#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Snoop Dogg & Master P Cereal Lawsuit, Flint Water Crisis, Black-owned Business Call Out Use of Brand

Episode Date: February 7, 2024

2.6.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Snoop Dogg & Master P Cereal Lawsuit, Flint Water Crisis, Black-owned Business Call Out Use of Brand Snoop Dogg and Master P are taking on retail giants Walmart and Post Foods for allegedly keeping Snoop Dogg's cereals off store shelves. Attorney Ben Crump and Master P are here to explain what's being done to keep their products from the consumers.  Vice President Kamala Harris stopped in Savannah, Georgia, today for her "Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour."  We'll hear some of what she had to say about the state with the 6-week abortion ban.  A federal appeals court rules that Trump is not immune from prosecution.  Brett Farve may have to shell out more money to repay those Mississippi welfare funds he "mistakenly" received.  And a Colorado settles with a black family who was held at gunpoint for hours after cops thought they were in a stolen car. We'll continue reflecting on the Flint Water Crisis with a former city official.   In our Marketplace segment, a black-owned business calls out Fabletics for using their brand for Black History Month marketing. The Founder and CEO of Actively Black will be to explain it all.  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. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man.

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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. It's Tuesday, February 6, 2024, and I'm Candace Kelley. I'm filling in for Roland Martin just for one hour. Snoop Dogg and Master P are taking on retail giants Walmart and Post Foods for allegedly keeping Snoop Dogg cereals off store shelves. Attorney Ben Crump and Master P are here to explain what they say is being done that's keeping their products from consumers.

Vice President Kamala Harris stopped in Savannah, Georgia today for her Fight for Reproductive Freedoms tour. We'll hear some of what she had to say about the state with the six-week abortion ban. And the federal appeals court rules that Trump is not immune from prosecution. Brett Favre may have to shell out more than more money to repay those Mississippi welfare funds he mistakenly received. And a Colorado family settles. Colorado settles with a Black family who was held at gunpoint for hours after cops thought they were in a stolen car. We'll also continue reflecting on Flint, the Flint water crisis with a former city official. And in our Marketplace segment, a Black-owned business calls out Fabletics for using their brand for Black History Month marketing. The founder and CEO of Actively Black will be here to explain it all.

It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. Let's go. Just for kicks he's rollin' Yeah, yeah It's Uncle Roro, yo Yeah, yeah It's Rollin' Martin Yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now Yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best

You know he's Rollin' Martin Now Yes, you know he's rolling, Martel. Martel. Snoop Dogg and Master P founded Broda's Foods in 2022, and they introduced two brands, Snoop Cereal and Mama Snoop, in 2023. Their attorney, Ben Crump, filed a lawsuit against Post Foods and Walmart. Now, according to Crump, Post Foods used deceptive practices to sabotage the cereal brand, while Walmart prevented them from being placed on store shelves. And attorney Crump joins me now.

Thank you so much for being with us this evening. I know that this has been quite a journey because this is something that the founders of these companies really believed in. And now they have to file a lawsuit. Talk to me a little very important case during Black History Month. And this is so consistent with what you and Roland Martin stand for with the Black Star Network. It's about Black-owned businesses trying to make products so our people won't always be consumers, but we will be producers.

And so that's what Snoop and Master P endeavored to do, build a company to give a quality product to support our community and people can have healthy, nutritional options. And they could then pass on generational wealth to their children, just like Mr. Kellogg did, just like Mr. Post did, like Mr. General Mill, Mr. Walton in Walmart.

But they intentionally, we believe, and we have videos that show visual evidence that they never would put Snoop's cereal on the shelves. They kept it in the back of the storeroom. And so Snoop has 250 million followers on social media. People were coming, trying to get the cereal, but they could never get it because it was never on the shelves. And this, we allege, violated the agreement between Post, Syria, that was distributing

for Master P and Snoop and Broderick's Fools and Walmart, because they never put it on the shelves. And, Candace, that's why we filed a lawsuit based on breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, collusion and conspiracy to sabotage Snoop's cereal. Now, Benjamin, what I understand is that Post at one point actually wanted to buy this brand, but then they decided, okay, we'll have an agreement with you. And I find that very interesting that it seems as though they're actually competitors and that they didn't put their particular brand, according to you, on the shelves alongside their post brand. And that really is what an issue here, in that they did not put their brand really in the forefront alongside their brands. Well, that is certainly what Snoop and Master P believes, that they wanted to knock out

the competition of Snoop cereal being beside the post cereal. And it was unbelievable. They had it where you could go on the internet, on Amazon or eBay, and you could get Snoop Serial for $11 and $13. But if it was on the shelves like they had negotiated and intended it to be, it would have been less than $4 a box, just like Post, just like Cal Laws, and just like General Mills, Syria. But it did not have a chance to succeed and to add insult to injury. Then they had the audacity, after not putting Syria on the shelves, to then try to charge

back fees to Snoop and Master P. Now, I understand that we have Master P with us now i wanted to bring you in so i would imagine that a lot of people were getting to you behind the scenes saying listen we can't find this cereal which seems to be uh a shame and as you as as ben said with 250 million followers you would think that that cereal would be moving very quickly. Yeah, no, it was probably the most brand that when you look at being notarized, the world knew about this product, whites, Blacks, Asians, Latinos. So it wasn't just the African-Americans that was looking for this product. Everybody's been looking for this. I mean, Snoop is one of the most recognizable names in the entertainment game.

And so it's like a slap in the face that our customers had to go into the back of the store and tell where to stock at and ask for the product. And it's a shame that a lot of the other products that Snoop has created is in the front of the store, but products that we actually own. So we talk about this Black History Month. These are products that are owned by black people.

And that's where the injustice come in to where we did everything we need to do. But at the same time, how come our product is not where it needs to be at? And how come we don't get the same opportunities that a lot of these other brands that are major and that's my thing we're going to be diverse to the varsity uh there's a lot of people out here that they're creating product big products and brands but nobody never get a chance to go up against these companies when it's when it's injustice or it's wrong uh or just when everybody talk about diversity these major companies talk about we're putting diversity i'm saying okay if you put in diversity show me how many black owned products that have been turned into multibillion dollar companies. I don't I haven't seen it's got to be few or none.

I haven't seen it yet. So that's what I'm saying. Put those diversity dollars into building brands so we can put money back into our community and our culture. So that's what Trump Crump and I are standing up for. And that's part of what your goal was originally in starting. Actually, anything that you do is taking that money, putting it back into Black communities and the culture. When did all of this come to a head? When did you realize, Master P, that you have the evidence to move forward to a lawsuit and then you reached out to Benjamin Crump.

When I had went into a Walmart store and had to go in the back of the stock room and get my product, what me and Snoop has created to build a brand. So when you look at these other brands that Post and Kellogg's and General Mills have built, these are family brands. I think a lot of people want us to be celebrity brands. No. We have

characters on our product, just like they have characters. We can compete with any product that's out there. And I said, well, if the fans going online and people going to Amazon, how come our product is in the back of the shelves, in the storage room? And people are going

into these stores. I'm talking about, we got millions of people going into these stores looking for the product and brand. That's when I realized, I said, Snoop, we got to stand up not only for us, but we got to stand up for every older person, every young person that got a product and a brand that thinks that they're going to change their community

and their culture, and they don't even have a shot. So, this is bigger than us and this is something that even when we're not here people are gonna say that they spark that plug for change the same way marlowe the king sparked that plug for uh civil rights uh to make change and so we know that if we're gonna build generational wealth and economic empowerment a lot of people are afraid because they say they're going to get blackballed and they're not going to put their products in the stores no more.

I'm saying, you know what? Go to Amazon.com and get our product. We're going to let God lead us on this journey. And they're going to do right. If they see that this is not fair, which it's not fair. We're just saying fix it. Fix it Walmart. Fix it Post.

Let's be fair. We're not saying that we're not thankful for the opportunity. We are thankful for the opportunity. But if you don't want us to succeed or win, you're wasting everybody's time. And I just think that let's change this. We want real change. We want real opportunity. And we want to be able to give that next kid. Like, I grew up on Whip. I never had a chance to even afford cereal. To be a black man and to be able to create a brand with my friend Snoop Dogg, I'm saying, you know what? Now it's time for change.

This is the American dream. And you're really saying, too, give you the right opportunity, right? To reach alongside other brands, let people choose. Benjamin, I wanted to throw this question to you. I understand that Walmart has responded publicly. They are waiting for their day in court. But I want to ask you, have they said anything to you personally, and there's any inside information that you can give us in terms of what they're thinking? Well, I think Master P and Snoop got it right. Walmart is going to point the finger at Post. Post is going to point the finger at Walmart.

That's why we had to file a lawsuit, because really what Master P is doing is being revolutionary. This is trailblazing. Just like he did in music, he's now doing that in business. And it's so needed right now, Candace, to teach our young people that we don't have to always be consumers making other people rich, making other people have multi-generational wealth. We got to do it. And so our call to action is we want everybody to take the Snoop cereal challenge. Young people, when you're in the grocery store the next time and you're walking down the aisles, we want you to video the aisle and show that it doesn't have Snoop cereal and send it to Masterpiece Social Media, My Social Media, and Snoop's Social Media so we can defeat

the argument that Walmart is going to try to say, oh, these are just isolated incidents. No, Master P has already shown that this is a pattern that they believe this was done to sabotage him and Snoop's success. And Master P, this is so important to you, obviously, because you want to be remembered not only as a rapper, but as a business person. So as you said, this is the type of legacy you want to be remembered not only as a rapper, but as a business person. So as you said, this is the type of legacy you want other people to see so that they can do it themselves.

Yes. Well, the thing is, right, me and Snoop figured it out. When you look at Kellogg's and Pope's, those are family brands. Broda's Food, this is Snoop's family name. This is bigger than us. This is, uh, Snoop Mama, uh, Mama Snoop family name. This is bigger than us. This is Snoop Mama, Mama Snoop oatmeal. We are the

kings of breakfast, and we're not Aunt Jemima. We're not Uncle Ben. Those were products that we thought that was black-owned, and that was pure mockery of us. I want to educate our people, educate our culture and say, you know what? Let's stop being afraid. Sometime you got to grab that slingshot.

We going up against the Giants. This is David and Goliath. But guess what? You know why we're going to win? Because we're letting God lead us on this journey and we're doing the right thing. And all we really want, all we really want is them to be fair with us and give us the same opportunity that you gave all these other companies to grow their brands and be successful. That's all we want. That's the way we build economic empowerment.

And for the ones that don't get it, we want. That's the way we build economic empowerment. And for the ones that don't get it, we're going to keep educating and keep teaching our people. Don't be afraid. We're not doing that wrong. This is business. We might have to go up against these major companies. People tell me, man, Pete, I'm afraid to get blackballed. I'm afraid that they're never going to put our products

in the stores no more. Guess what? Look what happened to famous Amos. Famous Amos, he had to sell his company for a million dollars because he didn't have the money. He had a great brand. They ended up selling that brand for $1.3 billion. Look at Reginald Lewis. Reginald Lewis showed us, and that's what motivates me.

Reginald Lewis went against this and said, why can't we have fun? How come we can't make billions of dollars and put money back into our community? This man built schools, educated the next generation, and that's what I want to do. I want to be the Muhammad Ali of product. I want to be able to show our people that we just don't have to be athletes and entertainers. But when we work hard and invest our time and effort into something the same way they do, we should be able to reap the same benefits to be able to build generational wealth and economic empowerment

and give our people opportunity. That's what this is about. All right. So the ultimate goal is really you want that chance to put your brand on the shelves, get it out of the back room, and you're asking for people to send your videos to show proof of that evidence actually happening. I want to thank you so much for being with us. videos to show proof of that evidence actually happening.

I want to thank you so much for being with us. The Snoop Serial Challenge. The Snoop Serial Challenge. Yeah, hashtag Snoop Serial Challenge. Yes. All right. All right. Master P and Ben Crump, I want to thank you so much for being with us this evening.

Certainly, we'll be following the story. Good to see you both. Thank you. All right. You are watching Roland Martin Filtered on the Black Star Network, and we're going to take a break, so stay with us. For the last

15 or maybe 16 years, 18 years, I'll say, since when I moved to L.A., I hadn't had a break. I hadn't had a vacation. I had a week vacation here and there. Right. This year, after I got finished doing Queen's Chicken, we wrapped it up. Because I knew I had two TV shows coming on at the same time.

So I'm taking a break. So I've been on break for the first time, and I can afford it. You know what I'm saying? Right. So I can afford it. I can sit back and ain't got nothing to worry about, man. But this was the first time in almost two decades that I've actually had time to sit back and smell the roses. Thank you. Hello, I'm Paula J. Parker.

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And you're watching Roland Mars. I'm Phil. All right, so we were talking about this lawsuit that MasterPay and Snoop Dogg filed against Post and Walmart. We also were talking about just the fact that they have this challenge. They want people to send videos, and they want people to show that their brands are on the shelf or not on the shelf. The Snoop Dogg Serial Challenge, I want to bring in our panel today. I'm joined by Joe Richardson, who is a civil rights attorney, and Randy Bryant, a DEI disruptor, to talk about just all of this. Joe, I wanted to start with you,

especially as a civil rights attorney. If this is true, what they are alleging, there really have been some deceptive practices here if their brands are somewhere in the back of a warehouse. Sure. It would be quite strange given their popularity, given the brand recognition that exists. And, you know, but is it the most unusual thing to hear someone going into business with someone else with the effect of sabotaging it, that's not unusual. We hate that it happens. But the question becomes, can it graduate from being morally wrong to being legally wrong? I think it can. My sense is what I would have asked and made sure of is, like, they mentioned the causes of action. Sounds like it's being sued in state court. We'll see

if they try to get it over to federal. But I'm wondering if there's a larger opportunity to do something industry-wide. Now, this is huge, of course, because this is Snoop Dogg and this is Master P. But my sense is, not unlike what has been done with tobacco, not unlike what has been done with Big Pharma, that perhaps in terms of it being bigger than them, as Mr. Crump says, that perhaps this creates an opportunity to do something bigger. But, yes, it would be quite suspect if, for some reason, Snoop Dogg cereal is where you can't find it. I mean, that would be absolutely incredulous.

So we'll see. These are not easy cases, but they take on cases that are hard where the goal is clear. And so, you know, I wish them luck and success in doing that. And hopefully they can do something that helps us systemically so that the next guy who may not even have Snoop's or Masterpiece name, if they'll do that to them, what are they going to do to regular Joe, right? Whoever that might be. Hopefully we can do something that helps on us to root out something systemic so that more people can have those opportunities. And really, what these courts are going to be asking is whether or not there was, in terms of the deceptive branding, was there a monopoly here?

Does Post have a monopoly when it comes to cereal? Are there some unfair practices? Because look, at the beginning, they wanted to actually buy this brand. So it sounds like they wanted to take over and then perhaps allegedly decided, you know what, we'll team up with you, but we're really not going to team up with you, kind of wink-wink. Randi, what do you think about this particular case, what Master P had to say, and the deceptive practices that they are alleging? Sadly, I've heard of other cases like this before where minority business owners' products are not at all being displayed in stores. You have to understand, even when they get to the store, you have to depend on stores to be fair and want to show our products and put them on the shelves.

So, you know, space in stores is there's a battle there. So this is not the first time that I've heard that our products have been hidden. is that we have two strong businessmen and two very popular names who can push this and bring it to the forefront and fight. So hopefully there will be some changes across the board. And I also like that they are smart enough to say, let's get everybody involved. Let us know if you see our cereal or if you don't see our cereal, because that concerns evidence. And so they have that. That's what I love about the onset of social media. Everyone is now involved in the case of participating and showing that this product has or has not been hidden. So I think it's very smart on their part and good marketing.

Yeah, absolutely. And Joe, it really does come down to the evidence. What can they prove? And part of the evidence that they mentioned, Ben mentioned this, was the chargebacks. And these start happening when brands don't sell, or maybe you put a product online or in a store that's for sale. Maybe somebody brings it back, or maybe you don't make the money that you said you would have made, and then they charge that back to the actual owner. And I would imagine that, as he said, if Snoop Dogg has 250 million followers, what is going on why their brand may not be flying off the shelves? So I think when it comes to evidence, this hashtag that they have going on certainly is going to prove to be something very good for them in court if they can show that their brands just are not alongside the brands of Post.

Yeah, the evidence is going to be everything. I mean, I could imagine having experts in this case that really can weigh Master P and Stoops' popularity and talk about what that should have meant at interest and interest level related to these products at the very beginning. Right. I can imagine foreseeing that. And so, you know, when you talk about the chargebacks and all of this that has been sent back and none of this is selling at all seemingly. Right. And so what it does is, you know, it takes them out of the game, for lack of a better term, because now they've got charges related to being owners on product that didn't sell. But if the product didn't have an

opportunity to sell pursuant to the terms of contract, pursuant to the terms that you're required to do related to the officiary duties, you know, interference with contracts, you know, some of these types of theories, it's going to be interesting to see how that evidence, a trier of fact, is going to have to weigh in and say, that's you and me, those of us that get on the jury, that based on this evidence, does it make them, does it pass the smell test that Snoop's cereal is not selling at all, depending on how low these numbers are? In that way, the lower the numbers are, the better I think it frankly is from an evidentiary standpoint for Snoop and for Masterpiece. So it's going to be interesting to see how that goes. So Walmart, and I want to stick with you, Joe, for a moment, Walmart did say,

hey, we actually try to continue to have successful relationships with all our brands, and we do all that we need to do in order to make them happy. But they haven't really responded directly. They just said, we're going to have our day in court. What do you think about that response? That was really generic. Yeah, I mean, that's the response you're going to have right now. And because you have two defendants, the defendants are going to point at each other, you know, all day long for sure. And all he did, no, he did it. He did it. I would say that, I mean, and we'll see how it goes, but I would say that to the extent that they can really demonstrate something with the

contractual causes of action, even though we can, you know, theorize about the fact that they don't want this black business to make it, they don't want these brothers to be big. And I think that there could very well be some truth to that. If you can show that they were supposed to do something under the contract that they didn't do, that's, you know, how you get over the line. Now, you know, you've got deceptive practices and a lot of other things. I think one of the things that might be missing from this case versus a smoking case where you're talking about deceptive practices and advertising and acting like, you know, smoking wasn't dangerous when it was or, you know, tobacco or big pharma, those types of things, is because there was physical harm done, right? And it creates a

little bit more urgency, creates more in the way of damages by people, and creates more of an inclination to punish, right? So that might be missing here, but hopefully, based on contractual obligations not being met and it not passing the smell test in terms of what the sales ought to be versus what they actually are, hopefully they can get over the line. So, Randy, what do you think is the work that needs to be done by Walmart right now? I mean, they could go to trial. This could go all the way. But really, this seems like something, if it doesn't get to that point,

it's something that they'll want to settle. I believe they should probably settle it, in my opinion. I don't know enough. But I would guess that I don't think that Snoop Dogg and Master P would come out with not being pretty clear that they had a solid case on their hands. And so I think they will settle. But they need to, first of all, do some checks and balances. They need to audit these stores. Are these stores displaying this cereal? Are they doing what they contractually agreed that they would do?

Are they acting as an agent for somebody that they partnered with? And so I think that's going to be very important right now. I'm sure there's some phone calls being made right now saying, right now, today, is that cereal on the shelves? And you better put it up there now. There's some fire drills going on, I would suggest. Absolutely. And Randy, I would say that if anybody can get the attention in a case like this, it would be a masterpiece and a snoop dog.

And I would imagine that if they are successful in this, like Joe was saying, this is going to be very good precedent for not just them, but other business owners that just happen not to have as big of a name. Absolutely. I mean, that's what we hope that happens. We hope that every time we go through some sort of trial, no pun intended, that we are making things better for the rest of us, for the next generation. And so people understand that, yes, because that's what happens is they often two times buy our products and then we don't have the opportunity to really flourish and have this product that we want or be these entrepreneurs that we want to be,

or they bury the product. So, you know, we can only hope that this is just a step in the right direction. All right. We'll be certainly following this particular case. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. We're going to take a break, so stay with us. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, you're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement.

There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it, and you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in Black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. Waits $100,000. We're behind $100,000. So we

want to hit that. Y'all money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. The Cash App is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RM Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. On the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, how big a role does fear play in your life?

Your relationship to it and how to deal with it can be the difference between living a healthy life, a balanced life, or a miserable one. Whenever the power of fear comes along, you need to put yourself in that holding pattern and breathe, examine, find out if there's something that your survival instinct requires you to either fight or take flight.

Facing your fears and making them work for you instead of against you. That's all next on A Balanced Life on Blackstar Network. What's up, everybody? It's your girl Latasha from the A. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. AMNA NAWAZ Vice President Kamala Harris continued her fight for reproductive freedoms tour today. Now, Harris' third stop on the tour was Savannah, Georgia. While the vice president highlighted how extremists have enacted abortion bans that threaten women's health, force women out of state to receive care, and criminalized doctors in states like Georgia,

she was met with some protest. Here's a look at what happened. Healthcare crisis. And in that way, there is nothing about this moment that is hypothetical. Today, in America, more than one in three women of reproductive age live in a state with an abortion ban. One in three women of reproductive age live in a state with an abortion ban, including more than two and a half million right here in the state of Georgia. Let us understand the horrific reality that women face every single day since the Roe decision was overturned. Folks, I have met women who have had miscarriages in toilets because they were refused care. I met a woman who went to an emergency room during a miscarriage and was turned away repeatedly because the doctors there were afraid they might be put in jail for helping her. And it was only at the point that she developed sepsis that she received care.

Think about this fact. Of the number of women, and this is difficult to talk about, guys. I know that. But this is the reality of what's happening in our country. Of the number of women who became pregnant because of rape since this case came down, it is estimated that tens of thousands are in a state with a complete abortion ban. Now, think about what that means. In Georgia, women face a six-week abortion ban before many women even know they're pregnant, which, by the way, tells us these lawmakers, either they don't know how a woman's body works or they just don't care.

And in Georgia, because of the way the law is written, no exception for rape or incest unless they file a police report to get permission, to get permission for an abortion after six weeks. Permission. So as a former prosecutor, again, we've got to break this down, okay? Here's what we're talking about. So this means she needs to walk into a police department, be questioned by a police officer. If she lives in a small town, it might be somebody she knows.

And she will be required, after what she's been through, required to recount the crime even if she don't want to talk about it. She will be required to report on someone even though the consequences of that may expose her to more harm. Simply because she wants to exercise her right to make a decision about what happens to her body next. Think about what this means. And for many of these women, all of this means that in order to access the care they need, they have to leave Georgia. They have to leave their home. They have to leave their family or friends who might be with them through this moment to give them comfort and care, to travel to a state that protects reproductive freedom.

And understand, there's only one state in the South without an abortion ban, the state of Virginia. In the entire South, one. A six-hour drive from here in Savannah. Now, the majority of women we also know who have abortions are mothers. So again, let's break down what this means. For her to travel to receive care, will God help her if she does not have paid leave or affordable childcare? God help her if she does not have the savings necessary to buy a plane, train, or bus ticket to get where she can receive the care she wants and needs or to book a hotel room. And by the way, while these extremists behind these laws say they are motivated by the health and well-being of women and children, while

they say that, they have been silent on the crisis of maternal mortality. Silent. Georgia has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in our nation. Black women are three to four times more likely to die in connection with childbirth than other women. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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

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

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

Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. 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 thisispreetirement.org brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. And the top ten states with the highest rates of maternal mortality all have abortion bans.

The hypocrisy abounds. So Georgia, there is a profound harm happening in our country because of the state of the law. The reality in real time across our country is that for every story we hear, there are so many we don't. Today, an untold number of women are silently suffering. Women who are being judged, who are being made to feel as though they did something wrong, that they should be embarrassed, made to feel alone. And I say, I do believe that as a nation,

that is not what we stand for. I do believe that. So I say to these women, we see you, we see your incredible strength, and we are here with you. We see your incredible strength. And we are here with you. And in this healthcare crisis, please do understand who is to blame. AMY GOODMAN- Randy, this is certainly a hot-button topic, especially when it comes to the elections and what we found out certainly during the midterms, which many people say that the Republicans lost on this issue, or that this was one of

the main issues. What are your thoughts about Kamala Harris's tour so far and how she's been faring as the vice president out there in the world, talking about this issue and getting this issue to be discussed around dinner tables and, you know, in the the media so that people can consider this when they go to the polls? It's smart. It's a smart move to have her out there actually discussing this issue because it is an issue that will change the way people vote. It's one of those issues that can greatly swing a person one way or the other. So it is good. I'm happy to see that the Democrats are coming out and being very strong and saying where they stand

and pointing out the problems with the other side's option, because there will be many people who are going to vote for Democrats for the first time, specifically because of reproductive freedoms. So I believe it's smart. I believe that she's done a very good job of, you know, saying this is a tough subject and, you know, and highlighting that it's not something that's, you know, light, but we need to discuss it. And this is where we are. And these are the real repercussions that occur when someone does not have the right to control what happens with their own body. So I think it's excellent.

And, Jill, what are your thoughts about this being something that she has taken under her wing, but then when we look at the headlines, we're reading about immunity and Trump's case and different things that he's doing. Do you think that this topic is getting the attention that it should because of her? Yeah, I think that what she's doing is helping and she's got to continue along that road. You know, COVID created the urgency four years ago that got people to the polls. I think abortion can be one of those issues that does the same thing this year. And so she should be pressing it as much as she possibly can. In Florida, as you know, it looks like it will make the ballot so that the state can do a constitutional amendment allowing abortion.

And those types of things are getting people to the polls. I want to key in on the irony, which you pointed out, of the hypocrisy that you hear. I don't actually call these folks—a lot of these folks pro-life. I call them pro-prebirth, because there's no family leave. There's no, you know, dealing with the issues of parent mortality and all of the other things that could create a situation to make a difficult decision a little bit easier, knowing that you would have some kind of support when there's not maybe maybe there's not a man in the picture. We aren't talking about the men at all.

They're just getting off scot-free here. And so, you know, the hypocrisy is really quite amazing. But it is one of these issues, one of these urgency issues that I think that they should press quite a bit, particularly because it's going to hopefully get women to the polls, get them concerned, and might be the one-issue situation that might change a yes vote to a no vote or might change this person that you're voting for to that person that you're voting for because of this issue. This is one of those issues that is a table-turning type of issue. And she's good for going out, talking about it, talking about how much is prevalent, particularly

in the states that are the poorest and that have some of the poorest outcomes. They're the ones that have bans. I have a young daughter in South Carolina now, and they have a six-week abortion ban. And so you really have to pay attention to it. And I think she's great to draw attention to it. This can be a good issue for her, particularly to raise awareness that people will then take to the polls with urgency. Randy, you know, the vice president, she kicked off this tour on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. In your circles, though, are you hearing more people talk about this necessarily, or are they talking more about Trump, his lawsuits, his immunity, his defamation laws, things of that nature?

What are people saying when you put your ear to the ground? That's a really interesting question. I do feel that Trump definitely comes up in conversations because it's so bad that you can't help but to be somewhat interested and pulled in by it. But at the same time, he's had so much noise around him since he has been active in politics, since his first run, that it's not even as interesting as it used to be. But I do feel as if when I do talk to people and we're talking about this upcoming election, everyone is very concerned about reproductive rights. And that's what's important. Trump, we talk about with the same, give it the same credence as we give, you know, gossip, you know,

Chris Brown and Rihanna back in the day or something like that. I don't know the gossip, but it's not with any sort of respect or taking it seriously. You mentioned your daughter, Jo. Is that something that she and her friends are collectively talking about more from your point of view? Has it been creeping up more because she is in a state that is on the map because of their abortion laws? Well, you know, most of her friends are elsewhere, right? She just graduated from college. So she's—no less. She's a news reporter, and, you know, where she's got to

keep her objectivity. And she does a great job of that. But it's certainly on her mind, right? And people that she's gone to school with, that she's in touch with, they are talking about the changes and how different it is. But they're also talking about other issues in fairness, right? They're talking about immigration. They're talking about, you know, how they feel about the president, how they feel about this election in general and those types of things. But interestingly, her job probably puts her a little bit closer to how

people are dealing with it day to day, et cetera. And so I'm certain that she has her observations, but people are talking more about those issues. Young folks are talking about some of everything, but this is an issue that directly affects them. But for better or for worse, they could perhaps look at this issue and then use it as a counterbalance to say, OK, why are our presidential candidates so old, whether we should be talking about that or not? We want them to stay focused. This is about the Constitution, et cetera. But this is all in play because it comes back and reminds you to, here are these folks in charge, and here's the other part. A lot of kids that went to

progressive schools, you know, and saw Barack Obama be president and saw Hillary Clinton almost be president. Maybe saying, you know, why are we having a battle about two old white guys potentially being president? So it lends to some larger issues, too. Right. You know, we want to just talk about abortion. They like, well, you know what? You know, let's throw out the baby with the bathwater. Now, let's deal with all of this. If we've got the right folks in charge, women in charge, we've got the right folks in charge, this doesn't become an issue. So their talk ends up becoming a lot more comprehensive. And, you know, we don't always have good answers for them. Yeah, yeah. And you know, Randy, it's interesting, because former governor of New Jersey and, of course, a former Republican candidate, for the president, Chris Christie, he has been making his rounds.

He's been talking about exactly what Joe has been talking about, and that we might be talking about abortion, but we are also talking about the age of Joe Biden, other things that really are centrally related to him. So while abortion is one issue, there seem to be other issues that a lot of the young voters especially, because, you know, they all think that if you're over 60, you're old anyway. But as the young voters especially just are not believing, right, they're not believing in the message just because of who it's coming from.

They aren't. They believe that the people who are making the laws and running for president and in our Congress don't are completely detached from real life. And people do talk more now. Young people are very involved in politics and what's going on with this country far more than I was at their age. I have two sons, and one of them calls me fired up at least twice a week about some issue that's affecting our society. Because again, now with the advent of TikTok and all these social media platforms, Twitter, they are aware and knowledgeable and they're involved and they want change. I mean, they really are somewhat, I believe, annoyed with the way the country is being run in a grand scale and think that major changes need to be made. And Joe, you touched upon this a little bit, and that is that social media is out there,

and it is galvanizing people, just like Randy said. Especially, I know when I was at that age, too, Randy, these topics were not on the forefront of what I was talking about. But I think that social media also certainly plays into it. We saw the CEOs of these tech companies talking about the impact of social media in the Senate. And it just seems to me that when Kamala Harris goes out and speaks about these issues, again, Joe, there are a lot of bigger issues that come to the table. And I think that social media plays a very big part in that and also making people understand this issue.

Yeah, sure. I mean, you've got to connect the dots, connect with people, connect with young people, meet them where they are. And I think what the Biden-Harris campaign is going to have to do is to connect this issue with other ones and to show how—acknowledge imperfections, but show how the Democrats are a lot closer to where they actually are and are listening to them and need their support and need and value their contribution. So, this is one of the things that the Democrats are going to have to face.

You know, we're starting to turn the corner a little bit with the change in leadership to King Jeffries, my friend Pete Aguilar, and some others. But our leadership in the House was pretty old, too. You know what I mean? They were holding on. Listen, Nancy is the one. She's the realist, but she's 80 plus. She's still rocking them stilettos, but she's 80 plus.

You know what I mean? So we have to be very, very intentional about not only saying to the kids that we hear you and we want you and we need you, but demonstrating it in the most fundamental ways and showing how this is an imperfect world, but a great country and a larger issue that's not going to get solved to their satisfaction without their contribution. And that contribution really starts and ends with participating in what is supposed to be a participatory democracy. But you've got to meet them where they are to do that.

You've got to listen to them. People need to feel heard. I don't think that people always feel like they need to be agreed with, maybe on the extremes on both sides. But being heard, I think it's just as important to have a representative that hears you, even if you don't agree with them all the time, as it is to have someone that's a carbon copy and that will change with the times. Nikki Haley is young and hip, quote, or relatively speaking, compared to Trump, but she changes with the day. She's like a $3 bill. And so be real, be agreeable, you know, or disagreeably,

you know, if you got to disagree, do it respectfully and make people feel heard. That's the most important thing. And before we go to break, you know, or disagreeably, you know, if you got to disagree, do it respectfully and make people feel heard. That's the most important thing. And before we go to break, you know, one of the things that people have been doing too at some of her speeches and her meetings with people is they have been yelling out other issues like Israel and Hamas. So while she's using this platform for what she wants to do, people are certainly bringing a lot of issues to the table in hopes, certainly, that she would speak about that. So we'll continue to follow her tour as she finishes it up. At this point, we're going to go to a break. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. We'll be right back. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence

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. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

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

and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th, ad free at lava for good. Plus on Apple podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg. 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 a compassionate choice

to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown.

We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. 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. 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.

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

and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together. So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's The Culture, weekdays at 3, only on the Black Star Network. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. Immigrants lured off Texas streets and shipped to places like Martha's Vineyard and Washington, D.C.

Believe it or not, we've seen it all before. You people in the North, you're so sympathetic to Black people, you take them. Sixty years ago, they called it the reverse freedom rise. Back then, southern governors shipped black people north with the false promise of jobs and a better life. It's a part of a well-known playbook being brought back to life. So what's next? That's next on The Black Table, a conversation with Dr. Gerald Horne

about this issue of the reverse freedom rise, right here on the Black Table, a conversation with Dr. Gerald Horne about this issue of the reverse freedom rise right here on The Black Star Network. A new year for a new you. Curl Prep Natural Hair Solutions at CurlPrep.com is an amazing organic line for curls, locks, braids, twists, and even those wigs and extensions. Women, men, and children are loving this line. Look at this video and you be the judge. People line up to see this product in action at hair shows, and when they take a seat and try it,

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Give me that bass. Give me that beat. Hit on your tongue, I can feel an explosion. I'll take another. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deah owens america's wealth coach the wealth gap has literally not changed in over 50 years according to the federal reserve on the next get wealthy i'm excited to chat with jim castleberry ceo of known hold. They have created a platform, an ecosystem to bring resources to Blacks and people of color so they can scale their business. Even though we've had several examples of

African-Americans and other people of color being able to be successful, we still aren't seeing the mass level of us being lifted up. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Hi, I'm Jo Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on Disney's Louder and Prouder Disney+. And I'm with Roland Martin on Unfiltered. All right. So earlier today, Roland Martin was at a Black History Month event at the White House. We're now going to go to some remarks made by Vice President Kamala Harris. So during Black History Month, we come together as a nation to honor and celebrate our history. The history of black excellence and leadership, culture and creativity, resilience and resistance. During Black History Month, we tell the stories of the heroes of our nation's past and of our present.

Leaders across our country and here in this room who shape our future. This month and every month, we celebrate black history as America's history. Living, breathing history that we create every day. History that must be taught in full. History has also taught us that we must see clearly and speak truth about the moment we are currently in. And today that means we must speak truth about the full-on attack we witness in states across our nation on our most fundamental freedoms, including the freedom to learn and acknowledge our nation's true and full history.

Across our nation, we have witnessed extremists who try to erase our history. They censor history textbooks and cancel history classes. Tracey Hall, the first black woman to serve as Executive Director of the American Library Association reminded us last year, free people read freely. And yet today we see extremists who pass book bans, book bans in this year of our Lord 2024. And these extremists not only try to erase the past but to rewrite it. In Florida, the third largest state by population in our nation, so-called leaders intend to teach

our children that enslaved people benefited from slavery. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us. And as I said in Florida last summer, this is an abject and purposeful and intentional policy to mislead our children and to divide and distract our nation with unnecessary debates. Let us be clear, and I know we are, to build a brighter future for our nation, we must learn from our past.

Let us not be seduced into believing that somehow it will be better to forget if we edit out the bad parts. No, we will be stronger when we remember. We will be better when we remember. Only if we learn the lessons of our history can we ensure that the wrongs and injustices will not be repeated. So let history remind us of the strength of the movements for progress and freedom in our nation, that America's most sacred principles have been realized and strengthened when we

the people fought for them, generation after generation. And now let us all play part in the relay race that makes history, knowing that it is we who have been passed the baton. And the challenge for us is how well we run the race when the baton is in our hands. Thank you. the race when the baton is in our hands. So in this moment where we know there is a coexistence between all that is about

the history of struggle and the history of celebration, knowing of our successes. During this month and always, let us celebrate the heroes and the excellence as we fight for our country and its most sacred ideals, knowing we are made for this moment. And so was our President Joe Biden. A leader who has the strength, the skill, the courage, and the compassion not just to fight, but to win. And now to introduce our president, it is my great honor to welcome an extraordinary young leader. I can't wait for you to get to know him, Nigel Murray.

All right, folks, that was Vice President Kamala Harris speaking at the White House about an hour and a half ago. I literally just left the White House. I was there in the room. They had a chance to catch up with her as well as the president as well uh let me thank candace for holding it out in the first hour of the show i certainly appreciate it uh candace uh one of the things that jumps out uh there obviously one of the things that president biden said uh he said i look forward to seeing y'all back here next year and he said we will be back here next Black History Month. You know what?

I think that's important. I think it's good for him to say, listen, I hope that I will be here. Maybe the numbers might say something different. South Carolina proved to be on his side when it comes to the primaries. He's got a long road ahead of him, as we've been talking about on the show, for people to believe in him and his age and what he can offer. But certainly he's keeping up the faith

and maybe we will see him next year. All right then, Candace. I certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. To that particular point there, Randy, look, they understand it is a long road to hoe here. But the reality is we see how the economic numbers are changing and they are putting their campaign together. And then again, you've got Donald Trump with where you have the appeals court who just ruled.

He does not have any immunity just because he's a former president. And the Supreme Court is likely not even going to take that case up. And so that means that his trial, the one leading the insurrection, that could start in the spring. And I hope it does. I'm hoping the timing works out that that his trial does start. And, you know, it's it's it's insulting that he has the audacity. I mean, he certainly does not lack audacity to suggest that because he was at one time a president, regardless of what he does, that he should not at all be held accountable for it.

So I was happy to see that come down today. I'm not surprised. I'm sure he is because he seems to have this notion of himself that he is untouchable. But I really hope that, you know, everyone pays attention to that. We have a man who's trying to run our country that has, what, 93 indictments right now. Very serious, very serious situation. Joe, again, it's always interesting seeing his supporters act as if none of these things matter. But the reality is they are supporting an insurrectionist and he has issues

with himself in terms of Republicans as well as independents saying, I can't support this guy. Right. I mean, you know, it's going to be interesting to see how it pans out, how it shakes out and what they're planning, because I don't think that the Trump campaign can grow its voters. They can turn out the voters that are inclined, but I don't know that they can grow into other areas. Certainly Democrats wouldn't be supporting them. Independents would be very, very unlikely to support them, I would think. And so, you know, while these—and because these campaigns are normally won in that space somewhere, you know, the ability to convert some folks, bring some folks out that wouldn't otherwise be brought out or whatever else, he'd have to bring a whole lot of folks out.

Now, of course, he's relying on, you know, voter suppression and some of these other things to make the pot smaller, make the numbers of people actually voting smaller. But it is not good news. People talk about how, oh, my God, he seems to be getting stronger. It's like, you know, he's supposed to be kryptonite, but it's making him stronger. It's not good news that this cat is being prosecuted in four different cases. It's not good news that he's got $100 million judgments against him. And eventually, he's going to say things, and people are going to get tired,

and it's going to wear on them, just like it always does. I mean, I'm not saying he's not popular. I'm not saying that a lot of people don't support him. But ultimately, you have to feel like between the things that's happening with him and the way that he says things that are out of pocket and not timely, not good at manner and timing, that ultimately is going to end up coming out to bite him. Indeed. All right, folks, got to go to break. We come back. We're going to talk about 10 years in April of the Flint water crisis. We'll talk to someone who was working for the city of Flint at the time.

And it continues to be a problem. Folks keep saying, hey, the water's good, everything is fine. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

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

really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-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 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. It really does. It makes

it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling.

The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at TaylorPaperSealing.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Everybody we keep talking to says that is not the case. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network.

When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, you're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. A lot of stuff that we're not getting, you get it. And you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us.

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You hear me? Environmental justice experts called it the most egregious example, folks, of environmental injustice and racism in recent U.S. history. It's been 10 years since the Flint water crisis started, and the city still has not recovered. The once prosperous birthplace of General Motors experienced a detrimental decline after the plants shut down. The mismanagement of the city's infrastructure led to a number of problems, including corroded

pipes leading to the deaths of about a dozen people, some say more, and leaving thousands with various health problems for years. My next guest was brought in a few years ago, a few years after the water crisis, to help fix the city's issues. Joining me now from Saginaw, Michigan, is Pamela Pugh. She is the former chief public health advisor for the city of Flint. And Pamela, when we talk about Flint 10 years later, again, we had a guest, George and Charlton, yesterday.

He said it's hard to get these media folks to pay any attention. And I remember when President Obama went there and drank a glass of water to illustrate that things were fine. Yet when you talk to residents, they say all that stuff was for show. Things still are not fine. And, you know, it was always a rush to the finish. And we start with the fact, and we have to say this over and over again, is that the people of Flint drank water that was brown, that smelled. Looks like Pam's signal froze.

So folks, let's get that fixed so we can get her right back on to get a sense again of what took place there. There were so many, there were so many examples that we've seen of how things have not been fixed. People are still in Flint using bottled water. I think we got Pamela back. So Pamela, go right ahead. What'd you pick up on your comments where you left off? Yes. We have to say this and make sure we repeat this. And we cannot say it enough because the people of Flint for 18 months drank water that was brown, that smelled, that caused rashes, that caused hair loss. And our government ignored those cries. And then we saw, what we saw is everything from children who were impacted by the lead exposures. We saw, as was mentioned, deaths. We saw at least 12 deaths due to

Legionnaires' disease. And we saw many who were ill. And while lead was what caught the headlines, we know that that imbalance of the water system, when there was a switch from the decades-used Detroit water system to the unvetted Flint City water that was not tested, was not at all vetted, was not treated. And that corrosive water that ran through the pipes, it caused such an imbalance that it was not just the leaching out of lead. It was also high rates of Legionella that caused a disease, a pneumonia, a form of pneumonia that caused death and great illness. And so now today, there are other residents who still have not.there are some who are still drinking bottled water. The water has been testing within the limits.

There is residents who have not seen any type of criminal justice whatsoever. And there has not been settlements when we talk about the settlement dollars that were to come. And we could go on and on about some of the health concerns and health issues that we will be watching from here on out to the end of life for the residents of Flint. And on that particular point, I mean, there are residents who are going to have issues and they're going to be having to look at their health for 20, 30, 40 years. There were women who lost children. There were, and of course, you don't hear nothing for all the pro-life folks. Those conservatives are real quiet. And we got to be concerned about the health of the children of the children.

So we're talking about something that we'll have to pay attention to for the next 30, 40, 50 years. Yes. Yes. And so we know that there is a registry that was put forward by MSU and Dr. Mona, Hannah, Atisha, that is to monitor the health of residents, much like the registry that was put forward after the horrible 9-11 attacks. And so that will have to be monitored. We know that there will be children because they were exposed to lead, and there is no safe level of lead, that we will continuously have to make sure that they have extra supports. We saw in the school system that the number of children with special needs grew exponentially. So the school system is impacted by this as well. But yes, when we talk about adults, that will have that right now,

there is a cancer study, a cancer cluster study that is underway and will officially kick off in October, thanks to some of the residents like Arthur Woodson and others who really pushed for that to happen. And then we know that there were the lawsuits that brought about the lead pipe replacement, which that's not finished either. Are we, so Snyder, Republican, he was in charge, but are we seeing Democratic leaders, are they doing more to help the folks there? Or is it pretty much, you know what, out of sight, out of mind, those things are pretty much done, we're good? When you talk to residents, the residents feel like government as a whole have left them still with pipes that some thousands maybe of pipes, either their lawns have not been restored or the pipes have

not been replaced. So the residents don't really see D's or R's. What they see is whether or not their health will be restored, whether or not their infrastructure will be restored. And most disheartening is whether or not they can ever, ever trust their government to stand up for them. And, you know, this was a Black and Brown community, and this was a low-income community. And we know that this would never have happened in a community that was affluent. Questions for the panel. you first. Yeah I appreciate the insight that you're giving us I was going to ask is there anything out there two things first of all what are the things that are missing you've talked about this some a little bit are were there agreements to do anything from a settlement standpoint pipe replacement that just isn't being done? Is there that component? And then what can people that are not in Flint can actually do? I'm so saddened by this because it really strongly suggests that things that have to do with Black folks will get a flash

in a moment, and then they won't care anymore. But what are the things that people like us that are outside of the issue, technically speaking, how can we be involved and be helpful? Yes. Roland, I was on your show. You probably don't remember. Maybe it was October of 2017. And what we really try to emphasize is that what is happening in Flint will happen in

other places if we don't deal with it right now. And so we've seen New Jersey, we've seen Jackson, we've seen other communities that have been impacted by the government not doing everything that it needs to do. So first realizing that if we don't take care of it, these issues, when we see it happening to the least of us, then we will definitely see it in other places. And we have to realize that and finish the work. So checking in on the people in Flint. And I live 30 miles north. I still spend a lot of time in Flint. I still make sure I'm checking in. And when you listen

to the community, what they want is the remainder of the pipes repaired. In 2019, there were 27,000 pipes that were completed and 4,000 that were left. And there are still pipes that are left undone. And we also need to make sure that when we're looking at the criminal justice, that there was no punitive action taken for lives that were lost, lives that were harmed, and again, the trust that will probably never be regained. So looking at that system, once again, when we talk about the criminal justice system and the communities that we're talking about, making sure that we're checking in on Flint and seeing what can be done there still. And then when it comes to the lawsuit, we tout here in Michigan that this was the largest lawsuit

in the state of Michigan. But right now, residents, adult residents are set to get about $1,000 as a result, and they've not seen that yet, 10 years after. Randy? So is there a special commission or something in Michigan that is overseeing this issue? I mean, it seems to me that it's not something that we should just trust and go business as usual. That is a good question. And there is, to my knowledge, there is not. To my knowledge, there there is not. We know that our Civil Rights Commission came out and they did. They were researching and looking into the case.

And at the end of the day, they wrote a report that said that this was done onto the people of Flint because of systemic racism. And that was the report that was written. And here we are today, still no criminal charges, still no dollars realized by the residents of Flint and the pipes yet not replaced. And the lights of all the cameras that were there have gone dark. Well, our goal is to, of course, keep the light and the attention on it because, again, there are still issues that are left unresolved. Pamela P., we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thank you. Folks, we'll be right back on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. is different for everybody. You know, I think we fall into this trap, which often gets us stuck because we're looking at someone else's level of journey, what level of means to them.

For some, it might be a business venture. For some, it might be a relationship situation, but it's different for everybody. It's all a part of a balanced life. That's next on Blackstar Network. I'm Faraiq Muhammad, live from L.A., and this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation, you and me.

We talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together, so let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's The Culture, weekdays at 3,

only on the Blackstar Network. For the last 15 or maybe 16 years, 18 years, I'll say, since when I moved to L.A., I hadn't had a break. I hadn't had a vacation. I had a week vacation here and there. Right.

This year, after I got finished doing Queen Sugar and we wrapped it up, because I knew I had two TV shows coming on at the same time, so I'm going to take a little break. So I've been on break for the first time, and I can afford it. You know what I'm saying? Right. So I can afford it. I can sit back and ain't got nothing to worry about, man.

But this was the first time in almost two decades that I've actually had time to sit back and smell the roses. Hi, I'm Jo Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on Disney's Louder and Prouder Disney Plus, 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 one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th.

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season 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-studugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people,

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

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

working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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. Olivia Chukwun has been missing from Lincoln, Nebraska since December 18th. The 18-year-old is 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 145 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about Olivia's disappearance is urged to call the Lincoln, Nebraska Police Department at 402-441-6000.

402-441-6000. A Colorado city will pay a black family over a million dollars to settle a civil rights lawsuit. In August of 2020, Brittany Gilliam was having a Sunday fun day outing with her 17-year-old sister, 6-year-old daughter, and two nieces, 12 and 14, when they encountered Aurora police officers. The officers, who thought Gilliam was in a stolen vehicle, ordered everyone out and handcuffed Gilliam, her sister, and her 12-year-old niece. Officers forced Gilliam's 6-year-old daughter and 14-year-old niece to hold their hands above their heads while face down on the pavement because the handcuffs were

too big for the youngest girl. The family was detained for two hours until a sergeant arrived. Police said her license plate matched one of a stolen motorcycle officers later found out the motorcycle had plates from a different state the family was awarded 1.9 million dollars um i i don't understand, Joe. It's a different state license plate. How in the hell you mix that up? And yeah, this is the sheer stupidity. And thank goodness this family, look, yes, 1.9 million,

but they're still dealing with the trauma of this. There's no doubt about it. And I'd be willing to bet you that they would trade the $1.9 million back to be able to erase that memory. It's something that they'll never forget, particularly those young children. That is childhood trauma, one-on-one. What they will associate with seeing police, where they'll probably get nervous anytime a policeman drives down the street around them. You know, and, you know, again, you know, the police are supposed to protect and serve, right? And at the end of the day, there's no doubt, there's no issue with these police officers

with these guns and these belts and all this other stuff that they have feeling unsafe because these small black people are in this car. There was no, there was small and young black people. There's no need for them to do all this. But at the end of the day, they probably did it because they thought that they could get away with it. They thought they would get the deference. And it's okay that they messed up and it was just a different state. We're lucky that they didn't get dead here. People sometimes get killed under circumstances like this. So we're fortunate that way, but it's something they'll never forget the rest of their life. It'll be traumatizing to them probably forever.

And this is another reason why we harp about the beginning of trust being accountability. This is just an unforced error. They didn't have to do this at all. Indeed. Well, let's go to Mississippi, where the state auditor says, Brett Favre, guess what? Yeah, you Trump-loving mag of fool. He owes more than $730,000 to the state for welfare money that was improperly spent on projects backed by the retired NFL quarterback auditor Chad White said in 2020 a nonprofit organization connected

to the Mississippi Department of Human Services paid for $1.1 million in speaking fees. The funds were from the temporary assistance for needy families program and was to be used towards a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi where far agreed to lead fundraising efforts for the facility

at his alma mater where his daughter started playing the volleyball playing on the volleyball team in 2017. Far repaid $500,000 to the state in May 2020, and $600,000 in October 2021. But the new court filing said he still owes $729,790 because interest caused growth in the original amount to be owed. Well, guess what happens? He's sitting here, Randy, acting like the person who he loves, Donald Trump, where they don't believe in accountability.

Right. He doesn't believe in accountability whatsoever. So I'm glad that somebody is making, ensuring that he is accountable. And what really frustrates me about this whole case is that, Roland, you have been reporting it from the beginning, but you can't, you can't find an article talking about this case. And, you know, this is just criminal, but it's morally reprehensible what this man did. And no one is talking about it. And it just disgusts me how when powerful white men commit crime, it's just hidden.

And if somebody were to go and rob a subway tonight, we would see their faces over and over again. The way that they're continuously protected is just, you know, angering to me. But he needs to go ahead and pay up. Absolutely. Okay, how about this, folks? Tennessee House Republicans, they are at it again. Check this out, y'all. These fools are calling for Democratic Rep Justin Jones to resign from office because...

Y'all, these fools want him to quit because he declined to lead the House in the Pledge of Allegiance during Thursday's session. The pledge is usually recited immediately after the invocation at the beginning of each house session and is led by the member who hosts the minister of the day. Jones hosted Sally Wells, president of the Native American Indian Association of Tennessee, who offered a prayer in the Choctaw language. Before the session, Jones submitted a handwritten note to the House clerk requesting not to leave the chamber in the pledge.

He told the Tennessean, the local newspaper, the reason why I did not join my colleagues in the pledge is that I cannot say the words liberty and justice for all with colleagues who have done everything in their power to roll back liberty and justice for women, for minorities, for LGBTQ people. Now, folks, this isn't Jones' first clash with Republican colleagues. Remember, he's been silenced and taken off of previous committees by the Republican-led House. He, along with Representative Justin Pearson, were expelled over their role in leading a gun control protest

on the House floor, but they were later re-elected by people, their voters in Nashville and Shelby County, where Memphis is, and of course, they are back in office. This is the stupidity, Randy. So because he won't lead the pledge, you want to kick him out of the legislature? So the hell with the voters. Because you won't lead the pledge, you can't represent the people who elected you. Because it is about controlling black people and forcing us to conform. And this brother refuses to do so.

Congratulations to him. You know, there have been calls by all sorts of people for the Pledge of Allegiance to be revised, and it has been revised before. They added under God, for instance. And so it doesn't have, you know, there's a lot of people who say they don't want to say it because of what it does or doesn't mean for them anymore. But, you know, it's just looking to make a Black man conform. That's what this is about. They want him to do as they say do. And so the anger comes when it doesn't. And didn't the guy who's making the big fuss, didn't he pull down the pants of a referee? This, well, first of all, look, these Republicans have done all kind of

crap. I think he pulled down the pants of a referee. They've done all kind of sheer stupidity. What this is, Joe, is they saying, you're going to say Toby. Right. Right. I mean, at the end of the day. But it looks like to me that, you know, with him and a couple of our other brothers there, they probably got the wrong ones. And so they want to fight.

So here's where we are, you know, because he's going to be the one on that. And so it's just like you said, the people have already decided that they are their representatives. They've been sent back twice because they needed to be based on the shenanigans that were going on there. And, you know, I think it's a reminder for all of us that it's not just about saying words, by the way. It's actually about living something. You know, you can't say that you're living

in justice for all if you're actually not. And you want to focus on him for not saying it. Why don't we focus on you for not doing it? And so you really have to decide what it is that you're going to be. Are you going to just go through the motions, say the words just because you want them said? Are you really going to try to do justice? It's not about just saying justice.

It's actually about doing justice. And in that regard, that is the spirit that forces people to account, that speaks truth to power, and that forces change that doesn't want to come but needs to come. And so in that regard, they're going to have to do what they need to do because he's going to be the one to go back and forth, and he's standing on very, very good moral ground. It's what Brother John Lewis would call good trouble. Listen, these 10th Republicans are absolutely outside of their minds. All right, y'all, what was discovered in Target is why we need to fight to keep black history in schools. Target has pulled this product dedicated to civil rights icons after a now viral TikTok highlighted some major errors.

Las Vegas high school teacher Tara Espy showed how these civil rights icons, Carter G. Woodson, W.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, were misidentified in the magnetic learning activity. Watch this, y'all. So I went to get my kids this little magnet learning activity since Black History coming up from Target. I don't know who's in charge of Target,

but these need to be pulled off the shelves, like, immediately. So I teach you his history. I study history, got my major in social studies, and I noticed some discrepancies, like, as soon as I opened this. Like I said, these need to be pulled off the shelf. For starters, this is not Carter G. Woodson. This is W.E.B. Du Bois. Peep the stash. Peep the stash.

They got the name wrong. This is not W.E.B. Du Bois. This is Booker T. Washington. Peep the little fancy bow tie. Peep the fancy little bow tie. And then this is not Booker T. Washington. This is Carter Woodson.

You can see clearly clearly the similarities. I get it. Mistakes happen but this needs to be corrected ASAP. Randy. Randy I mean such obvious mistakes like basic knowledge of black history would alert anyone and you know I have to say it as a former DEI person this is why you need diverse staff, right? This is why you need people with some knowledge to say, this is a product we're creating. What we have right now is wrong

or to ensure that they're right. And lastly, what always upsets me is that, you know, people say mistakes happen, but it seems as if there are always what it has to do with our products, our marketing campaigns that are, you know, with us in the center, that I don't think any care is given to it. I just think they say, okay, it's Black History Month, throw something together real quick. It's just like no care evidently is shown, because that's basic. That's basic. And this is how you get embarrassed publicly when this happens

simple as that joe yeah yeah for sure i mean and so you know this shines a light and reminds why we actually need to be teaching our history we still got folks that are supposed to be you know uh that ought to know because they're putting together a product related to it that seem not to know. So you don't even have a committee. You don't even have some folk that can look over and say, oh, no, this is Carter G. Woodson right here. This is Booker T. Washington. You don't even have that. You know, so, you know, it's irresponsible. And it's amazing how when it comes to certain things, you know, excellence is not demanded, that mistakes are okay, that they would apply grace.

No, we shouldn't apply grace to this. These are unforced errors that you can't make, because imagine us. This is just as important as us branding Abraham Lincoln as George Washington or vice versa. It's just as important. And so, you know, we need to get it right or not get it at all. Lord, Lord, Lord. All right, y'all, got to go to break. We'll be right back.

Rollerball Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Be sure to support us in what we do. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your contributions allow us to do what we do. Send your check and money. Order the P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign, RM unfiltered, PayPal or Martin unfiltered. Venmo is RM unfiltered.

I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4,

5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way.

In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban 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 2 on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts And to hear episodes one week early And ad free with exclusive content Subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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. Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinFilter.com. We'll be right back. next on the frequency we have an incredible conversation with my guest, Nadira Simmons,

talking about her new book, First Things First, Hip Hop Ladies That Changed the Game. The founder of GumboNet tells us the stories behind the women in hip hop, starting with the first woman that promoted the hip hop party to Megan Thee Stallion. There's even a chapter on me. Thank you so much for including me in there. It's just so like, you had to be in there. That's next on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr.

Immigrants lured off Texas streets and shipped to places like Martha's Vineyard and Washington, D.C. Believe it or not, we've seen it all before. You people in the North, you're so sympathetic to black people, you take them. Sixty years ago, they called it the reverse freedom ride. Back then, Southern governors shipped black people North with the false promise of jobs and a better life. It's part of a well-known playbook being brought back to life.

So what's next? That's next on The Black Table, a conversation with Dr. Gerald Horne about this issue of the reverse freedom rise right here on the Black Star Network. Hello, I'm Jameah Pugh. I am from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, just an hour right outside of Philadelphia. My nameameah Pugh. I am from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, just an hour right outside of Philadelphia. My name is Jasmine Pugh. I'm also from Coatesville, Pennsylvania.

You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stay right here. All right, folks. Welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Okay, the other day I came across this post on Instagram. The founder of the black-owned company, Actively Black, called out Fabletics, I guess that's how it's pronounced, for using the Actively Black brand, their name, in their Google ads for Black History Month. The issue is that companies can outbid small brands to use their names in Google ads. This makes no sense.

Joining me now is CEO and founder of Actively Black, former NBA player Larry Smith. So I'm confused now. So here y'all have this brand and they're using your name and so basically if anybody types in your name and the way the algorithm works by putting this it it pops up at the top of the page correct yes so um essentially google allows companies to bid on certain keywords uh for their google advertising um and what we found that some of these companies were doing were they were bidding on our actual trademark brand name so that when people were going Google actively black, their company, their website would pop up.

So like right now, so I'm on Google, but I type in actively black. So when I click, where does it appear? When I click shopping or how does it work? How does it work? Yeah, it's a randomized bidding system. So it may not happen every time that you Google the name. But over the course of millions of people utilizing Google search engine, what will happen is the people who are bidding the most, who have the biggest budgets to bid on those keywords, more often than not, their site will pop up, you know, when somebody is searching for that keyword. So, guys, pull a graphic.

I want to show people exactly what it looked like here. And so it said shop actively black clothing today, but it took you to their website? Yeah, so on this one that you're showing right now, this is Amazon doing this. So we first found out that it was Fabletics, and then some customers wrote in and told us that they were Googling our name, and this Amazon ad was popping up. And so it's intentionally misleading users. It's intentionally misleading uh users it's intentionally misleading traffic so people will click on that link thinking that they're going to find actively black apparel um but then they're taken somewhere else um we don't we're not sold on amazon so

there's no reason for amazon to have actively black as uh the first two words in their ad on google same thing with Fabletics. You know, they're literally using our trademark brand name as the headline in their Google ad. And so, you know, I had customers writing in asking me if we had a collaboration coming out with Fabletics because they were confused by those ads. And so, you know, checking with the Google policies,

it's not illegal for companies to bid on competitors' keywords or even their brand names. But they cannot include a trademarked brand name from a competitor in the headline of their ad. It cannot be in a copy of their ad at all because it's intentionally misleading the users. And to your point, guess what? When you are a small brand, I mean, look, we are a small black-owned media company. Yeah, we don't have the marketing dollars of a CNN or a Fox News. And so you're out here scratching and clawing, and these folks are biting off of you to get folks to buy their stuff versus buying directly from you. Yeah, it's to me, it's the it's the e-commerce version of colonialism.

Right. You're literally stealing a black owned brand's name to to drive people to your site to profit off of it. And it's not a coincidence that they started doing this during Black History Month. So they know that the organic searches for Black-owned brands is going to increase during Black History Month. And so this was definitely strategic. You know, somebody on their paid advertising marketing teams decided to include those as keywords for their ads. And to your point, you know, Black-owned businesses receive less than 1% of all venture capital. Of the billions of venture capital, Black-owned businesses receive less than 1% of those investments. I believe 96% of all Black-owned businesses don't have the working capital to be able to

hire employees and pay benefits. So, you know, we're already, you know, fighting an uphill battle to be in business and to try to scale and to build these profitable businesses. So now to have these multibillion dollar corporations want to come into not just come into our lane. Competition is competition. But to try to trick people into thinking that, you know, actively black is either sold on their website or using our trademark name to try to siphon off some of our traffic is just it's not illegal, but, you know, it's immoral. But I mean, what else do you expect? Randy. Good to see you. I am a definite actively black purchaser. I thought about it. I should run to the back and put on some of my gear. Oh, no. Oh, no. Look at you. I appreciate it. We appreciate the support. Yes. Well, it's a good product. What is the recourse? I mean, is there anything that can be done?

I know you're saying it's not illegal, but. Yeah, we you know, our legal team is currently exploring what options we have directly with Google to have those ads removed and have them taken down. In Google's own updated policy as of 2019, I believe, you know, it's against their policy to use trademark brand names in the ad copy. So clearly this is a violation of that policy. So our legal team is right now exploring everything that we need to do to rectify this. Best of luck to you. Joe, do you have any sense for what your damages would come to, how much you are potentially losing? Unfortunately, those companies have the back end data of how much traffic has clicked through those particular links to go to their website. We don't know if Google will be able to share that information with us or not.

That's something that our legal team is looking into. But the truth of the matter is, I didn't even know that this was happening until some of our customers started writing in to me and telling me, hey, I thought you had a collaboration coming out with Fabletics. Some other customers wrote in and say, hey, I was looking for your brand on Amazon. When I Googled you, Amazon had you in the ad and I clicked on Amazon, but I couldn't find your product. I saw similar products that were not yours. And so, you know, we actually don't have any idea right now on, you know, how much revenue we may have lost out on due to, you know, these type of tactics. Well, it absolutely makes no sense. And so, look, keep up the fight, hopefully y'all will get get some justice.

But again, it is hard when you're out here and you're trying to you're trying to build a business and you have folks who do things like this. Make sure you go to actively black dot com. You know, if you just go to actively black dot comcom you don't have to worry about being tricked by anybody else um you know this is black owned this is for us we reinvest back into the black community it's time for us to stop asking for a seat at the table and to build our own table and that's exactly what we're doing with actively black um so we appreciate the tribe support you know black owned businesses can't scale without the support of our own so yep roland i appreciate you for having me on. All right, appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Yes, sir.

Folks, come back. I got a couple of more words to say about the Grammys. And they did something on Sunday that is shameful, egregious, grossly disrespectful, and downright pathetic. I will explain when we come back on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

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

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

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

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

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

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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. Grow your business or career with Grow with Google's wide range of online courses, digital training, and tools. Gain in-demand job skills with flexible online training programs designed to put you on the fast track to jobs in high-growth fields. No experience is necessary. Learn at your own pace. Complete the online certificate program on your own terms. Stand out to employers, get on a path to in-demand jobs, and connect with top employers who are currently hiring. Take one professional career certificate program,

or all six. Earn a Google career certificate to prepare for a job in a high growth field like data analytics, project management, UX design, cybersecurity, and more. All professional career certificate programs must be completed by December 31st, 2024. Scan the QR code to complete the application. There are 1,000 scholarships available. Grow with Google and J. Hood and Associates. Be job-ready and qualify for in-demand jobs. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr.

Immigrants lured off Texas streets and shipped to places like Martha's Vineyard and Washington, D.C. Believe it or not, we've seen it all before. You people in the North, you're so sympathetic to Black people, you take them. Sixty years ago, they called it the reverse freedom rights. Back then, Southern governors shipped Black people North with the false promise of jobs and a better life.

It's part of a well-known playbook being brought back to life. So what's next? That's next on The Black Table, a conversation with Dr. Gerald Horne about this issue of the reverse freedom rights right here on the Black Star Network. On the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, we're talking about leveling up or to put it another way, living your very best life. How to take a bold step forward that'll rock your world. Leveling up is different for everybody. You know, I think we fall into this trap,

which often gets us stuck because we're looking at someone else's level of journey, what level up means to them. For some, it might be a business venture. For some, it might be a relationship situation, but it's different for everybody. It's all a part of a balanced life. That's next on Blackstar Network. Next on The Frequency, we have an incredible conversation with my guest,

Nadira Simmons, talking about her new book, First Things First, Hip Hop Ladies That Changed the Game. The founder of GumboNet tells us the stories behind the women in hip hop. Starting with the first woman that promoted the hip hop party to Megan Thee Stallion. There's even a chapter on me. Thank you so much for including me in there. It's just so like, you had to be in there. That's next on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. Hi, I am Tommy Davidson. I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder.

I don't play Sammy, but I could. Or I don't play Obama, but I could. I don't do Stallone, but I could do all that. And I am here with Roland Martin on Unfiltered. All right, folks, Roland Martin here. In this studio, when we launched this, these three pieces of artwork here, you've got James Baldwin, the writer over here,

you've got Ida B. Wells, Barnett, that's right behind me, and you've got this piece right here in the center of Mr. B Harry Belafonte. I had great respect, admiration for Mr. B. We talked. We dined. I interviewed him. We would call and text. And he was just an unbelievable human being.

So on Sunday, the Grammys did this huge memoriam. And this is some of the video right here. And in that memoriam, they paid tribute to Sinead O'Connor. They had Fantasia do a tribute to Tina Turner. They had a tribute with John Baptiste, as well as Anne Nesby, Jimmy Jam, to The Godfather, Clarence Avant. I mean, it was a really long tribute. In all of that time, in all of that time that they did,

guess who they did not mention? How in the world, how in the world do you do a big memoriam and you don't mention the passing of Harry Belafonte? Here's what was crazy. During the show, they talked about the making of the We Are The World doc on Netflix. Lionel Richie presented. Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson co-wrote the song. Guess whose idea

was to even do it? How do you also sit here and talk about all these people and you make no mention of the first artist to sell a million copies? Who was that? Now, I've seen, it always happens at the Oscars and the Emmys and people say, hey, why was this person left out? And again, I'm not dissing any of these people we're in right now. Okay, look at the people we see in right now I mean these these are some of them. I'm gonna start it over because I'm just what again is it's not all of these people Should have been mentioned all of these people I saw

Somebody who was a Sony executive that was a brother who was an entertainment attorney It was all these different people, all these different singers and recording execs. They often will include engineers and producers, people who may contribute, Jim Lat, the DJ, people who made contributions to the music industry. How in the hell can you not pay tribute to Harry Belafonte? Here's what was crazy.

They had Stevie Wonder do a tribute to Tony Bennett guess who brought Tony Bennett into the civil rights movement they were long time friends and one of my conversations with Mr. B, he talked about Tony Bennett and how close friends they were and how he still reached out to them and called them and how they still talked.

In fact, I got it somewhere in my phone. When Mr. B was honored, when Mr. B was honored by the Robert Kennedy Foundation, Tony Bennett came there to pay tribute to Mr. B. I have no idea how in the hell they make their selections. I have no idea how these things are put together. But I'm just going to go ahead and say it. You don't have a real memoriam if you leave out one of the greatest artists in history. Made in history by winning an Emmy. Movies, music. Everybody all around the world knows Deo.

The Recording Academy owes the family of Harry Belafonte a serious apology. And what the Academy should do next year to make amends to this, there should be a very special tribute to Harry Belafonte. And see, I know there's somebody who's watching me right now. And they're saying, man, Roland, look, man, man you know we don't need these folks you know we can do our own thing and this is why this is one of the reasons why we do our own tributes here to give to pay homage to our our folks with it who when they transition to become ancestors. But you also do it for the next generation. Because y'all know what also happens?

When someone transitions, country singer Toby Keith died last night. I guarantee you his music is going to be some of the top streaming music. Tracy Chapman, after she performed Sunday, her music went number one on iTunes. So when these things happen, people then go, oh man, I forgot about that person. Let me go check out their music. And so you let the next generation know who these greats were. I was sort of halfway watching the Grammys, Randy and Joe.

Really wasn't like just watching it. But it wasn't until I saw a post on Instagram from Gina Prince. Excuse me, not Gina Prince, by the way, my God. Gina Belafonte, Harry Belafonte's daughter. And then I saw Tamika Mallory and Linda Saussure, and I saw Carmen Perez post as well. And mind-boggling. Like, if you're putting together a memorial,

I'm just saying, you might say, hmm, who makes the cut? Probably number one on the list is the person who was the first in history to sell a million copies. I'm just saying, Randy, I'm just, if you probably got a criteria, that one probably at the top of the list. Just saying. I would say top. I would not, can't even imagine how he was overlooked. They should be ashamed and embarrassed, and they absolutely owe the Belafonte family an apology,

and they better make it up to them somehow, like you said, next year. I didn't watch the awards, but I am shocked and disgusted to hear that they completely missed Harry Belafonte. I mean, come on. He's an icon. Joe, I'm just like, how in the hell did y'all do that? It's hard. Some things that get missed as it pertains to us,

even somebody like Harry Belafonte who crossed over, who checked their boxes, who was historic and was universal and transcended color, the closest you could come to having done so. You're going to forget him? That's nuts. You know, I don't know. I'm speechless on that. And, you know, I was sitting watching it, and, you know, I kind of have some problems with some things, you know, Annie Lennox, who I like. I mean, she's singing nothing compares to you.

And Wendy and Lisa over there didn't didn't legitimize that for me, you know, as it pertains to Prince. Prince would always have been better. And then, you know, Stevie and Tony Bennett were cool. And I guess I understood it. But I wasn't watching the Grammys to see Stevie sing Tony Bennett either. You know what I mean? So, you know, I had some problems anyway. But this adds to it. And of course, hopefully they check the box in a way that is fitting of Harry Belafonte's legend and his contribution. This is not somebody that was just an incredible entertainer who did some

historic things, but he actually helped to change the world with some of the things that he'd done that he did, uh, supportive of Martin Luther King. And I mean, he did so many different things. Um, and he checked even their boxes, he checked their boxes, our boxes, everyone's boxes. And so he needed to have recognition. Um, somebody said, um said he was listed in the Stevie Wonder song in the beginning but there was not a tribute to him. I'm sorry, I mean, look, and again, I told y'all, this is the photo right here of Tony Bennett and Mr. B.

I shot December 13th, 2017 at the RFK Foundation Awards in New York City. And I just, I'm sorry. If you're the Recording Academy, you screwed up big time. You screwed up big time if you did not pay special tribute because we're talking about out of all those people that were honored,

and again, I ain't got nothing against Sinead O'Connor. But if we're talking about the contributions to music and humanity and the history, and we're talking about the connection between Paul Robeson selling a million copies on television, in movies, marching with Dr. King, famine relief, the vision behind We Are the World, no, you pay proper respect to that man and you let the next generation know who that man was and what that man meant to music and the craft. So shame on the Recording Academy for their lack of proper respect and deference to the great Harry Belafonte.

We're going to be in New York City on March 1st for his memorial service. And again, we've always, the reason why I created this platform, because it went back to Washington Watch and TV One. It went back to News 1 Now and TV One. We always paid proper respect to our people, because we know we can't depend on other people to show proper respect to the folks who we know who made a difference.

We actually did two weeks of tributes to Mr. B. That's how much he meant to me and what he meant to our people. All right, folks, that is it for us. Let me thank Joe. Let me thank Randy. Let me thank Candace as well.

Folks, I appreciate y'all watching today's show. We're going to be restreaming the White House ceremony, the Black History Month celebration that took place at the White House. You'll be able to hear the remarks of Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, as well as the young man who introduced President Joe Biden as well. And, folks, again, we'll see you tomorrow. Don't forget, support us in what we do.

It's critically important, y'all. Again, why we have to have our own platforms. I keep telling y'all, this Grammy story is the perfect example. We cannot be in a position where we are hoping somebody else covers our story. I'm not interested in asking for permission. I'm not interested in hoping somebody else tells our story right. We can do it ourselves. And so when you support this show, and when you support this network, when you support the shows on this network, that's exactly what you are doing by allowing us to tell our story or as

Freedom's Journal the nation's first black newspaper said it's on it. Mirror right there. We wish to plead our own cause too long of others spoken for us. So you're checking money ordered appeal box 57196 Washington DC 20037-0196. Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered.

PayPal, RM Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. You can also support us by downloading the Black Star Network app, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. You can also watch our 24-hour, seven-day-a-week streaming channel available on Amazon News by going to Amazon Fire. You can tell Alexa, play News from the Black Star Network.

You can also watch us on Plex TV, watch us on Amazon Freebie, Amazon Prime Video. And, of course, you can get a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available bookstores nationwide. Get the audio version on Audible. Folks, I'll see y'all tomorrow. How? Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now. Thank you for being the voice of Black America.

All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time,

have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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-up way, 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. This is an iHeart Podcast.