#RolandMartinUnfiltered - US Strikes Nigeria on Christmas, Nicki Minaj Deportation Push, DEI Gag Order, Couples Reset

Episode Date: December 30, 2025

12.29.2025 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: US Strikes Nigeria on Christmas, Nicki Minaj Deportation Push, DEI Gag Order, Couples Reset U.S. airstrikes hit ISIS camps in Nigeria on Christmas Day, and Donald Trump calls it a "present."   We'll talk to a National Security and Foreign Affairs Legal Analyst about what's really happening and why we are attacking the African nation. A petition to deport Nicki Minaj has gained traction amid growing backlash. We'll explain what's fueling it. And get this---Head Start programs warned: Scrub words like "Black" and "women" from funding apps or lose cash. Shasti Conrad with Washington State Democrats and Sarah Hunt Blackwell from ACLU Georgia joins us to discuss what this means. With the new year around the corner, it's resolution time. Couples, listen up! A licensed counselor will be here with The Couples Playbook to help realign your love game.#BlackStarNetwork partner: Fanbasehttps://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbase This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.  This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. You should read the Offering Circular (https://bit.ly/3VDPKjD) and Risks (https://bit.ly/3ZQzHl0) related to this offering before investing. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You dig? Well, it's Monday, December 29th, 2025. I'm Brittany Noble sitting in for Roland Martin. And here's what's coming up on Roland Martin, unfiltered stream live on the Black Star Network. U.S. airstrikes hit ISIS camps in Nigeria on Christmas Day. And Donald Trump calls it a present. We'll talk to a national security and foreign affairs legal answers.

about what's really happening and why we are attacking the African nation. A petition to deport Nikki Minaj who's gained traction amid growing backlash will explain what's fueling it and get this. Head Start programs warn scrub words like blackened women from funding abs or lose cash. Shastikaandrad with the Washington State Democrats and Sarah Hunt Blackwell from the ACLU in Georgia joins us tonight to discuss what all of this means. Plus with the new year around the corner. It's resolution time. Couples, listen up. A licensed counselor will be here with the couple's playbook to help realign your love game. It's time to bring the Funk and Roland Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. Let's go. On Christmas Day, Donald Trump ordered

U.S. air strikes to Nigeria, calling them a present. The Pentagon says America is in northwest Nigeria near Niger border and officials on the ground and reporting, they are reporting multiple casualties. Trump is praising the mission as powerful and deadly, framing it as a Christmas gift against what he calls terrorist scum, targeting Christians. But Nigeria's foreign minister is pushing back, stressing this is not a religious war, noting militants in the region have been killing both Muslims and Christians. Joining us now, we have Johanna LeBlanc and Hattuck Professor of American Foreign Policy and Howard University. We want to thank you so much for joining us tonight. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely. Could you walk us through what's happening in

Nigeria right now? Well, since 2009, we know that more than 50,000 people have died in another Nigeria by the hands of Boko Haram. And you're talking about both Christians as well as Muslims. So the situation in Nigeria predates the Tinnibu administration. And the administration has acknowledged that there is indeed a problem. And they've been trying to address it. And they have not necessarily been successful. And they have welcomed support and assistance from partners, such as the United States and other states from around the world to help them fight Boko or Iran. But as we know, President Trump said very early on, well, about a month.

ago that if the terrorist attack continues, that he would send troops and gun a blazon. And he did indeed deliver on that promise in Sokoto, Nigeria, which is located in another part of Nigeria on Christmas Day. So on Christmas Day, walk us through more about what happened when he came in, quote, blunts of blazing. Well, he didn't quite go in guns or blazing, like he said. But there was a use of force used in Sokoto, Nigeria. And I think it's important for the audience to also understand that this was done in collaboration with the Nigerian government.

The Nigerian government immediately put out a press release indicating that this was again done in collaboration with their intelligence and their military personnel along with the Ministry of Defense in Nigeria. So I think it's very important that we understand that this was not a unilateral act done by the Trump administration, but definitely in collaboration with the Tina Bu administration. Where the two countries differ is why the killing is happening. The Trump administration contends that it is the killing of Christians. Whereas the Nigerian government makes it very clear that. It's not just Christians who are being targeted by the insurgency group. It's certainly Christians as well as Muslims. And they're fighting against what the Nigerian government called. They're fighting for resources in the region. Whereas Mr. Trump characterizes it as a fight just Christians being targeted and being killed by ISIS and Boca Raan.

The Trump's words, is that making religious tensions worse? Well, what I can tell you is that our American foreign policy is deeply intertwined in our domestic politics. So every time, every decision that the United States government make under this administration internationally, know that it is connected to a domestic policy priority that we're trying to achieve. And we know that the Trump administration has gained a great deal of support from the evangelical groups here in this country. And they have been lobbying on this particular issue for quite some time. So I would imagine that by the use of force on Christmas Day, it was very strategic, right? When Americans and evangelicals are celebrating Jesus Christ and are celebrating Christmas,

they're hearing that the administration has strike potentially a time. target that is persecuting and essentially killing Christians, I think for many of them, it was certainly a victory. But I think, and certainly under international law, there was indeed an imminent threat. So President Donald Trump was within his legal rights as a foreign state to intervene. And I think that if you watch what happened immediately after, usually when the president engage in some kind of foreign policy intervention, the ranking member of the of the House Foreign Relations Committee usually sends out a press release a statement, either defending or against what the administration has done.

What we saw in this case is that we did not see a statement against this action by the Trump administration from a working member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Jeffrey Meeks, which tells me that they too understand the challenges that have been posed within the the region within the Sokoto region and another region of Nigeria in addressing and searching groups that have committed horrific acts in the region. We're talking about more than 50,000 people have died since 2009. Tell us, do you think there should be more transparency from the governments? What I think should happen is I think there should be continued collaboration

between the Tinnibu administration, as well as the US administration and other partners to actually address this crisis, because it is a problem, it is a humanitarian crisis. People are indeed dying, right? And these insurgency groups are committing terrible acts against people in another part of Nigeria in So in Sokoto,

and certainly in other parts of the country. So there should be more collaboration for sure. And I think that when it comes to some of these types of actions, a lot of times the public is not aware of the details, right? It's done between state to state, head of state and in many cases, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, rather, in these countries, along with our Department of War, usually work in collaboration. And the audience and the public really know a lot about what is happening behind closed doors. And I think part of it is because the administration certainly did not want to alert the insurgency groups that there would have been some kind of

attack, right, on Christmas Day. Because I think the initial strike was supposed to have taken place on Wednesday. But instead, the administration moved it to Christmas Day, which tells me this was a way for the administration to achieve some kind of, domestic priority because countries rarely go into other countries and support them just for just because countries are good countries want to see the best right usually there are other incentives and there are other interests there are other priorities why countries engage with with other nations especially in a situation like this something that is so so nuanced and so complicated and so complex and johanna leban please stick around for us after the break we have our panel we'll bring

the men, we'll have them to ask you a few questions. But for right now, stick with us. You're watching for the Martin Hiltre. Thank you. In this country right now, you have people get up in the morning. And the only thing they can think about is how many people they can hurt. And they've got the power. That's the time for mourning. For better or worse, what makes America special, it's that legal system that's supposed to the more you listen to your kids, the closer you'll be. So we asked kids, what do you want your parents to hear? I feel sometimes that I'm not listened to. I would just want you to listen to me more often and evaluate situations with me and lead me towards success. Listening is a form of love. Find resources to help you support your kids and their emotional

well-being at soundedouttogether.org. That's sounded outtogether.org. Brought to you by the ad council and pivotal. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Z is in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense. I will continue getting stuff from Target and I will continue to not pay for it. And the MAGA influencers whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent

and articulate. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride who the most delulu takes on the internet, criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective. Join in on the insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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from the tyranny of the majority. We are at a point of a moral emergency. We must raise a voice of outrage. We must raise a voice of compassion. And we must raise a voice of unity. We are not in a crisis of party versus party. We are in a crisis of civilization, a human rights crisis,

and a crisis of democracy itself. And guess what? You've been chosen to make sure that those that would destroy, those that would hate, don't have the final say, and they don't ultimately win. Hey, y'all. Welcome to the other side of change, only on the Black Star Network and hosted by myself, Maria Baker, and my good sister, Jamir Burley. We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture. And we don't just settle for commentary. This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be

and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to the other side of change. What's up, everybody? It's Godfrey the funniest dude on the planet. And you're watching. Roland Martin unfiltered. Welcome back.

We are discussing the Christmas Day attack against Nigeria. I want to bring in the panel for tonight. We have Yolanda Jones, Texas State Representative and lawyer from Houston. We also have Dr. Larry J. Walker, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Also joining us tonight, Teresa Lundy, principal and founder of T.M.L. Communications in Philadelphia. We want to thank you all for joining us. Teresa, we'll start with you. What's your question for, Yohanna? Hey, Yahan. Well, thank you so much for that wealth of information. Just, you know, maybe curious about what the future

looks like, you know, we heard a whole bunch of items that you had mentioned, but what's like maybe like the short-term future outlook on this? Well, so I was just in Nigeria a few weeks ago, and I spent about three weeks, and I did talk to senior leaders about this particular issue. And what I can tell you is that the team of administration really wants to work with the Trump administration. to address this crisis. It is indeed a humanitarian crisis. It is a fight for resources in the region.

You know, there's a lot of gold and a lot of other resources in that area that herdsmen are fighting for, as well as other folks who have interest in the region. So I think that what you will see is you will see continued collaboration between the Tinnu administration, as well as the Trump administration in addressing this unfortunate crisis that started way before

President Tinibu came to power. Dr. Walker, do you have a question? I do. You know, it's interesting because the White House, particularly President Trump, has had a lot of, a lot to say about Nigeria over the last couple of weeks, and a lot of it, and mostly it's not good. particularly you talk about the alleged persecution of Christians. You talked about how they're also Muslims being targeted also. And I'm wondering how this is playing on the ground in Nigeria,

considering some of the things that President Trump and administration overall have to say about Nigeria, A, how it's playing on the ground. And B, you know, the administration is not known for always telling the truth. So I'm curious to how leaders in Nigeria think this will play out long term in terms of whether they can actually trust that the Trump administration, when they take out these kind of attacks, that they won't go rogue and essentially not coordinate as much with the current administration in Nigeria.

What I could tell you is that the people on the ground welcome this development. They are very pleased to see that something is being done in collaboration with the US government. So because they're the ones who have dealt with the killings of their loved ones, of their family members, and the insecurity crisis that exist as a result of these insurgency groups, right?

They're directly impacted by it. So the way they receive this use of force by the administration and the way it is received by Americans completely different, well, by some Americans rather, completely different. And you have to understand why they're much closer to the issue and have been directly impacted, right? However, come, I think that you did make a good point

that some of the comments that Mr. Trump has made about the continent, about Nigeria, and about countries in the global south have not necessarily been welcomed, right? And we can also, we also saw how, you know, the Trump administration, has prioritized white South Africans to be able to enter into the United States as refugees because of claims that they are being persecuted, that they are being killed and attacked because

they are white in South Africa, right? But at the same token, that same opportunity is not presented to Black Nigerians, right, who the administration claims are also being targeted and are also being persecuted, because of the religious religious beliefs. In fact, what we saw was Nigeria has been listed as is considered on the do not travel list. So that means that there's a big portion of the Nigerian population that would not be able to receive a visa to even come to the United States as tourists or even come as though on an H1B visa.

So I think when you look at some of these applications, actions, you ask yourself what is really, really the motive here, right? But I can assure you on the ground, in spite of these challenges, in spite of these policies that we have seen on the ground that have been implemented by the White House, which have a disproportionate impact on the global South, countries, Nigerians in particular, have welcomed the use of force by the administration to address the insecurity. crisis in Sokoto, Nigeria, and certainly other parts of Nigeria. But I think it's important to note that in Sokoto, Nigeria is not where necessarily you have your insurgity groups located,

per se. There are other states where they are much more prominent, right? Where we know where they engage in their activities. Sokoto is more so a symbol of what these insurgency groups actually stand for. So by striking So called to Nigeria, it sends a very strong message, pretty much to the headquarters that if this continues, there will be additional actions to come. Yanni, you said that you were just in Nigeria not too long ago. And can you give us a better idea of how people there are feeling? Again, like I said earlier, it is an issue that the The killing of both Christians and Muslims and others is an issue that predates President Ahmed Tinnu Bu. I think the last report that I read was in 2009.

The number was that since 2009, more than 50,000 people have died. So again, there is a dire concern by not just the people of Nigeria, but also the leaders in Nigeria on on how to really address this crisis to ensure that all Nigerians, irrespective of your religion, are safe and can live in an environment where they won't be attacked by insurgency groups. But also, too, I think it's important to note that Nigeria has been a friend of the United States for decades now in addressing insurgency in the Sahel region.

You're looking at Mali, Niger, and also you have to look at Nigeria, where the strike happened actually border with Niger, which is a country of great concern for the United States in terms of terrorist activities. So I think that, again, based on my own conversation with people on the ground, leaders, ministers and members of parliament, I think many of them do welcome this kind of collaboration with the United States to address the terrorist activities in the country. Lundy, we'll take a question from you next. Can you hear me now? I sure can. Okay. So here's my question.

First of all, I have a number of concerns. I have concerns about the U.S. being so quick to use the military. to accomplish its worldwide propaganda that we are the strongest nation. And I just wonder, considering what I've listened to now in this discussion, about how President Trump literally has blackballed Africa and black bald Nigeria, including black Nigerians.

I'm curious if this is an effort by Trump to try to get black support in the US, but I'm really struggling with the, mischaracterization, that it's a Christian versus Muslim thing, when it's really not. And are there not, is the U.S. propaganda machine working in Nigeria to where the people that are on the ground in Nigeria believe that the military is the only answer to what's going on there? Because what I wonder is, if we would do more diplomatic and economic solutions with Nigeria and work in collaboration there, then maybe we would.

could help Nigeria locally figure out how to handle the security issues. Yeah, I agree with you. I think that, well, what we do know is that these terrorist groups, obviously they are driven by ideology, right? It's an ideology that in many cases you can't destroy. It's hard to destroy an ideology, right? But there are a segment of members of these terrorist groups. various groups that have been recruited because of poverty, right?

And this is where the economic opportunities come into place, right? So I think that as my co-panelists indicated, that working with the Nigerian government to strengthen trade relations with Nigeria would be a way to actually fight these terrorist groups in the long term, right? So I think the use of force is a short term, a weight of addressing it. long term, there has to be more economic activities taking place in another port of Nigeria so that it makes it less likely for these groups to actually recruit young people to join them. And it's not just Nigeria, by the way, when we talk about these terrorist activities.

The whole Sahed region is a huge concern for not just the United States, for the entire world. Because one thing that we do know is that when we don't address these crises head on as a global community, it ends up on our doorsteps. That is a fact. And if we don't quite understand how interconnected that we are, I think if COVID-19 did not really taught us that. I'm not sure when we will ever understand how connected we really are as a human race. We saw one person who was infected in a place called Wuhan, China, a place that many of us had never heard of, led to the collapse of our economies globally, and also led to the killing of countless millions of people in the United States, in Europe, and other parts of the world. So we are interconnected. So we have a duty and obligation to work in collaboration to address one of these dire threats. And these terrorist groups and organizations are indeed threats, not just to the people of Nigeria, not just to the Sahel region, not just to the African continent, but to us here, here in the United States, it is a threat for us.

So working in collaboration with states in good faith, certainly, to address some of these crises through the use of force is certainly one way. But soft power, we've used soft power before. It has not worked, right? But certainly through trade and investments in these areas that have historically being neglected in Nigeria as a way to kind of decrease the number of the... Babes, what are you doing? What? I'm just mowing the lawn. No, it's blazing hot and dry out here. Don't you remember? Smokey Bear says

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The social media trend that's landing some Gen Ziers is in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense. I will continue getting stuff from Target. And I will continue to not pay for it. And the MAGA influencers whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulate.

You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast. Hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride who the most delulu takes on the internet, criticizing the extremes of both sides

from an independent perspective. Join in on the insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is, you can decide who takes home the 26thiHard Podcast Awards Podcast of the year

by voting at iHeartpodcastawards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at iHeartpodcastawards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. ...of these groups and also decrease the number of people who have died through these terrorist organizations. Johanna LeBlanc, adjunct professor of American Foreign Policy at Howard University, we want

to thank you for joining us tonight and for your expertise. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Well, coming up next, we'll talk about a new directive from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that has instructed Head Start programs to strip nearly 200 words like black, female, minority, or trauma from funding applications. know that your support for Roland Martin unfiltered is critical to what we do. You can support us via cash app using the Stripe code. We'll put that right there, bottom left hand corner. You can also help us

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and we really, really appreciate your support. We'll be right back. Are you ready for the holidays? This week on a balanced life with Dr. Jackie, we're talking about all things, anxiety, and the holidays, whether it's performance anxiety, Presence versus presence, making certain that everybody in your space understands the boundaries and how to respect your home.

This week, we're talking about those things that will allow you to have a peaceful holiday season. It really is not about perfection. It's really about, you know, the house feeling warm and cozy and peaceful. You don't have to like everybody, but what you can do is be cordial in those environments. That's all this week on A Balance Life with Dr. Jackie here on Black Star. network. They said the quiet part out loud. Black votes are a threat. So they erased them. After the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, Republican legislatures moved fast. New voter ID laws, polling place shutdowns, purges of black voters from the rolls.

Trump's Justice Department didn't stop it, they joined in. In 2018, his DOJ backed Ohio's voter purge system, a scheme that disproportionately erased black voters. their goal, erase black votes and political power. Yeah, that happened. These are the kinds of stories that we cover every day on Roland Martin unfiltered. Subscribe on YouTube and download the Black Star Network app. Support fact-based independent journalism that centers African Americans and the issues that matter to our community.

If in this country right now, you have people get up in the morning, and the only thing they can think about is how many people. they can hurt and they got the power, that's the time for mourning. For better or worse, what makes America special, it's that legal system that's supposed to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority. We are at a point of a moral emergency. We must raise a voice of outrage. We must raise a voice of compassion.

And we must raise a voice of unity. We are not in a crisis. of party versus party. We are in a crisis of civilization, a human rights crisis, and a crisis of democracy itself. And guess what? You've been chosen to make sure that those that would destroy, those that would hate, don't have the final say, and they don't ultimately win. Welcome back. Some Head Start programs, early childhood programs, are now being warned by the federal government to remove certain words from their funding applications or risk losing funding. And we're not talking about a short list. Nearly 200 words and phrases are flagged, including terms like

black women, trauma, tribal, racism, disability, and even mental health. These are words that are central to how these programs actually serve kids and families. Head Start supports about 750,000 low-income infants and preschoolers nationwide. But now programs are being told to describe culturally and linguistically appropriate services without using the very language that makes those services clear and honest. All of this is part of the Trump era crackdown on anything labeled DEI with a pretty blunt message. Use this language in your training or grant proposals and your funding could be at risk. Joining us now, we have Shosti Condrad with Washington State Democrats. We also have Sarah Hunt from the ACLU in Georgia. Thank you so much for being here tonight.

Thank you for having you. Shastie, let's start with you. What are your thoughts when you heard about this? Well, I mean, you know, these days in the Trump administration, you know, it's this stuff is shocking, but it shouldn't be because it is exactly as they have acted, you know, for the decade that we've been dealing with them. They are saying the quiet part out loud, which is that they want to erase all of us. They want to erase, as you listed, you know, tribal communities, black communities, brown communities. They want to erase all of us. And, you know, it is there, it's part of their program to defund the government, basically, and make it so that all of these programs that have really helped to give so many, particularly marginalized communities,

with so many people across this country, sort of a leg up and, you know, be successful and be a part of this country. They are taking away, you know, the very better. rock of our nation by saying all of by doing this. And as I read the article, you know, many of these Head Start directors are saying, well, how do we even apply for these grants? How do we get the funding to keep our doors open when you are telling us to not talk about the exact mandate that we have to run these programs? And so it is horrifying, although not surprising from what we've seen from the Trump administration. And Sarah, does this put head start in just an impossible situation now? Very nearly. Being able to operate and receive funding from the federal

government is integral to Head Start programs, being able to keep their doors open and being able to service families and children across the United States. So by not being able to include these very critical terms in applications for funding, it completely undermines the program itself and really does call into question how these programs continue to operate in the way that they were intended to and in the best way to serve children and families across the United States. I guess a big question right now, Shasi, is what's going to be the impact for our children? Well, I mean, you know, deep impacts. You know, so many of our children have been well served by Head Start programs,

both in terms of educational value, but also it's a place for them to get meals. you know, to be able to have nutritional assistance. So many of our kids across this country don't have access to healthy food at home. And Head Start programs have been a space where we've been able to help kids get the support that they need to grow. And we all know that, you know, the, what happens in the early days of a child's life really sets the tone for the rest of their life. And so I think it is a way to truly, you know, damage and deeply impact our, particularly, like I said, our marginalized communities, but our black and brown communities that is going to have detrimental effects for the rest of these folks' lives. Sarah, let's talk about the legal risk.

You know, what happens for the Head Start programs that do or do not comply? Well, most immediately, what happens is that a lot of these programs will get tied up in litigation. As we see now, there is pending litigation going on right now to address the, this list of words that is restricting the Head Start programs for being able to operate. And litigation is extremely lengthy, costly, and it really has the potential to tie up these Head Start programs, even without there being any specific law that comes down to say, no, this can't happen. Just the ability to be tied up in litigation for such a long time throws a huge monkey wrench into the operations of these programs.

And not to mention again, the costliness of this. So these Head Start programs are going to have to figure out ways to pay for this litigation and to essentially sue the United States federal government. So it creates a lot of barriers just from the legal side alone of how to continue on with these programs. Let's go ahead and bring in our panel tonight. I'm sure they have lots of questions. Teresa, I'll begin with you. Do you have a question for the panel? For Shastir, Sarah. Yeah. Well, one, thank you all for that information. I think it is extremely hard.

You know, I'm in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania. We have some of these programs, and most of these programs are actually struggling with this now. So what do you recommend that they do? We don't want them to lie on applications because we do. We do. We do know Trump organization will absolutely revoked and remove their organization from receiving federal dollars altogether. So what is the recommendation? We know what issues we have with them right now, but what is the recommendations for organizations to apply and get additional fundings, keep their additional funding? Maybe I can take that one. I think that the Department of Health and Human Services has been very clear about obviously which words to not use.

So I think that the most straightforward directive now is to, as of right now, simply don't use those words. It seems that the department is going through these applications with a fine-tooth comb, specifically looking for these words if they are included, and they become immediate red flags for the Head Start program to either receive correspondence asking them to remove the words or potentially even worse where they just receive a rejection. So it seems as though right now the best immediate option is to remove the words and just continue on with the application so that there is still at least a chance of funding, at least until there is a better solution until the litigation that is pending comes with some type of resolution. Dr. Larry Walker.

Yes. And my question I think particularly is for Sarah. You know, so, you know, a lot of people don't really a head start as a result of the President Johnson administration essentially kind of, you know, reflective of the Great Society programs of the 1960s. And I guess my question essentially is this just another way to attack or dismantle programs. And we already know about the Voting Rights Act, Fair Housing Act, et cetera, in elementary secondary education act. It's just a continuation of those programs, like I said, to kind of provide a civil rights foundation. in the 1960s, is this a way for the administration to continue to dismantle those programs? Absolutely, without a doubt. And we see this happening not only at the infancy and pre-K stage of life, but also we see this happening in college campuses. So it's really an attack from the earliest

of education and learning and development, going all the way up to college education and college curricula. So it is absolutely a complete undoing and unraveling of DEI of civil rights protections and civil rights guarantees, as you mentioned, that were enacted during the 60s under the Johnson administration, completely unraveling and undoing all of those efforts. Yolanda Jones, I think you're on mute. I'm sorry. I'm a lawyer in my day job. And what I see is this. There used to be a time where, story decisis meant something, which means the story decisis for those of you who are not lawyers, is the law is what the law is, right? We used to have a right to abortion. That was the law.

If somebody tried to take away that right, then it was stricken, right? So I believe this is absolutely Project 2025, where they're literally targeting everything that sought or seeks to help people who are disadvantaged. That's why Head Start was put in place. It was literally designed to provide nutrition and education and daycare and all those things for classes of people who were historically disadvantaged. So my question, like from that point of view is that, so first of all, do you think it's designed to get it up to the Supremes, by the Supremes, I mean the Supreme Court, where I absolutely believe Trump controls them to dismantle the Constitution, our constitutional protections is one. And the problem is I also want to say,

see, when you remove these words, as was suggested, then we need to see where the money goes. Because I think what Trump and his people are miscalculating is poverty isn't just concentrated with black people or brown people or indigenous people. Poverty, there are a lot of poor white people. And so then the question becomes, when all these kids can't eat, all these parents don't have a place to send their kids and all these kids are not making good grades because they're starving. because someone said that some people don't have access to quality food. Some people don't have access to food at all. I know that I ate free and reduced for lunch.

And sometimes my only meal of the day came from these programs. So one, do we think it's going up to the Supreme Court in order to dismantle constitutional protections we've had? And two, I think, do we think it's going to affect the midterms? Because I think it's going to backfire on Trump. And the question is, are people going to hold our social? starving kids against Trump. Everyone needs to take care of their mental health, even running back Bejohn Robinson.

When I'm on the field, I'm feeling the pressure, I usually just take a deep breath. When I'm just breathing and seeing what's in front of me, everything just slows down. It just makes you feel great before I run the play. Just like Bejohn, we all need a strong mental game on and off the field. Make a game playing for your mental health at loveyourmind playbook.org. Love your mind.

Brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and the ad console. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Ziers in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense. I will continue getting stuff from Target. And I will continue to not pay for it.

And the MAGA influencers, whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulate. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast, hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride through the most delulu takes on the internet, criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective.

Join in on the Insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is, You can decide who takes home the 26 IHard Podcast Awards podcast of the year by voting at IHeartPodcastawards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at IHeartPodcastawards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app.

Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. We're going to continue to believe his propaganda that we don't deserve any of these things and white people are being discriminated against. If I can jump in here, I would say, yes, absolutely. I was really proud our attorney general here in Washington State signed on with a number of Democratic attorney generals to fight this.

And so I think you're absolutely right. This is going up to the Supreme Court. Now, yes, I think Trump certainly. does control much of the Supreme Court. It is certainly Republican-led, but we have been winning. As Democrats, we have been winning cases. As it moves through the courts, there's always a delay in how these things are handled. But we are having some successes with sometimes the lower courts are actually voting in our favor and whatnot. So I hold out hope that this will, you know, this will be stopped and we have to continue to fight it. I think also the storytelling, as you just said,

important. There's so much going on, right? There's so much that the Trump administration and these Republicans are attacking and going against. There's new stories every single day, but we cannot let this get buried. And we can't make it just about, you're right, it can't just be about, you know, black and brown children. That is certainly a huge, you know, part of the constituency that Head Start supports, but you're right. It is for children across the entire United States that are being impacted by these programs being defunded. And so we have to continue to put our foot on the gas and not slow down. And the Democratic Party this past year, we overperformed in something like 95% of the elections

that were held, you know, special elections from places like Iowa, you know, to Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia, you know, all the way to winning Prop 15 in California. So we, there is momentum. And I think what you are seeing is that this Republican overreach, that is, you know, really people are sick of the chaos that they are creating and they, and they're done with it. And so we have to continue to push this momentum through 2026 into the midterms so that we can erase, as the Republicans are trying to erase us, we need to erase them and get our folks back into power so that we can put a stop to all of this.

Shasi Conrad with the Washington State Democrats and also Sarah Hunt Blackwell's Senior Policy Council of ACLU and Georgia. We thank you for your time tonight. Thanks for having me. Thank you. And we'll be right back here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Stay with us. In this country right now, you have people get up in the morning. And the only thing they can think about is how many people they can hurt. And they've got the power. That's the time for mourning. For better or worse, what makes America special, it's not legal. system that's supposed to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority. We are at a point of a moral emergency.

We must raise a voice of outrage. We must raise a voice of compassion. And we must raise a voice of unity. We are not in a crisis of party versus party. We are in a crisis of civilization, a human rights crisis, and a crisis of democracy. It's not what? You've been chosen to make sure that those that would destroy, those that would hate, don't have the final say, and they don't ultimately win. Hey, y'all. Welcome to the other side of change, only on the Black Star Network and hosted by myself, Maria Baker, and my good sis, Jamir Burley.

We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture. And we don't just settle for commentary. This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to the other side of change. Are you ready for the holidays?

This week on a balanced life with Dr. Jackie, we're talking about all things, anxiety, and the holidays, whether it's performance anxiety, presence versus presents, making certain that everybody in your space understands the boundaries and how to respect your home.

This week, we're talking about those things. that will allow you to have a peaceful holiday season. It really is not about perfection. It's really about, you know, the house feeling warm and cozy and peaceful. You don't have to like everybody, but what you can do is be cordial in those environments. That's all this week on A Balance Life with Dr. Jackie here on Black Star Network. Melanie Campbell, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Black Women's Roundtable. And we are watching Roland Martin unfiltered all day every day.

24-7, spread the word. Well, a controversial online petition calling for the deportation of Nikki Minaj began circulating this week following her appearance at a turning point USA event in Arizona. The utmost respect and admiration for our president. He has, I don't. I don't know if he even knows this, but he's given so many people hope that there's a chance to beat the bad guys and to win and to do it with your head held high and your integrity intact. He's from Queens, New York like me. so but what it's shown me personally is sometimes you know even at even in the worst feeling times

in your life you think that you're never going to come back from it but you do and our president shows that he's been through every single thing a person could be through publicly um having to constantly be lied on. It's not really that funny. Until you are in that person's shoes that's being lied on, you'll never understand what it feels like. That person is a human being. They have a family who has to read those lies. And that's not, and it's just not fair. Well, the petition to have her deported has gathered nearly 51,000, five thousand, 500 signatures at last check. And it calls out her behavior, including that she has harassed members of the Carter family claims. Also, supporters argue that deporting Minaj to Trinidad would protect

the public and quote, send a clear message against harassment and support of criminal activity, and it will not be tolerated here in the United States. I would like to bring in the panel so they can discuss this. Elanda Jones, let's start with you. What are your thoughts when you hear Nikki Minaj on stage? So first of all, I don't take Nikki Minaj seriously when she talks

about her expertise. The first word she used that triggered me when it was related to Trump is integrity. The man has no integrity. So how the hell you think that Trump has integrity? I'm not listening to anything else you say, right? And don't tell me that we should feel sorry for a billionaire who has had every advantage,

who's a white man, who hates everything that we are, and you are specifically, and oh, while we're at it, Charlie Clark didn't like you either, and to literally try to make him into some kind of hero like unacceptable. And since she supports everything he's doing,

which he's literally deporting people who are not criminals, he is literally deporting people who are U.S. citizens, he's literally deporting those people, then what's good for what Trump is doing? Other people should be good for you. So I think it should go on. And Nikki needs to, I hate to say this because I don't want to minimize her

because she's a woman, but I'm going to give you to do some. I think we lost you there for a second. Did you? I said, you know, the fact that people are starting to cancel you, you didn't think about what you're saying because at the end of the day,

there are people that literally are attacked for doing nothing but breathing. And they don't have the resources that Donald Trump has to defend themselves. And so I don't have a problem with the petition. You started it, Nikki Minaj, so maybe you are going to FAAFO. Yolanda, tell me this. Can the petition like this realistically lead to a deportation? So as a practical matter, we have seen how Trump favors who he favors,

how he's made life easier for his lane. Maxwell and how his, I guess, his spokesperson's godson's mother ended up not being deported. So I don't think it's going to go anywhere. But what I hope it shows to entertainers who literally have no clue what's going on, but who want to get in on it because they're trying to get likes or whatever, that you need to think long, you need to think hard about serious topics before you opine on them. Because we see how uninformed and how flat out dumb you are. But to the extent I bought any Nicki Minaj records, I believe you hit people like that in the pocketbooks.

So she ain't got to worry about me ever buying anything she ever writes. I don't care if it's something that I might like because the only way to make rich people pay attention is to hit them in the pocketbooks. And that's what I think we need to do to Nikki Minaj. The deportation petition can go, but we need to stop buying her records. And Dr. Walker, what message is Nikki sending by standing with Trump? Yeah, this is really messy. Let's just call it what it is. So look, there's a couple things here.

I think this is a disturbing train that relates to hip hop, which at a center is supposed to be anti-establishment. Ice Q. 50 cent. I could keep going. So relating to this particular issue and the petition, listen, Mickey Minaj and some of the other rappers that I talked about, they don't have, they just don't have the background. They're not subject matter experts,

but what they do is they have platforms that impacts millions of people. So it's really concerning about what she's had to say and because she's not informed. I do want to say that I worry about petitions like this because I love and respect black women and I worry about, you know, anti-blackness and that some of this could lead to more troubling issues as a relation to we see some of the issues in terms of the black, the black diaspora. and you know African Americans and those who are Afro-Caribbean or from the continent or other places where they're black folks is I worry about where this dialogue leads. So but obviously she's not qualified to have this conversation and offer an opinion.

Lastly, I will add that she needs to be very careful because once these folks are done with you, they will discard you. And she's vulnerable as someone with the green car holder. She needs to be very careful. And Teresa, how do you feel? Do you feel like celebrities like Nikki should be called out when they align with power that consistently works against us? Absolutely. I think Nikki Minaj is also a part of the loud crowd of needing something from the White House. We know she has some personal matters, either from her husband or for herself, that needs to be taken care of financially.

And so she is doing what other celebrities have done. Those who, you know, didn't just stick to what we all know them for, great music, great artistry. But it comes to the point when they delve over into politics, when not a full understanding of what it really means to those who don't make what they make in that tax bracket, to those who are missing funding and real opportunity that they've been blessed with. So it's always interesting when celebrities want to all of a sudden make a 180 over to the other side without actually knowing some of the crucial conversations that are happening in neighborhoods and communities that actually support either what they're doing in their mission or their music. So Nicky Minaj being canceled, I'm not surprised coming from a communications background. it is, I would have probably done the same thing and delete the account because, you know,

when the internet is undefeated, it's undefeated. But I think Nikki Minaj and her team also knew when they took that grand stage with Erica Kirk, what the message was really going to send. So good luck to her and I can't wait to watch. Well, coming up, a Chicago mayor defends not signing the city's budget plan. We'll talk about how professional teams worth millions. steal from taxpayers to build new stadiums, and later in the show, licensed professional counselor,

walks us through the couples playbook, a tool to help couples gain, get back on track for 2026. Folks, we need your support to continue doing what we do. You can support us via cash app using the stripe code in the bottom left hand corner. There you have it. You can also help us with your credit card. Use the same thing.

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We certainly need your support. You are watching Roland Martin unfiltered. Blackstar Network. We'll be right back. Everyone needs to take care of their mental health, even running back Bejan Robinson. When I'm on the field, I'm feeling the pressure, I usually just take a deep breath. When I'm just breathing and seeing what's in front of me, everything just slows down. It just makes you feel great before I run the play. Just like Bejohn, we all need a strong mental game on and off the field.

Make a game playing for your mental health at loveyourmind playbook.org. Love your mind. Brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, the author, M. Blank Family Foundation and the ad console. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Z ears in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense.

I will continue getting stuff from Target and I will continue to not pay for it. And the MAGA influencers whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulate. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast. Hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride through the most delulu takes on the internet,

criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective. Join in on the insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is you can decide who takes home the 26 IHard Podcast Awards podcast of the year by voting at IHeart Podcast Awards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at IHeart Podcast Awards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at Audible.com.

Welcome to the other side of change, only on the Black Star Network, and hosted by myself, Rea Baker, and my good sister, Jamira Burley. We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture. And we don't just settle for commentary. This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to the other side of change.

Supremacy is, quote, the most persistent and lethal threat in the homeland. terrorist threat to the homeland is the homegrown violence, including hate crime committed on behalf of some kind of white supremacist ideology. They are coming after everything in Black America. MAGA and Donald Trump are specifically targeting Black America. They are going after the money. Attack Black Lives Man, attack critical races, attack war, DEI. MAGA wants to defund Black America. This is a perfect example of their desire.

to completely degrade and be emphasized black. What's up? It's your girl, Tamika D. Mallory, and you are watching the Black Star Network. Welcome back. In Chicago, the city council went around Mayor Brandon Johnson and passed its own $16.6 billion budget and revenue plan. The plan, it ditches Johnson's idea for corporate head tax on large employers.

Instead, it relies on expanded video gambling. higher fees and other revenue sources to close a roughly $1.1 billion budget gap. Well, Johnson says he won't veto the plan, which avoids a government shutdown, but he won't sign it either. He's letting the budget become law without his signature and calls the outcome a win. It was just a few days ago that you called the proposal that was approved morally bankrupt. Now you're saying it's a win. If you believe it's morally bankrupt, how can it be a win? Well, the reason why it's a win, so let's just parse

apart what I actually said. I said that there was one component of what they were proposing was morally bankrupt. Because it is immoral to send debt collectors after working people and poor people at a time in which

Donald Trump is attacking poor people. That is, that's depravity. The win, we can speak to the win, so thank you for giving me another opportunity to talk about what we want. So we did protect youth employment even though they tried to take 5,000 positions away. We did protect the largest TIF surplus in the history of Chicago, even though they try to take it away. We did stop them from raising garbage fees even though they tried to double them.

The last I checked, my clear lines were, do not raise the garbage fees, do not collect grocery taxes, and do not raised property taxes and invest in young people, invest in affordable housing, and invest in mental health. Those are all wins. And you can still call out the wins while also calling out the most egregious aspect of what these individuals put forward, which is morally bankrupt. At a time in which the President of the United States of America has declared war on poor people, the last thing the city of Chicago should be doing is signing up for that war. Okay, so if you have all of these wins and you did build in a safeguard with the executive order regarding medical debt, then why not just go ahead and sign the budget?

Well, again, as I said before, this is about how we signal to the people of Chicago what this fight will continue to be about. Look, I don't think it's a bad thing that the people of Chicago want everything that they deserve. And if 98, let me say this, and if 98.4% won't do for working people, then just consider me in the words of a great gospel song, 99 and a half won't do, and I'm fighting for 100%. That's a shout out to Hezekiah Walker. So if you're just wondering, you have to go Google it. Let's bring in our panel to discuss what we just saw. Dr. Walker, we'll start with you. What are your thoughts about the mayor's comments? Yeah, so it's interesting. And listen, anytime you're quoting Hezekiah Walker,

I think that's a win for you, right? But politically, I think I should also note that the last several months, he's made a complete 180 as it relates to his popularity. And a lot of these moments are an example of that. He's very good at the podium responded to these kind of, you know, through his reported questions. So I get why he didn't sign.

the budget. This is not uncommon for policymakers in local jurisdictions to have to disagree with the city council. You saw it in my hometown in Philadelphia recently here in terms of the mayor and city council agreeing disagreeing on certain issues. And so I get his advisors telling him not to sign it because he can stand there and say, well, guess what? There are things in there that I think are great for the people while they're things that they were challenging without taking responsibility for signing it and allowing anyone's hold it against him when he runs a re-election. So this is basically politics. He knows that. And essentially that reporter threw him a slow pitch and allowed him to hit it out of the park by responding and using the, you know, which is, which is a great

Hezekiah Walker quote. Yolanda Jones, what are your thoughts about the video gambling taxes there now? So I think that, I mean, there are going to be people that say, you know, addiction is addiction and we should protect people from themselves. But, I mean, it's a hot button topic. So just avoid it. And you win. And I can tell you as it relates to what the mayor just said, like he literally didn't stop the budget. It's not going to delay any city services. He's not triggering a shutdown. He's not created any kind of legal uncertainty.

He gets to stand at the podium, as was said before, and speak to the problems he thinks are with it. And it also allows him the moral high ground to continue to criticize what he thinks is bad. And if it doesn't go like city council thinks, then he can come back and maybe they revisit it. He is able to show how really smart he is or how bright he is. So I thought it was a brilliant political move. and I think they're going to let people who gamble decide whether they're going to gamble about gamble or not. And I also, when I was listening to what he said,

because I don't live in Chicago, I don't live in Illinois. Although when I lay it during the quorum break, we were there and they were very hospitable to us. It seems like he was also trying to make sure that more of the budget deficit was filled by rich corporations rather than the poor people. So I think he was right when he said, there's just all out of salt

on poor people and poor people are at least able to defend themselves and so I think that it's a good political move for him to do that and that's what I believe about it. Your thoughts? So I think our Chicago mayor

is, I love what he's doing. I think he definitely keeps it interesting especially on this side of town of Philly where we have a lot of the same issues. But I also think, you know, it's ideal, you know, when we see mayors, especially someone in the capacity is in stepping up to Trump with all the issues that is happening. He's literally saying bring it on. And I think that should be a testament for other mayors across the cities who are dealing with

the same nonsense from the federal government, even though it could affect their funding. But maybe, you know, take a larger stand because it does. show that he's not going to have problems with re-election. It is showing that he is combating the nonsense head on. So kudos to the Chicago mayor for fighting for the people in a outpour of a way of doing it versus just behind closed doors. Well, folks, we have more news on the other side of this break. Stick with us. You're watching Roland Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. We'll be right back. In this country right now, you have people get up in the most. And the only thing they can think about is how many people they can hurt and they've got the power.

That's the time for mourning. For better or worse, what makes America special, it's that legal system that's supposed to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority. We are at a point of a moral emergency. We must raise a voice of outrage. We must raise a voice of compassion. And we must raise a voice. of unity. We are not in a crisis of party versus party. We are in a crisis of civilization,

a human rights crisis, and a crisis of democracy itself. And guess what? You've been chosen to make sure that those that would destroy, those that would hate, don't have the final say, and they don't ultimately win. Hey y'all, welcome to the other side of change only on the Black Star Network and hosted by Myself, Rhea Baker, and my good sis, Jamira Burley. We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture. And we don't just settle for commentary.

This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to the other side of change. What's up, everybody? It's got to be the funniest dude on the planet. And you're watching. Roland-Martin unfiltered. All right, welcome back. The Kansas City Chiefs are moving.

from Missouri to Kansas. Get this. This relocation comes with the construction of a new $3 billion stadium with taxpayers responsible for about 60% of the cost, despite the team's owners having a net worth of nearly $25 billion. This move is not an isolated incident that reflects a growing trend of billionaire sports team owners, relying on public funds to build facilities that primarily benefit them, while local communities end up covering the expenses. In the dark side of sports stadiums, Robert Reich critically examines this issue, questioning why public money continues to be allocated

to privately owned teams. Billionaires have found one more way to funnel our tax dollars into their bank accounts. Sports stadiums. And if we don't play ball, they'll take our favorite teams away. Ever notice how there never seems to be enough money to build public infrastructure,

like mass transit lines and better schools. And yet, when a multi-billion dollar sports team demands a new stadium, our local governments are happy to oblige. A good example of this billionaire boondoggle is the host of the 2023 Super Bowl State Farm Stadium. That's where the Arizona Cardinals have played since 2006. It was built after billionaire team owner Michael Bidwill and his family spent years hinting that they would move the cards out of Arizona

if the team didn't get a new stadium. Their blitz eventually worked, with Arizona taxpayers and the city of Glendale paying over two-thirds of the $455 million construction tab. And State Farm Stadium is not unique. It's part of a well-established playbook. Here's how stadiums stick the public with the bill. Step number one, billionaire buys a sports team.

Just about every NFL franchise owner has a net worth of over a billion dollars, except for the Green Bay Packers who are publicly owned by half a million cheeseheads. The same goes for many franchise owners in other sports. Their fortunes don't just help them by teams, but also gives them clout, which they cash in when they want to get a great deal on new digs for their team. Step number two. Billionaire pressures local government.

Since 1990, franchises in major North America, American sports leagues have intercepted upwards of $30 billion worth of taxpayer funds from state and local governments to build stadiums. And the funding itself is just the beginning of these sweetheart deals. Sports teams often get big property tax breaks and reimbursements on operating expenses, like utilities and security on game days. Most deals also let the owners keep the revenue from naming rights, luxury box seats, and concessions, like the Atlanta Braves $150 hamburger.

Even worse, these deals often put taxpayers on the hook for stadium maintenance and repairs. We taxpayers are essentially paying for the homes of our favorite sports teams, but we don't really own those homes. We don't get to rent them out, and we still have to buy expensive tickets to visit them. Whenever these billionaire... Everyone needs to take care of their mental health, even running back Bijon Robinson. When I'm on the field, I'm feeling the pressure. I usually just take a deep breath.

When I'm just breathing and seeing what's in front of me, everything just slows down. It just makes you feel great before I run the play. Just like Bijan, we all need a strong mental game on and off the field. Make a game playing for your mental health at love your mind playbook.org. Love your mind. Brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and the ad console.

The social media trend that's landing some Gen Zers in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense. I will continue getting stuff from Target. And I will continue to not pay for it. And the MAGA influencers whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulation.

You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things. happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride through the most Delulu takes on the internet, criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective. Join in on the insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is, You can decide who takes home the 26 IHard Podcast Awards,

podcast of the year by voting at IHartPodcastawards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at IHartPodcastawards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com.

Owners try to sell us on a shiny new stadium, they claim it will spur economic growth from which we all benefit. But numerous studies have shown that this is false. As a University of Chicago economist, aptly put it, if you want to inject money into the local economy, it would be better to drop it from a helicopter than invest it in a new ballpark. But what makes sports teams special is there one of the few realms of collective, identity we have left. Billioners prey on the love that millions of fans have for their favorite teams. This brings us to the final step in the playbook. Threaten to move the team. Obscenely rich owners threaten to, actually do, rip teams out of their communities if they don't get the

subsidies they demand. Just look at the Seattle Supersonics. Starbucks founder, Howard Schultz, owned the NBA franchise, but failed to secure public funding to build a new stadium. So the coffee magnate sold the team to another wealthy businessman who moved it to Oklahoma. Now, that'll leave a bitter taste in your mouth. The most egregious part of how the system currently works is that every dollar we spend building stadiums is a dollar we aren't using for mass transit, hospitals, housing, or schools. We're underfunding public necessities in order to funnel money to billionaires for something they could feasibly afford. So instead of spending billions on extravagant stadiums, we should be investing taxpayer money in things that improve the lives of everyone, not just the bottom lines of profitable sports teams and their owners.

Because when it comes to stadium deals, the only winners are billionaires. Let's bring the panel in so they can discuss this topic. Let's see. We'll start with Yolanda Jones. I see you moving over there. What are your thoughts? payers be responsible for, you know, 60% of the stadium? I don't think tech payers should be responsible for any percent of the stadiums.

One, two, I was on city council and we invest in these sports teams. And as he said, the billionaires get the money. And we can't even afford to go to the games. It doesn't make any sense to me. But let me also tell you the benefit, for example, in Houston. So we have a suite. The city of Houston has a suite at the Toyota Center, which is where the Rockets play. When they moved from what's now Lakewood Church, that's where the Rockets used to play.

And so the politicians can invite supporters, donors to their campaigns, to games, right? Or concerts. So it's a hoodwink and bamboozle on like the taxpayers. And the jobs that they create are minimum wage jobs most times, if you've ever gone to these games. And even paying apart, I went to the Texas Bowl at NRG, which is where the Texans play, which was another one of those boondoggles. And I can tell you that it costs $50 to park. I was like, hey, I'll say, no, I'm not doing that. And so, you know, but the one thing that people are obsessed with is sports teams.

And I'm a former athlete. I'm a four-time United States champion in the headtathlon. Now, people aren't crazy about track and field, like they are about football or basketball or baseball. But people live vicariously through these teams, and they get very, very, very upset. And so I believe that the billionaire owners are pimping the emotional attachment that people have. And I think so many people are just struggling. They're used to struggling anyway. So it's something that they don't even think about.

They don't realize that the money that we're funneling into these billionaire sports franchises. could actually stay local and help us better the economy, again, have affordable schools, affordable housing, access to grocery stores and fresh food. But they don't understand the connection. So I actually think we need more shows like this to actually educate people and connect the dots so that they can understand how government money is spent and how they get it. You know, I think about St. Louis. This isn't the first time Missouri has lost of the NFL team.

I'm from St. Louis. the area where the Rand Stadium was, it never recovered. Let's see. Teresa, what are your ideas about, you know, the impact on working class families and ground families? Well, I can tell you here in Philadelphia, it didn't work last year. So we had the same issue of moving a stadium in the same city, but from one section of the city where, you know, the city planning actually had the stadiums. planned in a certain area and now they wanted to move it into a more inner city type of area and it

just didn't work we were displacing a community there was you know buy-in from government to do so there was some community benefits that was attached but ultimately it was an inconvenience the numbers just didn't work and the community wasn't buying it so you know when we are already talking about uh issues what affordable housing and folks can't pay their bills and we don't have housing for them. And then the amount of homeless people are skyrocketing or they're being bust out of one city to the next. We have to really start thinking about priorities. Is entertainment more than living is entertainment, the focus of an administration?

And why is it? You know, so those are the type of things we need to ask our leaders and then for them to try to give us the bill when they're huge corporations that can absolutely take the tax bill. I think it's just outlandish, but it's also a conversation that we just need to have with our government. And for those who want to keep that alive where they're burning in the taxpayer, then we need to vote them out. Dr. Walker, with your thoughts? Yeah, I have a lot of thoughts on this. is a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. So Teresa talked about what happened,

with Philadelphia 76ers, wanted to move from South Philadelphia to downtown, and eventually, particularly Chaniton, it didn't play out. And I must also note, I just left Houston yesterday and had a chance to drive by some of the stadiums there and the great city of Houston.

So, you know, I think that this is, what we've seen here, and this is not new, we've seen the last several decades, It's problematic because, you know, billionaires, whether you talk about Jeffrey Lori and Philly or some of the owners, L.A., Miami, etc., or essentially taxing the working class, subsidizing essentially to subsidize these large, you know, these are all, you know, like castles were for kings back in the day. And like as Representative Jones highlighted, you can't even afford.

if you have a family of two or three or certainly not four you can't even afford parking let alone when it costs to buy a hot dog etc so i think we need to ask ourselves as as a nation is these deals who are they benefiting lastly this kansas deal i've been reading up on this is absolutely terrible for work for people in the state of kansas we also note that kansas is not in the top five or ten in terms of like literacy and overall you know mortality rates and quality of life so the idea that they away this massive essentially tax break and subsize in this this billion you know billion to two billion dollar stadium makes absolutely no sense economically and certainly politically be interested to see how it plays out well thank you for weighing in and sharing your thoughts and we're not

done just yet stick with us you're watching rolling martin unfiltered here on the black star network coming up on the next black tape a conversation with professor Howard W. French on his new book, Born in Blackness, covering 600 years of global African history and helping us understand how the world we know today is a gift from black people. There could have been no West without Africa and Africa. That's on the next black table with me, Greg Carr, only on the Black Star Network. If in this country right now, you have people get up in the morning, and the only thing they can think about is how many people they can hurt,

and they got the power, that's the time for mourning. For better or worse, what makes America special, it's that legal system that's supposed to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority. We are at a point of a moral emergency. We must raise a voice of outrage. We must raise a voice of compassion. And we must raise a voice of unity.

We are not in a crisis, of party versus party. We are in a crisis of civilization, a human rights crisis, and a crisis of democracy itself. And guess what? You've been chosen to make sure that those that would destroy, those that would hate, don't have the final say, and they don't ultimately win. I'm Risa Colbert and you're watching the Black Star Network. Well, it's that time of year where we all sit down and write out our New Year's resolution. If your couple, have you ever considered setting yearly goals to striking your relationship? If not licensed professional counsel, Robin May, is here to walk us through the couple's playbook, a tool to help couples get back into alignment.

Robin, thank you for joining us tonight. I'm so happy to be here again. Oh, it's wonderful to have you. All right. Let's dig right in. What is the best way to begin or frame a conversation with your mate? Okay, so here's the deal. I have been working with couples for two decades. And listen, couples come to my office. I got to say my virtual office, and they say one of three things. They tell me, Robin, my spouse and I, we just can't seem to communicate. Or they say my spouse and I see things totally different. Or the last one is, my spouse and I are just not on the same page. So over it, I believe in marriages, which is where I house all the work I do for couples, we created a resource for all three. From the couple's playbook, and the couple's playbook, answers the question of or the reality of, we are not just on the same page. And listen, this is what

couples are often so surprised about. If you don't strategically stop, slow down, and set intention to get on the same page, you're not going to be. And so how you start the conversation is by speaking to what we ultimately want. And most of us, when we say I do, when we stand at the all on the beach or wherever we are, our intention is to stay together forever. So if you keep that top of mind and you come to your spouse and say, hey, I want to make sure, here's a secret, jot this down. I want to make sure that I can help you win. I know you want to help me win.

Let's sit down and plan how we can win together. That's good. Tell us why good intentions just are not enough to sustain a healthy marriage. Yeah. I love that question because, again, most of the people I work with, I'm biased, but most of the couples I work with are really good people. They have the best intention. But imagine this. I showed up at my I do with my husband, who and I, he and I have been married 23 years.

I showed up at my I do with all of my expectations of marriage, all of my childhood experiences, all of my moments from when I was 10, 15, 20. and I said, when I get married, I'm not going to do this and I'm going to do that. He showed up with the same thing. The way I like to tell couples is, in my suitcase, I had my lingerie and all of my issues. In his suitcase, he had whatever men wear is my lingerie and all of his issues. And when you don't stop and identify, how are we going to bridge the gap? Let me tell you what happens. And this is not you and your spouse and not any different from other spouses.

So I want to normalize this. What happens is that you. you have your expectations and you have your experiences. And when your expectations are too far from your experiences, a gap occurs. What gets filled in that gap, anger, frustration, disappointment, sometimes resentment. So even though you have the best intention, if I don't identify all the dreams and ideas I had and you don't identify all the dreams and ideas you had and we don't create a shared understanding, then those intentions are going to always. falls short. Well, tell us how is it that, okay, we never talked about it. How does this become

a source of conflict later on? Okay, so interesting about that question is my husband, I, again, we've been married 23 years, we've been together 30 years. Babes, what are you doing? What? I'm just mowing the lawn. No, it's blazing hot and dry out here. Don't you remember? Smokey Bear says. Avoid using power equipment when it's windy or dry. Where'd you learn this? Oh, it's on... Smokeybear.com with many other wildfire prevention tips.

Right. Thanks, honey, bear. Because remember, only you can prevent wildfires. Brought to you by the USDA Forest Service, your state forester, and the ad council. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Ziers in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the networking. entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense.

I will continue getting stuff from Target and I will continue to not pay for it. And the MAGA influencers whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulate. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast. hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride through the most delulu takes on the internet,

criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective. Join in on the insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is, you can decide who takes home the 26

IHeart Podcast Awards Podcast of the year by voting at IHeart Podcast Awards.com. Now through February 22nd, see all the nominees and place your vote at IHeartPodcastawards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com.

And how the couples' playbook even came to be is that I was talking with friends and I would casually say things like, yeah, when Lee and I were doing our strategic plan, because That's what the couple's playbook is. It's simply helping couples create a strategic plan for their marriage. And so I would talk to couples of friends and just casually say, yeah, we were doing our strategic plan. And people started saying to me, Robin, what is that? My spouse and I don't do that. And then I'm starting listening to my couple saying, Robin, my spouse and I need to be on the same page.

And so I created this resource. But here's the thing, to the point of your question, what I found is that as much as I talk about the strategic plan, And as much as I believe in it, I always want to normalize. So when people invest in this particular resource, they get several videos where I am holding your hand walking you through the process because sitting down and coming up with a shared vision because I want you to understand, research has shown that couples who have shared meaning and shared values and shared goals have longer connectivity and longevity. And so when you sit down and do that, it's going to require compromise.

It's going to require me letting go of this or you letting go of that. So, of course, conflict can come with that. But when you don't talk about it, you will not resolve it. And when you bury it, it just creates that undercurrent in your marriage where the two of you are missing each other. What does it actually mean to treat the marriage like a partnership? It's not just a feeling, huh? My gosh. Okay, so, you know, I talk about, I personally talk about partnership a lot because, if I'm honest, partnership is a high value for me in marriage.

But I want to help couples identify what their values are in marriage. So while partnership is a high value for me for another couple, adventure might be a high value for another couple, maybe new opportunity is a high value. but partnership is critical with the two of us both want to make sure that my heart is being honored, that his heart is being honored, that we are creating symmetry together. And so partnership is not just that lov-dovey,

it's not just the butterflies. Listen, I want you to hold on to the butterflies, but baby, when you start dealing with bills and the three children that we have in college tuition and the car note and who's going to wash the dishes and who's going to cook dinner, sometimes that butterfly feeling

can fall dormant. But when we have understood that we are building something bigger than ourselves, that we are creating legacy, there are children who are watching us, who we are impacting them. That is when we began to recognize that this partnership means more than just what I'm feeling. I might not be feeling you today, but I'm committed to the partnership. Wow. And so when problems do arise, it's important for us to research. set before they escalates? Yeah, yeah. So let's talk a little bit about what that really looks like, okay, because couples often come to me when the marriage is already on fire. Any couple that I've worked with has heard me give them this analogy. I tell them often when you show up on my virtual

couch, the house is on fire. And I am coming in as a firefighter trying to put the fire out. But here this, follow this analogy with me. I understand that before there was a fire, before the house got on fire, there were some little things that were going on in the home. Maybe somebody need to wash the dishes and maybe the house needed to be dusted. Maybe we needed to vacuum. I don't want to minimize the, again, follow the analogy. I don't want to minimize the fact that there are dishes in the sink or that somebody didn't vacuum or somebody didn't dust.

But by the time you come to me, I have to help put the fire. And so what we do when we don't pay attention to those little bitty things, again, this fire occurs. And so what we have to do is find a way to regulate, to bring the tensions down. Because when you don't address the things, if you've been married longer than 15 minutes, you understand when you don't address the thing, it becomes a bigger thing. We want to normalize this for some people because this is what I hear from women all the time. Robin. I'm the one who can tell when something is going on. I'm the one who is seeking resources. I'm the one who's trying to find the help. And what I often tell my ladies and fellas, don't get mad. If you're the one saying it, this is just on average what happens with me. What I tell women is this, listen, I understand that it takes two to make a marriage work.

But you might just be the one who can get party started who are in a healthy direction. And that is by identifying those little bitty foxes, the little bitty things. a little bitty nuances that are building up to this bigger situation. That's good. Tell us what kinds of questions can we ask to begin opening up for a strong, relatable conversation, if you will? Yes. Okay. So within the couple's playbook, that's exactly the whole heartbeat of it.

We take every single area that a couple is dealing with. Within the couple's playbook, we're going to talk about your finances. We're going to talk about parenting. We're going to talk about vacations. We're going to talk about intimacy. Hello. We're going to talk about it in great detail. What satisfies you?

What doesn't? And so you're going to have questions on each of those tappings, but not just questions. These are going to be probing questions to help you hear your partner's heart in a way that you might not have heard it. Because here's the deal. You know, I believe in this couple's playbook any time of the year, if you follow me on I believe in marriage, but talk about this playbook all the time. But right now is the most powerful time to work on this strategic plan. Because it is literally you and your spouse slowing down, looking at every category of your life.

I tell people all the time, we have three daughters. Listen, that third daughter came about because we sat down and did a strategic plan. And my husband had the nerve to say, during our strategic plan. 11 years ago, we're probably 12 years ago, you know, I've been thinking I want us to have another child. But because we had this format, now some people are listening to that and they're saying, I will never pick up the strategic play because I'm not interested in having any more children. So don't allow that to throw you off. The heartbeat of it is because we slowed down. We created the environment to say the things that we needed to say to one another in order for me to

hears his heart, for him to hear my heart, to hear what is working, what isn't working. So let me give you this very quickly. I'm giving y'all a sneak peek inside the couple's playbook. Good. One of the first things we do is we say, I want you to answer a simple question, what is working, what isn't working, what do you want me to do more of, what do you want me to do less of? Listen, you can start right there. Slow down today. You and your spouse sit across for one another. What worked in 2025? What did not work in 2025? What do you want me to do more of? What do you want me to start to do differently? That alone is a game changer. I want to know, Robin, why is it that so many couples enter into the new year, so hopeful? And then by the spring,

we're already disconnected. How do we have? Yes. Yeah. And so if we think about it, if we're fair to ourselves and we're fair to the reality of life. I am just really passionate about us normalizing some of what we experience. Listen, this might seem like a downer, but I want all the couples, listen to hear me when I say this, in 20 years of doing this work, I have not met a couple, including my own marriage, that has not dealt with the roommate zone. What in the world is the room a zone. A room a zone is when we are living in the same house together, but we're not necessarily doing life together. You're doing your thing. I'm doing my thing. And we're like two ships passing in the night. So the goal is to avoid the roommate zone as much as we can or at least

pay attention when we find ourselves there. And so when I said, let's normalize this. Researchers say that most people forget about their bowl settings or their resolutions by February. so much so. That has been such a message that unfortunately, and I say that clearly as a licensed therapist and as executive coach, unfortunately, people are so frustrated by that. They've decided to just throw resolutions out the window. So whether you call it a resolution, whether you call it an intention, most of us fall short by February. That's what the research shows. And so first, I want to normalize that for couples. What you can do different? is when you and your spouse come together, you can build in ways that you hold one another

accountable. So this is how it works. You all sit down and you do your strategic plan. You do your couple's playbook. You answer the questions. Listen, I like to tell people to do a little staycation, you know, maybe go to a hotel, you know, have fun with it. If you can't do that because you have 15 kids, like I have these three. If you can't do that, find a babysitter and to spend the day and you create the strategic plan, but you don't stop there. Because through the strategic plan, you're going to have these dates that come up, these dates of we want to save this amount of money by this month, or we want to do this many dates by March, or we want to make sure that our child is

enrolled in this program by April. So you don't just do the strategic plan, you pull out the calendar. And you put these goals on your calendar and you don't stop. there. Listen, y'all, this is a boot camp right now. You don't stop there. You then assign the responsibility to one of you to say, okay, you're going to hold us accountable to this one. And I'm going to hold us accountable to this one so that we're carrying this reality together. Robin, what are some of this, the biggest assumptions that couples make about being on the same page? Yeah. Remember I talked about when the couple shows,

up into my office. One of the things they say, one of the three things is my spouse and I, we are just not on the same page. And one of the assumptions, there are really two assumptions, but one of them is that love is enough because I love you and you love me, that we are just going to be connected. And that's simply not the case. Love is amazing. Love is necessary. But love alone, the emotion of love alone does not get us on the same page. And the other assumption that we make about being on the same page, I talked about that a little bit before, we assume that our values are aligned. Hear me, if I was able to do a TED talk, one day I will, but if I was able to do a TED talk specifically on a marriage, one of the things I would tell couples is that if you want a healthy

marriage, identify your joint values. Because when we identify our joint values, then from that place, we can begin to create our plan. So I want to answer that question clearly. What is the assumptions that people make? One, that because we love each other, we're going to be on the same page. Two, that we have the same values. And here's the third one. People assume that being on the same page just happens. Listen, can I give you all a little picture? of my reality. I am married again, 23 years. We have three children, but my husband and I are probably the most driven people you're going to meet. Listen, if it wasn't a shame, I'd be writing another book this year. He has been a politician. We have owned a movie theater. We now lead a ministry,

a church. I'm sharing that to say, if we're not careful, and this has happened for us, if we're not careful, I'm in my corner building my life. He's in his corner building his life. And if we don't slow down. I keep saying that I know it sounds repetitive, but when you are living in this reality, if you don't slow down and say, hey, babe, what's going on with you? How can I support you? How can I get immersed into what's going on with you and vice versa? You will look up and the two of you will have built separate lives and you won't know when it happened. Why would you say it is hard to have some of those conversations about money, intimacy, Why?

Yeah, well, when we talk about money, when we talk about intimacy, when we talk about even our life expectations, I want you all to hear me because, first of all, I want to identify the big five. I call these the big five. These are the five areas that every couple has struggled with at some point. Or let me rephrase that. These are the five couples that researchers, five realities that research has found are impacting couples. It is money. It is what I call outside influences. You know, Mama Nam.

It is our intimacy. It is parenting. And here's the other big one. Roads and responsibilities. Who is doing what? So again, those are the big five. So why is it difficult to have real conversations about those five areas? It is not the money.

It is not the intimacy. It is not the parenting. It's not the. roles and responsibilities is not the outside influences. It is the value we have assigned to those things. So for me, money represents security. For somebody else, money might represent status. For me, parenting represents identity. For someone else, parenting might represent adventure. So it's what it represents. I really want you all to take this away. It is not that entity. It is what that entity represents and the values we've placed on it. And hear me, I don't care of you're 25.

I don't care of your 45. Listen, you could be 65. But what's also influencing the big five is what happened when you were five. What happened when you were 10? What happened when you were 20? It is so surprising to me when I have an opportunity to sit with a couple and I start digging and I start asking the questions about why is this triggering you? Why are you responding like this? It never fails. Somehow it goes back to what happened growing up. Because here is a takeaway. All of us, me, you, whoever you admire greatly,

we are repeating what we saw growing up or we are trying to reject what we saw growing up. And what's even crazier is that we're doing a combination of them both. I might be trying to repeat some things I saw with my mother and parenting, but I might be trying to reject. some ideas about marriage. We are repeating and rejecting. And so when we're talking about money, you're repeating what you saw growing up and you're rejecting. When you're talking about parenting, you're doing the same thing. So of course, those areas bring about a lot of emotion. Let me say

this. I just said a lot. So you know, if I said all of that, you all are not thinking about all of that when you are arguing about how much money you're going to save next year. You're not understanding what weight that reality is carrying. And that is why those topics throw us off. So why not get ahead of it? Slow down. Get on one accord so that you can build a life together. Robin, stay with us. I want to bring the panel in after the break to ask you a few more questions. Awesome. You're watching. In this country right now, you have people get up in the morning. And the only thing they can think about is how many people they can hurt. And they've got the power.

That's the time for mourning. The more you listen to your kids, the closer you'll be. So we asked kids, what do you want your parents to hear? I feel sometimes that I'm not listened to. I would just want you to listen to me more often and evaluate situations with me and lead me towards success. Listening is a form of love. Find resources to help you support your kids and their emotional well-being. at Sounded Outtogether.org.

That's sounded outtogether.org. Brought to you by the Ad Council and Pivotal. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Z years in jail. The progressive media darling whose public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely. The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense. I will continue getting stuff from Target. And I will continue to not pay for it.

And the MAGA influencers, whose trip to the White House, ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have. the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulation. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things

happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast. Hosted by me, Brad Palumbo. Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride who the most delulu takes on the internet, criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective.

Join in on the insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is, you can decide who takes home the 26 IHard Podcast Awards Podcast of the year by voting at IHeartPodcastawards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at IHeartPodcastawards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award.

Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. For better or worse, what makes America special, it's that legal system that's supposed to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority. We are at a point of a moral emergency. We must raise a voice of outrage. We must raise a voice of compassion. And we must raise a voice of unity. We are not in a crisis of party versus party. We are in a crisis of civilization, a human rights crisis, and a crisis of democracy itself. And guess what?

You've been chosen to make sure that those that would destroy, those that would hate, don't have the final say. And they don't ultimately win. Hey, y'all. Welcome to the other side of change, only on the Black Star Network and hosted by, myself, Rita Baker, and my good sister, Jamira Burley. We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture. And we don't just settle for commentary.

This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to the other side of change. Are you ready for the holidays? This week on a balanced life with Dr. Jackie, we're talking about all things, anxiety, and the holidays, whether it's performance, Presence versus presence. Making certain that everybody in your space understands the boundaries and how to respect your home. This week we're talking about those things that will allow you to have a peaceful holiday season.

It really is not about perfection. It's really about, you know, the house feeling warm and cozy and peaceful. You don't have to like everybody. But what you can do is be cordial in those environments. That's all this week on A Balance Life with Dr. Jackie here. be here on Black Star Network. Melanie Campbell, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation

and Black Women's Roundtable. And we are watching Rolling Martin unfiltered all day every day. 24-7, spread the word. Welcome back. We've been talking to licensed professional counselor Robin May about how couples can realign and set their goals for 2026.

Tonight I want to bring in our panel. And Yolanda, we'll start with you. Do you have any questions for Robin? Well, I'm single. Was divorced. I mean, I listened. I think what you said made sense. And all I'll say is this.

Some things you just don't think about before you get married, like you presume you all think about raising kids the same, right? And I didn't find out until I had a whole baby that he didn't believe in watching the baby until he was old enough to play basketball with the baby, which meant that when my son was getting up in the middle of the night and I literally was sleep deprived, he wasn't going to get up with him. So I think there are a lot of things that we just think people on the same page as us with because we love them.

And then we find out that all those little things that we literally didn't take time to talk about are going to be the demise of the marriage. You know, it's so interesting that you made that point because, first of all, we don't want to shame or blame anybody about the realities that just come up. When you have two whole human beings doing life together, What's interesting is I talk about the fact my husband Lee and I have been married 23 years. We've been together 30 years. That means we have grown up together, basically.

There are times that particularly when we go out to dinner with other couples or just around other couples, we'll get to talking. And it never fails. My husband says something. I remember recently we were with some couples. He started talking about the fact that he used to wrestle. I always say to him, it's so nice to meet you, sir, because I've known you 30. years. I never knew you used to wrestle. So I mentioned that because that's just the reality. So here's the thing. The couple's playbook, the goal of this is to help get us on the same pages in many

areas as we can. Because let's imagine there are 10 different categories, which I think it is in the playbook. There are 10 different categories. If we can get on the same page on at least seven of them, that gives us a fighting chance to really build a life together. Dr. Walker, do you have a question for Robin? Yeah, I do. Robin, I want to, you talk about, you know, marriage, obviously, and you mentioned children. What about, what do you do? What do you talk to? We tell empty nesters. I mean, that's a transition that in society we don't talk about enough. So could you talk about those couples that they become empty, empty nesters and then your life shifts again? Dr. Larry, let me tell you, it is so interesting that you ask that because I have a lot of,

have had in the last two years such an uptick on couples coming to see me specifically because they are trying to find themselves again after their children have left the home. I want to share this very quickly. It's interesting when I was going through premarital. Now let me tell the story about how we went through premarital twice. He is probably watching this saying, why do you have to tell this story about how he called off the wedding first time we went through premarital? What? When we went premarital the second time. Our premarital therapist told us this. She said, the two of you are what would be described as a traditional couple. You all have similar values. And what that means is that the two of you will probably put a lot of emphasis on building your family together. But if you're

not careful, you'll build your family and you won't build your connectivity. And so she emphasized for us to make sure we really prioritize our marriage. always honor her for that because it changed the trajectory of how we did marriage. Because if she hadn't had told us that, we could have fallen victim to what so many couples fall victim to. Remember, there is a term, we'll not remember, I haven't shared this with you all yet. There's a term that I coined called unintentional neglect. And this is what happens when couples put their marriage on the back burner as they're building their family. Now listen, you're trying to pay mortgage. You're trying to take care of your ailing parent. You're trying to make sure that these girls and your sons are not going the

wrong way. So of course, it can be challenging, but often empty nesters have to find themselves again. And what that means is just finding new hobbies. What that means is remembering what you all built together and now identifying what we want our legacy to be. It is not impossible, but it is not impossible, but it is necessary for you to identify who are we, side of those kids. We have to remind our 18 year old, 16 year old, and 11 year old all the time. We come first, baby, not you. Teresa, do you have a question for Robin? I do. Robin, thank you so much. I am unmarried, single.

So I was definitely listening to the points. And I think one of the things is I need you to reiterate, you know, the course. When does it start? When is the time to enroll? Who should enroll? Deadlines. So all that good stuff. So we can just go back in. We'll listen to the show, of course, and try to get some tidbits. But if we really wanted to get engaged with you, how do we do so? I love that you asked me that. So first of all, for both of you who are single, it's so interesting as I was preparing for this. My husband said, I think single people can do the couples playbook as well. I have other resources for single women. Y'all DM me. But I want to be clear, this is not a course. This is a digital download. Like you can go to I believe in marriage.com slash playbook right now. You invest in a minimal amount and you get this digital workbook that you can download. You can print out. Like I said, you all can light a candle, get you some dessert and really enjoy this time of connectivity. Within this experience, I do provide videos because, again,

We've been doing this for 20 years. I know the roadblocks that are going to occur. So I walk you through the roadblocks. And so you can go right now. You can go in January. You can go in June. You can go whenever you want to. But this is for couples who are sick of living on different pages.

You want to be aligned. You want to create a marriage that lasts. This is one of the tools to do it. You're being pulled in so many different directions. You may not be able to rush to couples therapy. This can be the start to get you on one of course. All right, Robin May. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. Of course, go to I Believe in Marriage.com backslash playbook and download your digital download there. Robin, thanks again for joining us.

Thank you for having me. I also want to thank our panel for tonight. Yelanda Jones, Dr. Larry Walker and Teresa Lundy. We appreciate your time and all your comments. Great work tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Happy holidays. Happy holidays. And happy holidays to you at home. Thank you so much for watching Roland Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network.

We'll be back again tomorrow night. The more you listen to your kids, the closer you'll be. So we asked kids, what do you want your parents to hear? I feel sometimes that I'm not listened to. I would just want you to listen to me more often and evaluate situations with me and lead me towards success. Listening is a form of love. Find resources to help you support your kids and their emotional well-being at soundedouttogether.org. That's sounded outtogether.org.

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