#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 11.14 RMU: Deval Patrick launches 2020 bid; Mike Espy runs for Senate; Kaepernick works out for NFL

Episode Date: November 20, 2019

11.14.19 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Deval Patrick launches 2020 presidential bid; Mike Espy to runs for Senate; Colin Kaepernick scheduled to workout for the NFL; Colorado police officers will not be charged for shooting a black man 3 times in the back; Accused murderer Ray Jefferson Cromartie has been executed even though his attorneys say they have evidence to prove he didn't do it. #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Ebony Foundation | Home by the Holiday Home by the Holiday aims to reunite Black and Latino families separated by bail, while challenging racial injustice and mass incarceration. For more info visit https://www.homebytheholiday.com/ - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: 420 Real Estate, LLC To invest in 420 Real Estate’s legal Hemp-CBD Crowdfunding Campaign go to http://marijuanastock.org - Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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1 tsk vanille. 1 tsk. salami. 1 tbs. salami. 1 tbs. salami. 1 tbs. salami 1 tbs. salami 1 tbs. salami Today is Thursday, November 14, 2019. It's my birthday.

It's my birthday. Coming up, I'm rolling by the unfiltered. Devon Patrick, former governor of Massachusetts, he jumped into the race for president. What the hell is he thinking? Speaking of what the hell they're thinking, NFL is saying Colin Kaepernick has a tryout, a workout on Saturday.

That's the only day they'll allow it to happen. Is this a BS PR move by the NFL? Mike Espy files to run for the United States Senate in Mississippi. Also, Colorado police officers would not be charged in the shooting death of a black man in the back. Also, Syracuse University students hold a sit-in to protest racism on their campus. Also, accused murderer Ray Jefferson Cromartie has been executed in Georgia, even though his attorneys say they have evidence to prove he did not commit the crime. Folks, it is a jam-packed day. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered.

Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the mess, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the find And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling Best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics

With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's on, go, go, go, y'all It's rolling, it's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's rolling, Martin, yeah. Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real, the best you know. He's rolling, Martin, now. Now, we were losing Democratic candidates. Now, we're adding candidates.

A couple days after former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg signaled he is going to be entering the Democratic race, former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, he decides, what the hell? I'm going to run. Here's the announcement he dropped today on Twitter. Hi, everyone. I'm Deval Patrick. I used to be governor of Massachusetts, but that's not where I started. I grew up on the south side of Chicago. I lived there with my grandparents, my mother and sister, and our grandparents' two-bedroom tenement, some of that time on welfare.

And still, my grandmother used to tell us we were not poor, just broke, because broke, she said, is temporary. Through the love and support of family, great teachers, adults in the neighborhood and in church, I learned to look up, not down, to hope for the best and work for it. I was the and in church, I learned to look up, not down, to hope for the best and work for it.

I was the first in my family to go to college and law school and have had a chance to work in government, in nonprofits, and in business. I've had a chance to live my American dream. But over the years, I've seen the path to that dream gradually closing off bit by bit. The anxiety and even anger that I saw in my neighbors on the South Side, the sense that the government

and the economy were letting us down, were no longer about us, is what folks feel all over America today in all kinds of communities. I admire and respect the candidates in the Democratic field. They bring a richness of ideas and experience and a depth of character that makes me proud to be a Democrat. But if the character of the candidates is an issue in every election,

this time is about the character of the country. This time is about whether the day after the election America will keep her promises. This time is about more than removing an unpopular and divisive leader, as important as that is, but about delivering instead for you. So in a spirit of profound gratitude for all the country has given to me, and with a determination to build a better, more sustainable, more inclusive American dream for the next generation, I am today announcing my candidacy for President of the United States. Come be a part of this. We will build as we climb to welcome

other teachers and learners, other seekers of a better way and builders of a better future. This won't be easy and it shouldn't be, but I'm placing my faith in the people who feel left out and left back, who just want a fair shot at a better future, not built by somebody better than you, not built for you, but built with you. Now let's get started. All right, y'all, I really have no idea

why Deval Patrick is running. Let's go to our panel. Dr. Greg Carr, he is the chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University. Dr. Julianne Malveaux, economist, president emerita, Bennett College, and also Erica Savage-Wilson, host of Savage Politics podcast. Start with you, Dr. Carr. Seriously, here's the piece.

If Deval Patrick is positioning himself as a centrist, you already have Joe Biden. You already have Pete Buttigieg. If he's positioning himself as the black candidate, you already have Joe Biden, you already have Pete Buttigieg. If he's positioning himself as the black candidate, you already got Senator Kamala Harris, you already got Senator Cory Booker. I think what you really have here are Wall Street Democrats who are not happy with

Joe Biden's performance, who are scared to death of Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders, and they went out and said, Deval, you gotta run. You're Obama like. Absolutely. In fact, Roland, and they went out and said, Duvall, you got to run. You're Obama-like. Absolutely. In fact, Roland, first of all, happy birthday, brother.

And leave that outfit when you get back. I'm going to need that, brother, that maroon. But anyway, but the whole time you were showing the announcement, that's what the three of us were sitting here saying. It's very clear that this is an attempt to respond again to not to Biden, but to respond to Warren and to Sanders. Pete Buttigieg comes out of nowhere. They don't know about him. Michael

Bloomberg is going to try to buy his way into the thing. And Biden is deteriorating before our very eyes. So this is definitely a collusion between Wall Street Dems. You already know he got the blessing of Barack Obama, his very good friend, Tom Perez in on this. And why not throw him in?

But this is not going to slow anything down. He'll probably pick up some votes in New Hampshire because he was the governor of a neighbor in Massachusetts and maybe he'll make a dent in South Carolina, we'll see. But at the end of the day, this is an attempt to capture that Obama magic. But that train is gone. Yes, gone.

Julian, I'm train is gone. Yes, gone. Julianne, I'm looking at this. So Politico just dropped this story. You're going to love this here. Deval Patrick looks like the ideal candidate to break Joe Biden's grip on black voters. Jesus. Who do they talk to?

You know, the problem is that Biden is deteriorating in front of our very eyes. He looks like Uncle Joe who basically forgot his soda on the other side of the room. But he has not been compelling at all. But Deval Patrick, I adore him. I know him. I adore him. But I him. I adore him. But I don't think he's compelling either.

I think this is the problem. The Democratic field is a very weak field. Warren, you cannot run around the United States and call yourself a socialist and think that's going to have any traction. I mean, with all due respect, I do it every day. I don't have no traction. Sanders, I mean, he and basically Biden, you go sit down at the old folks' home and just do their thing. And then you have, of course, Kamala is not doing as well as we'd like her to do.

Buttigieg is doing very well, but a lot of people are going to say he's too young. But when Deval and, um, Steyer and Bloomberg run in, what they're really saying is the Democratic field is weak. And so the issue for the DNC, frankly, and Tom Perez, is how do we get a stronger field? And these Johnny-come-lately brothers and wife-os, they're not the ones. But here's the deal, though, Erica. a stronger field. And these Johnny-come-lately brothers and white folks, they're not the ones. But here's the deal, though, Erica.

Not a single vote has been cast. So this whole idea that the field is weak, based on what? Let me remind people who are watching. The beginning of November in 2007, Obama was down 20 points to Hillary Clinton. In September of 2015, Jeb Bush was at the top of Republican polls. Donald Trump was at the bottom. What happened? Right, and again, happy birthday to you, Roland.

And so this is the civility candidate, and I strongly reject that he actually thought it best for him to enter the race. And so here's the other thing. A person that's managing $400 million with Bain Capital, that is not something that the everyday layperson can relate to. And much broader than that, the Democratic Party has to wrestle with

who its true base is. It is black folks, it's brown folks, and the people that have led them to victory, they have got to really, really embrace that electorate and so not provide what mainstream media believes to be a good candidate for black people. That's not going to work. And so I'm looking at Deval Patrick entering this race

and I'm thinking to myself, you've been out of office since 2015. What have you been doing in terms of coalition building? What have you been doing in terms of helping for people to turn out the vote, to make folks aware of rapid voter disenfranchisement and voter suppression? So to come in, this is not an exercise in vanity,

not interested, nope, next, sit down. You know, Roland, Erica is saying something. And that's precisely it, Greg. Yeah, but that's precisely it. The problem here is that, again, when I look at these people and I look at how they're all freaking out, I go, no vote has been cast.

Two, the real issue here that we need to deal with, the real issue is that Wall Street Democrats, corporate Democrats, are freaking the hell out because they don't want Elizabeth Warren or Sanders to change their way of life. And the real reason they're freaking out is because they are afraid that Sanders or Warren, they're going to beat Biden. That's right. But to Erica's point.

This whole Deval Patrick deal. But hold on. I'm not done yet. Deval Patrick has issues. Deval Patrick, last time Bain Capital was a major part of the presidential campaign, ask Mitt Romney how well that went over. I'm sorry. Where the Democratic Party is in 2020, 2019 and 2020, does not align with somebody who went into went to Bain Capital.

And then somehow you think. And again, I know his record. Yes, he grew up in public housing in Chicago. But to Erica's point, and I interviewed him at the NAACP last year and I asked him, was he was he going to run for president? And he did not do any coalition building. Yes, he went out there and he raised some money for Black Voters Matter. He did some of those things, but he did not create a national infrastructure. And you just can't jump in in the middle of November and think, presto, I'm going to be at the top of the ticket. You know, Roland, you cannot make chicken salad out of chicken spit. But what I mean by that, Erica's

point is really right on. He, Steyer, a bunch of folks have not done the groundwork. They're just jumping in there, Bloomberg, because they have money or they have name recognition. It's

not going to work. What it does, I'm basically petrified at the impact this has on 2020 in terms of the fact that we want to get the orange orangutan out. And so if you have, I mean, Deval Patrick's a great guy. He's amazing. But that doesn't mean he's a candidate for president.

And we have to really look at how we're dealing with this. You're right about the calendar. You're right about the fact that, you know, in 2016 or 2015, President Obama, Barack, was way down. We're looking at a number

of other things. But at the end of the day, what I'm looking at is November 2020. But here's the deal, Greg. of other things but at the end of the day what I'm looking at is November 2020 well Greg I'm not worried about November 2020 because you can't get to November 2020 until you deal with Iowa then New Hampshire then Nevada then South Carolina then Super Tuesday and on and on and on. And so the reason there is a primary is to run. I just don't think him jumping in in the middle of November, that you're going to be able to raise the money,

you're going to be able to meet on the debate stage, and all of a sudden you're going to change the game. I just don't see it. And so, hey, I'm sorry, you should have got in in February. And I know Greg, his wife was ill, now she's doing better. But the reality is, the race is set. The field is set. We're winnowing.

You're seeing Tim Ryan, he dropped out. Delaney should drop out, Sestak should drop out, Bullock should drop out, and then you keep going. Klobuchar's probably going to stick around until after. She's going to wait to see what happens with Iowa. But to think that we were narrowing the field, and Castro, he can't raise enough money to get on the debate stage next week in Atlanta. So, what, all of a sudden, Patrick is going to buy his way onto the stage like Tom Steyer did?

Sorry, Greg, ain't buying it. Interesting. And, you know, of course, between you and Erica, I mean, between you covering politics for many years and Erica's political strategy and knowing how these things work, you know, maybe I'm being naive about this, but it seems to me that everything changes between each four-year electoral cycle over the last 20 years. You see the disruptive effect of technology the disruptive effect so Bloomberg is just

saying I don't even need to be in a debate I have name recognition as you heard say that Malvo and I got money so I get to California but but but you know it's interesting thinking about something Angela Rod when she asked Elizabeth Warren last week you know what kind of black people do you want in your cabinet which I don't know if it's necessarily a good question to ask. I mean, who knows? But the one name she put out was Deval Patrick. Now, mind you, these two are friends. Obviously, they work very closely together. Is Deval Patrick, first of all, did she know, she probably did, that this guy was going to jump in? No, no, no. Hold on one second, one second, one second, one second.

He said today that he made a very uncomfortable phone call last night to Senator Elizabeth Warren. And I will say this, Greg, to your point. I think Deval Patrick jumping in just took himself off of any VP list. Well, that's very interesting. You said that's why I said, Roland, because I'm wondering if this might be an attempt to gesture toward those Wall Street Democrats so that two things. Number one, please don't let it be Warren or Sanders. And then the backup plan is, if it is Warren or Sanders,

can we get somebody at the bottom of that ticket to reassure the Jamie Diamonds of the world and the folks around here who want to look like they're really liberals but in fact are capitalists? Come on. So I'm just wondering if Devin Patrick could be auditioned for that second slot. But you know, Greg, the problem is that Democrats...

But guess what, Greg? Hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on. Julian, one second. You already have that candidate. You already have the black guy. Who is loved by Wall Street? Senator Cory Booker. So again, I'm just trying to understand,

I'm trying to understand what lane, what lane does Deval Patrick sit in? What lane does he feel that's missing? I don't see it. Well, Roland, here's my thing. Democrats have a choice. You can do neoliberal politics as usual, which would be Buttigieg. It would be probably Corey. And then you could do, you know, what I call it, a dream thing. How do we change the structure of the economy. Now, while me, myself, and I, and a bunch of other black economists and other people would love to change the structure

of the economy, we're also realists. Excuse my language. This bit ain't gonna happen. Not in 2020. So that's the, you know, do you vote your dream or do you vote reality? And then if you vote reality,

what is your reality when you have two doddering old white men, doddering old white men who can't hang up their side in the debate, when you've got, you know, a gay brother who we, I think he's really great, but I mean, we got to go through the South. You got Elizabeth Warren. Are we ready for a woman? So this is why I think Duvall and Bloomberg have gone in. But going in doesn't mean anything except for confusion on the Democratic side.

Now, here's the deal. I think, Erica, last point here. This is going to be sorted out very simple. I think what's going to happen is, I think, first of all, Michael Bloomberg is trying to run. Remember, there was a candidate who once ran, who skipped Iowa and New Hampshire and Nevada and South Carolina, and he said, I'm going to focus on Super Tuesday.

Florida is my focus. And who had name recognition, who was able to raise money? Rudy Giuliani and got his ass whooped. Okay, so let's remind you of that got his ass whooped to to here's the deal Tom Steyer is a billionaire yeah Tom Steyer bought himself on the base stage ain't nobody talking about Tom Steyer okay three and three. And the last point. So you think Deval Patrick is all of a sudden going to pull black voters away from Biden? OK, South Carolina. OK, show me the proof where Deval Patrick has significant name recognition among black people. Erica, this this ain't that hard to figure out.

It isn't. And I would even say, show me someone who would be able to tell you what state he was governor of for two terms. So, I mean, let's be very clear that it is late in the race, but we do have the holidays to go through where there's definitely going to be some really good discussion,

I'm hoping, around family members about the race and absolutely voting. But again, my question goes back to what have you been doing in the interim? And so if you don't have receipts on coalition building, the social impact kind of hedge fund management does not work for me. If you don't have receipts in going out into the community and talking to people who maybe have not expressed an interest in voting and interrogating that, especially when you're spouting off your South Side credentials. I mean, there's nothing else to be said. So there was a period which was, I guess, magical for a lot of people for a period of eight years,

but some people didn't see any difference in that magical period, the Obama year. So we've got to be very, very real about where we are, as Dr. Malvoa and as Dr. Carr have pointed out, and understand that there's a lot at stake, and we don't have time for vanity projects or candidates or ego-stroking. All right, y'all. Speaking of somebody jumping into the race, Senator Mike, excuse me, Mike Espy, has announced that he is going to be challenging the woman who he lost to in 2018 for Cindy Hyde-Smith. Remember, he lost to her. But he says he's going to challenge her again in the rematch in 2020. Here's his announcement. You know, Mississippi is changing.

My great-grandparents were slaves brought to Mississippi from Georgia and Virginia. But their son, my grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Hudson Sr., founded the first hospital for African Americans in Mississippi because he believed that black women should give birth on comfortable beds and on clean sheets instead of in the cotton fields. My grandfather broke barriers and through his legacy and through his fortitude, decades later, well, I broke a few more. I was the first African-American to represent Mississippi in the United States Congress since the Civil War era. And then later, the first and only African- American to become Secretary of Agriculture. I'm Mike Espy, and over my lifetime, I've seen a lot of changes in Mississippi.

But progress in Mississippi is still too slow. Too many people are hurt because they're looking for work but can't find a decent job. Or the cost of rural hospitals that serve them is now closed. Or they can't find an education that makes them marketable. And we can't continue the change we need if we have a senator who openly laughs about public hangings and makes statements supporting voter suppression. Sidney Hyde-Smith is hurting Mississippi, our progress, and our reputation.

That's why I'm running for Senate. I want us to meet our potential. I want us to be a state that we all can be proud of. And I've got the experience to help. In Congress, I wrote an economic development bill, signed into law by President Reagan. And as the Secretary of Agriculture, I personally negotiated trade treaties that opened new markets for our farm commodities. For the last 25 years, I've worked with a nonprofit in Mississippi

that has provided loans to people who want to buy their first home or to start a new business. We build hospitals in rural communities, in grocery stores, where there are food deserts. We make Mississippi stronger by enabling good ideas to become a reality

and helping people to live out their dreams. Now that's the Mississippi I believe in. We came so close in 2018. Join me and this time we'll do it. Erica, that last line there, we came so close. Here's the thing that i think we have to understand and i was in mississippi um when mike espy um was running against hendy cindy hyatt smith you look at the totals he lost by less than 70 000 votes and the reality is there were a significant number of black people and poor whites who are flippable, if you will, who did not vote. Reverend Dr. William Barber has been saying for the longest to Democrats, you're never going to win unless you compete.

Yes. You have to go into these places and register them. You just saw the Democrat win in Kentucky who beat a Tea Party candidate for governor. And so there are people out there who say Mike Espy has no shot. Mike Espy has a shot. If they're able to get black folks to vote their numbers in Mississippi, that is a shot, Erica. Absolutely. And again, a message to the Democrats, register people to vote. When I look at data and what I'm looking at, this man lost by eight points. One of the things I folks, where there are people of color, that means that we are deep, we have saturated, and all it really calls for is a conversation and engagement and actually registering people. I have been there, I have done the work, and I know that it is possible.

And so to go along with what you shared about with Dr. Barber, this again is why we cannot allow mainstream media. It's important for these type of platforms to really break down and engage people who are hardworking people, folks who are millionaires, folks that are thousandaires, hundredaires, wherever folks sitting on the income line, engage and teach on a daily basis. Because one vote, there was just a campaign I was reading about, I believe, a New Jersey mayoral campaign that was flipped, that was won by a Democrat by three votes. And so if the Democratic Party won't invest in actually registering people to vote, then it is incumbent on us as organizers,

as strategists, to go out and to do that work because Mike XB can absolutely win this Senate race. He can win this Senate race. He can win it, Roland. Greg, I'm looking, I'm looking, hold on, I'm going to give vote total. Hold on, hold on, wait, wait, wait. I want to give vote, I want to give numbers because I think it's important for our audience because see, Erica said he lost by eight points. And yes, Cindy Highsmith got 53.9% of the vote.

Mike Espy got 46.9% of the vote. Mike Espy got 46.1% of the vote. But for the people who are watching, there are 1,797 precincts in Mississippi. There were 889,971 votes cast. Mike Espy lost by 68,585 votes. The number, I guarantee you, if you start going through the rolls there and look at the place, because first of all, remember,

you know who voted and who didn't based upon the numbers. You have to be able to do what they did in SNCC and go into those places, go into those rural parts, and you've got to be able to go touch those people. And I remember there was a rally there in Mississippi, and we live streamed it on Bouleer Mart Unfiltered. And one of SB's folks gave the preachers there their marching orders when it came to going out and making sure people vote. Folks, these numbers are not difficult to be able to say, go find them. The SB campaign, what they have to do is go touch a hundred thousand or 120,000 more people who were, who did not vote. And you have the data, Julianne and Greg, you, you go find 120,000 people who did not vote in this runoff and turn them out because you get the folks who did vote and those folks who didn't vote. He can win.

Thirty nine percent of Mississippi is African-American. Mississippi, as they say in Nina Simone's song, Mississippi, God damn. African-American people in Mississippi have to own this race. That's the only way that it's really going to happen, because obviously in the last race, as Erica has said, people stayed away. People were afraid. Cindy Highsmith is the worst force, worst kind of white trailer trash. And forgive me. White trailer trash who would go to a lynching.

I'd go to a hanging if they invited me. We know what that's about. And lynching is an issue right now in our country. But the bottom line is that you can't do this nationally. The DNC needs to put money into local races, into local people. You can't just have commercials on TV. What you've got to have is people going door to door,

knocking doors, having conversations. And grassroots organizations in Mississippi need to get the financial support of the Democratic Party if they want to flip this. It's possible. It's very possible. But what the DNC has done here before is this sort of helicopter thing, what they did to Stacey Abrams.

They didn't come into her until the end. The helicopter thing of like looking. Yeah, but here's the piece, though, Greg, and I think what the SB campaign has to do, and that is, and granted you have nonpartisan groups who can't play partisan roles, but the reality is this here. There has to be external organizations not waiting on the DNC. External organizations who are going to go into these places, who are going to say between now and November 2020, here's the reality.

Cindy Hotsmith is going to get the Republican nomination on her side. Espy will get the Democratic side. So the reality is he doesn't have to run a primary race unlike when he ran in the special election. What has to happen here is that in order for him to win, you're going to have to have groups who go into Mississippi, who cull through the numbers and say, we're going to touch anywhere from 120 to 150,000

people who did not vote. It's going to happen. Also, what Democrats are going to have to do, and Reverend Barber said this, and we were there in Mississippi when we actually broadcasted right here. They are going to have to learn to go talk to

broke-ass white people. Sure. Democrats, white Democrats are going to have to stop being scared of their own folk. They're going to have to go in Mississippi, Greg, and tell broke-ass white folks, y'all don't have rural hospitals. Your education is bad. That's the argument. It can't just be Mike Espy, the black candidate. They've got to go learn to talk to broke-ass white people. That's true, Roland, and that is the future of the Democratic Party. If they're going to have a future with coalition

politics, you're right. It's fusion politics, as Reverend Barber has said. You know, it's interesting because you've been the only news source consistently to interview the black folks who have gone into these southern states and organized at the grassroot level in this next wave and I'm thinking now about all the black women the Tosha Brown and so many others those women who

descended upon Alabama and got Doug Jones that Senate seat at this stage sitting here you right here Eric now we're all sitting here talking and when the when the ad came on I heard that twang of the guitar. I said, oh, man, here we go. But I think Mike Epstein might actually have heard some of the logic that you just laid out. Why? Look at that ad. He starts it in black and white. He runs toward his African-American roots in Mississippi, although I'm tired of this. I'm the children of slaves.

You know, you're children of Africans who weren't slaves. All of us were slaves. That's neither the heart or the right. But no, but what I'm thinking is that, the longer that video played and then went into black and white, I'm thinking about a daughter of Mississippi who ran in nearby Georgia, Stacey Abrams, who if you run toward the fact, I'm black,

I'm not gonna pretend like I'm not, I'm black in Mississippi, that had, it almost began to emerge with the power of what Fannie Lou Hamer and them were arguing with the Mississippi Freedom Democrats. I am black. That ain't gonna change. You may not like me, but you ain't got no teeth and you need a hospital. If you run toward that the way you're saying it, that's the

kind of fusion politics William Barber's been pushing in North Carolina and beyond. I'm gonna stop apologizing for being black. I'm gonna step you. So these white folks in the Democratic Party, yes, they need to talk to poor whites. But finally, I'll say this. With that kind of attitude in a state that's three million people, as you said, almost 1800 districts. And if you divide due to math, it's roughly less than 2000 people per district. A quarter of the people in Mississippi are under the age of 18.

Who knows how many of those young people will be voting eligible by 2020. You can not only flip that state. I'd argue that he's more competitive in Mississippi with that strategy than Doug Jones is in Alabama running against Jeff Sessions. I think that's really powerful. Again, you can't you can't

you cannot run away from who you are. But more importantly what you have to do is look folks in the eye and say, look, you may not like my skin. That's right. But I'm telling you right now, your ass broke and them black folks broke and both y'all, you know what that means? Both y'all broke. And again, the problem in the South, the problem in the South has been the Democratic Party's reluctance by saying we're just going to write it off. We got no shot.

But you're guaranteed to have no shot if you never go in. That's right. You know, Roland, Reverend Barber has been laying it out. Real quick. But he's been laying it out about the Southern strategy. And what we've got to deal with is the racism that so many white folks are simmered in, but the economic reality that they have as low wages as black folks do. They have as much access to health care, which means none, as black folks do.

Right. And so that's a conversation that has to be had. But again, though, I said this to President Obama directly with his Affordable Care Act. I'm like, stop going to Ohio and Virginia and telling me Affordable Care Act. I said, go to the brokest, whitest, poorest, sickest county in Mississippi. And then go to the same one in Alabama and look

them white folks in the eye and say, I passed this bill for you. At some point, you got to look broke-ass white people in the eye and say, look, you can vote on abortion if you want to. You can vote on vote on abortion if you want to. You can vote on a Second Amendment if you want to.

But neither one of them going to take care of your wife when she gets sick. Come on. But closing your rural hospital and not expanding Medicaid, it will. That's what they got to do. Got to go to a break. We come back. NFL is organizing a workout for Colin Kaepernick. Is this a big PR stunt?

We'll discuss next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. See that name right there? Roland Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's youtube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And don't forget to turn on your notifications so when we go live, you'll know it. All right, fam, it's almost that time. The holiday season, of course, is, for many of us, the favorite time of the year. Now, whether you celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, Ramadan, Christmas,

Kwanzaa, New Year's, all of these, of course, from October to the end of the year. This is when you think about spending time with the people you love the most. This is also the time to count your blessings and support those less fortunate and look at how you can have an impact on their lives. Well, I have the perfect opportunity for you to be a holiday hero, have a major impact on other families. Here's the deal. Right now, hundreds of thousands of Americans are sitting in jail without being convicted of a crime. Why? Because they lack the financial resources to pay their bail. Now, think about it. If you are arrested for any minor offense, you will be taken directly to jail. If you don't have bail money, whether it's a few hundred or a few thousand dollars, you will stay there until a court date is scheduled. Now,

that could be days, weeks, or even months. America's bail system is broken and has created a two-tier system of justice, one for the rich and one for the poor. Folks, freedom should be free. That's why the Ebony Foundation is partnering with the Bail Project and is sponsoring the Home by the Holiday campaign. With your help, our goal is to bail out 1,000 people by New Year's Day. How's that for a holiday gift? A donation from you can change someone's life tomorrow, and here's why it is critical. People of color represent upwards of 90% of the jail population across the country. It ranges from 50% to 90% depending upon where you are.

Of course, when they stayed in jail, 90% of people with misdemeanors ended up pleading guilty. However, when bail was paid, 50% of the cases were dismissed and less than 2% received a jail sentence. Sometimes justice needs just us to join the fight. Folks, you can be a holiday hero by donating $25, $50 or more to help the Ebony Foundation bring our brothers and sisters home for the holidays. To donate, go to homebytheholiday.com. That's H-O-M-E-B-Y-T-H-E-H-O-L-I-D-A-Y.com. And, of course, the Ebony Foundation is tied to Ebony Magazine. And so we certainly appreciate the work that they're doing to assist those who are most in need. All right, folks. On Saturday, Colin Kaepernick is going to get a tryout in front of NFL teams. This is sort of weird, Erica, because Colin Kaepernick had

tweeted that the NFL contacted his representatives about this workout. Okay, so here's the problem with this workout. Normally in the NFL, if a team wants to bring a player in, they bring them in on a Monday or Tuesday to do a workout saturday is an actual travel day it's a day where people are getting ready for sunday games and so uh capra then kaepernick said well okay we want a list of the people who are going to be at the workout nfl said no all right also. This is the way he tweeted. He said, I'm just getting word from my representative that the NFL league office reached out to them about a workout in Atlanta on Saturday. I've been in shape and ready for this for three years.

Can't wait to see the head coaches and GMs on Saturday. Then they said that, well, his people said, well, look, we want to know, are all 32 teams going to be there? So apparently the NFL, Erica, says they're going to record the workout and the interviews and then send them to all teams. This is strange because Kaepernick's people said, why can't we do this on a Monday or Tuesday next week? They said, nope, it has to be this Saturday. I'm not understanding this. Yeah, I was just as baffled. And what I thought was so interesting is I thought to myself, well, why Atlanta?

So that will be held in Atlanta on Saturday. And again, to me, it just really goes back to what are we supporting? I just don't know that the NFL has really lost a lot of traction in way of dollars. And I don't know if this is a way for them to actually connect their social justice work to say that they did afford an opportunity to Colin Kaepernick. So I would just say for people, this is really an exercise in critical thinking just to keep your eyes and your ears open because to schedule, and Colin has not stopped working out in three years.

And so for those who have had the critique of, well, he's made money, he should just go somewhere and sit down. Listen, this is what this man has been preparing for his entire life. And I support him continuing to fight for him to be able to have a job and challenge anyone else who has either a terminal degree like my colleagues here or someone who has had a life work invested that someone says that, well, because of something that you

have stood for, then that's something that we don't support. And so now you're out of a job, not just with us, but with everyone else that's in that particular organization, I would argue for them to take a look at it from that vantage point. But going back again to everyone just really paying attention to this, to me, this is high-level blackballing again. And I really wish Colin all of the very best because this man should be playing football. Because from what I understand, the NFL has some pretty sorry quarterbacks in its league. Yeah, sorry.

Sorry is the word. Oh, especially in Chicago. So let me, hold on, let me read this here. This is from the NFL. We are looking forward to Saturday's workout with Colin. Eleven teams, Arizona, Atlanta, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Miami, New England, New York Giants, New York Jets, Tampa Bay, and Washington have already committed to attend, and it's only Thursday, with two days remaining until the workout.

We expect additional teams to commit. Former NFL head coach Hugh Jackson will lead the drills, and former NFL head coach Joe Philbin will be in attendance as well. We will send video of the workout and interview to all 32 teams, including head coaches and general managers. First of all, the Chicago Bears, their quarterback sucks. I don't know why they're not on this list. But this is just, this is just, it's still strange.

And it came out of the blue. Like, literally, hey! Workout! Saturday! Show up! Or else. I think part of the challenge, Roland, like I say, there is no explanation that could be offered at this point that would surprise me.

Jay-Z has received, and rightfully so, a great deal of criticism for his apparent capitulation. This could be as simple as them trying to appease Jay-Z because he's a little stinging from criticism and says, look man, y'all gotta do something. Okay, fine, fine, fine.

It could be, even though they say the ratings are up a little bit, I haven't watched one second of NFL football since the ban of Colin Kaepernick and I don't anticipate watching it either. I don't begrudge those people who watch it. I'm just saying that as a personal choice. For me, that's my line of self-respect and dignity.

But the NFL might be looking forward and saying maybe they can't sustain that because they do risk making angry these racists who support never seeing Colin Kaepernick again. Now, if you put that... So there's no explanation that I could hear that would surprise me, because it could be as small as trying to appease Jay-Z, as large as looking forward in a demographic, or finally, it could be about trying to let the air

out of this balloon, because as far as I'm concerned, personally, and I agree with you, Erica, he shouldn't, he should do what he wants with his life. But if I were Colin Kaepernick, I would never play a down of football again, because the minute you do get signed to a roster, if you trot out there and don't take a knee,

or don't protest, then all of that momentum that you've built up around your name may be let out. And maybe the NFL is saying, finally, hey, maybe we can just begin to let the air out of this protest balloon by letting him have a workout. But I think don't those Steelers have a bye this weekend?

If Mike Tomlin wanted to make a statement, maybe he gets on the plane and goes down there and watch it. And let's see what happens then. But I don't know. I think they might have a bye, which means he's open to go down and watch the workout. Roland, you know, I am not a sports fan for any number of reasons.

I think it's gladiator central. Harry Edwards is a great friend of mine, and I love what he said about this. But I think that anybody who's looking at this needs to read The Spook Who Sat by the Door. I mean, we need to really look at why Colin Kaepernick is being invited to this nonsense. And as Greg said, I mean, again,

I think he's being set up. But, frankly, he wants to play football. He hasn't played in three years. As Erica says, he should do whatever he wants to do. Here's the deal. The NFL is a bunch of racist Maryland farmers. Racist.

Not only with him, but with others. And we as black people support them because we like entertainment. Well, if you like entertainment, but with others. And we, as black people, support them because we like entertainment. Well, if you like entertainment, go to the movies. See Harriet. Do something else. I mean, but the bottom line is, I empathize with Colin Kaepernick,

support him for what he wants to do, but really feel like this is a shell game that, um, with Jay-Z probably up in it, but a shell game that um with jay-z probably up in it but a shell game that i think is going to not turn out right all right folks let me uh tell you about this story here a grand jury found that two colorado police officers were justified in killing a black teenager who was shot multiple times in the back during a foot chase the the DA said on Wednesday. Folks, you can see here the body cam footage that was released. As a result, no criminal charges will be filed against the officers involved in the August 3rd death of Devon Bailey in Colorado Springs. One officer ordered the men

to keep their hands up so that another officer could search them for weapons. Bailey ran as he was about to be searched and was shot after he put his hands near his waistband. There's another story they want to read for you. Students at Syracuse University staged a sit-in yesterday in protest of what they see as growing racial bigotry on campus and the school's slow response to stemming it. About 50 students gather in the Barnes Center at Archibald Gymnasium to call for a safer campus for students of color, particularly black students. The protests have come after racial slurs were discovered in Day Hall on campus. Students have criticized the administration's response to the incident,

calling for more transparency and action. The group compiled a list of nine demands. They are the expulsion of any students involved in day hall vandalism, the creation of a twice annual open forum for students to communicate directly with the board of trustees, curriculum reform to better educate students on questions of diversity, mandatory diversity training for faculty and staff, a zero tolerance policy for hate speech among students, a same race option for roommate selection on the student housing application, hiring of additional counselors

that better represent student body in marginalized communities, and a $1 million investment in long-term curriculum changes that address issues of diversity and racism. Here is the response from the Chancellor, Kent Savarut. Excuse me, I've come right from the airport. I understand that various folks are here engaging. I'm eager to hear and have my team work with you on what the latest concerns are,

and I appreciate your being here. But I'm concerned about this situation, and I'm concerned about what happened in Day Hall. I have been briefed on the concerns expressed last night. I'm waiting to be briefed much more fully on them as well. Thank you for your work. So I will read them, and I take it the whole team will respond to them as properly as possible. But I didn't want to delay coming to see you. I was in Washington, D.C. last night.

So thank you for sharing this. Please, team, stay here. And it would be helpful if you could talk through each of these with the students. Julianne, we have seen black students in other campuses stand up in protest. At Missouri, they had a massive protest that was joined by the football team. In fact, that protest had a significant impact on donations, and it caused a steep drop in enrollment at the university as well. Your take on these students using their First Amendment rights to get the attention of the university? I think that the president's comments were weak. I think that

they were not embracing of the students. I think that that president's comments were weak. I think that they were not embracing of the students. I think that that's extremely important. As a former college president, I understand that presidents are always sitting between a rock and a hard place, but here's the deal. Too many of these predominantly white institutions have discriminated against young black people, and it basically affects the way

that they're going to move through academia and live in the world. The president, I think, should have been far more aggressive, and there should have been some penalties imposed against those racists. Greg, you're a university professor. Your thoughts on these students? We've seen students at our university express their displeasure with things happening on their campus. Your thoughts on this?

Absolutely. Well, young people, you know, this happens. We have cycles of student protests and students takeovers. I mean, you know, at Howard, it's almost a rite of passage. You're going to get through four years without some takeover. Somebody's building it. But in the case of Syracuse, as I was watching that and reading it, thinking about, you know, Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, I mean, I think part of the reason that Chancellor is there

because he does not want a repeat of what happened at Missouri where you begin to see the cash cows of these big schools, namely the black and brown athletes, these women and men who play basketball in Syracuse's case, decide they're going to join in.

But, you know, finally, I think it's very interesting to see the fact that our young people are certainly not lacking in courage, not lacking in their ability to speak up and speak out, but what we seem to be suffering from now more than ever is a lack of an intergenerational connection. Where are the black alumni at Syracuse at this point? And I'm thinking now particularly about brothers

who I know will have something to say about this, like Etan Thomas, who is not shy about this at all. When Etan find out about this, he'll have something to say. And Etan was this all-star basketball player for Syracuse, but that might lead to everybody from Donovan McNabb. I'm just thinking about the players at Syracuse who were alumni and then other alumni. This chancellor probably got off that plane

and went straight to that protest because he can see past today to what might unfold tomorrow if they don't address these young people's issues. Now, and Erica, don't forget, and I interviewed a couple of them, there was a group called the Syracuse Eight in 1970. Actually, it was nine members of their football team

walked out of a spring practice to protest racial discrimination on campus uh they were called the syracuse eight but there were actually nine players and they shared their list of according to the story had a list of a list of grievances one of the more diverse coaching staff as well and so uh it's not like syracuse does not have a history and it's interesting about this because Syracuse was supposedly to be a racially diverse school, of course, signing Ernie Davis, signing Jim Brown. They were very well known for signing black talent. Ernie Davis went on to become the first black Heisman Trophy winner. But, you know know so there's a history here of black students protesting in Syracuse absolutely and just listening to dr.

Melvoe and her expertise and listening to dr. Carr and then reading over the demands that the students have it is no wonder that attendance for HBCUs are on the rise and so I say to those students continue to fight and to stay consistent and as you talked about and dr. Carr talked about that intergenerational on the rise. And so I say to those students, continue to fight and to stay consistent. And as you talked about, and Dr. Carr talked about the intergenerational piece, to really study and look at those individuals. You just did a roll call to look at those individuals and to reach out to an Etan Thomas, to reach out to those folks who are part of the alumni base for guidance and then for support as well, because this is not just important for the

now. This is, as you just said, it is important for down the road. So I really do champion the courage of those students, as Dr. Carr said, but to also that it is, and I believe Angela Davis said this about a week or so ago, is that the beauty of this generation now standing on shoulders is that they can see forward into the future. So they have this ability. So to not discount, don't give that away. Don't allow entertainment and all these other things to really steal away from that, to compartmentalize and to think about those that are to come after you. You know, the alumni thing is really important. Hold on one second. Hold on one second, hold on one second. Hold on one second.

I want to give people this here. So give this title, folks. The book is called Leveling the Playing Field, The Story of the Syracuse Eight by David Mark. And so, again, those players were honored by the university in 2006, given their Letterman's Jacket because they were kicked off the team. They were allowed to keep their scholarships. Eight of the nine graduated. by the university in 2006, given their letterman's jacket because they were kicked off the team.

They were allowed to keep their scholarships. Eight of the nine graduated, but they all lost out on pro careers as a result of being booted off the team. The university did later find there was widespread racism at the university. They allowed students to wear their hair longer, to wear African garb as well.

But again, it'd be very interesting to hear what the Syracuse aid has to say about these students today. Julianne, it'd be very interesting to hear what the Syracuse aid has to say about these students today. Julianne, real quick before I go to my last story. Alumni are extremely important to the fundraising effort of universities. It's not, I'm happy that Greg and you talked about the intergenerational thing. Folks need to reach out to the alums because there have been a couple of colleges where black alums have said, we ain't giving no more money until you deal with these black student issues.

And that can happen. Mm-hmm. All right, folks. Also, last night in Georgia, Ray Jefferson Cromartie was pronounced dead at 10.59 p.m. after a lethal injection at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison

in Jackson, Georgia. The State's Department of Corrections said that Cromartie was convicted of the 1994 killing of Richard Slice at a Thomasville convenience store. But his lawyers recently have appealed for DNA testing of evidence they say could have exonerated Cromartie after a new statement from one of the men involved in the robbery. But the state refused to test that weapon to see if Cromartie's DNA was on it. And so justice denied continues. Folks, I am actually not in the studio today. I am in Washington, D.C. in a moment. I'm about to go give a keynote speech to the African-American real estate professionals, their 16th annual awards.

And so I'll be speaking to them about building and sustaining economic prosperity. And so I look forward to chatting with them in just one moment. Let me thank our panel for being there as well. Again, today is my 51st birthday. My parents in town. Y'all saw my Instagram page. My mom, of course. Happy birthday to you.

My mama baked professionally for 30 years. Yes, sir. And Instagram page. Happy birthday to you. My mama baked professionally for 30 years. Yes, sir. And so you know she had to bake a cake. Oh, yeah. Let's just be real clear. Let's just be real clear. I was in Cabo. I was in Cabo, of course, for Life Lux Jazz Festival,

and I sent a note saying, you did get them ingredients right. I thought so. What's your cake, though, man? Did they send a picture of the cake? It's a picture of it. It's a picture of it. It's on my Instagram page.

Okay. And so it's the white cake with cream cheese filling. And so, yeah, so I normally get a chocolate cake on my birthday. But since she was here, she had to bake that cake. So I'm letting y'all know. And I'll tell y'all something real quick. So my brother's birthday, he's going to understand. Now, my nephew's birthday was November 12th on Tuesday.

My brother's birthday was yesterday, November 13th. And so the problem is because our birthdays are one day apart, my mom used to bake one cake. I was like, that's bullshit. I want my own damn cake. So one year, I actually said, I want a birthday cake with no icing. She had to do two.

Oh. So yes. You just want your own cake, Roland. Ain't, ain't, ain't. Look, it's my own damn day, own cake. It's your personal holiday. That's Roland. Ain't, ain't, ain't. Look, it's my own damn day. It's your personal holiday. Ain't no sharing of cakes. No, sir.

No, sir. Ain't gonna happen. You gotta love the black mother, boy. Oh, and the black selfish child. No, baby, no, no, no. There ain't no black selfish child. That's called a black child who is specific with one's requests. Yes, sir.

That's how it is. Yes, sir. And plus, if you living in my house in Texas rent-free, damn it, I want to see that cat. All right, y'all. All right. All right, Roland Martin. All right, y'all.

I got to go. I got to give this speech. And then I'm going to hang out with my parents and my family for the birthday. So y'all have an absolute blessing. Don't forget, folks, if you want to support Roland Martin and the Filtrate, please go to RolandMartinAndTheFiltrate.com. You can join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar you give goes to support this show and what we do.

Of course, yesterday we live streamed the rally from Annapolis, Maryland, in support of those four HBCUs. Let me tell you something. All these black websites out here, all these black networks, there was only one black media outlet that brought you that rally live. That's why we exist. And so we want you

to support what we do. We're going to be in Atlanta next Wednesday for the Democratic debate taking place at Talapeara Studios. I don't know what other black websites are going to be broadcasting the show from there. We're going to be there. That's why we need your support. We've got to fund our freedom.

And so please support us in what we do. Support RollerMartinUpFilter.com. I got to go, y'all. Holla! សូវបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា� Thank you. This is an iHeart Podcast.