#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 5.21 #RMU: Black doc cuffed at home speaks; Black man beaten in Iowa; Racism & COVID-19 infections

Episode Date: June 9, 2020

5.21.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Black doctor handcuffed in front of his home speaks; Black man brutally beaten in Iowa; Is racism at the root of COVID-19 infections in Black and minority communities; Immigration advocates say that Trump's Deportation policies making the pandemic worse; FedEx Driver Antonio Braswell says FedEx called and told him to take down the video of his harassment and then fired him; More crazy a$$ people wildin' out Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered #RolandMartinUnfiltered Partner: Ceek Be the first to own the world's first 4D, 360 Audio Headphones and mobile VR Headset. Check it out on www.ceek.com and use the promo code RMVIP2020 - The Roland S. Martin YouTube channel is a news reporting site covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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skill through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org, brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Today's Thursday, May 21st, 2020. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered. New evidence shows that the police officer who handcuffed a Miami doctor in front of his home shouldn't have been hired as a cop in the first place. We will talk with that brother, Dr. Armin Henderson, right here in Iowa. The NAACP is demanding that the brutal attack on a black man be investigated as a hate crime.

Environmentalists say that racism is the reason that black people and people of color have the most cases of coronavirus infections. We'll break it all down. And immigration advocates say that Donald Trump's deportation policies making the pandemic is making it worse in countries like Haiti. We'll talk to somebody who is fighting that. Plus, FedEx driver Antonio Braswell says FedEx called and told him to take down the video of his harassment by a customer and then fired him.

We'll explain all of this. Plus, two crazy-ass white people stories for you today. One features white tears and the other is a woman who thought she could refuse a speeding ticket. Didn't go well for Karen. Plus, more examples of Trump's inability to lead.

And also, Amy Klobuchar, Senator Amy Klobuchar, is being closely vetted as a possible VP pick for Donald Trump. Really? Klobuchar? How do black folks feel about that? It's time to bring the funk, roll the mark and unfilter it. Let's go.

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He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's Roland Martin Rolling with Roland now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's Roland Martin Folks, remember this video here we showed you of a black doctor in Miami handcuffed outside of his home while preparing to volunteer to help protect homeless people from the spread of COVID-19. Now, the Miami police claim that the officer stopped the doctor for leaving trash in or in his yard and was suspected of dumping illegally dumping trash. However, Dr. Armand Henderson believes that he was racially profiled. He filed a complaint with a civilian investigative panel the same day. He's

also seeking a settlement from the city of Miami. Now, what happened was, we told you yesterday, the Miami Police Department conducted an internal investigation saying that the doctor was right to stop, excuse me, the officer was right to stop Dr. Henderson, believing that he may have been illegally dumping trash. But they say the officer did make mistakes by yelling at him, talking too closely to him, and other minor infractions. Joining us right now is Dr. Armand Henderson. He is an internist of the University of Miami. He's also an organizer with the Dream Defenders. Doc, glad to have you on the show. So the police come out with this internal investigation saying, well, he was right, but he was also wrong. Now, guys, play the video

again. Here's what still just sort of bothers me. OK, here you are at the back of your van. Freeze it right there. Officers coming from another direction. How in the hell can he ascertain from the opposite direction that you were illegally dumping trash when he can't even see what you're doing in the back of your van? I don't know. I don't really know where the assertion really came from that I was dumping trash. Honestly, I just think he used it as an excuse just to pull me over. Not even pull me over. I was just standing in front of my house to pull in front of my house.

And actually, if you watch the entire video, he pulls down a cross section of my street really slow in the video. And he decides to make a U-turn and then come down my block. And that's what happens in the very beginning of the video. And so I guess he was thinking about what he should do. Should he stop? He saw me just there. I was minding my business. And, yeah, I don't know.

I don't know how he came to that assertion, but I completely disagree with it. Well, and and again, what we're dealing with is here you are. You're trying to help. You're trying to do what's right. Testing homeless people for covid-19. He pulls you over. And then this whole idea of like, well, how dare you sort of, you know, talk back? And you can tell he sort of gets agitated. We're sort of like, OK, fine. you sort of, you know, talk back and you can tell he sort of gets agitated. We're sort of like, OK, fine, put your hands behind your back. So what really happened there where you're having this conversation and he looks like he gets pissed off and it's like, I'm about to handcuff you and you're looking like, what

the hell are you handcuffing me for? I have no idea what he was thinking. I answered all his questions to the best of my ability. I wasn't making any sudden movements. It wasn't like I was going to run or something like that. I was very calm. My voice was very calm. My body language wasn't even threatening. And so I don't know exactly what he was thinking when he put those handcuffs on me. But when I look back and actually did research around the history that he's had, it makes sense.

You know, he's like, I guess he thinks he's a police officer. He's like in the mafia. He's like pulling up on people, asking them, are you talking about me? Which is what we've seen in one of the civilian complaints, one of the six civilian complaints about him. He's punching people in the face uh and during other complaints uh in in the neighborhood that he patrols as well um and so i i don't exactly know uh what was going through his mind but i was i was pretty shocked

even though i tried to keep my my cool as much as possible okay so you say he also should not have been hired what have you found out about his history? So he had 12 use of force complaints, and he's had six civilian complaints as well. And I'm not sure of the nature of all those complaints, but from what I've read, some of them were he pulled up to someone at a gas station and asked them, are you talking about me and put him in handcuffs and told him to cool down. It's like, OK. And then another time he repeatedly punched somebody in the face during a traffic stop. And and there were others. I mean, that that was only that was only two. Well,, that were probably more egregious than what I'm mentioning. But it just displays a pattern of him being not really keeping his cool and completely opposite of what he wrote in the report for the internal investigation.

So obviously, David, another internal investigation. What are you doing next? Are you still pursuing the civil suit? Yes, we do have a civil suit against the city of Miami. I guess we can't sue the police department directly. But all this new stuff is just coming out.

So, I mean, we're just sitting back and like, wow, that's another one. So not only does he have those use of force complaints, but early on in his career, eight years ago when he was first hired, they did a psychological exam. And basically it seems like they found him unfit for the job, but he still got the job. And in the report, in the article that recently came out, it said that at the same time, his dad was like the president of the police union here in Miami. So it makes sense probably why he got the job. But now, you know, now that he's got the job, he's still committing, you know, these offenses against civilians, unsuspecting. And not only is he keeping his job, but he's also being promoted. He's a sergeant now. He has other people who are under his care, under his wing that he's training, probably to do the same thing that

he did to me. So it's really concerning. And it's a shame because the next time you pull someone over, particularly they could be a person of color, you could shoot them if he hasn't done so already or, you know, or something worse. Well, this is certainly one of those issues that is very troublesome for so many African-Americans where we get stopped and then all of a sudden it's, no, we assume you did something wrong and then we'll figure it out later. But who the hell wants to be in handcuffs? Who wants to voluntarily be in handcuffs and being detained? And you never know how these things go sideways.

Right. You know, in the report, it said that I was agitated. But if any level headed individual was handcuffed in front of their home for no apparent reason, they'll be pissed off and agitated. Every right to be agitated. I mean, first of all, I should have been more upset than what than what I was. But but we know, as we've seen, you know, in videos and in history past that once you once you get upset, once you get agitated, even if you have every right to, they use that as an opportunity to increase the use of force. And, you know, I had places to be. I'm trying to serve homeless individuals.

I didn't want to be punched in the face. I didn't want to get tased. I definitely didn't want to get shot. So I had to make a decision just to keep my cool. But it was really upsetting to see that the reason why he put the handcuffs on me in the first place is because I was agitated. And it's completely the opposite of what I was actually thinking and doing, which is apparent from the video that you're watching. But not only did he put me in handcuffs, he also didn't have a mask on. He didn't have gloves on. And he's inches from

my face, you know, spitting and yelling at me and belittling me. I'm glad that I had it on camera but the reality is is that I serve patients in the hospital every day and I'm out in the community taking care of, you know, homeless individuals who are the most vulnerable of our population. The last thing I can afford to do is to test positive for coronavirus and I'm out here taking all these precautions to make sure I'm good so that I'm able to take care of my family, to hug my children, to take care of my patients. And then this guy just makes a decision to get out of the car during a pandemic for no apparent reason and then put me in handcuffs. It just blew my mind. It really blew my mind.

All right, then. Well, look, we certainly good luck with your lawsuit. And we thank you for joining us, Dr. Armand Henderson. And we're glad that you're also safe and sound. And this thing did not go sideways. OK, thank you very much. All right, folks. Thanks a bunch. All right, folks, some breaking news out of Georgia. The man who recorded the fatal moments, the final fatal moments of Ahmaud Arbery. He is now under arrest. He is under arrest for murder. Just moments ago, moments ago, he was, it was announced that he

was arrested. We are pulling it up as we speak. Of course, remember previously the two individuals were arrested, and that is George McMichael and Travis McMichael. Well, you might remember that was a third person who was involved in this pursuit of Ahmaud Arbery as they were coming down the street. And so this man, he is William Roddy Bryan. He is now in custody in Georgia for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. I want to go to my panel right now. We have Erica Savage-Wilson, host of Savage Politics Podcast, Recy Colbert, Black Women's Views. First, I want to go to you, Erica. Just your thoughts on this breaking news. The third man involved now under arrest for murder.

Yeah. Hi, Roland. It was inevitable. And I'm very glad that because the more that we have learned about this story, unfortunately, it does seem that this video was a video that was passed around different community members. We saw a post not long ago about the sister who also made sure that that video went around to different circles of people. And so really, the horrors of that day to have a life of its own, to live and breathe in a community that truly does have no respect for Black life, to see that the advocacy by grassroots organizations, by digital online groups and for programs like this, not only put the pressure on for some level of justice to be remedied in the short term, but then also continue to ask the question, well, who was recording the video? How was that person involved? It was really black media and black

people largely in social media spaces that really did bring something that tragically took place in February up to speed where now we're seeing a third arrest here in late May. Recy? Yeah, I think this is really great news. We saw that obviously he's very much a part of this chase, how they hunted Ahmaud Arbery down. I saw a reenactment of the way that this whole interaction happened. And he was physically blocking Ahmaud Arbery with his truck as well. And so absolutely he deserves to be arrested for murder. He's a co-conspirator.

I'm relieved that there wasn't some sort of deal made where he kind of turned on other people so that he escapes accountability because he is just as culpable for the murder and slaying of Ahmaud Arbery as the McMichaels are. The thing here, first of all, it took a long time for him to be arrested. We also now know that it was Gregory McMichael who leaked the video thinking that it was actually going to help him and his son get off. But it was that video that actually led to their arrest and now the rest of this third person. I think also we showed that New York Times video that they put together that that reconstructed what took place. And what you really found was about a four minute, but actually about a 12 minute minute scene where they were chasing him. Well, they were literally chasing Ahmaud Arbery down like he was some savage criminal.

Right. And we're seeing acts of what people felt like were long ago. Things that happened. These were things that took place in textbook. Thank God we's free now. These these things are very much so still active and taking place in 2000 in 2020. And so I think what this also presents, too, is for people to see how deeply important it is that we also not just be engaged in one space, but be engaged in all spaces politically. When you look at the folks who are responsible for making sure that these folks come to justice, we think about a lot of those people who serve in elected capacities. And so if people don't know what a solicitor general, a DA is, if people don't understand

the positions that city commissioners and county commissioners should take in terms of law enforcement, mayor's office, what responsibilities that they have and the responsibilities that they have to their constituents as well, now is the time to hurry up and get that lesson as we begin to vote during a pandemic. Because these people who are in positions of power that actually delayed the time for some semblance of Ahmaud Arbery's justice, we've still got to stay on their heels to ensure that justice, however long it takes, actually is served to this family. Well, and the reality is this here, and this is part of the problem that I keep raising over and over and over again. Without this video, these three individuals are not arrested.

That what the D.A. said and the actions of those cops on the scene, these three individuals will be walking free because they established that this was justified, that it was self-defense. That's how they laid this thing out. that this was justified, that it was self-defense. That's how they laid this thing out. And only because we see that video and only because the video from the other neighbors' homes, as they were able to piece this thing together, coupled with the interviews with Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael, and then this gentleman here, putting all that together, whether how the reconstruction is that we now know that he was actually chased and hunted down. Without that video, they are free to kill a black man. Absolutely. But what's more disturbing is that to some degree, the video, if that's all that anybody ever saw, might have actually helped the McMichaels because it shows Ahmaud Arbery in a much more desperate panic state. why he would reach out his hand and get his hand blown off trying to take the shotgun away because

he was being chased. If there was no other choice that Ahmaud Arbery had in this situation, and all three men are equally culpable in that situation. And it's so ironic because I think it was last week or two weeks ago when the McMichael's attorneys were saying, we need to get all the facts. We need to know all the facts. Well, the facts are more and more damning the more information that we find out. And it is just so sickening to think about the amount of terror that Ahmaud Arbery was in in those final moments. And to Erica's point, his sister, the McMichael sisters, taking a picture for some sort of voyeurism of Ahmaud Arbery's body, it's sickening. These people are menaces to society, and I hope that they go to jail for the rest of their lives or get the

death penalty. Again, folks, that's Rodney Brown. Of course, the breaking news, he is in jail right now. He is in jail right now, arrested, third person arrested in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. In just a moment, we're going to be talking with Lee Merritt, who is the family attorney, who was the attorney for the mother of Ahmaud Arbery, to get his reaction to this breaking news. It just was announced just a few moments ago. Again, this whole case really turned from the moment the Georgia Bureau of Investigation got involved. The local district attorneys were not doing anything. They were not involved. They were not moving on this case. They

had all of this evidence. They had all this information, but they simply had not moved. The first district attorney was accused herself. The second district attorney pretty much operated as the defense attorney for the McMichaels, absolving them of all crimes. The third district attorney sat on the evidence, did not move at all. Joining us right now is Lee Merritt, who is the attorney for Ahmaud Arbery's mother. Lee, glad to have you on the show. When was the family notified that this man had been arrested? The third man. Okay, all right, so we're getting the shot set for Lee Merritt. And so we'll go ahead and let me know when we actually have that all set up.

But the news came down literally just as we came on air. All right, now we have Lee Merritt. Lee, glad to have you on the show. Hey, thanks for having me back. So when were you and the family notified that this third individual had been arrested? The arrested place. We didn't want to say anything publicly because the man hadn't been brought into custody yet. But District Attorney Joy at home called and made sure Ms. Wanda Cooper and Marcus knew. And when she saw who you're speaking of is a special prosecutor who has been assigned to the case who now is overseeing it.

She's now the fourth district attorney who is now working on this case. Right, right. And she came in really at the insistence of the family when the previous district attorney, who we believed had conflicts, was asked to step aside. Folks, go to my iPad. This is the photo of William Roddy Bryan. He was the one who shot that video. What's interesting, Lee, is that when you look at these individuals, I mean, George McMichael admits that he leaked the video thinking it was going to help them. This guy's attorney is saying the same thing, But it really, I think, was that reconstruction by the Negro Times, I think, of the Georgia Bureau investigation where we got a much better understanding

of the final 10, 12, 15 minutes of Ahmaud Arbery's life to realize that this man was running for his life. He was being chased down by these three thugs. Now, Roland, you'll recall the first time you had me on the show,

we discussed three assailants. This family has been talking about the arrest of three men since before the video was released, but I agree that the New York Times helped people understand why we were calling for the arrest of William Bryan as well. And that is, of course, that video, because by taking advantage of the video that Bryan shot, in addition to the home video and the timestamps, being able to piece it all together to put together, frankly reverse field again, you saw you then begin to feel and sense the desperation of Ahmaud Arbery as he tried to get away from these three individuals. That's exactly it. And you take that in combination with the statements that Roddy and the McMichaels gave law enforcement the day of the shooting, February 23rd.

They said that Roddy played the active role of trying to block Ahmaud in. He was unsuccessful, and they continued to chase him. So this was a man who played a very active role in this. And you will recall this attorney, I think just a couple of days ago, was saying that he took a lie detector test. And obviously that's not evidence, but I'm curious about what questions exactly were asked in that lie detector test. Absolutely. Absolutely. And so, again, the breaking news, William Roddy Bryan, you see right here the third man involved in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

Moments ago, taken into custody. He is under arrest. He is being charged with murder in the death of Ahmaud Arbery. Lee, we certainly appreciate it and will certainly stay on top of this and cover any future developments. Great. Thank you so much. All right, folks, let's go to another story out of Iowa. A 22-year-old black man was attacked by multiple white men who accused him of being a

burglar after leaving his girlfriend's home. Now, he was brutally assaulted with serious injuries. Darquan Jones suffered a broken arm, a broken nose, and five broken bones in his face. Joining us right now is Cameron Middlebrooks, president of the Des Moines, Iowa NAACP. Cameron, glad to have you on the show. This is absolutely crazy that these white men attacked him and he's a burglar, but he's leaving the home? So he wasn't actually leaving the home. He was attempting to get to his girlfriend's house. She didn't answer the door. And that's when he was approached by these two men accused of burglarizing a home or a piece of property.

That was not the case. There were no reports to police of any burglary that evening. And that's where the beating began to occur. This is certainly just unbelievable. He was pummeled. First of all, how many white men were involved in this? So at least two that we know of. Okay. And so they attack him. When did this take place? So this took place early Saturday morning. Kwan was on his way to his girlfriend's house to get some sleep before he was going to head to work. The attack occurred right outside of it or started outside of his girlfriend's home.

He got in a tussle with them, was able to get away and tried to run to a nearby field where he slipped. And that's when they began to put him in a chokehold. And one of the perpetrators began to brutally beat him. They dragged him to a nearby body of water. I would best describe it as a creek. That's when they began to dunk his head underwater. At this time, two women who were living in a nearby apartment complex heard the commotion. They came outside trying to figure out what was going on. And that's when they found Quan and these folks tussling. Quan was able to get away from them and cross the creek and get into the safety of these two black women that, in my opinion, saved his life and distracted the group of men just

enough to get him to safety. I have to ask, is the girlfriend black or white? She's black. So I wanted to make sure that we didn't have a situation there. Where she lives is, I mean, obviously we're talking about Iowa, but is it mostly whites who live in this apartment complex? Is it racially mixed or is it predominantly white? So this area in particular on the south side of Des Moines, where they do reside, is multiracial. There are mostly moderate to low-income families. But obviously it is Des Moines, Iowa. African-Americans only account about 13 percent of the entire population in the city.

So they think he's a burglar. So they believe that they're cops. I mean, this sort of sounds like to me, like what we just discussed with Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, where, oh, you think he's robbing something. So therefore, you now have the right to chase the person out and beat the hell out of them. Exactly, Roland. When I first heard about it, you know, this occurred actually two days after we experienced a cyber attack with our Civil Rights Commission and our in our Des Moines City Council where racial slurs were were railed off at that time. To me, it just shows an escalation of racial tension, not only in Des Moines, it's the same. It's basically the same rundown as Ahmaud Arbery and so many others where folks are accused of whatever crime as a reason or excuse to commit a crime themselves. Are these two men free or are they under arrest? They're still free. They're still at large right now. We have not heard any leads from the police department as of yet.

Now, were these two men living in the apartment complex? We do not know. But they still have not been caught? They still have not been caught. Do they have a sketch out, photos of these individuals? Roland, they don't have any of that yet. The two women, I think, probably had the best look at them, more so than Quan did. But they were quite a few distance away.

The lady told me roughly about 25 yards. It was dark, you know, the middle of the night. And it's near a forested area. So I'm not sure exactly what they were, how clear of a look they were able to get. But at this time, there are no leads. And the entire community is waiting for the police department to find justice. All right. Cameron Middlebrooks, president of Des Moines, Iowa, NAACP. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. Thank you for having me.

Reese, I want to go to you again. This is we can keep we talk about this case, Ahmaud Arbery. We can talk about Breonna Taylor. Again, what you have is you got white folks in this country, in the case of Taylor, obviously those were cops, who have this belief that, oh, we can chase down black folks with impunity. Absolutely. I think what I want to tell to the white folks out there,

if you're watching, black people don't want nothing from you, okay? Every black person out there is not trying to steal. There are most of us go to work. We buy what we need with our paychecks. Here you have a man who

was just trying to get some rest at his girlfriend's house before going to work, and he gets brutalized. And I hate to steal from Erica and Dr. Carver who say this all the time. These are modern-day slave patrols. These men have deputized themselves to harass and attack black people. It's happened to this gentleman in Iowa. We saw the same

situation with the FedEx driver that we're going to talk about later in the show. We saw it with Travis Miller, even though there wasn't violence involved. You have all of these people, including Ahmaud Arbery, where these folks are trying to, you know, they're inciting great violence on people just off of the suspicion, just because of their preconceived racist notions. Or on the other hand, it could just be that they're just violent thugs, savages who are using this whole burglary defense as a pretext to attack without any warning and without any cause black people who are just living while black. Either way, it has to come to a stop.

And it's very disturbing that these people are still at large. Erica. Yeah, I agree with Risi. And in the piece, it talked about that perhaps these two things were either drunk or high. I tell you what they're drunk or high off of. It's this faux religion of white supremacy. And when we continue to see this playbook of how to harm black life and literally not be held into account, we really see how it's just an allegation.

And what Risi said, it is not largely because black people are walking around looking for something to, you know, inciting violence. It's those individuals who feel themselves to be supreme egged on by their leader, who was the son of a Klansman, Donald John Trump Jr., feeling like they have have the wherewithal to ask a black person what are they doing in their neighborhood or either what are they doing just standing around white, black, and then demanding of them to be told about what they're doing, and then to go about making allegations that unfortunately sometimes lead to the chase and the violent verbal harm of a black person. And so as we continue to see these events unfold, whether they're captured on camera or whether they're told by a second or third hand person,

a decision has got to be made about what the response is going to be largely around it. And that is the thing that I think that Bob and Karen and the rest are really fully not prepared for. All right, then. All right, folks, let's go to our next story. And that is the issue of Amy Klobuchar. Of course, this tweet, first of all, it was a tweet that went out from a reporter at CBS stating that Sarah Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is being closely vetted to be the VP choice for Vice President Joe Biden. Remember, Biden announced that he was going to pick a woman to be his VP. There have been a number of African-Americans, especially black women, who have been saying pick a sister. When that report went out, CBS News reported that. This is what Zelina Maxwell tweeted.

Go to my iPad. Joe Biden needs to pick a black woman as VP. That's it. That's the tweet. Here's this tweet from Bari Williams, exec from Silicon Valley. This gets a resounding hell no from me. No, ma'am. Do not want. Do not pass. Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars. Then, of course, Angela Rye was even more clear. Tell your sources. This is a miserable, terrible, no good royal fuck up. Then Ellie Mustall tweeted this year. This reminds me of when brothers date black women when they broke red shirt right on the bench, but find a white woman to marry as soon as they sign that pro contract. Everybody disrespects women of color when they want something and only learn their error when they need something. Now, let's be clear. Vice President Joe Biden has not announced that Klobuchar is his pick. But the fact, Recy, that he's even considering a Senator Amy Klobuchar,

who wasn't even polling barely at 0.5% among black people. Second, well, first of all, you can just take it from there. Listen, this is not a surprise. Of course he is vetting Senator Amy Klobuchar. He is vetting probably a dozen people.

I think that Vice President Joe Biden is going to dangle any woman out there to try to get some headlines, whether it's a white woman, a black woman, a Latino woman, Asian woman. He is, you know, basically, I hate to put it in this way, but cloud chasing after all of these women. He probably knows maybe the top three people. But why not interview Jeanne Cheney, which I saw a report about today in New Hampshire, or Maggie Hassan, who are the New Hampshire senators who are white women who nobody knows outside of New Hampshire pretty much. Why not? I mean, he seems to be having fun with this. I think it's a complete joke.

I think it's a shit show. And as you point out, roland she has zero black support she made no effort to have black support i remember you on this show during the campaign season saying amy when are you going to come on the show and then the day that she comes on to the same day that cinderella comrade harris does and they're calling her black outreach voter rights which is something that many people are focused on, not just her. So yeah, Amy, that's fine. Go on ahead and vet her. I'm not terribly concerned about it because I think at the end of the day, what we're going to have is we're going to have a white is right VP choice, which is Amy Klobuchar. Or we're going to have a recognition

that our Amy Klobuchar or Elizabeth Warren, or are we going to have a recognition that Black women are the base of the party? Black women are also capable of governing, of being qualified. Be clear, it's not just a token identity pick, but we're either going to recognize that the Black people are the power of the Democratic Party. Those are the two choices, okay?

And I saw a poll out today that shows that Joe Biden's Black support slipped by three points. He's down to 81% black support in the latest NBC News poll. Now, Donald Trump only has 3% support. So his support has dropped by 4%. But you're going to have black people stay home. And you can curse them and you can say Donald Trump is the most important thing. It's not going to matter if you do not energize the black voters.

And Amy Klobuchar is now on start with black voters that Joe Biden doesn't already have. Erica, the thing is this here. All this talk around Senator Amy Klobuchar is that she could be the key to unlocking and winning these white voters in the Midwest. But I thought that was the reason why Biden was the choice. I thought Joe from Scranton was the one who could appeal to the white voters in Pennsylvania, because they say once you get outside of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, the rest of Pennsylvania is Alabama. I thought he was the guy who could appeal to the white voters in Michigan. Once you get outside of Detroit and Flint and Lansing, Michigan, the rest of it is Alabama. And then, of course, let's talk about Wisconsin.

Same thing in Minnesota. Once you get outside of Minneapolis and St. Paul and large cities, the rest of Minnesota is Alabama. So I thought if that was why Joe was there, why you need backup from a white woman like Klobuchar? He does not. And I lend I get my political excitement around talking about VPs and listening to VPs from a person, a woman who has been very staunch in her support of the black woman running for president, Senator Kamala Harris, and that is our very own Recy Colbert. And so, listen, to be quite frank, I think that the point that Recy brought up is something that should be very much so of concern because our support is not forever. Amy Klobuchar definitely has embarrassed herself. She's not come into account for some of her decisions when she was prosecutor.

Definitely not in the same way that Senator Kamala Harris has. And to be quite honest, I think what is also happening now is that he really needs to, and excuse for me saying this, he needs to cut the shit show. There was a big announcement about him bringing in Kareem Jean-Pierre as a senior advisor now. You know, as we continue to cover stories like you do on Roland Martin and filter talking about Ahmaud Arbery and just this newest case out in Des for him to go ahead and announce who that VP is. And I'm throwing a term away, women of color, because it needs to be a damn black woman. Black women are the most disrespected. It's not women of color. It's black women. We have been here. Cicely Tyson talks about that fourth rung, how black women, when we go into a space,

we lift everyone up because we're looking through everyone's lens. And so when you see people coming out talking about, well, a black woman needs to be vice president, the one person that I know that has always actively advocated for a black woman to be in the White House at this modern time has been black women views. And so cut it, go ahead and make the announcement. If we're going to do roll out a top three, those top three, to me, all three of them should be black women. And let's get it moving because there's a lot of work to be done, particularly around voter protections and making sure that the base of the party does turn out and leave them white folks alone. They left in the

sixties. They're not coming back. That's over. It is done with. It needs to be a black woman that's going to be the beep on this Biden. So I'll put this out to you. And I've I've heard I've heard this from some black female activists who say if he picks Senator Elizabeth Warren, they would welcome that pick. She's progressive. There are Democrats who say that she would unite the progressive wing with this moderate center right, if you will, that Biden appeals to. Your thoughts about seeing Elizabeth Warren as a potential VP pick? Yeah, that's not a black woman. And Senator Elizabeth Warren, I tip my hat to her. She won the blue check battle of intelligentsia. She had the black intelligentsia. She had the black verified Twitter on her account.

And guess what? In South Carolina, she got 8% of the black vote. In Virginia, she got 8% of the black vote. So she can parachute every black person in there to co-sign her, but she did not connect with black people during the primary. It's not just a joke thing. If you look at her audiences, they were very monolithic, right? Even in places like South Carolina. So, no, Elizabeth Warren is not a black VP, just like Bill Clinton is not a black president. Just like Donald Trump is not a black president, as some of his black supporters would say. Absolutely not. Elizabeth Warren

is not sufficient. She did not perform all that well in the primaries herself. She never placed above third place. She had a $140 million campaign. She lost every single race, including her home state. So this whole notion that she's some sort of big unifier

is really strange and it doesn't really bear out based on her performance in the primaries. Amy Klobuchar barely placed above fourth or fifth in the few contests that she made it through. And so, yes, even though Senator Kamala Harris dropped out before the voting starts, there is absolutely no more persuasive case to be made for Elizabeth Warren or Amy Klobuchar's electability, given how poorly they fared throughout the campaign with far more money, far more exposure and far more opportunities to prove themselves. So, again, that's an absolutely hell no on Elizabeth Warren. Erica.

Absolutely. Everything that Recy said and whatever the Ivy League, I guess, notion gives people in ways of connecting with her. Good for them. I'm with Recy. She is not a damn black woman. And that is the bottom line. The V ticket has to be a black woman. And mind you, and this is just the facts, Senator Klobuchar, excuse me, Senator Warren is in her 70s. So I think that she serves far better in the wells of the Senate than running alongside someone who is advanced in age himself. He needs the same group of women that gave him a Christlike resurrection when he was in South Carolina to his campaign. What do you say to people, the people who have been commenting on the chats,

who say Senator Harris didn't resonate among black people? Well, number one, she absolutely did resonate among black people. As a matter of fact, there were articles about how the fact that she was tapping into a black donor class that hadn't even been tapped into before. Her events were very much diverse. There were tons of black and black events. I, in fact, attended her Black Women's Weekend of Action in South Carolina. The fact of the matter is you cannot compare apples and oranges.

You cannot compare the performance of a person, Senator Kamala Harris, who got in some weeks 137 mentions in the media compared to Elizabeth Warren, who got over 1,000, and Joe Biden, who got 1,800. She had 3% of the media mentions in her campaign. She ran a campaign that raised a total of $35 million, which, by the way, is the most that a Black woman has ever raised running for president. However, you compare that to $140 million, of course she's not going to compete as well. But the fact of the matter is Kamala Harris was able to generate enthusiasm in her supporters. She was able to constantly bring out Black people, which is what we're talking about here in Michigan. She won the endorsement of the entire Michigan Black Caucus. And so this whole notion that Senator Kamala Harris doesn't appeal

to Black people just because there were smears about her record that were propagated by the progressive wing of the party because she didn't get to South Carolina because we had the most white states voting first, which she was not polling well in, is ridiculous. It's trying to pass off the structural disadvantages of this presidential campaign as some sort of deficiency on her part. The bottom line is Senator Kamala Harris has won the most votes out of all of these women, period, time and time again. She's won competitor primaries, unlike Senator Elizabeth Warren, who was in a competitor primary. Klobuchar was not in a competitor primary for their Senate seats. So she's won. The proof is in the pudding. And at the end of the day, the bottom line is Senator Kamala Harris can go into black spaces. She can go on Revolt TV, the podcast with Joe Biden. She can go on to Essence magazine, to the Essence Festival.

She can go into all these black places, incredibly, incredibly incompetently talk about our issues as black people. And more importantly, she's actually working on these things. I don't see Elizabeth Warren pushing the racial disparities and ethnic task force. I don't see her pushing all these initiatives about racial profiling and trying to push William Barr on all these things. Senator Kamala Harris has taken the lead. She didn't drop black people like a bad habit once she dropped out. She is still fighting for her interest and that's what we need, a seat at the table, period. You say you don't see Senator Elizabeth Warren pushing which racial diversity task force?

Well, you know, Senator Kamala Harris has to build racial and ethnic disparities task force to make sure that FEMA is putting the right resources towards diagnosing the things like we're going to talk about in the show later, why black people are dying in disproportionate rates, making sure that black people are not left out of the response.

Warren did. Actually, Warren has been involved in that. She's been doing it with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. And even we talked about it yesterday when she criticized the Trump administration's putrid report specifically dealing with the racial data affecting coronavirus. So she has been speaking on that particular issue. Speaking on it, yes. Signing onto a letter, yes. Pushing legislation, no. Really championing it, no. Yes, she does check the box. I will give Elizabeth Warren credit for checking the box. She has her bullet points and she has her P.S. But in terms of actually championing issues, that's not what she does.

During the campaign, she was all about black maternal mortality. But when it came to the Black Momnibus bill, you didn't see her on that stage with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley or with Senator Kamala Harris. Senator Kamala Harris was the only senator who represented in that type of task force. So that's the kind of thing that I'm talking about. It's not a matter of just simply checking the box and sending out a tweet or signing on to a letter. It's about who's truly championing these issues and going into spaces and talking about this competently over and over and over again. And Senator Warren does not meet that level that Senator Kamala Harris does. So the only thing, again, the pushback here, and this is actually a transcript right here, Warren remarks on press call about her bill

to require release of COVID demographic data, including race and ethnicity. That's dated April 17th. So what bill are you talking about? She has a bill that specifically does that. Yeah, but I'm talking about there is a racial and ethnic disparities task force bill that Senator Kamala Harris has put out, which does far more than just release demographic data. Like I said, I'm not saying that Elizabeth Warren doesn't do anything. What I'm saying is that she is not championing this to the same degree and to the same cell that we see that Senator Kamala Harris is. Yes, does she sign on to things? Yes, does she put out things? Yes, she does. But it's not anywhere near to the degree of what Senator Kamala Harris does. When they talked about, when Senator, I'm sorry, Vice President Joe Biden had a town hall on the racial disparities on the

way that COVID impacts Black people. It was not Senator Warren that he called up. It was Senator Kamala Harris that he called up. And she conducted Joe Biden's town hall. And she's been talking about these issues for months on multiple areas, whether it's on MSNBC or whether it's directly to Black people. And that's what I'm saying. It's not just a matter of putting out a letter or signing on to something.

It's a matter of who out a letter or signing on to something. It's a matter of who can truly champion these issues. Erica, final comment. And just just wanted to add that when we think about the firing of this latest inspector general, Steve Linnick, who served as the broadways and abuse inspector general of the State Department, Senator Kamala Harris fired off a letter in August of 2019 saying that the same person that's leading the State Department, Mike Pompeo, that he be held into account, him and other officials. So when you think about those things that maybe aren't necessarily sexy, but understanding how these important positions are necessary within our democracy, you see black women. And so, again, a Biden campaign was revived

by black women. A black woman, not a woman of color, needs to be his vice president. All right, folks, health specialists and science experts state that there are layers of previous health conditions like hypertension and heart and respiratory illnesses that have often been welcomed by negative environmental factors like pollution in the air, which have made black people more susceptible to catching coronavirus and dying. Black communities across the country are environmentally compromised. Environmental racism combined with COVID-19 is serving as a double whammy in black America. Joining us right now is Michelle Mabson, senior staff scientist for the Earth Justice, chief advocacy officer Officer for Black Millennials for Flint.

As you look at this, Michelle, in terms of this environmental justice, how then do you get organizations and policymakers to understand how the two are joined together to result in this double whammy? That's a great question, and thank you so much for having me. I think the first thing we need to understand is that these issues are pervasive in communities of color and low-income communities, but especially in Black communities. So it should not surprise us that we're actually seeing the disproportionate impacts being felt by COVID-19 on Black communities. And there's already research that shows that the types of air pollution that especially black communities are exposed to at higher rates are actually what are contributing to higher mortality rates for COVID-19.

And that part of that is because of the comorbidities of diseases like lung disease, heart disease, asthma and other high rates diseases, and basically being immunocompromised by being exposed to this pollution for a long time. So I think for policymakers, it's time to look at where are those places that we see that high pollution and that overburdening in communities and provide relief, because communities have been asking for this type of relief for decades. So when you say relief, what does that relief look like? What does relief look like? Relief for, let's start with this administration and what it's currently trying to do, which is to relax enforcement of air pollution laws for facilities that are trying to essentially continue to pollute during this crisis. So number one would be to not allow that to happen,

whether you're at the state level or lobbying at the federal level. The Environmental Protection Agency should not be relaxing compliance and enforcement at these type of facilities that are directly contributing to the type of pollution that can contribute to COVID deaths. And then beyond that, I think there's also needing to be a push for embracing science that helps us understand and better understand what is happening in communities on the ground. Who do you think really has been the biggest champion on these issues for Black folks in Congress? In Congress, I think we've seen a number of folks, I think Senator Duckworth out in Illinois has been instrumental.

We have seen Senator Carper as well speak out on these issues. We've also seen Representative Ayanna Pressley also speak out, especially when we understood that there were disproportionate impacts to the black community. And so we're trying to peel back those layers and understand why is that the case? Environmental racism and environmental injustice is a part of the problem. And so moving forward, do you believe that in the midst of this, I mean, look, what coronavirus has shown is so many inequities left and right that the policymakers would actually take this seriously and do something about it? I think that is happening.

I think at least in some states we're also seeing regulators saying we're not going to comply with EPA's policy on relaxing air pollution regulations for facilities. Out in California, we also see that there are studies that are trying to understand that impact of air pollution on health and related to the COVID crisis. And then we also have a big amount of academic research coming out that's showing that same correlation, whether we look at Harvard or Tulane University in Louisiana, where actually the highest per capita COVID related deaths are in a small parish in Louisiana. So we're thinking about New York and Detroit and other parts of the country. Let's not forget about the rural areas that are also being ravaged by COVID as well. And a lot of that is linked to air pollution. All right, then. Well, look, we certainly appreciate it. Keep up the good work in this particular area, Michelle Mappson. Thanks a lot. Thanks.

All right, folks, got to go to a break. We come back. We're going to talk about what Haitian activists are doing when it comes to ensuring that black folks are not being sent out of this country. Could coronavirus be spread in Haiti because of the Trump's actions? Also, Trump had a meeting with some black people in Detroit today. Quite interesting. We'll break it down next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. You want to check out Roland Martin Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real.

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Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. As Roland Martin Unfiltered, support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show by going to Roland it black and keep it real as roland martin unfiltered support the roland martin unfiltered daily digital show by going to rolandmartinunfiltered.com our goal is to get 20 000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year you can make this possible rolandmartinunfiltered.com all right folks after baselessly accusing immigrants of bringing coronavirus to the united states, Donald Trump is endangering the lives of infected immigrants with flights filled with COVID-19 carriers. There have been

eight such flights this week alone, according to data collected by Jake Johnston at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and a total of 98 flights since March 15th. Destinations to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Brazil, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Jamaica. Recent reports have also claimed that some one hundred and thirty migrants from India will soon be deported to New Delhi. This is crazy. I want to go to my panel here. Is that OK? If you're trying to sit here and prevent coronavirus from becoming an international pandemic like it is,essions, you continue to push your racist policy, especially at a time of a pandemic. You know, when you look at the proclamation that he made on April 22nd about suspending folks from being able to come into the country, looking at the different

countries where it's been broken out, you see more people that are being relatively not blocked from coming in that are from areas like Western Europe, from Canada. And then you juxtapose that to people from Central America, South America, some of the countries that you mentioned, and, of course, Africa. So this is, again, an opportunity because this is a re-election year for him. And I have to say this, but he has to continue to feed the racism that the 53 percent helped him gain office. And then all of those people that like his policies, they have seen their wealth built over the past four years, feeding them as well. So I'm not at all surprised, particularly when we still have folks that are being held in private detention centers. So that still feeds those people who have wealth and stock in those areas. I'm not terribly surprised, but I think that it's very important that people do understand this because the other effect of that,

America supposedly being first, is you're seeing the impact that we're having on the global community as a trusted place of respite and leading with wisdom. Bottom line is, I mean, look, it shows you how careless and heartless this administration is, Recy. Yeah, cruelty is the point. We have a white nationalist administration, and that's always been their policy. One of the first acts that Donald Trump put in place was the Muslim ban. And then you have the child separation policy, which is still essentially in effect. They do not look at immigrants as human beings. They're chess pawns, and they're

people to inflict harm and damage upon. It makes absolutely no sense what they're doing. But this is the Donald Trump way. It is to hold immigrants in totally inhumane conditions, cause a spread in these detention centers, deport people, usually without any kind of due process. But what Donald Trump fails to understand, aside from the workers that he has in his um his resorts which he has no problem finding workers or immigrants to work in those but you're cutting off a pipeline of doctors of medical professionals of scientists that can actually help us tackle this public health crisis you're not going to have people who are scientists from other countries even want to come over here and deal with all this crap because of the racist and xenophobic treatment that the Donald Trump administration inflicts on immigrants. And

it's ridiculous. All right, folks, today in Detroit, Donald Trump held a discussion on efforts to help distressed communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic before touring a Ford manufacturing plant in Ypsilanti Township today. Of course, he didn't wear a mask. He met with national and Detroit area African-American leaders at the Ford Motor Company's Rawsonville plant before touring the facility, which has been repurposed to manufacture ventilators and personal protective equipment. Now, keep in mind, what has also happened is that Ford had to shut down a couple of other plants as they opened because workers tested positive coronavirus. Here is some of what discussed Trump discussed with the black folks.

So then others and you're making sure that the federal government is also going to cover health costs for those that are under uninsured or underinsured. We thank you for this. Our country has been placed on pause, but pause does not stop. We've been on pause, but we're about to press go and get back going again. I said it before unashamedly, and I say it again. This president has been, I've lived under 12 presidential administrations. I was born during Eisenhower's administration. This president has been the most pro-black president in my lifetime. But when I say pro, I'm saying it pro in the sense of being proactive. He's been proactive rather than

reactive to issues concerning minority, underserved, and disadvantaged communities than any other president in my lifetime. I really believe history is going to be kinder to you, Mr. President, than fake news media is today. Can't be any worse. Hello. Hi, Mr. President. How are you? It's such an honor to meet you. Thank you. It's my honor. I want to first tell you thank you so much. I am a COVID-19 survivor, and I got diagnosed probably about a month, month and a half ago as positive.

And just sitting at home and, you know, watching TV and heard you talk about hydrochloroquine and talked to my doctor. We took it. And within five days, I'm here to say I'm good to go. So a lot of people have said that. Yes. And so I want to first. I go off it tomorrow, I think. Oh, really? oh really took a while

yeah i was uh exposed to a couple of people and i said let's give it a shot the doctor said he recommends it but uh i looked at the story of karen and many others and i said uh i said what do we have to lose that's what i said anyway so you had a good experience. I had an excellent experience. All right. Pastor Darrell Scott says that he's lived under 12 administrations. First one is Eisenhower. Kennedy, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, Trump. That's 12. There is no way in hell you could remotely compare Risi Donald. Out of those 12, there is not a single president, including Obama, that matches President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Period. If I look at Civil Rights Act of 64,

Voting Rights Act of 65, Fair Housing Act of 68, when I look at, I mean, I can go, that ain't even a conversation. What the hell is he talking about? You know what? It's just maybe he is. I mean, he's obviously completely delusional, right?

I mean, it's more of the Trump grifting that we talked about last week. It's very profitable for him as a black man to sit up there and lie and suck up to Donald Trump. Donald Trump asked us in 2016, what in the hell do you have to lose? Apparently, he feels like he has nothing to lose about pretending or actually taking hydrochloric zinc. But let me tell you what we have to lose. Black unemployment right now is 16.7 percent, maybe even higher. That was April's unemployment rate. We know that we've lost millions of jobs since then. Black people are disproportionately being impacted by this COVID-19 pandemic, whether that's in mortality and whether that's in actual infection rates. So how in the hell is a president who has completely abjegated

his responsibility to actually tackle this crisis? How is that making it any better for Black folks? I don't know too many Black folks, I would say right now in May of 2020 that they're better off than they were when Obama was president. Or you could go back to the other 11 presidents before that or 10 presidents that Pastor Darrell Scott is referring to. It's really ridiculous, but apparently it works for Pastor Darrell Scott. I don't know who the hell is going to his church. But if you're going to sit up there and lie like that about Donald Trump, then I don't know what else you're going to lie about. Erica, I'm sorry, Darrell, I mean, I appreciate the laughs. I appreciate that. But this whole idea of how Trump has been so proactive towards black America? How? I mean, where?

Okay, so you want to bring up opportunity zones. Opportunity zones ain't new. Those have been in previous administrations going back 20 years. I mean, matter of fact, if you really want to, if you want to break this thing up, who was probably the biggest supporter of African-Americans with civil rights?

Yeah, we could say LBJ. I would dare say out of the last 12 presidents, who was the most proactive when it came to black business? I say Nixon. Bob Brown, the office that was created that drove the black businesses, small business administration loans, I can point to that. I'm trying to figure out, Trump ain't even in the top five. Top ten.

I mean, Trump down there with Reagan when it comes to helping black folks. Right. The creator of the whole welfare queen term. And then thinking about, you know, I don't trust anybody that pronounces government as government. So that automatically disqualifies me from listening to anything that you have to say. And to praise a person who gained office through Russian interference, that there is a Senate intelligence report that is bipartisan, that says as much. I think it takes grifting to a whole nother level, especially when you consider that at the beginning of May, Mitch McConnell opened up the wells of the Senate to do what? To push through judges and leaders of federal agency that will harm him and everybody that was sitting around

that table that was as black as the day that they were born. And so I think that we cannot take this with a grain of salt because we have to make sure that as we continue to move towards the general election, that people aren't buying into this, right? That people are understanding that this is a campaign, an active campaign of disinformation and misinformation, and they will use all of those who are willing and ready. And unfortunately, everyone around that table seems to fit that bill. Again, I mean, I just again, I we invited Daryl Scott. We try to get him on the show. And he keeps saying this stuff to me. And I'm like, dude, I'm sorry. The evidence is remote. It isn't ain't even thin. So there's this idea Trump is just so

proactive with black people, I think, is really, really hilarious. It really is. Alright, folks, let's go to the story that we've been covering, that is, we talked about the Arbery case, so many others, and of course,

you know we have crazy-ass white people. Go ahead and roll it no charcoal girls are allowed i'm white i got you my property. Okay folks, so many of you have seen this video, have seen this video that we have, it's been going around and that is two drivers, they're actually not FedEx drivers. They work for a separate company that contracts with FedEx. They posted this video of them being harassed by this white man where they were delivering a package. Watch this.

Say it. Say it out here. You lying like hell. You can put it on video camera. I don't care. Come on, say it out here. You lying like hell. You can put it on video camera, I don't care. Come on, say it. No, you come out here and tell me again, you gonna whoop me. That's what I want you to do. Put it on video camera, I want you to. You said you was gonna come out here.

No, I, no, you don't lie. Man, you lying like hell, bro. You put your glasses on and said you was gonna beat my ass. Come out here and do it. That's what I want you to do. Man, that dude straight lying, bruh, on God. That man lying, bruh, on God. That man came out of nowhere and started cursing, bruh.

This man came out and started... You right. I didn't ever say I wasn't. I don't move off on your grass this man came out and started you tell me um you're right i didn't ever say i wouldn't i'll move off of your grass but you didn't have to come out there cussing me like that like i'm some child i ain't no little boy i'm no little boy i'll wait till the police come You can record all you want, bro. I got you. I got you, bro. That's where your power at right there.

That's your power. That's his power. That's where your power at right there. Where you going? Man, I ain't finna waste my time with you. You got my information. You got my information. They'll find me.

They'll find me. You need to get your glasses back on. Yeah, I thought you were going to whoop my ass, too. All right, folks. So that was a tweet sent out by Antonia Braswell. Today, he posted this. FedEx called and told me to take down. We have the tweet FedEx call and told me to take down this video and fire both of us today.

I'm reposting this video because people like him doesn't matter white or any race should never disrespect essential workers putting their lives in jeopardy, especially with this COVID-19. Now, this other reporter who was with Newsweek, who was editor at large, what he did was he was covering this story, made some phone calls to the folks at FedEx. And that's where we found out that they were independent workers. So here's the deal. I'm reading these tweets right here. This is what he posted. The first tweet. This is what he said. Some good news for Antonio, the FedEx driver in the video. I asked FedEx spokesperson if she could confirm he and his partner had been fired. Here's their response. While we conduct this investigation, FedEx will provide employment for these drivers.

Now, this is the statement. FedEx takes extremely seriously any allegations of discrimination, retaliation, or improper employment actions. These individuals are employed by an independent service provider and FedEx will be conducting a thorough investigation into these claims. While we conduct this investigation, FedEx will provide employment for these drivers. That really, I think, is the good news. A lot of people out there, Recy, have been saying that these folks should be, we should boycott FedEx. But again, initially when they posted, they said FedEx fired them. They actually didn't work for FedEx. Even though you saw the uniforms, they actually was a subsidiary.

Just it's no different than when somebody you think you're flying United, but they actually are contracting with a regional airline. And it's not actually United. This obviously is just an unbelievable story. But these black guys were just delivering a package to the white guy. The white guy got mad. What's your my lawn for? It's the same thing we've seen repeatedly. We saw it just last week, I think, with Travis Miller. But I do think that the good news is that people threatening to boycott FedEx now, perhaps they didn't work for FedEx and that was a bit of a misstatement on his part. But the fact that FedEx recognized that it is worse to be seeming to side with white supremacists and racists who are harassing people just trying to do their job than it is to try to punish people for getting into an

exchange with a person who is completely inappropriate, who was verbally berating them and threatening them. I think that is the good news. We have to hold these companies accountable to protecting their workers. Whether you're on the clock or not, you do not have to subject yourself to abuse. And so let FedEx take the lead and stick with it, by the way. Don't just, you know, have this little temporary situation and then try to wait for it to blow over and then you let them go again. But these companies need to stand by these black workers that are being harassed for no damn reason. Erica, you are quite familiar with this story because you're related to one of them. Yeah. The young man that actually shot the video is my cousin, Antonio Braswell. And so I was really proud that unfortunately he had to execute strategy,

which is the preservation of life playbook when you have to record the video. So, Erica, Erica, one second. So Brad will shot the video. Who was the other guy? Do you know? That was someone that was training him. Antonio was the one that was behind the camera that you hear his voice. Got it. Antonio. Yeah. Got it. OK, go ahead. I spoke with my aunt today, who is his grandmother, and just wanted to check and see how he was doing and told her, you know, this had gone viral. And one of the things he mentioned in one of his tweets that he definitely needed his job because he has a family to take care of. And just asked her about the baby. And she said that the baby smells as beautiful as she looks.

And so, you know, for him to be as young as he is and to have to have this type of experience, but to absolutely know what needs to be done, number one, to shield themselves from any harm that may come, but then also have a record of what actually did happen. What we're seeing now more and more every day is what Risi talked about, is we're seeing that these are really extreme measures that black people were having to take, not white people. Black people are having to take the number one, be believed. Number two, have a record or something. And number three, have some measure of justice against white folks who feel like, again, being deputized as a part of slave patrols, that they have the right to demand to know what a black person is doing and what their business is.

And it just reminds me of when in times where my parents were coming up, where, you know, a person was expected to respond to being called boy or girl or instead of instead of by their name. But I'm really proud of Antonio and what he did. It's just it can't black folks just trying to do their job. No different than three or four years ago, the white woman in Virginia, she didn't want a black man delivering a product to her house from Home Depot.

These people are absolutely out of their damn minds. They are. And I'm telling you right now, that worker, he was like, no, no, no, no. Bring your ass out here. You think I'll whoop my ass? No, leave your yard, come out in this street and try it.

You see his ass didn't leave the edge of that yard. Right. No, it did not. See, when he got challenged, it was kind of like, oh, let me go ahead, because he will whoop my ass. So let me go ahead and back up. All right, y'all my second craziest white person video y'all these people these white folks complain about these masks are

really getting on my nerves y'all we saw this video these these tears i i'm just trying to figure out what just go ahead and press play that was probably 45 minutes of having it on it's first time I've worn one I am disoriented I'm a little mad if you can't tell that already like I'm very I'm frustrated but I don't feel good physically like I can tell you right now I wasn't getting enough oxygen and I just had on one of these little stupid things. I feel dizzy, my hands are kind of tingly, my heart is beating fast. So some of it's an emotional reaction but some of it's a physical reaction. I understand the virus is real. Okay. I understand the virus is real. Friends, look at the numbers and tell me why everybody's living in fear. Tell me why we're putting these

things on and not being able to breathe. I just want to cry. Like that's all I want to do is cry because you can't see people's faces. You can't make human connection. We can't hug people. We can't hold their babies. I'm at the end of it. I'm just simply at the end of it. It doesn't make sense. This doesn't make sense. And it's, I'm not okay with it nothing about what we're doing is supported by the numbers that are out there those of you that know me like I am one of the most compassionate caring people you will ever meet and I do care about you but I also care about me and my children and my family and I do care about my rights and it's probably the

last time I'm wearing this because I feel terrible I feel emotionally terrible but I feel physically like it affected me so anyway there you go First of all, Karen, the damn mask didn't make your ass physically sick. If you were walking with the mask and now you can't breathe, your ass out of shape. Okay. I had that damn mask on today. Walking down the street. I had to go to the dentist's office to get a crown put back in that came out trying to floss.

Didn't have no problem breathing. Okay, wasn't physically. If your damn fingers are tingling, there ain't a damn thing to do with that mask. It's called an anxiety attack. Because your ass ignorant. Okay, we can't see people's faces. We can't hug babies.

Half the folks are dying. Well, I don't understand about these people. This is not a virus that your ass can catch. And then in two or three weeks you sick as a dog and then all of a sudden you're feeling better. No. It is taking people out who are triathletes. People who are avid walkers. Mara Gay is an opinion writer for the New York Times.

She talked about she went for a 10-mile run, and then they followed up with a three-mile walk up some stairs, and she talked about how she is still being impacted and sick as a result of this. And you watch these old whiny ass people. I mean, we can't touch people and it's not that bad until your ass get it. I talked to a friend, Erica. She believes she had coronavirus.

She couldn't get tested. She went to pneumonia. She is having to do a nebulizer every four to six hours. There are people who have gotten it.

One guy, his wife had cancer. This dude was protecting himself. He goes to the pharmacy. He gets it. Dude now runs out of breath going from the front door to the car. And then she's sitting here, I care about my children. Well, if you care about your children,

then your ass would want other people to have a mask on so they don't go. These people, oh, I'm sick of these whiny crying ass folks over a mask. And here's the other deal. It ain't like you gotta wear it all day.

Do you know what I do? When I'm walking, when I went for a walk in my neighborhood, straight up. If ain't nobody around, I pull a mask down. Right. And then when they get within 20 yards of me, pull a mask up, distance, walk past them. And when they behind me 20 feet, mask down. I'm fine. These little whiny ass guys, I'm never going to wear this again. Oh, my God. This is just it's taking my freedoms.

You know what? Fine. Die. You got then you have lots of free time with no mask. Right. And I'm I'm just, you know, the Karens and the Bobs of the world, the same people who were saying to state governments that you have to reopen. We have not even gotten through the first wave of this novel virus. I saw where you had tagged Dr. Ebony and talking about the different ways with which, you know, what mask works best. And the response that Dr. Ebony gave, I mean, it was not clear cut. It was like we're still discovering. Here's, you know, the percentage of, you know, where we've seen it perform well. But then we have to see. But then you need to read this piece as well to kind of follow up and make a best decision for yourself. So, you know, the Karens and the Bobs and the worlds are not all of that to say that they're

not being, they're not used to being denied what it is that they want, right? They wanted the states to open back up. They have opened back up. They want it to be able to go to the beach and swim in the beach. They're able to go back to the beach and to swim into the beach. But I'm going to tell you what this black woman is going to do exactly what she's been doing for the past 12 weeks. I'm going to be in this house. Um, when I do exercise, it is going to be on my balcony and I make necessary runs a couple of times a month because we still have a long way to go. But when a person is not used to being denied the ability to do what the hell they want to do, which is really the history of white folks, if you have to just be honest about it, then of course a Karen is going to

break down because she's not able to somehow with all types of just the wherewithal be able to touch and hold someone's baby or to have to cover up for a specific amount of time. It always, it will always feel like oppression to Karen and Bob. I don't want your ass touching my baby. Period. Reesha, I, I, I, these people, I'm telling you right now, they acting a fool at stores, cussing

folk out, losing their mind. I'm, look. All fending their faces. I, I have, y'all, let me warn everybody in advance. I, Roland Sebastian Martin, have not encountered any of these crazy people. But I just want y'all to know for the record, if I encounter any one of these fools in public lashing out at an essential worker, the voice you will hear cussing them out will be mine. Recy, I'm just letting you know, I'm going to cuss they ass out. As you should.

What's so ironic to me is that you have people that don't want to wear masks. So, OK, you can't go to the stores if you don't want to wear a mask. But then you harass the hell out of the people that are delivering your shit to your house. How does that make sense? The fact of the matter is wearing masks is very much normalized in many parts of the world. In China, for instance, it is a very normal standard thing to wear a mask. It's not oppressive to have to wear a mask. And she's absolutely incorrect that the numbers don't support wearing masks. The reasons why we can help keep the numbers down lower is because if you wear a mask and I wear a mask, then we have a lower probability of spreading it to each other. And so that's the whole point

of wearing masks. And if you claim to care about your kids, then you should be taking all the proper precautions. You should want other people to be doing that. I actually am skeptical that she even experienced any of those things. She's obviously a drama queen. And like I said in my tweet, she's a habitual line stepper. You can see people's faces. You don't need to see more of what you're seeing already. You can touch people. You just can't touch random people.

You can't be in a grocery store and be like, oh, is that your baby? Can I touch him? You can't ask a Black woman, oh, can I touch your hair? Stand back, 50 feet, wear your damn mask, and shut the hell up. It's not that much to ask other than, do you want to be on a ventilator? Do you want to be in an ICU for six weeks?

Do you want to be in a casket? If all those answers are no, then do what you got to do and do it with the COVID and a smile. How about that? Absolutely. These people, they stupid to me. And I'm just telling you right now, it's the most unbelievable dumb thing in the world. And yes, I hate the fact that I couldn't fly home for my cousin Craig Lamont's funeral. OK, I hate the fact that my boy Roger B. Brown, we're having a Zoom memorial service and an Alpha Phi Alpha Omega service on Saturday for him.

I hate the fact that I can't I couldn't go home for Mother's Day. My dad is 73. My mom will be 73 in November. I hate the fact that I can't go home for their 53rd wedding anniversary next month in June. But you know what I would hate, really? Is to hop my ass on a plane. Okay? But you know what I would hate, really, is to go is to hop my ass on a plane. OK, and be like that NBC virologist who did everything right, who had a mask, who had gloves, who had everything. And he says he likely got it through his eyes.

Yeah. So I would hate to go home and again, leave my house, go into the airport, get on a plane, get off the plane, go into another airport, get into a rental car, drive home, not knowing who the hell was in it. What's going on to go home, potentially infect my parents, both who have pre-existing conditions, then all of a sudden, they in a hospital on damn ventilator because of that. No, I would rather be safe. Y'all stay where y'all at, I stay here, let's keep testing, let's bring this thing down, but you're absolutely right.

There's going to be a second wave. Dr.. But you're absolutely right. There's going to be a second wave. Dr. Ebony Hilton was right. It's going to be a second wave. And then we've already had 94, 95,000 people die. We're going to hit a hundred thousand by the end of the week. And trust me, folks, these people are going to cause another a hundred thousand. The study came out recently that said, Columbia University study, had the Trump administration one week earlier instituted

the distancing. Guess what? 36,000 deaths could have been averted. That's more than a third, and this ignorant fool is mad about a damn mask.

And I just saw a tweet today, and I'm not sure forgive me if it was Alabama or some southern state. They're basically saying in some places, we don't have any more hospital beds for you. We don't have any ICU capacity. We

are at 100%. So if you catch coronavirus and you need to be admitted, either you're going to die or they're going to have to take somebody else out of that ICU and kill them. That's where we're at in places. And that's what we're heading to. That's why we stayed home. That's why we had to bend the curve. Because despite the fact that we're one of the greatest countries in the world, we do not have unlimited ICU capacity. We do not have unlimited ventilators. We do not have unlimited hospital beds. And so we were able to stave off some of the more severe impacts earlier, even though, as you said, Roland, still 36,000 preventable deaths. We are not out of the woods yet and in some places you better pray to god that nothing happens to you because that is an instant death sentence if it

does uh all right look some of y'all complaining we're getting no sound on instagram y'all that's instagram problem that's not us okay we're getting sound on youtube we're getting sound on facebook we're getting sound on periscope uh so keen on Facebook. We're getting sound on Periscope. So Kenan, kill the Instagram feed. I don't know what's going on over there. But all people on Instagram, y'all need to be watching on YouTube, okay? So just come to YouTube and watch.

And matter of fact, I think we're just gonna stop streaming on Instagram because their platform is all screwed up. Y'all, I saw this video here of another Karen. Oh my God, I had no choice but to show it. A Karen acting a fool with a white cop. Her ass got arrested. Please press play. Well, I did issue for a defective equipment. It's $80. You have until September 16th to take care of this. Get you to sign there with the X's. So you don't even give a warning for this? You've been driving around for six months like that. I'm truthful.

Well, I'm not going to give you a warning for something you've been driving for six months. Well, I don't want to sign it because I don't want to do $80. You don't want to sign it? No, because I don't think that I deserve to pay $80 for something that is fixable and I can fix it. That's all you want to do. Go ahead and step out of the car. Why? Because you're under arrest.

Step out. Step out of the vehicle. No, I'm not. Step out. No. Step out. I'm giving you a lawful order. Step out.

You be fair with me and I'll be fair with you. Step out. No. You're under arrest. No, I'm not. I'm placing you under arrest. Step out. You are full of because you're not placing me under no arrest.

Do not take off. Oh, shut up and give me that and I'll sign it. Step out. No. We're beyond that. Do you want me to- Step out. We're beyond that. You want me to step out? Get out of the car.

Get out of the car. Get out of the car. Get out of the car. Get out of the car. Get out of the car. Get out of the car. You better leave me. Put your hands behind your back. Leave me alone.

Put your hands behind your back. Put your hands behind your back. Lay down and put your hands behind your back. Now. No, you will not. You're gonna get it again. Do you realize you just got yourself in a whole lot more trouble? For what? For running. Oh, I didn't run.

I told you you weren't going to arrest me. I pulled in here thinking that you would call. You hurt? Yeah, I'm hurt. What hurts? Everything. All right, I got AMS on the way to St. Dike. You got a what on the way?

I got an ambulance on the way to check you out. Ambulance? I don't need an ambulance. Well, you got tased, so they got to check you out. You did not have to taser me. You wouldn't comply. You wouldn't get out. And then you tried to kick me, so they got to check you out. You did not have to taser me. You wouldn't comply. You wouldn't get out. And then you tried to kick me. So, yes, I did.

Yeah, I tried to kick you because I'm a country girl. And you got tased because of it. Yes, and I didn't like being thrown on the ground. Well, next time, listen to what I'm telling you to do. Okay, let me just be real clear. That shit was funny okay i'm just i'm just gonna be straight up honest two um they said that's not a that's a sander because she's over 65 um as they said on YouTube, if that was a black woman, she's dead. Yeah.

That part. Sandra Bland was arrested and thrown in jail for a hell of a lot less than that. Yep. But the fact that this woman, Erica, I mean, look, I don't want cops to sit here

and tase nobody. But you admitted you driving around for six months. Now, hell no, I ain't taking no ticket. That video right there is absolute white privilege. I ain't taking your ticket. I'm driving off. How dare you tase me? I'm going to kick you. I mean driving off. How dare you tase me? I'm a kick you.

I mean, she that's that's that's some white privilege right there. Yep. At every level and every age group. And then we saw how she cussed him. So for me, what I'm seeing and I had those same exact thoughts that Sandra Bland and her family paid a whole hell of a different price than Sandra did. And so in looking at that video and looking at, to be quite honest, the care with which that officer took in ensuring that she did comply. And at the very, very last when she wouldn't comply and she gave chase, like she literally ran away from the time that she was told in order to stop, that when he caught up with her and dragged her from out of the truck and tased her, he still had the presence of mind to make sure that she was picked up

and placed back in her car, not in the law enforcement car, and to announce to her that he had called the ambulance so that she could get checked out because she'd been tased, which is very interesting to me when I'm thinking about the cases of black people. There's one down in Texas, a woman being tased to death who was a black woman, and thinking about the care with which the officers didn't take in that case. So, again, we continue to see how white people, any form of not being able to do what the hell they want to do is a level of oppression for them. Yeah, I mean, absolutely. I mean, Reese, again, I don't want to see anybody taken down, but she just violated everything. I mean, everything. And he was still

cordial to her, even after tasing her. I mean i i ain't seen nobody black get that kind of treatment i mean that that that that video should be titled white privilege absolutely but just to be clear black people watching this sign the ticket it is not an admission of guilt you can still fight the ticket that is a just refusing to sign a ticket is asking for trouble regardless of what race you are which is what this lady found out. But yeah, I mean, absolutely. We know from watching that, had that been a black person, she would have been dead. You know, running off, they would have shot at her car.

You know how many times that cops have shot multiple bullets into a car just because the car was, quote unquote, fleeing the scene? So not only did he not shoot at her car indiscriminately, he pulled out what was noticeable to me, a taser, not a gun, which we know is a difference in how he would have treated a black person. And then he waited until he was physically assaulted

to use the gun. And then he called for an ambulance. Now that's going to be a very expensive bill in addition to having this charge on her, you know, finding this charge with the lawyer and things like that. So, but absolutely, this is white privilege. And she learned today that just like we, not just like, and she did get it a little bit easier than other people,

but she is not exempt from the cops doing whatever the hell it is that they feel like they need to do. Absolutely. All right, y'all, before I go to my final story, the folks at The Daily Show, they have put on they put together some amazing videos. And so this is the video that they they took comments that you hear on Fox News where they're always trashing Joe Biden or Barack Obama. And then they chose to apply it to Donald Trump. This, folks, is utterly delicious. He doesn't have command of the subject matter. And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute.

He can't string a coherent sentence together. More than ever before, we've held our rate, the numbers, everything we've done. Stumbles all over his sentences, starts rattling off. They can do as they want. They can do what they have to do. They know what they have to do. We've already seen how his mental faculties are declining. But you know, they had a debate in it was really a rough time in our country he's just

not articulate enough to be the leader of the free world we want to win the war with as few if you look at it just deaths as possible day after day it's embarrassing to watch him we have i call it the super-duper missile. He lies with ease. Anybody that wants a test can get a test. Some of his appearances lately have been just downright disturbing. I happen to be taking it. I happen to be taking it. Hydroxychloroquine.

I'm taking it. Hydroxychloroquine. This type of agitated behavior is part of an increasing disturbing pattern. Why don't you act in a little more positive? It's always trying to get you. My question to you is... Get you, get you. You know you're a fake. Just a loud mouth.

Maybe that's a question you should ask China. I feel bad for him. He's where a lot of us will be in late middle age, and it's sad. A what? Wow. Fuck. Uh-oh. You know, he's old.

He's creepy. The professionals did the models. I was never involved in a model. But at least this kind of a model. Just roll the tape, the creepy things that he's doing to people on camera. We've seen how creepy he is with women. I'll go backstage before a show. Yes.

And everyone's getting dressed and ready. And I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant, and therefore I'm inspecting it. Is everyone okay? You know, they stayed standing there with no clothes. Is everybody okay? And you see these incredible-looking women. She even noted his handsy history of touching people. I've said that if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her.

He's very creepy. Can't make this up. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Whatever you want. Grab him by the pussy. That is a great video, Erica. Yeah, and kudos to the 53% and voter suppression for getting in someone who is all of those things that we hear from out of right-wing media outlets, Fox News, is really just projection, right?

They have a very specific audience that they cater to. It is an audience that despises and detests black and brown people, especially black and brown people that are in any position of leadership that do execute and show competence. And so I think that using their very own words against them is something that is definitely powerful. It's something that needs to be continually put into the forefront of people's minds as media continues to cover Trump and all of his ramblings ad nauseum, unfortunately. Go right ahead, Recy. Yeah, actually, though, I have to shout out Sarah Cooper because I think that she does a genius job practically every day spoofing Trump with lip-stinging or wordsmithing, whatever, however you want to call it, his words.

But it's incredibly disturbing that Trump just has completely lost it. And just the fact, going back to the earlier video that you showed, that he says he's taking hydrochloroquine. And he says, what do you have to lose as if this isn't a potentially deadly cure? If you don't have a disease that it's trying to cure. It's literally insane. And I think that we are just completely at his mercy when a person who has abdicated all of his responsibility to have a competent response to this. And unfortunately, the cruelty part of him is what's driving our policy. And it has very real consequences. As you said, we're over 90,000 deaths right now. The curve was supposed to be at 100,000 in August and we're in May.

And there is nothing that's being done to stop this from getting even worse. And that's what's really at stake here. Absolutely. All right, folks, got to go to a break. We come back. We're going to talk about a program in Los Angeles in California, California to help black folks get involved in the cannabis industry. Why is it that those who have a criminal record, it is actually hurting them? We'll talk with the guest next. Roland Martin Unfiltered. You want to check out Roland Martin Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roland Martin Unfiltered.

See that name right there? Roland Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, and 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, so a lot of y'all are always asking me about some of the pocket squares that I wear. Now, I don't, and Robby don't have one on. Now, I don't particularly like the white pocket squares.

I don't like even the silk ones, and so I was reading GQ magazine a number of years ago, and I saw this guy who had this pocket square here, and it looks like a flower. This is called a shibori pocket square. This is how the Japanese manipulate the fabric to create this sort of flower effect. So I'm going to take it out and then place it in my hand so you see what it looks like. And I said, man, this is pretty cool.

And so I tracked down, it took me a year to find a company that did it. And so they're basically about 47 different colors. And so I love them because, again, as men, we don't have many accessories to wear, so we don't have many options. And so this is really a pretty cool pocket screen. And what I love about this here is you saw when it's in the pocket, you know, it gives you that flower effect like that. But if I wanted to also, unlike other, because if I flip it and turn it over, it actually gives me a different type of texture. And so, therefore, it gives me a different look. So there you go.

So if you actually want to get one of these shibori pocket squares, we have them in 47 different colors. All you got to do is go to rollinglessmartin.com forward slash pocket squares. So it's rollinglessmartin.com forward slash pocket squares So it's rolling this martin.com forward slash pocket squares All you got to do is go to my website And you can actually get this now for those of you who are members of our bring the funk fan club There's a discount for you to get our pocket squares That's why you also got to be a part of our bring the funk fan club And so that's what we want you to do. And so it's pretty cool. So if you want to jazz your look up, you can do that. In addition, y'all see

me with some of the feather pocket squares. My sister was a designer. She actually makes these. They're all custom made. So when you also go to the website, you can also order one of the customized feather pocket squares right there at rollingism martin.com forward slash pocket squares so please do so and of course that goes to support the show and again if you're a bring the funk fan club member you get a discount this is why you should join the fan club folks the los angeles government program set up to provide cannabis licenses to people harmed by the war on drugs has been plagued by delays, scandal, and bureaucratic blunders, costing some intended beneficiaries hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.

Black entrepreneurs and activists across L.A. say that the city's social equity program has left aspiring business owners on an indefinite waiting list, causing potentially irreparable damage to their families' finances and preventing them from opening marijuana shops they have been planning for years. Joining me now is Virgil Grant, one of the six owners and a co-founder of the California Minority Alliance. And so just Virgil, what the hell is going on there? Yes, quite a bit going on. There was the entry program. When filling out your application, the process was flawed. People entered into the system early. And it just was a debacle from the very beginning with that process. So it allowed people who were not social equity applicants or, shall I say, qualified social equity applicants to enter into the system early and receive invoices. So since then,

we have communicated directly with L.A. City Council. Herb Wesson, he has put a stop to that. Now the program is frozen and we are behind closed doors working on restarting the program, but making sure that the issues that plagued the very first hundred in the process does not happen again. So we're going to do basically what we call a reset and get this thing back rolling, hopefully within within a couple of months. So and again, the problem here is that you want people who have been screwed by our laws. Like I've always said, look, black people got thrown in jail for marijuana crimes. White folks are now making billions. As a result of this, the people who were harmed by these marijuana laws should be beneficiaries. Absolutely. You know, my whole thing was we were the first in line to go

to prison. So now we should be first in line for licensure. So with the social equity program, it was supposed to do that. Those that qualify for tier three or shall I say phase three, tier one and phase three being the third phase, which is the retail sector of social equity, tier one being someone who has a cannabis felony or misdemeanor will put you in tier one. That puts you in the front of the line to apply and receive licensure for a retail store. And so that was the whole purpose of it. First to go to prison, we need to be first in line. So the concept and the actual ordinance was there. It's just a so that we can make sure those people who are true qualified social equity applicants are able to get through

this first 100. And we've seen the same problem in Illinois. Open it up, very few African-Americans getting dispensaries. Same thing in Michigan. One of the reasons why it hasn't moved forward in New Jersey, because the Black Caucus there said, we ain't voting for Jack unless Black folks are guaranteed to get these licenses. Absolutely. And I'm the one who started the social equity conversation in New Jersey. I went to New Jersey. Dana Rohn, who is a county assessor there for Essex County, and Akil Muhammad, who is a political guru in that town, those are my allies there that we worked together closely to create that program for New Jersey. And yes, they were waiting to see how L.A. kicked off. And of course, L.A. stumbled and fumbled the ball.

So now we're trying to pick that ball back up and move forward in the right direction. We have all of the pieces in the place. We have the last little bit of language to implement and push through. And then we should be in L.A. should be one of the, I guess, premier starting cannabis programs regarding social equity. Yes, there was a fumble. I think we can recover. All right, then. Well, we look forward to it. Man, keep up the good work and again bottom line is we need to be a part of this billion dollar enterprise no doubt we do all right roger grant

so appreciate it thanks a lot thank you erica final comment from you on this and look this is look this is going to be billions upon billions and this cannot be an industry that we are locked out of as it really hasn't matured yet. Absolutely. And one of the two things that come to mind very quickly, I think about John Boehner, who was a speaker of the House and member of Congress, and how he has become very wealthy and become a leader as a white man who really went after President Obama during his tenure as speaker of the House, how he is profiting handsomely in leading conversations in that space. So I think that, too, in addition to that,

when we think about the folks that are profiting and we think about, as the gentleman put it, those folks who are largely black folks who paid the price right, and we're now seeing white people reap the benefits, for people to be very, very woke around this, because anybody that pays attention to the markets, look at these different companies that are on the New York Stock Exchange, you will see a presence of those particular companies. And especially as we continue to move through this pandemic in places of certainty, that area, the alcohol industry will continue to see those industries boom. So this is, again, where we see the impact of having a Black caucus, right? Why

people who attempt to primary our leaders that are in that caucus be damned? Because they are working on several fronts to make sure that Black people are being represented in a myriad of areas that sometimes we just don't have any real awareness around. Recy. Yes. And to Erica's point, it really is important about what kind of leaders we have representing us. Interestingly enough, the California Minority Alliance supports Senator Kamala Harris's Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment Act, which has seen some traction in the House by Representative Jerry Nally, who's introduced it on that side. And it does the exact kind of things

that we were just hearing about in terms of it decriminalizes marijuana and expunges records. It creates a trust fund that gives people who have been victim, particularly Black people who have been victim of this quote-unquote war on drugs, a front seat to get the access, whether it's to capital and to licenses so that they can start to cash in on the business that has cashed in on imprisoning them for all these years. All right, then. Erica, Recy, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much.

Thank you, Roland. All right. Some of y'all wondering where was Greg Carr today? Well, Greg had he had assignments. He was late bunch of zoom phone calls greg took a nap woke up about 10 minutes ago so that's why dr greg car was out here on thursday he's all good so just wanted to let y'all know that all right folks here are the people who have joined our bring the funk fan club uh in the last uh 24 hours we always give a shout out to those who have given 50 bucks or more. Andreas Cook, Antoinette Knoll, Bombastic Elements Inc., Clifford Sparks, Dennis Padgett,

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