#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 7.11.19 RMU: SA Marilyn Mosby: Legalize pot on federal level; Airline makes Black woman cover up

Episode Date: July 13, 2019

7.11.19 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Baltimore SA Marilyn Mosby is calling for the decriminalization of marijuana on a federal level; Airline forced a Black woman cover up before she could get on a plane; Is Pelosi deliberately targeting freshman House members of color? Senator Kamala Harris has a plan to close the rape kit backlog; DC's mayor says Trump's Fourth of July celebration emptied the security fund. - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: 420 Real Estate, LLC To invest in 420 Real Estate’s legal Hemp-CBD Crowdfunding Campaign go to http://marijuanastock.org Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. 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. 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 the 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 podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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 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. Good evening. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered for Thursday, July 11th, 2019.

Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby is calling for the decriminalization of marijuana on a federal level. She's here to tell us why. A black woman was forced by flight attendants to wear a blanket to get on the plane. No, she was not new. She'll tell her story. Is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi deliberately targeting the freshman House members of color? AOC and representing members of the squad says yes. Senator Kamala Harris has a plan to close the rape kit backlog. And the D.C. Mayor says Trump's 4th of July celebration has emptied the terrorism security fund.

Plus, as you can imagine and expect, another crazy ass white person. So I'm Greg Carr sitting in the seat for big brother Roland Martin, who's on travel right now, going somewhere around the world. And it is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin unfiltered, as he would say. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever would say, let's go. to politics He's broke, he's fresh, he's real, the best you know, he's rolling Martel now. Martel. In a testimony before a congressional panel yesterday, Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said that her city is a prime example of how the war on drugs has failed. She joins us now to talk about why she believes that marijuana should be decriminalized on a federal level.

State's Attorney Mosby, are you there? I am here. How are you today? Well, better, better now that you've joined us. And thanks, as always, for your continuing work on behalf of not only our people but all the citizens of Baltimore for the example so you were here in the district to testify before Congress this subcommittee on this issue of decriminalizing marijuana and doing it on a federal level could you walk our viewers through why not only this is an important issue but how you're distinguishing between what you're already doing on the ground there in

Maryland and what you really want the feds to do so I was honored to be invited to the subcommittee of the judiciary and it's the crime and terrorism in homeland subcommittee and it was cheered by karen bass of california who convened this hearing and it was about racial justice marijuana laws in america and racial justice and the need for reform and i was honored because it gave me an opportunity to kind of talk about the discriminatory enforcement of laws against poor black and brown people we know that this war on drugs that congress signed off on has really been a war on black poor black and brown people. We know that this war on drugs that Congress signed off on has really been a war on black, poor black and brown people. And essentially, it has been at

the disservice and the disadvantage to our communities. And so I was given the opportunity to address Congress. I had several sort of proposals. And one of those proposals is I'm advocating for not just the decriminalization, but the legalization of marijuana federally. And that's for a number of reasons. Right now, federally, it's against the law. The Controlled Substances Act says that you cannot be, it's a Schedule I narcotic right next to heroin, which in and of itself is a problem because it's not as dangerous as that type of drug, but it's a Schedule I narcotic, and you have 11 states who have already legalized marijuana,

and that's a conflict of interest. And furthermore, the issue that I saw in this was that we have to allow the states to regulate tax and to be able to make the determination about what to do with marijuana laws. And the reason I say this is because with the regulation of marijuana, it diminishes the black market or the distribution of marijuana. We know that distribution of drugs fuels violence. And you look at my city, you know, unfortunately, Baltimore has been, is woven within the fabric of the United States. And yet we're lead in per capita homicides. We lead in the number of opioid deaths, you know, and we're one of the most impoverished cities in the entire

country. And a lot of that has to do with this failed war on drugs. And so what I went up to Congress to say was, you all are somewhat responsible for these federal and financial incentives that you have provided to the states to enforce these laws in discriminatory ways. We know that nationally, that you as an African-American or black person, you are four times more likely to be arrested for the possession of marijuana than a white person. That's problematic because we know that the use and consumption of marijuana among black people and white people are the same. And yet, and still, even after the decriminalization of marijuana in the city of Baltimore, 95% of the citations that they issue for marijuana for 10 grams or less are going to black people. 42% of the citations that they're issuing citywide is going to one out of nine police districts, which represents 9% of the population within the city and is 95% black and disproportionately poor.

So when you look at those stats, what that tells you is that there has been discriminatory enforcement that has had collateral consequences, not just on individuals, but on whole communities. And recognizing that, what I went to Congress to say was that you now have a responsibility, understanding that this was a failed war on drugs, to reinvest not only in individuals through reentry services and ensuring that we have mass expungement and vacature and consider the resentencing that we've treated this, what should be a public health crisis as it criminalized it, but I also argue that we should also be reinvesting in our communities in ways in which we're the ones that have suffered the most at the hands of these failed policies. Well, you haven't,

you certainly haven't waited on Congress to act. It seems to me that you're following a long tradition of black state's attorneys in Baltimore. I remember when Kurt Schmoke was, I think, at that time the youngest state's attorney elected in Maryland, really began that conversation about legalizing some use of drugs. But you, in January, covered here on Roland's show, you said, I'm going to stop prosecuting folks for this possession. And then you have even gone into court and asked that records be expunged, that the number of years between the time you've been convicted of something and the expungement be shrunk.

I mean, so you're not waiting on Congress to act, are you? No, I'm not going to wait on Congress, and I'm not going to wait on the state to act either. And that's the point, right? Like, in January, I came out. They haven't changed the possession laws, and they have not ensured that they're making that investment in our communities. They're giving me issues about vacating the 5,000 convictions. But I came out in January and said, in considering this discriminatory enforcement, as a state's

attorney, I can never be complicit in the discriminatory enforcement against poor Black and brown people, of laws against poor Black and brown people. And so I'm not going to prosecute the possession of marijuana. And I'm going to move to vacate the convictions of over 5,000 individuals. And I argued that it was violative of the 14th Amendment for this discriminatory enforcement, the Equal Protection Clause. And the courts have come back and said, no, you don't have a legal mechanism to be able to vacate these convictions. So I'm still fighting, which is one of the reasons why I went to Congress to say, hey, we need federal incentives to make sure that the states put in their, you know, their, ensure that they are fighting for the individuals that have been most impacted.

The fact that in the state of Maryland, there's an expectation that you have to wait four years before you can get your record expunged for the possession of marijuana when it's no longer even a crime for 10 grams or less is ridiculous. And so, you know, that's what Congress has the power to be able to do is to incentivize the state through their financial means. They incentivize the states through their financial means when they enforce these laws. You have, you know, grants and task forces that were implementing these laws against poor black and brown people. Now it's incumbent on them to also incentivize the states to right the wrongs of the past. You know, it's funny. I remember election night 2012. We were covering the stuff at Howard and I was in an auditorium full of students.

And they saw the marijuana leaf come up on the screen and everybody started cheering, realizing that Colorado had become a state that had legalized marijuana for recreational use And of course, we know that Washington State did that as well as you said But you made a 10th amendment Argument before Congress the other day for the viewers who might not be clear about the relationship between the states and federal government when it Comes to these laws here in DC for example is decriminalized But don't be called it a federal park like national parks because that's where federal

law occurs. Why did you bring up the 10th Amendment for folks who might not understand a relationship between state law and federal law when it comes to this issue? Well, because this is the distinction, right? And this is why I'm saying that there should be legalization, not just decriminalization of marijuana. We have to legalize it because the federal government right now is saying that it's illegal. However, there are certain states, as you've mentioned, Colorado, Washington State, where they're saying it is legal, right? And that in and of itself is a conflict. And it becomes a conflict and issue when it comes to banking issues for those that are in

the industry, the marijuana industry. And what we're saying is that we can't have technically the federal government can go into the state of Colorado and arrest people, even though people are complying with state law. And so that in and of itself is a conflict. And what we're saying and what I argued is that we need to eliminate that conflict and the federal government shouldn't have oversight. It should be up to the states. We should treat marijuana the same way that we treat alcohol, allow the states to regulate and to tax. It's better for the states to be able to control from a public safety and consumer safety perspective, to be able to make a determination as to, you know know what restrictions

they're going to put on marijuana what what are the you know dispensaries and and young people having to come in and to show ids you have your quality control testing of the substance so that there's no it diminishes the black market right now in the black market marijuana is being laced with other sort of substances right right? We want to diminish that. And that's what we're saying. And that's what I was arguing to Congress is that, hey, we have to ensure that we don't have these conflicts that are violative of the 10th Amendment. Well, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, every time we see you, you know, always, thank you for continuing to fight on behalf of us and as a proud graduate of Tuskegee

University well you're a graduate of Tuskegee my mama's born about 30 minutes from here every time I think about you know no question ain't just you you know it's t-u you know mother Tuskegee as we say so thanks again uh state's attorney Mosley and please keep us informed as the fight moves on and uh and keep the fight and I anticipate and I hope they will have bipartisan support and we get the kind of, you know, federal incentives and resources that are needed for the states to comply and to rectify what has been wrong against poor black and brown people. So thank you for your support and I appreciate you. We're here always. Thank you again. All right. All right, yeah. So we've heard from State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, and we're gonna turn now to our panel,

our regular panel, including Quadricos Driscoll, who is a adjunct professor at the George Washington University, and Erica Savage-Wilson, host of Savage Politics. Well, not only decriminalizing, but legalizing marijuana. Anybody have any thoughts on that, Quadriquez or Erica, who's jumping? Yeah, absolutely. And one thing I'm very curious about is

because this has not been really parceled out for states to settle, what is the communication between different states' attorneys about how to handle those individuals that are being incarcerated, being arrested, because I'm still believing that black and brown folks are still paying the penalty for being users or sellers of a drug that has definitely enriched our non-people of color community. And also there are degrees that people can now begin to pursue in the study of marijuana. So as these, you know, different wealth opportunities come available I'm just wondering the conversation between state's attorneys about how we can kind

of like right the wrongs that still are felt among black and brown community very interesting that's it that's going to inject itself properly into this presidential election cycle um what you got some thinking prof about some of things that happened in California I know after it was legalized, for example, or decriminalized in the Bay Area, for example, these very people who have been arrested for drug sales now don't have the capital to rent a storefront, to get a loan, to get into the now legitimate business

of selling marijuana. We heard Attorney Mosby talk about this. Where do you see the future of this going? Or is there a future even for our people who used to be hand-to-hand herb hustlers and now they can't get out here and get a license to do it legitimately? I mean, it's, dare I say, it's the same shit done over again, right? It always starts where we are poor black and brown people are always behind the eight ball.

Because now what we do know is that we have our white brothers and sisters who are making bank off of this. The former Speaker of the House, John Boehner, is a senior policy advisor for one of the largest cannabis companies in the country. I would have suspected that alcohol was his drug of choice, but I guess that's for consumption, not profit. Anyway, I mean, I don't know about you. We talk about morals and society. Price drank wine, I'm sure they'll tell you that. his drug of choice but i guess that's for consumption not profit anyway i mean right price drink wine i'm sure they'll tell you that right the reality is our people have on you know unfortunately for various reasons have had to use marijuana to survive and to sell including members of my own family dare i say say, right? No question. And so here we are now talking about decriminalizing marijuana. There have been a large number of black and brown people who have been jailed in prison for this.

And now it's a huge moneymaker. I wouldn't be surprised if it's going to be on the stock exchange soon, right? Let me ask you, do you have any thoughts about the fact that our brother Sean Carter seems to have jumped into this pool? Jay-Z is now in this. I mean, where should we come down on this? I think it is most incumbent that black and brown folks, as you just mentioned, brother, are afforded the opportunities to make the money that really has been paid with time and being time. How do you do that?

Absolutely. And so I think like for folks that have attained a certain wealth status to go in and kind of clear the field the same way we've seen them. And I'm saying them meaning like folks like, you know, you mentioned Sean Carter to go in and kind of clear the field the same way they have done with when they've seen injustice is done with other families right to also clear the field in that way because he himself you know he's talking right about you know I'm a loyal fan of his about you know you selling drugs and using that money in order to bring his career to fruition so I think that clearing the field in

that way so that black and brown folks who have paid the penalty What time away from their family harsh prison sentences are able to benefit legally by way of having? Dispensaries have those storefronts that are set up like you know It was demonstrated in Oakland to be able to go out and pioneer those spaces and just to add to that furthermore I mean I teach part-time at George Washington, but I'm a health care lobbyist by day Yes, and so we also need to and we heard her talk about the Benefits yes are associated. Yes, sir with moderate amount of cannabis or marijuana use absolutely right when you look at chronic conditions like psoriasis, which is a Not a skin disorder as an autoimmune right when you look at certain psychological disorders

mental illness it is there are studies that have done and show that marijuana is a soothing calming effect when done of course in moderation and with the proper dosage right so there's there are multiple reasons to decriminalize so it sounds like maybe you know our colleagues and friends at meharry medical college morehouse school of medicine howard university medical school we're going to need some research studies black institutions need to be thinking a little bit more strategically absolutely yes absolutely particularly as they're you know the attend um and they're not gaining the numbers that they need to in terms of funding i totally agree with you dr carr that these are different avenues that they could look to can really expand and really gain let's get after it and like you said we make some money i know one of the supporters of roland

martin unfiltered you know he's some sisters and getting us to invest in some hemp farming so uh pay attention to these ads as we see on roland martin unfiltered so um let's go to our next story uh we've got some uh i would say people of color but since white will have color too we'll just say some non-white congresswomen who are in the United States Congress, who seem to be engaged in a bit of a dust-up. New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, our sister from the Bronx, has accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of singling out newly elected women of color, newly elected non-white women, I'd say, in the Democratic Party.

She's referring to the four freshmen who are known as the squad. All of them, one way or another, have been interviewed, either covered on this show or talked to directly. And that, of course, is Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts, Ilhan Omar, of course, of Minnesota, and Rashida Tlaib, who took over John Conyers' seat coming out of Detroit in Michigan. Pelosi has had, of course, denied it, of course she has, and wants to keep the family business in the family. What do you all make of not only these four known as the squad, and I tell you I love their style,

you can't, whatever else, you may not agree with them politically, but they are not gonna be quiet. How, I mean, what is Pelosi's play here? What's her strategy of now beginning to heighten these things and say, well, there are only four votes. They don't represent anybody as though only four people voted for them in their districts. I mean, what is Pelosi trying to accomplish by taking them on in the public sphere? Pelosi is trying to maintain power. She is the Speaker of the House.

She is the leader of the Democratic Party, right? Facto or de facto? she is the speaker of the house she is the leader of the democratic party right facto or do you think the fact that she is trying to keep her base in line and she's not going to be upstaged by a twenty-some-year-old who can't afford to pay her rent in DC yes fundamentally and she is trying to make sure that her caucus stays in line and in some ways i kind of agree with her

i think AOC is i i i i STAYS IN LIFE. AND IN SOME WAYS, I KIND OF AGREE WITH HER. I THINK AOC IS, I APPRECIATE THE SPIRIT THAT SHE BRINGS TO CONGRESS. I APPRECIATE THE FOREWOMEN IN THE SPIRIT THAT THEY BRING TO CONGRESS. NO QUESTION.

BUT I ALSO THINK SHE'S OUT OF CONTROL. IN WHAT WAY, THOUGH? I THINK SHE IS OUT OF CONTROL. YOU SAY OUT OF CONTROL. THE GREEN NEW DEAL IS OUT OF CONTROL.

POLICY IS OUT OF CONTROL. I'LL SAY THIS. HAVING READ THE OP-ED THAT MARINE DOW DID IN THE NEW YORK TIMES. SAY SOME MORE ABOUT THAT TO I'll say this. Having read the op-ed that Maureen Dowd did in New York Times with Nancy Pelosi- Say some more about that to the viewers, because they may not know. So if anybody, for your reading pleasure, I would encourage you, implore you to please pull up a piece that was done over the weekend, Nancy Pelosi with Maureen Dowd of the New York Times. It was staged, they were sitting down, you know, eating,

popping chocolates, just having a genteel, you know, kind of setting. And so it kind of took me back, just framing it, thinking about antebellum, two women sitting on the veranda. This is what I got because of the language that was used in talking about, and I take offense to them being called the squad.

They are four duly elected representatives that serve their people in the United States Congress. And all you have to do, if you want to see how prepared they are, turn on C-SPAN. Please do. And watch them on financial services. Please do. Watch them on judiciary. Yes. There are no more prepared. No more prepared. Four women of color who were duly elected, who are absolutely speaking truth to power. I applaud and love and champion each and every one of them. Because though Speaker Pelosi does have the power of the gavel, the only reason she had it is because a group of people, meaning the American people, went to the ballot box, not all Democrats, that said, hello, we want a check on this president. So since you said that you were going to give that to us, then we are going to vote for you to do just that. And she reneged on that. And that also

brought in new people as well, blood these women have been running a race for a very very long time so while they've only been in congress for about a year these women have been activists in their community for many years so to not you know take you know take them away from what they've done since they've been in the house these women have been doing that type of work in the streets. And they're not the only. This is the interesting thing about it as well. Lucy McBath is coming out of Georgia. You have Lauren Underwood in Illinois.

There are other women who have been doing the same thing. So why are these four? They're not making as much noise. Here's the thing. But I'm not convinced. Again, I applaud their work and I love their energy, but I'm just not convinced of the good noise. Well, here's the thing. But I'm not convinced, and again, I applaud their work and I love their energy, but I'm just not convinced the good noise, right? John Lewis talks about if you're going to fight, make it a good fight. And you would use John Lewis

as the example, brother. The most effective member of, that's tongue firmly planted in cheek. Is he? Is he? Is he now? Okay, I'm not mad at you. He's a Civil War hero. I mean, I mean i'm sorry civil rights hero i shouldn't say if you read that piece prior to the topic that we're specifically discussing yeah this is you

will see nancy pelosi refer to them as these people you will see the language in there that is very isolating that is really saying to them listen y'all down, y'all have a seat. So as to say to a black woman, since I am a black woman and I understand the microaggressions, I understand the implicit. And Dowd and Pelosi have a relationship. This whole distinction between brie and sausage and everything they're talking about in there. Absolutely. But fortunately, because I'm getting in my ear that we have been joined by our big brother. So I think we can go directly to another part of the world and bring into this conversation the host of Roland Martin and filter to bring the funk. Is that Roland Martin?

It all was happening, brother. You got to loan me that goofy man in that. It's good to see you, brother. Good to see you as well. Thanks for holding it down. I'm here in Nassau, Bahamas, of course, Global United Fellowship. First of all, let me just say this here. Glad y'all are sitting here having this conversation. So I'm here with Bishop Neal Ellis. I'm going to talk to him in just a second.

I do want to weigh in on this whole deal here. The reality is this here. I think Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is absolutely correct. The Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she she needs to watch her tone. Let me be real clear. Tone. White folks have a tendency to talk to black folks a certain way, talk to people of color a certain way. And so I think in some ways Nancy Pelosi is jealous of the amount of attention that Ocasio-Cortez is getting as a result of her ascension to Congress. And so she also sort of wants to keep them in place. But the reality is, as I said, they were elected to be the kind of leaders they are being. That's what young bucks do. That's what freshmen are supposed to do. If you look at what happened on the Tea Party

side, when you had new freshmen who came in, they were rambunctious. They were the exact same way. They utilized their power. And so what Nancy Pelosi needs to be very careful, because this is the key, Nancy Pelosi, the power of voices who have not been involved in politics. And that's the mistake that I believe Speaker Pelosi is making when she is so dismissive. She can say, look, I have great respect for all of our members. There are folks with different perspectives. My job as Speaker of the House is to pull all of those vote voices together. She needs the moderates who, frankly, come from a lot of red districts or red-leaning districts. She needs those progressive voices as well.

But I think it is a grave mistake on the part of Nancy Pelosi to be so disrespectful and the tone that she uses with these freshman members of Congress. And so I'm going to so those two cents in. I'm going to go to commercial break right now. When we come back, I'm going to chat with Bishop Neal Ellis here from the Bahamas about this fellowship, what it means for the future of the black church. That's next on Roland Martin Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real.

That's Roland Martin Unfiltered. See that name right there? Roland Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And don't forget to turn on your notifications so when we go live, you'll know it. All right, folks, they're back. MarijuanaStock.org has another great investment opportunity.

If you were lucky enough to invest in their last crowdfunding campaign, you know they raised a lot of money in just a few months. Yes, I could. Investing in legal marijuana farms. Those initial investors now own shares of a publicly traded company. And, of course, they are very excited by that now they have a new investment opportunity that is as good if not better than the last i'm talking about industrial hemp cbd for those who don't know the hemp plant is a cousin to marijuana uh of course

and then it has a higher concentration of cbd which means hemp cbd gives you all the medical benefits of marijuana without getting you high. Until recently, hemp farming was practically illegal in the U.S. and heavily regulated by the DEA. However, that changed with the 2018 Farm Bill, making it legal to grow hemp CBD in the U.S. and creating one of the largest commodities worldwide. They need land to grow all of the plants, and this makes for an incredible investment opportunity. That's where our good friends at 420 Real Estate come in. Their business model is simple. They buy land that supports hemp CBD grow operations and lease it to licensed high-paying tenants. That's right, they are hemp CBD landlords

and you can get in on the action. You can invest in this crowdfunding campaign for as little as 200 bucks up to $ thousand dollars all right folks all you got to do is go to marijuana stock.org that's marijuana stock.org if you want to get in the game and if you do so do it now hey folks you might recall when american airlines had to apologize to tamika mallory the activist uh for being thrown off of an airplane that led to the NAACP asking folks, black folks, not to not to have caution flying American Airlines. You might remember we were at the National Convention last year in San Antonio where the CEO of American Airlines came there to apologize and to announce the training that all American Airlines employees are going to go through. Well, now they have another issue. A black woman, a doctor from Houston, was flying,

and a couple of flight attendants felt that her attire was improper. They actually asked her to cover up. She took photos of her attire. Folks got a chance to see it. As a result, American Airlines has since apologized to her. Joining us right now is Dr. Tisha Rowe. Doctor, how are you doing? I'm great. How are you? Glad to have you on the show. American Airlines was supposed to take all the employees and

sensitivity training, but here we have more African Americans like yourself who are complaining about, again, being pulled off by flight attendants. Were you shocked to have these flight attendants question your attire? I was shocked. I was insulted. I was confused. There was absolutely nothing hanging out. I looked at myself front and back in the restroom just prior to boarding the flight, and I had no issue with my attire. And so they and so did they give you something to cover up or were you eventually allowed onto the plane wearing what you wore? I had to cover up with a blanket in order to board the plane. And I assume that was extremely embarrassing to you having to

walk on the plane with a blanket around you. And you're probably looking at other passengers saying, why wasn't she, why did she have to cover up? Exactly. That's exactly what happened. I was humiliated. I spoke to another passenger who was also traveling with her child, different body type. She was much thinner than I was. And she looked at my outfit and said, wow, you know, your shorts are longer than mine. They didn't say anything to me. Do you believe that, again, to your point about body type, that black was being taught? And you have, first of all, were the two flight attendants were were they both white no they were black um both flight attendants were black i've gotten that question so so two black women so two black women two black flight attendants question your attire absolutely and we don't know where the question came from. Did it come from the pilot who was Caucasian?

Did the complaint come from a Caucasian passenger? So I think a lot of people want to focus on the race of the flight attendants, which is irrelevant because you have discrimination even within our own communities. You know, if someone's working at a country club and they happen to be African-American, do they treat all of the African-American customers the same as the white? Not necessarily. I mean, how did we as slaves get here? So the flyer team has never told you where the complaint originated from? Never. Never even told me that there was a complaint, to be honest.

What they said was, do you have a jacket? And if we want to just assume my attire was inappropriate, which it absolutely was not, let's say it was inappropriate in their eyes. The way they treated me as a customer, irrespective of my attire, was as if I had, as so many people assume, rode on a buddy pass, that I was begging for a free ride. They were cold. They were hostile. They were demeaning.

You know, God forbid someone is actually inappropriate, you still would not treat them that way. So racism was at play, sexism was at play. It was just horrible. So Dr. Rowe, American Airlines apologized to you. What more did they say they're going to do? They have said they're going to do, they're going to refund me, which is interesting because I've gotten over and over again, have you been refunded, have you been refunded?

And, you know, based on the questions, I kept checking my bank account looking for this refund. The Washington Post told me that American Airlines told them a refund was issued on July 1st, which would have been the day following my flight. And I received today a check dated July 10th. So there's definitely some discrepancy there, a check that will not be taxed. Well, certainly American Airlines has some answers that they need to give. And also those flight attendants should also be stating where this complaint originated from, because if it came from them, they got some questions to answer. If it came from a passenger or the pilot, they too have some questions to answer as well. Dr. Rowe, we're certainly glad you could join us to share your experience with this flight. and hopefully this will lead to some changes

with American Airlines. Definitely hope so. All right. Dr. Tischer-Rowe, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Have a nice night. Bye-bye. All right, folks.

I am here in Nassau, Bahamas for the sixth annual Global United Fellowship Conference, the gathering taking place. Presiding Bishop is Bishop Neil Ellis, representing churches from around 40 different countries. And he joins me right now. And Bishop, glad to see you. Looking good here. Well, I'm glad to have you here in the Bahamas. Hey, it's better here, they say. Well, I got to ask you, we'll just slide this way over here. So let me ask you this here in terms of this is six years old. You were previously a part of the Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship.

And then there were folks who had issues with you taking over. And you said, you know what, okay, fine. Y'all can have this part to yourself. Well, let me just first of all tell you, I have very little to no regrets. The 20 years I spent in Full Gospel, all of those years really helped to prepare me for what I'm doing now. Seven years ago, I thought I was going to be ascending to the leadership. It didn't quite work out that way. And almost a year later, the Lord led us in this direction. And here we are, five and a half years later, and God has blessed the work tremendously.

We started out with 42 churches. Now we are just over 1,400 churches in 42 countries. One of the issues that jumps out, obviously, that we're still dealing with is we're in a different world. I was sitting in one of the panels that was called Size Doesn't Matter, and all across, I know all across the United States, you have pastors who are going away from the large facilities who are now going to multiple smaller facilities to serve the needs of their members because a lot of people aren't interested in driving long distances to one particular church. And so that's now changed how church is now being done.

Right. One of the things we've spent a lot of time focusing on this week, Ronald, is one, what is a healthy church? And we have to come to grips with the fact that the culture of the church has changed. And yes, people no longer want to wait in line in the parking lots for an hour trying to get out. The whole culture's changed. And so I would almost go as far as to say to you within the next five to six years, the season of the megachurch would almost would have come to an end.

And first of all, we're only talking about 4% of all churches anyway. So it's not like megachurches comprise, you know, half of all churches. It's only 4%. Yeah, about 95% of all churches in America have less than 300 people on Sunday morning. So, and then, of course, with the birth of streaming and the networks where people can stay at home and watch you live while you are in service, of course, that does not help to build attendance anyway. But, you know, the goal ought to be getting the message out, not as much as getting the people in. Let's talk about relevance, because I also, when you look at one of the things that we talked about, that Pastor Jamal Bryan and I have had this conversation, he's going to be speaking later tonight, that the Black Lives Matter movement, that was the first major movement that existed in the United States that was not led by the black church. And so therefore, a lot of people, they are turned off by this rigid hierarchy. They're turned off by this rigid view of the Bible as well. Do you believe that part of the reason people are not

attending church the way they used to is because they don't see the church being fully involved in the social, political, and economic issues that confront them? Well, if you're asking me, quite frankly, if the church is as relevant as I would like to see it, the answer is no. I think we have to pay attention with the changing times with succeeding generations. And this particular generation that we're in are driven more and more by projects as opposed to programs. So if all we're doing is becoming a programmatic ministry, they're not going to be attracted to that and they're not going to stay around that. But if they see you reaching out, outreach and projects and doing things to help your brothers and sisters and the church becomes a more socialized and take a more socialized approach to ministry, you will have more of this generation participating.

So we've got to understand while the message never changes, the method of how we package and deliver the message has to change with the changing times. Earlier today when you were at the news conference, you said that you want to break this spirit of poverty. Explain that to folks who are watching. Unfortunately, Roland, there are too many of our church leaders and our churches who are struggling. And so while they may have an anointing to do something, and they may have the people to get it done. They don't have the resources. Well, the fact of the matter is, if God has given us assignment, he has made provision somehow for us to get the resources to fulfill the assignment. What we have to do is tap into the principles that God has laid down for us way back in the days of the scripture. And if we tap into the principles,

then I believe we have a greater opportunity of breaking this demon of poverty. And for me, that's what it is. Because there's no way you're supposed to have an assignment from God. And the only way you cannot fulfill the assignment is because you lack the financial resources. I believe if God gives you a vision, he makes provision, but he's a God of principles. And we've got to go back to scripture and learn how to be driven by the principles as opposed to trying to fulfill the mandate by our own skills and intellect. Also, I believe one of the, look, my wife is a ordained minister, 24, 25 years now, education minister. And one of the things that my experience I've also seen is that part of the problem that you have here is that you have insulated churches where there are internal conversations.

If you ask a lot of pastors, when is the last time they literally took their members out of the church building and actually had them, let's say, target a mile radius around their church? I would dare say more than 90% haven't done that in a very long time. And I think, again, if people never actually see the body of Christ at work, then there'll be no interest in actually showing up at that church. Yeah. What I think needs to happen now, Roland, is churches has to develop partnerships within their communities. We have been interrupted a bit by the satellite feed, so we're going to move from those who are praying for us to some people we should probably be praying for crazy-ass white people a video was posted showing the general manager of a Burger King confronting two old white women after

they berated him for speaking Spanish inside the restaurant since I guess these old white women didn't realize that there is no national official language in America. Well, let's if you want to keep things fresh. Go back to your Mexican country. Your state. Your country. Guess what, ma'am? I'm not Mexican. I'm not Mexican, but you're very precious, and I want you out of my restaurant right now. I'll finish my meal, and now...

You know what? I'll do it for you, ma'am. I'll call the cops. I mean, have your tax back for me. It would be easier for me if these people like you, so ignorant and disrespectful. We are ignorant. You're very ignorant and disrespectful. Have a great day and get out of my restaurant.

Don't wear a weirdo. This isn't your restaurant. Yes, it is, ma'am. It is not. It is, actually, as a matter of fact, it is. No, it's not. I hate to say this, but it is. Wow.

And you know what? The owner of this franchise is Mexican. He doesn't speak English. He always speaks English. No, he doesn't. He does not. You're very inconsiderate and you're very rude. So, you know, get your business somewhere else. You don't know how to act by round people. Excuse me, you're telling me not to speak my native language?

You're being really prejudiced, ma'am. You're being really prejudiced. I didn't tell you. I said you should speak in the round here. I have nothing to say to you, ma'am. Just have a nice day. And they'll come back. I'm glad you won't crazy-ass white people brother why well it seems like it's always Florida but what do you

make of that speak American English all right right which is not British English to be sure but I'm not sure they could make a little way there but American is the stuff that says instead of the telly and the loo and the lift right says the bathroom in the elevator but I mean the manager was actually on point this is ignorance it's stupidity it's bigotry it's it's we've seen this before you know the voice acts the question at the turn of the century How does it feel to be the problem? Yeah, right and Clearly that problem has expanded to not just include black people, but it's people of color It's people who speak a foreign language. It's people who were a turban

it's people who call God by Allah right, so there are all problems and Unfortunately, it's another day in America. Yeah, that's true. But I mean, when we look at this, I'm thinking about in the context of the things that have been going on the last 48 hours. We saw Mike Pompeo saying that the United States is now looking into getting into a conversation about what constitutes a human right. Today, just before we went on the air, Trump was in the was in the press conference and trotted out Bill Barr to talk about ways to get around adding the citizenship question to the census I mean all these conversations that these two women clearly are caught up in in some ways in terms of the cultural gesture speak to this ability they think they have to define who is an American

what always speaks to the privilege they had. Had, you say? Absolutely. I don't have it anymore. Well, we know that the country is turning. Right. Right. Right. And they are fearful of that. So they're not crazy, they're scared.

They're absolutely scared. Scared, like me. People are scared. They're scared and they're crazy. Scared and crazy. Well, things that we are afraid of drive us to do things. But what's the fear? The fear is I know what we're going to do to them.

The fear is we're not going to do anything with them. Right. Where is the history that we ever did anything? We want our own citizenship. We want our own rights. We want what is the Constitution say? Liberty, peace, happiness, justice, pursuit of happiness. Maybe I shouldn't say we could. So what about our Spanish speaking kin here in this country? Because I'm thinking now about the Contra Times a few years ago when they wanted folks to sing the so-called national anthem in English and not Spanish.

They were singing it in Spanish, and it bothered them. First of all, why are you singing about Fort McHenry in Spanish in the first place? But let's set that aside. You're demonstrating patriotism. Is there something about immigrants from the spanish speaking community well i shouldn't say immigrants because some of these folks to board across them they didn't cross the board they've been in 500 exactly but what is it about spanish-speaking countries that has triggered this kind because we've seen this over and over again but the thing

is dr carl it's not just spanish-speaking countries it's people are scared of the other anybody or anything that they are not familiar with, that they feel is intruding on their space. And that's the problem here. They're in their psyche, it's a psychosis. They feel as though Spanish speakers, Arabs, Muslims, black people, etc. are impeding on their country. Hence, make America great again. Right. Right. So it's this narrative. Trump is the catalyst for all of this to take place. He's peeled it back. It was there, but he has always been there. Let's be very clear. He's fueling this. And we see this playing out with older white women. And the manager was he was even he Mexican he was Puerto Rican yes he is a United States citizen so again it's it's the ignorance and it's the fear

that is driving them to be crazy well country cause Driscoll who is one of our regular panelists thank you brother for riding with us tonight we've had we had a little bit of signal difficulty so we were able to be joined by brother Roland for the plurality of the show tomorrow night of course same time 6 p.m. Eastern Standard you'll be able to tune in and bring the front tonight the actually the National Black United Front is beginning its conference here in Washington DC so go online and check out in buff they've been around about 40 years and it's reparations

conference among other things I'm Greg Carr sitting in this very big seat and tune in tomorrow night for Brother Roland. And in the interim, if you're going to watch this show again, of course, watch it on all the digital platforms. And don't forget, support Roland Martin unfiltered. This is black media unfiltered, and you'll get it nowhere else. So with that, as Roland would say, holla. 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 2 of the War on

Drugs podcast. 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 them.

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. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. or wherever you get your podcasts. thing 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. This is an iHeart Podcast.