#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 58th MOW anniversary; Blacks' top concerns revealed; Delta employee COVID surcharge; Kid COVID surge

Episode Date: August 26, 2021

8.25.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: John Lewis voting rights act passes House as the 58th anniversary of the March on Washington looms; Black To The Future Poll reveals the top concerns of Blacks; America's billionaires have grown $1.8T richer during the pandemic Delta implements employee COVID surcharge; Alarming kid COVID case surge; Video of a Louisiana trooper brutally beating a black man surfaces; Court upholds death sentence for church shooter Dylann Roof; The Miami man who brandished a gun at teen BLM protestors is asserting the "Stand Your GroundSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered#RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war.

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Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today is Wednesday, August 25th, 2021. Coming up on Roland Martin on the filter, a new poll shows the top issues facing African-Americans. They include economics, vaccination rates and housing. We will detail all of that for you. Also at Delta, they are requiring people to get vaccinated or you're going to pay 200 bucks a month. If you do not, we'll tell you about that as well. Also, the billionaires have gotten rid of the pandemic.

That's no shock there as well. Plus, new data shows as a major surge in the number of children who are coming up positive for COVID-19. Also, activists say our voting rights are under attack. And again, 48 states have introduced voter suppression bills. There are several rallies taking place this weekend on the anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. We'll tell you about that. Plus, we'll talk about the latest efforts on news

coming out of Haiti and Afghanistan. Folks, we got a jam-packed show for you. It's time to bring the funk on Roller Martin Unfil filter, live from Los Angeles. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the biz, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the find.

And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best believe he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling With some go-go-go-yo It's rolling, Martin

Rolling with rolling now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real, the best you know. He's rolling, Martin. Yeah. Martin. This weekend, August 28th, March of Washington for Jobs and Freedom. We are broadcasting here live from Los Angeles. You see the famous Hollywood sign there in Hollywood Hills.

We have here been having conversations for an interview special, so we've been joining that. But let's get right to politics. As I say august 28th is the anniversary date of the march of washington for jobs and freedom we have a renewed focus on voting in this country because of voter suppression bills being led by republicans all across this country yesterday as we reported the john lewis voting act was passed by the united states house of 219 to 212 no republicans voted for the bill. So just so you understand what is going on, you see the kind of drama that exists today. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke about the importance of Lewis, John R. Lewis, Voting Rights Advancement Act, we honored our own oath of office.

So we proudly stand before the capital of the United States, committed to our oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, respectful of our pledge that we make each day, liberty and justice for all. That there, of course, is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of course, speaking at that particular news conference. Folks, the issue of voting has consistently been an issue that we have covered extensively here on Roland Martin Unfiltered, primarily because we've seen how important this is, the issues that matter to us are impacted by voting, the public policy issues. What you also have, you have folks who really have not wanted or desired for our folks, African Americans and others, to really speak to these issues. They have not wanted them to really confront these issues. And so what we have seen really has been by Republicans to use their power to thwart the majority.

That's one of the things that we have seen. Voting rights are hugely popular. Let me say that again. Voting rights are hugely popular in this country. But unfortunately, what we have seen is Republicans want to rig these elections. They have been following Donald Trump's big lie. They have been following him literally making things up. They have been following him, literally making things up. They have followed all the little games that they have been playing across this country. And what we're seeing, folks, is enough. What we're seeing are people who are saying at some point we've got to enact the kind of policies that are going to speak to our issues. Also speaking today was Reverend Dr. William J. Barber and so many others at today's news conference. We carried that news conference live here on Roland Martin Unfiltered.

So all the people working here were still live there. Here's what Reverend Barber had to say. We know that this Congress can keep faith with them. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Members of the media, you've heard it clear from all these moral leaders, the Poor People's Campaign, from Black Voters Matter, Transforming the...all of these.

Here's the agenda. Hold the line and hold it together. In the filibuster cannot be used as a modern day interposition nullification. That's right. Pass the For the People's Act fully that John Lewis wrote now. Pass the Voting Rights Act restoration that is written in his name now. Pass $15 of living wage and lift those 32 million Americans who make less than living wage, who saved us during the pandemic. They went to work. They got infected.

They got sick. They died. Some of them died. And we call them essential. Treat them like it. And raise that living wage. Raise it. And then pass infrastructure that reaches the poor and low-wealth community.

Pass the Build Back Better plan. But do it all, not some of it. It can be done. This is the time. Madam Speaker, we thank you so much for coming and listening and hearing the moral cries from denominational leaders and activists. We know you've got to run because you're always running to run for justice. And so we thank you.

And our word to you is that Tasha has given us our thing. Hold the line in the house. And we are holding the line in the street. That's right. Liberty and justice for all. Are there any questions from members of the media? If there aren't, don't mention it. All right.

You saw Reverend Barber. You saw Reverend Barber there address Latasha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. She joins us right now on Roller Martin and Fletcher. Always glad to have you on the show, Latasha. And so what was that theme that you laid out? We spoke with Leader Pelosi to let her know what we want her to hold the line in the House, that the Senate has not been able to get the job done. And there needs to be additional pressure that the infrastructure bill, you know, as it's laid out, when we're talking about the Republicans and this bipartisan support, then we've got to make sure that there is the kind of support that we need to get a voting rights legislation passed. And so we asked, we met with her about an hour and a half prior to the press conference and really laid out some of the things

that we were concerned about, but also wanted to encourage her and ask her to hold the line on the infrastructure bill. There cannot be an infrastructure bill passed where we're talking about physical infrastructure in this country while we allow the political infrastructure to collapse, while we allow democracy to collapse, where people are punished because of the way that they voted in this last election cycle, namely black voters. Black voters came out in record numbers and voted in this last election. And so what we are sending a message loud and clear, and we wanted to ensure Leader Pelosi that if she holds a line in the House and force them to deal with the federal legislation on the voting rights, that we got her back.

We will hold the line in the streets because we want to make sure that we see federal legislation to protect our right to vote. And the thing here that we keep talking about here, why there has to be sustained pressure. We simply cannot have folks say, you know, oh, well, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, U.S. Senator, Chris Acinema of Arizona, they're not going to move. So you know what? Let's give up. And you got some folks. Let me be real clear. You got some folks on the civil rights side who say, oh, well, all this protested and stuff. That's performative. Bottom line is what happens in the streets affects what happens in the suites.

Oh, without question. You know, name any major legislation that black people have received or major change in this country that there was not some element of protest that led the ground and created the space for it. You know, the bottom line is that has been a part of our participating in this democracy, that protest is just as much a part of democracy as policymaking. You know, when we talk about policy, oftentimes when we see policy without people, it doesn't work. A prime example of that is, you know, we know that Brown v. Board of Education was 1957, and most schools were not desegregated until there was sustained pressure in the streets where people in their local communities, people like my own mother, who actually in 1965 had to integrate a high school

in Alabama. It takes our actions to make sure that the policy that we want, that is sustained, and it is in place, and that we actually send a message that we're not going to go anywhere. You know, so what is happening this weekend, go to my iPad, on Sunday you have the Make Good Trouble rally taking place at the Lincoln Memorial. Of course, Black Voters Matter, Until Freedom, so many others are going to be there. Guys, go to my iPad, please. All these groups are going to be there on Lincoln Memorial. So tell us about that particular event. What time is it starting?

And if folks cannot attend, how can they actually see it? So thank you, Roland. We are in the same spirit. This has been a long, hot summer. We've been out protesting the entire summer. Organizations have been leading this fight on voting rights, but we also want to send a message loud and clear that we don't just care about voting rights. We care about criminal justice reform. We care about gun control. We care about reparations. We care about an economic policy that's going to lift up black people in our communities. We care about making sure that we have affordable housing. And so as a result, what we are having on August the 28th, this Saturday, from starting at 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., we will be at the Lincoln Memorial where the promise, where we're saying

that there's unfinished business in this country until we can freely and fairly vote, until we can vote in a way that just because we participate, we can't be punished, but that there is federal protection, until our communities really receive the kind of resources that we need, we deserve,

that we're going to continue to ask and call for this Congress and call for political leadership to make sure to meet our needs. And so people can join us on this Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial. We'll be there from starting at 10 a.m. in the morning all throughout the evening. Four o'clock is supposed to be the end, but we'll be there throughout the evening. You can come. We'll have even COVID testing on site. And some people will be able to get vaccinated if they're interested in that. And so what I want to just offer is people can join us live. There are 30 buses in 30 different cities that are coming that they can actually join us.

Go to GoodTroubleRally.com and you can get a free ride to D.C. and free housing. GoodTroubleRally.com. You can also join us virtually. If you go to our website, MakeGoodTroubleRally.com, you can join and see it live. You can see it streamed live. Here you can go to our website. So please come join us. This is a moment for us not to commemorate and not just to commemorate what our people did on the March on Washington. Right. One of the biggest things what people may or may not know in the first line of the list of demands that Dr. King and others actually had for the March on Washington was really questioned.

We needed this full agenda around jobs and justice, but it's specifically called out the filibuster. And so we're continuing to say there has to be an end to the filibuster so that we can get the people's agenda passed. Oftentimes our agenda and our issues go to the back burner, particularly when we're talking about things like Afghanistan and war and global issues come up. Oftentimes the issues that black people care about go to the back burner and we're going to ensure that it doesn't, which is why on August the 28th, this Saturday, we will be at the Lincoln Memorial. Join us in person or you can join us virtually. The point they're making, and again, what I need people to understand, when we're talking about these voter suppression bills, we're talking about

voting and the power of it. It's about policy. It's about policy. And so, Reverend Barber and others at today's news conference are talking about the agenda. You have to link the agenda with voting because the reason Republicans desire to pass these voter suppression bills

is because they do not, they want to thwart the agenda. That's right. That's right. They want us not to link it. They want us to really get so discouraged with this voting process and suppress the vote that we'll just go back home. The bottom line is they're attacking the vote right now, Roland, not because we're losing, we're winning.

The majority of Americans stand with us. Last year in these streets, we saw the largest uprising ever in this country. We have to really recognize that democracy, we've got to make democracy be real. At most in this country, it's been aspirational, but it has not been achieved with the Declaration of Independence laid out. And so it's important for us to make sure

that we don't allow there to be a decoupling of the issues that we care about. We want, we deserve, we demand, we voted for criminal justice reform. And that's why we're going to push and continue to push and stand for the Breathe Act and the George Floyd Act. We need to make sure that people are getting a fair wage. When we talk about black women, black women were the driving force in the voting base for the Democratic Party last year. However, 68 percent of black women

are wage hourly workers who have been taking the brunt of what is happening in COVID-19. And most of them are not fairly paid, which is why we're demanding a living wage of at least $15 an hour. We cannot decouple those issues. There are political issues for us and there are economic issues. There are structural issues. So when we're talking about an infrastructure bill, it can't just be a physical infrastructure bill. We have to make sure that we're strengthening the social infrastructure in this country, that our people don't fall through the cracks, and that we are protecting and strengthening the political infrastructure in this country,

that we are not, Black voters are not punished because we used our civil right and our human right to vote and to vote on issues that are going to impact our community. Natasha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. Appreciate it. If I was not attending the SWAC-MEAC challenge and broadcasting live from Atlanta on Saturday, I would certainly be there at the Lincoln Memorial with y'all on Saturday. It's only one of me, can't be in two places, but we certainly will be there in spirit. Thank you so much. Thank you for having us, Roland. And thank you for all the work that you do to lift up this issue, issues that we care about. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Let's go to our panel. A. Scott Bolden, former chair of the National Bar Association Political

Action Committee, attorney in Washington, D.C. Kelly Bethea, communication strategist. Also, Brianna Cartwright. She is a political strategist as well brianna i will start with you uh voter suppression bills it's politics politics politics at the end of the day republicans want to be in charge they want to be in control this is a desperate attempt to be able to suppress black votes to be able to maintain their power to suppress the votes of white voters in the suburbs, to suppress the votes of young voters as well. That's what we see at play, which is why Congress must do their part and pass these bills. Yes, yes, absolutely.

It was a giant step forward in the fight to protecting voting rights with the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. But it's a shame that not a single Republican voted in favor for it. Not a single. Well, I mean, the real deal. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Oh, yeah. No, no.

So here's the other. So, Brianna, we have a problem. So hold tight one second. Briannaanna we have a problem oh hold so hold tight one second brown with a problem with your signal uh and so guys uh and i'm hearing some scratching with her audio please fix that let me go to scott uh scott uh again what we're seeing is uh the pressure being applied continuing to push it now after the house passes this bill now we got to have something being taken up uh by the united states senate if they do but that has to continue and look folks say well you know what they're not going to move so let's just go ahead and give it up no you can't and i keep telling the people it was eight years from the original was it was five years from the original

civil rights bill uh put forth by president john John Kennedy before it was actually signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Yeah, you're absolutely right. And a lot of your analysis over the last. To agree with you, protests have to continue. But the real challenge here is the Democrats. And it's in the Democrats interest because, because the 2022 midterms will pass this voting rights legislation now, not later. Because my biggest fear and the probability is that the midterms, the Democrats are going to lose the midterms if they don't pass this

voting rights legislation. Sure, you've got infrastructure, you've got the budget and reconciliation budget and stuff, but voting rights, whether you link it or not, what is the president, what is Senator Schumer, and what is Nancy Pelosi, what are they prepared to do to get this done? Because their energy is they can cut deals on budget reconciliation, they cut deals on infrastructure, they give folks that don't look like us in jurisdictions, that don't have a lot of people that look like us all of these economic and infrastructure goodies, if you will. But what are they going to do about cinema? What are they going to do about Manchin? And what deal

are they going to cut to get this done and or to get rid of that filibuster? Because it comes down to what are they going to do? So I hope my colleagues who are out there in the streets fighting and the healthy organization, I hope that in those meetings they're saying, we need you to do A, B and C. And if you can't do A, B and C, I'm sorry, you're just not with us, because you don't value the black vote and you don't value voting rights if you've got the power to change and you won't take that step there's no excuses anymore otherwise the midterms are up for grabs and the republicans are going to be back in control kelly uh they're having marches in multiple cities across the country not as washington dc

and one of the reasons why that makes sense is people don't even realize there were actually multiple marches around the country in 1963. Reverend Jackson was actually arrested at a march in North Carolina. The thing here is that you have to continue to keep people activated and involved and engaged so they don't become complacent. Absolutely. And you've said this on your show many times, but I want to reiterate something of this magnitude is a marathon, not a sprint. But in that same vein, you also have to realize that, especially Democrats have to realize that compromising on this bill, frankly, isn't much of an option. I understand what Scott was talking about and what are we willing to give up.

But when it comes to this bill specifically, there's no wiggle room. I mean, it's as lean as it possibly can be as far as voting rights are concerned. Nothing should be left to the wayside when it comes to this bill. So like you said, I understand when you're saying people need to just keep pushing comes to this bill. So like you said, like I understand when you're saying, you know,

people need to just keep pushing and, you know, your gas just needs to be on the pedal. But at the same time, in doing so, there's no room for compromise with this. Other bills, maybe. But with voting rights, you have to be steadfast. And Democrats who aren't Black also need to understand that. There's just no wiggle room here. This is a matter of our voices being silenced because your voice is your vote. Your vote is your voice. And what Republicans are trying to do is to literally silence us. And this bill is trying to give us the megaphone that we earned, frankly. So anything other than what's in the bill as is,

nothing else matters. Like this bill as is needs to pass, period. The thing that Scott, and we're trying to get Breonna back, the thing Scott here, when we talk about the next steps, you made the point. You're absolutely right. Democrats, if you don't move on this, you actually position yourself to lose in 2022.

But the other deal is, if you also, one of the reasons why you're going to lose, you're going to lose if they pass the bills and there's no pushback. And you're going to lose because the people who need to come out are going to be pissed because you didn't push back and pass your own laws. Exactly. And you you further run the risk, right, that black folks don't come out because you didn't do what was necessary to pass the Voting Rights Act bill. And then they get disillusioned. You run that risk. come out, because you didn't do what was necessary to pass the Voting Rights Act bill, and then they get disillusioned. You run that risk. And then they will, Democratic leaders will blame black people for staying home. But this is a partnership. We got you elected in 2020, right? You promised us that our values and our votes would be met with an agenda that

supports black America and an urban agenda. And when you don't pass the Voting Rights Act and you demand that we come out and we overcome voter suppression to get you back elected, what's the equation there? What's the payoff? What's the political consideration for me doing it all over again when you had a chance to pass this bill, we begged you to do it, but you weren't willing to get arrested for it. You weren't willing to end the filibuster.

You weren't willing to cut a deal with West Virginia senators and Arizona senators. And so what's the payoff? What's the payback? The payback is that it's a huge risk rolling, that black people won't show up because of disillusion, because the Democratic Party certainly didn't support them after we came out in droves. It is a real risk here. And we need to be demanding these leaders who have power, while we're on the street fighting, these leaders that have power, they cut a deal on the Budget Reconciliation Act, they cut a deal on infrastructure, They need to cut a deal or link

voting rights to one or two of those bills or to put it as a priority, because really their political future is at significant risk. They don't believe it, quite frankly. They think they can get white voters to vote for them because of infrastructure and all these other things they got going on. But historically, we know that's not the case, that racism and racism as well as how they vote, white people vote, that the Democratic Party is talking to them about the working class and all these issues, but they don't believe that the Democratic Party is talking to them. They think they're talking to people of color like me and other protected groups, and so therefore they're going to continue to vote for Republicans. We haven't won the white vote. The Democratic Party hasn't won the right vote since Lyndon Baines Johnson,

probably. And so as a result, we've got to understand that this isn't a black issue. This is a Democratic and a United States of America issue. And right now our Democratic leaders are acting like this is a black issue, and we'll get to it later. You know, one of the things, Breonna, that I find to be very interesting is I'm looking at our chat discussions, and I'm seeing people talk about, oh, the number one issue that we should be talking about is reparations.

Okay. So here's the question. How many Republicans voted, how many Republicans voted for the John Lewis Act? The Act passed named after, named after the late congressman. And many of those

Republicans who would travel to Selma with John Lewis voted against it. Speak. Brianna, how many voted for this bill yesterday? Zero. Not a single one. Zero. So to all of the people who are yelling reparations must be our number one agenda, I need y'all to explain to me that you ain't got no chance on the Republican side. Zero.

So the only pathway is a Democratic side. So if you don't vote, then how are you going to get something passed? See, that is like two plus two really is four. Absolutely. So I think that we still need to fight for reparations. I do think that we've belts uh... enough of our side to pass something

and uh... fortunately we don't need the republicans i but we need to unite as democrats on and i do think that you know going back in regards to the john lewis bill you know it's it's

it's clear that republicans are you trying to continue to suppress the vote. And, you know, once we pass it through Senate, you know, the people who are trying to make hate again will fail. And so at the end of the day, good trouble will win the day. But we need to keep organizing. We need to make sure everybody knows that we need to vote. Like all these things are very, very important, and galvanizing and unifying our side, because we can see they don't give a damn about us. And so, I mean, we need to make sure that we're accountable to our people and focusing and making sure that we get this passed, making sure that we get

other things passed. I'd say reparations. I'd say our high student loan debt. You know, Republicans are telling their constituents—aren't telling their constituents the truth about wearing a mask and getting the vaccine, right? But they're out here trying to pass Jim Crow voting laws. And it's just for us to inform people on that. And while we have the majority get stuff done, we're not trying to go backward. But really, especially as Republicans are going to try to reclaim power in 2022, but really go strong and getting what we can done now.

Again, and so let me see the point I'm making about reparations argument. Reparations is a policy. Equal pay policy. Federal contracts policy. Housing policy. And so you can't act as if politics plays no role in policy. So voting goes hand in hand with policy. And I'm telling you, Scott, I really think we might have to bring back, you know, you know, conjunction, junction, what's your function? And a Saturday morning, you know, Saturday morning civics lessons with the cartoons, because this is amazing to me how many people really don't understand public policy.

Yeah, well, you know, they stopped teaching public policy and constitutional law in the grade schools and how you get a bill passed and all the good things in schools, and that was to our detriment. But you've got to be able to count, too, right, Roland? On top of that, public policy, you've got to be able to count, too. Right, Roland? On top of that, you've got to be able to count. Well, I can count. Right. I mean, I wasn't great at math. I became a lawyer. But I can count. That was like the base. What do you mean? I'm sorry. I think somebody was talking. Okay. Hold on. Hold on. We got some talk. Yeah. Scott, go ahead. I can certainly count. And I would make this prediction, Roland, and tell me whether you agree with it or not.

If you pass the Voting Rights Act bill, right, if you pull all stops in the filibuster and pass it, the Democrats are unlikely to ever lose the White House again. That's how important this legislation is. Agree or disagree? So here's why I'm laughing. I'll give you an example, Kelly. I'm sitting here looking at some of the comments here. And so this person actually said, where's the comment here? And this person said

that to comment here. This person said that Democrats are not going to pass anything. Okay. Who you got then? See, I mean, this is real simple. This is real simple.

No, no, this is real simple. Like, for instance, this dude 1968 truck turn. This is what simple. This is real simple. This is real simple. This dude, 1968 truck turn. This is what he said. We can't count on Democrats for crap. Okay. 219 people voted for the John Lewis Voting Act.

Zero Republicans. The infrastructure bill. Some Republicans. The infrastructure bill. Some Republicans. The American Rescue Plan. Zero Republicans. So, if ain't no Republicans voting on any of these bills,

who are you left with to put pressure on to drive policy? See, I'm not about to have these philosophical arguments. I love the idiotic people, Kelly, who say, Roland Martin, you up here going hard for the Democrats. The Republicans ignoring your ass. I mean, completely. Don't care.

So, if this is the only group that's paying me any attention, I might want to put my focus on trying to get them to move because the GOP is saying, Black America, we don't give a damn about y'all. Well, whether you believe that Democrats believe in us or not, bet on yourself. Don't bet on Democrats, bet on yourself, bet on your vote. If you have an issue

out there and there's a party that remotely advocates on behalf of that issue, bet on yourself and push for that issue with the party that gives a damn in any respect. And that's how I'm looking at it with the Voting Rights Act. That's how I'm looking about it with infrastructure. That's how I'm looking about it with any policy that has to deal with me and mine. And whether you have faith in Democrats or not, have faith in your vote as it is right now. And that is what Democrats are trying to protect. So it's kind of like, if anything, if you want to think of it as the enemy of the enemy is my friend, think of it that way. I don't care. But the fact of the matter is, one party, you know, the fact of the matter is, one party gives a deal, one party doesn't.

And Kelly, here's the deal. is an issue that Republicans do care about that aligns with our issue, move them to vote on it. But 9.9 out of 10, it ain't going to be that way. And then I got one person here, this is going to be my last point here that's hilarious with these people. I got one person who says, Metric 1974, why not independent? Hey, Metric,

how many independents are there right now in the United States Congress? I'm going to give you 10 seconds. I'm going to look at the water. So, Metric, I'm going to look at the water while you're trying to figure that one out.

How many? Are we counting Bernie? I only know Bernie. Because he flips back. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Two. Bernie Sanders, Angus King. He doesn't count.

Angus King, Bernie Sanders. No, no, Bernie Sanders does count. Bernie Sanders, no, no, no. Bernie Sanders is a declared. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Listen. There are two declared independents in congress senator bernie sanders senator angus king now per the u.s senate rules you have to pick a caucus on who to caucus with. King and Sanders, they caucus with

the Democrats. I'm just simply saying, technically, there are two independents. The point I am making to these people who yell, holler, and scream, independent, the only independent candidate

in the last, what, 32 years that got any substantial support which H. Ross Perot in 1992. That's it. This is not Jesse Ventura who ran for governor of Minnesota and won on the Reform Party banner. Perot ran again in 96, got fewer votes.

Prior to Ross Perot running, it was John Anderson in 1980. That's it. So I know it sounds cute. I know it sounds wonderful, Brianna. People go, we need to create our own party or go independent. The reality is this. There are two parties in America. There's the Republican Party. There's a Democratic Party. It's two. And so, if you're going to get anything, you're going to deal with that political process. And then you got these folks like this fool Sean, stop following these boomers. They are a joke. Well, Sean,

if millennials in Gen Z get off their ass and vote like boomers, then you ain't got to listen to boomers. Breonna, go ahead. Well, as a millennial I advocate that we are listening and trying to get others out I think no no no no no Brianna Brianna are our Berlin are Malin Brianna are Millennials voting their numbers no there no they're not as well as we can.

But, Breonna, that's my point. That's my point. I'm saying if millennials don't want to listen to boomers, outvote the boomers. I hear you. Makes sense. I think that we had the largest. See, hold on. Hold on.

I love how Breonna like, damn, I don't want to have to concede it because I know he right. So let me try to sit here. I want to. Breonna, you over there struggling like, oh, I don't want to have to concede his point. Go ahead and concede it. But again, I'm Gen X. I'm just simply stating boomers vote. Boomers ain't wishy-washy.

They going to vote. And what I'm arguing is, if millennials in Gen Z voted their numbers, we ain't even having this voter suppression conversation. We sweeping all of them out of office. Go ahead. Brianna, go ahead. Well, I would also say that I would like boomers not just to vote, but also to stay engaged and organized and actually do the work. They are! Oh,

okay. I don't think they... Oh, no, you're wrong. Hold up, Brianna. Now, you're new to this show. Brianna, you're new to this show. Breonna, Breonna, you're new to this show. But so right now, you don't walk into dangerous territory because here's the reality, Breonna. That simply is not the case.

The folks who show up to school board meetings, the folks who show up to county commissioners' meetings, you talking to somebody whose parents are 74? They work the polls? Okay, I can tell you right now, you can go across this country to any city, any black community, and do you know who you're going to see showing up? It's going to be some 55-plus largely sisters who are showing up. Yes, some young folks are turning out. Oh, no, no, working the polls, showing up to meetings. That's actually who is the most uh yes okay brenda i don't know oh girl hold on what what bruno what city are you in southfield michigan currently but i i girl come on now you know dog well when you go to detroit

you go to detroit you're gonna see some boomers. Come on now. Come on now. Let's be real here. I know that's your group. I see a lot of Gen Xs and younger that's been more on the ground. And I'll say that even in Miami, Florida, that most of them have been younger. I think that, like I said, boomers vote. I just don't think they have been as engaged on ground lately.

I haven't, you know, I think that it's been the opposite in my experience, that boomers vote. And unfortunately a lot of the millennials and the Gen Xs, they were at the protests. They've been, you know, active on social media and showing their disconcern. But they're not voting. I think merging the two would help, I think, the movement a lot more. I just I feel like it's more sectioned out. Well, it's sectioned off. I'm going to tell you right now, Brianna, and I'm going to send them a Kelly and Scott answer.

If I had to put $1,000 on the table and say I need 200 folks to show up to a school board meeting, I'm going to have more boomers show up. I'm telling you right now. Kelly and Scott, Kelly, you first, then Scott. I'm just telling you, I've been around a lot of cities. I see young folks, but I'm talking about who's going to be right there. It's going to be them boomer sisters.

Well, I was in St. Lucie County, which, go ahead. To Breonna's point, because I because i too am a millennial i understand both points here but at the same time what brianna's talking about i i agree with but what roland is talking about the reason why boomers are at these meetings is by and large boomers are retired they have the time to go to the meetings. They have the time to volunteer. They have the money to volunteer as well. Millennials are still working. A lot of millennials are in debt, a lot more debt than boomers because of how the debt structure has been set up since boomers have graduated.

Between student loans, housing, jobs, societal pressures. You have a situation right now in this country in which the reason why you see boomers as, quote-unquote, active as you do, first of all, they're active traditionally. They're active in the ways that we are expecting voters and people who are politically engaged to act. But the problem with that is that is because they still believe in this system. Millennials are kind of against the tide in that regard. The reason why you don't see them voting is because what, in a millennial's mind, objectively, what do they see? What have they gotten as a result?

We are right now on this show talking about how people need to stay in the fight because right now Democrats don't look like they're willing to fight for us. That's the dichotomy of it all. That's where the two clash. I understand both of you. I wanted to express that.

Right, right. Well, here's the deal. Hold on, Scott. Hold on, Scott. I'm going to Alicia Garza real Scott. So, hold on, Scott. I'm going to let you guys real soon. Alicia, hold tight. Scott McGee, the final comment on this. The reality is there's a lot of boomers who are not retired.

And so, but the point is, and this is the thing, that as somebody who is Gen X, who deals with boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z. The thing I'm saying is you can't show up just to the protest and don't vote. You can't just protest and not also go to the school board meeting and the council meeting where the public policy happens. All those things have to actually happen to create change. Scott, go. Well, the boomers certainly had mortgage debt, and they're still out there volunteering. But I'm going to say something that isn't going to be very popular. But my experience

with the Generation Xers is boomers were asked the question, how can I help to make things better? And my experience with Generation Xers is they say, what's in it for me? What's in it for me to vote? Because what I see I'm not happy with. And so this sense of entitlement, political entitlement, that's an important question, don't get me wrong. But if you're not voting, you're not vested with the system, if you're not vested with the system, it's great for you to vote and we can get you to vote, but you've got to be fully vested

vis-a-vis these issues and why it's so important that you vote in every election. Lots of boomers vote in every election. And that's why we talk about those issues. There's a new national poll done by black to the future and social analytica where they talk to black respondents and they made it perfectly clear that economic relief vaccination rates as well as housing crisis are the most important issues of facing african americans uh and so among this group president joe biden has a high approval rating of 78 vice president kamala harala Harris at 75 percent. Also, the top four

priorities, 41 percent say they'd like to receive $2,000 monthly relief checks to pay for utilities and food. 36 percent want to see minimum wage increase, $15 an hour. 28 percent want to see the administration address structural racism and white supremacy. And 28 percent want the administration to do more to protect voting rights. 55% of black people say they have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine. 85% of blacks over the age of 65 report say they are partially vaccinated. And so the top reasons people say they are not getting vaccinated, 58% say they need more time to see if the vaccine works. I don't know what the hell you're waiting for.

29% say they don't have transportation to go get vaccinated. 25% say they don't have a vaccine delivery site near their home. 24% say they are not sure the vaccine is free of charge. It is free. Joining us now is Alicia Garza. She's a principal with Black to the Future Action Fund. They conducted the poll. Interesting results here, Alicia.

And I want you to weigh in again what we're talking about. You've got voting. You've got marching. You've got folks who want to change public policy. But you can't change the public policy unless either you change the minds of the existing politicians or you change the politicians. You have to do both. We have to actually have a multifaceted strategy. And for us at the Black for the Future Action Fund, part of what we're trying to do here is place pressure on politicians who are making decisions about the issues that impact our lives every single day. We're incredibly concerned. And the reason that we did this poll and that we'll continue to do these temperature checks every two months is because what we're finding, right, is that there's not enough engagement with our communities about the things that we're experiencing or about the things that we want to see. And so we want to make sure here that Black voices, Black communities are being represented.

And the way to do that is not just to wait for them to come to you, but to make sure that you're in their ear every single minute, talking to them about what's important to you, talking to them about what you want to see them do. And then when election time rolls around, if they are not doing what it is that you want them to do, you take them out and you put somebody else in there who knows that they need to be accountable to you. This poll is so important because it is showing that what Black communities across the country want to see is progress. You know, we've heard a lot of conversation happening recently about bipartisanship.

We get it. But we also know that sometimes bipartisanship can be used as a cover to not be bold. And what Black voters did in November and in January was delivered a mandate. And alongside that mandate, we also delivered Democrats' power. And so what we want to see happen from here is for them to use the power that we delivered them to make bold changes that are going to impact not just our communities, but everybody across the board. And that's what's important here. We really want to make sure that bipartisanship is not used as an excuse to not make progress and to not be bold. You'll see here in this poll that the Black people that we polled said, we don't want the filibuster to get in the way of progress. So if the filibuster is getting in the

way, let's get rid of the filibuster. We understand very deeply that the filibuster and other procedural rules have been used to further entrench racist policies. And so we want to see those kinds of barriers removed. We also want to see progress as it relates to housing. We want to see progress as it relates to voting rights. We want to see progress as it relates to our economy. And so this poll is important because it lifts up, right, that despite the conversation that's happening in Congress, there's actually a gap there between what's being talked about in Congress and what is being pushed for in our communities. When you look at these particular issues, obviously you have the economic piece,

you have the housing piece, but it was very interesting on the vaccine piece. And as I looked at those numbers there, it really illustrates why I have been highly critical of the Biden administration. I've been critical of Forrest Marsh, the advertising agency that got the contract with Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC. Let's be clear. Also, that agency, its entire leadership is white, not a single African-American. And so when you look at these numbers, when you talk about the transportation piece, when you say they don't have a vaccine delivery site near their home, and then 24% said they're not sure the vaccine is free of charge. I've been saying this is what happens when y'all don't provide some of that funding to black-owned

media to get those things out. You're trying to rely on other folks. You know, you got to be able to do it. What's interesting here, Alicia, we literally put together proposals where we said, let's pair up black media, all media outlets with mobile vaccination plans and say, hey, Wednesday, meet us here. We're going to have 300 vaccine shots. We're going to backstate the first 300 people who actually show up. Folks didn't respond. They didn't respond to it.

And then all of a sudden it's like, oh, now we realize that we need to have a more targeted approach. And this is part of the problem. When you have folks who are not handling business and then you see these sort of responses, which goes right to why you have low vaccination rates among African-Americans. That's right. Well, there's a lot going on here, Roland, and you're absolutely right. There's a huge information gap that is literally placing Black communities under duress and under attack. You know, our communities do need information about this vaccine, but we also need access to it. And you know that at the Black

to the Future Action Fund, last year we released a plan for relief and recovery from COVID-19 for Black America. And part of what that plan looked like was also making sure that we're investing the resources to ensure that information is getting to our communities about the vaccine, but to also increase resources that help expand access to the vaccine. Things like transportation, things like targeted and tailored campaigns to our communities. We said a long time ago that it wasn't going to work, right, to just try to, you know, put black celebrities on television and think that that's what was going to encourage our communities to get vaccinated. Actually, what we found from our polling was that the thing that tipped people's perspective, right, was if somebody they know had gotten the vaccine. We heard a lot that, you know, if people saw the president, President Obama getting it or another celebrity,

that they would think that they got some special dose. But if you are talking to, you know, people in your community, people that you trust, that those vaccination rates would go up. So I do think the administration has a huge challenge here. One of those challenges, of course, is that, you know, with this rollout, there was not enough information given about this vaccine and why it's important, what it does do and what it doesn't do. But then, of course, the other thing is that we didn't resource communities to make sure that that vaccine was distributed widely and equitably. There are still people who think that the vaccine is not free. There are people who think that, you know, they're getting injected with COVID. There are people, right, who say that their number one

barrier is that they can't actually access a site where they can access the vaccine. And then, of course, right, we didn't do a lot of information about the effects that you will have with the vaccine. So we told everybody to get the shots, but we didn't actually go into resourcing or helping people better understand what those side effects might be. So we do have a big issue here. And unfortunately, because this was in a lot of ways used as a way to demonstrate the effectiveness of this administration, I do believe that there were many shortcuts that were taken, and we are all now reaping the consequences of those shortcuts. Questions from our panel. Scott, you're first. Hi. Thanks, Roland. Scott Bolden here. On your list, if you pull that list back up,

I thought it was interesting that the reasons that black folks weren't getting it were completely different than the 50 percent of America, those who are Republican, what their reasons are. They don't trust the source of the government, they don't trust the government, they don't trust the source of the private company, or politically they're Republican and they don't trust the government. They don't trust the source of the private company or politically. They're Republican and they don't trust anything. If you compare that list to that group, clearly black people, if they have access to the vaccine based on your research, they would get the shot. I think only a small percentage said they needed to learn more about it. Am I right about that? That's correct. I mean, so here's what we're facing here. Unfortunately, you know, what we find

again is that prior to this pandemic, the infrastructure in our communities was already weak. And then when you add on top of that a global pandemic that's putting extra pressure on already weak infrastructure, of course, you see the gaps emerge. And here where we're seeing people saying, you know, I would do it if I had transportation, I would do it if I had this. These are reflective of longstanding issues in our communities. So I do think it's important for us to kind of acknowledge, right, that racism plays out in all of these different ways. I say to people all the time, racism is not about people being mean to each other. And it's certainly not always about people burning crosses on your lawn. Right. Racism is about power and who has it and who doesn't. And it is a mapping of power. And so when you look at kind of all of these

reasonings and the differences in the reasonings between what Republican respondents might say about why they won't or haven't taken the vaccine and what Black folks are saying, right, and Black folks obviously, you know, largely Democrat, then you see actually some of the racial disparities that influence the decision making that Black communities have access to or don't. Exactly. Exactly. Thank you. Next question is Kelly.

Hi. So given this survey, what do you think the messaging should be to encourage people to get vaccinated? Because if the information is out there regarding, yes, it's free. If the information regarding how to get there is out there that, yes, it's good. Because the other prong that I saw of them wanting to wait to see what happens, frankly, we don't have that kind of time. Because the longer you wait, the more chances there are for another variant to emerge and be prevalent above the Delta variant. So I'm not necessarily worried about

those who think that they need more time. We don't have more time. But for the others who have those more legitimate concerns, what do you think the messaging should be at this point? I actually think it's bigger than messaging right now. I think it's actually about putting resources in communities and making sure that people have access to those resources. So I think that the federal government needs to work with state and local governments and set up transportation. We know that we've got, you know, private companies like Uber and Lyft, right, that are doing free rides to clinics. But we actually need more than that. And we need to not just be relying on the

corporate sector, right, which is largely unaccountable to government. We need to rely on government to invest resources to make sure that there is transit in communities that people can access. We need to make sure that there are more vaccines in communities where Black folks are. And we need to make sure, right, that the access to that is unfettered. You know, I'm here on the East Coast this week and,, right, that the access to that is unfettered. You know, I'm here on the East Coast this week. And, you know, with the new mandate that people need to bring their vaccination cards, lots more people are trying to get vaccinated. And they're showing up at Walgreens and they're showing up at CVS and they're being told they don't have any more vaccines.

So imagine what that looks like, right? That was in Soho in New York City. So imagine what that looks like in a place like Enfield, North Carolina, right? Imagine what that looks like in a place like Birmingham, Alabama. We've definitely got to stop talking about it and actually place the resources in people's communities so that they can get to it easily, quickly, and effectively. Brianna? Yeah, so I do want to touch on the concept of people stating, let's figure out, or I don't know enough about this, or let's wait for time.

And so addressing that, you know, I did my own research, right? So I didn't have the whataboutisms and stuff like that. And it was under my impression, which I would love to hear more of what you know, but the MRNA technology has been studied for three decades. And it's not new in that they use it for other human therapies. And there just wasn't a way to create this vaccine because there wasn't enough money. But once this pandemic happened, it opened up the floods for the ability to complete the work. And we know now that Pfizer is FDA approved and Moderna has finished submitting their application to be FDA approved. And really what cemented it for me is that when you get the vaccine, right, it puts the mRNA particles in and after 24 hours, it's completely gone from your own body and the foreign stuff is gone. And so the ingredients that the vaccine has creates your own,

what your own body makes, and that's what stays. So it's your own body. And so we already know what the long-term effects of COVID happens, you know, and we haven't seen any long-term effects with the vaccine. And my great-grandmother, who I'm blessed to still have with us, you know, has been through two a while now, about to get her booster shot this month, her third booster shot this month, and nothing's happened. And I personally know people who've died from COVID. So I just, I would like for you to talk a little bit more about, you know, how we've had this technology for three decades and this just didn't happen overnight and how, you know, we convey more of that to people who are thinking that this was too quick?

Yeah. Well, I think it's an important question. And I do want to make the point that, you know, when there is an information gap in this day and age where there is a ton of misinformation and disinformation, conspiracy theorists, right, including one that we had as a president, it creates room for people to fill the gap of what they don't know. And I think that this is something that is important for us to understand. Misinformation and disinformation campaigns are also not new and they are targeted at black communities in particular. You know, Roland, I saw you this week giving Busta the business. The way he was spread misinformation and to do it. It's a lot. It's a lot. And so here's what I think. Had to do it. It's a lot.

It's a lot. And so here's what I think we need to do. Earlier, Roland, you were talking about Schoolhouse Rock. And I do think it's important that we are making this information as clear and as crisp as possible. None of us are doctors. And so it's hard to grasp some of the technicalities of the thing. But I do think what we need to be able to do is explain to people in very simple terms what this does do and what it doesn't do. And they need to be able to hear that from people that they trust, people

that they don't think have an ulterior motive or agenda. And unfortunately, I think what we're seeing is that we have a lot of different messengers because people don't know our communities. And so they're using approaches and tactics, right, that might work for white folks, right, but they don't work for us. And so we've got to shift that. I will also say here that, you know, we have to also be honest about the vaccine. So I read an article this week in Yahoo News that said that actually the vaccine regiment was always supposed to be three shots, but that they were actually rolling it out and trying to get it out there so quickly because there was so much devastation that they were just kind of rolling with the two. And that's important, right? People

I know, once they started seeing other folks getting the shot and people were experiencing side effects, it was scaring them. Nobody was actually saying to you, hey, you know, in that second shot you take, you might, you know, feel sick or something for 24 hours. So what we're going to do is we're going to incentivize employers and business owners to, you know, give people a sick day so that they can go and get vaccinated. These are the kinds of solutions that we need to address. And it really involves, right, taking a look not just at people in general, right, using a neutral approach to communities, but really targeting what is going on in various communities and what

are those barriers and how do we overcome them. What's happening in Black communities is unique and specific. And so we need to tailor solutions to particular constituencies to make sure that we're successful. And we have been saying this for a long time, between political campaigns to social outreach about social issues. You cannot use a race-neutral approach when it comes to black communities. It just doesn't work. All right. Alicia, where can people actually go to actually see all of the polls? You can go to black2thefuture.org and check it out on our

website. We will also be doing these polls every two months. And so you'll be able to see in real time how opinions are shifting or changing and how the issues and priorities that we care about are shifting and changing. We really want to make sure that we're keeping you up to date. So visit us at blacktothefuture.org. All right, then. We certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Always glad to have you here. And whenever you all have your information, all you got to do is let us know,

and we'll put it out there so the public is getting real information and not getting medical advice from Busta Rhymes or Tank. Lord have mercy. Thank you, Uncle Ro. I appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Folks, got to go to a break. Before we do so, let's hear from our partners with Seek.com. All right.

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dope. Football bands and one of the best fan experiences in the country. The Cricket BX Swag Challenge kickoff returns to Atlanta on August 28th, along with special guests. College game day. Then Alcorn State takes on North Carolina Central with conference bragging rights on the line. Center Park Stadium is the place to be on August 28th. Come tailgate all day before enjoying a primetime matchup on the gridiron.

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We'll see you all there. On August 28, 1963, my father led a march on Washington. He had a dream. He had a dream. A dream. I have a dream. That one day, this nation would rise up. Rise up.

Rise up. Rise up. And live out the true meaning of its creed. If we're a government of the people, by the people, for the people, the people, then we can't make it easier for some people to vote and harder for others. Voting rights are under attack across America.

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Houston. Phoenix. And cities and towns across the country. We'll join together in the same nonviolent, nonpartisan spirit of Dr. King. To tell our elected officials we won't wait any longer. We need federal voting rights protections for every American. Every American. Every American. We need it now. Join us at MarchOnForVotingRights.org. And on August 28th, march with us. March with us. March with us.

March with us. And tell your elected officials if they stand for democracy. It's time to walk the walk. Hi, I'm Teresa Griffin. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, y'all. Delta Airline is saying if you work for us and you take the vaccine, we're hitting your ass with a $200 a month surcharge. November, all unvaccinated employees of Delta are going to pay the company $200 a month.

CEO Ed Bastian is also requiring all unvaccinated employees to wear masks and submit to weekly testing. He claims the average stay of a COVID patient is $40,000, and the vaccine will lower financial and health risks for all employees. Scott, what do you make of Delta saying, y'all don't want to get vaccinated? Show us the money. Yeah, that's true. And I agree with it.

But you're going to see a variation of this in big business. The big law firms are requiring vaccinations right now. They don't get as much PR on this, but these folks and their employment and labor lawyers in these big law firms have even hired consultants to advise them. Ultimately, you're going to have to be vaccinated to come into the office, at least right now you are. And ultimately, they are going to have to figure out what this workforce looks like, whether it's at home or in the office or some combination of that. But with the Delta variant, it's really going to be about how strong and how negative, what the negative impact is on the Delta

variant between now and September is going to dictate whether folks open up their offices, at least this business offices, by January. And so all of this is kind of in flux. But Delta is a business leader, Fortune 500 company. Watch the other airlines and those non-airline companies try to follow their lead or some variation of that lead, because we've got to define the new normal. And we keep vacillating and we keep testing and we keep trying to do the right thing. But this variant doesn't really care about business or the color of our skin or how we operate or sports or anything that's really important to us, at least in the human condition. And so look for other companies to do that, what Delta's done, or a variation of it.

More to come. Kelly, I ain't got a problem with it. I ain't got no problem at all with Delta. If these folks want to sit here and run ass around unvaccinated, hit them in their pocketbooks. And so all the other people talk about, oh, no, it's your right, it's your freedom. What he's really saying is, guess what? You unvaccinated and you get sick and then the insurance company got to pay that money. You also can cause insurance premiums to go up for other workers.

Exactly. But not, I mean, I don't have a problem with it either. I think in the article it said each employee of Delta that contracted COVID not only was unvaccinated, but it cost the company 40K per person to get them treated through their insurance policies and whatnot. So this is a smart money move, but it's also just a public health move. I mean, you're talking about people who are up under other people every day. Why would you not want to protect yourself with viable solutions? Not talking about the stuff that you shoot up horses with, not talking about Clorox, like the last president said, an actual vaccine that has proven results that is backed by science for you to not die from a disease like it is not that hard of a decision to make and the fact that corporations are are not necessarily making the decision for

you because you have the choice whether you can work there or not you know but the fact that corporations are taking the initiative to actually protect you, one, it's refreshing, but two, it just needs to be done because the fact that people are still out there saying, you know, God knows what, you know, just to not get the vaccine is absolutely ridiculous. And at this point, you might as well be a bio one. Yeah, but real quick, let me tell you what else is at work here. If you have been unvaccinated and you have COVID or been exposed to COVID and you're in the workspace, right, it costs a minimum of $10,000 for that company to clean your area, to sterilize your area, whatever you call it, per person, per office or per location. And so there's an economic issue here that they're not talking about. But I've certainly advised clients in my law practice on some of these issues. And

it is an expensive process to clean up and sterilize that workspace and that office space if you're exposed because you haven't been vaccinated, or even if you have and you've been exposed to COVID or you have COVID, asymptomatic or not, there's a real cost, hard cost there for these businesses. Bottom line, Breonna, if these hard-headed folks want to stay hard-headed, the company's saying, fine, y'all go work somewhere else. Yeah, I would take it one step further because I'm for it. Charge them if they don't want to get vaccinated. We need it.

But I think that the issue that I have in it is that I know that there's people who are selling fake vaccination cards and people who are buying it. So I—not only is it—do I—what I like to see companies encourage the vaccinations to occur and seeing the vaccination cards, but have those frequent tests for their employees and making sure that they're not coming to work sick, that they're still wearing masks, that they are properly cleaning. You know, I think that, you know, we just just because we're now getting vaccinated, I think we should still upkeep the standards of cleaning. I really like that we have started to learn how to clean more our public spaces. And I just don't want us to get comfortable not only saying, yes, we need to get vaccinated, but we need to get vaccinated and still do these other things, wear a mask, clean our spaces,

get tested very frequently. It's just not, you know, get vaccinated and show us your card, and then we're all good. Well, here's the deal i i think the way companies can confront that whole deal is say these are company approved vaccination locations or what major companies like delta should do is say we're going to have vaccination days at the office. And so that way, you know, for a fact that is actually happening, you know, for a fact, if it's Moderna or Pfizer, they got to get two shots. And so, you know, for sure, exactly that those cards are real. I think that's one of the things that you're going to actually see happen coming up, and that is do you have these certified locations to be able to sort of control the fraud? Yeah, I like that idea.

I agree, but you know, Delta is in a different space, too. Remember, they're part of the tourism industry. They're on the front line with these employees, whether they're pilots or ticket folks or they're in the executive branch. Every one of them is vitally important to the business model and the business bottom line. There's a financial incentive for them to take really hard line positions once they get behind a vaccination program or they're charging people if they're not vaccinated. So don't forget this is a business financial decision for Delta. And you're going to see other airlines either follow with some variation or not

in other big businesses. Absolutely. And so, again, we'll be following that even more. Let's talk about this story out of New Orleans, where a newly released video shows a Louisiana state trooper brutally beating a black man weeks after another black man died in state police custody. This footage shows the trooper pummeling the black motorist 18 times with a flashlight. Hold on. I haven't done nothing.

Give me a fucking hand. Give me a fucking hand. Give me a fucking... I'm not a fucking... I'm not a fucking... I'm not a fucking... I'm not a fucking... I'm not a fucking... I'm not a fucking... I'm not a fucking...

I'm not a fucking... I'm not a fucking... I'm not a fucking... I'm not a fucking... I'm not a fucking... I'm not dialysis man, you hurt me. I'm on dialysis man, you hurt me. I'm on dialysis man, you hurt me. I'm on dialysis man, you hurt me.

I'm on dial you. You are. You fighting me. You ain't listening. I'm on dialysis man. You're hurting me. You're hurting me. I don't have the... Oh.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. I haven't did it. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Now folks, Associated Press obtained the video in 2019. The Louisiana State Police actually tried to keep it a secret of the encounter. It left Aaron Larry Bowman with a broken jaw, broken ribs and other injuries. It came less than three weeks after troopers punched, stunned and dragged another black man, Ronald Green, before he died in custody. Remember, they said Green died in a traffic accident. Federal prosecutors

are examining both cases in a widening investigation into police brutality and potential cover-ups. And that right there, Scott, is the big issue. It's the cover-up, how the Louisiana State Patrol tried to keep it a secret. Well, that comes from the top, and that's culture. Now, you and I have broken down these videos to the point where we're so tired of breaking them down. But I'll say it one more time and try to be as brief as possible. hands behind you. It is anti-physics for you to do so if you've got three or four people with your knee on your back and you're beating the shit out of me with a flashlight trying to get me to comply with putting my arms behind my back. It is not possible. And so the police here are using deadly force to force compliance with a simple order of putting your hands behind your back.

How am I going to put my hands behind my back if you're beating me with a blunt instrument and you're breaking my jaw, you're breaking my ribs? How can I put my hands behind my back when I'm physically incapable of, because of the physical abuse I'm taking with a deadly blunt force object. That's the first thing. And so it's impossible. But again, it's against the law. It's against the law to use deadly force to force compliance with a simple police order.

Thirdly, he was unarmed, right? He wasn't fighting back. He was reacting to getting beat, right? And the police didn't care. Eventually they got his hands behind his back and they arrested him, but they damn near beat him to death. And you could see on the police officers' faces, they seemed to feel that they had accomplished this.

It's fundamentally wrong in our training to believe you can use deadly force because a defendant or an arrestee is not cooperating. It's just so practical that that's just wrong and fundamentally bad training. And then the cover-up comes because leadership knows that they failed in the training, and this state police officer, who, by the way, this was not his arrest. He was just in the area. He stopped by to help, and then he started using a flashlight that had sharp objects at the end of the flashlight, according to the report. And so just really ugly. And you're right, the cover-up is almost worse than the bad conduct. But both are just unacceptable behavior.

And that's why you see police chiefs who aren't doing their job at the top being fired across this country. But for two years they held onto this. Evidence has dissipated. Witness memories have dissipated. And so whether he gets charged or prosecuted, you've got to hope that the evidence and the witnesses and their memories are still in lock and step because otherwise the feds will have a problem proving this case. It's an awful video. One of the worst ones we, you and I have reviewed

over the last two or three years on this show. And Kelly, this is why we consistently see the problems with these police departments and they keep lying about it and they want to cover it up. This is why you got to have federal intervention and why you got to come down hard on these police thugs. And that's exactly what they are. They are thugs. Like when I read in the article saying that the trooper defended his actions, his assault against this man as pain compliance, I mean, that just left the most sickening feeling in my stomach, meaning that you force somebody to comply using pain and you think that is okay. Like Scott said,

Scott said everything that needed to be said as far as this is just practical training. It is immoral training. And it just does not make sense. It does not make sense from any perspective why this officer did that. But for his covertly and frankly, it's overtly racist bias towards this man. arrest me like I'm white. If you don't know how to act, if you don't know how to act as a police officer and govern yourself accordingly as law enforcement, just put your white feet in my shoes. Just arrest me like I'm white. Would you do this to you? No? Great.

Don't do it. Yeah, but you know, Rowan, they don't see scott scott scott scott scott scott brown time what god damn it you got to hold it i got more to say now now don't start with me today well shut your ass up shut your ass up and then you can talk until after brianna get done now sit your ass back and be quiet. Monique not here. Robert not here. So you think your ass going to get daytime?

No. Brianna, go. Thank you. Okay, I will this time. You go right ahead, Brianna. Oh, my goodness. She don't need your damn permission to go. I already told her to go.

Scott, be quiet. Brianna, go ahead. Thank you for that humor because that video was very, very sad. And we've had these conversations previously before and they keep going on and on and on. New polls say that the rate at which black Americans are being killed by police at this point is twice as high as the rate for white Americans. And it's totally unacceptable. It's no secret that this police brutality is a national crisis at this point, and it's

just proportionally affecting us as black people. And you know, we—that's why leaders like Senator Warnock and Barbara Lee are leading this fight for the George Floyd Justice of Policing Act. And this act would outlaw no-knock warrants, which we've seen with Breonta Taylor, ban chokeholds, prohibit racial profiling, require the use of body cameras, limit the amount of military-grade reprimand that is used by the police. I mean, this will do so much more, but we really need to take out the military part of the police.

And so it's important to pass the bill. And it's no surprise, as we talked previously on this show earlier on, just this one, that Republicans in Congress are fighting tooth and nail to destroy it, and they want to protect the police officers when they see fit. And so, but it's putting millions of our lives at risk, and everything's on the line, and there needs to be drastic change at this point. Absolutely, absolutely. And so we'll certainly find out what happens next in this particular story as hell. Hey, appeals court has upheld the commission of Dylann Roof. Of course, he was the racist white supremacist who was sentenced for the deaths of

non-black folks at Mother Emanuel in 2015. A unanimous federal three-judge panel of the Fourth U.S. Circuit rejected the arguments that Dylann Roof should have been ruled incompetent to stand trial in the shootings at Mother Emanuel. In 2017, Roof became the first person in the U.S. sentenced to death for a federal hate crime. Of course, he killed nine folks at a prayer service at that time. Let's go to Miami with a white Miami man who brandished a gun at 18 during the Black Lives Matter protests as asserting the stand your ground laws justify his actions. Mark Bartlett faces five charges of carrying a concealed weapon, three counts of aggravated assault with prejudice and improper exhibition they fire armed for the 2019 incident the

protesters flooded the streets and Bartley got out of here. Get the fuck out of here. Get the fuck out of here. Whoa! Get the fuck out of here. Who did it? Who did it? That guy in the red. Yeah, right behind this guy. You ran over my foot. Get the fuck out of here, you piece of shit.

You fucking losers. You ran over my foot. Fucking stupid niggas. You guys, keep moving. Fucking dumb ass fucking niggas. And this guy right here. I'm going to be on the news. Y'all don't make the news.

That's fine. All right. Put your hands up. Put your hands up. Put your hands up. Put your hands up. Put your hands up. Y'all don't make the news. That's fine. All right. Well, of course, you saw that where Bart bart was yelling racial slurs bartlett's attorney says that his use of force is justified um kelly you jump your ass out your car with your gun yell racial slurs to confront me if there's a block in the street and that's justified is he law enforcement or is he george zerman

i mean it sounds about white to me you know it none of that was absolutely none of that was justified the fact that he felt you know emboldened enough to get out of his car and act like he owned whatever ground that young man was standing on to tell him what to do i mean it's the caucasity for me but it's also expected from racists who don't know their place in society which is to basically mind your own business and keep it pushing this was a peaceful protest they were um completely within the right to protest that day um what he did not have the right to do is what he did, which is why he's on trial right now. But this is by no means a standard ground law.

There was no castle around him that he owned. There was nothing around him that he needed to defend. He was the aggressor and he should be treated as such under the law. Brianna? Yeah, it's ridiculous. And I mean, honestly, like I said, it's Florida. And so this problem happens over and over in Florida. I'm very familiar with Brickell. I actually was in the area during that time. And I don't know how he would get passed in this case, especially

because of, you know, the racial epithets he was, you know, spewing. But, yeah, but the issue, though, is the so-called Sandra Ground Law in Florida. We've seen time and time again vigilantes being the judge, jury, and executioner. And so, like, you know, there's been from Trayvon Martin, from Marquise McLaughlin, there's been so many issues, and they've gone away with Sandra Ground. And, you know, Sandra Ground has no place in a civilized society. And as Kelly said, he wasn't protecting his castle, even though in Florida that's not a criteria you need to defend your Sanjog ground. But it allows anyone to feel, who feels afraid, which he shouldn't have felt afraid, they

got out the car, to murder and label as self-defense, to roll over someone's foot because they were in the way and she had to go pick up the kids from soccer. And it was just a—you know, it bothered her and frustrated her, because it took away her time. But, I mean, the reason they were protesting is because the injustices on their lives. And it just—and that was such an inconvenience for her to even have to think about, as a white person, what we're going through as black people. And so it's—the Stand Your Ground law disproportionately is used against people of color. And we really have to change it.

And it's that hopefully, you know, they take this case and do the right thing. But, yeah, this is awful. And I don't think that you can use the stay-in-your-ground law like this. I didn't realize, Scott, you can just jump your ass out anytime you want to and wave your gun at people because they're protesting. Didn't realize that was part of the Stand Your Ground law. It really isn't. And so, you know me, I love to analyze these videos, right? So, who's driving the narrative, if you will? And

the individuals in the Range Rover, whether they were white Americans or white Cubans, who's driving that narrative? The woman got out of the car and went to argue to try to get them to move. No one touched her. You will see the second individual next to the guy on the bike who stepped in front of her, and the guy in the red was trying to move away from her, and then she accuses him of running over her foot. Well, he wasn't riding his bike. If anything, the tire touched her. That's the first thing.

Second of all, after the argument ensued, she never, no one ever touched her. There were words exchanged, but at no time was she under any threat. Look at what happens there. They're arguing, but these young kids who were labeled thugs and n-words never touched her, right? They were in a peaceful protest. She's driving that narrative. And then the husband or boyfriend comes out with his gun with several people around, which is reckless endangerment. And he says, who did it? Who ran over your foot? Now, secondly, no one else,

no one else is armed right now. No one has a stick or a knife, nor are they showing it, right? And so he's walking around cursing and using racial epithets, and he's got a 9mm in his hand as if he's under threat. Well, he's not under threat. His white privilege is telling him he's got to do something to protect his girlfriend, but he's never attacked either, right? So I'm standing my ground, and I saw where the lawyer argued that there were these young toughs around, and they were banging on cars,

and they were scaring people. That's not what this video was about at all. This was a very personal video because they wanted to drive down the street in the protest, protesters were blocking the street. And so, you know, there's a liberal view, a wide-band view of Stand Your Ground, but this isn't it. In fact, the protesters were standing their ground, and they were unarmed, nor did they ever touch any one of those, that man or that woman, that's going to be a hard defense. And the government's argument

or not the government, but the defense lawyers argue is trying to convince the judge to allow that defense. And it's certainly going to be up to the court as to whether he allows it, but I think it doesn't qualify for stand your ground at all, especially in this public place.

All right, folks, let's go to New York where the R. Kelly trial goes into day six. And just really just more shocking testimony. Kelly's defense team cross-examined the unnamed witness who testified on yesterday. He asked the witness to read letters she wrote to the family members while living with Kelly as one of his girlfriends. In one letter, she accused her mother of telling Kelly, since he was sleeping with her, he needed to send $10,000 to an account provided by her mother. In another letter to her brother, the witness listed actions their parents allegedly put her up to to get money from Kelly, including telling her to lie about her age to him and the police.

However, prosecutors argued Kelly forced the witness to write the letters. We have heard all sort of just shocking and damning testimony in this trial here. You know, federal prosecutors are really laying out a very strong case against R. Kelly. It is one of three trials, potential trials he may face. It's going on now, but there are two other jurisdictions that he's going to be facing charges, Scott. And so his attorneys, they have an uphill battle, especially when you have women who were with him, who talked about sleeping with him, being forced to do so when they were underage. Yeah. And while they lied to him about him being then being underage, while they lied about that, and while they lied to him about him being, them being underage, while they lied about that, and while they told other public lies, the government explained that away through

these witnesses by saying that they were forced to lie because of their fear of R. Kelly. Now, the defense lawyer has been cross-examining these witnesses. He's got to be careful now because he's got a charge whereby he had sex with these women and passed on an STD to them, which is against the law without putting them on notice. He's transporting younger people vis-a-vis statutory rape, whether they lied to him or not, in violation of what we used to call the man act across state lines. And then that he has a rocketeering charge where he has a criminal enterprise whereby he invites these women with a team of other people to either incarcerate them

in their home, but also to transfer them across state lines, as well as have sex with underage girls. It's a well-charged case against him. And while the defense can nip at the credibility, if you will, how these witnesses, how these women, these victims are holding up on the stand is really impressive, even though they've lied before. They've explained why they lied. And even if you say they don't have credibility, the fact of the matter is the medical records show that they had sex at an early age or, you know, as a juvenile, one. But two, the medical records show that he passed on an STD to them. I think it's going to be a hard row to hoe to get

around it, even if you're going to argue at the end with the jury that all of the women are lying, they all wanted money, their families wanted money, and they're being — he's in this position because of their greed and he wouldn't give them money. That has nothing to do with whether he engaged in sex with them while they were underage or he had a criminal enterprise of women who he kept there, and they had to call him daddy and all these other things. And so I don't think the defense gets there in the end. I'm not sure why they haven't entered into a plea agreement, but every case is different, every defendant is different, and this could put him in jail

for quite some time. Kelly? I mean, the reason why they haven't entered a plea agreement, in my opinion, is probably because R. Kelly is refusing any plea agreement. If we know anything about R. Kelly, he has an ego. And that is evident in his mannerisms, both on and off stage, that is evident in his personal life and his professional life. None of this surprises me. The fact that he doesn't have a plea deal, the testimony that's coming about in court. Again, and I think I said this on your show previously, we have known that R. Kelly is disgusting for decades. It is just coming to light in this regard because of the shift in culture when it comes to believing women, specifically believing Black women, and not

letting misogynoir and power overtake one's credibility. This man has a lengthy history of absolutely disgusting behavior towards women and young girls. And the fact that it is just coming to light, um, or rather just getting to court in this regard again, um, is really a tragedy and a testimony to how, uh, how the justice system just hasn't looked out for these girls, how the justice system hasn't looked out for Black women. Yeah, R. Kelly needs to be under the jail, period. Anything that comes to light now is honestly just icing on top of the crappy cake that he has made for almost three decades at this point.

Rihanna? Yeah, I think that he needs to enter into a plea deal. There's not that much more I can say. I hope that it happens, and I hope that when he does enter a plea deal, it's—these people that have been victims receive their fair justice, and it's not a crappy one like they gave Bill Cosby. I do think that we need to listen and protect black women. And it's just atrocious that this has gone on so long and i don't i mean that

last witness was damning um so i don't really know how they're going to come back on the defense um but i do think that a plea deal needs to be entered and he needs to go away for a while yeah hey hey roland real quick for your listening audience. The fact that they were consensual, at least initially, in having sex or continue to have sex allegedly consensually doesn't matter. The conviction and the charges, if they meet those elements, are still going to be the jury can still find against them. There's no contributory negligence or contributory part on the women, whether they were of age or not of age. All right, then. All right, then. All right, folks. The United Nations

is saying Haiti needs $187 million. Of course, Haiti suffered that 7.2 earthquake more than a week ago. They're trying to rebuild there as well. More 2,200 Haitians that have died, more than 12,000 injured, thousands of displaced and homeless. The aid is going to be necessary for food, shelter, hygiene products, and health care to those in need. Several recovery organizations are aiding in relief efforts. The International Organization for Migration is seeking $15 million to help those affected. Now, while Haiti is reeling from the devastating effects of the natural disasters, a new judge is going to be presided over the investigation, the assassination of former President Moise.

And so Haiti, again, continues to have significant issues in that particular country. And so we certainly, you know, give our thoughts and prayers to them. All right, y'all, we got to go. Brianna, we certainly appreciate you on this show. You're going to have a whole bunch of boomers who are going to be rolling up on your ass in their wheelchair and their carts trying to beat you down

saying they don't get involved. I'm just sitting there telling you right now, when you get your ass whooped by some boomers, don't be calling me. I tried to help you. It won't happen. It won't happen. I'll probably help you. It won't happen. It won't happen. I'll probably just get to it. Alright, okay, alright.

Alright, Brianna, some fast boomers. Alright, don't, don't, don't. Alright, don't, don't, don't sit here and don't think they ain't there. Kelly, we appreciate it. Scott, thanks a bunch. I know you were trying to run your mouth, trying to take over the show since Robert and Monique were not here.

But that will never happen. That will never happen as well. And so, you know, you're in line. Not with me here. And certainly, we'll explain. I got a lot to say. Scott, if we let your ass talk more, we're going to lose everybody watching the show. We'll say this here.

So all of our condolences to Scott. He lost his father last week. And so prayers go out to you and the family as well. So we sure appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Y'all, that's it. I got to go. Tonight's our last day in L.A.

We had a great conversation with Jeffrey Osborne today. Yo, I cannot wait to y'all, that's it. I got to go. Tonight's our last day in L.A. We had a great conversation with Jeffrey Osborne today. Yo, I cannot wait to y'all see these conversations. Jeffrey Osborne, Richard Lawson, Glenn Turman, Jack A., Bill Duke. Oh, Michael Collier. Yo, crazy. Mario Van Peebles. Unbelievable conversations. And so we're going to put those things together.

I have them for you. And so I'm trying to come up with a name all right here's i'm trying to come up with a name uh for this interview show uh and so uh y'all send me a tweet or send me an email uh what y'all think i should name uh so so here's the concept i'm doing these one-on-one interviews with different celebrities and so what do you think we should name the show? And so let me know what you think we should name the show. Send me an email. Post it on Facebook or Twitter. Use the hashtag.

And we'd love to see what y'all have to say. We've got some great stuff lined up for you. And, man, I can't wait to be back in the studio next week because we're going to be unveiling our new studio. Oh, my God, do y'all see it? And so we're going to be in Atlanta on Friday. So we leave tomorrow. I've got to actually fly back to D.C., moderate a panel, then hop on a plane and fly to Atlanta.

So we will be there. And so it's been great out here in Los Angeles with some great interviews. Of course, kicking it as well you see the Hollywood Hills I got the pool and the jacuzzi behind me so now that we done I'm going to put the swimming trunks on and hop in the jacuzzi and chill out

so I appreciate it, thanks everybody for watching the show, don't forget if y'all want to support what we do every dollar that you give goes to support this show I told y'all man, we got some unbanned next week is just gonna it's gonna be unbelievable week uh what we got to reveal uh also let me let me show y'all this here let's see here where are we right now uh with our people and so right now we have 794,576 youtube subscribers we are 4,500 away from hitting 800,000. If you have not subscribed to our YouTube channel, please switch on right now.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Click the like button. But please support what we do by joining our Bring the Funk fan club. When you support the show, you are supporting the hiring of black crews, lighting directors. We support black businesses on this show. We thank folks like Next Door for supporting us as well. And so please, Cash App, dollar sign RM Unfiltered, Venmo.com forward slash RM Unfiltered,

PayPal.me forward slash RMartin Unfiltered. Zelle is rolling at rollingmastmartin.com, rolling at rollingmartinunfiltered.com. That's it. I'll see y'all tomorrow. Roland Martin Unfiltered. Actually, Elmisha Cross is going to be guest hosting tomorrow because I'm flying back. I'm going to see y'all on Friday from ATL and the Swag Me Act Challenge, courtesy of Coca-Cola.

Man, we cannot wait. Holla! We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before.

I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops. They

get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real.

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.