight back mis- and disinformation. We tend to try to take the high road instead of meeting them where they are and get down low with them and say, no, this is a very strong economy. In fact, the economy is so strong, places like Georgia has $19 billion surplus. And the reason why the economy is strong is because the Biden-Harris, they passed the Chips and Science Act.

They passed Inflation Reduction Act, the American Rescue Act. They capped insulin. And tell that story that will influence and impact whites, black, Latinos, Hispanic, and everyone else. But you were dealing with a situation, and I heard this from pollsters with the Vice President Harris' campaign. It didn't matter what they say. They just didn't believe it. They held nothing against Donald Trump. Nothing. Not the criminal convictions. Not January 6th. Not COVID.

None of that stuff. Didn't hold any of it against him. It just made no sense whatsoever. So, listen, you know, we'll see what happens. But the bottom line is a lot of work to do as the vp said uh let's get some rest let's recharge get re-energized and back in the game gotta go to break we come back less brown i chatted with him when we were at uh the uh hope global forum we'll have that conversation for you next right here on roland martin unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Support the work that we do. Join our Brain to Funk fan club. You can join us via Cash App

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your merchandise, new shirts, FAFO 2025. And also, don't blame me. I voted for the black woman. All of that, RolandMartinUnfiltered.com, BlackstarNetwork.com, RolandMartin.creator-spring.com. I'll be right back. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. Fanbase is a free-to-download, free-to-use, next-generation social media platform that

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without having to be accredited investors. So right now, I'd like you to go to startengine.com slash fanbase and invest. The minimum to invest is $399. That gets you 60 shares of stock in Fanbase right now, today. And then use Fanbase to connect with friends, grow your audience, and be you without limits. on the next of balanced life with me dr jackie tis the season tree trimming party going and gift giving and i don't know about you but for me sometimes it can be overwhelming and sometimes

it's just downright exhausting surviving the holiday, we got tips for you for staying sane, solvent, striving, and thriving, and sometimes keeping a little money in your pocket. Two things just out of the gate, set boundaries and set a budget. On a next, a balanced life right here on Blackstar Network with me, Dr. Jackie. Now streaming on the Blackstar Network. I had been trying to get a record deal for a long time. You know, when I finally got signed to the Motown record label in 2003, I was 34, 35 years old. And up until that time, I had been trying to get record deals the traditional way. You know, you record your demo, you record your music and you send it, you know, to the record labels.

Or maybe somebody, a friend of a friend knows somebody that works for, you know, the record label. And really chemistry was, that was my last ditch effort at being in the music business. How long have you been trying? I've been trying since I was a teenager. Wow. And, you know, and I'm grateful that it didn't, I'm grateful that it happened when it happened

because I wasn't prepared, you know, as a teenager to embrace all that comes with a career in the music industry. 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, 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. Les Brown is one of America's top motivational speakers. We caught up with him at the Hope Global Forum last week in Atlanta. Here you go. All right, Les Brown, I see you again here at the 10th Annual Hope Global Forum. How are you doing? Man, I'm doing great.

I'm cancer-free, debt-free, and drama-free. See, I like all three of those. You know, I tell folk all the time, I say, I can't do drama. I don't do stress. If you got all that, you got to go somewhere else. Without any question. Listen, man, I'm 80, and one of the things that I believe, when you wake up in the morning and open up your eyes and you're in your right mind, everything else is gravy. That's right. When you wake up, you go, all right, arms work, legs work, eyes work. Yeah. All right, cool.

Let's go ahead and get the day started. Let's do this. We are living in just a constantly evolving society. And one of the things that I was just on a conference call, we were talking about this post-election, and people are, you know, the folk who supported the vice president, they are frustrated and angry and upset and bothered. I've got millennials in Gen Z who are like,

man, we're tired, we're tired. And I keep saying, listen, I get all that. I said, but we come from a history of people who couldn't afford to be tired. Thank you very much. You know, just think about James Weldon Johnson. Stony the road we trod, bitter the chest and rod, fell in the days when hope unborn had died. Yet with a steady beat have not our weary feet

come to the place on which our fathers sighed. We have come over a way that with tears have been watered. We've come treading a path through the blood of the slaughtered. Things didn't turn out the way that we wanted them to turn out. So what? It's time to move on. This a time that requires mental resiliency because stuff's going to be happening in life. Life is going to be lifing.

Right. Life will be lifing. Yes. Think it not strange that you face the fiery furnaces of this world. You will, not you might. You will have tribulations. And the other thing is all disruptions are pregnant with new possibilities. Life is lived going forward, but we learn from it looking back. And there are things that you've gone through, that I've gone through, that had we not gone through those things, we would not be who we are right now.

Yep. And so when we shift our focus on being a victim, like you said, and decide, you remember the Black Eagle, when people would call on and tell him. My man, Joe Madison. Joe Madison, their problems, he would listen and then he'd say, what are you going to do about it? Right. Okay. And that's the big question. What are we going to do about it?

Right. What we can do, we're in that place where Peter Drucker said that we must unlearn, learn, and relearn. There are a lot of people failing now because they're using old keys trying to open up new doors of opportunities. So we are one skill set from building our own economy, one skill set from creating a new life. So this is the era of accelerated change, overwhelming complexity and tremendous competition. And the same thing that you've done. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun?

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

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

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

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

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

but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you've got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov brought to you by the u.s department of health and human services and the ad council to establish a voice of change

and empowerment for people in your path you are modeling what all of us have to do how to make a way out of no way because of the stand that you've decided to take with your life and answering a call on your life. I had a conversation literally on Sunday. I was at the vice president's residence for a brunch. And it was three black male journalists. And one brother said, man, I bring your name up every five weeks because of what you built. And I said, and they were talking about content and stuff like that.

I said, content is easy. I said, I need you to focus on the business of the business. I said, I need you to go behind the camera. I need you to understand how much the camera costs. I need you to understand how much the three cameras cost. And so I was explaining to them how I started. And there were a lot of guys who were like like oh man you mean that canon c300 is amazing i was like yeah but the body and the lenses is twenty thousand dollars i said i needed three

i'd have sixty thousand dollars i said so i got three canon xa25s hd cameras uh i said serve the purpose to start with i said you i said i didn't allow the fact that I could not afford one Canon C300 today to stop me from launching the show. Three years after we launched the show, I own five Canon C300s. Yes. Now you're demonstrating there's never a shortage of money, just a shortage of thinking and resourcefulness. I mean, this phone, not even this phone, this is the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Steven Soderbergh, Oscar winner, shot a movie on Netflix

called High Flying Bird, which is a very great movie, with two iPhone 7s. Wow. The 7. iPhone 7 and the FiLMiC Pro app. And so I was telling these brothers, I said,

you have to be thinking that way. I said, you're coming out of a mainstream media environment where you have been conditioned that you need 10 people. You need all this stuff. I said, no, no, no. I said, you have to match what your vision is with what your realities of your money. But but did not let that limit what you're trying to do. And artificial intelligence allow you to have a greater impact and do it more economically than ever before. There's no excuse. All the stuff that's going on right now, I believe that politics and religion keep people at each other's throats and divide us.

But the people that are going to make it are the people that are doing what you're doing. And that is we were born to create. And the creators and the people who take a stand to live the calling on their life are the people that's going to make the impact that we need right now for our children and for our children's children. What you're doing, I admire.

And I admire you to a very large degree because you're doing what I told my children and my grandchildren. Live your life the way you want to live your life. You know, live a life that will outlive you. And so I want you to know, thank you for what you're doing, the stand that you're taking, and the impact that you're making that will impact generations yet unborn.

I appreciate that. You sent me a video, an in-edit video. I love when you told the story. I think you were quoting someone saying that the place that has the most ideas is the cemetery. Absolutely. I love that story. Yes, because Dr. Miles Monroe, who was one of my mentees. Good brother.

Yes, indeed. I was mad at God because of that plane crash. I'm telling you, it was one of my mentees. Good brother. Yes, indeed. I was mad at God because of that plane crash. I'm telling you, it was just the 10th anniversary. But he said the ideal situation for a man or woman to die is to have family members praying with them as they cross over. But imagine, if you will, being on your deathbed and standing around your bed, the ghost of the dreams, the ideas, the abilities given to you by

life. But you, for whatever reason, you never pursued those dreams. You never acted on those ideas. And there they are standing around your bed, looking at you with large angry eyes saying, we came to you and only you could have given us life. And now we must die with you forever and the question is if you die today what dreams what ideas what abilities what books what music will die with you season when you said that to me last year the reason that was amazing so in 2018 the year i launched this show um i was finishing my contract with tv1 they'd offer me a new contract. And I said, I'm not going to take it. So I'm talking to my agent, also my fraternity brother, Mark Watts. And Mark said, it's easy money.

I said, no, it's not. I said, because I knew what it would limit me. And I said, sure, Mark, it's $330,000. I said, but I know what it's going to, I said, they will still be determined what I can and cannot do. But this is what I told him. I said, it was June 2018. I said, Mark, I'm 49.

I said, what I want to do, I don't know any other black journalist who is in a position to do this. And I said to him, I said, I'm young enough to have the energy to do it, but I'm't do this and I sign that deal, I'll never do it. And he was like, wow. And I said, I'm telling you. And I knew it. But there's something else you have. Relationships, people who believe in you. That's a part of your resource.

Because that was a good call. What you're saying and what we're encouraging you to do, bet on you. Most people don't have the courage to do what you've done. They are allowing themselves to be governed by their fear. As we know, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound. But here's the thing about fear. What I tell folks is, I said, fear is also empowering. Yes.

I said, but it's a flip side. For me, it's not the fear of failure. It's the fear of not trying. Yes, yes. That's what I'm fear. Yes, and dying the life of regrets. Absolutely. And so you are modeling what you're telling people

to do every day. I see people out here today and heartbroken and spirits broken, and I experience the same thing that other people experience. But we can't stay there. Right.

Life is moving on. We've been, we've had marriages, we've had divorces, we've had health issues, you had all of those different things. All different things. But it's crazy when I'm having these conversations with people.

And I just say, seriously, I just want you to start. And I just think that that is just, it's the hardest thing to get someone to understand is say, no, no, you got to believe in you. And that's what's so crazy. Like, they will kill themselves. They want 30 people to co-sign. And I always go, damn them. Co-sign. You co-sign your own idea and say, let's go.

That's right. Figure it out. Anybody who's ever done anything. They made a commitment. And there's a reason we're taught not to walk, not to decide, what am I going to do? I got to figure this out. To walk by faith and not by sight. There are things that we can do that we will never discover that until we challenge ourselves. And I want to make it clear, life is hard. But if you do what is easy, don't give yourself a chance to win. Your life will be hard. But if you do what is hard, your life will be easy. So I got to ask you this here, because this always comes up too.

I'm sitting in Milwaukee last month, and a brother asked me about getting bigger, doing more stuff. And I said to him, I said, I'm not concerned with that. He looked at me. He said, I think you're scared. I said, I'm not scared. I said, I'm not scared. I said, you're measuring what you want to do based on someone else. I said, I don't measure myself compared to somebody else.

And he didn't understand. I said, I don't need that validation. That's major what you just said. And Henry David Thoreau said, do not go where the path may lead. Go where there's no path and leave a trail. What you're doing, there are a lot of young people watching you. You are leaving a trail for other people to follow,

many other young people who will see a future that we don't get to see. Now, I'm 31 years older than you, okay, at 80. I'm 24, I'm 56. You're 56? I turned 56 November 14. Okay, well, I'm 80, so listen, I used to think people in their 40s were old, now that I'm 56. You're 56? I turned 56 November 14th. Okay, well, I'm 80. So, listen, I used to think people in their 40s were old. Now that I'm 80, I feel like I served at the Lord's Supper, but I got

some good tips. But the thing is, even being 80 and even, again, even being 56, what people also then don't realize is the number of people who launch careers after they turned 50 who transitioned and so i just i just it just it it frustrates me when to your going back to your your graveyard point people who it's there and and there i don't know i mean i don't i don't have this i don't have that i don't have the education i don't have this i don't have this and I don't have the education. I don't have this. I don't have this. And I'm sitting there going. No, what you have is enough. Live full and die empty. That's the key. Give it everything that you got. I remember I was in Vegas at that time.

Gladys and I were married and a guy was seated next to Frank Sinatra. And I heard him say something to this young man that I'll never forget. He said, live each day as if it were your last, because one day it will be. See, my hashtag is hashtag live life, love it. In fact, somebody sent me a DM today, the mother professional basketball player. She said, I just love how you live. And I said, listen, I said said um your point no one knows i said but i said use everything i said use i say use i said being a constant and a brother asked me

said man how you are you up on all these new stuff i said because i'll never stop learning yes i said i want to said, I want to know what's the newest thing. What, how can I use that? How can I use this app? I said, I said, so I, for me, that's fun when, when, when you're learning those different things. And so to me, that's also, I think part of this, you, you never stop learning. You just, you, you, you, you, you keep, you keep reading, you keep studying, You keep listening. You keep you never stop. George Washington said, do what you can where you are with what you have and never be satisfied. That's what you're doing. You're at 80. Is there is there.

I always ask this question to everybody. Is there one thing that you haven't done that even used like i gotta do that that's i'm doing it right now and that is when miles monroe said to me less brown there's no success without successors so now what i'm doing is training people who have a story have experiences that want to learn how to tell their story so that people don't just hear the story but feel the story and take them to a place in themselves that they can't go by themselves and transform that audience individually and collectively. There's a science to that. I've perfected this. I've been doing this for 53 years.

And so now I've got to, at this stage of my life, teach others who are hungry, willing to put in the time and effort to learn how to do this because we need new voices of hope and inspiration now. Do you emphasize the value of authenticity? Because I've heard, I remember I was at this event and there was, this person was training through Zig Ziglar and all sorts of stuff like that. And they finished the speech then Presentation was great tone was great all those things were great and I feel it was empty and the person came to me. It was like you didn't like it

I said I said, oh no, I said it's earthy. I said, but I didn't feel it Yeah, I said because it wasn't applied to the craft and the people in the room. I fundamentally believe that the greatest speakers are ones who use their personal experiences. Without any question. Because when you're speaking, people are asking, who are you? Right. What do you have? Can I trust you?

And they want to relate to you. They want to identify with you. And they want to connect with you. They want to identify with you. And they want to connect with you. You can't correct unless you connect. And so you have to create an experience so that people, when they hear you, they feel you. And they become self-persuaded to say, I need to do something different with my life. And that's what I'm teaching and training people how to do. Of all the places you've gone and you've spoken to, is there a particular event, a particular speech or presentation in the city, whatever, that even now you get goosebumps thinking about how they respond?

Without any question. I was in Atlanta and I, my birth mother was there, but I didn't know because I'd never seen her. And so I spoke in the Georgia dome. It was 80,000 people in the Georgia dome. People go online and see Les Brown speaking in the Georgia dome. And I was so afraid they had to come get me out of the restroom. Mike Williams, my mentor, he wrote a book called The Road to Your Best Stuff. He says, Brownie, come out there waiting. I said, Mike, I can't hear the voices. He said, you're scared, aren't you?

I said, yes, there's 80,000 people out there in a stadium. He said, are you listening to me? I said, yes. He said, do it for your mama. I said, yes. He said, do it for your mama. I said, don't use my mama on the bike. He said, do you know how proud Miss Mamie will be to say, my boy spoke in the Georgia Dome? Come out and do it for your mama. I said, okay.

So I came out. I asked them to pray for me. I had to put their hand on my head, and then I went up and spoke. But I was terrified even when I went out there. And I say, even if you're afraid when you do something, feel the fear and do it anyhow. So when people see it, it gives me goose pimples. I say, I can't believe that's me. It was, what's weird is, like, before I go out, I'm like, like, when you're watching a game or a boxing match or whatever,

and you see the players and how they just, it's like, yo, I'm ready to hit that field. That's how I always am. I like, so I i don't even like i don't like for them to some people like to go into a quiet space yes the reason i don't like that is because i need to feel the room yes i i have to i have to but i want to challenge you on that feel it no you don't'm going to tell you why I say that. I'm looking at you. I'm seasoned. I've been around the block a few times. And you spoke one day.

You got me. You just broke me down. I called you and said. Yeah, you did. I said, hey, man, give me your cash up. I got to send you something. You broke me down. You couldn't see me?

No, no, no, no. But here's what I mean by feeling. But you're speaking from your heart. Right. But here's what I mean by feeling. Yes. I'm allowing discernment. Yes.

To speak. And what then happens is, and again, I can't write it down. What, whatever I'm feeling. Yes. God then gives me the word. You get a download. So when I go up, I've literally had people say, how did you know this audience was going through what you were talking about? I said, that wasn't me.

No. So that's why it's like they always say, we got a room for you. I said, no, no, no. I'll stay because I don, like, I don't write speeches, but I've changed the whole message. I'm sitting there and I'm like, something else is going on. Well, I'll tell you what it is. Howard Thurman calls it the voice of the genuine. Is it in life? All of us have moments in our lives that we will hear the voice of the genuine. It's the voice within.

And if you cannot hear it all of your life, your days will be spent on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls. You're marching to the beat of a different drummer. You are able to listen to the listening to an audience that you can't see. You can't train that. That's intuition.

That's spirit in you that allows you to create that connection, even though you're not in the room with them, but they are going through an experience where you take them. And that's what you did to me. And I've had some people get mad that I didn't speak to the points they gave me. And I said to them, I said, well, that wasn't what was given to me. Come on now. Yes. You didn't speak.

Like one dude, I mean, he was really upset. We gave you five points. You didn't mention any of them. I'm like, yeah, I know. And I was like, because the reason I wasn't worried about what he thought, because the room erupted. And my deal was, I wasn't speaking to you. Come on now. I was speaking to them.

Yes. And he was hot and he got fired about six months later. Another person hit me saying, you know, he ain't no longer here. But that was, and I was trying to get him to understand. I said, Doc, you don't bring in speakers to say what you want them to say. Right. You bring them in for them to touch the people and you let them do what they do. Like, I wouldn't tell you, hey, Les, here's my theme.

Here are the whole points. Go. Then what? No. And one of the things that I'm training speakers, you do your research. I teach speakers that the philosophy that has governed this industry that allowed me to stand out, that I went in the opposite direction. The Dale Carnegie course, which is a great course, they teach, tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them

what you told them. I teach, never let what you want to say get in the way of what the audience needs to hear. Right there. And all that getting, get understanding. You do your research. I know that. I watch you. I study you. And I'm so proud of you. Well, I appreciate 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 called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. I just want people who are watching this. There's somebody watching this. And you're right. The value of digital is that, and I've already, I've experienced it.

Somebody come up to me and they'll, man, I'm like, that was 12 years ago. The beauty of this is that you don't know who's watching. You don't know when they're watching. You don't know what time of the morning or the evening they're watching and it may touch them and it may move them and motivate them. And what I tell folk is though, the blessing is not that they were moved. I said, the real challenge is if you never said what he told you to say. I said, then that's the failure. Because he was, God said, I'm going to send this person here. Whether you don't do your job and say it, when they come,

there's nothing there for them to actually hear and see. Right. That's powerful. So you better do it. Yes, indeed. Got to be obedient to that. It was always good to see you. You're looking good.

I love this here. I got this from a young lady. I said, obedient to that. It was always good to see you. You're looking good. I love this here. I got this from a young lady. I said, that's beautiful. That is. And she said, well, if you would do an interview with me, I'll give it to you. I said, the interview's done. You might turn that bad boy on. Yes.

Yes. It's always good to see you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Continue to do the greater work. That's what you're doing. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Take care. Bye. A whole lot of gems that were dropped there, Larry. Yeah, there was. First of all, it was great to see him. It's been a while, and good to see that he's

still around. But, you know, a sage advice, and this is why it's really important in the black community to listen to our elders. You know, he talked about, certainly, things won't, you know, in terms of things won't always be easy. But once again, I think connecting you know he talked about certainly things won't you know in terms of things won't always be easy but once again i think connecting with harris talked about putting putting in the work and make sure you continue to be steadfast and stay at it and and if you do there are a lot of wonderful things that will come out in the very end but you know i think

it's particularly a good message for young people particularly those who are just getting involved in the political process and life in general, that you've got to stay at it. It's hard work, but it's, like I said at the very end, it's be well worth it. Derek? You know, I too enjoyed the interview, Roland. The three points I would make

that we just witnessed was the authenticity between you and Les. It's great to see him. Man, if he's that 80, that's the kind of 80 I want to be. But the authenticity that you both exchanged. The second point is how relevant the information, how rich it was. And then last but not least, impactful.

We can watch that interview again, Roland, 10, 20, 30 years from now, and the topics that you and Les share will be authentic, relevant, and impactful. Mustafa. I think some of the most important things that were shared is do you have the courage to bet on yourself? I mean, folks really need to let that sit inside of them and be able to answer that question because so many folks in our community, unfortunately, have given up. They don't believe that they deserve something better and the actions that come when you've lowered your expectations. One of the things I've always enjoyed about Les, I read his books, I listened to him growing up, you know, when he used to always talk about you got to be hungry and being hungry means, you know, for some of the folks younger, you're always on the hustle. You're always on the grind. But you have a plan. You have a strategy and you believe in yourself.

And we could get our people to once again believe in themselves. We could change so many dynamics that go on both inside of our country and across our planet. So I will always take those words that they are planted deep. They found fertile ground in my soul. And I hope that they do with others. All right. Gentlemen, I appreciate it. Thank you so very much for joining us on today's show. Thank you so very much. Y'all be well, folks. That is it for us. Don't forget, support the work that we do. It's stuff that nobody else is really doing. We are focusing on really touching and teaching and getting you to understand what's happening in this world.

And so your resources, your support is always greatly appreciated and needed so do me a favor if you want to give to us via cash app i told you cash help change all of their policy that they close all of our accounts so if you want to support us you can you give us cash out via stripe using this qr code right here you can also send your checking money or the peel box 57196 washington dc 20037-0196 paypal r martin unfiltered venmo is rm unfiltered zelle roland at roland s martin.com roland at roland martin unfiltered.com don't forget you can also download the blackstone network app apple phone android phone apple tv android tv roku amazon fire tv xbox one samsung smart Don't forget, you can also download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Also, be sure to get a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. Available at bookstores nationwide.

Get the audio version on Audible. And, of course, be sure to get Roland Martin unfiltered merchandise. You can get all of that at BlackStarNetwork.com rolandmartinunfiltered.com and of course uh right there at rolandmartin.creator-spring.com folks that's it i'll see y'all tomorrow right here on the black star network black star network is a real uh 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? I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time.

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their homes.

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

We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game we gotta make moves and make them early set up goals don't worry about a setback just save up and stack up to reach them let's put ourselves in the right position pre-game to greater things start building your retirement plan at this is preispreetirement.org brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.