#RolandMartinUnfiltered - SEIU $200M Political Spend, Haiti's Crisis, Tenn. Banning Police Reform, Fla. Cop Charges Dropped

Episode Date: March 15, 2024

3.14.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: SEIU $200M Political Spend, Haiti's Crisis, Tenn. Banning Police Reform, Fla. Cop Charges Dropped The Service Employees International Union, representing about 2 million health care, property service, and government workers, will spend $200 million to get voters of color to support President Biden. One of SEIU's top officials is in our studio to discuss their plans get get folks out to vote.  As the Senate confirms a new U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Haiti, violent gangs in the deteriorating country are fighting for control. Congresswoman  Stacey Plaskett will be in the studio to discuss how the U.S. may help the county from spinning further out of control. A Florida police officer will not face a jury for shooting an unarmed man now that DeSantis-appointed state's attorney has taken over. Duly-elected state attorney Monique Worrell and the victim's attorney will explain how this move fits into DeSantis' plan of not holding law enforcement accountable.  Tennessee senate passed the bill banning local governments from passing police reform on traffic stop policies. It's now headed to the governor's office for his signature.  And a Mississippi officer is facing charges for forcing a man to lick urine off the floor.  Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Today is Thursday, March 14th, 2024, coming up on Roller Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. the service employees international union representing more than 2 million health care, property service and government workers. They're going to be spending about $200 million to get voters of color to support President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, one of the top SEIU officials. Be joining us right in the studio talking about this massive campaign. As the Senate confirms a new U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Haiti,

violent gangs in the deteriorating country are fighting for control. We'll talk with Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands about what is happening in Haiti and how the CBC is helping. A Florida cop will not face a jury for shooting an unarmed man. Now that Governor Ron DeSantis is appointed state's attorney has taken over. Hmm, remember how this hand is kicked out?

Elected state attorney Monique Worrell. Well, she and the victim's attorney going to explain to us how this move fits the Santa's plan of not holding law enforcement accountable. In Tennessee, the Senate there has passed a bill banning local governments from passing police reform on traffic stop.

Policies yeah, as tied to the Tyree Nichols case, the governor is going to sign it. This is what happens when Republicans overrule local councils where black people are in control. Plus, a Mississippi cop is facing charges for forcing a man to lick

urine off the floor. The Department of Justice has filed federal charges. Do you now understand why a DOJ under Biden Harris is totally different a DOJ under Biden-Harris is totally different than DOJ under Trump? It is time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Sun Network. Let's go. And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling Best believe he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics

With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's Rolling Martin, yeah Rolling with Roland now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. Folks, a huge election this year,

not just on a federal level, but also your gubernatorial races, your state senate, your state rep, congressional races, and the Service Employees International Union, they're going to be doing their part. They represent some 2 million workers across this country,

and they announced plans to spend $200 million on this campaign. We're joined right now by SEIU Secretary-Treasurer April Burnett. She joins me right now. Glad to have you here. So let's break this thing down. So this is a huge outlay. For folks who don't understand the various unions, they hear AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, UAW. ABC. We can go CWA,

we can keep going. So where does SEIU rank in terms of size, in terms of representing union workers? Sure. So first of all, let me say thank you so much for having me. It's an honor to be here. Our international union, SEIU, represents roughly 2 million workers in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. In this country, we are second only to the NEA that represents about 3 million education workers in the country. So you're the second largest union. The second largest union. And what type of workers? Our workers are predominantly, I think it's first to know, women and people of color.

Our members work in health care, in hospitals, in nursing homes, home care workers, as well as folks who work in clinics, so across the health care spectrum. So when we were going through COVID, y'all were representing those frontline workers. Absolutely. And in addition to healthcare workers, we represent a gamut of folks who work in the public sector at the state, the county, municipal levels, as well as in what was previously public work

that is now publicly funded, but operated privately. So group homes, social service agencies. And then we also represent folks in the service sector, property service workers, as we call them, cleaners, security officers, folks who work in the nation's airports. And so let's talk about this campaign. What is it going to involve?

What is it going to entail? Our campaign that we've really started to kick off a year ago is aimed at targeting 6 million. We call them high opportunity. Other call them low propensity voters, primarily voters of color in key battleground states across the country. And we know that when we talk to voters of color, young voters, immigrant voters, we can change the game. And these are the voters that the Biden-Harris ticket,

as well as other down-ballot Democrats, have to turn out in record numbers if they're going to win in November. And when you say talk to them, we've said this numerous times. Numer them, we've said this numerous times. Numerous times we've said this, that part of the issue is that, and Terrence Woodbury's research shows it, Cornell Belcher's polls show it, and these focus groups, that these voters, one, don't know what's been done, but then once informed what's been done, then they have a completely different view of the candidates.

That's right. And it's it's I believe these voters need to be talked to by folks they trust and that can speak to them in ways that they understand. Culturally competent. Right. Right. How are we sending folks out canvassing who look like them, who are from their communities, who do the same work that they do? It's not just a commercial. It's not just a posting on social media. It's me looking you in your eye and saying, I come from where you come from, and we are in this, and we're going to do this together. But also what I say is connecting the dots. Yes. So perfect example, and I've said this to the Biden-Harris campaign, you could spend millions of dollars if you want

running 30-second, 60-second ads. But the reality is you actually have to walk people through and explain this policy, Build Back Better, the infrastructure bill, how these things have made an impact, which means in what I've said on this show, what I've said to them, I said how I see it. I said me personally, I said January to August

should be what I call an education enlightenment campaign where you're hosting conversations nationwide. You're in these various places. You're talking to community groups and literally saying, no, what are your questions? And then this is what has been done. And giving folks that sort of data, you don't get that in campaign commercials. It has to be this vigorous education engagement process. That is continuous. Right. That doesn't just exist from Labor Day to Election Day. Like you said, it starts in January. We've already talked to 900000 voters since the end of last year because we knew we had to start early with that education.

We've had roundtables. We've done focus groups. And here's the deal. We've laid out this is what the Biden administration has done. And voters have looked at us and said, no, they didn't. We don't believe you. That didn't happen because they didn't hear it because they didn't hear it. And they don't feel how it has impacted their lives. So we have to not only educate them, but help them connect the dots, as you just said, right on how it has real impact on how they live. Absolutely. And so your target, you said it's six to nine million? Six million voters.

Six million voters. And have you identified where, what states? So we are in the battleground states where you would expect us to be. Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. We also have large constituencies in California and New York where the House will be decided. So we're going to do work there in those congressional districts. We're also going to play in states that are key to maintain control of the Senate, Ohio, Montana. We're also going to do work in Georgia, North Carolina, because we believe we can't leave the South behind. Because also, and again, because when you're talking about, and again, this is what, again, trying to get people to understand. First of all, if you don't focus on Tester in Montana,

Brown in Ohio, the race in Nevada, the race in Arizona, then you can't control the United States Senate. You've got the race in Texas, some polling polling show all red is tied with Cruz. Cruz lost by two point. Excuse me. One by two point five points. So then the question is, OK, how do you get folks out there? You've got some two point nine million eligible black voters in Texas. You've got 75 percent of young voters, 30 and under, who didn't even vote in the 2022 midterms. And Beto O'Rourke was running for governor. And so there are pickup opportunities if time, energy, and money is invested in those places. That's exactly right. And we got time, we got energy, and we got a little bit of change.

And so we are going to make sure we invest our resources in the places where we feel like we have the most impact, where we have a strong base of members, where we have strong ties with civil rights groups and civic participation groups that are on the ground with us. And we think that we are poised to help make a difference in this election. We did, and this was something, it was interesting, I was on the phone earlier with Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, and we were talking about what we did last fall. And so Don saw what I did in Georgia with Warnock.

He said, hey, I want you to do that for us. So what they then did is they came to us and they said, hey, we want to advertise on your network, but we also want you to bring your show to Virginia. These are the five cities we're looking at. We're targeting African Americans, broadcast the show from there, create it sort of in a town hall sort of way. We had every candidate who was in those house races on,

and most of them won. But what was interesting, there were people who were telling him, okay, why are you doing that? This makes no sense. He said, you don't understand. He said, you're focused on 75 or 80 or 100 who showed up at the town hall. He said, but thousands saw the video and they saw the clips. And so he was trying to explain to them, you have to campaign differently. He said, if you run a campaign, you're just dumping all of your money on television.

He said, that ain't going to do it. How do you, how do you reach voters in a totally different way? Uh, and they got so much feedback from people who said, Hey, I was at work. I couldn't get, I couldn't get off to 10, but I watched it online. I saw the restream. I saw the clips later. Uh, and that's sort of the thing that, that, that we're trying to explain to a lot of these campaigns and these, these, these, a lot of these campaigns and these these a lot of these consultants who are so locked on television by and i keep saying you you got a totally different world now with voter the voters than you did uh you know 10 20 years ago uh and covet changed a lot of that as well how we are now engaging and so it's not just about oh getting somebody getting somebody on MSNBC, ABC, CNN. No, you've got influential podcasts and other digital platforms that are reaching people.

Look, the reality is that part of the reasons election costs so much is because there are people making money hand over fist. Right. Right? Trying to tell candidates this is what you've got to do to get somebody's vote. And so much money is made by consultants and folks who produce television commercials and mail pieces. And I'm not mad at them, right? You know, get your bag. But we also, as you just talked about, have to go where voters are. So we will see our money spent making sure we can talk to people on the doors, we can reach them on the telephones. And yes, we can reach them through their social media platforms. We can reach them through the places where they go

to receive their news. And we want to make sure we leave something behind. Like, this isn't just about mobilizing voters. This is about mobilizing and creating power in our communities that live beyond elections. Because we also have to be full participants in our democracy, not just as voters, but as citizens who demand more from their government. And that happens right after the election.

Hold on one second, folks. We're going to go to a break. We'll come back. My panel has some questions as well, so we'll do that when we come right back. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had questions as well. So we'll do that. And we come right back on Rolling Mark. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

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

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

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

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Back in a moment. I need you to scream for your new beginning.

Five, four, three, two. I need you to shout for it. I need you to shout for it. It won't always be like this. Sooner or later, it's going to work in your brother's favor, in your sister's favor. They shall not die. They shall not die. They shall not die. I want you to embrace somebody and tell them welcome to the greatest season of your life.

Help somebody. Welcome. And tell them welcome to the greatest season of your life. Help somebody. Welcome. I'm Dee Barnes, and next on The Frequency, Beyonce has always been country. We're talking to music, pop culture, and politics writer Taylor Crumpton about her new article on Beyonce's new country songs and how country music has always been part of Black culture.

Since the release of Texas Hold'em and 16 Carriages, there has been a definition of what Black country music is and a definition of what white country music is. White country music historically has always won the awards, has always got the certification. Black country music has not. This is a conversation you don't want to miss. That's next on The Frequency on the Black Star Network.

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Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at Rolandsmartin.com. Hello, I'm Marissa Mitchell, a news anchor at Fox 5 DC. Hey, what's up? It's Tammy Roman, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Thank you. All right, folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Networks. Now, OK, so a lot of y'all on YouTube. So let me explain to you what's going on. So we have no idea what's happening with the audio on YouTube. No idea why it is distorted.

It's not us. If you look and listen to the audio that is on the Facebook feed, clean. You listen to the audio on the Black Star Network app, it's clean. So the distortion is happening from YouTube. And so what we're going to try to do, so Keenan let me know, we're going to continue the feeds on all the other platforms. We're probably going to turn off the YouTube feed and turn it back on. Hopefully that fixes what the audio problem is. And so everybody who's on YouTube right now,

just if we turn it off, just come right back. But we're trying to actually fix the audio. So I'm seeing all of y'all text messages. It's okay. I'm seeing everything y'all saying right now. But again, on the other platforms of the audio is fine So it is a distortion of a problem that is there on YouTube And so we're on the phone with them as well trying to figure it out

We're talking with the secretary treasurer of the SEIU April Verrett. She joins me in studio about this 200 million dollar campaign They're gonna be they're launching when it comes to this election Questions from our panelists. We've got three of our panelists here. Let me introduce them. Dr. Greg Carr, Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University. Rebecca Carruthers, Vice President, Fair Election Center out of Washington, D.C. Gavin Reynolds, contributor with The Root and former speechwriter to Vice President Kamala Harris, New Haven, Connecticut.

Rebecca, your question first for April. Hey, April. It's good to see you. I was on Capitol Hill all day with the Black Women's Roundtable. I was with activists from all across the country, and especially the battleground states that you just mentioned. Now, I am excited to see that SEIU is going to spend $200 million. How much of that money is going to go to Black-led organizations or organizations that are doing specific work and are boots on the ground? Or is the majority of this ad buy going to direct mail into, like, some of the traditional campaign vendors?

So thanks for the question. And shout out to my girl, Melanie Campbell at the Black Women's Roundtable. The majority of our $200 million spend is going to be on direct voter contact. It's going to be on doors. It's going to be on phones. And there will be some that's put on in traditional advertising as well as social media and other ways to reach voters. And it's going to be spread out as we feel like we need to, state dependent on different communities of color and different workers. So it's going to be in the black community, in the Latino, in the API, and other immigrant and communities of color, as well as reaching low propensity white working class voters. But we feel like that our lane right out right away in this cycle is reaching out to low propensity voters of color and young voters.

So that is where we're going to spend our money. And we also spend it on the ground with indigenous folks who have real sway in our community. So we work with the Black Women's Roundtable, with the NAACP, with other groups who have real history with reaching out and talking to voters, both traditional groups and newer groups. And so we're really proud of our record and how we've engaged voters in the past and know that our members are trusted voices and they will be out talking to their neighbors and their families and their friends. All right, then. Gavin. Roland, thank you. And thank you, as always, for providing this space for us to discuss these

critical issues together. April, thank you so much. This work that you're describing is incredible. It's the work of democracy. And of course, it continues the longstanding traditions of unions being on the forefront of building political power, especially for black and brown workers. And as a proud son of Georgia, I especially love what you said, which is that we cannot leave the South behind. My question for you, though, through your conversations with voters on the ground so far in these battleground states, are there any specific takeaways that you've gleaned from these conversations that you

believe could be helpful for the Biden-Harris campaign from a strategic standpoint as they seek to build on this work, you know, in engaging some of those same voters you've been talking to? Absolutely, Gavin. Thanks for the question. Workers, voters want a hand up. They don't just want a handout. We have seen, particularly since the pandemic, more workers say they are fed up with the status quo. We see numbers of folks talking about unions in the high 70s. Right. Fifty percent of folks polled say they want to be in a union themselves. And so we are leaning into this unprecedented moment of worker power and saying the key to this election is about how are we empowering people, particularly people of color, who today don't necessarily have an easy path to forming a union.

That saying they can too build power. They can form their organizations, and they need to elect folks like President Biden and Kamala Harris that have stood with unions, that have stood with workers. Look at their record. It's clear. And we believe that that is a winning strategy

that they must lean into. Greg Carr. Thank you, Roland. And thank you Sister Verrett. And I'm glad that we just heard from Gavin about Georgia, in particular, bringing up Georgia, given what you all did with Ossoff and Warnock there with 10 million doors knocked on, just doors, not even calls and texts. has said they're going to spend $45 million in this election cycle. Future Forward is pledging $250 million in advertising. And MoveOn has said $32 million. How do you coordinate? How does SEIU coordinate with other groups that are going to be involved in this,

maybe even non-union groups like the three I just mentioned, to try to make sure that everything is effective as you all target specific kind of jobs and roles in getting this work done. Yeah, you name a table, we want to be at it, right? Of course, we will work with our labor partners. We have a long history of working with public sector unions like AFSCME, the NEA, AFT, other AFL-affiliated unions in the private sector. So, you know, building power and working with unions is important,

but we don't stop there. You know, I mentioned before, Black Women's Roundtable is a partner. And we seek to find the groups on the ground in whatever community that we are in, from small groups to large groups. But who is getting the work done? Who's out talking to voters?

And we want to continue to expand the network of groups that we work with and not be limited, you know, particularly as it comes to reaching younger voters. Influencers are, you know, are terribly important in the social media space.

So we don't just consider ourselves a strictly workers, you know, mobilization effort. We are a voter mobilization effort. So if there's groups who speak to our values, who share our vision for building worker power, that's who we want to work with. Any additional questions for the panel?

Sure. I have another question. I saw a poll that just came out in Michigan, and it showed that with young people ages 18 to 34, only 28 percent are enthusiastic about Joe Biden. Sixty two percent are upset with him, you know, showing, you know, 28, 62 with favorability, unfavorability. What is SEIU's plan to really reach young people to get them engaged in this election? I'm seeing everything from being super upset over what's happening on the Hill, like with TikTok, to the issue of Gaza in Michigan. How does SEIU turn those low propensity voters into voters going into November? Yeah, look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. We got a lot of work to do.

We are not necessarily in a good place today, but we started early. We've been on the ground talking to voters, to young voters in Michigan since 2023. We know what we're up against and we have a commitment to not give up, right? We're going to stay there. We're going to stay on the ground.

We're going to be there till November. And I think part of what we have to do is look, sure, we'll hit the doors and we'll knock phones and we'll, you know, do the calls. But how do we go to where young people are? We got to find them in their natural habitats where they gather more often, you know, than not nowadays. That's on, That's on social media and virtual spaces. But we also got to go into the communities where young people are and find folks who want to be a part of this with us. You find the right young person who's

motivated to get their peers out. That's how you begin to build networks amongst young people in communities. And so we will do that. I think we also have to be open and listen. Young people can tell us what motivates them, where they need to go, where we need to go, where they want us to be.

And so we'll do that. I don't pretend to have all the answers. What I pretend to have is a little bit of money that I'm willing to put behind the work and work with people who know more than I know to figure it out. All right then. So we certainly appreciate it. And I'm also

reading, so your head of the SEIU is stepping down in May. You're running for president? I will be standing to be the next international president of our union at our convention in May. All right. So they vote for the convention in May? Yes, sir. And where's it going to be held? Our convention is in Philadelphia.

Okay. All right, then. Well, hopefully next time you come back, it'll be President April. Well, have me back. Okay. All right. We'll appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks a bunch. Thank you. All right, folks. Got to go to break. We come back more. We'll be talking to Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett about what is happening in Haiti.

We'll also be having more news of the day. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Support us in what we do. We told you we're fighting a good fight when it comes to these ad agencies and the companies. Black-owned media gets anywhere from 0.5% to 1% of the $340 billion being spent every year on advertising. And so your donations are critical. And our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing on average 50 bucks each. That's $4.19 a month, 13 cents a day.

That then raises about a million dollars for us. That goes a long way for us. That offsets our expenses. Of course, you've got this show two hours a day for Roger Muhammad, two hours a day. Our weekly shows. We do more original black news content than any other black-owned media company in the country. And so, what

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Zale, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Be sure to download the Blackstar Network app, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung, Spark TV. We'll be right back. Terry and I, we couldn't play in the white clubs in Minnesota. It felt like such a, you know, strength through adversity type moment that I think black people just have to go through. You know, we have to figure it out.

You know, we make, you know, lemons out of lemonade. But there's a reason we rented a ballroom, did our own show, promoted it, got like 1,500 people to come out. Clubs were sitting empty. They were like, where's everybody at? And they said, they're down watching the band you wouldn't hire.

So it taught us not only that we had to be, we had the talent of musicians, but we also had the talent of entrepreneurship. It wasn't like a seat at the table. It's like, no, let's build the table. That's right. We gotta build the table. That's right.

And that was the thing. And of course, after that, we got all kinds of offers. Of course. Right, to come play in the clubs. But we didn't do it. You're like, no, we're good. No, we're good. We're good.

And that's what put us on a path of... I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is Doug E. Freshen watching my brother Roland Martin, underpiloted, as we go a little something like this. Hit it. It's real. Haitian gang leaders are threatening political leaders. Violence has escalated days after Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he would step down once the council was in place. A fire broke out in the capital Port-au-Prince in its main prison. Today, the Senate confirmed Dennis Hankins as the new U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Haiti. The Congressional Black Caucus has been very much involved in what's going on there. Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett from the U.S. Virgin Islands is in the studio to discuss what in the heck is going on.

Glad to have you here. Here with you. So it is like one thing after another. Yeah. One thing after another. Yesterday we had Jacqueline Charles with the Miami Herald on, talking about what's happening there. They had the meeting where they're forming this presidential council,

but there were like seven or nine different plans that came there. And so for folks who don't know, what is the CBC's involvement in what's taking place in Haiti? Sure. Well, we've been really watching this for some time now, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, requesting from the State Department that they give us briefings, that they give us a plan of what we intend to do as the United States. This is our close neighbour. Eleven million people live in Haiti and many more live here in the United States. Many are great American citizens and we need to be concerned. After the assassination of the prior President Moise, we knew that things were going to spiral out of control and in fact they did. The new president who had never been elected

by the people of Haiti always had his legitimacy questioned. However there's no legislature, no judiciary, there is nothing in place right now in the country of Haiti and that has created a vacuum where the gangs have in fact gone in place and they are basically at this point running the capital and much of the country. And so while there's an agreement to have Kenyan troops, a thousand Kenyan troops to come into the country, the Kenyans are like, look, we can't come into a place that has nobody for us to report to. Hence, members of CARICOM have met in Jamaica to create a provisional government.

And the idea is that no one in that provisional government would run for office. No one would be individuals that we knew were already bad actors, either having criminal records or being sanctioned by the UN. The vice president, Kamala Harris, has been very engaged in this, pushing CARICOM, meeting with CARICOM, as well as Blinken, who was part of this discussion, to make sure that something is done, that we are putting our money in. We as America are putting our money in, not putting troops in, but want to see something happen. And so members of the Black

Caucus are also putting pressure on the majority, on the Republicans. Talking with Greg Meeks, who is now the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Maxine Waters with Financial Services, who has always been involved in Haiti. And of course, the chair of the Black Caucus, Stephen Horsford, whose family is from the Caribbean. His mom is Trinidadian descent. We've all been talking and trying to push the Republicans to allow the release of the money. Speaking of that, Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries, go to my iPad, sent this letter to Speaker

Mike Johnson specifically stating, as he said, the situation on the ground in Haiti has rapidly deteriorated. House Republicans have refused to deliver the resources necessary to carry out this mission. Now is the time to release the full $50 million in security support. So that's being held up? That's being held up. So that means requires the signature of McCa, who is the chair of Foreign Affairs, and Greg Meeks, who's the ranking member. Greg Meeks has been telling us, I've been asking him to release this funding. We need that 40 over 40 million to get these Kenyan troops.

Now, look, that's not the answer, right? Has he given a reason why he hasn't signed off on it? He has hemmed and hawed and not given a reason. But my fear is that they are going to be using this, the Republicans, as a political impetus to have more migrants coming to the border to then say that there's a crisis at the border and, indeed, an even greater crisis at the border. Because we know that people aren't going to stay

and continue to face famine, you know, health and hunger, insecurities that are going on in the country. Then you've got folks like, go to my iPad, NBC News reporter, there's folks like Elon Musk and these other right-wing people are trying to scare people saying, oh, cannibals are on the loose in Haiti. That's outrageous. They're saying, oh, plan for us. We played a video yesterday. Congressman Matt Gaetz was pressured in the Department of Defense. Oh, there's going to be an invasion of people. Exactly. That's the kind of language that they want to use. And we know that people, when they are facing these unrests, are going to try and leave. And Haiti is, in fact, very close to Florida.

And people will do whatever they can for themselves and their families to be safe. One of those is making that treacherous journey to the United States to try and find safety. Why don't they then instead release the money so that we can provide the support to the Kenyans who want to come, want to be a part? Our Vice President, Blinken, there in meeting with the leaders of the Caribbean nations who know this place better than most and are trying to create a provisional government so that there can be some stability so that we can move to an election, stabilization

of power and moving Haiti in the right direction. But Roland, one of the people that I don't see in this and I keep asking is what about France? While this is part of the United States problem, they're our close neighbor, we, you and I, both know that France has extracted enormous millions of dollars from the Haitians over many years. They had an agreement after the revolution that they were supposed to, in fact, be paid for the loss that they were going to receive from not having slaves in Haiti. They have never returned that money. And they need to also be involved in this process at a much more granular level. You, again, as we were talking about what is going on there, the, and not all of a sudden,

Fox News cares about Haiti. And so the State Department, there was a news conference earlier today where they were talking about pulling Americans out. So I want to play this for our folks. Listen to this. State Department briefing just a short time ago. Our Jillian Turner questioning Matt Miller about whether there are any plans to evacuate Americans who are currently in Haiti and want to get out. Listen to this exchange. No, we are not planning for any. We are not actively planning for any evacuation. And I would remind you and others that Haiti has been a level four country with respect to our travel advisors since 2020. So what that means is for four years, we have been telling Americans, do not go to Haiti. Do not travel there. It's not safe to do so.

And for those who are there, leave as soon as you can feasibly do so without putting yourself at risk. So you don't anticipate, or put it this way. So, again, I just want people to understand what's going on. If Fox News all of a sudden cares about a black country, we know exactly what exactly what their goal is. And so him answering that question, because I saw the White House, Simon Atiba posed, oh, Biden is stranding Americans there. That is not the case. That is not the case. There have been numerous warnings about if you go there, you're going on.

You're on your own. You're on your own. You're making that decision. Even members of Congress, we have been begging to be able to go to Haiti. Greg Meeks, again, Congressman Meeks of New York, tried to go there, was on the ground for

an hour, several hours before he had to be evacuated because the gangs were in fact found out that he was there and were coming towards where he was. Americans, they're only essential workers that the State Department has there on the ground. We know that we need to keep channels

for humanitarian aid there, but to say that Americans are stuck with cannibal Haitian black folk, that is not the case. And if the Republicans would again release the money, let the money go so that the Haitians can do what they need to do to stabilize their own government. Many of them, civic society, former government, business people want to do what's right by their own country to bring it to peace and bring it to prosperity. And we're standing at the right on the precipice to be able to help or to harm them. And the thing that we're dealing with here is that you don't know who to put your faith behind.

Sure, yeah. I mean, it is so, I mean, when you tell us, I mean, you've had, look, they've implicated the widow of the president who was assassinated, his head of security. And so now you're sitting here like, okay, well, you know, who do you talk to? Who do you trust? The point about Kenya officials, we don't know who to report to. Exactly. I mean, so then I played yesterday, one of the gang leaders, Barbecue, said, hey,

Haitian leaders will be determined by Haiti. Okay, well then who? Who is going to be even given the runway to try to repair the country? Sure, there have been large discussions between civil society here in the United States

as well as those that are still in Haiti. The Montana group, other organizations that have come together to try and come up with this plan for actors or groups from, as you said, seven different voting members to observers of various groups to be able to work together to create this provisional transitional government. The, you know, other Caribbean leaders are as

well engaged in this. But listen, you know, President, former, now former President Henri was appointed by the president who was assassinated days before his assassination. And now there's even stories that that president that is now stepped down, Henri, received phone calls, made phone calls to some of the masterminds of the assassination. Whether that was happenstance that, you know, six degrees of separation, everybody knows each other, or he was involved, who can say? We're going to do this. We're going to go to a quick break. We're going to come back. Our panel has questions for Congresswoman Plaskett about what's happening in Haiti. Folks, one of the reasons why you've got to support what we do, here's the whole deal.

Mainstream media always talks about what's happening in Ukraine and other countries. You do not hear discussions about Haiti or Congo. And if you do, it's going to be coming from an absolutely place of evil. That's what Fox News is all about. And so we're having real conversations trying to get you real information. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's wealth coach, less than 5% of the top

executive positions in corporate America are held by women of color. We know it's not because of talent. A recent study says that it's microaggressions, unconscious bias, and limited opportunities being offered to women of color. On our next show, we're gonna get incredib advice from Francine Parham who's recently written a book sharing exactly what you need to do to make it up into the management ranks and get the earnings that you deserve I made a point to sit down and I made a point to talk to people and I made a point to be very purposeful and thought-provoking when I spoke to them. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network.

What's up everybody? It's your girl Latasha from the A. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered, the Black Star Network. We're chatting with Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett from the U.S. Virgin Islands about what's happening in Haiti. Let's go to my panel for questions. Gavin, you first. All right. Thank you, Roland. And thank you, Congresswoman, for joining us to shed some light on the tragic situation in Haiti.

I think it's particularly tragic and troubling to see this playing out in our nation, in our world's first free black republic that was born out of the first successful black slave revolt. It's interesting to hear you talk about some of the paths to peace and prosperity in the short term. But I'm curious, can you share some of your, you know, insights with us as to how we can prevent a situation like this, or perhaps how the people, the leaders of Haiti can prevent a situation like this from ever happening again? Listen, that's beyond my wisdom on how to do this, how to not prevent this. Of course, there are textbooks that explain how this should and should not work. And I think the history of Haiti is one of such division throughout its, from its revolution to its independence, that we've got to peel so many layers back in terms of the, you know, the real systemic attempt to ensure that Haiti never prospered in the first place

that is causing it to be where it is now. I talked to Haitian leaders. We have a, I'm so blessed that we have a Haitian member of Congress, Sheila Scherfelis McCormick, whose family is from Haiti, represents the Florida, but represents Haitian people as well, to talk about the needs at multiple levels, right? We don't just need militaries to support them in military or even in elections, but how do we support their school systems, health issues? And that needs to be multi-layered and it needs to be Haitian-led. There are some enormously great civil, civic societies, members that I've been talking with and that are really engaged in this. And I think we just got to listen to them and give them the support that they need.

They've come together in an incredible fashion. You know, it's hard for black folks to sit down and agree on anything. It's hard for anybody to agree on anything. But they have done the tough work. And I think it's just for us to take their lead. Rebecca. Thank you, Congresswoman, for being on the show tonight. So we know or we've heard reports that over 500,000 illegal guns are flowing through Haiti and primarily coming from the United States. There's even an Episcopalian church that has been reported to be a part of this arms trafficking. We also know

since the earthquake in 2010, billions and billions of dollars was raised for Haiti, and many of those dollars did not actually flow to the ground. So my question for you is, who do you think benefits from a Haiti that's not stable? I think there are so many people that don't benefit. And most of it is, of course, as you discuss economic in nature, individuals who are grabbing for power for their own pecuniary gain. In the last summer, we saw, and, you know, when you talk about guns, that's something that's going on throughout the Caribbean. And a lot of it is related to drug trafficking. Guns are not manufactured in the Caribbean basin, but they sure enough are everywhere.

And the Caribbean leaders spoke with the vice president, as well as with the State Department, and the vice president has rolled out initiatives that are going to be about how do we stop gun trafficking going into the Caribbean basin, which is part of an anti-drug initiative. Individuals who are part of the leader of the gangs, one of the leaders of the gangs, just got out of jail last year in the United States for drug money laundering and doing drug money laundering. So we know that drugs and guns as well as... I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time,

have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Dr Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players

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

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

As death, it's the same way even in our inner cities, right? We know that where you see those things, you also see people profiting monetarily. And that's what's happening in Haiti as well. Great. Thank you, Roland. And thank you, Congresswoman Plaskett. I also want to note that this is a very difficult thing, I'm sure, for members of the CBC, particularly since Joe Biden deported a bunch of Haitians early on in his administration. My question is related to Rebecca's. And really, how does the Congressional Black Caucus see its role, particularly in this difficult

election season, in pushing the Biden administration around this issue of making sure this isn't a continuance of American foreign interference in Haiti as opposed to international support. The Mexican secretary of foreign affairs was in Jamaica, as you say, as they're trying to put together this meeting and work with Haiti. And she said, you know, we got to ensure that all actors at the table, we know, as you've mentioned, Jimmy Chirizie, that they call barbecue. But one time he was the U.S.'s man. Then they lock him up. And then Guy Philippe has showed up again.

We know he was on the dole, too, for the United States at the time. How can the Congressional Black Caucus stake out a position that certainly supports the Haitian people? And you say keep the money going. Now, we know, of course, that Kenya was only reached out to because nobody in the core group, Brazil, Canada, France, wanted to lead the invasion or the occupation. How can the CBC push out, push the Biden administration in this election year, realizing the difficult calculus of this being interjected in U.S. politics, but at the same time, just making sure the U.S. doesn't continue its policy of foreign intervention as opposed to international support?

Well, I think what you're seeing is that the United States is looking to what are the Haitian people saying that they need. That's why we don't have troops on the ground there. We only have a very small Marine group that are looking at our embassy embassy because we still need to keep essential workers there on the ground. And we don't want to be seen as intervention. And when you talk about people that the United States have supported that have turned out to be bad actors, these were people that Haitians supported that turned out to be bad actors. These are people that other Caribbean leaders said were going to be good actors. So I don't want it to appear that you know the United States are the only ones that are funneling support into people who turn

out to not be correct. But I think as the Black Caucus what we have been doing is constantly pushing the State Department in terms of what is your policy and what are we hearing from our constituency that tells us that your policy may not be correct. That was what we did with regard to Ariel Henry, who the State Department and the Biden administration initially were supportive of. And then many of our members in New York and Florida and Massachusetts, other places, were saying, hey, our constituents, our Haitian constituents are telling us this is not the man and that you need to back up from that. You know that Daniel Foote was a special envoy for a while. His resignation was not just about the deportation, but his resignation was also his frustration over the State Department

continuing to support Ariel Henry. And so we, as Black Caucus are trying to listen to the voices of Black America and its diaspora, which includes Haitians, Caribbean people, others who are hearing from their friends and family back home as to what is working and what's not working and trying to keep everybody honest brokers in this. But I have to say that at this time, you know, America is for a little longest, Canada was saying that they were going to come in, they were going to support, they have the language skills, and then they decided, no, we've got cold feet. We don't want to be involved in this. And so who do you bring in to support and bring order when you do not have police officers. Police officers in Haiti

had not been paid in almost a year. Many of them then turned to be gang members or leaders of gangs. We don't have a parliament. We don't have a ministry of justice there. There are not elected leaders. And so we are looking, in fact, to civil society to be the ones telling us where is the right place and how do we move forward. All right, then. Congressman Plaskett, always a pleasure to have you. Thank you. Thanks so much. All right, folks.

We'll be right back right here on Rolling Rock and Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Talking about the case out of Mississippi where a cop has been accused of forcing an inmate to lick urine off the floor. That's Mississippi in 2024. Back in a moment. I'm Faraiji Muhammad, live from L.A., and this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard.

Hey, we're all in this together. So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's The Culture, weekdays at at three only on the black star network next on the black table with me greg karl democracy in the united states is under siege on this list of bad actors it's easy to point out the donald trumps the marjorie taylor greens or even the united states supreme court as the primary villains. But as David Pepper, author, scholar, and former politician himself says, there's another factor that trumps them all

and resides much closer to many of our homes. His book is Laboratories of Autocracy, a wake-up call from behind the lines. So these state houses get hijacked by the far right. Then they gerrymander, they suppress the opposition, and that allows them to legislate in a way that doesn't reflect the people of that state. David Pepper joins us on the next Black Table

here on the Black Star Network. Thank you. Hi everybody, I'm Kim Colson. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. Yo, it's your man Deon Cole from Black-ish and you're watching... Roland Martin, unfiltered. Thank you. All right, folks, welcome back to Roller Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. A Florida police officer is no longer facing aggravated battery charges for shooting an unarmed man in 2020. Orange County Deputy Sheriff Bruce Stoke was awaiting trial since the then state attorney, Monique Worrell, presented the grand jury with evidence supporting the charges of shooting Elzin Urbina. Hmm. Quite interesting here.

He, investigators say, say Stoke pulled the trigger because he was in fear of his life or the turnout that Urbina had no weapon. We're going to be talking with the former state's attorney about this story because it is quite a strange story, if you will, in just a second. Now, here's what happened. The DeSantis appointed state's attorney Andrew Bain he then accuses Monique Worrell of ethical violations for pursuing the case okay that makes no sense there now if you want to understand what's happening in Florida what's happening in Florida is that Ron DeSantis has been constantly targeting he's been targeting state's attorneys

who do not agree with him. So is this video the shooting here? All right, roll it. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

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

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 2 of the

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

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

and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We'll be right back. Stop running! Stop running! Stop running!

Get on the ground! Get on the ground! Show me your hands! Show me your fucking hands! Stalk, you okay? Stalk! Oh, Stalk, give me a light. I need a light. Keep your fucking hands up. We're in the middle. Just come to the east of the Bravo, east of the Bravo.

Now, again, Urbina was shot in the leg as he ran away from a traffic stop. Stolk told investigators he pulled the trigger because he was in fear for his life, but Urbina didn't have a gun. So now you have the defendant's opponent, Orange County, Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bang, now trying to criticize his predecessor for, quote, ethical violations in pursuing the case. Joining us right now is Monique Worrell and Andrew Darling, Urbina's attorney, both from Orlando. First, Monique, ethical violations? I'm confused.

How do you have ethical violations in pursuing a case against a cop who shot somebody? I'm confused. Another important point is that there are ethical violations where there is a confession from an officer who shot someone. So he confessed to it, and now we know Urbina did not have a weapon. So how the hell is ethical violations

with you? Because this is political. It's not about truth. It's not about justice. The reality is in a transition of power to be able to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. And that's something that's perfectly reasonable, and it's something that, you know, happens. But because this is political, because this is about taking me out, assassinating my character, and making the voters of Orange and Osceola County lose faith in me, what they decided to do instead was write a 30-page report telling everyone that the reason they can't go forward on this case is because I was unethical to bring these charges to begin with. What they're telling people is don't believe your lying ears when this officer told you that he intentionally shot this unarmed man, that he was not being truthful, and the state attorney should have known that he was not being truthful and the state attorney should have known that he was not being truthful and should never have brought charges against him. So, Andrew Darling, so your client

gets no justice in this case. No, and keep in mind, my client turned 18 years old a month before he was shot. He was shot in the leg. And in the video that you showed, his hands are already above his head. His hands were above his head the entire time. There was never a point where they were not above his head. He gave multiple sworn statements, my client did, to the state attorney's office to cooperate with the investigation. This officer, this deputy clearly said, I intended to shoot him that night. He clearly said a month later, I intended to shoot him. And the state attorney wants you to believe,

oh no, I didn't actually, the officer didn't actually intend to shoot him. So from your perspective, do you see this as Bain protecting law enforcement? 100%. On August 9th, when Monique Worrell was removed, my law firm sent out a tweet. And I said, if the case against Bruce Stolk for shooting an unarmed man in 2020 is dismissed, we know 100% it's a political decision. This was August of last year that I tweeted that out from my law firm Twitter at Darling Law. At that point, I knew that's what

it was. They had a solution and they went looking for a problem. The solution was dismiss the case against law enforcement officer. And here are these, you know, experienced prosecutors. Let's go find a problem with the prosecution so we can justify getting rid of it. So Monique, do you believe that this is a deliberate attempt for them to say that you are incompetent and not doing your job fairly? Absolutely. And the irony here is that if we look back to the executive order of my removal, they talked about how I under-prosecuted cases. And now here is a case that I prosecuted, and they're saying that I shouldn't have prosecuted. So what it shows is the severe contradiction in what they're saying and the fact that none of this is based on fact. The reality is, under my administration, because I made a promise to the people of Orange and Osceola counties that we would hold law enforcement accountable when they broke the law,

I created a team that was focused on officer-involved critical incidents. And that team reviewed dozens of cases. And out of those dozens of cases, there were dozens of cases that were not prosecuted. Whether or not I liked what happened in the case, we didn't move forward with prosecution because I knew that I could not prove those cases beyond a reasonable doubt. There were cases where there was public pressure, where I lost supporters. And I knew that there would be political pressure for me to prosecute those cases. And I did not because ethically I understood my obligation to the law and to the community. And it was not to push cases forward that I could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was different. This case had a confession. And as someone who practiced criminal law for 20 years, I have never in the history of my practice seen a prosecutor's office disregard the confession of a defendant. And the reason that's important is because it shows and illustrates the double standard that's being used by which we review confessions made by law enforcement. This law enforcement officer said in no uncertain terms, in two separate statements, that he intentionally shot this unarmed individual.

There is absolutely no justification for disbelieving his testimony. That was his statement. That is the evidence of the case. So you really have no place to go, Andrew, I guess, except other than a civil lawsuit. Yes, sir. So in the state of Florida, when you are preparing to sue a municipality or a government entity, you have to file what's called a notice of claim and then wait six months before you can do anything. So we did that more than a year ago. We are in the process now of determining what the best avenue is, whether that's going to be some sort of settlement with the sheriff's office and the Florida Sheriff's Association, whether that's going to be a state lawsuit or whether that's

going to be a federal lawsuit. We're going to explore every avenue and we are ready to get the only kind of justice that my client is going to get in this case, which is hopefully monetary. All right, then. Monique, any final comments? You know, Roland, we're seeing this type of thing happen all across the country where people who want to bring community justice by holding law enforcement officers accountable are being vilified and removed to show us that law enforcement is above the law. And this is a serious issue. It's something that the community needs to pay attention to and their elected officials

and the people whom are in the seat because in order for us to bring trust in the legal process from the community, we're going to have to show that law enforcement does not control the decisions of state attorney's offices and that state attorney's offices and district attorney's offices can act independently of pressure from law enforcement.

All right, then. We appreciate both of you joining us. Thanks a lot. Thank you for your time. Thank you for having me. This also goes to, Greg, what happens when a fascist is elected governor of Florida who then wants to become president. And that's all Ron DeSantis is. Absolutely. A failed candidate, a failed politician, a punk who shouldn't be the governor of Florida.

If Brother Andrew Gillum had not conceded so quickly, might not be the governor of Florida if they kept counting votes. But we know the Supreme Court knows what to do in those situations. See Bush v. Gore. Stop in, Tom. Stop counting the votes. But either way, this punk has failed. And he's back in Florida, and he's continuing his work. This hunter, we all saw the video.

This is another one of those punk hunters with his manhood in his hands, emptying his clip at this innocent guy. I mean, you know, you heard the shouting, the screaming, the cursing. This is their, this is the hunting playbook. And what they're doing to Dominique Rowell, as you

framed it, Roland, this is their strategy in Florida. And it's not just Florida, of course, because these clansmen meet and they meet nationwide and then they roll out their playbook at the state level. Take away local control. Switch out the prosecutors you don't like. Make an example of these Negroes. And in this case, these racists are after Monique L'Oreal. So, yeah, there'll probably be a settlement. There'll be a check. But ultimately, their objective, which is to terrorize Black people, will remain in place. And the next hunter will go unimpeded to shoot at us until, quite frankly, something happens that stops them.

Gavin? Yeah, I think, as Greg said, right, this is part of the MAGA Republicans nationwide blueprint. This is not just isolated to Florida. I mean, as I was watching that tape, I was feeling deja vu to so many other instances in which we've seen this play out. And Republicans claim to be all about local control, right? And for someone like Monique, who just joined us, theoretically, Republicans should want her to, you know, run the case as she sees fit, given she's closer, you know, to the issues that matter most to the constituents who elected her to hold office.

But, of course, it's all about hypocrisy. It's all about white supremacy. It's all about control. But I want to just emphasize what Greg said, which is that this is not happening in a vacuum. It's not happening in isolation. And it should remind all of us, right, in 2024, as we're hyperfixated on the presidential election, let's also not just this year but every year remember the importance of state elections when it comes to our governor, when it comes to members of the state legislature and other elected positions, and when it comes to those who then go to appoint positions that we might not vote for but the people we vote for will be appointing them. We have to be awake as to what's going on. Otherwise, instances like these, because of the racism that pervades our police departments across the country, will continue to happen unchecked.

JOHN YANG REBECCA GARCIA- You know what? I'm with Dr. Carr here. I can't believe we're letting a pompous fascist who wears moon boots terrorize the entire state. I mean, this guy is crazy and he's making Florida, you know, he's making the outcomes in Florida become even much worse. You know, I think about my trans godchild in Florida who's in high school now and and having to deal with constant threats about their sexual identity and how they present themselves. It's literally terror that our young people in Florida and our communities of color and Black communities in Florida are undergoing because it is an awful governor. But you know what? I have a challenge here. So, you know, being an organizer, here's my call to action. We see Disney. We see

that Disney's fighting back, but I need Disney to do more. I need Disney to help reconfigure what that statehouse looks like in Florida. And they could do that by funding candidates who will not go along with the fascist regime that we currently see in Florida. So I need these corporations who are upset to actually do something about it and put their money behind candidates who are pro-democracy and not pro-fascism. All right, folks, hold tight one second. We come back. This black Texas Republican, Wesley Hunt, out of Texas. I don't understand a lot of these black Republicans who literally have never read a book. Wait till we play for y'all this video where he's talking about voting rights in this country.

Back in a moment. I need you to scream. Back in a moment. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now

isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. For your new beginning. Five, four, three, two. I need you to shout for it I need you to shout for it It won't always be like this Sooner or later

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life call somebody welcome Help somebody Welcome I'm Faraiji Muhammad, live from LA And this is The Culture The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern

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So Texas Republican Wesley Hunt, not too happy with the John Lewis Voting Act. He actually goes, oh, voting is not hard. It's fairly easy. So he speaks before Congress. And if y'all want a good laugh, just listen to this black Republican. Thank you, Chairman Durbin and Ranking Member Graham for having me here today to speak about voting rights in America, the country that I love dearly. More importantly, I'm here to talk about the left's soft bigotry of low expectations. Because it's the Democrat Party, not the Republican Party, that thinks so little of black America as a people of color that they make the case that being black in America means we can obtain a government ID to vote. And that's not only a ridiculous assertion,

it's demeaning and it's insulting. When it comes down to it, many of my colleagues on the left like to pretend that we're still living in the 1950s. Well, we're not. I've got some good news for you. It's 2024 and I know what year it is because I've been black for just over 40 years. And I'm also the son of a retired lieutenant colonel who grew up in the segregated South. You see, my parents grew up in the Jim Crow South in the 50s and 60s in New Orleans, Louisiana. Their next generation, my parents had three kids. My sister, brother, and I all went to West Point, all three of us. We all served our country in combat. And I sit before you today as a sitting United States

congressman in a district in a suburb of Houston, Texas, that's a white majority district, that President Trump would have won by 25 points and I won by almost 30 points. And that doesn't happen unless we've made some incredible progress in this great nation. Now, my colleagues on the left like to say that common sense voting laws, including requiring a government-issued ID, are racist and discriminatory and burdensome. Do you know what my father had back in the 40s and 50s before it was even cool? A government-issued ID. And continuing in his footsteps, I, too, have multiple government-issued IDs. And while that might be shocking to many people in this country, you may ask, how's

that happen? It's very simple. It's a personal responsibility for all Americans in this country, regardless of what you look like. Sitting with me today is my global entry card, my military ID card, my Texas driver's license, my Texas license to carry, because that's how we roll in Texas, my congressional card, and of course, the good old-fashioned American passport.

What sorcery is this? What am I, the black Houdini? How was I able to pull off the impossible and attain not one, not two, not three, but six government-issued IDs? Personal responsibility in this country. I fought for this country as an Apache helicopter pilot to protect free and fair elections. And having a government-issued ID isn't racist. It's American. You need to have an ID to drive a car to check into the airport, open a bank account. You need an ID for basically everything to be a responsible adult in this country,

except for voting, apparently, according to the left. Black America does not need well-meaning liberals putting their arms around us to telling us how we should go to the polls. In fact, if you look at recent headlines and polls, you will find that black men specifically in this country are more fired up than ever to participate in the next presidential election. And I think I know why, and I'm really looking forward to these results. For the record, in the 2022 midterms in Georgia, it proved that election integrity

and ballot accessibility can be achieved hand in hand. After the 2020 election, Georgia passed a voter election integrity law, and subsequently, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of Georgia alleging that the Georgia law is discriminatory and aims to restrict citizens from voting. President Biden even called this law, and I quote, Jim Crow 2.0. Really? In my humble opinion, referencing Jim Crow for common sense election integrity laws is offensive to those who actually experienced Jim Crow, like my parents and their parents before them. In fact, the law wasn't discriminatory at all

because in the 2022 midterms, Georgia voters shattered voter turnout records across the state. And despite that record-breaking turnout in Georgia, the DOJ lawsuit is still pending. I suspect that it's because of that record-breaking turnout. Alright, I couldn't hear enough of that bullshit any longer from

Wesley Hunt. So, let me explain to you. So, maybe Wesley will understand this better if I put this on because he wants to sit here and talk about his parents and him being from Texas and him being from a suburb of Sugar Land,

that's a majority white district that almost won by 30,000 points. And I've got six voter IDs. And y'all notice he kept talking about personal responsibility. People just have some personal responsibility. And so that's really the problem. And these liberals saying that black people, they can't get a voter ID. See, that's the language they all always use. Go to my iPad.

New analysis, folks. This was last year. Millions of Americans lack forms of ID that are increasingly required to vote. What you will not hear from the Westleys of the world is that key finding in the analysis. As of 2020, nearly 29 million voting age U.S. citizens did not have a non-expired driver's license. And over 7 million did not have any other form of non-expired government issued voter ID. It says in states with strict voter identification laws, including Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, over 3 million voting age U.S. citizens

did not have a current driver's license and over a million did not have any non-expired government license oh it says right here more than 11 million young people did not have a current driver's license and more than three million did not have any unexpired government id now keep reading 18 19 year olds you see them talking about uh their ability uh to be able to vote. Then you see right there, as they continue to talk about the numbers there, the underrepresented groups, it says that an estimated 1.86 million black and non-Hispanic Americans, 1.86 million Hispanic Americans lack a photo ID. 4.5% of those who identify as Native American. This compares to just 2.3% of white non-Hispanic and 1.6% of Asian. You keep it on there.

You heard Wesley Bell talk about, oh, you got to have an ID to open a bank account. Well, the reality is it's a lot of people in America who don't have bank accounts. Then you see it says right here, the analysis found a strong relationship between income and lack of a driver's license with adult Americans earning less than $30,000 lacking a driver's license at a rate about five times greater than the highest income category of $100,000 or more. So let me go ahead and put it to you like this. The sheer arrogance of a Wesley Hunt is he wants to sit here and go, oh, I have this ID and this ID and I got a passport. Hey, Wesley, since you want to be a smart ass, why don't you tell people how much a passport costs?

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

comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1,

Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

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

Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown.

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Actually, why don't you tell people how the laws are written, such as in Ohio when they required birth certificates in order for you to get the ID, and the birth certificate had to be a certain paperweight.

Do you want to talk about how many older voters who could not vote because when they were born in Jim Crow hospitals, since you want to bring up Biden and Jim Crow, how they couldn't access their birth records. So therefore, and remember, oh, by the way, Wesley, since Yola asked from Texas, there are two types of birth certificates. There's the original birth certificate, and there's a birth certificate from the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Some states actually required the original birth certificate from the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Some states actually required the original birth certificate, the one where they used to have the two feet on the actual birth certificate,

and they would actually specify in some of the laws how the seal needed to be raised. And then they would say, at a certificate from the Bureau of Vital Statistics, Bureau of Vital Statistics, that wasn't applicable. Oh, I notice how you skipped over all of that. I notice how you skipped over when Pennsylvania passed their voter ID law, how they then said that in order for you to, if you did not have an ID, you had to then go to the center, appear in person, fill out an affidavit, go back home,

apply for your voter ID, and then when it came in, you had to come in and pick it up. Oh, Wesley, what about the people who have no car, who use public transportation? Now you're requiring them to spend money on transportation to go pick the ID up. For everybody who is watching, I just need y'all to understand, this is how these trifling Republicans want to pimp us, and then they use blackface to sit here and talk about my history and my parents and who grew up in Jim Crow and I did this here and I served my country and me and three of my siblings we all

went to West Point oh we're just good old Americans and the problem is you can't get no voter ID it's because you don't have any personal responsibility you just lazy you can't get out there and spend the money to go get you a passport. Well, why in the hell do you need a passport if your ass can't afford to leave the country? See, the arrogance of people like

Congressman Wesley Hunt is they don't want to accept the reality that everybody's not like the rest of us. I've had this conversation with some other black people. I don't understand what's the problem. I'm like, oh, so your college-educated ass, you are sitting here saying, well, I have this and I have that.

Why can't they? Since I went ahead and brought up college educated. You saw Wesley Hunt sit there and pull out his right to carry card. And he said, oh, Wesley, did you also forget that in your state of Texas, in my home state, that if you are a student at Texas Southern University, you probably ain't never even walked on that campus. Or at Texas A&M, or Texas Tech, or Sam Houston State, or North Texas, or any state institution, that's a state ID. Oh, I'm sorry, in Texas, you can't use your government state ID from your state college because your fellow Republicans banned them.

Oh, but you can use your gun permit. You can use your gun ID, but you can't use your state ID. We know what the games are. And so you sat there for six minutes and said a whole bunch of nothing. And all you are down with are denying people the opportunity. And here's the other thing that's so crazy. I filled up my voter registration card many times. Had it certified.

They mailed it back to me. It used to be I could just come in with my voter registration card, have my name, have my address, have everything on it. They look down. Here it is. Go vote. No. And I also noticed, Wesley, you didn't bring up the more than 1,000 voting locations

that were shut down after Shelby v. Holder. I noticed you didn't talk about how voting locations in Mississippi were being changed the night before the election, so on election day, folk didn't know where to vote. I noticed you ain't discussed any of those things in your little tirade about personal responsibility when it come to getting your voter ID, and how the left, they out here saying that black people, we not smart enough to get us a voter ID. Hmm.

I notice how you also didn't say nothing, how they changed the rules in the Dakotas that impacted Native Americans being able to vote on their reservation. Oh, you, I got it. You had six minutes of testimony and you didn't have enough time to cover all of those things. I understand. You were too busy giving us the history of your black family growing up in Jim Crow America.

Rebecca. You know, I could be petty and talk about how corny he sounded. I could be petty to talk and say that sound like he was talking through his teeth. But I'll bite. I'll actually, you know, talk to the substance. The issue with people like Wesley is that he completely ignores the math. We all know ever since the Shelby decision, we know ever since 2013 that the racial turnout gap has steadily increased. And it's not because, oh, black people are apathetic and don't want to vote. That's not it, because black folks are the most rational and informed voting bloc in this country. That's the first thing. jurisdictions, the very cities and towns that used to have to get preclearance from the Justice

Department before they changed their local rules, and they had to do that because they were trying to keep Black folks from being able to vote, those same counties, those same areas, their racial turnout gap is twice the rate as the racial turnout gap anywhere else in the country. So we know that there is an intentional anti-Black racist attack on Black voters to ensure that those who support white supremacy in this country, those who are anti-democratic in this country, stay in power. We know that that's the numbers. And just to give a tangible impact, we know in 2022, there were 14 million black voters missing. If Shelby didn't happen, if the Arkansas case didn't happen, then we know that there would

have been probably another 14 million black voters who would have been likely to turn out to vote in 2022. So we know that this is a systemic, targeted issue. But finally, the final thing I'll say about Wesley, I'm always suspicious about Black people who want to be the token Black person in a sea of white faces. And that's what Wesley is.

At the end of the day, Wesley, you act as if you speak on behalf of Black America, but guess what? You don't. You don't even represent a congressional district that have many African-Americans in your congressional district. So you speak for those white folks there, for those folks who don't want black people to be able to vote. That's who you speak for. So own it. Instead of trying to, you know, showboat in Congress as if you are a WWE WrestleMania announcer

to say what it is. You look down on other black people. So I'll always be suspicious of people like you who want to rise above blackness when I think being black is something to celebrate. I noticed, Gavin, that Wesley did not talk about, go to my iPad, he didn't talk about

this case. Folks might remember the black man who waited in line for six hours at Texas Southern University just to cast his ballot. He was photographed, video was taken. That man was thrown into a two-year legal limbo because a Republican lawyer saw him on television. And this right here was it right here, the last of the voting line at TSU. This is March 2020. Some people waited for six hours.

He was the last person in line. So it was talked about. Well, guess what? Then that pathetic, indicted thug, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, indicted this brother on two counts of illegal voting. INDICTED THUG TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL KEN PAXTON INDICTED THIS BROTHER ON TWO COUNTS OF ILLEGAL VOTING. HELD HIM ON $100,000 BOND. AND SO HE WAS ON PAROLE.

HE SPENT TWO YEARS IN LEGAL LIMBO. A D.A., A DISTRICT JUDGE IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY DISMISSED THE CASE. THEN THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE REFILED THE CHARGES, THIS TIME IN HARRIS COUNTY, AND Then the Attorney General's office refiled the charges, this time in Harris County, and the matter finally came to a close when a grand jury determined last summer that no crime had occurred. And so guess what? This brother who was committed, this brother who wanted to exercise his power, this is what he says. He's not going to vote again. I know I'm not. I mean, I care. He's no longer on parole and is what he says. He's not going to vote again. I know I'm not. I mean, I care.

He's no longer on parole and is eligible to vote. He goes, I mean, I care. But if I had to go through all of that just to vote, no. What happened in Florida last year when they arrested several black and Hispanic and some white folks, accusing them of voting illegally? Well, guess what? The judges threw out all those particular cases, but that wasn't the point. The point was to serve as a chilling effect and to say, if you ever serve time in prison, this might be you. That's why they're still going after Crystal Mason

seven years after the fact. This is what Republicans do. But I know this Congressman Wesley Hunt, he didn't bring up none of this. Well, Roland, you know what else he didn't bring up? He didn't bring up the fact that Republicans in my home state of Georgia passed Senate Bill 202 after the election of 2020, which now makes it a crime to give food and water to people like that gentleman there in Texas who may have been waiting in line for six hours or longer. And like you said, they've been closing down polling stations and all of that. So, of course, Representative Hunt didn't mention any of that.

He said it's not the 1950s anymore. It's 2024. That's the point. It's 2024. And we're still trying to make it harder to vote? I'm not sure how much he and Ben Carson and Byron McDonald and Tim Scott are getting paid for all this, but it's sad. And it's not because I think all black people have to think the same way. But when it comes to issues like voting rights, I guess to me, it's just pretty

simple. You either want to make it easier to vote or you want to make it harder to vote. You either think that the right to vote ought to be expanded or it ought to be contracted. And it'd be one thing if there was some evidence that there's voter fraud. We know that those are lies. That couldn't be further from the truth. But Congressman Hunt, by talking about the results of his election and all that, he said the quiet part out loud. He made it clear that this is all about power. Republicans are scared that they're going to get beat, so they know they've got to rig the rules of the game. And we can trace all of this back. We talked about Shelby County in 2013. But this can all be traced back. These modern attempts to suppress the black vote can be traced back to the election of Barack Obama. And we know it's been an open season on voting rights since

then, of course, in 2013. And I can say, going back to being a Georgia voter, that I've experienced the effects of SB 202. It's now harder for me to vote by mail. There are more steps that I have to take. When I was voting in the primaries just last week, I got a call from the voting office saying that they mailed me the wrong ballot and they were going to cancel it. I have no idea what is going on. This is for someone like me, who's relatively privileged and politically engaged. So think about what that means for so many other voters. The last thing I'll say, you know, he tried to make it seem like, oh, we got all these people voting, you know, these rules aren't, these new laws aren't really being a barrier

to black voters. We might have more black people voting, but that's not because of anything he has to say. That's because of the sheer will and determination of the voters in our community. It's a testament to the magnificence of Stacey Abrams, and it's a testament to the dedication and the hard work of people like Rebecca, who just spoke before me. So that's what I got to say, Roland. You know, Greg, Wesley Hump posted this on his little Facebook page.

Go to my iPad. You know, Emily and I are honored to exercise our right to vote. Hashtag, I voted. Yeah, yeah, you and Emily voted, but y'all sure as hell don't mind stopping a lot of black and brown folk

and poor white folk and young voters from voting. We know that you have on record, you have on record where a clerk in Wisconsin in 2020 said she moved an early voting location off of a college campus because too many white, young white kids are voting Democrat. And they moved it to a location further out with a small parking lot.

See, these are the games Republicans play. They don't want to make it easier to vote. They love talking about the troops. And you heard Wesley sitting there talking about, oh, I served my country. Me and my family, we served our country in the military. Oh, but they want to make it harder. They want to get rid of ballot drop boxes. They want to cut early voting locations.

They want to rig elections and steal them so they can win because they are actually on record. The former Georgia Speaker of the House who died last year, said if we pass all these voting laws, we will never win another election. They know it. They've said it. If you expand the opportunities for Americans to vote, Republicans say we will never win because they don't want to win on policy. They want to win by cheating. Absolutely. And they call that election integrity. Anytime you hear the white nationalist.

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

itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast.

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

Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real.

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Refer to election integrity. What they mean is voter suppression. You know, I appreciate you, Rebecca. You took the high road. I'm not going to take the high road because I have an example in Roland S. Martin,

who just showed that man's wife and goaded me into mentioning that. They got this man out of central casting. There seems to be a batch of these Negroes with the crushed larynxes. Maybe it's their esophagus. I'm not sure. Maybe it's the trachea that allows them to talk like that and say, you know, what is this ragged projection? Your whole throat is constricted trying to prove to white people. This is the Negro who, having pulled out his 50th or 60th ID when he's led away in handcuffs, is still trying to convince these people that he's on their side

because he just can't believe that somehow all of his loyalty won't be rewarded one day in heaven. I mean, he's already gotten an earlier prize. But yeah, to the point, I mean, and I appreciate, again, what you said, brother. We just lost this week the great Dori Ladner, a great civil rights warrior and titan out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She and her sister Joyce, a member of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a sister who headed up the local office of the Council of Federated Organization, of course, was there when they had the bombing of 16th Street

Baptist Church, the funeral for three of the four girls who were killed that day in September 1963, and then followed that up by being at the center of Freedom Summer. And Dori Ladner said, I was born to rebel. I was born to fight. We have to understand that these people cannot be reasoned with, because it isn't about laying out facts. They know the facts. But as you say, Roland, they just want to win.

So when you get a crushed Larnyx Negro like that, a Negro who was in the House of Representatives—shout out to the Texas 38th for sending your mascot to the federal legislature. When you see him testify as he did before the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee having the hearing on the John Lewis voting rights act, no doubt that little Lynn Graham, who is the ranking member in the Senate on that committee, reached out to the other side and said, mascot, come here, because we got little Timmy over here in South Carolina, but we need you to come and hear and talk about going to the polls and pulling out your six or seven IDs.

But here's the little memo, son. Let's be very clear. The ID that counts the most in this country is the ID you came out of your black mother's womb with. And no piece of paper, no ability to choco your voice and show up with your wife and say that you all respect them. None of that's going to save you. One other thing I'll say, as you know, Roland, because they live in the neighborhood with your family, you know, my sister and brother-in-law, my niece and nephew live in Texas, and I got a lot of good friends

in Texas. And when they take their teenage children to go get driver's licenses and learner's permits, they have found now that you have to make an appointment. And they take maybe five walk-ins a day to get a driver's license. And in Texas, you can wait as long as three damn months. To anybody with a teenage child in Texas, go ahead, Roland, because you know about this. Oh, no, no, no, no. I just had to, I just had to, my driver's license expired before my birthday. And I literally had no idea. So I called, I told my parents, I was flying in, and they said, hey, why don't you go to the driver's license location in Midlothian, in south of Dallas, because it's small, not a lot of traffic.

All right. So I go in. Now, mind you, I got a driver's license. I'm just getting it renewed. I go in. They go, oh, no, no. We still have the COVID rules in place. You have to make an appointment.

I go, excuse me? I have to make an appointment. Oh go, excuse me? I have to make an appointment. Oh, yeah, it's on the website. So I'm like, look, I'm only in town. I literally only flew in town to get it renewed. So and or it may have been around voting as well. I may have voted. And then I said, well, I'm here.

So then I'm like, what the hell? So now all of a sudden I call State Senator Royce West's office saying, hey, who do you know? One of these offices where I can just go ahead and get it renewed. I then go to another location in Dallas County. I said, well, man, I started thinking, I said, hold on, let me try to figure out a location where a lot of black folk gonna be at. And so I go in

and parking lot's jam-packed and the woman at the front, the Latina woman, she's like, no, you gotta get an appointment. And so she's telling me how long it's going to take. And I'm like, are you serious? I'm going back out of town tomorrow.

And so the brother was behind the desk. The brother was like, everything good? And I was sitting. I was like, here's what's going on. And he was like, come on. And so she was like, here's what's going on. He was like, come on. And so she was, and then she's like, then she get an attitude. Wow. She then goes, oh, I guess it's good to be special.

Yes, it is. And so it was probably going to be about a three or four hour wait because I think they gave it to me. I think I was like number 68 or something. Now, mind you, the office I left, it was only like three, about four or five people. OK, there's about 60 some odd people there. And so I'm chilling. I'm, you know, I'm reading my phone. I'm like, no problem. Let me go ahead and do this here. Until this one sister came out.

A bunch of them were like on break. And I was like, all the empty cubicles. So I didn't. And so then I was like, hold up, that's the break room. So I switched my seat so that way they wouldn't see the back of my head. So they walked out. And then the sister, she was like, I walked out. She was like, come here.

She said, no, she said, but man came in, told you was sitting out here. She said, no, we got to get your driver's license. And so went ahead, knocked it out, processed it, have a driver's license the following week. But they literally, what you just described, they were literally going to try to make this a three to four month wait. And if you weren't Roland Martin, it would have been a three or four month wait. Yep.

And so that's what Wesley Hunt won't talk about. No question. Wesley Hunt will not talk't you go back when Scott Walker was the governor of Wisconsin, when the federal judge called his ass in and said, why y'all slow walking voter IDs? See, Wesley want to act like we don't know. And then, Wesley, do I need to remind you when the leader in Pennsylvania in 2000, I think it was 2012 or 16, it was 2012, he stood up

and said, quote, because of voter ID, Mitt Romney is going to win Pennsylvania over Obama. That's literally what he said. See, Wesley acted like we don't know?

No, Wesley, we do know. So you can sit in, try out your little six IDs and pull all that crap out, but real black folks know what's going on and how your party, especially those racists in Texas, how they are changing the laws to read the elections because y'all cannot compete on policy. We'll be right back. Rolling Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Wow. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr.

Democracy in the United States is under siege. On this list of bad actors, it's easy to point out the Donald Trumps, the Marjorie Taylor Greene's or even the United States Supreme Court as the primary villains. But as David Pepper, author, scholar and former politician himself says, there's another factor that trumps them all and resides much closer to many of our homes. His book is Laboratories of Autocracy, a wake-up call from behind the lines. So these state houses get hijacked by the far right, then they gerrymander, they suppress the opposition, and that allows them to legislate in a way that doesn't reflect the people of that

state. David Pepper joins us on the next Black Table, here on the Black Star Network. Hello, I'm Jameah Pugh. I am from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, just an hour right outside of Philadelphia. My name is Jasmine Pugh. I'm also from Coatesville, Pennsylvania. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stay right back. Folks, Ethan Dunn has been missing from De Pere, Wisconsin, since February 18th. The 14-year-old is 5 feet 6 inches tall. Guys, put his photo up. All right, we don't have the photo. He's 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 135 pounds, black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information regarding Ethan is urged to call the De Pere Wisconsin Police Department at 920. This is his photo right here, 920-339-4078, 920-339-4078. The Tennessee Senate has passed a bill blocking local governments from passing police reform on traffic stop policies. Now it's headed to Governor Bill Lee's desk to be signed into law. The bill passed a floor vote in the House on March 7th over the objections of the parents of Tyree Nichols. The bill passed in the Senate 25-6 along party lines with all Memphis and Nashville Democrats voting against it. The bill, if signed into law, would directly nullify an ordinance passed by the Memphis City Council in the wake of the tragic beating murder of Nichols by former officers of

the Memphis Police Department. That ordinance prevents police from conducting low-level traffic stops, often called pretextual traffic stops. This is what we call, Kevin, Republicans not giving a damn about local power if they are not in control. So the so-called people who hate big government, they are liars and hypocrites, and they would rather protect abusive cops than protect citizens. Oh, 100 percent. And first and foremost, I think it's worth saying that Tyree Nichols should be alive today. His family should have more than just his memory still with them today.

But you're right. Of course, it's all hypocrisy when they say local control. They want Republican control. They want white control. After the death of Tyree Nichols, the city of Memphis enacted a series of reforms, good reforms aimed at reducing the potential for deadly traffic stops. You know, I don't know the specifics of the effects of the reforms, but what I know is that they would put a check on officers, black, white, and otherwise, who might be inclined to pull over black drivers for simply driving while black. And like you said, extremists in the state legislatures, like in Tennessee and states across the country, they don't like that.

And so what we see here reminds us that these threats to our democracy go far beyond Donald Trump. We like to sometimes think that, you know, as long as we beat Donald Trump in November, then, you know, we don't have to worry about, you know, threats to our democracy persisting. But those threats are alive right now. They'll be alive after November, even if Joe Biden wins the election. It's because all throughout the country we have these extremist Republicans like the ones in Tennessee who've built up these super majorities, allowing them to attack, you know,

local control in this case, voting rights, reproductive freedom, books and the teaching of our nation's full history. And like I've been saying, we said it earlier tonight, we said it last week when I was on the show talking about Tennessee again, we need to see clearly what's going on and what we need to do to stop it, which is to vote. Greg, that's your home state. Yeah. Yeah, it is. And these white boys ain't never going to stop me. I mean, John Gillespie, that punk representative, John Gillespie and another punk, Senator Brent Taylor, both them white boys, is from the suburbs of Memphis, Shelby County.

They're the ones who brought this bill to the floor. And Tyree Nichols' parents are there. Let's be very clear about that. That's why I brought up Dori Ladner. Dori Ladner was a humanitarian. She said, we're all human beings. We all need to be living in this country together, living in this world together. But she also said, I have to be unwavering, and we have to fight evil wherever we see it in order for all of us to live together.

I'm going to take a step back from Mama Dory. I love Mama Dory. She has a great loss. These people are our open enemies. They're the enemies of our common humanity. You've got this man's parents in the gallery, and you two punks, and all your punk friends in the Tennessee legislature was like, damn that. We want the police loose. This is what's going to happen. And I'm not giving a vision of what might happen. Like you teach the history lessons day after day on the network, Roland. We know what's going to happen.

You're going to run up on the right one. You're going to run up on the exact right one. It's going to happen in November in this country in the elections. The punk who is now the head of the Republican National Committee, who was the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, the one that Donald Trump praised because he was the one training all them poll watchers to go and look at people, look over people's shoulders in line, y'all going to look up over the right shoulder this November. You're going to push people until they have no option. You think somehow by passing this legislation that lets the police loose and takes local control away, the people just going to go away.

Oh, well, damn, I guess we can't do it. So I guess we'll just lose. As you heard Gavin say, voting is something now that becomes an act of defiance, an act, a weapon of conflict. And so that's why we have to embrace it. But guess what? If you show up with your funky MAGA hat on and a camera poking it in people's face, talking about you're going to watch them and say, hey, where'd you get that water or something like that, you might look around and find out. You might look around and find out. And then you'll wish that you would just let people vote or let people not be brutalized

by the police. But you can't keep passing these kind of laws and expect people ultimately to just go away. All you are doing is shortening the leash. You're shortening the time before people say, since we can't do it this way, we're going to do it another way. And the John Gillespie's of the world are going to find out at that point, the Brent Taylor's of the world are going to find out at that point. The Brent Taylors of the world are going to find out at that point that they had a chance to do the right thing. But now, as

Brother said in The Wire, as Marlo said, you think it's one way, but it's the other way. And y'all going to fuck around and find out. Rebecca? You know what? There's about 39 million Black Americans in this country. We are the most targeted ethnic group in the world when it comes to police brutality,

when it comes to state brutality against us. Like what Dr. Carr said, even what Gavin said, they simply want to erase us. They don't want us to be here. They would rather die themselves. They would rather stay poor themselves. They would rather have bad education outcomes, health outcomes, housing outcomes, have a crumbling infrastructure in this country, than dare do something that actually also benefits Black Americans in this country. You know, and even what Dr. Carr said, you know, people with that type of pathology, there's nothing we can say or do to convince them otherwise. But what we can do, we got to show up in November. We got to be able to vote them out. We know that even with everything that's against us, with the voter suppression in this country,

if we still can manage to squeak out and vote as maximum as we can, we know that we will overcome them at the ballot box. But then once we overcome them at the ballot box, we have to really hold the new elected officials' feet accountable. We have to make sure at the state level as well as the federal level that they get rid of qualified immunity. Qualified immunity is what prevents us from actually going after people's pensions. Because if you go after a pension fund, then guess what? You're going to start to clean up law enforcement in this country because this country runs on dollars and cents. And if we're actually able to make it hurt in the personal pocketbooks of these perpetrators, then we'll start to see a decrease in the attacks by law enforcement against black folks in this country. Folks, a Mississippi police officer is accused of forcing a person who was being booked in jail to lick urine off the floor of a holding cell.

Former patrolman. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

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

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

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

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. For the Pearl Police Department, Michael Christian Green, this is his photo right here, is facing one federal count of deprivation of rights under color of law, according to a criminal information filed earlier this month. The document alleges that the man Green arrested knocked on the door of a holding cell and said he needed to urinate.

After a while, the man urinated in a corner. Green allegedly threatened to beat him with a phone and commanded him to, quote, lick it up. Green stood in a doorway while the man, who gagged and later vomited in a trash can, did so. The document says Green even recorded it on his cell phone. This is the kind of person right here, Rebecca, that now you notice this is a federal complaint, not the local D.A., not the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, but the feds had to indict this punk ass. I expect a dumb ass like him to do dumb ass things. He looks like a dumb ass. He acts like a dumb ass.

And he did something as a dumbass. The bottom line is, when I hear from people in the law enforcement community who talks about, oh, we're a professional, you know, we're professionals, then act professional. Do something. Don't allow for this to happen. Because guess what? This is probably not the first time that that officer has done something like this. It should not have to take the Justice Department to prevent and stop things from happening like this. So for all those who see something, you tell us, see something, say something, then you see something, say something, and do something to stop this. If you don't want the federal legislation, that will have to happen.

If you don't want the state and local legislation, that's going to have to happen, to actually have police reform, then do something, voluntarily do something. But guess what? You all don't want to do anything. You want to uphold white supremacy. You want to dehumane people. You want them to act as dogs and, you know, as alley cats and dogs and all sorts of animals. That's how you treat us. That's how you see us. But even with something that Dr. Carr was alluding to, at That's how you treat us. That's how you see us. But even with something that Dr. Carr was alluding to, at some point, you're going to mess with the right one.

People are going to get sick and tired. And as an ethnic group, we're not going anywhere. We survived the Middle Passage. We're going to survive this too. So you might not want to F around to find out what's going to happen when you get to the when you get to that right one who's like, I have nothing to lose because that's what,

that's the corner that you're pushing me into. They don't want us there. So why don't you voluntarily do something, reform before we have to now make you reform? Gavin, this little punk was relieved and resigned on December 27th. The criminal information charge was unsealed March 4th. He pled guilty

today. Gavin, you're on mute. You're on mute. I'm sorry, Roland. Go ahead. This should go without saying, but it's disgusting. It's inhumane.

All people deserve respect and dignity, including and perhaps especially those who are going through our criminal justice system. I want to make two points. One, we got to talk about what's happening in our jails. Look, I don't know the race of the jailed individual who is the victim of this crime. But what I do know is that in Mississippi, black people, only 39 percent of the state population, but 57 percent of the people in jail and 62 percent of the people in prison. And we know it's not because black people commit crimes at a higher rates. President Biden announced earlier in his term

that he was phasing out federal contracts with private prisons. And that's awesome. It's also one of the few things he could do in his position as president. But we need to remember that in many cases it's in state jails and prisons where misconduct on the part of guards is running rampant, including when it comes to sexual violence. And when it comes to jail, these are people who haven't had their day in court yet. They're waiting for that. So, so many times these victims are completely innocent. But even if they're guilty,

no one should have to experience what some people in these situations have experienced. And I'm from Atlanta. This has been happening. What's happening in the Fulton County Jail is unspeakable. They stopped accepting new inmates. I'm so sorry, Roland. I have to leave this space in one moment.

I got you. There's a man being held there who was found dead, completely covered in bedbugs in his mouth, all over his body. It's unacceptable. And the second thing is that elections have consequences in so many ways. Like you pointed out, the charges here being brought against the officer, they're federal offenses. That means they're brought by the attorney general. And had this happened in the Trump administration, I would not be surprised if these charges wouldn't have been brought. The judge who oversees this case will be a federal judge. We know Trump did

his best to stack the judiciary with young right-wing judges, but President Biden has been nominating and confirming judges at a rapid rate, including black and brown judges. And of course, at the state and local level, we've got to pay attention to these officials who are voting or not voting for who have so much power. And the last thing I'll say, this happened in the same county in Mississippi where those cops who call themselves the goon squad pulled up and beat up on two black men for apparently pure amusement. So there are clearly a lot of bad apples in that bunch.

The perpetrator here has to be held accountable to the full extent of the law. And we can't let something like this ever happen again. All right, Gavin, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Y'all, this is Michael Christian Green walking out of court yesterday. He faces up to a year in jail, $10,000 fine, 26 years old. The man who he made do that was Latino. And, you know, Greg, I get stopped by a lot of brothers who come out of prison who said, man, we watch you. We watch you in the prison and jail cells. Y'all get a good look and you put him to work licking urine when he got to go to that federal prison.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. That's the power of the Black Star Network right there, baby. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. That's the power of the Black Star Network right there, baby. Yes, sir. You know, what happened to his Tate Reeves Memorial bad toupee? Or did he shave off that? This is his mugshot right here. I know. Y'all go ahead and show it. Come on. Yeah, there's the Tate Reeves tribute hat. Probably Dollar General, the family dollar of one of the local finer establishments and then he shaved it, huh?

Well, as you say, maybe the brothers will get a chance to be a barber for him too while he's... Oh, and again the man who may do it was Latino so Olivatos y'all go ahead and handle that. Y'all go ahead and handle that. Alright, that's it.

Before I mention, you know Pearl is east. It's just east of Jackson. Jackson tried to incorporate Pearl in 1968. It's right over the Pearl River from Jackson. They incorporated it in 1963. That little town's about 60% black. That's part of that whole criminal enterprise you've been covering over the last year or so with them trying to carve out these bedroom communities and create. Make sure that white boy don't get a job in that new police district

they're trying to create in Jackson. And there you go. There you go. Alright, Greg, Gavin, Rebecca, I appreciate y'all being on today's panel. Thank you so very much. Shout out to Virginia Union University. I'm rocking their shirt this week on today.

So glad to represent them as well. So, folks, I appreciate it. Tomorrow I'm going to be in Los Angeles. Normally the NAACP pre-awards show dinner is on Friday night. It's actually tonight. So I'm going to be there. The Image Awards is on Saturday, so we will be there for that. And then I'm going to be in L.A. Monday and Tuesday.

Tuesday, they have the premiere, the Netflix world premiere of the movie on Shirley Chisholm starring Regina King. We'll be live there on the red carpet broadcasting and then live on the red carpet. So a lot of things happening. So, folks, please support us in what we do. Please join our Bring the Funk fan club.

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I'm real 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, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home.

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