#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Student COVID spike; Doc won't see unvaxxed; AI labels Blacks primates; Michael K. Williams dies

Episode Date: September 8, 2021

9.7.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Student COVID spike, teachers quit en masse; FL doc won't see the unvaxxed; HRC fires Alphonso David over Cuomo link; Facebook AI labels Black men primates; Rev. Jesse Jackson's wife home after COVID battle; Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs evil voting bill, defends new abortion law and vows to 'eliminate all rapists'; Officials cut ribbon on Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in DC; We'll celebrate the life and legacy of actor Michael K. Williams#RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: CEEKCEEK is a streaming platform for virtual events and Virtual Reality experiences featuring the biggest names in music, sports, and entertainment from around the globe. Check out the VR headsets and 4d headphones. Visit http://www.ceek.com and use the discount code RMVIP21Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered#RolandMartinUnfiltered 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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee 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.

We met them at their homes. We met them at the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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. Today is Tuesday, September 7, 2021. Roland Martin, non-filtered, broadcasting live from Nashville, Tennessee, on the campus of Fisk University.

Coming up on today's show, Delta variant causing significant COVID problems. We'll talk with Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick about this issue and what can be done to stop the miseducation that's going on all across the country. Also on today's show, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signs the voter suppression bill, but he also makes some strange comments with regards to abortion. What is he thinking? Also on today's show, folks, we'll pay tribute to actor Michael K. Williams, found dead yesterday at the age of 54. We'll talk to a number of folks who worked with him,

including Flex. We'll talk with Director X, who directed him in the movie Superfly. Also Fat Joe, Erica Alexander, Sonia Son, who's with him in The Wire. A whole host of folks celebrating the life and legacy of actor Michael K Williams. Folks, it's time to bring the funk.

I'm Roland Martin on filter. Let's go. Sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling With some go-go-royal It's rolling Martin Rolling with rolling now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know He's Roland Martin Now Now All right, folks, Roland Martin here, broadcasting live from the campus of Fisk University and Jubilee Hall,

where, of course, I'll be spending a number of days this semester here as a result of being a scholar in residence. I'm certainly looking forward to that. I'll be lecturing tomorrow here on campus. And so we're talking about the past, present, and the future of Black-owned media. Well, one of the areas that's important for what we do, due to the issue of the COVID and the Delta variant, folks, we are still significantly impacted by this pandemic, not only here in the United States, but also across the country. COVID deaths continue to soar in places like Texas and Florida,

where people like Governor Ron DeSantis, as well as Texas Governor Greg Abbott, act as if it's no big deal. More and more people, again, impacted young folks, children in ICUs. ICUs are still full across the country as well. But the big battle is not just fighting COVID, but also the mass misinformation that is taking place all across this country, especially among African-Americans. We see this on social media, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as folks spread all kinds of misinformation. Then you have people who all of a sudden, we call them TikTok doctors, who all of a sudden are making videos as if they know what the hell they're talking about,

when actually they don't. Joining us right now is Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick, who reached out to us, and we still want to talk to her about this. Doc, how you doing? Great, Roland. How are you doing? Doing great. First and foremost, from your perspective, what must be done to counter the absolute idiotic stuff that we're hearing across the country from so many people through social media? That's making it even more difficult to get people the right information due to the mass disinformation happening on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. Yeah, well, I think there are so many of us out here who can be credible

messengers. We really need to be on social media because, Roland, this is really a war. It's a misinformation war, and it's hard for us to get through because the misinformation is so sensational. I saw a lady on the street a couple of days ago, and she said she didn't want to get the vaccine because she was concerned about the nanotechnology. And she has seen this on Instagram, how the vaccine would make things stick to you like magnets. And also she thought the government was tracking you. So I said to her, is that a smartphone in your hand? I said, the government doesn't need to create a vaccine to track you when you have a smartphone. So I think we really have to be in the places where people are paying attention, and that's on social media. And it's hard because our information typically is pretty dry.

It's pretty dull. People are tired of hearing us say, look at the science. So we need to figure out how to be sexy, like the misinformation so that people will listen to us as well. And we have to make it relatable so that people understand that these vaccines are still safe, but most importantly, they're keeping people out of the hospital and they're preventing deaths. Well, I'll give a perfect example. Then you also have some doctors who also give information. I've had a lot of black folks talking about a Dr. Christine Parks, who's a PhD, when she appeared before a panel in Michigan.

And I mean, you literally have people saying, oh my God, she's the Rosa Parks of our era. Have you seen the video? And I've seen others who have said that the information she's giving out is simply erroneous. No, I haven't. But rolling right after this, I promise you I'm going to go and find it because the challenge is this information is really complex. And also because the pandemic is changing, the data, as the data come, we have to shift our approach. We have to shift our understanding as we learn more and more. And because of that, people think we don't know what we're talking about. But we do. I mean, the data do speak for themselves when it comes to how great these vaccines are.

And the other thing, Roland, is I hear a lot of people saying, I don't want to get vaccinated because nobody's talking about how the vaccines are killing people. The problem with the reporting system for medications or for these vaccines is that anybody can make a report and there's no way to verify. So most of these cases that we're seeing in the thousands now, it's because people have gone on there and they've reported it, but we don't know if it's true. But let's just say it is true, Roland. How many people have we saved as a result of these vaccines? The number of, let's just say people have had a complication and they died as a result of it. That number pales in comparison to the number of people who are still alive because of these vaccines.

So I'm going to look for her and see so that we can combat the misinformation on our social media channels. And the thing here that I'd also try to explain to people, there's a difference between somebody who is a PhD and someone who is an MD. You have, in fact, one of the things that she said is that, you know, the highest, the highest rated group of people who don't want to get the vaccine are PhDs. Well, first of all, you have less than 1% of all Americans who hold a PhD. Okay, so let's just go ahead and deal with that. And so what we're talking about here, again, the number I keep looking at,

if 98% of the people who are currently in ICUs are unvaccinated, what does that tell you about the folks who are vaccinated against COVID-19? That's absolutely right, Roland. And I even had a conversation with Dr. Tyson Bell, who is an ICU doctor in Virginia. And he told me he has not seen a vaccinated person in the ICU. So, you know, I think the challenge about PhDs versus MDs, it's not that we should say they're doctors or real doctors or not. The fact is a lot of people who created the science behind these vaccines are PhD doctors. They do research. They do a great job in the lab. But the problem is we have to help the public figure out how to sort the true information from the erroneous information,

because people are masquerading as experts when they're really not. And it's really hard for the public when you have someone who has letters behind their name and they are presenting themselves as if they're experts. You know, people tell me, well, I do my own research. The problem with that, Roland, is that we also have to help people understand when you do your research, it can't just be a Google search and you're reading everything on Google. You have to have a trusted messenger. These people who say they do their own research can barely even take care of their own cars. It's true, Roland. But, again, I think we have to be there to provide the support.

We have to be resources for people. But this is why it's so important that we come on shows like yours and let people know we're available to help them identify the correct information. All right, Dr. Fitzpatrick, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Thank you, Roland. I wanna bring our panel right now, A. Scott Bolden, former head of the National Bar Association

Political Action Committee, also Theresa Lundy with TML Communications. And also joining us is Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for Environmental Justice EPA. All right, Mustafa, you got a Ph.D. And the thing that's a trip to me is when I am seeing these videos and folks are like, oh, I'm a so-and-so, I'm a Ph.D. in this area. And again, I saw the so-and-so, I'm a PhD in this area. And then,

and again, I saw the video of Dr. Christine Parks and we're reaching out or have her on the show. And I have other doctors, medical doctors who've actually said what she laid out is nonsense. So for instance, folks were not saying that the COVID-19 vaccine was going to cure or keep people from actually catching COVID. That wasn't the case. Okay. I've never heard somebody even say, get the flu shot to ensure that you will never get the flu. This is not what actually what is said. And so what's interesting here is that what you really have, you have people who are looking

to latch onto anything. They're looking to latch onto anybody who agrees with their point of view. And all of a sudden, they now become the expert. For me, I'm going to trust medical doctors dispensing medical information. And then, like we have Dr. Robert Graves from North Carolina A&T, have scientific PhDs who can break down other areas. But what we're dealing with here is a significant misinformation attack that's in many ways targeted at our people. You know, everybody wants to be a social media star today, and they're willing to do and say anything to actually be able to garner that. You know, folks who get their PhDs have spent years in preparation and have done the work and continue to do the work.

And, of course, a PhD in humanities is different than a PhD that focuses on a number of the more hard sciences. So you got to, we got to also just get brighter in making sure that we are verifying where we're getting our information, where it's coming from, because we've got a deadly situation that's currently going on. And people giving this misinformation actually feeds into individuals who want that misinformation out there. We know that there are individuals who want chaos and they want things to actually be off the rails so that they can continue to manipulate folks. I've seen, there was a report that came out not too long ago where people were saying that you could take zinc and zinc would

protect you from getting COVID, which we know is false. And you see these these laundry list of these things that people say that are really putting people's lives in danger. And we have to get much more serious with our laws to be interesting as we deal with this is we're talking life and death. Right now, Cedric Sabalos, a former NBA player, has been in the ICU for the last 10 days. He posted a photo of him battling COVID, asking for folks for prayers. And then he also he apologized to anybody who has hurt in his past. You have people out there. There was a guy, I think it was in Georgia, who was making fun of folks before he got COVID. Well, he's now dead. And what he did was he was

literally apologizing to friends and others and telling them, don't be dumb like I was and play games with this because you might end up like me, dead in your grave earlier than you should. But that was then. That's now. But then he thought it was a joke. And you can have hundreds of thousands of stories like that. I'll be honest with you, Roland. I think people don't get vaccinated, just don't want to get vaccinated. But let me tell you what's going to happen. We're either going to isolate them.

We're either not going to give them, not going, as my grandmother used to say, not going to give them an ICU bed if you've not been vaccinated. And then our employment situation, Fortune 500 companies, your employer is going to require vaccination for you to work. And the federal government checks for unemployment and COVID payments just ran out. And so, forget the term, but the noose or the rope or however you want to say it is slowly but surely closing in on those who don't even want to answer the question of their employer. We have people who are employed who believe it's a violation of some constitutional right of their First Amendment for you to even ask whether they've been vaccinated or not. Well, you're not going

to be able to work if you're not vaccinated. I give it three to six months, if you will. It'll be like the smallpox, or it'll be like the mumps, or a flu shot, or whatever you're required to do to even go to school. So your First Amendment can be infringed upon. Of course it can be for compelling state interests. Health, safety, and welfare has always been a compelling state interest in any state in this country. And so I think the walls are closing. That's a better terminology. The walls are closing.

But at this point, people who don't get vaccinated, they don't want to be vaccinated. They want to have a reason not to be vaccinated. And when they get it, they want to say how fast they were cured or unfortunately, many of them would die. And that's the reality in America. Teresa, the reality is this here. Have there been people who have passed away who have been vaccinated? The answer is yes. The thing, again, that I wish people need to understand is that there are folks who have pre-existing conditions.

There are folks who are already sick. But again, I go back to this here. The death rates that we see right now that are soaring across the country are a result of unvaccinated people who are passing away. Right. Teresa, but you specialize in communications. How do you see the combating of misinformation? A lot of times I have people who say, Roland, don't feed the trolls. I keep saying, no, you can't give these folks an inch because somebody will watch this stuff and go oh well this entertainer posted it or this

person man they sound authoritative in fact that was one particular video that debunked a couple of actually scientists uh where one guy stood up at a school board meeting said he was dr so-and-so from the university of oxford He was from Oxford, Ohio. Went to an online school that was uncredited. Okay? But again, I remember that video going around, and people just swear, look at this doctor. He sounds like he knows what he's talking about. And he had no damn clue.

And so that's why it's so important to leave those who, one, we elect in public office and those who are accredited to give that type of helpful information so we can all live and get back to normal. I think everybody's kind of in a rush right now in order to get back to normalcy. But normalcy comes through

a process. And so one thing we actually did here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was the Secretary of Health actually ordered and actually required face coverings to be worn in all schools. So that's public schools, that's brick and mortar, that's cyber charter schools, that's parochial school,

that's career and technical centers, and that started today. So obviously we have those advocates right now who are obviously trying to stop the governor from what he's doing, but it takes a bold move in order to secure safety and also to provide the right health information in order to protect everyone. Well, I tell you, there's a lot of misinformation. There's a whole lot of stuff

that's going on around social media. And we're going to do our part to combat this nonsense as best as we can because this is a matter of life and death. I mean, literally, if I go one block, not even one block, right across the street from Fisk,

it's Meharry. And here's what just really trips me out, Mustafa. I get these black people who go, oh, you can't really listen to these black doctors because they're tied to the pharmaceutical industry. Well, hell, if you don't want to trust the white doctors, and now you're trying to cast doubt on the black doctors, well, who the hell are you going to next? A witch doctor? You know, it's just more foolishness. Well, we got to learn to love ourselves. If we can actually learn to love ourselves, we'd be the first in line to make sure that we were getting

the vaccine and then continue to wear our mask and do all these other things that are important. We just got to continue to keep working with folks and nudging them and pushing them to do the right thing. I mean, we just buried our brother last week who died from COVID. COVID has, I've lost so many people to COVID and all the people that I lost were, who are unvaccinated. So I encourage folks, you know, don't believe the hype. Go out there, get vaccinated. It's safe. And then make sure that you're doing all the things that you have to do even after you get vaccinated to continue to protect yourself, to be able to continue to protect the children and continue to protect our elders. So just get vaccinated. We wouldn't we wouldn't steer you wrong. And do your research.

Well, I'm telling you, Scott, I mean, this thing is continuing and continuing, and we're seeing it. And the thing that drives me crazy is when someone is on their deathbed going, I wish I was not so obstinate. I wish I wasn not so obstinate. I wish I wasn't so hard-headed. Or the couple in Texas, husband and wife, both were about to get put on the ventilator. They knew they were going to die and they begged their family members, make sure our kids get vaccinated. The black couple in Atlanta, they chose not to get vaccinated. Mother and father died, leaving three orphans. He leaving three kids, one in high school, two in one, two in middle school. And now all of a sudden they have no parent because the parents said, well, I'm not so sure. Now those kids have to grow up. And now the responsibility is now on other family members to have to raise their kids because of

their decision. And that's the thing that I keep reminding people that that this is. Look, if you are if you are what a deal, he would say when he would say it when it hit him that he could have killed his son by giving him COVID. He said that's when he woke him up. You know what? If you want to be if you want to be single, you've got no responsibilities. But I'm sorry. If you're a parent with children, you better make a decision that's also good for your children because you may put your other family members in a position where they may have to raise your kids because you won't be here. Oh, but absolutely. And Mustafa, don't tell them to do research. That's the dangerous part.

I know what you meant. But don't go out and do research on the Internet. But see, Roland, you hit on a really good point. Here's another example, right? I KNOW WHAT YOU MEANT. BUT THEY'LL GO OUT AND DO RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET. BUT SEE, ROLAND, YOU HIT ON A REALLY GOOD POINT. HERE'S ANOTHER EXAMPLE, RIGHT? YOU FILL UP THE ICU BEDS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T BEEN VACCINATED WHO ARE DYING OF

COVID, RIGHT? AND THEN WHAT ABOUT THE FAMILY WHO HAS A PREEXISTING CONDITION, THEY DON'T HAVE COVID, THEY HAVE A HEART CONDITION OR THEY HAVE CANCER OR THEY'RE SUFFERING FROM A STROKE, YOU N have cancer, or they're suffering from a stroke, you name it, and they can't get in the ICU because you weren't vaccinated and you're dying or having problems, significant problems with COVID, and you're taking up an ICU bed. And then the mother of that family dies because she couldn't get her cancer treatment. You have

examples of examples. So people who don't get vaccinated, they don't really care about themselves, right? But they don't care about you either. They don't care about the people next to them or the family members. It manifests itself in their choice, that whole First Amendment argument, that, yeah, you know, all you care about is yourself,

but you can kill others with that decision making. That's right. You can kill others. You don't believe it. We got stories after story, empirical data, but also anecdotal data that says if I can't get an ICU bed, if I can't see a doctor, if I can't, if I can't, if I can't. Well, you can if you get the vaccine, and then you free up the health care system to save others who aren't even suffering from COVID. And then you get the herd immunity, and you don't have that MU variant now.

The MU variant. You know why we got the MU variant? Not because of the vaccine. We got the MU variant because we don't have herd immunity. And it's mutating, right? It's a pathogen. It loves's mutating, right? It's a pathogen. It loves to mutate. You know how it mutates? I'm not a doctor. I've just done some reading and doctors will tell you it mutates because you don't have herd immunity and you're

dealing with the second phase of that COVID variant. Now that's mutated. It's going to continue until you get 190% or 80% of people vaccinated. This is common sense, Roland. This ain't really that complicated, right? You got to have PhDs, MDs. That's fine. But just use your common sense, and it'll tell you what you should, if you got common sense, to get the vaccine.

For all the reasons I just stated. Now, you know doggone well, Scott. A lot of people ain't got common sense. You know that. Let me give you an update, folks. Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., is home out of the hospital after she actually had COVID. She also was unvaccinated. So she is now at home.

No word if she is now going to get vaccinated. Reverend Jackson, he is actually at a rehab facility. You know, he has Parkinson's disease. And so he is going through his physical therapy there, not related to COVID again, but because of his Parkinson's disease. Let's go to our next story. The first black president of the human rights campaign, the largest LGBT organization has been fired. Alfonso David was fired by the board of directors after he was asked to step down. He refused. He released this statement.

He said last month, first of all, HRC says that David violated his contract because advice and counsel he was given now former governor of New York, Mario Cuomo. This is what HRC says. Last month, the Human Rights Campaign and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation Board of Directors announced a board-led investigation into Alfonso Davis' actions related to the New York Attorney General's report regarding the allegations of sexual harassment by former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The investigation was conducted through the Executive Committee of the boards constituted of their independent directors with the assistance of Sidley Austin. Following the completion of that investigation, the HRC and HRC Foundation Board of Directors have voted to terminate Mr. David for cause,

effective immediately for violations of his contract with the Human Rights Campaign. Yesterday and today, Mr. David released a statement that included significant untruths about the investigation and his status with the organization. This morning, the HRC board of directors sent an organization-wide note that further elevated their efforts to confuse and distract from the truth. Now, this is from David. I debated whether to provide a response, but ultimately, even though their note offered little, their attempt to change the facts and assert things that are true was too egregious for me to stay silent. At HR, then, of course, you have a very long statement, folks, that the board actually put out.

But again, what you have here is Alfonso David, the first black leader of HRC. This is what he then said this morning. The HRC board co-chair sent an organization-wide note that further elevated their efforts to confuse and distract us from the truth. I debated whether to provide a response, but ultimately, even though their no offer little, their attempt to change the facts and assert things that aren't true was too egregious for me to stay silent. The facts are that I was contacted by the board co-chairs late Friday night. They told me that the Sidley Austin review was complete,

but they would not provide the report to me or to anyone. They gave me a deadline of 8 a.m. the next morning to tell them whether I would resign. They didn't offer a shred of evidence of any wrongdoing on my part when I asked repeatedly. After being silent for 24 hours since I issued my statement this morning, the co-chairs now say that the investigation is not yet complete.

One of the most troubling questions about the note from the board co-chairs is that if anyone were to take them at their word, that investigation hasn't yet wrapped up. Even though that is completely opposite from what they told me, why would they have pressured me to resign before it was complete and before they had any finding? Now, this is the second major organization head who has resigned. You remember Tina Chan, who led Time's Up, stepped down because there was pressure saying their reaction to allegations against Andrew Cuomo. Also, there was another member of that group's board of directors whose law firm offered advice to Andrew Cuomo as well. Scott, it's amazing how Cuomo's resignation has led to a domino effect. David has made it perfectly clear that he is going to legally go after HRC as a result of them terminating him as their president. Yeah, let's talk about a couple of things, Roland. Remember, Andrew Cuomo was an ally of

these organizations, a liberal lion, someone who was an asset to these organizations. And if early on or however long it took, these organizations at least inquired about the situation, offered advice and counsel. Remember, no one knew how this was going to shake out politically because the investigation from Letitia James, the AG for New York, had just begun or had not been completed. So let's put it in context. And remember that the head of HRC, I believe, was the former chief of staff for general counsel, took Cuomo. So you've got to expect they're going to have some conversations.

It violates his contract. And the reason they fired him for calls, they've got to know what's in that report. But more importantly, if it was for calls, then I'm sure it has financial ramifications to it. That means that if it's for calls in most contracts, I haven't seen this one, that means they don't have to pay him a salary or severance or whatever else was negotiated. So those are two really important parts. Look for that report to be released and look for the HRC, look for the former president who the story is about. Look for him to reach some type of settlement or resolution or to litigate. very fine law firm is going to come out because they've got to give a basis to him as to what

was the cause for him being terminated and to not pay him his financial incentives as he leaves the organization. Teresa, it's amazing how Cuomo having to resign is impacting so many different organizations. To Scott's point, he was very much beloved by lots of liberals and for HRC losing their first black leader. And I think we're still going to see a whole lot of this trickle down effect. I mean, because like we all said in the beginning, Governor Cuomo was a huge, not only an inspiration, but he was a provider for many of the organization, national organizations that was taking place in New York. So some of them had foreign friendly relationships. Some of them had still a professional relationship, but as these relationships evolve and the

investigation continued, there is still another side to it. So, I mean, I think people sort of expect when a friend of theirs that they've known for many years or through partnership or professionalism to just ignore that in time of crisis. But I think like, you know, A. Scott Bolton had mentioned, we need to really realize that there are two sides. And I think, like, you know, A. Scott Bolton had mentioned, we need to really realize that there are two sides. And I think there is going to be a legal lawsuit that we all need to see. And I'm personally interested because, again, a conversation with somebody during their time of crisis does not deem them as guilty as charged. I just think that's, I think that's apparent and a little bit, you know, just too much at this point. Hey, Roland, hold on real quick. Had he survived this investigation with the three people you

named in your report have been fired, or would they still be leading those two organizations? It's a real question. they would have got a promotion well bottom line is those folks are not leading the organization pure and simple mustafa uh and uh again look reading these uh twitter statements of affonzo david uh he plans on going down swinging yeah first thing is know the parameters of your contract if If you find yourself in this type of a situation, you got to lawyer up. You got to get really good ones so that you can navigate the battle that's in front of you. All right, y'all, I got to talk about this here. Of course, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, he is under lots of criticism for the voter suppression bill that was passed,

but also the bill, the six-week abortion ban bill. He said something today by signing this that I'm absolutely astounded by how stupid he is, Teresa. Let me actually read this because y's going to end rape in Texas. It'll be a miracle. Yes, I know some of y'all might think I'm crazy, but trust me, I'm not. Greg Abbott actually said this, Teresa, when he was asked about it. He, again, when I saw it, I shook my head and I said, you know, as a native Texan, we're getting embarrassed day by day by these idiot Republicans who are running the state. But what he said is that with his crime prevention efforts, they're going to do everything they can to keep rapists off the streets of Texas.

OK, here's the problem, Teresa. This is not Tom Cruise and Minority Report, where you are anticipating and stopping crimes before they happen. You can't stop a rapist before they commit a rape. Do you see the sheer lunacy of what Greg Abbott had to say? It sounded like his response was literally on the cuff. I mean, the four-word phrase, do everything we can, was essentially saying I am 50%, 40% likely, which is again a probability anytime you put that in a statement, that they will combat crime or violence. I mean, it's honestly, I would have rather him have received that information from the police commissioner or, I mean, I don't know if it

made sense if it came from there, but then we would have at least said, okay, where's the plan? It's idiotic, the entire statement. But again, this is the Republicans trying to find a reason to really amplify their abortion bill. They're tough on abortion. They're tough on women's rights. They don't believe in a woman's right to choose. And I just hope, you know, that the Texians that live in that state are really, you know, advocating, you know, and talking to their legislators and just really trying to figure out another means, you know, to protect their rights. Let me actually, so here's a quote, Mustafa.

Let's be clear, rape is a crime. And Texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas by aggressively going after and arresting them and prosecuting them and getting them off the streets. But if they've already raped somebody and impregnated them, how are you going to stop them from raping somebody? And in fact, you can't stop a rapist until after they committed the crime, which means they committed the rape. Do you see how stupid this dude is? Governor Abbott lives in like this alternative universe. We've seen him on a number of different issues where he's so far away from the reality

of what everyday people are dealing with that this statement is just one in a laundry list of others. There are about a half a million women, and then there are a small percentage of men who are raped every year in our country. And that's just the ones who report it. So we know that the numbers are even higher than that. It's impossible for you to stop rape. You can put certain things in place. You can put educational programs in place.

You could actually take away alcohol in the state of Texas. I'd love to see you try and do that, because we know that that sometimes is associated with it. But it is an act of violence. And for him to say that is another form of violence that's being placed on these women who have to carry a child that came out of violence. So it's just mind-boggling some of the things that they say and they do that is so devastating. Imagine the trauma of having to look at a child and knowing that that child wasn't conceived out of love, that that child was conceived out of violence,

out of these horrible acts that we know happen far too often. So yes, we can put some things in place to help to hopefully shrink that down, but it's impossible to stop it. And once again, you have men trying to regulate and tell women what they can do with their bodies. Or, you know, it gets worse than that. Scottott we know doggone well how these republicans if their daughters got raped trust me they're not sitting here saying yeah you're gonna carry that day with your term let's just stop well i don't know if that after six weeks or before six weeks a woman even knows that she's pregnant. My understanding from my research is that most women don't even have symptoms of pregnancy

up to six weeks. But rape is about power. Watch this. Rape isn't about sex or sexual attraction. It's about power. So think about every power relationship between a man and a woman. You have security guards, rather, or prison guards who rape women in prison. You have employers or supervisors or even husbands, if you will, who rape women. You're not talking about, there are a lot of situations that rape occurs in. It's not like you have a rapist on the street and he rapes 10 women and it's, you know, you're trying to find that rapist. So let's be real clear on the circumstances and the power vacuum upon which rape occurs. But the six weeks, the irony about the Republicans is this, too. They want everyone to have these

babies, but they don't want to pay for those babies if the families can't afford it. They don't want you to wear a mask or to even make you get vaccinated, but that'll cause you to lose your life. It is a paradox. It is a hypocrisy beyond belief when it comes to where these right-wing conservatives are on life and death in this country. It's a huge hypocrisy. Just think about it. It makes zero sense. And so Governor Abbott has never made any sense. It'll be interesting to see after he signed this bill where he is in the polls and when he's up for reelection. All right, folks, let's go to this story out of D.C.

where a bridge has been renamed after Frederick Douglass. Mayor Amiro Bowser, along with the District Department Transportation Acting Director Everett Lott, members of the Douglass family and others have others walked across the bridge before the ceremony. Douglass' great-great-grandson, Ken Morris, said the bridge is a good way to remember the famed abolitionists, but there's a better way to honor the bridge's namesake. A poem by the first African-American U.S. poet laureate, Robert Hayden, aptly named Frederick Douglas, because it poses a question of the right and proper way

to honor his legacy. This man, superb in love and logic, this man shall be remembered, oh, not with statues rhetoric, not with legends and poems and wreaths of bronze alone, but with the lives grown out of his life, the lives fleshing his dream of the beautiful, needful thing. These lines resonate because I think my great-great-great-grandfather would take personal pride to be commemorated in such an honorable and spectacular way as in this bridge we're standing on. Yet the poem is also a reminder that monuments and words of remembrance alone, while pleasant, are almost an inadequate way of honoring his legacy. It is the lives grown out of his life and the lives fleshing his dream of freedom,

not just by me and all of his direct descendants here today, but all of you joining us and the new generation of leaders inspired by his words and carrying on his mantle and the fight for justice, liberty and equality. That is the ultimate commemoration and tribute to Frederick Douglass. And, of course, as this in the two day celebration, that was a five. That was a fiveK across the bridge. More than 4,000 people attended that particular event. And so it's great to see the bridge named after Frederick Douglass. And, of course, we always remember the great things that he did for African-Americans and for this country. All right, folks, before we go to a break, let's hear from our partners with Seek.com. All right, folks.

Seek.com is a black-owned company founded by Mary Spiel. It's a virtual reality company where you can actually go there and look at their virtual reality content. A couple of devices they actually have for sale that you might be interested in. First off, their VR headset allows you to slide your phone right in and experience that virtual reality content on their site or watch a 360-degree video. Also, their 360-degree headphones, a tremendous base used for gaming, Bluetooth, phone calls, you name it. Folks, you can get these two at Seek.com using this promo code RMVIP21, RMVIP21. You buy one or the other or even both, a portion of the proceeds come back to us here at Roland Martin Unfiltered. And so we want you to check out Seek.com and give it a try.

All right, got to go to break, folks, and we come back. We'll pay tribute to one of the greatest actors of this generation, Michael K. Williams. Of course, starred in The Wire, starred in so many other shows. Burt Walk Empire found dead yesterday in his Brooklyn apartment at the age of 54. The next hour, we'll talk with people who knew him well. Folks like Fat Joe. Also, Flex. We'll talk with Director X, who directed

him in the movie Superfly. Also, again, folks who knew him from dance. And it's just so many different people. The tributes have been pouring in all across the country and the world we'll hear from journalist tanya hart who will join us as well as well as others including first of all comedian michael collier who were very dear friends with

him dr greg carl will join us and also actress erica alexander and morris chestnut all of that next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered, broadcasting live from Jubilee Hall here on the campus of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Back in a moment. I believe that people our age have lost the ability to focus the discipline on the art of organizing. The challenges, there's so many of them and they're complex and we need to be moving to address them. But I'm able to say, watch out Tiffany, I know this road. That is so freaking dope. I hope our younger generation don't ever forget that non-violence is soul force right everybody's you made for it having I'm Dion call you watch it Martin unfiltered stay woke I'm sorry. Folks, we're shocked and stunned yesterday to find in the news of Michael K.

Williams being found dead in his Brooklyn apartment at the age of 54. Was suspected heroin overdose. Williams, of course, gained fame playing the role of Omar Little on the show The Wire on HBO. Also on Boardwalk Empire. So many other TV shows and movies. In fact, his performance in Lovecraft Country was supposed to, and many people expect that he is going to win his first Emmy in less than two weeks during the Primetime Emmy Awards. Michael K. Williams was a dancer, was an artist, beloved by so many people. The

tributes have been pouring in from all around the country, not only from actors and entertainers, but also from regular ordinary people who came into contact with him, how he treated them with dignity and respect. One of the folks who poured his heart out on yesterday on social media is actor Wendell Pierce, who starred with him in the show The Wire. In this video, in this video that he posted yesterday, others posted, this is where you hear Wendell with Michael standing right there describing how an amazing actor he is. All right, folks, let me know when we actually have that interview ready, because it really was a powerful, powerful interview. Let me go quickly to Michael Collier. Michael is a comedian out of Los Angeles.

He posted yesterday about his good friend, Michael K. Williams. Michael, Kyle, you're glad to have you back on the show, unfortunately, under these circumstances. Just to share for our audience your thoughts and reflections on your dear friend, Michael K. Williams. Well, you know, I love a brother and I went actually want to see Denzel Washington on Broadway and pull this camera back even further. We want to see Denzel Washington on Broadway. Pull this camera back even further. We want to see Denzel Washington play a raisin in the sun. And then afterwards, we stood outside of intermission and just sort of compared acting notes.

I mean, if you're watching Denzel and you're an actor, you are in a master class, brother. You are looking at the very best of the best. And there I was standing with Michael Kaye, who is the best of the best as well. So we got to laugh about that. We got to go to the Academy Awards parties together like two years ago. And just to be able to hang and talk to him was so cool.

I do a show called Superstar Interviews, and I had an opportunity to interview him for a 40-minute one-on-one, and I'll be running that tomorrow at 6 p.m. on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. So people just see him chatting for 30, 40 minutes, us laughing and breaking it up. I mean, I don't know what kind of time you have, but I wrote a poem. You got time for a poem, Roland? Michael, go ahead.

Okay. It's called My Friend. When Michael K. Williams did The Wire, he set the whole television world on fire. When Omar came down the street, you better pick up and run, or you's gonna be one messed up son of a gun. He did more than just hood roles, and they all still inspire.

He also was the top gangster in the almost all-white boardwalk empire. His work in When They See Us was surprising and stellar, but he wasn't just a great actor. He was a hell of a fella. When I think of his character and heart, there's no one word I can find. But everyone that met this man will tell you that he was kind. For his august work on Lovecraft Country, he's nominated for an Emmy Award.

And on his trip to heaven, I hope he knows that he's adored. I swear I hope he wins that thing to crown his awesome career. And I hope we all can applaud the human he was when he was hanging around out here. We will miss this magical brother. Great actor, great father, great dancer, great man. We will fill in his spirit with prayers and love and put the rest in God's hands. I love that brother, man. And he had just such a great body of work

that was so varietous. I mean, he did all types of roles, man. And he brought all of it and he left it all right there in the camera. He didn't play. So I was honored to know him and I will be sending prayers up for him on my shoulder. Every place I go for the next couple of weeks,

I'm burning two candles a day and just wishing that wherever he goes, I I go for the next couple of weeks, I'm burning two candles a day and just wishing that wherever he goes, I know he's in the heart of God, but now I want to keep him in the hearts and the minds of us because you know this is fourth Emmy nomination and I want him to win this one. Michael Collier, we appreciate

you sharing your time and thoughts and reflections on your friend Michael K. Williams. Thank you, King. All right. see y'all all right folks uh michael talked about uh the roles that he played one of those roles was in the remake of the movie superfly which was uh led by director x he joins us right now here on roller barton unfiltered How you doing, bro? Glad to have you with us, unfortunately, in this circumstance. I had an opportunity to chat with you on the red carpet when we were in Miami for the American Black Film Festival. And the role that Michael played was that of a drug dealer, but also as a mentor as well. Describe for us what was it like to work with him, to direct him, to interact with him?

I mean, yeah, his role, he played Scatter from the original movie. And I mean, he's just a real artist, a real artist that respects all the art forms of it. It's not, you know, some people get very caught up in, I'm an actor, and that's where they live, and I do films, and I do these things. But he had a real respect for dancers, directors from music videos, commercials, just the whole art form across the board, and really understood when you're dealing with masters. And he was a master himself. He was truly dedicated to the art form, truly appreciated all forms of art.

And on set together, we build a lot in between shots and just kind of vibe. It's a good brother on his own. And then as well, what he did in the community. I mean, it's a real loss. Very few people use their fame the way he did. And again, artistically, it was so sound when it came to the craft. He openly talked about the battles that he had with the demons of drugs. He gave an interview where he said that when he was doing The Wire, he did not want to get found out being in the tabloids.

You look at several roles that he played, drugs were involved. But this was something that he was constantly fighting, fighting with bouts of sobriety. Can you talk about, again, here's this enormously talented actor who's battling substance abuse. And when died when i got the news yesterday the person who i first thought of another amazing actor philip seymour hoffman who died the age of 47 uh uh uh of an overdose and so this this was not a just a personal battle for him he was open and sharing it with people about what he was fighting against. Yeah, look, I never had a conversation with him about these things. And for me, I mean, which shows you the other side, it's cool, solid brother, you know, work together, see him out, have a vibe, run a joke, you know, and had no idea that this is what was going on.

But look, there's something about being a performer and really being an actor. This is not easy. They make it look easy, right? So people are like, oh, that's just acting. No, that's not just acting. It takes real dedication to the craft, real talent and skill to become this good,

to become other people. And diving into those roles and representing such vastly different characters as your profession requires you to go some places. And some people are just, they're more open to that. Again, I can't speak to what was going on with him. We never had a conversation like that. But like you said, Philip Seymour Hoffman, all these great, great actors, they've had these struggles. Because I really believe there's a part of this that it's an art form like no other. None other requires you to become someone else that you can believe. Everything else, all the other art forms are being yourself as much as you can.

And this one just requires a different kind of depth and everyone having their own methods of of what they got to do to reach that place as a performer and like i said this guy really is about his life michael is really about this craft so i don't know i can only look from the outside but i have and i mean we haven't even talked about what fame means, walking outside, especially being so iconic, having people really put that on you. These are not normal experiences for the average person. So for us, trying to understand it is, we just can't. We're not in those shoes. You know what I mean? But we try and understand.

Here's a clip of Michael on the Tamron Hall show talking about his fight against addiction. Well before you use the drug or alcohol again, the pieces start to fall apart well before the relapse. What do you mean by that? You know, with wood, we see a perfect example of that. You know, a lot of people often think that when a person puts down the drug or the alcohol, that all the problems go away. That couldn't be further from the truth. Drugs and alcohol are not the problem. They're merely symptoms of the problem. And once those things go away, the real work begins, you know,

working on all the character defects, the moral compass, the skewed moral compass. Those are things that need to be addressed. Those are the reasons why we got high in the first place and our inability to deal with life on life's terms.

Yeah. So, for me, you know, for instance, when the wire was coming to an end, I had no legs to stand on. I had stopped doing the work on myself, you know, shutting down the inner critic in my head. And I went from being a shy, dark-skinned kid in a hood who was corny, to all of a sudden,

everyone is just, you know, yo, man, I love you, I love you. And I was like, you know, the only small problem was they were calling me Omar and not Michael. And I was like, yeah, Omar, Michael, who gives a damn? It's a name, right? And nah, that was the beginnings of me losing

myself, of losing my identity and my work. And that came back to haunt me drastically toward the end. I had no legs to stand on when that show ended because I was forced to go back and look in the mirror. And that was, who wants to do that, right? You had to go back to the mirror and ask yourself who you are.

Michael, you know, it's so interesting. You have this pivotal moment that happened in your life that involved then-Senator Barack Obama on the campaign trail. It was 2008. And that's actually when I just interviewed him and met him as well. I'm living in Chicago, and he's got this book

and the audacity of hope and all these things. And you've said that, I just didn't feel worthy of meeting this man. You're in the room. You're there for a reason, but you didn't feel worthy. Why? All right, folks.

We still have Director X here. I want to bring in now actor Morris Chestnut, journalist Tonya Hart, and also actress Erica Alexander. Glad to have all of you on the show. Morris, you starred in a movie alongside uh michael k williams when we when we we've heard from so many people and and they all described they all described a a brilliant craftsman someone who had a true appreciation for the craft of acting.

You know, because I never met Michael before we worked together. And, you know, you see all his characters and you never know what the person is going to be like when you meet him. And just like in that interview that you just showed with Tamron, he was just so honest, open, and genuine. And he brought that into all of his characters, and particularly the character that he played with us. But when you meet him, he was just so personable. And the director before, just as on second go,

he makes it look easy. Even when I was working with him, he just did it so effortlessly and just brilliantly. And he's a brilliant talent. Tonya Hart, you've covered a lot of folks in many ways on red carpets. And one of the things that about Michael K. Williams is that he was not an ordinary brother. You saw him. You saw the distinct mark on his forehead. But the thing that also I thought was always interesting, you see these roles where he played this really, really serious dude. But, man, he was always smiling when you saw him on the red carpet. Absolutely smiling and a very, very, very nice guy.

You know, it's not easy being out there on the red carpet for the actors and even for the journalists. And he, I have to say, Michael, as intense as he was in his roles, there was an underlying inner sweetness to him, I guess is the best way I can describe it. He was really a sweet guy. I mean, and you could tell. And he always had a smile on. Let me tell you something else. The brother was always sharp, okay? He did not hit a red carpet where he didn't have his triple A game on. And you had to love that about him. And even in the roles he plays, you know, they weren't always where he had to dress up. They looked really great in his clothes.

Let me just put it that way. But there was a sweetness about him. Also, I'd like to say that, you know, people haven't really talked about some of the things that he did when he wasn't on camera. He worked with children. You know, he had a very special organization that he worked with, and I wanted to make sure I got the name of that right, and I have it right here someplace. I think it's Making Kids Win. And that was very, very important to him. So I just think that we, the other thing is, by the way, it's five Emmy nominations with the one coming up on Sunday, the 19th of September. I do believe that he is going to win this. I think it's just his turn. We all know here in Hollywood how some of these things work. And after five nominations, and they were all great, it's his turn this year.

So I'm kind of betting that he will win this. The sad part is that it will be posthumous. So I don't know. We've lost a great talent. There's one other thing I want to say that I think is very important. We've lost a lot of people to drugs all of a sudden. And there's a thing out there now called fentanyl that apparently is going into a lot of the drugs that people were using recreationally. I would just like to say to everybody, just don't. Don't do it.

It's not worth your life. It's not worth leaving this planet because somebody gave you a bad batch of whatever it was. So I'm just hoping that people won't do it. planet because somebody gave you a bad batch of whatever it was. So I'm just hoping that people won't do it. And the other thing I'd like to say about that is with Michael, as well as many other people, his drug addiction started when he was a teenager. And I think we don't understand how hard it is to get rid of an addiction when you started at that age.

And I think that we need to start embracing our young people and making sure that they get the help they need when they need it so we can prevent these kinds of things from happening. Because we love this man. We will miss him forever. I'm going to go back to, I'm going to whole type one second i'm gonna go morris and director x morris one of the things that's interesting uh michael was not the leading man but damn he sure stole a lot of scenes excuse me yeah without a doubt i mean he you know it was not only just a talent but you know like he said he does it so effortlessly. And his roles, what he brings to those characters, he's able to steal some scenes. The brother was just masterfully, brilliantly talented.

And he was such a unique talent. Like you say, he had the scar on his face. And just his overall talent, you just couldn't help but be drawn into him and just watch him. He was just interesting. And to me, when you watch him, like I say, it's him being genuine. He's bringing these characters to life.

It goes far beyond just the scar. He was just such an interesting, unique talent. Director X, I take it, first of all all again trevor jackson he was the lead in your remake of superfly uh but sort of like you know their roles in the movie it was michael k williams who was playing uh the mentor to essentially the mentee oh completely yeah and look we wanted someone when we wanted someone to play that role that when they came on screen, the audience said, yo, him!

You know what I mean? And Michael, he had that power. You're like, yo. People got excited to see him. He's really iconic. And to put those two together, and actually, again, when I think about the Superfly, I don't think so much about,

I mean, they did great performances, without a doubt. But I remember there were conversations off camera, in between shots, the things they would talk about or we would talk about. But I remember when we did them talking in the car and to hear their conversations, because they're just in there and I have the comm on.

So I hear them, right? And again, he's just a cool brother man and just giving him a vibe about about the game right there's definitely there's definitely some og kind of talk on what he's dealing with and where to go and it was it was great to hear that conversation with it um he's great man and even just to hear him talk now and in that last interview and what the message he's, the fact that he was so open about what he was going through before he passed and the attention that this can now give. And really, there's going to

be some lives saved because they're going to hear what he has to say about this. So it's just it's even even even in passing, he continues to do good work for the community. Erica Alexander, I want to bring you in. You posted this on Instagram. You said he was wonderful, sensitive, kind, wicked, funny and gracious. We got on really well. The outdoors suited him and he marveled at it. But then things changed and his time there ended abruptly no words were said just gone it was when y'all met at sundance uh and and you just talked about just uh i love this here you said i knew he was not a cookie cutter cut out no he wasn't um mich. Michael was unique and he was a shapeshifter. We met at Sundance and got on immediately. I'm obviously just a very curious individual.

I was so happy to meet him. At the time, he had just done the wire and had done a very fantastic job of it. But inside of that dynamic, we were in a natural setting. Many people who are city people are outside of, you know, the buildings and all the things that can clutter your mind or the conversation. And we're just walking and talking and sleeping and having, you know, communing inside of a very organic space. And he was wonderful. And he was just looking at everything with such wonder. It was like he was a child and he wanted to drink out of the stream that was going down and everybody was trying to convince him that it wasn't purified.

He said, I just need to get a cup. I just need to get a cup and drink out of that and, you know, that type of thing. But I knew he had had some issues there and they ended up letting him go and asking him to leave because he wasn't making his calls. Obviously, it's not the first time that an actor could do that. And there could be many reasons why. Just over the years, I found out that the things that were complicating his career in that way. And he wouldn't let that on. It was not like you knew it. He had so much natural talent and he was so remarkable. He had devastating looks. He had a vulnerability and charisma and a power in his performances that is unmatched because all he had to do was show up. He didn't have to do much of anything. He was in his DNA. I think, fight against being typecast because people see dark skin and they see that sort of smoldering look. And they wanted to just always put him in the villain and or the dark roles.

But he was pure light. And that's how I'll always remember him. And I was glad we had that time together. Of course, we knew each other over the years. But to me, that first meeting with him in that space was his more natural space and i'm glad i i got to meet him there morris um final comment from you before uh before i let you go then i'm gonna go to director x here last year when um some video came out and chad Bozeman had lost a lot of weight.

He and I had text back and forth. And this is what he said. As an artist and a human, I share my feelings with you. But in the public realm, I can't explain myself. That takes away from the art and the way of the artist. I would rather be misunderstood than go explaining away the reasons for my actions. You will see it on the screen. There's just a certain code that you live by when you do this for real. People don't understand our craft or our way of life.

Both things feed each other. And although people are shocked and sad and stunned by his death at the age of 54, he would be 55 on November 22nd. The fact that he is remembered for these absolutely iconic roles and some was two of the greatest roles in the 21st century of television. That right there, I think also says a lot about his immense talent. Without a doubt. You know, it's hard for people think, of course they think acting's easy,

but it's hard to have one iconic role, you know? And he's had, I think he's had several more than, I think he's had about three or four at least. And I can say with me, what really resonated with me with him is seeing him in so many roles before I met him, and then him being as open and genuine as he was, and it shows through during his work, which allowed him to—of course, he put a lot of resources to portray those characters, those characters that become iconic.

And it's just something to me, as I just respect, you know, as a person, but even more, particularly as an artist, for him to be so open and genuine and then to be able to delve into those characters like that. Actor Morris Chestnut. Always appreciate it, my brother. Thanks a lot for joining us. Appreciate you.

Appreciate you. Thanks, Robert. Director X, your final comment. Man, dude, there's a real sadness around this. This is our loss. But I do trust in God. And I do know that the spirit lives past the body. So his spirit is still with us.

And in God's divine timing and understanding, this is what is meant to be. And like I said, whether it's saving a life, someone understanding about drug abuse, and whichever road that the things that he has said and that we're now bringing to the forefront and the amount of people that reaches. Again, I can't speak on the most high and wide he does his things, but I trust in God. And like I said, the spirit lives on. So I take some solace in that. Director X, we certainly appreciate it.

Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts in this celebration of the life and legacy of Michael K. Williams. Peace, brother. Thanks for having me. Eric and Tonya, hold tight one second. As I said earlier, I was a window of peers who starred in The Wire with Michael K. Williams, placed an extraordinary number of tweets on social media about their relationship.

I did catch up with window windows. Actually, he's actually in Greece and he's actually shooting there, was unable to join us. But this video here circulated a lot yesterday and where he really encapsulated how amazing of an actor Michael K. Williams really was. You know, my real life and Omar's fictional life, but I had to, you know, I learned now how to separate the fictional world from my real life, but it was, the lines got a little gray because I was a little green in the early process of that.

Well, he may say that he was green, but Michael has contributed two of the most iconic characters in the history of American television, with Omar and with Chalky White. What we are actually getting to witness in his young career, we're going to see a lot more, is like one of the great American actors, giving voice and giving flesh to characters that most people would have never given the same humanity to,

opening a window to a world of men that we pass by or don't know about. It's one of the most innovative portrayals on television in our generation, and it was an honor, an honor for me to even share the screen with him. One of the greatest moments I've ever had in my career was the scenes that I did with Michael. He's a very special man, very special artist, and what art is to the community thoughts are to the individual. It's the place where we reflect on who we are,

and he has opened up a window of reflection to people who may pass, people on the corner that they would have never given humanity to, that he has made people think twice and give humanity to these men. And that's classic American television history right there, Michael K. Williams. Lance Reddick, who also starred in The Wire, posted this video on social media, remembering Michael K. Williams. Hi, everybody. I got off a long, long international flight several hours ago.

And I got to the airport and I got to the airport and my wife showed me the news that Michael K. Williams had passed. And I just felt that I wanted to say something. We weren't close. I hadn't really spoken to Michael in years. I saw him at an event last year. But we didn't really get a chance to talk. And as the... In the coming days, people might talk a lot about

his award nominations and the incredible roles that he played, not the least of which is The Wire, which was so incredibly groundbreaking on so many different levels in terms of representation. But I remember we were at a bar one night, just the two of us talking, having a drink. I was telling him about how he got started in the industry as a dancer. He told me about meeting Felicia Snoop and how he introduced her to at Burns and David Simon. And whenever I needed help, advice, career stuff, particularly back then, he'd always help.

He introduced me to his manager. He introduced me to his, you know, when I needed help, he introduced me to his publicist. He was that guy. So, well, everybody else talks about what a great actor he was. I just want to say from my experience, he was one of the kindest,

gentlest, most genuine, giving, and courageous souls I've ever met. Rest in peace, my brother. Much love and respect. All right, folks. We are joined by a couple of more guests. We still have Tanya Hart, Erica Alexander.ander we're joined by dr greg carr department

of afro-american studies at howard university a professor there and also we have actor flex glad to have all of you flex i want to start with you we've talked about his acting you knew michael from dancing yes yes uh For all of us. Backpack kids. Dancing in clubs in New York like South factory in its hollow it. Choices and all these different clubs and we would just dance man all night just free, you know we we know cares in the

world and as this video is his service that was him that was him and he was always genuine always greeted you with the beloved how are you and you know he actually was very close with my older brother who also fought addiction and I think they found a common ground in that and tried to help each other through NA at times and it was a constant struggle.

I remember posting something about my brother. I was having a rough day thinking about him around the anniversary of his death and he called me up and was just like, yo man your brother was yo he was no joke yo your brother could dance your brother could boost and boosting from new york means still close but but um that was uh that was him man he just out of the blue called me and that lifted me up and that's who he was. And this is tremendously hard, you know,

for everyone, I'm sure. But, you know, definitely for me because, you know, just coming up the way we did and me being a dancer and transitioning into acting. And I remember seeing him on the wire and I'm just like, yo, you know, it was just amazing. Amazing. This is truly, truly, truly sad. Tonya Hart, earlier you were talking about Michael and his attitude. We crossed paths a few times. It was last year, though, at the 2020 ABF Honors in Los Angeles where we actually got a chance to talk, got a chance to exchange numbers. And one of the things that was really interesting as we sort of had this mutual appreciation of one another, he kept talking about, man, I really like your spirit. I really like your spirit, your vibe.

And he was very much, to the point that Erica, and I want Erica to speak to this as well, he was very much about connecting with people that way. I meet a lot of entertainers, but the conversation with him was a different type of conversation, Tanya. Well, it was, and that's what I was trying to explain to people on the red carpet, which is where I met him often. And the thing about him, too, he always made sure if he saw black press out there, he would make sure that he went to talk to the black press. And we can really appreciate that because, you know, Roland, you really know everybody doesn't do that, especially when you've reached the statue that in, you know, in the business that he has. But he would always make sure that he talked to the press because you know he understood who really helped his career along it's always the black press we always know about folks like michael before the general public

knows who michael is they may know he's that great guy you know i saw that guy on tv the other day i don't know who he is we knew who he was we knew where he came from. We knew how important his talent was. And we would give that out to people and he would give it back to us. And I truly appreciate him for that. I just, again, it's going to be interesting. You know, the Emmys are going to be virtual, sort of. They're doing a virtual and in-person thing this year as well. Most of us in the press will be virtual. A few of us will be there. But it will be interesting to see the kind of tribute that people pay to him, because even a lot of people who didn't give him his propers when he was here, you know they're going to come out and do that now because it was so well-des deserved and they knew it was deserved. And it's sometimes a shame that this has to happen before people realize how important, because he was truly an important and a gifted talent. But he was important, I think, to black people because as many of the folks here have said, he showed a certain humanity and humility and vulnerability on the screen that we don't often get. And he also allowed us to tell our story in our own words. That's really what Michael K.

Williams did. He told our story in our words. And I appreciate and love him for that. Erica, that point about spirits connecting, the vibe that he had, I saw somebody, I saw somebody, and it was just a random person who said they happened to be at a party. This person was a poet. They felt out of place. They sat in a corner and Michael came over and began to talk to that person and said, what do you do? The person said they were a poet. And he said, well, I want to hear some of your stuff. And this person said they were just shocked that here they were at a party and he was spending that amount of time with them and said, hey, I want to hear your stuff. He was a very giving spirit and he would get intimate with you very quickly.

Something that actors do, have to do immediately is meet somebody and then make love to them. He did that every day. He did that as a matter of course. That's who he was. And it can't be, again, quantified, the amount of charisma and power that he carried. But that was also a way of him tapping into his source. And he understood that. You had people like Lance Reddick and Wendell Pierce.

And these are actors I've worked with and I know and I feel like I've gotten intimate with without having any relationships like that, you know, in the typical way. Very, very quickly, because I played Lance Reddick's wife, and Wendell Pierce and I have performed together, and we grew up together, a lot of us. I see Flex here, and think about how young he was when he was on the radar. And it's just totally right what Tanya's saying about how the black press recognizes you before anybody else does. And they sing your praises and they lift you up. And often that's probably the only sort of support you'll get. But I just want to

say right here, right now, is that we know each other in this very small industry. And if you last any length of time, it's because you've connected intimately with people and we've supported each other. And it's heartbreaking to keep losing all these powerful, powerful talents. African-American 13% are the most powerful culture makers in world history. And I think we've been burdened with a unique, I don't know, mission to teach us how to be human, whether it's through music, acting, through sports, through achievement. And we need help. I was speaking to the NAACP Hollywood Bureau. It's now run by Kyle Bowser. And they were asking how they could be more advocates and or activists for actors. And I

said, we need help. There are many people who live in poverty and who are suffering from addiction way before they get into showbiz. And showbiz can exasperate those things. So we need to talk about that too. If his life means anything, it means talking about the things that made him successful and the thing that ultimately destroyed the length of his life. Never his talent, never his light,

but how long he should be here and be contributing and participating and this is something that is not about uh actors being they often call us you know oh we're brats we're this we're overpaid we're people and again often are carrying huge amounts of responsibility and accountability that people don't understand. And actors don't get those types of conversations around them, it's often musicians. So I just wanna say right now that we need to talk about that. And there are people who come in with these addiction,

as it was said earlier, and they need help making the transition to not only support their family and their career and the representation and all the things that come with it, but also to banish and exercise the things that can take them down. And we've had too many people go down, not to be very honest, about where we are right now. It's a crisis thing. It's a crisis in our neighborhoods, our communities, in our homes, and it's a crisis on stage, screen, and every place else. Erica Alexander, Tonya Hart, I thank both of you for joining us. Flex, give us your final thoughts on your longtime friend and colleague, Michael K. Williams.

He definitely was an inspiration. I just think, you know, to echo what Erica said, we have to check on each other. We have to, I've seen it up close. I've seen addiction up close between my brother, like I said, who he was friends with, my brother Dwayne, between my mom with cocaine addiction and another brother with crack addiction, thankfully they beat it.

But, you know, we got to check on each other. And in this business and what we do, I think sometimes we get more caught up in what people think about us as opposed to being thought of. And he was just a generous guy in that way. And, you know, I loved him, man. And I tell you, I was out of town just last week, and he was on my mind to just reach out to, you know. But you go through life and you're busy,

and I'm just like, oh, he's probably too busy. And, you know, I regret that, that I didn't. But I tell you one thing, his impact will last forever. And I'm just thankful that the Infinite Creator just allowed me to have whatever time that I had with him and that he was able to share his gift with the world. So my heart goes out to his son and to his mom, who's 93 and still going, and all of his supporters and friends. Flex, always a pleasure, man. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, brother.

Folks, in a moment, we're going to be joined by Fat Joe, as well as Freeway Ricky Ross, who Michael K. Williams portrayed in the movie Kill the Messenger. Before we go to them, Dr. Greg Carr, put this in perspective. One of the things that I heard people talk about was Michael K. Williams brought to the screen the portrayal of black men who are often ignored, who are often forgotten, and he brought a sense of humanity to the screen. And so put his career in historical terms, put it in contemporary terms, in terms of what he meant in this era of Hollywood, but specifically black Hollywood. Well, brother, something Eric Alexander said very importantly, and everyone has said it, but speaking to his spirit, his ethos, even as I sit here, as we sit here and look at you there

in a building that was very much frequented by our frat brother, W.E.B. Du Bois, when he was an undergraduate student at Fisk, Du Bois who knew many of the women and men in that portrait of the Jubilee Singers behind you. We remember in 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois, in his book, The Souls of Black Folk, talked about this double consciousness. If you're black in America, you not only see through the eyes of black people, you also are forced to see yourself through the eyes of white people looking at you. And Michael Williams, man, and this is from somebody who was a theater major, right down the street from where you are at Tennessee State, so trained on the stage, looking at someone who was a trained performer, as we know,

as a dancer, choreographer, but then who entered the representation of Black figures without that kind of theater background or deep background, who in fact came into his first movie role because Tupac Shakur was looking through still photographs and said, hey, this guy looks thugged out enough to play my little brother. Go find him. And that's what got him that first role in the film Bullet in the mid-90s. This was a man who exuded our complex humanity. You know, in an interview he gave with The Guardian newspaper a few years ago, he said, you know, I use my job. Notice how he calls it a job.

I use my job to engage and to extract empathy and compassion for people who are often stereotyped and might otherwise be ostracized. Michael K. Williams, mother of 93, my own mother is 93, just turned 93 yesterday, in fact. But his mama came from the Bahamas. And so he said, growing up, the youngest of 10 children, I knew what it was like to celebrate getting a green card. That work ethic is there. When he was 12 or 13, his father left the household and moved south. And from 13 until he got that scar on his face in a fight in Queens on his 25th birthday from somebody who pulled a razor blade out and slashed him across

the face, Michael K. Williams is trying to navigate the streets of New York in a way that allowed him to have his whole humanity. Here's a man who said, I wasn't a typical alpha male in that sense. And we see the complexity of his black maleness on the screen in all his roles. That last major role that Sister Hart said that he might get that award for and probably will get the award for in Lovecraft Country, Montrose Freeman.

Unlike Chalky White, one of the most stereotypical names you could put on a black character in Boardwalk Empire. Unlike even Omar Little, who after the first season of The Wire, he was only supposed to be there one year. He ends up going through the rest of the run, and he says, you know, at the end of year one, I wore the darkness of Omar Little, because even people in the hood were calling me Omar. When he first met Barack Obama, he said, Omar. Hey, dude, my name's not

Omar, but you know, I'll wear that. He came out of that first season with all of that stuff. He says, I lost everything. I was on cocaine at the end of the year. I lost all the money. He rebounded. But through it all, he portrayed the complexity of black maleness in a way that wasn't coached by directors that he had grown up in in college or on the stage or on all Broadway. It was coming out of his full humanity, which is why I think it's very interesting that he in in many interviews, he said, after Lovecraft Country, he said, that uncovered generational trauma in me that I had to go and seek therapy. He said the first time he saw therapists on a movie set was when Ava DuVernay had them there on When They See Us. And he understood then, I need to do that. So he went to, not only did he do that, he went to Narcotics Anonymous. And so I'll end with this. Michael K. Williams, I don't know that he was acting as much as he was presenting the

complexity of what it means to navigate that double consciousness in American life and black life in the world. And ultimately, like any good actor, and I know that from experience, brother, like any good actor, the role doesn't stop when the lights go down. You wear that thing. And ultimately, whether we can say his demons caught up with him or not, this was a man who seemed to live his life openly and honestly from beginning to end. And we're just fortunate we got to see a little bit of that on film.

And so as he rises like Rod's an ancestor, we wish him safe journey and understand he paid a hell of a price for helping us see ourselves in the mirror of his craft. Dr. Greg Carle, hold tight one second. Joining us right now is the son of the Bronx, rapper Fat Joe. Fat Joe, welcome to Roller Martin and the Field. Hey, Roland. How you doing, my brother? What's going on? Man, all good. Always want you on the show i hated it had to be one of these circumstances you're from the bronx michael k williams was from brooklyn but

uh both of you had new york city in your blood veins man you know special guy man a real special guy cared about the community cared about the people in the community. Every time I talked to him, he was talking to me about his organization and his charity work. As an actor, like the gentleman just before me said, he was brilliant. He was a genius. And just everybody just was in love with him. And he was so incredible at his roles that it was hard to look at him as Michael K. Williams when you met him in person. Like you said, Barack Obama, call him Omar.

You know, people walk up to him, call him Chuck Dwight. I mean, this guy was incredible. Full of life, gone way, way, way too soon. Talk about the fact that he was very open, Fat Joe, about his struggles in his battle. Courtney B. Vance posted on social media that he would send him quotes from the Bible, and Michael would respond, and he said, and how they would go back and forth. I mean, this was a man who was wrestling with his demons. You know, for me, it's weird, right? Because, of course, we know his history. But I have been seeing him in the past months and all that.

And this guy looks so clean, so sober. He looked like he was just like me and you, just focused, man. So this is coming out of right field to me. I know he's had his histories. I know he's had his battles. But every time I've seen him, he's just been straight up sober and focused and talking about the movement

and talking about the people and helping the kids and getting them out of gang lights and stuff like that. Man, this took me by surprise, man. Well, it took, I think, a lot of folks by surprise. And so many people have been shocked and devastated.

Nikki Bahari, she tweeted that she was just shooting with him two weeks ago. Others talked about talking to him just a week ago, but the reality, Fat Joe, is that one of the things that we understand with addiction is that any one thing could just cause some stuff just to go, and then all of a sudden, they make that one phone call, and unfortunately, it was time's up for him. Last thing I would like for you to speak to is that for somebody who played these, who the people thought he was serious and he had the scowl, man, this guy had a laugh. And when you saw him, he just could fill the room just with his laughter and dance and just truly live in life. He was just beautiful, man. He was compassionate. Even though his roles were tough, guys? He was just beautiful, man. He was compassionate.

Even though his roles were tough, guys, he was just sweetheart. He was a teddy bear in person. He cared about the people. He was so humble. You know, it's like a guy who wasn't aware of his contributions. He wasn't aware of his paving the ground and everything.

You know, this guy, man, he was a special, special, special guy. And he was somebody that was accessible to the people, you know, and always there for the people and always fighting for the people, man. He's going to be really, really, really, really, really, really missed.

God bless this brother, man. And he should be as a major inspiration, because we all know that addiction is really an illness. And it's so strong that the smartest people, the greatest people in the world fall to it. So God bless Michael. We will forever lift up his voice and represent him to the fullest, man. But God bless him, his family, everybody who's been affected by his death.

Fat Joe, I appreciate it, my brother. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. God bless. Yes, sir. Jasmine Koenig, who is a journalist out of Los Angeles, she tweeted this a couple of hours ago. She tweeted, she asked me to share this with you. Compton Council member Michelle Chambers and sister of actor Michael K. Williams released the following statement on the death of her brother. Our family has been shaken to the core of the loss of our bike. Thank you to everyone who contacted us, flooded us with love, and more importantly, prayers. I will miss my brother, my best friend, and birthday partner in this realm, but I know he will continue to watch over me and our family in heaven as he did on earth. As I said, we look at the

various tributes that have been pouring in. One of his dear friends, actress Tasha Smith, also director, she has been just posting a number of different things. They were extremely close. She and I had an opportunity to chat via text on yesterday. You see that about six different posts that she posted. The first one, words cannot express the pain I feel in my heart. We laugh, we cry, we pray, love you forever, my friend. Then she said that she had another one. No one made me laugh harder than Michael. I'm numb. We loved listening and dancing. And so you have all of them. She also

posted another one. You gave us all so much love, wisdom and support. My confident prayer friend, prayer partner, fellow artist, you love the heart and live courageously. You encourage me and inspired me. You will live in my heart and our hearts forever. I miss you so much. I can't process this. I know you're with the Lord resting easy at peace. But damn, this hurts. That was actor, actress, as well as director Tasha Smith sharing her thoughts about her friend Michael K.

Williams, who died yesterday at the age of 54. It was in June when Michael K Williams took the stage of the BET Awards for their tribute to DMX and he certainly embodied X with this performance. I can't get up. I saw rest. Take my breath. I've been through many different phases like mazes to find my way. But now I know the happy days are not far away. If I'm strong enough, I live longer than to see my kids doing something more successful with their time other than this.

Because they were forced to me to be a man without a helping hand trying to stand there. I said I'm slipping. I'm falling. I got to get up. Get back on my feet so I can tear it up. Just cause I love my... I just love with all my... Let us holla real, bud! All I want to hear is right here, bud! All I want to hear is right here, bud! Also, folks, there was another video that we saw where Michael K. Williams talked about separating real life from what he portrays on the big or the small screen. You think I'm being typecast?

I don't know. You think this cat being typecast? I don't know. You think this cat is typecast? Actually, I want to do this here. I want to do this here. So actually, there's a longer video. That video was actually called Typecast. It was put out by The Atlantic as well as HBO. And so what I want to do is I want to play the full video. It should be a two-minute, 23-second video.

So if you all have that video ready, now go ahead and play it. You think I'm being typecast? I don't know. You think this cat is typecast? It's a fucking cat, you know? It ain't got much choice. What if he moved to a new neighborhood, you know? Hung out with the poodle crowd, did poodle things, you know, and then he to a new neighborhood? You know, hung out with the poodle crowd,

did poodle things, you know, become a poodle? Still be a cat, you know? But what if he convinced himself that he was a poodle and everyone else that he was a poodle? Wouldn't that make him a poodle? That's a good point. I mean, weird as shit, but... Wouldn't that make him a poodle? That's a good point. I mean weird as shit, but...

That's a good point. Man, this whole metaphor is bullshit, yo. You hear me? You think everybody don't got a role to play? Huh? You think a white boy could've played Omar? You think you could play a president? I could. And I think we've seen the last black president for a while.

I'm just saying. I think you're gonna always be playing some version of Mike. Gangster Mike, old-timer gangster Mike, southern gangster Mike. But I'm not a gangster. Everyone that knows me knows that. Self-denying gangster Mike, southern gangster Mike. But I'm not a gangster. Everyone that knows me knows that. Self-denying gangster Mike. Look, I picked these roles.

Me. I made this path for myself. Did you? Yeah, did you? Or did they choose you? You think we would be doing what we're doing if we had a choice? Huh? Face it, man, look, we from a certain type of people that come from a type of place that look a type of way.

You know what that make us? Black. Typecast. If I were typecast, I'd be in jail or dead. But I'm here in jail or dead. But I'm here. I got out. Got myself out. You sure about that?

Yeah. Yeah. Greg Carr, that was a video that was done, like I said, for The Atlantic and HBO. And, man, that's a whole lot to unpack in that two-minute and 23-second video. Well, Roland, you know, there's a phrase in Latin that is used in legal circles, res ipsa loquitur, the thing speaks for itself. And it's a very powerful phrase, but I want to go back to a language that was old before the Romans ever figured out how to build a house that stayed up. And that's the ancient Egyptians. They had a phrase that said, at the end of your life, if you live a life that allows the ancestors to say what they say is ma'aheru.

Ma'aheru means the voice is true. We just saw what should probably be that brother's testament. That is his obituary. I mean, watching him portray DMX, you realize he can only embody DMX to a point because DMX was the characterization of the so-called alpha male. That wasn't Michael K. Williams. Michael K. Williams, I mean, pushed against the borders of gender.

Think about his role in Omar. Again, a role that was only supposed to last one season, but he overflowed the boundaries of expectations. He could not be stereotyped. So he ends up playing a character who is gay, but who—and who also eschews money. Remember, he burns the money in the stash, rather than he just signaling out to these cats in Omar in the street. In other words, who really wants to exact revenge because he loses his male lover.

And then when he's in a position to kill Brother Muzan, the Nation of Islam cat, he's got a code. He said, well, you didn't do it, I'm not going to kill you. The whole point is that even in the Montrose character there in Lovecraft Country, again, overflows the boundaries of gender. And he talks about growing up, I wasn't that alpha male. What we see in that representation there is the full arc of Michael K. Williams. He's having a conversation with

himself. And what he's saying is they wanted to stereotype me. A lot of people may not know, you know, this, you know, you probably already know it. Quentin Tarantino wanted to put him in Django Unchained. It was down to Michael K. Williams and Jamie Foxx for the role of Django. Quentin Tarantino, one of the most brilliant exploiters of black culture in contemporary film history. A real coon maker, in my opinion. Excuse the French. But Michael K. Williams, fortunately, didn't get that role. Why? Because I'm sure he would have overflowed the boundaries of Django as well. And I'm saying all that to say that even as there were attempts to stereotype him, up to and including—I don't know if some of y'all may be familiar with the series that's on

Vice, Black Market. You know, Michael Williams gave an interview where he said, you know, I was filming this. We're talking about the role of addiction in our communities, what happens in our communities. And we saw him parenthetically there in Harlem. I've been on that street corner many times, crossing the street, talking to somebody. You see these regular black people, red, black, and green flags. This man is connected. He said, after we wrapped the segment I was filming, a brother came up to me and said,

yo, Omar, take me with you, man. Don't leave me here. And Michael K. Williams said, enlisting that brother, I wanted to help him, but there was nothing I could do in that moment. And within a few months, both he and his grandmother had died. But when we see that characterization right there, you sure about that? And you see his tears well up in his eyes? That wasn't acting, brother. And this thing that overpowers so many of us in this life looks like it came up and overpowered Michael K. Williams. But I tell you what,

we all got to go that way. And in going that way, we can always look at this brother and say in that two-minute plus a few seconds clip, he embodied what it means to try to navigate this very strange thing, as Du Bois said, this curious thing of being black in a place that rejects you because you are black. He never let it define him. He overflowed all those boundaries,

brother. That was a remarkable clip. Thank you for showing it to all of us, brother. Folks, in the movie Kill the Messenger, it portrays the story of Gary Webb, the reporter for the San Jose Mercury News, who broke the news of the CIA's involvement in the spread of crack cocaine across the United States. Michael K. Williams played Freeway Ricky Ross in that film. Joining us right now is the real-life Freeway Ricky Ross. Ricky, glad to have you on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Glad to be here. Share your thoughts with us about the loss of Michael K. Williams, reportedly to a drug overdose, him playing you in Kill the Messenger, a movie where, frankly, drugs is intertwined throughout that story. No, when I first met Michael, we had a meeting about him playing that role and uh i was against it uh at first uh i felt that

uh producers and directors of the movie should not be doing a movie without me that that again they were taking my story my name and using and using it, but not including me. And I told Michael that. And then we sat down and we talked. And he told me that one of the reasons that he wanted to include me in it was because he wanted to show the true story of what was going on in my life and in the story. So we sat down for a couple days and we talked and we talked.

And, you know, finally I called him and I said, you know what, Michael, you got my blessings on the road. He also explained to me how the way they wanted him to portray me was not who I am. And not only did he go back to the producers and the directors to fight to get me to be a part of the piece, but he also felt that the role needed to be changed. We talked about that several times, about how he wanted the role needed to be changed. We talked about that several times, about how he wanted the role changed

and how he wanted to portray my character. They did change a few things, but they still wanted to portray me in a certain light, which was, you know, it came out. What does that say about him as an actor, that him playing your role, your role in selling drugs on the West Coast, but how he wanted, he still wanted the humanity of you

to still come through in this film? Well, he respected me. You know, he showed me great respect. I mean, you know, my name has been used and my story has been used in so many different pieces throughout Hollywood, and very few have contacted me at all to get my opinion or my consent or anything. So for him to reach out to

me and let me know that he had won the role and that he wanted me to give him my blessings, it meant a lot to me. um it is um he's so many people have been impacted uh within shocked and satin with um the story of his passing he was very open about um about his battles with addiction. What would you say to someone out there who is doing today what you used to do? Someone who is having to confront the same inner demons that Michael K. Williams had to deal with for so many years in his life, dealing with drug addiction.

What would you say to them? Well, you know, wow. And I had quite of an experience with not only selling drugs, but as well as addiction. You know, my brothers, I've had aunties and uncles and cousins as well, being addicted to drugs. And it's not an easy feat. You know, it's something that we all wrestle with addiction of some form or another. Me, myself, my addiction turned out to be selling drugs. You know, I fell in love with what we call the game of selling drugs. And I understood that my addiction could have been just as great

as somebody who was using drugs. But we have to really, you know, look down in our souls and in our spirits to ask ourselves, is it worth us making our lives a little better at the expense of somebody else's? And that's really the way that I was able to kick my addiction because I understood that, yeah, my family lived a better life, but there were so many others, hundreds and thousands of others who had to suffer for me to have that better life.

Freeway Ricky Ross, we certainly appreciate you joining us to share your thoughts and reflection on the life legacy and the passing of actor Michael K. Williams. And I thank you for having me on to let me share in my short story. You know, me and him, we had a short time together. You know, I can't say we were necessarily friends, but we were definitely acquaintance. We did a couple of premieres together for the movie. And every time, you know, it was always brotherly love. And I did have a lot of respect for the brother. And I was hoping that for my movie that we're working on right now, that he had a shot at playing that role. And I know that he wanted to play that role because he wanted to really show my character in the true light that I really lived in and that I continue to live in today.

And I think the brother will be greatly missed. We lost another great one, and I send my condolences to his family. Ricky Ross, we appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Of course, I want to read, this is the tweet that actor Courtney B. Vance, I referenced it earlier, sent out today, actually yesterday. And this is what it says. Michael worked hard in his work and throughout his life.

He shared with us all how hard he tried to achieve sustained sobriety. I know Michael, the man, would want his life to serve as an important, teachable lesson for anyone who is in the midst of the very real struggle against addiction. As difficult as this moment is for us all, Michael has found peace. He was a giant of a man. Only my faith sustains me in times like these. And Michael loved the Lord. I sent him our scriptures every day and he responded every day. Jesus, Michael, you will always be remembered by so many for your gifts as an actor. But even more importantly, you will be

remembered for being an amazing, kind man. I love you, my brother. Rest in peace. Actor Courtney B. Vance. Folks, we're going to close out this tribute, if you will, to actor Michael K. Williams, as I said, who died yesterday at the age of 54. His body was found at his dining room table at his apartment in Brooklyn. With him reciting a poem. And we'll end the show on this note. And we appreciate all of you and everyone who joined us today for sharing their thoughts and reflections on the loss of actor Michael K. Williams,

again dead at the age of 54. I'll see you tomorrow here at Fisk University on Roller Bar Unfiltered and the Black Star Network. I don't know who wrote this, but I thought I would share it with y'all. We fell asleep in one world and woke up in another. Suddenly Disney is out of magic. Paris is no longer romantic. New York doesn't stand up anymore. The Chinese wall is no longer a fortress and Mecca is empty. Hugs and kisses suddenly become weapons and not visiting parents and friends becomes an act of love.

Suddenly we realize that power, beauty, and money are worthless and can't get us the very thing we're fighting for, oxygen. The world continues its life and it's beautiful. It only puts humans in cages. I think it's sending us a message. We are not necessary. The air, earth, water, and sky without us are just fine. When we come back, remember that we are guests and not its masters. 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. 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. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your 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 taylorpapersilling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.