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A intense town hall meeting featured 100 Black men in Baltimore, MD discussing issues facing Black men in American. The meeting was apart of OZY Media’s Take On America series hosted by OZY Media co-founder and Emmy award-wining journalist Carlos Watson.

The town hall was just a little under a hour along, but did not lack interesting and important topics facing the Black community. From Colin Kaepernick, police brutality, Donald Trump, fatherhood, mass incarceration and more.

There were various panelists along with the 100 Black men to give their take on the various topics including former ESPN on-air talent now of The Atlantic Jemele Hill, activist DeRay Mckesson, Democratic nominee for Governor of Maryland Ben Jealous, Maryland U.S Senate Republican nominee Dr. Tony Campbell, The Wire actor Lawrence Gillard Jr., journalist and author D. Watkins and former spokesperson for the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) T.J Smith who recently resigned citing his his frustration with the struggling department.

The filmed town hall was the first of OZY Media’s four televised town halls that “take on America” through the lens of race.

Among the featured 100 Black men were community organizers, college students, local business leaders, non-profit directors, scholars, barbers and artists who’re all passionate about the issues in Baltimore. The episode was at time high in emotion and the passion was easy to detect from each person who spoke on the mic. Many of the men spoke about personal stories and the ongoing challenges they’ve faced being a Black man in America. Smith the former spokesperson for the BPD revealed that he has even been target of racial profiling and wrongfully stopped while shopping and driving.

The last segment and arguably the most emotional was about fathers where the men discussed their experience growing with and without their father. The conversation also shifted to the systemic racism that has plagued the Black community with the trauma of violence and poverty. The War on Drugs, mandatory minimum sentencing and voter suppression were all discussed as well.

With the racial tension in America increasing in the aim of the town hall according to OZY Media, “is to see how, in today’s incredibly tense political climate, we’re actually more alike than different in our strive for progress, and for outsiders to get an inside look at the conversations these minority groups are really having.”

The series Watson, said “We are living in one of the most racially charged eras since the Civil Rights movement, and the world is both more connected technologically, and disconnected interpersonally, than it’s ever-been before. We hope that we will create a forum for substantive dialogue and ultimately inform and inspire action.”

Watch full episode below.

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