#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Reclassifying Marijuana, White v. Black Voter Turnout Gap, Derontae Martin Death Investigation

Episode Date: May 1, 2024

4.30.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Reclassifying Marijuana, White v. Black Voter Turnout Gap, Derontae Martin Death Investigation #BlackStarNetwork partner:Fanbase 👉🏾 https://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbase The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug.  We'll talk to an advocate about this historic shift to the drug policy and its potential effects. A follow-up to a disturbing case of Derontae Martin, the Missouri teen found shot in the head in the attic of a white supremacist.  The FBI has concluded its investigation and ruled his death a suicide.  Derontae's mother will tell us how she feels about the investigation.  Brennan Center for Justice studied nearly a billion voter files and found that the gap between white and black voter turnout is growing. Brennan's Senior Director of Voting Rights will explain why it's increasing and how it will impact the ballot in November.  And I'll have a recap of the 17th Annual George Lopez Celebrity Golf Classic. 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. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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

This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you. Today is Tuesday, April 30th, 2024. Coming up on Roland Martin on the filter, streaming live on the Black Star Network. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has reclassified marijuana. We'll tell you what this actually means for citizens, especially those who were convicted of marijuana charges. Also on today's show, a follow-up to the case of the black man in Missouri who was found shot in the head in the attic of a white supremacist. We'll tell you the results of an FBI investigation. Also, the Brennan Center for Justice studied nearly a billion voter files

and found that the gap between white and black voter turnout is increasing. Yeah, this is an alarming story. I keep telling y'all about our power. Well, this is an issue that we must address. Also, Byron Allen's The Griot lays off all of its video and podcast staff, and nearly all of their shows have also been canceled. So I'll give you those details. Plus, a recap of the 17th annual George Lopez Celebrity Golf Classic in Los Angeles. It is time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoopstar Network. Let's go. With entertainment just for kicks He's rollin' Yeah, yeah It's Uncle Roro, y'all Yeah, yeah It's Rollin' Martin Yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now Yeah, yeah

He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's Rollin' Martin Now It's real, the best you know, he's rolling, Martel. Martel. Folks, since 1971, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I drug, defined as a drug with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Well, that is now changing. The DEA is expected to reclassify marijuana from the most strict schedule one to less stringent schedule three. This is the first time the U.S. government is acknowledging its potential medical benefits. Dr. Shonda Macy is the founder of the National Holistic Healing Center.

Join us from Washington, D.C. Shauna, glad to have you here. So explain to people why this is a huge decision. For our community. The first thing, the impact that it has is that it opens up the access for patients. Patients feel more comfortable using cannabis as medicine because now the government is saying it is actually medicinal benefits in using it. So we're so excited that the government is just finally accepting and sharing the news that we've known for decades and that we've been fighting for our rights for legalization to just be able to have access to health care.

So that's the underlying issue that we're dealing with today. But there's also implications on what it looks like for small business owners that are brown and black communities, social equity, and what it looks like for us in the taxation realm. So for every dollar that we generate in cannabis, 70 cents of that goes to the federal government on taxes. So now with the rescheduling of cannabis, this actually allows us to normalize our taxation and get taxed like every other business in the United States. So we can actually now start to generate a profit. But again, well, they're focusing on the health benefits. And so what we have seen is a lot of focus on this over the last several years. We have seen the NFL, the NBA also change their position when it comes to the health benefits as

well. And so, you know, this is a dramatic, dramatic move by the DEA and one that people have been demanding for a very long time. Definitely. And not only that, Roland, what's interesting about this rescheduling is that it opens up for more access to research. So now you'll start to see more pharmaceutical companies come in, do more research, but it also allows pharmaceutical companies to come in, cultivate, manufacture, sell, and distribute cannabis along with us small businesses. So this is kind of like a tricky place, but for us in terms of our community, what is so empowerful about rescheduling is that black and brown communities that were targeted that have been incarcerated for cannabis will see less and less of those incarcerations. And so we have a long way to go, but we'll take our victory today because we know that incremental change is really going to help us on the long run. But we just have to get

situated. And making this progress today will definitely impact our community in the future. I want to bring in my panel right now, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice with the EPA, Joseph out of D.C., Randy Bryant, DEI disruptor, also out of D.C., Joe Richardson, civil rights attorney out of L.A. Glad to have all three of you here. Joe, I'll start with you, your question for Doc regarding this decision. Hi, good afternoon. I'm glad to hear this news. This is good news. So I wonder, thinking about this, you've been on this crusade for quite some time. And when I say that, I mean that there's been a lot of work and effort, blood, sweat, and tears toward getting the government to move along to

where we actually are, the state of marijuana, the medicinal values, et cetera, what would you say having accomplished this would be your next frontier? What are some other barriers related to this issue that you would like to see come down? Well, we know that the cannabis laws have been intertwined in systemic racism since the inception. And in 1971, as Roland pointed out, is that with the Substance Control Act, it classified it as heroin. So what we need to do is systematically unwind all of the racial barriers that we've seen that have been implemented through policy, through laws, and then really find a good way for our community to be able to expunge their previous convictions and institute more voting rights. And I think, like, that is the most fundamental thing we can do for our community, because

we know that if we have the right to vote, we can say who's in power. Thank you. Mustafa. Thank you for being with us. You know, we know that, as you mentioned earlier, there are a number of different health benefits, benefits from cancer, lowering blood pressure, anxiety, a number of different things that are associated with cannabis. Do you feel that this will also open the door, because you mentioned earlier,

about research? And often people are a bit hesitant when there's a controlled substance that's a part of their research. So I'm wondering your thoughts on that. Yeah, definitely. Well, a couple of decades ago, when I was a student at Howard University studying prostate cancer and then, you know, one of the major barriers I had was the simple fact that I couldn't study it. cancers like prostate that disproportionately impacts our community, it's important for me to find a way that men, Black men, can have a sustainable life and be able to have access to true health care. So now we can do this with the rescheduling. Literally, this rescheduling puts cannabis in the same category as Tylenol. And so with that, we can actually start to look at those fundamental healthcare issues that can start to change lives.

And when I say change lives, but throughout all diseases, all disease states, we can really start to introspect on what impacts that cannabis can have on sustaining the human life. Randy. Yeah, I have, I'm not surprised that this happened. I know it was a long time coming, and I'm certainly very happy that they are going to change the scheduling, but I can't help but to just wonder about equity. Many of our brothers and sisters have been locked up and remain locked up because of just having a small amount of marijuana. And I also worry about the wealth gap they talk

about all the time. How the federal government, of course, is going to make quite a bit of money, which is why I believe there's been a big push to make it, you know, to change the laws. But how will we ensure that we Black people will have an opportunity to also benefit from this new change? I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley

comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

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

And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of

star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King,

John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA

fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

Here's the deal. We gotta set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We gotta make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position.

Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Well, I'm going to touch on your last point first, which is that throughout the nation is the simple fact that social equity licenses have been issued and allowable for people of color. And that will give us the access to be able to participate in this billion dollar industry. But I want to also erase the misconception of the billion dollar industry. Like I said before, where we are today, every dollar that we generate in the cannabis industry, 70 cents actually goes to taxation. So we're not really making money. And if you look at what

that looks like in terms of cannabis businesses today, we owe the federal government over $3 billion collectively. And so now with the rescheduling is only the beginning of ability to generate profit. So those social equity licenses that have been issued now can go to those that were disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs. Let me give you a great case in point. D.C. have encouraged legacy, what we call legacy or illicit market, to come up into the light, to participate in a regulated market so that they can have access to freely participate in the industry that will generate wealth that they created. And so with that, we see New York, we see all the different states coming on with this equity path. Now, is it just that easy? No, there's a lot of regulatory hurdles. There's a lot of issues surrounding social equity and funding for people who want to actually start

their business. But there is the first step, which is that we're getting a license. And then from there, we have to work on the incremental change. And that incremental change, just being able to have the potential to generate some type of generational wealth is just the beginning of trying to restore the justice that has been done on our community. So now is it where we want to be today? Is it headed in the right direction? Yes, it is. And now the flip flop on what you said previously, let's talk about the state of expungement right now. I remember when I went to the White House two years ago and we spoke to the special advisor to the president

and talked about how pardons should be issued. And less than six months later, the pardons were issued for simple marijuana possession. That was such a huge victory for us. But also the message was to tell all the governors to issue pardons in all the states to those that actually had marijuana possession charges. That didn't happen because a lot of governors didn't have the power to institute such change. But we see right now in Congress,

there's legislation like the HOPE Act that says that expungement for low level possessions of medical cannabis or cannabis, period, should be expunged automatically. That expungement will start to right the wrongs on our community and give us an opportunity not only to start out again, but have access to an industry that can generate generational wealth. Thank you for that. All right, then. Dr. Shonda, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. And we'll see what's next. Thanks a lot.

All right, folks, got to go to a break. We come back more on Roland Martin on Filch on the Black Star Network, including this strange story we're covering out of Missouri. This young black man shot in the head, found in the attic of white supremacists. Now the FBI has released their report on this. Also, Byron Allen's The Griot, The Axe Drops, will tell you who got cut, what got cut. All that coming up next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstone Network. A lot of y'all have been asking me about the pocket squares that we have available on our website.

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these shiboris, because it's sort of like a flower and looks pretty cool here, versus the traditional boring silk pocket squares. But also, I like them a little different as well. So this is why we have these custom-made feather pocket squares on the website as well. So this is why we have these custom-made feather pocket squares on the website as well. My sister actually designed these after a few years ago. I was in this battle with Steve Harvey at Essence, and I saw this at a St. Jude fundraiser. I saw this feather pocket square, and I said, well, I got some ideas. So I hit her, and she sent me about 30 different ones.

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This is Reggie Rod Pfeiffer with you watching Rolling Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. You hear me? May 19th, President Joe Biden is supposed to address the graduates of Morehouse College. Well, you've got some students as well as faculty not happy with that decision. This is a story from NBC here. It's on everybody's mind. Morehouse faculty and students raise concerns about Biden's graduation speech. Folks are not too particularly happy, obviously, with President Biden when it comes to

what's happening in Israel and Gaza. The president of the university, as well as the provost, they've made it clear they are not going to rescind the invitation. Morehouse provost said, from our perspective, really having a sitting president come to Morehouse offers an incredible opportunity. This is something that is in line with Morehouse's mission and also with this objective of being a place that allows for engagement of social justice issues and moral concerns. Now, again, you have students as well as faculty both releasing letters saying that Morehouse should rescind that invitation. Let's go to my panel. Mustafa, I want to start with you. Your thoughts on the criticism on the students and others who are saying that Biden should not speak. And should Morehouse continue with this invitation? Well, of course, it's up to Morehouse to make that decision. But with the history of Morehouse,

with Dr. King and so many other great leaders who have went there and who have stood for social justice and stood for human rights, and we understand the sets of dynamics that are currently going on in the Middle East that are not in alignment with those beliefs that are infused into both the young men at Morehouse and Clark, sisters at Spelman and at Morris Brown. So we understand why young people are pushing back. We tell them to stand up and fight against injustice. So having the president come and some of the actions that he has done, of course, are going to create a situation where there's some irie

from many of the students who are there. So I understand Morehouse's position. They have the president of the United States coming. You know, it's great for fundraising. Moms and grandmas here, aunts. It's great to lift everything up. But you should listen to the voices of your students. They are the lifeblood of your institution and be able to address whatever concerns they may have.

Understand that particular point there. But here's the deal here, Joe. President Barack Obama, he spoke at Morehouse in May 2013. If you talk to others, they'll talk about his drone attacks, impact on civilians, taking out Qaddafi in Libya. And so do you sense here, Joe, there's a double standard between Obama and Biden. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

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

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

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got gotta set ourselves up see retirement is the long game we gotta make moves and make them early set up goals don't worry about a setback just save up and stack up to reach them let's put ourselves in the right position. Pregame to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Well, you know, there's an argument there. Interestingly, the provost at Morehouse,

Brother Kendrick Brown, actually was here at the University of Redlands, my undergrad alma mater, recently, right before getting to Morehouse. So I can imagine what he's wrestling with. And so, you know, interestingly, talking to my daughter and kids her age, they were hard on Obama, even though Obama and the opportunities that he helped and the presentation of just the possibilities, let alone what he actually accomplished, created and paved the way for them. People that age, professors, people in an intellectual environment where you're supposed to be stimulated, where you're supposed to speak up and speak out, et cetera, are going to have something to say about this. And so I think that if, assuming Biden gets the chance to speak there, I think he should directly address what's actually happening. Maybe this is an opportunity to actually build a bridge that right now is not built. I think that he's suffering from this politically. Whether he ought to or not, I think he absolutely is. I think he needs to reconnect with this young

demographic that's going to be vital for him to win. And I do think that given what we were able to accomplish over the years, the Civil Rights Act, 64, 65, the Voting Rights Act, the things that happened with who, by most accounts, was a racist president. I don't say that you—I don't think that you keep dialogue from happening. And if you consider that part of the dialogue, I think you allow him to be there, because we do want to be different than other places. However, we can still hold him accountable. We can still respectfully allow young people to speak out, to speak out forcefully but respectfully and with measure and with balance.

It can be something that can be built upon. I don't say stop talking, but I say let's hear what he has to say and then what he does related to this very real situation that has the potential to hurt him, as it's hurting the people that folks are talking about and speaking on behalf of. Randy, last year, President Biden actually spoke at the Howard University graduation and with him speaking there. Give me one second. I want to pull this up. Like I said, he spoke he spoke there last year and he, you know, got some pushback, got some pushback from some folks. And you had some students who were not happy with him speaking. There were several who stood up and actually protested,

turned their back on him as he was speaking. And so that was, of course, quite interesting while that took place. And it wasn't a major demonstration, but you probably, if I remember, because my niece graduated, she was in the class. You probably had about 10, maybe 15 students who stood up. It might've been more so it's not like he doesn't quite remember that. Randy. Yes. I thought you were going to say something else. I'm sorry, Roland. I really actually am impressed with the students and that they are being citizens, that they are participating in this democracy and they're keeping the conversation going.

Isn't that why we send our young people to schools? And I also respect that Biden wants to come and that the university wants him to come because that's what a university is supposed to be. So my take is that he does indeed come, but like Joe said, and continues the conversation, but the students can absolutely let it be known respectfully what their issues are. And I respect them for being bold enough and involved enough to care about what's happening and to speak out on it. So I think this can be a win-win situation. But I would allow the president to come. And the president is always going to be controversial, right?

I mean, it would be unlikely that someone who has so much power and touches so much of what we do day to day would not have some controversy. But I am so incredibly proud of those students at Morehouse that they're that involved in being good citizens of this country. They have the right to come. All right, folks, hold tight one sec. Hold tight one sec. When we come back, let's talk about what's happening at columbia and other college campuses across the country uh some students have taken over a building on the columbia campus uh nypd is on the scene uh and they may be moving in to remove them and so we're monitoring that so we'll talk about that we come back right here in roland martin unfiltered on the black star network don't forget support us in what we do. Your support is critical for us to do the work that we do.

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to chat with Jim Castleberry, CEO of Known Holdings. They have created a platform, an ecosystem to bring resources to Blacks and people of color so they can scale their business. Even though we've had several examples of African-Americans and other people of color being able to be successful, we still aren't seeing the mass level of us being lifted up. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Next on A Balanced Life, we're talking everything from prayer to exercise to positive affirmations and everything that's needed to keep you strong and along your way. That's on a next A Balanced Life with me,

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in so much of academia and in some movement circles. It's an anti-black national. It's an hour of power that you don't want to miss. That's right here on power that you don't want to miss. That's right here on The Black Table on the Black Star Network. Bruce Smith, creator and executive producer of The Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. You're watching Roland Martin on Tilted.

All right, folks, the protests continue at Columbia University as some students there actually take over a university building there called Hamilton Hall. And so you continue to see what as the students are fighting for the university to divest. That was that was one of the issues right there. And you also, of course, have these students who have been protesting. Now, earlier, there was a news conference where student leaders were were addressing the media and they were talking about the issue of food and things along those lines that were needed. Here is some of that news conference. Why should the university be obligated to provide food

to people who are taking over a building? Well, first of all, we're saying that they're obligated to provide food to students who pay for a meal plan here. But you mentioned that there was a request to have food and water be brought in. To allow it to be brought in. I mean, well, I guess it's ultimately a question of what kind of community and obligation Columbia feels it has to its students. Do you want students to die of dehydration and starvation or get severely ill, even if they disagree with you? If the answer is no, then you should allow basic, I mean, it's crazy to say because we're on an Ivy League campus, but this is like basic humanitarian aid

we're asking for. Like, could people please have a glass of water? But they did put themselves in 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 call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that

Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated.

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

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

Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote unquote drug man.

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

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

We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council.

Very deliberately in that situation and in that position. So it seems like you're sort of saying, we want to be revolutionaries. We want to take up this building. Now would you please bring us food and water? Nobody's asking them to bring anything. We're asking them to not violently stop us from bringing in basic humanitarian aid. They're stopping the delivery of food? We are looking for a commitment from them that they will not stop it violently.

Oh, but they haven't stopped it yet? Well, I don't know to what extent it has been attempted, but we're looking for a commitment. Why should the university be obligated to protest? Now, you have seen the, again, you've seen the protest continue there, the battle continues. In fact, this is interesting. There are other folks who actually started bringing food, passing it through the gates to pass on to the protesters there. This has been not just there at Columbia, but at other universities as well. You had USC canceling their graduation.

You've seen protests on numerous campuses as well. This year is another video here of the students taking over in Hamilton Hall. This is one of the videos there. It's on social media showing them there, dropping signs there and they're going back and forth with the administration on that. Now, NYPD, Blue is there as well. So you have them there, first of all, and again, decisions are being made as to whether they are going to actually go back onto the campus. That has been part of the issue all across the country

with this unrest, if you will, of law enforcement in terms of their actions. Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator from New York, addressed the issue on the floor of the United States Senate about what's happening in Columbia. Majority Leader. Mr. President, I'd like to begin today by saying a few things about the protests at Columbia University. Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech. It is lawlessness.

And those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist. Free speech, discussion, and even strong disagreement are fundamental American values. And campuses should be places where those values are cherished. Campuses cannot be places of learning and argument and discussion when protests veer into criminality. And those who commit such acts are doing nothing to convince others that their cause is just. It is also unacceptable when Jewish... Now, that was Senator Chuck Schumer there. Let's go to our panel here. You know, this has been quite contentious.

And one of the things, Joe, that has been really interesting is watching all of these people suggest that because these students and others in other campuses... And I was having this conversation with a guy on a plane today, flying back from Los Angeles, where there's this notion that because they are protesting, they're expressing anti-Semitism.

And this has been sort of bandied about back and forth. And you have a lot of folks who are saying, wait a minute, how can you call someone an anti-Semite because they are protesting and calling for a ceasefire or calling for the university to divest. And I've seen that phrase thrown around a whole lot. And I'm just trying to understand how can you be against the killing of Palestinians, but then you're calling people anti-Semites? Your thoughts, your assessment of what you're seeing? The hotter the situation is, the less likely you are to have it.

People feel safe, for lack of a better term, with absolutes and extremes. And so it's very easy. It doesn't take any work. It doesn't take any effort. It doesn't take any discernment. It doesn't take any research to just say there should be no anti-Semitism. Nobody disagrees with that. So in fact, I agree with the notion, root it out where you find it. But here you have a situation, even Michael Moore talked about this the other day. You have a situation where you've got a lot of kids that are anti-war. They're not necessarily anti-Semites. And interestingly, this is a lot of the same stuff that was said with protesting about divestment related to South Africa, Vietnam War protests. I mean, you can go on and on about how we've been here so many times,

but somebody has to do the work to separate the wheat from the chaff. And we should have space to protest, not to be anti-Semitic, not to make people less safe, not to commit vandalism. All that's true. You can say the same thing about what's been going on and said about Black Lives Matter. And it's amazing that we would actually have this discussion in the shadow of January 6th on a day when nobody was arrested. They didn't do anything to anybody that day. And the Supreme Court is in the process of maybe letting them off the hook. And so what we have to do is do the work of nuance so that we can separate the wheat from the chaff, so that we can acknowledge people's right, free speech related rights, so that we can listen to a perspective that's being had and said, even if one disagrees with it, as long as it can be communicated respectfully. Because if we can't do that, ultimately long as it can be communicated respectfully. Because if we can't do that, ultimately, we just don't have a country. Mustafa. You know, it's interesting.

I was a part of student protests at a couple of different campuses over my academic career. And we often want young people to stand up. You know, we want young people to be a part of trying to make the world a better place. But in my conversations with a number of young people on different campuses, you know, they're following Fannie Lou Hamer when she said, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.

They're tired of war. They're tired of seeing people die. They're tired of people. They're tired of seeing people die. They're tired of people not using common sense. So they want, you know, the hostages to come home. We all do. But they also want that 30 plus thousand folks who have been killed to that to cease also. So we should listen to young people. They are a part of the compass of if our country is moving in the right place. Is our country actually embracing humanity? Is our country also being honest about injustices that are happening? Because often too many people are afraid to speak out against

injustice. They only want to do it when it's comfortable, because there is a price to pay when you speak out about injustice. So if we have got young people who are willing to put their academic credentials on the line, if they are willing to also possibly be beaten or arrested, then we have to honor that. But we also have to be clear, at least from the movement that I come out of, that violence is not the way. So we've got to also make sure that we don't have others who are not students who sometimes will participate in our protests or our marches, who don't have our best, you know, who just don't have

the same type of focus that we have. They have their own agenda, if I can say it that way. So we've got to make sure that students are being honored, they're being uplifted, and that their voices matter. Randy? You know, the way history has worked in the United States is that every time there has been a movement, it usually does start with young people, even if we look at the civil rights movement. So this is nothing new. And I believe that if our government were smart, they would recognize that they are not going to be able to beat them. They're not going to be able to propagandize the message and try to say that when someone says we don't believe in war or genocide, that's the same as saying that they're being anti-Semitic.

So I believe that they need to pay attention and say, okay, we really need to pay attention to these students and make some changes, or at least give them a platform to listen. But what I have seen some of the police handling students to roughly and them doing, going through extreme measures to shut them down is not going to work in the long run it never has historically well it is uh continue continuation again of lots of drama lots of conflict on the campus of columbia uh and other universities around the country so we certainly will see what happens the impact on graduations and if it's going to continue when the school year lets out for summer.

All right, folks, hold tight one second. We come back. Black and white voting patterns widening. We're not going to the polls, folks. I keep telling y'all we're leaving our power at home. That's not a good thing. We'll talk with the Brennan Center next on Roller Markdown Filtered on the Blackstar Network.

Now streaming on the Blackstar Network. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

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

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

Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council.

X-Star Network. I was just in my backyard. I just said I was manifesting about life. I said Ad Council. People are scared to go into the high school. You know, the high school, you know what I mean? I would love to bring it back, and I think we can bring it back. You know, what do you think? I think we'll ask the people. We'll ask your people. We'll do a poll. Y'all want to hang a Mr. Cooper? Yeah, I say let's go. We all look good.

You know, Ali look good, you know. Raven look the same. Marquise. Don Lewis. It'd be funnier than half the bullshit you see out there on TV now. God damn. What the fuck? What happened to TV?

Yeah, yeah. It's some... I'm like,ah Pugh. I am from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, just an hour right outside of Philadelphia. My name is Jasmine Pugh. I'm also from Coatesville, Pennsylvania. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Stay right back. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Martin. Black voter participation was significant with the election of President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Yet we're now seeing a widening gap between black and white voters. The Brennan Center for Justice, they actually did a report called Growing Racial Disparities in Voter Turnout 2008-2022. A huge, huge result of that is the Supreme Court weakening the voting rights act. Kareem Creighton is the senior director of voting rights and representation at the Brennan Center, joining us now from New York. Kareem, glad to have you here. So let's walk through this. And so, again, election of Obama 2008, a lot of attention, a lot of focus, a lot of energy.

And then we saw 2010 Republicans win the midterm elections and things begin to change. Well, that's right, Roland. It's fair to say thank you, first off, for having me here to talk about the report. We're delighted to share information about it. What you said is absolutely right. 2008 was certainly a hallmark year for African-American political participation, in part because of the election of America's first African-American president. So turnout was significantly high, hit some historic highs. What happened in 2010 is actually what happens a lot in elections because it was a midterm year. The president is not on the ballot. Most people

tend not to show up as they would in a presidential year. That number goes down. But importantly, what this report focuses on is what happened in 2013 and beyond, where the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision in this case called Shelby County v. Holder, which essentially got rid of one of the significant protections that made sure that voters could have access to the ballot on a fair and equal basis, particularly in the states that were part of the worst of American history and denied people a ballot with respect to race. What we show in this report is that among the reasons that turnout goes up and down,

one of the significant drivers of this is the issuance of that decision that the Supreme Court made suggesting that we no longer needed the protections of the Voting Rights Act. And while what we saw prior to 2013 is a closing of the gap between African-American voters and white voters, and frankly, non-white voters and white voters generally. After 2013, we saw that gap widen, and it actually became more pronounced, grew faster, and became bigger in the very places where we had preclearance protections, and after 2013, didn't any longer. So you're right. The trend is a very disturbing one. It's most disturbing when you look at African-American participation

compared to white participation. And so when you talk about that 2000 Shelby v. Holder decision, what really happened there? And so walk people through what Republicans started to do all across the country. Right. Well, what we heard, the court decided to credit this argument. We thought it was actually a bad one at the time, as did a minority on the court, that we no longer needed these protections of the Voting Rights Act because, as they saw it, those numbers were starting to close between African American and white voters. And the question the court asked was, well, if that's closing,

why do we need these same protections that we needed in 1965? They wrongly, in my view, issued a decision, got rid of the provision that protected the voters in particularly the South from having new laws on the books that had the likelihood of discriminating. And without it, without that federal protection, what states did literally hours after the Supreme Court issued that decision was to enact a new round of voting laws that we all knew that would have been illegal under the preclearance provision, but essentially that went after many of the channels that African Americans and other voters use to participate in elections. And what that cumulative effect actually meant was that hundreds of thousands of voters,

particularly voters of color in these jurisdictions, had more barriers than fewer barriers to cast ballots. And what that, among other things, has contributed to is a growing gap. Fewer people show up to the polls, and those fewer people more often in these places relate to people of color, in particular Black people. And that gap represents, again, hundreds of thousands of voters, voters that would be voters of color in our political system between 2013 and 2022, which we measured as part of our study.

So and so in terms of and one of the things that I have been doing is really just trying to get our folks to understand where we have to be, why we have to be focused. And unfortunately, 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 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

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

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

Be Real from Cypress Hill NHL Enforcer Riley Cote Marine Corvette MMA Fighter Liz Caramouch What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things Stories matter and it brings a face to them

It makes it real It really does It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position,

pregame to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. What we're seeing is, you know, we're seeing places like Louisiana where we're just, we're not turning out and numbers are real low. And so, therefore, we're leaving our voting power at home. That's that's fair. You know, you know, my people are originally from Louisiana and we have, you know, a tradition of actually voting in that state on Saturdays. And, you know, you probably recall that this time around we had the statewide election for most of the state offices on the same day of homecoming for Graham-Land Southern, usually a place where you see a lot of African-Americans show up.

So we have a lot of these effects, both of laws that the legislators have put on the books and states that have made it more difficult to cast ballots. Frankly, redistricting, another place where pre-claimers used to do work, legislators are now essentially daring people to take them to court by drawing fewer districts in which African Americans have a fair opportunity to elect candidates. And what that has meant is that people to get a fair map or get fair election systems—this goes to everything, remember, from where your polling place is, what kinds of offices are available to be voted on. People have to go to court and sue, and that takes more time.

It takes a lot of money, and it usually means that while the fighting is happening, elections keep moving. And all of these elections and the policies that follow from it are done without really the sort of protection of preclearance. And what that has meant is, frankly, a system that is more difficult for African Americans to vote rather

than less so. Questions from the panel. Randy, you're first. So we are aware that it seems as if there has been just a huge push to make voting as difficult as it can be for people of color, particularly black people. I mean, what can we do? I mean, it's so frustrating because, you know, it should be the way we should have the right to vote. I mean, how do we fight back? How do we fight back? How do we fight back? Well, one of the things we

continue to do, the Brennan Center among the constellation of civil rights organizations, is we take these folks to court. And unfortunately, we are doing it in a judicial system that is less friendly. The last administration put a lot of people on the bench who were, frankly, skeptical, if not hostile, to the idea of fair enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. So we're having to fight new battles, but we're in there, and a lot of groups are putting their time and talent on the line to make sure that that happens. That's one part of it. The other part of it, though, is what we always say, and I know it's, you know, for many people seemingly trite, but there really is no substitute for people showing up to vote. It means, though, we have to be more organized than we were before. It means that we have to be prepared for obstacles that would include things like being less able to organize people ahead of time to do things like cast absentee ballots. But what we can do, and I think I would like to make sure that we focus on this, is make sure that we in every public space that we know of, whether it's campuses at HBCUs, churches, you know, social clubs, we find everybody that we can and remind them of what

the stakes are in this election, and frankly, every election. If you aren't as, you know, aware of what the results can be when people who don't represent you and who aren't interested in talking to you are in charge, you know, we're starting to see how that looks in a lot of different elections, And it's not very good, particularly for the policies that follow from it. And so what I would just say more than anything is, you know, make sure that we are talking to our younger voters in particular, because many of them, unfortunately, you know, have seen a world that hasn't been as effective on, you know, policy issues that, you know, young people and all of us care about.

But I think it's really talking to people, getting prepared, and organizing. And a lot of groups out there are, you know, ready and willing to help people do that. Thank you. Joe? Andy, I first of all appreciate, greatly appreciate the work that you're doing. In the case where we all were pleasantly surprised when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of voting rights in the Alabama, perhaps—and I wonder if you have any thoughts, as difficult a slog as we have with the courts—is that case potentially instructive about some narrow route? And are you finding that any particular grounds or any particular things are a little bit more

likely, even if not likely in and of itself, to be successful, relatively speaking? And is that case instructive at all? Well, thanks for the question. I actually grew up in Montgomery and worked pretty closely at different stages of this redistricting fight. It definitely is instructive and definitely a breath of fresh air to see the court at least acknowledge in the place where some of the heaviest polarization exists, racially polarized voting, which is usually one of the key factors to show the need for some sort of judicial remedy. This is under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which continues to be in place, which allows us, even with the same fights we have, to get in it, too, that some courts, Republican-appointed courts, I'll note, actually

will get to the right answer. The important piece of this, though, is even while the Supreme Court made its decision, the state didn't just sort of pack up and say, all right, you got us. It said, well, you know, we still have questions about it, and we're going to fight on the merits of the case in 2024. So, you know, it is instructive at least to say the court has not closed the books on the Voting Rights Act. But I think the continued fight that we see in a lot of states, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, as we talked about, suggests that there is continuing a need to address this real effort to try to upend all the work that was done from 1965 onward

to protect voting rights through federal legislation. And more than anything, I would also add, it highlights the need for us to adopt new legislation that does some of the work that we see the Supreme Court undercut. We need a new Voting Rights Act in place that gets after a more positive vision of voting that reflects all the people who live in these places that have grown tremendously in the last decade. And really, without a Congress and a president

to put that in place, which, by the way, requires people to show up and vote, we really can't expect that to happen. So if you're asking the question about why it would be necessary, what do you get if you show up and vote. We really can't expect that to happen. So if you're asking the question about why it would be necessary, what do you get if you show up and vote? The answer is you get more protections to keep it possible that people in your state and local governments, the folks who build potholes, the folks who build libraries and the like, who fund your schools, that those people are actually listening to your community.

Thank you. Mustafa. Well, brother, thank you for everything that you do and for the Brennan Center. I'm curious, and I know that you can't be Nostradamus, but what does the future look like if we cannot rectify the situation and begin to move it in a positive direction for Black folks? Yeah, it's a good question. And I'll just, you know, pick up where I left off about a lot of these states we've been talking about are some of the fastest growing states in the country.

And they are powered by the growth of young people of color, including black people. And the hard question to be thinking about is if we can't get a system through a robust enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, where people who have an interest in showing up and participating in our election system actually find a system that welcomes them and not pushes them away or penalizes them for it, we're going to get to the point where our democratic system is really only responding to a minority of people in our country. And we can call that system a lot of things. I think it becomes less likely that most people are going to accept it as a valid and democratic process. And I think it questions whether the experiment that we call America is going to be able to continue. So

everybody's used the term, I use it a lot myself, existential. We are in an existential crisis. Either we're going to get a system that lives up to the expectation that we all have, that the majority of people in this country should drive elections and answers and policies that reflect their interests. But if we're not going to do that, I think a majority of the people will get sick of it or either become apathetic or worse. And so, you know, again, if you're thinking about trying to explain or figuring out ways to explain to people, young people in particular, why it's important, I think the answer is because your future really depends upon it. And that's not just hyperbole. It means if we're going to be in a system that serves everybody, It's the only way that we get the policies that we deserve. Thank you.

Well, and that's one of the reasons why, you know, we make a concerted effort to constantly explain this to people. And it's hard for people, people like, oh man, you know, you keep talking about this voting thing and I'm like, hey, it's real. And you can't act like it has no impact. Yeah, I see you out there talking. I mean, if you're talking about your student loans, if you're talking about the price of what you have to pay

to go to the grocery store and make dinner, if you're talking about the environment or foreign policy, all these things depend upon getting people in office who are going to be responsive. And you just can't get that by staying at home. Somebody's showing up. The question is, are you going to be a part of somebody? Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. Somebody's definitely showing up. And that's what I keep trying to tell people. They're going to show up. And we've got to make a decision whether we're going to show up as well. Kareem, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you.

Take care. All right, folks. Got to go to break. We come back more on Rolling Mark Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Lots more to talk about. Don't forget, y'all, to support us in what we do. First and foremost, join our Bring It Funk fan club. You can contribute, see your check and money, order the P.O. Box 57196,

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And look, summertime is coming up. Y'all know, I keep trying to tell fellas, change your look, please. You can't wear athletic shoes every damn where. So if you're putting on linen suits, if you're putting on some summer suits, have a whole different look. The reason I like this particular pocket square, these shibori's,

because it's sort of like a flower and looks pretty cool here versus the traditional boring silk pocket squares. But also, I like them a little different as well. So this is why we have these custom-made feather pocket squares on the website as well. My sister actually designed these after,

a few years ago, I was in this battle with Steve Harvey at Essence, and I saw this at a St. Jude fundraiser. I saw this feather pocket square, and I said, well, I got some ideas. So I hit her, and she sent me about 30 different ones. And so this completely changes your look. Now, some of you men out there, I had some dudes say, oh, man, I can't wear that.

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Now, for the Shiboris, we're out of a lot of the different colors and i think we're down to about two or three hundred so you want to get your order in as soon as you can because here's what happened i got these several years ago and they the the japanese company signed the deal with another company and i bought them before they signed that deal. And so I can't get access to any more from the company in Japan that makes them. And so get yours now. So come summertime when I see y'all at essence, y'all could be looking fly with the Shibori pocket square or the custom made pocket square. Again, rolling this martin.com forward slash pocket

squares. Go there now. fan base is pioneering a new era of social media for the creator economy this next generation social media app with over 600 000 users is raising 17 million dollars and now is your chance to invest for details on how to invest visit startengine.com slash fanbase or scan the QR code. 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 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. Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. 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 man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette.

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things.

Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits. What's up everybody? It's your girl Latasha from the A. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks. Jamison House has been missing from Memphis since April 1st. The 17-year-old is 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs 150 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information about Jamison Howes should call the Memphis Police Department at 901-545-2677. 901-545-2677. A New York judge has slapped Donald Trump with a $9,000 fine and a warning that if he keeps violating the gag order, he is going to go to jail. Judge Juan Merchan found Trump in criminal contempt for nine gag order violations. He issued the gag order prohibiting Trump from publicly commenting on the participation of potential witnesses, court staff, prosecutors, and family members of the court. In the first week of the trial, prosecutors informed the judge that Trump had violated

the order a total of 10 times with posts on Truth Social and Trump's campaign website. Mustafa, the judge gave them until this afternoon to delete those Trump, those social media posts. Guess what? The arrogant one himself, he did. Well, it's good that he's finally beginning to actually follow the letter of the law, because we know that that's not something that he normally does. He feels that he can thumb his nose at the law. So, you know, as he continues to get fined, and I believe in New York that there's a limit to what those fines look like, but there's not a limit to him being able to go to jail, that may actually get his attention and have him, you know, just sort of just make sure that he has the right type of decorum that someone should have in this type of a situation. Although for most folks, $9,000 doesn't seem like a lot of money, especially for somebody

like him who, you know, is wealthy. Folks can debate how much wealth he actually has. But you know, $130,000 is what he paid allegedly to Stormy Daniels. So a lot of people are putting that into context and are looking for greater amounts tied to the violation. But folks should actually follow the law. Sheer arrogance. That's what we're dealing with right here, Joe. And that's exactly who Donald Trump is. And he doesn't care about rules, doesn't care about the law. And the only way to get him to act right is to enforce the law. If this was any one of us,

ain't no way in hell we could be still, you know, running our mouths, putting all kinds of stuff on social media. We'll be sitting out behind in jail. Yeah, I mean, he does kind of what he wants to. And so, frankly, that's what I'm looking for. $9,000 is not particularly impressive to me. That's a little something. But, you know, why didn't you let him sit for a couple of days? You know, why don't you do that? If he really believed that was going to happen, sure, he'd make it into a crusade. But he doesn't want to be in jail. He doesn't want to be, you know, he doesn't want to be a hero like that. You know, he doesn't want to be a martyr like that. So hopefully we'll see if, if, you know, it ends up being necessary that the judge takes it to the hill that way. Um, and, uh, you know, the judge wants to be balanced. They want to be measured so that when you get to that point, it's not seen as an overreaction. It's not saying, you know, uh, you know, you have to temper justice with mercy as it were, but at some point, if he continues to do that with all of this thing going on and these things that are said put people in jeopardy, you know, mess with people's safety, they're disruptive, they're disrespectful to the rule of law, to the court process in general. And so let's see if it ends up going any further.

Randy? What's unfortunate is that he probably made more money, way more than the $9,000, just by putting up what he puts up, because people seem to fall more in love with him the more he goes against the system. So, yeah, I would love to see that he was punished in a way that would really hurt him and just spend a little bit of time in jail because I don't think he wants that either. All right, folks, let's go to our next story where the Wisconsin Supreme Court says there was nothing wrong about the firing of a former Milwaukee police officer for posting racist memes after arresting an NBA player.

The court's 54-page opinion stated that former officer Eric Andrade received due process under state law in the U.S. Constitution when he was fired in 2018. Andrade was one of the Milwaukee police officers involved in the arrest and tasing of former Milwaukee Bucks player, Sterling Brown, in January 2018 in a Walgreens parking lot. Brown sued Milwaukee police and accused them of racially profiling him using excessive force and making it an unlawful arrest. He settled with the city for $750,000. You know, it's very interesting, Joe, how these cops think that they can just get away with anything. And I'm glad to see the Wisconsin Supreme Court saying, no, you should have to ask for it. Yeah. And it's been it's been upheld at every level. This is has not been a back and forth thing. And it was upheld five to here. It's interesting. And frankly, the police department was strategic. They said, listen, people are going to take these Facebook posts and they're going to use these to undermine your testimony when we have to defend against you or as it pertains to an investigation that you were involved with.

How can we say that you are balanced if you're posting racist memes? And so, you know, some of us, and we work on our certain jobs, lawyers are officers of the court. You know, police officers are supposed to be held to a high standard. They literally have people's lives in their hands, potentially. And so, therefore, it very well might be, yes, it might be that something you post on Facebook has the potential to undermine your job prospects. That's basically what happened here. I think they were right. Facebook has the potential to undermine your job prospects. That's basically what happened here. I think they were right.

And it's good that they were confirmed in that regard. And hopefully this is a message to folks that you can't just do and say anything. There's no such thing as being, quote, off-duty as it pertains to your conduct and how you carry yourself and how it has the potential to bear on your credibility, particularly in that profession. Yeah, it is quite interesting when you look at these cops, Randy, who think they can just do whatever they want, say what they want, and you know what? We're going to be protected and we'll get our jobs back. And then they force them to give us back pay. Right. And it's understandable that they are arrogant like that

because oftentimes they have been able to get away with things that nobody else can. So I'm happy when that law actually works in the way that it should work. You know, it's always interesting to me that people really don't understand, you know, this freedom of speech. And they think that it allows them to say whatever they want, whenever they want, to whomever they want, which is absolutely incorrect. So many people need to spend some time understanding the law, particularly those who try to enforce it.

And it was a 5-2 opinion. And one of the things, Mustafa, when you look at, you know, he shared on Facebook a number of racist memes that was out there. And so they made it clear that, nah, dude, you don't have any First Amendment rights. You're a cop. You got to sit here and abide by the law. And you can't sit here. And then, of course, what he had posted. And again, they tried to claim it was again, they tried to claim, oh, you know, I have these rights. And so and here's what's crazy. I'm going to show you this here. Let's see. Pull it up. Oh, not sure why I cannot pull it up.

What's going on? I've got to fix what's going on. But it says, hours after the arrest, this is what Andrade wrote. Nice meeting Sterling Brown of the Milwaukee Bucks at work this morning. LOL, hashtag fear the deer. That literally was a tweet. Three months later, he shared a meme of NBA star Kevin Durant mocking his hair. And he also, and then when, he says, this is from a Milwaukee paper,

Girardi wrote a post about J.R. Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers after the team lost game one of the NBA Finals. Quote, I hope J.R. Smith double parks in Walgreens' handicapped parking spot when he's in Milwaukee, alluding to Sterling Brown. Yeah, you know, maybe there needs to be an amendment to the Constitution that says don't say or do stupid stuff because that's what these folks continue to do, or don't do racist stuff. You know, it's interesting. Maya Angelou once said to us, you know, very clearly that when someone shows you who they are, believe them. These individuals cannot serve and protect because they have these biases that are so deeply inside of them that there's no way that you could ever actually do serving and protecting in a way that all people are able to receive that.

So the only thing that now most folks have is the legal route. And of course, in hitting folks in the pocket, as we often talk about, I think Randy has also shared on previous shows that we also have to make sure that these officers, and again, it's not all officers, but when we have these types of individuals, that they have to have some personal accountability financially if we want to see things actually change, because many times the cities are the ones who are picking up the cost. And these folks never end up feeling that financial pain that often will get people to do right. So we'll see if we evolve into that positioning where, you know, when we have these racist police officers who make them actually have to carry some of the burden financially. All right, folks, hold tight one second. We come back. We discussed a strange story out of this. You know, we've been covering this story, and it's unbelievable, where a black kid shot in the head in the attic of a white supremacist.

Now the FBI has issued their ruling. I'm going to tell you all about it and talk to his mother when we come back. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Don't forget, support us in what we do. Join the Bring the Funk fan club. You can see our check and money order at appeal Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign, RM unfiltered. PayPal, R. Martin unfiltered. Venmo is RM unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com.

Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Also, folks, get your autographed copy of the first. I only have 500. They are going, going, going, going, going. And once they're all gone, that's it. I'm not printing anymore. I'm going to personally autograph every single one to you. I'm selling them, put them on the fire sale for $10, $5.99, shipping in handily. And so you can order right now, robomessmartin.com, 4 slash the first.

You can get the book now. Again, all proceeds go right back into the show. So when you buy the book, you actually support the show. Back in a moment. First, President Barack Obama's road to the White House. We got about 500 copies of the book available. And so this actually is all of the coverage of the 2008 election. But the other thing is, is here, I talked to folks like Malik Yost.

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

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

And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.

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

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

And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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 taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Hill Harper, Eric Alexander, Kevin Lowe, Spike Lee, Tatiana Ali. There's a lot of behind thethe-scenes stuff in here as well, where I talked about some of the stuff that went down at CNN. Also, when you go through here, a lot of the photos that you see in here, photos that I actually shot, photos that were my time at CNN. And so what I decided to do, because, one, I published the book and I own it myself,

is that so I said, you know what? I'm going to slash the price to $10. And so we're going to have shipping and handling $5.99. I'm going to personally autograph every copy. I'm not reprinting the book. So once we are sold out of these $500, that's it. They're gone. So you can go to rollinglessmartin.com forward slash the first to get a copy of this book.

Everybody who orders this book through the website, not on Amazon, only through RolloSmart.com. I will personally autograph and mail you a copy of this book. It's all of the coverage, the actual interviews that I did with him. And just to show you, of course, when it came out, there's actually even in here the interviews that I did with him and Michelle Obama, which won TV One Cable Network's first two NAACP Image Awards. And so all of that for $10. Shipping and handling is $5.99. So go to RolandSMartin.com the first and order your copy today.

This is Essence Atkins. Mr. Love, King of R&B, Raheem Duvall. Me, Sherri Shebron, and you know what you're watching. You're watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Thank you. Thank you. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

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

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

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

all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote

drug ban. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch.

What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content,

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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 tayPaperCeiling.org.

Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Folks, we've got an update on this very strange case out of Illinois. On April 25th, 2021, Durante Martin attended a prom party at the home of James Wade, who was a noted white supremacist in this Illinois town. The problem is Durante was later found dead in Wade's attic. Now, the local coroner quickly ruled Durante's death a suicide. It took months to get a second autopsy, and an in-panel jury ruled Durante's death resulted from violence, not suicide. Well, the FBI, they've investigated the case, and they found that the 19-year-old black teen died from a self-inflicted gunshot.

Erica Lotz is Durante's mother. She joins us right now. This has to be troubling for you, Erica, for the FBI come to this conclusion. Y'all have been hoping that, wanting them to get involved in here and still no justice. And so the FBI rules this,

but in the panel, juries say there was violence. Okay, first off, this happened in, first off, this happened in Fredericktown, Missouri. Not in Illinois. Which is maybe two hours

south of St. Louis. And the FBI actually never did an investigation. On December 20th of 2023, myself and my mom, along with a legal advisor, we went and sat down with the FBI, and we were asking for them to help investigate it as a hate crime. And they said that it was not a hate crime, so they could not investigate Durante's case, and therefore they would not be overruling the verdict of Madison County Sheriff's Department and Missouri Highway Patrol of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, regardless of the jury inquest or the second autopsy. So how did they then come to this conclusion?

Well, as of April the 24th, it was told to them that they let us know on December the 20th that they closed Durante's case due to an investigation in which that's not what they told us. They told us that Durante's case did not stand grounds for hate crime. Did not stand grounds for hate crime. Okay. okay so i i guess what i'm still confused is how did they arrive at this conclusion and what now um because um you have go ahead go ahead they basically have cleared James Wade, but they're not investigating William Cody Gideon or Zachary Graham. And William Cody Gideon is the one who admitted even to the police that he gave Durante a gun under the influence because he was in fear of his life. And Zachary Graham is the one who said that he shot himself laying down when the detectives who did the investigation said that there was no way that he could have been laying down when he shot himself, that he had to have been sitting up,

even after one of the witnesses said that he was laying down and shot himself. So nobody in the house has been investigated but James Wade, which is a 911 caller. So what's next for you? To keep pushing the issue for somebody to investigate because my son was murdered. Even in the second autopsy report, it was not a direct contact wound. There's no proof of evidence with the wound that this was a self-inflicted besides of different statements from different people that conflict each other. Questions from our panel. Joe Richardson,

you first. First of all, my condolences. No parent should have to bury a child, and that's something that you've done. Are you having any luck getting with legal counsel or any of those types of things out in that area or somewhere that could potentially be helpful and put resources behind investigation and that kind of thing? No, not really. Everybody that we contact,'s like hard to get people to help us i'm sorry because they know that we have to go up against we have to go against the police um the coroner the medical examiner because even when they picked up Durante, I never got a death notice.

I never identified his body, and he was already embalmed by the time that I even knew that my son was dead on the 25th at 12.30 p.m. Oh, my gosh. I'm so sorry. Wow. So we have to go against so many people, and I haven't found anybody that's really willing to go up against them. No matter which avenue I try to take, I can't find anybody to help me.

Hold on. yes um so all i can do is just keep pushing the issue and like i know i sound like a mother who just like to some people who refuse to just um like admit that my son committed suicide but first of all i know my son was't suicidal i know he did commit a suicide and i knew he wasn't a drug addict and for them to be telling me that my son overdosed and then shot himself in the head either he was dead and shot himself in the head or he was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and then he overdosed you are just telling me basically that i just have to admit and accept the fact that I got a dead son and they don't really care

who did it or how or why. When there are people who are telling what happened and they basically just said that they don't have enough proof to that. Randy. No words.

My very sincere condolences. if you could speak out to your community that is there, how could they best support you as you go through each day and try to obtain justice? How could they support you? Help stand up and speak out. I mean, like I'm just asking everybody. I don't care if you have to just tell your neighbor like help somebody it could be your kid you know what I mean yes

yes so we need anybody to come forward honestly it's with Durante it's a proven fact that your kids don't have to hang out in the street they don't have to proven fact that your kids don't have to hang out in the street. They don't have to be involved in drugs. They don't have to be gangbanging because Durante didn't do none of that. And look at us in here.

And have you been offered some counseling? Mustafa. Mustafa. Yeah. Ms. Martin, I'm trying to get together because I just lost a teenage cousin to gun violence. And so I kind of feel your pain. I think Randy was about to ask the question, and I know it's something that I'm always trying to have in places, that you have someone to be able to talk to. You have someone who can help with therapy. Do you have someone to be able to talk to you have someone who can help with therapy do you have anyone to be able to help you in that space because this is a difficult journey and being able to want to address the killing of your son but also on being able to find the space

for you to be able to heal which i know will take a while so So the question is, do you have that support? I think we lost her signal. Do we have it back? Yeah, it looks like we lost her signal there. So we will try to get her back, but we certainly will communicate with her. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

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

This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really really bad Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1 Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get

your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit man we got uh ricky williams nfl player hasman trophy winner it's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves music stars marcus king john osborne from brothers osborne we have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher.

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe

to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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 taylorpapersilling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. ...in their family to find out what's next. This is a story, again, we've covered it. It makes no sense whatsoever. When you when you when you unveil this and the details are just stunning in terms of how he was found in an attic at a party. I mean, it's just a lot of this makes no sense whatsoever. And so we appreciate her for coming on the show. Like I say, we reported on this story on several occasions and just all the best to Erica Lotz and the family. And we're going to continue to try to, you know, again, get some sort of justice for this family because it just doesn't make sense. Things simply just do not come together and make any sense whatsoever. And so we'll try to get an answer to that question, Mustafa.

Let me thank our panel. Let me thank Joe, Randy, and Mustafa for being on today's show. I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Folks, you can support everything that we do here. Our goal is to really focus on, hold up, kill the music. Our really focus is to really deliver the news

in a way that matters to you. In fact, I was going to do it today, but we were delayed in getting Erica Lotz on the show. So tomorrow I'm going to I was going to do it today, but we were we were delayed in getting Erica Lotz on the show. So tomorrow I'm going to unpack for you all the different changes happening at the Griot, where they're getting rid of nearly all of their shows, including their new shows, their daily news shows with Lamont Hill and Ebony Williams. And so we're the only ones who still do what we do. And so, again, your support is

absolutely critical. Folks, our news matters. Our news matters. We can't see them be waiting on somebody else. I mean, this is a perfect example. I don't know if Erica Lotz has been on other news networks. I can guarantee you they've not come back to the story. We've done this story two or three different times, constantly trying to get updates, which is why black on media matters. You know, a lot of people out there love to run their mouths and criticize all black media, this black media that we're doing the work we're putting in the work. We don't sit here and waste our time with the people out there who all they do is just simply run their mouths and they complain and they moan. That's not what we do. We are about speaking to the issues that matter.

And so your support is absolutely critical. So you can support us in multiple ways. One, join our Bring the Funk fan club. When we launched this show, I said, listen, it's going to cost us money for hats and bumper stickers and swag and all that sort of stuff. No, we want that money to go out right into the show. And so y'all have been hugely supportive, and so we certainly appreciate that. And so give me one second. Sorry, folks, I'm looking at some news here.

It looks like NYPD may be heading onto the campus at Columbia. Give me one second. Let's see. NYPD, they've got drones flying over campus. And so they may be making a move on the campus shortly. And so that's the messages that I am seeing right now that are being texted to me. And so we keep our eye on that story as well. As I was saying, folks, it's just us. Other folks out here, you do not see a commitment to a daily news show from any of these other black-owned

media folks. None of them. Black-owned or black-targeted. Like I said, you don't see a daily news show on Revolt, on TV One, on BET, on Aspire, on Afro. You don't see it black enterprise. You don't see it with Essence. You don't see it with Blavity. As I said, I'm going to unpack it tomorrow. Byron Allen is ending the shows that they launched last year.

And so that means that our stuff has to wait and we can get it. And look, let's be real clear. You're not getting real news from Shade Room, Ball Alert, Hollywood Unlocked. You're getting gossip, that stuff. We don't deal with all that. And so for us, it means having a news outlet where, first of all, people like Eric Lotz can come to and get their story out. The other family members, the people who have been shot and killed by cops, the civil rights attorneys will tell you, thank goodness we cover this stuff. But also the business stories that we cover, political stories that we cover. I mean, you name it. Listen, all four black polls, four polls done by black organizations have done in the past two months virtually no

mention on mainstream media. That's why Roland Martin Unfiltered and the Black Star Network matters. So support us in what we do. Join the Bring the Funk fan club. Senior Check and Money, order the Peel Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 200370196. Cash Sh and Money, order the P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196.

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Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. You can also support us by getting a number of our products. You can get the first President Barack Obama's roll to the White House. It was originally reported by Roland S. Martin. I am personally autographing all copies. Again, once they are all gone, folks, I am printing no more. So you can get it for $10 plus $5.99 shipping in Hanley. I will personally autograph every single one. You can go to

rollerlessmartin.com forward slash the first. You can also get our pocket squares, Shibori pocket squares, the custom made pocket squares. You can get that by going to rollerlessmartin.com forward slash pocket squares. So check that out as well. And of course, you can get my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at bookstores nationwide. Guys, do you have the graphic for the pocket squares? Come on, put it up. So again, you can you can get those on RolleristMartin.com forward slash pocket squares. And so definitely check that out. And as I said, you can get White Fever, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at bookstores nationwide.

Get the audio version on Audible. All right, folks, I'll see you tomorrow. So tomorrow we'll talk about the layoff of the Griot. We'll also show you some of the fun stuff that happened. The George Lopez Celebrity Golf Classic yesterday in Los Angeles. Y'all have a great, great evening. I'll see y'all tomorrow. Holla!

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

All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? We'll be right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council.

I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast.

Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.