#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 1.30 Vanessa Bryant ends silence; Trumpers give $$$ to Black voters; Are women are better leaders?

Episode Date: February 1, 2020

1.30.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Vanessa Bryant breaks her silence; The first person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus reported in the U.S.; Obama: Texas teen told to cut his dreads or gets a big surprise; Obama: Women better leaders than men; Trump impeachment trial continues; Black farmers at risk of losing their farms because of Trump's trade war. #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Are you looking to enhance your leadership or that of your team in 2020? Join Dr. Jacquie Hood Martin as she engages others to think like a leader. Register and start the online course today! www.live2lead.com/Leesburg #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: This is a CALL TO ACTION! On Monday February 3rd and Tuesday February 4th join the CBC for the 2020 National Black Leadership Summit. This call to action was established to mobilize African American participation in the 2020 census, as well as advocate for voting rights and the CBC's legislative agenda. For more info visit http://ow.ly/PpnW50y3EHh Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. It's Thursday, January 30th. Roland is traveling today. I'm your host, Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeaver. Here's what's coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Vanessa Bryant speaks for the first time since her husband and daughter were killed in a helicopter accident. We'll share her words with you. The first person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus has been reported in the United States. And the Texas student who refused to cut his dreads got a significant surprise. We'll tell you what that was.

And are women better leaders than men? President Obama seems to think so. You'll meet two powerful sisters who are putting it to the test. The impeachment hearing continues today with a ridiculous ritual of written questions. We'll show you some of the questions and answers. Plus, black farmers are in danger of losing their farms

because of Trump's trade war with China. The founder of the National Black Farmer Association joins us to explain. It's time to bring the funk. You're on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. The fact, 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 rolling Yeah, yeah It's on go-go-go, y'all

Yeah, yeah It's rolling, Martin, yeah Yeah, yeah Rolling with rolling' Martin, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real, the best You know he's Rollin' Martin Now Martin Vanessa Bryant is speaking on her Instagram account for the first time since her husband and daughter and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday morning.

She posted, shown support and love during this horrific time. Thank you for all the prayers. We definitely need them. We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe, and the amazing father of our children, and my beautiful, sweet Gianna, a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, an amazing sister to Natalia, Bianca, and Capri. We are also devastated for the families

who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately. There aren't enough words to describe our pain right now. I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon.

I'm not sure what our lives hold beyond today, and it's impossible to imagine life without them. But we wake up each day trying to keep pushing because Kobe and our baby girl, Gigi, are shining on us to light the way. Our love for them is endless, and that's to say immeasurable. I just wish I could hug them, kiss them, and bless them, have them here with us forever. Thank you for sharing your them, kiss them, and bless them. Have them here with us

forever. Thank you for sharing your joy, your grief, and your support with us. We ask that you grant us the respect and privacy we will need to navigate this new reality. To honor our team, Mamba Family, the Namba Sports Foundation has set up the Mamba on 3 fund to help support the other families affected by this tragedy. To donate, please go to mambaon3.org. To further Kobe and Gianna's legacy in youth sports, please visit mambasportsfoundation.org. Thank you so much for listing us up in your prayers and for loving Kobe, Gigi, Natalia, Bianca, Capri, and me.

In other words, in other news, the first person-to-person transmission of coronavirus has been reported in the United States as China confirms more than 8,100 cases. The World Health Organization will reconvene its emergency committee to determine whether the coronavirus outbreak amounts to a public health emergency or international concern, as the total number of people infected in mainland China surpassed those infected within SARS during the 2002 and 2003 epidemic. Here's Dr. Tidrus Arhamnam, Director General of the World Health Organization.

We have not seen any deaths outside China, for which we must all be grateful. Although these numbers are still relatively small compared to the numbers of cases in China, we must all act together now to limit further spread. The vast majority of cases outside China have a travel history to Wuhan or contact with someone with a travel history to Wuhan. We don't know what sort of damage this virus could do if it were to spread in a country with a weaker health system. We must act now to help countries prepare for that possibility. For all of these reasons, I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of novel coronavirus. The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is

happening in China but because of what is happening in other countries. Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems and which are ill-prepared to deal with it. And here's some good news. Ellen DeGeneres and Alicia Keys are lending support to a Texas teenager who was told that he won't get to walk at graduation if he doesn't cut his locks. DeAndre Arnold was presented with a check for $20,000 to go toward his college education when he appeared on The Ellen Show yesterday. The 18-year-old is a senior at Barbers Hill High School in Mount Bellevue, Texas, but he hasn't been to school for several days. Just before the start of winter break in

December, the Barbers Hill Independent School District, which Arnold's high school is part of, told his family that if he didn't cut his locks, he would be barred from walking at graduation. We'll stay on top of this story. Now, President Obama once said, I'm absolutely confident that for two years, if every nation on earth was run by women, you would see a significant improvement across the board on just about everything, living standards and outcomes. Although that's the assessment of many, a Pew Research Center poll shows that the percentage of female Fortune 500 CEOs reached this all-time high of 6.4% in 2017 and fell to 4.8% again in 2018.

So why are these advancements so slow? And if you add black women to the equation, the advancements are even slower. It's at zero actually right now for black women. Joining me now are two women who are managed to break, who have managed to break through. Dr. C. Nicole Mason, so sorry Nicole, is president and CEO of the Institute

for Women's Policy Research, and Ashanti Gholar is political director for Emerge America. So welcome to Earl & Martin Unfiltered. Thank you. I am so excited to have you guys here for a couple of different reasons. Obviously, you're both brilliant. And you both have these sort of historic posts. The first black women to head each of these organizations.

So what does it feel through to break through, not only in terms of being a woman leader, but specifically being a black woman leader of these very historic organizations? First, Ashanti. All right. Well, thank you. So excited to be here. And for me, it's still sinking in because we just announced my promotion to president on Monday. So it's only been day four and navigating everything. But that is what I sit with. The fact that I now lead an organization that was founded by people that did not look like me. And in 2020, I'm now ushering us forward. So it's the fact that black women really are leading in more ways. And I'm excited that people are seeing our leadership. So when we're talking about the hashtag black women lead is actually happening, but I'm just excited about 2020 and moving forward,

but really lifting up and supporting other women. That is what gets me up every day. But to be able to do it in this position and movement building with recruiting and training more women for them to see their potential, I'm just excited about the future. Yeah. Can you tell people a little bit about what Emerge America does? Yeah. So at Emerge, we recruit and train Democratic women to run for office and provide them a powerful network of support. We were founded in 2002 with Emerge California. We created Emerge America in 2005 to grow the sisterhood. We are now in 26 states across the country with the majority of our expansion being in the South, which I focused on when I came to Emerge for two reasons. First, there are good women in the South who want to run for office,

and I really wanted to make sure that we were recruiting and training black women because all they needed was someone to invest in them. And with our signature program, we demystify what it takes to run for office. And I'm excited about all the gains that we've made in the South. We're still the only national organization playing in gains that we've made in the South. We're still the only national organization playing in a lot of these places in the South, making these investments. And you're already just seeing great women such as Congresswoman Lucy McBath. We trained her at our boot camp in Georgia. When she first did the boot camp, she was running for the state house.

She called me in February 2018. She said, Ashanti, my heart is with Congress. That's what the Lord is telling me to do. I said, let's do it. And she won that seat. So it's not only women running, but Emerge helps women blaze trails and really take their seat at the table to define politics in the future of this country. Absolutely. And she is the mother of Jordan Davis. Yeah. So she has been able to really champion this cause around guns and making sure we have more sensible gun laws. Yeah, absolutely. And that's really what we see when we talk about women running for office. Men kind of get offended when I say this, but women run for office to get things done, where men sometimes run for office just to be something. And sorry, I said it. Sorry, men. Love men. You're

great. But it's true because when you look at just women in leadership, women introduce more bills. They co-sponsor more bills. Though they may run for office for a specific reason, such as Congresswoman McBath, it was gun violence prevention. They lead on all areas because they care about the entire community. And women will reach across the aisle to get things done. And I love seeing just all of these photos of women coming together and the women caucusing and saying, this is what we're going to do. And when you look at a lot of the top countries, they are led by women. So there is something to be said about women's leadership. And going back to what President Obama said, I spoke to a black student retreat and one of the women, the young women asked me,

a lot of people said he was pandering. What do you think? And I said, well, two things. We know President Obama is a smart man here, Michelle Obama. And frankly, it's just facts what he said. Yeah, absolutely. So see, Nicole, Institute for Women's Policy Research is really the premier women's think tank in the nation. Could you tell us a little bit about how you got there and where you plan to take it in the future? So I got there, I think, like a lot of women, black women. We have just been doing the work over many, many years. And opportunity presents itself. And that's what happened with IWPR. One of the things I want to say is that we are living in a really historic

moment that I don't think we've been able to fully understand and realize and appreciate. Black women are leading many of the national civil rights think tanks, organizations in this country right now. I'm thinking about Fatima Goss Graves, I'm thinking about the new leader of NELP, the National Employment Law Project, and many other organizations. And so, but I don't feel like as a nation we've caught up to that reality,

so I'm really happy to be among those leaders. When I think about IWPR in our work and stepping into that role, I want to say that I don't know if people thought it was going to be me. I know, when I got the email and I saw your face, I was like, yes! Absolutely. And, you know, and I thought, I believe people thought it was going to be business as usual.

Yeah. And I just came in and shook everything up and said, you know, we really need to be talking about racial equity. We need to have an intersectional framework.

Oh, that is shaking it up. Yeah. So, and so, and, you know, and that's how I lead and that's my point know, and that's how I lead. And that's my point of view. And that's where I come from in my social location. And what you are seeing when black women lead or when women lead, they bring all of that with them.

And like you said, I mean, I think that's brilliant. What I know for sure is that women who become involved in politics or choose to lead they do it because they feel personally invested or it's an issue that's directly impact them and their communities and um with IWPR issues of economics women's economic security and family economic security are issues that have been near and dear to me for my entire life uh and so um I love. And I just keep showing up and being who I am. Well, I have to ask you this one other question, just to sort of piggyback on that. Because when you look at the leadership of organizations

that are, for example, traditionally women's organizations, you do typically see white women at the helm, a white woman focus in terms of their subject matter specifics, in terms of what they handle. So it's just wonderful to see you there. But when you also, when you look at traditionally black civil rights organizations, you typically see men

at the helm of leadership. I mean, that's just the reality. Even the organizations that you mentioned, they were civil rights organizations, but they're not black-focused civil rights organizations. So you guys are sort of really breaking this mold of being in leadership in a space that traditionally centers the white woman's experience, to be very real about it. In that space, what do you think we could all do to make sure that other organizations, other women's organizations, but also civil rights black organizations begin to see the wealth of talent

that we have among black women to ascend to leadership positions in those spaces as well. So one of the things, I was just at this meeting yesterday and it was a strategy session and we're talking about our direction, what we're gonna do, and everybody had all these ideas

and they're like, and you need to do this, you need to be focused on this. And there was another black woman in the room that said, hold up. What you're not going to do is put all these expectations on this woman, you know, on me, on Nicole, because we're not asking that of these other organizations that have $65 million budgets. Right. And that was a moment for me to also step back and say, you know what? You don't have to be all things. Right. You can do what you do well and just do that. Right. And that was a moment for me to also step back and say, you know what? You don't have to be all things. Right. You can do what you do well and just do that. Right.

And also that other black women have my back because she saw what was happening and what was being set up. And she said, no way, not on my watch. And we talked about it today. And she said, I got you. And so when I think about the pressure, so the other thing that, and I said this when I was interviewed for IWPR, I said, well, I know the stat is that people, new EDs, new leaders in an organization, they last about 18 months. You get over that 18 months, you're pretty much good to go. But most people fail, most new leaders in CEO positions fail within the first 18 months. I was like, what are you going to do to help me be successful in this role?

Because I want to be very clear that this is not about me being superwoman. It's about what we do together. And so not being set up for failure. And I know that what happens, and I think it's different for black women and women of color than white women, that if we fail in the role, it's going to be like, that's why we're not hiring another one.

Exactly, exactly. You know, and so it's just a different level of pressure, I think, that we have to face that I think is even different from black men. Absolutely. And so, Ashanti, similarly, I love the fact that you were saying that you had this ally, basically, this other black woman in the room to say,

no, you're not gonna hold her to different expectations than others. What advice would you give other ambitious black women who are watching us right now that want to move up to leadership to make sure that they not only get there, but they have the support that they need to stay there? So one of the things that I say all the time is you have to show up and be your authentic self. And that's what I did at Emerge. When I came, I was the only black woman on staff.

I looked at our board at the time, no other black women. Wow. Looked at the advisory board. And this wasn't 1960, was it? No, this was in 2016. So I knew I had my work cut out for me. But it's like you said, I knew that I wasn't going into that space alone. That I had so many other black women behind me. And when you embrace diversity, however you want to define it, I prefer to call it equity and justice. That makes every organization better. So I fought first in the things that I knew I could change. I'm like, I'm the political director.

What do I control? I control our expansion, what new states we're going to, our strategic recruitment. I get to put forth names for seats, our partnerships. What groups are we working for? So I infiltrated first in my work. And because I'm the political director for a political organization, that meant I got to work with the other departments. And they started coming along. And it got to the point where, like,

my white colleagues were the ones who were backing me up. Like, when something out of pocket was said, I didn't even have to get off mute, because they had it. Like, I was like, oh, I like this. You know, because they were standing up, and they were calling other people out. And I'm glad to say Emerge of 2020, it has a black woman president,

it has a Latina chief of staff, and it has an AAPI board chair. Awesome. So that is what happens when you live your values. So just show up and do it. And honestly, if they push back, it's not the place for you. Right. Like, that is it. Like, don't change.

Don't sit back. And I'd be honest about the place for you. Right. Like, that is it. Like, don't change. Don't sit back. And I'd be honest about the fact when I see other black women, women of color and spaces, and I'm like, how are things going? They're like, oh, it's great. It's lovely. I was like, you need to leave. Keeping it real. Because it's not the only place in the world. Exactly.

There you go. I'm like, you're giving me that answer, and you can't even be real on me. It's time to leave, sis. Absolutely. You got to sis. Absolutely. You gotta go. Well, thank you so much for coming today and thank you so much for representing all the black girl magic up in the space. Great to have you here.

Thank you. Thank you, dear. So, join Dr. Should we do a break? Yes. Alright, we gotta go to break. We'll be right back. You want to check out Roller Mark a break? Yes. All right, we got to go to break. We'll be right back. You want to check out Roland Martin Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin.

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Join Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin as she engages others to think like a leader. Are you looking to enhance your leadership or that of your team in 2020? Join our newest online course and mastermind group, How Successful People Think. She will be your guide as you learn timeless leadership principles to apply to daily living. Offer expires February 28th, 2020. Register for or start the online course today at livetolead.com slash Leedsburg. So yesterday was the first day that senators got to ask questions of the House managers and Trump's defense team. The questions are sent to Chief

Justice John Roberts, who reads them aloud. They have up to 16 hours to complete this process. And here are some of the exchanges. Senator Harris and Murray asked the House managers the House of Representatives is now in possession of a tape of President Trump saying of Ambassador Maria Yovanovitch quote get rid of her get her out tomorrow I don't care get her out tomorrow take her out okay do it end quote President Trump gave this order to Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two men who carried out Trump's pressure campaign in Ukraine at the direction of Rudy Giuliani. Does the discovery of this tape suggest that if the Senate does not pursue all relevant

evidence, including witnesses and documents, that new evidence will continue to come to light after the Senate renders a verdict? The answer is yes. What we have seen really over the last several weeks since the passage of the articles in the House of Representatives is every week indeed sometimes every day there is new information coming to light. We know there's going to be new information coming to light on March 17th when the Bolton book comes out, that is if the NSC isn't successful in redacting it or preventing much of its publication. And on that issue I do want to mention one other thing in response to the question about the Bolton manuscript and what did the White House

lawyers know because I listened very carefully to the question about the Bolton manuscript and what did the White House lawyers know, because I listened very carefully to the answer to that question, and maybe you listened more carefully than I did. What I thought I heard them say in the answer to that question, what did they know about the manuscript and when did they know it, their statement was very precisely worded. The NSC unit reviewing the book did not share the manuscript. Well, that's a different question than whether the White House lawyers found out what's in it.

Because you don't have to circulate the manuscript to have someone walk over to the White House and say, you do not want John Bolton to testify. Let me tell you, you do not want John Bolton to testify. You don't need to read his manuscript because I can tell you what's in it. So the denial was a very carefully worded one. I don't know what the White House lawyers knew and when they knew it, but they did represent to you repeatedly that the President never told a witness that he was freezing the aid to get Ukraine to do these investigations. And we know that's not true. You know that from the witnesses we've already heard from, but we also know at least if the

reporting is correct, and you should find out if it is, that John Bolton tells a very different story. So there are going to continue to be revelations, and members of this body on both sides of the aisle are going to have to answer a question each time it does, why didn't you want to know that when it would have helped inform your decision? Question from Senator Cassidy and Senator Risch for both parties beginning with the President's Council first. We saw a video of Mr. Nadler saying, quote, there must never be a narrowly voted impeachment or an impeachment supported by one of our major political parties and opposed by the other.

Such an impeachment will lack legitimacy, will produce divisiveness and bitterness in our politics for years to come, and will call into question the very legitimacy of our political institutions, end quote. Given the well-known dislike of some House Democrats for President Trump and the stated desire of some to impeach before the president was inaugurated and the strictly partisan vote in favor of impeachment, do the current proceedings typify that which Mr. Nadler warned against 20 years ago? The evidence is overwhelming that President Trump pressured a foreign government to target an American citizen for personal and political gain. As part of President Trump's corrupt effort to cheat and solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election. There is a remedy for that type of stunning abuse of power.

And that remedy is in the Constitution. That remedy is impeachment and the consideration of removal, which is what this distinguished body is doing right now. That's not partisan. That's not the Democratic Party playbook. That's not the Republican Party playbook. That is the playbook in a democratic republic, given to us in a precious fashion by the framers of the Constitution. The impeachment in this

instance of course and the consideration of removal is necessary because President Trump's conduct strikes at the very heart of our free and fair elections. As North Carolinian delegate William Davey noted at the Constitutional Convention, quote, if he be not impeachable while in office, he will spare no efforts or means whatsoever to get himself re-elected. The framers of the Constitution understood that perhaps this remedy would one day be necessary. That is why we are here right now. The American people should decide an American election. Not the Ukrainians, not the Russians, not the Chinese, the American people.

That is why this president was impeached. That is why it is appropriate for Democrats and Republicans, both sides of the aisle, not as partisans as Americans, to hold this president accountable for his stunning abuse of power. So joining us to talk about the impeachment happenings is William Roberts, managing director of Democracy and Government Reform at the Center for American Progress. Hello there, William. Hi, how are you? Great to have you. So, you know, sure. So in terms of everything that's going on with the impeachment process right now, is this really at the end of the day much ado about nothing? Or why is this really important to still sort of make these arguments, even though it appears that the Republican Party has this sort of see no evil, hear no evil mentality and will just do whatever they do, no matter what evidence is brought to light?

Sure. Well, you know, the House had a constitutional duty. hear no evil mentality and will just do whatever they do no matter what evidence is brought to light? Sure. Well, you know, the House had a constitutional duty to start the impeachment process and the House did its job. The Senate also has a constitutional oath to do impartial justice have decided to go along with the president's cover-up of what happened with Ukraine and the funding it's still important to play this process out not just for the American people who are watching now that is extremely important, but because it's a constitutional necessity to do so. This is a president of the United States we're talking about

that abused his power for personal and political gain, and that just can't stand. Absolutely. So when we look at these sort of latest happenings with the whole Bolton revelation and where we are now in terms of potentially offering some sort of testimony, what would you gauge the state of play in terms of the likelihood that the Republicans might actually bend towards that specific issue? Well, so, you know, the witness question at the end of

the day is the ballgame right now, right? We are in day two, and it's great that you played back some of those pressing questions that went through the Chief Justice to the counsel for the president and the House managers. But we are at the end of the questioning period almost, and then tomorrow we expect we're going to start having these votes on witnesses. And as we know, most Americans know whether you're a lawyer or just watch Law & Order, that real trials have witnesses and evidence. And so John Bolton is the name that everyone wants to hear from, not just or least of all because of the revelations that just came out for his forthcoming book, but because lots of witnesses that the House called in the beginning of the impeachment process signaled John Bolton as someone who had crucial information about

this story as the national security advisor. And so it is important that we hear from him. Now, what folks are waiting to see is there are four Republicans, at least four, that are willing to break with Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Republican caucus and vote with Democrats, one, just to vote to hear witnesses, and two, to see if they would like to call Mr. Bolton to see what he has to say. So when the rubber hits the road, do you really believe that they're going to stand out on the limb and vote against their leader?

You know, hope springs eternal. I think we find ourselves in one of these situations where we don't like to find ourselves, where we are counting on the courage of a Senate Republican to stand up in their caucus and do what's right. And we've been here before, whether it was with the repeated assaults on the Affordable Care Act by the president or any of these other instances where we've been pushed to the brink and counting on some Republicans on Senate. And so, you know, news reports say that Mitt Romney is among this gang of folks who are interested in hearing from witnesses, potentially Susan Collins, Lamar Alexander, Lisa Murkowski and maybe some others. And so we have to wait and see. I am hopeful that Senate Republicans, after sitting through hours and hours and days and days of this process, being faced with what is uncontrovertible

evidence of the president's wrongdoing, will decide to stand up and do their duty for the American people. But we'll have to see tomorrow. We will have to see. Thank you for joining us and lending your perspective. Totally. Wonderful. So joining us tonight to continue this discussion and more is Erica Savage-Wilson, host of Savage Politics podcast, Dr. Greg Carr, chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies at of this evidence that they claim is not evidence? What do you think is going to happen when this question is brought to the table about whether or not they're going to allow Bolton and others to testify? I think they're going to do what they always do, which is punk out and basically bend to the will of Donald Trump. If John Bolton writing in his book saying that this is basically the smoking gun of all smoking guns is not enough to immediately convince them that they need witnesses so that this is not just a GOP cover-up,

I don't know what else it's going to do. Your thoughts about that, Dr. Carr? No, I'm in full agreement. Yesterday I thought was particularly remarkable. What we see is that the Republicans have now abandoned all pretense. They are telling bold-faced lies on the floor of the United States Senate. And Adam Schiff is hilarious.

He was so incredulous last night until he finally said, you know, so I'm clear Donald Trump is saying, I am the state. And Dershowitz, I want to applaud Professor Dershowitz in particular for dropping all pretenses. No, any time a man can sit there and say

that anything a president does to get re-elected is okay, including quid pro quo, they have stripped all pretense. And so the only thing I say is, just before we went on air, Elizabeth Warren sent a message that John Roberts, who is a particularly striking piece of useless furniture in this,

the author of Citizens United, which unleashed this beast on the institution he claims to love so well. But Elizabeth Warren sent a message. I want to read what she said. She said, does the fact that the Chief Justice is presiding over an impeachment trial in which Republican Senators have thus far refused to allow witnesses or evidence contribute to the loss

of legitimacy of the Chief Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Constitution. John Roberts had to read that out of his mouth. So let's be clear. Donald Trump isn't on trial here, Dr. Avis. American democracy is, and so far it's about to lose. That is a great point.

So, sort of bringing that up a little bit more, Erica, you know, I saw this study a couple of months ago, several months ago, where it talked about the perceptions of racially intolerant whites in America. And what they found was that among that population, if they believe that democracy will actually benefit

people of color, they are less likely to support democracy and they are in fact more likely to support an autocratic system. So they're more likely to support democracy, and they are, in fact, more likely to support an autocratic system. So they're more likely to be in favor of having a dictatorship than having a democracy which is beneficial to people of color. Are we just seeing this playing out in front of us in real time right now? Yes, we are. Dr. Carr and I just had this side conversation. They would rather have it burned to the ground than see any sort of that poisonous tree

known as equity actually leveled out. And so what I want to also say is that when we roll back, when we look back even at December, Mitch McConnell went on Hannity and in three paragraphs that I typed up and I put on all my social media platforms, he laid out what the playbook was going to be. He said that he and the White House counsel and the president were going to work in concert. Yes, he did.

For this sham of a Senate trial. So I absolutely agree with Dr. Carr, what Reesey have said. This is American democracy being on trial. And so I want to also add to that. I asked Dr. Carr, you know, were his students watching that? And so he, you know, we talked about that very quickly. And they're not. I'm wondering, too, along with what Mitch McConnell said,

that that was something that he did not bend back from. Why in the hell aren't Democrat surrogates on TikTok, on social media, on black radio stations, on Roland Martin unfiltered unless two days a week? Why aren't they on black women views? Why are they not at Howard? Why in the world are they not on podcasts that black folks listen to

and they are just reading back letting them know that listen, all of what you see going on could be gone just like that. That's right. It is happening right in your face. It is not under our noses. This is in our face. That's right.

So the communications department of the DNC needs to send Erica a check right now. No question. Erica Savage-Wilson. Come on. Absolutely. Please. Please listen to her. Allies of Donald Trump are holding events in black communities where organizers praise Trump

as they hand out tens of thousands of dollars to lucky attendees. Here's Kareem Lanier, co-chair of the Urban Revitalization Coalition. Come on down, Jessica Harris. I'll give you one of 300. 300. Tell us what you're gonna do with that money. Ooh. I'm gonna spend it. Okay. There you go. Thank you. Four more years for President Trump. Yay! Uh...

That was live and not Memorex. That was a real thing to happen, y'all. The first giveaway took place last month in Cleveland, where recipients whose winning tickets were drawn That was a real thing to happen, y'all. The first giveaway took place last month in Cleveland, where recipients whose winning tickets were drawn from a bin landed cash gifts in increments of several hundred dollars stuffed into envelopes. Oh, how, like, apropos is that?

A second giveaway scheduled for this month in Virginia has been postponed, and more are said to be in the works. Wow. So how are we supposed to compete against just giving away cash? Let's be clear. We're talking about raffles and not reparations. Come on now. Come on.

We got a lot more bribing to do, Donald Trump and co. before you get the black vote. Now will people show up? You know black people love a raffle, especially at the church. Yes, honey, please. Oh, Donald Trump, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, $250, cool. That's one of two Zs. That's it.

It's a marketing campaign by this pastor in Cleveland. They're too incompetent to take this on a wild scale. As you said, the second event was canceled. Yeah. So I kind of look at this as a Sour Patch Kids strategy, where first they're sour, and 99% of their strategy is sour, which is the voter suppression,

which is the disinformation, which is the voter purging. It's all of these things that are there to suppress the black vote. And then you have the sweet, which is the raffle, which is the marketing campaign. Oh, black people, things have never been well.

Black unemployment is down. And you know, it's not entirely a terrible strategy, just being honest. If we look at the electoral college map, if we look at the success that they're having with this voter suppression, but it's just not going to do the trick. Yeah, so, you know, NAACP,

didn't they come out recently with a statement saying our vote is not for sale? Not for sale. And yet, it might be. I mean, I... No, I mean, you know, this guy, Daryl mean, I... No, I mean, you know, this guy Darrell, this brother from Cleveland, I mean, you know,

Roland had him on the show when he was still over TV. And I mean, again, this is a space where I'm sure you have an invitation to come in and try to explain that. And, you know,

on an evening when we've seen just another glimpse of the power of black women continuing to unfold, you know, I would say that I'm perfectly comfortable to say that it is

these Negro men, preachers, who we see lining up, there's a patriarchy dimension in this that is undeniable. And to seize upon the misery of black people to kind of scatter dollars around like this, some kind of strip club, at least the president of Virginia Union had to back out. I don't know whether it was shame,

or, because you knew what that was, but you got busted, brother. So I mean, you know, but the only other thing I would say is that it's kind of a little bit disconcerting is that, you know, perhaps the other strategy is that they want to signal to these white racists who aren't quite comfortable with Trump that they are trying to reach out to black people.

And so if that's the case, this may not even be about black people at all. Well, you know, I think it's very interesting, though. From all the things that I've been seeing, it seems that Trump really is trying to have a specific black strategy right now from these making it rain occasions

like this to, you know, investing a lot in black media to really focusing a lot on the black male vote. I mean, really, what do you think that, once again,

I'm going to get you that check from the DNC. Please do. What would you suggest that the Democratic Party do to counteract what is a very real effort by Trump in order to eat

into the black vote? And I'm going to go back to what I said. It is, when I'm thinking about black men, I'm thinking about black men connected to radio. Listening to stations like Russ Parr. Not just going to the barbershop, because here's the thing that upsets me about barbershop. That is a very private and sacred space that men go in.

I have an almost 21-year-old son, and there was a point that I stopped taking him inside of the barbershop because I felt as though that really was not my place. I sent him in, he was cared for, and he got to listen to a variety of conversations. So the barbershop kind of tactic is not something that I'm specifically comfortable with. But being very, very, very intentional

about reaching black men, one of that is through radio. So we know that Tom Joyner is no longer on our airwaves, but we do have men that still listen to Russ Parr. We do have men that actually still listen to Ricky Smiley. And then if there were a call specifically to black men, black men like to be talked to. They like to have their doors knocked on as well. So with all of the data that they have,

if they reach out to one brother or they reach out to two brothers, those brothers can then go back to their sacred spots, which are barbershops, and say, hey, brother, there's going to be an event happening. There's going to be someone from the DNC that wants to talk specifically to us. And that should also be a man as well, if I might add.

Because what we're seeing happening right now is I went and looked on the Urban Revitalization Coalition's website. Yeah, the 70-city tour that they're embarking on. They had three dates in 2019. That calendar is all the way empty. It really has a lot of fillers in it. This 13-point model program that they're supposed to have is nothing. It is a whole bunch of hot air. So even what Donald and his minions are doing, there's still a real opportunity for the DNC and for other organizing democratic organizations to really get to the heart of black men. And I'll be honest and wrap it up here. I think there's no better time than now, particularly when we're looking at a giant of a man who actually caused the world to pause in an unfortunate helicopter crash that

took the life of him, his daughter, and seven other people. So to be very, very honest, this is a great time for the DNC to really look at their data, to look at who they have on staff, and to start organizing some very intentional radio spots. We have a black man that started a digital network. Some brothers that actually, we got a professor, we got a Dr. Greg Carr here to be very intentional in their outreach and planning events specifically and only for black men.

Do you have faith that they'll do something like that, though, sis? You know what? I've seen time and time again is our votes being taken for granted. I think that we're looked at as the voter mules. And, you know, being on social media, I see the vote blue no matter who, vote blue no matter who. Well, that's not the energy that people have for the white evangelicals. They come to the white evangelicals with receipts. Here are my Supreme Court judges

that are going to block abortion, that are going to roll back your civil rights. They, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, too, need to come to the black community with receipts. Don't just come to our churches. Come to our place of businesses. You know, come and show us. Come to our colleges.

But quit doing just the lip service. You know, We need substance. And you need to court our votes, just like you court every other demographic. We've heard nonstop about the white working class voters. We hear about the union voters. There are black union voters, too. We hear about all of these different demographics,

but then when it comes to the black community, it is show up and just be happy with what you get. And that is not acceptable anymore. be happy with what you get. And that is not acceptable anymore. And I am sounding the alarm. You guys are going to be in for a huge shock if you take our votes for granted. Again, I don't want to hear about black people didn't show up in these large numbers.

It's their fault. It's your fault if you don't get us to the polls. Absolutely. And these multi-letter networks, I mean, even again this week, they were in Maine and talking to Trump voters who were dressed quite well, drive luxury cars, I'm sure six and seven figure people, asking them about their different Senate representation during the impeachment trial. They are not, and so I agree with you, sis, and I agree with everything that we're saying here. They are continuing these media outlets, and they're continuing on with their coverage

and padding several layers of media with these same voters. The intentionality that has to come behind not just black women, but black men for the Democratic Party has got to happen. Absolutely. And one last thing on this, Dr. Carr, I love your perspective on just the way the whole

party, the primary system is structured. I really think it is time to step away from the Iowa first, New Hampshire first model. I mean, if you look at Iowa particularly, you got black congressional, I'm sorry, white congressional, not obviously white, Republicans in Congress, a Republican governor.

They vote Republican all the time,, our entire discourse around who the Democratic nominee should be is largely based on how people are doing in Iowa. Absolutely. And we're going to suffer if we don't vote. It's ironic that really

a lot of this is structured around what happened in 1972 in Gary, Indiana. That black independent politics that came out of Gary that fed electoral politics for a generation that kind of hit a watershed moment in presidential politics

in the 84 and 88 Jackson campaigns. That energy was siphoned. I remember in 1988, Ron Daniels, who just published his memoir, talked about that because he was the architect of that campaign in part.

When they got to Atlanta and those Democrats, the Democratic Party told Jackson, look, trade your delegates in to nominate Dukakis and we'll give you some seats at the table. Ron Brown came out of that, and that's where Bill Clinton came from. But that's when the Democratic Party

really turned toward this kind of DLC, neoliberal kind of thrust. It wasn't a progressive thrust. Now, fast forward to where we are now. The Sanders campaign and the Warren campaign know that the largest block of voters in this country are those who don't participate. So they're trying to reach out to these people who are not participating, but those are the poor people. Those are the black and brown people. Those are women and young people. And the Democratic Party, scared to death, is fighting that.

And part of that fight is this kind of conservative Democratic Party that rejected the progressivism of Jesse Jackson, that it really isn't progressivism. As you said, it takes our votes for granted, but wants to keep this structure in place that doesn't even realize our freedom dreams. So what are we faced with? We're faced with the Democratic Party scared to death of Bernie Sanders, looking at Elizabeth Warren as an acceptable compromise, but rather have Pete Buttigieg or Amy Klobuchar or certainly Joe Biden than either of those other two. And somewhere in the shadows looking at it,

hoping he doesn't get to have to jump in, is Barack Obama, who ain't on the right team as far as I'm concerned. Because the real move in this is to get those people who don't vote. And for me, if finally, if Sanders is is the nominee go get Stacey Abrams if Warren is the nominee go get Julian Castro Cory Booker I don't even know so much but what you might tell these people who don't participate you got to get him a

reason to vote and that reason is not Republican light also known as the current Democratic well there's so much to say here. We have to. I hate to say it. I'm just saying. I don't know. I'm saying we can roll the receipts. We can go year for year in the receipts. I mean, I'll tell you how it works.

Your argument is absolutely correct in terms of the direction of the party. But I also believe that a Saunders ticket is going to be like a complete, just it'll be an impulsion. Why? First of all, he is... I'm just asking. I'm not endorsing Bernie Sanders. I'm just asking why. Yeah, first of all, he's unvetted.

There are a lot of things. He's never, he's been untested. There are a lot of things that haven't come out about him that will come out, all of the woodwork, once he gets that level. Well, there was just a video of the woodwork once he gets that level. Well, there was just a video of him today praising George Wallace. So that I just saw for the first time.

Okay, so there's a lot of stuff like that. Obviously, when people see a commercial that says, this is your paycheck now, this is your paycheck after, we have Medicare for all, paying off student loans, free college. That sort of visual I think will be very

damaging. But that's bolder stupidity, right? That could be remedied by education. You can call it that if you want. Most people in this culture, in this culture, well, first of all, let's just be honest. The man has been in Congress for 30 years, has passed seven laws.

Three of them have been post-options. You know what? Maybe we should have another show where we just go through this chapter and verse. We're not electing a king. We're electing a president. We got a king now. They're getting ready to destroy the Constitution.

What I'm saying is that if he were to do that, he would have to get it passed Congress. He has not shown the ability to do that in 30 years. Those are just my thoughts. You know, and my thing, as far as I'm concerned, I don't see any receipts in the community for Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders. There is a lot of racial hostility

in the progressive movement that I've seen. Okay? I see a lot of racial hostility. Maybe you should invite Nina Turner here to talk about this. Well, you know, I can... Since she's the co-manager of... Nina Turner, okay, we can do that, too. It don't matter to me.

No, because I'm saying there's really no defense of the Democratic Party. I mean, I understand party politics and people got to eat, but let's be clear about the politics. We can talk about that another time. That's correct. There definitely is some racial hostility on the press.

To say that there isn't is not accurate either. And there's also a minimization of racial issues. They have very, very, very limited competence by Bernie Sanders specifically. By Bernie Sanders. They have very, very, very limited competence by the progressive movement, by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth. They have very minimal... What part of subsidized education or health care eliminates black people, since we would be

the ones to benefit the vote? Okay, so this is the universal argument. No, no, no. I'll just say this. When you look at the Jackson campaign... He's also the same person who, whenever you ask him, anything has to do with race. He immediately shifts to class. You know that... Even this issue, he had to be dragged into wanting to at least study reparations.

And 20... Yes, he was. Because in 2016, when he was asked specifically about this, this is... Y'all know, because I've said this 50 bazillion times on this show. The thing that really pissed me off about him is that when he was asked about reparations when he ran last time, in literally a nanosecond, his immediate reaction was,

oh, God, that's unrealistic. Every fucking thing he's talking about is unrealistic. So all of a sudden, you say that everything else is realistic except reparations? I'm not saying that at all. No, I'm not saying you. I'm saying him. Oh, I see.

Him. When that point was raised, that's unrealistic, but nothing else that he's talking about is unrealistic. But he has a race problem. I think we have to probably have a little bit more

nuanced discussion of reparations. For example, people are talking about it's the first time in a presidential campaign that we see it on the table. Those people don't have an awareness of history. The Jackson campaign of 84 and 88, which Sanders worked with, had reparations on their platform.

Again, coming out of Gary 72. If you listen to Jesse Jackson in 84 and 88, he sounded exactly like Bernie Sanders sounds now on the issue of reparations as it relates to redistributing wealth. What do I mean by that? When he was in Appalachia, when he was out there in California, Reverend Jackson, which is why he had

a plurality of delegates going into 88, he was talking about expanding the economic base and reparations would be distributed in part by subsidized healthcare, education. This, in fact, is the birth of what Bernie Sanders is talking about. But here's the problem. The Democrats were scared as hell.

So when I hear these critiques of Sanders, and even Warren, who's kind of gesturing toward it, I remember those same critiques of Jackson, except because Jackson is a black man. We saw it as attack on race. We have to be a little bit more sophisticated. I think when we started talking about this question, if they run an ad and this is what I think Bloomberg is going to be important. Bloomberg is going to be important in this regard. He ain't going to win nothing, but he's a billionaire who's going to spend all of his money attacking Trump. So he's gonna keep softening Trump up after the primaries.

But if you look at it, there's no such thing as free anything. It's subsidized. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We pay taxes. What they're talking about is redistributing wealth by using our tax money for our good. It's subsidized education.

None of this is free. And if you think about it, this is the platform. If you look at the reparations, like in COBRA, National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, the National African American Reparations Coalition, NARC, this is their platform. This isn't exclusively black. But when we think of it that way, we're really... And that's when Bernie Sanders says, we're dealing with identity politics.

People say, he's attacking black people. No, what he's saying is that in America, class is race and race is class. But if we're looking for a specific appeal to black cultural nuances, we're going to miss the larger point that the thing that people are terrified of, because, you know, corporate interests

give to Democrats, too, is a redistribution of wealth. And I'm telling you right now, the Democratic Party of today would have been the Republican Party of the 1950s, and all we got to do is match up the platform. Well, I shudder to think that class is race and race is class. I don't care if you're a billionaire and you're running down the street in your nice car.

When you get pulled over, that policeman isn't going to ask for your tax return. I agree. He's going to see your black skin, and that's going to be it. So at this moment, we got to take a break, and we'll be right back. 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.

On Monday, February 3rd and Tuesday, February 4th, the National Leadership Conference is issuing a call to action. Next year will be a critical year for the nation and a year of existential threats for the African-American community. From the potential continuation of devastating Trump administration policies to a census cynically designed to undercount our community to national, state, and local elections, the African-American community needs to be organized and assert the full force and power of our communities, including electing people who will champion

our interests. The conference will be called with a sense of urgency that concludes with a specific action plan for African-American leaders to take back to their communities. During the early years of the CBC, the caucus periodically convened African American leaders from around the nation to tackle different issues or respond to various crises. As the nation, and in particular our community, is experiencing the most hostile administration since the 1950s, the time is right again for the CBC to step up and convene leaders from around the nation. The goals are to initiate a CBC-led national call to action to mobilize African-American participation in the 2020 census,

voting rights, and the CBC legislative agenda to promote and support other organizational efforts affecting the African-American population, like labor, students, local election officials, and faith communities. The Future of Black America, a call to action two-day conference, will be held at the nation's capital and will include plenary sessions and workshops covering key issues. The CBC will take the lead in moderating and facilitating, but leaders from around the nation will be invited to present the issues, strategies, and work from various communities. The conference will begin with an off-site political session and a full day of plenaries and workshops.

For more information, go to cbc.house.gov slash 2020 summit. So Donald Trump announced that he expects to sign the phase one trade deal with China on January 15th or shortly thereafter. The deal, which was agreed to in principle last month, will reduce. That was probably supposed to be February 15th. The deal, which was agreed to in principle last month, will reduce. That was probably supposed to be February 15th. The deal, which was agreed to in principle last month, will produce tariffs, boost Chinese purchase of American goods and address intellectual property concerns. So what does this trade deal mean for the U.S. and the global economy? And more specifically, what does it mean to black farmers who are already suffering as a direct result of trade tariffs and climate change? Joining me to talk about this is Dr. John Wesley Boyd, founder of the National Black Farmers Association.

How are you, Mr. Boyd? Thank you very much for having me. So it's very, very good to be here and spend time. Absolutely. So glad to have you here. Now, we know that you have been on the vanguard of fighting for black farmers now for years, and it took you forever to be able to get the rewards of that lawsuit that you all had won. And at the minute that it seems like maybe that black farmers were gaining their feet, their footing again financially, you're stuck with this situation with the trade war. You know, how have black farmers fared as a result of

everything that's going on right now between Trump and China? Well, I'll tell you, the trade war has really hurt black farmers more than it hurt white farmers because, one, we're not participating in the president's so-called bailout program for farmers. the MP payments that went out, $13 billion. Blacks are just not receiving these funds. And we pressed the administration and we pressed Congress at several hearings to look into the matter as to why Black farmers around the country aren't receiving these payments. And quite frankly, the payments are going to large corporations such as JBS, a foreign pork company, received a $13 million payout to farmers. So there's some wide disparate figures that are currently happening and it's going on without

little or no oversight. And it's because the president continues to say something more stupid than he said today. So you can't keep your issue out there to where the media really dig into the issue and hold this administration accountable because the president simply says something that takes the focus off today and changes changes it again tomorrow absolutely he's the master of deflection so yes deflection is what i'm looking for absolutely so i'm sorry go ahead and i was saying that uh this administration has uh has uh been uh uh black people's worst nightmare. And what I mean by that is there's no loans going out to blacks at the United States Department of Agriculture.

The top 10 banks aren't lending money to black farmers. And I read a quote the other day that Roosevelt, under Roosevelt's administration, they made more farm loans to sharecroppers and black farmers than this administration is making to black farmers. We have to do something

to organize and mobilize and get someone that can defeat this president in the general election. I don't care who it is. Anybody would be better than this president at this point, based on my opinion. And he puts people down and degrades people,

degrades black people and women. I can't see why white farmers in this country continue to overwhelmingly support this president in red states, based on the condition, the all-time low prices for farmers, $8 a bushel for soybeans, $4 and some change a bushel for corn and wheat. These are 1980 prices. That's just astounding to me. I come from a family of farmers, and that's a lot of hard work.

In my mind, there's no harder work in America than being a farmer. And I'm wondering, you know, from what you just described, you're not getting access to the quote-unquote bailout money that's actually going to big business instead of farmers. You're not getting access to loans to be able to keep your farms afloat. And at the same time, you're getting squeezed in the supply line because of this war that's going on, this trade war that's going on with China. Do you have any sense of how many of our farms have been lost because of this incompetence?

Well, I can tell you at our national conference that we had last November, the farmers are simply saying they don't know how they're going to hold on. And, you know, we're going to have to band together and start helping ourselves because this administration ain't going to help us. And, you know, there's athletes and persons of color, and we need to start organizing and opening banks so that we can start lending ourselves some money instead of begging money from our top 10 banks that don't want anything to do with us. These are some things that we have to start doing,

and we're gonna have to start doing it fairly quickly. My dad said the other day, a man almost 80 years old, yeah, we're gonna have to start loving one another to make these things happen, because this administration wants nothing to do with black people, and they treated black farmers worse than dirt on the ground. Oh, my goodness. So I kind of remember towards the end of the last campaign that Trump, on his final appeal, said famously, what do you have to lose, referring to black people

as he was running for office. If you were to answer that question now in hindsight, what has black people lost, particularly black farmers, as a result of having someone like this in the White House? And I'm going to sum it up with one word, everything. My Lord. Wow. Everything. Everything. Wow. having someone like this in the White House. And I'm going to sum it up with one word, everything. My Lord. Wow.

Everything. Everything. Wow. And this president is the worst thing I've seen in my adult life, as far as in the political arena that I've had the opportunity to visit with. Every president since Jimmy Carter in the White House, Republican and Democrat, this president is the worst. His secretary, agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue, told me

in a meeting when I asked him about putting more blacks into local offices on the county committee so that blacks can start receiving more loans. He said that he didn't need any tokens or people that didn't want to work. What? This is what Sergeant Perdue said in the cage at the United States Department of Agriculture. And I asked him what he meant about that. And I told him I didn't know any black farmer that was on the farm working that didn't want to work. And I told him that I have two young men. I can still outwork my sons.

And I told them, Mr. Secretary, I probably cannot work here. They have the wrong myth about black people, that we don't want to work. And they forget that we built this country. We made cotton king and tobacco gold. We've done all those things as black people in this country. And we cleaned up the South and all these things. Black people have done that. And we've done it by working. Quite frankly, we've done it by free labor. Absolutely. So why don't we understand that

we're not lazy and we're not looking for a paycheck on Friday that we didn't earn. So all that stuff is myths, especially as it relates to black farmers. I hear you. So we do have is myths, especially as it relates to black farmers. I hear you. So we do have one question here from the panel. Yes, Mr. Boyd. So I saw in the phase one deal that there is a goal to or China is kind of promising to basically restore the prior levels of what they were buying. But you also mentioned that the price has been cut so low. So the volume that you have to produce is so much higher, right? So is there any relief that you know of in terms of the pricing? Or does it seem like you're going to have to work twice as hard just to get back to square one with this Trump failed tax trade policy?

We're going to have to work much harder to get back to where we were. And like myself, I raised corn, wheat, and soybeans, a hundred head of beef cattle. Black farmers are going to have to start diversifying and growing crops such as hemp and start thinking out of the box and do more creative things to create wealth and income on our farms

because this administration simply isn't going to do it for us. Wow. Well, Mr. Boyd, thank you so much for your advocacy. income on our farms because this administration simply isn't going to do it for us. Wow. Well, Mr. Boyd, thank you so much for your advocacy and all the work that you do for black farmers around the nation. And thank you guys for doing what you do. I listen

and you have some powerful conversation and people are listening. So thank you for doing what you're doing. Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you. Any thoughts about this? I mean, this is, like, tragic. It is. And in reading it, I thought about the 1619 Project in which they talked

about black farmers. I mean, we've seen the stories of black farmers, how they're being forced, really, to sell land. And I'm so glad Dr. Boyd said what he said because the whole profile of black people being lazy was the first thing that got me kicked out of class when I was a you know a child when we were the first assets on the book

and as Dr. Boyd said we have made I think he said something around cotton gold and cash king right yeah and so when you when you think about that in terms of who is actually getting away, who is actually getting over on the system, who is skirting the system, we're seeing it played out in impeachment right now. You're talking about a man who could stand to lose 886 acres. Wow. And three generations of farmers. And so I'm glad that he mentioned

talking about coming together, black banks, the things that our parents and grandparents absolutely diversifying the crops. But if there were ever a time that unity just really was a priority, that time is now. And so it is above and beyond kind of the silliness that we're seeing happening to get very serious because this is not going to change with an election. It's not going to change with an election.

No. As you say, Erica, it's an economic model. I mean, if you go back to the Civil War, when the North actually, in places like Davis, Bend, Mississippi, and in the Sea Island, South Carolina, turned the land over to the formerly enslaved Africans so they could work that land, and they used that profit,

actually paid for the Freedmen's Bureau, to subsidize the war effort, when they then, after the Civil War, gave that land back to the former, to the former slave masters and northern land speculators, that began the land theft of black people. Van Newkirk wrote an excellent article in The Atlantic

about three months ago on this theft of black land. Ironically, much of that theft land that's now in the hands of agribusiness is one of the deepest pockets that an investment group that we probably all know, TIA Creft, comes from. So some of us actually... Wow, really? Yeah, it's in Van Newkirk's article for The Atlantic.

I suggest the reason I bring this up is because John Boyd is a legend. He's a titan in this struggle. And what he is saying actually taps into a long history of black collective land ownership and buying. You know, Sonny Perdue is an old-line race criminal. Yes, he is. A deep racist in big agriculture, no question.

When you see the subsidies that are going on, it's going, over half that money is going to that little 1%, Sonny and his boys. Right. And so, John Boyd, it may look like a lot of land to us, but those are small farmers. Right. The only way they're going to be able to get to do something

is to collectivize community land, trust, agribusiness, black owned banks, and then they can move forward. This is where the sister who got kicked around by the former Secretary of Agriculture in the Obama administration, Shirley Sherrod and Joyce Carter-El, because see, Shirley Sherrod and them were doing that in the 60s and 70s,

but see, the problem is the political economy. The Republicans are at the absolute worst thing, but what the Democrats are gonna have to do, they're gonna have to learn a little bit more about collective work and get away from this hyper-capitalist model. But I'm not saying the Republicans shouldn't because Republicans, we got to get them out.

The other thing I would say is this. China is no friend of anyone in the United States. They're never going to restore the amount of money they were giving to the United States. That money's now going to Brazil. That money's going to go to Latin America. Well, can you blame them? That's business. But see, but see... Trump screwed that up.

This is the thing that really is the tragedy. When we don't look at the United States in an international context, and we think that somehow national politics don't have an international thumbprint. That's right. When we cut ourselves off as black people from people around the world, when the Chinese decide,

y'all go to hell, we all over Africa, we all over Latin America, the United States of America is getting ready to implode. You're right. And it's going... When it implodes, we gonna be standing here naked talking about what happened, waving flags. We gotta get smarter about this.

Yeah. And if John Boyd needs to make a deal with the Chinese, don't go to Washington, D.C. to do it. Get on the phone and call Lagos, call Sao Paulo, and figure out the United States has never been the friend of black people. We got to think differently to do this. And it doesn't begin with saying America first. No, black people first.

And that's a different paradigm. Absolutely. I do think, though, that this is an opportunity for the Democrats to step up because the reality of the matter is that this bailout is an appropriation. It's congressional funds. So the Democrats, hey, receipts. That's right. When these appropriations are done,

you need to be getting up in there. You want to call it pork? I don't give a damn what you call it. But show up for the black farmers. They have power in these negotiations just like they will and deal for everything else. God damn it, we'll and deal for this. Right, come on.

So when these appropriations, these bills, you want to talk about the Iowa farmers, when you talk about the white farmers, you don't want to talk about the black farmers. That's right. Handle that, okay? Use your power, your congressional, your constitutional power over appropriations

to make sure that there is more equity in these bailouts and that they're not just going to the wealthy and that they're not just going to the white farmers but that they're going to the black farmers who need it the most. And that's what we're talking about, the value of the black vote because Dr. Boyd also said he's not heard diddly squat.

He said diddly squat from a Tim Kaine and from a Mark Warner who thought it was so impressive in 2016 to be speaking Spanish as a VP candidate. So absolutely, I totally agree with what you said, Reza. This is a time to step up and show and prove. Absolutely, absolutely. And you know, this is where our land is.

This is where generational wealth is in our community. We oftentimes overlook what's going on in rural areas. We definitely overlook the fact that there are black people in rural areas and we specifically overlook the plight of black farmers. Except for you, Erica. She's got her country roots.

She's clutching her pearls like, I talk about that all the time. But you know, for real though, we need to focus roots. She's like, clutching her pearls like, I talk about that all the time. Right. But you know, for real though, we need to focus on this part of our community that is valuable, that has family bonds and family wealth that goes back for generations, and we have to do

everything that we can to protect it. Because once that land is gone, it's gone. It's gone. And I really feel like there are folks that are sitting here just waiting for the moment to snatch it up. Absolutely. Come on. Absolutely. Oh, my goodness.

Well, thank you so much for having such a great discussion again, guys. Thank you. And I still love you, Dr. Carr. Oh, don't worry. I love Black people. I'm going to ride for us every day. I hear you. I do, too.

But we just take different cars. We both ride for Black folks. That's my same caravan. That's right. So that just take different cars. We're both riding for Blacksport. Same caravan. That's right. So that concludes today's Roland Martin Unfiltered. I'm glad you joined us. Be sure to tune in again tomorrow when Roland will be broadcasting from North Carolina A&T. Hello. In Greensboro, North Carolina.

Also, don't forget to support Roland Martin Unfiltered so you can continue to get this kind of programming every day. Until next time, I'm Dr. Avis. Enjoy your evening. Holla! This is an iHeart Podcast.