#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 4.21 Concerns over reopening; Where are the COVID-19 rescue $? What's behind anti-lockdown protests?

Episode Date: April 24, 2020

4.21.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Mayors push back against reopening; Concerns over reopening intensify; Where are the COVID-19 rescue $? What's behind anti-lockdown protests? On the 50th Anniversary Earth Day and there's good news and bad news as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered #RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Today is Tuesday, April 21st, 2020. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, we'll talk with black mayors in Georgia about the decision by the mayor to reopen the state. It also impacts Alabama. So we'll also talk to Randall Woodfin, the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, as well as, of course, Van Johnson, the mayor of Savannah, Georgia. What are the medical consequences of reopening too early?

Many people say it could be dangerous. Infectious disease, especially Dr. Alexa Gaffney will be here. Plus, why are so many white folks protesting the lockdown? What's wrong with y'all? What's going on? Anti-racism educator Tim Wise will give us his take on pandemicking while white. The Congressional Black Caucus had an emergency phone call today about the coronavirus response interim aid bill. Why isn't that money getting to the people who need it? David Clooney, executive director of the Black Economic Alliance, will break it down. Also today, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and there's good news and bad news as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. We'll talk about it with our panel. And four years ago, we lost Prince on this day. Folks, it's time to bring the funk

on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. Puttin' it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rollin' Yeah, yeah With Uncle Roro, y'all Yeah, yeah It's Rollin' Martin, yeah Yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now

Yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's fresh, he's real, the best you know He's rolling, Martel Martel All right, folks, the most arrogant, narcissistic, lying president we've had in modern history is talking right now. News conference at the White House regarding coronavirus.

We are not going to it because we're not going to be showing to you somebody who likes to lie. And so when we have real experts come to the microphone, we'll go to the White House, but we're not going to show Donald Trump who continues to lie and make things up. And frankly, all he cares about is his ratings when it comes to this news conference. In fact, the idiot sent a tweet out today, y'all, literally, literally touting his ratings when it comes to this news conference. In fact, the idiot sent a tweet out today, y'all. Literally, literally touting his ratings. Then say, oh, I don't care about those things. So why'd you lead with it? Yes, you do.

So experts talk, we'll go to it. He's talking, ain't gonna happen. All right, folks, as of today, we have 811,478 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States. Jesus, 811,000. Remember when somebody said we had 15 and it's going to be down to zero? I thought so. At least 44,752 patients with the virus have died.

New York saw an uptick of nearly 740 overnight. 82,620 patients have recovered from the coronavirus. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to update us with good news in his daily briefings. The net hospitalizations are flattening and the apex in the state is going down. Overall, the total hospitalizations are basically flat from where they were yesterday. And as you see, the overall curve is on the way down. And that is good news, certainly. The net change in hospitalizations is down, not down as much as we would like. Change in intubations is down,

and that's always good news, because intubations means a person is on a ventilator. Eighty percent of the time when people are on a ventilator, they don't come off the ventilator in a successful way. The number of new people in the state who walked in the door yesterday or were diagnosed with COVID is 1,300. That is down, and that's good news relative to really bad news, which is what was happening up until then, right? We have to remember our calculus of good, our definition of good has changed here. Good is now not terrible, but on an absolute scale, 1,300 people walking the door with COVID on a single day in the state of new york uh that would not be good news in any other context between the besides the context we're living in new york mayor bill de blasio says that hey when they beat this there's going to be a ticker tape

parade in new york watch this all right we're trying to see if we can get this to play. Many people are slamming the mayor for this decision. You guys should be able to see it now. Okay, all right, let's see if we can get this straight. Again, you see what is happening. New York officials are increasingly happy about what's going on there, but people are still expressing concern if individuals are not taking this seriously. Again, this is Bill de Blasio today.

So we're trying to pull it up right now. So just give I'll do it in a second. First of all, let's go to Georgia where Governor Brian Kemp lifted restrictions on a number of businesses. One of the most aggressive moves yet to reignite commercial activity. As we reported yesterday, Kim said he would allow gyms, barbershops, tattoo parlors and bowling alleys, among other businesses, to reopen on Friday, though they would be required to follow social distancing guidelines and screen their employees for signs of fever and respiratory illness. He said theaters and dining restaurants would be permitted to resume activity on April 27th.

Meanwhile, a statewide shelter-in-place order expires at the end of the month. Local governments are pushing back. The mayor of Albany, Georgia has already said they are not in a position to reopen. Joining us right now is the mayor of Savannah, Georgia, Mayor Van Johnson. Glad to have you on, Georgia, Mayor Van Johnson. Glad to have you on the show, Mayor. When you heard the governor make this announcement, surely you had to be shaking your head to hear him come out and say, yes, reopening on Friday, which is frankly earlier than anybody else had thought about. Well, I think I was dumbfounded.

I was beyond amazed. And I think to complicate this even more, Brother Rowland, was that we have a current shelter-in-place order issued by Governor Kemp that expires on April 30th. So if people are supposed to remain sheltered in place until April 30th, then why are we opening businesses on April the 24th and April the 27th? It does not make sense. We are still maybe four to six weeks from leveling out. We have not leveled out. We're still on the upswing of this. We've had almost 20,000 deaths, I mean, 20,000 infections in Georgia, almost 800 deaths.

We're still in the upswing. It just made no sense. So how are you going to now deal with this? Because if the governor's made this decision, does his decision override yours as mayor? It does. In Georgia, the governor makes the rules. That being said, there might be some legal options that are available to us in the interest of public safety. I think more importantly, I reminded Savannians this morning that they are the governors and the mayors in their own homes. They get to call the shots. They get to say where people go and where people don't go. They get the opportunity to decide that they're going to stay in. It is so clear that the science in this case is really the prevailing factor.

And there is no science, no data to support Georgia opening at this point. Your city being impacted by coronavirus. Yes. How is your city being impacted in terms of cases, in terms of deaths? How has it been impacted? Well, I mean, Savannah has been, I think, relatively blessed. We've had the opportunity. We, at this point, in our county, about 185 cases and relatively five deaths.

But that is because I think we got ahead of it early. We canceled the second largest St. Patrick's Day celebration and parade in the country. But then if you go just four hours southwest of us to Albany, Georgia, they have more cases than really anywhere in Georgia. They have more deaths than anywhere in the country. It's certainly crazy what's happening here. Have you heard from businesses? Are they actually going to open? Have you heard from residents? Are they going to go to those businesses or are people still afraid?

Well, I mean, we've been really fortunate again to have people. Our mantra has been that we will keep the faith, but we'll follow the science. So we've had businesses here that have been following the science. So we have a bunch of folks, a bunch of businesses that say, you know what? We're in pain right now. We understand it. We get it. But we want to do it when it's safe.

Savannah is also blessed with a large religious community. And so I've asked our churches, our mosques and our synagogues and our temples to remain closed to continue their technology and distance worship services. Because in Albany, the infections occurred from funerals. So again, we have the benefit

of looking through the lens of what's happening in New York and what's happening in New York and what's happening in Albany. We understand what the science is. We cannot have people together and we cannot be reckless about this. All right, then, Mayor Van Johnson, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks for joining us on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Thank you. All right. Alpha man there. All right, then. Appreciate that. All right. All right, folks, let's now go to, first of all, the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Some U.S. governors, as I said, are set to reopen their state's economy.

You talked about what happened there with Kemp. Now, in accordance with White House recommendations and against the advice from health experts, governors in South Carolina, Tennessee, Alaska and Georgia have all have all plans to ease restrictions this week. Now, again, we still are coming from the White House is still talking about in terms of what's happening here. What you really have is them pushing this whole thing into the hands of these governors. Now, smart governors, unfortunately, many of them are in blue states. They are being extremely cautious. You do have folks like Larry Hogan, governor in Maryland, who's Republican, who are saying they're not going to rush into this.

But these southern states, now, why is this critical? Because, first of all, these southern states, many of them have some of the worst health outcomes in America, some of the worst education outcomes in America. There's a reason they still have this sort of this mindset that is pre-Civil War. That's what you're dealing with when you talk about many of these red states in the South. Why does it matter to us? African-Americans live there. They've been greatly impacted by these ridiculous decisions by these governors. They are chancing the possibility of coronavirus increasing across this nation. That, people, makes no sense whatsoever. Folks, let me know if y'all actually now see my iPad.

Let me know so I can play this video. Okay, so we're going to do this here, folks. I need to get this fixed. The White House news conference is going on right now. Martin. 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 Roland Martin Unfiltered. See that name right there? Roland Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

That's YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And don't forget to turn on your notifications so when we go live, you'll know it. You want to support Roland Martin Unfiltered? Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real.

As Roland Martin Unfiltered support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. All right, so a lot of y'all are always asking me

about some of the pocket squares that I wear. Now, I don't, and Robby don't have one on. Now, I don't particularly like the white pocket squares. I don't like even the silk ones. And so I was reading GQ magazine a number of years ago, and I saw this guy who had this pocket square here, and it looks like a flower. This is called a shibori pocket square.

This is how the Japanese manipulate the fabric to create this sort of flower effect. So I'm going to take it out and then place it in my hand so you see what it looks like. And I said, man, this is pretty cool. And so I tracked down the, it took me a year to find a company that did it. And so they basically have about 47 different colors. And so I love them because, again, as men, we don't have many accessories to wear, so

we don't have many options. And so this is really a pretty cool pocket square. And what I love about this here is you saw when it's in in the pocket you know it gives you that flower effect like that but if I wanted to also unlike other because if I flip it and turn it over it actually gives me a different type of texture and so therefore it gives me a different look so there you go so if you actually want to get one of these shibori pocket squares we have them in 47 different colors.

All you got to do is go to rollingthismartin.com forward slash pocket squares. So it's rollingthismartin.com forward slash pocket squares. All you got to do is go to my website and you can actually get this. Now, for those of you who are members of our Bring the Funk fan club, there's a discount for you to get our pocket squares. That's why you also got to be a part of our Bring the Funk fan club, there's a discount for you to get our pocket squares. That's why you also got to be a part of our Bring the Funk fan club. And so that's what we want you to do. And so it's pretty cool. So if you want to jazz your look up, you can do that.

In addition, y'all see me with some of the feather pocket squares. My sister was a designer. She actually makes these. They're all custom made. So when you also go to the website, can also order one of the customized uh feather pocket squares uh right there at rollingnessmartin.com forward slash pocket squares so please do so and of course uh it goes to support the show and again if you're a bring the funk fan club member you get a discount this is why you should join the fan club all right folks and so it looks like

we've got this uh technical snafu fixed right now. Again, the coronavirus news conference is taking place at the White House. I want to go there. Go right ahead. So we don't have those results yet. I expect to have more results this week, but we will be transparent about those results because you think it's very important. And your question is superb in that if someone wants to use a test that's come to market, really it's important to read the information that's in the package insert. But often in some of those cases, it's also important for the independent labs to do the validation also.

And you may have seen reports in the press of labs around the country that have done that. We've actually reached out to them, many academics, and we will be including that information in the information that we generate as well to provide to the American people. Dr. Ron? Dr. Ron? Well, we have you here. and the information that we generate as well to provide to the American people. The Press The Press The Press

The Press The Press The Press The Press The Press The Press The Press The Press The Press give some takeaways from that study? Did that change your thinking at all on hydroxychloroquine? So this study is a small retrospective study at the VA and similar to the data we talked

about other venues before. What FDA is going to require is data from clinical trials, randomized clinical trials, hydroxychloroquine, placebo, to actually make a definitive decision around safety and efficacy. But the preliminary data are helpful to providers. And doctors, I want to ask them to incorporate the data as we have it come forward. And it's not definitive data. It doesn't help us make a decision from a regulatory point of view. But doctors should incorporate that in the decision making they make on a one-on-one basis. And just the timeline on the clinical trials and when we will be getting a readout of that data? So the good news is we have over 30 clinical trials.

Now, the settings are very different. They're in the outpatient setting, they're in the inpatient setting, and also, I think very importantly, in what we call the post-exposure prophylaxis, meaning if you're a healthcare worker or a frontline provider and you've been exposed to the virus, take the drug for a period of time to see if you can prevent the development of illness related to the virus. So all those trials are in progress and will probably be early summer before we get a readout. addition to the test that we already have and we have tested more people than anybody anywhere in the world by far by very far okay first of all he's lying there yes we've tested more people numerically but in terms of population size we are behind other countries like South Korea so that's how

you do a play on words. So he's really just standing there lying. All right, folks, Dr. Alexa Gaffney, she's an infectious disease specialist, joins us right now to talk about the potential medical consequences if our economy opens too soon. Even Dr. Anthony Fauci has made it perfectly clear this could be disastrous. Other people have said the exact same thing. And so would you be advising this administration to put a pause button on reopening these states? No, it's not advisable at this time. People are, you know, suggesting that we reach the peak, meaning the maximum number of patients being diagnosed per day of this infection. But we don't know if we

reach the peak or not because we don't have mass testing in place. We're not testing our entire population. We're testing the people that are the sickest with this infection. So we still have to keep in mind that there are people who have no symptoms, who have this infection, who are perfectly capable of transmitting the virus to other people. So if we return to business as usual, or even if we do slowly returning to business, you know, opening up only certain businesses, what we're doing is opening up the population to more exposure. And we're going to see an increase in the number of infections. So when you look at this decision by Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia, nail salons, barbershops, allowing people to worship in place, bowling alleys. Yeah, a bowling alley is the nastiest place to go to.

You're touching the balls that have been on the floor that tons of people have put that are not routinely cleaned. Like what is essential about a bowling alley? And quite frankly, like hair salons and barbershops, that's close personal contact with someone. That's someone standing in your face, standing over your head for several minutes, an hour at a time. You know, a mask is going to be in the way. What is the odd that anyone is going to be silent and not talk to one another during that time? It makes no sense. It's unsafe. It's dangerous. And it's putting lives on the line. And think about who works in the hair salon, who works in the nail salon, who is running these types of business and who's going to be infected, if the numbers rise again, we've already proven that some of our health care systems or that our health care system is ill equipped to handle a massive influx of patients. And that's what we're going to be facing again. Obviously, if that's the so what you're seeing here, the White House,

by trying to say, well, it's the governor's call, they're putting off on them. But it's the White House is offering the guidelines. And the governor's call, they're putting it off on them, but it's the White House that's offering the guidelines, and so that's really where they're taking their lead from. Yeah. And everybody is passing the buck. Everybody is, like, pointing fingers and saying, well, he made that decision. She made that decision. I didn't make that decision.

It's a setup to not take responsibility for when things go terribly wrong. Obviously, if you're in a place, if you have a business, you want to be open, you want to be able to generate revenue. If you if it's a black owned business there in Georgia. And you are still seeing what's happening in your state. Would you be advising those folks not to reopen their business? That would be my advice. I would not return to business as usual. If we return back to business as usual, we know that people are still infected in the population. We know that some of those people may be mildly ill or not have symptoms. It's just going to cause a rise in the number and the incidence of this infection. And then the more people that are infected, the more people we have pouring into

our healthcare system. Um, and it's going to be disastrous. So let's say somebody does, um, reopen if let's say barbershops, okay. let's say hair salons, what protections should those folks who are doing here, should they be wearing gloves, mask, suit, covering their face, covering their head? I mean, what what should they be wearing? So, I mean, there's not even like a standard answer for that, right, because we've gone on the guise that we should be maintaining social distancing. And we've suggested that people wear masks and gloves outside of their homes, assuming that they have the potential to spread infection or the potential to become infected. types of equipment or gear that you're speaking of, personal protective equipment, is really for the healthcare setting. You know, goggles or face shields, full body suits, you know, N95s and gloves

or surgical masks and gloves. And so it's really hard to say, okay, if you're going to go open your beauty salon and you're going to do hair, you should wear X, Y, and Z. Well, to me, yes, if you're going to go open your beauty salon and you're going to do hair, you should wear X, Y, and Z. Well, to me, yes, if you take that risk, you should protect yourself to the fullest extent. But these types of measures that we take in the healthcare setting, they're not meant for use in the general public. And we don't even have access to that in the general public. So I could say that if I was a beautician and I was going to go do someone's hair who I'm standing face to face with or who I'm standing behind or who I'm leaning over when I have their head in the basement, I'm washing their hair. What would I wear? I would wear a face shield. I would wear N95. I would cover my own hair. I would wear

some sort of covering over my clothing. But these aren't measures that are meant to be taken in public. We should just not go to work. We should maintain the social distancing. All right. Well, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much for joining us. Hopefully people will pay attention. Dr. Alexia Gaffney, thanks a lot. Thanks for having me. All right. Well, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much for joining us. Hopefully people will pay attention. Dr. Alexis, Lexia Gaffney. Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me. I want to bring my panel right now. A. Scott Bolden, former chair of National Bar Association, Political Action Committee. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor, environmental justice, EPA. Brittany Lee Lewis, political analyst. Brittany, I'll start with you.

Would you if you're in Georgia, what would you do? I mean, people are concerned. You've got the mayor of Atlanta who has started this fund to assist salon owners at barbershops. She's contributing the first $10,000, not wanting them to go back to work because by being safe. It's absolutely petrifying. I'm not sure what I would do if I was living in the South right now. I'd probably be raising hell. I think what's become very clear is that they care about money more than they care about lives, specifically the lives of black and brown workers and those who are, you know, immune compromised. And it's a shame that this country, and I'm not surprised,

but it's a shame that we continue to put profits over people and they need to follow the advice of our medical professionals. And there's there's no possible way that we should be opening up until we're doing the mass level of testing that's necessary. We should be testing millions upon millions of people a week. We're right now only testing the most critical. So it's not time for us to open up. I want to in a second here, I want to go to I want to go to the White House real quick. Dr. Birx is actually speaking. Let me get the video feed up to see again what what she is saying. They are addressing, you know, the consistent questions about testing. Let's go right there. I see what they say. Hoping by that time that we have additional treatment options for people with covid-19 so that there will be additional

treatment available in the fall. Your message would be to prepare for that time, thinking that it'll come back together? The president has made it clear that we have the emergency, which we have been working on, the opening up guidelines. And just like he talks about phase four, he has us very much working on the next 60, 90, and for all on with fall. And that's why he's not stopped any of the ventilator orders. It's very important that we have a completely refreshed and a comprehensive stockpile going into the fall. And I think that's why we've continued to bring in those shipments and work on the ventilators so that those would be available not only for the United States but certainly if other partner countries have this level of tragedy. So you agree this could come back actually worse in the fall?

I don't know if it will be worse. I think this has been pretty bad. When you see what has happened in New York, that was very bad. I believe that we'll have early warning signals, both from our surveillance that we've been talking about in these, on the vulnerable populations. We're going to continue that surveillance from now all the way through the fall to be able to give us that early warning signal. I think what we've learned is how good Americans are about immediately reverting to all of those issues that they need to do in order

to ensure that they're protected and their families. And Mr. President, what do you say to the concerns like Georgia is opening up barbershops and polling alleys and all that? Okay, let's see if he's going to lie. Let's go back. Let's see if he's going to lie. Georgia may be going too far too fast and it could affect people in South Carolina. Obviously, people travel back and forth between states. How do you protect the people of South Carolina, for example, from a potentially bad decision by a governor in Georgia? So he's a very capable man. He knows what he's doing. He's done a very good job as governor, Georgia. And and by the way, and South Carolina, Governor McMaster also.

So you have two very capable people. We're going to find out. And, in fact, I'm scheduled to speak to the governor of Georgia in a little while. But we'll find out. What's Graham's concern that what happens in Georgia can affect South Carolina? Well, everybody, I have a concern about what happens everywhere. I mean, we've got those concerns. And as far as coming back, if they do come back and

they could come back together with heavy on the flu and much lighter on because I really believe we'll be able to put out the fires. You know, it's like fires. And we've learned a lot. You know, we've become very good at this. When you look at what's happening, when you look at the numbers coming down, a lot of states are

in really great shape. You're going to see a lot of openings. But I'll be speaking to the governor of Georgia in a little while. Mr. President, do the American people need to be prepared for going back to social distancing, even if things relax over the summer? OK, I'm sorry. Mustafa, what the hell was that? He just asked the question about, I know the governors. I mean, they're doing a great job. Here's another example of how inexperienced and unprepared the president is,

even though we've been going through this now for weeks and weeks and weeks. And, you know, it's funny. The previous person who was at the dais there, the doctor who was sharing, you know, about being alarmed, you know, will sound the alarm. The alarm has already been sounded. If you look at what's going on right now in Taiwan, they are actually going through a resurgence of these impacts that are happening. People are getting reinfected. People are getting infected again. So I don't know what more lessons you need than to have a country that went through this before

we did, and then them to begin to allow folks to get back into their society and see people are getting infected again. So that is a very clear message that we need to make sure that we are continuing to have folks who a lot of faith in continue to pretend like science isn't real, that science is inaccurate and that science should not be the guide when you're dealing with these extreme public health challenges that we have going on across the country. What we're dealing with here, Scott, are utterly clueless people. And we're also dealing with grifters. Now we have a report where the Trump Hotel is trying to get a break on their rent from the government

for his hotel here in D.C. Hell no! Hell no! Hell no. Well, he's negotiating with himself, so he'll probably get that. Now, but Roland, here is the deal. When is it safe to go back in the water? You know, when you have a shark attack up and down the East Coast, there's a moment there's some science with when it's safe to go back in the water.

It's never completely safe unless they catch the shark. Here, I don't see a path forward without substantial testing because two things are gonna happen. We go back to work, no one knows whether they have it or not, and that's gonna trigger the second resurgence. And then secondly, for your listening audience,

if you go back to work because of a state order or governor's order and your employer says it's safe to come back and everyone hasn't been tested, the liability for these employers who want to open up and whose customers have anxiety and they are not going to open up and there'll be thousands of people there. The liability for people coming back is going to be worse and it's going to trigger this second phase. So it's beyond science. It's just a practical sense, common sense. So it's not that they're idiots or they're nuts. They were just born with no common sense. Like I said, idiots and nuts. Got to get y'all a view on this here.

New York Mayor Governor Bill de Blasio announced that once they've beaten this, there's going to be a ticker tape parade in New York. The day is coming when this city will fight our way back, when this city will get back to normal, the day is coming when we will overcome this disease. The day is coming when I'm going to be able to tell you we can gather again. The day is coming when I'll be able to tell you, in fact, we will be having the concerts and the street fairs and the parades again. But I want to guarantee you one thing, that when that day comes, that we can restart the vibrant, beautiful life of this city again,

the first thing we will do is we will have a ticker tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes for our health care workers and our first responders. We will honor those who saved us. The first thing we will do before we think about anything else is we will take a time as only New York City can do to throw the biggest, best parade to honor these heroes. And many, many great heroes have gone down that canyon to be appreciated and loved by millions of New Yorkers, but I think this will be the greatest of all the parades because this one will speak to the rebirth

of New York City. This one will speak to a kind of heroism that is intrinsic to who we are as New Yorkers, to our values, to our compassion, to our strength, our resiliency, this parade will remark, will mark I should say, this parade will mark the beginning of our renaissance. Um, Britney. Really? A ticker tape parade? Now, first of all, I believe in celebrating them. You want people grouped together? I really don't know what to say anymore. I'm really concerned about our elected officials. It's not to say that we shouldn't be celebrating our health care workers and those on the front line. But again, we know that this thing has the ability to resurge.

This could potentially be going off and on for years. This isn't something that's just going to be gone in a couple of months, especially if we're looking at this pattern of slowly reopening. So I'm not a fan of the parade. It doesn't quite make sense. And I honestly think the best way that we can really celebrate these individuals is ensuring that we're not allowing buffoons and these elected officials that don't truly believe in science into these offices. Well, Roland, he said at some point, he didn't say right away. So he's cheerleading the resiliency of NYC and the heroes of fighting corona.

I don't see anything wrong with that. Now, if he wants to do it in 30 days when nobody's been tested or everyone hasn't been tested, that's problematic. But again, the theme of his message was he was foreshadowing when New Yorkers were going to beat this. And I don't have a problem with that. I think you're slicing up every word. And that's probably not necessary, given the big picture theme. I just played the video in this presentation. I just played the video, Mustafa. So I did. And get out of here. Yeah, I mean, there are ways to honor, you know, our health care heroes, our frontline heroes, all the folks who have played a significant

role in helping to, you know, address some of the things that are going on. But here's the reality of the situation. As we move through this pandemic and get to the end of it, and yes, it may come back again next year, there are going to be significant economic impacts that are going to happen. The social safety net that has never been strong enough for communities of color and lower wealth communities is going to be damaged almost beyond repair. So if you want to utilize some resources, make sure you're addressing the physician deserts and the medically underserved areas that exist in New York City and across our country. Make sure that you are addressing the food desert issues that are going on.

Make sure you are addressing the lack of affordable housing that still exists, both in our urban and rural areas across the country. So if you want to have a parade, there's nothing wrong with that, but let's address the needs that still exist for the folks who have been the most impacted from the coronavirus. Just saying. You're solving urban America. I don't think America's going to ever get to that utopia, but I like the thought.

All right, then. Okay, folks, white people are losing their damn minds. They're losing their minds. Y'all see all these dumb asses running around these states, sitting here protesting, pulling their guns out, confederate flag, talking about we need to get back, open

these states, damn it. I don't know what's wrong with these people as if we do not have a major pandemic that's actually going on. Now, join me right now to talk about his latest article for Medium.com, Pandemicking While White, is anti-racism educator

Tim Wise. Tim, glad to have you on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Thanks, man. Thanks for having me. All right. So what's up? Pandemicking While White. Explain.

I just love that I'm the white person explainer for the show. I love that. Yeah. Well, you know, look, when I was on CNN, I was the black explainer. Yeah, I know white people. So let me sort of walk you through it. I think there are a few things, right? Number one is, as I talk about in the piece that, you know, when you are and have been essentially the privileged and dominant group and you really don't face oppression and you really don't face systemic injustice. I'm not saying white folks don't have challenges, really don't face oppression and you really don't face systemic injustice.

I'm not saying white folks don't have challenges, but don't face oppression. I guess it becomes very easy for you to think that a stay at home order, and it's not even an order in most places, it's a strong recommendation, that that is somehow tyranny, right? That that's the heavy hand of the state, totalitarianism, fascism. That's a real privileged mentality, right? Black and brown folks know that tyranny looks a little different than that. Tyranny is getting shot, John Crawford in the Walmart. Tyranny is Tamir Rice being shot in the park in Cleveland. Tyranny is police brutality and racial profiling, children in cages, deportations. But when you're white,

apparently, when you look at some of these protests in Michigan and Ohio, etc., and you have folks standing out there with signs, not ironic signs, but legit signs that say, I want a haircut, or talking about, I want to be able to get seeds to plant flowers in my garden because it's spring, and Governor Whitmer is making where I can't do that. If you think that that's oppression, right, your life is awfully sweet. So it's a very interesting insight into the way privilege functions, even in the midst of a pandemic when millions of white folks are getting sick and thousands have died. But we still have the privilege of thinking that this lockdown, which is about protecting lives, is tyranny.

So you had Stephen Moore, the economist and Trump ally, who said that these protesters are the modern day Rosa Parks. Right. In fact, tyranny to protesting orders to try to keep people alive. It's fascinating. In fact, I'm trying to pull that up right now because, first of all, we know how much of a joke Stephen Miller is. And so let me go ahead and see if I can pull this up. Folks, go to my iPad, please. So what Tim is talking about, Stephen Moore, economist, he gave numerous interviews last week, and this is what he had to say. You know, we're going to see a lot more of those in Ohio. We saw protests today. I'm working with a group in Wisconsin that wants to do a drive in. So, you know, you remember the old sit ins, but this is going to be a drive in.

They're going to shut down the Capitol. Don't tell anybody. But they think they can get fifteen hundred people to come in. And this is great. You guys. So we have one big donor in Wisconsin. I'm not going to mention his name. And I told him about this. He said, Steve, I promise I will pay the bail and legal fees for anyone who gets arrested. So this is a great time, gentlemen and ladies, for civil disobedience. We need to be the Rosa Parks here and protest against these government injustices. I mean, Tim, really? We need to be like Rosa Parks? Really? Well, it's like I said in the piece, you know, it's very hard to top that.

But the Whiteness Olympics, look, they never get canceled, Roland. It's not like the Olympics 2020. The whiteness Olympics are always going and there's always competition for gold. And so about a day or two after that interview that Stephen Moore gave, there was a state lawmaker in Idaho who I mentioned in the piece. She's a Republican from Uzbekistan, clearly Idaho, that portion of the state. And she made the comment that, you know, when you say certain jobs are non-essential, that's just like Nazi Germany. When they said people were non-essential, they put them on trains, as if those of us who want to shelter in place are advocating that we take, you know, all the people in the vape shops and the Pilates studios and send them to Auschwitz. I mean, it's it's just such an incredible lack of perspective, which, again, speaks to the relatively privileged position that white folks are coming from.

It's the same as the Tea Party stuff. These were folks, a lot of them the same people who a decade ago were protesting affordable health care because they didn't want to get health care from the black guy. And they didn't want to get health care if they were going to be on the same program that some black folks might be on. So they would rather die. And they made that rather clear. And at that time, if you'll recall, what's fascinating, they were out there saying, well, we're against Obamacare because they're going to let old people die because it'll be too costly to keep them alive. But they're now saying that we need to let old people die because it'll be too costly to keep them alive. But they're now saying that we need to let old people die so we can get the economy back up. So, I mean, as I said in the piece, America is on some white stuff. I didn't say stuff in the piece, but America is on some white stuff. And I remember Tim, Tim, my show's called Unfiltered. We're good.

Oh, it's on white. We're on some white shit, Ben. We're on some white shit. And these protests are a good example of that, of the dangers of whiteness, not just the people of color, which folks of color know. I'm talking about the dangers of whiteness to these white people. You got a guy in Ohio that was one of the main guys writing about talking about this is all a hoax. It's all BS. Governor DeWine, all these people are overreacting and he died. Right. His ass dead. And he's not the only one. One of the first guys, a preacher, I think it was in Wyoming, his ass dead. There was a fool in Louisiana, Shreveport, his ass dead. And I'm sitting there going, y'all, matter of fact, it was, it was, I love, there was a person, in fact, there was some white woman, I wish I could find the tweet, but some white woman was all losing her mind on Facebook. And then this is just a joke. Don't believe this. Big time Trump supporter.

Then a few days later, her family posed a GoFundMe to pay for her funeral expenses because she's dead. Right. And what's sad about this is we're being given this false choice. You know, you either go back to work and risk your life or you stay at home and the economy crashes. There are other ways of doing this. We could if we really cared about people as opposed to our economic orthodoxy that white conservatives in particular are so bought into. We could do something different. Denmark right now is paying people the equivalent of $50,000 U.S. dollars per person to just stay home, stay healthy, and then shut the economy down until this thing is done.

But in this country, we are so slavishly devoted to the idea of the unfettered free market and hyper capitalism that the idea is, no, no, we got to go back to work. We got to go back to work. And there is another alternative here that we're just not wanting to investigate. And the people who are running this thing clearly, you know, are more concerned and willing to embrace a eugenic mentality that says certain people are disposable. The rally here in Tennessee, where I live yesterday or two days ago, there's a woman with a sign that says, sacrifice the weak, reopen Tennessee. I mean, that's the kind of thing that if someone on the left or someone of color were ever to have a sign that said something like

that or to show up at the Capitol with guns strapped to the teeth as these folks in Michigan did, we know what would happen to them. We know how they would be viewed. They would not be viewed as patriotic, liberty-loving Americans. They would be viewed as insurrectionaries. They would be arrested. They would be shot. They would be gassed. And the president wouldn't be signal boosting them on Twitter. So this is about a soft civil war, as people have talked about. This is about attempting to use mass death as a wedge issue in a culture war that this president wants to wage on behalf of whiteness. And that's what this is. And that's exactly what you're dealing with. You're dealing with somebody who is trying

to gin up his white base. I got to read this comment. I got to get your thoughts when you talk about the craziness of whiteness. You have from my home state, one of the most idiotic, asinine individuals. Look, I keep saying that the three dumbest governors are Brian Kemp of Georgia, Ron DeSantis of Florida and Tate Reeves of Mississippi. The fighting those three for dumbest elected official is Dan Patrick. Okay a crazy deranged right winger. I used to debate debate Dan when he's a conservative radio talk show host on the NBC affiliate. He is I would dare say a hundred times crazier. This is what this fool said last night on Tucker Carlson's show. When he was talking about, you know, we shouldn't, some of us should accept dying for the future of our kids. He said, quote, what I said when I was with you that night,

go to my iPad, Henry, there are more important things than living. And that is saving this country for my children and my grandchildren and saving this country for all of us. I don't want to die. Nobody wants to die. We've got to take some risk and get back in the game and get this country back up and running. Okay. But I'm going to deal with this quote, Tim, there are more important things than living. Right. Right. Well, let's let's just be very clear. It's only because only, you know, it's because of the lives that are mostly at risk that he says that. I said this last week on Twitter. If COVID-19 was affecting disproportionately white, disproportionately, you know, healthy, disproportionately prime of life, disproportionately evangelical Christian folks for some reason.

Let's say this virus had a thing out for white folks or evangelical white Christians or whatever. If it was killing or if it was just even killing disproportionately people in the prime of their lives, the way, for instance, the 1918 flu did. It was a weird thing. It actually affected young people more than old people. If COVID was doing that, none of these people who are saying, well, you know, sacrifices have to be made and maybe some folks have to die, but it's the American way, they wouldn't be saying that. The reason that Patrick and others are willing to say that is precisely because the people who were disproportionately affected are working class and people of color and people who were already sick. So this is the eugenic mentality of, you know, historically

of all fascists. It's the eugenic mentality that animated this country in the late 1800s, early 1900s, from which Hitler borrowed. It's that same mentality. There's certain life worth living, and we will protect them at all costs. But others, well, they're marginal and they can be sacrificed. That's the only reason he's saying that. If this was disproportionately affecting people like him or younger than him, people in their 30s, let's say, or 40s who were white and middle class or above, he would never say that. And these folks wouldn't be out protesting at state capitals with guns. And also, I take it that you certainly agree that Donald Trump, he needs aggrieved, angry.

We have no idea what's going on with white folks in order for him to beat Joe Biden in November. Yeah, it's the only hope that he has. And it's a calculated gamble on his part because if things get opened back up and there's a huge uptick in illnesses, obviously a lot of that is going to hurt him politically. But he probably figures, well, I got no choice. My economy is in the tank now. The only thing I can do is take the chance. And if people die, I'll try to blame the governors. I mean, but this is all about his politics. This is about a guy and about a movement that has, as we've been saying, lots of us for a while, but it's more and more evident.

It is a death cult. It is people that are willing to drink the Kool-Aid, just like folks with Jim Jones, walk off the cliff like lemmings on behalf of their dear leader. There's no philosophy behind this. Look at the signs at these rallies. They're all over the place. You got anti-vaxxers. You got the QAnon nut jobs. You got the people that just, you know, Jesus is my vaccine. You got people that have signs about every possible cause under the sun. There's no

coherent philosophy. The coherent philosophy here is this conspiratorial, they're all out to get Donald Trump and we must support him. This is cult behavior and we don't have any obligation to be respectful to these people, to talk nicely about them. Our only obligation is to defeat them mercilessly every time we get the chance. Tim Wise, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. You bet, man. Thank you. All right. We'll go back to my panel here. Scott, it is, first of all, it is hilarious watching these idiots. And what gets me are the people who are protesting the order out there in mass. Yeah, it really is. And your last guess just nailed it.

If you ask me, I read the piece that he did yesterday or today. He just nailed it. And to think that that fringe group, right, was the driving force of that 40% that will never leave Donald Trump, and that this country, because Dems and others did not vote, because in part they didn't like Hillary, and in part the independents didn't take a chance on Hillary because of the late reinvestigation of her emails, that this individual, this fringe, conspiracy, believing, ignorant, hateful human being is the president of the United States because of that group. And to blame Obama for everything as the Tea Party did under Obama's leadership over health care and not wanting the government to provide health care for Obamacare.

But they like the American Health Care Act. This is the same group, if you will. This is the group we've got to defeat. This is the group that ought to motivate every Democrat, independent, and every woman in this country to vote for Joe Biden or vote for someone other than Donald Trump. And that's going to be Joe Biden. a no excuse day in November to come out and vote for Biden, vote for a different president and vote to get rid of this idiot who is driving not American values, but Donald Trump's hateful negative values. I'm just trying to understand, Brittany, what in the hell protesting to open stuff up got to, do you bringing out heavy ass artillery guns? I mean,

I agree. I think that Tim Wise really hit the nail on the head with everything that he said. And I also had the pleasure of reading his article. But first and foremost, if we were to do such things, we already know what would happen. We would be incarcerated. I also think that it's very interesting

that there's no cohesive ideology outside of whiteness. And what I also think that it's very interesting that there's no cohesive ideology outside of whiteness. And what I mean by that is this same crowd, this is the same group of people that love ICE, that love, you know, the USA Patriot Act, that, you know, love TSA, that supported stop and frisk. It's as if they're saying, we're fine with the government doing what it needs to do to stop black and brown people and to quote unquote protect us until it's time for those until it's time for that protection or for

the state to step in and limit our ability to live and our ability to be even though we know that's not actually the case because they're stopping our ability to be in order to save our health Mustafa these are crazy ass people our ability to be in order to save our health. Mustafa, these are crazy-ass people.

Yeah, most definitely. I mean, what's going on is that some white brothers and sisters are now realizing, as Brittany sort of shared, what they've been dealing with for decades. You know, I'm always on the front lines before whenever there was a natural disaster or man-made know, I'm always on the front lines before whenever there was a natural disaster

or manmade disaster, I would see where enforcement was actually happening in what communities, as they told folks, you know, we've got curfews, we've got lockdowns, you got to be in a house at a certain time. And in many instances, it was not, you know, the wealthier communities who were the ones that, you know, folks were enforcing, you know, whenever there's a riot, you know, they lock down our communities. They don't lock down other communities that might be right next door. So, you know, folks are now beginning to understand, you know, how rights can be manipulated or, you know, shrunk or whatever the situation might be. But the difference here is that you actually have a chance to save people's lives by doing the right thing. And as you are seeing, you've seen it from the top with President Trump all the way down to the people who follow him, that, you know, certain lives just don't

seem to matter. And what they don't get is that they also are going to lose people consistently until we get the process right. I just sit here and again, I am quite amused to look at these idiots. I mean, I'm just, they're amusing. And then also you look at the media reaction, how they cover them as if we're talking about a huge group of people. And it's also understanding the backstories, understanding the behind the scenes story of the fact that what you're dealing with here is you're dealing with really an astroturf effort where all the Web sites started on the same day. The DeVos family is funding the people. So you see what the same day. The DeVos family is funding the people. So you see what the game is. What they're trying to do is they're trying to reinvigorate the angry white Tea Party people. That's what they're doing. They see what's coming. They see the polling

data. And Donald Trump announcing today that he is going to use an executive order to stop all immigration to the United States. Oh, that is manna from heaven from these people. Because you can always go back and blame immigration for everything. That's the go-to. Used to be black people. Oh, blame black people for everything. Now it's, oh, immigrants. It's all their

fault. Donald Trump has always needed a boogeyman, you know, and he uses the language to dehumanize whomever it is that he wants to benefit from. And that has been, you know, his, you know, his paradigm for operations for decades now. But he, you know, he sort of actually made it even more intense since he became the president. And again, he knows that, you know, people are not feeling his administration, the majority of the country. And he knows the difficult uphill battle that he has to even be competitive in the race. Now, that doesn't mean that our folks don't have to get out

and vote and be very focused and very serious. But he needs that boogeyman, because without the boogeyman, people will pay attention to the real issues that are going on. The fact, as you all shared just a little bit ago, that the economy has weakened considerably, you know, his record on civil rights, his cutting of programs that is just mind-blowing that are putting more people's lives in danger, that are extracting wealth. The wealth gap in our country is growing significantly. So he knows that if people actually focused on the realities that are actually happening on the ground in people's lives, then he would have a difficult time in being able to even be competitive in a presidential race. All right.

Yeah, but you know what? You know, Roland, what's interesting about the anti-immigration order is that whether it's Mexico or Europe or wherever, they have less cases of corona and have had more testing and less deaths than America. So why are you blocking them from coming? What's wrong with you, Scott? Those are called facts. Then they might be in another country.

That's called facts, Scott. What's wrong with you? We ain't supposed to do this. We ain't supposed to know facts in Trump's world. I was just thinking. I was just thinking about that. Like I said, stuck on stupid. All right, folks, going to a quick break.

The CBC put a PSA out for coronavirus. And so we come back. We're going to talk to Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin back on Roland Martin Unfiltered in just a moment. ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА All right, folks, mayors across the country are having a difficult task in their head trying to deal with what's happening with coronavirus. That's no different for many of our black mayors. Randall Woodfin, of course, he is in his first term as the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama. He joins us right now. Of course, we had the Savannah, Georgia mayor on earlier, Van Johnson there. So Randall, Mayor Woodfin, let me just apologize right now for Scott Bolden. He can't handle two alpha mayors being on the show. It just, you know, you know,

you know, Kappas don't take that very well. So but it's OK. So you got an alpha host and Mustafa Santiago Ali is also an alpha brother. So we got it on lock. So glad to have you on Roland Martin Unfiltered. How have you had to deal with coronavirus in your city? What does it look like and how has it impacted, of course, so many African-Americans there? Roland, thanks for having me on. I'm happy to be here and have this important conversation. As a mayor of a city, a lot has been placed on our shoulders based on the different conversations that governors around our union are having, as well as what's happening in D.C. I will tell you, Birmingham, the largest city in the state of Alabama, and we're the seed city of Jefferson County. Jefferson County has the highest number of cases within the state of Alabama. And we are fortunate to have the fourth largest public hospital in the United States of America.

Because of that, we've been able to manage our cases, manage those who have had to be admitted to the hospital, as well as needed ventilators. I will tell you, the city of Birmingham has a 22% Black population. So at a minimum, that's one-fifth, but very close to one-fourth of our city, being people over the age of 60, as well as so many underlying health conditions when your state ranks the 47th or 48th of the most unhealthiest state in the nation. And so there's so much work we've been attempting to do. But everything we've done has had these goals in mind. One is to save lives.

Two is to flatten this curve. And three is to make sure there's no run on our hospitals to make sure they're not overwhelmed, which includes supporting our medical team on the front line. You had to deal with a governor who, frankly, operated way too late in doing a shelter in place. And again, that's part of the problem when you have to take your direction first from the federal government, then from the state government.

And what we saw even in Mississippi where and really what people people tend to forget, it was mayors in California, London Breed, the sister who was the mayor of San Francisco, who put shut the city down, shelter in place that led to other cities in California that led the governor to make his decision and then to begin a spread across the country. This is a perfect example where having, again, mayors who understand the importance, take the lead and not wait on governors, not wait on the White House? You know, like London Breed in San Francisco, like Keisha Lance Bottoms in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. I did the same thing here. You know, I thought it was important to interact with

the governor, but we have our own local health officer who's made recommendations to us as elected officials on what we should be doing to protect our citizens here locally. You know, I like to remind people as an elected official, I think it's important we shut up. I think it's important we do less talking and more listening to the actual health experts and officers. I'm reminded I am not an epidemiologist. I don't have a health background. I'm not a doctor. I'm not versed not an epidemiologist. I don't have a health background. I'm not a doctor. I'm not versed in viruses and diseases. And so it's important that as elected officials, we should yield. We should listen to them. We should take their recommendations. And the recommendations

from at the beginning of this five, six weeks ago was as a city, we need to do everything we can to prevent this curve. If that included doing a shelter in place ordinance, even if we weren't going to get the state support, do it anyway, because it's the right thing to do. Are you at all concerned with these decisions to reopen these states that it could actually opens Pandora's box and just cause a widespread catastrophe? And when you hear the White House say, oh, whatever testing you need, you got it. Is that true where you are? Can you get can they are you doing widespread testing? I keep saying what happened to the drive through testing we're supposed to see at CVS and Walgreens and Wal-Mart parking lots. So I am concerned. And let me start by saying I've been concerned by other elected officials, people in my position, people in higher positions, who have chosen to use the conjunction or, who have made this either a

health care crisis or an economic crisis. I believe the conjunction and should be used. This is a health care crisis and an economic crisis, and you have to address both of them with the same sense of urgency. But anyone would tell you in our positions as elected officials, public safety, the actual welfare of the citizens we serve is the priority. And it shouldn't come at the cost of opening up our economic base at the expense of losing more lives. I think people need to remember a lot of lives have been lost, and we need to keep in mind that we have to protect people first. And so using this conjunction, Ann, I am concerned. I do understand the anxiety and the fear that those who have been displaced

out of their job, furloughed, terminated, laid off. I understand the small business owner who has had to shut down their shop. But I believe that here in our local community, that the small business owners, that these early workers who aren't working, have the same interest I have in making sure if and when we open back up this economy, it's not at the expense of people losing their lives or more people losing their lives. And so I believe, yes, we have three testing sites in the city of Birmingham. But we need more widespread testing like all other cities across the nation. We need to make sure people can get to testing sites because in the urban area, we know a lot of people don't have adequate transportation. We need to make sure that the call center we created, that more people are called to make sure they know testing is available and to check on them to see if they need to get from point A to B to get tested. And so I think understanding the gates, the number of symptoms we have in our city, the number of cases we have in our city,

and how is our hospitals looking in our city before we talk about phasing in and opening up our economy is the priority. Last question for you. We have spent a lot of time trying to get black pastors not to hold church services. Have you been successful in getting black pastors there in Birmingham to stay at home to protect their congregations? Roland, I'll be so honest with you, man. This was the hardest part when this first started back in March. It was those two Saturdays, those first two Saturdays and those last two Saturday back in March. It was those first two Saturdays and those last two Saturdays in March,

I had the highest anxiety because I was worried about what was gonna happen on Sundays. Remember that outside of our senior facilities and our nursing homes, the second largest gathering of older people is the church. And in the church, we're talking about shaking hands, holding hands, kissing, singing,

turn next to your neighbor and say something. So much contact and possible spread between our seniors in the church, I was so worried. But you should know that I did two things. I picked up the phone and called as many pastors as I could one-on-one, and then I had virtual town hall meetings where I had at certain points 80 pastors on the phone here, 50 pastors on the phone here, and just laid out to them in conjunction with the health officer who was also on that tele-town hall to express to them, if you don't want to run on your church,

if you don't want to run on your congregation, temporarily shut down the physical space. Let's opt into doing something by phone, doing something by social media, doing something online, but please don't have physical church. I think by the fourth Sunday of March, they finally got it. And I'm so happy that the faith leaders in the Birmingham community are walking alongside of me and co-communicating to their parishioners that people must stay at home. All right. Randall Woodfin, Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama. We certainly appreciate you joining us on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Thank you, Roller. All right then. To his point there, Brittany, I mean, that's,

look, when you're a local official, here's the deal. It always comes down to local peace. Trump is sitting in the White House. He doesn't give a damn what happens in these places. He's already said, I'll take responsibility. If there's an outbreak, if there's an increase as a result of reopening,

he's going to say, I didn't make the decision. I didn't do it. It was the governors. Go talk to them. It wasn't me. I mean, I think it's clear that the reason why we don't have a nationally orchestrated plan is because Trump needs somebody to blame. That's been his M.O. from the beginning, whether it's blaming China, whether that's blaming the Democrats. And I think now his M.O. is going to lead to blame local officials and state governors. If we do see a resurgence, he's not going to take any. You know, there's going to be no credibility there. Absolutely. Absolutely. I think, Scott, again, when he got asked the question in the White House briefing, oh, we don't know. We don't know. He is not going to accept blame.

We ain't no Harry Truman. The buck stops with me, not with this fool. Yeah, but he can't he can't get around it. That 70 day wait period where he was calling it a hoax, where he was holding rallies and he was being told at least since December through Congress, there were congressmen and senators that were talking about this. And he waited 70 days until he finally understood. And his health professionals told him, it's too late. Now we're gonna play catch up.

The other thing that's significant about these press conferences that you won't cover, and I agree with you, if you listen to his press conference, everything about his press conference is about what he did, what we're doing, how we're catching up and how we're doing it better than anybody else. Now, you compare the press conference of Governor Cuomo. Right. statistics about the deaths leveling off, how many people, what the numbers are in regard to death, who's been infected, who hasn't been. He talks about the number of ventilators that have been able to help people. And he talks about the vision and the journey forward where we're going to be

able to get people back to work and the science and the politics of serving or fixing this problem, addressing these health care issues with these coronavirus infected people and its impact on their families and its impact on the government and how it's impacted him personally and politically. Very different press conferences, very different leadership, and very different political parties and approaches to this health crisis. Mustafa, bottom line is he can try to run away from it. No, pimp, this is going to be all on you. That's right. He's going to have to pay.

But, you know, also follow the dollars. You know, that's what John Conyers used to tell me when I worked for him. And if you look at the stimulus bills that have went forward, you can see exactly who is receiving the resources. Business and industry has been a big recipient. But if you look at, and I know we just had a stimulus bill that I think passed just a few minutes ago, you'll find that the states and local governments were once again forgotten in that process. So if you truly want to get the economy back up and running, you should be focusing resources to the places who can actually make sure that the protections are in place, that people are being healthy, so that when they re-enter

into the workforce, you don't end up having, you know, this resurgence and then an additional drain on the health care system, which of course people's taxes are going to have to be utilized to pay the cost there. So he's going to have to answer for all of these things that he has done incorrectly. And he's going to have very few things to be able to point to that were done in a proper fashion. All right, folks. Speaking when you talked about that Senate bill, the political here we go to my iPad. This is the headline on political Senate passes. Four hundred passes 484 billion coronavirus deal after weeks of deadlock. The legislation delivers funding to small businesses, hospitals and for testing the Black Economic Alliance. They've called on Congress to include key initiatives in the next COVID-19 legislation that will specifically assist black owned businesses, workers, universities, and cultural institutions. Joining us right now is David Clooney. He's the executive director of

the Black Economic Alliance. David, how can you, how does that get done to specifically help black businesses? Because you'll hear people say you can't have a race specific provision in these bills. How do you get around that? So appreciate the question, Roland. Appreciate you having me on. So the press release we put out today and essentially to ask for Congress is that we make a recognition that we're talking about how this pandemic is impacting the Black community disproportionately severely, both the health outcomes and the economic outcomes. What we're asking for is that Congress be very deliberate and specific in prescribing solutions to make sure that the aid that they're sending out actually gets to the places where it's most needed. We know that's not happening right now.

And as we called out in our press release this morning, we said, even though there's an acknowledgment that black communities are suffering the most economically and from a health perspective, black folks, both individuals and businesses, have had the highest barriers and the most economically and from a health perspective, black folks, both individuals and businesses, have had the highest barriers and the most problems getting access to the relief that has already been appropriated by Congress. So we laid out five categories of businesses, people, institutions, that's HBCUs, black financial firms, and even cultural institutions that have all had, historically had problems getting access to relief and to resources from Congress.

And that's in good times and bad. So what we're saying is, let's be very prescriptive about acknowledging where the problems are. And a big problem is, if you're talking about small businesses, access to capital. That has been throughout the history of this country and particularly in times like now, folks who have relationships with banks, for example. So let's step back. The SBA programs that were laid out in the CARES Act and that were refunded or funded with additional funds in the bill that was just passed by the Senate today, they're essentially bankilitated loans because the SBA will underwrite a significant portion and take away most of the risk of those loans. But then banks or financial institutions have to facilitate those loans by actually pushing them out the door.

What happened the last time around is that businesses that have relationships with banks were the first ones in line. They already have their information with the banks. The banks were able to press send on their applications the first day that they were ready to go, whereas a lot of black businesses already didn't have access to even get a bank loan. A lot of black businesses don't do business with banks either because they can't qualify, they've tried to qualify and haven't, or banks will say it's too expensive to do business

with those small businesses. So what happened was a categorical just miss of a lot of businesses, particularly small businesses in black communities. And that's something that we asked for. One of the set asides we asked for was for community development financial institutions, as well as minority depository institutions and other community lenders

who really are the banks that have relationships with small black businesses in our communities who have made this capital available, again, throughout history, but particularly in recent years. And I will say that was a partial win in the bill that was passed by the Senate today. There was a $60 billion set aside for community development, financial institutions, credit unions, and small financial institutions, community financial institutions and minority lending institutions that were not largely not included in the last tranche.

But what we still need is, one, more money for those organizations. But two, there is a need for small businesses, even 10 or fewer, to have a set aside for them as well, because a lot of those businesses don't have access to lawyers, accountants, a lot of the resources that larger businesses, even smaller businesses that are, you know, 400, 500 people large have access to. So there's a lot more that needs to get done to get capital to the places where it's needed the most. And what we're asking for from Congress is an acknowledgement of the reality that the reason that this is having such a disproportionate impact on our community is because of the legacy and, you know, throughout the history that this is having such a disproportionate impact on our community is because of the legacy and throughout the history of this country, the inequities in terms of lack of

access to capital and lack of access to educational opportunities and really the support from the government that our counterparts have gotten in other communities. So this bill, as it passed the Senate, what do you like, don't like? So like I talked about, the CDFI set aside was extremely helpful. I do think, you know, the PPP. So let me let me step back and say this. This bill was a bit of an interim bill. You had three three tranches, particularly the CARES Act, which was really the biggest piece of legislation that was the most comprehensive and had the most funding at $2.2 trillion. It's the largest bill Congress has ever pushed out. This bill I look at as a bit of a cleanup bill, cleanup and refunding of the program.

The PPP program ran out last week. The EIDL program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program under SBA got $10 billion more, which is all helpful. I think what's still needed is for us to take a comprehensive look at who is still hurting the most, who's not getting money. One of the things we asked for today as well was money for individuals. You have money that was appropriated, the individual payments, the direct payments, and a lot of, again, black folks don't have access to a banking account. So the way that that money was sent out and the fastest

was to people who filed taxes last year and had direct deposits. They were able to essentially just use that banking information, send a direct deposit out to that same account where people got their tax return last year. Black people who are unbanked or underbanked don't have that access. So we talked about things like using EBT cards to get that money to people because that program is already set up. All you have to do is put it in and people will have immediate access to the money who right now are hurting, don't have food and don't have a way to get access to that money. We also talked about the SNAP program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which has been successful and essentially is a way to get food and resources to the people who need it the most

by just easing some of the restrictions in the program and putting some more money into the program. And then also black financial firms, things like broker dealers, asset managers, others. If we look back to TARP as an example, we're completely left out of all of these facilities that both the Fed and Treasury set up to put more liquidity into the system and allow banks to be able to lend. There are all these financial firms, even lawyers and others who are creating these different deals and essentially facilitating these processes that were set up by the government. And black firms were just not across the board, not included. So that is something that needs to be set aside and required by Congress in the next bill as well. So there's a lot that can be done. Again, I think this was a positive step in the right direction, but this was really an interim step. We have a much more comprehensive bill. We talked about state and local funding, things like community development, block grants

that will help get money to places, particularly disinvested communities that need it. We also can think about ways to use existing legislation like opportunity zones. If you want banks to land in communities that have not been seeing the capital, particularly disinvested communities, low-income communities, communities of color, can do things like double the bank processing fees when they're processing loans that are going to these communities. So there are ways that we can be very targeted in getting the capital and getting the relief to the places it's needed. We just need Congress to really be receptive to some of these ideas and the reality about who's not getting the relief and why.

All right, then. David Clooney, executive director of Black Economic Alliance. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. All right, then. All right, folks. Today is Earth Day.

We have some good news and bad news. The bad news is that our health and economy is suffering greatly. But the good news is our Earth is healing in the midst of the pandemic. Many silver linings have been found. Air pollution has reduced so much so that the Himalayan mountains have become visible in India. Shocking. There has been a historic drop in carbon emissions and waterways are clear and can be seen from space. Mustafa, you are environmental expert.

What does this all say that? Wow. You have actually good and great air quality in Los Angeles? Oh, my goodness. Yeah, what this says is that we can actually help to heal the planet. And at the same time, we can also limit the impacts that are happening in our communities. They're making us have cancers and liver and kidney disease, lung diseases, heart diseases, all these things that have made us more vulnerable to the COVID-19. You know, the talking points from the president and others has always been, one, it was too

expensive to be able to do this. The other side of their camp often said that, you know, that climate change was a hoax. Of course, they said that the coronavirus was a hoax. This is actually an opportunity now for us to say, okay, we see what is possible if we rethink, you know, how our economies work. If we rethink the fact that we don't need to jump in a car all the time. We don't need to use fossil fuels that are warming up our planet and our oceans,

you know, at the same level. This is an opportunity to actually say that those false paradigms that people have been sharing are not true and that there actually is a pathway forward. Here's a photo here. It says Himalayan mountains can be seen from Jalandhar since pollution has reduced in Punjab. This is the photo that they show. They said otherwise, Brittany, you wouldn't be able to see the Himalayan mountains because of all the pollution.

Boy, ain't that something. Wow. I mean, it just goes to show you capitalism kills. It doesn't only kill people, but it also kills our environment. And, you know, I think this is a wake-up call for the United States in a lot of different ways. Well, but not just the United States. I mean, the know, I think I think this is a wake up call for the United States in a lot of different ways. Well, but not just the United States. I mean, the world's got early on.

I remember seeing a story they were talking about in Venice that the the dolphins that often would come near and they would come near the banks there. They said they hadn't seen them in a long time, but because the ships were not coming in, you had clear water. They could actually see the dolphins playing. In fact, here we go to my iPad. This is a photo here. They say because of the canals there and being able to see those dolphins at play. I mean, it is stunning to see because people sheltered in place and not

going about how the conditions on the planet have changed. This is where people should be, political people should be thinking, hmm, how do you keep that moving forward versus going back to business as usual? The power of the coronavirus. It has negative impact, but it also has some silver linings and is teaching and showing us how we ought to be doing things to save the planet. There's no doubt. We've all been at home.

Our meetings haven't stopped. If you haven't lost your job and you have one, you're still having video conferences and conference calls and what have you. You can see the Himalayas. You can see the dolphins playing. Hmm. That's not that bad. I mean, we could do this, actually.

Watch for the impact on real estate given the coronavirus and us being shut down. Because one of the biggest prices or costs in any business is the real estate. And you know what? We haven't, oh boys, forgive me. You know what? We have not used real estate in quite some time and we're doing just fine. Look for that to have a big impact. But the reality is all of this is going to show us the new reality and the new norm.

And it's being defined by this virus. And we're going to get you a phone holder. I mean, really? I'm sorry. I bet you got your phone sitting up against a can or something. And really? I just can can or something. Really? I just can't do it. Really?

I mean, Scott, they make little. I try so hard with you. Scott, they make little. I'm going to impress you. They make little tripods. They make little tripods. You know what? I'm going to send you a link of a tripod that can hold your phone so you don't knock it over.

What? You didn't think we were going to see that big ass? Oh, you don't knock it over. And what? You didn't think we weren't going to see that big ass? Oh, my bad. I'm sorry. You saw that? We seen a ceiling and we... Damn.

I told y'all y'all can't trust Cap. I keep trying to tell y'all that. And you know what? It's against you. I do shit like that in front of you. Who's like the technology guru. You were doing virtual and platforms before anybody was really even thinking about doing a show like this 20 years ago. And your point?

I hit mute before I knocked the camera off. Was it really that embarrassing? It really wasn't that embarrassing, was it? Yeah, it was that damn embarrassing. Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was. I'm just saying. I'm just saying.

Oh, God. I'm just saying. Give me that website. No, I'm going to send you the link. I'm going to send you the link because I'm just simply saying people commenting on YouTube, somebody saying...

Has anybody else done that on the show before? No. Tamara Robertson, Roland always picking on Scott because he's a little ass pickable. That's why. So that's why we do that. So, yeah, there we go.

There we go. All right, folks. It is, of course. I'm so sorry, Roland. It is, yes. It is. I got you. I got you.

All right, y'all. Can I come back next week? Nope. Yesterday, y'all, yesterday was April 20th, the 69th birthday of Luther Vandross. Today, we lost Prince four years ago. Of course, found dead in Minneapolis in his Paisley Park compound. Many people still shocked and stunned by it. I want to go back to the panel here.

Of course, four million people watched the Babyface and Teddy Riley battle, if you will. It was great. First of all, all of you three, did y'all see any of it? Yeah. I got bits and pieces. It was frozen for me. Yeah, so what happened was that Instagram had to apologize because this is the craziest shit I've ever seen. So if you had an iPhone 11, you couldn't access it.

But if your ass had an iPhone 7 or 8, you could. You would think the newer phones you could. They were talking about go to your desktop. People now consume on their devices. That was just crazy whatsoever. Scott, did you see any of it? Bits and pieces of it. But my screen froze up, and then I was trying to read about it.

They were supposed to do some battle, but it was just a disaster technology-wise. Okay, Scott, that happened Saturday. Last night, they actually did it. Oh. Oh. Well, I— This month. This month.

No, I didn't. I thought it was only one time. Oh, Brolin, I can have a bad day. Damn. It was Saturday, and then the... I don't know why I'm wasting my time. I'm just simply saying that the first... See, Mustafa, this is what I'm trying to understand.

His ass is four days late. I'm 58. I'm not a millennial. No, no, no. I don't know all this stuff. The problem is the Kappa part, Mustafa. That's what the real part is right there. No, no. It's got nothing to do with Kappa Alpha Psi. That's an incredible organization. Okay, well, y'all need to learn how to keep the hell up.

That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. So I'll put this out there. So you talk about, obviously, you know, people say they killed the Internet, that they were late whatsoever. Could you imagine if Prince was still alive and Prince decided to go live on a social media platform?

Yo, that would be crazy. So let me ask the three of you. Since they're into battles, who could be, granted, let's just, anybody live or dead, but who could go up against a battle with Prince? Would it be Michael Jackson? Yep. That's the only one.

That's the only one. No, no, no. There's another one. Who? James Brown. James Brown versus Prince. Mustafa? I mean, James Brown is the man.

I mean, he's the godfather. Yeah. I'm not 58, so... I'm going to get you for that one. See, I like you too. But you went at me. You went at me on that one. It's okay.

Fine new pie. But anyway, I think it has to be Michael Jackson. He's the only person who's an icon like that. On the men's side, I mean, for some folks, Beyonce has become an icon as well, and she does an incredible show. But, you know, Prince and Michael Jackson was always the competition between the two of them. You know, when they would release their albums, whose album was going to be the hottest, whose album was going to be on MTV,

you know, and all those types of things. And, you know, they continue to battle each other. So I'm sure they're both up there in heaven, creating beautiful music. Look, I have great respect for Michael Jackson and Prince. Never met Michael Jackson. Met Prince

a few times. If I had to look at those two in battle, and you talk about hit, hit, hit, hit, I think Prince beats Michael Jackson. Straight up. That's a hell of a statement. Straight up. There's different styles. That's why I picked James Brown because he had a different style.

So the competition is tough if you have a different style. Yeah, but see, the whole point of the battle is hit versus hit. Somebody going to run out. And the point I'm making is Prince ain't running out. And neither is Michael, though. No, Michael. And neither is James Brown. If Michael top out at 30, Prince going to drop at least 10 more on him.

That's just me. That's just me. I got you. That's just me. That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. It's like a conversation about the difference between. It'd be wonderful to watch, though, wouldn't it?

That would be some awesome shit. Mustafa, go ahead. I was saying that's just like when we compare Michael Jordan and LeBron James. They're both incredible. No, no, no, no. I disagree. I disagree. Here's why.

Here's the difference with sports. First of all, sports, the reason music is different than sports is because music is timeless. The reality is the way the NBA allowed defenses to play during the Michael Jordan era, totally different than LeBron James era. The way they allowed them to play in the Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan era, totally different in the Oscar Robinson era. And so it's a little hard. So you got Bill Russell, and that was a different time, and how basketball was there the thing about music is you can play a song from the 40s from the 60s 70s 80s and you can it is still a classic today and so you have the ability to be able with sound to be able to hear it that's why you have multiple generations who

still love frankie beverly and maze so you can a grandparent, a mom and daddy, and a kid, three generations, same music. That's why I think, and I think because of music also, unlike sports, like for instance, all these fools voted Michael Jordan the best college basketball player of all time. That is the stupidest thing ever

I've seen in my life. Michael Jordan would be in the top five greatest college basketball players of all time. Number one is Kareem, period. But because they never saw Kareem, I think that's the whole of the deal here. So that's why I think, Mustafa, I think from a music standpoint, a James Brown and a Prince could battle because the music speaks for itself and not really well athletic style who was a shooter who drove the lane whatever that's why i think music is just so much different who would your

battle be in r&b bands r&b bands yeah like earth wind and fire oh easy easy. I always want to see Earth, Wind, and Fire versus Parliament. I'd say Earth, Wind, and Fire versus Cameo. Oh, hell no. That ain't even competition. Oh, no. They go hit for hit. That lasts 15 minutes. That lasts 15 minutes. Okay, I got to ask y'all this here. The people at, is it TYTL?

They put out a tweet. People got real mad at them when they put this out. They, is it? No, it's not TYT. They put out a tweet and they said, of the four of these people, one has to go. People got really upset when they put this photo out. And it was a photo of Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Whitney

Houston. Oh, here it is here. They put this tweet out. And so here it is right here. They said one got to go. I'm going to ask y'all. Whitney, Beyonce, Mariah, Janet Jackson. Who y'all got?

Brittany, I'm going to start with you. Brittany, you first, Brittany. It's tough. First off, nobody can touch Whitney's vocals. Okay, all right. So fine, Whitney stays. All right, you got two more picks.

Although I hate to say it, and I know people are going to be angry, I'm not a big fan of Beyonce, but she can perform her lines. Nah her mind. She's a performer. It's four of them. Three got to stay. There's one. I'm getting ready for Mariah. I love Mariah to death. I appreciate her

high notes, but she can't walk in heels and she's not a dancer. She got to go. Mustafa, who goes? Yeah, it's Mariah. I agree with Brittany. Scott, Mariah, she on fire, but she got to go. Yeah, I think y'all afraid of the beehive. That's why y'all don't want to say nothing.

That's what that is right there. What are you talking about? But, but, but, but. She ain't going anywhere. No, no, no, no. Here's the deal, though. Because there were some people who said if you talk about singers, they would say Janet got to go.

They would say beyonce whitney mariah a better singer than janet yeah pure singers yes you're right pure singers yes but what what the hell what the hell is a pure a singer well take away the music no take away the music and the sound effects who's got the strongest voice the better voice that's why they call them singers they don't say pure singer bottom line is that's that's part of singing you can just see a cappella and you go sit there and listen Those three Janet gotta go if you're gonna go a cappella First of all, you're gonna knock the phone over so don't even worry about it So let's not even go there. You so wrong. Yes, I even go there people forgot about that

No, they did now they didn't hey folks But some of you might be of you might be wondering why I'm wearing my Texas A&M outfit today. Today is April 21st, every April 21st. Texas A&M, we have Aggie Muster. Well, we remember Aggies who have passed away in the previous year because, of course, it's always a huge gathering at the campus of Texas A&M. So I had the honor and the privilege of actually participating in the virtual Aggie Mustard. Henry, you can go to my iPad. And so what happened was they asked many of us from all across the country to send these videos in.

And so that's what this reading here is. I got a chance to read some of the folks who passed away from the class of 44 and 45 and then of course My cousin Peter PJ Simeon the third class of 2009 who passed away So I certainly had not certainly appreciated Opportunity to do that. So that's every April 21st around the world. We have Aggie muster events All right, folks. I'm gonna let the panel go. I'm to because right now I'm going to read the name of all of our. So what I said on Friday, I said all the people who join our Bring the Funk fan club, $50 or more. I will give them a personal shout out on the air.

And so and I wanted at least 200 people. I think we got 200 people. We got more than that. And so I certainly appreciate that. So I'm going to read those names right now. That Brittany Scott Mustafa. I certainly appreciate it. Scott, by next week, when you're back on the show, we expect you to have a phone holder. So you're not sitting here knocking the thing over. We would appreciate that. You make enough money in the law firm where you can afford it. Yes, I am. So you'll get over it. You'll get over it. It's all good. You're all good. So folks, we certainly appreciate it. We should be sticking together, brother.

Yeah, but you're a Kappa. So, it's all good. All right, 10. Thanks a bunch. I appreciate it. Thank you very much, folks. Let me read the names off right now. So, a big shout-out to Carl Brown, Abel Beas, Adrienne Dillahunt, Elysian Ocho.

We have Alethea, Alicia Lindsay. Some of y'all like Cher. Y'all only put your first name in. Alicia Johnson, Alretha Palmer, Amy Martin, Andre, and Drett Duncan. Angela Ford. Y'all can play some music or some B-roll if y'all want to. Angela Johnson, Angela Middleton, Angela Renee's Home Car LLC. See, that's smart.

She dropped her actual business name. Angelina S. Anika Felde. Annette Robinson. Anthony McCants. Antoine Pruitt. Antonio Nickelberry. Arturo Lassiter. Ashley Jones.

Augustine Nagua. I hope I pronounced that right. Azeline Jones. B. Dizzle. B. Dizzle? Really? B. Day? Really?

Bernita Jones. Bernice P. Harris, Beverly Charles, Beverly Collins, Brandon Jones, Brenda Cowan, Brian. Brian, you kind of leaked your last name, Brian. Bridgette Harrington, Calvin Ray Stiggers, Camille Ransom, Carla Downs, Carolyn Dowdy, CeCe Summerize, Cecilia Thornton, Cedric Warren, Shalondra Robinson, Sherelle Bateman, Charlene Pitchford, Charles Sims, Christina Reeves, Clark O'Neill, Clifford Sparks, Conscious Thought, Conscious, come on now, Crystal Hosey, Cynthia Coleman, Cynthia Newman, Cynthia Taylor, Daisy Price, Damon Franklin, Dana Moton, Dana Walker, Daniel Denton Thompson,

Darren Lloyd, Darius Hay, Daryl Hannah, Deborah Polk, Deborah White, Deborah Sims, Della Lee, Dolores, Demetra Hankerson, Denise Mosley, Derek Edwards, Darika Presley, Dawana Shields, Donald Baxter, Danelle Farr, Edward F.E. Coley, Eldridge Smith, Elena Peraza, Linda Gorman, Eric B. Van Dyke, Eric Davenport, Evangeline Ophia, Iyap Aman, Fadina Thomas, Francis Stallworth, G. McFadden, Gail Bowers, Jeffrey Carter, Glenda Bobo, Gregory Horsley, Gwendolyn Smothers, Gwendolyn Yergin, Hanique Hall, Harry Alexander, H.C. Gary, Herbalife, an Herbalife independent member. Okay, y'all might want to put y'all name on there, attach it to it. Herbert Allen Jr., Howard Loken, Ibo Oxley, Ify Asantewad, Jay Glenn, Jacqueline Smith, Jacqueline Williams, Jadonna Sanders, Janice Pickens, Janice Ferguson, Jasmine Williams, Jason Allen, Jay King, Jermaine Ramsey, Jerry Green, Jerry Magnum, Jesse Tate, John,

Joy Griffin, Jonathan Poole, comedian Jonathan Slocum, Josette Blocker, June, June Durrett-Jones, Kay Brew, Katrina Scott, Kena G, Kena C, Keta G, Kenny Fulton, Kalia Williams, Karen Pierre, Kim Lacey, Kip Killebrew, Keisha Manley, Kawani Kusai Ogubi, Kwame Pettis, LaKeisha, Larnie Richardson, Larry DeForest, Latasha Skipper, Latasha Martin, Leotine Rines, Latrell Thomas, Linda Simmons, Linda Victoria Cromer, Lorenzo Thomas Sr., Lori Jordan, Lucretia Holden, Luxie Frizzon, Lynette Reddix, Mahogany, Gal Friday, Malia, Marisha, Mark Denison, Marla Perkins, Marlene Green, Marcia Critchlow, Marvin Nails, Mary Blair, Marie, Marlene Wells Brewer, Michelle Reed, Michelle Baker. Yes, I need some water. Michelle Griffin, Mignon Clyburn. Appreciate it. Maneli, Benjamin, Muhammad Reed.

Morris Jones. Okay, y'all, somebody put in name. We kind of like need your name. Nancy Petaway, Natalie Moore, Natasha Epps-Jones, Natasha Lewis, Nikki Harris, Nene Riley, Odessa, Pamela Tunnell, Patricia Steeth, Paula Ogbon, Paula Bryant, Hamilton, Phillip Atkins, Phyllis Bell, Precious Jewel, Prentice, Quinn Lawrence, Ralph Craig, Rashonda Simmons, Rishara Gavan, Rayon Cunningham, Rebecca Nelson, Reg Hammond, Rolinda Barnes, Renee Cooper, Renisha Moore, Renette Clow, Renetta Spruill, Richard Smith, Robert Hendricks, Robert Jackson, Robert Lankford, Robin Johnson, Robin Roberts, Rodney Rambo, Ronald P, Roosevelt

Payne III, Rosalie Hurst, Ruby Ferguson, Selena Coleman-Thomas, Shereen Bradford, Sharon Jarrett, Sean Satin, Chantel Smith, Shania Walker, Sheila McDowell, Sherry Phelps, Sis, Tamika Woods, Sondra Harris, Son Satin, Chantel Smith, Shania Walker, Sheila McDowell, Sherry Phelps, Sis, Tamika Woods, Sondra Harris, Sonia Sanders, Sonia Galliard, Stacey Dupree, Stephanie Strong, Stephanie Williamson, Steven Johnson, Steve Johnson, Steven Broughton, Takardra Roundtree,

Talitha, Tamara Roberson, Tammy Jackson-Cloy, Tanya Walters, Tawana Wimbish, Tanisha M. Mills, Terry McClellan, Terrell Currington, Teresa Edwards, Tawana Bevel, Tish, Tondra Canty, Tonja Hicks, Tanya Goss, Tracy Garrett, Tracy Mayo, Terkesa Houck, Vanessa, Victor Mitchell, Victoria Gray, Vinay Alcindor, William Gordon Jr., William Hutchins, William Robertson, yesterday, really, yesterday, and Eunice Patrick. Woo! That was all the people, of course, who gave it to us from Friday to yesterday.

So here's the deal. Tomorrow. So here's the deal, y'all. So this is what I said. So this week, this week, and I might do it next week. For all the people who join our Bring the Funk fan club who give $50 or more, I will give you a personal shout-out on the show. I'm doing that because again, our goal is to, is to, our goal at the end of the year is to have 20,000 of our fan

club members join our Bring the Funk fan club. If that means me reading 15,000 more names, I'm gonna read 15,000 more names. I think that's important because again, what we're seeing with this coronavirus, we're seeing what happens when we don't have information. We're seeing what happens when we're being ignored, when national media only paid attention to black deaths five weeks after this thing became, this thing blew up in the country. Well, we were focused on it first day. And so what our goal is to continue to bring you the best content we can over the course of the week. We do this show live five days a week. Again, five days a week, we're live on this show. We're sitting at putting out the information as best that we can. We want you to support us. Cash app right here is, okay, PayPal, go right over here. PayPal.me forward slash R Martin unfiltered.

Our cash app is dollar sign RM unfiltered. Folks, our goal is very simple. We want to be able to be independent. Say what we want to say, cover what we want to cover, speak to our interests. That is exactly why we are here. It is why we do what we do. And unfortunately, we do not have enough of our own platforms out here speaking truth to power. That's why we do what we do every single day. I'm Roland Martin, Unfiltered.

We're so thankful for all of you who have joined our Bring the Funk fan club, all of you who have contributed, all of you who have been being with us in making all of this possible. The reason that is important, folks, is because, again, we can't do it without you. We, of course, corporate funding has dried up in terms of advertisers, and so we really, it's all possible because of you, and so we thank every single one of you. We've got some great plans. There are some other things that I would love to announce right now, but I can't. But we want to get bigger. We're going to get bigger. And that's what we think. Well, all of you, all of you have done. And so those of you who are watching on Facebook right now, those of you who are watching on Periscope or watching on YouTube as well.

Let me give the mailing address. A lot of y'all have been posting comments on here about the mailing address and the mailing address is the company's new vision media in you vision media, Inc. The address, the check make payable. Do you send a check or cash money order, make it payable to new vision media, not Walmart unfiltered new vision media media. 1327 West Washington Boulevard, Suite 102B as in boy. 1327 West Washington Boulevard, Suite 102B, Chicago, Illinois, 60607. 60607. That's where, of course, we are, where we are chartered and incorporated there in Illinois. All right, last thing. I told you today is April 21st. And so here we go to my iPad. It is my 19th wedding anniversary.

That's my wife, Reverend Dr. Jackie Hood Martin. And so I would love for you guys to, if you go to Instagram, go to Twitter, send her a tweet at J Hood Martin. I think she got it. Yeah, she got a Facebook page as well. I'll go to Facebook page as well. And so, um, so please do so. And so, uh, it's been a great 19 years, uh,

married to hood. That's what I call. I call it hood. Uh, and so matter of fact, I'm gonna do this here. Uh, let me go ahead and transfer him and come back to me. So, so Jackie put together this, um this this video it was pretty you know I think it's my Instagram page let me go ahead and just play on my IG TV she sent it to me so she at midnight y'all so funny she sends me this video at midnight so she's playing around with the app quick and put together this video of all these different photos of us, let me pull it up, just gonna play it for y'all.

And so I can show you this here. And so what we decided to do is of course, you know, we can't, you can't do anything, you can't go anywhere, but it's all good because she wanted to see Bad Boys. Bad Boys of course came out, comes out rental today. So that's gonna be our date night see Bad Boys. Bad Boys, of course, came out, comes out rental today. So that's going to be our date night watching Bad Boys. So we're going to close the show with this video of photos

that she put together for our anniversary. Love you dearly. I'll see you soon. So y'all send her a tweet or a post on Instagram. Holla! Go to the video. you you you you you This is an iHeart Podcast.