#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Ramaphosa & Trump meet, Newark ICE center clash, Chicago DOJ probe, Diddy trial, Bottoms for Ga. gov

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

5.20.2025 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Ramaphosa & Trump meet, Newark ICE center clash, Chicago DOJ probe, Diddy trial, Bottoms for Ga. gov The world is watching as South Africa's President touches down in D.C. for a high-stakes meeting with President Trump. We'll examine why this visit could reshape U.S.-Africa relations and what's at stake for both countries. The GOP's new budget bill could mean major cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. We'll break down what it means for your family and get a reaction live in the studio from Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka will not face trespassing charges for what happened outside of the Delaney Hall ICE facility, but Congresswoman LaMonica McIver gets hit with federal charges for allegedly assaulting and impeding law enforcement. In tonight's Marketplace, storytelling meets bold flavor. Jessica Taylor, founder of Ezra Coffee, will share how she brewed a movement that honors Black excellence one cup at a time.   #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 Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart podcast. 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 One, Taser, Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Taser, Inc. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser, Inc.

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 is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it.

I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit adoptUSkids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Hey folks, today's Tuesday, May 20th, 2025, coming up on Roller Martin Unfocused, streaming live on the Black Star Network. The world is watching to see what happens now that the South African president has touched down in the United States for a high stakes meeting with the twice impeached criminal convicted felon, Nuchi, who has constantly been attacking South Africa, calling them racist will break down this critical trip.

The GOP's new budget bill in major trouble that India Trump goes to Capitol Hill and even he still can't get the vote for the deal. In New Jersey, Mayor Rosalind Rocca has had charges dropped against him by federal officials, but they still are pursuing another CBC member from New Jersey. We'll tell you about that. Also folks, tonight's marketplace, we're unveiling our shopping site. We'll be talking to Jessica Taylor, founder of Ezra Coffee. And so lots to talk about with her as well. Folks, here's a lot of stuff we'd like to deal with.

It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roman Martin, I'm cultured. The Black Sun Network, let's go. Whatever the piss he's on it, whatever it is he's got to scoop the fat to find. And when it breaks he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best believe he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics.

With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling. Yeah, yeah. It's Uncle Ro Ro, y'all. Yeah, yeah. It's rolling, Martin, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with Ro Ro. Rollin' with Rollin' now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real, the best you know he's rollin' Martin now. Martin! folks, the president of South Africa, Cyril, Cyril Ramaphosa, uh, is in the United States,

uh, for three days of high stakes meetings with, uh, the twice impeached, criminally convicted felon in chief, Donald Trump. Now it's been lots of tensions between the United States and South Africa. Now for South Africa side, it's all been the United States accusing them of racism, accusing them of genocide. Donald Trump taking the side of white Afrikaner farmers there in South Africa,

lying about farmers being killed over land, just lies, lies, lies. You've had Secretary of State Marco Rubio attacking the South African United States ambassador, refusing to allow him to be in the country. And so it has been all sorts of things. Now, while the White House hasn't released a detailed schedule, Ramaphosa's office has said

the focus will be in reframing economic and commercial ties with the United States. Of course, tariffs are on the table. You got massive cuts. Donald Trump is ordered in resources to South Africa. And so all these things are happening. Johanna LeBlanc is a partner at Adomi, a Vowsry Group. She joins us right now.

Johanna, glad to have you here. And this is, I mean, look, from the South African president's standpoint, he needs the United States, but also what he can't, though, is give the impression that he is capitulating to this lying thug, Donald Trump. I think the meeting between the president of South Africa and President Donald Trump is one that is needed. And I think that it shouldn't just be a photo op, it should be an opportunity to discuss commercial-related matters. Because I

don't think President Ramaphosa should even waste his time to even discuss the issue around the African counters who are granted refugee status into the United States. Because I think that the U.S. has its position. And certainly President Ramaphosa has its position. And the international community also has its position. And it appears to be some level of discrepancy as to what's really happening on the ground and this administration's position as to what's happening in South Africa as it

relates to white South Africaners. But I think instead, you know, President Ramaphosa is in a great position of leverage. You're talking about a country that holds the keys to some of the world's most critical minerals that are needed in order to advance our world forward. So there, that's a position of leverage to negotiate what some of those critical, what are some of those deals around those critical minerals would look like in South Africa. But more importantly, before we even got to the issue of the white South Africaners, I think that South Africa and the United States have been at odds when it comes to a number of other policy issues.

One of them is South Africa's court case before the ICJ claiming that Israel is committing genocide in Palestine. Another one is MTN, which is a telecommunications company headquartered in South Africa that has ties to Iran, a state that is considered to be state-sponsored, a state by the United States government. And also to the issue around Starlink. Elon Musk claimed that he is unable to conduct a business or to secure a contract in South Africa because he's a black man. I'm sorry, because he's a white man. When in fact the issue is that there's a 30% local rule that Elon Musk feels as though he should not have to adhere to and he feels as though the rule is discriminatory. But the reason why the rule was

put in place to begin with is because of the cruel history of the apartheid system in South Africa where black South Africans were robbed of their land, their resources, right? And so in order and also murdered and kidnapped and so on. So in order to address some of those systemic racist policies in the country, the South African government has put in place certain policies similar to affirmative action or diversity inclusion programs that we have here in America. But I think nonetheless, President Ramaphosa is in a very good place to negotiate

with this administration around trade-related matters, certainly, and definitely the critical minerals that we talked about earlier. Look, Versha, it's not a difference of opinion when it comes to what these white farmers are dealing with. It's lies. It's lies from Donald Trump, it's lies from the United States.

He's been lying and saying white farmers are being killed left and right. He's a liar. So South Africa is like, you're having to prove a negative because you got individual who's a liar. Yeah, but I think that this administration's position on this matter is not going to change irrespective of what President Ramaphosa presents

to the government, to the Trump administration. So I think that for the sake of diplomacy, it is best that President Ramaphosa does focus on trade-related matters that will bring about even better economic conditions to the people of South Africa. And also to make sure that the conversation is one that is productive and one that will respect South Africa's sovereignty and certainly South Africa's domestic policies and definitely South Africa's rule of law in the country. Because when you are a head of state and you are able to meet with your counterpart, right? There are a number of things on the table

that could be discussed, but you really have to sit down and assess to see which discussions are even worth having, right? And I think this one about the white South Africaners is one that is not a necessary conversation for President Mbosa to have with President Trump. Now, will President Trump bring it up? Possibly. I don't know.

Come on, John. He's going to bring it up. Let's let's let he's going to bring it up. That's gonna happen. Well, one thing I will. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot

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

Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st, and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the World 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 Karamouche. 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 iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. -♪

We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit adoptUSkids.org to learn more.

Brought to you by AdoptUSkids, the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. I'll say is that we saw what happened between the meeting, during the meeting between Zelensky and President Trump a couple months ago. And I'll tell you this, Rowling,

the whole world has been watching, has been waiting in anticipation of this meeting between these two leaders because they're wondering, will there be another showdown between the two leaders? So everyone is watching in anticipation. But one thing I could tell you is that I've been in rooms with President Ramaphosa. He is one that is very diplomatic, very charismatic,

and there is no denying that I think he's going to handle himself very well. But there are some concerns about how this meeting could potentially be embarrassing for South Africa. So we all here are anticipating this meeting. Well, you can bank on Donald Trump will do all he could he can to embarrass South Africa. Just go ahead and write it down. It's etched in stone.

Johanna, I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. Bringing my panel, Joe Richardson, civil rights attorney, joining us from Los Angeles, Randy Bryan, entrepreneur, author of Never Say It, 25 Phrases You Should Never Ever Say to Keep Your Job and Friends out of D.C., Candace Kelly, legal analyst and host Not All Hood out of South Orange, New Jersey. I'm gonna start with you, Candace. Listen, we know what this thug is going to do. We know he's going to bring up the farmers. He's going to bring it up. He's going to tax out South Africa for going after Israel when it comes

to genocide in Gaza, all those different things, that's going to happen. And so let's just be real clear. There's nothing about Donald Trump that says diplomacy unless you are an oil state and you're kissing his ass, giving him wonderful trinkets. Listen, when he sits down with people and have this authority and this capacity, there's always gonna be a major exchange that he wants.

And if that doesn't happen, if he doesn't get his way, then there's going to be a fight. I'm just interested in seeing if this president with his command, with his presence, with all of the charm that he has when he enters a room, as she was just talking about, what will happen if things go wrong? I would imagine that if something was put on the table

where it ends up like other people, like Zelensky in his position, I don't think it will go quite the same way. I do not think that this man is going to let Donald Trump win. So it's something that I'm certainly going to be looking forward to, especially not just the content, but kind of the nature and the dynamics of what's going on between these two men.

No, absolutely. And I, Joe, we know who's going to be the idiot in any conversation. I mean, look, he showed his ass when the Canadian prime minister was here, just straight lying. Yeah, and you know, you've got to be wise. The point that was made before and even in the interview, if you've got, you know, the South African president is very wise. He understands where he sits. And he probably understands what would benefit America that South Africa actually has and can do. And so my sense is that he's gonna do what he can

to get to the point. He'll make the points that he needs to for sure, but also at the same time, give Donald Trump the potential to make a deal. See, because here's the thing about Donald Trump. Donald Trump will talk all day long about making a deal and he wants to make a deal, but it's an artificial finish line in that

it's not always a good deal. Okay? And so I think that the South African president will probably think about a couple of things. First of all, the deal that he may want that may benefit his people and also saving face with his own people. Zelensky was saving face

and continuing to have the support of his own people, which is why he had to do things the way he had to do them. And so my sense is the South African president will think of the same thing. Donald Trump may find to the point, may that he's a little bit different than Zelensky in some ways. But the question is how far we get or how much we have to go through and how much stuff we have to muddle through until they get to the point where they actually have a productive and useful conversation. South African president will be there for it, to have it, right? But he's got common sense. And he might be smarter, I think he's smarter, you know, than our president, which you have to be anyway. And so he, I'm

certain, has a good idea of what his goals are for him in this country, and he'll do what he needs to do to get there. Randy? Then the South African president does know what his goals are, as Joe was saying, but he also now has, he's very aware of Trump's personality. He has seen how he's engaged with other world leaders. So I would think that he's coming in prepared for the dance that he will have to do with Trump.

He knows that Trump will try to present a story that we know is not true and show that his country is different than he knows his country to be. I think that he will actually stand up and tell the truth about what is actually happening in South Africa. They fought very hard to get rid of apartheid, although it's only been what since early 1990s. And they don't want it to seem as if now there's this actual reverse racism happening that Trump is trying to suggest. So it's gonna be interesting.

Well, first of all, we all know that this notion of reverse racism is B.S. Candace. You know, Elon Musk wants to act, like, Oh my God, they're just doing anything against me because I'm white. I mean, his whining is just really, uh, pathetic and what white people like Elon Musk don't want to own up to, they don't want to own up to that. The racist in South Africa, uh Africa wants to still control everything. And the ANC is like, no, y'all are going to have to sit here.

We have to endure apartheid for so long. Yeah, this is the remedy because of your racism, of your mothers and fathers and aunts and uncles stealing this country from black people. Well, listen, Roland, it's the same argument that we're making here over the United States of America. We need to right the wrongs and kind of push through a system that where everybody wants they take part, it ends up unfairly to those who it kind of falls upon.

So this is the exact same thing that we are seeing. Groups of people trying to change history And then the black South Africans coming in and saying no you need to understand what it is It's a learning process and it's something that people when they try to change history they get they're gonna get more pushback They're going to get more pushback from groups They're going to hear more about that the same thing that is on in the United States is going on in South Africa, interestingly enough. History, similar, outcome similar, how we are trying to recover is similar too.

So it's no surprise about where this is gonna go. I think what's very interesting is that we are finding ourselves in the same position, with again, similar passive history and racism and how we have to continue to turn our wheels and go out of our way to correct what somebody else has done. So it will be very interesting to see

how this meeting turns out. But Joe, the difference is white people run this country, black people control South Africa, the political apparatus in South Africa. Yeah, the political apparatus is different for sure, no doubt about that. And because the political apparatus is different, they can move toward equity, which is, which ought to be a shared goal, which is a worthy goal, which is a morally correct goal, and they can do that. The other thing that I think I would say that Donald Trump has to be scared of is even more,

he might not be so worried, interestingly, he might not be so worried about having an argument with a black man that's smarter than him, right? Because he doesn't, you don't have to be smarter as a black man to have certain people look at you and judge you to be inferior based on, you know, despite the fact you look at the Trump administration and you see competence issues everywhere.

You see what they perplex or purport to be DEI, that's actually the DEI as they define it. You see that. But what I don't think he wants to do is I don't think he wants to have an argument and a back and forth with the right African ears themselves. Right. There are people in that country that are saying no Donald Trump you're wrong. That's not what's happening here. Okay. And so if you have if you're having an argument with a bunch of folks that that look like

Elon Musk that you have a little bit of a different situation. You're not going to just be able to put a quote black face, a quote DEI face, a quote minority face on this whole thing and now it is consistent with and helps your narrative back in the state. The reason why he's doing this is that it helps his narrative here. But it doesn't help his narrative here if people there that are white and that look like him are speaking against it. So he has to be really careful about that. Well, I really do hope, Randy,

that the South African president does not hold back and will not tolerate having this idiot try to embarrass him on the international stage? I don't think that we are going to be disappointed. Like I said earlier, I think that he is prepared. He understands that, you know, generally worldwide, there are some white people who are having temper tantrums just because we are trying to make things right. Like that's what DEI was about. You know, I love the quote that always says

that for people who are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression. And so because we're trying to right the wrongs of the past and make things equal here in America and in South Africa, you have some people like Donald Trump claiming that others are being oppressed, which that's not what's happening at all. And I believe the president of South Africa

is gonna make that quite clear. And this is the president of South Africa, actually at the year. Good to see you, are you well? Good to see you, Mr. President. What are you most looking forward in terms of making a deal with the new COVID? Oh, and we get a handshake there? Yes, see you Mr. President. Good to see you. What are you most looking forward to in terms of making a deal with the President? Oh, and we get a handshake there?

Yes, we get a handshake. Yes, Mr. President. And now you're ready for the handshake with Trump. What's going to be your icebreaker? Well, we're always ready. We're hoping to have really good discussions with President Trump and his fellow government colleagues. Looking forward to a really good and positive meeting.

And we're looking forward to a very good outcome for- Baracka. You might remember, he was arrested earlier this month outside the Delaney Hall ICE facility while standing alongside members of Congress. They were there to inspect the place and raise alarms about how detainees, many of them, immigrants of color, are being treated.

Baraka, who's running for governor, was taken into custody during what was supposed to be an oversight visit, but now the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Trump's stupid attorney, Alina Habba, says the case is dismissed, quote, "'For the sake of moving forward.'" No, idiot, cause you had nothing. She even invited Barack to return for a tour saying quote,

the government has nothing to hide at this facility. Get the hell out of here. Meanwhile, Congresswoman LaMonica MacGyver who was with Barack at the protest, she finds herself hit with federal charters for allegedly assaulting and impeding law enforcement during the confrontation. Prosecutors claim McIver pushed past officers as tensions rose between protesters, lawmakers and homeland

security agents. But McIver says this is all political. In her words, these charters are meant to criminalize oversight and silent scrutiny of Trump's immigration agenda. Candace, they had nothing and they knew it. They had video of Barack literally being walked through the gates. Yeah, that's and he was not fighting back. Now listen, you have a couple of people, several people who were in this situation where they were there legally. They were exercising their authority to see what was going on at this particular facility. And then here come people fighting against them. They don't know why.

I mean, the first response is going to be to fight back. What are you doing? We don't have any reason not to be here. So why are you fighting us? So it makes sense that she would fight back. It makes sense that everybody was in the middle of that because nobody knew what was going on. Nobody properly announced themselves.

Nobody properly made- I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this Taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st, and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glodd. And this is season two of the War on Drugs Podcast. 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 Caramouche.

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 are wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family.

They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit adoptUSkids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. It claimed that they shouldn't be here and that this was illegally because it wasn't illegal. There was no protest and what's

interesting about this is that you have two people who were at the same facility, the same melee, if you will, but only one person got charged and the other person, I mean, it makes no sense. They were all there for the same thing. And if they were defending themselves or responding in any way, if I'm someone looking at this case,

it makes sense that they were responding that way because they didn't know what was going on. That's just the human instinct. And they weren't doing anything wrong at all. Joe. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's interesting. They they've jumped off of the mayor of Iraq and jumped onto the representative, but I don't think the results can be any different. So maybe they think the representative was a little bit more visually involved in the

scuffle, so therefore they can arrest her for assault and things like that. Sometimes you have to, when you are administering justice, when you are a prosecutor, you make that decision, you have to decide what makes sense as it pertains to protecting the public. This is not protecting the public. This is not protecting the public. This is not serving the public. This is not going to do anything other than what they wanted to do. They wanted to intimidate and to stifle oversight, checking on, you know, our governor officials that are supposed to be serving us, that are supposed to be doing right by us, and therefore hopefully keeping it from happening

so that everybody sees, looks through the window and says, I don't want that to be me. But I think with the representative here, they've chosen the wrong one. I think the representative will go all the way to the Hill. And I don't think that there'll be a jury of other peers that will actually convict her under these circumstances. There's gray area at best here.

All they're doing is providing oversight. And then there's a scuffle and people have natural instincts related to that. But a criminal case, this is not public services, this is not protecting and serving the public and administering justice. This is not, and I believe that that'll come out in the wash. Well, we know these people are idiots, Randy.

They've proven that time and time again. Well, and they've also proven that they have no respect for the Constitution. I mean, it is our First Amendment right to protest. And as we're seeing on college campuses and in front of buildings all over this country, as soon as somebody protests, particularly somebody black or of color,

protests something that they are for, they use the police as their personal security guards. They're using the Justice Department to go after people that they don't like or that are going against their dogma. And that was not what it was meant to be. their dogma. And that was not what it was meant to be. Well, we know who we know who are idiots and that's anybody associated with Donald Trump. All right, y'all gotta go to a quick break. We come back.

Now these same idiots are trying to investigate the mayor of Chicago because he talked about hiring black people. Yeah, I got something to say about that. You're watching Rolling Mart and Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. This week on A Balanced Life, we are talking about the many women and female role models that play an integral role in our lives, from helping to boost our self-esteem to checking us when we get out of line. These women deserve their flowers for helping us to become who we are today.

The women in my lives who have just impacted me so much have challenged me. They're women who made me want to live right and love right. That's all next on A Balanced Life here on Black Star Network. Hello, we're the Critter Fixers. I'm Dr. Bernardo Hodges. And I'm Dr. Terrence Ferguson.

And you're tuned in to... Roland Martin on the 50s. Ice Barbie was on Capitol Hill today. That's the Department of Homeland Security, Christie Noem and I really try my best not to call somebody dumb as a box of rocks. dumb as a box of rocks.

But Ice Barbie is truly one of the dumbest damn people y'all have ever heard. Listen to her being questioned and to define habeas corpus. It truly is remarkably hilarious. Just don't, don't, don't fall to your shell after. So secretary, what is habeas corpus? Well, habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people

from this country and suspend their right to. Let me stop you ma'am. Habeas corpus, excuse me, that's incorrect. President Blinken used it. Excuse me. Habeas Corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.

If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason. habeas corpus is the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like North Korea. As a senator from the live free or die state, this matters a lot to me and my constituents and to all Americans.

So Secretary Noem, do you support the core protection that habeas corpus provides, that the government must provide a public reason in order to detain and imprison someone? Yeah, I support habeas corpus. I also recognize that the President of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not.

It has never been done without approval of Congress. Even Abraham Lincoln got retroactive approval from Congress. What? Come on. Come on. Lord have mercy, Joe. How dumb is this child?

It kind of reminds me of years ago. I don't know if you guys remember this, but when Trump was first in office, he was, you know, pointing all these puppies to the federal bench. And they found one that didn't know what a default was, didn't understand any of the basic litigation things, didn't have never tried a case, et cetera, which doesn't have to be a sin. But most people that haven't tried cases aren't getting appointed to be on the court. So what it reminds you, fast forward, you've got the head of Homeland Security who actually deals with a lot of issues related to people being potentially incarcerated, et cetera,

where habeas corpus would seem to be something relevant that you'd want to know about. And you also need to know the significance of what you're saying when you're actually trying to suspend it. You've got Stephen Miller talking all that long about, well, we're talking about suspending it. Well, the reason he wants to suspend it

is because it grants rights to people and makes it harder for them to get to their goal of a million or so people being deported this year. It's not happening quick enough. It's not happening fast enough. And so, you know, to hell with the rules, to hell with the way that we are actually supposed to do things, at least there's an admission when we come up short normally that we have come up short here, hey, no problem at all. Let's get rid of habeas corpus and let's have somebody in charge that doesn't even know what habeas corpus actually is. Then they could ask her, well, how many times have you been suspended? She said once. They said, no, it's been suspended

four times. So no history, no nothing, not worried about that. Deal with the details later. It's not a pop of details. Just lock them up, throw them out, send them to El Salvador. Okay, if their paperwork gets lost, no problem. Everything's lovely because I got to hit my number. Okay? And so the more this happens, you know, the worse they'll look, you know, I wonder who cares and how many people care. But hopefully enough of this can happen where people really understand that we have a serious constitutional problem here. We're at constitutional crisis. We're not

at getting ready to have a, and if this happens, this might be a constant, but no, no, we are here already. Okay. We are here at unpacked. We are living in a constitutional crisis right now. And people have to pay attention to it. And it's too bad that sometimes people have to actually have their rights taken in order for them to really understand it. You've got citizens that are supporting what Donald Trump is doing and he's deporting citizens. Okay, and then he's deporting other people

without due process, which is granted to people that even you don't believe ought to be here. That's our constitution. And so they're being pragmatic about changing things, but we're gonna see what happens. Then meanwhile, back at the ranch, we can see that Kristi Ngo has no idea what she's doing. It's gotta be painful as a lawyer, Candace,

to listen to these fools talk about the law. Well, you know, one interesting thing is that when she came to testify, she had to have known that they were going to ask about that. At the very least, do a quick Google search and find out what Habeas Corpus is. But what she did was she defaulted, like we've seen so many in the administration do, and just make it up as she went along. At this point, she and Stephen Miller would be saying something different.

He's saying, let's suspend Habeas Corpus. She says that it means that the president actually has the right, the constitutional right, in order to deport people out of the country. It's like they haven't even had a meeting to actually say specifically what their talking points are going to be. and even when she was told that that was not what he was purpose was not back down it has been on the books

you know we're talking about before the Civil War. So I'm not sure exactly what she thought was going to go on but you know intrinsic within her job, especially in 2024, today, on this Tuesday, we're talking about deportation and ICE detaining people improperly. Habeas Corpus had to have come up and it did. She was not prepared and it tells you a lot about what she thinks about her job. And it tells you a lot about who she is as a person, not to even necessarily look up what her job entails.

You know, Randy, I sort of, this is what I think happens in the morning. Chris is known sitting up, applying some makeup and a staffer saying, secretary, are you prepared to make some shit up today? Oh yeah. I am. I am. Did you read the briefing books? No, I ain? Oh yeah. I am. I am.

Did you read the briefing books? No, I ain't read that. I don't need it. I'm gonna wing it. You know, because the dumb ass who I work for, that's what he does. I believe she is very arrogant in her ignorance. I believe that she feels comfortable.

I cannot imagine even being in high school and not coming prepared when I knew I was gonna be up in front of the class. She was up in front of the class and did not know a basic definition that she should know inside and out considering the position of power that she has been given. I was thinking about that show,

do you remember that show rolling are you smarter than a 5th grader it was a back in the day. I thought about that show and I said. You got to drop that bad boy to the 2nd grade for these bulls right, you know that's what I was thinking I said she would lose to the 5th graders, I mean that is basic government I remember back in school and I said she is not smarter than a fifth grader. She would not do well in that game show whatsoever and she's certainly

not doing well as our secretary of homeland security. Yeah, no, these people are just... Okay, now let me deal with this next one. The Department of Justice, they announced they're investigating whether the city of Chicago discriminates against municipal job candidates based upon race. This is after Mayor Brandon Johnson, while speaking at a church on the South Side of Chicago, highlighted the number of black officials in this administration.

Well, in a letter posted on social media, Harmeet Dhillon, a true MAGA idiot who's Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights overseeing the Civil Rights Division, she wrote, based on information suggesting that you have made higher decisions solely based on race. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

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

This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st, and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. 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 World 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 Caramouche. 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 podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcast. -♪ 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. That's kind of stupid.

When a reporter questioned Johnson about the investigation, he said this. Well, I'm not surprised. This administration has, you know, obviously has demonstrated a great deal of animosity, disdain towards what is sensible about our country, and that's the diversity of our country. And I'm very proud of the fact that now we, just the Trump administration, not respect the rule of law or what's sensible about our society, you would be hard pressed to find qualified individuals who are in the administration.

You know, as my administration reflects the country, reflects the city, his administration reflects the country, reflects the city. His administration reflects the country club. And that is the biggest difference between what we're doing in Chicago and what is coming from the federal government. We're gonna remain firm, steadfast in our commitment to ensure that the incredible diverse talent

that we have within our administration that continues to lead us towards the safest, most affordable big city in America. We're not gonna shy away or apologize for who we are. So you gotta understand the white wing being so upset. And this is just a clip of the conversation that the mayor had, that they are all up in arms over.

I mean, they are just totally upset because of what he said. But they ain't say nothing went all on white mayors. They were hiring white folk after white folk after white folk in a city with a whole lot of black people. Listen, just listen to this here. I'm the tractors that will push back on me and say, the only thing that the mayor talks about is the hiring of black people. No, what I'm saying is when you hire our people,

we always look out for everybody else. We are the most generous people on the planet. I don't know too many cultures that have play cousins. That's how generous we are. We just make somebody a family member, right? This is how we are. And so business and economic neighborhood development, the deputy mayor is a black woman. Department of the deputy mayor is a black woman.

Department of planning and development is a black woman. Infrastructure, deputy mayor is a black woman. Chief operations officer is a black man. Budget director is a black woman. Infrastructure, deputy mayor is a black woman. Chief operations officer is a black woman. Chief operations officer is a black man. Budget director is a black woman. Senior advisor is a black man. And I'm laying that out because when you, when you ask how do we ensure that our people get a chance to

grow their business? Truth be told, Randa, these white folks can't, they just can't handle black people being in power. They really can't, and they really can't handle us being united. What is really interesting after, you know, being all these years in DEI, there were studies out that showed of all the groups, identity groups that exist, so you're talking about LGBTQIA or black or Latino or Asian or, you know, disabled, black people hire within our identity group less

often, less frequently than any other identity group. And it's because of the fear of what's happening right now. Whenever we hire within our group, whenever we, you know, if I'm a vice president and I bring on a black director, it is seen almost as a threat to white people in power. It is seen as if, oh, my gosh, is she starting a coup. So black people have actually strayed away from doing it. They've held back from doing it because it creates fear in others.

And so we have not typically looked out for each other as much as other groups, identity groups have. And this has been proven study after study. And you see what's happening now when he's pointing out that I am creating an administration that is diverse as Chicago is, that is representative of our great city. They're saying, oh, there must be something wrong, again, trying to call out reverse racism. And we know that's a lie.

It is a cat call to create fear anytime we become united, anytime we try to try to create an equal system. It's very common what's happening right now. And it's unfortunate. These folks, you know, we got a phrase in Texas called man, they chat my hide. And these white nationalists, white supremacists, Joe, all they do, all they do is, oh my God, oh my God, white people are just under siege. This is why I wrote my book White Fear. But I predicted all of this here. And this is the Republican Party. They literally think that white people are just so downtrodden and they just have it rough. Right, yeah. I mean, it's amazing kind of what you see going on.

We go back. We weren't too far. When I was in law school, we weren't too far off of Harold Washington's days in Chicago. And all of the doors that were opened up by that time. And you look at what's happened with other black mayors over the year. I grew up with Tom Bradley and then there were others,

David Dinkins in 1989, et cetera. Then anytime you open the doors for other black folks, and to Randy's point, black folks have to be diverse and bridge-built, first of all, to get elected. Black folks don't usually get elected just by being elected by other black folks. Not even just from a number standpoint, but sometimes from a money standpoint as well. So we have to bridge-build to make it anyway. And that's what we do in corporations every day. That's what we do in our jobs every day.

That's what we do in schools every day, et cetera. But we are very open to other people and having coalitions, et cetera, because that's how we win, that's how we stay in the positions that we're in. And we also understand the power and the value of diversity. We don't turn around and become less diverse because we're a beneficiary of people that prioritize diversity. And so again, there's this entitlement that says, it goes back to even when people were speaking against affirmative action, that is rooted in an entitlement that says, we shouldn't, these people shouldn't be here. These people don't belong here. And so again, we're at this place where in a diverse city, white folks think white

folks and only white folks ought to be in charge. And how dare someone actually have the common sense and the good sense to understand that that's not the case. And so the Trump administration is reaching their hands into diverse cities, into politically democratic cities and things like that, mistaking what they had, winning the election by very little, for a mandate that says we need, we should be able to change everything, even if the law hasn't followed yet, even if there's no legal precedent for this. And so I think that the pushback is very, very necessary,

not only because it's wrong from a law standpoint, from a legal standpoint, but it's also wrong from a moral standpoint. And so I'm glad the mayor is doing what he's doing, but it lets you know how easy it is to speak truth that says we want to be diverse because we've got a diverse city and we need to be. And then some people get their feelings hurt. Candace?

Listen, presidents and CEOs across the country, the handful of African Americans that are Black, they don't have vice presidents that are black. That just doesn't happen. It only happens the only way around. And it is because of the fact that too much concentrated power makes white people feel very, very uncomfortable. And that's what we're seeing.

The other point I want to make is that when we look at Title VII, Title VII, there are some areas that it does not apply to, like religious institutions and political appointments. So if these are exclusively political appointments, Title VII actually does not apply to them in terms of barring someone because of race and gender and things of that nature. So I'd be very interested to see how this turns out because these political appointments are something that Title VII is not an umbrella for. And finally, they let out numbers in terms of how many people they do have

that are black, white, Asian. And it pretty much would satisfy any white person across the country in terms of looking at how it's pretty much equally distributed. Does it have to be that way? No. But that is generally how African Americans do it. They don't care.

These white folks ain't satisfied. They want all the jobs. They do. Well, what I'm saying- They don't want black folks having 5%. Listen, the numbers that they have, I'm saying I'll be very interested to see what the pushback will be. That's all. It ain't no pushback. This is nothing but a PR stunt by that idiot. So it is. No, I'm saying it's a PR stunt. I definitely agree. I definitely

agree. Yeah. But I'm just saying that they have no basis. But again, in their minds, white people should have all the jobs. And if you black and got a job, oh, you got it because of the AI, you got a firm faction. It never dawns on them that somebody white got hired because they white? Never. It never ever happens. All right, y'all. Quick break. We're going to come back. We're going to talk about Florida A&M.

Man, they steal. They steal. Catching heat. This time, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries hits the selection of a grossly unqualified black woman as their president. And again, I don't care if you're a Democrat or not, but I don't care if you're a Democrat or not. the Hakeem Jeffries hits the selection of a grossly unqualified black woman as their president. And again, I don't care she's MAGA, I don't care she's a Republican, her resume sucks to be university president. You're watching Roller Monk on the filter, the Black Study Network,

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["Believe Me, I'm Here For You"] Hey y'all, welcome to the other side of change, only on the Black Star Network and hosted by myself, Rhea Baker, and my good sis, Jamira Burley. We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture. And we don't just settle for commentary.

This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to the episode of change. Now that Roland Martin is willing to give me the blueprint, hey, Syros, I need to go to Tata Fair and get another blueprint because I need some green money. The only way I can do what I'm doing, I need to make some money. So you'll see me working with Roland.

Matter of fact, it's the Roland Martin and Sherlock under Michelle. Well, it should be the Sherlock under Michelle and the Roland Martin show. Well, whatever show it's going to be, it's the Roland Martin and the Sherlock and the Richard. Well, it should be the Sherlock and the Richard and the Roland Martin show. Well, whatever show it's going to be, it's going to be good. 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 One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st, and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott.

And this is season two of the We're on Drugs Podcast. Sir, we are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded 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 Caramouche. 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. 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. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcast. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling, the limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back

over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at tearthepapersealing.org brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Folks, Florida A&M University's decision to select a telecom lobbyist and former Florida's Florida university

decision to select a telecom lobbyist and former chair of Florida's board of education who lacks any experience with higher education as its 13th president has reached Capitol Hill during Monday's news briefing. King Jeffries was asked about the controversial choice and her ties to Project 2025. On Friday, Florida A&M University named Marva Johnson to be their next president despite backlash over her political ties to Trump and her lack of academic experience. Critics view this as part of Project 2025's trend of trying to take over boards and undermine HBCUs. You've mentioned that Republicans lied about Project 2025. Do you view the takeover of HBCUs as part of that campaign to undermine HBCUs? And as someone who's supportive of HBCUs, what's your message to students out there who are concerned about the leadership that are being installed at these institutions?

Well, this particular individual appears deeply unqualified and unprepared to carry out the mission of Florida A&M University. And it's my suspicion that she will not last long at the institution. She will be a failure. And we are not going to allow the Trump administration to take over historically black colleges and universities across the country, to whitewash our history, and to try to indoctrinate the young people of America with their extreme and failing ideology.

Republicans and far-right extremists are failing. They're failing as it relates to the economy, they're failing as it relates to races that are taking place all across the country, they're failing in courts. We're not gonna let them take their failed track record one disaster after the next and allow them to pretend as if they've got some capacity or expertise to of all things be leading our historically black colleges. our historical black colleges.

Randy, he ain't tell no lies. He told not one lie. He told not one lie. And, you know, as a huge proponent of HBCUs, you know, I grew up on Hampton's campus and went to Tuskegee University and have had some good times at FAMU. You know, this really saddens me because we hold our institutions so dear and it is so critically important who leads them.

And so it seems as if some sort of political plant has happened to let this woman who has had no higher education experience whatsoever, not even taught a class now lead this institution. It's quite frightening right now. She won't be successful just for the simple fact that she does not have the alumni are violently opposed to her being in this position. opposed to her being in this position. And I'm also insulted. It seems that people think that black people

will not evaluate a person just because they happen to be black. And, you know, I saw a woman, a FAMU graduate alumnus, who said, some people think cooning is career advancement. That's what they have taken on. And, you know, this woman does have direct ties with DeSantis and doesn't seem to believe in much of what is at the core of HBCUs when it comes to the advancement of black people and ensuring that we have a fair shot in this country.

And so I would be up in arms to be honest with you. I am up in arms. It's very disappointing. And I do agree with Jeffries that it's going to, she is going to fail. Hey, we laid it out last week. Joanne, nothing changed, still grossly unqualified. Yeah, I mean, you know, still grossly unqualified.

Yeah, I mean, you know, there are black conservatives out here that you could argue would be more qualified, at least somebody with an education background. You know, it's almost like DeSantis, maybe he wants her to fail. You know, you know, maybe it's that, okay, we think that she'll toe a line

and be where we want her to be, but maybe it's like, and if she fails, it's that, okay, we think that she'll toe a line and be where we want her to be. But maybe it's like, and if she fails, it's okay too, because you at least need to look the part. And from an educational background standpoint, she doesn't look the part. Maybe she's fine if we're talking about telecom, if we're talking about lobbying, if we're talking about some other things. But what credibility is she going to have with professors? What credibility is she going to have with parents who are worried

about the quality of education for their children? And it's interesting that she would put herself, she would allow herself to be basically used and placed as a pawn in a situation like this, where if she's concerned about her reputation at all, she's not going to come out looking better on the back end. invitation at all, she's not going to come out looking better on the back end. So it doesn't make a whole lot of sense actually because it's interesting when you put unqualified people, people that don't fit into a situation at all, now you're insulting our intelligence. You can't even play the game and act like, okay, here's somebody I have family to disagree with who's professionally qualified to do what it is that they're getting appointed to do.

We can at least say that, but we can't say that in this case either. So it's interesting. I mean, I'd be interested to see what the end game is because I do believe that she'll fail because I don't know that she's gonna have the heart and soul of that place in mind and it's not going to have the heart and soul of that place in mind, and it's not going to have the respect of professors

when she's never professed. Listen, she was likely making $250,000 a year, Candace, then giving her $750,000 a year. So bottom line is, she's going to make in one year what it would take her three years to make as a lobbyist. That's what's up. That's true. In fact, no other candidate asked for a salary higher than 500,000. They're paying her 300 grand more than the previous president. and never even taught an online class. I mean, that's what's most remarkable about this. When you sit on a decision-making committee

in order to hire a president of a university, which I had, you can't even get the resume through certain thresholds to even get to the committee because the computer kind of blocks it out. You have to have certain qualifications in order to do what you are supposed to do. I know when I was hired, I had a Juris Doctorate, they were like, yeah, but that's not a PhD.

I was like, but is the doctorate? I mean, they are very, very specific in academia. Here's why things gonna happen. I don't think she's even gonna have a year to prove herself. We're in the summer now, so the students aren't on campus, things aren't as active, but you have a lot of people who are going to raise up, if it's not gonna be the alumni, it's gonna be the students when they get back on campus, things aren't as active. But you have a lot of people who are going to raise up.

It's not going to be the alumni. It's going to be the students when they get back on campus. They're going to be planning to get her out. She's not going to be able to do anything if she doesn't have the support, like we already said. There is no way. All presidents do is trickle down and ask for support in order to do what they need to do coming up top.

She doesn't have it. There will probably be protests. There's probably gonna be a backlash, outcries. The students just happen not to be there right now. She is not even gonna finish before the end of the year. Watch, there's no way. There's no way you can get anything done without having the support.

There's just no way. Yeah, that's what's up. It's illogical, but so be it. And I say to the students, faculty, staff, to the alumni, hey, make it clear. If we don't like you, we ain't got to love you. And we ain't got to cut a check. So we'll see what happens at Florida A&M.

Quick break, we come back. We're going to introduce folks a shopping channel, Black-owned products, and we'll talk to a coffee owner who is a part of that as well. That's next right here, rolling unfiltered on the Blackstone Network. What's up, y'all? Look, fan base is more than a platform. It's a movement to empower creators, offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in Black-owned tech infrastructure and help shape the future

of social media. Investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The Black community must not only consume tech, we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital directly through their community, through the jobs act. Hi everybody, I'm Kim Coles. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. Yo, it's Shaman D'Arc Cove from Blackish and you're watching...

Roland Martin, Unfiltered. so All right, folks. This trial of Sean Diddy Combs continued in New York City today. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this Taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st, and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the We're 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 band. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamouche. 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 podcast 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 podcast. I always had to be so good. one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling.

The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at tearthepapersceiling.org, brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. And Candace Kelly, tell us what happened. Ah, you know, as always, a lot happened.

It's never not explosive. That's the thing about this trial. But we did have several people that got on the stand today. We had David James who continued his testimony. He was an assistant to Sean Combs. I mean, he talked about drug use, how Sean Combs always used drugs. And he just talked about this being Sean Combs' world and that's how things operated. We heard from an escort called The Punisher and he talked about showing up and getting paid for sex. He went into all the details, all the things that he had to act out,

lots of baby oil, blindfolds, getting paid at the end of each sex session. But I want to highlight one person, and that would be Regina Ventura. This is the mother of Cassie Ventura, and she told a very interesting story where she was emailed by Cassie. Cassie toldura and she told a very interesting story where she was emailed by Cassie.

Cassie told her mom, I'm about to be exploited with these particular sex tapes. One might come out on Christmas and certainly her mom panicked and they started working towards a plan to try to get her out or move her through this. But she knew about this. And at one point, Sean Combs told her mother and father, I'm going

to need $20,000 from you. I'm going to need that wired. Her parents took out a loan against their home, wired it to him. He said if she's going to be seeing other people, which he thought she was at that point, I believe Kid Cudi, well then I need to recoup the investment that I put in her. And they wired her, wired him $20,000. And then after it was all said and done, he gave the money back.

All of that just to put them through a crisis and turmoil with their daughter. She also talked about getting into arguments and trying to hit John Combs because he tried to take away her daughter's keys and then took away her cars. So just a lot more detail in terms of these RICO charges and trying to connect the dots

that he was doing all of these things that trigger the RICO statute. Well, that, again, it's just more outlandish every single day when the testimony comes out. So, Candace, we appreciate you breaking it down for us. All right, folks, since we launched this show, we were always focused on black owned businesses. And what we've now done is partner with another black owned company to create a shopping site. So go ahead and put the site up. And so it's and again, so on this on this site, which you can access

through Black Star Network, you can access through roller button unfiltered. It allows you to shop these products. So it's shopblackstarnetwork.com. Shopblackstarnetwork.com. And we're gonna be featuring different guests every single day this week, but also every Tuesday in our marketplace segment, giving you an idea of these black-owned products. We see what's happening with Target, these other

companies ending their DEI efforts not supporting black owned businesses. And so this is a way where you can actually support them directly. Well, a former educator turned her passion into purpose by launching a company that combines her two loves teaching and coffee. Ezra Coffee is a premium brand where every blend tells a black story. From 64th and Tulsa to Lord Baldwin, Jessica Taylor merged her love of coffee with her passion for empowering young people to finish college. For many an adult financial holes put their degree completion at risk. Well Jessica found a way to build a business and break financial barriers for students. She joins us right now. Jessica how you doing? I'm well, how are you?

And thank you for having me. So, look, we know people drink coffee. And so why did you choose this avenue to go in? Yeah, so I grew up enjoying coffee with my siblings. So we started drinking coffee about seven years old. We were dropped off in my grandparents house. Oh, hell y'all probably have been ADHD from the beginning. Look, I understand my grandparents drink coffee

every day. I think I probably stopped about nine. Praise the Lord. I had coffee since but I know exactly what you're talking about. They drink coffee, we drank coffee. Right. So you can imagine when we got back to Atlanta after summer break, my mom was like, what are these kids doing drinking coffee? So she calls my grandparents and it's a whole up war. However, fast forward, I started traveling,

noticed that coffee tastes different in different places. And so during my sister, she suffers from lactose intolerance, which is what 64% of the community suffers from with the largest group being black and brown people. So she can't have any milk in her coffee. She also has a soy and a nut allergy. So she can't do any of the other milk-based additives too. So we provide our mixed-based origins

in which people can enjoy the taste of coffee with the boldness and low acidity without the bitterness of it as well. So all of our blends, we have an Ethiopian Sumatran, an Ethiopian Columbian, a Kenyan Double A. We have a Cognac flavored blend, Candy Amps, and all those different things as well too. And so when I started this, oh, go ahead.

Well, for folks who don't know, I mean coffee was founded in Ethiopia. Correct, correct. And it's the most exported item in the world as well too. So when we think about that, I wanted to make sure we connected those things. So the one thing that we wanted to do within this coffee was we were founded in 2021. So this is the height of the pandemic, but it's also around the time where there is a ratio of black history and critical race theory is going on. So I really wanted to combine that and also coffee and where we're

continuously telling the stories of black people that are not rooted in adversity or slavery but really kind of highlight the beauty of them. And so we have our 64th in Tulsa blend which highlights the civil rights act of 1964 in Tulsa black wall street and we also have our lord Baldwin which honors argy lord and James Baldwin and then all of these blends tell the story of how these things came together on the back of the backs as well. So when did you launch it? What year that you launched the business?

Yeah, we launched February 2021. And so you're now celebrating four years. Talk about how the business has grown, but also what issues did you face because starting a business is not easy at all. It's not easy. And like I said, we came during the height of pandemic. So we launched February 7th, 2021.

In March, we got a phone call from a representative from Target. And so in June, we're in the Target, their first accelerator program, their four founders program. So we went from there, we're accepted to that, we completed that program, fast forward, we went to Amazon, we're on their platform.

From there, we got picked up in retail, we were in HEB. From HEB, we went to Central Market. From Central Market, we went to Bridge Street Market. And now we just launched again in Fresh Market here in Texas. So within 16 months, we were on retail shelves, and within two and a half months, we were in our first accelerator program

for diverse founders. So we've grown pretty fast and done pretty well. Now you're based where in Texas? We are in Houston, Texas. All right, all right, cool. Good city, good city. Me been a native of it as well. How large is your company in terms of employees?

Yeah, so we're just at five. So we are small, but we are scrappy. And we're continuously growing as well. And one thing about us is we really utilize. I used to be a higher-aid administrator. I used to work at the Ohio State University and Purdue University. So I understand the importance of internships.

And so we provide internships to students within our program, within our company as well. And we also do senior capstone projects with students too. So we've done those with Southern Methodist University and also Baylor University as well. So giving students the opportunity to work with us hands-on, gain academic credit, and really see if this is something that they wanna do working in the CPG space long-term.

Questions from my panelists. Let's see here. Joe, Candice, Randy, which one of you is a rabbit coffee drinker? I am, but I'm a qualified by saying that I drink decaffeinated sometimes because the regular is kind of hard on my stomach. So I got a two-part question.

First of all, could your coffee be for me? Because I love the kids of Starbucks, but the coffee don't taste that good. Okay, that's thing one. And then here's my second question. Talk a little bit, looking at your website, you talk about your blends, but you also talk about your impact.

And I really want you to share that because people need to understand that you're another, you're a company that is really looking and very serious about making your impact in the community, even as you sell coffee. Absolutely. So the first question, yes, you can drink our blends.

I will say get a medium blend and you can brew those at home. You can use them in a K-cup. If you have a K-cup machine, you can use them on your Mr. Coffee. You can brew them anywhere. I actually have a bag here. So you can brew them on any of your platforms however you take your coffee even then pour over

and if you want whole beans we have that as well you can grind those down for your espresso machine and like I mentioned before the storage all of these blends are told on the back of the bags as well too. So you mentioned our impact so Ezra means he who helps in Hebrew when I was thinking about a name I wanted wanted something significant, something biblical, but something that really spoke to the people and I landed on Ezra. And so what we do is we use a portion of our proceeds to provide scholarships to students

who have holes on their account that are preventing them from graduating. And so our scholarship opens every year on Juneteenth, and so we'll be opening again this year. And what we do is we pay off those holes on those students' accounts so they can return to school without leaving with student loan debt and graduating with a degree.

And so I came with that because I used to work, I used to be a lead reviewer for the Little Lemon Gates. I used to do UNCF when I was with Toyota, Push Excel with Jesse Jackson. If it's a scholarship, nine times out of 10, I've touched it. And there was a lot of scholarships that students were able to get to campus. They had tuition while they were in campus.

Some even had books. But when you work with first generation low income students, there are also ancillary fees that may come to their accounts or holes that are placed on your account that scholarships typically do not cover and the families are not able to cover. And so when you're looking at retention and attrition,

you're seeing students leaving campus, not because they're homesick, not because they don't have good grades, but there's a hold on their account that's preventing them from graduating. And so what we do is pay off those holes so those students can actually leave and finish their degree. And so one of our students in 2022,

she attended Howard University. Her parents lost their job during COVID. She was going into her senior year. She only owed $793. So if we did not cover that fee for her, she would have had to leave school, sit out for a year so that she can come back and take school the next semester. So we look to make a difference and allow our customers

to be a part of that as well as we send out who they were able to support, what students are able to do. And so we've supported students at Howard University, Spelman College, Southern Alabama State, Miami University, Ohio, East Texas Baptist University as well to name a few. Amazing, thank you for that.

Of course. Brandy. First of all, congratulations. I just love that your brand has just put so much of you throughout it and what matters to you. What's next? How do you see yourself? It seems like it's very important to you

to work within your community or to elevate your community. So what is your vision to carry that even further? Yeah, so our goal from my lips to God's ears and us here being two or more gathered is that we will have a brick and mortar store and it will continue to expand our retail footprint. You know, the work that we do is great, but I want us to be able to award even more scholarships. I don't want us to actually have to be in a session where I have to send

emails and tell parents, unfortunately we can't help you this year. I want us to continue to grow and to expand so that we're able to bless more students, we're able to provide more amazing blends and more importantly tell more unique stories. Our LaGranda 1928 blend, which is our Cognac blend that we have here too, it tells the story of Eugene Bullard who was the first African-American fighter pilot in World War I. He wanted to open a club after the war, but he couldn't because he did,

but he couldn't get alcohol because he was African-American. But his friend Josephine Baker was working for Cognac Company as an ambassador. Fast forward, we have Irv Douglas, who's also working for the same Cognac Company. He's working for Cognac Company as an ambassador. Fast forward, we have Irv Douglas, who's also working for the same Cognac Company. He's selling this Cognac Company at Cognac as a distributor and that Cognac is what you know now as Hennessy. And so what we wanna do is continue to weave these stories

in about us that are kind of unsung and people don't always know about, but always be able to uplift our history in spaces where we're actually, they're trying to erase it. Danice? Amazing packaging, amazing stories. I'm wondering what can you share with people about your marketing and how you maybe had to change advertising especially during COVID and then now in 2025 what has worked for you? Yeah so we started in COVID so we started in the era of social media and so that's worked for And in retail, I would tell everyone boots on the ground. So we do demos at different grocery stores all across Texas and other states, Michigan as well, that

we're into to continue to drum sales, as are another thing that we typically do as well too. Press and events like this are things that we do as well too to continue to keep our marketing and in the front of people so that they're actually looking at this and looking at our coffee as something that they want to be a part of as well. And then we are the email kings. So we email our customers we send out different recipes. Have you tried the candy ams blend this way. Have you tried the cognac blend with making an old fashioned. So we do all these different things so where we can stay top of mind but also let people know. So we do all these different things so where we can stay top of mind, but also let people know. And then most importantly, engaging the students. We even did a voters drive.

So when during voting season, we pulled up on different campuses. We were at Texas Southern and a few other college campuses handing out free coffee, regardless of your affiliation. We just want to make sure that you are registered to vote. And more importantly, that you were participating in early voting. I love it.

Thank you. All right. So folks, it's Ezra Coffee. Yes. So go to shop black. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this Taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio

app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st, and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. 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 We're on Drugs podcast. 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 band. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouche.

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 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 podcast,

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 Podcast. Paper ceiling, the limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers

at tearthepaperceiling.org, brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Starnetwork.com, again, shopblackstarnetwork.com. Again, shopblackstarnetwork.com for you to get access to it again on that and on the website you'll see there are a number of black owned brands that we are supporting on there. You'll see more of these interviews over the next days and several weeks. So let's go ahead and again, so shop blackstarnetwork.com and you can purchase Ezra coffee. And so folks, you all like that drinking coffee, so you should be supporting this premium black-owned coffee brand. Jessica Schuller, appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Thank you. Folks, got to go to a break. We come back, we're gonna be hearing from Congresswoman Joyce Beatty about the madness happening in Capitol Hill with Trump's big, beautiful bill. Back in a moment. Hey y'all, welcome to the Other Side of Change, only on the Black Star Network and hosted by myself, Rhea Baker, and my good sis, Jamira Burley.

We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture. And we don't just settle for commentary. This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network so tune in to the episode of change. Hello I'm Marissa Mitchell a news anchor at Fox 5 BC. Hey what's up it's Sammy Roman and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Well, the twice impeached, criminally convicted felon in chief went to Capitol Hill today

to trumpet his big, beautiful bill, trying to pull Republicans together for this massive bill that will take an axe of the federal budget, but also deliver a big tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires. Joining us right now is Ohio Congresswoman Joyce Beatty. Glad to have you here on the show. So Republicans, bottom line is, Democrats are remaining very strong, not supporting this at all. Republicans, they want to pass.

They got to do it themselves. They got problems from their own caucus. A lot of them want even more cuts. They want to be more conservative. But the bottom line is the people going to get screwed are the neediest of Americans. Absolutely. And Roland, thank you for always being on point.

I just left the house floor about 20 minutes ago, and I'm going back tonight on the budget reconciliation bill from 1 a.m. to about 5 o'clock in the morning. Democrats are going to take over the rules committee because we know it's important for us to be there and to file the amendments because as you said, when you think about what they are proposing to do to Medicaid, some 14 million Americans are going to be affected. So when you talk about Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, we know one in three Black Americans receive Medicaid. We know when we look at the needs for us, it's the difference between life and death. They're not only coming after Medicaid, they're also coming after the ACA because they know

when we are healthy, when we are alert, when we are educated, that we are stronger. So they're coming after Americans and especially Black Americans. So much is happening right now in the House, but I can tell you to everyone listening, Democrats are not afraid. We are not being silent. And I think it's important for us to get that out and thank goodness, Roland, for people like you,

because I can tell you we're winning in the court system. We have attorney generals all over the country fighting for us, putting a pause or a stay on mean-spirited legislation. But Donald Trump is not going to stop. He believes in autocracy. He wants a dictatorship. And that's why he's trying to hurt us

by not letting us be able to thrive and to be healthy. But we're fighting back and we're doing all that we can tonight. From one to five in the morning, you're going to see Democrats. So I want you to watch it live. I can also tell you, Roland said something at the opening. When you think about they can't even control their own. Donald Trump was on the hill today because just the other night Republicans voted with us.

He kept them in there for hours trying to whip them in shape. Those who voted for us changed their vote to present so the Republicans could prevail on bringing this forward. So we're in a good position right now because we know hardworking Americans and especially Black Americans, because of the disparities, we're gonna be hit the hardest.

So I want you to know the Congressional Black Caucus is stronger than ever, 62 members. And we understand what our job is. It is to stand up and fight, it is to use our voices, 62 members and we understand what our job is. It is to stand up and fight. It is to use our voices and we are gonna be there for you. Well, what so much attention obviously is on Medicaid and that's extremely important,

but you also, they want to just take a meat cleaver to snap benefits. Snap, that, exactly. And that's people who don't have enough money to buy food. Let me just tell you what they're doing with SNAP. You're right, it's unthinkable. The seven, the 11 million some people who depend on it. But here's what I wanna say to folks.

You know, farmers need to understand this. Small business owners and gro farmers need to understand this. Small business owners and grocers need to understand this. When they talk about taking away nutritional food from our families and our children, this is not just something that's a black thing. There are white and black farmers who are going to be hurting. Grocers are going to be hurting. So we're asking people to stand up, not be afraid. Let's take on Trump, because we know right now that most people, I went to the grocery store and when eggs were $14, I put them back.

Living in a single house by myself and going to pick up a few items and it being hundreds of dollars, we understand this because this affects all of us. But we have a strong committee where SNAP falls under the jurisdiction of agriculture. And let me tell you, we have some of the baddest sisters in the Congressional Black Caucus who are on it. And I need people to know we are not giving up. We are fighting every day for the American people.

And we understand our disparities and how we depend on the nutritional foods and what SNAP does for our children and our families. Questions from my panel, Candace, you're first. But can you get in a little bit more about what you were saying is going to happen at 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., at 5 a.m., I think you said. Yes. Tonight, our rules committee meets,

and they set the rules or the standards of what comes to the floor. So we have members of the Democratic caucus going to infiltrate the rules committee tonight with amendments. Like, I have an amendment. In my amendment, if they're saying they're not going to cut Medicaid and SNAP and healthcare benefits, then let's put it in the bill. Let's say if you're gonna give dollars

in tax cuts to billionaires, then if you cut SNAP and Medicaid, then you can't honor your bill. Because they're trying to say that they're not going to do this. And I want the American people to know they're lying. So from 1 o'clock after the rules finishes with putting all of the amendments and the bills up, which will be, we figure, around 1 o'clock tonight, we're going to go in to address amendments to their bill. And we have so many people, Democrats,

members of the Congressional Black Caucus, writing amendments that my time is not until 4.40 a.m. Wow. Thank you. And that is the power. This is relatively new, but we are as angry, pissed off as you all are. Today, we did one minutes on Snap in Medicaid and health care, brought photos of families. And I can tell you, we usually have 15 people who sign up to do the one minutes.

Today, a half an hour ago, I was number 39. Thank you. Randy. Are you having some luck with working with the sides with Republicans trying to work with you? I would think that they recognize that many people in their states don't need these cuts too. I mean, they try to portray that we're the only ones who depend on Medicaid or depend on SNAP, whereas we know that, you know, 45% of the people that use it are white. I mean, are you having some that are coming to, you know, on the other side and trying

to negotiate and work with you? Yes, we have, we only need four Republicans to come inside with us. But here's something we're doing to push the envelope. We are being invited by state reps, by organizations to come into districts, districts that Republicans hold the seats in. And we're holding town halls and now Republican constituents are asking us to help them. Help me make sure that I get my Social Security check. Help me make sure that I am able to keep my Medicaid or Medicare.

And so that is the hope we have that we are putting pressure on them. And let me just tell you something. Elections have consequences. And so what our message also is to make sure that people go out and vote because we're seeing what happens when people say, well, I don't like either one of the candidates or I'm not going to vote or I voted for Donald Trump because he was going to help me. Well, now you see what help you're not getting. Thank you, Congresswoman.

You're welcome. Joe? I appreciate what you're doing, Congresswoman, and kind of building on what the last part of your answer, I wonder how you feel about the awareness of everyday citizens. What you're telling us is that the members of Congress are very aware, of course, and they're fighting like heck or whatever to do the things that need to be

done. You've got this thing going on tonight. But how do you feel about the awareness of everyday citizens and empowering them to say, get mad, stay mad, stay involved, and never let there be a situation where you are fighting like heck along with us so that the things that need to get done can get done. How do you feel about awareness of everyday citizens, of how devastating this would actually be? I am glad you asked that. And everybody knows that I speak truth to power. We didn't do as well as we should have

in the last election about educating the people, having a message that we were going to meeting people where they were. And that's, we've learned from that lesson because it's a painful one. So we're being honest. You have members saying we're pissed off, we're mad, this is affecting us, but we're doing more town you have members saying we're pissed off, we're mad, this is affecting

us, but we're doing more town halls. Our messaging is strong and we're going back home because as Tip O'Neill always said that... 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, Inc. 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 one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June

4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glad. And this is season two of the World on Drugs Podcast. podcasts. 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 band. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcast. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey.

We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit adoptUSkids.org to learn more.

Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. You know, it's all, it's at home where you're elected. And so we're getting our message out, we're speaking truth to power, we're giving them ammunition, information, we're keeping them abreast of what we're doing. And here's the other thing, we're challenging media to tell our stories. So having a Roland Martin, having you on a panel as guests, posing the questions to us and not letting up is another thing that's very helpful. You know, we know for black folks, because as the sister just said, with the disparities we have, that white folks also either benefit more than we do or they're in this

in this bucket with us. So when media is able to tell those stories, it helps us. All right, Councilman Joyce Beatty, we appreciate it. Thank you, Roland. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you, Roland. Thank you for all that you do. We just had a Black-Owned brand, coffee brand on Ezra Coffee. I saw that. So y'all, if you ain't going on until 4 o'clock, yeah, y'all might need to get some Black-Owned coffee. So tell us.

Tell the sister, I'm getting ready to find out where I can get some Ezra coffee. It's real simple. Go to shopblackstarnetwork.com. It's right there. And so we have a new website. It's all black on products. So go to shop blackstarnetwork.com because y'all going to be up all night. There you go. And it's going to be worth it. Thanks a lot. All right, folks. Thank you very much. Uh, that is it for us. Let me thank, uh, Randy, Joe Joe Candace, Candace, tha

me yesterday out of the A annual Anthony Anderson, Palm Desert California. I video to show folks tomor that folks that sit. Don' the work that we do is cr that you do that. We don' of billionaires cutting c

folks support us. The regular ordinary people are doing their thing every single day. And so we appreciate that. Again, our goal every year is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing on average 50 bucks each a year. That comes out the footalls of 19 cents a month, 13 cents a day. And so you support this show. You support the black star. You support star network.

You support all the shows that we have. We just finished shooting a business pilot show. We're looking at a health show. You support the Bla Star Network. You support we have. We just finished pilot show. Uh we're look So we're really trying to that your support is crit why we use support, go to dot com. Guess what resour that come back into the s

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that's it. I'll see y'all tomorrow right here rolling, marking, unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Holla the Black Star Network. Holla! Black Star Network is here. Oh no punch! A real revolutionary right now. Thank you for being the voice of Black America. All the 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, ya 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 One, Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs by Ken. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war this year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports.

This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes, we met them at their recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives.

Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit adoptUSkids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart podcast.