#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Sheriff's deputy slams black woman; July 4th violence; India Arie v Janelle Monae, Meg Thee Stallion

Episode Date: July 6, 2023

7.5.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: L.A. Sheriff's deputy body slams black woman; July 4th violence spike; Diversity scholarships at risk; India Arie v Janelle Monae, Meg Thee Stallion A Los Angeles Sheriff's deputy body slams a black woman.  Even the sheriff's department calls the video 'disturbing.'  We have both body cam videos and videos shot by a bystander.  We'll examine what led up to the violent encounter.   We'll also look at the recent violence that gripped the country over the holiday weekend.  We'll break down where the violence and examine if California Governor's proposed 28th amendment to increase the age to buy guns could help curb the rising trend of gun violence. India Arie calls out Janelle Monae and Megan Thee Stallion for their Essence Festival performances; saying they are "degrading" the culture. And I must say, I agree.  I'll explain why.  The Supreme Court's decision to overturn affirmative action ignites concerns about the future of diversity scholarships.  We will speak to a Higher Education Scholar about the potential implications and explore ways to ensure our children can still access valuable opportunities. 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. self. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Today is Wednesday, July 5th, 2023. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. An L.A. Sheriff's deputy body slams a black woman as she is recording her husband being arrested. The Sheriff's Department calls the video disturbing. Protests will take place in a couple of hours. We will show you the body cam footage,

also video shot by a bystander. We'll also take a look at the recent violence that gripped the country over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. We'll break down the violence and examine if California governor's proposed 28th Amendment to increase the age to buy guns could help curb the rising trend of gun violence. The Supreme Court's decision to overturn affirmative action in colleges has ignited concerns about the future of diversity scholarships. We'll speak to a higher education

scholar about the potential implications and explore ways to ensure our children can access education. Plus, India Irie has some words about the performances at Essence Fest this weekend. Speaking about Janelle Monae and Megan Thee Stallion.

We'll show you what she has to say. Also, take your phone calls about what she called, and others, degrading the culture. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got whatever the piss he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine

And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling Best belief 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 Uncle Roro, yo. Yeah, yeah.

It's Roland Martin. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. Folks, in California too, Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies are under investigation after a video shows the officers violently detaining a black couple. Now, the officers responded to a report of a robbery at a store in Lancaster on

June 24th. An elderly black couple matching the description of the suspects was waiting outside the shop store when the first deputy arrived. The video shows the one deputy giving orders to the man who explains to the officers he told the store to call the police in concern of a robbery and waited for them to arrive. Watch this. Get on the ground, dude. Get out. Put your hands on the hood. Put your hands on the hood.

Put your hands on the hood. Put your hands on the hood. Put your hands on the hood. Put your hands on the hood. Put your hands on the hood. Put your hands on the hood. Put your hands on the hood. Have a seat then. Have a seat. Have a seat. Have a seat then. Have a seat.

Have a seat. Have a seat. Have a seat. They approached us first, man. Hey, Kirk, I'm making contact now. He's on the phone now. He's on the phone. Get down. Sit down, dude. We'll figure this out.

We didn't do nothing wrong. I told my wife to come. Well, if you sit down, we'll figure that out. I'm not sitting down. I'm not. We just walked out. Can you just have a seat on that rock? Yeah.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, down. I got to. We just walked out this side. Can you just have a seat on that rock? Yeah.

Yeah. Ugh. . Take your heart and call it. I told them to call and call this rock. All right, just chill out. I was the one that called y'all. So look.

Can I sit up? Hold on, dude. Hey, we're going to be making a bunch today. Hold on, dude. Hey, Kirk, this is a mound, and the people's going to be in the car. Just have a seat, dude. What is going on, dude? He got the camera, bro. He come, but why do we order some shit, right? Just relax.

I'm just going to pat you down, buddy. I don't have nothing. Okay, relax. We don't know that. I don't have nothing, brother. Pack a cigarette. See, they're going to... Now what? I'm not even being resistant. That's wife over there. Huh?

All right, dude. We'll fit you in. Wait a minute. I'm not under arrest. For what? You're not under arrest. You're being detained. Detained for what?

For what? Dude, calm down. What have I done? I haven't stolen nothing. Man, I can bust a loop. Why you all doing this shit, man? I'm not doing this shit. I'm not doing this shit. I'm not doing this shit. I'm't stolen nothing. Man, I can bust a loop. Why y'all doing this shit, man?

Bust. Why y'all doing all this? Dude, relax. Where are you going to get put down? What the hell is happening to me, man? Dude, just... Man, my wife is a bad nigga. Oh, my arm is fucked up, man.

My arm is fucked up, man. All right, where do you live? Right here? I'll tell you until I break it you, I'm breaking the rules. Now, you can't catch me. Have a seat. Have a seat. Come on, boy.

Have a seat. You guys are doing this for me, man. Calm down. We haven't done nothing. What the fuck? Dude. I'm not going to fight you, man. You can put him on my bike. She got cancer. She got cancer, man. You can put him on the right.

She got cancer. She got cancer, man. All right, dude. Man, come on. Bruh, I'm not going to fight you. You cool. Hey, you're a deputy. You cool, bro.

I'm not going to fight you. Calm down, dude. I calm down. Can I sit up? No. I'm on sticky-ass bushes, man. I hit my sister. Oh, man sticky ass bushes, man. Oh, the commander. I hear my sister. Let me see you in this coat of wingos. Oh, man, come on, man. I don't have to do this shit, bro.

What's wrong, man? You got to do that to her. She got cancer, big bro. Man, don't do her like that, man. Let me sit up. Dude, calm down, man. No, I ain't doing nothing. Let me sit up.

I'm on sticky. I swear to God I'm not going to get up. You got my word, boss. You got my word. I'm not going to get up. Man, she got my word. I'm not going to get up. I'm not going to get up.

I'm not going to get up. I'm not going to get up. I'm not going to get up. I'm not going to get up. stick it. I swear to God, I'm not going to get up. You got my word, boss. You got my word. I'm not going to get up. Man, she got cancer, man. Why you guys acting like this? She's acting like that because they waited, wrote a bonus.

Hey, the guard came up on this boy like, where, where, where, where? That's all he did, bro. Everybody said, I'm going to go. I want to get to get violent with my body. Have a seat. Bro. You got her? Yeah, man.

You all right? No. Let me get 902. She got cancer, bro. She got cancer. All right. I'm not doing nothing, man. I'm not fighting with y'all.

Hey, dude. I'm here. I am. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I don't need my own, my own, my own, bro, my own. You can't, but you can't block me around and talk to me. J.C., stop. Just quit. Stop it. I can't. Just stop. Just relax.

Have a seat. Yeah, bro. Hold on. I don't want to mess with you. She's all right, man. She's all right. Sit down. I'll sit down.

J.C., just cooperate, J.C. Have a seat in the car. She ain't going to do nothing, bro. Have a seat in the car. We didn't leave, sir. We didn't leave. You're making it worse. the car. She ain't gonna do nothing wrong. Have a seat in the car! We didn't even leave, sir. Oh my god. We didn't leave. You're making it worse.

Get up. I didn't do what? Have a seat so I can put her in the back seat so she can calm down. I know. So she all right, man. I know. You're gonna have consequences. All you had to do was listen.

I didn't do anything. You was mad because I videoed and put it on YouTube. I didn't do anything. That's why you was mad. No, imagine just telling me. The SEC 111, we're gonna have two to change. We're gonna just have fire and then fire. We're gonna have fire and then fire.

We're gonna have fire and then fire. We're gonna have fire and then fire. We're gonna have fire and then fire. We're gonna have fire and then fire. We're gonna have fire and then fire. You was mad because I videoed and put it on YouTube. I'm like, oh, you're not inspired, CJ. That's why you was mad. Take a seat. I don't imagine this. The SEC 111. We're going to have two to change. We're going to just have fire and a sergeant to link up. And one extra to do that. I have asthma.

OK. 111, can I call you up? One is about it. 110 responding. 110, I'm just with you, CJ. And fire is CJ. We'll advise them it's clear to enter. Confirm.

Affirm. Just confirm. Is it for clear to enter. Confirm? Affirm. What's on the side of the window? Just confirm, is it for a deputy or a suspect only? Suspect only,. Whoever's by me, can you move? Because I need to spit. Let's go. Put your feet in there.

OK, let me spit. 111, just confirm, is that a definite? All right. Go ahead. I can't. I'm not going to be able to breathe because I got asthma. 111, advising, the deputy will fight at the Lincoln. Watch out.

You all right? Yeah. Now, this next video is from the body camera of the second deputy who arrived on the scene. He is the one who violently attacked the black woman who was recording the incident. Come here. We're just going to pat you down, buddy, big dog.

I don't have nothing. Okay, relax. We don't know that. Man, I don't have nothing. Okay, we're just going to pat you down. See, there go this. Now what? I'm not even being resistant.

Huh? Wait, wait, wait. No, man. I'm not. Wait, wait. No, I'm not under arrest. For what? You're not under arrest.

You're being detained. Why are you detained? For what? For what? Listen. What under arrest. You're being detained. Well, why are you detained? For what? For what? Listen. What have I done? I haven't stolen a butter cake. Man, I could bust loose.

Why y'all doing this shit, man? Boss, why y'all doing all this? Dude, relax. Why are you going to get put in jail? That man was threatening me, man. Dude, just, man, my wife is a paralegal. Oh, my arm is fucked up, man! My arm is fucked up, man!

I'm telling you, I'm telling you. I'm preaching over here. Now, you can't touch me. Stop. You can't touch me. Get down on the ground. What are you... Get on the ground!

It's already on YouTube live. Stop. I don't give... Stop. Motherfucker, stop! Stop or you're gonna get punched in the face. You punch me and you're gonna get sued, too. You already got sued. I got it on camera.

Stop. Turn around. I got it on camera. Get your neck off my—off my—I can't breathe! Hey, we're in a fight at the Wimco. I can't breathe. It's not fine. You threw me down to the ground.

Stop manhandling me. I didn't do nothing. You threw me through! Put your hands behind your back. I'm not doing anything. Call the commander. Call the commander. Give me your hand. Give me your hand. I got my prescription glasses.

I don't care. Put your hand behind your back. You're going to get sprayed again. Glasses on my hand. I don't care. Put your hand behind your back. You're going to get sprayed again. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan.

I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan.

I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. Get up.

I can't see anything. Why are you mad at me? Because you were being detained. I know you're mad because I put it on YouTube live. And they're saying everything. Let's go. That's why you're mad. Let's go. Stop fighting.

I'm not fighting. I can't see what I'm doing. All right, so here's what's crazy. The unarmed couple, they were cited and released. The sheriff's department did not release what the citations were for. Both officers, who have not been identified, were pulled off of field duty. L.A. County Sheriff's Office, the sheriff released, first of all, explaining why the body camera videos

were released. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has opened an investigation into this incident. While the department does not make statements related to ongoing investigations, Sheriff Luna has made it clear that he respects, expects department personnel to treat all members of the public with dignity and respect,

and that personnel who do not uphold our training standards will be held accountable. In the interest of transparency with our community, the Sheriff's Department is releasing body-worn camera video from the incident. Okay, so let's unpack this. Police get called. The folks who call the cops are the very folks the cops detain. And if you look at their actions, they immediately...

How do you arrive on a scene but don't actually do any sort of investigation. Dr. Neambi Carter, Associate Professor, University of Maryland, School of Public Policy out of D.C., joins us. Teresa Lundy, Principal Founder, TML Communications out of Philadelphia. Dr. Larry J. Walker, Assistant Professor, University of Central Florida as well. Okay, so this is where I am absolutely confused here. So if I'm the cops and I get a call from the store, I would think, Neomby, and I want you all to go back to the beginning of the video. Go to the beginning of the video.

I would think that when I arrive at the store, my first thing would be to the store manager, what's the situation? What's the problem? Why are we here? Roll the video. Now, give me a split screen. So what I got here, the cops roll up, pull the audio up. Put your hands on the hood. Put your hands on the hood.

So stop right there. Stop right there. So De'Ambi, he immediately gets out of the car. He gets out of the car, and he starts talking to the man, and he hasn't even determined what's going on. Am I the one who think this is crazy? Absolutely not. It's a black face in the vicinity, and they just went to the first person that they thought had committed a crime.

I mean, didn't de-escalate, like you said, didn't ask a question, didn't do anything. Immediately starts ordering this man to put his hands on the hood and treating him like a criminal with no information. There were probably hundreds of people in that parking lot in that vicinity at that time, yet all he saw was a black face. And he immediately goes to, you know, all of these procedures that would seem to affect an arrest. And of course, if you're a person who's done nothing and said, I told them to call the police, I waited for you all. He's telling them this. And you still are talking about put your hands on the hood, sit on the curb, do all of these things that would make you a suspect.

You're right. You're going to get people who are upset, who are going to have, you know, their cockles raised because they're like, wait a minute, you're not about to arrest me. You're not about to take me down and treat me like a criminal. And that's exactly what happened here. And as you noted, they pepper sprayed these people and then they cite them and release them because they knew these people hadn't done anything. But I think at this point, they had gone too far down the rabbit hole and felt like they had to make a show of force. They had to do something to justify why they treated these lawful

citizens like trash, essentially. No one should be treated this way. I'm sitting here, Teresa, again, go back to the beginning of the video, y'all. Again, let me be real clear. They get a phone call.

There's a black couple. They roll up and the first black couple they see got to be. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country,

cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened

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

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

We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. 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. Conforcer 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. is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position.

Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. And you're basing this off of a phone call. You don't know who called. You don't know the story.

You have no information. So I'm just trying to understand how, if you're the, how do you just roll up again? Turn the audio up. Get on the ground, dude. Put your hands on the hood. Put your hands on the hood. Put your hands on the hood. Put your hands on the hood.

Put your hands on the hood. Put your hands on the hood. Listen, have a seat then. Have a seat. Have a seat. Have a seat then. Have a seat. Have a seat. Have a seat then. Have a seat.

Hi, boss. I'm not playing. I'm a citizen. Have a seat. Have a seat. David, is that definitely a compulsion? They approached us first, man. Hey, Kirk, I'm making contact now.

He's on the phone now. Now, hit pause. Hit pause. Sit down hit pause. Hit pause. Sit down, dude. Hit pause. Now, Teresa, if you were standing outside of a store and a cop rolls up and the first words are, put your hands on the hood, for what? That is the natural reaction of somebody innocent. For what? That is the natural reaction of somebody innocent.

For what? You just roll up and just start barking out orders for no reason whatsoever? As my sister said, you know, black people has always been seen as the aggressor. Instead of someone, you know, that is a citizen that is paying taxes. That's just an equal part of society. And so when we still are continually having these issues where we're not being treated fairly, we're not being seen as a human being, these are the issues that are happening continuously. And why protests, why racial equity trainings, why DEIs are still

happening all across the country is because we have these police officers that are either new, under-trained, or feel like that they have more power than those individuals who actually live in that community. So it's unfortunate that, again, we're still seeing, you know, even 50-year-olds. You know, they look like 50-plus husband and wife, and she's literally recording, trying to make sure that her husband is good so it doesn't go to a next level. But you have the officers who's not even particularly interested in the situation they're in, not going into the store, not doing their part as police officers, which a part of that is investigating the situation before we put handcuffs on. But again, if we're only seen as the aggressor and someone, you know, that again, just because of the color of our skin, we promote fear, which it shouldn't be as such because we're not the aggressor. We're the ones going in and out of a store trying to get home to our destination.

Here's the thing right here, Larry. Go to my iPad, please. Go to my iPad. This is the L.A. Times story. Lancaster Sheriff's Station deputies responded to a reported in-progress robbery at a Winco Foods grocery store when they encountered a man and a woman who matched the description of the suspects given by store security guards on the 911 call. So Larry, here's

what I want to hear. I want to hear the 911 call. I want to hear that they say an elderly black man and black woman. I want to hear that they say the black woman had black jeans on, the color of shirt that she had on. That's what I want to hear. Because if the description was black man, black woman, any black man or black woman in that parking lot was automatically a suspect. Roman, this is another example of criminalization of black bodies. We talk about it on your show all the time.

It's ongoing. It's been happening for years. And first of all, it breaks my heart to watch this video to see how both of those, you know, citizens are treated by law enforcement. But this is an ongoing situation. So obviously, there's going to be, you know, an investigation. There certainly will be a lawsuit. But I think what's really important is that we can't, these individuals, these law officers, once the investigation is complete, we can't simply say they should be suspended. If you're treating citizens like this, then you shouldn't be a member of law enforcement. And it's important, once again, of course, we talk about there's going to be Black folks that are going to come together and ask, ensure that these individuals are going to be held accountable.

But we can't have them just get a slap on the hand, and then a year or two, three years down the line, there's another more violent encounter, perhaps in loss of life, with one or both of these law enforcement officers. But we can, and as Black folks, we're just sick and tired of watching these videos. We're also tired of being assumed to be guilty of something when, as you said, simply sometimes whether we're walking in the mall, walking outside, in our cars, wherever we are, there's always an assumption of guilt

before gathering all the information. As you said, he should have talked to someone from the store to gather more information, to figure out what was going on and then had a very peaceful conversation, normal conversation with this gentleman if necessary. But to ask him immediately to accuse him and be accusatory and say, suggest automatically that he was the individual that's been accused of whatever crime they thought was committed is unnecessary. You add in the age and that he also highlighted his mother, his wife has cancer, and that the other law enforcement officer pepper sprayed her and threw her to the ground. That individual, that law enforcement officer,

should not be allowed to carry a badge and a gun anymore because we can't continue to allow this to happen. And I want people to understand, this is real simple. Imagine those cops got the call that it was a robbery, got out of their car, guns drawn. Those folks could have been shot. Absolutely. This right here, folks, is when we talk about, well, this is a problem.

Hold tight one second. I got to go to a break. When we come back, more on Roland Martin, Unfiltered, right here on the Black Star Network. We will talk about so many other stories. First and foremost, India Arie. Boy, she had a lot to say about Essence Fest this week. This weekend also mass shootings took place all across the country on July 4th.

What in the heck is going on? Plus we'll talk about how Republicans now want to get rid of minority scholarships. What did I tell y'all in my book? It's called White Fear, how the brownie of America is making white folks lose their minds. Get your copy, download on Audible, get it from Target, get it from Amazon,

get it from Barnes and Noble, get the book. I'm telling, I've been trying to tell y'all all of this was happening. People told me, oh, oh, all the networks with white producers have said, oh, no, we don't like your title. Well, everything that keeps happening, I told you it was going to happen. Be sure to get that.

Download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Join our Bring the Funk fan club, of course, by sending a check and money or just PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. the funk fan club of course uh by city of chicken money orders p.o box five seven one nine six washington dc two zero zero three seven dash zero one nine six cash out dollar sign rm unfiltered paypal or martin unfiltered vimos rm unfiltered zel roland at roland s martin dot com rolling that rolling mark unfiltered.com we'll be right back hatred Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence.

You will not. White people are losing their damn minds. 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 rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. I have a couple. Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punch. I'm real revolutionary right back. and black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart.

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Go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Hey, what's up? Keith Turney in a place where you got kicked out your mama's university.

Creator and executive producer of Fat Tuesdays, an air hip-hop comedy. But right now, I'm rolling with Roland Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. You hear me? All right, folks. 2023 is on track to becoming the dentliest year for mass shootings in U.S. history. That's according to the Gun Violence Archive.

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

We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug 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. never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. We've been tracking this data since 2014. So far this year, there are recorded 351 mass shootings. Yep, 351. Over the Fourth of July weekend, 23 mass shootings left 21 people dead, 130 people injured. The deadly shooting happened in nearly 20 states, including here in Washington, D.C. In Chicago, 30 people were shot, three fatally, in different parts of the city.

One of the incidents involved an 18, 16-year-old boy who was shot in the arm while walking on a sidewalk early Saturday morning. Now, in the South Baltimore neighborhood of Brooklyn, community members enjoyed a yearly celebration called Brooklyn Day when a mass shooting took place. And just last night, a heavily armed gunman in a ski mask and a bulletproof vest opened fire on the streets of Philadelphia, killing five people and wounding two boys

before surrendering to police. Now, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has proposed a 28th amendment to the Constitution and the quest for gun control measures. Now, the new amendment will add protections, including raising the minimum age to own a gun from 18 to 21, requiring universal background checks, setting up a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases,

and prohibiting civilians from buying assault weapons. Adding a constitutional amendment requires either a two-thirds majority vote by both houses of Congress or a constitutional convention convened by two-thirds of state legislatures. Sarah Bird Sharp, Senior Director of Research at Everytown for Gun Safety, joins me right now. Glad to have you here, Sarah. First off, all we keep hearing whenever we talk about police brutality we keep hearing cops need more resources

cops need more money cops need more of this this this yet we keep seeing all of these mass shootings and I've yet to hear somebody explain to me the amount of money we keep spending on law enforcement isn't slowing down

mass shootings. Yeah, and mass shootings are unfortunately only the tip of the iceberg of our gun violence epidemic, right? Because if a mass shooting is for more people who are shot and either killed or wounded, then 99 percent of what's happening is other shootings on our streets and in our neighborhoods. And I would say that the good news is that there are a lot of programs that are showing incredible promise. And those are programs that are led by communities and that take members of the community to work to try to mediate and to interrupt retaliation and gun violence. And those are the kind of programs that I think are showing, you know,

huge promise and are really important to fund. All right. So where are those programs taking place? What cities, what communities? So those programs are all over the country. They are street outreach programs that employ workers sometimes who themselves have come, you know, have been involved in crime in their, you know, when they were younger, and they're trained to sort of mediate and to prevent things, particularly risk individuals. There's also really great programs in hospitals across the country that support for a gunshot wound, and that's like a unique moment of opportunity to engage them, to prevent them from retaliating when they get out and from being readmitted, you know, a few months later. Those hospital violence intervention programs, research, robust research shows are really working and they're happening in hospitals, in cities across the country. So if we have examples of that working, why aren't cities doing more to fund those efforts, to promote those efforts? Because we keep seeing these problems.

I mean, it's a really great question. And the craziest thing about it is that you can save so much money from these programs. I mean, one homicide costs a city homicide, you know, costs a city millions of dollars in all of the costs. And yet one summer employment program that takes a kid who would otherwise be sort of unmotivated, have any structure in their day and gives, you know, mentorship and training job for the summer is, you know, $3,000 or so. So, you know, it's a really, really important task. And we strongly support these programs. And we are doing research to study them, to understand, you know, why they work and where they work best. Let's talk about this amendment Gavin

Newsom is proposing. Look, we've got so many red states. I mean, I get the point. We can't even get that bill through Congress. How in the hell are we going to get two-thirds of the House and the Senate and then get the states to ratify it? I think my energy on the kind of programs that you just, you know, would be put on the kind of policies that you just talked about at the beginning, because those policies, you know, in states where they exist are shown to work, you know, background checks on all guns so that we can prevent the kind of shootings that we had this weekend of people who should never have had access to a gun in the first place. Background checks are, you know, in a bunch of states and in those states, research shows that they work. The other one that you mentioned, really important is the

minimum age, right? In a number of states in this country, you can, when you're 18, buy a long gun, including a weapon. You know, how does that contribute to public safety in our, how could that possibly contribute to public safety in our communities? Well, I mean, you're absolutely right. And again, I just think, I mean, I get his point, but I think a 20th Amendment is a long shot in this country. It's been a long time since we actually added a constitutional amendment. It came very close in the late 1960s. But that is simply so difficult. I think, frankly, it's a lot easier if you change the makeup of the House and the Senate to actually get these bills through.

But of course, he's going to face stiff opposition from gun loving Republicans in this country. Yeah, I mean, like I said, I prefer to put my energy on the kind of policies that, you know, robust research is showing us actually do save lives, actually do reduce assault and homicides and even gun suicides as well. And, you know, one other thing, I mean, there are more guns in this country, we all know, than people, right? So that's the fact that we're working with. But responsible gun owners know to keep their guns stored securely, you know, unloaded, locked in a safe and separate from their ammunition. And those are the kind of programs and policies that I believe we need to put our energy into.

All right, then. Sarah, I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. And keep up the great work. Thank you so much. Folks, going to a break. We'll be back. Roland Martin, Unfiltered, right here on the Black Star Network. We'll be talking about India Ari. Of course, a guy that has some words for the Essence folks after performances this weekend that she said was degrading.

Plus, Republicans in Wisconsin, on the heels of the affirmative action decision by the Supreme Court, they now want to get rid of minority scholarships. Really? Are we serious? Yep, they now want to get rid of minority scholarships. Really? Are we serious? Yep. They're serious. We'll break all of that down. Also, we open the phone lines up, talk about both of

these issues. Give us a call, folks. 202- 890-1199. 202-890- 1199. If you want to weigh in and share your thoughts on those two stories, we will do so. 202-890-1199. If you want to weigh in and share your thoughts on those two stories, we will do so. 202-890-1199. We'll be right back.

My early days in the road, I learned, well, first of all, as a musician, I studied not only piano but I was also drummer and percussion I was all city percussion as well so I was one of the best in the city on percussion also studied trumpet cello violin and bass and any other instrument I could get my hand on. And with that study, I learned again what was for me. I learned to what it meant to do what the instruments in the orchestra meant to each other in the relationships.

So that prepared me to be a leader. That prepared me to lead orchestras and to conduct orchestras. That prepared me to know, to be a leader of men, they have to respect you and know that you know them. You have to be the teacher of the music. You have to know the music better than any. There you go.

Right, so you can't walk in unprepared. next on a balanced life we're talking everything from prayer to exercise to positive affirmations and everything that's needed to keep you strong and along your way that's on a next a balancedanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie on Blackstar Network. I'm going to go to the bathroom. Thank you. Să ne urmăm. Să ne urmăm. All right, folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Cannabis continues to be an issue where it's being legalized across the country. But the military still tests for cannabis use. Matt Gaetz, Congressman of Florida, he wants that to stop. It was proposed in the National Defense Authorization Act. He contends

that with the increasing number of recruits who test positive for marijuana use that, you know what, it's time to change this. Really, another amendment would explicitly allow military

members to consume CBD products that are legal under federal law. That was proposed by Republican Tony Gonzalez of Texas. Go to our panel. Larry, I'll start with you. Does this make sense? It does. Obviously, we just saw a few days ago, July 1st, recreational marijuana use became legal in the state of Maryland.

And there are a number of states throughout the country that have legalized recreational marijuana. We also have to recognize that we need to change the policies that relates to how we view marijuana. But a lot of states, and particularly those in the Deep South, having caught up to, you know, what's happening today. But we know traditionally, rolling for years, marijuana uses, Americans use marijuana consistently, regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. But I think this move is an important one. I think I might also add that, you know, that they're talking about the U.S. military and obviously want to increase the number of individuals they can recruit and who stand in the U.S. Armed Forces. But it's time for the federal government to catch up to modern society, not only in this issue, but other issues.

But I think this is an important amendment. And once again, we've been fighting. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. and episodes 4, 5, 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 Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things.

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

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marijuana use, and I think this is another step in terms of recognizing this as times have changed. Teresa. Yeah, I think it's well overdue that we are still currently fighting here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for legalized marijuana, even locations to make sure we can have a base to even be a part of the cannabis program. So I think the steps are being taken. I think when other states

more so start to follow the trend, you know, Pennsylvania is a very interested state. So we're going to, you know, keep fighting as we can and advocate. But I think if more voices actually, you know, are coming to the table, we could probably get this through. Neomby. Well, I think we really need to listen to the service members here. I mean, they're the ones who are directly impacted by this. They're the ones who get in trouble for this. I do think we probably, we have to accept the fact that people are different now. Attitudes about marijuana are different now. And the service people that they're trying to recruit are coming from states most of the time that have already legalized marijuana and have very different attitudes about the drug.

I think it's going to ultimately be up to service members and should be left up to service members what they think best, since they're the ones who have to live under these rules. They're the ones who have to experience the consequences that come from a zero-tolerance policy where marijuana is considered. Alcohol is not illegal. And I think many will offer that marijuana is probably not as dangerous or lethal as as alcohol. So I think the military is going to probably have to reckon with this if they want to continue to be able to recruit, quite frankly. Interesting point. We'll see what happens there. Let's talk about New York, where Yusuf Salam, one of the Central Park Five who was later exonerated, is now headed to the

New York City Council. He's now being declared the winner of the very tight race there in New York. But again, he is now being declared the winner of the Harlem City Council primary. That is a huge move there. Of course, generated lots of attention in 1989 when he and several others were arrested in the case that attracted national attention. Now, of course, winning the primary, now moved to the general election and pretty much is guaranteed to win that Democratic seat. I think right there, Teresa, it says a lot to have someone like Yusuf Salam who is going to be operating in a public policy position for him to win and now gets to, and this is the same person with the city council,

and Bloomberg farted like city council in Bloomberg, farted like crazy, Mayor Bloomberg, but they actually had to pay that big settlement to them. He now is going to be in a position to have an impact on public policy, especially because of the police. Yusuf is an example of what we should be looking for in our leaders. You know, he's not an advocate. He's actually a victim of the system. And so him even, you know, understanding that the amount of issues and turmoil that he had to endure for five years or, you know, many years, I don't remember the number count, but for many years that he had to deal with prison, he had a very good understanding of what the lay of the land is inside. He could have went to law school, probably did, not sure. But whatever he did, he understood the system. The people love him.

It's not just the stories about what you do after the story is told. But he didn't allow the criminal justice system to really define his life. And I think that's probably, you know, more so the staple of why, you know, a candidate like him, fresh, you know, anointed by the people, you could say, is someone that, you know, you want to look to in terms of leadership, in terms of paving the way so other men and young boys, I think at the time he was young, so young boys don't go through the same issues and trauma that he went through over time. And so, again, if we can get, you know, I'm all for the advocates, but if we can get somebody, you know, with that same mindset

who's really talking about change to understand it from inside and out, then I think you can really govern not only a city, but, you know, maybe a country one day. Absolutely. Niambi, your thoughts about him, again again now headed to the city council? Yeah, I mean, listen, that's a feat anywhere. I mean, New York has such a really complicated, incestuous political system. The fact that he was able to penetrate and be successful in one of the biggest cities

and one of the most consequential places anywhere, I think, is huge. I think it is also speaking to the appetite of New Yorkers for probably a transformative leader. I mean, I don't know what else he wants to do post-city council, but we certainly know this is one route to more leadership and bigger opportunities. But, I mean, the city has been crying out from mayor to mayor, whether we're talking about from Giuliani to de Blasio and to now Eric Adams, for better representation, for better representation of Black people in that city, to not have someone simply tell them, you know, you get more police and we're going to give the police more overtime, but yet we still have housing concerns in that city,

right? NYSHA has been under review, under investigation for many months. So you still have poor people in that city, can't find any place decent to live, even from the city. We're talking about people who don't have access to market-rate homes, right, because of the way that works. And so I think his election is speaking to not only the sort of criminal justice reform, but also the real live concerns of the citizens of Harlem and the folks who are living in New York writ large. So I am really excited to see what he does with this city council, see, but also how he might bring others into the political process that might have decided

they didn't want any parts of it. You know, the thing here, Larry, first of all, go to my iPad. This is the results. They had ranked choice voting, and so they had to finish the tabulation. Larry, youself got 63.8% of the vote. Inez Dickens got 36.2%. I mean, this is significant. And, again, he now moves towards the general. It's a Democratic seat there in Harlem,. So he pretty much guaranteed to win.

Roland, I posted some social media last week. You know, congratulations, Dr. Salam. This is quite an accomplishment. My colleague talked about New York City politics. I work for a former New York City congressman and know how tough that environment is to win at any level. But like I said, congratulations. I think it's also important to highlight in part him being part of the exonerated five and how we deal with issues relating to law force, particularly in New York City. I just saw a stat that highlighted over the first couple of months in New York City that police chases have increased by like 600 percent.

So someone like Dr. Salaam, who's been like to be criminalized and put in jail for a crime he didn't commit, understands that and can fight for the kind of reform that we continue to see, not only in New York City, but also other parts of the country. Lastly, another point I want to make is let's not forget Donald Trump's involvement in that ad he took out calling for the death penalty for the exonerated five. So it's interesting in terms of two politicians, Donald Trump and Dr. Salam, in terms of the trajectory of their lives. But once again, I want to congratulate him. This is an incredible accomplishment considering all the barriers he had to overcome.

Absolutely. And I also think it's important for people to understand that it is, again, one thing for folks to complain about public policy. It's another when folks decide to actually run, to get involved in elections, in public policy. I say this all the time. You can't talk about you want to demand changes in public policy if you don't change the politicians. That kind of goes hand in hand, Yambi.

Oh, absolutely. And I think, you know, New York is one of those places, because it is so hard to break through, you see the same people over and over and over again. I think it's also important to note how that victory, you look at the margins, they're large, but how few people actually showed up to vote in this election, which also tells you how much people have sort of defected from the process and how much they stay out. I mean, people really don't pay attention to these local elections, but these are the

kind of elections that matter. If you care about zoning, if you care about potholes, if you care about trash pickup, you care about having your streets clean, these are the elections that really, really matter. So I think him being there hopefully will be able to bring in not just fresh blood, but a new way of thinking about how business is conducted in that city. He certainly can't do it alone. I mean, the New York City Council is huge. I mean, there are over 50 members. But at least I think him being there can perhaps be a clarion call to other people who think they're too young or don't

have enough experience that they can actually become leaders in this city and not just through what happened to them because of the tragedy, but because of how they use their life as an example, wherever they may find themselves situated. All right, hold tight one second. We come back. We'll talk Republicans wanting to now in Wisconsin, now wanting to get rid of minority scholarships. Don't think for a second it will be the only state. You're watching Roland Martin on Fultron on the Black Star Network. Download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV.

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On the next Get Wealthy, did you know that the majority of households headed by African-American women don't own a single share of stock, no wonder the wealth gap continues to widen. Next on Get Wealthy, you're going to hear from a woman who decided to change that. I have been blessed with good positions, good pay, but it wasn't until probably in the last couple of years that I really invested in myself to get knowledge about what I should be doing with that money and how to productively use it. Right here on Get Wealthy on Blackstar Network. Up next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes. She's known as the Angela Davis of hip hop.

Monet Smith, better known as Medusa the Gangsta Goddess, the undisputed queen of West Coast underground hip hop. Pop locking is really what indoctrinated me in hip hop. I don't even think I realized it was hip hop at that time. Right. It was a happening. It was a moment of release. We're going to be getting into her career,

knowing her whole story, and breaking down all the elements of hip hop. This week on The Frequency, only on the Black Star Network. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherri Shepherd Talk Show. You're watching Rolling Mark. Until tomorrow. Now, I told y'all what was going to happen.

I told y'all nine years ago, 2009, 14 years ago, how white fear was driving public policy. All these folks scared about black and brown people. Supreme Court last week came down with a decision ending the use of race in college admissions. What do you think happened next? Republicans said, oh,

now, no use of race in college admissions. Let's get rid of minority scholarships. That's right. The Speaker of the House in Wisconsin threw this out there. He's the State Assembly Republican Speaker. Robin Voss suggested he'll move to ban grants designated

for minority undergraduate students in Wisconsin. He responded to a tweet claiming a minority scholarship program designated for students who are Black, Indigenous, Hispanic or Laotian, Vietnamese, or Cambodian descent amount to discrimination. He said, we're reviewing the decision and we'll introduce legislation to correct the discriminatory laws.

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 Glod. And this is season two of the war on drugs.

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 a Ricky Williams, NFL player,

Heisman trophy winner. It's just the 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. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

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

season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers. But we also have to learn to

take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. On the books and past repeals in the fall. Education scholar Dr. Mary McConner, owner and founder of Inclusive Excellence Consulting and higher from Memphis, joins us right now. So, all right, look, this is real simple, Mary. And I keep trying to explain to people

what was going to come down, how the thing was going to unfold. Bottom line is, these white conservatives, they hate DEI, they hate multiculturalism, they hate affirmative action, they hate quotas, they hate anything that deals with trying to deal with the issue of race in America. Yeah, it's unfortunate, but it is true. And I'll tell you, I used to be a chief diversity officer at a university and I kind of saw this coming. I'm not anymore, but I still do some DEI work. And when I saw what was happening in Florida with the DEI bans and what happened in Texas,

I knew I was like, okay, they're gaining some momentum here. And, you know, once CODIS, you know, made that decision about race conscious admissions based on affirmative action, I knew I was like, okay, this has given them a lot of momentum to say, okay, let's look at everything. Anything that has strategically leveled the playing field for students with historically minoritized identities, we're going to go after it. And so, like I said, unfortunately, while I think it's really unfortunate, a part of me was not surprised. And what I'm hoping that folks don't do is bury their heads in the sand and hope that somebody else solves this problem. I think it's important for us to speak up and say, hey, this is not okay. This is not okay.

Charles Barkley, he announced at the Supreme Court decision that he had changed his will for $5 million to go to black students. The reality is you can do that when it comes to your private money. But I'm telling you, these folks and many of our people living in these red states, they are going to attack anything that deals with trying to level the playing field. That's exactly right. And shout out to Chuck, by the way. I'm an Auburn grad, so we're equal to Chuck. And I did see that announcement come out about him trying to create scholarship opportunities for black students. But you're absolutely right.

And I think right now is a really pivotal time for higher education, right? Because a lot of these schools have said, okay, we're committed to equity and inclusion. We care about our students' success. We want all students to come here. So now it's up to them to decide, okay, well, you made this commitment. What are you going to do to ensure that these students still have access to a quality education, right? Whether it's looking at it from a holistic admission standpoint or figuring out, okay, affirmative action, we know you can't use that anymore for admissions, but what are you going to do to make sure that you are admitting students that you promise to admit and to create opportunities for? Question for the panel. Larry, you're first.

Yeah, thank you for, you know, your insight. You know, so I'm in the state of Florida and I already kind of rolling talked about. I saw what was happening once the DEI bill went in effect a few days ago. And I talked about the impact it's going to have on minority scholars. But I wonder what your thoughts are about it. We use the phrase turning back the clock, so to speak, in terms of what's happening with some of these laws. And I'm curious in terms of how much of a dramatic impact, because Roland's right, this is going to happen. We'll see it in Florida soon. What do you think the generational impact

will be as they continue to reverse these scholarships? Now, we talk about Wisconsin, Missouri has already announced that they're going to do the same thing. Like I said, the state of Florida, among others, will take the necessary steps. What do you think the generational impact will be, particularly on minoritized communities, once they start pulling back some of these scholarships? Yeah, I love that you asked that question.

And I think generations are going to feel it in the future. And also, I want to point this out, too, as far as the workforce. You know, a lot of workplaces talk about how they want more diversity. And you have to look at the college to workforce pipeline, right? If you don't have diverse students graduating from these colleges and universities, guess what? You're not going to have a diverse workplace. And so not only is it going to impact generations, different, you know, black and brown and historically marginalized communities, but it's also going to impact the workforce too. And that's why I think it's equally important for

all of the employers who have made these commitments to equity and inclusion and to creating opportunities for folks with historically minoritized identities to speak up as well. If they truly are committed to the work, now is the time to make a stance and say, okay, we are going to continue doing what we said we were committed to doing. Neambi. So thank you for that. So how do you think this might trickle up, if you will? So they're starting with undergraduates, but we also know that there are different kinds of pipeline programs for graduate education, even faculty hires, right? There are varying ways that faculty of color get hired.

And you're still talking about a relative sliver trickle up to these other levels of higher education? Yeah, you know, that's an excellent question. And a lot of colleges and universities, they're already seeing it. Right. So at one point, a lot of colleges and universities went to requiring that faculty members and staff members write diversity statements, right? If there was a position open, it was like, okay, tell us your stance on what you think about diversity and inclusion. And a lot of organizations have already taken that away. And then there are some organizations out there in terms of colleges and universities that have already started looking at their hiring process and then saying, okay, maybe we need to get rid of affirmative action as it relates

to hiring and recruiting faculty members. So we're already seeing it. And we already know that there's not enough representation at the top, especially in some of those key senior level positions. And I think this is only going to make it worse, right? Because a lot of these positions still require that you have a formal education. I look fairly regularly at the different jobs that are out there and most of them still requires a college degree. And so it is a reality that we have to think about in upper level positions, in the workforce,

at colleges and universities, it affects everything. Thank you. Teresa. Yeah, this has been very detrimental to our communities as a whole. I still have a few boards of educational that help youth actually transition. And I'm already seeing the effects. I had a few young ladies that was actually waitlisted at a university I'm not going to name, but I was very, they also kind of quoted the Supreme Court decision about the scholarships

and kind of went straight to here's the FAFSA plan and versus the actual scholarship and the opportunity. Like they closed the deadline. It was just a weird situation. So I think maybe my question is, will you see more of these undergrads that are trying to transition into, you know, these post-secondary schools going to community college since it is a cheaper option? I think so. I think we're going to see more undergrads going to community colleges. And you know what else I think we're going to see? I think we're going to see more undergrads going to community colleges. And you know what else I think we're going to see? I think we're going to see especially black undergraduate students going to HBCUs. And I'll tell you all, I've always been a strong advocate for HBCUs. I did my dissertation, my doctoral dissertation on historically black colleges and universities and just looking at, you know, the student experience there and looking at the faculty experience. And here's what we know. HBCUs are known for creating inclusive environments where

students thrive. My thing at this point is for any student listening to this or any person who's thinking about going to college, consider going where you know that you can thrive. And if you know that an HBCU is going to be the best fit for you, then I want you to consider that option, especially HBCUs. Let's be real. They have been educating black students for centuries when black students were not admitted at predominantly white institutions. And so they have always played a pivotal role in our educational system here in the U.S. So maybe the message is for HBCUs is, you know, as you just made that statement, is to invest more in HBCUs. Right. So taking what Charles Barkley did and since this, I don't know how many HBCUs we have in the country. I probably should know that number. But maybe that is the message across the country is to invest more in HBCUs and looking into that enrollment to make sure that we still have

a leg up. Here's the deal, Mary. Here's the deal, though. Teresa makes a good point, but I need people to understand numbers, pure numbers. There are 107 HBCUs in the United States. They have

237,000 students, 20% of them are non-black. There are 1.6 million black students at PWIs. Correct. So if literally, if 10% of the existing black students go from PWIs to HBCUs, that's nearly half, that's almost, it's more than half of what the current capacity is. They literally do not have the capacity. North Carolina A&T is the largest HBCU with about 12,000 students. That's

it. You've got some mid-sized PWIs that are 20,000-25,000 students. So when we talk about again this shift, we're talking about a shift that's going to require hundreds of millions of dollars, billions of dollars,

buildings, dormitories, housing, and that's not going to happen overnight. So I just want people to understand what the numbers actually look like. I think what happens a lot is we talk about HBCUs. I think a lot of us actually think they're larger than they actually are. Yeah. Now, I hear what you're saying, but I still think that HBCUs play a pivotal role when it comes to education.

And I do want to go back and say that predominantly white institutions, there are several predominantly white institutions out there that are truly committed to the work because I've seen it. I've worked in the space. I've worked as a consultant with different institutions. So I'm not saying that every black student should just abandon a PWI tomorrow, like get up and leave. But what I am saying is that if you find that there are institutions out there that are more committed to seeing you succeed than others, then consider that option. I live here in the south part of the country, and I know, like, there are some schools here that are more committed to it than others. I've seen it. And if you feel like, okay, you know what, I'm going to go out west.

I'm going to go to the Midwest. I'm going to go out east to a school that I know where I would feel a sense of belonging. I feel like they care about my success. Then that needs to be a viable option. But I think, I think students need to look at all options. Oh, no, no, absolutely. But, but I'm just, but I, what I want folks watching and listening to understand that when we have this conversation, we're talking about pure numbers. We saw it this year. Florida A&M, Morehouse, Tennessee State, Texas Southern, numerous institutions, even with the existing capacity, because there's been an increase of folks applying to HBCUs in the last three to five years, they can't handle the capacity right now. And so we need the

public to understand when we talk about support HBCUs, especially state institutions, that is going to require a massive level of investment. And we must be prepared to argue and actually fight for that investment. Otherwise, you're going to have an increase of thousands of students applying to our HBCUs, and they literally will not be able to take them because they can't handle the capacity. Yeah. Roland, I agree with you. And so what I view your statement as is a call to action. It's a call to action for us to say, OK, we know that we are potentially going to see an influx of students wanting to apply to historically black colleges and universities. How are we prepared to support this? How are we prepared to support administration? How are we prepared to support the faculty? And most importantly, what kind of resources are we prepared to put behind it?

So, I mean, I agree with everything you're saying. I do recognize that it's a capacity issue, but I also think that it's important for us to think about how we're going to support these institutions and institutions that are actually committed to supporting black students, brown students, indigenous indigenous students and students with historically minoritized identities. All right. Well, look, there's definitely going to be a fight all around this country when it comes to these scholarships. Folks, get prepared because it's coming. Mary, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, folks. When we come back, India Ari makes some comments about Essence Fest regarding the performances of Janelle Monáe and Megan Thee Stallion. Mmm, it's got lots of folk talking.

We'll show you exactly what she had to say and what the reaction has been when we come back. Roland Martin, Unfiltered, on the Black Table with me, Greg Carr. Succession. We're hearing that word pop up a lot these days as our country continues to fracture and divide. But did you know that that idea, essentially a breaking up of the USA, has been part of the public debate since long before and long after the Civil War, right up to today. On our next show, you'll meet Richard Crichton, the author of this book, who says breaking up this great experiment called America might not be such a bad thing.

That's on the next Black Table, right here on the Black Star Network. I'm Faraj 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 Black Sun. 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 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. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early.

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

This is Sammy Roman. I'm Dr. Robin B., pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. The Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. Martin! Să ne urmăm. Thank you. I'm out. on my hand then I put it in his hand get the plan with that talk and make that mother fucker blam then I walk then I talk like a pimp cause I ain't running from the state tell my pussy can't come fix your time give me that number right show me niggas head from the head of state ayy, to the knee make it count on the state

ayy, break, break, break, break that state ain't gon be no pussy but it holdin' that he do walkin' all over the niggas so he pop me out my shoes stay callin' him a trick if he only buy a pool ayy, break, break, break, break that state Well, the Hot Girls were full of back at Essence Fest this weekend. Megan Thee Stallion closed out the festival on Sunday. Of course, the previous night, it was, of course, a great performance by Missy Elliott. But a lot of people are commenting about her last set. In fact, Janelle Monae performed as well on Friday night. That also has some folks talking as well, especially when she flashed her breasts,

as she was singing about her areola. That was also, again, happening on the stage as well. So today, India Arie made a comment with regards to what took place. So go ahead and pull up her post, which was on Instagram, folks. Pull it up. She goes, the issue is what is context? Humanity does everything, but does everything belong in a stage? No. Is everything for kids? No. Is everything for everybody? No. She goes, anyone who wants these things for our culture, you certainly have that right. Just as many folks have the right to want our mainstream

international export, our music, to show us in a respectful light. I like to go on the record saying this won't age well, and that's my issue. I love Janelle and Meg the way I love us all, and I don't like this moment. Don't

bother debating me, LOL. She said, I'd do this for 25 years. So she had those comments. And then, of course, she also, you know, again, so when the backlash happened and folks were commenting left and right, she then addressed the issue on her stories. Let me go to it real quick here. Okay, give me a second. And so if you go to my iPad, please. So she posted this. So this is happening today. Then she posted, I hate defending simple logic, so I'm going to just say this.

This is not an issue with any of my sisters, period. I'm an old school, long time affirming voice for women. My record speaks for itself. I love humanity, even in all this bullshit, LOL. And all I'm saying is context matters. Debate that if you want, LOL, but I said what I said. And why did I say it? Because just like everyone else, I'm entitled to my options, but also I do this work.

My whole adult life, the work of uplifting and loving and affirming and supporting the wellness of black women and all people at large. How effective I was, I guess depends on who you ask. For 20 plus years, I ran 100 miles an hour at all times in the name

of healing. So when I see something that sparks my personal mission, I speak. There's not scandal here, just one woman's opinion. But what I won't, what I would never allow is for anyone to paint me as a person who would use other women for kindling in the burning down

of the patriarchal. No, no, no. No, it's, I love all, all female artists because I know firsthand how hard it is to be one. I've released eight albums and have myself played the Essence main stage six times. What I see here is the mainstreaming of cults that, in my honest opinion,

should be adult-only entertainment. And I've been saying this same thing for over 20 years. Why? Some could say my ideals created a less successful business model, LOL. But I stand by them because my gut tells me to. So much more to say, but I don't feel like it. I'm in a big real life moment and having a bunch of stuff going on.

Also, in case you missed it, protecting my peace in 2023. She then puts, I'm open for a smart debate or a real conversation, but I don't do this social media self-propelled outrage BS. I put me first in my life. I do this for self-care thing for real. Lastly, in case anyone missed it, I do not make a practice of publicly criticizing my sisters. My thoughts are around Essence Festival and context, which really is logic. I'm not addressing this anymore.

Peace. Then she goes, why is it so hard for people to understand? It's crazy to me the level of explanation needed. Why is everything a thing? It's you, not me, lol. Alright. So,

when she talks about its essence, what India is saying there is that Essence Festival has always been about promoting powerful black women, promoting the image of sisters. And so what she is laying out here is that when you see, because what happened was, and I'm not sure if I shot any of it.

Let's see here. So during Megan's set, she called up the audience. She called up different audience members on three separate occasions to come on stage and twerk. And that's exactly what happened. And this was actually during her show. And so people were, again, on the stage and they were dancing. Now, so when she's talking about Essence Folks, she's talking about those putting it on. What are you projecting?

And then what then began to happen is there are a lot of people who then begin to say, hey, this is not what Essence is all about. I can tell you as somebody who was sitting center row on the seventh row, literally right in front of the stage, I saw a number of people, older black folks, walk the hell out. There were some who had children with them, teenagers, as they walked out as well. And so, and then, of course, Meg's whole set, every single one of her songs was saying the same thing, what she always talks about, and it all involves sex. So we have to

ask the question, okay, your Essence Festival, you had 50 years of hip-hop, and you had Jermaine Dupri, you had Ludacris, you had T.I., you had Ice Cube, you had Ice-T, you had

Trina, Missy Elliott, all these different acts. The question that we do have to ask ourselves is, is Essence right to promote Megan Thee Stallion and the show that Janelle Monáe put on? NDR read says, context. We're taking your phone calls on this. I'm going to go to my panel and discuss this as well.

If you want to wait in, give us a call, folks. 202-202-890-1199. 202-890-1199. Let us know if you were actually at Essence Fest, if you were actually at Janelle Monae's show, or Megan Thee Stallion's show. And love to hear that. Uncle Luke did weigh in.

I thought this was interesting. So do y'all have this tweet? He goes, so what happened was the folks at Essence posted a video of Janelle Monae showing her breast. He goes, what is this girl going through? She's never been out there like this. It's in a midlife crisis. Then many folks said, really, Luke? You of all people saying this here? All right, let's get into it. Niambe,

I'll start with you. Your thoughts on what India Ari is saying here in terms of what was presented on that stage? Well, look, I mean, people have their opinions. I mean, everybody's going to feel differently. I think Essence knew full well what they were doing when they invited Janelle Monae, whose breasts are freely shown on her album that's out right now, and Megan Thee Stallion, whose music has always been very explicit and very adult. So they knew what they were booking. I think, you know, her point about context, I think, can be made about lots of things because Juvenile was also performing back that ass up at this same essence. And so I always interested when women become the sort of targets for critiques about sexuality and over sexualization. Now, I don't think India Arie was attempting to call out those two women in particular, but I think perhaps she feels like people like my mother feel or people like my aunties feel,

who feel like this isn't the venue. This is crass behavior that should be somewhere else. I mean, I think at this point we should probably stop being shocked by respectability politics. And I think there's a conversation to be had here. But I don't think that anything India Arie said is anything that we haven't heard before or anything that we are unfamiliar with. I think people have very different visions and versions of what their feminism looks like, what it looks like to uplift and uphold Black women. And I think, you know, you have younger generations who say, we don't actually care about any of that, because we have a right to the full range of human expression, even if it's raunchy, even if it's sexy, because

quiet is kept. People thought this about black women before these women even existed. So it doesn't matter whether they come out there with turtlenecks and sway back and forth. People are going to think what they're going to think. So I think it's just a difference of opinion that this will never be resolved. I mean, this has been going on for time immemorial. Teresa, is it respectability politics, though? Because if

what I'm hearing is, all right, you're talking about the previous acts that you've seen. Essence is actually for years, next year's going to be the 30th anniversary ofence is actually, for years, next year's going to be the 30th anniversary of the music festival,

for years has really focused on an adult audience. Now you're talking about really a 25-54. So now the question, and obviously in order to remain relevant, then you still are having popular artists today. So the question then becomes, is this a culture clash between generations or is the question of saying, okay,

look, I remember Jan Jackson had her show, which was very sexually provocative on stage, but it wasn't as in your face, if you will, with the language as Megan Thee Stallion. And I can compare those two, because I was at both, I've been at Essence the last 15, 16 years, and I remember the Janet Jackson,

the Janet Jackson set. Well, personally, you know, I grew up in a very traditional household, so some of the ways you know that women are carrying themselves in the music industry is for me it's just a little bit distasteful I feel like you know I'm in my 30s so part of the music that I love was the R&B, the soul, the classics, the India, the Irie's, the Erykah Badu's. And so that type of music actually was empowering. I think, you know, some of the abilities that, and the representation that Essence Fest, which was hashtag Ratchet

Fest, that happened. The comments, you know, I was going back and forth. I mean, personally, again, I'm uncomfortable with, you know, some of the actions because, again, you know, I have men look at me as a beautiful black woman and think that I am almost like some of the artists that are doing these twerks and expecting me to do whatever. Right. They may not be saying that out loud, but some of their attentions are guided towards that practice. And so I will probably say those, you know, the newer generation, yes, they, you know, are finding themselves differently. The music is very different. We are rarely hearing music that, you know, is about uplifting and empowering. You may get a line or two out of these nuanced artists, but if we were to go back to basics and we go to real sold-out concerts

and what it looked like, it wasn't all this sex everywhere. And so I think going to your questions about intergenerational pretty much communication with this culture, not war, but communication may actually look like between the old essence and maybe the new day essence. I'm sure essence is just still trying to find a balance on what that looks like, but we also have to remember the type of artist that has been coming out in the last 10 years, right, and what's been trending. These type of artists are, you know, some of them are just getting play because they have at the lyrics you know and most of these young girls

i'm seeing them twerking i'm seeing and and i'm talking like young as as as young as eight or nine years old doing this right and then they're at school twerking on tables it's just it's it's one um yes i'm looking at the parenting but then's, you know, this is the type of music that gets you across the finish line. So also me even seeing some of these seasonal, so like Janet Jackson, some of these seasonal artists, you know, go in that direction. And all of a sudden they're wearing, you know, salacious outfits. It's just like, yo, you're like 55. So for me, I'm good. I'm looking just for good music, you know,

but I think all the extra stuff where you have to actually sell, you know, not the music or the words because we, you know, we can barely hear lyrics nowadays because of all the tunes and all this other stuff. So it's like more so I'm listening more so for the beat and then looking at this person, how they're dressing. So for me, I'm good on SSX. I think it missed the mark for me on how it actually interprets, you know, the empowerment of black women.

I didn't feel empowered more. So I just felt like, great, you know, we're feeding into the narrative of what it takes to actually be in the music industry. 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 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 one taser incorporated on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts binge episodes one two and three on may 21st and episodes four five and six on june 4th 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 people, real perspectives. This has kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means

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

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game.

We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at this is pre-tirement.org brought to you by aarp and the ad council as a black woman um and i do not

i do not have because i'm what i'm looking for is a video uh when jan jackson performed. And it was the first... It wasn't her last appearance. And I must have it on my laptop, not on my phone. But I do remember 2016 when Ciara performed. And there were some people in the audience who were kind of like, did she just do that on stage?

This is what they were talking about. One of the things here, Larry, is artists on stage who are performing. I think when we talk about essence with people, what you're also looking at is when you have a range of ages that are actually in the audience. And there were teenagers, adults, senior season saints, all in that Superdome. And so that's what I think is also different here because Essence has so many different acts on the bill that if you stay for all of the concerts,

I mean, you're talking about a plethora of folks. And so I know some folks who were there for the ladies of hip hop, and they were like, I'm only here for that. And then they bounce, the later you got into the show. Well, I've been asked this a few times, and you're right, in terms of the acts that they book, it's for different generations. You know, you like Frankie Beverly and Maze,

you know, formerly known as, or if you like King Sweat. Another example of an artist when we talk about Meg and some of these other female hip-hop artists, Roland, I'm old enough to remember in 96, 97 with Hardcore, Lil' Kim came out with Hardcore. So the reason I highlight that is that, you know, there's a long tradition, not in music in general, but hip-hop in particular, about certain links that some people might find offensive.

But I think that's what's really important here. I think context matters in terms of Indie Ari when she talked about that. And there are some forms of music that is appealing to some people and not appealing to others. Now, as a parent, I've always told my son, I'm not going to be a hypocrite. I grew up listening to hip-hop throughout my life with explicit lyrics. So I don't want to be a hypocrite and say there's certain songs you may not be able to listen to, but certainly have a conversation

about it. But I think overall, when we have this conversation, particularly about Meg and some of the other artists we described, we need to have a conversation in the Black community, particularly how Black women's bodies have been policed, but also have a conversation about what some people find appealing as it relates to music.

And depending on your generation, certain things might be okay with you and certain things may not. I think the last point I want to make about Indy Ari's comments, and I think this is really important for people who post on social media, is that you may have an opinion. I have opinions on a lot of different things, but I don't want to post it on social media. She said she knew that, you know, it would end up going viral and people would have thoughts about it. So obviously she was okay with taking whatever critiques people had to offer. But for me, sometimes you think it, you don't always have to post it. And I'll just leave it at that.

All right, folks. First of all, somebody here posted in our message board. Somebody said that, hold on one second. I used to work for Essence Music Festival when it was more toned down. Macy Gray, Chaka Khan, Charlie Wilson, Fantasia, et cetera. What a time. And again, so all different opinions. Folks, you can weigh in on this by giving us a call at 202-890-1199.

202-890-1199. We'll take your phone calls. Love to hear your perspective. If you were actually there, let me know your thoughts right here on Roller Mark Unfiltered on the streets a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn minds 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. There'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. We'll be right back. now. We have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs

home, you dig? Hi, I'm Joe Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on Disney's Louder and Prouder Disney+. And I'm with Roland Martin on Unfiltered. We'll be right back. That was Summer Megan Thee Stallion on Sunday night at Essence. Folks, again, have been talking about it. Was it too much? Was that improper for the Essence Festival stage? Does it actually speak to black female empowerment?

Also, Janelle Monae with her show that some deem to be highly sexual as well. Yvette Thomas, Oklahoma City. Yvette, you're on the air. What's up? What's your comment? Yes. My name is Yvette Thomas from Oklahoma City, and I think it was totally inappropriate. I feel that we should, women should leave something to the imagination.

That's sexy. That's alluring. What they're doing is trashy. I think it was disrespectful to the legacy of essence. And I think that it's doing nothing but perpetuating the stereotypical assertion of black that's given to black women you know so um it's just trash it's nothing to me but a pornographic prostitution live pornographic prostitution show um they're giving the audience the porn and they're prostituting for the record label and they're degrading themselves and all black women. Black women are black queens that should

act regally. Thank you. Thanks a lot, Yvette. Iris Lee from Wisconsin. Iris, you're on Roller Mark, on the filter. What's your comment? Hi. My comment is the Jill Scott anthem, I think you should have led with that. The anthem, the way she worded it was just, you felt that. That was the, I didn't attend the Essence Festival. But there was no controversy over her anthem. I was there. I know what you're talking about. And folks didn't walk out on her anthem. They did

on the Megan performance. Well, which came first? Let me ask that question. What do you mean, which came first? Jill Scott performed on Saturday night. Megan Thee Stallion? No. First of all, Janelle Monáe.

Jill Scott came first? No, no, she did not. Janelle Monáe performed on Friday night. Jill Scott performed on Saturday night. And then you had on Sunday, Megan Thee Stallion? I just think that's a better topic for us to discuss. But that's not the topic we're discussing, though. That's not the topic we're discussing.

So it's not a question of what's a better topic. The reality is India Ari's comments has led to a lot of conversation on social media about what is right and what is proper and what is respectable for Essence Festival, not Jill Scott's anthem. Okay. Okay. All right. I agree somewhat. It's generational, you know. Okay.

All right, Iris, thanks so much. Heather, Heather Richmond from Atlanta, Georgia. Heather, you're on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Hi. I wasn't at the festival, but I did watch it on Hulu. I think the bigger issue is Essence is trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up or go forward. I did read that Hakeem Holmes, who's now the VP of the festival, is 29, and he's trying to appeal to a younger audience. So in that, if this is what

the younger audience wants, clearly that's the direction that they're going to continue to move in. But what they're going to do is isolate what they're calling now it's the aunties festival because those are the women who can afford to go and be at a festival for three, four nights and enjoy all of the different amenities that go along with that. figure out how to make a balance so that they're not exposed to things that they don't necessarily want to participate in, but younger people who find it not the same, aren't offended by it, and who aren't willing, who are willing to sit through it and actually enjoy it, and will want to attend with the quote-unquote aunties who want to do the other things that Essence offers but may not necessarily want to participate in those sort of, I'll just say Megan Thee Stallion-esque sort of activities or concerts. Okay. All right. I certainly appreciate it, Heather. Thanks a lot.

Niambé, the thing here, when you think about the different acts, if you will, okay? And I think this is the thing that people, you know, have to look at when you start talking about the performers, and that is there were certainly different performers all throughout the show, all weekend. So it wasn't like you had sort of one genre that took place All weekends, and so I'm trying to sit here. Let me let me do this here Let me go to the switching iPads here so folks are hold that b-roll Let me go to this

iPad no wrong one give me a second here And again, I think, we talk about context. And so this is night one. Night one, you had Lauryn Hill who closed. Then you had, before Lauryn Hill, you had Doug E. Fresh and a commemoration of

the 50th anniversary of hip-hop which featured Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, KRS-One, Slick Rick. Janelle Monae performed as well. Before her, Ari Lennox, EPMD, KRS-One, Slick Rick. Janelle Monae performed as well. Before her, Ari Lennox, Jagged Edge, Timbs, and Toby Nwige. And then, of course, you also had a host about Dion Cole. Now,

that was night one. Then when you go to night two, you had the closer, Missy Elliott. Before her, Jill Scott. Before them, you had a celebration of hip-hop from the South, Jermaine Dupri, featuring Big Boi, Gucci Mane, Lil Jon, Ludacris, T.I. Before that, Ice Cube, DJ Quick, E-40, Ice-T, J.J. Phat, Lady of Rage, Yo-Yo,

and also performances by Coco Jones, Monica, as well. And so let me go back to, and then of course that was night two. Then night three, you again, the clothes was Megan Thee Stallion, you had WizKid before her, then you had this curation of the Celebration of Hip Hop by Angie Martinez, which featured Eve,

Mia X, Remy Ma, Salt-N-Pepa, Trina, and then performances by Kis, Daniel, Mooney Long, and others. And KISS, Daniel, Mooney Long, and others. And so I guess here, bottom line, and this is how a lot of people actually do this, Niambe. They like some artists, and what they'll do is they'll stay to watch them, and then they'll leave and go get something to eat or go to a suite or go somewhere else, and they don't like the particular artist and then uh they actually might come back and so uh that's also

how a lot of people also operate when they're there i can tell you uh what typically happens those early show i would say anything from seven to nine especially um in the uh the front sections, damn near empty. But most people are coming there for the final three acts. And so it varies as to how people. So you have all of these different options based upon your musical taste. You don't actually have to stay for all of the concerts. Absolutely. And what is not for you is not for you.

I think it's interesting, again, that we picked out these two young women to clutch our pearls. But when you read that list of everyone who was there, multiple people on talk about the sexiest, the most sort of provocative. But if we're going to have a conversation about the sexualization of Black people and Black women in particular, then let's have that conversation and sort of not pick out these two artists as the sort of scourge of the Black community, if you will. And I'm not suggesting that India Arie was trying to say that. But yes, I mean, people will call them trashy people like the caller did. People will call them all kinds of things. But again, it's all about what your taste is. And if this is not for you, you shouldn't go see them. And I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't be able to go to any of the concert. It clearly were a lot of different kinds of artists to select from if it was your fancy.

But again, Megan Thee Stallion and Janelle Monae and some of these other people are not making music for everybody. I, too, am young enough to remember when Hardcore came out and we had the same conversations about Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown. We had a lot less energy for the Lukes of the world and some of these other men who were also making sexually explicit lyrics. But nonetheless, this conversation will be a conversation that we will continually have because I think it's unfair to sort of lay the sort of burden and the stigma of Black women's over-sexuality or over-sexualization

at the feet of these young women, when again, these, these ideas about who we are sexually and otherwise have been around for centuries. And it didn't matter whether we were covered up. It didn't matter whether we were sort of nude in the way that we might've been traditionally, the sexualization of Black women is not going to stop because some Black women decide to cover up or some Black women decide to change the lyrics in their song. And, you know, I think these performers

have a right to present themselves how they want to. If the marketplace doesn't want it, the marketplace won't buy it. But there is clearly an audience there. And so, yes, some people walked out, but I'm sure there were others who stayed because this is what they wanted to see and wanted to hear at their essence experience. I do think this is a classic situation of trying to please too many people, if you will, because the audience in age is going to range quite big, quite largely.

And so what a person like my mother would want to see and what I want to see and what my niece wants to see are not going to be the same. And, you know, I think this is one of those moments. Teresa, I think also what we have, what you're dealing with here as well as that is, again, let's just look at just pure numbers. Essence Festival is going to be 30 years old next year. OK, so that means if you went to your first Essence when you were 25 and somebody posted the first lineup, man, I wish I could find it. I forgot who tweeted that. And it was the first lineup. The first lineup.

And it was Luther Vandross. It was Frankie Beverly and Maze. It was just a number of Gladys Knight. And so if you were 25 when Essence first started, you're now 54. And what you've always had, you've always had adult R&B artists. Then in the last several years, then you've seen Chance the Rapper. You've seen Kendrick Lamar. Last year, Nicki Minaj closed.

And so you've seen a migration of those artists. You had the compilation of Bad Boy. You had the compilation of Master P and his group as well. And so the issue that Essence has to deal with, you have extreme loyalty from a whole bunch of people who've been riding with you for a long time, who've been buying tickets, but you also

want to have a 40th and a 50th Essence Festival because it generates 90% of the profits for the company. You're right, and that's the question they have to answer. I mean, but if you were to do a recap video from the 25 years ago to today of what we just saw at Essence Festival, it's two different reactions.

Like, I'm not, you know, coming to a concert and look at people shake their behinds all day. It's just, it's not making sense. If I wanted to do that, I could probably just go to a strip club or something. But I think the, you know, the essence of Essence Festival for me was that bold, beautiful, saturated music, you know, that really touched souls. They had, you know, really good artists.

They had really touched souls. They had, you know, really good artists. They had really good conversations. And I think now it's more so, I'm looking at artists that more so look like performers than actual the artistry of it. And so for me, like I said before, I'm standing, you know, and I was getting some text messages about this,

just like, oh, you know, you need to express yourself more. And I'm like, I am being expressive just with my clothes on. So I think there's, you know, as Essence is trying to figure out, you know, the best way to figure out maybe it's Essence 2, right? Essence Fest 2, like for a younger generation. But I think the original Essence Fest, they need to stick to and messaging because, you know, audience, you know, even the age bracket, I'm sure I'm not alone when I'm in my 30s still hoping and wishing that we still had that, you know, like bring her, you know, she's a great artist. There's other artists that aren't doing what we just seen that are really, you know, streaming

charts and really, you know, impacting a little differently than what we are. So I just think Essence Fest should really just be the example of what they used to be, then something that they're trying to graduate to in order to reach another audience. I'm going to come to you in a second. 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 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

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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.

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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 asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it.

I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Larry, I want to go back to the phone lines here. Terrence Jackson with South Carolina.

Terrence, what's your comment? So me and my wife were actually talking about this. We were in attendance at the Essence Festival. And number one, the concert is way too damn long. Getting out at 2 a.m. in the morning, 2.30 in the morning. Honestly, like by the time you got to Sunday, I honestly think that the majority of people that were walking out, they were just tired. I think the Little Wayne Surprise concert just kind of like wore a lot of people out. But if you go back to Saturday, even like in the seats and everything, you saw all different types of women that were kind of twerking and backing it up in their seats.

Pretty much everybody was vibing. So I really think that we just need to be open to how women have evolved. And there's different kinds of women. You could see that there were different age groups of women and men that were there at the concert. This was our second time attending the festival. We saw more of our age group. I'm 38. My wife is 36. But you saw more mid-20s, early 30s that were there. And so there were people that were vibing with Make the Stallion on Sunday, even though we left, and we're just not the same. And there's different musical tastes for everybody.

But there was a vibe for anybody that came, just like you mentioned earlier. The lineup was so diverse that you could literally pick and choose who you wanted to see and how you wanted to see them. All right. Appreciate it. Thanks a lot. But let me say this about all the people who are complaining about it going long.

We're going to go to a break. We're going to come back. Y'all, this ain't the first damn time SSP has been long. It's not. Listen, the first concert is starting around 7. Okay? The last one is going to end around 1.30. You don't have to stay there all six and a half hours.

You don't have to. Okay? And so if you actually want to stay all six and a half hours, take your ass to sleep. Take a nap. I've been going 16 years. Okay? And I've been there from the beginning to the end. I didn't leave early either night. I left early last year. I thought Nicki Minaj, I couldn't deal with the lip syncing.

Sorry. But, again, that's what you're dealing with here. So, y'all, the whole point of diverse lineup is to give you lots of options. I know a lot of people who said, yo, I'm skipping Friday night. I don't want to see Lauren. I don't want to see Janelle, but I want to be there for Missy. And so those things happen.

And so this is what happens. The reality is you're never, you cannot have an event that's going to please everybody when you're talking about multiple demographics, even among African Americans. But I also think India Ari is also talking

about, when we talk about, we keep talking about the music and the festival, she's also talking about the music industry and what is being presented. So hold tight one second. We'll take more of your phone calls. 202-890-1199. 202-890-1199. 202-890-1199. I got a question

for Larry. We get back as well. Folks, you're watching Roller Mark Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Missy Elliott, man, she did it. Here's some more of the video of her show, y'all. It was just crazy, her show. Let's go to it. Come on, click.

Thank you. It was crazy. Come on, click. Thank you. It was crazy. I mean, just absolutely just crazy. If you watch it on Hulu, it was fantastic, y'all. And so just a phenomenal show. And again, her show was different from Jill Scott, which was different from Doug E. Fresh, and the Hip Hop Cats.

And so that's how it is. All right, folks, we'll be back on Roller Mark Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. My early days in the road, I learned, well, first of all, as a musician, I studied not only piano, but I was also drummer and percussion. I was all city percussion as well. So I was one of the best in the city on percussion.

There you go. Also studied trumpet, cello, violin, and bass, and any other instrument I could get my hand on. And with that study, I learned again what was for me. I learned what it meant to do what the instruments in the orchestra meant to each other in the relationships. So that prepared me to be a leader. That prepared me to lead orchestras

and to conduct orchestras. That prepared me to know, to be a leader of men, they have to respect you and know that you know them. You have to be the teacher of the music. You have to know the music better than anything. There you go. Right, so you can't walk in unprepared. When you talk about blackness

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You hear me? All right, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, welcome back to Roller Martin Unfiltered. All right, y'all, so I was telling you about, it was Martin Morial who tweeted out the original lineup. He was the mayor of New Orleans when it happened, y'all. And so, again, I just want to put, for the purpose of context, I'm going to Larry, then go to the phone calls. This was the original lineup. Are y'all seeing it?

This was the original lineup at the first Essence Festival 29 years ago. This was it right here. see y'all, you had Luther Vandross, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Anita Baker, Boys to Men, Barry White, B.B. King, Mary J. Blige, The O.J.'s with Gerald LaVert, Aretha Franklin, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Earth, Wind & Fire,

Gerald Albright, and Aaliyah. So, Larry, looking at that, Aaliyah was the youngest person performing if you want to talk about what was appealing to a younger audience at that time obviously boys to men

but this is sort of what they're up against you've had this allegiance from grown folk who've grown up with R&B music and you just sort of have a clash of tastes, if you will. Larry?

I think what's interesting about that list, and we talked about the individuals that performed a couple days ago, is also kind of talk about the Black community and Black music in general, which is always evolving. So I didn't see any hip-hop artists on in general, which is always evolving. So I didn't see any hip hop artists on that list, which is interesting. And now you talked about,

it is essentially obviously with the 50th anniversary of celebrating hip hop. So obviously there's a focus, but also anchored in some of the more recent hip hop artists in terms of Meg and some of the other folks that you mentioned. Remember, this is 1995. Remember, this is 1995.

I mean, even though hip hop,-hop, let's just be clear, who are you? Look, if we really want to have this conversation, it's a lot of places they were not trying to have hip-hop artists. There's a certain crowd they did not want to have there. You look at this lineup, they were appealing to grown-ass people. Yeah, people who had jobs and money. Right. I mean, yeah.

They had mortgages. So you're right. They were specifically looking for a particular kind of crowd. And as this is evolved and black music is evolved, and so I think I want to note, Roland, we talk about generation age groups. There are people in their 40s and 50s rocking with Meg now. Let's be clear.

So I think that's really important. Once again, we're talking about the history of hip-hop. So obviously, 29 years ago, they were certainly looking for a certain in terms of Black folks with a certain socioeconomic background, so to speak, who had deep pockets, had some money in there, who could spend on hotels and the show, et cetera.

But once again, that is evolved in terms of who you're trying to attract. So now they're trying to attract a younger generation. And in that last 29 years, hip-hop's popularity has exploded. So once again, they're being consistent with who you're trying to attract. Well, which also explains, look, that's why you had Tims and other Afrobeat artists on. You didn't have any Afrobeat artists on a lineup five years ago. But how musical tastes change. I want to go to the phone lines. Rakesh from Harlem. Rakesh, what's up? Hello?

Hello? Yes, you're on the air. Oh, yeah, this is Eric from Harlem. I want to say that Essence knew what they was getting into when they booked Megan and when they booked Janelle. If Essence felt that way, they shouldn't have booked them. They knew what they was getting into when they booked them. And they knew that the younger generation was there and they wanted the money.

So they can't have it both ways. If they felt any kind of way or anybody that was there felt any kind of way, then why didn't Essence book them in the first place then? Well, first of all, the criticism is not coming from Essence. It's coming from attendees and also the comments from India Irie. But I get your point. We certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Marquez Gutner from Dallas.

Marquez, you on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. How you doing? How you doing, Roland? Doing great. My thought is the line, it seems like year after year, they keep pushing the line. So what's going to happen

when some young brother is up there on stage and he pulls out something that is not expected to be pulled out? brother is up there on the stage and he pulls out something that is not expected to be pulled out. It seems like that's where Like what? A joint? Because guess what? Lil Wayne, his performance?

No. He lit up on stage. Right. Well, I'm not talking about the jump. I'm talking about the sexual orifice. I got it. Well, guess what?

Guess what? Janelle Monáe showed her areola Lil Wayne performed with her shirt off. Okay. I'm telling you. Hold up. I'm talking about the jump. You think I'm lying you. Hold up. I'm about to jump. You think I'm lying? Let me find you a photo.

But that's where it's going. Okay. I think that's – we're going to be shocked one day when that happens. And so, you know, how are people going to react when that happens? Got it. You know, because you see it coming. All right. Yeah.

Marquez, thanks a lot. Bill Smith from California. Hey, Bill. You're on Roland Martin Unfiltered. This is a very important topic. Can you hear me? Yep, you're on the air. Go ahead.

Sorry. My feelings on this subject is this. I don't think this, I think Indiana Agree is absolutely correct. This is not for everybody. We got black people, young black people out here trying to raise children. We're up against, we're, black people are up against enough trying to raise children. Well, I will be willing to bet there are not very many few black people out there that would allow their children to be twerking at 13, 14 years old, grabbing, putting their breasts out. This is a short story. My son has two, I have two grandkids. One of my grandkids was here one day, and they were singing a song,

and he was three or four years old, and he happened to say, back your ass up. My grandson turned around and wanted to jump all over him. I said, well, time out. Where did he get that from? You're the one playing the music. You know, so, I mean, I'm not against this. They can have this, but there should be a time and a place for everything.

They should announce, this is going to be a hip-hop show tonight. This is going to be this tonight. And so parents say, oh, no, no, no, we're not going to the hip-hop show. Then the kids come over, they want to sneak on their phones and watch this crap and so forth and so on. It's not good. Thank you very much for allowing me to express my opinion. Appreciate it. All right.

Thanks a bunch. Go to my iPad. This is Lil Wayne performing with no shirt on. So just want to let you all know he was showing his areola as well. Rob Jennings from Benton Harbor, Michigan. Rob, you're on Roland Martin Unfiltered. What's up? All right.

We've got a couple of calls I want to go to. I mean, look, the thing you said, Niambé, is very clear. I mean, literally in the history of music, there's been this discussion. Hell, gospel music. there were folk who said, Thomas Dorsey, what are you doing? And then when the Winans did their music, what are you doing? When the Clark Sisters hit song,

was a club hit during the disco era, folk said, sacrilegious, you've had that. I just think what you're dealing with here, when you have an event, when you have multiple generations, you're going to have that clash, especially when for a long time, you can always count on there being R&B artists

who didn't shake that ass, who didn't use lyrics. Like, literally, I did, I'm going to tell you right now, I did crack a joke around the folk around us with Megan performing. I said, hey, does Megan have any songs where it don't involve beating the pussy up? Yes, I said that.

Because that's, like, literally, we were sitting there and I was cracking up laughing i was kind of like do all the lyrics sound the same and the folk we were all cracking up laughing but that's literally her style who she appeals to her songs are not like a multiple range of beyonce that's not her lane it's not but i But I also think, look, I think it's interesting that people clutch their pearls over rappers in particular because they are very explicit R&B songs. They sound different to the ear, perhaps even nicer.

But they're... Don't use the explicit language. But when Aaliyah says age ain't nothing but a number, throwing down ain't nothing but a thing, what was that about? Because the 95 Aaliyah was married to a Robert Kelly who was an adult man. We can talk about, I'm just saying,

there are ranges of things that we can discuss. We can kind of opine about a time when it was kinder and gentler. But the music of 1995 was still very sexual. I remember listening to Doggie Style in my mother's car getting in trouble because of the lyrics of Snoop's songs. So I just think we have a long-standing discussion that comes up year after year.

But in this event in particular, I think people do feel a certain kind of ownership around it and feel like there should be borders, right? That this is an uplifting women empowerment event, and these people don't fit. But I think while we're doing that and pointing our fingers, we have to be very careful not to reify these same stereotypes and to do the good woman, bad woman thing. I don't think that's helpful either. And I don't like the language that people are using to talk about these people, because one, neither Megan Thee Stallion or

Janelle Monae are children. They don't make music for children. And I think the last caller was just right, which is if children are hearing these things, then we need to talk to parents about them. But I was a kid too. We're all going to listen. I listened to dirty Millie Jackson records when I was a kid. I didn't have any business listening to.

So kids will find a way. Nonetheless, you know, this sort of hand-wringing about the children and all that, that always comes up over and over and over again. But again, the lineup was announced in advance. People knew who were going to be there. People had an opportunity to listen to their music in advance and say, I don't want to participate in this. This is not my crowd. I'm going to go to Missy or I'm going to go see Dougie Fresh,

but the rest of it, I'm going to leave. I just think this is a hard thing to do because, like you said, you have people who've been going for the last 30 years. You have people who do feel ownership about what this ought to be, right, what this should look like, how women should portray themselves. And I just think it's going to be a tussle. Deombe, one of the YouTube folks said, Aaliyah was singing 80-umbuh in some big ass baggy clothes Larry, what's your

comment? Larry, what's your comment? Even a little bit funny. Larry, what's your comment? Hold on, hold on, hold on Hold on, hold on, hold on You said that. I'm just reading what the comment was. Larry, your comment This is an ongoing Dr. Carter talked about this is an ongoing topic

in the black community about what's appropriate, what's not appropriate. Also, I want to Dr. Carter talked about this is an ongoing topic in the black community about what's appropriate what's not appropriate also want to highlight we talked about you know you talked about Luke a little earlier I'm also old enough to remember two live crew and how they used to set it off in their concerts and then you know obviously them being arrested and challenges they found their concerts throughout the

but I don't think they ever were on the essence stage oh no they didn't miss no they weren't going to make an announcement. Hold on, but see that, but again, no. But again, no. I just want everybody to understand. I'm going to give y'all a story. Matter of fact, damn, I need to find a photo.

And y'all, it's a true story. So, Uncle Charlie was performing and Trey Songz stopped by his dressing room. And I think Trey performed the previous night. And

I dropped by the dressing room. I gotta find the photo. And so I was, you know, of course, I was clean. Uncle Charlie was clean. And so Trey Songz said, he said, man, he said, man, both of y'all clean. And this is exactly what Uncle Charlie said. He said, Trey, there's some grown-ass people out there.

He said, and when you sing in front of grown-ass people, you need to dress like you talking to grown-ass people. Because Trey had on some jeans. I think he had a, I think when he performed, he had a wife beater on the stage, which he took it off. So the following year, Trey Songz was back. Trey came out in a tuxedo. I think he eventually got out of the tuxedo.

So he's backstage. He had hurt his ankle on stage. So I go into the dressing room, and I said, I see you rocking that tuxedo. He said, oh, I was listening to you and Uncle Charlie last year. So the point I'm making is that's really, I think, the clash we're having here. Even when you've had younger artists, your other souls always said, hey, this is who that essence audience is. What we have to accept, though, is that the Essence audience changes. And so the question then becomes, do you change?

And you grapple with that. And I can tell you, talking with people who, the previous owners of Essence, they also grappled with, look, it was a battle when they decided to stop inviting Frankie Beverly Mays. Ed Lewis said, as long as I am running Essence, Frankie Beverly Mays will always close Essence Festival. Always. I think for like 15 plus straight years, they were there. There was a point when they didn't invite them back, and it was a huge controversy because they were saying we have to also evolve. And so this discussion, they've actually had, in essence, internally, what type of artists, when do you invite them, when are we ready, because you're appealing to different folks.

That is it for us. To the rest of the call, I couldn't get to you. I'm sorry about that. Niambi, thanks a bunch. Larry, thanks a bunch. Teresa, thanks a bunch. Here to go as well. Folks, great conversation.

We appreciate all the dialogue. Be sure to share this here. Look, this conversation ain't going to end. It ain't going to end. And so, in the RE, she ain't backing down. But the reality is, I get her point 100% of what she's saying. But also I'm saying that what you're dealing with here

is dealing with an event that's multi-generational. You're going to have this conflict always. Folks, be sure to support us in what we do. Because guess what? Ain't nobody else having this conversation. ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, they ain't having this conversation. Okay, that allows for all the multiple viewpoints in here. It ain't happening.

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