#RolandMartinUnfiltered - TN DOJ Investigation, National Urban League Conference 2023, Cincinnati Music Festival Recap

Episode Date: July 28, 2023

7.27.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: TN DOJ Investigation, National Urban League Conference 2023, Cincinnati Music Festival Recap  The Justice Department is investigating a pattern or practice investigation into police conduct in Memphis, and we'll discuss the findings of this investigation.  You'll hear Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke break it all down.  The Alabama woman who lied about being abducted could face charges for filing a false police report.  Tuesday would have been Emmett Till's 82nd birthday.  President Biden signed a historic proclamation establishing the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois.  We'll talk to one of Till's family members and an activist about what this means and how the pursuit of justice continues.  The NAACP's Senior Vice President of Strategy and Advancement will be here to talk about how the move to ban menthol cigarettes is a social justice issue.  Plus, we'll be recapping the Cincinnati music festival with our exclusive interview with comedian and television host Sheryl Underwood. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Today is Thursday, July 27, 2023. Coming up on Roller Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network from the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, the site of the National Urban League National Convention. We'll hear from Urban League CEO Mark Morial about this convention and about the importance of an economic agenda for black America. Also, the Department of Justice announced a patterns and practices investigation into the Memphis Police Department. We'll share those details with you also on today's show. We're here for State Representative Jolanda Jones about all the drama here in Texas with Republicans

having a supermajority, making it difficult for Democrats to move legislation. Also, Wendy Raquel was here celebrating her good friend Michelle Miller on her book. I chatted with her about her teaching school in Los Angeles and also about the SAG after strike. Plus, black men, the critical voting bloc in this country. We'll hear from the leader of black men vote as well. We got a jam packed show for you. We'll also hear from the Emmett Till Family Foundation about the National Monument designation by President Biden. In addition to that, we'll also talk to Cheryl Underwood. She was at the Cincinnati Music Festival on behalf of Procter & Gamble.

We'll talk to her about what she's doing when it comes to trying to get folks healthy. It is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the mess, he's on it. Whatever it is, let's go. With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling With Uncle Roro, y'all It's rolling, Martin Rolling with rolling now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's rolling, Martin

Now He's real the best, you know he's rolling. Martel. Martel. After the brutal beating death of a black man, the Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the Memphis Police Department. Kristen Clark, who leads the Civil Rights Division for the DOJ, made the announcement. Today, the U.S. Department of Justice is opening a civil rights investigation into the city of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department to determine whether there is a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the Constitution or our federal civil rights laws. Based on an extensive review of publicly available information, as well as information provided to us, there are grounds to open this investigation now. Our grounds to open this investigation now.

Our decision to open this investigation now is not based on a single incident or event, nor is it confined to a specific unit or type of unit within the Memphis Police Department. For example, we received multiple reports of officers escalating encounters with community members, resulting in excessive force. There are also indications that officers may use force punitively when faced with behavior they perceive to be insolent. The information we reviewed also shows that officers may use force against people who are already restrained or in custody. At times, the use of force practices results in serious physical injuries. Other information indicates that the Memphis Police Department may be using an approach to street enforcement that can result in violations of federal law including

racially discriminatory stops of black people for minor violations. Such encounters can be harmful and they can also violate the law. Our review indicates that even in a majority black city, MPD's traffic enforcement may focus disproportionately on the black community. Black drivers receive a significant share of vehicle citations, such as for tinted windows or broken taillights. And the information also suggests that these disparities are not new here in Memphis. Police departments with inadequate training, supervision, and accountability systems struggle to prevent misconduct or address misconduct after it has occurred. We reviewed allegations of deficiencies in these systems within the

Memphis Police Department. Today, we are not concluding that these allegations of excessive force, improper searches and stops, and racial disparities are sufficient to show a legal violation without further analysis, but they do warrant a full investigation. The investigation we announced today will focus on three main issues. First, whether the Memphis Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of making unlawful stops, searches, and arrests. Second, whether the Memphis Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force? And third, whether the Memphis Police Department engages in racially discriminatory policing practices with respect to black residents of this city? All right, folks, I'm bringing my panel right now. I'm Dr. Greg Carr,

Department of American Studies, Howard University. Joining us out of Washington, D.C., Recy Colbert, host of the Recy Colbert Show on Sirius XM Radio. Also out of D.C., Candace Kelly, legal analyst, South Orange, New Jersey. Glad to have all three of you key here. Candace, I want to start with you. This has been a Department of Justice that have been extremely aggressive on this very issue. A stark contrast from the previous administration. Before, you had two attorney generals. You had Jeff Sessions and

Bill Barr. They did not want to be investigating police departments. In fact, they wanted to pull back, but they thought it was hurting the morale of police. In this case, what you're seeing is led by Kristen Clark, this civil rights division being far more aggressive, holding people accountable. And what she said there, that this issue with the Memphis police goes beyond Tyree Nichols. It is much more expansive. It is much bigger. And as you said, she's not just looking at this one case. It is much more expansive. And it is something that's going to take a couple of years. And what they're really saying is, look, we see a problem. They already have addressed or talked about what a few of those problems were in terms of traffic stops and aggressive policing. But they're going to really

have to take the time now, as they have with other cities, to sit and speak with community stakeholders, to speak with police officers, to speak with retired police officers. Part of what they do is they go on ride-alongs to figure out what is going wrong here. Because as they saw, this wasn't just an issue that had to do with black police officers or white police officers. It was just officers in general. And what it really has come down to when the Department of Justice has looked at other cities across the country is that there has to be a different training involved. There has to be some empathy. There has to be some understanding of what their role is on the street. Now, Memphis has had a history of having police officers that, where the numbers didn't meet where they want. They really have kind of cracked down on crime, but they don't have the police

officers that they wanted. So they lowered the standards. And this is what happens when you lower the standards. Also, you're going to have to look at these police officers who were in their positions for maybe three to five years on average in this particular case. I mean, these are relatively new when you think about what it takes to really get up and going in a job. So this is not surprising, but this is certainly something that I look forward to finding out what the outcome will be. It will probably take a couple of years for that to happen, Roland. Recy, when we look at the investigations of other police departments, we look at Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans. We can go on and on, Chicago, on and on and on.

We've seen what then happens with the DOJ is actually even in place monitors there. I remember when they looked into the Chicago, where you have police officers who admitted using the N-word. Police officers admitted dropping gang members off in rival territories just to force them to try to talk. And so for the people out there who might say, oh, look, we already know these things happen. It's one thing to say we know they happen. It's another to make sure it's documented and then force the departments to change. Right. I mean, it's all about consent decrees. Consent decrees is how you enforce change on these police departments in the absence of legislation, in the absence of the fact that

the federal government typically does not have direct jurisdiction over these local departments aside from consent decrees. And so this is not just a criminal justice issue. This is a quality of life issue. As Assistant Attorney General Clark pointed out, people being disproportionately harassed and physically violated during traffic stops. You know, if somebody pulls you over for a broken taillight, you should not get your head bashed in by the police. That's a quality of life issue. And so this is a prime example of how elections have consequences. We begged and pleaded with everybody to get out there and take back the Senate or expand our margins in the Senate. We didn't do that. We only gained one seat. And as a result, we don't have a

filibuster-proof majority. And so in the absence of congressional action, like passing the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act or passing any kind of policing reforms, you need to have a Department of Justice that is laser-like in going after these problem police departments in the meantime and in between times. So I'm very encouraged by the work that the Garland DOJ has been doing. Does it solve police brutality? No. Does it solve every issue across the country? No. But these things matter. And these are not things we will be see happening if we still had a Trump DOJ or if we get another Republican in the White House in 2024. And that's the key.

And that's the key right there, Greg Carr, that people have to understand. People who are watching and listening, they must realize that Biden-Harris doesn't win in 2024. We're going back to the dark ages. We're going back to Barr and Sessions where they tried to get rid of consent decrees. I remember Sessions, one of the first things that he did, they tried to get rid of consent decrees. I remember Sessions, one of the first things that he did, they tried to get rid of the consent decree in Baltimore. The mayor of Baltimore, the police chief, had to fight them in federal court. And the judge was like, no, that consent decree was signed. Republicans do not want to hold cops accountable. Right now, Greg, there was a cop who was found guilty in Mississippi. The state attorney general is trying to overturn that. A prosecutor's like,

what are you doing? In Missouri, the governor of Missouri is looking at pardoning a Kansas City cop who killed somebody because he disagrees with the judge's decision. And this is a contrast. When I hear these people, a dude came up to me the other day when I was driving back from the OTC, the Richard T. Golf Classic. It's about one. It was probably about, man, one o'clock in the morning with the flying J. I don't know where in hell I was in New Jersey, Pennsylvania. And some brothers, three brothers who stopped me, Greg, two, two guys who were one was a cab driver.

One's a trucker. There's another trucker. And there's one dude. He's like, man, I want to know, why won't you debate Jason Black? I was like, why in the hell would I debate that fool? I'm like, I don't give a damn what he is. I said, he's irrelevant. So this brother starts going on and on

and on about, oh man, you all was sitting here talking about voting for the Democrats. I said, okay, tell me what you care about. Give me three issues. And I will show you the contrast between what Republicans are voting for three issues. I said, and I will show you the contract between what Republicans are voting for and Democrats. I said, take the D and the R off. Let's focus on how they're voting. He goes, white supremacy is one. I said, hmm, when Jamal Bowman had

a bill to get rid of white supremacists in the military and the cops, I said, all Democrats voted for it. All Republicans except one voted against it. I said, so how in the hell are you going to have a conversation with me about Republicans and Democrats? Then he mentioned, well, I don't like what the Sanders is doing. I said, let's see, who voted for what the Sanders is doing? Republicans. Who voted Democrats?

I said, so what are we talking about? And I thought, like, I was dead tired, but his ass got me wide awake, and I looked to his ass. I said, y'all keep talking to these stupid-ass people out here who know nothing. I said, and y'all want to say somebody is shilling. I says, well, no, I'm advocating for black people. And if I'm advocating for black people, I can say, hmm, a Biden-Harris Department of Justice is going to be far more aggressive in going after cops, putting people, putting wardens and correctional officers in jails than a Republican DOJ. I said, it ain't hard to look at.

I said, but y'all are so stuck on stupid because you want to hate Democrats. I said, we can kick their ass and hold them accountable. I said, what I'm not going to do is act like they're not trying to do something about rogue cops. Absolutely. Well, first of all, let's just, of course, take note of the fact that even in the wee hours of the morning, black people feel like they can roll up to you in the middle of nowhere and get into an argument about you. That is the value of black news media platforms. All people know you for them, even when they think they disagree that's first of all but but greg greg greg greg greg it was something too because

he was sitting here and he was like well you know it's a whole lot of stuff you say or that ain't right i said name two or three uh i've been driving 13 hours it's so much i've been up 30 i said i've been up 30 hours come on come on his name was brandon i said brandon let me tell you something you ran up against a real one i said i don't care how tired i am my ass ready to hit you with facts i said you better stop listening to fools like jason black and professor black truth and the rest of these fools i said because you roll up on me i'm gonna hit your ass with receipts no question this professor black troop is called i don't know who the hell that is behind some The rest of these fools, I said, because you roll up on me, I'm going to hit your ass with receipts. No question. Professor Black Troop is called.

I don't know who the hell that is behind some voice modulator on YouTube. We can just say that. But I know Tom Brokaw, Mike Wallace, he never had nothing like that happen to them in the middle of the night in Jersey or Pennsylvania. So, again, the value. But, you know, here we are again. Here we are again. Kristen Clark, Black America's Attorney General, as far as a lot of us are concerned, strikes again. She does it again. In March, it was Louisville. In June, it was Minnesota. And here we are in Memphis. And in fact, the mayor of Memphis, Jim Strickland, was like, wait, I wish you'd double back and talk to us. No, no, you've been talking to enough. And the police chief, C.J. Davis, who kind of brought that scorpion unit to life and then disbanded it, although some of them are in other units now, is saying, you know, it's just a few people, the typical bad apple thing. No, Kristen Clark is a hold of it now. And again, as we've just heard, elections matter.

I was talking today with Zahara Simmons, a SNCC veteran who is from Memphis. And she said, you know, once we elect folk, that's when the work starts. We thus then must continue to organize and mobilize to get them going. But when it comes to the law, it's a little bit different. When you've got somebody like a Kristen Clark, to echo Sherrilyn Ifill, what Sherrilyn Ifill says, she says, the 14th Amendment doesn't count on you to like me. It's the law. Meaning what?

You can call me all kind of n-words, but equal protection under law means that your attitude toward me doesn't count when it comes to violating the law. And Kristen Clark is showing us what that looks like. Finally, of course, our brother Mark Morial released a message yesterday that said Kristen Clark is doing exactly what we thought she would do when we advocated for her confirmation. And he echoed the Urban League's 21 pillars for redefining public safety and restoring community trust, which involves collaborating with community and having accountability for law enforcement and changing divisive police policies and requiring transparency and improving standards in hiring. Well, we see in this pedant practice investigation that the Department of Justice using the law the way it

is supposed to be used and being spearheaded by a sister who is very clear about what the law can and can't do and is going to work to the limits of the law to make sure we gain some progress, we're seeing that that is directly in line with the Urban League's 21 pillars. And that's what the leader of the Urban League said. See, the thing here for me, Candace, again, you know, why there is such a sense of urgency in my voice, because I need people to understand, those who are watching and listening, there is an alternative. We cannot talk about holding cops accountable. We cannot talk about holding cops accountable. We cannot talk about criminal justice reform. We cannot talk about all these things if we're not going to actually acknowledge the work that is being done to hold them accountable.

And so if you do not have the George Floyd Justice Act, if you have not gotten rid of qualified immunity, the one power that you do have is to be able to investigate the departments. And as Greg said, the mayor, Strickland, you can go to hell. They don't need your damn permission. They don't need to ask you anything because clearly you have been the mayor for more than a decade. You cannot control your department. The police chief cannot. And then for them to say, oh, there's only a few people. Well, guess what? The powers in practice investigation will tell us if it's more than just a few people. Because if anybody wants to, anybody out there who's watching, go pull the investigation of Philadelphia, of New Orleans, of Cleveland, of Chicago, of Baltimore, of Minneapolis, and you will see how widespread this corruption is among these cops. And that's what

they're afraid of. They are afraid that this thing is not solely going to be about Tyree Nichols, Candace. That's right. And that's why the mayor wanted to make sure that they had conversation with the Department of Justice beforehand. He wasn't there just to agree with what they were saying. He was he wanted to have a conversation with them to say, listen, let's try to do this a different way. I don't want my lack of work and my position to be shown to the world because I haven't done what I need to do in order to get this police force in order. And what we're going to see are patterns in practice that the mayor does not want anybody to see. But you have to acknowledge the fact that all of this piecemeal work so far has not quite been working the way the Constitution

has set out. It's already written in terms of the civil rights that people are supposed to have. It's already been written in terms of what police officers, what legislators, what the courts are supposed to be doing in the name of justice. So what we have, as Rishi said, are these consent degrees that at least say something, some agreement to say, listen, I know that other parts of the legislative, the executive parts are not doing what they need to do. Here we are. Let's put something on paper and come to an agreement that at least something should take place, because it's not happening in other areas. Like you said, or else the George Floyd Policing and Justice Act would have been passed. But we don't have the attention.

A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert

Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

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

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. ...that we need to. So now we've got this piecemeal approach, and this

is all that we have. Indeed. All right, folks, hold tight one second. Go on to a break. We come back. we're going to hear from mark morel ceo of the national urban league about the fight for economic equity for african americans also we are here in houston and i talked with texas state representative delana jones of houston about the kind of hell they are battling with republicans in the legislature texas also now is trying to ban books. We also know about

DEI. Folks, understand this thing ain't just Florida. It's Texas. It's Georgia. It's Mississippi. It's Alabama. It's South Carolina. It's North Carolina. We had better understand if we were sitting our asses on the sideline, other folks are voting. And if you ain't voting, shut the hell up. We'll be right back. For decades, the tobacco industry has deliberately targeted black communities and kids with marketing for menthol cigarettes. It's had a devastating impact on black health. Tobacco use claims 45,000 black lives every year. It's the number one cause of preventable death. In the 1950s, less than 10% of black smokers used menthol cigarettes.

Today, it's 85%. Menthol cools and numbs the throat, making it easier for kids to start smoking. Menthol also increases addiction, making it harder for smokers to quit. Menthol cigarettes are a big reason why black Americans have a harder time quitting smoking and die at higher rates from smoking-related diseases like cancer, heart disease, and stroke. It's time to stop big tobacco from profiting off black lives. An FDA ban on menthol cigarettes will improve black health, save lives, and protect future generations from addiction. Learn more at tobaccofreekids.org slash ban menthol. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly

violence. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this.

Here's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white people. Bye bye, Papa. Hey, what's up? It's Tammy Roman. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherri Shepherd Talk Show.

It's me, Sherri Shepherd, and you know what you're watching, Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered here in Houston, site of the National Urban League. Two days ago, President Joe Biden signed into law the Emmett Till and Emmett Till Mobile National Monument. It's going to recognize three different locations in Mississippi and Illinois. This is something that, of course, the family has been fighting for so long, trying to make sure this nation never forgets what took place in 1955. Emmett Till would have been 82 years old on Tuesday. And it was a monumental day. Joining us right now is Priscilla Williams Till. She's the president and founder of the Emmett Till Justice for Families Foundation. Glad to have you here. First and foremost, for the people out there, some who might say, well, this is just a designation.

It's a monument. It's no big deal. What does this mean to the Till family? Well, we are happy. Joe Biden recognized the family as far as a monument, but it does not negate the pain and the injustice that the family still experiences from no prosecution of Carolyn Bryant. I don't know if you noticed, but we right now want the district attorney, Dwayne Richardson, to release the grand jury transcript. And that's what we want for the transparency and accountability to still get justice for Emmett Till.

And when you talk about releasing those documents, like we talked about the other day about the assassination of Malcolm X, and our position is very clear. Everything should be released so the public knows exactly what took place. Yes, sir. And I think the public don't realize how you had the United States Senator James O. Eastman, who was head of the Chairman of Judicial

Committee back in 1955, when Mamie Teal filed a lawsuit against Roy Bryan, J.W. Milam, and Carolyn Bryan. And, you know, after that, Megan Everett was killed in 1964. So she kind of feared and put a lot of fear in the family, and she left the lawsuit alone. So what we do know now is the family is still pursuing why Carolyn Bryan was never prosecuted in the state. And then you have James O. Eason. Think about it. The United States senator involved in a kidnapping trial. And he goes to the Department of Defense, get Louis Till's records, and bring them to the 1955 trial to get J.W. Milam and Roy Bryan acquitted. You got to say who Louis Till is.

And so, you know, that's very powerful. And I don't know if people realize, but Louis Hill is Emmett Till's dad. Questions from my panel. I'll start with you, Recy. I just want to say thank you for being here. And I think this is a really historic and significant, you know, monumental designation. How do you think this will impact the fundraising that your family has been trying to do to help preserve these sites now that it's

been designated as a national monument? Well, we're looking forward to donations, but, you know, the sites are important. It's about the justice that the family is still seeking. It's about, you know, the national sites don't get justice. The national sites don't get, I mean, people still are being murdered. People are still being lynched here in Mississippi. And that's a problem for us. We still have white supremacists that's ruling the state. So to have the national monuments, I don't know if you all are aware, but they were attacked, the designated sites. You had white supremacists still shooting up the sign. So for the national monuments to be here, it's a great thing. But what happens next? No one is holding the state accountable for the past discretion. So we're just waiting to see what happens. And then, like I said, to move things forward after these national monuments is to bring them out to see what the DA will do as far as releasing the grand jury transcripts. We want the transparency of being able to view those records to see why she was never arrested, Why she was never prosecuted?

And to release those records to the lawyers, I mean, to our lawyers, the black lawyers for justice. Greg Carr, your question. Thank you, Roland. And thank you, Sister Williams-Till. I couldn't agree with you more, sis. Lauren Victoria Burke last night or night four here on Roland Martin and Filter made that point. We need some policy in addition to these kind of presidential proclamations.

But in that spirit, I have a couple of very quick questions. The Bryant's grocery and meat market, is there a reason why that wasn't included in the national marker, national monument space? With the actual incident, the lie took place, Carolyn Bryant. And the second question very quickly dovetails into what you've already said, and you and Reese had a conversation, which is, how can this designation really be used to go after that justice, that justice that we all need. And again, thank you again, because y'all Mississippi folk don't play with this. We're going to get justice. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. First and foremost, that store, that meat market, no one owns it. There's

not deeds to it. So that's the only reason it has been made a designation. So that's interesting because I don't think Americans know that really and truly no one has the deeds on their property. Yeah, so it stayed on. So that's the reason why they hadn't made it a federal national monument. And second, I think we need to expose first and foremost, you know, Mississippi is the belly of the beast.

And when I say that, I mean we have the highest in lynchings in America. Right now we have over 45 racist organizations here. We have a United States Senator, Cindy Hyde-Smith, that made the statement she could sit on the front row of a public lynching. You have Lynn Fitch, who's our attorney general, dad, remodeled Nathan Bedford's forest home, who's the grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, having corporate businessmen fly into Mississippi, going to this resort right now in Mississippi. So right now, what we need to be dealing with is not national monuments. We need to be dealing with is not national monuments. We need to be on the ground with task teams. We need the Department of Justice,

Civil Rights Division. We need some type of team of people, efforts to be here on the ground in Mississippi. Because if you all hadn't been paying attention, we have white men picking up black men, dropping them off in the woods and chasing them down as if it's a game. And we have a young man. Excuse me? Excuse me? Ma'am? No, no, go right ahead. You said a young man.

You were about to say. Yes, we had a young man, two black boys. I mean, besides Rasheem Carter. I know you all are here but i'm gonna just talk about this latest case we had a young man picked up by a group of white men with another black guy that were friends supposedly and the two black guys they dropped one of them off and proceed to drop the other one out but instead of dropping him off at home they drove him past his home off into some woods chased him down and said,

nigger, we got you. What you going to do now? Broke his arm, and the guy was able to get away, run into the highway. And now, for fear, we have had him to come to some of the meetings. He will not come. But this is known. They had it on Instagram. And these are things that are happening in Mississippi today because no one is holding anything accountable here.

Any time it's been six to eight years, Emmett Till's murder, Carolyn Brown was able to die a free woman when we have all this evidence to bring her to trial. See, what I want to see happen is something happens as far as getting task teams down here, starting in the state of Mississippi. And once you can take these races out of office here in this state, then we can move this country forward. Not just the state of Mississippi, but the country forward. You got us in the Bible Belt. Think about it.

Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, if I didn't say Florida, Arkansas. We're supposed to be Christian. These people don't live as Christians. They're using it as a front because there's no way that we will be subjected to the things that are still going on in Mississippi. You've got the Rasheem Carter, whose body parts were found all over the place. That's a modern-day lynching, and no one is talking about that. No one is calling that out. They're talking about abortion.

Well, we need to be talking about the lives of black Americans. We need to be discussing that. We need to be talking about these racist organizations that exist right now here in the state of Mississippi that's causing, you got these white boys. I have been reporting it. Since 2017, I have been harassed, followed. I have wrote a police report, incident report. My car has been hit by these clansmen.

And then they wait till someone is murdered, like body parts are found. And these same men that Rasheem Carter told his mother, Mama, if anything happens to me, check out my job, my boss, and the men that I'm working with. But nothing to, I mean, no one has been charged for that murder. No one has been charged for a 25-year-old body part spread all over a community. And white children come to school and talk about a black body being in their hall pen. But no one is talking about that here in Mississippi. So I want to see task teams formed.

That's the purpose of creating the M.T. of Justice for Families Foundation, to formulate lawyers, to formulate forensic pathologists, investigators. We have our own task teams. We need to be able to combat this. We can't fight this without the government. We can't fight this without the government, but this is what's going on. White supremacy is not being held accountable. That's the reason why we need new representation in the state of Mississippi, and I plan on being part of that new representation. All right, then.

Priscilla, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Continue to fight for justice, and we'll be right there as well. Thanks a lot. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you. Folks, we come back.

Breaking news. More Donald Trump indictments. And are they getting ready for indictments in Atlanta? We'll pick it down next. Folks, be sure to support the black star network download the black star network app apple phone android phone apple tv android tv roku amazon fire tv xbox one samsung smart tv also uh please uh support us with your dollars that are critically important it allows us to travel the country covering the stores that matter to you. Send your check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C.

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PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. I'm Dr. Greg Carr, and coming up on the next Black Table, thinking about the Black Freedom Movement in a global way, Dr. John Monroe joins us to discuss his book, The Anti-Colonial Front, which maps the social justice movement in the United States and its impact internationally, from Asia to Africa, and how movements like anti-communism were used to slow down racial equality,

like critical race theory today. Critical race theory today, communism back then, that's essentially mobilized to shut down any challenges to a given system of power. Connecting the civil rights movement to colonialism on the next Black Table, exclusively here on the Black Star Network. I am Tommy Davidson.

I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. Right now, I'm rolling with Roland Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. A lot of times, the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. We hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up.

So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams,

and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is

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

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

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves music stars marcus king john osborne from brothers osborne we have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man benny the butcher brent smith from shine down got be real from cypress hill nhl enforcer riley cote marine Corps vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things.

Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm going to go ahead and close this. Să facem un pic în următoarea mea rețetă. Folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Breaking news. Special prosecutor Jack Smith has added three new indictments against Donald Trump in the classified documents case. In fact, they an explosive allegation in this indictment says that Donald Trump specifically asked an employee of his Mar-a-Lago club to delete security camera footage that was being sought after by investigators. It is a 60 page superseding indictment. They also have charged a third defendant, Carlos de Oliveira, according to Politico, who say they say he joined Trump as well as his aide, Walt Nata, to seek to destroy the security footage. Candace Kelly, this 60-page superseding indictment, they told Trump this was coming. He came on and said he was going to be indicted again. This is obviously a huge deal for them to have evidence that he ordered the destruction of video footage.

Absolutely, Roland. that he ordered the destruction of video footage. Absolutely, Roland. Now we're up to 40 charges in this new indictment that came out this evening. And really, I think what the feds are doing is they are looking for somebody to turn. Walt Nata has not done it so far, or else he would have heard of something in terms of Walt Nata making a deal, right? We haven't heard that. Now we've got Oliveria, and he's the one who's now on the chopping block. Look at the last names of these people involved. Would you be surprised or would

anybody be surprised that this would be something perhaps targeted? You have Latinos involved, who have families who may be in a situation where they can threaten things over their head in order to come forth and say, listen, let's make a deal because we know that you are closely associated with these people in your life who may have immigrated in a way that is not proper or may be here illegally. And so I think what they are doing strategically is, little by little, trying to figure out who they can add to the case. And they probably actually know who they can add to the case to see who we can turn. It happened with Michael Cohen, who was a staunch supporter, but he eventually turned. That's what I think they are doing right now, adding people onto this case because they have to turn somebody because so far nobody has done it. This right here, Recy, is greatly significant because, again, you have the previous indictments.

And look, I don't care what anybody says. Republicans can try all they want to say, oh, he's being targeted, he's being harassed. When the feds have evidence that you ordered the destruction of video that was being sought by prosecutors, look, that is a grave felony charge, and it does not bode well for Donald Trump. No, definitely not. I mean, obstruction, anything related to obstructing an investigation is going to land you in serious trouble. And it also goes to show his state of mind and his guilt. It's evidence that he's willfully doing these things, which is why he's getting charged with willful detention of these classified documents. Otherwise, why are you trying to conceal the fact

that you had these documents in the first place? It would have been very easy for him to simply, first of all, not take them in the first place, because that's what he shouldn't have done, and for him to give them back when they asked him to return the documents. This did not start out as a criminal charge in terms of the National Archives just saying, hey, you have our documents, give it back. And so the fact that Trump decided to go down this path, this is a crisis of his own making and one of the Republican Party, because this is at the point now where Trump has no choice but to carry on, try to get back in that White House so he can pardon himself.

He can't rely on any of these Republicans claiming that they're going to pardon him. Some of them won't go on record and say that. And we know for damn sure Biden ain't going to pardon his ass. And so this is something that now is becoming more and more dire for Trump to continue on and taking the whole Republican Party down with him. Great car. They can spend all their time talking about Hunter Biden, Hunter Biden, Hunter Biden, Hunter Biden, all this sort of stuff like this here. But guess what? You got thug in chief who's sitting over here facing these charges. And Greg, check this

out. This video has went up today. They are installing today, about four hours ago, barricades outside of a Fulton County courthouse. That tells you, remember, Fannie, remember Fannie Willis told judges not to have any trials in the first two weeks of August. If you're Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham, you better watch out. Looks like Fannie is about to drop the hammer on Trump and all of the folks who are involved in him trying to rig and steal the 2020 election. No question, Roland.

We're counting on the young cats down there in the ATL to do the remix now. Let's get a bad voice, bad voice. What you gonna do? What you gonna do when he come out? Come on, Dirty. Y'all got to come through. I'm looking for the young boys to put the remix video, because finally got to do it.

Finally getting ready to drop that bomb. There's no question about it. And they're putting up the barricades, but don't worry about it. It's gonna be some remixes out there. But I couldn't agree more with everything Candace and Reese have said. And y'all know Candace Kelly knows what she's talking about. They It's going to be some remixes out there. But I couldn't agree more with everything Candace and Reesey have said. And you all know Candace Kelly. You know what she's talking about. They're going to try to flip Carlos.

Carlos is part of Carlos Lago, y'all. And then he moved up to head of maintenance. And they got him on the camera moving boxes. And then he turned around and called a cat from IT right after the prosecutor subpoenaed Trump's company. They got Carlos on the phone talking to IT, and now you got gaps in the video. I agree with you, Candace. I think they might be

a turd of Carlos. Carlos Oliveira on heading the protections of Donald Trump. So, yeah, they know what they're doing, but come on, y'all. Come on, ATL. Come through. We need the Bad Boys, Bad Boys remix on Fannie Willis because she about to do her star turn. Right.

Well, Candace, I don't think Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham are going to be playing Ludacris and Jermaine Dupri's Welcome to Atlanta theme song. No, not at all. Not at all. He's preparing right now for what that tweet is going to read so he can come in defense and try to get the public on his side.

But look at all these numbers. He's got Fannie that's come in. He just finished, you know, with the rape case, and that still is ongoing. We've got the fraudulent case in New York City that's coming up and beefing up his properties. He's got so many cases coming up that I don't see how he can even think about running for president. I'm telling you right now that they have the evidence. In other words, this is what we're seeing with the gaps on the video and the phone calls. They've taken all of various phones.

We already have that type of evidence. They're looking behind the scenes, like Greg said. They've got to make a deal somewhere. They're trying to figure out who is going to be our star witness in all of this. Because once that star witness comes in one of those cases, then all the other cases are going to come down like dominoes. Because once that one case is out there, people are going to be perceiving him in an absolutely different way. And he won't be this, you know, Donald Trump, I'm tightly clad with everybody behind me and nobody can penetrate me. It's going to be a different story. Fannie is coming for the remix, like Greg said.

And look, look here, Recy, again, Republicans, Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz and Bo Burt and Marjorie Taylor Greene, all of these idiots, they can try as they might. Guess what? You keep pounding. You keep throwing body blows. You keep throwing haymakers. At the end of the day, you're going to fall. And what is Donald Trump scared the most of? He is scared, as Candace said and Greg said, of people flipping. And guess what?

A lot of those fake electors, they have flipped in Michigan. Oh, yeah. Flipping in Georgia. And these folks are like, man, damn that. I ain't going to prison for your ass. You know, nobody has put more white people in danger of being indicted than Donald J. Trump. I mean, he has taken all these white folks and some Latinos down with him on his way to jail short of a pardon.

I mean, this is absolutely astounding, the level of criminality that he is caught with, because we didn't know he was a criminal. We didn't know he was a degenerate. He made that very clear throughout his entire career. All these bankruptcies, all the people he screwed over, his racism, all of his isms that he has displayed and his incompetence as a president of the United States. So none of this should be a shock,

except for the fact that a white man finally is being held accountable for his crimes. He went too far too many times, and now it's coming back to bite him in the ass. And I'm glad that you mentioned Michigan. They are putting the screws on these folks all across the country so that they don't even think about doing this again in 2024. January 6th commission that Jack Smith is, or who, I don't know exactly who it is actually for the January 6th thing, but they have a grand jury that's going to indict Donald Trump's ass. He already announced that the indictments haven't come yet, but he knows that's coming. He is in deep shit. And as much as you want to say that the Republicans want to try to deflect with Hunter Biden, Hunter Biden is not on the ballot. Donald Trump is trying to

be on the ballot. And unfortunately for the Republican Party, the voters of the Republican Party, the 30 percent of the 15 percent of the people who vote in the primaries are still with Trump. So they all have to still be with Trump. And to be honest, they don't have any real galvanizing alternatives. And that's why Trump continues to gain ground on all of his competitors in the Republican primaries. You know, when you're sitting here, you know, when you look at this whole deal right here, Greg, and you start looking at, again, the actions here, take the case of this guy, Olivera. He's the one who drained the Mar-a-Lago pool that flooded the room where the videotapes were being held. Yeah.

Bro, really? And again, if you're working for this dude, look at Michael Cohen. We could go on and on and on. Donald Trump has wanted people to lie for him, to get in trouble for him, and he's not going to sit here and save you. And what these idiots are now realizing, and I'm telling you, they will be dumb. He could try to promise like the tax case, the guy with the Trump organization, where they were paying his legal fees and everything else. Guess what?

The rest of these people, they don't have multimillion-dollar deals, and that guy kept his mouth shut. Okay? And I'm telling you right now, I just can't wait to see Fox News and Newsmax and OEN. Oh, what's going to be the new one now? I can't wait to hear them try to spin, oh, no, he didn't do anything wrong by ordering the destruction of surveillance tapes. No, I mean, but again, I mean, just to reiterate, I think Kansas is on to something. You're talking about a guy who is notorious for not paying his employees. It's one thing when you're a lawyer. Yes. It's one thing when you

are an accountant. It's another thing when you may or may not have papers in the United States when you're, and I wasn't joking. I mean, New York Times reporting, I mean, Carlos de Oliveira, he was literally parking cars at Mar-a-Lago. You know, you've got people who are easily flipped because you're going lowered into the class structure. And so I think Kansas is on to something. I mean, what they have identified is this is a cat who's got a lot to lose. And as you say, Roland, probably doesn't have a bank account, certainly can't hire a high-powered attorney. Now, what will be interesting is to see which of these cats come out the shadows and maybe tries to pick up or doesn't try to pick up his legal bills,

because, you know, he's doing what he's told so that he can continue to earn a check there at Mar-a-Lago and maybe even be paid under the table. He's not asking any questions. He's moving documents. He's draining a pool. He makes a call to somebody in I.T. to talk about maybe something can be done about this footage. Now, I'm sure he knows somewhere in the back of his mind because, look, we're black in America. And if you're black in America beyond the top one percent or whatever, you probably have either seen on television or heard somebody, your cousin or somebody down the street, somebody in your community say, hey, man, hold this for me. Man, I'm not holding that for you. In other words, I mean, we all have been in a situation or know somebody who's been in a situation where it's like they ask you to hold something,

but if you've been around more than five minutes, you know not to do it. But what happens when your back's against the wall? It's a lot of people work at Mar-a-Lago whose backs are against the wall economically and maybe the feds have found one of them who will be easier to flip than an attorney or an accountant in the Trump organization. Well, folks, again, as I said, we showed you the video and it's circulating on social media.

They are installing, putting up barricades outside of the Fulton County Courthouse, that could mean, folks, that in the next day or two, that Fannie Willis, the Fulton County DA, could be announcing her RICO indictments against potentially Donald Trump, Senator Lindsey Graham, and many others who were involved in trying to corrupt the system and steal almost 12,000 votes in order for him to win Georgia. We'll be covering this to see exactly what happens next. Got to go to break. We come back. We're here for Mark Morial, CEO of the National Urban League, talking about the economic future of Black America.

You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network Live. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business,

taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

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

And this is season two of the war on drugs. We are back in a big way, in a very big way, real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams,

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

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm from Houston, Texas, site of the National Urban League National Convention. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, how are you being of service to others?

Doing for someone beside yourself is such a big part of living a balanced life. We'll talk about what that means, the generation that missed that message, and the price that we're all paying as a result. Now all I see is mama getting up in the morning, going to work, maybe dropping me off at school, then coming back home at night. And then I really didn't have any type of time with the person that really was there to nurture me and prepare me and to show me what a life looked like and what service looked like. That's all on the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, Financial Literacy. Without it, wealth is just a pipe dream. And yet, half of our schools in this country don't even teach it to our kids. You're going to hear from a woman who's determined

to change all that, not only here, but around the world. World of Money is the leading provider of immersive financial education for children ages 7 to 18. We provide 120 online and classroom hours of financial education. That's right here on Get Wealthy on Blackstar Network. I'm Dr. Greg Carr, and coming up on the next Black Table, thinking about the Black Freedom Movement in a global way. Dr. John Monroe joins us to discuss his book, The Anti-Colonial Front, which maps the social justice movement in the United States and its impact internationally from Asia to Africa and how movements like anti-communism were used to slow down racial equality, like critical race theory today.

A critical race theory today, communism back then, that's essentially mobilized to shut down any challenges to a given system of power. Connecting the civil rights movement to colonialism on the next Black Table, exclusively here on the Black Star Network. It's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherry Shepard Talk Show. This is your boy, Irv Quaife. And you're tuned in to... Roland Martin, unfiltered.

Let's go. Folks, we're here in Houston at the George Brown Convention Center for the National Urban League's National Convention. Earlier today, I chatted with Mark Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, about the importance of African Americans fighting for equity when it comes to economics. That has to be the number one agenda item for black America. Here's our conversation.

Mark, you're here in Houston, my hometown. Your hometown, good brother. First of all, walk us through this conference and really what the focus is. We're now in a situation where the Fed has now said, oh, there's not going to be a recession. They've been yelling it for a whole year. Black economists have kept saying there's not going to be one. Now we know there's not going to be one. We're seeing how this economy actually is doing well compared to what everybody said it was going to do.

But people still mentally say it's not doing well, which is sort of an oxymoron. So first of all, it's great to be in Houston, your hometown, and we're here because of Sylvester Turner, Judson Robinson. They made an effort to say to us, we want you here and put the support together and cut the red tape, and made all the arrangements. So we're excited to be here. This Urban League Conference, like everyone, is a purpose with a party. So we have a message. One of the messages is we're here in Houston

because of Sylvester Turner, because of the diversity of Houston, because of the energy of leaders like Rodney Ellis and Sheila Jackson, Leonel Green and many, many others, the legacy of Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland. So many important reasons why we're here. But we're also here, Roland, to send a message to Governor Abbott and the state of Texas for its race to the bottom that he is leading in engineering when it comes to issues of justice, economic opportunity and equity. This governor, this legislature has engaged in closing polling places, making it more difficult for people to vote, taking and utilizing old 1950s and 1890s tactics

to simply say, I'm going to stop you from voting, I'm going to make it hard for you to vote. It's targeted at black people. It's targeted at brown people. Secondly, Texas leads the way when it comes to book bans and attacks on black history curriculum. So Texas and Florida are ground zero in this new and renewed civil rights fight of our generation. So we are here for that reason.

The economy. You asked me while the economy continued to produce jobs. Usually what you see in a recession is you see the diminution of job creation, the beginnings of layoffs. That never occurred. Having said that, I would have preferred if the Fed had not raised interest rates yesterday. Why? When you raise interest rates, it makes it harder for working people to buy a car, to lease a car, to buy a home. It makes credit cards more expensive. And the reason why, even though the economy is growing and unemployment is low, people feel pain is because basic necessities like housing and health care and college education have gotten far more expensive in the 21st century.

And that is truly the case. And those issues are going to remain out there. So black America, we had the highest black unemployment rate less than three years ago, four years ago during the COVID recession. Now we have one of the lowest, but it's still almost twice as high as the white rate. So our goal is economic parity. Our goal is to try to have, if you will, equal black and white unemployment. That doesn't mean we have solved all economic problems, but that is a step in the right direction. You spoke of economics. You talked about being here in Texas. Yesterday, our fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, announced they're pulling the convention out of Florida. I remind folks that was one of the things that Dr. King talked about the night before he was

assassinated, using our economic power or what he called redistributing the pain. And there are some folks who say, oh, well, you know what, they're still going to make lots of money. But the reality is, if 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 black organizations pull conferences and conventions, we're now talking about quarter of a million, 500 million or more. Disney has said, hey, you know what? We're reconsidering making the investment. These politicians, I don't care if you're Republican or Democrat,

when they start seeing the money pulled, that is what gets their attention. We cannot hesitate to intelligently use our economic leverage. Alpha Phi Alpha, our fraternity, did the right thing. Other groups have pulled out. The National Society of Black Engineers relocated its conference. I would not do a conference or a meeting or a retreat in Florida while what is happening in Florida

happens in Florida. And it is a factor in the consideration as it should be. One of the powers we do have is through our conventions and meetings. And I think we need to be intelligent on where we go and how we use that power. Here in Texas, while Texas has been, if you will, moving in the wrong direction, Houston is the headquarters for the resistance. Houston is where the resistance movement is centered. Houston is and embraces a different set of philosophies. And that's what people, again, so when you're making those decisions, those things that you have to factor in. I think that when,

one of the things that I just think that where we are, we have to be in a constant state of mind about the money. And I get people hitting me all the time and they say, man, why you keep going at these corporations over advertising?

I said, well, they asked Bonnie and Clyde. They said, that's what the money is. That's what the money is. And the bottom line is we're buying products. And so why in the world would I not be saying where's the equity? Look, Roland, it's legitimate. It's necessary for us to demand equity when it comes to procurement. It's legitimate when we, black people, have almost a $2 trillion spending impact on the American economy.

And Latinos and Asians, and it's nearing $5 trillion. That would make us, I don't know, the third or fourth largest nation in the world. It is a legitimate conversation. If conservatives can use economic pressure to challenge Bud Light, we can't use economic pressure. We have to do it smartly. We have to do intelligently. I think a first step is being very, if you will, aware about where we situate our conferences, fraternities, sororities, civil rights organizations. Our church denominations all have meetings. This meeting, I was asked today by a journalist here in Houston about the economic impact

of this conference. Primary and secondary, it's $25 million on the Houston economy. That's nothing to laugh at or sneeze at. This conference, we're spending money in this convention center. Are we going to buy 5,000 to 7,000 meals? The Sigmas were just here. They had their convention here. So let's just say, just simple math. If you had 10 black organizations that came to Houston, that's $250 million. Easy.

So again, you go 20, it's $500 million. See, and I think a lot of times we're not understanding how much we're actually spending. Well, we are not always, we have to do a better job of understanding economics, period, our economic impact and our economic power. So look, Roland, keep and continue your advocacy. We need all voices in this important work and in this fight. In the Urban League, you know, we are heavily focused on economic empowerment. We serve 13,000 small businesses in our small business centers. We help a quarter of a million people through workforce development, job training and job placement.

We're helping some 40,000 to 50,000 aspiring homebuyers through homebuyer education. We just started a new initiative, first time ever, with the building trade unions, where we're going to be recruiting African-Americans and Latinos and others into apprenticeship jobs. Some of these jobs in construction, like crane operators and equipment operators, make six figures. These are middle class jobs. Especially when you go out, $600 billion might be spent on the infrastructure bill. No question. And that's why we've got to get our community stronger in the game.

So this initiative, we'll talk to you more about it. We're now in the sort of planning to launch phase of this initiative. It's going to be the Urban Construction Jobs Initiative, Building Trades, National Urban League, and the Department of Labor, Biden's Department of Labor under current Secretary Julie Su. But this was put together by Marty Walsh, who, former mayor of Boston, secretary of labor. He was determined to put this historic partnership together before he left to go to the National Hockey League Players Association. All right. Well, Mark, we appreciate it.

Hey, appreciate you, brother. Thanks so much. All right. All right. Good. Thanks. Good luck with the conference. Greg Carr, I want to start with you. As I said there, we have to be laser-like focused on the money.

We can talk about all these problems in black America. They all go back to the money. Well, I think a great deal. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin.

And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app,

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

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

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

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

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

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

And the Urban League, if nothing, talk about laser-like focus and full agreement there. When it comes to the National Urban League, it was brought into existence in the second decade of the 20th century. I think 1911, if memory serves me correctly, to really focus on folk who are migrating out of the South into the urban South and the urban North to find them employment. The Urban League has always been about that. It has expanded, of course, its thrust. But, you know, this again speaks to the changing nature of the challenges we face. The Urban League, the NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women, and so many other

organizations that go back a bit and then joined, of course, in later years by other organizations continue to have to attack these systemic issues. But black America has, for lack of a better term, diversified. We now have a solid middle and upper class that frames these issues very differently than the very poor and those who are the least of these. The Urban League has been consistently on that message. And as you say, in a capitalist society, it does all come back to the money. But I mean—and I know you all covered this before, but I know it was put front and center

again here at the Urban League Conference. What the hell Mike Miles is doing in Houston Independent School District? And, you know, taking out libraries and putting more discipline centers in place, it's hard for me to separate the initiatives that deal with job training and skill development from those attacks on our intellectual work, on a development of our minds, independent of trying to train us for skills. This is a complicated conversation. The Urban League is doing a fantastic job. At the same time, I want us to hear more about how all these things work together. It can't

always be just about getting a job or setting up a financial and economic base. All of these issues impact us. And I think we need more systemic kind of whole big picture conversations taking place. So so when I say Reese, you want to talk about it being about the money I'm speaking about in a much more holistic way. So, for instance, let's just bring up education. I have many people come up to me and they say, why you support charter schools? I said, first and foremost, I support public education, charter, magnet, online, homeschool, private school. If we are getting educated, I support that. I said, but I want to be in control of our destiny. I said, so if I got to charter school, I control the teachers.

I control the curriculum. I control the budget. So I look at that in a little bit different way. When I'm talking about, when I'm challenging the executive leadership council, when I'm saying you are the organization of corporate America, of black corporate America, why are y'all not challenging these black board members to do more? I'm challenging them by saying your own members are being run out of

corporations when they turn 55 or 58. Why are you not challenging these people to hold up to the commitments made in the wake of the death of George Floyd. And so what I understand, when I'm talking about the money, I'm talking about us supporting black institutions because we can't talk about, well, we need to educate our own, train our own, be in control, and then all we're doing is giving other folks the money. And so what often happens is we're talking about,

or even to the point we're talking about politics. And when we come up next, we're going to be talking to the brother who's over black men vote. We're talking about politics. I'm also making the argument to people, stop giving money to campaigns and give the money to black third-party institutions that are going to put the money on the ground in black institutions to get the vote out. And so that's what I mean by this notion of when it comes back to the money, because the other piece, America only, white folks only respect the money.

And MLK understood. You withhold the money, then all of a sudden they want to pay attention. Right. No, you make a lot of really excellent points. I mean, the reality is many black people are either trying to get money or trying to hold on to the money that they got. And so when you talk about what the economic power that we have, it's a lot of scared money, you know, but scared money don't necessarily make money. There's a lot of people who are not willing to dig in and say that this is important in terms of investing in Black-specific businesses, investing in a Black pipeline,

investing in a Black supply chain, and a number of things. People want instant gratification. People want what they feel is a sure bet. And unfortunately, we have been trained as Black people to not look at other Black institutions, other black people, black businesses as a sure bet. We've been trained and indoctrinated that, for instance, if you want to talk about politics, it takes a white man to beat a white man. And so part of the problem is we need to be our own validators. We need to be the ones to exercise our buying power. And then we can credibly go to these organizations and make these demands. But as long as we're satisfied with getting the cheapest price, the quickest from whoever we get it from, however we get it, then we're going to

be stuck in the same place. But that does not absolve these corporations and these organizations from their responsibility to systemically make the changes. Because even at an individual level, we don't have the same power as institutions and organizations. And what we're seeing right now is going backwards in terms of people getting rid of DEI, in terms of corporations feeling like the George Floyd racial reckoning was a moment, and now we're moving past that. And we're really more so kowtowing to these racist Republicans who are homophobic or racist or any number of things. Those are the people that are actually being the ones that are heard the most, because they're the cheapest to listen to.

Candace. You know, one of the things that we really have to understand is that when we talk about money and giving money to causes, there's nothing to do really with GoFundMe. And that's where really people emotionally get involved and give money to someone who might say that they've been kidnapped and they haven't been kidnapped. That's where you're going to raise $70,000 to $80,000 in a couple of days. But Black folks especially need to really change their mindset and what it means to be a philanthropist in terms of giving their money and how you give money to institutions in order to grow institutions. And that's not something historically that we've been trained to do. Historically, though,

we understand that any civil rights organization that is worth their salt always and effectively has to turn to the money, even up to Black Lives Matter. Listen, they've been celebrating up to 10 years. People really paid attention to them when they were making millions of dollars during COVID because money was involved. So when there is money that is involved, like everybody on this panel has been saying, that is when people pay attention. But now we have to train people in the community to give money effectively to causes that make sense to them. We talked about Aretha Franklin and her will. All right. You, if you are leaving money, you should give it to somebody, an organization,

a school, something in there. We have to retrain people to understand, to retrain themselves and give money to things that will have a continuing legacy, not just pass it on to people who aren't a family, which is great, but if we want to really make our community survive and thrive, you have to give it to organizations that you believe in and trust and that will move the community in future generations. All right, folks, hold tight one second. We come back. We're going to hear from a Texas state representative about the hell they are experiencing with Republicans in the Texas state capital of Austin and how difficult it is to actually get things done with Republicans controlling the levers of power. You're watching Roland Martin

Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network live with the National Urban League National Convention here in Houston. back in a moment. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull

will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for good plus on apple podcast and it into deadly violence white people are losing their minds

there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the u.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at every university calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys guys.

This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. For decades, the tobacco industry has deliberately targeted black communities and kids with marketing for menthol cigarettes. It's had a devastating impact on black health. Tobacco use claims 45,000 black lives every year. It's the number one cause of preventable death.

In the 1950s, less than 10% of black smokers used menthol cigarettes. Today, it's 85%. Menthol cools and numbs the throat, making it easier for kids to start smoking. Menthol also increases addiction, making it harder for smokers to quit. Menthol cigarettes are a big reason why black Americans have a harder time quitting smoking

and die at higher rates from smoking-related diseases like cancer, heart disease, and stroke. It's time to stop big tobacco from profiting off black lives. An FDA ban on menthol cigarettes will improve black health, save lives, and protect future generations from addiction. Learn more at tobaccofreekids.org slash ban menthol. Hey, what's up, y'all? I'm Devon Frank. I'm Dr. Robin B., pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Folks, we're here in Texas where Republicans are in charge of the state apparatus. Jelama Jones, former Houston City Councilwoman, school board member, and now Texas state rep,

talked to me about how hard it is to get things done for Democrats and what black folks must do in order to build and maintain power in this state. Here's our conversation. All right, Representative Jones. So we're here in Texas. We're here in Houston. And a lot of people really are focused on what's happening in Florida, but not understand how crazy things have gotten in this state when it comes to politics with Republicans having a supermajority controlling legislature. Yes, absolutely. So our governor is in competition with DeSantis. And we got rid of who was crazy.

Yeah, who's the craziest, who's the most Trumpish. So we got rid of DEI. I voted against it. Right. We did book bans. I voted against that. I mean, we have done so many things. Almost $5 billion or more on the border.

Nothing to really show for it. Right, except for we killing people and treating them inhumanely because we got razor wires up. And we're taking private property owners' property and erecting fences, and it's horrible. And I really wish people would pay attention to Texas because what we really need is for people in the small towns to vote. And the reason I say that is, if all the urban areas in Texas, Houston, Dallas, where all the black people go, voted like Democrats, we still are outnumbered. Because there are 150 people in the state, 150 state representatives. Of the 150, 17 are black. And, which is sad, we have 31 senators, only two of them are black, and overall there

are 88 Republicans and 64 Democrats, so we lose. And all of the state reps in the big areas, the urban areas, code for where the black people at, for the most part we're voting as Democrats. So we need to go and take over those towns that we ran from and not have left them to the rural white folks that are not accustomed and don't like and are racist against black people. So there are, what, 254 counties in Texas or something like that? Like 280-something. Yeah, and so one of the things that when we're trying to get people

to understand electoral politics, this is really a land battle. Because even though people are leaving those areas, they still have representation. Yes. And then, so you might have an area that's small in population. They still get representative. They get the same vote as me. There you go. And your vote is the same vote as me. There you go. And your vote is the same. And so what then happens is when y'all go to Austin, bottom line is 20, 30 of them get

together. They could change a whole lot of stuff. And so we're seeing that not just in Texas. We're seeing in Midwestern areas. We're seeing this in all around the country. And that's the thing that people are not quite understanding how representation works and why people like, well, I don't understand why Democrats not doing more. I'm like, look at numbers. It's a straight. It's in order to pass anything in the Texas House.

You got to get 76 votes. Right. Because 76 is a majority of 150. Well, if you have 88 Republicans and 64 Democrats, I got to find, what, from 76 to 60, I got to find 12 Republicans who will vote for me. And the craziest thing is going on in Texas. They have this thing called the scorecard, where these MAGA Republicans are ranking Republicans. And so nobody wants to be considered liberal, so they literally vote against everything Democratic. Well, in fact, right now, so there's a particular program that President George W. Bush put

in place to deal with HIV AIDS in Africa. It literally is the most successful program of his presidency. It's estimated to save at least 25 million lives on the continent of Africa. It has to be authorized every five years. The pro-lifers right now are trying to kill the bill. They want it to be renewed every year, saying, oh, Biden's trying to use the money for abortions, even though you can't use it. And it's just what you said, because the Family Research Council and all these conservative, these right-wing groups

are going to be scoring them. So they know it works. They know it's a successful program from a Republican president, but they're scared to death of the score. I'm telling you, I said, one of my Republican colleagues was like, Joe, that's a good bill. So when he voted against it, I'm like, man, what's up? He was like, well, I need to be conservative. And so I can't vote for your stuff. I mean, I say pray for Texas,

because if you're making decisions based on getting graded by MAGA Republicans, we are in trouble. And I'm going to say this again. If every urban elected official voted for us, we still don't have enough numbers. And so we cannot forget where we came from. So I'm going back to Palestine. My people from Palestine, from Elkhart, going back and saying, hey, y'all have got to vote. Because we basically, you know how your house get if you're from the hood like me, you turn off the lights. Like when I was little, roaches might come out

and they take over your house, roaches, rats, because you ain't there. That's really what's happening. So we need to go back and we need to educate our rural relatives to vote? Well, I was at, I was emceeing the Alpha public program last night and I was talking about data. I was talking about numbers. Reverend Frederick Haynes III said there are 700,000 eligible but unregistered black folks in Texas. In the last election, 75% of young voters 30 and under didn't vote. And I said to people, if 25% of those young voters had voted, Abbott and Patrick, they're out.

Out. And so people have, and so part of this thing has to be, yes, you have to go after those people who are already registered to get them to turn out. But you also have to make an argument. Folks say you can't keep complaining about what they're doing if you're not showing up yeah, because the world is run by those who show up and What really makes me sad as an elected official a lot of black people feel like politics doesn't offer them anything But it could be worse and so what I'm wondering is how it could be better like right? No, exactly, but I'm trying to figure out how bad does it have to be? Before you're motivated to vote like I told my son don't bring no girl to this house that you dating that don't vote.

Like don't do it. When he was in college, you better bring me the thing that showed me you voted. Otherwise, don't ask me for no money. Like that's how serious it is. And back in the days where they were lynching us and we were segregated and we couldn't go into the pools, we knew we had more doctors, more professionals, more banks, more people in school. So we knew they were against us. And so we knew we had to help each other.

Then we got integration. Then people thought we made it. And then we stopped fighting for our people. And we have to get back where we have to fight for our people. And we cannot leave those rural towns alone because it's happening like that across the country. The places that the Democrats are winning are the large populous areas in all the states. In the cities and suburbs. In the cities and suburbs.

But those little rural towns where they got KKK stuff, we have got to go back there and we've got to educate people because we're in trouble. Well I think that one of the things we start talking about economics and the reality is poor white folks have always voted against their own interest. Or as somebody said or somebody said, no, they actually they voted against their economic interests. They were actually voting for their white interests. And and that's that's what I'm also seeing in this state.

But what I've said, the Democrats is that you't, and Obama did this, and it was wrong. You can't fly into this state, raise the money, and then bounce out. Oh, for sure. But I will tell you that we have got to understand that we've got to vote. And I don't know why we don't respect voting. I don't know why people today don't appreciate that people actually died for us to have the right to vote. Well, but I think what happens is we have to connect the dots to walk somebody through why, why they still must vote. And somebody died, that's not actually connecting with

them. I think we have to say, what do you care about? And then go, let me explain to you how voting impacts exactly what you care about. But that takes time educating people. And even the poor white people that are voting against their interests, they are voting against their interests. Like when they need, when they're seniors and they need wheelchairs and they don't realize. Or health care. Or health care. And you wonder why you can't get your wheelchair or you need meals on wheels. And now all of a sudden mealsals on Wheels doesn't have money, and you're upset because you ain't got no food. There you go.

But they're not associating it with Republicans, they're associating us with us. Like the Republicans have controlled Texas for over 25 years, right? Yet you think that all the problems here are Democratic problems. They are masters at defining the narrative. And we as Democrats need to learn how to take control of the conversation because they're literally blaming us for stuff Republicans did. We were trying to get a greater property tax reform here, tax breaks here. And let me tell you, the Republicans are like, no, we're not going to do that. But now they're touting that we have the biggest tax break.

Right. We were trying to get substantial property tax breaks and they haven't. So Democrats, we need to do better. And I'm a Democrat for the record. All right, then we'll look. Keep the fight up and then we'll keep putting pressure on as well. And again, I tell the white people through all the time. If you don't vote, shut the hell up.

You show. Right. And if you don't vote in even local elections like school board elections Because you got school board members Destroying black schools in the city in Houston or miles for liberties taking over school boards all across the south And they're firing they're firing black superintendents. They're booting out black teachers black principal. I'm saying the black folks And you didn't vote? Right. Now, no complaining.

Exactly. You're right. They took over your school. Oh, yeah. Well, but I'm watching. And so am I. Oh, yeah. All right.

All right. Good to see you. Appreciate it. Thanks, Roland. I appreciate you. Bye-bye. You know, Ken, it's one of the things that I keep talking about. 2008, a lot of black folks turned out across the country to elect President Barack Obama.

2010, midterms, the Obama coalition stayed at home. That's when Republicans took control of many state legislatures. Well, they took control of both chambers and in some cases all three with the governor's mansion, the House and the Senate. In those eight years of Obama, 1,000 state offices were lost. People have to understand that if you're trying to change things, if you can elect Biden... A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.

Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, I'm Max Chafkin. inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing.

So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

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

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

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

quote-unquote drug ban. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette.

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. ...Titan and Harris on the federal level. But if you're not focused on school boards, county commissioners, city councils, state rep, state senate and governors, then you're going to have a hard time because there's so many things that happen on the state level when it comes to power. That's right. All politics is local in many, many ways. And when we think about this keen disassociation that people feel when they go through things in their everyday lives, it's no wonder why they don't feel compelled to vote. If you are driving and you are in your backyard, if you are shopping, if you are at your job and

you feel like you've been disrespected because of your race, because of your color, you're displaced because you don't feel like you belong anymore and that's how people are treating you, well, that spills over into other parts of your life. And so, as you were saying in the conversation, we do have to teach people how to connect the dots, that when those meals don't reach them at their doorstops, it all has to do with voting. And that comes to education. We have to start teaching young people from way down that they should be empowered to get involved in politics, number one, and understand the so that people will see the connection. But it's just going to be a lot of work that we have to do because, as I said, you just feel like you're not welcome here in America sometimes. And sometimes that spills over into voting. It does make sense, but we have to make it

make sense in a different way. Rishi, last night at the public forum, Alpha Public Forum in Dallas, Ambassador Andrew Young talked about how he got 73% of the black vote when he was elected to Congress in 1972. It was like 85% when Harold Washington was elected mayor of Chicago in 1983. But what we're seeing in a lot of these places now, we're seeing 38, 40, 42. I keep making the point to black folks that if we are voting at 60, 65, 70, 75 percent, we can sweep elections. Like literally the power is sitting right in our hands. Freddie Haynes said last night, the new presidency of the Rainbow Push Coalition, there are 700,000 eligible, unregistered African Americans

in this state. Right. You know, what trips me out is all we have to do is exercise our capacity. You ain't got to go out there and birth five black babies each person for us to take over. All we got to do is those of you who are already

registered, get your ass out and vote. I'm not even talking to people who ain't even registered. Okay, bye. I don't know why you're not registered. It's easy to do. Most times it's electronic. You could do it from your cell phone. I'm not even talking about y'all. I'm talking about people who are already registered, who have not been purged by these racist Republicans, who don't even want to do so much as put a freaking ballot in the mail, go absentee, or go down to the ballot box. I'm talking about y'all. If we just exercise that capacity, then we're changing things. You had Ms. — I forget her hyphenated name, but Ms. Till, who was on here, talking about Mississippi.

Well, Tam Reeves' ass is up for reelection, and y'all could get him out of there if Black people in Mississippi voted their capacity. But we continue to not do so, which is why we continue to be subjected to these Republican conditions. And I respect the fact that, yes, we do need to do all that we can to educate people. But some of y'all got a motherfucking list. Because we've been educating y'all all day, every day for how many goddamn years and decades, and it's still not clicking to you. And it takes a lot less coaxing on the other side to get their racist white folks out there to vote. And so it doesn't just follow us to educate. It follows some people to stop being belligerent,

stop being ignorant, stop being defiant, stop being complacent, and wake the fuck up. If you're mad at Ron DeSantis, what the goddamn Democrats got to do with that? What does Biden and Harris got to do with that? Why are y'all blaming Democrats for what the Republicans are doing when y'all not putting Democrats

in a position to do anything? Because as the representative you just had on their set, they outnumbered significantly. We are not in a position anymore where both sides, both sizes, both sides that are kind of somewhere in the same range of each other. We have extremists on one side and we have Democrats who, mind you, could have more fight, but they ain't built like that. So we got to work with them. We got to put the pressure on them when they're in office. But this is a no-brainer for anybody paying attention. And it could be better, and it can be a whole lot damn worse. And some of y'all are seeing it in your own states, and it's still not clicking. The only thing that's going to work is if we activate and if we exercise our capacity

and get the people who are on the ballot to at least are on the rolls to at least go to the ballot box. That's the least you can do. I might even ask you to run for office. I might even ask you to donate. I might ask you to knock on doors. Just take your ass out and vote if you're already on the roll. The thing here, Greg, is Reishi talks about capacity. And again, it's amazing to me when I'm having conversations with people and they go, really? Where you get these numbers from? And I'm like, they're literally

public. And we spent a lot of time talking about connecting the dots. Again, if just 25% of those young folks had voted, if 50% of the eligible but unregistered African Americans had voted, I didn't say 75, I said 50. Right now, Greg Abbott would be at home.

Dan Patrick would be at home. Republicans would not have a supermajority in the Texas legislature. To all the people watching and listening. We could look a lot different today politically. If we actually use the power, I'm not trying to guilt people into anything. I'm not sitting here.

I love these old idiots. Oh, you're shilling for the Democrats. Well, guess what? If you're watching us right now and you're bitching about book bans, and you're complaining about the curriculum in Florida when it came to how they're saying black people, they had benefited from skill set with slavery. If you're upset with the Supreme Court affirmative action decision, if you don't like what their decision made that, hey, if you went through your appeals

and you actually are innocent and the court was wrong, you still got to stay in jail. Let me perfectly clear. All of those are things the Republicans support. So whether you want to call me a shill or not, I'm going to tell you right now, the folks who are mostly against that are Democrats. This really ain't hard. If I'm looking at both, now people now have to make a decision. What are you prepared to do? That is the decision, Roland. And of course, we know that we're not going to stop doing what we're doing because there is no alternative.

Even if we're just down to 50 people, you still got to do, you still got to fight. The white nationalists are unified behind their fear, as you wrote in White Fear. To the brothers that stopped you and tried to argue with you in the middle of the night, you could have brought up Byron Donalds. He's a loyal servant of the white nationalist party. And yet when he dared mildly criticize his lord and master, Andrew DeSantis, in Florida, the white nationalists came for him yesterday.

They are unified around the country. We no longer have a unifying theme. It's very important to understand, you know, Andrew Young arguing with Martin Luther King late into the night in New Jersey after having met with Mary Baraka near the end of King's life. And Andrew Young wanted to bring up some issues about being cautious and worried about funding and money. And Dr. King said, I don't want to hear from you right now, Andy, because you're a capitalist and I'm not. That brings up a really ugly kind of internal conversation that we don't like to really have. When we say we, there really is increasingly not a we. The we that put Harold Washington into office in Chicago is very different than the we that Brandon Johnson had to put together.

There is a class of black folk now for whom we means racial identity, period, meaning they wear a little kente cloth or put the Black Power fist up or talk about us. And then deeper down in the class structure, there are the vast majority of our people who look at those people like them petty bourgeois negroes don't represent me. And that's an unfair critique of them, because they are advocating for policies that will help all of our people. But the image is that there's a separation. How is that important? Your hometown, sitting there listening to Representative Jones there and her district there in Houston, Houston is inching, Harris County, rather, is inching

toward 5 million people. That's larger than 26 states in the United States of America. You know, you're talking about 1,800 square miles of territory in Howards County. The white nurses in Texas, in the criminal settler state called Texas, can count. And what unifies them is fear. So you've got white people who are willing to literally give up their lives to maintain their white racial identity, and as they maintain it statewide through districts, as we heard Representative Jones talk about, they will then be able, and what they've done is increasingly encroach upon municipalities. It's the state versus municipality. This rogue-ass Mike Miles,

discriminal, inserted, imposed by the Texas Education Agency on Houston, as she mentioned, Jack Yates. And I know you were furious about that. You saved the principal, so what does the state do? They can't control Houston and Harris County, so they simply take over the school district from the state level and impose their will. So what must be done?

We know we're not going to stop doing what we're doing. We have to continue to fight. But we have to somehow help the majority of our people who did vote in much larger numbers in the 1970s and 80s, but who increasingly alienated, understand at the state level, we all have to turn out and vote. And if we can't rescue the states, particularly the southern states, from themselves, when it falls apart, and history shows us that it will fall apart, what you're looking at in the states is basically a mirror of what happened in the 1850s and 60s at the national level. We will then, we then must be prepared to do what is necessary to save and rescue ourselves. We're not fighting for the soul of America. It doesn't have a soul. These people are committed to racial rule rescue ourselves. We're not fighting for the soul of America. It doesn't have a soul. These people are committed to racial rule or ruling.

What we have to do is decide that we have to reconstruct the fact that we have a common enemy and then we have to act accordingly. Indeed, indeed, indeed. All right, folks, hold tight one second. When we come back, we will hear from the continuing effort to battle menthol cigarettes.

We'll talk to an official with the NAACP about that very issue. Plus, Cheryl Underwood was in Cincinnati for the Cincinnati Music Festival, brought to you by Procter & Gamble. I had an opportunity to catch up with her as well. We'll show you what she had to say as well. All right, folks, you're watching Roller Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Be sure to download the Black Star Network app, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, and also give to our Bring the Funk fan club. I cannot explain it. I just got to implore you folks, the 20,000 of our fans.

And again, y'all, we got 4 million social media followers. We got nearly 1.1 million people who follow us on YouTube. If just 20,000 of our fans contribute 50 bucks each, that's $4.19 a month. That's 13 cents a day. Then that raises a million dollars. Folks, that absolutely is critical for us to pay for our operations. You are getting, and so all y'all who are watching for free, you're on YouTube right now, I need you to understand, you are getting not only this show two hours a day,

Farajit Muhammad's show two hours a day. You're getting Dee Barnes' show, Greg Carr show, Deborah Owens show, Jackie Hood Martin show, Stephanie Humphrey show. You're getting rolling with rolling. You're getting us. You're getting live news conferences. You're getting covered from the Alpha Convention, covered from the National Urban League Convention. We're going to be at NABJ next week. We got a conventional Black Caucus caucus foundation ALC coming up. We are all around this country. There is no, let me be clear. There's nobody else in black owned media or black targeted media that is doing what we are doing here. I don't know. We took, uh, actually we took, uh, if we can get this shot right here, I want to just give y'all a sense of our footprint here,

uh, in, footprint here in Houston. I mean, again, we've got our backdrop. We've got our cameras. We've got all this sort of stuff. Y'all, this stuff ain't free. And I just want you all to understand something, okay? We're still waiting for our Sprinter to be finished. Guess what?

The SUV to come here, the drive from Washington, D.C., to drive all this gear was $2,000. That was two grand. Okay? Got to pay the driver. We got staff as well. All of this stuff costs money. So when people say, oh, man, that was a great interview. I love that y'all were going live from there.

Yeah, it costs money. And so I just need people to understand that. And so you can support us. Absolutely, we appreciate it. We appreciate every dollar. If you can't get 50 bucks, I understand. Somebody just gave us $10 and I appreciate that brother for giving us $10. And so I just want you to understand that we are doing this for our people.

I don't have millionaires and billionaires supporting me. I don't have a big corporation that supported. This is absolute, true, independent, black-owned media. That's what this is. And so your support is critical. Check your money orders, PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, R. Martin Unfiltered, Venmo is RM Unfiltered, Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And if you get my copy of my book, White Fear, that money comes right back into the show, y'all. It does.

So White Fear, Ben Bella Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Bookshop, Chapress Books, A Million Target, download your copy on Audible. If you're going to be at the Alpha Convention, I'll be signing books Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Look forward to seeing y'all there. We'll be right back. Up next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes, our special guest, Alicia Garza. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding.

But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone,

sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution.

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

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

4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

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

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. The founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. We're going to discuss her new book, The Purpose of Power, how we come together when we fall apart. We live in a world where we have to navigate, you know, when we say something, people look at us funny, but when a man says the same thing less skillfully than we did, right? Everybody boxed towards what they said, even though it was your idea. Right here on The Frequency on the Black Star Network.

Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. We welcome the Black Star Network's very own Roland Martin, who joins us to talk about his new book, White Fear. How the browning of America is making white folks lose their minds. The book explains so much about what we're going through in this country right now and how, as white people head toward becoming a racial minority, it's going to get, well, let's just say, even more interesting. We're going to see more violence. We're going to see more vitriol because as each day passes, it is a nail in that coffin. The one and only Roland Martin on the next Black Table, right here on the Black Star Network. For decades, the tobacco industry has deliberately targeted Black communities and kids with marketing for menthol cigarettes.

It's had a devastating impact on black health. Tobacco use claims 45,000 black lives every year. It's the number one cause of preventable death. In the 1950s, less than 10% of black smokers used menthol cigarettes. Today, it's 85%. Ban menthol cigarettes. Today it's 85%. Banned menthol cigarettes save lives. Hello I'm Paula J Parker. Trudy Proud on The Proud Family. Louder and Prouder on Disney Plus. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Folks, the FDA is looking at banning menthol cigarettes.

There's an effort underway. You saw that commercial to actually do that. It is a crucial issue, has a great impact on African-Americans. Jamal Watkins is Senior Vice President for Senior Vice President of Strategy and Advancement for the NAACP. He joins us right now. Jamal, glad to have you here. We've been talking about this and the thing about this, and it was interesting, I was in Cincinnati for the Cincinnati Music Festival. That used to be called the Cool Jazz Festival. And it was interesting. I was in Cincinnati for the Cincinnati Music Festival. That used to be called the Cool Jazz Festival.

And there was a conversation that was happening as well. There was a brother they were talking about Cool, the cigarette brand that was sponsoring that. And so these brothers then began to talk about how they were sponsoring so many things. I mean, the reality is, you know, you did not have black folks smoking menthol cigarettes in huge numbers in the 50s, but that thing blew up because of the massive advertising that was targeted specifically at black people. And you know what I would say, Roland, and I appreciate you for really putting a spotlight on this issue.

When you think about our community and how in many ways we're targeted or not targeted by certain industries, what I realized as a kid growing up in California back in the day, in the 90s, you could go to a conference, a convention, a convening for black folks, and the lanyards around your neck could say a cigarette brand. And you start to think about as a kid, why in the heck would we be literally be walking billboards for something that was not built for us and for our communities? And you realize it was actually built for us and targeting us when you look at the numbers. So for the NAACP and for organizations like mine that are really focusing in on how to balance the needs of the black community from a racial equity perspective, we really are saying when you're targeting us, especially with something that is addictive and that is about life and death, then that's where we draw the line. And so in this moment, this notion of a ban on mythol and the pushback to the tobacco industry is really about the fact that we have been targeted in many ways, and they have been profitable from the pain in our community.

And what do you say to the folks who get out throughout, oh, this is going to hurt black convenience store owners. Let's be clear. The real problem in terms of convenience store ownership is access to capital. There's not enough black people that own convenience stores in the first place to even make this become the issue. The real issue is that we actually have to increase access to capital. We have to make sure that banks are supporting black entrepreneurship. It has nothing to do with cigarettes, cigarette sales, and definitely nothing to do with menthol. What that is, is a smoke screen. It's the industry sort of using other things to confuse us and to confuse those that aren't paying attention. But at the end of the day, what we're talking about fundamentally is an industry that has profited off of our community, profiting off of our pain, keeping us in a box in terms of this addictive thing known as tobacco slash, you know, flavored tobacco when you think about menthol. And because it's profitable, they're doing anything

and everything to confuse folks to think it's okay to let it continue to happen when the data is showing. Forty thousand plus lives are lost every year in our community unnecessarily. And so, you know, our argument is if you really want to make something profitable, you put the marketing dollars behind it so you can advertise avocados until the cows come home. I'd much rather black kids and black folks over index on even eating avocados than being, you know, addicted to and connected to this industry that really is a death sentence for many folks. Question from our panel. Greg, call you first. Thank you, Roland. And I appreciate the fact that you brought up the example of COOL Jazz Festival, of course, the legendary Newport Jazz Festival in the Northeast. This was a very deliberate attempt by cigarette companies to attach the question of smoking with COOL,

jazz musicians, R&B musicians. And, of course, we all remember the advertisements in Ebony magazine and Jet magazine. Brother Watkins, interesting to see that you have some larger black voices on both sides of this debate. You have some saying that if you kind of criminalize, quote, unquote, the use of menthol, it could have an adversarial effect on black communities. How do we reverse engineer, if that's possible, or disentangle this addiction component with the factoring in the kind of coolness and marketing? You know, what are the best strategies to get all our people on one side, namely that this is death

dealing activity and kind of take out that element that could, you know, taking this out of play could have a bad effect on those who are the most vulnerable in our communities. You know, Brother Carl, I'm glad you lifted this up. I would say three things that are at play here. Number one is when an industry like the tobacco industry uses money, marketing dollars, advertising dollars, and in some cases, investment, meaning, you know, you create a jazz festival, you give a donation to an organization, you actually

give money to politicians. It actually ties in the financial benefits so that folks who should be speaking truth to power, who should be saying, this is not for our people, this is not right for our communities, are actually being led by the dollar. So one of the things we have to do is disentangle the moneyed interests. And I know that's a tough conversation for some folks, but if we're going to be honest, we got to be honest about it. If you took $100,000 or $200,000 to be complicit with this industry, that's a problem. We got to untangle that. The second thing that comes to mind is I don't know any parent or any community that says, hmm, those cigarettes, they're going to get you targeted by the police. And in many ways,

that's not the issue. When you talk about over-policing, when you talk about racist policing, those things are not driven by what you're selling per se on the corner. And I've heard folks say, well, if you're selling a Lucy on the corner and menthol is banned and it's illegal, then the cops are going to target us even more. That's BS. At the end of the day, we know that over-policing and racist policing is driven by something completely off base that has nothing to do with this industry per se. But then that third reality, I think you're lifting up, is how we disentangle and disentangle the debate is we make it about lives. We're not talking about taking away folks' choices. You can choose to do

whatever you want, but when the industry is purposefully targeting our children and our communities, when you go to the corner stores, the bodegas, and all you see are these ads and you don't see ads for fresh fruit and vegetables like you see in other neighborhoods, you know there is a problem.

And that actually is the crux of what we're dealing with. Thank you. Yes. Candace. Jamal, where does vaping fit into all of this in terms of the marketing efforts? Are they along the same lines? And is there that type of oversight over vaping that we're seeing with the menthol? How are they connected, if at all? And you ask a good question. And, you know, this is not necessarily a popular thing to say, but smoking in general is not good for folks. It affects your lungs.

Doctors, nurses, folks in the medical community, research has shown that. And so when you think about vaping, especially for young people, the flavored vapes and the advertisement that says, oh, this is something that's safer, it actually is having a negative effect on young people's lungs and people who vape. And again, the NAACP is not in a business of telling individuals how to live. If you want to live your life smoking and vaping, that is a choice you can make. But when the industry is targeting our children and using marketing dollars and deceptive advertising and investing in others in our community to be

spokespersons for them, it's actually racialized in a way that is unacceptable. It's the thing that other communities won't tolerate. And so why should we? And so when you think about the notion of vaping, I would say at the end of the day for the NAACP, our policies have to be consistent. And it is consistent that any predatory marketing, any predatory activities through these companies that actually harm our children, harm our men and women, we say no to that and we fight back through both policy and advocacy activities. Reezy. Yeah, thank you for being here. I think there's something insidious about using the fact that black people have been targeted for a preference of menthols and say that, well, black people prefer menthols,

so that's why they're going to be disproportionately impacted by it. Well, yeah, that's what we're trying to undo here. Also, I just want to say that, you know, like to your point earlier about cigarettes being a part of law enforcement, that's a pretext. We all know what pretext is. It's using something as an excuse to do something that you were going to do anyway. So I think that that's a BS excuse. But what is the, do you think that there's a real pushback outside of marketing and advertising to this FDA rule? And how do those of us who do agree with this proposed ban, how do we get involved? You know, the pushback, I think, lives in a certain sector of our community who has either been co-opted. And some of these folks are our friends.

Some of these folks are our known leaders who are right on many issues. But the other side of the pushback is this notion of, well, what about the choices of individuals? And I would argue tooth and nail with anyone, marketing and advertising sways your choices. I don't know about you all, but I have seen a slew of pink everywhere because the Barbie advertising budget was massive. And for whatever reason, people think, oh, it's organic and natural. No, you have been hit over the head by the marketing and advertising.

And now you and your mom and your cousin is wearing pink when you wasn't fooling with Barbie 10 months ago or a year ago. That wasn't your thing. Right, right. When you think about menthol, when you think about the statistics, if you hammer home, this is something you should like.

This is something that's cool. We go into the jazz festival and this is the thing in our faces. We're seeing it on commercials. It's cheaper in our communities. It is literally a manipulative form of advertising and marketing that got us brainwashed and hoodwinked to thinking this is okay. But when you show folks, guess what? Nana and Big Mama is dying because they're smoking these menthols. That Uncle Cephas, he ain't here no more because lung disease took him out. And

it's because of this menthol. It's because of this practice. I think we got to get back to that and speak truth to power on that front. And then the choices can be made in the right context because it's a full, clear choice. But at the end of the day, what we are seeing and what we are saying is that we don't want more death on our doorsteps. And if this industry is going to profit off of death, then we have to have this ban in place in order to start reverse engineering that reality. All right, Jamal, we appreciate it. Thanks for the NAACP's advocacy on behalf of this issue. All right, thank you all.

And we are at our convention here in Boston, and we're going to keep speaking to this issue, keep connecting the dots, and we're proud of partners like the Divine Nine who are coming along in the right way, my fraternity and others. And we're going to keep the fight going to make sure that exactly that this ban on menthol is the reality for all of us because it's about saving lives. All right. We appreciate it. Thank you so very much. All right, folks, got two more items on the show. First, y'all, can you believe what Republican Nancy Mace actually said to a bunch of folks at a prayer breakfast today?

Y'all, if y'all want to laugh, oh, I can't wait to hear what Reese has got to say about this. And then, of course, Cheryl Underwood with the Cincinnati Music Festival on behalf of Procter & Gamble. We're going to show you my conversation with her as well. So y'all hold tight. Be real quick. We'll be right back on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Live from the National Urban League in Houston. Back in a moment.

On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie. How are you being of service to others? Doing for someone beside yourself is such a big part of living a balanced life. We'll talk about what that means, the generation that missed that message, and the price that we're all paying as a result. Now all I see is mama getting up in the morning, going to work, maybe dropping me off at school, then coming back home at night, and then I really didn't have any type of time with the person that really was there to nurture me and prepare me and to show me what a life looked like and what service looked like. That's all on the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network.

On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, Financial Literacy. Without it, wealth is just a pipe dream. And yet, half of our schools in this country don't even teach it to our kids. You're going to hear from a woman who's determined to change all that, not only here, but around the world. World of Money is the leading provider of immersive financial education for children ages 7 to 18. We provide 120 online and classroom hours of financial education. That's right here on Get Wealthy on Blackstar Network.

Hello, I'm Paula J. Parker. Trudy Proud on The Proud Family. I am Tommy Davidson. I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. Hi, I'm Jo Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on Disney's Louder and Prouder Disney+. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.

Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters,

and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing.

So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

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

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

And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content. Subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. And I'm with Roland Martin on Unfiltered. Lord have mercy, y'all. I saw something today on Twitter that I cannot unsee. South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace was speaking at a prayer breakfast. And her ignorant ass said this. Let's together another year, another standing room only event. And when I woke up this morning at 7, I was getting picked up at 745.

Patrick, my fiance, tried to pull me by my waist over this morning in bed. And I was like, no, baby, we don't got time for that this morning. I got to get to the prayer breakfast. And I got to be on time. And a little TMI. But he can wait. He's got, I'll see him later tonight. But I was here early.

Run that back. Another year, another standing room only event and when i woke up this morning at seven i was getting picked up at 7 45 patrick my fiance tried to pull me by my waist over this morning in bed and i was like no baby we don't got time for that this morning. I got to get to the prayer breakfast, and I got to be on time. And a little TMI. But he can wait. I'll see him later tonight. But I was here early. I don't know.

Recy. Reesey how do you think that went over well for them highfalutin holy roller white evangelical first of all they're going to be like hold up she in bed with the fiance they ain't married having premarital sex now you know

them junk middle folk had a whole lot to say. They probably were like, slut. I mean, come on, girl. You're fornicating for pleasure when you're supposed to just be having sex with your husband for the purposes of conceiving children? Oh, my gosh. How progressive of you. Yeah, home girl definitely needs to

learn how to stop sharing TMI, okay, because then nobody to know that. And as my daughter would say, ew, we do not need to know that about you, home girl, or Patrick, and what y'all do before or after your prayer breakfast, girl. We know what you do, but you ain't have to confirm it for

the rest of us. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Well, like she tweeted, she's a sinner, not a saint. And when she got to that prayer breakfast, she got the prayer that she needed from those conservatives who thought that she did, in fact, need

that prayer. A lot of information, but you know, I have to say, I liked her candor. I mean, she kept it real. I think that that's what a lot of people ought to do more of, because that's really how you get to know who's representing you. She's a sinner, not a saint. Yeah, a lot

of people should be having more sex, Greg. Yeah, yeah. In fact, I didn't hear anything wrong with it. She wasn't a hypocrite. Most white nationalist Christians are. They're doing exactly what she did. I don't know if it maybe played into it. That was what the 13th annual prayer breakfast. fundraiser for Tim Scott in part. Maybe his blackness kind of made her feel like she could be a little loose with her talk. But you know, since she was open sharing, what struck me was

she woke up at 7. The car was coming at 7.45. When she got off the bike. I'm wondering if she took a shower, but I'm going to leave it there. I thought the same thing. Did you wash your ass, homegirl? I know you didn't have time.

I'm a white woman. I ain't white, so I don't know. But I'm saying it took up at seven and got down there for seven. But thank you, Reese, because I was just, okay, okay. I thought maybe just me. Well, keep in mind, she also been married twice,

not working on her third husband. So, yeah, I'm just stating fact. I'm just stating fact at Wikipedia. I just got a kick out of that one. So, yeah, I'm sure that didn't quite go over well with them evangelicals. But I just had to play it, y'all. All right, let me do a quick break. We're going to come back.

First of all, let me thank Candace Reese. She agreed to be on the show. I appreciate y'all joining me. Thank you so very much. I figure we go out on a high note. You know what? Hey, it's a prep breakfast. And what she should have said, she said, you know, I was trying to get early,

but my fiance Patrick wanted to lay hands on me. But I'll say I'm going to mention to you later. She needs to know, she needs to learn the proper language when you're standing in front of some holy rollers. That's all I'm saying.

There you go. All right, y'all. I'm a quick, we'll be right back. Sheryl Underwood, my chat with her at the Cincinnati Music Festival next on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Back in a moment. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr.

We welcome the Black Star Network's very own Roman Martin, who joins us to talk about his new book, White Fear, how the browning of America is making white folks lose their minds. The book explains so much about what we're going through in this country right now

and how, as white people head toward becoming a racial minority, it's going to get, well, let's just say, even more interesting. We are going to see more violence. We're going to see more vitriol. Because as each day passes, it is a nail in the coffin. The one and only Roland Martin on the next Black Table,

right here on the next Black Table, right here on the Black Star Network. Up next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes, our special guest, Alicia Garza, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. We're going to discuss her new book, The Purpose of Power, how we come together when we fall apart. We live in a world where we have to navigate. You know, when we say something, people look at us funny. But when a man says the same thing

less skillfully than we did, right? Everybody walks towards what they said even though it was your idea. Right here on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. Me, Sherri Shebra, and you know what you're watching. Roland Martin,iltered. Folks, last week is Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Music Festival, courtesy of Procter & Gamble.

We caught up with my girl Cheryl Underwood, one of the co-hosts on the talk on CBS. Here's our conversation. All right, so Cheryl Underwood over here. So come on. Hey, how y'all doing? Y'all good? Excuse me. She'll be got her little orange pants on. Hey!

How you doing? How you doing? Okay. Come on! Okay! So you got your little orange pants on. So what brings you out here? Well, first of all, we are out here.

This is the health section. This is a health fair. This is a bodega. The P&G bodega. So we're trying to do something that's really good for the community. Well, first of all, we are out here. This is the health section. This is a health fair. This is a bodega, the P&G bodega. So we're trying to do something good with people. Matter of fact, everybody, come on.

Jump in there. Put your secret shirt on. Now, listen to me. First of all, they've been doing this since 1962. Procter & Gamble has been a sponsor for nine years. That means this is a corporation that cares about the community and the culture. And as long as we keep doing this, we're going to be all right. And I want everybody to get their fiber. All to take it three Metamucil gummies.

They're delicious, orange flavor. All to take it three gummies, equivalent of two servings of broccoli. Now, I'm not saying don't eat no fruit and vegetables. I'm saying in addition to, you can always get more fiber. That's why I'm here. I ain't got a fiber problem. So we... Well, listen. Everybody don't live the life that Roland Martin lived. That's right.

Everybody don't live the life. But I got to say this to you. I want you to keep being a soldier for righteousness and fighting for freedom and justice. You are our man that we know you're always going to keep them on the straight and narrow and put them in check with knowledge. Well, somebody got to swing. Somebody got to swing. But listen to me. Hold on.

And shout out to all your alpha brothers out there. Well, you know. You know. See? See? We know. Zeta, Alpha, A to the Z. This my dude right here. Now what are we gonna do for the people?

What are we gonna do? What's happening? Are we ready to vote in all elections? What we doing? Well, that's where the information, that's where educating, enlightening. You gotta educate, enlighten before you can get them to register, before you get them to vote.

So you gotta teach them first. So right now we're in a teaching moment. That's right. That's right. But we got to make sure that everybody exercise their right to vote. Oh yeah, absolutely. And see what I don't understand is don't change the rules, but we always are people that's going to survive and adapt. But this time we need to make sure that we go out and vote. In every election, we have to vote. Oh, yeah. So we swinging on them. That's right.

That's right. I think you got some people waiting on some gummies. Okay, waiting on some gummies. There's no way. Yeah. There's just going to be a backer waiting. And that's a fragment of a shot in the wood. What you don't vote?

When you get healthy, you put God first and everything falls into place. Come on, get in this picture. All right. See, these are Roland Martin fans. This is, look at the line. Look at all the people lined up. They lined up for you. Roland Martin did this.

That's right, Roland Martin did this. We got Crest, we got Pimple, we got Secret, we got Meta Milsom. And this is the political Roland Martin. Roland A. Martin. Roland S. Martin. Roland S. Martin, okay. Roland Martin for the people. Roland Martin. Roland A. Martin. Roland S. Martin. Roland S. Martin. Okay.

Roland Martin for the people. Roland Martin for the people. Roland Martin. I tell y'all, she crazy. For the people. Roland Martin for the people. Roland Martin. For the people.

Girl, let me get out. I'm a president. Oh, no, no, no. That's a pay cut. Wait a minute. That's a pay cut. All of us that had Run, Just Run t-shirts, now we got to have Run, Roland Run. Some of y'all. Wait a minute. Some of, and Run. Some of y'all got that girl.

She crazy. Great to see Cheryl Underwood there with the folks at Procter & Gamble and Cincinnati Music Festival. We got more folks from the Cincinnati Music Festival we'll be sharing with you over the next several days. All right, y'all. Including, I should have sent that video. We'll run tomorrow when I hit the stage with Snoop Dogg and we were sitting there grooving Frankie Beverly Amazing before I let go. I'll have that for y'all tomorrow right here at Roller Mark Unfiltered.

I got to go, y'all. We're done. Tomorrow we're going to hear from the brother who is leading Black Men Vote. Also, Wendy Raquel, the actress from The Game, Steve Harvey Show, she was here as well. We chatted with both of them. I'll have those interviews. The breaking news, of course, chatted with both of them. I'll have those interviews. The breaking news, of course, calls us to push those stories.

We'll have those tomorrow. Don't forget, y'all, support us in what we do. Download the Black Sun Network app. We got to get to 100,000 downloads, y'all. We're almost there. Let's go. Download it on every device you got. Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV,

Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And again, support us financially. It's critical that you join our Bring the Funk fan club. So please send your check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, or Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at Rolandign, R.M. Unfiltered, PayPal, R. Martin Unfiltered, Venmo is R.M. Unfiltered, Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Be sure to get a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds,

available at bookstores nationwide. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, also download it on Audible. And remember, our 24-hour, 7-day-a-week streaming channel is available on Amazon News. All you got to do is go to Amazon Fire TV. Go to Amazon News. Also, tell Alexa, play news from Black Star Network. And we now can be seen on Plex TV. And so check us out there as well.

So go to Plex, search for Black Star Network, or go under Live TV, click News and news and opinion, and you will see our channel. That's it. I'll have more for you tomorrow right here for the National Urban League Convention in my hometown of Houston. Folks, y'all take care. I'll see you then. Howl! Folks, Black Star Network is here.

Hold no punches! A real revolutionary right now. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Hold no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now. Like pow! Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. I thank you for being the voice of Black America, Rollins. Be Black! I love y'all! All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going.

The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Субтитры сделал DimaTorzok A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. Small but important ways.

From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business 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.

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Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.