#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 5.17.19 RMU: Biden takes heat over crime bill; Philando Castile's mom wipes out school lunch debt

Episode Date: May 21, 2019

5.17.19 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Joe Biden takes heat over the '94 crime bill; Philando Castile's mom wipes out school lunch debt; A NYPD supervisor called the death of Eric Garner "not a big deal"; DC Mayor Murial Bowser is not feeling Trump's plans for the 4th of of July; Middle school teacher in Minnesota is on leave for using the N-word with her students; Calif. mom puts her daughter's bullies on notice; + Picking up trash while Black and the author of 'Hair Love'. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Pre-game to greater them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Hey, folks, it is Friday, May 17th, 2019. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, Vice President Joe Biden taking heat about the 1994 crime bill while he is trying to justify it. Senator Kamala Harris says it contributed to mass incarceration. Wait until you hear me play for what he had to say about it. Kamala Harris says it contributed to mass incarceration. Wait until you hear me play for what he had to say about it. But is he correct?

Also, family's inability to pay for school lunches is becoming an increasing problem. We'll talk about Philando Castile's mother who did something about it in Minneapolis. A New York Police Department supervisor, actually the commander, called the death of Eric Garner, was killed during an arrest for selling loose cigarettes. Not a big deal, according to testimony at the departmental trial of the officer who killed Eric Garner. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is not filling Donald Trump's plans for the Fourth of July celebration. The nation's capital, Trump, wants to change the whole plans,

and he's literally focused on all the minor details. Dude, don't you have bigger things to worry about than the pomp and circumstance, the 4th of July parade, and fireworks show that they can do without you and have done without you? Oh, a middle school teacher in Minnesota is on leave for using the N-word with her students. Not a wise way to teach.

Plus, an Orange County, California mom lets her daughter's bullies know, when you come for my daughter, you come for me. We might as well call that segment hashtag team whip that ass. All that plus picking up trash while black and the author of a children's book, Hair Love. And today I give the commencement speech to the students at, of course, Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland. We'll show you some of that as well. Folks, it is time he's got the scoop, the fact, the vibe And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling, best believe he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics

With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling, yeah With some go-go-go-yong Yeah, yeah It's rolling Roro, yo It's Rollin' Martin Rollin' with Rollin' now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's Rollin' Martin Now

Martin 2016, Hillary Clinton got nailed big time by African-American social activists because of her super predator's comment, which was in defense of the 1994 crime bill. All the people kept criticizing her and her husband, President Bill Clinton, who signed that into law. During the campaign, I kept trying to tell people, why is it that y'all are ignoring the very guy who wrote the crime bill, Obama's then Vice President Joe Biden? It never came up, frankly, when Obama picked him to be his vice president. But now Joe Biden is running for president and it is now getting some renewed attention. Well, one of the issues is that Joe Biden is also defending the 1994 crime bill.

Now he's also taking some heat. So first off, we're going to show you this video of, do we have the video folks of Joe Biden actually defending the crime bill? All right. So we don't have that video. I'm going to try to find it on my iPad, but it really was a trip to hear Joe Biden. It was at an event where they were outside and he was asked about it. Now, it's interesting because previously Joe Biden

talked about it having an impact with regards to the crime bill. But then all of a sudden, now he, then he backtracked. having an impact with regards to the crime bill. But then all of a sudden, now he then he backtracked. Well, now he's out saying, hey, it had no issue. It did not have an impact on mass incarceration at all. And again, he knows this is going to be an issue. So therefore, he is now defending it. And so I'm trying to find that video while we are here.

And so here is the video i think i found it i believe i found it of joe biden speaking there this is a short clip i'm going to play a longer clip but uh here's a short one nationally beat the nra because when we did the crime bill everybody talks about the bad things let me tell you about the good thing in the crime bill it's the one that had the assault weapons ban, a limited number of bullets in a clip. It made sure that cop killer bullets, Teflon bullets weren't available any longer. It opened up the whole effort to make sure there's background checks for the first time in American history. Look, the Second Amendment exists, but it doesn't say you can own any kind of weapon you want.

It doesn't say everybody's entitled to one. I'm the only guy ever nationally beat the NRA. All right, folks, introduce our panel. Joining us right now is Johanna LeBlanc, National Security and Foreign Affairs, Legal Analyst. Also joining us is, of course, White House correspondent, Talk Media News Network, John Christopher Bua, and Barbara Arnwine, president, founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition. I'm going to find this longer clip here, Barbara, in just a second. But I want to start with you because on this issue, again,

you have Joe Biden who's out, who's talking about the crime bill, knowing full well it is going to be an issue. And the problem for him is that many people obviously have talked about it. In fact, I found a longer clip. So here we go. This is a two minute and eight second clip. And that was this is what Joe Biden again, he was confronted on this very issue and was asked about it at this was took place three days ago. And so here we go right here. You're going to really repair a lot of the black and brown communities that have been ravaged by the war on drugs and mass incarceration. Specific policies that you're you're outlining for that.

That's a good essay question and a good question. Folks, let's get something straight 92 out of every 100 prisoners in a behind the bars or in a state prison not a federal prison this idea that the crime bill generated mass incarceration it did not generate mass incarceration the only bill that bill had third it was 30 billion dollars 10 billion dollars went to making sure there was rebuild that it was for prevention that's what it was about secondly the court i made sure there was a setup in that law that said there were no more mandatories except two that i had to accept one was that president President Clinton wanted three strikes and you're out. It was part of this entire bill that included the Violence Against Women Act, included the gun control efforts, as well as included...

Anyway, I won't go... It's raining. But here's the deal. What happened is the mass incarceration incurred by the states setting mandatory sentences. What happened was, if you go back and look, the black caucus supported the bill. The reason why the black caucus supported the bill is because we made sure I had a study done by my staff and we found out. I remember, Judge, you know, I'm talking about this. majority of people for a first-time offense if they were black they went to jail three times as long as of a white for example used to be zero to thirteen years for robbery we went into every major of the ten of the ten circuit court districts what were the sentences given to people who if you're a white guy and you committed robbery the first time you got if memory serves me between one and three years if you're American, got between seven and nine years. So we set up the same crime, same time for the same

crime. Barbara, your thoughts on again, Joe Biden offering a vigorous defense of the 94 crime bill. It's indefensible. The 1994 crime bill unquestionably helped to contribute to mass incarceration. Any position that doesn't acknowledge that is dishonest. And in fact, Bill Clinton admitted that in 2016 at the NAACP, it contributed to mass incarceration. I was there when he did that. And it was very profound when he did that because one thing that Joe Biden has a problem with, we saw this with the Anita Hill issue, and we're now seeing this again with the crime bill.

And that is being honest and saying, I really messed up and not having to be drugged after considerable heat and fire to saying the truth. And what bothers me about this one is that as president, he will have authority over more policy. I do think that if he can't be honest about the harm he's caused, then he cannot think that some of us will give him our votes. John, here's the thing. This is one of those things, when the

Anita Hill story came back up, when he went on The View, I came on this show and I said, Joe Biden, what the hell were you doing? What you should have said is, I own this. I was the chair. I could have shut anything down I didn't accept responsibility the following couple days later he actually did that

he he politicians don't want to admit where they're wrong this is a bill that Senator Bernie Sanders voted for but he also criticized it he said he did not want to vote for it but but because it had an issue dealing with violence against women and other measures in it, that's why he voted for it, which is why they put all those things together. But this is one of those deals where if you're Joe Biden, dude, you're not going to win on this one. This is one where you just simply say, here were the things that was good about it. But yes, do the same thing Bill Clinton did, because Bill Clinton learned the lesson.

He sparred with a protester. He went back and forth. Hillary Clinton did. It's one of those things where in politics, guess what? You cut base, cut bait, and you go ahead and leave. If he tries to stand on this, it's going to be a problem for him with young African-American voters. No way. The question is.

What the hell should he do? He he should he should look in the mirror and he should say, maybe what you feel is the right thing is not being perceived as the right thing, because I don't believe that Joe Biden is anyway a bad person. I believe he really believes that he is not anything but a friend to the African-American community. I think that's the problem. He doesn't think that he's done anything wrong. But here's the deal, Johanna. This is not about who's a friend and who isn't. Right.

This is about— Because he wants to get elected. No, no, no, no. It's about accountability. No, no, no, no, no, no. What this is about is. But if you don't believe it. Yeah. No, but here's what it's about. Congress, the death of Len Bias.

Yeah. Created these new laws dealing with crack cocaine, dealing with drugs. And Capitol Hill folks were just shocked and stunned at the number one draft pick from the University of Maryland drafted by the Boston Celtics dies of a drug overdose and they rushed into it.

They did not talk to the experts to think about what were going to be the repercussions. Here you have an opportunity to say we now see the result of passing bills and then what it led to. You can own up to a mistake, but if you keep trying to defend it, all you're going to do is piss folks off. Yeah, Roland Martin, I couldn't agree with you and my co-panelist anymore on this subject. I think that studies and history tells us that this bill actually did increase incarceration rate for African-Americans, in particular black men. And I think that,

you know, what Mr. Biden needs to do is essentially just to own up to it and say, you know what, I made a mistake. And as my co-panelists indicated, this is someone who is going to be in charge of foreign policies. If you cannot own up to your mistake and we get it, people evolve. Right. And it's not necessarily an issue. I think it's not an issue where Mr. Biden intentionally supported or introduced legislation that would have a disproportionate impact on the black community. I think that there is a part of him perhaps wanted to help. And in the implementation of the policy, it ended up being detrimental to the black community. I think that there is a part of him perhaps wanting to help. And in the implementation of the policy, it ended up being detrimental to the black community. So own it. So you know what? This policy has broken up families. It has truly damaged the

black community. I'm sorry. What do we have to do moving forward and be open to accept policy proposals from experts in the community such as yourself. Why Joe Biden fails on this? First of all, he is correct in the video that most of the prisoners in America are on the state level. Absolutely. And the crime bill was specific to federal. But here's where he makes the mistake, John. The crime bill provided economic incentives for states to change their sentencing guidelines. States look to the federal government to take a lead.

Bill Clinton, Joe Biden said in the video, insisted on three strikes. Well, when the federal level said three strikes, the states then went, cool, three strikes. And again, the proof is in the pudding. In the actual budget, in the actual, and again, a fact check was done, a fact check was done on it. And the reality is that what the crime bill offered grants for new prisons to states that impose truth in sentencing policies, which impose mandatory minimums. The mass incarceration, it exploded as a result of the mandatory minimums. And that's what Joe Biden has to own up to.

Well, Joe, own up to it, because there's a lot of people in this country think that you are the only one out there who can defeat this president, Donald Trump. So get with it. Support your your soul and your heart. But understand that you have caused some pain and some real consternation within lots of communities in this country. Get with it, Joe. And Barbara, and why he has to do that is because Trump is going to sit here. And even though he's going to sit here and tout, oh, I passed criminal justice reform. I signed the First Step Act. I corrected your problem.

And that's what Biden has to recognize. Yes. And the reality is, is that his platform better be loaded with repair because the injury is not over. It's not as if somehow this was something that happened and it's over. We are still dealing with an age of mass incarceration. United States, 25 percent of all the world's incarcerated, 5 percent of the world's population. There's no excuse for this. Eighty billion dollars annually of federal money for federal prisons. I mean, all of this is just insane. What he has to do is to come out and recognize that the injury cost is still ongoing and he has to

recognize and take responsibility for coming up with programs and policies that are going to reverse that and there's video barbara there's a video of joe biden from 94 yes talking about putting money in the bill to help states where state prisoners serve at least 85% of their time. Dude, that's mass incarceration. That was forcing people to serve 85% of their time as opposed to a judge saying, you know what, this person should only serve 20 or 30%. Joe, that's mass incarceration. So stop this game of saying that. See, here's the game. So stop this. This game of saying that it see here's the game.

This is a game. And in fact, I want to play it again for you all, because I need you to understand. And I keep telling you all again how these games happen. Joe Biden wants to play the word game. This is what Joe Biden said. Listen. And then I'm going to deconstruct. Hi, my name is Catherine. So I'm going to bring up the bad part of the crime bill that you sort of referenced. So I'm curious how you're going to really repair a lot of the black and brown communities that have been ravaged by the war on drugs and mass incarceration. Specific policies that you're you're outlining for that that's a good essay question and a good question folks let's get

something straight 92 out of every 100 prisoners in a behind the bars or in a state prison not a federal prison this idea that the crime bill generated mass incarceration it did not generate mass incarceration. He says didn't generate mass incarceration. Now, the prison population in America exploded beginning in 1970. So it is correct that the 1994 crime bill did not create mass incarceration it was Richard Nixon's his tough on crime policies also on the state level coming out of the civil rights movement don't don't don't miss that beginning in 1970 so you go forward in this 24 year period then you get to the 1994 crime bill. 94 crime bill exacerbates what was already happening.

And this and so again, this is a huge thing for Joe Biden. He wants to do is he to say the intentions that we had were this we're saying this earlier we did not realize it was going to cause this yes joe biden can't get around that 85 percent and not only can't get around that and not only if you were hold on but let me put if you were a state and the federal government says we've got several billion dollars to help you pay for prisons that's right if you change your state laws to ensure that they serve 85 percent of their time the state is going to say, wait a minute, if I can pick up me a $300 million grant from the federal government

to help build this prison, damn right. Change those laws, y'all go to jail, you got to serve 85% of your time. And what did that do? That put people who were nonviolent offenders in prison serving 85% because they were modeled on the federal level. That is what contributed to it. Bill Clinton's three strikes, California did that. Absolutely. Fill the prisons

up. Then what happened? Prison overcrowding. They had to start releasing people. Why? Because of three strikes. Bill dealing with it. And again, three strikes was not even three murder strikes, three rape strikes, three armed robbery strikes. It literally was if I had two strikes

and I got arrested for stealing a piece of pound cake, that was my third strike. Right. Biden has to stop and understand that that's a problem. And let me tell you something right now. He's going to get crushed in that first debate if he tries to do that final comments on that johanna first and then john and then barbara and not only admitting the fact that you know this

policy has had detrimental impact on the black community not only that but also hold on latinos white folks too absolutely let's be real clear absolutely absolutely absolutely absolutely uh but not only that but also you know proposing a comprehensive legislation to address some of the wrongs that have been done in the past as it relates to incarceration. You have to think about it. Families have been broken apart. Right. You have children being raised by single parents because of Biden's policy. Right. So we need to I need to know what policies does Biden have has in place, have in place rather to ensure that the issue of mass incarceration in America is properly addressed. John, I like that. I think it's a good question. And Mr. Former vice president, hear that because people are upset, rightfully so. And if you are the next president and you have a Congress that will support this kind of legislation, now is the time.

This problem of the crime bill is ongoing. Vera Institute just released last week a report on the mass, the growing mass incarceration of black women, of women, and the total increase in the last number of years. Our communities have been destroyed by this bill. Nothing less than a full, ìI apologize. I take responsibility, and Iím going to do everything in my power to repair it. Nothing short of that is acceptable.

Again, he's going to list if he does it. I doubt it. But if he does that again in front of a group of black folks, we got what's going to happen is he'll get this. And I'm telling you, when they had that first debate in June, Joe Biden comes up with that defense. He's going to get jumped on by every single person on that stage, especially Cory Booker, especially Kamala Harris, especially Elizabeth Warren. You know, Joe, I'm just saying you might be called a straight shooter, Joe. I wouldn't use that line because, hell, my niece would destroy you on that one. And I guarantee you the other candidates will as well.

Folks, we'll talk about what is sick in this nation, is that how you can have Donald Trump and others tout this being the richest nation in the world and all of our vast resources, how we have the most powerful military in the world. So how in the hell do we have 75% of U.S. school districts reporting student meal debt? In Rhode Island, students who hadn't paid for lunches, they got cold meals until a company stepped in and actually paid for it. In New Hampshire, a lunchroom employee, y'all, was fired. Was fired. Ridiculous. For allowing a student to take food and to pay the school back the next day. In Minnesota, one high school attempted to prevent students from attending the graduation ceremony

if they had lunch debt. And Philando Castile's mother paid off the school lunch debt for students at Cooper New High School in New Hope, Minnesota. The money was donated last month on behalf of the Philando Castile Relief Foundation. It was around $8,000 or so. What is crazy, John, is we literally are talking about penalizing kids for school lust death? I am an adjunct professor here in Washington. I've been for 11 years. I have students who have to work three jobs to pay off their meal plan. These are not the elitist kids.

These are hardworking kids. What I find abhorrent and really, really disgusting in the root of all of this dumbing down of America, because the stupider you are, the more you will actually vote for Donald Trump, is that our Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, brother of Eric Prince, and we all know what he's all about, never even had an education degree, and she has never taught a class of students in her life. This is a disgrace.

This is where we're headed as a country, to shame students. I mean, many kids, as we all know, THIS IS A DISGRACE. THIS IS WHERE WE'RE HEADED AS A COUNTRY TO SHAME STUDENTS. I MEAN, MANY KIDS, AS WE ALL KNOW, WE TRAVEL AROUND, WE GO ALL OVER THE PLACE ROLLING. THAT'S SOMETIMES THE ONLY MEAL THAT STUDENTS, THAT THESE YOUNG KIDS GET IS THIS MEAL THAT

THEY'RE GETTING IN SCHOOL. HOW THE HELL, JOHANNA, LITERALLY, WE'RE NOT GOING TO LET YOU GRADUATE BECAUSE OF SCHOOL LUNCH DATES? AND THEN IN RHODE ISLAND, OH, THE HELL WITH THAT. HERE'S SOME COLD FOOD. OH, MY GOODNESS. we're not going to let you graduate because of school lunch debt. And then in Rhode Island, oh, the hell with that. Here's some cold

food. Oh my goodness. You can't think without food in your belly. How callous is that? When I read that story, it literally broke my heart because as someone who came from very humbling beginnings, I had to rely on food stamps to get through, you know,

undergrad and such and high school. So I to rely on food stamps to get through, you know, undergrad and such and high school. So I understand what it's like to not have money to eat, right? And when you cannot eat, when you don't have a proper meal, you can't focus. You can't think, right? You can't succeed in the classroom. And the fact that America is so rich, right, we have all the resources. This is not an issue about the country not having enough resources to feed these children. It's about people just don't care about poor people anymore in this country. Where's the humanity, right? I mean, these kids, we have the resources to ensure every child in America has a hot meal before class starts, right? And we're not doing that, and it's heartbreaking.

Well, it puts the lie to this. It really puts the lie to this whole mythology that we got this great economy when, in reality, hunger has gone up in this country. In reality, poverty has gone up in this country. In reality, the jobs, the, quote, unemployment, the jobs people are working aren't paying enough. That's why parents can't pay for their children to eat at school, because we're not giving them the quality jobs that pay them the kind of money that they can have the ability to feed their own families.

This is the tragedy of America. And when we, you know, I just think that we got to really be very clear that this vulture capitalism economy that we live in right now is just siphoning off everybody's ability to succeed. So it's very, very, very important that we come up with other measures to instead of punishing children, punishing the children, that we come up with other measures that allow people to eat, be fed, and to be able to go to school. Now, let me tell you, Roland, I was one of those kids, too, who had to hide out in the

library during lunchtime because I didn't have the money to buy lunch. You know, and I'm very, very lucky that I got through all of that. But it's wrong. It's wrong, and a lot of people don't. And also, this is

also a country that actually pays farmers not to grow food. Right. That makes no sense whatsoever no sense whatsoever all right folks let's go to New York of course where Daniel Pataleo the officer who killed Eric Garner is facing a New York Police Department hearing here's what is stunning a New York Police Department commander called the death of Eric Garner not a big deal according to testimony at the trial of Pantaleo who's the one who applied the deadly chokehold. After Pantaleo choked Garner from behind and before three other officers tackle him, Sergeant Danon Asaminow told Lieutenant Christopher Brannan in a text message that Garner, quote, was most likely DOA.

He has no pulse. That's according to evidence presented on Thursday. The Staten Island Advance and New York Times both reported, and that's when Lieutenant Brandon responded, not a big deal. We were affecting a lawful arrest. When the text messages were read out loud, the courtroom audience was

stunned. First of all, I'm not stunned at all, Barbara, because the reality is there's a callous disregard for life. Officers also know that they're not going to get in trouble. They know that they're not going to be disciplined. Eric Garner was murdered four years ago, and it is now that Pantaleo is facing this hearing. He's not facing murder charges. He's not facing a trial.

He literally is facing a hearing as to whether or not he should keep his job. It is a disciplinary hearing of the NYPD. And the only person who was punished was the gentleman who took the video. Who went to prison. Went to prison. Who took the video of the killing of Eric Gardner

to Glenn Carr and all the family members, I am so sorry that you're having to go through this because this is just wrong. The bottom line is that Black Lives Matter, say her name when you talk about the black women who have been killed by police. The bottom line is that when we read No Big deal, that's why we say Black Lives Matter. That's why we are have to fight for accountability by the police. Pantaleo needs to go. He needs to be in jail. He doesn't even this. This is just this just is beyond me that we are at this point and this uh lieutenant he needs to be disciplined because anybody who's in a command position who has that kind of devaluation of

black lives has no business being on the street has no business being in command john John? I'm going to sound like Bill Clinton. I feel the pain. I grew up in New York City. I grew up a mile away from Donald Trump in Queens. I know him as a young man. He was a fraud then and he's a fraud now. There is no one who is in the White House at the moment and very few in Congress, who are going to take your cause and say, let's make it happen. Right. You and you and I, all of us, we need to have these kinds of discussions with everybody. Yes. Because when you put a chokehold on a young man and he says, I can't breathe, you stop. OK, but that's a moral question.

And we are not this country. I tweeted out before some unbelievable thing that Trump put up, and I wrote, Lincoln wept. JFK wept. Ike wept. MLK wept. Robert Kennedy wept. Okay? This is what we're talking about.

You know the shortest verse in the Bible is Jesus wept. This is what we need to talk about because we have to pull together as a country and make sure that we get rid of the tyrant and make sure that Putin, I'm sorry, is literally running the show. But it goes beyond and trumping Putin. This really goes to on a very, we have no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

what this goes to on a small level, Johanna, it's very simple. Yep. You have to change the contracts of police unions

because here's the problem. The problem is the contracts, which, and what they do is they literally hold a gun to the head of legislators in San Antonio. San Antonio wanted to put in additional measures to protect citizens.

The union said, oh, okay, fine. You want that? Well, then you must add pay increases every single year. They said, wait a minute, wait, wait, what the hell's I got to do with pay increase? They literally were saying, oh, we will only agree to that if you have pay increases. And you see this all across the country. They fight in collective bargaining. They fight the inclusion in the union contracts to be able to deal with guys like this. I have said for the longest that if you're a police officer and you turn your body camera off, automatic firing. Right. If you turn your dash cam video, if you turn the audio off, automatic firing right if you turn your dash cam video if you turn the audio off automatic firing if you lie on a police report automatic firing they don't want that because

what they know is a police officer can lie can make it up and they will get protected by the department lark protected by district attorneys and protected by district attorneys, and protected by judges. And I think the issue is obviously lack of accountability, right? And also another greater issue outside of the gentleman who died is that, you know, when you have people in leadership

with that kind of mindset, it translates into policies, right? That will have a direct impact on individuals, right? So we have to be mindful of, you know, how we pick our mayors, because the mayor oversees the police department and appoints the police chief. So all of these things... Well, and a strong mayor for McGovern, a city manager for McGovern, a city manager

appoints him, but go ahead. Okay. All of it is, you, and a strong mayor for McGovern. A city manager for McGovern, a city manager for McGovern. But go ahead. Okay, all of it is interconnected, right? So we have to take control. We have to hold these folks accountable for their actions. Because the comment that this officer made. No big deal. I mean, it's not the first. You know?

Right. I mean, maybe it's not going to be the first. They say worse than that. Well, first of all, we saw what happened in Baltimore with Freddie Gray, where to this day, it's sort of as if Freddie just killed himself, but we know about the rough rides in the vans as well. It's not the first nor the last, unfortunately. But you also, what you have here is you have also Bill de Blasio, who did not leave as

well. Okay? Four years. Four years. How does it take four years for a disciplinary hearing? Four years. Are you serious? I mean, what, what we had to go find witnesses. We had to go talk to some people. Again, that's the dragging out and hopefully people also forget about it. And this officer should be fired for making this comment.

Well, first of all, the guy wasn't fired for choking somebody to death. He needs to be fired still. Folks, let's talk about, again, you know, I do get sick and tired talking about him. But every Fourth of July, there's this huge fireworks display here in the nation's capital. Well, and, of course, Donald Trump wants to make it all about him. He literally is ordering the moving of the fireworks show from the National Mall to a bar during an area near where he wants to speak. He wants to speak in front of the Lincoln Memorial. So he wants to change it.

And in fact, the newspapers are reporting that he is so engaged in the minutia of this. Now, y'all, look, this has been going on for years, okay? This thing is so etched in stone. They know exactly where it's going to be. They know the routes. They know where people are going to sit, the traffic route, all those different things. But now Trump wants to completely upend his entire deal because he wants to make this about a spectacle about him. Why?

Because he went to the day of Bastille. What happened there, Bastille Day? He saw, oh, my God, all of this pageantry. And I want one of these. So he came back in here and ordered. We're going to have a grand military parade. He literally wants, speaking of Putin, he wants what Putin does, what Russia has always done, what North Korea does. He wants the big military display. He wants to see tanks rolling down the streets. He wants to see he wants to see the missile launchers rolling down. He wants to see thousands of troops. Well, when when, of course, they show them the cost, how much money is going

to cost and he nicks that. But now he's trying to flip the big Fourth of July celebration into his own little patriotic party. Well, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is not too happy. This is what she said to The Washington Post, quote, The president can speak at any event that he wants to speak at. And my great hope would be that he recognizes that the event is a unifying event that celebrates the birthday of our nation. The problem with this, Johanna, is this ain't about you. It's not about you. And they have a system. It is in place.

Literally, they can walk in there and do this here. Okay, that's the plan. We've used it for the last 15 years. No, he now wants to change everything. And normally what happens is, for this celebration, because presidents care about the public, presidents don't attend it because they know when the president attends something, it totally changes security. No, he doesn't give a damn about the hundreds of thousands who come into D.C. to watch the fireworks show.

No, he wants a big old party where Donald Trump is the man standing in front of Lincoln Memorial. And frankly, I think if he does that, Abe is going to get off that damn chair and give him a swift kick in his ass. Your thoughts on Mr. I want a big party for myself. Well, as you as you said, if the president is included in this Fourth of July festivity, there will be heightened security, which would, in essence, take away from the joy and all the fun that citizens usually... It changes everything. It changes traffic patterns. Absolutely.

Everybody has to get now checked. It changes bad. Absolutely. People come in with their food, their drink. It changes everything. And he is so arrogant that he can't even go, you know what?

I don't want to inconvenience the American public. I'm going to keep my butt at the White House and watch it from the balcony. Yeah, so it'll change it for the American public and other people who are interested in the 4th of July celebration. So I think that the president should definitely reconsider his position and think about the American people

to see whether or not this will really impact their ability to really enjoy Fourth of July. John, the narcissist, it's all about him. It's not Red Square. This is not Nuremberg rallies, Mr. President. You are not the dictator. Soon you will find out how much you are not the dictator. And, you know, Mira Bowser, you stopped him from the last time he got these highfalutin concepts

when you realized that tanks going down Pennsylvania Avenue was something you're going to have to repair as the chief executive. It's going to destroy the streets. The streets were not built to carry tanks. You want to do that, go to Pyongyang or go to Red Square in Moscow. Maybe you will. Maybe Putin will invite you over. You can stay for a few years.

He is a fascist, narcissist. He thinks he is a megalomaniac. He thinks he's a demagogue. He thinks he's Mussolini. He thinks he's more like Mussolini than Hitler. He's Mussolini. He thinks he's right. Like Mussolini, then he's right. He's structured.

He's Mussolini. This is a Mussolini move, everybody. You know what happened to Mussolini? Right. OK, enough said. He's a straight up fascist. And it's ridiculous that we have a cowardly Senate because Congress out to be checking him. Mario Bowser, thank you.

But that's really Congress needs to be reining this guy in. That's where the impeachment comes in. And we'll see if enough information is given up in the next couple of weeks. Mnuchin decided he would thwart that, giving up the taxes today. There's the fight over the Mueller report. Roland, you know one after the other after the other. The fact is people are calling for the impeachment. Why?

Well, you're not going to win the House again or the Senate wouldn't approve it. The fact is that is the only way, doctor, that the information will get out. And I believe live TV televised impeachment hearings work. They work. Look what happened to Nixon. He had to resign. They're imperative. Yeah, but again, the bottom line is he wants a

big-ass party and he shouldn't get it. I'm not going. I'm going to, well, I don't go anyway. Because I read Frederick Douglass what the slayer was thinking about the 4th of July on that going to. Well, I don't go anyway because I read Frederick Douglass. What would a slave think about the Fourth of July on that particular day? Hey, hey. So I celebrate Juneteenth. All right, y'all, got to go to a break.

We'll be back on Roller Martin Unfiltered in just a moment. If you want to check out Roller Martin Unfiltered, youtube.com forward slash Roller Martin Unfiltered. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roller Martin Unfiltered. See that name right there? Roland Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's youtube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And don't forget to turn on your notifications so when we go live, you'll know it. All right,

fam, I invited you to come out swinging and join me for a day of golf at the University for Parents Golf Tournament on Saturday, June 22nd in southwest Atlanta's Wolf Creek Golf Course. It's a golf tournament with a purpose of fundraising for the University for Parents, a program designed to empower parent learners through education, inspiration and support. It's all a part of Susan Taylor's National Cares Mentoring Movement. And when you empower the parents, you empower the children as well location of the tournament is 3000 union road and the shotgun start time is 9 00 a.m to register go to www.u the letter u for parents.org letter u for parents.org for more information be sure to call 770-316-3487 7770 316-3487 316-3487 I certainly hope to see you there.

Alright folks, it's time for another edition for Crazy Ass White People. I'm legally selling water without a permit on my property. Whoa! Hey! Hey! Give me your hand! You don't live here. I'm uncomfortable. Oh, y'all. A Minnesota teacher has been placed on leave after a video showing her using a racial slur while speaking to middle school students went viral.

St. Paul Public School Superintendent Joe Gothard promised in a statement to take aggressive action after video was posted online of teacher Wendy Berlowski using the N-word at Highland Park Middle School. The video we found has censored her use of the word. Check it out. Just pick on them. Because they're black. And they're the only doing any work. I don't. I'm sorry. No, no, no. That's what you've been saying. That's what you've been saying.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't feel sorry for Wendy. Y'all know Wendy gonna lose her job. And I keep telling y'all. She needs to. But I keep telling people. It's never gonna happen.

Every time one of these crazy white folks do something, black people should line up for that job. We will end black unemployment quickly if that happens. Now, let's go to, this is not a crazy-ass white person. This is a straight-up real sister. One thing you don't do is play with black mamas when it comes to their kids. Unfortunately, students at Miguel Hills Middle School in Orange County, California, did just that when Kristen Tinsley found out that her daughter was being bullied and sexually harassed by classmates. Let's just say her mama decided to roll to the school,

and she can be a charter member of hashtag teen whip that ass. That's messing with my daughter. She's a girl. Y'all are boys, okay? If y'all bully my daughter, if you look at her the wrong way, if you breathe the wrong way, say your mom to me. Sisters, aunts, anybody over 18, I'll fuck them all up.

Do you understand me? Leave my daughter alone, and I'm not going to say it again. But if I have to go to every class, I'll do that. And I'm letting you know right now, any mom, any sister can catch these hands, okay? Period. Y'all are goingleave her alone. I mean, no messages online, don't post nothing about her. None of that. None of that.

Y'all don't know me. Y'all think y'all bullies? I'm a big bully, okay? Let that be known and understand that. Leave my daughter alone and I mean it. And if I have to come up here again, it's gonna be problems. She's a girl, she can't handle y'all. Y'all are boys.

If y'all was girls, I'd tell her to meet you after school and handle it outside like a real one. But since you guys are boys and she can't do anything, tell your moms, tell your sisters, tell your aunties, cousins, whoever. As long as we're over 18, we can handle this any day. You understand that? You don't pick them up. Ass whippin's. Ass whippin's. For free. For free! You ain't even gotta pay for it! For free! Do y'all understand me? Leave this girl alone. She's taken care of. You won't play that, okay?

And I'm not gonna call out no names, but you're gonna leave her alone, and I mean it. Ass whippings for free! That's a new hashtag. Hey, Barbara, look, I understand. I mean, this reminds me of a few years ago. I was on Dr. Phil's show.

Remember the brother down, he was in Florida, where his daughter kept picking on his daughter, and it was a special needs daughter. So my man got on the school bus, and he was like, yo, you're messing with my daughter again. I'm kicking all y'all. I mean, he went off, and they tried to charge him, and so I was on Dr. Phil with him.

I said, yo, doc, I'm with the daddy. The daddy was like, you messed with my daughter, you messed with me. I'm with mom, said, y'all gonna catch these hands. I'm with mom. Yo, I'm with her. It's called BMWA, Black Mama Whipping Ass. You don't mess with a black mama.

You don't mess with their children. You don't do this mess. I mean, the bottom line is she put it on the line. She did not threaten the kids now. She was very clear. And what I love is her. No, she threatened the kids. Oh, but her essential analysis is that this mess starts at the house.

Because she said, send the 18 year and over folks to me. Send your aunts, your moms, send them because she knows that's where it starts. She knows that they're coming from households where people are talking the N word, where they're making fun of black folks, where they're denigrating our lives. And she was right to put it where it belongs. John, this is where you walk in, and this is where you take matters into your own hand, and you send a message to the kids. In fact, if that's my kid, I'm saying,

point them out. Point them out. I'm telling you right now, if it's my kid, I'm going to say, point them out. And then I'm going to sit there after school, and I'm waiting with their little ass when their parents roll up. And I'm rolling up on parents. I'm like, say, point them out. And then I'm going to sit there after school, and I'm waiting with their ass when their parents roll up. And I'm rolling up on parents. I'm like, you know what?

The punk-ass son is a bully. That's what I'm doing. Let me tell you something. My mother did the same. My mother did the same thing. I did, too. When I got bullied as a little kid. And if my brother wasn't around who was eight years older than me,

he would stand there in the schoolyard and scare them all to death. My mother would go in. Not only would she go into the kids she'd go into the teacher and she said you're picking on my son you're making he's coming home and crying you're calling you're calling him names she said i will i will take care of you you know what black mamas and white mamas unite for their children because this is the most crucial thing you have this is what you give to the world and this is what you want to make sure the world respects and not but racial harassing yeah i i applaud this mother of course because as we know bullying um leads to um low self-esteem and sometimes even death right yeah yeah the kids, the kids out there who actually committed suicide.

Absolutely. Bullying is a real issue that impacts children all across this nation, all across the world every day. Yes, absolutely. So I applaud the mother for taking this approach, even though I probably would have done it a little bit different because I'm looking at it from a legal perspective. Why? Are you a lawyer?

I'm looking from a legal perspective. Why? Are you a lawyer? Yeah. Why? Well, I mean, you have to look at the perspective. Why are you a lawyer? So, yeah. Why? Well, I mean, you have to look at the legal aspect of it, right? What's the legal aspect? No, no, wait. What's the legal aspect? The fact that she's threatening folks.

You know, you're not supposed to threaten anyone, right? And? It's illegal. Arrest me. Right, right. Look, no, the reason I get it. Look, I'm telling you. When I was in middle school, there was some kids who were on the bus,

and they were sitting there horsing around, and then one of the young women, women so a guy he grabbed her shirt uh and then her breasts got exposed and so it was a dude who was who was uh dark-skinned named roland so they were like rolling did i'm like yo i wasn't even i wasn't even sitting here uh back there with y'all crazy fools so these cats want to fight me and my brother so my dad came to the middle school and he got on so he came to the middle school. And he got on. So he came to the middle school, got on the bus. Sat there.

Did the same thing she said. He said, let me tell y'all something right now. Not a single one of y'all going to touch either one of my sons. Yeah, I just hope that. And so then one of the dudes on the bus pulls a knife out. My dad was like, give me a goddamn knife. And said, I was saying, are you going to pull a knife on me? He said, I'm telling all y'all right now. One of'all touched one of my sons y'all dealing with me we have no issues for the rest of junior high school and no issues in high school because because because the deal is look

you had um uh we've had uh the young kid uh the boy, 10 years old in Houston, who committed suicide because of bullying. Absolutely, yeah. It's a serious issue. You literally have kids who are killing themselves. No, there's no doubt about that. And the fact that the mama also said, and don't y'all say Jack online. Oh, I love that. Because the difference between old school and today

is that bullying may have stopped when you left school. Now they are bullying them on social media as well. Or your classmates get that same message. Yeah, absolutely. Johanna, go ahead. It is my hope that the mother does not have to result to violence in an effort to ensure that her child is safe

from bullying. I hope that the kids get the message and the person who's actually abusing her child at school gets the message in this behavior who's actually abusing her child at school gets the message in this. Oh no, they got the message. They got the message. Y'all don't want these hands. Right, right. Well, let's hope you don't have to

put these on me. Hey, hey, hey, guess what? I advise y'all to get y'all kids in check. Hashtag team whip that ass. All y'all, a white police officer in Colorado has been placed on leave after detaining a black man for picking up trash in front of his home, actually, but no. He was initially placed on leave. Now

he is quitting the force. Y'all remember this video? Go ahead and play the video. This took place a couple months ago. The encounter began when the officer was patrolling a residential area that is considered private property. And asked the man if he belonged there.

Well, the man was cooperative and even gave the officer his school ID. He asked the man to sit down and put down his weapon, which was a trash plant. Well, guess what? That officer, he is now saying, you know what? I'm good. It's time for me to go. That's called I'm going to get fired, so let me go ahead and bounce anyway. So that's what we have there. So, yeah, again, another job opening.

Another job opening. Another job opening. But here's the problem. Don't be surprised if he's able to get a job in a neighboring city, which is also part of the problem. All right, folks, you probably heard about the children's book Hair Love that tells the story of a black father learning to do his daughter's hair Now you really need to get this book for your kids is pretty a funny book author Matthew Cherry Who's also former NFL player whose term movie director and author? He sat down with me along with illustrator Vashti Harrison the talk about the book

got our conversation. All right, folks, we're joined by, of course, Matthew Cherry, Vashti Harrison. First of all, Vashti, really? A lot of people know Vashti McKenzie, Bishop Vashti McKenzie. All these Vashtis we know. My mom is Trinidadian, and in Trinidad they say Vashti.

Oh, got it. See, they say Vashti. Exactly, they say Vashti. Now, when they hopped across that pond, it was like you come to America like Vashti. Exactly. Black people draw it out. Vashti. So when y'all on the road, how often do you hear Vashti? I hear lots of different things, but Vashti is pretty common.

Yeah. I probably call her three different versions myself. So how did this book originate? You know, I had this idea to do an animated short film, you know, of a dad trying to figure out how to do his daughter's hair for the first time, and the hair ends up having a mind of its own. Which is real life. Which is real life.

I remember seeing all these viral videos of dads, you know, just, like, playing with their daughters, you know, like, playing with them or doing their hair. And, you know, it was kind of like a double edged sword because obviously it was really great that these videos were going viral. But also I was like, you know, probably a reason why this is happening is because people aren't used to seeing it. Right. You know, I think there are a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes that we're not involved in our kids lives, let alone doing like these, menial domestic tasks with our kids.

And I just thought it would be a great opportunity to kind of show that we are in our kids' lives and try to break some of these negative images that we have of ourselves. And then you got involved. Yeah, that's right. So he launched the Kickstarter campaign and reached out to me to create some kind of art

so that people would have an idea of what the movie was. Now, you had previously done children's books? Yeah, exactly. So I write and illustrate children's books and I also do illustrations here and there for visual development work. And so that's what he was looking for and I think it was during the process of the Kickstarter campaign that people had suggested and had the idea that we should produce it as a picture book. Now I'm not technically involved in the movie, but when the book got picked up by Coquilla Books they reached out to me to ask me if I would consider illustrating the book. It didn't have to be me but it worked out that it was. So you had a crowdfund. Yeah. And how much did you raise? We raised roughly almost

$300,000. It was like $283,000. And were you shocked by that? Yeah, yeah. It was crazy man. It was like the craziest thing I've ever been a part of. Now, the Kickstarter was for the whole project. The short film. Yeah. The short film. Yeah. Well, one of the gifts that we offered was for a picture book.

We just didn't know how we were going to figure it out. And then three or four days into the campaign, Namrata, who is our kind of the editor, and she's like the head of the Coquilla Books, she reached out and was like, look, I'm a big fan of this. You know, we're about to start this new division, and I just think it would be really awesome if we could help make the book with you guys. And just like that, we had a book deal. Why do you think it resonated the way it did? You know, I think it was a lot of things. You know, I think timing is really important.

You know, I think at that time, you know, Into the Spider-Verse hadn't come out. And so, you know, there weren't a lot of images of black fathers and daughters or, you know, African-American characters in general. And really any animated feature films, you know, they had Princess and the Frog and the Rihanna movie Home. But at the time, that was really it. You know, maybe a couple of side characters. So, you know, my thing was just if we could do something that centers on a black family, but actually have the hair be the thing that's magical and has a mind of its own, you know, we could kind of center it on that. And, you know, since then, obviously, Into the Spider-Verse has come out

and all these great projects that center us. So, you know, it's really great to see. And I think the more people that see stuff like this, and especially kids get to see themselves represented, the better. Vashti, it is interesting when you talk about black hair, how for non-black people, it's like this thing. I mean, my godmother talked about being in China,

and folks just wanted just to touch her hair. And then you can ask any number of black women this whole deal, oh my goodness, can I touch your hair? And they're like, no, no, you just can't touch my hair. You think about the Chris Rock documentary, was it good hair? I think it was good hair, yeah. You think about all of these conversations,

even just what just recently passed in California, where the bill is going through, outlaw discrimination when it comes to hair. And it is something that is certainly different and unique to folks of African descent. Yeah, you know, I illustrate for a living. I draw pictures. I don't have the biggest platform, but I feel like with what I do, I can help normalize these things, normalize and create beauty and, you know, infuse a little bit of magic into the everyday life. So,

you know, I make books for kids and I want to encourage them to know that there's nothing wrong with the hair that comes out of your head. You can wear it however you like, and sometimes it can be magical because there are going to be influences from outside that are going to, you know, challenge everything that we do. But, you know, if we can help them feel better about themselves from the ground up when they're that little, I think, you know, that's just one way to start. But I also think it's accepting what is normal. Right. I think back to a number of years ago, Earl Graves, of course, founder of Black

Enterprise, caused this huge stir when he made it clear. He said, you want to intern with Black Enterprise, you can't have dreads. His whole deal was, this is the standard in corporate America. So to understand that standard, when it comes to dress, when it comes to dress when it comes to suits and ties and look and so we're going to train you for that uh we think about um nba it was really alan iverson in the corner to sort of change uh change that you get of course the brothers in the aba with the big huge afros dr j but again it became this whole thing well no no no in order for us to in essence assimilate we have to change i think for african americans we can go down that road where change your hair change your dress change your tone

change your walk your talk all those things cam newton going to the good carolina panthers owner saying don't have a tattoo right and so and so i think when you talk about normalizing it it's saying okay that is normal. I got my wife and I raised six nieces. Hell, I've seen this constantly. Right. My fact, I was with my nieces a month ago. It looked just like this.

I mean, that's so it's normal. And now what is normal for us now is going out into the world. And that has to be accepted as well, that you can wear your hair natural if you're a television anchor yes you can wear your hat if you're an athlete as well yeah I mean remember Ricky Williams when he had he was like come one of the first NFL players wear dreadlocks and you know people were talking about him you know acting like he was Jamaican and all this other stuff and now if you turn on the NFL game he didn't help you love weed the mountain he'd eat I mean that's just let's just be real true real honest true true true true. But if you look at

NFL game now, now you see, you know, 20, 30 players on the field will have locks at a certain time. So, you know, sometimes it just takes that one or two people to, you know, really just make this, not really a stand, but just be yourself. Change the image. Yeah, you change the image. We tried to do that a little bit with the father character, Stephen, in that he's a young man. Yeah, I see the tattoos. He has to be the peak of maybe a basketball player. He could be any kind of athlete.

But we're just saying this is a dad. Or just a brother with muscles. This is a dad that loves his daughter. And why can't a dad look like that? First of all, the only reason I say a brother with muscles is because it absolutely drives me crazy. Anybody who follows me on social media knows this. It drives me crazy when I'm traveling and I have my Texas A&M gear on.

Or if I'm wearing Houston Astros, Houston Rockets, or Houston Texans. And the first assumption is I play ball. Right. Then the second assumption is I was our coach. Right. And they go through all this sort of stuff. It's kind of like, okay, when are you going to get to the graduate part? Right, right, right.

Like, when are you going to get around to, maybe I just simply went to school there. Right. And so I'm a huge advocate of, again, trying to get white folks to understand, stop this perception that if you see somebody black who you think is muscular or could play ball, don't assume that and say, wait a minute, because if you see a white guy, you don't automatically think, oh, he's a baller. And again, those perceptions come in. And I think a lot of people really, as somebody, look, I've been in meetings since I was 14, who really don't understand the power of images.

This is actually, what you're doing with movies, that's actually America's greatest export. Right. What we're seeing around the world. Right. Well, and that's the thing. Like, you know, images are so powerful. And, like, imagine growing up and never seeing yourself represented. You look at magazines.

You look at TV shows. You look at movies. And you see people with lighter skin. you see people with this straight blonde hair, and you don't see yourself represented, you know, you come back home and you look in the mirror and, you know, that can make you feel less confident about yourself. And so all we're trying to do is just simply say, look, we see you, you know, we think this is a very specific niche, but also it's universal in that, you know, these are things that parents do for their kids when they love them you know if there's something that they don't know how to do and the

kid asks them how to do it you know you're going to try to figure it out you're going to go online and look up some some videos you're going to call a friend and try to figure it out so that's really what the book is about just showing what parents do for their kids when they don't know what to do and they're trying to figure it out. Have you had to deal with folks who will reject your view of reality? I've never encountered that. You know, I wrote a book called Little Leaders, Bold Women in Black History. So it's just a book filled with the stories of black women. And I've had a few people ask me, well, why would you make a book that is only about black women? And it's not, you know, a disacknowledgement of anything else in history. It's just saying, like, I want to see these stories placed all together. So I find that people... Yeah, but first of all, if anybody actually understands history, they'll realize

who is actually being left out. Exactly. I mean, again, I think if you ask the average person to name civil rights leaders, even historical civil rights leaders, they will go. You'll hear that big name. Maybe, maybe they'll mention Mary McLeod with them. Maybe. Maybe they'll mention Dorothy Hite. You can forget Septima Clark. Maybe they'll mention Fann Lou Hamer.

Not Constance Baker Motley. Not Ella Baker or Diane Nash, you know, those names, because frankly, it's largely been black men left out of the mainstream. Exactly. But so I found that, you know, there are a few questions here and there, but mostly people are just excited. I think we're not trying to replace any part of the story. We're just adding more to the tapestry. So in the children's section of the bookstore, in the children's part of the bookstore, I saw a great book today about a white father and his daughter. And it's a beautiful, lovely story.

And our book could sit right next to that. Just another reflection of a different reality. So I find that people are very supportive of it. Maybe it's because we're making children's content and it's just there to be good and helpful for the world but um it's a nicer place to be and i'm happy to do it well i think i think what it also does first of all i think i think you are playing it down some it's actually way bigger than that because what is happening now is, and let's just cut to the chase, America doesn't understand anything unless money is attached. And we were in a meeting with the National Association of Black Journalists.

We were in a meeting with ABC News. And we meet with all these different networks about their senior leadership team. And we were meeting with them talking about the black executives or lack thereof and at one point uh i said well this is the company that made black panther that made more than a billion dollars and folks who looked at me in the room and i said it for a reason. Because America responds to money. Right. And what is happening now is you now have a generation of black folks who will readily say, I'm rejecting that.

In fact, I grew up seeing the children's book and the white father and the white mother. No, no, no. Y'all got to put some other stuff up here. And it is forcing bookstores. It is forcing publishers. It is forcing networks. It is forcing them to understand that America is indeed changing.

And that if you do not better reflect this changing America, another company will, and you're going to lose out. Yeah, I mean, and that's the great thing about the company that we're with, Coquila Books. You know, Namrata, she is just really focused. It's a division of Penguin Random House, and it just focuses specifically on, you know, POC authors and people telling their stories.

So our book came out on Tuesday. There was another book that came out called My Papi Has a Motorcycle that speaks to the Mexican-American experience. And there's a book coming out later about the Filipino-American experience. And so these are all just like really these underserved communities and it's such a niche. And we're just so excited to be a part of this family and to be the first book that comes out under that division. How much is the book? What is that? How much is the book? What is that? How much is it?

How much is it? I believe at $16.99 in stores and like $10.99 if you get it on Kindle. They're looking like, I don't know. No, no, I mean. Like, it's about a book. I just looked at it. I think it's different in different stores. Yeah.

We're not sure. Okay. All right, again, folks, the book is called Hair Love. Yes. Matthew Cherry, illustrated by Vashti Harrison. Check it out and get it today. Sweet. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Thank you so much. Thank you for having us. All right, fam, shout out to First Baptist Church of Glen Arden. They recently get calm down, Barbara. That's my church. OK, all right. You tithe?

All right. Oh, her ass got reeled. Y'all sorry. Why she got? I hit a window. You tithe? All right. Oh, her ass got reeled. Y'all saw her quiet. She got. No. I hit a window. You tithe. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. You do? Of course I do. Okay. Let me text. I'm a church member. Yeah. Yeah.

Let me text Pastor Jenkins. Do. Oh, no. Let me text. He knows me. Yes. Let me text Pastor Jenkins, who is the senior pastor. Right.

We can find out if you actually tithe or you give offerings. No, I didn't. Anyway, y'all. Anyway, y'all. The First Baptist Church of Glen Arden in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, they gave out four cars. And so this one woman, Marilyn Lacey, boy, she was happy. It's beautiful. Beautiful.

We're wearing a hell of a video. What? Really, Jackie? Let me explain something to y'all. We sat in the office before the show, three hours before the show, and Jackie was begging me to include this in the show, like begging me to include this in the show. And she was like, it's a four-minute. I said, we are not going to play the whole four-minute video.

We're going to play 45 seconds. Okay. Oh, they were all excited. Play 45 seconds. Now I actually do the story. I actually go ahead and do the story and the damn video. Not even ready. I literally had to stretch longer than what the video is.

Now, what I don't understand is how it was in the show. And in fact, we normally end at seven it's seven oh eight and so you're not talking about extra time uh and the video wasn't ready so where's the video it's too bad it's beautiful roll it! Marilyn Lacey. I think Marilyn ran track in college because the original video was four minutes. Y'all, you can run a mile in four minutes. It's the Holy Spirit.

Huh? The Holy Spirit. Yeah, that's how you... Barbara, you know doggone well you ain't never ran around the church. Barbara, stop it. Barbara, stop. Barbara, just know doggone well you ain't never ran around the church. Barbara, stop it. Barbara, stop. Barbara, stop. Barbara, let me try and say that's what we do.

No, no, no, that's what she do. Let me try and say that's what we do. Barbara, you know you ain't ran around church. Y'all can't stand black people do that. I don't run around the church. Don't y'all can't stand black people do that. Somebody else does that, but that's what we do. No, that's what she do.

That ain't what you do. Anyway. I'm having down some stuff. Yeah, okay. All right. Yeah, we're going to check your eye watch to see how many rings you got. All right. Final comment. Anything this week

we're going to talk about? We'll start with John. Pray for our country. All right, that was quick. All right, Barbara. Definitely read the Vera Institute report on women in incarceration in jails. LeBlanc, what you got? The fact of the matter is our nation is being faced with some challenges, economic, politically, and socially.

So we have to rally ourselves and get educated on the various issues and act accordingly. Don't make decisions based on ignorance. Make decisions based on what you've learned and get the facts straight. All right, folks. Well, we appreciate that. Thank you so very much for joining me.

Don't forget to support Roland Martin Unfiltered by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com, joining our Well, we appreciate that. Thank you so very much for joining me. Don't forget to support Roller Martin Unfiltered by going to RollerMartinUnfiltered.com, joining our Bring the Funk fan club. And we're going to roll our credits. But also, don't forget that if you don't see your name, let us know. So beginning on Monday, because we're emailing everybody the promo code where you have a discount. And so on Monday, actually next week, I'll tell you about some products we have on sale where you can utilize your discount to actually get that. And also after this, so again, go to the join the fan club.

Only way you get the discount if you become a member of the fan club. You can use Cash App, PayPal or even Square. Now, after this show, we're going to end this live stream. I'm going to actually play for you my commencement speech earlier to the graduates of Bowie State. And so trust me, you're going to enjoy that. Y'all know I don't do regular commencement speeches. I'm an irregular commencement speaker.

And so this was the 17th commencement. I've given 15 of those at HBCUs, and so I definitely think you're gonna enjoy it. The graduates definitely enjoyed it. Many of them told me that when I shook their hands as they crossed the stage with their getting their degrees. And so we're gonna stream that for you right after. Shout out to Dr. Bro, of course, who is the,

she brought commencement back to the campus. For the last six years, it was held on the campus of University of Maryland. The alumni, they really wanted to have graduation back on their campus. So for the first time this year in six years, graduation at Bowie State was held on the Bowie State campus.

Of course, it's the oldest HBCU in the state of Maryland. So, all right folks, I gotta go. I will see you guys Monday from Palm Desert, California, site of Anthony Anderson's third annual Celebrity Golf Classic. And so we'll have sights and sounds from there as well. So you be sure to have a great weekend. Holla!

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