#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 1.14: TSU prez put on paid leave; Deval Patrick Slams Dems over debate diversity; Kappas Vs. Boosie

Episode Date: January 16, 2020

1.14.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: TSU prez put on paid leave with out explanation; St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner sues city for civil rights violations; Deval Patrick slams Democrats for the lack of diversity on tonight's debate stage; Investigation launched into NYPD's use of force on subways; Kappas respond to Boosie + The #OscarsSoWhite have returned for a sequel 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 vanille We'll be right back. Today is Tuesday, January 14th, 2020, coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, drama of the nation's second largest historically black college. The Board of Regents at Texas Southern University has put Dr. Austin Lane, the president, on administrative leave. Critics say the board is overstepping their bounds and they are causing all of this drama because they don't like him.

We'll talk with a man who was on the search committee that actually hired Lane to be president of Texas Southern University. Another HBCU has told Donald Trump supporters get the hell off our campus. A Trump group was trying to do a $30,000 cash giveaway at Virginia Union on Martin Luther King Day. University just dropped an announcement. They said, y'all got to go. We'll explain. Deval Patrick weighs in on the folks on the stage tonight. Nearly all white candidates who are debating in Iowa.

In St. Louis, Prosecutor Kim Gartner is suing her city for civil rights violations using a statute named after the KKK. Yeah, we'll break it down for you. Also in New York, the Attorney General has launched an investigation into the NYPD's use of force on subways. We'll tell you more.

And what the world's going on between Kappas and the rapper Boozy. We'll tell you about it. And the Democratic presidential debates aren't the only thing so white. People are criticizing the Oscars. And St. Louis Superman, a documentary about the life of Bruce Franks,

actually did get an Oscar nomination. We'll show you the interview I did with him last year. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Robert Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the smooth, the fat, the fine.

And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best believe he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks, 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, Martin.

Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best, you know he's rolling, Martin. Martin. Talk to many folks at Texas Southern University in Houston. They will tell you that Dr. Austin Lane has done an amazing job since he took over as president of the nation's second largest HBCU in 2016. Yet late Friday, the Board of Regents voted to actually put him on administrative leave and gave no reason for doing so. All kind of drama taking place in Houston. The board took the action. He

wasn't even in the room. Not only that, wasn't even allowed to address the board to even understand why they were taking the action. Folks in Houston are shocked and stunned trying to figure out what's going on. This is the headline of the Texas Tribune. Texas Southern University's president placed on administrative leave without explanation. Now, the president, I've talked to him. He said he has done absolutely nothing wrong. If you read the Texas Tribune story, it states in here that the board said, quote, they were committed to ensuring all activities at the university are conducted in an ethical and transparent manner in accordance with the university's mission, vision, and values. Then say, well, they will have no further comment

at the time. Now, we reached out to every single board member to try to reach them to explain what took place. We have not heard back via email or phone from any of the TSU board members. Yet in this particular story here by the Texas Tribune, they quote two board members who are highly critical of what took place. One of them is Regent Ron Price, recently who joined the board, former board member of the Dallas Independent School District. This is what he said, quote, in the United States of America, everybody has the right to face their accusers. That was not, he said, the board didn't even bother to interview or talk to Lane before they took the action. Quote, that was not classy. It was unbecoming of the board. That's not something any governmental body in Texas, university board, school district board,

any public board should ever do to their CEO. Quote, there was no desire from the majority of the board to do the right thing. Now, Derek Mitchell, he was the only regent who voted not to put on administrative leave. There are nine votes. Seven did so. Mitchell did not vote against. Ron Price actually abstained. Mitchell said that people were out to undermine Lane as president. Quote, I think this has been that the process was flawed, and I think that what we as a board may be doing is an injustice. Now, of course, Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Hewitt, he is now the interim president of TSU. They've got more than 9,700 students. 80% of them are African-American.

Now, his was interesting about this here. In November, the TSU board issued a statement announcing this review dealing with alleging so-called improprieties when it comes to an admissions process. Now, what I've been told is that there was someone who worked in a law school at TSU who told someone not to place a certain item on their application. Once the dean of the law school found out what happened, the dean recommended that employee be fired. The dean reached out to President Lane. Lane agreed. The employee was terminated.

My understanding, according to my sources, is that the Board of Regents was upset because they weren't told about this action. Isn't that the point of the president doing his job? What's going on? Now, one of the other issues that has been raised is that a TSU employee actually filed a complaint last year, a year ago, alleging the board overstepped their bounds in terms of the job of the president.

Another complaint was also raised. Guess what happened? When they placed the president last week on administrative leave, they also fired the employee who made the complaint against the board of directors. Joining us right now is Marcus Davis. He is the owner of the famous Houston restaurant, The Breakfast Club. He was on the committee, the search committee, that hired Dr. Austin Lane as president. Marcus, how are you doing? Man, I'm doing as best as I can right now, Roland.

Thanks for having me on, and thank you for covering this situation in our community. So you're a graduate of TSU, correct? I'm a graduate of TSU, Texas Southern University, class of 96. I served on the search committee for the last two presidents, President John Rudley and for President Austin Lane. I also served as the past president of the National Alumni Association. So I'm a Tiger fan. So what do you make of what's going on here? The board taking this action and not even telling TSU students, faculty, staff, alumni, the general public, why you would put the president on

administrative leave? You know, you asked what would you make of it? I don't know what to make of it, Roland. This idea of secrecy is befuddling to me. I don't understand how we can have this idea of we don't share information, this cloud of secrecy, and no one else deserves to know. The last I checked, the university belongs to the students. The university belongs to the alum, the faculty, staff. The university belongs to the committee. It does not belong to these board members that can decide to do what they will at their pleasure with the university. You know, whatever decision they come to is a decision they come to. The idea that no one is worthy of information, no one is worthy of any knowledge is quite strange.

I'll tell you what the biggest irony of it is. As you mentioned in your opening, the accusation regarding the law school, they accused the president of not being transparent with that situation when he handled it. Well, this appears to be less transparent than that situation. So how can you have a transparent situation that brings you to operate with another transparent situation? Well, and that's really what's causing people to ask all these questions. And there are individuals who are sending out information where they are saying that, look, I mean, this is a great job that he has done. In fact, I received a graphic that they actually sent out that spoke to that, where they talked about how the Tiger Gala has raised in the last three years some two and a half million dollars. TSU has had a number of clean audits. People don't understand in the past there's been a there have been issues financially with TSU when it comes to resources. To your point,

the previous president cleaned a lot of that up. Lane then comes in. Of course, there was a Democratic debate that took place on the campus of TSU as well, giving TSU national attention. And so it goes on and on and on. But one of the things that I've heard from critics, they say is that part of the problem is that unlike other boards in Texas, only three of the individuals on the TSU board actually graduated from TSU. So you have individuals who don't even have any relationship with the university making these decisions. Keep in mind, in Texas, the governor appoints these, the Republican governor appoints the majority of people on the board here.

And so what is strange here is, again, them saying that there were all these questions when it comes to the admissions process. But my understanding, it was only one example. And the dean, law school dean and the president fired the employee. So here's the thing. The board has a role of a fiduciary responsibility and the upholding of the mission and the policies of the university. The board is not responsible for the day-to-day operation of the university. As a matter of fact, it is illegal

for the board to be involved in day-to-day operations. And that's where it has to be understood that the line has to be drawn. If a person is in a place, in a position to do their job as the president, the hiring and firing of his staff, the hiring and firing of faculty and staff, as well as other positions in the university, they have to have room to do that. And they have to have the confidence that they are competent enough to do that, which we believed he had, President Lane had, when we brought him in to do the job. So you have to have, you have to allow people to do their job, to do their work. I am a TSU first person. I believe the university comes first. The students that are there, they come first. They are top priority. And if there's something that's done by anybody

that affects those students that are there in search of a higher education, then I am in opposed to that. And I'm in agreement with doing something different. But until we find that that be the case, then we need to allow those students the opportunity to have their president reinstated until the board comes forth with the truth of what they have found. Well, and not only that, what I don't understand is how do you But you give the impression that the president has literally done something wrong, has stolen money, somehow is letting people into the door who shouldn't be candidates there. That's crazy. That's what the impression that this leaves. And here's a discussion I've had with some of our colleagues. You know, if if if it was so detrimental that it required this immediate action, then why was termination not on the table?

If it was not detrimental, that detrimental to the university, and termination wasn't warranted, then why the suspension? Why the leave of absence? Why not allow him to stay in place until you finish your investigation? Those are the questions that we have

that we can't get an answer to because everything is cloaked in this veil of secrecy. And here's the other thing. Who controls this veil of secrecy? What is the policy on the board that determines that we can't share with the general public or we can't share with the president of the Alumni Association or we can't share with members of the community what's taking place and who's authorized to change that. Because, you know, you've got to talk about this transparency or lack thereof, especially since this is a board that decided the president needed to be more transparent. And here we are again in a situation where we're lacking transparency.

And of course, folks, the video you're seeing is that I was a commencement speaker at TSU a couple of years ago. And so that's. You did OK. I did a little better at TSU a couple of years ago. And so that's... You did okay. I did a little better, but we appreciate you. Nah, nah, nah. Now, let's be real clear, okay? Y'all have great breakfast at the Breakfast Club, but when it comes to giving commencement speeches,

you need to go ahead and sit on down to talk about food. You don't want me to have to run your speech and run my speech. Hey, maybe we should. Yeah, okay. All I know, yeah, I also know on between one of us, somebody who brought in gospel singer Brian Courtney Wilson to sing for the graduates. What you do?

Oh, you know. Feed them chicken and waffles? Yeah, okay, all right, I got you. I thought so. I thought so. I thought so. So we so. I thought so. So we don't want to talk about who can actually flex. I'm just saying.

You might want to leave that alone. Ask Brian who taught him how to hit those toes. Yeah, all right, you might want to leave that alone. I'm just saying you might want to leave that alone. We don't want to get into a battle of flexing. You ain't going to win that one. You ain't going to win that one, precisely. Look, I'll see you

in the kitchen over some eggs. Yeah, that's right. Stay in your damn lane. Stay in your lane. All right, Marcus Davis, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. And again, Roland, sincerely, I thank you for covering this. It is important to those thousands of students that are at 3100 Cleburne. It's important

to the community that surrounds Texas Southern. It's important to the alumni community, so I appreciate you right not a problem thanks a lot guy all right folks i'm gonna read for y'all this was a statement that the university released back in november okay uh the texas southern university board of regents the board's council and his internal auditor proactively contacted local authorities after confirming certain improprieties related to the admissions process within the university based on an internal investigation. The preliminary findings of the investigation were confirmed, presented, and delivered

by the university to local authorities. The person involved with these improprieties is no longer employed by the university. The investigation is ongoing and the university is fully cooperating with investigators. As part of the board's oversight responsibility, it has launched a full and comprehensive review of the university's admissions. This includes enrollment, financial aid, scholarship protocols, and standards for all university colleges. This process is

being conducted using independent auditors, attorneys, and outside experts. The university's academic integrity, trust of students, faculty, alumni, and the public at large are of utmost importance. The board is committed to ensuring all activities of the university are conducted in an ethical and transparent manner in accordance with the university's mission, mission, values, and vision and values. The university will have no further comment until the investigative process is complete.

Now, here's the problem with that. The last line says they will have no further comment until the investigative process is complete. Yet two months later, the TSU Board of Regents puts the president on administrative leave. Here are the unanswered questions. One, is this investigation complete? Two, if the investigation is complete, why have they not made it public? Now, as somebody who has covered these stories, and let me explain to all of you, I was the managing editor of the Houston Defender when they fired their president, Dr. James Douglas,

and then hired Dr. Priscilla Slade. I covered the story when she went through financial issues and was forced out as president of TSU. TSU also has a history of border regents actually meddling in the affairs of the university, causing drama between the president, faculty, staff and students. Now, as I read this here, this is what I don't quite understand. They say certain improprieties related to the admissions process with a university. Now, first of all, I've been told that there was something that dealt with at the law school law school One person sends an email this person law school responds

Inappropriately Dean says fire the person president agrees person gets terminated issue fixed Now let's not go to this So remember Let me just really Henry go to my iPad. Let me blow it up. Confirming certain impropriroprieties in the admissions process, why is the board conducting an overall review that includes enrollment, financial aid, scholarship protocols, and standards for all university colleges? Explain that. Now, it says the process is being conducted using independent auditors.

Here's the deal. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board oversees all universities in the state. So the question is, if it requires this comprehensive review, are the border regions alleging that somehow there are fundamental problems in the university with their enrollment, financial aid, scholarships, and other standards. Now, supporters of TSU have put this graphic out. Folks, go ahead and show it. I want to show this because in the graphic, they have their ask in here. They have the contact information for all the border regions, but they also detail in here

what they say, how the president, how he has been able to improve the university. Now, again, I'm going to sit here and explain this to you because somebody with the board

needs to actually explain here. Now, they say in this document that graduation rate is up 7%. They say the university has had a record of clean admissions audits. So if you've had previous audits of admissions, why all of a sudden do you have a new one? Also, as I said, the Maroon and Gray Gala raised $2.5 million over three years. They also, according

to supporters of Lane, the TSU endowment has increased 25% in the past five years. Their homecoming game used to be played off campus. He brought it back for the first time past five years. Their homecoming game used to be played off campus. He brought it back for the first time in 12 years. Also, an additional $14 million in scholarships has been awarded university-wide. Now, here's the one that is interesting. According to the supporters of Lane, Moody's financial ratings upgraded from a negative outlook to stable to positive,

and the university has had clean financial audits with no findings for the past five years. So what is going on here? I dare say it's the issue that many people say is plaguing too many HBCUs, where you have individuals who are on the board of directors who think they want to be able to run the university as opposed to

not allowing the president to do his or her job. My panel is Erica Savage-Wilson, host of Savage Politics podcast. Also, Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice, EPA. Pam Keith, attorney and activist.

Eric, I want to start with you. I know TSU well. My high school, Jack Keats High School, is literally right across the street. I know many people there. I've covered the university there. And I can tell you, and I'm going to go ahead and say this, I ain't got a problem. There are individuals who have historically been placed on the TSU board who would never pass muster on any of the other state universities.

That's one. There are people, and I have no problem saying it, who are grossly unqualified to sit on the board of regents of Texas Southern University. And too often, governors in Texas, Democrat and Republican, have basically just used it as a dumping ground as opposed to having highly qualified individuals with strong who are who are who are pillars of the community again who have the who have the qualifications to be on the board to have these individuals literally vote vote to uh put the president administrative leave and what and i was told that was a six-hour meeting. They have the vote. And instead of telling the president and other people that the meeting has been called back to order,

they immediately come out of executive session, gavel the meeting in session, immediately pass this measure, put on administrative leave, and the meeting is over. Wow. Sounds like something that we're used to seeing around the Trump administration. So I'll say this, with everything that you just shared with the audience and shared with us around numbers that are in the positive, enrollment

being up, there's money that's being brought to the school in the endowment form in the form of endowments and scholarships and things of that nature. It makes me think of something that my late grandmother talked about around people not being used to having power. And so when they have keys, the way that they actually flex their power is through the dangling of those keys to say that you can't get in that door

unless I give you the key. I may be the custodian, but the only way you can get through the door is with me unlocking it. And so I think that in reading that letter and them talking about there's a level of transparency that's happening through this process with the investigation that seems like it was initiated back in November, where is the transparency? And now that you have the students that are now being brought into the fold that are saying, where is our president?

Where is the leader of our campus? I think that that's something that is important and should be highlighted as well, because they are going to be a part of the army that really does bring this board into balance, into account. Henry, go to my iPad, folks. These are the photos of the various board members. You have a chair, Hassan Mack. Albert Myers is the vice chair. Pamela Medina is the second vice chair. You see Ron Price, secretary. You have Mark Carter, who is on here. Derek Mitchell. He was the only one who voted not to put him on administrative leave. Marilyn Rose, Wesley Terrell, Jay Zeitman, Ashley Johnson is a student regent. Now, let's deal with this, Mustafa. I'm going to talk about this regent here, Wesley Terrell, who was appointed

by Republican Governor Greg Abbott to the board, and he is the Assistant Vice President and Senior Legal Counsel with AT&T in the Dallas headquarters. Now, according to the graphic folks we had earlier, so what you will see is that

they allege that an employee, according to this graphic that was made public, GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT. SO WHAT YOU WILL SEE IS THAT THEY ALLEGE THAT AN EMPLOYEE ACCORDING TO THIS GRAPHIC THAT WAS MADE PUBLIC, I THINK YOU HAVE ANOTHER PART OF THE GRAPHIC FOLKS SO YOU MIGHT WANT TO PULL THAT UP. THEY ALLEGE THAT THIS BOARD MEMBER ACTUALLY WAS INVOLVED IN

OVERSTEPPING HIS BOUNDS. NOW I'M GOING TO READ FROM THIS GRAPHIC THAT'S BEING SENT AROUND BY SUPPORTERS OF LANE. from this graphic that's being sent around by supporters of Lane. It says that Wendell Williams, special assistant to the president, and Title IX coordinator filed a grievance complaint against board member Wesley Terrell for harassment. Lane was told to fire Williams and refused because he believed the claims were not substantiated but were instead based on board members' personal vendettas that loomed against Lane. As a result, Lane was placed

on administrative leave and Williams was fired the same day. Again, so if you have someone who is, if you have somebody who is, who has filed a complaint against a board of regent, why is that board of regent not recusing himself from any actions against the president? Exactly. I mean, they definitely should not be a part of the process. And again, it's about transparency and making sure that everybody is aware of what's going on. And it's also interesting also, you know, since I come from a grassroots background, I like the ground truth, everything. So I called some of the students I know down there today, called a couple of the professors that I know. Everybody has been in favor of the president saying that they felt that he has been doing not just a good job, but an exceptional job.

If I had a financial planner who had the same amount of success as the president is, then, you know, I'd be in a good financial position. So, you know, sometimes it gets really curious. And there's usually somebody who's driving this. And maybe that's the reason that there's not as much transparency, because if we saw who was actually driving this, if there's somebody has that vendetta against him, then it could give the public a better understanding of how quickly they moved and why they haven't had this type of a process where, you know, there's sort of this open openness that's necessary. better understanding of how quickly they moved and why they haven't had this type of a process where, you know, there's sort of this openness that's necessary.

You know, Roland, I want to make a point about HBCUs. All HBCUs are absolutely not the same. And I come from a state that has a very large, very potent HBCU, Florida A&M University. And like Texas State... Texas A&M, Texas Southern University. Texas Southern, Florida A&M is a state-sponsored HBCU, which means that the governor appoints the board of directors. And Florida A&M has had

a whole lot of damn drama, but they're a board of regents fighting with university presidents and firing presidents. Exactly. So the point that I was trying to get to is that in these situations where the HBCU board university presidents and firing presidents. Exactly. So the point that I was trying to get to is that in these situations where the HBCU board is

appointed by a governor, then the behavior of the board can often reflect the priorities of that governor. And there can be times where the interests of the governor or the projects of the governor or what the governor wants to get done is at odds with the mission of that institution, which is you always got to be educating our young brothers and sisters to the best degree possible. And what often happens is that these appointments are political bennies. They're a step in getting into good graces with the governor because there's always other appointments that can be made. And so playing along with the agenda of the person in ultimate power, in this case it would

be Greg Abbott, you know, that may be a part of what is going on there. Now, I'm not accusing anybody of anything. I don't know these people individually. I'm not accusing anybody of anything. But having been through something similar in the state of Florida, where there's been a great deal of conflict between the Board of Regents and the university leadership, and not only that, but the student population and the alumni population, when you start to see a real disconnect between the two, you've got to be asking yourself,

why is the board at odds with the people who are truly, passionately supportive of the institution? And when they are at odds, you've got to be asking some very serious questions. Well, and also, again, what jumps out of here is that you take this action and you don't explain to the public exactly why you're doing it. That is what makes no sense as well.

So we're going to be covering this every single day. We're going to continue every single day. We're going to call and email these Board of Regents members so they can speak to exactly what's going on because this is also the kind of stuff that stops the forward momentum of an HBCU. This is the kind of stuff that causes people to say, you know what, that's why I'm not going to give

because you're doing sort of the BS along these lines. This is the kind of stuff that causes people to say, you know what, that's why I'm not going to give. Because you're doing sort of the BS along these lines. And again, the TSU Board of Regents has a history. And also, for everybody out there, I need y'all to stop and calm the hell down. This is not Tennessee State. This is Texas Southern University in Houston. And so all you need to stop calling President Glenda Glover at Texas Tennessee State somehow thinking

they talking about her. It they're talking about her. It ain't talking about her. We're talking about Dr. Austin Lane at Texas Southern University in Houston. And so y'all might just want to just calm down. But again, University of North Texas, Texas A&M, University of Texas, Texas Tech. I can go down the line, Texas State. I can go to all the universities. I can't remember the last time a board of regents made a move against the president and put him on administrative leave. Right. And then to look

at the face of the board, too, to see that the folks that are helping to engineer this, the folks that are really paying the price outside of Dr. Lane and his family are the students. In a time where our students are going to and attending HBCUs as a level of haven

because of the current regime that is occupying the White House for some type of safe space to be able to learn, to have their minds really grown and things of that nature, that then to have this be an interruption into their educational process. But I love what you said, Dr. Ali, as a grassroots person as well, because this also is really kind of like what the fullness of life is, right? That there is that level of interruption, that there is something that does stop the momentum. But you do have to make the decision to also not only get your education, but to also fight for it as well. Because if it's not for you then who's coming behind you so um i'm really glad that you're on top of this story bringing it to the top of the fold because i don't know that anyone else is covering it

and really just admonishing the students the staff um those people that have the hashtag i stand with dr lane just to keep that momentum going and continue to force the board to come into account for these actions. And also let's talk about another HBCU, Virginia Union University here in the state of Virginia. So go to my iPad. So the Revitalize America folks, the urban was the URC. This is the group Urban Revitalization Coalition. These are the people who are led by Pastor Darrell Scott out of Cleveland. Well, they were going to have this event on MLK Day. And you see the graphic right here, Revitalize America, MLK Day celebration, invitation-only event,

celebrating MLK and honoring urban impact leaders. Now it says $30,000 cash giveaway, student community giveaway, Monday, January 20th at the BUU Living and Learning Center. And you see over here, event honorees, Donald Trump, Dr. Hakeem Lucas, Jared Kushner, Jonathan Holyfield. Well, Virginia Union goes, we didn't know anything about this. Virginia Union has canceled this event on their campus. Go back to my iPad. This is a statement from Virginia Union. Virginia Union University has notified

the Urban Revitalization Coalition that it will not be permitted to hold its January 20, 2020 event at VUU. The university has often reserved space on campus to individuals and various local, state, and national nonprofit organizations to hold events. The university was not a part of the planning for this event, was not informed of who would be participating,

and was not a part of distributing information about the event. We learned about it as the flyers were distributed. Once receiving the details, VUU made the decision to inform the URC that our campus was not the appropriate space for their event. VUU allowed the URC to reserve space on campus for what was described as an economic development discussion, providing over $30,000 in cash giveaways to local residents to help stimulate economic and community development while celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Virginia Union University is committed to its mission of empowering African Americans and other ethnic minorities through all of its programs, events, and partnerships. I'm so tired of Donald. Roland, they were trying to buy votes. They're just straight up trying to buy people. Like, I would believe that there was actually a genuine interest in economic development if they were actually inviting small businesses, if they were actually inviting people for growth,

if they were giving them jobs, if they said, hey, here's a great opportunity to figure out how to take your business to the next level, that's economic opportunity. Just handing out cash is not economic opportunity. It's a payoff. I'm stunned by this tactic, but I guess in a way it's an effective tactic. I guess in a way you can do that, but that's, I'm sorry. I just, that has to make me laugh. I'm sorry. We should not be surprised.

Right. And luckily some of our HBCUs have learned from some others who invited folks to come in and get bamboozled. So folks have learned it. So, you know, pimping ain't easy, but thank goodness that Virginia State ain't allowing folks just to come in and pimp them. And Dr. King also was talking about a hand up, not a hand out. Absolutely.

So we need to just get it real straight that these folks, when they talk about revitalization, they are not really talking about our communities in a serious way. We can have a conversation about the opportunity zones. We can have a conversation about the lack of forward movement at HUD and at the Department of Labor and Commerce. But, you know, our folks are wiser than that, especially on many of our college campuses. And we're just not going to be pimped. Right. And when I think about particularly around Dr. King's day, I cannot help but also go back to Donald Trump's father being arrested at a Klan rally.

And so this is the person who is the supposed leader of this country. And then I'm also thinking about he and his father were sued because they would not allow black folks to live in their housing development. So, you know, anything. And then I'm just, the $30,000 cash giveaway, we've been getting Jared Kushner. It all sounds like a person who could not get a loan in the United States. Jackie, I'm sending you, I want you to call Darryl Scott

right now. I want to see if you can get him on the phone. I would love to hear from him about this here. So, Jackie, look, you and I group me for that phone number. Let's see if he'll jump on the phone so he can respond to the beatings that happened off the campus.

Come on. Get gangsta, bro. But there's other pieces that, not only that. So let's go back here. You go back to this flyer here. Also, for the folks, we're having some issues with our encoder. And so again, so we have a problem connecting.

I just wanted you to understand what's going on. We're trying to get it fixed as we speak. But it's got to note that we're having some problems here. But not only that. So you see this here. Go to my iPad again. Over here on the left side, you're honoring Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, this Hakeem Lucas, who I don't know who that is. Let me go back up. This

is, let's see here. What is this title? I'm trying to zoom it in. It won't let me do it. This is Jonathan Holyfield. But the big thing is $30,000 cash giveaway. Not only that, here's the other deal. Once you're going to start

with $30,000, you were going to give it away to students and community people. All right, so if you gave... So you gave five grand out. That's six people. It ain't like you coming there

giving away $300,000. Right. Or $3 million. You come and give it $30,000. Right. Come on now. Don't front. Right. Come on now. Right. Don't front.

Right. Just the whole thing just reeks of Donald-type behavior. And this is the supposed president of the United States with a techie flyer. All right. So Darryl Scott doesn't want to do it right now. So he said maybe tomorrow. So we'll see if we can get him on tomorrow. Erica, continue.

Sure, but this is the supposed free leader. I mean, this just reminds me of a promoter for a club to say, like, hey, you know, come. We just opened up the doors. We're going to have giveaways. We're going to have chicken. Yeah, so like that fly a few years ago, what, Stripper Day on MLK Day? Yeah, I remember that, yeah. That's exactly what this reeks of, and so

absolutely, I agree. Maybe Bishop Magic Don Juan is going to be at their event. Well, they ain't having it on the campus of VUU, so now they got to go somewhere else. I think an important point to make here is that the Republican Party is making this play for entrepreneurial young black people to say, hey, we're the party of entrepreneurialism.

And look at all these failures from the Democratic Party, the HUD and the housing and the funding of education and all of this other stuff. They just haven't done anything for you. What they won't say is that most of the reason why the Democrats couldn't get stuff done for people was because of the active obstruction of Republicans in their efforts to do so. And so they'll buy your short-term attention with flashy things while they hide their greater long-term objective of removing and dismantling the systems that have allowed the black people that started in poverty to move up to middle class and the many that went from middle class and went up higher. And there's a lot more to be done. But let's at least be honest about who's trying to row the boat in the right direction

and who's putting the anchor in the water to stop it from moving ahead at all. Just read my new book called The Pimping of America and you'll understand what's going on. Oh, that's exactly what this is. So, yeah. So, Pastor Darrell Scott, I can't wait to have you on the show tomorrow or Thursday or Friday to explain this event and explain get your thoughts on VUU canceling your event

and where you're now going to have it next in Richmond. Alright, folks, got to go to a break when we come back. We're going to talk about Kim Gardner, the attorney, the DA there in St. Louis right, folks, got to go to a break. When we come back, we're going to talk about Kim Gardner, the attorney, the DA there in St. Louis suing the city. Oh,

using an act involving the KKK. That's next on Roller Barton Unfiltered. You want to check out Roller Barton Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash

Roller Barton Unfiltered. And subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roland Martin Unfiltered.

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You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has filed a federal lawsuit using the Ku Klux Klan Act, alleging a civil rights conspiracy by the city of St. Louis, the St. Louis Police Officers Association, the police union spokesman Jeffrey Rota, retired police officer Charles Lane, special prosecutor Gerard Carmody, and his children. Yo! Now, of course, since Kim Gardner became the DA there, folks have been trying to undermine her, literally trying to strip her of her authority. She's been under attack.

Now, understand, you got two different things happening here. You have a St. Louis DA and a St. Louis County DA. Wesley Bale became the St. Louis County DA. Let me tell you what happened with that. When Wesley Bale won, all of a sudden, y'all ready for this? All of the DAs,

and remember, the longtime district attorney was the one who refused to prosecute the officer who shot and killed Mike Brown. He was a DA there for two decades. All right. Bail becomes the new DA. The DAs who weren't in office, they. Y'all, I can't say this.

They decide to unionize. Mm-mm. They don't join just any union. They join the police union. So now all of a sudden, in St. Louis, you now have two black DAs, and now the power structure in St. Louis has been moving against them

to thwart them from doing their jobs. Mustafa, this is the stuff that people need to quite understand. Black folks getting the power. Whites have controlled it for a long time in St. Louis. All of a sudden now,

two African Americans who are sitting in the chief law enforcement position in St. Louis City, St. Louis County. And they're like, oh, hell no. We're going to stop y'all from doing your job. It's amazing some of the stuff that's going on in St. Louis. And for them to actually make the moves that they are. I mean, I think it's about three million dollars that the police have had to pay out because of racist behavior and activities and those types of things. So you've got these folks who've come in who are trying to clean things up. They're trying to put some spotlight on these injustices that are happening. And of course,

then they the as the light hits them, you know, the I hate to say it like this, but the roaches run and they start to move into, you know, these unions and other types of vehicles to protect themselves. And we've got to pay particular attention. And that's why we can't stop with our votes, with one or two folks being focused on them and helping them to get into positions. We have to surround them with others who can actually help them to make the reforms that are necessary. Here's what she says in her suit. The CLEW Plus Plan Act was adopted to address precisely this scenario, a racially motivated conspiracy to deny the civil rights of racial minorities by obstructing a government official's efforts to ensure equal justice under law for all. The stakes are high. This case cries out for federal enforcement. This is also, of course, the same, Pam, the same woman who has been trying to get Lamar Johnson free. Her office

went through the whole deal, determined that Lamar Johnson did not commit this act. She's been blocked by the state attorney general, the Republican Eric Greitens, by saying, oh, you don't have the authority for this. And so this is so and she's been literally in a battle since day one in her job. Well, let's get clear about what the historic paradigm of prosecuting was. Eric Greitens is the was then governor. Sorry, go ahead. Right. That paradigm was that law enforcement was policing black people and prosecutor's job was to prosecute them and put them in jail. But that's not the way the law is really set up. That's not what the Constitution stands for. The Constitution stands for the notion that all crime

is crime, no matter who commits it. And a prosecutor is supposed to prosecute all crimes those committed by black people white people or anybody else including those committed by people in power and by law enforcement and now we have put people into positions of as prosecutors as DA look at that fabulous sister Tish James out in New York, who are now saying that I'm going to enforce the law in a colorblind way. I'm going to enforce violations by black people and white people and the white people who police black people. And that is the paradigm shift that is causing these DAs to now say, oh, we have to unionize, that's a reaction because they fear

that their actions are now going to be scrutinized in a way they weren't in the past. But that is the reality, is that as we as a community exercise our voting power, we can put people into positions where they make a true difference and how justice is implemented, not just how it's written. And that is why Brother Ali's point was so important. It's not just about voting top of the ticket. It's not just about voting in presidential cycles. Every one of these down ticket races matters from the PTA to the DA to the Senate of the USA. Here's what's interesting, Erica.

In her lawsuit, she literally lays out 122 different points of laying out history, racial animus, how she's being targeted there in St. Louis by various powers. And not only that, what she also says in her lawsuit, when she talks about how she is being prevented from doing her job. Go to my iPad, please. She says, sadly, the city of St. Louis has a long history of racial inequality and prejudice in its criminal justice system generally and within its police force particularly. It is no slight to the dedication of hundreds of thousands of fine police officers nationwide to note that there are far too many tragic cases of lawless police misconduct

with far too little accountability. Residents of St. Louis have known this brand of suffering more intimately than most in recent years. Gardner was elected in 2016 on a promise to redress the scourge of historical inequality and rebuild trust in the criminal justice system among communities of color. Unfortunately, entrenched interests in St. Louis, including defendants, have mobilized to thwart these efforts through a broad campaign of collusive conduct, including the unprecedented appointment of an ethically conflicted special prosecutor to investigate the activities of Gartner's office and a patently overbroad and unconstitutional ransacking of the office's electronic files. The defendants leveraged their control of the special prosecutor's office

to set up many of the trappings of a legitimate criminal investigation, complete with subpoenas and a grand jury. But the true purpose of defendants' conduct is not to charge Gartner with any crime because they know that she has not committed any. Rather, it is to thwart and impede her efforts to establish equal treatment under law for all St. Louis citizens at every turn to remove her from the position to which she was duly elected by any means necessary and perhaps to show her successor what happens to circuit attorneys who dare to stand up for the equal rights of racial minorities in St. Louis. And you're talking about an act that is 149 years

old, almost 150 years old, that's being employed for her protections. She actually put it in here, second line, when Congress debated the Ku Klux Klan Act in 1871, its House sponsor, Representative Samuel Shellebarger of Ohio, explained that the legislation's purpose was, quote, the prevention of deprivations which shall attack the equality of rights of American citizens. So it's interesting for her to use a law dating back to the Reconstruction period. Right. Similar to what, similar to Byron Allen's lawsuit

against Comcast. Yep. And so she's hitting them with a law from 1871. Absolutely right. Which is, I agree with both of you all. That is why, and you talk about this all the time, Roland, we have to connect the dots and pay attention. This is the William Barr agenda on steroids because you have a circuit

attorney who is responsible for prosecuting state-level crimes. And so she does have a progressive agenda. In 2018, the case that really set this off was you brought up the former governor who had an affair and was supposedly at taking a semi-nude photo of a woman. Who walked up to the president. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. But here's where I got a problem with the 15% of African-American men that are calling themselves being a pro-Trump.

Here we go, brothers. So pro-Trump, but this white former governor who was supposedly a Republican shining star was permitted to not be impeached but to resign from office to return to the Navy Pam as an active duty person he was a Navy SEAL could not continue to be a Navy SEAL but kept his trident he was not prosecuted under uniform code of military justice the UCMJ was not court-martialed. We know in the military, there are all type of cases. It's gone up 12% of women and men who are victims of sexual assault in the military. That has gone up. He is entered. Taxpayers are paying his salary, are paying for

his health care. He has essentially left with no saying on his record. But you have a black state's attorney person who is for the past few years has continued, continued to face all types of backlash from not just the city, but then we're talking about the police force. We're talking about the union as well. There is no commonality when we're talking about justice. It is for one specific group. And so, again, when you talk about all of those down ballot races, it is the onus is on all of us to know who those individuals are that are running. And when we see black people that are running for these state level office circuit attorneys, D.A., that we do check out who they are, but that we do vote for them. Because these are the people that are with progressive agendas saying that they are trying their damnedest to ensure that there is equity within the law.

And she is paying the price. Thank God for Marilyn Mosby and all those other black attorney generals, excuse me, district attorneys that are standing with her, but as an elected official, the people that voted her into office should be standing with her as well. Pam, listen to this here. This is what she puts in the lawsuit.

An important original purpose of Section 1985 was to allow for federal judicial enforcement of the 14th Amendment to curb conspiracies of white citizens who sought to interfere with state authorities' efforts to expand racial justice and equality in the former Confederacy. So, Roland, you just hit on such a critical component and something that people that need to understand about our current politics, which is why every time black people hear states' rights, that's what they were talking about. The whole concept was that you needed the collective force of the federal government, which brought in progressive voices, West Coast, East Coast, North, South, and didn't allow the Southern thinking to dominate. And they came in and corrected and stymied and held back

these attempts by Southern, you know, Southern, old Southern, South will rise again people to completely undermine the political power of, in states that had large African-American populations, right? That's what this was all about. But the vestige of all of that, the consequence of all of that, the consequence of all of that is that a core component of a certain kind of thinking on the right is that even though the law says all ballots count the same when they're counted in an election, when those ballots end up

giving power to a person of color, they start finding reasons to take power from that office. Right. Because that's what they did with Tony Evers and Mandela in Wisconsin. That's what they're, you know, so when a person. It was the exact same thing happened when Harold Washington became mayor of Chicago. When the, I think it was the Bredoliak 7 or whatever the number was, or 31, whatever the group Alderman, they did everything to limit his influence,

limit his power, because they were like, how dare this black man become mayor of Chicago? Exactly. And that is something that we see as a core component of GOP thinking, not just in terms of removing power from offices once they become progressive or democratic or whatever. We see it all over the place.

But also, they do their own that way. Well, if they don't like what they elect. When Michael Steele became chairman of the Republican National Committee, they tried to, because Steele told me, they tried to pass a rule that said any spending over $5,000 Steele had to get the approval of the committee. He goes, wait a minute. What the hell are you talking about?

In fact, not only that, beyond the spending, they then, he got called to Capitol Hill. Boehner, all those guys, they're in a meeting. They basically told him, you just stick to the party stuff. Stay out of politics. He said, wait a minute. So other RNC chairs can talk about public policy and what's happening in the country, but I can't. And that's why when they had their convention, first of all,

when they had their convention in Tampa, they had a luncheon honoring all former Republican National Committee chairs, did not invite him, did not include him. And not only that, Reince Priebus, when he became chair, did not even give Michael Steele credentials to attend the Republican National Committee. His credentials came through MSNBC or CNN like either through MSNBC or CNN. MSNBC. That's how he attended the convention. So understand what you're dealing with here.

And again, whether you're dealing with Democrats or Republicans, individuals who are in power, all of a sudden they see the tide shifting. And this is what I keep trying to explain to people. And I was last night, I want to thank the folks in Newark, Mayor Baraka, for the MLK event last night, more than thousands of folks there jam-packed. But in my speech, I told them, you have to understand what's going on with this campaign. There's a reason why they're trying to pack the federal

courts with judges who are 35 to 45, nearly 90% of all of the federal judges Trump has appointed, McConnell has had confirmed, are white men. They want to stack the deck so they can control the courts. Now, again, I need y'all to listen to me. Kim Gardner filed a federal judge who is one of those far right-wing white male judges who is more likely to rule against a Kim Gardner than a for Kim Gardner. That's how you connect the dots to how the election of a black woman as DA

and black folks sitting your asses at home and leading to a Trump gets elected impacts you because that far right wing white male judge could say no to a Kim Gardner. And if that judge says no and she appeals the case to the appellate and they are stacked with far right wing white male Trump appointed McConnell confirmed judges, they're going to say no. And then it goes from there to the next level.

And then the Supreme Court could say, we're not even going to take it up. So, therefore, it stands. That's the connection between a local black DA and who gets elected president. Right, absolutely. And you can't skip the part. If this was church, they would say,

preach, pastor. Go ahead, kid. Go ahead, Pam. Go ahead. You can't avoid the connection of the dots where these are state legislatures

that are making these decisions. These state legislatures that are making these decisions. These are state actors that are making these decisions. And what's fascinating is that at the state level, especially in states like Alabama and Mississippi and South Carolina, there are so many black people that you could have two, three, four times the kind of representation in the state legislature that we have. But what we also have is such a thoughtful, sophisticated, and well-developed voter suppression machine in those states that even black folks don't know all that is done to suppress the vote. So, you know,

I tell people regularly, Roland, that the most, the single most important protector of your vote is you. You've got to decide that you are going to pursue and exercise your power with the same vigor that you're going to pursue anything else in your life, right? Because it does affect all aspects of your life, and not just your life, but the life of anybody you claim to care about. So if you call yourself a patriot, if you call yourself a member of the black community,. So if you call yourself a patriot,

if you call yourself a member of the black community, God, if you call yourself a Christian, then you have to take steps to ensure that your values and the fairness and the justice that you believe in is actually executed. And I always tell people, power is like Instagram. If you don't use it, nobody's going to care about you. You've got to use your power.

Not only do elected officials respond to the people who vote, but donors respond to the people who vote, right? All kinds of decisions are made only on the behest of the people who show up to vote. No candidate is worried about the opinions of the people who show up to vote. No candidate is worried about the opinions of the people who don't vote. No, no, but Trump did thank black people for not voting. He did. Yes, he did.

Specifically. He did. So, folks, we'll keep you updated on what happens with the Kim Gardner case. Got to go to a break. When we come back, we're going to talk about six Democratic candidates tonight debating in Iowa. Where do black people go?

Where do black people go? We here. That's next to Roland Martin Unfiltered. 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 Unfil 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.

You want to check out Roland Martin Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. You want to 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. All right, folks, tonight, six Democratic presidential hopefuls take the stage in Des Moines, Iowa, for the last debate before the Iowa caucuses.

So, Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Amy Klobuchar, as well as billionaire Tom Steyer. Now, obviously, you don't see Senator Cory Booker there because yesterday he suspended his campaign. Andrew Yang also did not qualify for the debate stage. And then there's still other people who are in the race. Of course, Senator Michael Bennett, who was endorsed by James Carville. Now, y'all didn't realize he's still even running, but he is. And then there are several other people as well. But one of the folks, former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, released a statement today talking about tonight's debate.

And check this out. He tweeted tonight, six candidates will take the debate stage, all remarkable public servants. Yet tonight, America will not see herself in full. The racial and ethnic diversity of the Democratic field and our willingness to speak directly to issues of racism has made me proud to be a Democrat and an American. But the debates have stopped either showcasing the field or representing the nation. Instead of helping Democrats to choose our most compelling nominee from a range of diverse talent, the debates have become an end in themselves, an episode of reality TV

with candidates paying more attention to polling numbers and donations than issues in people. The candidates in the debate tonight, many of whom are friends, have each overcome struggles of their own. Each believes this is the most consequential election of a generation, and yet no one on that stage knows what it's like to fear for their own safety when pulled over for a routine traffic stop. No one on that stage has ever been questioned about their citizenship or if they're a real American or being followed by store security when shopping. No one has ever asked themselves whether a rejection for a job or an apartment or a loan

was because of their race, though millions of Americans still do. Racism is the most consequential unfinished business of America, and the election without those issues addressed by all the candidates is not consequential enough. There was always going to be a winnowing down of the field. Sadly, three of the four candidates who have most recently left the race have been candidates of color. It concerns me that not being on the debate stage has contributed to that. Surely the leadership of the Democratic Party must now see the criteria chosen have not served to demonstrate to Democratic voters or to the nation the breadth and depth of diverse talent in the field and must reconsider the criteria for participating in as well as the format for future debates.

The remaining candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president, and in particular, those who have the privilege of being on the debate stage tonight, must keep the issues facing people of color in the forefront as we address the future of our country. Racism, environmental justice, economic opportunity, gun safety, health disparities, and mass incarceration cannot be issues reserved for politically comfortable places. We cannot win in November without voters of color, nor should we. More importantly, America cannot win without fully and fairly addressing the unfinished business of race. All right. So he's taking issue with the debate criteria. Now, let's deal with this, Mustafa. You never had it before. Damn near

30 folks running. You couldn't have three debates of 10-10-10. You had to have some sort of process. So they said it was a combination of polling, a combination of donors, donors from all 50 states.

They put this whole together. So is the complaint really with the process or is it with the candidates? That's a good question. I mean, I think it's a number of things. I think it is the process to a degree because we still haven't fully embraced campaign finance reform and addressed the disparity that exists in that space. There are probably some structural issues that the DNC and others need to work on and evolve with a country that is evolving. But we also have to ask the question, you know, have we already checked the box on race when we elected President Barack Obama? And in the back of people's minds, are they saying, you know, I'm not sure if a person of color can actually win. So, you know, that racism can still actually exist. Here's what I say. It's going to be a very pale affair tonight in a country full of color.

And if we don't address that, there's going to be a lot of folks who feel that whomever the candidate is that is selected doesn't represent where they come from, who they are, what they look like, their sets of experiences. And we've got to make sure that people are excited about voting. It can't just be that folks are against Donald Trump. You got to give people something to vote for. And they need to know that when you're talking about it, you actually feel what you're talking about. I think that you're exactly right, but as a former candidate, I can tell you about the tautology, which is sort of the thing that circles in on itself, of momentum in politics. And a problem with the current situation is that Iowa and New Hampshire

are the first two states, and they have this wildly outsized say in what is momentum, because you have to have a strong showing in those first two states in order to to be competitive and the donors give to the candidates that they think will do well in iowa new hampshire otherwise their investment is squandered and we've picked two states that are important but that aren't representative of the diversity of our party. And so what you have is very engaged and hyper-saturated Iowa Democratic caucus goers who are trying to decide over a course of many different candidates. And I will not say that those people are all racist

or anything like that because we have Barack Obama in our rear view mirror because of those very Iowa caucus goers. We wouldn't have had a black president if white Iowans didn't fall in love with Barack Obama. So I'm not saying it's some easy answer there. But what I will say is that debates and primaries are not just showcases of people who think they should be the president of the United States. That it is

not. Everybody who's running for president thinks they should be a general, but only four or five of them have actually generated an army behind them, right? Now, some of that, like I said, is tautological. Some of it is how the polls and how a very white media telegraphs to the population who is leading and who is competitive and who is electable. Some of it is that. But let's also be honest. You know, Joe Biden has had the lock on support in the African-American community. And Kamala couldn't wrest that from him. Corey didn't wrest that from him. Duvall hasn't proven that he can wrest that from him. Corey didn't wrest that from him. Deval hasn't proven that he can wrest that from them. And so we can't look at a white candidate like Joe Biden and not acknowledge that he is offering something to the black voters that they're responding. But the problem here, though,

is that all of that still is based upon polls and not a single vote has been cast. Right. Well, yes. And can I just add something real quick? And again, Roland, you're much more of an expert than I am in this area. But I was having a conversation with somebody and I was like, well, why don't we have polls that carry the same amount of weight that's coming from media of color? Why don't we have that to balance out? Because it's easy, very simple. Because first of all, let's just be real clear,

the only, we talk about media of color, you have Univision and Telemundo. Telemundo is actually owned by NBC. So Univision is owned separately. They have the resources. The reality is black media does not have the resources to do these polls. These polls cost anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000. Again, the problem, though, still with this is that when you base all of this solely on polling data. Now, I still, though, believe that, and I have no issue on the Democratic side with them saying how many donors you got to get.

Because I think what I do believe that that is a function of your ability to be able to reach a cross section of people. Just because you want to hop on a stage and talk. I'm sorry if you don't have the ability. Like, for instance, all people talk about and granted attention gets attention gets it, but you've got to be out there. But if you want to jump out there and run, you've got to be out there talking to the people, connecting with people. If you say, look, we've got to have 100,000 donors, and all you've done is find 10,000 donors, that's an indication of, frankly, you not catching on with the general public. Now, what the Democrats did was they actually, as each debate continued,

they increased in terms of the threshold in order for you to qualify. That was one of the criticisms there. See, I just personally believe the candidates are wasting. And look, I think everything Deval Patrick said there is straight, but Deval Patrick is not on that stage because Deval Patrick got in two months ago. Right. So had Deval Patrick gotten in in January and February, he would have been able to build his team. So it's sort of like you want to hop in in November and then say, hey, two months later, why am I not on stage? Neither is Mike Bloomberg.

Well, but he has the money, though. So and then that's the other thing. And then you have Mike Bloomberg news. Like what corner can you not turn and have some type of reference point yeah but look he's got 54 billion dollars but also again this is see this is this is where i this is where i did that granted you could this is where i disagree with people on this process even though tom starr people accuse him of buying his way in bottom line is he still had to work it. Mike Bloomberg has said, I ain't taking no money. Okay. So here's the other piece. Mike Bloomberg, you might have $54 billion, but you have not proven to me infrastructure, boots on the ground. Your polling is only because you dropped a hundred million dollars in ads. You ain't been out there working it.

Michael Bloomberg has not been out there hitting the ground in Iowa and New Hampshire. He has not been hitting nearly every county in South Carolina. No, you basically want to fly like I'm sitting there hovering in space over everything. It's like, yo, let me in. No, bro, you bought your way in. And that's the whole point. That's part of the process. We should not have a situation where billionaires

just buy themselves in. I agree with you. I agree with you. But that, I mean, your point raises how remarkable what Pete Buttigieg has done really is. He's not my candidate. I see a lot of issues with him, but I also see some upsides with him. But more than anything, he's the only person on that stage who was starting at real zero in terms of national exposure, national visibility or great wealth.

But again, though, where he got help was he got help by, let's just be clear, largely white men run political media. He got elevated by those very people. Let me just do a comparison. Let me just real clear. Wayne Messam... Florida. Come on. Come on. No, no, no. Follow me here. Let's do a side-by-side comparison.

That's the point. How large is the city that Wayne Messam is mayor in Florida? Larger than South Bend. Oh, yeah. Mir mayor in Florida? Larger than South Bend. Oh, yeah. Miramar is huge. Much larger than South Bend. Yes, much larger.

It's like 20 South Bends. But when Wayne Messam announced crickets. He's at the bottom on the right side of the screen of all of the candidates. No, no. He wasn't even on the screen. He wasn't on the screen. I saw him like out of the 30. He went on the screen. Now, it's out of the 30. He went on the screen.

Now, it's still a function of also what do you put together? Right. In terms of do you actually put together a credible campaign? So you can announce, but are you actually putting together a campaign team? And so Buttigieg, also remember, Buttigieg got a lot of attention

when he tried to run for DNC chair. That's also part of this. And so it's all of these things combined with it. I just simply think in the case here, if you keep whining about the process, the bottom line is we've never seen a year like this where you had more than 20 people trying to run. Right. You just didn't. You never saw this.

And so it's hard to say change the process. Well, dog, we never thought 20 damn people were going to sit here and run for president. Right. Yeah. And I concur with that. I think the process, it is smart for the Democratic Party to try to whittle down the field because we learned from the GOP allowing 17 people to go into the actual early votes and what happened was that everybody

agreed they didn't like Trump but nobody could agree on who they did like and the 30 or 20 percent that like Trump got him from state to state to state and that's how the worst candidate emerged out of that primary and I think the DNC said to itself like we don't want that process. We're going to whittle down that field so that once the voting happens, we're still talking about five or six viable candidates that, you know, that have real constituencies. And I think that's actually a smart thing to do. But there can be tinkering, changing, updating, re-looking at the criteria to make it more reflective of the demographics of our party. And I think that I think in future years, you're actually going to see that because, you know, people like me are going to insist on it.

People like Roland are going to insist on it. So let's talk about again what happens when you elect black people to legal positions. In New York, Attorney General Letitia James has launched an investigation into the NYPD to determine if officers have illegally targeted communities of color on New York City subways through enforcement of fair evasion laws. She requested fair evasion data to determine if any racial bias exists or if any discriminatory practices have been used by cops at subway stations throughout the city. Of the 682 people arrested for fair evasion between April and June of 2019, 86% were black or Latino. I don't understand why this data continues to shock us. And I'm not saying that it does.

But I think it does really call for why there is such a need for reform as it relates to policing, that we there has to be a collective understanding that this is really where we are. And to say that is not is really a rejection of reality or is people that don't have to, as Deval Patrick put in his tweet, like those are people that don't have to have those set of experiences, right? Their color allows them not to have that, especially when you see like the videos like over the holiday season of all of the white Santas that were jumping the turnstile and not paying.

So there's that disparity there. So the need for police reform and then also for us to understand that those people that don't have to have like those type of experiences, be it because they don't live in a metropolitan area, to really lock on arms and help organizations that are very much so focused in on that to support them. Well, in 2015, there was a case where there were officers themselves who used to work there and said that they were, you know, that there was a policy of actually going after African American and Latinos. So unless you think there's some magic wand or some fairy dust that folks have

sprinkled and all of a sudden it's no longer going to be in place, that's why you need, you know, what's happening now to continue to keep the spotlight on it. You do not change these issues overnight. It has to be continued focus and there has to be accountability in the process also. This is also why data is important, why you have to keep data to be able to show exactly what is happening in those trends. And so we'll certainly see what happens there. Just y'all know Letitia James is a sister. So we should have a photo or something showing her that.

That's why I'm making that point. Why it's important because she's sensitive to those very issues. All right, folks. All right, so this is a little light in the story here. That's pretty funny. The Kappas and rapper Boozy are trying to work out the beef of the decade. It started when Boozy wore Kappa letters to Atlanta Hawks basketball game. Now, Boozy

didn't know. He was like, hey, what y'all tripping about? And then he thought that since they strolled to his music, now, first of all, he wore this shirt. Y'all, people went crazy, blasting Boozy. He responded like, what the hell? It was in the store. I bought it.

I guess Boozy thought a cap or shirt was like this Converse. Like, no, that ain't quite how it go, Boozy. That ain't quite how it go. And so it was all this back and forth. Do y'all have any of the videos Boozy did? Please show them. Please show them.

Roll. Roll. All right. That's much better. That's much better. That's much better. But I really want you to start with me. It's like a, you got to, this is like coming through the crowd, you're moving them out of the way.

You know, haters, you're moving them out of the way. Haters, like, you know what I'm saying? Damn, nigga, bro, why we be so ash? Bro, come on, man. You got to go forward. Forward. Come on, like this. All right, see, now I tell you've been watching YouTube.

Nah. Yeah, I've been watching YouTube. You got to do the camera, right? It's not a camera. They got cameras, but there's mirrors. It's a mirror, really. It's a mirror? Yeah.

Like, you know, you're holding, like, looking in a mirror. You know what I'm saying? Oh. So it's like a, so you're giving me the mirror right here. You're giving me the mirror. I got you the mirror. And then I give you the mirror. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. All right, now we just need a song. You ready? Y'all, first of all, there were other videos on his Instagram page with Boozy where he was like, look, man, I ain't know. I couldn't weather letters, all that sort of stuff. We have the apology video. All right.

Can y'all roll it? Let me know y'all got it worked out. Now, do y'all have the statement from Kappa Alpha Psi responding to this? Oh, my God. Okay. Go to my iPad. Oh, there it is. Right.

That's the statement. All right. So Lil Boozy social media response from Kappa Alpha Psi. Greetings, brothers. Greetings, brothers. Below is the official fraternity response to social media post by Lil Boozy. Dear Mr. Hatch, thank you for acknowledging Kappa Alpha Psi in your social media

posts. We hope that Takari Hatch, a spring 2000 initiate of a Southern University chapter, the Alpha Sigma of Kappa Alpha Psi has made you aware of the fraternity's history, heritage, and legacy. We uphold the guiding principle of honorable achievement in every field

of human endeavor. In Kappa Alpha Psi, we are working daily to positively impact underserved, particularly African-American communities. In light of your recent media posts regarding your similar interests, we would welcome the opportunity to work together with you to impact such underserved communities. Thus, we will contact your management team in the near future to explore collaborative efforts. Right. And I believe he did. Like, he put up an Instagram post for, like, a shimmy challenge. So, I will say this. I have two other sisters. None of us are Greeks. My father's an alpha. My mom's an AKA. And so, those things are very sacred. And Dr. Ali,

we were talking to the green room just around cultural competence. Though this is really, really, that this is hilarious, that there is a Lil Boosie social media response statement from the camera. No, no, no, no, no, no. No, you're saying. First of all, this is what got wrong. First of all, he's no longer Lil Boosie. Oh, he's just Boosie? No, he's now Boosie.

Oh, okay. Because he was Boosie badass, too. He dropped Lil Boosie about three years ago. Now he Boosie. Okay, because he was Boosie. Oh, okay, then. Because he was Boosie Badass, too. He dropped Lil Boosie about three years ago. Now he Boosie. Okay, because he was Boosie Badass. So, sorry, Boosie. Keep up with all the iterations. No, Boosie Badass, too.

That's his Instagram handle. But he's now Lil Boosie because now he's like, I'm grown. Oh, wow. Mustafa being an alpha, what do you make of us? I'm almost at a loss for words. It's good to see Boosie is evolving, right? Okay. No, I'm just cracking up while he's like,

what y'all trying to learn is the shimmy. I'm just cracking up while he's like, what the hell? Can I say something in defense of Boosie? I want to say something in defense of Boozy. I am an Alpha Kappa Alpha woman, and I'm very proud of that. I come from Alpha Kappa Alpha stock. My mom is an AKA.

My dad is an Alpha. But I was raised to understand the deep history, culture, and value of traditional black Greek organizations and to respect those traditions and value of traditional black Greek organizations. And to respect those traditions and to want to earn your way into that exclusive group. Boosie doesn't sound to me like he had any of that.

He wouldn't know. And you know what? If you're not raised around that, because when I showed up at UC Davis, a predominantly white institution, it was not an HBCU, I show up at UC Davis, I didn't know anything about this. I see some Delta initiates walking across the field and all walking in a line,

and I had no idea what it was because my parents- So you had walked into a store and saw AKA, you just bought a shirt? Well, I knew better because at least my mom and my dad had told me that there's something sacred about this. But had I not had that experience or that background, I could very easily walk up with something on pink or green,

think it was cute, and walk around my campus. And in my campus, if you wore any permutation of pink and green, it didn't even have to be the Greek letters. If you wore any kind of pink and green, people were thinking that you were trying to front. That would have been a problem. I avoided walking into that problem because I had a little bit of help before I got there.

But my parents didn't tell me about pledging. They didn't tell me about that whole experience. So I'm going to try to be charitable to Boozy, that ass, and say that he couldn't possibly hit them. That's what I'm going to try to do. I'm trying to get, you know, I remember I interviewed Boozy when he has jewelry stolen in Mississippi.

And then, of course, when they found out I was interviewing him, it was amazing, the jury showed up. Where did they? Yeah, go to YouTube, it's there. So I'm gonna try to have Boozy on the show a little later this week. I can't wait to have that conversation. Please do. Oh, my God. Please do.

Tell him that I stood up for him. Take a look at this picture of the Black I stood up for him. Please tell him. Take a look at this picture of the black Oscar nominees from last year. Check it out. Here's the picture, folks. This is last year. Today. There we go. There we go.

All right. That was all the black people last year. All right. This year, that's about it. After announcing the 2020 Oscar nominations on Monday, the Academy is being criticized for its mostly white nominees and overall lack of diversity. Folks were upset that a number of non-white actors were snubbed

for their performances this year despite having been recognized and nominated for Golden Globe, Critics' Choice, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. The snubs included Awkwafina in The Farewell, Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers, Eddie Murphy, Dolomite Is My Name, Lupita Nyong'o in Us, Jamie Foxx in Just Mercy, among others. Queen in Slim director Melina Masoukas was also snubbed.

Cynthia Erivo, who played Harriet Tubman in Harriet, is the only non-white actor nominated. So that's what happened right there. Okay, so clearly you had diversity. All right, folks, I was going to play today the interview with Bruce Franks. Of course, he was a former councilman there in Ferguson. He talked about there in St. Louis, he talked about, sorry, state representative. And of course, he resigned dealing with this whole issue of dealing with PTSD. It was a great conversation that we had

with him. What I'm going to do is I'm actually flying to St. Louis tomorrow. I'm going to hold that tomorrow. And so we're going to re-air that. That documentary that was done on him called St. Louis Superman has been nominated for an Oscar in the documentary category. And so we're going to have

that for you tomorrow. So we went over some of the other topics. I'm going to hold that for you tomorrow. We'll re-air my interview with Bruce Franks. Well, thank my pal. We certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. All right, folks, please, we want you to support Roland Martin Unfiltered. That is to join our Bring the Funk fan club. That's where we have the folks who watch us join our members. Your dollars make this show possible. Allow for us to do what we do to cover the stories that we do. That's why it's important. It's important for us to be able to have a black-owned show speaking to black issues, covering black news from a black perspective. And so we can't do it without you. You can go

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I actually have the letter. It was a 92-year-old black woman from Long Island, New York, who used to watch me on News 1 Now. And she said, your voice is important. And this sister, a 92-year-old black woman, had a $500 check because she said, I want to make sure that your voice is being heard by our people. That's the kind of commitment that I certainly appreciate from our members. And so the reason I'm not giving her name, because you know, got some folks who want to target our elderly, but that's why I'm not giving her name. All right. So I definitely want to give her a shout out and we certainly appreciate that all right folks i got to go uh y'all can watch the

white debate um we'll talk about it tomorrow uh and let's see if any black stuff come up then again they are in iowa so holla 🎶 This is an iHeart Podcast.