#RolandMartinUnfiltered - RMU: @devon_franklin talks voting & how pop culture & politicians persuade communities & elections

Episode Date: May 30, 2019

#RMU: Award-winning film/TV producer and New York Times best-selling author, Devon Franklin talks voting + How pop culture as well as politicians persuade communities and elections Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you. Welcome to BWOC Vote. I'm Roland Martin, host of Roland Martin Unfiltered. Our whole focus is to engage folks all across this country to get them to understand the power, the impact of voting, and what it means to you and your family. We had some amazing conversations with folks from all walks of life. Joining me right now is someone who gives a totally different perspective as a Hollywood insider, as a pastor,

as somebody who sees the world in a whole different way. Give it up folks for Devon Franklin. What's up? Glad to hear it baby. Good to see you. See you in a hour. Franklin. It's interesting when we talk about Hollywood, faith, and politics. Because we've always had faith involved with politics. But when you think even about our struggle,

when you think about Black Freedom Movement, when you think about the role that Harry Belafonte played and Sidney Poitier and Diane Carroll and James Brown and Dick Gregory, we've always had black folks who were in Hollywood who understood that they were not just on the big or the small screen. That's right.

They were also Ruby Dee, Icy Davis, I can go on and on and on, Paul Robeson. They understood we got to use this thing we got to make change. Absolutely. And the thing about it is, especially now, you know, when the stakes couldn't be higher for where we are as a country, where we are as a culture, when you have the platform in entertainment, I do believe it's important to use it because the same people that will buy the movie ticket or stream the album or go and support the book, they're the same people, those same, they're voting for

what they want to see in entertainment and now to me it's about using the platform to say, hey, it's not just about an entertainment vote, it's about a vote that actually is going to affect the very trajectory of your life. I remember reading a piece where Dr. King said to Sidney Poitier to die in care. No, no, we need y'all doing what y'all do. You are helping the race by what you're doing on that screen. And there were people who were critical of them because they felt they should have been as involved as Harry Belafonte or Dick Gregory. And the reality is, even today, the reality is everybody is not going to be

as active and involved as Kerry Washington or Jeffrey Wright. They're gonna be those people who are gonna be raising money. They're gonna be those people who gonna be raising money maybe those people are who going to be publicly raising money others will be privately raising money but the thing for me is you got to do something yeah yeah no matter what it is and I think that's also one of the challenges is that too often we will look at others and make a judgment on what they should, shouldn't do. I think we all have to operate based on our convictions, right? And that conviction, especially when it comes to being politically active, is going

to take a different shape in each individual relative to who they are, their platform, their background, so on and so forth. But I agree with you that we all, especially in this moment that we're living in, should feel compelled, no matter what our sphere of influence is, is to do something to help make this thing different. Look what just happened with Taylor Swift. Exactly. So here is a young white woman from Tennessee who had, look, I'm not going anywhere near politics, we all good, we love everybody, but all of a sudden she's like, hold up.

The stakes are too high. So she goes and then and what got me was and I will give her credit. She didn't just say, oh, hey, I see all the votes. She said no. She did her homework. She said, I'm looking at this man. Yep. The former governor of Tennessee. I'm looking at Blackburn, who's the owner of the house. And she's like, I'm sorry. Just because she's a woman, she says she's against the things that I stand for, and I vote for this man. And there's a hundred thousand new voters. Just from that. In like a 48-hour period. But here's the thing. How much effort did it really take her to do that? Not much.

It was an Instagram post. Instagram post. So the it that it's really hard it's really not you do the post boom boom your influence will speak for itself so I think what she has done if you look at what Rihanna recently just did this week you know and posting on her social channels about hey you gotta get out and vote I love what we're seeing because it just takes one person like that to say hey before I wasn't gonna get involved now I realize I have to get involved and it becomes a snowball effect see because the thing for me is as I look at you know I look at these massive fouls and you look at you look at these numbers and the thing is it's

like you can forget well can you move the needle no no they can't move the needle that needle can thump moving the needle no no they can't move the needle that needle can thump moving the needle if it just kind of you know it's like that no it's like if it was a VU meter they go boom yeah and so my deal is if you're sitting here spending so much time tweeting and posting about alcohol or about a pair of shoes or whatever you literally are sitting there and you can you know impact change but you just gotta have the courage to actually have some guts and do it that's right and I think sometimes where the fear comes in is you know what's it gonna do to my audience

what's it gonna do to me is it gonna take opportunities away but I think we're living in a time where speaking your truth and not being afraid about that, I think it actually brings more opportunities. And when you look at the stakes, especially from a policy standpoint, and who we put in office affects policy, and policy drives the direction of our culture. I think those of us that are a part of the culture, especially from an entertainment standpoint, we got to get involved we just had to and again I'm not gonna judge somebody for how they choose to do it as long as they do and when I think when we think about again music we know we just lost Aretha Franklin yeah and folks taught telling

the story of when Angela Davis went to prison and they were threatened to send her to prison she said oh black people made me my money, and I'm gonna spend the $250,000 to make sure she don't, to bail her out. And so, and it was sort of like, whoa, whoa. And they were, and her deal, it wasn't where she said, you know, I know all the different factors, I know all different things, but her deal was,

my people made me this money, I got it, and I'm gonna use it. this money i got it and i'm gonna use it right and here's how i'm gonna use it right you know and what was amazing is that what that did is it elevated her profile it elevated who she was so this idea of giving back in service and and being politically active in social justice sometimes we think oh you know i don't want to get involved no the more we get involved, the more people realize we care. What I look at right now, where we stand, you talk about these issues and where we are

in the level of divisiveness. I do believe you have a significant number of people, especially you look at the numbers of young people. I remember the last election, 2016, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, they released their survey where it said, who is excited or folk make, who said, we're actually gonna vote.

60, they polled black folks, 65 plus off the chart. They had the highest number. Literally it went from 65 plus is where they started and as you went from 65 plus to the next group which was like uh 48 65 and then you went from 30 to you know 47 or whatever that bad boy was dropping and the lowest number was 18 to 29. And, and, and I never forget what Jesse Jackson jr. Said once he was, he was in Congress and these young folks came to him and they were like, man, if you don't do this, this, this, we going to vote your ass out office. He said,

this is that what he said. He said, he told him, he said, quote, he said, I don't give a fuck what none of y'all think he said let me explain something y'all so you see that building right there he said see the high-rise that's senior living he said that's who gonna put me in he said I don't give a damn what y'all saying they gonna vote he said I'm gonna go in that building he said, I'm gonna go in that building. He said, and I'm gonna get every vote in that building. He said, now if you want to get my attention, I want you to go get the number of people who are your age to equal them. And he wasn't just like, I'm dissing y'all because his deal is, they was. They will vote.

They're going to turn out right. And the numbers prove it. Roller Mark unfiltered video in just one moment. You want support roller mark unfiltered. Be sure to join our bring the funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show. Only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. As Roland Martin unfiltered support the Roland Martin unfiltered daily digital show by going to rolandmartinunfiltered.com

our goal is to get 20 000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year you can make this possible rolandmartinunfiltered.com now back to your roland martin unfiltered and this kills me when i say i'm sorry if, if you're sitting on, you are now, millennials are the largest group in America. They're now larger than baby boomers. And if you don't use your power, they will run you over. Completely. And I think that's why what we're seeing so much, especially when you look at, you know, who's controlling the country and how the country is being controlled, it is because the powers that be and those that know how the system works

are taking advantage of the system for their own interests. So part of it when it comes to this millennial generation is education. You gotta understand why it's so important, understand what's really at stake. So the things that you're seeing that they may be seeing right now that make you angry, here's how you can affect change.

And what I love is that what you're seeing what's coming out of Parkland, you know, is these younger group, you know, of millennials becoming much more politically savvy, much more politically activated and organized. Right. Organization is key. It's like, you know, an ant by itself can't do anything,

but ants working together, you know, can do things well beyond their own capacity. And I think the same thing goes for this younger generation to become united and activized on what's happening. And what I love what you're seeing right now is that when you look at a Taylor Swift, right, or you look at a Rihanna, or you look at those like a Kerry Washington, this generation, which gets so much inspiration from entertainment, you know, this generation is influenced. I mean, every generation has their influence. But I would argue by and large when you talk about Harry Belafonte or you talk about you know how it was you know in the 60s, 70s

and even 80s there was you know you had the entertainers, you had the church, you had the activists. In our day and time you know the church is somewhat losing its influence. Entertainment influence is growing. The activists are losing their influence. So where do most, you know, this younger generation go? They go to entertainment, you know, and so the influencers entertainment can actually move the needle. And when you see people become active, I love how this younger group of people are saying, wait a minute, we don't like what just happened with Kavanaugh. We're going to do something about it. We don't like the fact that there's no gun control. We're going to do something about it.

And I do think that as tragic as these events are, they are becoming more galvanizing to get this younger group of voters, which is so influential, to get out and do what we know they can do, which is to help move the needle in a massive way. You mentioned the, I don't want to use the word, the waning influence of the church. Yeah, I hear you. And because, because first of all waning influence of the church. Yeah, I hear you. Because because first of all, the influence of the church is still significant. I believe, look, my wife has been ordained for 2526 years. There's so many different preachers who I know. I believe that the problem in terms of the church as it relates to politics and social issues is that the church, this is the first, Pastor Jamal Bryan has said this, this is the first time we've had a movement in black America where the church had to follow somebody else mm-hmm all of our movements mm-hmm was

church-led so now all of a sudden the black church is still like okay I'm not kind of like sure what my place is because they're not used to following they're used to leading and that's why I think it's sort of right now it's out of sort because black church has never been in that position before mm-hmm that's why I think it's sort of right now is out of sort because the black church has never been in that position before. That's a good observation. Yeah, I can see that. But I also think that when you look at the how the culture has been moving. Right. When you go back, you know, and you look at, OK, there was Jesse Jackson. There was Al Sharpton. You know, there were not only just Martin Luther King, you know, but Reverend Alvin Abernathy. There were so many major voices coming

out of the church that it wasn't about growing the church. Right. You know what I mean? It was about the people. It was about the people. It was about our church is the people. Right. Our church is the community. So I can't tell you how many people Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King had at this church. I have no idea. Right. We don't, I have no idea. That is actually, first of all, Ebenezer was an extremely small church. I've been to Montgomery and Dexter Avenue was an absolutely small church. I'm standing in front of it and I'm like, this ain't no big church. It was not a big church. At all, but the mentality of ministry

at that time wasn't like it wasn't like hey i'm trying to build up my block i'm trying to help the community and save the world and i think that too often there's been this mentality shift at times of hey we're building a local church which is fine listen i love the church right i was been raised by the church i'm a part of the church i love it you know and it's one of my favorite things in life. However, I do think some too often coming out of the civil rights movement, you know, and moving into the affirmative action moment. You know, what would happen is we begin to look internal instead of external. So as a result, when we look at culture, maybe you're right. Maybe it's not a waning influence, but maybe that influence is being mitigated a bit because the voices within the community.

Maybe we have to say you know what listen if I got five members or I got 5,000 members at the end of the day what are we doing for the people at large yeah because I think when when you um when you when you talk about so like even though Dr. King uh was at Dexter Avenue even though he later returned uh to Ebenezer, he was actually seen not as the pastor of this church, but the pastor of Black America. So when you begin to look at in terms of those roles, when you look at in terms of how Reverend Jackson continued what Dr. King started with Operation Breadbasket, turning that thing into the Rainbow Coalition and the things that he was doing, he said, no, no, no, I'm going to be operating on a

national and international stage. And it's stunning to me when I see these things take place and I look at individuals who have national religious profiles who say nothing and it's sort of like okay so to your point is it just about your church or the two or three churches or the four churches under your wing. It's like, do you not see yourself as even bigger than that? Do you not see yourself as beyond that? And I think that also is where this thing plays as well. And it's troubling because these are individuals who just like the entertainers, have tremendous influence. Yes, yes.

Without a doubt. Without a doubt. Won't use it. Without a doubt. Won't. No, I don't want to, I don't want to, you know, I don't want to upset Republicans. I don't want to upset Democrats. I don't want to be in this game.

And I'm sitting here going, yeah, you're here to save souls, but those same souls need to be owning homes those same souls are concerned about not being able to get a job those same souls are concerned about whether my kids get an education and so and so that that's just it it I think that's where I also struggle because it's like dog are you gonna say something right right right right right? Right, I know I know I know but I but the thing that I see happening You know because there are you know When you look at the Kavanaugh situation and so many other things playing themselves out in front of the entire world stage At a certain point if you stay silent then that silence will be viewed as being complicit

Yep, in in this day and, given what's going on. It's like, sorry, you know, none of us like to be on either side, right? Because, wait, we're all humans, no matter what we may believe, right? We're all God's children, no matter what side of it we may be on. However, there is a war at stake for our culture, for our community, for the vibrancy and the health of our families. And we do have to roll up our sleeves now and participate and fight. Because if we don't,

lives will be lost as a result. So I'm going to ask you about Paula White. Okay. So here we go. We're going to get woke. So there were some things that she said on Jim Baker's show. And I blasted her.

And that comment I did on Tom Jordan. I did it on my television show. Millions of views. And so she sends me this email. Take it out of context. Oh, my God. I'm out of the country. And I said, Paula, when you get back, we need to sit down and have a conversation.

You need to sit down and explain this. The position that I took is that would nobody know Paula White if it wasn't for black people? That is true. You made your name by being on BET, by preaching at Woman Thou Art Loosed. You just took over Zachary Timms' church. You took over as a black church. You can call it multicultural all you want to, black church. I mean, all that sort of stuff along those lines. And here you are leading Trump's faith-based group and my position is

fine I don't care who you can spoil whoever you want to but you also need to be accountable to the very people who made you you just one moment hey fam I want you to like share and subscribe to our YouTube channel youtube.com forward slash Roland S Martin and don't forget to turn on your notifications back to your Roland Martin I'm gonna submit that when we get done I'm gonna send another email hmm I'm sitting on the text message because my deal is you need to explain to me and the other audience how you call yourself an evangelical leader.

And you're silent when he's out here acting a fool, trashing people in rallies and on social media. But you're standing next to him. Is a conservative Supreme Court justice worth all of that? What do you make as someone who preaches the gospel and you see silence of white conservative evangelicals in what's happening in this society? You know, I think part of what it is is that my observation is that sometimes, you know, especially in the community, that there is this idea that if I'm vocal, right, or if I say something about an issue, instead of saying, hey, we're all part of the body of Christ, the Bible says, you know, it doesn't matter. You know, we're all part of the body, right? But what happens is, unfortunately, in the church, there is that segregated as the culture and the community in the world, in the country used to be. So still in the church, there are dividing lines between, you know, this race is over here or this race is over there. And there certainly is

intermingling. But at the end of the day, sometimes what I've observed is that those on this side of it, you know, sometimes on the white evangelical side, sometimes say, one, I don't wanna get involved because of the cost that may come with that, or two, I'll pray for him, right? And I'm like, okay, there's nothing wrong with praying, but if we're a part of the body, and one part of the body is sick, we don't say, I'm gonna pray for my arm.

No, we're gonna say, no, I gotta go to the doctor, right? Because if the arm is sick and I lose my arm, I'm not gonna be able to function. So sometimes I got to go to the doctor, right? Because if the arm is sick and I lose my arm, I'm not going to be able to function. So sometimes I think that the power in this country is sometimes put over the power of God. So that sometimes having power in the country is what's number one. And then, you know, the power of God is number two. Because truly, I think if we all were seeking God's power, at end of the day if we saw our brother or sister hurting if we saw our communities you know being disparaged as Christians no matter what our race is or part of

the religious sphere we would be on that would be our heart our heart says you know Jesus says if you did this to the least of me these you've done this to me so sometimes I see you know the dividing line between those of color in in the Christian space and those you know of those of color in the Christian space and those, you know, not of color in the Christian space. And there being a little bit of apathy, a little bit of fear. And also I think there is and this may sound ridiculous, but I think part of, there are a lot of people not of color who do not still understand the people of color experience in this country. Right. And so part of what it is is education.

You know, what I would love to see is to bring together, you know, those from the white evangelical community, you know, those in African-American, you know, evangelical community, Latino and have a summit. Let's talk. They won't do it. Let's come together. Let's talk about this. They won't do it. Let's come together. They won't do it. First of all, Bishop Harry Jackson sort of did this. They had one at Bishop Jake's church, and they had a couple more meetings in Virginia.

So he's been trying to do that. But Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, he, along with Jim Ballas and others, they've issued a challenge to Jerry Falwell jr. to Robert Jeffers to Ralph Reed the Tony Perkins to Paula White and others they won't accept the invitation let's see again that's where for me I've got to question and or challenge your faith. Because if your position, if you're Jerry Falwell Jr. And you're leading Liberty University, you're always talking about Jesus and God.

Why are you scared to sit across from the table from somebody with a different view? I don't know how show me how that's leadership when dr barber and others they've got a rally in lynchburg and you have the lynchburg you know you have the liberty university police department send a statement if y'all step foot on this campus you will get arrested But You're a Christian leader That is a problem for me And it really behooves to me when I see those type of things

It just makes me more galvanized you know as a man of faith to put a different Perception and reality of what it means to be of faith in the culture in the community because that really is not what it means to be Christian at all you know what it means to be Christian is hey I may not agree with you you may not agree with me but as brothers we can insist we can come together we can have conversation we can have a public and private discourse yeah you know but to to fear that or to work against that, to me, I just don't, I don't, I don't know how someone could take that stance. I don't know.

So my thing is like, yo, here's what I'm gonna do. Here's how I'm going to do it and work every single day to put a different understanding of what it means to be of faith in the world today. When a group of black pastors met with Donald Trump at the White House, it was supposedly about criminal justice reform. But in Trump's opening statement, he mentioned about 10, 12 different issues. One pastor in the meeting talked about how Trump has done more for black people than Obama ever did.

And I listened to all the different pastors as they went around that particular table. And what I wrote a column after is what I said. What did you say? And I said, when you go to the White House, are you enamored with getting the invitation? Or do you bring your prophetic with you? The prophetic has to always supersede the

partisan. I said you can go through the Bible and when individuals messed up the prophets let them know you messed up. The prophets were not afraid of the king they were not afraid of David they were not afraid of any of them and that and that's what offended me that here you are you are a a preacher you are a pastor you are you are speaking and teaching the gospel and you're sitting there with the president and not one had the courage to say look I appreciate the invitation I appreciate coming here to talk about criminal justice reform but mr. president I need to share something with you you need to act like the president you see I but not oh I'm just so glad to be here you're just wonderful you're just what you've done to the country no the prophetic would say I appreciate being here but I gotta speak some truth while I'm here and there's some things that you need to hear from a

pastor now whether you want to reject it or ignore it, that's fine. But somebody at that table got to say it. That was the issue that I took with all those pastors. Not one had the guts to say, Mr. President, character matters. How you behave matters. And how you behave is wrong. And we're going to pray for you. We're going to pray for there's a change in your behavior.

Not one. That was the issue that I took. Wow. Wow. Wow. And I think by not saying that, it speaks to young people. And they were like, that's why I ain't going to church. Because you don't have the courage to say what should be said.

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You know, when Jesus sent out the 12, he said, be wise as a serpent, be harmless as a dove. And in moments like that, you know, you know, it's like when you're dealing with politics and you're dealing with different people who have different agendas, part of it is sometimes before you even get in the room or before you're going to meet with somebody, you got to do your prep. You got to say, okay, this person is working an agenda. They have a certain degree of power. They have constituents, whatever it may be. Right. Let, let, let me do my prep before I get in the room so that I'm prepared to handle it. Because when you're going to someone else's turf, they control the environment. Right. So that is one of the biggest turfs in the world.

Oh, yeah. So part of it is like, okay, I'm being invited to whatever the situation may be. I'm being invited. Okay, let me spend some time. Let me get my team together. Let me get my talking points together. Let me get some strategy in place so that when I'm in the room I've prepared myself to maneuver and to handle and to respond to certain situations and I'm sitting there going

The cameras are rolling. He's 12 15 people in here if I'm number 13 14 15 But a time they come to me. I should have figured out something to say that, well, I've been sitting and listening to what all the other fools had to say. Did nobody give any challenge to him? And those cameras are there. And this is about to be broadcast all over the world. I better send a signal to my members that I'm willing to say what needs to be said sitting at the table. And that's why a lot of them got criticized when they came back Because it wasn't that you went to the meeting it was that you didn't say nothing. Mm-hmm, right? It's not about the table

It's like hey, you know what you had access cool, you know, but I think also again, it's about it's like And some friends of mine were there and you know, look I love him dearly Hey, you know and the situation happened and you know, we move on but But the thing I thought was, I thought would have been handled differently was this. Again, I wasn't invited, so I don't know if what I'm getting ready to say is fact. It's what I've heard. That there was, the invitation sent out, like, hey, here's what we're going to do. Right. We're going to talk about this, but there won't be any questions.

Right. To me, that's the first sign. Right there. I ain't going. No, I don't mind going. I don't mind having a conversation, but I can't ask. If I can't ask anything, it's not a real dialogue. You know, it's just not real dialogue because a real dialogue requires questions and answers and responses because we're here seeking a response for how we can bring light to this particular issue. So to me, that might have been the first red flag, if in fact that is true. No, no, no. First of all, it is true because

there was a pastor who was invited who called me for counsel. And I said, hell no, don't walk in that room. Because again, if I can't, look, I've been invited three times with the television anchors to sit the luncheon with Donald Trump and it's all through a conversation and we get to ask questions if you told me I was invited to an event at the White House and I didn't get to ask questions and all he gonna do is sit there and talk I'm not going no I need to be able to sit here and what I'm gonna walk out and describe his demeanor would look like how like, how did he eat his salad? It's not a conversation.

No. It's a lecture. It's not a conversation. It's like how, you know, for a lecture, I can watch that on TV. But if there's a real opportunity for dialogue, for questions, to get answers, to understand, to also provoke thought, to say, hey, what about this? Why is this?

To me, that would be positive and potentially productive discourse. And I do think the positive thing that I think came out of that, going back to our part of the conversation about the influence of the black church, or the church in general, it shows the church has a voice, has a voice. But what are we doing right how you and how are we using it you know because some some of the ministers again some of my friends that were in the room you know I do believe their intention was sincere they weren't there you know just as just to be on the stage be there for the photo yes yes yes completely their intention was good but I think that sometimes again the forces

that work against the positive things that we're trying to do, if we are not prepared, we are not unified. Those forces can disrupt even the best intentions. If you ain't ready for the big stage, don't go on the big stage. If it's entertainment, if you if you if you ain't got enough hits to sing on the essence main stage, go on to the Super Lounge. Get ready. That's right. Prepare yourself.

That bitch is fine. Right. But that main stage is a whole different ballgame. Yes. That's a beast. Yes. And I think that also was one of the cases. What would you say to a young person who says, look, I'm trying to change our society.

I'm trying to change this world. Man, I ain't got time for this church stuff. I just don't think y'all legit. Oh, man. I would say just because you see an artist in music that you don't like, you stop listening to hip-hop no it's like ridiculous you see one artist do something that that does that is is what their choice was has nothing to do with the whole industry or the whole art form of hip-hop you don't throw out hip-hop so the same way if you see an artist

that you don't like do that I would ask you don't do the same thing with the church because just because you see one minister, one man or woman do something that you don't agree with, don't use that as an excuse to demonize an institution that could actually help save your life. You know, I am who I am because I was raised in the church. You know, all the things that I'm able to do in the world are directly related to being brought up in a healthy church environment where I learned how to develop my gifts. I learned healthy church environment where I learned how to develop my gifts. I learned how to communicate. I learned how to deal with other people. I learned how to lead. All of those things that help me and other people become successful in society, you can learn

in the church. So I would say to somebody that's young, I would challenge them. Everything that's in you, if you're trying to get it out, get into a good church because that church will be a fantastic incubator for all the gifts that are in you. And when you find the right church, you will find that the others that you may have been looking at were the wrong people to look at. In any profession, I don't care what it is, you're always going to find people that you can point out that may not represent that profession to the best of their ability. But when you find that do then you begin to see what it really is about so I would encourage that young person you know don't give up on God don't give up on your relationship with with the Lord don't don't say oh you know Jesus is this is

that no trying for yourself and be persistent find the right environment that works for you and I guarantee you that that you would see that environment to be transformative that's what I would say our last test so you run up against that person somebody else they can be young middle age or whatever and they say the bar here you but bro I got time for this building stuff it's just not it's just I don't think it's worthwhile. And all you got is 37. You and Megan may be trying to get the car. I might be trying to get sell on an airplane. You may be trying. And all you got is 30 seconds. What do you tell them in 30 seconds? Why they need to vote? Go.

I would say in 30 seconds you need to vote because at the end of the day, when you look at the quality of your life, when you look at the things you want to see happen, not just for yourself, but for your children and your children's children. If they do not happen because you chose not to exercise your vote, do you have the courage to look in their eyes and say I didn't have enough time sorry you don't have health care sorry you don't have a living wage sorry you don't have the money to go to school because I chose not to vote and if the answer is you cannot look in their eyes and I ask you the question how can you not vote Thank you. Thank you. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game.

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

I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

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

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

or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast.