#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 5 Memphis Cops Charged w/Murder, Bethune-Cookman Parents Speak, HR Expert L'Erin Wagner Takes Calls

Episode Date: January 27, 2023

1.26.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: 5 Memphis Cops Charged w/Murder, Bethune-Cookman Parents Speak, HR Expert L'Erin Wagner Takes Calls It's Thursday, January 26, 2023, and here's what's coming Up on Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. Five former Memphis, Tennessee officers are facing seven charges, including second-degree murder in the death of Tyre Nichols.  One of the three students Ed Reed talked about will join us tonight with his parents.  He'll tell his story of passing on other schools to be under Reed's leadership.  Roland will share emails he has received since he started reporting on this story.  We will also speak to L’Erin Wagner, HR Strategic Partner, to advise on being a better employer.   Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Today is Thursday, January 26, 2023. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Three former, five former Memphis police officers have been indicted and arrested on murder charges. And the city officials are warning the video that shows the vicious beating

of a black man that killed him. They are warning us how gruesome it is. It's likely going to be released tomorrow. We'll break down exactly what is happening out of Memphis. It is a tragic, tragic story involving these five former cops. Also, they continue to cover what's happening at Bethune-Cookman. Three players who came to the university because Ed Reed was going to be the head coach will join us.

Plus, we'll also read from you some of the emails that I have received from parents and students describing atrocious conditions at Bethune-Cookman and we'll give you, let you know, if the university has reneged or accepted the invitation.

They extended it to me to come to campus to visit, to see it, and also to do a town hall there at the university. We'll talk about that. Another HBCU, Delaware State, they've had students protesting because they say they're unsafe there because of sexual harassment, but also sexual assault allegations. So we'll tell you what's happening at Delaware State. Also, Laron Wagner is back talking about HR from the perspective of employers. If you're a business owner, you don't want to miss this conversation with our HR expert. Folks, it is time to bring the funk on World of Art Unfiltered on the Black Sun Network. Let's go. Sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling Yeah, yeah

It's Uncle Roro, y'all Yeah, yeah It's Roland Martin Yeah, yeah Rolling with Roland 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, Martez

Martez And five former Memphis cops, all black, arrested and indicted on murder charges. The Shelby County District Attorney announced the decision today. The grand jury returned indictments against all five with the same charges. And we had previously met with the family of Tyree Nichols to go over what these charges were going to be, and that meeting with the family, I think, went rather well.

Here are the charges. Second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping resulting in bodily injury, aggravated kidnapping involving the possession of a weapon, official misconduct through unauthorized exercise of power, official misconduct through failure to act when there is a duty imposed by law, and official oppression. While each of the five individuals played a different role in the incident in question,

the actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyree Nichols and they are all responsible. Now folks, city officials in Memphis, they are actually warning the public how graphic this body cam footage is. I can tell you right now, when they give those types of warnings, it is beyond comprehension what happened. They expect the body cam footage to actually be released tomorrow. Now, he was pulled over and arrested on January 7th. His family and their attorneys, again, have viewed the body cam footage,

and they describe him being treated as a human pinata. It is going to be released Friday, tomorrow, sometime after 6 p.m. Eastern. Memphis Police Director Sarah Lynn Davis said other officers are still being investigated for violating department policy. Her department provides transparency about Nichols death in light of the horrific circumstances Surrounding the death of Tyree Nichols It is absolutely incumbent upon me your chief to address the status of what the Memphis Police Department

Is doing has done and will continue to do in furtherance of finding truth in this tragic loss, ensuring we communicate with honesty and transparency and that there is absolute accountability for those responsible for Tyree's death. As you know, five Memphis police officers were terminated last week. These officers were found to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols. Concurrent within that investigation, other MPD officers are still under investigation for department policy violations. Some infractions are less egregious than others. As this investigation and other external investigations continue, I promise full and complete cooperation from the Memphis Police Department with the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the Shelby County District Attorney's Office to determine the entire scope of facts that contributed to Tyree Nichols' death. Aside from being your chief of police,

I am a citizen of this community we share. I am a mother. I am a caring human being who wants the best for all of us. This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual. This incident was heinous, reckless, and inhumane, and in the vein of transparency, when the video is released in the coming days, you will see this for yourselves. I expect you to feel what the Nichols family feels. I expect you to feel outrage in the

disregard of basic human rights, as our police officers have taken an oath to do the opposite of what transpired on the video. I expect our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, to demand action and results. But we need to ensure our community is safe in this process. None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens. In our hurt, in our outrage and frustration, there is still work to be done to build each

other up, to continue the momentum of improving our police and community relationships and partnerships, to show those who watch us now that this behavior is not what will define our community and our great city. This is not a reflection of the good work that many Memphis police officers do every day. What comes next is our defining moment. What we all do next can be that reflection of our character. I am not wavering in my commitment to you to have a police force that is here to serve and protect you. Those five officers and others failed our community and they failed the Nichols family and that is beyond regrettable. I have met with and offered condolences to Tyree's mother and father and have asked for the support of our community leaders and clergy in this extremely difficult moment. But words are only temporary salves that need to be told by true, responsible action and change.

It is my intent as a proactive measure to ensure that a complete and independent review is conducted on all of the Memphis Police Department's specialized units and the commitment of my executive leadership to ensure that policies and procedures are adhered to in our daily encounters with the citizens we are sworn to serve. In the days ahead, I ask that you continue to pray for the family of Tyree Nichols, the Memphis Police Department, and our great city. In addition to the five cops, two fire personnel were also fired who handled Tyree Nichols, folks. It is, again, so you see the photo right there. Those are the five officers. Again, second degree murder, official misconduct, official oppression, aggravated assault act

in concert, aggravated kidnapping. We have not heard from the Memphis Police Union as a result of these charges. Folks, it goes to show you again how despicable this video is going to be. We will see it tomorrow. And so when they start giving that many warnings about the video, you know exactly how awful it is going to be. So when we come back, we're going to talk with our panel about today's developments out of Memphis. Again, five former cops, all black, arrested and indicted on murder charges and the death of Tyree Nichols. Download the Black Star Network app, folks, to keep informed what we're doing. Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV,

Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your dollars make it possible to do what we do. PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zale is Roland at Roland S. Martin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And of course, be sure to get a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at various bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target. You can also download your copy on Audible. We'll be right back. Most people think that these television shows that tell stories about who we are as black men,

and then they paint these monolithic portraits of us. They think that they're being painted by white people. And I got to tell you, there are a whole bunch of black folk that are the creators, the head writers, the directors of all of these shows, and that are still painting us as monoliths. The people don't really want to have this conversation. No, they don't. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach,

I'm sure you've heard that saying that the only thing guaranteed is death and taxes. The truth is that the wealthy get wealthier by understanding tax strategy. And that's exactly the conversation that we're going to have on the next Get Wealthy, where you're going to learn wealth hacks that help you turn your wages into wealth. Taxes is one of the largest expenses you ever have. You really got to know how to manage that thing and get that under control so that you can do well. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Pull up a chair, take your seat at the Black Table with me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Blackstar Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. Hi, how's it doing? It's your favorite funny girl,

Amanda Seals. Hi, I'm Anthony Brown from Anthony Brown and Group Therapy. What up, Lana Well, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right. To discuss this Memphis case, joining us on our regular Thursday panel, Reesey Colbert, Black Women Views. First of all, I'm sorry. Yeah, Reesey Colbert, Black Women Views at the Greg Carr Department of Afro-American Studies, Howard University, and Erica Savage-Wilson.

Erica Savage, founder of the Reframed Brain. All right, y'all. Woo! Wilson. Erica Savage, founder of the Reframed Brain. All right, y'all. Erica, when they start giving you these types of warnings, it is going to likely be a force, a level of brutality that I can't say we haven't seen, but it's expected to be vicious and shameful. Yeah, Roland, and it's really, really unfortunate that we have to, again, discuss something of this magnitude. But here we are again, and as a person who is a wellness expert, a brain injury champion, I would really encourage people that if you don't have to watch it, understanding that for purposes of Tyree's parents, that they did watch it and can understand and respect that to not watch it, because that is the warnings that we've been given are letting us know in advance that what we're going to see essentially will be etched in our brains. So I am asking for people, if you don't have to watch it to not watch it, there are things that we can read. But

on the other side, to be able to be there to support those who may want to have conversations around that. When those charges were read, one of the things that I thought about was that these charges really could be leveled against an entire police force, because this is what we've been used to hearing, reading, and seeing about. It made me think about, you know, when I was in school, and I believe it was in middle school, the Rodney King beating. And that was really my first real engagement with state violence, to watch someone be beaten and to have police say that, well, they had to continue to beat him because he was showing superhuman strength. You know, then we moved forward, and Freddie Gray was another chance that we bore witness to someone who endured unspeakable pain at the hands of state stormtroopers. And so here we are again, and we know that there are many, too many black folks whose names have not been called to fill in the blanks. When we think about those

charges and that charge of official oppression, one that was new on the abuse of office, it's something that we have seen over and over and over and over again, and that this level of violence that one of these folks had already had a charge back in 2015 for beating someone who was incarcerated within inches of their life shows you that this state violence, it doesn't matter the skin that they're in, but they actually got their wake-up call today. So I'm really, really glad that all of them would be brought to justice. But as a person who is in the wellness space, I, again, am really imploring people, if you don't have to watch it, not to watch it. Don't ignore what's happening. But if you're not in the space where that's going to be something that's going to be easy for your body to move out of, not to, and just take care of yourself.

And just understand, again, when you see how folks are already responding, Recy, there's sort of this preparation for this fiery reaction. I'm not going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one

who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one violence is destructive and against the law it is no place in peaceful protest seeking justice public trust is the foundation of public safety and there are still too many places in america today where the bonds of trust are frayed or broken tyree's death is a painful reminder that we must do more to ensure that our criminal justice system lives up to the promise of fair and impartial justice equal treatment and dignity for all. Okay.

Here's why I find that to be a bullshit statement, Recy. You're going to lead with violence. When we're discussing state-sanctioned violence against a black man. So I don't know who the black folks who work for the president, but if you're going to write a statement, you lead first with the family piece and then the public trust and public safety piece. And you're closed with violence. You don't lead with, oh, don't tear up stuff, don't riot. The fact that he's even releasing this statement before the body cam footage tells us exactly

what we're going to see. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he's just basically saying up front, y'all black motherfuckers is about to show your whole ass once you see the video. And guess what? That might be absolutely appropriate to do.

The fact that they are trying to prep us this much, the fact that for once we did not have to see Black brutality paraded like trauma porn for the entire world just to get an investigation, just to get an arrest, just to get somebody being suspended on administrative leave. The fact that these five Black men have been arrested and charged with murder and a number of things already before the footage just goes to show this is probably violence of epic, and I do not mean that as a compliment, proportion. And it's really scary, actually, to think about what this can trigger. Because like Erica, I remember the Rodney King

beating and, you know, that was on low definition VHS basically across the street. And so for this kind of prepping, it's going to be bad. And if it's going to be bad, it's going to be bad. There ain't no kind of political statement. There ain't no kind of speech and press conference that you're going to be able to do to put that genie back in the bottle. So how about this? All you cops out there, keep your motherfucking hands off of black people, brutalizing them and ultimately killing them. And maybe you won't have to worry about trying to say, you know, keep hope alive and don't be out there acting up. People are going to act up. And I think that this is really probably telling people, you know, it's going to be bad.

But I will say, if you can get out of Dodge, get out of Dodge right now. Get out of Dodge right now. Get home early. Get home. Unless you want to be out there with that. I'm not trying to be a victim blamer. I'm not trying to respectability politics. But please don't be caught out there like it's the damn purge when this shit comes out

because it's clearly going to be something we have not seen in decades. This is, Greg Carr, the full statement. I went to the White House website, and I want to see the full statement. I went to the White House website and I want to see the full statement. And so this is what the again, y'all, this is what Biden is releasing before the body camera footage pulled out of my iPad. Henry, Jill and I extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of Tyree Nichols and the entire Memphis community. Tyree's family deserves a swift, full and transparent investigation into his death. Second paragraph. As Americans grieve, the Department of Justice conducts its investigation and state authorities continue their work, I join Tyree's family in calling for peaceful protest. Outrage is understandable. Violence is never acceptable.

Violence is destructive and against the law. There's no place in peaceful protest seeking justice. Then the whole paragraph about public trust. We also cannot ignore the fact that fatal encounters with law enforcement have disparately impacted black and brown people. To deliver real change, we must have accountability when law enforcement officers violate their oaths and we need to build lasting trust between law enforcement, the vast majority of whom wear the badge honorably, and the communities they are sworn to serve and protect. That is why I called on Congress to send the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to my desk.

When they didn't, I signed an executive order that included stricter use of force standards and accountability provisions for federal law enforcement, as well as measures to strengthen accountability at the state and local level. Today, we all must recommit ourselves to the critical work that must be done to advance meaningful reforms. Yet, Greg, last week, when Biden was meeting with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, he talked about, oh, no, don't defund the police. Give them more funding.

And here we are. Of course, Roman. Of course, Roman. I mean, there's no contradiction there. Joe Biden is the president of the United States. So, of course, there is never any excuse for violence unless, of course, you're the United States military killing people even as we speak. And God knows where all over the world or abetting it. You know, in some ways, as you were going through the footage and I was listening to listening to you, Erika, reflect on me, too.

You know, I was in undergrad. I said, no, no, I was in grad school when the Rodney King verdict came down. And as the sun went down in Los Angeles and the flames went up, we saw the flames go up at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. We saw the flames go up in underground Atlanta in downtown Atlanta. We saw the rebellion was off. And I think that, as you say, if they are this concerned, then you understand, as Malcolm X used to say, as long as you have the ingredients for an explosion, you have the potential for explosion

on your hands. And so this might be the trigger. We may be talking about the Tyree Nichols insurrection. As these five blue men engaged in a form of state violence, and yes, their skin is black, and no doubt they were raised in black communities and black homes. But as you said, Erica, this is a question of state violence. There's a culture of violence that Joe Biden still doesn't understand. As the white president of a white settler state, there is no reforming a criminal enterprise for whom this is the rule and not the exception. They were behaving within the purview and scope of their jobs as patirolers. Unfortunately, they happen to be black, which brings us to the contradictions that are so much at the surface

here. When you see Chief C.J. Davis, Chief Sherrilyn Davis, who is only about a couple of years on the job after having been in the Atlanta Police Department for about 29 years. Well, Atlanta Police Department and other related functions in law enforcement. This is a sister who hit the right tone, made it personal, immediately moved. So you see, this is a moment when diversity, equity, inclusion may work on the side of good, as opposed to diversity and equity and inclusion working on the side of you just put that black skin second to your blue skin in terms of these five cops. And then you see Steve Mulroy, the prosecutor in Shelby County. Steve Mulroy is one of that crop of quote-unquote progressive DAs, progressive prosecutors, who was elected. He defeated Amy Weinreich in most recent election

for DA in Memphis, who was a 10-year veteran and a white nationalist, right-wing prosecutor in Memphis, a black city. So all of these things are in play. Anytime you put these kind of charges on the police, second degree, knowing killing of another with the kind of years it may come. I think what we're seeing is an attempt to forestall what might be in this country the inevitable. At some point, this form of violence is going to engender a response that's going to overflow the boundaries of the right police chief, the right DA, the people simply not going to stand for it. And here's the deal, folks, and I've already seen some folks say, well, you know, how do we respond? These are black cops in the police union.

They ain't said nothing. They don't protect black cops. This is not a conversation of black cops. This is about blue. The reality is police violence against black folks in other communities, it's a blue thing. Whether the cops are white, black, Hispanic, Asian, it don't matter. It's a blue thing. Got to go to break.

We come back. We'll continue our discussions about Bethune-Cookman. We'll hear from parents who ever say so. And I'm going to read to you some of the e-mails that I've gotten from students and others. Shocking conditions that they describe. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting.

I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at every university calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Bye-bye, Dr. Jackie, a relationship that we have to have. We're often afraid of it and don't like to talk about it.

That's right. We're talking about our relationship with money. And here's the thing. Our relationship with money oftentimes determines whether we have it or not. The truth is you cannot change what you will not acknowledge. Balancing your relationship with your pocketbook. That's next on A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network. Hi, I'm Eric Nolan. I'm Shantae Moore. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. We told you yesterday that Bethune-Cookman board chair, Perry, Mr. Perry, he said that he would not come on this show because I was being one-sided.

Y'all go ahead and show the graphic, please? Okay, we're loading the graphic right now. First of all, it was laughable. Y'all saw my commentary last night on the silly comment that he made that we somehow have been one-sided in our approach to all of this. We all know that's a lie, and it just makes no sense whatsoever. And in fact, this is here. Y'all should see it right there. This is what he said. This is right here. Judge, retired Judge Belvin Perry. He said, I will not come with Roland Martin on with Roland

Martin, who has been telling a one sided story with students who have been put up to this by Charles W. Cherry, the second, a disbarred attorney and Johnny McCrae Jr., who was president of the I'm done, goodbye. And he hung up. Okay? That's what he said. Now, I told you all that was a lie. Ed Reed said there were three players who came to Bethune Cookman specifically because they wanted to be coached by

him. One of those players reached out to us and said, I'm done, goodbye. And he hung up. And I told you all that was a lie. And I told you all that was a lie. Ed Reed said there were three players who came to Bethune-Cookman specifically because they want to be coached by him. One of those players reached out to us, and he said he wanted to tell his story of passing up other offers and scholarships to attend Bethune-Cookman,

only to be subjected to dorms with no air conditioning or hot water, mold, rats, and broken equipment. As a Christian college, he has asked the university to forgive Ed Reed and let him coach the team to greatness. Joining us right now is Bethune-Cookman's quarterback, Dominique Ponder, and his parents, Wendell and Katrina Hughes-Ponder. Glad to have all three of you here. Dominique, I want to start with you because, again, I've got folks like, you know, the board chair who's upset, calling this all one-sided, but I've had so many students, alumni reaching out. You reached out as well.

Share your experience, how long you've been at Bethune-Cookman, and what you have seen so far. Yeah, so I've basically been here for like two to three weeks now and it was really bad at first like they they're absolutely right spot on and um i had my first room i was in i had no ac it was hot i was sweating at night couldn't even sleep with my blanket um i had to like sleep in my boxers, couldn't sleep with shorts. And then they moved me to a second room, and the AC still doesn't work. And there's a mold in the shower, too, as well, on the bottom. And my shower hose doesn't work, and I asked them to come fix it.

And they said, we don't care. We're not fixing that. And I was like, oh, okay, cool. So that's really how it is. Now, you said you turned down other offers. What other schools were you considering? I had FIU. I had FAU.

So, Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University. Yes, sir. Eastern Michigan, and then I had a lot of small, like, lower schools, like NIU, Eastern Illinois, all that. So you had programs that are actually much larger programs, Division I-A programs, FCS programs that wanted you to play quarterback. Yes, sir. And you chose Bethune-Cookman because Ed Reed was going to be the head coach.

Yes, sir, because I believed in his dream, and I believed in him. And, yeah, yes, sir. So you and I, there are a number of players that actually signed a petition. They say they want him back. The university, the president, Lawrence Drake, interim president, released a statement the other day reiterating that they are not going to bring him back and that some 50-plus other candidates have reached out to them expressing interest. With that being said, if they do not bring Ed Reed back, will you leave?

I'm all for it, but doing Cookman, I mean, I have no choice. I'm stuck for it with Dune Cookman. I mean, I have no choice. I'm stuck here now. Like, I don't know what to do. But I'm really considering it after when the Porter opens up in May. I'm really considering that. But I'm all for it. If they bring in a good coach, then I'll play. But if I really want Reed back, that's the only reason I'm here, man. So.

I want to bring your parents in, Wendell and Katrina. When your son called you, and first of all, had y'all toured the facilities, had y'all toured the campus before agreeing to attend there? That's first. Yeah, we did show up on a Friday and we got him checked in and we went to his dorm room.

And, you know, some of the – we met some of the students, and they told us they were leaving and why. But Dominic is a football player, and he, you know, he can deal with a lot. He deals with a lot as an athlete. So he wasn't complaining, but it just didn't get any better, you know? And so when he was calling y'all and telling you about what he was having to deal with, Katrina, what was your reaction? Disappointed because, I mean, we didn't send him to the military. We sent him to college. So, I mean, you't send him to the military we sent him to college so I mean you're supposed to be comfortable this is your home away from home and I just kept telling

him like when we first got there we were told there's a specific person in each building and that's who you're supposed to deal with so I I kept telling him, go speak to such and such, you know, that front little office downstairs. And he's like, I've told them numerous times, they said they've contacted maintenance, but this is just how it is. And this is the way it's been for years and it's never going to change.

And, you know, Coach Reed, to back up to where you were, you know, did we tour the facilities? No, This Dominic getting there happened within a matter of literally three days. It was Reed wanted him come to Bethune and we were like, okay, let's go. And we got in the car

and took him there and enrolled him in a matter of like 20 minutes and now we're stuck. He doesn't know what to do. So Dominic, have you talked directly with athletic director Reggie Theus? Have you talked, have you communicated with the interim president Lawrence Drake? From an administrative level, have you shared your thoughts and concerns with anybody? So yesterday, the president and a bunch of alumni who claimed they were friends of Ed Reed and all this, we all had a big sit down in the CCE building.

It was Reggie, the president, and a bunch of alumni and all the football players, right? And they were just talking about, oh, we want to hear your ideas all this but it seemed like to me like alum just there to escape goat for the president because they were just bashing they were like bashing coach reed and saying all this but they claimed they were his friends like they played with him and all this and then um some of the players like i just don't like some of the players were like oh yeah we love reed like we're all for reed but the ones who were talking specifically he kicked them off because they had weed problems and they couldn't stop smoking weed and some of their grades weren't

even right so i don't even know like why some of them were there but that's the only and then they just turned like they all like turned on Reed. Like, I don't understand why. But, like, maybe it's just because they wanted to, like, play. And they felt like, oh, he's gone. Like, now's my chance. I can sneak back into the team. Like, we'll get a new coach. You won't know.

But, yeah, they were like, what else did they say? Oh, he was like, they raised $3 million for us. Ed Reed brought in a billionaire, a billionaire, and had a billionaire doing all these things for us, ready to build us a new field. What else? He was about to extend the training room, make it bigger, better than what it is now. He was going to build us a protein bar. He was going to build us football players our own dorms. He was about to change the whole program around, and they just said no. i don't understand that like and then uh what was it his nephew coach reed's my bad coach reed's nephew uh was speaking and they were like he was he called out reggie because i think um whatever

the ad reggie um was like uh i think he sent him an email and was like, oh, Ed Reed has resigned, like his name or whatever, like put his name and resigned. And that was a lie because Coach Reed never did that. So I think his nephew brought it up and he was like, can you ask that question again? And then the alumni would butt in and be like, they don't know what you're asking and all of this. So it's like, it's kind of crazy to me.

Well, no, Katrina, I know Dominic said, hey, they bring in a good football coach. I'll stay. But obviously you want there to be good conditions. Are you placing, are you communicating with the university leadership in terms of your feelings about the conditions, what your son is having to deal with and what needs to be taken care of? Although he's there on scholarship. Look, you want to be focused on your classroom and obviously playing football and getting better, not sweating and not being able to sleep. Right. Well, I think what we have always done so much for him, this part,

I kind of wanted him to become a man and you know deal with it himself yeah he's doing just that he's doing just that um you know i'm you know i'll help him a little bit you know go talk to this one go talk to that one but i was kind of really leaving it up to him but if it comes down to you know that he does end up staying, then, you know, if things aren't changing, then, yes, I am going to have to get involved. We are going to have to get involved. And Dominic really just wants, you know, the college to get better. I mean, that's it. Bethune-Cookman went through some hurricanes.

We understand, you know, and COVID and so on and so forth. And if he can help shed the light on this university and make it better in some way, in all HBCUs, I mean, Deion started this entire thing. And Dominic knows Deion very well. So we have to continue building on what Coach Prime started. And I think that Ed Reed was doing that. And that's why we agreed to let Dominic, you know, become part of Bethune-Cookman. You know, we have to, we can't let this go. We have to continue. Other HBCUs

have to jump in and the kids need to protest and ask for what they want, you know? Well, you mentioned COVID. I said on the show yesterday, when it came to the federal government, in terms of the last several different funding cycles, Bethune-Cookman received $68 million in American Rescue Plan money, CARES money, and others. And so that's $68 million. I have the data. So, again, and that was specifically to keep folks through. Katrina, it looks like you wanted to say something real quick. $68 million? Yes. Katrina, it looks like you wanted to say something real quick.

$68 million? Yes. They got it from COVID. No, that was several different. That was loan forgiveness. There was CARES I, CARES II, the American Rescue Plan as well. The total amount that Bethune-Cookman received was $68 million. I'm going to do this here. I'm going to go to a break.

And so you'll see, I'm going to pull it up. You actually see it. I have the spreadsheet. It shows it right there. So I'll do that. So I appreciate it. So just to do this, I'm going to go to a break. Hold on one second.

Let me do that. When I come back, I'm also going to read some emails that I've received from other parents and students about what's happening there at Bethune-Cookman. You're watching Rolling Mark Unfiltered on the Black Studies Network. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. An hour of living history with Dr. Richard Mariba Kelsey,

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I'm Coco. And I'm Lili. And we're SWB. What's up, y'all? It's Ryan Destiny. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered. Before we went to the break, I was telling Dominic's parents about HBCU funding. Now, before I show you this graphic, let me be perfectly clear, folks.

HBCUs across the board have been historically underfunded from day one. State institutions, and obviously we know how they've been impacted privately. Bethune-Cookman has had some significant issues in the past decade. They're under second interim president, the fourth president in the last 10 years. The school almost went under because of a financial crisis when it came to dorms. All kinds of different drama. Almost lost the accreditation. And so they've been slowly rebounding and building. The President Drake was on the show.

He talked about them being impacted by two hurricanes in the fall. All absolutely true. But students have been hitting me up saying, wait a minute, problems there predate the hurricane. This is what you're looking at right now, folks, is a spreadsheet that was sent to me by Congressman Jim Clyburn last year. This shows you that in these various funding areas, HBCUs receive $6.5 billion. You see the number down here, $6,567,665,681.29. Now, these are public and private institutions. What you see up here are the different categories.

CAP-5 Forgiveness, CARES Act I, CARES Act II, the CRRSA Act I, the CRRSA Act II, ARP Act, this American Rescue Plan, American Rescue Plan 2. So now you know exactly where the money comes from. Now, let's go down here. You see all these different universities. You see Bethune-Cookman University right here. So in that first category, they received loan forgiveness of $1.99 million.

That next category for CARES, $6.6 million. CARES II, $7.9 million. CRSA, $10.7 million. CRSA II, $8 million. American Rescue Plan I, $18.8 million. American Rescue Plan II, point one million dollars for a total of sixty eight million three hundred and ninety eight thousand one hundred eighty seven dollars and seventeen cents. So this was for this impacted again all different HBCUs who receiving

funds and that was to sustain themselves through COVID. It was for dealing with infrastructure and things along those lines. That's in addition to millions that Bethune and Cook received from the state of Florida. Again, I am not saying that, oh, everything is all good, everything is wonderful, everything is perfect because of historically being underfunded and also being private. The president came on the show and said,

alumni giving dropped from 12% to 1%. He attributed that to a drop in black wealth. I'm sorry, it doesn't fly. It's really because of the instability in leadership at the university. Two interim presidents, they don't even have, the question people are asking, is there even an ongoing search right now for a permanent president? Don't know that answer. So people have been reaching out to us since we have been reporting on this. And, of course, Dominique reached out to us.

I want you all to know this is what an email we received. The particular student asked not to have their name used because they are afraid of retaliation. Pull the first one up. They say Bethune has been in disarray since I first attended in 2009 In fact, the mold and poor living conditions were present then causing me many hospital and infirmary trips until I had to sit out It's a former athlete look up the Bronson flood and brawl on YouTube. We protested for years Balances magically appear on our accounts I recently had to get a lawyer just to get back in school last year to finish my degree. Got an email that I was financially cleared and paid my graduate dues. Last week, I had a balance of almost $1,800,

and no one knows where it came from. 2015-2016, they over-admitted students and had to move us in apartments off campus, of which they eventually stopped paying the rent, and we were evicted. The professors that actually care about the students, like Cedric and Veronica Evans, Dr. Julius John, Dr. Louis Colombo, Carla Lesser, Dr. Hector Torres, Hubert James, Dr. Abdullah, Dr. Womack, Karen Lawrence, Dr. Patterson, Jason Hood and more are fired or threatened. The money hungry voters are retained and promoted. Our homecoming sucked, our food sucks,ition continues to rise with no visible changes. We need help. Above all, I still love my HBCU.

Next letter, please. I'm a sophomore here at Bethune-Cookman University. It is clear that the current president stated that these poor living conditions had started because of the hurricane breaks. I have videos, pictures, and emails to prove that this has been happening to students, including me. I have been speaking out to BCU administration since March, April of 2022 before the hurricanes. Next. Okay, show the video, please. So this is what he sent us. The student sent us these videos here showing conditions of the dorms and buildings.

This is before the hurricanes hit Bethune-Cookman in the fall. And he's showing, again, mold and mildew that actually was on the clothing items of many of the students and also condition, again, of the campus as well. Now, let's go to the next letter. Is this the one from the parent? Okay. No, no, no, no. The parent with the student, that student. Okay. So, okay. So, I received, so I'm talking to the control unit, y'all. They didn't want to use a letter or use their name. Okay, well, I received a letter, folks, from a parent describing some awful conditions of having to deal with broken shower heads and roaches and urine on the floor and having a child who got sick because of the mold. I've gotten several emails like that. What else do we have?

Okay. Several emails like that. What else do we have? Okay. So, again, so for Chairman Perry, who acts as if people are putting students up to this, these are people who literally are sending me emails directly. I've gotten emails, y'all, while we are live on the show. People wanting me to call them and reach out to them and talk to them about what is going on there at Bethune-Cookman. That right there really was what jumps out, Dominic, as well as, again, your parents are still with us, Wendell and Katrina.

And so these are people who are saying, hey, you can't keep trying to blame the hurricane for the problem when you had the problems prior to the hurricane. I agree. I think it's a mismanagement of funds. I don't want to throw anyone under the bus because I'm not there. I don't work there. But, you know, I think the governor needs to come in. And, you know, if he wanted to come in and do an audit and, you know, get the state involved, you know, follow the money and you'll find out. It's just like any business in this world. It's just really sad.

It's sad. I left my child in the care of Ed Reed. Ed Reed, yeah. And he looked straight at me and said, while you guys are here, I am his uncle. But when you leave, I am his father. Yep. And he stood up to that. And I just got chills thinking about it because I didn't leave him there for no other reason.

And Aunt Marie did exactly what he said he was going to do. You know, he did everything that he said he was going to do. And they're upset because he said some bad words, but yet they had Rick Ross trick Daddy and Trina for their homecoming? They're upset. Oh, yeah, that's another thing. They said they got rid of him because of the video he posted, the music that they used in the Edgar and James video.

That's why they got rid of him, because they was talking about booties, but they had Gorilla at their homecoming and Rick Ross. I'm going to pull my pal in here earlier. Right now, Greg Carr, I want to go to you first. I got into a little Twitter back and forth with my buddy Jay Walker. He was on ESPN, outside the lines today, and they were talking about these various issues. And if y'all go to my iPad, he said this, and I'm going to show you how I responded. So just let me just play this here.

Well, let me hit you to something, Jeremy. Well, one thing I'll tell you about the HBCU culture, we can criticize our family. We don't like outsiders coming in and criticizing. There are a lot of things that need to be shined positive light on. But when you come in and just pick on the negative, then everybody in the HBCU culture takes effect of that. We're not really fans of that thing there. So I think Bethune-Cookman has a lot of great things. The story about Mary McLeod Bethune, what she did to get that university going, what they tried to do, how much success they've had. And when you only focus on just the negative, you don't, they're not there to shine a light on the positive. That's when folks

have a problem on it. Yes, there's some issues there, but it's a bigger problem there. You're talking about underfunding from state governments, from the federal government, all these local governments. There's a lot of things that people don't know unless you go there. But what they've always done at HBCU is we don't complain about what we don't have. We say, let's take what we have. Let's make it the best product we can put out there. Let me hit you to something, Jeremy. So here's the deal.

I responded to Jay. And again, I like Jay Gregg. And I said because his tweet, if I'm trying to find it, because he tried to take a shot at me by saying, you know, let me see if I can pull it up here. I thought it was quite interesting what he had to say, because here we go.

Let me pull this up, Greg. great. So Jay said, you know, you know how to find me. The students and faculty should be heard, no doubt. I stand by my words. I don't let anybody talk negative about my alma mater, HU, or other HBCUs. Maybe it's an HBCU thing and you wouldn't understand us. Okay. I responded to him, tell that to all the Howard University students who called me last year who are protesting dorm conditions or the Florida A&M band members who thanked me for exposing the conditions. They say that led to changes. So being defensive don't solve problems. And then of course I had to say lastly, there's a difference between speaking negatively about a school and stating facts. My niece is at Howard. So when my sister and her husband are in the H.U. family chat rooms going off on problems,

they have earned the right to do so based on that big check they cut. Greg. Greg. Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, I'm just processing, brother. Yeah, I'm a graduate of Tennessee State University. I was there from 1983 to 1987. The roaches, the conditions,

which I found when I went to Ohio State University for my law degree and my master's degree. Ohio State University currently has more money than God. Mm-hmm. And they also have all of the black football players that used to go to Tennessee State and Grambling and Bethune-Cookman

and Howard and other places. Let me be very clear about this. No one has the right to come down on the backs of the 100 plus historically black colleges and universities in this country unless they keep that same energy for what happened to those HBCUs in the wake of the end of apartheid. The drain of academic talent, the drain of athletic talent that went into these punk ass plantation HWCUs, including the so-called Power Five conference schools, many of whom are public schools. So if you pay your tax dollars in the state of Florida,

your money is going to the Florida State University, not the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical State University for Negroes. Now, I'm saying all that to say this. You have not bitten your tongue, Roland. At Howard University, where they pay 50 stacks a year to go to school, where they complained about the mold, where they complained about the living conditions, and where you took your cameras and toured the dorms, dorms that were very quickly spruced up in advance of your visit,

you haven't been afraid to take your cameras anywhere on our black college campuses. That hasn't even been said. Hold tight one second, Gray. Hold on, Grayson, one second. I've got to go to a break because we're literally in a commercial break. I want you to finish that point. We're coming back.

Dominic, your parents, hold tight one second. I've got one more segment. So I've got to pay some bills. Eric, I know you've got to go. We appreciate it. I want to get your comment in, but we've got to get all this other stuff in. But I appreciate it. We'll be right back and Roller Mountain Unfiltered. We have now, we have to keep this Our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Rolla. I love y'all.

All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, I'm sure you've heard that saying that the only thing guaranteed is death and taxes.

The truth is that the wealthy get wealthier by understanding tax strategy. And that's exactly the conversation that we're going to have on the next Get Wealthy, where you're going to learn wealth hacks that help you turn your wages into wealth. Taxes is one of the largest expenses you ever have. You really got to know how to manage that thing and get that under control so that you can do well. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. All right, so all the folks who keep saying, man, Roland, why are you going to the breaks? You used to didn't do that. Well, first of all, we're now on Amazon News, where you can also see us on the Fire Stick. Those are actually

paid commercial breaks. So that's why when we got to go to the stop because commercials are firing. And so that's how we also generate revenue as well. Greg Carr, you were making your comments. Go. Yeah, I'm going to keep this short, because it's a very sensitive topic to me. In fact, we just taped a segment issue, a segment of the Black Table with Rich Benson and Jelani Favors, who were in Spelman and North Carolina A&T, respectively, about this question. The question of invisible labor, for example. When Deion Sanders shows up at Jackson State and says, I need this grass cut, somebody's job is to cut the grass, and the grass doesn't get cut, so he sends for his lawnmower to do it because he says it doesn't really matter who does it. I need this to get done.

Rich Benson, Dr. Benson, made the point. This is like invisible labor. A great deal of what goes on at HBCUs is invisible labor. Well, actually, I do want to answer that. I actually inquired about that. There was a gentleman who actually quit because he didn't like the fact he's supposed to cut the grass twice a week. And he got mad because he's like, why are you asking me to cut it twice a week? And they were like, dude, that's your job. And it was like a riding lawnmower.

So when I saw that, I was like, okay, what actually happened there? But go ahead. Right. No, no, no, no. And that really underscores the point. I'm saying most of the labor at HBCUs that is done is done by people who are woefully underpaid, so who do that work in excess. Sometimes we buy our own stuff. Now, I'm going to counterpose

that because this dictatorial chair of the board, that isn't exclusive to HBCUs. Look at how the board at the University of North Carolina treated my now colleague, Nicole Hannah-Jones. So it isn't exclusive. However, I must say this in terms of black folk. There is a type of intraracial within the race contempt that is often had, and I've seen this at HBCUs, including the one where I work at Howard University, they got rid of the affiliate trustees, the faculty trustees, the student trustees, they got rid of the alumni trustees saying this is for the best, this is for the health of the university. Well, let me tell you something as a working faculty member at HBCU, the farther you get away from the classroom, often the more dictatorial behavior becomes. Some of these board people, and I'm not just talking about Bethune or anywhere else, some of these board trustees act as if somehow they are the major pastor at a megachurch.

And so that this type of behavior is not an outlier. Let me end with this, because again, I think this is a very sensitive topic because there are many things going on, as Jennifer Clark would say, sometimes in some stories there are no good guys. You know, we don't need saving, whether it be Ed Reed, whether it be Deion Sanders. There are thousands of coaches. In fact, my money now, in terms of athletics at HBCUs, is on the women's gymnastics programs. Fisk, Talladega got a new one. Maybe we should go in that direction because we are letting the tail wag the dog.

HBCUs are not the five WCUs. And get with us, isn't it? All the mid-majors and all the other places where this is also a conversation. I'm going to end by thanking you, Roland, for being willing to take on the courageous work of taking a straight line conversation about these HBCUs. And I only hope you will keep it up because Howard is HBCU. Howard is Bethune. Howard is Fisk. Howard is Talladega and Tennessee State.

They don't like me saying it to Howard, but I believe that it's just one big HBCU with a whole lot of different locations. And damn it, until we get that kind of understanding, we're going to be back at this conversation. If you're going to take Bethune's name out and put in the name of some other HBCU, we must do something about it. Well, before I go to Reesey, folks, I remember President Lawrence Drake, when he came on, Interim President Lawrence Drake, on he came on, Interim President Lawrence Drake, on Monday invited me to come visit Bethune-Cookman. This is what he said. Interim President Dr. Drake of Bethune-Cookman. Dr. Drake, this is a tweet from an individual said, bro, don't tell me nothing about no HBCU. I got kids that played at BC Athletics

for the past three years, and they told me they were sharing helmets. Come on, man, stop playing with me. Ed Reed was the best thing for that school. They have the same mentality as the city I'm from, BG. Also, others have said to me that there are no showers for the players. They're washing their own uniforms and clothes. Is that true?

No. And the fact of the matter is, is that again, I would say you've been to VCU. Come down and visit. I'll show you. Well, actually, here's the deal. I would love to do this here. I would actually love to bring the show down and actually do a town hall on the campus with you, the board, and the students. And in fact, I got to pick up an award from the Trayvon Martin Foundation on February 5th. And so I would love to do this February 2nd or 3rd. Yeah, we're not going to have the board, and I'll tell you why.

When I said earlier, you know, hey, he said come. We got this email last night. Pull it up, please. All right, do we have the graphic? Okay, I asked for the graphic, y'all. All right, basically, they're reneging on that. No surprise that that is the case. Come on, let's pull the email up, y'all.

We should have had it up. So they basically responded to us that President Drake would not be coming back on the show and that they also would not be, I would not be coming to the campus, touring the campus, because they want to focus on, at this time, the students and getting the conditions straight. That's what I was told. When y'all have it, please let me know. Okay, please, pull it up. I will read it for you. Thank you for affording Dr. Lawrence Drake II, our interim president,

the opportunity to be a guest on your program earlier this week. Upon reflection at the president Drake's appearance on your program and after conversations with our student leaders and other campus community members, the university has decided to decline the offer to appear again on your show or engage with your program at this time. It is in the best interest of Bethune-Cookman University that its focus is on the needs of our students, including campus-wide improvements. The university is committed to providing

the best opportunities and solutions for all concerned. Again, thank you, and we appreciate your interest. That is Karen Parks, Bethune-Cookman University Executive Director for Marketing and Communications. Now, y'all know I fully expected Bethune-Cookman to renege on their invitation, and so as a result, I will still be coming to Daytona Beach next Friday to hold a campus wide town hall.

Pull up where I'm going to be. We will be live next Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. at a church near the campus. Bethune Cook University town hall at greater friendship Baptist church. 539 George W. Ingram Boulevard. Daytona beach. Doors open to the public at 5 p George W. Ingram Boulevard. They told on the beach, doors open to the public at 5 p.m. Do y'all think I did not have a backup plan?

Recy. Well, I mean, to be honest, I think it's quite smart of Bethune-Cookman to decline your invitation. I mean, the bottom line is you have absolutely displayed both sides, but it's clear that they're outnumbered. And when you're talking about perceptions, the numbers tend to win the narrative battle. And obviously this is not one that Bethune-Cookman is going to win. They have to do the work to improve the conditions. And once they improve the conditions, then the perceptions will improve. But I think this whole episode displays why I'm going to go against the grain here and say why Ed Reed's comments were so detrimental to the university and why a university

would be within their rights and right mind to not want to continue forward with a person who is going to shed them in a bad light. Now, I understand that what he said is true or what people believe he said is true. But as a professional, this is a publicity nightmare. And the other thing I want to say, too, again, going against the grain, is I admire Coach Reed's passion. But it appears to me, and it's just my opinion, Roland, you're going to cut me off in two seconds, but it appears to me that he's selling pipe dreams to these kids. He did not even have a contract signed with the university, and he's selling this notion that he was going to bring in billionaires to break ground on new facilities

when one of the things that got Bethune-Cookman in such financial trouble was this disastrous deal that they signed for the dormitories that it took COVID to get them bailed out of that really awful loan. And so I think to Dr. Carr's point, and he didn't say this exactly, I'm going to put it a little differently. Ed Reed is not a savior and he wasn't a martyr. He was a person who lost his temper on social media, interacting with trolls, said some things that were not appropriate as a professional, as a leader, and now here's the fallout. So I hope that if we're talking about Coach Reed and whether he should be reinstated, I'm with the university on this.

He's displayed in your interview and in other interviews. Actually, but I – He doesn't really have the temperament. Hold on, Recy. Hold on, Recy. Hold on, Recy. Hold on, Recy. Re on, Reese. Hold on, Reese. Hold on, Reese. Reese, the reason I got to... No, no, no. But the reason I got to...

No, no, no. Because I got to add a couple of things that you may not be aware of. First, first, we have not been told that there was a Board of Regents vote as to whether or not to bring him back or not to hire him. That's first. That's first. That's first.

Okay. I'm hearing several different things. Second of all, second of all, many coaches are actually hired and start working before their contract is actually signed, even at public universities. They all have coaches until their board of regents actually authorized the contract. They're already recruiting on behalf of the college and university. So what he asked, being him being on campus and already recruiting and already talking to people, that's actually not uncommon when you're dealing with head coaches and programs.

About 20 seconds, and I've got to give Dominic and his parents the opportunity to speak. Go. Yeah, I wasn't speaking about recruiting. I was speaking about the money he was allegedly bringing in. Same thing. Same thing. Same thing.

That's not uncommon. My position, it was the pipe dream, and I'm really sorry that he convinced kids that he's going to be the savior. And I hope that they get the change that they really need at that university. And the only reason I'm telling you that's factually incorrect is not a pipe dream. I know for a fact of multiple former players who he was talking with who were talking about putting in resources.

One of them is saying he's going to still do that. So the fact of the matter is, I know those conversations were actually happening. So actually, it wasn't a pipe dream. And I've been talking to, again, multiple individuals who are tied to the university alumni and those who are not. Dominique, final comment from you and then your parents. Go ahead, Dominique. Yeah, so you know he was going to bring in Shaq, right? Yes, I do. I know that for a fact. He was talking to Shaquille O'Neal, absolutely. Yeah, so I don't really know. It's

not really cap or anything or made up. He was really about to change the whole program. So that's really all I have to say. I just hope they hire him back. He was going to change the whole thing. He cared about our education. He made sure the kids were going to class. He said, if you don't have a 2.5 GPA, you're not playing. That's normally a 2.0.

I think he was doing quite good, to be honest. Wendola, Katrina, your final comments. I really hope they bring him back, too. I mean, you know, my son has had this dream since he was five years old, and he's worked so hard for it. And, you know, we, again, went here in a matter of three days because we believed in this dream. And, you know, I kind of feel like we were, like Dominic said, you know, we were baited and switched. That's kind of what I feel like.

Wendell? Yeah, I hope it all works out. I don't think it will because I don't think they'll swallow their pride. Some things have been said. And, you know, I don't know why they can their pride. Some things have been said and, you know, I don't know why they can't talk. Why can't we just talk and work things out? Why does it always have to be, you know, it's over? That football team brings in a lot of money. I've heard $600,000 to play Miami. Where's that money go? You know, we want to know where the money's at and we want to know, lastly, real quick, I just want to say that my son was offered a full athletic scholarship.

But then when we went to enroll him, he was given an academic scholarship, and the athletic scholarship would pick up whatever was left over. But then he was told he had to apply for the Pell Grant, and they were going to keep it. And Pell Grants are supposed to help you survive. I just don't understand that. That's free money from the government. But I support Bethune-Cookman, and I hope that we can make them better. Somehow, someway, I know it may

take some time, but I support him, and I support Coach Avery. He's awesome. Dominic Ponder, we appreciate it. Thanks for reaching out to us. Wendell and Katrina, Hughes Ponder, we thank you as well. Thank you. Thank you for having us. All right, folks,

we'll be back in a moment on Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, and my new show, Get Wealthy, focuses on the things

that your financial advisor and bank isn't telling you, but you absolutely need to know. So watch Get Wealthy on the Black Star Network. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you.

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Hey, I'm Antonique Smith. Hey, I'm Arnaz Jay. Hi, this is Cheryl Lee Ralph, and you are watching Roland Martin, unfiltered. I mean, could it be any other way? Really. It's Roland Martin. Alright, y'all. It's 4.5, almost 5,000 of y'all watching on YouTube. Hit the damn like button, y'all. That impacts the algorithm and them referring to the show which drives the revenue. So if y'all watching and commenting, stop riding for free. Hit the like button. Same on Facebook, Instagram,

also on the other platforms as well. Before I go back to talking about Bethune-Cookman, Instagram, also on the other platforms as well. Before I go back to talking about Bethune-Cookman and also HBCUs, Delaware State students have also been protesting. January 18th, there was a protest on campus where they wanted to ensure female students felt safe on campus. More than 200 Delaware State University students protested in front of the University Public Safety Building. Students started protesting concerns about several female students who had been subjected to sexual assault by male students with no action taken by Delaware State's Department of Public Safety. The Student Government

Association also hosted a town hall meeting on January 17th for students to voice their concerns and their opinions. Delaware State University, they've requested, the students have requested the university to add a sex offender list, student escorts, blue light and fixing IDs at residential buildings. Following the protest, students and SGA leaders were granted a meeting with President Tony Allen and other administrators to discuss changes. We did reach out to the university and invited President Allen on the show. We were told this from Carlos Holmes from the Office of Communications and Marketing.

At this point, President Allen wants to focus on addressing safety concerns on campus. I want to go back to our panel and I want to welcome to our panel as well. Erica had to go, but Crystal Knight, Democratic strategist, she joins us along with Reesey and Greg. And the thing here, and I'm going to use Crystal first. I'm going to go to Greg and Recy. The thing here, as we're trying to address not just Bethune-Cookman, but the lawsuit of Mary Young, the police chief at Texas Southern University, and we talked about Florida A&M and others.

And the reason why I had to fire back at Jay Walker there, because I believe one of the greatest mistakes that we make when somebody starts raising concerns is, oh, there's a lot of positive stuff happening at HBCUs. We know, because we cover them all the time. And the problem is, and I think, and Greg hit it when he talked about how some of these board chairs and presidents operate like they're

somehow the senior pastor. Some folk hate accountability. And for me, to me this is real simple. If I walk in this studio and it's trash, I'm like, why in the hell is there trash on the floor? I'm not trying to hear, well, no, why is there trash on the floor? I'm not trying to hear,

well, no, why is there trash on the floor? I don't want the damn trash on the floor. It's accountability. So you can't go, I don't know why in the hell he got to come in here all mad, because I don't like no damn trash on the floor. But folks sitting here mad and upset when you raise the issues when students at Delaware State shouldn't feel safe walking the campus. If they're at Bethune-Cookman, they shouldn't have to be dealing with mold and rats and roaches, any of those different things. They shouldn't be dealing with that kind of stuff. And so at some point, let's stop being so damn defensive and say, fix the problem. Right. Yeah, no, I totally agree. Listen, I'm an HBCU graduate. I went to Howard University. And one thing I think many HBCUs across this country, it embeds in you, it teaches you about

this spirit of activism. And so you often see students at HBCUs rising up against the administration because of conditions at the schools. And yet you see the administration, the university presidents, the boards, anybody that's in leadership, they're always trying to sweep things underneath the rug. They don't want to come on shows like your program because what happened with the president at BCU, they misspeak, they invite you to come out, and then they have to retract it because they really don't want to be exposed for the conditions that are really going on at many of these schools across this country. And so I think what just happened, the segment right before this, where you talked about the BCU president coming on, literally agreeing,

and then sending an email to retract, that is, you know, HBCU culture one-on-one, unfortunately. And again, I think, you know, as you said, there are so many great things that have come out of HBCUs, so many great people. You've definitely highlighted it. But what we have to do is have an honest conversation about what we're asking people to go to. We're asking people to go to HBCUs. We're telling them that these are the higher learning institutions for the black electorate, the black elite in this country, and yet we cannot provide the basic necessities for them, like housing, like safety, like quality facilities and education facilities. And so I, you know, I think it's unfortunate that students have to basically go to the news in order to have leadership at many of these schools actually pay attention and do something. But if that's what it takes, I think

students will continue to do it. You know, Greg, when I was in Chicago a few years ago, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. was supposed to be on my radio show on WVON. He told me this story. He told his staff. He said, hey, you know, what are we talking about? And they said, oh, Congressman, you and Roland are friends. He said, no, no, no, no, no. Let me be real clear.

Roland will whoop my ass real quick on the air. He said, y'all better let me know what we talking about. He said, we might be friends, but he don't play when it comes to business. And this is the thing you mentioned Howard. Oh, I know president Frederick. I know Toshnick. I know a whole bunch of people and we have great relations. But when I went, brought the cameras there for the dorm stuff, yep. They walked me around, but I still went and talked to the students and we still covered that every single day. That's what we do. And so you got these people out here who are mad.

And then I love all these simple Simon Negros. Oh, you didn't go to an HBCU. Damn sure didn't. I didn't. And if I do it again, I'll follow the money again. Because my parents had three kids in college at one time. And they had no extra money. So whatever scholarship I got, I took the money.

I don't care what nobody got to say, but it's not like I still don't give a damn about HBCUs. The fact of the matter is, we have to have a state of mind that if we are going to build build black institutions, which means holding black institutions accountable to other black people. It's true, Roland. And I say this in all love and respect. You're my brother, and I'm grateful for our relationship. I'm grateful for the fact that it started in an argument, but because of the character of who you are and who I like to think of myself as, it quickly moved past that because at the end of the day, it's about character.

And so I respect what you said because it's very important. I think when we talk about the black community, we have to not look at the high achievers. We have to look at the least of these. And so when you walk on an HBCU campus, if a man is upset because he has to cut the grass more than twice a week, my first question is, why are you upset? Then I want to see how much you're being paid. And I want to compare that to the president of the university. I want to know the people, when Ed Reed shows up and says, look at all this trash in here, the question I want to know is, how many people do you have on the custodial staff, and what are you paying them? And did you try to break them if they tried to unionize? I don't know an HBCU that treats its staff well when it comes to unionizing, including the one I work at. My point is this. When you see deplorable conditions,

the first question I want to know is, are you investing in the human capital to allow people, because there was a time at Howard University and many private HBCUs when staff members took jobs, people who cut the grass, who emptied the trash, who patch the ceilings, who go in and fix the cracks. They took those jobs not because they paid well, but because in exchange, their children could go their tuition free. That is no longer the case at Howard University. I won't speak for the rest of them. But if you are at an HBCU or if you support them, you must ask yourself the question, not what famous graduate do you have, not what the top earners get, but how are the least of these treated? When you heard that young man's mother say that Bethune wanted him to sign over his

Pell Grant, that's my tax money. That's our tax money. That's Crystal's tax money and Reese's tax money and your tax money, Roland. And you don't have a right to do that unless you are under such financial pressure that you've been doctoring the books like that. Here's a little secret. There are many universities in this country that are not black that doctored the books to try to keep their doors open. Hold on. Wait a minute. Florida just busted three nursing schools for selling nursing degrees. I think it was like 7,500 people paid like 15 grand for nursing degrees.

It's a huge scandal. That happened. No question. In fact, I'm going to wrap this up because, Recy, you hit it, sis. You know, when you're desperate, you do desperate things. That dorm deal they entered was a desperation move. Mary McLeod Bethune's University is under tremendous pressure. It is not a public school. It is a private school. It's got about 2,500 students enrolled. When you take a gamble like that and you get bailed out by tax dollars, I'm OK with that. But on the other side of the ledger, we have to look

each other in the eye and ask a very simple question. When we say we are supporting Black institutions, are we supporting Black people? Are we supporting a handful of people who make these incredible leaps and bounds and achieve? There's a class issue at work here. Don't believe for a minute that the people who fix things at HBCUs don't want to do the best job they can. And the children, and I'm going to call them children, even though they're 18, 22, 23, they are children to me.

And they are like Ed Reed said, when your mom and them go, I'm your daddy. I feel the same way here. My point is this, they're not going to tolerate it. I know you've got to go to a break. I want to get Reese at least 45 seconds. So, Reese, go. Please.

Please. Literally, I've got 40 seconds. Go. Okay. I will just say for all of the talk that people have complained about your coverage, I have never seen more reposts and more viral videos from your show on any other topic. And I've been on your show for years and we've covered hundreds, if not thousands of topics over those years. So if you don't want a

blessed mess, and if you think this is mess, then you need to go on ahead and be the first one to amplify the positive stories and all of the HBCU presidents that come on the show, all of the positive coverage that you have. That's will be my suggestion for anybody who has a problem with this particular. And I'll say this here also. If you're going to be out here commenting stuff, know which black person you're commenting about. Seriously, I'm sitting here, and so I don't know who this woman is, but while she just posted this, I tried to give you some grace,

but finally had to admit the obvious. Your coverage is disgraceful. The interview with Reggie Theus made your coverage seem ridiculous. Really, please stop. It keeps getting worse. First of all, boo, I never interviewed Reggie Theus. I called him. I called him.

I got his number. He ain't hitting me back. I would love to interview Reggie Theus, but I didn't talk to him. I called him. I got his number. He ain't hitting me back. I would love to interview Reggie Theis, but I didn't talk to him. Second of all, if you actually look at it, I talked to the president who's over the whole university. So if you're trying to compare the two, I don't know what the hell she thought. And if she thinks it's disgraceful, just also understand she calls herself a professional business advocate on her Twitter bio She might need to understand something baby when

Alumni from all around the country are calling and texting and emailing you when parents and students are calling you When literally students who are there right now are calleding you, when faculty and staff there are calling you, when community leaders say, please come to our city for a town hall, sounds like our coverage has gotten approval, a step of approval. But you're a professional business advocate. Baby, I'm a black advocate. I advocate for black people, for black students, for black institutions. And so if any of y'all got a problem with my coverage, I'm gonna go ahead and ask y'all this question here. Who the hell else is covering? I'm gonna ask you that

question. Show me what other national media cares enough to dedicate full shows to Bethune-Cookman and talk about Texas Southern University and Delaware State and other universities. Since y'all got a lot to say about what folks don't do and do about HBCUs, please, by all means, tell me how many media outlets broadcast live for three days from the UNCL's conference in June where we interviewed more than 25 HBCU presidents. I'll wait. It was just us. So since y'all got lots to say, by all means, put Roland Martin Unfiltered Black Star Network's HBCU coverage up against every other black and white media company in the country

and then come back and holler at me. I'll be back. Most people think that these television shows that tell stories about who we are as black men, and then they paint these monolithic portraits of us, they think that they're being painted by white people. And I gotta tell you, there are a whole bunch of black folk that are the creators, the head writers, the directors

of all of these shows, and that are still painting us as monoliths. The people don't really wanna have this conversation. No, they don't. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's wealth coach, I'm sure you've heard that saying that the only thing guaranteed is death and taxes. The truth is that the wealthy get wealthier by understanding tax strategy. And that's exactly the conversation that we're going to have on the next Get Wealthy, where you're going to learn wealth hacks that help you turn your wages into wealth taxes

is one of the largest expenses you ever have you really got to know how to manage that thing and get that under control so that you can do well that's right here on get wealthy only on blackstar network we're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. Hi, I'm B.B. Winans. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. What's up? I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome back.

Roland Martin Unfiltered. If you're an employer, how should you actually behave when it comes to HR issues? We had a discussion last week with HR expert, Laryn Wagner, about employees and what they should do. But now I'm going to talk about employers. She joins us now from St. Louis, Missouri. Laryn, glad to have you back. Last week was a perfect example of what the hell not to do. Google laid off thousands of people. And I saw a tweet that was just shameful. In New York, people were showing up to work and if they put their badge down and it turned green, they had kept their job. If it showed red, they had gotten laid off. That is not how you should notify employees that they no longer have

a job. Correct? Correct. Roland, I even read, and glad to be here again today, so I even read on a news outlet that some people received emails as early as 3 a.m., pre-dawn is what I read, and 20 minutes later were locked out of their accounts after reading the notice. Who's up at 3 a.m. reading work emails? I'm not. And it's just, and I, look, the whole locking people out, stuff along those lines, again, you give folks no opportunity, obviously, to save anything or whatever. And companies do it for security reasons. But there are ways as an employer that you should properly lay people off and notify them,

have some class, have some decency, have some respect for the work they put in for X number of years. Yeah, you're absolutely right, Roland. So the reason why a lot of companies do this is that a lot of them are afraid of the reactions. They're afraid of retaliation, employees stealing, or even sabotaging their files. So what this shows people is that the employer values their own physical and intellectual property. And that's understandable, but it shows in this case that they value that more than they value the actual employee. That's tough. You know, one of the things that when we talk about HR issues, and I've gotten a lot of emails on this, and this is pre-COVID, you know, we had 2.6 million black-owned businesses in America,

2.5 million only had one employee. And so the reality is only 100,000 black-owned businesses with more than one employee. So a lot of companies are like, hey, I can't afford an HR person, but they still have HR issues. There are opportunities to hire consultants, people who can actually be by the hour. What do you advise small businesses to do who don't have an HR person. They really should have somebody who can advise them on HR issues. Yes. Well, if you're an employer that has at least 10 employees, I advise you to get one. Not having an HR professional in your space is a huge risk. You risk major things like violating employment laws. You also risk not

having an HR department by not being in compliance illegally. And a lot of companies, people don't know that without HR and having those practices outlined that you have room to violate very important employment laws. And it's not even just in relation to HR, but it could be payroll or anything. And a lot of companies lose sight of the fact that really one small business decision can cause your company to obtain a file that, a fine that could shut your company down. And that's not hard for small businesses. Who do you have to handle legal issues? If something goes wrong, who's investigating? Those are all things that companies need to look at. So I think for a company that does not have an HR full-time staff member, they would want to look into investing in being educated on labor issues. You know, as HR departments, we protect the business. So

not only are we there to advise on business solutions and how to handle when problems arise, we also want to be able to make sure that your employment environment is running well. Without HR, do you have policies? You know, people can become dissatisfaction. What is a workplace without policies? The wild, wild west in some cases. And when you have it that way, you have people who can do, think they can do and say whatever, but then you have people who are offended. And the absence of policy really creates a culture where anything can be said and done, and that will easily land you in trouble. So if you don't have an HR professional in your space as a small business,

you need to get one. Questions from our panel. Recy, you first. Yeah, I mean, the thing about HRs, though, is, I mean, that comes at a cost. So do you think that that's a worthy investment over other, you know, professionals? Maybe I know you and Roland have talked about salaries and other things that create pressures on the way that money is spent throughout the company. So can you just give us a little bit more insight as to why somebody would choose an HR person over other investments? Yeah, it depends on, well, it's going to depend on the business, depending on what type of business you have. But in most cases, you need to have an HR person. If you cannot afford to have an HR professional full-time, have a consultant, have someone that your leadership can talk to 10 or 15 hours a week. It will keep you out of trouble. You can't talk to 10 or 15 hours a week. It will keep you

out of trouble. You can't afford to be in trouble with legal compliance. Employment laws are there for a reason, and violating any type of employment law can land you in a lot of trouble, as I stated earlier. So yes, it's definitely very well worth it to have an HR professional in your space. Thank you. Greg. Thank you, Roland. It's good to see you again, Sister Wayne. I guess I'm listening. I'm learning about this more than anything else. I mean, my interest in how these big corporations operate is really around asking how we can pressure them to kind of maybe shrink some of that relentless quest for profits. I mean, Google's doing okay. We're seeing a lot of layoffs across the board from these huge corporations. Any

thoughts on what kind of pressure folks can put on some of these companies to kind of shrink their relentless surge for profits? Because they're not laying off people because they're losing money. They're laying off people in part because they want to maintain or increase the value of the stock and the investment that the investors have. So I hear you. That's going to vary, but a lot of companies are laying off because their growth has slowed and they want to get ahead of that, especially as we enter in a new quarter and a new fiscal year for other companies. So there's not a whole lot that employees can do to stop a company from laying them off. As an employee, you can make sure that you're pulling your weight and making sure that where you can be more strategic, as I mentioned last week,

you can do that and understand how your company relates to the bottom line, how your role relates to the bottom line. But if an employer has to choose between their bottom line and perhaps the CEO's salary coming down, stock prices coming down, versus having to let go of a set of employees, maybe 3% to 5% of their workforce, they're going to have to let go of workforce. And a lot of times they choose that option because depending on the company's bottom line, travel doesn't save a lot of money for some companies. Depending on the size of the company and the industry that the company is in, some companies realize that, oh, during the pandemic, we overhired. So now we're top heavy. And now that

we don't need all of this talent, we have to let them go. So that's more of the company's responsibility to determine. And there's little that employees can do to stop that. All right. Great point there. And again, well, and again, one of the things I got to remind people, when you talk about HR issues, we have to understand, as you said, it can save your ass and a lot of money when it comes to lawsuits. Crystal? Sure. One of the things that I've seen a lot on Twitter amid, you know, since all of the layoffs have been happening was just talk about severance, severance pay. And what could you advise people who are actually going through a layoff right now or they know that one is coming down the road about one

advocating for their severance and then two from the employer perspective how should they handle how should they properly handle severance for people that are laying off that they're laying? And what's the average amount of time that severance pay should cover if you are laying someone off? Okay, so for your last question, the amount of time that severance should cover for an employee who's being laid off, that varies on a lot of different factors.

So it depends on the company's bottom line, how well they're doing. Some companies already have outlined parameters for what they pay individuals that they have laid off. For example, if you've been here for two years, you receive four weeks or you receive one or two weeks for every six months that you've been here. So a lot of companies already have that outlined. As an employee, when it comes, if you're the employee that has been laid off, negotiate your severance.

A lot of employees don't know that they can do this. You can negotiate your severance. But again, that is going to vary based on what the employer's bottom line is, how tough or intense their financial situation is. There's quite a bit of detail and factors that go into that. So, again, that's another space where employees just need to be knowledgeable and try their best to understand what their company can do for them. I'll also say when you get severance, and usually if an employee is being laid off, you should be getting some type of severance agreement. Read that severance agreement word for word. It's not only got your COBRA information there, it not only has in there how often or the cadence of your severance payments. Read everything word for word. And again, that's also the severance is depending upon the size of the company because some folks actually don't.

They just simply do the actual layoffs. Laryn, we appreciate it. How can people reach out to you? How can they find you? Yes, you can find me on LinkedIn. I am at L apostrophe capital E-R-I-N space Wagner, W-A-G-N-E-R. All right. Thanks for your advice.

And hopefully there's a business out there that will give you a call and bring you on as a consultant. Because, again, trust me, folks, I have an HR consultant. It is important because you as an owner, you don't know everything and you absolutely don't want to get yourself caught in doing something that could cost you thousands of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars if you get sued. So you want to have the proper advice and counsel.

Lan, thanks a lot. You're welcome. Bye, Roland. All right, folks. When we come back, some parting thoughts. Remember that black conservative who was on when Reesey was filling in? Yeah, I got something to say about his punk ass. We'll be right back. Hatred on the streets a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn minds there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the u.s

capital we've seen we're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this.

Here's all the Proud Boys guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punch! I'm real revolutionary right now. Thank you for being the voice of Black America.

All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You can't be black on media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? My name is Charlie Wilson.

Hi, I'm Sally Richardson-Whitfield. And I'm Dodger Whitfield. Hey, everybody, this is your man Fred Hammond, and you're watching Roland Martin, my man, Unfiltered. Y'all know I can't stand keyboard gangsters. When folk got a lot to say on Twitter, but when you challenge them to talk about it,

then they punk out, cut, and run. Now, y'all remember when Greg talked about how Greg and I first met. I was moderating a session of 12 Years a Slave here in D.C., and he had his students there, and I went at it with a few of the students, and then when I got home, it was going back on Twitter, and folks were like, oh, yeah, you can't be messing with Dr. Greg Carr. You ain students, and then when I got home, it was going back on Twitter, and folks were like, oh, yeah, you can't be messing with Dr. Greg Carr. You ain't going to debate him. I was like, I don't give a damn about no Greg Carr. Tell him to bring his ass on my show and let's go.

I said, I don't give a damn about no. I don't know who the hell that is. Y'all, true story. That's right. Greg came on the show, been good ever since. But again. Been rolling ever since. I said, I ain't scared to debate nobody. So this little black conservative punk, Deontay Johnson,

now he's scared to come on when I'm here. I didn't realize he was on the show when Reesey filled in. Y'all can show his little weak ass. That was Robert. That was Robert. That was Robert Petillo? Okay. But weren't you on the panel, Reesey? Weren't you on the panel?

I was on the panel, though, yeah. Okay, Reesey's on the panel. So Deontay brought his trifling ass on the show when Robert Petillo was hosting, but the punk's scared. Now, let me tell y'all why he's scared to come on when I'm here. Chris, so the reason why he's scared, because he was a part of our 2018 midterm election

coverage. His ass was so bad. He was so awful. The other black Republican said, Roland, get his ass off the air. He making us look bad. He lasted one segment on, they said Roland, get him off the air. They did.

Straight up story. So, today, he decides to send this tweet out. So he goes, people like Attorney Crump and Roland Martin doesn't want racial disparities to end. It should be don't. What happens once

PDs become more diverse? First of all, he says, what happens once PDs become more diverse nationally? First of all, he says, what happens once PDs become more diverse nationally? First of all, it should say, what happens once PDs become more diverse nationally? Again, second grammatical error to your weak ass. He then says, what happens when black leaders are at the top of every sector in the U.S.? That's called utopia. There will no longer be a profit to be made of black pain.

First of all, we already know you ain't no real black person because your punk ass used black twice in one tweet and did not even capitalize it. So let me explain something to you, Deontay. If you read Gerald Horne's book about Jim Crow, first of all, Claude Burnett's Negro Associated Press and the Jim Crow paradox, what you will learn is that black newspapers, they really

met their demise when they were taking down Jim Crow. See, those of us, we are fighting for exactly what you're talking about. So you keep saying we profit off of black pain. No, keep saying we profit off of black pain. No, son, we profit off of black success. See, we don't just focus on black pain. That's what your little sorry ass don't understand. But see, the fact of the matter is you are a Republican

grifter. See, white Republicans throw money at little Negroes like you to go out there and chirp chirp when you don't have any integrity at all. In fact, I know for a fact that real black Republicans got no respect for you whatsoever. See, I know real black Republicans. I know third and fourth generation black Republicans, not you

Trump fools who came about like Candace Owens to pick up your little coins and they run you out there thinking you actually talk for black people. And so I said, OK, you got something to say? Bring your ass on the show. No, he didn't respond because, see, you

didn't want none of this smoke. See, Crystal, that's what they do. They love trying to sit here and throw something out on Twitter and all their little white Republican friends retweet all they sort of stuff and click on it. But see, he don't want to come on this black show in this form to this black host and this black panel because he don't know doggone well his black card going to get revoked real quick. Absolutely. I mean, listen, Roland, this week has already proven that this is the blackest show in America. This is the fackity black show. And if you come on here, you have to come with the facts. You have to come with the receipts. And people are afraid

of the venom that you're going to spit on this show. And that's why they want to come on when there's an alternative host or they just want to you know like you said they want to be a twitter thug behind a keyboard because they are not ready for this conversation they're also not ready for your supporters who are live watching giving comments in real time and people who are going to tweet them after you put this video out and show and expose these fools for who they really are. That's really what it comes down to. If you're scared, just say you're scared.

All right, just say it. And here's the deal for me, Reese, again. It's a lot of black Republicans I know who I'm cool with, who I'm friends with. Look, I posted a photo of Armstrong, Williams, and I having lunch. I got respect for Armstrong. We get along well. Elroy Saylor, J.C. Watts, Michael Williams. I can go on. Alfonso Jackson. I can go on and on and on. But what I can't stand are these fake new Negroes who all of a sudden run up to the Republican Party, got no credibility. They got no following.

They got no backup. And they chirp, chirp. And then they convince the white Republicans, if you give me money, I can go out there and talk to black people. Like that ignorant fool. What was that fool who used to come on to the show, Henry? What was that fool's? Raynard Jackson.

Raynard Jackson. Oh, yeah. See, the reason... Let me just help y'all out. The reason y'all ain't heard from Raynard Jackson, because I buried his punk ass. He went to the White House and tried to call out me, Joanne

Reed, and Don Lemon saying we have killed more black people than the Klan. Oh, Fox News ran it. Oh, no, no, no. Don't worry about it. I took care of his ass because, see, he was writing a little column. He's writing a little column and the NNPA was running.

They ain't running it now. And I told him, I heard your little column got snatched. I said, I made sure your column got snatched. And then, they were putting him on Black News Channel. They out of business.

You ain't seen his ass on this show as well. And see, he was going to get that Mercer money receipt. They were giving him a quarter of a million dollars for his little pack to go out here and talk to black folks. Uh-uh. Money got cut because when all your black sources got cut off, couldn't get that money. And that's why he's still writing columns talking about me, and all he's doing is talking to the wind, because guess what?

He got fewer folk reading his column than who were watching Black News Channel. Uh, wow. That was a whole, like, tree of shades. See, I ain't even used, I ain't even say MF one time. You didn't, but you just, it was a lot of strays. A, I ain't even used. I ain't even used. Say MF one time. You did it, but you just, it was a lot of strays.

A lot of people called strays in that one. A lot of people. You know, the thing about it is, you know, Deontay, he tagged you. So why would you tag somebody like you want to smoke and then you don't show up with the smoke? You know, you could have just done subliminal shots and did whatever, but just like when Robert Petillo hosted it, Robert took it very easy on him. He skirted out before he had to catch the smoke from Erica.

Before I even had to say anything, Erica ripped his ass apart, and then I just came in a little bit after, but I couldn't even top Erica. So obviously he can talk about it, but he can't be about it. And that's the thing, Greg. You know, people tell me, yo, Roland, when I see you on Twitter, why you tag people? Because I don't subtweet.

I don't know. I'm going to let you know how I feel because I ain't got a problem backing it up. So I don't got a problem backing it up so I don't sub tweet you ain't going to never see me just put somebody's name and don't put their Twitter handle I'm going to go find their Twitter handle because I ain't scared because see that's the folk who want to run

just like some little simple Simon out there was tweeting about me about the Bethune Cookman stuff because I was searching for a tweet. I typed in Roland Martin on Twitter and found her tweet. Oh, you know I lit her ass up. And I said, well, you got so much to say, why are you following me? One dude tweeted, I never listen to Roland Martin.

I'm like, but I don't follow your ass. But you're following me, and I never follow you. It's the same thing. Deontay, this is real simple. I don't follow you, but your ass follows me, and I purposely haven't blocked you because I want you to see me whooping your ass. You know, Roland, just sitting here listening, and yes, Reesey and I both remember that night when Brother Robert was there.

And he did kind of, he did soft pedal. But I think, because, you know, I get a lot of criticism from my handful of friends who would consider themselves radicals and on the far left, so to speak. Because they say, you know, I come on here and I kind of moderate what I say in the places. No, I'm the same everywhere. But the reason I don't really get into arguments with them is because I just find it exhausting. And at the end of the day, I have the question Sonny Sanchez always asks, uh-huh, but how do we free us? In other words, I get your theory is brilliant, but you know, if somebody going to sleep outside tonight and so how it's going to free her, because you see, but Roland, the reason I bring this up and I'm not bringing this data at

all, I'm saying it takes a particular kind of gift to, in the words of Reese Colbert, grow a whole tree of shade and engage everybody at the same time. And I'm saying that for a very specific reason. We have to have that for a very specific reason. We have to have these candid conversations in our community. We all don't think alike. We all claim to want the best for our people, and we will have serious disagreements. But, Roland, you have a unique ability to inject levity in it

so that it's never personal so that people walk away feeling scathed and your microphone is always open. That is a rare combination because there have been people who fall out and disagree who'd be ready to literally kill each other. Ain't nobody coming for you like that because you leave the thing open. And that's a rare gift, brother.

I got to tell you. It's all good. What you just said, Dave Chappelle told me that Sunday night and he was just going on and on and on about watching the show and what we do. And he said, brother, he said, man, you funny, and y'all keep it light, but y'all serious. He said, brother, you the

Richard Pryor of news. And I was like, damn. And I was like, and he said, seriously, and he was just breaking it down. And see, the thing here, oh yeah, I'm going to fire at Deontay, and Deontay, you can come on the show, the thing here, oh, yeah, I'm going to fire at Deontay. And Deontay, you can come on the show. But do understand, I'm going to whoop your ass when you come on the show.

Because it's real simple. The moment you start lying, then it's on. And so it's real simple. If any of y'all out there, y'all think y'all can handle this heat, all I'm saying is bring your ass. That's all I'm saying is, bring your ass. That's all I'm saying. It's a whole line of folk who are lying in rhetorical body bags who thought they can

come at me. Alright, y'all. That's it. Crystal, gotta have you back on. Reesey, Greg, thanks a bunch. Aaron, thanks a bunch as well. Y'all support us on Rolling Martin Unfiltered. Y'all know how we do. Keep it real. Keep it black. And I'll see y'all tomorrow live from Denver. You're watching Rolling Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Ho! Ho! Black Star Network is here. Hold no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roller.

I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig?

Pull up a chair. Take your seat. The Black Tape with me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering in the weight and pressure of the world that's consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy.

Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for a balanced life with Dr. Jackie. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics politics to music and entertainment it's a huge part of our lives and we're going to talk about it every day right here on the culture with me for rajee muhammad only on the black star network i'm jebra owens america's wealth, and my new show, Get Wealthy, focuses on the things that your financial advisor and bank isn't telling you, but you absolutely need to know. So watch Get Wealthy on the Black Star Network. This is an iHeart Podcast.