Hegseth Grilled Over $134M Guard Deployment, FL Sheriff-AG Clash, TX Voting Law & Cologne Butter

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:19):
Today's Tuesday, June ten, twenty twenty five, Coming up on
Rolling Mark don Future streaming live on the Black Start Network.
It's going to cost one hundred and thirty four million
dollars to send the military to Los Angeles to deal
with the unrest. There shows you how literally stupid this
idea is. In Florida, a black chaer says it ain't
my job to deal with illegal immigrants. Will show you

(00:41):
what he had to say about that. Plus, a new
study by the Britain Center for Justice says that texas
Is twenty twenty one voting law is making it significantly
harder for black and brown folks to vote by mail.
We'll talk to an expert about that. In North Carolina,
South Saint Augustin's University has been slat with a twenty
million dollars default judgment and now they're having the layoff staff.

(01:05):
More drama for that particular HBCU plus Antony's Marketplace will
spotlight Cologne Butter, a skincare company that offers butters infused
with cologne and perfume. M Also, David o' yellowoe has
a new series on Apple TV. Plus, We'll show you
my conversation with him, but we also talk about his

(01:28):
streaming service Manson. It's time to bring the funk on
Rolling Marked Unfiltered, on the back Sudden Network. Let's go
peace Scott.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Whatever, he's on it, whatever it is, he.

Speaker 3 (01:42):
Anna please, he's right on top.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
It is rolling.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Best believe he's going put the towns Boston news to
politics with entertainment.

Speaker 5 (01:52):
Just fuck keeps.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
He's going.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
It's he's Punky sprest. She's built the question though he's boven.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Folks. Donald Tarles's decision to say in a military to
California is gonna cost American taxpayers one hundred and thirty
four million dollars. It is grossly unnecessary. It's a waste
of money. But he's also spending about one hundred million
dollars on his stupid parade. Military parade that's really about
celebrating his birthday. It is not about celebrating in two

(02:49):
hundred and fifty years of the United States Army. Now
as a battle that continues to heat up between Governor Gavenue,
Si Baturney, General Rob Bonta, and that fool sitting at
s exteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue. First and foremost Trump Live,
he claims that he called the governor of California couldn't
get him on the phone.

Speaker 6 (03:07):
No.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Newsom literally posted a screenshot of his caller ID on
social media shows that he is absolute lying. This is
unconstitutional move of that he is making now Governor news
of his foul and emergency lawsuit against the Trump administration,
arguing that the Trump attacks on California is a problem

(03:29):
when it comes to states rights. Yeah, that's real. So
here is some discussion. Well, first of all, here is
what this full pete hasseid. Of course, the Defense Secretary
told Congress today about this. This this one hundred thirty
four million dollars in troops now going to California.

Speaker 7 (03:48):
Mister Jerry, I want to express my severe concern with
the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles without
consultation of the State of California. There have been photographs
that have shown these troops sleeping on the floor and
have not been provided fuel, food, or water by DoD.
How long will this deployment last? And why were we
unprepared to provide them basic necessities such as food and water.

Speaker 4 (04:12):
The commanders and troops on the field are very well prepared, Sir.

Speaker 8 (04:15):
They responded incredibly rapidly to a deteriorating situation with equipment
and capabilities. We have made sure from the top down.
As a Secretary of Defense who's been in a unit
holding riot shields outside the White House during the chaos
of the summer of twenty twenty, I know what it's
like to be immediately deployed into a situation like that.

(04:37):
There are moments where you may do as best you
can temporarily, but we are ensuring they're housed, fed, water
capabilities in real time from my office, because I care
that much about the California Guard and the Marines, and
the men and women who.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
Are supporting our isolations on the ground.

Speaker 8 (04:54):
It's true every day, and that's a disingenuous attack that
misrepresents how much.

Speaker 4 (04:58):
We care about our troops and what they're doing to
ice agents. I'm not going to take the fact that
we don't care about the troops.

Speaker 8 (05:03):
Nobody cares more about the troops at the top than
this secretary and the chairman in our department.

Speaker 9 (05:07):
The deployment last we stated very publicly that it's sixty
days because we want to ensure that those rioters, looters
and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers
know that we're not going anywhere. We're here to maintain
the piece on behalf of law enforcement officers in Los
Angeles appreciate, which Gavin Newsom won't do.

Speaker 7 (05:26):
What is estimated cost of the deployment for the Guard
and the Marines to LA and where's this funding coming from?
Will be coming from quality of life programs? I thought
that affect our service members or our families. If you
want to wait to life before I hand it to,
such as updates housing and barracks.

Speaker 4 (05:42):
Before I handed to brand.

Speaker 8 (05:43):
The insinuation that we're pulling money from housing in barracks
in order to fund this is disingenuously and correct.

Speaker 4 (05:49):
Just ask Brend can give you the numbers.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
Absolutely so.

Speaker 6 (05:51):
The current estimate cost is one hundred and thirty four
million dollars, which is largely just TDY cost, travel, housing, food,
et cetera.

Speaker 7 (06:00):
Where's it coming from?

Speaker 10 (06:02):
That's the cost.

Speaker 7 (06:03):
Where's it coming from their own m accounts? With the
most recent deployment of the Marine s Mimster Secretary, what's
the justification for using the military for civilian law enforcement
purposes in LA? Why are you sending war fighters to cities?
To interact with civilians.

Speaker 8 (06:20):
Every American citizen deserves to be live in a community
that's safe, and ICE agents need to be able to
do their job. They're being attacked for doing their job,
which is deporting illegal criminals that should happen in any city,
Minneapolis or Los Angeles.

Speaker 4 (06:36):
And if they're attacked, that's lawless.

Speaker 8 (06:38):
And President Trump believes in law and order, so he
has every authority and he has done mobilizing National Guard
or active duty troops under US Code to protect let's
talk federal.

Speaker 4 (06:49):
Agents in their job, which is exactly what we're doing.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
We're pro we're proud to do it.

Speaker 7 (06:54):
Ten USC of the US Code twelve four oh six
as a legal basis that the President use sites three
examples and circumstances for the Guard invasioned by a foreign nation,
rebellion or dangerous rebellion against the authority of the government
of the United States, or the President is unable for
with regular forces to execute the laws of the United States,

(07:14):
which authority.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
Is triggered here to justify the use, I don't know.

Speaker 8 (07:19):
You just read it yourself and people can listen themselves,
But it sounds like all three to me. If you've
got millions of illegals, and you don't know where they're
coming from. They're waving flags from foreign countries and assaulting
police officers and law.

Speaker 4 (07:32):
That's the problem laws of the United States.

Speaker 8 (07:35):
The governor of California is unable to execute the laws
of the United States. The President, you said, governor of
the California has failed to protect his people, along with
the mayor of Los Angeles. And so President Trump has
said he will protect our agents and our guarden marines.

Speaker 7 (07:47):
Also says, mister secretary that the orders for these purposes
shall be issued through governors of the States.

Speaker 8 (07:56):
You and I both know that President Trump has all
the authorities necessary and thankful he's willing to do it.
On behalf of the citizens of Los Angeles, on behalf
of our ice agents, and behalf of our country.

Speaker 7 (08:06):
We've also pulled a billion dollars for the for the
border as well, So this just goes into the same
you know, fund one hundred and thirty four with Commerson,
what's stated one hundred.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
And thirty four million.

Speaker 7 (08:17):
I was asking Miss McDonald one hundred and thirty. One
hundred and thirty four million goes on top of the
billion that's been.

Speaker 6 (08:23):
Pulled through So the funding that was pulled for this
year was largely an FSRM, and in this budget we're
actually looking to plus that funding back up, to backfill
that for our troops and for their families.

Speaker 11 (08:35):
Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 1 (08:37):
Well. You see these sheer arrogance of this idiot, Pete
Heck says, now to understand where we are. Folks in
Los Angeles say that the presence of the military plus
these ICE agents is making it very difficult to quell
the protests that are taking there. They also say warning
that the presence of abysmal president of federal troops is

(08:57):
inflaming the titches there in law Angelus now US District
Judge Charles Bryer will decide whether to halt the deployment
other troops in the coming days due to this particular lawsuit.
So lots of drama going on. Let's go to our
pant on Dodtor Mastapha Santiago I leave, former Senior Advisor
for Environmental Justice at the EPA, Joinsmiths out out of
d C. Doctor Larry Walker, Social Professor of University of

(09:20):
Central Florida out of Orlando, Tyle LICKMCBILAN and social justice
leader movement strategist out of d C. What you have
here obviously an administration that wants to provoke this mustafa.
You see Trump lying about Governor Gavin Newsom, worrying about
him not returning his phone calls. And so that's what
we got going on here. Uh. And then you saw
Pa Hickson he also was lying there. The law is

(09:42):
the law. It is very clear in terms of the authority.
When you are to send troops uh to states, it's
a request from the governor. We all know that.

Speaker 12 (09:53):
In fact, we played it yesterday Control Room. Get the
clip ready. Don't Trump even said it himself before. But
see they don't care. They will just change stuff at
a heartbeat and go, oh, we could do it.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
It doesn't matter.

Speaker 13 (10:06):
Yeah, I mean we're very clear.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
You know.

Speaker 14 (10:08):
The beauty of this show, the beauty of this network
is you know, even a year before the election, we
began to lay out for folks the things that you
should be thinking about, that you should be concerned with,
because you know, we had a blueprint from the first
Trump administration, and we knew that they were going to
you know, Trump two point zero, that they were going
to turn it up. So now you see an individual

(10:30):
who is trying as diligently as he possibly can to
make sure that martial law is happening across our country
to be able to strip rights away from individuals.

Speaker 13 (10:41):
You know, they have very little concern.

Speaker 14 (10:43):
For the law when the law stops them from doing
egregious types of actions. So we're seeing it continually playing
out right here in front of us, and they will
do anything that they can to fan the flames. And
when they do that, then they try and justify bringing
in individuals when we could be using that money to

(11:03):
actually feed people or to house the unhoused. There are
so many different things that we could be doing with
that one hundred and thirty four million and one hundred
plus million for the parade that would actually benefit both
our most vulnerable and people across their country.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
But they don't care because what this is about is
a television show, Larry, That's all this is. Donald Trump
wants to present all of this like it's a big
TV show. Yes, so I have a brute a show
of force. And again his actions are wrong. He knows
it's illegal because he actually said it. Roll it four years.

Speaker 15 (11:48):
I promised four years ago at the Democrat at the
Republican Convention.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
I'm going to restore law in order.

Speaker 15 (11:54):
And I have accepting Democrat run cities. Look, we have laws.
We have to go by the laws. We can't move
in the National Guard. I can call insurrection, but there's
no reason to ever do that.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
Even in a.

Speaker 15 (12:06):
Portland case, we can't call in the National Guard unless
we're requested by a governor.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
Sounds pretty clear to me.

Speaker 16 (12:18):
Larry make its way into the lawsuit that's being followed
by the governor as first hand hearing the area of
the president state of himself that he can't do what
he's doing right now. And I think one of the
things rolling in people are watching is understand we've talked
about this for the last several months, about Project twenty
twenty five, and undabtedly some of the things that we're

(12:39):
going to happen. This relates to ICE and Views and
other agencies to identify individuals they want to remove from
the United States. This is not about democracy Roland. This
is about power and people have to understand that. And
so the only way you can obviously deal with this
is protest. And so the President once again had said
to himself that he shouldn't be will to simply send troops,

(13:02):
use the National Guard in California without asking, you know,
make sure the governor is signed off on it. I
think the other thing is interesting is from a historical perspective, Roman,
is that we haven't really seen anything like this in
terms of what the governor of a state is asking
for when the president provides since the nineteen sixties. Is
a relates to civilizing movement, and we know that at
that time black folks were fighting for to be treated like,

(13:26):
you know, like citizens. So, you know, decades later, we're
we're back in the same problem an issue again, but
this time is obviously doing those who are you know,
you know in individuals who to come to this country,
many of who are law abiding and seeking for a
better life. But once again, understand, this is about power.
This is not about democracy. The other challenge with this
Roman is this will escalate. Whether it's California or LA

(13:49):
or another you know, state or city, this will escalate
until eventually one person or individuals will be harmed.

Speaker 17 (13:57):
This is going to be on TV.

Speaker 16 (13:59):
And then the question is how do people in those
communities and throughout the nation respond when they see violence
like we saw We've seen numerous times and escalation in
terms of interactions with law enforcement throughout the last several years.
What will be the response when someone gets hurt and
it's filmed on live television.

Speaker 1 (14:17):
They don't care, Tyler. And so you see what they're doing,
and yes, they want this to be the case. They
want to see this battle, they want to have it.
And again it's to just show a force and you know,
we're gonna sit here and take control of this. You know,
I saw this clip Steven A. Smith was saying, oh
that Donald Trump is winning on this though he's not.

Speaker 18 (14:37):
And so.

Speaker 1 (14:39):
So what you're seeing is you're seeing the feelings. You're
seeing these things brew And I'm telling you this is
the moment where I believe fundamentally you've got to have
people who recognize that they have to stand up, they
must fight, they must do battle. They must recognize that, uh,

(15:00):
these thugs are going to continue doing this and American
people do not fight back, then they are going to continue.

Speaker 10 (15:09):
Absolutely, Roland.

Speaker 19 (15:10):
And I think you know, history tells us this that
silence in the face of tyranny is complacency. But protests,
especially protests that is rooted in love, is the heartbeat
of our democracy, and it's a heartbeat of who we
are as people standing up to bigots and tyrants and
so and I think you know it's a simple fact.
It's a powerful demand that protesters are echoing across the

(15:35):
world to stop criminalizing families, to stop caging our children,
to stop using tax dollars to terrorize American communities. Because
what we see here is not a mirror of strength,
but it's a mirror of tyranny. And it's not law
and order, but it's really lawlessness cloaked in a badge.

(15:56):
And I want to be very clear on this that
you know this is just not about immigration policy. It's
more about the right to dissent. It's about the right
to gather, the right to raise our voices, the right
uh to to speak up and without being brutalized or
terrorized or or or labeled a domestic terrorist. The First
I believe the First Amendment was not written for us

(16:17):
to be comfortable, but it was written for us to
protect the very uncomfortable truths uh to the ones that
are in power. And I think, as you said before,
now is the time not to be dismayed or to
be comfortable or complacent, but now is the time to
speak up and stan Tinto's down on what what what
we believe in standing up to a biggert uh in tyranny.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
Uh And I hope people really understand what is going
on here. I'm going to read for you mustapha Uh.
This is a comment.

Speaker 20 (16:49):
Uh.

Speaker 16 (16:50):
This was a.

Speaker 17 (16:52):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
This was a very interesting comment here.

Speaker 17 (16:57):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
So Christopher Ruffo, who is is the leader against CRT
and woke and di all those different things. This is
literally what he wrote on his substack. And if you
want to understand how demented these people are and really

(17:19):
what their goal is, they still are mad. And I
keep telling people they still are angry and mad with
what took place during the Black Lives Matter protests. This
is what he wrote at the same time as we
saw demonstrated in Portland, Oregon during the George Floyd He
calls them riots. The agencies should dispatch unmarked vans to

(17:42):
follow key agitators and snatch them from the streets while
the media are not looking. The most effective riot of
control is too. I need everybody listening to me right now.
This is Christopher Ruffo. Conservatives love Ron DeSantis loves him.

(18:03):
The most effective riot control is to take movement leaders
off the field, infiltrate their networks, disrupt the flow of funding,
and roll them up in Feller investigations. Denying the left
trained protest leaders now will create a strong precedent for

(18:27):
the rest of the president's term. Christopher Rufo is calling
for co intel pro two point zero.

Speaker 14 (18:36):
Well, you know, they took their lessons from Jagar Hoover
and the things that they did in relationship to the
civil rights movement, and the Aim movement, this Kano movement,
all these movements. So you know, now we're, you know,
seventy years past that, and they continue to understand that
there is power and unity, that there is power also

(18:58):
in us realizing that we don't have to have these
types of egregious behaviors going on. Doctor King once said
that a riot is the language of the unheard, and
that's exactly what we see playing out. So they want
to silence your voice. They want to make sure also
that you know, they have the power to control voting, housing, transportation,

(19:18):
all the things that are connected to resources.

Speaker 13 (19:21):
They want to make sure that they can strip those away.

Speaker 14 (19:23):
So, but if individuals can't speak out and talk about
the disparate impacts that are happening, then they win.

Speaker 13 (19:30):
Now that's why.

Speaker 14 (19:31):
And you know, I've had these conversations with brothers and
sisters over the last couple of days that we have
to be very conscious.

Speaker 11 (19:37):
Right.

Speaker 14 (19:37):
I hear people saying, well, we don't need to get involved,
and I'm remembered of that poem that says, first they
came for the Jews, right, and that I did not
speak out because I was not a Jew. And then
they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak out
because I wasn't a communist. And then they came for
the trade unionists and I did not speak out because
I was not a trade unionist. You can go all
the way down all these types of things that we

(19:58):
currently have going on in our and place those in.
You know, I wasn't black, so I didn't say anything.
I wasn't an LGBDQ member, so I didn't say anything.

Speaker 13 (20:08):
You know, I wasn't X, Y or Z.

Speaker 14 (20:11):
So we have to understand this game that is being played, right,
and the game has been well thought out. They have
learned lessons from the past, and they understand how to
strip your rights away, and that's what they are trying
to play out right here on your screen. They said
that the revolution will not be televised. Well, we're seeing
right before our eyes how mothers are being taken from

(20:31):
their children. You know, how grandmothers are being caught up
in this and so many other folks. So, yes, I
understand that we have to take care of our community.
I completely understand that. But we also have some responsibility
to make sure that we're also living up to what
Malcolm said. Malcolm once said, wrong is wrong, no matter
who does it or says it. So if we remember

(20:52):
those words, we can also make sure that we are
taking care of our community and strengthening and also understanding
why strategic partnerships alliances are so important when you're dealing
with fascists who are trying to pit one against the other.

Speaker 13 (21:05):
To be able to control.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
Those comments right there, layering by Chritsopher Rufo, this is
what the right wants to do. They despise protesters. Now
they don't mind January sixth protesters. Donald Trump complains about
all these folks are attacking cops, but he had no
problem partning those white domestic terrorists on who did what

(21:32):
they did in January sixth, and so what they're all
saying is, hey, if you beat up cops for me,
I will free you from prison. The rest of you,
the rest of you who choose to protest, I'm throwing
you in jail. Yeah, Roland.

Speaker 16 (21:47):
It is a huge contradiction. We all on January sixth
watch none of that. You know, not to see in
the United States, but people throughout the world. Watch what
happen in terms of the individual's brutalized law enforcement break
it to you as capital trash it. You know, ten
hundreds of thousands of dollars, million, millions of dollars in
terms of property. And we don't even going to talk
about all the things that happening in a conressman policy's office,

(22:09):
et cetera. So we watched that, that that international embarrassment,
and here we are a few years later. You're write
many of these those insurrectionists have been pardoned, and we're
now saying that people who are mostly peaceful protesting is
inconsistent with democratic values. And I go back to the
point I made earlier about power and not democracy.

Speaker 13 (22:30):
This is about power.

Speaker 16 (22:31):
Listen, if you're going to uphold white nationalist ideas and
views that you're fine. If you are fighting for a
multi racial democracy. They have a problem with you and Roland.
You highlight some very important and we can continue to
go back to Project twenty twenty five. That first administration
was a dry run. They have now fined tuned the

(22:53):
system that every step they need to take to make
sure they undermine democracy. That's why we see more and more, uh,
you know, conversations about individuals being grabbed, and jurisdictions throughout
the United States never hear from them again. People don't
know what their family members are. This will continue to
escalate until they continue able to send grab people off

(23:13):
the streets, drop black box them. You won't ever hear
from individuals again. And once again you'll find out that
El Salvador, you know, they try to sell send some
people to South Sudan and various other parts of the world.
That is not democracy. We don't have due process. We
also have to remember you have to buy by the
US Constitution and individuals have the right to protest. So
we don't continue to keep our eyes on the prize.

(23:35):
Once again, we will find more and more of our
individuals that we care about. Those who are protesting the
fight to make sure we maintain a democracy. Those individuals
once again will be grabbed up and dropped into a
black box.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
Well, we see exactly what's going on here. Uh, And
I'm going to tell you point blank, Tyler, people need
to understand they want to do this all across the country.
Folks should gird themselves for more of this. Yeah.

Speaker 19 (24:03):
Absolutely, this is a moment that I think we must
decide whether we stand on the sidelines and let freedom
be redefined by fear. I think, you know, from the
Garvey Movement to the Haitian Revolution to Angela Davis and
as you mentioned, Black Lives Matter and Dream Defenders, our
freedoms have always understood that liberation is the goal. And

(24:25):
even as I'm seeing these ice rays, I'm thinking, you know,
they mirror slave catching patrols storming homes and separating families,
and the detention centers are looking like modern day plantations,
and you know, mass deportations that's happening. And I think
it's just a reflective that history repeats itself and we
must really decide which side of history we stand on.

(24:46):
I always say all the time, people always say, well,
in the sixties, are set O would have did this,
But now history is at is at our doorstep. We
must decide which side of history we will stand on,
and what with the history books there about us in
this moment in.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
Time Folks Hotel. One second, we come back a black
cheer from Florida as being a clear where he stands,
and we'll tell you exactly what he had to say.
Next right here on Roland Martin unfiltered on the Blackstone Network.

Speaker 20 (25:19):
On the next Get Wealthy with me Deborah Owens. Have
you ever had a million dollar idea and wondered.

Speaker 21 (25:27):
How to bring it to life?

Speaker 20 (25:28):
Well, it's all about turning problems into opportunities.

Speaker 22 (25:32):
On our next Get Wealthy, you'll learn of a.

Speaker 20 (25:35):
Woman who identified the overload bag syndrome and now she's
taking that money to the bank through global sales and
major department stores.

Speaker 5 (25:47):
And I was just struggling with two or three bags
on the train, and I looked around on the train
and I said, you know what, there are a lot
of women that are carrying two or three bags.

Speaker 20 (25:58):
That's right here on Gift Healthy only on black Star Network.

Speaker 22 (26:07):
This is Keessen's Atki mister Love King of RB, Royie
Dubond Me, Serri Sebor and you know what you want?

Speaker 23 (26:12):
You're watching Rotland Martin, I'm filming it.

Speaker 1 (26:28):
A black Florida Share and the state Attorney General are
at odds on the issue of arresting immigrants. Attorney General
James Oldheimer sent a letter to Broward County Share of
Gregory Tony following the shaff's comments about not prioritizing the
arrest of immigrants during a commissioned meeting last week. Check
this out.

Speaker 24 (26:50):
Some of the things that other sheriffs in this state
has participated in, and increasing availability of manpower to execute
some of these responsibilities that fall under immigrations. We are
not There has been a submittal of requests. The governor
wanted to see all shares participate in this one program
two eighty seven G, which was related to the inmate

(27:13):
processing components, and we've always been in compliance with that.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
Then there was a pivot point.

Speaker 24 (27:17):
To have deputies participate and two eighty seven G task Force,
whereas now it's the law enforcement apparatus that is out
in the field and increasing the operational tempo four customs,
meaning twenty deputies are assigned, let's say in Sarasota to
this particular task force, and those deputies are now basically

(27:38):
operating under the will or so the partnership of immigration.
I've dedicated the two people that's always been there. I've
not increased that. We have other priorities in this community
that I'm focused on, and immigration is not one of them.
Not to dismiss the importance of that, but we have
had case after case just a few months ago to
speak about why it's important for us as law practitioners

(28:01):
to focus on the criminal components, not administrative components when
it comes to immigration. I don't care what country you're from.
If you commit a crime in this country, or commit
a crime in this county, I'm coming for you. But
what I refuse to do is take this notion that
we need to be knocking on doors or resting children,

(28:22):
or going into daycare centers or restaurants and taking and
snatching people off these streets who have been paying taxes
and contributing to this society in some positive form, regardless
if they're a US citizen or not. It's not within
our purview, it's not within our responsibility, and I won't
participate in it. This is something that has alarmed this
community repeatedly, and I've been crystal clear and I have

(28:44):
not waivered my stance in the last six years, and
I won't.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
Youth myles. Letter orders Tony to comply with the efforts
of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Larry your thoughts.

Speaker 16 (29:00):
Yeah, Roland, you know it's a lot going on down
here in the state of Florida, and so you know,
a lot of the sheriffs down here gleefully signed doing
to get involved in a lot of these ice RAFs.
And if you still the sheriff said, what he had
to say is completely reasonable. Let's we also have to
highlight the heat as as sheriff, he also serves a
very diverse immigrant population, so those and we're talking about

(29:22):
individuals who voted for him. So this back and forth
between you know, the AG, the state ang and and
the sheriff is really based on the fact that he
has not as been as gung ho as some of
the other shriffs down here in the state. But once again,
his point is practical. He's saying, if you if you,
if you're a criminal, then we'll come after you. But

(29:43):
what he's also saying is they're not going to be
kicking doors into homes of the individuals who haven't committed crime.
Once again, he talked to quote him to pay taxes
and Roland. This also relates to he points to that education,
we're increasingly seeing individ ice agents go to public schools,
elementary schools in some cases seeking to talk to young people.
So his point is saying, his point is is that

(30:05):
we're not going to law you know, look for law
body individuals, and we're certainly not going to be kicking
in the door to elementary, middle of.

Speaker 17 (30:11):
High schools to snatch kids out of school.

Speaker 16 (30:15):
And then, like I said, I used to term black
box in terms of the last segment, but he's just
saying what he's saying is practical if you break the
law coming after you. Otherwise, if you live in a community,
you're being productive. I'm not going to bother you. But
down here that is not enough. Once again, I made
the point about power. They want a far more you know,

(30:35):
stronger commitment from shriffs and it's throughout the state to
make sure that if you're a child or a woman
who has you know, take care of small children or
father that they don't care if they if they grab you,
that's it. They'll send you all, you know, send you
to the Louisiana or some far country. But the bottom
line is what the sheriff said is not it's not raggal,

(30:57):
but in the state of Florida, it is.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
What we're seeing tytick. Again. We know in this state,
we saw when Ron de Santis removed three state you know,
three DA's if you will, because they said of what
they were not going to prosecute. This is what these
folks do. And I wouldn't be shocked if they try
to move on this duly elected black sheriff.

Speaker 19 (31:24):
Absolutely, and I think even as you just pointed out,
sheriffs are elected by the people, they're not appointed by
the government. And when communities, especially communities of color, organize
and demand that their their local law enforcement, you know,
protect them rather than tear them apart, as an elected official,
I think the sheriff has a duty to listen. I

(31:45):
don't think it's about politics, but it's really about prioritizing
their community safety. And as mentioned before, they're not doing
anything that causes harm to the community, then they should
be left along. And I think even understanding the track
record of ICE in itself, having the long track record
of abuse, of racial profiling, of violating people's civil rights,

(32:06):
especially in a community of you know, black and brown
folks who are distress is already a major issue. And
I think the sheriff saying no to ice is honestly
saying yes to the due process and dignity of public safety.
And I think, you know, I think it's commendable and
I wish more local officials would he to the to

(32:28):
the concerns and the voices of the folks in their community.

Speaker 1 (32:33):
But here's a deal, Mustafa. They don't give a damn
about people who are duly elected and they don't care
if they have their own opinions. They want to tell
them what to do. That's what they That's what Ronda
Santis does, That's what his attorney general is doing. So
they don't care that this sheriff has made his own
decision as to how he is going to run his office,
which is what he was elected to do.

Speaker 13 (32:56):
Exactly, and he's doing and doing the right thing.

Speaker 14 (32:58):
We all know that many law enforcement have limited income,
so that means that you have to prioritize.

Speaker 13 (33:04):
So then you should take.

Speaker 14 (33:05):
A look and ask the question where is the crime
happening so that we can deploy the needed individuals to
be able to address that.

Speaker 13 (33:14):
So there are numerous studies that are out there that.

Speaker 14 (33:16):
Show that folks who are undocumented do significantly less crime
than those who are documented or those who are citizens
here in this country. So based upon that premise, which
is rooted in fact, than Ron DeSantis to be great,
should be very very thankful that you have a sheriff

(33:39):
who's willing to stand up and say, you know, wherever
crime is, I'm going to deal with it, but I'm
not going to take resources away from the areas that
I'm trying to serve and protect.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
Indeed, indeed, all right, folks, just talk about the craziness
out of DC. Anti vaccine advocate Hell Secretary Robert F.
Kenny Jr. Has fired all seventeen members of the Federal
Advisory Advisory Community that gods that centers for Disease Control
and Prevention on Immunization Practices. Can he justify them move
by accusing the committee of being quote played with persistent
conflicts of interests unquote, and claimed it had become a

(34:15):
little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine. The
palmon owner of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
is responsible for reviewing, evaluating, and making public recommendations on
vaccination protocols. ACIP was scheduled to meet later this month
to evaluate this year's COVID nineteen vaccines. But we won't

(34:36):
know what happens next because he's fired them. This is
absolutely par for the course. They don't care about experts.
Kennedy thinks he is one. He absolutely is not one.
He is not a doctor, he is not a scientist.
He's a conspiracy theorist. Stylick Tyler, Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 19 (35:10):
I think you know, it's just you know, the fact
that he fired these independent vaccine advisors UH that I
don't think that's public health. It's dangerous and it's a
form of authority rism, and I think you know, it's
calculated and especially amongst you know, a community where distrust
has been in the health community. Our people really carry

(35:31):
the scars of medical abuse from the Tuskegee uh to
to Henrietta Lacks to you know, just the lack of
care and hospitals and hospital racism today. And I think
we have every right to ask those hard questions. But
what rf K is doing it isn't accountability. It's really sabotage,
and it's it's on the backs of black and brown

(35:52):
folks that uh, you know, while our system is flawed, uh,
you know, it's meant to still center science, data and
public health.

Speaker 10 (36:02):
And what he has done is really thrown away the
science and.

Speaker 19 (36:05):
It really puts people in a space to not trust
already for a system that you know, we already don't trust.
And so it's it's very dangerous and it's our health
will be at the collateral of the of these decisions
most most drastically.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
Lusava.

Speaker 13 (36:25):
Yeah, everything that he just said is exactly correct. You know,
this is this is dangerous and egregious.

Speaker 14 (36:30):
Right, you are literally playing with the health of folks
across our country. And of course we know our most
vulnerable communities are the ones that often carry the burden.

Speaker 13 (36:39):
So this is just another continuation of that.

Speaker 14 (36:41):
Now I have helped to put together these high level
federal advisory panels. Before many of the things that were
shared are just not true. You know, when you have
these these advisory panels, you are going out and trying
to find the very best and you're not necessarily trying
to also just bring individuals on who the world through
the prism that you look through. You want to have

(37:03):
a very diverse group of individuals. I know, the word
diverse probably scares them, you know, in the way that
they actually get down. But when you have these advisory panels,
they provide that advice and recommendation, whether it is to
an administrator to a secretary about the things that they
should be considering. They write in depth reports and they

(37:24):
walk through some of the most critical issues that our
country is facing. So for them to just fire everybody
and then try and go out and get individuals who
are going to be a part of that same group
think because these are the individuals that actually are not
interested in diversity of thought. These are the individuals who
are not interested and actually taking a hard look at subjects.

(37:45):
They just want folks to join who will say what
they need to say. And the answer to that is yes.
So we need to be very mindful of what is
currently going on and both the short term and long
term impacts of not having the right individuals with medical background,
as you said, with public health background, and what are
the other categories that they may have who are helping

(38:08):
to keep our country safer.

Speaker 16 (38:12):
Larry, you know Roland, you know when they confirmed you know,
Kennedy to HHS. For me, it reminds me of letting
the fox in the headhouse. The United States, it leads
the world in terms of you know, where we talk
about institutes or college universities, in terms of researchulate as
it relates to public health. He's just mailing all that.

(38:36):
And so, you know, getting rid of this, this this
advisory committee is going to disproportionately hurt black and brown people.
And particularly, like I said, we already you can see
this coming a mile away. We already know he's an
anti vaxxer. And on top of that, let's remind folks,
we're just a few years out from a pandemic. This
is not the time to have someone like this in

(38:56):
charge of our public health apparatus, particularly, like I said,
the challenges that the world has faced just a few
years ago. But he's been confirmed and now we're seeing
the repercussions of that once again, someone who doesn't believe
in science, who drives to drink you know, unpasteurized milk,
you know, take those dives into polluted waters, should not

(39:18):
be in charge of what happens in everyday lives of
individuals as it relates to dealing with diseases and vaccines,
and what I worry about roland is and like I said,
in terms of the world we live in today, it
is very easily. We've saw these measles outbreaks we've had
in Texas and other places over the last couple of months.
It is very easily for situations like that. Once again,
what about the flu and possibly COVID once the winter

(39:39):
comes around. All these things can happen and have a
tremendous impact on the lives of individuals a lot of Americans.
And once again, there is no guarantee that another pandemic
was something similar cannot happen during this administration's time. So
having Kennedy in charge and once again he's trying to
dismantle all the scientific knowledge that's been built it over

(39:59):
deck is going to be challenging for this country and
it's going to contribute to problems not just for this generation,
but generations ahead in the future.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
All Right, folks, hotight, one second, they got to go
to break. We come back more on the show. We'll
talk about the drama, the troubles at Sant Agustin's University.
They continue to face significant financial headwinds. Also, our marketplaces segment,
we talk about the new product that is available on
shop Blackstartnetwork dot com. That is dex. But first, if

(40:30):
we want to support the work that we do, John
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(41:12):
Paypals are Martin Unfiltered, venmo r M Unfiltered, zel rolland
at Roland s Martin dot com Rolling at Roland Martin
now filter dot com. We'll be right back.

Speaker 2 (41:24):
This week on the other side of change.

Speaker 23 (41:26):
We are here talking about the unfortunate case of thirty
year old Adrianna Smith, who was diagnosed and announced as
brain dead at nine weeks pregnant and is being nept
alive by the state to carry this pregnancy outs for
the term without any input from her family. It's a
really horing example of the lack of rosbosconomy we have
in a false row world, and we're gonna dream bigger.

(41:47):
Join us on the other side of change, only on
the Blackstar Network.

Speaker 11 (41:55):
Next on the Black Table with me Greg Carr an
hour of Living Here Street was doctor Richard Maria Kelsey, thinker, builder, author,
and one of the most important and impactful elders in
the African American community. He reflects on his full and
rich life and shares his incomparable wisdom about our past, present,
and future. I'm a Virginia's saying that my uncle was Virginia's,

(42:19):
my brother was a genius, my neighbor was a genius.

Speaker 13 (42:22):
I think we ought to drill that in ourselves and
move ahead rather than believing.

Speaker 17 (42:27):
That I got it.

Speaker 11 (42:28):
That's next on the Black Table here on the Black
Star Network, he.

Speaker 4 (42:34):
Is John Murray Executi put this up the new Sherry
Shepperd talk show.

Speaker 10 (42:37):
Listen your boy e quat and you're tuned into.

Speaker 1 (42:40):
Roland Martin Unfiltered. A new study shows Texas's twenty twenty

(43:18):
one voting law making it harder for black and brown
folks to vote, especially by mail. The law requiring an
ID number to match precisely with your voter registration cost
nearly thirty thousand ballots to get tossed in the twenty
twenty two primaries, meaning almost ninety percent of those folks
never got to vote at all. Many still have not

(43:39):
returned to the ballot box. Kevin Morris's senior research fellow
at the Brennan Center's Democracy program, glad you are joining us.
First and foremost, let's understand this or Kevin, the Trump
vote pulled out of the lawsuit in Texas over redistricting,
saying that they basically said we didn't care that was

(44:00):
negatively impacting black and brown people. This is no shock here.
This is the kind of stuff that Texas Republicans have
been doing because Texas is a state that is sixty
one percent minority. He had sixty one percent of the
people that vote in Texas are white.

Speaker 21 (44:14):
Yeah, I know, you're exactly right.

Speaker 25 (44:15):
We've seen, especially over the last ten to twelve years
since the Supreme Court struck down a major part of
the Voting Rights Act that used to keep some of
the behavior in Texas and check, we've seen them past
number of bills that have made it more difficult for
voters of color to cast their ballots and make their
voices heard from voter id to or we're talking about

(44:36):
this afternoon, this evening, the Texas SB one that they
passed in twenty twenty one, after of course, all of
the shenanigans around the twenty twenty election.

Speaker 10 (44:44):
In the Big Lie.

Speaker 1 (44:48):
And remember when those things were passed, they were angry
that Donald Trump lost. He won Texas, he won Georgia,
he won Florida, but they still changed their laws because
they didn't want it to be close.

Speaker 25 (45:03):
I mean, we don't know exactly what was going on
inside the minds of the legislators, but we can look
at the data, and the data makes it very long.

Speaker 1 (45:11):
What's that? Actually? No, actually, I think we can again.
We saw they kept talking about voter fraud, voter fraud,
voter fraud. The Bretta Center has studied this numerous others
voting voting. Voter fraud is virtually non existent, and so
it made no sense at all that these red states
were changing their laws. But they actually fail for the

(45:33):
okie dope advancing Donald Trump's lives. The election was rigged,
and so therefore they went about changing these laws to
actually make it harder for votes because they Republicans have
even said if they actually can contract the vote, they
sent a better chance at winning. They don't want everybody voting.
Republicans have literally said that, no.

Speaker 25 (45:56):
I think you know there is definitely an anti democratic
movement happening in the United States.

Speaker 21 (46:01):
After the twenty twenty election, we saw the biggest.

Speaker 25 (46:03):
Wave of restrictive voting legislation since we've seen probably since
the end of Jim Crow I'm sorry, since the end
of Reconstruction in the eighteen hundred.

Speaker 21 (46:12):
So there is something going on, and we absolutely know.

Speaker 25 (46:16):
We know the effects of these laws is that they
make it more difficult for voters of color to make
their voices heard.

Speaker 21 (46:21):
You were talking about the maps in Texas.

Speaker 25 (46:23):
Some of these maps have made it more difficult for
the votes that are cast to be translated into political
power because they've been rachally jerrymandered and kind of locked
out to political power in some places. A number of
these have been struck down by the court. And you're
exactly right. Watching the Department of Justice walk away from
some of these cases that were being brought over the

(46:43):
last few years, it's extraordinarily troubling.

Speaker 16 (46:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:49):
And so when you look at this vote in Texas,
and again we know how these other states. When these
large states move, they've follow And so the problem is
when they pass these laws, they're now in shrine into law,
and it really is creating problems and say, what have
people go? Oh, I don't understand what the big problem
is with the voter ID. The issue is not even
a voter ID. It's all the things that they put

(47:11):
in place that go along with the voter ID to
actually drive people away and make because they want to
frustrate folks, to make it hard to vote, they don't
want to make it easier.

Speaker 17 (47:22):
That's exactly right.

Speaker 25 (47:23):
We always say it's kind of like a death by
a thousand cuts, right, because you can show up and
you can have your ballot thrown out. Is with the
case and Texass SB one and one election, and what
we find is that people don't come right back to
the ballot box, they don't even necessarily try to vote.
Some of them are going to walk away from the
democratic process because they're going to say, I tried before,
it didn't work very well.

Speaker 21 (47:44):
Why am I going to waste my time doing it again.

Speaker 25 (47:46):
So it's kind of understanding the life cycle of these
restrictive voting policies and how they can shape behavior for
years and years even after maybe some voters have figured
out how to make sure that their application to vote
by mail or their male ballot and going to get rejected.

Speaker 21 (48:00):
You're exactly right about.

Speaker 1 (48:01):
That, questions from the panel must oft for you first.

Speaker 13 (48:08):
Well, thank you for being here.

Speaker 14 (48:09):
So we know that these types of things are currently
going on, right, we have the erosion of our voting rights.
As somebody who works in this space, what would be
what would you share with us to get people to
be able to better protect their voting rights.

Speaker 25 (48:27):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's really important to be
supporting community organizations that are doing a lot of this work,
that are teaching Americans and particularly voters of color, what
they need when they show up at the polling place.

Speaker 21 (48:39):
We know all around the country, local groups, churches, and
local get.

Speaker 25 (48:43):
Out the Vote organizations are doing this, but they need
the resources to be able to do it well.

Speaker 21 (48:48):
But we also need the federal government to act.

Speaker 25 (48:50):
We need to make sure that the Department of Justice
is not walking away, and we need to make sure
that everyone knows that we're watching them and that we're
aware of what they're trying to do over the longer time,
and we need to get the Voting Rights Act back
to its full power. I mentioned this before, but in
twenty thirteen, in a Supreme Court case called Shelby County
versus Holder, we got rid of The Supreme Court got
rid of one of the most powerful parts of the

(49:12):
Voting Rights Act, and we've been without it for the
last twelve years. And we know that this part of
the Voting Rights Act, it might have actually stopped the
Texas Bill that we're talking about tonight from going into effect,
because the Department of Justice itself thinks that or thought
under the old administration, we should say that this was
discriminatory and violated Section two, the part of the Voting Rights.

Speaker 21 (49:31):
Act that still remained. So I think it has to
be both local right.

Speaker 25 (49:35):
We have to be supporting local groups, but we have
to recognize that we need federal power here as well
to make sure that states are not going to discriminate.

Speaker 1 (49:45):
Larry, Yeah, thank you for your work.

Speaker 16 (49:49):
I was going to ask you about Shelby County versus
Holder is kind of where things are kind of you
took a right.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
Term literally, so to speak.

Speaker 16 (49:56):
But I guess my other question is in terms of historically,
you know, black churches have played a very important role
in terms of getting people ways to vote. Where I'm
in Florida, there has been certainly been a lot of
stepps that make it more difficult for nonprofit organizations to
you know, GOOTV And I'm wondering, how do you see

(50:16):
things playing out over the next couple of years as
we continue to see this as well on Goalie right.

Speaker 25 (50:22):
Yeah, you know we're watching there are a couple of
Supreme Court cases that are going to come out later
this summer about redistricting and racial gerrymandering. I will admit
it is a little bit difficult to be optimistic about
things right now, but I do you know, we're seeing
some state past State Voting Rights Act Virginia, North Carolina
not North Carolina excuse in New York, Connecticut, We've seen

(50:43):
some states say the federal government is not going to
introduce preclearant and make sure that laws are not going
to be discriminatory before they go into effect, that we're
going to take it into our own hands. So we
are seeing some action on that front, which is encouraging.
Some of the states that are maybe the worst actor
are not necessarily going to be policing their own behavior.

(51:03):
But I do I think, you know, what comes out
of the Court's decisions this summer around redistricting are going
to be important. Alabama passed a law excuse you have
a congressional map last year that the federal court called
discriminatory against black voters, and they just appeal it to
the Supreme Court last week.

Speaker 21 (51:22):
So we'll see if that moves forward. But there's there's
a lot of question marks right now.

Speaker 17 (51:27):
Definitely, Tyler.

Speaker 10 (51:34):
Yes, thank you again for your work as well. I
think we want to call it what it is.

Speaker 19 (51:37):
Texas is not restricting votes to protect democracy, are doing
it to protect power. And I think the latest findings
prove what we already know to be true that this
is modern, a modern day literaty test, and you know
it coming from some one that's like for young people,
especially first time voters and students, with those who without

(51:59):
driver's license. This is targeted and a strategic What does
your research show the drastic impact that this will have
on first time and young voters.

Speaker 25 (52:10):
Yeah, so the paper that we published last week Texas
kind of Texas never been easy to vote by mail.
So for the most part in Texas, you've got to
be sixty five or older to cast the mail ballot.
They didn't change that during COVID, they haven't changed that
in a long time. So this study was actually more
focused on older voters. And these are voters that have
voted time after time after time. Eighty five percent of

(52:32):
them voted in the twenty sixteen and eighteen and twenty
twenty election, and these people had these big turnout effects
and they had their ballots rejected, right, So we know
that if these people with a super strong habit of voting,
if these people that have been doing this for a
long time, if they're having their ballots rejected, their balance
thrown out, then that's a big problem because then these

(52:52):
effects are likely to be other parts of the law.

Speaker 21 (52:55):
That we didn't study in this particular study.

Speaker 25 (52:57):
If they're having these effects on habituated voters going to
be having big effects on other voters as well. So
this is kind of, we think, maybe the tip of
the iceberg, so to speak, in terms of how this
whole regime of restrictive voting laws, both in Texas and elsewhere,
are shaping political behavior for years. And we know, I
should add, we know that, all right, Kevin, for whom
there isn't that habit of voting, it's more likely they're

(53:20):
going to drop out and not come back.

Speaker 1 (53:21):
So yeah, all right, Kevin, we surely appreciate. Thanks a
bunch of good work.

Speaker 21 (53:28):
Great, thanks so much for having me on.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
Thank you. Folks. Listen now talk about the drama taking
place at Saint Augustine's University. The financial troubles continue, folks.
A Way County judge has ordered the HBCU to pay
more than twenty million dollars to SBA CONNECT after the
school failed to defend itself in court. How stupid is
that if you are Saint Augustine's, you should be firing

(53:55):
your law firm. You should be firing the people who oversee.

Speaker 17 (53:59):
The law firm.

Speaker 1 (54:01):
Everybody in the world knows you don't get sued and
not respond. Now This is on top of lawsuits from
other vendors such as Avaria and United Healthcare seeking millions
of dollars in unpaid bills alumni or furious blaming years
of mismanagement and pour board oversight. Enrollment has dropped significantly,
staff has been cut, and the university is still really

(54:22):
from the loss of its accreditation in March. They are
thirty two million dollars in debt, they have tax liens, filled,
rescue plans, pressures mounting ahead of a key arbitration hearing
schedule for June twenty six, and we're getting reports to
SAU has laid off the remaining staff as usual. We
reach out to the university to get a comment, but

(54:42):
our email went on answered. We've been trying to get
the interim president, Marcus Burgess and the Board of Trustees
Chair Brian Boulware on this show since March. They have
consistently declined every single invitation. Maybe they're not responding to
our request because they fired the communications people. I don't know,

(55:04):
but this shows you the sheer catastrophe that is taking
place at that North Carolina University, and again leadership should
be ashamed of themselves for allowing this you don't even
respond to a lawsuit, and now you got a pony
up twenty million dollars. I swear I get to sen

(55:25):
There some people who just want this university to absolutely die. Huh.
I wonder if that's the plan board chair and others.
It's just nonsensical. What is happening. It's just really ridiculous,
and it's a shame. It's a shame that we're having

(55:45):
to watch this thing unfold and endure. Also another story
that came out today, Fisk University announced that they are
ending their gymnastics program. Remember the they got lots of attention,
It was being held as a major, major thing when
Fisk announced the launch of their gymnastics team, becoming the

(56:10):
first HBCU to have a gymnastics program. Well, the problem
is that, first of all, Fish Universities say at the
conclusion of the twenty twenty five twenty twenty six academic
year that's when they were in the program. They cite
recruitment challenges, scheduling disadvantages. This is what the athletic director
of Valencia Jordan explained while the school was dropping the sport. Quote.

(56:33):
Decision to halt the program comes after a comprehensive review
of the gymnastics program and its alignment with the HBCU
Athletic Conference. Now, the HBCU Athletic Conference is an Naia school. Y'all,
Naia hasn't had gymnastics as a sport in I don't
know thirty plus years. FITZ athletics competes in the HBCUAC. Currently,

(56:55):
gymnastics is not an HBCUAC sanctioned sport, resulting in considerable
challenges for the university to schedule competitions and build a
robust recruiting pipeline. While we are tremendously proud of the
history our gymnastics team has made in just three years,
look forward to focusing on our conference affiliated teams to
strengthen our impact in the HBCU Athletic Conference. FISK is

(57:19):
grateful for the hard work, dedication, and tenacity of its
gymnast staff members and coaches who made this program possible.
The university is dedicated to supporting both staff and student
athletes to ensure a seamless transition. Fifth Gymnastics team has
forged an indelible legacy through their monumental achievements. The Fifth
community is committed to celebrated the gymnastics team through the
twenty twenty five twenty six academic year and encourages alumni,

(57:40):
student staff, and community members to support the team. One
of their meats proud of May twenty twenty six. Here's
the thing, Larry, this just makes no sense to be Listen,
when Walter Kimber and our fret brother went down to
Talladega and when he was looking at all the financial
mess there, one of the first things he did with

(58:00):
gymnastics program, he was like, this doesn't make any sense.
Now we know that gymnastic is not a revenue generating
sport like most sports, especially at HBCUs. But you don't
just announce these things just for the hell of it.
You've got to have the resources to do it. And
it just it just made it made no sense to
me to do this if you don't have the money

(58:23):
to do it.

Speaker 16 (58:26):
Yeah, I remember, you know when FISK announced a few
years ago that they weren't starting genances programming.

Speaker 1 (58:31):
Then as you highlight other HBC's.

Speaker 16 (58:33):
Follow suit, I'm really said, you know here that they're
ending the program.

Speaker 13 (58:37):
You're right, Roland.

Speaker 16 (58:38):
It takes a lot of money and resources, you know,
travel to make sure they have a place to practice,
et cetera. And you know, I know a lot of
very proud fiscal lumb or you know, upset about this decision.
But once again, this is a resource gap that HBC's
HBCS and PWIS that's been going off for decades. You know,
the fisk IS is a renowned academic institution to believe

(59:00):
singers among other you know, renowned alum and historical figures.
So I think this is very it's very difficult to
have a gymnastics program once again for a small institution.
Hopefully down the line, once they they've grown, they've grown
a little bit more that they can maybe bring that
bring the gymnastics program back. But this is this is

(59:20):
certainly a blow. And as you say, you talking about
Tallidata and some other infusions who who tried to start
the gymnastis program.

Speaker 17 (59:27):
Once again, it takes considerable resources.

Speaker 16 (59:29):
I know that, you know, if it is an important
like title nine to make sure you have you know,
gender equity in terms of sports. But once again, it's
difficult for certain sports that not don't generate a great
deal of revenue, particularly for small institutions, to make sure
that they continue to run for years.

Speaker 1 (59:48):
Well, I just I'm sorry with staff, but I mean,
at the end of the day, listen, the things that
you can afford, you can't afford. This is one of them.
Don't launch programs that you're going to have to show down.
I just I'm sorry. I listen.

Speaker 26 (01:00:05):
Just like.

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):
When I was talking to people at Saint Augustine, you
do what they told me. They said their financial issues
were jascerbated when they brought the football team back. If
you're saying, Augustus, you can't afford a football team, so
stop it, stop it.

Speaker 13 (01:00:24):
I mean, I hear what you're saying.

Speaker 14 (01:00:25):
You know, first of all, thank you and congratulations to
the sisters who are there with the gymnastics team. I'm
a former athlete, college athlete, you know, I had to
make some decisions about what college I was going to
go to, both on the academic side and the athletic side,
and I looked at the sustainability of programs, you know,
to find out how long they've been there, what the

(01:00:47):
resources look like, all those types of things. But it's
really about, you know, the folks who are making the decisions,
whether from the president to the athletic director to all
these individuals about are you serios is about whatever program
that you are starting or the ones that you are
thinking about phasing out, and what does that look like.

Speaker 13 (01:01:09):
So for me, Roland, I think.

Speaker 14 (01:01:10):
The most important part is if you are going to
create a program, you should have, you know, a strategic
plan over the next five to ten years about how
you're going to fund it, how are you going to
attract the right athletes, how is it going to grow?
And if you can't do that, then you probably shouldn't
be entering into that space because you, as an administrator,

(01:01:32):
have not done the work and you're bringing in athletes
and then their lives become disrupted because of decisions that
other people have made.

Speaker 1 (01:01:43):
Yeah, that's it. That's just my whole deal. If you
ain't got it, don't do it. And there's nothing wrong
with that, because what you do it's worse. I think
when you start something, now you've got to shut it
down and all these hopes. I mean, you didn't even
complete frankly one class, and I just I just think
it's is so unfortunate. And again, when I was talking
to Walter Kimbro that was a young woman who was

(01:02:05):
a gymnast at Talladega. They simply cannot support for it.
She transferred to a major school. He said, how great
she was doing, And it is what it is. Sometimes
you can't do everything.

Speaker 19 (01:02:18):
That's true, Rolan, But will I will also say, you know,
HBCUs have a long history of doing less, you know,
with just a little for generations, and I think you
know we think about that.

Speaker 1 (01:02:30):
Yeah, but you can't know. But you can't. I mean,
I know, I know why we say that, but we've
got to actually stop that. It's some shit you can't afford.
I'm sorry. There's a difference between doing less with more
and having nothing. I get that. But when you have
a gymnastic program that nobody else in your conference has

(01:02:53):
a program, so that means that you are traveling much
further places to go to meets, now your travel budgets. Listen,
we had the guy on the show who's trying to
start an ice hockey team at Tennessee State. The first program,
dude said, these are facts. He said, if they're gonna

(01:03:15):
have to raise five million dollars, bruh, do you know
what the total Tennessee State athletic budget is? Again, he said,
they got to raise five million dollars in order to
have an ice hockey team. It's fifteen million dollars for

(01:03:42):
all of Tennessee State's sports programs all so I'm like,
you're gonna have an ice hockey team, you gotta raise
five But the total budget for all of a Tendessee
state sports it's fifteen million. I don't see that how

(01:04:06):
that's happened unless you have a major benefactor who is
going to personally fund that program. If you can pull
that off, go right ahead to me. If you can't,
you don't start these programs.

Speaker 10 (01:04:19):
Yeah, absolutely, and I would even I would definitely agree
with that.

Speaker 19 (01:04:23):
And to the point where what I was talking about
doing less, doing less, we shouldn't accept that. But now
we have seen we have seen a predicament where you know,
they it didn't work out, the school was already starving
and now struggling to eat and having to cut off,
you know, different programs. And I think it's almost the
same thing that we're seeing that you know saying, oh,

(01:04:44):
you know, you know, it was already in a predicament
and now we're stuck in the struggle. This is a
movie that we have seen before, but I think it
goes back to the overall you know, arching as a
proud graduate of North Carolina A and see myself.

Speaker 10 (01:04:59):
It's a broader com station about how our.

Speaker 19 (01:05:01):
HBCUs are continued to continue to fall in certain situations. Uh,
and for us to build that political infrastructure that funds
our schools that doesn't abandon our schools politically, and how
we must you know, create an incubator where our endowments
are matching at levels to be able to support programs

(01:05:23):
for our students, to be able to do gymnastics, in
ice hockey and all these other sts that a lot
of these other schools are getting.

Speaker 10 (01:05:28):
But you know, we just have to be put ourselves
in position politically to do it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:36):
No, but actually they're not because a lot of the
programs they know what they also candi get out afford.
I'm just being straight up. It's just making it just
it's just tomorrow. It's just sometimes you got to say,
you know what, we can't afford that program, so we're
not even going to launch it. Folks, hotep one second,
we come Black, come back Toop for our shop Black
Start Network marketplace segment. You're watching Rolling Unfiltered on the

(01:05:58):
Black Stunt.

Speaker 2 (01:05:59):
Network this week on the other side of change.

Speaker 23 (01:06:05):
We are here talking about the unfortunate case a thirty
year old Adriana Smith who was diagnosed and pronounced as
brain dead at nine weeks pregnant and is being kept
alive by the state to carry this pregnancy out of
the term without any input from her family.

Speaker 1 (01:06:21):
It's a really.

Speaker 23 (01:06:21):
Horrowing example of the lack of Boslius Famedy. We have
in a close row world and we're gonna dream bigger.
Join us on the other side of change, only on
the Blackstar Network.

Speaker 1 (01:06:36):
Cal Hey, pretending to be Roland Martin. You ain't got
to work black and gold every damn place, Okay, ooh,
I'm an outplay Yay, all right, you're fifty eight years old.

Speaker 16 (01:06:44):
It's over.

Speaker 27 (01:06:45):
You are now watching Roland Martin unfiltered, uncut, unploved, and
undamned believable.

Speaker 1 (01:07:13):
All right, folks, With follow day's approaching, we have a
perfect gift for the man who wants to take care
of his skin and smell good at the same time.
Cologne Butter is a homemade infused body butter rich in nourishment.
You can only whole some organic ingredients source from around
the world. Mike Snow was the founder. He joins us
now from Cali, Mike, glad to have you here. So

(01:07:34):
where does I be originated from? Thank you?

Speaker 2 (01:07:37):
Thank you for having me. So I just love body butters.
I get really ashy.

Speaker 27 (01:07:41):
So a lot of body butters on the market, you know,
they smell like strawberries or mango, and now you know,
I just don't want to smell like that. So I
started mixing my cologne into just no sent to body butters,
and I like really peculiar, interesting, unique sense and people
always ask me what am I wearing? So I said,

(01:08:02):
let me come up with my own formulas, mix it
in some body butters and put it on the market
to see if.

Speaker 1 (01:08:06):
It sales, and I take it. It's been selling. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:08:13):
So it's been about a year and a half and
I went to Essence last year.

Speaker 27 (01:08:18):
That was like my first event for the brand, also
my first time an Essence, and I sold out pretty
much the first day, and I said, I think I'm
onto something.

Speaker 2 (01:08:26):
So after that, I hired a marketing firm and everything's
been going great so far.

Speaker 1 (01:08:34):
Well, I think one of the things that jumps out
at me. I mean, first of all, you're right, I
mean when you're shopping mango keiwi. You know it's like, uh,
y'all got eveything, y'all was different? So do you use
existing cologns?

Speaker 26 (01:08:50):
No?

Speaker 27 (01:08:51):
No, So I worked with the chemist. So I tell
him exactly what I want. I want cedar wood, I
want foods, I want Bulgarian rose, and then he sends
me all of the samples and then we tweak it.
And then that's how I come with my own particular sense.

Speaker 1 (01:09:07):
Gotcha show when you're rolling these things out that you
run it by some other some frat brothers, homeboys, brothers,
you know, church members, and you were like, yo, can
y'all check out my body butter products? And what was
their response? What they said where they say, sure, Mike,
we're good or brother's wrong with you?

Speaker 13 (01:09:28):
For sure?

Speaker 27 (01:09:29):
So my first customers, my first testers, were my friends
and media friends here in LA And every kind of
launch I do, I send it to my family. I
send it to my mom and my dad and I'm like,
can you to you guys, throw a little party as
the cousins, as the uncles and get everyone's opinion, and
then you know, I might send about twenty different samples
and then from that twenty.

Speaker 2 (01:09:49):
We might roll out with like five or six.

Speaker 27 (01:09:52):
I never have a real specific number of how many
I want to send out, like oh I have to
send out ten. It's basically just like, Okay, if it's three,
then we do the three. If it's seven, we do seven,
and we just got to go from there.

Speaker 1 (01:10:06):
Gotcha? All right, it's gonna question for my panel. Let's
see see between Mustapha, Larry and Tyler who probably is
a body butter dude. I'm let's see here. I think
I think Mustapa you may went out on this one.

Speaker 13 (01:10:30):
Okay, well, well I'm packed that at another time. But well,
first of all.

Speaker 14 (01:10:38):
Of the business so far, I'd love to see if
black businesses thrive. I'm curious what is your what your
projections look like as you're moving forward over the next
three years.

Speaker 13 (01:10:50):
Where do you hope to be and how do you
plan to get there?

Speaker 27 (01:10:53):
Sure, so I've gone back and forth, you know, just
say e commerce and going into stores. So the first
I would say five years, I do want to kind
of stay just on e commerce, really good, a good
foundation with the brand before I start looking at retailers.

Speaker 2 (01:11:07):
I just want to have a really strong foundation and
then from there.

Speaker 27 (01:11:10):
I would like to have the conversations with some big
box stores because I want to grow organically.

Speaker 2 (01:11:16):
If you grow too fast, sometimes it's not a good thing.

Speaker 1 (01:11:22):
Thank you, Tyler, you know you use these two for
the look.

Speaker 19 (01:11:28):
I definitely would be supporting. Look the body butter keeps
looking good. But my question would be for you, what
advice would you give for other young black entrepreneurs also
trying to break into these industries, into the industry, into
you know, different spaces with their their ideas.

Speaker 27 (01:11:46):
For sure, my model is, you know, you never know
until you try. And you know, this was just a
thought I had, and you know, you know, just friends
and family just encouraged me to like, okay, give it
a shot, and you know, you really never know until
you try. And you know, my model also is that,
you know, launching and perfected later. And when I first

(01:12:07):
launched the brand, you know, I didn't really like the
label too much. You know, the lid you know, wasn't right,
and you know, I said I'm gonna launch it, and
then you know, the public will tell you, you know,
their opinions, you know, like I don't like this or
I like that. You don't change every single thing about
it just because people have opinions. But you know, if
you hear from you know, consistence of people, perhaps it's

(01:12:27):
something that you should change. And you know no product
is perfect, and you know every product can use improvements.

Speaker 2 (01:12:34):
So I say just launch it, you know, go out
there and launch it.

Speaker 1 (01:12:36):
You never known to you try, Larry, you.

Speaker 16 (01:12:44):
Know, first, congratulations on the success. I guess the other
question is you know who you are? You on the show,
you have this product, Obviously you're doing well. Can you
talk with people who will watch you who maybe want
to be entrepreneurs. Can you just talk about maybe some
of your background it kind of led you to where
you are today. A lot of times we see people
and you've established the business and you're doing well, but

(01:13:07):
talk a little bit more about your dream to where
you are today, how you got to where you are today.

Speaker 2 (01:13:13):
Sure, So I graduate from Howard University, moving in finance, and.

Speaker 27 (01:13:19):
My beginning of my career I did investment banking at
JP Morgan and then when I came out to the
West Coast, I wanted to get more like entertainment finance,
so I worked at the talent agency c A A.
From there I went to Paramount Global for BT and
VH one Networks, and so I have a finance background.
I don't have, you know, I'm a chemist or you

(01:13:40):
know anything like that. I basically just had an idea,
and I'm really good at, you know, taking an idea
and put.

Speaker 2 (01:13:47):
It in come over like a game plan and just
kind of like just putting it together and launching it.
So from there, I just decided.

Speaker 13 (01:13:56):
To, you know, come up with the brand.

Speaker 1 (01:14:01):
All right, then, Mike snow. We appreciate it, folks. Kill
to shop Blackstar Network dot com. Shop Blackstar network dot
com to check out Mike's products, and so check out
his cologne butter it's all there against shop Blackstart Network
dot com.

Speaker 2 (01:14:17):
Mike, thanks a lot, Thank you, thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:14:22):
All right, then let me take my panel, Mustafa, Larry
and Tyler. I certainly appreciate a gentlemen, all of you
joining the show today. Appreciate it, folks. We go to break,
we come back. David Oyelowo has a new series on
Apple tv Plus and so you can check out. He also,
of course, is a co founder of Mansa, a streaming service,

(01:14:45):
and so we'll talk about government cheese, we'll talk about Mansa.
All those things. When we come back right here, rolland
Mark unfiltered on the Blackstar.

Speaker 22 (01:14:53):
Network this week on a balanced lide, we're talking about
single father parenting, You've got it, faith, family and fatherhood.
What does it mean to be a single parent father?
Spending time with your kid, whether it's a son or
a daughter, whether you ask for it, plan for it,

(01:15:13):
or by tragedy or accident, you step into the role.

Speaker 17 (01:15:16):
I didn't take it as a woe is mean moment
or was like what am I going to do?

Speaker 11 (01:15:20):
It is like, as a matter of fact, I looked
at it, I rolled up my sleeves and I said, hey,
whatever it takes.

Speaker 22 (01:15:27):
That's all this week on a Balanced Life with Dr
Jackson here on black Star Network.

Speaker 12 (01:15:37):
What's good, John, This is Doug E Freshman watching my
brother rolling up underbuilting as we go with a little
something like.

Speaker 20 (01:15:44):
This hit it.

Speaker 1 (01:15:49):
It's real, David, glad to see you. Hope all is
well in your world.

Speaker 17 (01:16:03):
It is great to see you again.

Speaker 1 (01:16:05):
Rolland so I'll say from the outset. I rarely do
these interviews. Here's why. Here's why I'm talking to you,
because it's you. What happens is you know all of
these streaming services and movie companies. They are very good
at reaching out to us to do interviews, but they

(01:16:25):
never ever, they rarely ever spend any money with Black
on Media. Uh And So I always make the case, well,
if my audience is good enough to market, then you
should advertise. But when your folks hit me, I said,
I said, I will make an exception for David. Uh
and So that's why we are doing this here because

(01:16:47):
it's you, so thank you. So I make that clear
because you know, we talk about you know, we talk
about opportunities for actors in front of the camera, behind
the camera, we talk about people who do these do
these deals, diversity deals of whatever. They talk about equity,
But I also make it clear that it's also equity

(01:17:09):
when it comes to black on media, and we're all
in this fight together. That is correct.

Speaker 26 (01:17:17):
And as you know that that is a fight that
we are trying to fight in a very tangible, meaningful
way with our streaming platform MANSA. Myself and Nick Parker
obviously co founded that platform. So everything you're saying resonates
with me acutely. The other side of.

Speaker 17 (01:17:38):
The story, though, is that so often.

Speaker 26 (01:17:42):
If we will use the frame of the phrase mainstream
media when it comes to our shows that feature us prominently. Also,
there is a tendency not to focus on outlets that
speak to our communities directly because there's just an oversight

(01:18:04):
there is. It's you know, I guess if it's not
for them, then they don't think of it as something
that is for others as well. So you know, it's
just side of the coin. We we need you rolance
to get to get to h to get to our people.

Speaker 1 (01:18:21):
Yeah, and and and the reality is, but they don't
minels black eyeballs watching these shows. Before I talk about
government cheese, you mentioned mansa uh and uh know very well.
Talk to Nate all the time. How how is that going?
How has it been building that? Uh? What is it

(01:18:42):
looking like.

Speaker 17 (01:18:46):
It's going?

Speaker 1 (01:18:47):
Well?

Speaker 26 (01:18:48):
You know, at the moment, as a black owned streaming platform,
as a black owned media company, as a black owned anything,
to be perfectly frank, at the moment, to still be
here is a victory in and of itself, considering all
the performative promises that were made to support what we're

(01:19:09):
trying to build that have all.

Speaker 17 (01:19:12):
Not surprisingly evaporated.

Speaker 26 (01:19:15):
And as we can see that with what's happening culturally, politically, educationally,
us being able to disseminate information to our communities is
something that other political factions deem.

Speaker 17 (01:19:33):
Intimidating, dangerous, fear inducing.

Speaker 26 (01:19:37):
And so there's real energy around cutting those cords and
disenfranchising us further. In my opinion, so the fact that
we are here, the fact that we are building, the
fact that we are evolving, the fact that we are growing,
is a testament to our tenacity and the engagement of
our audience.

Speaker 1 (01:19:58):
Oh absolutely, And will you talk about creating a space
of opportunity?

Speaker 17 (01:20:03):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (01:20:03):
And we also understand black consumers are hugely important to
be has blown up because they targeted black content creators
because they wanted that black audience. You can go all
the way back when Fox was created. They built that
on in Living Color Rock, black shows like that. We

(01:20:24):
could talk about the CW so because African Americans watch
TV more than anybody else. But but then it happens
when these networks blow up and all of a sudden,
black people disappear.

Speaker 26 (01:20:36):
And so.

Speaker 1 (01:20:38):
The importance of what MANSA is doing, no different than
what I'm doing with my Black Star Network, is creating
the space to say no when we are the deciders
of what gets green lit. That's the whole key there.
I don't have to go ask somebody permission, can I
please do this? Show? I own it so I can

(01:20:58):
decide to do it myself.

Speaker 17 (01:21:02):
And that's where the power lies.

Speaker 26 (01:21:04):
That there's I think there's energy and intention around it
being very difficult for us to own the pipes through
which we communicate, not just with our own communities but
globally speaking. And so, yes, what you have, what we're
building is key, and we need an ecosystem of this,

(01:21:24):
not only in terms of media communication, but in terms
of the building of generational wealth, the building of circumstances
whereby our children have a mindset whereby they do not
even have to think about the notion of creating something
and then constantly having that thing go through a filter

(01:21:46):
of a demographic that doesn't represent them, their values, or
their priorities. And you know, it's not to say anything
against white media, mainstream media. They are doing what we
would do if we have the resources and the power.
What we are doing, we are exercising our own bias
towards our own communities, espousing the things that are meaningful

(01:22:07):
to us. Where the disparity comes in is where there
is a complete imbalance when it comes to who is
getting to do that, how and when and with what
level of resources. So, you know, to create a genuine
ecosystem of equality whereby several different voices and strata within

(01:22:28):
society are getting to espouse.

Speaker 17 (01:22:29):
Their biases their values.

Speaker 26 (01:22:33):
What is prior to to them, I think is what
a healthy country and community looks like.

Speaker 1 (01:22:38):
You know, it was very interesting when Selma came out.
There were people critical of you playing doctor King. And
I watched the documentary that your wife did in the
making of that, and I was already familiar with the backstory.
I was there in Santa Barbara Oprah had the big screening.

(01:23:02):
I was there in New York with her and Ava
and all of you. And and the thing that it
really ticked me off when people were saying all of that,
the reality is this here. Numerous people had tried to
make that movie. There were some other directors who were
black who said, I can't make this movie for the
budget you're putting putting out there. And the reality is

(01:23:24):
Selma does not get made without you. And and you've
made that clear as well. And I think people people
need to understand that people need to understand that when
an individual puts it all on the line. It's easy
to sit here and Monday morning, Monday Morning quarterback and say, oh,

(01:23:45):
there should have been an American actor who did this. Well,
the reality is a black American actor didn't actually make
it happen, and I think people need to understand that reality.
That's how Selma got made because of what you did
in terms of just pushing and prodding and frankly, you know,

(01:24:06):
hitting folks over the side of the head.

Speaker 26 (01:24:10):
Well, I appreciate that, Roland. Yes, that's the reality of
the situation. But I do also understand the frustration that
there are so many people who came before me who
couldn't get Selma made, who couldn't get Bass Reeves made,
who couldn't get a show like Government Cheese made. You know,

(01:24:33):
there are a plethora of reasons why I think there
is divinity around my ability to help get Sea made.

Speaker 17 (01:24:42):
I felt cold to do it.

Speaker 26 (01:24:44):
It's the thing that gave me energy every day through
those seven years of trying to get it made. I'm
not saying I'm special, but I did feel cold to it,
and thankfully it came to fruition. There are many others
who are doing things that feel and that they are
divinely called to do. I look at Ryan Coogler and

(01:25:04):
what he's achieving in his collaborations with Michael B.

Speaker 1 (01:25:07):
Jordan.

Speaker 26 (01:25:08):
There are many who have come before who were not
able to ascend to the level these brothers are enabled
to do. Denzel Washington has talked endlessly about standing on
the shoulders of Sydney Poaritier.

Speaker 17 (01:25:22):
There are many of us who stand on the shoulders
of those who.

Speaker 26 (01:25:25):
Have dug ground, planted seed that we are the beneficiaries
of in terms of being part of the germination of
that seed. So I'm very very clear that it wasn't
just me I am standing on shoulders. I am the
beneficiary of other people's hard work as well. But I
think the conversation tends to end up with this fairly

(01:25:47):
simplistic view as to who is being afforded the opportunities.
I really urge people to look at the history of
the marginalization of us as black people. It is rooted
in a divide and mentality. It is rooted in plantation politics.
It serves only those who are against us to have

(01:26:08):
us in fighting over not only the things that we
are challenged by, but also our achievements.

Speaker 17 (01:26:15):
If we are scratching in the ground for scraps, scraps.

Speaker 26 (01:26:22):
That are at times imagined as opposed to real, it
doesn't give us the opportunity to see what is ours
for the taking and how us coming together enables us
to achieve those things that we feel like can be unattainable.
This film doesn't get made without Ava, who I met

(01:26:44):
because of the work she was already putting in.

Speaker 17 (01:26:47):
She had done a film that she had.

Speaker 26 (01:26:51):
Put fifty thousand dollars into, which led to her being
able to do the film that I did with her
Middle of Nowhere, which is what gave me the juice
to go to the production company the finances to say
she should be the one to direct Selma. Of course,
we know what Oprah Winfrey had been doing over the
last thirty years. She was the one who brought myself
and Ava the credibility to get Selma made. So it

(01:27:14):
was that triumvirate of the three of us that helped
get it made. It was not just me, was not
just a black brit so to speak. There was a
lot of African American energy that went into that happening
and I think there is a beautiful example of how,
despite the fact that divisions have been placed between us

(01:27:36):
as Africans and African Americans, when we come together, beautiful
things can manifest. Because that was always the design this thing,
this division between us, was imposed upon us. If we
now start taking ownership of it, we only play into
their politics, their industrial complex of the destruction of us.

(01:27:59):
If we don't reckonize that. To circumvent that, we need
to come together to create the things that we want
to see.

Speaker 1 (01:28:06):
Tucker, you mentioned Ryan Coopler, Michael B. Jordan. Obviously Chadwick
Boseman was a part of that before he became an ancestor. You,
Nate Parker, what you just laid out, this is the
value of partnership. You know, we're always talking about, man,
if we could just get our folk together on the
same page. I always said, well, look, listen, there is

(01:28:28):
no such thing as a consensus meeting. The real consistence
is if I can find one or two or three
other people who say, hey, I'm down with it, let's
go together. And what you and Nate are doing as well,
and so as you move in front of the camera,
behind the camera on the business side, as well, how
valuable is that for you to understand connecting with like

(01:28:48):
minded people and saying, hey, we can do a lot
more together than trying to do this thing in silos.

Speaker 26 (01:28:57):
It is the only way we are going to Systems
of oppression were designed to keep us apart. I go
back to plantation politics, I go back to well, I
go to colonization. The only way colonization can take root
is if you're going into communities and societies deconstructing them

(01:29:20):
in order to make them weak, and then pretending like
you are the one that has made them whole again.

Speaker 17 (01:29:28):
For us, you look at other communities where their dollar stays.

Speaker 26 (01:29:33):
Within the community long enough for them to build generational wealth.
The only way that happens is they've made an intentional
decision to come together and build something together. These systems
of oppression have deliberately come in and created a historical,
societal communal acceptance of the fact that we are going

(01:29:53):
to be crabs in a barrel and that is just
not going to work.

Speaker 17 (01:29:58):
So a lot of my energy is around.

Speaker 26 (01:30:00):
Bringing brothers specifically together, because I do think there's been
an intentional.

Speaker 17 (01:30:06):
Effort to keep black men apart.

Speaker 26 (01:30:09):
You only have to look at a time where it
was literally illegal for three or more of us to
be in a group.

Speaker 17 (01:30:15):
On a sidewalk. There's a reason why that was deemed
illegal because they know there's power in it.

Speaker 26 (01:30:20):
So when we recognize that, coming together should be the
thing that we are focused on, because, as I said,
that's how we built a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:30:29):
Of people ask me this question. They say, man, where
do you get your boldness from? And I sort of
laugh at that. You have not been afraid to call
Hollywood out to talk about Here we are five years
after the murder of George Floyd and we're seeing from

(01:30:50):
the federal government with the twice impeached, criminally convicted felon
in chief trashing DEI Corporations, Hollywood. I mean, you name it,
and you have not shot away from that. I'm sure
others have said, David listen, bro mean, things are going
well for you. You don't have to bring those things up,

(01:31:10):
but you are willing to say it. You talked about colonization,
the niceties in the UK compared to the United States.
I'll just ask why be that bold as opposed to
sh just take the roles, make your money and keep
it moving.

Speaker 17 (01:31:32):
Really, I think I jumped out from Mom and Deck.
Can you ask that question again?

Speaker 1 (01:31:36):
Yeah, you've been You've been quite bold and forthright in
your criticism of hollywood performative actions. Five years after the
death of George Floyd. We have seen the massive attacks
on DEI woke. We've seen companies pull back, Hollywood pull back.

(01:31:57):
We see the success of African Americas as lead. But
you still have folks who say, we don't know what's
gonna work. And look what happened when Ryan Coogler's first
weekend a variety of New York Times. We're questioning whether
the movie was gonna make its budget back and you
talked about conversation how in the UK or the niceties

(01:32:18):
there compared to the United States. Others will say, David Man,
just make your money, sign these deals and don't say nothing.
Why is it so important for you to voice that
and not shy away from it?

Speaker 17 (01:32:41):
Can you hear me, by the way, Roland.

Speaker 1 (01:32:43):
Yes, I can hear you. We got you.

Speaker 16 (01:32:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 26 (01:32:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:32:48):
Well.

Speaker 26 (01:32:48):
The reason why, the reason why being quite about these
things is for me a non issue I don't even
think about it is that knowledge is power, and at
the end of the day, I personally try to move
through the world from a place of faith rather than fear.

(01:33:11):
I think faith is creative, it is regenerative. Fear is
irrosive and crippling, and I have found that has personally
stood me in good stead. It's also one of the
drivers for systems of oppression. The very thing they try

(01:33:32):
to engender in us is fear. Fear of the loss
of life, fear of the loss of being able to
feed your family, fear in every form. And I truly
believe if you're not part of the solution, you're part
of the problem. I don't think any of what we're
talking about gets solved if you're not sharing the knowledge,

(01:33:56):
especially as you gain notoriety, as you go to these
rooms and see what's actually going, and you don't share
that knowledge, you don't not only leave the door open
for those coming behind you, for you blow the hinges
of that door, and you know what, importantly, build your
own house, and none of that happens if you're operating

(01:34:17):
from fear.

Speaker 1 (01:34:18):
I love the fact that you and your wife formed
your own production company to call your own shots, to
put together your own projects. How did government cheese come about?

Speaker 26 (01:34:35):
Government cheese came about in the same way a lot
of our projects happen, which is that you know, necessity
is the mother of invention, and in many ways, that's
what government cheese is about. I became a producer, not
because that was an aspiration mine. I did everything I

(01:34:56):
could to get our maid came to the end of that,
coming to fruition, and realized, oh my gosh, that was producing. Basically,
you have a project you're passionate about and you do
anything and everything you can to bring it to fruition.

Speaker 17 (01:35:10):
And there are so.

Speaker 26 (01:35:11):
Many stories that I want to tell that my wife
wants to tell. You know, she, as a white woman
in a very different way, had her own challenges early
on in her career when it came to the perception
of what a woman is capable of doing, especially a
beautiful woman, what she's relegated to doing, always being on

(01:35:32):
the arm of someone, or always being objectified, always being
on the periphery of a narrative.

Speaker 17 (01:35:38):
And I found a lot of the same things being
a black man.

Speaker 1 (01:35:42):
And so.

Speaker 26 (01:35:44):
Not only with our union as husband and wife, but
as business partners, we basically wanted to create an environment
whereby we could build the kind of projects we would
want to be in and that we wanted to see
in the world, but also create opportunities for others who
are dealing with the same challenges we were to be
able to get their stories told because we recognize it

(01:36:06):
is one of the most powerful mediums in the world.

Speaker 17 (01:36:09):
We think of the stories we tell as age engines
of empathy.

Speaker 26 (01:36:14):
That breakdown prejudice and so Government Cheese came about because
the wonderful Poor Hunter approached me with a short film script.
I felt it was something the likes of which I'd
never seen before. We spent four days shooting that short film.
It came out really well. It ended up being a
great proof of concept, and it's the thing that Apple
saw and that went the journey with us to create

(01:36:35):
the show.

Speaker 1 (01:36:38):
We don't really get to I'm gonna ask you this
because I asked to say if they the Courtney b
Evance before he did. Before he did, I think it
was a Christmas office party. I forgot the name of
the movie. We rarely get to see you in a
comedic way. It's always very serious, very stern. So was

(01:37:02):
it important for you to be able to say, yo,
I can actually have fun and be funny and laugh
on screen too?

Speaker 26 (01:37:12):
You know, one of the things about about being an
actor is you can't really control the things that you're
gonna do that are gonna pop.

Speaker 17 (01:37:19):
You know, I've done things that are on the lighter
side before.

Speaker 26 (01:37:23):
I did a show called Number one Ladies Detective Agency,
which has a fairly rambunctious character.

Speaker 17 (01:37:28):
I did a film called Gringo.

Speaker 26 (01:37:30):
I did a film called role Play recently, which was
also a kind of an action comedy.

Speaker 17 (01:37:36):
But like I say, you can never.

Speaker 26 (01:37:39):
Really control what is going to get to a Selma level,
a notoriety for the public, or Bass Reeves.

Speaker 6 (01:37:48):
Or you know.

Speaker 26 (01:37:49):
The films I've done that have, as you say, had
a more stoic character, been more dramatic and feel.

Speaker 17 (01:37:56):
So comedy has.

Speaker 26 (01:37:58):
Always been something I've loved to do. I've done it
a bit on stage as well. But you know, as
an actor, I'm just looking to find lots of different
ways to challenge myself. You know, in many ways, doing
a comedy is as challenging as playing a historical figure,
just in different ways. Because if you come out the
gates saying you're doing comedy, you better be funny, otherwise

(01:38:18):
people are going to really question why you call it
that genre. So, but for me, the contextualization of us
as black people is something I'm very energized by, and
I think that means showing us in all of our facets.
So one of the things that was really interesting to
me about Government Cheese was being in the sixties, where

(01:38:40):
we have seen so many shows and films that depict
civil rights black struggle. I've been in a lot of
those films, but it's not through that lend. That's not
the focus of what we're looking at. It's a black
family and a place that we rarely see black people,
the San Fernando Valley and a lot here in Los Angeles.

Speaker 17 (01:39:01):
And they're a quirky family.

Speaker 26 (01:39:03):
They're they're they're a bit out there, which is something
you're used to seeing in a Wes Anderson movie or
a Cohen Brothers movie, but not necessarily films.

Speaker 17 (01:39:12):
That that showcase us.

Speaker 26 (01:39:14):
And that was one of the things that was really
really attractive to me was yes, getting to play comedy,
but also just getting to see us in a unique way.

Speaker 1 (01:39:23):
Is that again, as as an actor, I mean whether
other areas where people like to do different things, don't
want to be typecast, they want to be able to
stretch to half range. How important is that to you?

Speaker 17 (01:39:40):
I think it's essential for a long career.

Speaker 26 (01:39:43):
You know, if you are doing the same thing over
and over again, I think people are going to get
tired and they're going to.

Speaker 17 (01:39:49):
Move on, and quite rightly so you could argue.

Speaker 26 (01:39:52):
But also I am really engaged with and inspired by
how complicated we are as human beings. So as many
at bats as I can have of showing different sides
of different kinds of people, that's what keeps me energized.
That's what keeps me excited. That's why I keep going
back to the theater. That's why I want to do

(01:40:14):
limited series and series and film and audio books and
every everywhere I can go to tell stories, to be
afforded opportunities to play characters the likes of which are
nothing like me.

Speaker 17 (01:40:30):
Like I say, I think that's the path to a
long career.

Speaker 26 (01:40:33):
But that's also how you stay energized and passionate about
being an artist.

Speaker 1 (01:40:42):
Is there a particular role or a thing that you
really wanted to do that you haven't done yet?

Speaker 26 (01:40:53):
Oh gosh, you know, I still feel very in my body,
so you know, to do more more action things that
you know, allow for that side of me, which I
think people.

Speaker 1 (01:41:08):
As as as a superhero, well, you know, I actually
thought Bass Reeves is a bit of a superhero, you know,
in terms of what he does.

Speaker 26 (01:41:19):
And you know, that was amazing for me being on
a horse all day, you know, in an epic Western
of that nature.

Speaker 17 (01:41:26):
That was great, you know, And like I said, that
was very.

Speaker 26 (01:41:29):
Physical as well as historical, as well as adventure and
all those kind of things. So, you know, I've been
trying to get a reboot of The Rocketeer going for
a while, and that was going to be my attempt
at playing a superhero. You know, maybe that still comes
to fruition, but yeah, there's there's so much I still

(01:41:50):
I still want to do, and there's so much opportunity
I still want to afford. You know, the great thing
about being a producer, having a production company have a
streaming platform is that you can create opportunities for other people.
There are roles that you know, I'm on the wrong
side age wise to play, but there are others who

(01:42:10):
I really want to see, you know, in those roles.
It was one of the beautiful things about doing Bassteries
was getting to see Lauren E. Banks and Grantham Coleman
and Toasin mourn Fuller and Joaquina Kalakango and Demi Singleton
and Lonnie Chavis. These younger actors get the opportunity to
do the kind of thing that just wasn't there when

(01:42:31):
I was their age. You know, I don't know that
there was a show like Basterris that that was really
focused on the black characters, not the white characters.

Speaker 17 (01:42:41):
So that's amazing.

Speaker 26 (01:42:43):
You know, if I get to direct The Waterman and
again have Lonnie Chavis in that film, where I get
to produce Don't Let Go and give Storm Read that
great opportunity she had in that film, those are also
the opportunities I'm really looking for, I know.

Speaker 1 (01:43:00):
I mean, as you were talking about that, what immediately
came to my mind. And I know Danny Glover for
a long time was trying to get this made. And
I think mister b hair Belafontein and I may have
had the conversation as well. I was sitting here going
hm hm, David O yellow Old as Tucson Low with

(01:43:24):
your livat youre the Haitian Revolution. I mean, and again
it's been talked about a lot, and I remember I
forgot other people who have said, man, they would love
to make that. Obviously you're talking about epic and so
that that immediately jumped into my mind as you were
just talking.

Speaker 17 (01:43:45):
It's so funny.

Speaker 26 (01:43:45):
I met with Danny Glover, I don't know, fifteen years
ago now, when he was trying to get that off
the ground. I don't know what's happening with it, but yes,
I mean, what an incredible role, what an incredible uh story?
That for me would be a run don't walk situation
to play a character like that.

Speaker 17 (01:44:05):
But this is what I mean.

Speaker 26 (01:44:06):
You know, it's so frustrating that someone like Danny Glover
has been spent decades trying to get that made. You know,
Morgan Freeman spent decades trying to get bass Reeves made.
It's really debilitating when our heroes, our icons, those who
have really pummeled the ground from a groundbreaking perspective, have

(01:44:31):
not been able to get these really worthy passion projects
off the ground. Maybe our generation or the generation to
come are going to have an easier time of it.
I will tell you, it's incredibly debilitating. You know, I
spent ten years trying to get bass Reeves made. Summer
was a seven year Journey a United Kingdom where I

(01:44:51):
wanted to play soret Se Karma, the heir to the
throne of Botswana. That was another seven years. You know,
it's the not facts, the rejection, the racism, the self doubt,
the insecurity that trying to get these things made and genders.

Speaker 17 (01:45:09):
It's irrosive, you know.

Speaker 26 (01:45:12):
But like like I say, you know, we're in it
and it's worth the fun.

Speaker 1 (01:45:20):
That was a great vanity. Fair number of years ago
did an article about Francis Ford Coppola and the article
was about his his winery and how from the money
that he made with his winery that he was doing
his own films, like in the thirty to forty million

(01:45:41):
dollar range. He didn't have to ask anybody's opinion. He
funded them himself because of what he was making. And
even when he I think his opus was Metropolis that
came out that did not do well, and he sold
a portion as Wired to get it made. But it
was just a fascinating story how he had gone through
so much in the in the industry, with other people

(01:46:02):
telling him no, no, no, no no. Having the financial
freedom to make whatever movie he wanted that appeased his
interest that he funded and he was like, Yo, life
is great. I thought it was just a great article
as he just talked about having this other business and
funded his film efforts.

Speaker 26 (01:46:27):
Yeah, and that's what I mean about the need for
us having generational wealth is to have that ability.

Speaker 17 (01:46:33):
You know, I've been a beneficiary of that very thing.

Speaker 26 (01:46:36):
George Lucas funded the film Redtails, where I met Net
Parker with his own money.

Speaker 17 (01:46:41):
That was fifty million dollars of George's.

Speaker 1 (01:46:44):
All seven money, all seven, all seven studios. Told him, no,
there are no white heroes, and he said, the heroes
are the black guys, right.

Speaker 26 (01:46:55):
Right, exactly, And that conversation could have remained in an
echo chamber that just continues to reverberate and we don't
get a film like Redtails. But his wealth enabled us
to make that film, which has gone on to be
a much beloved film. And it was a film that
had not only myself and Nate, but Leslie, Odom Junior,

(01:47:17):
Michael B. Jordan, Elijah Kelly let Alone, Terrence Howard and
Cuba Gooding Jr.

Speaker 17 (01:47:22):
You know, all in one place.

Speaker 26 (01:47:24):
And so when we talk about us coming together, it's
so rare that that happens. It's why when you see
the Harder They Fall James Samuel's movie, that becomes a
cultural moment. It's why when you see Black Panther, it
becomes a cultural moment because there's so much power in
the aggregation of us being together. It's why these iconic

(01:47:45):
teams where you know you have a lot of black people,
whether it's in basketball or football, these moments where we
are allowed to come together and we build together. What
comes out of it is magnificent.

Speaker 17 (01:47:59):
It is the culture.

Speaker 26 (01:48:00):
It literally drives culture because there's such power in our unification,
which is why there is such energy in keeping us apart.
And so to have the ability that Francisco, a couple
of has or George had that we uh became beneficiaries
of is absolutely crucial.

Speaker 17 (01:48:22):
And that's the thing we don't yet have.

Speaker 1 (01:48:25):
And I remember George saying, for a moment, for that moment,
he understood what it felt like to be a black
director and to have white studio execs literally say no
because the heroes in the movie were black, and the
and the and the evil folks in the movie were white,

(01:48:46):
and they didn't want to touch it. It was that that,
I mean, I'll never forget talking to him or covering
an event at the Congression of Black Caucus where he
spoke about.

Speaker 26 (01:48:54):
That not only was it studios rejecting it the studio
that he essentially helped build with done it.

Speaker 17 (01:49:06):
Start with star Wars.

Speaker 26 (01:49:08):
That studio doesn't exist without the billions of dollars that
his idea, which was also doubted by the way when
it was first coming to fruition, that same studio was
the one that wouldn't support the guy who had essentially
fed film for a long time. So it just goes

(01:49:29):
to show how insidious, how intentional, and how challenging that
circumstance is. If George Lucas is having that issue, you
can only imagine what it's.

Speaker 17 (01:49:44):
Like when you don't have those resources and that notoriety.

Speaker 1 (01:49:48):
A couple more questions. One, the streaming services has that Granted,
we've seen a significant cutback from about two or three
years ago when it was just just build us being
spent on content, but had the streaming services, but also

(01:50:08):
the Internet. You take with MANSA, you take with YouTube,
you take all of this. Do you believe that's really
really really blown the hinges off the doors for content
creators to be able to get their vision to the
public because you don't have the same gatekeepers as you

(01:50:30):
used to.

Speaker 26 (01:50:32):
I can see a very clear uptick in my own
career tied to the rise of streaming, and I think
that's to do with the fact that streaming came along
and gave us raw data, whereas beforehand it was anecdotal.
It was a handful of people who had green light power.

(01:50:53):
It became a self fulfilling prophecy in terms of the
decisions they made because they would support the decision they
made with marketing dollars, and they would create stars that
were younger, better looking versions of themselves in order to
perpetuate the sort of supremacist mindset that I truly think
is at the center of what was driving the business
back then.

Speaker 17 (01:51:15):
This raw data component is something that cannot be denied.

Speaker 26 (01:51:20):
It's the only way a show like squid Game becomes
a huge hit on Netflix. There's no way that they
are green lighting a foreign language film of that nature
with the notion that it's going to be a worldwide hit.
I don't think we get Bass Reeves made as a
movie back in the day. But streaming comes along and

(01:51:44):
you have Taylor Sheridan who has all this success with
Yellowstone and then eighteen.

Speaker 17 (01:51:49):
Eighty three, so you have a path to success.

Speaker 15 (01:51:52):
You have.

Speaker 26 (01:51:53):
It's indicative that people are watching a genre that Hollywood
had decided was dead western. But you can see in
a very real way that people are engaging, and so
that I truly think has come along and democratized things.

Speaker 17 (01:52:13):
It also is global.

Speaker 16 (01:52:14):
You know.

Speaker 26 (01:52:15):
One of the excuses was black doesn't travel, so you
make a film, they'll give it only.

Speaker 17 (01:52:22):
A national distribution. They won't think of it as international.

Speaker 26 (01:52:25):
Well, now, at the flip of a switch, Government Cheese
is in hundreds of countries and you can tell whether
people are engaging or not, and they are right, and
so that that has come along and really changed things.

Speaker 1 (01:52:39):
Last question for you, when someone sits down, grab the
remote and they watch ten episodes of Government Cheese, what
do you want them to come away with? What do
you want them to feel?

Speaker 26 (01:52:52):
Well, I really hope they'll see themselves in it because
it's a quirky family. It's to show the likes of
which I would argue you've never seen before. But I
would say you if you're part of a family, if
you have either had children, had parents, had growing pains,

(01:53:18):
had marital issues, had aspirations to give your family a
better life. You will see yourself in this fantastical, absurdist
hitherto unseen family and place and a way of telling
a story. You will see yourself in it. And you
know when I talked earlier about storytelling being an engine

(01:53:40):
for empathy, I truly believe we are more alike than
we are different, and that I think is the way
you break down prejudice, and we do it. I believe
in this show in an entertaining and fun way. We
show you a family in which you are going to
see your own family and hopefully you'll have a few
laughs along the way.

Speaker 1 (01:53:58):
All Right, David's always great to chat with you. Good
luck with.

Speaker 18 (01:54:02):
Government cheese on Apple TV Plus, and may just just
keep handling your business and just wave at the haters.

Speaker 1 (01:54:15):
That's what we do.

Speaker 17 (01:54:16):
We smile and wave and keep it moving.

Speaker 1 (01:54:18):
Yes, sir, appreciate it.

Speaker 17 (01:54:20):
Thanks a lot, Thank you, Take care bye, Rellie

Speaker 25 (01:55:03):
THO

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Episode Transcript

Host

Roland Martin

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