#RolandMartinUnfiltered - SCOTUS hears Louisiana redistricting case, Trump admin Yemen war plans texts, Crockett Chronicles

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

3.24.2025 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: SCOTUS hears Louisiana redistricting case, Trump admin Yemen war plans texts, Crockett Chronicles The Supreme Court heard arguments regarding Louisiana's addition of a second majority-Black congressional district, which some argue goes too far and amounts to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.   House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says there should be a congressional hearing about the way Trump Administration officials discussed sensitive attack plans against the Houthis in Yemen in a Signal group chat. The ceasefire between Congolese forces and Rwandan-backed M23 rebels collapsed on Monday. I'll be speaking with a professor from Morehouse College about its implications for the ongoing conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. In tonight's Crockett Chronicles, we'll show you the warning Attorney General Pam Bondi issued to Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett about her comments about Elon Musk.  And we have Crockett's response to that warning.  In tonight's Fit Live Win, we'll talk to two women's health advocates, Coach Gessie and Angela Yee, about the importance of detoxing.  #BlackStarNetwork partner: Fanbasehttps://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbase This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.  This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. You should read the Offering Circular (https://bit.ly/3VDPKjD) and Risks (https://bit.ly/3ZQzHl0) related to this offering before investing. 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 platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Here's what's coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. The Supreme Court heard arguments regarding Louisiana's addition of a second majority black congressional district, which some argue goes too far, I wonder who that is, and amounts to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. Colorblind constitutionalism, can't wait to talk about this. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says there should be a congressional hearing about the way Trump administration officials discussed sensitive attack plans against the Houthis in Yemen

in a signal group chat. Wow. The ceasefire between Congolese forces and Rwandan-backed M23 rebels collapsed on Monday. I'll be speaking with a professor from Morehouse College about its implications for the ongoing conflict in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In tonight's Crockett Chronicles, we'll show you the warning that Attorney General Pam Biondi issued to Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett about her comments about Elon Musk. And we'll have Crockett's response to that warning. A note to Pam Biondi. Read the First have Crockett's response to that one. A note to Pam Biondi. Read the First Amendment. You are the Attorney General after all, if only in name. In tonight's Fit, Live, Win, we'll talk to two women's health advocates,

Coach Jessie and Angela Yee, about the importance of detoxing. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Let's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Blackstar network. Let's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling.

It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's rolling Martin. Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's rolling Martin. I want to wish a happy birthday, of course. This is the anniversary, March the 24th, 1912, in Richmond, Virginia, to the great Dorothy Irene Hite, a powerful ancestor. Just wanted to mention that today in black history. Today, the Supreme Court has been very busy. There was a hearing today.

An administration lawyer complained about what she said was a trend of lower court judges exceeding their authority and halting government programs, as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether or not to block the moratorium on stopping workers from being hired or fired in the administrative courts. And, of course, that affects a lot of folks in the DMV, Black workers and others. And the Supreme Court also heard today arguments over whether Louisiana's congressional district map for the 2024 elections should be used again. In 2024, state lawmakers adopted a map that created a second majority Black district,

stretching from Baton Rouge to Shreveport and tapping into the Lafayette and Alexandria metro areas. A group of non-African Americans challenged the map, saying race was too great a factor in its adoption—and that's what I meant earlier by colorblind constitutionalism, basically, when they say that they're being discriminated against because they're white. It's a trick that has been gaining momentum over the last probably about 70 years. Now, the state says politics was a significant factor. Lawmakers wanted to preserve seats for House Speaker Mike Johnson, then-Minority Leader

Steve Scalise, and Northeastern Louisiana lawmaker Julia Letlow, who serves on the powerful Appropriations Committee. The decision sacrificed the seat of Republican Representative Garrett Graves, who didn't back Governor Jeff Landry in the 2023 governor's race. A federal court tossed out the 2024 map, but the U.S. Supreme Court told Louisiana to use it until it could take up the case. Here's some of what happened during today's hearing. Certainly politics played a role in this district, but didn't race?

Absolutely, Your Honor. The state was trying to draw a district that would remedy the violation that we had shown. Which is another way of saying race predominated. Well, I would disagree with that, Your Honor. I think that means race was one consideration, and this court has long said in case that— I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm sorry chief isn't is isn't saying race was one consideration another way of saying race predominated and how do we square that with the 14th amendment's promise

that race should play no role well in our in Well, in the redistricting context, this court has long recognized that legislators are always aware of race. And the fact that race was one thing they were considering when they drew the map does not mean it was the predominant thing. It means that it was one of many considerations that they had. Politics was another. Communities of interest was another. And without some evidence that would disentangle those things and show that while actually race, among all of those

considerations the state was considering, race was the one that actually drove the lines. Race does not, the plaintiffs have not borne their burden to prove that racial predominance. Thank you, counsel. Justice Thomas? In some of these redistricting cases, the argument is that a certain percentage of the black population is excluded. And you redraw the that or addresses that violation. So the violation was that the map adopted in 2022 dilutes the votes of black Louisianians by denying them an equal opportunity to elect candidates of choice and we showed that was through drawing from illustrative districts and included this this common core of seven parishes in the center of the state and connecting that with populations in the Delta which was a similar configuration

to the state's map so ours was sort of a lease change map that would remedy the dilution. The state included that same core and it drew together other different black populations in the district to create a remedial district that would remedy the dilution. And I think in that sense, this case is most like Abbott. In Abbott, the Texas court had held that there was a Voting Rights Act violation and the state needed to add additional majority-minority districts. The way the state did that was that it drew together some voters in that southwest Texas area where the violation had been proven with other voters in a different part of the state. And the court said that was fine. They did it for incumbent protection purposes. The fact that it was the least compact district in the state was not even part of the analysis, because the state had the flexibility to remedy that violation in a way that also advanced its political goals.

All right. Well, we see there the continuing battle. We're going to take it up with our Monday night panel. Dr. Omokongo Dabenga, senior, professional, sorry, now I know this as an academic, Bob. Professorial lecturer, School of International Service, American University, and author of Lies About Black People, How to Combat Racist Stereotypes and Why It Matters. Renita Simpson, former Georgia State representative, coming out of Atlanta, Georgia, and of course Dr. Dominguez out of Washington, D.C. And Mondale Robinson, principal Black Male Voters Project and mayor, Enfield, North Carolina. Brother Mondale, let's start with you, brother. Your thoughts, particularly since this alleged difference between political gerrymandering

and racial gerrymandering has played out in the courts of your state and the federal government in recent years? Any thoughts about what we just heard? Can't hear you, Bob. I think you may be—there we go. ROBERT BULLARD, Former U.S. Attorney General for the United States of America, Yeah, I said I think I find it interesting that we hear conservative justices questioning, Gosha specifically in this clip that you played, questioning the idea of why states are drawing districts

the way they want to when he was one of the people that went along with the South Carolina ruling saying that Republicans had the right to make it as politically attractive to their Republican voters in South Carolina as they wanted to. The idea now that voting is outlawed, gerrymandering because of race is not a thing that we should be concerned with, or at least when it benefits

Black people, is fanciful to me, especially when we know the reason race must be considered when we're talking about voting, because this country, this very country, discriminated against Black people for so long on that very basis in this very space. So it's absolutely dastardly that we have Supreme Court justices acting as if they are being genuine in their questioning when they know damn well in this very district Black people had no voice, even though the 15th Amendment supposedly gave Black men the right to vote so long ago until the 60s. So I'm disgusted at this act. But it also shows us that we are constantly reminded that we are not full American citizens, especially when it comes to our right to vote as black people. And us falling asleep at the wheel will put us right where we

are right now, in a losing position. Yes, sir. Renita, I want to ask you about this, of course, there in Georgia. He cited the Abbott case out of Texas, but the case that comes to mind—to my mind, in terms of political gerrymandering, was Georgia v. Ashcroft, almost about 20 years ago. And, of course, that involved the Georgia state Senate. Clearly, the court has carved out this theory of political gerrymandering being OK. But clearly, there's Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act where you can't dilute black votes. And you've seen that battle up close and personal there in Georgia. Any thoughts on what we heard today?

Absolutely. So I'm going to piggyback off what my buddy Mondale said, because he's absolutely correct. We've seen this fight in Georgia. We've seen it very recently. When I served in the Georgia House of Representatives, I was on the Governmental Affairs Committee, which did go through the redistricting process. And I can tell you firsthand that in approving maps like this and dealing with voting rights, race is always a factor in voting maps. And so Neil Gorsuch is being dense. And when he says that, well, using race as a factor means that it's predominant, and doesn't that conflict with the 14th Amendment? No, I would argue that the 14th Amendment is about equal protection for everyone under the law, regardless of race. And so what that means is that Black folks also have the

right to have to elect representation that also would reflect them. The question of race has always come up in drawing these maps as it relates to pulling communities of interest together. Race is usually a factor, because people understand that you're going to most likely have a similar live-life experience, and that will pull you together as a community of interest, as it relates to race, along with other things like making sure that the North part of the state is not making decisions for the South part where they don't live. So there are a lot of things that goes into these maps.

But I would argue that the 14th Amendment really upholds the right for Black communities to have representation that accurately reflects their lives, and they have the right to elect their representatives. Absolutely. Absolutely. Doc, we're here in Washington, D.C., close to the action. I don't know if you've ever taken your students down to Supreme Court chambers to hear oral arguments.

We heard something that we didn't hear a whole lot of up until Trump became president. And that, of course, is the actual voice of Clarence Thomas coming from the bench. Any thoughts on—you know, he claimed it's because he was Gullah Geechee and didn't like to be heard. But, of course, we know, he claimed it's because he was Gullah Geechee and didn't like to be heard. But, of course, we know that was a lie. But he's been a little husky these last couple of Trump terms. And he's starting off all guns blazing now. Any thoughts on what we heard today?

Yeah, he's definitely miraculously finding his voice. And I really thought that when it came to him, it was going to be a no comment. I was just waiting to hear that. But in terms of what we heard today, it's just another example of how these Republicans and so-called conservatives, whatever you want to call them, I don't call them the right because they're wrong, have turned so many words that have been important in our society into trigger words, whether it's something like DEI or critical race theory and things. They've turned it into trigger words. And so race became a trigger word as well. And so you can hear it with Gorsuch. He's like, well, isn't race kind of the primary factor? Because it's almost like an if-then clause, right? Because, well, if it's race, then you're not

getting anything from us. And they've kind of firmly established that. And as Renita was saying, it's about the equal protection under the law. And as Renita was saying, it's about the equal protection under the law. And as Glenn Singleton said in his book, Courageous Conversation, it's not that race is the only factor, it's the missing factor. And that's what the attorney was trying to say. It's something that needs to be taken into consideration. But they want to take the mindset of, well, if you take it into consideration and that's the only thing you're talking about and excluding it for everything else. They're doing that in schools. They're doing it in corporate spaces. And now they're looking at doing it with this question of redistricting.

And so we have to be able, as I say a lot nowadays, to just call a thing a thing. They're trying to use the amendments that we fought for in this country, 14th Amendment, Civil Rights Amendments. They're using those against us, as you started out by talking about. And we can't let it stand. And so this is something we have to continually speak out on, as at the same time we're making sure we're empowering the voters who are in these areas for what's to potentially come one way or the other. Yeah, absolutely. And as everyone has remarked so far, on its face, it's very clear that this is an attempt to suppress the black vote. And they've been successful, of course, as I said earlier, they've been successful in

separating out the idea of what they call political gerrymandering, which they say is non-justiciable—that was Rucho v. Common Cause, I think, back in 2019—as opposed to racial gerrymandering. And I'm wondering—and I always have this question, Brother Mondale and also Sister Renita, because you all have both served as elected officials, as I said, and had to have these knock-down, drag-out fights, either with city councils or state legislators. At what point do the various attempts to suppress the black vote through gerrymandering, whether it be cracking and packing like we saw in Atlanta—I mean, in Alabama, of course,

whether it be what we see here, where a third or more of the voters in Louisiana are black and they continue to try to suppress that vote, at what point does gerrymandering become something that can't work effectively to suppress the number of Black voters in a district? I mean, it's just a matter of demographics. I don't know if either of you have some thoughts. Mondale, maybe you go first, if you like. And then, Renita, please jump in on that. Yeah. And listen, I don't want to be confused as blaming voters for this problem. But I think, you know, this is what we see is the lack of participation in primaries has led us to this point in a lot of the way. And I'm not saying that, you know, voters not participating in primaries is a voter fault, because we as candidates, as politicians should be doing more to reach voters to make them feel inspired and empowered to vote and participate in the primaries. But I think what happens is we have these weak candidates or these candidates that are so tied to the establishment that they're not willing to push their party, our party, further to the left.

And it is a sad day that fighting for Black rights, voting rights, is considered a leftist idea. But what we do see, though, is people willing to capitulate or give in on things that are detrimental to the black voting power. And I think until we have in these black districts, until Mississippi is a bright blue state, until Florida is not a purple state, until Texas is blue and that comes from futuristic, but we have to really get serious about these states where black people really can make an impact without waiting on dollars from the D.C. establishment to say that this is a priority to them. We, as a black community, have to reevaluate what it means to organize our community and fight. And some people will be left out. And when I mean by left out, I mean, you know, in the way that people lost things, like people that fought so that we could sit at these voting or in these voting booths and participate. We know that some of these people will not see what's on the other side, meaning Black equity.

Mississippi should be the state right now already, for instance, because I sound like I'm talking in circles, but I don't need people to understand me. Scott Colon should already be... We should already be behind his brother, pushing him to run for Senate in Mississippi to make sure that we have a Black Senate candidate, someone who's elected, someone who's progressive, someone who has the chops,

someone who got elected on a progressive platform as DA and stuck true to that. Right now, speaking from the community, born and raised in that community, and nobody in D.C. is paying attention to Mississippi and this election that we can really win and get rid of Hyde Smith down there in that state. We're not doing that ourselves. So we are always going to be holding to a white party establishment and what they think is a priority.

And I think until we say we can be Democrats, but we need the Democrats to be black. And what I mean by that is stand up for black people and black needs. And we're not seeing that in our leaders or so-called leaders. Yes, sir. You know, Renita, I spent yesterday evening with the Howard University Alumni Association of Atlanta. Shout out to them, raising money for student scholarships. And one of the folks there was Senator Randall Mangum, who represents his district. Of course, the state senator includes Stone Mountain. I think about the hand-to-hand political fighting that you all have had to do over the years in the Georgia legislature. And he was making the point, the point that you just raised, one of the points that you just raised, Mondale,

that in this previous presidential election, that there were 400,000 or so fewer voters in Georgia than there were in the previous election cycle, and that that state was decided by just a little over 100,000 votes, maybe 115,000, 120,000 votes. And if everybody had voted who voted in 2020 and 2024, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Well, at least we'd be having it in a different way. But, Renita, I think about this. You know, I was in the South Carolina legislature about a month ago in Columbia, there in Atlanta, in the Atlanta legislature. As you have had to

wrestle with these folk over the years, how much—and we think about there's several special elections coming up, Florida, New York, a couple in Florida, one in New York. Is it possible, gerrymandering notwithstanding, in this contemporary moment, I mean, right now, in the next month or two, as these special elections come up for House seats, they could flip the House, is it possible to organize enough to get these folk turned out to vote so you can get rid of some of these folks in the House of Representatives, maybe make Hakeem Jeffries the speaker of the House? Or is that just a pipe dream? I mean, you have been there. You have seen

the difficulties, but you have also seen successes. Any thoughts on that? KAMALA HARRIS, Former U.S. Secretary of State for the United States of America, It's absolutely possible. Similar to what Mondale said, you have got to have candidates who are going to galvanize the base. And the first step of that is, the Democratic Party needs to admit, which they have consistently kicked against, and will do anything not to admit this. But the Democratic Party, I would say the folks who vote for Democrats, this is a Black party. That is what they need to admit. They don't want the issues that campaigns run to reflect what is essential

to Black voters. That's one of the reasons why you continue to see that campaigns are largely run, statewide campaigns and national campaigns, with only one issue that isn't even the most central issue to Black voters. For example, listen, I've been the largest voice on abortion in the state. I literally put my body on the line when the bill came up and Georgia outlawed abortion. But even I will tell you, as somebody who put their body on the line for it, that is not even my top number one issue. There are issues that resonate and reflect in the black community that come well before you get to things like abortion, well before you get to some of the issues that Democrats typically want to just completely run on and ignore the issues that black folks have been talking about for so long. One of them is equal protection as it relates to the criminal legal system. So, yes, gerrymandering, I can tell you, is something that works when you have candidates that are not really doing a good job of galvanizing the base.

And so what happens is the elections are very close. And so what happens is conservatives end up winning these seats. But at a certain point, gerrymandering runs up against demographics. And so when you look in the state of Georgia, for example, we have had demographic shifts that we should have already had a lot more black candidates elected statewide. We don't, because you have a Democratic Party coming in saying, don't talk about this. That's too black. Don't talk about that. OK, well, then guess what? You're going to have black voters stay home. So the final point I will make is, just like what we saw in 2024 as it relates to the presidential election, 100 million eligible folks who were eligible to vote in the country

stayed home. Nine million more registered voters. Now, these are people who are already registered. All they have to do is go to the booth and vote. Nine million more registered voters decided not to vote in 2024 than did in 2020. That is a result of Democrats, that is a result of candidates continuing to run campaigns. And I think that most of that 9 million was on the Democrat side. But they are continuing to run campaigns that do not resonate with the base. And they all want to go for that same moderate white voter, which Republicans have already

cornered the market on. You do not have a chance at getting those votes. Even with demographics, that wouldn't be enough for you to win elections. But they insist on trying to get what Hillary Clinton called the Panera Bread voters, and it's having us lose elections every time. Can I add one thing real quick? Oh, yes, sir. So I just want to say that, isn't it unbelievable that Democrats still have a consulting class that came in with Bill Clinton running campaigns? I'm still getting emails every day from James Caldwell, and I'm not certain if he's not a damn racist. Why am I not getting emails every day from someone who looked and sound like me?

Plies is more right on out on black issues, black political issues than James Cawthorne. I've not seen the Democratic Party tap into that yet. I'm not suggesting that Plies is a political strategist. What I am saying, though, is it is blatant that they continue to go to mainstream media, allow pundits who never won an election, ran an election, or turned out a single damn black voter to have more influence on what this party is and isn't going to say. The idea that the Big Ten party is now reevaluating should they talk about Big Ten issues is a capitulation to whiteness. We are not the party of whiteness. They left with Ronald Reagan and Strom Thurmond when they became Republicans, and they're not coming back.

Like their idea of black, the Democrats, the Dixiecrats, those are Republicans now. They're not coming back. Like, their idea of black, like, Democrats of the Dixiecrats, those, those are Republicans now. They're not coming back over here. And if you think that's your strategy, you should go join them. My biggest complaint about our party is that we continue with these soft-ass consultants who used to be media consultants and mail consultants who spend 80 percent of the budget on that instead of spending any money on what they call off-years, building relationship, transformative relationships, And they just wait to transactions, tell people to go vote because it's the most important election. And that doesn't resonate true with Black people. And these Black people aren't the Black people of past. And we should also note that it's more of them, it's more Black people

in America than there ever was. The baby boomer generation was large, but it was mostly white. These new generations are 40, 50 percent something other than white, and they damn sure don't show up like our grandparents did. Well, yeah, yeah. We got we have a lot of political education to do. And some of it's taking place right now, right here on here on the Black Star Network. As John Clark would often say, black people, you have no friends. So our party is the black people. So we're going to have to figure that out. We will. We'll be right back in a moment here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Join us on the other side of the break. We'll be right back. Question for you. Are you stuck? Do you feel like you're hitting a wall and it's keeping you from achieving

prosperity well you're not alone on the next get wealthy with me deborah owens america's wealth coach you're going to learn what you need to do to become unstuck and unstoppable the fabulous author janine k brown will be with us sharing with you exactly what you need to do to finally achieve the level of financial success you desire through your career. Because when I talk about being bold in the workplaces, I'm talking about that inner boldness that you have to take a risk, to go after what you want, to speak up when others are not. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Black Star Network. This week on the other side of change. Let's talk vote blue no matter who. We need political imagination more than ever.

And unfortunately, some people on the Democratic side really are discouraging that. We're going to dig into all of it. The Democratic Party needs to remember who they are and who they are responsible to. This is On the Other Side of Change, only on the Black Star Network. Now that Roland Martin is willing to give me the blueprint.

Hey, Saraz. I need to go to Tyler Perry and get another blueprint because I need some green money. The only way I can do what I'm doing, I need to make some money. So you'll see me working with Roland. Matter of fact, it's the Roland Martin and Sheryl Underwood Show. Well, it should be the Sheryl Underwood Show and the Roland Martin Show. Well, whatever show it's going to be, it's going to be good. Welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. I'm Greg Carr sitting in for Roland Martin. Today at a little afternoon, 12.06 p.m. Eastern Time specifically, a bombshell

dropped on the webpage of The Atlantic Journal, The Atlantic Magazine. Jeffrey Goldberg, writing under the headline, The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans, said that U.S. national security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. Goldberg writes, I didn't think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling. During a press conference today, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized Defense

Secretary Pete Hegsiff and other senior Trump administration officials for their reckless handling of sensitive attack plans against the Houthis in Yemen in a signal group chat. They're on the group chat with these secret plans. Not so secret, I guess, huh, little Marco? You're on that group chat, to which a reporter had been added. Let's hear what Hakeem Jeffries had to say. By now, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic says he was caught on this text chain signal chat with top Trump administration officials as they were discussing these airstrikes in Yemen. What is your reaction to that? And do you believe there should be a congressional investigation? It should absolutely be a congressional

investigation so that we can understand what happened, why did it happen, and how do we prevent this type of national security breach from ever happening again. This is reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous. Who are some of these people that Donald Trump has put into the most sensitive national security positions in America? We were promised that Donald Trump was going to hire the very best. It's all phony. The attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion, phony. So it's never about hiring the best people. As Democrats, we actually believe in merit. Merit that should be based on what you know, not who you know.

And understand, this whole Trump administration is filled with lackeys and incompetent cronies. I'm not talking about any particular individual, though I will note that the Secretary of Defense who was on that chain has got to be the most unqualified person ever to lead the Pentagon in American history. Think about that. You've put these people in charge in a very dangerous world. And then you want to attack communities of color, attack women, and qualified, brilliant, served this country. Well, all of these attacks from the Trump administration on a diverse America, it's all phony. These people are incredibly unqualified, irresponsible, and they're jeopardizing America's national security. Dr. Dabenga, what did we just witness with this leak over the arc of the last week in Goldberg riding in the Atlantic that he got roped in and realized, wait, this can't be real, and then realized it was real. I mean, is this as big an issue as we heard Leader Jeffries make it to be? Oh, most definitely. And, you know, this is—I just keep, you know, I just keep getting the scene from Birth of a Nation in my head when they're in the Congress and, you know, they got the blackface on and

they got the chicken in the water. This is how to take off the blackface, but this is how they're running the government. They don't care about anything. They don't care about anything. This is absolutely scary. What if the folks, the Houthis in Yemen actually got a hold of this, of what the strikes were about to be, then our troops could have been ambushed easily. And people talk about, well, the Houthis don't really have that technology. They absolutely have that technology. And then, of course, we have to ask ourselves the question, if the Houthis might be able to get access to this, do you think Russia and them don't got it? We know we have this story about Goldberg being on it. But my question is, who else was on this

signal chat that we don't know about? Maybe in the hidden is, who else was on this signal chat that we don't know about? Maybe in the hidden way, who else was on the other signal chat staff they're using? And the fact that they're not even supposed to be using the signal chats because they're supposed to be documenting all of their correspondence, because as we know, signal messages disappear within an hour or so, then they're not making sure that they're putting themselves on record. But this is what I mean when I say President Trump is running a what-had-happened-was presidency, because every time something like this drops, there's a, well, what-had-happened-was. Remember last week, they said, oh, drop all of the documents relating to the Kennedy assassination.

But you know what they conveniently didn't recognize? When they put out all of the unredacted information, all of the Social Security numbers of about 60 people were out there, put out there as well, including people who have worked for government in many levels since then. What did the Trump administration say? Oh, we're going to get you new Social Security numbers. Don't worry about it. Like, pick the department. Pick the department, and you will see this incompetence. Their definition of what a DEI hire is, which is not the actual definition, is what they represent all of the time, every single day. But lastly, I will say, this also represents how this administration has no shame and no decency. Because any other administration, at the very least,

somebody would have lost their job, there might have been some other type of investigation, and there would have been an apology. We're not going to get any of this from this administration, because they're ignorant, disrespectful, and shameless. And that's the part we also can't forget. They have no character. JOHN YANGUAN, National Public Radio Network None, absolutely. And as we have seen today, the MAGA Muppet, Mike Johnson, has already come out in defense of this, saying, well, you know, it was not that big a deal. Very interesting, Renita. And just thinking about this in terms of what we just heard Omokongo say, the incompetence, maybe that's the point.

I mean, one of the things they obviously want to do is privatize as much of the government as they can. And they can say, well, maybe private industry and private business can run it a little bit better or a lot more efficiently. Looking at some of the exchanges, the text exchanges, we saw SM as the initials of one of the persons on this apparently 18-person or so chain. Goldberg thinks that that's probably Stephen Miller. But SM texted, as they were talking about whether or not to go in to do this attack, he said that, you know, green light as far as the president is concerned, but let's make it clear to Europe

and to Egypt what we expect in return. He said, basically, if the United States successfully restores freedom of navigation—this is the ideologue Stephen Miller, very likely—at great cost, there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return. It's interesting to get a peek behind the curtain as to the thinking of these thoroughly incompetent folk. But it seems like everything for them is about transaction. It's transactional.

They're looking for ways to basically screw money out of these other countries. And while we see this question with the Houthis in Yemen, we see these active war zones, basically, proxy wars, for sure, all over the world, they just seem to be interested in how to squeeze more money out of this. Any thoughts on this leak, on the implications for national security, or the attitude and vision and objective of this administration as it relates to what they're trying to accomplish as opposed to what the rest of us may be subject to. Absolutely. They do see everything as being transactional,

and that is because most of them have never had any experience serving in government. And so when you have served in government, not to say that government does everything perfectly, but one thing that you have to think about is that the decisions you make will have future ramifications. And you have to sort of think broadly and into the future as it relates to making decisions. This is what I will say about this administration. And it's the same case that we were in the first time Trump was elected. Both of his presidencies have been a crash course for many who did not know what all

of us on this panel knows, which is that the white man's ice is not colder. There are so many people who have found themselves understanding that these people are completely incompetent. This undeserved, just unfettered trust that white men know best, so let's continue to just elect them almost exclusively as leaders, has put us in a position where you can see the sheer incompetence of this administration. And so for them to constantly, every day, bring up DEI as it relates to them, you know, essentially making the point that they are the type of folks who should be in positions of power, that white folks should be essentially almost exclusively in positions of power, just goes back to the fact that we are seeing that

they are really the DEI hires. They have no, they're just there simply because they're white men and people still, for some reason, have some inherent sort of trust that a white man would know the best way to lead. And so a lot of folks are finding out in real time what most black folks already know, which is that the white man's ice is not colder. Water freezing at 32 degrees for everyone. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Mondale, you know, I'm glad that Renita framed it the way that you did, sis, because, you know, we think about the United States and people push the United States and patriotism and this hyper-nationalism. But what these texts reveal, in addition to the incompetence, which we already knew about, but certainly reinforces that, what they also reveal is the echo chamber and the fact that there's a lot of delusion, certainly in the current administration, relative

to the idea of the strength of the United States vis-a-vis other countries in the world, in an increasingly multipolar world. And as you say, Renita, ice freezes at the same temperature for everyone. While the Houthis are in Yemen, these airstrikes are not going to stop them in the Red Sea. Certainly the overtures, whether it be China or Russia, whether it be the BRICS emerging and more countries applying for membership every month in the BRICS, this turned inward, Mandel, this hyper-nationalist kind of Christophascist nationalism. Certainly, we see Stephen Miller vomiting that stuff and the current secretary of Braille

cream—I mean, defense, I think, Pete Hexeth, with this kind of Christian warrior attitude. It's very insular, very inward-turning. What do you think are the implications beyond this leak, beyond this kind of compromised national security issue in the broader world? And I'm kind of going to ask you about that, too, brother—as far as geopolitics goes and the United States' role in the world, an increasingly shrinking world, you know, what do these messages say to you about how the attitude of this current administration may just help accelerate the decline of U.S. power in the world system? Listen, I think we are naive if we don't believe that if we—you don't have to be a leader of a foreign nation to realize that people aren't looking to America in this moment as they did even, you know, a couple years ago? Because how could you? How could you take this administration

from what you're seeing, but for these racist white people who swear Trump is the second coming, how could you take this administration serious as a national partner or depend on them to protect you when you see how we show up for our closest allies in Canada, in Mexico, and some of our European partners? How you see how we pretend to be serious, but we, and some of our European partners. How you see

how we pretend to be serious, but we're pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord. How can we be serious when you see how we pull out of the World Health Organization? Things that are keeping this country and the United Nations and our animosity towards other nations. When you see this, you can't take this country serious as a national partner, not for the defense of America or other nations for sure. But I think what's really clear is we should not take on the language of these people. And I know we want to call this a leak, but I don't even think this is a leak. I think this is how they operate. They're that incompetent.

The vice president of the United States was on that chat. Secretary of State, right? The CIA director was there. The CIA director was on that call. Gabbard was on that call and also Waltz. So I think when we think about it, these are boys texting around, making jokes and celebrating something that they thought looked good in their eyes. This is how they normally communicate. And I think what we should be worried about is these people are talking on Signal, as someone already said, and you can make messages

disappear in an hour or minutes on Signal. So what is being said in the chats that reporters didn't get added to? How are we conducting business or what kind of nefarious ideas? And I don't know this to be true, but I mean, we're talking about a dastardly bunch here. What kind of deals are being made with other people for the benefit, like you said, the transactional benefit of these, the most rich cabinet in the history, richest cabinet in the history of this country?

How are they benefiting themselves, not the people of America, on Signal and other places? Because I know they're not keeping proper notes. I'm afraid that you asked about geopolitics and how the world is shrinking. I think the world's persona and person... their personal thought of America is shrinking. Like, America is not how we should do business

or who we should lean ourselves on. We see our allies spending more money on defending themselves now than they ever had because they don't feel comfortable. And I told people in Donald Trump's first administration, be sure that when people saw Donald Trump take us out of the Paris Accord, then we saw Joe Biden put us back in, and Donald Trump gets back in office to take us out, people at this point cannot look — talk about other nations — cannot look to America about other nations—cannot look to America and say, this is how or where we should point ourselves to as a North Star

on democracy, because our democracy is not just downgraded on paper. We're downgraded in actions. And you see it in the way Donald Trump show up, executive order diminishing the role of the judiciary, executive order taking control of the monies, the purse, which is supposed to be for the legislative branch. So we see someone who is putting all the power in himself. Now you have Republicans and Donald Trump joking about him running for president to be elected for a third term. And I think that joke should be scary to all of us because it's the beginning of the end of America's democracy, not just on a geopolitical stance, but right here at home.

No, it's true. And you're absolutely right. It's not a joke. It's absolutely not a joke. They have a theory all warmed up. We dodged a bullet there in North Carolina with the independent state legislature theory that they shot down at the Supreme Court during the Biden administration. But this one is one that they are deadly serious about. But of course, the Grim Reaper might want a word, because the Grim Reaper is the voter that ultimately votes on how long any of us are here. I don't suspect that Donald Trump might be around for—to run for a third term. But we'll see. Mortality the same night awaits us all. We're going to come back in a moment here at Roland Martin Unfiltered. And you're watching the Black Star Network. So come on and join us right after the break. Be right back.

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Go to startengine.com slash fanbase and own the next generation of social media. Hey, what's up? It's Tammy Roman. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherri Shepherd Talk Show. It's me, Sherri Shepherd, and you know what you're watching, Roland Martin Unfiltered. Well, here we are again.

Our latest installment of the Crockett Chronicles. When, maybe this is a rhetorical question—when are these white women going to learn not to go after Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett? During a Fox interview, Attorney General Pam Bondi warned Crockett to, quote, tread very carefully, end quote, just days after the Democrats spoke at a virtual rally for the Tesla takedown movement. If you don't think the Tesla takedown movement is serious, 85 percent crater in Tesla sales

in Europe. So let's be clear. This group is protesting against Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency's efforts to dismantle the federal bureaucracy through boycotts and demonstrations at Tesla properties. We are not coming off these charges. We are looking at everything, especially if this is a concerted effort. This is domestic terrorism. And Maria, now you have this Congresswoman Crockett who is calling for attacks on Elon Musk on her birthday.

Let's take him out on my birthday, she says. Yet she turns and says, oh, I'm not calling for violence. Well, she is an elected public official. And so she needs to tread very carefully because nothing will happen to Elon Musk. And we're going to fight to protect all of all of all of the Tesla owners throughout this country. And it's basic safety. Once again, domestic terrorism is going to come to a stop in our country. Well, what we've learned is something that we probably should have suspected,

that Pam Biondi doesn't know the definition of domestic terrorism. But then again, that's not why she's the attorney general, isn't it? It's not at all. Alina Haba, who just was made the top federal prosecutor for New Jersey, Trump's personal lawyer, who we last saw losing in New York court, is now the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey. So, whether it be Alina Haba or Pam Bondi, I think it's pretty clear how you all got y'all's jobs and why you got them. But, hey, we all know that Jasmine Crockett, Congresswoman Crockett, will answer when shots are fired.

She addressed Bondi's remarks during an interview on MSNBC. Tesla takedown, that is the name of the website. And it was all about this large protest that they're calling for. And this is a nonviolent protest that they're calling for. And in fact, when I was on there, which is why the attorney general had to say that I wasn't calling for violence. And it's ridiculous that I even have to say something like that. But because they are trying to twist our words, one of the things that I told people to do is make sure you are adhering to the laws in your area. Make sure you know what it looks like to protest and to be able to raise your voices and to exercise your constitutional right to free speech. And what we see is that they want to dull our free speech rights. They want to make sure that those that are participating in the press, because we

saw that there have been recent attacks specifically on this news organization, they want y'all to kind of tamp down what you say and hopefully buy into the lies instead of going out there and just telling the truth. And so, yeah, I'm excited to see that Elon Musk, that his money as it relates to Tesla, well, Tesla's tanking right now. And I'm OK with that. So just in case the slow people listening decide to clip this up later, I just want to say that I have never promoted violence whatsoever, yet I've also never made excuse for those violent actors such as the ones on January 6th. So, Pam Bondi, if you have an issue with terrorism, maybe you should talk to your boss about locking back up those guys that he let out that participated in January 6.

Dr. Truman Crockett, who, of course, has a law degree, practiced law, a business owner, had her own law firm, helping us understand the difference, perhaps, between a definitional statute and a charging statute. So, Pam Bondi using words kind of loosely there, and Jasmine Crockett reminding us that there are indeed domestic terrorists in the United States who were charged and convicted, and many of them were pardoned by Pam Bondi's boss, Donald Trump. Dr. Dabenga, you sit there and look at this. You've written about this.

You teach about this, how race operates. What do you make of Bondi's statements? And why do you think she made them and aimed them specifically at, as she said, this congresswoman, Jasmine Crockett? And what do you hear when you hear the way that Bondi lined out there? Oh, she's putting a target on her back. And she's also trying to issue a warning to other Black people in general, because she knows full well that Representative Crockett is beloved in our community, and that even before the bleach blonde comment that went viral, she was always somebody who was represented and well-respected in our community and just adored on so many levels.

And so this is a kind of an opportunity, a way for them to kind of start at somebody at the top, because you've never really heard Pam Bondi mention any other congresspeople or senators by name. Of course, Trump does a shifty shift, all that other type of stuff. But Pam Bondi doesn't really do that. She kind of speaks in generalizations. But now she's trying to issue that particular type of warning. And the fact of the matter is that letting people know that we're going to protect Tesla in any way, shape or form. We're going to sell cars on the lot. We're going to advertise selling the stock. But now we're also going to stop these acts of domestic terrorism. But, as Representative Crockett said, not looking at the real terrorism that happens across this country on a daily basis, she's trying to throw some shots and say,

you better be careful. But Representative Crockett, as someone who, as we know, has never called her violent and who somebody who's always careful with her words, but we know for them, it doesn't matter. It's about symbolism. It's about trying to keep Black people in place. It's about trying to keep us silent. And so they're starting at the top with somebody who's the most vocal. And this kind of happened with Auntie Maxine, remember, when she was talking about if you see these guys in a restaurant, confront them. And they're like, oh, Representative Watt is calling for violence. And she was like, no, confront them in terms of having a conversation. Tell them you don't like their policies and that you voted for them, all of that. But they are master manipulators, but they are also the masters

of projection, because every projection is a confession, because they are the one inflicting terrorism on people in America right now. Look at the people who they just shipped to El Salvador as the latest example. JONATHAN CAPEHART- Absolutely, absolutely. And we lift up Yun-Sau Chung, who is suing right now. They filed a lawsuit today. She's a student at Columbia University in New York, South Korean, 21 years old. She's been here since she was seven, has permanent resident status. Only an immigration judge can take away a green card. And she's suing because they're trying to get rid of her.

And, of course, we saw earlier, a couple of weeks ago, what happened there with Mahmoud Khalil, who also a fellow legal immigrant at Columbia University, who was detained by ICE. And, Renita, we've heard the over-the-top rhetoric of Tom Holman, Trump's attack dog with ICE and Department of Homeland Security, saying that I don't really care about these judges. I'll thumb my nose and do whatever I want to do. But, you know, putting this target, as Omokongo said, on the back of Representative Crockett, and trying to send a message that we don't care. We can do whatever we want, and we'll do it in the name of national security.

We'll do it in the name of protecting the homeland from domestic terrorism, legal or not legal. We have the right to do that, or we have the power to do that. What do you make of this, particularly since,, particularly since we know, particularly in the Deep South, that the idea of targeting people with rhetoric stirs up other people, and then these paramilitaries, these extra-legal organizations, these places can jump into action and perhaps have the intended consequences that such heated rhetoric stirs up? Should we be preparing to protect Representative Crockett at all costs at this point? I mean, what do you make of this situation? KAYLA COCKETT, Former White House Representative to Representative Crockett, We should, because, statistically, black women, when they serve in public office, receive more death threats

than any other demographic of elected official. I certainly receive my share of death threats while serving folks who will call my office and say, conservative white men call my office saying I'm coming down to the Capitol on her right now, calling, demanding for my home information, all types of stuff. At the end of the day, Pam Bondi, and I would just say conservatives overall, they are the most thin-skinned people you can possibly find. They would not last as a Black woman elected official. If they had to be us for one day, they would quit

by lunchtime. And so for Pam to add sauce to what Representative Crockett said, because that's what she did, Representative Crockett said, I hope that Elon will be out for my birthday, referencing getting him out of the White House, which is correct, because he doesn't he's not been elected by anybody. He doesn't belong there. She says she wants him out. And that is her right. She's broken no laws by saying that she wants him out. She's simply saying that she does not wish Elon well. Pam, I don't wish you well.

And that is my right as an American. So I think that this whole game that they are playing, trying to basically force it on people, that they have to continue to give Elon the popularity that he is used to, and they have that people have to only have good thoughts about how they run this administration is a bunch of garbage. The more you try to shove something down a person's throat and tell them to think a certain way, it never works out well.

People inherently reject that, and people inherently reject what you're trying to do. If you are doing such a good job, and this includes Pam Bondi, Trump, all of them, if you're doing such a good job with the way that you're running this administration, then you wouldn't be having to tamp down on what people voice and what they think about how the administration is going. People would be happy with it, but they're not. And people do have the right to speak up and say that they are not happy with it. Indeed. I just want to sit there for a second in the fact that people are calling your office, threatening to come down there. That is, y'all, this ain't the 1940s, 50s, or 60s. We're talking about right now, 21st century. I just want that to resonate, resonate very loudly. We should

all hear that crystal clear, you know, whether or not the threats, the threat is the threat. It doesn't matter where it's coming from. Man, just thinking about that. Brother Mondale, what do you think? What are your thoughts on this? Well, I think people should hear what, I mean, like we shouldn't even, like you said, we should sit there for a moment because Renita just said something. She was a servant, an elected servant, and getting death threats. I'm someone who does not stay,I've not slept a night in my bed.

As mayor in a town, I have to go and leave that town every day I have meetings because of death threats for turning down a Confederate monument. Two and a half years, I'm moving back and forth from hotel to hotel and different locations for the protection of me and my wife. Credible threats where people have my address because I was doxxed by the lawyer White Knights, which is the largest Klan chapter in this country, the same ones that plan Charlottesville. But what Bondi want to do is, if she want to talk about those domestic terrorists, then she should be talking about what her FBI said,

that the largest and the greatest threat to Americans, the greatest form of domestic terrorism is white supremacy, white nationalists. She should get busy with that, but she can't because she's disarmed the civil rights division of her department. These people aren't serious. And matter of fact, I don't know if she understands the difference between domestic and global, but the takedown Tesla is a global movement and it's a global call to action. And it says directly on their website that they are against any form of violence or property destruction and vandalism. But they definitely want anybody that owns stock in Tesla to get rid of it, dump it. Anybody that owns a Tesla to sell it and also to protest this weekend in front of one of the 500 locations worldwide.

30 of them are planned in the United States, across 30 states. So I think this idea that they think that is a form of violence, it is in their mind because they are white people not understanding why black people and other people are standing up or having the right to be uppity Negroes in this moment. And that will always be a form of terrorism for people who support and stand for the idea of whiteness. You, me, and everybody on this panel do not have a right, and Criker included,

do not have a right to question whiteness, a white person. And I think that's the point they're speaking from. The problem is they're saying it out loud. And we need to listen to them because they're not dog whistling anymore. They're letting you know that Black people need to be in their place. And if you're not, we're willing to use all matters of government to put you there. Absolutely. Absolutely. And for those who are,

I'm so glad you brought the global context there. For those who have been paying attention, the electric vehicle leader in the world, the giant is BYD out of China. Can't buy them here, of course. But today, BYD reported annual revenues from 2024 of around $107 billion. Last year, Tesla's annual revenue was $97.7 billion. And that's without access to the U.S. market. That profit jumped 34 percent for BYD in fiscal year 2024.

By the way, about two weeks ago, they announced a quantum leap in battery technology. They now have announced a battery that can go almost 300 miles for an electric vehicle on a five-minute charge. Elon Musk, do you hear what's coming for you, baby? I know that's why you want to steal our tax dollars, but we'll be back in a moment here at the Black Star Network and Roland Martin Unfiltered. Back in a moment. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr.

Succession. We're hearing that word pop up a lot these days as our country continues to fracture and divide. But did you know that that idea, essentially a breaking up of the USA, has been part of the public debate since long before and long after the Civil War, right up to today?

On our next show, you'll meet Richard Crichton, the author of this book, who says breaking up this great experiment called America might not be such a bad thing. That's on the next Black Table, right here on the Black Star Network. Hey, what's up? Keith Turino, the place to be.

Got kicked out your mama's university, creator and executive producer of Fat Tuesdays, an air hip-hop comedy. But right now, I'm rolling with Roland Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. You hear me? Welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network.

Spread the word. Make sure that you support the Black Star Network. This is the place to get your daily news. House Republican leaders issued a not-so-subtle warning to their Senate counterparts today. The message, it's time to move on Trump's legislative agenda. House Speaker Mike Johnson, along with his leadership team and House committee chairs, released a joint statement emphasizing that with the current fiscal year's government funding debate now resolved, quote, our focus returns to delivering President Trump's full America First agenda.

End quote. Good luck. Tomorrow marks one month since the House adopted a budget blueprint that outlines the chamber's benchmarks for significant tax and spending cuts, which will be part of a large reconciliation package reflecting Trump's agenda. The budget reconciliation process allows Republicans to pass their priorities without the risk of a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. However, Senate Republicans are interested in making changes to the House budget, while lawmakers in the House prefer to maintain their original plan. This is very interesting. Renita, you've been a legislator, a lawmaker.

I guess it was all fun and games when you can pass that resolution and pass that bill and go out and go out. But, you know, leave town. But now you got to come back and put your name on specific line item votes. What do you think is about to happen? Walk us through what you expect to see happen, because you know what that process is about. What I expect to see happen is what I think was going to happen for a long time, which is that the stopgap bill that they passed just to avoid the government from shutting down, now they've got to put in place a real budget. And what you're going to see is the rubber meeting the road. So that fiscal sort of outline that they previously passed never had details as to what the final budget would entail. And so I think that you're going to see now even the infighting between the GOP,

because now as it relates to how you are going to cut as much as what you would need from the budget in order to provide tax cuts for the rich, which is the reason why Trump is trying to cut all these federal agencies, you're going to have to touch social programs like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security. And at the end of the day, as much as these GOP reps might want to support Trump and the

Trump administration, they have a district to answer to. And when you have to go and explain to seniors things like, oh, there's going to probably be a problem with your Social Security, or, oh, the Medicaid that you that, you know, most local hospitals depend on is going to get cut, which means you're probably going to likely lose your local hospital, that kind of stuff is not going to get cut, which means you're probably going to likely lose your local hospital, that kind of stuff is not going to fly with folks. There's already been one estimate that if Medicaid gets cut, 12 hospitals in Alabama will likely go out of business. Georgia has been seeing hospitals go out of business left and right due to low Medicaid

funding. And so there are so many hospitals across the country that are on the brink. And so people have started to wise up to, you know, sort of understand that there is a lot to lose here. And I think that these reps, these GOP reps, you're going to see the infighting because people, reps know that they cannot sustain telling their base that they are going to cut the very checks and the very things that folks depend on, like Social Security and retirement, Medicaid, to keep local hospitals open, Medicare comes into play largely after you have retired. That's your insurance. That type of stuff, folks are not going to agree. And when I say folks, I mean, and we're talking about GOP infighting here, the Republican voters are not going to agree that they are willing to give up all of those things that make their lives run easier so that they can support Trump. It's not going to happen.

Not going to happen. Well, you heard it here first, you all. And, you know, Dr. Dabenga, what do you think about this, man? I mean, it's clear now, as we just heard Renita say, the rubber's got to meet the road now. You got to do these votes. And what are you going to tell your constituents who they're hiding from in the town halls? And, by the way, shout out to Tim Walz for going places where they won't hold town halls. And Walz said, I'll come. I'll talk to everybody. Maybe there's some fight left in the Democratic Party,

or at least some people who are in the Democratic Party. But what do you make of this, Omicongo? Well, I think this is just another reminder of the fact that Republicans don't know how to govern. And many of them don't have an interest in governing. Most Republicans, presidents in recent memories are the ones that left us with recessions. And these senators also can't get out there and talk like a Marjorie Taylor Greene and other people who are in safe districts. They got to worry about winning statewide. And so this is one of the challenges when it comes to Republican administrations, when they're basically running the table in terms of running the House and they got the presidency as well. Of course, they got the courts now, of course, as well. They can't govern.

And so they come out with all of these legislation. But when it's time to implement something on a national level, they talk a good game. But we get left on the hook in terms of the American people. We get left on the hook by the fear of what's going to happen, the anticipation, the anxiety, not knowing what these guys are going to do. And so this is a real problem. And then you add Trump in there with the tariffs, a wait till April 2nd. He plays a wait until next episode type of mindset because of his TV background that has Americans on edge. And at some point, all of these senators, all of these House people, all they care about is being reelected. And they're going to do whatever it's possible to be able to keep that. And so if they're not going to be showing up for

these town halls and they're not going to be showing up to speak to the people, they are damn sure going to make sure that they at least stay in line. I'm talking about the senators, in some way, shape or form, by not going along with this agenda, because more people have to elect them than these House members. And that's what I think is what's going on. And that's why I think we're going to continually see an impasse, because they don't really have to answer to Trump in the same way that these House loyalists feel like they have to. DERRICK TURNER, Former U.S. Secretary of State for the United States, Yes, sir. Yes, sir. It's interesting, Mandel. Tomorrow, we see Frank Bisognano is going before Congress for his

initial round of hearings as Trump's picked to head the Social Security administration. He's a controversial pick. We saw last week, at the end of the week, Leland Dudek, who is the current acting commissioner, threatened to shut down all of the work of Social Security in response to a judge's orders, but then he turned around and backed down. Their incompetence, their breathtaking incompetence has really come out in places like Social Security. And, of course, we know Musk is losing his mind trying to get at all the data there and

claiming it's a Ponzi scheme and having his Musk rats rifle through people's personal information. Seventy-three million people a month get Social Security. How concerned, kind of echoing what we heard from Renita, how concerned are you about these upcoming legislative battles? And do you think they're going to be able to do what they claim they want to do in the broad kind of rhetoric when it comes down to the actual act of policymaking? claim they want to do in the broad kind of rhetoric when it comes down to the actual act of policymaking?

Yeah, I think for me, for real, Doc, what I'm not really worried about is what they're claiming publicly, because what they're claiming publicly is not as sinister as what they're really trying to do. So that's what I'm really worried about. As a mayor who went back home to run for mayor because of gentrification and also some of the poorest people in America being pushed further away from resources in rural black America in North Carolina. I know what it means for people not to have a check. And I know the problem is you have the richest, one of the richest cabinets in the history of this country. Now you have these

people, billionaires, saying that people can go months or a month without a social security check. And I think that's just unrealistic for people who are living paycheck to paycheck. And some of saying that people can go months or a month without a Social Security check. And I think that's just unrealistic for people who are living paycheck to paycheck. And some of them, those paychecks still don't add up enough to make their lives plausible. So I'm super afraid about what these $4 trillion or trying to secure $4 trillion tax cuts for the wealthy is 1% or less than 1% of Americans at the expense of cuts to Medicaid, energy, and also Social Security. Here's what I think is going to happen, what history has shown us. People will rant and rave, but Republicans will get in line with what Donald Trump says, even those who are not worried about as much as like the—I mean, even those in the Senate who run statewide.

And what we know is Donald Trump is not just Donald Trump anymore. He's Donald Trump with Elon Musk, and they're willing to spend their money on or against people who don't get in line. And I think that's what we're seeing right now, this idea or the power of Elon Musk's money tap with Donald Trump's willingness to lie about anything and the lack of humanity that exists in this administration

has become the ruler that's needed to get Republicans in line. So we see these, even the Freedom Caucus, who say that they are conservative, fiscally conservative, we see them willing to spend more money for Donald Trump. We see them willing to cut social service or the social safety net at great expense, even to poor white people in Appalachia and the Midwest, solely to please Donald Trump. So I'm really not worried about what they're saying. I'm really worried about what's going to happen

and who's going to be affected, knowing that when America sneezes, Black people already are suffering from COVID, the next COVID. And I think what's going to happen when we start seeing the irresponsible, or we start feeling the irresponsible, or we start feeling the ramifications of the irresponsible way in which they're cutting and dividing up government departments and also cutting resources away from the poorest amongst us, is you're going to see Black people dying at rates, that is not hyperbole, dying at rates that are similar to what

we saw in COVID when nobody else is dying like us. And I think people aren't telling the truth about that. And that's what keep me up at night. Well, I tell you, it's going to be a lot harder than they think it is. Or perhaps, as you said, the rhetoric is not going to mask the policymaking. And yeah, thank you for pointing out Howard Letnick, the Commerce Secretary who estimates between $2 and $4 billion, his net worth, for throwing his 94-year-old mother-in-law under the bus the other day and saying she wouldn't call and complain about her missing her Social Security. I guess she wouldn't with a billionaire son-in-law, although she should be on the phone trying to figure out how to get rid of you as a son-in-law, you clown.

But at any rate, we're going to come back in a moment here at Roland Martin Unfiltered. And on the other side, we're going to go international and think about our family in the Congo. Back here at Roland's talk vote blue no matter who. We need political imagination more than ever, and unfortunately, some people on the Democratic side really are discouraging that. We're going to dig into all of it. The Democratic Party needs to remember who they are and who they are responsible to.

This is On the Other Side of Change, only on the Black Star Network. Hi, I am Tommy Davidson. I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. I don't say, I don't play Sammy, but I could. Or I don't play Obama, but I could. I don't do Stallone, but I could do all that. And I am here with Roland Martin on Unfiltered. A de facto ceasefire between Congolese forces and Rwandan-backed rebels in the eastern Congo

town of Walakali appears to have broken down. The rebels reneged on a pledge to withdraw and accused the army of violating its commitments. The conflict in Congo, rooted in the long fallout, in part in the long fallout from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and competition for control of mineral riches, has led to rebel control of Eastern Congo's two largest cities, thousands of deaths, millions of deaths over the arc of the decades, and fears of a wider regional war. We're very happy to welcome here to Roland Martin Unfiltered my friend and brother, Dr. Sam Livingston, who's associate professor of Africana Studies at Morehouse College and has been a longtime organizer, supporter, advocate, and comrade in the struggle to bring peace to Congo.

Welcome to Roland Martin Unfiltered, Dr. Livingston. Dr. Carr, my brother Greg, it's good to be with you, man. Yeah, Sam, walk us through this, man, if you don't mind, because, I mean, folks know about Congo a little bit. They hear it. We've had the boycotts. We've had the idea, you know, being educated around cold tam. But for some people, they don't know where to begin and where to end. Could you help a viewer

who may be hearing this for the first time or who thinks they may know, or even who thinks they may know, help us with a little bit of background as to what's going on in Congo? Absolutely. I would definitely put this in a little bit of a longer context. You know, the Rwandan genocide beginning in April of 1994, which we need to commemorate with our Rwandan brothers and sisters, was one of the hair triggers. But really, this began once the United States government under President Eisenhower decided that he would, for the first time in American history, assassinate a sitting president. The United States had overturned, overthrown, removed from office presidents that they disagreed with in terms of their politics, but they hadn't assassinated, to my knowledge, anyone who was sitting in

office. But President Eisenhower basically decided that an African man standing up and representing the national cause of Congolese people was more than he could stomach. And when you look at the newspaper, the drumbeat toward war in 1959, 1960, and 1961, toward justifying the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, it was really a downhill slide from there. So you take that, and once the United States installed Mobutu Seiseiseko into power in 1965 and basically facilitated the kleptocratic state, in many ways Trump is like an American Mobutu in many ways. They basically facilitated the theft of billions and billions, if not trillions and trillions of dollars in wealth. And after the genocide in 1994, Rwanda, with the backing of the United States, along with

Uganda, invaded North Kivu and essentially sought to depopulate as much as possible, basically killing up to 6 million people. Now, most recently, what you've seen with the M23, which started out as a Tutsi-based militia, and it's really expanded to include Vanu Malenge Banyu Rwanda people, Kenya Rwandan-speaking people, and then others who are just really mercenaries. But it's really important to note that Kagame has at least 3,000 soldiers on the ground fighting alongside the M23. So when you see the successes of the M23,

you are seeing the success of Paul Kagame's army. So far in the last month and a half, you're talking about the deaths of at least 7,000 people. But again, when you put it in the larger context, you're talking about millions of people and it rarely catches a newsbeat at all. And what's the saddest part of it is that our African-American politicians and political organizations are not even concerned, even though these are literally our blood kin people. Yeah, you've traveled there and maybe in a minute or two, you can walk us through what you all have been doing on the ground there at Morehouse and how other HBCUs can get involved in other universities. Yeah, in the pop culture, the word in Marvel lore is that the Black Panther, in part, was

a gesture toward Patrisse Lumumba. And while the precious metals of Congo are among the most valuable in the world, the fictional metal of vibranium in Black Panther is like a symbolic gesture toward the riches of Africa, except the Wakandans refuse to let anybody take it. And, of course, we know that Congo, like the rest of Africa, has been a perpetual victim in this. Yeah. You know, I really think—oh, I'm sorry.

Go ahead, bro. No, no, no, no, no. Go right ahead, please. No, I was going to say that. I really think President Chisakere—and some people would say, oh, well, he's trying to do the best he can. But it doesn't help when you try to strike a deal with the devil again and essentially say, oh, we'll give you unfettered access to some mineral rights if you'll help us to defeat the people that you're paying in the first place. The United States, the European Union, they've been signing millions, multiple hundreds of million dollar deals with Rwanda and Uganda to provide minerals.

Rwanda is a leading coltan exporter, but it produces almost no coltan. And it gets that almost completely just from the eastern provinces of the DRC. If you look at the area of the DRC, and I have a map here in front of me, I wish you could see what I'm seeing here. You really have a country that is almost twice the size in terms of just that province of North Kivu. Rwanda is less than half, almost about half the size of North Kivu. But they're claiming that they, well, that was once a part of the kingdom of Rwanda, and that after the Berlin Conference, 1884 and 1885, which is really centered around the conflict over how Congo would be colonized, they're trying to return to some of those borders, but it just doesn't make sense. On one hand, you could say Kagame is trying to act like Hitler in his attempt to search for more Liebenschraun in the Sudetenlands, but at least there was some German population there.

There's a tiny Banyamulenge and Banyarwanda population in those areas. So the argument just simply does not hold. And unfortunately, the Congolese people in the cities and towns where our partners are, our friends and allies and partners in Goma, in Bukavu, and in places like Letembo and Beni, they are the ones who are suffering. The mayor, the person who was the formerly appointed mayor of Goma, is a close personal friend of mine. We brought him to Morehouse College in 2016,

and his life essentially has been threatened. They assassinated, they killed the military mayor. He was appointed the civilian mayor, but has not been able to actually take the office because of the violence in the area. So we're really talking about something that's deeply, closely touching HBCUs, in much the same way that President, Prime Minister Lumumba, when he came to the United States, he went to Howard University and he went to Howard in search of faculty and friends and administrators who would, and students who could actually come to Congo and to live and to work, to build up the administrative state, because Belgium essentially didn't do anything to build up the administrative estate, administrative state, because Belgium essentially didn't do anything to build up the administrative

state, and their years are generation after generation of exploitation in the Congo, from the Congo Free State up into the point of liberation, of independence, flag independence. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Let's invite the rest of our panel in the conversation, Dr. Omokongo Dabenga, Renita Shannon, and Mondale Robinson in the conversation, Sam. And for those of you who remember Joe Biden's commencement speech on Malcolm X's birthday last year, 2024, Sam Livingston was one of two faculty holding up the flag of Congo behind the president of the United States as he spoke there at Morehouse's commencement. Let's start with you, Mondale.

Mondale, any questions for Dr. Sam Livingston out of Morehouse College? Yeah. Thank you so much. First of all, Brother Livingston, I'm a huge fan. And I think for me, you know, Congo has a special place in my heart, mainly because, like you said, these are our kinfolk. But also because of America, like we, a lot of Americans, I should say, tend to think that, oh, poor these people. But you started out in a wonderful way by doing this history of how we eliminated a duly elected leader for this country, who was a black man, who had ties to, you know, who came to America in July, in June, and July 27th of 60, when he couldn't have, when he shouldn't have been because it was dangerous for his life. Right. And it was Eisenhower that said, I wish he would wake up in a river full of crocodiles.

And CIA made that happen. But I think, for me, it would be great if you could spend some time, because I used to be the political director for this guy whose name was Eddie Deschumet, who's a biochemical engineer here, but from Congo, who was going to go back home to run for president. But it was too dangerous, the death threat she was talking about, too dangerous for his life, for his wife's comfort. So he had to drop out that election. But talk to people about not just in Congo, but specifically how America's and France's withdrawal from Africa and also killing of leaders who had ties to HBCUs led to these strongmen and the destabilization of these countries. Excellent. Excellent. Now, you're absolutely right.

You know, there was a clear political choice where there could have been, you know, after or following the Truman Doctrine after World War II, the attitude, the posture of the United States government was that it would support any state that was aspiring for democracy, that was supporting and, not a military overthrow, not a violent overthrow of the colonial powers, but a peaceful political transition and a clear choice was made. You know, I really appreciate the history that Susan Williams has done in her book, White Malice. But I would recommend that folks actually also read, take a look at Patrice Lumumba's Congo, My Country. There we go. You can see that. And it's really interesting because he's writing and he's showing an awareness of the connections with the diaspora. And he has a couple of poems and essays that actually evoke this, you know, I know why you sing the blues, almost ethos that you could hear.

And I think we really haven't picked up on that. We have with Nkrumah, because Nkrumah spends so much time, of course, at Lincoln and in Pennsylvania and in Harlem, you know, studying with our deans, Dr. John Henry Clark and Dr. Carr knows his history way better than I can tell it. But, you know, so we know that for Nkrumah. But I think we also need to pay attention to how Fannie Lou Hamer and in her developing friendship and connection with Malcolm X and her setting up of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party shows us in some ways a political way. So I know, brother, this is a slight divergence, but I really think that we need to look back at that 1960s period and to plot a new

course of political calculus, one where we actually think about setting up possibly an allied or African, Africana Freedom Democratic Party that is almost like a distinct caucus within the American government. But it's going to be up to us, that is the grassroots people in organizations like Friends of the Congo, to help to plot that political course. And, you know, I think a new direction is possible, but it has to be one where we point out a clear program. You know, we're going to support African Democrats. We're going to actually have a new we need to push for a new almost like I, I hate to use the phrase, a Marshall Plan for Africa. Not that the U.S. has to develop Africa, but it has been raping and pillaging and robbing for so long that I wonder if there can actually be justice in Africa unless the United States is forced to call to account for the crimes that it's enacted against Congolese people. You know, that's not going to be a popular political stance for President Chisakede. He may not be able to stomach that based upon how he's gone groveling to President 47.

But I still think that we need to push for that new direction. So I definitely agree with you. Our political destinies are tied together. And in many ways, what Malcolm X spent the last year and a half of his life, as short as that was, he spent it organizing African people in America around the OAU, spent much more time with that organization, even compared to the Muslim Mosque Incorporated. And the country that you hear on Malcolm's lips the most is the country of Congo and the importance of Lumumba's vision. And what we have today in 2025 is a clear contrast between the vision of Lumumba, which argues for the Pan-African unity and the ethnocentric go-for-self vision of Paul Kagame. versus Rwandan people. But Rwanda's leader is pushing toward a direction where there can be nothing but another African world war

similar to the wars that took place, the Congo Wars of 1996 into the early 2000s. So how do we intercede? I think we need to look at Malcolm's path, look at Andre Blouin and Patrice Lumumba and so many other Pan-Africanists who show the direction and talk to our brothers and sisters about how transforming Congo can actually help to transform us politically, ethically, and to redeem our own sense of humanity, our muntunus, our ubuntunus. Thank you. Thank you, Doc.

We're going to go now to Sister Renita Shannon. And while we ask you if you have any questions or comments for Dr. Livingston, I would also like to know whether you recommend folks watching the documentary soundtrack to Kudai Tha, which sounds like a little... Excuse me. Yes. But anyway, go ahead, Renita, and then we fold all that in. Dr. Linton, thank you for being here. And this is just a tribute to the power of Black media, just you even coming on to discuss Congo, because it certainly does not get the level of media coverage that it deserves. My question for you is it's well documented and you've even stated some of this about the United States role in the conflict in the past.

Can you estimate for us, in your opinion, what is the current level of participation of foreign governments contributing to this conflict, as well as tech companies? Because over the last year, we've seen reports on social media about tech companies contributing to this conflict behind the scenes, arming rebels. And we've also seen that foreign governments have been a part of this conflict. I just think it would be naive to say the United States has stopped interfering. I think that would be naive to assume. So what is your opinion of level participation? You know, it's really interesting. When the United States helped to assassinate Lumumba, they didn't pull the trigger, but they provided the intelligence,

they provided the political cover, and they basically told the United Nations under Dag Hammarskjöld that you are going to help us to isolate this man and to neutralize him. Today, the European Union and the United States, they've signed. So, for example, the EU signed a $470 million contract with Rwanda to be a primary provider for Coltan. And Coltan is in this combination of mineral cocktail that is in all of our phones, all of our computers, helps it to stay cool. It is, you know, if there's a vibranium, Coltan is it. And so they signed this deal and they backed off to their credit to some extent, you know, because it just simply looked just horrible that the United States and the European Union were supporting and probably still are Paul Kagame. But you have had enough of a political blowback where they had to back off of that. So the United States, though, I think it's a bigger picture, too.

And I'm so glad the way that you pose that, sister, that it's an international picture. The United States supports Israel, Israeli mining magnets, people like Dan Gertler, who were involved in Glencore, the mining company, where the United States actually sanctioned Gertler. But then Joe Biden basically pulled the sanctions back in the last year of his administration, basically said, oh, well, maybe we can get him to give Congo some of the money back. And so they ceased to actually sanction Dan Gertler and Glencore. That type of half-hearted effort is what we see. So it sends a message to people like Kagame, unfortunately, that, you know, there's only going to be a slap on the wrist if you actually go into the Kivus. And just like Greg was mentioning at Wale Kale, the DRC finally

was able to actually punish M23 using their old Soviet MiG fighter jets, they bombed and struck these M23 positions and forced them to renegotiate or recalculate their position, meaning retreat. You know, anybody reading this, you can see between the lines, they basically had to retreat. But the United States for a long time made it impossible for DRC to even defend itself because there was an arms embargo against the country, not against the rebels, but against the country. Then when we look at it, there's this position, and I'm looking at the article, an op-ed in the American Enterprise Institute by Michael Rubin, basically arguing that America should side with the rebels in the DRC. Now, the same rebels that have been raping, killing tens of thousands of civilians, killing

children, women, and these are the rebels that conservative politicians, basically, Michael Rubin is arguing that we should be siding with them, because after all, then that would put us in line with Kagame. As bad as we think things are in DRC, Congo, the DRC, is making progress

toward becoming a nation that is an indicator on the potential that it has to actually be a transformative force in Africa and the world. I'm watching some Congolese news, and they have built this huge cultural center in Kinshasa with the help of China. But what we really need is a patriotic military where the soldiers are, they're paid and not pennies on the dollar. Cause that's what happens.

You basically at M23 were Congolese soldiers, but Kagame basically was like, Oh, I'll pay you 10 times what they're, what they're paying you. And, and I may be overstating that, but they basically paid them much more.

And they decided that they would side with this rebel incursion, which supposedly was about taking on and putting down the former Hutu genociders from the Rwandan genocide. But we know that those genocidators are old now. There's no way that they're still trying to punish these same soldiers who probably are in their 60s and 70s. They are about minerals. They're trying to take the minerals, just the same way they did under Mobutu. Kagame is

the new Mobutu. Kagame is the new Moise Tshande, trying to balkanize and carve up the Congo to enrich himself and his small inner circle of people. But I've got to just reiterate again, it's not the Rwandan people. It's that regime, that very murderous regime. They assassinated and jailed their political opponents. So our partners in Congo and other places, we know

that they're very brave in standing up for their national independence. Sam, let me jump in right quick just to make sure we get Brother Omokongo, who Congo is literally in his name. He's got some direct ties to the country and to the people.

Dr. Omokongo Dbinga, any questions or comments for Sam? And maybe as you then answer and begin to wrap, Sam, you can let us know how we can all be involved and keep us aware of some things going on. Please, Omokongo, the floor is yours, brother. I really appreciate it. I so appreciate everything you've done to uplift the Congo. Both my parents are Congolese. My father was actually a professor of Lumumba back in the day, so from the same clan. And I have done a lot of work in this country. My father was imprisoned by Mobutu and stretched

in multiple directions in an underground prison. So, the story of the Congo has always been real in my life. A lot of my poetry and hip-hop reflects the Congo as well. So, I have always respected your work and what you're doing and what you continue to do. Thank you on behalf of all Congolese people. My question is taking it back to America. Dr. Carr was asked you, like, on the low, like, about your thoughts about the documentary soundtrack to Akutayta, but the general idea of how African-American jazz musicians were used to help sell the U.S. agenda overseas in the Congo. And I'm seeing the same thing happening now, seeing people like Kendrick Lamar performing

in Kigali. I'm seeing John Legend performing in Kigali. I'm seeing pictures of Dave Chappelle and Kagame, which is interesting, because when Lumumba came to the United States, one of the students he was looking to work with was, or young people he was working with, was Dr. Yvonne Sion, who's Dave Chappelle's mom. That's right. So it's just like, what are your thoughts as it relates to how do organizations like Move Africa and Global Citizen, African-Americans are being used, entertainers are being used to prop up Rwanda in a way that is detrimental to Congo. Absolutely.

We're going to keep this one tight, but we're going to have you back. Oma, Congo, man, that was—we've got to have a longer conversation about this, quite frankly. But I just want to jump in because we're going to have to wrap in a second. But go ahead, Sam, please. Okay. No, no, no. I would just say amen, brother. Let me say your name correctly, brother.

Omei Congo. Omei Congo. It's like month of May in the country. Dibenga, yeah. Omei Congo. My apologies. But, you know, you're on point. You're on point.

I do think that we need some direction from our grassroots and political organizations and, you know, more shows like the Roland Martin's whole network, the Black Star Network, to really be clear that there's a clear political calculus. And it's, you know, either we're talking about a unified and healthy Congo and Africa working for its people. And when we put it in that way and we engage our brothers and sisters like J. Cole, like Kendrick Lamar, all of whom, John Legend, just as you mentioned, you know, I visited Rwanda, but I made a stance that I talked to our Andrew Young Center that, you know, I would have to step away from being on an advisory board if you can start to push our organizations, whether it's in a fraternal or sorority or a community organization, whatever it is, but Congo affects all of us. I'm Balaguchi. So I know that there's a huge percentage of our people, our ancestors who were brought from Congo and Angola. So wherever we are, we can take a stance. So I'm sorry just to give that short answer.

But yes, sir. I wish I wish we had more time, Sam, but we're going to have you back shortly, man. In fact, we're going to do a black table and maybe a couple on Congo like we were talking about last week. So we want to thank you for joining us tonight, for giving us this history lesson. I'm sure it'll be clipped and we're going to show it over and over again. Can I just say the one name, Brother Greg, and that is friendsofthecongo.org.

You know, Friends of the Congo has done so much work to actually mobilize the diaspora and they have a whole section of how you can take action. Just take a look at friendsofthecongo.org. And I'm proud to be a member and working in the Atlanta chapter. We're one of the smaller chapters, but we are very busy as well.

Yes, sir. Well, thank you. Thank you, Dr. Sam Livingston, Morehouse College, friendsofthecongo.org. And we're going to take a break. Thank you, brother. We'll be right back here on the Black Star Network. Roland Martin, Unfiltered, back in a moment. We begin tonight with the people who are really running the country right now.

Trump is often wrong and misleading about a lot of things, but especially about history. Donald Trump falling in line with President Elon Musk. In the wake of the unsettling news that MSNBC has canceled Joy Ann Reeve's primetime show, The Readout, Roland Martin and the Black Star Network would like to extend an invitation to all of the fans of Joy Ann Reeve's MSNBC show to join us every night to watch Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming on the Black Star Network for news, discussion of issues that matter to you and the latest updates on the twice-impeached, criminally convicted felon-in-chief Donald Trump and his unprecedented assault on democracy,

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Venmo is rmunfiltered. Zelle is roland at rolandsmartin.com. This week on A Balanced Life, we are talking about protecting your peace when life be lifin'. I mean, honestly, so much is going on from dealing with chaotic leadership, trying to figure out how we're going to work on these 90-day holds, how to unburden ourselves from the things that are happening in our lives all the way through, knowing what it means and what it looks like to just take the time to work on self. How much time are you spending on wasteful movements? Like what energy audit do you need to do on your personal time, your personal life? Because maybe some people don't need to have that front seat perspective on your life.

Maybe some people need to be in a different position where they don't cloud your view. That's next on A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie here at Black Star Network. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. Succession. We're hearing that word pop up a lot these days as our country continues to fracture and divide. But did you know that that idea, essentially, of breaking up of the USA has been part of the public debate since long before and long after the Civil War, right up to today?

On our next show, you'll meet Richard Crichton, the author of this book, who says breaking up this great experiment called America might not be such a bad thing. That's on the next Black Table, right here on the Black Star Network. What's up, y'all? Look, Fanbase is more than a platform. It's a movement to empower creators, offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in Black-owned tech, infrastructure, and help shape the future of social media. Investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The Black community must not only consume tech, we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding Black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to raise

capital directly through their community, through the jobs ad. deadly violence. You will not regret that. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white

people the fear that they're taking our jobs they're taking our resources they're taking our women this is white fear Hello, I'm Paula J. Parker. Trudy Proud on The Proud Family. I am Tommy Davidson. I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. Hi, I'm Jo Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on Disney's Louder and Prouder Disney+. And I'm with Roland Martin on Unfiltered. In tonight's FitLiveWin regular segment, we have the issue of black women's health.

Did you know that approximately 90% of black women will be diagnosed with fibroids by the age of 50? That's right, 90 percent. Research has linked fibroids and certain cancers to the products that black women often use, particularly in their hair. Holistic health advocates suggest that detoxing can help eliminate toxins from our bodies that may contribute to these illnesses. Joining us now on Roland Martin Unfiltered are Coach Jesse Thompson, the founder of TheDetoxNow.com, and entrepreneur, radio host, and wellness advocate Angela Yee. They are here to discuss the benefits of an effective detox. Coach Thompson, maybe we can start with you, sis. Walk us through the threat that we

currently see Black women in particular facing as it relates to these fibroids and these chemicals and how your work is working to combat that. Well, thank you so much, Dr. Carr. I can't thank you enough for the work that you do in advocating for us. And when we talk about Black women's health being in a state of emergency, it's literally that. We're battling an epidemic of preventable health conditions, fibroids, as you mentioned, high blood pressure, infertility, cancers, and more. And we're doing it with little support. We're doing it with misdiagnoses and delayed care. And that's

exactly why I created the detox now. And as someone, I actually lived through these things. I spent the past decade just working to solve it. And, you know, when it comes to Black women's health, being in a state of emergency, we're really talking about a tree that is rotten at the root, Dr. Carr. We've discussed it, you said, you know, many times before, that up to 90% of Black women will develop fibroids by age 50. And that's not normal. It's a crisis. As I said, I battled fibroids for 14 years, endured 15 surgeries and more. And you're talking about something that's disproportionately affecting Black women.

But why? So many times I've been on the show, and I've talked about how the inordinate chronic stress that we experience due to the trauma of systemic racism and health inequities actually is a root issue that causes us to disproportionately be affected by it. And it's also connected to things like fibroids. It's connected to high blood pressure, which is the number one killer of Black women, as well as cancers and more. But that systemic racism is actually underscored by what was published in a 2012 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology, which found that Black women who use hair relaxers, as you said, actually had a 17 percent higher chance of experiencing uterine fibroids. And actually the hair relaxers have also been

connected to women dealing with cancer, specifically uterine cancer. Then layer that with a study in 2022, okay, that actually from the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, which found that nearly 80% of the beauty and personal care products marketed to Black women contained harmful ingredients that were linked to hormone disruption, reproductive damage, including fibroids and cancer. So this highlights that disproportionate exposure that Black women face because guess what? We are being targeted with these toxins. And then now most recently, Dr. Carr, this is like the nail that hits the coffin. Consumer Reports just actually

released a study that showed they tested actually the top 10 synthetic braiding hair brands. And 100%, 10 out of 10, actually tested positive for carcinogens, all right? What? And nine out of them tested positive for lead. Now, that's a huge $6.13 billion industry. This is the hair, the actual hair, not the hair products, the hair. Yes, the synthetic hair, brother. And guess what?

We make up 70% of the consumer base. So you see that layering? It is literally that we have to resist this onslaught of toxicity. And that's why we're talking about taking back our power and do the things that we can do to reclaim our health, Dr. Carr. Now more than ever. Absolutely. Sister, you're a co-founder with Sister Thompson of the Detox Now. And you all are not just advocates, but you're really carving a path for us to really engage and to help really combat this problem. And to hear you, Jessie, talk about this, and as you say, you've talked about it many times here and in many other places, of course.

I'm constantly shocked at the number of women I know, friends, family, who have had this health challenge, and the number who are enabled you to kind of push forward so that we can address this, take it head on? Well, like many Black women, I've had my own health challenges. And early on, when I first graduated from college, I was in my early 20s and found out that I had really high cholesterol, which if you would have known me back then, I was like 100 pounds. You know, sometimes people think that just because you're skinny, that makes you healthy. And I would have had no idea. I went to the doctor for just a routine checkup. And thank goodness I did just to go ahead. I think my health insurance was about to expire or something like that.

So I was like, let me go and just use this insurance. And I just got my levels checked for everything. And the doctor told me that this could be something where I could be on medication for the rest of my life later on. It may not affect me immediately, but this was something that if I didn't handle it right now and change my lifestyle or whatever it was that was going on with me, it's something that could affect me. And so right away, I thought more about what I was eating. I stopped eating fried food as much as I was. I made sure that I was more active, working out more. But the amount of women who I know that have suffered from fibroids and just think it's normal to have heavy bleeding, to say, oh, I can't go to work today.

I can't do this. My period just started. And that's not normal. And that's something that we just write off like, OK, I just have heavy periods or I just get really irritable. I can't get out of the bed. And it's something that is so common for us that we just kind of brush it off and act like it's not a big deal. And there's so many things that we go to the doctor and then they put us on birth control because they're like, this birth control will be better,

but they don't know that's making the problem worse. And we're just willing to do whatever it is that we can do so we can have a normal lifestyle where we can go out, go to work, do whatever we need to do during the day. And it's been such a hindrance for us. But I love Coach Jessie because I met her at Congressional Black Caucus. And it started off with a conversation of her just talking about the work that she's doing, what she had went through with her fibroids and saying that, you know, she had plans to do more. And I was at the Breakfast Club at that time. Now I have my own show, Way Up With Angela Yee. And I actually did her detox and I did a two week water fast, which was not easy, but it really helped me so much. I literally had water and coconut water and the vitamins that she was giving me, just the supplements for two weeks. And for me, it was a great exercise in finding things to do other than go out to eat,

because I think that's one of our, you know, let's go get drinks, let's go eat. Socially, that's what we do. And so for me, it was a good practice of finding other things to do. And it really did help me reset as far as like, I just felt a lot more clear. I was able to reset some of my eating habits after that. So it's not something where you do this fast and then you go right back to the things that you were doing before. It's more like, let's get this started. Let's jumpstart a lifestyle change. Absolutely. Absolutely. We have a short segment, but I want to, for today, I mean,

obviously we're going to have this conversation going on in an ongoing fashion. But I do want to draw people's attention. And thank you, Angela, for kind of landing where you did, because it allows us, Coach Jesse, to draw people to the website, the Detox Now. Angela, you mentioned, of course, going through the program and looking at all the various products there and what they can do for us. Could you give us a sense, Coach Jesse, of the Detox Now program and the range of interventions that can certainly help us, whether it be the books or the medicines or the... Please. Well, first of all, Angela said it well. It's about resetting your body, right? And Detox Now, it is our name, but it's also a call to action, inviting people to first detox, because any journey of healing starts with resetting your body through targeted fasting, right?

And then to go through a phase of balancing, right? So we have everything that supports a woman from PMS to menopause, through fibroids, through endo, through fertility issues. We have support system for that. from PMS to menopause through fibroids, through endo, through fertility issues. We have support system for that. We have a balancer kit and supplement for people who are either they had fibroid surgery or they're trying to prevent fibroids or they are dealing with heavy cycles and they don't want to get them. But then also for people who are just literally trying to target, like have a healthy lifestyle and want to change their lifestyle so that they can prevent these issues or they're having health issues. So right now we're actually inviting everybody in the solidarity to join us for what we're calling the detox now challenge, a seven day

reset. Okay. And they can just go to the detox now.com. That's the detox now.com and join us. We'll be doing it from March 31st to April 6th. Cause it's all about doing it in community. Okay. And if you're looking to, you know, jumpstart your spring, reset your body.

Cause we have to be the cavalry, Dr. Carr. We have to decide we're going to reclaim our health. We just talked about it. Literally the way that we're being poisoned in our society. And let's not even talk about the foods. We just talked about beauty products. We're so we're saying, in our society, and let's not even talk about the foods. We just

talked about beauty products. So we're saying, listen, detox your beauty, detox your body so you can detox your life. I'm calling that the real BBL, Dr. Carr. Come get the real BBL. I love that. I had a question, and we're not going to go to the panel for this session this time. We got to have you come back maybe at the end of the March 31st to April 6th quarter. But I know all the products are Detox Her, but can we take them too? So Detox Her, the Detox Her kit is actually male and female. But we wanted the women to know they were the ones in charge. So we let them know, you know what, bring the men along with you.

No question. No question. Well, we know as the women go to the nation. Yes. So that's good to know. You all go to the website and see this Detox Now Challenge. Coach Jessie, Sister Angela Yee, it's good to see you both. March 31st to April 6th.

So folks got a few days to get your life together. I see the Detox Her kit. Just wait, say it again. I said we're shipping out daily. Get your kit. Get your kit. I see the detox her and the power her there as the detox her kit. Okay. And your water bottle.

And your water bottle. And your water bottle. No question. Get our lives together. We want to be here on the planet. We know the black woman is God. That's right. We got to be here to resist. We got to be here. No question. Coach Jesse Chileson and Sister Angela Lee,

thank you both for joining us here on Roland Martin Unfiltered tonight. Thank you so much. Absolutely. We'll be back in a moment here at Roland Martin Unfiltered. Let's talk. Vote blue blue no matter who we need political imagination more than ever and unfortunately some people on the democratic side really are discouraging that we're going to dig into all of it the democratic party needs to remember who they are and who they are responsible to this is on the other side of change only on the black star network to remember who they are and who they are responsible to.

This is On the Other Side of Change, only on the Black Star Network. Hey, what's up, y'all? I'm Devon Franklin. I'm Dr. Robin B., pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Thank you. ¶¶ Mia Love, the first black Republican woman elected to Congress, has passed away at the age of 49. She died on Sunday, surrounded by her family, after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, a malignant form of brain cancer. Love, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, made history by becoming the first black woman elected to office in Utah County, where at that time, less than 1% of the population was black.

At just 28 years old, she became the first black woman to hold an elected position in Utah County. In addition to her congressional role, Love served as a city council member and mayor of Sarasota Springs, Utah. Mia Love, dead at the age of 49. Well, we've reached the end of our couple of hours here. Folks have been asking. Roland Martin shared publicly, of course, he went in for his colonoscopy and he's encouraging everybody to do that and that would include all of us. And so just taking this moment to thank that brother

for leading by example. So Omokongo, Renita, Mondale, good to see you all as usual. Thanks for letting me hang with y'all on this Monday night power panel. And we'll see everybody. Thanks again to everybody. Thanks, Carol.

Thanks, Henry. Thanks to all the crew there, Black Star Network, for getting this ship to port. Tune in to the Black Star Network. Keep it locked in. See everybody tomorrow. Roland Martin unfiltered. As Roland would say, holla.

Black Star Network is here. Oh, no no punch a real uh revolutionary right now 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 this difference between black star network and black owned media and something like cnn you can't be black on media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is an iHeart Podcast.