#RolandMartinUnfiltered - TSU Board Dismantling, Call to Colonized Africa, VP Harris Defends Biden,NFL Denying Dementia Claims

Episode Date: February 10, 2024

2.9.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: TSU Board Dismantling, Call to Colonized Africa, VP Harris Defends Biden,NFL Denying Dementia Claims Tennessee lawmakers want to dismantle Tennesse State University's Board of Trustees. One of the two opposing the measure will join us tonight to explain why White Republicans are going so hard after TSU.  Blackwater founder Erik Prince says the countries immigrants are fleeing from lack the proper governance and should be colonized. Yeah, he said countries should be colonized to bring law and order. Vice President Kamala Harris defends President Joe Biden and says the Department of Justice Special Counsel's report is "politically motivated." Just weeks after Louisiana lawmakers agreed on new Congressional districts, a federal judge ruled that their state districts are unconstitutional and must be redrawn. Big Pharma tried to explain why U.S. drug prices are significantly higher than those of countries on Capitol Hill. And I have some things to say about how pharmaceutical companies are not spending ad dollars with black media companies. The Washington Post did an investigation into the NFL's concussion settlement and found they are still denying players' dementia claims. We'll talk to former NFL player Ricky Ray and Roxanne Gordon, whose husband, Amon C. Gordon,  was diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury in 2012 after playing eight seasons in the NFL. He's still fighting to qualify for the settlement.  Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Never lick your thumb to clean their face. And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. Never let them stay up too late. And never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when have one aisle six. And aisle three. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen. One in four hot car

deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens. Before you leave the car, always stop. Look. Lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you everought to you by NHTSA 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, I get right back there and it's bad. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two 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 star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today is Friday, February 9th, 2024. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Tennessee lawmakers, they want to dismantle the Board of Trustees at Tennessee State.

Two Democrats oppose the measure out of committee will talk to one of them about why white Republicans are doing all they can to frankly destroy Tennessee State Blackwater founder Eric Prince says the country's immigrants are fleeing. Well, first of all, he says that African immigrants are

fleeing from a lack of proper governance and should be colonized. Yes, this white man said African countries should be colonized to bring law and order. Vice President Kamala Harris issues a stern defense of President Joe Biden and says the Department of Justice's special counsel's report is politically motivated. Weeks after Louisiana lawmakers agreed on a new congressional maps, a federal judge ruled that their state maps are also unconstitutional and must be redrawn.

And Big Pharma tried to explain why US drug prices are significantly higher than those of countries around the world. Well, Senators on Capitol Hill, Democrats weren't having any of that. I also, though, I'm going to break down how these pharmaceutical companies are spending huge amounts of money on advertising, yet black-owned media is getting very little of those dollars. And The Washington Post did an investigation to the NFL's concussion settlement and found they are still denying players' dementia claims. We'll talk to former NFL player Ricky Ray and Roxanne Gordon,

whose husband, Eamon Gordon, was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury more than a decade ago. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstone Network. Let's go. He's got whatever the piss he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling.

Best believe he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's Rolling Martin Rolling with rolling now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real

The best you know he's rolling Martel Martel The Tennessee Senate Government Operations Committee wants to remove and replace all of the Board of Trustees at Tennessee State University. The vote fell along party lines with all of the Republicans on the committee voting in favor of vacating and reconstituting the board and the two Democrats were opposing. Now, one of those who voted against the measure joins us now, Tennessee State Representative Senator Charlene Oliver joins us from Nashville. Senator Oliver, glad to have you here. So we talked about this on yesterday, and here's what is strange to me, and I saw a news conference where you and others were talking. So here they are trying, here they are, they ordered, they controlled the report, they ordered an audit.

How do you get rid of the people before the audit comes back so you know what the audit says? That's the million-dollar question, Roland. That's something that I urge my colleagues on the committee to do, to delay the vote until the forensic audit comes back. But what I suspect is they may not find anything in the audit that points to any malfeasance or nefarious activities on behalf of TSU. Right. I mean, I just, I'm like, I'm trying to understand, again, I'm looking at this here and it's not, first of all, the TSU has had an independent board for what, just seven years? Right. Under the FOCUS Act, it gave TSU the authority to have its own independent governing board outside of the Tennessee Board of Regents.

So, you know, that is the action of the legislature. But what we're also seeing is the inaction of the legislature and to hold up its end of the bargain. We're here because of historical underfunding. My Republican colleagues only want to see one side of the coin, and that's the, quote, mismanagement of funds and the disarray of operations that Tennessee State University finds itself under, but they don't want to own up to the fact that we, as the legislature,

have not done our part to fully fund Tennessee State University to the equitable level of our other land-grant institution in this state, which is a predominantly white institution. What I don't understand is a report was done that showed that they're owed $500 million. How the hell can you complain about dormitories and other problems when you haven't given enough money? Correct, correct. And the $544 million is just one bucket of money.

We also have other state appropriations that amounts to over $2.1 billion, dating back 30 years, that the federal government said we haven't given them. I've looked in the budget books in the law library. TSU is not named in the budget, going back years, in the 50s. So, yes, we are—this is what we're dealing with. And we know that they're trying to move the goalposts, because they have this money hanging out here, and they're trying to find the goalposts because they have this money hanging out here.

And they're trying to find every reason, in addition to our comptroller, a reason not to hand over the money that is owed. It just boggles the mind. And, you know, what do you think is really at play here? Well, you got to, again, understand the larger context. We are in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville is booming. It's a growing city. And there is commerce here.

Nashville is the economic engine of the state. We bring in the most revenue. And so TSU positionally sits in a place in North Nashville that connects our larger suburban area to our downtown area. And so that area of town has a lot of developing areas that developers have their eyes on. And as a land-grant institution, we have land over there. Again, to have people on that board that is going to be cronies for the legislature and the governor is the last frontier for them to try to have a land-grant and a power-gr grab with the money. I remember we showed one of the hearings where you had a committee member

that was complaining about the explosion of growth in Tennessee State, demanding, you know, why are these students going here and not the other schools? It seemed that they are jealous of the fact that these black students want to go to Tennessee State and not these other state schools in Tennessee. Right. When you take into consideration that extremist Republicans are coming after elite institutions because of affirmative action, where do you think those students are going to want to go? They're going to want to come back home to their HBC institutions. And so they can have our flagship HBCU recruiting more people than University of Tennessee and other institutions in the state. So yes, that's exactly right of what they don't want to happen.

My panel, Michael Inhotep, host of the African History Network show, our Detroit Matt Manning, civil rights attorney out of Corpus Christi, Kelly Bethea, communications strategist out of D.C. Questions for you, Kelly, you first. Sure. So Maryland had a similar issue regarding HBCU discrepancies and funds versus the PWIs in the state. When it comes to Tennessee State being a flagship school, can you expound upon exactly how much of a discrepancy there is between TSU and the other PWIs in the state? Yes. So, currently, we are basing our funding off of enrollment. And so, UT gets about $15,000 per student. TSU gets about $8,000 per student. So there is a huge discrepancy when you think about enrollment.

UT is a significantly larger institution. So by default, they're going to get more money. But because of the 1890 Morrell Act, we are supposed to get a one-to-one match. So we are historically being—there's a disparity year over year, and that number continues to grow. MICHAEL MORELLO- Michael? MICHAEL MORELLO- All right. Thanks for coming on and sharing this with us.

I know in February of this year, I think the state of Tennessee allocated $2 million for another in-depth audit of TSU. How would you have liked better those funds to be allocated? And also, another quick question I had is, what has been the response from alumni of TSU to this attack? Yeah. You know, the $2 million forensic audit is just another hurdle that's been put in place to try to find discrepancies in the administration and the board. Of course, we could. 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. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time,

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

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

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

Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug 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. You say you'd never give in to a meltdown. Never let kids toys take over the house. And never fill your feed with kid photos. You'd never plan your life around their schedule. Never lick your thumb to clean their face. And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best.

You'd say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. Never let them stay up too late. And never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out.

Never happens before you leave the car. Always stop. Look, lock brought to you by NHTSA and the ad council. Could have used $2 million to go straight into appropriations for TSU. We also have the $544 million that's still sitting out there. Of that money, a little over $250 million has been appropriated two years ago. So we're still waiting on the other half. So yes, that $2 million could have been coupled in with the other half instead of trying to spend our wills looking for problems.

You know, the alumni, the students, faculty are all united in the sense of we see this for what it is. Our legislature has a pattern of attacking black leadership in this state. You saw it several months ago with the Tennessee Three and the two Justins getting expelled. So this is not new. And so we see this for what it is. And they're holding the line to say, we have to fight back on this. We can't continue to attack us on things that you're not treating the other institutions

fairly. They're treating us unfairly in comparison to the predominantly white institutions in the state. So, yeah, the alumni want to see the funding come along with, you know, some structure with the university. All right. Thanks, State Senator. Matt. Thank you. Senator, my question is kind of a logical extension of Michael's. And the question is, I know in 2017, six of the schools were broken off into their own

individual local boards, so like TSU has its board. What has been the level of scrutiny and audit on those other five schools? Because I'm interested in seeing how they're correlating TSU's alleged issues with the other schools that are now, you know, a part of their own independent governance. What's that interplay and level of scrutiny been for those other schools? I can't speak to that wholeheartedly, but I can tell you that the level of scrutiny is not balanced. You know, these issues are not new. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, also has housing issues currently right now. They've had housing issues for as long as we have, but they are not, you know, been put under the microscope, if you will, to the level that Tennessee State University has.

UT Southern has also had audits that have come back with multiple findings. So again, we're asking the question of why is Tennessee State University being put under such scrutiny when you're not holding the other universities to the same level that we are. All right. So when does the vote take place? Obviously, this is Senate. It has to be voted upon by the full Senate. Has the House taken any action?

So last session, we did take, the House did take action. We extended the board for two years on the House side, but neither, none of these bills have made it to the floor. So what we're trying to do and what I'm trying to do is negotiate with our governor and the senators that are behind this action to at least try to delay the vote and let's see about coming to a compromise to at least keep the institutional knowledge of the Board of Trustees and keep some board members on currently to stay on through the presidential search. So this is not over. This is what I've been telling the students. We're not out of the woods.

There's a lot of negotiating to be had between now and April. Last question for you. Where are the black civil rights groups? Who is out there standing with you? Is the state NAACP? Is the Urban League? I mean, are you seeing now, sort of an isolated Tennessee State University problem. But I have been talking with leadership to talk about how we can amplify this, not only just to the Nashville community, but also nationally, because we have alumni across the country. There is a Save TSU coalition that has been educating the local community. We brought Attorney Ben Crump here to talk about the legal ramifications and to get folks riled up. We've held rallies.

So there has been some community support. NAACP has hosted events. The Equity Alliance, my organization, has been behind this. So there is community support, but absolutely, we need to be getting louder on this. All right. And Senator Oliver, I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Keep up the fight. Thank you. Folks, got to go to a break. We'll be back on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Got a lot more stuff we want to talk about, including the, this fool Eric Prince, he literally, literally, y'all, is suggesting that it is time to recolonize Africa. Wait until I play for you what he had to say.

Be sure to support us in what we do, folks. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your dollars make it possible for us to do all the work that we do to join the Bring the Funk fan club. So you're checking money, order the PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign RM Unfiltered, PayPal RMartin Unfiltered, Venmo is RM Unfiltered, Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Be sure to download the Blackstone Network app, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV,

Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. We'll be right back. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. There's a lot of talk about the inevitability of another civil war in this country. But on our next show, we'll talk to a noted author and scholar who says we're actually in the middle of one right now. In fact, Steve Phillips says the first one that started back in 1861, well, it never ended. People carrying the Confederate flag, wearing sweatshirts saying MAGA Civil War, January 6th, 2021, stormed U.S. Capitol, hunted down the country's elected officials, built the

gallows for the vice president of the United States, and to block the peaceful transfer of power within this country. On the next Black Table, here on the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn minds there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the u.s capital we're about to see the rise of what i call white minority resistance we have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting.

I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at every university calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people.

The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white people. Thank you. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from L.A., and this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together, so let's talk about it

and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's the culture. Weekdays at 3, only on the Black Star Network. Hello, we're the Critter Fixers. I'm Dr. Bernard Hodges. And I'm Dr. Terrence Ferguson. And you're tuning in to... Roland Martin Unfiltered. Now, what we know about the history, the history of white folks abusing the continent of Africa.

We know about the Berlin Conference where literally they got together and split up Africa and said, well, who's going to take different parts? We know about King Leopold killing more, killing more people. Let me be very clear, killing more people in the Congo than Hitler killed Jews in Europe. We can go on and on and on how the French, how the British, how the United States, all of these countries raped and pillaged the continent of Africa. Now we have the caucasity of Eric Prince, the founder of Blackwater, the largest private military company in the world.

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

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

and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This 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. You say you'd never give in to a meltdown. Never let kids toys take over the house. And never fill your feed with kid photos. You'd never plan your life around their schedule. Never lick your thumb to clean their face.

And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. Never let them stay up too late. And never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there no it can happen one in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out never happens before you leave the car always stop look lock brought to you by nizza and the ad council recent Patient interview. All this talk of illegal migration in Europe, in the United States, it ultimately comes down to a contest of what is governance.

Who is governed? Which countries are governed well? And if so many of these countries around the world are incapable of governing themselves, then it's time for us to just put the imperial hat back on to say, we're going to govern those countries if you're incapable of governing themselves, then it's time for us to just put the imperial hat back on to say, we're going to govern those countries if you're incapable of governing yourselves, because enough is enough. We're done being invaded. Because our own national security risk is at stake. Exactly. You can say that about pretty much all of Africa. They're incapable of governing themselves and benefiting their citizens because the governments there are all about

looting and pillaging and lining their pockets and going shopping in Paris instead of actually making their country a better land. People on the left are going to watch this. They're going to say, wait a minute, Eric Prince is talking about being a colonialist again. Absolutely. Yes. Enough.

Because if you go to these countries and you see how they suffer under absolutely corrupt, made up governments that are just criminal syndicates, the people of Africa, the people of Latin America, a lot of them deserve better. Now, some countries are really getting it together. Look at what El Salvador did. Bukele, murder capital of Latin America. He said, no more. Now, El Salvador is safer than Prince William County.

And he took all the- Just south of Washington, D.C. He put all the MS-13 guys in prison. In prison. Ecuador, about to do the same thing. New president there. The previous presidential candidate had been assassinated. But new guy gets elected.

He announces he's contracted with the same building contractor that they built the prisons in El Salvador, going to build them in Ecuador. The prisoners there, the cartels revolt and try to take over the Capitol in Ecuador a couple of weeks ago. So it's not all bad. There's some great governance.

I like at Argentina, God bless Mule. And yes. So, but the countries that cannot fix themselves, particularly in Africa, the worst, Great governance. Argentina. I like Argentina. God bless Mule. Yes. So, but the countries that cannot fix themselves, particularly in Africa, the worst, it's time to think about other governance options because they are clearly not capable of self-government. Ah, the countries in Africa that cannot fix themselves. See, that's quite interesting that you would hear Eric Prince say those things because and Y'all do know that his sister is Betsy DeVos who served as the Education Secretary

under Donald Trump This shows that she's an idiot and her brother's an idiot because they don't know anything about American history. In fact, I'm gonna use one particular country y'all heard me just mention. The Congo. There's a book, great conversation, go to the Black Table discussion with Dr. Greg Carr on the Black Star Network, and he had a phenomenal conversation with Stuart Reid. Stuart Reid is the author of this book. This book is called The Lumumba Plot, The Secret History of a CIA and a Cold War Assassination. Stuart Reid details in this book that Lumumba came to the United States during one of his

visits after he became prime minister. And in a particular meeting, President Dwight Eisenhower gave the order to assassinate Lumumba, to take him out. It is documented by some that this was the first time in American history where a president gave a direct order to take out a foreign leader. I don't believe that's the case though. So here they are. They get their independence from Belgium. Two months in, the CIA and others worked to kill Lumumba. Here you murder, you align with his opponents, you kill him, the country goes into chaos, leads to Mobutu becoming a dictator. Let me say it again. we helped put a dictator in office and that country is still

trying to gain its footing since it got its independence what would the Congo look like today had the United States not aligned with others to take out Patrice Lumumba in the Congo. Hmm. Let's go on to some other countries. Folks in the control room, pull up a book called Overthrow. Folks, the author is Stephen Kinzer. And I was about to pull up myself. Stephen Kinzer, longtime New York Times writer.

He wrote a particular book that all of you need to read. And it's called Overthrow. The book details. It details the 13 examples where the United States directly overthrew other governments. Oh, y'all don't hear me. Y'all don't hear me. 13 different times the United States actually overthrew other governments. Huh?

Yeah. What I'm saying is absolutely correct. So here we are talking. Here's Eric Prince talking about these other countries and how they now have all of these problems. And we must take these countries over in order to get them under control because these people can't govern themselves. Yet we, the United States, play a role in making this happen. This is the book right here, Overthrow, America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq.

We can detail, we can detail what took place in Libya. We can talk about what happened in Guatemala. Are y'all aware, Kinzer writes it in his book, that the Panama Canal originally was not supposed to go through Panama. That was supposed to go through another country. But the United States told that country, oh, in order for you to finance the canal, you have got to use American banks. The country said, no, we're good. We got a better deal with European banks. So the United States, aligned with the PR company, created this entire story that was alive, that there was a particular volcano in this country that hadn't erupted in centuries, somehow could erupt, and that will destroy the canal.

That's how it was built in a canal. In fact, let me just go ahead and stay on Panama. Noriega was running drugs in Panama. Guess who payroll Noriega was running drugs in Panama guess who payroll Noriega was on the CIA come on do y'all even know where the phrase banana republic comes from the phrase banana republic comes from United States and other countries overthrowing governments because the plantation owners control the land.

They control the country. the overthrow of governments, the overthrow of governments to aid economics. Let's not talk about Chile. Let's not talk about Chile. Kinzer details that ITT, one of the first global companies called the CIA and said, hey, we'll pay for y'all to overthrow Chile. They said, hold on, hold on. Now, we ain't really down for that yet. They told ITT,T thanks but no thanks. They then came back a couple years later when Allende became the president. Allende said wait wait a minute

well why are we sitting here all these other companies controlling telecommunications, controlling all of our economics. Allende says we're going to nationalize this. America, oh, hell no. Whoa, whoa, look. You talking about you're going to nationalize all this stuff? That means these American companies not going to keep making all this money? No, hell no. Guess what we did?

Called ITT. We overthrow Chile. Got rid of Allende put in Pinochet who killed millions of folks America did that

I'm sorry why were the Iranians so pissed off at us in 1979 the story that we've all been told, the Iranians, the Ayatollah, Khomeini, the crazy rabbit Muslims,

they took over the country, want to destroy our freedoms. Mm-mm. See, you can't talk about 1979 and the hostage crisis if you skip over 1953, 26 years earlier. And now you might say, well, Roland, well, okay, well, what happened 26 years earlier? Well, there was a democratically elected prime minister. His name was Mosaday. Mosaday said, I don't understand.

How is all of this oil ours? And we only get like 5% to 7% of the money. Why is British Anglo-Iranian oil, now known as BP, how they taking all the money? So, most of they said, no. We keeping our oil to rebuild our country. The British said, oh hell no, no you not. Because y'all got to understand, the British economy had been taken. All of that Iranian oil was paying for the British economy. They said, no, you not.

Oh, no, you not. But see, the British, y'all, the British wasn't trying to go as far as overthrowing the government in Iran. The United States went, we'll do it doing we got y'all so the United States begin to distribute flyers in the country pushing out misinformation in Iran against Mosaday took out Mosh, put in a general. The general wouldn't do what America said. We then took the general out and we then

said, here's the Shah. So we put in the Shah of Iran. Put the Shah of Iran in, then we, our CIA, trained the Shah's thugs. So the Shah's thugs that were beating down on people all across the country, put them in place. Now do the math. If you were 18 years old in 1953, by the way, Iran loved America.

Iran loved America. After this, Iran hated America. So you 18 years old in 1953. You 10 years old in 1953. Well, 26 years later, you 36. You 44. So the uprising in 79 can be traced

back to 1953. Chavez, when he became president of Venezuela, oh, hell no. Don't you dare nationalize the oil. Company called Citgo. You ain't doing that. Don't you dare nationalize the oil. Company called Citgo. You ain't doing that.

Don't you do that. Y'all, we could run through a list of South American countries. I ain't even mention us wanting to take over Cuba. We can run through South American countries, Latin American countries. We can run through South American countries, Latin American countries. We can run through African countries. We can go through the Middle East, and we will show.

Y'all heard in the thing he said, America's national interests. We, the United States, see, this is the stuff they never wanted to teach us in school. One of the reasons why you have instability all over the country is because you had the United States, John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, yeah, Dulles Airport named after one of them. They were the ones, Secretary of State, running the CIA, and that was American foreign policy.

Take your pick. Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama, Venezuela, Mexico, on and on and on. So all of the countries that Eric Prince is now saying they can't run their country, it's because we, along with the French and the British, destabilized those countries, destabilized the leadership by taking the leadership out, paid for overthrows and coups in those countries, and now we're trying to say, I don't know how y'all don't know how to act.

I don't know how y'all don't know how to run your I don't know how y'all don't know how to run your own country when we the ones who actually created the very destabilization that we're talking about today. And last point. We then took the resources or we put the clamps on the countries by using economics. Any of y'all read that book, The Diary of an Economic Hitman?

How we sat here and saddled many of these countries after they got their freedom with enormous amounts of debt, took over their ports, took control of their treasury and their banks, and now saddled them with massive debt they can never repay. Country gets mad, inflation high, food prices high, gas prices high, wages low, creates

dissension in the country, and now the people in the country are constantly fighting because of the economics, and we are the ones who actually made it happen. In this very short time, I've laid out to you what American foreign policy was for most of the 20th century. And here you have this thug, Eric Prince, who wants to blame the very people for their problems when he does not want to hold accountability for the real culprits of the instability. And that has been the West.

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

Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated.

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

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

Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote unquote drug man

Benny the Butcher, Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine 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. 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. You say you'd never give in to a meltdown and never fill your feed with kid photos. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it and never let them run wild through the grocery store.

So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens. Before you leave the car, always stop, look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. You on mute?

There you go. There you go. You on. Go ahead. Okay. Yeah, you laid out an extensive history dealing with the U.S. and other foreign powers being involved in overthrowing governments of African nations, Latin American nations. Guatemala comes to mind, 1954, CIA overthrew the democratically elected president to protect

the interests of the United Fruit Company. And they were afraid that the fruit company would lose land. You talked about the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, CIA, 1961. We can look at Libya as well, when you have the U.S., France, and Great Britain, when President Barack Obama was in office. You had Amar Markadafi assassinated, and then it caused instability, even though there were problems in Libya, but it got much worse.

There were some good things in Libya as well. It got much worse after he was assassinated. You talked about the Berlin Conference, 1884, 1885. And the country that probably got the most from the Berlin Conference was Great Britain. And a lot of this history came out when Queen Elizabeth II died. And it was talked about how much land and how much wealth Great Britain got because of the Berlin Conference. So, what we're looking at is a history of colonialism, instability.

We can look at the conquering by Spain of various countries, whether it's Cuba, whether it's Puerto Rico, whether it's Argentina, et cetera, and then the continuation of this colonization. So, Eric Prince is operating in the tradition of a long line of colonizers, going back to Christopher Columbus, OK, who colonized Hispaniola, where Haiti is, who colonized Puerto Rico and Honduras and Panama, Jamaica. A lot of these places where we like to go on vacations were conquered by Spain, and African slaves were taken in, and plantations are set up,

and European nations are enriched off the back of African people and Latinos, et cetera. So, you know, there should be more done to expose what he's talking about. And I guarantee you, if Trump gets in office—we want to make sure this doesn't happen if Biden's reelected, number one. Number one. But two, if Trump gets in office, I guarantee you Trump is going to try to execute what Eric Prince is talking about. Go to my iPad here. You see, it was called, Kelly, the Scramble for Africa. Yes. And it's where the European Conference, again, the Berlin Conference, 1884 to 1885,

where they literally split up the countries. In fact, people didn't even realize Nigeria was never a country. They literally created Nigeria. I'm going to pull up in a second that particular history as well. Before I go to Kelly, I did an interview with General Colin Powell, the late General Colin Powell. And I specifically asked him the question that speaks to this very issue.

Play it. That's what's happening in the Middle East because I'm talking about leadership. We weren't alive when this country was founded and those difficult struggles. And it's bothering me that Americans don't understand that this is what happens in new democracies, where you have this struggle, this fight for leadership. And so your assessment of what's happening right now, I mean, isn't that really what's going on? They're trying to figure, they'll find their way. What's happening right now in the Middle East, and it's sort of reflective of our own democracy. It wasn't easy. You don't just pick up a book and learn how to do democracy. You have to practice it. You have to exercise it. And so when some of these autocratic leaders left in Egypt and Tunisia,

Libya and places like that, there's no democracy just ready to spring up. You got to grow it. And you grow it by people believing in their country, by people respecting the new leadership, by different sections of the country coming together and not fight over the spoils. And above all, by creating institutions of democracy, how to vote, law, corporate law so you can protect the economy. Civil rights that are protected. A free press. The end of corruption. Those are the seeds of democracy. So don't be shocked that we're having this kind of difficulty in the Arab Spring countries

because they have to learn how to be Democrats, small d. They have to learn how to govern themselves. And America has an important role to play in helping them learn. We can't do it for them. They don't want us to do it for them, but they want us to help. Just kind of let us figure it out. You'll be there to help us when we need your help. Kelly? I'm Powell. And he's absolutely right. But also going back specifically to Eric Prince's comments, which alluded to the notion, the incorrect notion that America is perfect, that if only America would step in and take over and, you know, do what we do, everything will be OK. And I come back to this question, what are you trying to mimic over there? Because we are by no means perfect. In fact, the things that we have put onto other countries to do, being democracy, being voting rights, being civil rights, being human rights,

we barely have that at home now. So how exactly are you to teach someone else when you don't even know how to apply it to your own governments here? Correctly, anyway. And I'm not saying that we are as bad as other countries that are in the baby stages of building their own democracies. But look around us right now as we are preparing for an election. Our voting rights have been gutted. We have virtually, or we are very close to virtually having no human rights as women in regards to controlling our own bodies. The list goes on. So it's not just the absurdity of the notion of America should just step in and recolonize. It's the hypocrisy that America is good enough to do that anyway.

It is simple. Eric Prince wants to plunder and control these countries the same way previous white colonists did. I don't know if that was for me. That's for you, that's for you, that's for you. Okay, thank you. I didn't hear it, but- Yeah, I said Matt, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. I first have to laud you, Roland, because I think that was a master class in history that's necessary for the context.

And all I'll add is really kind of three things. First, this is not localized just to foreign policy. This is the exact playbook that we see in the domestic side when you have disinvestment of communities, you have plundering of communities. And then once a city or municipality determines that that community is now advantageous politically, which we've seen across the country, they go in and steal the land and they vilify the people who've been living, who are living there, despite having underinvested and destabilized the community through disinvestment. So the first thing is that, I mean, there are corollaries on the domestic end, which we see primarily in our black and brown communities across this country. But the second thing is, you know, there's a lot of subterfuge here, because not only is it

paternalistic, right, and acting like these countries, one, don't have the sovereignty and the autonomy to govern themselves, but the reality is there's a race. It's a land grab. I mean, we know that the Chinese are paying or buying one fifth of sub-Saharan African exports and are investing in Africa incredibly as they are in Latin America. And I think the reality of it is some of it is a subterfuge to do exactly what you said, the perfect word, plunder, to go in and to try to find a way to get the reins over these governments and then take those natural resources the way it's been done since time immemorial. And the third point I wanted to mention is I actually happen to be reading right now The Colonizer and the Colonized by Albert Memmi.

And if you read this book, which is about the colonization of Tunisia and Algeria in the 1950s, he outlines exactly what the European powers did in terms of destabilization, and not only destabilization, the psychological elements that they used on those they were colonizing to try to make them aspire to assimilation and also hate themselves, to create that tension so that they can go in and take those resources and plunder. So, that's all it is. It's a monetary thing. It's a land grab. And it's couched in this, we have to help them because they can't help themselves, despite the fact that the things they're allegedly unable to help

themselves from are direct consequences of repeated and concerted efforts to destabilize and plunder. So we're seeing the byproduct of that and the recontinuation of that through the paternalism to act as though they can't govern themselves despite having the sovereignty and autonomy to do so. You see, folks, this is why what we have to do

is what I have called the education beyond the education. There is the formal education. That's the informal education. And so I was pulling up here. And so a phenomenal book of Stephen Kendrick. Go to my iPad. I read this book. Here's called All the Shah's Men, an American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror. An unbelievable book for you to begin to understand what happened in Iran and why the Middle, these countries

in the Middle East feel the way they do about the United States today. This other book, boom, Bitter Fruit, the untold story of the American coup in Guatemala. Same thing. You see right here, it says right here, though the events in Bitter Fruit happened almost 28 years ago, there is an intriguing similarity to some of the phrase making of the State Department in Central America today.

It is a tale of dirty tricks, the manipulation of public opinion, the smearing of the precious few journalists who managed to dissent what was really going on, and a foreign policy that barred more from dunes barrier than diplomacy. It is a fast paced and wellocumented history, a thoughtful and compelling book. See, I just want you all to understand that these things are real. We can't act like these things simply did not happen.

I told you about the Dulles brothers. They controlled American foreign policy. They were the ones who led the Bay of Pigs, and it was Kennedy who fired them. This book here is also a stunning one. The brothers, John Foster Dulles, Alan Dulles, and their secret world war. It details, again, John Foster Dulles was Secretary of State. His brother was Director of the Central Intelligence, where they literally were sitting here plotting and overthrowing numerous countries. All I'm trying to say, folks, is that when you listen to people like Eric Prince, he wants to be them. They want to dominate these countries.

They want to control their resources. They want to control their resource. They want to control their money. That's what's going on here. And we better understand and not just go, oh, that guy's talking crazy. No, it's not. Not when he has military contracts. I'm telling y'all, if you read this book and if you read, uh, overthrow, go back to my, uhthrow, go back to my iPad. Overthrow just blew me away. I'm telling y'all, you read this, you will begin to understand what happens today. The problem that we have in this country is that when we talk about today, we're not factoring in the last 50, 60, 70 years and more. We're not. So we're just like, oh, what's going on today?

No. The reasons why many of these countries have instability and have unstable leadership. And it's. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

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

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

This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.

Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher.

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

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive

content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. You say you'd never give in to a meltdown and never fill your feed with kid photos. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it and never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, know it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out.

Never happens. Before you leave the car, always stop, look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. Because in many of these cases, the United States of America played a role in destabilizing these countries. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. in destabilizing these countries. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. For the last 15 or maybe 16 years, 18 years, I'll say,

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

So I'm taking a break. So I've been on break for the first time and I can afford it, break done. You know what I'm saying? So I can afford it, I can sit back and ain't got nothing to worry about, man. But this was the first time in almost two decades that I've actually had time to sit down and smell the roses. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture.

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Hey, what's up? Keith Turner here in the place to be. Got kicked out your mama's university. Creator and executive producer of Fat Tuesdays, an air hip-hop comedy. But right now, I'm rolling with Roland Martin. Unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. You hear me? Vice President Kamala Harris had some tough words for the Department of Justice Special Counsel's report

on President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents. During today's community violence intervention, leaders, when they gathered at the White House, Kamala Harris did not hold back. I have been privileged and proud to serve as vice president of the United States with Joe Biden as president of the United States. And what I saw in that report last night, I believe is, as a former prosecutor, the comments that were made by that prosecutor, gratuit a horrific attack, and I will tell you, we got the calls,

the President and myself, in the hours after that occurred. It was an intense moment for the Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America, and I was in almost every meeting with the President in the hours and days that followed. Countless hours with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the heads of our intelligence community, and the president was in front of and on top of it all, asking questions and requiring that America's military and intelligence community and diplomatic community would figure out and know how many people were dead,

how many are Americans, how many hostages, is the situation stable. He was in front of it all, coordinating and directing leaders who are in charge of America's national security, not to mention our allies around the globe. For days and up until now, months. So the way that the president's demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts and clearly politically motivated, gratuitous. And so I will say that when it comes to the role and responsibility of a prosecutor in a situation like that, we should expect that there would be a higher level of integrity

than what we saw. Now, folks, the report did not call for any charges against President Biden. Still, it noted that the president, quote, willfully retained and disclosed, unquote, classified documents after serving as former President Obama's vice president. Now, this wasn't just the response, folks, of Vice President Kamala Harris. You also had the White House White House counsel spokesman pushing back very hard. I'm going to play that in a second. I want to go to Matt Manning first. Matt, what is stunning here, Matt, what's stunning here is the guy, ain't nothing there.

But then he purposely makes this comment knowing full well what it was going to lead to. Yeah, particularly because he could have easily said the evidence doesn't rise to the level that we think it's appropriate to seek an indictment and to, you know, put him to task in front of 12 people in the box without then characterizing him as a sweet or elderly old man who's going to appear sympathetic. I mean, I get the administration's point with that. That seems to me to be more kind of just a little jab that's unnecessary, rather than saying we evaluated it. It's a fundamentally different documents issue than it is with Mr. Trump. We don't think that the evidence supports, you know, proof beyond a reasonable doubt. And as such, we're not going to charge him.

I will say, and you didn't really ask me this, but I do want to say that to be completely fair, this is something I think the administration is struggling with outside of this report. You know, I'm supporting the administration, but watching Mr. Biden, he's obviously old and has lost a step. And, you know, older people don't necessarily—are not necessarily incapable of doing the job. But with him and with some of the health concerns, I mean, I think this is really a viable question that voters can have. And as much as we don't want to denigrate him, I mean, we have to be honest about his fitness being a central component of, you know, concerns about the office of the presidency, irrespective of who would succeed him.

So I think they took, you know, some gratuitous positions in the report in terms of what I've heard, and that's why the administration is pushing back so hard. But I think they're also pushing back so hard because it's evident that this is a concern with voters and that Mr. Biden has clearly lost a step. And that is going to have some effect on the election. I don't know the extent to which it will have an effect, but it is a salient issue. And the reality is no matter how much they come out with statements, we've seen the videos where these things have happened. So it is a problem that they're already dealing with, and this is one that seems to make it worse.

But here's the thing here. So when I hear that phrase, he's lost a step, Kelly, it's interesting to me because there are numerous videos. Just Sunday, Speaker Mike Johnson, much younger dude, was on Meet the Press, and he got different world leaders name mixed up. Donald Trump has gotten folks name mixed up. If I'm evaluating President Joe Biden, I'm evaluating on what he's done. Now, I get it. Folks want to say, oh, I'm watching him and I think he's moving

too slow. I think he talks too slow. I am grading him. What have you done? And I will say this right now and I fundamentally believe it. If you actually compare side by side the accomplishments of President Obama in his first three years and President Biden his first three years, Biden beats him. So my deal is, do I want a young, virile person who hasn't accomplished a lot, or do I want somebody who got stuff done? To me, that's the argument the White House should be actually making. Yeah. Yes, but I don't think we need to harp

on this fact because at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is whether, you know, you want this to be the reality or not, this election is going to come down to two old white men. I do not think Nikki Haley is going to come down to two old white men.

I do not think Nikki Haley's going to make it. It's going to be down between Biden and Trump, right? And if you are not going to make the argument of ageism and mental capacity and, you know, what is liveliness, so to speak, if you're not going to have that same standard for Trump, who, by the way, got COVID while he was in office, has a plethora of clips of not only him forgetting things, him standing 10 toes down on him not forgetting things that he obviously did. You know, his cadence on speaking has psychologists befuddled as to why he has not been tested for other psychological issues. You know, there are plenty of things that we can talk about Donald Trump regarding his mental capacity, regarding

his physical prowess, regarding his capacity to be president of the United States strictly from a physical perspective, if we're not going to do that for him and if we are going to only do this for Biden just because he's currently in office or, frankly, just because you really don't have much else on him outside of this, then we need to have a conversation regarding the hypocrisy on both sides of this, then we need to have a conversation regarding the hypocrisy on both sides of this issue, both Democrats and Republicans regarding this issue of who is capable of being in office. Michael, Ian Sams, the spokesman for the White House Counsel's Office, came out and forcefully

defeated the president today. This is what he said. This happened because he was so distracted by what was happening overseas, or do you dispute that he had any memory issues during those hours of interviews? I dispute that the characterizations about his memory that were in the report are accurate because they're not. And I think the president spoke very clearly

about how his mind was on other things. I mean, he was dealing with a huge international crisis of great global consequence. And, you know, he was trying his best to answer questions in this interview because he wanted to be fully cooperative. So there were no memory lapses during? I think there's something important that people should remember about the way that sort of interviews like this happen. God forbid, you know, one of you guys ever have to get interviewed by a prosecutor. And, you know, I hope you don't. You know, witnesses are told, as I mentioned by special counsel, to do the best they can to recall or remember things.

And they're not supposed to speculate. You know, they want facts. They want facts and evidence. And so, you know, I think probably in almost every prosecutorial interview, you can imagine that people have said that they don't recall things because that's what they're instructed to do. So I think that's just important context to keep in mind. Does that mean that possible memory lapses happen again? You know, I'm seeing all these people go back and forth, whatever. That's great. I'm seeing I'm seeing all the networks, you know, just, you know, I'm seeing all these people go back and forth, whatever. That's great. I'm seeing all the networks, you know, just, you know, blathering idiots on this. Here is what, again, if I'm the White House, I'm making it clear.

What did we get done? Did we deliver for the American people? That's the only measurement. If I'm them, that's what I'm focused on. Yeah. Biden mentioned that quickly last night in his primetime press conference. I think he should have mentioned some more actual bills that were accomplished. $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan saved the economy, opened the economy back up after COVID, got people back in schools,

got shots in arms, got stimulus checks out. $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, first infrastructure bill, significant infrastructure bill in 30 years, January 2023, over 30,000 construction projects started across the country. We're removing lead pipes. We are laying high-speed internet even in rural areas. So, they need to talk about what's been accomplished and compare that to Republicans and Donald Trump, compare that to Republicans in the House who can't pass a budget, who only passed 27 bills in 2023, this 118th Congress.

But this—from Robert Herb, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017. This was an underhanded attempt, right, to give right-wing talking points also. So, the White House and Democratic allies of Biden have to push back hard on this, but they should also push back with what has been accomplished and say, compare that to the alternative. Don't compare Biden to perfection. Don't compare him to the Almighty. Compare him to the alternative. Don't compare Biden to perfection. Don't compare him to the Almighty. Compare him to the alternative. And let me remind people, President Franklin Roosevelt, who navigated America through World

War II, who served two full terms as president—three, I'm sorry, three full terms as president, he served as president from a wheelchair because he had polio and could not walk. In fact, hold that point. This is 1984, Reverend Jesse Lewis Jackson Sr. at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. Those who have AIDS tonight, you deserve our compassion. Even with AIDS, you must not surrender in your wheelchairs. I see you sitting here tonight in those wheelchairs. I've stayed with you. I've reached out to you across our nation. And don't you give up. I know it's tough sometimes. People look down on you. It took you a little more effort to get here tonight. And no one

should look down on you, but sometimes mean people do. The only justification we have for looking down on someone is that we're going to stop and pick them up. Even in your wheelchairs, don't you give up. We cannot forget 50 years ago when our backs were against the wall, Roosevelt was in a wheelchair. I would rather have Roosevelt in a wheelchair than Reagan and Bush on a horse. Don't you surrender and don't you give up.

Biden campaign, Anita Dunn, General Malley, all the rest of y'all, that's called checkmate. Go ahead, Michael. Yeah, absolutely. From Roosevelt, even though some of the policies didn't fully help all African-Americans, they did help some, but your Social Security Administration, 1935 Minimum Wage Act, you have the GI Bill, all different types of programs that saved, that grew the economy,

brought us out of the Great Depression, starts in 1929 under President Herbert Hoover. And I'd rather have—even though Biden's not perfect, OK, I would rather have a 100-year-old Joe Biden that gets bills passed, that gets things accomplished, than have a 50-year-old Donald Trump. So, you compare what's been accomplished to what Trump did and what Trump is going to do. Three government shutdowns in the first two years of the Trump administration. Go research that. Three government shutdowns. They can't govern.

That's how I would respond. So Bob Miles is here. What have you done for me lately? What have you gotten done? Hold tight one second, folks. We come back. We're going to talk Flint water crisis. Ten years later, folks are still fighting for what's right. Also, a federal judge tells Louisiana you need to make some new maps because y'all keep screwing over black people. And Big Pharma testified before Capitol Hill yesterday. Also, I got a couple of things to say about Big Pharma when it comes to advertising with black-owned media. Y'all do not want to miss this. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Next on the Black Table with me, Greg Carr. There's a lot of talk about the inevitability of another civil war in this country. But on our next show, we'll talk to a noted author and scholar who says we're actually in the middle of one right now. In fact, Steve Phillips says the first one that started back in 1861, well, it never ended. People carrying the Confederate flag, wearing sweatshirts saying MAGA Civil War, January 6th, 2021, stormed U.S. Capitol, hunted down the country's elected officials, built the gallows for the vice president of the United States, and to block the peaceful transfer of power in this country. On the next Black Tape, here on the Black Star Network.

On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's wealth coach. The wealth gap has literally not changed in over 50 years, according to the Federal Reserve. On the next Get Wealthy, I'm excited to chat with Jim Castleberry, CEO of Known Holdings. They have created a platform, an ecosystem to bring resources to Blacks and people of color so they can scale their business. Even though we've had several examples of African-Americans and other people of color being able to be successful, we still aren't seeing the mass level of us being lifted up. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from L.A., and this is The Culture.

The Culture is a two-way conversation, you and me. We talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together. So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's the culture. Weekdays at 3, only on the Blackstar Network. 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. Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. You say you'd never give in to a meltdown and never fill your feed with kid photos. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it

and never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens. Before you leave the car, always stop, look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council.

Carl Payne pretended to be Roland Martin. Holla! You ain't gotta wear black and gold every damn place, okay? Ooh, I'm an alpha, yay! All right, you're 58 years old. It's over. And you are now watching

Roland Martin Unfiltered. Uncut, unplugged, and undamn believable. Hey folks, we've been talking about the 10-year anniversary in April of the Flint water crisis. It continues to be a problem. Flint Rising is a coalition of organizations and advocates that advocate for Flint residents most affected by this. The director is Nayira Sharif. She joins us right now. Nayira, glad to have you here. So give us a sense, again, we're 10 years later in April. There have been lawsuits and been battles, and we still are hearing that folks having problems. You hear they say they're going to replace pipes.

Others say it hasn't actually happened. Is there a number of how many people are still impacted by bad pipes in Flint? Yeah, well, with the lead service line replacement, there are about 1,200 homes that still need their pipes replaced. But I want to say, like, in the ways that matter, nothing much has changed for Flint residents. And so when you say nothing much has changed, explain that. Well, personally, like, I do not drink the water unfiltered. Like, I have, I either go to the grocery store and purchase water in gallon bottles, or I run several

type of filtrations to drink the water for my daily needs. So you don't even drink it using a filter? Several filters. Several filters, because my house still has lead above the action level. So I got my water tested last year and my water is above the action level. And so on that particular point there. And again, it seems as if political leaders are kind of like, OK, that thing is done and over. We can just move on. So how are y'all still keeping this issue alive and making sure that things are being done and residents are being taken care of? Well, as an organization, we've been focusing on a lot of the root causes of the water crisis. And so some people may not know that there are really like three crises

happening at the same time. There was a lack of democracy, because we were under state receivership. There was a water affordability crisis. And then there was also the water quality crisis. And so, like, as an organization, we've been working to pass in Michigan, like, an improved lead and copper rule that lowered the action level. And we also recently were involved in the EPA's lead and copper rule improvements. And at the state level, like, there is a water affordability package so people can

pay a water bill that will not cause them to enter into water shutoffs. Questions from my panel. Matt, you're first. So my question is about the state of the criminal prosecutions. I know there were some issues with the one-person grand jury issuing those indictments, but where are some of those criminal prosecutions and what are your thoughts on how those may affect, you know, implementation of new water systems or new filtration systems in Flint, if they're connected in your mind? Well, unfortunately, with the criminal prosecutions, those are gone.

And with the one-person grand jury, like, personally, I was offended, because there are several thousand black and brown people in the county jail right now. And that was how they were indicted, was through a one-person grand jury. So the Michigan Supreme Court made it crystal clear, if you're a rich white man with money, that you have a different version of the criminal justice system other than black and brown people. Kelly. Sure. So on your website, flintrising.com, you have three main demands from your government to your government regarding this issue. One being replace all the damage lines to 100 percent water bill reimbursement and three health and education services for all children. What, if anything, has been done towards fulfilling these three demands? And are there other things beyond

these three demands that you guys are focusing on? Well, I would say, the travesty is that our recovery was not initiated by the residents themselves. The folks who were directly impacted said that they needed health care for all, and we don't have that. They wanted all, like, full pipe replacement from the water plant all the way into the taps, and we don't have that. And as far as, like, the health and educational services, that leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, both political parties have not given justice and reparations for Flint residents.

So you have new leadership there in Flint. And how do you believe that this new leadership is responding in terms of city leaders? Well, we're still, like, fighting to get, like, all residents for their lead service lines to be replaced. During—when we received ARPA dollars, there was a $300 credit that was given to residents, but we're still paying. We're still paying for water. Like we never received like beyond like those three months, like any type of longstanding water credits. Gotcha. Well, hopefully we will see action take place. And so good luck in the work of Flint Rising and hopefully things will get better.

Thank you very much. We're actually doing a march on April 25th and invite everyone to come to Flint to participate with us on that. April 25th. We'd love to be there, but that's my dad's 77th birthday, so I will be with him on that day. But good luck with y'all march there. Pull it back up. If y'all want to connect with Flint Rising, here's all the ways to do so. On Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, and the website flintrising.com.

Thanks a bunch. Folks, we come back. Let's talk Louisiana maps. Also, we'll talk about Big Pharma. They got caught hell on Capitol Hill, and I got a couple things to say about them when it comes to the funding of Black-owned media. Wait till I share with some of the numbers

that I have discovered. I keep trying to tell y'all what they doing to us. You're watching Roland Martin, of Black-owned media. Wait till I share with some of the numbers that I have discovered. Mm-hmm. I keep trying to tell y'all what they doing to us. You're watching Roland Martin on the Filtered on the Black Star Network. Grow your business or career with Grow with Google's wide range of online courses, digital training, and tools.

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Take one professional career certificate program or all six. Earn a Google career certificate to prepare for a job in a high growth field like data analytics, project management, UX design, cybersecurity, and more. All professional career certificate programs must be completed by December 31st, 2024. Scan the QR code to complete the application. There are 1,000 scholarships available. Grow with Google and J-Hood and Associates. Be job ready and qualify for in-demand jobs. Next on The Frequency, we have an incredible conversation with my guest, Nadira Simmons, talking about her new book, First Things First, Hip Hop Ladies That Changed the Game. The founder of Gumbo net tells us the stories

behind the women in hip-hop starting with the first woman that promoted the hip-hop party to megan the stallion there's even a chapter on me thank you yes for including me in there it's just so like you had to be in there that's next on the frequency on the black star network hey what's up y'all i'm devon frank i'm dr robin b pharmacist and fitness coach and you're Nice to be here, Nellie. Yeah. That's next on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. Hey, what's up, y'all? I'm Devon Franklin. I'm Dr. Robin B, pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Servion Bonner has been missing from Omaha, Nebraska since January 17th. The 15-year-old is 5, 8 inches tall, weighs 150 pounds

with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about Servian Bonner is urged to call the Omaha Nebraska Police Department at 402-444-5600 402-444-5600. A federal judge is ordering Louisiana to redraw its state legislative maps. Thursday, US District Judge Shelly

Dick rule Louisiana's state maps violated Section 2 of the Voting is ordering Louisiana to redraw its state legislative maps. Thursday, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick ruled Louisiana's state maps violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Dick found the state's 2022 map unlawfully cracks and packs black voters to dilute the strength of their vote. These maps are separate from the redistricting for congressional borders, which the legislature redrew after similar court cases in January. This here is a huge deal, Matt, because what we're talking about, again, and this is what people need to understand

when we're talking about how they crack and pack. So when you put a black people in these very limited districts, what they're trying to do is to make sure that black voters don't have an opportunity to literally impact another district. So you're guaranteeing Republican victory. So if you are, and so there are a lot of people who have been calling for black folks not to be so concerned about,

man, we want as many black districts as possible. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

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

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

We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman T kind of starts that 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. You say you never give in to a meltdown and never fill your feed with kid photos. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it and never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there,

no, it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens before you leave the car. Always stop. Look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. But how can we have the black vote impact more districts to actually change the makeup of the legislature? Yeah, that's really important so that that vote is not diluted if you're in a different district. And I think what's especially important about this ruling from Judge Dick is that the Eighth

Circuit, which is not where Louisiana is, but the Eighth Circuit actually just recently put down an opinion a couple days ago saying essentially that you may not have a private right of action to bring a cause of action if your voting rights are affected. And that's incredibly important, because what the Eighth Circuit has said, which is obviously another federal court of appeals, what they've said is that you may not have that private right of action, which means that an agency like DOJ or some other governmental agency would have to then try to vindicate the loss of your voting rights. The reason that is so crucially important is because these two things, at least

in my view, sit, you know, counter to each other in a way that Judge Dick is saying, look, not only does your vote matter, but you can't be carded off into a district where, you know, it's so disproportionately black that you're going to be able to elect somebody there. But if you're in a different district, you won't have any meaningful effect on potentially having your elector, the person you want to represent you, be elected. So it's important because if you read the Eighth Circuit's decision in context with this, then if Louisiana or any other state does something to violate your voting rights, then you can't bring a lawsuit in your own capacity. You have to do it through an agency. And that's going to make that much more

difficult because instead of having a lot of lawsuits where a lot of people are filing them saying, hey, you took away my right to vote, it's now going to be cordoned down and distilled to, you know, just organizations. And I think that actually, actually, actually, actually not even organizations. The eighth, the eighth eighth circuits opinion said only the government. So so what this would mean that NAACP, LDF, whether you talk Lawrence Community for Civil Rights under law, any of these civil rights groups, NAACP, they could not file any lawsuits. So the eighth circuit is saying only the government can. And the reality is the DOJ has not filed a lot of these suits. Yeah, and I appreciate you getting me right. I'm sorry for speaking incorrectly.

But the larger principle is that if you don't have a private right of action to vindicate this, then you have to hope that you have the right government in office. And it kind of goes to a larger point we always talk about. But if you're looking at the Trump DOJ, they're not going to do that. They're not bringing those lawsuits. Biden's DOJ might, but that creates a big issue. So I'm glad that, you know, after this bench trial, Judge Dick saw that this was, you know, Louisiana continuing to do this cracking and packing, especially as the population continues to grow, because as that population grows, people are cordoned off in a certain district that dilutes your right to vote. So this is really important, particularly in the state of Louisiana, considering the

demographics there. What we're also looking at here, Michael, is this. So Louisiana, under the Fifth Circuit, extremely, extremely conservatives. They control, I think, 22 or 23 out of the 25 federal judges. And so they tried all they could to help Republicans. But what we're dealing with here again is even the Supreme Court shockingly accepting the impact of the Voting Rights Act. But conservatives still are trying to attack that. And so this is going to be a legal battle back and forth.

Not sure with even with this ruling. Remember, a federal judge ruled in 2022 that Louisiana maps were unconstitutional. That was early 2022. They claimed there was not enough time in the year, even though it was, to change them in November. So they froze the Supreme Court Court froze them in place, and it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that they actually changed it. And so even with this particular ruling here, they may not be able to get new maps because they're going to take this thing

all the way to the Supreme Court, guaranteed. So we may not see new maps in Louisiana until 2026. That's what I was wondering, because this is an election year and the secretary of state has to get the ballots out as well to constituents. Certain names have to be on the names of the candidates have to be on the ballot one, but also mail in ballots, early ballots, things like that. They have to be mailed out. So that's why I was wondering, is there going to be on the ballot, one, but also mail-in ballots, early ballots, things like that. They have to be mailed out. So, that's why I was wondering, is there going to be enough time to get the—to redraw the districts, redraw the legislative maps, in time for the November 2024 election?

So, yes, I know Republicans are going to appeal this, take this to the 6-3 conservative Supreme Court. And, you know, with Louisiana having about one-third of the voting population African-American, you know, this is why our voting power is feared so much. The fear is being able to put people in office that will legislate and put laws in the place that are beneficial, especially to African Americans. So the fight continues with this. Kelly. Now, I echo the sentiments of Michael and everyone else. I think that this is an issue that is bigger than just Louisiana. I'm sure there are several jurisdictions where they are basically packing Black people into one district to dilute the vote.

Whether the districts will be redrawn in time for this election, I sincerely doubt, but the fact that they are ordered to be redrawn is promising to me in that hopefully some type of reprieve will be made in this matter. Well, look, certainly hope so. All right, y'all. Yesterday, big damn Capitol Hill, big

farm test for the United States Senate, and man, folks like Senator Bernie Sanders gave them a grilling over the high drug prices they charge in the U.S. compared to other countries. Carolyn from Florida says that she cannot afford Eloquus. And so she will, quote, stop taking it, though I need it to prevent the risk of having a stroke, end quote. Mr. Bernal, again, yes and no, please. The list price of Eliquis is $7,100 a year in the United States. Dr. Melissa Barber, an expert at Yale University, has estimated that it costs just $18 to manufacture a year's supply of Eliquis. $7,100, but we pay $1,800 to manufacture. Is it true that

the same exact drug, Eliquis, can be purchased in Canada for $900 a year? Senator, that's roughly correct. Let me ask you this. Even at 13% of the cost in the United States, does Bristol-Myers make a profit selling Eloquus for $900 a year in Canada? Senator, we do make a profit. All right, so you're selling the product for 13% of what in Canada, of what we pay in the United States, and obviously you sell it there because you make money. So, Mr. Berner, will you commit today that Bristol-Miles Squibb will reduce the list price of Eloquist in the United States

to the price that you charge in Canada where you make a profit? Senator, we can't make that commitment. The CEOs of Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Bristol, Myers Squibb, were questioned in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee by lawmakers looking for a way to drop high health care costs for Americans. Senator Bernie Sanders, again, challenged him on that. But it wasn't just Sanders. It was others as well who were who were challenging these CEOs.

And we know, of course, that the Biden administration also did their part when it came to cutting the price of insulin. We now see it in under Medicare. It's now, you know, thirty five35 for those seniors. And so what you're seeing is you're seeing these folks being challenged. Because what people don't realize is it's a game. I love that scene from the movie High Flying Bird where Bill Duke says, they were talking about the NBA, but he says

they invented a game on top of a game. And what these companies are doing is, these insurance companies in America, they're paying these high prices. We're paying high premiums. And so what they're doing is, they're sitting here charging these people, other countries, a hell of a lot less, because they know full well they're going to pay all this money here in the united states but you know what's interesting we i was talking about so two of those ceos there

of course uh with uh these companies and we have our segment called where's our money and so we're going to segue into that because i'm about to break something down to y'all it's going to trip y'all out uh because a lot of these drugs are targeting us. So roll it. We've been frozen out. Facing an extinction level event. We don't fight this fight right now. You're not going to have Black Army. So, folks, when we're talking about the money, we're talking about how much they spend. Now, y'all have heard me talk about on this show the lack of money being spent with black-owned media. Well, check this out.

Pull up the graphic of four of these drug companies. These right here are four of the biggest drug companies when it comes to spending on marketing and advertising every year. Bristol-Myers Squibb, AbbVie, AstraZeneca, and Merck. Okay. Now I'm going to give y'all some numbers. They're going to trip y'all out. AbbVie is a huge, huge spender. 2023, AbbVie dropped y'all $1.5 billion on advertising in this country. Guys, wrong graph. $1.5 billion.

Okay? $1.5 billion they spent. Black was $25 million. $25 million. Hispanic was $1.5 million. AstraZeneca, they spent $250 million on advertising. 1.7 million went to black media, black folk, black media. And then first of all, we don't know if that's black-owned media

or black-targeted media. Just 1.7 million. $150,000 went to Latinos media. Bristol-Squareires, $400 million. 2.5 million black media, 2.5 million Hispanic media. Merck, $200 million. $5 million to black media, $250,000 to Hispanic. Now, here's the deal.

Merck, y'all, had a black CEO, Ken Frazier. Go to my iPad. They wasn't spending money with black-owned media when he was a CEO for 10 years. 10 years not spending money with black-owned media. So then let's look at Pfizer. Pfizer is spending around, look, almost $2 billion. They're spending money with different companies. Little of that is going to black owned media. When you're watching all of these,

especially network news shows, you're seeing all these pharmaceutical commercials. They're sitting here driving it to black folks. To black folks. You got drug companies right now running, I saw a company running diabetes commercials on Fox News featuring black folks. And I'm like, y'all ain't talking to black-owned media? This is what is actually happening Billions of dollars are being spent on

Advertising and marketing and very very little goes to black on media, even though we know black people when you look at HIV when you look at Cancer when you look at diabetes, we can talk about the number of issues. A lot of us are on these drugs. Hmm, so what they want, they want black folks. Oh yeah, absolutely. Keep buying, keep buying, keep spending your money.

Yeah, but we're not going to sit here and actually talk to anybody in black-owned media. So here you have the senators challenging them on the drug prices, and these companies are earning billions of dollars. And what is coming back to black-owned media? Crumbs. And they want us to think that a crumb is a meal. And I told y'all I was going to start calling people out. I need y'all to put the graphic up of those companies again

Show it again and here are those the top here are for the largest and we don't have Pfizer on here But I'm challenging the Pfizer as well Bristol-mallory-squibb at the AstraZeneca and Merck it is an abomination what they are spending in terms of advertising and little of that goes to black owned media. So I hope y'all now understand when I'm laying these things out, because a lot of y'all are trying to understand why black owned media can't do it, why we don't have more anchors and more reporters and we don't have more producers? Because you cannot afford to pay them if you're being frozen out of the economic pie. 0.5 to 1% of all advertising money spent in the country, that's $340 billion, is spent with black-owned media. So you want to know why CNN and the New York Times and Fox News and MSNBC and the Washington Post and all

of these companies, how these folks are able to have large newsrooms and employing all these reporters? Easy. Because they're getting the dollars. So we're going to keep naming companies. easy, because they're getting the dollars. So we're going to keep naming companies, and we're going to keep naming ad agencies, and we're going to keep calling folks out. If people are not doing business with black-owned media, we are going to publicly challenge them because we should be participating in this economy just like white media.

And this goes beyond just black-owned media. This also speaks to black law firms, black accounting firms, black transportation companies, black catering companies, black PR companies, black event managers, black audiovisual companies, and on and on and on. of all of these industries, even when they have black CEOs, and even when they have black CMOs, chief marketing officers, and even when they have some black board members. Now, there are some black board members out there who are advocating and doing right for us.

There are some black CMOs who are doing that. But what is needed is for folks to understand that we are all in this thing together. Last point before I go to my panel, speaking of black CMOs, Walter Gere, who works for one of the ad agencies, he posted something on LinkedIn that I saw and I said right on, because I've been saying this for all time, so go ahead and pull this up. Pull this up.

I'm going to read it to you. So Walter posted on his LinkedIn. He said that it's Friday, so I'm just going to be on brand and say what's on my mind. One thing that surprised me about Black Executive CMO Alliance, Becca, at Cannes last year was the amount of black CMOs out there carrying some major brands, major brands. I'm fortunate to work with three of those CMOs. All of the work is fire. So my question is, with all of the black CCOs and black-owned agencies all tapping into culture and all of the black CMOs out there that want their brands to authentically be a part of culture, why aren't we working together? I get and understand that selling through culturally relevant work to an all-white leadership is difficult. Know that people like

myself and others can be your advocates, your allies, and your partners in these rooms. We can do beautiful work together. I'm just putting it out there. Hit me up. Let's talk, and I won't hoard the work. I'll even make recommendations. I'm just saying we need to do better, and I'm not expecting you to respond here. So please feel free to message me privately. Now here's why I think what Walter posted is great. He's right. We should be. The people who should be the biggest advocates for black owned media are black CMOs.

We in black owned media should be elevating them, talking about the great things that they're doing. But it requires it to be done. It requires resources to be flowing back and forth. We should be working with black CMOs and black-owned media and black creators and ad agencies because on the ad agency side, y'all, 90% of the leadership is white. It's white. And do you know what happens?

The ad agencies, do you know where they get a lot of their leaders from? CMOs. So many of the black CMOs could potentially become president and CEOs of black ad agencies. And so this thing ain't going to change if the black creative folk in agencies are doing their own thing and the black CMOs are doing their own thing and black-owned media in our space, we're doing our own thing. It requires us having a willingness to work together in order to change the economic paradigm. What cannot happen is if black people who are on boards, who are in senior leadership of companies, who are whether CEOs, COOs, or whether CMOs, whether you got black people

in agencies, what cannot happen is that they are not going to be able to do what they are I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

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

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 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 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. You say you never give in to a meltdown and never fill your feed with kid photos. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it

and never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens. Before you leave the car, always stop, look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad

Council. It happens if we have a mentality of, I'ma only get mine and damn everybody else. So I got my stock options, I got my check, I'm good. But first of all, the average CMO only lasts three years. So it ain't gonna be that long anyway. But what changes do you make when you're there? If you're a Ken Frazier at Merck, real question, did you change the economic paradigm

in working with black companies while you were the CEO for 10 years? This cannot be solely about how we make ourselves rich. I want all folks in black-owned media to eat. I'm not trying to keep all the money to myself. I want all of us to eat. Dr. King said, we individually are poor, but we collectively are wealthy. Nothing changes when we operate as individuals until we move as a collective. Stokely Carmichael said, show me any black person who's made any change in this country, I will show you they did it through working with an organization. If we want to change, if we want to build wealth and create wealth in this country it is going to take black ceos black cmos black creatives to be able to say how can we be a difference to build up

and build capacity for black owned media and that requires meeting with us sending those rfps sending those ios actually making it happen. And then those of us on our side, making sure we're telling those stories, amplifying them. That's how we begin to change the game. Go to my panel here real quick. You know, Michael, when we talk about,

again, it's a money game. It's a money game. And the reality is we cannot be black and operate in silos when it's a money game. And the reality is we cannot be black and operate in silos when it's a money game. I just believe that if you are a black corporate executive, there should be a change when you leave as opposed to things being the same. Yeah, it should be changed for the positive. Unfortunately, Roland, so many of our people don't understand this money game, don't understand business on this level. But we have to really understand how to push, whether it's a black CEO or not, but especially if there is.

We spend billions of dollars a year with these various corporations, OK? It's about $1.7 trillion now, our GDP, for African Americans. And then they take the overwhelming majority of those dollars that we spend with them and buy media, buy ads in white-owned media, and also use contractors, white-owned contractors. So we have to push on multiple levels, black contractors when it comes to transportation, when it comes to advertising, janitorial services, things of this nature. Because another myth that's out here is that you have a lot of these fake economic empowerment gurus who are selling entrepreneurship classes and just make our people think, oh, you just have

to open up a business and just money is just going to flow into you. No. You need clients. You need contracts. OK? Then at the same time, you have this attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion, which was a backlash to some advancements that were being made during the George Floyd protests and getting commitments from corporations,

you have that backlash coming at the same time. So we have to understand how to push it. This is something Dr. Claude Anderson has been talking about for years, getting a return on our investment from corporations. And not only that, Matt, I'll say this here. The Executive Leadership Council, I need y'all doing more.

Go to my iPad. I need EOC more. EOC is the Collection of Black Corporate Executivesall doing more. Go to my iPad. I need EOC more. EOC is the collection of black corporate executives. And I've been to their dinner and it's 3,000, 4,000 people there and folks are suited and booted. But here's the deal. Many of these black folks, they out of their jobs when they hit 55 years of age. And so this is where organizations, this is where organizations have got to step up and be far more aggressive at addressing this. And I'm going to say this as well. The NAACP, the National Urban League, National Action Network, Rainbow Push, Fraternities and Sororities,

Lynx, Prince Hall Masons, Eastern Star, all of these black groups have got to understand if we are using black churches as well, if we're utilizing our organizational power, we can make these folks move, but they not going to move if we are silent and disorganized. I don't disagree with anything you've said in this segment in terms of how there needs to be greater investment with black organizations. But I wouldn't be myself if I didn't say we are focusing on the wrong money part of this. This is a human rights issue. This is one of the ways I think the United States is at its sickest. The fact that in this country getting sick can be a quick road to bankruptcy.

And the fact that we've got, you know, pharmaceutical heads who will sit in front of Congress and say, yeah, I can't commit that we're going to lower the price of our drugs, but we're selling it elsewhere for a fraction of the price is a travesty. I think we as a country have to have a real conversation if we're going to talk about money, about just as a universal more not commodifying health care. The fact that we have commodified health care and we're sitting here talking about how it costs an extraordinarily high amount every year for people to get necessary medications is crazy. It's crazy. It's the sickest thing to me. And as a father, as a parent, as a part of a family, it is the thing that concerns me and my family most. And while with all due respect, I do care about the investment with black companies.

I care more about the fact that your average American cannot afford to get sick with a serious health care issue and keep their finances the way they need to be. And that's the bigger conversation. Actually, the reason it's not the bigger conversation, because mainstream media has that conversation, but doesn't have the economic conversation. For me, I'm going to have both of the conversations. So the reason I put these two together, because they do go hand in hand, because on one hand, one of the reasons that we are the sickest is we have lack of resources. One of the reasons that we are the sickest is that we are not participating economically. If you show me African-Americans who have higher wealth, I'm going to show you better health outcomes.

And so they go together when we talk about how we're being frozen out of the economic pie. Kelly. Well, if I may. Go ahead. Roll it. I think that's a little bit of a flawed premise, though. No, it's not. I think it is. The fundamental system is problematic. The whole system of how health care works in this country is flawed. And the fact that you have to be in a higher echelon of earning to do better with the healthcare outcome should infuriate all of us. No, no, no. Here's the deal, though. But the problem is you're only looking at this only from healthcare.

I'm not speaking of healthcare companies. I'm speaking of healthcare. I'm speaking of automotive. I'm speaking of every single business. What I outline from the pharmaceutical companies applies to every single category. I'm only focused on them. And again, the problem is we, this is, again, this is one of black people's problems. We talk about all the other things and not the money.

I'm saying I'm talking about both. I'm going to talk about the prices and I'm going to talk about we don't have access not the money. I'm saying I'm talking about both. I'm going to talk about the prices and I'm going to talk about we don't have access to the money. We often talk about the criminal justice system. We're not talking about the money. If you do a survey and ask most African-Americans, talk about your top five issues, money is not going to be number one. But I'm showing a perfect example of how we are frozen out of a system. And so my deal is, I say you could change both, but the deal is I'm not going to talk about one and ignore the other. I'm going to talk about both.

I need both to happen. And I'm saying we have got to be willing as black people to have an honest conversation about the money because they actually don't mind us talking about, Hey, let's hold, let's, let's lower health, health, uh,

drug costs and never bring up the money over here while they over here getting paid. Kelly. I understand your point, Roland, but I am leaning towards what Matt is saying. Um, it's not either or it's both. It's. It's both and. I need to finish. I'm not saying it's an either or. It is a both and.

But for purposes of this conversation being pharmaceutical companies and that clip specifically, my main takeaway from that clip was that they're not willing to match prices with Canada because of strict greed. Now, to your point, yes, yeah. But the greed, for me, as somebody who does deal with medical issues, as someone who just had a medical emergency not even three weeks ago, for that, my main takeaway was the fact that they have the power and yet they use it not to the benefit of the American people. But to your point, you are absolutely correct. Pharmaceutical companies isn't pharmaceuticals as a whole, as an industry also need to be lumped in with the other industries that you have mentioned regarding black media and dollars flowing into black media. And greed is there, too. And that's also greed. I agree with you. I'm just saying that for purposes of this conversation,

that one clip had me leaning more towards Matt's point, Matt's point. Right. This specific conversation. But it's but it's not. But I'm. But it's not a specific conversation. I'm having a dual conversation. And what I'm trying to show is, here you had a Senate hearing. I'm also showing in terms of what they're spending. I'm saying I can have two conversations at one time and not one. And so this is a perfect example. They're making billions from folk, and then they are shorting black people. So I'm juxtaposing billions being earned. Here's a perfect example of us still getting short shrift even while they're making billions of dollars. And unfortunately, we see this in broad categories.

And so what we're going to keep doing is showing people the actual numbers. And I'm purposely showing their logos because I want our people to be tweeting them on this very issue. Because, again, we talk around these things versus directly to them. So every person here should be challenging Bristol Myers Squibb and Abby and AstraZeneca and Merck and Pfizer. And I can guarantee you they're all going to be hearing from my people because we're not going to let this go. Up next, the NFL continues to have problems when it comes to their payouts of folks who are suffering significant injuries. We'll talk to a couple of folks next, including a former player. This is something that's devastating

lots of former players as they get ready for the biggest game of the year, the Super Bowl on Sunday. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Grow your business or career with Grow with Google's wide range of online. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

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

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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.

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And you're tuned in to... Roland Martin, Unfiltered. We're all be tuned in on Sunday for the Super Bowl. Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, and we'll be watching. Folks will be cheering, and they'll be talking about everything and looking at those players. But how many people are thinking about what their lives will be once the cheering stops?

We've talked about the NFL's promise to compensate former players who develop dementia and other brain diseases tied to concussions. And the NFL has awarded $1.2 billion to more than 1,600 athletes. But the Washington Post found the league saved hundreds of millions of dollars by rejecting payouts. Joining me now from San Diego is Roxanne Gordon. Her husband, Amon C. Gordon, played eight seasons in the NFL. He retired from the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012.

He was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury in 2012 and has been fighting to get his NFL concussion settlement. Ricky Ray, a former NFL player, joins us from Alexandria, Virginia. I'm glad to have both of you here. First and foremost, walk us through, Roxanne, how difficult this battle has been with the NFL. Good evening, Roland. We've been fighting since 2017.

When we first entered into the class action settlement, we were told it's as simple as the player, retired player, getting diagnosed from a board-certified neurologist, that they have traumatic brain injury injury and they will be paid. It was far from the truth. Here we are almost seven years later, and we're still fighting. My husband, Amman, has brain bleeds. He has tangles in his brain. He has been diagnosed by four different neurologists with concussion damage, and I still have not received any positive news on the settlement. We are still fighting. For a matter of fact, our last appeal was submitted today.

So we are waiting for the courts to again see if they approve us or side with the NFL again. The NFL has fought tooth and nail not to pay him, and their reasoning is because his IQ is too high. He's too smart. His scores are too high. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, I'm sorry. They're saying that because his IQ is high, that, oh, that the stuff he's experiencing

actually doesn't exist. So what they're saying is if he had a low IQ, guess what? He got no problems? Like the race norming, basically. He went to Stanford, graduated from Stanford University. He has a superior IQ. So when they test him, they're comparing him against people with a normal IQ. So they're saying he's not impaired. He doesn't have brain injury because he's not scoring lower enough. So in their eyes, he would have to be a vegetable to be able to be paid. Wow.

Ricky, when you hear that and you have other players, what stories are you hearing as well? Well, I hear exactly what Roxanne is talking about. And, you know, Roland, one of the things, first and foremost, thank you guys for having us on your show tonight. And, you know, Roland, it brings about two things, frustration and it brings out about concerns. And, you know, what Roxanne is talking about is the frustration. We've been at this thing for almost seven years.

And, you know, the overall process, selecting, going through the attorneys, the doctor's appointments, you got the results determination process. All of this is that, you know, comes down to an unequal distribution of compensation. So the NFL is boasting, as you just mentioned, about the articles that recently came out. And then they sent out their specific talking points saying that, you know, they have spent $1.2 billion. What we were talking about tonight, though, is the other billion that needs to be spent on the guys that's not getting this particular compensation. This thing is way too long. No way, shape, or form, I myself as a claimant have been in this process for the past seven years. And just now, we're reaching a deadline of March the 4th to be able to go back for the

race norming, which, again, is a whole different conversation that happened during this settlement. However, Roland, my point with that is that even with the race norming and all of the other things that's put in place for doctor's appointments and trying to get some results, it shouldn't be seven years before you can go through at least the evaluation process, not even talking about the determination process if something is even wrong with you or not. That's just the frustration part about it. The concerns is that, you know, again, the league is boasting about how much money they are putting out. But really, again, it's not much money they need to put out to make sure that we are all

being taken care of, our families. And to look at the real issues of what's going on is with the concussion. We got into this with concussions that ended up causing dementia. It can cause Alzheimer's and things like that. And the NFL within themselves, they're saying that they wish they hadn't even settled this particular settlement. They would have to take it to court because they don't believe that these repetitive head hits and these concussions has anything to do with the long-term effect of our health, Roland. And, Roxanne, look, I love it how these teams demand loyalties from players,

but when it's time to cut contracts, tell them to take less money, they got no problem doing so. The reality is the NFL does not have guaranteed contracts, unlike baseball, unlike basketball, they have the shortest careers, the most injuries and the most the most health care needs after the playing days are over. So it's the end. The NFL is by far the richest sports league. Absolutely. Absolutely. And we're talking these guys have, you know, head injuries as well as orthopedic issues as well. And there's no lifetime medical. A lot of these guys don't even have medical insurance roll and they can't even go to a doctor. And the NFL is hoping they just kind of die and go away, deny, deny, deny till you die. And a lot of them have passed, unfortunately. But there are still a lot out there living that need help.

And the NFL needs to live up to their obligation and take care of these men that they built this billion-dollar industry off their backs, period. Questions for the panel. Matt, you're first. I have a question, and I'm sorry if I misunderstood something, but isn't it correct that the NFL was using a different metric whereby they were judging the, I guess, starting IQs of former black players with neurological issues as compared to white players? And that was part of the lawsuit, if I remember correctly. So how does that factor into their reticence to pay on these claims now? I mean, is that still a part of the litigation? Yes, you're correct.

That's called a race moment. That came into effect after the settlement. And there were two players that realized that there was something wrong with the evaluation process. So they sued. This came out to be a race moment where they thought that us as black players, we were at a lower deficiency than white players.

At first, they admitted that, no, that's not happening. Delete council. That's not happening. Then they found out it was happening. For them to go back and then to rectify that problem, they said that any persons that had gone through the evaluation process with that particular norming scheme would be able to do it again. So that's where we are now being able to go back and redo the testing. But there is a deadline for that testing that was March the 4th. So if you're not registered between now to March 4th of this year, you're not going to be able to even get that VAP testing unless you have to pay for it yourself and so forth and so on. So it's always a hurdle. And, you know, the more hurdles that we have, the more complicated it is and, you know, the attrition for these players.

And we're looking at players that has already played the game for some time ago. So it's elderly players that former players. It's not that many when you look at the big scheme of players involved with this particular settlement. But it's always our hurdle put up in front of us so that we can't go through the process in a normal way. And again, I'm not knocking it. And it's great that the 1.2 has already been paid, but there's another 1.2 that needs to be paid as well. And, you know, do that before the attrition takes care, then these players are no longer here. Kelly, can I ask a followup? Yep, go ahead.

So just really quickly, the follow-up question, though, is in terms of the actual litigation, has the judge at any point or the special master or whomever's administrating the claims, have they issued any edict that says, look, we know you're race norming, therefore that throws into question all of the data and all of the metrics, look, we know you're race norming. Therefore, that throws into question all of the data and all of the metrics. And therefore, we're going to either order computation of the claims at a certain level. I mean, how is that race norming fixed in? Because to me, it seems like that invalidates anything that the NFL is saying about how they're determining who should be paid and who's not. It does. Roxanne, you can chime in, but it does. And, you know, as I mentioned before, they're rectifying this problem is letting us go back through the neurologists and

all of the neuros to make sure that we're being reevaluated. But that process is a little skewed as well, because there is, I'm pretty much sure that there is no transition conversation between the doctors that did that at first and the current doctors that we're having. The biggest problem with this thing with the doctors, there's not enough doctors. So, you know, we have to travel at least 150 mile radius or go to a specific doctor that is diagnosed through our attorneys. But there's not enough doctors for this process. Hence, that this whole concussion settlement started seven years ago, and we're just now going through, or some guys are just now coming to the point of going through

the evaluations. That's way too long. I mean, if you said a doctor's appointment in 2014, and here we are in 2017, and here we are in 2024, and we haven't been to the doctors yet, that's a problem within itself. That is not being addressed. You know, the claims that we're looking at that has gotten better, but that really has not gotten better. And that's a major concern that we are having. Kelly? So on average, if there is an average, how many complainants are are in the suit and on average if you have an idea of

how much money um would or should be allocated to each member of this suit and secondly for the for those players who have since died is there any recourse for the families to take advantage of in this case? Ricky can jump in on the averages, but players who passed away, if their brains were sent in after they passed away and they were diagnosed. 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.

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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. 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.

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CTE, there is no compensation for them whatsoever. The only time I've seen people compensated after that is when a lot of press is surrounding the situation. And then the NFL caves and compensates them. But no. To answer your question, no. If they pass away and it's found that they had CTE, the NFL won't pay for that. Mike? Yeah. And the NFL is saying that CTE is not the problem, but it really is a problem.

You know, this suddenly got started for us because of concussions and the repetitive hits that we have and the concussions in general. The NFL knew that concussions was causing these problems and sort of put that under the rug like they do everything else concerning players. The problem with that is that when the players found this out, the NFL said, okay,

and they call us allegedly doing this, right? Not that it's really happening. They pay their commissioner $200 million a year to say that this is not a problem for folks and whatever. Two weeks ago, you got a guy watching a game during the playoffs, and you guys remember that there was a player coming in to make a tackle, and the other player's helmet actually broke. Now, here we are getting ready to go into one of the biggest games of the year, and I'm probably the only one that's talking about this particular situation.

So either it was too cold for that equipment, or the helmet wasn't really qualified. And here we are. And for a fact, this player didn't even leave the field. They brought a new helmet onto the field and put the helmet on, and the guy kept playing. Yeah, that was Patrick Mahomes, and the company actually said the helmet worked like it was supposed to work.

I thought that was sort of interesting. Well, Roland, I've been playing this game since I was nine years old. No helmet ever, ever, ever broke like that in my time frame. So, you know, this is my point. The NFL, to answer her question, you know, is the NFL playing fair? They're not playing fair. You know, they want us to go through these obstacles and these hoops, and they got all of these barriers set up for us through this process.

And there is not a lump sum of money that each one of us is supposed to get. Everybody's different. I mean, Amon's case is different from mine, and anybody else's case is different. We all come from different scenarios where someone may be functioning and somebody may not be functioning. So it's up to the evaluation of these doctors to make sure that they are diagnosed and what's going on with these individuals. So the NFL knows this and they put up these obstacles so we can't even go through the process. Michael. Very quickly, for the Super Bowl, we know that the 32nd commercial is going for about $7 million. What role do you think that corporations that profit off the NFL, that will profit off of commercials. What role do you think corporations play in getting just compensation for former NFL players who have brain damage, CTE, et cetera? And also, what role do you think

fans play who buy tickets, who buy jerseys, who fuel this as well? Well, I don't think either one is playing a role. I don't think the corporations who spend those millions of dollars are paying attention to what happens to the players when they're not on the field anymore. The fans are not really familiar with this because this only is a part-time subject. You know, we need to have this out front all the time so everybody can come familiar with it.

More players, former players and current players, need to be talking about this, as well as the actual fans should be talking about it. The more people we have talking about it, the more actions that we're going to get. But, you know, we have these segments right now for the Super Bowl, and we're talking about it. Then it gets swept under the rug for another year,

and then all of a sudden, you know, as I mentioned before, the attrition rate plays in, and then there's nothing else to talk about. There's not that many guys that's in this settlement. You know, these owners can go out and buy their toys for $200 million. talk about. It's not that many guys that's in this settlement. You know, these owners can go out and buy their toys for $200 million. They pay $20 million for maintenance on these yachts that they have. They pay the commissioner $200 million a year, but they're having a problem paying for

folks that's already been out there, giving their efforts and making sure that their products are making the money that they have to have those particular luxury items. But when it comes to the health of the players, it's just put them to the side. And if I can add to it. Go ahead. Final comment. Go ahead. One thing that the NFL does really well is separate people. Like you were speaking earlier, Roland, I have mine, you get yours. Everybody watches football. A lot of the fans think that everybody's making millions of dollars.

That's not true. The minimum wage in the NFL is under a million dollars, and most guys are making that. There's a handful of guys making the $200 million and $300 million. Well, they also don't realize that the NFL has guaranteed TV contracts, and they get all their money at the beginning of the season, and so that's how they're able to stop players from striking because the owners can get through a whole season

because they got their money up front. And again, players don't have guaranteed contracts. Other thing that people need to understand when they see these, quote, eye-popping contracts, they don't realize if you sign a five-year, $80 million contract, the last three years are irrelevant. You've got to pay attention to the first two years. Is there any guaranteed money in that? Because

they backload a lot of these contracts, and they're able to get out of them in year three, or they'll tell a player, take a several-million-dollar pay cut. See, a lot of people forget when Colin Kaepernick, they asked him when the Broncos said, oh, we'll trade for you, but you've got to take a pay cut. He cut. See, a lot of people forget when Colin Kaepernick, they asked him when the Broncos said, oh, we'll trade for you, but you got to take a pay cut.

He opted not to, and he took all of his money in San Francisco. So they don't understand how that game is being played. The NFL absolutely is about keeping these billionaires being billionaires, and they do not want to pay not only players playing today, but they sure as hell don't want to play former players. That's true. Roxanne, Ricky, we appreciate it. Keep up your fight. Thanks a lot. Thank you.

Folks, that is it for us. Michael, you got a class coming up real quick. Yeah, Saturday, February 10th, 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, a new 10-week online history course. Ancient Kemet, one of the original names for Egypt, the Moors, and the Ma'afa, understand the transatlantic slave trade,

what they didn't teach you in school. Visit our website, africanhistorynetwork.com. Register right now. You've never seen anything like this. It's going to totally blow you away. africanhistorynetwork.com. Folks, that's it for us. Michael, Kelly, Matt, we appreciate it.

Thanks a lot. Y'all have a fabulous weekend. If you are watching the game, great. If you're not watching the game, cool we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Y'all have a fabulous weekend. If you are watching the game, great. If you're not watching the game, cool. Enjoy it. Folks, Monday I'll see y'all. I'll be broadcasting live from Columbus, Ohio.

So looking forward to being there. So y'all have a great one. Don't forget, support us in what we do, folks. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. The goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing on average 50 bucks each. That's a year. That's $4.19 a month, 13 cents a day. You can do so by sending your check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196.

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watch us on Plex TV, Amazon Freebie, Amazon Prime Video. And, of course, you can get my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at bookstores nationwide. Folks, I'll see y'all on Monday. And shout-out Dillard University. I wore see y'all on Monday and shout out Dillard University. I wore Lane College, Tennessee State yesterday,

Lane College on Wednesday. Shout out Dillard University in New Orleans. It's Mardi Gras weekend at the Good Times Road. Howl! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You say you'd never give in to a meltdown and never fill your feed with kid photos. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it and never let them run wild through the grocery store.

So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens. Before you leave the car, always stop, look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. get right back there and it's bad listen to absolute season one taser incorporated on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts i'm clayton english i'm greg glad and this is season two of the war on drugs by sure last year a lot of the problems of the drug war this year a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes.

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