#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Roland On The Road in PA Talking 2024 Elections, GOTV Inititives, Black Men In Battleground States

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

10.9.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Roland On The Road in PA Talking 2024 Elections, GOTV Inititives, Black Men In Battleground States LIVE from Sharon Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  We are just under four weeks from the presidential election.  We will talk to several state lawmakers and political activists about their plans to deliver Pennsylvania to Vice President Kamala Harris.  We'll also discuss Get Out The Vote initiatives aimed at black men in the battleground states with Cliff Albright.  And Higher Heights' Glynda Carr will join us to discuss the #BlackWomenLead 2024 Bus Tour, which kicks off this Saturday.  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. the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position, pregame to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Black Star Network is here. Hold no punches.

A real revolutionary right now. We support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. I thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. Stay Black. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN.

You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Today's Wednesday, October 9, 2024. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. We're live in Philadelphia at Sharon Baptist Church. More conversations about the election.

We are less than 30 days away. And, of course, this state is a significant one, a major battleground state. We'll be unpacking what's happening here. Also, we'll be joined by the leader of Higher Heights, which is focused on electing black women to office, Glenda Carr. She'll join us as we talk about what they are doing when it comes to this election. Also, Hurricane Milton is bearing down on Central Florida. Moments ago, President Joe Biden talked from the White House about that. We'll carry that for you to let you know what's happening with the hurricane as well. Plus,

we'll talk about the battle going back and forth again between the candidates. And also, we'll talk about what's happening with the senatorial races, because that also is critical, and also House races, because that will determine who controls the House and the Senate. If Democrats are gaining control of the House in the Senate. Democrats are gaining control of the House. That means Hocking Jeffords will become the first black speaker of the House in U.S. history. Folks, it is time to bring the funk right here in Roland Martin on the filter on the Black, the fine And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling, best believe he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics

With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling, yeah It's Uncle Roro, y'all Yeah, yeah It's rollingin' Martin. Rollin' with Rollin' now. He's funky, he's fresh,

he's real the best, you know he's Rollin' Martin. Now. Martin. Martel Martel Tomorrow will be at Lincoln University doing the show there where they've got a homecoming. And so look forward to being there. We had a great show last night, lots of conversation. We'll talk about tonight. But first, Hurricane Milton is causing significant issues all up and down Florida. There have been evacuations over the past 48 hours.

It's expected to hit landfall on Thursday. And we're still talking about a Category 3 when it hits land. As somebody who's lived through several hurricanes, born and raised in Houston, folks cannot play any games with it. This is the back-to-back hurricanes. Just had Hurricane Helene that wreaked serious havoc in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina as well. A few moments ago, President Joe Biden addressed the nation talking about their preparations for Hurricane Milton. This is

what he had to say. Within a few hours, Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall on the west coast of Florida, the western coast of Florida. Already we're seeing impacts from the storm, including significant winds and heavy rain. And there's also been frequent and widespread tornado warnings throughout the day, and they're continuing and expected to expand as Milton moves over land, including a few that have already touched down in South Florida. Currently, Milton is a category three with wind speeds up to 120 miles per hour. But no one should be confused. It's still expected to be one of the most and worst destructive hurricanes that hit Florida in over a century. You know, both the heads of the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service made it very clear in conversations I've had with them earlier today. Milton still carries incredible destructiveness, can wipe out communities, can cause loss of life. Storm surge is still expected to be up to 13 feet.

So I urge everyone in Hurricane Milton's path to listen to local officials and follow all the safety instructions they give. At this point, evacuation is probably difficult. So I encourage people to look for a safer shelter. Sometimes moving just a few miles can mean the difference between life and death. We've already approved emergency declarations for Florida. We have thousands of federal personnel on the ground. We've staged and are ready to go. We have 20 million meals, 40 million liters of water.

In my direction, the Secretary of Defense, Austin, has pre-positioned search and rescue teams, helicopters, and high water vehicles as close to the storm as possible so they're ready to conduct life-saving missions. And the administrators of the administrator of FEMA will be on site tonight in Florida and the state's emergency operations center. Both administrator Criswell and I will be in constant contact with state and local officials in the hours ahead. Once the storm hits, we're going to work with state officials to clear debris, restore power, and do it as fast as possible.

The Army Corps of Engineers will pump out water and decrease flooding. We've already directed the Department of Defense to be ready to provide active duty service members to support Florida after the storm surge if Governor DeSantis requests the help, which I expect he might, just like we did in North Carolina. I have surged over 1,000 U.S. Coast Guard personnel to perform search and rescue missions and reopen the port of Tampa as soon as possible. Now, I want to reiterate a point. I made clear earlier today to the folks who have been impacted by Helene, this impact and will be now impacted by Milton. Over the last few weeks, there's been reckless and irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies about what's

going on. It's undermining confidence of the people in Florida and incredible rescue and recovery work that has been undertaken. Literally, there are there are thousands of fellow Americans who are putting their lives at stake and put it on the line to do the dangerous work that needs to be done now. And it's harmful to those who most need the help. Quite frankly, these lies are un-American, and there is simply no place for them, not now, not ever. Former President Trump has led this onslaught of lies. Assertions have been made that property is being confiscated.

That's simply not true. They're saying people impacted by these storms will receive $750 in cash and no more. That is simply not true either. They're saying that money needed for these crises are being diverted to migrants. What the heck are they talking about? Stop it. It's outrageous. It's just not true. Now, the claims are getting even more bizarre. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman from Georgia, is now saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather.

We're controlling the weather. It's beyond ridiculous. It's so stupid. It's got to stop. Let me close with this. As difficult as these days and weeks have been, we've seen incredible courage by so many of our fellow Americans. I want to thank all the first responders for running toward danger instead of away from it, for saving lives and making a difference.

FEMA personnel risking their lives, climbing on hillsides to reach people who were cut off by Helena. Army National Guard flying through the Gale Wind Force. It's amazing what they're doing. Firefighters lifting collapsed wood and metal in an attempt to see if there are survivors, any survivors under the debris, risking their lives. Coast Guard teams repelling from helicopters to rescue people and risking their own lives. There are countless friends and neighbors who have sacrificed for the greater good. Volunteers leaving their own families behind to help search for someone else's family.

Fellow Americans looking out for one another. That's America at its very best. That's who we are. So my final message tonight is to the people of Florida and all the impacted states, we've got your back. We've got your back. And Kamala and I will be there for as long as it takes to rescue, recover, and rebuild. May God bless you all, and may God protect those serving in the eye of this storm on

behalf of our nation. Thank you. Why do you think President Trump is spreading misinformation? Why do you think President Trump has sent a test case to President Putin during the height of the pandemic? Do you have a comment, sir? Why do you think Trump is spreading misinformation? I don't know. I simply don't know. You can speculate, but I just find it... I've used the phrase more than I've used it ever in my whole career, un-American. It's un-American. It's not who the hell we are.

What are they talking about? Sir, have you considered calling him and asking him to stop doing that? To stop spreading it? Oh, come on. Mr. President, does Governor DeSantis need to take Vice President Harris' calls? All I can tell you is I'm talking to Governor DeSantis. He's been very gracious.

He's thanked me for all we've done. He knows what we're doing. And I think that's important. Can you say that Florida has everything it needs for the storm? How was your call with Netanyahu today? We didn't talk about the storm. Earlier today, Vice President Kamala Harris called into CNN and the Weather Channel as well, talking about this and urging folks to actually evacuate from the storm areas. I'm going to go to my panel.

Rebecca Carruthers, Vice President of Fair Election Center, Derek Jackson, state representative out of Georgia. Right there, Rebecca, I think is part of the problem that we see so often during this campaign. Something happens, and then whether it's President Biden or Vice President Harris, they're being asked to respond to something stupid that Donald Trump says or does, as opposed to keeping the focus on what the actual issue is. And you saw President Biden literally say several times, it's stupid what these conservatives are out here doing, even suggesting that this is probably one of the dumbest things I've ever heard, that the Democrats can't control the weather. And then I saw someone on social media who literally said, somebody posted on social media, like, is it weird that the hurricanes only hit red states?

These are truly some dumb people, Rebecca. Roland, you know, one thing that I wish that President Biden would have taken the time to do in that press conference was actually directly talked to Congressman Mike Johnson and asked him to bring the House of Representatives back in session. Because one thing that we do know of the FEMA budget this year, I believe only $191 billion was actually finally agreed to and passed. When we know as of four days ago, the total projected costs for Hurricane Helene had already toppled over $200 billion already, and that was four

days ago. And we know it's going to continue to escalate. And then we have Milton right behind it. So right now, we know that there isn't enough money that's being allocated by the Congress to actually fill FEMA's coffers. And we know there's going to have to be some emergency spending bills. So I do wish that President Biden would have taken that time to say, hey, Congress, come back to town and do your job. We have a political football. When we actively have thousands of people in the mountains of North Carolina who are still missing, we still have water, fresh water and potable water needed in North Carolina. And then we're watching, unfortunately, what's happening now in Florida. But one thing that I will say that I'm seeing from the work that we're doing in Florida

is we're seeing so many young people who scrambled right before the deadline to get registered to vote because they're watching. They see what's happening. They see a governor and they see a former President Trump denying climate science. They see a J.D. Vance saying, oh, this is junk. It's not real. But then they're literally dealing with the impacts of climate change as it's unfortunately getting ready to ravage Florida. Derek, U.S. State Representative in Georgia, and if you want to see how nuts these folks are, 68 Republicans in the legislature voted against even taking up the bill that would have extended voter registration from mail-in ballots as well as the deadline to vote. Do they not understand that if you are bracing for a hurricane, the last thing you're

thinking about is trying to go register to vote? You're trying to batten down homes. You're trying to leave. You're trying to secure all sorts of safety precautions. This, to me, makes no sense. Not only does it not make any sense, Roland, when you think about dealing with a hurricane, as I have had during my 22 years in the Navy, the last thing you're thinking about is, where do I need to vote and how do I vote? You're thinking about preserving your life, preserving your homes, your livelihood. Listen, 213 folks have died, Roland. This is the gravity of this situation.

213 citizens have died. Cities have been wiped out up there in North Carolina, in Florida, been devastated, right? We're talking about the loss of homes. And so where you got President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, where they're responding, they're not only responding to the need of citizens, because this is not the time to think about political party. And so it doesn't matter if that state is a red state or a blue state. You're seeing President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, they're picking up the phones.

They're talking to Republican governors. And oh, yeah, by the way, these Republican governors basically saying how Trump is lying, right? How they're, you know, and so these Republican governors are coordinating with the Biden-Harris administration to make sure that the needs and the welfare of their citizens are being taken care of.

And then now we have Hurricane Milton on the heels of Hurricane Helena. And so here in Georgia, as you well know, Roland, just, you know, back in Georgia, as you well know, Roland, back in 2017, we had to use $275 million to help rural Georgia. We weren't thinking about if this is a Republican or Democrat citizen. This was the life that we are required to help and protect and serve.

And so that's the reason why this situation is so serious and we don't have time to keep running down these various rabbit holes that Trump keeps sending us down. And of course, when you look at the damage from the hurricane, we talk about to the Georgia agricultural economy, North Carolina is already in excess of a billion dollars in terms of it's going to be lost in terms of pecans and other fruits, vegetables, you name it. And so you're right. And so then, of course, you had a speaker of the House who says he's not going to call Congress back in the session. They literally are on vacation. You're talking about a five-week time period off. To me, it's not hard to actually call them back to be able to bring them in to actually approve additional funding. But I can guarantee you, if Hurricane Milton wipes out a

whole lot of stuff in these Republican districts, then you're going to see folks crying and wailing about resources. And then let's see if they start calling on members to come back to come back in session in order to approve the money. So we'll see what happens there. Hold tight one second. I go into a break. We come back. We're going to talk about this election and how all of this impacts what takes place over the next some 28 days. We there's lot going on, and we'll break it all here in Philadelphia at Sharon Baptist Church. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Blackstar Network. Back in a moment.

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. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes sir, we are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of

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

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

I 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. Here's the deal. We gotta set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game.

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

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. 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 himself 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. 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 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. 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. 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 that will protect our rights, and that's Kamala Harris.

I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message. My name is Lena Charles, and I'm from Opelousas, Louisiana. Yes. That is Zydeco capital of the world. My name is Margaret Chappelle. I'm from Dallas, Texas, representing the Urban Trivia Games. It's me, Sherri Shepherd, and you know what you're watching. Roland Martin on Unfiltered. Thank you. All right, folks, we're back here in Philadelphia,

Sharon Baptist Church. Glad to be here. Introduce my panel here. To my left, Dr. R.J. Wilson, CEO of Faith Connects. I should explain exactly what that is. All them acronyms. Since what? NJP, Commission for Black Male Engagement.

Also, y'all can clap. Y'all can clap. Go ahead. Ryan Boyer, Jr., Chair, Young Voters for Harris. All right, glad to have all three. So we got a couple of panels, and so we'll chat with them first. First of all, again, battleground state, and you cannot turn the television on in this state and not see nothing but ads. I don't care if football game, baseball game, does not matter.

I was having a bite to eat before here, and I saw what I thought was a Willie Horton-type ad against the vice president talking about her record as district attorney. Just your thoughts on what has been happening in this state in this election season and just your assessment. You first. First of all, thank you for all the work that you do. And thank you for going to these battleground states and showing up and showing out because

all hands on deck now, less than 28 days, right? And so as my husband and I, Morgan E. Wilson Jr., he's my partner in crime and partner in everything else, what we've been seeing specifically with black males in Philadelphia, and we own a mental health practice called, you said I was explaining it, Faith Connects. It stands for Family Individual Therapeutic Healing, but we also launched a nonprofit called Mental Health First Connects. And the focus is to provide mental health and wellness- wellness seeking behaviors and deal with the issues on the ground. Well, what I'm seeing is we are struggling. We are suffering. And they say that when white America gets cold, black America gets the flu, pneumonia, and maybe COVID, and then dies from it, right? And so when we think about this voting black, we know that black women are going to vote.

Many of us feel like we're going to go out there no matter what, but we get taken for granted because y'all know we're going to go out there and do it. The black men, and I can say this because of my husband and for my father who's 89, a lot of black men are feeling disenfranchised. They're feeling disengaged. They're feeling unheard. They're feeling unwelcome. They're feeling like they are not listened to. I call it the haves and the have-nots. Black men and women want to be heard. You want to be affirmed, right? You also want to be valued and you want to be elevated. And that's not happening on the

ground, right? And so when you talk about men, and Manny talked about it last night, especially for the younger black men, they're feeling hopeless. They're feeling like they don't have anyone to hear them. Now, notwithstanding, we know what we got to do. But I like to say, Roland, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. We got to show that we care. We got to do. But I like to say, Roland, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. We got to show that we care. We got to step out with our hearts and connect with people. So a little earlier, I taped an interview with Stephen A. Smith. That's going to be on his show today. And he was talking about a column that was in the New York Times. Charles Coleman

wrote about it. He was talking about very much the very same thing. There was something I said to Steve and I said that also has to happen. I said, if we as a black community, specifically black men, black women, if we're waiting on a party or waiting on candidates to speak to us, then we're going to be waiting a very long time. And I just still fundamentally believe that what has to happen is we have to have institutions that are operating 365 days a year, seven days a week, speaking to our interests and actually communicating to our people. And the conversation for me with this election should not be Democrat, Republican, should not be Kamala Trump. It should be here are the issues, and then now how do folks line up?

And I'm just of the mind that I can't wait for somebody to call my name for me to still do my part. Now, that may be a discussion, that difference between somebody who is informed of what's going on and somebody who is not. But that's the struggle I have in terms of waiting for someone to communicate because whether we like it or not, 70% of the electorate nationally is white. 70%. So the reality is if you're running, 70% of the folk who are going to be voting are white. This is still a white nation. And so it's no surprise what the issues that people are focusing on, because if that's 70% and then everybody else

is 30, that explains to you exactly what's going on. So I think the biggest problem that I see is tying a real life lived experiences to what people say politically, what people are promising politically. Where do we find black men? What are we dealing with on the ground every single day and how do we tie that to okay, because

I'm dealing with these experiences, this person is representing me so I need to go and vote for this person. And a conversation I was in earlier last week really centered around like, okay, there's so much information out there. Folks don't necessarily know what to believe, but they know who to believe, right? So we also need to have those key people in play, the key trusted folks, community gatekeepers, in a sense to say, hey, these are the people who represent your best interest,

so these are the people that you need to support, right? But again, it's communicating that sense of value to lived experiences of black people, lived experiences of black men specifically, right? One of the things that I love that Kamala said was that, you know, black men aren't a monolith, right? So there are so many nuances in these experiences in which we need to, they need to be heard, they need to be valued, and like you said, they need to be addressed as well, right? But see, Ryan, when we say they need to be heard, the first thing I then go is, okay, then where are they hearing you?

I mean, at the end of the day, if you're, two things, if you're not going to candidates and then if there are not the town hall discussions forms, then who's going to hear you and where? And that's also part of the deal. So so for me, when I'm when I'm when I am look how I look at this, the onus is really on both folks. To me, this is sort of like, you can't have somebody who says, our marriage is in trouble, but I'm waiting to see what you're going to do. I can speak on that. But my point is, it's two people. And a rescue team is not coming. So when we talk about candidates making promises i keep trying to explain to people no candidate can't

i love these people talk about tangibles no candidate can deliver on a promise unless they are elected so that means that after the election, if they win, how do you then continue to press them to get it done? Because there's going to be somebody on the other side who doesn't want that to happen. I just think that what often has happened is many of us have checked out of the process after the election is over and then go, hey, what happened? We didn't stay engaged. So as you're looking at these young voters for Harris, what are they saying? And are they

echoing some of these same sentiments? Yeah, I think you bring up a great point. I think young black voters, and specifically, they've been disengaged from the whole civic engagement process because, like you said, we only focus on these issues that affect our community during the election cycles. It's like every so often, every four years or so, we fall in the same situation. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

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

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 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. 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. Here's the deal.

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

Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Kamala Harris has never backed down from a challenge. She put cartel members and drug traffickers behind bars. And she will secure our border. Here's her plan. Hire thousands more border agents. Enforce the law and step up technology. And stop

fentanyl smuggling and human trafficking. We need a leader with a real plan to fix the border. And that's Kamala Harris. I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message. The overturning of Roe almost killed me. I had a blood clot in my uterus that caused my labor to have to be induced because of the overturn of Roe v. Wade. I wasn't able to get life-saving treatment sooner. I almost died. And that's because of the decision that Donald Trump made. People's attention spans are a lot shorter. So young folks, they're consuming information with 30-second clips on a day-to-day basis through TikTok, through YouTube Shorts, through Instagram. And that's how they get their information.

And I feel like there's not enough of a blitz of that type of information funneled towards young voters. Well, we're seeing, I mean, so again, we're seeing a lot of these things happen, digital ads, things along those lines. I just still think that if, I just still think that when we talk about folks who say stuff is not getting done, like literally I read this piece and it was very interesting

because in the, it was a really interesting thing for me when I saw it. And actually, there were a lot of contradictions in it as well. And so the lead, the first paragraph said, Black men today face a unique reality that warrants consideration under nearly any relevant index for measuring the quality of American life, how far we get in school, our finances when compared with those of our white counterparts, and how long we will live. Black men consistently rank last or near last.

There is not a black man alive in this country right now who has ever seen black male unemployment equal to or less than that of his white counterparts. But it also applies to black women. So if I go through here and talk about that, that applies to black women. When he was talking about Congress not moving forward on the George Floyd Police and Justice Act, I absolutely agree with that. But it also applies to black women. Then when he was talking about the issue of voting rights, the issue of starting businesses, that also applies to black women. And then if I keep going on and again,

talking about this here, and there were some things, he said, student loan repayment is a worthy cause to champion, especially in a tough economy. But what relevance does that have when black male enrollment on the college campuses is dwindling? Okay, but whose fault is that? And we also have to address that. And the reality is, you can't, if I'm going to hold a politician accountable for student loan, I got to realize,

how does the end of a process? So then it's high school, then it's middle school, then it's elementary school. So then I have to deal with that. And then if I start going, if I keep going on, and like I've heard a lot about,

there needs to be a very specific agenda to black men. OK, so I'll ask the two of you. What is that? What is the specific agenda to black men that is so drastically different than black women? What is it? So I don't necessarily know if it's that drastically different, right? So, again, black men, black people in general, we have historical disenfranchisement with the political process.

We understand that. Black men have our own specific set of nuances and kind of disengagement with the political process because, again, because folks feel like they haven't been heard. They haven't been. No, no, no, no. But, okay. Hold on. They haven't been heard.

What do they want to be heard about? That's what I want to know. Their experience. And what is that? Their experience needs to be validated. So, I mean, essentially their experience is, I mean, school to prison pipeline, right? Right. Their experience is those specific things of being a male that allows gender-specific problems that sometimes get lost in the greater conversation.

Right. Like what? Right. I mean, so school-to-prison pipelines. But here's the deal. If I pull the data right now, the suspension rates for black boys is on par with the suspension rates of black girls. So again, the only thing I'm asking is when I hear the nuances of black men, what I want to know is what's the nuance? Well, economic opportunity. I would say that's one of them. Funding for education. Our education system is broken.

Okay, let's stop right there. Funding for education. If black boys go into school and the black girls go into school, they're under the same funding paradigm. No, no, no, I'm not talking college. I'm talking elementary school, middle school, high school. So school funding is not based upon gender. School funding is based upon enrollment. But I would also say representation is extremely

important for young black males as well representation of what like teachers in the classroom that's right needs to be more black teachers more black male presence in the classroom here's what i'm trying to get at i've had this conversation in so many different places. But what rarely happens are folks actually identifying the specific things that are different and they want addressed that then somebody can then address. And that, to me, is where the struggle is. I think what we have to, because here's what we have to do. We have to actually push back when somebody throws it out to force them to be specific. So, for instance, in this piece, and I've actually heard it, in this piece, the brother said there's a perception that the Democratic Party is a party of women. Because I'm telling you, I've heard this.

I've heard this. A lot of brothers are bothered by when they hear black girl magic. And I'm trying. I'm just going to do with perceptions. I've heard this. are bothered by when they hear black girl magic. And I'm trying, I'm just, we're going to do it with perceptions. I've heard this. I've heard brothers say, all I'm seeing are women being appointed and being touted. And I then go, okay, so they've done 200 federal judges, 58 black, 37 black women, 21 black men.

I then asked them, how many existing federal judges are black men compared to black women? They can't answer that question because there's way more black men. So then I had a brother say, well, I'm seeing all these sisters, Supreme Court justice. I'm like, OK, Katonji Brown Jackson. That's one sister. They've only been three black people two of them black men, there are four United States Senators right now who are black, one black woman, LaFonza Butler who leaves in January, and three black men I then say, okay, there are more

black male members of the U.S. House than black women. So I start walking these things through, and what I say to brothers is, okay, you're responding to recent history because they've been frozen out. 1972, Shirley Chisholm, she did not go to the black political convention in Gary, Indiana, because the black men there were clear they weren't going to support her for president. So I think what we have to do is, I think we as black men have to have some real conversations to brothers as well to say, if you're responding to certain things you're seeing now ask why am i seeing that because you're also correcting what are historical

um you know historical realities of folks being frozen out and so that so that to me is a problem because also if i started naming who your top black democratic leaders ha Hakeem Jeffries, minority leader, man. Jim Clyburn, man. Jamie Harrison, head of the DNC, man. I mean, we could just start naming folks. And that to me, again, I think what has to happen, there has to be the constant pushback. Because if we don't force these brothers

to have to answer that, I get feelings. I get perceptions. But I need to, I want to get down to, no, no, no, let me get to the core. What is your fundamental issue? And I think part of the problem with this conversation, I'm going to come up to you, then I'm going to come to you, is that we are not pushing them to have to answer that central question. We are allowing emotions and perceptions and kind of stuff, what I heard to rule, that's not rooted in reality.

So I wholeheartedly agree with that. But I do also want to kind of go back to understanding the nature of the black male socialization process, right? So we go back to, you know, black men, one, we're not allowed to emote. We're expected to have it all. And we're expected to perform. The way we engage in society, the way we feel validated and loved in society is based on performance, right? So, and the only way we're allowed to emote that is valid is through anger or through kind of sexual prowess, right? Especially growing up young, especially growing up here in Philly, right? That leads you to negative consequences, right? So if you get led on that path to negative consequences, you don't have folks that give you the right tools, organizations like yourself, where folks can actually have social support and all these other

things that lead you to those specific negative consequences. Was that jail or in a grave or anything else, right? So those things and then also, okay, so say you make it past there, middle school, high school, you get to college, right? You get to college, as a black man, you expect to have money. As a black man, again, you expect to perform. In college, where are you getting money from, right? Where are you getting money from, right? Where are you getting necessarily these things? So again, I think the nature of the experience, again,

is really understanding the pressures of performance without support that black men go through, and not to say that black women don't go through as well, that aren't necessarily immediately tied to the larger political process if folks aren't having those continued conversations so us here on the the mayor's council for african-american males we have those conversations in those communities and ryan is on that commission as well what you're seeing though in the data though what you're seeing is you're seeing millennial and gen z men right becoming far more conservative than their female

counterparts and and so that's a there's a reason ryan why donald trump actually becoming your first then ryan there's a reason why trump is specifically going to these millennial Gen Z podcasters, because what you have is Fox News, Stephen Millers of the world, Jesse Waters of the world, Josh Howley, Senator from Missouri, they are on this whole manhood, manhood, manhood, manhood. So what they're doing is they are talking about that we're becoming a feminine nation. And so what they're doing, they're pushing the buttons of a lot of these young men, oh, you're soft, and then now they're appealing to them that way. These gender dynamics are playing.

And so political folks are looking at this by saying, wait a minute, what's going on here in terms of why these younger men, not just black, are appealing because Trump is presenting himself as this strong, tough, rugged, John Wayne type person. And I get all of that, but I'm sitting here going, keep in mind, John Wayne, that John ain't got nothing for you beyond his attitude and persona. So if you want to vote for persona, I get it. But let me let you know what's behind that persona.

And then you can be like, oh, my God, what did I do? Now it's too late. You know, Roland. I want to go way back. Like we women just got the right to vote not that long ago. Right. And what's been happening, which I think I feel like you're alluding to, is that there has been the destruction and the severing of black men and

women for years. That is not of our own doing. But just because we didn't do it and we didn't deserve it, doesn't mean it's not on us to fix it. Slavery separated black men and women. It separated our families.

Lynching, you know, Jim Crow, all the way up to the welfare program where women had children by men who could not live in the house with their babies. And let's be clear, that also was not designed for black people. That was designed for white women. There you go. That was not designed for us. Yeah, yeah. But we certainly did not benefit from it. Right, right.

And so you said something last night about these issues for black men, which I love black men. And I believe that black men love us back as black women. 44,000 showed up when Kamala, when Biden dropped out of the race, and then 55,000 men showed up the next day saying, we got to take care of our sister. Right. But, but, but the sisters show up every week. Absolutely. I understand. I lead the black men call. I'm not in that meeting. No, no, no. I am. I'm telling you, I'm sitting here going, where y'all at? So what, so what happens is again, what you're talking about,

we've created the space but one thing that brothers do and they gotta own it brothers don't keep showing up the sisters keep showing up stay organized stay mobilized and I know

all the sisters on that call that's a regiment they gotta run a show they raise money do all that sort of stuff like that. And so that's why I tell brothers, you can't be hyped for the moment because next week is the 29th anniversary of the Million Man March. Next week. Yeah, yeah. October 16th. So that's also part of the deal.

Cats can't say, I want to be heard. Okay. We hear every Sunday, where you at? I think that's the consistency that you're talking about. But you also have to deal with the survival that's happening on the ground and speak to that so that they will show up. One thing I want to say about this black maternal health issue, you cannot talk about maternal health if you do not talk about paternal health. It goes hand in hand. And what we're trying to do is divide these issues, but it's a collective issue. And we have to have, you talked about conversations, right? Community conversations.

They need to be courageous conversations. We need to be honest with ourselves and we need to be honest with each other so that we can make a difference ultimately 28 days and no matter what happens right we're gonna have to deal with the fallout of it but here but here's why here's why i don't believe you have to have it and just be clear i'm clear and then rebecca and derrick hold on we're coming to y'all i'm good ryan then i could bring them up here's why i don't have to have a paternal health conversation when i'm having a black maternal health conversation because the black maternal health conversation when I'm having a black maternal health conversation because the black maternal health conversation is a specific conversation that actually involves paternal as well because they birth in boys that's right so but but the problem is when the vice president

is talking about black maternal health brothers are like that ain't me. That is you. That is you. Because one, they got pregnant somehow. Yes. I mean, that's just biology. That was not, ain't a bunch of Marys out there. Any Mackley conceptions. It's just not. It's not. It's just not.

It's just not. But again, that's a perfect example, Ryan, though, of an issue that I've heard brothers define as, oh, she talking to sisters. No, that's actually our issue, too. So I don't always have to have somebody say brothers to know that's also involving me. Go ahead. So address your earlier point. I haven't really heard that many brothers hating on sisters. I don't hear that.

The primary concern that I've been hearing from black males is how am I going to put food on the table? How am I going to provide for my family? Um, if I have a small business and I got the T's dot, the T's crossed and the I's dotted and I can't get access to capital, how am I going to get access to capital? And then, and then the response is of Trump's four years and Biden-Harris' four years, who's actually provided more access to capital for black-owned businesses. Right. And I think to that point— Biden-Harris. There's a lot of misinformation being spread.

Or— And there's not enough information being funneled through the black community— Right. —to where they'll know that. Well, that's why they also need to watch my show every day, because we provide the information. Right. So, but that's— But again, you're right. So again.

But a lot of the time, platforms like yours, we cater to people like everybody in this room who are in tune with this type of stuff. No, no, no, no, no. We don't. No, no, no. We talk to everybody. We talk to everybody. No, no, no. We talk to everybody.

Whoever shows up, shows up. But that's the point. Right. That's the point. The self-selection process. These people in the communities, they're not worried about this. They're worried about surviving. But that's the point. These people in the communities, they're not worried about this. They're worried about surviving. They're in survival mode. But here's the point I'm making here.

When we talk about I'm in survival mode but then I need information, I need access. Information provides you where to get the access. See, I'm going back to at some point, at some point, whenever we had these conversations, I got to put the onus on the other person to do some work. And so what happens is when I'm out talking to folks, it happens all the time.

Brother's like, man, I got this idea, but I ain't getting no help. Who did you call? Well, what do you mean? Who did you call? Who did you reach out to? And so then when I sort of asked, when I asked that third and fourth question, say, man, white, no, no, no. Don't see. I tell everybody, don't come to me with a problem and not expect me to hit you with some questions.

So what happens is the other person got to do some work. And so we've got to, again, when we have these discussions, we've got to push folks to say, I need you to do some stuff too. It can't be you come to me with 99% of the energy and I'm just going to sit in and wait on you. That simply cannot happen. And so when I'm challenging folks on this, that's when folk get real nervous because now I'm making them do some work. So when we're having these conversations in neighborhoods, our deal has to be, okay, if you want this, call this person or go here. I purposely don't carry business cards anymore. You know why? Because 99.9% of the people never email.

So why am I walking around with some cards hanging out and you don't even use it? It happens all the time. Man, I did a master class at Clark Atlanta. This is a college campus. This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. I did a master class at Clark Atlanta two weeks ago. In a two and a half hour discussion, I talked about relationship building, networking, how I connected with people, how I advanced. When it was over, they walked to the front, asked for a selfie, and then left. About a fifth person I went, did any of y'all listen to the whole

like not one person said, can I get your contact information? And I literally stood there and I went, I know I just said all this sort of stuff. That also happens. And so this is what I mean by if we're going to have a conversation, we got to push our folk to also say, I need you to also engage. It can't just always be me. Hold your thought. I need Rebecca and Derek to step in. Rebecca, your thoughts. Absolutely. This is a really good conversation. And the reason why, for my years of working on campaigns, one thing that I have observed is that the framing of the discussion matters and the impact matters.

So for instance, if you are calling out black men and talking to specific on the variety of black demographics within the voting electorate, you also have to talk about issues that frame the impact directly towards Black men. So as an example, if we're talking about reproductive justice, it is more than just abortion, and it's also more than just maternal health. When we know that 50% of fertility issues in this country is because of low sperm count and low sperm motility. So that is a very specific thing to men.

But unfortunately, when we're talking about these issues, there isn't always that impact towards, this is how it impacts Black men. So my question for the Black men on the panel, what are the top issues specifically to Black men? And I think this is what Roland was getting to earlier. What are the specific issues that Black men need to hear that is unique and specific to the lived Black experience in this country? I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott.

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Are they answering your question, Rebecca? Are they answering your question, Rebecca? Are they answering your question, Rebecca? Derek, go ahead. Okay. Well, listen, I do agree with Roland and Rebecca that this is a great conversation to have. Roland, you know right here in Georgia we've been having these conversations, these harsh conversations in barbershops because we're

taking the approach, we've got to meet black men where they are. And so we're going to the barbershop. And one of the things that I continue to tell brothers here in Georgia, specifically in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and as well as the rural area, because a lot of brothers said, well, specifically in the Atlanta metropolitan area and as well as the rural area, because a lot of brothers said, well, I'm not going to vote for Kamala Harris.

And I asked the question, well, why? Well, I heard she locked up 1900 people. I said, well, stop. I said, did you Google that? No, somebody else said it. And no somebody else said it and then somebody else said it i said well let me ask you this did you hear d.l hugley during the dnc no i said let me just share this story with with d.l hugley discovered when he wronged was and spelling and sharing untruths about karma harris till he realized he had to do his own due diligence, his own research, and find out the truth for himself, and then later discover how he wronged her. And so I said, let me tell you, that 1900 number that you continue to hear about, only 45 brothers were locked up. That means the other 1,850 were not. Do you know that Kamala Harris'

recidivism went from 54% down to 12% where she developed programs? And I'm just using this, Roland, as an example, because when we say, well, I don't hear brothers attacking sisters, oh, that's out there. It's out there, especially in our community right now. And so that's one issue. The other issue, I would say, is this. Roland, you touched on it. We do not continue to show up here in Georgia. We have three million blacks. I'm not talking about Hispanics, Asians. I'm just talking about black folks, registered black folks, and only 60 percent cast their ballot. Nearly a million do not even vote, and they're eligible to vote. You only need two million, Roland, in Georgia, two million votes to become governor. And so if we got three million registered black people,

if you want a black governor, we have the votes. We have the votes for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general. And so if we need a strategy, a real strategy, let that be our strategy. Because last time I can recall, Frederick Douglass didn't wait for a strategy. He walked into the office of Abraham Lincoln and said what we needed. And that produced the 13th Amendment, 14th Amendment, 15th Amendment. And so we just got to continue to show up.

We got to have a hard conversation. We got to meet voters where they are. And then once we get in office, then have an accountability meeting, right? But most of us in our black communities, we don't know our school board members. We don't know the mayor, the city council, state representative, the state senator. And so you cannot affect change if you don't know those who directly impact your lives every day. I just think that, again, we've... I see a lot of these pieces. I see a lot of these discussions.

And I think our challenge really has to be, look, you're not going to spend a lot of time educating people in the next 28 days. But I do think the conversation of the next 28 days has to be one of these two people are going to win. They're going to win. I saw a video today that was a Muslim leader. He was speaking in Michigan, and they were saying we could lead to Kamala Harris losing and Trump becoming president. And I'm going, you know he don't care about none of y'all.

Like, I was literally trying to understand the logic of saying, let's defeat her and he wins. I'm like, oh, he guaranteed. First of all, he want to send all y'all home. It was just, I mean, politically the conversation made, and then the people who, what was it? No, the folks who chose not to vote in Michigan. Yeah, uncommitted. They came out and endorsed because they now understand the political reality of, listen, one of these two people are going to win.

It's going to be Trump. It's going to be Trump. It's going to be Harris. And what I keep saying is that the couch cannot be an option because I think when we challenge people on what they care about, we have to force them to answer the question, okay, what do you care about? What do you want to see happen? Now, let me tell you where both of these people stand on that. And I just fundamentally believe that if you ask any black man five questions, one of the five issues you care about, it's a good bet four of them Trump is against. And so then the question then goes, now which one are you going to pick? Now that's when the conversation gets real rough because now it's like, okay, what is it going to be? I remember in 2016, I was in Chicago.

I was at a bar. I forgot. This white guy recognizes me, and he was like, well, what do you think? And so I'm like, okay. I said, pull a sheet of paper out. I said, I drew a line down the middle. I put a T and I put an H. And I said, pick the issue.

Went one, two, three, four. We did ten issues. Hillary Clinton had seven of the checks. Trump had three. Then he goes, I just can't vote for her. I said, you agree with her on 70% of your issues, but you still can't? I said, you stupid. No, I just, I mean, because, and so I had to just go ahead and say that because that to me right there, if you're telling me

I can't vote for this woman because I just can't and whatever it is, I said, man, take all that out. If she's with you on 7 of the 10, I said, man, that's basic math. And I, that's basic math. And I think that's also what you're also dealing with. And so this struggle that we're seeing has to be, we have to be having challenging conversations in our community on so many of these issues. And we've got to force folks to say, I need you in the game. I need you in the game. I need you in the game. And I think after, after when Biden dropped out, you saw Harris's numbers explode,

not only among black men, but especially among young black women because they recognize, okay, this is not what's going on. Biden wasn't exciting people. And so this thing is, this is going to continue. This has to be after, after November 5th, there has to be in our community very clear, public, constant, regular, annual, monthly, bi-weekly, weekly civics conversations. And inviting the very

same people. And the question is, let's see if they show up. So, I think we're all making an assumption right here that people make decisions based off of logic oh no no we don't no no exactly we know that we don't psychology tells you that we make emotion-based decisions and we tend to rationalize it later right so that's why I always go to how do people feel? Do they feel love? Do they feel safe? Do they feel heard? Do they feel understood? That's what they go to. We go towards pleasure and we avoid pain, right? So if we're looking at that dichotomy, that dynamic, again, not only voter education, absolutely, you need to know exactly what you're signing up for. But at the same time,

we are ruled by our feelings. So if we understand that, how do we engender those feelings into the demographic we're trying to inspire? And if we're talking about black men, we have a specific nuanced sense of understandings that for us to activate our feelings, even something that you said earlier before, you were like, um, uh, uh, I, I i went to you went to a thing and and everybody just wanted to take a selfie and nobody actually wanted to to actually get well do they see you as accessible right like if i get your number can i call you and hold on i'm literally standing in front no no afterward no no no the event's over right let me explain you how it was okay and nobody said nothing i'm standing right here they walked up can i get a selfie

yes we took a photo they left and i was like is she really gonna leave leave? By the fifth person, I went, are y'all serious? No, wait, hold up. I said, I just gave a whole master class speech and gave real world examples of how I went to this person, got their number, followed up, connected, and explained how it benefited my career in high school, college, gave all of the examples.

Then one sister, this is when she took me out. She said, well, I'm so used to people approaching me. I said, why would I approach you? I said, what do you have that would make me approach you? What was crazy is that, again, they literally, now she ain't getting mad, but when I broke her down, she was kind of like, damn, I feel real stupid right now. I'm like, yeah, you do. But the crazy thing is, and this ain't just black, because I've spoken in white schools. examples of how I connected directly with people by walking up to them after the event

on maneuvering my way to get the information. And they literally were walking up and then when I, when I busted them, they were like, uh, can I get your number, QR code right there? The phone was sitting right next to me. It, but it's so, so at what point, at what point at what point after a two and a half hour conversation do I then, what more do I then have to do? If I've explained it to you. This is what I'm

saying that we have to sometimes I can't nurture everybody. I can't listen. Because when you talk about feelings feelings I can't tell you what I had to tell my TV one staff who was caught up in they feelings because I walked at the meeting I said

FYF y'all can figure that one out what I said about they feelings because no seriously because they were like well you know we write these scripts and you don't read them because I don't have to read what you write it's option did you do your job yeah you turn it on time yeah I don't have to read what you write. It's option. Did you do your job? Yeah. You turn it on time? Yeah. Was it edited? Yeah. That's what you get paid to do. I'm not obligated to read what you write.

But they were in their feelings like, well, I just, you didn't read it. You're right. Because when the red light came on, when the show started, it's me. It ain't you. But they were carving feelings. We have to get people to understand feelings have practical political consequences. And you checking out of a process has a practical result, which means you're absolutely not going to be heard. The most guaranteed way for young black people never to be heard is to check out of political process and that's what i'm i'm trying to explain to people if you want to be heard you got to be in the room you can't just think it's just gonna automatically happen go right here he and i'm going to break yeah yeah

but i think also you gotta one thing that we're missing is people have to have the capacity to care. So many of our people come from blighted communities, over-policed areas. They suffer from mental health issues, overcrowded classrooms. Hold up, I got to stop you right there. But if they care about the problem, I need you to care about the solution. That's why I'm saying you got to ask them, what did I say? Name me the five things you care about. But also, education is a huge piece of this, too. When we talk about broken classrooms and overcrowded classrooms, a lot of our schools don't even have air conditioning.

Follow me here. So kids can't even learn to even have the capacity to grow. I got all that. What I'm saying is we have to be the ones that say, baby, what do you care about? I care about this, this, this. Do you know how the president impacts that? Do you know how the governor impacts that? Do you know how the mayor impacts that?

Do you know how the state representative, the school board, and when you walk them through, then you say, now, you not voting, meaning you can't change nothing you just said if you don't vote. I don't care what school they went to. They can figure that one out.

But if that conversation doesn't happen, then we're going to be having this same conversation every election cycle. But those conversations don't happen often enough. No, no, no. See right there. See, I don't diagnose problems. I deal with solutions. So if those conversations are not happening enough, here's the question I then have. What are the organizations in Philadelphia that are having those conversations on a regular basis, where are they meeting, when are they meeting, and how are others amplifying when they do to drive people there?

Oh, there's plenty of community organizations in Philly. Where's all of them? No, no, hold up. Stop right there. You just said there's plenty of community organizations. Where's the list? They all out there. No, no, no, no.

You ain't answer that right. Where's the list? Want me to name them all? Nope. That's not what I asked you for. Where's the list? Is it up there for the community? No, it's not.

Okay. If somebody's watching right now, where do they go to access that list to know when they meet? So they can go to the city office. They can go to their ward leaders. Nope, see right there. RCOs, registered community organizations. No, no, no, no, see, there's a reason I'm walking you through what I'm doing right now. Those are not community-based groups. They are community-based groups.

No, you said go to the city? Registered community organizations. You said, no, no, no, you said go to the city, go to their ward. Those are not community groups. No, and then I said registered community organizations? You said, no, no, no. You said go to the city, go to their ward. Those are community groups. No, and then I said registered community organizations. Here's the point I'm making. You keep saying they exist. You can go to

your neighborhood rec center. They got bulletin boards at every single rec center. No, no. Again, you're still not seeing my point. If you can't if somebody comes to me and they say, I need access to capital, here are the CDIs, the community development institutions in this city that are being funded for you to go get a loan.

Well, now we have an Office of Black Male Engagement in the city of Philadelphia. Okay. Does the Office of black male engagement have those organizations listed so can somebody call there and then be able to say, here's the website, here's the listing, this is where you go? Well, we've had events where we went to the community. We went to

barbershops. We're going right to them and telling them where they can find all these resources. In the office, they do have a link tree on your Instagram. Hello, which office? The office of Black Male Engagement. So- Keep talking. Yeah, go find it.

So we do have an accessibility issue, don't get me wrong. We talk about this all the time, right? We have a huge accessibility issue. There's a lot of stuff going on. And outside of you introduced me with the African American males, but I also run Philly's largest network of black and brown professionals. We make sure that we retain, attract, and develop black and brown folks here to this city

and other cities in which we operate. Part of that is making sure that black and brown folks have access to what they need. There's a lot of resources out here, but they're not really getting directly to the people. So we do understand that we do have this accessibility issue, and we're working on it.

As a community organization because i'm not a politician okay so if there are a lot of resources they're not getting to the people who are you partnering with to get the information to the people and how is the information getting to the people so one a lot of wonderful folks in this room um also other community organizations who all have those resources the Office of Black Male Engagement the Mayor's Commission of African American Males everything in every major sector

the reason why it's called the Connect is because we bring folks together and we deploy it how do we deploy it? so how are you also tracking data? meaning how many people are all of those entities touching every single month? what's the number? so what's the number?

So we have an online platform right now. No, no, no. I didn't say online. If you're having events, how many are you touching every month? How many people are we touching? We're touching between 300 to 500 people every month. Okay. 300 to 500 people.

That means in the course of a year, you're touching 6,000 people. Yep. Okay. And that's just events. You're assuming it's only event-based. No, no, no. Online and continuing these conversations. No, no, no, no.

I'm not. I'm walking you through what I consider to be a micro and a macro strategy. Cool. That's awesome. And this is what I'm saying. And this ain't just Philadelphia. Sure. I deal with this all around the country.

This is what I often hear. We have a litany of resources. We have people who are doing this. Okay. Then how many are they reaching? 6,000 is a very small number. If you're doing 6,000 and 20 others are doing 6,000, now we're talking about 100-plus thousand people.

Are we doing that? How's it going to be checked? What are they getting? I believe in annual reports. Last year we touched 100,000. This year we touched 150,000. Is that being done? For me, I don't believe you just simply say, hey, go to a bulletin board.

No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm going to point you exactly where to go. So then all of a sudden, now it's on you. Now it's on you that you go. Because if I see you again and I gave you the information and you didn't go, don't come to me complaining. See, what I'm talking about here is the struggle that is happening in our community and that we are not challenging our organizations and our own people to go to where the information is

to get out of our present conditions. What I cannot tolerate are a litany of the problems where if the solutions are there, how are we connecting the two? Well, we have to break these resources out of these silos and have a larger community conversation of what the collective impact model looks like. Here's the deal.

We actually have a lot of community conversation. For sure. I need community action. For sure. And that's the part of the conversation. That's all I'm saying. The conversation needs to prelude the action. Of course the action needs to happen. That's all I'm saying.

And so this is what I'm saying politically. Politically, we have to be having, and I'm going to go back to it. I want to know what are the groups on a weekly basis that are doing civics 101, that are doing

political training. Who? Give me one. Urban League of Philadelphia. Next Philadelphia. When are they next meeting? I think in about two weeks. Okay. So they do political... Yes. That's what they do.

That's a part of one of the things that they do. Correct. Right. But I'm saying, but the next meeting they have, is that specifically what they're doing? I mean, I don't run the organization. No, no, no. Okay. But you threw their name out. Right. I know they do that. I know they do that frequently. No, no, no. But I asked a specific question for a reason. Sure. Because if there's somebody right now who's

trying to understand politics in Philadelphia, I want them to show up in two weeks. Go to Urban League. And I want to make sure that they're actually doing that. Next Philadelphia, Urban League of Philadelphia. That's what I'm talking about. Yep. Which means that, okay, the next meeting of the Urban League, if they're doing that, should be packed out in Philadelphia.

I'm going to check. Call me. I'm going to check. Because this also has to happen because I want you to speak to this here. And this is the one thing that we are afraid of, not just black people, everybody. Accountability. Yes. accountability. We as individuals and groups are afraid of accountability

because when we get challenged on stuff, we get defensive as opposed to say, you know what? I'm going to take that on and I'm going to show you how we're going to do this. But that's also part of this piece. So what I'm arguing is accountability has to be on the politician,

but it also has to be on the voter. I definitely agree with that. I'm Clayton English. I'm arguing is accountability has to be on the politician, but it also has to be on the voter. I agree with that. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way.

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

Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine 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.

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

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position.

Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Yeah, you're right. You know, love, light, truth, and accountability equals hope and freedom. And so it's not just, you're right, it's not just the feelings. We understand that we have a culture issue and we have a care issue. We've gone to a very dark place in this culture.

And people do not feel cared for but that at the end of the day the truth is that it's our babies that are dying in the street and we do have to hold ourselves accountable for after November 5th we still have to march on because it will be those mothers who are not being heard in the hospitals that are dying not just because they're in the hospital, but afterwards, they're dealing with postpartum depression and psychosis and killing themselves with their children still waiting for them to come home. So we do have a problem, but we also can have solutions. You said, Roland, last night. Right. I'm a part of the Divine Nine. I'm a part of the Divine Nine. I'm a part of the Divine Nine.

There are so many organizations here that are educated people that can show up. It's incumbent upon us to show up and show out and speak up for those that cannot speak up for themselves. Let me do this real quick. And I just saw, sorry, y'all, I just saw the notice. Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. Glenda Heights, higher car. Both of y'all are still there? Yep, I'm here. You're still there? There we go. All right, Cliff, you and Glenda, y'all out here. I just want y'all to weigh in on what y'all been hearing, because, Cliff, y'all do this 365-7, and y'all are all about taking away excuses of folk who say, we don't know, we didn't hear.

So Cliff, you first, then Glenda, go ahead. Yeah, no, I think it's a great conversation. I think it really just highlights, you know, the needs we have for these ongoing discussions. You know, I always say we can complain about the disinformation that's being sent to our communities, particularly to black men, even more specifically, a lot of younger Black men. But, you know, I always say that disinformation, it grows in a vacuum, right? It can only take root in a vacuum, you know, as long as we're having the conversations that we need to be having and, to your point, Roland, you know, taking the actions that we need to be taking and providing on-rs for other people to take actions. And that's why we do this work. And we call it, as you said, the 365 work is because,

you know, my own ramp isn't going to be the same as the next person's on ramp. For some people, that on ramp is going to be a big presidential election. For a lot of people, that on ramp is actually a more local issue, sometimes a very specific issue, sometimes a local ballot initiative. And that's their on-ramp. You know, just as an example, here in Atlanta, you know, we had 100,000 people, those who organized the Stop Cop City movement and that petition, 100,000 signatures. That's more signatures than the current mayor got. And more importantly, that's more signatures than were cast, votes that were cast in total in the total mayor's election.

That's for the current mayor as well as against the current mayor. Right. And so for 100000 people or some number that did not participate in that local mayor's election, they saw fit to sign on to a petition because they cared about that one issue that much. And so that's why doing this work 365, having these conversations 365, and providing on ramps for people to get involved, whether it's by signing a petition, doing a phone bank, sending a text, just reaching out to five friends. That's one of the things we do all the time. We call it our five friends pledge.

We always say, if you see somebody wearing our shirt, that person has done something because we don't just give them away. You have to do something, even if that something is just forwarding our information or some voter registration information to five of their friends and family. Glenda Carr, perfect example. For years, you heard sisters say, man, we can't raise money, all that sort of stuff. Y'all were like, fine, we're going to create an organization that's specifically what we're doing, raising money to elect black women. Yeah, absolutely. Blender cars to the higher heights. That's what they do.

That's what I do. But we do. Thank you, Roland. I echo what Cliff and you have said, that black people have been organizers since the dawn of time. This work over the last—you know, the last—you know, within 30 days is actually going to be about what we call relational organizing. And black women have been really the powerhouse of that. Like, when we fire up a black woman, she doesn't go to the polls alone. She brings a house, her block, her church, her sorority, and her union.

And so this work is not only plugging into institutions like Black Voters Matter and Higher Heights. We have a growing number of people who want—we have a bus tour that starts this week that are excited to do what Michelle Obama told us to do, which is to do something. And they want to go to battleground states and talk to voters in those battleground states. But we also have to take care of home. I realize that if I sat—Cliff, we do a circle of 10, right? If we sit and go, people will—civil engagement people will say, all of my network is registered and ready to vote.

In fact, if we sit on it, we know 10 people in our lives. I realize that my young cousin, who is 20 years old, is visually impaired. I was like, you know what? I don't know if he's registered to vote. And he actually is going to need assistance not only to register to vote, but also to vote. So I'm taking care of my home first, while I continue to be engaged in helping to move votes, not only in my neighborhood and my community, but because people are excited about this national election. It is all about local elections.

And so, one, let's make sure that we are prepared. And I agree with you, this misinformation is being targeted to our Black voters, Black men and Black women. It is not just organic. It is done by bad actors who are funneling millions of dollars in putting in information because they know that black influencers, and I don't mean the big influencers, but the everyday people who are watching this, that when we post things on our social media, people believe that information is to be factual. So before you share anything, let's just go ahead

and do some research so that we are having factual debate conversations. We are sitting at a point where we all agree about the direction of this country. We may not agree on how we get there. And so I think this is a healthy debate

among our community to talk about what we want from our elected leaders. We have to hold our elected leaders accountable for those who are vying for our votes. But frankly, one of the things that we have to do a better job at is creating the environment for our elected leaders who are champions to push good, bold public policies when they're elected. Pull up the graphic again for the bus tour for Higher Heights. They're going to be in five cities over the next two days. Saturday, 8 a.m. Brooklyn, New York, 10 a.m. in Newark,

New Jersey, 12.30 p.m. Philadelphia. Sunday, 10 a.m. Wilmington, Delaware, 12.30 p.m. Baltimore, Maryland. Cliff, y'all are out there as well. You're kicking off a lot of stuff. You got ads that are dropping. What are you, in the conversation that y'all are having out there with black men, what are you hearing? But also, what are your folks telling them? Yeah, you know, it's something that we've been hearing a lot is, you know, when you do what you were just talking about, right? When you see people say, oh, I don't know. I don't know how I feel about her. I don't know if I'm a voter or whatever. You know, we say, just like you said, you know, what are the issues that you care about?

And what we're finding is amongst the black men who are questioning, right, not sure about whether or not they're going to vote for Kamala, the small percentage that might even be thinking about Trump, you know, a lot of times the issue that comes up is the economic issue, right? But when you drill down on it and you talk to them about, you know, what about the economic policies, right? And do you even know, you know, what the policies are of these two people? I was talking to one young brother on a campus in North Carolina just a few days ago, and he started talking about, you know, the tax breaks. And I'm like, well, do you know, like who, who gets the tax breaks that each of them are talking about? Do you know, like, you know, which Trump, um, cause you,

you not in the tax bracket of the people that Trump's trying to give the tax breaks. Right. You are in the 39.1% tax bracket. You, your mama or your daddy, stop it. And his response was, you know, And when you told him that, what did he say, Cliff? He said, well, you know, I will be. That's where I want to be. That's where I plan to be. You know, and I'm like, well, not next year. Because, like, clearly, you still, like, you still on campus. You still, you know, you still in college.

So, you know, I'm not trying to break nobody's bubble or burst their dreams or whatever. But, you know, but again, just having that conversation around, do you even know what the details are of their various plans? Do you know the details of Kamala Harris's housing plan? Right. Or her plan to invest in small businesses? And so a lot of times just having that conversation breaks through where somebody will say, you know what, I didn't know that. Right. Talking to another couple of brothers and they didn't know about the abortion bans, didn't know about Amber Thurman dying because of an abortion ban in Georgia. So for some of these brothers, just just having the conversation and giving some good information does it. There are some, though, we got to be really clear about this. And it's not the majority.

It's not even a big percentage, right? But there are some who, you know, whatever the issue is, whether it's economic or something else, is really a smokescreen for, I just can't vote for this woman because I don't think a woman can lead. And we've had conversations with brothers. In fact, somebody was telling me about one just earlier today who he just came straight out with it. In fact, said

to the woman who was canvassing, you shouldn't even be here canvassing. You need to be home. Right? Taking care of your family. Hey Cliff, I got a better one for you. A black Republican I'm not going to name him, but a longtime black Republican cussed out his brother-in-law because he was shading Kamala Harris.

He was like, you ain't going to be a black man married to my sister dissing this sister. And he's a black Republican. He can't stand Trump, but he's still a black Republican. So I was hollering and laughing. He's like, man, I had to cuss him out.

He's like, you dogging the vice president, that black woman, but you married to my sister? Oh, it was a rough conversation in that household. But again, though, this is where I keep going back to how we have to have direct conversation, engaging people, pushing them to something they're actually saying so they understand it. So, Glenda and Cliff, I'm sorry I kept you all waiting. The bus tour for Higher Heights showed up again two days this Saturday, this Sunday. Cliff, you all are going to be on the ground. Where are you all next, Cliff? Actually, we've got a few things going on this weekend.

I'm going to be joining our bus. We've got our bus tour going on. We've got two buses going all around the country. And I'm going to be joining the bus that we could have in Wisconsin. And so we're going to be in Milwaukee for three days, Roland. You know the importance of Milwaukee. You've talked a lot about, you know, black voters there. And so we'll be there. And then here in Georgia, we're actually doing a concert along with Fraternity Crump. It's called Jam for Justice. And we're going to be out there. We're doing that actually on our PAC side, right?

We got our nonprofit side, but then we have separate, another side where we can be more partisan. And so that is going to be on our PAC side. We'll be out there having a concert and it's going to be a party with a purpose, giving out some good information to folks, showing them some of those video ads

that you were just talking about that we've been putting out and just trying to get this job done. All right. We certainly appreciate it. Thanks. Go ahead, Glenda. I just want to share

the significance of the tour dates that we're doing. It is down the eastern seaboard because black women have made major gains in elected office. We're leaving Brooklyn, which is the birthplace of Shirley Chisholm, who has built this moment. We're stopping off in Newark, New Jersey, to meet with the newly sworn-in Congresswoman LaMonica McGyver, who took over after the unfortunate death of Donald Payne. We're stopping off in Pennsylvania,

stumping for Harris-Walls. And then we have to deliver a representative democracy in Washington and bringing Black women to the U.S. Senate. And so Delaware and Maryland have competitive races to allow us to bring Black women to the U.S. Senate. So we're stopping to stump those two Black women running for U.S. Senate. All right. Great work. We still appreciate it. Thanks a lot. We keep pushing it out. Thanks. Let me thank Derek and let me thank Derek and Rebecca as well for being on our panel there. I'm going to go to a break. We got a second panel here in Philadelphia. Continue our conversation. We're talking about this election. And if you're watching, first thing I need you to do is check your registration status and also check those around you're watching, first thing I need you to do is check your registration status.

And also, check those around you to see if they are registered. Go to IWillVote.com because we have people who are now finding out they voted early this year and somehow they got kicked off the ballot or off the rolls. That's happening in different states. So go ahead and do that. We're going to go to break. We'll be right back. Roland Martin on Filch on the Black

Star Network live here in Philadelphia. We'll be right back. Roland Martin unfiltered on the Blackstar Network live here in Philadelphia. Back in a moment. We 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 are ready for a President Kamala Harris. I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message. There's nothing socialist about Kamala Harris. Trump says Harris is a radical. I don't buy it.

Conservatives have a super majority on the Supreme Court. With a likely Republican Senate, those checks and balances will keep our country sane. If Trump wins, he could end up with total control. I'm a conservative. I don't agree with Harris on everything. But she was a tough prosecutor, and she put bad guys in prison. I voted for Donald Trump three times. I'm voting for Kamala Harris in November. I'm voting for Kamala Harris this fall.

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. I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message. 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. 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 queen or 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. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, you're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it and you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own

story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in Black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. Waits $100,000. We're behind $100,000, so we want to hit that. Y'all money makes this possible.

Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. The cash app is Dollar SignignRMUnfiltered. PayPal is RMartinUnfiltered. Venmo is RMUnfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Hi, I'm Jo Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on Disney's Louder and Prouder Disney+. 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 has 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. 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-ibillion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st,

and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. here's the deal we gotta set ourselves up see retirement is the long game we gotta make moves and make them early set up goals don't worry about a setback just save up and stack up to reach them let's put ourselves in the right position pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. And I'm with Roland Martin on Unfiltered.

All right. All right, folks, welcome back to Sharon Baptist Church here in Philadelphia. We continue our conversation with our next panel. Sitting in the hot chairs, State Representative Morgan Cephas, Representative Jordan Harris, State Senator Sharif Street, Representative Greg Scott. So where I want to pick up on, again, look, I've been dealing with politicians my entire life. My parents were founders of a city club. And so I understand politics absolutely from a grassroots level. So in terms of when you're dealing with issues, when you're trying to get laws passed, when you're trying to access funding, how are you communicating with groups?

Who are you communicating with to activate people when you say, hey, I need y'all calling and writing. I need you at committee hearings. I need you coming to the state capitol. Walk me through what you are doing to make that a reality. Absolutely. I think it's a great question, particularly. Yeah, it is. I know. I asked it. Oh, I know. You are great. I mean, I'm in full Hall of Fame. I mean, I kind of ask good questions. I'm just messing with you.

Go ahead. So as legislators, we have to, and similar to your previous panel, it really came up, is that we have to meet people where they are. And we also have to listen to individuals if we're not doing the job that they expect us to do and work with them to make sure that we're improving and moving the needle. Because one thing I'm a firm believer on is that progress doesn't necessarily mean movement. And if you're not making movement, then you shouldn't be in the seat. And, you know, one of the things that, you know, my colleagues up here, we realize when we're not in the majority, that doesn't mean that we don't tackle the issues specifically happening here in the city of Philadelphia. We just have to find a roundabout way to get to what solution that we need.

And, you know, one of the areas that I'll use that I spent, you know, some of my work, and I've been in the legislature for about eight years now, I'm in my fourth term, is the issue around maternal mortality. And I was very excited to hear you all bring it up. But this is the first term I've ever spent in the majority. But previous to this, I was able to ensure that we spent $25 million of ARPA funding that came to our Democratic governor on maternal businesses and organizations that are actually on the ground. And one of the reasons why we were able to do that is because one of the black female-led organizations said verbatim,

give the dollars to the people that are on the ground, show us how to access them, provide the resources and, you know, the toolkits in order to access those dollars. And that is something that we just actually did. And, you know, outside of providing funding, we were able to work with our governor to extend Medicaid up to a year postpartum, where we see a good majority of the deaths happening, 51% here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And that was done through the policy process. And again, we weren't able to move legislation at least until this legislative cycle. And again, I've been in eight years, so it has taken some time. But it's critical for elected officials to find every which way to tackle the challenges that we have to tackle.

Well, the thing that I keep trying to tell people, you can't operate alone. There is a I tell people I cover city hall. I cover county government. And I've always said people trust me. When one hundred, two hundred, three hundred folks show up, legislators go. Who doing people? That's the first. They like, who these folks showing up? And then when you keep showing up, they start counting them voters.

And that's what I'm always trying to explain to our people, how the political process works. So it can't just be, oh, I voted for you. Are you going to work? No, no, no, no. You still got to have that support. So for you, walk me through in terms of your process, how are you communicating with groups, organizations saying, hey, I need your help to get this done, not just me talking by myself? Well, I think the first thing is we can't assume people

understand the process. Because what I've seen, and I say this as a former social studies teacher I taught here in Philadelphia, is that a lot of our young people aren't taught civics in school. So those young people become adults who don't- Or middle-aged or older people. It's a bunch of folk don't know. True. But those young people, they become adults and they don't understand the political process. So you get people, you get people calling, you know, your state legislator about Social Security. Like, that's the federal. That's federal.

But people don't understand it. They go to the name they know. They go to the person that they see the most. So I think the first thing is we have to understand that there has to be an education process with many folks in our community around politics and political engagement. That's the first thing. I think also, and I agree with Morgan, we have to meet people where they are. So for me, we door knock. We go to church. We go to the bar. We are on social media. We use all of those tools

to engage people and talk to them about the issues that matter to them. But then we also have to, when they get engaged, we have to show the progress and we have to show them results. I think a lot of times what happens is people get disengaged or disillusioned because they have heard, you know, this election is the most important, this is this, we're going to do this, we're going to do that. But then their life hasn't changed. The situation that they've been coming to some of their elected officials for for decades has not changed. So they are disillusioned about a political process that we want them to be engaged in. So I think you have to educate them. You have to meet them where they are.

You have to build a rapport and a relationship with them. But most importantly, you have to deliver. And once you begin to deliver, you become a trusted voice of those folks. They'll follow you anywhere. You can take them anywhere because to them, they see you as somebody who understood, who heard, but who made a difference and brought change to their community. I agree. Certainly agree with what's been said. We have to knock on doors, you talk to people, but then you go into the spaces and the places

where you find people, and you got to recruit those folks who do understand to be engaged and involved in the process. When black and brown communities were not getting the resources around PPP, the first thing we did, and Rep,, you were part of this, we had to convene black barbershop owners and beauty salon owners first because we convened about 120 of them, got them on a call on a regular basis, and then said, look, we're going to have to educate folks. We're going to need to demand and get money for a state product.

So we're able to push out $125 million. Because what most of the people didn't understand is when the initial PPP, you got loan, you got, you were able to get that if you had full-time employees. What ended up happening on the federal level was, this is why when Biden-Harris came in, it was happening somewhat, somewhat when Trump was there with Steve Mnookin and others, because Robert Smith was working with the National Bankers Association, they didn't understand that first of all, 95% of black businesses do $5 million less in revenue. Most of the people had 1099s,

not full-time employees. And so that's what happened. So the CBC, on the federal level, when Biden and Harris came in, say, hey, then they created a secondary round, and they changed some of the rules to allow folks to be able to do that. But that was a big thing.

Black people were like, man, we ain't getting no money. How many full-time employees do you have? Well, I got one. But you also have banks not lending. Oh, no, no, that was happening. Oh, yeah. Don't forget that. The other part of it was exactly that.

Look, the banks, the money was at the federal level originally pushed out through banks. Those banks went through the people that they were used to doing business with, used to extending loans with. Our folks were not banked in that way with those folks. And if they were, they were not the primary company. They had checking accounts. They didn't have lines of credit. There you go. And so what happened was we were able to get the community development financial institutions, CDFIs engaged. We were able to set up a process where they could be engaged and involved in that process, explained to the black barbershops and beauty salon owners how they could get there, and then we were able to get them money.

But the reality was once we got those folks money, then they become trusted messengers we can use to push out men because we've we've established a measure of credibility uh fast forward we were then able to get those barbershop beauty salon owners we used we helped organize them we wanted to fight for violence prevention dollars again at this point we didn't have control of the house or senate but we did have a governor and get the governor engaged with that we're able to put out i guess we got 300 million dollars in violence prevention money in the initial year we pushed it out. Then we needed to make sure that money could get in the hands of the people that were on the ground doing the work. Because one of the number one issues that black men are concerned about where we are impacted in a way that is different than everyone else is we are the ones most likely to die and get incarcerated for murder.

We're on both sides of the gun. And so making sure that we were talking to the people who were talking to those folks was important. Now we got to go back to those folks and make sure they're engaged in the political process, but that's a big part of how we establish credibility. Absolutely. So I just wanted to also just lift up to the fact that we've got, and I know you've dealt with a lot of politicians, but these politicians here happen to be leaders in our government here. So we got Morgan Cephas, who's the chair of our oversight committee to chair the Philadelphia delegation. We have Jordan Harris, who's the chairman of our appropriations committee overseeing a $44 billion budget. We got Sharif Street, who's also the chair of the Pennsylvania Democrats. And I think the two years that

our Democratic majority has been in power, we've actually delivered a government that works for working class people for real. I want you to hold that point. Because people need to, again, people need to understand you're only chairs because you have control of the House. That's correct. Absolutely.

And so, for folks who, again, folks who are listening, there you go, by one seat. What people don't understand is when if Democrats take control of the House in January, then you will have a black Speaker of the House.

But two, the CBC, you literally have 60 members. It's the largest caucus on the Democratic side. So for people, again, who don't understand the process, when you're the chair, you're controlling the gavel. That's correct. You're controlling, I mean, your power is a hell of a lot more, is bigger than it is when you're the minority leader or the ranking minority member. And so that's one of those, again, nuances of politics when folk go, oh, man, I don't really see the difference.

I'm like, no, no. So that Opportunity District in Alabama, Shamari figures, the Opportunity District in Louisiana, those two could determine control of the U.S. House. But that's the minutia of politics a lot of folk don't understand. But there's a big difference being the chair of a committee and then being the ranking minority member of a committee a thousand percent you're absolutely right but and i also want to point out that you know all these folks are under the age of 40 right and so they can communicate to folks in a different way i just turned 42 weeks ago but 40 and under 40 and i bring it up because you talk about how do we communicate you know we got to rep this on tiktok we can meet people where they are we go out to schools and we talk to people and in fact we did what you tell them to do we communicate, you know, we got to rep this on TikTok. We can meet people where they are. We go out to schools and we talk to people. And in fact, we did what you tell them to do. We went to Lincoln University, those of us collectively and individually, and we speak at

their schools. We speak at colleges and universities all across the Commonwealth. And we give the speech that you gave down in Atlanta. And we told those young people, if you want to get in, if you want to see change to get involved. And what happened this past budget cycle? Lincoln University, we call them the Freedom 14, marched 66 miles, 66 miles from Lincoln's campus to Harrisburg to advocate for increased funding for state-related and state-funded institutions. Mind you, they got the smallest amount from all the other, Pitt, Penn State, who have, constituencies that don't

look like us, larger populations. Man, we just see it on this show. They white. Why? You almost choked. Non-minorities. They white. A lot quicker is a lot easier. I think it's important to look. When you

look at a Penn State football game and the power that they should hold in that building, they couldn't get that bill to move, right? But it was those 14 kids that marched from Lincoln University all the way up to the state capitol, held court in the rotunda of the capitol where all of the legislators that don't look like them, that don't come from their neighborhoods, that don't have the same political perspectives or ideologies, they saw those black babies. They saw those young kings and queens standing on those steps speaking truth to power. And we had no other option but not to ignore them. Right. And so we did and we delivered a budget.

We delivered funding for those institutions and they happened to get the smallest piece, but it couldn't have been done without them. So I get what you're saying. I think there's a lot that we got to talk about. And I know you like me don't like to talk about the problem, but we are delivering solutions and we're communicating effectively. Could we do more? Absolutely. But you're again, but this is what I just make it plain. The reality is, for all the people out there who, Democrats ain't this, ain't that. Again, I don't get involved in those conversations. I get involved in what actually happened. So here's the question. You say it took eight years.

If Republicans were in control of the House, does that black maternal money come? Absolutely. Yes or no? Yes. It happens. It happens. If Republicans maternal money come? Absolutely. Yes or no? Yes. It happens? It happens. If Republicans were in control? Yes.

Gotcha. If Republicans were in control, does that money come for them? Look, I think we get it with Republicans in control. We've controlled the governor's office. The reality is we've used our leverage of having the governor's office. Right, right. But what I'm saying, to your larger point, if Republicans were in total control of state government, absolutely not. The money doesn't get there.

The money gets there because of the leverage we have as Democrats. But I do want to add this one thing because I do think it gets there if Republicans are in control because black maternal health is maternal health. It's not just black women dying. Black women are dying in urban settings, suburban settings, as well as rural settings. So that's here in Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania. And because we don't have the option to fail as leaders and not to address the challenges in our communities, we have to work across the aisle. And I will have Jordan Harris, he is the leader in this, with criminal justice reform, has worked across the aisle to, and I'll let him talk about it, but has done tremendous work in the city of Philadelphia across this Commonwealth, is a model across the country because he had to work

with Republicans, both in the Senate and the House. So because we don't have the option to fail, if it is Republican control, we will figure out a way how to get there. And that's by Bill. The reason I brought that up. We wouldn't have indigent defense. We wouldn't have public defense. But the reason I brought that up, because I need people to understand, when all those women, white women, went to Tennessee State Capitol

after that school shooting, the first bill the Republicans passed gave immunity to the gun lobby. No, no, no, no, no, no, but I'm making the point for people who are watching to understand that there are very few states where you actually have bipartisan legislation.

Right, rolling up. So when you start talking about Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, you have Democrats who are largely ignored, which means a lot of the stuff that black people care about gets ignored. And so that's what you're that's what you're dealing with. And so people need to understand it makes a difference. Not even just if Republicans have state, if they have a supermajority, if you if if in Texas, Texas, if they go from a super majority to majority, it changes public policy. Right. Roland, that's what I was going to, that's the point I was going to make.

So you're right in Pennsylvania, while Democrats haven't always been in control, we have not been in a position where we didn't have political leverage. Like you're talking about in South, we had a governor and even in the legislature, we have the margins are close enough where Republicans need to talk to us. If we were to go to a place where they had super majorities, when you look at those states, they are not able to get it. It is us horse trading our votes. It's us making deals. It is us saying we won't move forward with this if you don't move forward with that.

You need our votes for rural for rural health care which is an issue we need your votes for urban health care you need our votes for um you need our votes on issues that are important to you we need our your voice but there are there the voices that are championing issues for black people are almost exclusively democrats now that doesn't mean we don't work with Republicans to get it done, because in Pennsylvania, if it's not bipartisan, it doesn't become the law. But they are putting different issues on the table. We're the ones advancing those issues. We're the ones that said we needed money for gun violence. They had other

priorities. We gave them some of their priorities in exchange for gun violence. And I think, and it is consistent that we're the ones delivering on their issues. Right. And so, and so the reason that needs to be understood, because when, when I listened to some of these loud mouth, uh, YouTube, uh, TikTok, Instagram PhDs, um, when they threw out, ain't nothing changed. Democrats not going to do jack. Both of them are the exact same, Republicans and Democrats. I then go, okay, so then what? And so when they throw this stuff out there and then people hear it, then they start parroting that. And then when you start walking them through, like, no, this is actually what happens.

This is why when I challenge people, I don't know, what are your issues? Then you have to then go, who's delivering on your issues? There are some issues that, listen, I remember in Illinois, the Democrats were not appointing enough I forgot the type of judges they a number of black folks said we gonna get

behind the Republican governor and he actually appointed a number of black judges the Democrats are like what they have oh cuz you're ignoring these black folks that was where they said we want this to happen then you didn't deliver but too many people if they get caught up in what they hear about some of these crazy people out here, not understanding that politics is real. Politics is literally about delivering. We're talking billions upon billions of dollars that are being spent on the federal, trillions of dollars on the federal level, the state level, the county level, the city level, the school district level. And if you are not engaged in that process, you are not going to get any of those resources. And so this is where I think we just have to constantly walk people through so they

understand that if you choose to check out, you can't cash in. So I agree. But I think before you do that, you actually have to listen to them and you have to validate their issues and their pain and their concerns. Because, for example, you know, I heard the whole, you know, brothers ain't voting for Kamala. Well, that's not true. And I think we need to stop that narrative. The largest, the second largest, most dependable vote for the Democratic Party is black males. So it's black women first, and then it's black males. Right.

So we have to stop allowing people to create this narrative that brothers ain't voting for Kamala. No, but, but, but, but if it goes from 12 to 20, that 8%. Let me finish. It's not that black males don't want to vote for Kamala, but many brothers are disenfranchised about the party that they felt has left them. Okay. Actually has nothing to do with Kamala in many instances. It's a lot of brothers who feel like their issues have not been heard. Now, I heard what you said about, well, what are the issues? Well, I could give you a litany of those, but here's the thing. Give me three. Sure. Criminal justice reform,

access to capital and housing. So here's the thing. Give me three. Sure. Criminal justice reform, access to capital and housing. So here's the thing. So they say those three didn't happen? They say they don't feel it. Now, here's the thing. Here's the thing. Whether you believe they're wrong or not, not listening to them, not validating their feelings doesn't make them show up. Okay, so let me ask you this question.

When they give you those three, what's your response? So my response is, well, in Pennsylvania, I could talk about criminal justice. No, so let me ask you this question. When they give you those three, what's your response? So my response is, well, in Pennsylvania, I could talk about criminal justice. No, no, no, no. Go ahead. No, if they asked you, if they asked you,

Biden and Harris did not deliver on those three things, what's your response? If I'm being honest, I would say that we could have done more on criminal justice. No, no, that's not an answer. You asked me a question about...

No, you said we could have done more, so what did you do? Yes. What do you mean? When you say we could have done more, that means you did something, but you could have done more. What what did you do? Yes. What do you mean? When you say we could have done more, that means you did something, but you could have done more. What specifically do you say to them that was done? Oh, I was going to tell you. You didn't let me.

So in Pennsylvania— No, I need the federal. I'm going to tell you about Pennsylvania because the federal government actually followed what we did here in Pennsylvania. But if they ask you, what did Biden-Harris do, not Pennsylvania? I'm going to start at Pennsylvania so they can have a connection to what I'm talking about. Okay. Because I'm talking to them.

Okay. And I was going to tell them it's what I did in Pennsylvania that they followed at the federal level. So we would talk about pushing on clean slate. We would talk about all of those things that are happening at the federal level that started here in Pennsylvania. Reason why I'm starting here is so I can connect with those brothers. When we talk about access to capital, we'll talk about how the Small Business Administration,

the Biden-Harris Administration, has done a tremendous job of actually providing more access to capital to small minority businesses than the Trump administration. And when we talk about housing, I will talk about HUD and the things that Marshall Fudge did at HUD to change the trajectory of black males becoming homeowners, but also about black males being able to live with their families in public housing. So when they say small businesses, you said minorities. They say that's minorities, not black. What do you think?

I agree with them that we actually need to drill down and talk more about African Americans. But I also tell them that we have had substantial increases in black and brown folks getting federal dollars to help them start their businesses. My point is this, though, because I can argue with the brothers. But I start that argument by validating their emotions, their feelings, and their points. And that's what I feel like a lot of times people aren't doing. We gloss over it, tell them that they're wrong, but don't understand that if you just went home and weren't able to feed your child the night before, everything else that you said doesn't matter to them. So we have to validate their points, right?

That's first. And then we can educate them on why this matters. So I'll start out and where I started. I don't really believe this is a Kamala thing. I believe this is brothers feeling like the party has left them, that government has not been in favor of them, and they feel left out. So we have to educate them on what's going on, what's happening, and why they need to stay engaged. So here's why it is a common. It's in the data. But I want to go ahead because I'm going to tell you about what Terrence

Woodbury has been showing in the data where it is also a common thing. But go ahead. Well, look, I mean, so right now, and look, I'm chair of the party. I get data. But also understand that the data has been consistently wrong, at least in this state, as to what black folks are going to do and how Democrats are going to perform. The data said that we were going to lose the Senate race in 2022. That was the white data. No, no, no. Black data.

Go ahead. I'm black and white data, brother. Right. Because I'm black and I'm chair of the party and I understand about black data too. But the data said we weren't going to show up. We did. Black folks showed up. We won.

The data said that we could not elect a black sister to be on the appellate court. Last year, 2023, black folks swept, Democrats swept with consistent black votes, all those seats. And the data says, again, we won't show up. So the data, you can look at prospective data about what's going to happen. What I'm talking about is the reflective data about what has, in fact, happened. The reality is black men are the second most reliable for black people. The data, they consistently talk about what people think is going to happen with respect for black people. The data, they consistently talk about what people think is going to happen

with respect to black folks. I think that black folks, black men are going to show up. I do believe that, as Jordan said, we have to talk about it. The second thing is, when we talk about what the Democratic Party is, we cannot disconnect what the Democratic Party is from Jordan Harris, from Morgan, from me,

because the reality is we're the portions of the Democratic Party they're most likely to interact with. Therefore, when we talk about the fact that Representative Harris showed up with a check for your barbershop to stay open, we need to then connect that to we got that money because the Biden-Harris administration sent us that money. That is the connection part. When you say, when you talk about the fact that there were violence interrupters that got money, and we say Wiley Smith, who's in the audience, got, there was, his program received some resources.

We need to say that money was received because Biden-Harris. We talk about housing. We can say that, look, if you're in North Philadelphia, Sharswood, there are hundreds of additional houses, black folk living in them, funded by the federal government, but they see PHA. The way federal money operates, it doesn't tend to be in a way that people directly connect to it. So it's part of our job to do it. And the second part of it is part of what black men are saying to us in the party, and I've said this to folks, they want to be courted like everybody else.

We spend tons of time as a party figuring out how we're going to get white soccer moms to vote, how we're going to get working class white dads to vote, how we're going to get this demographic or that demographic to vote. What they're saying is talk to us too, and I think we have an obligation to do that. I think we have a good story to tell, but we have

to tell it. Right. So when I look at Black People Need to Be... I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. and this is season two of the war on drugs podcast we are back in a big way in a very big way real people real perspectives this is kind of star-studded a little bit man we got uh ricky williams nfl player hasman trophy winner it's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves music Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban. Benny the Butcher.

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When they would talk to brothers, litany of problems, litany, I don't see this, don't see that. This has not been addressed, this has not been addressed, this has not been addressed. But then when they come back with the actual information,

this, this, this, this, this was done, all of a sudden, focus group changes, which means messaging and who's giving the information. So the disconnect is if one, the conversation is not being had, two, if the information is not being supplied very specifically and not having the general emotional, this is my perception of things, then all of a sudden it changes. That now means, going back to, how then are they being communicated with

and in what areas, which we said last night and here, if we are not having, not just with you, but other groups, if those things are not happening on a regular basis, every week, multiple times a week, then our people are not getting the information immediately in real time, not around the election. And so now you're not building up three, six, nine, 12 months of I ain't seen nothing. That to me is what has to happen. So once the election is over, then it's OK. How are we consistently communicating with people in a very broad way so we make sure that that doesn't happen? And that's what I was. So when I'm having I'm talking to talking to Cornell Belcher and I'm talking to, uh, Terrence,

I'm talking to black pollsters and black researchers. My deal is what are they actually saying? Terrence told us something in 2020. He said, we got to stop using the phrase voter suppression. I went, Terrence, why? He said, because in our focus groups, he said 18 to 45, when they hear voter suppression suppression they immediately think civil rights movement even though that's present day he said but if we tell them they're closing your voting locations that immediately resonates with them in a different way so that's why i was talking about the data how then we communicate with with messages and that was it that was it was really

interesting having him break it down because everybody was using voter suppression. And he was like, don't say voter suppression because this group, that's a complete turnoff compared to 46 higher. But that's why that black specific data is important. Unfortunately, your white democratic strategists are always listening to the black data. I don't disagree with you.

And let me give you a prime example. Let me give you a prime example of where we are current day. When the vice president talks about her work as AG, right, And we do the comparison with Donald Trump. When you use the term felon, okay, and you use that, it triggers and turns off a lot of black men, okay? Because many of those brothers that were trying to get to vote,

they had felonies, right? And so changing that terminology, you can still make the same point, but changing, because here's the thing. Donald Trump is not the same as your son or your daughter or your cousin who got locked up. They're not the same. The way he's been treated

and the way they've been treated, it's just not the same. Y'all not the same. But here's the thing. The best trackers out there, they not like us. You could have easily used that to talk to Black Mountain. He not like us. But nobody, hold on, seriously.

Nobody is actually breaking it down in that way. So sometimes when folks hear that felony thing, they get turned off because it's like, well, wait a minute. And you're talking about going to the barbershops? Where do you think they at? That's exactly who you're talking to. So I agree with you. You're

right. I agree with you on the fact that sometimes it's not even sometimes what we say, but it's how we say it. But when they use it, but when they're using that phrase, they ain't talking to us. They talk to that 70 percent of white voters in the electorate. One other thing I want to make real quick is the other thing is the Democratic Party. We've got to get reflective about who we spend and do business with. I will tell you, I got an ugly fight.

A bunch of folks in the national press criticized me and I took over primarily because I fired. We all remember. I fired some white vendors and I hired a black communications company. And there were folks that they wanted me to fire them. I said, I will not fire them. I was elected chair of the party. And we need this to win. The fact of the matter is we kept them.

TML Strategies, Teresa Len Leonard, and she has been communicating. And if it were not for the fact that we had done that, we probably wouldn't have gotten 11-level engagement because it's not just the policies. We have to have the professionals who understand how to communicate to our people. And white communicators can't always do that. So, yes, we need a strategy to communicate to those. That will always happen in a majority population. But we need to also make sure that we're communicating to black folks in a way that oh i've been i've been giving them hell on that on every show for last 15 20 years so trust me the white strategists don't like when my name come up in any meeting um oh they oh y'all think i'm lying because see i put your picture on the air i don't talk in

general terms you don't return my email I'ma put your name out there And your picture Especially the people at Future Forward Pack Who still ain't returned my emails Oh y'all thought I forgot I'm sorry you can go ahead So the only thing I will add

I'm that one I get it They forget I own the show You'll get a response. I ain't got no boss. There's God in me. There ain't nobody above me. I love that.

So one of the things I would say, I feel like black women were having this same conversation around the time Hillary Clinton was running. Because I teamed up with Senator Bob Casey, who wanted to have a conversation specifically with black women, because at the time we too were feeling like black men is that you use our bodies to get to the polls. We are the foundation of the Democratic Party. But yet when you get elected, our issues don't show up in your agenda. You don't prioritize them. They're not you're not moving the needle on those specific issues. Then you're circling back asking us for our support again. So we were adamant that election cycle.

We wanted a black VP. We wanted a black female VP. We wanted a black female. Well, not around that time, but this time around with Joe Biden, we wanted a black female vice president. We wanted a black female Supreme Court. Go back to 16-0. What happened in January 2017? What did y'all do?

We organized. we mobilized and yeah in short a bunch of y'all wrote a letter we did went to the chair of the dnc yes tom perez yes and was like it's time for a conversation oh absolutely okay but let me say it again what did y'all do y'all organized organized. Y'all mobilized. You wrote a letter. You demanded a meeting and you got the meeting. But one of the reason why I bring that up is because a lot of the policy issues that we wanted to see in the next iteration of the administration, we saw. We saw student loan debt forgiveness. I'm a geriatric millennial along with my brother, Jordan Harris. Why you got to admit it? If you want to call yourself home, do it. Don't bring me in it. Because y'all

on the high end of millennial, the low end of Gen X. Y'all closer to Gen X than y'all on a Gen Z. Stop tripping. Don't do that. I bring that up because never in my lifetime did I think... Are love trying to claim, are we millennial?

Y'all right above Gen X. But I never thought that I would see us having a real conversation about student loan debt. And that was a top priority for black women at that time. And I think, you know, when we're talking about black men not. There you go. When we're talking about black men wanting to see themselves in the policy agenda, that is what we need to do. So when we're talking about the cost of living being high, being the top priority, I know you talked about maternal mortality and maternal health and not necessarily talking about paternal health. You literally have Senator Warnock that just introduced a legislation, bipartisan, around specifically addressing dads that are absolutely impacted by maternal mortality.

If they want to see themselves in that way in their agenda, it shouldn't be us versus them and them taking away the, you know, presence of female related issues. So I think similar to what we were doing over the past several years, I think black men, it is their time to demand themselves to see themselves in the agenda. Yeah, but I'm going to say it again. I'm going to say it again until I'm blue in the face. Y'all saw a problem. Y'all organized. Y'all mobilized. Y'all wrote a letter.

You signed the letter. You sent the letter. You sent the letter. You demanded the meeting. And you got the meeting. What I keep saying to brothers, if all you do is complain about it, but you don't organize, you don't mobilize, you don't write the letter, you don't sign the letter, you don't send the letter, ain't nobody going to meet with you. But the point is that we had that conversation in 2017. Black men are having that conversation. And so we should see some traction as a result of them having the conversation.

Let me say it again. Don't agonize. No, because they had the conversation. I'm telling you, I know what my text messages show. I was there. I know what text messages show. I was there. I know what text messages show. In 2020, man, these sisters having to call every Sunday. And I was like, so can we. I know who I sent the text message

to. I can name 12 of them. Did anything happen after that? No. Do you know why? Because in our community, typically when a meeting is organized, the sisters organize it. That just sounds like a call to action. No, no, no. It sounds like calling brothers out because, so what I keep saying that people like, man keep complaining about somebody not hearing you if you're unwilling to mobilize and organize yourself to force them to hear you. So again, next week, the 29th anniversary of the Million Man March. to make this point, but I'm walking through historically the fundamental problem that brothers have had is we have organized for moments. We have not organized movements.

And as long as we organize for a meeting or a couple of meetings, as opposed to over the year, two, three, four years, you're not going to see the change. And so that's the challenge I keep pushing. Even now with win with black men, even now with win with the black men, brothers keep saying, man, I was on the call brother. That was in July. We've had four cents. Have you been on those? You know, man, it's been a lot. I'm like i'm like no no but you haven't been on one of them and so this is where i think we just have to be honest with brothers and say if you want to see something change what you're gonna do well go ahead look i certainly everybody getting more engaged is is real but the other thing is two things one i don't think that black male disengagement is as high. There are a lot of

very angry, very well-heard young brothers who the press is putting a lot of attention on. I think that's true. Second thing I want to say is this. I don't know that the best strategy for black community is black women are going to go over here and organize. Black men are going to go over

here and organize. I think that the issues that affect our community are black people issues, their family issues, and even if other communities are doing it that way, there's no reason we have to do it that way. Hold up. I got to disagree with you on that one. Black people organizing based upon are you down with doing something about it. If I bring up Bishop right now and ask him, what's the difference between your women's ministry and your men's ministry? When your women have their retreat,

how different is their women's retreat from the men's retreat? Now see, if we want to, all I'm saying is this here. If brothers want to be heard and brothers want to be talked to, then they got to do exactly what the sisters did in 2017. But then don't ask them to vote. Huh? But then don't ask them to vote. What if they just need a different venue? But wait, hold on. Then don't ask them to vote then. Like if we're going to sit here and make it seem like brothers don't do this, brothers don't do that, cool. That's fine. Then don't ask them to vote. It's like

we're asking them to, we are asking them for something. Actually, I'm asking them for something. I'm asking them to be engaged in this process to get something. That's not what I hear what you're saying. But you're also asking them to show up to the poll. So what I'm also saying, and I'm not disagreeing- Before the polls. Well, I'm not saying that we're just, I'm not disagreeing that we can do a better job

of organizing. But what I am saying is you're asking them to do something now. All that stuff we're talking about is organizing after the poll. And I'm with you. If you want to do- Actually, I've been asking them for six years. Okay, wow. This ain't- Hold on. This ain't just around the election do that, I didn't get the text message. Actually, I've been asking him for six years. Okay, why? Hold on.

This ain't just around the election. Cool. I didn't get the text message. No, no, no. I say you went one of the 12. I know the 12 who won. I can't talk about anywhere else, but in Pennsylvania, we do organize. We do get stuff done, which is why we have a black woman who is a speaker, which is why

you have a black man who is a pro-racist. So let me give you data. So when you talk about the numbers, here's what happened in North Carolina. who was Speaker, which is why you have a black man who is a pro-racist. Why you have a black vote. Let me give you data. When you talk about the numbers, here's what happened in North Carolina. Here's what happened in North Carolina. When Tom Tillis was running for United States Senate, this is 2020, Tillis got 18% of the

black male vote because of the percentage that Trump got. When you look at that race, how did Tillis win? That 18% of black vote made a difference. Republicans are not trying to get 30% of black men. They're not trying to do that.

Their whole deal is, if I can pick up 15, 16, 18, 20, and then we know with voter suppression how they're operating, then I'm lowering the margins. What I am saying is that, and I've been saying this since 2012, because in 2012 there was a nine-point gap between black men and black women. That was Obama-Romney. Obama got 95% of the black male vote in 2008. He got, the Republicans got, so 5% of the black brothers voted for McCain in 08.

It was 11% in 2012. It went up six points. So I was here in 2012. DNC. Again, I can show you that the message that went to all the DNC chairs, the last three saying, I'm telling you, if you ignore this, the number is going to go up. What they're looking at is our specific states. So you go to North Carolina, rule. If Democrats if they don't go to East North Carolina, they're going to lose. There have been 16 trips made to West North Carolina by the Vice President. Not one to East North Carolina. East North Carolina has the largest black counties.

The reason Warnock won Georgia in 2020, because they drove black participation in rural counties in Georgia, not just Atlanta. So from a from from and this is from a data standpoint. And so what we're seeing is that you have to be your engagement has to be totally different. What Black Voters Matter is doing is recognizing that, yes, they're mobilizing black people total. But they also recognize I got to have a black male specific strategy because my conversation with them is going to be different. But you agree on us. No, no, no.

That's what we, that's what I'm talking about. No, no, no. I'm only saying, but as an organization, not politicians, that's what they're doing. So what I'm saying is to black organizations, we have to take all this black organizational infrastructure and mobilize it accordingly to now be able to reach folk there who are not politicians. So that's what I'm pointing out. You're making the point that each demographic in each group is not a monolith. So you just look at it from a generational perspective as a politician. I'm going to approach the baby boomers with you.

I'm going to go to Gen X and millennials with a day party. And with Gen Z, I'm going to do the baby boomers with a chat and chew. I'm going to go to Gen X and millennials with a day party. And with Gen Z, I'm going to do a TikTok. And the reason— And I think that's how you have to treat black men. Obviously, it's not working to do a call every week. I don't even have a time for a call every week. I think I've been on maybe one or two of the black women lead calls because that's just not how my life is structured. But meet them where they are.

If it's obviously not working because you've been doing it year after year after year, pivot to something else. But what he said is, which goes to the difference in terms of who's the leader. The strategy of hitting black people all in one way has been the same because it's largely white democratic strategies who are releasing the funds.

So, what is happening even on the federal level, you're still having those strategies in place, not listening to the black folks. Oh, some of those calls have been a trip the last 10 months. And so what then ends up happening is that strategy stays the same. There's even frustration. I got a phone call today because even some of your most highest ranked black people have been going off because it's the same strategy. What I keep saying on the show is the further you get

away from the black civil rights movement, you have to micro target black people. Agreed. And so what is happening is what you're going to see, I hope I come out of this, is a completely different understanding of strategy because you have to actually spend more to get black folks, but you have to talk to black people in multiple ways versus just, oh, I can hit the church, NAACP. I can hit them over five weeks. Yo, we good. That may have worked in 84.

May have worked in 94. I understand that. But what's interesting, the strategists were controlling the money. And then the donors still think it's the old model versus the new model. And that may be about a conversation in some places. One of the things that have happened in about 49 states. One of the things that has happened, fortunately, in the one that's most likely to determine the election, it's a little different, which is in this state, we have made it very clear that we're going to have to spend money differently. And it's also very clear that DNC's ability to spend money must run through the state party, the way federal laws are structured there.

And so we have a role. We have been making it very clear you have to spend money differently. And we have people in leadership that have supported that. We have a black speaker. We have a black appropriations chair. We have a black party chair. And what we have been saying, we black lieutenant governor,

we've been saying is, look, this will benefit black folks. This will also benefit white folks, white Democrats in particular. When we look at, we understand it's not just Philly and Pittsburgh. In Pennsylvania, there are 11 major jurisdictions

where we've got to spend money with black folks, which include Redding, includes Lancaster, includes Hazleton, includes Allentown, includes Bethlehem, includes Harrisburg, and includes Erie. So it's not just we've been includes Aliquippa. There are a lot of places that it includes. We've been indexed. We've looked at it and we realized we have to spend money in those ways. I can't speak to what's going on North Carolina, but what I can tell you is that we've been very clear about what has to happen. There needs to be a level of engagement. And what Jordan was talking about before, we've also made it clear you can't lead with talking about the federal stuff because they don't understand it. It's too far removed.

We have to start our conversation with what we did at the state and local level and then back into why Biden-Harris matters. One thing that I will say is while our folks, particularly black men, may not know what to believe when they see on the internet, they do know who to believe. They know they came to this man's office and they got some help. They know they came to this man's office and they got some help. We need to then say our credibility is... One of the things that

I appreciate from a conversation with Congresswoman Crockett said, she said, sometimes it's about asking them to vote for you. Support me. Support what I'm doing. Support Sharif Street by voting for Kamala Harris, because you know you're

going to get some help from me. You came to me last week. You'll come to me next week. Who do you think is going to talk to me? It ain't Donald Trump. I remember I remember I remember Alfonso Jackson Alfonso Jackson. So Alfonso Jackson, black Republican, he was running the Dallas housing authority.

So Bush, George W. Bush was running. So Alfonso, they had a fundraiser in St. Louis and Alfonso, they were like, so he's talking to the brothers. They like, look, Alfonso, we don't know him, but we know you. So we write this check, and then don't nothing happen, we come to talk to you. And Alfonso was like, all right, I'll accept that. And in fact, one of the reasons why the white folks ran him out as Secretary of HUD was because when he became Secretary of HUD, he changed the contracting rules. And a lot of those white contractors were real upset because he created opportunities

for black contractors, which is one of the reasons why they forced him to resign. But I'll never forget, that was the conversation. They were like, listen, we don't know him. So when I write this check, I'm going to come to you if something don't happen. And he was like, okay, I'm going to take on all that pressure. Y'all coming to me. But that has to happen.

But I just really want us on a macro level to be forcing real conversations and forcing our folk to say, yes, what do you want? And be as very specific as possible. And then say, if you want to get this, this is how it happens. But it's not going to be a one-way street.

And I don't want, and the reason why I keep, I'm not trying to get y'all off the hook. But I think the problem is in our community, it's literally 98 to 2. They ain't doing nothing. And where my deal is, no, no, no. You got to put more of this on our community organizations to say, I need y'all to be doing more because it's easy to scapegoat black politicians. And that's one of my biggest issues. I see on the federal level, CDC ain't doing nothing. I'm like, you have no idea what you're even talking about. And so that happens a lot. And I just think we have to challenge. Look, she had dealt. I saw some

alphas earlier. I can't even tell you. Y'all can throw y'all signs up. What's that? Don't do that. Because it's a couple sigmas in here. Don't do that cause it's a couple sigmas in here don't do that I ain't met that many sigmas under 55 see you walk right into that this is your show so I'm gonna let you have it I'm gonna let you have it cause it's your show

you can't think of a comeback right now your brain just froze. And he started thinking, ain't that many of us. He ain't lying. That's cool. And you can keep that little okay sign, that little cute little okay sign.

But I've even challenged, and look, I've made Divine Nine President mad. I'm like, how do you have this level of infrastructure and you're not properly using it? We're focused on so much internal stuff and don't nobody outside even know and they question and we ain't doing nothing.

That's why I prefer to push our community groups and not politicians. I know politicians are doing and I understand that process, but I also know when you are elected to office, you actually need help. That's right. I agree. And again, as someone who covers city

council and county government, I know what it's like to sit in a meeting and see a whole phalanx of white folks. And I only see black folks if somebody got shot or something like that. And then I'm like, but are y'all going to come back next week? Then next week. And so that's the challenge. I think we have to reorient

our folk to say, I need you in the game after the election. And that is why I talked about the education of the process. Because here's the other thing. The presidential election is just one election. There are elections every year. But here's the thing. Every six months. In Pennsylvania, we got a primary and then we got a general. And here's the thing. every six months. In Pennsylvania, we got a primary and then we got a general. And here's the thing, a lot of times, the things and the issues that people are concerned about, it ain't the president that's going to handle it. So, you know, all of those other things matter.

Who's your mayor? Who's your council people? In Pennsylvania, who's running your elections? Because if it wasn't for our city commissioner's office and the fact that we have competent city commissioners, the election in 2020 could have went a totally different way for the whole nation. Or even after 2020 when some Republicans wanted to go

to single-member Supreme Court districts in Pennsylvania. Yes, they did. We fought back on that. I know that. I read. My point is, I'm a good... First of all... First of all... Hold up. We read.

No, no, no. We read. Y'all have pictorial. I don't know why you thought you were going to win that one. I got a book of pictures for you. It's just, yo, I'm going to let you have it. That's that like, dang, I got to go with another one. See, you can't be loaded with one.

You got to have three or four. Yeah, right. You had one, and that was your shot. That was it. You see, the captain said, I ain't saying nothing. He like, I ain't saying a word. Smart move. Smart move. Smart move.

But again, that's what I want folks to have. I do want Bishop to say a few words because I want to know, how are you challenging your pastoral folk to... Hold up. Is the camera over here? No. I'm just curious to know, how are you challenging... I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the war on drugs podcast we are back in a big way in a very big way real people real perspectives this is kind of star-studded a little bit man we got uh ricky williams nfl player hasman trophy winner it's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

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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. Here's the deal. We gotta set right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. You're pastoral folk. Because last night, that came up last night, and one of the preachers said,

it's way too many silent pulpits 30 days in. I try to make it easy for you, but that's the easiest question I can throw out to you. I think that's misinformation. I really do. I think that more pastors are conversating across the country via telephone. I know there's a group of pastors that I meet with basically on a weekly basis

when it comes to talking about this election and how we particularly talk to our people about it or try to give information to our people about it. I don give information to our people about it. I don't think it is a lot of silent pulpits. Maybe on Sunday morning

because that's not what we seem to talk about or what we are called to talk about on a Sunday basis. I think the conversation does take place. I have members in my church that are politicians. I have judges and Supreme Court judges that are in my congregation. So that aspect of it is communicated by those who are in those positions. I really don't have time to be figuring out, okay, what are the different nuances of... Sharice.

He just left. I'm just saying. And my brother here, my sister down there, they are engaged in that. They know what that is. So they inform me on what it is. And in turn, I get them to inform the congregation on what it is. And in turn, I also have dialogue with my colleagues. And are y'all doing constant, so when the election is over,

do you have a, because the church last night, they have a ministry that deals with that. After the election, keeping folk informed, this was what's coming up, this was being worked on, this is what you need to be watching out for,

stuff like that? Dickie Wayne Johns, he's my guy that handles all the political issues that come down the pipe for the church. Gotcha. Go ahead. I was going to say that the black church, I feel like, especially without the absence of a national campaign coming in, the infrastructure from a political perspective, our area, I think, has been fairly organized. We have black churches that are having black men, Pastor Corey Johnson in Germantown, Pastor Alan Waller at Enon Tabernacle.

They are meeting every week and organizing their men's month. They have a men's month that they did, but now they're organizing every week. They are going to mobilize black men across the city, the northwest section of the city, to make sure that they are poll watchers.

There you go. I do believe, and look, if you really want to know really about this subject and where i stand on that i want you to youtube pastor jeremiah right what the hell are you talking about because he gives a really good sermon about the black church and rahm emmanuel in 2000 and i think we need to take a page out of his play. But the two things that you said that people need to understand, you said they are organizing and they're mobilizing. That's correct. Earlier, when y'all talked about

the PPP and the barbershops, what did y'all say? Y'all put that list together and you organize and you mobilize. It was Stokely Carmichael, Kwame Ture said, you cannot find a single prominent African American who made a contribution in the lives of black people who was not involved in an organization.

Meaning you cannot do it as a singular individual. So the reason I will never get off on that is because if we are not pushing our people to organize and mobilize, we will be complaining about a whole lot of stuff and stuff never getting accomplished but we have to be thinking in those terms. I also want to add something that the church is doing as well and I'm glad that... I was about to do the benediction but go ahead.

That was like the summation. I'm just messing with you. Go ahead. I know you are. You better close it out but go ahead. Listen, I'm glad I'm a Delta. You're not picking on me go ahead. Listen, I'm glad I'm a Delta. You're not picking on me that much. Yeah, we know how y'all are. Here we go.

Why? Here we go. There's a whole lot of them in here. And that don't mean nothing to me. Alpha still a daddy. Come on. Oh. Wow.

Just go ahead. Make it. Let me make the point really quickly. Get out really quickly before I get anybody in trouble. Be the bishop, like, leave that man alone. But I will say, because churches obviously have to be nonpartisan and can't, you know, impact or violate their 501c3 status, they're doing a series of things in addition to mobilizing individuals to the polls, but they hold voter registration drives. They hold panel discussions. I know Reverend Waller, on a weekly basis,

I know you're all about weekly things, is... He's also a Sigma. He's having... He's probably 58. Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. He is 60. He's 60.

He's a hater. He's a young 60. Young 60. He's 60. He's a hater. He's a young 60. But no, so he's not just having conversations about getting to the polls and registering people, you know, and also registering people for vote by mail. But he's also having online virtual conversations, again, meeting people where they are, if they're in the social media, having conversations with regular constituents, everyday voters to talk about what is on their mind, but then also talking about not necessarily which candidate, but, you know, what policies are showing up on individuals' agendas that align with not just where that individual is there in the moment, but what is the future of this country. So I think it's going to take those kind of conversations.

And he does it every six months, to your point. You know, we have an election every six months, and we have to ensure that we're continuously doing that level of engagement. So, again, we're not coming down when there's 27 days left talking about an election. It's been a conversation that we've been having throughout the year. So let me remind churches, your status is based upon you can't endorse. That's right. But you can talk about issues.

And you can say, this is where she stands, this is where he stands. It's a lot of folk who are, and not just churches, a lot of our black organizations, oh, we're not going to lose our status. No, it's endorsing. And not just churches, a lot of our black organizations. Oh, we're not going to lose our status. No. It's endorsing. But you can talk about the issues and where folks stand. So folks don't have to be so hands off what they say. We can't bring up where he stands on this.

Yes, you can. Just can't endorse. They practice their freedom of speech. Oh, come on now. I done seen some of these preachers. I saw one of them right wing preachers literally said, if you go to Dubai, get out of my church. And he's still got his IRA status. And so that's just where that is.

And so let me thank all of our panelists for the first and second panel. Bishop, thank you so very much. I even appreciate the Sigma. See, you opened that door. Folks, tomorrow we're going to be at Lincoln University. We were at Mount Carmel last night. Great conversation. But everybody who's

watching and listening, everybody who is here as well, y'all keep hearing me say this here. All I ask you to do is call 10 people. Call 10 people and say, are you registered? And then if they're not registered, get them registered. Then if they say, I am registered get them registered then if they say i am registered say double check your status go to iwillvote.com then after if you got early

voting where you are you can also be engaged in early voting but then if it's on election day you can also be your own caravan you can say'm going to take 10 people to the polls. All right. I keep telling folks, we are dealing now with margins, small margins. Literally, I saw one piece earlier. This election could be decided in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, by 10 to 20,000 votes in each one of those states. 2016, Donald Trump literally won with 77,000 vote margin in three states. That's all it was. So when you start counting the precincts in each state, realize it could be two to three votes in each precinct that actually determines cumulatively who wins. So don't think for a second the vote does not matter. Again, we're at Lincoln University tomorrow. Look forward to being there. The 14, they had actually hit me up a couple of weeks ago. So we're doing a show with them. Homecoming is this weekend. They got

a concert tomorrow night. But when I called the president's office They were like hey they want to do something I was like cool we'll come in we'll broadcast We'll talk to them there I'm not worried about who goes to the concert If I said if 14 just show up We have a show with 14 Because we'll still be talking to thousands online

Folks last thing here Every person in this room who's watching and listening Use your social media to drive messaging. You may only have 200 followers, but if 100 people with 200 followers all send out messages, you're reaching thousands of people. And so you can go to Kamala Harris' Twitter page, Instagram page. You can grab the video. You can grab the photo. Share that. You don't have to do a lot of extra work, but utilize everything at your disposal because I'm telling you, this election does matter.

It absolutely matters. And the next president could appoint two Supreme Court justices who will likely be on that court for 30, 40, 50 years. I'm just trying to let y'all know this thing is real. Depend upon who controls, who wins the U.S. Senate seats, who controls the Senate, who controls the House, and that determines who has power.

If y'all want to support the work that we do, folks, I know some of y'all folks who are still analog. It's all good. Y'all still send me checks. They send checks, money orders. I'm not lying, y'all. I get about 30 a week. It take a little extra time to cash them but they still work uh i'm telling you they old school they ain't they like we ain't trusting no cash apps they all paypal they like what i had i got a p.o box for the very reason y'all can see y'all money order check.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. I told you our cash app is tripping because they changed their rules, which has impacted nonprofits and churches and others.

And so we're sorting it out with them. But PayPal is rmartinunfiltered. Venmo is rmunfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Download the Black Star Network app. Apple Phone. Android Phone. Apple TV. Android TV. Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV.

And, of course, be sure to get a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, Even in Pennsylvania. So y'all can get your book. Get the audio book and audible. I read it. We got the book here. I the audio book and audible. I read it. We got the book here. I picked the photo, too. A white man with his arms in front of the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. What that means, all is ours.

That's why I picked it. And so be sure to get your book, White Fear. Folks, that is it. Again, we'll see you in Lincoln tomorrow. And then we're in North Carolina next week for three shows. But we're going to be doing about six or nine stops. So be sure to follow us for that. And then the coming weeks will be in Michigan, Florida, Milwaukee as well.

So a lot of things happening inside of 30 days. Folks, that is it. Again, thank you so very much for us being here. And I thank all of y'all for being here as well. Folks, y'all know how I end the show. I'll see y'all tomorrow. Out! being here as well. Folks, y'all know how I end the show. I'll see y'all tomorrow. Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punch.

I'm real revolutionary right now. I thank you for being the voice of Black America. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home, you dig? I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two 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 it. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

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