#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 11.21 RMU: Will Congress look into Kaep/NFL beef? Dem Debate recap; Kamala Harris Power Breakfast

Episode Date: November 24, 2019

11.21.19 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Will Congress look into the Colin Kaepernick/NFL beef? Democratic Debate recap; Kamala Harris Black Women Power Breakfast in Atlanta; Still Seeking Freedom: We'll take a look at the role of Black women in our history in this country; P. Diddy tells Comcast to keep his name out their mouth as it pertains to Byron Allen's $20B lawsuit; African Union still facing backlash for firing its Ambassador to the United States. #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.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Today's Thursday, November 21st, 2019. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered is the NFL treating Colin Kaepernick unfairly and should Congress look into the anti, well, the protection the NFL has. Congressman Hank Johnson of Georgia says yes and he's here to tell us why. Last night, Democrats held a debate in Atlanta. I was there. Took place at Tyler Perry Studios. We'll talk about the winners and losers who had a big night and who still need some work to do

when it comes to attracting black voters. This morning, we were on hand at the Westin Hotel where Senator Kamala Harris was at the Black Women in Power breakfast box at a higher height. We, of course, live streamed that and we'll show you some of the excerpts there and talk about what took place. Also, speaking of Black Women in Power,

as part of our Still Seeking Freedom series, we'll talk about the took place. Also speaking of black women in power as part of our still seeking freedom series will talk about the role of black women when it comes to American history, specifically black history. Did he releases a statement telling Comcast to keep his name out of their mouth as it pertains to Byron Allen's $20 billion racial discrimination

nation lawsuit will tell you about the statement he released today in the African Union is still facing backlash for filing its ambassador to the United States. Now, are they trying to tarnish her legacy and reputation? It's time to bring the funk on Rolling Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. Whatever the mess, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. 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 Uncle Roro, y'all It's Rolling Martin, yeah, yeah. It's Roland Martin. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. Martin. The fallout continues over this weekend's workout of Colin Kaepernick in the NFL in Atlanta. Of course, you might remember that it was supposed to be the workout. Then, of course, they moved to a second location when they could not settle on the signing of a waiver or allowing the workout to be video and allow media in. Well, now, of course, Congressman Hank Johnson of Georgia, he says maybe it's time that Congress

look into the NFL and whether they are abusing their antitrust exemption to collude to keep players such as Kaepernick from the field. He joins us right now on Rural Unfiltered. Congressman, glad to have you here. Now, for the folks who don't realize, baseball and the NFL, for some reason, are exempt by Congress. Why? Well, it's to enable those teams to collectively negotiate the terms of their broadcast agreements. And that has been the key to the success of these multi-billion dollar industries that employ players, spit them out once they're through with them, and owners make billions, and life continues. And so when a player decides that he wants to exercise his First Amendment right to protest against a social injustice,

that person should not give up their right to peacefully protest just because they are a part of a sports team. And so with this antitrust exemption, the owners of these sports teams have apparently gotten together TITRUS EXEMPTION, THE OWNERS OF THESE SPORTS TEAMS HAVE APPARENTLY GOTTEN TOGETHER AND DECIDED THAT THEY'RE NOT GOING TO TOLERATE THAT ANYMORE, ESPECIALLY AFTER DONALD TRUMP BEGAN A TWITTER STORM AND STARTED TALKING ABOUT SONS OF BITCHES AND TALKING ABOUT THESE PLAYERS AS IF THEY WERE ON A PLANTATION, SAYING THAT IF THEY GET OUT OF LINE, PUT THEM OUT. about these players as if they were on a plantation, saying that if they get out of line, put them out. And tweeting that and going through tweet storms. And so the NFL owners responded. And the result is for the last three years, the man has not been able to work.

And that's wrong. That's a misuse of that antitrust exemption. This goes back to 1961 when Pete Rosell was head of the NFL and a federal judge ruled against the NFL preventing them from negotiating a television contract. He then goes to a member of Congress from New York and they pass the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which allowed teams to pool their efforts for the sake of negotiating TV contracts, but they also enjoy tax-exempt status. Folks don't realize the NFL is, quote, they're tax-exempt, but then that's the NFL, but then you also have these 32 NFL teams. And now you're talking about what is now $15 billion a year entity.

It's a tremendous money-making vehicle. And as I said before, it chews up, it spits out players. Most of the players, when they finish their playing days, they have something wrong with their brain from the numerous concussions that they have sustained throughout their career. And they have trouble getting compensation for that injury. And their quality of life spirals downward. word and but then the teams continue to make money and they can crack the whip like Jerry Jones Dallas Cowboys and said I'm not gonna have this on my team this is a team rule you're not gonna speak out and this is an abuse of the authority that they have and what galls me is that these players come from neighborhoods where those folks are not able to pay the

price to get into the NFL game to even watch. Oftentimes there's not enough money in the household to even buy a hot dog at the overpriced concessions at these NFL games. And so what it boils down to is a game to be afforded only by the rich and powerful, the corporations lease the boxes in the stadiums, bring in their employees, everybody gets a tax write-off. And it works well, but the players, who can't be the coaches, by the way, can't be the head coaches, only recently could become quarterbacks. And still, you know, even though we're changing the game, running and passing as quarterbacks, we're not able to convince folks that we can call the plays or we can remember the plays.

But why should Congress get involved? Why should Congress get involved in this particular issue dealing with Colin Kaepernick? Well, Congress granted that antitrust exemption for the purpose of enabling these teams to negotiate their broadcast rights. That has been very lucrative. Now there are multiple platforms upon which games can be viewed. Perhaps it's time that we revisit the exemption, whether or not there's still a need to it, given the fact that broadcast TV is not the only platform these days. Teams can go to other platforms. Teams don't have to be NFL. They can be some other league.

I mean, right now the NFL has a lock on football, on professional football. Why should that be? I mean, I think we should take a look at it. Just because it has been in effect since 1961 doesn't mean 60 years later, 70 years later that it should continue. Rick? You know Congressman, I really not only admire and appreciate your work, appreciate your philosophy. You're not going to back down and you're going to ask the questions that need to be asked.

As you said, Roland, thinking about Major League Baseball and what Kirk Blood went through trying to break up that antitrust piece. You know, how do you interpret Colin Kaepernick's choices this weekend, this past weekend, and there in your home state? What do you think the NFL was trying to do and not trying to do? Well, it could have been a setup. I question the timing of a workout coming at the end, well, not at the end, but basically in the middle of the season, a workout for 32 teams. Everybody come to this venue that's going to be closed,

by the way. Nobody else did. I had a conversation with the NFL. NFL spokesperson told me that two teams expressed interest in Colin Kaepernick. I asked him the question, so why have this huge workout? Why don't you tell the two teams, y'all can call him in for the workout? Why go through this whole, this big old deal? They could have easily flown him in, had individual workouts, if they were interested in Colin Kaepernick. And because they were making a big issue out of the way rich like Colin Kaepernick's people were. And I said, look, I get it, but I'm still stuck on if two teams express interest, why did you have this huge workout?

It made no sense. It still makes no sense to me. Well, 115 quarterbacks have been hired by teams in the last three years, excluding Colin Kaepernick, a man who has distinguished himself as a runner and a passer and a winner. But he doesn't get a call from not a single NFL team. It is very suspicious. And then all of a sudden everybody wants to come and check him out. But we're going to do so in a closed setting. I think he probably felt as I would have felt, that I'm walking into a setup.

It's also an opportunity, but I'm going to make sure that that opportunity works for me and not for those on the other side who can easily use it as an opportunity to just dismiss and say that the guy no longer has the skills to compete. We've given him a look. Everybody's looked at him at the same time. We all agree that he's lost it.

And so let's close the door, close the book, move on. Lauren. They can't stand it, the NFL, when their players center themselves in discussion, even though it's the players with their talent that bring the people to the stadium. I remember in 2011 going to a hearing for John Conyers' bill that was to pull, effectively I think do the same thing your bill was doing, with regard to pulling the NFL's antitrust. I remember the NFL's lobbyists showing up. I can't remember what happened in the end.

Do you remember? John Conyers had a bill to do. I don't, but I remember we were deluged with NFL owners and their representatives, general managers, everybody with a smile and talking very respectfully and nicely and wanting to maintain the status quo. And that's exactly what happened. That's exactly right. I remember a few staffers, one staffer getting hired by the NFL, you know, classic Washington thing, getting hired by the NFL as a lobbyist. But I do remember the lobbying effort. I don't remember what happened

with the bill. Of course, the Democrats were not in control. They were the minority. So that probably answers that question. But I just remember the conures had a very similar bill well we'll see what happens uh next obviously uh those two teams expressed interest but i don't understand why they haven't called colin kaepernick so always calling me but i mean that's that's the whole piece uh i do have to ask you this year uh today of course they finished the impeachment inquiries of democrats here on capitol hill uh your assessment of the last three weeks of testimony. Well, I don't know if we're finished yet, but I certainly believe that we will continue to follow the evidence wherever it leads. Evidence continues to be compiled.

So there may be additional hearings in intelligence. But I think that there has been probable cause established that the president committed an impeachable offense, i.e., bribery and or extortion. Bribery and or extortion and other high crimes and misdemeanors. Of course, bribery is enumerated as an impeachable offense in the Constitution. And Gordon Sondland, Ambassador Sondland, came in yesterday, testified under oath that there was a quid pro quo, there was a understanding that he had given to him by President Trump that there would be no aid and no Oval Office meeting would flow to President Zelensky of Ukraine unless and until that president announced an investigation into the president's political opponent. And so, therefore, there's an attempt to influence the 2020 election,

same way through foreign interference that the 2016 election was influenced by Russia. So what do you make of Republicans who say, well, because Trump did that directly and explicitly tell anyone what to do, therefore nothing happened. Well, I think Ambassador Sondland blasted a hole in that argument. He said the president was firm about there would be no aid unless there was some compliance with his demand. And on the other side of that, it was like the president offering foreign assistance to the president of Ukraine if you deliver to me what I want. Right.

So it was an attempted bribery as well as an extortion. And that has been clearly established by the evidence that has been taken thus far by the Intelligence Committee. And so the question becomes, when will the House, when will there be a report finished by the Intelligence Committee and presented to the Judiciary Committee, which can then begin the process of drafting articles of impeachment. In my opinion, sufficient evidence has already been collected to begin that process. All right. Congressman Hank Johnson, we appreciate it. Thank you so very much.

Thank you. All right, folks, when we come back, we'll talk about last night's Democrat debate in Atlanta. We'll show you some of the high points, low points, all of that next. Roland Martin Unfiltered. You want to check out Roland Martin Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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That's right, anywhere from $200 up to $10,000. To invest, go to MarijuanaStock.org. That's MarijuanaStock.org. Get in the game and get in the game now. Ten leading Democratic presidential contenders took to the debate stage last night at the Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. A lot of attention was focused on Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who was in first place in Iowa based upon recent polling, but he, of course, is not doing well among black voters. A lot of time was spent on disparaging

Donald Trump, but you also had candidates who sort of went after each other, Harris against Gabbard, Booker taking a shot, a how high shot at Joe Biden. Here's a roundup. President Trump has dramatically changed America's approach to our adversaries by holding summits with Kim Jong-un, getting out of the Iran nuclear deal, and at times embracing Vladimir Putin and other strongmen. So let's talk about what kind of commander in chief you would be. Senator Harris, North Korea is now threatening to cancel any future summits if President Trump does not make concessions on nuclear weapons.

If you were commander in chief, would you make concessions to Kim Jong-un in order to keep those talks going? With all due deference to the fact that this is a presidential debate, Donald Trump got punked. He was born, he has conducted foreign policy since day one, born out of a very fragile ego that fails to understand that one of the most important responsibilities of the commander-in-chief is to concern herself with the security of our nation and homeland and to do it in a way that understands that part of the strength of who we are as a nation and therefore an extension of our ability to be secure is not only that we have a vibrant military but that

when we walk in any room around the globe we are respected because we keep to our word we are consistent we speak truth and we are loyal what Donald Trump has done from pulling out of the Paris agreement to pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal to consistently turning a back on people who have stood with us in difficult times including most recently the Kurds points out that Donald Trump is the greatest threat to the national security of our nation at this moment would you make concessions to North Korea not at this point there are no concessions to be made they keep Topskine? Not at this point. There are no concessions to be made. He has traded a photo op for nothing.

He has abandoned, by shutting down the operations with South Korea for the last year and a half, so those operations which should be, and those exercises which should be active, because they are in our best national security, the relationship that we have with Japan. He has in every way compromised our ability to have any influence on slowing down or at least having a check and balance on North Korea's nuclear program. Senator Harris, this week you criticized Mayor Pete Buttigieg's outreach to African-American voters. You said, quote, the Democratic nominee has got to be someone who has the experience of connecting with all of who we are as the diversity of the American people, end quote.

What exactly prompted you to say that, Senator Harris? Well, that was asked a question that related to a stock photograph that his campaign published but listen I think that the it really speaks to a larger issue and I'll speak to the larger issue I believe that the mayor has made apologies for that the larger issue is that for too long I think candidates have taken for granted constituencies that have been the backbone of the Democratic Party and have overlooked those constituencies. And have, you know, they show up when it's, you know, close to election time and show up in a black church and want to get the vote, but just haven't been there before I mean you know the the there are plenty of people who applauded black women for the success of the 2018 election applauded black women for the election of a senator from Alabama but

you know at some point folks get tired of just saying oh you know thank me for showing up and one and and say it, show up for me. Because when black women, when black women are three to four times more likely to die in connection with childbirth in America, when the sons of black women will die because of gun violence more than any other cause of death, when black women make 61 cents on the dollar as compared to all women who tragically make 80 cents on the dollar the question has to be where you been and what are you gonna do and do you understand and I'm running for president because I believe that we have to have leadership

in this country who has worked with and have the experience of working with all folks. And we've got to recreate the Obama coalition to win. And that means about women, that's people of color, that's our LGBTQ community, that's working people, that's our labor unions. But that is how we are going to win this election, and I intend to win. I wanted to return back to this issue of black voters. I have a lifetime of experience with black voters I've been one since I was 18 nobody on this stage should need a focus group to hear from african-american voters black voters are pissed off and they're worried they're

pissed off because the only time our issues seem to really paid attention to by politicians is when people are looking for their vote. And they're worried because the Democratic Party, we don't want to see people miss this opportunity and lose because we are nominating someone that isn't trusted, doesn't have authentic connection. And so that's what's on the ballot. And issues do matter. I have a lot of respect for the vice president. He has swore me into my office as a hero. This week I hear him literally say that I don't think we should

legalize marijuana. I thought you might have been high when you said it. And let me tell you, because marijuana in our country is already legal for privileged people. And the war on drugs has been a war on black and brown people. And so let me just say this. With more African Americans under criminal supervision in America than all the slaves since 1850, do not roll up into communities and not talk directly to issues that are going to relate to the liberation of children because there are people in Congress right now that admit to smoking marijuana

while there are people our kids are in jail right now for those drug crimes and so these are the kind of issues that mean a lot to our community and if we don't have somebody authentically we lost the last election let me just give you this data example we lost in Wisconsin because of a massive diminution a lot of reasons but there was a massive diminution in the african-american vote we need to have someone that can inspire as Kamala said to inspire african-americans to the polls at record numbers. Thank you Senator Booker. I you know I'm part part of that Obama coalition. I come out of the black community in terms of my support.

If you notice, I have more people supporting me in the black community than have announced for me because they know me. They know who I am. Three former chairs of the black caucus. The only African American woman that had ever been elected to the United States Senate. A whole range of people. No, that's not true. My point people. No, that's not true. That's not true.

I said the first. I said the first African American elected. The first African American. So my point is, my point is that one of the reasons I was picked to be vice president was because of my relationship, longstanding relationship with the black community. I was part of that coalition, longstanding relationship with the black community. I was part of that coalition. All right, folks.

There were some other issues that came up as well. Joining us, of course, is Greg Carr, chair, Department of Afro-American Studies, Howard University, La Victoria Burt, NNPA. Greg, I'll start with you. I think probably out of all the previous debates, this was probably the strongest night for Harris and Booker. Wow. I mean, you know, I was thinking about Warren.

The more Elizabeth Warren explains her policies, it seems to me the better she looks when people get past the shock at the beginning. And Bernie's going to be Bernie. But, yeah, I think I think you're right. And that exchange you chose to show us. And I was asking you how that played in the room. Yeah, the gloves are off. I mean, but what do they have to lose? I mean, Booker obviously did what he did. But Biden, you know, Biden has nowhere to go but down. You've been saying this for a long time. He's peaked. I mean, and this erosion is probably going to correlate to black people getting more and more comfortable with the idea that we do have choices. We've got to educate ourselves, we've got to vote differently.

But yeah, last night, Harris and Booker, definitely. The reason I saw, if you look at this debate, it was a tale of two debates. In the first half of the debate, Lauren, that was probably in the first 40 minutes, there were about five or so questions that were directed at Elizabeth Warren. I mean, I was sitting on the far left side of the floor, And you can see Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer, I thought, were going to jump out of their suits because they pretty much got ignored for the first 45 minutes.

And same with Gabbard. And they kept going back to Warren. Also, what really bothered me, I think, the most, everybody's praising the fact that you had four women who were the moderators. And they did a good job. Here's my issue. I think four people moderating a debate are far too many people. Two, you're trying to cover way too many issues. Perfect example,

there was one point Elizabeth Warren was asked a question about military service, only 1% of Americans. She's the only person who got the question. Then they went to a question about white domestic terrorism and Gabbard and Gabbard and I think Yang or Gabbard and Steyer was Gabbard and Yang asked the question. And I'm sitting there going, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Yeah. Hello. And then and then when they said we're going to move to race, then in the middle of a so-called race discussion, Biden gets a Me Too question, and they go back to race. It was sort of like that to me what I felt was disjointed. I thought that was actually a mistake.

It felt like somebody was reading, like Ashley Parker, one of the reading the subjects, and they went to Me Too, and you're right, they came back to race. It was so strange. Frankly, this was clearly the best Cory Booker performance, right? If you don't have him standing there, and Elizabeth Warren as well, but those two senators, if you don't have them standing there, you don't hear anything about redlining. You don't hear anything about gentrification. It was actually Amy Klobuchar who brought up voting rights first without being asked. First time, according to Art Gurman german the first time in 32 debates that voter

suppression or voting rights came up right and not because she was asked about it because she brought it up and it was the same thing with elizabeth warren she brought up redlining because she brought up redlining and housing well luckily luckily for the moderators finally housing became unfortunately the former hood secretary, Julian Castro, wasn't on the stage, who didn't qualify. Gabbard's standing there for some reason that nobody can figure out. Well, anyway, so you had those four in particular bring things up. When Harris went into the thing about black women being the base,

you know, the most important base for the party, the most important Democrat for the Democratic Party, she brought that up on her own because I don't care what anyone says. Now, I've seen this movie too many times. If you do not have an African-American moderator that centers African-American issues, they will not come up. Period. End of story. Well, and also, you know, also, if you notice every debate, right, in every debate, the black person has to bring bring it up. Exactly. I mean, I would really like to see a white moderator bring up some questions dealing with race and not leave it to the black person has to bring it up. Exactly. I mean, I would really like to see a white moderator bring up some questions dealing

with race and not leave it to the black person. Also, it's worse than that because the dynamics of TV anchors, of course, is that Rachel Maddow was talking about impeachment and Russians all night. So the first five questions were on Russia. Then they circled back to impeachment again. Then they did North Korea, China. So we end up talking more about foreign policy than we do domestic, which I think inherently,

black or white is problematic. And so you need not only a black person with a pulse beat, you need somebody who will center black issues. Because we've seen a few black moderators that did not center anything black. Of course, of course. So it's- And it was, I mean, first of all a buddha judge

raised the raised uh mentioned mentions maynard jackson in his closing statement right uh i mean i mean it was even then and his i mean first of all i mean his staff did a good job of briefing him on the issues but but but the thing that still bothers me when you have these debates is that you have moderators who are not paying attention to where they are. How are you sitting? In Atlanta. How are you? No, no, no. No, no, no.

I'm about to go even more specific. How are you sitting in the Oprah Winfrey soundstage on a lot owned by an African-American, Tyler Perry, who invested $250 million into this studio, and you do not have a real discussion about black folks and access to capital. You don't have a real discussion about how do you use your political power to drive that as part of Blue Judge's plan, and some of the other candidates as well.

And you have examples of Maynard Jackson. African-Americans getting.0012% of all city contracts. He becomes mayor in 73. And look what he did with the airport. And then followed by Andrew Young. Followed by Maynard Jackson. Followed by Bill Campbell. Shirley Franklin.

Kasim Reed. Now Keisha Lance Bottoms, and same thing in the TSU debate. Literally across the street from Texas Southern University was the CUNY homes, a public housing complex. How do you, and that's what, it aggravates me because, right, you're over here in North Korea, in China, in Venezuela, when there are substantive issues,

and I dare say, the most interesting part of the debate is when they were talking about black stuff. Exactly right. And it got cut off. Go to a break. I'm sitting like, oh, my God. So, wait, we saw the same thing at NABJ. I think it was Kirsten Welker. Right.

I mean, we saw that. We kept asking Hillary Clinton about the damn e-mails. About the e-mails, right? And that's why I'm saying there needs to be a come to Jesus behind the scenes where we're not having this ridiculousness play out again and again and again. Actually, here's what needs to happen. Here's what actually needs to happen. When this debate

was announced, when this debate was announced, it was announced, Greg, as the Washington Post and MSNBC are the co-hosts along with Urban One. And where's the Urban One? Precisely. Now, in the first two, now, first of all, y'all, I ain't hating, I'm stating.

In the first press releases, Urban One was supposed to air it on the Radio One stations and then put it on their digital properties. The last several press releases, I heard them mention Urban One. Last night when they came out and announced who was presenting it, Urban One wasn't mentioned.

Here's the fundamental problem right here. The Congressional Black Caucus, they've got their debate coming up on February 25th in Charleston, South Carolina. I had a conversation with some of the CBC members last night, and here's the the issue Part of the problem is that you have these eight black cable networks that are sitting on their asses on the sideline and not being Engaged in the game very much. I will name them again. You have black own and black targeted TV one sister network is Cleo TV BET BET her you have have Revolt, you have Aspire, you have Bounce, and you have OWN. I'm sorry, I don't understand why the black OWN and black target networks don't come together and say, we're going to put as a consortium, we're going to sponsor the debate. Absolutely.

The eight black networks should be the sponsor of that February 25th debate in Charleston, South Carolina. That debate shouldn't be on. And if CNN or NBC or somebody else wants to air it, fine. But those networks should control the damn moderators, control the questions. So you're getting a substantive conversation. So part of the problem here is that the black networks are sitting on the sidelines and unwilling to get in the game. Absolutely, absolutely.

And in fact, two of them you named, Oprah Winfrey Network and BET, now that Tyler Perry has a much closer relationship with BET, you would think that that would be non-negotiable. They would start with that. I mean, even last night, they're sitting in Atlanta. But you know, it's interesting, Roland, because it makes me think about this, listening to you and Lauren talk and knowing the way, knowing that you understand the way that you understand the intricacies of how the political machine works. I wonder how shocked people will be when the primaries start and the percentages of people who get certain demographics vote may

not match up with the way things have been polled or reflect the things that are discussed in the debates. I mean, Buttigieg is polling at zero in South Carolina, so we kind of know what to expect with that. But I wonder, because the ground game of some of these folks, I think about the Sanders campaign in particular, I don't know that some of these same people who are asking about impeachment and Russia and Ukraine will be shocked to find out when the votes come in that the things they were asking about won't be reflected in the exit polls when the people vote differently than they. That happens every time. That happens every time because no. First of all, let's just be real.

Nobody votes based on foreign policy. So we spent half the night talking about China and North Korea. And impeachment is a domestic issue. But really, we're talking about Ukraine and Russia. So I get that Maddow, and I love Andrea Mitchell and Rachel Maddow, but their expertise is typically wanting to talk about impeachment and foreign policy, right? So I knew what I saw those two moderators, what type of evening it was going to be. Then when we get to domestic, you know, there's like this need to, and no offense because we all have our pet issues. If I'm one of the moderators, I'm not talking about any of this stuff they're talking about. I'm going to keep it all basically domestic.

But you're new, too, with four female moderators. You're going to get a me too question. You're going to get a women's issue. Reproduction, right? It's all good. But you're in it. You're in it later. And I have no problem with that.

Right. I don't either. But the city you're in, the number of black people who are sitting in the room, and yeah, folks, I'm there on the floor. Sitting on that floor was Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young. You had state reps. You had Thurman, of course, who is over the county there, county CEO. You had the district attorney there. You had Mark Morial, Derek Jones derrick of the naacp you got uh sharpton you got all these folks who are sitting in the audience and again it is maddening but i will dare i will say it again

let me say this again before i go to a break and the only reason the only way this changes, let me be real clear, is when black people who have media properties stop feeding black people entertainment and actually for one damn night every four years have the guts to sponsor our own debate. Some of y'all, yes, that was a town hall between CNN and TV One in 2016. I didn't want to do it with CNN. I told Alfred Liggins we should do it ourselves. We didn't need them to have to do it. And that, to me me is the problem. And that is what is angering me about what is going on. Black people, we actually have the

power, the largest delegation in the House Democrats, the Congressional Black Caucus. Trust me, African-Americans can go to Tom Perez and look him in the eye and say, award one of these debates to a black network. When ABC had to debate, Univision was sitting on the stage. Jorge Ramos was sitting on the stage. But the problem is that it's a little hard for black networks to do that when you don't even do black news. One thousand three hundred and forty four hours a week, not one hour dedicated to news. So let me go ahead and say this again, okay? We cannot blame the Democratic Party for black networks not sponsoring the debate because they turned the debate over to the networks. We can't

blame anybody else. It's black media folks who need to step their game up and actually do this. And that, to me, is part of the problem. And you're going to see, you would have more questions that are being asked, and it wouldn't be filtered through a mainstream media prism. Because even when the CBC has that debate on February 25th, because it's not going to be black media actually conducting it, it's going to be filtered through a mainstream media prism. And if there's another story that's a big story that day, something blows up in Europe, guess what's going to be the lead questions? Those particular issues. And folks, that's the difference when you have black folks who understand their power. And trust me, all you black networks,

you can live without your entertainment ratings for one damn night every four years. It's not going to somehow destroy your business model if you can't show a sitcom or an award show or drama or comedy for one night every four years. It's only our country. You're watching Roller Martin Unfiltered. Be back in a moment. You want to support Roll Roland Martin Unfiltered. Be back in a moment. You want to support Roland Martin Unfiltered? Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show.

There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. As Roland Martin Unfiltered, support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. We're talking about the power of black women. In a moment, we're going to talk about Kamala Harris, Senator Kamala Harris and her prayer breakfast this morning, her power breakfast this morning.

Howard Heights was a sponsor of that. But we look at 1619 to 2019, the role that black women played has been tremendous. My next guest understands that. She's the author, educator, radio host, and filmmaker, Dr. Carsonia Wise, whitehead, historian, in the Department of African American Studies at Loyola University. And her book is called Notes from a Colored Girl. So certainly glad to have you here on the show, Dr. Whitehead. This is, it was interesting when you talk about

this history and what is so unique. Of course, the movie Harriet is out. You've got people with their criticism. I saw it. Very good film. I really enjoyed it. And I think people also learn a lot more about her if they actually never, never read about it. But but the point that I also keep making is that this is not just black history. The impact of black women is also American history. I absolutely agree with you. I think that we need to stop going with the narrative that black history is somehow separate from American history. I think that gives people an excuse to not teach intentionally about black history until February. There's this notion that

we do regular American history from, what, March until January, and then we stop regular American history to break off and talk about black history black history is American history and within that black women's history is one of the major foundational points that not only hold this country up but help us to understand why we're moving forward in some of the ways in which we're moving forward and so when we talk about these historical figures, I mean, look, and what happens is every Black History Month, people will mention Madam T.J. Walker.

Yes, they'll mention Harriet Tubman. They'll mention Sojourner Truth. They might mention Mary McLeod Bethune. But there are so many other women, rich, amazing stories that don't come up. Which I think is interesting, because I think that when you talk about women's history, that there is an intentionality in terms of teaching about the white women who helped this country to move forward.

And when it comes to black women's history, there is this ongoing trope, just kind of the chosen few. Harriet Tubman, you know, and which I love the Harriet Tubman movie because it helps people to understand that she was not a myth. It was not mythology. She was actually a black woman who made daily choices around her survival. Adding Dorothy Iheight into the conversation, you know, the head of the National Council of Negro Women and her work that she did to help the March on Washington happen and the role that she took in shaping that,

adding Fannie Lou Hamer to the conversation, her work in the Democratic National Convention, her work in organizing. What does it mean to say I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of being excluded and having to do invisible labor? The work that we must do is to name and claim the black women, not only the ones who've gotten us this far, the Zora Neale Hurstons, the Ida B. Wells, the Ella Bakers, but the ones whose shoulders

that we're standing on at this moment. Let's not forget the black women who are ascending into positions of power all over this country. And even if the world does not recognize them, we have to sing and shout and yell their names and demand to have what Shirley Chisholm said, that seat at the table that will always belong to us. So one of the things that also, I think when you made that point, and this is where I say it's incumbent upon black folks. I was just talking about, of course, these debates and the responsibility of black networks. And I keep telling black people as well, I'm tired of hearing black people talk about,

we don't know our history. Well, take your ass to the library. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm like, read a damn book. I mean, it bugs me to no end that we are, in essence, asking somebody else to tell us about us, as opposed to, no, create your own personal curriculum. Go beyond your world

and ensure that your kids, your nieces and nephews have an understanding. I mean, look, I have this massive DVD collection of a lot of different, not just black movies, but also documentaries and, of course, books as well. And I make it clear that I'm not going to have ignorant black, ignorant black nieces and nephews who do not understand. And if they are ignorant, they are choosing to be ignorant because they've chosen to ignore my own personal resources. I actually agree with you. I take it and even make it even more narrow i'm like if you can't get to the library if you can't get to the information get on to this place called the world wide web the internet and if you simply google the names of black people if you google the name carter g woodson and look up the association for the study of african-american life and history well you'll understand why carter jewishin was called the father of Black history

and why Asala sets the Black History Month theme every day. If you look up Black women's current historians and you look at our work, so many of us talk about the contributions of Black women. When I meet Black people and they don't know their history, I would argue that it's an intentional decision that you're making. Because then I'll ask them, what's the name of your favorite television show? And they can tell

me every episode, every season, every actor, actors who left, every storyline plot, because you've intentionally taken it upon yourself to be well-versed in the things you care about. Become well-versed in our history. Because if we don't know our history, no one else is going to teach it. Nobody should have African-American kids sitting around them not knowing their history. Let's be intentional, people. Let's make real decisions about who we are. Let's put down the things that are not concerning us. Let's not get up in challenges around, you know, chicken sandwiches and all that kind of mess. And let's do some real work to make sure that the next generation understands that we are descendants of people who chose to survive.

And that means we are resilient. That means we're brilliant. That means we're bright. That means we're survivors. And that means that we can make decisions, like you said earlier, to make sure that when people are debating to become president, they come to our station. We can hear them. We can ask questions that matter to us. As if we don't belong in the room, we are forcing ourselves onto the agenda because we're supposed to be on the agenda. It shouldn't be an afterthought. We shouldn't get to the fifth debate and finally you have black people in the room. No, no. We should be in the room all along the way. And you should come to one of our stations to have that conversation as well. All right, then Dr. Karsanya Wise Whitehead, folks, check out her book Notes from a Colored Girl. We appreciate it. Thanks a

lot. Thank you so much. All right, going to break, we come back, we'll talk about the power breakfast that took place this morning between with higher Heights and Senator Kamala Harris. Interesting things said in that discussion. Even Marsha Fudge has something to say to all the critics of Senator Kamala Harris about her being a prosecutor. That's next, Roland Martin Unfiltered. You wanna check out Roland Martin Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roland Martin Unfiltered. See that name right there? Roland Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, 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. You want to support Roland Martin Unfiltered? Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show.

There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real as Roland Martin Unfiltered support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show by going to

RolandMartinUnfiltered.com Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible rolandmartinunfiltered.com all right folks this morning in atlanta the group higher heights that they of course have endorsed senator kamala harris is a group of 90 000 black women across the

country uh who are involved in politics and other issues well they held a power breakfast this morning at the western hotel we were there We live streamed the entire event. Here is a roundup of what was discussed. What we have is a situation where in 2013, the United States Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. And immediately thereafter, at least two dozen states started passing through their state legislatures laws that were specifically designed to suppress the black vote. And in some areas, the Latino vote, in some areas, the Native American vote, in some areas, students from voting. And to the point that we'll all remember in North Carolina,

the Court of Appeals said that that state had written a law that with surgical precision, were the words that were used in the Court of Appeal review, was designed to suppress the black vote. So the challenge that we have in activating folks to vote is a very real one, because there are historical and current institutional barriers that have been designed to suppress black folks from voting, including what has happened here in Georgia around the purging of the voter rolls. So what do we do about that?

Well, we need to litigate. We need to support the ACLU. We need to support all of the folks who are doing the work on the ground to fight against that. But we're going to also have to support our faith-based community, our nonprofit organizations that are helping people get around the obstacles to voting so that they register to vote and they have the willingness and the support to stand in line while they otherwise have to work two and three jobs to vote.

We also have to deal with the misinformation campaign that is what is the Russian interference. That is real. So I am well aware of the challenge before us. I am well aware of the challenge in that there were a lot of people who put heart and soul into the idea that we would have the first woman president and the disappointment that still lingers from that night in November of 2016, where people who worked so hard on that campaign have been saying, maybe America's not ready. I am well aware of the challenge before us, but here's where I stand on this.

There is nothing we have ever achieved that has been about progress that came without a fight. And in particular, black women know that. And we know, because we are always deep of faith, and in our ability to know that we can see what can be unburdened by what has been, and when we believe and have faith that it is possible we make it happen and i do just want to shout out i'm sure all you have seen them but i just do want to shout out roland martin who's over there in the corner who owns his own platform and uh

keeps and he's sitting next to my sister maya harris i didn't even see you, Maya. Who broke her foot. Maya had quite the escort last night. Rosario Dawson wheeled her out on the floor. It was a beautiful scene. But I just want to say, Roland does keep a lot of the issues that we don't hear in mainstream media. He keeps them at the forefront.

So thank you for that, Roland. Yes, he does. Six thank you for that, Rowan, and thank you for... Yes, he does. All right, folks. Let's go to our panel. We're bringing in Robert Petillo, the attorney who's also out of Atlanta. I didn't have it there, but I'm going to get the clip in a second. But

Congresswoman Marsha Fudge, she spoke first. And she said, she said, we need to stop with attacks on black people who are prosecutors, she said, because there are black prosecutors who are out there who are doing the right thing. She said, I was a prosecutor. She said, I put people in jail. She said, but also kept a whole lot of people out of jail. And she talked about Senator Harris's alternative sentencing program that she had there as district attorney in San

Francisco and the effect it had on people's lives as well. And so that was something that she really emphasized. And she also said that, look, she said, it's a whole bunch of people who are running. And she said, and if all things being equal, hell yeah, I'm going to support the black woman who's running. Hey, I'm there. I think, you know, Marsha Fudge is like literally one of my favorite people to talk to because she's blunt. She's to the point. She's no nonsense. She is she's really top shelf. But one of the other things that keeps people out of jail is really good defense attorneys. And our political system rewards people who brag about throwing people in jail and, you know, locking people up and throwing away the key.

That's what the Nixon era and the Reagan era of over-incarceration ushered in. I mean, Marcia Fudge, I'm sure, is right. I'm not an attorney. I'm not a prosecutor. So I'm sure she has a really good point. I'm sure she was a very good prosecutor because she's been really good at everything else she's done. But I have to say, given some recent experiences, not, not personal to me, but some friends that have been going through some things, I've had a renewed respect for defense attorneys. Cause if you have a good defense attorney and you

have somebody who really believes in that representation, it's a huge, huge factor. But the reality, Greg, is that, look, first of all, you need defense attorneys, but yes, you also need black people who are operating as prosecutors. Look, you've got people right now who are going after that district attorney in Mississippi who has tried repeatedly to throw black people off of jurors, case with the Supreme Court. You have the case, of course, the guy in Texas, where you've had prosecutorial misconduct from DAs as well. You need to have black folks in all levers who are judges, who are DAs, who are defense attorneys, because that impacts the criminal justice system. You look at this new wave of prosecutors because people are now realizing you can't just ask Washington, D.C., the change was happening. No. So you've got Kim Fox in Cook County in Chicago, Aramis Ayala, Marilyn Mosby.

You have folks all around the country. I met the sister in DeKalb today. She's I'll show the picture. She's a district attorney there in DeKalb cab black woman and so these things are real and so to act as if and to that that's that somehow is a negative that is wrong examine somebody's record full record but to start off by saying oh black da i don't like it to me it's a bad idea no no absolutely and it's been a bad idea for a very long time i mentioning during the break kurt schmoke who was the dean of harvard law school for a long time and was the state's attorney, youngest state's attorney in the history of Maryland, had been saying this for close to two generations. And it was Kurt Schmoke who began floating the idea of decriminalizing drugs very early on. And this, of course, he caught a lot of ire. He's very

young. And, you know, it's been two generations now between a young Kurt Schmoke and Marilyn Mosby now in Baltimore and in Maryland. And so ultimately what we're faced with is the fact that our institutions need to begin to continue to expand the number of young people who decide to go on to the prosecutor's side. I see it every day at the law school at Howard. A number of young people were saying we want to be on that side because we can intervene very differently. And so ultimately, as you say, it's one thing to have a demographic checked off. Well, we got some black and brown people on that side. It's quite another thing to have the right mentality, the right training, the right background. And ultimately, finally, and we see this to your point, Lauren,

a lot of the greatest defense attorneys started out as prosecutors and DAs. So why not go on that side to find out what they do? And then if you want to switch sides, you can. Well, first of all, we've had Monique Presley. We've had Scott Bolden, others on this show as well. Yo, D2L Day, Robert Petillo, you're an attorney. But the point of this breakfast was mobilizing these black women. And one of the things one of the other speakers on that panel said to them is that they must be utilizing their network not just to get people to vote, but also to fund candidates. They said that, look, we can sit here and talk all day about the need for more black women in politics. But the sister said, if you don't fund the campaigns, you're not going to get them.

Congressman Fudge's point. It's not simply that she's a prosecutor people are criticizing. It is her record as prosecutor that people are criticizing. Look, I'm on the board of directors for the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. I've done over 100 jury trials right there in Atlanta, Georgia, primarily. You can have prosecutors who have discretion, who have restorative justice, who understand how to charge, when to charge, and where to charge. So I think it's a bit

disingenuous to say that Kamala's just being criticized because she was a prosecutor is the nature in her record as a prosecutor, which is fair game for scrutiny. Well, no, I've actually dealt with some people who said, I've had to deal with people who said, I can't trust anybody who's a prosecutor, and I said, nuts but go ahead well okay you know you have

keith damage right there in the associate general of fulton county you have uh sherry boston who you mentioned in dekalb county there are great prosecutors i think people need to understand that when your house is robbed when you are a victim of crime that prosecutor needs to be on your side but it is fair game to keep that record uh to make that record public and to understand if you were indeed on the side of restorative justice and not simply the lock them up throw the right way the key prosecutor because effectively many crowds have been decriminalized for white people for years as long as you got money and a good attorney marijuana has been legal for rich communities

for a long time there is just filtering down us, and we have to ensure that our prosecutors going forward understand that and understand the nature of discretion. On the point of funding campaigns, they're absolutely correct, but we need to have candidates who are bold enough to issue policies that will get Black folks up and motivated and ready to open their checkbooks and ready to mobilize. You can't simply say, I'm here for Black people. Joe Biden last simply say, I'm here for black people. You know, Joe Biden last night said, I'm from the black community. Pete Buttigieg said, I'm a gay man. I understand black people.

We need them to actually have articulable policies that make us want to hop up, get up, and get out in Obama 2012 numbers. But Robert. Otherwise, you're not going to see that same mobilization. But Robert, and I'll be honest with you, what was driving me crazy, sitting on the floor last night, it also means moderators must stop asking open-ended ass questions that don't have anything to do with policy. I was sitting on the floor going, where's the policy? Where's the policy? Where's the policy? Okay. And when the question was asked, a Buddha judge,

where's the policy? That's what was bugging me. And that's also part of the problem. If you ask somebody and open in the conversation, how do we bring people together? Hell, that ain't policy. Right. And that's what happens.

And on that exact same note, not only are they not asking about policy, they're giving people an immediate out. They asked Elizabeth Warren about white supremacy. She started talking about illegal immigration. We need to have moderators and we need to have, as we were saying earlier, we need to be sponsoring these debates to ensure that if you're coming to Atlanta, if you're going to be on Campbellton Road in the squats down the street from the AUC, they all want to shout out Maynard Jackson and John Lewis. You better, you better well hell have shouted out a bunch of policies you were going to do

to honor their legacy. This is not a game of trivial pursuits, where you want to name as many black people you can think of from Atlanta. We want to know what you're actually going to do. And also, we have to understand that the same way that Elizabeth Warren issued a plan to pay for her Medicare for all, I need a plan, not just your belief system. If you say you support reparations, what's your plan for reparations? If you say you support

child care for the African-American community, key in on that. We can no longer just simply sit by and assume that the black folks are going to vote for Democrats at 95 percent, because just two weeks ago, President Trump was in Atlanta with his Black Voices for Trump event. You can continue to say it's a clown show. Those people are joking. He is coming for the Black vote, and he only needs to skim about 20% off of what Democrats traditionally get in order to win

in a landslide. So keep playing this little sideshow game. Quit. Keep just doing photo ops with fried chicken and hot sauce bottles, and you will see what will happen in 2020. But Greg, what has to happen, I think we're going to be seeing this and that is this here um funding our own initiatives uh and i and what the sister was saying there was that we have to fund our own initiatives and she was calling on these black women to utilize their networks to begin to pull those resources together.

That is also what's critical. Again, saying how powerful the black vote is means nothing if you don't have the dollars to be able to go into communities, mobilize them, first of all, register them, then mobilize them and move them to the polls come election day. Absolutely. I mean, Roland, one thing you've done consistently, wherever platform you have been in, including this one, is highlight the work of black women who have been doing exactly that. Registering voters, organizing, doing think tank work like Melanie Campbell and the Women's Roundtable.

I mean, you know, ultimately, this isn't an American phenomena. This is a world history phenomena. Black women. And in a minute, you're going to have another very powerful black woman on an international stage in this conversation. Black women have been doing networking since they've been human beings. So this isn't just good politics. This is really a kind of a natural outgrowth of the way our culture has organized.

The black church at the root and the foundation of it was black women organizing, no matter if a man was the preacher. And when we heard Dr. Whitehead talk about Ella Jo Baker or Septima Clark or Fannie Lou Hamer, these aren't just individual figures in history. They're representative of networks of black women. So absolutely, resources should be put in the hands of those who have proven what they can do when they have limited resources. So black women, of course, should be the foundation, not just of our politics,

but ultimately, if the Democratic Party was smart, they would absolutely ground their work in the work of black women of course should be the foundation not just of our politics but ultimately if the Democratic Party was smart they would absolutely ground their work in the work of black women. Lauren black women hate the Republican Party more than anybody else Republicans will tell you that and so everybody obviously is focused on that but but I think that what you're seeing is that and you're gonna see more of this how our Heights they're're doing some stuff for Harris in South Carolina. The group of black women who endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren, they're doing that.

In fact, I just saw a video there of folks doing swag surfing on the campus of Clark Atlanta University at the Elizabeth Warren rally there. That was pretty interesting. Was she participating? The video that I saw. Did she participate?

Not sure if she did, but we're going to see in a second. So again, I think what is going to happen is, and because we just saw this in Louisiana, black folks were driving those numbers. This got also overlooked. There have been some cases, some places in Mississippi where they've beaten Republicans, because you're seeing that turnout as well. And I think at the end of the day, Reverend Barber has been saying this, what Democrats have to understand is you will never be able to get people to turn out if you never go talk to them. And you got to be

able to go to those places and work them in order to get them to come out and vote. I disagree a little bit only because of Virginia and Kentucky. Virginia and Kentucky, it's not that, I'm not saying there wasn't a voter mobilization effort. Of course, there was. But your best GOTV was actually Donald Trump in those two places. We saw unprecedented turnout in Virginia that was matching the gubernatorial turnout. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Donald Trump was not the best GOTV. Here's the piece. No, no. Donald Trump can piss you off. But what you had is.

Anger is a good motivator. No, no, no. You can be angry. But you also have to have people who are knocking on doors, who are making phone calls, who are there with their clipboards, who are there getting you registered. I mean, folks are just automatically saying, okay, I'm just going to go vote. What happened there? I mean, I talked. No, I'm telling you. Last night in Atlanta, I'm just going to go vote. What happened there? I mean, I talked. No, I'm telling you. Last night in Atlanta, I talked to Cedric Richmond.

He said in my congressional district alone, we increased the turnout by 43,000 votes. He said that was a plan. That wasn't, hey, y'all, let's get rid of Trump. And when I was talking to Reverend Barber, he talked about the number of times they went into Kentucky. They went into places. Same thing, talking to LaTosha Brown and Cliff Albright, the places where they went. But before, a year before the election in Virginia, that Black Voters Matter bus was traveling throughout Virginia. And they were, I'm trying to tell you, they were, I mean, so again, we can say Donald Trump, but you still have to have groups that are going into places who are training people to register people and not just register them, but you still got to move them to the ballot box.

We've had groups and we definitely have groups in Virginia. I mean, I work in politics in Virginia and in New York. And I'm telling you that in 2017, we saw that first wave in Virginia. And we go back to Obama. But people didn't just turn up. Those lines wrap around the corner for a reason, usually a really good candidate or a really stiff opposition. But what, right.

And I'm not saying there's not a voter turnout effort. I'm saying though that what we see with this historic, we see this historic level turnout, particularly in a place like Virginia. We didn't see it before. A lot of that is Donald Trump. But even if you go back to Obama winning North Carolina in 2008, about 14,000 votes, you can say it was because Obama was on there, but you had people, though, who were doing the work to mobilize.

Again, the problem he's making is that there's the election. No, there's the election in November. Then there's the primary. Before I can even get you to vote in the primary, I've got to get you registered. Last night, Stacey Abrams left the debate and went to their call centers because her organization, they are going down the list and calling the hundredth of the almost 300,000 people

who are on the list to be purged to say, make sure you don't get purged. If that work isn't done, you can be motivated to vote against Donald Trump. And guess what? You show up and realize I've been purged. Robert Patel, you want to jump in right here? I'm going to go to Greg. Go ahead. You know, Georgia is my territory. I've been to all 159 counties working on election campaigns. And the issue is we still have over 500,000 unregistered African Americans in the state. And part of the reason is, particularly in the South, you have Democratic parties that are still mainly run at the top levels by white ditzy crap. And they would rather have the state run by white Republicans who they get along with than cede the state over to Negro control.

And so for that reason, it is crucial, is that what you were saying, that we hit those streets, we hit those jurisdictions, we get people registered, we get them motivated, and we not be afraid to campaign to them on issues that they care about.

We have to, and we can't go into the churches and not bring a holding message with us as candidates. We cannot go into the barbershops and into the grocery stores and the nail salons and not be talking about things that people actually want to hear. Just saying I hate Trump is not enough to win if Hillary would be the president right now. I would agree. And again, you've been saying this over and over again, particularly about the Democratic National Committee. At some point, you're going to have to commit to the people who have not only been the base of that party, but whose politics are going to drive the future of this country.

I think about one of my friends, Adwoa Asamoah, who helped push the Crown Act, the Natural Hair Act. You know, watching her with these young millennials, I realized that, you know, you're right, Lauren, that you have to have an attractive candidate, and a lot of these attractive candidates, these young candidates, are at the local levels. There's a lot of black women running for these local offices, city council, and just watching how they're networking and beginning to emerge, you see these black women driving this conversation,

but the DNC, or whatever political formation, needs to understand that this is where the resources need to go. Which is why I'm making the point that also you cannot simply wait on a party what also has to happen when i called out black media you must have black folks who are pooling their resources and say we're going to fund our own voter registration drives because what happens when it comes to who wins determines what our politics is. Donald Trump this week is going to get their 50th judicial appeal judge. Last night, according to Vanita Gupta, they moved eight more people. My God. They want to, and I keep telling people, it's all about the judicial

pieces, which means that if that's your only issue, you still better vote. Robert Petillo, I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Greg, thanks a lot. Lauren, thanks a lot. Coming up, the African Union folks facing the backlash after firing the ambassador to the United States. Now they're trying to tarnish her reputation.

We'll discuss that next. Roller Barton Unfiltered. You want to check out Roller Barton Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roller Barton Unfiltered. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roland Martin Unfiltered.

See that name right there? Roland Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, 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. You want to support Roland Martin Unfiltered? Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club.

Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. As Roland Martin Unfiltered support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Want to check out RolandMartinUnfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's RolandMartinUnfiltered. See that name right there? RolandMartinUnfiltered. Like, share, 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. Of course, Arakanachiyombori Kweo served as ambassador to the African Union for three years here to the United States before she was let go of the African diaspora. Congress has an online petition demanding her reinstatement. They say she was fired because of influence and pressure exerted on African leaders and people by the former colonial powers of Europe. And now, of course, we had the ambassador on a couple weeks ago after she, of course, was terminated. And she says that the pressure continues on

her and now folks are trying to tarnish her name reputation she joins us right now glad to have you back so since we last talked what has happened well out of the blues five weeks after my termination letter there is now another communique that came out a few days ago where basically I am being accused of a slew of things projects that I initiated in order to deliver on my mandate

they are now claiming they were not AU supported which is quite ridiculous because those projects were based on what I used to request my budget. There was no budget when I first came in the first year, so I had to present a budget specifically stating what activities I wanted to engage in

in order to deliver on my mandate, which are the two mandates promoting Africa in the Americas, as well as galvanising the African diaspora to participate in the development of Africa. That I did. The budget was given. I proceeded with creating the programmes. These programmes, quarterly, I would report back to the headquarters

every programme that I would have implemented. The main three ones were, for example, I organized the women into an association that they called the Pan-African Diaspora Women. This was not a registered entity. It was only a social organization for the purposes of diaspora women coming to the mission and discussing issues pertaining to the women. I also created the Pan-African Diaspora Youth. This was for young people. Also, they would come and we would discuss their issues. And then, of course, we did the same thing with men. I took this opportunity to educate and inform the diaspora women and the diaspora youth and the men about the activities of the African Union, updates on decisions from the African heads of states.

So it was really a very dynamic group of people, but it was difficult to all of us meet at the same time on their own as women, as youth, as men, they would then have their own sessions and discuss their issues separately. So it worked very well in terms of promoting and galvanizing the African diaspora and making everybody feel that they were part of the process. So those were three. Trying to claim that I registered them illegally. They're not registered.

I simply brought the diaspora together, which was part of my mandate. The other thing they are accusing me of having done. I had a program which was a joint activity between the State Department and the African Union mission. The young African leaders from the continent came together and spent a day with young African leaders in the diaspora. It was a beautiful event. The youth engaged with each other. It is those kind of relationships that are going to give us the results that we need. Some of them have engaged in relationships that have lasted even to this day. That is what we need. We need to engage our young people.

Again, even though this was with the State Department, they say it's not part of the AU program. The other program that I implemented was Miss African Union. It was an amazing event. We brought in tradition, African tradition, African, African wear. It was a five hour event. The dancers were the ghetto kids from Rwanda. We had the Rwandese, Rwandese traditional dancers, the ghetto kids from Uganda,

and the Ndebele dancers. Amazing, amazing evening. All the contestants wore African clothes. The judges and the contestants had to learn about Berlin Conference, the Pact for the Continuation of Colonization, OAU, AU, all the way to the African continent of free trade area. It was educational. It is all part of promoting Africa in the United States, but at the same time also promoting African textile trade and industry. All those projects

they were part of implementation of my mandate. So to then turn around and say they were not part of the African Union, that is ludicrous. Every quarter, I would report every activity. It is a requirement that I have the quarterly activity report. All those activities were reported. There was never a question of whether or not these were African Union projects. There are 95,000, here we go to my iPad, please. There are 95,737 people who have signed this petition asking you to be reinstated. It was the end of your term, was November 1st. So they decided to let you go and you say you continue to, they're now trying to

now make these allegations. Why are they afraid of you? In your estimation. I think what it is, it goes back to the 95,000 people who were signed. They never expected that the diaspora would come up with such numbers. They feel threatened. And then secondly, lately,

the diaspora, a few days ago, they also started another petition which they are calling Fuckakima's Go. I think that's really what led them into coming up with this venom. But they need to realize that the diaspora are simply expressing their anger and disappointment. For the first time, the diaspora are saying, we felt we are represented. We felt connected to the African Union. They were updated and they really felt they were ready to move into Africa and begin to participate in building the Africa that

they want. So my dismissal was sudden and to them, they felt that the chairman simply did not care about the diaspora. So what you're seeing is the outrage from the diaspora who really felt for the first time they had a representative who understood them, a representative who listened to them, and to have that representative suddenly taken away from them was a very painful thing. I have to tell you, some diaspora, they called me in tears.

Even me, I'm surprised that I had such an impact to so many people in so many lives. And around the globe, honestly, if the truth be told, it's quite humbling when you see the response that's coming from the diaspora. So Chairman Fakir needs to listen to the diaspora. They're trying to communicate with him. And it behooves him to pay attention to their voices. When you call, you want to have a couple of folks who have known you to also speak for you. Introduce yourselves. My name is Sylvia Litana-Robertson, and I was the deputy director for the Miss African Union pageant. I'm Dr. Gloria Bozeman Herndon.

I'm an entrepreneur, former diplomat, and I've worked very closely with Ambassador Kuo. What do you think is going on here? Why are we at this point? It has to do with more than just this African Union situation. It's our situation in the world. Africa and the diaspora is strong and going. So you're going to have a lot of attacks. And the attack is coming from the inside.

They're attacking us because they know we're powerful. Together we're powerful. Just think about the African diaspora and how much it contributes to Africa. If you talk to the man on the street, they say, look, my brother over in Washington, D.C. is going to send our family $1,000 a month. Without that $1,000, where would we be? There is a link between the Africa diaspora and Africa. And if we do not use that to the benefit of both of us, then we're going to have some issues. Somebody else is going to come in and

take over that situation. So let's not be deceived. What Dr. Acqua has done has been incredible because I know this lady for what she is. In 2012, we had a leadership conference in Equatorial Guinea, and we had the best and the finest. And Dr. Acqua and Dr. Acqua, husband and wife, came and they represented our health care. Now Now I don't know how much you know about her but she had she and her husband had three of the largest medical facilities in Nashville, Tennessee. This lady did not come to the African Union begging for money. She came with a whole lot of money and gave it up sold three, I don't know if I could have been so generous, sold three of her practices, sold homes and she has one of the largest hotels

in South Africa. An African-American woman ambassador who has that. She's an entrepreneur. She's a medical doctor. And I was in Malawi with her when Melinda Gates was there and with President Joyce Banda. She brought over a whole African mission as well as containers of medical supplies to provide for the community. Now I'm gonna tell you what, what kind of person would do that other than one who's truly dedicated, truly committed, and truly understanding the mission? I mean, we're not here for a long time to do nothing. I've been going to Africa for 50 years. You're supposed to tell me I don't look old. You told yourself.

Hallelujah. But she's given up a lot. She's sacrificed a lot. And I'm going to tell you, kudos to you, because this is only a short thing right now. It's almost over. And it's not over until it's completely over. But what you're doing is you're moving to another level of

sanctity and another level of positivism. So you've done a whole lot. I appreciate what you've done. And continue the work. Dr. Kwa, what can I say about her? If somebody doesn't have a mother, this is a lady that I would want to have as a mom

because she loves you all the same. She gives you all the exact same attention, no matter how tired she is. And for the AU to come out the way they have come out is really not fair. All the programs that Dr. Kwa had put together were all towards Agenda 2063, which is an AU baby. So I'm not sure where they're coming up with this because the Padua and Padua, all of us volunteer freely. She never pressured anybody to come out there and do this and that. All

she would say is, I'm talking about this and we listen. Those of us who want to be part of it, we ran. I did. Chairman Faki, you don't know the mistake you've made right now. This lady has galvanized the diaspora like nobody has done before. You have just started a moving train which is not stopping. We are going forward with our ambassador which is Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Kwao. You accuse her of stealing money from the pageant. No she didn't. I, Sylvia Robertson, was the deputy director for that Miss African Union pageant and might I say I'm sure you saw the videos and you're probably just kicking yourself somewhere out there.

But let me tell you something. From the get-go, when she told us about this pageant, she made it very clear, exclusively clear, that the AU does not have any money, the AU does not have any budget to pay anybody. However, there's a program that I have put before you. If you'd like to go ahead with it, please volunteer your time. And we ran.

She asked us to come to her home, her house, not even the AU house. Doctor and doctor's house. That's where we went in Virginia. She served us dinner with her money, not the AU money, her money from her house. And we all agreed to say we would do the pageant because it's a passion for all of us. We are Africans and very proud African queens and kings. They put out a statement, the spokesperson did, on November 15th listing all of these different things. They said that they had an audit,

their team found evidence regarding, first of all they're saying that you're putting out lots of disinformation, so this is a misleading campaign, and it said that there were different things that were conducted, the following without prior knowledge or consent and against the rules of the African Union, utilizing the African Union logo,

presenting themselves as official AU programs and organs, username of the AU, and then going on and on and on. It said, in this regard, they have written confirmation from you that the aforementioned initiatives activities were her private engagements initiated by herself with no relationship to the African Union nor any of its organs. And so this was put out by, is it Eba Kolondo, spokesperson to the chairperson for the African

Union Commission. Obviously, Eba is getting confused. How do you justify a grouping, a meeting, a social gathering of pan-African diaspora women as an organ of the African Union? How can you classify a gathering, social gathering of pan-African youth at the African Union mission as an organ of the AU? The same thing with pan-African youth at the African Union mission as an organ of the AU.

The same thing with pan-African diaspora men. It's ridiculous. The other two items they have there, there is some electoral commission entity. I have no idea what that entity is, and they know it. There is another one called AU Trading LLC. Again, I have no idea what those two entities were and they know it. But I told her that. I told her, I don't know where those entities came from. You're welcome to look them up. They were the names

and they happened to have an address for the AU. No idea where they came from. To suggest that I collected money from donors? Which donors? You can't just make such a blanket statement. The Chevron issue, male foot of constituency for Africa, told you that the money never came to me.

He received the funds a month after our event. He was supposed to pay Intercontinental, but the funds had not been paid by Chevron. When the funds finally came, they came with also his own donation for his program, the Ron Brown series. So he asked Chevron if he could just apply all the funds to his program,

and he was given permission to do so. The funds never came to the AU. The funds were never meant to come to the AU. And there is written confirmation email communication to that effect. And Eba Kalondo has a copy of that communication. So all these made-up lies, frivolous accusations without any basis is trying to hide the fact that I came to an office that was basically a protocol office, an office that was basically dead. Even the State Department, some of the staff members told me they thought the mission had closed. Many of the Congress people that I met never even knew there was an African Union mission. This is a very important office in the Americas. This is an office that can go a long way.

I came in in less than three years. I completely turned this mission around. African Union is now respected in the U.S. government. African Union is now known and respected not only in the United States, but in the Americas and the world. Single-handedly, I'm the one, one of the employees at the

U.S. telling me that if you search in social media, the one person who is consistently promoting African Union is the African Union mission through me. So rather than, instead of appreciating the work that I've done, which is what was indicated in the termination letter, that thank you for the wonderful work you have done, continue to do the good work, the question is, if October 7th, Moussa Faki felt that I'd done a good job and that I should continue to do what I was doing,

what has happened five weeks later? Why suddenly all these accusations? Ebba Kolondo was interviewed on several platforms and she denied any other reason besides the fact that my term had come to an end. And suddenly, five weeks later, she decides, oh, there was a problem. All of it totally frivolous. Everything I did was in line with delivering my mandate. How else could I deliver my mandate if I did not create this program? I do want to ask you this question here, and that is, I saw one of the stories. So you, obviously, your criticism in terms of France's role,

and there have been a couple of countries that have made some announcements on that. Benin? Yes, yes. Benin president is now also, he's talking about requesting repatriation of the country's deposits to France. Well, that's certainly a positive advancement.

That is a huge, huge announcement. And we hope that France is not going to give Benin a difficult time in receiving and repatriating those funds. We also hope... And how much are we talking? Oh, my God. Trillions. Trillions. It is not pocket change. That's just Benin. And remember, there are 14 countries. So we hope that all of them,

Central and West African countries, can do the same. But they have to come together and do it at the same time. All right, then. Well, look, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you for all of you for being here. And we'll see what's next. And I've reached out to them to see if they will come on this show to share their thoughts. And hopefully they'll do so.

I also wanted to just say one thing. I think as an African, I'm quite disappointed at the behavior coming out of the chairman's office. His behavior is unbecoming of such a high office. As Africans, we deserve better, especially when it comes to the African Union and today in view of the African continental free trade area. Trying to alienate the African diaspora is a big mistake. The African diaspora are not going anywhere. The African diaspora are the African Union.

They are committed to playing their part in building the Africa that we want. So, Chairman Faki, we are asking you to please respect the office and the diaspora are here to stay. Listen to them. They're trying to speak to you. All right. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Thank you. All right. Have a good one. All right, folks, don't forget to support what we do, Roller Martin Unfiltered, by going to RollerMartinUnfiltered.com. Join appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right. Have a good one. All right, folks, don't forget to support what we do, Roland Martin Unfiltered, by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. You can pay, of course, via Square, PayPal, or Cash App. And so we want you to do so. Don't forget, we'll be back here tomorrow. We're talking about impeachment, what took place on Capitol Hill today. We'll be covering that as well, as well as more politics. You name it, we cover it. And that's also what happens when

it's black on and black controlled. We don't have to ask anybody's permission. All right, folks, I'll see you guys tomorrow. this is an iHeart podcast