#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Trump sentencing, House Speaker Vote, CBC swearing in, DOJ/Fulton County consent decree agreement

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

1.3.2025 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Trump sentencing, House Speaker Vote, CBC swearing in, DOJ/Fulton County consent decree agreement over jail conditions #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Curl Prep | Visit https://www.curlprep.com/ for natural hair solutions! Us the discount code "ROLAND" at checkout #BlackStarNetwork partner: Fanbasehttps://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbase This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.  This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. You should read the Offering Circular (https://bit.ly/3VDPKjD) and Risks (https://bit.ly/3ZQzHl0) related to this offering before investing. Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox  http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. self. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

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

It makes it real. It really does. it makes it real it really does it makes it real listen to new episodes of the war on drugs podcast season two on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast it's friday january 23rd january 3rd 2025 i'm candace kelly sitting in for roland who's enjoying his final days on vacation here's what's coming up on roland martin unfiltered streaming live on the black star network trump will be sentenced on january 9th we'll discuss why he probably won't receive any punishment the justice department and ge Georgia-Fulton County Jail

have reached a tentative agreement to solve the jail's poor conditions. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, keeps his position. And Stacey Plaskett, the Congresswoman from the Virgin Islands, protests the refusal to allow elected officials from U.S. territories to vote for the House leader. And the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims fell to an eight-month low last week.

As we kick off the new year, we're dedicating time to discussing mental health. Stay tuned for tips on building a healthy mindfulness and wellness routine. And finally, for women who suffer from menopause-induced night sweats, we have one of the creators of Sleep Sassy, who says her sleepwear line is the one that you need to stay cool at night. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live here

on the Blackstar Network. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the super fat divine. Let's go. He's rollin', yeah, yeah, it's Uncle Roro, y'all, yeah, yeah, it's Rollin' Martin, yeah, yeah, rollin' with Rollin' now, yeah, yeah, he's funky, he's fresh, he's real, the best, you know he's Rollin' Martin now. All right, good people. Trump's sentencing is set for next week in New York. Judge Juan Marchand will sentence Trump on January 10th, but he will probably not get any jail time. Machan upheld Trump's conviction in a hush money case, rejecting the president-elect's effort to throw out the jury's verdict just because he'll soon be president. Trump can appear virtually or in person for his sentencing. Trump

was found guilty by a jury in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records. His lawyers have already indicated that they would appeal any effort to sentence him before inauguration day on January 20th. A lot to get into. Let me bring in the panel tonight. I am joined by Michael Imhotep, host of the African History Network show. He comes to us out of Detroit, Michigan. Matt Manning, civil rights attorney out of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Kelly Bethea, communication strategist. He comes to us from Washington, D.C. Kelly, let me start with you. You know, this is something that Trump was hoping would not happen. It seems like his risk probably will be coming true.

Certainly something that a lot of people are mad at, I'm sure, especially the jury, the jury who found him guilty on those 34 pounds. For sure. I mean, I am also one of those people who are incredibly salty at the fact that the justice system only works for those who don't have billions of dollars or perceived billions of dollars, right? But at the end of the day, I do take solace in the fact that we did get to a sentencing step in this process when it comes to this man. At the end of the day, he is still going to be a convicted felon. He will forever be a convicted felon, right? So whether he goes to jail or not, I don't want to say it's irrelevant, but the fact of the matter remains, he's a criminal and we put a criminal in the White House and we are going to have to reconcile with that. We're going to have to come to terms with that as a nation that a majority or a perceived majority of Americans thought that a convicted felon was better than a Black woman to take the oath of office for these United

States. Like, we're really going to have to have a come to Jesus moment in that regard. But, you know, at the end of the day, that is what he is, whether he gets sentenced or not. Matt, I think it's really interesting because I know in your line of work, you've seen people perhaps be convicted, die, not get sentenced. And this normally isn't the outcome. There are some other options that the judge has when conviction or sentencing times come next week, is there not? Yeah, there are, but I want to be exceedingly clear. This is a Pyrrhic victory. This is not a victory at all. This is a political victory for Judge Mershon because he gets to say that he did

not capitulate and dismiss Mr. Trump's case, but he's getting an unconditional discharge, which is not a term I'm familiar with in Texas, but I read the New York law and it's essentially a discharge with no fine, no probation, no jail time. You basically just have the felon moniker. And as much as I like this, I like re-enfranchisement and think that we need to give people an opportunity to be forgiven in this society. I think that this is completely bunk. I think that this is purely to say you didn't capitulate to the dismissal, the rule of law and all of that. How do you not give a billionaire a fine at the very least? That makes no sense. Putting him in jail, yes, that is, I understand that's unwieldy because he's the president of the United States. I mean, there are some practical realities, but how you don't even assess a fine is absurd to me. And it's not that the fine would really measurably affect him

as much as it would be proof positive that the system is actually extracting the pound of flesh that it would get from any other citizen. But all we're getting here is the moniker felon, which really means nothing. So I wish Mershon had just decided to capitulate to the dismissal rather than do this because this is not only a victory, this is a slap in the face. You know what, Matt, another question I want to stick with you, and that is this, that there's something on the table I hear a lot of people talking about where could he be sentenced, possibly serve that sentence after he serves out his presidency. Does that sound viable to you? Well, not that I've ever seen

for that period of time. However, there are times where people get appeal bonds and they get other things that would stay the imposition of a sentence. I don't know New York law, but I would suspect, especially if there were a stipulation or an agreement between the parties that at the expiration of his time, if you were sentenced to jail time, you can serve it then. You have that kind of thing when people are sentenced to probation or sentenced to something like shock probation, where they've got to go do a period of time before they get out on probation. There are various mixes, but I don't think that happens here because I think Marshawn has already tipped his hand and telegraphed that he is not going to meaningfully punish him. And I think

that's the problem with this. I think what we're getting is the political, I'm not letting you off the hook, but I'm functionally letting you off the hook, which means that it's not of any value if you ask me. You know, Michael, some would say, why would you put him in jail though? I mean, one of the most powerful people in the world, it actually doesn't make sense. To that argument, what would you say? Well, these were low level felonies in the state of New York. And I'm not even certain that Alan Bragg was seeking prison time. I'm not exactly certain on that, but I would say follow the law. I would say treat him like he was somebody who was black. I would say follow the law. Okay. So, you know,

this is, you know, I agree with Matt on this. Judge Juan Machan is, this is like a political stance. You're not capitulating to him, but you really are. For the sentence to be rendered possibly on January 10th, because most likely, even though the reporter from NBC News is saying it's not clear that his attorneys will appeal, his attorneys are going to appeal. His attorneys are going to appeal. Okay. His attorneys are going to appeal. So he, he, he gets sworn. He, the inauguration is on the 20th. Okay. You're going to possibly render a sentence on the 10th. So this is more like really a slap on the wrist. And I know Kelly said America voted for Donald Trump, but this is showing how stupid America is. This is showing Donald Trump is really a reflection of the greed and the stupidity that many Americans have. He got about 76 million votes.

You voted for this criminal. You voted for this criminal. You voted for this man who incited the insurrection. If you think he's going to lower the gas prices, obviously you haven't done the research because Donald Trump was the reason why the gas prices went up in 2020 when the oil executives went to him and said, we're losing money because people weren't driving during COVID. Okay. And then they asked him to negotiate with Mohammed bin Salam of Saudi Arabia and Vladimir Putin of Russia. And he did. And the result was that Russia and Saudi Arabia cut daily oil production by 9.7 million barrels. And that caused the spike in the price of gas. So if you're dumb enough to vote for him because you think he's going to lower prices because you remember when gas was

$1.62 a gallon, you have no understanding of how the economy works, and you deserve whatever happens to you. The Washington Post just had an article that talked about how a lot of poor, lower-income people who voted for trump hope he doesn't take away their entitlements hope he doesn't cut welfare and things like this yet he yet he has uh elon musk who's one of the biggest welfare babies in the history of this country elon musk and vivek ramaswamy who heads up doge to cut $2 trillion from the $6 trillion spending. And they're going after probably entitlements that are going to hurt the poor. So if you dumb enough to vote for this fraud, well, hell you, you deserve whatever happens to you. I have no sympathy for it. I'm

sorry. I'm sorry. Kelly, I want to wrap this up to you about about 20 seconds. What Matt said is correct in that Alvin Bragg, he didn't necessarily ask for jail time or what Michael said was correct. And then he didn't necessarily ask for jail time at this particular juncture. And I think that just because of the idea that the president of the United States can't be behind bars. Would you agree with that? We've never been in a situation where he had to be behind bars in the first place. So the fact that you're saying that a president can't, I'm like, well, we don't have any precedent to say one way or the other. I think this was a political move on behalf of Bragg so that he's not the Black man who wanted the white president in jail right because that's the stigma

right that that would be stuck on him if he were to do such a thing you know i think all of this was a political move but i go back to the point that i made at the beginning of the segment at the end of the day we have a felon for president we have a convicted felon 34 times over for president of the united states that is going to have ramifications for the next four years and for however long he's in office because we are losing the respect globally we're losing the respect domestically we're losing morale across the board right and like what uh michael's saying you know like i'm i'm out Fs to give, but it's unfortunate that I have to try and find at least a damn, because

these things are going to be affecting me, too. You understand what I'm saying? It's not going to just affect the people who voted for him. It's going to affect all of us, all of the ramifications of this man having the highest seat in the land. So I might not be able to find an F, but

I need to find a hell somewhere. I need to find a damn in the drawer or So I might not be able to find the F, but I need to find the hell somewhere. I need to find the damn in the drawer, sock pocket, something because, you know. All right, Kelly, we're going to close it out with you on that topic, but certainly this is a story that we will be following, especially with the sentencing

coming up next week. We'll see how that turns out. All right, you're watching Rolling Modern Unfiltered. Stay with us. We will be back after a short break. Now streaming on the Blackstar Network. I was challenged by my uncle early on before I even had a career. Like I was maybe eight years old and my uncle said, what do you want to do? And I told him I wanted to be a rapper. And he said, okay, well, I don't know anything about the music business. So what you should do is learn everything there is to know about the music business.

And I'll make sure that you have the resources to push you through. And so I went and bought books. All you need to know about the music business hit me. And I just went and bought a bunch of books to start reading as a 10-year-old. Just reading, reading. And so I learned, I learned you know all things licensing, mechanical rights, I learned about publishing, learned about how composition is broke up into two pieces the the writers portion and the producers portion. So by the time I actually learned I came back I was ready to like okay i got it he was going to prison so i had all this information all this knowledge all this knowledge Curl Prep Natural Hair Solutions at CurlPrep.com.

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You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Boy, he always unfiltered, though. I ain't never known him to be filtered. Is there another way to experience Roland Martin than to be unfiltered? Of course he's unfiltered. Would you expect anything less? Watch what happens next. All right. Matt Johnson remains in the top post in the House in a stunning floor vote on the opening day of Congress on Friday today, securing the gavel on the first ballot. But the vote did not come without a bit of drama.

Stacey Plaskett from the coming from Virgin Islands rose in the House during the Speakership for a protest. The House is more than a century long refusal to give elected officials from U.S. territories a vote on the floor. Let's take a listen. For what purpose does the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands seek recognition? Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry. the representatives from the Americas, Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia were not called, representing collectively 4 million Americans. Mr. Speaker, collectively the largest per capita of veterans in this country. Does the gentlelady have a parliamentary inquiry?

I asked why they were not called. Have some respect. It's not going to take... Gentlelady's recognized. I ask why they were not called from the parliamentarian, please. Delegates elect and the resident commissioner elect are not qualified to vote. Representatives elect are the only individuals qualified to vote in the election of a Speaker. As provided in Section 36 of the House Rules and Manual, the Speaker is elected by a majority of the members-elect voting by surname. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This body and this nation has a territories and a colonies problem.

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

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

and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad 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 thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush.

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

Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-up way, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. We must do something about this problem so that these four million... But I have a voice!

I... The reading. Well, Michael, Congresswoman Plaskett asking for a little bit of respect, asking for a little bit of time on the floor. They're representing four million or talking about 4 million that aren't represented. What are your thoughts about what she said? I think that it's going to open some doors for a lot of conversation. Well, she's a delegate. And what happens is when you have territories like that, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, et cetera, their quote unquote representatives are called delegates and don't have voting rights.

And that's based upon house rules. Looking at the piece from rawstory.com and according to delegate Stacy Plaskett, it was, it's been going back more than a century like this. Originally wasn't supposed to be like that, but it is. So I do think that the territories, the delegates should have voting rights. And if they have voting rights, then they would become representatives

as opposed to delegates. I do think they should. I don't know if you just need a simple majority to change the house rules. If that was the case when Democrats had control of the House, why didn't they change it? I agree with her, but this was more of, I think, just drawing attention to it. But why didn't Democrats change it when they had control of the House of Representatives? You know, Matt, that's a very interesting question. I mean, certainly she's speaking a lot of truth there. Four million people whose voices aren't being

heard, especially in such a tight race today. We're talking about how this speaker was elected today. Change could be ahead. I mean, I'm not sure about this particular next four years, but it's something I think is opening the door for people to talk about. And it's another instance in a litany of things that we have in this country that we know to be just gross disingenuousness, dishonesty. I mean, taxation without representation, weren't they protesting that like in 1770s, right? And now we're in 2025 and 4 million people, the equivalent of the city of Houston, is unrepresented because they've got delegates who, to use my term earlier, is another Pyrrhic victory because you allegedly have representation that can't vote and can only participate in a

limited way. It makes absolutely no sense. Whether you want to have full-fledged territorial annexation where they become states is a different question. But the idea that people can be living in what we're still calling territories and have people who are in the House and not even in the Senate, as a matter of fact. So for people that may not know that, they don't have representation in the Senate, but these delegates cannot vote. And it's really absurd because I don't know all the ins and outs, I don't purport to know them, but if they have to pay taxes, if they've got to be adherent to other American laws, then it makes absolutely no sense politically to idea that there's not full-fledged representation in 2025 is not only unsustainable, it is abhorrent in the Commonwealth of the United States. So hopefully they get full representation sooner than later. Kelly, some would say particularly

undemocratic. She's there on the floor, can't even get her vote in, but something got her there. So there's certainly a disparity there and her representation. For sure. But I know we're talking about Stacey Plackett at the moment, but DC is included in that number, right? DC is part of that 4 million. And as a virtual native of Washington, DC, I've been here basically my entire life to be in a situation where you're technically in the most popular, most powerful city in the nation, arguably the world, and yet the residents who live within this castle, so to speak, don't get a say as to how it's run. Matter of fact, when we have to pass budgets and when we have any type of major legislation that needs to come down, Congress has to decide how our money is spent. Congress, with the exception of

Eleanor Holmes Norton, she has to beg for other people to act on behalf of Washington, D.C. residents, right? And it is absolutely absurd. It is absolutely absurd. Like, we're actually in the continental United States of America. Like, we're on the mainland. We're not talking about the islands. We're not talking about the colonies, right? We're the district. We're the nation nation's capital and we are still subject to basically being treated like a colony like Matt said it is abhorrent it is absurd and she brought this up in in a remarkable way but to uh uh emoteep's point where was this energy when we had the majority and that is really my gripe with Democrats at the moment, really, you know, in longevity, because every time we have the power, we don't exercise it for

purposes of being politically correct. And we do not have the time, nor can we afford to do that anymore. Candace, can I add two very quick things, please? Two things. The first thing is, if you notice this, and I think Michael hit the nail on the head, this is a house rule. This is not even a constitutional rule. And that's a huge issue. That means that Congress has in place rules that it can change to allow the voting, number one. But number two, on top of that, it doesn't make any sense that you're not allowing people to be fully involved. And I think if they are paying taxes and if there have been votes for statehood, it's really just anti-democratic. So the idea that this is a house rule that's not even constitutionally enshrined makes it that much more problematic because it's just not being changed because it's not being changed. And I think it needs to be

changed. Yeah. Yeah. Listen, as you said, Kelly, remarkable what she did. Timing, just a little bit off, but that doesn't mean that down the line, these doors can't be open for discussion. There's certainly a lot more going on that people would see as a priority, which is why they didn't even want her to speak. But she held her ground, she refused to sit, and she got her point out. All right, I don't think that's the last we'll be hearing from her on that topic all right stay with us we're going to be back after a break you're watching roland martin unfiltered here on the black star network see you after the break curl prep natural hair solutions atlPrep.com. I'm in stock. For curls, locks, braids, twists, and even those wigs and extensions. Women, men, and children are loving this line. Look at this video and you be the judge.

People line up to see this product in action at hair shows, and when they take a seat and try it, they don't believe it's their hair. Buy the products at CurlPrep.com. It works on all hair types. Use code ROLAND, that's R-O-L-A-N-D, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. Parents, remove the ouch. You will love this system because you can comb the product through your child's hair with your fingers it's all at curlprep.com use code roland

lowercase letters to get a 15 discount what's up y'all look fan base is than a platform. It's a movement to empower creators, offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in Black-owned tech, infrastructure, and help shape the future of social media. Investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The Black community must not only consume tech, we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital directly through their community, through the jobs ad. Now streaming on the Blackstar Network. I was challenged by my uncle early on before I even had a career. I was maybe eight years old, and my uncle said, what do you want to do?

And I told him I wanted to be a rapper. And he said, okay, well, I don't know anything about the music business, so what you should do is learn everything there is to know about the music business, and I'll make sure that you have the resources to push you through. And so I went and bought books, All You Need to Know About the Music Business hit me in. I just went and bought a bunch of books and just started reading as a 10-year-old.

Just reading, reading. And so I learned, you know, all things licensing, mechanical rights. I learned about publishing. I learned about how composition is broke up into two pieces, the writer's portion and the producer's portion. By the time I actually learned I can't bend, I was ready to like, okay, I got it. He was going to prison.

So I had all this information. All this knowledge. All this knowledge. You like, well, what am I gonna do with it now? Now that Roland Martin is willing to give me the blueprint. Hey, Saras. I need to go to Tyler Perry and get another blueprint because I need some green money. The only way I can do what I'm doing, I need to make some money. So you'll see me working with Roland.

Matter of fact, it's the Roland Martin and Sheryl Lundgren show well should it be the Sheryl Lundgren show and the Roland Martin show well whatever show it's going to be it's going to be good All right. Earlier today, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation hosted a ceremonial swearing in to celebrate the Congressional Black Caucus of the 119th Congress. The event honored the 62 returning and newly elected CBC members, reaffirming their dedication to advancing equity and civil rights. The ceremony underscores the caucus's commitment to being a voice for change. With a now record number of members, the CBC says it will continue its vital work to ensure fairness and opportunity for all.

New York Congresswoman Yvette Clark is the new CBC chair. All right, moving on. The Justice Department Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney Office for the Northern District of Georgia say they have entered into a court enforceable agreement to resolve the department's findings that conditions of confinement at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia violate the 8th and the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The proposed consent decree, which the court must still approve, would resolve the department's claims that the jail engages in a pattern or practice of violating the rights of people incarcerated there. Under the proposed consent

decree, the jail will develop plans and policies to keep incarcerated people safe from violence, improve supervision and staffing, keep doors and locks working,ire any use or force by staff to comply with constitutional standards. Take steps to protect incarcerated people at risk of suicide and afford incarcerated people adequate medical and mental health care. Develop and implement a comprehensive housekeeping plan

and pest management system to keep the jail clean, sanitary and free of pests. Stop housing vulnerable people in isolation when they are at substantial risk of self-harm or other adverse mental health outcomes, absent specific and significant protections. And finally, facilitate providing adequate special services to children with disabilities in jail. Well, Michael, listen, all of these things that they weren't doing, this was some kind of jail. If they weren't doing these things,

then they had to rise to the occasion of these basics. Yeah, absolutely. And this is probably going to be one of the last consent decrees that you hear about for four years, because there most likely won't be any under the second Trump administration. When you look at this, the jail investigation found people incarcerated in a jail suffered harm from pest infestation and malnourishment. Victims included LaShawn Thompson, who was found dead and covered in bed bugs in September 2022. So we talked about that case here on Roland Martin and Filtered before. We've talked about the Fulton County Jail. So this is good that they have entered into this consent decree and hopefully the proper changes will take place. But I have to ask the question, how was the jail able to operate in these type of

deplorable conditions in the first place? And then what were state officials doing? What was the state attorney general office doing, things of this nature? So yeah, these were horrific conditions, but this is going to be one of the big differences that you are going to see between the Biden Department of Justice and the Trump Department of Justice. The Trump Department of Justice basically the first time around took a hands off approach to policing and part of Project 2025 is to do away with consent decrees also. So this is going to be a very hard, difficult four years coming up. Sure. And Michael is correct, Matt, in that these consent decrees you have state officials who check on these jails from time to time. Matt, are we missing something here? Because these were particularly disgusting conditions for even somebody in jail. You're not missing anything. You're just overestimating how much people care. I mean, here's the reality. I spent an hour today talking to a client of mine who's a Muslim inmate in Texas

Department of Criminal Justice who did not get proper nutrition during Ramadan. I mean, the easiest thing they could do is feed him and they wouldn't feed him properly. Jails and prisons across the board, across the United States do not give people the measure of humanity that they should have. And I think what we're missing is that this is standard fare, maybe not to this extent in every jail and prison, but it is almost every jail and prison I've ever had a case at that has these glaring issues, whether it's successful or whether it's the conditions of confinement being violated of just basic humanity. So what we're missing is this is standard fare. And I thought

Michael was going to do what he always does and says Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, but I guess I'll say it today. If Jefferson Beauregard Sessions is the attorney general again, there will not be Department of Justice action to enforce this consent decree. And again, I don't mean to be exceedingly cynical tonight, but you're going to have the same pyrrhic victory. You're going to have a consent decree. And if they don't meet the conditions of that consent decree, I don't mean to be exceedingly cynical tonight, but you're going to have the same pyrrhic victory. You're going to have a consent decree. And if they don't meet the conditions of that consent decree, I don't know that you're going to have a Trump DOJ that's rearing to make that consent decree be adhered to. So the problem is this is jails and prisons everywhere.

And just like last week, when we discussed the case of the brother that got killed in the New York jail, I said last week, and I say it again now, this is standard fare for jails. So we have to have a more effective mechanism than consent decrees that we hope DOJ enforces. Yeah. So, Kelly, this is several months of investigation and we ultimately end up with this decree. But I've been saying there's one more step in this process. It may not happen. What are your thoughts about that? I mean, Matt, for me, hit it on the head because that was my point, the point that I was going to make in that we are, what, less than 15 days away from Trump taking office. And, you know, the DOJ is about to, you know, switch over to leaning right because the head of the DOJ will be one of Trump's cronies, right?

So who exactly is going to enforce this consent decree? It's nice that it's on paper. It's nice that on the record, we can tell that Fulton County jails ain't shit. But at the end of the day, who's going to enforce it to make it not ancient no more, right? You know, my apologies for the vulgarity, but at the end of the day, it just feels like it's all for naught, right? I feel like when it comes to findings like this, you can't tell me that before they started their investigation

that they didn't have an inkling about what was going on in Fulton County. This has been going on for decades. This has been going on for years. You can't tell me that DOJ didn't know about the conditions in one of the largest jails in the state of Georgia. So it just feels like everything was purposely delayed and procrastinated so that on paper there's a victory, but in reality there's a victory, but in reality, there's a failure. Two things. Oh, sure. Go ahead. One, remember, Pam Bondi has been nominated by Trump to be his attorney general. It's not going to be Jefferson Borger Sessions because they had a falling out.

Trump had a falling out and basically Trump fired him. So it's not going to be him again. He nominated Pam Bonney, former attorney general for the state of Florida, number one. Number two, with consent decrees, there's oversight from a federal judge. That's where the enforcement comes from, from a federal judge. So that's what would happen here as well. Right. The oversight is like sanctions, right? And my understanding is DOJ would have to be pushing for that to be, for there to be sanctions, right? So what I'm saying is the same idea. If they're not behind really enforcing it, especially if they are telegraphing that they intend to be anti-civil rights, I don't anticipate they'll be rearing or

tromping at the bit to have those enforced. But you're right on oversight. Yeah, but when you look at under Trump's first attorney general, he tried to back out of the consent decrees with the Baltimore Police Department and the Chicago Police Department. The federal judge wouldn't allow the Trump Department of Justice to do that. So it really depends on which judge actually gets this particular consent decree that who's over it. And what they do that's curative, right? Because even if the judge has the oversight, if he or she is not meeting out enough punishment to really dissuade anybody else, then it doesn't matter. That's what I'm getting at. It's the judge, it's the timing, it's a lot of things that we probably will not see

happening. All right, we're gonna leave it at that. Stay with us, we are going to have more Roland Martin unfiltered when we come back after the break. Coming soon to the Black Star Network. Well, y'all, when you're on that stage and you're seeing two and three, four generations in the audience, that's got to speak to you about the power of what y'all have become. Oh, most definitely.

I think we were doing our show before our break, and remember, I was watching this kid. I could not take my eyes off him because he was about nine or so. He was sitting in the front row with his parents. Over on the right-hand side. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I was amazed that this kid knew everything, and he was, I was like, tripping to see how many songs

this kid actually knew. And he knew them all. And he knew them all. We had to go over there and bring him on stage and take a picture with him at the end of the show and stuff because it was just that amazing. It's like, this is crazy. You know, the music travels everywhere, you know, like what Phillip was saying, seeing his young kid.

Then you see, hear our songs on commercials, cold commercials. Then you have the younger ones that sing out, hear on music and animation. Curl prep natural hair solution. 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, But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

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

I'm Greg 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, 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 Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers,

but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you've got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council.

At curlprep.com. I'm in shock. For curls, locks, braids, twists, and even those wigs and extensions. Women, men, and children are loving this line. Look at this video and you be the judge. People line up to see this product in action at hair shows and when they take a seat and try it, they don't believe it's their hair. Buy the products at CurlPrep.com.

It works on all hair types. Use code ROLAND, that's R-O-L-A-N-D, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. Parents, remove the ouch. You will love this system because you can comb the product through your child's hair with your fingers. It's all at CurlPrep.com. Use code ROLAND, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. Fanbase is a free-to-download, free-to-use, next-generation social media platform that allows anyone to have followers and subscribers on the same page. Fanbase was built through investment

dollars from equity crowdfunding from the Jobs Act. People just like you helped build Fanbase, and we're looking for more people to help build Fanbase. We are currently raising $17 million in a Regulation 8 crowdfund on StartEngine. We've already crossed $2.1 million, but we're looking to raise more capital from people just like you that deserve the opportunity to invest in early stage startups without having to be accredited investors. So right now, I'd like you to go to startengine.com slash fanbase and invest. The minimum to invest is $399.

That gets you 60 shares of stock in Fanbase right now, today. And then use Fan base to connect with friends grow your audience and be you without limits Thank you. Curl Prep Natural Hair Solutions at CurlPrep.com I'm in shock. For curls, locks, braids, twists, and even those wigs and extensions. Women, men, and children are loving this line. Look at this video and you be the judge. People line up to see this product in action at hair shows,

and when they take a seat and try it, they don't believe it's their hair. Buy the products at CurlPrep.com. It works on all hair types. Use code ROLAND, that's R-O-L-A-N-D, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. Parents, remove the ouch. You will love this system because you can comb the product through your child's hair with your fingers. It's all at CurlPrep.com. Use code ROLAND, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. What's up, y'all? Look, Fanbase is more more than a platform it's a movement to empower creators offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in black owned tech infrastructure and help shape the future of social media investing in technology is essential for creating long-term

wealth and influence in the digital age the black community must not only consume tech we must own discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding black businesses allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital directly through their community through the jobs ad now streaming on the Blackstar Network. the music business and I'll make sure that you have the resources to push you through and so I went and bought books all you need to know about the music business hit me and I just went about a bunch of books to start reading as a ten-year-old and so I learned you know all things licensing mechanical rights I learned about publishing learned about how composition is broke up into two

pieces the the writers portion and the producer's portion. But by the time I actually learned I can't bend, I was ready to like, okay, I got it. He was going to prison. So I had all this information. All this knowledge. All this knowledge. You like, well, what am I supposed to do with it now? This is Tamela Mann.

And this is David Mann. And you're watching Roland Martin. I'm filter. All right, folks, it's beginning of a new year and we want to take some time to talk about mental health and share tips on how to build a healthy mindfulness and wellness routine. specializes in helping organizations prioritize employee well-being by offering workshops on burnout self-care self-compassion and positive leadership she joins us from atlanta good to see you karma hi candace i'm excited to be here with you yes indeed listen we love the excitement that's what we need for this new year a lot of people are talking about still the prices of eggs and january 20th a lot of people have a lot on their minds, which is why we want to make sure people have a healthy mindset. Can you talk to us a little bit about

what it takes to have a healthy mindset in terms of changing some of the habits that you might have? Yeah, definitely. I mean, mindset is everything, right? And it starts with some of those habits that we have. It's easy to get caught up into the anxiety and the fear of the unknown, which is why I thought mindfulness is a timely topic. One of the things that we need to do is start building some of those small micro habits that can help us shift our mindset, which is being present, being centered, being grounded, and focusing on some of the things that we can control versus just looking at a lot of those things that are beyond

our control, such as January 20th, the price of eggs, things that we really can't do anything about, but they are impacting us, but we can't focus on the things we can't control right now. Yeah. A lot of people think self-help is sometimes a little selfish, but when we really take care of our mind and body and soul, it helps with relationships in our lives. I don't get enough sleep. The kids are getting on my nerves. I can't afford my home anymore. What would you tell them in terms of the steps to take to make sure that they are centered and can take control of their lives effectively? Yeah. I mean, I like to remind people that, I mean, practically, if you think about it, like even right now, we can't really control what happened earlier today. I mean, we can think about it and ruminate and get stuck in it, but we can't really do anything about it today. I mean, we can think about it and ruminate and get stuck in it, but we can't really do anything about it.

And we also can't do anything about what's going to happen tomorrow. But what we do have is our power and our now. So we can focus on what we can control. I think we have more access to opportunities. We have more access to potential solutions and ways of which handling our situations. So one of the easiest things that I feel like we can do is to stop and pause and think about where we are right now. Focusing on our breath is the easy one that helps us maybe be able to be balanced and centered in the moment,

especially during those challenging times, because it's hard to navigate interpersonal relationships, work relationships, all of the above above when we are stressed and we are frustrated and we're angry and we have angst about what's coming. So I think meditation is one, and it doesn't always have to be a long drawn out. It can be something as simple as, hey, we stopped for 60 seconds at some point in our day and we just focus on the now and think about where we are. Mindfulness walks, body scans. Those are some of the things that I encourage people if they haven't really had a robust mindfulness practice to start there with just thinking about, hey, where am I right now

present in this time, space, reality? What is happening? Am I safe in this moment? Do I have access to meet my needs right now? Maybe not in five minutes, 10 minutes tomorrow, but do I have it right now? And once you realize what you can and cannot control, that allows you to kind of let go a little bit, right? Just a little bit. I mean, you know, it depends on various person to person, but I do think it does. It has for me and many other clients that I served at.

Like when you stop and you think about it, you go, you know what? I actually can't control what's coming next, but I can control what's right now. So if I can think about what I can do in this moment, can I do something in this moment that'll help me for the next moment? Usually worrying about what's coming up is not going to help you much. Right, right. Now, walk me through, you're the expert, walk me through what you do. When things get a little bit tight and frustration sets in, are you the person that takes the walk? And if you do breathing exercises, what exactly do you do? Absolutely. I am that person. So because I'm not exempt, I get frustrated, I get overwhelmed. I usually try to stop and pause

and figure out, I do a quick needs assessment. What do I need in this moment? So I ask myself that throughout the day. What do I need in this moment? Sometimes that is, hey, I just need to regulate my nervous system. The somatic practices really help because we carry a lot of the tension and the frustration and the anger and all that. We carry it in our bodies. It's a physiological response that actually happens. So for me, one of the first things I do is ask myself, what do I need in this moment so that I can identify what I need to do, which practice will help. If I have enough time, it may be, hey, I'm going to go outside. I'm going to take a walk. I'm going to connect with nature because I've identified the self-care practices that actually work for me. And one for me is being outside in nature.

So I am able to connect with, you know, the trees, the sun, feel all of those things and realize, like, one, I'm a part of something that's so much larger because, I mean, I didn't make the sun come up or set or any of those things. So it also helps me put things into perspective. And a lot of the things that I'm worrying about are not nearly as serious as they really are that I'm putting more emphasis on it. Sometimes if I'm short on time and it's, you know, just only have a few minutes, I do, I just may stop, center myself and just focus on my breath. And that could be shape breathing, which is taking, like picking a shape. Let's say we pick a square, right? And you go, you breathe in for four counts, hold for four counts, envisioning making that square. The other side, you exhale for four counts. And then to finish that square off, you hold for four counts. And doing that for

about a minute, 60 seconds has a true physiological response. It activates the autonomic nervous system that causes that rest and digest system to actually activate, which calms our parasympathetic system that will a lot of times get us kind of in that fight or flight. Slow down. Take a moment. All right. I want to go to our panel now. I'm sure that they have questions as we all enter this 2025. Michael, I want to start with you, a question for Karma. Karma, happy new year. Thanks for coming on today. Happy new year. Thank you. So with a lot of African-American women, they can feel overwhelmed in their daily lives, taking care of children, trying to balance the job and their career and relationships, things like that. And you have this moniker of the black superwoman.

And a lot of times African-American women talk about not feeling like they can't measure up to that or, you know, becomes overwhelming trying to do this balancing act. What are some tips that you can give to African-American women who feel overwhelmed? And that can definitely impact your mental health as well. Okay. What are some tips that you can give to African-American women who are feeling like that? Yeah, absolutely. One, I'll come alongside and say, I have definitely found myself guilty in that time, slip into that, you know, feeling like I need to take on the pressure of everything. One of the things that was most helpful for me was setting clear boundaries and understanding what that looked like and understanding that the boundaries was not always for others. But a lot of times they were for me, releasing some of that expectation that I needed to be the one to do all and be all. And knowing that by allowing others to actually be

able to do some of the things in their own lives, it was empowering those that I love. So for my children, it allowed them to have some independence where it's like, I'm not responsible for all choices, actions, and decisions. And it also helps prepare them for life that I'm not going to always be there to be able to control that. So that was something that I was able to do to release some of that pressure for myself. And another big one for me was self-compassion, that I had to give myself the same compassion and grace that I would give others. We talk to ourselves more than anyone else. And if the self-talk is those high expectations that many times you're not measuring up to, you're not meeting them, it can cause depression,

anxiety. It does start to work against your mental health. So having kindness, gentleness, expressing to yourself that you're doing the best that you can in this moment. And if there's something that you need to adjust or do differently, make the adjustments, but it's okay to not be able to do everything and be everything to everybody all at the same time. Oh, yes. Well said. All right, Kelly, question for Karma. Sure. A lot of advice centered around this topic involves getting off of social media or taking breaks from social media. While I do try to ascribe to it, it's kind of part of my job, right? So how do you balance needing to turn off your phone,

turn off your mind as a result with the fact that you kind of need said social media and phone in order to work? A very common problem now that many people are working from home. They have a lot of digital things that are needed. None of us need it 24 hours a day though, right? We have to have some sort of work-life balance. So even though it is a part of your job, what are the parts of the day in which you can say, you know what, I can shut off for this amount of time and give myself the gift of being disconnected and just reconnecting with myself so that when I do show back up in those spaces, I'm more energized, Iraming it to shift it, to look at it that way, that when you are taking that time away, you're coming back to be better, can be helpful with actually committing to a digital detox. Amen, amen to that. All right, Matt, question for Karma. Well, Karma, thank you for sharing your insight. I just have a quick question. I know when we talk about mental health in the Black community, I feel like it's kind of a new phenomenon that people are validating it as

something that is just as important as physical health. So I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you incentivize people to seek therapy or seek mental health treatment and to feel that that is just as important as their physical health. How do you address that with people in our community? Yeah, I would agree with you. I do think that this is becoming more commonplace that it had been a little bit of taboo in the past. One of the things that I always like to share with people and I ask as simple as, hey, if your loved one had a physical, a heart condition, would you say, hey, just ignore it. You'll be okay, pray about it and move on? Or would you actually encourage them to go and see a cardiologist, get the support that

they need to take care of themselves. So I encourage others to think about our mental health and well being in the same way that we think about our physical health. We tend to go see a doctor for our physical things. If you are struggling with something, it doesn't make you weaker. It's why we all are in these professions and we have a different way. And, you know, think about what's the benefit of actually being healthy and whole on the other side, even if that was with the help of a therapist or a mental health professional. All right. Karma, I want to thank you so much. I know that you do individual coaching, coaching for companies also. How do people reach out to you? Yeah. So my website is conversationswithkarma.com and conversations is with a K. I do a lot of executive coaching. Right now I'm enrolling for my rest and recharge program that really focuses on executives

getting over burnout, which was something that I had experience with. So I use my signature framework to really help leaders go through that. I'm also on social media, Instagram, Conversations with Karma, LinkedIn, Karma Hill. All right, Karma Hill, thank you so much for being with us and letting us know what it means to be mindful

and take a breath, take a walk if you need to. Very good to have you. Thanks for that advice. All right, thank you, Candice. All right, stay with us. When we come back after the break, we're going to be talking about giuliani's day in court we'll be right back coming soon to the black star network well y'all when you're on that stage or when you're and you're seeing two and three four generations in the audience

that's got that's got to speak to you about the power of of what y'all become oh most definitely i think we were doing our show before our tour before our our break and remember i was watching this kid i could not take my eyes off him because he was about right nine or so he's sitting in the front row with over on the right hand side yes yes yes yes i was yes i was amazed that this kid knew everything and he was i was like tripping to see how how many songs this cat this kid actually knew and he knew them all and he and he knew them all we have to go over there and bring him on stage and take a picture with him you know at the end of the show and stuff because it was just that amazing. It's like, this is crazy. You know, the music travels everywhere, you know, like what Philip was saying, seeing this young kid, then you see, hear our songs on commercials, cold commercials.

Then you have the younger ones that seen or hear our music and animation. Curl Prep Natural Hair Solutions at at curlprep.com i'm in shock for curls locks braids twists and even those wigs and extensions women men and children are loving this line look at this video and you be the judge people line up to see this product in action at... I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 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. 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 Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real.

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers. But we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you've got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else.

But never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. And when they take a seat and try it, they don't believe it's their hair. Buy the products at curlprep.com.

It works on all hair types. Use code ROLAND, that's R-O-L-A-N-D, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. Parents, remove the ouch. You will love this system because you can comb the product through your child's hair

with your fingers. It's all at curlprep.com. Use code ROLAND, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. Fanbase is a free-to-download, free-to-use, next-generation social media platform that allows anyone to have followers and subscribers on the same page. Fanbase was built through investment dollars from equity crowdfunding from the JOBS Act.

People just like you help build Fanbase, and we're looking for more people to help build Fanbase. We are currently raising $17 million in a Regulation 8 crowdfund on StartEngine. We've already crossed $2.1 million, but we're looking to raise more capital from people just like you that deserve the opportunity to invest in early stage startups without having to be accredited investors so right now i'd like you to go to startengine.com fanbase and invest the minimum to invest is 399 that gets you 60 shares of stock in Fanbase right now, today. And then use Fanbase to connect with friends,

grow your audience, and be you without limits. Rudy Giuliani was back in New York court today to determine whether he should be in contempt for ignoring court orders. The disgraced attorney was ordered to surrender a signed jersey from the late Yankees Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio. The jersey was due two months ago, but has not been turned over. This was intended to help satisfy the $140 million defamation judgment awarded to Ruby Freeman and Wondria Shea Moss. Attorneys are urging U.S. District Judge Louis Lyman to hold Giuliani in civil contempt for failing to surrender the jersey and other items as previously ordered. You know, what's really interesting about his day in court today, Matt, is that he thought that all of the questions that

he was supposed to answer before coming there in preparation for this, he said they were abusive, that it invaded his privacy. That's the whole process. You defame someone, you owe money, we need to see what you own. I think the term is run them pockets. I think that's it. Run them pockets, Julian. You know, what I thought was interesting about it was two things. The first is that, you know, there was an 11th hour filing where he was trying not to appear. And I think the judge put some stipulations on whether he could use deposition testimony and all of that in his appearance. But what I really was struck by is the ignorance, frankly, of the fact that he is

still going on his radio show, and at least as the court has characterized it, defaming them, these two women. Now, I do think that there's an interesting constitutional question. What are the bounds of the First Amendment? He does have a First Amendment right, notwithstanding this judgment. But for the life of me, I just absolutely cannot understand how his attorneys can allow this client in the midst of bankruptcy, in the midst of trying to satisfy this judgment, to continue engaging in the conduct that got him to this place. It seems like this is the point where you just take that L, keep it pushing, run them pockets and try to get back on the Donald Trump teat to get more, you know, benefits going forward.

He's digging a hole and it's, you know, it's what he's wrought. So whatever a man sows, so shall he reap. And he is indeed reaping the pockets being run. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I don't know if you've experienced this, Kelly. It's like a bill that you have to pay. You might even have the money, but you just don't want to pay it. This is what I see going on here. Just go ahead and give up what you have. He is a person. Well, he used to be barred, but he knows what the law is all about. He is not doing what he is supposed to do for money that he owes. I think if he doesn't watch out, he's going to find himself another defamation case, Kelly. I think so, too. I think with what to Matt's point about him continuously defaming these people

it's almost kind of cyclical because he needs the money so he goes on the show but he's talking about the wrong shit so he's gonna have to use that money to keep paying these people. I say take everything. Take his dentures, take the glasses, take his drawers, take the ties, take his grandbaby stuff, take all of it. All of it. Wipe him clean. You know, listen, listen, he effed around. He found out. Like Matt said, run them, take everything.

Take his toupees, take his toothbrushes, take his toilet paper on the way out, take the stained glass in his house, take his baseballs, baseball bats, take his baseball cards, take everything, everything. What else can he take? What else can he take? You know, toenail clippers if they're gold. I don't care. Take it all. Take it all, Michael, until that bill is paid off. You know, I think that that's an interesting point that Kelly makes in that Trump is president again.

He might find himself being that true ally of Trump and finding himself in the back, you know, in his good graces, if he would just shut his mouth. I don't think he's going to be in his good graces. Trump still owes him for back legal fees also. So, number one, keep in mind, Rudy Giuliani has not apologized for defaming Ruby Freeman and Shea Moss. He continues to do it. He says he's done nothing wrong. Okay. So he continues to double down. He's trying to keep some Yankees World Series rings as well that are part of the sports memorabilia. Then also an autographed shirt by Joe DiMaggio. He's trying to keep that as well. So they should take everything. And I can't stress this enough. His lies that he spread about them put their lives in jeopardy.

They had death threats. They had to leave their homes. Their lives have never been the same. So he should be standing there outside of his apartment like Red Fox was when the IRS came and he was standing outside his home in his underwear. That's what should happen to Rudy Giuliani. I have no sympathy for him whatsoever. And this is somebody who ruined their lives. He's been disbarred as well. He can't practice law. This is somebody who ruined their lives because of his racism and because he hooked up with Donald Trump. And I have no sympathy for him. He messed around and found out. So hey, get all you can get from him. You know what, Matt, let me end with you. I thought this was an interesting picker that during the proceedings, he asked the court sketch artist to draw him a little more friendlier because last time she drew him with a scalp and he looked like a dog. In the midst of all of this, he's worried about how he's sketched him.

Take that drawing, too. Take his shadow. I want to be clear. We will give him a credit if he keeps his dentures in his toupee. We don't need all that. There is a bright line we will not cross. But, yeah, I mean, that's vanity. And, you know, I think this is good.

This is good insofar as it does show that there are consequences to actions, right? I mean, you can upend people's lives with defamatory statements when you're a person of this stature, meaning just having the platform that Giuliani does. But they deserve the recompense and he needs to go ahead and cough up that Joe DiMaggio, which I'm sure is hurting him as a New Yorker, a lifelong New Yorker. He's probably got that sequestered, hidden away somewhere. But he needs to run them pockets. Yeah, yeah. You know, as a sports fan, how much that means to someone who is actually into sports.

I think another good lesson out of this is this. If you say something, you cannot always say the First Amendment is going to protect me. That's why we have libel laws. What you write on social media, what you write in an email, what you text to someone could be brought up in a defamation case. I think that people need to be more aware of those laws because you know people out here

on these streets saying anything and everything every day, posting for eight hours, you should know your boundaries. All right, folks, stay with us. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered here live on the Black Star Network. We'll be right back. Curl Prep natural hair solutions at curlprep.com.

I'm in shock. For curls, locks, braids, twists, and even those wigs and extensions. Women, men, and children are loving this line. Look at this video and you be the judge. People line up to see this product in action at hair shows, and when they take a seat and try it, they don't believe it's their hair.

Buy the products at CurlPrep.com. It works on all hair types. Use code ROLAND, that's R-O-L-A-N-D, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. Parents, remove the ouch. You will love this system because you can comb the product through your child's hair with your fingers it's all at curlprep.com use code roland lowercase letters to get a 15 discount what's up y'all look fan base is more than a platform it's a movement to empower creators offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in Black-owned tech, infrastructure, and help shape the future of social media.

Investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The Black community must not only consume community, through the jobs ad. Now streaming on the Black Star Network. I was challenged by my uncle early on before I even had a career. Like I was maybe eight years old and my uncle said what do you want to do and I told him I wanted to be a rapper he said okay well I don't know anything about the music business so what you should do is learn everything there is to know about the music business and I'll make sure that you have the resources to push you through and so I went and bought books all you need to know about the music business. Hit me in, I just went and bought a bunch of books,

just started reading as a 10 year old, just reading, reading. And so I learned, you know, all things licensing, mechanical rights, I learned about publishing, learned about how composition is broke up into two pieces, the writer's portion and the producer's portion. But by the time I actually learned, I came back and I was ready to like, OK, I got it. He was going to prison.

So I had all this information. All this knowledge. All this knowledge. You like what I'm about to do with it now. This is Tamela Mann. And this is David Mann. And you're watching Roland Martin. I'm Phil 2. I'm Phil 2. The FBI has released new video footage of the suspect in the unsolved Washington, D.C. pipe

bomb case from January 5th, 2021. The footage shows the individual who allegedly planted bombs outside the Democratic and Republican Party headquarters the night before the Capitol riot. You can see the suspect wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt, sitting on a park bench near the DNC headquarters, removing a pipe bomb from a backpack and placing it near the building. The FBI estimates the suspect is approximately five feet, seven inches tall. The agency reiterated its offer of up to $500,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the attempted attack. You know, Matt, we're looking at this. We can certainly draw the connection that this perhaps was something to take away the police, the authorities needed on the capital riot attacks.

Yeah, and it's very disconcerting because it shows a level of concerted effort, you know, that's really concerning, particularly in this age where we see just more and more political violence. So I'm hoping that that reward is met and that there's some credible information that's provided so the FBI can run that lead down and hold somebody accountable for that, because that's just, it's abhorrent and it's obviously not something that we can abide in our society. And I know this is an exceedingly serious part of the segment, but the good sister Kelly said, we should take Rudy Giuliani's thoughts and it took me out of here. And I just had to tell you that, Candace. That is hilarious. Thank you, Kelly. Listen, Michael, this is something that when we look at,

we can connect the dots in terms of taking resources from one area, lay this bomb, hope that that distracts, which it ultimately did not, from what was going on with the riots in order to just create mass confusion, which we know that this particular administration that's going to become in the office, they love confusion. Yeah, well, it's going to be confusion and Republicans can't govern. Okay. They can't govern. There were three government shutdowns in the first two years of the previous Trump administration. We saw here with the 118th Congress in 2023, we saw they only got 27 bills passed, the least number of bills since the Great Depression. We saw that they're on their fourth continuing resolution. They have not been able to pass the budget, which they are

constitutionally mandated to do. In regards to the person who laid the pipe bomb, I'm not sure. I know this is the largest investigation that the Department of Justice has endeavored upon dealing with January 6th and over a thousand people arrested, things of this nature. But somebody knows who these people are. Somebody knows who this person is. And they, we don't know. The other thing is, we don't know if this person is still alive. But somebody knows who they are.

And it could be somebody in elected office also. Okay. Who knows who this person is? So hopefully they find them. But I wonder if Donald Trump is going to give this person a pardon as well. He said he'd give the January 6th domestic terrorist insurrectionist

presidential pardons. And I wonder if he's going to give this person a pardon also. Yeah, you know, Kelly, I think one interesting thing is that certainly there's this $500,000 reward, but surprise that whoever knows who this person is, I doubt this was a, you know, a lone wolf ceremony considering what happened on the 6th. Wondering why nobody's bringing this up in any type of plea bargain deal. Maybe that person hasn't been brought up on charges. But like Michael said,

someone certainly knows who this person is. I mean, for sure. And it's been four years. So in the event that they didn't know who he was in 21, certainly by 25, they know or have an inkling as to who this person is. My, I don't want to say prediction, but what I can absolutely see happening is Trump, instead of pardoning them, giving everybody their medals of freedom, and the only way we're going to root out whoever was there for the pipe bombing incident, provided that it's related to January 6, is that if Trump is giving out medals of freedom to those who were involved, I feel like that's the only way we're going to figure out who this person is, because they'll reveal themselves. All right. We're going to bring that subject to a close

as we move on to the ceremonies for President Jimmy Carter. They're going to begin on Saturday, January 4th, in his hometown. A motorcade escorting Carter's body will travel through Plains, Georgia before heading to Atlanta, where he will lie and repose at Carter Presidential Center until Monday. On Tuesday, his body will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol, where he will remain until Thursday's funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral. After the service, Carter will return to Georgia for a private family service and internment. President Joe Biden has declared January 9th a National Day of Mourning, ordering the closure of all federal executive departments and agencies in respect for carter who passed away on december 29th at the age of

one all right folks we're going to be back right after a break more with headlining news stay with us curl prep natural hair solutionslPrep.com. I'm in shock. For curls, locks, braids, twists, and even those wigs and extensions. Women, men, and children are loving this line. Look at this video and you be the judge. People line up to see this product in action at hair shows,

and when they take a seat and try it, they don't believe it's their hair. Buy the products at CurlPrep.com. It works on all hair types. Use code ROLAND, that's R-O-L-A-N-D, lower case letters, to get a 15% discount. Parents, remove the ouch. You will love this system because you can comb the product through your child's hair with your fingers. It's all at CurlPrep.com. Use code ROLAND, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. What's up, y'all?

Look, Fanbase is more than a platform. It's a movement to empower creators, offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in Black-owned tech, infrastructure, and help shape the future of social media. Investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The Black community must not only consume tech, we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital directly to rule their community, rule the jobs at. Now streaming on the Black Star Network. I was challenged by my uncle early on, before I even had a career. Like, I was maybe eight years old, and my uncle said, what do you want to do?

And I told him I wanted to be a rapper. And he said, okay, well, I don't know anything about the music business, so what you should do is learn everything there is to know about the music business, and I'll make sure that you have the resources to push you through and so I went and bought books all you need to know about the music business hit me and I just went about a bunch of books just start reading as a 10 year old and so I learned you know all things licensing mechanical rights I learned about publishing learned about how

composition is broke up into two pieces the the writer's portion and the producer's portion. So by the time I actually learned that Cain Bann, I was ready to like, okay, I got it. He was going to prison. So I had all this information. All this knowledge. All this knowledge. You like, well, what am I gonna do with it now? This is Tamela Mann.

And this is David Mann. And you're watching Roland Martin. I'm filter. I'm filter. All right, good people. The ACLU of Idaho has filed an emergency motion arguing that the state's new public defense system, recently shifted from county to state control, is failing and ripe with violations. The motion requests the release of individuals who have been unable to contact their assigned attorney for at least seven days or have gone unrepresented

during major court hearings. The ACLU claims the state has underfunded the new system, leaving attorneys inadequately compensated. The plaintiffs also asked the court to appoint a monitor to oversee critical metrics, including caseloads, funding, staffing, and other factors necessary for effective public defense. Kelly, these are some of the issues that we hear in public defender's offices across the country that they're already being understaffed, underpaid. Now, this particular state, Idaho, has moved to a state system where they have had so many people who have quit their jobs, mostly federal, on the federal level, because they say that their money was cut even more. Yeah, I mean, it's really, really sad, right?

This justice system is supposed to be fair on both sides of the aisle, certainly with defense. In fact, there are protections for defendants for the very reason of them being, you know, innocent until proven guilty, all of those things. I am not a practicing attorney. I'm sure Matt has a lot more to say on this matter. 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. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott.

And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-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 Corps vet, MMA fighter, Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things.

Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves.

A wrap-up way, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's that occasion. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. But I find it interesting that the ACLU of Idaho is doing this, which tells me, like, you know, as somebody who has grown up and has lived her entire life in more metropolitan areas, I can only imagine how bad it is in Boise, Idaho, if nothing's being happened, you know, nothing happening in other jurisdictions that have more people, more crime, etc.

Yeah, you know, et cetera. Yeah. Matt, people who are mostly covering federal cases, that's where we have the largest people who have basically quit in Idaho to say, I can't do this anymore. We've moved to this state system. You've underfunded it. I'm making less money. I'm out. That really dismantles the system. Yeah, it does. And I will admit I'm a little confused about how the federal part of this dovetails because generally they have federal public defender's offices. But Kelly kind of spoke to something. I mean, I've done a lot of criminal defense appointed work. And where I live, the county actually reimburses private attorneys to take on private cases. And it works here. But what I see is kind of the political phenomenon

and the rhetoric is the idea that one, attorneys get paid too much. Two, we shouldn't be paying for people's defense. And three, if you have the wrong county in terms of politics, they will do everything they can to thwart people getting adequate representation. And as we talk about a lot on this show, you don't need to support criminals to support the idea that people should get a vigorous defense. This is a public issue of a major proportion because if you don't have people showing up to represent people, then they're not getting their sixth amendment rights met under Gideon and under the other precedent that gives you the right to a lawyer. So I'm glad the ACLU is stepping up here, but I think that this is generally what I've seen, a local issue, and I think that's why they're fighting it. I bet you the state of Idaho has

decided to underfund it by amalgamating it all into this one office rather than having individual offices that are properly funding this. But this is a major issue because most people who get accused of a crime don't generally have a disposable income to hire an attorney. So because the Supreme Court has given them an attorney, the right to an attorney, they absolutely should have the right to have someone stand next to them, irrespective of how you feel about the criminal justice system. Some of my best work has been appointed work. I fight just as hard for somebody that I'm appointed to as somebody who retains me. So this is a major issue and I'm glad the ACLU is addressing it. But I think Kelly really alluded to something. This is Idaho. We know

how Idaho is politically. So it would not surprise me if this was something that was purposely done to undermine the criminal justice system and undermine criminally accused people who are deserving of adequate and vigorous and competent representation. Right. And as you said, Gideon versus Raywright gave us and those people who are incarcerated and could potentially be incarcerated the right to an attorney, the right to a fair and speed trial, which is another point the ACLU made in this particular case, Michael, and that is these people are waiting what seems to be a long time when you're really going through it. Seven days might not seem that long, but if you're out of contact with your attorney and you know that you're innocent or guilty, you just want somebody who will defend your property. Seven days is a long time to be out of contact with someone who should be in contact with you. Absolutely. And that opens it up to this possibly, possibly in some instances happening on purpose as well.

So I think, you know, this is another example of the good work the American Civil Liberties Union does, the ACLU. And this is also, you know, understanding law and understanding the US Constitution. And I know Idaho probably does not have, I don't think they have a large population of African-Americans, but I would like to know what percentage of the, I would like to know the race of the prison of the people who are in jails. I'd like to know the percentage that's impacted the most, what race they are. And it'll probably be African-Americans, even though we probably have a very low percentage population in the state of Idaho. So once again, and I'd be interested to see what other states fall in line with this, also have the Sixth Amendment violation as well. What other states are also violators of this also? Yeah, yeah. I was thinking about that too. And will this be

precedent to find some type of a state formed office and financially kind of redistribute everything that is going on there? All right. Well, more to come on that story. We'll be following it. We're going to be back right after a short break with our last segment here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. So stay with us. Now streaming on the Blackstar Network. I was challenged by my uncle early on before I even had a career. Like I was maybe eight years old and my uncle said, what do you want to do? And I told him I wanted to be a rapper. He said, OK, well, I don't know anything about the music business. So what you should do is learn everything there is to know about the music business,

and I'll make sure that you have the resources to push you through. And so I went and bought books. All you need to know about the music business hit me, and I just went and bought a bunch of books to start reading as a 10-year-old, just reading, reading. And so I learned, you know, all things licensing, mechanical rights. I learned all things licensing, mechanical rights. I learned about publishing, learned about how composition is broke up into two pieces, the writer's portion and the producer's portion.

But by the time I actually learned I can't bend, I was ready to like, okay, I got it. He was going to prison. So I had all this information. All this knowledge. All this knowledge. You like, well, what am I gonna do with it now? information all this knowledge all this knowledge what's up y'all look fan base is more than a platform it's a movement to empower creators offering a unique opportunity for everyday

people to invest in black owned tech infrastructure and help shape the future of social media. Investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The Black community must not only consume tech, we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital directly to rule their community through the jobs ad. Curl prep, natural hair solutions at CurlPrep.com. I'm in shock. For curls, locks, braids, twists, and even those wigs and extensions. Women, men, and children are loving this line.

Look at this video and you be the judge. People line up to see this product in action at hair shows and when they take a seat and try it, they don't believe it's their hair. Buy the products at CurlPrep.com. It works on all hair types. Use code ROLAND, that's R-O-L-A-N-D, lowercase letters, to get a 15% discount. Parents, remove the ouch. You will love this system because you can comb the

product through your child's hair with your fingers it's all at curl prep calm use code Roland lowercase letters to get a 15% discount I'm Russell L honorary lieutenant general United States Army, and you're watching Roland Martin on Filth. More than one million women in the United States experience menopause each year. And while many are familiar with the term, they may not fully understand its impact. Donna Taylor and her sister Deborah addressed the challenges of menopause with their stylish bamboo sleepwear brand, Sleep Sassy. The company offers night gowns, pajama short sets, and pajama pants sets, all paired with matching satin line bonnets designed to provide comfort, attractive sleepwear, and protection for black hair. Donna Taylor, the CEO of Sleep Sassy, joins us from Suffolk, Virginia. So good to see you, Donna.

Good evening and thank you for having us. Yes, and look what you are wearing. Listen, I know that there are, yes, of course, many people go through menopause, but not everybody decides to create a full line. What was it about menopause and how it affected you and your loved ones that said, you know what, I have to do something about this? Yeah. Well, actually, when we started, we weren't quite thinking about menopause. It was more so from a style perspective, so to speak. You know, my sister insulted me one day when we were working on some things and said, you know, I looked a hot mess because I had on a nightgown that had a hole in it and, you know, different bonnet that just, you know, didn't match. So when we initially started, it was really more so just to look at having a way to be coordinated instead of, you know, putting on pajamas and then throwing on any type of bonnet. But through the process, we realized because we are, you know, going through menopause or, you know, women of a certain age,

that the fabric had to be right. You know, I sweat during the day. And of course, you know, with the night sweats at night. So we realized that the fabric, as well as the bonnet had to be breathable and be able to have that moisture wicking effect so that, you know, when you're sleeping, one, you don't wake up soaked. You can get a better night's sleep. Yeah. Yeah. You know, to take it from an idea into actual production, did you have mentors along the way? Was it kind of touch and go and you just learned along the way? How did you actually come to have an actual tangible product? Well, we actually started in 2018 and it was, you know, learning on our own. We actually both were working full-time jobs.

So we started this part-time. And we did, we had to learn a lot. Although we both learned to sew when we were, you know, younger. It was a learning process of figuring out, you know, tech packs and learning the terminology in general. And like I said, just being able to source different things. So it was definitely a challenge, but also fun. And again, you know, something that we felt was definitely needed. Yeah, what is the price range of what you offer? Because I would imagine that you are using a certain type of material, might perhaps be a little more expensive

because it has to breathe, right? And that's really what women look for. Talk to me about how you set your prices and what exactly your product does. Okay, so our prices range from about 70 to 90. And again, ours includes the bonnet. So when we look at other brands that sell the type of sleepwear that we have, which is made from bamboo, bamboo from viscose, That is a more expensive product because of what it does. Like I said, you know, the fabric itself, one, we made sure that our sizing is U.S. sizing.

So we have, you know, sizes from small to 3X. And again, the fabric is not only breathable, but it's stretchy and it's comfortable because let's face it, you know, we like to lounge too, you know, not just sleeping. But, you know, nowadays when you get home from work, you know, you just kind of want to get undressed, but also still be presentable. You know, I just think sometimes, you know, you think about going to the door, like, who's that ringing my bell? But, you know, to be able to also have a nice coordinated look is important as well. What business advice do you have people who have an idea and they want to get where you are? What does it take? What does it take? It really takes having that vision and passion and really just being willing to fail, being have, you know, we both have reached out to certain mentors because there's a lot to running a business, especially marketing, you know, getting the word out, working with manufacturers. Right now we have a wonderful manufacturer, but, you know, there's still some challenges. So my best advice is don't give up. Really look

at taking those steps, even if they have to be baby steps. Yeah. Before I go to my panel, I have one more question, and that is, did you take advantage of anybody who might have invested in you or small business loans or grants, or did you do it all organically with what you and your sister had? At this point, we've done everything organically. We haven't gotten any loans or taken any loans. And at this point, we're always looking for opportunity. So I was really happy when you reached out to us. So as we continue to grow, we probably will at some point. And right now we're also in the process of adding some other items to our line, you know, maybe something for the, you know, Gen Z, Gen X, just say, you know, the younger generation that may not be experiencing menopause, but they want, you know, that match.

And everything that we have, we include a satin line bonnet with it. Yes. Oh, women and men, I'm sure. Listen, we love it. Well, we've actually had a few men ask us if we were going to come out with a line for them. So, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I know that door is wide open. Kelly, questions for Donna. Not so much of a question, but I did want to just point out that I appreciate that for the most part, what I've seen on your website is that your selections are all size inclusive because big people go through

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

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 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. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you gotta pray for yourself

as well as for everybody else but never forget yourself self-love made me a better dad because i realized my worth never stop being a dad that's dedication find out more at fatherhood.gov brought to you by the u.s department of health and human services and the ad council we're experiencing menopause at at you know at this very moment. I can see myself wearing some of these things, especially in the summer when things get hot or those in between weather changes

where you can't turn on your AC just yet. You know what I'm saying? So I guess my question is like, what else is in the pipeline for you as far as either expanding your inventory? How are you, like, who's designing these things? What's the inspiration behind the designs? And what's next as far as designs are concerned? Well, we actually design all the fabric patterns for everything we do. And most of it's done by my sister. She's become very creative. As a matter of fact, the pattern we have that I have on now, you know,

pink and green, and I'm not sure if you can tell that it's pearls. Oh, okay. We know what that means. We know what that means. Yes, pink and green and pearls. But all of our fabrics are designed by us, although we have them made by a manufacturer. And we did that again because we wanted to be different as far as, you know, being able to be colorful, have different designs again and still still include that bonnet. Yeah. I want to open this up to our gentlemen. All right, Matt or Michael, the floor is yours. Well, I am most certainly not qualified to ask any questions about menopause, so I won't, but I will. I will first commend you and wish you continued prosperity. But I do have a question.

I've seen a lot of high-end home products are made out of bamboo. Would you explain why bamboo is a good fabric for your materials and why you settled on bamboo? Because I see that in high-end sheets and that kind of thing, and I'd like to know why that is. Exactly. Well, most of it's because of its cooling properties or temperature regulating. So, you know, if you're hot in the summer, it helps you, you know, stay cool, but it also keeps you warm. So it really helps regulate the body temperature, as well as you'll see a lot of children's clothes in bamboo because it's better on the skin. You know, if you have someone that has sensitive skin, which I sometimes do as well, bamboo is a sustainable type of fabric. And again, we have to say, you know, bamboo from Bcose. And the main thing is, again, the cooling and the ability for it to actually

pull that moisture away from your body. All right, Michael, you're going to close us out this evening. All right, Donna, thanks for coming on. Happy New Year. It's clear I am not part of your target market. You could be affected, Michael. Now, let's be real. Yes, we have a lot of men that order as well. We have a lot of men that will shop for their significant other. Yeah, what I was going to ask is what are some of the responses that you give from men when their women, their significant other wears these type of pajamas and don't

have the night sweats. Because I could imagine that the night sweats could cause a problem when they're cuddling in bed, things like this. And these type of pajamas help prevent that. So do you get testimonials from men? What type of responses have you received from men? Well, most of the men that I've spoken with just say they're so glad to see a coordinated look, you know, because, you know, again, say that again. The aesthetics they're worried about. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what most men look at because now, you know, they don't see their their significant other walking around with, you know, maybe a scarf or something that doesn't. Yeah, because men are visual. Ladies, let me help you with your relationship. OK, men are visual. OK. And I'm telling you, it makes a difference when you color coordinated and you're not walking around with torn pajamas, things like that. It does make a difference. You know, the, the, the, the, um,

it's an old saying that the woman is the thermostat in the bedroom and the man is the thermometer. The thermometer gives, uh, shows you the temperature, but the thermostat controls the temperature. Yeah. That makes a difference. We didn't even know we were going here, Donna. We didn't even know, Donna. But he's right. And again, I have two brothers and they also gave us their comments. I've had actually a few guys that have called because they wanted to figure out sizing for their, you know, wife or significant other. And they were excited. You know, the men were actually excited to be able to have something, again, to, you know, give to them that they knew would benefit them as well. Because let's face it, you know, when you're sleeping, you know, most women that are going through menopause,

if they're hot, they don't want you to touch them. They don't want you to be too close because they don't want any extra heat. Yeah, absolutely. Listen, Donna Taylor, CEO of Sleep Sassy, I want to thank you so much for being with us. I also want to add, your caps have probably saved a hairstylist, too, because we know when that hair gets wet in the middle of the night That could be a problem Again, that's why we made sure it was breathable Because I'm not sure if you could tell

But my hair is very long So I had to make sure It breathes It can save the good old hair style Thank you so much for being with us today Thank you, we appreciate it I also want to thank our guests. Listen, I'm going to give Matt the last, you've got 10 seconds, sir. What do you have for me? I just want to say happy anniversary to my

parents who celebrate 44 years of marriage today. You are extraordinary examples and I'm so blessed to be from you. So happy anniversary. You can take an all 10 that was worth it. It was like 44 years. All right. Matt, Kelly, Michael, thank you so much for being with us today. And thank you everyone for watching. I believe that Roland will be back, um, off fresh from his vacation. So he will see you Monday until then. Everybody have a good weekend. Good night. Folks.

Black star network. A real revolutionary right now. Support this man. Black media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of black America. 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 scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? សូវាប់ពីបានប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្� Thank you. ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത� Thank you. ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത� Thank you. ༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱༱� My time Thank you. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves.

Arapahoe, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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