#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Republican assault on education; Racist attack on black historian; Remembering Clarence Avant

Episode Date: August 15, 2023

8.14.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Republican assault on education; Racist attack on black historian; Remembering Clarence Avant Republicans continue to attack facts and education, this time with the North Carolina Republican-controlled House passing a bill to ban public school teachers from compelling white students to feel guilty or responsible for past actions committed by people of the same race. We will break down when this law goes into effect and what this means for students in North Carolina.  But the impact of the anti-factual history crusade conservatives have waged against education doesn't stop there. We'll be discussing how the state of Arkansas has recently withdrawn approval for the Advanced Placement African American Studies course in the high school curriculum. We explain why they revoked the system just days before the school year started. A Florida federal jury convicted a white man for a racially motivated attack against Historian Marvin Dunn and five other Black Men at the historic Rosewood Massacre site. Historian Marvin Dunn'll join us to discuss what happened and the verdict's significance 100 years after the Rosewood Massacre. Lastly, we'll honor the life and legacy of Clarence Avant, the record executive known as the 'Godfather of Black Music,' with people who knew him best.  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. Today is Monday, August 14th, 2023. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Republicans continue their attack on black people. North Carolina Republican controlling legislature passed a bill to ban public school teachers from compelling

white students to feel guilty or responsible for past actions committed by people of the same race. Especially with their racist history. And then of course, Arkansas, they are not going to pay for AP African American Studies. Oh, but they'll keep paying for it, AP European History. I told y'all what these white folks were doing around the country.

I keep warning folks, white fear is real. A Florida federal jury convicted a white man for racially motivated attack against historian Marvin Dunn and five other black men at the historic Rosewood Massacre site. White fear running rampant again. Plus, we'll honor the life and legacy of Clarence Avon, music executive, entertainment guru,

known as the Black Godfather. It is time to bring the fall. I'm Roland Martin, Unfiltered, from the Black Star Network. It is time to bring the fall. I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered with Black Star Network, let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine.

And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rollin'. Best belief he's knowin'. Puttin' it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for gigs He's rolling Yeah It's Uncle Roro, y'all

Yeah It's Roland Martin Yeah Rolling with Roland now Yeah He's funky, he's fresh He's real the best You know he's rolling Martel

Now Martel How long have I been telling y'all about white fear? The browning of America is making white folks lose their minds. I've been telling y'all about white fear, the browning of America is making white folks lose their minds? I've been telling y'all that. I published the book in September.

I've been discussing this topic for the last 14 years. And all you keep seeing right now is white fear. Now we see it happening in North Carolina. Well, the North Carolina House, Republicans in control, passed a bill, yeah, passed a bill to ban public school teachers from compelling white students to feel guilty or responsible for past actions committed

by people of the same race. It passed 68 to 49, held along party lines for Republican leaders claiming it would help fight discrimination based on race and sex. Uh, really? The bill would require schools to notify the Department of Public Instruction

and publish information online before hosting any diversity training or guest speakers who have previously advocated for any beliefs restricted under the legislation. Hmm. Citizens for Renewing America, a conservative social welfare group founded by a former Trump administration official,

drafted a model proposal to red schools of critical race theory, and the language of North Carolina's bill echoes their proposal. The bill now heads to the Senate for further processing. Now, keep in mind, Republicans also control the Senate. It's a veto majority, so even if the governor vetoes it, they can override his veto. Now, while that's happening in North Carolina, let's go to Arkansas.

Well, the state recently withdrew its approval for the Advanced Placement African American Studies course in the high school curriculum. The Arkansas Department of Education stated concerns that the pilot course currently undergoing revisions could potentially put teachers at risk of violating state law. That law is called the LEARNS Act, which includes a ban on teaching critical race theory.

While districts still have the option to offer the African American history course independently, there will be no statewide pilot program and students will not receive any AP credit for the course. The College Board, which offers the system, had previously made changes in response to criticism in Florida, removing topics such as Black Lives Matter,

slavery reparations, and queer life from the framework. Now, Arkansas is reportedly working in response to criticism in Florida, removing topics such as Black Lives Matter, slavery reparations, and queer life from the framework. Now, Arkansas is reportedly working on creating an honors version of the AP African American History course. Now, keep in mind, in Arkansas, they will continue to offer a course on European history and continue to pay for it. So let's see.

So we're not going to teach African American history, but we're down with European history that ain't from this particular state. Hmm. Now remember, what did I warn all of y'all when Christopher Ruffo was leading the attacks on critical race theory. What did I tell you? Hmm.

I recall saying that they're going to put anything dealing with race under the banner because he said it. That was always their plan. That was always the banner. Because he said it. That was always their plan. That was always the goal. So they want to lump anything with race. DEI, equity, inclusion, multiculturalism. Put everything under it. So all you have to say is, remember,

Republicans think in terms of bumper stickers. Critical race theory! And they apply that to everything. Of course, when you ask them to define it, they actually can't. Our pal, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, she is, of course, president emerita, Bennett College economist as well. We have Renita Shannon, former Georgia state representative out of Atlanta. I'm glad to have both of y'all here.

So I'll start with you, Julian. Again, people, this is why I'm constantly trying to explain to black simpletons who love to throw around terms, oh, you're a shield. You're just protecting Democrats. Oh, you. I mean, they try you're just protecting Democrats oh you I mean they try all this nonsense and I keep saying

y'all can play games but this is what happens when they take over school boards when they take over the state house and the state senate and the governor's mansion and the courts and when you consolidate power,

they can make a change, and then it's going to be approved up the ladder, and there's nothing you can do about it. And so what are we seeing? Florida, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia. We could just simply get the old Confederate where white conservatives are in control and they possess the power. This is all connected to politics, Julia. Absolutely. And if you, it's the old Confederacy, and if you put this in historical context, all of these states had laws on the books in the 19th century. North Carolina, to teach a slave

to read is to excite dissatisfaction to the detriment of the general population. That law passed in, I believe, 1831, said that if a white person taught a black person to read, they could be flogged up to 50 stripes. If a black person did it, they could be re-enslaved. They also, in both cases, could be fined. And so when we look at this, this is not new stuff. What's new is that too many people have sat by quietly and let this happen this second time around with the attacks on critical race theory, with the attacks on teaching. I mean, Roland, how can you make somebody feel guilty? Facts do not make you feel guilty. So we don't want anybody to feel guilty. If you want to feel guilty, feel guilty about any number of things, including the rape of our environment.

Now, what if people feel guilty about that? Is that against the law? So we really have, this has reduced itself to simplicity 101. You're right. These are both black and white simpletons. The black ones bother me the most. These are the black folks say we should get rid of, stop thinking about enslavement, get over enslavement. But enslavement is at the economic foundation of this country, at the absolute economic foundation. So

we go back and look at those laws. As you know, I'm doing this research now on lynching and the connection between lynching and the economy. And you see, literally, I'm doing this research now on lynching and the connection between lynching and the economy. And you see, literally, I just came across a headline that said lynching is bad for business. So these people had decided, well, we'll just lynch a few. We're not going to lynch them all because if we lynch them all, they won't spend any money. So, again, the absurdity just befuddles me. But no, it doesn't befuddle me. This is what, as you said, you laid it out perfectly rolling.

School board to state house to gubernatorial mansion to the White House. That's the continuum. And we have, we see all kinds of ways that truth is being suppressed. And that's what it's about. It's about teaching ignorance, truth being suppressed. What's ironic, Oklahoma is another one of the states. How dare Oklahoma, the site of Black Wall Street, decide that you can't teach truth? North Carolina, that you can't teach truth.

But if you teach truth, then people may know what's going on. I'll say one last thing. In Illinois, they have students on the Board of Education. And through Push Excel, Reverend Jackson's education arm, which I chair, we basically have two Illinois school principals on Push Excel. They had a webinar with young people, and a young white girl said, it's just as important for me to know algebra as it is for me to know black history. Our young people are not rejecting this. These are old fools who are rejecting this, and we should keep that in mind.

But here's the thing, Renita, and again, I try to explain to people, all of this stuff is also in response to 2020 and the death of George Floyd. I keep trying to get people to understand, white folks freaked out when they saw how their white kids were responding to police brutality.

And so what you see, you see this visceral reaction against the 1619 Project. You see this visceral reaction against anybody, the Project. You see this visceral reaction against anybody, the Jane Elliotts of the world, the Tim Wises of the world. You see this visceral reaction to anybody who is now talking about the rest of American history and not that sanitized, tainted version that too many of us have been taught for years in our schools. And so what they recognize is that we have got to keep these white kids from actually learning about what happened.

We can't have these white kids learning about the Wilmington Massacre. And then we can't have these white kids learning about the 92 years of Jim Crow after, after the Great Compromise of 1877. We can't have any of that. And so in order for you to raise

up a generation of people to be like their previous generation, the easiest thing to do is to stop them from learning. These bills should be concerning for every person who pays taxes in this country, no matter what state you live in, because as you mentioned, these bills are flying up across the country. You left out Georgia. Georgia also passed a bill

similar to this about two years ago. At that point, I was still in the legislature, and I just remember the language for all of these bills as they were flying up is completely ambiguous. And so a lot of it does boil down to stuff like, oh, well, you can't make white kids feel bad. The reason why this is important is because this is your tax dollars going right down the drain. Bills like this are very ambiguous. They don't stand up in court because what does that mean that you can't teach anything that will make a white child feel guilty? And so what ends up happening is these bills get challenged in court and now you're spending more tax dollars to fight them. But the important thing is, as we are all kind of talking about, every parent should be livid about this regardless of race, because we know that culture

more and more is being used to sell products today. Companies are more and more concerned about not just centering white culture, but intentionally centering black culture. And that's because they know that we are an economic buying force. Companies are now more sensitive to what it is that we want to see in the ways that we are reflected. And if you don't understand our history, you are not going to be able to understand how to speak to us. And so why should this matter to parents? It matters because your kids will not be able to get a job, period, point blank, if they cannot understand how to operate in a multi-ethnic country. And Black folks are a large part of that. We are a growing sector of economics. And so what this is going to do, no matter what the race of your child is, if these kids, you know, Black kids are

going to get taught at home. Everything I know about black and black culture got told to me from my parents and my family members and having friends also who were black. White kids are not going to have this knowledge that is going to be essential for their future future earning potential. And it's all going to be because, as you said, there are a bunch of too many old white men in government who this is their agenda to erase our history. This is their agenda to not to have to hear about what it takes to be sensitive to folks' culture. This is all their agenda. But as you pointed out, young folks are. 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 Glott. 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 is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

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

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. widely watched. And even though people tried to tear it down, people are very interested in the 1619 Project, and that's not the only one. And so the more that they try to push back and say, hey, you can't have access to this information, we all know what that does. That just drives young folks to want it even more. See, again, people have to understand the play, Julian. You have all of these think tanks, all these conservative groups being funded by conservative billionaires,

the exact same conservative billionaires that's funding the Daily Caller, the Daily Signal, the Daily Wire, that's funding Breitbart and all these conservative media outlets. These are the same people who are funding campaigns. And so they're all linked. And so when we are talking about this

and trying to respond to it, we have to understand they're all interrelated. And so then you have their legal arm, which is the Fairless Society. And so what is their goal? Let's get federal judges who think like they do, who they will make sure they outlaw these teachings. And so what you do is you now put the policymakers in office. You now put the judges in office. So use your power to now infiltrate the system because in their minds, oh, we've got to stop the liberal indoctrination.

And what they call liberal indoctrination. And what they call liberal indoctrination is actually truth-telling. They do not want the truth actually told about lynching, about slavery, about post-slavery, about the economic theft of land from black people in this country. They do not want any of that stuff told because when you actually tell people the truth, they go, well, damn, I see why these black people are pissed off. I see why they're angry.

And that is the goal. You know, Roland, 44 states have introduced legislation to prevent the teaching of so-called critical race theory or ethnic studies or something along those lines. And again, the ignorance is such that it's all put into one bucket, critical race theory, which is a legal concept, as we know. This is not something that's being taught K through 12. It's not even being taught widely in undergraduate education. You put critical race theory in with ethnic studies, which is an extremely important way to need ethnic studies. And then you put it in with all this other DEI training,

which we're not doing DEI training at the K through 12 level either. So you throw it all together. And basically the common denominator is let's not talk about race because there's too much baggage that we carry in talking about race. As I said, the young people that I know are very open. In the state of California, Roland, in order to graduate from a community college, by five years it would be K-12. K-12, a community college, or a Cal State. In order to graduate, you must take ethnic studies. You must take at least one ethnic studies class. But, you know, there's always that little rump group of people who don't like it.

They don't want to have anything shoved down their throat. And then we also get the diluters who would, I was at a meeting with someone who teaches women's poetry, dig this. So she has one section on Maya Angelou and she thinks that should count for ethnic studies. My response, oh hell no. Actually, that's not my job anymore. But at the time that it was, I was ensuring that we make sure that ethnic studies is ethnic studies. But these people want to turn the clock back. If we look at the 5,000, nearly 5,000 lynchings that took place in our country, we'll find out that many of them had to do with economics. They had to do with property. They had nothing to do with interracial sex, which is what lots of people like to say.

That whole birth of the nation trope that black men were hungry for white women. In fact, as Ida B. Wells said, it was probably the other way around. But in any case, that's a story that they don't want to tell. And so you continue the notion of savagery and understand that the basis of lynching is savagery. You have to make someone inhuman to be willing to light them on fire. And many of our lynchings were accompanied by lighting people on been. You know, kudos to Dr. Shirley Weber, who's the Secretary of State in California, who was a professor at San Diego State and who was author of some of this

ethnic studies legislation. Kudos to her. But we need a Shirley Weber in the legislature in every state. Well, see, again, I think that what our responsibility here, Renita, is to get people to understand how these things are interrelated. I posted something today where I said, with what's happening in Arkansas and North Carolina, no black person should remotely vote for the Republican Party.

Somebody responded, they said, well, I know a bunch of black folks, and they say it's about jobs. Okay. We were employed during Jim Crow. But it doesn't mean we should have not fought Jim Crow. We were employed during slavery for free. See, so if you try to reduce this thing,

and this is what I'm trying to get people to understand, you cannot be voting solely on well, my taxes are low. No. You look at this thing in a broad way. It's no different than when I try to walk these people through trying to get them to

understand. I love these people who claim they support reparations, but then they trash Democrats, but never say there's not one Republican federally that supports reparations. And then they then say, well, you're a shield. All you're just providing cover for Democrats.

And I then go, so can you explain to me politically how you're going to get reparations if the House has to vote and the Senate has to vote and the president has to sign it? Oh, by the way, there's going to be a lawsuit. So if you don't vote or you don't care, then if you don't have federal judges in place who are going to hear the said lawsuit, then you're going to lose. So you might get it through the House. You might get it through the Senate. You might get it to the presidency. But then what then happens if it sues and you lose in court because you didn't vote

for Democrats who are likely going to support judges who are more down with civil rights and human rights, things along those lines. And so then I look at that particular person and go, now, with all that said, what the hell are you talking about? And they literally cannot get out of that pretzel. And that's how dumb this is. Like, I was walking somebody through the other day, trying to explain to them, because somebody said to me,

well, you know, I don't understand, how are you supporting Biden and Harris? I said, well, let's do the math. There are more than 100 judges that have been appointed. You have judges that have literally gone from defense attorneys or from the ACLU or from other civil rights groups directly to the federal bench. I said, so by the end of the Biden-Harris first term, they're probably going to appoint around 150 judges. If Biden-Harris is reelected, then let's say they get another 150 judges.

We're now at 300. So let's say another Democrat wins in 2028 and they get to appoint 150 judges. That means now with three administrations, we're sitting at 450 federal judges. There are only about 930 or so federal judges in the country, which means that if you have three consecutive Democratic presidents, then they will appoint half of the federal judiciary. And if you have three consecutive Democrat presidents, that means that you are likely going to be able to appoint two Supreme Court justices. Alito and Clarence Thomas are the two oldest, and they're in their early to mid-70s. The math is the math. And so when you look at the existing Supreme Court, most of the

existing Supreme Court out of a total of nine were appointed under Republican presidents. The math is the math. And so people have to understand you cannot be stuck on stupid and sit out an election because if you are trying to play long ball or trying to play chess like the right is, then you understand why you should be maximizing your power to prevent the seeding of this far right-wing constituency on the local, state, and federal level. Democrats should not be in the business

of telling anybody that the way they think is stupid or that they need to change their perspective. I never won any of my elections by doing that to folks. What we need to do is meet people where they are and show them how we are better. So let's take your example, people who are saying it's all about the jobs. Great, let's start there. In this instance, what we are talking about right now, not being taught proper history, not being taught African-American history in school, not being taught anything that's going to make white kids feel bad, will ruin job prospects for you. That is a job killer. That is equivalent in today's economy as almost saying let's not teach kids math.

These are things that you have to know. And why? Because there is almost no job out there that racial sensitivity or knowing how to talk with people and get along with people, whether you are a small business owner or whether you're going to work for an employer. There are almost no jobs out there that don't include some of this. Think about it. Even if you just want to do landscaping, even if you want buying power that we do have, you are just not going to do as well. And large corporations will not want to hire you. There is almost no direction you can go for legal work where this does not matter. And I would say probably even for illegal work. And so we need to meet voters where they are and break it down for them and show them very simply why all of this should matter for them and their children.

So this is about the jobs. And we need to be saying how much of a job killer this is. For all those folks who believe that China and other countries are about to take over and the extra racist white folks who feel like, oh, they, immigrants, are getting our jobs, well, what kind of education are they getting in other countries? Because in this country, every day, more and more kids are being told they can't learn about this, they can't learn about that. All of that does nothing but set up a situation where American children will not be able to compete in a global space where employers can get candidates for work and get employees anywhere they want to.

Most of the jobs are Internet based now. It happened during COVID and folks decided, hey, this is a lot cheaper not to have whole buildings for people to have to come and work in. My employee can actually work from home. And all that did was broaden the pool of employees that employers have access to. And so now the competition has only gotten stiffer, not easier, and you need to have every single tool in your tool belt in order to get the job that you want. And so what I would say is all of this is making our children not smarter.

It is making us less competitive in the job market that is getting increasingly more global and more diverse. Well, again, 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 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 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. It's understanding, again, this entire map and how it all connects. Gotta go to a break.

We come back. More Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets. A horrific scene. A white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not replace Donald Trump. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the US Capitol.

We've seen shots. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic,

there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs,

they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is Whitefield. I'm Faraiji Muhammad, live from L.A. And this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard.

Hey, we're all in this together, so let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's The Culture, weekdays at 3, only on the Blackstar Network. unplugged and undamned believable. You hear me? Alright folks, today Alabama was in court dealing with the redrawing of that congressional district. You might remember the courts told them to draw a second black district. So what do the white Republicans in Alabama do? They're like, damn that, we're going you might remember the courts told them to draw a second black district. So,

what do the white Republicans in Alabama do? They're like, damn that, we're going to draw whatever the hell we want to draw. So, they went to, back to the court today, and we'll question, go to my iPad, please, Henry. And so, federal district court judge Terry Moore, who was an appointee of Trump, pointedly asked

them, this is from the political story, if they deliberately chose to disregard their instructions. Straight up asked them. Now, the story also laid out how these same judges made it clear that they were not going to try to relitigate the Voting Rights Act. So here's the whole deal right here. Go back to my iPad. The National Republican Redistricting Trust,

the main redistricting arm of the GOP, argued in a briefing to the three-judge panel that the Supreme Court's opinion has been publicly misconstrued. Arguing that while the Supreme Court affirmed the finding that the old maps likely violated the Voting Rights Act, it did not order a remedy

that would require the drawing of two majority-minority districts. Hmm. That's interesting. Because literally, the judges were like, yeah, that's not going to fly. Bottom line here, Renita, this is Republicans and their attempt to completely ignore the federal courts,

do what they want to do, and so what their plan is, if we can get this back before the judges, we can get that fifth judge who disagrees with the Voting Rights Act and approve these districts. Right. You're right. They are trying to ignore the federal courts. But what I think federal courts should do is stop playing games with them, stop explaining stuff to them, and go ahead and draw these maps for them.

Because historically, that is what has happened when states have drawn maps that do not comply with the Voting Rights Act, even the parts that are left. And Georgia has been through this, where Republicans have come in and tried to draw really racist maps that dilute black voting power. And then what has happened? The courts have said, thank you. We'll take that. We will draw your map since you cannot be an adult. Right. Go back to my iPad. This is, of course, a member of the Alabama Republican National Committee. This doesn't just affect us. This case is precedent setting. Louisiana is right behind us.

They're facing the same problem we are. They're next in line. And what is decided in our case is going to hit Louisiana right between the eyes. Let me translate that, Julianne. We want to screw the black people in Louisiana, too. So if we get to screw the black people in Alabama, then it's going to get easier for us white Republicans to screw the black people in Alabama, and then it's going to get easier for us white Republicans to screw the black people in Louisiana.

That's the translation. Absolutely. And after Louisiana, there'll be Mississippi. We go, again, the old Confederacy is alive and well. This is why the brilliance of Reverend William Barber is when we're talking about organizing the South. Natasha Brown, organizing the South, because basically what happens in

Alabama happens in the rest of the old Confederacy. And what we're seeing right now is basically white, it's beyond white fear, Roland. I mean, white fear, the book is brilliant. It's really right on point, but it's beyond that. It is white angst. They cannot stand it. They cannot stand the fact that we are rising, that General Howard said when he founded Howard University, and tell them we are rising. We are still rising. And so they can't stand it. They've tried everything to suppress us. They've tried the lynching. They've tried everything else. But what you see, like we saw in Montgomery last week, the other week, what you see is black folks ain't

scurred no more. People are not about to defer on the regular. People are willing to whip somebody's high parts with a folding chair if they have to. And so I don't condone violence, of course, we have to say that. But if I had a folding chair, we're not going to go there. But let's just say that they are absolutely apoplectic that their tactics are not working. And so they're basically sending out, it's not even a dogma. So the band just put it out there. If you do it in Alabama, you'll do it in Louisiana. And let's keep going.

In Mississippi and Arkansas and Florida, they've already done whatever they can do there. And so we have to fight. All we have to do So we have to fight. We have to fight. And it's amazing to me that the Alabama legislators have been so defiant, but Renita is absolutely right. So the court can draw the lines themselves. Absolutely.

All right, folks. Hold tight. One second. Going to a break. We come back. Michael Orr, retired NFL player. Remember the blind side? Oh, man. This white family in Tennessee took him into their home and raised him. He went to Ole Miss, became a first round NFL draft pick. They just loved him.

So, Michael, he's now saying they never adopted him and they've made millions off of him and the movie and he did not get a dime. Ooh, we will talk about that next on Rollerblades Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Don't forget, download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV.

You can contribute to make this show possible. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing on average $20, $50 each. That's $4.19 a month, $0.13 a day. Send your check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal, RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered.

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We'll be right back. Question for you. are you stuck do you feel like you're hitting a wall and it's keeping you from achieving prosperity well you're not alone on the next get wealthy with me deborah owens america's wealth coach you're going to learn what you need to do to become unstuck and unstoppable. The fabulous author Janine K. Brown will be with us sharing with you exactly what you need to do to finally achieve the level of financial success you desire through your career. Because when I talk about being bold in the workplaces, I'm talking about that inner boldness that you have to take a risk, to go after what you want, to speak up when others are not.

That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Black Star Network. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Cox. The United States is the most dangerous place for a woman to give birth among all industrialized nations on the planet. Think about that for a second. That's not all. Black women are three times more likely to die in this country during childbirth than white women.

These health care systems are inherently racist. There are a lot of white supremacist ideas and mythologies around black women, black women's bodies, even black people that we experience pain less, right? Activist, organizer, and fearless freedom fighter Monifa Akinwole-Bandele from Moms Rising joins us and tells us this shocking phenomenon, like so much else, is rooted in unadulterated racism.

And that's just one of her fights. Monefa Bandele on the next Black Table here on the Black Star Network. Farquhar, executive producer of Proud Family. Bruce Smith, creator and executive producer of Proud Family. Louder and Prouder. You're watching Roland Martin. 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 ban is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette.

MMA fighter Liz 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. All right, folks, how many of you saw that movie The Blind Side? Remember Michael Orr, African-American brother, huge football player. He, of course, tough time growing up in a very difficult and tough neighborhood. Mom was on drugs, and so he gets adopted by this white family, and they take him in, and he gets to live with their two children, and they're in love on Michael, and they're in Tennessee, and he goes to this private school,

and they basically get Michael to come out of his shell, and then what then happens? They save Michael, and he ends up going to Ole Miss and becoming an All-American. And then, you know, the white savior complex in movies. Hollywood loves that. And so then he goes on to become a first-round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens, goes on to a stellar career. He retired.

Well, in February of this year, Michael then looked at some paperwork, and apparently they appointed themselves to be his conservator when he turned 18. According to a 14-page lawsuit that he filed in Tennessee against the couple that adopted him, he claims that they never actually officially adopted him. He also claims that they never actually officially adopted him.

He also claims that they enriched themselves by making profits from the movie, and he didn't. And they have used his name and likeness for books and speeches and have made lots of money. This is the ESPN story right here that was done. And so he lays out that, again, he said in less than three months after, this is Michael Fletcher with this story, three months after Orr turned 18 in 2004, he says the couple tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators, which gave him the legal authority to make business deals in his name. Apparently they earn it because what he says is that they use their power, the Toohey's,

to strike a deal that paid them and their two birth children millions of dollars in royalties from the Oscar-winning film that earned more than $300 million. Remember Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for playing Leanne Tuohy. This is what the legal filing says. The lie of Michael's adoption is one upon which co-conservators Leanne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their ward, the undersigned Michael Orr. Michael Orr discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023 when he learned that the conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Toohey family in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Toohey's.

Now, they had no comment on the lawsuit. The attorney said they're going to make a comment in the following weeks. Now, Sean Toohey told the Daily Memphian that he was stunned by Orr's allegations and said the Toohey's didn't make any money off the movie, only a share of proceeds from Michael Lewis's book, which was the foundation for the film. We're devastated, Sean Toohey told the outlet.

It is upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children. We're going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16. You know, Julian, previously Michael Orr complained about how he was presented in the movie. He said that he was made to appear to be dumb, clueless, some big bear-like child, when he said that simply was not the case.

What do you make of this lawsuit? Well, it's entirely appropriate, I think, for him to sue. He basically, there was an indelible impression left of him that he was this dumb, untamed black boy that they basically dragged into civilization. Sound familiar? That they basically protected as if he were stupid, as if he had to have any protections of his own. Certainly they were helpful to him. But for them to have faked this conservatorship and to basically have exploited him,

if he's correct, they claim that he isn't, but if he's correct, they exploited him. But that is the nature of the black he's correct, they exploited it. But that is the nature of the black experience in white America is exploitation. So I'm glad that he found this information out. I'm glad that there's a lawsuit. I suspected, I didn't see the movie. It was not the kind of thing, this whole notion of the great white savior just rankles me. And I've had to walk out of movies usually because I was doing something I had no business doing, like using profanity when I saw the stuff.

So it did not intrigue me one bit. But those I know who saw it basically had the same thought that it was, you know, this doesn't seem like completely right. There's something missing here. And now we know what's missing. These people basically went all the way

to Disneyland and the bank on this brother's back. Here, back to my iPad. It says, since at least August, first of all, or if he wants to end the conservatorship, he wants them to be barred from using his name and likeness and have a full accounting of the money they earn using his name and have the couple pay him for his share of profits

as well as unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Quote, since at least August of 2004, conservators have allowed Michael specifically and the public generally to believe that conservators adopted Michael and have used that untruth to gain financial advantages for themselves and the foundations which they own or which they exercise control. All monies made in said manner should in all conscience and equity be disgorged and paid over to the said ward, Michael Orr. Renita? This story just breaks my heart for Michael Orr because of a few reasons.

For one, just reading all this, you're just seeing how his entire family, not only, well, his supposed family, but not only his adoptive parents, but his siblings as well, have completely taken advantage of him. I mean, it's just disgusting. A conservatorship, for those of you who don't know, is generally when someone is over the age of 18 and they are not either mentally capable or maybe they're having, you know, if they're having, if they have mental disabilities or if they might be having mental health issues or some reason that they still need someone else to control and run their finances. That's typically what you have for a conservatorship.

And so for them to even place him under a conservatorship, which this tells us that they did it three months after he was 18, is just mind-blowing because you are, in every way that we know so far, as far as the details that we know of this story, in every way you are setting up to take advantage of him. What is the reason that he would need to be under a conservatorship? Like, that is just disgusting. I think the biggest example we remember of this recently was Britney Spears fighting so hard to get from underneath her conservative ship. I mean, these conservative ships are so controlling. They tell you basically when you can sleep, eat, and certainly what money you can spend. And so the fact that not only his supposed adopted

parents did this to him, but the fact that they would also write in the siblings to be able to capitalize off of any money he makes, my heart just breaks for him because this is a person who I'm sure has gone from believing he had a family with you see all the family pictures he's taken with them and continuing to be affiliated with them after he was 18, someone going from waking up one day, having a family, and waking up the next day and not having a family because you have discovered that your family has completely exploited you. It's just... Well, I guess what I'm trying to figure out, Julianne, is why in the hell does he need a conservator? I mean, the reality is as

Renita said, I mean, typically that's when you deal with a troubled individual. This guy went to the NFL, made millions of dollars. Who was controlling that money? Who was negotiating those contracts? In his lawsuit, he

names, he says in the lawsuit, back to my iPad, he said the movie paid the two years and their two birth children $225,000 each, plus 2.5% of the film's defined net proceeds. And he also claims that, quote, while the deal allowed the twoies to profit from the film, the petition alleges a separate 2007 contract purportedly signed by Orr appears to give away to 20th Century Fox Studios the life rights to a story without any payment whatsoever.

The filing says Orr has no recollection of signing that contract, and even if he did, no one explained his implications to him. And it goes on to say in here, the deal lists all four Tuohy family members as having the same representative at Creative Artists Agency, but Orr's agent, who will receive movie contract and payment notices, is listed as Deborah Brannon, a close family friend of the Toohey's

and the same lawyer who filed the 2004 conservatorship petition. Hmm. This thing is replete with conflict, and it's replete with exploitation. And these people need to be ashamed of themselves, and they're still writing this violent story about their love for this young man.

The fact is, as Renita said, as you said, at 18 years old, he did not need a conservator. He probably needed an advisor or something who was unbiased and had his best interests at heart. But a conservator, Britney Spears' example is a great one. Restricts how you spend your money, restricts what you eat, who you see, all of that. This apparently is not a stupid, but a very bright young man who may have been helped along the way by this family in terms of his own circumstances, but who did not deserve to be placed into a legal box. That's what conservatorship is. It's a legal box that turns over control of your life to someone else. And that's just absurd. And I'm so glad that he found out. I mean, it has to be heart-wrenching for him to have to set

aside the belief system he had for the one that is real. But even having said that, he was in a box. And now he's out the box. And I hope the lawsuit is effective. Why did the kids have some money? I mean, OK, let's just for the sake of argument. No, let's not. But let's say the parents saw themselves as because why did the children also get money, money that belonged to him? This is absurd. This is in the same article. It says, for years, Orr has chafed at how the blind side depicted him, saying it hurt his football career and clouded how people view him. He has said that based on the film, some NFL decision makers assumed he was mentally slow or lacked leadership skills. Quote, people look at me and they take things away from me because

of a movie. Orr told ESPN in 2015, they don't really see the skills and the kind of player I am. The Twos actually agree with that, writing in their book, if there is a fundamental misapprehension about Michael, it's that he needed saving. We discover that underneath his

shyness, his foot shuffling, and his head ducking, he had a tremendous will to determine the course of his own life. The article says for years, Orr has said he was content to live with the myth created by the movie, reasoning that its inspirational message outweighed the pain inflicted by what he saw as his inaccurate portrayal of his life, but that has changed. Quote, there's been so much created from the blind side that I am grateful for, which is why you might find it as a shock that the experience surrounding the story has also been a large source of some of my deepest hurt and pain over the past 14 years,

which he wrote in his book, When Your Back Is Against The Wall. Quote, 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. 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 Glott. And this is season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

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

MMA fighter Liz 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. Beyond the details of the deal, the politics, and the money behind the book and movie, it was the principle of the choices some people made that cut me the deepest. Wow, Renita. Yeah, like I said, my heart just completely breaks for him. And you know what? This movie is probably the reason why whatever judge who looked over the paperwork for the

conservatorship probably went along with it. You know, conservatorships have to be approved by a judge ultimately. And the judge probably thought, oh, well, hey, I saw the movie because a lot of people saw this movie. I mean, Sandra Bullock got Oscars for this movie. This movie made a lot of money and it was widespread. A lot of people saw the movie. So I bet I would be surprised if this movie did not help in convincing whatever judge saw this paperwork that he did have some mental challenges that a conservatorship would make sense. The whole thing is just completely heartbreaking.

I hope that he gets the counseling that I'm sure he needs because there is no way that you can just be taken advantage of with people that you have lived with and considered your family and not be rocked by that. I just understand. Go to my iPad and hear me. The blind side, this right here, is from Box Office Mojo. Domestic, the blind side, first of all,

it made $255.9 million, $53 million internationally for a total worldwide take of $309 million. That was just Box Office, folks. We're not even talking about streaming. We're not talking about DVD. We're not talking about all the other ways they actually sell movies. And so, yes, indeed, it made a whole bunch of money. Got to go to a quick break. We'll be right back. Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

On a next A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie, we're talking all things mental health and how helping others can help you. We all have moments where we have struggles and on this week's show, our guests demonstrate how helping others can also help you. Why you should never stop giving

and serving others on a next A Balanced Life here on Blackstar Network. Question for you. Are you stuck? Do you feel like you're hitting a wall and it's keeping you from achieving prosperity? Well, you're not alone. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, you're going to learn what you need to do to become unstuck and unstoppable. The fabulous author, Janine K. Brown, will be with us sharing with you exactly what you need to do to finally

achieve the level of financial success you desire through your career. Because when I talk about being bold in the workplaces, I'm talking about that inner boldness that you have to take a risk, to go after what you want, to speak up when others are not. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from L.A., and this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad,

and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together, so let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's the culture.

Weekdays at 3, only on the Black Star Network. This is Essence Atkins. This is the love king of R.B. Raheem Devon. Me, Sherri Shebron, and you know what you watch. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. The conservative legal group America First Legal has filed a lawsuit against Kellogg's claiming the company's workplace diversity programs are illegal. America First Legal, a nonprofit organization founded by former Trump advisor

white nationalist Stephen Miller, has urged the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate Kellogg's over its diversity policies to have 25% underrepresented talent at the management level by 2025 and running fellowship programs only open to racial minorities. The group also accuses Kellogg's

of abandoning its family-friendly marketing approach in favor of politicizing and sexualizing its products because the company featured a commercial with drag queen RuPaul and its cereal boxes celebrated Pride Month. In response to the lawsuit, Kellogg's has emphasized its commitment to complying with employment laws and maintaining policies prohibiting workplace discrimination. The EEOC has not yet indicated whether it will investigate the claims made by America legal first. This, again, is what I have said repeatedly, Julian, is a part of this whole attack on black people by white Republicans. They want to, they're going after schools. They're going after corporate America.

They're going after everything. They do not want to see black people advance in the society. No, they really don't. And this lawsuit is absurd. It's concerning, but it's not surprising. Because basically, as you see gains, and the gains have been very small, Roland, as you know. As we see gains, what we see is a resistance

to any of those gains. When people talk about diversity, there's a pushback. I mentioned before in this program, I've got a faculty member who left us at Cal State LA to go to Florida. And when he got there, he got a letter that said he cannot use the term diversity in his classroom. Parenthetically, the brother teaches Chicano Latino studies, and I don't know how he's going to be able to teach anything with that kind of thing. But you've got these people who, it was never a level playing field. In the last

50 years, it's been a very minor advantage, very small advantage that's been given to Black folks in terms of diversity. And it's a small advantage. It's not overwhelming at all, but they don't even want that. They don't want us there and they're prepared to do whatever they can. Not only looking at these organizations, where does their money come from? Who's funding them? Those are the questions that we need to ask, because what we're dealing with is a global anti-blackness, a global anti-blackness that is constraining black people's opportunities in the labor market. We're looking now at a labor market. And here's the deal. We have a shortage of workers. They would want to get people,

black folks, brown folks, other folks, into the labor market instead of discriminating. There is a shortage of workers. But we're not paying attention to that because these people are so rabid that black people should have anything, anything, that they really are willing to raise money, to hire lawyers. Kellogg is a decent company. I won't say they're great. They're a decent company. Their foundation does work around diversity. What is their problem? Well, it's very simple, Renita. They're going after

the Black Women Focus Venture Fund there in Georgia. Same thing. They flat out want to target any and everything that's Black that benefits Black people in order to deal, that tries to solve the history, the

decades and centuries of racism in this country. Right. It's just like your book talks about with white fear and that, you know, white people are going to have, there's a significant population of white folks in this country who are just going to have a problem anytime that they are not centered or that whiteness is not centered. And so what's really interested in this whole

equation with them going after Kellogg's is that typically Republicans have always ran on the platform that, you know, America is all about unfettered, unregulated, unrestricted capitalism, and that we should never be telling businesses what to do. Well, now you see every other day they are trying to tell businesses exactly what to do and wanting to use the government to do that, which has been antithetical to everything they have always said. And so it's just so amazing because to be able to point out the hypocrisies and how they have changed what they talk about and what their platform is, you don't even have to go back in history. Most of us have lived through the direct

hypocrisy because it was just yesterday. Indeed, indeed. All right, hold tight one second. I'm going to go to a break. We'll come back. Black woman goes to North Carolina repair shop trying to get a car fixed. Why she hit racial slurs? She does this next.

Also, the next hour, we'll pay tribute to Clarence Avant, the guru known as the Black Godfather. He died today at the age of 92. We'll hear from Johnny Gill, Steve McKeever, record exec, Stan Latham, director as well, Danny Bakewell, owner of the L.A. Sentinel, dear friend of his, as well as played by,

interviewed with Reggie Hutland, who directed and produced the Netflix documentary, The Black Godfather, about Clarence Avant. All of that right here on Rolling Mark Unfolded. played by interview with Reggie Hutland, who directed and produced the Netflix documentary, The Black Godfather, about Clarence Avon. All of that right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture,

we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it when you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about

covering us. Invest in Black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please, support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people, $50 this month, raise $100,000. We're behind $100,000, so we want to hit that.

Y'all money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash App is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. The United States is the most dangerous place for a woman to give birth among all industrialized nations on the planet.

Think about that for a second. That's not all. Black women are three times more likely to die in this country during childbirth than white women. These health care systems are inherently racist. There are a lot of white supremacist ideas and mythologies around black women, black women's bodies, even black people that we experience pain less, right?

Activist, organizer, and fearless freedom fighter, Monifa Akinwole-Bandele from Moms Rising joins us and tells us this shocking phenomenon like so much else is rooted in unadulterated racism. And that's just one of her fights. Monifa Bandile on the next Black Table

here on the Black Star Network. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherry Shepard Talk Show. This is your boy, Herb Quay. And you're tuned in to... Roland Martin, unfiltered. Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. All right, folks. Sheena Jackson goes to a car repair center in Raleigh, North Carolina. She's trying to get her brakes fixed.

The last thing she's expecting is to be hit with some racial slurs caught on video. Watch. What? I got one. 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. 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 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 Corps vet. 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 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. Right? podcast. rear rear so she is a new one it's ripped through on the rim oh so it has nothing to do with that what happened she rubbed it through on her rim if we put it on there we didn't secure it properly yeah that's on us all right i know you want to rub it in your baseball uh damn i wanted to so well i was gonna let carlos do it yeah i think through the i peeked through the rim the first

thing i see is this on the rim you told me it was probably going to be messed up that are the front center like i was hoping it was going to be a front sensor there's two of them on the car rear in front open it was going to be a front so i bet you we haven't touched that yeah she came in your boss lady in the purple i was about to be like you know that smells like now that we got that straight all right let me see what one from BMW. Hey, how are you? I'm good, how are you? Good, how are you?

All right, Sheena and her attorney, Lex Dorton, your baby, who joins us right now. I'm glad to have both of you here. So, Sheena, I'm trying to understand. So, was it told to you, or were you recording? What really happened there? So I was recording. I was sitting at the chair and I had glasses on and I noticed that Carlos and Jamie were texting back and forth. Well, I was thinking, you know, they're texting back and forth because Carlos would text and one would put the phone down and they would alternate.

And I just, you know, by my instinct, I was like, I feel like they were talking about me because they were very bubbly when I walked in. So I decided to record and just see if I can hear them talking about me. And as y'all see in the video, that's what we got when I recorded. And I was shocked too of what they said. So what happened here? The owner, did he fire one or both of them? From what I was told, it was just Jamie. Again, if people couldn't make that out, what does she actually say about you? Roland, you can hear her very clearly say, and if I may speak frankly, she says that Sheena is a nigger that smells like weed. So not only did she issue a racial slur against my client, she also referred to her in a defamatory manner that she was engaging in illicit and illegal activities. So the owner says one was fired.

What are you hoping more is done? Well, to be frank, Roland, we've had updates that the manager, Jamie Smith, has not been fired. In addition, on that recording, you can hear the other employees and mechanics and Carlos laughing at the statement because they were in concurrence with what Jamie Smith was saying. And this was said in front of other clients during the workday while other clients were walking in back and forth. So one person allegedly being suspended or put on probation is simply not enough. In addition, and then my client can speak to this more so, my client was shamed. She's a military veteran. She's an athletic coach. She works in the corporate world. She was shamed in broad daylight. This really has put some trauma, psychological trauma on her, which you will

have to deal with. So we want to hit them where it hurts, because this is a city that's 30 percent black, Raleigh, North Carolina, and a good portion of the population frequents Auto Performance Center in Gardner, North Carolina, because it's about six miles from downtown Raleigh. So people need to know what's going on so they aren't subjected to this treatment because the treatment that my client received was intentional and wanton and gross. Sheena, how often had you gone to this location? This is my first time at this location. Wow. I picked them because I needed my breaks done. So I Googled, you know, somebody can do BMW breaks. They had great stars.

I mean, great reviews. So that's what brought me to them. And then this is how I was treated. So I'm curious, Lex Jordan, the owner says he fired the mechanic and the manager. Has the owner communicated with you directly? Because you say they're still employed. That is what we have learned from our other sources.

However, we've reached out to them, but they have not responded back as of yet. We would be open to speaking with them and trying to work something out. However, we are very comfortable taking other legal routes when and if necessary. Have you filed a lawsuit? That is in the works, Roland. All right, then. Well, this certainly is just one of those things that we got to keep enduring

as Black folks in this country. Final thoughts, Sheena? Like I said before, please be careful who you do business with. Make sure you do a thorough background. I just don't want nobody else to get treated like I've been treated. You know, I work hard for my money. If I spend it with you, I want to be treated like a regular human being, not like an end that smell like weed. I'm just still shocked that they said that.

All right, then. Sheena, Lex Jordan, I appreciate it. Thank you so very much for joining us. Thank you. Thank you, Roland. You know, I keep saying, Julian, that so many examples, black folks just want to go through this society just living, and we still have to deal with these indignities.

This was captured on video, but just imagine the stuff that isn't captured on video, the mistreatment in the comments, and how we are impacted. You know, this has tremendous economic implications, Roland. You're absolutely right. She got this on tape, but a lot of times it's not on tape. She drilled down on two people, the Jamie person and the mechanic, but it's apparently from the attorney's description, this disparaging remark was made in the earshot of many others. They made a mistake. Okay, mistakes happen.

They improperly installed the sensors. She was blessed enough to see that and to go back, because imagine that she hadn't seen that and something had happened with her tire while she's on the highway, a blowout or something like that. They should have responded to her compassionately and appropriately and instead, you know, the end smells like weed.

And that's just, when you're wrong, you can say anything about somebody, because they're wrong. They didn't want to say they were wrong. You even heard that you wanted to rub her face in it, like weed. And that's just, when you're wrong, you can say anything about somebody because they're wrong. They didn't want to say they were wrong. You even heard that you wanted to rub her face in it, but you can't. So the economics of this are we're ill-treated. We pay more to get less. Our dollars spend just like anybody else's do, except for the fact that we have fewer of them. And with the, as she said, her hardworking money, she was being slurred, slammed, and discriminated against.

But it happens every single day to black people. Sometimes we're blessed enough to basically have a recording. Other times we see it and nobody else saw it. But we see it and we know that it happened. And it's not even about being hurt. It's about having an economic impact on the way we live our lives. You know, there was a doctor who suggested

that doctors wear body cam footage to basically record interactions and how black people are treated differently. There were some others who said, oh, this would just be awful. But it goes to show you again the private thoughts, what people say privately and how we are treated.

And then when it's captured on audio, it's like, oh, my God. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Oh, I don't use those words all the time. No, no. Come on. Come on. Nice try, but we know you do.

Absolutely. She was way too comfortable just throwing that out for free at work. And I think that her colleague was probably used to hearing her talk like that, because, as you said before, what the attorney reported is that this guy Carlos just laughed about it. He didn't sound shocked. He didn't sound shocked from the audio that I heard either. And so, you know, I'm glad that they're suing. I'm glad that they are making an example out of this business, because black people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect anywhere they go. But this also just reinforces something that I learned growing up, which is always, it's worth it to put in the effort to look for black businesses first when you do need

something. Yes, we as black people should have the right to go anywhere we want to and get dignity and respect from any business that we choose to patronize. But this also just kind of shows you that you can never be aware of what is being said behind the scenes. And so I think that this also should resonate a point for everybody that it is worth it to, if when possible, it's worth it to, number one, put in that extra work. I do this all the time. Anything that I need, I'm looking first to see is there a reputable black business that I can give the business to where my chances are a lot higher that I'm going to get treated with dignity and respect. Even as a former elected

official, I still have to do this because I'm still black first. And so the second thing is, is that, you know, it's worth it to seek out those businesses and really try to do business with them because you just have no idea, you know, what your treatment is going to be. And that can add stress to an already stressful situation. Indeed. I agree 100%. All right, y'all. Going to a break.

We come back. We're going to talk about an update on the brother who was wielding the chair in the Montgomery Brawl. We'll tell you about what's happening with him and Bale. Also, we'll talk about Clarence Avon, the legendary businessman who passed away at the age of 92. We'll hear from people who work with him, who knew him well. All of that right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

We'll be right back. 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. 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 Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. horrific scene white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn lives there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the u.s capital we're about to see the rise of what i call white minority resistance we have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate

black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys, guys.

This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. We talk about blackness and what happens in black culture. We're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns.

This is a genuine people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it when you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in Black-owned media.

Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. Waste $100,000. We're behind $100,000. So we want to hit that. Your money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C.,, with me, Greg Cox. The United States is the most dangerous place for a woman to give birth among all industrialized nations on the planet. Think about that for a second. That's not all. Black women are three times more likely to die in this country during childbirth than white women. These health care systems are inherently racist. There are a lot of white

supremacist ideas and the apologies around black women black women's bodies, even black people that we experience pain less right. Activist organized and fearless freedom fighter the FIFA. I can what they find the lake from moms rising joins us and tells us this shocking phenomena, like so much else, is rooted in unadulterated racism. And that's just one of her fights. Monifa Bandile on the next Black Table, here on the Black Star Network.

Carl Payne pretended to be Roland Martin, holla! You ain't gotta wear black and gold every damn place, okay? Ooh, I'm an alpha, yay! All right, you're 58 years old. It's over. You are now watching... Roland Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable.

There's your grenade, baby. It's all good. All right, folks. An update on the brother, the hero of the Alabama Doc Brawl, Reggie Ray. He has posted bail after being charged with disorderly conduct. Ray made headlines wielding that folding chair during the August 5th melee. He turned himself into authorities Friday after police made a public plea for him to come forward. They created a GoFundMe page to collect bail funds. They raised already, y'all, $265,000 of a $275,000 total.

In fact, you know what? Let me just do this here. Let me see if we got the latest GoFundMe. Here we go. Let me pull this up. Search. Let me pull up in here. Reggie Ray.

Reggie Way right there. You already see it. It's on the home page right there. Y'all, $272,000 of the $275,000 has been raised already. Look, I told y'all that brother was not going to have to worry about having some money for his legal team. And so, again, so he's facing the charges. And so we're going to tell you exactly what is going to happen

with that next. You know what? Again, you got people here saying that was a racial attack. In fact, remember they attacked Damian Pickett who was a Black River Volk co-captain and what the captain of the Harriet 2, Jim Cottrell, believes

he believes, the captain believes that it was a racially motivated attack. Thank you. So again, that video there, you'll know what it's done. It's led to all kind of folk. They still are dropping videos and memes. Check this out. Montgomery Brawls. Blue shit really all of them. Montgomery Brawls. Shout out Hunk with the chair. Montgomery Brawls. Everybody that was there. Montgomery Brawls. Threw the hat off at the start. Montgomery Brawls.

Try Jesus. Not me. Cause I throw hands. Try Jesus, not me. Cause I throw hands. Try Jesus. They said, try Jesus, not me. Now check it out. Y'all know I had this shirt made. And let me tell y'all something.

I rocked this last week at the book signing in Birmingham. And I was in the airport flying back on Sunday. And, oh, my God, I think I had more white people stopping me to take a photo and ask me where to get the shirt. So this is the front of the shirt. It's the chair that says, hashtag team, whip that ass. And then, of course, on the back of the shirt, you'll see right here, we have Bring the Funk

with the Roland Martin Daily Digital Show. Then, of course, the Black Star Network. If y'all go to RolandMartinOnFilter.com or BlackStarNetwork.com, you can actually get a copy of this shirt. I mean, it was so hilarious, Renita. Again, getting on

the airplane, being in the restaurants and seeing, first of all, brothers and sisters kind of like, yo, getting on the airplane, being in the restaurants, and seeing, first of all, brothers and sisters kind of like, yo, I got to get that shirt. But it was like, the number of white folks who were stopping me, who were like, yo, I got to get a picture of this. I mean, they were cracking up laughing. And so it was just too much how people are reacting to this Montgomery Brawl and, of course, the cheer-wielding brother.

Oh, man. I didn't know you were going to have shirts available. Now I've got to get one. I had already purchased an Alabama Brawl t-shirt, the one with the actual photograph on the front. So I'm waiting for my shirt to arrive, but got to get one of yours. Those videos, the clips you just showed were hilarious. Listen, black people are undefeated.

I could not believe when he was swimming with the folding chair in the pool for training. I mean, that just completely took me out. So this is something that we are never going to forget. And it is just one of those moments where you just kind of feel that black collective. We all know what time it is. Julianne? I just wish y'all wouldn't use the term brawl. I mean, there was an attack on that black man

that descended into a brawl. I know that I'm being a wordsmith here, but it was not equal. It was... The attack on that man was unproven. I've been cracking up like everybody else has. I bought me a folding chair keychain the other day just because.

I mean, it is, it was a collective. It was, you know, it was all that. But at the same time, as I said, I need to wordsmith it. A brawl implies that there's some equal provocation. There was not equal provocation. That brother was attacked. Oh, he was attacked,

but it led to a fight, which led to a brawl. And the folk who started that brawl, they paid the price for that. Like I say, team whooped their ass showed up. And I got to give a shout out. Why did my pastor, Ralph Douglas West, literally stand in the pulpit on Sunday like this? Oh, I'm sorry. He's my alpha brother, Pastor West, the church without walls,

Brookhallow Baptist Church. Somebody sent me this, and I had to go ahead and give him a shout-out. And so, yeah. So I can already say, Renita, I got a good bet what's going to be the number one black Christmas gift this year. That's true. You are right. You are right, and we need to promote the shirt that black Christmas gift this year? That's true. You are right. You are right, and we need to promote the shirt that you are selling

because it looks pretty good. That pastor reminds me of my dad. I was just telling somebody the other day my dad was not a holy roller pastor. He was one that would let you know real quick he remembers what it was like before he was saved. So the picture you just showed is just hilarious. It is. Look, it's hilarious. It is. Look, it is hilarious.

And look, I mean, and I think this thing is just resonating in a whole different way, Julian. The segment that we did a week ago, that segment has generated 1.9 million views on YouTube. And I think if you add the other segments we did, we probably are at about 2.6 to 2.8 million total. And so it was just one of those things where folk instantly got it, and they were like, guess

what? They earned that ass whooping. They definitely earned it, and I think I interviewed a woman this morning on my radio program. She's written a book where she talks about growing up in the segregated South. And one of the things she says that anyone who grew up under segregation, where people were forced to be deferential, then see those brothers come to the defense of that man, it was just like, it was just a collective exhale. I mean, it's just, you know, and I, it took me back to, you know, I got put out of so many high schools that I had to go to high school in Mississippi for a year. That's a whole story.

But any, but I got smacked one time when my auntie introduced me to the people who used to own us. And so my reply was, well, then where my MF reparations? Smacked. And then later she apologized, but she said, you can't talk to white people like that. I mean, that was she died at 101 in 2001. But you can't talk to white people like that.

They have been so inculcated that they had to defer. Yeah, I did get hit upside the head. It was very unpleasant. But in any case, they have been taught to defer. And this generation has not been taught to defer. And that's what made so many people, whether they were eight or 80, excited about the whole thing. Just excited about, OK, we're not doing that mess no more. Yeah. Ain't going to be much deferring, Renita.

Yeah, absolutely. And also looking at that and knowing the situation, black people know what we're looking at. And that is it's still the remnant of that Jim Crow, you know, sentiment of white people tell black people what to do, regardless of whether they have been employed by anybody to tell to direct traffic or tell anybody what to do. It's just an unspoken white people tell black people what to do, not the other way around. And that is really a throwback from Jim Crow that people are not with today. Jim Crow is over and there are a lot of white people who need to learn that. I have no doubt in my mind that if this man would have been white, they would have moved their boat and it would not even been all this. This was absolutely about race. And you know what? It's interesting because I posted some of the clips from my talk when we talked about

this last week. And the number one issue that I am getting from people in comments, racists, of course, trolls mostly, the thing that they are so mad about is that I called out that this, what they were trying to lynch this black man. That is what they were trying to do. And so I'll say it again. As I said last week, they got everything they earned that day. Well, indeed they did. All right, y'all, let's go to our next story. Tennessee State University, we're looking for a new president. Dr. Glenda Glover announced today that she is retiring after 12 years. She released a statement, and so I want to actually read that particular statement here as well, folks.

Of course, she has led this university to tremendous heights. It has been quite the rise for her. But again, you've had lots of growth there. She tweeted, today I announced my retirement as president of TSU, my beloved alma mater, at the end of spring semester. I'm privileged and forever grateful for this honor of a lifetime. As I prepare to hand over the reins, I remain committed to TSU and to ensuring equity and access to higher education. During a news conference, she explained that she has a bigger calling. That did not come lightly, and it was not made very easily.

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 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 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 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people,

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

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

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.

My voice is now needed in a much more national platform. I believe you and I can see the efforts, the legislation, the policies that are being made every day to push this country back, to drag us back, to force us back into an era that we all fought so hard to overcome, an era that we have not seen since the days of the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education. My skill set, my leadership abilities, my voice is needed now more than ever in a much larger platform as we fight to protect access and equity in higher education. As the daughter of a civil rights leader,

I know we must have leaders who are not just leaders, but influencers who are well prepared for this good fight, who will gear up for the battle that we now have in higher education, the fight for access and equity. I will continue to address these issues, but from a different, unrestricted platform. Again, she's going to officially leave at the end of the spring semester in 2024. Look, ain't that many folks lasted that long, Julianne.

You look at a lot of these HBCU openings right now, there are a number all across the country. And so she's stepping down on her own accord. But one hell of a run for President Glover. She has done a brilliant job, an excellent job, and she certainly outlasted a lot of us. The average tenure for HBCU president these days runs me about five years, and she's been

there for 12. What I want us to hone in on in terms of her statement is unrestricted platform. Being an HBCU president often brings enormous restrictions on what you can say. When you're fundraising, especially in that context, you've got Democrats and Republicans on your board. You've got liberals and conservatives on your board. You've got liberals and conservatives on your board. You've got people have different views about black folks in higher education. And so I expect that with her voice being unfettered, she'll be far more effective in another avenue. And I have some things in mind I hope she'll take a look at. But she's a star.

She's a definitely rock star in the HBCU president's universe. And, of course, we all wish her the very best. All right, then. Folks, hold tight one second. We come back. We're going to pay tribute to Clarence Avon, the legendary entertainment executive who passed away at the age of 92. That is next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it. And you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it.

This is about covering us. Invest in black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. Waits $100,000.

We're behind $100,000. So we want to hit that. Y'all money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to Peel Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash App is $RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle ismartin unfiltered. Venmo is rm unfiltered. Zelle is rolling at

rollingsmartin.com. Next on the Black Table with me, Greg Cox. The United States is the most dangerous place for a woman to give birth among all industrialized nations on the planet. Think about that for a second. That's not all. Black women are three times more likely to die in this country during childbirth than white women. These healthcare systems are inherently racist. There are a lot of white supremacist ideas and mythologies around black women, black women's bodies, even black people that we experience pain less, right?

Activist, organizer organized and fearless freedom fighter Monifa I can well, they find the lake from moms rising joins us and tells us this shocking phenomena like so much else is Rudy in adult rated races and that's just one of her fights. We need to find a leg on the next Black Table here on the Black Star Network. Up next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes. The shooting of Megan Thee Stallion and the subsequent trial of Tory Lanez.

Megan has been treated like the villain. The experience that Megan went through is something that all black women face when we are affected by violence. This is something that's called massage. There's a long history of characterizing black women as inherently bad in order to justify our place in society. Next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes. Hello, I'm Paula J. Parker. Trudy Proud on The Proud Family. Louder and Prouder on Disney+.

And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Thank you. He is called the Black Godfather, Clarence Avon. He worked in music, entertainment. He is called the Black Godfather, Clarence Avant. He worked in music, entertainment. He, of course, helped launch the careers of people like Bill Withers and Quincy Jones. So many people across all areas of Hollywood. He helped and assisted. He died at the age of 92 years old. He was a powerful instrumental figure in so many areas, and he was the go-to man in entertainment and politics,

and so many people can owe their careers to his advice and his counsel. Stan Latham is one of the folks who was featured in the Netflix documentary, The Black Godfather. It, of course, was directly produced by Reggie Hutler and it debuted on Netflix in 2019. Stan is an award-winning director. He joins us right now. Stan, always glad to see you. He was, you hear this phrase, this person was one of a kind.

I absolutely say that completely applies to Clarence Avon. Absolutely. You know, I met him 50 years ago, 53 years ago when I was 25 years old. And I was introduced to him by Matt Robinson

who was a producer that I was working with and a friend. And he was from Philly also. So he, you know, he pulled me aside one day and said, listen, we were in New York. He said, I'm going to I want you to meet this man, Clarence Avod, because he's somebody you should know. And I said, OK, fine. I'd love to meet him. He said, you won't believe him. So anyway, I went to the Plaza Hotel, the Swank Plaza Hotel, and he was staying there.

And I went up to meet him in his suite. He was in his huge suite. And he walks into the room, and I said, who is this dude, man? And he was like, you know, he was dressed cool, and he was fast-talking and very kind of, I hate to use the word street, but he was like, you know, just very straightforward. And he talked fast and talked about the business. And, you know, because he had heard that I was a good director

and I was young and he was, you know, asked me what I would be up to, what I was doing and what I wanted to do. And I told him I wanted to direct. And I wanted to, I mean, I was already directing shows in New York, but I wanted to come to L.A. and, you know, try to get into some other shows. But, you know, that's very hard for us because

there were no black directors in 1970 doing national television shows, period. One or two at the best. And he said, man, you can do whatever you want to do. And he proceeded to tell me about his life and all the things that he had achieved and all the people that he had gotten into and been able to influence. All the white folks that he had, you know, as allies in the business. He told me, don't worry about it, man. You should just, you know, fight your fight and try and be ready to do whatever you want. And it was the day I spent with him, I mean, it was a few hours that I spent with him, I was inspired by not only his intelligence, but his drive, you know,

and his fearlessness and the way he talked about the business and the way he told me, Stan, you can do what you want to do. You know, if you really want to do it, don't take less than the best. And, you know, it was just a very inspiring session because I had never met anybody like that in the business, I mean, any black man that had that kind of just, you know, drive. And so I, you know, I got to know him and he told me I could call him if, you know, if I ever needed any advice or anything. And I called him a couple of times over the years, over the next couple of years. And then about two or three years later, there was a film that he was putting together with Quincy, speaking of the devil, and Quincy and Jesse Jackson and Al Bell from Stax and, you know, Ewan Abner from Motown and Quincy Jones.

And they were putting together a project called Save the Children, which is a film that was going to be shot to raise money for Operation Push. And Jesse, you know, got Clarence to pull this group together to talk about how we could produce this film. And lo and behold, he called me in. He called Matt in, but Matt, you know, and he called me in. And when I walked in the room, all these guys are much older than me, and they're all big shots. You know, he introduced me as the director of the movie.

I said, I was blown away by that. And I was overwhelmed because I was blown away by that. Overwhelmed because I was in the presence of so many ballers. I mean, really, even then, I mean, they were all

really game changers in the business. And they all put getting together to make this movie. And they all put getting together to make this movie. And he was the one that kind of drove me, got me into that. There was no question about whether or not I didn't have to interview anything, you know, you the director, Stan. And as we made plans that, you know, he would say things like, you've got to have all black crew. He went and sold the film to the Ford Foundation.

I mean, got them to, not sold it, but got them to put up the money. He was just, he was a hustler and a bully in the way he put these things together. He really was. Well, I love the bully part because in the documentary you talk about this Muhammad Ali special that ABC was doing. And he was like, yo, Stan doing this. Listen, let me tell you. My agent called me. This was a couple years.

This was like a year or two after that. I get a call and the agent says, Stan, you won't believe it. The guys at ABC want to meet you. I said, about what? He said, about a special with Muhammad Ali. Can't believe that. I said, yeah? He said, yeah.

You got to take it. And they didn't know where it came from. They just knew that they had called and said, hey, I want to meet. You should meet Stan Layton. So I went in. Had a good meeting, but it was very obvious that they really weren't feeling me because I'm a young black boy. Right.

And there was no young black boys directing. No network shows in those days. Period. Period. None. So it was like out of the question. It's like I was the only black person not only in the room, but on the floor,

in the whole building, damn near, talking about working. So I had my meeting. I talked to them, and they were, you know, it was obvious that they weren't interested in me. At least I felt that way. And I walked away. I told Clarence about the meeting.

He said, okay, uh-huh. And then another week went by, and I get a call from my agent. I said, Stan, they want to meet you. They want to see you again. And I went in again, and now they were a little bit nicer to me, but still it wasn't happening. And so I left again, and now they were a little bit nicer to me, but still it wasn't happening. And so I left again, and I said, okay, well, this is weird, man. I really did.

Clarence did have some juice. And then Clarence called me. He said, Sam, you got the job. I said, what? I said, you got the job. I said, I can't believe it. He said, that's right, baby. I took care.

I took care of you. You know, I know what I'm doing. And then the next day, I get a call from my agent saying, Stan, we got you the job. I said, nigga, no, you didn't, motherfucker. I'm sorry. I don't mean to curse on me. But I said, no, you didn't. My man, Clarence Avon, my mentor, you know, my, my, my just, just, it's amazing.

And ever since then, you know, he's always been right there for me. You know, he's, he's been, you know, he's given me advice on in many levels, advice about money, about, you know, spending and saving and working for myself and family advice. I mean, he's just he was just a brilliant and, you know, down home kind of dude, man. He was like I felt like it felt like I was dealing with my granddad. I mean, you know, really, it felt like family at all times. He made my wife and my kids felt like that when they were around.

Clarence. Well, the thing that I think is most, is important is, first of all, his life and career, you learn about relationships, connections. You learn, and a fearlessness, his inability to take no and to look folk in the eye, not be afraid of white folks, and not to walk in with head down, hat in hand, and to understand that you are going to pay our people what they are worth.

And that's when you talk to people, whether you're talking about folks who are in their 70s and 80s, people who are in their 50s and 60s, rappers, guys in their 30s and 40s. I mean, it runs the gamut. He understood what being paid, what folks were worth was. And so just the listing of people

who called upon him for advice and counsel and assistance is enormous. He was. He was fearless and he was relentless about getting those things done and getting people the right deal. And he really, he just took them under his wing. I saw it with other people. I saw it with Andre Harrell in Motown. He just, you know, forced him in there and forced them to take him and then stood over him for most of the time that he was there and made him do the right thing as much as he could because, you know,

he was – Andre was on kind of another path. But I saw that firsthand. He made that happen. You know, I saw it with him, with a lot of other artists that, you know, were trying to make moves. But it wasn't just about getting jobs, but it was just, you know, doing the right thing business-wise, being, you know, accountable for what they did, with the things that, the decisions they made. And he was, you know, a good advisor, a sage. I mean, an amazing person to have in your corner. Last question for you. Because of what he did and literally the deals that he worked on is just stunning and amazing. Documentary was almost two hours. I mean, it could you know what, I got to make sure that I do like Clarence do, you know, leverage my relationships, help the next person, be willing to give advice and counsel,

and being able to put yourself out there? Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, I try to, you know, I always, you know, you don't know how often I say to myself, what would Clarence do in this situation? And even if it's a personal thing with, you know, or a decision about, you know, some sort of production decision and, you know, in the spending of money and stuff like that. I often think of him because, you know, once again, he was fearless. And when I'm about to not move forward, I say, Clarence would just bust this open, man. I'm not going to be afraid of this stuff. Let me go ahead and try to make it work, that kind of thing.

Because Clarence made it work. He didn't try to. He just threw out all the rules and went forward. Because he always had the right direction. Because he always had the right direction. He was always in the right direction. He was always going to make the right decision. It wasn't like he was just bullshitting about, yeah, you got to do this. He always had a reason to say,

there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to do this if it's doable. And so for that, you should move forward. And that's the kind of way that I learned from him. And that's the way I roll now, you know. Indeed, indeed. 50 years later. Stan, it's always great to see you. Look forward to coming out to L.A. soon.

Us getting together and sitting down, having a longer one-on-one, talking about you and your career, what you've done. We're certainly going to miss Clarence Avant, but he lived one hell of a life and left an indelible legacy. We're certainly going to miss him, that's for sure. The whole industry is going to miss him, and they don't even realize it. Indeed. Stan Latham, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Okay, thank you.

Folks, I'm going to go to Julian and Renata. Julian, I want to start with you. What he did goes beyond entertainment, was a significant fundraiser, advisor, counselor for President Bill Clinton. He was someone, his daughter, Nicole, of course, she chose to align with President, then Senator Obama in 2008. He was supporting the Clintons. He did not think a black person would ever become president. Talk about that in the documentary as well. But in politics, I mean, he raised a lot of money for a whole host of black candidates. But beyond politics, was very much involved in social justice issues, civil rights issues, and again, was a true Renaissance man. Absolutely. And beyond the politics and, of course, the business entertainment industry, he was very involved in the arts.

Jacqueline Avant was a patron of the arts. And of course, they were a team. And so don't want to leave out the arts part of the work that he did and the patronage that he provided for so many artists. This was just a good dude at the end of the day. There are a lot of things you could say. But he was a good guy who cared about black people, had relationships, you know, across the board with, as I think Stan mentioned, Reverend Jackson and there are others. Picked up the phone a couple of times to call people to say, you know, I want to help you. And people didn't come to him. He sometimes went to them. So he will be absolutely missed. Tavis Smiley shared with me about a year ago that they had a weekly or maybe monthly, but a regular lunch where he was able to, and he did that with a lot of brothers, were able to basically sow some basic advice and contacts into them. So he really cared.

And he will be very, very, very acutely missed. Renita, it is important when you talk about, again, how some of these things are linked when a Clarence Avant is able to lean on personal relationships and entertainment intertwined with politics. We see this with a lot of different people. And we see this with a lot of white entertainment execs. But he's certainly at the top of the heap when it comes to African-Americans. Yeah, and also with sports. Another area that I'm only learning now through his death that he was involved in.

I read a story today where apparently when Hank Aaron was about to pass Babe Ruth's home run record, all-time record, he unapproached, nobody approached him to do this, but he basically took it upon himself to ensure that Hank Aaron would get the endorsement deals that was elusive to black athletes, no matter how they performed. So he took it upon himself to call the president of Coca-Cola very directly and said, listen, you make sure that Hank gets these endorsement deals. You make sure that he gets a commercial and that he gets the same type of treatment that you would be giving to a white athlete. And so this is just really timely. I've got a friend who, my friend James Prep pushed me to watch The Winning Time, which is now airing on HBO right now. And it's really going over the inequities that Black athletes face, talking about the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and

Larry Bird rivalry with Magic Johnson. And so there's just a lot of, you know, with Black folks, it's not always clear what we're fighting for, but that piece, sometimes that nuanced piece that people don't understand we're fighting for is dignity. And so I'm just reading all these stories about how he was, Mr. Avant was involved in so many industries, really having a true love for black people to make sure that we got our due. And that is amazing. Indeed. You're talking about the show, The Winning Time, which is on HBO in its second season. Julianne and Renita, we appreciate you joining us on today's show. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

We come back. We're going to hear from Johnny Gill, Jimmy Jam, music executive Steve McKeever, also L.A. Sentinel owner Danny Bakewell, all of them paying tribute to Clarence Avon, who passed away at the age of 92, plus my interview with Reggie Hutland, who produced and directed The Black Godfather. All of that on Roller Mark Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. © transcript Emily Beynon 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 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.

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

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things.

Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. 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. that descended into deadly violence. You will not replace Donald Trump.

White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America,

there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white people. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from L.A. And this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.

So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together. So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's The Culture. Weekdays at 3, only on the Blackstar Network. Up next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes.

The shooting of Megan Thee Stallion and the subsequent trial of Tory Lanez. Megan has been treated like the villain. The experience that Megan went through is something that all Black women face when we are affected by violence. This is something that's called misogynoir. There's a long history of characterizing black women as inherently bad in order to justify our place in this society. Next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes.

Hi, I am Tommy Davidson. I played Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. Be barred. I'm out. ¶¶ Folks, a number of folks have been releasing statements with regards to the passing of Clarence Avon. President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, very dear friends of Clarence and Jacqueline Avon, they had this to say about his passing. Hillary and I are deeply saddened by the passing of our friend Clarence Avant, whose legendary career brought artists and their music to millions of people. He also used his success to open doors

of opportunity to new generations of entrepreneurs and promoters. He was skillful, savvy, warm, and wise. It was impossible to spend time with him and not come away feeling more positive and wanting to follow his example. We just loved him. We give thanks for his long, good life and our decades of friendship.

We're grateful that his legacy will endure. The music he helped bring into the world and in all those who were touched by his compassion, mentorship, and generosity, our hearts are with Nicole, Alex, and everyone else who loved and will miss him. Remember, Jesse Jackson Sr. released a statement as well. This is what he had to say about Clarence Avant.

Clarence Avant, a legend in the music industry, was the go-to guy for many of us in the music industry, including Barry Gordy of Motown, Al Bell of Stax Records, and a countless list of others. He helped promote their careers and expand their businesses. He discovered Bill Withers. He was a great friend

and I admired him greatly. What a mighty tree. My wife Jackie and our family send our sincere condolences and fervent prayers to Nicole and Alexander. Rest in heavenly peace. Reverend Jackson, founder of Rainbow Push Coalition. Go to my iPad, please. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama released this statement.

Clarence A. Bunt was one of our favorite people. He exemplified a certain level of cool and street smarts that allowed him to move confidently into worlds that nobody had prepared him for, never doubting he could figure it out. Clarence was part of a generation that served as a bridge from a time when there was very little opportunity for black people to a time when doors began to open. He demanded the world make room and he paved the way for the rest of us. Michelle and I will always be grateful for Clarence's friendship and wise counsel. Our thoughts are with Nicole, Alex, Ted, and everyone whose life was touched by a truly remarkable man. One of the folks who he also touched mentored, counseled, and advised, Steve McKeever, founder of Hittin' Beach Records.

Steve joins us live from Paris. Steve, glad to have you here. A lot of folks, again, we see the people who are actors and entertainers who are on the stage, but they can't do what they do unless they're people who are behind the scenes. And he was one of those folks who was always about focusing on deals, focusing on money, and focusing on making sure black folks got their just due. No, that's an understatement. Everything associated with Clarence, anything, any hyperbole, anything anyone can say, even when you have presidents and former presidents talking about him, there's still no way to, I think, adequately express to anybody

who didn't know the reach that Clarence had and the unique place in history that he has made for himself and the doors he's opened for so many can't do it justice. When I thought, when the documentary was made, and Nicole and Reggie did one of the biggest gifts to the world and our community by capturing that, I was sure that the documentary was going to have to be four parts, eight parts, ten parts. They did a marvelous job. Ted, Nicole, Reggie, everyone involved did a marvelous job.

It still is almost impossible that his story is reduced to about two hours, I think, that is there. I know Reggie's a dear friend friend so i know how much that he and how much it still pains him what was not in that documentary right um and this is one of those days it gets i'm emotional looking at the pictures and everything and saying claren, he touched so many of us in so many was just expressed earlier, so unafraid generally. I mean, fearless is the word. I'm so happy you're doing this. I'm so happy you have your show in bringing to light some of the things that aren't fully covered at all or covered in a balanced way.

And you could do the Clarence Avon tribute for hours and hours and hours on end and not get a fraction of the stories that your viewers still would never believe? Well, the reason I think that's important, first of all, the reason why I think it's important we do this here, is because when Clarence Avent passes, look, you see stories in Deadline, you see the rap, the trades, but frankly,

you're not going to see mainstream media pay much attention. What you just said in terms of his impact, the things that he did, you're right. You know, why is it important to have a three, four, five, eight, ten part docuseries, if you will, is because when someone like Clarence Avant passes away, all that rich history is gone. So unless the story is told, then no one knows. Unless the book is written, then no one knows. And so people need to understand whether we're talking about the Michael Jackson stuff and the Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson and teaming them with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and, again, the Hank Aaron stories.

I mean, all of a sudden, like literally over a five, six-decade period, we're talking about somebody who had his hand in the middle of so much. I was watching the documentary today and completely forgot when Biggie gets killed, he sits here and works on the plan to get Diddy out of L.A. to make sure he doesn't get killed. And Nelson George was interviewed where he said, hey, he was the one who said we're going to fly from L.A. to Miami, then Miami to New York because of people at the airports who were waiting to kill Diddy. And so you're sitting there going, wait a minute, what? And then you hear Snoop Dogg talking about him.

T.I. commented as well. And so it's crazy the multiple generations of artists who he impacted. And it's just even so, it's beyond an artist too, which is really his effect in even black America, but his reach

is almost in every fabric of life during his lifetime. And if something I begged him for from the time I met him over probably 30 years ago is you've got to tell these stories. So, again, Nicole and Reggie did such a great job of preserving this because he was never really interested in the credit. He was not interested in anybody knowing how much juice he had. I'll never forget before Clinton was the president, I heard Johnny's going to come on. So he'll probably be best able to tell the story. But George Bush was president and Clarence set up a meeting with George Bush. And I think Michael Mitchell for our PR person

at Motown went down to take a meeting with him. And I don't know if how, even though Johnny was at the top of the charts, I don't know how much George Bush Sr. knew who he was or whatever was going on. And the way both Johnny and Michael relayed the story is they brought him into the Oval Office and said, Clarence Avon says we should meet. And he was doing some thousand points of light thing or whatever. And in the middle of the meeting, Bush gets interrupted. And someone gives him the news that Saddam Hussein is burning the oil wells and some major crisis is going on and Bush handles it for a few minutes or whatever and goes back to Johnny and Michael sitting there and says this is an important meeting because set up with

Clarence Avon and I knew Clarence at that point. I didn't have an idea that he had that kind of connection. So he was able to reach his into places so often. Anytime, he really should have had a Superman cape on

or something, Batman cape, because he could get into anywhere anybody was in trouble. Especially if there was a situation. Clarence had the relationships to be able to fix things, to deal with things where nobody that I know of could. could and demonstrated that so often and knew how everything was connected, how politics and entertainment. He taught me and so many others about the importance of being involved in the political system and how those pillars in the business world and—was a fearless fighter. And I didn't talk to him very recently with the recent assault on diversity. And I saw the disgusting Stephen Miller story you showcased earlier. He was really the anti-force, or at least the real positive force of diversity before there

was a word people used as diversity, sort of fighting for black people in every industry, not just in the entertainment industry. Indeed, indeed. Final question for you. He owned a label. You own one as well. What did he teach you, instruct you, advise you about owning? Oh, my God.

I can get choked up in some of this. And because of, you know, Clarence owned a record label at a time when the odds are never good as far as entrepreneurship generally, as far as in the long term, and had some real adversity that he faced in that. But I think he was such a supporter in not just entertainment business and owning a record label and being a force. And there's people like Sidney Poitier who also ironically that Reggie did a great documentary on that should be watched by all. We're really encouraging of any of us taking roles of ownership because of that is where the true freedom of expression was going to come from and being able to write our own ticket as far as what was going to come out into the marketplace.

I don't want to get into a long diatribe about some of the messages thatomerate, you know, entertainment spheres. But Clarence shared the same sort of passion for positive messages and messages to the community and knew that that was going to happen best when we own those channels of communication, just like you do. And what you've been able to do with this show is a remarkable example of what you've been able to do with ownership of this vehicle. Well, again, when you own, you control, and then you can actually create the new narrative. Steve McKeever, it's always great to have you here. Tell your parents hello. Tell your wife

a hello as well. Thanks. It was great to see you, man. Likewise, sir. Be well. Folks, 2021, Clarence Avant was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This was a video that they released on their social media page. 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 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 for Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette.

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

my organization is going to be in Ohio and you're going to get an award. And I said, wait a minute, man. He said, no, keep your mouth shut. So I had no choice, because when you deal with Big John, you know, he's big, and I didn't want no trouble. You know, I'm not a young man anymore. When you get this age in life, you've got to be very careful when you talk to these—they're not hoods, but they are—they're business people. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you, everybody, for being here. I have never seen a crowd like this before in my life. Big John, thank you for threatening me. Good night. All right, folks, going to go to a quick break. When we come back, we'll hear from Johnny to a quick break. We come back. We'll hear from Johnny Gill, Danny Bakewell, Jimmy Jam. They talk about Clarence Avant, now an ancestor at the age of

92. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. ORCHESTRA PLAYS I'm Faraiq Muhammad, live from L.A. And this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern

and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together. So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's The Culture. Weekdays at 3, only on the Black Star Network. On a next A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie, we're talking all things mental health and how helping others can help you. We all have moments where we have struggles and on this week's show, our guests demonstrate how helping others can also help you. Why you should never stop giving and serving others on a next, a balanced life here on Blackstar Network. Question for you. Are you stuck? Do you feel like you're hitting a wall and it's keeping you from

achieving prosperity? Well, you're not alone. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, you're going to learn what you need to do to become unstuck and unstoppable. The fabulous author, Janine K. Brown, will be with us sharing with you exactly what you need to do to finally achieve the level of financial success you desire through your career. Because when I talk about being bold in the workplaces, I'm talking about that inner boldness that you have to take a risk, to go after what you want, to speak up when others are not. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Black Star Network.

This is Essence Atkins. This is Love King of R.B. Raheem Duvall. This is me, Sherri Shebron, and you know what you watch. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 Folks, welcome back to Roller Martin on the Field Show. As we pay tribute to Clarence Avon, who passed away peacefully at his home yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 92. So many artists came into contact with him. He helped advise, counseled, negotiated deals. One of the folks who sat at his feet, Johnny Gill, of course, solo artist, also chorus, new addition, has been in this game since he was a child.

He joins us right now. Johnny, how you doing my brother? Yes, man, we're hanging in there. Sad day, but hanging in there. Indeed, indeed, indeed. Just share your thoughts, what's on your mind about Clarence Avon. Well, you know, it's so funny because for most people who don't know my story, Clarence is one of those guys we call he could definitely have a rightfully earned the name that saved you because I had a manager who had ended up you know getting incarcerated and Clarence came immediately to my rescue and said

I'm going to take care of you and take a look after you and making sure you're okay. And he took it upon himself to do so and handle my career through, you know, for a number of years with the Red Be The Right Way album and all the other ones that came about. That was all Clarence Abon who was managing me at the time and helped me to navigate through all of that stuff. But he was more than anything. He was like a father figure to me. And I have two pops. One is Pop LaVert and Pop Appearance.

Those are the two that have been influential in my life and have been like father figures to me. And 92 is nothing to sneeze at. But I tell you, you know, it just feels like it's not even enough. And I think if God gave us 92 more, it probably still wouldn't be enough. But he has been and has touched so many people's lives. But I can speak on what he's done for me and how he's continued to help me to grow and understand the business that I've been in for 40 years. It's absolutely been, he's been a part of that. And the reason why I've been able to do that, sustain that, and I'm grateful, forever grateful.

But, you know, I never looked at him as nothing but besides like my dad. And that's what I'm, you know know I'm more so hurt and devastated about but I also understand I know that you know this is this this life that we're going through we're all just passing through this journey so it's just trying to just think about what he taught me and the things that he did and the impact that he made on me and just trying to live through that and then try to keep and like I tell everybody just losing my mom just that and then try to keep and like i tell everybody just losing my mom just recently and then to come back now with this it's like i continue to keep trying to find gratitude look in the gratitude bag and pull something out to be grateful for

through it all and i'm grateful that god brought him my way i'm grateful that he allowed him to be a part of helping to mold and shape me to understand how to survive in this crazy business that we're in for 40 years this year, made 40. So I'm grateful. L.A. Times, they wrote this. Clarence Avant was gruff. He was, by all accounts, foul-mouthed and plain-spoken, but he lived a life that was about opening doors, finding talent,

making connections, striking deals, solving problems and getting people the money they were worth. Yes, he was, and they nailed that one. I tell you, he was not, I mean, he looked after everybody, everyone. And it taught me about giving back and trying to do what I can, passing down the advice and the jewels that we can pass down to those that come behind, that comes after us and what they need to look out for.

Because he didn't have no shame in his game and didn't have, and never will sit down and tell you, I'm going to do this for you and this is how much I want. Never look at you and tell you that. He'll just do it. The thing that I think is, first of all, I got a chance to meet Clarence several times, chat with him,

called him occasionally, is that look, he didn't waste a lot of time on the phone with Niceties. He got right down to it. Yeah. He definitely was what they call a five-mile party mile. Clarence didn't care who

he was. Clarence was the only guy I ever met on this planet that was with all the presidents, Jimmy Carter on down, and the only one in the boardroom. Everybody else got on suit and tie. He got on a sweater and some sneakers like, I could care less. And he never had nothing but that. He just wasn't impressed and didn't care who was who. He was

just Clarence, my papa. When you think about again all the people who he knew, I think that is the key there. You cannot build, you can't do the things that he did if you do

not have the relationships. That is, when you call, they know exactly who's on the line, and they don't put you on hold. Absolutely. You would never put Clarence Avon on hold. He didn't play that, and you knew when he called, if you heard the name or anybody hear that name Clarence calling for you, they knew it was one of two things. Uh-oh, am I in trouble? Or what's happening? Because he was that kind of guy. He was that powerful.

And yet, just a warm, loving guy who also you would welcome to take his call because you knew there was something interesting going to come out of it. Final question for you. What was, how important was it that Clarence Avant did not just affect those in the 60s and 70s and let's say 80s? When you look at who he touched, I mean, literally, I am seeing tributes from Magic Johnson,

T.I., Viola Davis, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg. I mean, older artists, younger artists, Lionel Richie, on and on and on. I mean, so this guy's connect, Jamie Foxx, we can keep going. This guy's connectivity

just spanned multiple generations. That speaks to the respect folks had, but it also speaks to the advice and counsel was still relevant regardless of the generation he's talking to. Absolutely. Everybody has a great level of respect for Mr. Clarence Avon. Everyone. Because Clarence was not, he was one of the no-nonsense guy,

and he knew whatever it was to make sure that it was going to be fair and that you were going to be treated fair or got what you deserve. When he comes and you get him to be a part of and represent and speak on your behalf, you're going to get what you deserve. I can assure you that. I mean, he's always had that reputation. And it was never, like I said, I don't know about any of the others, but I've dealt with him for many years. And Clayton never looked at me and said,

this is what it's going to cost you if I've got to do this for you. He just goes, Johnny, listen, kid, I don't want to see them doing that no i don't want you to do that because we're going to do this and make sure you get this and then you just go i and he would be on top of it and that's how he treated and did that for so many bill withers the list goes on of just people i think even for for our lifetime, the number of people that he impacted and helped, it's going to go on for days, for years, for months, for eons of the people that he's just touched and helped and did favors for. Probably we won't even be able to list them all. Well, that is definitely a life well lived and how it's not just about you.

It truly is about helping others. Johnny, always good to chat with you, my brother. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it, brother. Thanks a lot. Bye. Folks, we're going to do a reset.

We're going to call right now Danny Bakewell, of course, owner of the L.A. Sentinel. I text Jimmy Jam. He said he's going to talk to Jimmy Jam on tomorrow's show as we pay tribute to Clarence Avant. So many others have reached out to us as well. There were folks who, let me read this quick comment here that came from Maxine Waters. She, of course, knew him as well. We're going to try to get her on tomorrow's show.

She said, Clarence Ava was a brilliant pioneer in the music industry. Go to my iPad. Known by all as the Godfather of Black Music, he opened the doors for many black artists and was highly respected for his ability to negotiate contracts and change the way Hollywood dealt with young black talent who needed a foot in the door.

Clarence joins his beloved wife, Jackie Ava, who passed away December 4th, 2001. for his ability to negotiate contracts and change the way Hollywood dealt with young black talent who needed a foot in the door. Clarence Jones' beloved wife, Jackie Avon, who passed away December 1st, 2021. I, along with so many others, are going to miss both Clarence and Jackie so very much. We'll be right back on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. ¶¶

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This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. It's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherry Shepard Talk Show.

This is your boy, Irv Quaid. And you're tuned in to... Roland Martin, unfiltered. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 Always great to talk to folks who knew someone well. Clarence Avant had a number of friends that he knew with 30, 40, 50 plus years. One of those folks is our next guest, Danny Bakewell. He, of course, owns the L.A. Sentinel Institution within itself there in Los Angeles. Danny, glad to have you here on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Just share your thoughts about who Clarence Avant was for folks who don't know. Again, influential figure, always behind the scenes, wasn't always in front of the scenes,

but he clearly had a dramatic impact on so many people's lives. Well, first of all, Brother Roland, thank you so much for having me on. And, you know, you always do such a great job at bringing our icons to the forefront and issues that we need to deal with. But in this particular case, I'm just really, really appreciative of you making such a focal point of Clarence A. Vaughn. He was a remarkable guy in the entertainment industry. But what people don't know

is he was just a remarkable guy, period. He was once the chairman of the Brotherhood Crusade, which is one of our leading black organizations in the country, which I used to head for many, many years, 30 years. But he also was involved with Operate with Push, you know, SCLC. I mean, NAACP, all the things that we are tied to as a community and as a people, Clarence respected them. He was a tremendous advocate of the black press. And I'm just honored to have called him my friend.

I used to meet with him after his wife was tragically killed, I used to meet with him every, at least every month, when his family would feel that he was up to it. And we'd sit around and we'd talk up until a month ago, and I brought him a nice cake. He loved sweets. I said, what kind of dessert do you want? He said, any kind, as long as it's sweet. So, as I said, he was just a guy, a regular guy, who did extraordinary things, and he did those extraordinary things not only for his family, but for black people.

There's nothing that I know Clarence may have ever been involved in that he didn't lead with a mission that black people have to be involved. There's a lot of people in the entertainment industry who want to be like Clarence, but they're not willing to act like Clarence. There you go. Clarence would take a position that you want me to do this, I will do it. But you have to do this for black people, whether it was advertising, whether it was including them in the production of many of these records.

People who would, they might be producing an album, but Clarence would make sure that the camera work and the design of the album came from black people. There you go. I was sitting at his house sometime and he'd say, this is an artist that's going to design the next Bill Withers album. And it was just remarkable to see that. And people loved

him no matter where he was. They respected him for that position. It was a unique position. It was something that they were not accustomed to hear those words come out of black people's mouth. And that was that if you don't include black people, then don't include me. Well, see, that's why I think it's great because he led with blackness and blackness with a capital B.

And you're right. There are so many people who are in significant positions, who sit on boards of directors, who are CEOs, who have major titles. And frankly, they don't do a damn thing for black people, but they benefit from their blackness. And so that's why he has been revered. You know, one of the things in watching that documentary, and I'll be honest, Danny, and I would love to hear if you ever talked about this here,

you know, I'm watching this documentary, The Black Godfather, and I'm saying to myself, how in the world did this man, never had more than ninth grade education, all the deals that he did, the connections and everything, how in the hell this man wasn't a billionaire? Now, I remember that scene of the five white executives sitting there talking about how whatever Clarence said,

we listened to, and I'm sitting there going, hell, he was better than all five of them. And yeah, he was chairman of Motown, but the reality is, you know, let's just be clear. If Clarence Avant was a white man, we'd be talking about him and what did he say? He said, hey, the one thing in life I want to be Bill Gates

or Warren Buffett. That is, you know, a multi-billionaire. That's the kind of brain that he had. No question about it. No question about it. But what I would say about Clarence, first of all, we haven't seen his financial statement. Clarence, as you said, he played behind the scenes a lot. I wouldn't be surprised of what that financial statement said. But the point is, he would have been an extraordinary. He would have led many of the companies that he advised.

Right. Had he been. I don't want to say had he been white. I want to say had they respected black people enough to really put them in charge. He did get to be the chairman of Motown, but again, he was an entrepreneur. You know, he had his own record company. He wasn't interested in working for somebody. He was interested in running his own operation, and he did that, and he did it well. Discovered artists, made sure they made money, he made money. I mean, Clarence lived an exemplary life, and he lived an exemplary life without hiding himself as a Black person. Whenever he came out,

you knew this was a man that stood tall and strong for black people and our advancement and he wasn't shy about it and that's what i loved about it i discovered bill withers uh helped build him and i love the fact uh in the new year uh in the documentary lean on me bill withers said uh that uh lean on me was not his choice for a single. It ended up being his only Billboard number one hit. Who was the one who picked that song? Clarence Avon. He saw something Bill Withers didn't. Clarence told me, Clarence said, man, look,

I didn't care nothing about Lean On Me. When he sang Grandma's Hands for me, I knew I was going to sign that knee roll. Because that was meaningful to me. Because it reminded me every black person could relate to that. So I knew that was going to me because it reminded me every black person could relate to that. So I knew that was going to be a hit. We went on and did great things together. And I mean, you know, look, it was, it was significant that bill was the guy who actually inducted, uh,

Clarence into the, not only to the heart of all the fame, but when he got his star on the Hollywood walk. Yep. Yep. So, I mean, they were friends to the, to the Hall of Fame, but when he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Yep, yep. So, I mean, they were friends to the very end. But Clarence, everybody was Clarence's friend. Everybody wanted to be Clarence's friend. Now, because they wanted to be his friend doesn't mean that they were his friend. Very few people got a real inside glimpse of who Clarence Ava was.

Right. And that's what I'm so proud of, that he was not only, we were not only friendly, we were friends. I mean, and I love him to death. He taught me so many things. And the thing that he taught me is that having wealth is one thing, but how you use your wealth is what's important. If you don't use your wealth for your family and for your people, then it's worthless. So that was my man. Yep.

I will forever love him. God bless his soul. And hats off and love to his family. Truly, truly a remarkable figure. And I really hope, as a remarkable figure. And I really hope that, matter of fact, I was just sitting here looking on Twitter, and there was a white woman who responded to President Barack Obama's tweet. He posted a statement from him and Michelle Obama regarding Clarence Avon, and her response

was, who is Clarence Avon? I saw it and I responded, baby, use Google. But I do hope that people, African-American and non-African-Americans, who are watching or listening to this and who are seeing these stories, would really take the time not only to see that documentary, but look at all of these different comments people are posting. Because I just think that, and look, you know this, I mean, the mantra of the black newspaper, we got it on this mural right here. We wish to

plead our own cause, too long for others spoken for us. There's so many of our stories, so many of our people who folks have no idea about and the immeasurable things that they have done, and frankly, without black media telling that story, folks would not know. Yeah, and he knew that, and he advocated that. Even though they covered him in the Hollywood Report and all those places, never once did Clarence do something that he didn't call and say, Danny, I'm getting ready to do such and such thing. Want to make sure you got the story. Want to make sure you got some advertising. I mean, look, Clarence was the chairman of the board of the Brotherhood Crusade.

He'd show up with a check for $100,000. I said, Clarence, where you got this from? Well, these white folks were doing a movie, and I told them they want me to be involved in it to help promote it. I said, if you don't give the brothers some money, call me out. They just wrote a check. They got a lot of money, Dan. You know?

They don't. I mean, I was like, well, I don't know those folks, so thank you for being my intermediary. There you go. I mean, again, but that's what happens when you lead with blackness and it's not just about you getting a check. You don't apologize for it. You don't hide it. You know, you don't allow anybody to put shade on it, as the young people would say, you know.

He was a great man, and I'm just happy that he was my friend and happy to have been able to know him and to learn from him. And Clarence was not the kind of guy who would sit down and teach you lessons. He would show you by his example what you should do. And he was always extraordinarily successful. I mean, you'd see him talk. He'd be talking to Michael Jackson on the phone. I'd say, Clarence, what are you talking about?

I'm talking to this motherfucker Michael, man. This boy's got a chimpanzee on his lap. What's wrong with him? You know? I want to help him try to do this tour. What the fuck you got a monkey for? Excuse me. I'm sorry.

No, first of all, the guy said the show called Unfiltered. So you good. Yeah, well, that was Clowns. Like that lady who said, who is Clowns? Oh, he's just a nigga in South Central LA who lives in Beverly Hills. I mean, that's the way he was said, who is Grand State Bunny? Oh, he's just a nigga in South Central LA who lives in Beverly Hills. I mean, that's the way he was said, you know? So, I mean, just a wonderful cat, man.

Wonderful cat. Everybody could relate to Cam. Everybody wanted to know him, but he didn't want to know everybody. Ha! Danny Bakewell, I appreciate it, my brother. Thank you so very much. All right, man. Much proud of you, brother. I appreciate it. Doing people's work. Thanks very much. All right, man. Much proud of you, brother. I appreciate it. Keep on doing people's work.

Thanks a bunch. Much love. Bye-bye. Folks, we're going to end with this here. This is from the New York Times. Go to my iPad. The Avant home was always abuzz with A-list visitors. Nicole Avant recalled a day when she was 12 that she and a friend got into trouble at school.

The friend's mother driving Nicole home was fuming until she saw Harry Belafonte walking out of the Avant's house. Is that Harry Belafonte? The woman asked her. I said, yeah. How do she saw Harry Belafonte walking out of the Avon's house. Is that Harry Belafonte? The woman asked her. I said, yeah, how do you know Harry Belafonte? Not realizing he was anyone other than a friend who would come around to visit her parents from time to time. Nicole Avon said that Harry Belafonte and others would gather at the Avon home. It was serious about breaking down racial barriers in the entertainment world and in society in general. They knew that they were on a mission.

That was indeed Clarence Avant. Folks, we'll continue our tribute to him tomorrow. We'll talk with Jimmy Jam, who, of course, is a documentary. If you go watch it on Netflix, Clarence Avant put Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis with Janet Jackson, and that resulted. And, of course, then went in and produced the year of the Grammy Award and leading her to a stellar career as well.

Plus, I talked with Reggie Hutland when The Black Godfather came out in 2019, the American Black Film Festival, and I'll share with you our conversation as well about him producing and directing this documentary. Clarence Avant was an extraordinary figure, and

he will be sorely, sorely missed. And we will continue the tribute tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Don't forget, folks, support us in what we do. Again, stories like this, NBC, CBS, Fox News, MSNBC, CNN. You're not going to see them dedicate more than an hour to this man's life and legacy. We do this to folks who are living and who become ancestors. It's why the black, why black owned media matters.

So your support is critical in what we do. Clarence understood that. Other folks understood that because, again, we wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us. We are continuing that mission and that legacy. And so first and foremost, we want you to download our Blackstar Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. But also your contributions are critically important.

You heard Danny Bakewell tell the story of Clarence showing up with a $100,000 check. Bottom line, folks, we don't have millionaires and billionaires sending us money every single month, not writing us big checks like you see conservative media. But I can guarantee you this. The dollars that we get, we get those contributions that are $50, $25, $20, $10, $5, we're making great use of them doing what is necessary and yes, telling our own story and not asking anybody for permission. You can send your check and money orders to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash App is Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal, R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered.

Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And when you buy a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, understand those proceeds come right back into the show, okay? And that's what we want to pay for. And so you can get this book at Ben Bella Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound,

Bookshop, Chapters, Books A Million, Target. You can also download the audio version on Audible as well. Folks, we'll see you tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network as we continue the paid tribute to Clarence Avon, Dead at the Age of 92. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 This is an iHeart Podcast.