#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Roland On The Road in NC Talking 2024 Elections, VP Harris Mich. Tour,AR Early Voting Sites Approved

Episode Date: October 19, 2024

10.18.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Roland On The Road in NC Talking 2024 Elections, VP Harris Mich. Tour,AR Early Voting Sites Approved LIVE in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on the campus of Fayetteville State University.  We'll discuss the upcoming election with some students, local activists, and lawmakers.  Here's what's coming Up on Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. Vice President Kamala Harris is campaigning across Michigan, making stops in Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Oakland County to talk to union members. We'll show you some of what she said.  You know that Project 2025 that the convicted felon says he has nothing to do with? Well, he told millions of folks he would dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, one of the proposals in the 922-page handbook.  The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that West Memphis must have two early vote sites just in time for early voting that starts on Monday.  And I'll talk to two tow leaders of Red, Wine, and Blue about their efforts to get suburban women to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.  Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox  http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to ascenseofhome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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

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

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you. Hey, folks, Roland Martin here. I am actually live in Fayetteville. Hey, guys, kill the music, please. Kill the music. Thank you very much. I'm live here in Fayetteville, North Carolina. So the plan was to be live off the top of the show from Fayetteville State University.

But President, former President Bill Clinton, literally, he literally, he just arrived here. We're at the Cumberland County Democratic Office. So I came by to say hello to him and greet him. And so, as you see, he's speaking right now. And so this here is the head of the Cumberland County Democratic Party. He's supposed to be talking to me over at Fairville State. That's right. But y'all got the former president to stop by here.

That's correct. So talk about, again, what it's meant for him to be here rallying the folks for the second day of early voting. I mean, this is indescribable as far as it's important for him to be here rallying the folks on the second day of early voting? I mean, this is indescribable as far as its importance for him to be here right now. I mean, we need to keep the gas going here to get our folks to the polls as early as possible. We know by history Democrats vote early. Having him here helps to mobilize, helps to energize, helps to keep the fire going, especially our volunteers who are working around the clock. Keep them refueled with the burn to get out there and work and get our folks to the post.

All right, so we're going to talk more at Fedville State. So I just wanted to go, so I'll see you there in a second. I just wanted to go live with you all here. And so, again, I'm going to flip the camera here if I can. So, as you can, let me zoom in. So, as you can see, former President Bill Clinton, he's addressing the crowd here at the Cumberland County Democratic Party headquarters. And so what I'm going to do now is so I'm going to actually hop in the car, drive over to Fayetteville State so we can go live there.

I just want to give you all a sense of what was happening here. So, like I say, he's speaking right now. And so here's what we're going to do. Earlier today, Vice President Kamala Harris was in Wisconsin. We're going to toss to her rally in Wisconsin. So I can hop. Sorry, she was in Michigan. My apologies.

She was in Wisconsin yesterday. And so I'm going to hop into the car so I can race over to Fayetteville State. So I'll be live there in about 20 minutes. And so y'all will see the VP's rally. And again, it's great to see former President Bill Clinton here in Fayetteville, North Carolina. So let's toss to the rally. And I'll see y'all in a moment at Fayetteville State University. So let me first thank all of you for taking time out of your very busy lives for us to all be here together this afternoon. I thank you so very much for all you do, all you have

done, and all you will do over these next 18 days. Thank you all so very much. Thank you. This is an incredible group of incredible leaders, and your voice matters so much right now. And I think there is so much about our campaign that is about the spirit of reminding everyone that we're all in this together. We are all in this together. So thank you. And to all the governors who are here with us today. I'm telling you, they're riding thick. They're riding thick.

Oh, and they are all each one of the such incredible leaders, both for their state and our nation and such dear friends. And I thank you all, including, including of course Michigan's own Governor Whitmer who we love as Big Grinch and to the governors I want to say you've been traveling the country for our campaign and I'm so deeply grateful for your support. I also want to recognize Senator Stabenow, a champion for Michigan. Representative Scholten, who we will re-elect to the United States Congress. And while we're at it, let's send Representative Slotkin to the United States Senate. All right, so we got work to do.

18 days. 18 days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime. And as you know, everyone here knows, this election is truly about two very different visions for our nation. Ours that is focused on the future. Donald Trump's that is focused on the past. Ours that is focused on bringing down the cost of living for working families, investing in small businesses and entrepreneurs, ours that is about protecting reproductive freedom. But none of that is what we hear from Donald Trump. Instead, it is just the same old tired playbook.

He has no plan for how he would address the needs of the American people. And he is, as we have seen, only focused on himself. And now he is ducking debates and canceling interviews. Come on. And check this out his own campaign team recently said it is because of exhaustion well if you are exhausted on the campaign trail it raises real questions about whether you are fit for the toughest job in the world come on come on there's real questions about whether you are fit for the toughest job in the world. Come on. Come on.

So for all these reasons and more, we are here because we know it is time to turn the page. It is time to turn the page because America is ready to chart a new way forward. America is ready for a new and optimistic generation of leadership. That is all of us. All of us. Which is why Democrats, Republicans and independents are supporting our campaign. In fact, earlier this week, over 100 Republican leaders from across the country joined me on the campaign trail, including some who even served in Donald Trump's own administration. The people who know him best, right? And I believe all of this shows that the American people want a president

who works for all the people. And that has been the story of my entire career. In my career, I've only ever had one client, the people. The people. As a young courtroom prosecutor I protected women and children. As Attorney General of California I fought for students and veterans. As Vice President I have stood up for workers and seniors and as President I will stand up for all Americans.

All Americans. And together, we will build a brighter future for our nation. Yes, we will. Because, by the way, we will win. We will win. We will win. We will win. Come on. We will win.

We will win. Yes, we will. We will win. We will win. And we will win. And one of the reasons that we know we are working hard toward that win is because we believe together in building a future in what we can do together as a nation and a nation of people who see what we have in common more than what separates us. We will build towards a future where we have an economy that works for all Americans. We will build what I call an opportunity economy so that every American has an opportunity to own a home, buy a car, build wealth, and start a business.

In fact, do we have any small business owners here? I love our small businesses. I got a plan for you. I love our small businesses. Our small businesses are part of the backbone of America's economy. Bless you all for the work you are doing. So under my plan, we will also bring down the cost of housing and we will help entrepreneurs start and grow small businesses. My plan will expand Medicare to cover the cost of home health

care for our seniors so that more of our seniors can live with dignity. And, you know, I'll just give you a little background in terms of a personal story. So I took care of my mother when she was sick. And for any of you who have taken care of an elder relative, you know. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser

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

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

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves music stars marcus king john osborne from brothers osborne we have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man benny the butcher brent smith from shine down got be real from cypress hill nhl enforcer riley cote marine corvette mma fighter liz caramouch what we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. 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. Hey, Drew Scott here,

letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an organization just days into the la fires they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires please get involved sign up to volunteer donate furniture or even donate funds you can go to a sense of home.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. What that is, right?

It's about trying to cook something that they can eat. It's about trying to find clothes that they can handle on their skin. It's about trying from time to time to think about something that'll put a smile on their face or maybe just make them laugh. It's about dignity. But under the current system, and especially for those in the sandwich generation who are

raising young kids while you're taking care of your parents, it's difficult. And under the current system, to get help for taking care of your seniors, unless you got the extra money sitting around, you'd have to leave your job or pay down all of your savings to qualify for Medicaid. That's not right. That's not right. So my plan is about saying let's have Medicare cover the cost of home health care for our seniors, which is a matter of understanding how real people are living and understanding the importance of everyone being entitled to dignity. Our plan in terms of an opportunity economy will lower costs on everything from health care to groceries.

I'll take on corporate price gouging because I've done it before and I will do it again. My plan will also give middle class tax cuts to 100 million Americans, including $6,000 tax credit for the first year of a child's life so that our young parents can do what they naturally want to do, which is parent their children well, but they don't always have the resources to be able to do it. So let's help them out so that they can buy a car seat, so that they can buy a car seat, so that they can buy a crib, so that they can take care of that baby's needs during that critical phase of their development.

We all benefit from it. We all benefit from it. Dignity. My plan also invests in American manufacturing and innovation because I will make sure America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century. That's right. That's right. USA! USA! That's right. USA! USA! USA!

And so, to that point, and we will invest in the industries that built America, like steel, iron, and the great American auto industry. And we will ensure that the next generation of breakthroughs from advanced batteries to electric vehicles are not just invented, but built right here in America by American union workers. And Michigan, I know I'm going to tell you what you already know, but let us be clear for folks who are watching from different parts of the country. Contrary to what my opponent is suggesting, I will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive, but here is what I will do. I will invest in manufacturing communities like Kent County. Together, we will

retool existing factories, hire locally, and work with unions to create good-paying jobs, including jobs that do not require a college degree, because here's where I come from. I know a college degree is not the only measure of the skills and experience of a qualified worker. And I intend to re-examine federal jobs, when you all elect me president, to assess those jobs that should not have that requirement. And then I intend to challenge the private sector to do the same. Now, all of this is to say, Donald Trump has a different approach.

He makes big promises, and he always fails to deliver. So, remember he said he was the only one, you know how he talks, he, the only one who could bring back America's manufacturing jobs.

Then, America lost almost 200,000 manufacturing jobs when he was president. Facts. Including tens of thousands of jobs when he was president. Facts. Including tens of thousands of jobs right here in Michigan. And those losses started before the pandemic. Making Donald Trump one of the biggest losers

of manufacturing jobs in American history. And his track record for the auto industry was a disaster. He promised workers in Warren that the auto industry would, and I'm going to quote, not lose one plant during his presidency. Those were his words, not one plant. Then American automakers announced the closure of six auto plants when he was president, including General Motors in Warren and Stellantis in Detroit. Thousands of Michigan autoworkers lost their jobs. And Donald Trump's running mate recently suggested that if they win, they would threaten the Grand River Assembly plant in Lansing. OK.

The same plant our administration protected earlier this year, saving 650 union jobs. 650 union jobs. 650 union jobs. His running mate called those table scraps. So we fought hard for those jobs, and we believe that you deserve a president who will protect them and not insult them. And make no mistake, Donald Trump is no friend of labor. Let's be really clear about that. No matter what the noise is out there, he is no friend of labor. Just look at the record. Instead of his rhetoric, look at the record and let's not fall for the okey-doke.

Seriously, he encouraged automakers to move their plants out of Michigan so they could pay their workers less. Understand what that was about. So they could pay their workers less. And when the UAW went on strike to demand the higher wages they deserved, Donald Trump went to a non-union shop and attacked the UAW. And he said, he said, striking and collective bargaining don't make, quote, a damn bit of sense a damn bit of difference is what he said exactly that it doesn't make a quote pardon my language a damn bit of difference is what he said all right brother so michigan you better. Strong unions mean higher wages, better health care, and greater dignity for union members and for everyone, whether or not you are part of a union.

Get that straight. Get that straight. Which is why when I am president, I will sign the PRO Act into law and make it easier for workers to join a union and negotiate for better pay and working conditions. And now Donald Trump is making the same empty promises to the people of Michigan. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg 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 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. foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the LA fires, they moved mountains to

launch a new emergency relief program providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to asenseofhome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. That he did before, hoping, hoping you will forget how he let you down the last time. But we will not be fooled because we know how to read Project 2025. For those who haven't seen it, just Google it. You know, I just have to keep repeating. I can't believe they put that thing in writing.

I cannot believe they put it in writing. They bound it. They published it and they handed it out. And now they're trying to run from it? Come on. And so we've read it. It's a detailed and dangerous blueprint for what Donald Trump intends to do if he were elected president. So that's why we know, not only because it's what he did before,

that's why we know Donald Trump will give billionaires and corporations massive tax cuts, attack unions, cut Social Security and Medicare, get rid of that hard-won $35 cap on insulin for our seniors. Check out what's in it. It will make it easier for companies to deny overtime pay for workers. And impose what I call a Trump sales tax, which is basically, he's talking about at least a 20% tax on everyday necessities, which economists have measured will cost the average family nearly $4,000 more a year. And on top of this, Donald Trump intends to end the Affordable Care Act, okay, and has no plan

to replace it. You watch the debate. So you remember, he has, quote, concepts of a plan. Concepts of a plan. So he's going to threaten he's going to threaten the health insurance of 45. We need a medic over here. We need a medic over here. Let's clear a path so they can come through, please. Don't forget he's out on bail. And we got jokes over here grounded in reality.

We okay? Okay. We're okay. Thank you all. So. We're good. Okay. So, you know, where I was going with that is, many of you may have heard me say, I do believe that Donald Trump is an unserious man. And the consequences of him ever getting back into the White House are brutally serious.

Brutally serious. So on that point about concepts of a plan, it's funny. We thought it was ridiculously hilarious when we first heard it. But here's the thing about that. He is basically going to threaten the health insurance of 45 million people based on a concept. And take us back to when insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions. You remember what that was like? Well, we are not going back.

We are not going back. We're not going back. We are not going back. We're not going back. We are not going back. We're not going back. We are not going back. We're not going back. And we are not going back because we intend to move forward. Because ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom. Like the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do. And we here remember how we got to this place because then President Donald Trump hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe

v. Wade and they did as he intended. And now in America, one in three women lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban. Many of these with no exception, even for rape and incest, which means you're telling a survivor of a violation to their body that they don't have a right to make a decision about what happens to their body next?

That's immoral. That's immoral. And I think we all know one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do. Not the government should not be telling her what to do. Not the government. If she chooses, she will talk to her priest, her pastor, her rabbi, her imam. But not the government. Not some people up in a state capitol. Not Donald Trump.

No. So let me tell you, when Congress passes a bill to restore the reproductive freedoms nationwide, with your help as President of the United States, I will

proudly sign it into law. Proudly. Proudly. Proudly. proudly proudly proudly and across our nation we are witnessing a full on assault on other hard fought hard won

freedoms and rights fundamental freedoms and rights I'm traveling our country I mean attacks on the freedom to vote. You know, in the state of Georgia, they passed a law that makes it illegal to give people food and water for standing in line to vote. You know, the hypocrisy abounds.

What happened to love thy neighbor, right? Attacks on the freedom to join a union, attacks on the freedom to be safe from gun violence, attacks on the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride. So much is on the line in this election, and you all are spending your precious time here together because we know this is not 2016 or 2020. The stakes are even higher this time for many reasons, including

because just months ago, the United States Supreme Court basically told the former president, he is effectively immune no matter what he does in the White House. Right. Because we know, just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails. Just imagine he who has vowed he would be a dictator on day one. He who calls Americans who disagree with him the enemy from within. You know where that language comes from? The enemy from within talking about Americans. He who says he would use the military to go after them, American citizens. He who has called for the, quote, termination of the Constitution of the United States should never again have the privilege of standing behind the seal of the president of the United States. Never again. Never again. Never again.

Never again. Never again. Never again. Never again. So, Michigan, it all comes down to this. We know why we're here together. We know what's at stake. And we are here together for one of the most important of all the reasons.

We are here together because we love our country. We love our country. We love our country and we know that it is one of the highest forms of an expression of love of our country, of patriotism, to then fight for our ideals, to fight to realize the promise of America. That's what our campaign is about. And election day is in 18 short days. Okay? And here in Michigan, early voting starts on Saturday, October 26th, which is one week from tomorrow.

So now is the time to make your plan to vote. Make a plan. Make a plan. And if you have received your ballot in the mail, please do not wait. Fill it out and return it today. Because folks, the election is here.

The election is here right now. And like I know everybody here knows to do, we've got to energize and organize and mobilize and remind our neighbors and our friends that their vote is their voice. And your voice is your power. In a democracy, while we can hold on to it, our vote is the power that each of us as an individual has. It's an extraordinary power. And we will not give it away. And we will not let anyone suppress or silence our power. Don't ever let anybody take your power from you. So, Michigan, today I ask you then, are you ready to make your voices heard? Yes! Do we believe in freedom?

Yes! Do we believe in freedom? Yes! Do we believe in opportunity? Yes! Do we believe in the promise of America? Yes! And are we ready to fight for it? Yes! And when we fight, we win!

God bless you and God bless the United States of America. Okay, three. All right, folks, that was Vice President Kamala Harris earlier today in Michigan. As you can see, I made it. And so, thank goodness she went a little long in that speech. So we're at the campus of Fayetteville State University. Glad to be back. I was here a long time ago debating Michael Steele. Jesus, how long ago was that? That was like 2009? 2008? Man, that was 16 years ago.

So glad to be back on campus. A lot's going on. My frat brother, Reverend Dr. William Barber, he is with the folks at NCCU. They had a news conference earlier. We're going to go to him in a second. We've got a panel here. So we kicked things off on Wednesday with the Elizabeth City State University Band. So let's go ahead and get it with Epsilon Zeta, the Alpha chapter here at Fayetteville State. They're going to get us started with a little stepping. And so, see, I told you I would do things a little bit different on the roller market.

I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley

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

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

Hey, Drew Scott here, letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the LA fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program, providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything

in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to asenseofhome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. We are the partners of the

LA! We are the partners of the LA! We are the partners of the LA! P-H brothers of the A.L.V.H.A. P.H.I. We're the high school brothers of Alpha Phi. Human around since 1906. And ever since then we've been stepping like this.

Ice. We go. Ice. all right gentlemen appreciate it thank you so very much and so with that let's just make a transition to my alpha brother reverend dr william barber of course, co-convener of Paris of the Breach. He is at North Carolina Central University. Reverend Barber, you there? Hey, my brother Roland, how you doing, man? Hey, my brother Roland, how you doing? I'm doing great. So you're there at NCCU.

Y'all had a news conference earlier. You're there with a bunch of students as well. Go right ahead. Yes, sir. Well, look, I understand you down in Fayetteville State. We're here at North Carolina Central University. They had over a thousand students during early voting today and they wanted to talk to Roland. I got the sister. What's your name, sister?

Selects the Sanders. Selects the Sanders. This sister organized this entire thing. We got the precinct president right here, precinct on the campus. Look at the line behind us. People are still in line right now, rolling. They're following your lead, your call for HBCUs to march to the polls. The president of the university was here with them marching, the president, student government.

They got the frats, they got all of them, the sororities. They even got me, find me. Well, it don't matter, people are here. And I want this youngster, man, you know how you do. You taught me, we give it up to the young folk because we know in this state the last election only turned by 74,000 voters there are about 100,000 students just on hbcu campuses alone and over a million poor low age folk that didn't vote and we turn out we turn up and things change but i want this sister to tell you why she organized on the first day of early voting and gonna continue

talk to him so she's from salisbury north carolina step on in the mic talk to roe go ahead okay your voice matters it always matters please advocate for yourself not only yourself your family your peers and your community i challenge you to please vote during early voting. Vote period. Really. We have same-day registration. Just please, make sure your voice is heard. And then we got the precinct chair rolling. Hey, how you all

doing? How did y'all Hold on one second. Hold on one second. How did y'all go about Hold on. Hold on. How did y'all go about organizing and mobilizing to get the thousand folks out today? Walk me through that. What was your strategy? How'd you do it?

He wants to hear how you did it. Talk to him about what you did. I cannot lie. It was very stressful. But I've been registering students since the summer. That's right. I started out last year as a sophomore as the assistant director, and I am the director for NCCUSGA Political Action and Community Engagement.

What kind of steps did you take? What did you do? Did you go to dorm doors? Did you knock on doors? Tell them what you did. We've registered students since the summer. We came back to school and registered students. Got them to keep their faces up, not harass them.

But we made sure that students were registered here in Durham to vote at this precinct so that it don't get closed down. So that vote, their voices can be heard. We also had very many voter initiatives like Civic View, Civic in Color, where we spoke on a panel about their experience with voting so they can speak to students as well. Well, let me ask you a question. They don't even have to be registered to come to this poll. You all March students here today, and 70% of them weren't even registered.

They registered and voted today. They registered and voted today. This is a precinct, Roland, that we fought for in 1984 when you were pushing Jesse Jackson and I was pushing Jesse. We fought to get this precinct on campus and all across. These young folk today have taken it to another level. They marched the folk here, and they were able to register and vote on the same day.

Am I right about it? Eagle pride. Eagle pride. All right, so I know we got all the alphas here, but I'm going to go into that capital. Say what now? Oh, yeah. The capital got to talk. But I'm going to go.

Go ahead. Go ahead. Let him say a few words. Talk about the capital. It's good to see you, brother. Mine is good to have everyone here today. What we're doing today is about voting, because when we vote early, that's where we're able to finish this race, too. Because early voting starts yesterday, but we had so many people come out today.

We had thousands of students. And as you see the line in the back, and that's due to the efforts of not just Selexis, but also other people that came and organized. Because what we see is when we have community organization coming together, that's how we can build a better block, a better community, because it starts today. It's about doing the work. And as you've seen, we've done this work previously, starting from over the summer, getting people registered to vote,

and then also educated. Because when you're educated, you're able to understand the miseducation that's out there. Don't go to the shade room. No, come and watch what's going on in the media. Come and see what's on the newspaper. Educate yourself so you understand what matters to you, so you understand what's on

the ballot, and vote for what matters to you because those are the policies, those are the people you want to represent you. So what we're doing is showing up, showing out, and we understand that our voices must be heard because there is power, and when there's power there is people. Always power to the people.

And Rola, because there is power. And when there's power, there is people. Always power to the people. All right. Yes. And Roland, is the precinct. I want the folk to hear this. They have a precinct on the campus and he's the precinct chair as a student. And that's understanding

how to organize. You didn't let somebody come on the campus and become the precinct chair. The students here took their own precinct and they hold all the offices. Wow. Wow. That's what I'm talking about. And Reverend Barber, as you said,

we always talk about the numbers are there. If we vote with our numbers, we can completely sweep elections across this state and across this country, and definitely across the South. That's right. I want folks to hear that it's not a hard lift. The last one, Obama won here with 14,000 votes. 74,000 votes was the margin of victory in the presidential election. There are nine HBCUs in North Carolina, more than any other place in the country.

There are over 100,000 students connected to those HBCUs alone. There are over 100,000 students connected to those ACCUs alone. There are over a million poor and low-wage voters that did not vote. Number one reason they didn't vote, nobody talked to them. So if we talk to people, if we go to people, if we move in our power, we can far out distance the margin of victory

that's ever, that happened in the last few elections. I'm telling you, this is a moment, Roland, where the very stones that the bill has rejected can be the chief cornerstones in building a brand new democracy. Indeed. Reverend Barber, we appreciate you joining us. Let's also thank those students from NCCU.

Great job, and we certainly appreciate all your hard work. Thank you, my friend, Roland. Thank you for coming to North Carolina and being in Elizabeth City And Fayetteville State And here at Central And everywhere you go

We love you man And to all of Roland's family Every HBCU Let's march it Let's march it Let's march it to the pole Let's march it to the pole Let's march it to the pole

Eagle Pride Eagle Pride Eagle Pride. Eagle Pride. Eagle Pride. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Let me introduce my panel, my virtual panel, Michael Imhotep, host, African History Network show. Joins us out of Detroit, Matt Manning, civil rights attorney. Joining us out of Corpus Christi.

Kelly Bethea, communications strategist. Joining us out of D.C. Joining me on the panel here at Fairville State. We have Derek Montgomery. He is the chair of the Cumberland County Democratic Party. Kia Anthony, mayor of Spring Lake, North Carolina. And also Camila McKellar, who is a Smith Education Advocate. Glad to have three of you here. I'm going to start, though, with you, Kelly. You graduated from Bowie State. You heard what Reverend Barber said there, and we talk about this all the time. If black folk use our capacity, our

HBCUs, our D9, Prince Hall Mason, Eastern Star, all these organizations we have, but if they organize and mobilize, we can actually have victory as opposed to complaining about other folk winning. Absolutely. And what I love about culture as a whole is that we truly are family oriented. So to me, when I was an undergrad, it felt somewhat easier to approach my classmates and my colleagues and even faculty when it comes to voter outreach or any type of outreach I was doing on campus because it felt like I was going to an

uncle. It felt like I was going to a brother, a sister, a cousin, a mother figure, etc. And when you are in that kind of environment, it makes it easier to convince, it makes it easier to mobilize, and it makes it easier to promote and encourage and persuade. So I always encourage anybody who's on HBCU campuses or interested in HBCU culture to follow that kind of roadmap of approaching our brothers and sisters as though they are family, because they are. And in the political space, it's absolutely necessary because while we're not a monolith, we certainly are a family in this space. And we need to mobilize as such so that we can get as much from our government as we are entitled to. Michael, you don't have HBCUs there in, of course, in Michigan.

But what you also, though, have, you have significant black organizations. We're seeing right now, I've seen some early reports of absentee ballots being returned in record numbers in Detroit. What are you hearing and seeing from Motown, especially in the wake of Donald Trump trashing Detroit last week? Well, the trade-in chief is back in Detroit today, Roland. He's at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit speaking again, the caucasity of that. So what I'm hearing on the ground, there's a lot of enthusiasm. There's still effort to reach out to younger African-American men. I talked to somebody who's organizing an event on the 29th here in Detroit, targeting them, talking to them about the not just voting, but also understanding policy, how policy impacts them. And they will

be registering them to vote right there on the spot. And they'll also take them to the voting polls. I'm involved in a couple of events dealing with Project 2025, educating African-Americans on that. So there is a lot of excitement here in the city of Detroit. There is also a lot of people who are upset, and I've heard some white people upset, with Donald Trump trashing Detroit as well and having the audacity to come back here. So what I'm explaining to them is this is our opportunity to fight back and to stop him once and for all.

Your vote is just not your voice. Your vote is power. So when we explain, especially to African-Americans who have a history of feeling powerless, politics is the legal distribution that scares wealth, power, and resources. Vice President Kamala Harris was in Grand Rapids today, as well as Lansing, Michigan, and in one of those speeches she talked about how your vote is not just your voice, it's also power. So when we talk to African Americans about utilizing that power to bring into existing policies that deal with the economy, HBCUs, et cetera, that impacts every aspect of your life,

then I think we'll get a better result when it comes to voting. Matt, early voting in Texas begins on Monday. I'll be at Friendship West Baptist Church on Sunday talking about the importance of that. And I'll be hitting the polls with Reverend Frederick Douglass Haynes as well as Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett on Monday as well. importance of that. And I'll be hitting the polls with Reverend Frederick Douglas Haynes, as well as Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett on Monday as well. We'll be doing the show live from Friendship West Baptist Church on Monday as well. Look, there are a significant number of HBCUs in Texas. And as you heard, Reverend Barber, again, the numbers are there. You're talking

about Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern University. You're talking about Wiley. You're talking about Paul Quinn. I mean, there are a number of HBCUs. And so, but this is where we have to, you can't maximize your power unless you're organized and mobilized. Yeah, that's exactly right. And I think that's especially true throughout the state, but including, you know, HD there in Austin has been a jewel of the community for a long time. So it's important that the HBCUs, even outside of those that are in places like North Carolina, where there are many of them and in the state of Texas where they're pretty far apart, it's important that we still mobilize. And kind of to that point, I think one thing that Kelly kind of alluded to is super important

to remember here. HBCUs are not only a part of the community in terms of the students, but there are so many attendant organizations that are around the HBCUs that are part of that lifeblood for that HBCU community. When I was at Howard, everything I was connected to fed into my time as a student. So that's important because if you have students like this young woman, I think Selexia, who's done an extraordinary job in registering people, that reverberates to the churches, that reverberates to the Boys and Girls Club, that reverberates to all of the things that support those HBCUs, and the attendant effect is pretty huge. So we have to recognize that not only are we

mobilizing on the campuses, that mobilization goes outside and has a much larger effect as long as we're concerted in our efforts. Folks, hold tight one second. We're going to go to a quick break. We're going to come back with our panel here live on the campus of Fayetteville State University here in Fayetteville, North Carolina. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. IVF is a miracle for us because it allowed us to have our family. After having my daughter, I wanted more children. But my embryo transfer was canceled eight days before the procedure. Donald Trump overturning Roe v. Wade stopped us from growing the family that we wanted. I don't want politicians telling me

how or when I can have a baby. We need a president. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

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

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way.

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

Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things

stories matter and it brings a face to them it makes it real it really does it makes it real listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season 2

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. Hey, Drew Scott here, letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the LA fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires.

Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to asenseofhome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. That will protect our rights. And that's Kamala Harris.

I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message. Bob and I both voted for Donald Trump. I voted for him twice. I won't vote for him again. January 6th was a wake-up call for me. Donald Trump divides people. We've already seen what he has to bring. He didn't do anything to help us. Kamala Harris, she cares about the American people. I think she's got the wherewithal to make a difference.

I've never voted for a Democrat. Yes, we're both lifelong Republicans. The choice is very simple. I'm voting for Kamala. I am voting for Kamala Harris. In 2016, Donald Trump said he would choose only the best people to work in his White House. Now those people have a warning for America. Trump is not fit to be president again. Here's his vice president.

Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States. It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year. His defense secretary. Do you think Trump can be trusted with the nation's secrets ever again? No, I mean, it's just irresponsible action that places our service members at risk, places our nation's security at risk. His national security advisor.

Donald Trump will cause a lot of damage. The only thing he cares about is Donald Trump. And the nation's highest ranking military officer. We don't take an oath to a king or a queen or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator. Take it from the people who knew him best. Donald Trump is a danger to our troops and our democracy. We can't let him lead our country again.

I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message. Here's a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems. Oh, she had a big crowd. Oh, the crowd. This weird obsession with crowd sizes. It just goes on and on and on. America's ready for a new chapter. We ready for a president pamela harris i'm pamela

harris and i approve this message you got your little ones out here i do this is little george green and this is jameer adams my name is darnisha mitch, and we are out here promoting for American citizens rights to vote. So every vote counts and your vote matters. So why was it important for you to have both of them out here to experience this? Because they are the future for one. And I want them to know that their voice matters as well, even though they're not able to vote now my son Ashley was um marching saying we will vote every vote counts and it's important for them to know that

voting counts it it matters it makes a difference in the world so she got you out here working you working hard yes sir okay all right you right. You out here working hard? Yes. Okay. And we also have my mother out here, First Lady Darlene Mitchell. You got everybody out here. Yes, yes. Y'all got the whole family out here.

You got your mom out here? Yes. Oh, you made everybody come out. Papa and I bought it. Yep. So we... She got you out here too? Yes.

All right then. So it's three generations of y'all out here emphasizing the importance of voting. Yes, sir. So what would y'all say to the folks, somebody who's watching, young brother, young sister, who says, hey, my vote really doesn't matter, doesn't count. What would you say? Every vote counts. Please come out and vote.

We need all the vote for Kamala Harris. All right. How about you? What would you tell them? Same thing. Every vote counts. And just because you're young and you have your future ahead of you. And what is the thing is voting now is what will

make the difference from years from now absolutely your voice matters so how you vote today will impact when they are adults absolutely okay all right we'll appreciate it thank you all right y'all keep it up all. Y'all get back to work. Folks, welcome back to Fayetteville State University. That was earlier. Before we came here, I stopped by by three early voting locations to chat with poll workers and chat with voters as well. Folks were staying out there. And so i remember that there's another young lady we're gonna play her a video a little bit later i caught up with uh and uh i'll go to our panel here and the reason i love that because i probably was probably first election may have been nine or ten same thing my parents worked

elections uh so i remember being a kid uh them dropping us off. It's like, okay, y'all passing these flies out for this candidate for all day. And it's like, man, we can't go nowhere today. So, you know, they have free labor. So I'll ask the three of y'all, your earliest involvement in politics. How old were you? Oh, boy. I remember some of the first times I was young. My parents were very involved in the church and our church would rally around different political candidates. So I didn't know what I was doing at the time other than standing outside. They just went here in the panacea in Michigan and the cold. Oh, Lord. At least I had at least I was in Houston.

Well, we we are right up there in Flint, Michigan. So my political career unknowingly, unbeknownst to me, started at a very early age. The same. I was a child. Hold the mic up. I need you to hold the mic up. There you go. As a child growing up in Brooklyn, in Bed-Stuy, we were very active as a church community in the politics of our community. And it was during the early 70s where people were very engaged in the black power movement and trying to initiate and get more black folks into political positions.

Well, you know, very much like the other two panelists here, rural North Carolina, very involved in church. I can remember as early as 12 years old, I was out with my mom who was very involved in the politics of the community, knocking

doors in the rain, getting soaking wet, giving out information, talking about candidates? I hate them damn yard signs. Because if you didn't have some gloves, you had to be real careful with those splinters from those yard signs. So you didn't try to grab three or four at one time. You were real careful.

And then you couldn't grab them by the actual sign because it might tear. And then now you're really screwed so uh the reason i think that's important because um and i and we got another video of a father who brought his son to the polls son's first uh presidential election uh because that's happened for me and uh i always talk about the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. There's this sign and it says, all I want for my 18th birthday is a voter registration card. And it's a powerful statement because that becomes a way of life. And so I'm always saying to folk, bring your kids with you so they understand, they can see you voting, and they understand what that means.

Yeah, absolutely. I make sure that I keep my daughter as politically engaged as I absolutely can. She's a Bronco right now. She couldn't attend this today because she has a Halloween event. But that's something that's extremely important to me is making sure that not only they understand the power of their vote, the power of their voice, but understanding how politics work, understanding how to engage with elected officials and how to make sure that they are addressing your issues, that their policies reflect what you want to see manifested in your community. Derek, give us a sense of how

early voting has been going, but also talk about the difference when it comes to campaigning in rural North Carolina as compared to larger cities across the state. Well, I'll tell you this. I'm excited about where we are currently in our early voting process. Yesterday, we closed the polls with, I'm not mistaken, about 8,900 plus voters casting their votes at the polls. The last I checked today at 445, we were at 6,345. Wow. Give it up. Give it up. Absolutely. It's something to be extremely excited about because we have worked hard in this community. And when you talk about rural versus metropolitan areas or larger, closer communities, we get both and here in Cumberland County. We house 200 plus voters in this county, 90 plus thousand of them being Democratic, 72 something thousand being unaffiliate, and the difference of that being Republican votes. We started our engine system back in the city council race

because we need to implement a system where our auxiliaries had responsibilities. What were they going to do? Our other volunteers galvanized in that, making connections with community leaders like Mayor Anthony in Spring Lake, who we had to fight hard for keeping her early precinct area open because there's a transportation issue there. So what did we do? We started back here in January. We started knocking doors in the rural communities, going

down pothole roads, dirt roads, mudslides, stepping in on steps that you almost break your ankle in because those people are important to us. And those are the voters who feel like they're not important, that feel like they're not seen, they're not heard. So going and taking the conversation to them, we started going to all the county commissioner meetings, all the city council meetings. We took issues to the doors. And we talked to these individuals about why it's important that you're voting not only the top of the ticket, but the bottom of that ticket to the top of that ticket, because every elected position affects our day to day lifestyle. Camila, you're an education advocate. Talk about, again, getting people to understand issues, not not getting wrapped up in party,

not getting wrapped up in the candidate, but understand that when you vote, you're actually picking folks based upon the issues that matter to them. Absolutely. And this year was particularly an issue for us because we have Project 2025 that will decimate public education. But the thing that we were able to bring as we went out into the community was that North Carolina has already been the proving ground for Project 2025. Many of the issues that we see that they will do at the federal level, those things are already happening here in North Carolina. And so we're advocating for people to vote up and down the ballot because at our school board, we need to make sure that these Moms for Liberty are not taking over our school boards, that all of the legislation that has happened in our state legislature, that we can take some corrective actions and get some people in-house that will protect public education.

We're draining it financially. We're draining it morally in what we're seeing. So that Project 2025, they're trying to take it global, but we're already seeing it here in North Carolina. I'm going to bring in my panel here, and Matt, I'm going to toss it to you first, because what she just said about Moms for Liberty, and this is what happens when we're not paying attention. In 2020 and 2022, we saw all across the South, Moms for Liberty running folks for office. Many of these places, majority black school districts, they took over school boards. And one of the first thing they did happened in South Carolina. They fired the back-to-back superintendent of the year in South Carolina because many of us were not paying attention.

And so this is where we have to understand that, sure, the presidential race is important, U.S. Senate races, congressional races, but so are those school board races, and that's where they started this whole effort of banning books and changing the curriculum. And so that's also how we have to recognize it. Every year there's some form of election, and we've got to be in the game every single election. Absolutely, and it's a concerted policy.

I'm glad you spoke to that. In Corpus Christi, where I live, there is an all-out assault right now on the city library board and our local education. In fact, the former Republican party chairman in the county has decided to run for the local school board with the express intent of making it more conservative and exerting that power, like you're saying. So that's what's really important that we always keep top of mind when we look at the presidential election cycle, especially as the presidential election is important. But as we've said on this show many times, all of those down-ballot races are crucial. And frankly, most of those have a considerably more measurable effect on your life, especially

as it relates to what your kids are learning in school, whether they have access to books, and whether democracy is not only being taught in the schools, but whether it's being stifled. So I'm glad you mentioned that, because where I live, I'm seeing it. I mean, there's an all out assault on both of those entities. And it has been very clearly stated by the local Republican Party that it's their intent to try to take control of those to exert some of those idealistic beliefs or ideological beliefs. And Michael, folks like Steve Bannon, they said that what they were going to do. Now, he's sitting behind in prison right now because for contempt of Congress.

But again, he made it clear after Trump lost, they were going to take over state board of elections, local board of elections. They want to go to school boards. And what I keep saying to progressives is when they tell you what they're going to do, believe them. Absolutely. And you're reading my mind, Roland. Absolutely. You hear about Steve Bannon and Donald Trump. Steve Bannon said on one of his podcasts that the way to political power in America today is through the local school boards. OK. And people have to understand that that attack on critical race theory, the banning of the books, that's all connected. And Donald Trump launched that September 2020 when he did an executive order banning the use of critical race theory in training for federal employees. OK, then it metastasized from there. You have Christopher Ruffo with his series of tweets in March 2021, redefining what critical race theory is.

Project 2025, chapter 11, deals with dismantling the Department of Justice. Donald Trump was just on Fox & Friends this week in the past couple of days, and he talked about dismantling the Department of Education, chapter 11. He talked about dismantling the Department of Education, and he also said that he would defund schools that taught woke ideologies like the country was built on the backs of slaves and stolen, and it was built on stolen land, okay? He's on Fox & Friends telling you this, all right? So people have to understand this real coordination between the Heritage Foundation and people

around Donald Trump. And on the Heritage Foundation's website, they have an article from January 2018. It talks about how in Trump's first year in office that the Trump administration adopted about 64 percent of the policies that Heritage Foundation made in their mandate for leadership in 2017, because they do a mandate for leadership, the conservative promise, that policy playbook. They do that every election cycle. They've been doing that going back to 1981 with Ronald Reagan. And the Reagan administration adopted 64 percent of those 2,000 policy proposals that they did then. So this is Project 2025. It's called Mandate for Leadership, the Conservative Promise. This is a continuation. This is not something new.

But the question we have to ask ourselves is when does something new get old? This is why we have to fight and vote to stop this. Kelly, the thing here again, the reason why the school district and local races matter, because that's really where your bench is developed. That's really where next generation leaders are developed and folk have to pay attention to those races and realize that when they run folks there, their goal is to seek higher office. 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. 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 Cor 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 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. Hey, Drew Scott here, letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 10 years this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care it's an incredible organization just days into the la

fires they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires please get involved sign up to volunteer donate furniture or even donate funds you can go to a sense of home.org to find out more information together we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. That's how they actually build their foundation. Absolutely. But not only that, think about, you know,

beyond the rationale that you just stated for people running for school boards, who is, like, what entity is being controlled by a school board, right? It's children. You know, we already have established voter bases already. And we're looking at it in the polls now. Like, people who are going to vote for Kamala are going to vote for Kamala.

People who are going to vote for Trump are going to vote for Trump. There's very little margin for error there, right? There's very few people who's like, oh, I don't know. People already know who they're going to vote for, but people who don't, those who don't, they're kids. They're not yet part of the electorate yet. They're not yet part of the voting base. And Republicans already see ahead of time, and I've talked about this on your show, Republicans play the long game when it comes to strategy. They are some of the best strategists out there, for the worst, but they are some of the best strategists out there because they play the long game. They are looking at children to influence

them on what to vote for, how to think, what the ideology is. Because as we all know, racism isn't innate. It is not a nature thing. It is a nurture thing. So if you have Republicans who are in charge of the school boards and want to root out wokeness and ban books that actually broaden horizons mentally and sometimes physically, wanting to go to these places that books talk about, wanting to learn more about things that are outside of your own purview. Republicans know that if you control children now and mold their minds now, they will have the voting base necessary to further not just 2025, but 2030, 2035, and beyond, right? That's why it's important to vote.

That's why it's important to vote. I'm going to go to Derek here. Derek, you talked about the things that y'all were doing. And when I was in Rocky Mount, we were in Elizabeth City. What I keep saying over and over again, we've got to stop acting like the election is the end of the process that it's actually the end of one process

the beginning of another and I think that's been one of the biggest mistakes we expend crazy amounts of energy to get people registered, to get them to vote and then the day after the election is kind of like okay, we're good my deal is like no, take a breath, take a rest, either have a party or cry,

but then you've got to get folk to your point, attending those meetings, understanding how public policy works. You're absolutely correct. And one of the things that we have done over the last year and a half was to discuss the issues about public schools here. We know that we're one of the number one counties in the state that receives school vouchers for our public private schools. Where those monies are taken out of our public schools and it hurts our public schools. So we start talking about teacher pay.

We look at the over policing of our black communities in our community. We talk about those issues. Like, you need to come to your city council meeting because once we elect them, there have to be individuals like Andrew Malloy who come to the city council meeting and speak up on behalf of marginalized communities and disenfranchised communities and talk about where we need to invest money in our community that we live in. I keep telling folks all the time

that we're very good at mobilizing on the defensive. Something happens all of a sudden folk get going. We hear Fayetteville State. If Republicans in this state

start talking about merging HBCUs, all of a sudden, students, alumni, all of a sudden folks are engaged, yet we're talking about annually going to the legislature for funding, you don't have the same energy.

And that's the thing, for me, we can't always be operating in a reactive position. You must be in an offensive position as opposed to just reacting. Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. And that's one thing about our culture on a whole is we've become very reactionary. Here lately, I kind of dove down a different rabbit hole. We know that we need to galvanize our kids.

We know we need to be galvanize our kids. We know we need to be in these HBCUs. We know the numbers surrounding this, but there is a place where the black culture has become weakened. And we have sought, we've seen our right-wing evangelicals become stronger, and that's within our churches. Our churches used to be our political hubs. And now we're seeing the other side of the coin galvanizing in the same manner that we saw Dr. King galvanizing their church. But they're spitting out a poisonous political message. And that's why you're seeing these right-wing evangelicals being able to overlook these atrocities of Donald Trump. It's because they're positioning him in the light of a man that's appointed by God, this Christian savior. And they're inundating their parishioners with these messages. These parishioners are, and this is old and

young and rich and poor, and they're all surrounding this message. And we're missing out by using our, not using our pulpit to spread that message as well. We are doing it in our communities. We see it in our school. We're galvanizing our children. Our children see what's happening, and they're galvanizing themselves. But we need to also know that there are other avenues that are being taken to oppose this message, and they're using their churches to do it. So be wise on what's happening.

We need to attack this on more than just a political front. This is a spiritual front as well. And I'm not trying to take you out of church by any means. In order to defeat your enemy, you must know how they're preparing as well. And they're preparing through their churches. They're preparing their children from the pulpit. And so, again, there's strength in numbers. So while we're coming to our HBCUs and we're reaching our children, don't forget to talk to your pastor. Camilla, I saw the other day it was his brother. He posted this video, and he was sick and tired of one of his friends coming with Trump misinformation.

I mean, his brother was just, like, fed up. And he finally said, say, bro, we can't be friends anymore. He said, because all you keep doing is lying. And his friend goes, what do you mean? He said, so his friend pulls up this photo of Trump here in North Carolina, wading through the water in a suit. So the brother said, you think that's real? Guy goes, yeah, it's real.

He went, do you see any secret service around him? He said, do you actually think secret service would just let him walk through the water and none of them are around him? Then he said, zoom in on a picture. He said, how he got three hands. And the brother was like, and the guy was like, oh, yeah. He's like, that's what I'm talking about. And it got to the point where he literally said, we cannot hang out. We cannot be friends.

He said, because you keep bringing back crap. And then his friend then, they went out. He's like, look, it was his birthday out he's like look it was birthday he's like last time we're gonna party together and then the brother came back and he said you know what i looked up a bunch of the stuff you told me and man you were right and he flipped him but it was a perfect example of this one young brother is just falling. He said this guy was sending him Breitbart stuff. He was sending all this right wing stuff to their group chat and it was all lies. And we have to understand that is real to many folks in our community and they are believing it.

Yes, sir. And what happens is that we get so conditioned to people feeding us information instead of getting the information for ourselves. Here in Cumberland County Schools. Or trusting real, credible voices, not some fool talking on YouTube from their closet see and one of the things when we talk about I keep telling everybody with a show

don't have a show go ahead I'm sorry one of the big things that people aren't paying attention to about these vouchers is that we're watching the resegregation of our school systems. You know, so they're taking these vouchers and they're going to these Christian nationalist kinds of institutions. They are pulling out the white children from our school system. We are a minority majority school system. However, our children are not performing at the levels. And so what we're

seeing is what we saw with desegregation back in the early 70s in North Carolina, where the white folks will be in these private schools, the black children will be in these underfunded, defunded public schools. And we're not talking about that. So this is not a one-time issue. Oh, yeah. You know, it's really not. In Cumberland County County we had to fight. You know, in Cumberland County, we're fighting these these these state legislators that are pulling the money from our school. It's it's a it's a real battle. It's a real kind of issue for us.

All right, then we'll listen. We appreciate all the work that you've been here as well. Thank you so very much. I'm going to go to a break. We come back. We're going to have our second panel. We're going to keep the conversation going. Today is the end of the second day of early voting here in North Carolina. It ends when?

Okay, ends the? November 2nd. November 2nd. And you heard Reverend Barber say, folk can actually register on site. All right, so if you're not registered, you can register on site. And I tell everybody, every person, just do your part. If you're not even from here, you know some folk here, call them, text them, threaten them, do whatever needs to happen, and make sure.

And I keep telling y'all, I'm a firm believer, if you are not registered and you don't vote, you cannot come to Sunday dinner. You can't come to the house. You can drive by the house, but we ain't giving you no plates. Just letting y'all know. We'll be right back on the Blackstar Network. Of course I hate these people. So-called Central Park Five. Calling for execution. And let's all hate these people. You cannot have this man go into office again.

I want society to hate him. We were innocent kids. The confessions were caused. Today we are exonerated. That guy says he still stands by the original guilty verdict. This is about democracy being on the ballot. I have absolutely no compassion. Look at Kamala.

She represents the kaleidoscope of the human family. There's something different happening in America. We will get the opportunity to build a future. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

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

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

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

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

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Hey, Drew Scott here, letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care.

It's an incredible organization. Just days into the L.A. fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to ascensivehome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our L.A. community rebuild.

It takes all of us. Where we will be able to thrive and not just survive. Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for president. So why are Trump's close allies helping her? Stein was key to Trump's 2016 wins in battleground states. She's not sorry she helped Trump win. That's why a vote for Stein is really a vote for Trump. Jill Stein, I like her very much. You know why? She takes 100% from them. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message. I get it. The cost of rent, groceries, and utilities

is too high. So here's what we're going to do about it. We will lower housing costs by building more homes and crack down on landlords who are charging too much. We will lower your food and grocery bills by going after price gougers who are keeping the cost of everyday goods too high. I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message because you work hard for your paycheck. You should get to keep more of it.

As president, I'll make that my top priority. It's really rich for Democratic leaders to say that Donald Trump is a unique threat to democracy when he peacefully gave over power. He is still saying he didn't lose the election. I would just say that. Did he lose the 2020 election? Tim, I'm focused lose the election. I would just ask that. Did he lose the 2020 election? Tim, I'm focused on the future. That is a damning non-answer.

America, I think you've got a really clear choice of who's going to honor that democracy and who's going to honor Donald Trump. I get it. The cost of rent, groceries, and utilities is too high. So here's what we're going to do about it. We will lower housing costs by building more homes and crack down on landlords who are charging too much. We will lower your food and grocery bills by going after price gougers who are keeping the cost of everyday goods too high. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message

because you work hard for your paycheck. You should get to keep more of it. the cost of everyday goods too high. I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message because you work hard for your paycheck. You should get to keep more of it. As president, I'll make that my top priority. Just hanging out? Kind of. Kind of? Yeah. So what are you doing? Who are you out here working for?

I'm working for my grandma, Kathy Gibson. Uh-huh. And yeah, I'm going to work for her. Well, I figured that out because you got it on your shirt. My grandma Kathy Gibson. Uh-huh. And, yeah. Well, I figured that out because you got it on your shirt. So what, you been passing out stuff? What you been doing?

Yes, sir. Passing out. Get up. Okay. I have these cards that I've been passing out. Uh-huh. But she told me to stop because I was passing out too many. Ah. Now, this your first election?

Yes. Oh, really? How old are you? Eight. Eight. I think I was eight when I was passing stuff out at elections, too, so. Really? Yeah.

Yeah. I didn't have a choice either. My parents made us do it, too. Yep. So I remember being at the polls all day. Passing stuff out. It's kind of fun because I get to see new people and kind of meet them. Right. Okay. That's good. So you've been keeping up on the issues?

Yes, sir. That's a little wild for you can vote, though. If you could vote, who would you vote for? Tell us who you would vote for. Go ahead. You. Well, I would obviously be voting for Kathy Gibson. I mean, that's kind of obvious. But for President, who would would vote for. Go ahead. You. Well, I would obviously be voting for Kathy Gibson. I mean, that's kind of obvious. But for President, who would you vote for?

Oh, Congress Harris, of course. Of course? Of course. Okay. Why of course? Because she's going to make this, she's going to make Greenville, Fredville, and other states like that better. I don't want to say Trump isn't, but he's still doing some stuff. He's still pretty good, I guess.

But she better. She's better. Way better. All right. I appreciate it. Keep working. Yeah. Keep working.

All right. I had a good time talking to one of the young poll workers. All right, folks. Introducing our panel here, Julian McAllister-Smith, Fayetteville State University's National Panhellenic President. Brittany Best, recent graduate of UNC Pembroke. My homeboy, my homeboy, Nui Scruggs, is a graduate of,

that I kept telling him, I said, he went to UNC Pembroke and you broke. But, he's better now. I know. He's an Omega,

so, you know, they typically broke. All right, so, Carla, yes, oh,

I will throw shade. Let's be real clear. Oh, you one of them? Oh, you remember that nice little youth group? Oh, bless your little heart. Carlos Callender, recent graduate from UNC Chapel Hill. How y'all doing? Doing good. Pretty good. Y'all good? Y'all good? Don't be nervous. It ain't that bad. It's all good. Just relax. Just chill. I ain't going to hurt you too bad. Alright, so let's talk about it. Among your peers, what have the conversations been like

around this election? You got some folk who are not interested and they're trying to sit it out and what do those conversations look like? Anybody can jump in. So serving as the NPSC president here at Fayetteville State, we have several events going on to keep our students and our peers civically engaged.

So we do have the wide range of some students who are for voting, know what they're doing, and some students who are, well, I don't really see what my vote is doing. So then we go into the educational piece and that mobilization piece to get them engaged. And we also have some students who just say my vote doesn't matter and they won't have one, nothing to do with that. So just focusing on showing the importance and letting students know and young

people know that we are the next world, the world's next generation. So what do you say to that person who says, well, uh, my vote doesn't mean anything, so I'm not interested. What do you say to him? I, for me personally, I kind of get a little bit of background. So where are you from? I'm talking about different things like that to kind of explain how that bit of background so where are you from um talking about different things like that to kind of explain how that would go into what that vote means for them their their family things of that nature and what's their response usually sometimes no but sometimes I never saw that point of view of it do they also know this is a state school. And do they know that that means that politicians vote

on the budget, so do they not realize that how you vote dictates resources that come back to the university? And then bringing that back to the simple word of, like, the life of Fayetteville State as a college student. This affects you a lot more than you think. Yeah, so if you

complain about something, voting has a direct impact on actually fixing that. All right, Brittany, what about you? I would say the people that I talk to, especially my friends, we're all kind of like-minded. So a lot of us are already kind of already involved with the politics and everything. But there, of course, are a couple of people who are like, I'm not going to do it, you know what I'm saying?

There's some people who are kind of misinformed on what's going on and it's kind of hard to get them to pay attention to the truth that's being portrayed. We try to do it in conversations, especially in friendly conversations, just because it's easier to receive that way. But for the majority of the part, like for majority of the people that I talked to were kind of already involved in politics and everything. Did you have to cuss anybody out who just wouldn't listen? I mean, they just wouldn't listen. Did you have to, like, go there? No, not necessarily.

Brittany, you know you cuss somebody out. Brittany, stop lying. No, I don't really do that. Like, girl, you ain't never had to cuss? No. In my head, I do it a lot, i don't see right there i don't i don't tell you you got to verbalize that thing i feel like that makes them more like i don't know like scared to actually be more involved in politics because it's already a contentious sport if you will um i don't i don't want to come back cussing out is lowest blood pressure uh trust me it works i'll try it next time but i don't know

carlos what about you i think that uh coming from my university at unc chapel hill people are very active and very uh engaged so we have uh marching to the polls where we take groups of students to the nearest polling location for early voting. So people are very engaged, and people are not afraid to have that open conversation. There's a free speech zone sort of like the pit at UNC, so they're very engaged. It's good to have good conversation, talking to the opposing side, and not just to try to them, but inform them. How about any brothers?

Any brothers you've had to have issues with? No, actually, I haven't. The Greeks are very involved with voting, so it's been very good and refreshing. I think that we're wising up our generation is in paying more attention and more engaged. The thing that I keep saying, and I've been saying this at all of our stops, and this is what drives me crazy with millennials and Gen Z, I keep saying you can't complain about old folk being in power because the folk who vote the most are old people.

People 65 and older vote at a higher rate than anybody else. And so talk about that and trying to get your peers to understand that if you actually want to run this then you have got to maximize voting power because the numbers are there millennial gen z are bigger than maybe boomers but they show up they turn out in massive numbers and that's what we're challenging and trying to uh shift gears with and saying that the idea that young voters don't vote, yes, it hasn't shown the numbers, but we're trying to do our part in getting young voters out there so then we can potentially see. I think that people in office are going to generally gradually start to get younger and younger as we wise up and take over more,

as we're trying to create change and mobilize students. So I think that, and it's showing with engagement with videos I've shot and other things like that. So I think we'll surprise you. I agree with that. I just want to piggyback off of that as well and just say I think representation matters in this sense. Just for us being up here and speaking to you shows that people of our age group are involved, and it allows our friends to also be like, hey, if they're involved, I can do it too. I also want to just shout out our state Democratic Party chair, Anderson Clayton,

who's the youngest party chair, and just being able to see her and just to guide students. Where's she at? She's not here, unfortunately. Okay, well, you shouted out. You're like, let me shout out something. I'm like, where's she at? She's not here. Okay. No, you shouted out. You're like, let me shout out something. I'm like, where's she at? No, she's not here. But I'm just saying like.

What's her name? Anderson Clayton. Okay. Anderson again. Clayton. Clayton. Okay. All right.

Go ahead. She's a state chair. She's a state dem party chair. Okay. All right. And she's like the youngest to ever do it. And just to like know her. She actually came to Pembroke.

She spoke with students she was like out there just being um seen on campus as a young person involved in politics so I think it really matters that we are out here doing the work I agree um definitely like she said like all of them has said I feel like as we are getting older representation will change um people are aging out. So it'll be our time to move in and move up within that election and with that leadership. They like y'all need to hurry up. They like y'all take it to them long.

Rome was not built in a day. So I would say that I said Rome was not built in a day. So Rome wasn't built in a day, but we don't live in Rome. But we are taking action. No, but the reason I press this is because I hear lots of chatter. And what I keep saying is that doesn't equate to voting, doesn't equate to power. And again, when I'm looking at numbers, when I'm looking at numbers, when you look at when you look at any study of numbers, 65 and older votes the highest. Fifty five and older, second highest. The further you go down, the lowest turnout is 1839 and really 1835. And it just comes down to,

and like for instance, the first video that I played, that's also how we have to rethink voting. So literally, so those two, one young man was 10, and the young girl, the second video,

she was eight. The reality is, decisions made today are going to have a direct impact when they become adults. And so what I'm often saying, it's like someone asked me, they said, hey, you know, whoever wins, what is the impact on you? I said, well, the impact on me is it's Neil, whether it's Harris or Trump, but it's just to me as a singular individual.

I said, but I'm focused on not me and my needs, but my nine nieces, four nephews. So whoever wins may very well appoint two Supreme Court justices. Those individuals, Republicans are very clear about appointing folks who are in their early 40s. When Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, she was 87. If they appoint somebody who is, let's say, 45, that means that person is going to be there for 42 years. That means if you're a 20-year-old person today,

that means one of those positions will not open until you're in your 60s. That's sort of how I try to walk folk through to understand that don't think for a second that who wins today doesn't impact you when decisions today could have could be have lasting effects of 20, 30, 40, 50 years or even longer. And so when you are engaging folks, those who are on the fence. Give me a sense also of your strategy. You talked a little bit about that.

But what do you try to get them to reveal about the issues that they actually care about? How do you do that? Getting so you said, wait, you said getting people to Yeah, so somebody says hey, that means nothing to me. How do you get them

to get to that point of understanding, okay, fine, what are your issues. How do you get them to get to that point of understanding? Okay, fine. What are your issues? What do you ask them? And trying to get them to reveal more as opposed to you just sort of. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

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

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

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

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Hey, Drew Scott here, letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the LA fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to asenseofhome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us.

Speaking to them, how do you do it? Kind of like what you said, what are some things that matter to you? Simple stuff. Groceries, gas, money, economics, things of that nature. We always talk about stuff going up under a president. So things of that nature, stuff that matters to you and how that affects you doesn't affect you tomorrow, won't affect you in the next week. But like you said, down the line, he just said Rome wasn't built in a day. So when changes happen, it doesn't happen within the next year. So changes happen over time.

Brittany, are you also connected to the dots? Because a lot of folk have no clue with civics in terms of what a city council does, what a state rep does, what the Congress does. Some people just think the president does everything. And so they do. I mean, it's just crazy uh so do you encounter that as well where you have to walk folk through to say okay let me let me walk you through how politics works um i haven't explicitly had that conversation uh really but i do i know for example i've talked

to a couple classes about like voter registration and voter education and i always put in like the slide that like kerry washington once said and i not sure if she came up with this quote or not, but she said, democracy, you may not be thinking about democracy, but democracy is always thinking about you. And I put that in there because I really want people to realize, especially people our age, that because you can't be a passive player in democracy, you have to be an active player. So you're not able to sit here and say, oh, I don't like what so-and-so is doing and not be a part of the solution or like the change, right? But I think the biggest thing that I really hearken on is just making sure that people know in order for

change to be done, you have to be like that active player in democracy. And so that's what I kind of... See, one of the things that, so what I do, especially when you're talking about your state school, so all of you, all three schools are state institutions. And what I'll tell folks is, I'll tell them, pull your student ID out. They pull it out and I go, you know that's a government

document. And then I still tell them, now you know when you walk across that stage and get a degree, that's an actual government document. Your birth certificate, that was a government document. And then you know when you get married, that's a government document. And then when you get divorced, that's a government document. And then death certificate, that's a government document. Because a lot of people have this view that, oh, I don't want government in my life. And I'm going, government is literally in your life every single day in every facet of your life,

regardless of whether you think for it or not. And so I think really what we're also facing, we are facing folk who really don't understand basic civics. It's stunning to me, and this is not an age thing, it's folks who are old and middle-aged and young who just literally do not understand the difference between what a House member does, what a Senator does, what a President does, the executive branch, legislative, judicial, and it's just sort of like, well, one person, they can fix all of it. And you're like, no, they actually can't. And so just talk about that uh are those

conversations sort of being had in terms of getting people to understand how government works yes i think there's a balance because i think i believe in effective communication and communicating to communicate is pointless so if they're not willing to wise up and accumulate the knowledge it's important to meet people where they're at and communicate to understand, which is important. So I would teach them the effects of that and like what affects them and talking in language that mostly affects them. So like if it's a woman,

I'm going to talk about like birth control rights and stuff like that, because that directly affects them as opposed to. Oh, that affects a dude too. As well. It does. It definitely does. No,

no, no, no, no, no, no, but here's what I'm saying. So, for instance, when the vice president was talking about black maternal health, what I kept explaining, even on the show, men should be listening to that.

Because if you're having a black maternal health conversation, that's obviously somebody's wife, someone's girlfriend, someone's mother, someone's niece. But also, they're birthing black boys. So we have to think about issues differently as opposed to them being gender specific because they actually have an impact on a woman as well as a man. Yes. Okay. So then I have a question for you. So everybody in the crowd seems to laugh when I said Rome wasn't built in a day. But I'm pretty sure when looking at the numbers, I try to take a quick glance,

it's been like that for a while where older people vote more. So when you guys were younger, it was still the same problem of older people not voting. So I want to know, like, what advice would you give us being that you're older and you turn out to vote now? How would you convince your younger self? Well, first of all, I was voting. You got to remember. So Roland didn't need convincing at 18. Because, again, that was always the case in my household.

But how I see it, when I'm communicating with someone, whether they are 18 or whether they are 80, what I say is give me three things you care about. Give me three issues you care about. And then when they give me those three issues, I then, depending upon what we're talking about, presidential, U.S. Senate, House, governor, state rep, state senator, city council, county, school board, D.A., judge, I will connect whatever those races are with that particular issue. So, matter of fact, it was 2016, there was a young sister, I had to rip my radio show, was a sister from North Carolina,

she called the show, and she said, I'm not feeling Trump, I'm not feeling Hillary Clinton, so I'm going to focus on state issues. I said, okay. Alright, and I knew she didn't know what the hell she was talking about. No, no, because she didn't get it. So I said, okay, fine. I said, give me your three issues. And she said,

her first issue, she said, voter suppression. I said, okay. I said, give me your three issues. And she said, her first, she said, voter suppression. I said, okay. I said, you, you do know federal judges play a role in that. I said, and then I said, who picks federal judges? President. I said, who confirms federal judges? Senate. I said, are you aware that one, one of your two Republican United States senators blocked three black women from being on the federal bench? She said, no, I didn't know that. I said, precisely. I said, so then she went to her second issue and her third issue. All three issues, there was a direct relation with who was president. I said, so can you now explain to me then how you could sit out? I said, you ain't got to love Hillary Clinton to vote for Hillary Clinton.

I said, but you do have to understand whoever is sitting in the Oval Office is making decisions that have an impact on your three issues. And I walked her through in terms of the role there. And it completely blew her mind because she actually thought I could leave the top of the ticket blank and then just only focus on my state I said no then we start talking about funding I said how do you I said I said you know what block grant funding is uh she says yeah I heard if I said well block grant funding comes from the federal government I said they don't send to the city goes to the state I said so whoever's a governor I said, they don't send to the city, go to the state. I said, so whoever's a governor, I said, is going to determine how that money gets applied to the states. Same thing. And so again, she was just

thinking I could tap out of the presidential race. I said, that's the last thing you can do on your three issues. And so that's the approach that I take. And again, we have to recognize people literally don't understand civics. Other thing I would challenge everybody here, do this as well. Tell them or ask them, who's your city council member? Who's your county commissioner? Who's your state rep?

Who's your state senator? I can guarantee you 95% of the people you ask have no idea but if a person says man my grandmother has a problem on social security check you can't call a city council member that's congress you gotta call you as house member if somebody says man we need some speed bumps in our streets you can't call the house member you got to call the city council member but if you live in a rural part of the county you got to call the county see again it's understanding how politics works and so you have to understand most people don't really understand the inner workings of politics

but they just got problems so we have to walk people through to understand if you want your problem fixed this is how you actually have to do it and so that's really what that's really what the goal is and how we have to actually operate it and so i don't care what the age is and that's what that's how i've always operated to get people to understand uh that particular point thank you for that cool anybody else got questions y'all y'all too stiff up here for me. It's supposed to be unfiltered. Y'all need to loosen up. Relax, chill. Look, Brittany over there like, oh, what tips you got? I'm like, just relax. Take it easy. I just wanted to be prepared. No, no, you're good. You're good. You're good.

Last question. Last question I have for y'all. Let's see here. Last question I have for you I talked earlier about how do we stay involved so what's your plan when the election is over are you you talked about the things that y'all were doing are you still going

to keep that organization and mobilization in place to now begin to address other elections other issues yes I think the problem is we wait until organization and mobilization in place to now begin to address other elections or other issues? Yes, I think the problem is we wait until election year to try to get the voter education and mobilization. So keeping that momentum going throughout so when the next presidential election comes you're not having to fully educate. See right there, right there. Not fully educate but you know. You just made the first mistake. You just said the next presidential election is four years away. Right.

There are elections in between that. Boom. You got to worry about the building blocks. Boom. So next year, you likely have municipal elections here. Then you're going to have state elections. And then in 26, you're going to have midterm elections. Right.

And then, of course, you're going to have. So, again, that's my whole point. I want us to not be thinking presidential election to presidential election. I want us to be thinking election to election, which means when is the next school board election? When is the next city election? The next county election? The next DA election?

The next judge judicial election? That's how we have to be thinking. And so to keep those infrastructures in place, and so then we just simply, and then keep the infrastructure in place so whoever wins, we now are activated to go to the state legislature, the county meeting, the city meeting

to make our demands. Go ahead. You want me to go? Yeah, you about to jump in. Go ahead. I would definitely say that, yes, we do. So just to shout out my organization. So Black Student Movement is the largest student movement at UNC Chapel Hill in its history.

It's been standing for 76 years, I think, apart of that, as long with South of the Hill and some other organizations. My time there, obviously, I'm not there. But I have put people in place in those seven zones to be able to continue the legacy. So we actually do do voting awareness and events like that each year. So that's why I was like, I'm glad you said something about when you're talking about the next presidential election, when it's really that you need to hit the small building block stones to the big picture. So you like building a puzzle and making the pieces fit together. So definitely it's

about raising awareness i think that as like not saying that you weren't informed didn't know but the fact that now you know that there are elections in between that that makes a big difference so i think it's important to continue doing those that's why the work you do after the election is actually really important and it gets very under yeah and i'm gonna bring in I'm gonna bring in a panel um if um uh I know Matt Matt's still there Michael's still there uh their panel's still there yes y'all let me know talk to a brother talk to a brother balance still there all right cool glad to see y'all still there. The thing here, Matt, the reason I wanted to make that point there, all those elections, how HBCUs could literally control local elections wherever they are. Prairie View A&M University, the reason Waller County has been fighting Prairie View for the last 30 years is because

Prairie View students could literally determine who the county officials are if they voted in mass. We were just talking Wednesday in Elizabeth City, exact same thing. So when you look at where a lot of these HBCUs are, they are the largest employer and they're the largest

block of voters. And so that's what I'm talking about. If we keep our organization mobilization in place, we can literally run the table in terms of school boards, city councils, and county governments where many of these large public HBCUs are located. Hold on one second. Hold on. That's a really astute point. Yeah, that's a really because one of the things we've talked about is rural black voters and them being left out to this extent. To your point, I mean, if the HBCUs galvanize the right way in certain places, you not only can control those elections,

but you build a block that becomes very hard to penetrate in subsequent elections. And one thing I wanted to mention about civic information is, you know, one of the things that complicates that now is we have people in positions who are doing things that kind of blur those civic lines. A good example is Ken Paxton here in Texas with a lot of his aggressive litigation that the attorney general doesn't normally do. So it's incumbent on us to really educate ourselves to know what those positions can do when people are acting out of their authority and how to restrain them insofar as we make sure that we have those voting blocks to put the right people in positions to make sure they're not running roughshod over our democracy. Kelly, again, we talk about thinking about voting blocks. Look, elections are about math. And you go look up a lot of these elections.

You literally have folks who are running for school boards, some that get elected with two, three, 400 votes. And so imagine if you have an HBCU with two or three or 4,000 students. I mean, you could sit here and just, especially if they're at large, oh, you could take over the entire school board. In fact, you can literally have students run for the school board and now they're completely in control of the school board. Absolutely. And this goes back to my point about like why they are, by they, I mean, you know, the far right is so gung-ho about the lower elections on top of, you know, the top of the ticket part of the ballot, because it is about already with all the HBCU grads who are currently in the workforce on this planet just doing amazing things. But when it comes to the students, I teach at Bowie State as well. And every time I'm there, I am blown away by what

these students are doing, how they're thinking, and what they plan on doing after, to your point, it would be incredible to see or have them realize what they can do now as students, the power that they have as a conglomerate. But you're absolutely right in that, you know, we could move mountains if the model shifted, if the frame of thinking shifted to what we can do now with what we have at our disposal at the moment, as opposed to just looking at, you know, four year increments. Michael, Republicans know that here in North Carolina, they split North Carolina A&T into two congressional districts because they knew that if North Carolina A&T was in one congressional district, that is a huge voting block to determine

the member of Congress from that congressional district. Absolutely. And this is an old trick when you deal with gerrymandering. This is an old trick that you have people who are trying to suppress the African-American vote do. So that is a sign of the power of the African-American vote. And I've often said, you know, Republicans fear our vote more than many of us value our vote. So you are connecting all these different issues and how they're connected, not just to who's in the White House or who's in the who's in Congress, but also your state legislature, your governor, et cetera. You know, right right here in Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Democratic state legislature, they revoked the right to work law that was pushed by the Koch brothers, okay, and Americans for Prosperity.

And that directly impacts people's ability. That directly impacts unions and how much people make as well. So this is understanding just one policy, but who's in office impacting your everyday, all aspects of life and your economic status as well. Right, Ken. Hold tight one second. Let me thank our panel here. I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Folks, we're going to go to a break. Come back with our last panel. Also, as we are here, former President Barack Obama, he's actually, he's a rally right now in Arizona.

And so you see folks are fanning out all across the country. We started the show off the top. Former President Bill Clinton is actually here in Cumberland County. We were there at the top. We were seeing him there speaking to folks here. He's actually hitting a couple of stops here. He's been in Georgia and other places. And so coming to this state, there are a number of other prominent individuals coming. Senator LaFonza Butler, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Kentucky Governor

Andy Beshear. Folks, again, we are less than 20 days before Election Day, but voting has already started. It's been going on two days here in North Carolina. It starts next week in Michigan. It starts Monday in Texas. And so we're in the full swing of things. And so

we're covering all of these various things happening across the country. We'll be right back. Roland Martin unfiltered on the Black Star Network live from Fayetteville State University. Winners never back down from a challenge. Champions know it's any time, any place. But losers, they whine and waffle and take their ball home. Trump now refusing to debate a second time.

He did terribly in the last debate. He's so easily triggered by Kamala Harris. Well, Donald, I do hope you'll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage. If you've got something to say, say it to my face. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message. He told us who he was. Should abortion be punished? There has to be some form of punishment.

Then he showed us. For 54 years, they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it, and I'm proud to have done it. Now Donald Trump wants to go further with plans to restrict birth control, ban abortion nationwide, even monitor women's pregnancies. We know who Donald Trump is.

He'll take control. We'll pay the price. I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message. How we doing? We're good. What about you? I'm all good. All right. You came to vote? Absolutely.

Absolutely. The right way. Okay, what's that? That's for kamala harris all right then yeah that's a straight democrat right now in north carolina let's get it josh stein uh smith we got we got a lot to do today so make certain that we go come out vote early vote. Come on, let's get it. We got to do this for democracy. We got to do this for our country, right? Let's go get it. All right, you voting as well? Yes, sir.

All right, then. Is your first election or you voted before? Yeah, this is my first election. But your first presidential election? Yes. All right, so how do you feel? I feel good about it. I'm about to vote for Kamala

Harris, Democrat. So what would the both of y'all say to the folks out there who question whether brothers are going to support the sister? Listen, you see my shirt? Black men have feelings. Yep. And we got feelings about voting, right? And we're voting to support

Black women. 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 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. 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 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. Hey, Drew Scott here letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the L.A. fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program, providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to ascenseofhome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community

rebuild. It takes all of us. I mean, a black woman, because we support black women in America. That's what we do. So, you know, we're here to do it. What do you say to the young brothers out there who say, I'm not really feeling this voting thing? I think you definitely should go out there because your vote does matter. Every vote counts. And, yeah, that's how I feel about it. All right. Gentlemen, good to see y'all.

Thanks a lot, man. All right, y'all be well. All right, y'all. Take care. Oh, no, hold on. See, there you go. We're trying to throw that in. It's an okay sign at the end.

You got to get it. Okay. It's more than okay. All right, then. Take care. All right, folks, we are back at Fayetteville State University. While we are here, as I said, this is a live look of for President Barack Obama in Arizona. That rally is taking place.

Y'all pull that rally. There we go. He's there in Arizona. And also, while that is happening, Vice President Kamala Harris has her third stop. She is in Oakland County in Michigan. And so that's that rally as well. We are live streaming both of those on the Blackstar Network and so those simultaneous feeds are going on at the very same time and so a lot of stuff is

happening let me bring up right now Julie Womack she's the head of organizing Red Wine and Blue Janice Robinson North Carolina direct program director for Red Wine and Blue they're joining us glad to have y'all here so first question what the hell is Red Wine and're joining us. Glad to have y'all here. So first question, what the hell is Red, Wine, and Blue? Y'all having wine parties? What y'all doing? Yeah, well, no, thank you for asking. Obviously, it's a fun name because, well, I'll tell you, but Red, Wine, and Blue is all about engaging and empowering suburban women.

We have over 600,000 diverse suburban women across the country in our networks. And what we want to do is engage them and empower them to fight extremism in their communities, definitely organizing at the local level. And we got started in 2019, and there were a lot of women after the 2016 election who were pretty despondent and a lot of them got together over glasses of wine and said, we've got to do something. So the wine is kind of the metaphor for the fact that like, we have to do this hard work. We have to organize, but we have to have a little fun along the way with it. We like to say we take the ick out of politics. Well, yeah, because y'all sit there drinking wine, so y'all just

having a lush moment. How many folks do y'all have as a part of Red Wine and Blue here in North Carolina? Part of Red Wine and Blue here in North Carolina. Yeah, Roland, we're up to over 27,000. In under three years, we have over 27,000 women that has connected with us here in North Carolina.

Okay. And so besides getting a drink and wine, what else do y'all do? Go ahead, Janice. So so we target women, particularly women who, for whatever reason, may have been reluctant to get engaged in the political arena. So we try to try to have unintimidating, provide unintended, unintimidating unwraps to get engaged in the political arena. And like Julie said, we try to make it fun and so forth. So we do a lot of trainings, host a lot of events, house parties. I call them house parties with a purpose and just educating and training women how to use their political power. First, helping them to understand that they do have political power and then how to use that political power to amplify their voices around the issues that are important to them.

All right, then. Now, somebody here who loves some wine, they want to get involved. How do they sign up? Where do they go? How do they sign up? Where do they go? Well, you can just go to our website, which is redwine.blue, and you can sign up for our emails. We have a ton of events.

We do a ton of training, so you can go look at our events page and get involved there. You know, like Janice said, there are so many people out there who are just not happy with what's going on in the country, whether it's the overturning of Roe, whether it's a tax on public education. And a lot of times they don't know how to get involved. And so that's really what we're here for. We are that non-threatening on-ramp to politics. We will help you get educated on the issues. We will help you feel empowered that you can talk to your friends and family. So, you know, check out Red Wine and Blue's website, redwine.blue. We would love to have everybody involved. We're national. So, you know, come find people who share your values and find out how you

can get involved, how you can use your voice to make a difference, especially in those down-ballot races. They are so important right now. And we're really, really teaching women how to use their voice and how to have those conversations about the issues and the candidates all the way down to school board and all those local races. Well, I don't drink. I never have. So, Wanda, what's your favorite wine? I mean, we're talking about wine, so what's your favorite one?

Wine, so what's your favorite one? Wanda, what's your favorite wine? Wanda, what's your favorite wine? Y'all hear me? Wanda, Julie, your favorite wine. Oh, you said Janice or wine? Oh, you said Janice or wine? Your favorite wine.

Okay, my favorite wine, if you're asking me. Okay, my favorite wine. I'm a Cabernet woman. Yeah, more of a Pinot Grigio, but yeah. But yes, definitely, like I said, red, white, and blue would, you know, we like to have fun. We like to get together. We like to make sure that we are, you know, connecting people who have those like shared values, but there's a lot of hard work going on here. There is a lot of training. We have women across the country. We have almost 500 people who have formed local groups in almost all 50 states to try to organize and make a difference in these elections. So we've got to have some fun with it.

You've got to build that community and friendship. But we are definitely doing that hard work and having a huge impact on these elections because it's so important and there's so much on the line. I don't drink, so I have no idea what both of y'all just said. I'll go, is it white, is it red? I don't know. My daddy know not to send me to the store to go buy some alcohol because I'm going to come back with something they ain't never seen before. We appreciate y'all out here making it happen. Enjoy red, white, and Blue. Let's get out and get folks activated.

We appreciate y'all joining us. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Thank you. Have fun. Let's introduce our panel here at Fairville State. Angela Tatum, Malloy Maternal Health Advocate. We have Adam Bayot,

President of the African American Caucus, Democratic Party activist. Also Wanda Hunter, North Carolina Southeast Regional Organizer for Black Voters Matter. Put your hands together for them. So I'm very curious, as y'all been going out, having these conversations, early voting, we're two days in, what are the

conversations been like with folks canvassing going door-to-door talking to people in different places will they talk about what they care about or do they care anybody I'll start so first off you know we have to start in the home and then go out canvassing I have have four daughters one son um my son was a part and my children used to me putting them out there my son was a part of that knucklehead group that was you know well i don't know if i'm gonna vote or oh you know hell no right or how old is your son 25 hell no right he still borrow money huh he still borrow money oh he's been cut off boom that's what i'm talking about no sir so he came you know he came by and now please explain not only did i get

on him his sisters did so you know my son um just out there living life you know thinking everything is just you know easy breezy and he's listening to that rhetoric, like YouTube. He ain't listening to this YouTube show, the mother fools. He has a link now. Yeah, he listens to this one. He has to be voting. But go ahead. I'm sorry.

Oh, no, he's going to be voting. There you go. That was taken care of. So, you know, what we do is, you know, it's a tradition in our home about voting. I have nine grandchildren. They start, I mean, all of them. We had a little from two, three. We were all voting together.

So he's been there. He knows about voting. And what we typically do is we always rally and get our plan on, you know, what are we doing on the first day? Where are we going? We usually try to go as a family, but as they get older, it's kind of in groups. And he was like, I don't know if i'm gonna vote i couldn't even get started his sisters jumped on him which i was glad that they did and so you know fast forwarding he he is voting um he realized the wrath that came down and and so i don't you know i know people say well you know don't don't make them feel too pressured. I disagree.

Output the pressure. You're right. Cut them off. Yes. Also, my family, the men, because our women are good with getting out and voting. My daughters, my one daughter, her husband was like, I don't know if I'm going to vote. She should cut them off. No, no, no.

She said, do you want to deal with my mama? So he went and got registered and he's voting. The second one, my daughter, and I'm not going to say names, but she's dating someone who wants to possibly join the family. Cut them off. Is he voting? Make sure that he is registered to vote.

Like, you know, I want them to know you have to be a voter to come in this family. Boom. You have to be a voter to be a part of this family. Is it forced? Yes. Hell yes, forced. We're not going, you can't be a part of my daughter's lives because we're very active, starting young. You cannot be in this family and that we don't do the whole respectful conversations and we don't talk politics.

We talk politics. Mm-hmm. And we talk specific politics. So that's where, you know, it started. And so now we all vote. You see my little pen. We all voted yesterday. And so now we're going to begin. Everyone's deciding what they're going to do. My daughter was like, give me the information on, she wants to work, you know, the polls, find, you know, the little kids, my grandson, who is 12, my daughter, who's 11, my other granddaughter, who's 10 and a half.

Nani, when are we going out walking to the houses? So they know this is what we do. So that's what and beginning the conversation. Adam, I was talking to a homeboy. He's a black Republican. And no, no, no. Hold up. He's a black Republican.

But his sister's husband was tripping about Kamala. He straight cussed him out. And he said, Oh, you ain't no way in hell. You can be married to my sister and you dissing this black woman. He like, no,

I might be a black Republican. I mean, he straight cussed homeboy out and say, I just think a lot of us just way too nice with this. Oh yes. Okay. I, I,

I'm with her. I, I, I, I, I, I, I,

I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,

I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,

I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,

I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I. Okay. I'm with her. Look, I believe you cut him off. If you married, he say he ain't voting.

Guess what's not going to happen? You got to have the conversation. I'm telling you, I ain't got no, I believe you cut him off from everything. Food, money, sex, cut everything off. Cut everything. Right. Cut the air off. Cut. Right. Cut the air off. Cut.

Please. If I was living with somebody and they said I ain't voting, yo, I'll tell you right now, they'd be sleeping in the room at about 95 degrees. I'm telling you. And I know some people say, man, why you got to be so hard about it? But the reality

is, and I put this video on social media. I know people always say, man, why you got to be so hard about it? But the reality is, and I put this video on social media. I know people always say, oh, you should get folks to die for the right to vote. But we were driving here. We were going through Virginia. And then we came to North Carolina. And we were in Virginia. And we passed these cotton fields. And so then we were driving.

And then we hit North Carolina. It was another cotton field. So I we were driving and I just I then we were we hit North Carolina was another cotton because I grabbed my phone and I recorded the video shut about 20 seconds I post on social media and I said I said it wasn't that long ago we would have been in those fields and I said, I'm sorry, you cannot think about our history and then say, I'm going to sit this one out. I agree with you. That's problematic because too many of our young people don't have this sense of our history. There's a whole bunch of folks our age, I'm 55, who don't know our damn history. That's true.

So let's be real clear. It's the folks 70 don't know history. But at least they lived it. Yeah, they lived it. Right. They must have amnesia if they forget. They do. All right. But for the young people, they don't know.

And then you get to the point now with education, as Camilla said about Project 2025, it's been implemented in the states as we speak. We had it with the books at the school board. We went to a school board meeting, and I used to own a bookstore. And we had a saying, if you want to have something from a black child, a black boy, put it in the book, you'll never find it, remember?

So I upgraded that statement. I said, if you want to hide something for African-American children, send them to Cumberland County Schools. They'll never find it. Oh. Right? Because a lot of the books that they were taking out of the schools was our history. Now, we know right now with the DEI, right, that's a bad word,

but that's the current word for affirmative action, right? Well, that's a bad word for them. Anything dealing with us, they want to make bad. DEI bad, quotas are bad, woke bad, diversity bad. That's all that is about. Right, so when you really see it, we're feeling the effects of Project 2025 even though it hasn't officially passed. But why do they want to push it? Well, actually, back in the day when America was supposedly great, the federal government would not support the

rights of African Americans, right? Now that there's efforts in the federal government to make it truly equal for more people, certain people can take it. I was on social media, and this guy I know, I think he's in politics, and he was whining. And I said, don't worry about it. You'll be able to survive because we survived. But he didn't want to do that. So that's why we have to share with the young people from a historical point of view what they're trying to bring back. Exactly. I just had an incident with my grandson.

I'm a 25-year veteran homeschooler, so my kids, I homeschool them. But my grandson, because my oldest daughter did not like homeschooling, and I got my grandson to come up here, one stipulation, she wanted him in public schools. So I guess there was a holiday or something. Columbus Day. So he gets an assignment. Faith Day. Right.

So, you know, Nani is looking over the assignment because we're looking at it together. I see Columbus, hero or villain. I'm like, okay. First question. Villain? Right. So then we, okay, first question. Villain? Right. So then we start going through the text, and the way the text was written, and it said use sentences from the text, everything was for a hero.

Right. I wrote the teacher and said my grandson will not be using this colonized article. This is the one he's going to be using. Here's some resources for you. Printed it out. I said we're going to answer the same questions. I even found one that said the same title, hero or villain, but it had the truth. Teacher didn't text back. I'm expecting that he gets this graded because I wasn't going to have him not do the work, but we were going to make sure he was

going to answer with the truth. My daughter was like, oh my gosh. I was like, no. If he's going to be in this public school system where you wanted him to be. You're like, no, you want him in the public school system. So we're going to make sure that they know he's going to be exposed to the truth. And also make sure you're talking to the young kids. My grandson comes and he, you know, uh, nodding my friend. Um, he's a Republican. Is he black or white, son? 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. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

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

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

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season 2 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. Hey, Drew Scott here letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home. For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care.

It's an incredible organization. Just days into the L.A. fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program, providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer to volunteer donate furniture or even donate funds you can go to a sense of home.org to find out more information together we can help our la community rebuild it takes all of us okay so how did that conversation start because the kids are asking what you know what are your parents they're asking and if you leave your children unprepared right and how to have that conversation that's where it begins where they're able to start taking on someone else's ideology because we haven't prepared them because we're thinking at school oh they're not

talking about oh yes they are talking about politics listen i i got nothing but p's and u's in conduct because i was challenging all kinds of teachers uh lord oh if I had the internet at my fingertips today oh gosh man I I'd probably be I'd probably be kicked out I don't know how many classes because I'd be just jacking folk up I want to talk about the work that y'all are doing here uh because when black voters matter y'all going places other folks scared to go uh and i mean in like like deep deep in the country uh and but but talk about it's the reality i was talking to sister the other day and she was telling me she said well people have to understand uh there are a lot of people who are afraid to vote because they're living in deep red cities, counties, voting rolls are public.

And she said there are employers that are checking that stuff. So it's not as simple as some folk think that you can just vote the way you want to. She said there are black people in 2024 in rural parts of the state who are scared because they might lose their job based on how they vote. Are y'all encountering that? Yeah. So when you were talking about the cotton fields, it reminded me of a couple of weekends ago traveling to Jacksonville. And I actually went to a town called Richlands and I didn't realize where I was, but I saw a whole bunch of Trump and Vance signs and my GPS lost the signal. I had to check and see

how much gas I had. Oh, hell. Hold up. You got an iPhone or an Android? I got both. Because you know with the iPhone, you can still connect to the satellite. But that doesn't always work. I was in the mountains and the signal

went out and it was almost dark. Because black people are not supposed to was in the mountains, and the signal went out, and it was almost dark. Because black people are not supposed to be in the mountains. That's why. See? Well, I was trying to help. You need to stay like on flat areas. And he was telling me to make a U-turn, and my daughter was asleep. And I said, wake up.

I said, get your phone out and turn the GPS on. Make sure we go in the right way because we ain't finna turn around right now. But it reminded me of that because everywhere you look, to the right and to the left, there make sure we're going the right way, because we ain't finna turn around right now. But it reminded me of that, because everywhere you look, to the right and to the left, there's nothing but cotton fields. And so I was like, all of this is cotton. And she's like, boy, that's a lot of cotton. She's 12. She just turned 12. So those are some of the areas that we go into.

And those rural areas, a lot of times, it's harder for people to get transportation to the polls. And also, like, in some of the things that we're experiencing now in, like, counties like New Hanover, although New Hanover was flipped in 2020 to blue, they're experiencing where the Cape Fear Community College doesn't want nonpartisan organizations in front of the polling site. They're telling them that they can't come on to the polling site to give voters information about who to vote for, even if they're nonpartisan. And I told them, I said, you all need a petition for a new polling site because these individuals get paid to have this polling site here. These are your tax dollars that are paying for this site to be right here.

And so when they told me the history of how the site got moved, there was a housing project and the site was in a different location. When they closed down the housing project to renovate, then they moved the polling site. Now the housing project has been redeveloped, but they have not removed the polling site. So when we talk about the work goes on even after the election, now that we're here at the election they can't change it now but their next move needs to be to petition for a new polling site so they don't have to still go through that rigmarole with um cape fear community college well we we had uh west memphis arkansas on the show an exact same thing they were trying to move it from uh this black church to the location when that's where majority of the folks actually vote and live. They wanted to move it a mile away, and that mile is a huge difference when it comes to people actually voting.

Last round of questions here. We talk about, again, going back to these personal conversations. You said we got no problem having them. I think that's one of the things today. Folk are scared to have the discussions. And forget if you have somebody in your family who's a Republican. There must be discussions, whether everybody vote Democrat, where you're focused on issues and getting people to understand the nuances of public policy. So that's what I do.

You know, with my work in black maternal health, which is the focus, I get a lot of people, you know, telling me they love the work I do on both sides. And I tell them, you can't really love the work I do if you create policies that make my work harder. And so, you know, when we had Roe versus Wade taken away, now what's happening is our pregnant women, it's taking them longer to get into C and OBGYN. Almost, you know, 12, 14, 16 weeks, sometimes 20 weeks. Also, we just did a panel not too long ago with some of our providers around the state,

and they said that what's happening is at one of our medical schools, I won't call them out, but one of our medical schools, they are seeing lower numbers in med students going to those schools because who wants to go to a school in a state where you can't learn education for full-spectrum care? Yep. So, you know, then now we're having an OB-GYN shortage because our OB-GYNs, they're leaving the profession. Yep. Because, you know, what one of the doctors explained, when we understand, when we begin to understand what that means when it says, you know, the life of a mother.

Because that's something that the Republicans, they love the life of a mother. Do you realize that means the mother has to almost be dying? Right. It's not giving the doctors the privilege of knowing the symptoms that can lead to it. Well, it's not allowing the doctors to be doctors. So you have politicians who are making those decisions. Yes. And that, to me, I think is, people have to understand, Adam,

the public policy, these are the after effects of public policy. And so this is what we also have to factor in. When decisions are being made politically, stuff happens. When drug laws were passed, folks were not paying attention to the repercussions of those drug laws until 10, 20 years later. It was the repercussions of those drug laws and then until 10, 20 years later it was like, oh man, what in the hell did we do? Now you've got to go back and try to fix those which is why we have to be

advocating on the front end of those things. A quick comment from the both of you before we go live to Vice President Kamala Harris. Go. Yes, that's true and I'm glad you told the students that you've got to be engaged on that long after, and I'm glad you told the students that you got to be engaged long after, not just that one election, but long after because there's always something, especially locally. And we have a problem locally that we have to be vigilant and try to get the right people selected. Give me an idea. We interviewed the school board candidates with the Black Caucus, and we can only endorse two because the other,

and these are African Americans, their election will not have a significant impact on trying to resolve our problems. So we just said we can't endorse them. Wanda. So we just said we can't endorse them. Wanda. I would just reinforce the importance of the bottoms up on the ballot. Realizing how long the ballot is and from the bottom is where the most important people touch your everyday life and everything that you do every day. So making sure that people understand that the ballot is long, flip it over,

and go from the bottom to the top because those are how the people affect your life and everyday life. Final comment, Kelly and Michael. Michael, I'll start with you. Go. Well, this is the most consequential election since 1876, which ended Reconstruction. This is a game changer for us. Everybody study the issues, study the policies from Vice President Kamala Harris. She has an aggressive agenda, aggressive policies that will benefit African-Americans and policies that are good for African-Americans are good for America in general. So this is this is the time to end the political career of Donald Trump and save America and save black America. Kelly. He literally cannot afford to have the Mango Mussolini back in office in any regard.

So whatever kind of ism you have, whether it's sexism, misogyny, classism, elitism, pick an ism, pick an oginy, pick an ist, if you have it, put it to the side because we need to be united on the fact that Donald Trump is not good for this country. He is not good for the economy. He is not good for women's bodies. He is not a good person at all. There is nothing redeemable about this man to put him anywhere close to the Oval Office again. So we need to put our differences aside to make sure that the right person, in this case

being Vice President Kamala Harris, is in the position to truly make this country recalibrate and go back into a move forward in such a way that we can actually make something happen that is better, that is safer, that is even just better as a whole for our children, for us to be proud of this country again. I will close this out, folks, again with math. Wisconsin, 10 electoral college votes. Michigan, 15. Pennsylvania, 19. North Carolina, 16.

President, then Senator Barack Obama, won this state by 14,100 votes. And that was driven by these large black counties in East North Carolina voting in significant numbers. What black folks have to understand in North Carolina, we saw it in Georgia in 2020. We've seen this in other places that when we vote, we win. In Milwaukee in 2022, 50,000 fewer people voted in the midterm election in 2022 than who voted in 2020 presidential election. Mandela Barnes, Lieutenant Governor, African American, lost by 26,000 votes statewide in Wisconsin. And that's how MAGA Senator Ron Johnson got reelected.

If those 50,000 people in Milwaukee, largely African-American, had voted, then you would have a black United States Senator from Wisconsin. In this state, Sherrod Beasley lost her chief justice race for the Supreme Court by 401 votes. And you had more than 100,000 black people who were eligible, but who did not vote. The North Carolina Supreme Court was on pace to be 6-1 Democrats. When it flipped, they dealt with racial gerrymandering. They dealt with a lot of major issues. That Supreme Court is now 5-2 Republican. And remember, after the midterm elections, there were three decisions made by that Supreme Court. When it flipped after the election,

they went back and then re-litigated those three cases and changed those decisions. And so what our people have to understand, when we maximize our numbers, we literally win. And so North Carolina, you've got less than 20 days, same as in Georgia, same as all of the other places. And when we maximize our numbers, we change the game. And so I always say voters shut the hell up because I get tired of people complaining about issues, complaining about what needs to change, but then they do not use their power. So let me thank all the folks at Fayetteville State University, all the folks who've helped us on this three-day tour. We were in Pennsylvania three days last week, three days this week. The folks in Georgia were calling me today. The folks in Wisconsin and Michigan, I told them, I said, I told y'all to call my ass earlier.

But y'all have to wait until October. But the days are running out. And so we're going to be on the road. Folks, go and show the graphics. Sunday, I'm headed to Dallas. Literally, we're driving back tonight, but I'm on a noon flight to Dallas. I will be at Friendship West Baptist Church on Sunday morning Reverend Dr. Frederick Haynes he is doing the

Howard Homecoming weekend service at Rankin Chapel and so he said Roland I need you to go ahead and speak he didn't tell me to that speak I thought it was some other kind of speaking but fine I go ahead and handle his 10 o'clock service and so a woman asked me she said

your wife is ordained minister. I'm like, yeah, she got papers. I'm bootlegged. So I'll be at Friendship West 10 a.m. on Monday. We're going to be voting. We're going to be traveling around Dallas County. First day of early voting in Texas begins on Monday. We'll be traveling with Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. And then I'll be broadcasting live from Friendship West Baptist Church on Monday night back to D.C. on Tuesday. I'll be in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday. And then we're broadcasting live from Edward Waters University in Jacksonville next Thursday. And then we'll be somewhere else Friday.

But that's our schedule. So, folks, please be safe. Thank you so much again to Fayetteville State. Let me thank Rocky Mount Word Church. Let me thank, of course, Elizabeth City State University. We had a fantastic last three days here in North Carolina. So please, folks, maximize your vote so we

can utilize and, again, maximize black power. Thanks a bunch. Holler! Thank you. ...stage of their development. And by the way, stage of their development. And by the way, we all benefit from that.

Everybody benefits from that. So these are just some examples of our plan, and all of that to say, look, I will always, I will always stand and fight for the middle class and working families of America. I come from the middle class, and I will never forget where I come from. My plan also invests in American manufacturing and innovation. wins the competition for the 21st century. USA! USA! USA! Exactly right. USA! USA! USA! And Michigan knows better than most what that means about investing in American industry.

Under my plan we will invest in the industries that built America like steel, iron and the great American auto industry. And contrary to what my opponent is suggesting, I will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive. But here's what I will do. I will invest in communities like Oakland County and Detroit. We will retool existing factories and hire locally and work with unions to create good-paying jobs,

including, by the way, jobs that do not require a college degree, because this is how I feel. Look, this is how I feel about that. We all know a college degree is not the only measure of the skills and experience of a qualified worker. So part of my plan is to do an assessment of all the federal jobs, which will be under our jurisdiction, to figure out which of them should be rethought of in terms of whether or not it actually requires a college degree. And the next step on that is going to be to challenge the private sector to do the same. I will also protect the pensions of union members and retirees, including yesterday when I announced the protection of the full-earned pension benefits of more than 22,500 retirees under the Detroit Carpenters Pension Fund. Because back to the point about dignity, I understand the dignity of work and I understand the importance of having dignity in your retirement.

Now Donald Trump has a different approach. I don't need to tell you, he's full of big promises, but always fails to deliver. Always fails to deliver. Always fails to deliver. So remember he said he was the only one, you know how he talks, the only one who could bring back America's manufacturing jobs. Remember when he said that?

And then America lost almost 200,000 manufacturing jobs when he was president, including tens of thousands of the biggest losers of manufacturing jobs in American history. And his track record for the auto industry was also a disaster. He promised workers in Warren, you remember, he promised workers in Warren that the auto industry would, and I'm going to quote, not lose one plant during his presidency. Then American automakers announced the closure of six auto plants when he was president. Including General Motors in Warren and Stellantis in Detroit. Remember that?

Thousands, thousands of Michigan auto workers lost their jobs. And Donald Trump's running mate, you know, because the position was vacant and he had to fill it, right? You know, for the young people here, you know when you go for an interview and you sit down at the interview and you ask the person who's interviewing, why is the job vacant? vacant. So Donald Trump's current running mate recently suggested that if they win, they would threaten the Grand River Assembly plant in Lansing. The same plant that our administration protected earlier this year, saving 650 union jobs. And remember, Donald Trump encouraged automakers to move their plants out of Michigan so they could pay their workers less. And when the UAW went on strike, when the UAW went on strike to

demand the higher wages that you deserved, Donald Trump went to a non-union shop. Remember? And he attacked the UAW. And he said striking—he said striking and collective bargaining don't—and I'm going to quote—don't make a damn bit of difference. That's what he said about striking and collective bargaining. Well, Michigan, you know better, we know better. Strong unions mean higher wages, better health care, and greater dignity for union members and everyone else. Because you don't have to be a member of a union to thank unions for your five-day work week and your vacation time and your sick leave. Thank a union. Which is why when I am president, with your help, I will sign the PRO Act into law and make it easier for workers to join a union

and negotiate for better pay and working conditions. And now Donald Trump is making the same empty promises to the people of Michigan that he did before, hoping you will forget how he let you down the last time. But we're not falling for the okey-doke. No. And we won't be fooled. Just for example, Google Project 2025. Which I still, by the way, find it fascinating to think that they actually put that in writing.

I mean, they put it in writing. They published it. They bound it and gave it out. Right. And here's the thing. To read it is to know it is a detailed and dangerous blueprint for what he will do if he is elected president. Donald Trump will give billionaires and corporations massive tax cuts, cut Social Security and Medicare, get rid of the $35 cap on insulin for seniors that you all helped us get. Make it easier. Read it. He will make it easier for companies to deny overtime pay to workers. And he intends to impose what I call a Trump sales tax, which is at least 20 percent, if

not more, of a tax on everyday basic necessities, which economists have estimated will cost the American family an additional $4,000 a year. And if that weren't enough, on top of this and all of this, he plans to end the Affordable Care Act. And he has no plan to replace it. He has, because he has, quote, concepts of a plan. So you all have heard me say, you know, I think Donald Trump is an unserious man. And the consequences, if he were to ever get back into the White House, are absolutely dangerously serious. Because think about it. He's going to threaten the health insurance coverage of 45.

OK, so here's the thing. Here's the thing about that. Here's the thing about that. The courts are going to take care of that. We're going to take care of November. We're going to take care of November. How about about it in terms of the serious nature of this. He's basically threatening the health insurance coverage of 45 million Americans based on a concept. And taking us back to when you remember, insurance companies could deny people with preexisting conditions. You remember what that was? And that's why we are not going back. We are not going back. No, we are not going back. We will move forward. We will move forward because ours is a fight for the future. Ours is a fight for the future and it is a fight for freedom. like the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body

and not have her government tell her what to do. And we are, we remember how we got here, right? Donald Trump hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade, and they did as he intended. And now check this out. In America, one in three women live in a state with a Trump abortion ban. Many with no exception even for rape and incest,

which means you're telling someone who is a survivor of a violation to their body that they have no right to make a decision about what happens to their body next? That is immoral. Immoral. And let us agree, one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do with her body. Not the government. Not the government. No. If she chooses, she will talk with her priest, her pastor, her rabbi, her imam, but not the government and some folks up in a statehouse telling her what's in her own best interest.

And so here's my pledge to you. When Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide, as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law. Proudly sign it into law. And across our nation, listen, I'm traveling the country, and I'll tell you, across our nation, we are witnessing a full-on assault on hard-won freedoms and rights, including the freedom to vote. Let me tell you, in places like Georgia, where I'm spending some time, you know they passed a law that makes it illegal to give people food and water for standing in line to vote? Yeah.

I mean, the hypocrisy abounds. What happened to love thy neighbor? Attacks on the freedom to join a union. Attacks on the freedom to be safe from gun violence. Mia talked about that. Attacks on the freedom to be safe from gun violence. Mia talked about that. Attacks on the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride. So I say all that to say what you know, which is again why you are spending your precious time here.

There is so much on the line in this election. And this is not 2016 or 2020. The stakes are even higher because remember a few months ago, the Supreme Court of the United States basically told the former president that he is effectively immune from doing whatever he does in office. And just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails. Just imagine. He who has vowed, if reelected, to be a dictator on day one. He who calls Americans who disagree with him the enemy from within. You know where that language comes from? And says that he would use the military, the American military, to go after the American people.

He who has called for the, quote, termination of the Constitution of the United States of America? And let us be very clear. Someone who suggests we should terminate the Constitution of the United States of America should never again stand behind the seal of the President of the United States of America. Never again. Never again. Never again. So, we are not going back, and so this is how we're going to make sure we don't go back. Okay, so here, let's get to the business then. So, Michigan, it all comes down to this. We are here together because we know what is at stake. We are here together most importantly also because we love our country. We love

our country. And I do believe it is one of the highest expressions and forms of love of our country and patriotism to then fight for the ideals of our country and to fight. And to fight to realize the promise of America. So, election days in 18 days, okay? And here in Michigan, early voting starts on Saturday, October 26th, one week from tomorrow. If you live in Wayne County, you can vote in person even sooner. Early voting in Detroit starts tomorrow. Okay? So now is the time to make your plan to vote.

And if you have received your ballot in the mail, please do not wait. Fill it out tonight and return it. Because, folks, the election is here. And we need to, as you know best how to do, we need to energize. We need to organize. We need to mobilize. Knowing, knowing our vote is our voice. And your voice is your power.

So Michigan, today I ask you, are you ready to make your voices heard? Do we believe in freedom? Do we believe in opportunity? Do we believe in the promise of America? And are we ready to fight for it? And when we fight, we win. God bless you. God bless America. I'm gonna take it all I got, I'm gonna bring it all I can bring. I'm gonna take it all I got, I'm gonna bring it all I can bring. Hey, Drew Scott here, letting you know why I recently joined the board of an amazing nonprofit, A Sense of Home.

For 10 years, this charity has been creating homes for young people exiting foster care. It's an incredible organization. Just days into the LA fires, they moved mountains to launch a new emergency relief program, providing fully functional home environments for those who lost everything in the fires. Please get involved. Sign up to volunteer, donate furniture, or even donate funds. You can go to asenseofhome.org to find out more information. Together, we can help our LA community rebuild. It takes all of us. I know find out more information. Together, we can help our L.A. community rebuild. It takes all of us. 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 We're on Drugs Podcast Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast.