GOP voter drama in Ga.; Standard General fights FCC; Obesity in Black America

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today's Thursday, March second, twenty twenty three, coming up on
Roland Martin on the Field, streaming live on the Black
Star Network. Two new bills in Georgia could remove Black
Democrats mean South Georgia election Boarder will talk with Cliff
all Right, co founder of Black Voters Matter, about this
outright assault on the rights of black voters. Chicago will

(00:20):
have a new mayor after incumbent Mayor Laurie Lightfoot failed
to secure a second term in office. She didn't even
make the runoff. We will speak to one of the
candidates who beat her in the election, that is County
Commissioner Brandon Johnson. Also, Folks, a significant shakeup could be
happening at Jackson State University. The state Border Regions their

(00:42):
meeting to discuss his fate. We'll see what happens after
the courses after a course of apperty Senate had a
no confidence vote against him. Also, I will explain why
Standard General's Tegna acquisition has hit a brick wall, but
also how this could be a loss for minority owned media.

(01:03):
We're dedicating our second hour today's show discussing how Obesia
the impact communities of color will be talking with a
variety of medical experts about this issue that really has
changed America. It is time to bring the funk on
Roland Martin unfiltered on the Black Start Network. Let's go.
He's whatever the mess, He's on it, whatever it is.

(01:26):
He's got the school, the fact, the fine and when
it briefs, he's right on time and is rolling best
belief he's knowing. Put Flosston News to politics with entertain
then just forks, he's scoring, rolling all. It's schooling my ta,

(01:53):
rolling with ven. He's spooky stressed, she's real the best
sh and Georgia. Two new bills could remove black Democrats

(02:15):
from the South Georgia Election Board. The Georgia State House
introduced House Bill for twenty two to revise provisions for
the five person Ware County Elections Board. Right now, there
are three black members. Under the new bill, four board
members would be appointed by the Republican majority instead of
the Republican and Democratic parties. The other four board members
would choose of the board's chair of Political parties can

(02:37):
still nominate election board members, but the Ware County Commission
would have final authority. The same thing is happening in
majority Black making Bibb County with Senate bill to to seven.
Cliff Albright, co founder of Black Voters Matter, Jones us
right now from Atlanta. Cliff, what we're looking here is,
again we're looking at folks who want to control black people. Yeah, exactly,

(03:01):
and we're seeing this in several county rollands. You mentioned
Ware County, you mentioned making Bibb County. Also in ben
Hill County, we're just a fight over who would get
to pick the superintendent, the chair of the Board of Elections,
which right now the board itself is able to pick.
Basically a bipartisan board picks a chair, but now they're

(03:24):
trying to replace that by allowing the county Commission, Republican
as you can imagine, to pick who the chair would be,
which essentially would control ship control of that board of Election.
So we're seeing this in county after county, and this
is exactly what we told people about when we warned
about SP two two a couple of years ago. Tons
of bad provisions in there. Yes, we know about the

(03:45):
food and water, we know about the attacks on on
voting by mail, but we've said from the beginning that
one of the most dangerous was the way that it
would open up the path to do all these takeovers
of these board of Elections. As we know who controls
these boards. It's the control who certifies actual elections. And
you don't have to do that in every county. You
don't have to take over all one hundred and fifty

(04:07):
nine counties in Georgia. If you take over specific counties, right,
targeted counties, Fulton County which they've also been targeting, or
some other majority black counties. All you have to do
is take over just enough in just the right places,
especially something that might go under the radar. They tried
to do Fulton, but they you know, they started to
catch some smoke and it caused too much attention. So whatever,

(04:28):
what do you do? You try to go after some
lesser known counties. But those counties add up. We've seen,
especially when we're talking about elections with Fraser thin Margins.
I mean actually right, and I remember so it was
a young brother who I had on it from Albany.
We were duking it out on social media because he
was supporting the Georgia voter suppression bill. He came on

(04:49):
the show change his tune talking about his all black
boys school. So all these fools being hitting me. Man,
you dogging that brother, I said, but it's amazing. Y'all
were silent as to why he was on. I said,
that's why he was actually booked on the show. And
they get all caught up in black empowerment. I said, listen,
the brother was supporting what Republicans were doing. And they

(05:10):
were like, well, or you saying we can't get voter id?
I said, I keep trying to explain to y'all this
thing ain't just about voter ID. This thing is broader
and deeper, and too many Negros kept falling for the
okey doke thinking these bills were just about voter ID
and this isn't old dudes, right, we're talking about things

(05:31):
that are left over from SB two O two. They've
now got a new version, or worse version. We call
SB two o two Jim Crow two point zero. And
now they've got Jim Crow two point two or two
point four or two point five. They've got another omnibus
bill which has a range of provisions, including they already
attacked drop boxes with SP two L two. They are

(05:51):
now trying to outright band drop boxes right completely. It's
got other things in there like making it easier for
these blanket challenges. We know the way that these racists
have been going around just challenging black voters and trying
to get them off the list. It makes it easier
for people to do blanket purges. It lowers the burden
of proof that they would do targeting black people, all targeting,

(06:14):
targeting black people in Georgia. And I keep trying to
explain the folks, they are pissed that Biden and Harris
one by Georgia, one by twelve thousand voltes in Georgia.
They are trying to lay the groundwork to steal Georgia
in twenty twenty four. That's right, and it's happening here,
and this is being talked about. Its being discussed right now.

(06:36):
So we need people all across the country to get involved.
You can go to our social media, go to our
website to see how you can get involved, make phone calls,
send emails, raise awareness because we still need people to
be involved in Georgia. We still need the battle for
federal voting rights legislation. Right just because we got a
Congress that we know it's Republican control and they don't

(06:57):
want voting rights doesn't mean that we can't continue to
push the issue the same way that they did whatever
sixty eighty one hundred votes to try to get rid
of Obamacare. We ought to have something for voting rights
in Congress every week, even if they're just going to
vote it down. We've got to force them to expose
themselves and keep the issue on the table. And we
need federal action at the executive level. There's a report

(07:18):
that's been coming out that we're co signers on DEMOS
and ACLU have done a great job of looking at
the Executive Order on voter access and what has that
implementation looked like? What else can be done? That executive
order was announced, you know, Roland two years ago, almost
of the day it was on the commemoration of Bloody
Sunday that it was announced two years ago by the President.
Two years later, we need to take a hard look

(07:40):
at that and see where we ad on actual implementation.
What more can we do at the executive level, What
more can we fight for and keep on the table
in terms of federal legislation, and what more can we
do fighting this battle in these states where they're trying
to push back whe they're trying to pass more voterspression.
And lastly, we need states like Michigan and Pennsylvania that
have democratic trifectors or democratic control or democratic governors. They

(08:03):
need to lead the way and showing a more progressive, radical, expansive,
inclusive vision of what not just fighting voter suppression looks like.
What does it look like to actually expand access right,
what does that discussion look like. We need some the
states where we have power to use that power in
order to push that agenda. For everybody who's watching understand,

(08:25):
they have a very clear goal. They want to nullify
as many black votes as possible and in Cliff reiterate
what people don't understand. They want to expand the ability
for these folks to challenge voters, blocks of voters because
they want to be able. They know if they cannock
twenty thirty fifty seventy eighty thousand people off the roads

(08:49):
they're mostly African American, they know that's gonna make it
far easier for them to win. That's right, they're challenging
black voters. They're doing it, and they're doing it on
a blanket. It's not even one by one. They're challenging
black voters on blanket. It's actually it's a it's a
throwback to Jim Crow and in the sixties and when
they would you'd have to you know, there were places

(09:10):
where you used to have to have a white person
vouch for you. You know this Rolling, even if you
went through jump through all the hoops of going through
voter registration and counting the jelly beans and paying a
poll to ask, you'd have to have a white person
vouch for you. This is like the flip side of
the coin on that where basically any white person can
come in and challenge you and get you off the rolls. Indeed,
Cliff all Right co found the Black Voters Matter. Let's

(09:32):
keep the fight up. Thank you Rolling, I appreciate it.
Thanks a lot. I gotta go to Breton. We come back.
We'll chad about this my panel about this. We'll also
talk about this standard General deal buying TEGNA, the second
largest TV group in the country. The FCC is saying, basically,
let's put it on the shelf. But it's a Korean
American who's trying to buy it, who's also partner with

(09:53):
other black media. Why is the FCC doing it and
why we should be demanding more of them when it
comes to minority ownership of mass media, will discuss that
and other news as well. You're watching rollerbut and Filtered
on the Black Stun Network. A lot of these corporations
or people that are running stuff push black people if

(10:18):
they're doing a certain thing. What that does is it
creates a butterfly effect of any young kid who you know,
wants to leave any situation they're in, and the only
people they see your people that are doing this. Or
I gotta be a gangster, I gotta shoot, I gotta sell,
I gotta do this in order to do it, and
it becomes a cyclable when someone comes around is making
another Oh we don't get you know, they don't want
to push you to put money into it. So that's

(10:38):
definitely something I'm trying to fix. Two, it's just show
these other avenues. You don't gotta be rapping. I'm gonna
be a ball player. It could be from the country scene.
You're gonna be an operation, or you're gonna be at
them whatever. You know, I'm showing the different avenues not
as possible, and it's hard for people to realize as possible.
To someone done, We're all impacted by the culture, whether

(11:08):
we know it or not, from politics to music and entertainment.
It's a huge part of our lives and we're going
to talk about it every day right here on the
culture with me for Roger Muhammad, only on the Black
Star Network, Black Star Networks. A real old revolutionary right now.

(11:31):
Thank you for me in the voice of Black America.
A moment that we am. Now. We have to keep
this going. The video looks phenomenal between Black Star Network
and Black owned media and something like CNN. You can't
be black owned media and be scared. It's time to
be smart. Ring your eyeballs, dig what's up? Y'all will back?

(11:57):
I'm criss up, Michelle, I am Chiley Rose, and you're
watching Roland Martin unfiltered, All right, folks, My pan on

(12:29):
rec Cobord hosts of The rec Cobord Show on Serious
XM Radio. Doctor Grad Card, Department of af for American Studies,
Howard University, hosts of The Black Table on the Black
Star Network. Doctor Tanya Washington Hicks, Professor, Georgia State University,
College of Law. Glad they have all three of you here. Tanya,
then Georgia, I'll start with you. Um we keep warning
people black folks, pay attention. These folks are not happy

(12:53):
that they're not satisfied that Brian Kemp was reelected and
not satisfied Republicans swept all the offices in Georgia. They
want to submit power and everything they're doing now, they're
piss that warnot one reelection and they want to take
back Georgia for Republicans next year. Absolutely, and my family

(13:16):
is actually from way across Ware County, which is kind
of the initial subject of what I think you have
rightfully described as a campaign to nullify enough black votes
so that they can control political power at the state
and federal level. And if black folks don't believe that

(13:40):
elections have consequences, this is exhibit A that illustrates that
they do because they control the ability to establish the rules,
and the rules are consistently created in a way that
disenfranchises people that they don't consider citizens. Absolutely, and and

(14:05):
and again, recy people have understand Republicans where they have power,
where they control the house in the city and the
governors mansion. Hey, they run on the table cliffs whole point.
Democrats where you control of the government, strengthen the voting laws. Absolutely,
I think you can't take for granted that when you

(14:27):
have the power, that you'll always have the power. Republicans
definitely do not do that. They play for keeps. They
rig the game so they can stay in power. And
Democrats sometimes tend to put things like voting rights on
the back burners. So I agree with what Cliff Aubert
Albright said, get those trifectors and democratic states to enshrine
voting rights protections. If you can get the stuff in

(14:47):
the constitution even better. But I hope that black people
are watching and realizing in states like Georgia and in
states like Tennessee, where you have our Mississippi. Actually I say,
I'm thinking about where you have Ta Reeves on the
ballot for his goobernatorial election, vote them out. Don't continue
to let them enjoy this, this complete control of your

(15:10):
state government. If you can. I just don't really understand
people greg not realize what is going on. We keep
we keep warning folks, so you know, and look, I
made it clear, I made it clear in my book,
White Fear what they're doing. I mean, this is power,
this is this is power, this is control, you know,

(15:31):
and folks are Josh Okay for yeah, whatever. You know,
I'm not worried about voting. That has an impact on me.
Oh trust me, it does. It absolutely does. Roland and
you know a lot of our people, particularly younger people,
and this is not to blame them at all. I mean,
navigating the world today is increasingly difficult. Just don't have

(15:53):
a sense of memory. They haven't read White Fear, they
don't they don't know what has happened. And in some ways,
this really this action of the white now in Georgia
and similar actions as reci says in Mississippi in Tennessee,
this is actually perhaps a good thing because that you know,
every generation has to face its challenge. And when I
say it's a good thing, we saw voter turnout drop

(16:15):
in Georgia in the election and the runoff election. In fact,
Senator Oneot would not have needed a runoff he lost.
He was like forty three almost forty four thousand vote
short of not having to have a runoff. And we
saw that voter participation shrank by about two hundred and
sixty seven thousand in Georgia. Of that, two thirds of
that was black people. Well, you know the gap between

(16:38):
white voters and black voters in Georgia in the in
the election of twenty twenty two was about eight point
six percent higher than it was in twenty eighteen, and
that's double from twenty fourteen. Is the biggest gap in
a decade. Why am I saying all that as a
prelude to what you and Cliff were talking about. Here's
the solution, mass action. If you registered to vote and

(16:59):
go out and vote. Yeah, they're gonna try to knock
you off the role. But if we simply go the
demographics aren't in their favor if we organize and overwhelm.
But for a lot of people family who say, well,
it doesn't matter. Guess what, These white nationalists are increasingly hard.
They're becoming increasingly harder to ignore. They're damn near the
clan now. They're going back to the Leicester Maddox days

(17:19):
where you walking around Georgia with a two by four.
But guess what what that can do is energize black people.
If you go out and rested to vote and vote,
they can try to knock off as many as they want.
You will simply break their political backs. It's time to
stop playing footthelle with them. And they keep taking away
our places to hide and I just keep this is
what This is what drives me crazy, Tanya. I get

(17:44):
these simple Simon negroes who love to hop in the
chat section, who love to hop on my Instagram, who
love to hop on Twitter rolling. You just sitting here
ye on the Democratic plantation, You trying to get us
to vote for these Democrats. This is very simple. And

(18:07):
for all the people out there who don't know what's simple,
math looks like, let me help y'all out, Okay, And
you don't have to count higher than two to understand
the lesson I'm about to give. There are two political parties.

(18:29):
Oh yes, there's the Green Party. There's a Libertarian party,
that's the Working Class Party. So a whole bunch of
different parties in New York State. But the reality is
there are two parties. There are two now. I have
never you have never heard me say, oh, just vote blindly,

(18:57):
don't ask questions, don't make demands, don't after the election
is over. You've never heard me say, don't go to
city hall, don't go to county government, don't go to
the state government, don't go to county You end ever
heard me say that. But what I can't say tell
you is that somebody gonna win. Yes, somebody is going

(19:23):
to win. Now, if somebody is going to win, I'm
probably gonna start with which of the two individuals, because
let's be clear, there are some trifling and I will
say this, there are some trifling Democrats, and there are
some Republicans, depending upon where they are running, where they

(19:47):
actually have offered substitutive things that could appeal to black people.
I ain't gonna problem saying that, but let's be clear,
and about ninety seven point five percent other cases ninety eight,
maybe you're going to have a Republican that is against

(20:07):
a significant number of things that black people care about. Now,
they're gonna be those black people who choose their own
personal pocket book over the collective. They're gonna be those
individuals who only care about themselves. That's fine, got it,
they exist. What I'm talking about is when I'm looking
at who is supporting getting rid of ballot drop boxes,

(20:30):
who's supportive supporting closing down election locations, who's supporting get
rid of voting locations on college campuses, who those issues,
It's likely gonna be Republicans voting for Democrats voting against
So for me, this ain't hard to say who I

(20:50):
don't want in office compared to who I do want
in office. Absolutely, and given the persistence and the amount
of energy and thought and time that has been given
to keeping us from voting, we know that it matters.
We know that it scares them, We know that it

(21:13):
is a threat to white supremacy, and so we need
to take it seriously. And what you've spoken to Roland
that I think it's really important is just being an
engaged citizens one part of it. Once these people get
into office, we need to hold them to account and
establish the quid pro quote. A vote for me is

(21:35):
a transaction. I give you my vote, you give me
something that serves my interests and the interests of my community.
That's it. Why not engage in the transaction. And let
me be real clear again to the people out there
who are utterly confused about what is going on and

(21:56):
what we're seeing in the politics that are at play.
The people who are Republicans, who do they vote against
for the Supreme Court. The black woman Katani Brown Jackson
who fought Christin Clark when she had her committee hearings

(22:19):
for it to lead the Department of Justice of Rights
Division Republicans who gave Linda Thomas Greenfield hale when she
went up for the ninondations, Republicans who believes that Biden
has appointed too many black women and black people to
be federal judges, Republicans who keeps attacking anything that's dealing

(22:46):
with quote woke Republicans. And so I'm oh, and by
the way, recy when black people sat under asses in
South Carolina and Mom's for Liberty, a far right wing
nut group took over ten of the fourteen largest school

(23:07):
boards in South Carolina and then started firing principles and
superintendents who did they vote for Republicans. So black folks understand,
we can sit our asses at home, but the other side,
they are executing their playbook every day. Absolutely. And here's

(23:30):
the thing. Even if we don't convert one person to
the Democratic Party, I don't even have to tell you
go register to vote for Democrats. I don't even need
to tell you to register to vote. If we just
exercise the capacity of the people who have already determined
that they want to register as Democrats, If just the

(23:51):
people on the voter rolls as Democrats voted, it would
be a whole different ball game. You'd have a Stacey
Abrahams as the governor there. You would not have had
a runoff for raf Yar Warnack. You would have a
Beeto over an Abbot. You would have I mean, you
may not have been a Chris fan, but you know
Charlie Chris over a rhnd De Santas who is a
complete fascist autocrat right now in Florida. In Mississippi, like

(24:17):
I said, Tate Reeves is up for election, there are
more eligible black voters, over seven hundred thousand eligible black
voters in the state of Mississippi. He won his election
with the margin of fifty thousand votes last time, and
that was four hundred something thousand votes. So if every
eligible black voter in Mississippi actually voted, you would never

(24:40):
have a Tate Reeves as governor in that state to
take away power from a black city, to deny infrastructure
money to fix the water in a black city. So
we just need to, if we do nothing else, exercise
the capacity of the people who are already registered. It's
a bonus if people get registered. It's a bonus if

(25:01):
we get the people off the sidelines that are completely
checked out. Just the people who've already done on the work.
You ain't got to do nothing extra because you already
did the work of registering just those people turn out.
And the one thing I would add to what your
list Roland is Republicans not only voted against, but you
had jd. Vance, you had Mark here Rubio, You had
a number of Republicans who campaigned against capping insulent prices.

(25:28):
Thirty five dollars is what the Democrats capped insulent prices.
They could only do it for Medicare because the Republicans
blocked it for the entire country. And this week, as
a result of the Democratic action on Lori insulent prices,
you had a manufacturer decide to cut the prices by
seventeen percent. Imagine what would happen if we had that

(25:48):
larger democratic extent, if we kept the House. How many
more changes we could have made for the better of
our own people because we disapportately have diabetes. So there
are tangible things and there are moral reasons. To just
exercise your vote and you do the map on which
party makes sense for you. I don't think it's even close. Absolutely, folks.
Coming up next, one of the Cannon's running for in

(26:09):
the runoff for Chicago mayor will join us next. Also,
we'll talk about Standard General and their technic deal. It's
could it be dead by the FCC, but could it
also kill opportunities for minority owned media. I will explain
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(27:11):
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(27:34):
Black table with me, Greg car We featured the brand
new work A Professor and J. Porter, which simply put
is a revolutionary reframing of the African experience in this country.
It's the one legal article. Everyone you know what I mean,
everyone should. Professor Porter and doctor Felipia Watkins, our legal

(27:55):
Roundtable team, join us to explore the paper that I
guarantee is going to prompt a major high moment in
our culture. You crystallize it by saying, who are we
to other people? Who are African people to others? Governance
is our thing? Who are we to each other? The

(28:16):
structures we create for ourselves, how we order the universes
and for the people. That's next on the black table.
Here on the Black Star, Hi am doctor Jackie D.
Martin and I have a question for you. Ever feel
as if your life is teetering and weight and pressure
of the world is consistently on your shoulders, will let

(28:38):
me tell you living a balanced life isn't easy. Join
me each Tuesday on black Star Network for a Balanced
Life for Doctor Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull
ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me
for new shows each Tuesday on a black Star Network
a Balanced Life or Doctor Jackie. What's up y'all? Will

(29:03):
packing hell? And you are watching Roland Martin. All right, folks,
there's gonna be a new mayor in Chicago. Mayor Lorie
Lightfoot lost her bid to get to the runoff. She
will be. She lost to a couple of folks, one

(29:25):
of them a former superintendent of the schools there, Paul Vallas.
She also allowed lost to a county commissioner, Brandon Johnson. Uh.
And now it's gonna be the runoff on April fourth
between Valas and Brandon Johnson. And one of them Jones
is right now it is Brandon Brandon. Glad to have
you here in Roland Mardon filter. Hey, thank you, Roland.
It's good to be on filter. Appreciated, all right, so

(29:47):
let's get right to it. Folks are looking at now
both of your records. Many say you're the momentum. Even
though Valas got thirty four percent in the election, you
got twenty. Now it's a whole new restart. You've got
sci other unions behind you, Chicago teachers jillion. But it's
gonna take money, it's gonna take a ground game. And

(30:07):
so what is your vision for the future of Chicago. Yeah,
well thanks again. It's a very exciting moment in the
city of Chicago. Our candidacy started off a couple of
months ago with grassroots support and labor support, folks in
the faith community, independent political organizations, and people didn't give
us a chance. And but yeah, here we are. And

(30:29):
he built a multicultural, multigenerational movement that has propelled us
into a moment where we can make history electing the teacher,
someone who comes from the working class to the fifth floor.
It's just a remarkable moment to being And I'm grateful
that the people of the city of Chicago want a better, stronger,
safer city. And you know that's the bottom mind who
were rolling My vision for the city of Chicago, you know,

(30:51):
really reflects the best part of our overall collective movement.
I started off as a public school teacher just over
fifteen years ago, teaching middle school in Cabriney Green, And
I know your viewers, I know you know the history
of Cabriney Green, USA, because it really captures the essence
of the city of Chicago. My students woke up every
day looking out their back windows. They can see touch

(31:15):
you know, walk to one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in
the entire city, and out of their front windows there
were bulldozs there staring them down, preparing to destroy their
public housing. And that is really the impetus behind my run,
because families wake up every single morning in Chicago and
around the country chasing down an economy that's behind them,
while everything in front of them is crumbling. And so

(31:35):
my vision is to disrupt, dismantle this tell of two
cities and push you're in a better, stronger, safe for Chicago,
one story, one Chicago, or public education is a guaranteed
right access to healthcare, reliable transportation, affordable housing, of course,
environmental justice, and good paying jobs. That's something that I
ran on as a Cook County commissioner. It's what I

(31:57):
fought for as an organizer, and that's what I'm gonna
do as the mayor of the City of Chicago. Say,
crime is a big issue, folks, you're talking about, but
what you've tried to do is expand this thing beyond that.
You've got your opponent, Paul Vallace, being supported by the
Fraternal Order of Police, and the things that I keep
trying to explain to people that you cannot address crime
if you're not addressing poverty, if you're not addressing economic despair,

(32:20):
if you're not addressing illiteracy, and too often we have
a one to one dimension view of how to address
crime in this country. How are you going to though,
convince voters if they have to look at the crime
issue in the holistic way as opposed to where your
opponent is like, Hey, just unleash the cops in these areas. Yeah,

(32:41):
and he's being designest about that right. Everywhere Paul Vellis
has been in charge of finances, he's left the mess.
Here in Chicago, we saw school closings, the loss of
black educators. We know, you know, the tragedy that occurred
in New Orleans Hurricane Katrina. Again, loss of black educators.
He was ran out of Philadelphia, you know, Bridgeport, Connecticut.

(33:03):
Everywhere he has gone, he's left a trail of tears.
And just like what you've just indicated, I've reached a
conclusion that the people of Chicago have reached and if
we're going to deal with public safety, we have to
look at the immediate dynamic and look at long term
solutions as well. And look, I'm on the west side
of Chicago, Roland. I live in the Austin community. A

(33:25):
wife and I had twenty five years and we're raising
three little beautiful black children, eight, ten, and fifteen, and
so we deal with public safety all the time. We've
had to change a window from one of the bullets
that have come through our home. We have had to
cover our children countless times. So you know, this is
a serious problem. I live it every single day like
many Chicagoans. And so that's why my public safety plan.

(33:46):
One of the things that we're very proud of in
our public safety plan that's being embraced is that we're
going to double the amount of young people that we hire,
and not just for summer jobs, but for year round positions.
There is a direct correlation between youth employment and violence production.
And we're also going to pass an ordinance called Treatment
Not Trauma and what it calls for. It calls for
mental health clinicians to show up to people's homes to

(34:12):
respond to what essentially are almost forty percent of the
nine one one calls their mental health crisis. And a
few years ago, Quantonio La Greer was having a mental
health crisis. His neighbor Betty, these are my neighbors on
the West Side of Chicago. She came to his defense
and they're both dead because the only equipment of the
scene as Quantonio was having a mental health crisis were guns.

(34:32):
And so if we pass, when we pass the Treatment
Not Trauma Ordinance is going to ultimately free of law
enforcement to focus on the areas where there is more
severe crime. Over forty percent of the violence that takes
place in the city of Chicago Roland, it happens in
six percent of the city. And you know Chicago will
Austin where I live with the largest concentration of black

(34:54):
folks probably anywhere in the world, in one neighborhood, Inglewood, Rosland.
I mean, we know where there's a greater ta for
violence to take place. Until your last point. These are
communities that are our poverty struck and you know, Garfield
Park on the West side of Chicago has been described
as a developing nation because the violence and poverty per
capita reflects that. And that's why I'm committed to open

(35:16):
up our mental health centers. Look, the bottom line is,
you know, we need to make sure that we're being
smart about how we police in the city of Chicago
and around the country. I've made a commitment to spend
to make sure that we actually implement the consent decree,
and we can do that with expediency. That's going to
cost us roughly fifty million dollars conservatively to do that,
and that's going to help attempt to restore the trust

(35:39):
between you know, our community and law enforcement, which you
know has been broken down. And so we're going to
promote you know, rank to found members to become detectives
up to two hundred more. But one of the things
that's most disingenuous is when you have individuals like Paul
Vallace or any other politician that says they're going to
hire more police officers and they throw off these numbers
like one thousand, sixteen hundred the truth of the matter

(36:02):
is it takes sixteen I'm sorry, it takes eighteen months
to become a police officer in the City of Chicago.
I'd be halfway through my first term. We cannot wait
two years before public safety begins to manifest. And so
that's why my sweeping public safety plan as well as
my budget plan, gets at the root causes, and it
deals with the immediacy of violence in the City of Chicago,
because it is a serious problem and it's something that

(36:23):
we can do. The safest cities in America, Roland, I'll
say this and I'll close have one thing in common.
They invest in people. And as you know, because you
are also a part of our faith tradition, I was
raised extra sanctified in the Church of God in Christ.
But where your heart is, your treasure will be also.
And so just like safe American cities do all over

(36:43):
the country, they invest in people. And that's what I'm
gonna do as mayor of the City of Chicago. About
two and a half minutes, I'm gonna get through three
questions real quick. So grant you first, what's your question?
Thank you, Roland, and thank you Brother Johnson. What is
Paul Vallas's cap in terms of his base, worked for
school Philadelphia. We ran him to have out of Philly
and he destroyed. Thank you tell us what is his

(37:05):
gap because he's definitely running now to the racist right.
What's his Can he break forty percent? And what do
you need to win in terms of the voter channel. Well,
it's gonna it's gonna take all of us, right. I'm
the only candidate in the in the entire race that
had double digit numbers in every geographical area. Obviously we're
gonna have to consolidate the black vote, but we're gonna
build on you know, white liberals and progressives and you

(37:25):
know black folks that are progressives, the brown folks. I mean,
we have a multi cultural, multigenerational movement. So that's part
of our pathway. But in terms of Paul Vallas, Um,
he certainly has fully embraced his his Republican his Republican values.
And he said it right after President Barack Obama was elected. Yeah,
he became a Republican, he said it. He identifies as
a Republican. UM. You know, he's supported by leaders who

(37:48):
who were supportive of the January sixth insurrection. I mean
this person has been very clear about so called critical
race theory. In other words, he doesn't want to have
black history taught. Of that percentage that he received to
your point question, about twelve to fifteen percent of those
numbers reflective Republicans in the city of Chicago. So it's

(38:09):
not going to be an easy fight, obviously, because there
are forces in the city of Chicago, as Roland is
aware of, that are very dynamic and unique to the city.
But I'm very excited about the fire that our campaign
is caught and looking forward to making history in the
city of Chicago in a few weeks. Appreciate you, Reacy

(38:29):
Shoulder Johnson. Thank you. Um. You know, black candidates and
black elected to rarely get any grace when it comes
to implementing changes after decades of harm being done to
the communities. What is one specific thing that is that
is solely in your power or something that's within your
power if you were to be mayor that can be
exercised that hasn't been done today that will make a

(38:50):
difference in Chicago. Yeah, we can about thirty seconds for
the answer. Yeah, we can double the amount of young
people that we hire right away. And I'm committed to
doing that. Again, there's a direct correlation between youth employment
and BODIS reduction. I passed something on the county board.
It's called the Budget for Black Lives, which was really
provoked by the Freedom Budget for All, and it led

(39:12):
to some of the greatest investments that we've seen in
the county government. One hundreds of millions of dollars of
BODIS prevention. You can retire up to one billion dollars
of medical debt. We have the largest guaranteed income program
the entire country. The vast majority of folks who receive
that are black and brown women. And so having the
executive authority to release fonds, to hire people, to invest
in people, those are things that I would do on

(39:32):
day one, and I'm looking forward to setting the benchmark
for the rest of the country that black leadership will
not just win, but we can also govern. Thank you
for that question. Yes, my question, congratulations. My question is
how are you going to get the other folks that
did not make it into runoff to endorse you so

(39:55):
that you can have the support of their voters. Yeah,
that's a good question. That is That's what I've been
doing the last two days. I've been on the phone
quite a bit. But I'm an organizer, you know. I
started off as a public school teacher in Chicago. I
organized in Chicago some of the greatest actions that we've
done in a long time. I was a part of
a hunger strike to keep the school open. And so

(40:15):
that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna have conversations with
all of the candidates that ran. We're doing that, but
we're also going to take our message right to the voters.
And I feel very confident. You know. Just over the
last couple of days, we've had over six hundred people
sign up to become volunteers. And that's on top of
the three hundred volunteers that we had an election day.
We had more volunteers than all of the other campaigns combined.

(40:38):
We've had over a thousand people donating contributed to control
our website, where we've raised almost one hundred thousand dollars
from individual donors. The average donors eighty dollars. Maybe I
should have gone to law school. I probably would have
richer friends. But my friends are public school teachers. They're
working class folks, middle class folks, and so we're building
an incredible movement. We're gonna take our case right to
the voters, every single neighbor in the city in Chicago,

(41:01):
because I know and I'm confident that the people are
responding to our message that a better, stronger safe for
Chicago is within reach. And being a black person who
obviously identifies to black liberation theology, son of a pastor,
my grandfather was a pastor, rolland somehow, you know, I'm
fighting for the legalization of marijuana. So I know my
grandfather's turned over in his grave, but it's for a

(41:22):
good cause, Grandpa. That's how I'm at least sleeping well
that night. All right, then, Brandon, we'll appreciate it. Thanks
to Buch. Good luck, and I'm sure we'll be chatting
again before the ROV election. Very good, Thank you all,
good night. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. When we
come back for us, we're gonna talk about standard General,
the deal to try to get by TEGNA while the
FCC is trying to put a nail in the coffin,

(41:45):
but that could also hurt minority owned media. I will
explain next on Roland marton Unfulture, the Black Stunt Network,
Hatred on the Streets, a horrific scene nationalist rally that
descended into deadly violent White people are losing their dead

(42:09):
as a magory approach, Trump mod storms the US capital
who we're about to see the lives of what I
call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in
this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I
think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denials.
This is part of American history. Every time that people

(42:31):
of color and mea progress, whether real or symbolic, there
has been the Carol Anderson at every university calls white
rage as a backlashes as the rathe of the proud
boys in the Boogaloo Boys America. There's going to be
more of this would have done. This country is getting
increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of

(42:53):
the fear of white people, the fear that they're taking
our job, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women.
White bear. I'm jebber Owen's America's Wealth Coach, and my

(43:19):
new show Get Wealthy focuses on the things that your
financial advisor and bank isn't telling you but you absolutely
need to know. So watch Get Wealthy on the black
Star Network. Yo, what's up? Did your boy? Ice Cube?

(43:42):
What's up? I'm Lance Gross and you're watching Roland Martin unfilteron.

(44:07):
Melvin Sander has walked away from his Jonesboro, Arkansas home
on February third and has not been seen since. The
fifteen year old is five eleven. It's just tall, whereas
a hundred sixty pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
Anyone of information about Melvin Sanders should call the Jonesboro,
Arkansas Police Department at eight seven zero nine three five
five five one. Again, the number is eight seven zero

(44:29):
nine three five five five five one. The Federal Communications
Commission has has stopped Hedge Fund Standard Generals deal to
buy a TV station operated Tech Now where the actually
haven't stopped it, but this decision to actually have this
hearing could very well do so. On Friday, the FCC
Sifthy Standard General sale to an administrative law judge to
hold hearings. They're going to be focusing on material concerns

(44:52):
about how the transaction could artificially raise consumer prices resulting
in job losses. Nown Standard General was said to be
the first. He's an American owned and operated Major Broadcast
Station Group and America. The managing partner of Standard General
is Sue Kim. He made this statement following the FCC's decision.
A decision delayed is a decision denied. Our proposed transaction

(45:14):
is consistent with all FCC regulations and precedents. It is
boltraed by a voluntary commitment to invest in local news,
preserve newsroom jobs, and address purported concerns related to consumer pricing.
But rather than rule on the transaction's merits as the
law requires, the Media Bureau is attempting to scuttle the
deal by ordering a wholly unnecessary hearing process that if

(45:37):
left stand, that if left standing by the Commission, would
kill the deal. Now let me unpack this here, folks.
Many folks say that when they send into this administrative
law jothers that this signals deal is going to be dead.
So Standard General has been calling for the full FCC
to actually hear this and vote on this. Now you've

(45:57):
heard me talk a lot about people of color owning media.
You've heard me say that again, how powerful media is,
and so when we are able to own then we
actually can control the narrative. Same as case here. Now
let me explain to you what is also going on.

(46:18):
Sue Kim has been This is a Korean American who
has been out here talking to black owned media about
participating in this with him. This is an eight point
four billion dollar deal, okay, beyond numerous television stations across
the country, and so he's been meeting and has had
struck deals with the Natural Association of Black Owned Broadcasters

(46:39):
or Majestic. Jackson's Rainbow Push is behind the deal, as
well as well as several other CBC members. Well, for
the last three months, Sue Kim and I have been talking,
and so let me explain to you what will happen
if this deal goes through. First and foremost, Sue has
watched the show, likes the content that we do, and
we have talked about and he's a agree to creating

(47:02):
first of all, placing Blackstar Network content on his Techna stations. Y'all.
The heel I just said this is that many of
these stations are in cities where there are significant black folks. Okay,
So we're talking about placing Black Star Network content on
his Techna stations, developing a Sunday morning show that I

(47:25):
would be hosting, that would also be focusing on the
issues in these various various cities. We've talked about again
what I am doing with Black Star Network making it
a twenty four hour, seven days a week black news
and information network. He supports that also looking at the
other assets that he has and how we can also

(47:47):
create content, develop content, produce content. Let me say this, folks,
there is no other broadcast group from black people or
white people. And I'll say this, They're gonna problem sayd it.
Byron Allen has never come to me with this kind
of deal that will allow us to be able to expand.

(48:07):
So you've heard me say that Black folks need to
align to join together. What I'm saying here this is
an example where African Americans and Korean Americans or Latino
should also be partnering folks. This is how we're able
to grow. Here's the last point of the deal that
we've talked about. What did I talk about yesterday. One

(48:30):
of the biggest problems that we have is being able
to get these ad agencies to be able to do
business with African Americans. Well, when you have the scale
of a standard general and they're able to get the
technic deal they are doing millions of dollars worth of
deals with the ad agencies. So guess what, Standard General

(48:53):
then we also selling the Black Star network. Okay, some
of y'all might say, well, I don't quite unders in
what's the big deal? Let me give an example. I
remember when that was a English English network targing latinos
and Disney took control of it. Guess what when Disney

(49:16):
took ownership of it, that network which was on like
twelve or fourteen million homes, all of a sudden was
available in fifty million homes. Why they harness the power
of Disney. So what will happen is when when Center
General is going to talk to these agencies and when
they're selling their portfolio of assets, we're included. I can

(49:40):
tell you folks, we do that deal goes through, we
will be four to five to six to ten times
our current size. Then we are. Now this is what
happens when partnerships work. And again we've had this conversation
and it's not been just a conversation. Sue Kim has

(50:02):
made it clear I am committed to doing this because
the type of content you are doing is valuable and
what you represent, it's also important to the public discourse. Folks.
This is why the FCC should have a full hearing
and hear from folks like me, not just unions or

(50:25):
other individuals who are saying, oh, this is a bad deal,
but they should be looking at what happens if a
minority owns this station group revenue, Why who be the
second largest TV station group in the country, and how
black owned media will benefit by partnering with them. That
gred card is why I keep telling people we've got

(50:48):
to be looking three dimensional at these type of things
and understand the ability for us to grow is when
we partner and not live in these silos. Absolutely, let
me just saying thirty seconds. First of all, if you
haven't seen what Roland did last night, immediately go back
and know it's going viral, but it can't go viral enough.
Please do that. That's number one. Number two, we talk

(51:09):
about elections, and again I'm gonna say this again for
all the people, and you couldn't have said it better.
Recy Just the people who are registered go out and vote.
Why one name Gigi Song. If you don't know who
that is, you need to look that up. She was
renominated to serve on the FCC, she's going through hearings now.
The Republicans have attacked her right now, there's a two
two deadlock on the FCC. The Democratic president and because

(51:33):
they help the Senate, she can be confirmed. Once she's confirmed,
they got a three two advantage, and this deal can
go through. I suspect I don't know Roland walk us
through it if that's gonna make a difference, because guess
what if you don't think voting matters, you just heard
why because this is a blockbuster you just dropped on
us right now. Brother. And the thing here rec is
again now you got some Democrats out there that are

(51:54):
spoken against this deal. They say we shouldn't have head funds,
head funds buying this, but but here's old. You got
white hedge funds buying stuff left and right. And you've
had Sue Kim saying, hey, I'm making these commitments to
improve local news, and of course opposition is saying, oh,
they're gonna lay people off. There have been other hedge
funds and up come in and gut at the places.

(52:16):
But what I'm talking about here is where Kim, the
Magic Partner, has said I want to work with black
owned media and I want to be able to use
these assets and for them to be able to benefit
from being able to own these stations and having the
programming that reflects the views and perspectives of a diverse audience. Right,

(52:37):
And that's exactly why it's running up against so much opposition.
As doctor Carr pointed out, this is completely partisan, with
the Republicans essentially scuttling this deal. We did not see
this kind of opposition from these Republicans when pro Trump
MAGA Conservative Sinclair Broadcasting Group was writing rough shot all
over the country expanding their reach. And so this definitely

(52:58):
is about politics, doctor Carr, and what I read if
gig Son was confirmed that would make a difference in
terms of this deal being more likely to go through.
So it's all about power, Republicans playing for keeps in
every way, shape or form, and a very key part
of that is controlling the media. A very key part
of that is ensuring that programs like Roland Martin Unfiltered

(53:21):
and other black programs like The Black Table with Doctor
Carr do not reach the masses in the way that
they could with the backing of somebody like Sue cam
and Tanya think about this here to point the rese
just made you have. You've got seeing clear broadcasting all
of these folks who were doing these shows and these
local markets during the election. What would happen if this

(53:42):
deal is able to go through by the end of
the year, then all of a sudden, I am doing
shows on these local TV stations in twenty twenty four
discussion the election. This is what happens when you have
access to it while you're answering. This is a photo
Kim and I took at the at the All Star
Game in Salt Lake City, Folks, So go out ahead, Tony, absolutely.

(54:06):
I mean, they understand the consequences. But rather than make
a decision on the merits right, it's easier to forward
it to an administrative judge who knows that date has
yet to be set. It could be a year from now.
My understanding is the deal expires May twenty twenty three,
so rather than offer a substantive justification, you just delay.

(54:29):
So I think Sue is absolutely right. Justice delayed in
this instance is justice denied? Well again, folks, I just
want people to understand that Sue, Kim and I have
been talking for the last three months. He has committed
to this and this is what I'm talking about. When
we have the opportunity to be able to build and

(54:51):
grow by partnering. There is no other let me bee
say it again, there is no other television group, not Sinclair,
not Next Star, not any of these groups, none of
them that have ever had a conversation like this with
me or any other black owned independent media outlet when
it comes to putting on our content. And so so

(55:13):
absolutely we hope the FCC, the commissioners actually from the
chairwoman on down, they actually vote themselves, don't send this
to a hearing. The full FCC should be considering this
decision because it could impact again and it could actually
advance the issue of minorities owning media outlets. And there

(55:35):
are very few minorities in this country, people of color, Black, Latino,
Asian and American who own who own affiliate stations and
folks we talk about owning, we're talking about money, we're
talking about building, and that's why this is important. And
so I hope that this goes through and so people

(55:56):
will be able to see what we want to do
with Sue Kim and folks. The Standard General if they're
able to get this acquisition with techna, So we're gonna
be talking more about this here. I gotta thank Rec,
Tanya and Greg. We normally go two hours, but we're
gonna shorten this two hour today because coming I think
all three of you, because coming up next, we're gonna
focus for the next hour on the issue of obesity.
It is a fundamental issue in America as impacting us economically,

(56:19):
health wise, politically, in every avenue. And we'll discuss that
next right here on the Black Star Network. I'm doctor
Jackie here on a Balance Life, and I've got a
pop quizz for you. Who are you? Where are you?
And how are you doing? These are three important questions
that you should be asking yourself every day. I can't

(56:42):
be authentic with you, and I'm not being authentic with myself.
I know who I am and I know whose I am.
And when you know that, you're unstoppable because you're going
to show up as your authentic self no matter the
room that you're in, discovering the true you and the
culture around you. That's next On a Balance Life on
Black Star Network, we talk about blackness and what happens

(57:04):
in black culture. We're about covering these things that matter
to us speaking to our issues and concerns. It's just
a genuine people powert movement. A lot of stuff that
we're not getting. You get it, you spread the word.
We wish to plead our own cause to long have
others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story

(57:27):
if we can't pay for it. This is about covering
us invest in black owned media. Your dollars matter. We
don't have to keep asking them to cover ours, So
please support us in what we do. Folks. We want
to hit two thousand people fifty dollars this month, waits
one hundred thousand dollars. We're behind one hundred thousand, so
we want to hit that. Y'all. Money makes us possible.
Checks some money orders go to feel box files in

(57:48):
the one ninety six Washington d C two zero zero
or three seven dash zero, one nine and six to
cash apples dollars sign art unfiltered paypalas are marking unfiltered
venmo is art, m unfiltered roll at roland s Martin
dot com. Hatred on the Streets a horrific scene white
nationalist rally that descended into deadly violent White people are

(58:14):
losing their minds as a manage approach. Trump modstorms to
the US capital who we're about to see the lives
of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen
white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black
folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable
result of violent denials. This is part of American history.

(58:37):
Every time that people of color and media progress, whether
real or symbolic, there has been the Carol Anderson at
every university calls white rage as a backlash is the
right of the proud boys and the boogaloo boys America.
There's going to be more of this would have gone.
This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and

(58:59):
its attitude because of the fear of white people, the
fee that they're taking our job, they're taking out with resources,
they're taking out women. This is white feel. A lot

(59:20):
of these corporations or people that are running stuff push
black people if they're doing a certain thing. What that
does is it creates a butterfly effect of any young
kid who you know, wants to leave any situation they're in,
and the only people they see your people that are
doing this, or I gotta be a gangster I gotta shoot,
I gotta sell, I gotta do this in order to
do it, and it becomes a cyclable when someone comes

(59:42):
around is making another Oh, we don't get you know,
they don't want to push them to put money into it.
So that's definitely something I'm trying to fix. Two, it's
just show those other avenues. You don't gotta be a
rapping I'm gonna be a ball player. It could be
the country scene. Canna be an operating or you can
be a dam whatever. You know, don't showing the different
avenues is not as possible, and it's hard for people
to realize as possible to someone done. Hi, I'm Gavin Justuston. Hi,

(01:00:14):
I'm Carl Pain. It was up the audiship board Jacob Latimore.
And you're not watching Roland Martin right now. M h folks.

(01:00:51):
The size of Americans has drastically increased over the last
forty years. If you look at the impact of sugar,
how our lifestyles have changed. Also, when you talk about
in terms of servings as well, again, Americas have gotten larger.

(01:01:12):
It has impacted us in a dramatic way. There are
more Americans who are on various drugs in order to
lose weight. You've got the crash, You've got the crash, diets,
the fast, all those different things along those lines. You
even have had generals in the United States military talk
about how obesity has become a national security concern because

(01:01:33):
a number of young folks simply could not qualify to
even get in the military because of their weight. It
has an economic impact as well. Folks are dying, getting
much younger, getting diseases as well. And so what can
we do? What should African Americas be doing to confront

(01:01:54):
the reality of obesity even in our community. For the
next hour, we're going to talk about this here. We've
got a number of experts to talk about this. Here.
Joining me right now is doctor Landre Hancock, a double
board certified pediatrician obesity medicine specialist also a public health expert.
After Tiffany Bell Washington, a quadruple board certified a physician

(01:02:15):
specialized in in obesity, lifestyle medicines, psychiatry, and public health,
will be Michelle Tatter, founder and CEO of Village Empowerment
Solutions and senior program manager for Black Women's Health Imperative
joins us as well, and also Nelson Dunn Lapped, the
Vice president for a Public Policy and External Affairs in

(01:02:35):
the Global Health Equity Institute at Maharry Medical College. Now,
I want to start this way for then, and let's
see here who I want to go to first, and
so your Landra, I'll go to you. So we talk
about obesity. First of all, let's do with the most
base level exactly what is it so obesity? We define

(01:02:57):
it based on body mass index. A lot of people
really question whether or not we should use it as
a tool, but right now that's the only thing that
we have. It's really comparing weight and height. With a
BMI of twenty five to twenty nine, that is the
definition of overweight. With a BMI of greater thirty or greater,
that's the definition of obesity. And thankfully, over the past
ten years, we've now defined obesity as a medical condition.

(01:03:20):
Initially we thought of it as a behavioral condition, but
we finally have a diagnostic code. We approach it as
a clinical issue. There are interventions that we can utilize
in order to affect change in people's lives so that
we can better manage obesity as a clinical issue as
opposed to as opposed to a behavior. One. That's something

(01:03:42):
that's I think different there because when we talk about
this for the longest, folks always kept going oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,
focus on wait as opposed to focusing on the mental
aspect of obesity. That's correct, and there is definitely a

(01:04:04):
correlation between your mental health and your obesity or your
weight m A lot of bias is given in terms
of both of those issues. So with depression, mental health
and also with obesity, there tends to be a lot
of biases that prevent our people, especially from seeking help,
seeking treatment and being willing to get the help when
we are informing them that this is in fact a disease.

(01:04:27):
When we talk about a course obesity here what at
least in what various issues high potential cardivascal disease and
different of course diabetes liverpoint three percent of the United
States living with diabetes best thirty seven point three million Americans,
But you have a significant higher incident of African Americans

(01:04:48):
with diabetes. Why Why is that? That is a very
important question. You know, it's difficult to say, especially but
we live in situations where a lot of our people
are unfortunately in areas where there are not access to
grocery stores, safe neighborhoods where we can exercise. They don't

(01:05:09):
have insurance coverage to help them get preventative care. So
if I realize I'm having problems with my blood sugar
or diabetes, or I'm sweating more, having you know, using
the bathroom more frequently, feeling thirst here, but I don't
have access to a primary care doctor or insurance or
my insurance does not cover those things, then you find
yourself in a place where you're not really seeking care

(01:05:30):
or going to the doctor until you are a very
advanced stages of disease. And later I'm sure we'll talk
about it, but that's when a lot of these medications
come into place where we're really needing them, and it
would be better for a lot of our African American
populations and people to seek help in the forefront and
more of the preventative side, more so than after the
fact when you have diabetes and very high issues with

(01:05:53):
needing insulin and also other medications. Michelle, we're going to
further unpack that, but but I do want to go
back to the mental aspect in terms of what drives
and obviously not just what we eat, but also our
mental state, our surroundings, how we grew up on all
these different things, but also the type of activities that

(01:06:15):
we that we do as well, movement. All of these
things actually matter absolutely. It takes a multi factorial approach
to deal with obesity. I living witness and example of

(01:06:38):
how you need to have access to all of the
things in order to address living with obesity. And what
I mean by that is that I am somebody who
had weight loss surgery in twenty seventeen, have lost and
kept off about eighty pounds. But that was just the beginning.
That is not the end all to dealing with obesity.

(01:07:02):
I happen to you know, have access to medications, to
the lifestyle, change of programs, all the things that it
takes to maintain your health and maintain your weight when
you're living with the disease of obesity. Nelson, Again, we
talk about this subject. There's so many pieces to it. Yes,

(01:07:26):
you have you have the fitness piece, the diet piece,
you have the medical piece in terms of the drugs,
you have the mental piece. But you've got to have
the public policy piece as well. Uh, and so I
want to touch on that one be We're gonna pick
up that after the break a little bit more. But
public policy drives so much of this because of the

(01:07:48):
resources in terms of that can be given, but also
how government impacts it. We talked earlier about again having
a major drug manufacturer announced the I think of the
prices of insulin. Okay, look, when you're dealing with this
those who are in diabetes, if you're not capping it
at thirty five dollars out of pocket costs, that impacts

(01:08:08):
folks economically because you have people who are choosing between
their drugs and what they eat. And so it's I mean,
this is one of those topics that is that is
so so multifascinted that all too often in this country
we've only dealt with it in a in a one
dimensional way. Yeah, you're definitely correct, really, and I think
that what you're talking about is really those political determinants

(01:08:31):
of health. We're talking about those upstream instigators, right, We've
mentioned the social determinant of health so far. We talk
about the places where people live, play, prey, work and
the impact they have on our lives, the impact they
have on our health outcomes, the impact they have on
obesity rates, and what I'm saying is sometimes we have
to move further upstream. We have to talk about those decisions,
be them legislative, legal, administrative policy, as you say, those

(01:08:54):
decisions that were made that have these downstream of effects. Right,
So we talk about access, We talk about the decisions
to place you know, education institutions where they are, to
place fresh food where it is. All of these political
and social determinantes of health interact with one another to
really drive this obcity pandemic and epidemics every dealing with
So you are spot on, We're gonna go to a

(01:09:15):
break in a second and we come back. I want
to deal in the next segments specifically on the public
policy front from a federal, state, and local level as
well in terms of how we should be attacking the
issue obesit, what our audience should be saying, in doing
when they're talking to their lawmakers about the role that
they can play when it comes to confronting what has

(01:09:37):
really truly become a crisis in America. You're watching their
special on obsc right here on the Black Start Network. Folks,
don't forget download our app Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV,
Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox one, and Samsung
Smart TV. You're watching Roland Martin and Filter on the
Blackstun Network. Black Star Networks a real old revolutionary right now.

(01:10:21):
Thank you for me in the voice of Black Apparent
a moment and we have Now we have to keep
this going. The video looks phenomenal between Black Star Network
and Black owned media and something like CNN. You can't
be black owned media and be scared. It's time to
be smart. Ring your eyeballs ho you dig hatred on

(01:10:46):
the streets. A horrific scene, white nationalist rally that descended
into deadly violence. White people are losing their name. We
approach Trump mat storms the US capital, We're about to
see the lives of what I call white minority resistance.
We have seen white folks in this country who simply

(01:11:09):
cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing
is the inevitable result of violent denials. This is part
of American history. Every time that people of color and
media progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been the
Carol Anderson at every university calls white rage as a
backlash is the right of the proud boys and the

(01:11:30):
boogaloo boys. America. There's going to be more of this
proudoy of this country is getting increasingly racist in its
behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people,
the fear that you're taking our job, they're taking our resources,
they're taking our women. This in white feel I'm dot

(01:12:02):
a symphony. What's up? I'm lands gross and you're watching
Roland Martin unfiltered. All right, welcome back to this Black

(01:12:30):
Start Network special on the issue of obesity. Nelson, Do
I want to start with you? And so in terms
of from your perspective, what are you seeing public policy
wise as to how lawmakers are dealing with this issue?
Are they properly dealing with it? Are they misclassifying it? Uh?
Do we not? Do we have enough resources that are
going to the topic. Um, you just share with us

(01:12:51):
and give people an overview from a public policy standpoint,
how obesity is being dealt with by federal lawmakers. Yes.
And I think you're spot on with the beginning statement
when you talked about the fact that this is a
public policy arguments, a public policy concern, and honestly a
national national security issue as well. When we talk about
the fact that X number of our young folks won't

(01:13:14):
even qualify for military service because of their weight. And
so I think I'll have to say is that there's
definitely more that can be done on the federal, state,
and local level. And just like I mentioned earlier, that
gets back to those political determined of health. There is
an opportunity for a federal government who really kind of
do one of two things or two things, honestly, it's
to address these political and social determins of health and
then also to address the issues with insurance coverage, which

(01:13:36):
I'm sure we will talk about later. But there's any
number of metabolic options out there that can really help
with the obesity as a disease, and there's coverage gaps,
there's coverage holes, there's opportunities to expand that coverage to
make sure that we have the care that we needed.
But it all starts with us raising the alarm, speaking
to these concerns and make sure that our policymakers are
representative of the concerns of the issues that are plaguing

(01:13:56):
our community laundre. Do you believe lawmakers get it and
understand how significant of an issue this is. Unfortunately I don't.
I believe that a lot of times we see obesity
as a behavioral issue, even though it's now classified as
a medical diagnosis. I had a colleague actually say that
obesity was a hand to mouth disease, as if it
was simply what people ate and the lack of physical activity.

(01:14:18):
And my experience both as an obesity medicine expert and
in working in public health, we know that it is
the social determinants that drive how I make choice. We're
here in the district of Columbia. It's divided by eight wards.
In Ward three, it's affluent, predominantly white, in Wards seven
and eight predominantly African American, and underresourced. In Ward three.
There are sixteen grocery stores between Ward seven and eight combined,

(01:14:41):
there are three. That's one grocery store for every eight
thousand people in Ward three, one grocery store for every
eighty five thousand individuals in words seven and eight. And
that's not by accident. It is policy driven food apartheid.
And when people recognize how important policy is, that there
is health in every single policy that's passed, and there's
potential for an obesigenic environment to be developed based on

(01:15:04):
policy that's recognized, that's when policy will change. Unfortunately, for
most elected officials and the population in general, they see
obesity as a choice that people dealing with obesity is
simply because they eat too much. And most of my
patients it's not an issue of eating too much. If anything,
they eat less than we would assume that they do.

(01:15:26):
But it's based on the environment in which they're making
food choices. It's even here in Prince George's County where
I live, seventy five percent of our food establishments are
fast food, and you're talking about a very affluent community,
again based on zoning decisions. And so we see the
impact of policy each and every day when it comes
to the development or protection against obesity. Once lawmakers realize

(01:15:49):
that there are a multitude of factors that influence food choice,
physical activity, mental health. To your point, all of those
influence whether or not I gain weight in combination with
genetics and personal choice. Once we recognize that and we
removed the stigma that's historically been associated with obesity, that's
when policy will change, Tiffany, I remember when Michelle Obama's

(01:16:10):
Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act was going through, even was passed.
All of these folks on the right who were winding
complaining old this is the mommy state. I mean, they
were literally trying to deal with obesity but also hungry kids.
And I'm just trying to figure out when the hell

(01:16:31):
did healthy eating as well as fighting obesity become a
political left right, blue red thing right. That's a very
interesting point that you make, and unfortunately, I would say
that absolutely should not be right. We all should have access,
as it's been mentioned too, healthy foods that are affordable

(01:16:53):
and that we can get easily and make it, you know,
in our life. I am not sure exactly why it
became political, but it did. I mean it affects us
with the food choices that we make, with the access
to healthcare, all of that, but it also affects when
we actually have treatments for these diseases. So we have
medications that can treat obesity, but if you can't afford
that medicine, we have no way to really get it

(01:17:15):
to you and to help you prevent cancers and diabetes
and high blood pressure and all the things that in
our lives very early. And so one thing I'd like
to say is commercial insurances tend to follow what Medicare does.
For some reason, Medicare is not covering these anti obesity medications.
Many years ago, they thought, okay, obesity was a cosmetic problem.

(01:17:36):
You didn't you know, you don't look good, you have
too much fat on your body. That's the problem. The
problem is not that, it's beyond that. It's a health issue.
So it really does need to be covered. And if
Medicare covers it, usually other people follow. So I think
that would give our people better access as well. Well.
And Michelle, again, when I look at this where you

(01:17:58):
causually have this battle. If you look at obesity numbers,
aren't they worse in rid states? They are? And I
think that that's very telling. And that's a great point
that you bring up, because you know, it goes back
to not the political determinus of health. But let's just
be honest, it's you know about the structural racism that

(01:18:20):
exists in our country. And so I say that because
you know, when you don't have access to these things,
and you look at the policies that prevent people from
having those things, and who's more greatly impacted than we
have our answer, So we have a lot of work
to do around one. I think empowering the public to
understand the connection between their voice politically and putting pressure

(01:18:46):
on the systems and powers that continue to oppress in
this way. And I think that with that and educating
people and how to be advocates not only for themselves
but for their communities at large, then I think we
can move the needle a little. What about for any

(01:19:07):
of you, any what could chime in? Are we seeing
on the state level or the county of the city
level this being addressed in a positive manner? Who out
there is actually you believe, who's doing a good job
trying to deal with this issue for their residence. I'll
jump in. I serve as the health consultant for the

(01:19:27):
County Council here in Prince George's County when they sit
as the Board of Health. And in twenty twenty, we
passed the Prince George's County Healthy Kid's Mill Bill, and
what that did was compelled the seventy five percent of
the fast food establishments in Prince George's County to offer
a healthy option for parents when we take our children
out to eat. Prior to the passage of this legislation,

(01:19:47):
it was hard to find any healthy options. I'm a mom,
That's my most important job and on occasion when I
took my daughter off to eat it was frustrating not
being able to find a healthy option. The fact that
we were the first in the country to pass comprehensive
legislation that didn't just cover soda, didn't just cover sides,
but the entire meal. We've set the tone for the
state of Maryland and hopefully for the country anyone else. Yeah,

(01:20:12):
I will say that, you know, to the point that
Doc Williamson made earlier, the federal government is leading the
way on this, right, they're supposed to be leading the
way on this, and if Medicare can get it right,
Medicare could expand coverage to cover these anti OBC medications,
a lot of other states would follow suit. Right now,
I believe it's twenty five states that already include anti
anti OBC medications and their state health plans. So I

(01:20:34):
mean the federal government's doing that. Our senators, our representatives,
even though on the Hill, will have access to this
and their health plans, but the constituents that they represent
they might not. Some of our states, their health plans
offer it, but some of their constituents won't won't. So again,
we're sitting at the top level. It's just not trickling
down to the point where everyone be able to have
access to it in an equitable manner. So there is opportunities.
There are examples in both red and blue states. It's

(01:20:56):
just a matter of us raising our voices making sure
that all of our communities have us to it, all right, Mother,
two guests, Well, this fall, I had the opportunity to
attend the White House Conference on Hunger, Health and Nutrition,
and that was the first time they had done that
for many, many, many years. But while I feel like

(01:21:17):
obesity could have been highlighted a little bit more than
it was out of that gathering, it did highlight some
of these things we're talking about from a political standpoint,
and I believe from the report that there are things
that are going to come down the pike to help
to address some of these things at the state level

(01:21:40):
as well. The thing that you know, I think one
of the things you also are seeing. You're seeing city
leaders mayors also lead on this when it comes to
them encouraging healthy living. Again, anyone else can jump in
before I go about a couple of minutes up in
this break, what about school boards? Are we seeing any

(01:22:01):
school boards who are saying, hey, we're not going to
wait on the federal folks, or the state or the city.
We're going to be far more proactive when it comes
to our students, when it comes to the issue obesity.
I'll jump in again here in the District of Columbia.
Back in two thousand and nine, the DC City Council
actually passed the DC Healthy Schools Act, and it addressed

(01:22:22):
a variety of issues that link back to pediatric obesity.
It included addressing food and security by providing breakfast in
the classroom for all students. It really evaluated the how
healthy school lunches were and use student influence in order
to determine how to sort of flip the script on
the school lunch to make it healthier. They required physical

(01:22:43):
activity measures to be met, so it was very comprehensive
in how they approached it, and they're continuing to show
metrics demonstrating how much better children are eating in terms
of increasing their fruit and vegetable intake, how much more
they're engaging in physical activity, and it really set the
tone and set an example for the rest of the
country and how the school system, especially where children spend

(01:23:03):
the majority of their time during the week can truly
affect change in how we're tackling this this epidemic, particularly
in the pediatric population. All right, folks, gotta go to break.
We come back. Let's talk medicine. Deal with the obesity
issue in America. Should kids be put on appeals or
taking medicine to deal with obesity? Well, that's been a

(01:23:24):
hot topic of the last a few weeks. Will ask
our panel about that as well. You're watching a special
edition of roller Button Unfiltered on the Black Start Network
on obesity in Black America. Back in a moment. A

(01:23:46):
lot of these corporations or people that are running stuff
push black people if they're doing a certain thing. What
that does is it creates a butterfly effect of any
young kid who you know, wants to leave any situation
they're in, and the only people they see your people
that are doing this, or I gotta be a gangster,
I gotta shoot, I gotta sell, I gotta do this
and wanted to do it, and it becomes a cyclable

(01:24:07):
when someone comes around is making another Oh we don't
get you know, they don't want to push them to
put money into it. So that's definitely something I'm trying
to fix two. It's just show those other avenues. You
don't gotta be a rapping I'm gonna be a ball player,
could be the country. Sing're gonna be an operating or
you're gonna be a dam whatever you know. I'm showing
the different avenue is not as possible, and it's hard
for people to realize as possible to someone done. Next

(01:24:39):
on the Black Table with me Greg Call, we featured
the brand new work A Professor and Jie Porter, which
simply put is a revolutionary reframing of the African experience
in this country. It's the one legal article for everyone.
You know what I mean, everyone should. Professor Porter and
doctor Felipia Watkins are le Go round Table team. Join

(01:25:02):
us to explore the paper that I guarantee is going
to prompt a major aha mord in our culture. You
crystallize it by saying, who are we to other people?
Who are African people to others? Governance is howard thing?
Who are we to each other? The structures we create

(01:25:22):
for ourselves, how we order the universes and for the people.
That's next on the Black table. Here on the Black start, Hi,
I'm Vidian Green. Everybody just your man, Fred Hammond, and
you're watching Roland Martin, my man unfiltered. All right, folks,

(01:26:32):
let's talk about drugs and obesity. There are a number
of new drugs out that have played a huge role
in helping people um deal with obesity. Okay, of course
you had the different surgeries as well. But one of
the stories that I saw a couple of months ago
caught my attention. That was the issue of childhood obesity

(01:26:54):
and medication, and that is a new guidelines were issued
with the American Academy of Pediatrics where they encourage young
folks who are dealing with obesity to be medicated. Now,
that caused a lot of other people say, hey, man,
what's going on while we're dealing with this. I've had

(01:27:16):
some fitness experts, some of the dieticians who are who said, no,
that's the last thing that we should have happened, Michelle. Again,
these are doctors who pediatricians who say, we can't wait.
Fourteen point four million young people in this country have obesity.
They say it's causing too many problems like high blood pressure, dibetes,

(01:27:36):
and depression. Medication should be the route. What do you say? So,
I think that we have to keep an open mind
about treating the disease of obesity, just like we look
at other chronic diseases. We have to realize that obesity
is a chronic disease and it does start very young.
I can tell you again it can use myself as

(01:27:58):
an example. I've struggled with my entire life. I do
understand the mixed feelings about it and the hesitancy, but
I think that under supervision and with educating parents as
well as the clients, that it is something we need
to look at as a viable option to help to

(01:28:20):
prevent the long term chronic issues that are associated with obesity.
Where do you come in on this? So, as both
a pediatrician and an obesity medicine expert, I'm full in
full support of utilizing medication as part of the treatment
modality for obesity. The American Academy of Pediatrics in their

(01:28:43):
updated guidelines, this is the first time they've actually included
obesity medications as part of the recommendations. When the initial
guidance came out back in two thousand and eight, obesity
medications were not included because there were none yet FDA approved.
As it stands right Now, there are four medications that
are approved in the patric population. The first is met
Foreman and it's actually not FDA approved but has been

(01:29:05):
used over the past ten years in terms of obesity
management for children twelve and older. In terms of other
OBEs medications, pentamine is approved for children sixteen and older
or less stat is a medication that blocks fat absorption.
It is a proof for children, as is another medication
called larragutide. Now, for each of those medications, they may
be approved by the FDA, but that does not necessarily

(01:29:26):
mean that they're going to be covered by insurance. What
the AP listed out was a standardized way in which
we approach obesity, the first being lifestyle management where personal
trainers and dieticians and nutritionists are in full support. We
have to recognize that there are certain levels of obesity
at which diet and exercise aren't going to be able

(01:29:46):
to manage certain cases of obesity, and it requires treatment
the same way we would for asthma, the same way
we would for high blood pressure. And again it goes
back to that mindset that we believe that if we
just eat less and exercise more, that that will fix it.
You can't fix physiology in certain aspects of managing obesity,
and that's where both medication and surgery play a key role.

(01:30:09):
I want to bring in doctor Sedrina called or she
is a board ship if I prevent the medicine position
specializing in lifestyle and obesity message medicine. So Sedrina, I'll
ask you, when it comes to children, should we be
putting them on medication to deal with obesity? So I
agree with what was already said. So you really have

(01:30:31):
to consider medications as an option. Medications are a great
tool when it comes to weight loss, and there are
so many children that are currently affected with obesity in
this country. And we know what we do know about
obesity is that it leads to severe chronic diseases further
down the line. So I think that it should definitely
be considered. Of course, you can try lifestyle changes initially,

(01:30:55):
but there are many situations where lifestyle changes alone will
not do it. He must consider medications as an option
as well. There are a lot of folks out there
who have been who have been focused on the new
obesity drugs. Many folks have actually called these drugs a

(01:31:17):
game changer because they've actually impacted people in a quite
a unique way, but Tiffany was also It's caused problems
because now we have folks Tiffany who are not who
are not frankly OBEs, who are making a mad dash.
I think I saw a story where people there's a
TikTok video and folks as all of a sudden when

(01:31:40):
after the drugs they cost a significant amount of money.
But again the problem is how do we ensure that
the drugs that work are getting to people who need
it as opposed to individuals who are discipline who looking
to lose five pounds to have their their gold weight
for their swimsuits. Right, that's an excellent point that you're making.

(01:32:05):
And so what I would say is, if you have five,
maybe ten pounds to lose, these medications may not be
appropriate for you. There are criteria that the doctor should
be using to rule out who is appropriate and who
was not. And that's based on the risk factors that
you have. If you already have diabetes, if you already
have high blood pressure or some other obesity related disease,

(01:32:25):
and obviously you're at higher risk and you would do
well to have that medication. If you have five to
ten pounds to lose if it's simply cosmetic and you
want to lose a little bit to look better in
a swimsuit or something, obviously that is not a good
use of the medication. But I do want to caution
people because they will say that the medicine should only
be used for diabetes and not for obesity, and that's

(01:32:47):
just simply not true. Obesity is a disease, there are
medications that can treat it, and we really should not
further stigmatize or bias people with obesity by not providing
medications that can work. So, yes, we should prevent people
from using it for cosmetic reasons, and really the doctors
should kind of be the gateway keeper for that. And
then the price also stops a lot of people from

(01:33:08):
being able to afford it unfortunately, so we really do
need some political change there as well. Speaking about that Nelson, again,
these new drugs have been called highly effective, yet they're
not covered by Medicare and most medicaid programs drugs costs up.
It's a fifteen hundred dollars for a month's apply. Are
we seeing any potential changes on the horizon federally to

(01:33:32):
be able to cover these drugs for individuals? Who may
be facing chronic obesity or who have chronic illnesses like diabetes. Yes,
we are seeing some progress, and I think you put
your finger on when you refer to as a game changer. Right,
these drugs are in fact a game changer for any
number of people. But does everyone get to play that game.

(01:33:53):
It's just you know, it's just a game that's locked
behind a garden ball as the country club of effects. Right,
this is only a game changer if you're allowed to
have that. That's to it. And so it goes back
to the cost burden, the access to a primary care physician.
All of these determinants are blocking the way. And I
always tried to apply that equity lens. So when you
ask that question, when we think about that, you're right,

(01:34:13):
we have to look at what's happening, where the trends are,
where the progress is being made on the federal level,
And yes, OPM is sending out letters, they're sending out
letters to the federal Health plans LA and then not
to consider these anti OPC medications on Medicare and with
the not on Medicare, but with the federal health plans.
But we're not seeing that in Medicare. And when I
think about that, we talked about the children, but I
also think about my grandparents. I think about our aunts,

(01:34:33):
our uncles, the older individuals who are have paid into
the system, who have dealt with this for years and
years for any number of the reasons that we've already
talked about that now are reliable medicare and they won't
have access to it. So what is it a game
changer for everyone? I can't say. So it's only game
changer for those who are already on the court. So
in terms of, again, you know, from a drug standpoint,

(01:34:57):
moving forward, going down this particular the path, I'm curious, uh,
in terms of you know, what is next? Because cost
is cost. If you're talking about spending thirteen hundred dollars
a month, you're having to come out of pocket. I mean,
you know, look you're talking about you know, fifteen thousand
dollars a year just on the medicine. If you don't
have those sort of sort of dollars, then you're creating

(01:35:20):
a situation where you pretty much have you know, the
halves and the half nots. And as we know, typically
when it comes to issue, will be the those folks
who are in the have not category are the ones
who are most impacted by this. Uh. And so you're
there in Nashville, Sedrina, you're there in Tennessee. What do

(01:35:41):
you think again, folks are watching should be advocating, pushing
for when it comes to dealing with this very issue.
We should be pushing for insurance companies who be able
to cover more of these medications because we were doing
right now. He's creating more of a disparity right now.

(01:36:04):
So we know that almost fifty percent of African Americans
have or will have obesity, and that's a huge issue.
So when we talk about not covering medications, a lot
of those same individuals are the individuals that are not
being covered. They're not getting access to medications. And now
we're causing even more issues when it comes to increased

(01:36:27):
rates of chronuct diseases. So we're really increasing the disparity,
We're increasing the gap. So that is what is needed.
We really need to push that change. Insurance companies have
to cover more of these medications for the population. Well,
and that's one of the things, Michelle that's always interesting
to me, where if you're an insurance company, you should

(01:36:50):
want to be in the preventative state as opposed to, oh,
once you get sick, once it gets bad, then we'll
cover things. I'm going Is it that actually costing you
more money? Absolutely, that's exactly the point. I think many
many of these discussions that I participate in, that is

(01:37:11):
exactly the discussion. And that is the point is that
you know, if you are spending literally billions of dollars
are spent in this country treating high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer,
all of these things, when honestly, we could reduce the
number of dollars that's being spent once people are having

(01:37:33):
these illnesses if we would just treat the root cause.
And I think that really it comes down to Martin.
We just have a lot of work to do in
terms of really educating the public around what this is
and what this isn't you know, helping people to understand
that obesi is a disease, because you know, we only
started that narrative within the last with five to seven years.

(01:37:56):
It wasn't even declared a disease is by the AMA
until I think something like twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, and
so that in and of itself is problematic. So we
are still battling at the legislative level. We're still battling
at the state level. We're batting Even people who live
with the disease are still battling sometimes to accept that

(01:38:19):
it is a disease and it's not because if you
have poor willpower, or because you're lazy, or because you're
not you know, dieting enough or what have you. So
I think that changing the narrative around how we see
this disease is one of the main keys that we've
got to get focused on. And then once we can

(01:38:41):
get people to come on board with that, I think
that it's it's a little easier to have the conversation
to say, listen, this is a disease. And you would
not deny somebody who comes into your office who has
diabetes or you know they have a blockage in their heart,
you would not deny them care. So why would you

(01:39:01):
do that with someone living with the chronic disease like obesity.
But we've got to be able to put pressure on
the public and the powers that bees in all stakeholders
to understand that that's what this is, and so that
changes how we approach it, how we deal with it,
treat the rough cause boy, that's a novel concept. That's novel.

(01:39:24):
All right, hold time, just saying I understand hold type
one second, I got to go to break. We come back,
we'll talk about what next. And so for all of
our specialists here, those who are watching, what do they
recommend they do next? If they are dealing with obesity,
dealing with weight issues, dealing with any of this, where
do they start? What do they do? So that's how

(01:39:46):
I want to hear from each one of my experts
when we come back. Right here on the special edition
of Roland, my unfiltered focusing on obesity in Black America,
right here on the Black Start Network. Back in a moment,

(01:40:11):
Pull up a chair, take your seat. The Black Teeth
with me, Doctor Gray car here on the Black Star Network.
Every week we'll take a deeper dive into the world
we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black
Star Network. On the next Get Wealthy with Me deborh

(01:40:32):
Oms America's wealth Coach. The wealth gap has literally not
changed in over fifty years, according to the Federal Reserve.
On the next Get Wealthy, I'm excited to chat with
Jim Castleberry, the EO of Known Pointings They have created
a platform and ecosystem to bring resources to blacks and

(01:40:55):
people of color so they can scale their business. Even
though we've had several examples of African Americans and other
people of color being able to be successful, we still
aren't seeing the mass level of us being lifted up.
That's right here on Get Wealthy only on Black Star Network.

(01:41:24):
We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it
or not, from politics to music and entertainment. It's a
huge part of our lives and we're going to talk
about it every day right here on the Culture with
me for Raji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. Hi,

(01:41:44):
I'm Teresa Griffin. Hi, my name is LaToya Luckett, and
you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome back

(01:42:07):
to the special edition of Roland Martin Unfiltered, dealing with
Obesity in Black America, powered by Noble nordisk icessarily want
to thank them for partnering with us on this, and
so let's deal with the what's what's next. There's somebody
who's watching and they say, Okay, I agree with you.
You're right, let's do something about it. I have no
idea what to do do next? And so if we're

(01:42:29):
talking about from an individual standpoint, in terms of an
individual dealing with this issue themselves, what do they do?
But also I want our experts to talk about from
public policy standpoint, what is it they want people to
do to begin to impact this issue? Is this an
issue that voters should be demanding of politicians who are

(01:42:52):
running for local office, state office and national office to
be addressing. We ask these questions when it comes to fitno,
when it comes to bioids. When it comes to these issues,
but how often are you watching a town hall where
this issue comes up in that conversation? So your launcher,
I want to begin with you, for either one public

(01:43:13):
policy wise or for the individual, where do they start?
Somebody is sitting watching or listening right now and they say,
I know I'm obese, and I'm I BMI is too high.
I don't know where to begin. The first thing I
would say is recognize that you are not obese. You're
dealing with obesity. The second is to look at all
the factors that influence how your body processes, metabolizes, and

(01:43:36):
deals with food. So it isn't simply just eating, it's
where you in terms of your stress. We know that
cortisol increases It triggers over thirteen hundred stress responses in
the body, resulting in weight gain. You could eat one
meal a day and still gain weight. So think about stress, sleep,
all the other components that add to the risk of obesity.
From a policy standpoint, what I would say for every voter,

(01:43:57):
I'm a mom and that's my most important job. Vote
like your child's life depends on it. Where is health
in every single policy that the person you're about to
vote for is manifesting. If health does not show up
in the decision every single time they get ready to
either pen legislator legislation or push it forward, then that's
not the person that we should vote for. So, Drina,

(01:44:17):
the point your liner just made, and I've had this
conversation with many of our fitness and diet expert dietitians
as well, is that idea of sleep, how the role
it plays when it comes to lawing your rate, let's
lawing your weight in terms of being able to get

(01:44:38):
all that under control. And I've had folks who say
sleep is many some say sleep is more important than
even what you put in your mouth. Now that also
mean you got there in sleep ten hours and they
eat fast food all day. But but they said sleep
plays such a huge critical role in confronting ob and

(01:45:00):
Americans are not sleeping enough. Yes, Roman, you're so right. Um,
the average American does not get enough sleep, so you
know are the requirement for adults is about seventy nine
hours a night or a day. Sleep is too yet
sevent to nine. Most people are not getting that. That's

(01:45:20):
just very difficult to get in our busy lives. But
sleep does play a role in overall health. We find
people that are chronically sleep deficient tend to be at
a higher late Also, the less sleep you get, it
literally changes your hormones, It changes your horrisol level, increases

(01:45:43):
that it can do things such as make you hungrier,
so you may want to eat more food. So sleep
is super important when it comes to weight loss. Unfortunately,
the average person doesn't realize that. But I agree that
if you are someone who know that you are dealing
with excess weight, you do want to start off with
looking at your lifestyle. Sleep is one big factor that

(01:46:06):
you want to improve upon if you are trying to
lose Leave that issue there. Michelle and so many others,
and so Michelle, for you, you talked about surgery weight
coming off, and so talk about the adjustments that you made.
Let's say, before you even had the surgery, adjustments you made,

(01:46:29):
and adjustment you would recommend to someone who's watching right
now who says, I don't even know where to begin, Well,
there's several things I have to tell you. You know,
I'm a nurse also, and so even being a nurse,
I have to be honest and tell you that along
my journey, it was a long time into my journey
before I even embraced the idea that I was living

(01:46:53):
with a disease called obesity. And there's a couple of
important things. You ask some really great questions about what
did I do? Because I was some buddy who was
doing all of the things. Okay, I was, you know,
watching my diet, I was exercising, I was, you know,
whatever it was that somebody said I could do to
try to lose the weight, I was doing it. Here's

(01:47:15):
a key factor that really helped me. I had a
healthcare provider who saw me. She saw me, and she
was able to sit down with me and have a
heart to heart conversation and tell me listen, this is
far bigger than you are. I'm wanting, oh, I want
to stop you at there. Okay, when you said she

(01:47:37):
saw me, it wasn't that I scheduled a visit. It
was that you had a healthcare provider who said, I
am going that one. I'm to talk to you anyway
about the issue, and you were listening because we know,
based upon the stats too many African Americans when they
have white doctors, that doesn't happen you're a healthcare provider black.

(01:48:02):
She was not, but it was it's very rare. I listen, Roland,
I was very very blessed. But she was Indian. But
she was really in tune to me. And I'm sharing
that because I think one of the big pieces that
we've got to delve into and get dollars to put
money into is really educating healthcare providers, right because if

(01:48:26):
you trust your provider, you can have compassionate conversations with
them and your healthcare provider. And I said that intentionally
that she saw me. She saw Michelle, and so she
knew that I was doing all of the things, and
she literally said, I'm begging you. We really need to

(01:48:46):
look at this from a different angle. Would you please look,
would you please talk with this my colleague who happens
to be a very actric surgeon, because I think that
you are an excellent candidate because as you are doing
all of the things, you were doing all of the
right things, but those things were not working exactly That's

(01:49:08):
exactly right. And I also want to bring out the
point that if you are someone just like me who's
living with obesity and you're doing all of the things,
please know that even with surgery or the medications, you
still will have to do the things. Obesity is best
attacked when you look at it from a mind, body

(01:49:31):
spirit issue. So managing your stress, taking care of your body,
eating well, I mean feeding your body good things. Those
things don't go away. It's not an either or situation.
It's a and situation. But I would say that if
you're going to your healthcare provider and they're not listening

(01:49:52):
to you, you need to fire them. I will fire
a healthcare provider. I have no shame in my game
to do that. The reason it is is that you
need someone who is going to get you and who's
going to work with you in collaboration with you to
come up with a comprehensive treatment plan to deal with
this disease called obesity. Tiffany, Yes, I wanted to add

(01:50:19):
two things. The first thing is that I think absolutely
obesity is something that needs to be addressed. Sure, locally,
we need to elect people who are voting with our
best interests, who are choosing for us health in all things,
but this also needs to be addressed on a federal level.
And if Medicare part D Medicare Medicaid actually addressed us

(01:50:40):
and covered these medications, sixty six billion dollars over the
next ten years would be saved. So that would be
an extraordinary amount of money that would save our economy,
but also the lives that we're losing at early ages,
especially in the black community, which is something near and
dear to my heart. So I think that is the
first thing I would mention that you need to write
to your legislators make sure you're choosing people who are

(01:51:04):
in support of healthcare for all. But then the second
thing is, Michelle, hit the nail on the head. What
I wrote down earlier was that you need a physician
who cares about you, someone who takes obesity seriously, doesn't
shame you, doesn't say that you are obese and you're
doing it wrong, and then you're scared to go to
the doctor or scared to get on the scale. You

(01:51:25):
need someone who cares about your best interests, and you're
right that often that is a doctor who looks like you,
who maybe understands what you're going through in life. Sometimes
it's not, but often it is. And then lastly, I
wanted to say as a mom, I am a mother,
and I know for black women oftentimes we are trying
to do too much at one time. We have a

(01:51:45):
lot of stress. We may not be able to make
time for ourselves. So my advice to my patience often
is get a journal, Try to journal if you can,
go for a walk outside in fresh air if you can.
But mostly we have to let go of the superwoman,
strong black woman staryotype and feel free to rest, get
your sleep, control your stress, and then make sure you

(01:52:05):
have a very strong healthcare team. So that is my advice.
So all right, nels to take us home. I have
to say that it sound like the previous two speakers
are basically just doing plugs for HBCU Medical School, So
a quick shout out for that. But I will say
that I've got two words, both for the personal and
for the public policy. On the personal end, the single

(01:52:26):
greatest thing I've ever done in my life was Mary,
my wife, who's a nurse, and she has instilled upon
me the importance of extending grace. So for anyone that
is struggling with the disease of obesity, because this is
in fact a disease, extend grace to yourself to understand
that this is a disease. For those around those individual
struggling with that, extend grace to them, and extend grace

(01:52:46):
to the system to figure out what is going to
work for you. Extend grace on the public policy fronts
to take a yes and approach right, Yes, and what else? Yes,
diet and exercise and metal bolics. Yes, we're getting the
federal Health employee plans or having access to the anti
PCs of medications and Medicare needs it and insurance coverage

(01:53:09):
needs it. Yes, And until we get to where we
need to be and everyone has their best opportunity to
achieve their optimal level of film. All right, let me
thank Nelson Dunlap, Michelle Teder, also Landra Hancock, Tiffany and
Bill Washington, as well as doctor Sadrina called or one.
I think all of y'all for being guests. Let me

(01:53:30):
think a noble Nordics as well for sponsoring this. Folks.
This is not the only time we're gonna be talking
about this because it is an ongoing issue. We've been
following the policy battles that have been going on in
the nation's capital and also across the country as well,
and so this would be something that we'll be focusing
on on Roland Martin Unfulture on the Blackstart Network, plus
our other shows as well. This is one of the

(01:53:52):
reasons why when we started off I'd Health to you
in twenty twenty three, having so many different experts on
talking about the issue of what we eat, how we eat,
and also getting us moving, getting us not just a
lockdown eating processed foods, eating more fruits and vegetables, but
also moving our body, being more active and yes that's

(01:54:13):
still a hard Sadrina, those seven to nine hours, getting
more sleep as well, and so again noble artists will
appreciate them partnering with the Black STUTD Network on the
special folks, that is it. We'll see you tomorrow right
here on the Black stud Network. Howa black start network

(01:54:42):
is here a real old revolutionary right now, cut Sam
Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told.
I thank you for being the boys to Black Americ
corollas moments that we have. Now we have to keep this.
Going to the video looks phenomenal. See this difference between
Black Star Network and Black owned media and something like CNN.

(01:55:06):
You can't be black owned media and be scaped. It's
time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs, hold your dig
pull up a chair, take your seat the black Tape
with me, Doctor Greg car here on the Black Star Network.

(01:55:26):
Every week we'll take a deeper dive into the world
we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black
Star Network. Hi'm doctor Jackie, good Martin, and I have
a question for you. Ever feel as if your life
is teetering in the weight and pressure of the world
is consistently on your shoulders, Well, let me tell you,

(01:55:47):
living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday
on Black Star Network for a balanced life. But doctor Jackie,
we're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it
or not. From politics to music and entertainment. It's a
huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk
about it every day right here on the Culture with

(01:56:09):
me for Raji Muhammad, only on the black Star Network.
I'm jebbah Owens, America's wealth Coach, and my new show,
Get Wealthy focuses on the things that your financial advisor
and bank isn't telling you but you absolutely need to know.

(01:56:31):
So watch Get Wealthy on the black Star Network.

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