#RolandMartinUnfiltered - White woman Arrested in FL Mom Shooting, Tech Misinformation, In Memoriam for Economist

Episode Date: June 8, 2023

6.7.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: White woman Arrested in FL Mom Shooting, Tech Misinformation, In Memoriam for Economist Dr. William E. Spriggs A major update on the fatal shooting of Ajike Owens' mother. The Florida white woman responsible for the tragic incident has been arrested and charged. We'll bring you the latest developments, including details on the arrest and the charges filed. Are the GOP candidates in for a bumpy ride? We'll speak with Shelley Wynter, the Host of the Shelley Wynter Show, about what to expect in the crowded field and the potential fractures within the party. Plus, are you worried about AI taking your job? We will speak with a Social Analyst and Diversity Strategists to debunk the misinformation and explore the real impact of this rapidly advancing technology. The Maryland NAACP calls out Baltimore City Public Schools systems as Black children have drastically declined access to an adequate education. We will explain how the NAACP is trying to hold Maryland schools accountable. CNN's Chris Licht has been fired for disparaging comments and low ratings. We'll update you on this developing story. One dear friend of the show has passed away. Today we will take a moment to celebrate the life and legacy of an esteemed economist William Edward Spriggs who significantly impacted the labor policy landscape. It's Time to Bring the Funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. Let's go. One dear friend of the show has passed away. Today we will take a moment to celebrate the life and legacy of an esteemed economist William Edward Spriggs who significantly impacted the labor policy landscape. Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox  http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man.

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

I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes, rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers

at taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. It's Wednesday, June 7, 2023. I'm Robert Petillo, sitting in for Roland Martin, who is joining us later on in the show. Here's what's coming up later on on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. We have a major on in the show. Here's what's coming up later on on Rolling Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. We have a major update in the fatal shooting

when Gene K. Owens' mother, a Florida woman responsible for the tragic incident, has been arrested and charged. We'll bring you the latest developments, including details on the arrest and the charges filed. Are the GOP candidates in for a bumpy road ahead? We looked on Instagram earlier. President Trump responded to Chris Christie entering the race for president by posting a doctored video of Chris Christie juggling plates at a buffet.

It's going to be that kind of campaign season. Go check Instagram. You'll see what I'm talking about. So we're going to be speaking with Shelley Winter, the host of The Shelley Winter Show, about what to expect in this crowded field for the Republican Party. Also, are you worried about AI taking your job? If you have children who use chat GDP or GPT, some of the other software that are out there, it is insane the artwork they can produce, the written work they can produce, even the film and video that they can produce. Many people are afraid that very soon AI will be taking many jobs, not just working class jobs, but also middle class and upper class jobs.

We'll be speaking with a social analyst and diversity strategist to debunk the misinformation and explore the real impact of this rapidly advancing technology. Furthermore, the Maryland NAACP calls out Baltimore City Public Schools system as black children are drastically declined access to adequate education. We will explain how the NAACP is trying to hold Maryland schools accountable. As you saw today, CNN's Chris Litt has been fired

for disparaging comments and low ratings. We'll update you on this developing story. And also one dear friend of the show has passed away. Today we will take a moment to celebrate the life and legacy of the esteemed economist William Edward Spriggs, who significantly impacted the labor policy landscape. It is time to bring the funk on Broly Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it blips, he's right on time. And it's rolling.

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

Yeah, yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's Roland Martin Now Martin The white woman accused of shooting A.J. Owens, a mother of four, is behind bars facing several charges, including manslaughter. Marion County, Florida, Bill, Sheriff Billy Woods publicly announced the arrest today. I think we have a clip. 58-year-old Susan Lowrance for the killing of Ms. A.J. Owens. Now, my detectives have been

working around the clock since this happened, sifting through evidence and interviewing witnesses. Now, I said this at the beginning. We want the same thing as Ms. Owens' family, and that's justice. Now, here's the thing about justice. She's on her own time, not my time, not a prosecutor's time, not even a mob's time, a mob seeking, well, what they think is justice. And I understand that in these situations like this, emotions run high high and it's understandable. In fact, I want to thank all of you that have sent me messages, sent me emails, texted me and encouraging the arrest because it shows that you care about a fellow human being.

Now, many of you were struggling to understand why there was not an immediate arrest. Well, as I partially explained in the beginning, the laws here in the state of Florida are clear. Now, I may not like them. I may not agree with them. But, however, those laws I will follow, and I will ensure. And sometimes when we do these investigations of cases of this level, rushing in to make an arrest is not the right thing to do sometimes. In fact, it could probably cause complications or cause errors because we want to ensure that what we present, that justice is served all the way through the courts. And that the individual gets what they deserve. And that's one of the things.

My detectives cannot complete an investigation without getting all sides of a story. And that night, all we had was one person's story. And that was the shooter's story. But Ms. Owens' story had to be told through evidence, in the eyes of witnesses who were there. I told you that we want nothing more than justice, and this can only be accomplished by maintaining the integrity of the case and leaving no stone unturned.

Throughout this tragic event, we have been working very closely with Mrs. Owens' family. And right now, that family needs your prayers and support. The justice we have all been seeking has been served. The peace for them is still a ways down the road. Now, some of you have asked me about the stand your ground law. Personally, I think it's a great law designed to help Floridians to defend themselves and keep themselves safe. However, it does not apply in all situations. And this situation is a prime example of when it was not justified. It was simply a killing.

Lawrence is charged with manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery, and assault. She is facing up to 30 years in prison. According to the sheriff's report, Lawrence shot Ms. Owens through a door Friday when she attempted to confront Lawrence about allegedly throwing a pair of skates at two of her kids, striking her 10-year-old son in the toe. The kids were playing in a field near Lawrence's home when she started an argument with the children. Owens' 12-year-old son went to speak with the woman. Lawrence opened her door and swung at them with an umbrella. The kids went home and told their mother. When their mother went to Lawrence's home, knocked on the door and demanded that the woman come outside. That's when Lawrence fired one shot through the door, hitting Owens in the chest. She died in the hospital. Her 10-year-old son was standing next to her at the time of the shooting.

I wanted to bring our panel in on this. I want to bring our panel on this conversation. Rebecca Carruthers, Vice President, Fair Elections Center, Washington, D.C. Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice, EPA. And Eugene Craig, CEO of the X Factor Media, Inc., here in Baltimore, Maryland. So I want to interview Rebecca. Just what did you take away from the press conference and the charges being filed today? Do you think this will bring justice

to this community? You know, I think it's very telling that you have the chief law enforcement agent in that county saying that, you know, justice can be slow and we have to wait for her. No, we're literally waiting for you to make sure you're bringing charges, making sure that your team is doing a full investigation so justice can happen. But I also found it very telling that he said in his personal capacity, he personally likes stand your ground. But in this particular instance, he doesn't see how stand your ground is justified or how it applies. I want to know if that's the official position of his jurisdiction and not just in his personal capacity. I really want him to make that clearer. And Mustafa, just kind of on that point, would this arrest have happened if it

wasn't for the level of public attention and activism. This is another situation like we saw in Brunswick with Ahmaud Arbery, where until the public outcry came, the charges don't come. Yeah, that's why our voices are so important. That's why networks like this and any others who are actually focused on making sure that justice actually happens in relationship to our communities. Dr. King said justice delayed is justice denied. So it's interesting. I totally understand, you know, that it takes time to do an investigation. But we also know that if we don't stay engaged and raise our voices in many instances,

our needs fall through the cracks. So I'm glad to see that there was an arrest, but we still have a long way to go in relationship to see if there is a prosecution. And, Eugene, you know, we've seen through the last several years right-wing media has switched into this post-apocalyptic mode, telling these people that there are people coming to your door, Black Lives Matter, Antifa are going to come assault you. You know, NRA had that ad campaign a few years ago, Freedom's Safest Place, pumping these people's head full of propaganda that there are Black people coming to kill you at any point in time and it's proper to use a gun. What culpability does the news media and the right-wing media have? And kind of these continued shootings that

we keep seeing, whether it's in a driveway, in a parked car, in a house. It seems that this is only proliferating because of this narrative in the media. Look, I think the right-wing news media, the right-wing echo chamber has a huge level of culpability here. The level of trauma they inflict on their viewers, the heightened sense of danger that they're perpetuating, it really doesn't exist. And just the perceptions that they float on a regular basis, it becomes a lot of people's reality and it's a false reality. So, I mean, the thing is this, I don't think standing around or self-defense laws are bad within themselves, but how they end up being used ends up being very, very demonic in nature, for lack of a better term. But the thing is this.

At the end of the day, you know, this woman needs to be brought to justice. And hopefully justice moves very swiftly, as swiftly as she was to pull her gun and pull the trigger. Wrongfully. Absolutely. I think that's part of the reason also we have to start focusing particularly in the 2020-2024 election cycle, not just on the presidential races. Everybody gets very excited about the presidential race. We're going to talk about the presidential race some in the next segment. But these state and local races are crucial because if you want to repeal laws like the stand your ground law, that has to happen on the state level. Just like Georgia is able to repeal their state

citizens arrest law, this has to happen on the state and local level. Rebecca, what can we do to start a public education campaign or help people understand that these things are not intransigent? They don't have to exist. They can be changed. But we have to vote in elections coming up, not just at the top of the ticket, but all the way down the ticket? Yeah, people need to understand that the state of Florida has created a culture, a culture of violence, a culture of shoot first, ask questions later. And if residents of Florida do not want that to happen, they have to get registered to vote. Florida has made it harder to vote in Florida, has made it harder for people to register. But as many people as possible, you have to register the vote. You have to educate yourself

on what's on the ballot. And then you actually have to turn out and you have to vote these people out if you want to see change in the state of Florida. Absolutely. We're going to keep an eye on this story and make sure we bring you updates as they come about. We'll be back after the break. You're watching Rolling Murder Unfiltered, mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial.

This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys died.

This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punch. A real revolutionary right now.

Thank you for being the voice of Black America. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time

to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Hello, I'm Jameah Pugh. I am from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, just an hour right outside of Philadelphia. My name is Jasmine Pugh. I'm also from Coatesville, Pennsylvania. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stay right here. The race for the Republican nomination in 2024 is heating up. Of course, former President Donald Trump is the prohibitive frontrunner, leading in most polls by between 20 and 30 points versus the Republican field. He is the base of the party. He is the Republican Party, to quote Emperor Palpatine.

But we keep seeing more candidates hop into the race. We saw Chris Christie and Mike Pence recently join in. Tim Scott and Ron DeSantis hopped in last week. And Nikki Haley and Vivek Mishra have hopped in previously. Even Asha Hutchinson, the guy you've never heard of, is in the Republican race right now to potentially unseat President Trump. So to find out exactly what's going on in this crowded Republican field, we're joined by conservative talk show host Shelley Winter, host of The Shelley Winter Show on WB Radio in Atlanta, Georgia. Shelley, how are you doing this evening? What's going on, my brother? How are you? Thank you for the invitation.

I am great. Thank you so much for joining us. So, you know, the odds on money is on presidential. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

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

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

We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams,

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

Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives.

Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Trump being the nominee in a landslide, but we keep seeing more Republicans hopping in the race. What do all of these candidates say about what the party thinks of President Trump's chances of being the nominee next year? Well, I believe that most of the people jumping in a race are jumping in a race for either vice president or a cabinet position.

With the polling that's showing, oh, they're also jumping in a race for another reason, is because Truth Social just had an announcement that it's more than likely that Trump is going to get indicted in South Florida, and it's imminent. So I think a lot of these people think that it's tough to elect a president under indictment on several fronts. I think many, some of them also running to be vice president or cabinet position, which is normal. It happens all the time on both sides of the aisle as politics. But I think there's some that really do have a chance of unseating him. I think DeSantis has a good shot.

I say this, Mike Pence announced today, watch out for Mike Pence to be a very dark horse moving up towards as we get closer to the primaries that start off in early next year. Mike Pence brings the Trump policies that a lot of independents like, but they don't like Trump the personality or Trump the man, but they love the policies that he put in place. And so Pence comes with that, those policies, because he was the vice president, but he's a calmer, cooler, more character-laden guy. You can disagree with Mike Pence's politics, his policies. You can call him whatever you want to call him. But one thing you can't call him is that he doesn't have high character and high morals.

This is a man who was lambasted for saying he doesn't like to take meetings with women in a room alone because he's married. The left, of course, went after him for saying that. But it's a fair statement to make, particularly in this world that we live in, in corporate America. Well, Shelley, on that point, you know, I think when you look at the fact that Nikki Haley is a former prosecutor and who's in the race, DeSantis is a former prosecutor, he's in the race, Chris Christie's a former prosecutor, he's in the race. So is it the Republican mindset that Donald Trump's going to be in jail for the election next year and everybody else is just running for second place to be kind of the successor to the

throne? I don't think everybody is. That's why I pulled back my statement. I think a lot of people don't think that he's going to even get to the finish line because of these indictments that are coming down. Now, I think he stays in a race. I think the polling shows that he's got 40 percent, but there's another 60 percent out there. And I think that that 60 percent represents a lot of Republican voters who want to coalesce around another candidate, whether that candidate is DeSantis, Pence or even Tim Scott. I love Tim Scott. I'm a huge Tim Scott fan. And I haven't made my choice. I tell everybody I'm in a singles bar. Last call is not until March 24th when we have our primary vote here in Georgia. And I got a long time before I try and

take before I attempt to take somebody home. I have to make a decision to take somebody home. So I haven't made my decision yet. But I love Tim Scott. I think Mike Pence is a dark horse that can move up very quickly as he travels the country. And I think DeSantis is going to stay strong in this thing. And I think the indictments coming down on Trump is the thing that's going to hurt him most. I will tell you, you know, I think as the race has gotten more crowded, Trump has gotten kind of more childish for a 70-something-year-old man. Now, Chris Christie, we all know he's fat. I agree. By the way, I agree with that.

And so on that point, do you think the field will respond in kind to Trump's child business, or will they actually start talking about policy? I think what they will do is ignore him. The biggest mistake that Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, and many others made in 2016 was they played into his hand. They tried to come back. They tried to call names also. They tried to make up things. I think this field is smart enough to know we're not going to play that game with you. And I think voters also realize that this is silly at this

point. Now, there is a base of Trump voters that are not going anywhere, about 32, 35 percent. They're not going anywhere. But you can't win the primary with 32, 35 percent. And I think Republican voters will start to coalesce around somebody starting around right before Super Tuesday, depending on how the early states go. And unlike the Democrats, we're not setting up our early voting in the primary, excuse me, in a primary to benefit a candidate. So we're keeping it the same the same schedule. Well, you know, I think Donald Trump has said that he would not participate in the Republican debates, whether they had them or not. So I don't know if you can say Democrats are setting it up because normally an incumbent doesn't debate, doesn't debate or doesn't

address challengers in those races. You know, we haven't had a incumbent not nominated for reelection since Gerald Ford, basically. The difference is you haven't had an incumbent getting challenged and getting real challenges, not fringe challenges. Marianne Williamson, notwithstanding, or Robert F. Kennedy is moving up in the polls. He's not a fringe candidate. And I think Biden's age, people are starting to worry. I just saw an article in The Hill talking about that.

So I think the reason why incumbent hasn't been debated or talked about challenges is because they really haven't had any. Trump didn't have any in 2020. Biden had a, you guys had a full ticket of 12, 13, 14 people. So it's a way to land. But I think Biden's age and the missteps and the way the people feel polling, that people are feeling that they're not really confident of the future. I think a lot. That's why Robert F. Kennedy Jr. looks like a stronger challenger. So he should have to debate him, I believe. Now, on that point, I find it interesting that the Republicans, for the most part,

don't challenge Biden on policy. They talk about Hunter Biden. They talk about Biden's age. They'll talk about him falling on stage. But they won't talk about passing the Inflation Reduction Act. They won't talk about passing the infrastructure bill. They won't talk about the omnibus spending bill. They won't talk about the largest deficit reduction in U.S. history. Are Republicans really confident that they can do an all-culture war campaign and actually beat an incumbent president? Yes, absolutely really confident that they can do a culture war campaign and actually beat an incumbent president? Yes, absolutely, because it's not only a culture war campaign. You talk about the Inflation Reduction Act. I don't see how that reduced inflation at all. Inflation has come down, but it hasn't reduced it from the near record levels

that it was just six months ago. Hold on, hold on, let me finish. Wait, wait, wait, let me finish. You said it's come down, but you can't see how it's been reduced. No, if you're going to run a reelection campaign on the passing of an inflation reduction act, it can't be by two points when it got to record levels at eight or nine points. That's, I mean, come on. That's like saying, oh, look, I created jobs after the pandemic. Well, everybody was out of work after the pandemic. So any job that was started after the pandemic is not a job creation. It's a job return. But my point is, yes, we do talk about policy.

The border is a policy. School choice is a policy. Tax cuts are a policy. So there is a policy discussion going on. I just think the most glaring negative for Joe Biden is his age, is his memory, is the way he talks, the way he stumbles, the way he falls. I think those are glaring and those are obvious things that you can pitch to the American people as to why you might want to go younger in your candidate, not necessarily going to Trump, but younger and more vibrant in your candidate.

And then when you look at everything else going on around the world and foreign policy, it buys into, are we losing a step? Are presidents losing a step or lost a step? Is the American country as a country losing a step? I think it's a viable message. Well, I think that's where more than likely Republicans are going to fall short because there are no Republicans with any foreign policy experience besides Nikki Haley. And if you want to talk about President Biden internationally, if you talk to NATO, he has done more to defend Europe than anybody since Churchill. We're spending all the money. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

We're spending all the money. But at the same time, he's done more to defend Europe than anybody since Churchill. He's contained China. He created military bases in Southeast Asia. If you talk to the Chinese officials, they say that what Biden has done in three years or two and a half years is more than what Trump did his entire administration because Trump set us back by a half decade in foreign policy and foreign relations. So how exactly can they run on foreign policy when Rononda Sands is losing a war to Mickey Mouse? Well, I mean, that's a great talking point right there. But China is backing off. I see them having military drills to attack Taiwan within the next year. Chinese government officials have told their farmers to start growing wheat and dispense with

everything else that they're growing. And they want them to grow wheat. Why? Because they're preparing to go to war and they're I mean, they're preparing to go into Taiwan and they know the rest of the world is going to basically boycott them and not buy in. And they're not going to be able to trade with anybody. So they have to get their people ready for war. We know that's going on right now. If you're saying that Russia and foreign policy-wise, Russia became more aggressive after Trump lost by going into Ukraine, and now we're feeding them trillions of dollars. We're feeding NATO trillions of dollars. And all along, Trump has been saying all along, is that these countries

and these entities, i.e. NATO, should be paying their fair share. I would like to ask the Democrat Party, how is it that African-Americans, particularly on this network, not you specifically, but just on this network, can talk about local issues, can talk about prosecutors, can talk about all the things going on in this country, yet nobody is screaming and yelling about billions of dollars going into Ukraine. Nobody's talking about the money being spent in NATO to defend Europe. And we got homeless people working there. Do you know why? Because our fight as African Americans in this country is not what the Ukrainians,

is not what the people— I didn't say it was. It is not what the funding oversees. Our fight is what the people who refuse to vote in favor of reparations right here in America. The people blocking— No, no, my reparations come from those corporations that benefited off the transatlantic slave trade. My reparations come from those landowners who were given their land back after the Civil War and those families that passed that money down.

Our reparations and our advancement as a people has nothing to do with what we do in foreign policy, and the Republicans like to use that as a distraction because they say, well, go fight against the Ukrainians. Go fight against the immigrants at the border because they don't want you focusing on white supremacy, which is the real enemy of the black community. I'm pretty sure we're going to be at a break already.

Shelley, we've got to go to a break. I'm pretty sure we should have been at a break like 10 minutes ago, but I couldn't hear Lisa in my ear. But we're going to go to a break. We'll be back and we'll bring the panel in on this conversation. You're watching Rolling Order Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. We'll be back after the break. That was a pivotal, pivotal time.

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

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

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

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

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I always had to be so good no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars.

Workers skilled through alternative routes, rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Kevin Hart telling me that. He's like, man, what you doing, man? You gotta stay on stage.

And I was like, yeah, well, I'm like, I don't know. You know, I'm thinking, I'm good. And he was absolutely right. What show was the other time? This was one-on-one. Got it. During that time. And I was- So you're doing one-on-one. Yeah. Going great.

Yeah. You making money. You like- I'm like, I don't need to leave. I don't need to leave from, you know, Wednesday, Thursday to Sunday. I, you know, I just didn't want to do that. You know, it was just like, I'm gonna stay here. Oh, I didn't want to finish work Friday, fly out, go do a gig Saturday, Sunday. I was like, I don't have to do that. You know, it was just like, I'm gonna stay here. Oh, I didn't want to finish work Friday, fly out, go do a gig Saturday, Sunday.

I was like, I don't have to do that. And I lost a little bit of that hunger that I had in New York. I would hit all the clubs and run around. You know, sometimes me and Chappelle or me and this one or that one, we'd go to the Comedy Cellar at one in the morning. I mean, that was our life.

We loved it. You know, you do two shows in Manhattan,. I mean, that was our life. We loved it. You know, you do two shows in Manhattan, go to Brooklyn, leave Brooklyn, go to Queens, go to Jersey. And I kind of just, I got complacent. I was like, I got this money, I'm good. I don't need to go, I don't need to go chase that because that money wasn't at the same level

that I was making, but what I was missing was that training. Yes. Was that, was that. And it wasn't what I was missing was that training. Yes. Was that, was that. And it wasn't the money. It was the money. You know, it was that, that's what I needed. Up next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes.

The shooting of Megan Thee Stallion and the subsequent trial of Tory Lanez. Megan has been treated like the villain. The experience that Megan went through is something that all Black women face when we are affected by violence. This is something that's called massage noir. There's a long history of characterizing black women as inherently bad in order to justify our place in this society. Next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes. Hi, everybody. I'm Kim Coles. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. Yo, it's your man, Deon Cole from Blackish. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Welcome back. We're still talking to Shelley Winters, host of the Shelley Winters show on WSB radio in Atlanta, Georgia.

And Shelley, so I'm trying to understand what this Republican primary race. You're running against an incumbent president, 3.4 percent unemployment rate, 350,000 jobs created last month alone, a bipartisan debt ceiling deal that was able to save the global economy. You're talking about a president that literally, other than being old, has run nearly a magical, imperfect first administration. And at the meantime, you've got President Trump sharing memes of Chris Christie juggling plates at a buffet. You've got Ron DeSantis, who's at war with Mickey Mouse in Disneyland. And you have Tim Scott in a very odd appearance on The View. Are Republicans seriously going to run that against an incumbent president,

or are they going to actually get serious on talking about what their agenda is for the black community? Well, they are serious about talking about their agenda for the black community. First of all, black community is going to, it's pretty much, you're losing them. And I know you know that, you're smart enough to see the polling. Joe Biden also has some of the lowest polling numbers for an incumbent president that has had a magical three years, as you call it. So that's odd to me. Black people are getting very upset with the Democratic Party. I've seen that in the polling. Shelley, Shelley, hold on.

Hold on, I'm answering your question, Robert. I'm just going to couch it in this way. The issue is Republicans— But you said what they're going to do for Black people. Republicans do a great job of talking about what the Democrats aren't doing. The question is, what are they going to do affirmatively? I just told you. I told you what they're going to do for black people. Republicans do a great job of talking about what the Democrats aren't doing. The question is, what are they going to do affirmatively? I just told you. I told you what they're going to do affirmatively. I just told you

in the last segment, policy-wise, school choice is a winning issue with African Americans. Pence announced it when he was in his announcement. Tim Scott talked about it in his announcement. Nikki Haley talked about it in her announcement. Chris Christie is the only one that's going out there attacking Trump and doing the Trump stuff against Trump. Trump is the only one being Trump. Everyone

else is talking nothing about policy. I mean, nothing but policy. To say Ron DeSantis is losing a fight to Disney, I mean, that's just a joke. That's reality, Shell. But that's not his policy. Hold on, that's not his policy. I on. That's not his policy. I got you, Shelly. Let's bring the panel in on the discussion. We know the radio is three hours. This is a lot less time. So we've got to keep it moving.

So, Rebecca, I want to give you an opportunity to talk to Shelly. It's always good to have a bipartisan conversation. Shelly, thank you so much for coming on tonight. I think what's really important to point out, one of the things you said earlier, is that viewers of the Black Star Network doesn't care about all of the tens of billions of dollars that are going to Ukraine. In fact, many in the Black Star Network absolutely care about the lack of investment in Black communities. So I got a two-part question for you.

You talk about you don't want to make a choice of among which Republican candidate are you going to support. But two things. What is the Republican plan to truly invest in black communities in this country of the candidates that are out there? And two, what is the Republican plan to reduce and end mass shootings in America? I'll tell you, first of all, let me go back to what you said there, Black Star Network viewers don't want. You can't have it both ways. You can't say Black Star viewers don't want massive investment in Ukraine and then say they want massive investment in black infrastructure, because those are your tax dollars that went to Ukraine. Robert brought up reparations. I never brought up reparations. The tax dollars that we spend in this country to fund this big white, quote-unquote, white supremacist racist government, and every time the government comes along and says, I'm going to give you a tax cut so you feed the beast less,

we argue about feeding the same beast we call white supremacy less. So that's your tax dollars. That's our tax dollars going to a foreign country to defend itself against a foreign aggressor. If you want reparations or if you want black infrastructure or if you want black empowerment, you should care the most about what your tax dollars, how your tax dollars are being spent in Ukraine. That's the first thing. What do Republicans want to do about stopping gun violence is arm everybody. I have a right to arm myself. If you're going to sit here and tell me on a daily basis on the Roland Martin unfiltered show

that white supremacy is the greatest threat to black people, then why would you want to take my guns from me? If you're going to tell me every day that white people are out to get me, then why do I not want to be armed? So that's how you stop gun violence. Allow me to buy my guns, invest in mental health, which is what Republicans want to do. And now when you talk about economic empowerment, I remember a great rapper Ice Cube putting out an economic empowerment plan that he presented to both Joe Biden's candidacy and President Trump at the time. And he was blasted by the very, I don't know about you four, but very blasted by outlets like Roland Martin, Unfiltered, YouTube hosts, CNN, MSNBC, all the African-Americans on these

outlets. He was blasted for even having a discussion with Donald Trump. I remember when Steve Harvey met with- You didn't answer the question. What was it? I did. You didn't answer the question. What is the Republican plan to invest in black communities? I'm getting to that. I just told you. Tell me what the Republican plan on investment is. I just told you what it is. I just told you a man went to them with a plan. He went to Trump with an economic, a 10-point economic plan, and you yelled at him for having a meeting.

Shelley, Shelley, Shelley. So you want to know, let me answer. Just the brief version, the brief version. So are you saying that the Republican Party is going to adopt Ice Cube's plan? That's just real quick. They're not in power. They're not in power to adopt it.

My point is, don't ask for a plan when someone presents a plan, you laughed at them and told them to shut up. That's my point. So you want to know what the plan is? Here's the plan. Here's the plan. Go ahead, three points.

School choice. School choice is the path to economic freedom. That's school choice. Don't tell me no to my plan if I'm telling you the plan. You ask me a question, allow me to answer the question. Freedom's school choice. Number two, don't tell me no to my plan if I'm telling you to plan. You ask me a question, allow me to answer the question. Freedom, school choice. Number two, tax cuts allows me to keep more money in my pocket. So that means it allows me to be empowered. Number three, deregulation allows entrepreneurs to open up more businesses in the black community. So those are the three things that Republicans stand for that will create

economic empowerment. Keep the train going. Okay, Mustafa. Thank you. Mustafa, you have a question for Shelly. Oh, sorry. Oh, sure. Well, Shelly, appreciate you advocating so diligently for your points. You know, I've always been curious.

I've worked for a number of administrations. And there we've seen over the last couple of decades that Republicans have continued to move away from environmental issues and climate change. Even though we've got over 350,000 people who die prematurely from air pollution every year in our country, we see what's going on right now with the Canadian wildfires

and the people who are being impacted. I'm curious, from the work that you've done, how can you get them to understand both the physical impacts, the mental impacts, because you talked about mental health, and also, you know, how it is also extracting wealth from black communities, since you did mention strengthening the economic dollar inside of our communities? Well, I think there's two, there's two, a lot of things there. Let's attack the climate change part first. There was a recent study that was done that even if America did everything that the environmentalists wants us to do, we would reduce our emissions by 0.0002%. But globally, India, China, and other large carbon emission producing countries are not doing anything. So it really falls on deaf ears. Now, here's the

other thing to the climate change conversation. The wildfires you talked about, our Native American brothers used to have controlled burn wildfires because they were terrified of this happening to them. Remember, these are a moving people, a nomadic people. And so they would have controlled burn wildfires because they were terrified of this happening to them. Remember, these are moving people, nomadic people. And so they would have controlled burns. California years ago instituted, stopped PSE&G from having controlled burns, forced them to move, switch over to a more, get away from fixing their lines and moving towards fixing climate change. And now they have more and more wildfires that are caused by the lines that can't be fixed because they moved the workers away from fixing the lines because of legislation put in place by California to address climate change. So to answer your question, I do want my party to do more on the environment.

But I want them to concentrate on clean air, clean water, which, by the way, I believe were administration, I mean, departments put in or acts put in by Richard Nixon, who was a Republican. I believe you know that. So I do want my party to concentrate on that. The climate change argument, I think, is a different argument because now you're talking about legislating behavior. And as a conservative, I'm not for legislating behavior and forcing us out of fossil fuel cars in the next several years. How is that going to impact African-Americans? Let's say we don't get our reparations. How is forcing people into electric cars going to help my working class brothers and sisters, many of whom may be living on the margins,

or not even living on the margins, but lower middle class, forcing them to buy more and more expensive cars. So I am for fixing the problem, but it's not a focus of mine when I've got brothers and sisters in elementary school that don't even have laptops in many of my communities. That's a long-term problem. I'll get to that when I get to it. Let me fix the problems with school choice and education now. And that's my biggest. Let's keep it moving. Eugene, I want to give you an opportunity to ask you a question. I got a question. I'm just correct the record on a couple of things. First and foremost, it ain't no good presidential candidates on the Republican side right now. Ain't no more shit.

And don't even care about black folk. That's the first thing. Secondly, Republicans don't have a plan for black voters. That's been something that's been running for over a decade now since Michael Steele was RNC chair. If that was the case, they would have rolled it out when they had these weak, measly-mannered announcements that they all have been rolling out with the last couple weeks. If you go back to 2016, I mean, everybody had thousands of people. I mean, Mike Pence might have had 200 people today. As a former vice president, that is very weak.

Thirdly, when it comes to Trump, yeah, they may be getting into saying, hey, you know, this guy may be indicted, and, you know, the four cases may be overwhelming and force him out. But guess what? Still, when it comes down to it, the Republican Party at the stands today would nominate a Donald Trump with an ankle monitor around his neck, around his ankle at the RNC convention. That's just where we're at today. So let me say, can I address those?

Can I address? Hold on. Let me address them. Hold on. Go ahead. And I say this as a former vice chair of a major Republican Party. So I just want to like, you know, I'm not just like shooting from the hip or pulling something out of my ass on this. No, this is where the GOP is today.

There isn't a single GOP candidate running for president that hasn't at some point in time kissed Donald Trump's ass. How are they going to stand on the debate stage with him? And the first two minutes he says, I hired you. I fired you. I fired you, I gave you your vice presidency, I made you U.N. ambassador, you came and helped me prepare for debates against Joe Biden, and then you carried my water when it came to the U.S. Senate. Like, what are we talking about here?

I'll tell you right now. Kamala Harris called Joe Biden a white supremacist on the debate stage, and he picked her as a vice president. Let me run down the list for you, my brother. Here's the thing. Black people on a good day on a presidential election will give the Republicans 13 percent of their vote, 13 percent. So anybody going out to run in a Republican primary for president is foolish to even talk about black people because you're not looking to get that vote in the primary because you're not going to get it. Let me finish. You know, politics, if you work for the RNC, you know, politics 101.

Number two, when you talk about the candidates, you've got a sitting former president who's only unpopular because of his personality, not because of his policies. By and large, Americans got behind the policies of Donald Trump, the wall, the economy, and everything like that. They did not want to shut down the government. They forced him to shut down the government. His probably biggest mistake was shutting down the country for the pandemic, which was force-fed by Democrats and the media. So when you run down those candidates, you do have some qualified— But, Shelly, Shelly, Shelly, we've got to go on just a second, but how can you say, well, Donald Trump is this strong leader, but the Democrats made him do this, the liberals

made him do this, everybody made him do this. It makes him sound like he's just getting pushed around by people. No, no, no, that's not— What's the point of having him in my work if he's just getting pushed around and don't know what he's doing? No, that's not what I said. What I said was to the brother's point, to the brother's point about not a good candidate. I'm saying there are good candidates on that stage.

One's a former president. The other's a former vice president. The other's a sitting senator. So I'm saying there are good candidates. We got to go, Shelly. It's an exciting and fun conversation. Really appreciate it. Where can people find you on radio?

95.5 WSB Radio in Atlanta, or when you guys are not here, for those of you not in Atlanta, wsbradio.com. I'm going on in 10 minutes, and I will probably carry this conversation on. So the panel, Robert, all of you are free to call in. I'll be giving out the number. Please call in. I'm free to carry on this conversation at 7 o'clock. I appreciate the time, and I appreciate the conversation. Thank you so much, Shelly, representing from the Republican side of the

aisle. Thank you for being part of the conversation. All right, we're going to go to a break. Here, watch the Rolling Martyr Unfiltered streaming live on the Blackstone Network. We'll be right back. On the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, beware the generational curse. They're everywhere in our families, in our workplaces, and even in our churches. It's like a minefield, identifying the curse and knowing what to do about it. When we're talking about generational patterns, oftentimes we get locked into those patterns because we don't want anyone to say, oh, you acting brand new or you doing something different from how this is how we always did it. It's okay to do something different in

order to get the results that you want to see in your life. That's next on A Balanced Life on Blackstar Network. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. Are you working hard and yet your performance doesn't reflect your paycheck? On the next Get Wealthy, you're going to learn some savvy career moves so that all your efforts actually show up in your bank account. Joining us is the founder of a career network, and she's going to share the three R's of accelerating your financial growth. Here's a tip as well. If you are an individual contributor and you desire to be a leader, do the work where you are now. Because if you do the work where you are now, when you do reach the level, you'll be prepared to stay there. I know a lot of cops,

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

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

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

In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King,

John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet.

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

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree.

It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Me, Sherri Shebra, and you know what you're watching, Roland Martin, unfiltered. The fear of the rise of artificial intelligence,

it's genuine now that we see it more and more. You guys remember a few years ago when Facebook started rolling out those little apps, those little games where you'll take a picture of your face and then it'll show you how you look old or show you how you look young. Well, that was generative AI. They were gathering information on the faces of millions and millions of people to feed into their database,

to feed into their algorithm. You ever download writing websites or writing applications that check your spelling, that check your grammar. They help you to proofread through papers and make sure you don't make mistakes. That was generative AI. It was all taking in everything and finding out the way that human beings write and communicate and feeding this into an algorithm and feeding this into a system. And now we're finally on the consumer side seeing the results of this. You've probably seen on your timeline these AI images that have been created, where you can enter a series of command prompts, and the AI continuously generates

more and more realistic and lifelike images, showing you everything from what Black people looked like during the Harlem Renaissance to what we would look like at a rodeo. You know, you see all sorts of things. Many of the television shows that you see now, part of the writer's strike that's going on in Hollywood is because more studios are using AI to do the initial script writing and then editing for that, and the writers get one to ensure that they would have careers going forward. Now, what are we saying? Well, shouldn't these companies have told us they were using our faces, using our images, using our likenesses, using our text to create this computer algorithm of generative AI? Yeah, they could have, using our likenesses, using our text to create this computer algorithm of generative AI? Yeah, they could have, but they put it in the terms of condition,

and you ain't read it, and you wanted to share the picture. So we want to talk about this and dispel some of the fears that people have about artificial intelligence. Joining us to explain the misinformation concerning AI, we have Shereen Mitchell, social analyst in diversity strategies. Ms. Mitchell, how are you doing this evening? I'm doing great. How are you? Thank you for having me. I am outstanding. Thank you so much for joining us. So, can you talk a little bit about the misinformation and kind of fear that people have of artificial intelligence? People think it's going to take my job. Artists think it's going to put them out of business. Writers think it's going to put them out of work. Is this a real fear people should have?

I personally don't think it's a real fear for them to have. That doesn't mean that some people won't use it as an excuse to get you out of your job. However, the key piece of this is that the AI cannot produce things that we haven't already produced. Like, for example, many people realize that, like, even professors who, like, get papers from students where they have basically produced products that were from AI entirely, once they run it through, you know, their own, you know, technology, they realize that these are mimicked versions of, you know, words that didn't come from the student. There are ways to, you know, address this and acknowledge that this is a problem. I do think, though, that sometimes the problem that we're having is that people don't know the difference between the technologies and being able to do their own due diligence to, like, go through the

system themselves and actually counter what they're being presented. So I don't think it's going to take people's jobs, but I do think people are fearful of it, but not doing the work to make sure it doesn't happen. And now, let's say if you're in a field, like if you're a resume writer, for example, or if you're a consultant or if you do accounting, those sorts of things, and they create these new algorithms that can put in place, you know, every major company, it seems, is rolling out an AI chat box. If you go into Bing on your computer, there's a Microsoft chat box. Google has the Google Labs chat box that now exists is powered by GPT-4. Could you talk about how those people can prevent losing business out to these AIs that claim they can do the exact same thing as them, but for free and instantly? Actually, they have the expertise to know when what was being produced by the AI

is basically trying to collect a mimic of their expertise and then regurgitating versions of it. And it's not accurate. Like that's the, that's the key part. If you just take it and you don't do your own due diligence, then yes, like these CPAs, everyone else, lawyers, like honestly, I saw someone who was saying like a lawyer would not know the difference between some of the you know chat gbt and i'm thinking a lawyer with any salt would know the difference because they would be able to not only go back to the actual law itself that the chat gpt was referencing to make sure it was accurate and if if you're not doing that, then you're not doing the due diligence. So like, it's not just the accountant, it's also the professor,

it's also everyone in their jobs. When someone's trying to use chat GPT to get you out the job, then that means there's something else going on. So do you think that you could tell a computer-generated script versus a human-written script just because of your expertise on this? Yes, as a coder. Like, there's actually been conversations about this where, like, all of a sudden, like, when they were asking people to do whiteboards or whatever the case may be in the tech industry. And all of a sudden people were like given like assignments that would take, you know, 90 minutes and they can finish it in five minutes. I'm thinking you should pause and wonder where the coding was coming from and what code is being used at that moment. Like there is a part of it that is actually connected to human, like the way in which we operate as humans.

If chat GPT can take all the things that we as humans operate and give it to you in five to ten minutes, then everyone should be pausing. All right, I want to bring the panel in on this. Mustafa, do you have a question for Ms. Mitchell on AI and whether or not it can take your job and my job also. Well, I'm ready to retire, so it's okay. But thank you. Thank you for bringing this conversation forward. You know, I've done a little bit of writing on this. So I think the further part of the conversation is the difference between AI and AGI, which is an important element because AI is about specific tasks that we see doing. And then, of course, the other more broader context is the one that really gets interesting for some, scary for others, because that, if it ever fully develops, could take a lot of not just jobs, but a number of other things. But i'd love to hear your thoughts on that so i i do

think that it still has to do with people having the expertise that no matter what the ai is deciding to do in the expertise i also know that like i've seen medical medical professionals using it that helps them in their work in certain ways but the expertise that they bring is what prevents it from taking their job away because they have to still have the level of discernment to know that no no matter what the decision is based on that that they are like they you are the expert more than the computer trying to come up with ways to suggest for you. Because I feel like if we were looking at the AI as a way to say, hey, here are suggestions, we would not be operating in the context that this will be something that will take over our job.

These are suggestions, and then we get to make the final decision. Eugene, do you want to have the opportunity to speak with Ms. Mitchell. I guess my question is, how far away from me are we from me having my own Jarvis and potentially my own Obama? That's what we need. That's what I want. I want my own Jarvis. I want my own dream where I can expand things digitally, bring them back small, create new things. You know, Jarvis controlled all the cars and everything, and it made my own Iron Man suit. How far out are we for those of you who are not nerds Jarvis is the artificial intelligence that Tony Stark had uh installed into the mark one Iron Man armor so that is what he is talking

about for the people that he had friends in high school to me as someone who was like do you remember when back to the future happened and we were looking for our hoverboards? When did we finally get our hoverboards? Did we get it in 1985? That's what you're asking. You know. All right, Rebecca,

do we have a question for Ms. Mitchell? It's not possible. You have no idea. Let me say that. We have no idea when it will eventually land. All right, Rebecca. So my question is, what is the impact of greater AI adoption on brain development? And the reason why I ask that is that when I talk to my godchild, my godchild uses a calculator doesn't understand the why um they're inputting certain things into the calculator um doesn't understand like some of that um critical thinking

so what is the impact of ai with using those portions of our brain i do think that there so so the cautionary tale is the experts who have been around long enough to see how this works are probably seeing things completely differently when the AI decides to show up in certain ways. I think younger people who haven't experienced it yet and still experiencing life, like that's the place that we probably should have a little bit of caution, honestly. And I think about this in the context of what you're asking about math. It's like, well, you know, get the program and just tell me the answer so I don't have to do it. So that worked a lot during like when we were virtual, right, that children could sort of speak into, you know, the AI and get an answer back. It is important for us to understand those levels of distinctions drastically differently. So I do think about that part of it because I feel like there's some aspect of that, that will allow them to come up with answers that, um, that is not their authentic voice, but that something they think is the right thing to say or do in those moments.

And math is way more complicated in the way that like, once you start going up the chain in math as a child, like once you get to algebra and trigonometry, you know, the AI is not going to work for you anymore. But I do think there is a question there about how the impact of children may be the moment that we might have to like pause about like what chat GBT can do and will sort of influence that generation that's behind us. All right, before we run out of time, what are some resources for people who want to learn more about this? Do they want to find out how AI can be used in their business or personal life to make them more productive? Because at the end of the day, we talk about the evil side to it, but it is a tool that can help people. What are some tools

for people to use to learn more about it? Yeah. So I do think that there are a couple of people who I respect in terms of who have been working on this. There's Dr. Keisha who's been online and actually talking about these issues, including before COVID and the like, that you should reference. I also think that we should go back to this really simple thing, and I mean this sincerely. remember Timnit Jabrou was removed from Google while asking for the, like, like the paper she wrote was about the ethics of AI and the impact of what that meant. Can we go back to that and start asking more questions and then kind of move her from there? Because it always feels like every time I have a conversation about that, or Google even speaks to that. They're going, well, I think we can move this needle this way, but we'll see. But if you fire the people who were looking at the ethics of these issues,

then we're having a problem. So I'm going to center Black women, go back to Timnit Jabrou, and all the women who have been working on AI justice. That's where everyone should go for resources. Well, thank you so much for your expertise and keep us updated when me, Eugene, and Rebecca, and Mustafa can all retire and just have a computer do this all for us. But thank you so much for- It's never gonna happen.

It's never gonna happen. Well, hopefully you're right. Well, thank you so much. All right, we'll be back after the break. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture,

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folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. Waits $100,000. We're behind $100,000. So we want to hit that. Y'all money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. The Cash App is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. The Supreme Court is back in session. God help us all.

It is no exaggeration to say that this current session could completely reshape this country and redirect our future for generations to come. And not in a good way. We invite Dr. Valethea Watkins, Professor Angela Porter, our legal round table, back to the show to put it all in perspective. That's on the next Black Table. Please don't miss it, right here on the Black Star Network.

Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherry Shepard Talk Show. You're watching Raw. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way.

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

Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things.

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

I always had to be so good no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org,

brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. On the mark, unfilter. According to the Maryland State Conference of the NAACP, Maryland has violated black students' constitutional right by failing to provide them with the resources and support that they need to succeed academically. The Maryland NAACP cites various issues, including inadequate funding, understaffing, and the lacking of resources for students with special needs. It also alleges that the same Maryland district has engaged in discriminatory practices that have disproportionately

affected black students. In particular, in Baltimore, 75 percent of the student body is black. Baltimore City had 93 percent of third through eighth graders below grade level in math and found 23 schools with no student performing at grade level. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump joined a lawsuit against Baltimore City Schools that accused the school system of wasting tax dollars and failing to educate generations of students. The NAACP calls for systemic changes to be made to policies and practices to ensure all students have access to education by offering plans to hold a conference for all Maryland school systems on June 15th and 16th. I want to bring a panel in on this discussion. I think this is crucial, particularly given Shelley's conversation on Republican support for school choice earlier.

So for Rebecca, do you think this lawsuit and this effort against Baltimore schools will be successful? And if so, will this be something that can be replicated in the school districts around the country because they are not alone in this issue? Well, here's the thing. Even if we have the broader school choice debate, not every student is going to go to a charter school. Not every student is going to go to a private school. We're still going to have a significant portion of our students in public schools. So if we're saying that we should have access to free public education, then the federal government, state governments, local governments have to do everything they can to make sure that the education that's being provided is adequate,

and that is not a disservice if you are poor or if you are Blacker. It has to be education that is free and accessible by all if we're saying that that's a priority in our country. And on that point, Mustafa, you know, here we are 70 plus years after Brown versus the Board of Education. And even in cities where you have a majority black population, you have a black, you know, elected officials, mayors on down the line. We still deal with this issue of substandard schools in the black community. What is the solution? And we haven't found one by now. And we, as Rebecca said, school choice sounds good as long as you're one of the kids and we haven't found one by now. And we, as Rebecca said, school choice sounds good as long as you're one of the kids that makes it

into the private or parochial school, for the rest they're left to die on the vine. Why is it so hard to tackle this subject? Well, in many instances, our schools are located in sacrifice zones. So that means that we have to take a holistic approach to education and that also means, because I've spent some time in the Baltimore schools,

and there are kids who have different ways of learning, but because we have created sort of this conveyor belt, we just move kids through without them actually being able to actually break things down, use them in a real world way, and really gain a better understanding. So that means that even though we have this case that's going on, we've really got to look at the system of education and where are the gaps and the breaks that exist there, especially for our kids. We got to make sure that representation matters. And in many instances there in the Baltimore school system, we do have other Black teachers that are there. But there are a number of different dynamics that also go behind that. And helping also those teachers to continue

to have the additional growth of skills that's necessary to operate here in the 21st century. And then we'll just tie it into the last section or last session where we've got to make sure that these young children who are going to move into adulthood are prepared for a much more competitive world. So that means that we've really got to take a hard look,

and then we've got to make some really strong choices and then have the resources. And resources are not just money to help them to be able to succeed. But, Mustafa, just on that point, it bounces right back to you. I don't think it's being conveyed properly in American media that the age of American exceptionalism is over. We are behind and we are losing pace. Our students right now graduate behind almost every student in Europe, quite frankly. They graduate behind almost every student in Canada. They graduate behind almost every student in Mumbai and in Nigeria and China. They graduate behind almost every student in Japan.

Well, why is it that we can't have political conversations that are centered around actually improving education without moving into kind of some of these ridiculous conversations? Rhonda Santos wants to ban books because they make the kids gay. Glenn Youngkin wants to ban the books because they make white people feel bad. We don't have actual conversations centered on fixing the education system. How can we actually get to the point of directing our attention towards solutions and not just rhetoric? Well, we've got to finally realize that education actually helps to strengthen our country when it's done properly. Education also expands your mind.

Education also helps you to understand that you have power. And of course, we understand when we start talking about power dynamics, people get real nervous because if you have an educated community or an educated body, then that means that they are going to want better things for themselves. And there's going to be a higher level of expectation. And that scares some people. But if we don't get our educational system correct in this country, we are going to fall further and further behind. I have been in South America, Central America, Europe, and Africa, and you would be surprised, Robert, as you shared, the level of learning that happens at such a young age that, in many instances, folks who are in high school in this country can't compete with folks who are

in eighth grade or seventh grade in other countries. So this is the moment for us to actually do the right thing and make sure that we are putting together a 21st century educational system. You know, on that point, me and my wife were at this beach in Phuket one time, and there was this couple next to us, an interracial couple, and the daughter had never seen a black person before. So the daughter asked the mother in French if she could come talk to my wife. I took six years of French, so I barely understood the child. She was like four years old. And then she went and spoke to her father in German and asked him. And then she came and spoke to us in English. And then she spoke to the waitress in Thai. So when I talk about American schools being behind, I think that if you haven't gotten out of America and seen the level of education that these children have and the far fewer resources in other places, you won't understand just how far we are from being able to keep up with this

generation. And Eugene, you know, you come previously, you know, you're a reformed and retired conservative. But I think that part of the issue is that the conservative side of the aisle, it seems that other than school choice and anti-woke agenda, we don't really get policy out of that side of the aisle. What could be a conservative policy solution actually helping our educational system? Because Baltimore

is not alone. Well, the thing is this, right? So I'm actually going to speak from somebody that actually lives in the metro Baltimore area about what's actually going on. So you did run down, you know, in Baltimore City where, you know, this lawsuit's taking place, where there's been a lot of discussion about the impact the school is having, the lack of performance from the school system. First and foremost, Maryland has localized school boards, which means that, hey, your county elects a school board that has a wide range of autonomy over both budget, performance, and policy of the local school system. On top of that, the Maryland legislature, by law, essentially provides parity within funding. So let's say, for example, I mean,

so schools are largely funded by property taxes, right? So let's say, hey, Baltimore City, you know, they're able to only fund $7,000 and the state, you know, will come in and fund that other $8,000. That's typically what happens in Baltimore City. You know, the state provides an overwhelming amount of funding compared to, you know, let's say Baltimore County or Anne Arundel County, you know, surrounding counties of Baltimore City. But hey, let's say a poor white county like Somerset or Prince Anne County, both of those, you know, receive like parity funding the same way Baltimore City does. But I think if we're going to have an honest conversation about what's going on in Baltimore City schools, I think that conversation starts with, hey, that these schools are run by a 100 percent Democrat

school board by a and supported by a overwhelming supermajority filibuster proof majority. Do whatever they want. Majority of Democrats and both the state house and state legislature. You know, there's a there's a false idea that, you know, governor or Republican or Democrat has control over that state budget. No, that state budget really rests within the hands of the state legislature. So I think if any conversation is going to be

about fixing the Baltimore City Schools, it's going to have to start with fixing about who actually runs the schools. You know, on that point, both of our friends, Kim Clay, since she had a video on Instagram the other day, where she made the point that, you know, on that point, both of our friend Kim Clayson, she had a video on Instagram the other day where she made the point that, you know, the city of Baltimore has banned plastic bags at the grocery store, for example, or has done many of these other things they consider part of the as you said, super majority Democratic populations where they can do what they want, as you said, they aren't focusing in on many of these key areas that are necessary for the general function of the city, but then have time for, you know, we're going to ban plastic bags and some of these more esoteric things that sound better. Well, the thing is this, right, and this is what I was actually going to say to Shelly earlier. When it comes to both parties, when they have the majority to do something, they actually don't do shit and nothing.

Roland Charles says shit, but Roland's not here. They don't do nothing, right? So Republicans had a majority. They could have enacted school choice. They could have built a wall. They could have did whatever gun reform they wanted. For two years, they had a complete majority with Donald Trump as president, right? Complete control, did nothing.

For decades in Maryland, Democrats have had complete control but did nothing. In Baltimore City, they could do whatever they want. I mean, literally have a 100% Democrat city council with a Democrat mayor, Democrat school board, Democrat sheriff, Democrat police chief, can do whatever they want when it comes to crime and education, right? Whatever solution they want, they have complete control over the budget, but they decide not to. Why? Because, hey, when it comes to the next election, I'm able to come in and run on, hey, I'm going to make it safer and I'm going to make education better while doing nothing. And voters forget every four years that the same person or this person that was endorsed by this person or this person that was endorsed by this person that

happened to be a former mayor, former city council president, made the same promise and didn't deliver on it. It's a game. It's one big, huge game. And that's why every generation, you get somebody that actually comes in and does something, we herald them as a hero because they actually did something. But in reality of it, when people have these majorities, they don't do what they actually promise.

Sometimes people do. And in the case of Ron DeSantis, he told you he was going to come in and fight this woke whatever. He's actually doing it or whatever. Now, I don't agree with it, but he's actually doing what he said he's going to do with the majority that was handed to him. And Democrats actually care about black people. And I say this for Republicans, too. They actually care about the constituency that you beg to represent because that's what campaigning is, literal begging, right? So if you're actually going to run for a year and a half and beg somebody.

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

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott.

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

Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush.

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

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

Give you power and let you serve an office. Actually deliver on the needs that these people have. And that goes for Democrats. That goes for Republicans. It goes for black electors. It goes for white electors. What am I paying? And Rebecca, just kind of piggybacking on what Eugene said, we're going into 2024. As we talked about earlier, Democrats probably aren't going to have a primary field.

But how can we ensure that education, particularly in big cities and urban areas, has to be the central point of any Democratic campaign? It can't be a back burner issue anymore. You know, there is a lot of truth to what Eugene is saying, because bottom line, there are many issues in our country, whether it's local or whether it's on a grand scale and it's national. And sometimes, regardless of party, we see that the needle isn't moved on actually fixing the problems. Sometimes we see a Band-Aid, like even when it comes to how Biden pushed to continue to pause student loans and then talked about student loan reform instead of talking about, hey,

why is the federal government giving free money to private businesses to charge six, seven, eight, or even more percentage points for people to be able to get an education in this country? So, you know, Eugene is right. We have to think about who is profiting when we have failing systems. This reminds me, I think, of season three of The Wire that specifically talked about Baltimore public schools. Who is actually profiting here when our children in Baltimore City aren't receiving an adequate education? Who is profiting here? I think once we figure out who makes money off of a failing system, I think that's how we start to get reformed when we figure out what is the money component here. You're absolutely correct.

And no system and no society can survive if they do not prepare their children for the future. It's almost as if we feel if these children just survive to get out of high school, we have somehow done our jobs. That is not the case. We are in a fast-moving, fast-paced society. There are young children all around the globe who want the standard of living that we have here in the United States of America. And if you want a quick analogy, just look at the last five MVPs in the NBA in basketball.

They're all foreign-born. Why? Jimmy B putting the stuff for that white boy now. Come on now. Look, I'm not talking about – I'm not getting into a debate on sports. But the point is that these people are—everyone's coming from overseas. They are hungry. They are fighting harder.

The lead that America thought that we had in the 1950s does not exist anymore. We have to take education seriously for the next generation. And I'll take some action on that bet with you later on after the show to get some money going on that. We'll be back after the break. You're watching Rolling Bar, the other filter, streaming live on the Black Star Network. We'll be back after the break. Hatred on the streets. A horrific scene. A white nationalist

rally that descended into deadly violence. On that soil, you will not be black. White people are losing their damn minds. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This

is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is the Proud Boys guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs,

they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white people. We'll be right now. Thank you for being the voice of black America. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and black-owned media and something like CNN.

You can't be black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Me, Sherri Shebritt. I'm Tammy Roman. I'm Dr. Robin B., pharmacist and fitness coach.

And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. In today's Black and Missing, we talk about Lorenzo Carter. Lorenzo Carter has been missing from Mesa, Arizona since April 30th, 2023. The 16-year-old is 5'9 inches tall, weighs 140 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about Lorenzo Carter's urge to call the Mesa, Arizona Police Department at 480-644-2211. Again, that's the Mesa, Arizona Police Department, 480-644-2211 with any information on Lorenzo Carter. And we hope that he is returned to his family safely as soon as possible. I'm going to go to headlines. In New York City, the DA's office has tossed the convictions of over 500 people who were wrongfully convicted by dirty cops. The convictions were related to misdemeanors and eight felonies, all linked to disgraced

officers found guilty of crimes such as taking bribes, perjury, and official misconduct while on the job. The DA's post-Convictions Justice Unit reviewed the cases, and the move comes after similar actions were taken by the district attorneys in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. The move is expected to relieve hundreds of New Yorkers living with severe costs that come with convictions, including barriers to employment, housing, and education. Rebecca, so on this, I find it interesting that we find these cases all the time, you know, Barry Sheck and the Innocence Project,

efforts like this and post-conviction justice. Why is there not a national push on post-conviction review in order to ensure that in every jurisdiction around the country, we're opening up these cases that we have with dirty cops and being able to provide justice. Because right now, if you're not in a quote-unquote liberal or progressive city or in a city where the DA believes in restorative justice and actually wants to do something about it, it's kind of up to you to try to fight against the system. I mean, what you're really asking is, why isn't there better accountability with our criminal justice system? And that we could spend the next hour talking about that. And it's not, I don't want to give a pass to so-called progressive cities because when we think about that case in Baltimore, I don't remember the

person's name right now, but the reason why they're reviewing the evidence in that case is because it was on a podcast and there was new evidence that came to light and there was public pressure saying, hey, maybe this person really shouldn't be in prison. So I think regardless if it's a conservative area or a more progressive area, we do have to do better with criminal justice reform and understanding how exactly are we prosecuting people in this country? Because we know that if you have a public defender, you are more likely to go to prison. If you actually get paid for a high-powered attorney, you are less likely to go to prison, which means this is more about access to resources.

This is more about money. This isn't necessarily about justice. So it's not just in cases where you have quote-unquote crooked cops, but it's in our system period. Absolutely. Editorial comment, since Rebecca brought up Black attorneys, I, or she didn't, but I heard that in my head. I want people to remember that same neighborhood or family attorney that you have that helps you out when you, that you call when you have a issue you want to talk about, you don't feel like paying somebody, or the same one that you ask for advice every once in a while, just off the books. When you get a bigger case, go back to them. Don't just go to them for the nickel and diamond and the free cases, and then when you get some money, say, well, I got to get me a Jewish lawyer somewhere, because we still have that plaza of songs that says,

faux lawyers and they all Jews, because that's a stereotype in our community to get better legal services from anybody who's not black. So we see black attorneys with private practices literally dying on the vine because they can't get customers. But it means you get that million dollar slip and fall case. You run across town to take that money to somebody else. So from the black lawyers of America, take the big cases to black lawyers

also. They need that money just as much as that big firm that you want to go to across the city. And you're not getting better representation there. You just like the name. You like the comfort. You like the proximity to white supremacy that it makes you feel like you have afforded when you walk in there with a lawyer that is of a more diverse background. Eugene, do you want to hop in on that? I mean, look, I think you said it all right there. You know, all my lawyers are black. And every lawyer I recommend is black. Actually, Robert, you practice in Maryland, right?

Or just in Atlanta, or just in Georgia? Just in Georgia. Okay, get that reciprocity in Maryland. We can talk some stuff. You and my wife, y'all keep trying to push me. I keep trying to get out the game. Y'all try to bring me back in. Listen, don't say that.

Listen, listen. I just want you to be able to pay me when you lose the bet. All right? That's cool. Nevertheless, the thing is this, right? We have a responsibility to push for the most equitable, most fair, most blind justice system we can produce. I will take the American justice system over any other justice system on the face of the earth, point blank, period. But that doesn't mean that it's perfect. And part of that, you know, moving to a more perfect justice system is, hey, when you have situations like dirty cops, yeah, your credibility is thrown out the window. We can't trust you even signing

off on a traffic ticket. When you have situations of abusive or aggressive assistant district attorneys, yeah, I think, you know, that those typically things need to be remedied. I mean, look, even today, Kevin Randolph was found acquitted of all four charges, right, down in Florida. I mean, he should have been charged in the first place. I mean, this is Florida. Standing your ground matters, right? And I think if somebody's coming to shoot up the place and you just happen to, you know, they got tagged in the shootout, you know, you were standing your ground. So, you know, and all that's a part of creating a more perfect justice

system, which should be our end goal at the end of the day. Absolutely. And Mustafa, part of the issue that I think people have is when you see cases like this with corrupt cops, everybody for generations has heard these stories. You know, that uncle you had, that cousin you had, who had interactions

and for a long time they weren't believed. Now that we actually have the ability to go back and fight through these cases and actually bring justice to many of these individuals, how important do you think it is that we center that in our political system? Because Republicans have been masterful at controlling language. They've taken criminal justice reform, they turned it into defund the police. You take sentencing reform. They call that liberal and progressive DAs, weak on crime, soft on crime DAs. How can we make sure that from the progressive side of the aisle, we are ensuring that it is a central aspect of the next election cycle, that we are dealing with

these issues of criminal justice reform, because we can deal with everything else. I said Biden's been a great job of bipartisan legislation, but we still haven't addressed this primary issue for the African-American community. Yeah, well, you know, I guess there are a number of different ways of getting at it. One, we know that there are a number of studies out there that show that somewhere between five and 10 percent of folks who have been incarcerated were actually innocent. So you've got to bring forward those faces and those cases, one, to the American public, but two, politicians who are serious about trying to make real reform in this space have got to also incorporate those real world stories and how it has impacted not just the

individual, but their communities that they come from. So you've got to socialize and humanize these respective issues if you want to counteract the disinformation and false narratives that Republicans use during campaign season. And then as a justification also for these restrictive policies that they put in forward. So that's one of the places that I would start. The other part of it is making sure that people understand that their vote truly does have power and that if we want to have the right types of reforms, then we've got to get engaged in the political system. We've got to make sure that democracy actually works for us. And we've got to cast those ballots for individuals who will diligently fight and hopefully can actually share a narrative in a way that resonates with folks. Absolutely. And as I said, this

administration has done a great job fulfilling many of their campaign promises. We saw a Stop Asian Hate Crime bill. We saw the Respect for Marriage Act for gay and interracial marriage. We saw a $1.7 trillion infrastructure bill. We saw a $1.5 trillion inflation reduction. We saw a $3.5 trillion omnibus spending bill. We saw a debt ceiling deal that increased federal spending by $4 trillion and pushed off the issue of the debt ceiling for the next two years until 2025. We saw the evacuation of civilians from Sudan. We've seen the defense of Europe through NATO. We've seen the humanitarian crisis at the southern border, addressing and reversing many of the dangerous Trump policies, a reaffirmative of our commitments in the South Pacific, building military bases in the Philippines and in Guam. But at the end of

the day, for the black community, don't tell me you can do all that and you can't get criminal justice reform done. Don't tell me you can be bipartisan when it comes to infrastructure, when it comes to spending money, but you can't get voting rights done. Don't tell me you were able to get Kevin McCarthy in a room and find legislation that both Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Marjorie Taylor Greene could both vote in favor of. So don't tell me you can't do big bipartisan things because you just did it. So now that you've shown that you can do it, you've shown you have the capacity to get it done, I don't want to hear any excuses when it comes to reforming the criminal justice system, to reforming policing in this country, to protecting black bodies in this

country, to ensuring the base of the party. Because every election cycle, you say black people are the backbone of the Democratic Party. Black women are the backbone of the party, because every election cycle you say black people are the backbone of the Democratic Party, black women are the backbone of this party, are even starting the election cycle in South Carolina to specifically appeal to black voters. I don't need you to eat no fish fries. I don't need you to know barbecues. I don't need you to know tractor pools or anything else or in church basements. We need legislation that will actually solve the problem and get it done. We're talking more about this after the break. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. We will be right back. That was a pivotal, pivotal time.

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

comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there

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

I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush.

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

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers. But we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. Arapahoe, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else. But never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication.

Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Kevin Hart telling me that, he's like, man, what you doing, man? You got to stay on stage. And I was like, yeah, you know, y'all think I'm there. I'm good. And he was absolutely right. What show was the other time? This was one-on-one. Got it. During that time. And I was- So you're doing one-on-one.

Yeah. Going great. Yeah. You making money. You like- I'm like, I don't need to leave. I don't need to leave from Wednesday, Thursday to Sunday. I just didn't want to do that. You know, it was just like, I'm gonna stay here. Oh, I didn't want to finish work Friday, fly out, go do a gig Saturday, Sunday.

I was like, I don't have to do that. And I lost a little bit of that hunger that I had in New York. I would hit all the clubs and run around. You know, sometimes me and Chappelle or me in this one or that one. We'd go to the Comedy Cellar at 1 in the morning. I mean, that was our life. We loved it. You know, you do two shows in Manhattan, go to Brooklyn, leave Brooklyn, go to Queens, go to Jersey. And I kind of just, I got complacent.

I was like, I got this money, I'm good. I don't need to go, I don't need to go chase that because that money wasn't at the same level that I was making, but what I was missing was that training. Yes. Was that, was that. And it wasn't the money. It was the money. You know, it was that, that Yes. Was that, was that. And it wasn't the money. It was the money. You know, it was that, that's what I needed.

Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not regret that. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance.

We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear.

When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it. And you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't

pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. Waits $100,000. We're behind $100,000, so we

want to hit that. Y'all money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash App is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. dot com. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 Hey, folks, Roland Martin here. I am in Atlanta where today I was participating in the Steve Harvey Foundation Golf Tournament. golf tournament. They were raising money for the young boys, the 250 young boys that they entertain every year at a ranch here in Georgia. And I was on the golf course when Greg Carr,

Dr. Greg Carr, of course, a long-time professor at Howard University, as well as regular panelists here on Well and Martin Unfiltered, sent me a text alerting me that Dr. Bill Spriggs became an ancestor. I was absolutely shocked by the news. Greg said that a couple of weeks ago, Bill had apparently suffered a stroke, had been in a coma and passed away last night. It is it is you know, we do these in memoriams. There are people who entertainers and others. But Bill was a part of this family. I had my show TV.

I can go back to Washington Watch on TV. Professor Howard University. Real simple. When you see these numbers, you pull the audio down. You show that B-roll. That's fine. Bill, going back to Washington Watch on TV One, going back to News One Now, any time we wanted to have a conversation about economics, black economics, Bill was my go-to guy.

He was the first person who I called, who I reached out to. We would call him before we would call any other economists. Anytime the jobs reports, the jobs numbers came out, Bill would often be, they normally drop after 9 a.m. on the first Friday of each month. Bill normally would be writing tweets. He normally would be posting information, and then we would then book him on the show talking about that. Many of you who watched our election coverage, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award, Bill was a part of that. He was an absolutely brilliant economist. show and why TV once news one now mattered because, you know, only on these platforms,

which you look up and you would actually have more than one black economist. You look, it's a lot of mainstream networks. Hell you, you wouldn't even see one. Sometimes I think at one point we had three or four on the air at one time. Uh, bill always was very straightforward, was very just how he would explain what's happening in the economy. And that was the case. It was only a few weeks ago, folks. And I have the and I was trying to get back to my hotel room in time to be able to to show you all this. I'll have it for the show tomorrow. I'll post it on social media. My niece graduated from Howard University, and Bill was there at graduation. And he, as the faculty were coming in, he sees me, big smile comes over his face. He comes over and greets me. And that was the last time I saw Bill. He, of course, a professor at Howard University

teaching economics, formerly chair of the economics department at Howard University. He was the former chief economist for the AFL-CIO, served in the Department of Labor under President Obama from 2009 to 2012. He also ran the Washington Bureau of the National Urban League. I sent a post out, a text message this morning to have a text message chain of a number of civil rights folks. And I sent that out and folks just simply expressed their shock at this. Melanie Campbell, National Coalition on Black City Participation, she said, oh, no, Lord Jesus loved Bill Spriggs. He was brilliant and unapologetically black. Rest in peace and power, Bill.

Donald Brazil, thanks for sharing. My heart is truly broken. He was a good soul uh mignon moore by god i just saw him speaking ran across one of his speeches on youtube god of my silent tears um mark morel uh of course um also expressed um um his uh thoughts uh he said so sad bill worked for us as head of our Washington Bureau. May he rest in peace. Reverend Frederick Douglas Haynes, the third Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas, great man, God rest his soul. And again, you know, Bill is going to be sorely, sorely missed.

He, again, he was one of our regular voices. He was one of our shining lights. I dare say that when it came to politics, those of us in black, black owned media for years were often called Dr. Ron Walters. When it came to issues of dealing with political issues in relation to African-Americans. I would dare say when it comes to economics, Bill Spriggs was that guy we would reach out to and we would call. That person would reach out and call. And so I was absolutely sad and shocked and saddened to get that news from Greg about the passing of Bill. Certainly condolences to his family. He was a brilliant man, a smart man. And when we called him, he was there. And, you know, there were times when, you know, Bill fought cancer. Bill was sick for a very long time and lost a whole lot of weight.

And he and I talked briefly about it. And then when he was on the men, that's when he was able to come back on the show. And we had him back on the show. And so, you know, the job support just came out on Friday and normally Bill would be on the show. Unfortunately, he was in a coma after suffering after suffering that stroke. So we have a number of guests who are lined up. Okay. Robert is gone. Okay. All right. So let me know if we're getting Robert back. I was going to actually toss it back to Robert to handle the interviews with the other guests. So let me know when we have him back. Let me bring on Dr. Julian Malvo, of course, a frequent panelist on the show. Dr. Malvo there, folks.

She also is an economist as well. Julianne, you've known Bill for a very, very long time. And again, just so many of us were just shocked to hear about his passing. Shocked. I was saddened. He was a very good friend, a fellow labor economist. We were both labor economists. So we both salivated on the first Friday when the jobs report came out. Talk frequently. And just as with you, Roland, if I needed, I mean, I'd switch my hat. Some days

I'm a journalist, some days I'm an economist. So if I ever needed a quote, I'd go to Bill. If I needed a guest on my radio show, I would go to Bill. And he was always available. Even if he was busy, he'd say, well, I can't give you 30, but I'll give you 15. He was one of the kindest people that I know, literally just kind. A lot of academics are very competitive. He didn't have any of that. And he was so dedicated to young people.

I mean, his Howard students, he cut a deal where the Fed had some Howard University students coming to be interns at the Fed. He sent me one of his mentees down to Bennett when I was at Bennett. He really wanted to see the economics profession expand when it came to Black people. Frankly, in terms of our community, he's the first one of our generation of economists that we've lost, and we really lost a hero, a giant, and I've lost a friend. And Julian, one of the things, I mean, he was an absolute advocate for Black economists. I don't have her name with me, but the sister who was named to the Federal Reserve, he was absolutely excited by that. I remember last year, Julian, that was this thread on social media of black economists. And he was just talking about, you know, and we need

to have those voices out there. And I was a firm believer of why Black-owned media matters, because we would have different Black economists. And Bill was always about, hey, call this person, call this sister, call this brother, and give them some airtime as well. And so he had no problem sharing the stage. Not at all. I mean, he was very good at that. And he was very good at being situational and mindful. So, you know, we have Bill and I have very different personalities, but we would often be on the stage together. And he would sometimes say, Malvo, you take it. Yeah, I would defer to him because because I just thought he presented well. And we need to share the time. But often he'd just say, Mal, though you take it, or he would, he thought I was hilarious. I don't know about that, but he would say, you're going to be,

you're going to make this funny. You're going to make this funny for people. So he didn't mind sharing. He didn't mind sharing anything really. And, you know, I just, as I said, just big condolences to Jennifer, his wife and Will, his son, who was also a Howard university graduate. It's, you know, it's very sad. And he is a giant. We will absolutely miss him. One of the things, Roland, that's interesting is that he and I have both got a, he moved

it more quickly than I did, the whole issue of Social Security retirement and what it meant to Black men. Because if the retirement, when you raise the retirement age and black male mortality is dropping, so you have more black men dying, median death age for black men is in the 60s. You can't get Social Security until now, 66, 67. And, you know, he, as I said, he was much more effective than I in talking about what this meant for black men. We pay into Social Security, but we don't get our share out because of the death levels for black men. But he moved that. He talked about it. And I suspect that because of his work, we may have seen a slowing in the, you know, they've been raising the retirement age

by months. But I think it may have slowed because of Bill's work, because he really, really talked about that. The other thing he did that I think was so important was when he was the head of the Urban League's bureau there in Washington, he worked really hard on the state of black America. He basically was a hard worker, and he loved our people. That's what people – he loved our people. Indeed. Dr. Malvo, we appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this day with the passing of Bill Spriggs. Thank you.

Folks, this is a statement. Before I go to break, this is a statement that President Joe Biden released. I want to read that right now. I am deeply saddened by the passing of Bill Spriggs, a man who brought as much lasting brilliance to economics as he brought joy to his friends and colleagues. Bill was a towering figure in his field, a trailblazer who challenged the field's basic assumptions about racial discrimination in labor markets, pay equity, and worker empowerment. His work inspired countless economists, some of whom worked for our administration, to join him in the pursuit of economic justice, serving as both the economics department chair at Howard University and as chief economist for the AFL-CIO, the first Black American to hold the position, Beale relentlessly fought to ensure that the voices and needs of workers were at the center of economic policymaking.

Beale was also a dedicated public servant who held several economic policy positions across the federal government, spanning two presidential administrations. Along with these remarkable contributions and achievements, Bill will be missed for his kindness, warmth, and humility. Folks, I'm going to go to break right now. When we come back from this break, Robert Petillo will pick up our coverage of the passing of Bill Spriggs. There are several other folks that we have lined up as guests, so I want to make way for them. But I definitely did not want to wait tomorrow just to share my thoughts about the passing of Bill Spriggs. Again, a tremendous voice, someone who absolutely we greatly appreciated on this show. And I appreciated his kindness and his friendship over the years and always being there for me and our audience.

And so to his family, you have lost a loved one. We have lost a truly, truly great economic mind. And we are all better for his analysis and for his work that he has done. Folks, you're watching Roller Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. We'll be right back. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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It's okay to do something different in order to get the results that you want to see in your life. That's next on A Balanced Life on Blackstar Network. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 Thank you so much for rolling as we continue this commemoration of the life and legacy. We're joined by individuals who were very close and want to make comments about the legacy that has been left. We're joined by Dr. Greg Carr, of course, Department of Afro-American Studies, Howard University, as well as Kamala Moore, Esquire Chairperson of California's Reparations Task Force. Also, Amari Swinton, Ph.D., Chair of the Economics Department at Howard University. Dr. Julianne Malveaux, I believe, will also be joining us. Dr. Carlin, just turn the floor over to you for comments.

Thank you, Robert, and it's good to see Sister Moore and my brother, Amari Swinton, who is in that next generation of black economists. That line isn't very long. You start talking about Abram Harris and those guys in the 40s and Bob Weaver and them, and then coming through the names we might all hear, the Thomas Souls and folks like that and Walter Williams. But as Julianne said, you know, Bill, 68 years old, that is that next generation. And Amari Swinton, you know, whose father is an academic, a first-rate academic.

Amari and I kind of come in that generation after. And so he has taken the torch from our brother Bill Spriggs. I know that's hitting you hard, brother. Bill Spriggs spent his life in black spaces. His father was a giant. I mean, Thurman Edward Spriggs, his father had a master's and a PhD in physics. His master's was from Howard. Bill was born in D.C. And his father was a Tuskegee Airman and a Ph.D. in physics. His master's was from Howard. Bill was born in D.C. and his father was

a Tuskegee Airman and a Buffalo soldier. Some of this stuff you can't make up. Bill Spriggs followed in his footsteps and he followed in that tradition. Now, we've heard some of the things and I'm sure that we'll hear more and I'll defer to my colleague to talk about his professional associations, although I will mention the National Economic Association, which is, of course, the Black Economists. That was founded in the late 60s at the same time that black folk were founding associations, although I will mention the National Economic Association, which is, of course, the black economists. That was founded in the late 60s, at the same time that black folk were founding everything from the National Association of Black Social Workers and the Association of Black Psychologists to the ENCOPS for the Black Political Scientists and the African Heritage Studies Association.

Bill Spriggs served as president of that association for a time, and not just working in the Clinton and Obama administrations, not just working to staff the Senate and the House and their joint committees to deal with this question of economics. Bill Spriggs was someone who saw his place as working in black spaces, and I'll end with this and kind of defer as we continue our conversation. One of his colleagues posted today on social media that when Bill Spriggs showed up after going to Williams College undergrad, we used to laugh about that because he said that's where he met Sterling Brown. That's a story for another day. He then went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and one of his white colleagues tweeted out today

that Bill Spriggs knew he always wanted to work at HBCUs. So whether that be Norfolk State, you know, whether that be North Carolina A&T or whether it eventually was Howard, Bill Spriggs knew he wanted to work in those black spaces. So, you know, this is more than a loss. This is a person who lived, this is a bridge figure from those early days of intellectual warfare to where we are today. And he can't be replaced. We can only continue to kind of fight the fight that he fought. Absolutely. Dr. Swinton, I'm just going to turn the floor over to you for comments. So Bill was one of those unique people in the academic space who could successfully go back to public policy, to academia. And, you know, Bill was always busy. He always was doing

something, but he was always uplifting those, anybody he could help, right? In our department, Bill, even though he was the chief counsel for the AFCLO, he did way more than he had to because he wanted to be at Howard. He wanted to see the students be successful. He wanted to be a part of their experience. We have dinners for our graduating students at restaurants late at night. Bill would, regardless of his busy schedule, make his way out to see these students away, to talk to them, and show the love and concern that he had for them and for their future that they have.

Bill attended every graduation. Like Roland Martin said, most faculty at Howard don't like going to graduations. They don't come unless they have to. But Bill came every time. And he stayed after with us. We always took pictures. And he was always proud of the accomplishments of his students. He was the type of person who opened the doors for anybody who needed assistance. He was the type of man who opened the doors for anybody who needed assistance. He was the type of man who got into a space and then the space he brought more people with him. He was on the board of the National Bureau of Economic Research. And since he's been on the board, that space looks entirely different than before he got there.

And you could say that about anywhere Bill went, because Bill was an advocate for those Black people. He was an advocate of reclaiming the history that was lost through his research. He did a lot of research on HBCUs and the benefits that they give to Black students. He was working on a research project that looked at the discrimination that the highly trained Blacks who came back from World War II faced when they came back to the U.S. They might have been the only people who had the technological skills to do the work, but because they were Black, they were discriminated against. And he wanted to document their path so people could see how hard it's been for Black people to survive and succeed in the U.S. And, you know, Bill was the person who hired me, and he's the reason that I'm at Howard. And just

the story of a Black economist, I got my Ph.D. at Duke. Only one place wanted to hire me, and that was Howard, right? And so, you know, you could think that the world has changed and a lot of these spaces have opened up for Black economists, but it's not you know it's just you know our department is never going to be able to replace what bill has done and what he does i mean he he's one of the few faculty members who goes to every faculty meeting that talks he goes to students dissertation defense who aren't he's not an advisor for he has students who he's advising, who he gives time when a person as successful as Bill would not normally give that time to his students. But Bill was available. He called them, he talked to them, he sat with them and gave them

the attention that they deserve and needed. And, you know, that's part of what Howard offers to his graduate students. But it's also who Bill was. Bill, my first big conference that I went to, they invited Bill and Bill sent me in his place. Right. And, you know, opportunities as a junior faculty member like that wouldn't have came to me if it wasn't for Bill Spree. And you could talk to any other junior faculty member in our department and across the nation who are in economics. And they'll talk at a time that Bill said, why don't you reach out to them or reach out to this person to give them a chance to make a name for themselves? And Bill was unabashedly proud for Howard. We brought the American Economics Summer Program to Howard, which is a program that was started almost 50 years ago to increase the number of Blacks in the economic profession. And last year, Bill gave one of the introductory speeches.

And in that speech, he gave a 30-minute discussion about the greatness of Howard and what it meant. You know, this year, our program started, and Bill was unable to come give that speech. And, you know, I don't know anyone who could speak with the love and care about Howard that Bill had. He talks about how he was born on campus, has one of those great safe spaces for Blacks and produce quality work. And, you know, we're going to miss him in our department. We're going to miss him in our department. We're going to miss him in our profession.

And our hope is that some of the younger black economists can help pull some of the weight that Bill was doing, because Bill has created opportunities for many, many people. Absolutely. Attorney Moore, I want to give you an opportunity to take the floor. Yes, thank you for having me. Now, of the folks on the panel, I probably have known Dr. Spriggs the least, but his impact on me personally and on the commission that I'm honored and privileged to serve on, that being the first in the nation California Reparations Task Force, he's left a tremendous impact, not only on me personally, but on the task force. And I got to know Dr. Spriggs,

of course, through the task force, but more closely serving on the task force's economics advisory commission alongside my fellow task force member, Jovan Scott Lewis. And in that committee, we worked to essentially hire a team of economic and policy experts, five of them, including Dr. William Spriggs, to help us with the impossible task around how do you quantify the losses of the African-American community, those who descend from slaves and free Black people living in the United States prior to 1900? How do you quantify, right, the losses of this particular community for the purposes of recommending reparations in the form of cash payments. So Dr. Spriggs was one of the five experts that we enlisted to help us with that task,

to develop a methodology for analyzing, calculating the losses to this particular group of people, because in our historic 500-page interim report that the task force released June of last year that chronicles those gross human rights violations from 1619 to present. You know, the question wasn't whether compensation should be given to this to these people, to this group of people, but rather how much is necessary and how the California state

legislature should go about enacting a statewide compensation scheme, specific measures, and individualized restitution for the extensive harms done. And so, again, Dr. Spriggs led that team. So in our final report, which the California Reparations Task Force will be releasing to the public and to the California state legislature June 29th of this year, you can see Dr. Spriggs' contribution, particularly in Chapter 17 of what will be our final report, which are the task force's final recommendations regarding calculations of losses to African-American descendants of chatteled enslaved people or descendants of free Black people living in the United States prior to the end of five areas of atrocities where there is data and evidence to show or demonstrate how the state of California was specifically culpable in

perpetuating these atrocities against this particular group of people. So from health harms to housing discrimination, mass incarceration and over-policing, unjust property takings, and devaluation of African American businesses. Again, Dr. Spriggs, a tremendous contribution to the state of California and the nation through this report should be acknowledged

in the sense that, you know, it's nearly an impossible task, as I said earlier, in terms of calculating the cost of tears and blood and human rights violations. No amount can encompass the full scope of damage done by the institution of slavery and ongoing discrimination. But through the work with Dr. Spriggs and these other experts, we've identified, again, those five key categories of ongoing harms where there may be sufficient data and methods

to estimate monetary losses experienced by African Americans in California, and thus justify the claim for reparations for African Americans as well. So I'm very grateful to Dr. Spriggs. He actually attended in person our second to last meeting, May 6th, in Oakland, and we had an amazing conversation. So thank you and rest well. Job well done, Dr. Spriggs. Absolutely. And before we go, Dr. Carter, do you have any line? I know Roland's going to continue

to cover this both tomorrow and throughout the week. But for people who did not know the work of Dr. Spriggs, what would be the takeaway you would have if you were trying to explain, encapsulate him for the people who did not know him? Well, our time as chairs in the College of Arts and Sciences at Howard overlapped. He was chair of the economics department and I was chair of making studies. And one of the things about Bill Spriggs that I'll never forget is, and I was talking today with the 16th president of Howard, Sidney Rubeau. Dr. Rubeau described Bill as smart, kind, and civil.

Those words, I think, resonate because economists often are seen as folk who are numbers crunches, but it's so much more profound than that. When Bill wrote his dissertation on black wealth accumulation in Virginia in the first 20, first decades heard Omari say, Dr. Swinton say, the question of how skills and skill sets can be devalued, how wages can be depressed. And as Ms. Moore said, Bill wasn't an ideologue. He's pro-black. And he and I actually, who had both testified, I guess it was before the reparations committee commission last year or year before last. Now, I guess we had a long conversations after that. Bill's thing was, I stand for black people.

I'm not going to make a distinction. I'm going to take the data and I'm going to take where the data leads me. And I'm always going to stand on the side of black people. That meant sometimes he might voice an opinion that was contrary to what other people might have to say. And so I'll end with this. If you don't know the name William Spriggs, William Edwards Spriggs, this is the moment to look him up. This is the moment to think about him. When I think of Bill Spriggs, I think of someone of the highest character who was straight down the middle, who was brilliant. And as Amari said, made everything as accessible as possible for his people.

And the last time I talked to Bill, he teased me because, you know, I usually don't miss College of Arts and Sciences recognition ceremony. But it was Malcolm X birthday weekend. I was headed to Philly for a conference. And Bill was like, I miss you. Bill Spriggs was going to be at anything the institution did. And when it was time for graduation, he was going to have his regalia. He was going to hug everybody. He was going to dab up all the parents. This man could and did do anything you want to think of in his profession.

But his foundation was our people but his foundation was our people. His foundation was our people. And that's the model of what I think we can all take from the life and work of Bill Sprigg. Absolutely. And thank you so much for that. And Dr. Swinton, before we leave, I think we have about a minute or so left. If you could just sum up Dr. Spriggs for people who don't know him or who need to learn more about him, what would you say about him and how can people learn more about the work that he's done for the

people who aren't familiar so we can make sure we pass this legacy on? So you can look up some of his research in Review of Black Political Economy, which is the publication of the National Economics Association in which he was president of. Bill Spriggs is going to be remembered, especially amongst the economists who care about Black people, as one of our greatest examples of how to be an academic and still affect the policy sphere. Like a lot of academics can't do both, but Bill Spriggs can go between policymaking and actually doing hardcore economic research better than anybody else I've seen in our profession. And he's the epitome of a black economist who is a public

policy economist. And I'm not sure there'll ever be anybody who achieved what he's achieved, both politically and academically. Well, thank you. Thank you all so much for everything to you said again roland will be continuing these tributes throughout the week uh want to thank dr julian malvo who was on earlier roland for checking in got a thought thank dr greg carr as well as attorney come on more and dr marie swinton uh for all of your contributions and everything that you uh you've done through uh hoppy on with us at the last minute minute to ensure that we are commemorating this and that we spread the word in this message that for the people who say that, well, where is the math at on reparations? Where is the academia at on reparations?

It is there. It exists. We just need Congress to act on this. I also want to thank our panel earlier, Rebecca and Mustafa and Eugene for joining us. It was our guest earlier, Shelley Winter, who was Ms. Mitchell, because these conversations only happen here on the Black Star Network. You're not going to find a cut in like this over on Fox or CNN or anywhere else. We are the ones who have these conversations. And this is why it's so important that we are able to continue this work.

Roland will be back with you tomorrow. I want to thank all of you so much for joining us. And as Roland would say to end these shows, thank you for watching Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. We'll be back tomorrow. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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