Kid Cudi talks new Netflix show "Entergalactic" and we recap the lit 2022 REVOLT Summit in Atlanta
“REVOLT Black News Weekly” aired on Friday (Sept. 30) to discuss an increase in STD rates across the nation, reparations for the Black community, and Fat Joe gearing up to host the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards. REVOLT guest host Van Lathan Jr. led the episode, titled “Inside REVOLT Summit 2022: The Future Is Now, Dear America Run My Check, And How Gen Z Responds To Alarming STD Rates Across the U.S.” He was joined by author Tariq Nasheed, host of “Straight Shot No Chaser” podcast Tezlyn Figaro, sex therapist Josephanie V. Smith and women’s health digital creator Tyiana “Lee” Catalino. REVOLT Entertainment Correspondent Kennedy Rue McCullough also brought viewers the latest in celebrity news, during which she interviewed Fat Joe about hosting the upcoming awards show.
Lathan opened the episode by discussing the 2022 REVOLT Summit x AT&T held in Atlanta last month. The Summit featured panels and performances starring activist Tamika D. Mallory, celebrity blogger Jason Lee, choreographer Laurieann Gibson, rappers Coi Leray, Bobby Shmurda, Gucci Mane and more. One of the highly discussed topics at the Summit centered around reparations and whether Black people should be compensated for slavery in the form of money or property.
In recent years, Charlamagne Tha God has been outspoken about the U.S. writing its wrongs through reparations. In a prior interview, he declared, “Reparations [have] to happen for Black people because slavery was America’s original sin, and I don’t think no good will come to this country until they atone for their original sin, which was slavery. My ancestors literally built this country for free.” During a House Judiciary Committee hearing in 2019, United States Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) also made a plea for reparations. “We as a nation have not truly acknowledged and grappled with [the] racism and white supremacy that has tainted this country’s founding and continues to persist in those deep racial disparities and [inequalities] today.”
While many people support reparations, Lathan stated that 70 percent of Americans oppose them. United States Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is among the majority who believe the idea of reparations is impractical. “I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago, for whom none of us living are currently responsible, is a good idea,” he proclaimed. Later in the segment, Lathan moderated an exchange where Figaro said the Black community has made a lot of progress towards the call for reparations. “Where we are now as far as this generation and a new energy that is coming forward, we’re having this conversation — a robust conversation — and organizing in a different way than how it was previously,” she asserted. “While we were having this panel at the REVOLT Summit, there were organizers all over the country that were actually demanding that our voices be heard.”
During the chat, Nasheed maintained that reparations should come in the form of financial payment. “It is a reality because that is the only thing reparations represent. It represents tangible cash payments. Anything else is not really reparations and that’s the trick bag that they’ve been trying to put us in,” he explained. “They try to create these All Lives Matter programs or these ‘lift all’ programs and disguise them as reparations programs.”
Switching gears, Lathan discussed the uptick in STDs across the nation and the impact it will have on the next generation. He led a provocative talk with Smith and Catalino about the U.S.’ alarming STD rate. Smith believes a “lack of information” is the underlying cause for the spread of STDs amongst the youth. “I think if our youth were receiving the information that they needed — that’s not necessarily just pushing abstinence, but giving them the right tools and the right information — our youth can make more of an informed decision that can ultimately slow down an increase in rates,” she voiced.
Catalino noted that what is also contributing to an uptick in STD rates is young people not getting tested regularly. “I think if everyone were to get tested and go to STD clinics, check themselves out whenever they’re going to have sex or after they have sex, that would be very beneficial,” she insisted.
Later in the show, McCullough hosted her “Entertainment Remix” segment, during which she interviewed NBA champion Dwyane Wade about the Netflix documentary The Redeem Team, which spotlights Kobe Bryant’s quest to bring home the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. “We all miss him in moments like this. When you see him, man, you get a little teary-eyed. I feel like this documentary takes you through a lot of emotions and the Kobe segment of it, his name throughout, it’s going to take you through that,” Wade expressed.
During her segment, McCullough also interviewed Fat Joe, the host of the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards. In an interview with REVOLT, Fat Joe said, “One thing you know, and I can speak for you, is when you heard Fat Joe is the host, you said, ‘This boy coming’ … I’m going to catch the Hip Hop holy spirit, and I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life.”
Watch a quick clip from this week’s episode up top. Plus, be sure to catch the next installment of “REVOLT Black News Weekly” on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022 at 5 p.m. ET on REVOLT’s app.